Frogspawn Swamp Olde Stories Of Olde Times
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Ooc — Cody
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#1
Chaska headed away from where Grayday had taken him. He had been so happy in meeting Grayday, an old friend. It brought back good memories, and even thinking of it while he traversed through this swamp made him made him happy. The swamp stunk a bit, but he could get past that, especially after being at those smelling springs. Good times, he thought those had been, despite having been sent away from Easthollow, which was the last time he had seen his friend.

He stopped for a moment by some roots, putting his fore-limbs on them to look over to the path ahead, seeing which direction he could take next.

@Mara Susi
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#2
Every step was anguish, every smell, every sight, every feeling was absolute agony. Horrendous memories flashed through her mind; her family's death, Semble's lifeless carcass, Steady's smile. Oh, his smile. He was the only wolf that never showed her any hate, he was the only thing that forgave her. And she fucked it up, she ruined the only thing that truly made her happy.  He hated her, she knew he did, how could he not? Peak. Just the name made her want to vomit. She was so young, and he left her after taking advantage of a confused, naive, little mind. Her mind was so barren she hadn't even noticed the wolf a few feet to her left, and only continued her stiff trek.

Now, at three years old she still had nothing to show. All she ever wanted was a family, whether that be a group or just a pup of her own. 

She could've had it too. If she hadn't fucked it up. 

At this point, she was worthless. There was nothing left to live for, everything was either ripped out of her life or she left it herself. A soul-lacking figure, pale and malnourished standing before a river was all she was, and will ever be. The past's screams echoed in her mind. Even this scenic bog was dark and dull to her. Everything was clouded, dark, and brown. Her eyes showed absolutely nothing, a maw usually holding a faint and shy smile was thin and straight. It almost looked like she wasn't even breathing. 

The melancholy ghost inched her way carelessly into the waters, remembering for a moment what would be her last memory. Steady teaching her to fish, her first good recollection in Teekon. Now, she wasn't playing though. There was no splashing, no jumping or laughing. Just a straight, unfaltering walk into the rushing river. It was a small one, only getting up to her neck, for a few seconds the wolfess stood, staring into nothing. This was it, this was all she was, a pathetic being with nothing to live for. Suddenly, the stoic face cracked, the girl began crying - loudly at that. Her wails aching and deafening. Tears streamed down her dry cheeks before she thrust her head into the water. 

Ready to die.
 
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#3
Chaska's head swiveled about like a watchful owl as he looked for the next direction to take. He started to step over the roots when he heard crying. He headed that way, wondering what it was all about. Then...it was silenced. That worried him greatly, and he sped up his pace to find a wolf had dunked their head in water. And he suspected it wasn't for fishing. He knew exactly why, for he had tried it before.

Chaska had never moved so fast as he ran for them, making a grab for their scruff while making an attempt to bowl them over, away from the water.
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#4
Her cries continued underneath the water, her heart began racing, body wanting anxiously to survive, but her mind didn't allow it. The girl felt her problems leaving, no longer was she the family-ridden, broken-hearted, woman. She would be nothing and that's what she wanted. The person who once had hope, had love, was gone. Buried beneath this pain and suffering. Her claws dug into the muddy floor of the river, water rushing into her nose as she breathed in the wet air. 

Then, there was light. A flash of light she might've believed was the end. Instead, it was the sun meeting contact with her gaze. In such a deep delusion, she hadn't even realized she was out of the water. Now, her body lay on the bank, unable to process she had just been torn from her watery grave. A few moments of silence pass, her body completely still before a vigorous coughing fit. Her stomach and lunges released the water breathed in, every cough felt like her throat was being ripped out. 

It lasted a minute or two before she collapsed on the ground. Only now did she begin to process her surroundings. Her eyes were heavy, hardly able to open. Vision blurry like when she was beneath the water, but a looming figure was in sight. Slowly, it began to form into a wolf but took a good amount of time. Once finally seeing the person who, in her mind, forced her back into this awful world she only stared, tears beginning to drip off her cheeks. "Why..." A tiny, weak voice whispered, "why would you bring me back?" 
 
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#5
Chaska cried out in pain of his own after he collided, his bones and muscles had grown weak. He rolled and twisted across the ground, panting some distance away from the wolf he had just 'saved'. He made a few coughs of his own, and he barely heard the other wolf speaking over his raspy breath.

"Be...because you...you can't just throw your life away." He tried to turn over, but his back ached as he did. And once he did, he saw someone he thought he never expected to perform such an act. "M...Mari?" he asked with a questioning look.
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#6
It took her a moment to even understand how he could possibly know her name until the memory finally began to form. Chaska. He was apart of Silvertip and Easthollow, the thought of those packs made her stomach drop. The overwhelming sense of guilt and failure crashed into the girl's mind when thinking of her past homes. Her tears didn't cease, she wanted to get up and run back into the river, but her legs were far too tired to even attempt to stand up again. 

"I'm..." Her mousy voice was scratchy and almost inaudible, "I'm sorry you had to see that," Her plans hadn't changed - she was going to die, she had no hope, nothing to care for, but for now she would console a past friend - she couldn't let him watch her die. "You shouldn't have gone through the trouble," For the moment all she could think of was the pain she just made him go through, adding to her guilt. "I'm really not worth it," she insisted.
 
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#7
Chaska narrowed his eyes, and went to stand up. But he was in pain, something he didn't want to show so he acted tired as his legs slipped out again. "M...Mara, you are...I could not watch a friend just throw...throw their life away."

He rolled over so that he was fully facing her, head on the ground. "I know what it's like" he said quietly. And he did. After he had returned to Silvertip Mountain for the first time, he had attempted such an act. "Mara, I know what...what it's like..." His lungs felt like they were gonna burst. How had he gotten into so much pain just be one move?
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#8
A friend. She hadn't remembered the last time someone gave her that title. It brought some light into the dimness of her mind, to know there was someone kind enough to still call her a friend, despite never growing close. The wolves of Silvertip and Easthollow were beyond kind, and not one did she deserve. They were all better than she could ever imagine herself to be.

His next comment made her already weak heart stop. For someone else to experience what she was, instant pity struck her. How did he survive, why did he keep living? No, this had to be different. Why would he live if he lost what she had? Why would he live if he loathed himself like she did herself? "I'm so sorry," She was constantly apologizing to the world, no matter what it be.  "Why... Why didn't you?" He had to have had something to pull him out of this seemingly neverending void.
 
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#9
Chaska shook his head. "You don't need to be sorry...that I brought on myself." It had been after he returned to Silvertip, after...He didn't want to think about it. 

"Well...I thought about everyone depending on me. I may not have been..been a great hunter...but who would tell stories without me?" he asked, giving a weak smile through the pain. He coughed again, his back and aching muscles made him feel like he was dying.
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#10
There it was, the thing he had that she didn't. Someone to depend on her. If she died today no one would know the difference, her life was as worthless here than not. The girl felt deeply apologetic for making Chaska exert any effort towards her, especially with the aftermath obviously proving painful.  

She took a deep breath, despite her lunges catching fire with every inhale greater than small. "That's where we differ," Mara mumbled, her tears continued to stream from her eyes. Everything hurt so much, yet managed to be completely numb. "Nothing needs me."
 
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#11
Chaska rolled over onto his belly and began to crawl over to her till he could touch paws with her. "Don't..don't say that. There is always something that...that needs you" he said. He wasn't sure what, but what he was sure of was that there would be something out there that needed Mara. "Do you...do you remember what you told me, when we first met?"
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#12
Her tear-filled eyes stared directly into her old friends, attempting to conjure up the memory of their first meeting. She knew it was during her second winter, and they chatted something about their past times during the season, though she held no easy recollection of what he was getting at. 

"No... I don't, I apologize, really." Admittedly, Mara felt bad for forgetting something he seemed to remember fondly. Her curiosity about her past self grew though, and a part of herself ached to recall who she once was, and maybe be able to find that wolf again. "Will you tell me?" It was clear the sentence invoked pain, her throat choked while she murmured. "Please." 
 
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#13
"You told me, no use in letting the downs falter the ups. That advice helped me more than you think..." he said. Those words were words to live by, he had even said that when he first heard them. He coughed again, turning his head slightly so he didn't end up coughing in her face. "Why? Did did you...did you try it?"
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#14
The girl gave him a weak smile, the first real one since her last moments in Easthollow. He remembered, and she had helped him. It was pleasant to put herself in a time where she once had a bright soul, that would dance about with any other as long as she was given a little push. Now, though, it can no longer hop around with glee, but trudge through whatever life it had left. 

His question was almost laughable, but she wouldn't dare be so disrespectful. Especially to Chaska, after all, he'd managed to do in such a short time.  "I have nothing to live for, Chaska. No family, no friends, the only thing close I.." Her voice faltered, every word getting more overwhelming to say, before she bit her quivering lip to calm herself, "I had broke." Her mind flashed briefly to Steady, and then all of Easthollow's members, the pups probably grown and independent, and she missed it all.
 
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#15
Chaska narrowed his eyes at her. He was not willing to let her throw her life away, and his jaw tightened. His look more serious than normal. "Mara, I lost my family too...but you have to get by. You can have another family...You are lucky..." He had tried while he was gone...and it gave him a discovery that shattered his will, his belief he would ever have another family.

"You know Grayday is still alive? I met him. His kids got married" he said, trying to shift the conversation, give her happy thoughts.
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#16
Sunny and Dawn. The thought was much brighter as she imagined the three and how she would watch over them, and how occasionally Sunny would poke at Grayday to find a new mother. She sniffled quietly, admittedly very elated to know they were basking in a world of love. Though, she didn't entirely understand what Chaska had meant. Was he older than she had thought? 

"I've tried for all that - besides, who would wish to waste their time on something as pathetic as me?" She only realized afterward that she had disagreed with Chaska, and instantly felt bad for being, even though in the smallest amount possible, argumentative. "Sorry..."  Her ears lowered behind her head, avoiding any gaze with him. 
 
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#17
He shook his head, how could she call herself that? "Pathetic? Now whoever told you that?" He tried to stand up a gain, grunting at the aches before his legs slid out again. "Uh...can I have a bit of help?" he asked to her, as he could not seem to get up. He had tried his best to hide the pain. But, it was coming through now.
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#18
Myself. Mara decided not to reply to the first question, and immediately reacted to the second. ”Of course - I’m so sorry, Chaska.” She got up to her feet, feeling a sudden scream from her muscles in consequence. She flinched but ignored it, and lowered herself down for him to use her as support while he tried to stand up.  

He wouldn’t feel this way if it weren’t for you. Her mind harassed, only making matters worse in her own head. ”I’m really sorry.”
 
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#19
Chaska used Mara Susi as support as he attempted to lift himself up again, his legs a bit shaky as he did. "These....old bones....and I'm not even that old, wouldn't you know it?" He had known wolves older than himself. Yet here he was, with creaky bones. 

Once he was up, he went to nudge Mara against her cheek with a reassuring nudge of his nose. "Now Mara, you don't need to apologise...just, try and find something worth living for? Can you do that for me?" 
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#20
So he wasn’t older than she thought, just seemed to mature quicker. In truth, she feared slightly for his health – he shouldn’t be a lone wolf in such a condition. ”I’ll try.” Mara promised, knowing very well it was quite possible she wouldn’t.

”If you promise to find a nice home, I worry for your safety in solitude.” She looked him in the eye with hope that he’d agree to the deal.
 
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#21
He smiled lightly. Now this was the Mara he knew, caring and kind. "I'll find a place...I promise." Now that he had promised, well Chaska always tried to keep to them. "You find a place too." He knew not which direction he would head out to, but he would find some place.
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#22
It warmed Mara to know he was going to find a nice, safe place to live. She gave him a quick lick on the cheek to show her appreciation. ”Thank you, for trying. Goodbye, Chaska. Don’t let the downs falter the ups.” She sent him one, genuine smile before trotting off with a new rhythm to her steps.