hurt. |p|

[Gale]

//it took forever, but i finally got around to it! sorry for the wait!!

In his hurt, broken body, wracked with pain, the tom could only force himself to go as far as the abandoned farmhouse before he was close to collapsing. Gritting his teeth in fury at himself, at his incapability to even take a few more steps, he set himself down, hidden in the shadow of a hay bale, blood soaking through his fur from the open wound stretched across his shoulder.

He stretched out his long legs, which were aching in protest from all of his running. The tall, gray tom had managed to bound all the way across the lush meadow before he slowly started to feel lightheaded and faint and, against his instincts, forced himself to stop.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, he cursed at himself as he ran his tongue over his wound, tasting irony saltiness. He shuddered, but froze when he heard the footsteps of another cat.

"Leave," he ordered immediately, though his voice was weaker than ever before. Probably from bloodloss.

Cleo

[Cleo]

Cleo was still trying to figure out the whole den situation. She wanted to be close to the meadow-it had all the herbs she could need. Yet she still wanted to be close to the farm. It reminded her of home, and she loved the company of sheep.

Cleo shook out her mottled fur, deciding to head back to the farm and see if it was suitable for sleeping in. It would be just for the night, since she knew many other cats stayed around there, and she didn't want to take over their homes. Just as she was about to leave, the fresh, coppery scent of blood filled her nose. It was clear it was coming from a cat.

Cleo's instincts kicked in, and she quickly grabbed what she thought she might need. Marigold, goldenrod, burdock root. She clamped it all carefully in her jaws before runnin forward, stopping to swipe some cobwebs off a few rocks. Her front paw dangled in the air with the webs as she hobbled forward.

Cleo was startled when she found the cat, who instantly told her to leave. She dropped everything in her mouth, panting slightly. "I can fix you." She tried hard to silence her thick French accent. She took a few hesitant steps forward, trying to get a better look at the wound. "What happened?"

[Gale]

Gale eyed this stranger suspiciously, striking amber eyes flashing with either septicemic or pain. He glanced up and down the she-cat, flicking one of his ears.

"I can fix you,"

"Can you, now?" he meowed, voice dry, but the sheer amount of blood he had lost, and was continuing to lose, was enough to make him shift ever so slightly, so the moonlight streaming in through the aged roof illuminated the wound.

Gale didn't break his striking gaze from this stranger as she stepped forward. When her question was asked, he pondered it for a moment. He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all, in such a weak position in front of a stranger, who could easily kill him right now if she wanted to.

And yet she was helping him.

Why?

"Fox," he muttered darkly after a few moments. "He... I thought..." he closed his mouth again, wondering how to phrase it.

"I thought I'd smelled my sister's scent on him."

//awww cleo's such a sweetheart. i'm sorry gale's such a jerk c:

[Cleo]

(Hehe, Cleo needs to learn that not everyone is gonna be friendly right off the bat)

Cleo kept her calm green eyes locked with his striking amber eyes, her body posture relaxed. She could tell that he felt vulnerable, so she did her best to make herself look small and relaxed.

"I'm so sorry." Cleo stated, her voice sympathetic and genuine. He had said that it was a fox, and he thought he smelled his sister. "Do you know if you're sister is okay?"

Cleo flicked her ears back, taking a step back to grab the herbs she had brought. "Please, let me help..." Cleo's voice had dropped into a soothing whisper as she grabbed at the cobwebs, moving closer to him. If he would let her, she would have to stop the bleeding first.

[Gale]

His eyes were unwavering, met with the she-cat's calm, green ones, when she asked the question about his sister.

"I haven't seen her in moons," he meowed lightly, as if it meant nothing to him. Sure, it did, but she didn't need to know that.

"Please, let me help..."

Perhaps it was how relaxed the she-cat's voice was, perhaps it was how small she looked compared to him, perhaps it was the pain that was, worryingly, dulling quite a bit, because he finally let go.

"I'm all yours," he meowed blankly, shifting his shoulder so it was in easy access.

[Cleo]

A frown of pity stretched on her face as he stated that he hadn't seen his sister in moons. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll find her someday." She smiled. It was obvious that she truly believed it.

Cleo nodded in relief as he allowed her to help him, and she quickly snatched the cobwebs into her paw. "Sorry if this hurts." She stated softly, pressing down onto the wound harshly. It would take a lot of pressure to stop the bleeding.

Once the bleeding had slowed, Cleo carefully removed her paw. "Put pressure on it." She ordered, although her voice wasn't bossy. She went back to the herbs she had brought, chewing them up into a thick paste.

[Gale]

A cold breath escaped him as the she-cat pressed down on the wound, but he held down any obvious signs of distress or pain. Though slowly, he could feel the blood flow begin to subside, along with the pain.

He pressed down on the cobwebs when he was asked to, knowing better than to argue. This stranger, whoever she was, seemed hell-bent on healing him. Admittedly, it was kind. It just confused Gale.

The entire time she worked, Gale didn't break his striking amber eyes from her, watching her every small movement with perhaps uncomfortable intensity.

[Cleo]

Cleo could feel his intense stare on her, yet she felt no amount of discomfort. Perhaps, she was used to it. Cats around here lacked any trust; they tried hard to understand a cat with a simple look, yet at the same time they could care less about who you were. Strange.

Once she had finished chewing up the herbs, she padded over to him, moving the cobwebs and spitting it down onto his wound. She always thought it must be a lot grosser on the receiving end. Cleo considered herself lucky that she had never truly been wounded. "You're gonna be okay, maybe just law low for a bit." With that she wrapped the spider webs tightly around him.

"Are you hungry? I could try and catch something for you, if you'd like." Cleo smiled kindly, sitting down, rather close to him. She never payed attention to personal boundaries. She really didn't have many herself.

[Gale]

"I'm not hungry."

He continued to survey the she-cat, completely confused, as she sat down rather close to him. He resisted the urge to spring away - after all, she did just save him a lot of pain, and why would she have bothered if she just wanted to kill him? Besides, she didn't seem the killing type. Much too nice. But too nice could also indicate madness within.

He continued to gaze at her, seriously hoping she wasn't some serial killer.

"Why are you helping me?" he suddenly asked, giving a steady blink, eyes trained on the she-cat's own. "Why bother? You don't know me. What difference is it to you if I die?" 

[Cleo]

Cleo's gaze was unwavering as he observed her, no doubt still unsure if she was a threat or not.

A frown slowly made its way onto her face, and she shook her head softly at the questions he was asking. She felt bad for cats like Gale, who never knew of goodness in cats, without ulterior motives.

"You're hurt, I could never leave anyone alone like that." The answer was a rather simple one, but it was the truth. If she really thought, she wasn't exactly sure why she always helped. Perhaps it was the way she was raised.

"If I had left you to die, I couldn't live with myself." She admitted softly.