The only thing that Wormwood had the habit of collecting these days was books. Well, books and jewelry. He liked the shiny glints of jewelry that he could hang over himself or his furniture, and Draekon liked it as well, which made it so that Worm wanted to collect even more to impress his faraway boyfriend. Still, because of the nature of the things that he had a tendency to collect, they weren't things that he could just go exploring the territory for. He had to go on long walks outside of the territory, or wait for a traveling merchant to get any new jewelry, or any books that weren't inside the walls of the library. Because of this, his walks around the swamp were usually either for the exercise, hunting, or just because he was feeling restless. In this case it had been because he needed to stretch out his injured back legs to get used to the feeling of walking long distances again before he could visit Draekon. The leg Vathmos had bitten was finally beginning to heal, but it still ached frequently, and it wasn't getting any better just laying around his house doing nothing.

However, his pleasant walk around the territory had been interrupted when the cries of a familiar voice reached his ears – Moth. He'd interacted with her once or twice, and they didn't know each other super well, but that didn't mean he wasn't immediately struck with a cold wave of fear upon hearing her call for help. He quickly began to bound towards where the hoarse cries were coming from, his legs burning from the new effort being placed on them, especially being pulled from the sucking murk of the swamp si quickly, but it didn't matter, because he needed to find Mother, and fast. They couldn't have another group member going missing because of the Pitt, or another person struck sick by some weird plant, or worse... have someone die, like Arrow had.

He quickly shook his head to shake off these worrisome thoughts, before eventually reaching where Moth was. His eyes widened when he saw her dangling from the trees, and he stared in surprise and wonder for a moment before snapping out of it. Pulling himself up onto a nearby log, he rumbled comfortingly to the girl as he slowly began to climb his way up, trying to slink carefully toward where the rope was tied so that he could cut her down, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Don't worry, Moth! Don't panic, I've got you, I'll cut you down with my claws, okay?"[/glow] It then occured to him, with a start, that she would probably be injured if she just plummeted down from where she was hanging. Cursing, he clung onto the branch he was stepping across as he roared loudly, trying to catch the attention of someone nearby that could catch Worm safely on top of them. He then mumbled softly to Moth, trying to keep the same reassuring voice he had been putting on before, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"I just need somebody here who can catch you... then you'll be fine, okay? Deep breaths... we really don't need you passing out up here."[/glow]

since mikolaj's display of violence with perseus, mikolaj did not remain outside much anymore. he was content with the common avoidance from others or outright glares. many distrusted him now, but moth was still here. she had yet to turn him away when they happened to meet outside. the sable shepherd was resting peacefully underneath the window when their ears perked up, their senses catching onto pitiful screams of help from outside.

two pale eyes opened, recognizing his name being called. he jumped up to his paws, clumsily slamming his head into the windowsill and stumbling out of the house. his ears swiveled in every direction, following the echo into the woods. the beasts ears pinned against their skull and eyes focused ahead of them, mikolaj had never run so fast. so hurriedly without hesitation.

his nose picked up her scent easily, along with wormwood beside her. he rounded tree's and uprooted trunks as quick as he could before sliding to a stop underneath the fox. he looked to wormwood, and aggressively barked his order.

"cut! cut her down! i will catch." he confirmed, lining himself directly under her.

mam ciebie. mam ciebie...

"SPEECH"

When Mikolaj arrived, Wormwood let out a slight sigh of relief, and he called down to the canine as he slowly moved closer, hooking his claws against the thick rope holding Moth up in the air, [glow=#793B29,1,400]"Alright, get ready Mikolaj!"[/glow] He took a deep breath before he began to drag his claws around the rope, using his teeth as well to snap the rope that Moth was precariously dangling in. When it finally did seem to snap beneath his effort, his eyes widened and he quickly stepped back, looking down at Mikolaj and praying that he could catch the timid girl before she hit the ground.

he could feel his heart stop as wormwood slashed the ropes apart and watched the small girl plummet toward him. he kept his gaze on her, body still as ice until she was close enough for him to jump up and catch her neck between his jaws, and hold her for a few moments before placing her down. his eyes shifted to crow, tail flicking in acknowledgement to the leader before motioning for wormwood to come at ease.

"mm... safe now." mikolaj mumbled with an affirmed nod of his head. "careful. too many tricks. not safe alone."

"SPEECH"