THEORY CAVALIERE-DESTRUCTION ______________________________ Her throat burned from the smoke that she had inhaled. In the panic of the fire, Theory had simply run for the nearest source of water that was familiar to her - Monument Rapids. By the time she made it to the shores, tears were streaming from her eyes and she was covered head-to-paw in soot. The young girl looked almost completely black, save for the white markings beneath her eyes that were made visible by her tear streaks. Along with her physical pains (her paws were blistered, she was having difficulty breathing, and her tail had been badly singed), Theory carried with her a deep, deep shame. When the fire had come, instinct had overridden her entire body. She didn't stop to look for Verse, who would inevitably needed additional help to escape, or any of her other siblings. The smoke had made it impossible to think. Her only drive had been to escape. She reached the placid shores of Monument Rapids, a good mile away from where the waters got too quick to enjoy. Theory collapsed on the sand and dragged herself a little further to the water, drinking until she was almost sick. No matter how much water she drank, she could still taste the smoke. Now that she was safe - and alone - she began to cry. Her sobs were wild and ugly and erratic. "Verse!" She yelled, her voice hoarse, "Daddy! Motif! Poem..." she paused and coughed until she threw up a thin, sour bile. "Noir..." Theory knew better than to call for her mother. Tana was gone, and she was alone.

Shaye was sticking close to the rapids as she saw to the burns of some of her wolves, through she desperately needed aloe vera and other burn remedies, things they were quickly running out of. She debated sending winter to Valhalla, remembering Aurielle had spoken of having plenty of the herb. Ultimately, she decided the journey would be too long. She would need to send Winter to Kesali, she knew Branch had healers to call upon…

Weary beyond belief the alpha took a moment to drink from the stream, and cool her own burns and singed feet in the cool water. She was close enough to hear Theory’s sudden sobbed cried, though she did not immediately see the girl. She jumped to her feet, and moved quickly down the stream until she found Theory.

She jumped into the water beside the girl, and mvoed to scoop her up and draw her into Shaye’s chest. “Your alright, your alright” she said to her apprentice, Shaye’s heart beating quickly as she held the young girl. “I’ve got you” and just like that, one of the weights on Shaye’s heart fell free, her apprentice was safe.

THEORY CAVALIERE-DESTRUCTION ______________________________ Theo wept openly into Shaye's embrace, struggling to collect herself. Her throat was badly singed and her paws were blistering. Some pads were seeping clear liquid and some were torn and bloody; in places on her legs, her fur was burnt down to the skin. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried, heaving and shaking. "I should have looked for them, I should have stayed until I knew they were safe... I was s-so scared." Theory shook violently, whimpering and keening until she could catch her breath again. "W-where is Poem? Noir? V-verse? Motif? Are they safe? Please, please," she took a ragged breath, trying to stop her tears. "They need to be safe." After losing Tana, she couldn't stand to lose any more of her family, especially if it was her fault. A real diplomat wouldn't have left any member of the pack behind. She had never felt so weak and useless.

“Shhhh, shhh” she soothed gently, rocking slightly with the girl in her embrace. The motion pushed the alphas ears into the water, clearing some of the soot from them as she moved gently back and forth with the girl. “You got yourself to safety, that was important.” she told Theory, who was only a child. She would have told Theory to run, had she been there, and not let her stick around to search for others. It was hard, to ask someone else to risk their lives, and well she lived by example, she couldn’t have allowed it from a child.

“They weren’t near the fire, Motif, Poem and Noir are accounted for, Verse will be around. Winter will find her, she was near the rapids.” she promised Theory. “You did the right thing, you wouldn’t have been able to find anyone in the smoke, you would have wandered around lost, putting yourself in greater and greater danger” Shaye said gently, still rocking her young apprentice.

THEORY CAVALIERE-DESTRUCTION ______________________________ Theo gulped for air as her sobs began to subside. It took a while until she could speak again. In between, she just tried to take deep breaths and leaned hard into Shaye's embrace. Hearing that her siblings were safe lifted an incredible weight off of her small body. "But Verse...?" she murmured, learning that she hadn't been accounted for. Verse was the least able to get herself to safety - what if she seized as the smoke rolled in? "No," she whined as Shaye assured her, "I left them behind, that's unforgivable." Her voice was suddenly and uncharacteristically chilly. "They're my family, you don't leave family behind." It was clear that Theory wasn't just talking about her own perceived mistake - there was hate and pain in her voice, and it stemmed from her mother's abandonment, not just the chaos of the fire. "Please, can I look for Verse with Winter...?" Theo wrestled out of Shaye's grip and tried to stand, immediately falling to her side. Her paws were too badly burned and she could barely walk. Struggling, Theo dragged herself to her paws and tried again to walk. She fell to the sands again. Lying the ground, Theo lay perfectly still. "I need to know she's okay," she whispered.

Theory pulled herself from Shaye’s grasp, and she could hear the anger in her voice as she spoke of leaving family being unacceptable. Shaye let out a soft sigh at the words, hearing more than what was spoken. The young girl was determined, and Shaye didn’t try hard to hold her, before she wrestled free from the Alpha, and got only a short distance before falling onto the ground again. ”your injured!” Shaye said with a gasp, seeing now the burns on the young girls paws.

She got quickly to her feet, ignoring her own aches as she swept forward and picked the girl up by her scruff. With the young girl in her grasp, the alpha would move quickly down the rapids to where the supplies were being kept. She dropped the girl down gently by the herbs and began to form a poultice from them with expert movements. She hadn’t been a healer for a time, but before that her whole life had been dedicated to the craft. “I will ensure you know the second Verse is found, and I will set whoever is not injured and free to searching and calling for her, okay?” she told the girl. She should have done this in the first place, but she was certain that Verse was not near the Thicket.

THEORY CAVALIERE-DESTRUCTION ______________________________ Theo sniffled into the sand, instinctively going limp when Shaye grabbed her by the scruff. She was older now, almost too old to be carried like that, but she found it strangely comforting. For now, she was powerless. Theory gave herself up to Shaye's careful ministrations, occasionally whining when the poultice stung her paws, but she tried to be a good patient. "Okay..." she said solemnly as Shaye swore that they would tell her when Verse was located. It gave her only a little bit of comfort. "Can we go see the others? I want to make sure they're okay. I need to know they're okay," Theo begged. "And the rest of the pack...?" She asked, almost afraid to know the answer. The thicket was gone, but had they sustained any other casualties...?

Shaye Destruction She applied the poultice to the pup without as much protesting as she had expected. She was berating herself the whole time for not noticing that the pup was injured at the beginning. She should have seen it, and she hadn’t. She tried to ignore the adrenaline running through her system, she was on edge after the fire and apparently it was easy to push her off. Seeing one of the packs pups injured had done that to her, and she tried to release her tension with a soft sigh. The pack wasn’t far from the herb pile, healers were wondering around the wolves that had assembled here so far. “I’m not sure where your siblings have gotten to, Rhyme will no better than I” she admitted. “I’ll bring him to you and you can have a chat with him well I organise the search for your sister, alright?” she said gently to the girl. She gave her a kiss on the lips, and felt the pull of duty upon her once more as she considered everything she needed to get through to ensure the safety of her wolves. -exit Shaye- "Speech"