It's Been Awhile Since I've Fucked Things Up Just Like I Always Do [Pythia]
Cooperative
One paw in front of the other… Tarnish moved carefully, wobbling with pain and exhaustion by the time he reached the ravine's border. The pain had long since shifted to a humming in his head, punctuated every few minutes by a fearsome stabbing agony. Dried blood matted the fur on his face where blood still seeped from the lacerations. It had spilled over his right eye, matting it shut. The walk from the wall in the north down to the southern end of Boreas had been long. His thoughts hissed and writhed in his head as he tried to figure out where he'd gone wrong. How many times had he run his mouth and come out the victor? Even two against one? But somewhere he'd miscalculated. The man he'd battled against moved with a ferocity he hadn't expected, the woman that slashed her fangs into his left thigh had moved like a shadow. She'd been upon him before he even registered her presence.
The pain.. the pain confused him. It pulled his mind in new directions. His brain shrank from it at the same time he felt himself pulled toward it. It connected him to his body in a way he savored. Ever since his illness there'd been a fog. A separation. He felt like he was watching himself, controlling a form of flesh rather than being a part of it, rather than sinking into it. Always up in his mind, up in his anger, his anxiety, his doubt. The pain wrapped around him, dragging him back into the present and drowning, smothering, all that garbage.
Still, he could feel the fog creeping back in, aided by blood loss and rum and he clung to the present with all his muster before he crossed over the border and flopped down near a fallen log, resting his back up against it.
Her other senses heightened to compensate for the lack of sight. If it were not for her overly sensitive nose, she may not have scented her brother along the ravine's territory. That sharp tinge of blood nearly masking his brotherly Raider scent put her on alert. Ears lifted, chin twisting slightly, catching the wind as it shifted to listen. There, not terribly far, his breath rasps quietly, forcing itself to drag in and out as if he were in an immense amount of pain.
Racing up the winding pathway around the treehouse as fast as her paws could without bumping into anything, Pythia hurried grabs a spare medical pack that Sakana kept there for emergencies. With it between her teeth, the growing pup stumbles over her paws, but doesn't stop. Sifting through leaf litter and dodging rocks and trees to the best of her ability, she rushes to her brother. "Tarnith," she calls out from around the pack in her mouth.
"Talk, please. Tell me where it is," her ethereal voice is hushed, but stern. Plopping herself down beside him, she places her paws on his shoulder, beginning to gingerly feel over his cold and shaking body for the injuries.
"speech"
Pythia is completely blind.
Thoughts drifting in and out Tarnish lost focus on what he needed to do. The pain wrapped around him like a veil and he almost didn't notice his younger sister, Pythia until shortly before she spoke. He lifted his head up gingerly, wincing as the flesh moved, the wince itself doing nothing to ease his discomfort. She had something in her mouth which he could only assume was her healing supplies. "Hey…Argh, asshole got me… right in the face. Right side… uhhh…." A swell of pain caused his voice to catch in his throat for a moment. "Middle of forehead to cheek and… my right eyebrow." It had bled so much that it had matted his right eye shut as it dried during the journey.
"It's bad… isn't it…" It felt like it was deep, he was almost certain it was going to scar and while part of him was almost excited for the prospect of his firs true battle scar the pain dampened his enthusiasm. A little was great, it was grounding, but the longer he'd left his wound untreated the more the pain grew, consuming him, becoming one of the few sensations he could feel. Anything else was swiftly smothered by its growing strength.
His voice sounded shredded. Jumbled up and hoarse. Empathetic pain swirls in her belly as he explains that someone attacked his face. Slow realization settles in her as her paws move gingerly up his neck and over his matted facial fur. She can't hold back the gasp that escapes her. How could this have happened? Tarnish was one of the best fighters she knew.
"Don't move," she commands of him, pressing firmly against his neck so he knew to obey. Right side of face, forehead to cheek, and right eyebrow. As carefully as she can, she feels around the injuries, notices the swelling and how warm his skin in. The crustiness around his wounds is worrisome. Were they already growing infected? Pythia exhales sharply as she turns to the small pot of cool water and drenches a piece of cloth into it.
Bringing the cloth to Tarnish's cheek, Pythia begins to dab at the dried blood that cakes his fur. "I have to clean the blood first before I can treat the wounds," Pythia explains Tarnish, holding back the chastising she so wished to put upon him. "Tell me how it happened, it will be a good distraction while I work," she speaks still in hushed tones as she works to clean his face and make it so he could once more open his eye.
"speech"
Pythia is completely blind.
Tarnish flinched as Pythia's deft paws flitted across his features, meeting with the bloody gash that marred his face. She gasped and he knew he'd done it this time. This was going to scar for sure. Well, at least he'd finally have some badass scars like his sisters but fuck it hurt!
Pythia ordered him not to move and for once Tarnish was swift in his obedience. No talk back, not protesting. He was reckless but even he knew when it was time to be serious and he definitely didn't want this wound to become infected. The fact that it was so near to his right eye also made him anxious. He was sure the eye itself was fine but any infection could spread right to it.
He tensed as he felt the cool cloth on his face and while it pulled and tugged at the dried blood the coolness of it felt good on his fevered flesh. He understood. It needed to be cleaned first and this was the best way to go about it. While she worked Tarnish chose his words carefully, speaking gingerly so as not to pull the skin on the right side of his face too much. "I was exploring the north. There's a neat wall up there, right near a pack border… I thought it would be fun to travel along the wall. I mean its not like anyone had claimed it…" The angry stirred in his voice. Yea, prancing along near someone's border probably wasn't that smart but if the wall didn't belong to anyone he didn't see why he couldn't travel along it. Whose business was it anyway?
"Some old pack wolf got his tail in a twist and yelled at me, so I - ack…," Tarnish paused at the jolt of pain before continuing. "I was going to teach him to mind his own business. I didn't know one of his whores was laying in wait to ambush me. I wasn't expecting a melee." If Tarnish had been paying attention he might have noticed that the wolves did not share the same pack scent, but in his mind they were one in the same. A pair of northern pack wolves attacking him for no good reason.