Goodbye to the past
#1
[html]

WC:891

It had been a lot of effort, the sugarwoods where very near to a place he had once called home, so the effort to not think about such a close distance was difficult. But there had been many distractions upon the grey male, some came in the way of trading, others came in the tightening connection with his mate, and then others still with new connections, but as time went on and he became a bit bored with the festival his thoughts did drift. It had been almost a year since everything had unraveled, the blizzard had been the undoing of it all, and it had led to the eventual merging and loss of a homeland. He had tried to take the advice and not look back but he couldn’t help but know there was one nagging thing left in order for him to do so.


A day ago he had made a trade for some oils, flammable oils, enough to get a fire started. Enough hopefully to finally do away with some of the once proud landmarks in his memory, enough hopefully so he could look forward. The great big behemoth had changed, his mind was slowly starting to come to terms with what had happened, making the changes necessary to understand that as long as he answered to someone else he’d never agree with their decisions. And he also was starting to remember the bad that happened in Dahlia, to clarify and understand the things that drove him crazy. And he also had the lovely form of someone whom meant the world to him, the gold, cream, and black colored fae that was walking along next to him.


To look forward was becoming easier to the man, looking to their wedding, looking ahead to one day seeing blessed children run along and grow up into the next generation of their love. To look ahead to a day when they would maybe run their own pack and impart their strong ideals and nature to a whole collection of individuals whom they could call their foster children. But it became increasingly more difficult today, as landmarks started to appear that called back images of a year or so ago. He didn’t bother explaining most of it to X’y, knowing she wouldn’t understand some of them. The boundary had been passed a few moments ago, the scents gone from the invisible line, but the overgrown trails that he had so tirelessly worked to keep in order where still visible. The land seemed so lonely to him, the trees didn’t welcome him, nor did the animals that seemed to have filled the void. Walking along the overgrown paths the male remained quiet, only giving look to her when he felt the touch of loneliness hit him, using her to reassure him that walking along this path that he wasn’t doing it alone.

The trees gave way to the plains outside of wolfville, not too far from an old two story Victorian home. His legs seemed to carry him in that direction, digits starting to grasp as the oil carrying vessels. There was a building urge in him, knowing what he knew now of the man who had once been the owner of the home. The duality of the man and why he had fled Dahlia, rounding a corner there set what was once a bastion of Dahlia, the decrepit old home was in ruins, the home completely collapsed. The damage it had suffered from the blizzard would have been recoverable but without someone there to repair it, the once proud home sat in a pile of wood. He stopped almost shocked as blues looked over the pile, the oils he had brought where to get rid of any evidence of the home, to keep someone else from defiling it’s memory, but there was little chance of that now. His plan for seeking an end was thwarted, and he stood silently looking at the pile, hands falling to his side as the end he was seeking was done in by the elements already. Blues that usually held an unyielding fire behind them grew cold as he couldn’t bring himself to do anything other than stare.


Finally his mouth moved but no words escaped, how could he explain to her, about what the house meant, where Saul, Gideon, Nayru, and all the others had grown up, where he himself had recovered from a broken leg. How could he ever possibly explain to her the memories this place held.


“This is where Conor Soul lived, where Saul and his brothers where raised, and where Nayru was as well. My old home is a short distance from here…” he choked out, seeing it now as it was, heartbreaking as it was, it still gave him an ending. So he could move forward. Blues finally moved from the pile, looking to the trees surrounding the home and to the meadow out in front of the home. A soft smile slowly crept across his face remembering a happy memory, one where he had met for the first time someone who she knew.


“I met Nayru for the first time in that field, Conor and I were walking along, her and Gideon caught and pounced the two of us as only two puppies could.”


Image courtesy of Frau Böb@Flickr; table by the Mentors!

<style>
.ST-K-01 .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.ST-K-01 p {padding:0px 15px 5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.ST-K-01 b {font-family:verdana; color:#ffffff; text-shadow:#000000 0px 0px 2px; margin:5px; font-size:10px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:1px;}
.ST-K-01 {background-color:#cec6a2; font-family: verdana, serif; font-size:12px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7827/sal1.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:10px 0px 180px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; } .ST-K-01-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>
[/html]
#2
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... eofone.png); background-color:#000000; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right:15px; padding-top: 320px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

Their belongings were left behind for this little adventure, unnecessary when looking at their destination’s proximity from the Festival going on at their backs. They were quite a ways away from it now and her acute ears could still pick up the definite sounds of merriment. Perhaps it was an echo residing in her ears from being around the festivities for so long or she really could hear that noise that far away. Regardless, she hoped the further they travelled away from it the quieter it would become until it was just her and her husband to be on the lands with naught but nature as their background.

She was inclined to keep the silence as they travelled only having an idea as to where they were going but not the significance of it. Since the Nomads retraced their steps paved down by generations before them, she did not fully understand how significant it was for Saluce to return to these lands. She truly believed it was no different than recounting a landmark that perhaps had a story to tell. But it was much more than that, she gradually found herself understanding as she watched the subtle expression change to his handsome face. This wasn’t just a path he walked, it was a road to memories of a life that resided in the past. These were the trails that had another life infused with them, a life he wanted to retouch if only to see how he was distant from it now.

Quietly, she followed behind her mate not with cold indifference but in silent respect for what he was enduring. No question she could think to utter sounded kind to her ears, if voiced there would be nothing short of ignorance in them which would undoubtedly rise to a misunderstanding and she did not want to risk something like that befalling them. She could not imagine the possible fallout, and dared not to test it.

When Saluce came to a pause in front of a dilapidated structure, she too came to a halt but was more concerned with her mate than she was for the building. Though this was meant to hold great significance, she simply could not right away… but as she looked to him and read the shock on his face, she felt her heart grow cold then still. Her ears drew back as her eyes were unable to look away from the pained blue. His soft explanation followed, lifting her ears only slightly as each word was grasped and committed to memory. She only knew of Saul and Nayru… but this Conor she did not and in fear of bringing insult to the moment, she did not ask outright.

Instead she followed his gaze to the field he’d spoken of envisioning a little piebald pup bounding through it to overtake an unaware Saluce. She laughed softly at the thought while bringing a hand to her maw as if to stifle the sound then let it drift down gradually to capture her beloved’s hand. “And I’m sure you were completely surprised.”





514 words.

[/html]
#3
[html]

WC:

Her warm comforting hand found his and a smile warmed his lips as her words filtered into his ears. Ears that raised slowly atop his head as happiness seemed to find its way back in to his otherwise mountainous frame. Even if the woman was now considered a much higher ranked wolf than him, but to him it never seemed to matter much. He was proud of her, he wouldn’t ever outwardly express such things to anyone except her, that she had dedicated herself to be recognized for her actions. Saluce however was used to not getting much recognition for his activities, something that he hadn’t ever consciously paid much attention to. But proud of his mate he was, and regardless of her rank as long as she remembered that he was there to protect and honor her no matter what, he hoped there would be no conflicting ego’s. But the landscape in front of him reminded him of all the effort he had put into the now defunct pack.


Was it this that caused him not to put any effort in Ichika? Constantly afraid of his work being trampled upon and left to pick up the pieces and try again somewhere else? But he didn’t dwell on it too much, the tug he gave was one of letting her know it was time to move on. His form took shorter strides as he led her onward toward a place he had called home long ago. Where a failed mateship had taken place, where a lot of his memories of Nova Scotia took place. The big two story home he had called his own came into view but it like the previous house was in disrepair. Still standing but the glass had been broken in several places, along with overgrowth and the encroaching progression of nature.


“This used to be my home. I didn’t stay here much, after a failed mateship and my blacksmith shop, I tended to just use it as storage and for a place to sleep. Would you like a tour?”


Image courtesy of Frau Böb@Flickr; table by the Mentors!

<style>
.ST-K-01 .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.ST-K-01 p {padding:0px 15px 5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.ST-K-01 b {font-family:verdana; color:#ffffff; text-shadow:#000000 0px 0px 2px; margin:5px; font-size:10px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:1px;}
.ST-K-01 {background-color:#cec6a2; font-family: verdana, serif; font-size:12px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7827/sal1.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:10px 0px 180px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; } .ST-K-01-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>
[/html]
#4
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... eofone.png); background-color:#000000; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right:15px; padding-top: 320px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

He had become withdrawn into this thoughts, she could see it in his eyes. The life that sparked those endless blues to radiant gems had become clouded with thought… with memory. Her touch had been a small effort in the hopes to give him comfort as he dwelled in his memory, perhaps at like a line to bring him back should be drift too far. Her hope was to reach him and remind him of her presence, and the soft smile that touched his lips soon after reflected a smile on her own muzzle, letting her know her intentions were known. Her tail waved happily.

Upon feeling his gentle tug, she followed along without complaint, hand in hand as they continued down this lane of forgotten memories resurfaced before their very eyes. The two had slipped into a comfortable silence as they walked, allowing the woman a moment to look around as the lands that encompassed through human homes, now wrecked from the elements and lack of care. Looking on their sullen facades encouraged her even more to avoid living in places like these. Too large and unpredictable, no more than remnants of an age long since passed. Why have the skeletons of a culture that no longer existed when their own, prospering world could be infused into the lands? The human facets were dying as they should be… why attempt to reclaim it?

They again paused before another structure, this one just as demolished as the last but had managed to withstand nature’s wrath for the most part. An ear twitched when her beloved called this place his home and she turned to look at him with some surprise alight in her eyes. Since he’d fit so comfortably in their den, she hadn’t imagined he would have called a human structure his own. It was more than a little unnerving to hear the confession, but her reactions were well concealed behind a mask in interest with brows raised and eyes surveying the exterior as if to unravel its non-existent memory by sight. She could have done without a tour of its interior. Slowly she shook her head. “I would rather not,” quietly she confessed and lowered her ears in apology. “I know this place holds significance for you… but this is unnatural to me.” She lifted her free hand and gestured to the height of the structure. “These dwellings…are unnatural. I-..I’m sorry if that offends you…”



407 words.

[/html]
#5
[html]

WC:420

The house stood there like some great monolith, some remnant of a past he had left behind. For the most part the house held no value to him anymore, the den he shared with the woman beside him was much more a home than this place ever seemed to have been. But her misgivings about seeing the home where voiced, on some level he understood her unwillingness. And he couldn’t be brought to make her do something she obviously didn’t care to do.


“It’s fine love” he said before turning to her and giving an affectionate lick across her muzzle. Walking along the land didn’t hold the value it once had to him, maybe because the warm atmosphere was gone, and replaced by the wild wilderness that had happily came to reclaim it once again. Ichika was more home to him now, and it needed him much more then Dahlia ever did.


“I never told you of Dahlia and it’s wars with Inferni did I? I wasn’t in Dahlia for either of them but from what I’ve been told their where incredibly vicious, I think it’s one of the reasons Nayru decided to disband the pack, She was tired of having to deal with the reputation I guess. Dahlia was the last great Wolf pack to adhere to a stricter code of response toward aggression.” He stated this all matter of fact tone, Dahlia in its dying days had forgotten what it was, and running from that was its down fall.


His body moved again this time in the direction of the shop and to retrieve a few items he had been meaning to recover before scavengers took what the rest. Leading her through the old pack lands hadn’t had the effect he thought it would have. The memories where just what they were, memories, and as much as he wanted to relieve them, they were gone. Blues watched the shop come into view, the metal building still standing defiantly against the oncoming onslaught of nature’s wrath. What had once been a small factory building had served nicely as a spot for his shop. Blues looked up and down the door before a hand finally grasped the nob and opened the shop for once last time.


“This is my old Shop” he said quietly while not letting her protest, this was his old gem, and she would see it in whatever shape it now was in. “Can’t let you not see it, I’m hoping my new shop will have some of the same elements”.


Image courtesy of Frau Böb@Flickr; table by the Mentors!

<style>
.ST-K-01 .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.ST-K-01 p {padding:0px 15px 5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.ST-K-01 b {font-family:verdana; color:#ffffff; text-shadow:#000000 0px 0px 2px; margin:5px; font-size:10px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:1px;}
.ST-K-01 {background-color:#cec6a2; font-family: verdana, serif; font-size:12px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7827/sal1.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:10px 0px 180px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; } .ST-K-01-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>
[/html]
#6
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... ecrets.png); background-color:#C77133; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 400px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

Should watchful eyes look upon the pair as they looked to the crippled structure, a conceivable difference could have been seen plainly on their faces. While one was enveloped in memory, his eyes glazed with thought as he recalled his time spent within this place, the other stared at the human structure with cold indifference, unfeeling… void of the sensations such a remnant of the past was meant to convey. But a deeper peer beyond the chilling stare would have shown care, not for the shambled home but for the man that stood beside her, gracing her muzzle to show his understanding at her refusal to tread deeper upon tainted grounds. She was not a cold beast to look upon this and not feel a stir within her. There was something alive, something very real… but it was not roused in the way her beloved had hoped.

A grateful light shown in her eyes as they began to move again, but also a glow of intrigue as he began to speak of the great wolf pack. He’d hardly spoken of de Mai, and while she wished to hear more of it, the questions to ask always seemed to elude her. Whatever she could conceive to ask sounded terribly trivial and drawl, commoner gambits for small talk, of which she disliked more than aggressive confrontations. At least in those encounters there was a purpose for the engagement as opposed to the idle exchange of words to fill the quiet void. So when he spoke of Dahlia, she listened hard and tried to envision this pack that different from Ichika’s image. A pack made to respond to aggression… a pack of warriors, she imagined. Why would any chose to let that greatness fall away…?

She was left to ponder this while Saluce continued to lead the way straying further from the home to a metal enclosure that grew in the visual field as they neared. Yet enough human based feat of architechture and instinctually she made to distance herself from it. But her mate’s hold was not painful, but firm, indicative that there was no way no other place to go but this. She did not voice her protest or attempt to pull away but stood beside him, quiet and patient, allowing her eyes to scour the exterior of this shop and hear of the aspirations her mate had for not this, but his vision of another. Her ears cocked back curiously. “Of metal?”



412 words.

[/html]
#7
[html]

WC:300

Her stubborn unwillingness to enter anything human was starting to unnerve him a bit. Where was her curious nature? It wasn’t as if he was going to make her now stay in a human home, no he rather liked their intimate earthen den more so than any human dwelling so far. Maybe it was because she was there with him that probably meant a lot of it. Without X’y he’d probably live in a human dwelling out of force of habit. Saluce’s hand pushed the door open and shook his head as her soft question gifted his ears.


“No silly what’s inside,” he said before stopping and licking her maw enthusiastically, hoping to guilt her into coming inside. Strong arms enveloped her waist pulling her matching form against his, with a sly smile across his face. They were alone after all and he didn’t mind to usher her inside to do more naughty things if it peeked her interest.


It seemed his plot worked somewhat, they were inside but the damage had been worse than he had hoped. Someone had picked through the shop already, blues could see damage from some jack ass playing around. But his blues didn’t seemed to linger to long, the fae in his arms took more of his attention.


“What’s wrong? I’m not going to go back to living in human dwellings, I rather enjoy our den, and my shop will just be a shop. Metal buildings tend to hold up better, they have concrete floors to handle a lot of weight and they can withstand a lot of temperature.” He licked her muzzle again, feeling very affectionate toward her. A sudden urge struck him, he wanted to shift, wanted to run on four instead of two but he held back. One hand sat idle along her backside, claws scratching the base of her tail.


Image courtesy of Frau Böb@Flickr; table by the Mentors!

<style>
.ST-K-01 .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;}
.ST-K-01 p {padding:0px 15px 5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;}
.ST-K-01 b {font-family:verdana; color:#ffffff; text-shadow:#000000 0px 0px 2px; margin:5px; font-size:10px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:1px;}
.ST-K-01 {background-color:#cec6a2; font-family: verdana, serif; font-size:12px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/7827/sal1.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:10px 0px 180px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; } .ST-K-01-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;}p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>
[/html]
#8
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... ecrets.png); background-color:#C77133; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 400px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

Her mate was apparently more keen to appease his interests in the shop than he was with his beloved’s dislike for the place. Her discomfort to human dwells could not be described in words alone. It was something relatively far beyond comprehension by the audible sense. It was a feeling beyond touch, a sense that was yet to be named was always stirred when she neared the remnants of a distant past. And as easily as they were roused, they were far more difficult to be rid of.

But still for her mate she did not expression further discomfort, simply meandered her way into the shop under the conducting steps of his mountainous form til her feet no longer graced snow but an irritating ground underpaw that reminded her of the black road that ran near the west river. Their feeling was the same, but she knew this was not the same ground. None the less it caused her hackles to rise just as uncomfortably. Even with his adoring affections, she was not put at ease.

“I do not like these places…” she growled softly, letting her ears rest nervously against her skull. How could she home to convey her dislike in words when even she couldn’t think of the appropriate vocabulary? The Nomads had no names for what she was feeling, and the gesture was so ambiguous that even she saw no reason to use it now to explain. She could only hope that he could see it in her eyes, in her mood, her reluctance to play despite his enticing advances, that she was far from comfortable here… and hoped that it would not ruin this venture down his past. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “If you built it yourself, I suppose it would be different. But this was not built by you… and it does not feel right here. It is strange…”





315 words.

[/html]
#9
[html]

270

Saluce was trying, trying to see through her stubborn actions, so he could show her an important part of his history, but she wasn’t having it. As her stubborn rejections and inability to be bothered to visit finally blew the fuse in him, as his eyes where the first indicator of the change of emotion within him. Lips curled upward and his gleaming look turned from her as his hands left her. Suddenly his mood had changed, he had tried to appease her, he hadn’t made her go in his previous home.


“Then leave….. I’ll return to the festival after I’m done here” he said coldly. He wasn’t in any mood to deal with this, he’d retrieve the few items he needed and he’d return and the day would be over.


His form moved from her, there wasn’t violence in his actions but his cold exterior now closed itself off. The male walked over to his old work table as fingers flipped through things idly before his mind seemed to remember what he was really doing here. His form moved once again around the back of the shop to a wooden wall. Fingers ran along the side of it before a claw slipped inside of a hole, a low cracking pop sounded as the false wall opened up and beyond it sat glittering necklaces, made of silver and gold along with unfinished swords, and daggers.


A sigh escaped his lips as he took care to take the gold and silver stock, along with everything else out of the false wall and started packing it away in the leather bags he had brought along with him.


<style type="text/css">
.salucefoundry b {font-weight:bold; color:#F74D1C; letter-spacing:.0px; }
.salucefoundry-ooc { font-style:italic; padding:15px; font-family:georgia, serif; font-size:10px; text-align:center; }
.salucefoundry p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 8px; margin:0px;}
.salucefoundry {margin:0 auto; width:322px; background-color:#150802; background-image:url(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/ ... undry1.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #0E0A01; padding: 375px 0px 10px 0px; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size:11px; color:#7E280A; line-height:15px; letter-spacing:.0px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
[/html]
#10
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... ecrets.png); background-color:#C77133; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 400px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

All she wanted was for him to understand how she felt about places like this, but it appeared as though her reluctance was viewed as a negative. She had never felt shunned before, by anyone within the Nomads and of course her mate, but she could not shake the feeling now as his callous words grated her ears. They fell back immediately and X’yrin felt the cold of the stone seep from her mate’s presence into her paws.

She did not like this feeling, but then she could not readily shake off her own discomfort while standing in a human dwelling. As the silence pressed on between them, she eventually took the gesture that he was not pleased with her and did not want to be bothered. With reluctance, she slipped from his presence and out of the shop and into the cold again. She did not favor herself as one to look back at her actions, but it she felt the compelling urge to do so now. She paused just for a moment, her heavy weight sinking her into the snow. But she did not turn nor say anything at all. She simply inhaled the chilled air and continued on back to their camp on the Festival grounds.

[exit X'yrin]


315 words.

[/html]


Forum Jump: