Of Hunting and Howling

[daina]

"Thank you Lupus!" Luin breathed as Coldfire managed to whisper her name. He was alive! He hadn't left her. The fae whispered, "Coldfire...Can you move at all?"

[Ärï]

Coldfire pushed himself up slowly, laboring with each movement as pain burned through his shoulder and torn fur and flesh. Finally he was standing, injured paw held carefully off of the ground and balancing on three legs. His head remained down, eyes still dull as if each movement was mechanical and without thought or command. He looked to be in a daze. "Yes, I can move" Coldfire murmured, his voice raspy. "Did they attack you?"

[daina]

Luin was so releived that Coldfire could stand, despite his injuries. Not many other brutes could do that after being attacked the way he had. But then again, Coldfire wasn't like other wolves. Giving him support to stand, Luin answered, "No. The must not have seen me."

After a small silence, she said, "Oh, this is my fault! I should have fought them with you!"

[Ärï]

"No!" Coldfire growled. "Never do that, ever. It will only end up killing you. If you ever see me fight, run as far away as you can and don't look back." Coldfire glared at Luin sharply, his topaz eyes regaining some of their former fire. Never would he put Luin in danger by asking her to do such a foolish thing as fight beside him against some mangy mutts. Never. He wouldn't let her get hurt.

[daina]

Luin sighed, but knew what Coldfire was trying to say. It would be a risk for her to fight about something that she had had nothing to do with, let alone against enemy rogues. Luin would still fight for him however. If ever Coldfire was in need, and she had right to it, she would fight.

[Ärï]

Coldfire looked around tiredly. No cobwebs would be around this time of year and the snow had buried the moss. The wound on his neck continued to bleed, scarlet pooling on the fur on his chest, almost like someone had thrown red ink upon his fur. Legs unsteady, Coldfire didn't trust himself to take a step so he simply sank back to the ground. The cold of the snow bit at his wounds but also numbed them. Coldfire's head laid against the snow, and his eyes closed half way. "You should probably just go" Coldfire murmured. "Once they realize they haven't finished the job they'll probably come back."

[daina]

The fae stood still. Luin knew that she couldn't walk away from Coldfire against her better judgment. It was her turn to say it. "No. I can't just leave you here on the verge of death. You saved my life before and I want- I mean need, to save yours."

Looking around, she couldn't pick up the scent of the enemy pack. Luin looked back at Coldfire and sighed, saying, "Look, your scent will be the strongest in that spot where your blood spilled the most, and if you move, they won't pick it up anywhere else.

'I'm not weak, and can support you while you walk. We can make it out of here without you getting any more injured than you already are."

[Ärï]

Coldfire looked up at Luin sadly, for once his eyes not guarded and cold. They reflected the pain rippling through his body and sadness. "Luin, it won't matter" Coldfire said, his lyrics soft rather then formal. "I can't go far, not even with your help. My paws have walked their last steps." Coldfire's words reflected defeat, a warrior beaten and left to fend without a weapon. The wounds on his neck and the torn flesh on his back and flanks still trickled blood. Soon, infections would set in and Coldfire would meet his end. He didn't want Luin to be there to see it.

[daina]

Luin knew what he was thinking. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. She couldn't let him slip away, she wouldn't. The fae almost shrieked in saying, "Please! Please try! I care too much about you!"

[Ärï]

Coldfire looked up at Luin with his dulled, glazed eyes. He knew he had to try or it would just hurt her more though he wished he'd simply stayed away, saved her from all her worry. Slowly the brute tried to push himself up. Pain burned in his bones as if he was being touched with a hot branding iron. His jaw clenched in pain and he was frozen in a half-standing position, trembling slightly. His own legs couldn't seem to hold the weight they had once carried with such ease. Coldfire's legs gave out and he fell again, a fresh smear of scarlet on the snow. "Luin, let it go" Coldfire murmured. "This is what I deserved, for those I killed, I deserve a slow death but you don't deserve to watch. Just go."

[daina]

Luin nodded sadly and helped Coldfire lay on the ground comfortably. If this was going to be his final hour, she would help him make ready for it. "To let you know from my heart to yours," the fae whispered, "I don't think you deserve this death, no matter what you may have done in the past." Then she licked his cheek, a kiss by wolf standards, and turned to leave. And as she did, a silvery tear in Luin's eye fell onto Coldfire's paw.

[Ärï]

Coldfire laid still for hours, darkness gathering all around him as night opened her ebony wings spotted with stars. Luin had left, as Coldfire had told her but he smelled something on the breeze and knew he wasn't alone.

A fox-like wolf loped out of the undergrowth and looked down at Coldfire. An amused chuckle came from the narrow thing, playful brown eyes looking down at Coldfire. "Got into a tussle have you? Well, I help you, come, on paws stand up!"

Rikki pulled Coldfire to his paws, ignoring Coldfire's growling protests. Rikki padded along, dragging Coldfire whether the grey and black brute wanted to follow or not. Rikki would help him anyway. Coldfire gave up finally when Rikki approached a den. "Come now, I fix you." Rikki padded into the den, leaving Coldfire to lay on the snow again, looking as pitiful as before. Rikki reappeared with herbs and cobwebs. It seemed this odd wolf had been prepared for winter.

[daina]

The following morning, Luin lay in a small glade, just near to awakening. She had cried herself to sleep that night. The thoughts and nightmares of Coldfire's death only filled her with more guilt and sadness. It was like losing her parents all over again. Only yesterday the brute had been alive and speaking to her, now he was at peace.

When you're gone
the pieces of my heart are missing you
when you're gone
the face I came to know is missing too
and when you're gone
all the words I need to hear
that always get me through the day
will make it okay
I miss you

[Ärï]

As dawn lit the world, Coldfire dragged himself from Rikki's den. He still looked horrible, his fur still ruffled and patched with cobwebs or moss and bloodstained. His hind leg was held off the ground as he limped along. Not all of the light had come back to his eyes but he was at least alive. Rikki slipped out of the den behind Coldfire. "Missing someone are you? Wishing to live, it can bring back a wolf even from the brink of death."

"Shut up" Coldfire growled. "I don't need love, I don't deserve it."

"Forgivness is devine. I would say some wolves would forgive you and even if they don't, at least forgive yourself."

Coldfire let out a small growl as he limped off into the forest once more, his pace slow. Rikki watched him go, looking amused. "Ah but I never mentioned love. That is what you brought to your own mind." Turning, Rikki returned to his den.

[daina]

Luin's eyes slowly opened to the bright white that surrounded her. Her orbs still had remnants of tears, but she hadn't shed a single one this morning. Even though the fae was awake, her muscles did not move. It wasn't like her, being like this. She was usually the strong type, able to bare the death of another wolf. But her heart held Luin down to the ground, her eyes staring out into nothingness.