Noctisardor Bypass shotgun shuts his cakehole

to whomever joins this: most of this is a dream. only the last bit is vex awake. feel free to pp him looking disoriented. he's pretty spooked, kek.

in vex’s bed of decaying leaves and loamy moss, covered hastily with a small deer pelt he took from some place or another, the firetouched boy stirs in his sleep but does not wake.

---

a mighty, slavering black-furred polar bear ( not that vex knows the difference aside from this isn’t a bear he’s seen even in passing before ) prowls towards him; his footsteps filled with a silence that causes the hairs at his nape, both dreamscape and upon his slumbering body, ears and whiskers twitching, to prickle. writhing shadows are left in the wake of the mighty bear’s pawsteps; ruby gaze bearing into his soul holding vex captive.

even in the dreamscape, his fight or flight instincts are triggered; muscles twitching violently with the desire to flee; but he can’t. his body is frozen, rooted to the spot he stands as the beast closes the distance. before him, vex is insignificant. tiny. sarcasm and snark leave him; bravado siphoned out of him as he tries and fails to tear his eyes away.

he is drawn into the god of darkness’ gravity. it pulls him in like a lone moon to a planet’s orbit; warming him with the light of a red dwarf sun. jaws are frozen, words fleeing vex’s mind. yet, the mighty beargod looks at him as if he understands; gaze merciless but not cruel. whoever this bear was …it certainly wasn’t his sister’s artemis.

don’t speak, the beargod commands in a gruff, powerful voice that would and undoubtedly could command legions. you walk my path, young anneriwok. you awoke me from my slumber; summoning me to these lands. skeptical, as always, even in the face of the beastly bear whose jaws could crush his skull within a second. it wasn’t bravado this time. i am sos, bear god of darkness. of greed, vanity, trickery, rage and power. i've watched over your ancestors for a long time and now, i will watch over you. vex blinks, slowly, skeptically; and as if sos can read the dreaming boy’s thoughts, he laughs like the tremor of an earthquake.

i am very real, cub. the low rumbling snarl that comes from the shadowlord’s massive and powerful jaws causes the hairs along vex’s spine to stand on end. you will come to learn this in time — sos reaches out and clamps his teeth ‘round a frozen dream-vex’s muzzle, teeth sharp upon his flesh —

---

vex wakes up with a gasp and a start; disoriented and pushing himself to his paws; adrenaline coursing thru his veins, heartbeat loud in his ears. it was a dream. just a dream. no doubt inspired by haunt’s mention of her artemis calling her ‘little bear’. vex repeats it like a mantra to himself, over and over.

when vex is sure he can control the movement of trembling legs, he does not linger in his bedding. he yearns to put as much distance between it and himself as he can, figuring a patrol would burn it off. the dream. the adrenaline.

because that was all it was. a dream.

so then, why, a small part of his brain asks, does he feel the phantom grasp of sos’ teeth against his muzzle?

word count: 535