Destiny is Calling Me!
❥❥ 'What's in it?' Star asked as she took the first of a series of several lapping sips from the bowl, not thinking a healer would harm another wolf. 'Lots of things; chamomile, valerian root, lemongrass...all in normal doses. The real kicker is the poppy pods, I put five pods in this one...should be enough to knock out a small horse in there.' The stranger replied, a sly smirk moving over her darkened face just as Star's vision began to swim with drowsiness. An awful heaviness began to infect her limbs, her energy had leeched from her in waves as she felt the sedatives in the tea begin to do their horrible work. Star panicked, but she couldn't utter much more than a whimper as she passed out from the dose of opium contained in the tea. Distantly, she had felt the sharp prick of teeth in her scruff and the drag of grass and rock against her pelt as the stranger took her near-lifeless body to a more inconspicuous area. Caves nearby had provided plenty of cover from prying eyes, and gave Stardust long, pain-filled months of hell.
***
❥❥ Sunlight speared her dark-adjusted eyes and caused her to hiss quietly then listen behind her for any sign that her captor had heard her. Luckily, Star had tricked her jailer into drinking her own brew, and the evil woman lay on the floor of the caves, unconscious and unknowing. Months of being drugged had destroyed thoughts of escape, any attempts had been thwarted by the sheer force of the strange woman. Star had made it appear as though she had given up, but she truly remained determined to make it home, to see her mate before she died. She had to, what would Frost think of her! What kind of hell had her disappearance caused for him? Would he blame her for leaving, or understand that it hadn't been by choice?
❥❥ Star panted hard against the pain in her eyes, tears adding to the burning that the light caused, trying to see through a haze that was caused by endless months of being drugged and half-starved. The only water she had been offered had been the tea that contained the poppy pods, the only food was barely able to be called bone, resulting in a simply atrocious outward appearance. She was bordering emaciation, her stomach tucked and back arched with cramps from dehydration. Her eyes burned from the light and her tears, but also from mydriasis - dilation of the pupil from drug use. There was an unkempt filth all over her, making her fur matted and dull, meaning it would be obvious that she had been to hell and back.
❥❥ Slowly, and very painfully, Star moved in the direction she knew home lay. There was only one thought in her mind, only one goal, and she would be dead before she gave it up. With each trembling paw step, she grew closer and closer to her goal, and further away from her drugged captor. Every muscle in her body ached, her limbs were heavy and painful, her stomach cramped, her head felt as though someone was pounding on it with a boulder...but she fought herself and the last of the drugs that slowly left her system. Panting hard, and trembling, she finally saw the most blessed sight in the near distance. Finally, she knew success! Her paws quickened until she was ambling toward the border, every aching step moving faster until she reached it! She would have stumbled all the way back to her den, but the mad and awkward dash for home had taken her energy.
❥❥ The woman was unconscious before she hit the unseen line, but this time, she crash-landed on her own doorstep. Instead of relief, she found herself drifting in a nightmarish field of anxiety and fear, locked in a mental prison and forced to relive her time in the hellish woman's clutches. One thought overcame all others, how could she have been so stupid?
Torin was a bit in his own mind as he went through the motions of his patrol, his paws carried him along the inner rim of the scent markers and would stop at regular intervals to mark the border where it needed to be refreshed but otherwise he was mentally checked out. He was just going through the motions; his mind on the many many other issues he knew he needed to deal with...
That was until a familiar scent hit him, Torin paused; his eyes narrowing as he wracked his memory for why the scent was familiar to him. Then it clicked and Torin picked up his pace. He had to admit there was some annoyance over the lack of a call for an alpha, Stardust wasn't guaranteed a return back into the pack; though he certainly wasn't going to stop Frostbite if he wanted allow her back into the pack.
As he approached where her scent seemed the freshest he was struck with the sense something was wrong. Stardust hadn't called for anyone... but she also hadn't moved from where she had entered the pack and-
Torin once more picked up his pace, this time running full tilt towards the woman's prone form. "Stardust?" He called, skidding to a halt beside her, he watched her near emaciated form to catch the rising and falling of her chest. Assured she hadn't crawled across the border only to die, he tipped his head back, Frostbite deserved to know she was back but he also was seeking aid; Hailey was also intended to hear his summons. He wanted to move her, to bring her into the safety of the pack lands, the comfort of a den but he wasn't sure that was a smart move. At least not until Hailey gave him the go ahead.
Torin rocked on his toes, his whole body a live wire as he waited.
Art by Vhitany |
His ears perked as Torin’s howl rang out over the territory, requesting the aid of a healer, but also calling for him. Brows furrowed with concern before taking off in a run, determined to get there quickly. The call had been near the borders and he feared Torin may have been attacked. So he rushed to get there, but the scene before him took a more stunning blow to him emotionally. Torin’s form stood beside a light colored form in the snow. It was unmoving from a distance and at first he hadn’t recognized it, but her scent made him stop dead in his tracks, fear welling up within him. Was she dead? His ears flattened at the thought, his heart painfully throbbing. Stumbled forward he drew closer afraid to find out the state she was in. When he saw the full extent of her state, he felt sick and dizzy. She was thin, unkept, and terrible looking. What the hell happened to her? Then a state of blame came over him, mentally growling and cussing at himself for ever letting her leave on her own. To leave without him. Turmoil left the man unable to speak, just staring at the form of his mate in the snow. So many emotions boiling over at once and he had no idea what to do, thankfully Torin had called for a healer.
If anyone looked in his eyes they could see the emotional train wreck he internally was, but quiet as he came he moved over and laid down beside her. Curling his large form around her to keep her warm. Laying his head beside her with a pained sigh, lightly nudging her muzzle and praying that she wasn’t going to die on him.