Iridescent Lagoon fire in her eyes

RE thread, but made for @Daegal.

Eve didn't want to go back. She wouldn't. After the death of her father, a bitterness had set inside the woman, manifested by grief and growing anger. She had spent her days along the meadow or near the lagoon, already a half-way point it seemed between her group the Loach's.

It seemed many of her group felt the same about the willows now. She smelt them in the morning air- along with much ash. It fluttered down like some dark, macabre snow from the skies. It settled on her pelt. On the ground. In the water.

Luckily, not all the water was tainted. Mostly small pools, ponds and lakes that were still. The lagoon was, but it was large and by now Eve had waded into the shallows where she found a nice clear patch to drink from.

After her drink, she lifts her head to see a lone deer across the way. It drank too. It looked tired, thin and completely drained. And it was, alone. She wondered where its herd was, maybe that had gotten lost. In the doe's scent it smelt thickly of wildfire. And when it lifted its head, spotting her, it did not flee. It's eyes told her everything, and so did Eve's.

(This post was last modified: Aug 09, 2023, 09:49 PM by Nineve.)

Here they were again, drifting to the Lagoon. Daegal loved his home, but with how often they ended up here he couldn't help but wonder why his mother didn't choose this place to settle down. Maybe things would be different if she had. Maybe she would still be here, and @Iseldir, and their dad.

And that was a particularly painful thought.

He had, of course, followed Eve out. He was especially concerned for her and reluctant to let her out of his awareness for too long. Even more so now he felt like they were strangers in their own homeland, a relic of a failed dynasty. Hagar had new children with a surviving wife that needed him more than his yearlings, and yet Daegal couldn't bring himself feel any less selfish for it. He wanted to hold onto his dad and ignore anyone else - aside from his sister, of course.

She was staring at a deer across the water, and Daegal paused on the shore. For a moment he thought about sneaking around to take the prey, feed them for another few days, maybe take some back... but the deer and the wolf seemed to be sharing something. Daegal waited.

There was sorrow and loss within the depths of the doe's eyes. The same which held to Eve's own. The death of her father would not be easily shook. Her mother and other brother were missing, but at least she still could hold onto hope. A hope that they might come back or a hope that Eve may find them. That couldn't happen though if she couldn't go out looking much further then the territories directly surrounding the willows of home.

Eve sighs deeply and does not proceed after the deer, instead watching it as it turned and walked away. Seeing the backside of the deer revealed burns to its back thigh, the sight making Eve's nose wrinkle. She smells her brother then and turns to him with solemn expression. "I miss our family..." She murmurs. "I don't want to be here anymore." Unlike Daegal, who loved their home, Nineve had grown to hate it.

They let the deer go. Daegal knew it would feed all of them for days, but he still couldn't bring himself to chase after the pitiful thing. He felt that maybe he was just as pitiful... he just didn't look it. Not quite yet. He turned his eyes back to his sister when she noticed him. He moved to her side, brushing his nose along her nape and leaning into her to offer her comfort. Her words did not surprise him. That itself should have been a surprise, but instead all he felt was... acceptance. "Me too," he said, matching her volume. His words were a response to both her statements. His gaze roamed across the familiar lake, his thoughts back to the games he and his siblings played in the trees back home.

But this place felt like a trap.

"Why don't we just... leave?" he said, still embracing Eve. "They don't need us anymore. They're merging with that other group. We can find a place with less heartache." He could hardly believe the words were his own, a few months ago he would be appalled to even think about leaving, but... all things came to an end, apparently.

As he leaned to her, she did the same against him. From the corner of her gaze she watched his face and the sorrow in his mismatched green and silvered gaze.

Then, he spoke about leaving and her ears perked. She was happy that he too had these thoughts. She wasn't alone. She wouldn't be, so long as she had Daegal left. Eve had once spoken to her father about leaving this place, not all that long ago. Said that these lands were cursed. Since then, she had lost three family members- one of them permanently.

I want to look for mom and Iseldir. They're out there, somewhere. While Daegal thought about finding a place far from here without any bad memories to cling to, Eve did not at first want to find a new home. She wanted to try and find those lost. We could travel the world together. She says with a small smile, nudging into his shoulder. I think we should tell the others though. I dont want them to think someone bad might have happened to us.

Would they meet them face to face? Maybe they should just howl? Eve didn't really want to see the disappointment in any of their eyes.

(This post was last modified: Oct 24, 2023, 08:55 PM by Nineve.)

It had been a hard summer. Daegal couldn't seem to focus on anything else. His own puppy-hood seemed so long ago, a distant dream of happiness where none of the woes of the world could touch him. He huffed out a shaky breath and tried to bring himself more into the present. They were making important decisions.

He nodded to Eve. He missed his brother, and they'd promised to stick together, hadn't they? They could look for him, and wherever it was he wanted to go, his littermates could follow. Maybe that's where mom was too. They could find them both. He liked the idea of traveling the world... just the four of them, together, and leave behind everything that ever hurt them. His ears flicked back at the mention of the others. "Yeah, okay..." he didn't want to go back, though. There was nothing left for them. If they were going to go, Daeg just wanted to get a move on. Eve was right, though; they shouldn't leave them without a word the way so many of the others had. "Can we just call, though? I don't want to..." he trailed off. Maybe he just didn't want to face them. Maybe that made him a coward.

Last post with Eve! Maybe forever!

Her pale coated brother was reluctant to find the others and speak with them. If anything, it would have been Ra herself which Eve would have sought out. Yet with her being on the fence between meeting them in person or howling out, plus Daegal thinking he would rather call, it seemed the decision was settled, then.

"I can do it." Nineve took a breath and after which, rang out a call which would direct the attention of the remaining willow wolves. She said her goodbyes, for her, for Daegal and to let them know they were searching far and wide for Iseldir and Avella and would not be returning without them. At least, Eve didn't plan to.

"Come 'on..." She said then after, pressing her side to her brother's own. "Let's get out of here." And good riddance.

To his great relief, his sister didn't argue. She offered to make the call, and at the last moment Daegal sent up his voice with hers, just putting his signature on her message. He ought to say goodbye himself at the very least, if he was going to be leaving like this. They'd treated him well, despite all their hardship. They might not have been his family the way he wanted, but they'd been kind.

He looked at his sister and nodded, brushing against her side, and then walked by her side as they set forth on their new journey.

THE END