[html]  The journey from Laruku's den to the den that he and Naniko had once shared was a short one, though to the tired and, quite frankly, scared shitless male, it was an eternity of a walk. He was tired and worn, having spent three sleepless days just traveling back to Bleeding Souls, and being less one leg didn't help matters at all. The den came into sight finally, about midday now, and seeing it caused the weary male to smile. There was actually a period where he was almost certain he would be killed, he never thought he'd see home again. Inching himself closer, Conri stopped when he reached the entrance, hesitant and unsure. Laruku had been right though, Naniko at least deserved to know that he was alive. Lowering his head, inhaling deeply at the scent that lingered from the den, Conri called out. "Nani?" There was no answer though, no movement.
After a few moments of silence Conri decided that she wasn't there, but he wouldn't just give up and disappear. Instead, he seated himself to wait. Eventually the sitting turned to laying, his tired body forcing him to the ground, and soon enough he was curled up comfortably in the dirt. He was laying on his right side, the missing leg and patch of thick scar that had replaced it displayed to the world. Soon enough jade eyes fell closed and the male slept. It wasn't a deep sleep either. His dreams were riddled with horror and terrible memories that made him twitch and whine as he lay.
|
[/html]
[html] 
She was well. Or..as well as could be expected. Her leg still ached from time to time because of the fight with the coyotes...but she knew enough about herbs to keep the pain at bay most days. A lot had happened to her in the last few months, and she was glad that she had taken the post of Apothecary. It kept her busy enough. She had been wanting to visit Phoenix for the last day or so, to see if he was all right, and had gone to Storm to see how he was doing. She'd checked in on him periodically, but it'd been a few days since his last checkup.
Pack relations were good at this time, and she was glad for it. The coyotes had mostly kept to themselves, with the exception of the day that her and Poe had been chased around by them, but she didn't think that the relative peace would last very long. Soon the coyotes would want more. So it was good to make stronger ties within the wolves. There was more of them than there was the coyoes.
She came back to the sunny lands after a few hours. Her brilliant white pelt shining brighter than any of the snow around, whipping around a bit as the cold wind tugged at her. Phoenix was doing well, and the rest of the family had been happy to see her. Dierdre had asked if there was anything she could do for her, but Naniko had declined. "There may be times in the future where I or a member of the pack will need help" She had said. "Maybe Storm will be able to help us then"
The green eyed wolf yawned a little as she started toward the den. Everything smelled usual...up until a certain point. There was something wrong...a smell that didn't fit into the usual layout of scents. Whatever it was, it triggered something in her head. Family. Someone was back. With a haste to her step she began to run, her four legs digging deeply into the snow, giving her more traction. They were close. She could smell it. Naniko came to a sudden halt as the figure came into view, skidding to a halt over the wolf. Was he alive? He was breathing. Her mind was going a hundred miles an hour--it was almost too much to process at once. Conri...why would he be here? He was dead! Or...she had thought. But he was breathing--was he sleeping? She didn't know. "Conri! Conri--wake up!" She nosed his face, his shoulder, his back. "Please!"
[/html]
[html] His dreams were often a mishmash of happy memories that ultimately led up to the past few months. They'd come in phases, snippets of scenes that had already played out in his life. There were weeks at time, from when he was with his brother, that Conri couldn't quite remember, and sometimes memories from those weeks would play through his dreams, things that he didn't know had happened. How could he trust them? Fortunately for Conri, these things often faded out of his head and left him to more peaceful sleep, barely ever waking him. He'd gone from fidgeting to peaceful now, limbs coming to rest and no longer whining. That was about the time that she arrived.
The ground was cold, he'd been luck to find a patch without snow, so when she touched him he could immediately feel the warmth. That, along with her words, began to stir the tired male from his slumber. His nose began to work even before he'd managed to open his eyes. The search for her scent was a frantic one, breathing in deeply as he lay. Soon enough his head was off the ground, jutting forward to the point that he touched her, buried himself in her scent. It was as if that was all he needed for relief. His head was back on the ground immediately, turned slight upwards, and his eyes finally opened up. "Hey." It was all he could manage in that moment, his voice obviously tired, though a bit deeper than it had been in his younger days.
What to say now? What to do? He knew there would be some explaining to do, things he needed to tell her and things she might want to tell him, but did she immediately want to go into it? It might be best for her to lead the conversation. Missing a leg made it hard for him to maneuver sometimes, he hadn't gotten used to it completely yet, to it took him a little effort and few moments to bring himself to a sitting position. He smiled at her then, nervous, and inched himself around to fully face her. "You're just as beautiful as I remember." He couldn't say it, not yet. "You look well." At least she did physically, he couldn't assume how she was any other way.
|
[/html]
[html]
It was like meeting someone for the first time, almost. She had never had anyone close to her come back...not yet. Iskata had, that one time, but she'd ended up scaring Naniko...it hadn't been a happy time. This was a happy time. She just didn't know what to say to him. She was too surprised to be angry, or upset. Even if she wasn't that surprised, she wasn't sure if she could ever feel those things toward him. Anger... They had always fit together so well, that she could only remember being angry with him once or twice. And they'd gotten past that.
"I...I don't know what to say. I thought I would never see you again" It was a start, at least. "I missed you--so much. I can't believe that you're standing here, right in front of me. And your leg--I wish...I could have helped you. Whenever it was that it happened. I've been keeping pretty busy here, with the Apothecary things...if it pains you, I can give you medicine" How could she tell him that she wasn't mad at him? She wasn't sure how to say it. "Come inside"
[/html]
[html] "I didn't think I would ever make it back here." He commented quietly in response to her saying she didn't think she'd ever see him again. "I didn't think I'd live this long." He wanted to say, forced himself not to say, because he didn't want to bring things like that out into the open. Her words were so many and so fast that Conri couldn't say anything else for the time, though it pleased him that it was like that. He could sit there and listen to her talk for hours on end and he would be perfectly content with it. "My brother.." He said quietly, referring to his leg. "I lost it because of him." It was a vague response, very little detail. Telling someone that your brother cut your leg off wasn't the easiest thing in the world.
With little else to say for the time, Conri nodded his head and turned to go inside. It was like a dream almost, something that he could clearly remember but could never convince himself that it was real. He could remember the warm feeling he used to get when coming inside and, in some ways, he still felt a little bit of it. "I got back very early this morning, stopped to see Laruku to make sure it was alright that I came into the lands." He couldn't tell her that it was for advice, to ask whether or not he thought he should go and see her. "It still hurts sometimes but I think it's okay now." "Because just looking at you makes everything alright." "My brother took me from here." He said finally, quietly, turning his head away from her. "Knocked me out and drug me away." Did she think he left because he wanted to?
|
[/html]
[html]
She had thought that something like that had happened...she hadn't understood why he would have left her a note like that unless something really, really bad had happened. It wasn't that she was angry with him because of it--no, she was angry with herself. If she had been with him, maybe she would have been able to help him. She liked to think that she might have at least been some sort of help.
They went inside and she sat down on a few of the furs. "I...wondered. I looked all over by Inferni, but I couldn't get inside. My cousin helped me look, too, but we got ambushed by the coyotes--they got my leg pretty good" It was a little twisted, her left front leg, and still shook sometimes when weight was put onto it. "They broke it in two places, and now it doesn't really work right. But..I'm okay. I'm glad that you're okay. And that you could find your way back here...to Clouded Tears. To me. You're going to stay, aren't you? You're not going to leave?" The thought made her feel frantic--she had to convince him to stay!
They were too far apart--she felt like she needed to be closer to him. She wouldn't care if that was all that they did, sit there together. They didn't even need to talk. She sat a little closer to him, leaning against him a little. Not enough to put any considerable amount of weight on him-just enough to let him know that she was there. "I want you to stay. If you want to. I want you to live here--with me forever." Had she said it right? Maybe it was too soon...and too much. But right now, as the words came out, nothing had ever felt so right. "I'm so sorry that I didn't do more to find you--I should have been there."
[/html]
[html] Conri knew that he couldn't just show up and expect everything to be fine and dandy again, but that didn't mean he couldn't hope that it would be. In the time that he'd been traveling away from his brother he had been able to think things over. What if she had moved on? What if she was with someone else and had a family now? It would hurt, yes, he couldn't imagine finding her with someone else. He would've been happy for her though, glad to see her doing well for herself. If she wasn't there? Well, he would have traveled even longer to go and find her, though he had hoped beyond all things that she hadn't left and gone looking for him. He couldn't imagine losing her to his brother.
Her words made him frown and he leaned forward a bit to get a better look at her leg, shaking his head very slowly a moment. It was odd really, the first time that they had met she'd been injured and now that he was back, she was again. "I'm glad you didn't come looking for me further than that. It would have been dangerous." It was obvious that he wasn't angry that she didn't search to the ends of the earth to find him. He would've rather been kept captive forever, without her, than to know that she had put herself in danger to find him.
"I didn't know if things had changed for you. If you wanted me to stay now that I'm back..so I wanted to ask you." His words were cut short by her next ones. She wanted him to stay, to stay with her, and in that moment everything broke. Tears, hot and burning, streamed from his eyes at that moment, and her turned himself toward her, burying his head in her neck. "I missed you so much Nani..I missed you."
|
[/html]
[html]
She wasn't sure how he felt about losing his leg--it had to be hard on him. She hadn't liked not being able to use hers when it had been broken... he would never be able to use his again. It had to have been really painful, to lose a leg like that. She didn't ask him how it had happened--she didn't want to make him think about it all over again. He probably did enough of that on his own. Naniko's nature required that she /not/ ask intrusive questions. She didn't want to hurt him by making him remember it, just because she wanted to know.
"I guess. I can understand how you feel, a little" She smiled halfheartedly at him. It didn't keep her from thinking about how she'd been safe, at home, while he'd been out there with his horrible brother. "Oh Conri. Of course I want you to stay. I couldn't imagine life without you--I still can't. The last few months have been a blur--I don't even really know what's happened around here. Davinci left, to go and look for our sister"
It was the closest they could get to hugging, with the forms they were in. Today would be a day of comfort--each making sure that the other one was okay, reconnecting. They would have to continue to reassure each other in the days that came, but they would make it through. Together. She was pressed against him, as close as she could. She couldn't get enough of his scent--he smelled like Home.
[/html]
[html] "I'm only alive because of you." He whispered it, muffled by his head buried in her fur, and continued to sob. For all the months that he was gone it was her that he thought of, the one thing that kept him from giving up and just letting himself die. He'd been kept in a hazy state from malnourishment and what he could only assume were drugs. Stygian would often bring them in, one or twice a week, white coated females with bright and terrified eyes. "This is your mate!" He'd scream. "How do you like her now?!" He could remember the blood spray, pristine white tainted in crimson, and he remembered crying for them through the night. He knew that those females were not his mate, her scent was something he would always remember, no matter confusion or pain, but if it weren't for him they wouldn't have died.
The sobs turned to shake which soon turned to calm breathing, her scent was so strong that it calmed him quickly, it made him feel safe and warm, and finally he lifted his head back up. Tear stained cheeks shimmered in the soft light while jade eyes searched her face, smiling. "I thought Maggie came back." He spoke finally, somewhat confused. He could remember seeing her at some point before he was taken away though he couldn't recall that she'd left before he was taken. "How long ago was that?" Certainly Naniko had mourned more losses than she should have had to.
"He's a strong one." Conri commented again, quiet and basking in the scent and warmth that he'd never thought he'd know again. "It's how you raised him." He didn't want her to worry, to hurt or be lonely any more. Now that he was back he would have to do everything that he could to make sure things were right again.
|
[/html]
[html] This is a really cute thread o_o; despite everything.
She wanted to shift, so that she could hang onto him better...but wasn't sure about it. Would he be able to shift, even with no leg? She didn't want to put him into any more pain. She started to make the change, but slowly. "You don't have to shift if you don't want to--I just thought we might be more comfortable" It only took a few minutes, less time than usual for her. Shifting had never really come naturally to her.
"Maggie did come back...but then she left again. I'm not sure why. At least Davinci told both me and Laruku that he was leaving." She sat back against the pile of furs, her arms wrapped around him. "Laruku...did he say that it was okay for you to come back? I can't imagine that he would say no...but then, I don't know him that well, really" It wasn't really that Laruku was anti-social...she just hadn't had a lot of alone time with him. He was strange--Naniko wished that there was something she could do for him, sometimes. He always seemed so lonely.
"I hope he does come back...Davinci. With Maggie. I don't think they really liked mother's new family, though...Iskata came back for a time and became mates with the alpha of Storm. They had pups...and then she left again. Sometimes the little ones wander into here, especially Kansas. He's the sweetest little boy" She grinned as she told him about the goings-on of the pack. "You didn't see any more of your family out there? I haven't seen Soran or her pups in months"
[/html]
[html] It had been months since Conri had last shifted, he'd been staying in that same form for fear that it might have some adverse affect on his scarring, despite how much he'd wanted to shift at times. Now, though, there was no trace of scab or pink flesh, which certainly meant that healing was just about complete. While she shifted Conri began the same, though his was slower, held back to what extent that he could hold it. He felt the tug of his scars, the small sharp pain that turned suddenly to burning, and for a moment he turned his head away from her. It was stretching to accommodate a larger area, which wasn't the most comfortable feeling, and he hid his pain from her. After a few minutes it was all over though and Conri glanced over the wound before finally turning to her again, making sure that it hadn't ripped open.
Naniko was to his right, thankfully, and so the red and cream male stretched his arm out to wrap it around her waist, pulling her the last few centimeters until they couldn't get any closer. Having her so close felt so foreign and so right all at the same time. "He said that I could stay." He turned his head toward her slightly, smiling. "I just didn't want to be here if it was going to make things harder on you, so I decided to come and check first." And he was very happy to find that she wasn't angry with him and, as selfish as it may have seemed, that she hadn't moved on to find a new mate.
"I'm sure that if he finds her he'll bring her back here to see you at least." He didn't want to imply that they would both stay though. DaVinci was grown now, at least he thought so, and there was also the possibility that he'd found a life of his own in his journey's searching for his sister. "I didn't see any of them." He frowned then, not at all pleased to hear that they just up and disappeared. "My mother might have taken them when she left." But where would they have gone?
|
[/html]
[html] :3 What else should they do?
She bit her lip to keep from saying anything while he shifted. She held a high amount of medical knowledge--did he really think that she couldn't tell when someone was in pain? But she didn't say anything, keeping her mouth firmly closed until he spoke again. "I don't think I can ever duplicate what we had. What we have...and I didn't try to, with anyone else" She said softly.
Naniko had been wondering about where the little ones and Soran had gone...it wasn't good that Conri hadn't seen them. She had thought that Soran might have left to go and find her son, but she couldn't be sure of it. She had babysat the pups on occasion, but hadn't realized that the dark wolfess had left with them for a couple of days. Clouded Tears wasn't a highly connected pack...
"I suppose so. She hasn't come back yet. But you've returned...maybe we'll get her back eventually, too"
[/html]
[html] No clue. XD Any ideas? While I phase Rachias out of Clouded Tears so Conri can join again, I'll be saying that he stayed in to catch up on some rest and such, then he'll go back to Laruku to join.
Conri had always been an attentive listener but he was moreso now that before. He'd lost everything he loved once already and was lucky enough to have gotten it back, which meant that he would always do his best to not take any of it for granted. Each words that her sweet voice spoke, he hung on it, be it good new or bad. "I always hoped that you were happy, or that you found some way to be happy." He spoke quietly, doing his best not to imply that she had to have a relationship to be happy in the first place. If she had found someone else though, he would've been at peace with it knowing that she was happy. "But I'm glad I get the chance to make you happy again." He whispered then, smiling his soft smile at her.
"As for my mom, I suspect she might come back sometime. She seemed to always end up back here." There was some distance in his voice when he spoke of her. He loved her, there was no question to that and nothing would ever change it, but it was getting hard for him to constantly worry about her. Her mental and physical health weren't all that well the last time he saw her and the fact that she'd disappeared again made him uneasy. It was hard to always wonder if she was even still alive, if she was coming back or, when she did come back, how long would it be before she left again. A contented sigh left the hybrid, leaning just a bit closer to the pristine white female. It was go to hear her again, see her, smell her, and all of the other things about her that sent his senses out of control.
|
[/html]
|
