Secret Woodlands Crumbled Kingdom

Nina's death thread </3 
Please make this a top priority thread. 
@Nina @Aideen @Bane @Duckweed @Rayne @Cinaed @Rose 

He should have been prepared. The king, logically, knew that the time would soon come. She was no longer the vibrant, young queen of the past but an aging, wise matriarch. He should have steeled his heart, prepared it for the coming onslaught, but instead he had done nothing. For once, the king had decided not to let the worry of it all consume him. Other than making sure she no longer outdid herself, he left her mostly to her own devices. She was a strong woman, and as long as Miccah didn't meddle too much, she was content with his presence. Over the years, she had made him feel many things. Anger, hatred, bitterness, respect, love...guilt. Why hadn't he noticed? He should have seen the signs...right? Miccah always watched her...he should've seen it. Yet, the dark king knew nothing could have been done. It was the natural order of things...but it still hurt like hell. He had found her like this, nestled deep within the heart of the territory. She looked peaceful, like she had just been taking a nap and Miccah ached to move and wake her. But he couldn't. She had been his queen, his friend, his mentor, his advisor, and grandmother to his children. She was such an integral part of the Woodlands, of him, that Miccah couldn't wrap his head around it. His breaths were harsh, his muscles tense, his soul torn, and his blue gaze with an unusual sheen. But he couldn't stand like this forever, staring, doing nothing. He had to call the pack. So the dark king slowly lifted his head to call for his pack for a time he hadn't thought would come for a while yet. He had been wrong. Nina Hervok, founder of Secret Woodlands, the woman who had made a home in these dark thickets despite every trial...had fallen. Nothing would ever be the same again. "speech"

Burtn @DA, Colourize-Stock @DA, Momotte2stocks @DA, Celem @DA & Dawnthieves.de

(This post was last modified: Nov 07, 2016, 03:02 AM by Miccah. Edit Reason: Had to fix a tag <3 )

The call had been one she wasn't expecting, nor one she had wanted to hear. This couldn't be happening. It just...couldn't. But Miccah was rarely an emotional man, yet now his  mourning could clearly be heard throughout the territory. Inali flinched, and her paws felt like stone. The fragile subordinate couldn't seem to make her paws move forward, to heed to her alpha's call. She was petrified at what she would witness, at what she would feel when she saw the body of her friend and former queen. Taking a deep breath, the woman shook herself from her stupor and forced herself to move forward. Her paws were slow as they weaved through the thickets she had for some time now called home. When she finally arrived, the woman steps froze as her blue gaze landed on Nina's prone figure. She blinked once, twice, before tears began to prickle at the corner of her gaze. She didn't want to cry anymore. How much had she cried for Malia? Simaea? Naia? The friends and lovers she had lost over the years ran like film in her mind. Now Nina? Her blue gaze overflowed with tears, and the woman silently sniffled. She hurt. Everything hurt. She looked at Miccah, the grief in his gaze, and then looked back down at their former queen. There was nothing she could say. They had lost someone precious, a legendary woman. Secret Woodlands would never be the same. "speech"”Speech”

HermitCrabStock @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Aideen Athesila She'd known. Maybe not clearly and concretely, but her healers senses told her it was coming. Over the last few days, Nina had withdrawn herself; The cold agitated her stiff joints, and the pain left her exhausted. Her student had done the best she knew to relieve the ache, but there was only so much she could do, and they both knew it. Still, she could never have been prepared for this. In her heart of hearts she had hoped it wasn't come to this yet, that there was still time left. She'd refused to admit the truth to herself. So know, when the sorrowful voice rang out through the thicket, her heart froze in her chest. She wanted to hide, crawl into the back of the den and close her eyes, and maybe this wouldn't be true. Where were the pups? She didn't want them to see this, to experience sorrow for the first time in their life. In the end that was what got her moving, she wanted to get there before them, to be ready to give them all the comfort she could. It wasn't a long way, even at her slow, stiff trot, and all too soon she saw it, and it was real. Copper eyes instantly felt with tears, blurring the image of the stiff body laying among the fallen leaves. She was as beautiful as ever, silver-streaked golden fur giving her a regal look, one eye closed, hiding the scarring of the other. Aideen crossed to the form slowly, lowering her nose to gently nudge the side of a cold cheek, a final sign of respect. "I'll miss you," She whispered to her queen and mentor, the woman who had been like a mother to her for these past many years. Tears started to escaped her eyes and she let them roll down her cheeks freely. Raising her head again, she moved quickly now across the last distance to her husband, burying her face in his dark fur. If only there was a way to lessen the pain, ease the sorrow she knew they both felt, that all of the pack would feel. But she knew there wasn't. So she said nothing, simply pressing into her mate's chest and sobbing softly. The Woodlands had lost their matriarch . Word count: 384 Thoughts ”Speech”

Dawnthieves.de

 

PLOT WITH ME!

Unconscionably, shivers were sent down his spine at the howl that echoed throughout the thickets and it certainly wasn't because of the cold weather. Having been resting near the main den after a patrol, Rayne swiftly moved towards where they were being called. While truthfully, he had never been close to the matriarch of the Secret Woodlands before leaving, it was clear the others were as he arrived and the sting of seeing his friend with her head buried in her husband's shoulder did not make him feel any better. Still, the sadness welled up inside of him at the death of a gracious leader. He almost regretted not getting to know Nina better, as she had been originally ruling when he first joined the pack, even despite his later...departure from the pack. 

At least she hadn't appeared to object to his return, because he had been able to deduce Aideen had had a close relationship with Nina and he felt she still had the respect and love of the others that had already gathered here. Lowering his eyes to the body made his mouth go dry and he bowed his head further, mostly in a form of respect to the woman who meant so much to the Woodlands and so the others would not see the glistening of his own eyes. Even if he hadn't know her personally, he still grieved the loss.

The laughter on her lips died as the song of mourning rang out, Miccah's baritone unmistakeable. Eyes still wide and bright and ears high from her merriment, the realisation of what they were listening to seeped in slowly, over several long seconds, signalled by the slipping of her expression from one of mirth to melancholy.

So it had happened.

Their little playful game of teasing was forgotten now, replaced by something far more important, and Bella touched her nose to her son's in quiet comfort - for the sake of both of them - before turning towards where their leader's voice had come from, deep within the territory. She had not missed the flash of alarm and distress on Duck's face, and while she lamented his pain, she was proud that he felt it. That he loved this place enough to feel it, that this place had loved him enough to build him into this bigger and better Woodlands wolf.

Had loved him enough to protect him from harm when she had not, to nurture him back to health, and now the woman to thank for that was gone, and it was time for them all to pay their respects.

Aideen was tucked into Miccah's side and sobbing when mother and son arrived, quiet, heads low, and Bella was struck by how dignified Nina looked. How peaceful. How blessed was she to go like this, in the heart of the pack she had built and helped thrive, the pack that adored her, without worry and safe in the knowledge that Secret Woodlands was strong and promised a prosperous future. Though the eyes were unseeing, Bella bowed her head to the old matriarch, offering her silent gratitude for all that Nina had given them in their time here.

With a soft touch to Duck's cheek, Bella stepped towards @Aideen's back, offering small, sad smiles to @Rayne and @Inali as she passed them, and tucked her chin over her friend's shoulder in silent comfort. She knew how important this place was to Aideen, how important Nina was, and could well imagine what this loss felt like.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

The retort had been ready on his lips when Miccah had interrupted them from somewhere not so far away - and any frustration Duck felt at being denied his witty comeback was quashed when he paid attention to the message. The surprise flushed his face, a stark and sudden reminder of mortality, and, selfishly, a reminder of how close he had been to proving his own not too long ago.

And it had been Nina to help him  cling to life - and now she was gone.

He hadn't known the woman well, per se. She had been like a fixture of the Woodlands, a wolf who belonged here without question, who he had just always childishly assumed would be here. Secret Woodlands was her baby, her home, how could one exist without the other? And yet now it would have to. He swallowed down the strange feelings of discomfort and sorrow in his throat, a near-silent whine in his chest as his mother's gentle touch, too caught up in the grief he was unprepared for to reject her over-mothering.

There was no question that they would go. They had to go - he had to see. Together they walked, without a word, the silent haunting compared to the laughter and yaps of only moments ago, and as if in a dream they came upon the site of mourning. Miccah, Aideen, Rayne, Inali, and...

He swallowed again, too distracted to acknowledge Bella's touch as she moved to comfort Aideen, too transfixed by the sight of Nina's  still body. Death was so close to them all. He felt deeply unsettled by the sight of her, by the reminder, by the fact that one of the wolves responsible for his life was laid there unmoving and cold. Who next, @Nineva? @Ash? His mother?

No, he couldn't think like that, it was no pattern... but he couldn't help but feel like it was the wrong wolf who would never wake up again.

Going weak at the knees, Duck lowered himself to the ground, ears pinned back and tail tucked, intimidated by grief and an imposing sensation of fear, unable to take his eyes off of her slumbering face.

The call was like a nightmare, surely something he had thought up in that brain of his if only due to the worry which he had over his aging motherly figure. After their last conversation, Bane had every intention of speaking to his leaders about turning his training from being a guardian to that of a scout, so that he may spend more time with Inali and venture further. Still, he had clung onto these lands, not yet asking his leads if only because he was uncertain of leaving Nina behind and because Inali herself had been otherwise outright avoiding him. Now that Miccah's mournful call out to the pack had slithered through the thick confines of the pack territory, he had certain all his fears had been made true. Still, as he came padding to the scene, he had some hopes that maybe, just maybe, he had finally reached the age in his life where he (like both his parents before him) had finally begun to go insane. Surely, a loss of sanity was far better then living without one of the most sacred of beings he had ever come to love - Nina Hervok. 

But it was not to be so. His loss of sanity, that is, and as he came stepping towards the cluster of wolves, he felt himself shatter. His heart, his very soul... While others broke down, held one another in tears, Bane was rigid. Stiffened in his place as though frozen in time. All he could see was the fallen form of Nina. Laid, unbroken, completely at rest as she had taken her final breaths... It would have been a death which any could have hoped for. Blurred was the crowd around her. Not for a moment sparing a sympathetic glance to his leaders, not even Inali.... 

"I..." He finally choked out, but a whisper on his breath. "I can't..." So much so that he could not even finish his sentence. How could he bare to do it? How could he bare live without her? 'Nina...' His mind cried where his lips now faltered, trembling... 'I can't live without you.' And so he ran. Bane turned and ran so quickly as he had come, not so much as a blink of a second guess in his decision. If he could have it his way, he'd run until his feet could carry him to a world where he and Nina could be together again. 

He didn't want to go. Korrin already knew by Miccah's voice that what awaited him would be no pleasant sight. Yet, he was no longer a child. He was no longer a child that had the excuse to hide behind his parent. Now, it was even worse because his father was gone. Looking for him. Because Korrin had been stupid and arrogant, and now he was paying for it because all he wanted right now was his father's presence and his father was no where to be found. So, the yearling forced himself to rise and walk to where Miccah had called from. When he arrived most of the pack was there except for the pups, which he was glad for. The teen managed a single glance towards Nina, his aunt, his dad's beloved sister, and immediately looked away. The grief around him was so strong that it felt like he was suffocating. Mingled with this fresh feeling of loss, different than when he had finally accepted his mother was never coming back home, he also felt crushing guilt. He could have spent more time with her, gotten closer to her. She had been his aunt, for gods sake. She had meant so much to the individuals around him that had spent years with her, when the teen had only known her for a short span of his life. Bowing his head, the boy grieved.

"speech"

The growing pup only became more curious as she grew. Enia's range for exploring only increased as her thoughts expanded and she was not particularly sure what her parents thought of her behavior. At this time, she was only a little shy of passing up her mother in size. Her siblings, as always, were being just as rebellious as they could be and Nia did her best to stay away from their antics, not wanting to be involve if something went wrong. The dark girl moved through the territory carefully, aware now of the various thorns that were dispersed among their home floor. She stopped, however, when her father's cry bellowed throughout the thickets. The girl turned her head, eyebrows creased in confusion. He sounded so sad. Unlike the rest of the pack, Enia had not noticed her grandmother's declining health. To her, the older woman was one of the strongest women alive, aside from her mother, of course. The young Athesila was quick to make her way towards where her father called. She tried to make quick work of her travels, paying close attention to the thorns beneath her paws. It took her longer than she would have liked but eventually she arrived. Many of the pack was gathered but her light brown eyes skimmed over her father and mother before settling on Nina's body. Her head tilted, lips pressing together. She was not a stupid girl but her brain was having a hard time processing what she was seeing - and smelling. A strong pang filled her chest and not knowing what to do, walked closer to her mother for some sort of guidance.

(This post was last modified: Nov 30, 2016, 09:38 PM by Enia.)