that post, right in the feels. :(
Not since he had recruited Rahzie had he really been outside of the Spine. And normally he wouldn't have gone out, not with all that had been occurring behind their figurative closed doors. But it was the drawing scent of the Spine's crowned alpha that stole him away from his patrol. Mordecai pursued Cara, and nary a thought was spared for their borders. He was more perplexed with her venture out, and did not feel the tension of the basin woods leave him until he had passed fully from it's gaze.
It was only then that he realized how seemingly thick the shroud of sorrow hung over them. The very existence of it was enough to make him feel ill, but he carried on. Perhaps he too needed to get away, furthering and fostering the urge to deal with the tumultuous events in indescribable ways. As it stood, he felt the unbridled anger and sadness from those woods boil within him, and a fair part of it was his own. He was angered of Jinx's demise, that they had been invaded. But he too ached over the loss of her, as she had also offered him a home with little regard for his past and present. She had taken a gamble on him, and he hoped he had not failed her.
When Mordecai had come upon Cara at last, he watched her from afar at first. Chest deep in the open waters, she could have been praying. She could have been crying. Or she could have just been standing there; he did not decide what it was that she was doing. Like a shadowy cretin, he came closer though, muffling his steps as not to disturb her. It was only when she had lifted her head skyward that he made himself known; a low whine to punctuate the loss they both felt.
buckle up we're going on a feel-trip
center>
For a second she could've sworn the clouds answered. A rumble that could only be product of her imagination shook her bones causing her eyes to narrow into tiny slights of yellow that stared into the dancing forms of the clouds above. One went above the others, its fluffy contour shifting into a shape she knew very well.
It was Jinx's face.
Staring right at her from the highest point of the heavens, the place where her eyes should've been were ilumitaned by the sun. And even if she knew it was just an illusion, the sight of her queen eased the burden that laid in her heart. She smiled brightly at the cloud and watched it open its maw to do the same.
But instead of a smile, the phantom gave a mournful whine and disappeared into thin air. Cara whipped her head to meet Mordecai, as real as it had felt she knew the lament hadn't come from her made up cloud queen. "Mordecai", she said simply, her enerdy transforming the frown that had laid upon her face into a smile. While she might've felt jealous in the past, today she saw the male as nothing but an ally. That assuming he'd stay, though in the naive mind of the young queen she was convinced every member would stay.
Shorter post, I should really be going back to work and finishing my split shift right now lmao.
She whipped around, and for a moment Mordecai braced himself for reprimands that did not come. Instead her features softened, the sorrow on her face replaced with a warm smile that he had never encountered in her presence. Tentatively, he stepped into the cool waters of the lake to join her. His muzzle reached to nudge her flank as he drew close, and he wavered neutrally, neither submitting nor raising challenge. Though he was curious as to what had drawn her away from Ouroboros in its time of need, the words did not come readily. If they would come at all.
“We should go back,” he urged her quietly. He understood the need to mourn, but there were other things at stake. In his eyes there was a distinct time and place for it, and though his own heart ached for the loss and losses to be, he had stowed it away. With the present threat of the interlopers in their midst, he worried for those that would defect, though the future for all of them was largely unwritten. Any one of them could have, present company included.
Shall we go ahead and set this for after the outcome of the Cara/Ptar fight?
She turned to face him, and this time he found no ire or distaste in the depths of her eyes. In fact, she seemed quite happy to see him. But the relief was partially lost on Mordecai, who was feeling more of the mixed emotions broiling within him. As much as he had traveled and as many places he had found himself willingly apart of (no matter how minor), Ouroboros was the most profound of them. It pulled at him strongly, and pulled him in directions he found himself uncomfortable with. For a long time, he had not really put roots down. He put stock into things, worked hard, but had never sunk those proverbial roots into much of anything. Sedona had been his one and only, but Sedona had been his home. His birthplace. He knew he could go see it again some day, but it too had ceased to be his home.
His thoughts disgressed from their own monologue as she insisted on staying a moment more. To that the tawny Ostrega merely nodded his head; he would not deny her what she wanted to do. She outranked him now. Lecter had seen something in her that Mordecai had not, but only because the repertoire between them was lacking. But he would see it through either way, partially out of curiosity, and partially because he kept his word. He would support Lecter's decision. Even so, there was little harm in staying a moment longer. If this was how she intended to make her peace, or what she believed — if she believed, then so be it.
Apologies for the wait. Life, etc.
He followed after her quietly as they departed the grasp of the waters, and his eyes scanned the terrain indifferently. Mordecai could not recall if he had happened by the edges of the lake, but supposed it didn't matter. Being apart of Ouroboros in its recent days had dampened his ability to venture, but that was often the sacrifice that loyalty demanded. To venture out and explore the edges of the valley was tempting, but it was time consuming. He had known that in a pack, time was all that they had. As it were, things had been in tumult for a while now, from Jinx's ailing, to her death, and the following pieces therein. Now they had a usurper standing at the helm, though he did not understand why there wasn't more upheavals to be found.
He found indifference there too, surprisingly, and for reasons he did not understand.
As Cara barked into the void beyond them, he turned an ear back with confusion. Was she suggesting that to him? Or was it her own musing, echoing into the depths of the paths they had taken to that very moment? Again he was wordless, though his mouth opened for a moment to speak. Mordecai closed it and came to her side, curiously gauging the tattered state of her body, and her own stability. Frailty was not in his repertoire. He was discovering that comfort was also an underdeveloped skill. Passively, he shook himself and wrung the clinging water free, and moved on down the trail, only glancing back to see if she would follow. Stay or go. Perhaps she would take leave of the Spine to commandeer a place of her own, just as Jinx had, or so he had been told.
Her query gave him pause. He regarded her at length for some time, as an equal. Mordecai did not question that her pride was bruised more than her body. He weighed and balanced things. Considered the inevitably that there would be those that would leave with their upheaval.
"I don't know, he said at last. And that was the truth of it. He didn't know. He couldn't have said that he knew what would come of anything. "What do you think you should do?" His earnest question focused that spotlight on her then, and he waas more than curious what was bubbling in her head, and the contents of her heart.
"Then don't," he stated simply. Even if there was that nagging sensation that nothing like this was simple. The complications made his head desire to ache, as Mordecai had never truly warmed to the thought of something complicated. Perhaps it was the black and white thinking of his father that shone through him; they, as wolves, often ended up doing as they pleased. Ptarmigan certainly had, staking a claim for their pack. But he supposed it was up to them to truly decide whether or not they accepted it.
And that was where he did not know where it was that he lied.
Shifting his weight, Mordecai studied her anguished gaze. He wanted to say something more meaningful, something to ease the young leader's struggle. But truthfully he had no words for it. Like her, this event was uncharted territory. He had never had the firsthand experience of a usurper in any midst.
It seemed at first she didn't understand what he was suggesting. Mordecai considered rephrasing what he meant, when it seemed the seeds took root in her mind. He watched as her eyes closed in thought and kept his silence. He wondered for a moment what she was thinking, was she considering the endless possibilities like he did from time to time? And then, as her eyes opened once more to meet his gaze, he caught the spark of renewal. He picked up on the simple nuances that had been absent in their prior meetings, the way a smile seemed to spread gently at the turns of her muzzle.
Her decision was seemingly the one that he had chose to follow. With no encounter to base his overall opinion on, he didn't know what to think of the usuper in their midst. He wasn't pleased with her arrival, no, nor what she had done. But he had not come to the conclusion that leaving was in his best interests. While any conceived notion of debt was repaid with Jinx's demise, he could have decided he had no reason to stay. But his loyalty had extended further than that in time. He inferred the same of her as well.
With a nod at her words, he turned back towards the road home. “Let's go,” he prompted.
short exit post.
ps. Mordecai is the best therapist ever :o
Her lips twisted into a soft yet strong smile, and her pale eyes glimmered with a renewed light inside of them. Maybe it had been the lake's water or the man's words(that hadn't been many), but whatever it was it had ignited the fire on the female's heart. Now the world didn't look so grim, there was a faint lantern that shined dimly in the background. It was small but it was there.
Without a further word or sound, the frost girl stepped forth and began walking along side the male, draped by a silence that wasn't in any way awkward or nerve wrecking.
Definitely enjoyed this thread! <3
She was renewed, but he would not take the credit for it. What she felt or thought of him, he couldn't have said. But they had come a long way from their initial meeting, and of their opinion regarding each other. As she joined them and they began their way home, he allowed silence to lapse between them. With each drawing step closer to the Spine, he felt the same looming pressure return to him.
Maybe he had set the wheels in motion for her, but they were very much still stuck in the mud for him. He knew he would have to seek out this usurper for himself, and would let nature take its course. What would be would be, and what would come remained a mystery.