Sequoia Coast To drag the past out

ooc: unspecified territory near Donnelaith. Part of Lovegame 2.0 plot (if you intend to join, please, read about it here first)

Osprey had broken the rules and left the Donnelaith. And nothing had happened. She could not decide, what was sweeter the taste of victory for proving the "higher-ups" wrong or the fact that she had challenged the fate and from the looks of it - had won? Sure - she had not ventured too far, as much as she did not care for the mundane life and it's rules at the moment - there was some sense of duty that was rooted way deeper than the instincts and urges that governed her now could reach. While dizzy with the spring madness, she still felt connection to her pack and family. 

Having found a tree with low branches, she stopped to do some "tree-dancing" (scratching her back) and, since the sensation was so pleasant, she decided that it would not hurt to claim this tree and mark it as her own. With that done, she sat down and sighed - it had been a very long day and, though the fire within her was still burning, her body was tired and craved for a rest. Reluctantly she slided down to her belly and yawned, deciding that pausing just for a while would not hurt. The she-wolf rested her head on her outstretched forepaws and closed her eyes.

Getting away with killing his own pack mate without so much as a word against him was as sweet a victory as they got. Charon could not help but feel empowered by it. Sure, he had killed Nishu Inte because it was best for all — pack, Charon, and even Nishu, whose suffering needed to end — but there was something about the feeling it gave him. He had felt horrified for a moment when he stepped back from the throat that he had severed, a feeling of 'what have I done', but it had not lasted very long and now... Now, it felt as though the gods or whatever higher power was out there were looking upon him with their very own eyes, nodding in approval of his every decision. He was the hand of the gods, chosen child, and nothing could stand in his way. His whole life had been a string of enablers, truthfully, for him to reach this moment. No one had ever stopped him or put him in his place when he demanded more and more of everything, allowing for his arrogance to grow, and took paws and legs where he was offered toes. Not until Dante. And when it had happened, the ugly scars along his shoulder to remind him of that day, Charon had only scrambled out even better, for it had gained him a swift climb to the top, his own mountain to rule over, a flourishing pack, Hero of the Day award and his brother's love and gratitude, and a beautiful partner at his side whose pups he would father when the time came.

His loins yearned for spring time, or whenever else Amekaze would decide that it was time for them to continue their legacy. Children, yes, and an official claim to show the world that she was his and that nothing could stop him. Some stood in his way, but such was the way with every great ruler. There would always be squabbling peasants.

After the deed Charon had grown restless and he decided to trek north, to see how things fared. He knew there was unrest, what with Neverwinter Forest's settling and Ragnar's grave unearthed. Somehow though, the unearthing of the grave, while it had initially pissed him off, had given him less ties with his birth place. As though it was no longer Ragnar's, and therefore his, now that the bones were gone. He'd been angry, but when he had told Flóki it wasn't a big deal despite his own rage over the fact, Charon had begun to believe his own words.

Even though he had never intended to get so close to the pack where Dante resided, there was something that drew him in. Charon did not even know what it was, precisely, that made him choose to go there. Not until he saw Osprey. He hadn't really wanted to see her at all; not since her bitch attitude when he had met her and Mason out in the woods. He had fixed things with Mason — fixed as in, had shown Mason to respect his authority — but Osprey remained a loose end like many others. Like Dante. His hackles pricked defensively at the thought of Dante, and he approached, mesmerised by her. He hadn't felt this way before — not towards Osprey — but today was different. He chuffed to announce his presence. Without realising, he had adopted Alpha posture, his tail and head carried proudly as though he was ruler here, despite being so close to another pack's borders.

Whenever Osprey set her foot out of the claimed territories, she was used to meeting strangers, therefore running into or in this case "ran at to" a familiar face purely by chance was quite remarkable. Despite falling nearly asleep, her ears were still open and mind was still aware of the surroundings. She had been taken by surprise before - none of the occasions had ended badly - but the first moment had never been pleasant. 

Charon's scent hit her nostrils the moment he came in the vicinity of her resting place. The elder got to her feet in an instant and locked her gaze at the approaching wolf, who had taken a decidedly dominant posture. In the back of her mind she recognized the guy and at first she almost ran to greet him in a friendly manner, but she stayed, where she was, because there was also a feeling that required her to treat him with caution. He had done something that made her feel threatened. 

So she drew her ears back, her body got in a defensive mode and she took some involuntary step backwards. Should he decide to attack, she would have a home to run to.

Osprey got to her feet, and Charon had somehow expected her to draw closer to him. Instead, she moved away, like sand through his fingers, slipping backward while taking a defensive posture. He did not understand why, unaware of the dominant posture that he had taken. Frustration at the loss of control reigned in his mind, especially after he had just been crowned king of the world in his own mind, the emperor who could do anything he wanted without losing the love of his subordinates and queen alike, the chosen child of the gods. And now she dared back away from him.

His head rose, nose lowered, ears falling back in both surprise and irritation to mirror her defensive stance. "Where are you going?" he asked plainly, no threat in his voice, as though there was no reason for her to leave (and he was as convinced of that as he sounded himself, finding it ridiculous for her to back away from him as he had never laid paws on her). Charon wanted to cut her off, truthfully, but he knew that if he would do that, she would only further drift away from him. And for reasons unknown to him he didn't want that to happen, wanted her to stay right there and go nowhere; especially not back to her pack and into Dante's arms.

well u did say the more the merrier... consider him not "officially" here yet but en-route..

tachyon had been surprised to learn osprey was in heat -- what perplexed him more was when he encountered her scent just outside of donnelaith territory. his brow furrowed as he considered her reasons for doing this -- had she and dante parted ways? he shook his head and paused, his golden gaze inspecting the vicinity for the silvered woman.

wordlessly the pale druid slipped from donnelaith's border and trotted along the brimline of the forest with his nose to the ground in pursuit of the elusive female.

Where are you going? Osprey, who had taken another step back, froze mid-way, her heart rate became quicker, and with every beat the fire dwindled away, giving place for icey cold water - fear. She studied his face, trying to find the tiniest notion that she could trust him here and now, but the stress interfered her ability to analyze and judge at the same time. And eventually she decided to stick to the old truth - if you doubted that it was safe staying, you should always run. 

Yet she did not do that right away, the prickling pain in the injured joint reminding her that she wasn't fit enought to escape and that she had run more than it was good for the leg. Therefore she sat down and turned her gaze away in a calming manner, hoping that the fellow would get the message and leave her.

She did not answer, and when Charon saw the fear in her eyes, he felt betrayed. She sat down and looked away, and where Charon had expected her to return his interest, instead she rejected him. He should've been pissed off, should've been outraged, but somehow, all he could feel was the knife twisting painfully in his chest, his throat tightening. He didn't even want Osprey, he wanted Ame, but there was something about Osprey that did make him want to be close to her. It was weird and he couldn't explain. All he wanted to do now was fall into her arms and sob, because of how heartbroken he was at her inert rejection of his closeness, when he was not even doing anything (to his knowledge). It made him think back to Nishu Inte's broken body as blood flowed onto the ground, his body still warm, and the taste of his blood upon Charon's own tongue. He had felt like a monster, and as he looked at Osprey's expression, he felt like that same monster.

There was an expression of pain — for Charon had always worn his emotions on his sleeve — that betrayed how hurt he was. His eyes shimmered with the pain of her betrayal and the rejection of glueing whatever was broken between the two of them. There were too many tiny fractured pieces for Charon to pick up on his own, the task was impossible. He couldn't pick up all the pieces of both their broken hearts and the remnants of a tight-knit friendship that once was all by himself, not without her help.

For a long, drawn out moment he stared into Osprey's eyes (for as far as her looking away permitted it), his eyes shimmering with honest pain and heartbreak, his tail falling down to his hocks and his posture slackening to mirror his emotions. No longer was he the pompous Alpha who would woo the female because that was what his instinct told him to do. He was the little boy that wet himself when he was attacked by a monstrous dog. The little boy who used to be her friend. A high-pitched whine escaped Charon's lips as he looked at Osprey, just hoping that she would look back into his eyes and see what a mistake it was to definitively throw away everything that they'd had.

For just that moment, he was the boy again who would go treasure hunting or dragon searching with Osprey. Except this time, she didn't excitedly say 'yes, let's go, and I'll tell you about these special creatures I know lots about' when he asked her if they'd go on an adventure. She turned away from him this time, leaving him with nothing but squashed childhood dreams and blood still dripping from the gaping hole in his chest where his heart had once been.

After the moment, he turned his head away in much the same fashion as she, and while he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes Charon turned away, making to depart and leave her be, as she wanted him to. He halted a moment, as though awaiting her permission for him to walk out of her life for good, as though hoping that she would tell him not to leave and hug him and make everything okay. His mind was a maze of lust and sadness and rage and many more emotions that he could not place because the pain of the dagger twisted into his heart overwhelmed all of the other feelings.

in a fluid trot tachyon broke from the cover of the copse, his strides lengthening as he caught sight and scent of the duo. without a word his trot escalated into a canter and his powerful strides swiftly devoured the landscape between them. his gaze trailed over osprey, who was inert on the ground. his expression was quizzical as he came upon her, for the two before him both seemed wounded in their own way. the speckled wolf was given a once over, as if tachyon were silently assessing him for any weakness. despite his usual lax behavior there was something about osprey that caused him to feel emboldened and assertive -- without realizing it he felt his tail rise and his posture heighten as he advanced towards the wolf he felt was far too close to his packmate.

Osprey's choice of action had been the right one - from the few occasional side glances cast at Charon she saw that not only had he dropped the dominant posture, he had also retreated. This gave her courage to face him eye to eye once again and, the myriad of emotions in the other's expression, caught her attention and confused her in the beginning. 

The young alpha did not wear his mantel of arrogance anymore, standing before her the way she had known him as a kid - humble, emotional and as someone, who needed to be protected from the harsh world outside. She took a step towards him, drawn by the familiarity of the person she had once known and loved, driven by the motherly instinct to nourish, to care for, but instead of making all the way she stopped. This was just a memory, of who her friend had used to be, that had come out of the shadows for a fraction of second, but  then it would be gone again. Things would be the same as they had been before - complicated. 

He had changed as it happened to all people over time and Osprey realized that she did not have either strength or will to put up with Charon's new personality. She did not want to be looked down or judged by her choices in life, she did not want to have fights anymore, she did not want to hear any more accusations even if they were told in the heat of the moment and not really meant like that. She did not want to be the one to always apologize. At this very moment her happiness meant more than making an attempt to fix a relationship that had begun to fall to pieces a long time ago.

There and then she made a decision to let him go. For the sake of both of them. Perhaps she should have said something, explained why, but Tachyon's arrival spared her from that. Instead she caught up with her packmate and stopped him by saying: "Leave him be - let's go home." It was for the better alltogether she reasoned, because Dante most likely wasn't anywhere far off and that last thing she would want was her former friend being mauled by her jealous mate. 

ooc: Iris - beautifully written. Poor Charon...

His mouth felt dry when she took a step towards him. He took a tentative one towards her, a step that was about half in size as hers, tentative, afraid to break the moment. He had always liked to believe that what had grown between them wasn't something that could be broken, that they would always be able to go on adventures, despite Dante, despite whatever other shit-faced wolves she hung out with. And this moment was proof — at first. He felt innerly conflicted because he did not understand whether he needed her as a mother (for growing up, she had partially taken up that role, and from everyone's descriptions, Osprey was most like his own mother had been described as; and a mother would always love their child, would they not?) or something more than that, so overwhelmed was he by the myriad of emotions that tortured him now.

Charon inhaled, smelling her scent, but she took no more steps towards him. He remained there, staring at her and searching for her eyes pleadingly for what seemed like forever.

Suddenly another wolf breached their moment, teeth snapping and fur bristling. Charon immediately assumed his dominant position again and warned, "Piss off, shitface!" — unbeknowst proving Osprey's growing distaste for him over again. He had become what they had moulded him into, because there had always been someone's hand above his head to ward off others speaking poorly of him. He had been Alpha's son (adoptive or not), he had been the sad kid that lost his parents, he had been brave, proud, imaginative, good at everything — and so that was what he had come to believe. He was fantastic, because that was what he'd been taught. Because that was what everyone had confirmed all his life. Because nobody had ever, ever told him off for doing something shitty. Even taking over the pack had come easy. Not until now, anyway, until he was an adult, until he was freed from both the shackles and the perks of childhood.

The stone cold rejection rose the fire in his chest and he snapped his teeth in the air with a click sound when Osprey told the other wolf to back off. "You don't just abandon someone you love," he said, his face wrought into an ugly mixture between a frown and a snarl, and then he turned around, breaking into a trot that soon turned into a gallop, and he ran until he could run no more.

Home, because upon his throne, the Emperor would see clear again and realise that one wolf did not matter in the grand scheme of things. Where he would be with his beloved followers once more.

Website

in silence the druid placed himself protectively alongside osprey -- the female who at this moment, was his only allotted interest in life. something about her compelled the ashwater wolf to protect her no matter the cost. by now she had spoken and her command was met with a thoughtless flick of his ear in mindful obedience. tachyon's pale fur remained visibly ruffled, and for a moment the druid stayed a second longer -- his gaze cast long and slowly over the incensed yearling that had spat forth a sharp diatribe. his golden gaze was without any sort of discernible emotion -- slowly, he blinked -- and then stalked faithfully behind his limping comrade.

You don't just abandon someone you love. The words stung, but Osprey did not stop to look back. Instead she continued to march forward, comforted by the presence of Tachyon, who had come to her aid. Even if there hadn't been any other danger than being called in ugly names. She glanced to the side to read his expression, in order to get a hint, how he felt about the whole ordeal, how much he knew and how much would he relay to others. But she did not see anything that would alarm her, nor did she think - after a little consideration - that the encounter had been of the outstanding kind. 

Few days from now, when the madness would end, she would think about, what had happened more and, whether there could have been a way to fix things in such a way that none of the parties felt hurt afterwards. She would probably feel bad for being the one to walk away from Charon, being one of the many important people that had left his life. And there were going to be days, when she would feel outright horrible for "running away" again. 

But for now she was glad that the situation had resolved and that she could worry about this another day.