Thicket of Trees

A smile played around Alexandra's lips at Gail's bowing. He wasn't quite that kingly at the moment when he was the size of a cat but if the werewolf wanted to make sure she hadn't offen- ah. Her grin diminished. She had not thought of how uncommon a good healer for Griffins may be difficult to find if people assumed Ouriel was a Hippogriff. Fortunately, he solved her quandary over whether to divulge that information or not.
'I am a Griffin, child, not a Hippogriff.' his mind brushed against Gail's lightly, not wishing to intrude on a possibly savior of theirs.

Alexandra braced a hand on the ground and slowly began to rise. Aaaaaaand the world had started spinning a bit again. She blinked to clear the dots in her vision that eventually faded away again. Once the world had steadied around her, she took an experimental step that flooded one of her bandages with red.
"I can walk if it's a short distance to a healer but otherwise I'm afraid you'll have to carry me."
Looking at the woman, it seemed unlikely but if she was a werewolf, there was no doubt Gail was far stronger than she appeared to be. But as to what else she was, Alexandra did not know. They would have to find out along the way to the healer. If so, then she could ask whether the Death Eaters had been sighted nearby or not...

"Agreed." her face broke into a grin. When she had found out that Griffins could communicate in a similar manner to legimancy with other creatures, she had gotten so excited that she had run to her parents' room asking for them to take her to a place with Griffins. They took her to a bank in Brazil with a Griffin guarding it's front, but it would not talk much. But for a nine year old kid, it was more than enough. Alexandra made sure that her eyes didn't change color though. That information at least was not essential to healing and she would rather keep it to herself unless Gail proved to be a particularly trustworthy person.

But at her next utterance, Alexandra revised her first impression, Gail was the opposite of a Death Eater - fearing to cause pain. She had been lucky to be found by such a person. She took the werewolf's hand and got ready to be carried.
"Unless you change into a Kelpie or a normal pack of wolves, then no." she then added"And thank you for helping."

She was glad that she'd had the foresight to make cloth sheaths for her daggers. The last thing she wanted to do now would be to accidentally stab or cut the woman carrying her. Alexandra nodded unconsciously, forgetting for a moment that Gail couldn't see her, "It was all I could do to escape actually. It's how Ouriel became injured."
And fortunately it had been the only injury the Griffin had sustained thus far. When she had been captured by the Death Eaters, he had been off hunting and she had made sure that he stayed away from her prison until she could escape. What she had not predicted however was that they would break her wand almost immediately upon her capture. The only possible upside was that they had so delighted in starving her and such that they seemed to have forgotten - or did not know - she was a member of the Order. Or so she remembered, Alexandra noted uneasily.

As Gail reached another clearing, Alexandra examined the claw marks and blood on the trees near them in so much as she could whilst on Gail's back. She felt the woman tense beneath her. It could not be that she didn't want Alexandra to see them: if that were the case, she could have take practically any route around the clearing. Another threat would also be unlikely as Gail would probably have smelled it much earlier. She was at a loss as to why Gail was tensing. Surely blood and claw marks on bark were not an unusual sight for a werewolf. Alexandra's brooding ended when Gail asked her about the Kelpie she had encountered.

"I had stopped to drink and put together a make-shift bucket to collect water to boil on the shore of a lake. I think I was in Scotland considering how far south I had to walk to get here." Alexandra was now more glad than ever she did not have to walk much more. Now that adrenaline was no longer numbing her pain, she felt terrible: bruised, strained and tired to name a few specifics.
"There was a horse pretty far out. I thought it was a bit odd as there were no people nearby and wild horses tend to stick in herds. Unluckily for me, I'd also wanted to wash a bit and so was already waist-deep in the water. I'd started to back out of the lake, but the next thing I knew, I was underwater for about ten seconds or so before Ouriel flew in and dragged me and the Kelpie out of the water and into the air. He managed to get me far ashore, but not before the Kelpie tore one of his back legs." It was nice to be able to tell someone about this.

"I'll be sure to help Ms. Morgan however I can to heal Ouriel then." she returned steadily. They had been together for years now and were closer than anyone Alexandra could name - maybe with the exception of her brother Robert, but she had kept some things from even him. There was no way that Alexandra was going anywhere or doing anything without ensuring that Ouriel was in capable, healing hands.
"Thank you Gail. I'm not sure how far would could have gone on without you." Alexandra added quietly. As much as she hated to see it, it was true.

Gail stopped as they reached an open field. Alexandra scanned the area, lips pressed together in a thin line. Though the temptation to remain silent in reply to the werewolf's question was strong, if they were about to go out into the open, she needed to know who they may be found by. On the other hand, what happened if Gail heard and thus abandoned them at the edge of the field? No, that did not seem like something she would do, but then again, they had known each other for a grand total of perhaps an hour at most. Still, it was unfair to force the woman to go headlong into danger without knowing what it was.
"Death Eaters." it did not seem likely the Order would search for her here. When she had left, they were busy enough in places where people lived, let alone the wilderness.

Alexandra made no reply but simply readjusted her hold on Gail's shoulders. She wondered vaguely why the woman was not walking faster, from what she knew, werewolves equaled the speed of vampires and from how fast she had seen Misery and Sorrow, they could be across the field in all of half a minute at most. The piggy-backed one (herself) huffed in mild amusement: she had not spoken to the Graces in a long time, especially since the various episodes with Sorrow and Misery. On one hand she was glad that she did not have to face Misery's confusing affection or her but on the other hand, she truly did miss them both.

'Patience. I can last a little longer knowing that we will find a healer soon.' Despite that, she could feel how limp Ouriel was against her. How and why did he ever decide it was a good idea to leave his home with her?
'If- If you get worse, I'll never forgive myself.'

"Thank god..." the wound on her leg seemed to have opened up again somehow and more blood began to seep into her bandages. It probably had something to do with the increased pace. It was just as well that they had gone at a slower speed through the fields. The bright side to it was that the blood loss seemed to make everything a bit less painful. Alexandra just became aware of a few details at an unnaturally sharp focus.

The slide of blood filling cloth. Dawn colouring the morning sky.

The slower pace helped certainly. The chaffing of her bandages lessened and it was easier to breathe somehow. Alexandra sought out Ouriel's mind, quickly finding and easing into his comforting presence. No matter his size, his mind remained powerful and encompassing. He saw through her eyes, observing the tiny village they had come upon while she shared in some of his pain. It may have started to fester but she wasn't sure. The weight of what-ifs lay snapped in half in her bag, it's core the only thing connecting the halves.

They stopped before a door and waited briefly before being ushered in by an old woman with smile wrinkles about her eyes and mouth. Alexandra took an instant liking to her - probably a liking directed by the ten year old in her but a liking nonetheless.

'Next to Alexandra if you do not mind.' They would take their healing more easily if they could see one another. The change in orientation had the world spinning again.
"A Kelpie bite on the Griffin's left hindquarter, some slashes from a Kelpie on my legs and a wolf bite - not a werewolf - on my left forearm." She ran through her memories of her imprisonment by the Death Eaters. "Light dagger wounds on my face - I think it's scabbed over by now. Let me think. Uhm. Some burns on the right side of my ribcage and some bad bruising on my abdomen." They had mostly preferred to leave her in her cell in the dark. When they did occasionally come in to play, they would heal her afterwards so that they could continue later.

Ouriel shakily shuffled out his limbs to sit more comfortably without moving his wounded leg. His wings stretched this way and that, not having been able to move much for the past week at least had made him very tense. And hungry too. Alexandra had found a deer the day after the wolf pack had sought them in the night and given him as much as he could eat, but that was a while ago. It was difficult enough for her to hunt for mushrooms, let alone try to ambush animals with barely passable skill with daggers. Once he had settled down, the griffin regarded the old woman with the unblinking eyes typical to him.

Alexandra grinned at the werewolf being ushered out of Ms. Morgan's way. Taking the burn ointment from the healer, she pulled up her shirt with her less injured arm enough to see her blistered and bloody ribcage. She began to apply it awkwardly while making sure she kept in contact with Ouriel's mind.

'Gail, if there is any raw meat here, I would be most grateful if you could give me some.' When the antiseptic came into contact with Ouriel's leg, his talons dug into the wood of the table, gouging deep. Alexandra hissed with him.

Gingerly flexing his freshly bandaged leg, Ouriel was more than content to see that he could move it around a reasonable amount before it began to hurt. Thoughts much brightened, Ouriel proceeded to then scarf down the raw beef. The cold, less than fresh meat coated his tongue with the most delicious flavor he had ever tasted - sated hunger. Thus it was fortunate he did not require a mouth to express gratitude to Gail. Food would have gotten in the way of that. Humans were unlucky in that regard.

Alexandra stayed still while being bandaged, more than happy to let experienced hands bind and mend her. It was with this same assurance that she so readily drank from the blue bottle without asking what was in it.

"I'll be alright." she wiped her mouth clean of the potion and shot a smile at Gail. Alexandra assumed Gail would be returning and thus didn't say good bye. Even if the werewolf did not come back, she fully intended to find her and at least buy her lunch in thanks. It was nice for someone to help out of the goodness of their heart without expectation of compensation.

"Thanks Ms. Morgan." she also grinned at the old woman tending her arm. Now that her basic needs for survival had been addressed, Alexandra was in a far better frame of mind. Once she didn't get dizzy every time she stood up, she would probably be ready to apparate back to London. It was odd realizing that she had pretty much been injured badly for the past months or so. Luckily, Ouriel had only been for the past two weeks or so.
"I'm Alexandra Leoine." it only just occurred to her that she had basically been tended to without the woman even knowing her name.

She watched after Gail for a second or two before turning back to the woman whose kitchen she had invaded. It was oddly refreshing to come across altruistists. Not in the sense of utter self-sacrifice necessarily, but definitely enough of the quality to take in an injured stranger without question as to what she did to gain those wounds. Alexandra accepted the glass of water eagerly, remembering all at once how long it had been since she'd drank from a container rather than her hands. It was so tempting just to chug it down but she forced herself to sip.

"Well I'm not dying of blood loss now and to be fai- ooh that looks good, thanks," she paused. It had been a while since she had been so easily distracted by food. Now where was she... Ah. "To be fair, she did bring me here as soon as she found me." And convinced her to get out of her tree, though mentioning that may sound silly. Looking back on it though and knowing she had survived long enough not only to get back to civillization, but to people she could trust - at least to some extent - that were witches, made everything in retrospect much more amusing.
"Uhm, yes actually. I've known her for maybe four hours now...?" she trailed off. It was difficult to keep track of the time accurately without the sun or a clock to tell her.

"I really cannot thank you two enough. When I set out on my... journey, I wasn't sure how far away from home I was and became worried about apparating home. And by the time I wanted to, I was too dizzy after the incident with the Kelpie to concentrate." her lips twisted into a grimace.

Ouriel had decided to remain silent to Ms. Morgan for now. While Ms. Morgan had indeed healed himself and Alexandra, he preferred that only Gail know of his abilities for now. So he settled down to clean his feathers, keeping track of Alexandra's thoughts.

"Thank you Ms. Morgan." she smiled faintly again.

Alexandra and Ouriel exchanged a look as the casserole was served. Shrugging, the dark-haired woman cut open the casserole and dug in, burning herself slightly but enjoying the feeling of food too much to care. Ouriel looked on, amusement radiating from him as he watched her gorge herself. Meanwhile, he himself had almost finished gulping down the raw beef. With the utmost delicacy of course - if you take into consideration he was not endowed with limbs that had opposable thumbs.

When Gail returned, Alexandra had pretty much finished the casserole. She still didn't know what it was, but it had tasted amazing. "Well. I'd like to clean up a bit if you don't mind and then I guess I'll apparate home to get out of your hair."
She hesitated only a moment before continuing, "If there's any way I can repay either of you for your kindness I'd be happy to do so. If not, could we keep in contact perhaps....?"