Small Annoyances (End!)

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel had been crouched down for a good fifteen seconds and had been just about to smile at her success when she heard him approaching the alley. Flattening her ears and stilling her tail she waited for him to go careening by. When he didn't, Lariel stuck her head out further and almost squeaked in surprise.

The orange pup was right at the entrance to the alley. He hadn't breezed by but had stopped, probably from her scent. While she toyed with the idea of staying in hiding until he gave up and went away, she saw his little body go crashing down to the ground. Without a second thought Lariel sprang up and ran around the dumpster, skidding to a halt by his side. She could see the small tears leaking from his eyes.

"Suits!" she exclaimed. "What the hell happened? Are you alright?" Unsure of what to do, Lariel lowered herself to the ground in front of him and poked a paw gently at his nose. "Are you hurt?"

[Kitty]

He dropped down onto his belly on the ground and whined, tucking his tail underneath him as well. As the pain in his chin faded into a dull he ignored the little scrape in favor of the throbbing in his paw. His ears drooped down to the sides and by the time the feline reappeared he was looking rather pathetic.

His ears twitched just a bit when he heard her talk and he sniffled a bit as well, bringing up his good paw to wipe at his nose.

I ... tripped.

Another little whine escaped his throat when he tried to move his paw and ended up making it hurt far more then it did before.

I-it hurts.

He didn't know what to do, sure he'd tripped before but he'd never hurt himself in the process. Well, not his paw anyhow, he's gotten scrapes and bruises in the past, so that was no big deal, but this was new and oh so painful.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel saw the scrape on his chin and leaned closer to inspect it. She could smell the coppery smell of a little bit of blood, but as far as she could tell the wound was nothing to be worried about. Then she saw him try and move a paw and heard his pain-filled whimper in response and couldn't help but be worried. What if he'd broken the bone?

Though unsure of how to proceed, Lariel couldn't just leave the pup there to suffer. "Don't move that paw. It doesn't look broken, but I'm obviously not a doctor." Not moving the paw was only a very temporary solution. She'd have to get him to someone who could take care of him, and quick.

"Is there....do you live around here? Someone's got to take a look at this. Someone other than me."

[Kitty]

The paw was swollen but not sitting at any awkward angles so he most likely just twisted it ... but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt and it also didn't mean he wasn't going to make a fuss over it. He looked up at the bobcat with teary eyes as she spoke to him and he sniffed again.

Both my parents live in the Capitol ... Momma's house is closer though. but ... he lives all the way at the edge, past the park.

It was a rather long way to either parents house but it never really mattered before now. But momma seemed to know about how to fix all of his, and his siblings, little injuries thus far and, even though he really was closest, seemed like the best bet. Papa was fun an interesting ... but momma seemed a bit more ... knowledgeable and cool headed. Although he was certain momma would be really concerned about his paw.

How do I get there though?

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel did her best not to cringe away as he looked at her helplessly. This was exactly why she didn't have children. Well, this plus the fact she hadn't found a Card with an intelligence over a coffee cup yet. She was just grateful he wasn't some baby in need of a diaper change. There was no force in this world that could make her do that. She was glad to hear his parents lived here in the city. If he was lost and had no one to take care of him; well it was best not to think of that since it wasn't the case.

"Past the edge of the park..," she mumbled, calculating how much time it would take for her to run there, and run back with his parent. But that was out of the question; she couldn't leave him here alone! He obviously couldn't walk on it, and there were no transports in the area, of course. Groaning in protest, Lariel realized she'd have to carry the damned canine to his Mother.
This was going to be a long journey.

"I'm going to have to carry you on my back. You'll have to tell me how to get there, and stay as still as a dead body, got it?" The Bobcat looked warily at his flaming wings and just prayed they wouldn't singe her while she was taking him to safety and healing. "The only way I can do this is if you lay on your belly against my back. It will hurt to move you probably, but it has to be done."

She stood up and looked down at the canine. "Do you think you could lead me to where you live?"

[Kitty]

He watched her as she thought about the situation and he managed to stay perfectly still and only sniffle a little bit here or there. One of his ears crept forward as she started talking to him again and he simply nodded, he didn't feel much like talking anymore ... not this moment, but he'd have to once they got on their way ... wouldn't he? He just wanted to go home ...

I ... can tell you where to go.

It wasn't often that he got homesick, in fact ... this was quite possibly the first time. He untucked his fluffy tail and started to push himself up to a sitting position with his other front leg and pulled the other up to his body. That movement hurt, and he winced, but he was trying to be a big, brave wolf even though he was just a little puppy. The feline was going to help him ... even if she did smell a wee bit like garbage now. What had she been doing in that alleyway?

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel watched him get up and gave him a little more respect for being brave and trying to tough it out. She was also glad he knew the way back to his home, considering she would have had no idea who to take him to or if there was a physician in the area.

"Alright, I'm going to grab hold of your good front leg and pull you onto my back. Use your hind legs to push yourself up as much as you can. Once you're comfortable enough, we'll take off."

With quite a bit of worry she was in some way going to hurt the pup, she put her body parallel to his and hunched down. Taking his good leg in her paw, she took one last look at him. "I'm sorry if this hurts, but it's gotta be done."

Lariel counted to three and heaved his small form over her back. She could feel him pushing his hind legs as hard as he could and with their combined efforts he was crookedly on her back within seconds. Feeling his bones poking into her ribs and organs wasn't going to work, so she shimmied and shifted as little as she could until she could stand the pressure.

Lariel wouldn't be able to see him, but the Bobcat turned her head as far as it would go. "How're you doing up there?" Hopefully the transition hadn't hurt him that much.

[Kitty]

He listened and nodded again and shifted his position so that he was entirely on his hind end and had extended the good paw toward her, he'd make this easy on her since the longer it took for them to get home, the longer his paw would hurt. When she grabbed his paw he took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself for the task at hand ... he had a funny feeling that this would hurt, and it did with every little bump his swollen paw received in the process.

He tried to help her as much as was possible but really he had no idea what she really wanted to do besides carry him on her back and when he was up there he ended up trying to cling to her form ... which was difficult because canine's weren't' exactly built for that. Lariel would probably be thankful that he only had dull canine claws though, especially since those were precisely what he was trying to use to hang onto her. In the end he managed to stay perfectly quiet except for a little whimper.

Just go straight til you hit a fork, then take a left and you should see the park after awhile.

[Lauryn de Vampyre]

Lariel had heard the pup's whimpers as he'd been jostled about, but had bit her tongue. What she'd wanted to say was suck it up, but at least he would be able to help her with directions. It was only a damaged paw, something she wouldn't have even whimpered about, but then again the Bobcat had no idea what pain was like for the little ones. Or maybe growing up dulled all senses.

Just go straight til you hit a fork, then take a left and you should see the park after awhile.

How fast would she be able to go with this little bugger on her back? Too fast and the pup would be jostled off, that was for sure. Standing still was getting them no where, so might as well just start.
Lariel began at a slow walk which quickly turned into a brisk jog. So far, everything was good. Her balance was slightly thrown off by the other body bouncing just slightly out of time with hers, but moving was still easy. The Bobcat tried upping it to a full out run, but after nearly toppling them both over she decided against trying for that fast ever again.

It hadn't been too long before the road she was on split into two. Lariel took the left prong towards the park. She was panting a bit. The canine didn't weigh that much, but he was still hot as hell. This was more lifting and carrying than she'd had to do in over a month and her body could feel the difference. Too bad he couldn't turn off his infernal wings, pun intended.

It had been about half an hour already and Lariel was forced into a slow walk once more. She hated to break the wonderful silence, but she needed to know they were still on the right track. She'd kill the kid if they'd needed to take a turn and he hadn't told her.

"Are we still going the right way? I don't see the damned park yet."

[Kitty]

It was weird being carried like this, both of his parents had their bipedal forms and, come to think of it ... he didn't even know what their animal forms looked like.He could guess, if he wanted to ... but he'd definitely have to see if he could get a look at them himself. His mind continued to wander as he distracted himself from the throbbing in his paw and the odd, not quite painful feelings her spine was giving his ribs. And then of course he was ripped from his beautifully distracting musing when she nearly toppled them both over, pulling a yip of surprise from his throat.

He doubled his efforts to cling to her back until he was able to relax again ... for awhile. After awhile she was talking once again and it pulled his ears forward and he had to refrain from laughing, she couldn't see the treetops? He could! And .. .such language! Momma wouldn't be happy to hear such things.

I can, the treetops? Those are part of the park. Beyond that it's a straight walk to mom's house ... just look for a creepy fence covered in vines ... I'll tell you how to get in.