DANGEROUS GAME - open; returning Arrow

[EROS]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -1px; color: black"]This was bad, this was bad, so bad. The moment he left home he felt terror rising along his backside. The voice in his head screaming to turn back and he didn't belong here without some Pitt member holding his leash. His ears were back and his shoulders hunched but he didn't stop walking and he couldn't. They'd put her through so much and he couldn't allow for it to happen any longer and for her suffering to continue in vein. His chest swelled with slowing breathes as he moved through the muck of the forest already well within the bounds of Tanglewood's territory and he flicked an ears, hopefully still carrying Arrow in tow by the scruff of her neck. He wouldn't allow for anything to touch her nor for her to walk, not as bad as her wounds were and he didn't know too much on the medical side. The slave lifted his head slightly as he approached what he could see as a town and he slowly very gently lowered Arrow to the ground. Wet paws shifted, mud having caked them from the journey as he had to pick his way carefully before he settled down beside her, large form keeping low to the ground. What was he supposed to do now? Call out? Would they kill him? Think he had done it? There were so many thoughts running through his brain and he swallowed thickly before lifting his head up just a bit, collar brushing against his through as a reminder of who he was. "Someone....anyone help! Your friend is hurt and she needs help..." His voice trailed off at the end as he looked back down to Arrow solemnly.

[member=1350]ARROW ![/member]
[member=1277]DELILAH.[/member]

[arrow]

[color=grey]"I'm fine, I'm fine. Still breathing, ain't I?" She thought she'd be ecstatic to return home again, after all, she wasn't a fan of the idea of staying in that shit place forever, and yet...

She was placed back down on the ground, wincing when her leg moved slightly, looking back at the shattered and mutilated form of her back leg, against her better judgement. That should be the worst of the wounds, she thought at least, she hoped there was some way to save the injury and in turn, her fucking leg. She didn't want a limp or something like that, it would only drag her lower, make her weaker than she already was. Speaking of, she didn't want anyone seeing her in such a pathetic state. The aggressive self hatred for her own useless body was overpowering at this point, fueled by the concept of being taken only because she couldn't fight back well enough. No powers, no hulking form, nothing.

[color=grey]"They're gonna rip you a new ass for this, you didn't have to do it." Arrow muttered, returning that solemn look for only a moment before looking down. "Don't look at me like that." She hated that. Pitiful. She dug her front paws into the mud, messing around with the soft earth as there just wasn't much else to do. They wouldn't want her back, would they? Not like this. What use would she be now? [color=grey]"We'd both be better off with my neck snapped to shit and thrown into the sea, dont'cha think?"

© LEXASPERATED

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

It felt like Tanglewood did nothing to help or find their lost member, stolen from their territory easily. Delilah was unsure of the Pittians, she had heard rumors of them from the visitors that came to the territory, but they had never had any throw-downs with any of the Pittians, thank goodness.

Delilah was quick to hear the sound of a panicked shout, tail lashing to her side to lift up her satchel and put it around her neck as she dashed over to the scene, where an injured Arrow laid next to a creature that smelt unfamiliar. The inner protective friend inside of her wanted to tear whoever this was into shreds, but the inner medic knew she had to choose peace. It was unusual for the skittish female to even think about fighting someone.

"What happened to her? Who are you?" Delilah called out, rushing over on three legs as she used telekinesis to shuffle through her bag for stitches and antibiotic herb vials. "Malphas! Arrow's back, she's got a pretty bad stab wound!" She yowled out over her shoulder to the elder medic, magenta eyes surveying everything in front of her. She got to work on cleaning out the stab wound, telekinesis lifting up bandages and a splint of sticks to set the broken leg.

"You aren't useless, you.. You.. Idiot."  Delilah muttered softly, her voice cracking as she tried to hold back the tears that bubbled up in her eyes. She was always a crybaby.

TANGLEWOOD — MEDIC — FEMME — TAGS

© MADI

[toboggan]

"I’d say," a tall hound japed comfortably in response to Arrow’s last line, hobbling towards the deuce. Valkyr’s cries for aid breezed into his folded ears, sending Leroy into an aura of prudence - this “friend” the stranger spoke of could have been Arrow, whom disappeared violently a whiles back. Sure enough, it was, and she was looking a little worse for wear; it was always the back leg, wasn’t it? He, Delilah, that poor sap in the Ascendants, and now Arrow all had injuries coupled with that certain limb. At least Arrow and Leroy had a chance for recovery.

As a guardsman, the canine felt the need to put his own wounds aside for the greater good of Tanglewood, which meant observing the territory on only three working legs, each time doing so discovering something of interest. Currently, the something of interest was the brown feline. Leroy initially was not aware of her kidnaping until Morgan brought it up in a meeting, after which he remained vigilant. Now, she was safe - the same might not be said for her client here.

”How tha fuck didja find her?”, he snapped angrily at Valkyr, placing himself a distance away from the pink sniffling amputee, ”please forthwith explain how you got ahold of our comrade.”   

[EROS]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -1px; color: black"]It was true, she was still breathing and perhaps that was the better outcome to the story. Things could have gone so much worse and she could have ended up dead somewhere on the ground. Tossed aside like some common garbage, that was his place and not her's. Swallowing a lump in his throat the large male would tried to quell his own troubles in place of listening to her own and he glanced down at his mud sodden paws as he debated on an answer to her words. Yes, he very well knew that he would be ripped a new one when he returned home. There was no if or buts about that and yet he found himself okay with the situation. Glancing back to the woman but never looking her in the eye he gave a half nod of his head. "I'm...expecting it." Was his only answer and he seemed resigned to that fate because in the end he didn't have a choice but she did. What she did after this day could determine everything for her. Though her next words made him feel worse for wear. Shaking his head a little bit he lowered his head a bit to look at the woman but never in her eye. It wasn't his right to do that. "No, never think that way about yourself.... Things for you can get better."

He then fell slightly just as someone came yelling and running forth, shifting back a little bit and tucking his tail between his legs as it usually was. His breathing quickened for a moment and he lowered his head a little bit more as he tired to assess the situation. She's asked him something and then she was speaking up and calling for others. As long as Arrow got the help she needed then it was okay. Whatever happened to him didn't matter. This was his own good deed, breaking a single link on the chain around his neck. But another figure came that made him extremely uneasy and even more so when he angrily snapped at him. He shivered a bit and lifted up a paw to lightly press it against his own muzzle, tattered collar feeling tighter around his neck as he struggled to speak up his words. "I-I...she had been taken to my home. Tsuyu was hurting her and...and I managed to get her out and bring her back."

[arrow]

[color=grey]"Relax, he's not a threat. What kinda dumbass would drag their victim back and call out for someone's attention? She found that the arrival of Delilah and Leroy sent a wave of anxiety down her spine, followed up by sudden irritation at Leroy's harsh interrogation. His attitude had never bothered her before, it just was what it was, but there was something about him jumping immediately to snapping at Valkyr that flicked some switch. He did save her from hell, after all.

Her jaw clenched when the soft medic's voice began to crack, flinching somewhat violently when Delilah got to work on cleaning the wound. Fuck, it still hurt. That was quality torn flesh right there. [color=grey]"No! I don't need the whole medic team on my trail. Just patch the shit up and I'll be on my own in no time." She appreciated the help, she really, truly did, but she didn't want anything or anyone else touching her. Although deep down she wondered if Malphas had some extra drugs she could make use of. Or...a lot of them. [color=grey]"I'm not gonna get into this, flower girl. You're....too nice to see it for what it is." Everyone was a liar. Of course no one would straight up admit it, no one wanted to feel rude. Except maybe Leroy. He was blunt as fuck.

[color=grey]"And you." She turned her head to look at Valkyr again, feeling a heavy sense of guilt weighing on her heart. He was gonna get fucked up back there because she couldn't keep herself safe. She didn't even know this guy and he was ready to take a beating, maybe a maiming, just to get her outta there. [color=grey]"You're crazy, you know that? I owe you a lot, but god damn it, you're fucked. You don't deserve all that."

© LEXASPERATED

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

Delilah seemed to flinch at the tone of voice that Arrow used, turning her magenta hues away to shuffle through her satchel quickly before setting some pain relieving medicines in syrup form, all stored in vials. "Drink these when your wounds hurt more.. Uh.. Thank.. Thank you so much for bringing her back, sir. My name is Delilah, a medic here." She meowed softly, long thick tail swishing side to side in obvious anxiousness. The cherry blossoms had begun to fall from her pelt in rapid amounts, and Delilah shifted her paws in place.

TANGLEWOOD — MEDIC — FEMME — TAGS

© MADI

[Morgan]

Morgan heard only the smallest snippets of context as he bounded toward the small group. "Who did this to you?!" he exclaimed, his eyes focused on Arrow's wounds. "Where? Why?!" The amount of questions he had was only trumped by the amount of anger he held toward whoever was responsible. The fact that a Tangler was taken away from under his nose and tortured was beyond awful. On top of that, the sheer amount of injuries his subordinates were sustaining was worrying him quite a lot. At this rate, only a small handful of Tanglers would be in good enough shape for fighting - for defending their home.

The samoyed turned and stared at the stranger. "You... thank you for bringing Arrow back, but... why? Were you escaping, too? And where are you from? What's your name?"

[EROS]

[align=center][div style="text-align: justify; width: 55%; font-family: georgia; font-size: 11pt; letter-spacing: -1px; color: black"]He flinched a little when Arrow addressed him after she was done talking to the others. His body was still held down low so that even with his large size they didn't perceive him as a threat. After all he didn't want them to get upset over him being here and he breathed in a deep breath before shaking his head. Crazy? He might be but he couldn't stand what Tsuyu was doing to her and he didn't think it a slave's place to do something like that. But owing him was a different story and something he would refute. She did not owe him and he couldn't let her think such a thing. "No...you don't owe me. Please don't say that, you can't..." Owing a slave was bad, it was bad because of his own mindset and he shivered a little before he closed his eyes. Whatever his masters did with him when he returned was his own problems and he swallowed thickly before he shrugged his shoulders a bit. "I'll be okay. Don't worry about me, just your health."

When the medical feline spoke out he barely managed a nod of his head. After all he needed to be polite and he would force himself to speak up, keeping his tail tucked underneath him. "Nice to meet you Delilah, my name is Valkyr." He spoke timidly though there was strength in the resounding tones of his voice. And he tried to relax but another figure came forth and he withdrew a bit. He was asking question about what had happened and why and he then was looking upon his own form. Questioning the events that had taken place. "No, escaping isn't what I did. I'm....I live there. I'm a slave and I have to get back or else..." He didn't want to think about it and he shook his head a little bit more before his pink marble hues flicked back to Arrow's harmed form. "Valkyr...my name is Valkyr." His name was all that he owned.

[toboggan]

Arrow was correct. Flying off the handle at someone that, not only ensured her safety, but returned Arrow to Tanglewood alive, was foolish of him. He couldn’t help that he was a Fuddy-Duddy bigot (at least he was self conscious about it). For that, Leroy eased up, allowing the two, as well as some additional Tanglers including Morgan, to communicate. That is, until the lack of real answers came into play. The fact that Valkyr refused to answer the samoyed’s question about his original location intrigued the wolfhound. "Sorry, b’where didja say you were from, Valkyr?", he’d ask from the hip, interested in hearing what the apparent “slave” had to say. The stranger obviously did not have such a good relationship with his home - setting a prisoner free was not the best way to show loyalty - so surely there was no guilt felt in revealing his home, right?