Haunted Wood Prison Break

@Malice, @Pyro & @Vassago

His legs were straining; every step he took he felt in his legs. Burke knew he had to push on. He did not have a lot of reserves to work with but he knew that if they wanted to survive then they had to keep going. The sun was rising faintly though through these woods he could not see. He carried Vassago in his mouth. He placed the pup down to speak. ”Malice, hurry. Soon we can walk,” he offered to her. The river couldn’t be far. The father picked up his son again and carried on. He was right. Moments later he could hear it. Burke stopped to drink, placing Vassago down again. The moment the pups could regulate their own body heat Burke had not wanted to wait any longer. Now the pups were young, they could barely see, they wouldn’t even know where they were truly born.

Burke’s adrenaline had died out. It had been a rather eventful night. Now he looked back it had been pretty dangerous if they had been caught. Burke knew when the wolves would patrol the borders and when they did not. He knew it from when he was an alpha and now when being in the den he had enough time to listen to howls. Once the moment was there in the middle of the night he had woken Malice and without much of a word Burke had told her to follow him. He picked up Vassago and he let Malice carry Pyro. Maybe it had been fortunate that they only had two young. Burke made sure to exit though the swamp, where waterways deluded their scent. Now, when dawn was breaking they were in the Haunted woods, close to the river that ran through it. Also part of his plan. He had pushed Malice. Maybe a bit too much, but they had to create distance between them and the brotherhood.

Burke knew that they were going to be hunted, be labeled as traitors. If they could only see him for a traitor and keep him prisoner Burke did not want to stay. He was not going to give advice to Damien when he could have learned from him when he was an alpha. He was not going to watch how Nemesis and her mental illness were going to ruin the pack. There were more examples, the only thing that was a pity was that he had to leave Kendra behind. She belonged there. It was better she didn’t know about anything. She was more like her mother than her father. She only had her eye color and dots on her brow to remind her of her father. The male had thought of Cicero’s advice he had given him one. "After all, if it were ever needed, it is much easier to kill a softened friend than an angry enemy." He had acted like he was going to stay, but he was not going to stay. He was definitely not going to leave Malice alone with their two children. Burke stopped drinking, hyper alert and on edge.

He turned to Malice. ”We will walk through this river, I believe it ends in a lake, if not we can exit it a few miles away from here. Then our scent is only on this side of the bank. From there on we can take it slower.” Burke was mostly all business now, but he had to remind himself that Malice needed her rest, she had been cooped up in that den for a long while. He let out a soft sigh. ”Are you feeling okay?” This had all been quite exhausting, if not the prison break itself then it was the run afterwards to create distance before the brotherhood would find out.

An eventful day it had been indeed. Malice was roughly woken up by Burke in the middle of the night and was told to follow him. Of course she did, though she was wary at first. Getting up and carrying Pyro was a whole achievement for her, for she had lost a lot of stamina living in the den for 3 weeks. Or, well, she was more imprisoned than anything. She had followed the bunny but of Burke through the swamps, a place she had never been to before, and finally they were free. In the midst of night, they escaped, leaving both their pasts behind. Potema would never get their children, and Malice would never be one of them. They were free spirits under a sky sprinkled with stars, the stars she had missed so much. They were going South, that much she could tell, but her tired eyes and mind could not scan the sky like they had used to before. 

When the sun began rising, and her feet became tired, Burke rushed her more. She could understand why; the Dark Brotherhood seemed like the pack to kill any prisoners that had escaped. With Pyro in her mouth still, she quickened her pace, staying at the flank of the man she loved so much. 

Soon, the sound of streaming water, a sound familiar to the woman who had lived at Phantom Hollow where a river streamed through still, reached her ears. So that was his plan; go through water to not be found. What a smart man he was. She dropped the sickly small pup on the ground to speak, gently of course. I'm doing... fine. She spoke, a yawn interrupting her sentence. Of course she was tired, but never would she give up. She was a fighter still, the daughter of Lucifer. Oh, how brought he would be...

Burke looked ahead, those mountains before them looked quite dangerous, though he was not going to back down. They were free at last. So many years served for that one pack. So many hours of his life devoted to those lands. He would have to deal with the wrath of Mephala then. He had gone in as a true believer yet now his belief had started to falter. He deserved his own life. Now he did deliberately choose to be a traitor, because they betrayed them. Once more he was leaving, even his love for his daughter couldn't contain his disgust for the wolves he once called family.

Burke nodded shortly and picked Vassago up once more. He figured Malice knew that she had to walk behind him. The male waded through the water. His feet cooled by the stream. Burke carried on. Maybe before the mountain climb they could settle down? Burke was not sure. They continued quietly, since both could not talk while carrying a young in their mouth. The sun was becoming more dominant even in this forest. The river seemed to split in three and Burke took the left fork. He was right, the path did end up in a lake. Burke went into deeper water, not too deep that the pups would get wet. It looked probably funny from behind with his docked tail raised up, like he didn't want it to get wet.

Burke exited on the banks of the lake. He was certain the could not track their scent anymore now. There were however scents of other wolves on this bank. Burke sought out some shade under a tree, this would not be able to do in winter. Now, in the middle of summer they could relocate their pups better. "Rest for a moment," he spoke to Malice. He then nosed over Vassago, before he was looking around them, guarding his small family. "Do you want to go over the mountain at night or during the day?"

Continuing because the pups can't do much anyhow xD

Her mind went over the crazy times these lands had brought. First meeting a stranger and living in the mountains for a while, in a canyon draped in a blood-like color. Her mind went to Veritas, the old healer, how bitchy but nice she had been. Their travel to Phantom Hollow, settling there with hopes of a family with Cogitemus. All had been broken by the absence of Cog, her breakdown, her loneliness. Never would she be lonely again with Burke at her side and their kids to lead. 

She picked up her youngest child, and they carried on in silence. She vaguely recognized this forest from her first meeting with Potema, the woman that wanted her children. Well, she would never get them now! Their scents were washed away with the water, as well as her sorrows and loneliness. She was happy now, happier than ever. She had the man of her dreams by her side, the children she had awaited for so long and the sun on her black-like coat. She watched his docked tail stick up from above the water, and she chuckled. Look at your daddy, little Pyro, he's a silly man, isn't he?

Malice walked up to her man, only hers, and placed herself beside him. She placed Pyro at her belly and later picked up Vassago and placed him at her belly too, but made sure there was some space between them. Knowing Vassago and his tricks, she didn't want Pyro to be bullied again. She let out a long, satisfied sigh. Let's just keep going. You never know how close they are behind us.

Burke watched Malice and her young. He was going to allow them to drink, after all they needed milk every few hours, it had been more than that. Plus he felt like Malice needs some rest. "We have traveled quite far, and we did not attract anyone's attention. At least, I think not. They are all spies. I don't want you or those young to die, and well, lets face it Pyro is not the strongest," he pointed out. He knew that pointing out a child's flaw to a mother might not be the smartest thing but Burke had always been a bit blunt.

The large male laid down before them, his eyes returned to scanning for any possible threats. His ears alert for anyone approaching. "We can make it to the foot of the mountain before dark, we can rest there, hopefully finding shelter. Then at dawn we can face the mountain," he planned out loud. That seemed like the right thing to do right now. He stretched his legs a bit, aching from the long trip. Still it felt good to be free. Even if they would catch up with them these fleeting moments of freedom had been worth it. He saw that Malice was happier. He had been wrong to ever take her to the brotherhood. They couldn't see what he saw.

But they are so much faster than we, and, and... She stopped rattling, feeling just slightly on edge with all this excitement. She had left a pack before without a word, but this was different. At MH she had just up and left, but this had been a true prison break. Then came the thoughts on Pyro, and Malice gave a defensive lick on Pyro's little head. He'll make it. He's a real fighter. She said calmly. They would all make it to... Wherever they were going.

and then came the plan, while Vassago and Pyro were happily feeding at her belly. We're going over the mountain? For what? Malice questioned. Traveling on mountains she had done before, but with a kid in her mouth and her legs tired from the lack of exercise, she was worried. She would never leave Burke's side though, and ould happily follow him over the mountains if he wished to do so. She assumed he wanted to be away from the Brotherhood as far as possible. but what lay behind those peaks was a mystery.

Short cameo! You can ignore me, I just want the thread to be in my threadlog lmao

Shit was going down and Pyro didn't even know. The weakling had been taken by the scruff in the middle of the night, without announcement he had been taken away from the place he'd been born, and although he didn't even have the ability to comprehend the situation, it was for the best. He fought against his mother for the first couple hours, he wanted to sleep, it was cold, it hurt; but after a while he got used to the bumping road and fell asleep between his mother's teeth. Yep, asleep. He only awoke to feed when the time came, and then right back into sleep. He couldn't do much else anyway.

Burke looked calmly at Malice. "We traveled as fast as we could, if we haven't been able to avoid them then it is something that could not have been avoided in the first place," he explained. Plus, Cicero was in no shape the go. Damien might not leave his alpha post, Nemesis and Kove might traveled after them, but at what cost? They didn't know in what direction they went, they excited through the swamps.

The large male kept his calm gaze at Malice. "Don't worry alright?," he spoke. "I will take care of it," he assured her. Now they all needed a rest before they would travel further. "I will tell you later now we should rest. We escaped and made it damn impossible to find us."

Wrap it up here?