And At Last, I See the Light...

Skye Collins · 01-08-2011, 06:52 PM

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here we go! wc: 410

Skye couldn't believe she had been so ridiculously stupid. She sat in the middle of Ethereal Eclipse, just as dusk was approaching. The stars were coming out one by one, and the log she sat on was covered in snow that glistened beautifully in the crystalline light. But she didn't notice, didn't care. She sat with her head in her hands, and tears were silently rolling down her face. How had the day come to this? How had it all come to this? First, everything was fine... then... the thing with Shawchert... and the fight... and Bangle...

Bangle...she always knew he'd leave, in the end. But she thought...he would at least tell her before going. He had been trying to sneak away, had been trying to be secretive about it, and she knew why. She was nothing special to him, just another woman in his life. There had probably been so many in his life he didn't know how to count them all. She was nothing special at all, and she was stupid for thinking she was. He had yelled at her, asked her for a reason to stay, and what had she blurted out?!

That she loved him?!

In the time between meeting him and the scene at the lake, they had been together a lot - had become almost best friends in that time. And something had grown in there, and Skye...Skye grew to love the coywolf, and now he was leaving her. She wasn't special to him and she never would be...but he would always be special to her.

It didn't matter now. None of that mattered now. She could imagine the disgust and disbelief on the usually happy Bangle's face, could imagine him packing the rest of his things and leaving Cercatori d'Arte, the pack, her pack, forever. He would never come back, and she would never see him again, because she should have known that he didn't love her and never would have. It was just one of the games that he played...that his type played...and she couldn't believe herself, couldn't believe that she let herself become a pawn in that game. She thought she was tougher and stronger and smarter than that.

Well, obviously not. Obviously she was just stupid. She sighed, and puffs of white air rose from her mouth, rising up with the dancing fireflies.

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Bangle Guffawri · 01-08-2011, 07:13 PM

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Just for records sake, this takes place at night, just after the confrontation. 763 words. :3 Squeal!

The night that fell on the land of 'Souls seemed unlike any other. The stars that began to sparkle in the sky reflected the moonlit white of snow that covered every inch of the eclipse. A lone shadow found himself in a clearing of the forest, his mind still buzzing with events from the day. He uttered out a single word into the cool, clean air, his breath misting out before him. "Skye!" He would call, and repeat with more desperation every few moments. His head turned this way and that, searching for the fiery headed female that he had grown fond of.

But isn't this what he wanted? The coywolf had intended to leave all along, after meeting some people, trading some goods, and even possibly fulfilling other needs. But it wasn't how he had planned it at all. Bangle Guffawri had fallen in love, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not. Gray furred feet moved diligently, looking for the orange and cream female that had run away from his household not long ago. Had she really meant what she said, when he barked at her angrily? Had she really loved him?

It wasn't impossible, perhaps other females in the past had loved the traveling salesman when he lay with them. But it wasn't the same this time, not in the least. Someone fell in love with more than just his merchant like charm, she fell in love with his smile, his jokes, his stories. No other had really cared for all that, they merely admired him for the physical aspect of him. Bangle's muscles were toned from years of walking around, and constantly working at what he loved, but now... now he just needed to find Skye.

The clearing opened up into what looked like a picture perfect setting. The stars were just about to gleam overhead, and one by one the lightning bugs came out from the frost-laced blades of grass, flitting and buzzing around. Bright orange eyes scanned the scene, yelling out the name that he hoped hadn't disappeared from him forever. "Skye!" He said, hands cupped to his lips as he called out. What was the use? Even if she was here, she wouldn't answer. He had treated her like all the others - like dirt. If only he had the chance to explain that the gypsy just couldn't be taken out of him, that every time he saw her.. he had to run. The pain in his heart from seeing pure white fur, or even a flash of russet in the distance, made him squirm and look the other way.

Bangle was tired of running, he knew that now. The voice in his head that spoke to him as he was packing things from within the shack was no longer gone, and replaced by the beating of his heart, and what he should have done all along. It was harder for the coywolf than anyone could understand, but if he found the pack's co-leader, if he could only tell her anything - no, everything - then what? Would she ask him to leave? Would he be forced to depart from a pack that, for once, he never wanted to leave? Cercatori d'Arte didn't just 'seekers of art' to Bangle - He sought home.

Further into the clearing, the fireflies began to illuminate all around him. The grasses became taller, too, and reached up to his thighs. He parted the grass carefully with his right hand, in the other holding the sparkling rose he had meant to give to Skye in the first place. Suddenly, his nose found her. Or it might have been him going crazy with mixed emotions. The male nearly ran through the grass, sure that if the female was around, she would've heard and scented him coming.

The traveler finally stopped a few feet away from his target, the object of his affections, who sat on a log and had her face buried in her hands. Her shoulders heaved with sobs, ones that Bangle helped to create. Orange yellow eyes softened, looking at the ghastly scene before him. And yet she looked hauntingly beautiful, with the little glowing bugs darting here and there, sometimes landing on the log she sat on, too. To Bangle, she had never looked more beautiful, or more lit up, than now. How he wished he hadn't caused such grief - it only reminded him of the incident back home. Only this time, it wasn't a game. "Skye.." He whispered to her, keeping the distance between them.

Skye Collins · 01-08-2011, 07:28 PM

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woo! wc: 414

Suddenly, Skye heard a voice out in the distance call her name - it did twice within the same minute. It sounded like...like...no. She couldn't think about him anymore. He was gone, went away, left her because he didn't love her and never would, never would love her like she loved him. She couldn't think about him anymore, that would just cause more pain. But she could hear his voice calling out her name, for some reason...was it true? Or was her mind playing tricks on her? Was her nose playing tricks on her, too, as she scented the sweet smell of the coywolf? And did her ears play tricks, too, as she heard the desperate crunching of leaves and snow nearing towards her, like frantic footsteps...trying to find her?

She suddenly heard a soft voice next to her, and she dared open her eyes and turn her head, lifting it from her hands. It was true. Bangle, the coywolf that she had so easily fell in love with for who he was, had come back - or perhaps he had not truly left at all. A single word escaped his lips: 'Skye..."

She didn't want to trust him. Not now. She should have seen that he was going to leave...she should have seen that he didn't love her, that he never would love her. Oh, he'd love her, perhaps, she thought bitterly, like Shaw had loved Orin, but he would have just left and where would she be? Nowhere! She didn't want to trust him, but she loved him...the feelings tossed and turned in her mind, creating a tumultuous sea of emotions that couldn't be calmed. She just wanted to bolt away from the coywolf and into the night forever, but she knew that couldn't be the case. That wasn't the case. She couldn't run away from her duties as a co-leader now. She couldn't wallow in self-pity. She had to take charge of her life. And she started by looking Bangle in the eye.

"You left."

It wasn't an accusation, but a statement - he left. Or, he was going to. If she had never caught him in the act of trying to run away, would he have stayed at all? Or was this simply a show, an act, to get Skye off his back once and for all? Bitter feelings swept through her.

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Bangle Guffawri · 01-08-2011, 07:54 PM

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710 words.

He could not, would not, peel his eyes away from her. She was sad, and he knew it was because of him. Large ears swiveled to the back of his decorated head, was this how it was with the other handful of females he encountered? It couldn't have, for he never felt anything for them past the physical need. No one had ever told Bangle how to act, or how to feel, when something like this happened. But now, everything looked different, he was looking through orange eyes in a new way at the female before him, who lifted her head up and looked blankly at him.

Her words, though they sounded empty, hit him like a boulder to the head. It hit his core, and the coywolf nearly had to gasp for air, as he felt his chest was being compressed, suffocated. She blinked in the starlight, and only the sound of the fireflies buzzing kept the air from being silent. He opened his mouth to speak, at first, but for the first time.. the merchant was at a loss for words. All that came out was a choke of his voice, before he looked away from her and to the snow covered ground, clearing his throat. "I left to look for you," he said. The words were strange on his tongue, foreign, but they seemed like the right thing to say.

When he turned his head back to her, the glow from the fireflies surrounding them seemed to have lifted any fog of doubt from his mind. His eyes nearly widened, as if coming to a realization. His eyes sparkled as he took in all of her entirely, simply staring, almost seeing past her. What went on through his mind, however, was much more complicated than the look he was giving. All of his years, he had been traveling, but from more than he thought. His past years were a blur, then, never truly seeing things the way they were. Bangle was merely running from his problems, from unresolved conflicts, from feelings that should have been established long ago. But he merely shrugged them all off, living as carefree a life that any wolf could have asked for. He had traveled the world, seeing many places and several faces, but it was then, there in the snowy clearing, he had been looking for her all along.

Now it was as if he was seeing the light for the first time. The world of darkness and obliviousness he had been living in was ebbing away, like rays of sunlight drifting into the darkest of caves. Bangle blinked, and suddenly his insides felt warm, and nearly glowing from the light that was beginning to shine within him. "Skye, I was wrong," he admitted to her, something he would've never imagined himself saying. He took a step forward, but then froze, deciding any closer would break the moment. "But I-- you.." The coywolf couldn't finish his sentence, as he gazed directly into her chocolate eyes.

He felt frustrated, then, his only free hand balling up into a fist. Why wasn't he able to communicate everything to her? The male never had a problem when it came to customers, when it came to selling wares that he made himself from anything he could find. So why, then, wasn't he the Slickmaw that the lands knew him as? His muzzle turned towards the grasses in the clearing, seeing how serene the clearing looked, as the last traced of sun settled behind the mountains. "I don' want t' run anymore," came the whisper, warm breath misting out into the night as he spoke.

The coywolf couldn't seem to sort his words out, and he ventured a glance over to Skye once more. "Did y' really mean what ya said?" He didn't have to explain his question, he knew she would understand what he meant. For a moment, he thought he was the one being played tricks on, instead of the other way around. But the look in her milk chocolate eyes told him otherwise. Without her having to say anything, they were filled with emotion, and they spoke only the truth - the truth Bangle had been running away from all of his years.

Skye Collins · 01-08-2011, 08:14 PM

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wc: 463

He left to look for her. That was what he said as he seemed to search for more words to say. None came, obviously. Skye had never seen the coywolf at such a loss for words - he had always had a witty comeback, a funny story, a good joke. A comforting word. But now, he seemed like there was nothing he could say. It almost made Skye want to take him in her arms and hug him...but did he really mean what he said? Had he really left...to look for her? Golden and brown hues locked together as they stared at each other's eyes. Skye couldn't look away from the vibrant hues in her love's eyes that seemed to match the golden glow that the fireflies gave off as they blinked on and off in the night. It was like the time at the lake all over again - she was seeing him in a new light, only this light was good.

She saw as his eyes sparkled and they widened, staring right at her - but they seemed to stare through her, too. She wasn't sure what to say, but sitting...sitting wasn't the way to do this, not now. She slowly stood from her perch on the log, dusting off any snow that had fallen on her lap. She slowly stepped towards Bangle, her feet lightly touching the floor as she made her way towards the coywolf, her head slightly cocked. What, exactly, was he trying to say? She stopped a few inches from him, no doubt making him more nervous. Good! He deserved to be nervous!

Anger, however, ebbed away as he assumed his rough and choked up apology. He was wrong, he said - he didn't mean what he did. He wasn't able to complete his sentence, the one where he...she...what? What was this person trying to say? She looked into his eyes, and felt her anger slowly draining away until there was none left. He had been wrong to run away from his troubles, but he hadn't run away - he had come back, for her. To say this. To say these words and to comfort her and to make her stop being sad and crying...he had left, but he had also come back. She realized that she believed him when he said he didn't want to run anymore. He didn't want to run from the pack, from his home...from her?

And then he asked if she really meant what she said. Her mind traveled back to the fight they'd had, when she had blurted out that she loved him before dashing off and coming here. Had she meant that?

"Yes," she whispered. "I did."

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Bangle Guffawri · 01-08-2011, 08:33 PM

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408 words. AHHHHH! My little man!

The world seemed to shift, just then, and perhaps the female before him had felt it, for she got up and moved towards him, as he too moved towards her. They were brought together again, inches from each other, just like the time at the oasis. But there was no water in between them now, there was only the feelings that were slowly coming to surface, and brought to light. His heart was in his throat and in his stomach all at once, noting the same emotions he felt when they were pressed this close to one another a few moons back. His face softened, looking at her in an entirely different light.

Her next words seemed to set off the spark in him that ignited the flame. The bright, beautiful, orange flame. That itself seemed to glow in his own orbs just then, looking almost puppy like and innocent and.. new, as she spoke those words of truth. Bangle understood, then, as she spoke, that he was merely chasing down daydreams, yet his feet were always pointing him in the right direction. Bangle was chasing after her that night, and how could be disobey the feet he so trusted?

His only free hand glided up to her face, to cup it gently. The other firmly clutched at the rose in the other, which he slipped behind his back, hidden from her view. The eyes were the windows to the soul, that much the traveler was beginning to understand. He glanced down at Skye, feeling the warm, smooth fur under his fingertips. "I've been around th' world," he began, staring into the very depths of her face. "But I finally found what I've been lookin' fer." He spoke at her directly, gulping in mouthfuls of air. His heart was beating in his ears, or perhaps it was hers; he didn't know, nor did he care.

"I see th' light, now. I.. I l--" Bangle paused. All at once, everything was different. A good kind of different. "I love you." The words were strange on his tongue, but as both their hearts beat against eachother, like a well tuned drum, it was right. Everything about it felt and sounded right. And with that, he leaned his head down to kiss the orange and cream marvel before him - a move that would finally change his life; one that would finally give the gypsy meaning to travel no more.

Skye Collins · 01-08-2011, 08:41 PM

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wc: 308

Skye's heart leapt and melted as Bangle spoke the words that she had been waiting for him to say since the day at the lake, since she had realized that the feeling in her chest rising was more than nothing. The nothing that she had thought it was. And as she kissed him softly, then wrapped her arms around him, she realized that this moment was what she had been waiting for all her life. This moment was the one that was changing her life, and his - he would no longer be a traveler, she knew. He didn't want to leave. He was going to stay, with her, in Cercatori d'Arte...the pack...her pack...their pack...

All this was told in that one kiss that they shared that night, the snow on the ground glistening and shining in the light of the stars and the fireflies, who danced about in circles around them, like they knew what was happening and were cheering for the moment that ended and began their lives at the same time. Were cheering for the moment that Skye would never forget. It was different from the kiss on the lake - that had been something in the heat of the moment, that sent sparks along her tongue and her spine and had made her grab onto him uncontrollably - but now, now, this kiss meant something. It meant all the world, all the world to her and to Bangle, she thought.

She slowly, slowly pulled away after two long minutes of the pure bliss that she had experienced on the lake, only better...she breathed in his scent and cupped his face in her hands. "I love you, Bangle," she said, solidifying those words that she had said in a panic by his house. She loved him.

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Bangle Guffawri · 01-08-2011, 09:02 PM

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538 words. Check out that sexy heart there! <3!

All at once, he was on the ground and yet light as air, when that moment of contact finally happened. A light wind picked up at just the right moment, sweeping them up and pushing both their bodies together. He, a traveler, and she, his home. The fire in his eyes were completely lit, now, and sparkled brighter in his face without help from the fireflies around them. It seemed as if the lightning bugs were dancing around them, creating spirals into the air and dancing in celebration of what was happening, and more. They glowed brighter and brighter, creating swirling patterns of yellow light around the most unlikely pair.

He was swept into the depths of orange and cream and chocolate, and it was too much to take in that the coywolf had to close his eyes. But even through closed lids, he saw the light, in more ways than one. He tasted sweetness and felt velvet soft arms envelop him, begging him closer. In this very moment, never again would he get up and walk, not from his problems, not from the pack that took him in, and most certainly not from the female who created oceans of feelings in him.

When he opened his eyes to the world again, his world, all he saw was her. All he felt and tasted was her. Her hands never left him as they grabbed both sides of his face, forcing him to see only the sky. That's all he wanted to see, and suddenly the grin found its way back onto his face. That smile that everyone was familiar with, but now it was laced with something else, something special. He brought out his hand that held the glass rose, and put it in between what space they had between them for her to see with her own eyes. It reflected all its beautiful, crystal colors, along with its reds and greens, playing along both their bodies.

"In all my days, never 'ave I seen a sky so beautiful," his voice, strangely different, whispered to her in the glow of the fireflies' light. He kept the grin plastered on his face, wondering if she'd catch the play on words he used. Bangle knew the female would know what he meant, and the rose that he encountered when they first met - he connected it to them, it had meaning all its own. Surely it meant as much to him as it would Skye.

His heart spoke for him, now, not the hissing voice in his head. Whether he came to the realization now or later, Bangle was taking a bigger leap than he ever thought possible. But the traveler could no longer walk away from anything, he could not live without the russet beauty any longer. She was his comfort, a home that he so desperately needed. He was glad she had awoken him to his mistake before he made it again. Maybe they would see the world together, someday, but no longer could Bangle see himself traversing the lands alone. The thorns could never be without the rose. "Say yeh'll be a home fer this wanderin' heart," he breathed, twirling the multicolored glass object between his fingers.

Skye Collins · 01-17-2011, 01:18 PM

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sorry for the delay! wc: 328

The fireflies danced around them in a circle of light, seeming to know what was happening with the strange, yet perfect pair. In Skye's eyes - they were perfect, together. Perfect forever. She knew that no matter how much Bangle got on her nerves, no matter how much she may get annoyed at him, no matter how much offal he removed from animals and stuck their pelts in books and put their skulls on his weird little staff, she would always love this coywolf that had so nonchalantly wandered into her life a gypsy and came out as the one she'd be with forever.

The coywolf then grinned, the grin that had drawn her into him in the first place, the grin that everyone knew. Only this time, there was something else there - a different look in his gleaming orange eyes. Slowly, he brought his hand between them, and Skye looked down; there, there was the rose that he had been showing off in the sun the first day they met. It was the first thing they had shared together - that rose, which had then sparkled and glistened in the golden streams of sun, was now doing the same in the light of the fireflies and the moon. Reds and greens reflected off its surface, and Bangle spoke in a low voice - he had never seen a sky so beautiful, had he?

She returned her eyes to his face as he asked if she would be home for his heart - the heart that would wander away no more, she knew. He was here to stay.

The creamy-white wolf with the blazing red hair said not a word, but clasped both her hands over Bangle's; the one that held the little glass roes that was so small and yet represented so much to them both. She leaned closer to the coyote-wolf hybrid, her love, until her muzzle was barely inches away from his ear. "Yes."

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