[m] Go for the eyes

WARNING: This thread contains material exceeding the general board rating of PG-13. It may contain very strong language, drug usage, graphic violence, or graphic sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.

Helena Troy Lykoi With the lights out, it's less dangerous
The darkness was all consuming on this night, both the land and her heart were shrouded and unclear, precariously balanced on the edge of something treacherous. The Salsolan dog-woman was hesitant and fearful as she approached from the west, this was almost certainly suicide if anyone caught her. She pulled close her cloak, the heavy black wool obscuring her lines and hiding her injured body. The few scratches and bites on her cheek and neck were covered by longer fur, still her hood was up and the brilliant Lykoi eyes watched nervously for any sign of a patrol. She had smeared the black and white stallion with charcoal so that he was black and grey and less easily seen. Their scents she could not do much to hide but she tried with lavender and pine firs. It was better than nothing and might give her a way to escape. The eerie stillness of the night set the fur on her back and neck to bristling. Her plan was very half-baked, but loyalty to blood was driving her, maybe they could avoid a war, if this was just a misunderstanding over a lost son. She did not want to meet Hope or Faith or Eire on the battlefield, or see them as a prisoner in Salsola's slavery, the very thought made her skin crawl. The hurt was still there, deep in her chest. The children that she had lost, not since leaving her mother had Helena felt such overwhelming sadness, although it did not compare to the sharp slicing pain that she felt. It was a strangled woe that she struggled to keep a grasp on, she could not afford to fall apart. The exotic painted femme took in a sharp gasp as the shadows moved and breathed it out in a kind of relief as she recognized it's scent, "Redtooth? Is zhat you?" Her voice quavered and shook, lacking much of the foreign twist. Fear was a horrible thing to taste on the tongue and it had never been sharper for she knew just how close to the edge she danced. "Speech". Thinking.
Word Count: [000]	Form: Optime	Date: 29/09	Ooc Dirge pp aproved

Table by Kitty

I'm going home
I wish I'd never seen your face

The war was escalating fast, and with the promise of violence coming to Inferni's doorstep within weeks (possibly days), Redtooth believed the time to protect his family had fallen upon him in the dead of night. The schoolhouse in which he, Vicira, and the twins lived was situated on the western border. It would be the first to come under fire if Salsola chose to march on their territory. The possibility, and while it was only a possibility, was worrisome enough.

Someone was to be stationed on the western border throughout the night, but Redtooth hardly thought it was enough.

Vicira and the twins slept soundly as Redtooth tossed restlessly beside them. He got up as quietly as he could and moved toward the bow and quiver he kept propped against the far wall. Boone stirred and uttered a displeased yawp. The others remained undisturbed.

"Daddy's gotta take care of somethin' buddy," Redtooth knelt down and whispered. "Back to bed you go." Satisfied, the boy toddled back over to his sister's side and rested his head against her flank.

Redtooth kept his bow ready as he approached the western border. His first thought was to inspect the archery stands which he had not maintained since the war with the Boreas wolves drew to a close. It was likely that something needed to be fixed.

The stands stood about six feet off the ground and provided adequate cover from enemy arrows, allowing one a safe vantage point to fire back. However, the stands here on the western border were not hidden from view by woods like the ones situated on the northern and eastern border. These were clear and obvious targets. Therefore, nearly useless.

Redtooth grabbed a rot-weakened wrung of the ladder leading upward and it gave out in his hand.

Then, he heard his name. The voice was both familiar and foreign. He had not heard it in sometime, but it stood out so distinct in memory.

"Helena?"

Redtooth turned toward the voice and lowered his bow.

Most of this is super rambly.

Helena Troy Lykoi With the lights out, it's less dangerous
Luck and fortune were with her tonight, although in bitterness she thought that it was a twisted luck. Why had this luck not extended to the entire horrible situation. Relief coursed as Redtooth's scrappy shaggy head came into view, it could as much easily been someone who would not hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later. The Lavender and Pine wrapped around her, hiding away what might have been used to distinguish her. The tremulous bonds of friendship held them tightly, for Helena at least. She would not - could not - hurt her friend, he had done nothing to her. Not Yet. The bitterness was there again on her tongue, as she tasted his scent and found it tampered with a female and with two new lives. She could discern the newborn milk scent and again felt a plunge of sorrow, of empty grief for her empty womb. "Et, is you. I am glad. Atteindre de étoiles." She used the name she had given him right at the start of their friendship, for a man she had watched climb a tree and then fall without grace or elegance from it's grasping branches. Reacher of Stars. Throwing back her hood, the bi-eyed woman peered at him with a sorrowful, mourning gaze, "What is 'appening? Zhey said zhere is to be war between us. I do not want zhis." Her sisters, her family, but the loyalty pulled her both ways. She had a family within Salsola now, two mates and two children at their hearth, to love and cherish. She was a part of the Thistle Kingdom, which suited her so much better than Inferni had done. "Speech". Thinking.
Word Count: [000]	Form: Optime	Date: 29/09	Ooc Dirge pp aproved

Table by Kitty

I'm going home
I wish I'd never seen your face

Against his better judgement, Redtooth let his guard down. He dropped his bow, letting it fall to the earth before shedding the quiver slung over his shoulder. Coupled with the fact that Redtooth did not know that Helena belonged to the Thistle Kingdom, he regarded her fondly as a friend. She was not his enemy. To bear arms against her would be an affront to his character. However, the war was still young, and Redtooth would soon find his convictions questioned.

Without thought, Redtooth slung both arms around her and wrapped her into a tight hug. "God -- Helena," he spoke. "It's so good to see you again." It had been months since she had left Inferni and Redtooth had not seen her since. Helena had been one of Redtooth's first friends among the coyote clan, but sadly their time spent together was cut short by her departure.

When he pulled away, he could see the tell-tale signs of anguish spread across her face. She spoke of war, and it meant only one thing. She belonged to Salsola now. Redtooth's fond smile faltered. "That's where you went?" he asked, shaking his head. "Ah, fucking shit." This wouldn't end well. The clan was rearing for an inevitable war. Salsola, it seemed, was preparing for the same.

Redtooth stepped back, huffed, and ran both hands through his messy hair in frustration. "Look," said Redtooth, "Vesper fucked up." There was no tip toeing around that fact, Redtooth figured. "Now a kid's dead, and people are callin' for blood." Omar's death had been the tipping point, and after seeing what they did to Nazario, Redtooth was ready to take on arms himself. "I seen what they did. It's bad, and some'in has to be done." He sighed. This had all gone too far.

"I got kids now Helena," he told her. "This ain't a climate I wanna raise them up in."

OOC drivel goes here.

Helena Troy Lykoi With the lights out, it's less dangerous
His hands were slung around her and her own clenched at him back. Their friendship had evolved quickly into friends with benefits, usually of the drunken kind. The pair of them engaged in similar hedonistic behaviors and it made sense they would be drawn together. Helena had disappeared so suddenly from Inferni's grasp that she was surprised he were not more angry with her. She had been gone for months without a word and it almost shamed her, she should have come to talk once she knew her father was dead. It was sadness that sparked, "Oui. The Thistle Kingdom is my 'ome." Those words might tear apart a friendship, it signaled the end of something. She would miss him and his funny quips, more than one... spicy encounter had been livened by his particular outlook and expressions. It brought a wry smile to her maw even now. Vesper's name sharpened her gaze, and she connected it with the injured Krios that she had seen about the Ruins. Helena did not want to believe that one of her pack-mates had attacked and killed a child but.. she could see some who struck her right that might commit such an act. "Oui. Me too.Two boys." They were Calla's but Calla was her mate and so they were her boys too. She tried not to think of the little ones that were gone. If I look back, I am lost. She leaned forwards and placed a hand on his arm, a firm grip, "Zhere must be a way.. something we can do. More will die." She frowned, distressed. "Speech". Thinking.
Word Count: []	Form: Optime	Date:	Ooc Blagh, this post is crappy!

Table by Kitty

I'm going home
I wish I'd never seen your face

He hated this, this bitter turn of circumstance. It made him feel helpless and small, as the only thing he could do was talk and air his concerns to Vicira. That he had done. Redtooth made his discontent with Vesper's direction for Inferni abundantly clear -- but the time for action had passed. A clan member was dead. The time for politics and power plays was over, nor was it Redtooth's game to play.

When she spoke of her own children, Redtooth felt something much akin to primal fear. He froze up, thinking the unthinkable for a moment. His mouth opened, but no sound came forth. Her hand on his arm pulled Redtooth back into reality and reason.

"Shit Helena," he breathed, shaking his head. "I've done everything I can." When a riderless horse returned to Inferni -- a black arrow imbedded in her flank -- Redtooth knew the die had been cast. There was nothing he could do. "I'm just a farmer. I ain't got no pull like that." Of course, he underestimated himself and his relationship to Vicira, and she was strong willed -- untamable (and he loved her for it).

But there was something else bothering him. "The kids," he started. "They ain't -- are they?" There had been a time, a short fling in the winter before Helena disappeared without a word. He needed to know.

OOC drivel goes here.

Helena Troy Lykoi With the lights out, it's less dangerous
There was tension that spiraled out, in the stiffness of the arm that she grasped. It was hopelessness too because they were both just singular voices amidst the crowds that bayed for blood, demanding recompense. Helena had even less of a say within Salsola than Redtooth did, she was just a female that liked to take notes and organize. "Zhere is nozhing I can do either." She shook her head, almost dislodging the hood that was pulled over her locks. Behind her, Nani neighed quietly and it echoed in a silence that went bone deep. A different tension assailed her now and his evergreen eyes peered into her odd ones, questioning and she returned a smile that was not there, teeth glinting in the low light of the moon. It was painful though, in her chest where the bleeding wound still stung, "Non, not yours." Three words released him from a bond that might have brought him with her, maybe. It was not something she wanted however, their relationship had been casual and brief, a port in the storm but that was all before they both set sail again. She owed him the truth of her disappearance, "I left because Basilio made me leave. I found zhe woman he had raped and zhe child he had forced on her." She grimaced, looking away from him towards a skull topped post, "'E threatened to kill me if I did not go, if I zaid anyzhing." "Speech". Thinking.
Word Count: []	Form: Optime	Date:	Ooc Blagh, this post is crappy!

Table by Kitty

I'm going home
I wish I'd never seen your face

In the time that Redtooth waited for Helena's answer, he felt as if his breath had somehow been stolen from him. The timeline -- her disappearance. It all made so much sense in those fleeting moments of tense silence; like it was some great and terrifying puzzle, and this was the final piece. His face was wrought with fear. Fear for what this would mean for his family here.

But she released him, and Redtooth could breath again. His relief was abundantly obvious, made clear with a sigh. "Okay," he said. Okay. The world was not ending. At least, not tonight.

She was quick to fill him in on the real reason behind her disappearance, now that Redtooth's panicked assumption was settled. "Wait? The Oompa-Loompa fucking raped someone?" He knew Basilio attacked Vicira for -- well, something. Redtooth didn't ask many questions, he just figured Basilio wasn't a good man; a bad egg in the bunch. But Rape? That was well beyond what he thought the little pigmy man was capable of. Running a hand through his dark hair, Redtooth shook his head and muttered, "Jesus Christ Helena.. I had no idea."

He didn't know what to say.

We should probs mark this mature..