Waking

Finn woke in her home hours later with an intense headache and an overall feeling of grogginess. It took a few blinks to clear her vision enough to realize where she was.

"Father? Gabe?"

"Here, Serafina" her father responded, using her full name. "How are you feeling?"

She was laid out on a cot near the fireplace. Gabe sat nearby looking pale, but hopeful now that Finn was speaking. Father hovered over her. Nearby, over the cooking fire, their neighbor Amelia, Riley's mother, bustled about preparing a meal. The smell of cooking meat and fresh bread permeated the home. Amelia must have brought dough that she prepared earlier, or found what Finn had set out to rise that morning.

"I'm fine, just tired. And embarrassed for... fainting in front of the whole town?" The last part came out as a question, as Finn's memory was fuzzy on the last point. She hoped it was a dream. Maybe all of it had been a dream. Did she have a fever? Maybe a cold had given her weird visions of wolves attacking in the middle of the day. She frowned. It was unusual whether real or not. Wolves typically hunted at night, didn't they? And certainly they'd never attacked a crowd of humans, albeit children. Given, not many people were out at night, so if the wolves WANTED to attack humans, they would probably have to do it during the day. It was a mystery worth some pondering.

Father chuckled softly, bringing her back to her embarrassment. "Yes, it was a fitting end to your reckless charge into a wolf pack for you to faint helplessly into my arms," he teased. Underneath the light tone, his face was strained. She had worried him greatly. The pain of losing his wife years earlier during something he couldn't control had left him highly resistant and emotional over the idea that he could lose either of his children. Watching his daughter, the very picture of his wife, fighting a wolf had shaken him. Her time unconscious had left him the opportunity to gather himself, but it was difficult indeed to put on a strong front in front of 6-year-old Gabriel. Father's eyes tightened. "Don't ever do that again."

She ignored his command, finding it easier to shift the topic. "Are all the children all ok?? Is anyone hurt?"

"Just you, dear, everyone else is fine. Now drink this," Amelia inserted herself into the conversation by gently pushing Father aside to help Finn sit up and hold a small bowl to her lips. Finn drank deeply, suddenly realizing how her throat hurt. Was it from screaming at the wolves? The broth was salty and a little sweet, as if Amelia had put a drop of honey in it. It was heavenly.

"Thank you," Finn said hoarsely after finishing the bowl. "You're sure everyone's fine?"

"Yes." Father said firmly. "It seems you held the wolves' attention rather effectively. Riley's spreading word of your 'heroics', as he calls it, throughout the village."

Finn groaned inwardly. Riley enjoyed teasing her so much that she could only imagine the exaggerated tale he had come up with to embarrass her. She was glad none of the children were hurt, but did not wish to have any attention in the wake of her actions. Not a thought had seemed to enter her head; it was as if her body acted on its own in response to the danger.

"You were brave! And strong!" Gabe spoke up for the first time, becoming slowly satisfied that his sister was not on the verge of death. Finn smiled. Those were the two adjectives Gabe most aspired to be, and bestowing them on his only sister was the greatest compliment he could give.

"Thank you, Gabe. I don't know what came over me." Finn, already sitting up on the bed, tried to swing her legs over the side to stand.

"Wait--" Father only got halfway through the word before Finn winced and her eyes stung with sudden tears. She looked through them at the source of the pain, her right leg, where a bandage peeked out from her torn, bloody skirt. Gingerly, she lowered herself back down to her former position.

"I bound up the bite for you as well as I could, but you should take it easy and rest until it heals and clean it regularly." Amelia offered. Her face contorted slightly as she said this; as the makeshift local healer she knew how easily animal bites could become infected and cause great harm.

Bite? Finn thought back through the event and dimly recalled a sharp pain after she kicked the wolf in the ribs. She was distracted at the time and her mind had set it aside as the least important of her concerns. She leaned forward again, more gently, to get a better look. The bandage wasn't large, so the bite must not be too big. Still, a puncture wound could often be worse than a shallow gash. Slowly, she wiggled her toes, then her foot, inhaling sharply as her calf muscles protested.

"Gabe, why don't you go out and play for a few minutes? Stay close to the house in case the wolves come back." Amelia wanted to spare the child the sight of his sister's pain when she checked the wound again. Gabe looked at Father, who nodded solemnly.

"Close, son." He confirmed.

As soon as he was out the door, Amelia peeled back the bandage to examine the injury and see if Finn's shifting had hurt it any more or restarted the bleeding in earnest. Finn eyed her leg, slightly queasy as Amelia revealed the short line of punctures, one deeper than the rest.

"At least he didn't get that good a hold on you," Amelia comforted, dabbing with a clean cloth at the area. Satisfied that she had done what she could, she added some medicinal herbs to stave off infection and rewound the leg.

"Phillip, Serafina will be getting very thirsty soon, I'm sure. She and I are fine here inside the house, could you take Riley and get some water? Gabe could go as well if you are comfortable that the wolves have moved on. My house could use water as well, and I won't want to go by myself or send a child to get some later." Amelia was a widow, and Riley had taken up many of the manly responsibilities of the household, much like Finn had taken up the feminine tasks in hers. Unlike Finn, Riley had half a dozen siblings to keep the house rowdy and active.

Father's eyes tightened as Amelia addressed him, but he saw the wisdom at multiple men being present while gathering water, given what had happened to Finn when she went to draw some. He nodded once, tucked a long knife into his belt, slung a bow and quiver of arrows over his back, and grabbed the water bucket by the door, which someone must have retrieved when Finn fainted. Such extreme precautions should be unnecessary, but that seemed to be the state of things for today. Once he closed the door behind him, Amelia turned back to the pot over the cooking fire to retrieve some food for Finn.

"Now that he's gone, I think we should discuss things rather frankly," Amelia began. Finn blinked. She had been prescribed rest, but it looked like she would endure a lecture instead. "What you did was reckless and crazy, and nearly sent your father into a panic." Finn cringed, wondering why she needed to have this discussion right now.

"Nevertheless, you quite probably saved the lives of my children and others, and I am grateful." Amelia concluded this remark by putting the bowl, this time with a spoon, into Finn's hands. It contained more of the broth, this time with some meat and vegetables in it, and a hunk of fresh bread resting on the rim.

Finn looked into the stew, unsure whether she disliked the muted praise more than the dressing down. She felt she deserved neither, since her actions seemed outside of her control. She picked up the bread and took a small bite, testing her stomach.

"As a result of your actions," Amelia continued, to Finn's surprise, "You have some decisions to make. I considered involving your father, but Phillip's emotions when you're involved can be... somewhat forceful, and get in the way of reason. You're fairly rational except in those moments where you're charging into a pack of wolves." Finn cringed again. Amelia could be brutally honest with those she decided could handle it.

"Your wound is not terribly serious. Yet." Amelia looked seriously into Finn's eyes, which met hers on the last syllable, "But it could easily become so. This sort of bite is quite apt to become dangerously infected. I would recommend you travel to Klain for the services of a doctor there as soon as you're able. The city has many more resources for healing than my humble herb cabinet. And I think you need to leave as soon as possible when the sun rises tomorrow."