This is a little story I started a while ago, and I'm not sure how far into it I'll get.
"Blah" is elf talk, /Blah\ is human talk, and [Blah] is Sending. ….. Means a break in perspective, time, or sequence.
Disclaimer: Shockingly, nothing in the Elfquest series belongs to me.
Crescent woke as though from a dream. The memories had been potent enough to take her mind off of the terrible situation at hand. However, when she looked down at her brave rescuer, so pale and small, all feelings of nostalgia faded away. Luckily, a distraction presented itself in the form of Pike returning with Moonshade, Strongbow, and all of the stitching supplies her mother owned.
"Move aside, young ones," Moonshade commanded, motioning Skywise and Crescent to take a step away from Felix. "It seems that I'm sorely needed, at least, I should be if half of Pike's yipping was true."
"It probably is," Rain said, leaning forward and unwrapping a bandage for Moonshade. "Crescent thought that maybe your powers of the thread might do more than mine alone can accomplish." He quickly filled her in on the plan. She nodded, waiting patiently, then began to speak.
"Crescent, you'll have to help too. When Rain uncovers a wound, either you or I will stitch it closed, while he tries to Heal it shut."
Crescent nodded, and then began to prepare the needle the way her mother had shown her. Treestump and Strongbow jumped out of the hole and began to talk in low tones outside. Skywise stayed at Felix's side, clasping his hand, while Pike yawned to himself and left to sleep in the shade of a nearby tree.
They worked through the entire morning, and into the late afternoon. It was a tedious job, one that required utmost care and precision. Several times stitches broke loose, opening the wounds they had been keeping closed. Rain's head began to drop from the fatigue of Healing every single gash by itself, while Moonshade and her daughter began to take turns, massaging their cramping fingers while the other one worked. Finally, just as the sun was beginning to set, the task was completed. Rain was fast asleep, leaning against the wall of the den, while the weary women supported each other as they packed the little thread remaining into the leather pouch Moonshade kept her tools in.
Skywise looked up at them. He still hadn't left off holding his brother's hand, and his red eyes mirrored either grief, weariness, or a combination of the two. "Will he live?" he asked in a broken voice.
"If Rain's Healing holds, he will live," a relieved Moonshade replied. "You've worn yourself too much this night, Skywise. Now that the danger is past, take some rest. Come on Crescent, it's time we got at least a little sleep too."
"Could I stay here Mother?" Crescent asked her. "We spent so much time working on him, and if something goes wrong, one of us really should be here to take control of the problem."
Moonshade smiled her mysterious smile, the one that said she was reading deeper into a situation than anyone else was aware of. "Alright," she said, "I'll leave the bag here, and I'll bring up another fur to keep you warm. Mind you don't shift Felix around too much, he's still in rough shape." She jumped out of the den, returned several moments later with her own sleep-fur, then departed.
Skywise's head was drooping again, and Crescent moved over to him, wrapping his fur over his shoulders as she did so. He laid down next to Felix on one side, while Crescent did the same on the other. Moments later, the two were fast asleep, making a huddle of heat, worry, and feeling around the elf that meant so much to them.
...
Felix came into consciousness with an empty feeling in the back of his head. There was darkness swirling all around him, but he kept trying to push the black aside, just so he could see something. When he thought he was close enough to surfacing, he tried to open his left eye. When it wouldn't, he tried the right one, which did, though very grudgingly. He couldn't focus on shapes, but by the way light was dancing around the den, he guessed it was sundown. He couldn't quite think of why he'd be laying down in his den at this time; he was always well up before the sun had even begun to set. Then it all came back to him: the cubs, the humans, the fight, and the pain. The pain!
He suddenly was aware of every single one of his half-healed cuts, even the scab that sealed his left eye. It was bad, yes, but to him it seemed as though his every sense had been heightened a hundredfold and were all zeroed in on making him feel every last bit of hurt he had. A river of liquid fire seemed to course through his body, and shards of ice pierced every inch of his skin. The shock of it all rushing back would have been enough to knock him on his back if he wasn't already lying down. As it was, he felt his eye close and his face contort with agony for a few seconds, before crying out like a wounded bear and falling back down into the blackness.
Everyone around (not Strongbow, Treestump, Rain, or Moonshade, who were either asleep or hunting) heard the cry. Some wondered what had made it, but a few wondered how. Crescent and Skywise were jolted out of their own rest by the scream coming from the den in which they slept, and were the first to react.
"What happened?" Skywise asked her.
"I think Felix woke up for a second or two," she replied, thoroughly shaken. "I'll bet the sudden shock of everything was almost too much for him."
"That doesn't seem like Felix, though," Skywise said doubtfully. Treestump said he was barely aware of his injuries while he was fighting off the humans."
"That's probably because he was too distracted and angry to notice anything," she said as she started to arrange herself before she would go back outside. "Don't worry Skywise, he should be fine after what we did for him. All he needs is rest." With that last, she jumped down to the ground. After all, life at the Holt never stopped, not even in times of disaster or celebration.
...
It was another night before Felix woke up again. This time, things were much gentler for him. He didn't feel the overpowering force of his senses working against him, making it not only possible to focus, but easy. He simply lied there on his back, and decided it would be good to be able to see, so his eyes opened, no problem to it.
He looked around himself. He was in his own den, with his own furs draped over his lower body and torso. He also became aware of a faint itching all over his body. When he looked, he saw numerous cuts being held together with stitching, but noticed that there were considerably less of them than he remembered receiving. Good old Rain, he thought, I've never known him to fail in relieving at least part of another's burden. Before he could sit up, he heard two others climbing into the den with him. When he tilted his head, he saw that it was Crescent and his brother, and he was glad to see that the both of them were smiling.
"Felix, you're awake!" Skywise exclaimed as he threw himself down next to his brother. He was careful of his wounds as he embraced him, and then sat holding his hand in a tight grip. "We'd thought we'd lost you for a moment, but you're alright!"
"Yeah, you still have to put up with me for a little while more," Felix told him. He looked up to Crescent and asked, "What's with the thread, and how long have I been lying here?"
"Don't mess with them, they're keeping you alive," Crescent told him. "When your wounds didn't Heal regularly, we thought to sew your skin together to slow the bleeding and make it easier for your body to mend on its own."
"And you've been lying there for almost two night's worth of time," Skywise chimed in. "Lucky for you we were here to take care of you, otherwise there's no doubt you'd be dead."
Felix heard the words, but his sudden energy was sapped at the realization that he almost had died. He looked up and said, "From now on, it'd be great if the two of you could keep me from sticking my nose into every trouble I see. It'll probably make me live longer."
"We'll try, but knowing you, I don't know how easy that could be," Crescent told him. "I'll bring some food up, just wait a minute."
She jumped out of the den and grabbed some of the red fruits that she knew Felix enjoyed. She climbed back up to the den, but when she got there, Felix was asleep. Skywise motioned for her to set down the food within easy reach of Felix. The two of them left, careful not to make any noise or trip over Felix's sprawled out body.
"He looks a lot better, doesn't he?" Crescent told Skywise. "I mean, he was talking like his normal self again."
"It seems that way," Skywise told her, "but I'm still skeptical. He seemed a bit more put off then usual."
"Probably just from being cooped up for so long," Crescent suggested. "You know how he is, never happy unless he's off in the middle of the action."
Skywise nodded; it was a fairly accurate description of his brother. He was still slightly uncomfortable with what had happened, but it looked as though everything was going to be alright. As time passed, Felix healed up completely, except for the barely visible scars crossing over his eye and body. The only strange aftereffect was that magical healing never seemed to fully fix him up-it was as if there was some unseen barrier holding back part of the magic. Aside from these, Felix became himself again, and the entire tribe was happy to have him back.
...
