And as the time passes by

Another medic thread! It will become a Read Only in a few days if no one snags

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The world was dark and lifeless through her eyes for... how long now? It lacked the same comfort it had before, the same silence and all-encompassing embrace of the nothingness. Voices called out to her in the darkness, most of which were muffled and too far to hear, while others slid into her remaining consciousness just loud enough to twist their daggers into her heart. 'Ow can I trust someone tha' always fuckin' disappears wi'out a word? One of them told her.

I am sorry...

"This has happened for a second time, Reiko," ... No wait, this would be third it corrected over its own derisive voice.

It was not my intention...

“How many times are you going to leave me?”

I... do not know.

I AM NOT FAIRING WELL. I NEVER HAVE BEEN AND I NEVER WILL.

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Outwardly things were on and off... the seizures were less violent than the first the day prior, and as two shook her around in the den that day, today there would be only one. As violent as the first, but down to one instead of two as the swelling slowly subsided within her head.

Still, her shoulder poked out awkwardly as its socket remained unhinged; while a new scent began to waft through the air. A sickly sweet aroma that poured from the marks of teeth across the swollen, violet leg... an infection that began to eat away at the skin.

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The return to Shiroshika's spires was void of any joy he'd previously hoped to feel, though he and @Izumi moved swiftly through the Everfrost that served as a halfway point between their respective homes. Their journey through the night was fast-paced and with an urgency in their stride, though the druid was mindful that she would feel the strain more so than he might. They'd departed Vanderfell at once, after all, with very little time for the crane to rest.

Quicksilver hung back as they approached the lower reaches of Tsukiishi, feeling it appropriate that his ink-kissed companion take lead as he considered her status above him there. He followed quietly, well aware of the anxiety that threatened to take hold once more and the sickly feeling of dread that grew in his gut - but he wanted to be strong, because he knew he had to be.

His steps into the Empress chamber were soft, tentative - hopeful, almost, as though he might wake her. He wondered if @Haruki and @Hotaru were close by, fearful of their mother's downfall and wondering if she might survive - as he did. Quicksilver felt his mouth dry as he at last looked upon the pale form of his beloved who lay limp atop pelts that lined the floor of her cave, those on which they had recently nestled among.

Had that been the last time? Quicksilver felt tears prick the inner corners of his eyes, and he reached to tenderly trace the rim of Reiko's pallid lobe with his lips; please. There is so much more I want to share with you.

A sob threatened to rack his frame as his gaze drifted over her severely damaged limb, and he saw the angry shades of violet mar the flesh beneath alabaster furs. He felt afraid and troubled to see her so frail, and he tried to hold it together as he began a more thorough visual assessment on how best to try and mend her.


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^^

He loomed. As he always did only this time, he loomed in the shadows as a protector to the fallen Empress. It was not only the children's scent who clung to the cavern as the Vanderfell fool was brought to Reiko by Izumi, but Tiberius's as he stuck to the very shadows he was coloured after.

If only they had their own medic. He would seek to find one, if only to mean they need not rely on this... man to do the work they should be doing. Tiberius watched as he entered the main portion of Reiko's den and he stepped out of the shadows with a vibrant stare, guarding the Empress as he had chosen to do -- if only he could have guarded her heart too.

Tiberius stood near, silent and staring, making sure the Vanderfell boy did only his medic duties and little else. He cared not for the man's emotions, thinking he deserved whatever turmoil he may feel, for Tiberius had seen the hollow mood that Reiko had suffered here and there -- the only common denominator being the white-man who stood, assessing Reiko and her injuries.^^

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^^Haruki was in and out of the royal chambers all throughout the day; checking on his mother during patrols and scheming a murder with the Tundra Daddy, and doing his damnest not to think about the condition of his mother, despite all the times he would visit her and talk to her.

He hadn’t expected her to have visitors, unsure if the pack had an actual medic, and despite desiring to learn medical things, Haruki hadn’t known who to turn to, though it was a welcome surprise to find Quicksilver at his mother’s side, and the Daddy himself looming in the shadows.

His stormy blues eyed Quicksilver for a time, having assumed that the male was only here to show his support, as Haruki was unaware of his medical powers. “Well, you’re a sight for sore eyes,” Haruki commented, though referring to both, as he approached them and laid by his mother’s side, eyes on Quicksilver.

“You are friends with my mother. I trust this means, also, that our packs have the same relationship?”

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With his focus solely on the pallid Empress, he did not at first notice the brute who lurked in the shadows just beyond her cave's threshold. He carried on with his inspection, circling around the broken, beaten form of his snowflower to better look upon her fractured forelimb. Izumi had mentioned the break on her arrival to Vanderfell, but as the druid drew closer he realised how unprepared he felt for the extent of damage done to her. Should Reiko survive this ordeal, there was a strong chance that she would lose that limb.

Stop, he closed his eyes briefly, inhaled deep, steadied himself. He needed to get his doctor's head in gear, and try not to get carried away with his personal feelings. Reiko meant the world to him, but for today he needed to regard her as a patient - not as his lover.

Very gently and very carefully, he touched the tip of his nose to the awkward bulge where he discovered that her shoulder had been torn from its socket, but he did not attempt to right it immediately. He moved downward, trailing his muzzle across the skin, until he felt heat beneath the press of his lips. The silverwhite withdrew and saw puncture wounds, smelled the tell-tale sign of infection, and acknowledged how the bone beneath swollen skin lay crooked. It would need to be set properly, sooner rather than later, to prevent the need to re-break to better align.

Oh, Reiko, he shuddered to think of the fear she must've felt, the pain!

Movement outside drew Quicksilver's ears forward curiously, powder blue eyes flicking toward the den's entrance, and it was then that he saw the raven-pelted wolf lurk there. The druid wilted submissively beneath the stranger's fierce stare, his joints slackening to lower himself just a little; everyone was on edge, naturally, and he understood the scrutiny.

He prepared to offer a greeting and introduce himself, to ask politely for his aid in righting the assaulted Empress' violated arm, but the arrival of a familiar face returned some warmth to Quicksilver. He offered a soft wave of his white-tipped tail for the boy as he sank to his dam's side, pressing supportively against her.

“That's right,” he dipped his muzzle respectfully to the Prince, then stole a glance toward the hovering giant who he assumed to be the Alphess' guard, “we are allies, your pack and mine. Izumi came to tell us what happened, and I've come back with her to tend your mother's injuries.” He blinked down at Reiko's lovely face, felt his heart skip a nervous beat. Despite all that'd happened and the severity of her condition, it chilled him to see that her expression seemed almost peaceful.

He hoped, with every fibre of his being, that she was still there - that he was not too late.

“Hey, could... maybe you both could help me. Has she woke at all, since she was found? Even moved in any way that you've noticed - her face, her toes, tail?”

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^^

Now with the recent development of putting a face to the boy from Vanderfell, Tiberius thought he was unimpressive. Of all the wolves that count make friends with Reiko, it had to be a feather-light boy that annoyed him further. He would have liked to feel something amused at the way the man lowered himself just a tad in an act of submission but he found he could not and that annoyed him further. Tiberius said nothing as he stared down the druid, his molten gaze unrelenting and unwavering as he stared him down. It irked him how he had to be the medic to tend to Reiko, it irked him that it irked him but he was all they had in order to tend to the Empress. He'd learn healing just to make sure they'd not have to open their borders to him for more than a friendly visit, goddamnit.

Tiberius remained silent even with the approach of Haruki, his shoulders rolling as he grunted his greeting to the boy-prince. Allies felt awful to his ears, his jaw ticking as the man spoke still and Tiberius allowed his gaze to flicker once to the boy-prince where he lay at Reiko's side in comfort. Help him? Help him, he said, asking after Reiko's state and Tiberius turned his stare back to the Vanderful Medic and he flared his nose as he grunted, "nah." Did it fucking look like she was in any state to move? ^^

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^^Haruki was blind to the way the Vanderfell Medic looked at his mother, because Haruki was looking at TIberius in the same way, while also being fueled with anger to take down the woman who did this. With his suspicions of Vanderfell and Shiroshika confirmed, Haruki nodded his head softly with the wag of his tail. “Good, I was hoping we were allies, because I have a favor to ask. ”

He would pause some, trying to think if he’d ever seen his mother move, though he hadn’t. So he’d shake his head with a deep inhale. “I haven’t either, though I am grateful that Izumi has informed your pack of the news; I seek counsel with your leader, in hopes that she or he will lend Shiroshika some of their best warriors. I aim to track down and slaughter the villain who did this.” Hopefully, it would be a request that would not be denied. ^^

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[ooc]Shall we fade here? [/q]

At the gruffness of the dark-faced guardian's blunt response, Quicksilver's sterling ears splayed backward. He didn't understand his very clear frustration with him, an ally, someone who wished only to help. Everyone was affected differently by what happened and naturally some would communicate that with anger, he knew, but it was difficult not to take that personally. Inhaling a deep breath, Quicksilver's attention turned to the young Prince as he piped up from Reiko's side.

He did not speak of aiding in his mother's recovery, but instead spoke of vengeance. The silverwhite blinked down at him, surprised by his bloodlust, and he swallowed. Vanderfell's numbers were few and with such small pups among them, Quicksilver doubted that the High Queen would allow her pack to disperse and leave the summit undefended. A cold feeling gripped him; “I... I'm sure they will grant you an audience. Their names are Ira and Hieronymous.” He couldn't promise their aid, nor did he want any part in the hunt. His pale eyes sought the Empress' pallid features, and wondered if she might share her son's desire to see her attacker slain.

“But how about we fix up your mother first?” Quicksilver, keen to move on from talk of death, regarded the leg which was not only fractured but had been forced from its shoulder socket. First, it would need to be aligned; “see here? Her shoulder is dislocated, and... I need to be sure it's back where it should be. She's in such a deep sleep that this won't hurt her, but -” he lowered himself at the snowflower's side, opposite from her yearling son, and with a brief, anxious glance toward Tiberius he slithered beneath Reiko's arm until it lay draped limply over his dorsal, “it can look quite rough, and when it's in place -” he rose a little, arching his back in such a way to force the appendage higher, maneouvering himself until it re-connected with a sickening pop, “You will hear it.”

He withdrew gently, and reached to nose the dove's shoulder with tenderness. “As for the fracture,” he moved on, “only time with heal these bones. There is some infection in the puncture wounds and I can draw it out with a poultice, if...” he swallowed, lifted his ears and looked toward Haruki, “if you could show me where she keeps her medicine cache, we can make that up now?”


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