Dragonfly Fen A Code of Duty and Honor

[Dated a few hours after the Adsila/Shade/Karp thread]

Shade’s eyes locked around the area, limping towards his home again. He tried to get out and walk, reminding himself why he left in the first place. Shade went to visit Nari, but that was not the leaving he was talking about. Seeing his family, children, mate, packmates, it reminded him why he let Willow Ridge in the first place, and his fate caught up with him. He had to talk to them, Anastasia, Spectre and Ace. They were going to be the heads of Pitch Pine Trail soon, Spectre was the leader, and Shade did assume she would stay as such. He knew his fate, and it was a miracle he could walk around the den as he had been. He let out a weak howl for them @Ace, @Spectre and @Anastasia so they might talk about it. He could feel the energy leaving his body every minute of every day since the fight.

He collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Ace would have to step up as leader, which Shade hoped he agreed to do, or else they might turn into a pack that heads up a purely female run government. But he wanted it to be equal gender wise, he would not allow Pitch Pine Trail to fall, not even after his death. He wanted to see it strive for a greater success. He wanted them all to stand up to friends and foes. He knew in his heart, he was worrying over nothing, but Karpos’ last request worried him; could he make Anastasia the leader again? That was between Spec and Ana, not involving him in any way. All he could think of was an amusing thought about how Ace needed to find a lady friend.

(This post was last modified: Aug 31, 2013, 09:15 AM by Shade.)

OMG so sorry! Was just so busy today I didn’t have much time to get on until now :c

There was nothing but him and the rabbit.

Silver eyes latched onto the furry body as he crawled forward. This was not the sort of prey that he usually hunted, but it was worth a shot. After all, what could he lose? Nothing apart from his dignity and pride, but no one was here to see him anyway.

His prey had no idea that he was there, just feet away, hiding in the thick brush that lay scattered across the Fen. The Pitch Pine Guardian leaped forward as sudden as a bullet and pounced on the rabbit, or where it had been. Looking up, he spotted its furry behind and growled softly to himself before taking off, chasing after it.

Ace’s large bulk made chasing after the rabbit quite difficult, as well as he wasn’t much the runner. His forte was in attacking and defending, more brawn than brain, although he was smart. His strides were long and soon he could feel himself begin to tire. He didn’t have much stamina either, so chasing after a fast rabbit was way out of his comfort and skill zones.

Just as he was about to pounce on its fluffy tail a howl rang out, albeit a weak one. It called him, Spectre and Anastasia to call them for a meeting. The howl was from Shade, but something was clearly wrong. Immediately, Ace slid to a complete halt and turned in a one hundred and eighty degree angle and ran back to the den. The rabbit was forgotten.

The Pitch Pine Guardian was panting heavily when he arrived, and slowed down to a fast walk, eagerly searching out Shade. He had missed his old friend and leader while he went on a journey past the mountains to meet up with someone. An old friend perhaps.

He froze when his Silver eyes picked up a dark shape that had seemed to collapse on the ground. Rushing forwards, he stood about a foot away. It was then that he realized the dark form was Shade. His neck was torn and the outer edges crusted with dried blood, and yet more steadily leaked out of the wound. There was also a scar running across his eye and many other bumps and bruises.

Staring at his leader and friend in disbelief, the Pitch Pine Guardian sat down on his haunches. ”Shade. What….What happened? Who did this to you?” Fury replaced his shock. Whoever had done this to Shade would pay hell. No one got away with hurting his close friends and allies.

425 Words

If I could have you in my heart, I
would protect you forever

Spectre had remained off to the side while Shade spoke to his children, giving them privacy, and the company they all needed. When Shade left, however, she followed, imediately returning to his side, but she was slower than Ace, as she had stayed behind just long enough to see to it that his pups had found their way safely away from where his blood was thickets smelling.. Slowly, the Pitch Pine female entered the immediate area, her head lowered. She said nothing to Ace as he asked Shade what had happened, instead, lowering her head and gently brushing her ivory nose against Shade's cheek with a soft whine. Eyes focused on his fallen form, and she swallowed nervously. Finally, after assuring herself that he would yet live a few minutes longer, she moved, placing herself behind him and attempting to curl her form as close to his back as possible. "He was in a fight..with a dark female. The leader of a pack to the west, I know not her name." Her voice was soft, a mere whisper. Spectre blamed herself for the injuries Shade had sustained. Would they have been less if she had stepped in? Would he have survived? Or would they have both died in that lake? The female whined again, pressing her ears against her nape and allowing her eyes to roam the maimed form of her mate. It was...strange and terrifying, to have him so close, and be so far away, unable to help. Silently, she tried to brush her nose over his fur, attempting to smooth some of the stray pieces down. "Speak"

table by Whisper

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#2AA6E0;"> From the moment that Spectre had left, keeping her in charge, Ana had done nothing but take care to protect Shade’s children and the pack. Of course, nothing had happened upon her watch and for this she was thankful but unfortunately that still left the worry of her two pack mates heavy on her mind. Although she might have been a little upset at their decision it didn’t mean she didn’t care for them any less. Lachesis had understood the severity of what had happened—Spectre leaving the pack behind was not the smartest but when it came down to it, Ana might have done the same thing and made the split decision to go after the one she loved. No blame, just understanding. So when she saw Lachesis return home, she quickly assumed that maybe things would be okay. Shade and Spectre must have made it back alright but by the look of her friend, it didn’t seem like it would be the easy to picture the best scenario. Soon Anastasia was called along with Ace—it must be important, therefore Anastasia did not leave a second to dawdle behind. Picking up a quick pace she began her journey in their journey and when the scent of dried blood reached her nostrils she let out a chuff, finding that Shade’s scent was mingled in. A gasp escaped her as she began to approach the meeting and Anastasia suddenly felt weak to the touch. Shade was there in front of her, Ace and Spectre just nearby, but it seemed like Shade’s neck had been (and likely still was) bleeding quite badly. It was also likely that he had already bled enough to have no chance of healing, but how had this happened? Feeling her weight she began to distribute to each paw to bring her closer even if the sight of this only brought her more sadness and pain. <b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#2AA6E0;">“What… happened?” She was sure they had a story, but Anastasia couldn’t even imagine that Shade had enemies. All that was made aware now was how worried she felt for the well-being of the Slayer.

i'd love more threads, so message me if you'd like one!
looking for friends, potential love interests and role-inspired threads!

[A note, a few hours after the Shade/his children thread would end up being early morning 1amish on 9-9-2013]

Ace had arrived first, and then Spectre, and then Anastasia. Karpos was curled up asleep nearby, in the pack den still. Adsila had run off, probably to cope with the fact that her father was going to die soon. Ace asked what had happened, and Spectre had answered him, but Anastasia arrived afterwards and asked the same question. With a weak voice, he let the story flow from his muzzle. "As you know Ace, I left Willow Ridge to come here and start Pitch Pine Trail, originally with Rosealia, and then when she disappeared, Ana filled in as leader until I met Spectre, who then became leader. The alpha female of Willow Ridge, Elettra, was mad that Rosealia and I left when Rose was expecting pups." He started off the story, his voice had been growing weaker and weaker.

"When I headed over that mountain, I'm afraid when I got to Hush Meadow, I headed west instead of north and ended up at Iridescent Lagoon. When that happened... Elettra found me and attacked me. We ended up fighting until I lost conciousness. Spectre showed up and dragged me out of the water that I had passed out in and we headed over towards Riddle Heights, when we reached there, Lachesis found us and helped me by patching up to my wounds to the best of his ability.... but I'm afraid it is evident by now, I found him too late." He said, a bit shaken still by what had happened. "It is why I called you all here today, there are a few things I wanted to talk to you three about. First, I just talked with Karpos and Adsila, and Karpos had a request that I could not promise, because I could not do it, it is between solely you two, Ana and Spectre. Karpos wants Anastasia to be leader again, said she was really upset the last time that he saw her and thought it had something to do with that. I am truly sorry Ana, if Spectre asking you to step down hurt you in any way and we are grateful that you did step down without a fight when Spectre did ask." He said, covering the last demands of Karpos from him. "Lastly, Ace, I have maybe a day left in me. With their Alpha Male gone, they will need someone to step up in my place, I would think that maybe would would like to step up as you are under me? Of course, you would probably need to find a... lady friend if that were the case?" He asked the man he knew for a long while and the man who he trusted. He had never known a pack to have a male and female as equals where when mating season called, the female had not had pups with the alpha male, though he assumed things would work out.

Ace made no movement as Spectre came into view and curled herself around Shade’s back. His eyes were on his leader’s crumpled form, but as Spectre spoke, his ears swiveled forward. When soft, whispered words were spoken, the Pitch Pine Guardian’s ears pinned back against his nape and his jaws opened in a growl, although he forced himself to keep the growl silent. However that….she-wolf was, she would pay for what had happened to his best friend. What would happen to her? That was a mystery, but it would be painful.

There was a gasp behind him and a brief twist of his head confirmed that Anastasia had arrived upon the grisly scene. Her shocked words mirrored his, and Ace moved back a few steps to stand next to her; attempting to be comforting, although he probably wasn’t doing a very good job.

Silver eyes rested on Shade as he began to speak. Elettra was her name. He would not forget it, never in a million years. Ace listened to the story attentively; not making a sound or movement. A small frown came over his face when his leader mentioned the Pitch Pine pups. It must have been hard to tell them that he would die, and how hard it would have been on them. They were only four months old, not even old enough to hunt with the pack.

The Pitch Pine Guardian drew in a breath when Shade mentioned his name. Padding forwards a few steps so that he was just more than a foot away, he listened to what his leader had to say. Under different circumstances, Ace would have been overjoyed at the thought of becoming an alpha of a pack, but instead, all he felt was sorrow and anger for Elettra. Even the mention of him find a lady friend to lead beside him didn’t bring a smile to his face.

Looking at Shade with sad eyes, Ace nodded. "I will step up as Alpha Male when the time comes, and as for finding a lady friend to lead beside me, you don’t have to worry.” Taking in a deep breath, he gazed into Shade’s eyes before speaking. "Silver will gladly lead with me.” There. He said it. Now they knew that he and Silver had deep feelings for each other. Hopefully they would think that she would be a great leader, because he certainly did.

402 Words

If I could have you in my heart, I
would protect you forever

(Sep 01, 2013, 11:30 PM)Spectre Wrote:  

The female remained silent while the others arrived, her eyes focused on the prone form of her mate, worrying as he spoke that he was going to overexert himself and shorten the time he had left. As he seemed to finish speaking, his attention shifting to both Anastasia and Ice, she lowered her head, lightly brushing her muzzle against his nape. "Shade...you should rest..I..think you should worry about your children and yourself..Ace and Anastasia can handle the matters of the pack." Just like that, Spectre returned the role of Alpha female to the other snowy wolf. She knew without a shadow of a doubt that her own feelings for shade were going to clog any use she was to the pack. Even now, Spectre was worried more for Shade, the pups and selfishly, herself than she was about the pack. The pale female felt a whine stirring in her breast, her tail giving a faint if listless wag. "Let's get you to the den...you should rest.." The wolf wanted to see Shade live longer than Lachesis predicted.. If possible, hell, she hoped that perhaps if he stopped stressing over the pack, he might even survive. It was wishful thinking, but it was a thought on her mind nonetheless. Ice Blue orbs saw nothing but the dark mate she lay curled against, her attention wholly on him now that she had returned control of the pack to Anastasia. Her heart just wasn't in it anymore. Not to lead.. Not to hunt. She felt as if the very organ that beat in her breast was slowing in time to match Shades. Silly as that may seem.

table by Whisper

<b style="font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; color:#2AA6E0;"> Second by second her heart began to shred down, finding that she barely had the words to overcome her fear. All the blood that she could see was tremendous, it did not seem like it could even be real. Anastasia had never seen such bloodshed in front of her, it had always been done away from the women because women were never allowed near the arenas of the City Sea. As she entered, Ace valiantly stepped near to her as if to comfort her weary soul while looking at the coffee leader that now seemed to stand in shreds of his own fur and blood. By words allowed she followed as closely as she could, trying her best not to look at his wounds but instead to the feet in which he barely seemed capable of standing on. She assumed that with the help of Spectre it was easier to stand. If she had the stomach, she might have tried to do the same. An Elettra had done this too him—shredded his throat and left him for dead. Anastasia was no violent woman and she certaintly did not have a blood thirsty streak but she did, however, wondered if the woman had left happily. Knowing that she had nearly murdered a man that had lost his mate and now in his death he would also lose his children. Slowly it began to drain on her that Karpos and Adsila were going to be parentless. Cerulean eyes began to water, lighting up her eyes like gems beneath the sea, as Shade began to explain that Karpos had wished for her to be given leadership back. Although she was distraught with her foolish act of giving up her rank, her words to Karpos had been to cover up a lot of other hurt that she could not convey properly to such a young soul. However, as she looked to Spectre it was almost clear that she could not lead without being beside the one she loved. It came as something of a surprise to hear that Ace was considering having Silver lead beside him and it took all of her strength to gasp. Anastasia would not have it, no way. The woman in which had obviously won Ace’s affections would have to earn the right to even think about challenging her. Silver was in no way prepared to be a leader and she would make damn-sure that when the time came for her to eventually be challenged she would do so with honor knowing that at least Silver would fight strongly. For now, though, it seemed that Spectre was settled in giving leadership back to Anastasia. She would lead beside Ace as she had done with Shade, loveless just as she figured would always be the case. The woman with the looks but who never gets the guy. Ana then nodded to Spectre, allowing the rank to fall upon her shoulders once more while she escorted Shade back to the den so that he could properly rest up and spend what time he had left with his children. Although she wished to tell Ace that Silver would not get her rank as easily as Spectre had, she assumed it was fairly easy to tell that things would not be so simple. Ana had grown greedy of her title and she believed that it was only fair now that she take her place until the woman he loved was suitable for the duty.

i'd love more threads, so message me if you'd like one!
looking for friends, potential love interests and role-inspired threads!

With that, Shade assumed Spectre to be a second in command underneath Anastasia once more, and he considered himself demoted from Leader. It was fine by him though, he wanted to spend his last few days with his children, though he did wish that their real, birth mother, Rosealia, were there so they could be a family for once. But wishes were not made to be constantly granted. His eyes closed slowly as his mind drifted off into a deep slumber. Life was good, life was bad, love was good and love was bad. He had learned quite a bit about both of them.

Love isn't perfect. It isn't a fairy tale or a storybook and it doesn't always come easy. Love is overcoming obstacles, facing challenges, fighting to be together, holding on and never letting go. It is a short word, easy to spell, difficult to define and impossible to live without. Love is work, but most of all, love is realizing that every hour, every minute, every second of it was WORTH IT because YOU did it TOGETHER. Shade knew it was all true, he had gone through that with Rosealia, and he would have gone through it with Spectre had this not happened. "I'm sorry." He whispered before falling asleep.
{Short Shade exit}

Extremely sorry for the long wait! Had no muse....

Ace could see the love and pain that showed in Spectre’s eyes as she stared at Shade. He knew what he was feeling was only half of what the white female felt, as Shade was her mate. She loved him like he loved Silver, and he knew that he couldn’t bare to see Silver laying on the ground, dying. The Pitch Pine Guardian –now leader- had the urge to comfort his ex-alpha female, but he had no idea how to act, or what to say. Learning the ropes of being alpha would be challenging, as he would have to learn what to do in extreme situations, but he hoped to learn from Anastasia, who he would be leading next to until she either left, or was beaten in a dominance fight for leadership.

A gasp was heard from Anastasia as he mentioned having Silver lead beside him, and his left ear twitched. He didn’t know what was wrong with her leading beside him, but if she had a problem with it, then Silver would have to sort it out when the time came. He didn’t want to get in the middle of a cat fight if one happened, for sometimes it was worse than two males fighting. Well, that was what it seemed like.

At Shade’s last words: "I’m sorry” The new Pitch Pine Leader turned to Anastasia and dipped his head in farewell before heading off. It was too much to watch Shade suffer, and he didn’t want to show any weakness in front of his pack mates. As he had taken about ten steps, one sole tear slid down his check as he disappeared into the fen. Even though he didn’t show it, he could be compassionate about things, and this was one of those times.

298 Words

If I could have you in my heart, I
would protect you forever

{Ace exit}