Wolf RPG

She didn't choose any particular direction when she ran away from Floki. She tumbled downhill, crashing through the brush as her feet reached even ground. Wildfire catapulted through the woods, heading in the general direction of the borders, thinking wildly: Did he mean get out of my sight or get out of the territory? Had Floki just kicked her out of the pack—?

Before she could possibly answer that question, Wildfire suddenly fell. She didn't fall far but as the ground gave way beneath her, her head slammed into a wall of dirt. She immediately lost consciousness, her body flopping, boneless, at the bottom of the pit she and Ness had dug last week. The stray chokecherry branch tumbled down like an afterthought, completely screening her slumped form from view.

Life couldn't be better. Charon was blissfully unaware of the trouble in paradise concerning his brother, walking on a string of pink clouds wherever he went. Ever since he and Ame had sealed the deal Charon had been cheerful, easily forgetting Osprey's insolent display, for though it'd been humiliating, like the previous encounter with Osprey, it had brought him Ame. He didn't know exactly how, but it had all worked out fine, so he was happy enough. He figured he ought to find Flóki and Dhole and tell 'em the good news soon, so they could prepare for their double date. In the back of his mind Charon wondered if he should somehow take his revenge on Dante and Osprey, but he was occupied with so many things (mostly Ame, his upcoming children and the remaining bear right now) that maybe he should just ignore them... for now.

While he trotted around the territory, lost in his glorious thoughts, Charon nearly fell down a large hole he suddenly ran into. He skirted to a halt at the edge just in time. "What the--" he said, frowning as he looked down the hole. "The fuck happened here?" He reached out his nose to sniff the area and carefully put a paw on the side of the hole to slide down and inspect the site. Catching Dhole's scent, Charon mumbled to himself, "Is this another one of Dhole's trapping ideas?" He'd heard her talk about 'trapping' prey and bears, but he'd never actually thought she'd do it. He had always thought her ramblings about trapping were just, well, ramblings. Now he was torn between thinking her a mad genius or a crazy weirdo for this invention; he supposed which one it really was depended on whether the traps worked.

As he nosed through the brush at the bottom of the pit, he found out with a start why the pit smelled so like Dhole. He knew she'd been absent lately, but he hadn't expected to come across her body in some pit. "Shit," cursed Charon when he uncovered the seemingly lifeless form of Dhole. A quick nosing through her fur assessed that she wasn't actually lifeless, but she didn't look too good. Wounds all over the place and she sure as heck wasn't conscious. Charon wasted no time grabbing her by the scruff and started to try and pull her out of the hole. Thank goodness she wasn't a huge bodybuilder type wolf. If he managed he'd put her down a couple meters away from the ledge where he would bat her in the face with a paw a few times to see if she would wake up that easily.

Something pinched the back of her neck and Wildfire's eyes flew open. "Get," she spluttered, instinctively beginning to struggle even before properly conscious, "off." But the words she attempted to say and what actually came out of her mouth were two very different things; whereas Wildfire heard the command clear as day (mostly in her head), all her assailant would hear was a garbled grunt.

Only when dragged up and out of the earth did the fog of unconsciousness begin to lift, though Wildfire's struggles didn't lessen. "Floki," she gasped as an image of his stony face drifted into her mind's eye. He had kicked her out of the pack! Her heart dropped into her stomach as she rolled onto her back and kicked at whatever or whoever was dragging her. Her head lolled and her eyes rolled, locking on the bottom of Charon's chin as she abruptly blurted one of the last thoughts on her mind prior to hitting her head: "Rape—he raped me."

For the moment, she didn't realize how that sounded. But general clarity came to her in a startling blow as she sucked in a breath and held it, amber eyes now staring blankly into the distance. She hadn't meant to tell anyone what had happened to her, not ever, and she had just told Charon, of all wolves, in a bout of heinous, disjointed verbal diarrhea. Wildfire's eyes slowly closed and she cringed and curled into a ball, the heat of her humiliation and shame making her feel like her body was well and truly on fire.

Dhole came to when he was still dragging her out of the pit, but Charon didn't let her go despite her splutters. She'd only fall in what was probably her own trap again, anyway, and maybe hit her head again. He continued to drag her, thankful for her small size and how shitty a fighter she was, until he reached the side of the pit. Once Charon was confident that she wasn't close enough to tumble right back into the hole, he let her go, as per the request of her struggling. He wanted to say that he was very muchly not Flóki while he was still dragging her, but couldn't get much out through a mouthful of Dhole, especially with her fervent struggles.

When he'd let go of her and registered what she was trying to say, he wasn't sure what to think. Actually, he wasn't sure what she was trying to say, since when she had first said 'Flóki', he thought that she'd been calling for him, and now he wondered if she meant that Flóki was the one that raped her. It seemed extremely unlikely though, considering that, well, they were mates, for starters, and it was Flóki.

"Dhole," said Charon, not responding directly to what she had said because he saw the vacant expression in her eyes and his priorities lay on keeping her here.

His efforts seemed in vain, 'cause she just up and curled to a ball, pretty much shutting him out. Charon wanted answers about her insinuations, but most of all he just wanted to make his friend feel better. He was happy, and that meant that no one else was allowed to wallow. And so he was determined to fix this... somehow.

"It's me, Charon," he said, not sure if Dhole really realised what was going on in the here-and-now. "What happened?" His voice was unusually soft, a testament to the strangeness of the situation. Charon didn't approach Dhole and stayed beside her without touching; unless she didn't respond, in which case he'd gingerly prod her face, or whatever part he could find of it that wasn't burrowed in hedgehog-curl-Dhole, with his nose.

Mortified, Wildfire made no response when Charon spoke to her. She couldn't even bring herself to look at him or even open her eyes. She remained tightly curled, willing him—no, willing herself—to just disappear. As if her internal turmoil wasn't enough, everything else hurt too. From her head to her toes, her body ached and throbbed. She felt like she had taken a tumble from the top of the mountain and splattered.

Suddenly, she was weary beyond description. The last week had been a living nightmare, from Goober's assault to her various fights to the confrontation with Floki. She was exhausted. For a second, Wildfire felt like passing out again. But it turned out that she could not willingly lose consciousness. Instead, she just went boneless again, lying there like a pathetic lump of roadkill.

After what felt like forever, her eyes rolled upward, wondering if Charon was still there. As soon as she saw that he was, Wildfire's gaze dropped again. She flinched. He wasn't going to leave her here looking like a total mess, especially not after what she'd said. A quiet breath gusted out of her as she realized the cat was out of the bag now, for better or worse.

Sitting up painstakingly slowly and still avoiding looking anywhere but at her own paws, Wildfire struggled to find her voice. "I," she began shakily, "was..." The word stuck in her throat. She couldn't say it out loud again, not right now. Instead, Wildfire glanced pointedly into the trees, hoping Charon could put two and two together. A long beat of silence passed before she finished, "Goober. His name was Goober." Her eyes slowly closed.

With bated breath Charon waited for what felt like forever for Dhole to answer his question. He felt a nauseous stirring in his gut, as if she was about to repeat what she had nearly said, and had certainly inferred. He couldn't really believe that Flóki would even do such a thing, but before he heard the words spoken no one could know for sure if Dhole had really just accused him or not.

The relief that it wasn't Flóki that had done anything to Dhole was immense. It was hard not to jump up and shout something like 'thank goodness' when some other dude's name came forth. The cheerful note lasted very shortly though, relief soon replaced with anger and the desire to hurt this Goober for ruining the happy life that he and his were going to have at Moonspear.

He wasn't sure what to say. There were so many questions, but Charon didn't want to bombard Dhole with them. "Does Flóki know?" he asked with the same soft tones, unaware of the altercation that'd just taken place between the two lovers. "Who is this 'Goober'? Where does he live? What's he look like?" Thoughts flashed through his mind, and his voice hardened as he spoke of this Goober fellow. If he had his way, Charon would prefer to drag him to Moonspear by the ears and do Dhole the honour of whatever she wanted with him; probably nothing pretty. Because he was perhaps the chosen child of the gods, but also a posessive friend who wouldn't allow any harm to come to his wolves. Whoever he was, this Goober would pay.

The sound of her ex's name caused Wildfire's face to pinch. Without opening her eyes, she shook her head. Before she could add a verbal response, Charon fired three more questions at her. She sucked in a breath, feeling shame curling in her belly. But something about the Alpha's tone caused her to crack open her eyes and ever so slowly blink in his direction. His eyes were chips of ice, his voice an ax grinding against stone. His anger and his judgment were entirely directed at Goober and not herself, she realized.

"I don't know," she answered faintly, still stuck on the way Charon seemed so ready to avenge her honor. Would Floki also react this way? Abruptly, Wildfire was desperate to tell him the truth. The truth will set you free, she thought inanely, realizing that keeping it all a secret had been an exercise in futility and masochism. It was still humiliating for someone to know what Goober had done to her, yet now she had an ally to support her and seek punishment for her attacker. For the first time since Goober had taken her against her will, Wildfire felt a slight flicker of relief.

"I have to—I have to—" Wildfire began babbling suddenly, stricken eyes tracking over Charon's face. "Can you call for Floki?" she spluttered, ignoring the pounding that seemed to be concentrated over her right eye in particular. "He thinks..." She winced at the mess she'd made of their relationship and didn't have the heart to explain the gruesome details to the Alpha. Wildfire didn't know if she could even make things right, yet the least she could do was set things straight.

Flóki didn't know yet, which in Charon's eyes should've been first to know. But maybe she had been avoiding him, or maybe she'd found it easier to console in a friend first. He didn't know, but didn't get too stuck on the fact. Dhole either knew nothing about Goober or didn't want to tell him, though for what reasons Charon wasn't sure. He promised, "If I ever find this Goober," the way his name was spoken was laced with disgust, "I'll drag him to Moonspear by the dick and let you finish the job." His words were harsh and cold, and he felt nothing but anger towards the man. Charon'd never been particularly empathic and so he was not inhibited in his vengeful thoughts. Anyone who hurt his wolves, hurt him.

Dhole asked for Flóki, and Charon nodded. It was a good step to tell Flóki about what'd happened. That way they could work forward. "Alright." His voice softened again as he spoke to Dhole. "I'll call Flóks, and we can tell him together." Charon lifted his nose into the air and called for @Floki to come to their location, hoping that his brother'd be quick. He would allow them privacy if they wanted to, but truthfully, Charon preferred to stay 'cause if she hadn't already told Flóki (and the length of her absence hadn't gone unnoticed) then he was scared she might back out now.

Although Charon's words made Wildfire flinch again, she also appreciated them, more than she could properly express. She still hated that he knew the gory details—that she had just blurted them out like so much word vomit—but she supposed everything happened for a reason. She wasn't in this alone anymore. And that made her very, very uncomfortable but it also heartened her.

"Thanks," she said almost too quietly to hear when Charon volunteered to help her deliver the news. Her ears quivered as the call went up into the air and she felt a surge of apprehension. Floki must be so upset already. How was he going to take this? She couldn't even begin to imagine. And what would it mean, for them as a couple? Would this change anything? Wildfire couldn't help but feel a little hopeless in that regard. No matter what Floki thought of her at the end of this, she still couldn't stand to be touched. Simply acknowledging the damage out loud didn't erase it.

Actually, would he even come? "He might not want to see me," she found herself muttering, her little paws shuffling. This was deeply, painfully awkward. She almost asked Charon to go find Floki alone and tell him for her, yet that wasn't fair to anybody. Floki deserved to hear the truth from her directly and she deserved the chance to come clean, even if it wouldn't really change anything.

Dhole seemed uneasy, but that made sense, in a way. Things like these were, well, probably, never easy to talk about. Charon was glad he'd never have to deal with that.

When Dhole mentioned Flóki might not want to see her, Charon snorted. It was a ridiculous notion, considering they were mates and Flóki was super caring, so he'd be happy to see Dhole regardless. And he'd probably be happy that there were reasons for her disappearance from Moonspear in the past weeks.

"Don't be silly, Flóki loves you more than anything in the world." His determination to stay while she told Flóki was fueled further, and Charon waited by her side for Flóki to arrive.

She didn't say anything in reply, did not explain that she had only just seen Floki and basically knifed him in the heart. Instead, Wildfire began to cry. She didn't make a sound, just let the tears well up and tumble down her cheeks. Despite the fact that she looked like a complete and total train wreck, she wondered if what Charon said could possibly be true and if, despite all the horrible shit they had been through (and would have to continue working through), she and Floki could make it out the other side in one piece, after all? Somehow? The hope was almost terrible and the tears kept coming. Wildfire remained quiet and stoic, making no effort to stop them or wipe them away. If he did come, Floki would find Wildfire in a sorry state indeed. But she wasn't hiding or lying or deflecting anymore.

After banishing Wildfire from his presence, Floki retreated to be by himself. He didn't want to talk to anyone; he wanted to be alone with his thoughts. He slipped further under the cover of the trees, finally finding a particularly secluded copse of leaves where he sat down heavily. His head hung low as he stared at the ground, attempting to make sense of what had just happened.

When Charon's howl reached his ears, he jerked his head up in surprise. His first instinct was to ignore his brother's call, but he knew that would be irresponsible. Grudgingly, he got to his paws and slowly made his way towards Charon.

His gaze was trained on the ground when he arrived so he didn't notice Wildfire at first. But when he did look up and spotted her sitting with Charon, he froze. He glanced at his brother incredulously, then back at Wildfire for an instant. She was quietly sobbing but he looked away from her quickly, waiting for Charon to explain.

Charon knew that Flóki would be unable to resist his call, so despite Dhole's misgivings he would come. Dhole did not answer when he said Flóki loved her more than anything in the world, and he didn't press it. There was a moment of lingering silence between them in which Charon decided to just allow her her grief.

Finally Flóki came, and the apprehensive look on his face when he saw Dhole showed Charon that maybe something had happened. If nothing'd happened, then Flóki would surely have gone to her side right away. He decided to just say it as it was, as it had been hard enough for Dhole to say it once. "Dhole was raped." He did not sugarcoat anything, even though it was hard for her, because acceptance was one of the first steps. Charon looked at Flóki, hoping to find the compassion he knew was in there. Whatever the fuck happened between them after the fact, today was the first step to recovery.

Although she was waiting and hoping he would come, when Floki actually arrived on the scene, Wildfire's heart jumped into her throat. He barely looked at her and this probably should have made the tears come faster but it had the opposite effect instead. She blinked rapidly to clear her blurry vision, stiffening her upper lip even as they parted and she prepared to bare herself to him.

Charon beat her to the punch. Wildfire exhaled audibly, looking sideways in surprise, before her eyes ever so slowly dragged back to Floki's face to gauge his reaction. She winced, feeling like it must be like a slap in the face. Quickly but quietly, she added, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you." She hadn't meant to tell anyone and didn't know how to describe the events of the last ten minutes, so Wildfire didn't even bother.

"Floki, I..." She rose and took half a step toward him. "None of what I said was true. I don't know why I said it." She blinked. "I—I didn't want you to know." And her eyes fell to her feet as her still-damp cheeks heated. Well, the hideous truth was out there now. Wildfire didn't know how Floki would take any of it, or if he would (and could) forgive her for behaving so crazily, yet as she let out a breath, she realized she felt a bit of weight lift from her battered shoulders.

The tension in the air was thick, but Charon was quick to slice it. He spoke bluntly, providing a three word explanation that was so concise, so succinct, yet left so much room for interpretation. At first, Floki thought that he hadn't heard his brother right and blinked with confusion. There was no way that was true -- was there? His gaze shifted to Wildfire's crumpled face and he knew in an instant that it was.

Immediately, questions flooded his mind. Who? Where? Why? He felt horrible for his treatment of her only an hour earlier, yet she hadn't given him any room to formulate another reaction. Her reasons for breaking up with him had seemed so false, and now he knew why. But how could she move on from this? How could they mend this fence?

Realizing that it had been a long few seconds of silence on his part -- and that Wildfire's words had nearly gone in one ear and out another -- he swallowed. His mouth had grown dry. "I...I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry, Wildfire," he said quietly, gruffly. He couldn't imagine the physical and mental pain she had gone through over the last week. If only she had reached out to him. Floki looked to his brother and questioned, "Who...?" Somehow, it didn't seem right to ask Wildfire herself. He was angry on her behalf, but first and foremost he shared her sorrow and shame.

Flóki seemed surprised, perhaps because of the abrupt way that Charon brought the news. He'd never been one to sugarcoat, and the way Dhole twirled around her next words made it clear to Charon that it was good he'd just outright said it. He studied his brother's face, who seemed to consider how to respond.

Eventually they exchanged some form of apologies, which confirmed something weird must've gone on between them. Charon supplied the answer to Flóki's question: "Some dude called Goober. She doesn't remember where he's from. But we'll get him." Charon's face turned cold again. How easily he had killed Nishu only fueled his thirst for power and mostly, his knowledge that he could do whatever the fuck he wanted and get away with it. He was the gods' chosen. And this guy had it coming to him, anyway. No one would miss some low life like 'Goober'.

Once more, Charon ran interference and Wildfire found some relief in his well-meaning and direct responses. It gave her time to just stare in Floki's direction, her face sorrowful as he apologized in turn. She shook her head to tell him it wasn't necessary, nor did he need to say anything else in particular. Now that he knew the facts, Wildfire guessed that it would take some time to properly absorb them and formulate a meaningful response or reaction to any of it.

It seemed the two males were about to get knee-deep into a discussion about exacting revenge on her behalf and Wildfire was just too tired to get involved right now, much as part of her would definitely like for them to serve up Goober's head on a platter. What she needed right now was a square meal and about a week-long nap so that all her cuts and bruises (both physical and psychological) had some time to knit.

Although Charon was the Alpha, she looked to Floki as she asked, "Can I stay?" She paused, then added almost too quietly to hear, "With you?" There were so many hurtles they would have to leap but if Floki still wanted her after all of this, then she still wanted him. Now that they were past the moment of revelation, maybe they could pick up the pieces and slowly glue them back, together.

"But we'll get him." Floki's expression darkened and he nodded his head, agreeing with Charon's sentiment. Whoever this Goober was, he deserved payback for what he had done to Wildfire. And, since Floki didn't yet have the whole story, he assumed that he had been the one to carve her up; he glanced briefly at her, his eyes roving over the lacerations in varying stages of healing.

Her question, almost too soft to be heard, drew him to meet her gaze briefly. Despite now knowing the reason behind her bizarre behavior, there was still a lot of damage to repair in their relationship. Trust had been broken, if only briefly, and he couldn't imagine that she would be ready to resume the level of physical intimacy they had enjoyed previously. His stomach dropped; would she let him touch her again? Would he want to? He was afraid even now to reach out to her, for fear of causing her more pain. There were physical and mental obstacles for both of them to overcome, yet...

"Of course," he replied quietly, dropping his gaze to look at the ground. Revenge on Goober would have to wait, at least for now. "Do you want to go to our spot?" he asked, unsure.

Charon decided that he wasn't going to waste any time sitting about. This sicko was out there somewhere, and he wouldn't rest until he was reduced to nothing. Dhole asked Flóki to stay with her, and Flóki agreed. Though it was clear there was some sort of tension left between the two of them, Charon noted that somehow things did look better between them. The same warmth and softness that had been between them before was back, even though Charon'd only (consciously) known them as a couple for a short time. "Take care of her," said Charon, and he nodded at Flóki, almost sternly. Then he nosed Dhole's cheek — lost in his vengeful thoughts and urge to comfort her, and forgetting that it might be difficult to tolerate any closeness right now — and he moved past her and Flóki. As he passed Flóki Charon said lowly, "I'll find out where he's hiding out." It didn't even occur to Charon that he might not be hiding after he had badly hurt one of Moonspear's wolves, unaware that his reputation didn't actually precede him. Charon imagined Goober to be a cowardly sniveling dog hiding in some hole somewhere and startling at every movement or sound. It pleased Charon to think of him that way, so that he could tear him apart when he finally did find and enter that hole.

After saying this Charon broke into a trot and left Moonspear territories. He forgot to even inform Amekaze in the process, but later when he was out on the road Charon told himself that Flóki would probably tell her if she'd worry about his absence. He didn't intend to stay away for long, anyway, unaware that his search would very likely be unsuccessful. The young King had every confidence in his abilities to find this traitor and bring him to justice for his actions against Dhole.

The only reason Wildfire didn't shrink away from Charon's brief touch was because it happened unexpectedly and was over in the space of a second. She did flinch slightly, though he had already turned away. A quiet breath hissed between her teeth as she tried to mentally replay his words. Her head bobbed mutely. She hadn't anticipated how anyone else might respond to this situation and Charon's literal go-get-'em attitude inspired a strange cocktail of emotions in the yearling's breast.

The Alpha marched away, leaving the broken couple alone. "Yes," she veritably sighed in answer to his question, feeling boneless and misty-eyed with relief. She took a few small steps toward him and stopped. "Floki, I really am sorry... sorry that all of this happened. I know..." I know it's not really my fault, she meant to say but her voice failed her. She cleared her throat, then said something else instead. "I'm going to need some time," Wildfire spoke slowly, "and space." They were both critical, though the latter particularly crucial. "But despite what I said, I love you and I want to be with you, as long as you want to be with me."

She remained motionless then, giving Floki a final opportunity to really think that over and decide if he thought he could cope with Wildfire and all of her new and unexpected baggage. It would devastate her if he decided he couldn't handle it, though she wouldn't really blame him either. Floki hadn't exactly signed up for all of this, after all, and he wasn't even a year yet. It was entirely possible this was all a bit too much for him.

In that moment, Floki was thankful for Charon. The young Alpha would waste no time getting to the bottom of this; in fact, his parting words, whispered in Floki's ear, left no room for argument. Goober would pay for what he had done, and Floki had faith in his brother's promise. He nodded, then watched solemnly as Charon loped away.

He slowly shifted his gaze back to Wildfire. Her words were not unexpected, but were still hard to absorb. He wasn't quite sure how they were going to bounce back from this, but he nodded. He was willing to take it one day at a time. His response was quiet and short: "We'll figure it out." And despite his uncertainty, he meant it. Whether that meant they ended up together in the end or not -- he wouldn't abandon Wildfire in her time of need.

"Let's go," he said, his voice soft and encouraging. He would walk with her to their shared sleeping space, then would likely give her the privacy she desired -- without straying too far away.

"We'll figure it out," Floki said and Wildfire's lips pinched together. She nodded, feeling tearful all over again. She could hear the uncertainty in his familiar deep timbre but she didn't blame him for it. That he was willing to work on this with her, despite the horribleness of the situation, meant everything to the little red Gamma.

She followed him wordlessly as the silver Beta led the way up the mountain, hanging back significantly more than usual but still near enough that Wildfire could sense Floki's familiar warmth. Her whole body—hell, her entire existence— seemed to sigh in a mixture of exhaustion and relief. Once she got horizontal, Wildfire was pretty sure she would stay that way for a few days.

When the pair of them arrived at their destination, Wildfire bit her lip and looked at Floki. "Sorry," she whispered one last time before seeking a private spot, curling into a ball and sinking into unconsciousness for the second time that day.