Speed is of the Essence [Nehsmay & Seliarus]

[Seliarus]

The Dhani observed the Kelvic's fatal attempt of hiding her wound. Not that blood already made it's way over her hand, or what not, seeing that a deep gash isn't something that one could just shrug off. He admired the Kelvic for her strong will in helping him, but at that moment, she wasn't any better than him, if not worse. It wouldn't please Sel if she would hurt herself even more trying to help him. He wanted to say something as an objection, but then the Vantha spoke up, and it did look like she was on his side. But then again, now it was only Nehs, patrolling over the two beaten up predators, and it was already getting dark, if he wasn't mistaking. They should find a place to stay, and somehow cover all of this blood, so they wouldn't pull any other starving beasts into their direction. One pack of wolves was right about enough for one travel. But well, he got some sort of herbs in his hand, and what he gathered from Nehs, he was supposed to press them against his wounds. Even though, that would look a bit funny, took half of the herbs, and placed them on his right hand. Then he took the rest of the herbs in his left palm, and twisted his left arm back, and covering his wound on the back with them. He decided he wont move now, even though he felt the herbs poking the bite marks like needles. With a irritated hiss, he sighed over the pain.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidae took the herbs delicately with one hand, staring down at them. In a daze of exhaustion and pain, she made her way back towards Seliarus. Everything should be dark, but the flickering flames of the fire gave her more than enough light to see by. But where the clearing should be lit by a cheerful orange glow, everything seemed gray and hazy to Nida. Much paler than usual, she slumped down beside Seliarus, grimacing as the movement jarred her wound. The Kelvic gingerly held up a handful of snow, pressing it against her wound. Her eyes widened at the sudden additional stinging, and she choked down a gasp. No, they had already seen the wound, no need to give them more things to worry about. When the stinging had subsided, and numbness had almost crept up over the wound, she brushed the snow off of her, putting the herbs in its place. Her movements were robotic, obeying only what Nehsmay had told her to do. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and she was finding it harder to keep them open. The strange herbs poked at her wound, but she bore the pain with a silent grimace. At Nehsmay's question, Nidae simply met her gaze. The glare from the Vantha spoke volumes, she was obviously displeased at Nida's attempt to hide the wound. In return, Nidassasyae's eyes were pleading, and she looked towards Seliarus meaningfully, then back at Nehs. She hoped that the Vantha would understand, she wanted Sel bandaged first. Her vision was already fading at the edges, unconsciousness threatening her each and every movement. It was a foolhardy and stupid notion, but the newly Bonded Kelvic was protective over all else. Perhaps when they got used to the Bond, she could be comfortable with receiving care before him. But for now, she needed the assurance that he would be bandaged up, before she fell into unconsciousness and could not determine if that deed was done.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay sighed in displeasure at Nidae's stubbornness, but knew very well that she had to bandage Sel first if she wanted to get through to her stubborn friend who was on the verge of passing out. She quickly took her bandages and sighed, then proceeded to bandage Sel's wounds. She gently removed the herbs and pressed the bandages over the wound tying them tightly in order to stop an eventual blood flow. Darkness was slowly creeping over the forest and the hazy light of the fire didn't help much. Nehsmay was aching as well, but she hid her pain the best that she could in order to help her friends. Her eyes turned a honey brown color and she blinked a couple of times to regain focus. As soon as she finished with Sel's bite marks she headed towards Nidae. She wasn't even sure if her friend was still awake or had lost consciousness, but she quickly replaced the herbs with new ones and tied her wound as well. The herbs had stopped the blood flow a bit which was good, but the gash was still deep enough. The other scratches were shallow and were bound to fade in a day or two at most. Having finished, she shakily rose to her feet, staggering a few times. Returning to the bridge she took her torch and lit it once more. "I should go and see if there's a safe place to set camp nearby." She winced a bit and grasped Shade's reins in order to steady herself. "The wolves must have had a cave or something which should now be empty." Or at least she hoped it would be empty...

[Seliarus]

The Dhani calmed himself down, and thanks to the fire in front of him, he felt a bit less cold, even though the only thing he was wearing at that moment were the bandages around his bite marks, that were bound around him by the Vantha. But he could see, even though he did not understand the color shifting eyes, that she was getting tired. And, in addition to that, she was also injured. Even though she decided not to mind it. Sel closed his eyes for a moment. While still being quite weak, the fire inflamed a bit of his energy back at him. He should probably try to convince Nehs to take a rest herself. He wouldn't do anything as the Vantha would be bandaging Nida, but as soon as she would finish, he would lightly prod the Kelvic girl, to see if she was alright. The fight drained a lot from all of them, so he would understand if she couldn't do much but to fall asleep. But asleep or not, he'd lightly pull her closer into his arms, trying to lean her head on his chest, so she would have somewhere to lean on, before wrapping his arms around her, but, carefully, so he wouldn't cause her any additional pain. Thank you. He said trough the bond, and afterwords sighing slowly. She kind of did save his life back there. And there wasn't anything he could do in return but to stay by her, so she could recover. "Nehsssmay...I really do apprecssiate your help. But, we're not the only ones injured. Sssso, don't take too much time sssearching for anything, then you need ressst. If nothing, we can jussst ssstay here for the night. Both of you need ssssome ressst." He spoke in the direction of the Vantha.

[Nidassasyae]

Nidae sighed in relief as Nehsmay complied, bandaging Seliarus first. The Kelvic submitted to Nehsmay's healing, satisfied that her Bondmate had been seen to. "Thanks..." she murmured as the Vantha bandaged the gash in her stomach, her voice soft. Nida noticed that her friend seemed to be favoring one hand, and she gingerly reached out and examined it. Her already half closed eyes opened the slightest bit as she saw the scratches along Nehs' arm. "What did you do, Nehs? Should I bandage..." she gave a halfhearted chuckle before her voice faded off. The shadows on the corners of her vision started to grow, filling her eyes with their impenetrable blackness. But the sensation was not unpleasant, it was calm and cool in the darkness. She couldn't have held off the combined strain of blood loss, shifting, and traveling, for much longer. With a sigh, her small body slumped backwards, leaning against Sel. She could not feel him wrap his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. Nidae'd already surrendered to the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness. There's too many of them! She thought wildly, her raven hair whipping in the breeze. The wolves surrounded the trio, but there was no bridge behind them, no river. Where was the river? Red eyes gleamed around them, the dire wolves' bodies hidden in the shadows. Their teeth shone in the moonlight, sharp as daggers. It can't end like this, It didn't! she thought, It's all got to be a dream. Yes, just a dream. But it didn't seem like a dream. It seemed all too real. When she tried shifting into her leopard form, she couldn't. It was as though that ability had been taken from her. Panicking, the girl tried to convince herself, again, that this wasn't real. A claw flashed towards her, tearing a long gash in her flesh. The pain she felt seemed real, blood gushing from the wounds inflicted by the wolves. Before her very eyes, they seemed to grow bigger, feeding off her pain and fear. She caught a glimpse of Nehsmay going down, torn apart by dagger-like claws. And then Seliarus. His half snake, half man body cut apart by the savage wolves. Her scream echoed through the suddenly still air of her dream, pushing past the wolves to fling herself on top of Sel's still body. No! He couldn't be dead! This couldn't be happening! He hadn't died! Nida beat her hands uselessly against his chest, crying for him to wake up, to tell her she was just a silly hatchling, that he wouldn't leave her alone here. She pressed her ear against his chest, frantically listening for some sort of heartbeat. There was nothing but silence, and the low growls of the wolves. The girl whipped around, her tear-stained face fierce and furious. With a savage snarl, she flung herself at the nearest wolf. But it wasn't a wolf any longer. It was one of the men who had taken her family away: a slaver. He grabbed her wrist, lifting her a few inches above the ground. Suddenly they were all slavers, laughing at her, pushing her back and forth between them. Her vision was completely filled with their disgusting and laughing faces, their eyes gleaming as they looked over her unclothed body. "Filthy humans! I'll rip you apart for what you've done!" she shrieked, clawing at their faces with her fingernails. They simply laughed at her. "I'll kill you! I'll..." "Kill you all!" she gasped aloud, suddenly awake. But the arms that held her did not belong to a slaver. The realization that it was all just a dream dawned on her, and a profound sense of relief and guilt came over her. The Kelvic carefully curled up against Sel, making sure not to touch any of his wounds, and began to sob quietly. The recent events were just too much for her exhausted mind to handle.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay chuckled to herself at Nida's attempt to stay focused and help her. Luckily she promptly fell asleep again so there was no need for the Vantha to talk things through to her. Yes, she was tired and aching, but she was the least worse of all of them so she needed to find shelter. Staying in an area with dead wolves and blood all over the ground was inviting danger over. "I'll make sure not to stay too long searching for shelter." she said to Seliarus. "I'll go a couple of steps in the direction of the woods and take Shade with me. I'll be fine." She said bravely, but was not too sure of that. At the moment she was sure of three things: one, her arm was throbbing painfully. Cutting the ripped sleeve of the blouse she revealed the angry claw scratches and promptly cleaned the wound with snow, bandaging it afterward. She wasn't sure what to do about her writs, apart from bandaging it as well. The Vantha didn't know whether it was a simple sprain or there was a thorn muscle as well, so she tried to immobilize her wrist using two thick sticks and wrapping the bandage around them. The second thing she knew was that she was cold and wet. Her clothes were damp after having fallen in the river and her whole body was shivering. Guiding Shade to a nearby bush she grabbed the crimson ridding dress she had bought from Syliras and a pair of black, cotton pants and replaced her wet clothes. Feeling slightly warmer she tied her burgundy cloak around her neck and walked forward in search of the third thing she was sure they needed... shelter. Luckily, between two tall oak trees stood the entrance to a cave. Using her torch to frighten away any potential predators, Nehsmay silently walked inside and saw to her huge relief that it was a small cave with no continuation further in the mountain. They would be safe there... "Come on, Shade, let's go back." Leaning steadily on her colt she arrived back at her two friends, just as Nidae woke up and started sobbing in Sel's arms. With a smile she noticed another thing that made her both happy and sad: her friends had grown fonder or each other and she hadn't even noticed. "I've found shelter..." she told them happily.

[Seliarus]

The Dhani found it difficult to resist the growing tiredness that was overcoming him. He would never really admit it, but the fight has left him with almost no energy, even though he felt a lot better then before. His eyes were locked on the small fire that kept him warm, as the Vantha decided to search for a place they could stay. Trying to push the feeling of pain away, even though it came back over and over again. But, the wounds were bandaged, and it was only a manner of time until they wont hurt anymore. So until that, he should just stop complaining about them, and try to do something useful. While holding his bondmate in his arms, his thoughts faded back in time, and he found himself in the Nest he was born in, and how careless the days as a snake were there. Fun, even. He had fun back then, competing with his siblings on who could catch the largest mouse, and then proudly show the 'Game' to Mother, who would be so proud on them. That was almost a hundred years ago, but Sel could still remember some bits of his past clearly. He could try to recall the teachings his mother gave to him, but at that moment, he couldn't remember. He shouldn't forget about those words. But his small daydream was quite quickly interrupted by a yell. The Nest changed back to the forest, and the image of his mother was replaced by the fire. He looked down at Nida, who started to weep, and tried to find shelter in his arms. Sel was happy to oblige, and hugged her even tigther. "Sssshhh...It wasss jussst a bad dream...It'sss over now. I'm here." He murmured softly into her ear, trying not to sound cold and emotionless, but rather show her he really meant it. Soon enough, he could hear another familiar voice coming from the woods, as the Vantha made her way towards the two. Her message was great. And looking by the odds of them finding something like a shelter, made Sel think about how they finally got some luck, and not attacked by some wolves. "Great." He told Nehsmay, nodding slightly.

[Nidassasyae]

"Is it really?," she murmured, somewhat comforted as his arms wrapped around her. "I dreamt that you died, and when I wake, there are a thousand other things that might bring that about. Is it ever over?" Nida whispered. "The only competent one in the lot of us," grinned the Kelvic weakly, trying to seem excited as Nehsmay told them the good news. "Lead the way, Nehs." Nida disentangled herself from Sel's arms, rising slowly on unsteady feet. She wobbled for a moment, then cursed vehemently in the guttural and hissing tongue of leopards. The words were garbled, as her throat was not made to utter such sounds. With a fierce snarl of frustration at the lupine corpses around her, the stumbling Kelvic made her way towards Nehsmay. She tried to act brave and angry, but anyone who looked would have seen the fear in her eyes, bright and feverish. That was the only thing that kept her awake: the knowledge that if they stayed here, the blood scent would draw predators from all around, and Nida knew she wouldn't be able to fight a squirrel if it came to it. Her bones felt as if made of lead, and she wobbled forwards as best she could. The glare that she had donned showed she would brook no assistance, but the fear in it was as clear as day. If they didn't make it out of here soon... well, they never would. She certainly didn't have enough energy for a transformation, and her friends were wounded as well. Her dream could become reality, easily enough. "Where's this shelter?" she asked, gritting her teeth as every movement jarred her wound.

[Nehsmay]

Nehsmay led her two friends towards the shelter she had found. Luckily it wasn't far away so there wouldn't be a need to strain her already wounded friends. She saw uneasiness in Sel's eyes and almost fright in Nida's eyes so she tried to cheer up everyone. "It's her, just past these trees. It's a comfortable enough cave..." She frowned and added "Stop being so bleak. I can't name many people that got in a mess like we did and lived to tell the tale. We have a good shelter now that can be easily guarded in case of need or even blocked so there's no need to worry. And when we get to Zeltiva we can tell our tale and everyone will stop and listen and marvel..." Nehsmay was smiling at the prospect of telling tales by a fire in Zeltiva, but truthfully she wasn't as sure of their safety as she sounded. "Here it is..." she motioned to the cave she had found.

[Seliarus]

"Yess, it is over. Never confussse dreamsss, and reality. Don't live in the fear in your head. Live in the fear of the world." He whispered back at her, lightly stroking her hair. He knew very well what that was supposed to mean. if he would ever let the fears from his illusions control him, he'd probably lose all of his remaining sanity. Soon enough, they'd arrive in the cave, and Sel would simply lean on the wall, and sit down. All he wanted to do was rest now. The pain returned once again, due to the movement, and an irresistible feeling of being tired floated in his mind. He glanced over the two companions once more.