The brute panted heavily, his sides heaving. He was exasted from his travel and the battle he had fought against Risen. His left foreleg was stained heavily with crimson blood. His left eylids were stained with the crimson also, for he had been given a scar there.

His leg hed been broken and dislocated. His paw had been crushed. Risen... He thought angrily. His thoughts were cut short as pain surged through his leg. He remembered why he was here: His leg needed to be healed. Now. If not, he might always have this injury.

---

They Dubbed me: Shadow

They Molded me: Brute

My Blood is of the: Grey Wolf

My pools are Dyed: Yellow

My Pelt is Hued: Dark brown-grey

I Belong to: No Pack

My Heart Belongs to: No One

I have been injured by: Risen

My injuries: Crushed paw, Broken Leg, Dislocated Leg

Starlit Eyes was just traveling from the back yard, leading Coyote and Sonora, when she spotted Shadow. The hybrid glanced back at the other two, "Go to the porch, the lady will be with you shortly. And if you are interested..." Starlit looked to the mare, "There are two horses in the barn you can talk to while you wait for your friend to be mended."

As Starlit was about to speak to Shadow next, the front door opened. The Lady had seen Shadow's approach, and had gotten her medical kit out and ready. She was surprised to see another wolf and a horse, though with one look she could see that the horse appeared to be fine. "Here now, two need healing today?" The woman spoke in a soft voice, with no hint of threat or warning.

It was clear from a distance that Shadow's injuries would need extensive work- more than she could do with him awake. For that reason, she had prepared a peice of meat with a sedative injected inside. Tearing the meat in two, she tossed one to Shadow, and the other two Coyote. If they ate the meat, they would be asleep in a matter of minutes, and she'd be able to work on them.

But my Future may take a Different Path

Shadow's pools were set on the front door. As the door opened his muscles relaxed and relief flooded over every bone in his body. He nodded at Starlit Eyes. When he saw the meat he sighed. He was hungy, so he grabbed the meat in his paws and quickly devoured it. He knew what was in it, for he had heard about this method of sedating. All he wanted was to be healed, so he made no fuss.

The sedative took action quickly. His eyelids felt heavy like bricks. Soon, he closed them and found himself in a deep sleep.

The mare, Coyote, whinnied when she reached the front yard. The wolf on her back yelped, for her legs was in great pain.

She quickly went to work on Shadow, as soon as the wolf was out. Her first task as usual was to clean the injury as best as possible to avoid infection, though with the cold winter months still ahead, infection wasn't as big of a concern. Her next step was to assess the damage to the bones and get them lined up properly so that they could heal in the right way. Once everything was set, she began to wrap the injured limb in a thick, wet gauze. Within a few minutes, the gauze dried out and hardened to form a cast. To this, she applied a very bitter, foul-tasting chemical. It would hopefully keep Shadow from chewing the cast off before his leg was healed. Within a few weeks, the cast would begin to fall apart on its own, leaving the wolf's leg healed- or as healed as it could get, giving the damage he had taken to it.

Starlit turned to Coyote and Sonora, "YOu'll have to eat that piece of meat there before my master can help you. It will make you fall asleep- and that way, you will feel no pain when she heals you." In reality, Starlit was more concerned with anyone harming her Lady, but it was also a strange but wonderful thing the humans could do with their medicines. Induce sleep, and prevent pain! How nifty was that?

Coyote looked back at Sonora. Sonora nodded and Coyote let Sonora down. Sonora ate the meat and slowly fell asleep.

Working quickly as she had with Shadow, the lady cleaned up Sonora's leg. Careful to make sure all the bones were set in the right way, she applied the cast material to her leg and let it set. Within a few minutes, the cast had hardened. In a few weeks, it would begin to fall off on its own, and by then, the wolf's leg should be healed.

Leaving Sonora to wake up on her own, the lady and Starlit moved to their next patient.

Sonora was fast asleep while the lady worked on her leg. After a while, she woke up. Her leg still hurt, but not nearly as bad as it did before the treatment.

"Sonora!" Exclaimed Coyote happily, stomping her hooves, "How do you feel?"

Sonora stood up. She was a little wobbly at first, but soon regained her balance. "I'm good. My leg should be better soon. Let's get out of here."

"Okay. Where should we go?" Asked Coyote.

"Don't care. Wherever you want to lead me. Just not back to that canyon. I don't like that place very much." Replied Sonora.

Coyote swung around and walked away, looking back to make sure Sonora was following. Sonora had a bad limp, but followed her friend.