In Dire Straits - the railway children [Azuhel/Semi-Open*] [BORDER]

The mirage of some river or another had taken them far into and out of the desert. Desolace was an unforgiving place: how many days had they wandered? His paws burned with the heat of dry sand underfoot. His fur had shed swiftly with the sudden change of environment, leaving him looking bedraggled and even more underfed than usual. All four of them were beyond dehydrated, staggering with the effort to keep walking. Leaf's wound was festering, he could see the fever in her eyes, lined with red. He allowed her to rest against him as they walked, bent-double, and his heart ached for her. Would she survive another day? A night?

He was too dehydrated to cry, or even think.

He didn't remember the sand disappearing. He barely remembered the sky turning from blue to a murky grey. When had the air cooled? When had they left Desolace? Uncharacteristically leading the way, he limped towards a distant scent-trail. He'd almost forgotten what wolves smelled like, beyond the scents of his cohort. What did... Saboro smell like? Taste like? What was it like to feel rain upon your skin?

The lanky hound staggered, his legs shaking under the weight of his malnourished body. Knees buckled, he tripped and collapsed, head hitting the ground hard and causing his ears to ring. His heart, a dismal flutter, pounded painfully in his head as he rolled onto his side, flank quaking with the effort to remain conscious. Where were they? They weren't home. Nothing smelled or looked familiar, but they certainly weren't in the desert any more. He could see vast, towering redwoods, a conifer forest. For someone who'd never been out of the rainforest before, it was a baffling sight. He might've been more mesmerised, if he'd had the ability to lift his head.

The crusty blue eyes blinked, vaguely, darting around the area as he heard footsteps. Foreign footsteps. Not from Leaf, or Rorschach, or Spider. He swallowed, shifting uncomfortably and peering around. Hoarsely, he attempted to speak.

"Please. Don't hurt us. Where are we?"

OOC: Semi-open, but we don't want it to be flooded, so please hit Oni or I up privately if you want to join!

Leviathan did not come to the borders often. Not for any particular reason, though perhaps avoiding tangling himself up in an acceptance could be one, but because he just never wandered that way. Today however, he decided to explore what little open Alteron space he had left to explore. It seemed calm enough, little activity aside from those who found themselves at the border more often than he. New people can be interesting, he reminded himself, but you're not very good at people. Not yet, anyway.

He should learn to interact with people better, he thought, humming a few low notes as he walked slowly along the edge of Alteron. When he heard rustling, the humming did not stop, and he weighed his options. Keep to himself, or learn more. The answer was easy, and he pushed himself towards the little noise not as quicker than he was already walking. Not that it took him long to get there.

On the ground in front of him lay four figures. Four thin, tired, pathetic looking, unfamiliar figures. The humming finally stopped, and Leviathan let out a long breath through his mouth, watching one of them come to consciousness along with the others. When their eyes met, Leviathan just blinked slowly, towering over them as they lay on the ground. He didn't know much about what happens on the borders, but he would easily bet this was not typical.

"Please. Don't hurt us. Where are we?"

Lucky, then, that he wasn't the hands-on type. Leviathan licked his chops, and then looked around as if he was trying to figure out where he was, as well. "Elsewhere." he said simply, knowing full well it was not the answer they were looking for. But beggars could not be choosers, and he wanted to ensure at least an equal exchange of information.

"First, who are you? All of you. What brought you in like... This." All fucked up and dying and tired. Alteron was no sanctuary, and although it certain would be interesting, it did not have place for the dying and refugees barely able to breath. But these four had to belong somewhere, too close to one another yet different to be any kind of family.

Momentarily, leviathan looked around himself, then back, to see if someone a little more qualified would show up. These were not folks seeking acceptence, they looked lost. And to be lost, they had to have had a place of origin. Now, whether that place was an ally or not was a whole different story. "Stay." he commanded, voice stern but lazy, they would not move in their current condition. So while they stayed, Leviathan howled,

Grandmother, we have visitors.

The wound had only gotten worse. They had tried to stop the infection, using what little plants they could find in Desolace to try and halt it in its tracks, but it had slowly succeeded in spreading. Leaf's entire thigh had swollen, her leg now too painful to put any weight on. It was agony, and in the end, all she could focus on was putting one foot in front of the other, eyes fixed on the horizon. If she could do nothing else, she'd get the three boys as far as she could before her body gave in on itself.

Despite her efforts, she slowed them down.

The world had slowly changed around them, the air cooling, ground shifting from sand to firmer dirt, grass sitting under foot. None of them were entirely sure of when it had happened, but it certainly had, whether they were aware of it or not. This was not a mirage. Red rimmed eyes flicked up to the taller wolf beside her. He'd done so well with her, supporting her weight and doing what he could. It made her want to cry, but that was impossible.

She continued to lean against him, though her knees began to buckle with every other step. She was the first to fall, hitting the ground with a dull thud. Her body ached, her right leg- flank, no, her entire right side throbbed with pain as her heart pumped the infection around her body.

Dull, golden eyes flicked across her friend, her brother, her mate, and then they closed.

When they finally opened again, they weren't alone. A lone wolf had appeared, and she stared at him with blurry vision, trying to focus on him. His howl seemed to hurt her ears, and they flicked back against her head. He was calling for someone, though they had no way of knowing if they would be friend or foe. Lifting her head, Leaf sucked in a deep breath. What else had they left to lose? They were going to die anyway, so she may as well take the risk.

Summoning the last of her energy, Leaf struggled to her feet. She swayed in place a moment, kissing her teeth in an attempt to wet her mouth with saliva before she spoke. "This is Llewellyn, Rorschach, and Spider."Her voice was quiet, hoarse from lack of use, and the pain she was in was audible in how she spoke. She felt weak. It was terrifying. Drawing herself as upright as she could, she lifted her head.

"My name is Leaf. I am the War Captain of Saboro." She paused, briefly scanning the stranger for a reaction. "Are you friend or foe?"

[Image: plague_by_cookietsune-dafvev6.gif]

Oleander had no business on the border. Sure, his Father commanded that plot of territory with his Mother and Zach’s dame, but it was no place for him. He’d never had that much curiosity for the outside world beyond the moat and the cliffs which made Alteron look like its own encapsulated space. For all, he cared the pack may as well have really been that way. A floating island all on its own. Although, naturally Oleander knew that wasn’t the case. After all, Anya and her friends surely fled somewhere, and he recalled a time during his youth when “special guests” were allowed to shack up around his family home as well. Some slimy fellow named Bane and a host of other foreigners.

None of the faces here before him now though were familiar with the black and white canine. The wolf, who'd only bothered snooping in on the affair because he was close to that vehement howl, scanned his sharp yellow eyes across the band of fallen comrades. Two worse than the rest, but even the half that looked "better" clearly wasn't at their best...at least he hoped that wasn't their best. It was just as well for them if the younger wolf's half-sibling had the right idea otherwise any bid for acceptance would be swiftly denied.

He wandered over and hovered somewhere by Leviathan. Devil horn ears that stood on his head only perked higher as he watched the green and white female stagger to her feet. His muzzle wrinkling at the smell that wafted up right along with her. Rancid meat...His nose wiggled. There was more too it, blood, milky pus, but the sum of the odor was something he knew best. The limb was spoiling. He'd accidentally left behind plenty of caches of food to, unfortunately, do the same, and that olfactory offending odor was coming from the other one as well. The dark wolf(?) looked even worse than the woman. Still up on his four paws but ready to topple at the slightest conflict with his footing. Oleander wasn't even sure how much of any of this those glazed over eyes were picking up. So with that, his short-lived observation of Spider shifted back to Leaf.

Despite how terribly she looked and smelled, Ollie watched her with marked interest as she got up regardless the injury that was probably festering through her system. Impressive, though if her frailty was still abundantly visible, and, to him, she seemed moments from collapse. In spite of that, the older girl gathered herself up around her cohorts and spoke with composure. "This is Llewellyn, Rorschach, and Spider." They introduced, however, much like their faces, none of their titles rung any bells either.

His tail flicked as she tried to straighten herself and explained more clearly who she was in particular.

"My name is Leaf. I am the War Captain of Saboro."

Ah, there was something they could finally work with, and somehow Ollie was not too surprised to find that this person was likely someone of high standing (she certainly looked and acted the part).

Now, so far as he knew, Saboro had tentatively come and gone, but the brown fellow had never appeared unoptimistic about things during his stay, so perhaps that meant things had gone according to his plan...or at least the prospect of an alliance hadn't been denied.

"Are you friend or foe?" She asked.

Were they? Maybe? Saboro and Alteron were probably on better terms given the first group's ability to walk out unharmed. Although...it'd been quite some time since then, and there was no sense in getting this gaggle's hopes up now was there? That would probably be crueler in fact.

So Ollie stayed as vague as his sibling. Better to let Azuhel deal with all the fine details involving an ally of her pack after all. Yet, he could offer some show of civility to their unexpected visitors who seemed to mean Alteron no harm. His tongue ran over his pointed fangs. Was he not meant to deal with such people, people like this "Leaf" specifically, if he wanted to excel at his newest venture in life anyway?

He finally spoke, "More 'friend' than whatever's eating away at your leg, Lady. We're not...unfamiliar with Saboro either," What that meant to them, for them, had yet to be seen, however, "You're quite a ways out then..." He mused. Enough time for that wound to get as nasty as it had become.

"Lay down, stay calm," As calm as one could keep themselves in this situation at least. "I'm not well versed in healing yet, but I imagine an active body makes all that disease run through you...more so than it already has." That seemed right anyway, or he was just spewing bs. He was still at the stage where he second-guessed his initial judgments. "Him especially," Oleander added, nosing the air in the direction of the dark hellion man. "If you don't lay em' down yourself gravity's about to do it for you."

Regardless, his gaze flicked behind him for a moment then turned back to the four. " No point in getting worked up," Because whatever came next would be swift in the long run, whether it was a good or bad outcome for them. "She'll be here soon."

She was probably very nearly upon them.

As if Levi hadn't been loud enough Oleander let out what could only be considered an impatient bark in the direction of Alteron's vast territory.

'AY! HURRY UP, GRANDMAMA!' It probably meant.

He was pretty sure she'd prefer not having....at least one dead body on her doorstep if they belonged to a pack she wanted to maintain positive connections with.

limbs ached fiercely from the beating he had taken from the Ravine, shoulders hunched as he wandered forward in a daze. Dehydration made his maw incredibly dry, slowly sapping away the energy that he had left. The dark hellion was in a similar state to Leaf, his lacerations began to sting, redness seeping around the edges as infection and bacteria gathered with the heat.

Hazy sea foam eyes barely kept track of their group, nose gently brushing against Shaq as he guided him; not having the will nor the energy to speak. Had any of them spoken? Faces of his family flittered into his mind, his siblings that were left. His uncles, his aunties. His Papa, even his Mama. He wanted to be home, to be warm and safe with his group, with his husband.

Bruised ribs protested as he let out a wheeze of distress when Llewellyn collapsed, shaking legs pulling him forward another step or two before he teetered dangerously. He felt so.... weak, so drained of his energy. Whip-like tail lay uselessly on the ground beside him as his eyes closed, swaying on trembling limbs.

[ooc: Just a quicky to say he's here. 'Pider has bruised/cracked ribs, a few lacerations, dehydration and infection.]