Combinations

((Continued from: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t56p45-was-it-worth-all-that#550 ))

Chaos remained sleeping when Molly entered, but as the white female started to change her dressings carefully, she woke in surprise, snarling and snapping at the little healer. Molly yelped and leaped backwards, stumbling and collapsing in a heap near the entrance. She was getting up slowly and trembling when Inferno entered. Chaos ceased her snarling at Molly's yelp, her ears pinned back almost apologetically. "You know not to sneak up on me Molly. Did I hurt you?" She asked, surprising herself that she actually cared if she had injured the healer or not.

Molly trembled as Chaos spoke, finding herself moving a bit closer to Inferno instinctively. But when Chaos spoke, she shook her head. "I'm fine. You just scared the crap out of me, Chaos." She said, taking a deep breath and then a few shaky steps towards the black female. She was careful this time, expertly changing her dressings and forcing herself not to flinch as Chaos growled under her breath because it stung. When she finished, she stepped back, so tired that she nearly passed out on the spot. Then she looked up at Inferno, sighing softly at what she knew she had to do. "Could you help me get back to my den and then take Laek to the pack member's den? I would appreciate it if you could get me something to eat from the storage den as well, I feel like I'm about to pass out." She said, knowing that he would enjoy the fact that she was asking for his help. But that wasn't why she was doing it, no, she was much too tired to do everything herself and she wasn't lying, she didn't even know if she'd make it back to her den without passing out.

Inferno tilted his head at Chaos's strange reaction and stared in astonishment. This Head Warrior/being-responsible-for-the-wellbeing-of-the-pack thing seemed to have had some sort of effect on the female. The actual cause was unknown, but it's effects were marvelous. Whatever had been going on with her when he'd spoken to her earlier had not vanished.

Standing curiously at the door, Inferno watched Molly tend to Chaos's wounds. He hadn't gotten a good look before, but now there was no hiding them: these were horrendous. But Molly was talented and experienced, and Chaos was tough. If Coven would protect the pack like this, along with the ferocity of the little black wolfess, then the pack could feel quite safe, even if at the cost of some annoyance.

"Sure," he responded to Molly, moving up to her side so she could lean on him. It wasn't in him to gloat about being right, especially with the white wolfess, and he was only here because it was obvious that she needed help. Fortunately, she was tonight at the point where she'd let him help. "Get some rest, Chaos," were the wolf's last words over his shoulder to the Head Warrior. It'd be interesting to see how quickly she'd get that patrol up and running. Knowing her, probably pretty soon. He couldn't help but feel completely ok with that, though if Molly vehemently opposed that, the wolf knew better now than to contradict her. Healing was her business; Inferno was quite alright in staying out of it. Silently and slowly, the male started leading Molly back to the Healer's den, all the while as worried as her at the possibility of her fainting.

Chaos rolled her eyes when Inferno spoke, but she laid back down, intending to rest regardless. She was soon sleeping, something that she desperately needed in order to heal. She would probably be awake in a few hours trying to take out a patrol, hopefully without Molly's knowledge. She knew the healer wouldn't approve of her being up and going so soon.

Molly leaned against Inferno, her ears flat against her skull as she used him for support, moving slowly towards the healer's den. She knew Laek would be there, and no matter how much she liked the new female, she wanted to have her den to herself right now. Inferno would be more than willing to move her to her proper den. Right now, though, all Molly worried about was getting to her den and getting some food inside of herself. She was glad that Inferno didn't gloat over being right, for she knew she probably wouldn't be able to handle that right now. She moved silently, her breathing shallow and slightly labored, showing how difficult it was for her to stay on her feet. But she did, and when they finally reached the den, she let herself collapse inside of it, panting and resting her head on the soft dirt.

Moving slow, the copper-pelted wolf helped the much smaller white one over to her den. He had so turned off his emotions to everything having to do with Molly right now that even the what-would-normally-be agonizingly slow pace didn't faze him. He felt as if the little healer would be offended even by his thoughts, so he didn't think. This was a horrible way to continue on in this relationship, but it really was the only way Inferno could deal with it right now after all that had happened between him and Molly before.

Once they got to the den, Inferno let Molly settle herself as he left into the darkening evening and retrieved some food from the storage den. Their food supply was running a bit low, and the hunters' success would be quite welcome.
Upon returning to the healer's den, the wolf left the food at Molly's feet without a word and went over to Laek, who was still sleeping, and nudged her shoulder with his muzzle in a gentle attempt to wake her. The sleep she'd gotten was hopefully enough to keep her awake for a few minutes to make it to her new den.

Laek was peacefully sleeping, with no terrible dreams to stir her mind. After a good long nap, she was nudged awake by another wolf. She was on her side and she turned her muzzle up to look at the wolf. She found Inferno standing by her side.

Rolling onto her feet, she spoke, "Hello Inferno." She pushed herself off the ground, and stumbled when she forgot about her sprained ankle. Giving a small whimper, she sat back and put more pressure on her right side, slightly lifting her left paw. She looked just beyond Inferno and saw Molly had also returned. She looked like she would be sleeping soon, so Laek didn't want to bother her.

Laek looked to Inferno, tilting her head to question his reason to awake her. Her eyes dashed from Inferno to the opening of the den. It was nearing evening, and it was getting darker and darker outside.

"Hello, Laek," he responded as the she-wolf got up rather quickly. Even though Laek still couldn't put any pressure on the foot, it was a nice sign to see that there wasn't any pain when she was resting. It seemed everyone else's wounds were biting even in sleep.

"Molly says it's time to rest in your own den," he explained, nudging Laek's shoulder again softly with his nose, "I'll show you where it is, and then you can get right back to sleep." His gaze followed hers to the darkness gathering outside. It was a good thing they were moving her now, as the nights were getting colder, and a wolf stressed with injury was more prone to sickness than others. And they really didn't need more sick wolves.

As Inferno nudged her shoulder, Laek nodded. She understood this den was not hers to stay in, so she slowly made her way outside, slightly limping. The sprain wasn't paining her as much as she thought it would. She looked around the den area and there still weren't many around. After waiting for Inferno, she glanced back at Molly and said, "Goodnight Molly."

"Inferno, is this a small pack? She asked as she waited to be directed to a new den. She thought that it was safer asking, rather than assuming. If it was a small pack, as she thought, she wanted to know how well things worked out. She knew that some things are harder to do with a small number of wolves; hunting for example.

As they slowly walked from the inner ring of dens outward toward the pack member dens, Inferno answered after a second's thought, "No, I don't feel it's a very small pack. We have eight members now, including you and Coven, and that's enough to fill all of the positions in the pack. For the last few months, it's felt like an extremely small pack - no one was working together," at this, the wolf looked down at Laek, wondering if this would be a bad thing to tell her right now. 'It's over now,' decided Inferno to himself, 'we have only improved since then,' and he decided it was fine if this new wolf came to learn of the pack's past faults. "Everyone hunted individually, which was a ton of effort for little gain, and the prey was scarce anyway. Khalessi, our head hunter, left to find food, but she came back starved and sick. Molly's sickness is a direct effect of that broken time, too. She's not the best hunter," the wolf couldn't help his ears twitching sideways as he remembered just how horrible a hunter she was, "and couldn't sustain herself."

At this point, the wolves had reached the pack dens. They were farther from the center of the group of dens than the dens of the higher ranking members, but they were not so far as to feel secluded. Inferno had always liked how closely all the dens were situated near each other - he felt both protected and a protector when others were sleeping so nearby. Nodding to a den, Inferno silently let her know this was the place, and went in with her, while continuing the story, "Very recently, the pack has begun to work together. We have two strong, fast wolves whose primary job is to hunt, and they're out now trying to restock our supply before winter comes. Those two are great, and then Blitz, Chaos, probably Coven, and I can help out as needed. Blitz has been going on the hunting trips most often now." The wolf stopped talking and sat near the entrance of the den, allowing Laek her own time to take in her new home. It was a cozy den that had a very welcoming feel to it, as far as Inferno observed.

Molly was asleep almost instantly after the two wolves left her den. She was exhausted and no energy left, so the sleep was welcome and much needed. She hardly dreamed, but that didn't matter, as long as she was regaining the energy she had lost through caring for the three injured wolves. Her tiny, thin body was curled tightly into a ball as a cold wind blew through the den and ruffled her fur, waking her as it combined with a loud growl from her stomach. She sighed, burying her head under her tail in hopes that the hunger pangs and horrible wind would disappear. However, they did not, and she lifted her head a few moments later, looking out at the entrance where rain was falling once more. Her ears pinned back as her stomach rumbled again, and she got up slowly, walking shakily to the entrance and making the difficult trip over to the storage den. It was a slow and shaky process, and as she neared Chaos's den, she poked her head in, satisfied that the Head Warrior was still sleeping. Then she neared the warrior's den, pausing at the entrance for a moment and taking note that Coven was still inside. Then she moved on, but after only a few steps past the warrior's den, she took a wrong step, slipping in a deep puddle of mud and hitting the ground with a painful yelp that echoed through the den area.

Chaos was sleeping peacefully, for once, and even when Molly poked her head in the den she didn't wake. She dreamed every now and then, but mostly she slept in blackness, something that she found she actually liked. It was better not to dream, mostly because most of her dreams were nightmares, but she would never tell that to anyone. She curled up in her den, barely even noticing the cold wind that blew in with the storm as she slept.

Coven was usually a very light sleeper - after all the time he'd spent alone wandering, he had to be. But today had taken so much out of him, from his lovely swim in the rapids to that chipper little meeting with Chaos, that he was so deep in sleep that Molly's approach hadn't stirred him in the slightest. Molly's retreat was another matter, though. Inferno at such a length from the center of the dens even turned his head at the sound.

The yelp was so near the black wolf that there was no way he could avoid checking out what had happened. Blinking in the darkness, his eyes adjusting rapidly, Coven got up and stepped from his den into the rain, stopping near the downed white wolf and lowering his head a bit to look at her. "Can you get up?" he asked, quite dispassionately, as if Molly had decided to just lay down in the middle of the storm. As the wind blew strongly and the black wolf looked down at the white one, he wondered if it was the winds that had knocked the frail female down. Whatever had happened, there was no way Molly was going anywhere further than the three steps into the warrior's den, as if she could even make it that far now without help.

Molly did her best to get up, but every time her strength failed her and she fell back into the mud. By the time that Coven arrived, she had given up and her white coat was mostly black and brown from all the mud that coated it. She he spoke, she barely managed a whine, almost unable to see his dark form in the pouring rain. But all she could do was lay there, for she had no strength or energy left. Her little body shivered in the cold rain, soaked the bone, which was most of her body because she was so thin. If she didn't get inside, clean and dry soon, she'd most likely get sick, and in her condition, that sickness had a high probability of being fatal.

Laek kept silent through Inferno's story. And thus she learned that it was sort of a small pack, but it acted together, causing the atmosphere of a larger pack. But that was only recently, not until then had they worked together. Only alone and obviously in no proper shape to do a pack's work. Laek could only assume that they learned the problems of their failures, and worked from there. And it definitely looked like it too. Rather, it sounded like it.

As Inferno spoke, Laek saw that they were approaching a set of dens further from the center, but not very far. But only far enough. Laek thought in her head. She actually really liked how that happened. And then when Inferno motioned that they were here, she peered inside the den she was given.

It was on the small side, but still very cozy. Very welcoming. She stepped inside and inspected the place. It really wasn't much, but she did like it. It wasn't any different than how she would have made a home as a loner. She was glad that she wouldn't have to get used to any huge changes.

Laek turned to the entrance of the den and sat next to Inferno, peering outside as it started to rain. "Thank you, Inferno, for helping me in." She placed herself on the ground, careful of her paw, and looked up at him. "When my paw heals up, I would be happy to take part in hunts as well. It's been a long time since I've worked with a pack." She added shortly after with a small smile.

Inferno smiled and nodded at Laek. "When you're better, we'd love to have you. We can never have enough hunters, and I'm sure Khalessi would love the help, while Fallon - she's a hunter as well - would love the company. She really loves meeting new wolves...a lot." The wolf shrugged and shook his head as he described Fallon, the only wolf of the pack, other than the alpha, that he felt wasn't either crazy or completely misanthropic. Well, now that he thought about it, Fallon was probably kind of crazy, too, with how much she loved so many messed up wolves.

"So," he continued after a second, edging subtly toward the den exit, "it sounds like you've decided to stay for a while? We really would enjoy you joining us. Silverlight is incredible; it becomes more beautiful the more you learn." Here, Inferno was torn, between leaving Laek alone to rest or adjust, while he checked out the bark from before, or sticking around to get to know this new-comer better and dismissing the noise as a figment of his imagination. He was slightly anxious about him hearing imaginary sounds, especially imaginary sounds of Molly's. The thought was seriously crossing his mind that she was starting to make him insane, literally.


Meanwhile, Coven's question had been answered, and so he moved over to Molly's side and nudged the sick wolfess to her wobbly feet against his side. Though this was horrible for the once-white wolfess, the male could think of no better way to get her moved. There was no way he could push her - he just didn't have the right leverage or tools to do it effectively - and dragging her would indefinitely cause her more injuries. Pushing her on because it was necessary, and taking much more time than ever could have been imagined to go just five feet, Coven got Molly into the dry shelter of the middle of his den, where the rain's splattering mist couldn't reach her.

The black wolf, soaked through now as well, let his exhausted companion slip to the ground in a heap so that he could follow and immediately begin working through her sopping and muddied coat with his tongue. It was obvious that Molly needed to eat once more, but this had to be first. Sleep and warmth and getting dry would do more to save her health right now than food could.

(sorry, this is on my phone so its going to be short)

Molly whimpered as she was pushed up and slowly the den, the move seeming to take hours rather than minutes. When Coven got her into the den, she collapsed into a heap, whining softly, but relaxing involuntarily as she felt the male's tongue swiping carefully over her muddied body. She remained silent now, not severely injured, just weak and dazed and incredible dirty. Her breathing was shallow and weak, anther body trembledin the cold, but with the warmth of the den and the male beside her, she was likely to avoid severe sickness from the cold. The process of cleaning her off was slow, but even as he worked on her coat, she could already feel the relief and warmth as her coat began to slowly dry, mostly clean and white now. By this point, she was barely awake, andshe would have been asleep already if it weren't for her rumbling and cramping stomach.

The work of cleaning Molly off was long, so it was a wonder that Molly was awake still as Coven was finishing up, licking away the last traces of the caked dirt off of the she-wolf's shoulders. Once finished, the black wolf stood up and stretched, giving his own coat a few licks in the worst spots where Molly's mud had rubbed off on him.

He moved over to the other side of the wolfess and looked down at her with his ears pricked attentively. The growls of Molly's stomach were not subtle, though there was no way he could really comprehend just how painful they were to her. But, she was awake, so without a word, Coven got up and headed out into the rain, returning thirty seconds later with a rabbit and some sort of mangled bird. "Here," said the wolf, nosing the rabbit to the other. After shaking off the water from his coat and picking up the remaining piece of kill, Coven moved over to Molly and lay down next to her with his side against her back, as he was slightly concerned that there was no way her bare-bones body could keep her warm enough in this weather.

The wolf was crunching the bones of the bird when he raised his head and looked at the back of Molly's to ask, "How successful do you feel your recovery will be, honestly, if you keep all this up?" He was referring to the fact both he and she were aware of: Molly's constant care of the pack members. It hadn't been quite so apparent this afternoon when he'd first met her, thus the wolf hadn't really thought about it much, but the rain had revealed that Molly was skin and bones. And winter was coming in...there was no way she was serious about doing all this herself.

Molly sighed softly as he finished cleaning her, blinking sleepily and painfully as her stomach rumbled. When he exited the den, she barely noticed, but when he returned, the smell of fresh food filled her nose and made her lift her head slowly. Her tail thumped slightly, showing her appreciation as she started to eat, finishing only moments later as he spoke. She sighed softly, licking her lips clean and resting her head on her paws. "I don't have much of a choice, Coven. The pack needs a healer, and I'm all it's got." She said softly, wishing that she had at least an apprentice to help her take care of all the injured wolves in the pack. It was too much work for her to do alone, but the pack needed her to do it. She closed her eyes, relaxing against the male's body as she let it warm her slowly. The pack was small, but thanks to the brawl between Chaos and Coven, she now had herself, Coven, Chaos, and Laek to care for. She wasn't sure how she'd do it, but she was determined not to let the pack down.

She knew she probably wouldn't make it through the winter this way, but she had to at least try. No one else in the pack knew enough about healing to be of any use to the sick and injured. Possibly Blitz, but he had far too many things to deal with to be stuck at the dens helping her with the care of the sick and injured. But even as she thought about it, she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open, and she slowly began to doze off, enjoying the warmth of the male's body as he kept her from freezing while the storm raged on outside. It would be a long, hard night for her, and although she had food inside of her, it was still difficult to tell if she would be in better or worse shape in the morning.

The fact that Molly was the only healer was what Coven was worried about. From two stands, that was bad: first, it could kill her off if her condition got too bad, and second, it could kill someone else off if she got to the point where she couldn't take care of them either. He had a suggestion that could potentially ease Molly's burden for a while, but the white wolf's weary reply told him that she was on the brink of sleep, finally. He'd finish this conversation up with her later, if she made it through this night well.

Sweeping away the bird remains with a paw, Coven lay his head on the ground and stared at the wall as he listened to Molly's breathing relax and the heavy pattering of the rain. Molly may have been exhausted, but Coven was wide awake, unfortunately, and feeling the malaise of boredom setting in. 'This is what happens when evil little minks try to pick a fight...' he thought to himself bitterly, unable to believe that he'd slept away most of the afternoon.

Molly remained curled up against Coven's warm body as she slept, regaining the energy that she had lost in the cold rain outside. She shivered slightly as a cold wind blew into the den, but relaxed as she curled up into a ball against him, his large form nearly twice the size of her small one. Oh how she wanted another healer or an apprentice to help her. She needed all the help she could get, especially with winter on it's way. She couldn't take care of the whole pack by herself! But for now she had to worry about herself, and if it hadn't been for Coven, she would likely have perished out in that puddle in the rain.

Chaos slept for a few hours, but was woken by an annoying rumbling in her stomach. She yawned, stretching and wincing as her wounds stung with the movement. But she wasn't one to be crippled by little pains, and she headed out into the rain, growling in annoyance of it's cold and wet drops as she made her way to the storage den.

Their hunt today had been unsuccessful, thanks to the torrential downpour, so Blitz was heading home, and he was almost positive that Khalessi and Fallon were right behind him. As he reached the dens, he check each that was meant to be occupied. First he stopped at Inferno's, and finding it empty, he moved on to Laek's. There he found the beta and injured wolf, and he nodded, ducking out and heading for Chaos's den. But there was no need, for his eyes caught her disappearing into the storage den, no doubt for a much needed snack. Next was Molly's den, which, to his dismay, was empty. He followed the muddied and wet paw prints to the signs of her fall, and looked up to see she had been moved into Coven's den. He entered slightly, relaxing as he spotted the white form curled up against the black male. He nodded his gratitude for Coven's care of the healer, and turned to head to his own den. He was soaked through, and though his muscles shown strong and powerful, he felt tired and weak, mostly needing rest. He entered his den, shaking himself to dry off a bit before laying down with a soft sigh and resting his head on his paws to sleep.

((Blitz (above)/Fallon/Khalessi continued from: https://incendio.rpg-board.net/t53p15-pack-meeting-1#462 ))
Fallon wearily trailed behind Blitz back into their pack camp. There had been so much hope earlier for a good hunt, and it had been so needed. The failed attempt and the creeping worry was exhausting to the wolfess - and all that without even realizing that there were two more mouths to feed! Head low and tail hanging limp, the soaking wolf headed straight to the storage den. She walked in and jumped in surprise, a low, instinctive hiss escaping her throat when she found herself face to face with Chaos. Chaos in the dark so late at night, after what had already been such a horrible night, was such an unexpected shock that Fallon couldn't help but look too obviously on edge and unwelcoming in her greeting.

Coven slept on and off for the last few hours, still well-rested enough from the afternoon to stay awake and still having enough healing to do that sleep wasn't so terribly hard to come by. Throughout these intervals of consciousness, Molly's shivering had become so disturbing to Coven - to the point where he honestly began to worry - that he had tried to wrap himself up around her as much as possible, putting his head over her shoulders when the worst spasms came. That was it - Molly would be hearing and accepting his idea tomorrow about taking on faux-apprentices. Blitz's entrance reminded Coven how much the alpha cared for the pack members (it hadn't been hard to discern that about Blitz from his attitude during the two wolves' first meeting), and surely he'd want Molly to get better, too. She was just too far gone right now to do anything but watch out for herself.

At Fallon's sudden appearance and hiss, Chaos lifted her head slowly. She didn't have the energy to deal with the young female right now, and she merely looked back down at the pile she was slowly fishing through. She finally decided on a rather large hare, taking it in her teeth and exiting the den into the rain once more, ignoring Fallon's presence as best as she could. She was in no shape to fight, and it was obvious Fallon was exhausted as well, so she decided it would be best to avoid conflict, this time. Her journey back to her den was slow and relaxed, almost as if it wasn't raining at all. She arrived, dropping the hare and shaking the water from her fur, and then she laid down to eat her meal. She finished it quickly, not bothering to groom herself before she fell asleep again, the mangled remains of the carcass beside her slumbering body.

Molly continued to tremble during the night, but each time Coven curled around her or rested his head over her, the shivers grew less intense than before. She huddled up against him unconsciously, desperately clingin to his warmth as she rain grew harder and lighting began to dance across the sky to a chorus of thunder that shook the den. If Molly had not been so exhausted, this rumble would have waken her, but she slept soundly, shivering and curling up tighter as the storm raged on outside.

Blitz woke not too long after he had fallen asleep, worried about his pack, namely Molly. She was in such terrible shape, and although Coven had been caring for her, he felt like he should be with her right now. But he wouldn't overwhelm her. Coven had things under control, and it seemed like there was little they could do at the moment to help her. But no matter how much he longed to sleep and not worry, he couldn't help but get up and head over to Coven's den, entering slowly. "How is she doing?" He asked, sitting down a few feet from the two wolves and looking over Molly's trembling form. "Is there a fever?"

The hunter warily moved to the side and let Chaos pass, a low warning growl still ringing in her throat. Chaos had been way too unpredictable before to be trusted, even in such a seemingly subdued state. Once the other female had left the den, Fallon took her pick out of the quickly declining pile of kill. 'It'll all be better tomorrow...' though Fallon to herself, tearing her worried eyes off of the food and exiting toward her own den farther off, still oblivious to the fact that there were new wolves about, thanks to the heavy rain. Moments after finishing her meal with tiered, mechanical bites, the she-wolf curled into a ball, her back against the wind and den entrance, and fell asleep.

Coven raised his head and looked up at Blitz before casting his eyes back down again at Molly's constantly quivering form. Choosing not to give the obvious answer to Blitz's first question, the black wolf touched his nose to the white she-wolf's ears, licking them a few times to see if that helped him detect anything out of the ordinary. Shaking his head a bit, the wolf responded, "If she has one, it isn't terrible yet. Her shivering's picked up in the last few hours, though...a fever could definitely be coming on." After a second's pondering over the little wolf's condition and realizing that he knew nothing about how to treat a fever, Coven asked, looking down once again at Molly, "Is there anyway to prevent this from getting worse? And if you're planning on sticking around," he continued, looking up again and flipping back his ears slightly, hoping he wasn't speaking too out of line already, "she could definitely benefit from you warming her up on the other side."

Blitz watched Coven carefully, nodding as he spoke. He knew a little bit about healing, but not nearly as much as the little female. But he silently thanked the spirits that he knew how to bring down and prevent a fever. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I know something that may keep her from getting a fever, if she doesn't already have one." He said, leaving the den and returning only moments later with some sort of plant that he had chewed into a syrup. He carefully set it down on a flat leaf, filling a curved stone with water and mixing the syrup into it slowly. "We need her to drink this." He said, knowing that the mixture tasted horrid and that the task would not be simple. He moved to her other side, keeping her still and warm as he woke her, carefully nudging her muzzle to get her to open it. "Molly, open your mouth please." He said softly, his voice soothing and calm, hoping that she would cooperate before she knew what was happening. When she opened her mouth, he quickly poured the mixture inside, closing his own jaws carefully around her muzzle to keep her from spitting it out until she swallowed.

Molly woke to Blitz's nudging and soon heard his soft voice telling her to open her mouth. She did so sleepily, that is, until she realized what was happening. The horrible mixture slid into her mouth, making her gag and try to spit it out almost immediatedly. However, she soon found that her muzzle was held closed by Blitz's jaws, preventing her from doing anything but swallowing the mixture. She did so, her ears pinned back and her tail curled between her legs as she felt it slide slowly down her throat, the taste still lingering horribly on her tongue. She had swallowed all of the mixture by the time Blitz released her, and she made a face at the after-tasted, watching Blitz get up and retieve some water for her. She lapped it up quickly, relieved that it washed away the awful taste of the mixture. But soon she found herself growing drowzy once more, and she lowered her head onto her paws, curling up once more, now between two incredibly warm bodies, and fell asleep quickly, her shivering almost altogether ceasing.

The black wolf watched curiously as Blitz created the mixture and gave it to Molly. It was unsurprising that she didn't take to the taste, as the smell itself had been bad as well. But it was somewhat of a relief to know that they were doing what they could to help her. Coven reminded himself to ask Blitz later what plant it was that he'd used to help with the fever, but right now he had something more important to talk about.

Once Molly was asleep, Coven said softly, "Her issue, we both know, is that she won't rest. She doesn't feel she has the time...so she really needs someone else to take care of the others while she's out of action. Can't another pack member learn the basic methods to care for Chaos and take over checking up on her? If things get worse for Chaos, then Molly can give more instructions, but if all the injured wolves' wounds are basic and stay that way, it makes sense that someone else could master the few skills necessary to take care of them. Do you think that would work, or help Molly?"

As Molly slept, Blitz listened to Coven's hushed words. It made sense, and he had considered it himself before. He couldn't take on the responsibility, since he wouldn't have the time to run the pack if he were healing it's members 24/7. He remained silent for a few moments, wondering about the dilema. Then he looked back over at Coven, sighing softly. "But who would take on that responsibility? Chaos would never go for it, Fallon and Khalessi are needed as hunters, Laek is injured and not even a pack member, I cannot run the pack, protect the lands, and hunt while caring for the sick and injured constantly. Inferno is already taking on more than he should have to...." He said, trailing off as he let the worries seep in. He could think of no alternative to Molly's situation. But Coven was right, she couldn't keep going on like this. He curled up around her a bit more as a cold wind ruffled his fur, his large body preventing it from hitting her's.

Molly was too tired to be woken by the voices above her, discussing her future and her condition. The syrup had helped her greatly, and now she no longer shivered and she seemed to be relaxed and peaceful for once. Her body remained curled up, wedged between the two males as she remained oblivious to their discussion and peacefully dreaming. Yes, she could now dream, and she clung to those dreams tightly, and it was becoming obvious that her hold on good health and life was growing stronger by the minute as well.

Blitz had a very good point, and Coven hadn't realized before just how small the pack was. Shrugging, he said, "I'll do it...I should be with Chaos most of the time anyway, I really don't think I'll need too much care myself, and if that Laek's injuries are not life-threatening, I'll check up on her whenever I can - at least in the morning and evening. Chaos's only threat is infection which shouldn't be so hard to ward off with the right tools, so it could be ok. What do you think?" While waiting for Blitz's response, and hoping this job would be as easy as he figured it'd be, the male couldn't help but relax a bit into Molly himself, as Blitz's large form really was doing a great job of blocking the wind and helping with the cold. If the pack were bigger, he could be this comfortable every night; it was something to look forward to.