In Dire Straits

Life had taken such a dreadful turn for the small chocolate dire.

Where his days would usually consist of sneaking out to his garden, trying to stop himself from being pulled into Felixes and Trilliums troublemaking antics, and avoiding conversations with others in general now just drowned in silence. Home was no longer a safe haven filled with laughter and tales of the days events, instead, it had become a haunted place. No one had even smiled for days and everyone actively avoided one another. Birch couldn't really understand what was happening with his once close knit family but ever since the events in the healers garden thier ties seemed to have shattered. Leaving the timid yearling alone in a world he didn't feel safe in. 

So he had been spending most of his time in his small healers garden, a hobby he had picked up from his father, locking himself away in the last place that held a small resemblance of safety. He gently tended to his herbs pulling up weeds that threatened to steal nourishment and cleaning away the dying leaves from stems that would then be replaced with healthier growths. The most exciting task he had prepared where the numerous holes he had carved out for his new additions. He was able to gather some buds from the healers garden, with permission, to add into his private garden. He had asked a million questions about the properties of each herb and it's effects to which his teacher answered patiently before making his decision. He was careful to grab each one with his mouth, not wanting to damage the plants, before placing them in their respective places. 

By the time he had finished the sky had darkened and the scent of rain carried on the wind. A sigh escaped his lips as he knew that he would have to go home but finding that it was the last place he wanted to be but Sitka would come looking for him if he took too long and he didn't want to worry his father. So, with some reluctance, the dire began his trek back to the family den.

However a strange scent caught his attention.

It was out of place but the scent of the coming shower dampened its smell. Curious, and looking for a reason to not go home, the lad followed the scent keeping his head high so his nose wouldn't loose the trail. This way of walking proved hazardous when he almost tripped over a half exposed tree root but the wood wasn't what held his attention...it was what was on the bare bark that made his heart speed up and mind stop. 

Blood.

Alot of blood.

Golden orbs followed the trail until he couldn't see it anymore. Numbly he followed the deep crimson splotches through the woods. If any of his family had discovered what he was doing they would surely give him an earful but that didn't worry him right now. Whoever this blood belonged to was in trouble. How far had they gotten and what condition where they in, more than that, why hadn't they called for help? Where they unable to or did they just not know how bad it was to be loosing this much blood? As the questions flitted through his mind he had picked up his pace into a run. The sound thunder echoing through the gray mass above pushed the dire to go faster. If the rain washed away the trail then the person who had bled out would be in serious trouble.

Coming through some trees the youths eyes barely managed to catch the figure leaning against a tree. He stilled for a moment, breathing heavily, before mustering up what little courage he had to approach the stranger. As he drew nearer the dire could hear the other gasping and saw that he was looking down. Curious, and unable to stop himself, Birch also turned his gaze to the strangers feet. He gasped at the blood slowly collecting into a small puddle between their paws. Running to the strangers front the dires golden eyes frantically scanned for the injury, not that it was hard to find, his eyes widened upon seeing the gash on their chest. Looking around the young healer spotted some vines growing around a nearby tree. He bit into the flexible plant and gnawed it until it snapped off. He gathered some nearby foilage, mind working madly to determine if it was a safe plant to use, praise the heavens that it was or else the stranger would be in even more danger. "I need you t-to lay d-down and hold still," he said almost making it through the whole sentence without stuttering but old habits were hard to stop, "how long ago w-were you hurt?" He didn't bother with small talk. Every second counted now and he didn't know how many of those seconds the scarred stranger spent on getting this far.

[[OOC: I'm gonna go ahead and post but if anyone else would like to join feel free.]]
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Theron did not look up until the other wolf’s gasp cut the air. Then moved in one sudden snap, muscles going rigid as he reflexively, instinctively dropped his head to guard his throat and his ears pinned back. His muzzle wrinkling into a snarl as he turned slightly, front paws planting firmly while his back legs pivoted the rest of his body to face the stranger more directly. In this state, it took him a moment to remember where he was - that he didn’t have to treat a stranger like an enemy in Inaria. He’d come here for help. His eerie white eyes fixated on the other lighter brown wolf, the aggression falling off his features although his stare still stayed wary - remaining silent as the young healer gathered some vegetation nearby.  

Theron did not trust as readily as most Inarians. He didn’t really expect aggression from the younger wolf and was hardly worried that the smaller male could actually hurt him even in this state. All the same, he had not stayed alive this long by not being wary of others.

“I need you t-to lay d-down hold still, how long ago w-were you hurt?”

It took Theron a moment to find his voice. Somewhat breathless. It rasped harshly, like an ill-used rusted thing. “Twenty... twenty minutes...maybe?” There was uncertainty to it. He was in a bit of a fog. His head was heavy. That figure could be fairly inaccurate. The boy, as he drew closer and Theron focused he realized he really was little more than a boy. His brow furrowed skeptically. He was not someone who minced words. He lacked the capacity really. Rather than deliberate it the big dire mix gave a loud snort, and brusquely asked; “Do you... know what you’re doing, kid?”

He supposed beggars could not be choosers, so he did as the younger male asked. There was no better option.  Lowering himself to the ground and shifting over. Worry gnawed at his gut. The younger wolf looked... very worried, maybe this was worse than he thought. He could not get a good look at the wound himself because of its position.

He would hold still, although his demeanor was neither warm nor grateful. His eerie white eyes staring at the young healer with all the emotional vulnerability of a dead fish. Vacant eyed - partially because he had lost a fair amount of blood, partially because that was just in his nature.

The young dire did his best not to jump when the stranger faced him body tensed and face screaming with intimidation. If their stance and broad figure didn't provoke a heartattack then a glance at those long fangs and sharp teeth would have definitely did the job. A small squeak of startled fright escaped him. Birch didn't have a single bone of aggression in his body, due to his sheltered upbringing and gentle nature, so he was quick to show submission by tucking his tail and lowering himself to the ground. He was a healer and caretaker not a warrior. Not that the larger wolf seemed to be in any condition to put up much of a fight but Birch had no desire to test him. He approached the injured male cautiously, not wanting to be seen as a possible threat, setting the supplies close by as he examined the wound.

 “Twenty... twenty minutes...maybe?” 

The small dire looked up from the strangers chest to look at his face; twenty minutes?! He had been bleeding out for twenty minutes and didn't even try to call a healer or guard for help?! Glancing back to the incision the chocolate dire decided to start preparing to tend the wound. Firstly the bleeding would have to be stopped. Sadly the apprentice had no furs or cloth to use to absorb the blood but the foilage he had managed to gather would be a good substitute until he was able to walk to his garden. There was no other option for Birch, nor the wounded male, to try and reach the healers den would be suicide; the wound needed mending and the small dire could not support his weight to traverse the long distance. Birches garden was closer, a minute or so away, and had supplies that he had gotten from his teacher to practice with in his free time. Namely bandages and a sturdy thread used to mend large wounds. Like the one currently carved out into the strangers broad chest. As he assessed the injury the dire was completely oblivious to the judgemental glare he was receiving from the injured party. What was not missed was their snort that Birch had heard many times from the few yearlings that bullied him for being the way he was, soft and weak, causing him to turn his eyes upwards once again to see the unimpressed look that they were currently sporting. 

“Do you... know what you’re doing, kid?”

His ears fell back as he lowered his gaze back to the bleeding gash. Yes he was young but his teacher had praised him on his knowledge that he had managed to gather on his own and taught him how to tend to injuries such as this but it never failed to hurt him when others judged him openly even though many others supported him. To him the negative comments sliced deeper than what positive reinforcement could mend. However he didn't let the blow deter him from giving aid and the brute seemed to have understood his situation as they slowly lowered themselves onto the ground. The apprentice grabbed the soft foilage and carefully placed it over the wound, "I a-apologize but this i-is going to h-hurt," he would wait for their reply before grabbing the vine and cutting it in half. Taking great care not to cause the stranger any unnecessary discomfort until the time came to tie them across his shoulders, "I'm going t-to have to t-tie them very tightly," he warned as he looked the other in the face, not deterred from making eye contact, "are y-you ready?"

The yearling would wait and allow the massive wolf to prepare himself before pulling one set of the vines taut and tying them. He paused and let the wolf regain themself, or bark at him to continue, "one m-more and then you can r-rest for a while," he encouraged as he quickly tied off the final set of vines. All that could be done now was wait but Birch busied himself with gathering materials to use as a makeshift shelter. The threat of rain was rapidly approaching and the water would hinder the patients ability to heal. He managed to find sturdy looking branches and hauled them over to the tree where the large wolf was resting, digging the ends into the ground and wedging the tips into the trunks rough bark, once satisfied with the structure he started to gather leaves from thickets and bushes to cover the branches. The end result was a makeshift tent. Hopefully the falling rain wouldn't do much damage; time would tell as droplets began to fall on him as he sat just at the opening of the shelter. "H-how are you feeling," he asked peeking over towards the outstretched male, "any drops falling through?" He'd have to  go out and gather more materials if so.

"Buon dolore, that's some cut you got there. Could almost see through you."

The apprentices head whipped around to the origin of the call and was met by the sight of a large black and tan figure of a wolf slowly approaching the makeshift shelter. At first the yearling was on edge of their sudden appearance; he did not know the reason for them being here or why they would risk being caught in this storm. Then the brown dire remembered that he was actually in the same, metephorical, boat as the new arrival. It was just happenstance that he was able to provide first aid to the large brown wolf currently gasping loudly behind him. The Inarian frowned sadly as he observed the suffering etched into his patients features. He wished that he could ease their pain or that he was able to provide the same care that the older healers could have offered but he did not have access to their experience or stocks of pain relievers and thus was only able to offer comfort and sympathy as the male battled through his agony. Soon though, the dire hoped, he'd be able to patch him up thoroughly when the rain eased up.

That, however, seemed to be a long wait still.

Returning his focus onto the more verbal wolf the dire didn't think that a serious injury was anything to joke about. Then again Birch wasn't really knowledgeable of what humor really consisted of seeing as he spent most of his time avoiding his packmates. It seemed today was a time for him to branch out even though he really wasn't comfortable with being drawn into long conversations. Hopefully this would turn out to be just a quick meet and greet or perhaps they would turn out to be a quiet type as well; he could only hope.

"Like a hole in his chest, I'm sure. What happened, big guy?" 

Birch flinched at the others attempt at humor. He wasn't sure if they were making fun of the larger males injury or trying to be friendly. 

“Boar... gored me.” 

The brown yearling blinked in suprise when he heard the darker males voice answer the strangers question. Firstly; he had never heard of someone trying to take down a beast like that on their own. Secondly; although he had heard him grunt 'go' when tying the vines around his torso the sound of their voice hadn't been heard clearly over the sounds of the swelling storm. He noted that he sounded deep albeit a bit raspy. As if he hadn't had a drink of water in days and honestly Birch wouldn't have been surprised if that had actually been the case. It took the dire a second to realize that the others silver eyes were focused on him as he had been lost in thought. They seemed to be struggling to form the right words to communicate something. Were they hurting or was there something else that was causing him discomfort? Needless to say what the brutish male said took him slightly off guard but in a good way.

“Fine...thank you?”

Birch smiled kindly and nodded, "just l-let me know if y-you start feeling odd a-alright," he then looked out of the mouth of the shelter and into the surrounding woods before braving to step out into the rain turning to the new arrival before stuttering out his offer, "y-you can r-rest inside t-too if you w-want just t-try not to b-bother h-him p-please he needs r-rest," he tried making his request sound polite as he could, not wanting to offend the other or come across as harsh, but social interactions weren't his strong suit. He then began looking around for something that could be used as a container to hold the falling rain, that begun to cascade down more fiercely, in hopes that he could offer the wounded wolf a good drink of water. Birch didn't know how long he had been searching but by the time he returned he was drenched and cold holding a piece of curved bark in his mouth which he laid just outside of the opening. "S-So why are y-you out in t-this storm," he asked the newcomer, seeking shelter from the rains onslaught just inside the entrance, figuring he should at least try to be curtious. He just didn't know how to go about holding conversations.The timid healer would wait and hear what the black and tan stranger had to say all the while keeping an eye on the 'bowl' outside. When he felt it was full enough he would excuse himself before carefully picking it up and placing it infront of the injured males face, "H-Here in case y-you get thirsty."

"I was headin' home when I found the blood trail. Followed it and here I am. I figure you did the same?" 

A nod of his head was the automatic response to the newcomers question before realizing that such a reply might be rude he quickly answered, "Y-yes, luckily I-I was close by a-and he wasn't injured w-worse t-than he is," he was still curious about why he hadn't called for help when he had received the injury but Birch wasn't one to point out others short comings nor dwell on them. Surely the injured male was suffering the consequenses of his actions now; which the dire pitied. He couldn't imagine bearing that sort of pain. Poor guy. The sound of sniffing brought him back to the conversation that he had accidentally tuned out. Hopefully he didn't miss anything important.

 "I'm Montay by the way, what about you guys? I'm guessing you're a healer. You remind me a lot of my sister, in fact. Maybe you know her? She's also a healer. Leonara?"

The yearling thought back to the handful of healers he had met but the name did not ring of any familiarity for the apprentice. Thinking on it now though he had heard Angel often speak of another student he had taken under his wing but Birch had not seen them around when having lessons so was never introduced to them but he was sure that their name started with an 'L'. "Y-yes I am in training still s-sorry I haven't seen y-your s-sister but my t-teacher often t-talks about another student s-so maybe that's her," he asked uncertainly.  "O-Oh I'm Birch," he added swiftly , "n-nice to meet you."


 “Uhm...Theron. What.... what do you do, kid?"

The healers attention, once again, fell upon the injured wolf. They had not moved from their position, thankfully, but his head was now raised and looking towards the pair at the entrance of the shelter. The dire was also curious if Montay had a rank that he was aiming for or maybe he was still trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life; it was a big decision to make afterall. The subject of ranks caused Birch to think about his siblings and the ranks they had decided to take. They seemed to be happy with their choices, as was he, but since the falling out the shy youth had not spoken with them recently.

 His golden gaze drifted outside watching the rain fall rhythmically to the forest floor. Were they going to be like this from now on? Constantly avoiding each other and never reconciling for the things that happened...it couldn't possibly stay like this...right? The soft hearted healer couldn't bear for that to become his reality. With a quick shake of his head the dire rid himself of his dark thoughts and looked back towards Theron, "h-how are you f-feeling any dizziness or feeling l-lightheaded?" With all the blood loss he couldn't imagine that the darker male was fairing too well but now that his wound had been, temporarily, bandaged he could regain some strength for the journey towards the dires garden. All Theron could do until then was rest and all Birch could do was watch over him.