Foolish men

She held still in stunned shock, not really registering the weight of the boar that was now flopped over top of her as it perished on the blade she was clutching desperately. It wasn't until she felt that weight shift that she managed to blink open her eyes, looking around with confusion when Mercury gently pulled the sword away from her and slowly her mind began to catch up with what had happened as she looked at the now dead boar that was laying beside her. She had killed the boar. Not intentionally, not really, but somehow she had managed to defend herself from the charging boar and had gotten extremely lucky in the process. She felt a bit of panic starting to rise up in her chest as the adrenaline started to subside, not noticing Mercury pulling her to her paws until he spoke and drew her gaze away from the boar and back up to the blue of his eyes. "N-No, I'm not hurt," she replied as she glanced down at herself. Her face, neck, and cloak were splattered with the boar's blood, but physically she was fine.

"I've... I've never killed anything before," she said softly, glancing at the boar again in disbelief. She had always been a pacifist, avoiding conflict whenever possible and relying on her family to hunt and protect while she focused on honing her skills to care for them whenever they inevitably came home injured. She didn't realize her paws were shaking until she looked back to Mercury and realized he had begun to bleed through his bandages, her worry pushing through her disbelief and panic as she lifted her trembling paw to his chest. "Mercury, your injuries," she said with concern, a frown pulling at her lips. She wanted to stop everything and make him sit so she could check his wounds right away, but her own logic reminded her that they were still in a potentially dangerous area and that she didn't have any of her supplies with her. "We need to get you back," she decided, pulling herself upright with one more look at the boar. Mercury was in no shape to carry anything, much less a heavy sword, so she quietly picked it up herself and started ushering him back toward the pack's lands, ignoring and burying the still unstable and uncertain emotions she was still processing.

She didn't let him stop until they reached the plains, keeping a close eye on the Commander as they went. When he was still recovering from so much blood loss she didn't like the idea of him having an openly bleeding wound again. Even though he was significantly larger than her, she still tried to help him where she could if he needed someone to lean on for a bit. She made sure they moved slowly, but steadily, until they were finally behind the safety of the pack borders once more. Only then did she stop by the stream that cut through the plains, putting the sword down on the grass beside them with a slow sigh and sinking down onto her haunches, motioning for him to do the same. When she was in doubt she always fell back into the familiarity and the predictability of her work. After letting out a quiet howl to call for Eilwen so her companion could bring her bag to her she quietly went to work, pulling away the now soiled bandages so she could begin cleaning away the blood yet again while she waited on her supplies.

"Gwynevere Carpathius"