Vibrant orange fur flashed through the verdant green of the fruit-filled grove as the vulpine-like fae trotted between trees and shrubs. Wide green eyes took in the plethora of fresh fruit growing all around and her nose was stuffed with the perfume of the assortment of berries. Syanna had never seen a place so bountiful as this grove at the northern end of Auster! These will be great for my medicines, she thought to herself with a beaming smile. Anything to make the herby, grassy mixtures more palatable. Plus, she just so happened to have quite the sweet tooth, so if she indulged in a few here and there, she wouldn't be complaining.

Walking between the rows of berry bushes, Syanna plucked fruit after fruit with precise dainty paws. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants of various colors, they all went right into the healer's satchel for later use—and a few finding their way into her mouth. She chewed greedily, savoring the fruity sugars and sweetness on her palate. The berry picking coupled with the beautiful sunny summer day just made everything feel so serene and perfect! There was nothing that could ruin her good mood today!

Rounding a shrub, Syanna turned and came face to face with the snarling face of a lone sabertooth tiger, the massive feline glaring at her as a low rumble echoed in its throat. The vulpine-furred fae gasped and almost fell over herself, stumbling backward in a flurry of paws, eyes wide with fright. Her mind raced along with her pulse, trying to figure out how long the massive predator had been stalking her and how she hadn't noticed it. "Eeeeeasy there, kitty," she tried to soothe the giant beast that was matching her retreat with his own advance on her. "Look, I'm just backing away, okay? No need to kill me! I'd make a terrible meal anyway." She gave a weak chuckle, too afraid to take her eyes off of the saber cat to see where she was backing up to.

Syanna ended up backing up right into a bush, stumbling into the plant and giving the saber cat the opening it was waiting for. The tiger pounced with a roar, but Syanna reacted just as fast, diving to the side and rolling out of the way of the giant murder mittens aimed for her jugular. As soon as she got her feet back under her, Syanna took off across the grove, trying to ignore the feline yowl that came from behind her. Away, she had to get away! Anywhere! She instinctively began to run south, zipping through the shrubs in a slalom, hoping to throw the big cat off and give her enough space to make a getaway. There was no one else around; she was all on her own against a massive cat that was hellbent on turning her into lunch!

WC: 481 / 1500

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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Ezra found his way out of the pack lands for the first time in weeks. While his father had been gone on the trip to the other packs he had stuck close to home, helping out with patrols and hunts and the like. Steadily with a bit of Art's encouragement and guidance he was starting to feel more like his contributions around the pack did actually mean something. He had even been spending more time with Lilith now that his sister was feeling better and could get up and move around the pack more. Seeing her hesitance and surprise at his offer to go on a patrol with her the other day made him realize just how little time he had spent with her and guilt over that started to gnaw at his gut. He wasn't proud of how he had acted as a pup when he was constantly trying to push everyone away from him and do his own thing so now he felt like he had to really make up for it. Emile was distant or absent at best and while he did see Jane around moderately often he didn't really click with his rambunctious sister. He thought he might be able to have some kind of good relationship with Lilith though and he was proud of how she had handled that saber cat so he just hoped that maybe he could be a bit of a mentor for her the same way Art had been a mentor for him.

Now that his father was back though he wanted to enjoy a bit of the freedom he felt and wandered up toward the Wildberry Grove. He'd heard that there had been several bear attacks up here recently and a part of him wanted to see if that bear was still around, but really he was more interested in trying some of these berries that everyone kept talking about. He still wore his armor just in case, but his sweet tooth brought him up here more than anything. There was also a lingering thought of the fox-like woman he had met the last time he left the pack lands, occupying this thoughts as he traveled north to the berry plant filled grove. He felt like it was a slim chance that they might ever cross paths again unless she came to The Hallows for something like he had suggested, but he still held a little bit of hope... Though he wondered if she would even want to see him again after he was so utterly hopeless at talking to her. He sighed softly at the thought, his ears flicking back with embarrassment.

Right about then, the sound of scrambling and crashing through bushes up ahead made him stop, his head popping back up and ears perking to listen. He was immediately on edge, his brows pulling together as he contemplated whether he should go see if there was someone that needed help, but then the sound started getting closer and louder and he realized it was coming right toward him. His fur bristled and he readied himself to run or fight - until the very woman he had been thinking about appeared in front of him, running out of trees in front of him and very nearly running right into him in the process. "Syanna? What's going on?" he questioned with a concerned ice blue gaze as he looked past her at the trees, trying to look for whatever had been chasing her.

1065 / 1500

Ezra Adravendi

Syanna had been running so haphazardly and blindly through the dense grove, narrowly zipping in and out of trees in a desperate gambit to lose the giant saber cat, that she hadn't been paying attention to where she was going. A quick glance back to make sure the massive predator wasn't right behind her, Syanna turned her green eyes forward—and found herself careening straight into Ezra's massive form. She had no time to stop, no chance to catch herself before she was crashing into him with a surprised yelp. She crashed right into his chest, the boy's larger size and stature keeping him steady like a mountain while she crumpled to the ground at his paws, panting hard and staring up at him with wide- terrified eyes.

Ezra asked her what was wrong, and Syanna hurried to get back to her paws, yelping as pain shot up her front left leg the moment she put weight on it. Dammit, she must have twisted it or sprained it when she crashed into Ezra! Stupid girl! "Tiger... Big tiger...! Huge fangs...! Coming...!" she got out between heavy gasps for air. As if on cue, the feline-like yowl of hunger and anger sounded around the grove. A moment later, the giant cat came bursting through a thicket of shrubs, fixing its ravenous glare on the two wolves. The cat licked its lips, beginning the slow, predatory advance toward them. Syanna whined and backed up behind Ezra, looking up to the larger boy and then around the grove for any solution to their predicament.

"That's it! We've gotta run, Ezra!" she whimpered, nudging him with her shoulder to get him to move. She tried to back up, but yelped and nearly collapsed again from her injured leg. Shit, she couldn't run at all. She was well and truly fucked. But she refused to give up. Giving up meant dying. She didn't want to die today. "Ezra, we need to go right now!" Please don't be a hero, silly dopey boy, she silently prayed in her mind, losing up to him with the same pleading look for him not to be the dumb macho hero she knew he'd be thinking of being. If he'd been so tenacious over making her feel better about losing a mushroom, she didn't want to see what he'd be willing to do with a prehistoric danger staring them down like an easy meal.

WC: 1471 / 1500

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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Syanna had run into him like hitting a wall and his ears flicked back with worry, immediately trying to help her back to her paws while he saw the terror in those green eyes that had been taking up a lot of his thoughts since the last time they met. Concern creased his brow when she yelped, his pale blue eyes going to the leg that she was now favoring, making it really obvious that she had somehow hurt herself either during her sprint out of the grove or when she ran into him. Her words made his hackles bristle. Another one of those damn saber cats?!

As if it was summoned by her words, that now familiar yowl cut through the air and his head popped up to look at the giant feline, a snarl immediately pulling across his lips. He blocked Syanna off from the saber cat as she backed up behind him, settling into a fighting, defensive stance with a low growl to try and scare off the feline. His ear flicked back toward her as she tried to urge him away, the words quickly followed up by another yelp. She wasn’t going to be able to run and he could certainly carry her, but he wasn’t sure he could run fast enough with her on his back to get away without hurting her more.

”Just get away, alright? Start heading toward the castle, I’ll be right there,” he told her quickly moments before the saber cat lunged at him with its huge paws swinging toward him. With a snarling growl he ducked down out of the way and leapt up, latching his teeth deep around its throat as he ducked under its fangs. Those long teeth clinked against the plate metal of his armor that blocked the bite it tried to make into the back of his neck in return, the feline making strangled, pained yowls as Ezra’s razor sharp teeth ripped and cut through flesh with each tug of his head as he pushed the big cat back.

The cat twisted its neck despite the fact that it would hurt itself more in the process, just to rip itself out of his grasp. Its strangled sounds of struggle turned more into gurgles as the serrated edges of his unusual teeth ripped through its throat as it pulled away, blood pouring down the cat’s chest. As one final swing the cat swung a bite at his side, just past the edge of his armor, and its fangs dug deep into skin before he had a chance to pull away. A pained growl left him as he shoved a paw into the saber cat’s chest and pushed the dying predator back away from him, knocking it to the ground as it continued to struggle and choke on its own blood. It would be dead within moments so he left it there, instead turning back to where he had left Syanna just to make sure she was still okay.

He stumbled a couple of steps before falling hard onto his haunches, gritting his teeth and grimacing  at the pain that radiated from each panting breath. He could still breathe okay, it just hurt like hell. The saber cat’s teeth cut a pretty deep laceration into his right side and he couldn’t really tell because it was just all pain all over, but it had fractured at least one of his ribs. His icy gaze fell on Syanna and as soon as he saw that she was okay it felt worth it.

Ezra Adravendi

The moment Syanna saw Ezra's  hackles raise and his fur bristle, she knew that her silent prayers had gone unanswered by whatever gods hated her. Ezra was going to fight the sabertooth tiger. Ezra ordered her to start making her way towards the castle, but she narrowed her eyes at him with a vehement shake of her head. She would not be dismissed like some child! "Ezra, don't-!" she tried to plead with him, but it was too late. The saber cat lunged for him, and with a growl, Ezra engaged the predator. Syanna stumbled back away from the fight, her heart in her throat while she watched the dappled boy start tearing away at the cat with ferocious lethality. The fight was bloody and gruesome, and while it was awful to watch, Syanna couldn't bring herself to look away. She wasn't about to run like a coward and leave him out here all on his own!

Backpedaling until she had reached the edge of the clearing, Syanna watched with wide, horrified eyes as Ezra and the cat grappled with one another, seeing crimson blood spilling all over the grass, but unable to see who it was coming from. Please don't get hurt please don't get hurt please don't get hurt! The silent mental pleas repeated over and over in her head. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything happened to Ezra because of her. After a few moments that felt more like hours, Ezra tore away the cat's throat, the feline dying with a gurgling choking sound. But just as she was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard Ezra give a pained growl, her heart stopping while he shoved the dying cat away and turned back to her.

"Oh my gods, Ezra!" Syanna cried out when she saw the ragged laceration on his side. She was already running to him as quickly as she could, doing her best to not put too much weight on her sprained leg. She arrived to him just as he sank back to his haunches, his breathing strained with the pain he was clearly feeling. "Don't move, okay?" she told him, instructing more than asking while she set her satchel down and began to inspect the wound. It was hard to tell how much of the blood covering him was his own and how much was the saber cat's, but either way, the tear in his side didn't look good. Reaching into her satchel, she pulled out a cloth and began to press it to the wound, trying to slow the flow of blood and clean it enough to get a clear picture of what she was working with.

"Eat this now," she ordered him, reaching into her bag and retrieving a small bundle of meadowsweet. She had a strong hunch it wouldn't be enough to ease the pain and wouldn't kick in fast enough, but it would at least help until she could see the wound. "You big, stupid idiot, why did you do that?!" she muttered under her breath while she watched with slight panic as the white cloth steadily turned a dark red with his blood. "I told you to run! I specifically didn't want this to happen to you!" She looked up at him with furious green eyes, but behind the superficial anger lay worry and concern. She wasn't angry at him, she was angry because he had gotten hurt because of her.

After a few moments, Syanna slowly peeled the cloth away from the wound and grimaced when she saw the cut through several layers of skin and exposed muscle. He would require stitches for sure, and if he hadn't broken any bones she'd be shocked. Fortunately, it didn't look life-threatening if she treated it right. Reaching down into her bag on reflex, Syanna peered down at her supplies—and hesitated. She only had a small stock of plants, and most of them were rare herbs she had been hoarding to trade with. Healing Ezra would use most if not all of her supplies and leave her with nothing to barter with for her own survival. The vulpine-hued fae peered back up at the stupid dire boy that had gotten hurt saving her. She could see the pain he was trying to hide in those sky blue eyes. If she didn't do something, he'd bleed out and die. There was no chance of getting someone from his pack out here in time. Either she saved him or he died.

It wasn't a choice she found difficult to make. Syanna reached into her satchel and pulled out everything she had. A salve of wintergreen and periwinkle she'd made back up north, some kava, a nearly empty roll of bandaging, her suture kit, and two petals of wolfsbane. A deep frown creased her brow as she considered her options. "Lie down on your side," she told him while motioning with her paw to lie down, then paused and fixed him with an exasperated look and amended, "Your good side." She didn't think it had to be said, but Ezra had already proven himself a little dopey in her presence. Once he was lying down, she pressed the cloth to his side again while looking around for something to use as bandaging. "1 to 10 scale, how bad is the pain?" she asked. His answer would gauge what she had to use for him.

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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Ezra could tell Syanna was talking to him and he could see the worry and panic on her face, but he couldn't really hear everything she was saying. He could just hear the blood rushing in his ears like the pain was somehow muffling his hearing. It was like he was caught in a constant feedback loop of pain - every time he breathed it hurt again, but the pain made him pant more which caused him to hurt more as a result. That combined with how he was losing a lot of blood made everything kind of fuzzy and indistinct after a few moments, but she was okay so it was worth it. As long as he saved her then it was okay. He was pretty sure she told him to sit still, but that felt like a silly instruction since he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to move even if he wanted to. Then suddenly the pain got worse when she pressed a cloth to the wound, making him tense up and grunt through gritted teeth, his face contorting with it as his ears pinned back against his head, doing his best to sit still like she said.

He looked at the plant that she stuck in front of his nose and didn't really question her demand, instead just forcing his mouth open to take it, chewing and swallowing the bitter herb dutifully. It was difficult to focus on much of anything, but he could hear her saying something so he tried, catching parts of what she was saying about how this was what she hadn't wanted to happen, the green eyes he loved looking so mad at him for fighting the cat and getting hurt. "I had to save you," he muttered, his voice soft and hoarse between shallow, pained panting, his brow pulling together with confusion as if this should be an obvious fact. That's what he had always been taught, right? Defend those he cared about, protect those that couldn't protect themselves, don't fight to hurt others without reason and only use his teeth when it was for a good cause. He had done all of those things so he couldn't feel upset about the wound he had gotten. Syanna was safe, that's what mattered.

Ezra sat there while she went on to examining his wound, doing his best to sit still and grit and bare it. It hadn't really crossed his mind how she was going to deal with this or how they were going to get back to The Hallows now. It also didn't really dawn on him how badly he was hurt despite how much pain he was in. He couldn't really tell how long it was that he was sitting here and he completely missed her internal debate as she looked down at her supplies. He only registered what was happening in the present when she told him to lay down. He slowly eased himself down to the ground, scoffing slightly at her reminder to lay on his good side. As if he wanted anything at all touching his extremely painful side.

He settled down onto his side, his wound facing up and more easily accessible to her now. She pressed another cloth to his tender side and he grimaced, another pained grunt escaping him while his paws flexed and clawed at the ground, doing his very best to hide as much of his pain as he could even though he was failing pretty badly at that. At least he wasn't screaming which was really what he felt like doing. When she asked about his pain he didn't really even know how to answer. This was the first time he had gotten really hurt so the pain was certainly the worst he had ever experienced, but did it just seem worse than it was because o that? Either way, it hurt like hell and he just wanted it to stop so he muttered, "Eight? Nine?" though gritted teeth, closing his eyes tight as he tried to shut it out and ignore how his head felt fuzzy and light from all the blood he had lost.

Ezra Adravendi

Syanna's ears flicked upright when Ezra gave a grunting reply that he had to protect her. Her scowl deepened, but the worry in her eyes betrayed the fact that it wasn't anger on her face. It was fear; fear that she wouldn't be good enough to save him. "You stupid boy..." she muttered again under her breath. He really was going to get himself killed trying to save her. Why couldn't he just let her go? At least he was being compliant as a patient, but the gruff grunts he was making and the way he clawed at the ground showed just how much pain he actually was in. When he reported an eight or nine on the pain scale, Syanna's expression turned grim and her heart sank. Okay, so she would be using all of her supplies. Whatever, it didn't matter. Ezra had to live. She would have to be extremely careful about how she did this though. She would still need to get him ambulatory to get him back to the Hallows. There was no chance in hell she'd be able to bring his huge ass back on her own.

"Okay, let's get that number down." Syanna immediately began to open the container of salve with deft paws, the herby scent hitting her in the face. She set the salve aside, then took one of the wolfsbane petals and tapped his muzzle. "Open up," she instructed, then placed the petal gently on his tongue. "Swallow that whole. It's pretty powerful, so it should start helping the pain right away. If it's not going down in a few minutes, let me know, okay?" Syanna knew the wolfsbane would help ease the immediate pain, but it would also act as a sedative as it entered his bloodstream and make him extremely drowsy, which meant she had just started the timer of how long she had to get him patched up and back home. One petal would help dull the pain and make him sleepy. Two might stop the pain entirely, but he'd be unconscious in minutes. It could also run the risk of slowing or stopping his heart with how much blood he'd lost already. She had to measure the doses very, very carefully.

Turning back to his wound, Syanna pulled out her suture kit: a thin needle made of silver with an attached strand of catgut. She dipped her paws into the ointment and began to slather it across his wound, starting around the ragged edges as a topical painkiller and antiseptic. The thick paste helped to slow some of the bleeding as well, which bought her enough time to take the needle between two dainty toes as she eyed the wound, already planning out where the stitches would have to go. She gave the salve a few minutes to begin to numb the area around the wound, then she began her work. Syanna used one paw to tenderly push his rent flesh back together, the other slipping the sharp needle through muscle and sinew to bind it back together with practiced motions. She did her best tot ry and ignore any sounds Ezra would make, green eyes staring almost unblinking at her work.

Syanna moved smoothly and methodically, trying her best not to rush, even though the feeling of Ezra's warm blood around her paws did make her heart race with dread. Back and forth, back and forth the needle went, sealing his wound with as even stitching as she could manage until she had closed the wound up. Syanna cut the catgut thread with her teeth, making sure it held firm, then applied the rest of the salve over the wound to numb it further and covered it with the final piece of cloth she had. Unrolling the last of her bandages, Syanna nudged Ezra gently. "Sit up slowly," she ordered, waiting until he had gotten back up, then began winding the bandage around his torso to hold the cloth in place. Syanna had just enough bandage left to hold the cloth to his side and tie it taut but not too tight around his side. That would stop the bleeding and hopefully hold until they could get him back home and some more well equipped healers could tend to him.

Breathing a heavy sigh, Syanna looked over the bruised and bloodied boy with a nod. Not her finest work, but he'd live, probably. "Okay, we need to get you home, big boy," she said, nudging him again to get him back to his feet. "I need you to walk for me, Ezra. Can you do that? Do you feel all right to make it back home with me?" She didn't know how his body would react to the wolfsbane in addition to the blood loss. If he couldn't make it back on his own, they were fucked. She had no way of getting him back on her own and if she left him to call for help and he had a reaction to the wolfsbane or something else happened, he'd be dead before she got back. The only other thing she could hope for was a miracle of someone else coming by to find them.

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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Ezra didn't hesitate or question any of Syanna's instructions so when she tapped his muzzle and told him to open his mouth he did so obediently. He swallowed down the thing she placed on his tongue, half listening as she explained that it would help with the pain and giving a small nod when she said that it would help with the pain. That's all he needed to know and all he really wanted at this point, though the pain and blood loss were really starting to mess with his head. His vision went strangely foggy as he relaxed back into the grass again and he finally just let his eyes close again, his jaws parted while he breathed in shallow, painful panting. He grimaced and tensed as she started touching the wound again, his claws ripping away at the grass once more, but after a few minutes between the stuff she had smeared on his wound and the medicine that he had been fed the pain did start to dull a bit. It was a welcome relief and it allowed him to breathe a bit easier, but it didn't really help the fuzzy, swimming feeling in his head and how everything seemed kind of distant.

He couldn't do anything else but lay still and let Syanna do her work - the laying still part becoming infinitely more difficult when she began to stitch up the wound. Uncomfortable, pained whines and grunts through gritted teeth escaped him despite the pain killers, though the longer she worked the less painful it became. The numbing affect of whatever it was she had used fully took effect and it just made the stitching she was doing feel very strange and uncomfortable, but less painful so his sounds of pain eventually tapered off and left him simply panting once more. By the time she was done and instructed him to sit up, he was slightly numbed pretty much all over and that combined with the grogginess and heaviness he felt made the task much more difficult than he anticipated.

He slowly and carefully pushed himself up onto his haunches, his head pounding and feeling as if it weighed more than a pile of rocks. His heart was hammering hard against his chest and he was trembling a little bit without really noticing it, but he was able to sit up and blink his eyes open even though his vision was still a bit unfocused from the blood loss and medicines currently working their way into his system. He continued to hold still for her while she wrapped him up with bandages, slowly turning his head to look at her, feeling like he was moving through a sludge with how much effort it took. He watched her for a long moment while she tended to him, so undeniably grateful that she was okay and that she knew all of this stuff.

The idea of getting up sounded hard enough much less walking, but he'd certainly at least try anything Syanna asked of him. He gathered up his strength and pushed himself to his paws with a deep grunt, wavering for a moment until he finally found some kind of balance. He stood there just breathing for a long moment before he experimentally put one paw in front of another and very slowly he started walking back toward the castle, his gaze focused on the ground in front of him as if just walking took all his attention to manage. He occasionally wavered again and sometimes had to lean on her slightly to catch his balance, but somehow he managed to make it back in mostly one piece thanks to her.

Ezra Adravendi

Watching Ezra's movements had Syanna on edge. The dire wolf was unsteady and delirious, his eyes glassy and distant. The wolfsbane was clearly taking effect on him hard. Suddenly she was very glad she didn't give him the second petal. As he got to his feet without a word and took a couple experimental steps, Syanna knew this was going to be an ordeal. Ezra was clumsy on a good day, but now he looked ready to collapse at a moment's notice. Stuffing her remaining medicines back into her satchel, the smaller fae hurried to push herself against his side to offer him support while he stumbled his way south toward his pack. She knew she was acting as little more than a guard rail at this point, and if he fully toppled over he'd squish her in the blink of an eye, but she wasn't about to give up on him for something as stupid and asinine as size difference.

Her ears flicked to catch his pained, labored breathing and erratic panting. Her lips pursed into a tight line; that didn't sound good. Had he broken a rib? She'd have to be very careful to make sure he moved slow and didn't fall, lest the broken bone puncture a lung or other internal organ. Ezra was in such a delicate state, it was a weird dichotomy to see for such a burly young brute. "That's it, Speckles, just like that," she encouraged him with soft words, trying to keep him focused on her and alert. "You stay with me, okay? I'm gonna be really pissed if you give up after I used all my good supplies on you." She was teasing him—mostly for his benefit, but also to keep her calm and focused—but there was also a little truth in her jesting threat. Ezra couldn't die; he wasn't allowed to. If he did, what the hell would she even do next?

Syanna followed Ezra's slow steps, helping lead him until they hit the edge of the pack's territory, and then she immediately howled for urgent aid. It didn't take long for a few wolves to come rushing out, a dark-furred healer triaging Ezra while another massive dire wolf wearing a similar coat all but scooped the boy up to carry him back. Syanna surmised this must be Ezra's father that he had mentioned in passing once before. She followed briskly alongside the other wolves, limping with each step, but no longer paying any attention to the pain while they rushed Ezra to the infirmary. She told the healer how she had treated him, what herbs she'd used, and warned of his possible broken rib. At this point, Syanna felt all but useless, but she trailed along all the same. She was invested in Ezra's recovery now. At the very least, she would stay to make sure he lived.

"Syanna Alluráin"

As her mate, Ezra may enter her threads not marked as Private.
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