Neverwinter Forest I can feel your love

Set in the middle of Neverwinter forest.

Setting: Evening — 19:00
Weather: cloudy, light drizzle, frequent lightening.
Tags: @Asperas

Alduin’s anger is getting the better of him. His situation angers him too. Everything makes him angry nowadays. So, Alduin wants to be alone, to get away from everyone. To think. But one would think he would learn not to go off on his own anymore. After the Sasha attack, after almost drowning in that river, after getting lost and almost dying. Nope, he didn’t learn because something has shifted in his mind: the idea that he can’t die. Something he honestly believes at this point.

So the dark prince would wander, wander far away from the safe walls of Moonglow. Diving into the thick forest northwest of the territory, he finds himself walking until his paws ache. Blood red eyes gloomy and dark with rage despite his young age. Yet, he doesn’t stop. He uses the pain to fuel the white hot rage that boils in his chest and flows throughout his entire being. 

Even when it begins drizzling he doesn’t stop and soon enough his legs are completely soaked and his pelt pebbles with water like dew collecting on grass in the early morning. 

He’d carry on — an unstoppable force.

the little shaman, no longer of ursus, had struck out on her own. in her jaws she held the glittering skyrock, the heart of the bear-god's curse, the one thing asperas knew she could never be parted from no matter the grief it brought her. grief, in the days since the flight from silvertip, had come to define the spiderling's existence. she did not allow herself to feel it, rebelled against the sensation with every fiber of her being, yet it cut deeply.
the bear was to blame. the bear and his witch. but she did not think of that now.
the warm summersweet rain scarce penetrated the thick verdant canopy above, but the buzzing cracks of thunder following each electric flash from the sky reminded the voidsent far too much of the night they'd been cursed by the bear-god. each rolling boom seemed to come at once from everywhere and nowhere, setting asperas's hackles rippling wetly along bony spine. unnerved, and more so because of the feeling itself, the night-pearl made for the heart of the forest, hoping for more protection there.
instead the unchild found a spirit made flesh, twin crimson flames set into a figure of ash spun with shadow. sensing, somehow, kindred in the unfamiliar boy, asperas did not falter. it was the first time she had ever seen another her age, aside the brother she hardly knew, and no part of her wished to squander the encounter. the bearberry drew close to sniff at the damp stranger, light-footed with muscles tensed for retreat at a moment's notice. distrust tinged the open-handed greeting, but did not yet stain it irreparably. for now, asperas was only wary, protective of the precious burden she bore.

edited to reflect recent events

His legs move him unsteadily, he’s growing tired. Tired of everything. Tired of the rain, tired of his anger, tired of his still aching body, tired of life. But there’s a problem with that bit, now isn’t there? He cannot die so that means he’s just going to have to get over it. And get over it he does, by continuing to walk. He’s shaking slightly — from the cold rain, from his rage, from his fears. He’s consumed by unkind thoughts of every type. 

Until he realizes he’s got something worse on his plate then just mental issues. He sees a flicker of movement — a shadow in the dark. He stills, swiveling his head towards the direction. Short auds are alert, ruby orbs wide and constantly blinking the rain that runs into them. He struggles to see what it is until a strike of lightning illuminates the world around him, revealing the shadow for a split second. 

It looks like a wolf — a small one, a puppy. One like him. In that moment he is not afraid, his eyes have been enlightened to the strange creature that shows herself to him. She is smaller than he, but her moments are cautious as he catches her eyes — bicolored and nothing like anything he’s ever seen. He didn’t even know that was possible. She even holds something in her maw, it reflects the minimal amount of light and he finds himself dipping his head in interest, hoping the movement would allow him to look less intimidating. 

It seems to work some, or perhaps she’s just very brave, but she closes in on him. Alduin doesn’t move a muscle, doesn’t speak, practically doesn’t blink, afraid it will spook her away.

When she sniffs him, coming even closer than he figured she would, he reacts slowly. Moving his own head lower to sniff her too, moving his body to where they’re nose to nose staring cautiously right back at one another. He doesn’t speak, but his eyes communicate a silent agreement of truce — of kinship. He has a question in his eyes. What’re you doing here? They wonder, but the only thing that breaks the silence is the sound of rustling trees and thunder every so often. He would wait for her to signal their unsaid truce before saying anything.

her curiosity was mirrored, a muted response that soothed some of the rumbling turmoil smothering her bones. for all that the earth clamored and quaked around her, the halcyon demeanor of the ash-woven boy stood as a striking contrast. frayed nerves began to settle into a tense sort of calm. asperas lowered her head and allowed the skyrock to roll from her jaws. it landed between her own paws with a soft thud.
the unchild returned her attention to the questioning blood-red gaze upon her, head cocked to one side as if listening. and she was.
you come. with me, she announced abruptly, and gestured to the sky with her thin muzzle. spirits say. i hear. you come.

They stare at one another for a few moments, communicating silently. Showing one another that they mean no harm with only their eyes, Alduin would watch her closely. Only, the shadow would finally drop her odd stone, the dim lighting reflecting subtly as it falls to the ground. 

You come. with me — spirits say. i hear. you come.

Alduin tilts his own head, but what she may or may not say is that she lit a fire in his eyes. A purpose — yes, that’s what he needs. 

He doesn’t hesitate, only nods. “I’ll go.” 

a pleasant hum whirred all around as the boy agreed. blessed by the spirits; not merrick's bear-god, but the pressing presence that followed asperas wherever she went, the thin gossamer glass whispers woven into the air around her. they were invisible to all but her, but that did not mean the threads touched only her. the spirits knew all. and they knew that this boy was for her.
the changeling nodded, then studied her new companion more closely. he was imperfect, she saw that now. marred by the same violence that formed the marrow of her bones, the blood in her veins. asperas reached out and pressed her nose against the scar at his cheek, the one that climbed over his eye and splayed across his brow. horrors, she murmured against his fur, and withdrew. she lifted a paw to rest it on the skyrock, and met the boy's gaze. horrors. one word, to say all that she could not: we're the same, you and i. suffering for all to see.

She offers a hum when he agrees and wonders just who she is. This peculiar girl — the shadow that he assumed to be a monster in the night and very likely still may be one. She interested him like none he’s met before. It makes him lean in further as she nods, only for her to do the same. 

She brushes a wet nose to his scars and he almost flinches. His muscles twitch with the idea of drawing back, bur he doesn’t. He lets her touch him and speak only one word. 

Horrors.

Yes. What happened to him could be explained as such. He doesn’t say anything to her yet, as she shifts back and he follows her gaze to the stone she settles a paw over.

Horrors.

They both have horrors of they’re own. He stays silent, a certain type of emotion showing in his gaze. Understanding perhaps. Maybe some pain and anger, but none directed towards her. After a few moments he nods snd blurts out his name without thinking.

“Alduin.” He hums quietly before adding. “A Saint.” Offering his eyes to her, letting her know it’s her turn to introduce herself.

alduin, a saint. issorartuyok, of the north. merrick, the bruin-witch.

and her, of many titles, none of which fit quite right. snakeling. night-pearl. shaman. but there it was again, that expectation; this time unspoken, a question lingering behind sanguine eyes. the vantablack hellion rolled her shoulders in a helpless shrug. i don't know, oh how it wounded her pride to admit, for the second time, that this knowledge evaded her. she who heard the spirits, who knew the will of her father's god better than he did, who saw the secrets of the divine between reality's thin threads — she did not know herself.
she wanted to scream.

He waits for her answer, but there’s a silent inquiry behind her eyes. He wonders why. In this wonder he tilts his head. 

I don’t know. 

How would she not know? That this the first thought that flits through his mind. Where did she come from? Has she never had a name? He’s got so many questions, but he voices none. And then-

“A shadow.” Alduin states simply. Hinting that that’s what he would be calling her. Until she tells him to call her something else that is. 

The Saint and the Shadow.

a shadow, the boy dubbed her, and asperas only nodded. another title, another label for the ink-blotch vessel she inhabited. it was not her, not truly, but none of them were. she picked herself up, and picked her curse up from the damp dirt, and beckoned for alduin the saint to follow. she would find shelter for the two of them, and when the great clamor above finally quieted, they would set off from the forest by the mountain of the bear.

they would leave ursus behind. it was the only way.

fade + have another? i can start