Lions for Scottie

A hot, campfire sky blazed above the plateau, caressing the snow-covered ground with a soft, watercolour hue that made the ground meld with the sky far along the horizon where few trees thrust their jagged peaks toward the heavens. Despite the fact that Sagacity had always been wary of the month of February- more often than not the nights had been colder and days more ruthless than in any other month- the evening's calm had instilled a sort of peace within her...But it wasn't the sort of peace that made her feel relaxed. It calmed doubt, nervousness, and anything that made her feel any less sure of herself. Thus, it gave a voice to her instinct which was already beginning to awaken as Spring approached. Now, in the company of a pack, she felt this instinct driven even more insistently into her being. Once non-existent and mute, it had come as an alluring hum, one which caused her to bend her ears in its direction and acknowledge it. This was not a song she could recant.

She roved along the outcrop, from which she could see a good distance. Now and again she would pause and lay down if she caught sight of something moving off in the distance, so as to blend her form in with the environment and become nothing more than a piece of the landscape. So far away were these figures that she could not put faces or names to them, nor could she catch their scent on the wanton breeze. But each time she saw one, her mind drove her to believe that it was one wolf in particular.

She dd not discourage herself from her daydreams. She remained alert on her watch, but still her mind was able to work, fabricating fantastic images and encounters which occasionally made her fur stand on end at the back of her neck. She was alone and thus felt no need to hide the longing expression from her features, and when she felt particularly lured by one of the visions which danced inside her mind, she shamelessly tilted her head back, closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. But she had not been hired to lay about and daydream, but to patrol. So she kept her eyes on the horizon where she could watch the lands below, while her ears moved regularly, picking up the melody of sounds around her. Every now and again her mind would play tricks on her and she would glance over her shoulder with a surprisingly soft gaze, before she turned her attention back to the horizon.

Avatars by Arla!

Crimson flashed across the sky, broken only by the littering of dark, snow filled clouds that were too slight to have any impact. The snow was beginning to waver, perhaps further into the woodland it was already melting ready for spring, but the dark male was certain that they would experience the snow far longer than most with thanks to their higher altitude. He didn't mind the snow; likewise he didn't mind the mountains. They were there, part of life and something he could never change. That didn't mean he didn't have a preference, in truth the dark leader loved to bathe in the sun, allow the warm tentacles of heat to sooth his skin and bones for hours on end. He favoured the soft texture of the forest beneath his paws rather than the harsh cold of stone, but his circumstances didn't allow him to enjoy such a indulgence. The mountain was the only place for him, a fort, a castle against the world and from a logical point of view; it was the best location for him to call home. The pass was not without its beauty- their small sparse of forest took the weight from his paws, the small streams which sieved from the mountains into the small lake of their home carried a pretty sound through the walls and quenched his thirst far better than that of the lowlands- the water was straight from the source there, unfiltered or tainted as it fell from the mountain tops. The steep cliffs that loomed over the pass blocked the sun he loved, but it kept them sheltered from the harsh winds and kept their lands hidden from all of those who did not know where they lived- logically he accepted the fact he wasn't able to enjoy the warmth, but sometimes logic wasn't enough to quash the feeling of being crushed he felt. He needed air to breathe, to feel the wind upon his face, the sun against his skin which is why he had increased his border patrol further than usual, climbing ever higher towards the outcrop where he could feel the last of today's sun before he would have to head home, back to the shelter of his citadel.

His strides made short work of his journey; his long legs had grown accustomed to the terrain, wandering across the rocky outcrops with ease. His lighter weight made the trip safer, easier to balance when the need came and despite the fading light he felt at ease with his steps. He might be a forest wolf at heart, but as with everything in his life, he had conquered the heights and the dangers they offered. They were of little challenge to him now and he would have to seek out something new to snare his interest… something, or someone. That someone’s scent hit him like a tidal wave. As his head lifted and he pulled himself up unto the outcrop he saw her small, lithe figure dancing between the rocks. He stood at the edge of the small area; curious as to what the silver wolf was doing as she ducked here and there. She seemed to very timid, nothing like Naira who was head strong, confident alongside her new “take no shit” attitude, it was a breath of fresh air to watch a female that knew she was not invincible- that she needed to be cared for by a strong male. Like him.

With a wry smirk, he settled himself to sit where he stood and speculated how long it would take her to notice him. Of course, the wind was not in her favour as it carried her scent to him rather than the other way around. He was curious to see if the pull he felt every time he laid eyes on her was more than his own gut feeling, if it was something innate that they shared for some unknown reason. It was a dangerous game, but one he found himself craving more and more. Their first meeting had been… intense and he could still feel the warm breath of her lungs on his skin. He could still drown in her perfume if he closed his eyes and thought back to that meeting. Time had stood still and no matter how hard he tried to deny the sensations he had felt, he could not put them down to anything more than pure, unadulterated lust. Something he had not felt for some time.

Though she knew there was no use for fanciful dreams, they weren't something Sagacity could deny herself, not at this time. Not when her hormones and instincts were steering her closer and closer to the proverbial edge. The need for satisfaction consumed her even though she tried to fight it off and continue watching the horizon. The shapes that moved below kept her interest until they disappeared into the woodlands. But they could come back, she told herself- she needed some excuse to stay where she was. Because she knew if she gave herself permission to roam, she would roam in search of him. And she couldn't be caught trailing after the alpha male...

There was also the possibility that he didn't want her anymore. Perhaps their chance encounter had been one which had simply been fuelled by serotonin. Maybe, when she wasn't in his line of sight, he didn't think about her at all. This thought stung her heart, but it was something that was part of a reality that was all too real. Maybe he didn't care for her. Maybe he didn't lust for her the same way she lusted for him. He had a mate, after all, and he could satisfy his needs with her. It made her feel bitter, just thinking about Naira. That female...There hadn't been anything extraordinary about her at all. No edge to her, nothing that would have led Sagacity to believe that she'd be mate material for Rhysis.

But she didn't dwell on that for long; she returned to her fancies, staring out over the horizon from the edge of the outcrop. The sensation came back, this time more intense; she could almost feel strong forelimbs hooked about her hips, the breath of his warm breath into the fur of her neck. She remembered the sensation of his muzzle being so close to her throat and unable to stop herself, she tilted her head back slightly as a shudder passed through her, and from her dark lips she whispered his name.

Avatars by Arla!

His gut knotted when she did not look back to see him. The pull was not there, perhaps it had only been one sided all along. Perhaps she had played him like a fool. Was that it? Cosy up to the lonely male to earn yourself a spot in his pack? Eat his food, sleep in his den and ignore him after that? Thinking back, she had made such little eye contact with him at the meeting after the tremor, could she no longer look him in the eye? He felt his blood begin to boil a little. Why he cared what she thought of him was beyond him, but he felt almost heavy under the thought of her not feeling whatever it was he felt when he looked at her. Even now, as she had her back to him and eyed the world before her, he could feel a tugging in his chest. A pull of invisible tendrils that wanted to weave to her, to mush their fur together until even he could not tell where she started and he ended. It was so wrong, on so many levels.
Naira was back at the pass, no doubt fussing over something. At least, he hoped that was where she was for there was forever the niggle that she didn’t spend much time alone- visions of black wolves with yellow eyes, or large tawny arrogant arseholes forever plague his mind. He wasn’t even sure he imagined it anymore or that he had accepted the very possibility that she would go with another at some point; he wandered at night if he would have any competition this breeding season for his right to more sons. He would fight of course, despite the giant asshole he was, he doted on his children and his sons made him swell with pride. He might not win father of the year, but he loved them in his own way. The same as he loved Naira… Yet, there was something about the silver wolf with the unusual markings that snared his attention, the way that Naira once had. The main difference though was that Naira returned his affections, urged them on when he tried to keep them bottled up inside. Sagacity, kept her distance.

His thoughts clouded his mood, unable to think clearly he stood and hoped to slip away into the darkness and leave her to whatever it was she sought. His rear left the ground and he turned his back on her, yet as his paw lifted to embark down the slope he had travelled he heard a sound upon the breeze. His name, she had said his name. Had he imagined it? It had been so quiet, uttered like a sin but he was sure it was there. He could only hope it was not his mind playing tricks as he glanced over his shoulder and allowed his grey eyes to consume her beautiful figure. He needed to know if what he had felt that night was something they shared… or if his constant thinking of her was all in vain to his sanity. ”Sagacity…” he breathed, hoping his smooth yet hushed tone would reach her ears across the vast distance between them.

(This post was last modified: Feb 19, 2013, 06:43 PM by Rhysis.)

ooc: This seemed like the perfect moment to work in the whole random event of having a small landslide n the area :D[/i]

With her head tilted back slightly, it only took a moment for the cold wind to steal in and send a chill through the sensitive flesh there, awakening her from the vivid yet unrealistic reverie she'd been enjoying. She realized only a moment later that she'd spoken, and immediately felt childish, having spoken his name to the wind. She felt insecure, all of a sudden, and quietly chided herself for even daring to murmur his name out loud. For all she knew, she might not have been alone, and it set her senses ablaze for a moment- and it was in that moment that the wind brought a name back to her, as though in an echo of the one she'd spoken before. Except it had changed.

For a moment she thought it was a dream, but no matter how quiet it had been, it had been there. Sagacity. Too clear, too vivid, and although her name had been uttered by the one voice she wished to hear more than anything else in the world, it was real. Almost too real. But with the shift in the wind came realization- that she wasn't alone- and the silver dame whirled around and with a wild look in her eyes, set her gaze upon the man whose face had imprinted itself in her mind's eye every time she so much as blinked. For a moment she stood, locked in his gaze before she opened her mouth. Her expression changed to one of urgency, need, relief- but only for a moment.

As soon as Sagacity felt her surprise melt away to an immeasurable feeling of longing, it was replaced simultaneously by one of bewilderment as the ground beneath her feet quaked and groaned. Just as the earth had growled at her the moment Naira had finished speaking at the meeting, it warned her again, though this time the consequences of her actions was more severe. A black line appeared suddenly, stretching along the outcrop ten feet from where she stood and but a millisecond later the ground she stood on tilted backward and away from the rest of the outcrop, where Rhysis stood. The earth beneath her was giving away and would tumble down the mountainside, bringing her with it if she didn't act fast.

Two bounds took her to the edge of the chunk of rock she'd been standing on and she pushed off, leaping back toward the safety of the outcrop. She landed softly but her hind feet scrabbled against the cliff's sheer edge as she sought to pull herself back onto safety. Pebbles and shales of rock gave way beneath her hind claws and she felt herself slip as she snarled savagely, desperately trying to find a foothold so she could propel herself up and over the cliff's edge to safety. The roaring clamour of the landslide throbbed in her ears almost as loudly as her own heartbeat; this was what it was like, she thought for a moment, for the world to fall away from you.

Avatars by Arla!

Very fitting indeed! Excuse the PP?

It was like an old movie. The part where he sees her through the mist, or he catches her before she falls. You know, where the music plays and everyone knows that everything is going to be just fine. Except, this wasn't a movie, and the shift in his insides should not have been allowed but he could not help the tugging towards her as their eyes met. She burned for him, as he burned for her. He didn't need to ask, he didn't need to question- it was all there in her gaze. A desire to be his as obvious as the dark mark on her face and in truth, he felt at that very moment he might be able to give her anything he wanted- including himself if she should ask. He was vile. He was not worth the earth that he stood upon for having such feelings for any other than his mate, but there was so much to think about, so much to decide and he didn't want to have to do any of that. He just wanted to sit here, alongside her. Just to touch her, be near to her...
He turned fully, facing her head on but the distance was too great between them. He needed to close it. She was hesitant, it was obvious to him now but he could not be persuaded that the look in her eye was anything other than what he was experiecing to- the animal urge to make her his... Without further though other than to turn off his inner conscience, he began to move forward and close the gap between them. At least, that had been the plan, until the earth began to tremble. A small pulse at first, but it grew violent in all but the blink of an eye. For once, time did not stand still around them, but moved so swiftly he could barely keep up. One moment she had been standing by the edge, the next the floor beneath her screamed out,shattering right in two and vanishing as if blown by the wind over the edge.

He had no time to scream her name; shouting would not save her. He threw all he had into a burst of speed, propelling himself towards the edge as quickly as his legs would carry him, no faster than even they could handle. He reached the edge just in time to see her further down, she had managed to leap towards what remained of the outcrop but her footing was lost- she was slipping. Without hesitation he dove for her, throwing himself so close to the edge that his toes overlapped and looked down at the earth below. There was no time to be agile as he thrust his jaws towards her scruff, snagging her lose skin as tightly as he dare without causing her too much pain. Satisfied with the weight he pulled backwards, gripping the terrain with his leather like pads, taking the strain within his hind legs as he sought to ease backwards away from the cliff with her.

The earth stopped moving. As quickly as it had come it vanished into the scarlet sky, leaving nothing by the sound of his rough panting breath as he gave yet another tug on her flesh, silently preying in his head that he could save her from what would be certain death.

She reached with both forefeet to grasp at anything she could, but still felt the bulk of her body pulling her down the cliff's edge. She'd slid to the point where only her ankles and paws still grasped the lip of the cliff and was prepared for the sensation of free-falling to set in- but it never did. Instead, she felt a vice-like grip on the back of her neck, something she hadn't expected to feel at all, and it surprised her so much that for a moment, she stopped kicking with her hind legs. Instinct from puppihood had taught her that when someone took hole of your scruff, you went still in order to save yourself pain. But in that moment, when she realized that it was Rhysis, she felt her hope renewed.

He was pulling her back up toward the edge of the cliff and she growled in determination, clenching her teeth and spreading her toes wide so as to catch any crack in the earth's surface and keep herself from slipping down the cliff-side. Between the strength of Rhysis pulling her and the use of her front claws, Sagacity was lifted to the point where she could use her neck to try and hoist the rest of her body up- and at that moment, eureka, she felt her hind toes catch on a small ledge created after the rest of the earth had broken away. She dug her toenails into it and propelled herself forward, pushing herself up the cliff, using her own momentum to vault over the edge and with a dull thud, smacking the crown of her head against Rhysis' chest.

Lightly dazed and out of breath she sank to the ground. Her head was spinning and it still felt as though the earth beneath her was vibrating when in fact it was simply the exhaustion and adrenaline that made her shake violently. She was not fearful- not now. And she was surprised- she hadn't felt fear grip her, only anger and frustration followed by begrudging acceptance when she realized she was going to die. She felt resentment run through her, and the fiery woman uttered one more frustrated growl before she allowed herself to rest, leaning against Rhysis as she tried to regain her breath.

Avatars by Arla!

Relief flooding him as she moved forward onto the outcrop. The progress was slow, tiring. She was not a large wolf but it was still a strain on his jaws and neck, but he would not let go. He would never let her go. Inch by inch, he moved, silently taking the strain as he held on to her with all his might, blown away by the sheer determinated and strength she had until at last they tumbled backwards, crashing into one another away from the cliff side. He fell backwards, her head butting into his chest and his momentum carrying him until he was flat on his back, stomach aligned to the air and her body against his. His chest rose and fell quickly, trying to latch onto the breath he had lost whilst his muscles cried out from the sudden use. The silence that fell between them was perhaps more deafening the the earth breaking away from under their paws, but he would not change it. The warmth of her body against his caused his spine to tingle, the mixing of their fur, their scents was intoxicating and he found his nose working overtime to take it all in. Being this close to her brought everything back to him from their first encounter, only this time he felt something more. He had just saved her life... the same way he had saved Naira's once before.
Yeah, some hero he was.

"You alright?" he asked quietly, hating to break the peace but needing to at the same time. He shifted, rolling onto his side towards her where he could better assess her and any injuries she might have. Following his nose, he roamed across her fur, to her paws which must have been a little sore to the skin at her nape he had tugged so harshly. He hesitatently rested his nose upon the delicate area, breathing in her scent like it was a drug. He would happily face addiction if it meant he could do this more often.
Without a second thought, he felt his coral tongue slip from his lips. He snaked across her nape where his teeth had gripped her so tightly and began to wash away any pain he may have caused her- it was such a simple act, but one that he rarely did. Perhaps it was the guilt of seeing her nearly fall to her death, or the fact she must have been hurting- either way he felt it was the right thing to do to sooth her. He wasn't one for words, his emotions were down right shit and his physical touches were minimal, but he it was all he had to offer her.

The moment was tensile; She had no idea how much time had passed since she'd collapsed to the ground with Rhysis and the moment that he finally spoke to her. Her bewilderment seemed to cut out her sense of time and it felt as though an age had passed- but at the same time, it felt as though only a moment ago she'd been clinging to the cliff for dear life. It was amazing how time had that trick of speeding up and slowing down simultaneously, when adrenaline forced swift reactions and circumstances had presented her with the need to accept whatever fate befell her.

It only took a few moments for her to feel Rhysis beside her, his breaths melding with hers, the warmth from his body calming and soothing her. She became aware of his closeness, of his scent, of the softness of his fur and solidity of his muscles as he lay there with her. She'd craved this closeness before and it surprised her now that for a few moments, she hadn't even been aware that he'd been so close. But the warmth from his body awakened her to reality, and by the time he spoke, her body had already begun to respond, warming up, and becoming more still. Her shuddering subsided by the time he spoke, and when he began to run his tongue over the smoothe fur of her ruff, she began to forget the panic and anger she'd felt moments ago and remembered the desire to which she had succumbed not long before that.

He checked her over, and the feeling of his muzzle running across her fur, coupled with the adrenaline that still coursed through her veins sent a wave of heat through her underside. In response to his question she leaned against him, tucking her head against his chest for a moment; she nodded and thumped her tail against the ground once. As his tongue smoothed the fur at the back of her neck she coquettishly tilted her head back, just slightly. His closeness was driving her toward rapture, and a small whine expressed this sentiment. Heart racing, she turned her head toward him, and fueled by the passion which was welling up within her, she placed a kiss upon one of his silver-streaked cheeks, and exhaled, a soft moan of his name.

Avatars by Arla!

She moved closer, her head dipping to seek comfort against his body. The heat from her body melted with his and he could have sworn the very snow that littered the floor around them began to melt and steam. Fuck. It was hot up here.
The taste of her was rich, fresh. Her fur was soft beneath his tongue, warm to the touch despite the freezing temperature around them, made only worse by the wind which buffered them over and over, but it appeared the invisible hands that slapped them was not enough to pull them apart just yet. No, they were revelling in each others company and he would not allow anything to disturb him whilst he took his fill of her.

It was wrong, he knew it was wrong. The emotions running through him were not something he should feel over anyone other than his female at home, but could he really help how he felt? He didn't know much about feelings, in fact he hadn't even known that a female could offer such comfort until he met Naira and she turned his world upside down... but it had been so long since he really felt in that place. So much had happened between them. They had been torn apart in a cruel way and whilst they were struggling to piece their life back together, he couldn't help but wander if it was all in vain. If their efforts of rebuilding the life they had wouldn't end in the same way, torn apart from the seems, ripped to shreds leaving them lost and alone once again. In truth, he didn't think he was strong enough to recover from it should it ever come to fruition and he should enjoy the rare moments when he felt like this, felt that his life had more depth to it then just being the villian.

His name upon her breath was like caramal, smooth and sweet as it trickled down his lobes. His lapping became slower, softer and stopped altogether when he felt her own tongue fleck across his cheek- a kiss. A kiss so soft he felt himself leaning into her touch, his grey eyes closing to savour the moment that he felt like he was... just wanted.
They had spoken so little- he knew nothing about her, nothing at all except for the feelings she stirred in his belly and chest. There was no logic to the madness and for a wolf who ran on logic, he should have been running from her as quick as his legs would carry him, but he just... could not leave her side not now and perhaps not ever. Shutting his mind off completely, he lowered his head and rubbed his cheek along her own silky muzzle, like the snake he was.