The Infirmary

While other competitors remained in or had returned to the lounge or gone to either celebrate or accept the outcomes of their matches, the only serious casualty of the first set of matches had been rushed from the beach and over to the on site infirmary that was part of the tournament's main facility. Since the closing of the first round, Wolf had been in the care of the tournament's medical staff and now found himself the sole resident, apart from staff, of the infirmary.


Two days ago, Wolf had passed out on the beach after succumbing to his wounds from his fight with Envy, if one could be so generous to address what had occurred on the beach as such, shortly after the tournament officials had intervened and he had subsequently forfeited his match. The healer who had first tended to the injury that had felled Wolf, quickly set about mending the layers Wolf's thigh and fully healing the wound. The partial healing already given to Wolf only served to complicate the situation though.

No healer could predict what might happen if you left an injury only half healed. Halting the magically driven process would make it very difficult to determine what exactly was mended and what still needed attention, and areas that seemed healed may not be so. All things considered, such practices were highly inefficient and could potentially lead to complications, even for experienced healers. But, apparently tournament regulations had to be followed, even though the healer did protest doing so in this case.

Wolf was promptly transported to the tournament's medical facility and turned over to the care of a more traditional medical staff that would assess his condition. They set about doing so, their tests and equipment determining that the damage to Wolf's leg had been mostly set right. They did find some abnormalities that would require some minor surgery to correct and some small scattered remnants of the exploded shotgun shell still lingered, which they would try to remove to avoid any issues in the future for Wolf. Most pressingly though was the loss of blood from the injury.

While the healer had been able to mend Wolf's body, replacing everything his body had lost would have required more powerful magic. As it was, the medical staff had quickly set about to connect a saline IV to Wolf to stabilize his condition, until a compatible transfusion for him could be found, and they had also gave him medication to help his body accelerate blood production, but that would take quite some time to accomplish a complete replacement. In the best case, it was likely going to be days before Wolf would be cleared to leave their care.


It was more than a day after the end of his match that Wolf finally regained consciousness. He found himself in an unfamiliar in an unfamiliar room, with unfamiliar machines and devices attached to him in a few places. Considering all that he had endured to this point, Wolf was understandably wary and scared. Add to that the fact that he had been reliving the match in a more exaggerated manner in his dreams while he slept, it was a marvel that he hadn't awoken screaming in terror.

As it was he was quite disconcerted to find that he was now attired in an unfamiliar gown, that there was a small device affixed to his left paw with wires running out to a machine at his bedside, that a tube, filled with some strange fluid, ran from a bag suspended above him down into his left arm, and that there was a strange metal form around his left leg that restricted his ability to move it. On top of all that, he felt so weakened that it seemed to take great effort for him to shift around at all in his bed.

It wasn't too long after that, that a member of the infirmary staff came by to check on him. Upon finding him awake, they remained with him, first to help set him at ease and alleviate his immediate concerns, and then to explain much of what had happened to him since he had lost consciousness. He was informed about his current condition and how things were likely to proceed for the next several days while they treat and monitor him. Wolf processed what he could understand of all the explanations, but he grasped that for the time being he was going to be confined to this room.

When he was eventually asked about whether he wanted to be informed about anything regarding the tournament, he quickly declined. He accepted an offer of food and something to drink, since it had been some time since he last eaten. Once he was alone again, he chided himself for the mistake he'd made in trying to take part in this tournament. Treating combat as a game where the other person could be trusted rather than a serious event where the other person sought to end you had nearly cost him his life. It was a mistake he would have to be sure to never repeat.

For the remainder of the day, Wolf was mainly left in his own company, with regular visits from the medical staff to check on him. Eventually weariness overcame him and the night passed as a period of broken sleep as nightmares continued to plague him, and likely would for some time.


The following day, two days after the end of the first round of the tournament, Wolf was deemed to be well enough to receive visitors should any of the other competitors or any of Wolf's acquaintances show up and want to see him.

((Welp, someone might as well post here! ))

As the fights of the second round were all starting up, a particular reddish-purplish hedgehog had managed to find her way to the apparently official infirmary for those competing in the tournament. After having heard that there were such facilities here, the nervous teen had figured she would end up here after a fight sooner or later. What she didn't expect, though, was that she would end up here due to a self-inflicted injury. Oops.

It was actually late the previous day when she had been trying to work on moving faster and attempting better maneuvers when using her pyrokinesis that she tripped herself up. A fall of a few feet from the elevated platform she had jumped up on only a little while before proved to be more than her left arm was willing to put up with. Rather than immediately going to get it checked, the hedgehog figured it would be fine by morning and, if it wasn't, she'd pay a visit to one of the tournament's healers before the beginning of the second round.

So much for that.

Instead of getting up when her alarm went off, she just hit the snooze again. And again. And again. And then after getting up in a hurry upon realizing she was running a little later than she intended, she thought she might just go and try to find the infirmary herself. She was admittedly too embarrassed that she had actually hurt herself to ask anyone. In the end, she wound up actually being late and not finding the infirmary at all. But just when she thought she would have to try and fight anyway, she had at least a little luck. She had this round free to kick back and observe the rest of the competition instead of having to participate. It was a fairly significant relief to her and she silently thanked whatever fate had allowed it.

In addition, overhearing part of a conversation in the lounge also gave her an excuse to actually go to the infirmary without admitting her own folly as well. With one combatant who had been straight-up shot in the first round still apparently recovering there, she could head over there to "just check in" on the poor guy.

After a little bit of socializing in the lounge with her opponent from the last fight, Froshana now finally had gone ahead and just asked where to go. Even if it wasn't really a hospital, the smell and feel of the place gave her the creeps. She wasn't sure why hospitals made her so nervous...

Despite this, she went ahead and, finally setting aside what little pride she might've had, very quietly found someone who appeared to work there and requested a little bit of that healing goodness for one of her arms that was "still kinda sore". Despite the near constant feeling of nerves in her stomach and her quills wanting to tense out behind her, the process went pleasantly quick and with ease.

Once it was done, the hedgehog did go ahead and inquire about if 'that wolf' was still there. Seeing as he was the only patient there for the moment, it was fairly clear who she was referring to and Froshana followed the lead off to whatever room he was currently recovering in.

Wolf had spent most of this day alone in his room in the infirmary. Apart from the infirmary staff who came to check on him and bring him some food and water, no one else had come by during the second round of fights. To be honest, Wolf wasn't really expecting any of the other competitors to stop by, they were all strangers after all.

Of course that fact was fine by him. He'd found that he was almost constantly feeling fatigued despite the fact that he was only lying in bed. Any action he took was tiring. It made eating or drinking a slow task.

Otherwise, Wolf had given in to the feeling of fatigue and slept throughout large stretches of the day.

Froshana was shown to the appropriate door and she thanked the staff member who had shown her the way. However, she paused before her paw could reach the door knob.

'Geez, what if he doesn't want visitors?' she wondered silently. The hedgehog frowned a bit. This could definitely get awkward...

Regardless, at least it shouldn't hurt to say hello and wish him well. Hopefully.

Froshana took a moment to actually knock and wait a second before she turned the knob and pushed open the door. She peered into the room, her eyes going straight to the form still resting in the bed.

"Er... hi...?" she greeted, attempting to just make her presence known and gauge a reaction before actually stepping into the room.

At the sound of a knock on the door, Wolf slowly opens his eyes. He'd been close to dozing off but now came to attention, and looks towards the door. There he sees a dark red hedgehog open the door and peer into to room and then offer a greeting.

"Hello." Wolf replies.

He sort of recognized the hedgehog, but he couldn't think of what her name was. He didn't make an effort to say anything else to her, instead he just watches her curiously.

Froshana glanced around the room. Her eyes came to rest on some of the medical equipment attached to the wolf. It was quite unnerving just to look at, really. But she tried to not just stare and instead opened the door farther and stepped inside.

"I was, uh, just passing by and thought I'd stop in and see how your... leg is doing.." the hedgehog said, as though to justify her presence in the room. There was a pause, just a little bit of an awkward one, before she asked, "How're you feeling?"

Wolf notices that she seems a bit... ill at ease. He's not sure what it is that is bothering her, but it also wasn't any of his concern either.

"Oh... I see." he says at first.

He finds her response to be less than convincing, but he figures he'd let it pass.

~No point in being cynical.~ he thinks, ~Just see where this goes.~

"Well... my leg isn't causing me crippling agony, so it's a definite improvement from... what was it? Two days ago, I think." he says, "I'm not entirely sure. I've slept a lot of the time since I... passed out on the beach."

Well, it was a more detailed response than she had been expecting. Froshana wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that, but she went with the first thing that came to mind.

"Oh, well that's good."

...

"I mean, yeah, it's been two days. The second round of the tournament is actually just starting now."

She glanced around the room again. She had expected there would be a television screen in here to allow patients to still see the tournament going on, right?

There wasn't a television screen in the room. Apparently these recovery rooms hadn't been set up with that in mind. It might have been possible to request a portable unit to be brought in, but that clearly hadn't been done either.

"Oh. Of course." Wolf replies, "I guess nothing would stop them from moving on with it."

There is a fair amount of anger and disappointment in his words. Wolf lets out a slow breath after speaking.

She blinked a couple of times at the tone in his voice as he replied. This wolf really just made her uncomfortable. ...Moreso than she already was. As a result, she stayed standing by the door.

"Uh... Yeah," she agreed. Her ears perked up a bit as she recalled events just prior to her heading to the infirmary.

"They did take away that guy's ammo, though, so he can't, er.. shoot.. anybody else," the hedgehog added, as though that might make things seem a little better.

Wolf snorts in response to that.

"Yeah... presuming that he doesn't have any more." he then says, "Unless they are taking all of his weapons, who's to say that he won't do something similar to the next person he fights?"

He lets out another breath.

"He should have been banned from competing after what he did." he adds, "Someone with such disregard for others shouldn't be left in a situation where they can put other people's lives at risk, or end them on a whim."

She listened to Wolf let off a little rant and wondered if he had been waiting for a chance to tell that to someone... Once he was done, she gave a little nod.

"Well, you're not wrong..." Froshana replied, "But people do love drama and he seems to bring in plenty of it."

Oh right, speaking of which.

"You know, one of the people fighting is gonna fight him this round and she seemed to really want to, uh.. I dunno, avenge you or something?" Froshana added in, although she was unsure about her choice of words, "As they were leaving, she wanted someone to come and make sure you didn't miss the fight. I think she's really got it out for that Envy guy..."

There was a moment of distraction after she stopped talking as she realized she only knew the names of two people in this tournament for sure and that was Envy and Sora. Oops. She made a mental note to perhaps try to learn names better before the tournament ended.

Wolf sighs softly.

"Which is really the last thing I'd want." he replies, "If she fails, she'll likely end up in another room near here... at best. If she succeeds, is she really going to be any better than him?"

He shakes his head slightly.

"I'm not going to watch any more of this... foolishness these people are going to put themselves through." he says, "I've already paid for my own foolishness. There no need to watch others do the same."

Froshana frowned at this response. To her, it really sounded more like he was upset about losing. Of course, she wasn't going to say that. He made his point clear and she wasn't about to stand there and try to convince him otherwise.

She let out a breath, but nodded her head. "Okay," she said simply, "I just thought I'd stop by to say hi and, uh, pass on the word." One of her paws reached over to rest back on the doorknob, although she hadn't shut the door before anyway.

"I do hope you get to feeling better soon," Froshana added, offering a slight smile after.

"Of course..." he replies, "Thank you for doing so, I suppose. If you are still fighting, I hope that you don't share a similar fate to mine. Be safe."

She nodded again. "I'll do my best," Froshana responded, "Thanks."

The hedgehog turned back towards the door, moving to leave. She did falter for just a moment as she considered suggesting that Wolf stop by the lounge again if he was feeling better before the end of the tournament. But then again, if Envy was still hanging around in the lounge at that point, perhaps it wouldn't be a good idea... Even more so considering that Wolf didn't seem to think very highly of the entire tournament anymore.

And so despite that brief moment of hesitation, Froshana continued on out of the room. She pulled the door shut behind her and took a second to re-orient where she was and where to go. At this point, there was really nowhere else to go except back to the lounge and she made that her immediate destination.

She wound up staying there watching the battles up until they ended. It was quiet with most of the others off fighting so there wasn't much to do but observe and, of course, snack. Once the winners of each fight were announced, though, the hedgehog left the lounge again before any of the other contestants returned. She would likely see many of them again in the third round.

((And that's that for her. For here. For now. :U Which probably leaves this open again for others to show up!))

Wolf nods slightly to her before she leaves. He then tips his head back and lets out a sigh. He was surprised by the amount of bitterness and resentment he felt about what happened, wishing that he hadn't let so much of it out against the hedgehog.

She wasn't the focus of his anger... he knew it was all directed towards himself, although he had some for Envy as well.

~Foolishness...~ he thinks to himself, ~Fighting isn't meant to be a game or entertainment. I'll have to be sure never to make the mistake of treating it as such again.~

"Oh, fuck, fuck, shit, I totally forgot to-DAMNIT I'M LATE." Sora cursed to herself, stumbling awkwardly into the room. "I promised I'd check on him, what the hell's wrong with me. Awh, I should've come in with-"

Oh, nevermind.

Apparently Froshana was long gone. The black vixen awkwardly stood around in the infirmary. Her goal. Play it cool. "...Yoooo, uh, Wolf, was it?" Smooth.

She leaned against the wall, "Maxie asked me to come and check on you, make sure you hadn't died of blood loss or somethin'. Y'know, 'cause she's worried about ya." Sora dusted herself off slightly, trying to keep her solid - and very casual - posture up. To not seem awkward.

Not exactly succeeding.

The infirmary staff had been a bit surprised by the sudden, seemingly frantic, arrival of Sora to the infirmary, but they were quick to help direct her towards Wolf's room. It had been a while since Froshana had left, and Wolf had taken the time after to consider the conversation that had taken place.

He wasn't very happy about the way it had played out. He figured that she probably deserved an apology if she returned. But his thoughts about that were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a black female fox, who practically burst into his room.

"Uh... yes, I'm Wolf." he replies to her initial question.

He watches her, a bit baffled by her following statement regarding Maxie. It really didn't mean anything to him as he had no idea who Maxie was, or even who this stranger in his room was either. He hadn't made much effort to get to know anyone back in the lounge. He'd only spoken to Envy and the hedgehog who'd just visited, but who's name he hadn't gotten.

Once the vixen finishes speaking he replies to her.

"Oh... I guess that's good to hear." he replies uncertainly, as he wasn't sure how to respond to what he was just told, "I'll be honest though... I have no idea who 'Maxie' is... or who you are."

Sora simply stood there, awkwardly, nervously rubbing the back of her head. Awwwwkwaaaaard indeed. "Eheh... I mean, I'm Sora n' all, so yeeeeah, there's that. Maxie's the... uh... griffon. Girl."

The vixen winced very slightly, awkwardly shuffling to her tip toes for a moment, rocking on the spot. "I was gonna come here with Froshana but I was late and I'm just - fffffff..." She seemed to just be a bumbling mess for the most part.

Wolf watches and listens to Sora. He can tell that she seems uncomfortable.

"Well, I guess it's nice to meet you then Sora." he offers in reply, "The circumstances could be better..."

He pauses for a moment.

"I'd like to you ask something though... are you okay?" he asks.

"Gooooood too meet you too. And yeah, circumstances could be hella better, I mean really." She then paused herself, before giving a surprisingly quick response.

"I mean, save for being eliminated in round one and not being at all recognized by people in the competition like I'm trash, I'm fan-fuckin'-tastic." Sora said, simply rolling her eyes with a sigh. "At least the food's good. Abusing that as much as I can." She muttered, before looking to Wolf.

"Look, I don't... wanna bother you. It's just making things awkward. If - you want me to just get outta your hair - I can. I kinda wanted to check on you myself, anyway... Maxie gets to know how you're doing, and I WOULD'VE been able to come with Fro, but egh, so much for things going to plan. Anyway, gettin' shot doesn't sound fun."

No kidding.

"It's not fun. Obviously." Wolf replies, just a bit annoyed by her seemingly insensitive comment, "Since you appear uncomfortable being here, you can leave if you want to now. You've gotten to check on me and can relay that information to the others if you'd like."

"...Ahhh..." Sora simply rubbed her arm, looking away. The next comment made her look back slightly with a small, sad sigh. "...Yeah, whatever. Guess you can just forget I showed up at all, not that it makes much of a difference. See ya, Wolf, good luck recovering." She headed on out without much hesitation.

Wolf watches as Sora heads out from his room. He closes his eyes afterwards and sighs fairly loudly.

~Well... I've had two visitors come to check on me and I've managed to chase them both off in very short order.~ he thinks to himself, ~At this rate, I won't have to worry about any more of them coming to visit me or caring if anything else were to happen to me.~

He slowly reaches up and rubs his muzzle, near his eyes, with one paw.

~Wolf... you may not be able to make your situation any worse, but you've really got to stop trying to do so here.~ he thinks.

With that, he settles back down into his bed. Maybe he'd get another visitor at some point. Maybe he'd actually manage to be polite to them too.