Bramblepoint No one knows

@Adrastos

[table width=85%][tr][td]Darkness is pulled over the land with the setting of the sun, a blindfold that blots out the warmth and familiarity of the tangled woodland's previous ambiance. The forest has become a dark and foreboding place.

Liri is unable to suppress the shivers of her miniscule form; the sylph trembles not with cold but with fear as she traverses the night. 

The moon offers little aid, hidden as it is by the dove grey clouds. The light that does escape is muted; it washes everything out into a single grey landscape as if coated with ash. 

The rain begins to fall, slicking Liri's coat of snow close to her bones. Without the sun's rays, she is left hunched inwards and practically seismic.

The wind buffers the wraith constantly, freezing her lungs in her chest and turning her blood to ice. Liri pushes on, slowed by the sucking mud beneath her feet. 

A sudden strike of lightning lights the forest as brilliantly as the midday sun.

The wraith gives a jerk and a small yelp of surprise at the following boom of thunder, so volumous that it rattles her teeth. Her dark eyes are practically burned in their sockets and for a moment she is utterly blind. 

Panic engulfs her. For several heartbeats Liri is frozen, unable to see, in the dark. The only sound is the frightened wheeze of her breath and the frantic thump, thump, thump of her heart. 

Relief floods her when the next strike comes, the thunderous roar of the heavens nearly knocking her to her knees, reassuring the sprite that she is not blind. 

Liri lets out a breathless sob of joy when she sees the formation of rocks lit up by the lightning. She rushes for it, scrambling inside just as the next strike comes. 

Inside the small cave is dry and most importantly: quiet. The distant, terror-inducing crash of thunder is left behind for the serenity of the silence.

Liri circles the small cave once, pebbles scattering underfoot, in search of any inhabitants or scents that might indicate danger. With the storm raging outside, Liri would be tempted to fight for such a sanctuary as this.

The cave is devoid of any life, even of any bones or scents to prove that it has been used before her. Satisfied, Liri chooses the farthest corner from the opening and curls into a ball against the smooth stone of the cave walls.  

Her eyes slip shut of their own accord; a weariness has settled in her bones that refuses to be denied. With a soft huff, the nymph dozes.[/table][/tr][/td]

Adrastos was laying at the base of an alder tree amidst the brambles. In most anyone's eyes, it was a miserable evening. The sky was various shades of darkening gray and smelled of rain. The older male had just awoken from a short nap, his broad, scarred head still laying on his paws. He had been stiff and sore all day, the weather causing his old battle injuries to act up.

A cool, damp wind plucked at his slate gray fur, causing the long hair on his neck and back to sway and undulate like grass on a stormy plain. A storm was coming. It had been building all day and Adrastos wished that it would just break to relieve the pressure!

He shifted his stocky gray body and stood, a groan escaping from between his jaws. He hadn't been this stiff in a long time. He groaned again as he felt the first patters of rain on his back. Wonderful. The last thing he wanted was to be stiff and wet.

After those first few drops, the rain descended with a vengeance, immediately soaking the male. Being in unfamiliar territory, he had no clue if there was any shelter nearby, but he was determined to find some. He trotted forward, basically in a straight line out from the alder tree, silvery blue eyes straining to see through the rain and the darkness.

A flash of lightening lit the world around him, ruining his night vision. Adrastos cursed silently to himself and closed his eyes, trying to get some semblance of vision back. Opening his eyes again, he continued onward, able to discern a darker, taller shape than the rest of the surrounding area.

Instinct told him it was a rock formation and where there were rocks, there could be a cave! Thunder crashed and another flash of lightening lit the formation, confirming his suspicions as he noted a darkness at the base. He ran towards it, dispelling the stiffness in his legs.

Just inside the entrance, he shook himself, attempting to rid his pelt of most of the damnable rain. With a sigh of relief, he sat, prepared to wait out the storm, but then...

His ragged ears twitched as he heard breathing. He inhaled, sure enough scenting another warm body within the cave. He stood and turned, peering deeper into the cave. "Hello?" He spoke to the darkness.

[table width=85%][tr][td]She has just started to slip into the dark warmth of a deep sleep when her silence is disturbed.

The sounds of other permeate the asylum of the cave in the form of footfalls and a soft sigh, shattering any semblance of safety that the nymph feels. 

Liri is recovering, slowly, but this is enough to send her heart thump thump thumping against the confines of her ribs as if trying to escape. Her breath quickens, bursting from her lips uncontrollably; wide dark eyes search the dark though she cannot see an inch into the pitch. 

Liri presses back against the corner of the cave as if it will help her dissapear; her ears squeeze to her skull and the fur along her spine puffs with fear. The acrid scent of it fills the cave, nearly suffocating as it gives away her quivering presence. 

Liri remains silent with a childish hope that if he cannot see her, he will not find her.[/table][/tr][/td]

Adrastos stood with one wide paw raised, about to take another step, his ears cupped forward to catch the tiniest sound. He didn't necessarily fancy getting attacked by whoever he was sharing this space with, but he wasn't afraid.

After he spoke, he began to hear movement and loud panting, but no one spoke back to him. Suddenly he smelled a scent that he had never wanted to smell again. Fear. Terror. He sneezed, trying to clear his nose of the sharp scent. It immediately brought back memories he had pushed far away. Horrible memories of his past...memories of the things he had done to other wolves.

Adrastos shook his head so violently, his ears flopped against his skull and the memories scurried away like rats to their hidey hole. The male paced forward, and felt the presence of the other-a female. He stopped just before reaching her and crouched down. His toughened heart softened for her. Why was she so afraid? Granted, some fear or caution would be warranted, due to the fact that he was indeed a stranger, but this downright terror seemed a bit overmuch.

"Hey there..." He said softly. Or rather, he tried to say softly. His deep, husky voice wasn't mean to whisper sweet nothings in another's ear. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just seeking some shelter from this storm. Do you mind if I share this space with you?" He asked out of courtesy. He could leave and weather the night without shelter. It wouldn't be the first, and probably not the last night in his life he spent outside in a storm.

Though his eyes strained to pierce the darkness of the cave, he couldn't see the other. He grinned wryly to himself for a moment. It was probably a good thing she couldn't see him either. With half an ear gone and the other almost shredded and the scars criss-crossing his muzzle...he wasn't the first wolf you'd want to see in the dark during a storm.

[table width=85%][tr][td]For a moment there is nothing but strained silence and she begins to wonder if she imagined the sounds. 

Liri strains to hear anything over the pounding of her heart but fails, until he speaks. 

She flinches, not expecting him to have moved closer. Further the sylph presses against the wall; the hard grooves and bumps dig into her side. 

This would not be so terrifying if she could just see him. Here in the dark, Liri cannot watch him for any violent movements nor can the nymph make out any ill intent that might show on his face. 

The rest of his words catch her attention, drawing Liri back from the brink of the panicked breakdown she was working up to. 

The wraith listens, forcing past her fear to do so, and feels a swell of empathy. Despite herself, Liri is a healer; she cares far too deeply for people - even strangers - and often it gets her hurt. 

"You can stay," her voice finally comes, soft and tiny, barely a whisper. Her breathing has returned, mostly, to normal though her heart continues to race.[/table][/tr][/td]

Sorry it's so short!

Adrastos slowly let out the breath he didnt know he had been holding after the female spoke or whispered, rather. She still seemed scared, but he was very pleased she had responded to him. That was a good start.

"Thank you." He said to her, before backing away from her and laying down, facing the cave opening. He heard her trying to move further away from him when he had padded too close to her. Since she consented to his staying, he figured he would give her some space. He heaved a sigh, laying his head upon his paws and watching the weather outside.

"It seems to be dying down a bit." He spoke conversationally. "I'm Adrastos, by the way."

It's alright, mine's not that great either!

[table width=85%][tr][td]She doesn't respond to his gratitude, unsure of what she should even say. He moves further away allowing the tension to shed from Liri's form like the droplets of rain; the arctic woman stops trying to morph with the cave wall. 

In between flashes of lighting she can make out the outside world. The only thing she can see from her corner of the cave are the sheets of rain beating down from the sky and the silhouette of Adrastos. 

"Liri," she offers in return, not unkindly.[/table][/tr][/td]

Adrastos smiled to himself when she answered with her name. Liri. It was pretty and delicate sounding, the total opposite of his. He raised his head from his paws, wishing the storm would let up. He could see the sky beginning to lighten from pitch black, to dark gray, signaling that dawn was near. His stomach rumbled with hunger. As soon as the rain stopped he would find some small, unfortunate creature to eat.

He felt the tension in the small cave the ease a little. "Are you from around here, Liri?"
 

[table width=85%][tr][td]The sky was lightening from the midnight black of true night to the dark indigo of predawn as they spoke. Liri pondered then how long she had been roaming the forest. 

She'd left Horosk behind when the clouds had begun to appear on the horizon; but the storm had struck with such intensity that the wraith found herself lost in it.

Adrastos's voice caught her attention, pulling her from her thoughts. "Yes, I'm from Broken Antler Fen. It's not far from here," Liri answered somewhat uncertainly. The winter sprite was unsure what exact part of the forest she was in by this point. 

"What of you, Adrastos?" He didn't smell of any pack nor did he smell exactly like the wilderness around them. He smelt foreign as if he came from somewhere else.[/table][/tr][/td]

His ragged ears were pushed back on his skull, catching the words she spoke behind him. Broken Antler Fen? Adrastos had a feeling that she was giving him the name of her pack and not just the name of a place. It had been quite a long time since the scarred male had belonged to a pack and he had never belonged to a normal pack, at that. He thought that he might like to be part of a community again, but maybe a more loving, less warlike one? He wasn't sure...

"Ah lady...I hail from far, far away from here. A place you're lucky to be quite a distance removed from..." He shook himself lightly. Thinking of it now sent uncomfortable pinpricks down his spine. "I've been a loner these past two and a half years, recently come to these lands."
 

[table width=85%][tr][td]Now relaxed, though still on guard as shown by the ever present drumming of her heart like a skittish bird hopping in her chest, Liri blinked owlish woodland-coloured eyes at Adrastos through the dark. 

For a moment she thought she caught a glimpse of him, of the horrible scars criss-crossing his worn, grizzled face. It was this more than anything else that calmed her. 

"I'm sure," she trails off, voice distracted with the memories. It's not said condescendingly but rather understandingly, and if the tiny woman is honest: sadly. She would not wish the hell she's seen, Adrastos has seen, on anyone. "People can be monsters," Liri adds almost absently, thinking heavily on the reality of it all. 

Liri is drawn back by his voice, captivated by the grinding stones of it and the utter shock at how long Adrastos has been alone.

"That's a long time to be by yourself," the ivory-pelted girl murmurs as a wrinkle forms between her eyes. For a brief moment she thinks back on the winter she cannot recall. 

She's unsure where his time ended and their time began.

"Did you ever get lonely?" Liri questions - partially to leave the past behind - with the naive curiosity of a child. How did others handle the loneliness of only their demons for company?[/table][/tr][/td]

The things the Rizduruk pack had done to females were unspeakable, especially females of the enemy pack. Adrastos sharing a cave and speaking companionably to Liri was not something that would have happened in his old lands. Bitches were slaves. They were to bear young for the fighting force and to satiate young soldier's thirst for dominance and sex. Rough around the edges as Adrastos was, he respected females and did his best to make sure his mother and sisters had a better life within the pack.

With that being said, the rugged male didn't have any children (that he knew of) and had never been allowed to take a mate. Though he was seven years old...an age some thought quite elderly, Adrastos was still healthy, cabable of hunting and defending himself. Granted, he had many old wounds that made his stiff at times, but mentally he didn't think of himself as old.

Spending time with a young female was new territory for Adrastos and he quite liked it, even though Liri was terrified at his presence in the beginning. He nodded at her words. He had known plenty of monsters.

"Aye. It is a long time alone." He stated. Her next question caught him a little off guard. Did he ever get lonely? Was lonely that feeling of longing he felt, the longing to be part of a pack...to maybe even have a mate and pups someday? "Indeed...I do get lonely. I've scented many wolves in this area, so perhaps I won't be much longer, eh?"

[table width=85%][tr][td]She has not quite thought of him as old either. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that she cannot see him but Liri finds that he feels like she does. 

She's seen too much for someone so young. She's had to grow up quickly and it's aged Liri to a level where she feels as though she and Adrastos are one and the same. 

"Not likely," the winter spirit agrees with a small smile. She's only the first. 

"There are many packs here. But a word of caution," the smile slips from her face easily, "avoid those to the northeast of here."

"If you smell the blood and carnage on their borders run far from there and don't look back." Her warning comes with an involuntary shudder, the images of damp caves and scuttling rats and flashing teeth and running blood flicking through her mind like a macabre slideshow.[/table][/tr][/td]

He tucked her warning in the back of his mind. He will not forget it, for he had seen enough bloodshed and carnage for three lifetimes. The way she said it though...sounded like she spoke from experience and he heard her shudder. What horrors had this delicate sounding female seen? This must be where her fear stemed from, perhaps?

Adrastos wanted to ask her about it, but at the same time didn't want to intrude on something like that, especially since he was basically a stranger. He was about to speak again when he noticed there was something missing. The steady sound of the rain had stopped! It was still fairly dark, especially inside the cave, but shapes were beginning to emerge in dark grays and purples.

He turned and grinned at Liri, still in the back of the cave. He could now make out her coloring and found that it was a white as winter. "Storm's over, Liri!"

[table width=85%][tr][td]The absence of the rain pit-pattering on the stone roof and the boom of distant thunder is lost on her, distracted as she is by her thoughts.

Once Adrastos brings it to her attention Liri smiles, rising to her feet and padding over to him. 

The winter sprite keeps an arm's length between them, settling down at the entrance beside him to watch the sky lighten to smoke and a deep bruise-coloured purple. 

Liri is able to make him out now, though his coat blends somewhat with the darkened world.

Adrastos is scarred near as heavily, if not more so, than she. He's missing part of one ear and while it might frighten most away, Liri smiles. She doesn't feel so out of place with the multitude of scars covering her own small form.[/table][/tr][/td]

Their world steadily continued to lighten as the sun, who would not be stopped by the turbulence of the night, climbed the sky. Adrastos watched as Liri unfolded herself from her position in the back of the cave. His breath hitched in his throat at the sight of the female. She was so small, as delicate as her name sounded. A stirring began in the chest of the grizzled warrior. He felt an intense need to protect her, to keep her from the horrors of the world.

When she placed herself next to him, he continued staring. He couldn't tear his eyes from her lithe frame and her alabaster pelt that was almost glowing it was so pure. His silvery blue eyes roamed over her face. She was smiling at him. She wasn't scared or disgusted by his scarred face and ears.

It was then that he noticed the scars on her muzzle and an ear. What or who could have damaged such a delicate creature? He began to growl unintentionally. He'd rip the throat out of whoever did this to her! The growl erupting from his throat surprised him and startled him out of the red haze that was beginning to edge into his vision.

was not expecting this development!

[table width=85%][tr][td]For a moment he stares at her in silence, an emotion she cannot define lingering on his face. 

Liri continues to smile at first, tail wagging as she waits for Adrastos to smile back but it doesn't come. He continues to stare, Liri's smile fading slowly as he does. 

Discomfort comes next, lowering her eyes and flattening her ears subconsciously. The sylph's face burns hot beneath her fur and a lump gathers in her throat. She knows she's not the prettiest female around but surely she isn't that strange looking.

Nerves follow, tension seeping into the marrow of her bones as the weight of Adrastos's angry gaze presses on her like thousands of stones. 

When his growl comes she bears her throat in submission, her head tilting to the side and down, away from him. Despite this, the wraith bares her teeth, tongue flicking out to lick her lips as a snarl of her own builds in the column of her throat. 

You may be bigger than me, stronger than me, but I am done being pushed around, it seems to say.[/table][/tr][/td]

Gasp!

Once Adrastos was startled out of his inadvertant anger by his own growl, he realized the effect it was having on Liri. He immediatly felt ashamed and furious with himself. "Oh. No no no no!" He soothed, lowering himself all the way to the floor of the cave. "Liri, dearest, it's not you. You're perfect. You're fine." Adrastos whimpered, scarred muzzled attempting to touch Liri's cheek in comfort.

If the older male hadn't have been so angry with himself and concerned for Liri, he would have noticed her growl, her courage, and her will to fight. He would have been very impressed.

Adrastos held his breath, the seconds feeling like hours. Could he have just ruined the tentative connection he felt himself and Liri were slowly developing?

[table width=85%][tr][td]Looking away as she is, Liri misses the immediate contriteness that blooms on Adrastos's scarred features. 

Where she expected many things: aggression or dominance, a bite, perhaps even a claim as he had taken on her; none of them come. 

Adrastos speaks, and though his exclamations and endearments confuse her, it settles the wraith. 

The snow-pelted woman's head swings around cautiously and her lips slide back into place even slower. Her pink tongue darts out occasionally, running along her teeth with the last remnants of submission. 

Adrastos presses his nose to her cheek and Liri pauses, surprised by the act and unsure how to respond to it. 

Liri relaxes after a moment, smiling hesitantly and stretching out on the cave floor beside Adrastos where he's lowered himself. 

The ice nymph turns dark eyes to him questioningly. "Where will you go when the sun funishes rising?"[/table][/tr][/td]

Sorry replies are taking so long tonight. I'm at work. -_-

 Adrastos finally breathes as Liri relaxes and even smiles carefully at him. She doesn't even inquire as to what had just occurred. He was still embarrassed. He had no idea what to say to her. Explaining that the sight of her scars made him so angry at whoever inflicted them, that he wanted to kill them, just didn't seem enough. 

The fact that she settled back down next to him and hadn't run out of the cave never to see him again, was a good sign. He was about to speak when she did. Where would he go, indeed? Adrastos rolled his muscled shoulder in a bit of a shrug. "I may stay around here. I do like this area." He gazed out the entrance to the cave, the wet landscape beginning to sparkle as the light caught on the prisms of raindrops. "Liri...please forgive me for frightening you. I wasn't growling at you. I was...I was lost in thought..." He trailed off, hoping it was explaination enough for now.

so sorry to have taken like 10 years to reply. I had lots of OOC things to deal with.

[table width=85%][tr][td]Adrastos seems to relax she does though the sylph cannot explain what just occured. 

"That's a good idea. There's many packs here if you wish to join one," Liri suggests. Adrastos is not so old to be counted out just yet. Besides, the grizzled veteran must be lonely. 

"That's alright. I wasn't that frightened." She's not sure what her emotion was. Aggressive maybe. Defensive. Not afraid in the least.[/table][/tr][/td]

No problem! I've been super sick the past week and a half. Hope you got everything worked out. ^_^

Dawn had fully come to the wet world as the two stayed dry in their cave. Birds were calling to each other, seeing who survived the storm and other small critters were chittering and taking stock of the damage to their woodland homes.

"Tell me of your pack, Liri." Adrastos prompts. Having been alone for so long, joining a pack would be a big decision. He remembered her, very early in their conversation, speaking of Broken Antler Fen was where she said she was from. When she said it, however, it sounded more than just the name of a place. It sounded like the name of a pack. Adrastos could smell the scent of other upon her pelt as well.

[table width=85%][tr][td]The sun had begun to rise, flooding the deep blue slowly to a pale tint. Reds and purples and yellows lit up the sky, the blacks of the treeline standing out in vivid contrast. Birds began to chirp and Liri smiled, watching the rain drops fall from their collective reservoirs in the tops of trees. 

"I only just joined about a month or so ago. I don't know many of them well," she confesses with an abashed dip of her head. 

"It's more like two packs really. One was led by Burke far to the west of here and the other by Sebastian. Burke found me the day before his pack was set to leave, they were fleeing some enemy pack," she pauses for breath, wondering if she's confused him. 

"Burke is actually Sebastian's father. He gave up his leadership and home to bring his pack, Arthendal, to Broken Antler Fen for safety," she finishes. Liri glances to him to see if he's kept up with the intricate tale.[/table][/tr][/td]

As Liri began talking, Adrastos moved from laying to sitting. He was starting to get a bit stiff in that position and the barometric pressure of the storm still hung in the air. He listened intently to her words, nodding. Two packs coming together. He had seen it before, especially when family ties were involved. "I have seen such before. Do you like life there so far?" A month wasn't very long of a timeframe, especially if she had yet to get to know most of the pack.

Adrastos wondered if he'd ever be able to assimilate to "normal" pack life. He had been alone for so long, then part of his war like home mega-pack. They definately did not behave like the majority of other packs. What would his poisition even be? How could he best contribute to the community? He was a warrior, a soldier, perhaps a bit of a tactition. He had seen quite a bit in his seven years, so he could make a good advisor as well. Adrastos shook himself as his thoughts turned inward, bringing him back to the present. His stomach rumbled, also reminding him of it's emptiness. When had he last had a decent meal?

[table width=85%][tr][td]Liri nods to herself, mulling the question over intensely.

What's life like in Broken Antler Fen?

They are kind but Liri doesn't belong there. They are a family and she's not ready for that, not yet, not so soon after losing her last family. 

"It's...nice. Everyone there is very kind," Liri finally answers, watching the outside world so that Adrastos cannot see the conflict on her face. 

Maybe it would be better just to leave it behind. 

Liri rises to her feet as the sun rises, lightening the world to visible clarity. She turns to the solider at her side with a smile. 

"I should go. Can't stay in this cave forever." With a nod to Adrastos, Liri departs with a strange feeling in her stomach. 

Something tells her she won't be going back to Broken Antler Fen.[/table][/tr][/td]