Whitefish River Ask Me Why

gib me @Rosencrantz

She wanted to be as far away as possible from the horrors of Easthollow and what plagued her mind. The young girl had come a long way with her nonstop traveling, the woman didn't care where she ended up, but as long as it was away from Easthollow. Vespera heaved her chest, her legs felt weak and her body was sore from all the swift movements she made, but she was thankful to find a river. The dark woman's eyes were dull, no youthful light was in her gaze anymore, she could only show sadness for she brought all of her pain with her. The exile staggered over to the river, but once she got to the bank, her legs gave weigh as her body fell to the ground with her front toes dipping into the cool stream.

She didn't care.

With her mouth gaping as her tongue lolled out, her eyes fluttered to look at the stream. She could only see herself.

Vespera hated her image, it reminded her of her past failures, especially the scar, but as she looked deeper she could see ripples forming in the water.

Those ripples were from her tears.

Vespera's eyes were lined with her tears and blurred her vision, they filled up so much that the water from her eyes fell naturally, she didn't need to blink. The woman continued to let her tears fall into the river, she continued to feel the pain and sorrow that she always had.

She truly felt alone.

Following the river, he scouted the lands for possible signs of recovery from the earthquakes they all felt months ago. Slowly some prey were returning, the majority were all small but they were enough to fill his belly and the ribs eventually along his sides were no longer protruding out from the famine. It wasn't enough. He had to find where the prey was hiding so he may inform the rest of the pack, so they may all fill their bellies to the point of near explosion for the first time in a very long time, but there was no luck. 

Not yet anyway.

The man was hopeful for something to come along his path - and something did, but it wasn't prey. Snow tipped fur rose at the dop of his spine once more at the sight of her, bristling, preparing once again for the worse - no. He fell for it once before. This was not her. But the other one. The one who didn't have the stars in her pelt, but the doppelganger from before. 

You look like shit. His tone was cold, but the hairs along his back slicked down as he approached. There was no ill will against the dark woman, not this time, no, he was curious however as to what had happened since then and now. Why did she seem worse than before?

10/10 for that response

One would think Vespera's senses would go haywire if a stranger approached her, but at this point in her life, she didn't care who came at her, even if it was a threat. The girl's ears swiveled towards the sound of a familiar voice, the voice was cold but with no ill intent, the exile soon realized she was crying in front of a stranger. Vespera tried to blink away all of her tears but she could still feel them coming, she couldn't stop, but she so badly wanted to stop.

Vespera's breath was shaky as she sighed.

"Tell me about it..." Her voice was completely rid of any emotion, her response to the man was monotone, but she didn't sniffle. Vespera's tears did slow but they still stained her matted face, her orbs tilted up slightly forward but she still didn't look at him, not out of hate or embarrassment, she just was too depressed to look at anyone.

The young girl so badly wanted to scream about her problems, but she figured it would fall on deaf ears. Who would listen? Who would care? Who would remember the crimes that were committed against her?

No one, no one would remember the injustices Greyback inflicted upon her.

No one would even try to rebel in her name and honor.

Something happened since the last time they met, and though he still had that feeling lingering in his very soul over her appearance - he tried his best to keep that rage in check and remember that this was not Rhaella. This would never be the same woman and it was unjust to treat her the same as that woman. 

But she reminded him of her so much.

With a grunt he slowly approached, seathing himself a full wolf's length away from her and lowered himself softly into a sit. He should leave her to mourn whatever it was, it was no business of his to pry or even pretend to care; but he owed her his much. Retribution for the attack he had sprung up on her on their first meeting without reason. 

With a flicker of his eye in her direction, Want to fight about it? He teased, a poor joke that maybe only he out of the two of them would find any humour in. Both a call back to him attaking her out of frustration uppon their first encounter - as well as his own personal experiences of fighting makes everything better.

Vespera was too deep into her own pool of sorrows to notice that Rosencrantz had seated himself near her, she didn't give a damn if he had sat on her. But the man was quiet, he didn't pry his jaws open for a while, perhaps out of respect for her mourning thoughts but how could she guess. The exile wanted so badly to dunk her head into the stream and try to drown herself a second time but she wasn't foolish enough to try for the man was right there and would pull her out. At least, that is what she thought he would do. The large man then out of the blue asked if she wanted to fight about it, and Vespera's glum face slowly morphed into bewilderment as she slowly turned her head towards him, she couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but the implications of teasing were there. The girl turned her muzzle back towards the stream and looked at herself with her matted fur and lifeless eyes, perhaps a fight is what she needed.

"Sure," she shrugged with a somber mutter as she lifted her body to her paws even though she expected to lose. Vespera had a fighting spirit, she wanted to get stronger but she didn't know how she so badly wanted to punish those who wronged her with the might of her fangs but she knew that she lacked the strength. The mournful girl turned to Rosen with a craned up head as she forced herself to have a battle-ready face but she found it impossible to move her muscles to express that enthusiasm. 

Uncertain on how her reaction may be, he figured anything might be better than her just sitting there feeling sorry for herself. Even if she got in a huff and angry at him for his awkward invitation to fight, out of nowhere, would give her a moment of distraction. To his pleasant surprise, she accepted his offer. Sluggishly she moved to face him, there was little desire in her expression and so, perhaps, it was time for him to try and coax it out of her.

Picture me to be what's ailing you. At this time he rose back up to his height, face contorting to a more aggressive expression as he faced the woman. Skin crinkling a he attempted to egg her on with some growls and snapping of teeth. Kill me! He ordered in a thunderous bark. If he was good at anything it was to fight, it was to turn others into his outlet of frustration and pain, as well as make himself their outlet. This was the only way he knew how to cure others, to vent, to act, he'd be her distraction today.

Unless she was already moving to make the first hit, Rose would not stagger in beginning the session. Should she just stand there, he would feign a lunge and snap with all of his ability to try and be as threatening to her as possible without actually aiming to harm her. He would not pierce skin unless necessary, for now, he would try to lure out her own aggression.

Without warning, the man switched moods and expressions on the flip of a dime with his becoming more combative to try and hype her up since she was in a spar. He ordered her to picture him as something that she despised, but it was easier said than done. The girl looked into his golden eye, his one, his single eye, that eye reminded her of the judgemental glare of Greyback's honey eye and oh how she hated his stare. Her PTSD was flashing in her eyes and for a second, she almost saw Rosen as Greyback, but, she just couldn't attack him, she just couldn't see him as the man the wronged her. His thunderous voice snapped her out of her thoughts as he ordered her to kill him, and the vision she had of Greyback faded like a wisp of smoke.

But she couldn't follow his command, she just couldn't attack him, she had no steam, and this would cost her. Like a charging tiger, the man slammed into her and knocked her flat on her back as she skidded a couple of feet. Her adrenaline bursted from her brain to her body as the man loomed over her with the teeth of a cobra. But was she scared? She looked at him with wide eyes, she didn't know what to do, this was the same pattern that she had lived all her life and couldn't find an escape.

But today, that will change.

She mimicked his expression and pinned her ears to the back of her head and drew back her lips to unsheathe her retired fangs. Vespera craned her head back, the like a slingshot, she fired up her head and slammed her skull into his nose to try and get him to back off. The girl then twisted her body onto her paws and pulled herself up to her feet and faced the man with reignited flames in her eyes, and her stance proud and defiant.

His attack hit without a hitch, to his dismay. She was relunctant to fight back, and he was beginning to worry that he would just be pushing her around instead of bringing out the beast that beat within her. But he would try, and continue to try. His thoughts were hidden behind a canvas of hate, honing in on that image of Rhaella just enough to get him to act properly. With ears pinned back, teeth drawn into full display and fur raised, he was peacocking to his best attempt - then it happened.

She snapped into the proper mindset and he staggered back from the surprise headbut. She prepared herself and challenged his stance, and to continue to poke the bear, his tail curled in a dominant display over his lips to provoke her further. Like a panther preparing to strike, he circled in a steady pace, waiting just long enough for her to gain her barrings and then lunged again, this time he threatened to make contact with his teeth on her shoulder. He would give her no time to think, no time to burry herself in doubt and darkness - she had to defend, she had to act. He had to fuel her adrenalin and intimidation was key, he'd use muscle instead of tactics.

Her knockback seemed to work as he staggered back and she slipped to her paws, the man then curled his tail to assert his dominance and flashed his fangs, but she didn't give a rats ass about his dominance. She was a loner now, and she didn't have to abide by any rules now, but her mental mindset and body state would prevent her from reaching her full potential. The girl dug her claws into the dirt and raised her tail as well, the once lifeless energy that plagued her had come bursting through the door, and she was just itching for some action.

She wouldn't admit to him straight away, but she really needed this.

Rosencrantz stalked the girl like a preying feline and Vespera followed his motion with defiant eyes. But no amount of mental calculating could prepare her for him lunging for her with such speed as he aimed for her shoulder. The exile wasn't allowed any time to think, in fact, he wouldn't let her, the muscular man came at her with such force that she spaced for a second. But thankfully, her body screamed at her to avoid the lunge, but she was a little too late, the girl launched her body to the side to try and avoid his attack but she tripped over her own paws.

Vespera's paws kicked out from under her as the man raked his fangs on her shoulder as her flesh cut open to let some blood fly out. But, she managed to clumsily slide out of the way to where he didn't get a lock on her as she stumbled back on her paws to get a firm stance.

 Keep moving. She moved just enough to avoid the full attack, something he had no intention of following through on anyway. With a vicious turn he focused his attention on her still, like an automatimated targetting system, she was consistantly in his sight. Vespera had his full focus. As she stumbled back onto her feet he was already moving in to close the distance again. 

Move!

In a moment he was already ontop of her, aiming another attack in the form of his shoulder slamming into anything that might be in his way. What was once a tool to just fuel his image of ferrocity was slowly morphing, the image of Rhaella was beginning to turn all too real, that hatred bubbled up deep in his core as he now pictured the vendetta he would exersize on her. Keep moving! He broke through the imagery and back on the previous task at hand. Fight! He growled.

Some may think of him being a little too intense, too cruel to be a teacher to be beating on the student - but this was the way of war. You fight, or die. It was mercy he gave her by preparing for the worst without being wisked away to the land of the dead. 

But despite his attempt to keep on track with his original intent, his heart beat heavily in his chest. It was a little too easy to put the image of Rhaella ontop of hers.

Vespera felt as though she had no time to breathe before she could even process what was going on, the man rammed into her which made her yelp in surprise and once she got a sense of where she was, the man was on top of her. There was an unmistakable fury in his eye, and Vespera had to come to realize that he was actually being serious, and she could tell that by his demands that she fight back and keep moving. She could only guess that he was also picturing something that he hated and reflected that onto her, his mind was in full swing to whatever he was thinking.

Well. He wouldn't be alone.

"Fine!" She snapped her jaws in a vicious snarl, "But remember you asked for it!" Trying to mimic his instinct on fighting, she had to move quickly, so she did the only thing that she could think of. She folded in her back legs like a spring, and forcing all her strength to her haunches and propelled her legs straight into his stomach with the power of a kangaroo. But she wasn't done, like a bear trap, she rocketed her fangs towards his right leg and dug into them and swiftly dragged her fangs across his flesh. And while he was distracted with that, she would move out from under him again and try to gain some distance for unlike him, she was a little more strategic. 

The girl knew she lacked the muscle that he brought forth, but, she had speed on her side and she would use her size to try and avoid his attacks more. So once she got some distance, she immediately locked her fired up eyes onto him and actually try to dodge him and fight.

There we go. The contact was made on his belly and instantly he moved enough to get away from her and give Vespera the first moment to breathe and get ready - she earned it after all, and he had to take a breather too. Blood pooled from his leg but he paid no mind to it, he did ask for it after all. Demanded it relentlessly even. So he would not fault her for it. 

Now that she was fighting back, his tactics changed. Instead of rushing in bull headed, he stalked forward. His eyes still remaining locked onto her, if fire could burn in an eye literally, it was now. He was a blaze with life. Body hot and heavy with fire. Thick ears pulled forward in an attentive stance, against his defenses - but perhaps he wasn't focused on his defenses at full anymore...

Steady feet slowly picked up in pace until with a flash he lunged again, but something was different. His mind was blank. Thinking had faded. Instead, he was reacting and his lunge was more so in the attempt to pin her to the ground. What he would do then was unclear, it was one thing at a time right now. Was it the need for control? To stop the spar maybe? But he would ignore any attacks she landed with the sheer desire to come out on top.

Something was different about him this round, she couldn't quite think about it now for her fighting spirit kept rising and rising. The flame in his eye was still there as he made another attempt to lunge forward but she wouldn't let him have it this time, in more ways than one. She dashed to the right side with a swift shuffle of her paws, it was like she had stopped time, and she set her eyes on his variable side. And like a preying cobra, she lowered herself to the ground and sprang for his side and shoved his fangs into his stomach area. The girl's eyes were full of fury as the mind trick of visioning him as Greyback was actually starting to work, and she was starting to feel more satisfaction as she continued to dig her claws in.

But she knew she couldn't stay for long, she had to act fast for he could so easily swing his head and go for her neck, so she places her paws on his side and pushed back on him and forced herself to disconnect her fangs from him. She had propelled herself away from him and almost landed wrong on her paws as she skidded back on her paws looking like she was half sitting down.

Like white noise there wasn't a single thought that crossed his mind as she moved away and under to bite at a more sensitive spot. His belly burned with he bite and he tried to move to pin her down underhim, but that didn't work. She was silppery, but he was tenacious. He was now bleeding more than she was, she had a simple knick on her shoulder and here he was taking the beating from the one who needed to exersice her frustrations more than he did. 

Sadly, that didn't stop him or slow him down. Trickling from the gut and streaming down his leg, staining his pure aesthetic, he took advantage of her awkward position and closed the distance again. Jaws spread and poised to grab her just under the jaw and try once more to push her down. He would not bite down but instead just use the position to control her movements better, to take the opportunity to get what he wanted- whatever that was.

Vespera knew her landing would cost her, but she was able to get a good hit in, the man swiftly grabbed her by the jaw and thrusted her into the ground which put her in a few moments of shock. He was much larger and stronger than she was and she played there sprawled on the floor with her pinned down, but Vespera was a warrior, she wouldn't let no man or anyone pin her down in a fight. Though her jaw and face were pretty much held down, her body from the neck down was free to move so she had to get creative with it. The girl's purple orb locked onto his, she was trying to read him but they were in the middle of a spar and she figured that he wouldn't give her any time to try and predict what he was going to do next.

So with this in mind, she would use her weight and some muscle and try to see what she could do, and thankfully, her lower half of the body was hanging on the side where she just landed her attack. Vespera used her back legs once again, she swung her legs back to gain momentum and seeing as he wasn't biting down hard on her jaw, she swung her legs back and rocketed her back paws into his wound with what strength she had. She knew this wouldn't keep him busy for long, so once his grip was loose enough, she rolled over and leapt to her paws and waited for him to attack.

To Vespera, this was a spar, she didn't have time to think about what Rosen's true intentions were yet.

Finally, he had a moment where victory was almost in his grasp. She was on the ground and his teeth were loosely around the base of her chin. There was a desire to snap down and tear away, to end it permanently - but he didn't. The feeling was fleeting and he was just about to let go until the feeling of paws hitting that tender wound on his belly pushed him back again. Her momentum alone was enough to have Vespera slipping from his grip, teeth clicked in empty air as they desperately tried to regain their hold.

His breath grew heavy as plumes of white continuously snaked from his maw with every breath, even his legs were beginning to feel numb from the wounds taking their effect. But once more there was an oddity to him. A split second as he continued to stare at her, his ears fell flat in an expression of regret. It was only a moment, blink and it was gone - blink and he was on the move already. Slower than before, but just as determined. 

It was not a lunge, but he still reached out to try and grab hold of the side of her neck, where the scruff was just thick enough to protect, before the shoulder met the neck. Instead of trying to grapple her down again, should he succeed, would just stand there instead. Breathless. Huffing. From fatigue or something else... whatever the reason, his breathing held weight to it.

It seemed Vespera's plan was working and that he was wearing him out, but even she was feeling the heat from the fight. But there was a moment, it was brief but it was still there, where there was a sense of regret in the man's eyes. The exile caught this and the flame in her eyes was temporarily died down, what was he thinking? This was starting to bother her a bit since she was starting to think that this wasn't just a fight, but this could possibly be something more. Her distraction would leave her vulnerable as the male charged for her once more with such speed that she couldn't contemplate on how she should dodge. The muscular male had made contact with her neck with his broad shoulder with a thwack, her nerves spiked all at once as her jaws parted with her eyes bulging out and some spit flew from of her mouth. Vespera let out a wheeze as she tumbled to the ground like a tumbleweed.

She was expecting him to pin her again, but it was different this time, the girl lifted her head as she laid on her side and looked at him, he was tired. He was huffing and his chest was rising and falling with the rhythm of his breath, now is my chance! But the last move the Rosen performed left it hard to breathe for her as she staggered to her feet, and once she clumsily got there, she was heaving as well. The exile's tongue was lolling out but she wouldn't let him stop her, with an exhausted expression, she tightened her face up and charged at him again, this time, she was going to try and deliver the final blow. But her charge was clumsy and before she knew it, her front paw tripped on a rock, and her battle-ready face turned into one of surprise. "Wuh oh," was the last thing she said before she crashed on her chin with a pained face and a grunt as the inertia of her body flipped her over onto her back. 

The force of the momentum rolled her under the heaving face of Rosencrantz with her wide orbs looking straight at him as she felt his hot breath on her face. She blinked at him, "hello there," she managed to crack a cheeky smile at him.

Lazily he watched her rise again to her feet, and this time she charged. So he stood there, watching her with that one glimmering eye under his brow. Should he block? Counter? Anything? Nothing, he just stood there, watching and ready to take whatever she had plan - but instead of teeth, they met with her under his gaze, flat on her back on the ground as her own fire seemed to have sputtered out. 

One last time he tried to break through the distance, snaking around her until they were face to face, carefully stepping over her with one paw and allowing himself to hover over her. With a sigh he burried his face into her neck. Everything about him burned, and it was becoming clearer even to himself, he burned with desire. Barely with the strength to hold himself up, he pressed against her from above, still running his face along her neck. He was tired, and bloody, but shit - he couldn't stop himself.

He yearned for some kind of contact, some affection. The stoic man broke and what was left was someone a little more vulnerable and needy.

Vespera stared into his eye, she was expecting him to chomp down on her neck and claim victory since she foolishly got cocky and let herself slip and fall right under him. But, not this time, this time, it got a little weird for the girl, the man buried his face into his neck and yet she didn't feel his fangs. His breath was hot, and he was tired, so she just assumed that he was trying to attack her in a very weird and lazy way, but her mind was telling that this wasn't the case. Rosen kept rubbing his large head into her neck until it finally clicked for the female, her eyes and eyebrows shot out with a little bit of blush bleeding onto her face, "Woah there buddy," she was a little taken back from this. Normally, she would have torn his ear off but there was something different about it this time, and she wasn't sure if she was liking it at all.

Instead, she gently swatted at him with her paw and rolled out from his cat-like rubbing, she rolled onto her stomach but she didn't stand up. "Did something get on your face and you felt the need to rub it off on me?" She gave him a raised brow and a confused expression with a hint of disgust, she started to realize what he was doing, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt. Her heart started to thump and she felt her ears pulsing, she was honestly a little frightened by this development since she hardly knew him, she didn't even know his name. The exile continued to stare him down to let him know that she wasn't vulnerable, but she was feeling a little tired but she didn't let her jaws part out to pant.

She spoke and swatted at his face, this time, her words made contact and he blinked several times in confusion. Like snapping out of a trans. Craning his head back, he pushed against the ground and into a sit, embarassed he looked off into a random direction, away from her and uttered the words. I appologize. But even now that he was aware of what he wanted and how odd and random it all was - it didn't stop that yearning. That burning. But he was in better control of it now. 

To try and diffuse the situation, he took his paw away from her side and sat next to her instead of over her; instead of focussing on her body, her scent, he tried to take back control of the beating in his chest. It was wild. He just had to settle down until they parted ways and then it didn't matter. I don't know what came over me. He continued after a while, trying to reassure the young woman that he didn't have that in mind this whole time, nor that it was his original plan.

The man apologized for his behavior and it seemed that he didn't go into detail of why he did it which confirmed her suspicions of what he tried to do. Well, in her eyes, she wouldn't let him, she barely knew him and she tapped in the fighting spirit made her senses high on awareness and her old senses came back and told her that she shouldn't trust him. However, those feelings were locked away once again and faded into obscurity, she was at a low point in her life so she just totally let it pass, she sighed and her face became calm and collected.

The man came and sat next to her, and her nerves spiked up just a bit but she remained, he apologized for what came over him and she just shrugged it off. "That's okay..." She muttered, if she was back with her feisty self, she would have nipped at his face and stormed off. The two wolves sat for a while and Vespera stared off into space, "you know," she began, "You are a good fighter," she cringed to herself since she doesn't usually compliment wolves, "I really did need to spar to get my feelings off my chest." Vespera turned to him with slight gratitude in her gaze, "but..." she trailed, her voice getting slightly softer as she rose to her paws and continued to stare at him, "I could use a teacher," she gave him a cheeky smile and a higher playful voice.

She felt a hard blow to the chest as she said that, she hated to admit that she needed help, she wanted to charge into a tree and ram her head into it a thousand times. But Vespera stood and blinked slowly at him, her violet orbs shining as the sun reflected off of them.

That's okay she says, but clearly to him, it is not. Not even a little. He wouldn't even look in her general direction for the moment, afraid of looking into those judgmental eyes, looking into the damage he had done again. it was awkward, he made it so. It was his fault. Only a couple ears flickered as she mentioned the need for a teacher and he remained still. 

With a sigh he rose to his feet again, with a little difficulty from the pain he was now feeling in his gut. I'll think about it. Feeling nothing but embarassement from his actions, he began to wander off into the woods - perhaps find somewhere to rest for a day or so before continuing on his path back to Rusalka to heal completely. He was too tired right now to make the whole way back.

She understood that the man felt remorseful for his actions, but she was starting to care less and less about the whole situation. The man said he would think about being her teacher and stood and began to walk out of their sparring place. She figured he was going to go and lick his wounds but something popped into her mind like a light bulb. There was something about him that made her attracted to him like a magnet, and there was just one more thing that she needed from him.

"Wait!" She called to him and leaped to her paws with wide eyes, "My name is Vespera," she called to him.

"What's yours?"

So her name was Vespera... Rosencrantz. He said cooly with a flick of his tail before disappearing in the white blanket of falling snow, blending in with his environment.