Prologue
It was late. The sun was fading fast in the sky, the sky quickly growing dark. It was pleasantly warm out on this particular night. The first few stars starting to muscle their way into existence as the warm pink light of the sunset horizon was fast fading. This was the Vericona Plains. How long had it been? That question circled the muscular male as he stepped across the familiar field. Oh yes, he knew this field well. This was his mother's field. This was his sister's field. This was the West of Alacritis. Adravendi soil. Soil that they had to play for blood for one too many times. It would be again one day, he knew that much in his bones. Standing tall and proud, the brown pelted male took each step slowly, savoring the feeling of the grass beneath his feet. The familiar air. The warmth of the earth. The scent of flowers, the taste of the wind. All familiar. All wonderful. It caused a pleased, soft smile to spread across his brown maw.
The old scars across his snout would proclaim his return to the glorious land of Alacritis. And despite his want to sing, he would hold back. For an entire year he'd held his tongue and remained silent. He wouldn't sing again until it was something worth singing about. Something good. Something bright and happy. The green eyes would look around as he walked the plain. It was like a dream to stand here again. Oh, how he'd dreamed of it, too. Only now it was for real. He could remember the pain. So very well. But he was well over it now. The way they had come and striped his mother's pack away from her. He'd had the notion to give it back to her some day, but that had long sense run it's course. He was done with spite and rebellion. Now there was only the will to build something. To capture that glimpse of peace and happiness. If one for a moment, but capture it all the same. That was among the many things he'd learned out in the wild. It was so much easier in the wilderness. To find a group of individual that you could love and be loved by and just turn your back on the world and be happy. At home in one another's company.
But it could also be a very lonely life. That was Erani's gift to him. A name and a place of belonging. With that name, he was tied to Alacritis. He was tied to his family. He was bound to the West. And though he'd fallen in love with the East while out hiding after her overthrow, this was where he belonged. He would have to go find Surreal, and soon. Once he learned to use his voice again. It had taken far too long to get all the tools laid out on the table. But he had them now. And though the name of his birth was an age old pillar of strength and fortitude. It was miles upon miles away. He'd never seen it with his own eyes. And he never would. And now he didn't even want to. He was an Adravendi. He was on his plain of origin. Right here, among the chaos and downpour. Even if every goal he set for himself failed. He'd be able to part this world saying that he survived living among the storm, and actually got to smile a couple of times. That would count for something.
But he'd wasted too much time already, and had none more to spare. Every second in Alacritis was priceless to him now. He'd once loved this place, and shortly there after, hated it down to it's very depths. And now, he would cling to it fiercely. He knew his way around the West and the East well. He knew how to travel all the way to The Wall. He knew too much about this place to abandon it again. And, perhaps, just maybe, he might see that female again too. Just maybe. He had a few chapters left to write. Maybe he'd get to grow his mother's name back into a titan. Maybe not. Either way. He would take what he could wrap his paws around. And hold it there against his chest and attempt to keep it forever. And even if he lost it all again, this time he wouldn't run and hide. Glory, maybe. Happiness, without question. Pain, that was probably guaranteed. Stability wasn't something he'd be banking on. But that was regardless.
He would continue along his path until he was able to smell the pack markers in the distance. Stopping in a nice spot among the shrubs, he would lower himself to his rump and close his eyes. Tilting his head back, and raising his snout high into the sky, he would take a long and savory breath in through his longs. Filling his chest deep with the wonderful smell of home, then his maw would part as he exhaled the breath slowly. Basking in the warm, soft hot pink and orange light, and the warm air, he found himself at a state of peace. Newol was finally with an identity, at long last. After a long road, he had finally come to understand who he was underneath his own skin. He had nothing to prove. And no grudge to hold. His only regret in life was that his mother wasn't here to see the moment. Nothing left to hide. No pain. Peace. Newol's was a soft soul, yes. He loved love, so of course he had a soft soul. He wasn't evil. So of course he had a soft soul. But despite that, here he stood. Soul unvanquished. In the end, was it such a bad thing to be a good guy? Not hardly one bit. And so, here he stood. Newol Zixx Adravendi of Western Alarcitis. Smile, mother. He wasn't done just yet, one more time.
"Speech" |
Night had fallen, and Avalon slept curled up in her den after a long day of patrolling the packs perimeters. She had grown exhausted over the last few days, her sleep always disturbed by a single vivid dream as if it had happened yesterday. But alas, it was a shared moment that had happened two, maybe three years prior. And yet, every night that the dream would wake her, she would find herself searching the night shadows in vain for that face...each day she had hoped to hear his name whispered upon the winds, but the more time had passed, the more she would come to accept that perhaps...perhaps, he would never be seen again. And that was precisely what had woken her this night too. Hardly a couple of hours of sleep had been stolen for herself, yet already she was rising to her paws as restlessness gnawed at her stomach. Her heart ached from time to time, the fact that she didn't know what became of him pressed on her chest every day for the last few years. Even when she had run away shortly after that night, her heart and mind refused to let her forget. Refused to let her let go. But that was so long ago...perhaps it was time to move on.
With heavy and tired steps, Avalon made her way to the western edge of the territory where the plains bordered their lands. The hues in the sky turned from orange and pink and purples and faded into a velvet blanket, and before she knew it, the lands were completely cast in a blanket of darkness littered with stars. It was such a beautiful sight, though she hardly stopped to enjoy such things for a while now. Since she had lost her family, lost herself even, she had grown somewhat detached from the world around her. The scar she had acquired from the year she had been enslaved was hardly visible, instead replaced by the thick fur of her fathers lineage. She had always felt alone in this world, until recently when she found Arian and had been adopted into the Adravendi family. Though they were not blood related, having Arian as a sister filled a part of her soul, but not entirely. Part of her was still...missing, and she didn't quite know what it was.
The cool summer winds brushed her pelt, her head hung low from exhaustion as she half dragged her paws in the dirt. Her gaze had become a little dull due to her lack of sleep, but it was often hidden away from Arian whenever she crossed paths with her adopted sister. As she stopped at the edge of the border, she stares out over the plains as she wondered how the family beyond fared. She didn't see too much of them except for when she saw them at the meeting. Perhaps she would go and see if they were still around, make sure nobody was bothering them. After all, the woman who lived beyond was a close friend of Arian's as far as she knew, so it wouldn't hurt. Stepping tentatively upon the land beyond their borders, she walked at a slow pace as her grasses brushed her body. All former thoughts left her mind as she tried to replace it with a blank slate, trying to empty her mind except for the moment of here and now. Her paws stepped in small dips and mounds, gaze lingering on parts of the terrain for a moment or two. She remembered this place, for it was where she had been rescued from the clutches of Glaciem and Amenti, forced into a war she wanted no part of. This land carried history that were none too pleasing to remember, and she was all too eager to forget about the events that had transpired here.
As the summer wind picked up, she tasted the air for any hint of Surreal and her families location. The tang of the woman's heat was faint, so that meant she was on the right path. But then...something else would catch her too. A look of confusion crossed her features, brows furrowing as she tasted the air again. Was she...still dreaming? Had she not really woken up? Lifting her head higher, nostrils flared as she sought to pull the underlying scent from the air. And suddenly, her heart would pound against her chest, the sound of it roaring in her ears. It had to be a dream...it wasn't true...and yet, even with that thought in mind, she found her paws pulling her in the direction where the scent came. It felt as if the entire world had gone still, the only sound was the echo of her beating heart, not even her breath sounded in the night air. Quietly, she slipped through the grasses, large and fluffy figure moving as if she were in some ethereal land. Her motions felt slow, the wind itself seemed to stop, and time seemed to have stopped altogether as well.
Drawing closer, the scent beckoned her forward. The woman's paws delicately stepping one after the other, both eager and hesitant to find out if this was real, or nothing but a continuing dream. As she pushed through the grass before her, she stepped out into a small flat clearing, and there standing in the moonlight would be a dark brown figure, green eyes reflecting the night stars. She stared for a long moment, amber gaze fixated on the form before her. They were but two or three yards apart, yet her mind couldn't grasp what she was seeing. As she watched this...what exactly? Was it a ghost from her imagination? Surely he couldn't be real...not here...not now...and yet...it was all she had wanted...all she had hoped for. Was she dreaming about it so much now that this was simply a continuation of her dream? No...it couldn't be...could it? The scent was all too strong to be a ghost...her mind blanked again, gaze never leaving his form almost as if he would truly disappear if she looked away. She struggled to find words, mouth suddenly feeling dry. This had to be due to her lack of sleep...or some cruel trick of the world. And yet..."N-Newol?" What she thought would be a stronger voice had come out as nothing more then a choked whisper, disbelief etched within that single name. "Talk" "You" Think |
BIC:: And so, the man would watch the sunset on his first day back in Alacritis in peace. It seems like it had been ages sense he just sat down and watched the sun fall. Had he but known all that was building, all that had been happening, he might have quickened his pace, but it was of no matter now. He was finally here and that is what mattered. Had he but known that he had been a shadow haunting another's dreams, he would have stepped up his pace. The war had taken it's toll on the land. The shit that had gone down at the whim of the Lady In Red had taken it's toll. But that was all history now. The smoke cleared, it was time to rebuild. And he supposed that the first place to start was by putting a family back together. Surreal. He needed to find Surreal. That would be where he started. At least that was the notion in his head as dusk gave way to night.
But the stars and mother moon would have other plans for him, it would seem. A scent would role across his nose, followed by a voice. The voice and scent both familiar. Bringing his head down from the heavens, he would slowly turn his head to see the fluffy female before him. She seemed baffled by his presence. And he recalled her well. They'd met once before, and shared in each other's embrace once. In a private, romantic moment. She'd crossed his mind many times sense then. Perhaps it had been the same for her, and judging from her body language, it had been. She looked at him like he was some kind of dream. And perhaps that was fair. She had disappeared from the world, and so had he. They'd both had plenty to run from too. A smile would slowly spread his maw as he looked at her. They where both of them all grown up now.
And despite this, she was still as beautiful as the day he'd first seen her. How had she stayed unclaimed for all this time? Surly someone would have wanted to make her spoken for. With a casual dismissal of this line of thought, he tried to find what words to say to her. But it had been so long sense he had spoken. For so long now he'd been quiet. So he just looked at her from behind his scared snout before finally parting his maw and issuing one simple word. "Come." And with that he would raise himself to his paws and turn toward the Willows and set off at a run, not too fast. But he wanted her company and cared not for it in so open a place as this. It wasn't the place to refined his voice. Plus he just wanted to run through the grass with her, a simple notion. But such was the brute's way.
"Come." There was only a single word uttered from the man's lips. And soon he would be running away from her. Scrambling forward, her gaze kept on him as she hastily followed his form. This had to be a dream...for just as soon as he was within reach, he would he torn from her again, running away. Right? "Newol!“ She willed her legs to go faster, the wind rushing through her fur as her heart pounded in her ears and chest, the woman catching up as she matched his stride. Her gaze never left him, she wanted to take him all in. Because if this was nothing more then a dream, she sure as hell never wanted to wake up.
They ran through the night, paws flying over the Plains as the grass parted with their motions. She wanted to know where they were going, but then again did it matter? She knew she would follow him anywhere he went, it was made as a solid promise so long ago. One she had never intended to break...until she had disappeared. But even after that, she had regretted her decision and returned to search for him. It had all been in vain until now. "Newol, where are we going?“ She was so curious, but she knew he wouldn't let her down or lead her into danger. She trusted him without question, which was something she never did with anyone...but he was different. They had connected on a whole other level that night...and perhaps this night, would be the same.
Into the night he lead her. So long had it been sense he'd used his voice he wasn't sure just what words to say so he simply relied on his aura to guide her along the right path. He had missed her some, yes. But Newol was adaptable and flexible. He'd eventually moved on and moved to other pastures. It worked both ways though. He could learn to need her and breath her again just as quickly as he had the first time, of that there was no doubt in his mind. Through the fields he ran, eyes forward. All the memories where still there. Following the old paths in his mind like it had been only yesterday that he had first pelted the stretch of land know as the Vericona Plains. It was where he had meet his mother for the first time. Back in Chyrsanth's day. Back then the thoughts of a family had been long lost from his mind. At the time his biggest concern had been finding a place to push his blow. So in a sense, under the romance of the moonlight, he felt quite young again despite his years of wisdom now. Newol wasn't as patient back then as he had been. His blood had run hot easy. His mother had simply been a healer back then. Oh the merry mess he would be led on because of that woman. Every step of the way worth it's weight in gold to him now. Every moment at her side a priceless gold piece he would hold forever against his chest.
She would leave a mighty gap to fill in his heart. But he was sure that in time he could manage to do so. And perhaps he was already on his way. In light of the chaos, he could certainly use someone to hold close to him on the cold nights. His footsteps carried him further and further until her question would fall upon his ears. Just a few more paces and they stood at the edge of the Whispering Willows, a familiar trail not to far from here that with haste would take them East to were he had first meet her. Slowing to a trout, he would work his way down to a stop. Standing there, several thought rushed over him. He had a very bad urge burning inside of him right now. The Singing Caverns. His fortress of safety. He wanted to walk deep into the mountain and see his old den where he had hidden away from the world. To say goodbye properly one last time. So much anger and pain had been bellowed into those walls. He wanted to go and make a good memory there that would last. He wanted to simply see it again. And the thought of having an old friend at his side for the venture made it all the more exciting to him.
He would stand there, still, thoughtful, quiet, his back turned to Avalon. Like a statue he would stand for a moment, searching the tangled web of his thoughts for the right words to say. Come. That had been the first word he had uttered in an entire year's time. What would he say next that might make her understand? What could he possibly say to her to fill the void between them right now? To explain the deficult feeling in his chest. Slowly, he would lower his head, snout aimed down as the bright moon cast it's light down, the occasional flash of a lightning bug in the white light. His eyes closed, they would open again as his head slowly rose up meet her gaze again while he turned to face her. A step forward. A second. A third. He would bring his chest to meet hers, his neck pressing against the side of her own. Nose burying itself in the scruff at the top of her neck, he would take a deep breath of her rice scent. It was a little different, but the body of it was as he remembered in their romantic moments of the distant past. The last time they'd held each other close that night. Bodies pressed close. This was the same feeling. Bubbly, and warm. Accept they where all grown up now.
Taking a step back, pulling back from his soft embrace, he looked deep into her eyes. Where were they heading? That was a good question. If she would run with him back to the Singing Caverns, and wait patently while he struggled to learn to speak again, he might never let her go again. He'd been asleep for a year, working out the demons. Finding peace again within himself. This would be a test to see if his soul was ready to risk deep running emotions again. With a soft voice, he issued a few simple words, hoping it would be enough. "I'm going home. Will you come with me, Avalon?" The name rolled so musically off of his tongue. It tasted good falling from his lips. He'd have to try saying it again. But that was a pressing matter for later. She was packed. He could smell it on her. Among a many other things. But all these where bridges to be crossed once they where reached. Right now there was his answer and question hanging in the calm air between them on the warm summer night.
"Speech" |