Following the storm

She listened as the echos of his claws scraping against the stone floors got nearer and nearer, feeling as if she was holding her breath while she was waiting for his figure to appear at the top of the stairs. Then, all at once, he was there. Without hesitation he pulled her into him and that was all it took to untie those frail strings that she had been able to keep loosely tied for the sake of those around her. She crumpled into his embrace and tears immediately pooled in her eyes yet again even though she thought that for sure she had cried all of the tears it was physically possible for her to cry. For just a moment she hid herself in his larger form, letting herself just feel safe there - even if it was for just a second. Sirius had always made things right. He had protected her and taught her and saved her from herself. Just as Resin had also done, until now.

When he pulled back to look at her face she suddenly wished that she had put the damn bandages on like Gwyn had begged her to do. Sirius didn't deserve to see her like this. She didn't want him to see her beaten and broken, but she didn't know where else to turn. "She was having a nightmare," she explained softly when he told her to speak. Despite the tremble in her voice and the painful way her throat squeezed with emotion, she felt like she was reciting off facts of a situation much as she would have done as his General. "I tried to wake her up, but she... she lashed out. Did this. I got away, but... She looked at me like..." That's what scared her most. Not the memory of her teeth swallowing her vision, but the complete lack of recognition in Resin's gaze terrified her. "She looked at me like she had no idea who I was. She tried to attack me again. I got out of our room, barred the door. She came to, but I... I couldn't let her out. Artorias found me, took me to Gwynevere. Ulric had to let her out and she put herself in the dungeon. Locked herself down there."

Her ears folded back against her head as her gaze slipped from his, pain and sorrow clear on her voice. "She won't let me come see her. She instructed Ulric to ban anyone from going down there. I just... I just want to see her." She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat and let out a shaky sigh as she looked back up at him again. "Ulric will lead the pack. I can't... I just... I just can't." The pack was the least of her worries. She couldn't see past Resin and her children right now. They were all she could bring herself to care about.

"Tamsyn" | "Blue"