Lucky Catch

Walk | Talk | Think

Everything was so still beside the lake that she missed the other presence who shared the shoreline with her, concentration so fixated upon the fish that she hoped would venture close that she had no spare thoughts to anyone else. They were swimming nearer now, the fish, mistaking her stillness for security. Obliviously they wandered closer, closer, causing the faintest of smiles to curve up the outer edges of Tahlia's lips while her golden eyes continued to stare into the water and watch their slow progress. She could practically taste their delicate meat, their unique flavor, before she had even caught one, but it would do her no good to get ahead of herself. Patience was key.

The she-wolf's unwavering concentration fractured slightly when she heard the gasp upon the shore. It fractured further when she chanced a look toward its source, spotting the darkly colored wolf as he hastily got to his feet with a disheveled, confused sort of daze from the corner of her eye. The start she had taken at the sound had only caused her muscles to tense reflexively, but that was enough for the fish. With a whir of tails slaps, those that were nearest pushed themselves further away in a mild panic, causing the others to put a little distance between themselves and the wolf as well. As her gaze shifted hurriedly back to the fish, spotting their little shadows drifting away, a furrow started upon her brow. Well, there went her chance at fishing.

Which left her with no reason not to turn the full of her attention back upon the wolf who had startled her and therefore her prey. Very pointedly she turned her head and relaxed her tail so that its tip could slide into the water, a not completely happy expression about her face as she took in the state of the other though she supposed it wasn't entirely his fault for ruining her fishing trip. But this was no quick start from a nap; this was something more than that. Rather than recover, as Tahlia would have expected, he lumbered uneasily to his paws and made straight for the water, retching into the lake and thrashing about in the shallows. The furrow that had settled onto her brow deepened with confusion and concern. What was the meaning of this? Was he sick? Was he even safe to be around? Not entirely sure what to make of him, the russet and black she-wolf quietly and calmly turned to walk the short distance out of the lake, pausing again as she watched him only when she was fully out of the water and standing upon the shore.

By now, he was off again, disappearing into the treeline. Assuming him to be one of her own - a member of Seracia - she thought for a second to follow and inquire about his state of being but was leery. Still, she peered at the place he had left her view, puzzling over whatever might have left him in his current state, when a voice - his voice she figured - called forth in a pain-filled howl. Being so close, and having already witnessed his distress from a moment before, Tahlia only hesitated a little before she hurried off after him, catching his scent and following it to where he had stopped.

A little gasp of her own slipped from her muzzle as she stared at him, his side effectively struck through by the tender little sapling tree he apparently had been brushing past while its broken branch pressed awkwardly against his front. Golden eyes rather wide, ears perked forward, she shifted her gaze to take in the side of the wolf's face that she could see and knew that help was necessary. And suddenly thoughts of her siblings returned from the dusty recesses of her mind, their spars, her refusals to participate, and her subsequent play at being healer to their wounds. It was minimal, what she knew, and she somewhat doubted it would be enough, but she had to at least try to help in any way she could. She couldn't possibly turn away from an injured member of Seracia.

"Is-is there anything I can do?" Tahlia asked, forgoing her typical etiquette and propriety and introductions because of the severity of the situation. Did he even know what he needed, how he could be safely removed and only sustain the most minimal of injuries? "Should I go for someone?" she asked then, feeling quite inadequate to help as she caught a better look of the wolf's punctured side. A little wince slipped over her expression as she trained her eyes instead upon his scarred face, seeking guidance and wishing anyone else had been around that would have been better prepared to help him.