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you calm the storms, and you give me rest... [ooc] This was oocly approved by Amber, Deuce, and Pilot. Dierdre Naniko [bic] ...you hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
Dierdre sagged against the trunk of the tree that she had come to, sinking down to the ground. Her legs felt like jelly; she could barely move. She coughed once, spitting out a mass of red phlem onto the leaves. Everything was burning. She couldn't see and she couldn't smell anything...her nose hurt so badly. Her right side felt numb, like she'd broken a bone or something...but she didn't want to look and see what had really happened. She was too afraid to see it.
The girl buried her head in her hands, a sign of defeat. She was going to die in this fire. She couldn't escape it. Under normal circumstances travel took longer than usual...now she was down to a crawl. She had left Conri with a promise that she would return in an hour, and about a half an hour had passed. She trudged on through the charred, still-smoking pieces of land until she reached a part that was still burning, and some parts that were still green. She could barely recognize anything any more...things looked so different when it wasn't green...when it was smouldering.
Her experienced eyes travelled over the lands as she jogged, searching for any sign of life. She was going to figure out what was giving her that bad feeling. There had to be someone in trouble!
Naniko came upon the figure after five more minutes of walking. Something white. As she came upon the creature she gasped--she recognized it! She had seen many dead, burnt animals on the way here...but this wolf seemed to be in one piece. The last time Naniko had seen her she had looked very different, though. Had she gained weight?
She pushed the thought out of her head, leaning over the other female and shaking her lightly. "Dierdre?? Come on! Why aren't you moving?" "Naniko?" She didn't think that anyone was left...didn't think that she would be rescued. Why wasn't Naniko away, with the others? She looked up at the female, the sharpness of the smoke making her eyes water. "I didn't think...I feel so weak""I'm here to help you. Oh my..." She could see now why Dierdre hadn't been able to move. "Sweetie...I need you to relax. I'm going to carry you for a bit--you've got very large burns on one side of your body. No--don't look at it. It'll be okay. But we need to get you to somewhere safe." She took her backpack off, switching it around so that it would hang over her stomach instead of on her back. "Upsie-Daisy." The larger female lifted the other up piggy-back, biting her lip. Dierdre was pretty heavy, with the added weight of the backpack and the pups. But she was so full of adrenaline that it didn't seem like nearly as much as it was. That and the fact that the wolfess on her back was a family member. She would never, ever leave anyone behind. Especially not someone as special to her as Dierdre. She walked around a mile away, looking for a clear stretch of land. Everything here was so green--it wouldn't burn, right? Naniko crouched down as best she could, slowly lowering Dierdre to the ground. "Are you okay, still? Well...as okay as you were before?" She asked worriedly. "Yeah" The female answered, coughing a little more. She felt so useless...being carried around. But she needed it. Even as she was set down on the ground she felt weak. The pain was starting, now, a sharp ebbing feeling in her side and her abdomen. She assumed that the pain was because of the burns; she wasn't looking at them, as instructed. Dierdre lay her head down on the ground, panting lightly. "Ooh...my stomach hurts""I...oh my gosh. Dierdre, you're having them. The babies! I didn't realize--and I mean...I didn't even really know until just now..." She cut out, her forehead creasing with worry. "But don't worry. I'm probably the best person to have found you. Besides Fatin. You'll be fine--you've just got to listen to my instructions. Your body is already prepared for it--I can see. When I say push, I need you to push as hard as you can, okay?" She didn't know what she was saying...just what she had heard, and read from books. She wanted to do everything she could to make sure that these pups were safe--and their mother, too. What a horrible time to be born, just at the wrong time. She bit her lip, looking down at the other alabastor wolf. "PUSH!""I...the babies? Now?" That would make sense...all of the pain. She gave Naniko a final, frightened look before closing her eyes, waiting for the right time. She concentrated hard on ignoring the pain, thinking about other things. Pilot. She loved him so much. Would he ever get to see his children? Would all of them be born dead? Would they perish in the fire, along with her and Naniko? She drove the thoughts from her mind. No! She was going to do this, and all of them were going to be born healthy. They would all live. When she was given the instruction she hunkered down, pushing with all of her might.
Three more times of pushing and it seemed that all of it was over. She coughed and panted, feeling weaker than ever--completely sapped of energy."But now...oh my goodness. We need to move. I can carry you and them. There are two of them, sweetie, two beautiful, healthy boys." She didn't want to tell her about the other two...but Dierdre deserved to know. "There are two more, a male and a female...but they didn't make it" Dierdre looked up as Naniko laid the two squirmy, wriggling puppies next to her. One was the color of snow, the same color as her, and the other was a rusty red, the color of her father and of Physe. She had been thinking about naming one of them after Physe already...and this seemed like destiny. "Sirius Revlis" She said, touching the reddish one with her nose, "And Apollo. Apollo Haddon." It would be a tribute to Pilot. When Naniko spoke about leaving, Dierdre shook her head. "Go on ahead, Naniko. I will let them nurse--come back to me and tell me which way is safe...and I will follow you then. I will need a little help at first...but I can do this. I can run with you." She convinced the Clouded Tears wolf after a few more minutes, and Naniko headed off into the smoky lands that surrounded them.
It took a few minutes to figure out where the fire was coming from, and what direction she should go. She would take Dierdre, Sirius, and Apollo with her to where Conri was at, to their meeting place. There was a clear route there. She started back towards where she had left the female, travelling through the smoke at a record-breaking speed. "Dierdre?" She couldn't see her anywhere! She was sure that this was the area she'd left the smaller female at. "Dierdre! Where are you?" Had she made a run for it? Naniko coughed a few times, trying to keep her head low to the ground. She could see her backpack sitting there, on the ground...but where was the mother? She walked toward the backpack, looking around anxiously. Then she saw them, the two newborns, sitting on the ground next to her pack. What had happened? What had made Dierdre leave? She didnt' know what to do. Naniko swallowed once, then rubbed her forehead. She couldn't take any more time looking for Dierdre. She would have to go. The fire was coming faster and faster, putting her life and the pups' lives in danger. The green eyed wolf put on her backpack and picked up the two squeaking youngsters, cradling them in her arms as she turned back toward the area she was supposed to meet Conri at. She started running again, not looking back.
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