Oak Tree Bend Echoes and Silence

For @Triell    ...backdating this to 1/21/15, and there's a little bit of powerplaying so let me know if you'd like anything changed. 
@Skadi @Garmr @Vali @Ainashi , I'm tagging you guys for informational purposes since Nayeli is recounting what happened to her in this thread.

Their pace was slow and measured as Nayeli walked at Triell's side. The trek home had cost her a good deal of energy and she hadn't dared stop to hunt or rest for the last two days or nights. Now that the euphoria of making it home was beginning to ebb away, her body was protesting tiredly with each step, and the pain around the bite wound on her front-left ankle had returned to haunt her, only amplified. She took strength and reassurance from the quiet man next to her, from his tangible warmth and solid presence there at long last. She had missed this, had dreamed of it so often that now she kept having to tell herself it was real.

For a time they had simple walked in silence, her silver gaze flickering to his and then to the landscape as each rock and tree became ever more familiar. Eventually, she drew in a breath and began to speak, the words at first choking out of her throat, then flowing out in an oddly detached cadence as she continued, the story finally beginning to unfold itself fully. "I'd ventured south of here - I never meant to be gone long at all, and it was foolish of me not to let anyone know where I was going ahead of time, but I ran across the scent of an injured deer, and it seemed like... well, like good fortune." Perhaps she should have known it then. She remembered how stir-crazy she'd felt, how good it had been to run through the trees with prey ahead of her and the promise of a hunt, to be on her own for a few hours. "I'd followed it for over half the day, into the unclaimed lands to the east, when I injured my paw," she continued, her voice sounding drained and matter-of-fact as she recalled the events of late last autumn. The paw in question was the same which was injured now, though the wound currently troubling her was far fresher that the one she now spoke of - It has happened in an instant, a quick tumble of loose stones on a precarious slope and she'd been trapped, pain scorching through her limb like fire.

"I slipped and wedged it between two rocks... as it was, it kept me from tumbling further down the slope, but I couldn't free myself. I called out then, but I was deep into the hills by then." She'd struggled, pulling at her trapped limb and scratching at the rock, but from her position she couldn't budge it enough to get free. She'd howled again and again, voice echoing back off of the treacherous slope, hoping that someone from the Bend, or anyone at all, might hear her anyway, and cursing her own stubborn folly for travelling this far. At last she'd succumbed to exhaustion and shock, and passed out.

Through waves of sleep and waking, Nayeli came to the conclusion that she'd need to chew herself free, but she couldn't stay awake long enough to summon the will to do it. The desperation had begun to build like water in a weakening dam, though, and she wondered which of her battling instincts would have won out in the end, if she had remained there like that. But then she'd woken up to a voice - a strange she-wolf telling her not to worry. She'd wondered if it was just a dream, but soon enough the woman, whom she would later come to know as Skadi, had returned with others at her side, and somehow they'd managed to move the rock and free her. "My calls did get the attention of some loners - they came to my aid and managed to shift the rock and free my paw. I was dead set on returning here right away, but I couldn't have made it if I tried - they helped me to their camp, on the far side of the Sierra Hills. Luckily enough, one of them was a healer. They vowed to aid me, and send word back here with an acquaintance of theirs." She spoke one particular word with a disdainful grimace, fully aware of the irony now, looking back.

The next days had passed in a haze, but they tended to her wounded leg, bringing her food and asking about where she had come from. They were travelers, they told her, though they had decided to settle in the lands East of the Lore for the winter. She'd instructed them to send their friend westwards, over the red hills, carrying her message, but she'd never actually met the wolf, and as the days turned into weeks with no word from home, she knew the message had into reached it's destination. "I take it I'm correct in assuming no word ever reached you?" she glanced up, realizing the'y reached the borders proper as she voiced her question. Her head was raised once more as she paused to drink in the scents there, silently counting the familiar, the new, and those that seemed to be missing from before.

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2015, 02:47 AM by Nayeli.)

The evidence of her pain began to carve away his happiness, revealing something more ugly. A part of him that he chose to keep dormant. He had understood how they were never "out of the woods", but simply seeing someone had physically hurt her lit his insides like the wildfire that had taken Hidden Tree.  He wondered if it rolled off of him in waves of heat. There was a subtle hint of his rage in the few single, black threads of mane that stood on end. Mostly, he tried to remain level headed, steady, and strong. Moving in rhythm, always keeping close contact.

When her story took life, he was not seeing the woods before him. He was drawn to her voice, back into time, picturing her scouting for this deer. The Tainn offered a bob of his head in acknowledgment and understanding. Their first winter together had been rather unforgiving it  made sense she would jump at the chance to secure them a meal. He remained silent, keeping a thoughtful, dark mask. The blame she was putting on herself seemed apparent. But like the pain he could not take that away.

The further the story unraveled, if connected by a string, his jaw clenched tighter and tighter. Again he found himself wishing he had looked only a little farther for her. Could he have least heard her, or would his voice had least reached her? The dark man quickly tried to dismiss such thoughts. It was done, and there was only now. Worrying over what was would do little to save them now. It did become apparent someone had eventually helped her, but he did not need to fully look at her to feel, see her displeasure. If it was no luck at all. He had a grim smile, knowing too well what kind of luck they had. This time he wasn't thinking it was the Tainn curse necessarily.

Her silver irises reached him, and he found himself collecting his breath, forcing it swiftly down his throat. He suddenly felt like he needed to deny her the truth. Just say a weird loner had come, making strange remarks about a pack wolf and they hadn't believed them nor exactly understood. That was just another one of his stupid hero instincts, wanting to save her. He realized how temporary, how useless that would be. With her need to be certain of this was clear in her dark facade, easily he answered, "No, Nayeli. No one ever came to us with news. I would have collected you myself if that would have been the case. We all hoped we would find clues to least know what happened....if you were still alive." The last word was only a whisper. His own misery began to pool into his eyes, warp the steadiness he had been trying to keep. How close had he been to losing her? Dragged back down into a life of dull gray.

(This post was last modified: Feb 21, 2015, 07:09 AM by Triell.)

are you with me through it all?

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

His words confirmed what she had already suspected - it simply made too much sense not to be true. "I thought as much," she remarked dryly. Of course they hadn't sent anyone - she'd known that for a long while now, but it was finally confirmed without a shadow of doubt, not simply by her own suspicions and reasoning, but by his word. Her gaze stayed on him, tracing his features over and over again. Here in the Bend were those she could trust, those who she needed and those she was willing to devote herself to, and he was at the center of it all.

To the casual observer, Triell might have appeared calm, but it wasn't difficult for her to see that something else entirely lay just beneath that exterior. Nayeli's own anger was like an ember, long-burning and continually fed. She wondered if it was enough to spark a wildfire. Perhaps they could make good use of such anger, but she hated to see the hints what this ordeal had done to him. Were his features more haggard than before? There were unreadable things haunting them. For a long moment, she pressed her head against the warmth of his neck once more, silently trying to take away some of the pain that she had seen. She could take a bit more. Surely her own features were more haggard too, and yet she still felt better than she had in months. Finally, her heart could dare to feel a little lighter. She had survived, had made it home, and however short the respite before the next storm might be, she wanted to relish it. How she wished they might have found some sign, been able to come and free her from her prison, but would she have even been able to make the journey home then? In the end, what might have been was not, and was of far less concern for her than what might still come to pass.

Soon enough, they continued on past the borders, and she continued with her tale. It was easier to keep going once she had already begun, and with each step and each word, she felt as if she were placing herself further from those monsters, and exposing their darkness to the light. They had been smart not to send word back here. Alone, the cowards might have been able to overpower her, but now the odds had changed. She would not make the same mistake again. "With time, my paw began to get better - I've nothing good to say of any of them, except that Vali was indeed as skilled a healer as he claimed. They kept me confined to his den - at first under the pretense of aiding my recovery, but there was always at least one of the three adults, Garmr, Skadi, and Vali, lurking around. Vali would often try to give me meat tainted with herbs... to help with the pain, he said, but they brought a fog to my mind, too. I stopped eating, and he relented with that, but it had become clear they intended to keep me there as a prisoner. The more I pried, the less pretense they bothered to keep." Only when all three were there had she been permitted to walk to the little icy stream nearby stream, stretch her legs, make scat, and steal a few moments of fresh air. They had never been more than a leap or two away, and if she had tried to run at one of those moments, surely they whole gang would have been upon her as easily as if she were a hare. Still, the temptation had been nearly unbearable. Instead, she had begun to formulate a plan.

getting ahead of herself would not serve well, though. "Garmr is their ringleader." That fact was indisputable. "The other two adults are dark, with some silvering and scars, but his pelt is nearly pure silver. There is a younger one, too, about @Serach and @Sceral's age, with a pelt much like Garmr's. Nayeli had never heard @Ainashi called by his name, only whelp or runt or something similar on the few occasions he was ever addressed in her presence. Mostly he just brought her scraps of food and vanished again, rarely stuttering a word at all. His treatment had seemed to be even worse than her own, and yet he was no prisoner of theirs, at least not in the same way as her - and yet perhaps he was more their prisoner than she had ever been. "They all seemed to share the same bad blood. Can you smell their stench on me, still?" Nayeli was certain she could, but she thought that perhaps it would never leave her nares.

Under her gaze he felt bare. If all darkness and faults were slipping through the cracks. If she would see everything he wasn't, and couldn't be. He would walk through fire for her, but would it be enough? What would keep his entire family safe? Tightly, together he felt both the weight they were carrying now. The fear, and hurt they shared. The switcheroo the world had done to them. He also felt their strength, and stretches of their hearts. They would get through this, they had too.

Trying to hold onto this light, they headed for home. Within the reaches of the Bend he did feel at peace. Even if the oak trees were not exactly a wall to keep others out, they were a comfort none the less. He knew this place. They hadn't exactly thrived here, but they had survived. This would be no different. It would just be another challenge to rise up and face. Ears held bent to his skull, he closely kept track of the information and details they would need. Silently, the Tainn struggled with the image of her as a prisoner. Wondering what purpose this served if any. Maybe, she did not know either. Did monsters need reason? Logic? Morals? No, they would have their own rules that guided them. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure it mattered. It was mostly the fact what they had done with her, the very idea they would try to get her back.

His face darkened in the instant faceless enemies become something more. Names, and coloring. Flesh, and blood. This Garmr was on the top of the list. As Nayeli indicated, Triell pressed his nose into her black coat, and once he focused, looking past her scent did notice the dull collection of theirs upon her. Teeth harshly clamped, and he cursed under his breath. No, he wouldn't be forgetting that smell any time soon. It would make a bit of sense if they were all mostly related. Without thought he began to pace back and forth, his lips quivering.

Still....

He froze, and quizzically met her silver stare. "But what do they want with you Nayeli?" Even if she may not know, he had to ask.

are you with me through it all?

Her paws stilled, frame leaning for a moment into the solid and tangible contact from Triell as he buried his nose into her fur. She remained still as he began to pace, that electric current stealing into the air again, seeming to emanate from him as he expelled quiet curses. At last, he halted as well, the question tumbling from his jaws.

What the hell did they want with me? It was that which she had asked herself then as her circumstances had dawned on her, and many times afterward. Cool silver eyes blinked once, hardening into ice at the memory of her fearful speculations. "I can't be sure," she said. They had always been careful to keep what she did not know hidden from her, no matter how much she seemed to guess or discover. Garmr had never given a vain monologue, revealing the details of his plan to her. And yet, she had heard some whispers, some hints that had left her sure she did not ever want to learn the full extent of their plan. "Once, I overheard one of them say they only needed to keep me until I could be of use in their plan... what other whispers I heard were often about their beliefs, and their bloodlines."

The two subjects had seemed closely linked, but Nayeli had never heard most of the old words or legends they spoke of, things like Ragnarok which made little sense to her ears and which she cared little to remember. The only detail of their beliefs that she could clearly recall was the name Fenrir, which echoed about like a death-knell in her mind. She had guessed enough to worry about what lay between those lines, what Spring might hold for her if she did not escape, and surely Triell might hazard a guess as well. Knowing whether that guess was correct was not as simple. "I'm not sure what their plans were, or how they intended to make use of me, and I had no wish to find out," she spat two words in particular out, the simple gall of the whole situation repulsive to her. Triell's presence was a great comfort, a salve to her wounded soul, but his anger also served to help stoke hers. For too long had she held that anger in quietly, waiting for her moment. Now she could finally allow herself to feel everything fully, and she was surprised to realize that her body had begun to shake as she'd spoken. Letting out a breath, she let her gaze soften, more than anything glad to be able to look upon Triell's face again. there was too much for her to be glad of, to loose herself to that anger now. So why was it so tempting?

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2015, 02:41 AM by Nayeli.)

Mature Warning:The f-word occurs in this post for those reading.

There was no answer that would be easy on his ears. The more he might understand his enemy the better. Not that he felt this issue would be won over by diplomacy. It could be just a shot in the dark. He had to know what he was up against. How badly they could want her back. The very idea they were out there, looking for her now, caused his fiery eyes to flick about the woods. They didn't seem to have a lot of time and for that he was only more enraged. What part of the world was so hell bent on taking the goodness from his life?

The coldness the question brought out in her filled him with dread. The word belief had him imaging a sacrifice, if they would see her dead at a certain time. The word bloodlines was something else entirely. Black face contorted, suddenly convulsed. The was a sharp crack of his teeth grinding. To think Rhysis had been the only one he wanted to severe limb from limb. No, that would be too gracious. Morals were more like guidelines right? Especially if enemy made their own. He would have to hold onto this until the time came. It was enough they had kept her from her family, the audacious insinuation of the rest....

How he wanted to go to her, aware of her anger, the twitch of her figure. He did not. It only ignited his other emotions to hatred. Inside he felt like his head was being ripped apart, and he was ready to sunder anything outside his body. He had failed in the past to protect those he loved, and he wasn't going to let that happen again. So locked to the ground, black mane on edge like a tormented beast, he focused on her breathing. Between her sighing and softening her gaze there was a grip of control. A moment for him to quell it back.  Tightly he pressed the crown of his head to hers. "That won't happen. Not as long as there's breath in me."

This would not be the end. It was only the beginning. The beginning of a new hell for those who thought they could fuck with his family.

{end}

are you with me through it all?