Bonesplinter Ravine The Art Of Breaking

Set for 11 pm, December 6th :> 
Tags: @Simmik and @Kynareth Deagon to boot, if Malia wants(?) cuz yes >:3

She had only gotten home today. Once dismissed, Nyra was quick to return to her duties and making the rounds through the Strath, as well as the surrounding territories. 
The ravine was not a place she frequented in her patrols as often, given it was damn near inhospitable for long-term stays. And not exactly a place much of anyone would want to stay in anyway. 
Still, at least one trip through should suffice. 

The face she saw wasn't one she was expecting, resulting in a brief, silent bare of teeth and bristling of hackles before the behemoth noticed the disheveled and injured state her smaller mirror image had. 

If Simmik hadn't obviously been dropped here against her will, Nyra would have bulldozed her over in a frenzy of territorial teeth. It wouldn't have been the first time she blindsided someone. 

"Why am I not surprised?" Nyra exhaled the words with a light laugh at the end, easily heard despite her looking down at Simmik from above her prison, already keen on the guess that Kynareth had dragged the other palefur here by force.
The downward descent would've been extremely difficult alone, so the Harbringer stayed where she was.

She was a feral animal right now, terrified and backed into a corner. There was no way out from this hell, even if she wasn't injured, and as dark had set over what she was afraid was the last place she would ever see and the cold settled into her bones, she had found a dark corner to curl into a tight ball. There was no sleeping, of course. The sounds of things shifting above kept her on high alert and the pain from her wounds made it impossible to really be comfortable. She missed her forest and she missed Mal, and she desperately wished that she would wake up and realize this was all just a terrible nightmare. 

The sound of steps approaching, accompanied by a growl, had her pushing farther into the darkness, but her fiery gaze peered up at the woman who still followed her leader even though she knew what kind of a monster he was. Her eyes narrowed and her lip curled to show a glint of teeth. A low, warning growl moved from her chest and into the cold air between them as if to say go the fuck away. She did not have the energy or capacity to deal with his scum packmates. She just wanted to be left in whatever sliver of peace she could find here.

Tired surprise melted to cruel amusement at Simmik's growl. A cheshire grin starting on her maw, Nyra lied down, draping her large front paws off the edge of her little perch "My Grandmaster decided you're in Time-Out for being naughty, huh?" She chuckled lightly, burning cold inferno eyes searing down at her fellow palefur.

Of course this one wouldn't leave her alone. She suspected that any of his packmates that found out she was here would want to come taunt her as well. She was hungry, hurting, and terrified of what would happen next. the last thing she needed was some bitch coming here to look down on her and point out the obvious. She rested her head on her paws, not looking up at the other woman. Figured that out all on your own? she asked, the words tired but clearly mocking. She was already in hell, there was no getting any worse than this; she wouldn't hold back her sass on a good day, so why would she now? Of course, it helped to know that she couldn't get down here, even if she wanted to.

At Simmik's tired mocking, Nyra simply laughed with amusement.
An evil sound, dark, sinister.
"Perhaps when you've learned some manners like a good girl, you can come out." Nyra shot back airily with a hint of mocking to her own voice. 
"Till then," Nyra sighed, rising to her paws.
It may have seemed like she finally left, but nope. 

Trotting back over, Nyra held a decent-sized rabbit in her teeth as she inched down as far as the ravine would allow her to, dropping it -- or trying to anyway -- somewhere in front of Simmik's snout. 
If it landed on her head in any manner, that part was accidental. 
"You should eat. I may be a monster and no better than Kynareth himself, but..." The Behemoth trailed off, exhaling deeply, "I'm not entirely heartless. Though to be honest with you, I'm not certain I can vouch for Kynareth as far as having a heart goes..." 
She knew her company wasn't wanted, but Nyra wanted to try and give Simmik some sort of hope. Comfort, she knew she couldn't give. Determination though? Maybe.

Simmik rolled her eyes, although she knew the other woman wouldn't be able to see it from where she hid her face in the shadows. At least she left soon after that. The quiet of the night was almost deafening, mostly because she missed Mal and her forest so much that her chest ached. What she would give to see Mal's face peer over the edge of pit—his voice calling down and reassuring her that he would get her home. It made her eyes water. 

Before she could commit to the tears, though, she heard steps approaching, then they stopped, and she felt something drop next to her face, hitting her muzzle as it landed. She lifted her head and studied the rabbit with confusion, her gaze lifting up to Kynareth's packmate. Sadness filled her expression as the other woman spoke, and she looked down at her paws. He had a heart once, she said quietly. I saw it. But where was it now? Was it buried too deep inside for her to find? As for the rabbit, she ignored it. She might give in later, but for now, she didn't want anything from his pack.

The sadness on Simmik's face may have been missed, but the sadness in the air was not. 
"I am sorry...about hitting your muzzle with the rabbit. I wasn't meaning to drop it on you, just somewhere close enough that you could reach it when you wanted it." Nyra offered, more or less...awkwardly. She had never been fantastic at apologies. 

"I know it probably makes no difference now, but...you're not the only wolf who's seen Kynareth with a good heart." She sighed, adjusting her paws a bit, thinking of herself, of Leigh, of Hemlocke...
"I suppose that's part of why none of us have left him. He may be evil, but...if nothing else, he is loyal to his numbers." The Harbringer exhaled, looking up at the sky for a moment.

It was odd to be down in this pit, against her will, and have this woman apologize for hitting her in the face with a rabbit? What about that fact the she was stolen from her home and that she was currently being held in what was, for all intents and purposes, a prison. How about apologizing for that. It was just so fucked. This whole thing was. She couldn't help but wonder what she had done to find herself here. She was good. She protected her pack and she usually did the right thing; so why, then, did these things keep happening to her. It was like she was missing some huge sign from the universe, and it kept punishing her for it. 

But after what he did? she asked. He raped that woman— she swallowed and closed her eyes, assaulted by unwanted memories as usual. It's hard for me to see past that. The last words were quiet and defeated. Maybe if he hadn't thrown it in her face just to hurt her, but even then, she wasn't sure.

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: mentions of rape, rape-induced pregnancy and miscarriage

 


Nyra winced slightly at hearing Simmik tell her again, that Kynareth raped someone. 
"I'm going to tell you a secret, not about my Grandmaster, but about myself..." She sighed, bracing herself for the memories she was about to relive again. 

Trying to keep her voice steady, Nyra re-told the events from her birth pack, the Cult, her deranged father, all of it. 

Details here 

By the end of it, Nyra was barely containing herself, jolting a bit, trembling, hot tears rolling down her cheeks "How anyone can do such things, I don't know. I don't think I will ever know..." 

Had Simmik known she was about to get that story from the pale woman, she would have told her to keep it to herself. She couldn't bear to hear it. Like that day near the waterfall when she and Vallkyrie had run into her and Kynareth—she winced against the reminder of her own trauma. Flashes of pale fur and pain and being helpless filled her mind and she wanted to scream. 

But she didn't. She was silent only because this woman had been through what she had been through, and she knew she didn't speak of it to cause her any harm. She spoke of it to reveal her own pain and her own struggle with what she found out. 

So then how do you still follow him? she asked. There was no anger in the question, just a need to understand. How did she separate what had happened to her from what Kynareth had done?

At Simmik's question, Nyra paused for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, with defeat evident...
"I don't feel like I have a choice." She answered, looking down at her mirror image with obvious emotions - pain, hurt, fear, uncertainty, the works. The strain was evident as she tried to keep her voice to a level only Simmik could hear.

What she offered was even more unexpected. And, honestly, irritating. She had no choice? Did she realize where they were right now? 

No, she said with quiet anger. I have no choice, she corrected. You can leave whenever you want. Kynareth will never let me leave. She was more sure of that than anything else in her life right now. The only way she would be free of this place now was through death—hers or his, and she had a feeling hers would come more readily.

"None of us have a choice." Nyra sighed, having somewhat, more or less, expected Simmik's anger. 
"Yes, you are here against your will. I'm not. Not entirely, and I'll admit that." She spoke, keeping her voice as level as she could. Two women being emotional wasn't usually a good mix, especially if one was good (Simmik) and the other was a Black Widow in an angel's costume (Nyra). 

"We can all leave whenever we want, as long as Kynareth or Derg knows where we went and when we expect to return by." The Shieldmaiden was slightly irritated herself, but not at Simmik. Though she couldn't hold it against the other woman if/for being angry at her.

That's not the same thing, she pointed out coldly. You can just lie and then never come back. Of course, they would most likely be looking over their shoulder for quite a while, but that did not compare to how little of a choice Simmik had in any of this. 

I was attacked by someone I— she couldn't say the word. She just shook her head and then rested it back on her paws, feeling the warmth of tears prick at her eyes. I can't even get out of this hell hole on my own, let alone ask to leave the territory. So don't expect any pity from me. It was cruel of her to even try, but she expected nothing different from Kynareth's packmates.

Hearing out the vulnerable woman below, Nyra felt a twinge in her stomach that she couldn't describe. But at the last words Simmik spoke, the warm tendrils trying to unfurl went cold and dropped dead on the spot. 
"I don't want your pity." Nyra stated with equal cold, voice overspilling with acidid venom. Her words before would most likely contradict her actions and visa versa, but the Harbringer didn't care. 
"But perhaps it's better that you're down there. For one, it's the only place right now that's keeping you safe." 
These words were a definite threat. An empty one, currently, due to Donovan, but a threat nonetheless. 
No other words spoken, Nyra calmly turned and trotted off to continue the rest of her patrol.

The threat did not have its intended effect. Simmik wasn't scared, nor did she regret what she said. At this point, if the woman jumped down and killed her, she would be fine with that. She sit her and let the other woman rip her throat out. The thought of that welcome relief made her chest tighten because she knew that was not even something she would be afforded. Not here and not yet. 

At least the woman left. All Simmik wanted was to be alone. She curled up in the shadows again and pretended she was home in the forest.