Twist and Shout

Shiiiiiit... Partner wished he could just sink into the ground for some of the things he'd said to Crescent over the past hour. Things he couldn't even completely remember, having just been snapped in the spur of the moment. Needless to say, he was regretting speaking so harshly now. Even if some part of him did still wish he could yell in her face, it would only hurt her more. And if there was one thing Partner didn't want, it was that.

Swallowing the last of his irritation, the male dropped to his belly and crawled as close to Crescent's side as he could manage without getting under the bench himself. "Cres, I'm sorry," he muttered, feeling chastened by her misery. He hadn't wanted - had NEVER wanted - to upset the young girl. "You're not dumb, I swear, you're just..." he cut himself off by purposely biting his tongue. Now wasn't the time for that.

"You're not dumb." he repeated helplessly.

Honestly, Badger hadn't noticed the lightning bug, let alone known that he was a medic. The black-eared canine had to admit, she found it pretty amazing that the bug would be able to fix an animal ten times the size of himself! Stumbling back, she stuck her head down, a bit embarrassed. "Uh, sorry Mister, I didn't notice ya'," She woofed softly, blue and brown orbs trained on her paws. "I just wanted to make sure she would be okay..." She added, black ears pressed back against her head. I can't even help right! All I do is fail! I screw everything up! The female dalmatian thought, half-angrily half-sadly. Why couldn't she just do something right, for once? Sighing, she looked back up to Ray.

"Uh, she got into a fight, she doesn't know much about fighting, and got pretty beat up..." Badger said softly, not exactly wanting for Crescent to hear her words. Glancing back down at her adopted sister, the black-eared canine felt the guilt rush back in. The normally doofy pup just looked so upset and sad, it didn't feel right. Walking around so that she wasn't in Ray's way, the mixed-eyed dalmatian sat down next to Crescent. Leaning over, she gently nuzzled her sister. "Don't worry, he's gonna fix you up," She whispered reassuringly, voice soft. "You ain't dumb, it was an honest mistake," Badger added as she pulled away, only able to stare down at her paws. All she wanted was to see the doofy pup happy again.

(ooc: Crescent, you are exceedingly adorable. D: Must give all the hugs!)

Ray nodded to confirm the female's question. He was a medic, after all, so it was only natural that he would want to help her out with her 'bleeding blood' problem. "Sure thing, darlin'. Ol' Ray's gonna get y'all taken care of lickitey split." Ray told her. He was right about that much, at any rate. Working quickly, he had already dabbed away most of the blood so that the wound would be clearly visible for him to work with. It didn't look quite so severe with the blood wiped away, either, which was fortunate. He didn't think this particular wound looked like it needed stitching, either. Good. At least that will save you some work. he thought.

His expression drooped just a little at Badger's words. He hardly could blame her for not seeing him, seeing as he was so small, so he decided to apologize in kind. "Sorry 'bout dat... if ah seemed a little testy, ah mean. It's kinda difficult ta work with so many pups in close proximity, ya know?" Ray asked. He wondered if that was true for the pups. With one hundred and one of them, it had to be difficult. Well, there were less of them now that the war had kicked in. Still, there were quite a few of them. "Actually... I wouldn't mind a little help. If ya could get me some bandages ta work with, ah'd appreciate it." he told Badger.

"Uh-huh, r-right." Fidget nodded at Dipstick. For the last few days, the jittery puppy had been questioning Dipstick's mental health, seeing this Rebecca girl, when Fidget had clearly learned that she died from the plague in May.

The shaky dal, still guilty about his barking at Crescent, he walked into the MASH tent, head and tail drooping. "Hey, u-uh Crescent, I'm s-sorry about yelling a-at you," the pup apologized. "I-I w-was j-just t-tired and a-angry."

(I try, Ray, I try XD)

"Thanks buggy," Crescent mumbled, lifting her head from her paws. There was still no smile on her usual doofy face, no flicker of hope or light. She sniffled, whimpering softly. "I know dun' think so Partner...but...I am...th' other pups on the farm they called me stupid. I didn't understand it b'fore but...now I do." She shook her head, probably making it harder for Ray to heal her. She stared up at the two black eared dals before her, a weak smile forming on her lips before she saw Fidget. She gasped and she wiggled farther under the bench.

"Make him go away, buggy," she whined, on the verge of tears again, "He yelled at me!" She sniffled, covering her face with her paws again. "I didn't me ta be so silly, Partner...but that doesn't mean he had to yell!" Eyes narrowed, ears flicked back. Then she yelped. Moving farther under the bench had scratched her wounds on her back.

And there was nothing Partner could say to that. There were times when even he thought that the younger female was an idiot - although he would NEVER say it to her face -, so how could he say everyone else was mistaken for thinking the same thing? He sighed, a frown adorning his muzzle. "Cres, I-"

And then Fidget had the nerve to show up. Growling warningly at his adopted sibling, Partner finally dived under the bench after Crescent as she yelped, capturing her paw between his own. She was such a fragile little thing in some ways, and the male felt his irritation at her draining away as he held her paw.

"C'mon, Crescent, it's okay." It was odd, he thought, how he'd yelled at her just as much as - if not more than, he realised guiltily - Fidget had, but she still seemed okay with him around. "I'll make sure he regrets it if he yells at you again, okay?" Glare was shot in Fidget's direction to warn the other dal that he wouldn't mind making good on that threat.

Fidget was about to say something to Crescent after she hid under the bench, not before Partner came to her defense. He didn't blame the two other dalmatians for being upset with him, he just wanted to let them know he was sorry. Then Partner shot him that dirty stare. If looks could kill, Fidget would be six feet under right now.

The normally hyper pup just sighed and sat down. First, all the deaths in the family, next Wizzer's jealousy at him, now Crescent and Partner were mad at him, the pup felt like his life was a mess right now.

Cadpig looks at Crescent. She looked so horrible. Crescent was kinda silly, maybe a little bit goofy, maybe even a little bit random. But Cadpig would never go as far as calling her stupid or even yelling at her. Cadpig trotted over to Crescent, to help her. "Try to stay still Crescent." Cadpig said putting a comforting paw on Crescent. She was just trying to help Crescent because Ray probably would have had a harder time trying to heal a moving target. "Ray would you like me to do anything to help?" Cadpig asked the small fire fly.

For general lack of knowing what else to do, and due to the fact that Tripod seemed to have ignored him, Dipstick trailed after the others. He stopped a short distance from the others trying to coax Crescent out of her hiding place. "Stay back." He turned a stern gaze to the empty space behind him and trotted closer.

Stern look became soft and compassionate. Compassionate orbs turned to the little doof and he crouched down, belly to the ground so he could look at Crescent more clearly. Through the limited window of space on Partner's left side. "Umm... come on Crescent. Come out of there."

Ears flopped forward as she stared at Partner, sniffing back some tears. She was probably making it impossible for Ray to help her, which surprisingly came to her mind as she scraped her back on the underside of the bench. Partner and Dipstick were trying to get her to come out. So was Cadpig. Partner was a hero in her opinion and Dipstick and Cadpig were two of the coolest pups on the farm! What did they want to do with her?

Slowly she wiggled out from underneath the bench. Her fur was matted with dirt and blood. She needed a bath. She shook herself free of dirt and stared sheepishly at the other, blood still dripping from the wound on her belly, still flowing from the wound on her back. She played with the dirt under her feet.

"It hurts," she said softly, "C'n the buggy take care of me now please?" She peered at Partner, Dipstick and Cadpig as if asking their permission. "Hi Dipstick," she said shyly, "Cadpig...I'm sorry. I should have been more careful. I'm sorry." The last pathetic apology was directed at Partner.

"Oh, Cres." Since she hadn't seemed to take exception to him abbreviating her name as such, Patner decided to keep on using it. Tentatively, very tentatively, he reached out a paw and ever so lightly caressed the girl's cheek with it, brushing the ear with her namesake marking back from her face. No matter how... 'doofy', was that the word? ...and infuriating she was at times, he really did care for Crescent, and he couldn't bring himself to stay mad at her when she was so vulnerable.

"The only reason I got angry at you is because I... well, I don't want to see you hurt," he explained gently, not immediately removing his paw from where it rested lightly against her muzzle. The girl needed all the reassurance she could get right now.

Cadpig moves to the other side of Crescent that Partner was not by. She nuzzled Crescent's cheek in a loving sisterly fashion. "Of course the "Buggy" can fix you now. I am so sorry I wasn't there. I should have been there to save you and Partner. Do you think you and Partner can ever forgive me?" She asked miserably. She felt horrible. She was right there, she could of done something. But, she was just too scared. "I am so sorry" She repeated with a sad sniffle. "And I promise you If I ever see the person that did this to you and Partner again I'll kill them myself"She said with a growl blinking away tears.

Partner looked unimpressed by Cadpig's statement. "Don't make promisses you can't keep," he stated blandly, most of his attention still focused on Crescent. How the smallest pup on the farm could do what she was stating when one of the oldest (him) could do little more than scratch her ankles sounded nothing short of ridiculous to him. And in truth the male felt a bit cheated by so many other pups crowding around to try and help Crescent - she was HIS responsibility, not theirs. He'd failed to protect Annabelle, and Crescent wasn't her by any stretch of imagination, but couldn't they at least let him make up for One's death by being the only one to be there for Crescent instead?

"It's fine, there sure are a lot of us," Badger offered with a small smile as she looked back up to Ray. At the mention of her helping, though, the female dalmatian's eyes instantly lit up. "Of course! I'll be right back!" She woofed, her voice bright as she bounded off in search of the bandages. Blue and brown orbs scanning the array of materials inside of the MASH tent, the black-eared canine was finally able to make out a box with a label that read, "Bandages." Padding over, the spotted dog leaned in and pulled out a roll, being careful not to rip them in the process. Succesfully retirving the bandages, the female dalmatian headed back over to Ray, eyes bright. "Here you go!" She woofed, but, seeing that the bandages were still in her mouth it sounded more like, "'Ere ou oh!"

(short post is short, sorry xP)

Meanwhile on the camp's boarder, a burnt puppy slowly walked into camp. His fight with the sheep dog had left him with a paw cover in large bit marks, a massive scratch across his right check and a burse chest. In hind sight it could have been a lot worse, since he came very close to having at least one of his bones broken.

When he finally reached the camp he head straight towers the MASH tent, just as he always did after a battle. Once he got in Strike saw that Crescent was already treated and pourable need more than he did, so Strike sat down nearby and quietly waited for his turn, until Cadpig started swearing revenge on Leah for hurting Crescent. “You know Cadpig you should not be acting so bloodthirsty, it really does not suite you and besides all revenge is going get you is a lot of pain and misery, so please leave that sort of stuff to me, ok?”