Adlaide's brows rose and her head dropped, the incredulous expression on her face showed she didn't exactly like the idea. "I don't know much about this place, but I know it's dangerous enough. Leaving us here all alone? Not the smartest idea, James isn't exactly well and I have no clue on how to defend myself... just... be quick okay?" She was trying her best to trust Mordecai but it was hard for her. Some of the decisions these people made seemed strange and foolish, but she had to admit they worked more often than not. She just would have to get used to it. She let her expression drop away and bowed her head slightly.
Returning her attention to James, she took off the heavy cloak and wrapped it around him. "Well then, let's keep you from going anywhere." She pressed her cool shaking hand against his forehead, it was very warm, she withdrew and gave a sigh.

Ngea, meanwhile was poking her muzzle here and there searching for somewhere that offered some shelter and was better than the caverns. Unfortunately her mind was elsewhere, it was on her parents and her dead siblings. She almost wondered what it was like to be dead, and if they were all together and happy. Death was the only thing that could keep her parents away, she knew this all too well.
It was when she was thinking this over that she grew bound and determined to keep the siblings safe from harm. No matter what it took. The thick black fur on the back of her neck and shoulders rose slightly as she continued poking around. No matter what, she said over and over to herself.

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Mordecai gave a nod at this. "Call for me, if you need of assisstance. I won't be far." That was a reassurance to her, really. The man soon moved off, knowing that they needed to get a fire going for James. perhaps this method would work. perhaps not. It was hard to tell at this point. James was cold, but warm. How it worked with fevers like that was a mystery. He just knew he didn't feel the greatest. The crash had been the starting point for that, especially when his wrist broken and the bone pierced the skin. That had been well and fixed, but infections here were so easy to catch for outsiders....

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Adlaide nodded. "Yeah." As soon as he left the cave she stood up and started moving some stones around to form a fire pit. The ground was somewhat hard, so it took a while for her to dig away a bit of a earth where the fire was going to be. She shivered slightly catching a chill, but kept working. Besides the fact it would be quicken the process of getting a fire started it would also keep her somewhat warm.
Then she started humming to herself, trying to keep herself busy and occupied. She had to keep her brain occupied, and keep from worrying if that were even possible. Either way keeping busy was helpful.

Ngea finally found a place, her ears pricked she nodded before turning and moving out at a swift trot towards the cavern. Halfway there she stumble upon the stallion, struggling to walk towards the cavern. Her heart sunk, and she felt her stomach in her throat. It was her father's stallion, wounded horribly, and barely able to keep itself from falling. She was at it's side in seconds as a human she stroked it's face murmuring kind words to the injured beast. It stopped moving and stood miserably with her, she took the satchel not bothering to look in it at that moment. She ripped the tack off and did what she could to comfort the horse. It fell not long afterwards, his breathing harsh and horrible. She stroked his face, holding the stallion's head in her lap, whispering and telling it how wonderful it truly had been, she sat there with the dying creature for what seemed like an hour.
Eventually it's breathing stopped and she sat there sobbing for a few long minutes. She rose carefully, then set to work. It was no fun butchering the animal she had known so well, but the stallion's meat would be a good resource until they found other food. She packed up the choice cuts and tied them up in the soft hide of the stallion. Only then did she start heading towards the cavern again. Her steps were slow, nearly silent but dragging slightly so that the softest sounds could be heard.

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The poor woman... By this point, she'd have found a fire started. Mordecai, upon seeing Ngea as she was, moved to her immediately and pulled her into a hug. Her family had become his family...and it cut him just as deeply as it did her. They'd both lost people in their lives, but her parents had been the most accepting, in all honesty. And the truth was, her grandfather was likely dead as well.... Those who were well aware of the political standing knew that Ngea was now the Queen of the kingdoms, but at this point...was there even a kingdom left to rule?

James knew that look upon her face, and though exhausted and fever ridden, he wanted to comfort her... However, the man just couldn't find the strength to get up.

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Ngea, though appreciating the hug, drew back from it and sniffed away the last signs of her tears. She had to keep her cool calm exterior, she had to not just for the humans but for herself as well. "I've brought some meat, and I found a decent place to set up camp. It's well shielded and from a military stand point it's in a very nice defend-able position. There's water nearby and plenty of wood." She glanced at the fire and moved towards it, holding her hands out to it. Her golden eyes had gone cold and her shoulders sagged slightly. She obviously knew where she was standing with the kingdom.

Adlaide couldn't help but feel sorry for Ngea. Though she'd had her doubts about the wolf-person, the two of them weren't actually that different. She watched the wolf girl with worried eyes, she couldn't spot a trace of tears, but noticed the slight tremble in her outstretched hands.
"They aren't coming are they." She murmured into the stillness, she let her fiery head drop and glanced James way. Was he trying to stand? She flew to his side. "No, no stay down."

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Mordecai watched, a brow risen. He glanced to Ngea then, and moved towards her. A small nuzzle was given, a sign for her to prepare and get ready. Seeing James this weak...he knew what needed to be done. A shift could very well be possible, he knew, or it could just give his immune system a massive boost that it needed right now. The doctor himself had never changed, but he hadn't had the same feeling as these two gave off.

"Miss, how are you feeling?" he then asked Adlaide. Having a human around a newborn pup was never a good idea, but one never knew.

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A muscle in Ngea's cheek jumped, she turned and nodded to Mordecai before looking at the siblings. Surely Adlaide wouldn't quite like the idea of having James all of a sudden turned into something like a werewolf, but she'd have to get over it. James was dying, he looked worse and worse each and every second.
Stepping away from the fire she knelt in front of the sick and injured man, her keen golden eyes stared straight into his eyes. "Stay strong. We'll get you thought this." She whispered then stood and turned away.

Adlaide looked over at Mordecai with a shrug. "Well enough? I'm neither injured or sick. I mean sure I have a scrape or two... but nothing compared to my brother." She was still struggling from the mental weight of it all, but other than that she was doing fairly well for all the trash she'd been through the past couple of days.

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Mordecai gave a nod at this, looked her dead in the eye. "I promised you I'd help you if your brother needed it... I ask that you trust me, and let me do what I must. From the looks of it, your brother has caught an illness that has been known to kill rapidly within hours for most humans...but here he still stands strong. ... Ngea? Are you prepared?"

James, to say the least, didn't quite understand what was going on. He was doing fine. He felt fine. What was all this talk of death? He wasn't dying...was he? That had him pale, if he could do so anymore.

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Ngea tipped her head slightly to one side. How could someone ever be "ready" for what was about to happen. "One second." She shook away her human complexion and stood there as a wolf. In case James went crazy she wanted to be in her stronger form, then it would be easier to keep him pinned till he calmed down. She knew how much pain there would be, as well as the strange sensation that flows through you from head to toe. She lowered her head and watched James, the expression one which would be the most unnerving for any human, courageous or not.

Adlaide's eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean? What does Ngea need to be ready for? What's going on. What are you going to do to him?" Her words rolled out faster and faster, tumbling over each other and falling in a muddled mess. Panic shone in the silvery depths of her grey eyes, she was worried, beyond worried. What was going to happen to James?

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"...If I told you, you'd try and stop me..."

Mordecai left it at that. He'd not do it if he felt there was any other choice. Mortal medicines could only go so far... With that, he, too, shook away his human form. James was far to weak, but he felt like a trapped animal at this point in time. What on earth was going on? He just glanced up at his sister then, and back to the pair. Oh boy, this couldn't be good... But, before he could do much of anything, Mordecai was upon him, those powerful jaws wrapped about his forearm he'd risen up in self defense.

It caught him by complete surprise, honestly, and the burning sensation that came with it was an overflow of pain. James had no idea what was going on, or why he'd just been bitten. Attacked? No. His logical mind knew this wasn't that. This was something else. Still, though, he tried to pull away from the grip that refused to let go. It wasn't often that Addy heard her brother, or saw him in fact, show pain. This was one of those times she'd see it...and hear it.

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Adlaide stared for a second the scene not quite registering in her brain, but when it finally did she lunged forwards. She could hardly bear to hear her brother's voice cut through the night in such an awful way. Ngea was in the way though, suddenly coming from nowhere and knocking Adlaide to the ground. A low growl rose from the she wolf's throat telling her to stay down.
Adlaide meekly obeyed, though several times her conscious told her to do other wise. Her stomach felt sick and she raised her hands to cover her ears, her eyes sliding shut to hopefully bar the painful image from her mind.

Ngea watched from the sidelines, her attention very briefly split between the siblings when Adlaide jumped forwards. The girl was smart enough though to not resist when she was shoved to the ground. Calmly Ngea approached Mordecai and James, her tail tip swayed slightly and she stayed low, ready to lunge for the human when the aftershock came.
The good thing about being a wolf was the fact she simply could not cry when she was one, for even now she nearly wished she could shed tears. Her stare turned to look at Adlaide, the pain in her eyes horrible to behold. She'd just lost everything and gained a kingdom that was broken, now she was having to witness someone go through the pain she had promised to never see inflicted on another being. But they had to save him, Adlaide would have to understand that eventually.

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Mordecai, after several moments, finally let go of James' arm. His reaction was to quickly move back. One broken arm, and now the other one was bleeding from the bite wound. The reaction was rather childish from him to 'hide' so to speak from the wolves. What on earth had this been about?

However, earlier he'd felt cold...now? Now he almost felt to...hot. Mordecai's gaze shifted then to Ngea, and he gave a nod to her. They'd need blankets since his clothing was not of elvish make. They'd need to find some for him at some point... Perhaps they'd visit her father's village, see if it still stood. After having tasted James' blood, he knew he'd turn. While there would definitely be differences between the way they looked, he was now one of them. They just had to wait for the shift...

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Ngea grabbed the cloak from where it had fallen on the ground, gathering the fine material in her jaws. This would work for now. She stepped forwards ready to lunge when the shift occurred. She knew what happened when she'd first shifted, she was glad elves didn't shift or her poor father would've been a wolf-folk as well. She wasn't all that lucky, she hadn't gotten that ability, but not having that ability had ended up saving her life as well.
She crouched low, muscular but lithe frame pressing against the hard stone floor. In the light of the flames she liked like a burning coal, her golden eyes looked like flames, altogether she might have been a frightful sight for any other being.
Ngea half wanted to go and comfort Adlaide but if James went wild they'd have a whole entire mess on their hands.

Adlaide brought her knees up to her chin, hugging them tightly. She was sobbing quietly, she hadn't cried really since they'd arrived here, but even then that had only been one or two tears. She hardly understood what was happening, and for all she knew her brother would be dead soon.

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Mordecai was watching the young lad. He was shaking at this point, holding his arm despite how much it ailed the broken bones. That would, hopefully, get fixed as well... After a moment, though, the large brute moved to sit with Adlaide, he gently nudging her. "There was no other way... He will live. And you must as well. Come with me... Ngea can handle your brother, and I'd rather you not see what comes next..." It would be gruesome for the sibling to watch as sibling shifted. It wasn't a pretty sight...

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Wiping her eyes Adlaide stood slowly. She glanced at James then headed towards the mouth of the cavern, each step was extremely slow and short. No matter how hard it would be to watch, she didn't want to leave him alone. But something inside her knew that Mordecai was right. She stepped faster, but only by a little. It was then she noticed the air did not hurt her lungs as badly, perhaps she was growing used to it, or maybe the horrible bruising of her rib was healing up nicely. Either way it was a somewhat decent thought.

Ngea glanced at Adlaide and Mordecai. "Don't worry Adlaide." She said softly before returning all her attention to the new wolf-folk. The shift was coming soon, she knew this well. Her muscles coiled, causing her pelt to look nearly knotted and not nearly so silky.
The worst part was the first shift, after that everything should be okay... She took a breath, patience had not been her strong suit before turning into a wolf-folk, now she could wait for forever. The nice thing was she didn't have to wait forever, the shift was coming and very soon.

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