heart_of_courage | Sixteenth Flower [Audio]

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Sixteenth Flower [Audio]

[The sound clicks on, ragged breathing can be heard from the line]

Mihai... I f.f.ound more of those drawing s..symbol things...

I wanted to show you but I c..can't move... it hurts too much...

[A slight whimper follows]

Bridge... in the park, near the tree... some of those...weird pictures under it.

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--what?

[he blinks a couple times, trying to figure out what it is he just saw. Toboe was there and injured and now... a wolf? Regardless, the injury was the same, so there was no doubt that the two were the same. He would have to ask later. The wound was most important now.]

Here. Let me see if what I can do will help.

[He patted the top of the wolf's head gently before field dressing the wound. It was strange to do against fur instead of skin, but slightly effective]

[He watched Mihai hesitantly through mostly closed eyes, letting the old man wrap him up. The bandages didn't feel too awkward against his fur. This man was different than he had expected. He hadn't run, hadn't gotten angry, he was even still talking to Toboe. He licked Mihai's hand once in thanks, looking up at him.]

[uses the back of his hand to wipe blood out of his eye, where the wound is still bleeding persistently. Getting shot in the face by one he considered a son was bad once, but somehow it hurt worse this time... emotionally and physically]

I'm not sure what's going on here, Toboe, but that should slow the bleed a little. It's happening to a lot of people, so I don't know that there's anywhere we can go.

[glances over to the bridge, narrowing his eyes suspiciously]

[Toboe struggled to his feet, walking over to the bride and sitting in front of one of the walls, growling at the blood-painted symbol there before nudging the animal below it with a whine. He had liked the city, even when it threw him into the scary dreamworld or made him act out so angerily, but he didn't like the people doing this. He looked back at Mihai, his ears back, waiting for the old man to come look.]

[follows, frowning all the while. When he sees the animal that Toboe whined at, he knelt down (with some effort) and put a gentle hand on the furry back of the wolf's head. It felt odd, seeing that it was a wolf and not a dog, but if he were human, Mihai would put a hand on the boy's shoulder]

It's awful, what some people are capable of. I've seen some of the worst, and they still are able to surprise me.

[looks up at the symbol]

The symbol familiar to me, but I don't know what it means. Nothing good, obviously. Maybe it will end with this.... [but he was doubtful]

[Leans into Mihai's hand, looking up at him. He didn't understand the symbols or why anyone would do this, but he hoped Mihai was right, that it would end soon. He preferred to see the good in people, and this sort of thing made that hard. The pain in his back kept bringing up memories of his life before Desai... his death. No wonder the others weren't looking. With his ears back, Toboe laid down, resting his head on Mihai's knees]

[pets Toboe's head gently, while trying to make heads or tails of all of this. Nothing was coming to mind. It was all blood and pain. Religion was one thing, but what was happening to everyone didn't make any sense]

So you can't talk like this. A real wolf. [pause] That's fine. Just rest. There's nothing we can really do for now but wait.

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Sixteenth Flower [Audio]

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