But for whom does the next bell toll?
08-07-2021, 12:44 PM
It took longer than he'd hoped to track down the sick monster that was prowling the northern lands of Boreas, almost too long. Ignatius had known he'd caught up when the trail started getting stronger. Lücien had slowed down which not only let Ignatius catch up but made it so much easier to track his mad brother. Lungs burning from the hurried pace he'd been maintaining for too long - to the dismay and frustration of his new companion - Ignatius didn't have the luxury of stopping to asses the scene he'd arrived to but rather threw himself right into Lücien's path the second he heard the short discussion with his minion. "I didn't realize we were having a family reunion today" It'll be your last one, Ignatius vowed silently in response to the snarked comment. Poised in a crouch with his knees loosely bent in preparation to react to any movements that Lücien or his friend might make, Ignatius' eye was drawn to the muddy spot of blue on the ground a short distance behind his half-brother. Breath catching for a moment, he knew without further inspection that it was Souzan who was laying prone in the mud and the rain like some discarded thing. Ignatius shuddered slightly, the scene bringing his mind back several years. Although he came equipped with his leather armor for protection he suddenly felt much smaller and more vulnerable. "Apologies dearest brother, for ending your nap time, but you've simply been asleep for so long that I thought it prudent to give you a little... nudge. See if you're ok, because I care for you so deeeply you know," the villainous creature snickered, the movement of his dark red form at the top of a ledge catching Ignatius' eye though his vision was blurred and he couldn't seem to win the battle to lift his head, it was pounding like mad and his muscles were screaming. As the shock that had kept his body from realizing the actual trauma of the fall began to wear off the shades of pain came in all new colors. There was no doubt he had more than one broken bone and probably some nasty bruising under that thick pelt from nose to tail. As he watched Lücien saunter down the narrow path that he'd sent Ignatius over the shorter way - straaaight the fuck down - Ig rightly predicted this was only the beginning of the abuse this sadistic lunatic would inflict, all for his own amusement and messed up sense of vengeance or whatever. "Getting me banished wasn't enough for you?" he groaned in a short raspy tone. "Oh, well why on EARTH would that be enough??" Lücien gasped dramatically, his face soon twisting into something like rage and pity and more emotions Ignatius couldn't name, "Ah, right, silly of me to forget that you never heard my story, did you? Poor sap. You've been allowed to think I'm the only fucked up one in this family and I just... went mad or something for the hell of it, hm?" For a moment he was frozen, rooted in place by the memories that came slamming through his mind like a tidal wave crushing him beneath it's weight. The tsunami of suffering that threatened to drag him back down into the past with it was almost too much to bear. He wasn't the young wolf that had been torn from his new home all those years ago, no, he was battle-wearied and broken with no more long and bright future to chase after. The best he could hope for was to put down this walking nightmare for good. Move, you fool. Everything slowed down, time was moving at a crawl. Even though he could see that Lücien was barking some nasty words his way and preparing to move Ignatius from his way by force still Ignatius couldn't move. What the hell, why? His eyes flicked back to Sou and he saw the man move enough to reveal his torn up face. Their eyes met for a moment and Ignatius' heart seized painfully in his chest as he stood powerless to do anything for his brother in that moment. First there was shock on Sou's face, but then an unspoken request. With his large paws sinking in the thick mud that was continuing to develop around them while the rain poured on, Ignatius snarled his challenge to Lücien. Lücien had only just moved to launch himself at Ignatius but Ig was quicker for once and dodged left, avoiding Lücien and charged his companion. The unknown wolf wasn't ready for the assault and was slow to respond as paws churned the ground around him. Slamming into the smaller male at an angle Ig managed to throw him to the ground in front of Lücien, causing Lüc to stumble around for a beat in an effort to not trip over his fallen minion. "GET UP!" he snapped, face twisted with rage both at the interruption and his follower's incompetency. "Useless." Wasting no time, Ignatius let every bit of fury stored up over the long years of his life push him forward, a fiery streak of movement trampling over the fallen wolf hard trying to bruise or break something on his way to the real opponent in this fight. They met with snarls, roaring their opposing rage into the air, only the steady patter of rain competing with the sounds of their fight. Lücien was ready but he was also injured, they slammed together chest to chest and tore into one another with flashing ivory teeth the second brightest thing on the scene, dwarfed only by the brightening glow of Ignatius' fiery pelt as his emotions burned hotter than his appearance even could achieve. A flash of lightning highlighted the pair as they reared up, front legs grappling one another and claws tearing at one another before the peal of thunder that followed drowned out the clamor for a few moments. Unsteady on his feet normally, Ignatius used Lücien for support as he tore into the man's face a second time, aiming for the eye he'd left last time and only missing it by a hair when a sharp stab in his already weak hind leg split his attention. The downed wolf had scrambled closer and haphazardly made a wild grab for one of Ig's hinds to try and knock him over for Lücien. While Lücien tried desperately to rip away the armor guarding Ig's throat, Ignatius wrapped his forelimbs around Lüc's neck and used the purchase he'd found to balance himself while he struck back at the jaws holding his left hind leg with a swift kick of his right. The spiked bracers on his hocks did their job and he was rewarded with a howling shriek of pain and his left being released while the dislodged minion on the ground reeled, covering his face with one muddy front paw. Using his grip around his brother's neck Ignatius threw his weight to the side and drug them both down to the ground where once more there was rolling and snapping and slashing of teeth and claws in a confused jumble of limbs. The sight was messy and confused but the warring wolves were precise in their attacks, finally pulling apart and rolling to their paws with a collection of bites, bruises, and lacerations on each. While Lücien was looking a bit more ragged, Ignatius was wearing out, his own old injuries slowing him down. Mud sucking at their paws the pair moved around one another slowly, taking stock of both their own injuries and each other's. The unfamiliar wolf he'd struck was regaining his composure and made an uncoordinated move towards Ignatius only to be swatted at with another hind leg, the bone spikes of Ig's bracers tearing a good deep line through the unskilled wolf's shoulder. Retaliation was forgone when a new face entered the scene descending from one of the long dead metal beasts and landing on the reeling wolf's back. Screaming a wild battle cry the gelada dug long teeth into the wolf's back and held on tight to his fur. With the battle temporarily narrowed back down to a one on one rather than a melee Ignatius used the distraction to his advantage. Slamming back into his opponent who wasn't fully prepared for the assault, Ignatius drove a shoulder into the center of Lücien's chest and sent him stumbling backwards, knocking the breath from him. A suddenly off-his-game Lücien would make a a wild grab for Ig's hood, finally managing to yank it apart before he fell backwards and Ignatius jumped on top of him, Driving a paw hard into the prone figure's chest and feeling the satisfying crack of several ribs as his weight came down hard. Gasping and beginning to panic, Lücien threw all his energy into lunging upward and snapping at Ignatius' throat, managing to tear open a sizeable wound but only barely missing the vitals. In retaliation Ignatius pulled bac slightly, bracing both front legs on the ground and stomping down onto Lücien's stomach with both hind legs, digging the already bloodied spikes into the vulnerable flesh there. Howling and kicking out Lücien managed to shove Ignatius off of him and send him stumbling to the side. The mess of blood and mud at their paws coated his pelt, he was an unrecognizable mess as he sought to right himself, fearing the wound to his stomach would send his entrails spilling but more determined to at least end Ignatius than he was to live. Mud got in his eye yet despite the lack of vision he still struggled to lurch towards Ignatius with jaws snapping blindly. He was met with another devastating kick, this time earning him permanent and complete vision loss as the well aimed strike took his remaining eye. Struggling to keep his wounded body upright while he listened to the agonized screams of his brother cursing and threatening Ignatius and everyone else he could think of, "Fuck you, you mix-bred fucking dog bastard, if you think I won't get your little whor-" That was enough. It was merciful to end the beast here, and though Ignatius was sure that this thing didn't deserve mercy but rather to suffer and bleed and die a slow death of infection, everyone else he'd hurt did deserve to have him erased. A violent bite to the throat crushing Lücien's windpipe and opening his arteries to spill his blood all over what was left of the truly brown mud was the final blow that sent the man who'd terrorized his own family for too long to an early grave. With his tattered armor stained crimson, Ignatius sagged slightly as the strain of the fight started to finally reach him through the adrenaline that had been masking his pain. His imposing figure was made smaller as he turned back to see Souzan. The wolf who had been helping Lücien was bloodied and beaten by the gelada and slumped against one of the rusted cars, no longer a threat and soon forgotten when Ignatius made his way down to come to rest at his real brother's side. To say that sorrow was heavy on his expression would be to woefully understate the immense weight of the pain and regret that began to swallow him up. "Sou," Ig rasped, voice only a touch louder than the rain, "I- I should have come sooner... I can't fix this, can I?" the coppery scented mess around Sou made that abundantly clear. It best he could try and keep his sibling alive a little longer but he'd needed aid right away and there wasn't another soul in sight anyway. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Ignatius' companion made her way down to the pair, inspecting the prone blue-ish man and shaking her head subtly to Ig. Why. Why did it always have to end with good souls dying? Ragged and struggling to keep himself upright, Ignatius murmured, "What can I do for you, brother? Nothing can keep me from you now." He only wished that he could have cut short the years that had separated him, could have traveled quicker, could have done anything at all to alter the outcome of this day. Wishing to scream and cuss and tear apart every object in sight at the injustice of it all but unable to allow himself that while Souzan was still laying here, Ignatius held back his flaring emotions and listened attentively instead, taking a lesson from his stoic brother and holding it together for the one here that he cared for. Sometimes you have to run into the storm to calm it |