MagiStream

Blaire stood over Aisling protectively, head low, lips curled in a snarl as they all stood off with the cats.

Brazen's ears twisted sideways just a little, expression softening toward Zoe as she apologized. He twisted his head to look at Sabi as she busted into the fight and started... stalling? Genius!

Liam cringed as Sabrina threw all caution to the wind and ran straight into the stand-off. He desperately wanted to run for cover and watch for an opening to help his friends from the cover of the trees, but it was too late - the cats had already seen them coming. So, he stood next to Sabrina as she traded words with the lead cat.

That cat with the star on her head smirked. She stared at the young wolf for a long moment until a few bird whistles echoed through the trees. Her eyes remained locked on Sabrina, but with a simple flick of her ear, all but two of the cats turned tail and shot down the hill, leaving the wolves alone. The two cats remaining flanked the starred leader as she took a step back, raising her head.
"I will not force you... today. When that one cannot be healed by your healers, and begins to show signs of maddness," She nodded toward Aisling, lying on the ground, "you will come to our village in peace, as I am the only one with the antidote for what has poisoned her. And then you will know then what kind of leader I am here." Without another thought or word, she and the two other cats turned and darted down the hill after the others.
(dun, dun, DUUUUUN! )

Brazen and Liam both glanced around, confirming the cats were gone.
"What did she mean by that?" Blaire demanded, risking a step back and sniffing Aisling "Are you alright? What did they do to you? What did she mean by saying that about you?"
Brazen whimpered, "Maybe the madness in the rogue wolves we've found has something to do with the cats?"
Liam continued to scan the area, "Can we answer these questions someplace else, maybe?"

((oh, well done ; I didn't see that coming. nice one ))

Sabrina frowned when she heard everything the leader said, her ears flattening a bit against her head in worry for her friend after the former signaled to the majority of the cats to leave.
Zoe also looked worried as well as a bit crestfallen when she heard their friend going mad from the poison. She then thought that this might have all been a trick and trap as well as Ash being the possible target all along though she didn't say that out loud just yet. They both heard the questions that Blaire, Brazen, and Liam asked, though the last three questions Blaire asked were directed mostly at Ash Sabrina said in reply, "Let's get back to camp and get the questions answered there as we're feeling a bit exposed right now."

Aisling looked up at Blaire when she heard the questions he asked her, opening her mouth to reply to them shortly afterward but then heard what Brina said and closed her mouth again. She then let out another pained whimper and tried to get up, but it hurt too much to move at the moment. "I might need a bit of help getting up and going back to camp," she said to him a bit weakly as her vision was starting to blur.

The reinforcements arrived on the scene when Sabrina and company were discussing what they were, seeing that one of them was really bad off in being injured. Some of them moved to help Blaire with Aisling and then the rest went over to the others to see if they were okay and to also assist them in getting back to camp as well as being their protection in case the cats came back.

Without much thought, Blaire shifted into his human form and started scooping Aisling into his arms. He welcomed the help to lift her and make it more comfortable for her as they made their way to the village. He dug his fingers into her fur gently, hoping with every fiber of his being that she would be okay.

Brazen stayed in place to cover the backs of everyone helping Aisling, but no cats appeared. The forest had gone eerily silent.
As soon as he turned with the rest of the wolves to leave, he brushed up next to Zoe, making sure she was okay, then he nudged Sabi's shoulder, "Stalling was a good move, sis. Good thinking."
Liam snorted and rolled his eyes skyward. "It was rash." He squinted at Sabrina "You could've been hurt... again."

Aisling lost consciousness shortly after Blaire lifted her into his arms but then a little while afterward, she fought her eyelids a bit to stay conscious enough for a bit. "I'm sorry," she said softly with tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "It was my fault. I'll explain everything to your dad once we're at your aunt's healing hut and also answer your questions you had asked earlier after she heals me." After she said this statement, she fell unconscious again.

Zoe nudged Brazen a bit when she felt him brush up against her and said quietly to him, "I'm okay. You guys arrived before I could be injured."
"Thank you," Sabrina said in reply to her brother's compliment with a smile and a brush of the shoulder back before she heard what Liam said afterward and her smile faltered a bit. "Yes I could've been but I didn't and I thought that was the only way to get the rest of us out of the situation unharmed until the reinforcements I thought our mom had sent to us could get to where we had been to help. We can continue to argue/discuss this later. For now let's just get back to camp so that Aisling can be seen to by Aunt Tami and hopefully healed completely," she said in reply before picking up the pace slightly until she was behind the wolves that were helping with getting Ash back to camp that also included Blaire. She was also trying to disguise the fact that she was upset with being worried for her other friend, which she hoped her other brother and hopeful mate wouldn't see. "How's she doing?" she asked Blaire when she was on the other side of him.

Blaire blinked his stinging eyes as tears threatened to overflow from them at Aisling's words. He held her close and whispered, "Don't be sorry. You'll be okay." He looked at his sister and she came to his side, "Auntie will fix her. I know it. She'll be fine." His voice sounded convinced and certain, but inside, his heart quaked and he doubted his own words.

Brazen squinted back at Liam, "Not everyone can take the time to think things to death like you, Liam." He said after his sister's rebuttal.
Liam again rolled his eyes, but made no reply.

“I hope so,” Sabrina said in reply to everything her brother said while feeling a bit more hopeful than she had earlier before noticing that they had made it back to camp. She thanked the wolves that had come to their aid before they dispersed to take care of other things and she made her way to their aunt’s healing hut to see if she was in. “Aunt Tami?” she called into the hut after shifting back to human form and before walking into the hut.
Tami was taking care of things in the back of the healing hut when she heard her niece call into the main area of it for her. “Hey Sabrina. What’s wrong?” she asked her curiously after making her way there afterward.
“We need your help in healing Aisling if you can. She was attacked by some werecats and she got hurt really badly,” Sabrina said in reply as Tami made her way over to where Blaire was and holding her hurt friend.
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do,” she said in reply before getting to work in starting to heal her.

Zoe walked back with Brazen and Liam, hearing everything that Sabrina said to the latter boy after he has said what he did after the former boy had complimented her friend on her good thinking as well as what the former boy also said to the latter boy afterward. When they neared the camp, she saw Sabrina and Blaire go into it while also watching as the reinforcements dispersed to go about their everyday duties around the pack. “I’m going to go look for your dad to make my report to him as well as to bring him to the healer’s hut so that Ash can do the same once she becomes conscious again,” she said before nuzzling Brazen a bit in the side before going off to do what she said she was going to do.

»*Doctor Who phone booth noises traveling through space* small ts to the next day *Doctor Who phone booth noises traveling through space*«

The next morning found Ash sleeping peacefully in the healer’s hut, but with a burning forehead due to having a small fever which caused her to shiver under the covers. She was curled up in a small ball of sorts, trying to stay warm even though she was shaking uncontrollably. Tami was there, trying to help keep her cool although it was a bit hard in the other girl’s current position. It seemed that her fever was a bit worse than what Sabrina had when she had been injured by the werecats.

Meanwhile, Sabrina was in a meeting with her parents and a few other members of their pack and discussing what they could do with the cats. She was still worried about her friend of course but she also tried to keep her mind on the discussion that was currently happening at that moment.
Zoe was in the hut with Sabrina and the others, but then she left a few times during it to do some new duties that were assigned to her due to her part in the attacking of the werecats which she understood and did without complaining since she understood the consequences of her actions.

Brazen sighed as he listened to the continuing argument between counsel members about whether the pack should try to parlay with the werecats, or whether they should attack them. But, there was the question whether the Medicine Cat's warning about the madness held any merit, and if it did, then it would be too dangerous to attack. But if it didn't, then she was bluffing for a reason, likely because their pride was weak, and the wolves could easily wipe them out. Or maybe it was a trap and that's exactly what she wanted. But then there was the question about why the werecats would want war, and where the heck they even came from in the first place.
The Alpha, Brazen's uncle, listened intently as the argument continued. Brazen noticed his eyes were starting to show signs of boredom, however, and that was a good sign that he would stop the argument soon and bring a resolution to the table. Or give the counsel a recess and take some time to think about it.
Brazen looked to the side as Zoe entered the dark room again, coming back from another assignment. He patted the seat next to him, then pulled her in close as she sat next to him. "Any word on Aisling?" He asked in a soft whisper.

Liam and Blair were both out on patrol. Blair couldn't stand watching Aisling suffer and had to occupy his mind with something else. Liam didn't want him to be alone, so they silently patrolled the parameter of the village, along with several other groups of wolves. They should have already gone for a break already. Twice. But Blair couldn't take one. He was still too worried. So, Liam continued to patrol with him, trying to silently support his friend in any way he could.
A group of pups chased each other down the path that Liam and Blair were near, giggling and laughing.
Before Liam could say anything, Blair charged the pups and snapped at them, making one of them fall over backwards with a loud "YIPE! YIPE! YIPE!"
"Where are you going?" Blair snapped at them again, "Don't you remember that the Alpha's put the village on high alert? No one leaves the village!"
One of the braver pups stepped forward, though his tail was tucked between his legs, "We... we just wanna go to the pond to play. It's boring in the village."
"Too bad." Blair growled. He stared at the pups until they got the point and turned around and slowly sulked back toward the village with heads and tails low.
Liam sighed and Blair looked at him. They exchanged silent looks, then Blair sighed and shook his head, sitting down and scratching at his ear worriedly.

Sabrina sighed softly as she heard the escalating arguments ensue while looking around the room to see what everyone else was doing, finding some asleep or slowly getting there and others with bored expressions on their faces. One of the ones that was bored was the Alpha, their uncle, and she wondered if he'd end it in the next fifteen minutes or so if there wasn't a solution around then. She thought that now would be a good time to catch up with Liam and Blaire on their patrol and silently got up, leaving the hut shortly afterward.
Zoe finished the assignment she had been working on and headed back to the hut where the meeting was being held, seeing Brina emerge from there to head to the woods. They nodded in acknowledgment to each other before the latter shifted and ran through the woods to catch up to both her love and other sibling and she (Zoe) went back inside, finding Brazen and sitting next to him at his beckoning. "She has a really bad fever, worse than what Brina had, but it should hopefully go down soon. I helped your aunt put cool wet cloths on Ash's forehead and arms to help break it on the way back here," she said in reply to his soft question while resting her head against his shoulder when he pulled her in close.

Sabrina saw the three young pups running back towards the village with their tails between their legs and wondered if her brother had snapped at them, ending up being right when she saw them up ahead and the latter was scratching at his ear with a worried expression on his face. "Hey guys. Blaire, you should go see Ash so that you can feel better. We all know that when you're worried, you get cranky which makes you not be in a not so good mood. You can catch up to us once you've seen her and it makes your worry for her lessen," she said when she sat near them after getting to where they were.

Blaire growled softly at his sister "I'm fine." He insisted.
Liam sat down across from Blaire "You could go check on her and see if she needs anything."
Blaire hesitated, then sighed. "FINE." And without another word, he got up and stomped toward the village.
Liam sighed and let out a long yawn, ending it with a soft whine. "It's about time he left. He's nearly worn me out." He looked at Sabrina "How are you doing?"