L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

Glimmering in pallid beauty, a bobber large and round waned upon a placid sea of stars. It was the glowing beacon that beckoned the woman forward, driving each impetus thrust of muscles that try as they might, would never quite be able to arrive upon that horizon and quell the frenzy that drove her onward. Once again she was being pursued, hunted until her limbs would eventually buckle and give way to the expansive weight of her own exhaustion. If only she could evade her assailants just a little longer. Her breath came fast, heart pumping wildly between each stretch and release of elongated muscles as they propelled her across the unforgiving beach. When she gazed upon the moon with a faint echo of hope to see it another night, she imagined the great celestial orb laughing down upon her foolish ideals.

However, this time had been different. This was it, she was free. She had won.

Just as the thought began to creep into her mind, the fates did indeed laugh an infectious bellow that catapulted her paws swiftly away from the ground in a near instant. With a sudden swing and a snap, a large knot of rope snared the dark pillars of her legs in a problematic tangle pulled taut and most unforgiving. Propelled by simple leverage, the faint shriek of a stunned yelp left her lungs before the female was quickly hoisted upwards like a puppet upon its strings. Coiled around one front paw, and strung around past her spine to lace one of her back legs, the rope stretched the wildly thrashing wolf into the air. The more she flailed, and flail she would, the tighter the entrapment became. Suspended just below a single palm tree, she hung awkwardly ensnared and swaying steadily as aimless jaws frantically snapped at invisible enemies. Panic-stricken and still writhing against the inanimate captor, she hastily surveyed the eerily lit and indistinct shadows that stretched across the shoreline.

In the distance, shapes similar enough to be the familiar outline of wolves were stiffened and unmoving. Littered upon the darkened shore, a haphazard collection of wood and rope had decorated the ground around them. The beach was quiet and altogether noiseless with the exception of the rhythmic tides crashing against the sand. It would seem she was in fact alone, left to fully appreciate her catastrophic plight mortified, yet unattended. She was grateful only for a mere beat before she considered the length of time that she may be stranded there, unceremoniously bobbing up and down beneath that tree.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck.

If ever there was a time to pray to the Gods for a miracle, this was it. Yet she was an uncouth heathen with a enthusiastic tongue and an exceedingly colorful vocabulary to match, a far cry from a pleading woman of the cloth. With a regretful glance back at the moon, Lilah swallowed the panic that had amassed within her throat and allowed all of her undignified charm to blossom.

Hooting and hollering every curse and string of crass insults she had accumulated within her three years of life, her voice rivaled against the sound of the waves. Every vulgar and undignified response her untamed tongue could articulate while suspended upside-down free flowed like a river from out her dark lips. She wasn’t a woman who was willing to go quietly into any dark night.

for osiris <3

"Speaking"

The sea was not a forgiving God. It was everything but, throwing the men's ship around and destroying it long before it hit the rocks outlining the bay. The girl they were after couldn't have had a much worse time, though the storm wouldn't have made it much easier either. Even as the men drowned, they didn't think the woman to survive the peril either. Oh, how they were wrong. Bodies laid across the beach, bloated from water intake and many broken, some even beyond recognition. A few laid as if they were only asleep, bodies simply soaked with water and drying in the morning spring air. Only one would wake, water heaving from tired lungs at last as life breathed back into a single, monochrome male. Everything from his nose to his asshole burned and what was left hurt in a way that felt like fire mixed with what he imagined squishing a bug felt like to the bug. Instinct told him to move, wincing as what should be broken limbs pulled his drenched body up and attempted balancing. The early light was bright, so bright he could only see through squinted eyes and even still his visibility was limited as his eyes burned from the ocean water. The world spun around him, but he knew better than to let himself fall. Unstable legs moved him as quickly as possible away from the beach, toes sinking into the sand and making it difficult to him to walk. He found traction when he heard yelling in the distance, catching his interest and bringing him back into the present. Where was he? Who was he? Brows furrowed as he clambered across the beach, moving towards the sound now instead of away from it. Maybe they knew why bodies littered the beach, or maybe they were one of the bodies themselves. The man moved with a new mission now, aching and weak legs carrying the man at a seemingly drunken pace towards the sound of the yelling and screaming. It wouldn't take him long to find the source of it, a brownish woman suspended in the air by ropes. He wrinkled his nose at the sight, additional confusion piling onto what was already there. "Tell me everything you know and maybe I'll help you get down," his voice was hoarse, dry and painful to use but he pressed on anyway. Even he confused himself with his words, completely taken aback by what he said as if it was an automatic response. He certainly hadn't thought about saying that to the wolf hanging by the snare, but despite the labyrinth of questions that multiplied by the minute in his head, his face remained ... stern? There was an uncertainty in his eyes though, one that would definitely give himself away should the trained eye spot it. "Speech."

L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

Torrents of birdsong invaded the brisk morning atmosphere, swimming through the woman’s mind as she drifted in and out of consciousness with each crash of waves upon the shore. Blinding rays of light punctured the thin blinds of skin shielding her weary eyes. She took a ragged breath, inhaling the salt infused air with a dry rasp of breath. It had been hours she had been stranded. Hours her calls had gone unheard against the unchanging drone of the rolling tides. Hours she had waited for the icy kiss of death to snatch her away. Lilah stretched and groaned, yelling a final string of desperate curses into the air before she had all together given up.

Heavy lids dropped over her eyes as she took a slow breath, almost accepting her pathetic fate until her ears swiveled on instinct. Rotating in the socket to capture the sounds of sand crunched under weight, then clattering against itself as it was whisked upwards. Her gaze rolled to the side, half-lidded as she despairingly surveyed the horizon.

A man had already come dangerously close to her. His muzzle was wrinkled in a rather daunting manner, but there was something else about him. Something she could not quite place in her incapacitated state. Something her mind had forced her to forget. “Tell me everything you know and maybe I'll help you get down," That voice cut through her like a knife. A searing hot knife that had been dipped in oil before it was plunged into her skin. Realization had befallen her. This was a guard, and she was in deep shit.

She snapped her jaws like a fervent hound after a hare, lapping at the saliva that cascaded off savage jaws. Her lips quivered with equal amounts of disbelief and rage. Swimming with a million pounds of pressure from the blood that had pooled into her skull. “You…” Her words were strained, the syllables staggered with the extra effort to speak against the burn lingering down her throat. “..Bastard..” The words were spat with indignation and defiance. Her body now imbued with a renewed vigor, her cold silver eyes snapped open wide. Flailing and twisting, she kicked wildly against her restraints to no avail. “You.. sick, …perverted—” She suddenly dropped like a sack full of bricks. Lilah landed against the sandy ground without warning, a choke and a gasp forced outwards from her chest as the wind was stolen from her lungs. She gasped and writhed for a moment, but at least now he had none of the presiding leverage.

Sobriety began to stroke her spine with its cool touch. Finally she had righted herself, her head resting above her shoulders where it belonged. Lilah stared at him, emotionless eyes cold and unblinking. She wore an expectant mask, her slender feminine features bearing nothing but pure impudence. Beneath her delicately thin surface however, panic lurched within her stomach. If she had returned to the olde kingdom, or rather had been forcibly dragged back kicking and screaming, she would undoubtedly be executed for her crimes against the king. She spared a glance across her shoulder, her gaze strolling laterally along the coastline. He was alone. No ship. No comrades. No way to bring her back.

There was an uncertainty in his eyes, some strange suggestion that he hadn’t entirely convinced himself of what he was doing. Lilah, being the woman that she was forced a sneer onto her face. She hadn’t known what was stopping him from tying her up again and hoisting her over his shoulder to her ultimate demise, but she had settled on two distinct possibilities. If he had been second guessing the kings rule, now that he had arrived in a strange land and there were no witnesses to his insubordination, he could reinvent himself. Or perhaps he was just entirely out of good ideas without supplies or allies and didn’t know how to get shit done now that he was on his own. She had never considered the possibility of amnesia due to concussion, and never thought to risk applying the tactics that would give her the upper hand. Not yet anyway. “Well? Do your job, Guard.” She growled the words. “What are you even being paid for?”

"Speaking"

A million questions and thoughts raced in the monochrome mans mind like a nascar race with a few more surprise right turns than there should be. It wasn't even controlled chaos in there, but thankfully only a small amount of it leaked through his eyes... the uncertainty of what was going on present still despite starting to feel like he might be on the right track. A woman snared in a trap some paces away from a myriad of drowned wolves scattered across a beach was a little too suspicious for him to ignore. Was she the reason they were dead? Was she the reason that they were here in the first place? The hanging woman came to life like a fire stoked with gasoline, teeth clacking together in rage before him. He stood, watching the woman writhe before him in her trap, and waited. He wasn't interested in playing games, he just wanted information. Whatever that was, he didn't know, but he needed it. Whether it was an explanation as to what was going on or something else; perhaps even a little detail would remind him of not only what he was doing (and why he was doing it), but also who he was. Brows furrowed as she called him names, his gaze hardening as a snarl began to form. It had barely curled over his fangs when the woman suddenly fell, landing to the earth with a solid thud!, though the man hardly moved. His body ached in ways that even he knew wrestling with the woman wouldn't be worth it, even if she did just fall out of a tree. He remained motionless and as expressionless as he could manage while he watched, eyes remaining narrowed on the woman as the blood left where her brain was supposed to be. If it wasn't for the aching and burning literally all over his body, then he would've rushed forward and subdued the woman. He felt like that was what he was supposed to do, but alas he stopped himself. He couldn't explain why it felt right to do it, but he also couldn't think of a reason he needed to in the first place. When he was growled at to do his job, the rage boiling inside erupted into a snarl tearing across his dark features. The rage replaced the uncertainty in his eyes, but with the aching and the throbbing that was starting to bang like drums in his head he snapped back just as sharply towards the woman, brandishing a snarl baring teeth. "Who do you think you are?" It was a good question really, one he was actually curious to know the answer to. "Don't tell me how to do my job; I don't work for you, you wench!" he snapped, teeth clacking in rage. Well, he hoped he didn't work for her anyway... "Speech."

L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

There were subtle hairline fractures in his chiseled marble exterior, and she sought to investigate the dark spaces within those cracks. She had enough run-ins with the kings guard to understand how they conducted themselves and that this ones behavior had been rather vague and unusual. The outlanders had been the scum of the earth, the verminous rats to be quelled and exterminated. The woman had been accustomed to getting viewed as such. Submissive rogues typically slipped through the dangerous fingers of the kings guard without much notice. Mob members however did not have that same advantage.

Actively opposing the king and running the dirty work through the city was a demanding pursuit just as it was a perilous one. It was one of the many reasons they referenced to each other with monikers. Each individual and crime unit held their own, and the guard had been well aware of her’s at this point. This man knew exactly who she was and what she had done and why they were set on an expedition across the sea to apprehend one single she wolf. The doubt and uncertainty in his gleaming azure eyes had indicated otherwise however. The insult made question was peculiar, so peculiar that for once the woman held her restless tongue within its cage of teeth. This man was dubious, though the cause had escaped her.

Disinterest settled upon her features as unbridled animosity quickly unfolded over his face. She lifted a skeptical yet unconcerned brow, her ear twitching once with indifference. “Doubtful,” She murmured between tight lips, attempting to appear rather bored with the scenario at hand. Lilah was a creature of control, a fact that had no exception to perilous events. She’d attempt to sway situations to gather at least some form of influence. Even if doing so was a push that made her circumstances worse. If she could get a rise out of him, she was the one who held all the straws. At least for the moment.

As the man seethed and snarled before her, she took the opportunity to acknowledge his appearance. There was a familiarity there, something that began as a quiet whisper. Tracing each contour of his body, the faded mask of dark fur that cusped his face and the spotted pigmentation that speckled his pelt. Her heart was beating faster now, so fast that she feared he may hear it, feel it. She could play it off as fear, but vipers did not feel fear did they? Not that she would let on anyway. When the hand of recognition grasped a full hand around her, Lilah felt as if she could no longer breath.

Was her mind playing tricks on her? Had her bodily positioning for the last few hours in the heat of the morning sun diluted her? Had he recognized her in turn? Was that the reason behind the hesitation? Straightening her spine, she looked up at him from her place upon the sand. “Osiris.” The viper spoke evenly, producing his name with all the feigned confidence in the world.

"Speaking"

Even his feigned confidence was faltering now, strange thoughts running through his head that he couldn't explain mixed with questions he felt he should know the answer to but couldn't quite place a paw on. As if it were on the tip of his tongue, but would never come. Perhaps it was a good thing he wasn't allowed to think much on them, for the man might start to panic, but thanks to the girl before him he knew he had a job to do, he just couldn't quite exactly remember what it was or why he was doing it. She looked familiar to him, especially now before him, but that was just another thing he didn't know the answer to and didn't stop to think about it either. Instead, he thought about how confident she was acting. Too confident. Although he might not have all the answers to any of the questions right now, he certainly didn't like her acting like she had some sort of control here. He was the one who was supposed to be in control, he could feel it. Something told him he needed to bring her back with him, though he still didn't know where that was yet. Probably wherever he was before he ended up on this beach, but that wasn't worth thinking about right now. Remembering his name was a concern of his, but one of the many he pushed aside in favor of the current situation. He never expected the woman to say such a familiar thing, something that felt like it was his, and despite the flash of recognition in his eyes for that brief moment, he swallowed the feeling and snarled again. He was trained to ignore his name from the enemy. His name. Well, at least he remembered something, even if it was the woman before him that had to remind him of it. "That's it, you're coming with me. Let's go," He snarled, tossing his head back in the direction he came. He gave her the chance to come with him willingly, to wherever that would be because he certainly didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do with her yet, but wouldn't take no for an answer either. "Speech."

L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

A flash of recognition lit up his eyes like a clap of lightning. Just as soon as it had illuminated his dark sapphire gaze, it was gone. Lilah would begin to question wether it was really there at all to begin with. Did she only imagine it because that’s what she came to expect? A sour taste welled up within her insides as he snarled back at her. He had not the faintest whisper of who she was. If he had, he simply hadn’t cared at all. This man was no longer the same boy that she had known. The boy who she grew up with, the one that brought laughter and happiness into her life. The one who played games of chase and caught bullfrogs nestled among the reeds. The one who was torn from her world mere days before her father’s execution.

This was a stranger staring back at her now. She’d quickly silence her thoughts, catching herself before the disappointment would curve down her features. This was a guard. A warrior. A brainless sniveling mongrel of the king. She no longer had any ties to him. Her lips straightened into a hard line, the thoughts lingering behind her cold eyes made impenetrable. “That's it, you're coming with me. Let's go,"

Humorless laughter almost escaped her mouth at his demands. In accompaniment would have been a snide remark about his destroyed vessel, the complete lack of man power he had, as well as no availability for a place of temporary imprisonment. She almost allowed her impatient tongue to slip, yet the onyx girl remained uncharacteristically quiet. Even more so unlike herself, she found herself complying. Straightening her legs and lifting herself off the rough bed of sand, her head spun for a moment, but she caught herself. Striding forward easily now that her blood was traversing her body properly, her paws carried her just adjacent to her masculine companion. Amusement hung upon her thoughts, notions of actually laughing at him when he was admittedly without plan. She had been looking forward to that would-be confession.

The closeness in their proximity had revealed a very vital piece of information that could very well sway things in the girl’s favor. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it was there before her now, glowing like a neon sign. Metallic notes of blood caused her nostrils to flare as the woman realized that the telltale scent had been emanating from the man. Her paw steps halted abruptly, the whisper of an advantage bringing her senses to high alert. “Did you— hit your head?”

Like a large red apple, primed to be plucked from its branch upon the tree, Lilah seized the potential opportunity hastily. Amnesia, or at the very least, a prominent episode of confusion. That would possibly explain most of his questionable behavior. If she had happened to be wrong in her assumptions, it’s not like he had anywhere to take her to anyway. Was he planning on strolling along the beach, silhouetted by the sunrise until he thought of a better plan?

“How confused are you? Is that why you’ve been so off?” Furrowing her brows, she nodded her muzzle toward the ear that was closest to her. Forming at the base was a small trickle of rusty sanguine liquid that had streamed down the side of his face and matted the dark fur beneath it. Gesturing with her tail to follow, she opted to grasp at straws and build a wild tale cherry picked from their surroundings.

Beginning to take a few tentative steps in front of him, Lilah aimed herself toward the waters edge. She strolled along the bodies that were lost to the sea, eyeing each one carefully before she found one bloated cadaver that mildly resembled the she wolf herself. The image made her sick. Not because it had been a deceased wolf left to rot in the warmth of the sun and lolling lifelessly in the ocean’s caress, but because the image itself was a precursor. This sad sap’s fate could have been that of her own. In a strange way, she had owed her life to the storm that had capsized their vessel. Swallowing down the unease and bile that had arisen within her throat, that same feigned confidence returned as she outstretched a paw.

It would have been suspicious for her to stop at a random body unless it had meaning. Maybe whatever had struck him really had hit him hard enough that he would be open to the persuasion of a switcharoo scenario. “There. That was the wolf that you were hunting.” Perhaps the colors would ring some vague bell of recognition. Fortunate for her, black and copper were relatively common among her homelands. Pressing it into the sandy banking below, she placed her paw back down and bore her serpentine gaze into the man who stood behind her. “And you dragged me on this intrepid little bounty hunt of yours because you’re my—” She rolled her eyes in mock exasperation. “Guard.” The way she gritted her teeth after she said the word was entirely genuine.

She was completely talking out of her ass now. Betting her soul that he would buy what she was selling and start drinking her koolaid. Training with the mob had aided in many undercover pursuits. Skills of manipulation and social evasion were among them, however she had never attempted such a thing on a member of the king’s guard. Especially not one struck down with amnesia. A certain degree of brainwashing occurred when young pups were stolen from their families and pledged to the ranks of the king. They were starved, isolated, and fed a monologue of lies for seasons on end. Stripped down until there was nothing left. Only then were they ripe for the picking for the king. There was a good chance that this man’s mind was already too far gone, too warped to be pushed to any other limits. However, that wouldn’t stop the viper from making all the attempts in the world to out maneuver him.

Before he could speak and offer some sort of challenge or protest, Lilah would take a proverbial sidestep. Her brows knit together and her ears crooked backwards only a subtly. Concern framed her face with the appearance of a worried woman. “Are you okay? Is any of this ringing a bell?” She paced one step toward him, her large eyes scanning his for any infinitesimal hints of compliance. Had she snared the rabbit?

| minor pp okayed by skelle <3 |

"Speaking"

While he had hoped the woman would come without a fight, he hardly expected it. He was surprised to say the least that she so willingly stepped forward to accompany him to...wherever he was taking her. He wasn't even sure where that was yet but hopefully he'd figure it out along the way. Maybe someone else had woken up and knew what to do, would lead the way and take charge. He wasn't even given much time to think about it before the earthen woman came close, too close, and asked him what he thought was a silly question. However, as if her mentioning it made him suddenly aware of the slow trickle of blood seeping from his left ear and into the thick darkness of his cheek. Raising a paw, he gently touched around the area and winced. Maybe he had hit his head? Hmm...

Her next question had him wondering even more. Hitting his head would make sense, since he couldn't even remember his own name until she had said it. His brows pressed together as his mind raced, bouncing back and forth between feeling like he needed to capture her and that she had to be right. He had clearly hit his head on something and that had affected his memory. If he hadn't forgotten his own name he might have been inclined to think she was lying to him. But as she strode off and in the direction he came from, back to the beach scattered with more bodies than he wanted to count, she saw her carefully look around until she picked out a body from the rest.

Osiris was quick to follow some paces behind, looking at the broken and bloody body in the sand before them as she motioned to it. He listened to the rest of her story, their story apparently, and while he struggled to believe it at first he also struggled to see any other logical explanation. The rest of the wolves were clearly the army they'd enlisted to chase the body that laid before them, though he still had a question floating around in his mind. He stared at the body for what felt like many minutes, and may have been, until the woman spoke. The woman he apparently did work for. He felt suddenly stupid for being so.. off, as she had put it, and his ears pressed back briefly.

"Yeah, I... I'm sorry. I must've hit my head pretty hard. I don't remember a thing, actually," he admitted with a frown, looking over at the woman then as his shoulders slumped from a healthy mix of exhaustion and shame. "Are you okay though?" his tone changed to make sure the woman was okay, as it seemed like something a guard would do. She had been hanging from some vines when he'd found her and hadn't landed very gracefully, plus the ocean likely hadn't been as kind to her either. They were lucky to be alive by the looks of it.

"Speech!"

Art & Code © Skelle 2022

L  I  L  A  H     S  A  K  A  H

On a dime, his demeanor began to shift. “Yeah, I... I'm sorry. I must've hit my head pretty hard. I don't remember a thing, actually," The tones of his admittance paired with the frown seemed genuine enough. The viper’s heart rate increased subtly, the exchange resonating like the thrill of a productive hunt.

Checkmate.

She had won, for now, and had it not been counterproductive to her victory the woman would have gleamed a successful smile from ear to ear. Yet a part of her did not relax to bask in the glory of the victory of the deceit. It was the part of her that drove her to silently question the man and his own motives. Had he only pretended to go along with her convoluted explanation as a means of duping her himself? Was he too biding his time, awaiting a better opportunity to strike? She’d keep him at an arms distance as a result. This was still a guard after all, and had his memory truly escaped him, there was no promise that it would not return just as suddenly as it had departed. Lilah’s lips produced a hard line, followed by a half-hearted shrug. “I’m okay as I can be being in— Wherever we are now thanks to you.”

It was truly strange seeing this side of any guard, but the added layer of ex childhood friend made the situation especially bizarre. She had tried to imagine what he would have been like had the guard not stolen him away; Stolen his soul away. The boy she knew had been kind and thoughtful, everything that she was not. Perhaps that was what had enamored her so. As she stood with him before her now, she considered all they ways that small boy had changed. As an pup, Osiris’s was always larger than her. He was slightly older, his pelt a mottled merle gray that was just as soft and comforting as his large sapphire hued eyes. Adult Osiris however was large and well defined with muscles upon every curve and contour. His edges were sharp, body primed with rugged physicality, and masculine down to each claw. Had she not known better, she’d have thought the two to be entirely different men. The telltale sign that linked them was held within his unchanging eyes.

Despite the outward appearance of strength however, the man’s shoulders began to sink downward and his body appeared to physically waver. The entirety of the ordeal had taken its toll on him. “We should find somewhere you can rest.” The words escaped her mouth before she could reel them back in, before she could even contemplate what she said or why she had said it. Relatively unscathed from the ordeal, she had apparently avoided the torrent of hard water that had brought down his vessel. There was a brief sting of guilt that twinged beneath the surface, but this man was still a guard. He was no longer her friend, no longer anything but someone here to apprehend her and bring her to the executioners block. Her teeth sank into her lip.

"Speaking"

Osiris couldn't remember his own name half an hour ago, he certainly couldn't remember a time before he served.... her. It still felt strange, but perhaps that was because he was so dead set on apprehending her in the first place. She was right, the one he actually after looked a lot like her. He didn't have much reason to think otherwise, so despite the strange taste it left in his mouth, Osiris would believe her story in it's entirety. At least until he was given a reason or inkling of an idea to think otherwise.

Ears pressed back into his skull at her words, brows pressing together. Because of him. He certainly hoped he brought them out here, chasing after that wolf, for a good reason. However looking at all the bodies sprawled out, broken and bloodied, he felt there couldn't be one. Not for this much loss, anyway. She seemed alright at least, so that was one less thing he had to worry about. He couldn't quite say the same about himself, but that as part of being a guard. His pain and discomforts hardly mattered; what mattered was getting off Corpse Beach.

"I'll be fine. We should find someplace more permanent to settle inland," he said, looking up to the sky to find the sun and squinting as he estimated the time of day. It was still early, but they would need all the time they could get to find shelter and food in one day, not to mention water. Fresh water was likely the most important find, though that would be inland too and hopefully easy to find along the way. "We need to look for fresh water anyway, if we're lucky we'll find it on the way." His gaze moved back to her then, waiting for the final say.

"Speech!"

Art & Code © Skelle 2022