Ankyra Sound [m] Our Lady of the Underground

Mature Content Warning

This thread has been marked as mature. By reading and/or participating in this thread, you acknowledge that you are of age or have permission from your parents to do so.

The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: Suzu is still in heat; will be referenced. Private thread.

She departed for the Sound as the moon shone, reflecting off the waves, mirrored by the curving, sandy beach. There, upon the sand, had been cast the remnants of her fish net. Driftwood stick still tangled together with seaweed, left high upon the shore beyond the tideline from the last tidal surge. It'd been carried out for some time, far from the shore where it had once been set up. Here, it looked dejected, useless; a scattering of broken branches and limbs, too far from Dragoncrest to be dragged back, and all linked together still by seaweed...

Suzu's eyes welled with tears. She tugged at the seaweed with one paw, and sighed, tilting her head back to utter a longing, keening call. Overflowing with emotion and confused by the surge of hormones, she longed for something to click into place, and help her make sense of it all.

The winds were sharp, carrying the aroma of sea upon them as they crashed inland and ruffled the boughs of the trees.

Swordfish had ventured a short way from Lestan and Ellie, leaving them to chatter and make plans for traveling inland. Something in his roots roared in protest. He did not belong inland anymore. The boy’s place was by the water, as it had always been - crafting traps for fish and hunting in the shallow waters for seals. His promise to help Lestan find his daughter felt more daunting than it had before. Swordfish knew just how far a lost young soul could wander.

Pausing near the sound, he lifted his head to the mournful howl that danced overhead. The voice was familiar, though not strong enough to draw memories. The bear-hunter stood, a looming shadow of the boy he had once been, face marred by the brutality of the beast he had fought. His cold ocean eyes found her but he did not move.

Illuminated by milky moonlight, a figure appeared and through the mist of tears she saw the spectre of a wolf who had once tugged at her heartstrings. She inhaled deeply and blinked. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, and while her vision cleared she did not believe for one moment that Swordfish was actually there. His image was vivid, and yet in the spell of darkness, ethereal; and she found it easier to forgive the idea of him, than to forgive him for leaving. 

A dream, she thought; a good dream. Deliciously real, so vivid she thought she could taste the brine on the air. A dream, she told herself- and if it was her dream, then she could have what she wanted- seek what her heart, soul, and body desired with no reservations. She shoulder the bridle of reality aside, and fully embraced her escapism. 

To Swordfish- to the illusion of him, sombre as he might have looked- she sung her siren song, her voice lifting like an answered prayer. She rose from the sand and stepped daintily past the skeletal driftwood, the real, shimmering lavender of her gaze warm and pleading.

The song was one of yearning and her voice brimmed with the heartache that had inspired her voice to lift. Swordfish grew rigid, eyes fixed on the pale face of the girl he had known as a child. They had played on the beach together. She had yelled at him for hunting a seagull, though he could hardly remember that the bird had been her friend… and her heart had shattered when his teeth had ended its life.

Yer too far from home.

The young man’s voice was gruff, distant. He did not wish to acknowledge the feelings he’d had as a child. It felt as though it weakened him, made him susceptible to this- this sensation that burned against his skin and drove him wild.

Closer now, her scent overpowered him. He inhaled, fixing her with a cold stare.

His voice was different- but he had grown into a man, and so it was a man’s voice which now reached her in her dream. It was not as warm in timbre as she would have liked- but she knew the subconscious could be a fickle and cruel thing. The manifestation of Swordfish was not under her control- but perhaps could be persuaded.

”I ‘ave missed you,” She responded simply. After all, she was welcome to wander Ankyra Sound as it had once belonged to her ancestors. ”I ‘ave wanted to see you again for so long…” Her voice warm with want, she sought to appease him, and melt the coldness in his eyes. ”Come to me, please,” Her voice soft, beseeching.

Suzu did not know what she said. The young man was convinced of this. She did not know him well enough to miss him. She knew the boy who had shirked his duties and had found countless places on the cliffs to hide from others. She knew Swordfish as he had been, not the thing he had become in his hunt for revenge - not Shardik.

Still, he could not stop the movement of his paws. He drew nearer. Could she smell him? Did she know that he did not travel alone? Lestan’s scent would be faint but it would linger in his collar. The bear-hunter thought of the disheveled man, searching for his lost daughter while his mind whittled away to a quaking splinter. Swordfish knew that he could not stay long.

Close enough now that he could see the lavender of her eyes and the individual hairs that grew like flowers upon her face. He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes. The man felt like nothing but a lost boy again. He pressed his forehead to her own, breathing a heavy breath from his nose.

Wildness had grown through him, like vines in a neglected garden. Still- she saw beauty in him, both in the memories his image evoked and in the hard lines of his face. She learned the new ways of his movement, the new tone of his Atlantic-blue eyes, all while watching him walk steadily toward her, solid against the ebb and flow of tidal winds.

Still, she believed she dreamt. Even with the touch of his brow to hers, and the scent of his breath lingering near her, she told herself it was the most magnificent of dreams. However else could she persuaded him to take those steps, when it was becoming abundantly clear that she had no prospects?

”Stay wid me, for tonight; even if only for tonight,” She would settle for one night, knowing the dream would disappear in the morning. She hated to think she might not remember it- so she lifted her muzzle to brush it lovingly against his cheek, a movement both tender and brazen, as she reached to whisper a dauntless request into his nearest ear. Her breath rose like steam in a faint mist; her cheeks burned. The mist faded, but the words had been spoken. A moment later, she added:

”Please.”

What was this feeling in his belly? What was the burning sensation that he felt rise from his loins and consume him?

There had only been one time his memory when he had felt like a man. When the bear had finally gurgled its last roaring breath, blood seeping into the earth and his pelt. It had only been that moment when he had felt what it meant to be a true man and to take charge. To think that it might have cost him his life was not important. He had made that bet long before he had followed the world-eater into the wilderness.

This feeling was different, though it filled him with the same bold satisfaction. The touch of her snout against his cheek erupted like lightning beneath his flesh.

Fer a bit, he grunted. Swordfish could not stay through the night. He would need to return to Lestan.

Still he was spirited- and teased a smile from the nymph who had tested the waters, and now sought to wade deep into them. She’d lured him in too, though he was slow to move and reluctant to show the same desire that she felt. 

Heat seared in her belly, prompting a silven whine to slip through her lips and moisten the fur of his cheek. Greedy for touch, she stepped forward to press her chest to his and speckled his jawline with kisses, feathering her teeth through the fur at the point of his shoulder. She shared her warmth with him, leaning so he might feel her want beneath the pressure, smoothing his coarsened fur with loving swipes of her tongue.

Swordfish could feel it, could smell it on the air around them. It thickened in his mind, making him feel dazed and lost in the moment. It did not feel real, in spite of the touch of her against his body and the loving peppered kisses that she pressed to his coat. The young man felt his chest heave with a strangled breath. He nudged beneath her chin, a rumble from his throat sounded like distant thunder.

The bear-hunter’s breathing grew heavier. He pressed his chest against her lithe frame with a grunt, hooded eyes lifting to her face. She seemed out of her mind, though he did not know better. He did not know if this too was the new Suzu. So much had happened and he had not stuck around to watch her grow into the woman she was.

Swordfish did not know the magicks that had spellbound him in that moment. He knew only that he could not stop himself from giving in to this flushed desire.

Her head lifted as he snuck his temple beneath her jaw, and she allowed it to slide carefully over his brow, folding one ear beneath her chin as he slowly pulled back so that their gaze could meet. In his eyes she thought she saw both understanding and a question. Her heart beat wildly in her chest; in spite of her budding nervousness, she nodded. 

She remained close to him as she pivoted, and could barely convince herself to let him out of her sight- as if he might disappear at the penultimate moment and leave her on the beach alone. She kept him in her peripheral vision as she surrendered to her awakened desires, spurring him onward with a quiet plea.

Primal instinct took over him. Her voice like a plea sounded on perked ears. The young man felt his grip tighten on her and he pulled her to him, body bound in this ethereal moment of pleasure. His voice hoarse and rough as he wrapped himself to her, each motion causing a grunt to fall from his lips.

Swordfish too believed that this could only be a dream. There was no universe in which he could have this, really have this. The thought did not sway him or slow his pace. The forlorn sea-blue of his eyes was trained to her head and his ears danced with the sounds of her beneath him.

They fit together so naturally and she was drawn into his embrace, and it was in the twilight hours of her innocence that it dawned on Suzu that this apparition was as real to her as her own flesh and blood. Still- eagerness bubbled within her and she uttered his name with a gasp, managing only a soft exclamation of ”Sword-!” before words fell out of reach. 

Moonlight still danced upon the waves that lapped gently against the shore, a quiet, reassuring pattern that she was eventually able to use to bring her breathing pattern back to normal. Bewitched by the sensation, she remained by his side in silence for some time, an unwavering, private smile on her lips. 

The fishnet they had build together lay in ruins around them- but they had built something new that they could share in its wake.

When the last of him had been drained, he collapsed beside her, breathing heavily in their scents. The young man felt his limbs quake, a light shiver that pricked his flesh underneath. The burning desire had begun to flow out, to release his mind back to reality. For a fleeting time, the bear did not roar in his mind. He heard only the crash of waves against shoreline and the distant twittering of birdfolk. 

Lestan still waited, up the beach and out of sight. Swordfish knew he could not leave the man. He had no intention of giving up the search for Blossom. 

And yet he remained there, bound to Suzu with his body and spirit. When the creeping of sunlight began to peek at the horizon, the man shifted. His ears fell to his head. Shame consumed him. 

I need to go, his ghostly voice croaked.

She’d thought him a part of some sweet dream only hours ago, when the stars had twinkled above him. The breaking dawn now foreshadowed his departure as the earliest rays climbed over the mountains; at the brim of the ocean, the stars began to fade. He would disappear like mist, evaporating in sunlight.

Such was the nature of men, she had learned. Their favour was deciduous, their devotion came and went with the tides. She’d known this her whole life- with the exception of Valravn who had remained ever-present- and yet she yearned for him to give up his wandering ways and stay.

”I cannot see de sun yet,” She bargained. She took one last look at him and closed her eyes. ”Stay wid me until it warms my face….Den you may go.” She did not want to see him leave- so she would keep her eyes closed until the sun came in to replace his warmth.

The young man waited as long as his itchy paws would allow. The sun had barely begun to cast its warming rays upon their little slice of beach. The barking of seals down the coast had pulled his attention, captivating him for a short time until he knew that he could not remain any longer.

Swordfish touched his nose to her cheek, swiping a kiss there. The young man looked upon her lithe frame, tucked safely in this place of love. If he had any choice in the matter, maybe he would have stayed. If he had not made a promise to a stranger, perhaps he could have remained behind and held onto Suzu for a while longer.

As the boy slipped up the beach, he fought the tears that pricked against his eyes. The urge to look behind him was great but he knew that he would not be strong enough if he succumbed to this urge. Back to Lestan. Back to searching for Blossom, hoping that finding her might heal a part of Swordfish that had been lost long ago.

Would loooove another one at some point. <333

She kept her eyes shut, though the light began to seep in to the thin line between her eyelids, no matter how hard she squeezed them shut. She felt Swordfish sigh, and leaned into his last touch, but was left wanting for more when he stood to make his leave. Even then, she did not open her eyes- she did not want to see him leave again, for fear that she might bolt after him. 

Her pack needed her; and he seemed drawn elsewhere. 

She did not see the longing in his features, but she felt it, somehow. Once his pawsteps faded from her range of hearing, she finally opened her eyes, blinking against the crimson of the dawn. She felt glorious...And she felt bereaved. She pulled forth the strength passed through generation after generation of strong, Sapphique women- and rose to her feet as had so many before her, and made her way back home.