|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 4, 2008 13:15:27 GMT -5
The blue-silver femme padded into the den that she knew as home. Well, all of the Siverian terras were really home, but this place was special. The herb meadows called to her, but this place had its own special lure. The scents of countless herbs and remedies wafted towards her upon her entry, and a feeling of warmth seeped through her. Immediately, her nervousness evaporated. Well....most of it.
"Magic?" She called to her mentor, voice smaller than usual. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 4, 2008 13:27:10 GMT -5
An old, ebony-furred male emerged from the shadows of the back wall, a few leaves in his jaws as he focused on his neophyte. Slowly and carefully dropping the herbs at his paws, Magic sat and smiled gently at Annelise.
"Of course- what's on your mind?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 4, 2008 14:17:58 GMT -5
And again, the nerves came back, crashing down like raging waves, victimized by wind stroms and hurricanes. She bit her tongue, then took a deep breath, and blew out the water, "MagicIwaswonderingifI'dlearnedenoughtobeafullhealerbecause--" she stopped, sighing heavily, and speaking slower, "Magic, I was wonder if you thought I'd learned enough to become a full healer...I've trained for a long time, and I do believe I understand and am well-practiced in all that you have taught me."
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 4, 2008 14:28:36 GMT -5
Magic raised a brow at her, almost laughing but realizing that she was nervous. Soon, though, she calmed herself enough to clearly convey the message.
He turned away from her, as if in thought... amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Understand everything, you say...?"
He paused, almost dramatically.
"...you're right."
Turning back to face her, the black wolf nodded. "I shall inform Sabela immediately- you're not a neophyte anymore."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 4, 2008 15:34:05 GMT -5
Annelise heaved a heavy sigh of relief, happiness and thankfulness flooding her features. "Thank you so much Magic! It really means a lot to me, thank you." She woofed, almost breathless for a moment.
At least Kar and I will have our ceremonies close to each other...though he would've been a warrior by now had it not been for his kidnapping.
Then an odd thought crossed her mind:
I should try and speak to Arroyo....Dad.
She swallowed hard, thinking as she organized some of the herbs she'd brought in.
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 4, 2008 19:57:26 GMT -5
Magic walked past her, a smile lighting his features. "I'll be right back, Annelise- I'm going to see if I can tell Sabela now... if she's here, that is..."
And with that, he left the den... nearly walking into another wolf as he came out.
"Hey- oh, sorry, Arroyo," Magic woofed, blinking. "I didn't see you there..."
Arroyo stared at Magic for a moment before murmuring, "It's okay."
"...oh, yes, the herbs for your leg- they're right inside, set aside for you."
Arroyo nodded silently and stiffly padded past Magic and entered the den.
He was mildly surprised to find his daughter there, but reminded himself that she was a Healer neophyte. She was SUPPOSED to be in here. Without another thought, he limped for the familiar-scented herbs and began chewing on them; his leg had been rigid and painful to move lately... he hoped that these would help. After all, his only pleasure now that he was retired was taking midnight walks about the territory.
Not even Verlust could dare take my freedom from me...
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 4, 2008 20:31:03 GMT -5
Annelise felt herself pale as her father entered the den. Magic was gone. Only Annelise and the wolf that she supposed was her father. It made her shiver. Slowly, she turned towards him, lips moving but no sound coming out. Finally, she swallowed, and made herself heard, "Er....I'm going to be a full healer soon. Magic just went to go tell Sabela...." she began, not really sure what else to say. She kept her eyes fixed on her paws.
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 4, 2008 20:35:11 GMT -5
Arroyo twitched his ears, pausing and lifting his head slowly from the herbs at his paws. "...is that so?" He stared sideways, not looking at Annelise- he never looked at anyone anymore- and trying to imagine what her eyes looked like right now...
"...congratulations, Annelise."
An awkward silence- suffocating in its nature- fell over the den.
....
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 4, 2008 20:47:02 GMT -5
"Um....thanks." She muttered. She turned towards her herbs, deep in thought as she pawed the piles together in organized clumps. She remembered the times she'd laid awake, staring at the den wall, thinking of what she would say to her father if they were ever alone, as they were now. She swallowed hard, knowing that now was probably the only time she would ever have to say those things. She paused, and then started,
"It hurts, you know." She choked out, blinking fast. "It hurts, because I have dreams of nursery days. And I am a grown wolf. Sure, now and then it's okay, but every night, it is agonizing just to....just to sleep! Because for a few hours, everything is perfect again. We're in the nursery, back home, Mom's there and you're with us, too. But now, she's just gone, and you're standing here, next to me, but you're not with us. Nor are you with Mom! And it's not fair, that you should be stuck here, without her, and it's not fair that Kar and I are stuck here, while you're still alive, and yet we both know very well we have no father. We did, one time. And sometimes I think maybe it'll be different, when we die. Because if you're still gone when I die, there will be no Twilight Realm for me. All I've wanted this whole time, more than being a healer, more than...." she realized then that she was crying, and her thoughts were on Shade. "...him, more than anything, is just to have my god damn family back! It's not much to ask for, no? We were never good enough for you, were we? I could never quite chalk up to any of your expectations!" She whirled around, now glaring at him. "And if that's not it, then what the hell is it? What do I need to do to get you to realize you have a daughter, you have a son! And this time, you can't just run away! Don't you dare run away!"
Her chest was heaving as she shouted the last words, eyes mingled with pain, distraught. Her silver features, lined with black, seemed to stand out boldly. But most of all, her voice rang with such betrayal that it reflected one thing: Siv's voice during her last hours.
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 5, 2008 1:48:22 GMT -5
Arroyo was silent for a long time, knowing the tension was seconds away from spilling over the dam and flooding the river below. Problem was, he didn’t know whether or not he would be caught in the resulting wave…
A few heartbeats, a few agonizingly long breaths… and then Annelise’s voice began the work of drilling into his mind with the words that he had long forgotten, yet known were there… and he knew they were true.
And, just like that, he was drowning in them.
At first, he had been still. He had been frozen, rigid, and obviously tensed, as if in shock or bracing himself for physical beating. But then he abruptly started at the sentence ‘We were never good enough for you, were we?’, and had- without him realizing it- began to shake rather violently.
He wanted to turn around and bite her, bite deep into the throat that was speaking these words and forcing him out of his lifeless, routine mindset in which he blocked out every emotion and feeling that vexed him so.
But then, without warning, he collapsed on the ground in front of him, biting his lip so hard that blood began to form around his mouth. There were tears in his eyes, too… tears long forgotten, just like the words.
“…you sound just like your mother,” he whispered, words so soft and so fragile that they were hard to make out even to his own ears. “You have her spirit, her voice, yet you’re your own wolf… you’re a healer, made a damn good sister, and I’m proud of what you’ve become… and don’t you EVER think for ONE SECOND that I think otherwise!”
Arroyo buried his face into his paws, trying to rack his unused brain for the words he could use to express how he felt.
“…I don’t know what’s wrong with me… I used to be a loyal fighter. I’d die for a reason at the sound of the leader’s voice. I’d always try to be there for Siveria… and I’d always sleep fairly confident and fulfilled- and now look at me. I’m nothing but an ignorant, antisocial jackass of a father- not that I’m even worth the title anymore- that tries to fool himself into believing that one day everything will be fine… just as long as I don’t go out and get somebody else killed.”
The self-loathing and resentment was strong and bitter on his tongue, but Arroyo knew that he couldn’t stop now.
“I had visions- I knew that Siveria was going to die. Yet I let her die… I let it happen. And it’ll happen again- I get visions and dreams a lot now. I think it’s because of that time long ago, when I was kidnapped and then saved by the Rescuers-“ his eyes flashed toward the strange mark on his form. It all seemed so long ago now…
“…and I just… I just don’t know. I’m not the same wolf anymore. I’m not the father that I should be… I’m not the father that you two deserve. The truth is, you run from yourself for so long, when the present catches up with you, you can’t stop running.”
He exhaled a long, shaky breath- this was extremely hard for him to confess… and he suddenly had a strange fear cross his mind. What if Annelise yelled at him for being foolish? At the present moment, he wasn’t sure if his fragile mind could bear that sort of reprimand.
“…I’m just glad that you were there for your brother when I was not…”
And then he was silent again, immobile except for the slight quivering of his form as he silently wept into his paws.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 5, 2008 11:57:49 GMT -5
Annelise's hard stare melted, and she bit her lip, thinking hard. Finally, she spoke, "You think it's your fault that she challenged Verlust? And can you look me in the eyes and tell me honestly that you could've stopped her if she was bent on doing it? From the tales I've heard, I don't think anyone would be able to stop her, Dad......I think she needed to do it for herself as much as for the rest of us." (sorry, Arroyo threw me for a loop! *is still pondering post*  ) |
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 5, 2008 12:12:00 GMT -5
(how I ever wrote that much, I'll never know X3)
Arroyo stopped for a moment, eyes clouding over. He had stopped weeping now, but the fur beneath his eyes were still damp. Ever so slowly, Arroyo turned to look at Annelise in the eye. He had a very hard time doing this- every ounce of his now broken being was screaming at him to look away- but he wanted to return a gaze for the first time in moons...
"...maybe not... but I should have tried instead of standing there and watching her die."
He paused again, staring into her shining orbs, not blinking. He realized he had forgotten what color they were...
"...you have beautiful eyes."
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 5, 2008 12:25:07 GMT -5
Annelise met his eyes evenly, smiling the slightest smile in spite of herself. "Thank you...." She then grew serious once more. "But maybe you knew, unconsciously, that it would be a waste of breath, and a waste of the time you had left with her," Annelise wondered aloud.
He can't die like this, drowning in the misery of something that was bound and decided and would not have changed had he intervened....it wouldn't have been any different. It had to happen. I've come to terms with it, though I still miss her laugh, her smile, her scent....her.
|
|
|
|
Post by .Rabid Lycan. on Jul 5, 2008 12:52:23 GMT -5
Arroyo felt himself diverting his eyes all of a sudden. He couldn't hold the stare, and he felt his temporary willpower shattering in that instant.
"..."
He was a shadow of his former self... and the ghost of the father that he used to be was nowhere to be found.
"...have you heard of the demon wolf, Mephisto?" he asked suddenly. He hoped that she had.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sivoncé™ on Jul 5, 2008 13:27:42 GMT -5
Her eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of this name. "Yes, I think most wolves, unfortunately, know of that wraith," she turned, once again pawing the piles of herbs into place, and placing together remedies for some of the senior wolves. "Why?" she asked after a hesitant moment. Surely this could have nothing to do with it? Why would he bring up such a thing?
|
|
"My name is Percy Jackson, and I am INVINCIBLE!!"
)
