night after night, we pretend it's alright

Artemis Marino · 04-04-2011, 11:47 PM

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wotd: dapple. 300+

It had, of course, happened again. Artemis had left Crimson Dreams the day after she had snapped at Cypress, only to verbally abuse a coyote from Inferni, the abuse returned equally. It had been difficult to isolate herself completely, but she very rarely left her room anymore. She was not safe to be roaming around the Dreamer pack lands, nor was she safe to be out in the open unclaimed territories. The girl of dappled silver tones feared the anger she felt deep within. She wanted to let it out and allow it to be free, but she could not risk hurting someone. It was less of a concern that she might hurt herself, but she worried about who she would lash out at next. The ones she avoided the most were her mother and Parker; she would never forgive herself for lashing out at either of them.

The lake was becoming a frequent haunt for her when she did venture outside of her room, usually a nightly occurence now. It was nearly dark now as the girl sat beside the lake, hugging her knees to her chest and burrowing her chin in the mix of her long mane and the scarf she was rarely seen without. In the near-darkness, her reflection was only just visible, but Artemis did not need to see it to know she looked pathetic. She was growing weaker and more frail, perhaps at as fast a rate as she had been when she was asleep for so long. The anger and hatred that boiled beneath her skin did not allow for her to take care of herself properly, and she did not wish to do so anyway. It wasn't right that she be strong and healthy while everyone else seemed to think Denali was dead. But she knew better, didn't she? He couldn't be dead.

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Pixie Frost · 04-08-2011, 01:05 AM

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Word Count: 405

After talking with Fia, Pixie had decided to go hunting near the lake. She spent most of the afternoon chasing after prey and failing to catch anything, save for a single squirrel that she decided to just eat herself for her evening meal. Shifting from her halfling form to her smaller, more comfortable four-legged body, she padded over to the shore of Lenape Lake to eat her meal and relax her tired muscles. She had come here a few times before for evening hunts, and she was willing to be out in the cold to see the first stars in the sky reflect off the surface of the lake. It was a beautiful sight, so much that, as she took her time to find a spot to lie down, she at first didn’t notice the fragile figure sitting on the shore.

When she did finally see the young silver wolf, it took her a moment to figure out that it was the leader’s daughter, the one who had fallen off the roof and spent weeks unconscious in one of the upper rooms of Haven Manor. That was partially due to the dim light of dusk, which her eyes were still adjusting to. But Pixie was also surprised by how skinny and frail she looked. There was plenty of food to go around, and since the girl was one of Savina’s kids, it was even more unlikely for her to look this underfed. Pixie wondered if she was still recovering from her fall, or if she, like the rest of the pack, was suffering from Denali’s sudden death. In any case, from the way she curled up into a little ball and hugged her knees, the girl looked like she needed a hug.

Since Pixie wasn’t even sure of the girl’s name, and giving her a hug would mean the blue-furred woman would have to go from four legs to two legs (which, at this point, she was way too tired and lazy to do), a hug would have to wait. But sharing a squirrel and talking for a while could work. Slowly padding over to the girl, Pixie sat down and greeted her with a simple, “Hey,” which was slightly muffled by the squirrel in her jaws. After setting her prey down, taking a small bite out of it, and awkwardly nudging it towards Artemis, she said, “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Pixie Frost.”

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Artemis Marino · 04-11-2011, 01:39 PM

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Sorry for the delay! <3

It was solitude she sought, a self-inflicted isolation from the members of the pack she loved and wished for nothing more than to feel at home in again. Artemis would never leave Crimson Dreams, she knew, but in recent times it had been in the back of her mind that perhaps she should go. Right now, she was nothing more than a time bomb ticking, ready to snap at the shortest bit of notice, and she did not want to hurt anyone here. The times she had snapped... It had surprised even her. Artemis could not feel it coming when it did. It would kill her mother, though, if she left, and perhaps that was the only reason she did not.

Fragile features did not turn to watch the other wolf approach, but the fur along the back of her neck rose as she waited for the inevitable greeting. She wished so much for isolation and it was infrequent that she received that unless she remained shut away in her room. "We haven't. Artemis," was all the silver-painted girl said in response. Of course they had not met, but the young Marino was willing to bet that this pack member knew of her. Everyone seemed to know of the daughter that had fallen and the adopted son's sudden departure and supposed death. There were no secrets in the land of the Dreamers.

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Pixie Frost · 04-16-2011, 10:03 PM

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No problem ^^ Word Count: 342

It was clear that Artemis did not want her here. Pixie understood that, to some extent; whenever she felt sad, she often sought isolation, or at least tried to be as far away from the problem as possible. But sometimes she also sought others, either those to share her grief or those to distract her from it. That was why she had visited Cercatori D’Arte a few weeks ago. But she knew that if she kept going there, then there would be no point in staying in Crimson Dreams, and as much as she enjoyed being with the pack of artists and the comfort Skye and the others had brought her, she didn’t feel like changing her allegiance right now. She had been a nomad for a good part of her life and felt the need to settle down, at least for a year or so. Other than her pack that she had grown up with, the longest time she had ever stayed somewhere at a time before she came to Crimson Dreams was about a month.

Again she took a bite out of the squirrel and nudged it towards Artemis, inviting her to share it. “I understand if you don’t want to talk,” she said after a moment. “I can’t imagine what sort of pain you’re going through. Denali was your brother, after all, wasn’t he?” Adoptive brother, but brother nonetheless, if Artemis was Savina’s daughter. And the fact that she hadn’t even been awake during the time he was missing must have especially hit her hard. Anyone could see that with one look of the girl’s malnourished body. Maybe it was just from her fall of the roof and sleeping for several weeks, but Pixie had a feeling there was some emotional connection to Artemis’s appearance. The blue-furred wolfess had met a few shamans and hippies in her travels and had learned from them about the connection between mind and body. A lot of them did seem a little nuts, but maybe that made them even better to listen to.

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Artemis Marino · 04-18-2011, 10:56 PM

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There was little Artemis could do aside from getting up and walking away without much of an explanation, but the silver-painted girl did not wish to leave the lake's shore. It had become a comfort to her in the days of corybantic emotions she had been subjected to. The lake had never held any extremely significant memories for the silver-painted girl, but she had come to find it calming and a decent place for solitude. Even if another Dreamer came by, they usually had their own agenda and could easily sit near a different part of the shore without much need for contact at all.

A tense moment passed for the girl in which neither spoke, but finally Pixie broke the silence. Once more, Artemis declined the offer of the squirrel that the woman had caught and was willing to share. Missa did not wish to eat, and if she did, it would in solitude like everything else she tried to do. Pale blue eyes, once so soft and bright but now destructive in nature, studied the soft ripples of the lake. Denali had, of course, been a loved member of the pack, just as much as any of Savina's blood brood were. That everyone seemed willing to accept that he was dead simply angered Artemis so much that she could hardly stand it.

"My best friend," she corrected, "and he'll come back soon, I'm sure, and I'll have to scold him for leaving me here, but then he'll tell me all about his great adventure." The words seemed like ones that would be filled with excitement, but her tone remained listless.

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Pixie Frost · 04-24-2011, 01:59 AM

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Word Count: 331

Purple eyes narrowed as Artemis again declined the offer of food, which she seemed to desperately need. “Well, suit yourself…” muttered Pixie, taking another nibble out of the squirrel. She was hungry after using up her energy to hunt, and would have liked to have gobbled the whole thing down, but didn’t in case the girl changed her mind and decided she wanted some. She wondered if her mother had noticed how unhealthy she looked, then remembered that Savina and the rest of Denali’s family—which was pretty much the entire pack—were still grieving heavily as well. But none of them seemed to be suffering as much as the skinny female here at the lakeshore.

“Best friend,” she echoed, a feeling of guilt further rising under her fur. “Right, that too.” For heaven’s sake, why did she always feel the need to stick her nose in where she shouldn’t? Pixie knew she was only making Artemis feel worse, and she was about to pick up the squirrel and slowly leave when the girl’s next words stopped her in her tracks. It took a moment for the blue-furred female to realize exactly what she was saying, but even when she did she was speechless. Did Artemis truly believe that Denali wasn’t dead? That he was just out for a picnic or something? Pixie knew that the girl had been asleep for a long time, but surely she couldn’t doubt what everyone else in the pack knew was true. His body had not been found, but the murderer had not denied that she had killed Denali.

“Artemis, I don’t know if you’ve realized…” She let out a long sigh. “Denali was killed, and I know it’s difficult to believe, but everyone else knows it to be true. Ask anyone—ask your mother, or ask Parker, because she almost got killed too. Everyone knows what happened, and I know you were asleep then, but you can’t seriously think everyone is lying or something?”

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