Over The Meadow And Through The Woods (With Daxxel)

She was an extreme survivalist, but this trip was quickly turning bad in every way imaginable. Her map had gotten lost, and this was a new territory. Her compass had fallen into a frozen lake from which she couldn't retrieve it. She had been able to survive and hunt, well, but a wolf had begun to stalk her and she had managed to hold her own until the wolf had claimed defeat, moved off on its own and came back with its pack.

Now she laid in the middle of the woods torn to bits bleeding horribly. Gabriella, or Gabby as she liked to be called, reflected back on her life and chuckled softly. Her blue eyes watched what she thought would be the last sunset. She had lived a great life. Really great. It was funny that a pack of wolves would claim her life. What had scared them off was that she had bear maced them all. Sure it continued to sting all what open wounds she had, but at least she would die with some dignity. But they would be back when the sun had set. She ehad tried to move, but it was by far too painful and she was pretty sure, the mongrels had broken two of her legs.

Gabby knew better than to cry out for help, it would just make her predicament worse. Gabby, looked around with blue eyes. The constant treking around woods kept her constantly fit. Her brown hair was tied back into a braid. She stood at least 5'6. She wondered if she would ever be found or missed. She never really mixed with people as a rule. She bit her lip and waited. She swallowed and felt the cold of the ground began to seep in and waited listening for anything.

Cailean prowled his usual hunting trail. He had heard wolves in the area it he would not allow the canines to steal any of his bounty. He silently stalked through the deep snow, barely making a sound as his paws hardly sank into the snow. Cailean moved on all fours following a scent he could not place. A bow and page hunting knife strapped to his back. He wore only a pair of pants and a vest trusting his thick fur to keep the cold at bay. His gold eyes scanned the forest as he caught sight of a wolf slowly advancing on a crumpled form in the distance. A growl regenerated from his throat as he rushed towards the wolf. He didn't want to kill the beast as it was only trying to survive the harsh winter but Cailean would not allow it to hunt on his territory. As he drew closer to the wolf he grab it by the hunches and threw it to the side as he roared. The wolf lunged at him and clamped its jaws on Cailean's forearm as he swipes a massive claw into the side of the canine knocking it off. Cailean's normally gold eyes flashed blue for a moment as the snow whirled around the wolf confusing and frightening it. "Go!" Cailean commanded and the wolf howled and shrank away into the darkness of the woods. Cailean then turned his attention to the figure laying in the snow. Cailean slowly stalked forward until he could see it was a woman, who was badly injured. "Damn humans," he cursed as he removed his vest and draped it over the woman and carefully scooped her up and carried her back through the woods to his cabin. Hunting would have to wait for now, this woman needed his attention or she would most likely die.

Back at his cabin, Cailean laid the girl on his cot and waved his hand towards his fireplace and a small fire sparked to life. Cailean then began the task of treating the woman's injuries. He prepared special poultices and compacts to bind her wounds. He hated having to waste his precious healing herbs on a human stupid enough to pick a fight with a wolf pack but he couldn't in good conscience let the woman die.

He would find multiple deep wounds and her broken legs. He would also see multiple old scars from long ago. She had been hiking through the woods for a long time. She had heard the growl but only saw the swirl of snow before the blood loss had taken its toll and she had lost all consciousness. After being in his cabin for some time, she opened an eye and looked around. Blurred visions moved around but she couldn't make very much out. She groaned reaching for her pack and realized she was laying on her back. She was too weak to move and looked up at the creature. She blinked again at him trying to clear her vision but to no avail.

Her lips were parched and she couldn't speak. But she wouldn't speak. She just watched the floating blurred figure as it moved around her grumbling and was obviously not happy to have her in its company. She winced every time it touched her. God it hurt to be touched. The wolves did a number on her. She wouldn't groan or cry out though, she only knew how far this creatures patience would go.

"Lie still" Cailean command and chuckled to himself as the woman tried to be brave as he tended her severely damaged body. He reached for a small cup and held it to her lips, "drink this" he said a little kinder, tilting the cup so the dark green liquid was easier for her to drink. Once her wounds were dressed and the cup was empty Cailean stood and lifted a pot onto the fire and began to prepare a thick rabbit stew, "you should get some rest I will wake you when the food is ready" he said not looking away from his task as he swiftly skinned and boned a rabbit that was hanging from the ceiling.

After a few hours the stew was ready and Cailean grabbed a small wooden bowl and ladled some stew into in and walked over to the bed. He gently shook the girls shoulder to make sure she was awake before holding the bowl out to her. If is poultices and potions had done their job the woman's injuries would have been greatly healed, although not quite completely, her bones would still take a fair amount of time to mend.

Gabby was laying still she wanted to groan weakly. But she shut her eyes against the wave of pain. She felt the cup and drank it without fighting. She drank tasting the oddness, but she didn't care. She started to feel sleep once again come back towards her like the tide of the ocean. The figure that she had yet to make out was still working and tugging and working on her battered body. Without fighting or submitting to his request, she shut her eyes and fell asleep. Her chest barely raised or fell. She had sustained a great deal of damage. She groaned every once and a while from either pain or a nightmare. The groan was not loud. It was just soft. Very soft from an animal that new it was going to die but was still trying to fight.

When Gabby felt the shake. Two blue eyes looked up at him. First there was panic. The vision was blurred, but she could make him out. She could make everything out. She had forgotten what happened at first, but when she tried to sit herself up, she winced and then everything came back. With a sigh, she leaned back with a sigh and looked at him with a puff of air that seemed to come from her toes.

"Thank you." She said softly before taking the bowl and easing herself up easier this time wincing. "I will replace what you used on me." She grunted and sighed as she eased up best she could and began to very carefully eat the soup.

Cailean shrugged, "forget it I will collect more myself in the spring," he said taking a seat in a tall wing-backed chair and slowly ate a bowl of the stew. He sat in silence for a while until he just couldn't keep it to himself, "What were you doing out there? Don't you know it's dangerous for a human to be wondering out there alone with no map or gear? I can think of many other ways to kill yourself that would be less painful and much less work" he asked almost nonchalantly as he ate. He studied the woman as she answered him, trying to figure out if she was just seeking adventure or if she was certifiably insane. His amber eyes staring at her unblinkingly over his bowl of stew.

"I had a map and I have plenty of gear." She said softly too tired to fight. She ate slowly. She gestured to her pack. "And I might have the things you used on me in my pack." She said softly. She put down the half eaten bowl and curled up again and curled up cold and shivered. She took in a deep breath and looked at him and swallowed. "Thanks for rescuing me though."

Cailean chuckled, "oh yes that small pack has all one would need to survive out here" he said and finished his stew. "As for rescuing you, I just didn't want the wolves hunting on my territory" he said with a grin. "Now If you are finished eating you should rest and allow the medicine to do their job and you should be good as new in no time. Once you are healed up, I will take you back to town" he added and got up to clean the plates. "until then, if you require anything I will get it for you"

"Thank you." She looked at her camping pack that was for hiking and sleeping in the woods and looked at him and frowned. It was for sleeping and surviving. "It is for surviving. I was doing good for the past three days until I lost my map and then the past 5 days when the damned wolves started stalking me." She sighed adn fell asleep and shivered a bit.

Again Cailean laughed, "Humans, always think they can handle nature like it's a constant thing," he said to himself as he finished cleaning. Once the woman was asleep, Cailean once again checked her wounds and added some more healing herbs and then pulled out a large book off a shelf and opened it and began chanting an incantation from the book. his eyes flashed brilliant blue as blue flames danced along he woman's legs drastically reducing the visible bruises, stitching the flesh of her cuts and gashes back together. As the spell finished Cailean looked at the woman's broken legs, "hmmm...those will take stronger magic," he said and rose to put the book back on the shelf and grabbed a larger tome and sat in his large chair to look through it for a stronger spell.