One Alpha Down (Aura, Anobe, Redtail)

[AURA]

Aura stalked the deer through the foliage. She knew there was no way she could take down a deer down, but she was having fun following it. Besides, the camp had been so full and calm lately they didn't need her. The deer flicked and she stood still. 'I got this,' she told herself. She was crazy. She knew that she was strong and it sometimes got to her head. She moved a tiny bit closer and attacked, throwing herself at the deer. It was a child, not too large, but it still reacted. She was on its back, her teeth ripping into its flesh. The deer bucked and she was thrown to the floor. It ran but she managed to push herself off the floor and shake herself off. "Get back here," she shouted, but the deer crossed the line of the territories. Aura could smell the scent switch from just wolf to a mix of the three. But, she was committed to getting the deer anyway.

She chased the deer all the way to the top of the waterfall where she tackled him once more. The deer cried out, rolling into the lake. Aura's eyes widened. The water rushed much faster here than at the bottom. Aura tried to pull herself out from the doe but the deer bucked Aura once more as it tried to climb out, this time hitting her in the chest. She went flying into the current before she fell down the waterfall at full force. The wind was already knocked out of her, making it hard to breathe, but luckily she washed up on the waterfall's edge at the bottom. She was soaked, barely breathing, and her paw was bleeding all over the muddy water.

[ANOBE]

Anobe lay sprawled in the dirt, soaking up the sun warming the ground in camp. One eye periodically opened lazily to eye the romping apprentices nearby and the various pack mates enjoying the slow day. The large wolf proved to be a good occasional jungle gym for the young ones and he took their rough housing with nothing more than a flick of the ear and a rumble when their paws dug into a sensitive spot. Things had been slow and the lack of any excitement put him in a state of near comatose.

He had originally planned to do one of his usual solo outings but he'd noticed Aura getting antsy, understandable since being alpha didn't exactly call for 'you time', so he volunteered to hold down the fort and encouraged her to trump about by herself for a change. Though, noting the position of the sun, that was a little while ago. He pushed the little nugget of worry aside. Aura could handle herself, she's the alpha, not some pup.

Well maybe if she wasn't back when the sun moved a little lower he'd go out; just in case. He couldn't push his worry aside, it would just be his luck he put the pack up creek the one time he didn't go on his over protective instincts.

[REDTAIL]

Redtail was getting annoyed, the cramped and dark confines of his small office area he had dug into his professional den was beginning to smother him. He sighs and gets up and stretches his legs "I think I may visit the Waterfalls for a bit, haven't been there in a while." He leaaves his den into the relative shade of the tree whose roots supported his large den. He briefly contemplates leaving his medical kit but since he was the only Healer the Foxes had at the moment that would have been irresponsible.

He ducks back inside and grabs the small field kit he kept packed in case of emergencies then set off for the Waterfalls. Along the way he notices a slightly injured deer running through the forest "Looks like a young Wolf got too full of himself, hehe I'll bet he's getting a right seeing to about now." Redtail chuckles. He arrives at the waterfall to find an Injured wolf. He decides to render assistance rather than wait for another Wolf to find it or risk crossing Pack Boundaries and invoking the wolves wrath.

He approaches cautiously watching for signs of life noting as he does a large gash across the Wolf's paw bleeding into the water. Mud in the Wolf's fur indicated that it may have gone over the falls "Can you hear me?" He asks as he sets his pack down to remove a bandage for the Wolf's paw.

[ANOBE]

Anobe honestly could not say he was able to relax once more since the little whisper of worry weaseled it's way into his brain. He'd kept his eyes trained on the sun for a while now, worry growing to the point of agitation and he snapped at the nearest pup who was pouncing on his tail.

"Something's not right." He muttered to himself and rolled to his feet. "You," He barked at the nearest warrior, "Keep things quiet here until I come back. Aura's been gone too long." He left the slightly overwhelmed wolf behind as he immediately set out to pick up Aura's trail. It wasn't hard, it was easy to pick out the alpha's scent among the others. He used his long legs to his advantage, following the she-wolf's winding trail as fast as he could unable to keep huffs of impatience down.

The scent of blood hit him first before anything else, alarm bells ringing in his head. Fur bristling he sprang out of the brush to find a scene he never thought he'd see

There was Aura, down in the muck of at the water's edge and all he could see was the ruddy color of blood in the water and a fox, a damn fox, standing over her.

The large wolf let out a snarl, teeth bared as he barreled aside the fox and stood over his alpha. Easily twice the size of even Aura, and so full of blind fury, Anobe looked like some evil beast the Spirits let escape from whatever hell they had.

"I'm going to rip you to shreds fox, but not before I let you run so I can have the pleasure of chasing your pathetic pelt down and letting you revel in the worst kind of terror first." He growled, teeth snapping.

[REDTAIL]

Redtail had been completely blindsided by the other wolf and had had the wind knocked out of him. Before he made any attempt to move he first ran a small chect to make sure nothing was broken. There was going to be some bruising over his ribs but other than that he would be fine.

"I'm going to rip you to shreds fox, but not before I let you run so I can have the pleasure of chasing your pathetic pelt down and letting you revel in the worst kind of terror first." the other Wolf growled, teeth snapping.

Redtail was quite taken aback by this turn of events and asked with absolute indignity "Why should I give you the satisfaction? If you're going to kill me do it otherwise step aside so I can tend to your friend there, but either way if you touch me you'd have to deal with my Pack, because I'm their only Healer and have so far committed no crime. You Wolves think you rule the Forest but if we don't collaborate and work together what kind of future do we have to look forward to?"

Redtail shook some of the dust out of his fur and stood his ground impassively awaiting either death or further developments. But either way he knew he wouldn't give that wolf the satisfaction of him begging. He smirked to show his contempt of the Wolf's big show of power.

[ANOBE]

"No crime?!" He sneered, "Why is it that then, there is wolf here obviously injured, and the only one around is a fox claiming he's simply hear to help." Anobe gave a cheerless chuckle "What? You're going to do it out of the kindness of your heart? Since when do you foxes do anything other than out of mockery and tricks? How can I be sure you aren't going to poison her so your own pack can take advantage of the chaos in a pack with no alpha?"

Anobe did not bother to try to hide his ignorance of anything concerning healing. For all he knew that simple bundle of supplies by his paws was filled with wolfsbane and snake venom. He wasn't going to simply trust the fox right then and there. If it wasn't wolf, no, if it wasn't Pack it wasn't to be trusted. He didn't hate the foxes or hybrids or loners, he was just distrustful of anything that was not Pack and he made it well known.

And right now, this fox's arrogance was only fueling Anobe's anger and getting him that much closer to simply snapping the fox's neck.

[AURA]

"Nggggggg," Aura stirred before her eyes flickered open. She stretched out her legs and could feel her paw stiffen. Pain jolted up her leg. 'Ug, what happened?' she asked herself, flashing back to the deer and the waterfall. But she was quickly awoken fully by the growl of her deputy. She tried to push herself up with her strong front paws and was slightly able to push herself up. She looked at the strong wolf and the sly fox. Sure, she didn't like the foxes more than anybody, but she did need help. And all healers were respected members of not their packs, but the spirits.

"Anobe, why don't you head back to camp and keep an eye on everyone, I can handle myself. Thank you though," she told him, but she knew it was unlikely for him to leave her how she was. Even her voice was quiet and raspy from the amount of water in her lungs. She tried to push herself up again but the second she put pressure on her back paw she fell to the ground.

[ANOBE]

He immediately spun around at the sounds of Aura stirring and a whine issued from his throat as he lowered himself to take her weight when she fell back down. He at first was going to try to nudge her up to drier land, but thought it would simply be easier if he semi-dragged her up there. Taking her scruff gently between his teeth, he maneuvered her a little further up the bank and gave a worried lick to her fur, snarls and threats forgotten.

"That's a stupid idea and you know it." He growled, voice its usual low rumble. "I'm not leaving you alone with a fox, healer or no healer." He shot a glance at the fox in question. "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to do your job?" His alpha awake and in pain clearly overshadowed is earlier mistrust for the moment.

[REDTAIL]

Redtail walks up to the male wolf and stares him right in the eye furious at the ignorance of this Wolf and the fact that he was trying to intimidate him he moves even closer so that their noses are almost touching says “We Foxes may not be the most proud or even respected Pack but at least we know not to turn down help when it’s offered, that is the greatest ignorance of all. When your enemy becomes your friend that is the greatest victory of all! Not killing them” Redtail calms down a bit but still continues to pour his soul into his speech “I may not even be the best Healer but I will be damned if I let you or even the Spirits themselves get in my way. You may be standing aside to let me do my work but it is not of your own volition, I can see the fear in your eyes. You may think you’re in control of this situation but what if I were to refuse to help? Hmm? What if I were to simply walk away?”

Redtail leans in to whisper in the wolf’s ear “I should go straight to your pack after this, I am going to visit Your Healer and I am going to the Hybrids after that. We need to unite brother, help each other and end this nonsensical bickering, you have things we need and I know we have things the Wolves need. Don’t be a fool, hear wisdom. We need to cooperate.” Redtail brushed the large wolf aside and retrieved his pack then set it down in front of the Alpha and began to mix a healing salve with some of his herbs.

[ANOBE]

Obviously this fox did not know wolves well. Direct eye contact always ment a challenge. Quite honestly though he was both so concerned over his alpha and so amused over the fox's theatrics he didn't pay attention to his usual instinctual attack he would do to any other creature who would dare stare him down. He couldn't even take offense to the fox insulting him. Obviously the fox's healer was a bit of a dramatic nut.

He stood back up, not hiding his amused smirk as he went back to towering over the fox and took point near Aura to both watch her and the healer. "I hope you're done with your little heartfelt speech, it was touching truly, but I suggest you make that salve a little faster. Wouldn't want to have to take up on that deal of yours."

All this talk about having to "unite" and being "brothers" and hearing wisdom did not interest the wolf at all. To him, that was not important right now and sounded more complicated than the simple problem at hand. The fox was just wasting his breath when he could be healing.

"You're a healer, not a doomsayer. Heal."

[REDTAIL]

"You are a fool. I will heal your Alpha, maybe she is wise enough to see what I am saying. Kill me after this if you wish I do not care. You do not feel my words, you are too inflated on your own ego for wisdom. Brute strength and the short term problems are all you see. What is the life of one insolent Fox when weighed against that of your Alpha? What is the life of one of your Cubs worth to you? Is it of the same value as one of ours? I tell you it is but you do not listen for you know better than I don't you?

"Come that I may at least impart some wisdom to you for I fear that no one else will, this salve is made with four simple ingredients: Water, cobwebs, powdered pine bark and the juice of our berries in case she decides to lick at the cut, some would add dandelion root or grass I do not because they are not necessary and only make the salve into a paste and then you have to work it into the cut which is more painful for both parties involved. No, keep it thin and easily spread, that's the best way." Redtail lets the salve sit for a moment as he prepares the bandage.

"Now you will want a thick strip about one inch across and almost two feet long so that it wraps nicely. AS I do this observe these cobwebs, as one they are easily broken but together they are strong, like us. Individually one wolf is not able to bring down a large elk but as a pack you can bring down an entire herd. Just think what we would be capable of! It would be beautiful, one large and diverse community in which the sums of all of our knowledge is shared, tell me that would not be a better way than what we have now." Redtail notices the female wolf is about to speak but silences her "Do not speak, conserve your energy, you will need it to get home. Your underling here needs to learn that we are all equals, no one life is greater than another, a lesson even you must have learned."

Redtail calmly wraps the female's paw then turns to the male "As a show of goodwill towards you and all wolves I hereby bequeath to you my pack, it should still have enough supplies for another few cuts yet. If you are unsure what is in the pack ask your Healer because I know you think I am lying. You are welcome in my home any time you decide to visit brother. I am easily found, just ask for the Healer, they will point you right to me, I will ensure your safe passage through our land, for you or any Wolf who would see me."

Redtail takes one last look at the bandage then wraps his pack back up and lays it at the male's feet "Do not be so foolhardy that you ignore knowlege, you should be seeking to better yourself, not to be the biggest and strongest but to be the smartest and most fair. Next time you are out on a hunt try waiting in a location you know the dear frequent covered in mud, it will mask your scent, then wait for the dear to get close enough that you can kill it with a single strike. I have killed many badgers this way, and have been trampled on by many more deer than I would care to count. If you will not hear the wisdom of the future then hear the wisdom of the present."

Redtail thought for a second then added "You said I was a Healer, not a Doomsayer, that is true. As a Healer I seek to heal the greatest wound I see. What good is it to me to be your enemy? What good is it to you to be mine? None at all. It is a mutually unsatisfactory situation. As friends who cooperate we could share our ideas and thoughts to help each other survive."

"Change is coming and I shall be its herald." Redtail walks away slowly. He doesn't stop until he gets back into the Fox packs territory then he tells a passing Fox "Any wolves who come by asking for me are to be given safe passage through our land, he sane goes for Hybrids and Wanderers."

Once he gets home he eats some Valerian then takes a nap.