The next morning. . .
March 22nd, 2010
"*yawn* Simon?" Simon wasn't in the cave. "Owww!" Stone yipped as he tried to move his right front paw. He heard digging outside. He slowly limped and went to behind the cave where Simon was at his garden. He was digging to make room for beets. Meanwhile, Stone's stomach growled. "You know, Simon, you might be an herbivore but I'm not, so can we go and hunt some moose or caribou?"
"You can go hunt," said Simon. "I gave up hunting a long time ago."
"But my paw is broken!"
"Then go fishing! There's a stream not too far from here."
Later. . .
Stone limped into a mist. He heard the sound of a waterfall. He soon came to the top of the falls. The water only dropped about seven feet. But when he looked down, he saw... her. Near the bottom of the falls was a wolf lying in a shallow area next to the plunge pool. He went down a steep hill to take a closer look.
She was a wood-colored wolf. She had a big wound on her flank. She looked barely alive; she could still breathe.
"Who are... you?" she said very weakly.
"I'm Stone. I think you need some help."
"No... No, I'm fine," she said.
"No, I'm going to make this right. I'm not going to let you die here. What's your name?"
"Rhys," she answered. Stone then ran to Simon.
"Simon! Simon! Simon!"
"What, lad? What did you see?"
"There's a wounded wolf at the stream! Follow me!" He started running back.
"You know, if he's an Eastern, I'm not helping him!"
"It's a she!" said Stone.
Later. . .
"Right here!" Stone pointed at Rhys.
"*sniff* Doesn't smell like an Eastern." Stone rolled his eyes. "This will take time to heal. Stone, will you go and get an onion from my den?" Stone quickly ran to his cave. Simon then went to a tree and ripped out a piece of bark before soaking it in the stream to make it flexible. He wrapped it around her. Stone soon came back.
"Is she okay?" he asked, giving him the onion.
"Not really. If she can stop bleeding, she might survive." Stone started to worry for sure. Her blood was still trickling down. "Here. You grab her neck. I'll grab one of her hind legs, and we'll drag her to my den."
They took her to Simon's cave. "I need you to take your paw that's not broken and put pressure on the wound." Stone placed his left paw on the wound that was covered in wet bark. "If you need me, I'll be outside." Simon then went back to his beets.
"Thank you," said Rhys.
"Oh, please. Save your strength," Stone replied. "Here. Have this onion."
"Oh, Stone, I wish I liked onions."
"Just eat it. It will kill the pain. It may not smell good or taste good, but you don't judge a wolf by its fur."
"*sigh* Fine," she capitulated. She took a bite out of the onion. All of a sudden, she stood up. "What the...? I feel great!"
"Well, that's how it works," said Stone.
"I guess you're right." She stood up all the way and slammed her head against the cave ceiling. "Wow, that didn't even hurt!" She went to Stone and hugged him before quickly backing away. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"No, no. It's okay!"
"What happened to your paw?" asked Rhys.
"Oh, I broke it rolling down a hill."
"Sounds like it hurt."
"Well, not as bad as your injury."
"*sniff, sniff* Hee, hee," she giggled.
"What is it?"
"You smell like apples."
"I think you should lie down."
"Oh, right," she said, sitting. "How do the onions work? Is there a secret to them?"
"Works wonders," Stone replied.