Blackberry Fields Don't you fret, my dear

He fully approached her as affirmed that she knew what cedar trees looked like, allowing him to believe that she might be the key in helping him advance forward on his quest. For a boy who had only ever known the company of his three, older, and annoying sisters, having Klio's company to keep for the next foreseeable days was a breath of fresh air. He was about to tell her of his eldest lookalike brother and sister and perhaps even the siblings who looked like their mother, but he was abruptly interrupted by none other by his terribly suffocating and persistent twin. The excitement of his soon-to-be venture with Klio was long forgotten as Bishop did as she had always done when they were little - as soon as she had reunited with him, no matter how far he might have gone without her, she nuzzled and cuddled up to him, rubbing her nose and shoulders and every part of her neck all over him as though he were a tree to be marked and claimed.

An exasperated sigh left his lips as he endured her crooning and twittering about how she had worried about him. As was customary, she licked at his ear and he did the same as she turned to address the night-coated girl. Frankly, it was reciprocated out of habit and the need for a sense of familiarity and security; he had been without his littermate for more than two weeks and he would have been lying if he told himself that he had not missed her during their time apart. His eyes looked her over but something wasn't right, Klio's eyes had glossed over and she whispered under her breath, "Run, run, she's here!"

Startled, Rook drew close to Bishop, flinching as the girl darted away from them, only to fall into the flower-and-berry-adorned blackberry bushes where she wriggled and thrashed about. His first instinct was to go after her and as Klio laid in the grasses and brambles, Rook sniffed, absolutely dreading for what Bishop would say next, which he assumed would be something that would belittle and scorn his newfound friend. Standing beside Klio's unconscious body, he looked back at his sister, his agouti-patterned fur starting to bristle as he gave her a short, wary growl, "Don't even say a word."

He was about to go on about asking her why she had followed him and if she had also been given permission to leave, when Klio came to, taking a deep breath and standing up again. Rook's brows furrowed as his attention on his siblings was diverted, "Whoa. You okay? You were... You... You might want to sit down for a bit." His jaw clenched as he fought the urge to cringe, replaying how she had convulsed before them. "You kind of went off for a bit there..."

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

Klio blinked several times, unable to comprehend Rook's words. But moments later, she figured it out, and seated herself. Rook looked uncomfortable, like the dark colored wolf next to him. What had she done? She knew she was prone to such flashbacks nowadays, but it was unusual that she moved around while in one... That could be dangerous. What if she accidentally hurt a wolf, or... it? She couldn't even say the word. What the wolf who raised her had done to Klio's parents was becoming a more unspeakable word every day...

Wait wait wait, what? Klio snapped to. The wolf standing next to Rook? There hadn't been one before she hallucinated, or at least not that she remembered... The black girl suddenly leapt to her paws. "Who are you?" She demanded promptly and mistrustfully of the other she-wolf.

It looked as if Rook and the other female were related. She couldn't be sure... Kilo began to sway violently, so sat down, or more so attempted to. She sat for a moment, but dizziness overcame her, and she half laid down for several moments before sitting up again.

"I'm sorry, I'm alright now. I have a problem was hallucinations. Maybe it's safer if I don't come along. I don't want to put either of you in danger." She said sadly to her two companions. The black girl had thought she had found a friend, and she believed she had, but she couldn't even fathom agreeing to a situation where she could put someone she liked in danger. Danger was everywhere and came from everything, but it wouldn't come from her. Not today, at least.

All at once the situation began to unravel. One second she had been looking at a perfectly normal, albeit scrawny yearling and then suddenly it was writhing on the ground in a fit of madness. Her heart was in her throat, and she could feel her brother pressing against her for comfort though she could find none. In an attempt to explain the situation to herself, her mind reached back to the teachings of their pastor. He had spoken at length about the mentally ill — why shouldn't he, with Father's condition being what it is?— and the demons that they wrestled with. Did this girl have demons too? Immediately Bishop regretted her rude entrance and condescending thoughts, and felt her heart aching for this poor, tormented soul. Bishop never could stand another's pain.

When her brother spoke to her, preemptively scolding her, Bishop lurched backwards. She eyed her brother incredulously, wounded. Could he think she would be so cruel as that? What had this journey done to him? Before she could say a word, though, the poor black girl was getting to her feet again, and she apparently didn't even remember meeting her at all. At a lost, Bishop's lower jaw hung ajar for several moments before, flustered, she said, "I'll... you can handle this." Clearly Rook thought she would just muck it up anyway, although she wasn't even sure Rook would be any better dealing with this unstable stranger. Bishop was the one with social skills — or at least, that was how she imagined herself. "I'll be over there," she mumbled, walking away.

I was both startling and strange how everything played out soon after. Once Klio was back on her feet, she had apologized and assured them that she was all right. Then, an affirmation that it would be better if she left them along and that she didn't want to put either of them in danger. At his side, Bishop was unsure about what to say or do except let her brother handle it all while she stood off to the side. Her mumbling didn't help anything except frustrate Rook in return.

"Well, okay then," he simply said, obviously confused also by what had just happened with Klio becoming unconscious and declaring that the duo were better off on their own. "Good luck." He offered her a slight smile before stalking off to where Bishop was still walking away from him. He let out another irritated sigh.

Trailing after his sibling, he stiffly followed her every step, his footfalls coming down in heavy stomps. It really would have been nice to have done this all on his own, he had thought after some time, but maybe there had been a reason as to why his sister had come along. Maybe her drawing away from Klio was a good thing, a sign for him to take a step back and realize that, perhaps, it had been wise to also turn away from her and accept that she would have put him in danger (especially if she had been stunned again in the middle of their journey where they weren't particularly safe). The Lyall boy's ears came back as he stared at the back of his sibling's head, urging his own stocky limbs to move a little faster so that he might catch up to her. "Wait for me," he whined. "I'm coming, too..."

(Fade.)

(This post was last modified: Jul 18, 2014, 12:38 AM by Rook.)

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.