Wandering Mess known as Swamp

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Swamp wanders hopelessly. His tail drags behind him and he doesn't care where he is going. In fact, he seems to be going in circles. Mud, leaves and twigs are stuck to his fur and his lifeless eyes scan the surrounding area without even noticing details.

He shifts a little at the sound of her voice but his eyes don't open again. Blood has began to pool around him, turning his fur black. He moans in pain.

"Oh no..." She grabs a clump of moss and wets it in the watering hole. Snow sets it down and lifts Swamp, dragging him of of the pool of blood. Flipping him over, she padded the moss onto the bleeding wound and pressed it. Looking around, she put the poppy seed down and got some moss. "All right..." She pressed the new moss into water and rubbed it onto his blood-soaked fur, managing to take some blood off. She grabbed some goldenrod and began chewing it to apply it onto his wound. Of course, she continued to press the first clump of moss onto his wound. "Just hang on. This will all be over soon." Shd tried her best to stay confident although on the inside she was weeping with fear.

Suddenly his eyes flashed open and he began coughing. This time he managed to keep his eyes open longer. He looked at Snow with fear in his eyes and said, "Snow if I die I want you to know I loved you and would have done anything for you..."

She looked into his eyes and tears started coming down her cheeks again. "D-don't say that Swamp! You're not gonna die! I won't let you!" She weeped. She pressed down the moss and took it off the wound, revealing the bloody gash. Her paws started trembling at the sight of the blood but she managed to spit the goldenrod on it and wrap it up with some cobwebs she picked from a bush earlier. "You're almost there. Just hang tight and the pain will be gone." She picked up the poppy seed from earlier again and put it next to his muzzle. :You have to eat two of these." She put her paw onto his softly and waited for his reply.

He lapped up the poppy seeds. "You won't get to see your brother as soon unless you leave me," he said quietly. He didn't want to hold her back. he didn't want to be the reason she couldn't see Ripple. Why did he have to get hurt just as she was getting better?

She shook her head. "Ripple can wait. Right now my mate his hurt so it's my job to take care of him and make sure he's better." She nodded, content on what she said and continued rubbing the moss on his fur until it was almost completely brown again. "Just try to relax. If you stress yourself too much the wound will hurt more," She told him. She looked around his body and pressed some cobwebs onto the small cuts on him.

He nodded a little looking at her. "Thanks Snow..." he said. "Sorry... I was showing off and I went too high." He was glad she at least knew something about herbs so he would be well looked after.

She nodded. "That's all right. We all like to show off once in a while. Trust me, when you're healed you can show off all you want." She smiled slightly at him and tossed the blood cobwebs away. "All right..." She took the bloody cobwebs off of the gash in his side and applied new ones. "I think you're all good. Nothing a few cobwebs, poppy seeds and goldenrod won't fix."

"Thanks, Snow, I'm already feeling a lot better," he tells her, smiling. "I'm a tad hungry though... I guess now you'll have to do the hunting..." He sighs, hating the feeling of being so useless.

She nods. "I'll go get the three pieces of kill we hunted back in the hunting ground." She padded back into the undergrowth and got the squirrel, vole, and mouse from earlier. "That should be enough." She had no problem with caring for Swamp. After all, they were even now. She returned ad dropped the three pieces in front of him. "Take your pick. I'll have the mouse." She pushed the mouse aside and sat next to Swamp, curling her tail around her paws.

He pulled the vole closer to him and began eating hungrily. "thanks Snow," he said quietly and finished off the vole, leaving a pile of bones. "I officially hate being injured. I feel so useless and helpless."

She laughs and takes a bite of her mouse. "I know that feeling. It's not great, but as long as you're with someone who is capable of lifting a paw and know's herbs, you'll be fine." She chew and takes another bite, pushing the leftovers aside. "At least we're even now."

"Yeah, even. You get hurt, I get hurt... I wasn't going for getting even though," Swamp says. He sighs then smiles up at her. "So how are you feeling? does your back feel better?"

She nods. "I'm pretty sure It's fully healed." She looks back at the cobwebs and licks her muzzle. "But otherwise I'm just a little sore." She nods and checks the cobwebs on his back. "Whoa... it's bleeding a lot more than I thought." She changes the cobwebs quickly and sits down.

he smiles. "I'm glad you're feeling better. Hopefully I heal fast so we can look for Ripple soon," he says. He looks at the wound a grimaces. "It looks very ugly...."

She nods. "Yeah... blood creeps me out though." She sits down next to him. "I'm more used to dealing with closed wounds, such as broken legs, broken paws, like that." She shuddered slightly and began was hing her bloody paws and pelt with wet moss.

"I'm not a huge fan of blood either... Usually blood is a bad sign," Swamp said. he looked at the cobweb covered wound again then back at Snow. "But at least we're together and both alive."

She nodded and scooted close to him to warm him up. "Yes... and that's a good sign." She smile and shook the water off her paws. "The day is moving along..." She looks at the setting sun in the distance. "Whenever you're ready we can get a nap."

He yawned and looked out at the sun too. "I'm tired, But I'd like a drink first.. I hate to ask but can you get me some water? I'd walk there but well," he says.

She nods and rips another piece of fluffy moss off the nearby tree and soaked it into the water, bring it over to Swamp. "There you go." She placed it in front of him and put the last piece of kill in front of the cave. "That can stay for tomorrow." She waited until he was done. "If you need some help walking to the cave I'll be happy to offer my side for you to lean on."

"Yes, please," he says. Looking dubiously at his side he hopes it will allow him to get to the cave without too much trouble. He slowly gets to his feet, leaning heavily on his uninjured side.

She takes slow steps matching Swamp's until they reach the cave. "All good?" She smiled and adjusted a piece of moss and a combination of leaves until it made a fluffy nest. She did the same with hers and sat down on it. Yawning, she watched Swamp quietly.

Swamp lies down in the nest and began to curls up but winced as it hurt his side. Slowly he stretches out and lets his eyes close. Within minutes he is snoring peacefully.

Snow nods, content with the atmosphere and curls up in her nest as well. She lightly places her tail on top of her paws and before long she's fast asleep, dreaming a whirlpool of the events today.

When Swamp wake up in the morning, he can feel the wound in his side. It's painful enough that he nudges Snow to wake her up. "Can I have poppy seed?" he asks.