'I'm probably in so much pain right now. And it's weird to say this, but this is probably the best sleep I've ever gotten. I wonder how tired I really was. Those Bandits really did a number on me. I'm probably going to wake up to the worst amount of pain I've ever felt. I wish I was back home…'
Everyone in the small town was in tears at what they saw. A lone boy carrying a lone wolf girl, both beaten and covered in blood. The boy moved with the same limp, but kept himself upright. The wolf girl, however, wasn't even awake. She was barely even breathing. Her limbs were stabbed, her nose was broken, face beaten and cut badly, and one of her eyes was swollen shut.
Everyone came running to the pair, one of them took the girl from the boy's arms and the other one carried the boy along before he collapsed himself. These people brought them to Sasha and Ewan's home as quickly as they possibly could. In this world there were no doctors. Wolf-beasts healed on their own, but Cyrene's injuries would take a week to completely heal. However, there were ways to ease the pain by a large scale.
Both Ewan and Sasha were in tears when they saw the state that the two were in. They quickly brought them inside and rested them both on their couch.
"What the hell happened to them?!" Ewan asked, nearly screaming.
"W-We don't know," one of the wolf-beasts said. "We just saw this boy carrying her back here like this."
"Ewan, dear, do you think-" Sasha started to say.
Ewan knew all too well what she was thinking.
"There's no doubt about it Sasha," he said. "Those Bandits laid a trap."
"You don't think that they know where our town is right?" Another wolf-beast asked.
"No, but they will come back to search those woods. We can't take any chances. We'll have to find a new place for our home. Until then, I want everyone to start the routine again."
A worrying clamor began within the Wolfpack. Ewan an Sasha took the pair with their arms and carried them into the living room. Blood was still dripping from their bodies, but that wasn't even a worry for them at the moment.
"I want everyone to show up at the usual place tonight," Ewan announced to the Wolfpack. "Tell your children ten and under to take care of their baby brothers and sisters. Make sure you tuck in your infants tonight as best as you possibly can, because you won't be going back to them for a while."
The Wolfpack immediately retreated back outside and straight to their respective houses. A light snowfall stretched beyond the horizon as the day was nearing to it's end.
"The boy looks fine despite his wounds," Sasha said, "He'll be bruised for a while, but he should heal swiftly within a couple of days. "But Cyrene…she…"
"Please love, don't cry. Not yet," Ewan said, placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbing her left ear with the other. "We can all cry together after she's healed. Please tell me, what should we worry about the most?"
"I…her left eye is completely beaten. She may end up partially or completely blind in it. There are multiple open wounds on her body. Her nose is completely broken. Some teeth are missing…"
The more Sasha said about Cyrene's wounds, the tighter Ewan's eyes shut. Even though he was a warrior, he was also a father. The guilt of seeing his own flesh and blood in this state was battling his warrior's composure. While it was a hard battle for him to fight, his composure won in the end.
While he was clearly too weak to stand, the boy still made an attempt to sit himself up. Sasha tried to stop him, but the boy kept trying until he was sitting up with his back laid back on the couch. He was still bleeding from where he was shot, but he wasn't in immediate danger.
"I got the plants boiling in the water," Ewan said. "Should he be sitting up?"
"I tried to get him to stay laying down, but he wouldn't listen. He looks a little dazed, but he seems fine somehow. Here, take this rag and clean his wounds."
Sasha handed Ewan a rag that was soaked in warm water that was boiled with the same plant that was being used for the drinking water. This plant had a numbing effect that helped relax part of the body that came into contact with its nectar. Touching this plant dry didn't give you much of an affect, but boiling this plant into water helped it release a much more effective result.
Ewan took the rag and started wiping the liquid into the boy's wounds. He staggered a bit, but seemed to trust Ewan enough to know that he was only trying to help him. Sasha gently brought the rag to Cyrene's swollen eye and gently brushed it with the liquid.
"I'm not sure if you can understand what I'm saying boy, but please listen well," Ewan said to the boy as he brushed the wet rag on his wounds. "We're gonna be gone for most of the days in the coming future. Tomorrow morning, she'll wake up in a tad bit of pain, but she'll be ok. Her wounds will heal on their own in due time, but she'll have a harder time moving around. That's where you'll come in."
Ewan gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, careful not to touch his numbed wound.
"We need you to help her with moving around the house. I can show you how to prepare some food. You'll also need to know how the bath works. And make sure she gets plenty of rest. She'll try to act like she's fine, but please do what you can to bring her back down to reality."
After Ewan wrapped the boy in bandages and helped him up to his feet, Ewan led him to the kitchen and showed him how dinner was prepared. Though he wasn't as good of a cook as Sasha, he still knew his way around the kitchen. Then, he led him to the bath. Though Cyrene had already showed the boy how it worked, Ewan gave him a second lesson.
"She usually sleeps on the floor, but make sure she sleeps on the couch or in our room," Ewan said. "Better to sleep on something with a cushion when you're hurt like that."
After giving the boy a brief lesson on what to do, assuming that he could understand, Ewan and Sasha took care of the rest of Cyrene's wounds and wrapped her up with bandages. Once that was taken care of, the couple said their good-byes and headed out the door.
"I trust you," Ewan said. "You're a part of our family now, so please watch over her as if she were your own sister."
"We'll be back soon, so please take care of yourselves." Sasha said.
With their good-byes out of the way, they closed the door and started there long walk to the place where they would train themselves for the fight that was to come. The rest of the Wolfpack were at the center of town waiting for them.
"Have you taught your children well?" Ewan asked them.
The Wolfpack all nodded. From the crowd, the Chief walked up to Ewan and placed his hand on Ewan's shoulder.
"Are you sure that this cave is safe?" The Chief said.
"Positive," Ewan said, reassuring the Chief by grabbing the his hand that rested on his shoulder. "I've lived there for years. Plenty of space and food around for us to hunt. I've also visited there plenty of times and kept food reserves there just in case."
"Couldn't we all just move there?" One of the people in the Wolfpack asked.
"I lived there with preparations, not just on a whim," Ewan said. "While it's definitely spacious, I'm not sure the children and infants will be able to endure the cold as best as we can. Their fur hasn't completely grown in yet and the weather up there is much colder. Plus, the air gets thinner, so you'll be gasping for a while just to get any air into your lungs. I doubt they'd be able to survive that long enough to adapt to it."
A Wolf-beast with fur meant that they'd made it past the first wave of their life, which was ages one to ten. A Wolf-beast at age eleven would have enough fur to survive cold weather for very long periods of time, but they'd have to adapt a little to get comfortable with it.
Light suddenly shined down onto the Wolfpack. This light belonged to the twin suns in the sky. It was a faint light since they were setting, but it brought a wave of warmth across the land before it disappeared completely behind the grey clouds.
"A storm is coming here soon," Ewan said. "We best get moving now before it catches up to us. Pray for your children's well being. They'll need it while we're gone."
And with one final look back at their town, the Wolfpack marched off and disappeared into the horizon. They wouldn't return for a month.
We turn the clock back just a little bit, to right before the Wolfpack went walking off and see the boy looking for something. He had the bandages pressed against his still bleeding wounds as he searched for something. He found a fork and decided to use that, or at least one of the prongs on the fork that he ripped off and placed it on the table after washing and thinning it down. He then found a bit of rope that was used for architecture and pulled off a very thin piece off.
He then got to work after using his knife to poke a tiny hole through the prong and stuck the thin rope through it. He then started suturing his wound together with the rope and prong.
Though the plant did give him the numbing effect, he wasn't a Wolf-beast. Therefore, he counts heal automatically like they could. So he had to use his own method of healing, which required stitching his wound back together. Once he was done, he wiped away any blood that poured out and covered the wounds back up with the bandages.
"Aaauuuggh!! Rrrrhhh!!"
The boy heard loud groans of pain coming from the living room. He walked over there to see Cyrene with her teeth clenched and wet tears in her one eye as she tried to keep herself from screaming from the pain.
While it was still uncertain if the boy understood what Ewan had said, he walked back to grab the warm plant water and a rag. After soaking the rag, he gently brushed it onto the bandages, letting the liquid soak into the wounds.
"GRAAAAAHHH!!!" Cyrene screamed.
While the plants did provide a numbing effect that reduced the pain heavily, it still burned when it came into contact with an open wound.
"W-Wait…g-give me a-GYAAAHH!!!"
Cyrene wanted to prepare for the burning pain again, but the boy just kept soaking the rag and placing it onto the bandages.
"GAAAHHH! Son of a bitch! Fucking…RRAAAAAHHH!!!!"
Cyrene resisted the urge to scream any louder as well as the urge to kick the boy in the face by shouting curses through the pain. The boy wasn't affected by her words and continued what he was doing until all of her wounds were covered.
Sasha did mention to the boy that if Cyrene was in any pain, he can rub some plant water onto the bandages since they weren't affected by liquids. Whether he understood her or just did what he saw Sasha doing wasn't completely clear, but Cyrene eventually calmed down once the numbing effect finally came in.
"Ugh…fuck me…grrrrhh…" Cyrene groaned. "My eye is beyond fucked… Damnit, everything hurts so much. I feel so weak. I was way too in over my head, but I never imagined that those Bandits would have something like that as a weapon."
The boy simply watched her as she continued to vent her frustration on herself as well as the Bandits. Pain wasn't a fun experience for most, so she used her pent up anger to get through it for as long as possible. The boy didn't seem to mind, or maybe he just didn't understand what she was saying.
"Heh, at least the boys won't try to ask for my hand in marriage again with how fucked up my face it now," Cyrene smirked. "And I guess scars aren't so bad to have. Just wish they didn't hurt like hell."
As pissed as she was at the Bandits, she at least tried to find the light in this grim situation. That was probably for the best. You can't be angry about something for forever, otherwise you'll just be filled with nothing but a thirst for vengeance your entire life.
"Hey, I can't see very well, so can you lend me your hand?" Cyrene asked teaching her hand out.
The boy didn't lend her his hand. Instead, he leaned his entire head and rested it on her side gently so that he didn't hurt any of her wounds. Then, he gave her his hand.
"Hmm, this works to I guess," Cyrene sighed jokingly. "Yeah, I actually prefer this more."
The pain Cyrene had felt was replaced with a sudden drowsiness, a side effect from the plant. It even got to the boy as well, which was why he rested his head on her side.
Within a few minutes, Cyrene had already fallen asleep. And after staring at her sleeping face for about ten more minutes, the boy joined her as well. By morning, the worst part of the pain would already have vanished, and would be nothing but bruises and scars for a little while. And they would also learn how troubling it'll be for the pair to move around the house.
But they'll just simply have to adapt to it.