Overture Downs Alone under a thousand souls

A clear sky revealed a brilliant, starlit sky to the rugged male. Sorin had come northwest after his experience with the other wolf. Now, he trotted across another wide plain, on the trail of a pheasant. He had tracked the bird for a few hundred yards, not pursuing it too intensely so it didn't fly. Now, he slowly stalked forward, carefully placing his paws to be as quiet as possible. Now, he saw the long tail feathers of the bird, squatting amongst the thick grasses. Sorin shifted his weight to his back legs before leaping forward, his trajectory taking him slightly above the bird. As he expected, the pheasant flushed as soon as he leapt, flying right into his waiting fangs. Sorin dragged the bird back to earth, dispatching it with a quick snap of the birds neck.

He began tearing into the bird, spitting out feathers as he got into the meat. He sighed in contentment, feeling at ease for the first time in a few weeks. The rugged male lay down in the tall grass, gazing at the stars. They had always been a source of comfort for him, an anchor to reality to keep him sane when things got rough. He sighed again, before turning back to his meal. However, Sorin stayed alert to the world around him, in case anyone tried to sneak up on him.

To sneak was the last thing on Clary's list of things to do tonight, even less, now that she'd spotted the lump of a shadow in the grass. In fact, to sneak wasn't even in her vocabulary; the mere sight of another was enough to shoot her tail in a wild circle, and to set her step with a spring. The night was young, the stars so bright, and the chilliness of autumn (or probably just the fact she'd been alone so long...) made her giddy for new company, as much as any other season did.

"Hello!" her voice rose with the perk of her ears, and she quirked the stranger a smile. With the thick blackness of his fur, he pretty much was the night, almost like he had been born from the darkness itself - but that was silly, of course, because everyone knew wolves came from other wolves, and that made them all like her, and thus, viable candidates for friends, acquaintances, or general fellows she would smile at, but like... safely... from afar, and she wondered which category this man would fit into.

Sorin continues with his meal at a leisurely pace. In the dark of night on the open plain, he is fairly certain no one could ambush him. However, it doesn't mean that no one else is up and about. 

The rugged male leaps to his feet at the sound of another approaching. He quickly scan his surroundings, easily picking out the white female. He sighed to himself, glancing briefly at the stars for guidance. 

He nodded at her greeting, his expression neither welcoming or dismissing. He wasn't exactly looking for company, but he would give her a chance.

Well, he doesn't exactly welcome her in, but he doesn't shoo her away either, so all in all they're off to an excellent start! Yeah, okay, so he might have jumped at her hello, but could she really blame him? She takes him as the quiet type, and her voice was kind of loud...

So she giggles out a sheepish, Oops, sorry, and draws closer, because unless he manages to sour her impression, she's already certain that he's in the camp of acquaintance or friend. Only time will really tell, and she has plenty of that! Clary did notice him glance to the sky, and she turns her hazel gaze upward, taking in the vast and starry host. This looked like a good place to start. Are you watching the stars? she asks, eyes still on the sky. She knew her share about them, but always liked hearing others over herself. They're so bright tonight! D'ya know much about them?

Sorin watches her approach him with an indifferent gaze. He struggles mightily within himself to not step away as she comes closer. She seems kind enough, and he figures it's time he gave off more than just a cold vibe to others. His neutral expression however, remains fixed on his face.

She asks him of the stars, and he nods in response to her first question, once again turning his gaze skyward. A moment of deep sorrow flickers across his face as he stares at them. All of those he lost, all of those he cared for, are there now, watching him. At least that's what he has been told. The moment passes quickly as he regains his neutral look, not wanting to appear vulnerable.

"I've been told that the spirits of those who passed on reside there." he says lowly. It was an idea that held a great deal of appeal for Sorin. "That great warriors live on in the stars, and that from them, I can draw strength." It was a notion that he had been raised by, and an idea that his mentor had reaffirmed. The stars were about as special to Sorin as anything in life.

His words make her smile quiver and she feels her brows crease, even as she does her best to fight the unexpected sadness that seeps through her thoughts. That's what mom told me, too, she says quietly, and though this man is a stranger, he suddenly feels more like home than anyone else she has met so far.

Clary can almost imagine herself within the Stone of Easthollow - Valette nearby, leaning up against Steady's Stone as Clary had often caught her doing, and she wonders if her mother is doing that now, staring up at the same sky, and thinking the same thoughts. My uncle Murdock is up there, and my sister Keoni. And Steady, but I never met him. Mom said he was a fighter, so he must be up there, too. And though her heart is troubled, she smiles, because they would want her to.

Sorin keeps his gaze fixed on the sky, and so he misses the wavering in her previously carefree expression. However, he can certainly hear the sorrow in her voice. And as hard as he tries, he can't block out the sadness, nor the empathy that rises in him upon her words. She lists off those she has lost, and the pain only hits him harder. "I'm sorry to hear of your loss." he replies quietly, his eyes still fixed skyward. He fears looking at her, he fears what he may see, and how he would react. For he knows she holds sorrow, and he does not want to show his own pain. He cannot, not after being betrayed, not after learning the hard way to not trust anyone with his heart or his pain and sorrows. And yet, wasn't that exactly what his mentor had told him to do. To be open, to be willing to trust. But were had that landed him.

And before he could stop himself, he was yelling, beseeching the alpha and mentor he knew to be among the stars. "You said to trust, that being open made you strong. But it killed you, and it broke me! It didn't help, it didn't make any of us stronger, it didn't-" Sorin broke off, too full of emotion that had been bottled up for so long. Too afraid of showing all of his pain. He bowed his head, desperately trying to regain his neutral composure, but he simply could not. there was too much that had been let out, and there was nothing he could do to rein it all back in. And so he stood, his head down, his body shaking with all of the emotion he had been through.

She doesn't know why she tells him this; there is no reason, and maybe it is unwise, but these thoughts are her heart, and to share them is simply who she is. She has never found reason to hide herself before; in grief and in joy, Clary has always worn her heart right where the world can see.

Yet in his voice is a heaviness, and she worries that maybe she has stepped too far. Inwardly, she berates herself. Of course he would be upset - this kind of stuff isn't what you just run around and talk about with strangers, and gosh, she should have known that! But even before she can turn to the man to offer him reassurance that she is okay, his voice booms in a measure filled with so much anger and so much pain, that she feels his emotions spill into the night and swallow her.

She has never witnessed something so raw before, not from her family, and certainly not from someone she has known only for a minute, and the loudest voice inside her screams "RUN!" - but Clary ignores the slam of her aunt's voice inside her skull, and though her ears slick back, she steels herself. No - she decides; she can't just leave him. And as he shakes and settles, and the echo of his bitter cry bleeds into the night, she finds herself with no words to say - but she doesn't leave him.

Her heart aches for him, and though she doesn't understand the extent of his pain, she pauses, thinks, and shifts toward him with the careful stretch of her neck, hoping to meet his shoulder in a gentle touch. The motion is small, and filled with risk. He could turn his fangs against her - but, if he is alone, if he hasn't felt the contact of another for many, many nights, maybe this is what he needs, and this is all she knows how to offer.

The demon in his mind, the one whom betrayed him, whispers in her silky voice, taunting the man for his outburst, for his weakness. He growls as his anger begins to swell, building to an almost unbearable point. His expression morphs from sorrow to anger and back as quick as lighting. He tries desperately to control his rage, before it bursts out like a summer rain.

Then the women touches his shoulder, and the dam breaks. Sorin whips his head around, his expression filled with rage. His fangs are bared in a vicious snarl, preparing to rip into the girl who tries to comfort him. His mind is filled with the one thought he has held for many months: allow no one to get close.

And then he sees her eyes. He sees eyes that contain the pain of losing loved ones. He sees eyes full of sympathy and kindness. And he sees a heart that is more pure than he could ever hope to possess. The rage dies as quickly as it appeared, his snarl retreating as fast as fleeing prey. His face morphs into deep remorse, and he takes a step back to gather his tumultuous emotions. And yet, he still cannot allow her to get close. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he chokes out, barely able to speak. And yet, he owes her some sort of explanation. "It isn't you, it has nothing to do you personally. It's all-"

But he can't bring himself to tell her, it is too painful and too close right now. And so he mutters an apology one last time. Then, he runs, trying to put as much distance between them as he can. He cannot stay any longer, for if he did, then everything would come spilling out and he would be powerless to stop it. And while he revealed some things, he simply cannot reveal everything. So he runs, with his wraith following him, whispering one word, over and over.

​weak.

If you want to do one more to wrap up thats cool. Sorry if my exit was abrupt, just the way he is right now, Thank for the thread.

He is a tempest, a fury. As soon as she touches him, she knows she's made a mistake. But has she? In the bright wash of the moonlight, his fangs glint in the night, and his throat rumbles with an intent she has never felt directed her way. Her fur lifts along her angular frame, and she spooks away - imagining those teeth sinking into her throat - but she does not turn, she doesn't have a chance. Instead her eyes - wide and shocked - lock with his.

And what sees make her freeze.

His eyes are vibrant, like the sunlight through leaves, and they would be lovely if not for the sea that fills them. He is a storm, a life caught in a vicious current, and she feels his grief fill the air like lightning, and she realizes: he is not a bad man, and she is not afraid.

She wants to tell him this; she wants to reassure him, but his words spill quicker than she can respond, and before her voice can find her tongue, his shadow is gone, tearing through the meadow like a spectre through the night - and she is left alone beneath the cover of stars, and the gentle breeze that tugs at her fur, though she feels like she's been whipped by a whirlwind.

Who was this man? She is left only with a trail left in his wake, one that stings of sorrow and leads outward to the unknown. Clary has no name for him, no reason to follow - but she is compelled, and she has decided she will find him again. The morning will set her course. For now, her thoughts turn with the darkness he has left behind, and she finds herself whispering, "It's okay," - to him, even though she knows he is too far gone to hear her.

No worries! I enjoyed this thread a lot! <3 She's going to be trying to follow him, so expect her to pop up again... (: