OOC: permission to powerplay given by Tea.

All the way across the fucking Knolls he drug the heavy, stinky man. Valentine tried to hurry, to shuffle as quickly as he could, in the hopes that Hati wouldn't wake up before he was done. The dude was in desperate need of a bath. Desperate. Need. He even tasted bad. The thick black fur that now coated Valentine's tongue tasted sour. Like a kill that had sat out in the hot sun and festered. Finally he reached his destination. A branch of the Rio Grande snaked its way across the Orchard and was the largest source of moving water in Imperium. The 'moving' part was the reason Valentine had chosen it for Hati's bath water. That way the filth would wash downstream and not pollute a good watering hole. Valentine backed into the creek, dragging Hati along with him. He carefully waded out into the middle, taking pains not to dip Hati's face under too often. Once there he adopted a wide stance similar to one he might use in a fight and, unable to think of a better method that didn't involve way too much touching, dunked Hati under. In a flash he pulled the Hati's head back out of the water and gently shook him from side to side so that his body swished through the creek. The process was repeated with less full body dunking and varying degrees of swishing until Valentine felt that was a good as it was going to get. He then drug Hati back to the bank and deposited him unceremoniously on the ground. With Hati (somewhat) clean and sprawled out on the bank like a dead thing, Valentine turned back to the creek. He bent down, opened his mouth, and stuck his muzzle in. Up to his eyes in water, Valentine then used his left foreleg to scrape at his tongue until the taste of dirt blotted out the taste of Hati. Tongue (somewhat) clean, Valentine turned back around to face the still dead looking Hati. His eyes were immediately drawn to the nasty-looking wounds. Oh, boy. Clearly he needed more help than Valentine could supply. The King called for Rhythm. ""

With spring came a very busy Rhythm. Now that the world had come alive once more the girl was busy gathering what she could of the spring flowers to save and dry for the rest of the year. Like now, she was spreading her collection onto the stone that protected her den. The sun was shining heavily on the plains and thankfully there was no breeze to pick up and drag her findings away. During her work the chocolate she wolf wouldn't hesitate to hum a soft melody, finding contentment in her task. While she was just finishing laying the last of her herbs Valentine's call would perk her ears. Looking in the direction he'd called from a curiosity would build within her. He sounded like he needed help, and she couldn't help but assume that he'd be calling for her instead of Cascade because either he or someone else needed healing. Grabbing a couple of the freshly picked dandelion plants and lambs ear. She'd move with a quickness, not knowing what she might be greeted with when she saw him. She hadn't expected to see him standing over Hati. Her curiosities were increased as she looked from Velen to the obviously unconscious wolf. She'd never seen him look so.. defeated? Hati had always seemed like a stubborn and very much powerful wolf, what had happened that she say him laying here now? Not that she cared incredibly, he had been the one to fight her brother so she could be here now. While the ultimate mastermind was Cascade, he had still done the deed. She'd drop her plants beside the wounded creature and look back up to the slate alpha, "Did you drown him?" Her words were serious, but if he wasn't really dead it could be construed as a dark joke. Before he could answer though she was already nosing around the dark body, the wounds had been mostly cleaned? Obviously though they needed more work. She'd get to work on cleaning them a bit better than the river had. ""

Slowly the sour taste of Hati overwhelmed the taste of the river mud. The nastiness of it was worsened by the sand that speckled the inside of his mouth. Every change in pressure, every licking of his lips, Valentine crushed grit between his teeth. As he waited his focus slowly began to shift away from Hati and to the grit he kept inadvertently crunching until the snoozing scuzzball was all but forgotten. It wasn't until Rhythm arrived that Valentine became aware of just how narrow his focus had gotten. Breathing deeply to “wake” himself up, Valentine answered dryly, "Not yet I haven't. But I may yet." A joke? Perhaps, but Valentine's expression was anything but amused. "He showed up at the border all," he gestured vaguely at Hati's injuries, "scuzzy and spouting weirdness." The King shrugged. What else could he have done? ""

He seemed quite distracted by the time she made it to him, and for a moment she thought about attending to him first, but it was obvious Hati was the one in need of her attention. She kept herself from snickering as he answered, not yet he wasn't drowned. She was very aware of the odor the injured male wore, as she listened as Valen told her of his oddness upon reaching the border. She could more easily patch up his wounds, however if his mind had been touched wrong she had no power at all. "I can patch him up, but don't know how much help I'll be if the head injury is permanent." She wasn't even sure if there was any outward sign of head trauma, what had he done to mess him up so much? Just being Hati probably. Chewing up the dandelion root she'd apply it carefully to his wounds, man he tasted bad. She never wanted to be this close to Hati again. With the smaller wounds she'd adhere them mostly back together with te lambs ear, the larger wounds might just have to be exposed to the air. Would he be able to keep care of himself alone? "He's probably going to need daily care." Rhythm would volunteer, despite how filthy the brute was, but would he even accept her care while he was awake? "I don't know if he'll accept it from me." She'd look back up to Valentine, not sure what the dark wolf's fate might be. ""

"I can patch him up, but don't know how much help I'll be if the head injury is permanent." Valentine frowned. "Could dehydration make him weird?" Weeell... He amended, "Weirder?" Valentine wouldn't have been surprised to learn that the brute hadn't properly taken care of himself since he'd last been Imperium. Grief was a terrible thing.  "Or infection? Those wounds look pretty gnarly. But," he admitted, "If he does have a head injury I'm afraid I may have made it worse. Pre-almost drowning he may or may not have had his head smashed against a rock." Rhythm's final statements rang with truth and Valentine's frown deepened. "I don't think he'd willingly accept help from anyone. I suppose..." his gaze drifted to the still unconscious man. "We could ask him when he comes around. Although I think we should have a game plan worked up before hand as I'm sure the answer will be some variant of 'fuck off'." He hesitated, then, "If that is the case then I would be absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to hold him down while you treat him." Sounded like a party. ""

She'd continue to dress his wounds with what she'd brought with her. She was certain the bigger ones would need to stay open, the infection would need to drain out. She'd speak when she didn't have anything in her mouth, she was almost finished as he replied. Maybe it was just dehydration, she wouldn't put it past him. "It is a good possibility," He'd been the one to smash up his head? Well she was sure that wouldn't be very good. Valen was quick to agree with her, on more ways than one. The likelihood of him allowing anyone to dress his wounds was slim to none. He assured her though, he'd happily hold him down when the time came to fix him. "I could also drug him pretty heavily, though it doesn't sound like you would have as much fun." She'd smile as she shook her head and looked back down at the unconscious being. "Where do you plan on keeping him?" He'd be better off in a quiet den where he could wake up on his own and not be in immediate danger to himself. Would Valen go as far as to guard a door? ""