Swiftcurrent Creek i almost did

For @Scimitar - set after they return, and after Bazi comes back from her second encounter with Crescendo.

Bazi ran until her lungs threatened to call in the union. It wasn't until she entered Swiftcurrent territory that she realized how serious the situation was - what might have happened. What she had lusted after in a fleeting moment of heat-induced weakness. The very idea that her mind would ever bend that way seemed ridiculous now, and all her battered and tired body desired now was the comforting warmth of Scimitar.

Because she hadn't done anything. The thought had occurred to her, certainly, and she had nearly paid the price for that in the worst possible way. Reason and good luck had come to her rescue at the last moment, and the Creek's queen was endlessly grateful to be returning to her home without the black stain of infidelity upon her soul.

That didn't mean she wasn't shaken. The stench of Crescendo was thick upon her, mingled with the very stark scent of her own fear and struggle. He had come so close. Bazi imagined that she could still feel the harsh grip of his legs around her thighs, and the sensation made her gag. As swiftly as her quivering legs would allow, she rushed to find Scimitar. She had to tell him - though perhaps not the whole truth.

Only days remained here -- the two had found the place to relocate the pack, and soon they would gather the pack and inform them of the move. They would feast upon the remainders of the caches, and with three little boys in tow, they would begin the journey as quickly and efficiently as possible.. and more importantly, further from here.

With this thought in mind, the agouti male was beginning to tie up the loose ends at the Creek. Nosing at one of the caches, it was the ivory form of his lover that drew him from his current task. His sight was met with a more disheveled looking Bazi, and with a frown, the Alpha made to move further and close the distance between them faster.

The scent hit him like a punch to the gut -- he knew the scent that enveloped her so intimately, and hardening, the wolf stiffened, his eyes flashing. "What happened?"

Scimitar knew as soon as he saw her, and when she was close enough to smell, he knew ever more. Concern turned to rage. Not at her - Bazi knew that, but she nevertheless cowered in the glare of her lover's eyes, completing her approach with a tucked tail and flattened ears. "A close call," she told him, licking her lips. "I wanted to make sure there was no trace of Paarthurnax left, and I.. nothing happened. I got away. I did," she rumbled, nose pointing at her paws and voice thick with true tears. Here, secure within her own borders, the horror of what might have transpired - what she had almost brought upon herself, and Scimitar - pressed in on all sides like the blackest night.

"I want to leave now," the pallid Alpha wept quietly into her own fuzzy chest, shivering where she stood.

Scimitar had known his fair share of rage -- unfortunately, he had been swallowed by it for the better part of his stay the moment he had come to the Creek.. but never before had he felt it tremor at his very core -- eliciting a low growl from the cinnamon wolf a she began to pace. He was torn now -- staying, and sweeping Bazi in to his embrace and comforting her.. or leaving right now and hunting down the one who had dissolved her in to the weeping Alpha before him.

He resolved to do both.

Closing distance between them as he pressed his chest close to hers, one creamy paw lifted to place pressure upon her side, holding her to him as his muzzle skimmed the top of her head, kissing her gently and quietly seething. "Where did this happen?" Once he knew where to look, he could leave to go tear the hellion to pieces.

Bazi sucked a ragged breath through her teeth. "Near the big lake, I think where.. near where you all fought," she bit out, nestling against him. Crescendo seemed like a creature of having, having revealed himself twice to her now and both times in the same general area - with a bit of luck and some olfactory detective work, Scimitar was bound to find him.

Bazi stared into the pale bristles on his chest. She recalled the black wolf's smooth, cutting voice - his uncouth words, and how easily they had inflamed her. What would it do to Scimitar, to hear such things about his future wife? She needed to prepare him - offer 99.9% of the truth.

Sniffling quietly, Bazi eased herself out of the embrace so that she could speak into her protector's face, staring up at him with glittering eyes. "He's a black male. I've seen him twice. He smelled the Creek on me almost instantly - I should've run, but I stayed, I wanted to know about Star. He said.. I.. he said awful things. About Star - about me, insinuated that I was some sort of .. ." Bazi faltered, reliving their short exchange in her mind. No. Get away from me. No. Something had rooted her to the spot, but her voice had never gone the way of her wandering mind.

"I ran. When he found me again, I was tying up loose ends in the same area - making sure there were no signs left of Paarthurnax. He said the same awful things, called me harlot, that I'd come to him willingly told me I deserved what he was going to do to me. H-h-he lunged, grabbed me, I fought back. I barely got away." Her voice hitched again, caught on a waiting queue of sobs.

Everything she stated he took to heart, and as her voice raised in tone as she spoke, he continued to attempt to placate her -- as if his gentle touches could take away what the ebony beast had done to her. "You should go see the boys -- go spend some time with them." His voice was quiet now, and he pulled back, shaking his pelt as he did so.

His paws burned with the need to leave right then, but his eyes scoured her features, making sure once more not a hair upon her was out of place and harmed. "I'm going to take care of this. If Blackfeather Woods thinks because they won a fight against us after catching us off guard that they have the upper hand.." He snorted, a rueful smile twisting upon his creamy-tipped muzzle.

"But Scimitar--" Bazi's teeth clipped the end of the sentence, and she swallowed it with a gulp. There was no point. If she hadn't wanted him to seek out the Blackfeather wolf and teach him a lesson, she should never have opened her mouth. Scimitar wasn't the sort to let sleeping dogs of this particular ill lie. Bazi deflated with a sigh, nodded, and resigned herself to spending several fretful hours alone with the children. "Please don't listen to what that worm-tongued beast tells you. He spoke about four sentences to me, and in that time nearly managed to convince me that I'd summoned him there 'with my obvious lust'." She grimaced, gathering her paws into a neat knot beneath herself. "Will you at least take someone with you?"

"None of them have anything useful to say," he snorted, not sure why she was so concerned with why he would listen to what one of their twisted rivals thought. She seemed fretful -- this he could understand, but even at her request to bring another, he gave a quick shake of his muzzle. "I want everyone here," he explained briefly, leaning forward to nudge her cheek affectionately.

"When I get back.. we're getting out of this place," he reassured, stepping away now and waiting for her to go to the boys.. to at least find a distraction somewhere from the misery that had been inflicted upon her. He could only hope that the wolf hadn't fled too far from the lake and back home -- if he could catch him away from the Woods, it was likely he was alone.

And Scimitar had a little message to give his new 'friend.'

Bazi gave him a forlorn look, but ultimately did as he asked, turning with a flick of her white tail in the direction for home. She did want that cretinous Blackfeather creature dead - mostly for the part he had played in her own shameful thoughts, but it felt a little wrong to send her lover to do the dirty work. Unfortunately, she was priming her body for childbearing and birth - not battle. Scimitar stood a far better chance of ending the black wolf's life, and there was no chance of him being violated. At least, she hoped so.

With the pale she-wolf moving back to the territory, he felt a small sense of relief -- the pack was safe in her hands.. he believed fully that she had learned from her past choices, and with that in mind, the dark cinnamon wolf shifted his large form, prowling forward now to the location she claimed she had seen the dark beast last.

Blackfeather Woods was about to receive a message from the Creek wolves -- one that he hoped spoke volumes, for the scent that lingered on Bazi was from a wolf who had partaken in the battle.. and if they felt that because they had won one fight that they could do as they pleased.. they were sorely mistaken.