Quelling the storm

Leonard · 04-11-2011, 04:26 AM

OOc: Sorry I was so late! D: I didn't note down to start ><
Time: 6:00am
Area: Silver Showers

Leon quietly paced down the bank of Silver Showers. He had noticed that whenever he happened to think of the body of water, he felt a pull at his heart. He learned to ignore it of course, but today... He continued walking the perimeter of the falls, staring intently at the falling water. The timber was feeling down today. Much more than usual.

His thoughts drifted back to when he had awakened, after having another dream of his family. Thankfully, he hadn't screamed out as he had in his uncles home, which lead to him leave and live on his own, which brought a sigh to his lips. These nightmares had plagued him since he had first slept after his pack was all but wiped out. He stopped and closed his eyes, running the images through his head...

Leonard was panting heavily as he sprinted through the dark tunnel. But it wasn't physical exhaustion that fatigued him. It was fear. Gut wrenching fear of what was happening outside, the sounds of yipes, howls, barks, and cries of agony, pain, anger, sorrow... It all seemed to blend together into a single incomprehensible din. Leonard's eyes focused on the tail of his larger twin, Phoenix, who was leading the pack of young pups, too young to fight, through the system of natural tunnels to the safety of another den. But their luck seemed to evaporate right before their eyes, as two adult Mexican wolves came barreling into the tunnel ahead of them.

Phoenix turned his head and his eyes flashed. "There is only one way through! We can't run! Just do what you can, damn it!" He called to the others, running towards the adults without pause. Leonard had faltered for a second, but was right beside his brother when he hit the first adult. Only a few of the other pups came forward, the rest scrambling away through random tunnels, leaving only Phoenix, Leonard, and twelve pups against the stronger adults, who growled and bit back without pause.

After a minute of crazed fighting, the inexperienced puppies simply latching onto the adults necks, ears, and feet, Brendan came running, smashing the first wolf, who had snatched a four month old into his jaws, straight into the cave wall with a resounding crunch. While the first wolf whimpered and squirmed in pain, Brendan tackled and killed the second. Brendan looked around quickly and smiled at Leon and Phoenix, who were smiling as well.

The next thing Leonard saw was Brendan lying on the tunnel floor, his muzzle open, blood pouring out of it. His playful eyes, dull and lifeless. Silvia came running into the tunnel as well, but was torn apart by a large shadow that hovered opposite Leonard and Phoenix. Other familiar faces of the pack came running in, falling dead and piling up before the twins, until there was no room left for more to stack up. The shadow seeped through the corpses and latched onto Phoenix's legs, dragging him towards the corpse pile, which began to squirm and come to life snapping and clawing at the larger twin.

Leonard lunged forward grabbing his brothers scruff and pulling back. Still, they got closer and closer to the re-animated corpses, until Leonard was suddenly struck hard in the face, sending him flying. Blood dripping down his chin, he looked up towards the shadow to see his dead father and mother, who ripped Phoenix's head off his body.

Leon shouted and fell to his knees, clutching his head tightly as it throbbed. His breath came in short raspy gasps, and he felt tears streaming down his face. He curled into a ball on his knees, he forehead digging into the pebbles. The Timber shouted at the top of his lungs, roaring in pain.

Shaking, in pain and from lack of breath, Leon whispered to the ground, to the water, to the trees, "Why am I alive...?"

Savina Marino · 04-15-2011, 05:26 PM

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No worries at all! <3 This is the longest post I've written in a LONG time o.o Don't worry, the next one will not be this long, I can guarantee you XD

She had failed at climbing the Highrocks the first time she had tried, needing to abandon the futile effort and save Anu from the pull of the Lenape river. It had ended up being for the best, but she had not been able to get the thought of the towering cathedral of rocks out of her mind since that day. The day before she had traveled to the place again, crossed the river, and stood staring up at the heights for a long time. Finally, as she had before, she delicately placed Denali's mask upon the first and shortest outcrop of rock and tried to climb it. The woman was met with just as much success as before, and that was to say none. With how tight her muscles still were, it was impossible to do this in her four legged form. Savina had not made any attempts to shift since the fight, but surely now she would be able to? The Consul sat and willed the change of her body. It took longer than she was used to, and there was pain in it where the scars on her shoulder, ribs, and thigh stretched. The transformation finished with her kneeling and panting. She had done it though.

When she regained some strength she checked to make sure none of the scars had reopened, and thankfully they hadn't. Shakily the alpha stood, though was careful about putting too much of her weight on her left leg. Slender fingers touched the scar on her thigh were the bone dagger had stabbed deep into her flesh, the same dagger that had spilled her son's blood and ended his life. Savina sighed heavily, but walked to the rocky outcrop and climbed on top of it. Lovingly she picked up Denali's mask and pulled it over her head, the metal of the mask resting on the waves of her hair that covered her shoulders and back. Then she began to climb, slowly, but higher and higher. By the time night fell she had not reached the top, but had still managed to get a good ways up the rocks.

Savina lay on her back and looked up at the multitude of stars that littered the night sky. Whatever had told her that she would find at least momentary peace up here was right. She felt so close to everything: the tops of the trees, the heavens itself. She could not say how long her eyes watched the stars before she drifted into sleep and was greeted with the dream that now haunted her whenever unconsciousness took her.

The mist was all around her and she could make nothing out. There was no trees, no buildings, not anything. Just a misty gray world filled with emptiness. Savina began to walk, trying to find someone, anyone, to talk to. Soon a figure began to take shape and her heart constricted when she recognized it. "Denali?" It was her son, it could be no one else. His back was turned to her and she started to walk forward. "Denali, it's me!" He did not turn around. "Denali I'm sorry! I should have come after you! I should have saved you from her! I'm so sorry!" Tears streamed down her face as her feet began to run, arms reaching out for her boy, but the farther she ran, the further away he became and never once did he turn around to look at her. Soon enough he was eaten back up into the fog. "DENALI!" she cried once more before falling to her knees and hiding her face in her hands as she wailed into oblivion.

Tear drowned eyes opened just as light was seeping back into the world. Savina exhaled a shuddering sigh as a hand went to wipe away the stains her crying had left upon her face. The grieving mother sat up numbly and looked around, but the peace she had captured last night was gone. It was time to return her feet back to the ground. She climbed down the opposite side, the one closer to the Silver Showers, but her progress was slow and halting. Her muscles were very sore from her efforts of the day before and by the time she reached solid ground again she was noticeably favoring her right leg.

A sudden shout and roar of unadulterated pain made the woman jump. Whoever it was, they were nearby. Savina limped a short distance and then saw the figured of Leon curled in upon himself in front of the falling water of the showers. Ears pulled back in sympathy as she recognized the pain that the male was reeling from. It was the pain of loss. The same pain that had plagued her constantly since she had learned the fate that had befallen her son. The Consul tentatively limped towards the man and looked down on him with understanding in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Savina did not know Leon well, nor did she know what it was that caused his pain, but that did not matter. She recognized his agony as her own, and she was sorry that he was suffering.

500+

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Leonard · 04-16-2011, 02:01 PM

Leon didn't notice the Consul approach him as he continued crying quietly, his shoulders shaking. He wrestled with his emotions, attempting to bring them under control. But every time he came close, an image of his family, torn and dead, forced another choked cry. Even when Savina spoke to him, he could hardly hear her. He raised his head a little and lowered, then looked into, his hands. He could sense her own anguish, and knew it was caused by a loss similar to his own.

Choking back another sob, Leon cleared his throat, and said in a raspy voice. "It seems like life just enjoys toying with our our emotions, doesn't it? Right as things to get better, we hit a cliff, and fall right back down..." He noticed she was in her Optime form, and was only partially surprised that she had an imposing form. Not masculine, nor ugly, but the same as when he first met her, like an air of authority. This put Leon to ease, feeling at home slightly more than usual. "I'm sorry for you, madam Marino... Unless I am mistaken, you've suffered much more recently than myself." He said slowly, in a soft tone.

Savina Marino · 05-11-2011, 02:43 PM

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sosoSO sorry for this awful wait Sad That last month of college was a rough one

At first the man did not react to her presence, and she wondered if he could even sense that she was here through the suffocating cloud of his grief. Savina said nothing more though and simply stood and waited in silence. She would stand here until he decided to talk. It did not matter what he said, even if he asked her to leave she would respect his wishes. But it looked like Leon needed someone right now, another soul who understood loss so intimately. The Marino matron was hardly a sturdy individual for someone else to lean upon at this time, but she would do what she could.

The dark male's voice was strained when he finally did issue speech, but the words that came from him spoke to the very core of her own misfortune. "The Fates are cruel indeed," accented tones agreed. Her one child had finally awoken from her seemingly endless slumber only for her to find that her other one had been killed in cold blood. That disturbing ruby gaze of the murderess blazed in her mind's eye, sending her stomach to twist itself into nauseous knots. "My body has healed, but my heart still bleeds," she said by way of confirmation. Savina was not surprised that he had heard the news; the whole pack must know by now what had happened. "I am sorry that your old hurts are being reopened." Losses from the past could still sting fresh. The Consul felt the pain of her mother's death each time she looked into her children's eyes and knew they would never know their grandmother.

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Leonard · 05-26-2011, 05:43 AM

OOc: Its okay Erin, don't worry about it ^^ I'm sorry this is so short >< My muse has been failing me Sad

Leon dug his claws into his arm, ignoring the pain of the nail biting into his flesh. He had failed Brendan, he knew it. He had lost his twin, who Leon believed was left for him to look after. No sign of the other dark male in months, and yet here he was, moping around a new pack, not even bothering to look for Phoenix. Sure, he had been wounded. Sure it was painful to walk. But that didn’t mean he could just sit around while his twin was off, possibly in danger. Not after Brendan had given him a second chance at life.

Staring hard at the ground, Leon struggled to find words, and opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally speaking. ”I’m failing them Consul. I’m failing every single one of them.” He murmured, his voice cracking. He’d never be able to fill the shoes of his pack. He was too weak.

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