break me down
The weather seemed to sense the mood of the monster of a man who sat hunched near the top of the mountain where he had spent the last few years of his life. Tortuga. It was gone now. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered hearing of that, or at least that it had changed hands but Nnoitra and Desdemona were long gone, their scents cleansed from this land. It was their fault after all. They couldn't even protect their own boarders and she was dead because of them. The mother of his children, the only wolf he had really called a friend was dead. And yet he felt no remorse for not being there in the end for her. No. She had called for him in the end after all. Not Kylar. No, she had called for Kaios. After everything he had done to her, after everything he had done to their pack, to their family she had called to him in the end. It was unforgivable. Hatred and rage had begun to coil and twist within him that day as he had kicked her lifeless body into the grave he had dug for her. Since then it had begun to rot him from the inside out. Once sleek and and well groomed man was now disheveled, pelt lack lustre and matted from lack of care. He hated life, he hated himself and everyone around him. Muscles were contracting and rippling beneath pelt as he stared down at the grave he had dug almost a year ago before leaving to Ludicael. But then Jupiter had disappeared and that was it, it had been the straw that had broke the camels back. He had left. But now he was back. He had to finish what he had started.
Speech!
It had taken some time, the landscape was so different from what she was used to, but the volcano was finally starting to feel like a home. Today she was joined by Elliot, his form snuggled between her shoulder blades, the new den was too far from the closest trees for him to be with her every day as he used to be, but on particularly warm days he would make the ascension up the mountain and would accompany her. The flying fox shifted in her fur and she smiled. Rune had been left to watch the kids, while she went out to hunt. She had missed it a bit, the freedom that came with not being surrounded by pups all the time.
A strange scent reached her and she stopped, uncertain. This was no pack's territory and she knew others could come and go as they wished but it did little to put her at ease knowing how easy it would be for a stranger to find the den, and her pups. She stopped her tracking and began to head off in the direction of the scent, she would need to asses if this stranger was a threat to her family.
The small girl saw him rising up above her as she continued her ascent. There was a vague familiarity about him, though she was certain she did not know the male before her. "May I help you?" She asked, feeling Elliot take to the air. The bat no doubt wanted to keep an eye on her but could also serve as a messenger if anything went south.
He hadn't expected anyone to be here and so her voice honestly startled him and for a moment he tensed, muscles rippling underneath matted and dingy pelt. But he would move slowly, head turning to crane and arch so he could view the woman who had snuck up on him. Though he realized that he had been so lost in his thoughts that she may have very well walked up normally and he had just not realized at all. For a moment sickly green eyes would blink, eyeing her up almost coldly before her scent his him and he frowned slightly. Rune? Nose wrinkled, sniffling at the air as he would draw himself up, standing and shaking out his pelt as best he could. Thick legs would draw him forward, closing the distance between them but not so much that he would invade her personal space. His head was lowered in a nonthreatening way as he studied her curiously. "Sorry? A friend is buried here. I didn't know that this place was claimed again?" He half asked, lifting his head to sample the scents around him to see if there were scent markers around that he had missed. But as far as he could tell from the directions of the wind there were none so he returned his gaze to the alabaster woman before him. She kind of looked like Io to the point where it was almost unnerving. "You smell like someone I know? Have you by any chance met a male who is grey with a black dorsal stripe? He goes by Rune?" He would ask, his voice barely above a whisper. There was hope there, somewhere in the deep rumble of his voice there was a small spark of hope. Had he found one of his children?
Speech!
He would turn, green eyes meeting rose ones, and she would pull her ears back slightly. Elliot circled higher above her and she gave him a quick glance. It would be a quick flight for him to reach the den but Rune would not arrive at her side quite so quick if this male turned hostile. There was a subtle change in his demeanor and she once again felt like he was familiar in some way? He moved towards her and she took an uncertain step backwards. Still he wasn't outwardly aggressive, appearing more curious than anything. He spoke, a reason for his being here and a question.
"Oh- It's not-" She said awkwardly, sure Rune had set up a small perimeter around the den and marked it as their own; partially to keep the pups in but to hopefully keep others out but the volcano was free reign again. He seemed to be deep in thought, and she shifted her weight not sure what to do. He spoke again and she pulled her tail slightly between her legs. How much should she say? Is it possible that this man had a vendetta against her mate? She wondered why he wouldn't tell her if this was true? But then she couldn't blame him it had taken her some time to tell him about her brother.
She hesitated and looked away, avoiding eye contact. "He sounds familiar..." She said her voice wavering and faltering at the end. Not for the first time she wished she was a better liar.
She was uncertain and almost fearful, gaze constantly flittering to the tiny beast circling above them. He felt the usual wave of anger roll over him but he quelled it, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a breath to try and remind himself that she probably had every right to be afraid of him. He hadn't seen himself but he knew he smelt awful and if he smelt as bad as he looked then he really didn't blame her. So as she took a step backwards so would he in an attempt to show that he meant her no harm and to continue giving her the space she apparently needed. She confirmed that this place was no in fact claimed and yet it seemed like her scent was fairly common in this area. Did she live here as a rouge? Once again his nose worked to catch the scents drifting on the breeze. Rune's scent was just as much in the air as it was on her. Did they live here together? Friends? Mates? Maybe they didn't really know each other at all other then as two rouges living in a similar place. But as she spoke her voice faltered and he couldn't help the heavy sigh that dropped from his lips. Head shook and slowly that shake moved to the rest of his body. It dislodged a few twigs and dirt clumps but other then that really did nothing for his appearance. "Very well? If you see him tell him his father and aunt are in Ludicael now and would like to see him." He said softly, head dipping as if in thanks. He wasn't here to make her feel uncomfortable and every fibre of his being was screaming at him to shake the answers out of her. No. he couldn't be like that anymore. So with another tip of his head he would turn slightly and head away, not past her the way he came in case his proximity made her further uncomfortable. "Blue eyes, grey coat with a black stripe from head to tail. His name is Rune if you see him." He called back over his shoulder, hopping that making his leaving might make her feel a bit more comfortable. And if on the off chance she was in fact telling the truth he wanted her to remember his name and description. It smelt like he lived on this mountain, maybe she would run into him.
Speech!
She relaxed some as he took a step back clearly picking up on her discomfort. She couldn't look at him, not at him directly but she could smell him, and she knew he could probably smell Rune upon her, his scent had become so mixed with her own that she wasn't sure they had a separate scent anymore. He had to know she was lying, she had never been that good a hiding anything. He shook his head and she eyed him warily, rose orbs lifting slightly to watch him carefully. A pang of guilt rising up inside her chest as he spoke, seeming rather disappointed and she found herself wanting to tell him.
He moved away from her, stopping only briefly to deliver a spot on description of her mate. She took a step forwards. "Wait!" She called after him, taking a few more steps towards him. "Now that I think about it..." She faltered slightly but pushed her way through what she wanted to say regardless. "I do remember seeing a male by that description-" She trailed off, unable to finish even this half lie on a solid note.
OOC;; I want to make babies with that table o_0
Wait.
He froze, not looking over his shoulder at her this time as he froze in his tracks and allowed her to sort through what was going on. He knew she was lying and she knew he knew she was lying. Would his willingness to leave make her finally trust him? He knew he smelt and looked awful and god damn he had done some bad things since Jupiter's disappearance but she knew Rune. He wouldn't hurt her. But he didn't want to scare her in his desperation to know of his son's where abouts either. She pretended to think hard about it and he almost chuckled, finally turning to cast a look at her over his shoulder through one hazy green eye. He smiled slightly as she continued on, saying she remembered seeing him and slowly he would shrug, massive shoulders lifting and falling with ease. "I mean you no harm dear, or him?" He said softly, gaze turning to cast at the overgrown graze where Secret was buried. Only he would have been able to find it, marked by a single black stone shaped like a turtle near the head. He hadn't really noticed the shape when he had kicked it there at first but now he found it kind of ironic. "I haven't see him since his mother passed? She's the one buried there?" Words were hushed and trailed off near the end as he frowned. He knew from Vi that Rune was alive and well but even she hadn't seen or heard from him in quite some time. So who was this woman to him? Was this his mate? Was he scaring his daughter in law off by smell alone? ? Had Rune never spoken of him?
Speech!
He stopped and Alamea almost wished he hadn't, even though she knew he had a right to know where Rune was, if he was his father as he claimed to be. She shifted awkwardly as he turned to look at her. She cast a quick glanced up at Elliot again, who was drifting lazily from one hot air current to the next. He spoke and her gaze snapped back to the stranger. She wanted to trust him, truly she did but it was hard for the little wolf to reconcile her own fears with the knowledge that not everyone was like her own family?
He turned away briefly drawing her attention to the grave? Rune's mothers gave to be exact. That was where it was then. Rune had admitted that it had been part of why he had brought them here and but Alamea had not actually seen it, not before now at least. She sighed and for the first time met his gaze for a moment. "You'll have to forgive my... reluctance. It wouldn't be the first time a long lost family member meant more harm than good." Still she had made the decision to trust him- His assurance of his intentions seemed genuine and she had to assume that at this point Rune would have told her about his father if he had any reason to be fearful of his return? Right?
"I am Alamea Kaname- Rune and I- we are living together here, well us and our children." She smiled slightly at the thought of her pups. If Rune was the foundation, her constant, then her children were the light of her life. She loved them all, but she had learned romantic love was a different beast from that of a mother and her children.