Dead Empress Backwater i thought you'd always be mine

This is for Clover only.

Your toxic I'm slipping under

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride

Vayko had dwelled on it, attempting to hide all that had continued to bother him… years of crimes that had built up against him. He knew he should not have come back… even with the brief but temporary relief that Clover and their children had provided, he should not have come back. She was a siren’s call, meant to lure him and subdue him so the others could lash out and sink their teeth into him some more. It angered him… being such a joke, and such a disgrace.

The scent of Vana across the border set him over the edge, making it clear to him that one only had to pay for their perceived crimes if one was named Vayko… Vasco had not had to pay for attempting to murder him…Vanadis likely would not have to pay any crime because she was meant to be Viorel’s love.

He wanted to think Clover was better than the rest of them… sweet Clover, with pristine white fur that showcased how she was a light in the dark.

And yet… she had been a leader too… and Vasco had remained. Vasco, who had attempted to kill her mate.

If it had been him, his throat would have been removed and the entire pack would have known why.

It pushed his thoughts over the edge, a distant and angered venom in his eyes as he began to make his way towards the border unceremoniously, all signs of him scrubbed as best as he could from the pack den. Let them continue to spit on him, his name… he’d prove them wrong. He’d prove his greatness, his glory, elsewhere…

As soon as she realised Vanadis had returned to them Clover sought out Vayko. She wanted to give the other woman some time to breathe and readjust before bombarding her with yet another presence, as she was sure others would be asking her all sorts of questions. They would have plenty of time to reconnect, and for now she wanted to seek out her mate and rejoice together.

She crossed his scent near the border, picking up the pace with a bright smile on her face as she changed course. Her tail wagged happily behind her when she laid eyes upon his tawny pelt, waiting until she moved within reasonable earshot before calling out to him. "Did you hear the good news? Vanadis is back!" He hadn't failed and gotten her killed as he believed himself to have, which Clover had never agreed with in the first place. But now everyone had undeniable proof that he had at least tried to keep her safe, which was all that mattered to Clover.

(This post was last modified: May 14, 2024, 11:38 AM by Clover.)

Your toxic I'm slipping under

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride

Clover spoke, finding him and seemingly happy and yet… he could not feel her joy. He could not understand how she could be like all of the others… how she could so easily welcome her back. A very small, logical part of his mind reminded him that she did not whisper about him when he first returned like everyone else did… but that part was vastly overweighed by the paranoia… by the anger that burned deep in his soul, causing his nose to twitch in immediate irritation.

“Yeah. I heard.” His tone fell flat. His words had a sharpness to them despite it all. “So now everyone can welcome her back like a hero, and they can continue to plot my death.” In the coming weeks, he had become more and more convinced that his cousin had been in cahoots with Vasco, and that it had all been intentional. That he had tried to murder him to rid him of him. Perhaps he wanted Clover… now with Vana back, perhaps he will want them both again.

There was a distant anger in his eyes that bordered on the eyes of a crazed man as he said it, and it would be undeniable to Clover that something was wrong.

His flat tone had her ears pulling back momentarily, mouth slightly agape in surprise. Was he not happy that Vanadis was back? She frowned as Vayko continued to speak, bewildered at his reaction. Clearly something was bothering him, and the flash of rage in his gaze had her worried.

“I don’t understand,” she said softly, tail now hanging limply by her hocks. “No one here wants you dead, darling.” Unless he was referring to the incident with Vasco, but that had been some time ago and she thought he had sorted it out with Viorel. Perhaps she was out of the loop on that.

“If there’s something bothering you, I’m always here to listen.” She reached her muzzle forward to provide physical comfort to him, if he was receptive to her action.

(This post was last modified: May 14, 2024, 11:48 AM by Clover.)

Your toxic I'm slipping under

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride

Of course she didn’t understand. They all pretended not to, in an attempt to subdue him and convince him that nothing was wrong. He had started to put the pieces together, but Vanadis’s return had only solidified things in his mind, a hissing snarl at her… a tone seldom reserved for the enemy that he now turned on his love for her accomplice nature in the crimes of the Backwater against him. A righteous fury… and yet his affections for her that lingered under the shroud of paranoia stayed him from every attempting to lay a claw on her.

Despite all that troubled his mind, he could not bring himself to do that.

“You know what is bothering. Do not play dumb like the rest pretend to.” It was clear to him in that moment that she had been sent, disguised as an angel to pacify him. “I am leaving, and those who try to follow me will be killed.” His tone flat, an almost psychotic nature in his eyes that might suggest something deeper going on as the fur along his spine bristled.

“The queen has returned, so it will not be long before they plan to dispatch of me again. Tell me, how long do I have? A week? A month?” Oh yes, that had to be it. He reared back from her attempt to touch him with another snarl.

His actions and words were hostile, though Vayko never made a move towards her. Clover was afraid, but not for herself. Something had been festering inside him for a while now and she had not noticed it, and she was afraid that he was going to do something rash and regret it later. Vayko had always had a bit of a spitfire energy, but this was something else.

When Vayko flinched away from her touch her ears flattened back against her head. She didn't know how to calm him down from his burning fury in a way which would not ignite him further. "Please don't leave darling." Clover choked out the words, feeling a tightness in her throat and eyes brimming with unshed tears. "We can figure something out together. I can help you." If she could just get him to stay long enough for her to help him overcome whatever he was dealing with then maybe everything would be okay.

"You can't leave our children," she finally said, having seen how he had fallen so naturally into the role of parenthood and how he doted on them, hoping it would be enough to change his mind on leaving. You can't leave me.

Your toxic I'm slipping under

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride

Vayko’s tail continued to lash angrily from side to side as she pleaded with him. She begged him to not leave. Yes, he figured she would say something like that, once again causing his jaw to snap, though once again never launching towards her. She was one of the few that were eternally safe from his wrath, even in the depths of his fury.

“No.” His words were a deep and low growl. “You all are the problem.” He would not be sedated. He had finally seen the light, what Modesto had tried to show him all along. His fur bristled along his spine.

“I will not sit idly by and watch them be poisoned against me too.” He snapped again, a harsh and dull tone as he turned his back to her, beginning to walk away from her… away from the pack he had helped build, and away from the life he had built and created with Clover.

Away from everything that had ever been wrong in his life, from the moment the aliens had abducted him.

At the finality of his no the tears began to flow freely, rolling down her cheeks as she choked back another sob. Clover could not, would not believe that the man she loved would choose to leave. Leave their family. Leave everything they had built together. After everything she had been given she did not know if she could survive yet another thing being taken from her. Perhaps the world was playing some cruel joke on her.

Or maybe she was dreaming?

Vayko spoke again, and all she could do was stand there, all the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat, and weeping openly. His words sliced her deep, deep enough that had it been a physical wound she knew she would have never recovered.

He turned away from her. "Vayko, please." She felt like a child, small and afraid, and at a loss of what to do. He began walking away, but her body felt frozen in place. It was impossible for her to take a step towards his retreating form.

"VAYKO!" The scream tore itself from her throat, desperate and broken. Her body was wracked with sobs as she watched the man she loved walk away, and with the realisation that there was nothing she could do her legs crumbled beneath her. Clover curled up into a tight ball on the ground, unaware of anything around her as she cried out everything that was inside her, leaving a gaping wound in her heart that she knew would never heal.

Your toxic I'm slipping under

With a taste of your lips, I'm on a ride

She had never been right for him because she had never belonged to him. She had always been the pawn of his family, ever since Viorel had used her for his own gains only to cast her aside. Deep down, he knew she could not be blamed for her cruelty, and it was why he would allow his heart to stay his paw rather than lashing out like he could have. A part of her recognized she did not deserve any pain, not beyond that which he was already giving her.

And he simply walked away, her screams falling upon deaf ears as he headed towards the border, disappearing. There was only one more to make aware of the situation before he disappeared completely. He was done, but he had not lost every modem of decency. He would not simply disappear silently; he would make it certain that his cousin knew that he knew, and he was leaving because of it.

And that's a wrap :'(

There was still a hope that he would come back, and she would feel his warmth caress her fur as he apologised and said he wasn't thinking right. That it had been a mistake to think he could leave and had changed his mind. But that didn't happen.

Time passed. Clover did not know if it was minutes or hours. But he never came back.

She sobbed until there were no tears left to shed and her throat and chest ached from the exertion of it all. It left her empty, and there was no thought at all about seeking shelter when the day turned to night. Clover would stay there until someone forced her to move.

FADE