Wenclair One-Shots

What Hurt Brings (Part 1/2)

Summary:

She fell...

...

Was she...?

...

Is she...?

...

Is Weds...?

Left alone with an unconscious Wednesday, Enid has to protect both of them from the newest threat to Nevermore and keep her own emotions in check at the same time.

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Her entire body felt like it had been lit on fire, ripping pain searing her nerves as blood slowly spilled from her wounds. She coughed up blood into her hand, staring at the dark red liquid before closing her hand tightly into a fist and taking off further into the woods. Her body screamed back in agony, begging her to head back to safety and to seek out help for herself, but she did her best to push those feelings aside as she swatted away tree branches in her path, hissing slightly as pine needles dug into the open wounds on her arms. Every step she took made her want to vomit at the sheer torture she was putting her body through, but even that wouldn't stop her.

Her eyes focused on a trail of blood that had been stretched out over decaying leaves, and she immediately started to follow it. She could feel her heart start to beat faster as she continued following the trail, an unusual calming feeling taking over her body and numbing her pain slightly, and she even felt lighter. She decided to use that feeling to her advantage, finally tamping down all the painful sensations that scorched her body as she ran through the trees, dodging tree trunks and leaping over roots that snaked along the ground. Her breathing quickened as she caught a glimpse of bright silver flashing in the night, and she hoped it wasn't real as she ran over to it.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she saw Wednesday laying against a broken tree trunk, bleeding from her temple and seemingly unconscious against the stump. Not knowing what else to do, Enid took off her own snood and wrapped it tightly around Wednesday's head, hoping that it would at least slow the bleeding. She lifted the unconscious girl off the forest floor, slipping an arm underneath Wednesday's to help prop her up and carry her through the woods. Enid turned toward where she thought Nevermore was, her mind foggy about current events and unsure if whatever happening in the woods was even real.

Enid started walking in what she thought was north, her knees bending horrendously with each step that crumbled leaves below her feet. She paused for a moment to readjust Wednesday on her side, her ears unclogging from the blood that had spilled into them as she did. The sounds of the world came alive around her, small chirps from the nightlife and the rustle of trees in the wind flooded her ears.

Owls.

Leaves.

Crickets chirping.

Her own ragged breath.

Wednesday's groans of pain.

The thundering footsteps behind her.

She spun around to face the noise, eyes growing wide as she caught sight of the creature she and Wednesday had chased out there tearing through the trees around it, on a direct path to her. Enid threw Wednesday as far and as gently as she could as she braced for impact, the beast colliding with her seconds after Enid raised her arms in front of her defensively.

She felt her feet leaving the ground below, flying backward through open air before her back connected with a tree behind her, the force she was thrown with causing her to go through the trunk and fall to the ground. She stood up shakily to her feet, clutching her right arm, fearing it had been broken when the beast had hit it. Enid looked over the broken tree stump, and her heart gripped painfully in fear when she saw the creature stand on its hind legs, sniffing the air with its snout like a hunting dog before its slitted yellow eyes glared in the direction Enid had thrown Wednesday.