Lake Rodney the hero of our own story

Set for 11th November - @Hydra

Stress and exhaustion had not done well by Wraen, who shortly after her meeting with Bronco, had been overcome by fatigue of sickly kind. She had sought shelter in the nearby woods, found her old friend the willow and crawled inside the small hollow between the fallen tree trunk and the ground. There she had stayed, curled up in a tight ball, trying to keep the warmth and at the same time urging her restless mind to come to a rest. She drifted in and out from hectic dreams that at times made no sense to her at all and they hardly helped to calm her down. There was so much at stake, so much to do that Wraen did not feel that with one of her it was enough. 

She awoke from one such nightmare, hardly able to breathe. Wraen fought for air, but it was as if someone had grabbed her lungs and heart and was holding them within an iron fist. At that moment she was very certain that she was going to die, but gradually the panic attack let go of her and she was able to breathe freely again. She would have wanted to rest more, but Maia was waiting and she had lost the track of time. All was jumbled up together and she no longer had the strength to sort the chaos in her head out. 

It was then that she remembered, she had not eaten for days now, forgotten about it and were it not for the tell-tale signs of, when the sugar level in one's blood is going low, she would not have thought of food now. To alleviate dizziness she felt, Wraen dragged herself to the nearest lake, lied down on the banks, reached forward to have a drink. At least that would fool her stomach for a while.

Returning home with much on her mind, her eyes sought namely the unfamiliar. Orange eyes, black furs—she would take care of that threat promptly, were she able to. It would not do to be distracted, and so she focused on that task while not allowing herself to dwell on recent events. Life had other plans, of course; Hydra detected a familiar scent, and followed it with plenty of forethought. 

She had wanted to talk to Arcturus, and she had imagined the direct route to him might be Wraen given the fact that they had both elected to leave the Redhawks in her own name, together. But when she came across the haggardly woman, her brother was nowhere to be seen. The she-wolf looked far from herself, but that did nothing to stir any feelings of sympathy within the matriarch. The outside now looked to match the inside. Weak, decrepit, and the way she lay down against the bank, spineless. 

If only the wolf with orange eyes could be near. What a happy little accident that might be.

More to the womans misfortune, Wraen lay before a black wolf with blue eyes. For her, that could be much, much worse. 

Arcturus caring for her—and Hydra's own caring for Arcturus—was all that spared Wraen from everything Hydra played out within her own mind. None of this revealed from her cold gaze, disinterest apparent. Still, Hydra found she had nothing to say to the woman who Hydra now knew lived and breathed for her. A shame she would likely die for that, someday—when Arcturus too realized the true, awful nature of the woman he had selected to keep company with. 

But today was not that day, Hydra did not think—not unless the tree alongside her decided to fall and bury her beneath its weight. 

A pity that it likely wouldn't. 

Wraen, she drawled, is Arcturus near? she asked, eyes shifting from her to their surroundings.

Apparently Wraen's exciting week had not nearly come to an end, because, when she lifted her head up to see, who was approaching her, she froze, recognizing Hydra. Had she not been so weary and feverish, she would have met the proud queen of the mountains either standing tall or electing to flee the scene to avoid confrontation. Now, however, she felt an odd mix of annoyance and indifference to this. If she was to hear more crap from yet another Moonspear wolf about, how she had fooled Arcturus and tricked him away from his family, so be it. It would be the same song over again, she would remain only to hear if the lyrics were spelled differently or change slightly around.

She did not reply immediately, sat down, scrutinized Hydra's face for a while and then turned away as if bored by the fact that she had found nothing new. "No, he's not near," she said. "Should I tell that you were looking for him, when I see him again?"

He was not near. She had not thought so, and yet hearing Wraen say so inspired some doubt. Hydra trusted Wraen not at all. Not even to deliver to her brother her simple request to see him. And yet, she would. What she needed to share with him was far greater than all of this. While she could not imagine Wraen making good on her request—given she had been the one to shove so great a wedge between she and her brother, as she saw it—she would ask it of her anyway. 

Please, she asked, voice soft as she thought of Revui. 

Would she, would she not—Wraen was the only wolf who might see her brother again. It was clear he did not travel with her to the Firebirds, and so Towhee could not ask as she had hoped. Hydra had no faith to spare for the bedraggled wolf before her any longer. She would not wait to hear the answer—lie, or truth. Imagining that the other wished to be in her own company as much as Hydra desired to be in Wraen's, she would not linger; she moved to depart the scene, one ear turned toward the woman while she slowly moved on. 

totally room for Wraen to holler at 'dra to stop her or keep the convo going!

Hydra did not stay behind to explain, what it was that she wished to tell Arcturus, and Wraen almost let her go, when it occurred to her that all would not be simple as that. While she could pass on the message, her friend might choose not act upon it. He had refused to go and talk with any of his family the last time they had spoken. So, if this was something very important rather than an intended brain-washing session, she felt responsible to find it out.

"Hydra, wait!" she rose to her feet and made some steps forward in a weak attempt to catch up with the swarthy leader. "Can you tell me, what it is - because I am not sure that Arcturus will act upon cryptic invitation without any explanation," she said. "He refused to reach out to you, when I asked last."

Hydra paused midstride to look over her shoulder and see Wraen struggling toward her. Wraen's request was met firstly with a blink as she spoke it, and then a shift of her weight—and who did Arcturus owe, for all of that, she thought with a flash of anger. Shortlived, as there was another surprise—that Wraen had asked for him to speak with her at all. Not a surprise to hear him refuse her, though; it was always no and I am fine and no further questions with him. 

Now, Hydra knew the truth of that; all lies. And so it was a comfort, somehow, to know of this refusal. 

He was not fine. 

Wraen asked to be told something she herself wished to share with him. To tell Wraen would mean that surely, Wraen would tell him—perhaps then he would not wish to see her. Perhaps then, she truly would never see him again. She ached to think of this, and to know that this might be so. But it would be freeing, too, to know his choice had truly been made. Not one brother buried, then—two. 

She breathed it out in a voice that sought to remain firm, but that wavered for the still-raw wound that she struck to speak of it: Revui, his walking away, again and again, still our brother, even for that, he has died. She turned to face Wraen in full, then, ears pricked forward.

"I am very sorry to hear that," Wraen said and dipped her muzzle in sympathy. She and Hydra may not agree on many things, but, when it came to family, both would go lengths to protect those, who meant a lot to them, who they loved and cherished. Revui was not a name she recognized at first, then a dim memory lit about Arthur telling her that the very leader had killed him. And then it had turned out not to be so. 

"My sincerest condolences to you," she told her and, perhaps, she should have let her go then, but it occurred to her that, even if she could not fix things, she did not want to walk around the wilds in fear of Moonspear wolves. Not knowing, what was awaiting her was the most difficult thing. "Hydra, we may have irreconcilable fundamental differences between us, but I am not your enemy," she went on. "When Arcturus told me he wanted to go to Moonspear to fight you, I opposed and he did not listen," she said. 

"He has a way of letting his hot head dominate his good heart and I trespassed, fearing that he might get hurt," she said. "I did not agree with him severing every tie with his family, but if he in the end comes to you it will be in his own time and under his terms. Contrary to, what you would like to believe, I cannot make him do anything that he himself does not want to do," she finished.

She prepared to turn away again, when the other spoke again. 

And when she went silent, Hydra kept the silence for a little while longer. It was Hydra's turn to look at Wraen now, fully—although her own eyes seemed to darken as what she came to figure out dawned upon her in its entirety. You give yourself too much credit, she answered simply, and though the words might sound cruel, they were simply how she felt: you are no enemy of mine, Wraen. Nor were you ever one. Come, now, you must know me better than that, her eyes flashed, as she took a step forward, after all, you know me as a woman who would not pause before striking down my own family. That was why you accompanied my brother, as you say—fear of his being hurt. Do you think, she asked, voice rich with amusement, that if you were an enemy to me—I would not have hurt you? 

A slow, confounded shake of her head. What logic ruled Wraen? 

What you must think of me, she murmured in her next breath, eyes reading the lines of Wraen's face as she searched for more. 

Hydra took a step back, licking her chops. 

And then, she spoke again. We have been apart for years, Wraen, she started, you knew a girl, once. A girl who saw her sister die, and who would kill for her sister. A girl who was hurt when those she thought were friends turned her back upon her, and built a place where her name and her family were the monsters they would warn their children about. But that girl has become a woman, a woman you know nothing of. That girl, though, she drawled, that girl still haunts you. What did you do to her, this girl, that you should ever be her focus? That she follows you everywhere? she asked next, truly curious as to why Wraen thought herself so significant to Hydra.

"Arthur told me that you had strangled his brother. What was I to think? I have no way of getting inside your mind - I have no way of telling, what you think or feel or do. But just the same way you are under assumption that I see a monster in you, you paint me as the evil one too," Wraen said calmly.

"Besides, what should I make of you, when not too long ago one of your subordinates voiced an opinion that I have stolen Arcturus away from the mountain, that I have messed with his mind, that I owe you a blood debt for you sparing my life after I trespassed," she went on. "They even threatened to kill me personally, if I ever came near your claim."

"It may have been said in a spur of a moment, when emotions ran high and I too may have said unkind things in defence, but I do not take death threats lightly," she said. "Pack wolves reflect, who they leaders are, Hydra, is it not so?"

Arthur, who the hell was Arthur? Strangled, she started, thinking back, well, it might have looked that way, I will admit. Arcturus was tearing him apart... Revui had come to challenge Arcturus for his rank. Perhaps I ought not to have intervened, but in the moment... I took control—I knocked Revui out, knowing the only way to get Arcturus to retreat was this. I had already asked him not to attack Revui, and Revui not to attack Arcturus—they both were on deaths door, that day. Revui was laying down, beneath me, when my brother dragged him out from under me to exact his justice, that I explicitly commanded they both stand down. I suppose he did not tell you that, though, she drawled. It had been Arcturus, Hydra had thought, that would be the end of Revui that day... even if unwittingly. Arcturus would not be able to live with himself, were he the end of Revui—but I recognize I should not have made that decision for him, she thought aloud, looking beyond Wraen for a moment. Did she regret it? No—things would have been much, much worse had she not for Arcturus. If her final way of protecting him was protecting him from himself, and the depth of his feelings, then she was glad for that. 

You did not answer my question, she said past a sigh. It had not been a rhetorical one; truly, Hydra wished to know the reason behind the womans fixation with her. But, of course she would not. Wraen, herself, could not see her own actions or behavior as wrong. I paint you as nothing, Wraen. No one. The evil you speak of must be how you perceive yourself, she drawled, ear twitching, and if you wish to know if that is true, ask Arcturus. Ask him if I have ever spoken of you, she licked her chops. I told no stories of you. He never even knew your name, until you met him all that time ago, she finished. Hydra had never cared about, and never minded, Wraen befriending her family.

Whoever this wolf was that Wraen spoke of, Hydra appreciated them immensely. She could land on no one who would provide a death threat bar her own sisters... and they would have told her. So, this was hard to believe—especially coming from Wraen, of all wolves. Sometimes, it seemed, one could hear what they wanted to. And Hydra could see now the narrative spinning within Wraen's mind; how she would use the information to her own end. How she likely already had. 

Words are wind, she started, though some gales are more powerful than others, I admit. I know there is some power in them, she acknowledged, especially when they are believed... she paused for a moment, before finishing with: but actions—actions are what matter the most. If you imagine this threat came from the words shared between you, I implore you to think back to your actions that day. Not that day you spoke with one of my packmates, and your emotions ran high... she clarified, continuing: take the emotions out of it. You trespassed, Wraen. No wonder there was such a threat. I am proud that they would reflect the way in which we protect our own, she rumbled, stalwart and resolute in her defense. And if that was a reflection of her? Good. When you spin your tale of that conversation, she drawled, do be sure to include your actions that led to the threat in the first place. I would so like to prevent others from waltzing beyond our borders. Her tail lashed behind her as she reminded Wraen of her own behavior. And those actions—yours, I mean—are a direct reflection of you. Mind yourself, she advised, tone aloof, pushing away the magnifying glass that Wraen had shifted to place the pinpoint of light meant to set her aflame in her direction. It would not be Hydra who burned, here. 

Another sigh. I grow tired of this, Wraen. I have no bad blood with you, and I ask for no blood of your own. You do not owe me your life—you owe me nothing. The past is a place I do not live within, except to remember my true enemies. Those, of course, I will never forget, a wan grin, here. My grudge with you had only ever been that you left without a word, though I let that go long ago. I had thought that we were friends, she hummed, now, of course, I know better. Hydra had cared far more for Wraen and her wellbeing than Wraen had ever cared for her. But how could Hydra begrudge her that? Wraen was wrong for that too, of course; she knew she was deserving of that, and had found it in herself and so many others, too. That, though, did not matter anymore. She only said as much to clarify with Wraen her perspective, and how that had hurt.

But Wraen had been young, too.

You give me more than you know, by making my brother happy—and for that, I thank you. I only wish things had not happened in the way that they had, she expressed, ear twitching.

edit bc I missed ur edit OOPS

"Something changed profoundly in him after that," Wraen agreed, having heard the whole story now, but feeling still amazed that such a stoic, pragmatic and reserved family could turn into savage and dramatic beasts, when it came to conflicts. In all her life the most violence she had done was punch a hole in Towhee's pretty end and the rest were shouting matches, where insults flew like daggers and there was no end to verbal lava. She wondered then, if Arcturus would ever find a way to mend things with Hydra and the rest of the family, but then it was no business of hers. You could not make decisions for other people. "That threat was not so much about trespassing... but rather about me making Arcturus leave, which is not true," she clarified. "We never once spoke about you or politics either. I taught him to tell stories, still do that today."

"I don't doubt Arcturus - he is the most honest and loyal person I know," she replied with confidence and evident fondness, when she spoke her friend's name. "I do not care, what the world thinks in the end - and I believe that, whatever hurtful things were said to me came from a place of hurt and sadness in one's heart. One, who is truly happy, does not attack another in such a cruel way," she said. "I wish her all the best and I hope that both of us can live a long and happy life without coming at each other's throats again," Wraen smiled, then returned to the little story Hydra had told her earlier and the question that she had not answered. 

"That other girl in the past may argue that her words about her former home have been warped and misunderstood," she objected, though, who now remembered, what exactly had transpired. It no longer mattered. "I am not haunted by you - rather now I understand better that there are different ways of viewing the world and dealing with important matters. And your preferred way does not agree with, what I believe and stand for, but that does not make it necessarily wrong," she said. "After all were it not for Moonspear and you, I would not have come this far today," she shrugged. "And for that I am grateful," she dipped her muzzle politely. 

"I'll tell that you were looking for him, when I see him again," Wraen repeated her promise. "Farewell, Hydra. And best of luck to you and your family," she got to her feet and prepared to leave. Caldera was just around the corner, if she hurried, she could reunite with Maia on this very day.

That is your perception,  she drawled, and you are more than entitled to your own opinion. But typically, ones speaking on anothers unhappiness speaks more to their own, she drawled pointedly, looking to her paw for a brief moment. What perceptions had Wraen dealt with that she cast it upon others so liberally? Well, now Hydra knew. And as for stories... Hydra felt she had come to learn yet another thing. 

Hydra felt certain she knew the nature of the stories Wraen told. One need not explicitly name names, to gather what things alluded to. They must have been brilliantly told, Hydra acknowledged. Arcturus, the gullible. The naive. Yes—he would be far happier with Wraen. 

I do not know what was said between the two of you. But what I can say that the loss of Arcturus made no one happy. Old, or new members alike felt it keenly. Still, I find myself looking for the shadow of him upon the borders, marking the land on his patrol, a fond memory that replayed in her mind. Hydra had not stopped loving him. I do not know if you have ever faced a loss such as this to understand it, likely not—it was Wraen that always did the leaving. 

As far as her words being warped and misunderstood? Hydra doubted it, given what she knew. There was no argument there, only facts. And that their way was not wrong was news to the matriarch, at least coming from Wraen's own mouth. All that Wraen had ever done beforehand was undermine it all, and those within her ranks. But at last, there was no insult at all here. Perhaps, then, Hydra had somehow gotten through to her even if in some small way. 

I thank you, she drawled, and added in earnest, and I hope Maia recovers swiftly. We will keep an eye out, for the wolf that did this to her, she hummed, turning then on her heel to return home.

last from me, thank you for a wonderful thread <3

"Typically, one, who has felt such unhappiness, can recognize it more easily in others and feel sympathy rather than despise them for it," Wraen corrected Hydra, finding it amusing that despite claiming that she did not mean a thing to her and accusing her of being afraid of ghosts that belonged to the past, she was still a villain in her story. That would probably never change, but she was glad that after this she knew, where they stood. It did not mean that she felt any safer than before, but... there is something in that saying about loving your enemy as you love yourself. 

"You think I tell stories about you?" she asked and then laughed. "You take too much credit," come to think of it she had only ever come up with one tale, where Hydra and her sisters had played a role. She did not remember the details, but knew that Charon had been in the audience. And Arcturus had not been either born or conceived yet. Boy - was that thought scary now. Wraen - a cradle-robber. "I have yet to come up with a single one," she threw in for a good measure. If Hydra was bent on retaining the opinion that she was messing with Arthur's head, this bone would be no harder to gnaw on than the other imaginary ones she had.

"I have lost all of my family, save for Maia. I think I know, what loss means," she replied, acknowledged Hydra's promise to look for the creep that had attacked Maia and then was on her way.