stand til you fall

Xeris · 02-05-2011, 05:21 PM

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xeris de heritage

ooc: yes, I actually made new tables for this event.
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Night had fallen over Phoenix Valley, but it wasn't the only thing falling. The snow had started earlier in the day, and Xeris would have dismissed it as just another winter snow flurry if it hadn't continued for so long and started to pick up. The winds were beginning to strengthen as well, and since late afternoon there had been little to no sign of the sun through the dark swirling clouds that loomed overhead. By now, Xeris had realized that this was no ordinary snow shower. She could almost feel it in her bones, that something bigger was coming. Surely the others had realized that there would be a storm; perhaps that was why she hadn't run into anyone else today, they were all taking shelter.

She had gotten an idea, though, and when the snowfall began to dwindle for the time being she set out into the night in her two-legged form, wading through the several inches of snow that had already fallen and heading toward the ranch. Jefferson must have had some sort of plan for how to deal with this storm. Maybe he needed some help, too. Either way, she was going to find him.

When Xeris arrived at the ranch, the snow began to fall in greater amounts once more. She was unsure of whether or not it would be rude to just open the door and go in, but the cold precipitation was sticking to her fur and she didn't want to stay outside much longer. She reached out a hand and opened the door to the ranch house, stepping inside only a little, and called, "Is anyone home?"

Jefferson Soul · 02-06-2011, 03:18 PM

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Looks good! And thanks for starting!

He was powerless against weather, and that realization burnt with such a furious intensity in his chest that he might have melted all the falling snow outside. His bones had ached for days on end, a looming feeling of dread augmenting in the pains in his chest and mind as the days drew on. It'd started snowing—and snowing, and snowing. For some time the Patriarch had stood out on the porch watching it, at times barely even able to see the barn next door through the white wash, and at other times he sat in the rocking chair, forcing himself to believe it was just another snowfall. Why was worry possessing him so? They were far north; they had record snowfalls every year. Surely this one would be no different.

But if something were to go wrong? He held his Captain co-rank for a reason; Iskata had entrusted it to him far before he'd taken she and Deuce's place at head of the pack. The brute wondered now if it should be allotted elsewhere, just in case the cyclops himself was for one reason or another unavailable in times of emergency. To have both the leader and Captain unavailable at the same time, well, most of the duties would fall on Pendzez, he supposed.

His tattered ears perked, name reaching his innermost thoughts. The front door creaked uneasily; the Patriarch recognized the voice immediately, and breathed some relief to find his members were not entirely discouraged by the snow quite yet. "In the front," he called, rocking chair groaning behind him, the hearth ablaze with heat. "Come in, Xeris."

Xeris · 02-06-2011, 04:51 PM

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xeris de heritage

ooc: this post sucks fffff image credit

Xeris was thankful to hear Jefferson's voice; she followed the sound into the front room and gave the Patriarch a respectful nod before speaking. "Jefferson," she was going to get right to the point. "It's getting dangerous out there. The wind is terrible and the snow's not letting up at all." Hopefully he would realize that she was not just here to complain about the weather; the storm was reaching dangerous proportions; for the pack's safety, something needed to be done, at least some sort of organization or plan.

"What I wanted to ask was, do you need any help with preparations? Keeping everyone safe?" She wasn't a leader or even a high-ranking member of the Valley, but nonetheless this place was her home and its members her family, and she would do anything she could to help minimize the damage. Since she hadn't seen anyone else recently, she didn't know what the various packmembers were doing to prepare. She'd told Carwyn to start reinforcing the cabin and protecting the windows, in case the already horrendous winds increased any more, but to do that would use up some of their precious firewood which they would also surely need during this time.

Jefferson Soul · 02-09-2011, 08:58 PM

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Godmoding them a little to the barn. Big Grin

She was quick to bring up the weather, and at that Jefferson leaned forward in his chair, the rocker creaking unhappily as he bent onto his knees, scarred finger at his chin. "I know," he said, eye gazing into the fire. "I know. We've had worse, though, and we can't overreact. Not this early." The brute sighed, however, before pushing himself up onto his feet, though his gaze did not leave the flames. "I have a feeling in my bones, though. I don't know why."

She offered her aid and the male turned to her finally, expression stern. He made for a quick nod. "I don't know how long this storm's going to go on for, so for now we'd better just stick to making sure everyone's settled until it passes. Depending on how much snow falls, the barn might get snowed in until we can dig them out. If anything, I'll need help attending to the animals now and ensuring they'll be fine the next few days."

Without asking her a thing, the Patriarch brushed past, snagging his scarf by the front door. "Let's go," he called from the hall, and with that the man swept outside, his ex-Fuehrer in tow. The front yard was nothing but a whitewash; the wet, heavy snow attacked his eye and face, the male forced to cup his vision in order to pass through. Out of more stubbornness than chivalry, the male trudged through the pasture's feet of fresh snow first, his weighted footsteps allowing the girl to follow along in them with ease. He moved and began wrestling with the door, kicking and pushing at snow amidst the storm to make room for it to open.

Xeris · 02-09-2011, 11:05 PM

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xeris de heritage

yay for falling things. also this ended up kinda long sorry XD wc 454

Xeris was relieved to see that at least Jefferson was still fairly level-headed about the situation, though he seemed to agree with her that there was a bad feeling hanging in the air. He mentioned the animals in the barn; Xeris hadn't even thought about that. She rarely visited the barn or its animals, though she would occasionally see them in the pasture if she happened to be near the ranch house. Apparently the Patriarch wanted to get started tending to the animals now, and Xeris nodded as he moved past her, following along in his wake.

The wind was howling as the two left the warmth of the ranch house and went out toward the barn. Xeris followed carefully in the path that Jefferson made with his footsteps. Whether or not he'd done that intentionally, she didn't know, but she was thankful that she at least didn't get her legs so wet. After what seemed like ages of trudging through the snow--which Xeris was sure hadn't been this deep when she walked into the ranch house--they reached the barn, and the white-furred female stood in silence as Jefferson began fumbling with the door. Knowing that he had a bad arm, Xeris was about to move forward and help him with the snow-packed door, but she suddenly stopped in her tracks as an enormous gust of wind swirled up from nowhere, stronger than any of the ones before it. Xeris put an arm over her face to shield her eyes from the freezing wind and blowing snow, squinting through the field of white that her vision had now become.

And then she noticed it. There was something breaking through the whiteness nearby, something big and dark. Xeris didn't figure out what it was until it was already completely off. Her eyes still on the flying debris, she barked to Jefferson, "The roof!" To her horror, the ranch house roof proceeded to be blown straight toward the barn. Unsure what to do or where to go, Xeris stumbled backward in the snow in an attempt to get further away from the building, but it was too late; before her eyes the broken roof smashed hard into the barn and it began to collapse. She didn't have time to see if Jefferson had gotten out of the way or not, and she wouldn't get to find that out just yet as before she could do anything, the barn and the roof collapsed completely, forcing debris and snow into a massive pile and Xeris found herself trapped beneath it. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt more weight pile on top of her, and then something hit her head and the whiteness from before became black.

Jefferson Soul · 02-13-2011, 03:30 PM

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Mine got longer. XD

It all happened so quickly; one second, his tattered fingers fumbled with the icy-cold steel of the barn's locked door; the next, a great wind had swept up was felt like inches past his head. A great groaning, snapping, an enormous howl in the wind — and the roof of the ranch had erupted and lifted off its hatches. Perhaps it was those honed reflexes from months of killing innocents as a madman or perhaps it was sheer luck, but as the roof picked up and tossed their way, Jefferson made a near-dive out of the way — "Fuck!" — landing face first in several feet of snow as the roof crashed down. On his bad arm he landed, and with a mild yelp at the shooting pain he cursed and swore, laying there only a moment as he heard the barn snap and collapse as well just feet away — the roof had smashed into it as well.

Splayed wood and debris flew his way; several shingles and rocks battered at his body and skull, heavied by momentum and bringing several bruises and a headache to his already-scarred frame. He remained prone until the sound stopped, and in an instant flicked back to his feet. Green eye gaped at the destruction: the barn, destroyed; what animals were in it, most likely dead. Vision then dotted through the whitewash, searching for the just-as-white woman that had stood with him just seconds before. Where had she gone? No — she'd been just where the ranch's roof had split against the barn and crashed down independently. Was she...

"Xeris!" he called, listening for a response over the screaming wind, but not a sound was uttered. He cursed again, quite audibly, and went immediately to work with both arms, over the still-biting pain of his bad limb, pushing at pulling at the fallen ceiling debris. Was Geneva in the ranch? No, she was out, and so was Pripyat. Good. Fuck, this shit is heavy. Would he and Xeris have been safer if they'd stayed inside, with the roof ripping out from above them? They might have had some rained on their heads, but it was better than getting the whole damn roof at your face. Xeris, where the hell are you? Was it his fault for pulling her outside? What if he'd kept them inside a few seconds longer?

Still he called her name, ripping at debris, tossing it effortlessly over his shoulder or to the side amidst the white wash that still unyielded to him, oblivious to the desperation it rained down upon. Wet wood he pulled aside and fur shown beneath; he pulled at shingles and beams still, uncovering the ex-Fuehrer beneath. He breathed relief, pulling her gently at the arms from the rubble and into the snow beside; she was breathing, but he noted a few broken bones, perhaps, as he looked her over, and blood at her head clearly from whatever had knocked her unconscious. Head pounding with a headache and arm surging with red-hot pain, the cyclops raised his snout to the sky and released a call for help, one that would most likely go unheard over the blizzard's wrath. He forced all his energy into it with the hopes of it reaching someone, but it was unlikely.

There after, the cyclops pulled the poor girl into his arms and rushed her back into the ranch house, into the portion whose roof still held strong. Jefferson hastened down the long hallway and into he and Geneva's bedroom, where the male laid her carefully on the bed, propping her head up on a pillow. Still unconscious and now freezing. Damnit. He pulled covers on top of her for now, careful for any uncomfortably bent limbs, then hurried out of the room for wrappings and any medicine he could fine. The barn animals would have to wait.

Xeris · 03-04-2011, 02:36 PM

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xeris de heritage

ooc: sorry for the wait. had some health issues.
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Despite the swirling mass of white that surrounded the entire area, all Xeris could see and feel was black, at least for the moment. A sound broke through her unconscious mind suddenly; it was a howl. She could feel herself moving, but couldn't tell where she was going or what else was happening. But it hurt.

It wasn't until she was placed on the bed and left alone that the white wolfess began to regain her consciousness completely. She opened her golden eyes wearily, her vision clouded by spots and doubles of everything. This was a room she had never been in before; she couldn't recognize it but could only imagine that it was in the ranch house. As various thoughts swam through her mind, she remembered what exactly had happened, and realized that Jefferson must have brought her here. But where had he gone? Or worse, what if someone else had appeared, rescued her first, and was now off to find the Patriarch in the collapsed barn?

For now, though, all that she could do was wait. She didn't have the energy to get up. Pain flooded her body, particularly her head. There was deep red blood staining her white fur, though she wasn't sure where all of it was coming from precisely. Resting her head back on the pillow behind her, Xeris closed her eyes, hoping that it would cause the pain and disorientation to subside, and waited.

Jefferson Soul · 03-11-2011, 01:57 PM

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He was not surprised by the lack of response to his call; outside the storm blundered on, breaking who-knows-what-else in its fury, and as the brute dotted at her wounds with a wet cloth, he reminded himself he was not totally helpless. In fact, the man preferred working alone in such circumstance, as the storm outside was a hazard to any who tried to work through it. He already had one of his most trusted members incapacitated on his bed; the last thing he needed was another, and at his own fault.

She murmured some in her unconsciousness as the male frowned over her, silent in his work. For some time he breezed out of the room, rummaging through the snowed-in cabinets for bandages, before returning to find her considerably more conscious than she was before, evidenced only by a slight change in her breathing. She held her eyes closed even as he stepped quietly back into the room.

"Lay still," he said, knowing she could now hear him, as he reached cautiously and began covering and wrapping at the wound at her head, gentle in every touch. He was no healer, no, but he was fine at pretending. "The ranch roof blew into the barn and knocked it down," he continued, speaking gently, softly, as he worked. "I had to pull you from the rubble. How do you feel? Can you talk?"

Xeris · 03-11-2011, 09:35 PM

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xeris de heritage

derp this post is short sorry XD

Xeris was suddenly aware of Jefferson's presence once more, and winced slightly at the sensation of his fingers cleaning and treating the wound on her forehead and the stinging pain that followed. He gave her a quick run-down of what had happened; though her mind swam, she could vaguely recall going to the barn and remembered that something had gone wrong. The image of the ranch house roof being stripped off by the storm's harsh winds was the last thing she could clearly place in the timeline of events before she had awoken here.

She opened her golden eyes a bit, looking the Patriarch over; despite the scars that already covered his body, he seemed to be all right. In response to his questions she simply murmured quietly, "Hurts." She closed her eyes once more as they were clouded with spots and sparks. "Are you okay? And...the ranch?" The white-furred female was distressed by the gaps in her memory, feeling the need to replace them and find out just what had happened.

Jefferson Soul · 03-12-2011, 05:40 PM

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She clearly made the effort to stay still as he requested, but the winces of her eyes and light, slight jerks of her body spoke wonders. He moved slower, treating the wound more carefully, and eventually stepped back to admire his work, of sorts. It would do, for now, until Angelique could get a better look at her. He wasn't sure how much blood Xeris had lost, but to be safe, he found no reason to move her until a medic could confirm she was all right.

But when would a medic get to them, and how would they hear his call if he made one?

She asked for his status and how the ranch was, which relieved him of his worries that she might have an onset of amnesia. Truly, due to his own experience, any level of head trauma made him worry for amnesia, for even a jackass like he didn't want another to suffer the same fate he did. "I'm fine, Xeris, and you should be too as long as you don't move. Can you drink water?"

He put off discussing the ranch, for he hated to think about it. "We're in the ranch right now. The bedrooms are fine, but Geneva and I can't stay here. It's too cold, with half the roof off. I'm more worried about what we're going to do with the livestock, if any survived in there." A sigh. It was too much to think about.

Xeris · 03-17-2011, 10:51 PM

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xeris de heritage

sorry for the wait.

Xeris took a moment to mentally check the status of her body; to feel where the aches and pains were concentrating themselves. Her head, obviously, had received a cut, and she imagined there were countless scratches and bruises on the rest of her body, but a couple of places stood out: there was a sharp pain in her chest that could have been a cracked rib, for example. Her breaths were shaky and shallow, each one bringing with it another sting of pain.

Jefferson asked if she could drink water. She was about to nod her head yes, but the pain there reminded her that doing so would probably be a bad idea. "Probably," she replied instead, adjusting her position on the bed. "But you don't have to go get any if it's too much trouble. I've already made you do enough for one day." Behind the pain and the confusion and a little bit of fear, Xeris really felt guilty; she had put the Patriarch through a lot.

In all that had happened, she had forgotten about the reason they had even gone to the barn in the first place, the livestock. When the male brought them up again, she remembered, and frowned. He was probably right, the storm had surely taken a heavy toll on the animals--and the barn, and the ranch, and probably many of the other Valley locations as well. Xeris closed her eyes, the stress mentally overwhelming her.

Jefferson Soul · 03-27-2011, 11:58 AM

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Gack, sorry for the delay. So many threads. @_@; By the way, if you want to open this up to AW or pull in someone who is a healer, you can, or we can fade out too at some point since we're getting outdated at this point. Up to ya.

The cyclops had never understood modesty; he was not the modest type himself, and any that confused his constant degrading of himself with modesty was a fool. Jefferson was a monster, a one-eyed idiot, not one to fit into the Valley and a failure of a leader for it on that note. It was not modesty — to he, it was simply the truth, and one he had never let another break from him. He was a stubborn man, the Patriarch, and trusted his intuition and emotions above any and all others, but fortunately his intuition did not delay the man's drive for Valley perfection, for its security and safety. No modesty was needed for that.

The cyclops sent her a rather pointed look at her response, then moved to one of the side tables and pointed a scarred finger at the cup of water that eagerly awaited her there. "Too late, cupcake," he muttered, words dripping with the mildly amused sarcasm he was known for. The male retrieved the cup for her and handed it over, eye analyzing in silence how she moved and what moved first; that which didn't brought her more pain, and would be where Angelique or whomever got to them could focus next. He watched her reaction to his words on the barn, witnessing the growing stress and frustration and guilt. He sighed.

Cautiously pulling himself to sit sideways on the bed, he turned his stony scars to her. Joy and humor did not light his eyes; only exhaustion and hidden stress and frustration lay within the depths of its green. "Don't worry about the barn," he sighed, gaze turning to the snowstorm that whirled outside the window. "We'll... we'll figure it out later. Somehow."

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