Wylan’ hunt for the perfect tree brought him close to the edge of the forest. He knew if he hit that boundary, one of his parents' companions would sound the alarm. But that was okay - he wasn’t planning on leaving. He just needed a great vantage to jump off from. He needed a bit of height to get his wings working. Clearly, lifting up from the ground wasn’t doing anything. (He knew, he’d tried multiple times).

Before he could find the ‘perfect’ tree, he found first a strange little white shape in the undergrowth. Cautiously, he crept closer. Parting the leaves with his paws and peering down. There was some strange animal there. All round and kind of chubby looking, but small. There was blood on its coat. He looked around for… there, the Kea. That was his dad’s “Can you get mum? Tell her someone's hurt, please?” He said, wrapping his wings about the strange white creature to keep it warm.


"Speech"

It was Mort’s kea that came for her, drawing Halo out to track down Wylan. Someone was hurt… though the bird had the good sense to let her know that it wasn’t one of the pups. It was something else, some unknown creature. A little white blob, but one that had been bleeding. Halo felt a tug in her chest, quickly gathering her basket of supplies and hurrying out into the forest.

“Wylan my love, what did you find?” Halo spoke softly, her gaze gentle as she moved to her son’s side. He had something bundled in his wings, shielded from the world. Something little and round, something small and vulnerable. She draws to his side, setting the basket down on the soft earth.

"Halo"

“Mumma, I’m over here!” He said as he heard his mothers voice. But the white wolf had already found him. He looked up at her liquid lavender eyes. The ones that kissed his scratches and told him everything would be okay. He had always believed her, and he believed that unspoken promise now. He carefully removed his wings from where they had wrapped around the little white creature. It was just a cub, a polar bear cub, but Wylan didn’t know that. He just knew that it was little, and injured.

“I’m not sure what it is, Mumma. But you can help it, right?” He asked, his voice soft, and he looked up at his mother. His eyes trusting, but worried, too. He didn’t like to see the creature in pain. Even as they looked down at it, it whimpered a little. Alive, but badly hurt.


"Speech"

There he was, and there was the creature he protected. Halo's eyes went wide for a moment, taking in the little bear. While the soft woman was well aware the type of danger these bears presented, she also ached for the poor thing. It was injured, fairly badly injured at that. Terribly small and rather weak, there was no way they could leave it out here. Too small to cause harm, and in rough shape. "We can help it, little love."

Carefully, she moves to take the cub in her gentle grasp. "This is a baby polar bear." Halo explained quietly, pouring a shallow dish of clean water and offering it to the creature to drink. "I need you to stand back from their mouth, okay? Come stand on the other side of me." She spoke calmly, gently to her son. "When someone is hurt, be it a wolf or another animal, they may be scared and try to bite to protect themselves. That doesn't mean they're mean, or they want to hurt us, it's just really overwhelming to feel so bad." Halo's tone remained gentle, not wanting to alarm both Wylan and the cub.

Weakly, the bear lapped at the water. That was a good sign, at least. "I'm going to roll our friend over so I can sort out where the blood is coming from." Halo explained, rolling the cub over as gently as possible. Weakly, the creature resisted. That, too, was a good sign. The bear was resisting being placed in a vulnerable position, which meant there was still a spark. The damage was extensive, and it appeared the cub had been attacked. By who, by what, Halo couldn't say. A mix of dry, crusted blood and fresh red colored the poor thing's coat. Halo whistled for her companion, the little raccoon turning up within moments.

"We're going to wrap our friend up nice and tight, which will help stop the bleeding for now. Then we're going to bring him home where I can make sure things are nice and safe so we can clean and treat these wounds." Halo spoke softly to Wylan, already starting to wrap the cub's midsection in a thin piece of scrap hide from her bag. Mr. Raccoon was there to help control the wiggling, remaining firm. As she lifted the little bear, Halo was surprised at how light it was. Once more, her heart squeezed. "Ready?" She checked in with the boy before heading off.

"Halo"

“What’s a polar bear, mumma?” He asked softly as she gently grabbed for the poor wee creature. He was surprised when Halo asked him to move away, and stand on her other side. A part of him wanted to protest. What if it got cold without his wings? And he wanted to see and be a part of everything. But he did what his mother told him, making his way to the other side of her. His wing brushed against her toes, lightly askew from his back.

His mother explained the reasoning, and he soaked in the information as best he could. Why would it hurt him? He was helping it. But even for that his mother had a reason. It was to do with the pain, and how overwhelming it was. “I understand, Mumma” He said, and he thought he did, maybe.

He watched as she rolled the bear over. Fascinated by the entire ordeal. He stayed mostly silent, just taking it all in. Oh, they were taking it home! “Can we keep it Mumma, please?” He asked as he picked up his wings and made to follow her.


"Speech"

Ah, that's right. It occurred to Halo that the only kind of bear they'd seen so far was the Warlord's. Halo continued to explain as she made practiced motions, caring for the small creature as best she could all the way out here. Feeling that the cub was stabilized as well as possible, she began to lead the way back home, the cub held tightly to her chest. "There are many different kinds of bears. They're different sizes, different colors, and have different behaviors. The kind of bear that your grandpa Sirius has is a spectacled bear," a variety of bear that Halo had to admit she didn't know anything about, but that was okay. "This one is a polar bear." She indicated their friend, drawing closer to their den.

"We'll at least keep it until it's better. After that, it depends on a lot of factors. It's our responsibility to do what's best for the bear." Halo explained gently as she set the cub down on one of her work tables in the garden. She wouldn't give a definitive answer, she couldn't give one... not yet. "Can you get me a clean hide from inside please?" Halo requests, as she continues to set her workstation up. She pours two bowls of water from the boiling pot on the fire, dumping stitching materials in one and a clean cloth in the other.

"Once this water cools down, I'm going to use the clean water to wash out the dried blood and dirt from the wounds." In the meantime, Halo finished getting the space ready, and carefully fed the bear a few rolled up herbs that would help numb the pain, and act as a sedative. "These will make our friend sleepy, and help the whole process hurt less." They were the herbs that she kept locked away, far out of reach for the pups... for good reason. Strong stuff, but important medicine often was. Deeping the water cool enough to touch, Halo began to clean the wounds, only now realizing the extent. Though it took some time, Wylan had the floor to ask questions as she worked. "There, now that all of the grossness we can see is wiped away, I'm going to rinse them with this. A little goes a long way, and it helps make sure the wound is very clean." Halo explained, gently flushing the bear's wounds with alcohol.

"And now Mr. Raccoon is going to help us sew the wound closed. His paws are built much better for this than ours are." She spoke matter-of-factly to Wylan, explaining each step of the process as they slowly began to put the little cub back together. The poor thing had been through hell, and recovery wasn't going to be easier. Her heart ached, but they were going to do all they could.

"Halo"

Halo explained that this bear was like her grandfather’s. He’d met her a couple times, and she’d always been very sweet to him. She’d even snuck him a spoon of honey at one point. It made him want to help the Polar bear even more. Maybe they were friends? Grandpa’s bear and this polar bear.

Wylan nodded his head at that, it wasn’t a no so he could work with that. He walked at a trot to keep up with his mothers long legs. When they arrived, she put the bear down on a table in the garden. He hoped up onto the other side of the table with much difficulty, standing by the bear. He had just gotten his balance when his mum asked him to fetch a hide from inside.

Letting out a sigh, he hopped back down again, and made his way into the den. Moving quickly so he wouldn’t miss out on too much, he snagged the nearest coat he could find and tossed it over his back so it didn’t drag on his way back to his mother.

“Why do you use boiling water, mumma?” He asked curiously, as he dragged himself back up onto the table with effort. “His fur is very white mumma. Do you think it’s made out of snow? It won’t melt, will it?” he asked, curious voice serious as he watched her work. He knew snow, he had seen it in the Col.

“Will he keep the stitching in him, like that teddy you fixed?” He asked curiously. One of his toys had ripped when his claws (which he was still figuring out how to use) had gotten caught in the fabric. Sewing up the teddy seemed to be a similar job to this.

"Speech"