Riddle Heights you left with no goodbye, no final kiss

For @Erebos
Theme Song - Don't You Remember by Adele

Exhausted, hungry, and mentally drained, the gray-scale vixen made her way down the treacherous paths of this wretched mountain range. Delia didn't even know why the hell she was climbing through these deathly rock piles, searching her way towards her children or any creature that could lead her to them was the only reason she'd be here, but she doubted they could be in a place so dangerous. All she wanted was to know that they were safe and unharmed. The devoted mother, once she found her offspring, wouldn't leave their side for threat that they would disappear from her loving grasp once again. Zeta and Zane were the only things important in her life and she would never stop trying to hunt them down. She would rather die than stop searching for them, no matter how unhealthy it made her.

For whatever reason that made Delia travel through the mountain range, she was beginning to think it was false. She had found no trace of them, no scent mark or sighting. Nothing. It was making her worry even more (if she had any more space in her head to worry). Determination to find her cubs was starting to get replaced by desperation and complete and utter sadness at the thought of failure. Delia was never one to just burst out and tears, especially in front of prying eyes. But the D'astrous lady was starting to feel the grip of that heart-aching madness wrap around her. It was beginning to choke her.

Pools of liquid filled her silver eye sockets as her lithe body slowed to a stop, her head curling towards her chest to warm her body against the icy grip of depression that filled her veins. Though it was useless. Her tears splattered the cold rocky ground that was beginning to have keep a light layer of snow. There was no way she was going to be able to find them before winter if she didn't have a lead on them yet. Soft sobs left her jaw as she curled into herself more, just waiting for the pain to melt away. "I'm never going to find them...

(This post was last modified: Oct 30, 2015, 02:00 AM by Delia.)

Things were different now. In little more than a month, so much had changed for the Argyris man, and none of it settled well with him. In the past, he would have ran. It had been so easy, such a beautifully simple answer, yet such cowardice was no longer an option. He was damned to shoulder not just the responsibility he had chosen to take on, but everything he had tried so hard to escape his entire life. Perhaps this was his purgatory, punishment for all the wrong he'd done, the sins he'd committed. His shadow was a barghest, mocking him every step of the way, and he refused to feed it any further.

Every fiber of his being recoiled at what his life had become, and yet he faced it head on all the same, for once being reliable for those who had placed so much misguided faith within him. It was the only salvation he had, dedicating himself to his brother, ensuring that the Argyris legacy within Silent Moon Plateau survived. Thrived? That was perhaps aiming too high, but he could keep it together long enough until @Celandine, @Takis or even @Hypatia were ready to bear their father's crown. Keep it fed, keep it safe, keep it sheltered against the coming winter. He must.

His patrols now extended beyond the pack's marked territory, preemptively scanning the surrounding areas often enough to ensure that no one was sneakily encroaching upon their land. It took a large amount of energy to complete such expeditions, but his body had grown stronger because of it, the exercise fighting off his age and returning a sliver of his youth to him. He walked with confidence that did not reach all the way inside but defined his outer appearance, inferno eyes refusing to miss a single beat. It was this vigilance that alerted him to her presence, the window pulling her scent away from him. He'd spotted that intimately familiar black cape, draped over the delicate shoulders that he used to lean against so long ago. The sight had frozen him to the spot, his mouth suddenly a desert and his mind incapable of processing thought. The man should have known this was coming, that Delia would be so hot on the trail of her children, and still it struck him to the core. He was not ready for this, just as he had not been ready for Zane and @Zeta to appear upon his doorstep.

He began to descend, picking his way carefully down the mountainside to reach her elevation, drawn to her as if by strings attached to his very bones. The closer he got, the more details his ember eyes captured, and he came to realize that she was crying. Erebos tried to think back, to recall a time that he had witnessed such a thing before, and came up empty pawed. Suddenly, he found himself angry with the twins and their reckless quest to seek him out and force themselves into his life, leaving behind their mother in the process. Leaving her to become this. At last reaching the same slab of shale that she rested upon, his stride slowed, but did not stop. His steps were tentative, features absent of emotion, as he didn't know what to feel. Pity? Guilt? Fear? Disgust? Anger? None of it seemed right.

"Delia," he voiced at last, the sobs that shook her body now painfully audible within his ears. "They're here. They're safe."

(This post was last modified: Oct 30, 2015, 04:14 AM by Erebos.)

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

The emotion falling from her eyes were the rawest she ever allowed the world to see. Never had she let herself show her anger or sadness even though she had every right to release what she bottled up. When Erebros left her the first time to birth their two beautiful children as a single mother, she withheld her sadness and anger from the world and especially from her dearest twin cubs. They were her lifeline, keeping her above the waters and capturing her heart in a way that no man could ever. She cherished Zane and Zeta and did everything she could for them, willing to sacrifice anything for them. Then when they were just merely a month old, Erebos came back into their lives once again. Giving her a minuscule glimpse of happiness of having her lover back alongside her the children they had created, a glimpse of the family bond they could have had together. Then, again he was gone. Gone under the cloak of darkness and breaking her frangible heart once again.

The dark coated woman was strong for her children and never did they see her upset about their father's sudden disappearance. She merely picked herself back up again and brushed herself off like it never happened. The pack sympathized with her and helped the trio out as much as they could. Life went on without Erebos. Delia's life was simple. Zane and Zeta always came first then pack and lastly herself. She was absolutely devoted to them. Then her life came crashing down when they disappeared under the shadow of darkness like their father had. Now here she was in utter despair at having lost their trail and not having any luck at finding them after over two months of constant searching.

She was too devoted to them to ever stop searching for them even if it threatened her own life. Delia would die trying to find her children. They were the only things she had left in this world. But at this very moment, the bottled emotions that she kept hidden away from the world for years, were finally finding a release. It was refreshing and heart wrenching at the same time. Her heart hurt like it had been stabbed thirty times and she couldn't catch her breath between the rattling sobs that shook her body. Unaware of the past that was presently creeping up on her, the emotions poured out of her and frankly Delia didn't care at the moment. Until she heard his voice.

Her dark masked head flicked up abruptly, silver eyes wide. She was speechless. The man she had once loved and never thought she'd see again, had her children. Her Zeta and Zane were safe, but to her they weren't safe until they were with her. "Where are they? I need to see them." She answered quickly, the wall she built instantly went back up like nothing he had just saw, ever happened. Getting back onto all fours, her silver eyes narrowed as she looked her ex lover over. Her anger slowly beginning to grow. Delia was never able to really express her anger at his disappearances especially when he left her when she truly needed him the most. She couldn't help herself as the question blurted out of her, her voice laced with the anger she always hid, "Why did you leave? How could you do that to me? To them..."

(This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2015, 09:02 PM by Delia.)

His voice had been like an iron curtain, released so as to shield her once more. Her crying ceased immediately and her silver eyes hardened, but even as she stood to hold herself high and address him with coldness, the tears would not dry so quickly and he could still see them upon her colorless cheeks. Of course she would want to see them, and that was for the best, he was sure. Delia could take them home, out of his hair and out of this mess that he had found himself king of. It was what he wanted, surely, and yet... he felt the need to pause, to hold her here away from the children. It was not that they wished not to be found (at least @Zeta did not, he was certain that Zane very well did) that held his tongue, but rather that a small part of him wanted more time with them. Erebos hated to acknowledge it, but now that they were grown, it could no longer be denied even by a man as willful as he that they were entirely of his blood, and if the Argyris brother cherished anything these days, it was family.

At last his tongue loosened enough to speak, but before he could get the answer out her own voice cut the air to ribbons with her questions. Left speechless once more, his ember eyes could only stare at her for a moment. He knew his reason, both the one he would've have given and the one locked secretly within him. Now that he knew they were his children, however, neither seemed proper to give to her. Yet how could he lie? Erebos had thought it was only @Phineas he needed to make amends with, that serving him and his royal children would be enough to make up for the wrongs he'd perpetuated in his life. It felt wrong however, to continue such belief now. No, he owed this too. He owed the woman he'd once loved the truth.

"I thought they weren't mine," he finally told her. "Then they started changin', catchin' their colors, and I knew they were mine," and that was what had truly made him leave.

"I've always been a runner, Delia. Y'knew that." I've always been a coward.

No need to match length, Delia just went all crazy muse on me! <3

Hardened silver eyes that had a blaze that could scorch holes into the grayscale male's hide, the fiery woman impatiently waited for her ex mate's response. It had been just shy of a year and a half since she has been able to demand the answers that her heart desired to know. Was she not satisfactory enough for him then? Was he afraid the pups weren't his? These questions always haunted her conscience as she dutifully tended to her children as a single mother. He had left her at her most vulnerable, without a goodbye or final kiss upon her crown. Before Zeta and Zane came along, she was never a matutinal riser. Instead she would opt to stay within her den until the late morning, catching up on her sleep that she missed while out on rendezvous with the other men she played with. That was before Erebos. After Erebos came along, Delia woke every morning before the sun, in hopes she could catch his scent through the trees. To catch sight of his fiery eyes or grayscale cloak ready to embrace her, but he never came.

Now here she stood with him in her sights, his scent embracing her, but she was bitter and angry. She was a forgiving woman, always willing to put the past in the past and look towards the future. However, Erebos deeply hurt her. The wounds he left her with, ran deep. Deep enough to where every suitor that tried to woo her, she turned away in fear she would be left all alone once again. He deepened her fear of loneliness and abandonment, which was the reason she kept so close to her children. They soothed her fears, comforted her where nobody else could. Delia needed them. And with them getting closer to adulthood, the ever present fact that they would want to branch out away from their mother terrified her right to the core. When they disappeared, she was lost once again like when Erebos abandoned her.

Finally the grayscale man answered her. His reasoning for leaving being that he doubted the integrity of the lineage of the children she bore. His justification for his abandonment left her speechless. There had been nobody else she laid eyes on after she met Erebos. It was only him that she saw and wanted to see for the rest of her days. Then he continued to tell her she had known he was a runner. "Connerie!" she snapped, "There was never anyone else after I laid eyes on you. You were the only one I ever saw, the only one I ever cared about! How could you doubt me? I never doubted you." Her silver eyes faltered, the wall she built shaking with the emotions flooding though her. She had hated him for so long, but for the first time she remembered how she used to love him.

She used love the way he kissed her forehead when he left in the morning to tend to his duties or ventures he needed to do that day. She loved the way he spoke to her and listened to her like she was the only one important at that moment in time. She loved the burning passion of his touch. She loved her name on his lips and the gentle teasing that went back and forth between the two of them. Though their love had been fleet and wild, she still felt the warming of her heart at the memories they created and the two beings she treasured as her children. Delia will never regret loving him because he gave her the most precious children, but she would guard her heart from ever loving him again.

(This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2015, 11:26 PM by Delia.)

Just like that she changed from soft rain and steel gray clouds to pitch black tempest, and he found himself tensing against the force of her anger. His lips curled back, scowling in the face of it as her words assaulted the air, for Erebos hated to be faced with his mistakes, to be reminded of his own shortcomings. Most ironically, coming back home had become an escape of sorts. Here, he had regained his strength and skill. Here, he was now a king. If he tried hard enough, Erebos could pretend that he wasn't as much of a screw up as he truly was.

Yet he could not hold any of the venom against her, for it was he who had poisoned her to begin with. He deserved her wrath, deserved to be crushed under the weight of it... and still he could not force himself to calm. Why had she loved him so blindly? Why had she been so accepting of his flaws? He had been vulnerable with her, told her of his past mistakes, from the wolves he'd abandoned to the harm he had perpetrated against his own blood. Still she had stayed by his side, holding warmth for only him within her blizzard eyes. It hadn't made sense.

"Well ya should have!" he bit back, the sound a bit more explosive than intended by nothing worse than her own native-tongued curse. "I know I've fucked up plenty, and you knew that too. I was the last guy ya should've been havin' kids with."

He shouldn't have done it, should've known the trouble it would get them in. The moment he'd smelled her heat upon her he should've turned away from her company until the danger had passed. Instead, he had embraced her. He had embraced this, a mess he didn't want. Once again. At last, his muscles slackened as a frustrated sigh escaped him. What good would any of this do, their screaming at each other? He supposed she had a right to vent, to seek her answers, but Erebos was sick of being reminded. There was an exhausting struggle within him, between serving himself as he had always chose to do, and finally doing right by the woman before him who had tried to give him so much.

"Clearly, ya didn' tell them I was no good," he muttered darkly then. "Why not? Why'd you always give me all these chances, Delia?"

"Fucked up beaucoup plus maintenant!", she swore underneath her angry breath in her native tongue as her silver eyes stabbed at the Argyris' fiery gaze. There was so much more built up and bottled within her that she had every desire to release and give it all to him. Never had she lashed out to anyone like this before. Delia wasn't an angry being or one to create conflict, however, Erebros made her like this. As a single mother, she couldn't imagine blaming anything on them or taking her anger out on them. It was unquestionable to her to ever do that to them. They were the ones at the losing end; they didn't have a father. Zane didn't have a father to teach him the rights and wrongs of being a man. Zeta didn't have a father to dote on her and give her all the attention in the world. No, Delia was the one to step into that spot. She took over as both parents and taught them as much as she could. The D'astrous lady gave her all to her children, every ounce of her was poured into them to supplement for their lost parent.

She had believed for the twins didn't want to see their father, she knew Zane had no itching to. The boy never mentioned the man and Delia could almost sense a displeasure within him at the thought of Erebos. Zeta, on the other hand, she should have known would want to seek her father out. Though she never mentioned it often, Zeta was curious about Erebos and would occasionally inquire about him. However, she never imagined the girl would journey after the man.

A frustrated sigh left Erebo's lips as his body visibly slackened, his own questions quietly spilling from his muzzle. Sighing quietly as well, Delia tried to relax her anger and take this situation into a better perspective. He obviously didn't like getting yelled at and reminded of his mistakes. It wouldn't get them anywhere if they continued to yell at each other. "Because you deserved them, Erebos. You're not a bad man and a good man deserves chances. You're just afraid. You've always been afraid." She gently told him, her silver eyes softening as she looked up the man that she always saw the best in. There could have been a dozen things he could have done to her and Delia would still have faith in him. She always believed in him, from all his flaws to his perfections. But the time he spent away from her destroyed most of that faith that she held for him, however, there has always been a sliver left. Saved for a time where she may see him again.  

(This post was last modified: Dec 16, 2015, 11:25 PM by Delia.)

A good man. She had always been the only one to view him as such, looking past the rotted surf brought to shore and into the offing of his heart where the horizon obscured the truth. Was she right to put so much faith into him? He had been making strides in the right direction at last, even earning enough of Phineas' trust to be titled alpha within the pack. Lately, he had felt failure breathing down his neck, threatening to overtake him, but he had stood tall against it thus far. Perhaps he had changed, found his truth north, and perhaps he could finally do right by both Delia and her children. Their children.

Erebos took in a breath, ember eyes looking out over the mountainous terrain surrounding them. As his thoughts attempted to find a steady pace, it occurred to him that he didn't much have a choice at this point. Delia would not be kept from @Zeta and Zane, and for whatever reason, he could not say no to his daughter when she turned those unevenly-hued eyes upon him.

"They want to stay with me, Delia, for... whatever reason. And as long as they're in my pack, you have a place with us, too." The mess that existed between them would have to remain unsettled for a little while longer, as there was nothing that could be sorted out in this very moment, and he could not stay atop this precipice with her forever.