[FIN] Winter Wonderland

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray paused once outside the tent, leaning down so that she could look in through the opening at him.
"Sure thing kid, rest up."

The noises of Ray moving around the small camp aria could be heard as the rest of dark settled in over the forest, leaving the only source of light within the aria as the small fire she had placed in the tent, and the larger fire burning and crackling outside.

Ray's voice too, floated over the fire, as her form was show in dark shadows crouching by the warm flames with Double Stripe,
"Kenney to rescue base... over"
She would repeat over and over, followed with pauses as she changed the settings to try a different frequency.

She tried to remain quiet for Luke's sake, but as she finally got a response from the other end she let out a laugh 'Hey rescue, this is Kenney, SO I found this cute little red head out here in the snow, Heard you guys were putting out wanted posters for one just like it- Over"  

[Suudonym]

Luke followed the instruction he was given, glad for something to drink that wasn't snow, especially something warm, even if the taste was kind of bleh. He still felt pretty awful, but he at least wasn't declining anymore. He took the encouragement to rest as permission to close his eyes, even lay his head against his arm on his knees, even if only for a couple minutes, just to relax for a little while...

He was asleep immediately and completely, undisturbed by any sounds that didn't approach his immediate vicinity.  

[Blood_Goddess]

The replied were more difficult to hear then on a nice constructed gear, but Ray for the most part was able to understand what he was saying.
"He's okay, for the most part, He's been roughed up pretty bad and should probably see a doctor, but unless something terrible is wrong that I didn't notice he'll live- Over."

"Alright good, because here's the problem... is it snowing where you are? - Over"

Ray's eyes lifted from the fire to look into the darkness, having been watching the snow flakes growing steadily larger, and thicker.
"Roger - Over"

"Its going to get worse before it gets better, By the time we get to you we might not be able to move back. - Over"

"Don't worry about it then, if it breaks by tomorrow then I can count on you guys over at my camp, I'll look after him until then - Over"

Her coordinates were given to the man on the other end, before she set the radio down inside the tent to keep it from getting snowed on.
Pulling the hood up over her head she returned her gaze back out to the forest.
Storm was coming- She wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, so instead she returned to her feet to get to work making sure that the tent was properly fortified and the fire wouldn't be put out or spit up by the wind.

The night was bitter cold, but it was nothing that Ray didn't know how to handle, even with the wind picking up and howling wet snow across the forest.
Inside the tent Luke would at lest get a break from the wind, though not the noise.

For the worse of the snort Ray and Double Stripe retreated into the tent as well, putting out the small fire she had lit for it for safety.

Ray didn't sleep much at all, so was able to pinpoint the time when the storm broke. By the time the sun was rising over the forest again the snow had even stopped, leaving a thick fresh powder of snow.

"Freesh snow DS." Ray said with a laugh, stepping out into it and taking a deep breath. enjoying the clean smell of the day for a moment before she got to work staring the fire back up full force and boiling some water bot tea and breakfast. Double Stripe slithering out and half sinking into the deep snow as he pushed through it playfully.

She was working her way through her second cup of warm water when she looked up through the forest. Distant sounds that were not familiar or very natural. Meaning one thing.
"Couldn't come any sooner," She sighed in relief, Luke was not doing so good.
Lifting her pinkies to her lips and blowing very loudly, keeping this up a few times to signal to the people that were on their way.  

[Suudonym]

Luke stirred occasionally, waking into a slightly confused state each time before he remembered his circumstances, but largely remained asleep, if not uncomfortably so. Though his temperature was far from threatening, on top of everything else afflicting his body, it left him feeling absolutely bottomed out, to Mieu's growing concern and Lorelei's enduring guilt. The night passed in a haze; the first thing he was clearly aware of since the previous evening was the piercing whistle outside the tent, jarring him abruptly. Though his listlessness left him unable to remain alert for very long, he kept his attention on the opening with the vaguest sense of optimism.  

[Blood_Goddess]

There were whistles and calls back, making it very clear who was approaching.
"Hah-"
ducking to again look into the tent Ray grinned
"Rise and shine, you ready to get out of here?"  

[Suudonym]

He replied reflexively with a faint, reluctant groan, resting his forehead against his arm and nodding. Ready to go home, yes. Ready to make the effort required to get home, a thousand times no.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray replied with a sympathetic grin, but for now leaving him where he lay for now, making her way over instead toward the group who approached, there was a chatter of talking, mostly Ray explaining the situation to the people outside.
Though there was hurried steps drawing up to the tent.
"Luke-" came a gasp of relief and horror from the entrance way, and a much smaller form then Ray stepped into the confined tent.

Rosie, pulling her scarf away from her face hurried to where Luke was laying.  

[Suudonym]

One word, one syllable was all he needed of Rosie's voice to recognize it, and he gave her his attention as she approached. He was kind of ashamed to be seen in such a pathetic state after telling her not to worry, but he nonetheless raised a hand to offer to her, mustering a smile in spite of himself.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie reached both of her gloved hands out to take his kneeling down and hugging it close to her, since he didn't look like he was in the state to receave the kind of embrace she really wanted to give him.

They had warned her before hand that when his location was called in, that he was in bad shape.
"What did they do to you?" she whimpered, reaching one of her hands out to just barely brush the hair away from his forehead. How could anyone do this to someone.  

[Suudonym]

He couldn't summon the energy to waste on words knowing that what was looming before him would probably require the overwhelming majority of his strength, so he instead quietly shook his head in dismissal of her distress, his smile persistent if not weak. He was there and he was alive; he really wasn't going to ask for anything else.  

[Blood_Goddess]

She didn't seem to mind that he didn't answer, the truth would probably have been more horrible then she wanted it to be anyway.

They were not alone for very long, as members of the rescue team started to move in, asking Rosie to step out so they could take over for Luke.

He was not asked to walk, in fact he would have to do very little as the group got him out of the tent, and into a rescue stretcher. He was wrapped in a warm blanket and strapped in it for the trip back. Though at the first large clearing they could find was a waiting helicopter, to life slight him to the nearest hospital.  

[Suudonym]

Whoa, a helicopter. Didn't he feel important.  

[Blood_Goddess]

That's standard, you dork  

[Suudonym]

Luke's time in the hospital was fairly short compared to many of his other visits. A heated blanket, a saline drip, a decent dose of antibiotics and painkillers, a stitch in his forehead covered with soft gauze, a topical anesthetic wrapped tightly in bandages - with a few hours' rest stolen between treatments, he had begun to recover much of his strength. Most of the diagnosis wasn't directly treatable, such as the hairline fracture under the stitched brow and the minor crack in one of his ribs, and so once what could be taken care of was, he was released directly from the emergency ward without being admitted to the hospital. And Luke was grateful for that; when he thought he wanted to go home, he did indeed mean that he wanted to go home, not to hang out in the hospital.

Reaching home was much easier than he thought it would be when he woke up that morning, though that hardly stopped him from going straight to bed, even if only to be somewhere comfortable and warm. He certainly felt better than he had, but that wasn't exactly saying much.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Tank puffed away like he usually did, laying contently on a padded pillow that was usually placed on the ground for him.
His presence helping to warm the room that Luke was in more then the rest of the house.

Rosie was tired, but her head was buzzing and she was feeling a little sick to her stomach after hearing what Luke's injuries were. It was so hard for her to imagine someone doing this to another person, especially someone she cared about so much.

She had to see to the pokemon once she was home, though thankfully her team was more then willing to help her out. allowing her to eventually find the room that Luke had gone in, the downstairs bedroom, no doubt to skip on traveling up the stares if he didn't have to.
Ballet trotted into the room in front of Rosie, the small Fire type attempting to scramble up the blanket and onto the bed before Rosie walked over and helped her up, quietly sitting on the edge of the bed as to not wake Luke up if he was sleeping.
She rubbed at her neck, watching him for a few moments in silence.