Larksong Grotto joyland
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#1
Private 
for @Hiram, whenever you have time :)

in the gently waving grasses of the border stood vuk, awash in the ivory light of a gravid moon. a breeze rife with winter-ice had arisen to shiver her skin beneath the pale fur, but it would be one of the last times she would be in this land. she meant to enjoy it. soon they would depart for blackfeather woods, so that seff would be with the woman who had reared him while vuk searched for her son. 

and she and terich --  she hoped that things would begin anew for them. vuk was silent beneath the nightfall and filled with a gentle calm.
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#2
I am the worst! I'm so so sorry for the wait!

Sometimes, when night fell over the grotto, Hiram would leave the boys in Jhala's care and he would set off on a patrol around the territory. Of course, the borders needed to be maintained, but the allure of it was in the fact that he could spend some time alone. It was the only time he could hear his own thoughts -- and the only time he felt comfortable enough to speak truly to Raas.

He would pray and the mumbles would be carried away on the breadth of the autumnal wind. Around him was peace -- though, in his life, there was hardly any.

Upon the border, from a short distance away, Hiram picked up on Vuk's scent and he felt a stirring of emotion. He felt a brief, hot flash of envy -- and even anger toward the Daystar -- for it had not been her, but Jhala that He had sent. The emotion was quickly shelved, for Hiram, like Jhala herself, had grown to love his spouse and the boys she had given him. Jhala brought him joy like no other. So, Hiram felt it sinful that he should have such intrusive thoughts.

Yet still, he followed her trail,
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#3
you're totally fine! ♡

vuk was silent. if the god spoke to her still, she did not hear it. perhaps she had only been open to raas' voice when she had lost seff. there was no need for it now, not when her feet were firmly set upon a new path.

there was a deep want that opened within vuk like a chasm. sorrow did not bridge it, nor death. or life. the patchwork girl knew of no thing existent that could mend this great scar, the wound that pulsed across her soul like some vile worm.

vuk was still, her eyes lifted to the moon, all senses given over to the night.
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#4
When he saw her under the light of the pale moon, Hiram felt a sappingly empty feeling. His chest felt hollow. It was a thing of self loathing; of guilt. He knew in his heart he loved this woman. How could he not? She who knew pain as much as he. But, she was not his, nor could she ever be -- yet there she was, standing close enough to hold but never keep. He found it hard to look at her, not after their fractured affair. Not after his betrothal to Jhala. He looked down, but his eyes briefly stole glances at the beauty of the stuttering wolf he stood before him.

He could not speak, not a single word. For a man who made his living on the merit of his word, Hiram was left speechless. Nevertheless, no words could convey the sadness in his heart.
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#5
vuk felt eyes upon her, and turned to look over one pallid shoulder. hiram stood close at hand, and for a long moment, vuk merely gazed at him. the agony he had evoked in her stirred, but vuk put it aside, and stood, coursing herself toward hiram with slow steps. and when she stood close enough to behold his handsome features, the mingling of pain and emotion in his eyes, she spoke.

"w-we are l-leaving." no timeframe was given — what did it matter? vuk's tone carried no malice, merely the slow churn of exhaustion and pain that lies like black mud upon the ceiling of one's soul.
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#6
They all left eventually. Be it his own doing or otherwise, the ones Hiram held dear walked out of his life like a somber parade meeting a lonely Louisiana funeral march. The list was long; the Pryors, Wynter, Pantaliemon, Arion, Scarlett, Saena, Tavi -- this list went on forever, and each name stole a piece when they faded away. All contact, all connections in this world, were fleeting on the cosmic stage. Hiram, or Reek, or whatever he felt he was, was nothing more than a speck of dust floating in the warm glow of the stage light. Insignificant. Small.

He lifted his gaze and his eyes met hers; a mirror of sadness. "Where," he muttered, capable of only one, strained word.
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#7
she held his eyes for a time. why did he wish to know? vuk wondered what it mattered to hiram — nothing else in her life had interested the man, including herself, but she let out a breath that trembled only slightly at its edges. "b-blackf-feather." perhaps he had heard the name, perhaps not; vuk was swiftly realizing she did not care. hiram had jhala and surely the promise of unborn children. he needed vuk no longer.

and still she remained, her turquoise eyes glowing with a raw pain she could not veil. not from him.
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#8
Blackfeather was a name long buried in Hiram's memory from a time long, long ago. They were a reclusive sort. Not to be trusted. The wood they inhabited was a place of deception and evil. If Vuk went, he could no longer protect her as he had when he took her family, her boy, into his own grotto for safekeeping. He bit his lip and tried to hold his tongue, but Hiram could not hold himself to silence. "Vuk, Blackfeather is dangerous," he warned. "It's not safe." Worry flashed in his eye.

But, he could not stop her. He could not hold her here. He could not hold her ever. The night she had accosted him, she made her choice. She loved Terich. She chose him instead.
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#9
of course he tried to stop her, and her gaze hardened even as her ears swept back against her skull. what evil could blackfeather hold that hiram had not already done to her? while he was chasing ghosts, she had lost her son; when he returned, it was not for her, but for jhala. "t-there is n-nothing f-for m-me here, r-reek!" vuk snapped in annoyance, inadvertently using his first name. his true name, as far as she was concerned. ashamed of her outburst, vuk's gaze swiftly found the ground and she was silent.
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#10
She snapped and Hiram recoiled with ears falling shamefully against his skull. A broken whine passed his lips and a powerful silence followed. Looking down, Hiram mirrored Vuk. She was right, but Hiram could not accept it. He found himself clinging to something non-existent. He wished to say, there's me, but then he thought of Jhala, and he thought of his boys. It pained him to realize that Vuk's departure was ultimately for the best. His heart was breaking, but he knew what must be done.

"Please be safe," he begged. At this point, that was all he could do. "Seff too." For he couldn't bear anything else happen to the poor boy.
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#11
vuk did not know what hiram would say next, but she did not expect his release of her. her heart sank, and her eyes widened as she lifted them to his face. so he would let her go, now — now that he had what he wanted: a woman with a bellyful of his children. it had been the same for him in different iterations. a single tear traced its way suddenly down her cheek; vuk sniffed but did not sob. "w-we w-will." her voice was cool. "y-you d-do th-the s-same."
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#12
I AM GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH. WOLF WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. YOU GUYS BETTER TELL ME WHERE YALL END UP!

His eyes followed the tear trailing down her cheek. Hiram bit his lip uncomfortably and felt his own emotions well within him. He turned his gaze away before he began to weep as well. "I'll — I'll n-never forget you Vuk," he stumbled as he tried to keep himself from falling apart here and now. Of course, Vuk was permananly burned into Hiram's memory, his soul too. Most notably, he'd always remember the way she made him feel.

And he'd always remember the way he felt now; broken and tired, yet wistful for what could have been. He breathed a dying sigh and turned away to continue his patrol, should she not stop him. And as he walked, tears fell like rain.
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#13
OH MY GOD I MISS U ALREADY BUT VUK IS NOT DONE OK

he turned away from her, but not before shattering her heart further with the gentle drop of his quiet words. vuk watched hiram retreat from her; she knew he wept and still she stood silently rooted.

until she could bear it no longer; and she moved swiftly to his side, crossing his path with her slight body as moonlight played across her pale pelt and her scars. vuk demanded silently that reek look at her. she would never call him hiram again. 

instead she searched his gaze, smelled the saltscent of his tears mingle with her own, and if he allowed, she reached to touch him in the warm small place where neck met the juncture of his shoulder.
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#14
I WILL BE STALKING THEN

A part of his wished that she would call him to stop, but Hiram heard nothing behind him. However, after a couple steps, Vuk was set into motion. Hiram stopped in his tracks and looked to the woman with tears fresh in his eyes. Goodbyes were never his strong-suit. They usually ended in death or shouting in his experience. But this was different. This was tender. He allowed her to draw along his side, and as she touched his neck, Hiram pressed his body into her flank.

He leaned his neck into her face. His chin came to rest on top of her head. He closed his eyes and was wracked with a quiet sob.
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#15
their meeting was gentle, silent; vuk folded herself against him and let her eyes close, breathing out the pain of their earlier words and inhaling the fragrance of reek's fur. here was where she had always belonged, and it hurt her to hear his sob. slowly her own tears began a silent cascade over the tremble of her lips; she buried her muzzle more deeply into his ruff and let her own soft cries be muffled there. why they must hurt, she did not know, but the path of larksong was closed to her own, and all that remained was the agony of love between them.
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#16
In another life, perhaps some parallel universe similar to the one in which they inhabited, the painful sting of lost love was an unknown emotion to either party. Perhaps the faith had never swept though Larksong and they settled together in a tiny grotto, sheltered from the stormy world outside. Maybe they started a family. Loved each other day and night. Were happy with themselves and each other. Perhaps their hearts were full love and joy. Maybe the struggles were small were small, but livable. A life of dreams.

And dreams only they would be. But for now, Hiram held this pleasant waking dream close to his heart as he fell into silence with Vuk at his side.