Bramble Falls [s] cause I fill in the shadows

June 21, Late Night/Early Morning, Cloudy, 64 ° F, 18 ° C

"I paint you a picture
But it never looks right
Cause I fill in the shadows
And block out the, I block out the light"
— Pulaski at Night by Andrew Bird

kerberos rigel

and all of my witnesses
keep turning up dead

He escaped for a bit of a breather. Things shifted once more and this time he didn't have the energy to be sour. He got shoved down the ranks further and now Treyah's....whatever he was, was leading beside her. His feelings for the Draw had waned over time and he was on his last few ounces of emotions. Perhaps it was a sign that he had just been ignoring this whole time. Love only seemed to do so much for the bitter Rigel.

It was night by the time he stopped wandering about like some sort of stray. He had found himself at the falls a place that seemed familiar and foreign all the same. He knew he could find shelter here it was just a matter of picking where. Greedily he wanted a place off the ground so that he would have less chance of being bombarded by coyotes or any other annoying pests.

So he climbed.

His steps were well calculated in the night, trying to miss any mossy or slipper stones. Alas it was not to be. Luckily he hadn't made it very high off the ground. It was one step that had seemed so small that was his downfall. His front paws reached for some kind of support, something to haul him back up onto a stone surface. He had managed to hold on at first as his back legs kicked behind him in search of a solid surface.

Nothing. Absoulutely nothing.

Kerberos knew he was not high enough up off the ground to die from a fall (unless he happened to hit something important which he didn't think about from now - cue panic) but it was going to hurt nonetheless. He wasn't nearly strong enough to keep holding on and so he sucked in a deep breath before accepting what was to happen.

When he met the earth he was on his side, flooded with pain. It hurt. It hurt so damn much. He wheezed as he tried to fill his lungs with air. It felt like a futile effort. There was a throbbing sensation in his head and he knew that was going to be an issue in the morning, if he made it to the morning. He'd make it, right?

The Rigel would lay there for some time considering his options and trying to focus on anything but the pain. Heavens only knew how long he had laid there until he finally attempted to move. Even that movement was met with resistance from his own body. He was utterly fucked and positive no one would know or even give two shits. Treyah had children at her side, there was another set of parents in the Draw, certainly Treyah's boy toy wouldn't give two shits (or so Kerberos thought), and he knew that Garmir wouldn't lose sleep over him missing. Would Dread notice? What of @Tilly?

He let out a soft wheeze and attempted to take a wheezy breath in.

Maybe this was for the best. Perhaps this was payback for all the wrong he had done the last few months. He didn't believe in gods but in a way he had to wonder if this had something to do with the Ancestors Maera had talked about. Oh, Maera. He really did deserve this.

have you checked out my player preferences?

Tilly had stuck around, not officially or anything and the leaders didn't seem to mind. She stuck to the fringes, smelling enough like them to be left alone but never quite taking on the fullness of the scent. She was tethered to Kerb by an invisible bungee cord, checking in and out, but always coming back. She wasn't sure why, but something told her that she needed to stick around. So when the Rigel's trail led to the east, well, the Archer followed it. They were both more than aware that the coyotes were far too bold to go far alone. Her steps only grew quicker when she realised how far he had gone. That he wasn't stopping and turning back.

Alarm bells were screaming as the miles vanished beneath her paws, something in her gut screaming wrong, wrong, wrong. Usually it would be brushed off, he wasn't one of them, after all. Not an Archer, not her sibling. But he had taken care of her when her own pig-headedness had landed her in the shit. It's a debt, she kept telling herself, she couldn't have one of those hanging over her head now could she?

But was it really just a debt?

The sun faded from the sky and the Archer reduced her gallop to a ground eating march. She wasn't so familiar with the land to avoid breaking her leg with a miss-step, and it would seem she wasn't the only one. Falling water almost drowned out the sound of claws scrabbling against rock, the familiar scent of the Rigel now stronger than ever. She came on the scene just in time to see the fall, a scream swallowed quickly as she cursed herself for not spending more time with the healers, because he couldn't die, it was just impossible. Wolves around her did. Not. Die. They weren't allowed to.

Breaking from her panic when she noticed him stir she raced closer, still not daring to let go of the breath she had been holding. "Yer a dickhead, yer know tha?" Her words were sharp and far from the ones she should be uttering now as she danced around the older wolf, too afraid to reach out and prod anything because all the old gods in Torbine that was not a soft landing. "What were yer thinkin', huh? Sure, things'a gone ter shit but fuck me ma would have a field day wi' you." She put on a higher pitched voice, tilting her head from side to side in a mock imitation of Morganna, "Step up an face yer problems or step th' fuck out... Though I reckon tryin the latter is what landed yer here huh?" She winced at the poor word choice, but bad impressions and panicked words filling empty air wouldn't help them now. She grimaced, and then winced. "Fuck, Kerb, what am I meant ter do here huh?" She was too far away to call for back up from the Ridge this time, he'd need to drag his ass closer for them to hear and she wasn't about to leave him alone. "FUCK."

Hammering the nails

Into a sacred coffin

kerberos rigel

I could be one thousand miles away but still mean what I say

He had considered dozing off. Who knew so much pain would be so exhausting? It hurt to breathe — likely the result of a fractured (at the least) rib or two — and that surely contributed to his tiredness.

But someone had other plans for him. A voice filling his ears and in a half-delerious state he grinned at the insult. I prefer bastard. He would have laughed but all he could do was wheeze and flinch at the pain. It sounded so much better, rolled off the tongue like bitter honey. Her words kept filling his head and the throbbing pain only seemed to grow. He clenched his jaw firmly until she finally finished off her babbling with a loud curse.

Just...calm down for a moment. Sit next to me. He softly pleaded between wheezy breaths. Tell me somethin' your Ma wouldn't, huh? Tilly's mother didn't sound like the kind of lady to fill one's head with coddling words but that was all he wanted right now. Just someone to tell him he'd be okay, that eventually the pain would subdue and he could walk this off. It seemed like something Treyah would do. Or used to do. If she was here would she coddle him or be just as explosive as the Archer-Lyall?

If she had settled near him like he had pleaded, his tired yellow gaze would try to meet hers. I just couldn't be there. The Rigel rasped. I don't think I'm meant to be there. Or maybe he was and this was the price for trying to escape. He tipped his head back as he attempted to steady his breathing beyond raspy breaths that seemed to shake his sides.

have you checked out my player preferences?

You encounter three coyotes marking a nearby tree.

tell me somthing your ma wouldn't. Well, she didn't imagine her dad or Celandine or Maeve would be much more forgiving in this situation. She supposed Nellie might try to be a bit uplifting but she masked that thought with a grumble as she moved to settle beside him. Before she could finish sliding down however, they were interupted. "Well probably better off there, than here, facing down fucking vermin."She pushed herself upright, stepping across the older wolf's body, her hackles standing on end. Maybe they hadn't been spotted yet, but her luck had never been that good.

"Fuckin' hells. I promise I'll listen ter all yer complaints jus' as soon as we're somewhere safe but fer now..." The Archer tipped her head back to howl, an empty request that might be heard by none, but she was sure she wasn't the only loner sick of these bloody vermin. It was a call to arms, one she didn't dare to hold her breath that might be answered.

Hammering the nails

Into a sacred coffin