She couldn't breathe.

She hurt so badly.

Why couldn't she pass out again?

Consciousness came across her in flickers and waves. Whatever God there may be would only rarely grant her reprieve from the pain, allowing her to black out every time her weight pulled her a bit more down on the gem stuck through her. She must have been a truly pitiful sight - suspended in the air, speared through by a gem, stuck on her side, the gem having torn through her ribcage.

Each breath brought blood dripping from her mouths and oh, each breath hurt so badly. She wanted to cry, to call for Mother or Father, Elderberry or Baneberry, even Mulberry and, dare she think it, the traitorous Huckleberry. She just wanted to be home.

@Blueberry, @Blackberry, @Kitaka, @Huckleberry, @Baneberry, @Elderberry

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

The smell of blood and the sound of battle was what had awoken the moose, though not quickly enough. The brown furred beast stood slowly, his bones feeling creaky, his muscles sore. These days he had voided the family, drama driving him away along with the need to take a step back and get away from the insanity that held the family within its iron grip.

As Blue fully woke up from his nap, the sound of heavy, raspy breathing grew a tad louder, catching his attention. His kind-hearted instinct told him to see who it was, to see if he could help and heal. The insanity that had burrowed its way into the very fiber of his being told him to do the exact opposite.

He was about to settle back into his warm spot on the ground among the rubble until he heard the familiar voice of a certain wolf. His daughter, the one he had somehow convinced to return with him to his family. His eyes widened and he followed the pitiful sounds, the smell of blood and battle.

Intense green eyes landed on the bloody wolf, his eyes softening as he rushed to his daughter's side. Slowly and carefully, his angled his rack to safely place Jay in them, trying to get her to a point of healing as quickly as possible. "Jay, can you hear me?"

____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Jayberry
Notes: here

Jayberry fought to breathe, trembling violently. But that only made it more and more painful, the gem stabbing into her further. Her tongue lolled from her mouth, oozing bloody saliva. Oh, oh, it hurt.

Hoofsteps approached, and she gave a low, pitiful whine. It had been so long since she had seen Father, to the point that she had almost forgotten what he sounded like. His scent, what she would recognize the most, was covered up by the cloying smell of blood, soaking the ground and clinging to the air.

She only drew to full consciousness when she was pulled off of the gem. A great, agonized cry ripped from her throat, thrashing weakly in pain. It was only when she was resting in his antlers that she recognized him, nose buried against him. All she could manage was a weak "Daddy," hardly able to believe it was him. He had been gone for so long, she had begun to fear him dead. Was she dying? Had he died, and come to bring her to wherever Gembounds went after they died?

@Blueberry

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

The smallest whisper was heard, a faint calling to the moose. "Shhh, it's okay Jayberry, Papa is here. I'm gonna take care of you, okay?" He whispered. Blue moved farther away from the bloody gem, retreating into the shadows before gently setting his daughter down.

At first, Blueberry had no clue what to do. He wanted to prevent infection, first and foremost. But panic had set in. Would he be able to fix this injury? Would he be able to save the wolf he had adopted? Blue hoped so. Though, how was he supposed to do anything to help her when he was panicking?

Blue breathed in heavily, then sighed. Calm down, think. Think think think. What was he to do? His plants. Those plants that had aided him so many times before. He urged them to sprout, to help him. And they barely listened. A few small things emerged from the rubble covered ground, barely enough to cover one side of the wound. They would have to do though because this was what he had to work with for now.

Blue muched up the plants, making them into a paste, and slowly spead the mixture across one side ofthe wound, hoping that in some miraculous way, they would help. They would heal and help and she would be okay.
____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Jayberry
Notes: here

Jayberry whined, but relaxed some at her father's voice. Papa was here, she was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay, he wouldn't let anything truly bad happen to her.

When he set her down, she tried to take it with a stony face, but the agony broke through. A squealed yelp tore from her throat, and she writhed, having to force herself still. Oh, that hurt. That hurt thathurtthathurt! But she had to stay awake, she had to tell father of the bird-thing. The repeated uses of that attack - and oh, she still burned, radiation set deep into her skin. She suddenly felt horrible for Mother, and her siblings whom had felt this pain when they were younger.

She dozed, only awakening when there was a touch to her wound. The wolf whined, eyes rolling up in an attempt to meet her father's. "It was... the bird. The bird that... hurt Mother. I'm scared... scared that it will... that it will hurt - hurt the others." she forced out, her own blood soaking her teeth.

@Blueberry

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

For better or for worse, the soft speaking was overheard. The scent of blood had been easy enough to follow; Oliver had assumed that perhaps someone had hunted a cave deer, given the strength of the odor, but it couldn't hurt to check.

What he found drove fear into him: a spike of gemstone, slicked with lines of wet red that still reeked of warm copper.

He followed the scent, and the soft murmur of voices--and the herbal odor, too, of some sort of crushed plants--into the darkness. There he saw a larger form hovering, as it were, over a far smaller one: one he thought he recognized. Hadn't that one been collecting gems, back when the golems were active? He wasn't entirely sure, but whoever they were, they definitely looked injured.

Oliver winced, feather-tuft ears flattening back. No doubt he'd be noticed any second now--so he spoke, calling out softly, his tone gentle and hesitant.

"Do you--need help?" he asked, softly. "I might be able to help-..." But would they allow it? The moose was huge, intimidatingly so, though Oliver was fairly sure it wasn't the attacker, at least. Their voices were soft, the black wolf seeming to trust the larger thing--or maybe it was too weak to fight back?

The hybrid eyed Blueberry warily, half-crouched, his head held low and ears pinned back, as if afraid he might be somehow offending.

{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

Blue was confused. What bird? Was it after his family? Was it going to return? Clearly it was powerful since it damaged his fierce daughter so much. He let out a low growl-like noise, though it wouldn't quite work, as he was a moose.

Another smell approached, bird mixed with wolf. Was this the bird thing that hurt his daughter, his Jayberry? Blue locked yes woth the newcomer, eyeing him warily. He seemed to do what Jayberry did when she wanted to seem submissive and harmless to Blackberry, perhaps this thing was okay.

The fatherly insitncts and the seemingly submissive stance the wolf bird held was enough to keep Blue from attacking on sight. Well, along with the resemblence to his own daughter, somewhat. Blue nodded, befereopening his massive jaws.

"I am Blueberry, you may see if there is anything you can do to help my daughter. If you hurt you, though, I will not hesitate to kill you." He boomed, his voice surprisingly steady despite the panic he held within.

____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Jayberry @Oliver
Notes: here

Her nose twitched, picking up a strange scent. A weak growl rumbled in her chest, until she recognized it. It was that black canine she had met while searching for the singing gemstones. He had been kind enough, and so she allowed her growl to die out. The she-wolf's eyes twitched, and she gasped "Oliver?" Rather surprised.

The she-wolf panted, licking her lips as she tried to keep an eye on both Oliver and Papa. She feared her father attacking him, and so gasped, "Papa, he's an ally." Thankfully, it seemed Papa had understood that, as he accepted Oliver's offer of help.

@Blueberry
@Oliver

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

He slipped forward, hesitant. The moose was--intimidating, to say the least, but as he moved by his ears were flat and his head down. He had no intention of harming Jayberry, so... hopefully, hopefully, the death threat wouldn't be followed through on. He understood, anyway; Gembound were protective of friends.

A quick glance over the wolf and he was immediately aware of a few things he'd need to do. With a soft grimace he crept closer, raising a wing-arm and turning it so that the claws were upward. A moment of focus and water began to gather, to pool in his claws and drip toward the wolf's mouth.

"Drink, first," he instructed softly. "I've... magic that can make you stronger and warm the air here, too. But you need to drink first 'cause I think you lost a lot of your own blood."

He hesitated, for a moment; he wanted to ask what had happened. He was a little afraid--what if whatever had attacked Jayberry also came for him? But a glance up at the looming moose made him think better of speech--at least for now. And anyway, the wolf hardly seemed to be in a position to talk.

Oliver turned his attention back to Jayberry, still holding himself low, and let the water pour for her jaws.
{Table code credit to Madison, altered a bit!}

@Blueberry

Blue nodded silently to Jayberry, if she trusted this creature then he supposed he could too, for now. Mossy eyes followed the dark wolf-bird as he approched. Blue wanted to let out a threatening rumble as he felt magic thicken in the air, but surpressed his urges as he realized it was only water.

"So Oliver, how do you know her? And why did she not kill you?"

____________________
"Hear my war cry"

Tags: @Jayberry
Notes: protective daddy lmao