Wapun Meadow Day Tripper

back dated to December 1st, lets fookin do this m8 @Rosencrantz

Vespera was on her way back to Easthollow, after 3 months of being absent from the territory it was time for her to return home. But there was an ocean of doubt in her mind, how could she return after her absence? Would Valette forgive her? She didn't think Valette would, so she devised a plan to at least bring something of value, to show that she still cared in some way. However, her main motive was to satisfy herself with what had happened to her 3 months prior, there was still hurt that was lingering within her. The anger stirred withing her as flashes came into her head and clouded her eyes with horrible thoughts. Vespera growled to herself as she tried to shake the pain in her mind and move forward. But even she had to admit that she had a hard time letting go.

Luckily for her, she had hunted small game before she arrived at the meadow, though it was a chore to haul around small mice and some rabbits and squirrels. The dark female dragged her exhausted legs to a section of the meadow where the flowers were bursting with eye-catching colors and the scent of pollination from the bees. She slumped on her hind legs with her ruffled tail wrapped around her large paws. With a heavy sigh, she dipped her crown down and her eyes closed, her head hung with thought. A breeze whipped up and it lightly brushed the scar on her right eye. She flinched at the sudden cooling sensation for she was not used to having her flesh out in the open with no way of healing. Vespera sat near her prey pile as she sat deep in thought with the wind picking up her tangled black fur and making it flow in a smooth waving motion.

Pssst it's winter :P but the post was beautiful and i wish there were flowers TAT anyway... LETS GOOOOO

It has only been a week and the knight was battered. Tired and still healing from his fight and fall - it reminded him why he was so keen on remaining in a pack rather than continuing on his solo journey as a loner. He had lived his years on the edge, fighting tooth and nail every day, now he had grown tired, wise, and to continue healing was getting old, taking longer than it use to. Rusalka didn't feel like home, but it was better than this. The familiarity was better than every strange face he came across, uncertain of what was to come - would he be the antagonist, or would they?

And today, he would become the antagonist of this story.

He walked quietly across the fields, with his head just above shoulder height - he still felt the sting and aches from the fall a few days ago, the stiff flesh around his bite wounds from the battle-hungry gargoyle. The man's fur was displaced on his robe and dirtied, it would be nice for him to stumble onto that hot springs and take a soak to rest, but that would be for another day for something had caught his attention just a few yards away, approaching from the opposite side of the meadow. 

At first, his expression remained blank, clearly he had no interest in the woman or to greet her. he was simply uninterested in changing his path for the sake of avoiding one individual, he was already lost, why go around in circles? But as they approached his heart began to thud in his chest, harder... and harder until it was deafening in his ears.

Was that who he thought it was?

oh FUCK, ignore that I spaced hard when I wrote that sentence xD. Okay Rosie boi I'm comin

Vespera remained where she was, the frozen petals broke off the flowers that they were stationed on after one swift breeze. But that breeze did more than break off a few petals, but carried an unfamiliar scent to her nose. Her eyes flashed open to reveal alarm in her purple orbs as her eyes quickly darted as far to her side as possible. Her heart jumped and she swiftly rose to her paws and swung towards the stranger. Without hesitation or even getting a good look at who approached her, she moved in front of her prey pile with a strong stance. With her paws planted firmly into the ground and her heart and mind whirring at speeds she couldn't keep up with, she narrowed her purple gaze to eye the stranger.

She was met with a large muscular male, he might as well be as tall as Greyback. Her heart jumped even more at the state the male was in, but his scar was more noticable as she met his gaze with her own firm glance. She was scared, but she refused to show it. The female lifted her head up as high as she could and kept her ears forward, "can I help you?" Her voice was straight forward with a bit of snark hidden in it. The young girl wasn't going to let this male take her kill, she would fight for it if she had to.

The soft snaps of frozen petals bent and broke in his wake as he continued to stride forward. His tired, broken expression growing ever so steadily mad, hardened and frenzied as the unfortunate woman's face reminded him more and more of hers. Every muscle in the knight grew stiff, ears strong and steady atop his crown as he approached with long powerful strides, finding that lost strength that had faded in recent events. That muscle in his chest ached, pounded with vigor as his honeyed eye burned with an intense fire he hadn't felt in a long time. 

"You've gone fucking mad," 

Her words echoed again, after months of silence it returned. 

"Your delusions know no end."

His eye grew wild as the distance shortened further, claws raking the frozen ground's flesh as fur rose on his back. Where was he? Where was Daegon, was he hiding somewhere nearby to ambush him again?

"You don't know me. You don't love me,"

They continued to plague his thoughts, he could barely remember his own damn name. All he could feel was the pain, the confusion, the betrayal, all rushing back at once, suffocating his thoughts and senses.

"You never did."

For the moment he couldn't speak, damn, he couldn't even hear her question let alone unhinge his jaw to reply while muscles contracted painfully to clench his jaw tightly. The only sound heard from the angered specter could be that of his grinding and crying fangs as they wept under the pressure. Lips twitched and yearned for a snarl while his gaze burned, he couldn't come to terms with what he was seeing. Instead, his posture straightened, certain of one thing. He would never let this woman see him weak, instead, he stood tall and proud in his madness, shoulders squared as he looked down at her. 

"You never did."

"You never did."

ughhhh poor baby! ;_;

Vespera felt his gaze pierce hers as if he saw through her, unphased by her firm stature and her concentrated gaze. The man looked absolutely feral, she had finally come face to face with what she perceived as a mad wolf or one that looked like one. The female's heart was increasing at a linear pace since the male hasn't said anything, but the last thing she wanted was to let him get to her. The dark female didn't budge and had her eyes glued onto him, studying his every move, making notes on where she could attack in case she needed to defend herself. The girl kept her shaky breathing as steady as she could, her white chest rising and falling at a steady rhythm, her violet eyes were locked onto his, but the more she looked, the more she felt that he could read him. The man before still hadn't answered her question, could he understand her, was he mute? This was only starting to boil her already simmering temper, she narrowed her gaze even more and wrinkled her nose a bit to show she was a bit irritated. "Uhm, hello? I asked if I could help you," she pressed with her teenage attitude trapped in an adult body somehow for she has struggled to tame her snarkiness and sarcasm but has made some progress.

She kept herself busy as she was awaiting a response, her senes were going off the wall with trying to read the man. She felt he was giving off something but she couldn't quite point it out if asked, the white man locked himself into a signal expression which made it hard for her to get a clue on his character. However, something was tugging at her heartstrings, he was giving off a familiar aura that was all well known to Vespera, but she didn't soften her gaze, in fact, her muscles kept tensing up. The more the man stood and looked at her, the more she was on edge, what she could assume that he was a ticking time bomb that was waiting to go off. The young girl prepared her mind for anything that he could pull on her, she wasn't going to let another male hurt her again, she wasn't going to let anyone hurt her again.

A bull. An angered bull poised to strike at the matador that tempted him. Her face was that red cloth, waving in the wind, enticing him to move and strike. He hated her. The abomination of a woman, at least the image of her before him, of a vile woman who dared to shake his boundaries, to pierce through his shell only to crush what was within. And this time as she parted her lips to speak, even if she didn't, all he heard were those toxic words she spewed - and he bubbled over as the fire within spewed out from under the lid in a catastrophic event. 

It was quick, almost too quick he nearly gave himself whiplash, but even then he couldn't move fast enough. Akin to a gator's lightning-quick assault he snapped his jaws at her with every intention to draw blood, a growl tearing through his very core, vibrating his own vocals beyond their capabilities, loud, thunderous, his voice boomed like the outrage of the almighty himself. Shut up! He wouldn't allow her to victimize herself again, no, he would do that for her this time. She would be his victim for certain. If that is how she wanted to be seen, then he would make it a reality. 

You won't ever quit, will you? Always finding your way back like a parasite, what do you want with me now? Every word was drenched in absolute hatred. Should she try to make any distance between them, he would continue to approach. Those tall shoulder blades smoothly gliding from left to right, rolling with certainty. Should she defend, he'd take the backlash in stride and gladly saturate himself once again in his own blood today.

Today, now, he feared nothing. Felt nothing. Not fatigue, worry, nor hunger. Simply seething rage.

Vespera was continuing to study the man, anticipating what he would do next, would he finally speak so that he would leave her alone and she could be at peace and go back to Eathollow? In fact, the opposite happened, what happened next was without warning, the man's voice boomed with fury as he told her to shut up and he dove for her with snapping jaws and all she could see was his fangs aiming for her. But the female was ready since she braced herself for any type of hostile movement, she drew her head back as she could feel his hot breath on her flesh with her violet gaze wide with surprise. Although she had to step back a bit and almost stepped on her prey, she refound her footing and placed it firmly into the snow with a hard crunch. But she wouldn't let him get away with that, as soon as he began to recoil his head back a bit, she fired her muzzle forward and snapped at him with intention of drawing blood as well. Her heart began to pound against her chest, her surprise gaze turned into resentment with her gaze firing back into his eyes as she drew back her lips to reveal her healthy and sharp fangs. She drew a long and intense growl, her fur standing on end. Now she was pissed. "The fuck is wrong with you?" She snapped, her eyes cold as ice and her muscles visibly tensing up.

What made this encounter even more strange was how he was beginning to go off on her, calling her a parasite, and assuming that he knew her which only fueled her annoyance and rage. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Her voice drew in deep and fierce, "how entitled do you think you are that you can just assume things about me? I don't even know who you are!" She fired back with repulsiveness in her tone, she was getting fed up with wolves thinking that they could talk her down and think they could walk all over her. Much to her disgust, this stranger was reminding her of Greyback which only pushed her off and started to cloud her thinking, "I asked if you needed something, remember you approached me! I am just minding my own business and you waltz over here thinking you can fucking talk to me like that? Well, excuuuusseee me princess! I got better things to do!" She was really laying down the snark with him with her gaze intensely meeting his own.

All he could taste was the empty air as his jaws snapped with an audible click while his target moved out of the way. Of course she retaliated, and the moment her jaws made contact with his chest, he reacted the same, another snap of his jaws to try once more while she was close, using himself as bait to once again attempt at ripping at the woman who had given him such grief. Red stained his chest, again, adding to the wounds he had gathered over the week - this was nothing new, and he couldn't feel the sting his brain tried to register from her retaliation. All he wanted was to kill. 

And he was ready for that.

Though this would not be the death he desired, the death of a warrior in battle but instead of a heartbroken fool - it didn't matter. His father's ideals didn't matter right here and now, he wanted revenge, he wanted to kill the ghost who haunted him, who plagued every bit of him, who had begun this snowball of a journey that spun out of control. 

She was speaking again, words that didn't matter, she wouldn't talk her way out of this now. The knight, no he was no knight now, he didn't serve any sovereign with a sword and shield. No, he was the enemy, the monster she painted him to be. With every intention of diving into the fray, jaws parted with the wish for blood, to feel something again than this empty void that had swallowed him recently. The beast was just about to lunge forward until -

He was still, frozen in the spot while his eye focused. Slowly his maw shut, and the maddened eye softened - just a little, but there was some sense that returned. But you look just like her. Even if his tone was directed to the woman who opposed him, he spoke the majority to himself. Confused, saddened - he had accepted his fate and yet it was wrenched away from him once again. Even that scar is the exact same... but you lack the stars. That was the key difference that stopped his attack. This woman didn't hold the same constellations on her pelt as Rhaella did.

Thankfully for her, her snap landed and she was able to draw blood. This small victory gave her a sensation that she was finally beating someone, but this wouldn't last due to the fact that she knew she had to be on guard. With the blood dripping from her muzzle, the man didn't seem to care that she landed the hit but he instead looked as if he was preparing himself to attempt to strike her once more. Her bold gaze soon thawed into one of sheer fire and wildness as she drew back a loud growl, she was warning him to stay back because she would retaliate if necessary.

She wasn't in the mood for playing games

Vespera's eyes flashed as his jaw parted and revealed his fangs, with this showcase, she felt her body tense up to the point where she felt paralyzed. But her violet gaze showed no weakness, no fear, but the will and eagerness to tear him apart if she needed to, she was honestly itching for something like this to blow off some steam.

However, the male surprised her again, if she had blinked she would have missed it, but the man's gaze slightly softened, but she still showed her fangs and kept her eyes locked onto him. The Easthollow wolf wouldn't show mercy, but he began to speak, he spoke that she looked nothing like her and that she lacked the pelt features that he described. Vespera's hostile expression  morphed into a face of bewilderment as her lips covered her fangs. Her fierce gaze was filled with confusion and her eyebrows knitted as her eyes swiftly swept the area before resting back on the male.

"Who?" She harshly questioned, but she was more confused than angry. She felt her fur fall back into place and her muscles relaxed a bit, but she kept her steady battle-ready stance. The stress from the situation started to annoy her the more she looked at him, the fact that he came all this way up to her to lash at her just because she was mistaken for someone else made Vespera's blood boil. "Well I'm sorry that I remind you of someone that you hate, it seems I have that effect on everyone," she sneered at him, but those words stung her harder than she anticipated when she spoke those words. Her gaze narrowed as she started to remember how others perceived her and wronged her, her ears fell back but not pinned, she looked like she was hating herself more than him. 

But her gaze never left him, it wouldn't leave him until he was out of her sight.

No. 

Her words barely registered. Ears flattened while his eye wandered the dirt below his feet, Rosencrantz backed up to create distance between them again, shuffling his feet as he tried to make sense of what was happening. No. He repeated softly. He had only been away from Rusalka's border for a little over one week, and one thing after another it beat him down. 

Even now, while rest was just a reach away, that beautiful peace of mind that he yearned for so long had vanished like smoke. Burning away his insides as the fires did with his face, nothing but smoke and ash with nothing to show than scars and ghost pains. No... No... No... No... Shaking his head softly with every word uttered, he wandered away onto a random path, away from the field of frozen flowers, away from her, away from the ghost of her that stared him in the face.

Where to? He couldn't know. He wouldn't know. His paws simply took him away, carefully walking as to carefully not allow his body to be crushed over the weight that suddenly placed itself onto his back. He would simply wander for a while. Empty minded, void of thought, emotion or purpose.

"You don't know me. You don't love me, you never did."

Her bitterness turned into surprise, the male said no but she wasn't sure if he was saying no to her comment. The male backed away from her with ears pinned to create distance, and the female's nerves finally calmed down and she didn't have to look so defensive anymore. The strange man kept whispering the words no over and over again like he was experiencing trauma right in front of her. Vespera's heart was twisting with different emotions, her senses were going off and she didn't know what to feel about him.

But she knew that she couldn't let him experience it alone.

She felt a strange sense of empathy for him, she was slowly starting to sense that he was not intuned with reality as they were speaking. His sudden mood reflected this. Vespera's gaze softened, her purple gaze watching him leave, her heart was screaming at her to speak to him.

Because if she didn't, who would do it for her?

The female had to swallow her pride and get out of her comfort zone. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly as the frozen petals swirled around her paws by the wind. The Easthollow opened her eyes and her purple orbs rested on him, "Hey!" She called out to him, just wanting to get his attention, hoping that her words and voice would snap him out of his trance. "I may not know you or what you have experienced, but something tells me that I know. I know what you are feeling and that it is betrayal, a betrayal that is letting your emotions get to you." The cool breeze of winter moved her fur in a smooth wave, "I just want you to know that..." She paused for a moment, she stopped herself for she felt like she was letting herself become vulnerable and she questioned if she would risk her mental stability for someone that she barely knew.

She couldn't let someone else suffer as she did.

"I want you to know that it's okay to have these feelings, and you are not alone, no matter how much you convince yourself  that you are." She felt herself going into a delusion, Vespera had to keep reminding herself that he was a stranger that showed her aggression first, but she remembered something Valette told her;  "The only ones we lose are loved ones. Because they matter to us, it hurts every time it happens. We don't hurt over the loss of a stranger, but they die every day. We just don't know about it." Those words haunted her, haunted her mind, her soul, her emotions, she wanted to block out the wolf that betrayed her.

But she started to have second thoughts.

Wandering - that's was what he was doing. Aimlessly, mindlessly wandering, away from this field, away from the ghost who continuously haunted him, away from the pain that resurfaced after months of respite. Almost drunkenly in his stupor, the man walked with a sideway angle, threatening to fall over onto his side in a dizzying frenzy - but he continued on despite the looming slant.

"Hey!" She called out, and immediately he stood still, tail flickering behind him in one quick flip while he listened to the words, no matter how toxic they may be; but they weren't. They were kind. Supportive. It confused him further. All he could remember from his last encounter with Rhaella were those toxic words poisoning his right of mind. 

"it's okay to have these feelings" those words bore into his mind a new, clawing their way into his memory. He couldn't speak in response as his jaws clenched themselves shut, grinding while he continued to try and comprehend it all. He didn't know how to react, what to say. He had accused this innocent woman with the crimes of another, only to be offered something so kind. "you are not alone, no matter how much you convince yourself that you are." she continued, and he simply could not handle it all. 

For once he longed for the hatred to be brought down upon him, it was something he was at least familiar with, something he had dealt with for much longer than just this year. Finally, his jaws slacked, but he wouldn't dare to speak or look back at the little black woman in fear of a new response of his own. Instead, he sighed, and continued on his path to nowhere.