define('WP_CACHE', true); Chapter 51: Dark Forest – Crossed Paths – Logs

Apr 09

Chapter 51: Dark Forest

Chapter 51: Dark Forest

In Which Things Take A Turn For The Worse.

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Yazeth: Joseph putters quietly about the kitchen before briefly retreating to his bedroom to dress for the day. He pays a visit to his herb garden, harvesting some leaves and removing snails. By this time the sun has been fully up for about an hour and he decides to check the ferret’s condition again.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan is still sleeping. He has moved a little though, and now sleeps beside the ferret rather than underneath.

Yazeth: Placing a paw on the ferret’s nose, the mouse frowns. Despite the tea her temperature has climbed. Preoccupied by worrying a little about this fact, Joseph is startled when a swift, muffled knock comes at his door.

Arrin Woodgreen: He mumbles something in his sleep as the knock sounds and he snuggles closer to the feverish ferret.

Yazeth: The beast on the other side doesn’t even bother waiting for the healer mouse to open the door. Instead, Fiarah lets herself in, with Jinx trailing behind swiftly. The vixen grins at her mentor. “Finally able to get away without Kirrian noticing. How are they doing?”

Arrin Woodgreen: Jinx peers around Fiarah, searching around the room for the pair of beasts.

Yazeth: The mouse smiles warmly at his protégé. “I didn’t catch the name of your, of your little friend here.” His brow furrows. “Business first. The otter is fine but the ferret…  She, ah, she seems to have developed a fever. While it was still low I gave her some tea to help but it didn’t, it didn’t work, apparently.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Jinx frowns a bit then asks the old mouse. “What about Soquan’s foot? He was limping pretty bad yesterday.”

Yazeth: Joseph blinks at the young ferret for a second. “Oh! The foot!” He frowns in dismay. “I’d, ah, forgotten about, about that. He seemed to, to get around fine while helping me, ah, earlier.”

Arrin Woodgreen: She quirks an eyebrow. “Really? Interesting.”

Yazeth: The mouse moves over to the bed to check on Jozra again, indicating the vixen should feel free to join him and loan her experience.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan begins to wake groggily, the noises around him bringing him closer and closer to consciousness.

Yazeth: Fiarah leans over the bed to check on Jozra. She frowns after a moment, glancing at her mentor. To her surprise, his brow is furrowed with worry. “Her tempera, temperature’s risen in the past few minutes.” Fiarah shakes her head, standing back from the bed. “That’s too high, too fast.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan awakes, propping himself up on an elbow. “What’s too high too fast?”

Yazeth: The vixen frowns and murmurs, “Her temperature…” Joseph wrings his paws. “We should, we should try a larger dose of fevervew.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods. “Okay… Is she going to be okay?”

Yazeth: Jinx, who had perched herself on a counter in the meantime, watches the conversation intently. Fiarah looks at Joseph who shrugs helplessly. “Fevers, fevers are tricky. Usually, ah, usually the beast will be okay but…” He glances at the vixen.

“But,” she continues for the mouse, “her temperature has risen quite high for such a short amount of time.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He nods slowly. “Oh…”

Yazeth: Fiarah moves to the counter, gesturing to Jinx. “You can watch while I prepare Jozra’s tea.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Now worried, Soquan checks Jozra’s fever for himself.

Yazeth: The poor ferret’s temperature is quite high, now dangerously high in fact. Even with his lack of medical skills, the otter is sure to feel her pulse racing as well.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan frowns, taking his paw away. “That is hot… Her heart’s going like crazy.”

Yazeth: Joseph looks sharply at the otter. “It, it is?” Fiarah looks perplexed, pausing in the midst of crushing some medicinal leaves. “It wasn’t a minute ago.” The mouse beats the vixen to the ferret’s bedside.

Arrin Woodgreen: He moves back a bit, allowing the mouse to check Jozra over.

Yazeth: Now the healer mouse IS worried. VERY worried. He looks to the vixen, thinking exactly what she’s thinking. “She’s… she’s going into shock.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan listens helplessly. “She’s what?”

Yazeth: Fiarah shakes her head. No time to explain. Jozra’s pulse is too high and her breathing’s thin and reedy. “Jinx, bring some pillows to prop up her feet, now!”

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan hops out of the bed, listening as the young ferret scampers off to get the pillows.

Yazeth: Jinx returns quickly with the pillows. As Fiarah settles them under the ferret’s legs she looks at the mouse attending to Jozra. “Do you think maybe she was allergic to something in the drink you gave her?”

Arrin Woodgreen: His anxiety barely contained, the otter paces restlessly.

Yazeth: The mouse shakes his head. “It’s possible, ah, but none of the herbs were very, very potent.” His brow furrows in worry.

Arrin Woodgreen: Pace. Sit. Fidget. Pace. Fidget. Pace. Sit. Fidget. Pace.

Yazeth: Fiarah, who had been cooling Jozra’s face with a damp cloth, suddenly glances up at her mentor in horror as the ferret’s breath catches.

Arrin Woodgreen: He stops and stiffens as he senses the sudden increase in tension in the room. “What? What’s wrong?”

Yazeth: Even Jinx sits up and pays attention as a tense look passes between the mouse and the vixen. The elder healer moves to the ferret’s head, ignoring the otter. “Check her airway.” The command is unnecessary, though, for that is what the vixen is doing.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan remains motionless, every bit of his focus aimed at Jozra’s prone form.

Yazeth: The vixen shakes her head in consternation. “Nothing…” Joseph lays his more experienced paw on the ferret’s wrist. The mouse had been an exceptional healer thanks this light touch. “Her blood pressure is too low.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter is forgotten as the healers work. “Some poppy might help that,” Fiarah offers.

Yazeth: The mouse nods. “See to it.” Fiarah’s movement is hampered, though, by the breath catching in the ferret’s throat again. This time it stays there.

Arrin Woodgreen: She whirls back around and the four conscious beasts echo the same word. “No!”

Yazeth: Jozra walks along the path, a thought vaguely escaping her grasp. She pauses along the path and in another moment she has the thought by the tail. Quirking an eyebrow and looking about she asks one of the most fundamental questions of the universe, Where the hell am I, and what am I doing here?

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan flies to the bedside. “No! No Jozra!” Joseph quickly checks her over. “She, she’s gone…”

Yazeth: Fiarah shakes her head, a stubborn light suddenly in her eye. “Not if I can help it.”

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah begins to pump at the ferret’s chest. “C’mon, c’mon…” She plugs Jozra’s nostrils and breathes air into her lungs.

Yazeth: The only way to find that out was to follow the path one way or the other and forward felt the most obvious. After a moment, she rounds a bend in the path and spies a massive forest just ahead of her. Perplexed, she tries to stop along the path.

Logically she would have been able to see the forest from where she was previously, as the path wound across flatlands. Logic is such a liar. Her feet continue to move along the path despite her direct order for them to stop.

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah begins the procedure again. “Come on! Breathe!” Soquan, on the verge of hysteria, stands tense as he listens to what’s going on.

Yazeth: The trees ahead look… Well, some of them look ominous, others look downright welcoming. At the head of the path is a… Jozra squints and in a moment the object, a massive wrought iron gate, is brought into sharp focus. The ferret blinks and pinches herself. As real as all her dreams and nightmares have felt to her, they were all wraiths compared to this. This couldn’t be Dark Forest, could it?  But she can’t ignore the yawning gate, or the fact that her feet won’t stop moving towards it.

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah now pounds the ferret’s chest. “Breathe damnit!” Soquan takes up pacing again, his mind whirling.

Yazeth: The ferret snarls to herself. This is stupid, she doesn’t remember dying. She glares at the gates trying harder than ever to stop her feet. Had she a pulse at the time, it would have stopped, again, once she realized what was just beyond the gate. Her eyes widening in horror, a small whimper escapes her throat.

There beyond the gate stands a large group of beasts: old, young, in their prime. Each of the beasts glare at her but they all have a somewhat satisfied expression on their face, as if saying, ‘Finally.’ Standing tall over the mass of villagers is The Badger. Never before had Jozra ever been so terrified. She backpedals ferociously, frantic to escape the pull, “No!NononoNONO!!”

Arrin Woodgreen: Fiarah continues to pound on and breathe into the ferret. “No, no, no… Breathe, you’re supposed to breathe!” Soquan’s anger flares and he strides over to the bedside with a growl. “Let me at it.” He moves Fiarah out of the way and puts some air into Jozra’s lungs before giving her chest a strong, solid thump.

Yazeth: The ferret grabs hold at anything and everything as she is pulled inexorably forward, tears streaming. She digs her heels into the dirt and scrabbles with her paws for purchase. “NO! NO!” The expressions on the faces of the murdered villagers gleam with righteousness and then…

For a second everything hangs in delicate balance. The villager’s faces fall as they realize their revenge may have to be postponed. Snarling, they reach for the ferret. The forest twists, Jozra vision hazes…

And in the real world, she sucks in a rasping breath.

Arrin Woodgreen: He stops once she breathes, giving a sigh of relief as he nearly collapses overtop Jozra.

Yazeth: The ferret’s cough reflex takes over as a collective sigh of relief is breathed about the room. Joseph moves to roll Jozra to the side as she coughs up fluid. Fiarah rubs her eyes. “Of course… It never occurred to me that there was water in her lungs. I thought it would have been coughed up before now.” The coughing fit stops and Jozra groans miserably as she leans back into the pillow.

Arrin Woodgreen: He crouches at the bedside, taking the ferret’s paw in his own. “Joz, speak to me…”

Yazeth: Jozra’s eyelids flutter but the light sears her brain and she decides to keep them shut tight. She tries squeezing the otter’s paw with her own and croaks, “Soq…”

Arrin Woodgreen: He smiles in relief as she speaks, squeezing her paw in return. “I’m glad you’re okay now.”

Yazeth: The ferret nods jerkily, not really believing the otter. Okay? She feels as though she’s been chewn up and spit out by a… by a… well she doesn’t know by what, exactly.  By something big. With teeth. What? Yes, teeth. Sands she’s hungry!

Arrin Woodgreen: He gives her a slight grin. “Is there anything you want?”

Yazeth: Fiarah stands beside the bed and strokes the ferret’s head. “We can get you a little soup if you’d like that.” Jozra takes a moment to comprehend what’s being said before nodding jerkily.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan grips her paw a bit tighter. “How do you feel?”

Yazeth: The ferret grins slightly and rasps, “Like I’ve been crushed by a boulder.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns. “Where does it hurt?”

Yazeth: Jozra merely grits her teeth and shakes her head. The effort prompts another coughing attack, though fortunately less severe than the one before. As she gulps in a few deep breaths, Jinx, who is perched again on the counter across the room, states matter of factly, “Probably her ribs, from the coughing. She’s probably achy all over too, from th’ fever.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The otter nods, and to Jinx’s surprise, Soquan helps himself into the ferret’s bed, drawing her against him as he leans against the pillow. He gives her the gentlest of nuzzles, talking quietly to her. “Get some rest eh? I can tell you’re exhausted. I’ll wake you when your soup gets here.”

Yazeth: Jozra, eyes already closed in exhaustion, simply nods jerkily.

Arrin Woodgreen: Soquan smiles softly, giving her paw another squeeze. “I’ll look after you, don’t worry.”

Yazeth: The ferret only vaguely hears Soquan’s words as she drifts off again into the realm of unconsciousness. Jinx, who had been casually looking outside the window, suddenly realizes the time. In a loud whisper, not that the older ferret would wake if Jinx had used a normal tone of voice, Jinx calls to Fiarah. “They’re going to miss us if we aren’t back soon!”

Arrin Woodgreen: He gives a half yawn and settles off into a doze, his ears and whiskers twitching a bit.

Yazeth: The vixen leaves the soup preparation to the mouse and hurries to the door with Jinx, checking to make sure everything is in order. “We’ll be back this evening, Joseph.”

Arrin Woodgreen: The mouse, nods, waving at them absently as he adds some medicinal herbs to the soup. “G-go on then, I’ll see you la-later.”

Jozra

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