With an explosive snort Rhys backed out of the mouth of the hole. What had once been mid sized burrow was now a hole big enough for the young wolf to muscle her way inside. Down in the belly of the burrow was the strangest creature Rhys had ever smelled. She had yet to lay eyes on it but already she knew it was all kinds of weird. She kept running into these super sharp little sticks as she dug. They were thin and long, and looked like sharpened twigs. A thought suddenly struck her and she stilled, her gaze directed downward at one of those sharpened twigs. Slowly she bent down and gripped it between her teeth. She tasted it and bit down on it a little to confirm the thought she'd had: it was like one of her nails, not a twig! Her breath caught and she let the spine fall from her mouth. Bonebreakers! She stared at the hole she'd dug with wide eyes. There were bonebreakers in Imperium! Well, that wouldn't do! She could defend herself just fine and so could her brothers, but what about Dagmaer? She was still sick. They'd probably come here for her.
Determination set her jaw. Nothing was going to hurt her friend! Nothing! She was going to tear this bonebreaker apart! Honestly the thought of confronting this thing by herself was a little scary now that it was actually happening, but she was going to do it! Rhys nodded to herself. She was going to go down there and take care of it.
With a growl that really just served to boost her confidence Rhys crouched down and shimmied into the widened burrow. The passage got progressively narrower and more than once she had to stop and expand the tunnel. The air was thick with dust that made it difficult to breathe and her nose and the corners of her eyes were clogged with grit but she pressed on.
At last she reached her destination. The tunnel was almost pitch black but she could tell there was a corner up ahead. And just on the other side of that corner was a bonebreaker. It growled at her and gnashed its teeth, and while she was a little alarmed Rhys stayed right where she was. She was going to do this.
Three...two...one...GO! Rhys darted forward and was around the corner before she had a chance to change her mind. Before she could get a bite in the bonebreaker darted forward and struck first. She was blindsided; slapped across the face by something hard and laced with hundreds of needles. It all happened very quickly. She went into retaliate, jaws wide as she sought to bite into whatever was within reach, and she succeeded - something that earned a shriek from the bonebreaker - and then the repercussions of what she'd done caught up with her. Quite suddenly the adrenaline wasn't enough and her whole face felt like it was on fire. She'd never felt anything so awful before and very quickly the pain and the fear became too much for her. Rhys screamed, the fire growing in intensity as she quickly backed out of the burrow.
She stumbled backwards into the sunlight and promptly fell back onto her tail, the sudden strike ricocheting through her and jarred the countless barbs that were hooked into her face. Rhys screamed again, her eyes pouring tears as searing pain lanced through her with each beat of her heart. In a panic she tried to pull the needles out by swiping a paw across her nose which only succeeded in worsening the damage and sending a fresh wave of pain through her. She screamed again. She dropped her face to the ground and scratched the injured side across the ground. Again she screamed. Terror turned her scream into a wail as a feeling of hopelessness set in. She didn't know what to do, but she did know who to run to. Rhys sucked in a deep breath and then screamed the name of the one person she knew could save her. "MOM!" She screamed again, tears and snot mixed with dirt streaming down her face. "MOOOMMY!"
OOC: she has porcupine needles all along the left side of her face and nose, and inside her mouth.
While Rhyme and Rhys were becoming increasingly large and independent Rhythm couldn't help but continue to think of them as her little babies. Despite less room in the den, and having less and less leftovers from dinner, Rhythm loved having her little guys so close to her. She tried to cherish every moment because soon enough they'd want their own dens and she would have to go back to sleeping alone. The Destruction woman would shake her head of the thought, no enjoy the now while she could. Her paws would carry her through the territory, she had been stashing little cache's of herbs all over the territory just in case something happened she'd always have the essentials close by.
She was glad for it too, the moment she heard Rhy's screams she'd come running. Her mind was on one track, get to her baby and get her to safety. She couldn't think about what herbs were where, this could be life or death. Soon enough she'd hear the calls for her name, and in a few more moments Rhythm was there. Rhys was in her sights, and obviously in tremendous amounts of pains as she wriggled helplessly on the ground. Rhythm wouldn't slow down until she was practically on top of the girl, "Rhys! Rhys, baby.." She couldn't find it in her to make coherent sentences so she wouldn't. Immediately though the quills covering her daughter's face would become apparent.
While still very much an emergency Rhythm would find herself calming slightly, her breathing would come easier and she'd still herself for Rhys's sake. "It's alright baby, shh..." She wouldn't need scolding about messing with porcupines she would have to guess. "I know it hurts a lot, but it's going to be okay. Can you come with me to the barn? I'll get you something for the pain and I can start getting those quills out." Her worry was obvious, but she'd breathe evenly and offer as much support to Rhys as she could until she was able to get into the barn and a safer more quiet environment. Rhythm had never actually seen anyone with porcupine quills imbedded in the skin, but most wolves didn't go after them. What had Rhys been thinking? They'd told her about them hadn't they? Her eyes would spot the dug out den just a meter or two away and began to wonder.
She didn't know such pain could exist. There was nothing she could compare it to. Everything she did just made it so much worse and all she could really do was stand there and cry. After a few more attempts to get rid of the quills, even standing became too much and Rhys flopped down in a hopeless heap while she waited for help to arrive. Never once did the tears stop.
At last the sound of a hurried approach reached her ears. One puffy, watery eye cracked open. "Mom!" The quills in her mouth made it hard to speak so the word was mangled. While the sight of Rhythm was immensely relieving it did nothing to slow the waterworks. Instead it made it worse. With her mother within reach Rhys couldn't help but cry harder. She cried so hard and so much that her tears washed off most of the dirt on her cheeks.
Without a word of protest Rhys allowed herself to be led to the barn. Her cries lost their volume but the tears still flowed freely amid a mix of hiccups and whimpers. All she'd wanted to do was a good thing. She'd just wanted to keep everyone safe. "I'll get you something for the pain and I can start getting those quills out." Her swollen eyes grew huge and her breath caught. Get them...out? She wanted them gone but the idea of them being pulled out was absolutely terrifying. It was going to hurt so much worse!
Rhythm didn't take long to arrive, but how long it did take was too much time for her baby to suffer. The she wolf was terrified at the state her child was in, but she would keep her composure, offering her shoulder as Rhys collapsed into her arms. Her face and mouth was covered, and it hurt Rhythm just looking at the poor pup. Tears and tears flowed out of her eyes, and Rhythm would do her best to start cleaning her up as they walked, careful not to jostle the quills too much. She'd make sure her little trouble maker made it to the barn okay, offering her a nice bed to lay in as Rhythm looked around for something to take the edge off. There was a lot of cannabis here, she often harvest a lot of what grew behind the barn.
Rhythm noticed the bulging of Rhys's eyes and the catch in her breath as Rhythm explained what she was going to do. First came pain management though. She'd offer Rhys a comforting lick to the top of her head, "It'll be okay, I promise." She'd tell her before turning around to grab some of her stashed herbs. She'd chew up the buds, curious about how she was going to actually get it down Rhys's throat with her mouth being covered in quills. With the paste in her mouth she'd instruct her daughter, "Open your mouth as wide as you can." If Rhys complied Rhythm would aim the pre-chewed plant at Rhys's throat.
Rhys' compliance almost ended the moment her mother mentioned taking the quills out. Almost. By sheer force of will she managed to maintain some semblance of rationality. The quills needed to come out. Whether or not that scared her was irrelevant. Besides, she trusted her mom; she was in good hands.
"It'll be okay, I promise." If not for the quills protruding from her mouth Rhys' lips would have set in a hard, wary line. Instead they remained parted and quivered ever so slightly with barely contained tears. She'd been really stupid. "Open your mouth as wide as you can." Easier said than done. With much apprehension she did as she was told...and managed to open her mouth only an inch or two more before the quills really started to protest. Her eyes welled with fresh tears. She'd been so, so stupid. Why did she have to be so stupid?
