Dead Empress Backwater nothing’s standing still for you

HANDLE YOUR OWN WHEN YOU BECOME A MAN

Eros' exasperation was also mounting. She was greatly reluctant to get to whatever point it was she had, and he couldn't imagine she really had all that much to share. If she had indeed known Archer in that way, it couldn't have been for very long at all. Signs, surely, but his mind stuttered when the conjectures veered in the direction of something having happened to his brother. Even when that was the best that could be reasonably surmised when this stranger said she was sent. Ally was here. The Cove knew that. Why wouldn't Archer be? Eros swallowed, silent, eyes still boring with intensity as he simply continued to wait.

BECOME A MAN WHEN YOU HANDLE YOUR OWN

The pressure felt like a physical weight. She wanted to be gentler, considering Ally was right there, but the older man wasn't giving her the time she needed to gather her words. The younger one wasn't even saying anything, and having all eyes on her made her skin crawl. Again, she was pushed, his tone harsh:

Just say whatever it is you need to say.

Why did Archer send you instead of coming himself?

"Because he's dead," she said, eyes flicking up to meet sharp yellow. "Snakebite, on the other side of the mountain. He's buried there." It was a struggle to keep her fur from rising with the flicker of anger in her chest. "He wanted his family to know, so here I am."

"Sorry he couldn't tell you himself, but I'm sure you understand why he couldn't be here now," she muttered, gaze back on the ground. Archer had given her messages to disperse, but she wasn't sure who these wolves were apart from Ally, so that was the one she gave. "Your dad loved you a lot. He wanted me to tell you that."

Though she was unsure if she'd be allowed to leave just like that, Nori turned. There was no reason to stick around now that she'd done what she'd been asked.

the night comes down like heaven

Ally's ear flicked at her grandpa's warning tone but otherwise she ignores him, her eyes fixed now on the woman growing steadily angrier before them. The yearling didn't like Viorel's hostility, but didn't dare say as much. She just wanted to hear whatever message her dad had sent, wanted reassurance that this dread creeping up her spine was wrong. Her dad would be there soon.

And then the words dropped bluntly from her lips and Ally's ears fell, pressed against her head. No! She shrank away from the stranger who had so harshly delivered such a blow, pressing back into her grandfather and uncle, and it seemed as though some of their foul mood seeped into her because she jumped forward as the woman turned to leave. "Liar! My dad isn't dead, he's coming home! He wouldn't leave me! No stupid snake would keep him from getting home!" He wouldn't leave me...

Her paws itched to run, to flee, just like they had that fateful night in the dark of winter. Instead she pressed herself, trembling, into her Uncle Eros's side and whimpered. "He's coming home," she said, voice small.

Instinctively the father barred his teeth at the news. His first thought was to want to lurch forward and tear this Cove stranger apart before she had the opportunity to speak any more lies.. Second, was the reminder that his granddaughter was standing next to him and had just bluntly been delivered the news that her father was dead. That brought back the temptation to sink into the numb silence that he had so deeply embraced after Sephrina’s death. But, he couldn’t do that. Thoughts of what that led to still haunted him, maybe if he had been more present Archer and Kateri wouldn’t have conceived, he wouldn’t have been ousted, and he would still be alive.

He had to be here. Inhaling sharply, and blinking away the moisture in time to realize that the tawny woman was retreating he croaked, ”wait,” then realizing that had barely been a whisper, ”wait, please.” There, that should do it. He waited for her to at least pause before pleading, ”Where is he? Where exactly did you bury my son?” His voice cracked on the last word, desperate, miserable, broken. Across the mountain, buried cold and alone in the dirt was not where Archer belonged. He should be here and living, but if that couldn’t be he still should have been here, surrounded by family and love, and buried with Katna and Sephrina.

HANDLE YOUR OWN WHEN YOU BECOME A MAN

Some kind of switch appeared to flick on (or perhaps off) for the stranger then. The hesitation and purported care vanished, and while there may not have been flames in her voice, the coldness of it all burned just as much. As though she were angry with them that they weren't reacting, or playing along, the way she'd wanted them to. 'Sorry he couldn't tell you himself,' a most sarcastic phrase if he ever heard one even if it lacked that specific tone, and it took everything inside of him not to snarl at the words. He didn't care if she'd recently befriend Archer. He didn't care if she'd even been the one to witness his death. They hadn't confirmed they were Valles, but Ally's relation had been clear. Did she think her pain greater than the deceased's own child? That any of this was the proper, much less considerate, way to handle things? She turned her back almost immediately, the final insult. Viorel pleaded, but Eros demanded. He charged forward, Ally's shouts in ears, and rounded to block Nori's path. His fur spiked all along his back and his tail was flagged high. Nearly all his teeth were bared. Fiction or fact, she didn't get to decide when this was finished. She was answering their questions.

BECOME A MAN WHEN YOU HANDLE YOUR OWN

There really was no good way to go about this. Not allowed to choose her words properly, not allowed to tell the truth, not allowed to react when she'd been pushed too far. She'd like to use the excuse that these wolves were grieving, but she had been received with malice from the start, and with Archer and Moon's deaths such a fresh wound, Nori wasn't in the right state of mind to remain totally calm in the face of such pressure and hostility.

It didn't mean she didn't regret it, when the kid reacted so poorly or when the older man teared up. The younger man's wordless snarling didn't faze her - she'd been growled at before, and he was justifiably upset. It was the way the first two had reacted that had Nori's ears swiveling sideways, shoulders bunching up a bit. All of the anger had suddenly drained from her, leaving her with nothing left but exhaustion and remorse.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." said it the way she did, ran her mouth like always. It felt like her tongue was made of lead. "All we were trying to do was find Ally." Her own eyes burned and she lowered her head, rooted to the spot. "I buried him in the woods at the base of the mountain, east of the lake. I could show you, if you want. If that would be easier."

Nori lifted her head a little, looking between each of the three. "I'm sorry. I'll never come back here after this. I just didn't want his family to never know what happened to him," she whispered, throat tight. "He tried really hard to come back to you. Even after... after the snake, he tried. I'm sorry I couldn't bring him back here." Guilt gnawed at her stomach and she looked away again, unable to bear seeing the grief on their faces any longer.

(This post was last modified: Jun 07, 2024, 08:18 PM by Nori.)

It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. A snake wouldn't stop her dad from getting to her. They'd agreed to always stick together. She knew how hard all of them had looked for her, and Uncle Eros had even gone up the mountain to find her.

They didn't like the mountain.

Her grandfather and uncle responded very differently, each stopping this stranger in their own way. It worked and when she spoke again her voice was softer but Ally could barely hear her. She didn't want to. She didn't want to understand. She wanted her dad. She didn't want to know that he'd tried so hard to get back. She didn't want to know how far away he was - how far away he would always be. Just like mom, just like Andy.

Ally violently shook her head, backing away from her further. "No," she said again, but this time it was almost a moan. Tears blurred her vision to near-blindness.

Away. They were all so far away.

That's where she needed to be. Away. So far away from right here, right now, somewhere she could pretend her dad wasn't dead and he was coming home to her.

She turned and ran.

This is Ally's exit. She is not leaving the territory, merely finding somewhere within it to hide.

Viorel's exit

The leader wanted to ask more questions, a million of them turned over and over in his mind, fighting for prevalence and dominance. But, his tongue remained still like stone. He couldn’t get anything out and it felt like they were stuck blocking up his throat, choking him, strangling him. His breath came as a sudden shudder only once Ally moaned and moved away from him. The coldness at his side might as well have been a blast of arctic air.

He gurgled out, ”Eros, take Achille or Oleander, find him.” It felt like he had been funked underneath a rushing river. Everything felt blurry and distorted, he could hear his own heartbeat in his ears and couldn’t catch a real breath. Without another word he turned to follow his granddaughter, he would give her whatever space she needed, but he had to ensure she had retreated somewhere safe. They couldn’t take any chances. Archer had done everything to make sure she was taken care of, and he would die before he let anything happen to her now.

Somewhere between here and there he realized he would have to tell Vanadis that they had lost another son. He felt sick, he felt empty, the world had finally broken him.