Blackened Down I drew a broken heart

turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind you

Treyah Tainn

Treyah wasn't sure why she expected things would feel different after her interlude with Draven. These things took time, of course, it was silly for her to expect to feel miraculously better. She'd watched the other women slowly go crazy as the weather grew warmer and had hoped she might escape it herself by dealing with it swiftly, but it would seem that nature had other plans for the young Tainn. She all but stomped beyond the borders and to the down, receiving what little relief that could be offered from dragging her flank along the trees she passed.

Away from his company, the storm clouds started to gather over her head again, figuratively and literally. She looked up between the charred trunks towards the sky, hoping that they might finally be bringing rain instead of more snow. She wasn't sure how much longer winter could cling to the land before they'd all have to start considering a migration south.

A huff left her chest with a sigh as she threw herself into the nearest snowbank. At least the clinging winter was good for something.

kerberos rigel

oracle, I've fallen at last

He danced circles around her to avoid her trails and presence. Kerberos still loved her, he had never lied to her when those words were spoken, but he could not try to woo her now. He had slipped up terribly and figured that he had scared everyone around him into avoiding him like the plague. So he wallowed in his alone time with terrible thoughts. Some days he felt like he could slip off and nobody would notice. Nobody would care anymore. He had handed over his rank for the sake of others and had forfeited his right to have any power. It was the best he knew how to do.

It was by accident he had crossed her path today. His posture was weak, slouched and showing signs of his tiredness. The male knew he should have turned around and gone home. He did not want to burden her with his pathetic presence.

So he lingered a few wolf lengths away, watching her wallow in the snow. He would leave in a few moments. Once he was positive no lone males planned on pestering her.

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turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind you

Treyah Tainn

It felt like she was being watched, and it was only that feeling that made her lift her head. When she spotted Kerberos she rolled to her stomach, watching him for a moment before glancing away. Why did she feel guilty? She hadn't done anything wrong, he wasn't even leader anymore... and yet... Her lips tugged down in a frown as she considered, it didn't hurt so much, not anymore, but she couldn't deny she was disappointed with the way things had turned out. "You just gonna stand there?" Her voice was flatter than she intended and she tried to make up for it by thumping her tail against the snow to show that she wasn't trying to drive him off before turning back with sad half-smile, "Or are you going to keep pretending I don't exist?"

kerberos rigel

He was half tempted to bite his tongue off at her words so that he wouldn't say the wrong thing. Her voice seemed so flat and for a moment he was ready to take that as a sign he should get lost, put as much distance between them as possible. But he was just reading too into things or maybe she was prodding at his wounded state for she suddenly became full of life.

The Rigel was dumbfounded as his jaws were slightly parted. It seems like everyone is pretending I don't exist so I thought I'd play along. He admitted with a weak smirk, unable to bring himself to truly smile when all he felt was bitter guilt.

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There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind you

Treyah Tainn

Treyah couldn't bring herself to get up but she tilted her head in a way that would invite him closer. "Well I think we were all kinda left reeling. I dunno... what was said... to make you lash out or who moved first, I don't care about that it's done now, and obviously, Mae gave as good as she got." It hurt her, to see her friends hurting each other like that, but she wouldn't place the blame purely at the door of one or the other, it wasn't her place, she wasn't there, and maybe it had been a long time coming. "I just... I'm disappointed that it came to that. I thought this pack was something else... I'm still waiting for the Spieden effect I guess." She didn't expect Kerberos to know what that was, though maybe her parents had filled him in. "That was how we ended up here after all, seems to be a fitting way to go."

kerberos rigel

and you should get out of town too

He wanted to tell her what had happened. That her name had been spoken with sharp accusations and something in him had been set on fire. What good would it do him to make a case now though? The Tainn had already said she didn't care. That things were done and over with.

I'm not leaving even if everyone else wants me to. He blurted as he took a few tentative steps forward. But if you ever see me as a threat or think I'm dangerous, want me gone from your home for safety, then I'll leave without a fight. The Rigel hadn't gotten her Spieden reference but he assumed it couldn't have been good. I'm here for you even if I'm not leading next to you anymore. His voice had grown soft, hushed and almost pleading for her to see there was still good in him.

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turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind you

Treyah Tainn

She wasn't sure that others wanted him gone, more that they didn't know how to handle all that had gone down. The timing of her father's disappearance was unfortunate, to have infighting, between mated members no less... made things... messier than they might have been otherwise. "I'm glad," She responded when he said he wasn't leaving and while it sent a pang through her chest she knew it was probably for the best to keep him at a distance for now. The feelings she had, they were still there, but she wasn't sure the label she had given them in the first instance, was the right one.

Maybe she had been mistaken, maybe it was a familiar affection, rather than love after all? It didn't make it hurt any less when she thought of what had been done. "What about your loner?" She did a good job of covering the way her gut twisted at the thought of what had transpired, but he had been the leader and it was his right, she hadn't had any intention of baring her own litter before now. "Will she be joining us?" and after a heavy swallow, "Do you... know if anything... took?" Was she going to need to endure another year with a second litter to raise?

kerberos rigel

why don't you play with bows and arrows?

His face contorted to show his discomfort and he took a step back from her. Maybe he deserved that but that didn't make it hurt any less, especially coming from Treyah. He was faced with two options, to lie or to tell her the truth and possibly further destroy any bridges left between them.

She won't be coming here. She made it clear that she had no intentions of pressing herself into my life further. He stated flatly as his features fell into something more neutral again. I'm not positive but she thinks so. He wasn't positive because things happened. Either way, the Draw will not endure two litters. At least not on my end. If the others male got themselves into trouble? Well that was on them, but he had already cleaned up the aftermath from his own incident.

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turn your face towards the sun, let the shadows fall behind you

Treyah Tainn

There was a visible easing of the tension in her shoulders, a relieved sigh leaving her chest when he said she wouldn't be coming to them for shelter. She couldn't be certain things would stay that way... but she could hope that this was the last she'd hear of it. While she did feel a sense of guilt leaving a potentially pregnant wolf to face the elements alone, it hadn't been her decision to do what they had done. Why should it be her burden to bare?

"Let's hope everyone else got the message too, though I haven't broached the subject with Tennebrae, I guess that was an oversight..." Even if she was the only female that could breed in the pack, she had been made painfully aware of the possibility that there was no shortage of loners just beyond their borders. She moved to push herself up out of the snow with a half-hearted shake, "I suppose I should get back to it." She wasn't meaning to imply that he wasn't pulling his weight, but the pack wasn't going to run itself, and she needed to check in on her siblings before more of her family went vanishing out from under her nose.