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All welcome for those involved in Conri's new pack. Takes place in CT, then on the border between Moaning Woods and Storm, close to the Unexplored.
___Smoke. Suffocating, strangulating smoke... Anya's eyes opened wide as she sat bold upright in her den. Outside, there was fire. How had she slept so long? It was creeping closer, and for a second, she was frozen in terror and confusion. What had caused this? How far had it spread. No time for thoughts. She was up within moments, and as she shoved the few things that had been out of her bag into it -- a book, and her jacket -- she wondered if anyone else was even alive. Her body moved with the type of strength and agility she'd not dug from the depths of herself since before her mother died. Even the long trek to these lands had not required this type of speed. Her breathing was ragged as she threw her bag over her shoulder, silently grateful for having passed out with all her clothes on. She barely paused to look around. The den was empty. Her body moved. She was out before she realised she was running.
___This fire, it wasn't a game. Life or death. Survival of the fittest.
___She struggled to find her way around flame and falling trees. She fled first towards the Northeast, running clear into her grandmother's grave. Tears in her eyes, she knew she couldn't stay. "I love you, Gran'mama," she whispered, choking on thick black smoke, then ran. Ceres wouldn't have wanted her to burn in order to stay. She ran the other way. There was only water to the East, she knew, meaning she would have to run towards the South or the West. As she ran, she decided she should go West, and changed her direction accordingly. At some point, her breathing became too laboured to withstand the increasingly heavy smoke. She tore off a piece of the bottom of her shirt and held it over her muzzle, filtering the smoke out of the air she needed to survive. Survival, that was what mattered. She was pretty good at that, as it was. She tore through the burning lands as quickly as she could, but 'quick' was a relative term. Everything was relative now. Nothing was stable. Nothing was ever stable.
___In a blur, she wondered if she would be the only one left alive.
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[html]  Conri had been just outside of the lands when the flames started, the glow in the distance catching his eye. He knew exactly what it was, he could smell it coming in he air. As fast as three legs could carry him, he rushed forward to the lands, ears back and heart thumping in his chest. It was only when he reached the borders that the panicked cries from their Alpha reached his ears. This was happening all to fast. Pushing aside his own fear for their future, Conri began in his own chorus of howls and coyote-like yips. Someone might hear him, hopefully. It was a call directing them to head southwest, a small area that he had come across in his travels back to Bleeding Soul's, which should potentially lead them to safety.
Conri didn't follow his own direction though, instead he barreled straight in to the burning lands of their home. He had to make sure Naniko made it out of the lands safely, even if it meant burning alive himself. He raced for the den, barking out loudly as he neared. "Naniko! We have to get out of here!"
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you calm the storms, and you give me rest... [ooc] [bic] ...you hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
Naniko stood outside, looking toward the smoke. She was in compete shock...barely able to even process what was going on. She knew that she would be okay, but she was worried about the rest of the pack. Where was Laruku? Maybe he hadn't made it. She didn't like to think that way, though; she wanted to believe that everyone from the pack would make it to a safe place very quickly. The healer already had all of her essentials, the herbs...but there was so much more that she wanted to take. She wasn't strong enough to take everything else, though...but she grabbed a few old books that Physe had given her, shoving them into the pack along with everything else. She knew that she had to do something. She couldn't just flee...she felt obligated to look for those who might be hurt. She had this feeling, this awful premonition that there was someone out there that needed her help. Conri came running toward her and she shook her head at his words. "Go. I will meet you there, I promise. I just need to check to make sure that there isn't anyone that's hurt...you understand, don't you? I can't just leave. It'll take an hour. If I don't meet you before then, then come looking for me. But please don't follow. I don't want you to get hurt." She hoped that he would understand. She reached for him, giving him a quick kiss before she turned back, running as fast as she could away from home.
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Figured I'd reply to this now? If not, it can be deleted and I'll reply whenever I've supposed to. This thread and the 'merge' thread are Anya's beginning in using the name 'Anka' so... sorry if the names get slippery. Slight powerplay; Amber, lemme know if it's not okay.
___The fire was consuming so much. In some places, she heard others call out to each other. There was nobody for her to call out to, and nobody to call out to her. Suddenly, something occurred to the girl, and she sped back towards the fire-consumed Clouded Tears. She needed to get Jasper. He might not be okay. What if he was trapped, or too scared to run? She couldn't let her little brother burn. Vaguely, she laughed. Not so long ago, she wouldn't have been willing to call him that, or refer to any of the de le Poer monsters as family. But something like forgiveness had settled over her. It wasn't Jasper's fault any more than it was hers, that Ahren was twisted and sick, or that Damian had been before him. It wasn't either of their faults, the deeds he'd done, and so he was family. He was the same as her, in many ways. Trapped in a name and a bloodline that went against him at every turn. He might need her. Should God exist, may he rest Jasper's soul, because Ahren wouldn't save Jasper any more than he'd save her.
___She was nearly there when she ran into a male. Her eyes widened. It seemed that someone had just left, and she blinked and backed up a second. Someone else. Alive? Apparently, he was still upright. She spoke before she could think, everything swirling, and her voice was muffled against the cloth she held over her muzzle. "You're alive!" She paused, knowing that wasn't what she'd meant to say. "I thought I was the only one," she added, then looked at CT, which was rapidly crashing down. Even if she'd known where Jasper's den was, there was no chance of finding it, let alone finding Jasper alive if he were still there. "I came back for my brother," she said quickly. "Seems, whether alive or dead, he'd be gone by now though." Her voice, as muffled as it was, quavered slightly in fear. "He'll be all right, he's a big boy. We'd best run." All these words were coming out full speed, barely a pause between them, and suddenly, she realised that, care about this male or not, they had to go. Now. And she wouldn't leave anyone behind.
___She grabbed his arm, pulling at him. "I know it's not polite, but wildfires don't wait for manners. I'm Anka. What's your name? Are you hurt?" She hoped not, because wildfires didn't wait for injuries, either, and she wasn't sure she could carry him. It didn't even occur to her that she'd just used her mother's name for her, from when she was younger, before she had become Anya because it was 'more normal' than Anka had been. "Anyone else with you?" She pulled his arm, and they ran. She waited for answers, but they mostly weren't relevant at all. Escape was important. They were escaping. Besides that, everything else was small talk... Maybe to try to put him at ease, or maybe just to make her feel less alone. Whatever the reason, it too was irrelevant.
___The world wouldn't stop. So neither could she.
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we launch ourselves into the bright::in character
As she legged it down from Storm, to the south, as Pilot had instructed, the smoke grew worse and the flames drew nearer and Nocht began to doubt the veracity of his instructions. She was coming nearer the flames now, not further away as he'd instructed, but as she travelled down the incline that would take her to Moaning Woods she began to hear the calls and barks of others and her anxiety lessened a little. Even still, the smoke tore at her eyes and cinders began to alight on her coat, burning tiny patches of fur, adding its own stench to the potent cocktail of smells and sometimes she drew so near the flames she imagined she could feel the heat billowing off them. In her mouth the bow was bulky and unwieldy, but she daren't leave it behind. It took her long enough to find it, even with help from the black coated wolf with eyes the colour of gold, and she had been so pleased with it once she had finally gotten to fire it. She'd never gotten the other items on her list, the one that she had reeled off to Valentine that day, her book and the clothes, but she'd managed to re-string the bow and fishing rod and then had had to leave the rod behind anyway, with the map of Bleeding Souls she had picked up on a whim as well. She suspected the map would do her no good now anyway.
As she reached the border of Storm, finally, she veered away to the west, following the voices she heard in the distance, feet pelting the ground. She was slowed by her injury, but even so three legs were faster than two and she skidded to a halt as she ran right by two figures in the darkness of the shadows and the smoke. She knew she should keep moving, but some guilty part of her, the part that had ran from Storm with nary a second thought for Phoenix or anyone else who might have been stuck kept her there for as long as she might dare. "You a'right?" She shouted out, muffled by the bow held between her jaws, but otherwise comprehensible. She stood poised and keen to keep running for the hills, but waiting for a response.
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