[Leaf]

The wound was beginning to fester. They'd been wary to take the wooden stake from her leg, and the blood had congealed around it, skin turning a vague shade of yellow, pus building up in the wound. Weight bearing was near impossible due to pain, and Leaf limped alongside Llewellyn, for once allowing him to take some of her weight. Blood was still matted in her pale fur, both down her leg and on the side of her head where she'd hit the rock. Dehydration had begun to set in, and her tongue lolled from her mouth with each wobbly step she took. 

Even a few days after the fall - just how many, Leaf wasn't sure- her head still throbbed. The atmosphere between the four was bleak and tense, and she was too conscious that the most formidable of the group were the most injured. They wouldn't stand much of a chance should they run into someone unfavourable. She placed her foot on the ground, gingerly, testing the pain. Tears immediately sprang to her eyes, and she clenched her teeth to try and hold back the whimper of pain. Ducking her head, her cheeks burned. There was some sense of shame in being injured. How could she protect those she'd always promised to protect? Knowing that she must be scaring Rorschach rather than reassuring him made her heart ache, and thoughts that she'd evaded for months began to make a comeback. 

Useless. 
Inhale.
Inadequate 
Exhale. 

Golden eyes flicked across to her brother, the stress written across his face. After everything he'd faced, he didn't need to be lost in a desert. He didn't deserve to die, not here. Not so far away from home, slowly and in pain, with those who loved him most unable to help him. She grimaced.

"We should find water," she rasped, lifting her head enough to look at Llewellyn. They wouldn't survive long without it, and they needed to keep moving. Eventually they'd turn up somewhere, surely, and they'd be able to find their way home, or someone with the means to heal their wounds and fix their broken spirits. Her eyes found Spider, then Rorschach, and then Llewellyn. 

"We'll be okay."