~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Morrigan dropped low to the ground, her breathing heavy and blood running down her arm freely, pooling in her palm as a crimson colour. Her head dropped onto her chest and she gazed at the dripping blood, a rather deep gash ran alo her bicep in a jagged fashion. She blew out a tired breathe after she had secured a tourniquet over the wound; then, sat back onto her haunches puzzling over what she shall do next with herself. To turn back or continue forward to find the beast whom caused her ill? A free, unbloodied hand reached up and passed through the waves of her deep brown hair and she tugged her head back to look up at the sky. A gust of wind chilled her skin in the already freezing landscape, she shivered but ignored her strife. Instead she prayed to the Gods that her sister be fine and her strength remain true. With her mind made up she jumped back up onto her feet and trudged into the snow, drops of blood following her path. An unpleasant image in such a stark environment.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
! Flashback !
'Gods help me through this pain!' Her mind felt numbed by sorrow.
Her younger sister, Inness, lay on the families dining table, her skin as pale as the snow outside, her beautiful features frozen in time and drawn with pain. She was on deaths door. Inness had been outside in the small cottage yard that backed onto the woods... yet she wasn't careful enough. 'Wolves' was the only thing the young girl managed to squeak out before she had passed out from the pain that ravaged her little body. A rather large, single bite mark, ran the length of her thigh and tore deeply into her flesh without hesitation. Two canines were easily marked out by their depth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Her eyes followed it's movements, it's lithe body twisting with grace through the bare trees of winter and it's hide covered with spots of blood. It sensed Morrigan yet she just remained still, her breath frosting in front of her face in a flurry, she eye'd the animal curiously as it paced back and forth between trees before halting and looking back at Morrigan with it's own amber eyes. Something spoke to her in that moment, a sort of familiar pain seen in the wolfs eyes and it tore at her heart with it's invisible claws. Morrigan let her body weight drop against the tree, a profound feeling of compassion and sorrow wracking her body- she walked forward with tentative steps, stretching her uninjured hand, palm up, towards the wolf.
Angry rumblings reverberated through the wolf but it did not bare it's canines at her, so Morrigan continued forwards at a slow pace. She dropped to her knees in front of the creature, ignoring the bite of cold, watched quietly as it sniffed her palm, nipping at her finger tips with anger before dropping to it's haunches. 'There is something odd about this one,' Morrigan muttered to herself as she pulled her hand in back towards herself. The wolf growled low in it's throat at that movement but made no move for attack- it's muscles tensed instead. A bloodied pawprint later and it was shoving it's paw towards Morrigan's knees. Blood dripped from a wound on the paw.
An arrowhead jutted from the underside of the foot. Did the beast want the woman to take it out? Surely not.. yet there the creature was, staring right at her with pleading golden eyes. Morrigan reached forward and touched the paw with her fingertips- seeing no reaction continued to the underside of the foot. Keeping eye contact with the wolf she tugged hard at the weapon and it slipped free. The wolf didn't thank her in anyway, nor could it, it just stood, turned and limped away leaving Morrigan stunned and breathless.
