Welcome to Gaia! ::

((For all it's worth, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year =)

Smoke and Hound took the Jeep, yes, and the only other vehicle is an old sedan in the garage that hasn't been driven full-time for years.))

Sam listened closely, hearing a faint voice that sounded like his sister's. Having exhausted his eyes straining for light that wouldn't come, the new direction that came with hearing his name called was a welcome sensation. He called out and made his way toward the voice slowly, cautiously, until he realized after fifteen minutes of walking that he wasn't going to run into any low-hanging beams or walls. Then he broke into a run. He doubted he would find Bucadu, but hoped Yani had place them in the same "room".

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A worm of guilt ate at John as she asked him to fly again (he couldn't help but remember what had happened not ten minutes ago), but he said nothing and took off against the wind, soaring into the air. Another worm appeared as he remembered who he was supposed to be looking for and didn't see him or any sign of him. He flew low, scanning the roads for any signs of headlights or Smoke's Jeep, rationalizing his absence to quell the dread that inevitably pooled in his stomach.

He had taken off before Tobart had gotten there, but hoped whoever showed up to help Apsalar would have the forethought to get Hound--and if they could, Hiccadu--inside the house.

((Sent Doc a private message. Hopefully he responds one way or another.))

((OOC: MC&HNY to you too, Anin. biggrin ))

Apsalar watched John take to the air, an inevitable sense of dread closing its icy claws around her heart. For a moment, it felt like it would rip itself out.

Something was wrong. She didn't know how she knew, but she didn't question it. She had stopped questioning her instincts a while ago - it was the only way to get through the day. Her eyes flicked to the sky for a second, then she turned to Tobart as he approached. Her brows furrowed in concern. Why was he the only one?

When Tobart came running, she flicked a look at him out of frustrated and scared amber eyes. "It does not matter now," she replied, closing the lid on the supply box she'd just realized she couldn't use right now - not out in the rain. The storm was beginning to lighten a little, but it would be hours before the worst of it blew over. "We have to get them inside and treat them as best we can. I will tell you about it later."

She went to Hound first - he was the more grievously wounded, and he'd be lighter to carry than Hiccadu. She was hoping that with any luck, by the time they got Hound inside, Hiccadu would have healed enough that she could support a little of her own weight and they could help her inside rather than drag her in like a sack of potatoes.

There was no time for modesty, even if Apsalar had understood the concept. She could smell the blood on Hound and could tell it was still bleeding - if he hadn't been such an idiot and kept doing so much with the injured arm even after he'd been hurt, he almost certainly wouldn't be in this situation. At least that was what she thought, but what did she know about medicine?

They'd have to make sure he got blood somehow. No idea how that would work - she needed Smoke's help for that. Drawing out some bandage from the box, she closed the lid again and told Tobart, "I need to try and stop the bleeding as best I can before we move him. He cannot afford to lose any more." Her carnivorous instincts told her when prey was close to death, close to giving up; that was when their meat was the most tender. But this was a packmate, not food, and Apsalar had spent this past month training herself against the smell of blood.

Besides, she trusted Tobart to stop her if she lost the humanity she was hanging on to with everything she had.

Holding the bandage and leaning over the area to keep it as dry as she could, she pressed a wad of it into the wound - they'd do a better job once he was inside and Smoke could help her, but for now she had to make sure he didn't lose any more blood. The bleeding had probably kept the wound fairly clean, but it had to stop now.

"I am sorry if it hurts," she told Hound, even if he couldn't hear her. "But I must do it." Pressing the cloth into the wound, she watched as a small section of it began to bloom red. But there wasn't as much as she'd expected - perhaps it was doing its job. Perhaps Hound's body just had nothing else to give.

"That will do," she said after a moment. "It will hold until we get him and Hiccadu inside. If you could take his torso, Tobart, I will take his legs." She looked at Hiccadu. "We will come back for you as soon as we have him in," she breathed. "I will be as fast as I can."

She thought back to the elderly sedan in the garage. Where were the keys? Would it start? If Hiccadu had not recovered enough to help carry her own weight by the time they got Hound inside, Apsalar knew they wouldn't be able to carry her - not if it was just her and Tobart, no matter how strong they were. But perhaps they would be able to lift her into the car...

First things first. Get Hound inside. Then she could worry about Hiccadu.

Looking at Tobart, she positioned herself, carefully grasping Hound's legs and setting them so that she held him by the ankles, one on each side of her. "Are you ready?" she asked Tobart.

Apsalar felt like she didn't breathe until they had Hound safely over the threshold of the house. "We will set him on the couch for now," she directed. "It will fit him, and I would like to have him and Hiccadu in the same room while we try to treat them." She was doing her best in this unfamiliar position - the position of having to make decisions and give orders. She usually stepped aside and let John or Smoke or someone else decide what to do, but now they weren't here. There was only her.

And someone had to do it.

She looked back at the door. "All right. Tobart, you need to come back with me - I do not want to leave Hound by himself, but I cannot lift Hiccadu alone." She looked troubled. Why had no one else responded? Looking around, she spied the little rack in the hallway. Dashing to it, she scooped up the hanging set of keys.

The ones for the vehicle. She would figure it out or die trying if that was what she had to do to repay Hiccadu for saving her life. "Come on, Tobart. We have to see if Hiccadu is capable of helping us move her." They would bring the supply box back in once they got Hiccadu inside. And she would worry about the rest of the pack and why they were not answering her later.

Her amber eyes flickering, she headed back out the door and down the beach, back to Hiccadu. She didn't look back to Tobart - she trusted him to follow her.

Kneeling down by Hiccadu, she spoke to the other Chimera. "Hiccadu, is it possible for you to shift into your other shape at all?" She didn't think so, but if by some miracle Hiccadu could do that, it would make it much simpler. She and Tobart would have no problem carrying Hiccadu in her human shape.

If not, and if Hiccadu couldn't help them, she'd...

She would find another way. She would have to. Because failure wasn't an option.

Sam was running (jogging, really, compared to how fast he could run), had been running for a while now, towards the sound of Bucadu's voice when, without warning, his bare foot slid through a puddle of half-dry slime. He landed on his back, cracking his head against the stone floor, and his name only faintly registered against the ringing in his ears. He sat up to examine what he had slipped in, careful not to shake his head or cause any more unnecessary throbbing.

"SAM!"

It took him a moment to realize where the sound was coming from. For a moment, he worried that his ears were broken and his inspection of the mildew ceased. Then he realized the sound, distant and odd-sounding as it was, came from above him. Looking up of course, he saw nothing. Reaching up, he caught only air. But Sam was equipped with something perhaps Yani wouldn't have taken into account when he built the Isolation Rooms.

Falling back on an ability born of the Caracal cat in him, Sam squatted and jumped, swiping the air above him for the roof and jumping higher after each unsuccessful attempt. He didn't want to hit his head on anything else. Eventually, at his peak of thirteen feet from running and jumping, Sam's fingers caught what he was looking for in the roof--a single drainage pipe. Even with water-tight walls, condensation was still a menace. No doubt the mildew underneath him was firm evidence to the theory.

Relishing in this new discovery, Sam almost forgot what he had been doing. He stood by the mildew and shouted up. "Down here! Look for a pipe opening in the floor!" He wondered if there was a slight slope to the entire upstairs room that led to this single pipe, or if there were others.

Apsalar knelt beside Hiccadu, making quiet sounds of encouragement as the enormous Chimera shifted and struggled to change her form. They weren't quite words - they didn't need to be. Everything they were meant to be was in the tone. Come on. You can do it. She didn't know if they helped or not, but eventually Hiccadu managed to make the change. It knocked her out again, but as far as Apsalar was concerned, that was probably a blessing. Whatever she would have to do in order to try and treat her injuries, it would not be comfortable, and it would be easier if Hiccadu wasn't awake and aware at the time.

She got to her feet as Tobart picked up Hiccadu. Smiling at him wearily, she shook back her rain-soaked hair. "Yes," she agreed. "Quickly." She picked up the box that had been left outside, since it seemed that Tobart wasn't having any difficulty carrying Hiccadu in her human shape. Then she headed for the beach house at full speed - or as close as she could get when running on slippery, wet, shifting sand.

When she reached the house, she left the door open for Tobart - he knew where they'd placed Hound, and she trusted him to bring Hiccadu in there as well. She had to get started with what she had.

A part of her mind wondered what was taking John so damn long to find Smoke, but she dismissed it. She couldn't worry about the rest of her packmates right now, nor could she waste time hoping one of them would show up to help her; she didn't know much about medicine and was terrified of messing it up.

She had quite enough to worry about, and she didn't have any spare minutes to waste.

[[What is that supposed to mean?]]

((OOC: So...I feel like I'm waiting on someone...am I correct about this? If so, who is it?))