[AW] the truth, I wanted it

Slade Auctor · 05-16-2011, 07:52 AM

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Backdated to May 4.
This was intended to be read-only, but I should really have more threads for Slade and decided to make it AW. Changed it so that anyone can join, whether they know Slade or not. Will become private after one person joins.
WC: 596

It appeared that Shawchert was gone. The thought had first struck Slade's mind the other day, shortly before the pack meeting near the Border Tree. Since the dramatic meeting at Thornbury, where Slade had gotten himself a new enemy even if Mars himself didn't know it, the coyote hadn't seen one bit of the pack's founder. If his hopeful guesses were correct and Shawchert was simply in a state of depression, it likely wasn't any of his business to look for him, but Slade didn't want to believe that the leader had simply dropped down dead. There was no way....

He was heading toward Shawchert's house now, or at least in that general direction. It had been a few months since they had met here. This was the last place Slade had seen Shawchert before any of the drama. If the leader was anywhere, he had to be here; the coyote hadn't caught so much as a whiff of Shawchert's scent in Thornbury since he had last checked.

There was ruin. Slade didn't like what he saw. He could only try to convince himself otherwise, but the home of Shawchert was down, a wreck. There was no way any single canine had done this, and Slade couldn't pick up the scent of some unnatural force destroying this building. No, it had to have been the snowstorm, the storm that had ripped through the territory only a few months ago. If this place had never been fixed....

The truth was like a boulder falling out of nowhere, just falling down for the sake of crushing him. He didn't want to look at the wreckage any more; he turned and ran. He started running towards Thornbury. Shawchert was another one of those canines who seemed to prefer his two-legged body; there was no way he would have taken refuge in a den. Thornbury was the only place he logically could be.

Slade's mind was in a haze. Shawchert couldn't have died; there would have been an announcement about that. But... wouldn't there have been an announcement if he had left the pack? Wouldn't he want to give a final good-bye to his mostly loyal pack? Maybe Skye didn't know about this either. The only reason she had been acting as leader lately was because she was second-in-command. Slade must have been foolish to ever think that she considered herself the sole ruler of the pack. Cercatori d'Arte was still ruled by Shawchert, and that was the way it would be for a long time coming.

Then where the hell is he, Slade? You're only trying to convince yourself that the truth isn't there. His worst doubts came to mind. What if Mars had been right? What if Shawchert really was a terrible, irresponsible leader who only cared about himself? No... no, that's not Shawchert, Shawchert wouldn't do that, Shawchert is a great leader and he would never abandon his pack like this. There's no way....

His mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts; Shawchert was terrible and abandoned them all, something terrible had happened and Shawchert would be back soon. He turned away from Thornbury and started to stalk into the undergrowth. Anyone might have noticed him; he didn't care. If he met someone, he would impulsively ask them about Shawchert; no introductions given, no other questions asked. He didn't want to know the truth, but he needed to if he ever intended to keep any terrible thoughts at bay. This wasn't a story, and at this point there was no way it could have a happy ending.

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