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Alexey. Backdate this thread about one week?
The day was slowly turning into night again, and the child’s heart sunk deeper. In the outskirts of Halifax, inside a shop, under the counter, was Conor Soul. Fear was a feeling he had grown accustomed to, but it was clear that it would never be his friend. The little boy had stopped calling for help, stopped weeping loudly. Now there were only salty tears streaming down his face in silence. Back at the nice man’s place, Conor had only wanted to go visit Alexey to tell her that he was alright. Her warm voice and nice smell was very much missed. The child had left the cabin where he and Emwe had lived for a little while, and when he had realized that it was too far to walk and that he did not even know where to walk to find Alexey, he had tried to turn back, but Conor had already been lost by then. The only reason why the child had not starved to death was because of a half frozen deer carcass that had temporally been abandoned by a badger (that was most likely only finishing the rests after a larger predator.). A few pieces of cold, tasteless meat and he had been chased away by the cruel animal. He was smaller than the badger, and the Soul puppy had found the shop with the counter, and there was a gap between the counter and the floor just large enough for Conor to get under, but the badger was too big.
The boy did not know it, but he was slowly dying. His growing body needed nutrition. He had sometimes dared to poke his snout out of the shop to drink from a dirty puddle with foul tasting water, but that was it. Now his strength had left his body, and he was barely able to move at all. He was tired and cold and unhappy. All he really wanted to do was to sleep, but his belly ached together with his entire body. Why hadn’t anyone come and brought him home? A brown tail shivered against his belly. Cold, the nights were always so cold, and it was coming for him again. The shadows grew large and became alive, clawing after him with large hands, laughing at him because he was so small and weak. The child gazed up at the bottom of the counter, where there were gnawing marks because a little wolf puppy had been hungry. Conor laid his face down on the floor and placed his paws over his eyes, and tried to cover himself up as best he could. It was mommy and daddy’s fault, they had sent her to black-and-white-man and then he had not come and found Conor when he had gotten lost! The little child wanted to cry out in despair, but he had already tried same thing several times, but no one ever came, except for the badger, which had tried to eat him.
It was probably gone now, but the fear had been more than strong enough to make the child stay where he was, and as his limited resourced had been used, he would probably never be able to move from the counter at all.
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The sun was setting behind Halcyon Mountain in the distance, submissive to the crescent-shaped figure that now loomed high above the Caregiver’s head. Nightfall was here. A cool breeze rippled through her tawny fur, murmuring sweet nothings to her ear. The world was slowly falling into slumber, but not Alexey. Sleep was futile and unimaginable. Now wasn’t the time to rest; Conor was still missing. The Koios woman still had a hard time digesting the fact that Firefly had staged the whole thing. Her stupidity had landed one of her sons in real trouble and although Lexey sincerely hoped for the best, there was still the possibility that Conor was dead.
Alexey desperately tried to chase the gloomy thoughts from her mind but doing so was getting much harder now. It had been nearly a month since she’d last seen his gorgeous eyes of sapphire blue. She too, had spent countless nights weeping over his disappearance. Unlike the child though, she'd had someone there to comfort her. Conor’s scent, though faint, hung in the atmosphere. At first she’d assumed her imagination had tricked her nose into smelling the puppy. But as time went by, it grew heavier and heavier. Lexey had never considered herself to be much of a tracker but she was drawn to those kids like a magnet. In the last month or so, her sense of smell had developed greatly.
Now that she could decipher the child’s whereabouts, both excitement and fear overtook her mind and soul. She could smell him but no movement was detectable. What she was about to find would change her life forever, be it good or bad. Her every step mirrored uncertainty. As she stepped foot inside the deteriorated building, Lexey had to halt and take a deep breath to regain her composure. She did not call out his name, out of fear that he might not answer.
Instead, she examined every dusty corner of the shop. It was only when she came around the counter that her honey orbs settled on a little tail sticking out from beneath. A gasp caught in her throat as she lowered herself to the floor. A little fur ball came into view and all she could do was stare, her eyes wide with shock. The form of Conor Soul was still, unmoving. His little ribs were more than evident through his fur. Alexey felt like dying right then and there. “Oh Conor,” she whispered, tears gathering beneath her eyelids. She was about to start bawling her eyes out when she saw it; his little chest rising up and down rhythmically.
“Conor?” she repeated, as if trying to convince herself that he was indeed alive. His breathing was delicate and his body was frail. How long was he going to last? The Caregiver was about to reach over and pick him up but she stopped herself halfway. What if she broke one of his ribs? From the looks of it, his bones weren’t able to withstand much pressure. So she patiently waited for him to acknowledge her presence and maybe move on his own.
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There was some sort of comfort in the decreased sense of consciousness that he seemed to swim into more and more often as his little body grew weaker. The darkness was swallowing him again like it did at the end of every day. The child was originally not scared of the lack of light, but when you were a child lost and completely alone, it was hard not to get scared shitless. It did not matter what he felt, because nothing happened. He almost wished the badger had gotten him, because lying here day and night was painful. His eyes were closed, but strange and altered images of things he knew danced around behind his eyelids, making his belly recoil and ache. His body was still screaming after nutrition, even long after the owner of the body had given up.
The saddest part was that this was actually an abandoned grocery shop. Conor had no knowledge of this, but there was a stack of edible beef jerky five feet away. He only knew food that had some pieces of fur left, or that was either fried or roasted. He could not recognize prepared food without a strong scent (beef jerky was of course in bags) without an adult present. The paws that had been placed over his face felt heavy, and the Soul child imagined his face sinking and vanishing into the floor, along with his body. He wanted to sleep and escape the pain, just for a little moment. The corners of the multi coloured child’s mouth curled downwards. Misery was horrible.
A voice sounded, and for a little moment he believed he had entered the dream, so he remained still, anticipating the lack of the uncomfortable signals from a dying body. It was his name. Closer and louder, carried by a voice familiar to the child. Conor slowly removed his paws from his face and opened a hazy blue eye to lay it upon a female that he knew and loved. His facial muscles cramped as tears reappeared in the corner of his eyes. He had seen her ever so often. His mommy, daddy, Emwe. He had seen them all, but he had eventually learned that they were not there, only images that would disappear when he came close and wanted to touch. He had spent several minutes clinging to and licking a wall, believing he had found Alexey. This was not real.
He could not take it, and so he moved to face in the opposite direction, body gently shaking with sobs. It was not real, not real; they would never come and save him. A small whimper escaped the child, and his tail shivered pathetically in his distress. He turned his face around to see if the ghost of the puppy sitter was gone, but she was still there. The world was cruel. His face felt wet.
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The atmosphere was glacial now, or so it seemed. Perhaps it was all an illusion but she could feel the cold and dampness in her bones. Could Conor feel it too? When the puppy finally turned his head to meet her gaze, her heart felt as if it was going to shatter into a million pieces. His eyes had lost their vibrant color; the vivid blue he had inherited from his father was covered with a lustrous glaze. The only time she'd ever seen such a lifeless expression was on her own sire when death had overtaken his body. And this time, it was happening to a child. Someone she deeply cared about; a beautiful boy she'd come to love and care for as if he were her own child. For a moment, Alexey thought she was going to hurl. This couldn't be happening. It was a nightmare she simply couldn't wake up from.
Lexey was positive the emotional distress she was going through couldn't possibly get any worse. How terribly wrong she was. The moment little Conor Soul turned his face in the opposite direction, it felt as if the whole world had come crashing down on her. A million questions zipped through her mind, all of them revolving around the pup's reaction. Why? Why had he turned away? Both of them were sobbing uncontrollably now. Alexey was anything but strong. If anything, the Lillium's child was the strongest one in the room. "Conor," she said once again, inching closer to his trembling body. Her voice now held a hint of determination. He was going to make it through this.
The Caregiver reached over and cautiously picked him up, cradling him against her chest like she'd done so many times before. Except this time, the Koios girl feared she would never be able to let go. "Don't leave me. Lexey loves you so so much," she pleaded, nuzzling the top of his head affectionately. The beef jerky hadn't gone unnoticed. She knew what she had to do. Whether he had the strength to eat it or not was something they'd just have to see. The tawny woman carried her protégé over to the sealed bag and ripped it open with her teeth. A small piece was promptly offered to her little prince, wondering if he had the energy to chew on it.
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His body hurt with every sob. In fact, every sob made the world take a spin or two. The child was too weak, he shouldn’t be crying. He simply did not have the energy. Yet his body shook with the strong emotions, but his tears were few, due to an early stage of dehydration. The hallucination’s voice reached his sensitive ears again, trying to trick him into believing. He could not. His hackles rose when something touched him and gently grabbed hold of him. Before the little boy could even think about doing anything about the threat, he was swaddled up against a warm body. No hallucinations or dreams could be this strong? His little snout nuzzled weakly against her, unable to grasp the amazing fact that she was here. She had come for him. This only made him want to weep more.
Her words swept a wave of warmth over him. He tried to snuggle closer to the living creature that was holding him, but the attempt was pathetic. Why was it so hard to move? He wanted to weep some more, but even that seemed too hard. ”Mommy..?” This woman was not his mother, but she smelled of something familiar and safe. Something was gently forced into his mouth, and he understood this thing was food, although the spicy meat held an unknown taste. The child tried to chew, but the meat was hard to chew and too dry for his already arid mouth. He gave up almost instantly, and let the piece fall out of his mouth. Frustration came and went, as the world seemed a bit surreal to him. This adult felt real though, so real.
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It was strange. Alexey couldn’t recall ever feeling this happy. Well, happy and sad at the same time. Their noses touched and the Caregiver returned the baby boy’s affectionate nuzzle, overjoyed to be holding him in her arms. She literally clung to him as he vainly attempted to cuddle a little closer. It was hard to tell whether he recognized her or not. After all, most pups his age would cuddle up to basically anyone after spending so much time alone. Alexey understood this, but she wasn’t prepared for the child’s next comment. Mommy? She shook her head mutely, not wanting to voice her answer.
“No Conor, not mommy. Lexey,” she explained, hoping those few words would suffice. Watching him try to eat the small piece of dried meat was heartbreaking. She’d seen Emwe eat large chunks of deer without any difficulty. That wasn’t the case with little Conor. He barely had enough strength to open his mouth. Amber-colored eyes watched the jerky fall to the floor, a pained expression plastered on her face. Just as she’d thought, there was no way he would be able to swallow solid food. The babysitter took another small piece from the bag and chewed it up, turning the meat into a paste.
“Come here honey,” she said, lowering her muzzle to his and pushing the food inside his mouth. Under normal circumstances, Lexey would’ve considered this to be disgusting. But given the gravity of the situation, it was the only alternative she could think of.
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He couldn’t remember having felt so warm and safe before. His baby blue eyes tried to take in the puppysitter’s face, but she was hazy, and his nose burned a bit because he had been crying. His nose always seemed to hurt when the tears came. He wondered why.. He could feel a bit of taste, but not much. His tongue felt dryer than the sun, but there was definitely something. He whimpered, feeling horrible because he had let the piece of meat fall to the floor. Would he ever get the chance to eat again? Stupid, stupid. His paw slowly pawed out into the air for no particular reason. His gaze stayed on the woman, begging her for more food. He would be good. His belly was owwy. It felt like it was made of a hole that wanted to take the rest of him with it. Conor did not want to go down into the belly hole!
She called him honey, and a pathetic smile automatically appeared in his plump yet too skinny face. All of a sudden something slightly wet and mushy touched his muzzle, and the boy automatically opened his mouth. His mouth exploded in brilliant colours, and it was something he did not need to chew. It was soft and tasty, and the fact that it had been inside Alexey’s mouth did not matter much. This was a natural thing for him, and it did not feel strange at all. He swallowed the food and resisted the urge to vomit. It was supposed to make him feel good. ”Don’ts leave Conor.” the boy whispered quietly, feeling his eyes burning again.
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The child had some difficulty swallowing the food, but he managed to do so like a real champion. Pride was all over her face. She was proud of Conor for being a tough little thing, and proud of herself for finding him before it was too late. Her nose came in contact with his little head. It was almost as if she had to touch him in order to convince herself that this wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t. He was really there, comfortably wrapped in her arms. Alexey was too happy to dwell on not-so trivial things, like what she’d do to Firefly once they both returned to Dahlia de Mai. Feelings of hatred would come later.
The puppy mustered up enough energy to voice a heartbreaking concern. The Caregiver’s ears drooped when the words “Don’t leave me” passed his parched lips. No, no, no! There was no way she’d ever leave him. “I won’t, I promise” she murmured in his ear, before brushing her salmon-colored tongue over the chocolate boy’s head. Now wasn’t the time to flood him with kisses, but Alexey couldn’t help it. He was okay; he was going to survive. She still couldn’t believe how lucky she was. “ “Let’s go home, okay?”
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