<div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Warning: lots and lots of rambling below. I'm trying my hand at this "introspection" thing, but I don't know if I've quite figured it out yet  <img alt="^^;" src="./images/smilies/sweatdrop.gif" title="Sweat drop"/></div></div></div><br/><br/>It's a strange feeling... helplessness, that is. It comes on differently from other feelings, like happiness and sorrow. There's never any buildup, never any warning; only that horrible moment in which you realize that you have absolutely no control over a situation and there's nothing you can do about it. To a Falteen native like Sherani, it's usually a once-in-a-lifetime experience, if that; anything terrifying enough to evoke that sense of dread in a forester is liable to kill her before mind got beyond blind panic. Besides, she'd probably be too busy getting mauled, chewed, crushed or drowned to really appreciate it.<br/><br/>But today... As she stares at the canine trio of terrified Ureck, dying Rafe, and (for the moment) terrifyingly powerful Lilium, Sherani is one of the rare foresters to experience the helpless sensation in full. It doesn't take her long to decide that she doesn't like it.<br/><br/>It's not that she couldn't act; in fact, it would be a simple matter to step in and drag Ureck back, or try to wrestle Rafe out of Lilium's stomach. Or, hell, maybe just glare and growl- it's solved problems before. But she knows that it wouldn't work- this is a matter of tact, not muscle, a challenge her Falteen upbringing didn't prepare her for in the slightest. Neither of her friends are liable to budge an inch, and any wrong move will end up with Rafe and maybe Ureck (and maybe even Sherani herself) coming out of Lil's butt tonight. At best, it'll end up a repeat of yesterday morning, with Lilium giving her another cold shoulder.<br/><br/>So she waits... One heartbeat. Two. Three. Her heart nearly stops when Lil's tongue snakes out across Ureck's muzzle, and it takes an act of willpower not to charge in to the rescue...<span style="font-style: italic">No, Sherani. Charging in blind is what screwed up yesterday, remember?</span><br/><br/>Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Lilium acquiesces, vomiting up the hairless and near-dead (but not quite) wolf from her powerful stomach. In Sherani's corner of the world, the sound of regurgitating fox is masked by a long sigh as the breath she hadn't realized she was holding is finally released from her lungs, taking with it the last of her apprehension. A breath full of<span style="font-style: italic">apana</span>, if there ever was one.<br/><br/>Only one tiny bother keeps her from feeling fully relieved...<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>A surge of blue light starting from her eyes sparks downward throughout her body towards her hand and sinks into Rafe's flesh. A numbness quickly overcoming his body and dulling the pain for a brief second, a moment later the feeling of his muscles return absent the pain that burdened them. A single wave rippling through his body, revitalizing his fur and hair to the original state it had been in before he found himself trapped inside of Liliums belly.</div></blockquote><br/>The sight of Rafe's body un-digesting under Lilium's touch conjures up another odd sensation in Sherani. This one, she's all to familiar with: the itchy, achey feeling of a half-healed wound, lingering on her arms and thighs where the marks from Nera's attack still show. Lilium never got around to fixing those wounds, or chose to leave them as a punishment for Sherani's... something, though she can't entirely remember what.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Or maybe she forgot,</span>Sherani adds hopefully, though she doubts it. Whatever the reason, her kitsune friend seems to be in a more generous mood this morning than last- maybe it's worth asking for her favor again. It couldn't hurt... right?<br/><br/>Clearing her throat, Sherani cautiously steps up to Lilium's side as she finishes patching Rafe's battered hide. "Hey, Lil? While you're fixin' people d'you think you could maybe take a look at this? It's still kinda achey..." the shifter turns  her arm toward Lilium to show off the row of feline clawmarks along her upper arm.