Neverwinter Forest Alone

Lorelai was alone. She'd lost him, and now she had no idea where she was. "He's left you," the voices said. "He's gone, and he's not coming back. You're going to die here." Lorelai whimpered, closing her eyes tightly and shaking her head. "No, no!" she cried, her small frame beginning to tremble. Without him, she was a goner. Feeling miserable and pathetic, Lorelai curled up at the base of a tree, whining softly to herself. Thinking to call for him, she let loose a long, sorrowful howl, hoping to call him back to her side.

Avery jumped up, startled awake. He paused, cocking his head to the side so he might be able to capture the sound better. Before he could think, he was running. Blindly rushing through anything in his way, Avery ran as fast as he could towards the mystery wolf.

His first sight of her startled him, she looked so small. He slowed as he approached her, letting out a gentle woof, to inform her that he was approaching, hoping not to startle her. As he grew closer he began to relax, seeing she was alone. "Uh, hey, my name is Avery, are you okay?"

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: verbal/emotional abuse/mental illness

You're more than welcome to have Avery witness Lorelai's interactions with her hallucination!

The minutes passed. He didn't show. Lorelai whimpered to herself again, squeezing her eyes shut tight. _When she opened them again, she saw her father. "You've been nothing but a burden to him," he sneered, curling his lip at her. His cold, icy eyes stared down at her, and in them, Lorelai saw her worthlessness. "No, please!" she cried, digging her claws into the dirt. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and she stared helplessly up at her father. "You'd be better off dead, and you know it. You are nothing without him."_

Lorelai buried her face in her fur, tears still streaming from her eyes. She heard nothing else from her father, but suddenly a new voice spoke up. Lorelai yelped and jumped up, her hackles rising and her teeth baring themselves in a frightened snarl.

"My love, you're safe... relax..." It was him! Her brother! Lorelai laughed, then said happily, "Oh! Yes, I'm okay! My brother's back!" The small female's tail wagged slowly, and she grinned at Avery.

Taken aback by her words, Avery’s hackles began to rise. Was this a trap? Why did he rush in without thinking? Avery quickly threw his head up searching for another wolf. Satisfied that he and the stranger were alone, he returned his attention to her.

Avery began to grow uneasy, something didn’t seem right with this wolf.  Maybe she hit her head? “Is someone supposed to be here with you?” Avery tried his best to ask the question calmly and not give away his growing anxiety.

Lorelai was oblivious to the stranger's anxiety, but when he questioned her, Lorelai's grin faltered. "Can... can you not see him?" She nodded towards where her brother stood, mere feet from Lorelai. She looked back to the stranger, and  then, it came - the silence. Lorelai looked back to where her brother was, only to find that he wasn't there.

Tears welled in her cerulean eyes. "H-he... he was fake that time? But... Luka's always real!" How had she lost him? Where had he gone? She whined, then sunk to the ground, not sure what to believe anymore.

Giving into his exhaustion, Avery laid down on his stomach, resting his head on his paws. He was baffled on how to help her. He hadn't even stopped to consider this. "Hey, just because I don't see him doesn't mean he isn't real to you," Avery tried his best to be gentle with her, completely out of his element. I wonder if this is just a weird dream, I haven't slept properly in days after all. "Say, what's your name anyway?"

Lorelai whimpered, and she reached out towards Avery with her nose - smell, touch, taste, use  your senses, Luka always said, to get out of her "nightmares" as they called them. Panting, nearly struggling for air, she sobbed, "But he IS real, you don't understand! He was with me... and..." What had happened? Lorelai could not tell reality from her nightmares anymore - not without him. Without Luka.

"We got... lost... and now, I need him here, because my nightmares keep coming and I can't make them stop!" Lorelai sobbed all of this, her forepaws clawing at the frozen earth. And then, she remembered - he had asked her a question. Finally, she pulled herself together, sides heaving from the effort it took her.

"I'm Lorelai... I'm sorry... I really need my brother."

Well, I was supposed to be making friends after all. Is this how you make friends? Avery had already traveled far in search of potential pack members or allies with little to show for it. He could at least help her "Well, you say you've lost him. What do you usually do when you lose something?" 

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: in detail about her mental illness

Lorelai sniffled, then raised herself into a sitting position. She was cold, tear-soaked, and in a foreign land - without Luka. "Luka... Luka does most things for me... He says I'm not supposed to be on my own." The young wolf tried to smile, but it was sad, and slightly twisted. She wasn't necessarily in her right mind at present, but it was better than her nightmares. Hollowly, she admitted, "I don't do so good with the whole... taking care of myself... thing. I get too many nightmares. I... I see things that aren't there, I hear things... Awful things." She fell silent as she swallowed roughly. More tears gleamed in her eyes. She looked up at Avery pleadingly. "Can I stay with you? Until... well, until Luka finds me? I can hunt sometimes, as long as I'm not in a nightmare..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Avery stood up and stretched his leg. Might as well bring her back to the den I made a few hours ago. Avery knew he couldn't keep going without sleeping, and he knew he couldn't leave her now. Well, "I do need to sleep tonight, but I am planning on moving back east tomorrow, you can come if you'd like."

Lorelai nodded, swallowing her guilt; she hated dragging someone else into her own problems... but she would not survive alone. "Thank you," she murmured quietly. She'd let him lead the way, and she hoped her brother would be able to find her soon; she'd never been gone from him this long before.

Avery stood quickly, hobbling slightly on his left leg to regain his balance. he had grown a bit unsteady after his journey without proper rest. "Well, aren't we a sorry sight together," Avery thought to himself. He had accepted the loss of his leg by now, of course, but that didn't mean it didn't still irritate him. He hated feeling weak. "Alright, we can just follow my path back. There were quite a few hare around earlier if you need to hunt."

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm not hungry," she told him, "Let's just get to that den... before I start hearing things again." She wouldn't speak, but would follow him silently, just thankful he was helping her.