Drooping Willows Through thick and thin...

Koda knew that she would answer honestly and that could never be the answer that he was looking for. Not exactly, but she had given him the closest that she could. It would have to be enough. Her words of endearment warmed him though and gave back something that he had lost in the nightmare. Feeling a bit more himself, he sat next to her and leaned slightly towards her until their pelts intermingled and he could feel their shared warmth. That simple feeling never ceased to comfort him.

After a few moments of silent commune, the large male gave a sigh and said, <b>"If you feel rested enough, we should probably be on our way, my love."</b> He felt a sadness try to creep up on him again at the thought of getting her home. Every mile that they traveled brought them closer to her home, which was good. But, it also brought them closer to parting ways again, which was most definitely not good. It was their life though and they needed to make the most of whatever time that they had.

Koda took a deep refreshing breath and smiled at Nina, basking in her love. They would get through this together. He knew in his heart that together, the two of them could do anything. They were soulmates.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/NinaTable.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 312px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">He seemed content enough with her answer and soon enough the two of them, were once again, side by side. When they were next to each other, Nina felt better than she had ever felt in her life. This must be what love is, it must have had to have been this feeling. She had never felt like this near any other wolf she had ever met. Most have said that the golden lady loved everyone, and it was true, she did, even if she turned out not to get along with someone, but Koda. . .he made her feel completely different. Which was a great thing for her, at the moment, nothing could be any worse.

One disturbing thought was about her brother though . . .she still loved him too. Even though he had tried to kill her. . .she still had to love him. . .because she knew why. She wanted to tell Koda. . .she had to tell Koda. . .he wouldn’t be angry with her, but it might have brought up a bigger understanding of what had happened to her. And with that thought in her mind she told him, "I want to talk to you about the attack. I-I know why Ash attacked me."

She didn’t want him to be mad at her for not telling him before, she had needed time to think about it. He had done it because of their father, and now, Nina never wanted to have to confront the fact that she had denied her father. It had been law to join the Hervok clan if you inherited the last name. No one would have denied that, but she had. . .she had said no to her father. Denying him and claiming she would live a free life. . .and that was why she had to come to Relic Lore. . .because her mother had told her that eventually, someone was going to come out and try to kill her.

Koda had resigned himself to leaving and getting Nina one leg closer to home, to leaving her, when she stopped him. The look on her face told him that whatever she was about to say was important to her. Her words drained the blood from his face and he felt his heart stop for a moment. <i>Did it matter that there was a reason? No.</i> That he had tried to murder his sweet Nina in cold blood was enough to condemn Ash into eternity. But it mattered to her that she tell him. She had been through so much and the last thing he wanted to do was argue with her about details. He hated Ash and he would until the day the demon was feeding earthworms.

Taking a breath and pushing his dark thoughts away, he turned to her and sat down expectantly. He was trying so hard to understand how she still say his name as if she cared about him. He was her brother, but he had tried to <i>kill</i> her! And nearly succeeded! Simmering down again, he tried to calm his inner storm. <b>"Tell me."</b> His voice was raw, filled with barely contained rage at the reminder of the attack. It meant a lot to Nina to explain it to him so he would do his best to listen and not become a raging lunatic at the mere thought of Ash.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/NinaTable.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 312px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">When she said the words she saw a brief flash of rage pass through her mates gorgeous features. She didn’t want to make him angry but she wanted to be honest with him. . .completely honest. When he spoke, she had to flinch though. Anger was clear in older male’s voice. She then looked down. How should she put it in facts? She didn’t exactly want to state it plain and simple. ‘Hey, Koda, my brother killed me because I refused to join my clan.’ No. . .she couldn’t say that to him. Though she was sure that he would understand what she was going to say, one way or another.

With a deep breath, she spoke calmly, "My father has been leader of the Hervok clan for many years. . .when I was born, I inherited the last name of Hervok. After awhile in my pup-hood, my father came to me. He said it was time to join the ranks of my clan. . .and I refused. No one has ever refused Reese before and when I did it was a whole new level. No one refused him. . .but no one claimed their own freedom either, which was what I did. After a few year of my life, I learned how to heal, but after I finished my lessons my mother wanted me to get out. She said that soon someone was going to be sent out to kill me. Who would be better at the job then a brother who is looking for his sister? "

By the end of her small rant she looked back up at her mate, her eyes hard and cold. The words were out. Her family was messed up, and no one could deny that. She still had the Hervok name. . .and until that changed she was going to be condemned to death until she had a name change, which wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. . .unless one of her friends let her take up on their last name. . .which wouldn’t be that bad of an idea. . .but it might cause some problems. She didn’t like lying. She then reached forward for assurance from Koda, touching her nose to his briefly.

Whatever she was about to say was obviously more than important to Nina. Some instinct warned him that he wouldn't like it. That he should not hear what she was about to say. With an annoyance, he gave an inner shake to loose himself of the thought. Nina needed him to listen and he would. He would do anything to ensure her happiness and safety. Anything. And so he ignored his inner voice and paid close attention to her next words.

When she was done, he was dead still and silent as he ran the words through his head over and over again. Pure shock and outrage filled him, nearly to overflowing. Only Nina's presence kept him from a senseless berserk rage. <i>All of this, because she chose not to join her father? She had to die for having a free will?</i> A mountain of rage welled up inside him, and it had nowhere to go. Ash was gone, her fanatic father was likely hundreds of miles away. The only one here was Nina and he fought to push back the fury, for the last thing she needed was for him to loose it.

His pale body tremble like a stampede was running over it and indeed there was. A stampede of emotions ranging from love to hate and everything in between. If Ash or her father had been there at that moment, they would have died. He didn't even think that Nina could have stopped him, so wild was his fury. But, they were not here and she was, so he struggled with hurculean effort to quell the fiery emotions. For long moments all he could do was battle to regain control and fight his baser instincts. He had not thought himself capable of such fury.

Finally, he was in control again and he took several deep breaths, before looking into her green eye. His own golden ones were still dark with emotion, always a dead giveaway of state of mind. Needing to be near her as much as she might need to be near him, he moved even closer until their pelts were one and he wrapped his head and neck about hers. He said in a trembling voice, <b>"I am so sorry, my love. He had no right."</b> With that his tears slowly fell towards her dark golden pelt, for he could hold them back no more.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/NinaTable.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 312px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">After her words she watched her mate, wondering what would happen. Would he be angry at her for not telling him sooner? Moments of silence passed before them and he still said nothing. But Nina saw a battle raging in his eyes. He was furious. . .but she wasn’t sure if it was at her or not, but he was definitely furious. She could see it in his handsome golden orbs that he was on the verge of loosing it. . .but then he started to tremble. Just like he had in his sleep when he had some sort of nightmare. She wasn’t sure if it was anger or sadness that was causing the large male to act so. It tore her apart though. . .not knowing what was going on in his head. She didn’t want him hurting because of her, no one deserved to hurt because of her, unless it was by the stink of the medicine that she was giving them to make one feel better.

When he finally seemed to regain control of himself, he looked back up at her, his dark eyes letting her read him like the back of her paw. He was sad, extremely upset about what she had said. And when he embraced her, their fur intermingled, and scents combining she breathed him in. She would remember the scent and would commit it to memory to the point where when he wasn’t even there, she would still be able to scent him. Finally, he spoke, but his words tore at her heart. He was sorry for something that she couldn’t control, and that hurt her more. He was hurting because of something that he couldn’t control. But then. . .then she felt something on her coat, it was moist, probably rain, but when she scented the air, it smelt like salt, not the rain she had thought she had smelt.

Realization quickly kicked into the younger female’s mind. Koda was. . .crying. And then her heart shattered into a million pieces. He was upset because of her and her family. It was a disgrace for her to make him feel like this. . .she knew that she should have waited to tell him, but a good relationship always needed honesty. Her head turned and she instantly licked the salty tears off of his face, her emerald eye shining with love and a small bit of light, the rest she had lost, all in the attack. It would take awhile for her light to return, but it would, the spirits and Gods would not allow her to live a miserable live, others needed her.

She nuzzled her love gently, concern flickering in her gaze briefly, "Everything will be okay, it is just the last name. I can ask Pakuna or Volkan if I can take on their last name. Then none of them can hold anything against me." She spoke the words calmly, keeping her good eye on his golden ones. She was the sadness in them, and she wanted off of it to disappear from him. His soul was pure and wonderful, and he shouldn’t let the way her life was going, bring him down. And for that, she gave him a sign of reassurance. Her pack mates would understand and for that, she was grateful. Now. . .would her mate understand?

She seemed more upset by his distress than her own, and wasn't that just like Nina? He gave a hollow smile as she bathed his face clean of tears. He hadn't meant to break down, he needed to be strong for her, but the magnitude of what she must have gone through her entire life growing up until this very moment shook him to his core. He took more deep cleansing breaths as she comforted him and listened when she spoke again.

She started talking and he honestly heard every word that she spoke, but one phrase stuck out like a blaring announcement to his dark golden ears. ...<i>it is just the last name...</i> She went on about taking another's last name from her pack, one of the other females. <i>Would that really be all that it took to free her from her tyrant of a father and maniac of a brother?</i> He almost laughed at the sheer simplicity of it. A name change. Lose the surname, lose the lunatics. Nothing could be simpler and as he remembered his thoughts from earlier that morning a smile as bright as the sunshine lit his face.

<b>"Nina, My love. You don't have to take any of their names."</b> He waited, hoping that she would be as thrilled with his suggestion as he was. It felt more right than anything in his entire life so far. Gazing deep into her emerald eye he asked, <b>"Nina, would you honor me by sharing <i>my</i> name? Would you officially become my mate in name, as well?"</b> For there was no doubt in either of their minds that they belonged to each other, heart and soul, already. <b>"Would you do me the honor of becoming Nina Reinier?"</b> His voice trembled once more, this time with excitment and hope.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

OOC: FOUR FREAKIN PAGES! GO US!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/NinaTable.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 312px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">She watched his golden eyes as gear clicked in his head. She knew that he had heard her well, and it was one of the many reasons that she loved him, because he would listen, which was something great for her. She didn’t have many in her life who would actually take the time and listen to the words that she had to say, but Koda always seemed to hang on to every last word that she would say. He seemed to be thinking about something important though, and it overly confused her. Why was he thinking about what she said? What if he didn’t want her to change her name? Would that effect their relationship at all? She didn’t want it to, but when he spoke, her heart swelled.

His first words hadn’t failed to confuse her at first. What did he mean? Then he sounded generally excited, but his last when he spoke his last words. . .everything made sense. Her heart felt like it started beating double time. . .and then the tears started coming. She was crying. . .tears of joy made their was down her scarred face. Her one emerald eye watched Koda closely before she started nodding her head briefly. She then nuzzled him gently and embraced him tightly. His warm pelt covered hers and she once more felt safe and comfortable. She couldn’t be any happier, she was overjoyed by his proposition to her, and now she was crying! She was surprised that just one wolf could make her feel all of these raging emotions.

With ragged breaths she spoke, "I love you so much, Koda. Thank you for everything."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/KodaTable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 200px;padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">It almost seemed as if his heart had stopped beating as he waited for her reply. Surely, she would say yes... he prayed within his heart. He had been intending to ask this very thing later that evening when they stopped for the night. When she insisted on telling him her story... the story of her deranged father and apparently obsessed brother, it had seemed the perfect solution. They loved one another more than words could express, so what could be simpler? They were mates already, mocking tradition with their epic love. If she took his name it would solve her family tyranny issue and make him the happiest wolf in one fell swoop!

Although it was mere moments, it seemed an eternity before she started crying tears of joy and quickly nodding 'yes', before embracing him and declaring her love for him. Now his tears came again, but they were also tears of joy now. It seemed that there was no way possible for life to get any better than it was right at this moment. Everything simply felt right. He hugged her tightly with his head and neck snaking around her as if he would never let her go and both of their pelts were now wet with salty tears. Finally, he pulled pack enough to look deep into her shimmering emerald eye, his golden ones dark with his own heartfelt emotions. "I love you Nina. Nothing can ever truly keep us apart now!" He laughed out loud, a near musical sound with the amazing love flooding his heart and embraced her, bringing her close once again.

Arla and Emma are the ish and made my pretties!
Koda will most likely always be accompanied by Chiron unless otherwise stated, or requested.

Jen your table is beautiful. <3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/NinaTable.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 312px; padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">He seemed just as happy as she had with her answer that she had with his question. They were both happy and nothing could ruin their time together, ever. When they once again were embraced she was absolutely sure that he could feel her heartbeat underneath her coat, not that she had that much of it left. Her one good eye seemed to be shining in admiration for her mate, but his words made her a whole, once again. She could feel it in her bones and heart, she was now feeling again, emotion could easily reach her, at the moment, that was.

She nipped at his ears and cheeks, nuzzling him continuously, without anything stopping her or holding her back. Right here and right now, they could have all the affection in the world. No one was watching them and no one was going to hold anything against them. They could love each other for who they were. Though. . .with a silent sigh, her butt sat on the ground, exhaustion once again taking at her limbs. She still remained close to him though, her nose touching his chest, breathing in his scent until it was all she could smell. She certainly didn’t want to return to home anytime soon.