Reunion [finished]

[Willow]

Something was shaking. No, she was shaking – being shaken.
As consciousness slowly started to prick at the black veil that kept Willow oblivious, she made out the pressure of a hand on her good arm, gently moving her.
Remembering that she had a bad arm, Willow moaned and swiped half-heartedly at the hand, not wanting it to jar her injured shoulder and wake her up. She was pleasantly pain-free at the moment.

Though…wait.
Willow groaned again as her aches filtered into her hazy brain, along with a soft but urgent voice.
“Willow. Wake up. Come on, you can’t be that out of it, wake up!”
“C’n…” Willow muttered in return, the sound vaguely similar to ‘can’. Or ‘Khan’ – the owner of the voice. Her sleepy slurring made it hard to tell.
“Willow, Kaz has got your friend tied up in one of the tents. He’s going to talk with him now, but…you know what Kaz is like,”
“Which?” Willow was slightly clearer, but she was fighting to stay asleep enough for her pain to stay at a vague level. She really didn’t want to wake up yet.
“Which what?” Khan sounded confused. Willow frowned very slightly. She thought she’d been quite clear.
“Friend,” She specified, still mumbling, and still trying to burrow under the heavy blankets she was lying under.
“Who do you think? The one with the wings. Matt. Are you even listening to any of this?”
“No,” Willow grouched, but then what Khan had said actually registered.
Matt. Wings. Weredragon. Kaz probably furious.
Ah, hell.

With a massive effort, or so it felt, Willow roused herself, forcing her eyes open and trying to sit up before she’d even blinked the blurriness from her eyes.
Drunkenly, she wavered, slouching uncontrollably to one side as Khan tried to steady her.
“Don’ feel too good,” She mumbled, struggling to focus.
“Yeah, they gave you something to help you sleep. It’s made you drowsy,” Khan agreed, watching her warily. Though it wasn’t a usual side-effect, he didn’t want Willow hurling all over him.
He received a surprise smack on the arm from aforementioned wolf shifter.
“I’m not gonna be sick. Just pass me some water?” She growled, making a conscious effort to sound sober.
Khan stared at her as he obediently passed over a water bag, thinking over their last few sentences.
“Willow, I never said anything about you being sick,” He managed eventually as she gulped down half of the water in the container.
“You thought it,” She told him confidently, pouring some of the water onto her face in another attempt to wake up – forgetting that the already cold water plus the freezing outside air would not keep her head warm – before wiping her face with her forearm and setting the drink aside and staggering to her feet, recalling a hazy memory of Veraz helping her change clothes when she caught sight of her new attire. Similar to the first, made for cold weather, though with the addition of a sling to keep her arm relatively still. She could feel bandages underneath her clothes and one around her head for her other injuries.

Khan was stuttering at her, caught between trying to make her take it easy and questioning how she knew what he’d been thinking. Willow ignored him, grabbing her boots and tugging them on before knocking the tent flap aside, wincing at the bright sunlight that assaulted her eyes and the sharp sting of water drying on her face in frigid air.
“Ow,” She muttered, squinting around before settling on the small group around the entrance of a nearby tent composed of Kaz, Veraz, another shifter Willow couldn’t be bothered identifying, and Matt. Wings and all, looking ready to take off.

Without really thinking, Willow shouted ‘hey!’ to get their attention, inadvertently waking up a couple of the nearest sleeping shifters. She heard a few faint curses and ‘I-don’t-want-to-wake-up-yet’ groans both with her ears and in her head, but didn’t quite register she should differentiate between the two. She still wasn’t functioning fully in the mental department – both the sleeping herbs and the knock to the head ensured that – and she found herself feeling a bit dumb when she realised that she didn’t have anything else to say after she’d successfully draw attention to herself.

Regardless, she headed over, taking in the expressions on the group’s faces. Kaz – predictably – looked put-out to say the least, Veraz uncertain, and as though she were planning how best to punish Kaz later for this whole thing, the other shifter who Willow had now identified as the raven shifter and as Matt’s guard seemed mistrustful and confused. It wasn’t everyday you had someone in camp who wasn’t exactly a prisoner and who was half dragon, after all. No wonder the poor guy looked bewildered.
And Matt....Willow wasn’t too sure what to make of his expression. He wasn’t pleased, which was perfectly clear. Impatient?

As she closed the space between them, Willow blurted out the first thing that came to mind, so that it looked like she had a reason for butting in.
“What’s going on?” Short. Vague. It seemed to work, as she didn’t get any extremely worried looks. And considering the circumstances, Willow decided she had a right to be a bit confused as to what the hell was happening.

[OOC: well, still a few monosyllables, and a drunk-sounding Willow, but she's more-or-less coherent in the end...hopefully it'll last XD]

[flippedside]

Matt paused, noting the slightly stumbling walk of the lean woman approaching him. Woman? No, she was too young for that. Willow stumbled closer, looking drugged and none too good. Matt hesitated, some part of him willing to reach out and heal her. The rest of him twisted away. Too much energy, and too much time. And he wasn't too happy with anyone, just now.

"What's going on?"

"Good question." Matt replied dryly before anyone else could speak. "Maybe you should ask your friends here." His voice was cool, not giving vent to the full heat of his anger.

"Maybe," Kaz interrupted rudely, "you should tell us just who you are and what you think you're doing here?"

Matt bristled.

Veraz interrupted, putting a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Wait. We want to know what sort of creature you are, Matt. And Kaz is concerned, is all." She glared at him, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

Kaz glared at Matt, ignoring Veraz. "You tried to burn someone. I have a right--"

Matt hissed slightly, the angry noise of a dragon. He was just barely keeping his temper in check. He snapped his wings slightly, interrupting Kaz's angry tirade. "It was an accident. I thought he was enemy. Look, I'm going now, so you don't have to worry about me burning your face."

"Oh, no, you don't. I want to know what sort of creature you are." Kaz strode forward, grasping Matt's arm in his hand.

"Guess." Matt replied coolly, before snapping his arm out of the other's grip and then twisting Kaz's hand back in a swift arm lock. He released him by giving him a light kick to the chest that sent the man sprawling. Amusement danced in Matt's eyes as he answered. "I'm a weredragon. And dangerous. You really shouldn't mess with me."

Kaz didn't exactly take the hint. He was a fighter, used to doing battle against tough foes. He was not used to being casually knocked aside. He knew the weredragon could be hurt--he'd seen Matt half-dead. "Should've used chains," he muttered, as he leapt to his feet, spinning as he drew his sword.

"Now is that really fair?" Matt asked. "I'm unarmed." He was starting to enjoy himself, taunting the shape-shifter.

"Ha. You're hardly unarmed. Got that fire trick, don't you?"

Matt grinned viciously. "This one?" He crouched, and made a downward movement with his hands. A wall of flame shot up in front of him. Matt let it fade out, settling himself for a good fight. Only the tip of his tail twitched. Perhaps he was being cocky, but he felt certain he could win against the arrogant shape-shifter standing before him.


OOC: This has got to be the most interrupted post ever! Sorry for the long wait and short post. And I think there's about to be a rather bloody battle if Willow and Veraz don't intervene.

[Willow]

The abrupt volley of words did little to clarify the situation to Willow, though by the end she had definitely grasped the gist of things.
The teenager found herself exchanging an exasperated, bordering on worried glance with Veraz as Matt and Kaz’s exchange became increasingly antagonistic. Both women could tell a fight was imminent, as could those few who were awake and armed. They were now either waking others or approaching warily, though Willow doubted they would intervene unless Kaz actually needed help.
If this scrap even got as far as a battle. Willow had no desire to see Kaz and Matt tearing chunks out of each other, and Veraz had put up with enough of Kaz’s injuries to want to avoid him taking on any more serious damage.

The wall of flames had both women backing up in alarm, before coming forward again and addressing their respective charges. Well, Veraz tried to reason with Kaz, which left Willow to deal with a weredragon who, by his demeanour, was promising to be difficult.

As Veraz spoke her husband’s name in an attempt to stall the clash, Willow turned to appeal to Matt, though she was aware her negotiating skills were somewhat lacking, lost in the slight fog that still clouded her mind.
‘Matt. Stop it now. Please. Though I’m in no condition to be pulling you two apart while you try to maim each other, I’ll still try. If you two start fighting and Kaz starts losing – and I know he will, you’ve got too many advantages – you’ll bring the whole camp down on your head when they try and defend him.’ Willow paused, considering her next words carefully. Unlike the married couple just a few feet away who knew each other’s emotions and reactions better than they knew their own, Willow had no concept of Matt’s moods – she didn’t know if threatening to get involved in the fight when she was in no state to protect herself would deter him or provide him with a more appealing challenge.

Changing strategies slightly, she continued soundlessly, staring at the weredragon as intently as she would if they were conversing aloud.
‘I don’t want anyone to get hurt unnecessarily, which will happen if you start fighting. And I don’t just mean my friends when I say that, I mean you too. I know you think you’ll win this fight easily-‘ Willow was referring rather pointedly to Matt’s confidence. If it hadn’t been clear through his body language and voice, it was by his thoughts, even if he wasn’t actually ‘speaking’. ‘-but even you can’t take on an entire camp and win without some serious wounds to show for it.’

Willow stopped, distracted now by the steadily building ache in her skull. Whether it was the painkillers wearing off, or speaking mentally for longer than a few sentences, she wasn’t sure.
Shaking off the heavy weight pressing down on her brain, Willow spared a glance to see how successful Veraz had been.
She had her hand on Kaz’s arm, gentle but restraining. Her partner was still glaring at Matt, apparently ignoring the hawk shifter at his side, but he wasn’t leaping to attack just yet.

More than a little edgy, Willow turned back to Matt, watching him warily. Not for fear he’d attack her, but concern that if he or Kaz attacked the other, Willow would be stuck trying to control a horde of protective shifters, whilst attempting to physically drag Matt away from her family, for the sake of both sides.

[OOC: haha, I love Matt’s sense of humour XD and no worries; if you’re ill or busy you can’t help taking a while to post. Now it’s over to you to see if Matt pays a blind bit of notice to what Willow said...and if Kaz keeps his temper in check or not ]

[flippedside]

Willow's words did little to distract Matt from his new goal: annihilate Kaz. Well, maybe "annihilate" was too strong of a word. Maybe "squash" and "rend" were better words. The arrogant shape-shifter had had him bound, put under guard, and then had left him there, deeply wounded. Fortunately, Matt could heal himself just fine without anyone else's help.

He glared at Willow, briefly turning his gaze away from Kaz. Her words filtered through the heat in his brain enough to remind him that she did have a good point. He frowned and glanced about briefly, judging his odds. Not too bad...There were only a few up and about at the moment.

A tent flap flipped back, and someone's sleepy head pocked out, trying to discern what had awakened him. Matt frowned slightly. It wouldn't take much to get this group awake and ready to fight--and they would fight for their leader.

Matt swung back around to focus on Kaz, his tail tip jumping with frustration and adrenaline.

He snorted at Willow's next words and then answered her mentally. {First, you can't stop a fight. You're about to fall over. And maybe you're right about the second part. Maybe I would get hurt. But you missed the important part of what you just said--I'd still win.} He turned his gaze full on her, and smiled viciously, fangs showing. {I'd recommend standing back.}

Matt's pupils contracted slightly in preparation for the blinding-sharp light of his fire calling. The light from the dying campfire caught them briefly, causing his eyes to glow greenish-blue from the reflection.

Kaz started slightly at the sight, but Veraz tugged at his arm, not allowing him to move forward. "Let's talk this over before anyone leaps on anyone else, shall we?" Her voice was sharp and firm.

Matt eyed her warily. To his mind, she had enough sense to be listened to--albeit briefly.

"Now then," Veraz continued in the same firm, controlled voice, "you said you're a...weredragon? What is that? None of us have seen a creature like you before, Matt."

Matt's eyes narrowed slightly at the word "creature." He considered his words and his audience a long moment before answering. "I'm from the Northern Wastes."

Kaz and Veraz both blinked and looked at each other in surprise, their body language speaking their thoughts clearly: "But no one lives there!"

"Many creatures live in the Northern Wastes. They just don't like you. For good reason, considering that you have a habit of tying them up or throwing them in the circus." He curled his lip slightly in disgust.

"I am sorry that happened, but Kaz thought you were going to attack us."

"Oh, right. I was half-dead from saving all of you from five tons of snow, and you thought I was going to attack you?" Matt snarled, jerking his hand out, and flame laced down his arm and spewed out towards Veraz. Maybe a little closer than he intended, but not close enough to harm.

Still, her eyes widened and she jumped back. It was the last straw for Kaz, who saw it not as an angry gesture, but as an attack on his wife. He lunged with a swift strike of his sword.

Matt's eyes widened to take in all the available light, the light and shadows sharpening into distinct shapes. He stepped neatly aside, catching the sword along the tough scales on the outside of his forearm. The metal scraped harshly, and he stepped in, his fist connecting solidly with Kaz's jaw.

The man staggered back, but Matt wasn't through. He shadowed, disappearing to Kaz's bewilderment, and then leaped into the air, to reappear behind Kaz, where he let loose with a double-kick. He grinned maliciously, as he dropped into a deep crouch.

Kaz caught himself before falling in the snow and spun around, glaring at the weredragon. No beast was going to get the best of him! He caught the eye of the raven shifter and twitched his head slightly to the left. Matt's guard began quietly backing up. He would move out of direct line of sight, shift, and then come in to attack from the other side.

Matt blinked, catching the head movement, and the words, {Go. Left.} He caught the other man's backwards movement and settled himself. Two attackers would be easy.


OOC: End of discussion, apparently...And and angry weredragon is a bad thing. lol. Matt's being really over-confident, which will probably get him into trouble. Although at the moment he has the element of surprise on his side.

[Willow]

Willow bared her own teeth when Matt faced her, smiling. Whereas his expression was purposefully taunting, hers was a show of frustration.
‘Stupid, irritating...’ Willow didn’t have time to complete an appropriate insult before Veraz cut in, stalling for time Willow guessed.
A vague, ghostly flicker of hope stirred in Willow’s chest when Matt paused, apparently listening to Veraz. It was smothered swiftly however when Willow sensed Matt’s mind – the exchange was doing nothing to dissuade him from the fight.

Silently cursing the direction the situation was barrelling towards, Willow stepped back and glanced around, wishing she’d had the presence of mind to bring her swords with her from the tent. Instead, her eyes landed on the approaching shifters, the first to wake already starting to assemble a loose ring around those involved in the confrontation. Khan was among them, looking quite ready to leap in and defend Kaz, but waiting for some sort of cue to do so.

Willow half-turned towards him, mouth opening to talk, but all words fled her mind when she felt the radiated heat of flames against her back.
Whirling back around, she was in time to see Kaz launch himself at Matt, the fire dissipating a few feet away from Veraz now she’d retreated.

Swearing aloud now, Willow darted forward and grabbed Veraz by the arm, pulling her back even as the hawk shifter shouted futilely after her husband.
“Did-?” Willow started speaking rapidly in surprised alarm, only for Veraz to cut her off, anticipating her question.
“Either he can’t aim, or it was a bluff, or something. The fire didn’t touch me,” She assured, barely looking at Willow. Her gaze was hooked on her husband, concern lacing her expression.
Impatient, Willow tugged Veraz’s sleeve, making the darker skinned woman glance away just as Kaz was knocked over, meeting Willow’s urgent eyes.
“We need to stop those two idiots before they really hurt each other.” The wolf shifter spoke quietly, though she doubted either Kaz or Matt would hear her over their fight. Then again, Matt might just be eavesdropping as he fought, purely to show how much stronger than the shifters he was. Willow chanced it anyway. She was more concerned with getting Kaz – and now the raven shifter, she noticed - out of the equation. Without anyone to fight, Matt might stop to listen. Might.

“How?” Veraz asked, pulling Willow out of her speedy contemplations.
“Um…” She hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. Her head pounded unhappily at the mere concept.
To give herself more time, and give Veraz the basic plan, Willow quickly filled her in on the thoughts she’d had before Veraz had spoken.
“…I just don’t know how to get those two away from Matt,” Willow finished, after a fast-paced explanation. She’d accented her spoken words with the odd thought when she’d spoken too fast for Veraz to understand her. Thankfully, the hawk shifter hadn’t seemed to notice anything amiss – probably putting the delayed understanding down to replaying the rapid flow of words in her head.

Comprehending, Veraz nodded.
“Get a couple of people we can rely on – I’ve an idea but we’ll need a few more people – and muscle – to do it.”Willow nodded, not pausing to ask what Veraz was planning before turning and jogging to the small crowd of shifters. She trusted the hawk shifter, after all.
Veraz went in the opposite direction, shifting and flying over the fight, gliding into the tent Matt had exited.
The ropes that had bound his hands were burnt, useless. However, Veraz remembered seeing more coils in the corner of the tent when she’d followed Kaz in earlier, arguing about the wisdom of tying up with rope a creature that could control fire, and leaving him in a flammable tent.

Grabbing an extra coil, Veraz quickly tied it around her waist, looped it round then secured the loose end, so that she could transport it whilst shifted.
That done, the hawk flew out of the tent again, landing as a human next to Willow, who’d gathered Khan and, after slight trepidation, Ghett. The drunken-fist fighter was close friends with the battling fox shifter, and didn’t enjoy seeing Kaz fighting what would become a losing battle. He would just as soon help him fight against Matt as help put an end to the fight altogether. However, he realised Veraz was the calmer of the couple, and obeyed her orders.

Within a second of landing, Veraz was quickly relaying her idea to the three shifters around her, noting that Willow had reacquired her twin swords in the few seconds Veraz had been absent – the hawk shifter guessed Khan had brought them with him when Willow had left her tent with only half her brain working.

Untying the rope, Veraz cut it roughly in half with a loaned knife before handing each half to one of the guys.
Once everyone understood, Veraz glanced quickly around their small unit. Khan and Ghett were no cause for concern, but Veraz worried slightly about the look on Willow’s face. She’d seen the expression before; typically followed by some hare-brained idea of the young wolf shifter’s. Veraz didn’t comment though, choosing instead to look back at the fight, waiting for an opening to exploit. Willow was old enough to make her own decisions, clever or not.

[OOC: Oooh, suspense....not haha. Well, this is about to get rather interesting ]

[flippedside]

Matt eyed Kaz a moment longer before shadowing again. Kaz blinked in surprise, then leapt forward at the spot Matt had been in moments before. Matt was already moving forward, and he had to twist awkwardly aside, letting the blade slide just inches from the skin along his ribs. Fortunately, Kaz had no real idea where he was, so Matt rolled away, well out of danger.

If Kaz had been a Northerner, sensitive to wind, light, and thought, he would have caught on to the angry silent curse Matt gave himself at misjudging the other's speed and swift thinking. But Kaz heard nothing, only gathered himself into a strong stance, while he searched hopelessly for the weredragon. The raven shifter flew in puzzled circles in the air. There was no movement, no hint of shadow to give away the temporarily still form of the weredragon.

Matt paused to assess the situation, allowing a sliver of respect to Kaz, in that he recognized that the other learned fast and moved faster. And Matt was, though healed, still stiff from his last battle. Kaz, on the other hand, showed no signs of any wounds--or of wearing out. Still, it was the same respect he'd given the necromancer--he was wary of the other, aware that he was potentially dangerous, but disgust and rage overwhelmed any reasonable thoughts. Or any possibility of mercy.

For just a moment, in that brief silent pause, Matt allowed himself to acknowledge the thought that had been drifting in his mind ever since that first moment, when he had found himself bound in the dark. It was that feeling of powerlessness and the close proximity of death--death that was so close and thick it could be breathed in the black air. And he knew that any who trapped him again like he had been that first time...would be shown no mercy. The thought was there and then gone, flying away as Matt's own wings snapped soundlessly open.

Matt grunted softly as he launched himself into the air, just as Veraz swooped back to Willow with ropes in hand. Kaz heard the sound and moved to strike where Matt had been. Matt's wings whipped the air just above Kaz's head as he flipped in the air, so that he was parallel to Kaz's body. The fox shifter swiped upwards at the sound, bellowing aloud, "Stop disappearing and come fight like a real man."

Matt dropped on the other's back, hissing in his ear, "But I'm not a real man, am I?" He jerked Kaz's head to the side. "I believe you called me a 'creature.'"

The move would have instantly killed Kaz if the fox shifter hadn't dropped to the ground and twisted aside as soon as he felt Matt's weight on his back. He slammed his sword backwards, feeling his neck twist at an unnatural angle. Something popped, but his sword connected with flesh and bone, and Matt rolled away, swatting Kaz hard with his tail as he moved.

When Kaz's sword pierced his shoulder, slicing open skin and muscle, Matt's shadowing dropped, and the raven shifter cawed angrily, aiming for the weredragon's head as he dropped out of the sky. He wasn't fast enough, though, and Matt spat fire at him, singeing his feathers. The raven shrieked, and fell out of the sky to shift moments before landing. He drew his sword, ready to run Matt through, but Matt leapt lightly away, moving out of range.

Matt's eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to guess the next move of the raven. He had to move quickly away from the other shape-shifters that were gathering to help their downed leader. He glanced at Kaz--no, the man was up again, though his face was pale. He allowed himself a thin smile.

"Now would be a good time to leave," flitted briefly through his mind, but he ignored the thought, ready to battle this out to the end. And then, if he was lucky, he would leave the whole camp as a smoking ruin. He twitched slightly at the tickle of sticky blood on his shoulder. He was largely unconcerned by the wound, which was already starting to heal. It left a stiff, uncomfortable feeling though, the stench of blood heavy against his nose. Never mind.

He spun and struck a shifter on the jaw and gut. Someone who'd been quietly sneaking up on him for several moments, the man gagged and staggered backwards. "Bad idea," he thought humorlessly, leaping back into the air and then launching himself at the raven shifter. He snarled, remembering that the man had been his guard.


OOC: I think that the whole camp is going to hate Matt after this.

[Willow]

The four were just finishing their discussion when the murmur of outrage and concern from the spectators drew their attention, first to the shifters – some of whom were stepping back from starting to run forward – then to the fight.
All plans went out of their minds as the alarm at seeing Kaz twisted awkwardly on the ground flooded in.
Sensing movement, Willow lunged forward and snagged the back of Khan’s shirt, digging her heels in to stop the white bear shifter. She could do nothing to hold back Ghett or Veraz, though both were heading to Kaz – already starting to get back to his feet – rather than to attack Matt.

Her attention snapped rather suddenly back to the fierce shifter she still had hold of, who was currently glaring at her as he shook out of her grip.
“Why’d you stop me? And if this any crap about me being too young then-” Khan didn’t get any further as Willow grabbed his arm again, this time to get his attention.
“Because I’d rather we just got Matt out of here than skewer him on every weapon in the camp,” She hissed, holding her own under the furious gaze Khan was subjecting her to.
“Why bother? You saw what he did – he could have killed Kaz just then, and I doubt he avoided killing him on purpose,” The younger teen responded, matching her quiet tone, though his still resounded with anger. Willow was at least trying to keep calm, though her nerves were almost at snapping point.

“Because if we fight him, he’ll kill us. Simple. If we get him out of here, hopefully no one will die. I’m trying to save everyone, Khan – for once I don’t want people to get hurt!” Willow growled in return, her body stilling and hunching slightly as she tried to keep her incisors covered. Getting angry with Khan wouldn’t help.
Too bad the kid was so damn stubborn.
“What makes you think he’ll kill us? He’s outnumbered and unar– someone’s bound to get him,” Khan cut himself off. No way was that freaky weredragon unarmed.
Willow, meanwhile, finally lost her temper. Considering the situation, she thought, later, that she’d kept calm for a remarkably long time. For her.
“Because he could probably reduce every tent, weapon, and shifter here to freaking cinders in five seconds flat!” She snapped, her voice raising along with her good hand, cast out to the side in a gesture of exasperation, and warning. She was a hair’s breadth from pummelling something with all the reserves of strength left in her body.

Before either of them could further the debate, movement from behind Khan drew Willow’s attention.
Ghett, trying to creep around behind Matt and attack, being struck in the jaw and gut.
As he stumbled back, Matt turned and launched himself at the raven shifter from the air.
‘Shit,’ Willow thought, already moving.
Shifting, she blurred past Khan and sprinted towards the two on three legs, stretching her muscles to their limit.
Blood screaming in her ears, she leapt at the pair, colliding with the raven shifter an instant before Matt reached him.

The impact knocked the two shifters aside, the wolf twisting awkwardly as she skidded across the ground.
Willow whined through clenched teeth, forcing a green eye open and pushing herself up slightly, to get her weight off her damaged leg.
Propped up on her good forelimb, she looked for the raven shifter and Matt. The shifter was next to her, already rolling to his feet, scooping his fallen weapon out of the snow as he turned to find the weredragon.
A sound that was between a groan and a snarl rattled in Willow’s chest as she heaved herself to all threes, followed by noise that made sense.
“Get back,”
The raven shifter tilted his head slightly in her direction, but didn’t respond or show any signs of moving.
A loud, vicious snarl that was closer to a roar issued from between Willow’s canines. Listening to her, if one didn’t look at her battered body they would think she was in perfect health.
“I said get back, or I’ll have the others restrain you,” She growled, her teeth snapping with her words.

Both glanced at Kaz and Veraz, close enough to have heard the exchange. Kaz was standing firm, despite Veraz talking rapidly to him, trying to persuade him to stand down. They stopped, however, upon hearing the irate wolf shifter.
Kaz tried to shake his head, but stopped almost immediately, what little colour that had returned to his face seeping away rapidly. It was enough to convey his point, however.
Veraz shot him a half-concerned, half-pleading look, before calling both the raven shifter and Willow back, ignoring Kaz’s quiet protests. Her voice carried, and the surrounding shifters took note, though with severe reservations. This would be the weredragon’s only chance to leave unchallenged. After that, they attacked.

Reluctantly, the raven shifter started to back off, Willow relaxing fractionally in relief before projecting another thought at the weredragon.
‘You’ve got no one to fight, Matt. Kaz is in worse shape than I am if he can barely move his neck without looking ready to pass out, and the raven shifter’s stood down. You can leave now, no one will stop you. Kaz probably doesn’t agree, but he can’t do much about it.’ Willow paused, casting around for any incentive she’d failed to give Matt before. ‘I know some people here have treated you badly, but most haven’t. Would you kill those who had nothing to do with you; innocents, I guess you could call them. Would you?’ Willow stopped, waiting, a silent mantra thrumming through her mind, almost unconsciously.
Please. Please. Please. Please.

[OOC: well, Willow's argumentative this post...then again, her temper's bound to be a bit short after the day she's had ]

[flippedside]

Matt grunted as he landed, the force of his landing jarring through his body. He had to pause to catch his breath, reminding himself that he was only just healed...and therefore still weak. He was up and spinning on the raven shifter, only a moment later, though. He couldn't afford a long pause, which could mean a sword through the back...and his shoulder was already bleeding.

Turning on the shifter, Matt reflected that the man had moved out of the way just in time. Willow's wolf form had intercepted him, and was now snarling at him as he reached for his sword.

Matt hesitated, caught between gutting the man now, while he was unarmed, and the thin voice that told him to let the shifter go. His hesitation was enough to save the man, who stepped back at Willow's snarls. Matt eyed them both warily, before backing up and glancing around the camp. He was surrounded now, though that didn't worry him unduly. If he shadowed and took to the air, no one would know where to attack. Except...he paused to look back at Willow, just as Veraz's voice rang out.

Everyone moved away from him at her command, though the movement was slow, almost a warning in its own right. They would attack him en masse if he didn't leave immediately. Matt eyed them, his eyes shot black and silver.

Surprisingly, Willow's words penetrated the tight rage that was clenched up in his chest. He wasn't sure he would call anyone here innocents, but then, none of them were his original torturers, were they? They had helped to kill the necromancer, even if it was only to save Willow, not him. No, it wasn't fair to blame any one of them for the horrors of the past. Slowly, the darkness left his eyes, his pupils contracting back to a more normal size.

Matt sighed and scanned the shifters, before glancing back down at Willow. "Don't you have better healers around here? You look like a bear ate you...and then spit you back out again." The faintest twitch of a smile touched his face. {I'd offer to help, but I think your friends will try to gut me if I touch you.}

He turned back to Kaz, his face hardening. "I would recommend staying home in the future and out of the Northern Wastes. You and your kind don't belong here." With that, he snapped his wings out to their full width, nearly brushing the circle around him on both sides. Several stepped back in surprise as Matt launched himself into the air with a massive down sweep of his wings.

He had no intention of going back amongst the shifters for some time. Besides, home was calling to him. It couldn't hurt to visit his own lands, though they would be cold and overgrown, and he could hardly expect much of a welcome. Still, it had been many long years since he had last visited...

[Willow]

Willow caught the edge of Matt’s thinking and locked eyes with him before Veraz spoke. Though her eyes were the only steady thing about her, the look in those grave spheres was enough to convey that she’d heard what he was considering, and what she would do should he act on his thoughts. Veraz’s order sounded, drawing the wolf’s eyes for a moment before the green orbs flickered back to the weredragon, watching him watch the shifters surrounding him.

Had her aching body not demanded oxygen just to keep her standing, Willow might have held her breath as she felt the shift in Matt’s mind. Nothing concrete, just brief sensations and emotions Willow couldn’t decipher. The anger there slowly relaxing, smoothing out into something calmer.
The wolf didn’t truly relax until Matt spoke, at which point she finally allowed her shaky legs to give way and let her slump onto her side, propped up on her good foreleg to keep her head upright. Her face relaxed into a familiar canine grin, the faint cloud of snow stirred up by her thumping tail evidence that the wolfish expression was actually a smile.

“I feel like it. I think they were waiting for me to wake up and be rational before they tried to heal me further – waking up in the middle of a healing completely irrational is never a good idea,” She said aloud, managing to sound wry through the animal growl in her voice, whilst silently she added; ‘Thanks, Matt. Don’t worry about it – anyway, if I keep getting healed straight away, my pain threshold will take a nose dive in no time.’ Amused at the thought, Willow snorted softly before standing, shifting in order to return the small smile; then turned so she could face both Matt and Kaz as the former delivered his warning.

To his credit, Kaz let Matt go with minimal fuss. He looked far from pleased, but nodded slightly in response.
Quietly amazed, Willow sidled up to Veraz as Matt took off, spooking a few of the shifters closest to his wings, to ask in a near whisper;
“How did you do that?”
“What?” Veraz replied in kind, though she held a suspicious edge to her look. She suspected this was either a joke of Willow’s, or one of the wolf shifter’s bouts of childishness.
“Get Kaz to be civil. I wanna learn how,”
Yes, childishness it was.
Still, the hawk shifter answered, after a pointed roll of her eyes.
“I threatened to tie him up and gag him for the rest of the journey home if he wasn’t reasonable,” She replied finally, tolerating Willow’s soft snicker.
“How about you?” Veraz asked suddenly, cutting short Willow’s amusement and replacing in with confusion. Catching the younger girl’s expression, Veraz elaborated.
“Calming Matt down. You just stood and glared at each other for a while, you looking as scary as a half-dead wolf can-” Willow subjected Veraz to a glare of her own for that, “-then he stood down. What did you do?”

Ah. Dammit.
Considering her answer briefly, Willow shrugged with one arm then gave Veraz her sweetest, most irritating smile.
“Magic,”
Before Veraz could pursue the matter, Willow lifted her limp arm and tried to manoeuvre it one-handed back into the empty sling around her neck, a muscle in her jaw standing out as she clenched her teeth on the pain. A low growl still sounded in the back of her throat.
Successfully distracted, Veraz helped her, then steered her charge back towards the tent she’d staggered out of earlier, forgetting her question in favour of organising Willow’s - and now Kaz’s - healing now the wolf shifter was awake and not likely to try and escape in a mindless panic.

Unseen, Willow gave a half-smile. Looks like damaged limbs were useful after all.

[OOC: oof, finally posted. Sorry this took so long, life got hectic. Damn January exams...anyway, so concludes Reunion!]