Firefly Glen Caledonia

@Allure
It had taken time and patience, but he was finally on the mend. 

Following the battle, which the Caldera wolves had lost, Shrike had not returned to the pack he had just joined. Guilted by the shame of losing the battle, and injured to the point where he'd had no choice but to stay relatively still, exhaust as little energy as possible and heal up from his injuries, he didn't see the point in returning to the pack. He wasn't sure if the war had been won or lost- despite their battle going sour. His first priority was to heal up and his next priority was to find Allure. He'd seen her go- so he knew she was alive. Now he just had to find her...Again. 

Fortunately, he was able to move a bit, day by day, and as a skilled tracker, remained on her scent even though it had gone old. He assumed she might be looking for him as well, the way her path went. Had he been smart- and had he been a boy scout- he would've known that he simply should have stayed still, rather than wandering around in his search, and she likely would have found him. But Shrike was a tracker- and hadn't been a boy scout- so he did the foolish thing by moving, bit by bit, every day. 

His wounds had not been enough to kill him- but his left shoulder had been gouged fairly well by teeth, and his left eye had sustained a wound which had turned the pale green of his iris to a cloudy grey. Not so unlike his grandfather, Shrike had lost the sight in his left eye. A subtle hint of a limp dogged his step, and the wounds had scabbed over well along his torso and flanks, but despite those wounds he would survive. Through ankle deep snow he trudged, sun glistening on the surface and causing him to squint, doggedly pursuing a trail he hoped would end soon.

She had left the Caldera and instinctively, her paws had begun to lead her to Neverwinter Forest. Her heart ached for the home she had left behind – the regrets she clung to at its downfall. She never should have stood aside, allowing Jorunn to lead a pack he had not been part of. She should have risen to the challenge – to the expectation. She would have seen it thrive, along with Shrike and Cypress. They would have been safe.

As she got closer to the forest, her pace had slowed greatly. Was there a point in visiting a land that held nothing but ghosts for her now? No one waited for her there – the land was only a silent reminder of what had once been, in a time she had been happier.

Yet what was happiness? The days when Scimitar and Bazi had fought not just verbally, but physically? She had gotten glimpses of it growing up, and had made herself scarce when their tongues would begin to lash at one another with venomous words. Had she been happy on the high slopes of Nova Peak? A part of her heart clung to the home they had left behind – but the fire had consumed part of it, ensuring the family needed to relocate at the time. Jade Fern Grove had felt promising.. and yet the bear attack had left Swift without an eye. Whittier was dead. Pasha was missing. Rannoch was likely dead. And now, Cypress was also gone.

Her thoughts consumed her, the grief growing heavier on her shoulders until she felt she could no longer breathe. Shrike was gone from her now, too, and the bi-toned she-wolf could not envision a reason other than he was also dead. Of all of them, he never would have left her behind otherwise.

The sob escaped her, and she shuddered, holding back as a gentle whine escaped her. She could not cry any longer – she could only move forward. But for the moment, forward could only mean mentally.. and physically, her body stretched out to the cold winter ground. Her body shivered, not from the cold, but from the grief that quietly wracked at her quaking chest and shoulders.

A solitary crow flew overhead, causing Shrike to lift his gaze. He could hear the soft whoosh of air from each wingbeat as the corvid flew on, winging effortlessly through the trees as though carried aloft by some warm, billowing puff of air. He wondered briefly what it might be like to fly as he eyes the bird with a sideways glance. He shook his head as a small black feather landed on one of his ears. Such fanciful things did not often preoccupy the austere male.

He could see the faded tracks of wolves who had passed by before- between recent snowfall and the wind those tracks were unidentifiable by footprint, but the length of the stride was recognizable. He crossed them, leaving a clear set of tracks of his own, subconsciously following the crow’s path, figuring the bird might lead him to a source of food.

Above him the tall, greyed trunks of aspen creaked and crackled as their branches grasped at one another, like old withered hands reaching for those belonging to a beloved. So he felt, as he wandered along, also searching for someone who always seemed to be just out of his grasp.

She remain in the snow – her breath rising from her mouth like wisped smoke as she tried to calm herself. Erratically, her heart hammered her chest. How had she come to this point in her life? She should have been more selfish in life – not just with Neverwinter Forest, but mostly with Shrike. She should have told him she didn’t want to lose him – hadn’t wanted to die herself. He would have taken her from the Caldera without question.. but she had known he had wanted to return to the place he had deemed home. Now he was gone from her.

She heard the flutter of wings overhead. The harsh caw of a crow every so often would pull her from her restless state. She did not sleep, but she did not move – nor did she think. The bi-toned she-wolf simply remained where she was, stealing this one moment to completely mourn the loss of her life. Allure Frostfur was no more – she had been buried with her brothers and the fallen pack after her kidnapping. Allure Redleaf could be no more – for the man who gave her the name was no longer with her.

She did not know who she was any longer – but she knew the rebirth would not allow for the meek girl she had been before.

It had taken some adjusting for him to recover with one eye mostly blind. His depth perception had definitely been compromised, and he almost felt it was easier to keep his left eye shut, rather than constantly trying to focus through the grey fog that clouded the vision. He was aware it left him vulnerable to any attacks that might come from the left should he get in another fight- so he had decided already that he would avoid confrontations as much as possible...But one could never be sure that the road ahead would allow for that. 

Regardless, his sense of smell was still remarkable, and he focused on that, as he always had. His ears swivelled constantly, though this was nothing new- Shrike was a watchful wolf, who rarely found himself surprised by another wolf who had managed to come within eyesight without being heard or smelled first. This was the case yet again, as a familiar scent stopped him in his tracks. He turned his slim muzzle this way and that, trying to catch sight of a wolf or a set of tracks, but saw nothing. 

Leaning back slightly, he lifted his head and howled, sending his voice out into the air, allowing it to linger there as his breath swirled in a pale fog about his whiskers, before he fell silent, ears finally still, waiting to see if he got any response.

Her chest rose and fell with the heavy breaths of her grief.

One.

Two.

Three.

She counted, as if maintaining such a task could keep her mind blank from the occurrences of life – from her heartache, her past and her pain.

The fog swirled about her, cloaking her in its mystery and cold. She blinked, her tongue scraping across her lips.

Four.

Five.

The howl echoed – almost seeming so distant for a moment. She would know his voice anywhere, and as she blinked again in confusion, her slender features clouded with a harsh scowl, her lips peeling back to a snarl as if fate were teasing her. Was this it? Her mind was no longer sound? Her grief would pull apparitions from her heart?

The voice rose more firmly then – much closer than she had originally considered. She closed her eyes, imagining it to be his goodbye to her.

Her own broken song echoed in to the mist and cold – a tear now rolling down her cheek.

Shrike waited, ears perked and occsionally swivelling to a different direction as he waited for a reply. He’d felt certain he’d smelled her- and he knew well enough to trust his senses and instincts. The fur along the naps of his neck stood up like quills as he waited, and he felt his muscles tense as, at last, a reply came.

There- simple as that. He pointed himself in the direction of Allure’s call and picked up a lope, with the right side of his face angled forward to better allow him to see. He hadn’t doubted that he’d find her- but the sorrow he’d heard in her voice indicated perhaps that she hadn’t assumed she’d find him. 

A garbled, ullulating call was what she would get in reply, as howling while running was a bit difficult; but he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss her again. It wasn’t long, though, before he crested a small knoll and saw exactly who he’d been looking for, and came to a halt, tail waving side to side.

He wasn’t sure how he’d be received; he was aware not everyone would be content to live alongside a significant other who had a vision impairment. So he made his way toward her, ears turned back and tail swinging between his hocks, to appease her in hopes she would not  reject him.

Her song would fade, and yet before she could place her muzzle down upon outstretched forepaws once more, a more garbled cry gave her pause, and her heart felt as if it had sprung in to her chest. The absolute urgency in his cry paralyzed her – did apparitions sound so desperate? Would her mind trick her so far.

Only when she began to hastily pull herself up did he emerge before her, and she stared at him, swallowing, her throat dry. He moved to her – his form lower to appease her, ears flattened, tail swinging low. Her eyes remained riveted upon him, and at first she missed the cloudiness of his eye, so entranced was she that he had found her. He had, against all odds, once more found her.

Her petite form was up then, and while their prior reunion had her careen in to his chest without consideration, this time she was hesitant, and her nose would reach out, her form quivering as it trailed along his cheek. Only then did she see the blindness that had been given to him – and she felt a surge of anger at the Caldera once more. “I thought you were dead, Shrike,” her voice murmured, the emotion within it causing the tremble of her words.

Tentatively, she reached her muzzle out, pressing her face firmly in to the thick fur of his nape and inhaling sharply. “Never again. Never again will we be separated.” She didn’t care that she sounded like a crazy girlfriend. She couldn’t bear enduring that again.

Shrike felt her gaze trail along his jawline, and could see the shimmer in her eyes when she recognized that the sight in his left eye was gone. He could see just the faintest hint of light and dark, both beautifully captured in the pelt of his lover, and even if that was all he could see, it would have been enough, as long as she was there, truly. She murmured into his fur and he bowed his head, resting his chin against her temple where the fur was short but smoothe. 

He felt regret; heèd made a foolish choice in joining the Caldera right when it was about to go to war. Their battle had been lost- so he had no idea what the outcome of the entire war had been, and as far as he was concerned, it wasn't their issue anymore. Though he still cared for Elwood and Finley, the Caldera wasn't his home anymore; it was potentially dangerous, and all he wanted was for a safe place to spend the rest of his life, as long as it was with Allure. 

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. He could have said so much more- he was sorry that he'd dragged her back to the Caldera, that they'd had to fight, that they'd been separated again and that she'd thought he was dead- but Shrike wasn't one to elaborate. "I go where you go." He said, "Anywhere." It was her choice this time- she'd likely be better at it anyway, he thought, with a slight smile.

We can archive or fade? :)

Just as her mate was not one to elaborate, she too did not respond to his deference. She would not choose their home without his input or blessing – it would be a joint effort, but she did not have the energy to have that conversation for the moment. All she cared about now was that Shrike was alive – the simple miracle had begun to stitch the wound of her heart, though it would remain scarred. Instead, she buried her face in to the soft fur of his nape, breathing in him – for now, they would settle down together, rest, as it had been an arduous journey and time on them both.

Nudging him to lay down, the bi-toned she-wolf would fuss over her mate, sweeping kisses upon his injuries, and ensuring he was well. She did not mention his eye – they would deal with it, and to dwell on it wouldn’t help. Her brother had been blind as a puppy, and he had been limited severely in what he could do.. But Shrike still had the full vision of one eye, and they would remain grateful for that.

After settling and believing him fine for now, Allure curled up against her mate, sleep unable to find her, but revelling in the simple fact that he was, once more, still hers.

With Allure by his side, he felt invincible. And when they had been separated, he had still had a stubborn conviction that he would find her again. Unlike the others he had not been able to find- like Rannoch and Lucy- he felt that he would always be able to track down his mate. He'd done it before, and he would do it again and again, if fate chose to try and separate them again. 

Curled up with his mate beside him, Shrike rested his chin on Allure's shoulders, heaved a sigh of relief and shut his eyes. All he could do was think, rather than dream, but peaceful, positive thoughts eventually trailed into pleasant dreams as he finally drifted off.