Spectral Woods What We Leave Behind

 @Vespertio @Namid@Moonshadow @Tagg @Neha @Anaia@Lunette

This thread takes place at the very edge of Spectral Woods closest to Fallen Tree Cove.  Kajika has discovered Des and called to the pack. He may or may not be heard. 

It was starting to seem as though winter would never leave the lore. Kajika had been so consumed with finding Moonshadow and Lunette that he hadn't had much else on his mind.  With the way things had gone with Des before he left on his trip he felt giving her some space might be the best thing to at least salvage their friendship.  He had wanted to make things up to her so after he and Tagg had brought Moonshadow back to the Cove Kajika went to speak with Des.

He'd started where she normally slept finding it empty which sent him in search of her through the cove.  When he didn't find her he assumed that she was out scouting, it was what she loved to do.  He figured she would be back as she always did but when  he found her sleeping place empty again and the scent fading just a little and no sign of her anywhere else on the cove he became worried.

It was the third day he went looking for and found that she still hadn't returned that he wasn't going to wait for her to show up any longer.  He had done that in the past and she'd ended up in a lot of trouble and he'd lost her.  He wasn't going to let that happen again and this time he had a scent to follow even if it was a faint one.  Without telling anyone where he was going he immediately went in search of Des. Like Moonshadow he would bring her home to the cove.  With her scent already starting to fade he didn't waste any time looking for the place on the border where she'd crossed out of pack lands.

He finally found her trail on the east side of the territory and like it left pack lands keeping his nose to the ground so that he wouldn't lose it.  It seemed he'd traveled a while, his worry of how he would find her growing.  Would she be perfectly okay or injured as Moonshadow had been when they had found her. The thought of her being injured and needing help urge him to pick up his pace as he continued to follow her trail.

Time passed and Des’ scent grew stronger meaning only one thing, that he was getting close to where she was.  Now he could smell her on the air, his nostrils flared as he took her familiar scent.  He picked his pace up even more so that he could reach her quicker in case she was injured.

He was moving at a run when he suddenly came to an abrupt stop, Des’ scent had become strongest there and the smell of blood mingled with it. “What could have possibly happened?” He said into the air confusion crossing his features as he looked over the scene. The blood wasn't visible for the fresh snow but the dark man knew it was there. That wasn't what held his attention as the snow fell around him but the mass that lay in front of him. Unsure if he wanted to go any closer he paced back and forth looking to the mass a couple of times. He debated it in his head before finally he crept forward not wanting to know if it was her body under the layer of freshly fallen snow but needing to know. The fur that stuck out amongst the flakes of snow was unmistakably the same color as those held within her pelt. “It can't be her. it's not her,” he whispered to himself​ repeating the words over and over as if he were trying to make himself believe them. “I'm not losing her, not again and not like this,” he said louder shaking his head, His nose hadn't ever failed him but this time he wished that it once he had closed the distance between him and the body that lay before him in the snow.

His chest tightened as he slowly removed the snow from her face to confirm that he had found the woman he loved. He didn't want to believe that she was truly gone from his life forever, how could it end like this with them not even having said a word to each other since he'd returned. “It's not true,” he stated matter of factly, “Des wake up, we need to get back to the cove. The others will be worried,"he said as he nudged her cheek with his nose. She didn't move so he nudged her again a little harder, surely that would wake her. When she still hadn't moved not even a flutter of her eyes his breath caught in his throat as he collapsed to the ground beside her. He couldn't deny the truth any longer, no amount of nudging your speaking to her firmly would wake her. He sides no longer moved with her breath, The sound of her heart didn't reach his ears. She was gone and there was nothing he could do to help her, “I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you and that I was too much of a coward to tell you how I truly felt about you,” he whispered into the fur of her neck. A sigh left him as he remained quiet for a few heart beats the pain he felt as his chest tightened was unbearable. The tears over his lost love fell freely from his eyes, “I will always love you and you will always be missed,” he whispered into her ear not knowing if she would somehow hear it.

For a long time after that Kajika remained with her his head resting across her shoulders as he spent the last moments with her he would ever have.  Hours had passed before he finally rose himself up to his full height to do what he knew needed to be done.  Raising his muzzle into the air he sent a long sorrowful howl into the sky to call for his pack mates and as a song to his fallen love.

Once his voice had faded he laid back down next to her but as he buried his nose into her coat once more he discovered another scent.  It was much fainter than hers but it was still there enough he could commit it to memory and it was male.  Something wasn't right about this as he finally remembered the blood he'd smelled when he'd first found her.  He went about removing the snow from the rest of her body to find multiple injuries. That was when he realized that her life had not just come to an end but that she'd been murdered.

Kajika laid back down next to her, “I will find the one who did this to you and make them pay for ending your life,” he said resting his head across her shoulders once more as the snow continued to fall upon the man and his fallen love.

(This post was last modified: Apr 15, 2017, 03:58 PM by Kajika.)

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Holy water can't help you now

As soon as they’d had a moment of reprieve the Cove was hit with another tragedy; Des was missing. She hadn’t thought anything of it the first two days as she’d been informed by the woman that she was going out on a scouting trip. Normally, however, she was back within a day or two. By the third day Namid was feeling very unsettled and decided to conduct a little investigation of her own, unknown to her that Kajika had beaten her to the punch. She’d just managed to catch the scent of the woman when Kajika’s call went up, so mournful that her breath caught in her throat. Please, Ancestors, no, she thought, frozen in place. She didn’t want to face this, face what had caused him to sound so broken and lost. But...she had to. The pale woman knew she had to go to him and so numbly her legs carried her swiftly down, down, down.

As the scents grew stronger her heart began to beat wildly in her chest, constricting painfully that she felt like she might start wheezing. Then, there he was. Kajika was sprawled across the snow and as she moved closer she could see red hairs poking out from beneath his head. She stopped cold, unable to move any closer. Her vision began to dot and for a moment she thought she might pass out, instinct reminding her to take a gulp up air. She stumbled to a seated position, wordless, gaping like a fish with auds flattened against her skull. Her best friend, the one who had given her strength and confidence to keep being a leader from the very beginning. Her friend who she had already failed once and now had failed for the last time.

This was her fault and this was not a sin she could ever atone for.

It felt like forever that she sat there, staring blankly at the body before her body moved of its own accord. Toward them, toward her and as she finally stared down at the lifeless face which had once been filled with such kindness and joy she felt like she wanted to vomit. It gurgled up her throat and she swallowed, the acidity at the back of her tongue. Then another smell hit her and her brows furrowed in confusion. Male, but not of Kajika. Faint, so faint that she had not been able to smell it until she was right on top of her. And blood, wounds that had dripped that vital liquid. A struggle. Not an accident, but murder undoubtedly. It had to do, the redhead was not so clumsy as to fall and too stubborn to go down without a fight.

Red.

All she saw was red, her hackles raising slowly as she stared. Stolen, she had been stolen from them by another. Again she found cause to blame herself. She had given the woman her blessing to go on this trip and had simply left her for days. How long had she been lying there bleeding out. What had she thought of, what had been the last thing she’d seen before her final breath. All of it dropped onto Namid’s shoulders and she felt the weight of it in full. She almost bowed down but like Atlas she would have to bear the weight of her punishment. Of living while her friend could not. There was only one way that this would be righted, only one way that she could allow this to be settled. Blood for blood.

“He will pay,” was all she said.

A thousand armies couldn't keep me out

OOC! Here she comes! Since she's hurt she won't be arriving until the next round.

The day started out as every other one. The dark woman tossed and turned as she tried to sleep, then she would visit with @Tagg and @Kajika then spend the rest of the day tending to her wounds and wishing she could leave the den. She would often think of excuses for slipping out. When she wasn't doing that she was trying her best to remember anything about the wolves that said they were her friends and family. Not being able to remember was beyond frustrating for the cove beta but she also couldn't image what they were going through. To be able to remember everything from however long but have the other not remember at all. She felt bad for it thinking it was her fault despite everyone saying it wasn't. She had done something to end up in a situation that led to the loss of her memory so it had to be her fault right? So she continued to search the far reaches of her mind for any clue to her past until she heard him.

His voice reached her in the communal den. His words were not the clearest but the tone was crystal. Sadness, pain, confusion, anger were all clear. Something inside the woman told her that she needed to go to him and be there with him. So that she did just that. Standing slowly as to not reopen her wounds the ebony female slowly exited the communal den. Silver eyes adjusted to the light and scanned the clearing to make sure no one was around. She knew that if she was caught she surely wouldn't be allowed to go. Moon wasn't exactly sure where her friend was but she found his scent and began to follow it. Large paws carefully and slowly moved over the rocky terrain with surprising ease.

OOC! Tagg will arrive with Moon

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Word Count: 254

Though Tagg didn’t have much to do with her, he did notice Des’ absence from the territory.  He was also very much aware of how stressed Kajika was about it.  It seemed their pack was cursed; that made four of their young ladies to wander off. He wasn’t sure what had happened with Eidolon, but it had been a while since he’d seen her as well.  

Still, when he heard his friend’s mournful call pierce the air, his heart was pierced also.  It was a pain he imagined he would share had Moon been…

He had to get there.  He had to be there to comfort him.  The veteran stopped what he was doing and turned, starting off at almost a run towards where the sound had come from.  He just happened to pass the communal den, where he smelled but didn’t see his own mate. He pricked up his ears, listening for her ahead and he moved through the trees.  It didn’t take him long to catch up with her.  When he did, he slowed his pace to match hers.  He didn’t want her moving around by herself out here, especially after what had happened last time, and even more so if it turned out there was something dangerous about.

He was going to comfort his friend, yes.  But he could feel the soldier rising inside him again, thirsting for battle.  He hadn’t managed to squash it back down yet after Moon, and now he wondered if his pack might actually need it.

"Speech"  Thought

l

She would never know how he had felt about her, how much he had loved her. How in the months she'd been gone her disappearance and the not knowing what had happened to her had affected him. Most of all she would never know how sorry he was for the mistakes he made with her before his trip. He regretted not going to talk to her right away upon his return home, not apologizing again after they'd had some time apart. Most of all he regretted not telling her how he felt about her as soon as she'd returned to the cove.  

When he had set out in search of her he had not expected to find what he did, he thought he might find her as he had Moonshadow.  Maybe injured and unable to get home but otherwise okay then he would get her home and help her get better. Then they could talk and he could make up for what he'd done and things out go back to normal. He could see it exactly how it would go in his head but that was not destined to happen.

The snow had covered the evidence of what had happened on the clearing but the scent remained faint but there. Everything telling him he would never get his chance but his brain didn't want to believe what his nose and his eyes were telling him.  She laid there as if she were sleeping at least he told himself that she was, convinced himself of it even. As absurd as it might be that fantasy was easier to handle than the reality.  Slowly it seeped into his mind as he nudged her and talked to her that he could not deny the truth. His head hung when he could no longer lie to himself.  He'd never been one to hold on to such fantasies but now with so many emotions and thoughts going through him he found himself wanting to believe in them.  It was better than accepting he'd lost the love of his life.

He had fallen into the snow next to her, buried his face I'm her fur.  He took her scent in one last time and committed it to memory, not that he needed to.  He would always carry her scent with him and now all that he had left was that and her scent.  

There was something else that had taken him a minute to even realize was there, the scent of another male.  Though it was faint it was still there and immediately Kajika knew he was the one that had done this to her, taken her from him and those that cared about her.  

After calling to the pack he settled down next to her his body pressed against her's and his head resting across her the snow continuing to fall on and around them slowly covering the betas dark coat. These would be his last moments with her and he didn't want to leave her side.  That would be how Namid would find him when she appeared on the scene.

The sound of crunching snow under paw elicited a low growl from the man until Namid’s scent reached his  nose.  Kajika opened his eyes to take in his alpha just as she sat down in the snow.  He didn't say anything giving her the time she needed. Then her voice cut through the air his ears perking at her words, it seemed she felt the same as he did. Kajika lifted his head from where it had rested and shook the snow off. <B>“With his life,”</b> he stated matter-of-factly a deadly seriousness in his tone. He'd taken Des's life now Kajika would take his.

(This post was last modified: Apr 22, 2017, 11:36 PM by Kajika.)

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OOC!  

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Word Count: 242

Though she had made a point of staying within the pack borders so she didn’t get lost – she didn’t have a giant rock sticking up out of the ground to guide her back this time – she couldn’t bring herself to ignore Kajika’s anguished call.  His pain sent chills down her spine, and she wondered what could have upset him so much.

She bolted through the trees, wanting to get there as soon as she could. She skidded to a halt, paws sliding in the thick snow that covered the ground.  Her dark friend was next to another wolf, lying dead in the snow. Her eyes widened in fear, but she couldn’t make herself look away.  Her eyes were glued to the scene in front of her, transporting her back to her days of sneaking out and spying on the neighbor pack with her brother.

@Namid was already there, standing beside her beta. She must have said something to him while she was on her way, because he replied with a dark comment.  It was this that snapped the young girl out of her memory. She crawled over to the pair and licked Kajika’s shoulder in an effort to comfort him.  She had no words; what could be said in such devastation? It was clear this wolf had meant an awful lot to him. Nothing she could say would replace that.  So instead she offered silent comfort, not wanting him to be alone.

"Speech"  Thought

Holy water can't help you now

The pale woman barely registered the approach of Anaia until her startlingly white pelt snapped her out of her reverie. Auds swiveled forward to catch Kajika’s similar tone and his acceptance. This offense could not and would not go unpunished by them. If it was the last thing she did, the pale queen would find this murderer. Ignoring the fact of what kind of leader she would be to just let it go, Desideria had been her friend. She had promised her safety after she had come back and spilled her guts to her about what had happened. And how had she backed up that promise? Well, the truth of it was lying in front of her face.

For once, Namid didn’t want to be touched. She didn’t want to be comforted and she didn’t think that Kajika did either. They both felt the brunt of the weight that this held over them and knew that they would be a force to be reckoned with. Her mismatched gaze leveled on him, fiery but with a cool and collected air about her all the same. She could not lose her head now. No, she could do that later. She could go out further into the mountain and scream and cry until she threw up, but for now there was a plan to be made and a good friend to be avenged. “What do you want the first move to be?” she asked. Desideria had been more to Kajika than she had been to Namid, if anyone deserved to make the moves it was the dark second.

A thousand armies couldn't keep me out

(This post was last modified: May 22, 2017, 12:50 PM by Namid.)

OOC! @Tagg you're next :) sorry y'all its kinda crappy Dx

The ease at which the large woman moved over the mountain terrain surprised her - maybe this was her home after all. She moved as quickly as she could given her condition. Having made it a decent way from the den the expectant mother was sure she'd make it there without being discovered. She wouldn't be so lucky as unbeknownst to her, her mate wasn't far behind. Somehow she didnt hear his approach and was startled when he came up next to her. The scare caused the ebony female to lose her footing and tumbled down the hill. She didnt fall far but it was enough momentum that when she hit her head on a rock she was knocked out. She wasn't out long as she quickly came to with a groan. Then it hit her. A flood of memories flashed before her closed eyes causing her to jolt up. Silver orbs were wide with realization. "I remember..." She said quietly more to herself than to Tagg. "I remember!" She repeated with more vigor. Moon jumped to her feet and rushed over to the russet man, burying her face into his scruff in an embrace. "I remember everything" she said, her voice muffled by his fur. She could feel tears forming beneath her closed eyes as she took in his comforting scent.  Pulling back she adorned his muzzle with kisses "I love you" she cooed as she finished her 'attack'.

After a few moments the reason for her outing returned to the front of her mind. Her smile faded as a whine escaped her maw. "We need to get to Kajika, something's wrong." She turned and followed the dark betas scent as fast as she could. It took longer than she would have liked but she finally made it with the help of her love. Her sense of smell was heightened due to the pregnancy so she could easily smell her best friend, and her queen but Des' scent was fainter along with two scents she didnt know. As the Eastfall couple arrived on scene Moonshadow halted. Silver eyes took in the dark form of her teacher next to the russet one of whom she guessed was Des. The red woman was way too still though despite looking like she was sleeping. Namids words came to the beta but didnt register. Silver tipped ears fell back as the scent of blood register. A whine escaped her inky lips as the horrible realization hit her. No, no no no. She shook her head as more tears began to well. This couldn't be. She collapsed where she stood, her legs unable to hold her frame up any more. While she may not have been close with the lost woman she did know her importance to @Kajika and for even just that reason caused immense sorrow.

OOC!  

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Word Count: 367

Tagg was quitter than was good for him.  Last time he’d snuck up on someone, it had been Des, and she’d taken a nasty tumble down a hill.  It seemed that destiny was determined to repeat itself, as his sudden appearance at Moon’s side – even though he wasn’t even trying to be quiet – caused her to misstep and fall. He yelped and chased after her as she rolled, coming up short when her head smacked against a rock with a sickening sound.  She didn’t move.

“Moon!” He barked sharply, finishing the scramble and nudging her face with his nose. “Moon?” He whined this time, begging her with his voice to get up.

Her eyes opened, and he quickly stepped back to give her room, ears back and all his attention focused on her.  Her mumbled words had his ears coming forward, trying to catch what she was saying.  She was suddenly rushing to him, joyfully announcing that she… She remembers!

Their joy was not long-lasting, however, as his mate recalled why they were out here and they resumed their run toward Kajika’s cry.

Stepping into the field brought the veteran to a halt beside Moonshadow. The scene before him caused his mind to return to an old memory.  Suddenly the wolves around him were not of the Cove, and the stench filling his nose was the blood of friends and pups who had never had the chance to live. He felt the fur around his shoulders begin to rise, lips lifting in a silent snarl. They will pay for this!

It was Moonshadow’s movement at his side that snapped Tagg out of this nightmare. He could see Namid and another woman he didn’t know standing beside Kajika.  He would have to introduce himself, but now was not the time.  Instead he walked forward with stiff legs and gently pressed his nose into Des’s cheek for a brief moment before stepping back. Farewell, old friend. May death bring you the peace you deserved in life. He turned his head so he could see Kajika, green eye full of anger for the beta’s loss. He too had smelled the other wolf on their packmate’s fur.  This… this meant war.

"Speech"  Thought

l

In the time it had taken for Namid and the others to join him he had been able to say his goodbyes to the woman who had meant so much in this life. When her first come to the lore he'd never imagined that he would have a friend such as her. That friendship had turned to more and had she not been taken from him before it could have been so much more than a friendship. They could have had what Tagg and Moonshadow had and now he would never know. Her murderer​ had taken that from him, from her.

He was not surprised when Namid joined him in wishing for the man who did this to pay for his sins. The dark beta had never wanted revenge more than he did then. It was the lick to his shoulder that brought his mind from the horrible things that he wanted to do to the man who had killed his love. He took a moment to nudge her cheek to show his appreciation that she had come. As he looked to his alpha and friend Moonshadow and Tagg came into his line of sight. They too seemed to be just as devastated by the discovery of Des's lifeless body, a woman do strong to have gone through the things she had and survived to be reduced to what she was now.

The look in the tawny man's eye told the beta all he needed to know, he too was ready to avenge their fallen pack mate. Namid's question had registered but at the moment he hadn't been able to think about what their first move should be. He turned to her and rested his gaze on the woman who he knew felt the loss he felt in a way others could not. “I would like her to be buried next to Anthem and then we find a way to track the bastard who did this. I won't be forgetting his scent any time soon.”

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