ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ

seven

ᯓ★

"What happened?" Gigi demanded, guiding Crystal's gaze away from her shoulder and to her face.

Gigi, Bosco, and Daya were all crouched in front of Crystal, eyes wide with terrified worry. Crystal stared back at them, eyes wet.

"I-I," she tried, words failing her. "The hunters, they're still here." The other three glanced to each other nervously. "I found their camp, about a mile away from here. But then there was a mouse, and it was scared of me, and I was startled by it, and then hunters saw me and tried to shoot me with an arrow. I got out of the way in time for no serious damage."

Gigi got up and rushed to the pile of their supplies, digging through the bags for the first aid kit. Daya's eyes burned with rage.

"I'll kill them!" she snarled, but Crystal was quick to shut the idea down.

"No," she snapped. "You're not a murderer, Daya. And as far as we know, they're still harmless hunters."

"Harmless?" Daya scoffed. "They tried to kill you, Crystal."

"They don't know what I was. They could have thought I was a deer or something. Or a normal wolf. I was in the bushes; they couldn't see much of me."

"'A deer,'" Daya laughed, cynical. "Like anyone could mistake an oversized wolf for a deer."

"Maybe the moose then, I don't know," Crystal argued. "Like I said, they couldn't see much of me. Plus it was dark; who knows what they thought I was?"

By then Gigi returned, sat back next to Crystal with the opened first aid kit. She gingerly grabbed Crystal's injured limb and cradled it carefully on her lap, allowing her to be closer to the wound. While Crystal and Daya bickered, she inspected the gash with her phone flashlight and picked out a few things from the small box. Gently padding the area with a rubbing alcohol infused cotton pad, she glanced up to Crystal's face to see her reaction to it. Gigi furrowed her eyebrows when Crystal didn't even flinch. Usually, Crystal was a baby when it came to cleaning cuts - she always teared up at the sting.

"Hey, Crys?" she asked softly, interrupting Crystal and Daya's argument. Crystal stopped talking and looked to Gigi.

"Yeah, Gi?"

"Can you feel this?"

Gigi poked a few spots around the wound on her shoulder, being careful not to actually touch it. Crystal watched her do so for a few moments, and then shook her head.

"Can you feel anything on this arm?" she asked as a follow-up, and Crystal stared at her arm for a moment before shaking her head again.

"It's all numb. I could barely run back with it."

"What's wrong with her arm?" Daya asked, anger from their dispute gone and concern for her sister returned. Why did the small cut take away all feeling?

Gigi thought it over for a second before coming to a conclusion. She picked up where she left off with her sterilizing the wound.

"The most probable answer is that the hunters hit you with a tranquilized arrow," Gigi said. "I suppose we should be glad the arrow hit you where it did, or else things could have been much worse."

Crystal swallowed thickly, eyes wide with anxiety.

"How long will it last?" she asked, terrified that her arm may be useless for too long of a time.

"Maybe a few hours?"

Crystal groaned.

Gigi wiped away the drying blood that had dripped down the length of Crystal's arm and started to wrap her shoulder with gauze.