=Rescue Wolves VS. Three Ton Oak=

[Njack]

(Hey, what can I say, I'm literal ... And this is gonna be a bad post. Don't shoot meh e.e)

Cautiously and silently, Ligua padded into the Twilight Clearing once again. Well, silent for a while.

A yelp escaped as he knocked against the same oak from before, almost tripping over it. This thing is always camouflaged! It's not like I'm that clumsy, right?

...Don't answer that.

All that aside, he turned around and called out, "Found it!"

[Sheera]

A large pile of leaves conceal what really was there; the alphess of the Siverians, but it wasn't hard to hear the heaving of her chest, and the rugged coughs escaping her smog-filled lungs. After a series of violent coughing fits, she was silent again, the rise and fall of the leaves hardly noticable in the smoke-concealed clearing. A leaf was flicked off the wolf's head as she flicked her ear at the sound of a voice; her large red ear was revealed from beneath the leaves, but other than that she was completely covered in the singed leaves from the oak upon her, and the several other fallen leaves from the snapped trees. Another cough escaped from her maw, but this cough concealed words she was trying to say, "you came back? Its dangerous!" But the words were hardly heard through her coughing fit that shook several of the camoflauging leaves from her form.

[Sivoncé™]

"Well then...." Crow breathed, a little shocked. He was speechless for a moment, gazing upon the large oak and wincing. How the Hellfire are we going to get that off? The black wolf fidgeted nervously, eyeing their eerie surroundings suspiciously.
"Sabela?" Olive gasped, the Siverian alphess muddied and trapped beneath the giant tree.
"HOLY SHIT! How could you not rocognize her?" Saskia gasped. "Well.....I mean I guess it WAS smoky...." Saskia amended, but she was still utterly breathless.
"Um...how are we gonna get this off? If we roll it, we'll break her bones, but we definitly cannot lift it...." Lyell started strategizing.

[Sheera]

Sabela cocked her head as best she could under the restraint of the tree, and smiled, but there was no humor in her eyes, if anything there was a dark, bedroom-like shadow that seemed to be giving off ominous signs. "Well... I suppose this tree isn't going to budge... really, I feel like a rock; I can't move! It's dangerous here, demons could come back... yes indeed, please, please leave before that omen because reality." she coaxed. She didn't want anyone else in danger; the tree wasn't moving, and they would be putting themselves in more danger just trying to make the thing move. Even if they did get it off her, she would be inable to move with her bones probably crushed into dust, and the pain so great.

[Sivoncé™]

"What if we tilted it...listed only one end just enough so she could shimmy out. We might not be able to hold it for long, but it could work..." Olive woofed thoughtfully. She eyed the suddenly exposed, blackened, but otherwise unharmed boulders around the clearing. "We could used those to weigh the heavier end down....Sabela, do you with you would be able to crawl far enough to get out after that? It's only two, three feet you would have to do so. After that, we can carry you back to your camp." Olive nodded, already outlining it all in her mind.

"It's a freaking huge tree...." Saskia commented dryly, then eyed the boulders. "And those a freaking huge rocks. The five of us will be able to roll them...." She glanced towards their target -- the top of the tree where a few, weak and smoldering branches remained. "Some of those branches can be snapped off -- they're too weak to be useful. Otherwise, we can use the branches to secure the rocks. It will take a lot of work....but It can be successful, I think." She decided. "I'm in."

"Sabela....the smoke blotted out our ancestors in the sky that night, like no forest fire has ever done before. The smoke still lingers, but our guardians are here with us tonight," Crow looked up to the starry sky, blurred and dulled by fog, but still visible. "While they watch, no demons can enter this sacred clearing. And if all else fails, we'll freaking slam those freakshows into this tree, which will get it off you with their ginourmous weight, and we'll all dive for the Eternal Tree and hope it seals over fast enough." He grinned, intrigued by the taste of adventure;; Saskia, Olive, Lyell, and Crow were known for their escapades...well, at least within the Yozorans. And better yet, Ligua was now part of their challenge. The four were made for things like this; Olive with her planning, Crow with his thoughtfullness, Saskia with her blunt and sometimes sarcastic nature....realisticness....

"And if all else fails, we'll all get to hang out in a starry night!" Lyell snorted, chuckling. "Don't worry, Sabela. We'll get this off of you."

...and Lyell with his weird attempts at being optimistic. Ligua would only add to their determination.

[Njack]

"It sounds good to use the rocks, but I was thinking that maybe once we weigh the heavier end down, maybe we should prop rocks under the end that lifts up so it doesn't come back down," Ligua suggested. "Otherwise, let's get started!"

He started towards the rocks, but then stopped. "On second thought..." He laughed nervously, paw twitching. "Perhaps you should move the rocks. I'll probably trip over something and kill myself, given my luck today. Hmm... I'll keep lookout."

Ligua looked back at the foursome around the tree. "If you don't mind, of course."

[Sivoncé™]

"Whoa. Smart stuff," Saskia smiled, probably a compliment coming from someone like her. She dipped her head and headed off towards the rocks, studying their sizes and nosing them to test weight.

Olive blinked, grateful and also pleased. "Yes, that's brilliant. That'll give Sabela more time to move, less stress. If we can prop it up high enough, we might be able to actually help her move out, too. Sabela, I'm gonna say your back most likely hurts...like hell right now," she winced, murmuring a thanks to Ligua, and starting off to where Saskia was by the rocks.

Crow nodded his consent. "We do need a lookout -- and hey, if you get bored, we can rotate. Nice idea with the propping up thing, by the way," he joined the others.

Lyell grinned widely, again, it was apparent these wolves had a thrill for something like this. "It's brilliant. All right, Sabela, we'll get you out of there soon...just don't go dying on us, okay?" He flicked his tail to Ligua, then padded over to Saskia, Olive, and Crow.

The four started with a larger, blackened boulder, the second largest in the vicinity; they were saving the largest to help prop the tree up as Ligua had suggested. They gritted their teeth against the weight, making sluggish progress towards Sabela's tree.
"Ya know, the next Moonless Meeting is gonna be kinda awkward with this big huge tree propped up in the middle of the crowd. Ha. We can use it as our VIP seating!" Crow snickered under his breath.
"Eh. We can just say that Lyell was sleep walking and his snores knocked it down," Saskia offered.
"Right. And the rocks?" Lyell rolled his eyes.
"Olive's all 'let's-make-a-plan-first', so we could just say she was sleepwalking, too....only she has to be productive in her sleep! It's a need equal to thirst or hunger!" Saskia answered easily.
Olive snorted, but didn't say anything, as the effort behind pushing the rock was too preoccupying for words at the moment.
Finally, they reached the tree, letting the large stone roll onto the end of the tree. The massive rock was enough to make the end of the tree twitch upwards slightly, but miniscule difference was not enough for Sabela to escape, or for anything to be wedged underneath.
So, the foursome continued, finding the third-largest rock around the Twilight Clearing and repeating the process. Fortunately, this stone was much closer than the others. It made another miniscule difference to the lift height at the light end of the tree, but they would still need two or three more stones to create any considerable lift.
"Damn! Those rocks are toughies....I don't like them," Saskia groaned.
"I'm sure the rocks don't like you, either," Olive sighed.

[Njack]

"Heh, thanks..." Ligua squinted into the smoke, looking for enemy wolves.

Luckily, there didn't seem to be any yet. Yet being the operative word.

"Keep on going," he called to the others. "I don't think I'll get bored anytime soon. After all, you're the ones doing all the manual labor," Ligua joked.

It was an awkward joke. At least he tried.

(Okay, yeah. I have no idea. XD)

[Sheera]

Sabela watched the wolves push the rocks onto the tree, oh how much effort they were making... but how would she get out? She would be smooshed to the ground, her back was probably snapped, her legs; history, she would probably never be able to move the bottom half of her body again... and she still had seven lives left. Nightshade would, for sure, have to take her place, wheither she got out or not... she would be crippled for life, and nothing would change that; there were no herbs that would turn her maimed, crushed, dust-like bones into a whole, working system. She smiled kindly, though these thoughts were in her head, and she watched helplessly as the wolves began to remove the tree.

[Sivoncé™]

Finally, after five large stones were rolled into place, the tree gave lift. Well, a lift of about five inches. Still, it would be enough space for them to push another rock under and prop it up. The would even be able to help Sabela drag herself out from under the oak.
"Sabela, I understand you've broken a lot of bones....but none are sticking out or are moved from their place, are they? If not, I think you'll be okay...just need to wait for the bones to heal." Lyell woofed encouragingly.
"She probably broke some of her lower vertabrae, Lyell," Crow reminded him.
"But Sabela isn't old or anything!" Saskia snorted in protest. "She can't just be done because some stupid tree fell in the wrong spot! There's gotta be some way to fix it...."
"There is....but it's complicated." our heads turned to fix their gazes on a shimmering spector, one the Yozorans knew as a past healer, Mira.
"Mira?" Olive asked in surprise.
"Yes, but I can't stay long -- I was only this close to earth because I had to give a message to another healer. And you are right -- if you get Sabela into th Eternal tree, depending on how bad her spine is broken, we may or may not be able to save her. Her legs will have to heal on her own. But her spine....depending on how bad she broke it, we would have to take a certain amount of lives away to fix it," The healer informed them, voice sad, but also urgent.
Olive looked at the Siverian leader sadly. How many lives did she have to spare to this? What good was keeping them if she couldn't help her pack?

[Sheera]

Sabela's crushed body was revealed; her legs snapped severely in several places, her tail was cut far past half off, but still intact, her hips uneven, and broken, and from the dock of her tail to the middle of her back, the snaps and cracks were quite visible. She could've been worse; her body could've been completely cut off.. but then.. she'd be dead. She couldn't move, other than scratching helplessly with her front paws. She growled in irritation when she finally stopped, only to see two deep holes in the ash where her paws had scratched.
Her ears twitched at Mira's words.
"I would rather die trying, than to die after a long life of giving up.."

[Sivoncé™]

A sharp intake of air -- Olive, Crow, Lyell, and Saskia all winced and shuffled their paws anxiously as Sabela's injuries were revealed. They exchanged worried whispers, and Olive opened her mouth to speak, only to be silenced before a word could excape her.
Mira shook her head. "The Yozorans have done an honorable thing that will not be forgotten, but you must leave after lifting Sabela to the mouth of the Eternal Tree. The cost and gain of this healing are things between Sabela and the Twilight Realm."
Olive nodded slowly, understanding, but also uneasy. She shrugged, then, with the help of Saskia, Crow, and Lyell, gingerly began to lift Sabela's mangled legs. Mira could do little, seeing as she wasn't truly tangible, more like a mirror image, but encourage them and watch hopefully as they made miniscule progress.

[Njack]

Ligua suppressed a gasp, actually, two gasps, as he saw a wolf appear out of nowhere, then as he saw Sabela’s injuries. Wait. That name. Oops. At that exact moment, Ligua had just – yes, just – realized that the wolf trapped under the tree was the Siverian alphess.

...Wow, I’m smart.

Cautiously, he bounded over to the other five wolves, scanning the clearing as he did so. He eyed the glimmering wolf that had appeared out of nowhere. Well, there are a lot of things I don't know about. Best to deal with the things that I can do something about.

So he barked, "I'll stay close to you as you move her and still keep lookout. If you need help, I can try to move her as well..."

[Sheera]

Sabela held in the hell of her screams, oh how she wanted to scream; to let out her pain through her voice. But no, that would do little; so as they lifted her she only gave small whines and whimpers, pain blasting and flaming through her body. She gave a small twitch with her front paw, but besides that she was still. She also gave a little choke, but it didn't move the rest of her body. Sabela let herself be carried; she knew trying to move would only make things more difficult. She hoped that she only had to give up to three lives, but she knew, in her condition, that that would just not do.

[Sivoncé™]

The wolves set her down at the foot of the Eternal Tree, not able to take her any farther. Sable would have to drag herself in....but only so that her body was completely in. She didn't have to go any farther.
"Thank you, and your duties will nto be forgotten. Please, return to your pack, as they will need you now," Mira woofed softly.
Olive, Crow, Lyell, and Saskia dipped their heads, and then turned away from the Siverian alphess and the Twilight spector, fading away into the mists.
"Sabela...." Mira sighed sadly. She bent low and whispered the number in her ear, "Four. One to reset the leg bones, another to undo the crippling, ....and your spine will need two to reset and mend, also. You're in a bad way....and I don't think this has been a needed ceremony before....well, actually..." Mira thought for a moment. "Before Siveria, there was a she-wolf named Shiva. Shiva didn't have a tree fall on her exactly....well, she fell into a waterfall to say it simply. Hers, remarkably, only cost four lives, two. She hit some rocks but avoided the rest....hm, well, anyways, I'm rambling now. The point is, you're going to be fine....just....how many lives do you have now?"