É R E B O S

♆
he made a silent tread into hellborn- it's midnight by now. the land was dark and foggy. he grew to like the woods as he became accustomed to it. how well his larger body could find coverage within it. it would flood over him like a refreshment from he humidity outside of hellborn; cool against his skin but it stung his fresh wounds.
massive paws came to trot briskly past the borders, coming to find his own larger den within moments. coming in, he sat himself with a huff. body tense, he grunted in pain. Érebos's chest was visibly wounded, matching with the larger gash over his right cheek that finally did dry. inflammation set in and soon, he would need to clean the wounds to prevent infection. but somehow he felt like he deserved the bearings fic gave him for a while longer.
he is silent with eyes empty with emotion- however there was an anger the brewed deep within the voids of his pupils. Érebos's visage was stoic, aura tight and deflective. tending to his chest as best he could, Érebos groomed himself of the blood that dried over his front limbs fist. what a mess.. a bath was needed. but maybe he could wait till morning. not wanting to wake the queen of hell. or add any more stress to his day. weary and still lingering with the scent of aggression.

"talk" 'think'

table by scarlet, art by ashon

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

"Speech!"
The woman had seldom found rest late at night, often succumbing to sleep during the early dawn for a few hours at most. Though she was in her den regardless, sorting various herbs and tools that she always kept on hand. She might not be a healer, but she knew how to treat various wounds from her youth and caring for her daughters ailment and early kidnapping, not to mention keeping Terror, Phantasm, and herself alive when they had all been so very ill some months back. She hadn't expected to need these things however, at least not tonight. She wanted to be prepared. What if someone tried to hurt her children? Her husbands?

Suddenly, ravens flocked into her den. Her two beloved circled around, cawing and repeating words that they had learned. Erebos and hurt and blood repeated above her as the birds cawed and circled. She briefly panicked, argent eyes widening as they relayed what they had seen. How ironic was it that she had everything strewn about before her, ready to be stuffed into a pack and carried to where they would be needed most. Her heart pounded with fear- why? That wasn't important now, taking care of her own was.

Without much thought, she threw everything into the pack and slung the strap over her head and stepped through with a single paw. Looking towards her ravens, her tone was serious but laced with fear. "Take me to him," she said and followed them out of the den. It felt like forever before she got to him, but it had barely been over a few minutes. She could smell the familiar tinge of copper and iron before she could see him, and when she finally could, she rushed to him faster than she had rushed through the woods.

She didn't need to ask who had hurt him, the scent was all over him. Not in the way that it had been before, but it was still there. That bitch, she mentally cursed, lip curling into a snarl subconsciously as she approached him. Her eyes scanned him, the wounds upon his face and chest, though despite the anger on her face... there was worry in her eyes, though it too was mixed with anger.

"I'll kill her," she snarled without realizing it was aloud. "How dare she, she doesn't know who she's messed with; she will pay," she mumbled as she ducked and dropped the pack to the ground, seeking to immediately treat his wounds and stop the bleeding as she dug through the pack, ultimately just dumping it onto the ground as she couldn't find what she was looking for fast enough.

"We must stop the bleeding; here, hold this against your face while I work on your chest," she instructed and grabbed a cleaned fleece and quickly dusted some crushed yarrow powder into it before pressing it against his cheek gently. Once he did as she instructed, she began to prepare materials to clean his chest wound.

É R E B O S

♆
to think he could go the night hiding from widow was foolish. because soon enough her many companions flew and alerted with faithfully. but he didn't expect her to heed quickly to his side the way she had- coming to enter his den with a pouch of supplies to heal him. in no state to be stubborn, his eyes found the angry face of his wife- the term, coming around to full circle for the very first time. a reliability he did not know he had till now really. why did this matter? more than that-, why did it create feeling? he pushed it away for now.
"Widow- no. She will pay with my absence." he growled, eyes harsh and hardened as he watched widow speak more. Érebos, even still, asked she have no target on her head for the harm she'd done. He'd plea for that much. "Please. Leave her be. She is nothing." he said assuring widow, voice strained and hoarse with the pain that swarmed him. anger evident in his face as his jowls clenched. angry at how this could happen, angry at fic for the harm she'd done. angry at it all. the complexity of his emotions unpleasant. he would never again venture outside of widow, perhaps. this lesson showing him the fragility of other women were too much of a price to pay. he couldn't afford to be emotionally tied causalities any further. fic injured his ego- fucked up his political focuses and so much more. he'd mentally vow to hone in on widow in conclusion. she was fierce, fortified, strong and bad all on her own. in a way, someone he believed in. her self control and discipline on display all the time. appreciation filled him subtly for what widow was.
his wife then placed powder on a fleece, directing him to hold it on his cheek wound. he did so, large left paw coming to press firmly. despite the frustration in the room, he saw the concern in her icy gaze. "I'm sorry for waking you." he grumbled, not proud of his current state. he didn't want widow to see him like this. battered by a woman. he allowed it.. didn't even fight back. all because he fancied her too much to hurt her back. had he really gone so far out to lose his mind? nonsense no more. without the distractions, both widow and hellborn thus became his sole agenda, focus and entire investment.
"Thank you Widow." he relaxed his body lifting his maw so she could access the bite wound over his chest. in the moment of it all, he felt odd comfort and saw a different side to his wife. something that gave him hope for their future in ways he didn't have before. in her own way, a devil. but dare he say he adored it.

"talk" 'think'

table by scarlet, art by ashon

Code © Skelle/Witchdogtor DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

"Speech!"
Worry wracked through her, although she knew now that his wounds weren't life threatening as long as infection didn't set in. She would need to clean them well, and keep them clean. He would have to be good about it, too, because clearly she couldn't lose him. She didn't know why, but she couldn't. Not his heart to a bitch, or his life because of one either. She was gritting her teeth as if she imagined the woman's throat between them. How dare she! She wanted to ignore his wishes, to believe that she was nothing as he had said, but she was too fired up for that now. If he wasn't bleeding as he was in front of her now, she would hunt for her. She wouldn't rest until she was brought back here and forced to pay for her crime with her life. A subtle threat to her husband as well, for picking such a bitch to lay with. She'd bring her back here as a slave if she wasn't worried about them being close.

Finally, she took a deep breath and gathered what she needed to mend his chest. "If she ever comes near here, near you again, I will make her a slave- my personal slave. She will watch as you fill me with children and she will be killed the first time she steps out of line," she rattled, mostly thinking aloud. Morbid? Yes, but she deserved it for hurting her Erebos.

Grabbing a curved fish bone, sharpened to create a needle with a tiny hole in the end for thread, it took two attempts to get said thread through the needle. Not fast enough. His words distracted her, but it wasn't his fault. He was trying to settle her, apologizing for waking her. Perhaps if she had been asleep, but it hardly mattered.

"I wasn't asleep-" she said quickly, almost snapping as her mood hadn't quite settled yet. But he didn't deserve her attitude. If he was honest about the wrench paying with his absence, then she needed to be calmer with him... or else he would return.

"I was preparing this kit actually, for when it would be needed... I wasn't aware that it wouldn't even be finished yet before I would have to use it. Forgive me for not being better prepared," she said before placing the needle between her teeth to align the tear in his chest. Once aligned, she grabbed the needle between dexterous toes and got ready to start stitching.

"This will hurt," she warned but offered him nothing to bite down on. A bit of punishment for him, for picking a vile woman to lay with. She waited only a brief moment before piercing his flesh with the needle, looping it through both side of the tear to draw them close. A few stitches later and she was done, the wound closed as best as she could. Quickly drawing the needle through a loop in the thread, she tied it off and discarded the needle near the rest of the supplies as she picked up another fleece to press against the stitching gently, to clean away blood that had seeped as she worked.

"I have medicine back in my den, for inflammatory and pain. If you'd like, you can come back to my den with me tonight, or you can stay here and I'll return with it," she offered, giving him the option of sleeping in his den tonight or hers, but regardless, he wouldn't be sleeping alone. Honestly, Widow didn't even think she'd be sleeping, worried about infection setting in so close to his heart.