What Happened to You?

[avalikia]

Characters:
Tix - Female Whitetail Deer
Niabi - Female Elk
Roscoe - Male Whitetail Deer

Settings:
Clover Lawn, Curling Creek, and Dense Undergrowth

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- Clover Lawn -

A day had passed since the whitetail doe's panicked form had sped off from the pond to the south, where a certain stag had not only shouted, but yelled at her. Even if in the end, his intentions had only meant well, it had scared Tix to the point where she had tried to leave. And in the end, she had succeeded. Although, through the confusion and panic, the female Whitetail had realized letting her fear grip her like it had would only lead to trouble - And so it had. Rather than bedding down to rest, the doe had continued dashing north, through the territory of predators. Predators which, sadly, had caught wind of the female and took advantage. She had escaped too - barely. Laying in the circle of boulders and curled up in the clover lawn, Tix remained huddled and quiet, trying to remain unnoticed. Sadly, her brown pelt made her stand out against even the rocks, and the noticeably stain of blood caked to the female's flank made her even more visible.

Approaching from the river, Niabi is on a scouting mission to see if she can find out anything more about the wolves that arrived east of here not all that long ago. But the scents of those particular predators has been weak thus far; perhaps they're actually leftovers from the festival. But she knows that they're there because her little group of elk had left the area because they sensed their arrival. Little does the cow elk know that she's about to stumble upon more evidence that this place is now more dangerous than it was before. It isn't the sight of the doe that attracts her attention first, but the faint scent of blood. Nervous but comforted by the lack of fresh predator scents, she walks forward slowly until she spies the young doe. Between the scent, the location, and the visibility of the doe Niabi immediately breaks into a jog. Though she still hasn't identified which doe this is, it's clear that her help is required if she isn't already too late.

Tix remains huddled, and her body shivers in pain. She's alive, clearly alive. The extent of her injuries however are quite unknown. The boulders seem to be the only comfort the weak young female had, and she remained curled up close to one of the moss-covered stones. Yet, despite the sound of the breeze which carried her scent towards Niabi, there came also the faint bleating whimper of despair. To Tix, this attack seemed to have shredded away her hopes as well as any confidence and energy that may have once existed in the poor doe's form.

Niabi slows when she comes close, taking the shivering and the whimper as a good sign. It means that the doe is alive at least, and not too far gone. "Tix?" she asks, her voice quiet and gentle, "Tix, it's Niabi." Her eyes wander over the wounds in silent assessment. That they were caused by wolves is obvious to her; she's very familiar with the marks that kind leaves on a deer, bearing many of them herself. But they're probably much worse to a deer that's so much smaller than herself. What is she doing this far out in the open anyway? But she keeps her questions to herself. What matters now is that the young doe is here, and not why.

Slowly, as the voice reaches the doe's ears, a shaking head manages to raise up from tucked beside the female whitetail's body. Her dark eyes are only partially open, showing clear fatigue and weakness; the injuries must have kept Tix from sleeping that night. ".. N-nia.." Her voice quivers and breaks into a clear whine of pain, much like a submissive canine. Her head slowly tilts and she makes out through her blurry vision the extent of her damage. There is a clear area on the doe's left hindquarter where teeth had sunk into the female's skin. Scratch marks lined around the area and down the same leg, rendering it into a bloody mess. Looking back to Niabi slowly, Tix slowly blinked. "I-I.. can't.. get up.." She pants softly.

The elk isn't inclined to believe that Tix can't actually get up. If she was attacked by wolves and is still alive, then she somehow managed to get away. And if she got away, then obviously she can not only walk, but run. Still, Niabi is very familiar with how the excitement of the chase can mask pain that becomes crippling later. "Are you sure?" she asks quietly, "I could find you something for the pain, but it would take me some time to get it and it isn't safe here. I don't want to leave you here alone unless I have to." It would be much better to get Tix to the forest first if that can be managed, but if it can't, it can't.

Tix isn't familiar with the pain of injury all too well, so for her, the pain is unbearable. Yet, she does try to stand, regardless of the discomfort. She doesn't want to let Niabi down and most of all, now that the elk cow is here, Tix doesn't want her to leave. Forcing her forelegs beneath her, the doe pushed her upper body off the floor, shaking wildly. Closing her eyes and pulling her remaining good hind leg beneath her, she drags the remainder of her form to a stand. Her injured leg remains pulled up against her body, dripping the crimson liquid. She doesn't try to move forwards, but instead focuses all her strength on still being able to keep upright, afraid that she might topple over at any second.

Noticing that the injured leg is still bleeding, Niabi checks it first. Though she's an able healer, most of her knowledge is of things found in the forest. But the leg doesn't seem to be bleeding too badly, and getting Tix out of the open is the highest priority. Moments later, the elk walks to the other side of the doe, "Lean on me if you must, but we need to try and get you away from here." She doesn't want to inflict the details on Tix, but the scent of blood is a powerful lure to predators and even Niabi would be hard pressed to defend the young whitetail in this condition by herself.

Weakly watching Niabi approach her, Tix offered a smile, although she was well aware how foolish she must have looked, grinning in such a predicament. The cow elk's offer was taken with a lot of gratitude, and Tix let herself fall against the taller herbivore with a small sigh. "Th-thankyou.." She exhaled, slowly progressing forwards. She seemed just as eager to leave the area as Niabi, as the frequent glance around showed that Tix was afraid of the wolves coming back for a second go. How she had been able to shake them off a first time had been a total turn of luck in her favour.

Niabi handles the extra weight the young doe rests on her with little trouble. In fact, if she had a way to do it she could probably carry Tix, but that would require limbs or equipment that she doesn't have. "You're welcome," she replies kindly, though already she sounds a little distracted. As they start heading west, Niabi pays as much attention as she can to their surroundings while still being sure that her pace is steady for Tix's sake. Though she allows the whitetail to decide how fast they go, there's a certain urgency to her movements that silently encourage Tix to keep going. Just because there are no predators around now doesn't mean that they're safe, especially since they're out in the open.

Tix begins the process of traveling west, her pace slow and uncertain at first as the tries to accustom herself to three limbs rather than four. It obviously becomes easier as they move further, as more confidence steps are taken and with increased speed too. Although nothing close to running or even trotting, the Whitetail is easily able to focus on the forestation they are heading to, seeing it as their goal. Her ears flatten backwards as they make their way along, assisted with the push of the breeze along the lawn. The wind was perfectly capable of carrying their scent to lurking predators within the forestation, but all Tix wanted to do right now was be out of visible sight where there was more chance of her neck being torn out by hungry predators.

- Curling Creek -

Niabi is silent as they walk, knowing that Tix is probably concentrating on keeping herself moving and giving most of her own attention to watching for danger. But the further they go the safer they are and the easier Niabi can breathe. But they're not in the forest yet. Still, when they draw near to the creek, it is with some relief despite the lack of cover. "The forest is just on the other side," Niabi encourages, eager to to get Tix out of sight. And she knows where to find the things she needs to help with Tix's wounds and the pain there.

Drawing close to the bank of the creek, the pair are forced to stop as Tix catches her breath. So far the pain hasn't been as bad as she had thought, but there was still a way to go, and crossing through the water was something the doe was not looking forwards to at all. Staring at the water and then each way up the body of water, Tix leaned more heavily upon Niabi and spoke, ".. Is there.. Somewhere shallow.. ?". Although the current of the creek isn't strong, it's the idea of having cold water splashed on her wound which Tix finds dislikeable. She sharply turns her head as a branch cracks in the distance, but merely proves to be a bird setting into flight above them.

Pulling out her mental map, Niabi considers the question carefully. "It gets a little wider and more shallow to the south, but we'd have to walk further out in the open. But it shouldn't be too deep here for you here, and I can stay downstream from you in case you have any trouble. Besides, it would be good to wash off as much of that blood as possible." Clearly the cow elk greatly prefers crossing here, but if Tix doesn't want to she won't force her.

Tix doesn't want to be a nuisance, so she gladly nods at Niabi's suggestion to cross here. If the cow elk knew better, it would surely mean better. Slowly stepping forwards to the sloping bank, Tix was sure to keep her weight focused on Niabi at all times in case she should slip. As a hoof dips into the cold water, the doe shivers and winces at the thought of the stinging bite it would cause on her wound. Waiting patiently for Niabi as they wade outwards, Tix seems keen to do everything -but- place her injured leg near the surface of the liquid.

Though she's certainly not without sympathy for the feeling of water on fresh wounds, Niabi continues to urge Tix forward, "I'm right here, you'll be fine." Her voice is calm and soothing, though she has to suppress a grimace of her own at the water's temperature. Walking through water in the middle of spring isn't the most pleasant thing, but some things are more important than pain. The current is strong but Niabi's greater strength and weight as well as her longer legs mean that she doesn't have much trouble keeping her footing, but she keeps herself braced in case Tix slips and she needs to suddenly offer more support.

A stumble and a slip here and there, Tix is focusing on keeping her leg out of the water rather than focusing on her walking, which does result in her slipping about and having to rely on Niabi to help her out. Once or twice her slipping does actually make her damaged limb touch the water, which results in a yelp. Each time her clumsiness earns her a splash on the leg, it also serves as a reminder that she needs to be out of the water as soon as possible - which means focusing on walking rather than worrying! So, the Whitetail doe manages her best to keep moving and when they finally reach the bank, Tix is truly grateful for the support as they begin to climb up.

Niabi continues to offer quiet words of encouragement all the way through the river, though she's more focused on making sure she has her feet firmly planted at all times. When they reach the other side Niabi gives an audible sigh of relief as they approach the edge of the forest. There they can safely rest away from predatory eyes and she can give Tix's wounds some attention. And however briefly Tix allowed her leg to be in the water, it should have washed away much of the scent.

- Dense Undergrowth -

As the familiar surroundings are revealed to the much relieved Tix, she can only smile as the bad memories of the last twenty-four hours are washed away. She's home - back to where she had finished growing up by herself. Eager to rest in a familiar spot, the doe looks from left to right to recognize a place where she can rest. "H-home.." Her voice utters in relief, letting her guard drop enough for her whole body to sag slightly. Dropping down to sleep right here would just be perfect.

Niabi smiles at Tix's reaction, feeling similarly pleased to be out of the open even though this isn't very close to where she considers her own home to be. "If you'd like to rest here, it should be safe and it will give me some time to see to your wounds," she says, her mind already going into healer-mode. She needs something to help the wounds to clot, something to keep it from getting infected, and perhaps something for the pain. Still, she can detect the scent of a cougar. It would be foolhardy to leave Tix alone for long until she heals properly in any case. But she puts these worries aside for the moment and instead focuses on the more immediate ones.

Tix nods and she allows her body to take itself away from the support of Niabi to limp across to a nice location beneath a bush which seems to hang over like a cave of it's own. Thorns surround the entrance, but they provide no hassle for the invalid female as she flattens down and crawls under into the reassuring safety. "I'll be fine here.." Tix reassures Niabi, motioning her head to the bushy surroundings. ".. I appreciate this.. Really.." She finishes, laying her slim muzzle onto the cold soil and mustering a small sigh.

"It's nothing," Niabi says sincerely as she quickly turns into the foliage. And really, for her, it isn't. What else was she supposed to do when she came across Tix, leave her there to die? Of course not! She walks quickly but quietly, her eyes quickly spotting what she needs: spiderwebs. Taking care to make sure she doesn't collect any spiders along with their webs, she collects them by dragging a leg through them and allowing the sticky parts to cling to eachother and her fur. Once she has a large number of them adhered to the back of her leg, she returns to the young doe carefully to avoid losing them, and as gently as possible she presses bits of it into Tix's wounds where they're still bleeding to help them clot. The loss of blood is a dual enemy; it weakens and it the scent draws danger to you. Once she's satisfied that they'll finish clotting on their own, she turns again into the forest, obviously looking for something else.

Throughout the duration of Niabi's treatment, Tix remains silent and seems to switch off. Her eyes do occasionally flicker to the cow elk as she moves about but are soon back to gazing out at the surrounding thicket. The cobwebs against her skin seem to bother her little, as there have been frequent times as a fawn and adult when the doe had accidentally stumbled into one. Wincing against the pressure applied to her wound though, the female Whitetail grunts a little in discomfort. No point complaining though, she was truly thankful to even be alive after her encounter with the wolves. When the webbing is finished being applied, Tix moves her leg back a little, sheltering it back under the vegetation. Flicking her ears back, she listens as Niabi moves off further into the forest, turning her full attention onto the other female to ensure she doesn't wander away too far. After the incident the night before, Tix didn't want to be left alone for too long at all.

Though she has to go well out of sight to find a willow tree, Niabi has no intention of leaving Tix alone in this condition for more than a few moments at a time, if she can help it. She pauses only long enough to rip off a piece of bark before she turns back, traveling as fast as she can without making any undue noise. Returning to Tix's side, she deposits the bark in front of the doe, "Suck on a piece of this, it will help with the pain." Well, that's two of the three; she'd still like to find something to put on the wounds that would keep away infection, but that's less important at this point and she's not sure if she knows of anything close enough to bring back quickly. Instead she stands guard, knowing that Tix will want the company. "So how did you end up there?" she asks after a moment, ready to satisfy her curiosity now that she's out of other things to do.

When Niabi does actually move out of sight, there is that panicked look that crosses Tix's face as she pulls herself around, concerned that the elk may have actually just vanished. Of course, the doe realizes how silly she's being when her friend returns, bark in mouth. Trust herself to think that! What a silly thing she was being. "I.. Was down at the pond.. With Roscoe." Tix began to reply, lowering her head to nose the piece of bark which is deposited in front of her. Before taking it into her mouth, however, she finishes speaking. "We.. Became separated.. And I ended up in the.. Wrong place." She speaks quite sadly, knowing fully well that speaking of it as a 'separation' was being too vague. However, unwilling to explain more, the doe took the piece of bark into her mouth and lay her head back down, chewing on it to re-assure herself.

Yep, definitely too vague. But Niabi will let it slide for now. She's not about to press someone who's injured and needs rest too hard for information. Nevertheless, the elk is rather good at reading between the lines. The 'wrong place' was obviously the area north of the pond and that's where Tix was attacked. But it sounds like they were separated before that, so something else must have happened first. And given her present opinion of the buck, she's guessing that it was Roscoe's fault. "Well, rest up now," she soothes, "I'll keep watch. When the bleeding has stopped, we'll have to move on once more to be sure that we leave that scent behind us. After that we'll be safe. We're fairly safe now, but we don't want to take any chances."

Had Roscoe known that something bad really /was/ going to happen to the doe that day, he never would've let her leave. He would've actually chased after her and brought her home safely. Of course, he still had no idea that Tix was around this area, and thus he was also completely oblivious to the fact that something had happened to her. The only thing that threw the Prince even slightly off guard was the metallic scent of blood in the air. His black nose lifting into the air, he caught another, stronger scent of blood, and his attention was grabbed and his hooves carried him towards the smell. Whatever it was, Roscoe was curious. Stepping silently through the undergrowth of the forest, the male had also caught the scent of the familiar elk somewhere mingled in, and his brows furrowed. Red eyes glared ahead, and he was faced with a dilemma; find out what the bloody scent was and face Niabi again, or go home and be plagued with curiosity. With a groan and a roll of his eyes, the whitetail headed towards the scent. He hadn't seen Tix since the incident, and was actually quite worried. Perhaps Niabi had seen her?

Unaware that the Prince was closer than she originally had thought after dashing off the way she had, Tix seemed reluctant to sleep, afraid that Niabi would disappear whilst she rested. However, the lack of sleep was catching up to the doe, even if Whitetail didn't rest for long periods of time. Forcing herself to trust in the elk's words, Tix curled her head about and tucked it in close to her body as she shuffled back under the cover of the nettle bushes. Her eyelids slowly drooped over her dark orbs and it barely took a few minutes for Tix to soon be fast asleep. Her ears flicked a little in the process but they did not catch sound of any movement around her. Nor did any of her other senses alert her to the fact that Roscoe was in fact approaching her resting place.

Thanks to the thick undergrowth Niabi hears Roscoe well before she can see him. But the only thing she can tell about the sound is that its following their scent trail, and Niabi takes that as a sign of a predator. "Who's there?" she says boldly as she places herself between Tix and the noise, not keeping her voice down. If it's a predator she'll want Tix awake and ready to be on her feet as soon as possible, and that's more important than letting the doe rest if it turns out to be nothing. It certainly sounds too big to be nothing, though.

Walking through so much undergrowth, it's hard for the buck to be as silent as he usually is. However, he makes a good effort. It's unfortunate however, that the elk seemed to hear him throughout the forest. The sound of her voice causes his ears to flick up quickly, and he stops his walking for a moment, tail flicking as well. Red eyes widening for the sight of anything else, he casually continues his arrogant parade through the undergrowth, figuring that his scent would become strong enough after a moment and the elk would know just who it was.

Tix barely gets a few minutes of rest before her ears twitch forwards at Niabi's voice. The words come clear through to Tix and her eyes shoot open. Her body continues to lay, but there's the sudden awareness about her that if she needs to move, she will do so. Trying to listen harder, Tix finally does catch the sound of something, although it barely lasts long enough for the doe to calculate the size or origin of the noise. Her nose twitches gently as she tries to scent out whom was approaching, but from her position within all the plants, it made it impossible to distinguish Roscoe.

Unfortunately, the boldest scent to Niabi's nose is the blood, and with all the stronger scents of herself, Tix, and the surrounding plants any scent of Roscoe's she picks up get blended with the similar scent of Tix in her mind. She frowns to herself when whatever it is seems to pause after her words, only to keep coming closer without saying anything. Another bad sign! "I know you're there," she says again, "Identify yourself." Is it that cougar she scented on her way in? Normally she'd want to flee at this point until she could at least identify the species of an unknown creature, but with Tix there she's not going to budge unless she absolutely has to. While the doe may lay mostly concealed, Niabi makes no attempt to do the same as she waits for whatever it is to respond or come into view.

For whatever reason, the Prince made no further attempt to stay concealed in the thick flora of the forest either, in full view of the elk after just another few steps of his long legs. The sight of the cow elk made the buck slightly angry inside, but he showed no more contempt for her existence than he did at their last meeting. His eyelids still arrogantly low set, he raised his muzzle and spoke sharply. "Niabi." Her name was the only greeting he offered, as he continued on his path back to the glade, the scent of blood still thick in the air.

The voice of Roscoe comes clear through to Tix as she turns her ears in the direction of the approaching newcomer. For a moment the doe remains frozen to spot, unsure and not believing that the Prince was actually here. Had he come to look for her? Had he known she was here? Tix didn't know whether to make herself more hidden or try to pull herself out to see Roscoe. On one hand she really wanted to see the Prince, tell him how sorry she was.. But on the other hand? She was still worried that he might shout and be angry at her. Deciding that hiding would prove futile with Niabi around anyway, Tix merely propped herself up to view the elk better and maybe catch a glimpse of the nearing stag.

Niabi twitches slightly when Roscoe comes into view; she'd been prepared to fight until Tix could get away if whatever it was turned out to be moderately dangerous, and to flee and hope whatever it was would come after the obvious prey instead of the hiding one if it had been really dangerous. When it turns out to be an extremely undangerous Roscoe, Niabi returns his greeting with a carefully neutral, "Roscoe." If she hadn't been trying to protect someone she'd be less irritated that he hadn't answered her earlier, and she's already certain that Tix's present condition is at least partly his fault so he has more than one strike against him in her book already today. An ear flickers in Tix's direction when she hears the young doe stirring, but she doesn't move from her protective position yet, sensing something isn't quite right here.

As the Prince calmly makes his way by and past the elk, he offers her only a mild glare. He didn't say anything else to her, and hardly even looked at her besides that sideways glare that he gave her just as he caught her eye. Ears flicking back in dislike for the female and then forward again, he hears something else stirring about. The scent of blood is heavy in the air, but something about it seems almost familiar. With a blink of his eyes, Roscoe's pace quickens, finally connecting the dots that it may have been Tix's blood that everyone in this perimeter could smell. He isn't too concerned yet though, as he's not completely sure. The only ways to know were to one, ask Niabi.. which he wouldn't do, or to go after the scent himself. That he did.

Tix waits to see the response between the cow and stag, wondering if they would engage in conversation. Oddly, as they did not, Tix could only assume the pair of them were on bad terms. By now she was completely sure of the stag's presence and in the back of her mind there was relief. She was glad to see him again. What she wasn't glad about however, was the sudden increase in the hoofsteps as Roscoe headed towards her secluded hiding place beneath the bushes. Sparing a glance around, Tix dragged herself backwards until she was as far back as she could be. Ears flattening, her body began to tremble, with wide dark eyes staring at the hooves moving towards her. She could only hope that Roscoe was actually in a good mood - unless Niabi decided to step in and rescue her.

The dislike between Niabi and Roscoe is mostly one-sided. At the moment, the elk is merely irritated with him. However, Tix's reaction to Roscoe's approach tells her that her earlier assumption that something happened between the two whitetails is quite correct. And since Tix seems to not want Roscoe to come too close, Niabi will see to it that he doesn't. She turns to keep herself between the two of them. "I'm sorry Roscoe, but as you can no doubt tell, Tix needs her rest just now," she says, her voice still neutral but taking on hint of firmness, "Is there anything /I/ can help you with?" Her expression is as neutral as her voice; until she knows the details of what happened, she can only do what Tix seems to need her to do.

A scowl is given towards the cow elk, irritated that she insisted being in the whitetails' business. Ears lowering, he makes his way closer and closer to Tix, until he can actually see her.. and the scent of blood does indeed belong to her. A look of concern crosses the buck's face, not looking angry at her at all. In fact, he even forgot about his dislike for Niabi shortly. "What.. happened to her?" he asked the older deer, but not looking back at her. His eyes were fixated on the doe in complete disbelief, blaming himself for whatever happened to her, too. Had he not been so aggressive in his chase, this wouldn't have happened. For the moment though, he needed to know exactly what happened. "Tix, what happened to you?" his question rephrased to suit the doe who he would /rather/ question, he waited for an answer.

When finally in full view of Roscoe, Tix isn't able to look anywhere else but at the stag. Her ears remained turned downwards and her injured leg pulls further against her body. Niabi's presence is definitely reassuring. Without the cow elk, Tix would have been struggling to get away again. However, the softer, more concerned tone of Roscoe carries through to the female Whitetail's ears. Slowly they perk upwards and an almost hopeful gaze crosses Tix's features. Wasn't he angry? ".. W-wolves.." Is the only small, whisper-like reply she gives. Her slender body shifts to move forwards a little, slightly more confident that Roscoe wouldn't harm her; even if he did, Niabi would be there.

Aside from basically keeping herself in the way, Niabi doesn't interfere with Roscoe wanting to get a good look at the doe. The buck's irritation at this treatment is mostly ignored; Tix is the one that's important to her at the moment. Therefore, she keeps most of her attention fixed on Tix's reaction, and is pleased when Tix seems to calm somewhat. "I found her east of the river, out in the middle of that clover patch," she adds to Tix's answer, her tone softening a little, "So I brought her here and have been tending to her."

In all honesty, the buck wanted to be mad at the doe. He wanted this to be a lesson to her, and hoped that she would come back with him, even with her injury. He wouldn't stay here with her; not with Niabi "looking out" for them. A huff of breath comes from the Prince, and he shakes his head. "I told you it's not safe." he muttered, and lowered his ears. His tone gave no indication that he was angry, and that along with her injury gave the buck no fear that she would run away. In fact, he himself had turned around, facing away from both females. "Thank you Niabi." He said rather dully and half-heartedly, his tail flicking in anticipation to leave.

Tix is now staring after Roscoe as he turns away, and her ears perk up fully. The previous fear and lack of trust that the doe had was now forgotten. "W-wait!" She calls out, forcing her body to shuffle along through the dirt and even allow her head the risk of poking out from beneath the bushes. "I'm.. I'm sorry!" the female splutters, trying to keep Roscoe's attention and prevent him from leaving. She didn't want him to go off and never come back. "Please.. Please can I come back with you..?" Forcing down the scared side, the doe even tries to make herself stand, although her back leg seems to not want to let her. "It.. Was wrong of me to try and leave.. I need you.. Please."

Not wanting to interfere with the conversation, Niabi remains silent at first, but looks at Tix in surprise at her seemingly sudden change of mind. Needless to say, the elk is a little confused, but she's quick to shake that off and pay more attention to what she sees as the important issue here. "Easy, Tix," she says quietly, intending merely to remind Tix not to push herself, "You're hurt and you need to rest." And trying to fix whatever issues have come up can wait. Still, her eyes flick between the two whitetails; now she /really/ wants to know what happened.

The quick attitude change from the doe surprises Roscoe, as well in fact. His ears flicking backwards at her words, he turns his head around and narrows his eyes just slightly. "Don't be foolish." he said rather sharply, and shook his head. "You're hurt, and it seems that Niabi here can take great care of you." With a look towards the cow elk that was still quite unfriendly, he forced a mocked grin, and turned his head back to face forwards, taking small steps away from the females. At least Tix /wanted/ to come back with him.

Oh no no, Tix wasn't having that. Injuries would come second right now - The doe wanted to hear the Prince speak the words she wanted to hear. She wanted to know she was welcome to join him again. Although her hind leg cried in protest, the female forced herself out of the thicket and shakily stood. The bleeding had finally stopped with the treatment Niabi had provided, but it was no way near painless. "N-no! I.. I want you to take care of me!" Even daring a few wobbled steps, Tix's ears no longer lay flat and her gaze no longer fell to one side. All was focused on Roscoe's form. "I'll do whatever it takes.. To stay with you again. Please.." Her voice, although still quiet, held the undertone of determination, as did her gaze. It wasn't that the doe was ungrateful for Niabi's assistance at the moment, it was just that Tix didn't want the Prince to leave her.

The elk's eyes shift to the buck as his words and manner finally draws most of her attention away from Tix. So, is that how he's treating her now? Niabi doesn't like it, not one bit. Perhaps she needs to have a Talk with him. But when the doe surprises her again with yet another outburst, she changes her mind: No, she needs to have a Talk with Tix. Later. "Roscoe doesn't know herbs like I do," she murmurs quietly to the doe, "And your wounds have a good chance of not healing properly with just what I've given you. If he's worth staying with, he'll return for you when you're well. And you'd be quite safe with me." This is merely advice; if both whitetails want to be together, then Niabi won't stop them either.

It seemed that Roscoe couldn't win with Niabi, either. Here he was, leaving the doe in the elk's care as she probably would've wished, and he was /still/ the bad guy. He could've forced Tix to come back with him if he was a complete jerk, but his mind was on her health. He knew that Niabi could help her, and he would come back for her.. eventually. With a look back and seeing that the doe had taken to staggering after him, he rushed over to her side and nuzzled his head against hers affectionately, hoping it would make her feel better. "You need to stay here with her.. she can help you heal. She's right; I don't know anything about herbs." he said, and a genuine smile crossed his face for the first time in days. Ears turning forward, he looked rather content with his decision. "I'll visit you, but you have to get better before you can come back."

Bad guy or not, the moment that the stag had took a single step in her direction, Tix was content. At the moment, no words were going to keep her from enjoying this single moment in which she had her head buried deep against Roscoe's neck. There was no argument - it certainly did make her feel better. "Why can't you stay.. ?" Tix whines softly, keeping her voice still as low as before. She knew he probably had to keep searching for other does, but right now, she felt like the only one in existence. "D-do you promise to visit.. ?" She carried on asking, ensuring that each question was given an additional nuzzle in the process.

Niabi is content to remain silent for the moment, not wanting to interrupt and having nothing of her own to add since things seem to be going the way she'd wish without her help. Instead she takes a moment to throughly check their surroundings for any new hints of danger - a convenient excuse to make it appear that she's not really paying attention. That's completely untrue, of course, but it's a polite thing to do.

The same smile remains on Roscoe's face at Tix's request for him to stay. It wouldn't be completely irrational to think that, but he was a wanderer like any other male deer, and staying in one spot for very long wasn't his thing. Unless of course it was his glade, which he felt the need to check up on every now and then to be sure that nothing else was tampering with /his/ land. "I have does to find and others to check up on, Tix." he said seriously, but in a comforting way as he continued to nuzzle against the doe's forehead. "I promise I'll come visit you daily, until you're all better. And when you are, we'll leave together." Though, he wasn't positive how long a wound like this would take to heal, and he wanted to be sure that she wouldn't slow him down. Even if he didn't plan on taking her on any more searches, the trip back to the glade was far enough away to have a wounded deer be put in danger, if they were too slow.

Tix didn't want Roscoe to leave again, she really didn't. "I-I can come with you now! I'm fine.. Honestly.. !". It's clear the doe needs to practice her fake behaviour more, since she still can't help but wince in pain at the blood-caked injury upon her leg. Knowing that argument is pretty useless, Tix lets her ears hang backwards and with a saddened sigh she reluctantly pulls away from Roscoe. "Okay.. I'll stay then.." Weakly smiling, Tix fumbles backwards and lets her body drop down back outside the well-hidden spot where she had stayed before. Finally turning her eyes onto Niabi, the doe makes a small cough to catch the Elk's attention. "Please make me better, Niabi.."

Niabi glances at Tix and smiles kindly. "I'll do my best," she promises with a nod, "Rest now, I'll keep watch." Turning her attention back towards Roscoe she quickly says, "You won't find us here: after she's rested, we'll move on so that we can leave the scent of fresh blood behind, probably to the north. My herd is there, where the trees start to thin a bit. They'll be able to help keep her safe, and yarrow grows near there; it would be good for her wounds. I promise I'll keep her safe." She hopes that her plans will give Roscoe some comfort that Tix is in capable hooves, despite how much he may dislike her currently.

When going towards a better cause, like wanting to be /near/ the Prince, Roscoe actually enjoyed Tix's stubbornness. It kept that smile on his face up until when she pulls her head away from his. With a saddened glance, he knew that at least he was doing the right thing for her. She'd be better soon, and when she was, he would continue his search, but with someone to look forward to seeing. His attitude towards the cow elk was mostly the same still, but he did appreciate her kindness. With a respectful nod towards the older deer, he relaxed his ears and turned on his hooves again to head back towards.. wherever it was he felt like searching for the rest of the day .With one final glance back at the doe, he spoke again. "Get better soon." he offered, and gave a quiet, "Thank you," to Niabi as well. With nothing further, the buck headed north into the forest, to continue his seemingly neverending search for fellow whitetails.

Tix turns her head and watches as Roscoe begins to leave, and her own saddened gaze follows. She knew he had to leave, but in all honesty she wished he could stay. When his form finally fades out between the trees of the forest, Tix lets her ears and head drop. "Thankyou as well, Niabi.." She smiles to the elk, letting her eyes come to a close. Finally, a chance to rest. Gladly taking the moment offered by the elk before their move, Tix shuffled back under the cover of the bushes and let her form come to a moment of peaceful rest.

"You're welcome," Niabi says to each of them, though she's hardly doing it for the thanks. Both of these whitetails are her friends (even though one may not feel that way currently), and it would be unthinkable in her eyes to not do something to help when she's needed and it's within her power. Still, it's nice to know that her efforts are noticed and appreciated. When Roscoe leaves she returns to her guarding position in front Tix's hiding spot with her eyes, ears, and nose on full alert.