Mind \\Over// Matter (Open)

[Sivoncé™]

So. What now?
It was radiating throughout the tangles of the brute's mind, within the fibers of his every thought and motion. He laid across the sunning stones of the seniors den, black pelt dulled with flecks of gray and old bloodstains he hadn't the heart to clean from his fur. His eyes were fixed straight ahead on nothing in particular. They didn't see the tanned rocks or smooth surfaces of the senior's cavern, but rather nothing but the abyss that netted his mind and reeled it in tight. He was held captive to this single though process, rewinding and playing over and over in his head.
What now?
Crow had been a faithful son, a fierce Yozoran, a loyal grandchild, a trustworthy friend, a loving mate, a nurturing father....and he was no longer the mate of any wolf. Saskia was dead. Gone. Despite his best efforts, his son, Shiro, was dead, and his daughter, Neveria missing. Trianna was losing faith in the packs. Kasparr no longer had anything optimistic to say. Autumn would live in shock for the rest of her life. Crow could not protect his children any longer. He wasn't a good father anymore. His parents and grandparents were long dead. His ferocity deserted him...and though Lyell and Olive still remained, they had pups of their own, lives of their own to lead on. Crow felt age crashing over him like a titanic waterfall, white foam blotting out his eyesight, wearing down his limbs.
Do I fight, still? 'Til death? Or just a while? Or do I go quietly and let death take me when it will? Now what?

A lithe figure of ashy gray padded throughout the Yozoran camp, sniffing the air warily. He hadn't tried to comfort his friend in his grieving, or at least not yet. He swallowed hard, mind reaching, pulling, searching fruitlessly for words of comfort, words that would inspire Crow. None came to him, and he sighed heavily and trodded toward the senior cavern.
There he was, laying flat on the rockface, as Lyell had spied earlier. He approached, but said nothing. He knew Crow noticed him, but neither spoke. Neither knew what to say.
What I need is a really good joke or something right about now. Eh...I don't think anything could make this...less serious.

[featherswift]

Jolon was anxious. He knew by how his fur felt as if it was infested with fleas. He'd join Yozoran pack, but yet to make any friends. Silently he growled at himself. Even at the battle he was no use. Moonset had died by her own pack mate and Lilypad didn't do anything as soon as he came. No hellfirian even came up to him or gave a whiff. Was he not worthy yet to fight and save the packs yet? They were falling apart as soon as he had gotten here. It just made him even the more determined to reach his goal among them. Some may call him crazy to even think it, but he was entirely sane. Now he even had heard a bark about some wolf called "Bain". He apparently had a similar plan, but a little more crazy and bloody. Jolon would get what he wanted not by blood....at least not yet. He had to keep at his goal to help his parents' dream come true.

While he was thinking of all this he started to pad toward the dens. Instantly he smelt a wolf, no two, coming from the senior's den. This made him curious. What were they doing in there together? As he got closer the mood inside hit him like an avalanche. Why was it like this inside? He walked in, the heat instantly dropped to a cooler temperature. He saw a an ashy grey wolf near another. Apparently the sadness was radiating from the other one, the one with a messy fur. This wolf must be very depressed not to care if another wolf was near or care for himself. Jolon sat in front of the two, his back to the outside. The sunlight outlined his black fur, his amber eyes looking at each in turn. Jolon cocked his head to a side. He would wait for something to be said...nice or not.

[Sivoncé™]

((Nobody knows the identity of Bain due to his skull mask. He is actually Yozoran proxy, but nobody knows of his insanity ))

Lyell approached. His friend, Lyell. This wolf had been there for him in thick and thin. He was still here. He was still Crow's friend.
Crow was still a faithful friend, too.
I still have two lovely daughters, and they are still here, in this fierce pack. I have a son who carries on, too. I am their father. I will be strong for them...
Even if it kills me.
He blinked, the world flooding back into his gaze. He rose, shaking himself roughly, and sniffing reluctantly at his pelt. This is gonna take a lot of work, ugh, my pelt reeks...
"Hello," he croaked to Lyell, voice terribly hoarse. "How are Olive and the pups?"

Lyell raised his head miserably to his friend, watching him and he forced himself to a stand. He watched as Crow began to groom himself, though this actoin seemed a strain, also. "Olive is...fine....Anora...A-Anora is gone. Missing. We looked everywhere on the terra but...she's gone. There was loner wolf scent near the border, but not one I recognized. Not like the rogues we fought, either--"

Crow stood straight up, eyes burning. "Lyell....even if they didn't take Anora....those wolves are not mere rogues. I don't know what they are, but I know what they aren't. Lyell....Lyell, I am so, so sorry..." He padded forward and licked his friend's shoulder, empathy shared between the two fathers. They both knew the sorrow of losing a child. Not of losing them....of having them ripped away.

Crow's ears twitched, sensing another watching their conversation. He swiveled, eyes darting around until they locked on Jolon. He raised a brow at the wolf. What's up with him?

[featherswift]

(oops sorry ^^' didn't know that)

Jolon listened to their conversation, someone was missing from what he could tell. They were from his pack from the way Lyell was talking. Suddenly Crow's ears twitched and he looked at Jolon, raising a brow. Jolon just looked back, sorta irritated by the look he got. He knew a little more about who those furballs were that wolf napped their pack mates. "You right about the wolves who took our pack mates. They weren't rogues. I know because of the smell of fire and death from them. If you were in the battle you'd have smelt it," he said trying to join into the conversation. Maybe he could help these wolves and they could help him in turn. Right now everyone's goal was to find the missing wolves and the more they knew the better.

[Sivoncé™]

"My nose is fine, thanks, and my mate died at the battle you little--" Crow started, but Lyell raised his tail and broke off his heated speech. He gazed at Jolon thoughtfully, the sooty taste of the wolves reawakened in his nostrils. "We have no seniors....but Crow was alive for the Great Journey. So was I. I know this scent well, even if it is slightly modified. We know the faces of the wolves we fought, too. Crow..." he blinked back at his friend, their shared grief pooling as their eyes met.
"Crow, I think what we're dealing with is more than just a group of wolves suddenly moving in on our territories. You and I both know it has never been that simple. Never...." He shifted his eyes once more towards Jolon as Crow began to settle. "This is the scent of our age-old nemesis Blood Mist...." he sighed heavily, deeply troubled and furrowing his brow. "They always seem to come back again, don't they?"

[featherswift]

Fur slowly bristled on him as Jolon listened to Crow start to call h im something. He clenched his teeth, if Crow made him mad he'd settle it, but Lyell silenced his friend. His fur settled, hopefully unnoticed, as he listened to Lyell. Thoughtfully he looked back at him as he said they were part of the Great Journey and knew the faces of the wolves they had fought. Jolon then listened to what he said toward Crow. There was that word again, "Blood Mist's". He only knew a little about these hated wolves so far, but not all of it. When the Blood Mist's had shown themselves before, Jolon was still in his old pack.
"What do these wolves gain from us?," he said thoughtfully. There had to be a reason.

[Sivoncé™]

Lyell shrugged his broad shoulders, snickering darkly. "I guess it's story time then, eh? Crow, you know this, I guess this'll be a refresh for you and me, and an intro for the newbie here," he barked, though his tone was dry and void of all traces of humor. He settled, laying down next to Crow and signaling to Jolon that he should do the same.
"In the beginning, I mean very beginning, there were five wolves, created by the first ever wolf, GoldenWolf. These wolves were Mira, Verlust, Lupus, Wind, and Sky. From them, five packs were created. The members in each pack were based, personality wised, loosely around their alpha. The original alphas were awarded twelve immortal lives, lives that could only be taken in combat, not by sickness or any other cause. Verlust led Blood Mist, Lupus led Night Mist, Sky led Shimmering Mist, Wind led Storm Mist, and Mira took her tribe, the Miran Pack, into the mountains. Miran Pack history has been, sadly, lost over the course of time. She came back as Silence, our old healer, and led chosen wolves to the cure for the plague that ravaged us not long ago.This valley around us...this is where the first packs were birthed, the start of lupine civilization. At first, all was well. Pack customs were developed, most we still keep, some have been forgotten. Back then, the packs had many differences in their practices. Blood Mist in particular had a like of sacrifice and ritual," he paused, swallowing letting his words sink in.
"Countless years later, there was a shifting within the packs. Wind and Sky became mates, and as a result, Lupus and Verlust joined forces against the two. Lupus fell for Verlust, though, and the two became mates as well. In a climatic, penultimate battle, Verlust's pups were ripped from her, and Lupus retaliated by murdering both Wind and the birthing Sky. Only one of Sky's two pups lived: Rhain...the she-wolf you would know as goddess of spring. Though details are blurred about how Lupus came to die, we know for certain it was by Verlust's paws. The packs united against the she-wolf and her treachery, half of her own pack siding with the others. She was forced from the forest, and the packs, feeling dirty from the bloodshed in their surroundings, moved across the mountains to the Mirror Lake. They traded their old pack names for new ones, ones you may have heard more about: Shimmering turned to Silver Mist, Storm Mist to Grey Mist, Night to Black Mist. The remaining of Verlust's followers remained here, in these old terras, while the wolves of her pack who fought against her developed personalities that were different as night and day. These wolves became White Mist. For a long time, things wore on, packs battled over borders, Moonless Meetings were held, a new generation was born and before you know it, few wolves remember the days of the original valley." He stopped here, blinking from Jolon to Crow. "Kind of like what's happening to us all now."
"Blood Mist came to the Mirror Lake under leadership of the tyrant Bloodsbane, They drove the Destinians from their terras and claimed them for their own. His treachery cost many lives, but this was only the beginning. Death, a dark, red-eyed pup came to lead them. Yes, a pup. But his body and mind were specially designed to age at an amazing rate. He was stronger than warriors triple his size, killed with single swipes. Death executed the previous leaders...and revealed himself as son of Lupus, who Blood Mist wolves worshipped as well as Verlust. They believed him to be their protector. Death was a holy child in their eyes. But, up in the realms of the deceased, Rhain and Lupus fell in love with one another, and it was enough to convince him to stop his madness. He tried to stop Death, too, but by then it was too late. The only thing that stopped him from destorying the forest alltogether was his sister, Flame. They met in a battle and both died in the Mirror Lake. Death has since redeemed himself, and is as good and pure in heart as you or I, despite his life of mayhem and murder. Legendary leaders, Sheera, and our namesake, Yozora, were murdered that day. I was not alive during any of this, or I'd be dead by now...I was born right when the packs had made the final decision to leave for here, only nights before they did leave. Blood Mist came back, and this time, Verlust herself led them again, revealing her powers as goddess of winter. By then, Sheera had been annointed with Autumn and Feather, a previous Silver Mist healer with Summer. There was much terror, much death, much destruction. So the packs rose up and fled from the Mirror Lake, across the mountains once again. Siveria, an alphess of the Siverians, led a guard of seven wolves against a guard of Verlust, also seven wolves. The seven wolves she chose had been saved by seven spirited wolves from a sacrifice meant to increase Verlust's power. Instead, it increased that of the packs. Seven times three....these wolves fought on the night of the winter solstice, the twenty-first of December, and Siveria challenged Verlust for her title as goddess of winter. She won...but it cost her her final life by doing so....and many lives of the packs, many lives of her selected guardians, wolves from all packs. Destiny, brave alphess of Grey Mist, was the only leader left from the Mirror Lake now. Blood Mist was completely annihilated --"
Crow stood, cutting in, eyes tearful as he spoke of the mountain battle.
"Except for a small family. A single, pregnant femme from Verlust's guard -- yes, the sick witch put a pregnant femme to a death sentence -- and her mate. This femme's name was Sylvana. She was seperated from her mate in the fray, but our warriors saw her pain and suffering and we brought her into our new terra. Upon arrival here, we renamed ourselves to honor the four alphesses of the Mirror Lake: The Siverians, the Destinians, The Sheerans, and us --the Yozorans. Sylvana came with us...she passed away giving b-birth.....to a beautiful daughter, the most beautiful this world has ever seen, will ever see," he whispered, voice fierce, "her name was Saskia...a loyal Yozoran....and now she's gone."
Lyell rested his tail on Crow's shoulder, sighing deeply, sadness reflected in his amber eyes. "She was a brave wolf, and she will never be forgotten by the wolves the mattered to her," he vowed. "We faced another prophecy, a plague, without being plagued by Blood Mist as well. And we were lulled into a false sense of security. And here we are again, forgetting out own past all over. I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever stop reliving these battles. There's no explanation for how they came back, but those are timeless tyrants -- some have even fought here before. Their senses are lethal, unparalelled in all of the centuries our kind have existed. I could sit here for hours, telling you of the horrors the seniors here have told me of -- so could Crow. We're not dealing with anything like an uprising, heck, nothing like Black Fury's Gang, though some of them may have joined up with Blood Mist. They'll have a leader as powerful as any alpha we have here at least, and they'll have more forces behind them than two packs combined. That is how it always has been....I'm just afraid that this is how it always will be."

(woahh that took a long time to type lol )

[featherswift]

(( ^^' you did type a lot. Just think how much more practice you got. XD))

He didn't take offense of being called a newbie for he was in the packs, but not one of death and pain. Jolon had come closer to them and lay down. He knew some of it very vaguely. During the tale his ears were kept perked up. His eyes saw Lyell and Crow, but also every bit of the story as if he was part of it. From the shimmering image of the Golden Wolf making their world to seeing Saskia, a loyal, beautiful femme. The past of these valley wolves impressed him very much. That was a past that could be told for days. One to tell pups in segments before time to sleep. He felt for Crow as tears stung his eyes. Now he was determined to help his pack, even every wolf in this area. There shouldn't be any more fear, blood loss, or pain in the packs.

"Your wrong about it always going to be like that," he said as his own amber eyes gazed at them. The black wolf simply looked at them while saying this. Maybe Jolon could actually help and not let Yozoran Pack end up like his namesake.

[Sivoncé™]

Crow shrugged miserably. "It's already begun. Now it just depends on how we react, and the sequences of events that follow. There is no prophecy to help us now, hell, we don't even have an herb healer. Iver's barely around -- I haven't seen him in ages -- and Pernille won't take leadership. It's a good thing we still have her and Bain around, they keep us going at least, but with the Siverians having a new leader, the Sheerans have a new leader...even the Destinians' leadership isn't that old, every other pack is fresh and we're still floundering. We were blamed for Blood Mist crimes just a while ago...we need something to keep us up and running. A healer in the least..."
Lyell sighed heavily, eyes tired. "We need a plan, and we need the leaders of our pack to execute it."

[featherswift]

((fits what's happening and what's going to happen XD www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoaUYcwEpSw&feature=related ))

Jolon had to admit this was true, but the Yozoran's shouldn't be this defenseless even though they had no alpha or healer. "Well the way your talking it almost seems as if you've given up. We should all use this opportunity to come up with a plan together without politics getting in the way. When we have finally come up with it then we'll need an alpha. I still don't understand why the other packs don't team up to take out the Blood Mists'. Different packs or not we all have the same goal," he said. He wanted to lift Crow's and Lyell's spirits up even if it was just a little. Pernille and Bain were doing there best from what he could see, but they still weren't doing enough. Did all of his pack mates feel like this? Yozoran Pack needed to show every pack how strong they were even without their help. This would show them nothing would be lost if they needed the other packs help. It sounded crazy, but if the Blood Mist's were that many than the only way was to team up. Not just in bodies, but in mind and heart.

[Sivoncé™]

(( =D I like the way you think ))

Crow raised a curious brow at Jolon as he spoke. He sounded oddly familiar -- familiar in the sense of de ja vu. Crow remembered, dimly, his mother's tales of Blood Mist, his own few select battles with them. They had only been defeated, or temporarily shut down, in the history of the packs when the four had combined. Too bad the Miran Pack dissolved into mountain tribes and nomads long ago. I'd bet if there had been five joined together, Blood Mist would've never stood a chance. Well, that would be our best bet...but there's too much animosity! "It's worked before, but Blood Mist just keeps coming back. There are too many hateful feelings between the packs right now, especially with us. I don't think we could even talk of truce without raising arguements all over the place."

Lyell looked at the two other wolves thoughtfully, mind whirring and gears turning. Jolon had a good point...but would the beta and proxy listen to them when the time came? "When we all joined together, we did it because all of our herb healers received the same prophecy when they met together...we did it with confidence, knowing it was the right path. Now...I feel like we're blind! Of course we're not giving up....but I'm confused. If we were meant to join together...why didn't it work the last two times?" The sooty wolf wondered aloud. Fear gripped his heart -- fear for his mate, Olive, fear for his remaining pups. These are dark times...we've already lost so many, and this is just the very beginning....

[featherswift]

Jolon's black ears picked up everthing the two wolves had said to him. They had good points. "We can talk of truce between the packs and they probably will agrue. Why do you need the heavens to tell us to do something? The whole reason we probably don't have a prophcy is because this has happened before. The dead probably want us to think of ourselves without their help this time and learn from the past. It probably didn't work last time becuase every wolf thought they had to do it becuase that's what the prophcy said. They thought they had to. One thing though is that if one of our pack mates was taken then maybe the other packs had others taken as well. This is something in common though. The only way to rescue them all without the other packs getting mad, would be to take members of all the packs to fight. This time it would be their decision and they wouldn't think they had to do anything," he said while thinking. Something had occured to him that hadn't before. Nonsense. That couldn't happen. But a Sheeran turned out to be traitor...are there others? he thought, but pushed it away.

(( thanks, I like the way you are making me think what to put. ^^))

[Sivoncé™]

Crow rose to his paws, disheveled pelt prickling uneasy. "Some wolf just ran into the main clearing," he barked, nodding towards the central part of the camp. "That's Ligua, I think...he looks--"

"AWOOOOO!!!"

Lyell shrugged and blinked at Jolon and Crow. "Maybe we should go see what's up, it looks like it's serious. What if he found out something about the missing wolves or Blood Mist?" Interest and fear sparked up in Lyell. He was no coward -- he would face whatever was to come -- but he wasn't too prideful to think that it would be easy to take down a pack like Blood Mist. So much death and destruction....I wonder what's up with Ligua?

((Njack made a thread called "AWOOO" that we could easily merge with ))

[featherswift]

((Okay! I look for it I guess this is where this thread ends?))

After he had said everything suddenly Lugia bounded into the clearing. Something was wrong with him and then a howl went up. Looking at them both he said,"Your probably right we should go see whats going on." Was there anymore death? What happened? Jolon thought while more questions ran through his head. It was time to figure out more.