Aranea found herself outside of the damp caverns, continuing at her sad, wandering pace. It was the only thing she could do in her days to keep her mind moving, even if she was never really trying to go into her thoughts. She came out from the center of the caverns, heading east and not realizing how far she would move on before the scent of the pack hit her nose. And it wasn't only the pack, but her once known friend that she had left and hadn't seen for years. She stood a ways outside the border lands with her head perked and ears forward, it would take her a moment to lightly take in the scent before finally turning at a hunch to scurry away towards the north. It wasn't necessarily that she didn't want the male to be caught by her, but she knew in her heart that she wanted to be done hurting people and she wanted to move on from anyone related to her past, even if it meant her lifetime in solitude. Walk "Talk" Think

Speech

Torin had all but given up on finding Derecho and his missing son, he plodded along more on autopilot than anything else, his mind working slowly through the scents and mostly ignoring his surroundings, it was all just the usual scents: His children crisscrossing the border here and there, Eir's last patrol along these borders... small prey either darting into the lion's den or fleeing the occupied territory of the predators.

So it was the slate alpha would push himself on, the only joy he felt was the buoying of his heart when he noticed the activities of his children. And Torin likely would have completed his low effort patrol and gone back to lounge outside his den, trapped in the throes of his grief if he hadn't stopped for a moment, unsure why... his head tilting to the side as he slowly tried to kick his brain into gear. A scent, familiar but he wasn't sure why. His brain was painfully trying to shake off the shroud of grief. Absentmindedly he started to follow it, his paws carrying him over the border line. The scent grew stronger and he slowly started to unearth the place in his memory it came from and as he did so he picked up his pace.

By the time he spotted the woman he was practically sprinting, he skid to a stop, still behind her but he was certain she had been aware of his approach, he'd hardly been quiet. "Why?" He said, his voice lifted to project the pure cry of anguish that lifted from his lips. It was many questions. Why had he played him like that? Why had she sought to hurt him? Why had she come to his doorstep? Why now of all times, now that his wife and child were gone and his self-confidence was shot, as low as it had been after she had used him?

Art by Vhitany

Walk | "Talk" | Think

The quiet pounding of thunder in the ground, she would halt to his near presence, not knowing it was truly Torin until he spoke. Her head turned immediately after the gurgle, a paw still left in the air. As she turned to face the giant brute, "Torin... I-" Her nose reached out to touch him but she wouldn't go so near. Almost as a gesture for the pain she felt in his voice.

She knew nothing of what he was going through, or what he had gone through. And though on her own accord, he hadn't known what she had gone through. The last they had seen of each other was years ago when Aranea was frail and dirty and her true feelings showed through her physically opposed to now. "So much has happened..." But in her solitude she had never let herself feel this much emotion, her face as apologetic as it could, her eyes still swirling with sadness over everything that had happened to her. And though Torin may have seen her as a potential love interest back in their young days, she always saw and thought of him as a friend. But to her, it was no different. Her feelings for hurting him and abandoning him were just the same as if they were lovers, though during the time they could have happened, there was Tyranis. If only Torin had been closer, if only Aranea had been more open. Maybe Torin wouldn't be in his situation and Aranea wouldn't be in hers.

"I'm here now... I'm better, I can make it up to you." Her only intention of originally running was to avoid hurting the boy more than she had. She avoided the pack borders for years and just found herself by chance trapped by the caverns near by. But now that he caught her, she wanted nothing more than to help him if he would let her. She never felt wanted in Abaven, in Dauntless, by her mate, or by her children. And here she felt like Torin had actually cared for her, even if it was one point in time a long time ago. Why couldn't she have seen it earlier?

Speech

Aranea turned around and it nearly broke him right then and there, the pain in her gaze as she looked towards him, the slight tip of her head as if she wanted to reach out to him. He flinched back, a forepaw lifting to his chest as he did so, it was an instinct, the last vestiges of his self worth telling him that he couldn't let her back in. If he did he'd be truly lost. He loved Derecho, with his whole being, much like his father he'd probably never be able to move on from her and the surging of emotion he felt looking at the first crush he'd ever had... well it was worse than all the other pain because some part of him already felt he was betraying his one true love.

The woman spoke, she said words that felt like lead, they felt like a feather. So full of all the worst things he'd felt about himself, so empty of any meaning. The part of Torin that had had to learn to be hard, to protect himself and his kids clicked over. The adult Torin, the alpha Torin. It wasn't the young boy she'd once offered a meaningless kiss to anymore, all the grief in his eyes was still there but it was hardened and his jaws locked, his face transforming into a stone mask. "How?" His tone was harsh, maybe harsher than it should have been but the part of him that had learned not to trust, learned it from her, wasn't willing to just let her sweet talk her way into anything. If she was going to try and get back into his life, she'd have to earn it.

Art by Vhitany

Walk | "Talk" | Think
As his tone and stature changed almost instantly, Aranea would immediately feel hurt by it. Her ears flipped back slowly in her shame. Tears seemed to well in her eyes but she would hold them back. When she looked at Torin now, she thought of Tyranis. A stone cold Alpha who needed to care more of his duties to his pack before anything else. She felt she could barely look him in the eye, it was hard to hold back the emotions she had been drained from over the years. She pulled herself back, no longer reaching to comfort him.

But none the less when she thought of her friend she thought of a new start. Stepping out of the pot and into a new life. She was exhausted of dwelling on the past. And as she lived on her own these past few years she was drowning in it.

"I can- I can help you." She stuttered as she choked and regained what bit of her confidence she had left. She was able to make herself look back at him, her ears relaxing though not necessarily pointed forward as if she were full of joy, clearly. "I can help your pack." An offer if not for him, for herself. Though she needed that boost to make it through the rest of her life she felt almost as if she could be a slave to him and his people, even figuratively. "I need to repent, Torin." Here words rang sincere, the shame could be scented on her for what felt like miles. But all this time she was running away from her problems. Now with Torin standing before her, she felt like she had to make up for everything she did. Even if he wasn't apart of nearly a portion of her wrong life.

Speech

Fuck. He could see the way she almost flinched away from him and Torin pulled himself back a bit. He sighed, dropping his head and shaking it. "How?" he repeated again, his tone softer. "Araena, I want to help you, but the last time I saw you you were in much the same shape and before that we were... we were children." He took a small tentative step towards her. The paternal part of him his own children had awoken in him was desperate to reach out and comfort the clearly struggling woman. But he also couldn't be indiscriminate about who he let in.

"I can offer you a place in Lirim, get you back on your paws." He said softly, hating himself for giving in so easily. "Let's focus on that fornow."

Art by Vhitany

Walk | "Talk" | Think
Her eyes fell from his form as he asked her how yet again and she was nearly at a loss for words because she couldn't think herself worthy or desirable to anyone let alone him. She remained silent and low from his taller stance, listening to him about their encounter years prior. She was scared to reveal her feelings then and she still felt the same way now. She hadn't changed. She still wasn't ready to come out and talk about it, she wanted to just scrape that part from her life and move on. But that was impossible. He moved in closer to her and though she didn't move away she flinched to the thought of him reaching out to her as she did to him. She felt no one could help her, and frankly she couldn't help anyone else but she needed to try. But she wasn't willing to let him in on her pain as he, unknowingly to her, was feeling a same kind of abandonment.

As Torin gave in almost respectfully to her, she mustered the courage to suck it in and grab his eyes for probably the last time in this moment. "I am a healer, I can help stock herbs and take care of anyone who needs my aide." She spoke quietly with little confidence, but it wasn't lazily as if she were an annoyed child. And through their whole encounter Torin would be able to tell that her attitude was only made of loss and pain rather than anger. She was a shell outside of the depression that ate away at her, and perhaps he would learn more of what it stemmed from later on. But she appreciated that he wouldn't prod her into the hurtful details she tried to ignore. "I can promise you I will be there for the pack."