Blood and stars (closed)

Wisps of freezing winds found they way into the molly's nest as she tossed and turned, sleep not coming easy to her. Even without the frigid temperatures her den had never felt warm, not without Iakona being there to grace her with his silence. Her brother's presence had always kept her nerves calm, her mind clear, and while she knew he would turn up as he always did there was something in the back of Alethea's mind telling her he wouldn't return this time. It was a disease rotting her from the inside, bringing restlessness to her nights and keeping her from feeling completely like herself.

Giving up on the idea of sleep for the night, Alethea padded out of her den and into the snow-laden camp. Normally she would have hated how the snow covered all things from sight, but here it was an improvement. Green eyes caught paws in the snow, and though she knew it to be foolish, there was hope. Trotting out along the path that had been set for her the molly passed through hundreds of sprouting giants. In daylight they were magnificent things, surviving despite the conditions as they all did yet doing so with ease and strength. At night however they seemed to reach out at her, casting odd shadows across the ground and every so often she swore she could see something moving about the darkness. Eventually the trees gave way to an icy river.

Crossing over was an easy task, though as the molly picked her way through the high reeds of the land she began to pick up on a certain scent. It had been faint at first, far off and drowned out by others, but as she got closer and closer the putrid smell started to permeate all around her. Thicker and thicker the scent grew until finally hints of red poked through the curtain of night. A bloody battlefield lay in front of the molly, one beast felled and another still drawing breath. Alethea spared no caution as she approached the shadowy form only to find a familiar pelt now stained in blood. "Rose? Great Stag, what happened to you?" It was more than clear to her with the body of her adversary laying so close, but she couldn't help the question. "We need you get you back to my den, do you think you can make the journey?" Oh Stag, there was a lot of blood. Alethea was sure of her abilities when it came to healing, but that was when she had supplies on paw. Here, already soaking her paws in bloodied snow, she wasn't so sure.

Rose was curled up on herself, staunching the bloodflow that had already stopped, snow settling on her form. Her side hurt, white-hot pain, but she’d felt worse. She’d felt worse, she reminded herself. She’d felt worse. She’d met the teeth of a young wolf before, albeit one weakened by bloodloss, and that she’d lived through. That she’d lived through, but with her friends and family. This, she was alone for. She thought she’d come to terms with that. She had. Maybe. The snow felt good.

“Edelweiss…” she murmured before her gaze focused. Wrong. “Oh… I… yeah…”

She uncurled slowly, pain shooting through her side with each shuddering breath. “Just give me a moment… I’ll be fine… Has Morey come back from the long patrol yet?”

Her thoughts felt distant and somehow wrong, as if they had to travel over a long time. She’d be fine- she was always fine, but she needed to rest. She needed to rest. No, she needed to get up, she needed to get up, Edel needed her to get up. Edel needed her to get up, and she’d get up. Had Morey come back from patrol yet?