Sweetclover, Taiser, Damiana, Valcane, Harbringer, & Mandragoro

With Sweetclover in the lead, the little family made their trek across the high-crested eskers and loamy slopes. The four pups, a month old, had some trouble with the unfirm terrain, but their parents patiently waited on them.

It wasn't long before the pups wore themselves out, after a short trip. Damiana was the first to plop down on the ground, rolling onto her side and then her back as she signified she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Harbringer, with her dazzling green eyes, flopped down beside her sister with a heavy sigh.

Mandragoro was exhausted as well, but was too curious to give in to his weary muscles. A large grasshopper soon had his attention, and he begn an to follow it excitedly.

Valcane sat back on her haunches, head tilted to the sky as she watched the clouds go by.

Sweetclover, smiling proudly at the four youngsters, circled around and laid down a few feet from them.

Taiser stood nearby, taking a moment to survey the land for danger. When all looked well, he settled down in the middle of sprawled pups. Head up and ears perked, he kept a constant vigil for potential enemies or predators..

~Hunters~

Hidden along a shrubby slope a ways from the family was a small hunting blind. Geese, deer, and oxen had been on the hunters' agenda, but they couldn't pass up a group of canines - especially since two of them fit the description of those living near the Silver Glades.

As the family settled down, a hail of riffle bullets came to greet them as the humans opened fire...

Sweetclover, Taiser, Damiana, Valcane, Harbringer, & Mandragoro

The wind was not in their favor today, and despite Taiser's diligent guard and keen senses, he failed to see the camoflauged hideout of the humans. None of them were aware of the danger until it was far too late.

The entire group jumped as the first bullet rang out and panic seized them. Memories of pain flooded the minds of the parents, who had been victims only a few months ealier when humans ambushed the den site. Sweetclover dove for the nearest pup and snatched Valcane by the scruff. With a powerful leap, she propelled herself towards the downside of the slope, but her actions were not quick enough. While she hardly felt a bullet that ripped through the top half of her ear, she felt one that tore into her lower abdomen. With a yelp, she crashed to the ground, sending Valcane tumbling.

Taiser was moving just as swiftly, seizing Damiana as he attempted to usher the other two pups down the opposite side of the slope. At first, amid the terrifying barage, Damiana whimpered and shivered in fear as she swung this way and that in her father's jaws. He felt her flinch suddenly, and her whimpers stopped abruptly. Her body went limp, and her paws dragged on the ground. Before Taiser could rightly figure out what had happened, a powerful force smashed into his muzzle, so strongly that he collapsed in a daze on the ground as a sticky warmth spread across his face and muzzle. A second pain exploded along his upper shoulder, but the father was too stunned to move.

Surrounded by horrid noises, flying feet, and the smell of blood, Mandragoro and Harbringer had no clue what to do. Tails tucked, they allowed themselves to be nudged and shepherded by a Taiser, though that soon stopped. Before they knew it, both parents were on the ground, and Damiana was with them.

Out of no where, Mandragoro was spurred into desicive action. He dug his teeth into Harbringer's scruff and began to tug his sister towards the slope. Loam and debris exploded around him as bullets peppered the ground. He saw a plume of fur and blood spout up along the belly of Damiana as she lie on the ground, though her body didn't flinch against the wound. Hardly realizing what his eyes were taking in, Mandragoro continued to tug at his dazed sister, until she let out a agonized yelp and flopped violently on her side. She yelped again, though her voice was strangled with liquid. Blood began to spatter from her mouth and nose as she floundered on the ground, writhing and crying out.

Mandragoro blinked in disbelief, watching helplessly. "Stop it! STOP!" He snarled fiercely at his sister, eyes wide as he began to back away, unable to draw away from the sight, "Get up! Please..." Now it was Mandragoro's turn to taste the pain, as something sharp caught him across the flank. Yipping shrilly, he jumped up and fell back. Before he knew it, he was skittering out of control down the opposite slope, gravity and loose soil pulling him down the esker and out of the humans' range.

Sweetclover struggled to her paws, wincing at the pain tearing at her gut. She was vaguely aware of the wetness against the side of her head, trailing steadily down her cheek. Her eyes flashed briefly over a terrifying scene, but Valcane broke her out of it. Untouched by a bullet, the little daughter was crouching on the ground, eyes wide and staring at Harbringer, who continued to struggle on the ground with diminishing cries. Clover staggered towards the pup, taking her by the scruff once more before making one last go for the slope. With a tremendous leap, she sailed over the last stretch of land, just as the last bullet bit into her hind paw.

War Song

The large American Black Bear just happened to be at the right place at the right time for once in his life. He had been scavenging for meals left by other animals when he heard the shots. His head shot up as he watched the hunt. He knew that it was his duty to help those who need it.

He cautiously padded over, but his pace quickened as he got closer. He had just entered the line of fire. A horrible sound came out of him when a bullet went into his thigh. That only made him angry. He rushed straight for the hunters with open jaws, aiming to sink his teeth into their flesh.

*Humans*

If they hadn't sent so many bullets at the wolf family, War Song may very well have been killed as he charged the hunting blind. As it was, after firing only a few rounds towards the bear, the hunters ran out of bullets. Unable to load more in time, War Song tore into their flimsy 'tent'. The two humans made a valiant attempt to fight back, but in such a confined space, there was little they could do. In minutes, both were dead.

War Song

War Song growled fiercely when more bullets pierced his flesh. But soon enough, he was victorious. He silently limped back to the wolf family. "Do you need help?" He asked, trying to ignore the pain. He would need human help with these injuries. After this event, though, he would rather not be anywhere near humans for a while.

Sweetclover, Taiser, Damiana, Valcane, Harbringer, & Mandragoro

Harbringer choked and coughed violently, with blood continuing to spatter from her mouth and nose. Soon enough, her struggles began to die down and each breath came quieter and quieter.

Sweetclover lay silently at the bottom of the slope. The mother's sides rose and fell very faintly. Beside her, Valcane shivered terribly. Her eyes were wide and glazed slightly, though she had no wounds. Shock at seeing her family gunned down before her eyes made the pup sick to her stomach. She was sure her entire family was dead. And as her haunted eyes trailed up to see a black bear standing at the top of the slope, she lost it. Tail tucked, the pup took off running, wanting to get away from the horrid sight.

Taiser lay motionless for a moment, his muzzle and shoulder covered in blood. A bullet had passed dangerously close to his skull, rattling him enough to stun him senseless. But when this wore off, the father staggered to his paws, jaws gaping open as pain seared through them. "M-my... fam'ly.." He said, his words fumbled with his wounded muzzle.

Mandragoro began to climb up the slope, a trail of blood following him. His flank had been grazed by a bullet, and despite the blood that was flowing from it, the injury was not life threatening. A vacant, horrified sort of look lingered in the brother's eyes as he came to the top of the hill.

He could see Damiana's eyes were open, but she didn't move at all. The smallest bit of blood showed up near her temple, and that was all. She had died without pain.

War Song/Saguaro/Seabird

War Song looked over each of them carefully. He needed to get them to some humans quickly. But why bring them to the humans when he can bring the humans to them?

Just in time, the bear's wandering friends arrived at his location. A shriek escaped the stag when he saw the injured wolves. War Song looked at the pair. "I need your help. Saguaro, you go get your magic herbs or whatever. Seabird, go find some humans." He commanded. The mule deer was ready to faint, but quickly bounded off into the forest.

The javelina was much less bothered by the scene. She wandered off hastily to fulfill her alpha's orders. About 15 minutes later, she came back with a mouthful of assorted herbs. She smashed them into a paste, then proceeded to apply the paste to their wounds, starting with Sweetclover...

Sweetclover, Taiser, Harbringer, & Mandragoro

Clover didn't move an inch when the javelina began to apply the herbal pastes. She was out cold, her life hanging in the balance.

While Harbriger grew stiller, Taiser began to wake more out of his shock-induced trance. Blood and saliva dripped gruesomely from his fangs, but he still mangaged to speak. "My fam'ly! Pl'se, save th'm..." The father took a step towards Harbringer first, since she was the nearest, but his shoulder gave in and he collapsed forward.

Harbringer eased himself down, once again at a loss for what to do. His eye roamed from the massive bear, to the retreating stag, and finally to the javeline. It all seemed like a nightmare to him.

Saguaro/Seabird

Once the javelina was finished with Clover, she went to Harbringer. It looked to her as if Taiser wanted him healed next. She spoke softly as she worked. "Eres seguro, lobo joven. Te estoy ayudando." You are safe, young wolf. I am helping you. She applied the paste to his wounds.

Suddenly, Seabird leapt out of the small trees. "I found a human who can help - he is kind to animals." He panted. He grimaced at the sight of the injured wolves, then fainted. Saguaro looked into the forest nervously.

Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

"I smell blood! Nadeem, are can you not smell that?!? You're so senseless sometimes! Oh, man..." In the distance, Abhay's complaints could be heard very clearly before he even reached the scene. Now and then, Nadeem could be heard as well, trying to calm the unruly little stallion and keep him on course with Seabird. "Somal, Abhay!"

Bounding through the trees, Abhay's reaction to the blood was much the same as Seabirds, "Oh, the horror! They killed him!" He shrieked, rearing up and tossing his head in frantic dismay. Courage was not his strong point. Drama, on the other hand, was something he was rather good at. "Nadeem, they killed the deer! What horror! We'll be next!" So started at the blood and gruesome scene before him, Abhay scarcely noticed that he had tossed his hapless master off already.

Thankfully, the Eskers were mostly made of loamy, shifty soils. Though the landed was not a comfortable one, Nadeem wasn't injured. "Abhay! Woah, komal! Come on, stop this!" He said, nearly getting his head dashed by a flying hoof of Abhay's. Right now, he didn't know what was worse, the wolf that had attacked him earlier, or his horse being totally freaked out.

It took a few moments before Nadeem got his stallion half settled down. It was then that he really stopped to take in the scene that the stag had led him too. "She was right... they do ask for help..." The young man whispered in awe. His first task was to move to Seabird, where he checked to see that the deer was alright. Once he found the deer was no more than passed out, he moved causiouly towards the wolves.

"No wonder some of you act as you do..." Nadeem commented at length, kneeling down slowly by Harbringer, flashing a cautious look at Saguaro as he did so. She may be small, but he knew those tusks could be extremely dangerous, so he wanted to stay on her good side. As he began to assess her injuries, he found that he couldn't do much help for her right here. Her lung was damaged, and she needed surgery. In fact, as he looked around, he could tell that Sweetclover and Taiser too would need more treatment than he could offer right here and now.

Taking out a cellphone, he called a friend of his - Charlene.

In the background, Abhay snorted and pawed at the earth. "I thought you were crazy before, Nadeem! This is insane! Do you hear me? You're crazy!" The little black stallion shook his head again before drifted towards Seabird, "Geeze, fella... what did they do to you? This is so not cool..."

War Song/Saguaro

War Song looked at the human nervously. He never did like humans, but he knew he had to be nice to this one. He backed away, towards the horse. "Pipe down, stallion. Your voice is loud enough to wake the dead!" He growled.

Saguaro was more comfortable around humans than her large friend, but not completely. She looked up at Nadeem but kept her head low.

Nolla/Rakkaus

Nolla and Rakkaus followed the human to the Eskers. Nolla stepped closer to Nadeem and looked at the injured wolves. "What happened here?..." She said to herself. Both of the dogs were ready to lend help if needed.

Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

"NADEEM!" Abhay squealed in fright, rearing back so suddenly he nearly toppled over in the uneven, shifting soil. He hadn't even noticed War Song until the bear came towards him. "Save me!" Ears laced back, the black horse galloped in a wide circle around the group, bound determined to keep his distance from the predator.

Nadeem did his best to remain calm, and tried to ignore Abhay. One wrong moved, and the man feared he could set these animals against him. "Easy there. I'm only here to help." He said quietly in a voice rich in accent, "..only here to help." Wrapping a bandage around the length of Harbringer's chest, he moved slowly towards Sweetclover. This one seemed vaguely familiar, based on a discription he heard from Charlene.

As Nadeem did what he could to stop the bleeding, he noticed a few old bullet wounds and knew exactly who this was. "Daughter of the white wolf, and her foul-tempered mate." He whispered, then looked over to Taiser, "And you are her mate." Very slowly, Nadeem began to walk towards the wounded father, but would stop if the wolf showed aggression. In any case, Nadeem had to wait until Charlene arrived to help him.

Saguaro

Saguaro glanced over to the stallion. "Be calm, horse. My friend will not hurt you." She assured. Keeping her distance from the horse, she watched the wolves. "The human is here to help you. You can trust him."

Eeva Rahkamo/Katariina

An excited neigh could be heard from the short trees in the distance. Steady, quick hoofbeats echoed across the barren land. "Ptruu!" Yelled a woman. The horse slowed to a trot, and eventually a walk. The pair soon emerged from the forest. At first, Eeva only saw a bear, horse, 'pig' and man. She figured that they were his animal friends. Being the curious person she was, she had to get a closer look. Then she saw the wolves. Her eyes widened and her heart raced.

Katariina reared and stepped back, but her human soon calmed her down. "Ajaa ei murheissaan. Te aari ehea." Eeva whispered. She took a few fearful steps forward and looked at each of them. "H-How did this happen?..." She asked Nadeem. She didn't want to get too close for fear that one of the animals may attack.

Sweetclover, Taiser, Harbringer, & Mandragoro

Taiser growled faintly at first, his mind hazy with pain and shock. It wasn't until Nadeem drew closer that the wolf was able to properly pick up his scent, and recognize the odor. Though vauge, he had scented this particular human at Charlene's home, back when the Silver Glades pack had gone there for treatment in the winter.

The growls died away, and so did the father's strength. His brain was still quite rattled after the bullet slammed so dangerously close to it. With a shaky breath, his legs folded beneath him, and the father went down.

Mandragoro rumbled ominously, but lay against the ground with his tail tucked and ears back. He would not bite anyone, but he'd growl and snarl.

Sweetclover and Harbringer, meanwhile, were the worst for wear. Even if they wanted to, they could not be any threat to the humans with their grevious injuries.

Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

Nadeem remained still until Taiser went down. It was then that he cautiously moved forward, talking quietly as Charlene always did to ease the minds of the animals. "I know who you are, you're alright. Easy does it, fellow." As he tried to assess the wounds on his new patient, Eeva arrived. Setting down a roll of gauze, he looked up with surprise, "I, well..." Half of him was wary - for most in this town were strongly anti-wolf, and a 'foreigner' like himself could very easily get beaten for helping out the canines. Aside from the few good cops, justice in Atroe City varied greatly.

"...I believe they were all shot. It looks as though the hunters just left them." Nadeem finally relented, figuring it was no use hiding what he was trying to do. Even if these wolves were part of the infamous Silver Glades pack, who's alphess had a hefty bounty, he would help them. Of course, it helped that Nadeem hadn't yet noticed the hunting blind and the dead humans on the opposite slope.

Abhay paced about quite a bit, tail lashing now and then. "I hear that uh... bears like to eat berries? Yeah? I saw some pretty good berries just across the creek that way... you ought to check them out." He said in a very anxious, tense voice, nodding to a distant stream. "And yeah, I uh..." As he was trying to think of ways to politely pursuad the 'scary' bear to leave, Abhay spotted the arrival of Katarlina and... well, what's important was that he spotted a very pretty mare.

Making a very wide circle around the group of predators once again, Abhay cantered to within a few yards of the mare. While constantly throwing nervous glances to War Song, he tried to put the bear out of his mind as he spoke with the horse, "Hi! My name's Abhay." If there was anything that could get his mind off of fear, it was a mare.

Eeva Rahkamo/Katariina/War Song

Eeva was a foreigner herself, though not many knew it. She usually stayed away from the wolves to avoid a trip to the hospital. "Hunters?..." She said nervously, taking a step back. If there was one activity she hated most, it was hunting. She didn't get why people shot animals just for fun. It made no sense to her. "Do you need help?" She asked, hesitating for a moment.

War Song sat down. "I'm not hungry." He said blankly. "You're making me mad."

Katariina slowly began to step towards Eeva. The human held her hand out to the horse and spoke. "Harus johon te aari Katariina." She ordered. The horse, knowing what "harus" meant, stopped and stayed at her location. Then Abhay began to talk, and she looked at the stallion. "Halloo." The Finnhorse replied, trying not to look at the wolves. "My name is Katariina."

Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

Taking a syringe from his pack, Nadeem went to work on Taiser as he spoke to Eeva, "If your horse isn't shy of blood, could I perhaps have help transporting the wolves to my house?" Administering a sedative shot to the father wolf, Nadeem looked up to Eeva for a response. He hated impossing questions upon strangers, but if he didn't act quickly, this family would die.

"That's a beautiful name, if I might say so." Abhay complimented in as charming of a voice as he could. War Song, however, continued to make the stallion wary and nervous. "If you do get hungry... I hear that..." Abhay glanced around quickly before his dark eyes lit on a scrubby sage bush, "...sages taste great. Freshen the breath and clean the teeth, too." He added, never knowing when it was best to just shut your mouth and stop. "Much better than horse."

Nadeem would have been amused if he could hear the conversation between his horse and the bear, but as it was, he had his hands full. Using gauze, he went around and carefully bound up the jaws of the incapacitaed wolves, after giving them each a sedative. Just in case.

Eeva Rahkamo/Katariina

Eeva was watching the wolves when Nadeem spoke. She closed her eyes so she could hear him better. "We can do that." She replied shakily. She looked over at the mare and whistled. "Katariina, johtua tähän." She ordered gently in her native tongue.

Katariina looked at the stallion and sighed. "Antaa anteeksi we. I must go now." She said, then walked to the woman. Eeva put her hand on Katariina's neck. "She's ready."

Nadeem Tarak & Abhay

"Thank you." He replied with a broad smile, his teeth looking strikingly white against his darker skin. Once the wolves were sedated, he bound up their legs as well and carefully hauled Taiser and Mandragoro over to Katariina. Being careful and slow, so as not to spoke the mare, he settled the wolves down and used the rope to lash them on.

Then came the 'fun' part. Getting the other two on Abhay. "Huh? I- I don't think I caught the first part... woah, what's he up to now?" The stallion said, drifting from one subject to the other as he watched his master carry a wolf over to Katar. Wide-eyed, he watched as two of the bloodied canines were strapped onto her back. "Geeze, she's brave..." He whispered under his breath.

"Abhay, come here. Hold steady." Nadeem said, petting the stallion's neck as he led him towards Sweetclover and Harbringer. "Easy does it, big fellow..." But as soon as Abhay realized what his master wanted, he flipped out. "Oh no, no you don't Nadeem! You carry them!" He snorted, rearing up and accidentally knocking the man over. "I don't do so well around fangs and blood..."

An obviously frustrated Nadeem picked himself up, brushing debris from his clothes, "Komal, Abhay! Stop this nonesense!" He commanded, marching determinedly after the shying horse, trying to hide his embarassment. It took a good minute or so before Nadeem could actually catch the horse, and another five minutes before he could hold him still enough to get the wolves loaded on. Once that was done, he got into the saddle.

"My house isn't too far from here." Nadeem said with a nod to Eeva, as he headed for the home.

Eeva/Katariina

Eeva nodded, keeping her small hand on the mare's neck. She was a brave horse. Although the thought of helping predators was a bit unsettling, she stayed still. "Hyvä apulainen." The woman whispered. Once Nadeem was finished strapping the wolves down, she climbed into the saddle and followed.