Red Sand {Blue/Open}

[Tsume]

"Dammit... where do I get a drink?" so said Tsume, as he walked slowly through the near deserted streets of the small desert city. The place was called Lior, if he remembered right. Certainly a ghost town. He hadn't seen anyone since entering via a road looking for some water and a reprieve from all the endless sand. He kind of dragged his feet along, hands in pockets, (or so it appeared) and finally came upon an open bar. There was no one in it. He sighed. Well, at least he wouldn't have to try and find some way to give someone money.

He leaped over the counter and found the water tap. He played with it with his paws and then his fangs until he managed to turn it on. It only dripped, but that was better than nothing. He held his head close and started licking each drop in midair before realizing how ridiculous it would look to anybody. Even humans would see his disguise, bent over awkwardly, trying to drink from a dripping faucet. He sighed again. Somehow managing to get it down, he put a large bowl under the faucet and would come back later. He looked over the counter back at the empty street and suddenly straightened up, staring hard at a building across it.

He knew he saw movement. Just barely anything, and muffled, like a lazy curtain billowing in the breeze. But it was more deliberate, still. Rather than vault the bar again, he walked around to the opening and made to go through it. Then he sensed more than heard the gunshot, as it was clearly silenced. He rolled to the side as a large piece of wood was blown out from the support beam he was just in front of. It had come from that same building where he saw movement. He ran across the street, fast, and took cover inside a doorway. It was very dark inside this derelict place, but that wasn't a problem. Only humans wouldn't be able to see in here. Why would someone shoot him?

[Blue]

It seemed that wherever there were humans the wind carried the smell of burnt gunpowder and blood, and their shouts overtook every other sound, warning wiser or more cautious animals away from the chaos they created. It was likely this was done deliberately, the same as birds choosing their mates based on their songs or the prey they could catch as much as size and intelligence. When humans made so much racket they seemed larger and more threatening to creatures that otherwise could have easily eaten them- but unfortunately they seemed to have lost the ability to turn that part of themselves off, often scaring away the shy prey they could have easily fed on and pushing back those predators they could have learned something from. Safety itself wasn't something that should be sought since there was very little to be learned from it.

This desert place was a far cry from the forests she'd known as a pup but she'd been traveling for long enough to know how to survive on her own and hadn't run into any real problems yet. Facing off against both humans, wolves and the even larger animals there was an inherent confidence in her step though she was also cautious. Blue had seen enough cocky wolves fall to not make the same mistake, but she also knew that cowering or hiding would only draw more attention to her. The humans called this city Lior and the humans within it were either the gaunt and hungry kind or the odd pack that called itself the 'resistance'. Their battles were what brought the most of those dark human scent to the city, but they had left her alone when she'd ventured in earlier and there was no reason to think they'd do otherwise unless provoked.

The streets in the portion of the human city she found herself in was mostly deserted, with sand blowing freely in the street and stirring up many scents, including that of other wolves- which surprised her a bit, but didn't bring her any apprehension. It was obvious that the other was a male, a bit older than herself, but he wasn't claiming the place- and since he was passing through, just as she was, the chances of him taking offense at her presence were small. With that in mind she continued forward carefully, just in case there was something she'd missed.

The loud crack of a shot sounded nearby and the wolf's ears pricked forward as she tensed, the bullet moving through some wood and cracking the front facade of one of the constructed dens the humans seemed to prefer. Curling her upper lip back in warning she ducked into an alley and crouched by a side wall just in time to see a wolf dash in through the opening in front and out of sight, though she could still hear him quite clearly. Are there hunters here after all? If so she didn't want to be so easily visible either, and with a quick leap she jumped through a window, the glass long gone, and ducked behind a low piece of furniture, one eye on the grey male and her expression one of calm caution.

[Tsume]

Tsume stared in shock as another wolf came straight through a window he was just about to pass, land, and dive behind a couch. It took him seconds to regain his composure but his mind was still working franticly. He hadn't smelled anything but humans and death here. But then, his nose wasn't so great anyway. But he could smell her now. Where had she come from and what did she want? But then, why should he care? She was still just a random wolf. He was ripped out of his musings when another gunshot rang out, this time on their level. Tsume stared aghast at a large hole in his shoulder. He couldn't feel the pain yet, but knew it was coming.

He looked up to see a teenager, of all things, standing in another doorway holding a rifle. He was having trouble reloading it, apparently. He just stood there, eyes on the gun, not thinking about that his target was just wounded. Tsume got over his shock and ran forward, pinning the unfortunate kid against the door frame and knocking the rifle to the floor. The kid actually bit Tsume hard to get away, and so Tsume let go, fearing the kid would break the disguise. The kid screamed as he ran through the doorway and into the darkness. "Shamballa scum!" Tsume only made sure he hadn't taken the gun with him, and then slumped against the wall, the pain starting and edging its way right into his will. "So what's your deal?" he directed to the couch.

[Blue]

There was some sort of a nearby commotion and another shot before the grey wolf came back into sight of her position, smelling of his blood and the sharp fire-powder that went inside of the human weapons. Even so he seemed to move easily enough, at least until he slumped against the wall. It was hard to kill a wolf though, especially when the moon was only a few days from full and their thick blood clotted so quickly. Nevertheless she was out from behind the couch and stepping aroud the other side a full minute before he spoke, scenting the air for any more hidden humans before coming a few feet closer and into his view.

The question the large grey male posed was to be expected, especially if he'd claimed this city for his own. Why he'd do something so limiting was beyond her but some wolves were raised to think odd things. "I'm just passing through," she assured him in a calm fashion, ears slightly down as her eyes watched the door in case any of the humans ran back to investigate where the shots had come from. Their eyes and ears were so poor that it took a good while to process where things actually took place, and the sense of smell that should have helped them so much was almost nonexistant. "You should like down and let your wound rest."

[Tsume]

Tsume watched the other wolf leave her hiding spot, revealing herself. Completely black, she was sort of pretty, but those thoughts were blocked out by more waves of pain. He looked a little closer at the wound, and saw the bullet hadn't gone all the way through. Just what he needed. He couldn't swivel his head far enough to get at it, he could barely see it at all, but knew he had to get the thing out. What a situation. He let fall the human disguise, showing himself to be in an awkward curl against the wall, trying to reach the wound. The black female's comment made him pause for a second.

"It's just a scratch." He picked himself up from off the floor, hiding any grimaces of pain. He took a few steps before a particularly large spike of pain shot through him, accompanied by a spasm of his leg. He fell over onto his side. "Dammit..." he muttered softly to the dust in front of his nose. He could see the female, and stared at her, with an expression that defied humility. But why should he care what she thinks? It was entirely random they were here at all. He just sat there, breathing erratically from pain, having given up on walking out of the building. What a crappy day.

[Blue]

"Right, just a scratch," she replied dryly, not bothering to put on her human illusion; after all, she was a wolf with another wolf for the moment and if any other other humans approached she'd know before they were too close. This way she wouldn't be wasting any extra energy putting on a show for someone who already knew what she was and could concentrate on exactly what was wrong with him. Obviously he'd been shot, but was the bullet still inside or had it come free?

With calmly paced steps the dark female wolf moved toward where the male sat against the wall with his two-legged disguise on. She knew that some wolves preferred it for whatever reason, she was just more ambivalent about the entire process. Either way she was the same, it was only people's vision that changed. Raising her nose she carefully scented the air for the extent of his wound- more blood leaving from the front than the back and not enough to kill, so the metal pellet was probably lodged inside.

"You know, you could ask and I might be able to help you take that out," she said in a matter-of-fact tone, shaking her head back and forth to clear her nose of the thick smell of wolf-blood. Her tone indicated that she did want to help- he was another wolf, and they were supposed to help each other- but she wasn't going to step on his pride by pushing her point of view or intrude on his personal space. Any wounded animal was prone to lashing out when they were in pain, so she kept her distance and waited for him to respond. Hopefully he wasn't so filled with his own dignity that he refused until he passed out.

[Tsume]

Tsume stared at the female as she offered to remove the bullet from his still-bleeding shoulder. Usually he could just handle a gunshot wound, but with it being in his front shoulder and the fact the bullet was still there, complicated things a little bit. He followed her lead and let the human illusion drop. Most humans would think he was a dog anyway, shot and left to die for food later, or something like that. Humans were just weird. Another wave of pain shot up his neck, and it was just starting to get annoying.

He tried to ignore it, but that just seemed to make it worse. A random thought sprang into his mind about his old pack. How it must have felt, to be slaughtered. This made Tsume quite more annoyed. "Do it then." He wasn't very happy about asking for help, but then, he probably needed it. The female seemed fairly nice, too.

[Blue]

It wasn't the most graceful way to ask for help, but considering how stubborn this wolf seemed it was probably the best she was going to get, and Blue was far too stubborn to just turn away from someone in pain, even if he did have a rough demeanor. She'd dealt with worse, and her morality was still strong enough that she could stick to her own beliefs about wolves helping one another to reach the final goal. Maybe this one wasn't worthy of the moonflower, but it was too early to tell and he deserved a chance to try.

"Hold still," she told the wolf firmly, then placed a paw to his shoulder to keep him immobile as she lowered her head and looked at the wound, then carefully took the loose flesh and moved it aside to find the bullet. There it was, lying against the muscle, almost out of reach. The wound would have to be widened, just as she suspected. It would hurt but it had to be done to remove the bit of human lead from the hole before it could spread any poison into the older wolf's body.

With a twist of her head Blue widened the wound in Tsume's shoulder with her teeth, careful to keep out of reach of his bite in case he snapped in reflex. There was a bit more blood, but now she could take the bullet between her teeth and she pulled it carefully from the wound with a grimace and dropped it onto the ground as she stepped back. The iron-stuff tasted horrible, like rocks kept too close to where the human vehicles drove. "You should be alright now."

[Tsume]

Tsume sat perfectly still while the female first inspected, then had to widen, his wound. He did not cry out again, and did not even twitch his eyelid as she dug around and pulled the bullet free. He watched her dig it out, then spit it to the floor. While she was a stranger, he wouldn't have gotten it out on its own, so had no choice but to trust that she wouldn't try and attack him. After all, she had probably been here long before he had even set sight on the town. Most wolves, he knew, wouldn't hesitate to attack trespassers.

Once it was all done, he strained to look at the wound. It was bleeding again, but he turned back to the female and simply said, "Thanks." The pain was receding now that the bullet was out, and Tsume got back on his feet, splashing little droplets of blood onto the floor. He wouldn't stand being on the floor for just a tiny bullet wound. The said wound gave a tiny burst of pain, but then subsided into a dull throbbing. It wouldn't take long to heal.

He moved away from the wall and past the female, wondering what to do now. Well, he was even thirstier than when he had began, so retrieving that bowl would be nice. "I'm getting out of here." He didn't even wait for a reply, but just walked through the doorway that he had come in by. He didn't bother with a disguise as he went to drink, humans would just see a stray dog lapping up water out of some sympathetic sap's bowl. He took a long drink, then turned and sat. Hopefully no idiots with guns were still around.

[Blue]

Now that the hunk of metal was taken away from the male's flesh the full moon would be able to cleanse the damage he'd undergone- and considering his generally terse demeanor it was a little surprising he'd even expressed gratitude for such a simple job. Not that it was necessarily pup's work, but any adult could have easily taken care of such a thing for another. In Blue's pack you tried to make sure the wolves stayed alive even if the humans interfered, even if those wolves were strangers so long as they were respectful. This one hadn't attacked her and seemed to simply be passing through, though in this kind of lonely area it was a rare site.

Just as tersely as he'd thanked her the older male stated his intentions and walked out the door, blood still spilling from the hole in his shoulder and surprising the large female a bit. It was true that he would be fine with time- but he had to live that long first. Injured animals, no matter what they were, could become food for the starving humans. "You might want to reconsider that," she told Tsume as she walked out after him, her paws quiet against the cracked stone of the porch as she climbed down, shaking the dust from her fur. "It's smarter to have a den."