ooc: please ask if you want to join, I'll find a healer to bring in soon.
Note, Linne? is dead. She exists now as a figment of Baldur's imagination she doesn't really exist. Just a hallucination or ghost.

Injuries: Apart from nearly drowning Baldur is suffering from deep lacerations to his shoulders, left hip and the left side of his neck. There are several other minor scratches and bruises. His right back ankle bears a festering, infected wound.

Cold? everything was so damn cold. Baldur was standing at the edge of a frozen lake just staring down into the blackness. He let his thoughts tumble down, and down and down? Blood was pouring off him from his latest battle with his uncles. He'd lost? again. But they managed to rescue a few pups but Hodr?. his twin, his brother. Was now dead. Had his eyes ripped right from his head in some cruel joke. Eviscerated like prey. And then there was Linne?... He could see her lying there. Disembowled, innards strewn about like some piece of demented art. Linne?, his lover, the one he would do anything for had been slain on a frozen winter day much like this. Bright red on brilliant white and wretched black. Betrayed to to his violent, abusive uncle Ve by his brother Tyr. The ultimate betrayal that had led to the demise of the one wolf that had managed to keep him sane through his experiences in a home that could only be described as hellish. She'd been alive when he'd found her?. barely. But the only word, her last word had simply been "look". Look? Look at what? At what his foolishness had done? at what his trust had done? Baldur's eyes squeezed shut and he looked away from the memories that he'd forgotten, that he stashed away and that were now free again to wound him. But closing his eyes didn't help, it never did. The pale brute dimly became aware of the cracks forming around his feet but his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what that meant. Tears began to fall from his eyes? gods he missed her. He missed her so bad it was nearly unbearable. How could he ever forgive himself? How could he ever forgive Tyr? A violent growl ripped through his throat as cracks further laced themselves below him. He'd kill that fucking bastard! ?but what about the awful things Baldur himself had done? He was every bit as much of a monster as Ve? as that disgusting son of a bitch he wanted to torture in the worst ways possible. Was Ve right? Were they similar in more than coat color? He swallowed. He'd done some pretty despicable, unforgivable things at the paws of his father and uncles. Baldur moved and trudged blindingly forward. Crack. What was he supposed to do now? Crreeaakk. If he were descent he'd piss on a bear and let the beast rip him to shreds. But? well.. he wasn't descent now was he? CRACK. Ohhhh no he was a nasty little beastie and a coward who couldn't even face up to the crimes of others let alone his own. And a kind, gentle, innocent had suffered for it. It should be him at the bottom of some lake not her- CRASHHHH! The ice below him collapsed and the wolf hit the icy lake. Black water oozed up around him as his lungs and limbs seized in the sudden shock of cold. Part of him was ready to fight but the other part? well he had said it'd be better if it was him, right. Powerful limbs surged as he threw his head above the water. No, there was nothing he could do. He'd tried! Claws scrapped against ice! No, no, darling, he hadn't done nearly enough. He should've known better than to leave Hodr alone. Shouldn't known better than to wait another day to run away with Linne?. If he weren't such a FUCKING IDIOT they'd both be alive. Baldur's head fell under the water once more, ice shivering it's way down into his lungs. Thor would be sad. Maybe some of the others? could he do this to them? Could he stop fighting? Claws scrapped against the underside of the ice as he realized that the current had shifted him. Fuck. Where was the opening. Baldur's head banged violently against the ice, his lungs burned as he started to panic. Well fuck it all anyway? maybe Thor could pretend he'd wandered off and lived happily ever after. That would be nice enough wouldn't it? No cold reality freezing their veins, just a bright happy fantasy! He'd been happier then? ignorance was bliss. Ignorance was innocence. Ignorance was the hope that he was a better person than he actually was and that nothing really bad had ever happened to him. A promise that he wasn't as broken as his brothers. That some how through it all he was the one to make it out in one pieces. Ha. Ha. Hahahahahahahaha?.. Baldur wasn't sure why he was laughing but water quickly pounded down his lungs and he choked. Well shit? what a perfectly boring way to go. What a stupid way to go. Dumbass walks out onto a frozen lake? sounded like the beginning of a really bad joke. But he was a joke, wasn't he? "No, Baldur, you're not?. why are you doing this to me?" Eyes clenched closed at the fog in his brain and the biting pain that was rapidly numbing his body. He was dying. That's all it was. "Open your eyes!" The fuck was this? "Look! Baldur, please open your eyes!" "No? no? I CANT! I don't want to see any more of this!" "You don't need to be afraid any more! I'm here! I forgive you! Please open your eyes. Look at me! Everything will be alright." "?." "LOOK!" Baldur's eyes snapped open to a world of liquid darkness with one spot of ice blue light peering down at him. The opening he'd fallen into. Vision blurred, limbs shook and seized but he pushed witheverything he was worth. The voice? oh gods was it Linne?? It couldn't be. "Yes! Baldur swim! Don't give in!" Blood swirled around him as he swam but by some miracle he'd made it to the surface and hauled himself out before collapsing spread eagle on the ice. Ice blue eyes rolled forward to stare at a snow white femme smiling down at him with her mismatched gaze. One sapphire blue eye the other a lavendar. The sweetest smile on her face. An angel. He smiled weakly as she moved to wrap herself around him and he started to cry. There was so much he wanted to ask but he wasn't going to get the change. He could hear her screaming his name as his head hit the ice and he fell once again into darkness, his soul praying he'd see her light again.

As the sole healer of Covari she was also the only wolf in Covari pack lands with a decent herb collection. Her very den was picked for its fissures that cracked through the floor of her home and allowed a storage place to separate and contain the dried herbs she collected. Other, fresher supplies could only be gathered in smaller groups, to be thrown out as they got older. Other herbs weren't even found within Covari lands, and now that the illness was no more she made her mission to explore the surrounding lands to build upon her collection. It was more then herbs that she sought out, and for this reason she had two separate leaves twirled about the long strands at the base of her neck. One for killing and the other for healing.



The scent of blood would be her first distraction, right at the moment where she found Eldeberry, a herb she was fully out of stock with, after offering it to all the wolves in Covari, without knowing how the sickness had been spread it had been another aid in helping to keep others from catching it. The scent was a twitch in her nose and she pulled free a twig of the herbs and carefully placed a few berries in her leaf bag before allowing the scent to distract her. She followed it to the shores of a frozen lake, where a white shape lay sprawled against its surface. She made a little huffing noise in the back of her throat when she saw the cracks that already pocketed the surface. Grateful for the slippery surface she placed her two front paws on the ice and stretched out her body, leaving her hind legs gripping on the grass as she stretched forward enough to grip the back of his neck and haul him along the slippery surface of the ice. Had she been on dry land she would have had trouble even if she was fully leaning over him and attempting to lift and grab, but on the ice she need only slide him to safety.



Allowing his body to sprawl against the grass she shook her head again and began to examine him. She would need to get him warm, with all the cold water that had gotten into his body and lungs, but at least this fool was breathing. His shoulders where torn and bloody, but worse then that upon his back right ankle bore a festering wound. She screwed up her nose ? that had to be dealt with first, or he could lose the foot. ?if you wake up and bite me, i'm gona bite you right back? she promised him as she rammed a foot onto the surface of the ice that lay beside them until she had access to the water. She would then move the injured foot towards the water and run it beneath the cool liquid, she would then examine her claws, give out a great sigh. Alright, before she woke him she had some other things she needed to do. She quickly scampered away from his side and returned moments later dragging long leaves, which she placed upon and tucked around him to keep his core body temperature. She then placed her last remains of White Willow Bark from her leaf storage onto the worst of his cuts before wrapping HorseTail about them to stop him from bleeding out. She placed some diluted Wintergreen herbs to drip down his throat to ease the pain of his injuries and what she was about to do.



With this all set she returned to her place by his foot, grabbed out some Trillium, some of which she rubbed against her claws, some she rubbed against the festering wound, and more of which she placed aside for later. She gave another stern glance. "I will bite you back, injured or not" she scowled. She then began the task of reopening the wound with her claws and cleaning out the puss...



"Speech"

For the longest time he was surrounded in cold darkness. In the distance he could here her humming softly, the sweet lullaby biting through the pain but failing to grant him enough strength to fully rise to consciousness. Baldur was dimly aware that he was being moved. "There's someone here taking care of you? you should be sure to thank her and not give her any trouble my love." Baldur weakly tried to nod. No trouble, none he wouldn't even think of- "OW! BLAZING BUZZARD BUTTS! W-" Baldur immediately set to coughing as blood-laced water spilled from his lungs. His head was spinning and he hurt everywhere. He turned to see a creme-shaded woman with golden eyes who was cleaning the infection out of his ankle. He stared at it for a moment, the limb filled with pus then promptly turned his head and wretched. Well? he was on solid ground now at least. Linne? cleared her throat and jerked her head toward the woman. "Oh? umm? thank you? random stranger? ummm? so what's your? ow? name?"

As Orchid cut the first incision with a sharp she fully expected a bite to tear through her shoulder and tensed in anticipation. She was more then grateful when the boy shot up with a shout and seemed to realize what it was she was doing. She held his paw steady on the ground, cupped beneath her own so his jerking movements into wakefulness didn?t move the injured limb. She gave him a few more movements to settle himself and frowned as water and blood where heaved from his lungs. Internal bleeding? She would have to get something? Yarrow into him to help with bleeding.. she furrowed her brow again and scowled down at her problem patient. ?You?re a real mess? she accused him, before turning her back to him and grabbing the paw ? much more gently so then her words and begun to wring out the puss from the lightly bleeding injury she had reopened. She grabbed the Trillium she had set aside for this and rubbed it liberally over the wound, cleaning it properly this time, which was what one was supposed to do with an injury? she avoided rolling her eyes, if barely as she ran the injury under the cool water once more. Finally she took it out and placed it gently on the ground. Placing her previously made poultice over it and binding the injury with horsetail would finish her task. She then ran her own paws under the water until they were clean. ?I?m Orchid, and you better keep you injuries clean this time? she told him, pointing a claw in the direction of his face. ?Your lucky, if you?d let that fester much longer I would have been tying you to the ground and soring off that leg with my claws? she threatened him. Honestly, didn?t he even have the most basic understanding of looking after himself? He was an abuse to healing, just sitting there. ?Stay here? or so help me I?ll knock you out? she thought to herself and scampered off again. She returned a little while later with Rabbit, a knotted water tight leaf containing just that, water and some more herbs. ?Eat, drink? she commanded, a note of ?don?t argue with me? in her tone as she set about sorting out the herbs she had collected. One, Yarrow she shoved his way after a moment, along with Meadowseet to ease the pain, she couldn?t give him any more Wintergreen without causing him problems. ?Alright boy, so whats your name? and how did you get into this mess?? she asked him, a little more gently then before. Speech

Baldur gasped through the pain but dutifully held still while the healer tended to his wounds. He flinched a little at her statement but could only nod in agreement. He was a mess. Physically, mentally, emotionally. He'd never felt so shattered in his life but at least Linne? was here now. He could feel her presence watching him, worried but strong. To think her spirit had come back to him. There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to ask and all the while there was this creeping doubt echoing in his brain. How sure was he that she was really there? "Don't worry Baldur. I'm not going anywhere, not unless you want me too." He smiled softly, attention shifting only when the healer spoke and introduced herself as Orchid. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry to trouble you." He flinched a little at the mention of her sawing off a limb with her claws. Wolf claws were quite dull and that would take forever! He hoped if it ever came to that she'd just chew it off. Orchid commanded him to stay put and so he did. There was the impulse to be rebellious but he was in far to much pain to move even if he wanted to so instead he rested his head on his paws and waited, loosing himself in Linne?'s sweet voice as she hummed him a little song. Ice blue eyes opened as the healer returned with food and drink. Wow? he was impressed. "Thank you." he whispered before taking in the water and starting, weakly to eat. Baldur rarely lied, at least directly, that was more Loki's domain so when Orchid asked him about his little mess he answered. "I'm Baldur. I left Alacritis for a bit to rescue my brother Hodr? but he was tortured and killed by my unless. They attacked me. We fought? I lost." He shrugged. There wasn't really much to add. "Thank you again for rescuing me? what were you doing all the way out here any how?" Baldur couldn't help but be curious as to the circumstances that had saved his life. speech