Hopeless ||

Knowing it would be a waste of his breath to explain to Molly why he wasn't going to leave her behind, the wolf just stayed quiet, flicking his ears back and shaking his head with his eyes on the sky once she'd turned back to the front. Again, Inferno could not believe that simply making her wake up this morning had caused her to become so pissed off for the /entire/ day. Yesterday she was fine, and she was hungry then, too.

Turning his attention back to the bushes and fallen branches, the tall wolf considered trying to find a way to drag Molly. After much thought, he realized there would be no way to make it any quicker than with her walking, as there was too much debris obscuring the way. If Molly were in a better mood, he'd ask her why she decided to abandon Blitz and live alone for so long if she couldn't make it on her own. Inferno knew he had an issue integrating in the beginning because he was so used to being on his own, making it just fine. Silverlight was like a haven for a loner like him: no territory issues, a fair amount of game to live off of, shelter. What had Molly been doing?

Realizing he wasn't going to leave her, she ignored him. Her pace quickened slightly. That is, until she stumbled and fell over in the dirt. She growled in frustration, getting up and moving forward again. Her mind raced with all the things she had done wrong today, and how she had gotten Inferno so pissed off and annoyed with her. The only thing she could think of at this point was to keep walking and say nothing. So that was exactly what she did. She struggled over roots and rocks, nearly tumbling under branches and leaves. All she could do at this point was pray that they reached the dens soon, and on top of everything, her stomach began to growl terribly again.

(Haha. It's funny how they've come to the exact same conclusions and are dealing with it in the exact same way.)

Inferno hovered behind Molly, flinching as she struggled. It was getting to be almost painful for himself to watch, but in just a while she'd be fine. Slowly, they crawled along the forest toward the den in relative silence, excusing Molly's loud trudging. The male scented the air and was flooded with relief: he could smell Fallon and Blitz. They were almost there! Now that food and rest was ahead, Inferno made the rest of the trip in a much more relaxed manner, trying to enjoy the bits of sun streaming through the trees as much as possible. He hadn't forgotten that something was stirring in Silverlight, and it would be great to finally get to talk to Blitz about it.

Molly's ears perked up as she caught the scent of Blitz an Fallon. She smiled, for the first time in a while, and she picked up her pace a bit. As they came into view of the hunter and alpha, she did her best to avoid stumbling and tripping, and finally came to a stop beside Fallon, where she collapsed and let her head fall to the ground pathetically. She panted heavily, looking up at Inferno as he approached as well.

((Blitz/Fallon continued from: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t51p30-in-hunger-they-seek-spirit-sighting#415 ))

Fallon lifted her head up happily as Molly and Inferno approached, but within seconds that emotion shifted to worry. Leaping to her feet, the female sniffed at Molly's head, worrying about her desperate condition. "There's fresh kill in the storage den," she directed Inferno, who immediately set off at a quick lope toward the den before even making it three feet into the clearing. Fallon lay down again beside Molly and began grooming her fiercely, searching for any other problems while Inferno made it back with a few carcasses and laid them at Molly's feet. "What happened?" demanded Fallon, glancing quickly over at Blitz to make sure he'd been awoken.

"Starvation," answered the male simply, sitting down and watching the females. "Anything else you need?" he asked, turning to Blitz for the final say.

Molly curled up beside Fallon, gratefully welcoming the attention from the other female. She relaxed under the attentions, not even looking up as Inferno spoke. When he returned with food, however, she looked over at Fallon for a moment before beginning to eat. But soon she had to stop, for even though she was still hungry, her stomach throbbed and she felt like she would throw up. She curled up again, leaning against Fallon silently, burying her face in her tail and keeping her back to Inferno.

Blitz lifted his head as the two wolves arrived, looking immediately at Molly and getting to his feet. But it seemed like Fallon had it under control, so he remained here, waiting until Inferno looked at him curiously. "Inferno, thank you for bringing her here. Go ahead and get something to eat, but don't go far, we'll be having a meeting fairly soon." He said, nodding and then focusing back on Molly.

Inferno nodded, took a last look at Molly, and gladly headed off to the storage den finally to eat. It had been a long trip and exhausting mentally and physically, so he was looking forward to this break. Taking a bit of meat with him, Inferno padded down to the nearby stream. The wolf drank and ate for the first time since the early morning darkness, grateful that Fallon and Blitz had been waiting long enough to already have hunted a bit. Knowing that Molly would be taken care of and that he had a bit of time, Inferno stretched out on the grass edging the stream and restfully closing his eyes and letting his ears lay against his head, keeping himself just barely awake.

Meanwhile, Fallon carefully finished her quick grooming of the white wolf. Inferno hadn't been kidding - Molly was just skin and bones when one checked closely. Allowing Molly to govern how much she wanted to eat right now (Fallon had experienced for herself the difficulty of eating too much after being in this condition and knew that it was best for Molly to take it slow), the red timber wolf just licked the top of the white wolf's head as comfortingly as she could. She wrapped her tail around Molly and then suggested softly, licking one of the wolf's pinned back ears, "Molly, is it possible to get you to a den? It would be so much better for you to be cool and out of the sun right now..."

Molly sighed softly as Fallon cared for her, and when the other female finally spoke, she lifted her head slowly. It was proably best if she could get into a den, and she nodded, getting to her feet and glancing over at Blitz before looking back at Fallon and smiling sheepishly. "I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you guys. Not the other way around." She said softly, trying to be in good spirits and wagging her tail just slightly. But then she glanced up at the sun, at it's highest point in the sky, and she turned towards her solitary den, silently wishing that she didn't have to be all alone in there all the time. But she was the only healer, and she was already such a burden to the pack because of her horrible hunting 'skills'.

Blitz watched Inferno go, standing and stretching as Fallon cared for Molly. When the little white female stood and spoke, he shook his head, smiling slightly as he walked with her to the healer's den. She seemed very unstable, and he wanted to make sure she made it there alright. "It looks like we'll be putting off that meeting for a few hours, Fallon. Do you mind keeping Molly company? I'm going to go make sure Inferno is alright. He looked rather worn out." He said, glancing in the direction that the male had disappeared in.

Fallon just smiled and shook her head at Molly's comment while leaning in to help support the wolfess. "Don't even think twice about it. We don't expect you to be immortal just because you're our healer!" Wagging tail, the female helped Molly back to the den, trying to help the her as much as possible, since the white wolf really could hardly walk. Fallon nodded enthusiastically at Blitz's suggestion once they got there. Lay down right beside Molly and looked up at Blitz, telling him, "Sure, I'd love to stick around here. Hopefully Khalessi will show up by the time we get the meeting going anyway." With that, she resumed her gentle grooming of Molly, whose coat reflected the stress Molly was under. Hopefully, Molly would be able to sleep for a few hours and regain some strength before the meeting was called.

Molly smiled at Fallon as she took her to her den, laying down and relaxing beside the other female as she groomed her. "Thank you, Fallon." She said softly, resting her head on the other female's paws as she closed her eyes. Her stomach felt bloated, even though she was still painfully thin and malnurished. But she couldn't eat anymore, and all she wanted to do was sleep for days. She sighed softly, letting her body relax as she began to doze off. Hopefully she would feel better and wouldn't have nightmares.

Blitz watched the two females disappear, turning the opposite direction and heading after Inferno. When he reached the male, he stopped, clearing his throat softly and moving to sit a few feet away from him. "Are you alright Inferno?" He asked, looking over at the male with a mixture of curiosity and worry. But he said nothing else, but instead waited for the other male to answer, knowing there was more going on here than he could see on the surface.

Fallon just smiled in reply and continued to lick through the thick white fur, worrying silently about Molly's condition. How could she have gotten so bad? It was a miracle the pack and Molly had made it back together in time. It was lucky for everyone they'd gotten back together just in time; everyone had been on the brink of starvation and didn't even fully realize it. "Just sleep, Molly," she murmured, glad to see the little wolfess beginning to drift off. "I'll be here if you need anything."

Inferno's ears suddenly pricked as Blitz drew attention to himself, and the wolf lifted his head to look up at the male. Somewhat disconcerted by the look on Blitz's face, the copper wolf carefully answered, "Yes...I'm doing fine. Just tired." 'Loooong day...' he thought to himself, though still looking slightly worried himself in response to the worry on Blitz's face. "Are you ok?" he asked, sitting up as if anticipating the need to run off and help with some problem.

Molly finally yawned softly, falling into a deep, peaceful sleep as she leaned against Fallon, who was still grooming her soothingly. Her body relaxed completely, and the pain was erased and she was in peace. She dreamed silently, never truly settling on a specific subject for more than a few moments. But the main thing was, she was sleeping, regaining the energy she needed.

Blitz frowned at Inferno's response. He stood and moved closer to the other male, sitting down and looking over at him. "Inferno, what happened between you and Molly?" He asked, knowing there was some sort of negative energy between the two. He knew that bad feelings between members could ruin the pack, but he was also concerned about the two wolves as individuals as well. He remained sitting there, turning his head to look out over the trees as he waited for Inferno's response.

"Oh," breathed Inferno in relief, sinking back down onto his belly once more. "Nothing really," he answered, thinking back to what the issue had been, "Our personalities just seem to clash...but I think it had much more to do with her being so sick than anything else." The wolf looked up at his alpha, studying his face and trying to figure out if what he'd said had put Blitz's mind at rest, because there obviously was some feeling between Inferno and Molly that Blitz did not like. "Really, I'm fine. If you still would like to worry, though, you could always talk to Molly." 'She probably did have some rage she'd like to get off her chest', thought Inferno.

Blitz listened silently as Inferno spoke. He wasn't sure what was going on between the two, but he hoped it would work itself out. The large male shrugged, looking at the trees instead of Inferno, his eyes studying the branches and leaves as they blew and bent in the wind. Finally he yawned, standing and stretching before looking over at Inferno. "She's going to be alright. She's eaten as much she can for now, and she's currently resting with Fallon." He said, glancing back at the dens where Fallon was caring for Molly. "She looked horrible when you brought her in." He said, his eyes focusing on Inferno for a moment before returning to the trees. "Anyways, you should probably head back soon. We'll be starting the meeting as soon as she wakes up and can move around." He said, stretching once more and turning towards the dens slowly.

Inferno looked in the direction of the dens, glad that Fallon was there to care for Molly. Fallon loved everyone (who was reasonably sane), and if it weren't for her free spirit and need to explore and chase, she could probably be a pretty good healer herself. He snorted a laugh at that thought, remembering what Fallon had said the first time he and Blitz had met her...well, she was right, she probably could do anything and be just fine.
The wolf stretched and brought himself to his feet, figuring that he might as well go back with Blitz and wait in his den for the meeting. He started walking back, pausing a few steps in to roll the knots out of his shoulders, and asked the alpha, "So, how was your trip with Fallon?" Having Fallon back was great; Inferno had realized that he missed her, especially since she, Blitz, and himself were the original pack the wolf had associated himself with since he'd arrived in Silverlight - they meant a lot to him, he was finding.

Blitz smiled as Inferno joined him, and he waited for the male to fall into step beside him before making his way towards the dens. When the male asked about his time with Fallon, the white male only smiled. "You'll find out soon enough." He said, not bothering to tell him since thatw as what the meeting was about anyways. He couldn't help but grin, and he glanced over at Inferno, curious about his reaction to his words, but assuming he already knew what he would be thinking. He picked up his pace slightly, trotting towards the dens and the rest of the pack.

For half a second, Inferno didn't understand that he actually had an idea what had gone on last night, but quickly he remembered what /he'd/ been so excited about that morning. Tilting his head a narrowing his eyes as he put the pieces together, he asked slowly, beginning to smile back at Blitz, "Does this have anything to do with what I'm thinking?" Both of them knew perfectly well what Inferno was thinking; nothing but the mention of the spirits could put a spark like that in the wolf's amber eyes.

Blitz only chuckled as Inferno questioned him. He trotted towards the dens, shaking his head and glancing back at Inferno with another chuckle. He reached the dens quickly, looking around and taking note that the others still needed rest. He couldn't bring himself to wake them just yet, so he laid down outside of his den, resting his head on his paws and looking around at the den area as he waited for the right time to explain what had happened while he was out with Fallon.

"Blitz, I'll see you in a bit. I think I'm going to sleep for a bit." 'Might as well.' Inferno gave Blitz a final nod and headed of for his own den. Inside, he breathed deep, taking in the smell of his den and relaxing into a light sleep, hoping that it would pass quickly and he'd soon get to learn just what was going on in Silverlight. Something intense, important enough for Blitz to call a meeting. The last conscious thought he had was about whether or not Chaos would ever integrate herself into the pack, like everyone else was trying to do, and for some reason, this made the wolf laugh.

((Continued: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t53-pack-meeting-1 ))