Blackfeather Woods Lost in the Darkness

@Burke :D Potema, and later Meldresi, are going to believe that this voice is the Night Mother's by the way. The mystical reasoning behind this is that her eye is in a spirit realm and she can see visions. That kind of stuff. (aka she's the Listener now)

The poppy seeds have worn off, little one.

Potema awoke, swaddled like a human baby in the softest moss she had ever felt, though it could not beat her mother's fur. The white furred girl blinked as to adjust her eyes to the darkness of the infirmary, but quickly regretted the action. Pain exploded on the right side of her face, and her mouth opened in a silent scream of agony. She had forgotten about that.

Opium has that effect, especially on one so young.

She didn't recognize this voice. But yet she did. It was strange, hearing it. It was so unlike her other voices, yet so similar. Potema felt the urge to blink again, but decided to wink with her right eye instead, relieving her temporarily of the pain. The voice came from the shadows again.

This is no freak accident.

Potema's right eyebrow furrowed in confusion. The left was trapped under tightly bound cobwebs, the gossamer strands flecked with blood. A vision passed, here in an instant, gone in a flash, she saw dark gray fog all around her, and flaming eyes piercing through it, staring at her. Fangs bared themselves, gleaming in an unseen light, before flashing towards her. She shook her head, and again the voice came.

You had to lose in order to gain. One mortal eye lost, a spirit one found.

"What are you talking about..." Her voice was raspy and soft after her scream. The voice became silent then, as she heard the sound of footsteps heading towards her...

So interesting I like it! :D

Burke was close to being murderous. It was weird to go from having a happy family running around him from panic and despair of one of the children being injured. This was not an injury that the princess would inflict on herself. She wasn't the one to self harm. In fact she seemed more keen on making herself look even prettier. Burke hated that he was so immobile and not being able to play the protector. If this was a lone wolf doing this, he would never forgive himself. But he didn't have the feeling that it was a loner who attacked. He suspected someone else. Grimnir.

The large tank wanted to help out in any type of way, so he had decided that he would stay with Potema. He was curled protectively around the teenage girl so she would stay warm and protected. Burke was often startled by the girl's screams. Each time his ears rung. But he didn't want to wake her, she needed her rest, although he doubted that nightmares would give her any type of rest. Finally the girl seemed to be awake. "Potema," he spoke and then licked over her cheek. He was the caretaker of the pack, ironically enough, so this was the perfect job for him now he was recovering himself. "I wasn't saying anything. You were screaming," he returned. "Can you tell me what your dreams were about?" Maybe they were connected to what happened to her. Who did this to her.

The white girl barely noticed that Burke was there. The warmth seemed to appear out of nowhere, now that she was fully aware that there was another person curled around her. She turned towards him, since his head was in the view of her newfound blind spot. Her remaining eye blinked away the clouds of sleep and nightmares.

"I don't..." She began, trying to recall what had just swept through her mind. She tried to grasp the thought, but it was pulled away from her too fast. "I don't remember." She didn't remember screaming, her dreams, or what took away her eye. It was a blank slate from there on.

Burke moved his nose towards her and licked over the cheek under her good eye. "It is alright, dreams have a way of escaping our minds sometimes," he justified. The large male wondered what would happen to the young girl now her vision had cut in half. He felt sad for her. She would always need someone around her. Hunting alone was already dangerous enough as it was with two working eyes. Luckily her nose still worked that would have been worse from her eyes she still had two.

The large male stayed around her. "I'm glad to have you awake. How are you feeling, can you remember anything from what happened?,' he questioned in a gentle manner. Of course it was all rather fresh, the poor girl. 

Potema's good eye shut halfway, a slight wince as the tank licked her cheek. She enjoyed the caress; it was comforting and reminded her of when she was young and frightened, and her mother would lick her gently until she calmed. It was very nostalgic, even though she did not know the meaning of the word. "I remember...a monster. It was big and scary..." The young girl saw a flash again, sharp white fangs and flame-like eyes. "I dunno what it was..."

Burke's large body stayed warmly wrapped around her. It seemed that the girl was relaxed enough and wanted to stay. Burke wanted to keep the young girl warm in the damp infirmary. Burke kinda disliked how he was back here, but it was Potema that made it durable. "Usually monsters are scary. Have you ever seen a cute monster?," he tried to joke to make the mood lighter for the girl. She lost the vision to one eye, and Burke would make it his job to make her learn to survive with it. "It's okay it is good you remembered something. Are you hungry?"

Potema pouted. Of course monsters were scary. She could not imagine a cute monster, unless... "Damien's a cute monster...I guess." She said, deadpan. Even though it was a joke, she just did not feel too into it. The pain bothered her to a point where nothing could make her smile. Not even a joke such as that. The trauma was depressing her.

Take comfort in that your assailant will be punished for his crimes, little one.

Potema paused for a moment, listening to the voice, so that she barely heard what he said. "What?" She blinked, but then realized what he had asked. "Oh, yeah. I am."

Burke actually did laugh about the the joke. He couldn't help it, the atmosphere had been so tense that he couldn't help but laugh. Damien was a cute monster. "Of that you are totally right," Burke returned with a chuckle. He slowly let it die out when Potema didn't laugh herself. A soft sigh left him. The caretaker nodded when Potema was hungry. This was good. 

Burke uncurled himself from around her, which would definitely make some of the heat go away his body as producing. He then moved out of the infirmary and to a nearest cache. He grabbed the freshest piece of meat and returned it to Potema. "Here you go," he spoke as he placed it by her feet. Potema might not have been his own, but ever since this happened Burke was starting to realize he saw the girl as his own daughter. 

The man left her, fetching the nourishment she needed to heal her eye. For a brief moment, the girl was left in silence and darkness. The familiar whispering voices that she was so used to came back, but they were fainter, weaker. This new, strong voice was pushing them out it seemed. But now, it was unnaturally silent. Potema whimpered slightly, upset to be alone in the deafening silence.

But she heard Burke's heavy footsteps, and soon the tank was back, a piece of meat in his mouth. She felt the hunger took over, her stomach growling even louder than the orange eyed monster. Her mouth slavered, and the princess tore into the meat like an uncivilized savage. She didn't look very regal now.  

trying to post on mobile bare with me lol

Burke sat down when Potema started eating. Although, it looked more like she was attacking it. The must have been hungry then. Burke wondered if he should get more for the hungry little girl. He moved out of her field of vision. For the first time he got a good look at her eye.

Her eye had lost color. Formally it was blue but now there was a blank haze over it. Burke didn't know the cause of the change of color. The scarring around her eye was curiously looking too. Maybe it hadn't been an accident. Potema was not a clumsy girl after all.

For a while, all Potema could focus on was the meat. She needed the sustenance, and plenty of it, if she was going to heal properly. When she had the thought of asking Burke for more and looked up, the young girl froze. He wasn't there.

On your left.

The girl's head swiveled towards Burke, her eyes wide with shock, fear, and overall restlessness that accompanied the feeling that someone was on her blind side. It was a new feeling, and a useful one, practically, but it made her feel sick. "Please don't do that..." She pleaded to Burke, shaking slightly. 

Burke watched how Potema trembled a bit and then he frowned. "Potema, others will use this as your weakness," he instantly informed. He didn't want to be mean but he had to point that out to her. "You have to rely on you rather senses like smell or ears," he pointed out. He was not going to keep out of Potema's blind side just to please her. That was not how things worked.

There had to be a way to get her adjusted to hr senses. Burke was already thinking of a specialized training, where he would learn her to listen to her other senses. He would offer that training to her once she had regained her strength. 

It was hard for her, to accept that she was missing half of one of the most vital senses that a wolf had. It made her feel ashamed, even though it wasn't her fault. "That will take awhile..." She murmured. Her mother had told her about rehabilitating injured wolves once, and how blinded wolves had to strengthened their other senses, like Burke said. But it took time, and Potema had not yet recovered from her trauma. It would be an arduous process, and the princess, regardless of trauma or not, did not want to be coddled just because of her injury. 

Burke nodded slowly. "But you can also already work on stenghtening those senses," he offered. "But take the time you need to recover. You know where to find me," Burke spoke. Somehow feeling a bit like a father, though a bit of a strict one. Burke sat down in front of her. "Do you want me to go? Or do you feel like resting again?" Basically asking if she wanted him to leave or be her pillow again. Burke felt like such a nice guy.

His large body was slowly recovering too. He was definitely doing better than before, and he had no mental issues to deal with like Potema. She would need to learn a whole new way of living.

It seems fitting to end it here. If you want one last post before I archive it, just slip one in.

Potema sighed, blinking with her one eye at empty space, before she turned to the carcass and began nibbling again. This time, it was absentmindedly, rather than out of ravenous hunger. She stayed silent for a long period of time, thinking random, unexplainable thoughts even after he asked her the question. "Stay." She looked up from the bones and peered at Burke. I'm afraid of being alone. She wanted to say, but it would make her look weak. And she wasn't. She was a strong princess, and she could get through this.

You will be more than just a princess after this..

Potema already knew what she was going to say. She had that in mind ever since the beginning.

A queen.

Definitely! I will archive this! <3

Burke had a feeling she might wanted him to stay and once she confirmed it he laid down with her. Curling next to the teenager so she had something soft to snuggle against. "Of course," he spoke. "You can always ask me to stay, alright?," he spoke more softly to let her know that. 

She might have Bane's white fur but there was definitely some Meldresi in there too. Now he got to know her mother better he could see the little things that Meldresi had too. He gave her a lick over the cheek she could see coming. A comforting one.