Dragonfly Fen When I was six years old, I broke my leg

@Ice or maybe @Serach ?

Even as he left the mountains behind and descended to the east, Mace couldn't shake the heavy weight of what Iyes had told him. He wanted to. He wanted to continue on thinking that the Attaya family was more than a clan of shadowy creatures incapable of committing permanently to anything, but Mace didn't believe that, himself. He wanted to, desperately, but he was exactly as she'd described. A transient shadow, always moving and never able to stay. That had always been his life, and stability seemed like something he only had in temporary snaps.  

He didn't want to be that wolf anymore, he realized as he squeezed between the tightly packed trees sprouting from the harder ground of the fen. The weather had taken a sudden turn for the wintry and the ground was accordingly stiff, but there was still something rebarbative about the fen. In the muggy heat of summer, he thought it would be its own kind of hell, one he would not return to if given the choice.

His time with The Bloodbreakers hadn't made him feel like a permanent fixture. It was always meant to be temporary. Perhaps he would have left it some time before, if not for Tinley. His daughter had tethered him there, but even she wasn't enough to bridle him for long. Maybe it was just their destiny to wander the earth, never finding what they wanted. Maybe that was the Attaya legacy. Weighed down by these thoughts, Mace didn't notice the frigid water he was approaching until he tripped over a root and stumbled directly into it with a sudden gasp as its chill seeped immediately into his bones.

(This post was last modified: Apr 12, 2017, 10:58 PM by Mace.)

gorgeous set by kydnt

you do not know who is your friend

and who is your enemy

He was wandering again—going wherever his paws took him, consumed by irrational worry, anxiety, fear, hope, everything. He was a distant ghost, when he should've been a fixture, a constant bulwark against the world outside, keeping his son and Aponi safe. He should patrol the borders, stare suspiciously at everything that wasn't of the Bend but still came close. He should lounge in the sun with Lila and Serach and Lena. But—he wasn't. He had patrolled, at first, when the March days were still cold and snowy. And then, he had begun to drift, always coming back and snooping about at home, before being blown away again, like a stray bank of snow.

Soon wasn't soon enough. He itched to lope north, to the majestic redwood forest, and the green-eyed wolf within, and ask her, what do you want from me? what is going on?. But not yet, he'd told himself, and just to keep himself away, he had gone south. Snow and last year's greens, now wilted brown, fought for dominance. Dark trees yielded to the semi-frozen marshlands of a giant fen. Ice stopped upon its borders, and licked his lips. Maybe a day or so further south laid the place where Relic Lore had risen up against the Aniwayans—risked their lives for the future.

They had been victorious. Ice still hadn't gone back there. It hurt.

Maybe today, or tomorrow, though—maybe it was time to face all the old hurts.. and maybe it wasn't. He didn't want to decide that now.

He didn't want to decide anything.

He loped west, south-west, cut along the edge of the marshlands. The ground was frozen, the ground was soft, at times like gravel and at times threatening to swallow him up. A creature of forests and mountains, the uncertain ground made him uncertain. He didn't like it here. It was.. all wrong.

The mountains loomed somewhere ahead of him. They were dark shadows, comforting, distant, a reminder of the other side and all that lay there. Past, present, future.. buried dreams and smashed hopes. He swallowed, and turned his gaze from it. Best not to think of what was over there—who.

A shadow disentangled itself from other shadows, jet black, difficult to tell where he ended, and where he began. Ice had stopped, and watched him with curiosity. Sometimes when he roamed, days passed without him seeing another wolf soul, and sometimes, he ran into so many of them he wondered if he would ever be alone. He sniffed the air. A snatch of scent drifted by on the breeze, but it was not one he recognized. Ice was.. sort of content to let him be, had even begun to turn away from him, when the sound of somebody falling—and, stars forbid—splashing came to his ears. They perked up on his head and he whipped around, seeing the black shape toppled over.

He fully expected—hoped—the shadow of a wolf would stand up well before he got there. Dirtied paws flashed over the terrain as Ice dashed towards the pool of frigid water and the inky male, intending to grab him by the scruff and pull him out if he hadn't manage to by himself.

until the ice breaks.

let the stars above shine in your soul

Once, Mace was destined to be a wolf of water. The water had flowed in his veins as thick as his blood when he was young, a member of the future of Darkwater Rapids. The rush of white water was as a lullaby to his siblings and he in their early days, yet everything had been stolen away before Mace could properly become a water-faring wolf. Maybe if his stay in Cut Rock River had been longer, he would have been better equipped to deal with his present circumstances. Unfortunately, Mace had been a plains wolf far longer than he was a river and forest wolf, and he was beyond ill-equipped for falling into a marsh.

Especially one held tight in the sharp jaws of a cold snap.

With all the panicky speed of an affronted cat and none of the grace, the male wolf spluttered and splashed and struggled to extract himself from the cold water that bit past his thick fur and right into his marrow. He hadn't quite freed himself when the sudden unwelcome pinch of teeth found the loose skin at the nape of his neck. His natural instinct was to go somewhat limp, but his assailant was unseen, so focused was he on escaping his predicament, and Mace's muzzle wrinkled savagely as he snarled a sharp warning and struggled against Ice's grip.

When his feet found ground that was more solid, he tore away from the other large wolf and whirled on his heels, prepared to take Ice's face off if there wasn't a satisfactory reason for the sudden intrusion of his space. Hasty as he was in his panic and surprise, it didn't occur to him that the older wolf's actions had actually helped a good deal in removing him from the frigid pool. In spite of his patience and stoicism, Mace had a temper down in his breast that reared its head now. It made him a fierce warrior, but also prone to jumping to wrong conclusions in the heat of the moment—and this most certainly qualified as he stared harshly at Ice, silently demanding an explanation.

(This post was last modified: Apr 19, 2017, 03:31 AM by Mace.)

gorgeous set by kydnt

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

you do not know who is your friend

and who is your enemy

His heart thundered in sympathy—water closing over his head, cold and fast and furious, everything pitch black.. a recent memory, but powerful all the same, fueled by years of fear that had been half-genuine, half-principle. Frigid drops splashed from the pool and the shadowy wolf trapped in it—closed around his face as he plunged his muzzle into the mess. For a split moment, all he could think of was the cold, the went tendrils of fur, the hair sticking between his teeth—

So cold he could've been dead, if it wasn't for his flailing against the chilly mass and the sludge of the pool's bottom. There was warmth somewhere in there, too, a dead weight as Ice's jaws found purchase and hauled him out, neck muscles bulging with the effort. The water weighed him down, but somehow, in the heat of the moment, it worked, and the black wolf found himself with no fangs in his scruff and all four paws on solid ground. He whipped around. He was angry, Ice noted, as if from a distance.

Fangs dripping water were bared in a face with the fur plastered to the skull; eyes gleamed savagely, a minatory stance and look. Ice's ears splayed and his eyes narrowed, but there was no threat in his posture. His tail was level behind him, neither ramrod stiff nor wagging. "What," he said to the glaring, almost judgmental eyes, "don't tell me you wanted to drown?"

until the ice breaks.

let the stars above shine in your soul

His jowls shook with the force of his unrelenting growl as his eyes cut into Ice's features. For a moment he was primeval, reduced to a simple animal with a one-track mind to eliminate a threat to his safety. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Mace knew the frigid water was an even greater danger, and it was this coupled with Ice's verbal response to his display that made the snarl die in his throat. This man had invaded his space, but potentially saved him from an even worse fate.

It's what my family does, he grumbled reluctantly, pulling himself away from Ice and sidestepping in a wide arc to give both of them more room. Tension still rippled through his lifted hackles, but the dark Attaya took several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. Now that the adrenaline was dying down, the cold lanced through his wet fur and seeped right into his bones. He hadn't had to deal with something like that in a long time. The Bloodbreakers lived in the plains. While they got a heavy dump of snow each year, it was much drier.

Sorry, Mace offered at length, trying his damnedest to keep the rough gravel of his tone to a minimum. You just surprised me. I wasn't expecting teeth in my neck. And he made an effort at a forgiving smile, but it was a weak effort at best with his heart still hammering in his chest and his features still chiseled into irritation.

gorgeous set by kydnt

you do not know who is your friend

and who is your enemy

Ice couldn't blame him. When he had fallen into cold, rushing waters half a year ago, he had known there had been another wolf down there, and so, crashing into a body and having her nips to right him in the water hadn't been all that surprising. This, though.. to not only vault headfirst into a pool of frigid water intent on freezing the blood in your veins, but to have a stranger start biting your neck at the same time? Mmh, no. It wasn't the good kind of surprise kiss. And to get up, whip around, and realize you didn't even know who had taken the opportunity to taste your neck fur..?

A less old, less nice-to-the-bone wolf might've just taken off when their heroic act was met with the fury of hell—after all, it was an impressive display. It was a male in his prime, and not like the relic standing in front of him, but Ice was just too damn sure of himself to back down from anything. Age had dulled the youthful senses which sparked at every slight and injustice, and found virtue in patience instead; and thus, he practiced patience, and was rewarded. The thunderous growl faded into silence and the stranger stopped (mostly) vibrating with scorching fury.

"It's what my family does," he said, stepping away and leaving Ice standing stricken and staring at the pool he'd flailed around in. It reminded him too much of Rowan—too soon, too sudden, and his head whipped up and around to study the sopping wet wolf. Jet black, even more so because he was drenched, eyes a desaturated blue Ice didn't immediately recognize. His heart stumbled uncertainly. There were too many black wolves around to pin him as an Attaya.. but the drowning family part...

"It's alright," Ice responded quietly, eyes solemn and ears pricked forward again. "If it's any comfort, I wouldn't have grabbed you if you hadn't been flailing around in a pool of chilly water. It looked sort of uncomfortable. And cold. You still look cold." He itched to step forward, to run his tongue over the coarse hairs and force the water from them, but.. without an invitation, he'd stay put. He didn't particularly care if he offended a stranger, but his curiosity was burning, and it needed dousing, so he tilted his head to the side, and asked that which bounced around his head and offered him no rest.

"Are you, by any chance, an Attaya?"

until the ice breaks.

let the stars above shine in your soul

While among the Bloodbreakers, Mace had learned to settle disputes physically. Words were well and good among wolves who were polite and direct, but the Bloodbreakers by nature were shifty and mistrusting. As a result, they based a lot of their society on strength. Living among such wolves for a while made one forget the more pleasant nature of wolves who weren't thrown together for the chance to survive and to fight as mercenaries. There was an inherent lack of structure in a pack like that, so physicality became a necessary part of living that way.

But Ice's patience won through Mace's hastier approach, and he calmed down gradually, until he could muster a ghost of a smile in response. Thank you, he said in a much softer tone. He took several steps away from Ice, then paused to shake his fur vigorously, seeking both warmth and dryness. I'll warm up eventually, he assured the man with a sidelong smile. He was yet young, no matter how old he felt. He had years ahead of him, and one icy pool wasn't going to be the death of him. Not this time, anyway.

He thought they might part ways then, two perfect strangers without much in common to discuss, but Ice surprised him. A cold weight rushed into his belly when the older wolf voiced his question, and he couldn't help but to narrow his eyes and prop his ears up as suspicion stole through him. Who's asking? he almost said, but instead remembered that this wolf had just potentially saved him from illness or something much worse, and he took a steadying breath.

Yeah, he said, the confirmation dropping heavily from his lips. Mace Attaya. How did you know?

gorgeous set by kydnt

you do not know who is your friend

and who is your enemy

He was rather pleasant, Ice decided, when he wasn't busy preparing to eat his potential backstabber. Mustering small smiles and saying thanks and all. He couldn't have asked for much more, to be honest, and wouldn't either, hadn't his meeting with Rowan burned in his mind and demanded answers.

The change was instantaneous, back to the suspicious creature he had hauled from the icy waters. The shake hadn't done much good, the black fur still wet, and the eyes hard and narrow. Either he didn't like others guessing about who he was, or—

Yeah. Ice felt his heart pick up, speeding crazily and threatening to derail. Another Attaya, another one of Ava's sons, here, in the flesh. Why did they all come back? Where did they come from? Mace Attaya, this one was, the name clicking with the single memory he had of learning of Ava's cubs. There had been four, Mace and Rowan and.. two he couldn't remember, but they were princesses, little girls. That much had stuck. Ice nodded.

"Because believe it or not, I ran into your brother Rowan just a month ago. I was a friend of Ava's, so, naturally, running into him put her at the forefront of my thoughts again." He wasn't sure how to, delicately, say that he knew of what had befallen the Rapids pack, so he just...didn't. Behind him, his tail was doing its best to appear solemn while wagging, but there was something about meeting both Rowan and Mace that was just so unreal. He didn't know what to do about it, either, except feel some weird, expanding joy that maybe he didn't have Ava anymore, but he had little pieces of her. "I'm Ice, by the way," he added after a moment, figuring a name for a name ought to apply in any civilized world.

until the ice breaks.

let the stars above shine in your soul

He pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth as he awaited the older man's response, and nerves swooped freely in his stomach as he considered what this could possibly mean. There were two main possibilities: either the polar wolf knew the Attaya family, or he had heard of them. From that branched other possibilities, and Mace searched the Oak wolf's face in an effort to discern which was most likely. Did he remember the Attayas as fond friends? Or was his memory of them tainted by their unreliability? Had one of his siblings wronged Ice? Had he wronged Ice?

He tried to conjure up any memory of this wolf, but could find none, and the reality was confirmed quickly enough when the grizzled wolf spoke. Mace's whole body grew tense. Rowan? He hardly remembered what his brother even looked like. The two hadn't seen one another since the flood. Unlike Quil and Cinder, Rowan had not returned to Relic Lore as far as Mace knew... well, until now. His eyes were glassy as he stared at Ice, unaware that he was making direct eye contact and too far removed from the situation to notice.

He did eventually regain some consciousness, and picked his slack jaw up before the drool gathering in the corner of his lip dripped down into his chin fur. I... what? He couldn't believe it. Ice introduced himself but Mace was still about two laps behind in the conversation. He shook his head and repeated, Rowan? Where was he? Surely not here. He hadn't seen his brother in so many years, it seemed impossible that he would be here now.

He wanted to ask a lot of questions, like how he knew Ava. Why he hadn't been present when Darkwater Rapids collapsed. Where he'd been the whole time. What he could tell Mace about his mother. Ultimately, Mace didn't ask any of the questions on his mind because his tongue couldn't catch up with his brain. He stood there in dumb silence instead, mouth still agape, and felt his heart rate accelerate.

gorgeous set by kydnt