Heartleaf Creek Building an Empire

Lyrical inspiration - LOVE YOU <3

I'm building with my body and soul

Karpos had been determined to get out of the pack lands that day and would probably make up some excuse for his departure when he returned. Maybe he would use the usual 'doing some scouting but found nothing good' excuse or maybe he would make up something new. Perhaps he'd go as far to say that he had been looking for hunting tracks. The fact was that it had been almost a year since his beloved adoptive mother @Anastasia had disappeared on the search for him. It had been nearly a year since his uncle and himself had a sobfest about it and he was hurting. Capella was gone. Adsila had disappeared which left him with no true blood left in the pack or the entirety of Relic Lore. Ana was gone and so was his father. Spectre was gone too though Karp had never cared much for the woman. Aeolus was gone and Ace was across the mountains in Magnolia Glen as far as Karpos knew. How could he not be upset by that?

That particular day it was the wonderfully mopey Karp who pondered about his life. The psychological pain behind his scar made it ache as he walked along the creek. He was such an idiot. Karpos the idiot. Yes, that phrase has a ring behind it as it rang through his ears. He could barely keep his emotions together anymore so how was he supposed to go about claiming a pack of his own when he reached the age of two? Would this even be plausible or logical? With a sigh, he turned and started waltzing towards the northern reaches of the Lore. Perhaps he just needed some more snow to fit his fancy and get him out of his funk. Why were they all gone? Was it something they had done?

There was the occasional riff-raff of other wolves and the like staring at her, making comments and otherwise pushing her buttons. Those that dared take her lightly or that she wasn’t capable of doing anything but running away; her only focus had been to reunite with Lachesis. The little dove had done everything she could to find Relic Lore again and to be with the one she had gotten separated from. The time away had caused her to feel distanced and otherwise forgotten—everyone had probably forgotten her by now and moved on. It had even occurred to her that Lachesis, or even Maksim, could be gone by now but she sure as hell hoped that they had stuck around if she ever did find her way back home.

“At long last shall she weep a thousand tears broken by the bonds of her beloved and drowned in the laughter of her enemies.” The woman whispers much to herself as she walks through a creek that she hadn’t even realized was familiar. Everything looked much the same to her on her travels and this place looked no different. From the trees to its sides, to the lone creature in the trees—this place was just as plain as the last as hope was beginning to draw its final breath so that Anastasia might finally take her place on the bench. The Starklen family had never been a family of giving up but it was easy to say that she had never been anything like them and it shown true now.

by Sarah

kiss the ring and let them bow down

He had kept to his constant wandering for some time before he felt a feeling that he was being watched in some way. He looked over his shoulder but saw no one so he shrugged it off as nerves or stress. The chocolate brown boy focused on the road ahead of him until he heard faint whispers. His ears pricked up as he swore he recognized the voice. Okay, his head was just playing with him now. His mum was gone. Anastasia Starklen was gone and he would have to accept that fact. He looked at the ground, humming to himself as he stalked along. He eventually whispered a few words to himself but they were inaudible. His breathing had steadied itself off as his eyes stayed peeled on the road ahead. Again, he felt like he was being watched.

He looked over his shoulder but again saw nothing other than the snow. It was then that he realized that there was a particular essence in the air. Was it... he'd recognize the scent anywhere. Mama Ana. The memories started to rush back to him in a flurry as he ran through the almost untouched snow in search of the white figure he had grown up with. The last time he had seen Ana he had said some very unkind things out of pain and anger. He had made up with his uncle but his mother for all intents and purposes had disappeared before he could apologize for his words. "Mama Ana?" He howled the words in disbelief as he continued his search.

The winds whispered into her bright white ears as she meandered close to the water’s edge, daring to push forth across the somewhat frozen top. Lachesis. Her mind screamed for him, needed to find him and all her friends—the ones that were undoubtedly long gone. Even the faint scent of a long-lost wonder boy went unnoticed as she was very stubborn in agreement that it was a figment of her wild imagination. So many nights that she had lain awake within the confines of a semi-warm cavern and had heard the many different voices of those that she had loved. Truthfully it was a wonder that she was remembered anything at all from the long journey that she had spent mostly alone and without anyone truly sparking an interest in her or vice versa.

“I will find you,” she responded back to the lilting voice of her wonder-boy. The young, strapping lad that she remembered hated her guts but a woman such as her would never hate when others saw nothing but. “I bet you’re big now… Adsila, too. You were always a very handsome boy.” Anastasia was talking to what she assumed was a fragment of her imagination by now and treated it as such, continuing to move towards the west in the hopes that somewhere close by was a place that she could rest and keep warm. For days she had gone with limited sleep and shelter, but as always she felt that she was close. They were close…

by Sarah

kiss the ring and let them bow down

The voice of Anastasia filtered through to him and it appeared she thought the same thing that he had. She was talking to herself like she would voices in the wind and he made him smile. Her words hit him just as her pure white fur came into view. I bet you’re big now… Adsila, too. You were always a very handsome boy. He smiled as he ran towards her. "Mama Ana!" The voice was clear to him. He laughed and small tears of joy managed to find their way out of his eyes. "Mama Ana, where have you been?" Joy was a tone very evident in his voice and it would remain there for quite some times. His mom, his true mom, had come home to him and Lachesis and everyone who had missed her so dearly.

He truly didn't know how to react. Perhaps this was all just a blissful dream where one of his parental figures returned to him. Plausibly it would be Anastasia given the fact that his father was six feet under but he couldn't trust that this wasn't just a dream. Please let this be real. Those words ran through his head over and over until he was just a foot away from her. Mum, is it really you? Uncle Lach and I have been so worried." He said as his head cocked to the side as it often did when he was being a curious little bugger. His mind instantly thought of @Lachesis and how the lanky young leader would take to his best friend returning. Would that also get Lachesis out of the sadness Karp had noticed of late just as it had gotten Karp out of the funk he had been in, in a matter of seconds.

The thin of her lips pressed against one another like they were glued as a stranger approached her and screamed out her name—oh, her name. A voice that reckoned with her reality and shown through like the sun out of the clouds. The boy’s voice was beautiful and deeper than she had ever imagined, a moment of settled bliss that she simply couldn’t let go of. Only until he spoke a few more words did she realize that he was in full figured form. A man no longer a boy and in fact, he was larger than she had ever imagined. This wondrous man before her was the boy she had adored even when hate had slipped past his mouth. “Oh my boy,” she whispers lightly and takes another feeble step towards him, “I have searched and searched for you and the rest. I’ve traveled so far and so wide to find you.”

Anastasia could feel herself trying to cry, to break loose and tremble in the presence of the only ones she had ever wanted. There had been so many that she had met on her journey and none of them were Karpos, or Adsila, Maksim or even Lachesis. No one could ever replace her beloved friends and family—she needed them now more than ever. “Yes, it’s m—” as if all the air had been whisked straight out of her lungs he mentioned Lachesis and her heart skipped a beat. Lachesis she felt her heart thump wildly in her chest, “where is he?” Glassy blue eyes watered like fresh snow in the process of a giant melt as she had dream for nearing a year now of seeing him once more.

by Sarah

kiss the ring and let them bow down

Her words comforted him but also made him feel terrible. She had been looking for him and for the rest of the group that had once belonged to Pitch Pine Trail. His heart raised a few steps as he moved towards her to bury his face in the side of her neck as a somewhat comforting hug. She asked where he was and it caused him to back up so he could speak. "Uncle Lach is still in Cut Rock River along with now me and Auntie Naia. He's leading temporarily because King Maksim injured his leg. Well, I think it was his leg. Please say you'll come home with me, back to Cut Rock River?" The words were a beg, his eyes wide with tears of joy brimming themselves into place.

He felt ready to tackle her and drag her back to Cut Rock River if he needed to in order to get her back to the others. She was one of the keys to reuniting their family and he loved his mother. There was no need to say 'adoptive' anymore like he had when he was younger because that was enough in itself. She would always be his mother. The chocolate brown prince looked up at Anastasia in anticipation for her words. He hoped and prayed she would say yes because he couldn't lose another family member after Silver's betrayal. He had the scar across his face to prove how deep the betrayal ran despite the fact that the fight was his fault. Anyway, he needed to know he could count on his mum most of all.

Anastasia was no physically strong woman but it took all the emotional strength she could muster to hide away the tears that threatened her being. Legs tried so hard to tremble and shake, rock and roll; she wanted nothing more than to be embraced by all those that had been lost to her. By the ones that had always been there for her and the ones that she had shamefully lost due to her own foolish choice of paths. “Of course,” she eventually murmured and felt the strong embrace of Karpos to her neck. The warmth that shattered her very core and brought her a world of emotion. So many nights she had dreamed of coming back but the feelings were insurmountable now that she had arrived.

“So long as you and Lachesis are with me, I will go anywhere you want.” Anastasia was done with searching and finding things that had been lost to her. Karpos was the beginning of something magical and she felt shame for feeling such a thing as this… but she was itching to see her friend. Ana needed to see him and show him that she was safe, she was home and that she was his. For all the lifetimes that she had spent away—she hadn’t realized until being gone so long that she was miserably without XIX. “So Maksim is still there? What of Adsila?” The thought of Maksim left a flutter that had been gone for a long while, a feeling that she had had before her disappearance but had never truly left. All this time away and she had missed too much.

by Sarah

One more post from you and we can archive <3

fire that volley loud

Her words were a true comfort to the young boy. She asked about Maksim and Adsila and it caused him to frown. "Maksim is still there, yes, but Adsila has left. She wandered off a little bit ago and I haven't seen her. I'm worried but I have to put the pack first." He admitted these fears to his mother because she was just that, his mother. She looked towards Anastasia with a small frown. He should not dwell on such sad thing but he could not help it now that he was on the topic. His eyes focused off on a particular patch of nothing near the creek. He shook his head, placing a smile back on his face before speaking once more. He tried his best to wipe it from his mind too.

"I'm sure she probably went to visit Uncle Ace or something. He's across the mountains. He did his best to update her on what was going on. "Come on then mama, let's get you back to Cut Rock River." He was quick to change the topic as he started to move towards the south, eagerly looking to his maternal figure in hopes she would truly follow. He knew she was good to her word but he hadn't seen her in so long. His eyes were focused on the road ahead as he began to walk, practically bouncing in his step as he continued on the well-known path. He had walked the path so many times during his time in Hollowheart Keep and Cut Rock River.

Even though her heart still beat for Lachesis solely and completely, she could not help but feel mass amounts of happiness that Maksim was still here. It severed her heart that Adsila was not present, though she had never gotten very close to the girl when she had been here for all that time. Karpos had really been the only one of the two to stay close or even care for her as their adoptive mother; her mind flickers back to Shade momentarily and she feels a heavy wave of loss. She had been gone so long that she had forgotten the father almost entirely; it was guilt that threatened her. How awful she felt to have forgotten Karpos’ father all this time… focused on one thing this entire time which had been to simply get back here and find Lachesis and the rest of her family.

Just like Karpos she had to stare off for a second and eventually bring herself back around; she needed to go wherever it was Karpos was living. Wherever Lachesis was would be where she needed to be, because he would be the glue that would stick her here. If the once-yearling had not still been present here in Relic Lore then there was no doubt in her mind that she would not have bothered sticking around for a nice long conversation. Desperation hung around her like a rather unfitting aura, shattering all other potential futures because hers only had him. The news of Uncle Ace being across the mountain made her quite curious… last she had left Silver and him were a thing—surely Silver was included in his lack of information.

Swiftly the slender woman nodded, anxious as ever to find Lachesis and to tell him that she was sorry for how long it had taken her to find this place again. How sorry she was that she had disappeared and had been stupid enough not to easily find her way back—after a year’s worth of travel she was ready to set down a future here. As such, she followed Karpos to the only place she could ever call home.

by Sarah