"Calm down little one, you don't have enough meat on your bones for me to hunt you."
Roth says with a soft coo though his choice of reassuring words is strange to say the least. The cub seems to slightly tone down the aggression, partly due to the toll its taking on its already injured body. Its eyes follow Roth's hands as they make its way to the bruised hind legs and tail; Roth is tentative yet confident in his movement as he reaches for the injured parts. Roth gently parts the white fur to reveal the extent of the injuries sustained and he finds a purple infected area circulating from two small holes.
"A bite huh? Furthermore it seems to be from a poisonous snake....spider?"
Roth mutters slowly as he glances at the cub, almost expecting the wolf youngling to respond verbally. The cub can only respond with a distressed look and low whimpers as the purple infected area seems to bulge with each circulation of blood. As Roth fully takes in the situation, he starts to shuffle in one of the little bags on his waist belt, until he takes out a few green herbs. He crushes the herbs into a small ball and holds it out to the wolf cub.
"Here young one, eat this. This will put you to sleep and slow down your blood flow."
He continues to earnestly explain the side effects to the wolf pup, almost as if it can fully understand the conversation taking place. The wolf pup tenses up until Roth says:
"I promise to not hurt you...Eat this and rest up."
The wolf pup becomes ever so slightly compliant, not necessarily due to the meaning of Roth's words but more so due to the reassuring tone that his voice carries and the sparkle in his innocent eyes, which made the wolf pup feel safe. It slowly licks the balled up herbs and eventually chews it down; The herbs do their magic almost instantly as the wolf pup slowly rests its head down on the grassy soil.
Roth slowly places his hand over the infected area and closes his eyes as he starts to take slow deep breathes. He then starts muttering something in a hush tone, his concentration unwavering as he continues to trace his finger tips on the pup's skin. Suddenly a warm yellow light starts illuminating from the center of his palm, steadily spreading to his fingers, until his entire hand is glowing.
Little sparks fly out from his hand and suddenly a small layer of orange flames cover the area he had caressed with his hand. The fire simmers on the skin, it dances gracefully as it floats on the surface, leaving behind no trace of the poison in its wake as it moves along. The fire was healing-The sight was rather unconventional as fire wasn't usually known for mending or being gentle.
A bead of sweat trickled down Roth's forehead as he focused with all his being, to control each and every swipe of the unruly flames he had tamed to be gentle. His incantation seemed more like lullabies as he moved his hands in rhythm with the flames, to keep them right where he wants them. The wolf pup seemed to relax more and more, the longer this process went on.
After a intricate few minutes, the flames slowly calm down and Roth finally let out a relieved sigh as he relaxes back on the ground. He pats the pup's head and the little wolf nudges awake; It's hostile demeanor is totally gone as it gives a few licks to it's savior's hands, a gesture of gratitude in the life of a wolf or most animals in general.
Roth giggles at his new found friend as he lets the wolf pup regain its footing. The pupper struggles a bit but manages to get up and starts wagging its tail followed by some energetic barks.
"There, there, you're welcome bud~"
The pup's barks become more vigorous as it tail starts to wag as it regains energy, the poison's effect fading every second. The young cub circles Roth as it sniffs and rubs against him but suddenly its barks become more joyous almost it has found its family.
"Aww~" Roth murmurs as he hears the energetic barks "Do you like me that much?"
Just as he reaches to pat the cub's head, he notices the barks are directed not at him but behind him. Before he can turn around, a shadow looms over him as the pale moon light is blocked by some figure. Roth slowly starts to turn his head but then he hears a low growling sound and he gets a rough idea of what might be behind him. The joy in the pup's eyes, the known growl of a wolf- Its the parent wolf.
Roth gulps as he finally turns and looks at the wolf, its eyes piercing his soul and the growling tremble in its throat doesn't really paint a friendly picture. He freezes as he thinks of how to respond and in those moments a realization dawns on him-From the outside, the fire he used for healing did look like it was burning the cub, thus a possible reason behind the wolf's malice.
"H-Hi there...It seems like I met your cub earlier...how ya doin'?"
Roth says with a very shaky chuckle as if his human speech could break the malice of a furious wolf. The wolf slowly backs away and lets out a low-menacing bark, almost as if trying to say:
"Run Human...I'll give ya a chance to flee before I kill ya...RUN!"
Roth understands the predicament as he pushes himself off the ground, his legs even more wobbly from the use of magic, yet he makes himself run-Run form the possibility of being Ripped To Shreds! Despite the fearsome situation, there is still a hint of excitement in Roth's eyes as he starts picking up pace, blending into the forest. The wolf pup is too overjoyed to realize the misunderstanding that's taken place as it circles its wolf parent. When it finally notices the situation, its too late.
The giant wolf launches itself from its position, leaving behind the wolf pup and giving chase to the human she believes has harmed her off spring. The head start given by the wolf seems almost futile as its speed and sense of smell are extraordinary. Roth kept his legs moving trying to cover as much distance as possible with his small and exhausted body. but with each crunch of dry sticks and leaves under his boots, the wolf's howls get closer.
The singular bone chilling howl starts to echo across the forest and the echoes act as war cry for other wolves to join in on the chase accompanied with their own howls. Makes sense as wolves are pack animals but Roth had never seen that gigantic of a wolf, especially with the majestic white fur.
The Ravenous Forest gives a Roth a taste of its earned reputation with the threat of impending demise the moment his legs give up. He starts running through the down hill part of the forest, his only sense of guidance being the moon light and the growls of the wolves inching closer to his back.
On the corner of his eyes he sees the silhouette of other wolves closing in from the sides. He knows he has no other choice but to keep running forward narrowly avoiding the tree branches acting as obstacles for his already dreadful situation. Suddenly he hears a splash of water and a thought spikes in his head.
"A pond...A river?" he thinks as he can now hear the hurried growls of the wolves, just a few feet away. A final plan comes to his mind as he charges forward with new motivation.
"Lets hope they don't like water."
He tells himself as he bolts forward in the direction of the supposed river. The terrain becomes more tilted to the point where he is jumping more than he is running and the wolves leap closer to him. He finally catches a glimpse of the flowing river behind the hedges located on the ledge of the hill, which he charges towards with his legs threatening to snap given any more stress. Roth doesn't know how high up the ledge is or how he will land after crossing that point, all he can do is commit-Commit to the jump and say quick short prayer to Fate for anything soft to cushion his fall.
Just as the Wolves laid their blood thirst breather on hi neck and opening their jaws for a bit, Roth leaps forward and busts through the hedges and for a moment time pauses as he is positioned mid air. In that moment he can see the shallow flowing river shining in the moonlight. Just for a millisecond he looks down and sees the river beds, a few meters below, made out of stone and sand-The distance wasn't enough to die but definitely enough to make sure he wouldn't walk for a while and stone wasn't exactly an ideal material for cushions. It seems Fate had not been paying much attention to the quick prayer earlier.
"Oh dear..." Roth quickly spits out before gravity pulls him down like it has a personal vendetta against the young adventurer. He falls on his feet and the moment of impact is followed by an ominous *SNAP*
Roth screams in pain and is laid out on the river bedding as he sees the annoyed and calculating look on the wolves' faces as they start to slowly and carefully climb down through a safer ledge. Roth knows he has to follow through with his makeshift plan, if he wants to have a chance at living-To have a chance at meeting the Ravenous Beast. He claws at the stone and soil as he pulls his body to the river which turns out to be quite shallow and the current seems to be quiet weak. He had thought of taking a bet on riding the river current but now that plan is scraped-All he can rely on is the possibility of the wolf pack hating water to the point where he is spared.
He waits, laying in the river as he sees the wolf pack climb down one by one and after a few minutes they slowly make their way to the river bed. The wolves recognize that Roth is in no state to stand, let alone flee and maybe due to that realization, they slowly stalk closer. Roth's last hope is slapped down as he sees the Wolf parent and the supposed pack leader, casually step into the river; Its eyes are narrow and serious as it knows it must take revenge on whatever threatens his cubs. Even in this situation Roth just closes his eyes as he says with a chuckle:
"Well...This story took quite the turn...I hope I can still keep my promise to Lilian."
He opens his eyes to see the wolf patiently waiting for Roth to finish his words almost as if allowing its prey to say its prayer. Just as Roth falls silent, so does the wolf pack and seemingly the entire forest follows suite, almost as if its holding its breathe for the outcome. Then with a gut wrenching snarl...the wolf launches itself towards Roth, its eyes aimed at his neck to make the death as quick as possible.
Roth closes his eyes in anticipation for the awaited pain but that anticipation is met with the sound of flesh tearing....But not his own.