[Roderik]

He had given the healer of the wolves time to care for his wounds. The arrows had been removed, painfully so for the ones whose shaft had broken under his flesh. He had grit his teeth, refusing to take any of the herbs offered to him for the pain. The suffering was a lesson to be learned, just as Taverin's death had been. He swallowed his pride, his pain, and his tears... there would be time to grieve later. When the healer applied the salve to his open wounds, the sabre breathed easier. The moment it was done, he stood up again much to the dismay of the one who had cared for him. He had thanked the healer, but there would be no arguing against him. Taverin still lay at the border and awaited the final rites. He couldn't keep him waiting too long for fear his soul would wander, get lost, and become a ghost. The journey back to the border was easier for the absence of the projectiles in his flesh, but he was tired and once or twice on the way he had stopped to catch his breath. When he arrived back to the site of Taverin's death, he found him laying there as before and beside him lay the one who had promised to watch over him.

"Thank you... it means a lot to me for you to have done this."

Glancing from the golden furred wolf back to Taverin, he swallowed the emotions that returned to him. His sight was pulled towards the spear still caught in his brother's chest. His heart swelled with anger, and his claws came out to grip at the earth beneath his paws... until he caught himself again. Looking away, he gathered himself, calming his flaring temper. The humans had just been protecting their home... he would have done the same. Roderik was wise enough to see, that the strength of heart he needed to overcome this trial was more important than the strength of his claws for the cause of revenge. Looking back to the spear, he frowned and moved towards it, clasping it within his strong jaws. Though he knew the weapon no longer caused his friend pain, he could not bare to see it stuck within him any longer. With a paw against Taverin's shoulder,  Roderik pulled out the spear. Holding it within his jaws he bit down until he crushed it. It fell in two at his feet, it's splintered pieces scattering about.

Looking up to the trees nearby, Roderik remembered Taverin's gaze going to them in awe despite his pain. He had loved those trees, and so he thought to lay him to rest beneath one of these gentle giant's watchful gaze. Silently, he prepared the grave. There usually would have been certain herbs laying at the bottom, but he knew not which herbs this forest could provide or where to find them. Still, he tried as best as he could to keep to the customs and gathered some tall grass to place there instead. Water from their home should have been poured on his forehead to remind him of where they had come from, and where his spirit must go. Morning dew remaining on a nearby flower was all he could find, and he hoped somehow that it would do. Pressing his forehead against Taverin's, he shared in the water that wet his fur, a reminder that he would one day cross the great divide as all living things would.

"Taverin... Proud sabre of Stoneclaw, Son of Cay and Erurru, Your time has come to cross the great divide and join our ancestors beyond the sea of stars." His voice broke then, his tears mixing with the dew on their fur. "You left us too soon my friend... May your spirit find it's way to those who await you. Until we meet again."

His strength ebbed as he continued his work. It was backbreaking, where several of his kind usually participated in this event, he was alone to do what needed to be done. He worked so that some of the wounds at his back began to bleed through the herbs that the healer had applied on them. As Taverin now lay below the earth, Roderik stood there with a sense of utter loss. What was he to do without him? Where was he to go? Home had never been a land, it had been a heart and it was gone now.  His eyes filled with sorrow, he raised high his right paw with his sharp claws fully extended and brought it down on the front of the tree with all the strength he was able to muster. The bark split with a great noise, his claws leaving great gashes in the wood beneath. This marked the resting place of his brother in arms. So long as the tree stood, it would bear it's mark; so deep it was that it would never heal. Roderik felt his heart would be the same... forever marked with Taverin's death. He felt the pangs of guilt strangling him and stepped away with difficulty.

He would stay in the garden where he had been brought until the wounds at his back had healed.
===============

ooc: There's a sabre in the garden! Anyone joining the thread must do so in the time frame of a day or two after the events of this post. You might walk into the garden to stumble on a sleeping Roderik, or actually follow his scent there, but at this point its a day or two after Taverin's death/burial and Roderik is resting in the garden. Anyone may join! I'd love to see troublesome pups seeing a sabre for the first time! or anyone really. Let's just have fun <3

[Felix]

Dad had said there was a saber in the healers garden and that Felix should stay away...

"So you're the saber Dad was talking about, huh?" Felix said by way of a greeting, walking around the huge orange shape. It gave him a sudden new found respect for his Dad, Felix had kinda always thought Blaise was bragging or exaggerating in all his war stories. Now he saw what they had been up against - Dad had fought one of those and lived?! Alright Dad! He whistled and shook his head. "Damn. No wonder they nearly lost the war." Wait. No. Don't mention the war.

He quickly changed the subject. "I came to see the three legged guy - Wanted to tell him thanks and that for the paw." He waved the paw in question at Roderick just so it didn't seem like he had only come here to gawk at the cat... Which was absolutely the reason he was here. While he wasn't ungrateful he wasn't one to say thankyou to anyone with out being elbowed by one of his parents.

He took in the injuries that laced the cats back, they were healing now but still looked angry and a bit raw in places, it made him wince, he was not good with pain or gore. He swallowed. "That's gotta hurt." The thorn in his paw had been bad enough, the skin on his back pricked at the thought of how it must feel to get stuck by an arrow.

His gaze scanned the dinner plate sized paws that made his own feet feel like dainty little things in comparison. "Are you kinda average sized for one of you guys?" He wanted to know next, feeling that, since he had gotten his plausible excuse in early, it was open season for questions. This totes counted as part of his Elite Guard training, if anyone asked he was basically doing a reaserch project on the enemy for extra credit.

"You are a Stoneclaw saber, right?" He checked - Best be sure he was studying the right subject, sabers from elsewhere might be different, bigger, or smaller, or less orange, or something. Blaise -Probably thinking it didn't need mentioning, seeing as Felix wasn't supposed to be talking to the cat in question- had not mentioned their ancient enemies decimation, or any dead brothers, or anything bad happening short of him having had a run in with some humans, thus him being in the healers garden. So Felix was blissfully ignorant of his inconsiderate line of questioning. Bringing up an desecrated homeland to one of its few survivors was a bit too insensitive even for him.

[.Birch.]

Mind if I join in? It would be interesting for Birch to meet with a saber.

[Arista]

@Birch Yes please <3

[Trillium]

Trill would totally disobey dad to go meet a big cat.

[Arista]

@Trillium do iiiiit

[Roderik]

He had let the healers care for his wounds, and he had accepted whatever food they could provide him with the mindset that he would repay their kindness someday. How though? He really wasn't sure for the moment.

The place at which they had allowed him to stay was almost as beautiful and fascinating as the purple forest itself. There was a soft fragrance in the air from a variety of plants, even at this time of year. It looked as though someone had planned this place... There was a sense of design to the placement of every bush and flower and stone, and even the pond; but that couldn't be, right? Who could decide where something grew? It just wasn't nature's way.

He found himself wishing Taverin could see this for himself. Many a moments during the times he lay awake, he wished his brother was beside him and then he was reminded of the cruel reality of things. Perhaps it would have helped to have someone to talk to, but most wolves seemed to give him a wide berth. Probably something to do with the history of their people and the differences between them. Still, a distraction would have been appreciated; something to keep his mind from reminding his heart of the grief it carried.

With a great sigh, the large cat lay his head on his front paws and closed his eyes. It was probably best to try and get some rest. Keyword: Try.

"So you're the saber Dad was talking about, huh? Damn. No wonder they nearly lost the war."

He lifted his head and looked around, at first unable to find the owner of the voice. That is... until he glanced down a little lower. A wolf, smaller than those he had seen before, stood in front of him looking him square in the eyes. Well that was a refreshing change to most of those who passed through with hushed whispers and glances while hoping they wouldn't be seen. This kid had guts, and Roderik decided he liked him already.

"I came to see the three legged guy - Wanted to tell him thanks and that for the paw." 

The little wolf waved his paw around, to which Roderik lowered his head to try and get a better look and a sniff. Well... It didn't seem to have anything wrong with it, but that was probably why thanks were in order in the first place. He noticed the scent of this wolf reminded him of the one that had guarded Taverin.... A relative perhaps? Or maybe all the wolves in this pack shared this scent. Roderik couldn't say he had payed enough attention to be able to tell.

The child winced as he took in the sight of his wounds. Most of them were healing well, but they were still raw after a few days... He would need to use of the Inarian's hospitality for a few more days still before being able to leave.

"That's gotta hurt.", Observed the little wolf.

"At first yeah... A lot. Even more than that time I fell down into a cave underground as a cub. And that was the most pain I'd ever been in before."

He remembered his sister saving him that time, and he wondered if he would see her again someday. He missed her a lot.
Roderik noticed the little wolf staring at his paws, so he indulged him and turned his paw to show the pads underneath then unsheathed his claws. The sabre smiled, he enjoyed seeing the curiosity in the other. Little did he know Felix was just sizing up a possible opponent. His next question kind of gave a nod in that direction but Roderik smiled all the same.

 "Are you kinda average sized for one of you guys?"

Raising an eyebrow, he decided to stand up to give the wolf a better idea of his size, but first he gave a good look around to make sure that the healer wasn't looking. The coast was clear! Roderik grinned and stood up, though with a bit of a wince at first.

"Bigger than average, but I've seen bigger still. You should've seen my grandfather, he was the biggest sabre anyone's ever seen. At least that's what dad told me... I never met him myself."

"You are a Stoneclaw saber, right?"

"I'm... ... Yeah. I am...." Ears turned back and flattened slightly for a moment at the mention of his home. He thought of the golden grass swaying in the field, of the giant tree trunk that sported so many warriors mark, and the cave of kings where his mother has once taken him. It caught him in his chest and he searched for his breath a moment.

Those carefree days were gone, nothing but a memory... Stoneclaw lived in his heart now, like Taverin. What did the word Stoneclaw even mean to him anymore? It pained him to think of it. But even though it gave him grief, it also made him feel stronger and be couldn't explain why.

"I was born a half-prince of Stoneclaw."

[Trillium]

The Pale Black Sheep "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

"Really, Birch, I am sorry..."

The pale girl was saying as she and her sibling came walking up the trail.   Her own creamy coat was spattered with mud, adding a darker contrast to her freckles.  Birch looked like he had sprouted extra, darker spots. The pair were dripping wet, and her brother was limping ever so slightly. While he was hobbling steadily onward at a slow pace, she was practically running around him in circles, starting on one side, dropping back, then coming back up, or walking ahead of him, then turning to walk backwards for a few paces.

"Please don't tattle.  Dad won't let us rebuild it if you do.  I really think we can make it work next time!"

Trillium faced forward again as they rounded a curve in the path and came into the Healer's grounds.  She glanced around, intending to snag the first apprentice they could to get in and get out, but instead she spotted a familiar dark shape.  It was Felix. Crap.  It was Felix.  Now she had two brothers to convince not to tell dad. But Felix was distracted by something big, orange and... Ooh yeah, She had the lock on keeping Felix quiet! He was talking to the Stoneclaw Saber dad told them not to!  Well, he was already doing it, so there wasn't any reason not to!  Flashing a grin at Birch, she jogged across the yard to her brother and the big cat.

"I was born a half-prince of Stoneclaw."

"How were you only half a prince?" Trill asked.  

She tossed her head to get her curly bangs out of her marbled eyes, which she fixed on the cat with a stare as blatant as Felix's had been.  With them all together, it was pretty clear they were siblings, although Trillium's light coat always made her stand out amid her brothers.  Dainty and delicately built, her eyes were sharp, calculating.The only reason she wasn't already climbing up onto the big cat to touch one of his fangs was that she wasn't quite sure if he'd take a swipe if she tried.  Better to talk to him first.  Then maybe she'd be able to take a closer look.

[.Birch.]

 

                                ------------------------------------------

On this lovely sunny morning two dires walked together through the forest heading towards their planned destination. Both were dripping wet and covered with specks of mud but the darker of the dires was still processing the fact that they were still alive. He knew he should be upset with Trilliums little stunt but he also knew that she would have done it by herself anyway and that fact worried him more than being her sidekick ever did. So there they were in their current states but Trillium was unharmed and dancing around him as he tried to walk. A difficult task to be done when a good sized splinter had gotten itself lodged in his paw; not to mention the cut on the inside of his leg. The constant stretching and contact with his fur made it very uncomfortable to take the next step.

"Really, Birch, I am sorry..."

"It's alright sister please don't fret," he tried to console his obviously worried sibling as she kept trying to keep him in her line of sight. Birch could never really be mad at any of his siblings, he just didn't have that kind of fire to him, so he just bore through these kind of events and used the recovery time as a small 'vacation'. Right now he just wanted to go home, dry off, get something to eat and sleep for a week. That wasn't a lot to ask for was it? Then again mother and father would probably be all over him if he showed up in the state he was in. His eyes lowered to the ground beneath his feet as he, once again, began to berate himself. He was causing so much trouble for his family and that was all he seemed to be capable of; he cowered from the outside world where as everyone else eagerly reached towards it....Birch was convinced that he was a failure and a burden.

"Please don't tattle.  Dad won't let us rebuild it if you do.  I really think we can make it work next time!"

"I won't tell," he said as he gave her a small smile, "I promise." If only he was stronger maybe braver too. Trillium seemed to have accepted his answer as she then turned away from him and scanned the area for anyone that might compromise their plan. Meanwhile the chocolate dire was surprised that the journey to the healers garden was so short but he quickly cast aside his shock and began looking around at the many herbs that grew within the garden. So many plants used in various manners. There were even lavender bushes that the yearling knew were used often as incense to calm patients and relax their senses. It was a coincidence that they just so happened to fit in so well with Inarias purple trees. There were also other herbs that were used for common ointments and balms that he had heard of but he tore his gaze away from the thriving vegetation, he didn't want others to catch onto his secret passion, and was surprised to see his sister giving him one of her famous 'this will be fun' grins before she proudly walked out into the open. Birch was, of course, uneasy about what was going through her mind as she made her way towards two figures. The injured dire noticed Felix right away but the other was a stranger to the youngster. He had not seen anything like them before nor did he really want to. Trillium and Felix had no problems meeting new people but Birch was not as outgoing as they were. So he stayed hidden within the treeline and waited for them to finish their conversation. His tongue carefully cleaning his pad as he silently pleaded for a healer to pass by to get this piece of wood out.

[Felix]

"At first yeah... A lot. Even more than that time I fell down into a cave underground as a cub. And that was the most pain I'd ever been in before."

"What like you fell into the cave? Not just like fell over in it?" He clarified, though it was more just him talking for sake of saying words and thinking verbally than asking real questions. "Yeah that would sting a bit." He winced imagining the splat noise of falling onto rocks face first.

"Bigger than average, but I've seen bigger still. You should've seen my grandfather, he was the biggest sabre anyone's ever seen. At least that's what dad told me... I never met him myself."

The saber looked about, clearly checking for anyone watching them and Felix quirked an eyebrow at that at first, wondering why the guy suddenly looked so shifty. Had he been of a more suspicious nature he would have wondered if the cat was checking for witnesses before murdering him. He should probably have been scared of the cat, but so far in his life nothing had ever been a real threat to him, he had been loved and cosseted, wrapped up safely -maybe too safely for his own good- behind Inaria borders, a place where monsters simply did not exist. His own mortality was not a concept he ever considered let alone grasped.

As Roderick rose he realised why he had looked round, it must be for the three-legged-guy, he was kinda strict and bossy about how to move with injuries and had insisted Felix kept his injured paw off the ground. "Holy sh-" Language. He heard the prompt in his mothers voice. "Heck." He amended at the last second as the cat rose before him. Felix wasn't full grown himself yet but even if he was Roderick would still tower over him. He sat back on his haunches to make it easier to look up at the cat and let out a low whistle. "What do you guys eat!?" As if diet and not genetics might be the secret here. 

"I'm... ... Yeah. I am.... I was born a half-prince of Stoneclaw."

"How-" He began to ask when movement caught his eye and he turned to see the familar sight of his sister running towards him, then his eyes snapped past her to an equally familiar shape lurking about at the edge of the trees, hanging back. "Oh my god you guys! Didn't you hear Dad?! He said not to come here!" The irony.

He examined his mud spattered and soaked sister critically for a long second, then slid his gaze slowly to Birch in the distance, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Trillium had done something -She was always up to something- but while Trillium would absolutely be here whatever Dad might have said, for Birch to defy Dad and come poking about the healers garden... "Have you killed Birch again?" He accused her, though there was more curiosity than actual accusation there. He jumped up and took a few steps towards the trees to shout: "Bir, buddy? What's she done to you? Come on out."

"How were you only half a prince?"

"That was my next question." He whinged, turning back to Trill and the cat. "Just barge on up in here and take over why don't you?" He grumbled, then brighten as he latched onto the perfect thing to say in this situation, mostly because he had heard it himself that many times and was usually on receiving end of it. He was incredibly smug to be able to say it himself for once. "You're being rude." Then to the cat: "But yeah, what she said. Half-Prince? What's that about?"

[Roderik]

"What like you fell into the cave? Not just like fell over in it?"

"I was stuck in there because of a cave in and was trying to climb out because there was a gap in the ceiling but I lost grip of the rocks and fell, yeah."

Thinking back on it, he'd been pretty reckless as a cub. He and Felix had more in common than they could probably imagine, putting aside the specie and size difference of course.

"Holy sh-...Heck. What do you guys eat!?"

"Elk? Boar? Fish? I mean probably the same stuff you guys do, no?"

Felix was about to ask yet another question (it seemed there was no stopping them from pouring out of him), when other small wolves came to join them; one of which bounded ahead eagerly while the other hid in the bushes a bit further away.

 "Oh my god you guys! Didn't you hear Dad?! He said not to come here!"

So they were siblings? They all seemed like really nice kids. But wait... Their dad had told them to stay away? Well... It made sense, he was a sabre in a pack of wolves; naturally they would be wary of him. Still, it made him a bit sad to think most of the pack had been avoiding him.

"Have you killed Birch again? ...Bir, buddy? What's she done to you? Come on out."

"Is he going to be okay?", He asked while stretching his neck to try and get a glance at the one hiding further back. It wasn't long before the two more curious ones before him resumed their barrage of questions, leaving their siblings to his own designs.

"How were you only half a prince?"

"That was my next question. Just barge on up in here and take over why don't you? ...You're being rude. But yeah, what she said. Half-Prince? What's that about?"

"Oh... Well, my dad was the king but my mom wasn't his queen. She was his con-.... Uhhh" Ears flattened back as he realized these kids were probably too young to know what a concubine was, and Roderik certainly didn't want to be the one to have that kind of talk with them. "His con- ...confidant! yes. So I'm half-Prince on my father's side."

Then again his mother did become queen and rule alongside his big half-sister after his birth. Which pondered the question, how did one become king or queen in the first place? His father had spoken of this one night on the edge of the sea, but Roderik couldn't quite recall his words at that time.

"You guys sure your brother is okay?"

Not waiting for an answer, the sabre stepped over the two chatty pups with ease and made his way to the other one with slow movements as to not startle him too much. This was most likely to fail, considering he'd been hiding from him in the first place.

"If you want to see the healer, you'll have to come out sooner or later..."

And just like that, Roderik decided that sooner was probably better. Lowering his jaw, he picked the pup up delicately by the scruff of his neck to bring him out to the open where the others had been. Walking back to them, he would lay down and drop the pup on his back within the confines of his curled front paws.

Upon reflection, there wasn't much difference between pups and cubs, aside from size and physical appearance, and Roderik had gotten some experience watching over cubs before, so this shouldn't be much different, no?

Except cubs weren't usually frightened of him, and there wasn't much of a chance they'd scream bloody murder or faint when he picked them up....

[Trillium]

The Pale Black Sheep "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

"It's alright sister please don't fret, I won't tell, I promise."

That was why Birch was her favorite brother.  He never got mad at her, at least, not for long.  She would have licked him, but that would have been more affection than the situation really warranted. 

"Oh my god you guys! Didn't you hear Dad?! He said not to come here!"

"WE," Trill emphasized "came to see the healers. What's your excuse?" She made a point of staring down her nose at him.  Hard to do when she also had to look slightly up.

"Have you killed Birch again?"

"Noo!" She denied, a little too quickly.

"Bir, buddy? What's she done to you? Come on out."

"Is he going to be okay?"" The cat asked.

"It's just a splinter." Trill mumbled, her eyes flicking downcast.

But, in the fleeting turn of emotions that only a teenage girl can possess, she went from being contrite to curious again as she asked about Roderick's lineage.

"That was my next question. Just barge on up in here and take over why don't you? ...You're being rude."

"I asked one question.  You're the one hounding him." She countered.

"Oh... Well, my dad was the king but my mom wasn't his queen. She was his con-.... Uhhh His con- ...confidant! yes. So I'm half-Prince on my father's side."

Their argument almost took president over Roderick's answer, but Trill noticed how he fumbled over it.  She had an idea that it was a bit more complicated than that, but Roderick was very quick to turn the subject back from himself to their timid sibling.

"You guys sure your brother is okay? If you want to see the healer, you'll have to come out sooner or later..."

And then suddenly the big cat got very big as he stepped right over her and Felix and snatched Birch up.  Alarm bells went off in the pale girl's head, and she cried out as Birch was lifted and then trapped.

"Hey!"

Maybe they should have listened to Dad...

[.Birch.]

 

                                ------------------------------------------

"Oh my god you guys! Didn't you hear Dad?! He said not to come here!"

"WE, came to see the healers. What's your excuse?"

Birch flinched at Felixes outburst while his sister stood firmly eye to eye with her taller sibling. It was true that father had strictly told them to keep out of the healers garden. He never gave a reason for the order but the timid child had always done his best to obey his parents wishes. So his already guilty concious was weighed down by the renewed fact that he was disobeying his parents by being there. Sadly there was nothing he could do about it now. He couldn't go out and hunt the healers down, it would take too long and involve him running into other packmates, and it was already hard enough to walk the distance he had just come. To walk Inarias vast rugged terrain in search of a few wolves was just simply out of the question. However his ears fell back and his eyes lowered to his injured paw as he felt that he had just been called out for making trouble. People could always count on the recluse to muck something up; even a simple command. Stupid, clumsy, quiet Birch.

"Have you killed Birch again?"

Hearing that caused the dires ears to stand upright once again as his wide eyes focused on Felix and Trillium. It really wasn't Trilliums fault he had gotten hurt, sure she kinda pushed him onto the raft that shattered into a million pieces, but how could she have forseen him getting hurt?!  If she had such an ability she would have definitely changed her mind about testing the raft on those waters. Then he noticed the large beast was now looking squarely at him which caused his ears to droop back and his voice to lock up in his throat. He felt bad that he couldn't go to Trilliums defense but he just couldn't bring himself to attract unwanted attention. Felix and Trillium were already doing that by themselves. He knew they didn't mean to make their quieter sibling feel uncomfortable but they weren't really ones to pick out on small queues so he couldn't really blame them for making him the center of attention.

"Noo!"

"Bir, buddy? What's she done to you? Come on out."

Birch shook his head slowly in declination of his brothers request. He just wanted to see the healer get the splinter pulled and go home. The last thing he wanted to do was be drawn into a long conversation with someone who he didn't know in a place where he wasn't suppose to be. Trillium and Felix would fill him in on the events that happened after his quick exit and make him promise not to tell mother or father about their little exploits. Which he would agree to only for their parents to find out about it from someone else. The price they paid for being so outgoing he thought but they always bounced right back with renewed vigor. Why was today so different??? 

Trillium and Felix bickered for a moment before the loud callous voice of the stranger dominated the conversation leaving Birch with a brief moment of peace as he turned his back on the scene and tried to make himself disappear. The introvert had enough attention for one day but life wasn't quite done with him yet and the small dire was about to that find out the hard way. He failed to notice the silence that followed the sabers removal from the two interrogators as he crept closer to the oblivious dire pup. It was only when he heard the voice right above him that Birch realised what was happening.

"If you want to see the healer, you'll have to come out sooner or later..."

The last thing he remembered seeing was large fangs and a wide mouth filled with teeth coming towards him and after that. He blacked out from fright but only for a few minutes. When his golden eyes opened he found himself in the hold of the large beast and he immediately froze. He was in the paws of a complete stranger! He was in the grasp of someone father had told them to leave alone!! He was in the paws of a stranger!!! His mind repeated these facts while his body remained immobile. It was a horrifying scenario for Birch and his heart hammered in his ears as he was rendered catatonic in the beasts large paws hoping that the creature would let him go or someone would come and save him.

[*Lotus*]

Ooc : let's make this interesting, shall we?
--------------------------

She had walked with Xenia towards the garden and had admired the familiar views all the way there. Some times they had exchanged words, but the journey was mostly silent. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Rather, Lotus felt great comfort in Xenia's presence and she was glad for the time they were given to reconnect after such a long time. Had it been such a long time? It must have, for Xenia spoke of daughters and this she knew was a development that happened during her departure.

Soon the sight of the familiar trees that surrounded the garden entrance greeted her. Her heart swelled at the sight of them and she sighed contently. She swore then that she would never again abandon her home, no matter the hardships ahead.

"Thank you for escorting me so far... It means the world to me, really. Xenia, I'm so thankful to know you. You've really become someone astounding. The pack is lucky to have you."

She smiled, then turned to the garden entrance to make her way back to her den. It lay next to the pond, surrounded by purple fountain grass, and all the bushes and flowers that formed the healer's garden; the fruit of her labors, and her greatest accomplishment.

"Hey!"

A little voice ahead caught her attention, and she moved ahead to see who it belonged to. On the other side of the bushes, she was met with a terrible sight. A large sabre settled down with a terrified child grasped in its jaws. Her eyes grew wide and she froze, unable to move or speak for a moment of pure shock.

The next moment, she was no longer the master of her own actions. Gracefully slipping out of the medic bag that hung on her shoulder, she ran forward. Giving no second thought to her own safety, she jumped onto the sabre's back and climbing onto his shoulders she gave a shout to the other pups that had escaped the monster's grasp.

"RUN! GO! NOW! FIND HELP!"

She would sink her teeth into the back of the massive cat's neck and pull back with all of her strength, hoping to stop him from eating the child he held in his grasp.

Perhaps if she had taken a moment to observe and think about the situation, she would have realized that the sabre couldn't have possibly reached the garden without crossing a guard. Perhaps she would have noticed how much care the sabre had taken in handling the child. Perhaps she would have also noticed the wounds and the bandages on his back.

But in the heat of the moment, she had seen none of these things.

[Felix]

OOC: Oooh heck!

---

"Elk? Boar? Fish? I mean probably the same stuff you guys do, no?

"I mean... Elks are pretty big and boars are a bit... tusky." Felix said thoughtfully. The dietery discussion would end there however with his sibling arrival and the chaos that would shortly follow.

"WE, came to see the healers. What's your excuse."

"I," he emphasised right back at her, "Came to see the healers too, to say thank you." He said smugly, convinced this alibi was iron clad, you cant get mad at someone who has gone out of their way to be polite now can you?

"Noo!"
"Is he going to be okay?"
"It's just a splinter."

"Your idea of a splinter is probably him being impaled by a tree branch." Felix accused her. He took his brothers shake of the head though and let him be, the last thing Birch would want was dragging out in public. He'd come out of the shrubs in his own sweet time.

"I asked one question. You're the one hounding him."

"Bleh bleh blah my names Trillium and I only ask one question." He muttered, employing the age old tactic of mockery when someone else makes a point that's actually true and you don't know what to say back.

"Oh... Well, my dad was the king but my mom wasn't his queen. She was his con-.... Uhhh. His con- ...confidant! yes. So I'm half-Prince on my father's side."

Felix tilted his head a little at the confidant thing, but having no notion of what else might have finished that sentance instead, concluded that cat was just a bit scatty and might have bumped its head.

"You guys sure your brother is okay?"

The feline looked over at Birch and before either of them could say anything started moving towards their timid brother.

"If you want to see the healer, you'll have to come out sooner or later..."

The cat snatched Birch up. There was a stunned silence. Birch went limp in the cats jaws.

Oh god. Oh god. They'd killed Birch!

"Hey!"

Trill reacted first, snapping Felix out his horrfied stupor. "Drop him!" Felix yelled as the cat settled back down with Birch's limp form curled between his paws. He jumped into a crouch and bared his teeth in a way that looked more like a strained smile than an actual threat. It was obvious agression was not his default setting. "I am an Elite Guard of Inaria," in training was conveniently left out, "Bane of your kind!" Dramatic much. "Let my brother go right now!" Too strong maybe? Have you tried asking nicely? another prompt that came to him in his mothers voice. "Please?" He added after a beat and then garbled out- "Please don't eat him. You seemed so nice a minute ago!" It was a bit of a desperate appeal but he was giving diplomacy a chance.

This is where all hell broke loose.

"RUN! GO! NOW! FIND HELP!"

Someone powered onto the scence, jumped onto the sabers back and sank their fangs into its neck. Suprised and fightened by this sudden development Felix yelped and stumbled backwards, fleeing a good few feet before he go the better of the compunction and stopped. He couldn't leave with out Trill and Birch!  - Dad would kill him, bury him, dig him up and kill him again if he did that. Oh and he guessed he loved them too or something soppy like that.

He darted over to Trillium. "Trill! Quick! We need a plan to get Birch!" She was the ideas person here not him. Even if her ideas tended to be a little more... Combustable, than average. There was a 50/50 chance someone would be on fire in the next five minutes.

[Roderik]

"Noo! It's just a splinter."

"Your idea of a splinter is probably him being impaled by a tree branch."

"I asked one question. You're the one hounding him."

"Bleh bleh blah my names Trillium and I only ask one question."

Siblings. Yep. They were definitely siblings. Roderik began to understand why the third fellow was so quiet all this time; it was surely because he didn't have any opportunities to speak. With siblings like these, he was probably used to listening rather than speaking up. The big cat felt some measure of sympathy for the little guy. He really had just wanted to help him get out of his comfort zone. Roderik never could have imagined the mess it would cause.

"Hey!"

 "Drop him!"

He'd settle the pup in his front paws, noticing for the first time how stiff and wide eyed the little guy was. Roderik began to realize he was frightening the children, specially the one in his grasp, but that had never been his intent.

"It's alright. I'm not going to-"

"I am an Elite Guard of Inaria, Bane of your kind! Let my brother go right now! Please? ...Please don't eat him. You seemed so nice a minute ago!"

He couldn't describe what he was feeling at that moment, something akin to disappointment surely. Was there no way their species could ever co-exist?

"I'm not going to eat him!? I just wanted to- AHHH!"

Something was climbing on his back. In any other situation, Roderik wouldn't have paid mind to it, but the creature's paws painfully dug into the fresh wounds that were there.

"RUN! GO! NOW! FIND HELP!"

In response, the big cat rose, and a powerful roar bellowed forth from his jaws. The pup which had been carefully craddled in his paws, was dropped and forgotten in the heat of the moment. All Roderik could think about at this time was to try to remove the cause of his anguish and turned his head, trying to yank away the wolf with its teeth sunk into the scruff of his neck.

Big paws stomped the ground as he seemingly danced around while trying to grab a hold of the one that had attacked him. It was a miracle in itself that he hadn't yet crushed anything, namely a little pup he'd dropped before, or any other who's antics might place them in this dangerous path.

Sooner or later, the sabre's jaws locked onto a part of the assailant's body. Considering the amount of pain he was already in because of his arrow wounds, he gave no care to remove the other delicately from his back. The wolf was torn from his frame and thrown to the ground where he framed it's body with his large paws, claws digging into the ground and a menacing snarl held an inch from their face.

It was only once the pain at his back began to settle into a dull ache, that he realized where he was and how this scuffle had come to be in the first place. All signs of aggression vanished from his features as he took a few steps back and looked around to assess the situation.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry! Is everyone alright?"

He would try to spot the pups, making sure they were all accounted for. He would not be able to forgive himself if anything had happened to them. Then again, neither would the wolves...

[Trillium]

The Pale Black Sheep "True love stories never have endings." - Richard Bach

Your idea of a splinter is probably him being impaled by a tree branch

The pale girl made a point to gasp dramatically, feining idignation. Although the accusation did hurt a bit. She never meant for anyone to get hurt.

"I have never impaled anyone with a tree branch"

"Bleh bleh blah my names Trillium and I only ask one question"

Trill stuck her tongue out at Felix's mockery. It was a juvenile, but thouroughly appropriate response.

Then the scene went very bad, VERY fast. Tender Birch went limp, as though his spine had been severed. Trill felt ice crystalize down her spine as the blood drained from her face. Her eyes were wide as she gaped at the scene.

"Drop him!"

"It's alright. I'm not going to-"

"I am an Elite Guard of Inaria, Bane of your kind! Let my brother go right now! Please? ...Please don't eat him. You seemed so nice a minute ago!"

"I'm not going to eat him!? I just wanted to- AHHH!"

"RUN! GO! NOW! FIND HELP!"

Trill! Quick! We need a plan to get Birch!"

Birch needed her! Whatever else Felix said, Trill did care very much about her family. Now her 'little' brother was in BIG trouble. The big cat roared, rearing up to an impressive, impossible height. It was like the dragon rising in a final boss fight. And crumpled on the ground like the captive princess, was Birch. The large, razored paw decending rapidly.

"Grab him!" She yelled, and dove for her brother.

Despite her size, adrenaline gave Trill a strength she was unaware she had. She grabbed for Birch's scruff intending to fling him out of the way, towards Felix. But then the razors decended as the paw slammed into her neck, right above her shoulders. The force bowled her over, flinging her under the cat's foreleg and out alongside him. Trill skidded in the dirt, and for a moment she didn't breathe.

Then she gasped, inhaling sharply as air wooshed back into her lungs. Her eyes flew wide as she lay there, struggling to breathe. The wind completely knocked out of her. Right now, the ground just needed to stop swaying.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry! Is everyone alright?"

When she was able she rolled to her belly, struggling to focus enough to see if Birch was okay.  Spots swam before her eyes and she completely missed Roderick coming back to his senses.  Had Felix gotten Birch? The back of her neck throbbed, ribbons torn through the scruff by Roderick's claws. Despite the fact that they weren't very deep, they would most certainly scar. She was not going to be able to hide this little adventure from dad.

[.Birch.]

 

                                ------------------------------------------

Chaos erupted all around him in the matter of a few minutes. He heard his brother shouting at the stranger to leave him alone but it didn't seem that the large predator was going to release him any time soon. His breathing came faster and more shallow as the onslaught of his building fright manifested into a full on panic attack. Birch had never experienced a sensation such as this before but then again he had always avoided others pretty well until this very moment. Which was quickly spiraling out of hand. Whatever the large cat had said in reponse went unheard by the tense dire as his attention was mainly focused on the large fangs that hovered above his head. A weak whimper escaped his throat as he imagined those same fangs ripping him apart, limb from bloody limb, while he was unable to runaway.

He didn't know what happened but the saber suddenly let out a loud and powerful roar that caused the dire to nearly faint again from fright. The beast lurched up from his position on the ground, releasing the child from his grasp, but the yearling couldn't take advantage of his newfound freedom since his body refused to move. Before he could even try to relax the chocolate dire found himself in the path of a rampaging saber. He was unaware that another person had come onto the scene and feared that Felix had put himself in harms way trying to save him. Felix had always been the one to defend his siblings when they were targeted by bullies so he thought that his braver sibling had taken on the fierce predator by himself. He never noticed that Felix was actually standing a few yards away from the scene.

Not that he was in much of a position to focus on anything other than the flailing saber that hovered too close for comfort. The inevitable happened as the frozen pup soon found himself in the oncoming path of a clawed paw careening towards his face. The dire clenched his eyes shut as he prepared to feel the pain that would soon follow but instead of his face the pain came from the back of his neck.  He let out a loud yelp as he felt something puncture his flesh as he was pulled along by an unknown force. With his eyes being closed the child was only left with his hearing and sense of smell which soon picked up on the sound of labored breathing and the smell of blood. The smell cause the chocolate dires yellow eyes to shoot open in panic as he turned his head towards the sounds of distress which he discovered were coming from his sister...."TRILLIUM," he cried out as he realized that his sister had taken the blow meant for him. 

Birch struggled to find his balance as he tried to stand before giving up on the idea and instead opted to crawl towards his struggling sibling. "Slow breaths sister," he gently coached as he realized that she was struggling to breath, "don't stand lay down on your side and breath like this," he attempted to use his close proximity to his sister to let her feel, and hear, the long and slow fall and rise of his stomach as he inhaled and exhaled. His time spent shadowing the healers was finally coming in handy. Everything else now could wait but Birch was going to help his sister who tried to save him even if he was still trying to calm himself from his own ordeal. He didn't realize that the saber had come to his senses or that a real healer was on scene all he was concerned about was his siblings. "Felix," he called as he looked around for his brother Birch needed to know he was ok completely unaware that tears were rolling down his face and onto the dirtied coat of his pale sister.

[*Lotus*]

The large cat reared, and Lotus held on for dear life as it struggled and attempted to reach for her. Each moment it spent trying to reach for her was time gained for the children to escape. She was unaware of the danger some of them faced beneath the claws of the struggling sabretooth cat.

The inevitable eventually came, and the jaws of the feline locked onto the upper part of her rear left leg. She was not prepared for the pain that followed, as she was dragged down and slammed into the ground with force. Flashes of light appeared in all corners of her vision. Still, she saw as the sabre came over her and snarled into her face. Lotus squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for her end, as the big cat's breath shook the fur at her neck and his claws dug into the earth beside her.

But instead of tearing into her mercilessly, the predator stopped growling and pulled away from her.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry! Is everyone alright?"

No. Nothing was alright. There was a sabre in the garden, and the children were.... Oh no ...the children!

At the thought of them, Lotus lifted her head and looked around hoping they had escaped, but to her horror she spotted them still within reach of the beast. Worse still, one of them was injured. The healer gasped, her first instinct to reach for the injured one and assess the damage done in order to provide care. The moment she tried to stand, she gave a yelp and nearly fell back down. It was only then that she looked to her back leg and saw it covered in blood. Experience told her the main arteries were spared, and she wasted no more time to observe the injury upon herself. She was much more concerned with the wounded child.

Trying to go as fast as she could on three legs, she reached the pups and placed herself between them and the sabre. She would shield them with her body should the feline attack. Keeping her eyes on the big cat, she glanced back at the pup with the lighter colored coat and sighed in relief. "It's going to be alright, I promise.", she spoke in a soothing voice to the pup crying over his sister. The wound would need some care, but the child's life was in no danger. Well, unless the cat decided otherwise.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!!!", she would yell if the feline approached.

Her voice was firm and demanding, harnessing all the authority she'd ever possessed as a medic, but inside she trembled with fear.

[Felix]

OOC: Sorry for being a bit slow! Crazy week!

---

"Grab him!"

It was a good plan, simple, succinct, decisive, actionable and he liked it! Wait. You grab him or me grab him? He was going to ask Trill but she had already pressed ahead with the actioning part as soon as the words had left her mouth, while he was still at the processing stage. Good job it had not been a plan with more than one step. Trillium grabbed Birch and, in a suprising show of strength for one Felix had written off as being a bit dainty looking, threw him bodily in his direction. Felix being equal parts surprised and confused, reacted purely on instinct and side stepped the projectile that was his own brother. He slighty botched it. In his defence Trill had said 'grab' there was no mention of catch.

He missed the precise moment of impact, as he was distracted by his head turning to follow Birch's ungainly sail through the air, but he heard the thud and whoosh of expelled air and whipped his head back round in time to see Trill meet the dirt.

"TRILLIUM!"

The fight between the cat and the stranger continued, but that seemed distant, background, almost fictional, like a someone was telling him a story about a battle between a hero and a hideous monster, and he was imagining it.

Felix stared at Trillium, dashed down to the ground by the cats huge strength. Her chest was still. Her fur was bloody near the throat, the blood red all the more vibrant for the pale canvas it smeared. Disbelief and internal screaming stretched indefinitely as he thought his sister might be- "Trill?" It was a squeak, barely a whisper, a sound restricted by utter terror. She sucked in a laboured breath. Alive.

"Slow breaths sister, don't stand lay down on your side and breath like this,"

"Felix."

Birch crawled to Trillium's side and looked round to him, his eyes wet with tears. Felix realised he was just standing there watching, teal eyes wide, heart pounding. He staggered a couple of steps closer to his siblings, feeling like his legs were jelly.

The saber finally hooked his assailant and slammed her down on the ground, the sound, so like that of Trillium's fall made him look and see properly. The story had ended... And was about to see someone die. He couldn't do anything, it was too late, it was already happening, he made another small noise. "Nh." Was it no? An appeal? Or just the sound of horrfied disbelief. The saber was about to rip her throat out and he couldn't look away.

The cat stopped and suddenly let her go. Felix thought he was going to be sick.

"Oh my god... I'm so sorry! Is everyone alright?"

And just like that he was asking a question like he was an actual soul just like any other not just an empty monsterous vessel built to destroy Inarian's. Felix blinked and gaped, slack jawed, indignation filling him now - It was a roller coaster of emotions today. "You can't - You can't just!" He stammered words finding their way back slowly through the mush that was his brain. "You- You tried to kill her! Trill and-and both of them!" Felix shouted at the cat, shock had subsided and now there was just anger, though his legs still felt like some sort of pudding. "Murderer!" He was a little over zealous with his labellings seeing as Roderick had killed no one, but Felix was a little over zealos about everything in life.

"It's going to be alright, I promise."

The stranger's words were reassuring but their hero was bleeding too. Felix was the last one left standing, metaphorically at least. He realised he was their best defence now, a realisation that made the nausea return but also steeled him.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!!!"

The stranger said it and Felix did the same wordlessly. He stood over of his siblings, teeth bared in what was the first truly aggressive and ferocious snarl he had ever given. His hackles were raised, tail stiff, every inch of him defensive in the face of threat to that which was his. The message was clear, if the cat took one step towards his family he would attack it. This time he meant it.