It was hard for Aster to focus. Any noise was drowned out by blood rushing to her ears and the pain which, not only seemed to be in her leg, but was somehow everywhere else all at once. The puppy gasped for air-- her chest was oddly tight, it felt like she wasn't breathing enough --and she could only just acknowledge that she could hear Pride in her own head.

It helped, knowing he was there, but it didn't stop the pain.

"I can't move. It hurts," the thoughts flooded her mind, more emotions and feelings than anything else-- but it was all mixed in with the pain and oh hell, the pain. Was she dying? Was this it? She wasn't that old-- it was too soon.

She barely noticed Pride settling down beside her as she tried to lick her own leg, despite there being no open wound-- but it did very little and even the slightest touch sent more pain shooting up her leg. She cried and she whined some more before she pulled away from her own leg, laying on her side on the cave floor.

Can you focus on me? "Where--" She couldn't see, everything was blurry and blinded with the hurt. She assumed that the mass of white was supposed to be Pride, but it could have been anything at that point.

"What do we do? I don't want to die."

@Pride

Pride felt that panic welling, and he had no idea what to do. He struggled to maintain the link, feeling it briefly weaken, but a surge of stubborn determination flared and he widened it once more. The dog's pain and terror was flowing toward him, but he kept it open anyway, scooting closer and trying to nudge her, to nuzzle her, to get close and lick her head or fur or anything he could reach, desperate to reassure her.

"I am here." I am here. The words weren't reassuring so much as choked, but the thought came with strength, force, simultaneously.

He couldn't help, and her mention of death frightened him further, but the best he could do was to curl closer and close his eyes, tucking his head in against her fur. You won't die, he reassured her, trying to be convincing, to sound convincing--to feel it, through the link. A false confidence.

I'll stay. Just rest. Do you want rats? Or I can stay. The thoughts tumbled over one another, and he quickly realized she was in no state to either think about this or to eat rats. Instead he sent again, simpler thoughts. I am here. You won't die.

@Aster

Aster almost didn't feel Pride there, touching her, trying to comfort her. There was a shifting white blob above her that she could see, at least, and it was too difficult to try and properly focus in on it.

She was afraid, but she wasn't alone. That helped too, though not with the pain.

Her cries and whines slowly muted and turned to heavy breaths instead, her chest heaving with the agony. She didn't dare try to move her leg-- not while it somehow felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time.

She won't die, no-- "how long will it hurt?" She asked, trying to send over any coherent thought that didn't involve the pain or the fear. She turned, burying her face away into Pride's side.

Rats? She wasn't sure if she could eat. "I don't know," she managed, broadcasting the brief uncertainity. "It just hurts. I don't know what to do. It's not going away."

@Pride

This was a nightmare. Pride closed his eyes, settling against the puppy, and just... did what he could.

He spoke, first and foremost, particularly as he felt his link between them falter and slip shut. With it came immense relief at the sudden loss of her pain and fear--and immediate grief and regret that he could not continue to share it, and to offer his comfort in a more direct fashion.

"I do not know," he answered. "I have never had--what just happened to you, happen," he continued, worriedly. "But you won't die." He wasn't sure how death worked.

Hell, he'd never even heard of death, not from anyone else, but somehow, he knew. Knew what it meant, and understood Aster's fear of it, even if he did not know her name.

But he did know, even if he had no idea how death operated, that he had to reassure Aster that it was not coming for her.

"I don't think any pain lasts forever. I think it will go away," he continued, voice shaking as he tried to be reassuring. For the first time he felt a sudden strong desire, a pleading, for Reseda's presence. He might distrust her, but the elder Gembound would surely know how to handle this.

Might the mad hyena, too? Both lived in Canis, but that was--a long way away, particularly for the dog to move.

"I can try to take you to the cave of bones. Reseda lives there. The seer, too. One might--know how to help," he offered, quietly, "but only when you're ready to walk."

@Aster

Character: Aster Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +16 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +2 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +13 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 8 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - Total: 69

Character: Pride Age: +1 (1 Cycle) Magic Level: +3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +18 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +10 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +9 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +5 Penalties: - ROUND 8 Attempt: - (Unused) Penalties: - Total: 69

WINNER: Tie

>mfw tied on 69

Walk? Aster wasn't sure if she'd be able to walk ever again. It seemed strange to her, to think that she might no longer exist after having barely existed at all. She didn't even have a name.

She didn't want the pain and the crying and the broken bones to be her name, but it certainly seemed like a unique thing to her so far. The dog shut her eyes with a long whimper.

The borzoi tried to focus on what Pride was saying to her, to forget about the pain and her leg, but that proved fairly difficult. She caught the waver in his voice near-immediately. He must not have held a lot of hope for her condition.

A few moments were spent just breathing heavily and scanning through her own frantic mind to find the correct words. "It's not going away," she repeated quietly, words tumbling unceremoniously out of her mouth. "It might be forever."

Another few moments of breathing and thinking later and she was trying to consider going to Canis. She didn't know where it was, how far it was. Did it matter? She might be running out of time. "I... don't know," she began much more slowly, baring her teeth briefly, "if I'll ever be ready to walk."

@Pride

Pride was near-frantic and still had no idea how to help. He thought, quickly, but could think of nothing that he could do. He cast a glance over her leg, lying twisted as it was.

"I can--I can try to... fix it," he offered softly, fearful and worried. He could. He could try to use his magic, to move the leg back where it was meant to be--couldn't he? Wouldn't that fix it?

Brief imagery ran through his mind--the leg contorting back into place, Aster back on her feet, testing it out. The way the leg would need to maneuver. The bone. The muscle.

"If you let me try I can--see if it will help?" But would it? Might it just make it worse?

His imagination again ran wild--Aster screaming again, the leg twisted even worse, distorted beyond recognition. Pride gave a soft bleat of distress.

Spire or not, magic or not, he was not qualified for this.

@Aster

Aster did not take even a second to consider the drawbacks. Although she usually would have mulled them over very carefully and spent a while weighing the pros and cons, the lingering, throbbing pain had made her desperate.

She just wanted it to stop, and if Pride could help, then she wanted that help. If it went wrong, then she'd just have to deal with that later. That was a problem for two-minutes-later-Aster to deal with, not crying-on-the-ground-Aster.

"Do it," she rasped painfully, chest heaving up and down with the agony.

@Pride

Pride listened, the words do it roiling in his mind, fading under the rush of blood that was all he could hear in his ears. Pale grey eyes remained locked on Aster's leg, and he stood, his own limbs trembling, moving to get a better view. A better angle.

He feared ruining her. Making it worse. But more than that, he could not simply do nothing. She was in agony, terrified; he was terrified for her. He had to try. Please, he pleaded, in his mind--to nothing, to the world at large, to the Spire, to himself perhaps--do not let me make this worse. Please, let me aid her.

He tried to call upon his magicka, but the trembling fear again took him and he found himself unable to cast, the power sputtering away. For a moment he nearly forced it, then choked it back, realizing that in doing so he might just create a blast of uncontrollable power and make things very, very bad. As if they weren't bad enough already.

In a pleading and tremulous tone, he spoke to Aster, explaining his inaction. "I--I'm afraid, I think."

For the first time in his young life, he truly sounded like the child he was.

@Aster

Aster shut her eyes, and she waited-- but nothing happened. Perhaps she had finally died, but the pain in her leg persisted, throbbing and burning and ice-cold all at once.

She had no idea if Pride had failed or if he was just hesitant from fear, but it mattered very little. Eyes opening, she turned her crooked muzzle towards the fawn, quiet for a moment except for the gasping breaths.

"I know," the puppy whispered hoarsely. She was, of course, absolutely terrified as well. "It's okay?"

It was hard to find the correct comforting words, when you knew no words and your leg was broken. She shut her eyes again, rasping. "It will be okay," she said quietly. Pride probably couldn't make it any worse.

Probably.

@Pride