Starscream & Others

The night was a dreadfully long one for Starscream. And it wasn't just for the bone-deep aches, or the burning pain of infection that had settled into the wound along his neck. It was fear for his family, fear of a counter assault by the Haunters while the Aspen Grove was so badly broken and bruised, and worst of all... fear for those that were still missing. Sakura and Sentalia were not accounted for. Scream had rallied the pack into hourly howls, sending their voices rolling over the Aspen Grove and the Valley beyond, like a beacon to help the missing pups find their way home. He'd sent an exhausted Namir and Crow to scour the edges of the packlands, but alas, no trace of them had been found.

Eventually he had to give into rest. Tayzeka and the remaining pups were ordered into the den, while the rest of the family was left to sprawl out amongst the open ground just outside of it. Throughout the night and into the early morning, Darling and Crow had taken turns checking on the most wounded in the pack; Hulia, Dove, and In'Alak were all looked after with great care and attention, even if there was little to be done but comfort them and provide a warm body to sleep next to. While Crow had spent most of his time between Hulia and his best friend, Darling and taken to looking after Dove, and giving Numinex a bit of extra attention himself, knowing that her father was not particularly found of the coyote, and preferred to ignore him as he did Liseli.

Hulia

Tayzeka took charge of Hulia's pups along with her own knowing Hulia needed the attention of adults not pups and that hse needed rest. She wanted to be with her sister badly but she allow Crow to take it into his own hands. Hulia had only been semi fond of one other male and that had been glider the father of her pups. She went into the den with the others and rested with them.

Hulia on the other hand lay trying to sleep but infection was ssetting in and she occasionally threw up from it. She was also running a high fever and whined when Crow left, not because she wanted all his attnetion but it felt better to have some one next to her. She had heard the howls and she wanted her daughter back and an occasional tear left her eyes as she thought of her missing pup.

Dove & Numinex

Dove wasn't faring much better than before. Really, she was getting worse. Her wound wasn't quite festering yet, but it was clearly in the early stages of infection. The saluki was shivering and no amount of warmth could soothe her. The shock had set in; she felt little pain now, even though she should be feeling it. She wanted to sleep, but resisted, knowing that she might not wake up.

Numinex, even though he was a small, young injured pup, remained further away from the pack, feeling quite unwelcome. He wished to avoid confrontation with Starscream. The shard of wood was still stuck in his thigh, and unlike Dove, he felt the pain. Each time he saw Starscream, he visibly flinched in fear that his superior would attack him. He had learned, through his time in captivity, to fear his superiors. Even in his frightened state, and no matter how much he felt Starscream disliked him, he held a great deal of respect for his alpha.

Kaina*Others

Starscream had been antsy all evening. Justifiably so, and on a deep level of herself, Kaina shared his concern, particularly when the hourly howls did not serve to guide their missing little ones home. Fearing the worst for defenseless pups that could easily have come to harm during the chaos of fleeing the fight, or in the following slide, she nevertheless kept those dreadful thoughts to herself, knowing too well that these things had already occurred to the others - speaking them aloud would only make them more real. Instead, she'd chosen to devote herself to staying close to the alpha, mindful of the stressful position he was in, and the fact that he too needed to take time to rest up. So she'd more or less followed him about throughout the evening, making brief visits to Darling and In'Alak as they cared for their wounded packmates, and even taking a few minutes to hold a slightly-erratic discussion with Liseli. Throughout it though, she had stuck close to Starscream, and whenever she could persuade him to allow it, she'd done her best to tend his injuries. As night had fallen, she'd made her sleeping place beside his, snuggling unabashedly alongside his grizzled form and taking several minutes to work on cleaning the wound and setting his fur into order before finally settling down herself. The tension around them was such that she slept lightly, however, and the moment that the first ringing cry of a bird broke the silence of the gray early morning, honey-warm eyes flicked open. Before she was even fully awake, the fetid stench of inflamed, irritated flesh met her nose, and she cringed inwardly, knowing before she even looked what it was. "Now, didn't I tell you that would get infected if you didn't let me get all that gunk out of there?" Her voice was soft, not really meant to be a question, and pitched so that she wouldn't wake any of the ones that had found rest... it was mostly an exasperated comment to herself as she repositioned herself so that she could reach up and once again begin the process of cleaning the injury with soft, gentle swipes of her tongue.

Starscream & Others

The alpha was in the fits of a light sleep, caught between snatches of dreams and briefly waking for a second or two, before slipping back into unconsciousness. A shrill cry from some nearby bird finally ended the cycle and snapped Starscream's mind out of the bleariness that kept dragging it under. Eyelids blinked open, and a heavy breath brought the musty scent of earth deep into his nose, along with the familiar, comforting scents of his pack. The presence of a warm body at his side made Scream reluctant to stand up, much less lift his head and draw away, and for a few minutes... the tired wolf decided he'd give in and simply lay there, enjoying the quiet around him, and the closeness of Kaina. She's still there. Was among the first thoughts to cross his mind, recalling their conversation yesterday, and the fact that the small wolfess had chosen to sleep not only near him, but cuddled right up against him. When he felt a tongue against his neck, Starscream couldn't help a small growl to express his discomfort, but he quieted quickly enough and didn't snap at Kaina's gentle efforts, "That mongrel got me good. ..How's your leg?"

Crow was already awake in these early hours. Between shuffling from Hulia and In'Alak during the night, and having Kaina's support in looking after his best friend, the silver wolf had managed to catch up on his sleep fairly well, with small power naps that his kind were well accustomed to. A lack of serious injuries had helped too, and it was just as well; Hulia was among almost half of the pack who had wounds, and with all the vomiting and the chills during the night, he still feared that she would not make it. After checking once more on Alak, and finding the leggy wolf still asleep, he padded back to Hulia and stretched out beside her, with his head lain comfortingly across her neck. "Hulia, how are you holding up?"

Darling herself was moving away from Dove after spending the last hour with her, cleaning the dog's wounds and offering her the moral support of a caring packmate. Her light steps carried her through the maze of bodies sprawled around the den entrance, skirting around Liseli and past her father to reach the coyote hanging on the outskirts of the densite. "Numinex." She woofed softly upon approach, carrying her head low and her ears pressed back, "Why don't you let me take a look at that leg? That wood hasn't come out yet; maybe I can get it. It'll make you feel better afterwards."

Hulia

Hulia barely slept and when she did it was a fitful sleep. When the bird called she woke and then she felt Crow and yawned.She enjoyed his company.alright I guessHer voice was soft and hoarse.

Tayzeka awoke and she exited the den with the pups telling them to leave their mother alone for hulia's pups and that she needed rest before taking them a little bit away from their mother so they wouldn't accidentally run into her.

Korek was sitting and watching the pack and his sister. Would she die?

Torek was up and resting his hind leg.

Kaina*Others

"Now, now... don't you snarl at me." Softly, in a tender way that indicated she had not truly taken any offense or been startled by the sound, which she understood to be for the discomfort of having the infected injury cleaned. "If you'd let me clean it thoroughly last night like I wanted to, it wouldn't hurt so much now." She paused only long enough to make those statements, and then continued drawing her tongue firmly over the fetid injury, paying intent, delicate attention to cleaning it out properly, now that he was holding still and allowing her to tend it. It hadn't yet occurred to get to wonder about her close arrangement to him, or the fact that he must be enjoying it, if he hadn't gotten up and moved away from her. And, perhaps more importantly, Cortinarri hadn't done anything to separate them yet either... but Kaina didn't really understand the significance of that, nor did she seem to realize that, sooner or later, the ex-alphess would likely confront her son about whatever intentions he had toward the small, silver female. No, her mind was upon cleaning the wound, and carrying on light conversation, to allow both of them to de-stress a little. "It is a little tender still," she admitted quietly, when he turned conversation to her sprained ankle. "You were right... I should have probably given it a bit of a rest instead of wandering about on it so much." She chose to ignore the fact that she'd spent all evening following Star himself around, more concerned about seeing to his needs than about the truly minor injury she herself had sustained. "Geeze, did you roll in your sleep? I just groomed all this down... " Her quiet complaint was more attentive than truly frustrated, and sounded as her tongue strayed subtly from the injury in order to slick down a particularly stubborn patch of his fur.

Starscream & Others

As per usual, when Starscream was chastised and knew he'd earned it, he gave Kaina a wrinkled nose for her remarks but no verbal protests or mutterings in his defense. Cortinarri would have told him just as much if she were the one here cleaning his wounds, and she wouldn't have been nearly so soft-spoken as this she-wolf was. And so despite his strong reservations for anyone telling him what to do or how he'd done wrong, the big male couldn't hold anything against Kaina for her remarks, and more than that... he almost appreciated them. Grudgingly maybe, but her attentive care and desire to see that he was well meant more to Starscream than he initially realized. "We'll take turns resting today. No use wearing yourself out and hurting your leg more. I'll send Namir out to hunt; with any luck, that... thing yesterday had to have wounded more than just us. There'll be easy prey for him to pick off." The alpha brushed off more work on the much used cougar, without realizing that Namir was already hard at work helping the pack out with another ongoing issue.

Scream gave her a thin smile next and turned his head about, "I could ask the same of you." Kaina's leg may not need to attentive care of a tongue to heal it, but he would at least return the favor of a friendly groom to help straighten out some of her own fur, and the added benefit of stress-relief that mutual fur-cleaning brought.

Meanwhile, Crow was doing his best to keep Hulia comfortable, not knowing if her hours were numbered, or whether she would pull through. It was reassuring to hear her voice at least, and it got the silver male's tail to patting on the ground a few times. "Here in a little bit, I'm going to try to move you towards the stream. Alak says it's important for you to drink plenty while you're recovering." Between speaking to her, Crow was carefully grooming through her fur, and cleaning as close as he dared to her wounds, without causing her too much discomfort.

Hulia

Hulia was very much enjoying Crow attention to her and she listened to his words. alrightSHe said. Luckily she believed the nausea was gone but only time would tell. She was quiet thirsty but she was just too weak to move on her own. She watched star and Kaina a little then looked to her sister who was taking care of her and Glider's litter as well as her and Star's litter and she sighed.

Megatron huffed not really liking having his cousins getting attention from his mother. He watched his father and Kaina and soon moved toward his father. Dad why did the earth shake?He asked.

Fiera the light grey female was chasing her tail

Gwen who looked mostly wolf except her more rounded eyes which were Medium brown. She was a mixture of greys with black along her back and along her neck. She watched her mother and then wondered where her sister Sakura was. She was a bit mad at their alpha for not giving in to little Sakura. He was the reason she took off running. All Sakura wanted was a father figure and someone to play with.

Kaina*Others

The returned attention was welcome, and for once the female did not resist the offer of a bit of social grooming to mutually soothe their nerves. Rather, she shifted her position a bit to allow her to continue what she was doing, laying slow, smooth licks over infected tissues to clean them out - but the way that she moved also arranged her frame so that he would have an easier time getting to the patch of her fur that he was trying to set in order. It was rather like the way that many creatures would lean into a caress, not simply enjoying it for itself, but also trying to encourage more attention their way. "I think the whole pack has earned a rest, Namir included. Once we've all had something to keep our strength up, he should have a rest. Those less injured of us can make rounds, in pairs if need be. It takes little time to make a circuit of our lands and ensure their security, and it would be unfortunate to drain Namir of all of his energy, being one of the more able-bodied of us... just in case they come back." The last phrase, she pitched in a very careful, low tone, so that even he, settled so close to her as he was, would have to concentrate powerfully to have any hope of hearing her. She didn't want to stir up any alarm with anyone else, and so when a young male began to approach - scent and sight both told her this was one of Star's younger pups... Megatron? Yes, that was the name she'd heard - she fell quiet, not moving away or ceasing in her attentive grooming of the alpha's grizzled coat, but at least offering them the courtesy of speaking father to son without interference.

Starscream & Others

The alpha didn't realize how sorely he missed these simple grooming sessions. The bonding, relaxation, the assuring presence and touch of another packmember. While Cortinarri would occassionally convince her son to sit down for a good fur cleaning, and fellow packmates would now and then tend to his coat in a show of expected respect and support for their leader, it was different with Kaina. It brought him back to the days when he and Nachi were still courting, before the wolfess became the reclusive, aggressive, and... bizare creature following the birth of their children. Starscream supressed the darker of those memories, chosing instead to enjoy what he'd long since been denied by his maddened late mate. "Maybe you're right, but we can't afford to get to relaxed so soon." The alpha nosed over a small clod of hardened mud buried in Kaina's fur, likely from when she was entombed during yesterday's landslide. Teeth so often used for rending flesh from bone now worked with tedious care to break up and dislodge the grime. "...You see how some of them looked before they left? Liseli's half-mad, but her rambling sure seemed to have an impact on them. Might keep them at bay, for a little while at least."

Starscream was now applying his tongue to the fur, sweeping away the dust and smaller bits of dirt, and straightening out the white hairs. That's about the time that his son showed up, bringing with him a question that Scream had no answer for. "The earthquake? That.." Feeling obligated to have the answers, being both a parent and an alpha, the brute hesitated for only a second or two before responding, "That happens when the earth becomes angry. It's like the growl of a furious bear, or the bellow of a bull; when the earth gets upset, it needs to express that. It's just like lightning and thunder."

Nearby, Crow was still hard at work trying to straighten out Hulia's coat. Other than the obvious benefits of keeping her gruesom wounds cleaned, the green-eyed male knew it would also help to keep her occupied when he knew how uncomfortable and distressed she must be. "How is the pain?"

Korek

Korek stretched wincing a little as his small wound seemed to decide to reopen and bleed a little but he shook his out as he glanced around.Torek come with meHe spoke to his brother before looking to starscream.I am gonna make a perimeter sweep, see the damage and make sure no enemy lingersHe said. Someone had to do it and if the alpha wasn't theo ne to do it then the beta should he knew .

Hulia was trying her best to ignore the pain radiating from her right hind limb that was mostly gone. The bleeding had stoped and only started when it was cleaned but it stopped soon after a cleaning. Which mostl ikely meant it was on the mend. As for hte infection who knew. Painful but I'll survive itShe sai.

Kaina*Others

Not quite aware of just how profoundly the simple grooming was impacting Star - or how much he was enjoying it - Kaina finished her thorough cleaning of the gash in his neck, and then angled her head down and to one side so that she could begin cleaning and slicking down the fur at the base of his neck, while still allowing him to work at the stubborn bit of mud caught in her coat. Taking the time to not only lick down the fur, but to land a little nuzzle here and there just because it felt right to her, she answered him, "That's why I suggest pairs - there are enough of us who are fairly mobile that we could take turns every hour and those remaining can rest while the others make rounds. You and I can go together, and then Darling and Crow; I'll sit with In'Alak while he's gone. And then-" Before she could finish, Kurok had taken to his paws and called to his brother, but she didn't call out to challenge them; she hadn't the authority in any case, and so long as the beta was prepared to take the first round, she was content enough to remain cuddled with Starscream for a little while longer. With that matter seemingly resolving itself, she returned to their conversation. She hadn't heard Liseli's eerie prophecy, having been caught up in the slide and still buried when the mad beta had been taken by wild ramblings. Still, it had to have been curiously effective, to have gotten them to back up when they should have had the advantage. Nudging her head briefly up under his chin as she washed out a bunch of gathered dust, she questioned, "What did she say?" but allowed her voice to fall quiet as he began to explain to his son what he believed to be the cause of the earthquake.

Starsceam

Starsceam's attentive care eventually saw to it that the bit of dried mud was removed, leaving that patch of Kaina's fur spotless and back in order. It also left a tuft of hair stuck to the end of his wet nose, which ended up tickling a sensitive nostril and triggering a sudden, sharp sneeze from the alpha. Scream wiggled his nose a few times to dislodge the fur, but it only brought on another violent sneeze. At the same time, he was trying to listen to Kaina's ideas on managing the pack's activities now that so many were wounded, including the bit about her accompanying him on patrol. Korek had approached before Starscream had a chance to comment back, prompting the alpha to cease his nose-wiggling and draw his head up and around to face his beta, "Be gone no longer than an hour. Kaina and I will take our round afterwards. And if you see Namir, send him this way." Shortly after giving those orders, the alpha's face crinkled, his lips drawing back into a silent grimace, and a third sneeze shook him. Not about to let such an annoyance interrupt his discussion with the wolfess beside him, Scream carried on by turning slightly watering eyes to her, "...Liseli? Something about... blood and bones, and the land punishing them. I don't remember all of it; she's prone to uttering a lot of nonsense."

Having cleaned Hulia's wounds to the best of his ability, Crow rested his head against her neck and shoulder. "With rest and time, it will get better." With nothing to help Hulia's physical pain, all the silver wolf could do was keep her company, and provide the wolfess with his doting care.

Kurok

Kurok gave a bob of his head to his alpha before he and his brother took off to the south of the territory.

Hulia watched her brothers take off and glanced at her sister and pups before looking back to crow. and enjoyed his touch and did not mind him resting his head on her. I know and thank you for spending time with me I really appreciate itSHe said softly.

Kaina*Others

The first harsh sneeze made the soft silver ears lay back, fighting both surprise and amusement; the second prompted an innocent giggle, accompanied by how she angled her head back to reach up toward him. "Hold still..." With little more ceremony than that, the soft pink tongue peeked out again and flicked over the end of his nose once, and then again when the tuft of fur didn't immediately leave him. She drew back for just long enough to allow the third sneeze to take him, and then reached in once more, and this time finally managed to swipe it off of him, hopefully offering some relief. Another giggle sounded, and the licks meant to dislodge the feather evolved to a more nuzzling motion, more affectionate than functional. Her mind was still operating keenly however, and when he gave her an approximation of what Liseli had said, the dainty brow wrinkled, and she turned honey-colored eyes to the old beta where she'd curled alone in one corner of the den, currently fast asleep. "There is often more than enough wisdom in nonsense, if one knows how to listen. It lingers, like a faint scent after a long parting... unaltered, but faded and more mysterious.... difficult to define."