Let the Rain Fall Down

Rain was not something that Artorias had been in what felt like an age. Yet here it was, heavy, fat raindrop beginning to fall from the sky, first only a couple every minute or so, then several a minute. Now it had become a steady drizzle, the heavy gray clouds overhead threatening to open up the heavens across Auster at a moment's notice. So used to the cold and the snow had the dark-furred boy become that it almost felt like a reprieve to feel the water dripping into his fur, the warmer weather having just about melted all the snow and ice from sight. The rain would take care of the rest now, and soon the land would be a lush and vivacious green again.

Artorias had been out doing his routine patrols for the morning, moving clockwise around Hallowed land from the castle and was now near the eastern border by the forest that stretched out beyond. He no longer felt the emotional drain of his mother's slow decay, nor the frustrations of the strained relationship he'd kindled with Sirius. All he felt was just tired. Tired and weathered and worn down. When he slept, it was not restful sleep. It was passive, dreamless, empty. His days had become standard routines meant to do nothing but whittle away time waiting for the inevitability of the other foot to drop. Resin was almost entirely gone now, and it seemed like they had days, maybe a couple of weeks left if they were lucky. Or would it be considered unlucky, given how things were?

The boy closed his eyes and stopped his patrol for a moment, simply letting the rain cut through his fur and run cool over his skin. It felt refreshing, rejuvenating in a sense. It also permitted him to let out a few stress-induced tears without anyone being the wiser. He had nothing left to give, nothing left to feel or to be. Between Resin and Sirius and Tamsyn, he was just exhausted and spent. But just as he did in his daily life, Artorias forced himself to keep moving forward, so onward through the rain he continued his path, his mind and eyes empty, his body running on autopilot.

"Artorias" | "Corbin"