To Dress a Pig Chapter 4: Dreams Deferred.
#4 of To Dress a Pig
Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Dreams Deferred.
"You're late," Garth said to her in a teasing voice, shoving her with his paw.
"What are you talking about?" she asked him with a smile, "I'm never late," she defended then pushed him back, "YOU'RE always here too early."
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Whatever you say, Rain," he said in defeat.
She smiled at him.
"So what is it that you want to do today?" she asked him.
"Well, why don't you decide?" he replied, "I mean, you're the one who knows the territory."
She lowered her ears and put on her best pouting face.
"Oh come on, Garth," she said to him dismally, her eyes as big and cute as a begging pup's, "I always have to pick."
Garth just couldn't say no to her when she gave him that look and he knew that she knew of such a weakness. He shook his head from side to side.
"You're so cheap," he said to her with a laugh.
She smiled victoriously.
"I know," she replied coyly, "so what is it that you want to do?"
Garth thought on this for a moment, squinting his left eye, arching his right, and looking up.
"It's pretty hot today," he observed, turning his eyes down to her once more, "why don't we go swimming or something?"
She smiled brightly.
"Sounds great," she replied with a happy sway of her tail, "last one to the river is a pile of rotten meat."
With this said, she took off toward the river, bounding ahead of Garth with joyous laughter echoing from her mouth.
Garth smiled and followed after her, catching up and then overtaking her shortly thereafter. As he passed, he turned to taunt her with a provocative smile, then turned forward once again only to find that he had already reached the river. Immediately he slammed his paws into the ground and tried to stop, but his momentum was too great and inevitably he cried out in voluntarily, somersaulted once, then hit the water with a splash. Rain, having had a front row seat for the entire show, stopped by the water's edge and fell onto her side, laughing hysterically.
Garth, after a moment under water, surfaced, spitting liquid from his mouth, then turned his sheepish gaze over to Rain when her laughter pierced his ears.
"Oh my god, Garth," she guffawed, "I've... never... seen anything so epic in my life!"
Garth blushed briefly at his own stupidity then moved to splash her so that he may at least get the last laugh in, but as he moved his right foreleg, he grimaced and sucked air in between clenched teeth.
Rain, having heard this, immediately ceased to laugh and rose to her feet.
"Garth are you alright?" she asked him concerned.
"No," he seethed in pain and looked at his shoulder, "I think I tore my shoulder."
Rain's eyes widened.
"Oh crap," she said quickly, "do you need help? What should I do?"
Garth placed a paw on his injured shoulder then turned to her.
"Just help me out of the water," he said to her, "I think I can walk on my own if I can just get up the ledge."
Rain nodded and stepped into the water beside him.
"Which side do you want me on?" she asked him.
"Left," he replied, "that way I don't have to put any kind of pressure on my right side."
She nodded and moved around to his left side then lowered herself down so that her shoulder was pressed up against his.
"You ready?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied with a nod.
"On three," she said to him, receiving an affirming nod, "ready? One, two, THREE!"
Garth growled with pain and began to push himself to his paws under the assistance of Rain. As he was righted upon his paws, he lost balance and staggered slightly, as he was not used to having to stand in such an awkward position, but regained his balance and released a pained growl.
"Are you alright?" Rain asked him, straining to hold his massive body.
"Yeah I'm fine," he replied bitterly, "let's get going."
She nodded and then took the first step forward, allowing him to hop alongside her with a clumsy splash.
However, when his paws hit bottom, they fell upon a slick spot where the rocks beneath them were covered in moss and he slipped violently, causing Rain to lose her hold on him and the two to fall hard into the water. Garth cried out with a pained curse as he hit the rocky bottom and placed his paw on his shoulder in an attempt to remedy his ailment, but all this did was make it worse.
"Oh my god Garth I'm so sorry," Rain cried, quickly getting to her paws.
"Don't worry about it," Garth winced, laying on his side in the shallow water, "wasn't your fault."
He grimaced and began to attempt to gain his footing once more, but his pain crippled him, hardly allowing him any motion whatsoever. He knew now that he would not be going anywhere without some form of help.
Rain was immediately at his side and when he tried to rise again, she slid her body beneath his and began to push him to his feet again. Starkly he rose, his three functioning limbs shaking, as they had struck against the rocks as well and would now sport bruises along their shins, and finally he was righted upon his paws once more.
"Alright," he grunted, "let's go, but try not to drop me this time, huh?"
Rain nodded, though bitterly, for she did not like being spoken to in such a manner, but she could understand his abrasiveness given his current condition, so she let it slide. Carefully she stepped forward, feeling around with her paws for any slippery spots or discrepancies amongst the rocks beneath the water, and when she found none, she instructed Garth to move forward.
He did so awkwardly as he was in unimaginable pain, but was able to successfully accomplish forward motion without incident and before they knew it, even though progression was painfully slow and the task incredibly difficult, the pair scaled the bank and crested the top onto flat ground. Rain stood panting, her head lowered, but rest was not granted as Garth needed it more than her and henceforth was now depositing most of his tremendous weight onto her shoulder. On shaky legs she stood, almost as though no bones supported them, but she did not dare lie down to grant them the break that they so desperately cried for through fear of hurting Garth further.
"What now?" she asked him between her panting, lifting her head so that it was level with his shoulder.
He grimaced and turned to her.
"Do you have a den nearby?" he heaved, "I don't think I can make it all the way back to Central."
She nodded.
"Yes," she replied, "maybe an eighth of a mile from here, but don't you need to be getting back? What if you're gone too long and they start looking for you?"
"I won't stay long," Garth replied with a pained grunt, "I just need to give it some time to rest up is all. After that, I can at least make it back."
"But... how will you explain your injury?" she asked him, "surely they will ask you how you got hurt."
"I'll think of something," he replied, "but for now, let's just take this one step at a time. First let's get to your den and then we can start worrying about what to do next."
She nodded and braced herself.
"Alright, you ready?"
He nodded in affirmation.
"Let's go," she said and took a step forward.
Finally, after a span of about twenty minutes or so, the pair reached her den and hobbled clumsily inside.
"Come on," Rain said to him laboriously, switching her position slightly, "let's get you laid down."
Garth pivoted awkwardly about and then, using her for support, starkly laid himself down near the back of the den.
Once he was settled, Rain pulled away and stepped back, taking a seat on her haunches and finally giving her legs some much needed rest.
"Well," she panted, lifting her head, "it's not much, but it's home."
Garth lifted his head and scanned the inside of the den with his eyes then turned to her.
"It's nice," he said to her, "dig it yourself?"
She nodded.
"Sure did," she replied.
Garth nodded, but regretted the motion as a pain shot through his shoulder causing him to wince and lean his head down once more.
Rain saw this and shook her head then scooted herself closer.
"Do you mind if I have a look at it?" she asked him, "I'm a bit of a self-appointed healer, if you catch my drift."
Garth nodded carefully, signaling for her to come closer.
Rain nodded in reply and gently laid her paw on his shoulder then began to rub it, feeling around for the epicenter of his affliction.
"Look at you," she mused with a soft grin, shaking her head slowly from side to side, "been hanging out with each other all of about a week and already I'm having to play doctor."
Garth smiled sheepishly despite the pain in his shoulder then sucked air in through clenched teeth when Rain's paw prodded into a tender part of his shoulder.
"It hurts right there?" she asked, gently prodding it again.
Garth nodded with a wince.
"Yeah," he replied, turning his head away.
Rain felt gingerly in that area and in areas that shared linear correspondence with it then sighed.
"Yup," she mused, removing her paw, "hate to say it, but you definitely tore your subscapularis and may have even bruised your clavicle."
Garth groaned.
"What is that in English?" he teased.
"You have a slight tear in your shoulder blade and have potentially bruised your collar bone," she replied slowly so as to mock him.
He nodded upon hearing this then laid his head down once again.
"Wonderful," he said bitterly, emitting a sigh to show his displeasure.
Rain chuckled and roughly ran her paw over the top of his head, causing him to grunt in discomfort.
"Now don't be so glum," she teased, "it could be a whole lot worse."
"You'd think that, wouldn't you," was Garth's venomous reply.
"Hey," she began, lifting a paw before her chest defensively, "you could've done that while you were alone," she reminded, "if you did, you'd STILL be laying in that water and probably would've stayed there until daybreak tomorrow."
Garth remained silent for a moment, breathing slowly, then closed his eyes, lifted his brows and cocked his head slightly.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he said in defeat.
Rain allowed a victorious grin to crawl across her features.
"Of course I am," she replied with a smile and sideways jerk of her head, "but that's enough chit-chat for now. YOU need something to go on that shoulder of yours to help alleviate the pain."
"It would be nice," Garth replied playfully.
Rain nodded and rose to her paws then began to scour through her den, clearly in search for something.
"Now where did I put th- Ah, here we are," she said and produced a bowl forged from a tree stump.
Garth watched her intently, curious to see exactly what it was that she was doing.
"What I have here, Garth," Rain began as she arrived at his side, "is a combination of mashed lobelia and valerian root extract, both of which are very hard to find around here, but that's beside the point." She paused for a moment then continued. "Anyway, since I don't know how well you react to herbs, we'll start you off with a low dosage. If it is too low, then we'll take more, but if it is right, then you should experience tremendous relief from your pain. The only side effect to this is that you may become extremely sleepy and become kinda loopy because it is a type of muscle relaxant, after all."
Garth nodded slowly, taking a moment to think it over.
"How does it taste?" he asked her finally.
"Like shit," she replied honestly, "but if you just shoot it down real quick, it's not too bad."
Garth huffed, for he saw no other options, and besides, he trusted her judgement, so what was there to worry about?
"So how is this gonna work?" he asked her, shifting uncomfortably until his body was almost aligned with hers.
She slid the bowl over to his muzzle.
"Are you able to turn onto your stomach?" she asked him, rising to her paws.
"I believe so," he replied, "but I may need a little help."
She nodded and moved around onto his left side then pushed her muzzle beneath his back.
"Alright," she groaned and began to lift her muzzle up, slowly rolling him over.
Garth grimaced and growled with pain, but helped her to roll himself over and just as he reached the pivotal point where his center of gravity broke and allowed his body to be rolled onto its underside, he straightened his leg and came to rest on his stomach.
"Thank you," Garth said with a tired smile.
"No problem," Rain replied and moved to his front, "you ready?"
"As I'll ever be, I guess," he replied, staring at the brown liquid indifferently.
She nodded and slid it so that he could reach it, then stepped back.
"Do it quick and you won't get the worst of the flavor," she reminded.
Garth nodded and took a quick breath so as to build some courage then lowered his muzzle toward the bowl and with one quick sweep of his tongue, sucked the entirety of its contents down his throat.
He swallowed with tightly closed eyes then shuttered as he felt the liquid slide down his throat and finally opened his eyes, emitting a groan and letting his tongue hang out of the front of his mouth.
"You weren't wrong," he mused, licking his lips in disgust, "that really did taste like shit."
She smiled and chuckled softly.
"So when does this stuff kick in?" he asked her.
"If we did it right, you should start feeling relief in about five minutes or so," she answered.
"Alright," he replied, "so while we wait, tell me a little bit about yourself. I mean, we haven't really sat down and talked to each other since the night you jumped me."
She cocked her head in agreement
"What would you like to know?"
"Well, first of all, how is it that you managed to eek out a living out here?" he asked, "I mean you were obviously quite young when they... ya know."
She nodded.
"Wasn't easy," she replied, "and half the time I had to do some less than reputable things to get a meal, but it was necessary in order for me to survive. I'd steal, I'd con, heck, sometimes I would even fight for food."
"Sounds rough," he said to her in understanding.
"It was, but it eventually got better," she assured, "while I did have to scrounge for food for a long time, I spent every other minute of my time trying to learn how to hunt, and once I had mastered it, I was finally able to lead the honest life I had always wanted."
Garth nodded, taking this all in.
"So have you been all alone out here?" he asked, "or have you had relationships in the past?"
Rain sighed.
"It's been the former more than it has been the latter," she replied, "most wolves out here tend to stay to themselves. It's a very lonely lifestyle. Now I have had a few relationships, but they never worked because all they ever wanted was what I wasn't willing to give."
"Ah," Garth replied, catching onto what she meant.
"Yup," she replied with a nod, "but that's enough about me. Tell me about yourself. How is your marriage to that Kate character going?"
Garth shrugged, though he did feel himself becoming nervous, but as to why was a mystery to him.
"Actually, there's a funny story behind that," he replied, "I did meet up with Kate at the Moonlight Howl like I was supposed to, but you know how I howled. I guess it drove her away."
Rain nodded, listening intently.
"Well after she left, she disappeared and nobody knew where she went. I'll skip over the details, but while I was upset that she had stood me up at first, I wouldn't change it for the world now."
"Really?" Rain asked, "why?"
"Because if she hadn't disappeared, I would've never met Lilly," he replied.
Rain leaned closer, enticed.
"Who's Lilly?" she asked him intrigued.
"She's my mate," he replied, "the beautiful, innocent little flower that nobody noticed because she had a sister like Kate."
Rain cocked her head in confusion.
"Wait, so since Kate wasn't around to marry, they just handed you her sister?"
"No, it wasn't like that at all," he answered quickly, "you see, the day after the Kate disappeared my pack met with the West and we were accused of kidnapping her, but by the time it had all come to a wrap, Lilly had offered to show me around. I wasn't too keen upon it, but C.B. of the West pretty well forced me into it."
Rain nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"Well, we spent the day together, she took me to a whole bunch of places, but we didn't really connect until I had seen her eyes. Oh my god, Rain, deep lavender matched with her snow-white fur."
"She must be something," Rain said, though inside she was slightly jealous, for the reason why she had rejected all of the other males was because she was saving herself for him.
Garth nodded, realizing at this moment that his head was off, almost hazy.
"Woah," he said, blinking, "I think the medicine has just kicked in.
"How does your shoulder feel?" she asked, rising to her paws.
"WAY better, darlin," he replied, "thank you."
She smiled.
"You're very welcome," she replied, "and to be completely honest, I think I gave you too much."
"What are you talking about, darlin," Garth replied, "I feel great."
"Well first of all, you're calling me 'darlin,'" she replied, "and if you recall, you have a mate."
Garth laughed.
"Oops," he replied, "sorry, dar- Rain."
Rain sighed.
"You can't handle your herbs very well, can you?" she asked him.
"Guess not," he replied, "am I talking too loud?"
"No," she replied, "but you are talking really slow."
Garth laughed.
"Your mouth looks funny when it moves," he said, reaching a paw toward it, "funny little moving, moving mouth, ahhh, this stuff is great."
Rain laughed, enjoying herself thoroughly.
"Di- did I ever tell you how pretty you were?" Garth asked, lowering his paw once again.
"A few times before you had a mate," she replied, reminding him once again that he had a mate and that he should not be talking to her in such a manner.
"But I only say it because I mean it," he replied, "You know I still love you, Rain."
Garth was suddenly awakened when he felt cold water splash all over him and he jerked his head up and shot his eyes open, settling them immediately upon Eve. He jerked again fearfully only to find that he was suspended by his paws, but that wasn't all. Now that he realized that he was suspended by his paws, he also realized that there was a searing pain coming from his wrists. He turned his eyes up to find that they had been pierced by a pair of metal hooks and that these hooks, tugging painfully at his wrists, were what held him.
"Hello, Garth. Have a nice dream?"