Retrace

Set after this thread. Jaysyek/Ava first, please <3

He’d envisioned it much differently than this.

The tips of her onyx fur danced in the current of a slow motion summer wind, the shadow cast by the reaching limbs of ancient trees falling just short of her form as she stood on the shore. The wake of the lake water was gentle, and its surface shone nearly as bright as the inner light kindled in her angelic, golden eyes. The crown she wore to signify her reign was not made of gold or embellished with jewels, but exemplified in her actions and carriage. Even the mountains bowed in the presence of the woman who was his rock, and his queen, and would forever be...

The reality was that there was no kingdom awaiting her; there was no sun or shore, no warmth or safety. Winter had been cruel to many, and had not bestowed Grizzly Hollow the mercy which it so direly needed. The sickness had spread and ravished much of the wilderness that was home to so many, and death loomed upon every horizon in sight. Though it was the fauna that had been directly affected, even the cedar trees, bare and icebound, seemed lifeless. It felt as though the sun would never shine again as he led her deeper into the realm he shared with a pack that was in every sense his family, and always would be. Despite the misfortune that had befallen the cedar forest, the wolves of Grizzly Hollow were strong, and now, with their blessings, she would belong with them.

Dusk was approaching and it was fortunate that he and Ava had managed to make it this far before nightfall. It had been nothing short of a miracle that they had found each other somewhere out in the world after so much time, and having made it home safely was a burden he readily felt lifted from his shoulders. The scents of his pack mates permeated the air, warming his lungs as he inhaled a deep breath, and eventually the dark guardian’s steady gait would cease. Reassuringly, his silver gaze would befall his love, taking in the sight of her worn body with acceptance and love. The thought of the days she had spent alone, perhaps hungry or cold, made his own body ache and more than ever did he want to give her more—a life worthy of the Attaya clan.

A melodious, haunting song echoed through the twilight, rising to crescendo before slowly fading, beckoning for his alphas and the wolves of the Hollow.

(This post was last modified: Feb 15, 2013, 05:14 AM by Kade.)

This post was so much better before my laptop restarted to install updates...

Paw after paw in the snow she followed the dark Guardian, reciprocating his every movement so she would not feel so unfamiliar in unfamiliar territory. It'd been some time since they began their journey but it seemed so sudden that the Cedars began to appear as he lead her home. Their ice-dusted trunks extended into the sky with an absolute straightness like statues on display, reaching high above them as they traveled their path. Ava imagined the branches above looked down upon their dark forms and figured them no more than ants, though she did not believe any one or thing could ever look upon the man who owned her heart and find him small.

Through the cloudy haze that took over the winter sky the dusk seemed to paint the backdrop a creamy orange, something so unnatural she wondered if only she saw the coloring or if it was just one of mother nature's many and constant oddities. Given a break in the shadows of the towering tree trunks, the light of dusk caught on his silver dusted hairs and set him positively ablaze. With every ripple of his muscles she saw the fire around him grow. In the desolation of winter Kade looked a true phoenix King, wrought from the powder of snow rather than ashes, with a sturdy grace unfazed by any obstacle. A smile tugged upon her onyx lips briefly lit by a taint of smugness that someone so magnificent had chosen her to be his Queen. Storybook romances simply could not compare. But even better was that she knew she did not simply accessorize the rugged man - they completed each other. And now she was so close to never have to leave his side again.

Literally, close. Those scents that decorated his fur were saturating the air as they drew closer and closer to the haunt of the Grizzly Hollow wolves, a territory completely unexplored. The eagerness shone in her amber stare, growing especially as their approach came to a halt. She met his stoic gaze with a muted grin. Ava yearned to rest her head in the crook of his shoulder blade, close her eyes and inhale his scent until no other existed in her world. But now was the least appropriate of times to shirk from uncertainty. The respect of his pack was something he wore with every proud movement, something Ava doubted was given away so easily. The coal-colored female did not suspect herself unworthy to be his equal, and it went without saying that she would prove it for anyone that asked. Beginning with his leader.

As he beckoned into the losing daylight she turned to watch the horizon, ears and tail lowering in anticipation of a greater wolf's arrival. Though she dare not risk looking insubordinate it was impossible to dull her gaze, a flicker of flame still burning in their golden depths from the electricity of his proximity to her. A little more hollow in the cheeks than she preferred to be she was still far from useless, and she'd be damned if her potential went unnoticed.

art - threads

The days were meant to be longer, but this one had gone too quickly. The night sky was fighting for its turn to rule while the sun had began to descend. Jaysyek was making another round in the amber light for any more small monsters of madness. They had been lucky to find the fox dead, and nothing new to take its place. Jayse didn't feel lucky. Like the stretches of winter, she couldn't help wonder how long this would go on too. Would Spring be its end or was there one? Thoughts flashed to those scents, the words Borden had said, the River wolf. Would killing those wolves do it? Her instincts were telling her to run, not to attack, not to touch, to stay far, far away. Would it be enough? A low sigh crumbled in her throat, escaping from her mouth to a silver wisp. She shouldn't feel this old. The white lady continued onward, checking every inch with her nose for anything that could be a potential threat. The slim trails of animals were not tainted with that...poison. Driving steps, she turned around, cris-crossing over her same line of path on her way back to the den. Back to try to sleep before starting the madness all over again.

Wary feet fell quickly onto the packed snow, she had barely moved away from the border when the dark Guardian's voice began to rise in the forest calling for her. White crown titled, ears tipping forward to capture its meaning, it seemed he was announcing something to all of them. He must have someone with him. Why she thought that she wasn't sure, it might have been something in his voice, but she found her steps lighter while making her way to him. These times the smallest of things was good news, and desperately needed. White tail aloft, eyes swept through the timber searching for his shadowed coat. The Grizzly Hollow leader would be greeted by two black shadows, rather than one. Blue, and golden eyes drifted to the steel colored pair she knew too well, because she had seen many a thing within them, and wondered what she would find now. This couldn't be just anyone. "Kade," she murmured with a lift of her nose in welcoming him home. Quickly her mismatched eyes took in the lady, and Jayse recognized her but only by her fiery eyes. A mountain wolf who had strayed in the night, but admitted to coming for nothing. The leader would have grinned, but she did not, she accessed her seeing she had been without a pack for awhile. Life still sparked there, and Jayse made no mistake how much she must mean to her dark Guardian. There was no green monster within her heart, only curiosity, relief, and hope the one before her knew what she had and to never let him go. The only reason Jayse could hate her if she broke things that not ought to be.

Ava, that was her name. The leader held her tongue, not wanting to disturb the fact they shouldn't know each other. Quietly as she had came she had left, and Jayse had not thought a lot into the meeting. "Welcome to Grizzly Hollow, you wish to stay?" There was no mockery in the lady's tone, but mere question of what the other lady wanted this time. This must be why she was here, why his voice had called. Unless...but Jaysyek dare not think the charcoal and silver flecked man was going to leave tonight. No, she convinced herself he must want her to stay. Any other wolf but Jayse would worry this would mean her downfall, but to see Kade with his other half, whole she found nothing wrong about that.

It felt to him as though the world had stopped turning for them as they stood in wait. Not long ago it was he who sought acceptance here, and now he sought it for the shewolf whose presence in his life had altogether been unexpected and divine. He leaned into her body, his chin grazing her crown tenderly as his eyes searched the forest. A certain, unknown calm washed over him...Inside he was quiet, where before a discord and a clamor had existed. Peace was something he'd never truly known, not within himself, not in his life; it felt so foreign, but without a single second guess he knew that this was how it was supposed to be, and he embraced it.

An arctic wind whispered through the trunks of the archaic giants, stirring the finest layers of untouched snowfall from the ground as the last rays of light began to wane, and he could feel her.

Memories flashed through his mind. A brilliant summer sunset upon a vast blackberry field, the blood upon her lips licked clean, the scent of her upon the air, swept away into the first night he'd dreamed of the angel with the mismatched eyes. A howling autumn wind, cutting through the fur of his back as he stood witness to a queen as she emerged at the margin of an unknown cedar realm. A flash of white illuminated by starlight. Timeless, unspoken affections that glimmered in seas of gold and blue. A surrender beneath the moonlit canopy where his heart bled upon the thicket floor. The might of the almost lover whose fangs drew the blood of a fallen king...He had lived for her. He had fought for her. He would die for her.

He loved her.

With every single fiber of his being, Kade loved Jaysyek - an affliction that ran so deep it had become a part of him and would always be. The grace that shone through her kind eyes coursed through his veins, the essence of the life she had offered him, and there was no denying...His eyes shut, and for a moment he held his breath as a familiar chill crept up his spine. The scent of the woman who had tamed him, broken him, and accepted him filled the winter night. As he stood with pride at the side of his one true love, prepared and determined to overcome the odds against them, he could feel his heart crack.

The ashen queen emerged from the darkness in all her glory, and where his eyes could have fallen in sorrow and despair before her, they instead exuded strength and resolution, connecting with her perfectly mismatched ones intimately. She lifted her nose in welcome his head bowed in respect. As though she had seen the future, the Queen of Grizzly Hollow knew the words to say, and her gentle inquiry in turn granted that which he most desperately desired - a place for Ava among them. Without so much as shifting his weight from her, the dark guardian quietly looked upon his mate solemnly, reassuringly, proudly in anticipation of her response.

(This post was last modified: Feb 17, 2013, 06:22 PM by Kade.)

On the other side of the coin it seemed not even a breath had passed before the queen of the forest broke through the dusky treeline, her arrival swift, elegant. The pale she-wolf was easy to recognize even from a distance, carrying herself with a regal gait and an open posture. The way she commanded attention was not through an overt display of dominance - like the many wolf Leaders the former Poison wolf had interacted with before - but through an undeniable grace that radiated from the ivory-coated female. So when she stopped before the pair, Ava's golden gaze no longer wandered among the bare tree trunks but lingered on the frost-coated dame.

Following Kade's welcome she was struck by the she-wolf's gaze, a bi-colored stare Ava could not have forgotten but neither could have prepared for. There was recognition for a brief moment that flickered between their stares but nothing said of her one-time encounter. The shadowy she-wolf swallowed her amusement and let nothing more slip than a delicate smile upon her jaw. Last time she'd been shrouded in the forest she'd been no liar - the Cedarwood did not sing her name for any particular reason. But the air was different now, significantly colder, and full of potential. Jaysyek knew this without even words. Between the Guardian and Leader the air resonated with understanding, clear that they hadn't been brought together of mutual fear.

Graciously Ava lowered her head. She did wish to stay, and then some. "Yes, I was hoping to find a home here." More than a home for the winter. More than a place for survival. Ava wanted so badly to belong. The time when she could sing on the cliffs and find safety at the valley's bottom had ended. The stone paths were now just as cold and unforgiving to her heart as they had always been to her paws. But the Cedars reached overhead and their canopy felt like shelter, an invitation to a new adventure. "And of course, in return I would offer Grizzly Hollow my all." Ava felt the heat of her mate emanating beside her and knew in some part of her heart she'd already done it, but the story was only beginning, and it was a promising one - given the chance.

art - threads

Kade may believe Jayse had been his savoir, but he was just as much hers. What else could explain how he had came in her dire time of need, when her own heart was cut to pieces and she had puppies, a pack who were depending on her. From the shadow a kind, handsome gentleman who helped provide a way to fill hungry stomachs. A dark angel, her saving grace. When he had come all that way, singing for her, again seeming to be born from the shadow she almost could not believe it. The memories may seem faded, but they were not to her. The challenge of her children, her pack he had over coming, finding a place among them, part of the family, holding them together. Jayse was honored to meet his other half, not able to be that for the steel eyed man, but knowing how much he needed the love. Before her eyes they seemed as one, and there was no question of trust. After all they had been through, what he had done for her, Jayse knew having his mate here was a blessing. These time of madness, another able body but with a good brave heart was especially needed.

They black cloaked lady gave her respect, speaking up which pleased the white leader. While the were those less bold, she was glad to see someone able to speak up in her presence. Home, yes that was the word she used and Jayse picked up she meant exactly that. It would be more than a place to rest her head, feed her hungry stomach. There was no reason not to give her what she wanted. It reminded her when she was younger, she had climbed a mountain, asking a white wolf for a home. Jaysyek had not found it, not till she had seen this very forest, seen the old den of a bear knowing she wanted to live here. She wanted to raise a family in the secured arms of the timbers where the earth was beneath her nose.

A smile curled around her white muzzle, not hiding her pleasure. Ava vowed to do all she could for Grizzly Hollow, and Jaysyek believed her. What all that would be time would only tell. "I believe you, and would gladly welcome you a place among the Grizzly wolves." Jaysyek stepped forward, and brushed the thick of her neck to Ava's to add her scent to the dark threads of her coat. " I'll leave it up to you if you stand near ranks with Kade," she added in a low murmur, but it did not matter if the Guardian heard as well. Jayse had said it with her soft voice, feeling Ava would rise to the challenge. The silver streaked wolf was certain it wouldn't be a hard road to pass Sybil or Aniu. The process would let her loyal members decide how easy it was for the black wolf to do so to test her worth by their own means. Those women had hearts of gold, brave enough to put it on the line for the children. She found her place back, a smile to her dark Guardian. He had been long before that title had fallen upon him. She felt it was her time to go. Sleep sounded quite nice now, and she wanted to give them privacy so Ava could settle in. "Pleasure to meet you Ava," There was sincerity in her words, in the kindness of her eyes. A sigh escaped her, but she gave a final dip of her head to both before trotting off into the shadows. Her bed was calling her name.

{exit}

(This post was last modified: Feb 21, 2013, 03:47 PM by Jaysyek.)