Private A Beacon of Light

[Aelin Erevos]

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Outfit | XoXo
Location | Kanaka Forests, Islimore
Tag | Valery Noble

It was not snowing when Aelin had left Hardhaven that morning. Rather, the weather had been some of the loveliest she'd witnessed since arriving. The first vestiges of winter sunlight permeated the skies that were bluer than a robins egg, the crisp air both fresh and invigorating. She followed a winding path of cobblestones that shone with a smooth onyx sheen beneath her boots, the snow that powdered their surface crunching merrily beneath each step. It was a cheerful afternoon, away from politics and schemes, gossips and other unpleasantries. As a wolf who'd grown up on the cold winter tundra's of Seoul 5, there was a certain familiarity that comforted her about the Northern terrain that Aelin wished to savor.

That had been nearly three hours prior.

As Aelin had continued her walk, the weather had taken a violent, sudden turn. Dark clouds swarmed the skies like the dark agents of Malkor himself, while down below a dense fog swept harshly through the pines, carried by an eastern gale that warned of the heavy snow about to fall. She would have turned back, were it not for the distinct smell of starship fuel and a steady black cloud of smoke that rose as a thick pillar from out of the woods.

The snow was hard and cold as it fell in rapid succession, stinging and reddening her exposed skin. A lesser wolf may have turned away, but she was a pureblood daughter of Thorir, she had survived worse storms than these, and she would press on.

So it was with nothing more than gritted teeth that she continued, her fur lined cloak growing heavy from the icy snow fall and mud.

Around her the forest grew increasingly thick, corridors that were once open now congested with deadfall, bracken, and tightly wound boughs that reminded her of gnarled fingers. The density of the trees offered a small reprieve, but she had to contend with a now lost trail behind her. If she were human, this might have posed a greater issue; but as a Lupo, and especially one of high breeding, her acute sense of smell was fine-tuned to pick up the slack. She was confident she could find her way back after her investigation and once the storm cleared.

The impact of the ship could not only be seen from the trees that'd been maimed and broken as it'd undoubtedly came hurling from the sky, but the stench of scorched bark and burning metal carried heavily on the wind the closer she came to the site of the wreckage. Closer inspection and the smell that carried, informed her that there was only one life form, and it carried neither the scent of Lupo or human. Her pert nose crinkled.

"Hello?" she called out, her fiery eyes glancing around the ship in her cautious approach, watching, waiting, searching.

"Is there anyone that needs help?"

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[Valery Noble]

Islimore

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Outfit: Factory Link
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Aelin Erevos

With a pained groan and a small stream of blood running down her face, Valery's eyes opened to see nothing but dense forest all around her through the shattered viewscreen of her ship. The last thing she remembered was jumping out of Hyperspace and plotting a course through the planet's atmosphere, but everything between then and being out here now was a blur. It hardly mattered, though, as her priority wasn't figuring out what happened, but surviving.

Through shattered glass, and broken doors and hull panels, an ice-cold wind was blowing through the ship. Normally, she would have been able to keep it from lowering her body temperature, but her connection to the Force was fickle in her current condition. Her head had struck the panel in front of her seat, leaving her disoriented and unable to focus enough to call on her strength to shield her against the elements. But the more she was beginning to adjust, the more pain she felt throughout her body. From bruised ribs and smaller cuts created by glass shards that were launched through the cockpit, to the broken right arm that hung limb beside her torso.

She was in bad shape, and without any of the ship's systems functioning, she worried that getting a call for help out would be impossible. But even if she managed to somehow send a signal, who would be there to receive it?

"Ugh...chit..." she muttered, as she climbed out of her chair and clutched the broken arm with her left hand. It hurt like hell and she feared that she was going to pass out, but she wasn't going to be found dead sitting still in that chair. She'd fight until the very end, even if she saw no way out of this.

"Hello?"

Valery blinked and stopped inside the hallway, where she leaned against the wall for support. Did she really just hear a voice, or was it her mind playing tricks on her?

"Is there anyone that needs help?"

Hearing the voice again but more clearly, Valery quickly picked up her pace and stepped out into the snow. It crunched underneath her boots for several steps, until she felt all of her strength fade away completely. She dropped down to her knees and with her broken arm still held against her body, both for support and for warmth, Valery tried to call back.

"I'm here... I...need..." She could barely speak as the extreme cold was dropping her temperature to increasingly dangerous levels, and combined with all of her injuries, it wasn't going to be long before she'd pass out and fall into the snow.

 

[Aelin Erevos]

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Outfit | XoXo
Location | The North
Tag | Valery Noble

Aelin said nothing as she lunged for the woman who lumbered out of the downed ship, catching her before she swallowed a mouthful of snow. Carefully, Aelin eased her into a more comfortable position, "Hold on," she soothed, head canting as her vivid eyes flashed over the woman in a wash of appraisal and concern.

"We need to get back inside and try to warm you up." The cold wind gusted and her breath steamed in front of her, feeling her skin peppered with the icy-kiss of a pure white snow fall that soon gave way to a torrential blizzard. While her own nervous system was adapted to endure the extreme weather, the other woman had no such evolutionary advantage. With every passing second, the atmosphere plunged further and further into the negatives, and she knew the jeopardy she'd be putting the woman's life in if she tried to guide her back to Hardhaven.
There were times to weather a storm, and other times when you had to hunker down and wait it out.

It'd taken some effort to get Valery back to the ship and patch up what she could so the snow wasn't falling on them like an artic baptismal. What happened afterwards was mostly a blur, a frenzied undertaking to make sure the oleander would survive. It was impossible to tell from a cursory glance what kind of break the woman had, but Aelin knew enough from tending her own father's injuries throughout the years that she was able to craft a makeshift sling to secure the broken limb and ease her discomfort until she could get her to a physician. In another time, another place, perhaps she could have been a skilled healer, herself.

The next obstacle was raising her body temperature. She'd tried all the typical remedies to try and insulate her heat, but she was losing warmth faster than she was generating it. Fortunately, the wolf had known what to do. Silent as a shadow, Aelin shifted into the beast, her fur a motley of reds, whites, and grays, the ruff around her neck and back the same color as her thick coat. Her pointed ears twitched and swerved before moving forward, velvety nose gently nudging the woman until Aelin was able to curl around her, effectively wrapping Valery in the warmth that her body and fur provided.

Almost instantaneously, she heard Valery's breath ease and felt her shuddering slow. A sign of improvement.

With a great huff she lowered her snout to the ground, closed her eyes, and waited.

Questions would come on the morrow, should they wake.

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