save me from the nothing i've become

Words: 380 || Tags: @Inkheart || Notes: Midday, 61°F,16°C, Overcast. Set forward to after Phin takes Elliot back to MG

Leaving Aphrodite at Whisper Caverns had to be one of the hardest decisions she had to make, but knowing that she was going to be in good hands eased her troubled mind slightly. Eventually, Athena will go back and see if her daughter would come back with her, but only time would tell. It took her a couple days to get back to her lake, but when she arrived, everything had changed. As soon as she crossed the stale borders, she knew something was wrong. She had left her Elliot in the hands of the rest of the pack, but now it seemed there was no pack at all. No @Ash. No @Namara. No @Steel. Nobody at all. Only the stale scents of all of them remained. Before she assumed the worst, she raced to the dens to see if they were all just gathered there. However, when she got there, there was no one in sight once again.

Panic began to set it. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening.." She managed to frantically whisper to herself as she ran out of the poisoned path and onto the shore of the lake. Shoving her nose to the ground, she followed the scents of Ash and Namara which seemed to lead towards the mountain. However, her nose found an unfamiliar scent of a male with a fresh scent of her son. Deja vu overcame her once again. Another one of her children had been taken. Prioritizing herself to follow her son's trail that mingled alongside the unfamiliar male, she once again ran after her run away child.

A couple days passed, since she first got to the lake. She had crossed over the mountain and into the darkened forest that she had once traveled though. As she came upon a small creek, she entered the shallow creek and soothed her dry throat. As she stood in knee deep water, her fiery eyes began to look around at her surroundings. It was about midday, but from her constant travel, her sleep pattern was once again messed up and she was tired. Walking out of the cold creek, she found a suitable oak tree and settled down for a quick nap. However, sleep evaded her as her mind began to wander.

Athena Moon
save me from the nothing i've become

|| Ash is welcome to make an appearance in any thread. ||

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;"> During the time that Inkheart had been putting extra hours into guarding the perimeters of the Glen Phineas himself had found a young child wandering. The boy was an unknown to Inkheart, as most would be outside of the Glen itself, but regardless of who he was Ink would protect him as well. Occasionally he would bring extra food from the caches to Phineas in hopes that perhaps they could use a little extra food. Inkheart put more details on the borders to ward off intruders and more importantly, he had set out to scout the surrounding areas more thoroughly just in case the cougar had an idea to come back. Luckily, the cougar had not left a fresh scent for days so he could only assume that its presence had gone. Unfortunately, it left Inkheart with a lot less to do so he wandered a bit more than usual. Itching to move his paws about and stretch. Phineas might not have gathered from their countless meetings that the dark subordinate was something of a nomad. He couldn’t help but wander from time to time, scouring the lands for nothing in particular but just to get away and smell fresh scents. It certainly helped him with knowing what was going on around him. Ink looked forward to Phineas calling him away to go on their mission to the surrounding packs again now that the cougar seemed out of the way. The scent in Spectral Woods had vanished, the wolves that had been scented here not too long ago had vanished but there was still someone here. Inkheart lowered his nose a bit more and followed the trail cautiously, finding that it smelled of a woman but her pack’s scent was long faded. It took a moment’s notice to raise his head and notice her body just a few meters away from where he stood. Her coat looked a little dirty, likely from her travels but Inkheart couldn’t see her face. The female was turned away from him and he issued a very polite whine to alert her of his presence. The familiarity of smell and appearance had not yet been sensed.

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Sleep was futile. Her mind continued to wander and her thoughts would not seize. Thoughts of her son suffering kept her mind on edge. Why did Ash and Namara leave him in the first place? He was too young to be left alone and that was why she had left him with the pack. Indeed, she had been gone for almost a month, but she had been lost in caves, unable to get out. She had told them she was going to find Aphrodite. So why did they leave? Before she knew it, tears began to fall and hit a fallen leaf upon the ground. Why does this always happen to me

Not knowing that there was another in her presence, she stood and walked to the edge of the creek bank. Looking down at the water's surface, fiery eyes looked back at her as she studied her reflection. The scars upon her face were visible, but what others don't see, are the scars that cover her heart and soul. Swiping her paw across the water to disturb the image that glared back at her, she growled angrily before falling to the ground in an exhausted heap. "I can't do this anymore. I can't," she whispered to herself unknowing that the mysterious man could hear her. She was completely unaware of the man behind her; her usual alertness had disappeared when her composture broke.

Athena Moon
even my memories cannot drown me

|| Ash is welcome to make an appearance in any thread. ||

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;"> The dark male stood calmly, though perhaps not so smartly behind her should he scare her, and when she stood up he assumed she would turn towards him. This was a false accusation, however. The pale girl instead walking forward towards the water’s edge and allowed Inkheart to quietly debate whether or not he should continue to win her attention. Although as he watched her look into the creek he felt for her, there was something so miserable about the way she held herself and her words only confirmed how awful she must have felt. This strange woman apparently couldn’t do this anymore, she wouldn’t. It was very obvious in the way that she stared so deeply into the water as her body seemed drained of any energy. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“Ma’am,” he called to her a little louder than the whimper he had given to her moments before, <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“can I help you?” Inkheart hoped that he could be of some assistance to the poor woman who seemed at odds with herself. The last thing he wished to see was a woman in distress especially when there might be something he could do to help. No woman deserved to feel this upset and she surely needed comfort. If not, he’d gladly leave but only until he was absolutely positive that she would be fine without his company. First, he needed to hear about what was ailing her.

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Silence followed her outburst for only a few moments until the voice of the man that she was unaware of broke that silence. Glancing back quickly at the source of the noise, she ran her fiery eyes over the man's features. Something was familiar about him, but she couldn't put her paw on it. Rising to her feet, the unusually thin woman cleared her throat and tried to mask her feelings like usual. "No... I.. I'm fine," she stuttered as she stared into those burning orbs that seemed so familiar. With the wind working against her, she was unable to smell him easily. However, she knew she's seen him before, but unsure of when or where.

Studying his features a little more, she still came up with nothing. So she resorted to words that seem to want to hide within her. After almost a month lost in caves, her social skills are now lacking. "Have we met?" She asked, her fiery eyes wandering a moment before finding his face once again. As she stared into those fiery depths of his, she couldn't help but envision her son. Elliot had those same eyes, only a little lighter. To think of it, their coats were strikingly similar as well. It was as if she was staring at her son's twin. As her mind began to think about her lost Elliot, tears began to trickle down her face once again. "You look exactly like my.. my son." She whispered, her saddened eyes gazing up at the man before her. If only it was her son.

Athena Moon
even my memories cannot drown me

(This post was last modified: Aug 22, 2013, 07:49 PM by Athena.)

|| Ash is welcome to make an appearance in any thread. ||

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;"> With his eyes clearly set on this woman he continued to wonder if he had seen her before. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen someone like her before but when she looked at him, she definitely seemed somewhat familiar. It was almost scary how much he remembered about her appearance yet he couldn’t really put a name to it. At least not at the moment. He was mostly concerned with whatever she was concerned with. She said that she was fine but that was a typical female move—there was something wrong with her and she just didn’t want to show him. To make matters stranger she continued to look at him as if he looked familiar, too. Although Inkheart thought it was a little weird for her to be looking at her that in-depth something had to be up. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“It could be possible,” he mentioned with a shrug as he looked upon her though she seemed a little bit more ragged than when he had first seen her and thus couldn’t really pinpoint when and how they had met. However, what fueled his confusion more was when she looked at his eyes for longer than what was usual. Sure he understood that his eyes were a unique shade but not so much to drive strangers to stare. It didn’t take long for her to speak though it wasn’t about his eyes but of his entire appearance. Shifting his gaze for a moment to ponder what it was she was inferring. He knew for a fact that he had never lain with this woman so there was no way he was a father to any child of hers. Although, after a few moments something clicked inside of his and gave way to something a little bit more relevant. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“So your boy has a dark coat and orange-ish eyes?” Inkheart was quick to recognize very little details in people so when seeing the boy that Phineas had picked up for the first time it was no surprise that he saw himself in that little body. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“A couple days ago my leader, Phineas, found a young boy that looks kind of like me… perhaps he is yours?” It was a start but it was the least he could do. Though, he might have to speak to Phineas and see if it was possible.

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Words: 661 || Tags: || Notes: No need to match length, it just kept coming(:

Asking him if they met did not make matters easier when he shrugged and stated possibility that they have. Her distraught and troubled mind couldn't travel back into the past far enough to put a name onto the mysterious man, so she just had to resort to putting off her curiousness for now. At first, the determined mother didn't think he would be of much help with his returning statement that almost seemed almost blunt. Her ears pulled back momentarily as she was about to apologize to the man and get back to following Elliot's trail, but before a word could escape her maw, the man surprised her.

The breath the she didn't know she was holding slowly released as the man that was under the rule of the man that found her boy. Part of her wanted to now seek out the man that took her son, but the man said this Phineas had found him. Putting the pieces together, she now realized what had truly happened while she was gone searching for Aphrodite. Ash and Namara had left him; a young helpless pup all by himself to fend for himself. Now she knew who she had a bone to pick with. This Phineas had saved her boy's life. As she continued to ponder the fact that both of her children had been taken under the watch of her followers, she confirmed that she couldn't trust them. If she couldn't trust them with her own young, how could she trust them with anything anymore. Once again, Athena was turning over a new leaf. The ones that she trusted for so long, couldn't be trusted any longer unless they could explain themselves. However, at this point, Athena did not want any explanations. She didn't want anything from them.

Looking back up at the man, with new hope in her eyes, she nodded, "I believe he would be my lost son," and mentioned after. She highly doubted the pup that this man was talking about could be anyone else's. Everything added up and there couldn't be another out there that was in the same situation as her beloved son. It had to be him. "About a month ago, my daughter had disappeared under the watch of my pack while I was up within the mountains hunting. I went to go after her, but I fell into a labyrinth of underground tunnels and was unable to find a way out for a month." She explained before pausing momentarily as she began to relive to trouble that she had gone through to find her lost daughter. "I was found by the leader of the pack that was sheltering my sweet Aphrodite.She wanted to stay with them for a little longer, so I returned to my home. However, it was no longer the home I remembered."

Reliving the fact that her pack deserted the lands for a reason that was unknown to her and leaving her child to perish, broke her already shattered heart into tinier pieces. No longer did she believe that there was a way to bed her broken heart. Some things were meant to be broken and apparently that meant her own heart. Her snowy head rose from its fallen position as she continued on with her explanation. "My pack was gone. Everyone had left. I had left my only son in their protection, but as I see now that deserted him as well. My poor boy needed me. But... but I... I failed him." Her fiery eyes fell to the ground as so many emotions flooded into her mind at the same time making everything she relived more hurtful with every moment that she spent telling her story. However, she fought to control the whirlwind of emotions inside her and gazed up at the man once again. "Please tell me he isn't hurt," she questioned quietly. The last thing she needed was the death of her child.

Athena Moon
even my memories cannot drown me

|| Ash is welcome to make an appearance in any thread. ||

apparently it kept coming for me too :O <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;"> The man would not lie. The woman seemed vaguely familiar and even though he knew he had met her before, he did not remember her name. It felt somewhat dishonorable to not remember her when she was so down about a lost son. Inkheart did not wish to make her feel as though she had been nothing than a step stone in his life. Most wolves he met felt as though they were sometimes but he could not say that to her. There were moments in Inkheart’s life where even the littlest of encounters made the difference but it was upon the second meeting between what were once strangers that usually depicted that the stranger could be more than just that. Perhaps she was one of the special someone’s. There was no way to know the future for this woman or the child back with Phineas but he did hope that she was right. That this boy that Phineas had come to find alone and left behind could be hers. Ink hoped that the two were going to be reunited again and he was glad to be the one to do it. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“Follow me to my home and we will see that you reunite with your son,” he answered honestly and in high hopes that they would. The sign of the boy looked just like himself and the one inside the Glen looking very similar, Inkheart believed that maybe they had found the one she was searching for. Of course, he did not mind the stories that she wished to convey to him on their journey there. It only gave him more insight to her and her situation. For a woman having been lost in the tunnels for a month she looked relatively healthy and pristinely beautiful. Inkheart would have never guessed it. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“That must have been tough,” he answered to keep the small talk going with her and to somehow keep this conversation flowing, <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“Tough to have gone so long trying to find her only for her to wish to stay there for a while longer.” He wanted her to be calm and comforted by his guidance rather than feel as though he cared for very little. Children were of high priority to him, as were his pack mates so this was very important to get this woman to her child within appropriate time. However, what she mentioned now hit right in the feels. Her own pack mates had left the pack behind but her son as well. It had been obviously when Phineas had found him that he had likely been scared by everyone disappearing. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“I hope that the boy that my Alpha has found is yours but do not feel as though you have abandoned him. He is safe and unharmed, perhaps shaken up. If I were in his position, I would simply want to know that my mother has found me and does not plan on leaving again.” After talking to her in such a way he felt his heart beat compassionately within his chest, reeling in her emotions and making them his own. Inkheart wanted this woman to be happy for the reuniting of mother and son. Even if this child was not hers he felt it would be his duty to help her find the one she lost.

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With the confirmation that the boy that this man's Leader found was most likely hers, he instructed for her to follow him to his home. No suspicions arose from her that would usually arise within her on any other day or if she encountered any other wolf besides this mysterious man. Part of her had to trust that he was indeed telling her the truth and his leader indeed had found her son. He hasn't done anything or said anything that would make her think otherwise. It was unlike her to trust another so easily, however, she found it effortless to trust him. Something about him felt safe, like a Guardian sort that made her feel like he was an honorable man that wouldn't lie to a distraught mother looking for her lost son.

As they walk along, her story seemed to actually interest the Guardian man. Nodding at his statement of how tough that month of searching for her Aphrodite had been, she couldn't think of anything thing else more heartbreaking than that. It was true that she had lost Belladonna, her adoptive daughter, but she didn't get lost within a death trap when she had gone looking for her. "You have no idea," she mumbled, her blazing eyes drifting away from his gaze and out towards the trees around them. Having almost died alone within the labyrinth of tunnels, searching for a lost daughter that in turn refused you, it was heart breaking and made a piece of her own soul die away. She needed her children now than ever, but they weren't with her when they really should be.

She surprisingly found this man to be of comfort to her as she confirmed that her boy wasn't hurt, just frightened. To hear the sincereness of his voice, brought a weak smile upon her maw. "I will never leave his side again. She declared as her fiery eyes met his smoldering gaze before looking back towards the path they were traveling upon. She has lost one child and she was bound determined to not lose both of them. They were her flesh and blood. She needed them to be with her, to know that they were going to be safe. "By the way, I'm Athena. Athena Moon." She mumbled, her gaze moving back towards his face. Maybe now he'll remember.

Athena Moon
even my memories cannot drown me

|| Ash is welcome to make an appearance in any thread. ||

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;"> Within her presence was enough to settle him, leaving him with the hope that she was indeed a mother searching for this particular child. Within the world there were many wolves who claimed to be searching for something like a child and only turned out to be monsters. However, from the way the woman spoke of her children and searching for such a long time for her child she could not imagine it a lie. This female seemed sincere and with uncontrolled emotion towards losing two children but refusing to give up. In a way, he felt like he would have done the same thing. To search through whatever weather or situation that came up to retrieve whatever children he had created. She was a determined mother as he would (he hoped) someday be a determined father. Unfortunately he couldn’t really relate to losing a child at all and hoped to never feel it, though he did wish to make her situation somewhat easier to deal with. He hoped that he could smooth out the crooked lines between mother and son should any arise—he was a decent mediator, after all. It came as somewhat of a surprise when she spoke her name, trying to recall the very meeting they had had when she had first given her name to him. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“Yes,” he calmly spoke as though a light came to mind, <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“I remember now. You were of… Poison Path? I had asked you what made it so poisonous and you told me about the nightshade nearby.” Inkheart felt guilty for having not remembered that very meeting or her name but now that he had, he remembered it just as clearly as if it were yesterday. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#FA2F00;">“You had even offered me a place within your ranks whilst I was wandering,” and he had appreciated it and if it had not been for Phineas previous offer he would have certainly come to her doorstep.

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