Valeriya shouldn't have gone so close to the border, she shouldn't have, and she knew it. Now something was terribly wrong. Her head swam and pulsed within the confines of her skull, and she stumbled half-blind towards the places she knew as safe. Someone needed to help her, something was wrong! She felt on the verge of crying, she was so scared, and it all hurt so bad. Her eyes stung and her belly felt like it was tying itself in knots. Was she going to die? "Mommy!" she called out, her high-pitched puppy voice strained with despair and anguish. "Mama!" Please gods, she needed her mothers, she needed her siblings or her elders or someone. She hurt so bad. The tears began to flow then, and they were quickly followed my the scent of blood, normally so sweet but tinged with something acrid and bitter. Val's gut turned cold and clenched, her tiny heart constricting with an even greater fear. Now she was bleeding. Now she was almost certainly going to die. The little girl ran on, blindly and stumbling, wailing for someone to make the demon attacking her go away. "Talk" "You" Think

Katja had been napping, curled up in her den in the ruins after long hours of patrolling the border and hunting, but the instant the small voice reached her in fear and pain she came awake all at once, shooting out of her den and into the winter air without even fully registering the disturbance. One of Raisa's daughters, her heir, crying out for help in the corner of the pack's territory Katja called her own... she would not ignore it. Her dark legs flashed in a full-out sprint the short distance through the snow. The tang of blood reached her before she came into sight and a snarl contorted the deaths-head mask of her face. If some creature had dared harm the pup she would rip them into bloody shreds too small to tempt even the worms. She pounced to a stop beside the young pup, silver eyes roaming the area around them for danger as she stepped a leg protectively over her, before turning her attention to the pup herself. "What has happened?" she demanded, her voice cool despite the protective rage that coursed through her. Someone would die for this... So focused on the possibility of danger was she that she initially missed the scent of disease, seeing only that the pup was bleeding and therefore, theoretically, injured. Now seeing that the area appeared secure she threw back her masked face and sent out a throaty howl for help - for a healer, and for Raisa. Lowering her head once more she split her attention between the surroundings and the young pup she guarded. "Speech"

~ ADELAIDE LAZURITE ~ Something was terribly wrong. She could feel it. Over the past few days the maiden had sensed that something was not quite right in the air, as if every surface held a lingering smell of decay. Her only thought was that a strain of disease must have found its way into the territory. Hackles raised immediately as a young voice could be heard calling out in distress. The voice was saturated in pain and fear, sending a spark of panic into Adelaide's veins. Was this illness or injury? Soon after, a throaty howl could be heard. Her cautious run turned into a sprint, clearing the distance in record time as adrenaline began pounding into her heart. She nearly stumbled upon the two wolves in her panic, blue eyes flying from the woman to the pup. It was clearly the child that had been affected, seeing that she was moving blindly about with tears of blood trickling from her eyes. Adelaide felt her throat convulse with worry. Her steps were no longer hesitant as she rushed to her side. "Valeriya? Can you hear me?" as the maiden spoke, she sniffed at the child in an attempt to make a diagnosis. There was surely a smell of disease about her, but not one she recognized. This could end badly. Still she put on a smile, though the pup could not see it. Stay positive, she thought. "My name is Adelaide," she whispered, keeping her tone light. No time would be wasted on introductions, but she wanted Valeriya to feel safe. "I am a very experienced healer. You can trust me, young lady. Everything is going to be alright." Her words did not betray her. They were steady and sure. But underneath, a sea of uncertainties began to churn. What could cure this ailment? Hopefully Maximous would arrive soon. And Raisa too. "Do you know where your mother is, little one? Do you know what happened?" Walk. "Talk." Think.

Valeriya? The cries of her sister, distressed and calling for their mothers, would lift the child up. The pup let out a sharp bark, waking her nimble companion before breaking into a run. Boy was she glad now that Korrin was making her go on those runs with her. She never thought she would need to run this hard or this fast in her life, but Svetlana would truly push herself to the limit in order to find her sister and come to her side. It didn?t matter what had happened, only that Valeriya needed help and she was going to get there as fast as she could. The howl going up from Katja certainly didn?t help any, and Korrin moved at her side, even her own gray eyes flashing with worry. Three figures would come into view them... One of them was definitely her sister, however. One of them, she noticed as she got closer, was the healer. Svetlana was out of breath as she arrived. She would slow, bright blue orbs on her older sister. She was bleeding... Out of her eyes? What was going on? The young pup would look to the healer before forcing herself to come to Valeryia?s side and not sit down as she would normally be tempted to do after a run. Small body would press against her sister?s form, whimpering. ?It... It?s... Okay... Val... We... We?ll... He...lp.? With Svetlana panting as she was her sister would no doubt know it was her. Korrin would lean forward, sniffing the pup before wrinkling her face worriedly. She looked up the healer. The fox could be snappy, even aggressive, and normally when faced with Katja Korrin would have her fur on end and growling. But with the situation at hand the fox kit ignored their ?feud?. There could be a time for that later. ?It seems to be a sickness Adelaide, not injury.? Surely the healer could see that though, and the fox glanced at Valeriya before looking back to the wolf. ?Does Adelaide need herbs? Korrin can go fetch them if Korrin has a description.? The fox wasn?t sure what could help... But she offered her speed if it was needed and something was thought of. She was small and fast... Surely she could carry enough herbs that would be needed to treat the heir. "Talk" "You" Think

Isi really wasn't feeling well this time. No it wasn't like her suspected illness that she'd had at the start of the Autumn, she was well and truly sick. She felt incredibly cold though any that touched her would feel that she was certainly burning up, her stomach ached so bad and though empty for she couldn't stand the thought of eating at the moment, she still felt as though she could be sick at any moment. There was an irritation in her eyes as well and they began to stream and it wasn't long before the girl realised the tears falling from them were actually blood. Panic gripped her then and she rushed, in a far more clumsy manner than normal for her legs felt like jelly, to find the nearest healer. It was Adelaide who's scent she would discover and she would follow not caring that she could scent a couple of Raisa's pups in the area as well. She needed help! "Adelaide, help me I'm dying!" The wolf would dramatically declare as she came to a stumbled halt near the other, partially for her legs would choose that moment to collapse. It may have been over the top, though this was the worst she had ever felt in her life and the words she feared could be true. Lifting up her head she would look around to see who else was here and then realise that one of the pups seemed to be suffering in a similar manner as well. "Oh no, Val is too!"

Walk | Talk | Think

This was her spot. Not many tended to wander around the Steppe, and it was exactly that which had drawn Callisto to it when she had chosen her den site. She had wanted the quiet, the lack of immediate neighbors, the chance to enjoy some time to herself with her plants and lessons, and for the longest time - since she had joined, in fact - everything had been absolutely perfect.

Until today.

She stepped from her den with a disgruntled expression, brow furrowed and silvery blue eyes narrowed. Who was out here making all this racket? She needed to tell them to stop it, or else take their screaming and crying elsewhere. Lifting her head high, she glanced about, tried to spot the culprits, and after having no success climbed a little further along the rise beside the crumbled stone structure. There! It was a group of them, and with an irritated determination she set out for them.

But as soon as she spotted Adelaide, the white woman who had taken over the healing training for the pack, she figured things were much more serious than she had first thought. Getting closer, she could see it, and forgetting her irritation - it was gone the minute she realized things were sickness-related - she moved in to help. "Adelaide," she called out, voice even and slightly raised to be heard clearly, "What do you need?" She might still have been in the training phase, but she felt confident enough to be of some help.

Pain crashed through the little girl's body and she moaned. Luckily, just as she stumbled to a halt, unable to go on any further, a familiar voice broke in on her. It was Katja, the Lady Knight. Val whimpered out a cry, trying to explain herself, but her words seemed to slur together. "Miss's Katja, please help'm. I can't... I c-can't..." She broke into sobs. The smell of blood grew stronger yet, mixed with that foul wrongness, making her wretch. What little was in her stomach came up, splattering onto the dead grass beneath her paws. Svetlana was there then, perhaps trying to comfort the little girl, but her words made no sense. They seemed to ring in her ears, loud and uncomfortable. The world tilted sideways, and Valeriya stumbled along with it, lurching strongly to the side. Where had this pale lady come from? She had strange markings on her body, dark and strongly contrasting. Why hadn't she noticed her before? The woman spoke... Perhaps. She wanted... something. Valeriya couldn't understand, she was so scared, she could only cry all the harder. Her skull felt stiff and hot and too cramped. Her hoarse little voice could only whimper out, "Mama..." before her vision began to tunnel, growing dark on all sides. Suddenly, with a great rush of sound, she felt nothing at all. "Talk" "You" Think

The young heir cried out, and Katja turned her full attention to her as she wretched and threw up. A... sickness? Not an injury? What sickness could cause such a thing as tears of blood? The horror crawled down her spine, raising her fur as the superstitious fear shot through her. A curse from the gods, that was what it was. Even so, she forced herself to present calm, stoic comfort to the little one. "Shh, little valkyrie, be brave. I will help you," she murmured, moving to press her leg against her for support and pressing her muzzle to the fur of the pup's back. "The gods are with you. All will be well." But she did not know how to make it well. A healer was there, suddenly, and Katja spared her a single, grim glance. She would not relinquish her protective stance, though she allowed the Ebony healer to examine her. The woman spoke to the pup, a confusing babble to Katja as she was too distracted just now to concentrate on the unfamiliar tongue these Ebony wolves spoke. Svetlana, Raisa's timid daughter, appeared as well with her fox companion to press herself against her sister. Katja made to ward her off, gently but firmly, speaking a warning. "Unsafe for you," she spoke swiftly, trying to keep her voice even and her words from dissolving into her native tongue. "For there does be risk of you sickening from contact. And you as well, fox, for pass it to your friend you could. Similar enough are our kinds. Perhaps you both could assist, by herb-finding and finding Raisa." What she didn't speak was the very real, and very dark possibility foremost in her mind - that if Valeriya were to die, Svetlana must live to be heir in her place... And that the contact might mean that Svetlana were already infected. She did not want to frighten Val further by insinuating that she might die. No, the next wolf to arrive would do that quite well by herself, no doubt. A young Ebony wolf flung herself dramatically into the midst of the gathering, showing the same tell-tale signs of this sickness as the heir, declaring that she was dying, and that Val was too. Katja's masked face contorted in a snarl, curving closer and more protectively over the pup. "Hold your fool tongue," she snapped, fangs bared furiously at the girl. Before she could even register that another healer had come, Val seemed to go limp. Swiftly Katja would scoop her paw under the girl's chest intending to ease her to the ground more gently. She shot a look to the healers, the sharpness in her gaze a blatant demand to do something. "Speech"

Success! Sigmarr the Skilled had made his first ever kill! The young pup grinned as he pranced across the terra back toward the den, a squirrel clenched in his jaws. Admittedly it was a young squirrel that had probably fallen from a tree and broken it's back but Sigmarr had still delivered the killing bite and was insistent that it counted! Wasn't momma going to be so proud! Valeriya was going to be so jealous he couldn't wait to show her. It was on his way back to their den that he noticed a bunch of wolves gathered around and he heard Valeriya's scream. No?. no, no, no! The squirrel fell lifeless from his jaws as he raced into the throng. "Valeriya!!!" She was laying lifeless at the feet of the others. "What happened! Who did this?" It was an evil sorceror he just knew it. He was going to rip them to shreds!! Tears were falling from his face as he moved to huddle next to his sister. He looked up at Katja, the woman he'd be training with. "Katja. Katja please help her! What do we do? Is there a magic that I can get? Name it! I'll fight every dragon from here to Glaciem!" "Talk" "You" Think

~ ADELAIDE LAZURITE ~ Adelaide kept her eyes locked on the sick pup, concern evident on her face. She couldn't let something happen to the first born of the queen. It was unthinkable. But the woman felt it was her responsibility to protect the other children, as well as the other pack members. Katja seemed determined to stay by Valeriya, so the healer instead looked to the young siblings that had arrived. "Please, little ones, move away. I promise your sister will be alright, but getting too close could make you sick too." Her touch was gentle as she pushed them away. Just then, another wolf came crashing violently into the scene. The white maiden whirled about in shock. It was a grown female, younger than she, and also a member of the pack. Adelaide had encountered this woman once before... her name was Isidora. She also seemed to have contracted the disease. Isidora stumbled about blindly, crying out for help as blood streamed from her eyes. Delirium, fever, and tears of blood. What other horrific symptoms could there be? As if on cue, Valeriya lost consciousness. All chaos was beginning to break loose. Sapphire eyes looked about, shining with relief when they fell upon Callisto. She was still fairly inexperienced, but she could be of great help until Maximous arrived. "Oh, thank goodness," Adelaide sighed. "Callisto, could you please contain Isidora while I examine the pup? Make any diagnoses you wish, your conclusions are as welcome as any." It would be helpful for this girl to provide a fresh set of eyes. Perhaps she would notice something Adelaide had overlooked. The snowy female spared a brief, encouraging smile before turning to Valeriya again. She leaned close and sniffed at her a bit more, the heavy weight of dread settling into her chest. She watched with growing fear as Valeriya stayed under, her eyelids and toes twitching occasionally. "It's a seizure! Everyone stay back. Katja, you can trust me, I promise." Adelaide sent a look of urgency to the black female, reaching out carefully to Valeriya. Her paws were gentle, rolling the pup to her side and parting her jaws to clear her throat of excess vomit. She could very well be choking at this point. Adelaide lowered her head to the ground by the pup's head, listening for the sound of breathing. She desperately sent up a prayer, waiting for a breath to stir the fur on her face. The close smell of vomit made her blanch, but she persisted. Come on, she thought, the dread becoming heavier as it sunk through her being. Breathe. Come back to us, Valeriya. Walk. "Talk." Think.

Svetlana was shaking... Fear for her sister rising through her. Protest formed on her lips as Katja gently but firmly made him get away from Valeriya. Bright blue eyes would flick to the woman, a whine leaving her as ears pinned back against her head. ?But... I...? She wasn?t sure what to say... What to feel. Her sister was sick... Really bad sick... Her mind was reeling, looking back to her poor sibling as her heart pounded in her chest. Korrin would move to her side, giving the pup a nudge with muzzle. ?Katja is right, Svet... Could get sick as well... And we need to stay well... Sick creatures can not help.? The black and white fox was about to suggest to her friend finding Raisa when an older femme would run in, sick as well, claiming that she was dying. Not only that, but she would say that Val was too. It might have been the case, but it certainly wasn?t the kind of thing for young children to hear. Svetlana?s eyes went so wide at that, tears forming in those bright blue eyes. ?Y-you?re wrong! Neither of you are going to die!? Her voice was shaking, and the young fox bristled at this femme. Was she an idiot? Katja would snap at her as well, and, for the first time, the young fox felt something of respect for the black ticked femme. A second healer would arrive too before Val passed out. The world was growing chaotic... Svetlana was crying more now too, feeling scared... What was going to happen to them? Sigmarr was starting to arrive too by the time the fox kit had reigned in her friend?s attention, fur still bristled. ?Gotta look for Raisa, now! Svet go towards the rock place... Korrin will check the lake. Go!? The small fox would shoot across the ground without another word... And Svetlana would glance at her sister one more time before breaking off at a run again. They had to find her mother... And any other high lords or ladies that might be able to help. {{Exit Svetlana and Korrin to find Raisa.}} "Talk" "You" Think

The smell of sickness had deafened her senses to all but what was presented to her directly: Her land, too, was under attack. Her time in Olympus had been brief by most standards, but apparently not brief enough. As the queen had traveled, however, she had come to realize with horrifying certainty that this incident was not at all isolated. A fire, hot and brutal, had lit behind the woman's eyes and she came upon the gathering with all the might and rage of a woman scorned. How dare the gods think to attack her packmates, he family? For a time Raisa thought sweetly of her death, and how she would one day face them down and take from them what was due, particularly the suffering they had brought upon her beloved ones. Koros had taken up her side not long after she crossed the border once more, and in his wisdom, he had not yet spoken to her. He knew his queen well enough to understand that her rage was a fearsome thing to behold. She came upon the gathering with all the force and ferocity of a supercell thunder cloud, her bi-colored gaze flashing. "I want all the details, now." Her tone brokered no argument. Perhaps it was too harsh for an alpha that many could claim to be overly absent, whimsical, distant. But any who voiced that now would be met snapping jaws, flashing claws, and bloodshed. It would be folly instead to show rebellion while her heir and friend lay invalid. The Queen's gaze locked in particular on Katja, a warrior who held her highest respect, though her stride did not falter. "What has taken place in my absence?" The queen burned a path to Valeriya, small and russet and full of life. She reeked of sickness, and blood had begun to fall from her eyes. Just like Hephaestus, just like Andromeda. The queen looked to Isidora, who had been taken by a fit... It was here as well. Raisa clenched her teeth tightly together, feeling a pang of distress constrict her heart, and turn her stomach. Her other children, Sig and Svet, were present as well. "Children, get back," she said, softening her voice as much as she was able. She would not be harsh with them, not when she had already given them reason enough to despise her. "I could not bear to see you take ill as well." And it was the truth. Raisa turned her gaze finally to Adelaide and Callisto. They smelled of herbs, and seemed to bear an aura of something close to confidence, if not that emotion itself. She did not speak, only waited as their queen, for the answers she demanded to be set before her. "Talk" "You" Think