DO I LOVE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL? - open; injury

[trojan g.]

MOTH

"What if who I hoped to be was always me?"

When the attack on the Pitt started, Moth had decided that it would be best for her to hang back and wait, just in case there was someone that was able to get out of there with their injuries who would need help right away. She knew that if she had gone to the Pitt in order to help fight, she would be useless, and unable to actually do anything, so she had decided that instead of going there and having others worry about her, she would simply sit near Tanglewood's border, watching and waiting, in the hopes that there would be some sort of news that came back to her, and hopefully good.

She had been waiting a while though, and eventually Moth began to pace in her spot, ears pinned to her head. She knew that at times raids took a while, but it was the Pitt against three other groups, surely it couldn't take this long? She started to grow impatient, debating on turning back to go to the camp and wait there, before finally deciding against it, and sat down once more, eyes cast out over the edge of the territory, towards the direction of the Pitt, in case someone did, finally, come.

tags - penned by @ tikki

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[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]Pain was the only thing on Selby’s mind as he hobbled home from the raid. His shoulder screamed of it with every favored step, and his back groaned with every stretch he required of it. The journey, already not a short one, felt unbearably long. With every step, the sawbone longed to stop and rest. Sleep seemed necessary. Still, he kept himself going. The sooner he could get his wounds treated, the better. The threat of infection kept him going the most, unwilling to go through what he had with the spore plant again.

The border came into sight, and with that, a familiar figure. Relief flooded him. Moth. The one he trusted the most in the whole of the world. She’d been there for him when he needed her, and Selby would be grateful for that always. On top of that, he had trained her to be able to heal and was more than confident in her ability to do so. When he approached, his legs all but gave out in relief and he fell to the ground in front of her.

“Moth...” he rasped from his place on the ground. He knew he must look pathetic from his place on the earth before her, but it didn’t matter to him in that moment. “Hi.”

[trojan g.]

MOTH

"What if who I hoped to be was always me?"

The sight of the silhouette of someone coming to the border caused Moth to pause in her thoughts for a moment, hope flashing through her eyes for but a moment as she soon noticed the gait of the other, and she was suddenly worried. Once he got closer, the worry turned to fear and Moth began to step towards Selby as she recognized the male, fear washing over her as he soon collapsed in front of her, and Moth got a good look at him, the wounds jumping out at her and her ears pinned to the back of her head. "S-selby." She would speak, shaking slightly as she began to get things from her bag, though she knew that she didn't have everything she'd need in order to help him here, and she'd have to somehow get Selby back to the main part of the territory - either to his own home or hers - in order to get the rest of the stuff they'd need, especially because she didn't have anything on her to treat burns right now.

Moth would reach into her bag, pulling out poppy seeds to help with the pain he was having before pushing them towards him, in an attempt to get him to eat them before pausing for a moment, waiting to make sure they were gone so she could continue without hurting him more. "Selby what happened?" She would take bandages from her bag, pressing them to his bag to try and stop the bleeding that was happening there, try to keep them clean, before looking towards him once more.

tags - penned by @ tikki

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[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]She truly was a sight for sore eyes. The immediate action that stemmed from her concern was a bit surprising, but welcome for sure. She was wonderful. Selby took the offered seeds, groaning a little when she touched his aching back. “The raid. I went to be a... a field medic, right? Someone. Some Pittian cornered me.” he rasped.

Even with the poppy seeds, the pain seemed to get worse. “Moth... Moth, it hurts,” he said. He knew he sounded childish and weak, but he couldn’t find it within himself to care very much. Am I gonna die? he thought. And then, harshly: I better not.

[trojan g.]

MOTH

"What if who I hoped to be was always me?"

Ears would prick once more as Moth listened to the words that came from the male's mouth, and suddenly she would stop, if only for a moment, as fear gripped at her chest and she let the words echo through her mind, blinking as she tried to grasp onto the words. She would continue her work as she thought, the words flowing through her mind as the pain and fear in her chest gripped her so tightly that she felt something shatter within her in response. Pain and confusion at how Selby could have put himself in so much danger, and how she had cowered back here. Didn't he know how much he meant to her? Of course not, she hadn't said anything, afraid of him leaving or dying after she confessed. She couldn't be mad at him for doing his job, but she was mad at herself for not being there with him, and mad at the Pittian that had attacked him.

Hot tears had begun to form in the corner of her eyes, only daring to fall when his weak words came out from his maw once more, and she would turn away for a moment to clear her thoughts before looking back to him. "I-it's ok, I know, but it'll be better, I'll make it better..." She drifted off for a moment only to speak once more, "I'm going to get you better because I love you Selby, a-and I need you, so I'm going to get you better."

Hopefully a miracle would come soon, and someone would show up to help.

tags - penned by @ tikki

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[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

The raid on the Pitt had taken a toll on everyone. Thankfully, mostly just the Pitt, but it had been one hell of a battle in general, and there had been many injuries sustained on both sides. Aurum had been one of the many fighters involved in the raid, throwing himself in with claws and teeth bared, flames enveloping him as he fought viciously against horrid Pittian opponents who claimed they were in the right. While in the battle, he had seen Selby be attacked by Roman, and he had been shocked, roaring loudly so that the medic could hear him, his warning coming just a moment too late. Aurum had meant to disengage from his fight with Kydobi to help Selby out, but then he had many opponents on him at once, and he attention was yanked cruelly away from the poor sawbone. Aurum had attempted to find Roman or Selby after he had managed to get away from the multitude of people fighting him, but by the time he could let his one blue eye glare around, no one was where either of them had been, an unnerving empty space where Selby had once stood. The Tanglewood guardsman had felt a spike of anxiety at the sight, but he hadn't been able to do anything about it, far too quickly yanked back into the fray of blood and war. He could only hope that Selby was alright, and that Tanglewood hadn't lost yet another good family member.

Thankfully, it seemed as though they hadn't. Once the battle had finally ended in a victory over the Pitt, Aurum had quickly scrambled from the crowd of fighters, ignoring the exhaustion that hung over him like a cloud as he took off into the air. Every muscle in his body was aching, and he had his own wounds to worry about as well, but he was far more worried about Selby, having not spotted the other again once everything had died down. Eventually, when he grew close to the Tanglewood border, he practically collapsed to the earth, sighing and pushing himself forward on foot as his wings hung limply at his sides. He could smell the distinct scent of Tanglewood, but more importantly he could also smell Selby... and blood. Immediately his heart sank, and he picked up the pace, arriving on the scene just in time to hear Moth's frantic mumblings about love and how she was going to make him better. Aurum found himself pausing at that, but shrugged it off fairly quickly, not entirely surprised. He had noticed the chemistry between Selby and Moth, the girl who was practically like a sister to him, but he tried not to get involved, not wanting to ruin anything. He could certainly understand saying something so emotional when someone you cared about was hurt. Slowly padding the rest of the way over, Aurum rumbled slightly breathlessly to Moth, "How... how can I help, Moth?" Truthfully he only knew the most basic of medical knowledge, but he was also large enough to carry Selby back to the main part of the territory, even in his current exhausted and injured state.

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[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]There was so much Moth wanted to ask Aurum to do, go get help, help her bring Selby to the main part of camp, go do so much that she couldn't do due to how small she was, but she could smell the blood and could see exhaustion on her brother as well, and knew that she couldn't ask him to do all that, couldn't ask him to do everything. "If you're able to, I need to to carry both of us, so I can keep pressure on the wounds, and take us to camp, so we can find Delilah or Misty, and have hem help. You both need help with your wounds..."

The battle was something that the longer she sat here, and the more of her friends and family she saw come back, she wished hadn't happened. It was for the best, she knew deep down, but those she cared about were getting hurt, and it was hard for her to handle.

[wormwood.]

i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck

with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest

Despite the fact that the guardsman was gripped tight in the jaws of exhaustion and his injuries at the moment, he wouldn't have turned down anything Moth had asked him in that moment. After all, she was his sister, and she came before him, and so did Selby. Still, it seemed as though Moth was holding back, and Aurum felt a frown come to his face, but he didn't argue, just dipping his head and rumbling softly in a slightly pained voice, "Don't worry, I can carry both of you. Might hurt a little, but I certainly didn't get it as bad as him..." A sigh left the lion as he moved over to Selby, leaning down to gently try and grab the medic's scruff in his jaws, and lift the other up onto his back, doing the same with Moth. The weight of the two felines on his back made his already injured muscles scream in agony, but he just flattened his ears and ignored it, his teeth gritted. Moth and Selby needed help, and he had achieved what he wanted in the raid, he should be happy. Turning around, Aurum slowly lumbered towards the main camp, trying to be as slow and careful as possible so that neither of the felines between his shoulder blades slipped and fell. As the scent of Tanglewood got stronger and stronger, he felt the strong pressure in his chest gradually release, relief flooding through his body as he took a deep breath. He mumbled to Moth as they got closer to camp, a feeling of guilt stabbing at him, "I'm... I'm sorry I didn't step in to protect Selby. I was going to, but then Kydobi got in the way, and I couldn't get away... I should've tried harder." The guardsman lowered his head a bit, his one blue eye filled with faint sorrow as he focused on the swamp beneath him, walking along.

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[selby roux !]

[align=center][div style="width: 51%; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -1px; font-family: georgia;"]As Moth poured out her affections for him, Selby found himself unable to speak. The sawbone was absolutely floored. She... she loved him? Surely just as a brother. Like Aurum. He groaned quietly as he was scooped up, immobilized by his pain. It was hard to think as he settled into his spot, pain slowly subsiding into something barely manageable. He breathed slowly as he focused his gaze on Moth beside him.

She was beautiful.

He sighed deeply. “Me too,” he said, cringing immediately after his lame and late response. “I mean- I mean I love you too. But not the same way you do, probably... I love you- love you... love you romantically. Not like just family. I’m sorry.” He cringed again, letting his head flop down. “Sorry.”

[trojan g.]

[align=center][div style="bgcolor= black; width: 500px; font-family: georgia;font-size:12px;text-align:justify"]Moth listened to the words Aurum spoke in response to her query, offering a thanks in return for the ride as she held Selby's wounds closed with her cloth as they walked, shaking her head at his words of trying to help the other out. "Th-there's nothing you could have done, you tried your best and that's the best part Aurum." Deep down, she wished that he had tried harder, but she knew that was a hopeless thing to wish for. What was in the past was in the past, and she knew that it couldn't be changed, but Selby was here now, he was bleeding and hurt, but he was here and he was going to be okay once they got back home, she knew that to be true, and that was the only important thing right now, getting those she loved home so she could help them.

When Selby spoke to her at last in response to her words, her ears would prick for a moment, soon pinning to her head as he continued. Not the same way she did? She made a fool of herself in front of him, only to find out that he did love her, but not in the same way? Then he continued, and she couldn't help but let a small smile fade onto her maw, her eyes lighting up slightly as he finished. "No Selby, don't apologize. I love you the same way." She would speak, leaning down as he let his head flop down onto Aurum's back, "I love you romantically too, not just like family."

It was odd, confessing their love to each other on the back of a lion as one of them bled out, but things had their time and place, and it seemed as though this was just theirs.