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+--- Thread: Dragoncrest Cliffs i'll tell you how i knew (/showthread.php?tid=31108)
i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - December 02, 2018
Well. It had been a strange few days since their own littermate had turned natrona without even a goodbye to any of them (except dad). And just like that, too! Opalia couldn't say she had been her sister's biggest fan lately, and had found her preference for Kiwi and the older pups and such to be kind of annoying, but this was awfully rotten—of any of them, to simply turn on Drageda. For what? She didn't understand any of it.
Opalia had simmered on the matter since, and met only real frustration. Worse of all, she saw how it hurt her family firsthand. They mourned.. and really, it left her and @Dacio as the last ones of all the siblings not to turn their backs on their parents, and everything they had been raised for and surrounded with in the process. Again.. she didn't get it. Was she missing something? Above all, why?
Anyway.. she kept churning over the borderlands with a slow trot. Although she was starting to feel tired, she was avoiding rest still and continued to rove at the outskirts of their claim—beginning to approach where they had smelled the last traces of Wildfire and her crew of runaways again.
The very thought soured her expression, sure, but newly in that instant, a tiny part of her was glad no one had gone after them (that she knew about from leeching news from her father, of course). Drageda deserved better than that, and the pale kru raised her nose to breath deep the cold winter's air of her home.
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - December 02, 2018
The days ticked by slowly, and Dacio's frustration only grew. While he'd never been particularly lose to either of his litter-mates, it occurred to him just how comfortable he'd been simply knowing that they were around. He had never known a life without the sisters who'd been birthed alongside him and, having lulled himself into a false sense of security that they would never pull the same stint as Dalia had before them, was unpleasantly surprised to find out that Sequoia had willingly chosen to become Natrona.
In large part, the most recent losses made him want to be closer to Opalia. She was the last sibling he had left and, despite the rift that'd been present between them since before they could remember, Dacio felt a new paranoia that she too may choose to leave Drageda. It was a rational fear, having witnessed how losing Dalia and Sequoia had broken their mother, and it pained him to see her suffer. He could not bear to see her crumble further, should the blonde Kru also decide to stomp on Portia's fragile heart.
He followed the girl's tracks through the dusting of fresh snow with purpose in his stride, an eagerness to see her with his own eyes so he could relax with confirmation that she hadn't gone beyond their territory. Dacio exhaled a sharp breath of relief when he spotted her along Drageda's outskirts, and he slowed his pace to close the distance between them. "Opalia," he called to her, lifting his ghostly green gaze to seek her own mismatched irises. "Are you, uh... you okay?"
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - December 02, 2018
She continued onward down the familiar route of their borderlands, steadily, despite knowing well what her heading was. Good! Maybe she wanted to just see it again for herself and see how badly the last trace of her littermate was fading away, getting worse by every hour that passed.
Soon there wouldn't be any trace of her.. and Opalia was determined to see this as a good thing (even if deep down, she didn't want to, but she had to). She was refusing to shed an ounce of sorrow on the matter, and instead shape the feeling of the angst into something sharper.
When she thought she heard something coming, she started to slow up and pivot her ears, only to stop entirely when it was her brother calling out to her by name. Since it was him, out of everyone, she was relieved.
Hei,she chuffed back to him while she waited for him to reach her side.
I'm fine,she replied without a second wasted to consider it and readily met his eyes back. While maybe not the whole story, Opalia was sticking to her guns on it; she was just frustrated, and if anything, she was more sad for everyone else—she was actually more interested to see what he thought.
How are you?she asked over her shoulder when she began to stride forward again. Together they had mourned Dalia's leave, but they had been younger, and the relationship different. Dalia had been an older mentor and caretaker while Sequoia was just like them. And yet...
Opalia tried not to scowl about it.
spoken is triged because lazy :p
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - December 04, 2018
I love your new Opalia avatar!
Truthfully, Dacio had been half expecting his sister to clack her teeth in the direction of his muzzle, so hung back only slightly. He could've swore he spotted a familiar feral glint in her eye that might've suggested she wanted to eat his face, but found himself pleasantly surprised that she merely looked his way. They'd been such fiery cubs, him ruffling her feathers significantly more than she his, and he supposed their competative natures were responsible for the distance between them. It really was an unfortunate thing, the young Gona reflected, but he did care for Opalia in his own quiet way.
She insisted that she was fine, and resumed her stride. The ashen youngster padded along after her, his ghostly green eyes drifted curiously over her sterling-tipped dorsal and suspecting that she wasn't being entirely truthful. Dacio knew that the girls hadn't been very close while growing up but, like him, Opalia had never known a life without Sequoia. He frowned thoughtfully, furrowing his brow as she asked of his own wellbeing. "I hate that she just..." he paused to huff a frustrated breath, "left. At least Dalia said goodbye." A charcoal ear tilted backward, and his tail gave a lash of annoyance. "It sucks, 'Palia, and I'm tired of feeling like we don't matter."
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - December 05, 2018
ty <3!
Opalia didn't say so, but was silently glad he followed along with her. She set her mismatched stare dead ahead, and probably harder than necessary to try to keep the sadness away. Listening to Dacio helped, too, she realized quickly.Also helping was their shared sentiment.. to which she nodded somberly while unsure what to say yet. While she had usually done her best to contest him in many walks of life, simultaneously making him her closest sibling and her biggest, most immediate rival, but this was not one of those times. They were both wounded here.
I hate it too,she eventually settled on, a simmering, seething sort of lick to her words that held much more to it. Dalia leaving hadn't made her so frustrated. At the time, it had seemed sudden, but looking back, this felt even worse somehow. Context was everything, apparently.
Means Dalia cared enough about us... at least,she murmured, trying to tiptoe over those old wounds in favor of these fresher ones.
Sequoia just had to act like she was better than us anyway, so guess our whole family and pack wasn't good enough for her,she grated, wrinkling her nose with a frown to match. How dare she? How dare she act like they didn't matter, and like they were not everything she could ever need?
She didn't understand why she would turn her back on them all. How she faced their father and simply left him with a goodbye before merrily (as Opalia envisioned it, happy to skip on off to her new ~better~ life with Wildfire and Kiwi's fantastical destinations of wherever-who-cares) was well beyond her.
But she's wrong.. Just—ugh—how could she be so dumb...the girl complained, bordering on a want to rant on and on, but she refrained as she kept their pathway moving along slow, but steadily enough.
After that.. she kind of let silence settle through clenching teeth, but there was more on the edge of her tongue. She heaved another big sigh, exhausted about thinking over this mess and trying to not let it overwhelm her. Relax, shake it off, and let it go, she tried to think...
Promise if ya ever have to be so stupid, you'll at least tell me before, okay?she asked, looking for her brother's face again to aim a hard stare his way.
I will..quieter, then, as she turned back to her forward progress over this stretch of border.
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - December 05, 2018
He struggled, shamefully, with feelings of abandonment following Sequoia's departure and, for all the awkwardness that came with sharing those thoughts with Opalia, she was the only one he deemed safe to delve into such personal discussion with. As she echoed his sentiment, pressing on to announce her opinion regarding their rogue litter-mate, the boy let his ears splay backward and twitched a whisker in quiet agreement. Dacio wanted so much to resent their sister for her blatant disregard of them, wanted to carry on barking his frustrations at the one who remained, because he was learning that it might be easier to hate her than miss her.
He'd been on the verge of falling apart before Heda, when the wound left by Sequoia's betrayal was fresh and raw, but there was the constant reminder that he wasn't a child anymore. Dacio was a young warrior, fit to enter Drageda's adult ranks at the tender age of six months, expected to contribute as the others did. He had to do better, be stronger, prove that not all of the Wocha's children were useless. He wanted so much to succeed and be the son to make his father proud, the one who wouldn't break his mother's heart, and the sharpness of Opalia's tone rejuvenated the hope that she would prove herself alongside him.
"I'm never leaving," the silver Gona lifted his pastel eyes, seeking the mismatched hues of Opalia's own. Was this her way of being vulnerable? With anger, and pleading requests? Dacio blinked at the blonde Kru, guilt rousing the butterflies in his abdomen, and his expression softened as she broke their gaze and looked toward their path again. He loped closer to her, reaching out to bump his charcoal snout to her hip, and whined gently. "Trust me," he encouraged her sadly, knowing exactly how difficult that could be.
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - December 08, 2018
Deep, deep down, she was a tangling mess of feelings, all fresh, raw, and new. Understanding them was proving difficult, but as the young girl was learning, such was life.
Never? She thought there should be no answer she'd rather hear, and his fleeting touch to her hip did warrant a half-pause. He told her to trust him, and in her heart, she did. Definitely. Maybe not only because he said so, but it helped to hear it during these tumultuous times. She nodded small.
Good,she settled on, then swallowed down her feelings promptly. Frustration ebbed.
I do trust ya. Because me too.Opalia added and trotted on, fighting back a scrunch of frustration, herself considered. But it went easily enough.
The last spot I know about Seq's scent being here is just up ahead, y'know,she informed him quietly. After she had tracked their dad to it, she hadn't forgotten. Some little petty part of her wanted to hold onto it for now. Just to watch it (every last piece) go too.
It's gonna be gone soon,she said.
Wonder if she even knows what she's gonna miss out on here,she said, raising her head and her ears to stand taller for a second—emulating her best strong and fierce, all in the cause of Drageda out here on their borderlands.
And if she even cares about how sad she's made our parents...the pale guardian said with a small huff, though she was happy to turn her eyes forward again, to their future.. both here and now, and later too.
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - December 15, 2018
A tiny smile tugged at the boy's features as his sister promised that she too would never leave Drageda. He hoped it was a vow she could keep, no matter what temptation might seek to draw her away in the future. He wasn't sure what it was that caused Sequoia and the others to abandon their home, but to have Opalia share his sentiment out loud did bring him some comfort.
His ear pricked at the sound of her voice as she announced that the last traces of their litter-mate's scent was just ahead, and his jaw tightened. Nostrils flared, he drew in the cold air to test for it, before twitching a whisker. He wasn't sure how he felt about Opalia actively looking for a reminder, when he so wished that he could simply cast it all aside and move on.
"I don't think she cares," the young Gona echoed with a roll of a peppered shoulder, "because if she did, she wouldn't have gone."
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - December 16, 2018
Probably true..she agreed, and kept pressing on with her ears back.
She didn't deserve Drageda,Opalia edged in, spoken low and hardly a notch above a whisper. She was angry still but coping, and trying to bite the feeling back down with every roil.
And we don't have time for traitors,she growled, categorizing her rage in that way, and being as done with it as she could be.
When her sister's scent faded entirely, she would be able to move on better. Good thing she had made up her mind to help it happen faster. Over every last trace of territory that would even mention her, she'd see to it. None of it was worth their ilk, and therefore, good riddance! Now, if only she could help their parents cope with the loss of a daughter somehow.
It did make her feel better to know that they had her and Dacio left here, and both of them were remarkably on the same page about staying loyal to Drageda and their family. Maybe with time, that would help, and everything could be almost like it was before. Opalia had to stay hopeful, for even when her temperament wanted her to boil and seethe, there was a necessary other part to help keep them moving forward.
After that, she was quiet for a little while and more focused on her bit of patrol. Her attention split between her littermate and the underfoot rather well, she thought, but maybe it was just the sensation of a distraction easing her worried mind. Whatever, she appreciated the company and the relative peace of something she was getting pretty good at to help her put distance between herself and what was making her feel badly.
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - December 26, 2018
Traitors, she called them, and Dacio emitted a low rumble of agreement. Opalia was right: their runaway sibling wasn't worth dwelling on. The silver Gona fell silent then, content to follow the blonde-furred youth as he quietly recalled how they'd moved on from Dalia's departure. It'd been a rough, especially for their mother, but they'd managed to endure. Drageda thrived without her, proving that it didn't need her as Dacio feared he might.
They would survive Sequoia, Wildfire and Kiwi's abandonment as well. Of this, he wanted to be sure, but he kept the niggling doubt to himself.
"Anyway," Dacio curled his lip, eager for a distraction from their litter-mate's betrayal, and found none better than a spar. He lashed out like a viper, reaching to plant a well-placed nip on Opalia's nearest flank, and veered away from her sharply to avoid the likelihood of his sister aiming her own fangs at his hide: "fight me!"
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Opalia - January 02, 2019
Well enough for her, for right now, it was settled. She would be working in the days to come to keep Sequoia out of her thoughts, and perhaps with time, it would work. They were going to move on without her and be better for it; that was going to be her mantra, for even when her parents were sad about it, or she dared to even think about missing her, Opalia would keep the sentiment of this whole conversation with her brother near and dear to her heart.
When he spoke again, her ears perked up newly and her agreement came in silence, but clear—she split her lips in a toothy sneer, shouldering against his nip in stride, and was more than eager to shed her sorrow in favor of motions such as these. Often the aggressor and happy to oblige, she gave a half-pivot and launched towards him with as much momentum as their proximity could grant her, aiming some snippy teeth towards the side of his neck or face—she wasn't being choosy. The worries, the concerns, and the frustrations fell away, one after the next; she was happy to fall into the simple, familiar rhythm of the fight.
i'm fine with a fade here if you'd like! they could use something utd too of course
RE: i'll tell you how i knew - Dacio - January 05, 2019
Fading here. :)
She did not bite back at once, instead turning her crown just enough to eye him with a knowing sneer. With a proud arch of his charcoal tail, it flagged mockingly at his rear as he swept into his most inviting play bow. Opalia obliged willingly, swinging toward the silver Gona who waited with excited anticipation.
He pulled himself upright, bracing for impact, and welcomed the collision with jaws parted. Dacio clacked his fangs to her own as though to parry her attack, but she knew his battle technique more than most. With a duck of her head, Opalia's teeth swiftly found their mark where his jaw met throat and the sterling youth made touse his greater size to his advantage by pushing firmly against her with a playful snarl.