It was a beautiful day in the lands Elcid deemed as her home. She'd met with Oracle and Zane earlier in the day to receive her dose of medication before setting out to explore, searching for any sorts of items she could tinker with back at home. Around her body wrapped a cloth formed to create a pouch that ran along her side. It was of basic make but was one of her proudest achievements to date: the pouch of endless holding. It didn't matter what she shoved into her pouch. As long as it fit into the opening, whatever she put inside it simply fit and weighed next to nothing. Such a contraption allowed her to store various heavier items without worrying about tiring: rocks, pieces of metal, plates, cups, tools, vials, syringes, whatever she could find.
Elcid had happened across the most peculiar hidden laboratory in her travels. It looked to have been long forgotten and grown over. Whoever had owned it had either left it to be, or died or disappeared from the lands. After breaking down some of the foliage on the outside that guarded the entrance, Elcid had made her way inside the laboratory. She quickly went to work, eagerly stuffing anything and everything into her pouch. She was careful (or so she thought) not to disrupt or knock over any remaining ongoing experiments. She took care not to knock over the vials on the counters but, she'd failed to see the vial on the ground. With a careless kick of a rear paw she suddenly felt herself brush against the glass and a sudden puff of yellow smoke quickly filled the room. Elcid fell into a coughing fit and before she could rush out of the laboratory, she fell unconscious. Whatever she had kicked over had been highly toxic.
When Elcid woke and came to, she was most certainly not in the laboratory she last remembered. The first sensation that came to her was wet. Water. Lots and lots of water. Her body hurt and felt like it had been ripped into pieces only to be sewn back up again. She tried to breathe and suddenly felt water suck deep into her lungs. That wasn't normal. Her body rejected the water, sputtering it up in exchange for the potential for air. Air. It came to her as her head breached the surface of the water, her lungs swelling as she gasped for the sweet substance. The moment was fleeting, however, as the currents shoved her back underneath the water once more. Her body spun in the currents and she immediately lost the knowing of up versus down. Her four legs flailed, scraping against the rocks beneath the rushing current.
SMACK!
A mind shattering pain struck Elcid hard as her body collided with the large boulders beneath the surface. There was no escape for her. The current had her in it's grasp and she was at mercy of it's torment and play. Blessed was the current as just when she felt herself fading, it pushed her up towards the surface once more. She gasped again, trying to paddle and keep herself afloat, but it was no good. The current continued to toy with her and pulled her beneath once more.
CRACK!
She felt her shoulder collide with another boulder. No doubt in her mind - somehow it processed it - that her shoulder would be broken if she survived this. If she survived this. She wasn't sure what hell she'd accidentally stumbled into, but she was sure it was a Hell.
Suddenly there was no water pulling and playing with her. Elcid registered air coursing through her fur, and the sensation of flight, no, falling. She couldn't fly. She didn't have wings like the birds she loved to watch and pounce after, the same birds she loved to hear cursing her up from the branches. Her green eyes shifted and searched to identify what might be happening to her. She saw an emptiness below - no she saw the same raging current below accompanied by sharp rocks at the bottom - begging for her to join it. Her legs flailed to keep her from plummeting to no avail. Down and down she fell, thrown from the top of the waterfall to rejoin the current at the bottom.
SPLASH!
Her body crashed into the waters beneath and once more Elcid found herself lost beneath the surface of the turmoil. The impact had stung terribly and if she had access to air, she would have screamed. Air. She needed air. She needed air more than anything. Her instincts kicked in, pushing her to paddle with all four legs. It was only because of the current that Elcid survived. Like a gentle mother further downstream, the current deposited the body of Elcid gently on shore, washing her up and lapping tenderly at her broken body. Was she alive? Who knew.
Dos trotted through the forest curiously, taking in the sights and sounds that were so different to the ones she was used to. The adventurous vixen was slowly making her way around the world, enthused about finally exploring the wider world and returning to inform her mother and sister about all the strangest things she could encounter. She hadn't gone too far yet - at least, not in her opinion. Her family made its home in the Ancient Ruins, the trees and brush around them providing perfect shelter for a small skulk of vulpines and the ruins themselves made for a great playground. Dos had fond memories of chasing her sister up and over the fallen artifacts, giggling while their mother watched them fondly from their den. The waterfall felt like a great place to start her efforts into journeying out - far enough for her to feel like a real explorer but close enough still go right back home in only a few days - in fact, if she travelled without rest she could easily make her way back home in only one.
It was this certainty, this security in her safety that resulted in a frightened jump; her tail bristled in light surprise in response to the wet fluffy wolf laying on the sandy-beach.
The twin-tailed fox crept forward carefully, lowering her head and sniffed the body curiously. She kept her body tense, eyes sharp and ready to dart off at a moment's notice should it move. It wasn't uncommon for predators and prey alike to play dead - prey to convince predators to leave them alone but more importantly to Dos, predators to capture foolish curious prey's throats between their jaws. She kekked lightly at the body, reflexively flinching away as she watched. When she received no response, she straightened up with pricked ears and a curious expression. She couldn't smell any blood but the wolf was so soaked that it could easily just be buried beneath the soaking wet pelt.
Elcid came to conscious slowly and painfully. Her legs moved instinctually to try and push her figure up and she vaguely registered that her front left leg ceased to obey her order. Her right leg moved and she started to lift herself up, only to collapse back to the ground once more. She groaned at the pain as it shot through her back and body from the action and impact, even as light as the impact had been.
"Hello?"
A voice! Excitement hit Elcid first. A voice! She wasn't alone! There was another creature here with her! But then fear quickly overtook her. A voice. She wasn't alone. There was another creature here with her. She was absolutely in no condition to defend herself from another creature should they be hostile towards her - and in this vulnerable state, she couldn't help but be as defensive as she could be. Her emerald eyes darted around for the source of the sound and they fell on a fox-bodied character, but with a peculiar pelt like none she'd ever seen before. The red hues across the fox's body were pretty, she immediately thought, but it didn't stop her from lifting her lips at the wolf - showing her teeth in a display.
"Don't think I'm helpless because I'm down here!" It was the only thing she could think of saying to the other creature and knew instantly that it probably had little to no impact in the form of intimidation. It was hard to be intimidating, after all, being a crumbled mess on the shore of the river and literally unable to stand. "If you want to hurt me, I'll put up a fight." Not that she was good at fighting. Really, she wasn't good at much of anything except being broken on the shore of a river, apparently.
Dos jumped back when the presumed corpse started moving - good, she'd been right that the waterlogged body was alive. No predators were gonna catch her off-guard. No point in being too close to it though - injured or not, a wolf was a wolf and the last thing the young fox wanted was to return home and inform her mother that she'd have to rename her "Half" or "Minus" if the gray she-wolf ripped one of her precious tails from her back. She took another cautious step back when the wolf furthered their resolve by growling and showing teeth at her.
Not interested in dying today, Dos mused to herself, her gentle sparks of electricity beginning to jump across her pelt from her nerves.
If I wanted to hurt you, I could've just left you to the shore," Dos voiced absently. Because the falls were a peaceful place and very popular for creatures of all kinds to venture in. Truly it would only be a matter of time before something bigger and scarier than Dos would ever be appeared on the crest of the jungle, seeking the clear and gentle waters that pooled at the base. "How'd you get hurt so bad anyway? This place is usually safe-ish."
Even in her pained and scared state, Elcid noticed the bits of electricity that started to jump across the fox's figure. Was that a threat in response? Was she preparing some larger attack? Elcid's eyes grew wide and weary as she tried to twist herself around, wincing as she yet again attempted to stand, only to fall back down - this time on her stomach - once more. The fox spoke, declaring that the shore could have made work of her. Elcid's scared growl - all teeth shown - heightened. Was that a threat? She wasn't the best at percieving other's intentions or emotions, especially in such a vulnerable state. Everything inside her screamed that the best defense was an impressive offence, though she was failing horribly in this department.
"How'd you get hurt so bad anyway? This place is usually safe-ish." The question from the fox made Elcid's scared growl lower. How had she ended up hurt so badly? "I... I don't know really. One moment I was poking through an abandoned laboratory and the next I was beneath the water, fighting for my life. I remember crashing into some of the rocks in the current, trying desperately to catch my breath, then the next moment I was flying. No. Not flying. I was falling, and beneath me was the bottom of the waterfall with the current ready to sweep me away once more. Hitting the water hurt really bad." Elcid shuddered at the words, remembering the jolt as what little air her lungs had managed to grasp during the fall were knocked out of her at the impact. "Now I'm here with a fox asking me questions."
Having caught her breath once more, Elcid tried for a third time to get to her paws. With a sharp inhale of air, she pushed with her front two legs, her left leg immediately giving out and causing her to yelp sharply. She staggered and shifted her weight, trying to use her hind legs with her good front leg to lift herself up. Her left front leg remained dangling loosely. "Have you seen a male wolf around here with purple marks across his body? Very bright purple eyes? Goes by the name Zane."
Elcid then suddenly fell into a coughing fit, hacking as her body racked with the jarring motion. It took everything in her power to remain standing, and there, at her paws, was a mixture of water and black bile. "Oh no."
Dice Roll:
Success - Elcid remains standing past her coughing fit.
Failure - Elcid falls and crumbles back down on the shore of the river.
Dos moved forward again, initial wariness killed off by the overwhelming curiosity she felt. Well that and it was obvious that she could probably outpace the injured wolf very easily. Without a genuine threat to her life, the vixen was more than happy to sniff the wolf all over; regardless of how slightly invasive that could be. The electricity dancing across her easily began flickering out; most of it condensing into the amber-bead strung around her neck as she wasn't preparing to attack. She offered a gently wagging tail, ignoring the bared teeth with the security of a cub facing a trapped bear.
She listened to the tale of how the she-wolf ended up injured and soggy on the beach, her twin tails wagging harder with every sentence. This was great! This was exactly the kind of adventure she wanted to report home to her mother and sister! A mysterious villain enacting violence against those innocently exploring the area - what a fantastic turn of events!
Well, except that this wolf got hurt, she reminded herself.
"A villain attacked you from the shadows," Dos declared, half in awe and half with enthusiasm. "You should totally go on a quest for revenge! I can help!"
She was dancing lightly as she added, "And I'm not just a fox, I'm Dos!"
She twisted around to proudly display both of her tails in explanation - she's totally ahead of the rest of her kind to be born with two tails instead of gaining them later in life and she was proud of it. Sure that meant she had to work double hard because others thought she was older than she was, but the cool factor could never die.
She quickly moved back when the other stood, her ears immediately pointing forward once more. Honestly she was kind of impressed - Dos likely wouldn't've tried to stand so soon after almost drowning. Better to just suffer the embarrassment of laying weakly on the beach until sundown - or until a scavenger came trying to pick at her pet.
"Never heard of him," Dos confessed honestly. "You're one of the first wolves I've seen up close."
And that was true too. Most of the time, wolves didn't react kindly to foxes (or their close cousins, coyotes) and her mother had made sure she knew that. So Dos obediently avoided lupines with the ability to turn her into stuffing.
Her ears pulled back at the she-wolf's aggressive coughing, vomiting up the water with a combination of bile. She's half-hunched; watching with mild concern and revulsion as her delight at finding a good adventure slowly faded.
"Uh," said Dos nervously. "You should probably get that looked at."
The young vixen rushed towards Elcid just as she managed to get to her paws, causing Elcid to bristle her fur. Suddenly there was heavy sniffing noise coming from the fox and though scared she was, she paused in her fear aggression and remained stock still, reluctantly letting the fox satisfy her curiosity. What a weird interaction she thought inwardly to herself. She'd never been one to actively hunt down foxes back at home, but they were smaller than her and competition at that. They both equally hunted small vermin.
The fox then suddenly declared something that made Elcid forget her fear aggression and look at the fox with a tilted head and perked ears. A what did what to her? She supposed that it could make sense. She'd been so careful in the laboratory not to knock anything over, and yet somehow she'd been engulfed in a yellow gas regardless. Perhaps she hadn't been alone. Perhaps the other wolf who had whisked her away into this realm had contained some sort of magic - maybe magic like hers - and had pulled the ultimate prank on her. She then began to wonder, did the wolf (or creature, how would she even know what sort of beast this villain was!) intentionally drop her over the river, or was that a mistake? The more Elcid pondered the situation and possibility, the more she realized she had zero of the answers.
While she pondered, the fox introduced herself as Dox, then promptly showed off her duel tails. Elcid had to resist the urge to reach out and grab them to play with. Fox tails were so fluffy and soft and besides the fact that Dox probably wouldn't enjoy the sensation, she was worried that if she took even one step, she'd fall flat on her stomach once more. Another dose of realization was administered to Elcid. This fox - no Dos - hadn't seen Zane around in the area. The final comment from Dos made Elcid chuckle with agreement. "I already have had it looked at. That's why I asked about Zane." And other reason she didn't share. The bile was just the start of her weakening condition. If she didn't get her treatments soon, it would get significantly worse from here. "Dos, do you know anyone who can help fix a broken appendage? Maybe medicine for all my aches and pains? Once I'm feeling better, maybe we can start figuring out the clues to who did this to me." It felt weird to her, teaming up with a fox, but this Dos seemed to be willing to help her from the excitement she had shown earlier and Elcid was certainly not above accepting help from a stranger. "I'm Elcid." she added as an afterthought before trying to take a step forward with her three paws and wincing at the pain. It was a move that indicated that she'd follow the fox, should Dos chose to help her.
If Dos recognized her invasion of Eclid's personal space to sniff her was weird or strange, she didn't show it. The fox seemingly impervious to the social norms and conventions associated with just sticking her nose into another's pelt. She was more focused on being satisfied that the she-wolf seemed to be truly thinking upon her encounter with a villain. She danced a little, tapping her paws playfully against the grass - she really hoped the blue-wolf would agree to let her tag along! She wanted to face a villain, solve mysteries and become a hero! Her electricity sparked up again as she wagged her twin tails excitedly - this was a great start!
The cross-fox tilted her head, a slightly knowing glint entering her eyes when she saw the wolf follow her tail with her eyes. Dos was incredibly proud of her twin tails and as such, took immaculate care of them. Twin-tailed foxes were held to slightly higher standards in appearance than single-tails and Dos wasn't inclined to tarnish their reputations. She ensured that she washed them both everyday - not just with her tongue but with water and picked any stray twigs and leaves from them; thus they were fluffier and silkier than the average set of tails.
"Oh," Dos murmured to herself, an expression of concern proper dawning on her face. She was new to this area so she wasn't actually very useful in knowing where anyone was. She'd take her back to her mother and sister, but on that injured leg; Dos was wary to guide her through the thick of the jungle. it would put her in the way of many kinds of predators and prey alike. Dos supposed she could try but she decided she'd be upfront about her experience. "I'm not actually from around here - I grew up in the ruins so I don't know of any healers. I can try to help - mama taught me some stuff when I said I wanted to adventure - but um... I'm not what you'd call a professional..."
She could keep herself from dying and maybe stop an infection from setting in but whatever special care the she-wolf needed for spitting out black vomit.... well, she was certainly on board with helping to find 'Zane.'
The excitement and enthusiasm that bubbled up in the fox's body seemed to wither away. "I'm not actually from around here..." she started, explaining how she didn't know any healers and wasn't much of one herself outside of basics. 'Shit' Elcid thought to herself, not towards Dos, but more a way of swearing out her realization that she might be in worse shape than she thought. If her suspicion was correct, if something was broken in her leg or shoulder and it didn't get set properly, she could sustain a permanent injury. 'Shit shit shit'. Elcid took another limp forward to put distance between the evil river and herself, then settled down into a sit. Moving had absolutely helped her back and the rest of her body from feeling so stiff. Just how long had she been laying there on the shore? She tenderly put her injured leg down to test it and yelped instantly. Whatever injury it was, it was far worse than what the rest of her body had sustained.
"Do you know of somewhere nearby that might at least be reasonably safe? I don't think many predators would mess with the scent of a wolf outside of the largest. I just need a place to rest. You said you know some stuff. Do you know how to set a leg? Make a splint?" She was fishing for more information, fully invested in accepting Dos' help at this point. It was frustrating to Elcid, knowing what needed to be done, but not how to do it. She wished terribly for Zane to be here. What was he doing now, she wondered? Probably tending to his plants if she had to guess. "Do you maybe have some food or something? I feel like my stomach is eating its self" Which was a valid worry and concern for Elcid, but she left that bit unsaid. She didn't like others knowing about her condition. Spitting up the black bile had been embarrassing enough.
