New Wolf in the Forest

[Ärï]

Moon shook her head. "Yumi...we just got here. There are few healthy wolves and if anything they probably carry the disease as well. Kuroshin stayed by Star's side until her dying breath. The disease lives on him though he isn't ill. We'd only spread this wreched sickness." Moon turned her head away from Yumi and coughed a few times.

Kuroshin's ears pricked and he turned his head toward Moon, eyes darkening with sadness.

Moon turned back to Yumi. "We all have a sad story here. That's what holds us together. Even as loners we share a certain amount of attraction to each other, to care for each other. Star was drawn to Fell when his mate died, leaving Kuroshin, Shero and Kasa with no mother. She cared for them through Fell's death and then tried to help Kuroshin when Halo was shot. There's a femme that is a good friend of mine caring for a she-wolf that is very young and was forced. Loners don't just leave one another to die, as much as packwolves think we would. We care for the sick."

A dusty grey-brown brute padded out of the undergrowth and looked over at them. He was large, or he would have been if he had any meat on his bones. The sickness had robbed him of an ability to eat decently. Remus had grown skinny and his fur ragged, amber eyes dull and murky. He padded to the lake, keeping a distance from them and tried to drink without coughing. Behind him trailed a paler grey wolf, thiner but not as unhealthy. Remy followed his brother without complaint, glancing at Moon and nodding politely to Yumi.

[lurid]

Yumiko let out a sound, much like a sigh. It was not right...all these wolves living in fear of being next, or one of their loved ones. Even Moon, the wolf Yumi had just now met, seemed to be catching this disease.
"It must be horrible." Yumi said, though it was mostly to herself.
As she watched the two walk towards the lake, Yumi hid all feelings from her face. The last thing these wolves needed was to know that she was feeling sorry for them...no, what they needed right now was strength.
Yumi looked back to Moon, her claws digging slightly into the dirt at her feet as she tried to control her growing anger. Anger that was mostly at herself. "So nothing can be done?"
Yumi, no matter how much she wanted people to think she was immune to emotion, did not like to stand and watch innocent people be hurt, but this...knowing there was nothing she could do, she felt utterly useless. She always liked to pretend that other wolves and creatures did not effect her in anyway. That she could walk on with out thinking about who she was leaving behind for even a moment, but the truth was...she would probably do anything for the sake of these wolves to cure them now.

[Ärï]

Moon could sense Yumi's growing agression and sympathized with it. It was hard to stand by and know all around her, wolves were dying, that she was next, that the wolves all around her might die if she dared turn the other way for even a moment. Wolves thought war was the worst thing that could happen. Oh how wrong they were. Moon shook her head sadly. "As far as I or any other healer in the packs or in the loner lands there is no cure for this horrid sickness." Moon felt hopelessness settling in her belly at the mere thought. Her mind flashed back to Ebony, her father growing old with the Yozorans, Luna her mother going missing once more with Midnight. Where were her brothers? Shade and Appocolipto...were they sick? Were they dead? She hoped not.

Shaking her head to shepherd the thoughts away Moon cleared her mind and forced herself back to the presant. Her ear flicked to one side as Remus and Remy returned to the forest. The eerie wheezing of Remus's breathing sending a shiver down Moon's spine. She felt Kuroshin's gaze on her back and sighed.

Kuroshin padded to Moon's side and touched her shoulder so she knew where he was. "Moon...Remus...he's..." Kuroshin murmured.

"I know" Moon murmured sadly. "It won't be long. He's always been sickly...." A tear escaped Moon's sightless blue eyes. "Remy will be very sad...."

[lurid]

Yumi looked away from moon. The sadness only made Yumi want to do more for her when there was nothing she could do.
Her claws dug farther in with frustration. She did not want to resort to them, but the humans might be able to figure out what they could not... no. Yumi shook the idea off. She never wanted to see another human again.
Yumi looked across the lake, trying to get her mind away from the saddness that was all around her.
((sorry...really short one))

[Ärï]

"I'm going to look for someone" Moon murmured to Kuroshin. "I have to know if he's still alive....if they're still alive." Moon turned and padded away toward the packlands. "Try not to hurt anybody Kuro, for me."

Kuroshin sighed and looked out at the lake. "Damn it" he muttered, hitting a rock with his paw and sending it tumbling toward the rippling lake. "I hate this place." Kuroshin padded along the bank until he reached a small boulder and stopped, amber eyes fixed on it. "Why'd we come here Star?" Kuroshin murmured. "Why can't the Twilight wolves fix this?"

[lurid]

Yumiko tilted her head at the wolf, feeling she should do something...or at least bother him some more. She walked up to him. "Hate this place?" She said, only hearing the first part. "Hmm I do not think I do." She looked around at the the shinning, rippling, lake, and the trees swaying in the slight breeze. "I would rather die free than live caged. Even if it means dieing in the worst way possible." It was true to her, she might not be able to take off the collar around her neck, but she knew she never wanted to be chained up again.
She remembered days, when her "owner" did not come to beat her, there were days when she would just look up at the sky, watching the birds and wishing for what they had...and now that she had it, she would not give it up so easy.

[Ärï]

"I'm sick of it" Kuro muttered. His eyes fell on a puddle near his paws, his visage looking back at him. Topaz eyes. White fur. Strong build. Black heart between his eyes. It was an unusual mark, one Halo had born, a similar one borne by his mother. "Dying. Sickness. Humans. All of them. I hate them all but...I can't fight them. Humans will shoot me. Sickness will tear me apart. Mortality will catch up with me. Why bother?" Kuroshin sighed and laid down, resting his head on his paws, still staring at Star's grave, marked by the small boulder. Young but old. He felt a million years old, aged by greif and hardship. Why was this fae even sticking around anyway? She didn't care. She was just another human pet. They'd find her eventually and if he was lucky he'd be nearby so they chould just shoot him like they'd shot Halo and Mosca. Maybe he could take a few with him. Probably not but heck he could try.

[lurid]

Yumiko looked down at him. "Well, I do not know why you would bother, but I know why I do." She said. Yumiko knew this wolf probably wanted to be left alone, but Yumiko did not really care if he wanted to or not. "I could have gave up long ago, but after watching my pack die I knew that they would not want me to if they were still alive. I keep on going for them."
She stretched her limbs...it had been a long trip to get here. She looked at him with boredom in her eyes. I suppose I will have a lot more to fight against now that this disease has come.
Yumi looked into the forests. She did not know where she would go now...or where she could go, but strangely that thought did not bother her.

[Ärï]

Kuroshin glared at Yumiko. "You can't fight this disease. No one can." Kuroshin turned his head away from Yumi, trying not to cough. He lost his little battle and coughed several times, backing away from Yumi without thinking. He didn't want anyone else to get sick. It seemed that Star's sickness had taken longer to get to him but it was getting there. Kuro raised his head, a metallic taste in his mouth. "I'm going to hunt, Moon is probably still around if you want to follow her around like the lost puppy you are." Kuroshin padded toward the forest, pausing to spit out some blood before continuing toward the trees. He hoped Yumi wouldn't follow. There was too much risk that she would get sick.

[lurid]

Yumiko watched the wolf go, knowing that following Kuroshin would only cause him more to worry about. She stretched again. "Well, I'm still going to try." She said to herself. Yes, she was the type who would not give up no matter what happened, or no matter what she faced. If this disease was going to kill her, then she would fight it till it did. "And I am not a lost puppy!" She called after him.
Taking a seat down by the lake, she looked across its surface. Maybe she would follow Kuroshin again latter...it definitly made thing interesting.

[Ärï]

"Whatever" Kuroshin muttered, continuing into the trees. Once he hit the shadowy forest he started to run. His muscular ivory form could be seen flitting between tree trunks and leaping over small brooks or fallen logs. In no time Kuro was out of sight of the Twilight Lake, heading toward the Heights in hopes of some deer hunting. Maybe he could bring something to Remus and Remy, to keep them strong though he knew both brothers would refuse it. They were loners but they weren't heartless. One way or another they would take care of each other.