@Damien <3 takes place after the thread with Stigmata
She had returned with exciting news, a promise they simply couldn't resist. A male spoke of a place called Diaspora and the night mother and her mate would be allowed to raise their children there. It sounded like a dream and her heart fluttered as she crossed over the borders that defined their own little territory. She sought out her lover with a beating in her chest she was unable to silence.
I have great news, my love.
She greeted him with a smile that was unusual for her when she finally found him, awaiting his reaction without much patience.
While he knew she would eventually come back to him, Damien couldn't shake off the feeling of anguish for not having Nyx by his side. He was no pup and he knew that winter, especially with the breeding season so close, was a dangerous time to wander alone. But she had a knack at proving him wrong.
There she came, striding down a hill with Tulugak flying right above her head as though things couldn't be better. 'I have great news, my love.' sang the night goddess as soon as she saw him, and Damien, bound by love and cool with relief could do nothing but smile. Well?
he says, welcoming her back with a warm embrace. What did you find, ñuha hūra?
It was such a wonderful sight to see him smile, and even more so as she imagined him smiling at their family. She almost couldn't believe the deal she had struck with the dark male at the lake. Waiting another year to further their bloodline had been a fear of hers, but not anymore. The Gods above had sent them a blessing and all they had to do for it was be a bit nice to the wolves they were going to join.
She brushed against him lovingly before pausing so she could speak. We met a man at the lake this evening. He is settling somewhere over the mountains, but he needs just a few more wolves to join him. He promised we would be allowed to raise our children there in exchange for some helping paws.
She knew Damien would be skeptical about this ordeal, but the man seemed trustworthy and the deal was one they couldn't simply refuse because of their pride.
I know you do not like others telling you what to do, but we are not gaining members and I simply feel my heat coming sometime soon. We can leave whenever the pups can travel without any hard feelings.
Her eyes sparkled with determination and a deep desire for Damien to approve of this plan. She knew he wanted kids too, perhaps even more so than she did. They had almost been made to spawn offspring together, no matter the circumstances.
While Damien really wanted to share the excitement his lover exhuded he simply couldn't help feeling skeptical about the deal she seemed ti have struck. One more reason to feel restless whenever Nyx traveled alone.
Nyx, you can't just bet the life of our family in some random stranger tou just met in the mountains
he said anxiously. What do you even know about him? Did you tell him where we're settled? Did you tell him our names?
it wasn't like them to roll around mingling with 'kind strangers' just like that. They, of all wolves, needed ti be cautious with who they trusted.
His name is Stigmata, and he was a true gentleman. It just seemed like an opportunity we would not get a second time around.
She defended. They both shared more than enough information to trust one another and she was simply too caught up in the thought of having children she had barely considered things going wrong.
Look, I know it isn't like us to trust others, but he did not seem like he meant ill. It is simply a little tit for tat, that's all.
She sighed softly again. I just don't want us to miss this opportunity... And nothing here is working out, it seems. You know how excited I am to have them...
She put on a little frowny face, placing a small kiss on his chin in both submission and love.
Damien groans as he feels a frown upon his brow. It was stupid, plain stupid what she had done, but even then he couldn't disagree that things in Neverwinter weren't as smooth as he would like it. Just four of them weren't enough to raise pups through summer and feed everyone. They needed real support, and breeding season was just around the corner.
I must confess that I don't feel as strongly about Neverwinter as I did before...
he says with a thoughtful sigh as Nyx's kisses run down his chin. And after a moment of deep consideration he gave her a resigned look. We will check them out, the four o- five of us...
he corrects, glancing at Tulugak, and then we will decide what to do. We need to be cautious, my love. You should know this of all wolves.
She was simply awful, wasn't she? Damien seemed to have a thing for crazy girls and now he was stuck with one. Though Nyx didn't find joy in making him worry and frustrated, she did like to see him clear up after such an outburst. She knew they were meant to be together, regardless how mad they drove each other, and again she saw him consider her whole take on the matter.
She smiled at him fondly, brushing against him again both to cheer him up and show her affection. She wasn't a very touchy wolf, but with him she was like a loving momma cat. I am cautious... But I am excited too...
She purred. He told me how to get there, it is about half a day away I would say.
She informed as she kept close to him.
You must never allow excitement to cloud tour judgement, Nyx
says the dark man exhasperated. We are better than that.
cunning, patient and always came out on top. Their situation was not the most favorable of their lifetimes, but it was an opportunity for growth, and jeopardizing their hard-earned stability for an easy deal seemed wrong from all perspectives. But he was willing to give it a shot if it meant that he could finally get to extend the Melonii bloodline on his own accord, and he appreciated the enthisiasm that his mate was showing.
However, in the midst of all his thoughts there was a particular concern that seemed to pop out from the rest. You said you met this stranger by the lake... How do you know he's not one of Kove's new cutthroats? He's bound to have set a price on our heads...
She knew that. She nodded with a guilty expression, but it was his own excitement over children that had her all excited. For a moment she feared this was already her heat, being so scrambled, or perhaps an instinct telling it was about time she got settled before she did indeed go into heat. They hardly had time to spare it felt.
He came from another direction and came across as genuinely in search of members. He didn't seem like a great actor... besides, Kove is still my father and all we did was leave. I doubt he would waste resources just for us. We left him in poor shape, he has other things to worry about.
She almost couldn't believe she was vouching for both a male she had just met and her own father, but she found the thought of Stigmata being a hitman to be absurdly complicated. Why wouldn't he have killed her while she was vulnerable and alone (no offense Tulu) and then use her trail to get to Damien? Now he had to face all of them at once so either he was stupid or not out to kill them at all.
He knew that her deranged thinking was probably product of her heat nearing, but he just couldn't believe he was talking to the same Nyx he'd known forever. The Nyx he knew was, despite deeply emotional, a calculating creature without a doubt. He never knew she would be so easy to buy.
I can't help thinking it is possible we're walking right into a trap, but you make a good point... Kove does have more important things to worry about...
enforcing borders, feeding a pack and raising pups was no easy task for an old man like him. It was weird how much Damien's image of Kove had changed in such a short time... Sometimes he even forgot that he and Nyx were related.
Fine... We will think about arrangements tomorrow... Now why don't you allow me to welcome you back home properly, ñuha hūra...
he says as he gently caresses her cheek with his nose, planting a kiss on the soft flesh of her neck.
Nyx was calculating, and she had considered the cons of her plan. They'd have to answer to someone else but themselves, abandon the forest and perhaps even some members unwilling to follow them to the end. Nyx didn't need a little detective hat to prove she was a good judge of character and though she was almost sure Stigmata was using her wish for children to obtain more members for his pack, he did allow them to have children. Nothing bound them to this pack except the promise of a home for their children, there hadn't even been much talk about what would happen when they were old enough to travel with their parents. Perhaps she was dealing with the Devil here, but they had faced worse demons in the past and for now she just had to have what she wanted.
Stigmata seemed older than us both, perhaps if he steps down we can even claim the lands and wolves for us own...
It was an enticing fantasy to overthrow such a confident man with sheer willpower and a dash of luck, but she didn't like writing off possible fates.
She giggled softly, feeling almost like a queen. They would get what they wanted, she could promise him that. She rubbed against him once more, pruning the fur of his shoulder and placing soft kisses along the way.
He had listened to her reasoning, but not a word that she said made more sense than the rest. She seemed entranced, like this man had cast a spell on her to trust him and somehow it had worked. He knew where she was coming from, and a wolf desperate to fulfill her feminine duty, pressured by her nature, pressured by her desire to get their life back on track, but if Damien was certain about something was that in desperate times the most valuable trait a wolf could hold on to was patience. Hope was for the weak of mind, but he knew that whatever came his way was but a capricious game in Mephala's intricate web of fate.
But he also seemed to be ensnared by Nyx's spell. Damien was no fool, nor was his lover either. Just like her Damien wanted to fill her up with children and give her a huge palace to raise them in. Life had thrown at them a chance for change, and little to no things tied Damien down in Neverwinter Forest because everything he cared about he could take with him anywhere. So even if Nyx's plan to wait until the kind stranger was old enough to overrun was plainly stupid he would give it a go because he was with her.
The time for talking had run out. The kisses laid upon him sealed the only deal he was interested in making, so nibbling Nyx's speckled ear Damien tugged for her to follow somewhere darker.
Fading the sexy times, give em some privacy
With a big grin did Nyx flutter behind her lover to a deeper part of the forest. Even if they wouldn't have their palace in the end, she knew the only place she really wanted to be was with Damien. His heart was the biggest castle she could ever hope to claim.
With that in mind, she shooed Tulugak away before retreating to have some alone time with her hubby.