In Dire Straits

Her breath left ghostly clouds in her wake. Her coat like crystalline ice, shaking free of her shackles, glass shattering at her feet. Wraith hands clawed her back, twisting wisps of silver smoke shrouding her form. She stared into the faces of those lost in the chaos, broken spirits like puppets dancing just out of reach. Familiar faces lacked light, pitiless souls trapped at the edge of the other realm. Jori frowned at the delusions, though provoking they wrenched apart her good senses.

She pulled free from the depths of the shadows, eyes widening with an echoing silent scream. And as though simply enough, Jori was back within the valley limits. The ghosts bidding her return cast long lingering mist to wrap around her ankles like phantom shackles, she can never escape.  

She was back, but at what cost? Always a creature of routine, and she follows her heart. Tricky heart which has lead her down slippery slopes, quite literally, in a determination to find her love. The officer wanted to find him, just as they'd left off, two monsters craving damnation and salvation all at once. Delicate wolf took small steps out of the encircling maze, and out into the glowing moonlight. She smiled toward the skies, and prayed she found him tonight.

Would luck be on her side?

Might he be wandering the night in search of her, maybe they'd meet under the stars. Her mind raced with smitten fantasies, trivial to some, but important to her. She picked up her pace, asking the night, "excuse me?" her voice shaking from misuse, "but I'm looking for my love," she leveled her tone, and whispered this time. She imagined Tatari as she best remembered, large and domineering, a beast of protection.

She was being stupid; the night couldn't lead her to Tatari.

"We were separated by time, you see, but I'm confident I can find him."

She smiled, and then laughed. Everyone familiar had fallen away, disappeared into the fringe or worse, but she knew he was here. She could sense their connection, though faint and weak, not broken or damaged beyond repair. She just wanted to love him again, and be happy. Let's meet under the stars, and ponder for awhile.  

The frozen night had descended upon the valley, above twinkled billions of tiny stars and a sliver of a moon's face shown what meager amount of light it could manage. The world below slumbered. The dried and frosty grass crunched under heavy foot falls coupled with the air that could chill anyone's bones. Winter within the valley were harsh, and though the large beast's bones ached for summer, there was something far more important on his mind.

A scent that long since had vanished had found its way drifting back into the plains, it was weak dulled, but immediately awoke him from his slumber. It was a long time ago that he'd been searching for a ghost that drifted in and out of his life whenever she pleased. She had always been his Achilles' heel.

Brisk trotting turned into a full out run, a streak of grayish-purple that faded to black in the night, the rustling of grass and the howling of the wind against the far off mountains. Venomous eyes widen and nostrils flared as his mouth hung open and tongue fell out freely, a trail of spittle dripping from a pink tongue.

Pupils were mere pinpricks as Tatari's hulking body came to a screeching halt and ears drew forward. His hardened face tense like every muscle in his body, tail raising slightly and jaws parted to the ghostly apparition that seemed to glide along with the mist. Her steps poised and proper, her fur silk white. In juxtaposition to her, stood a tower beast, one who'd only grown more fearsome with age. The old Captain was what the valley needed him to be, willed him to be. Some brutal machine, synthesized by another brutal machine.

The word 'ghost' echoed in his mind and as he came to take his steps forward, and the forest maze framed behind her. "Jori." He croaked instead, the cold numbed his paws, but the rest of him felt like he was ablaze. The beast moved forward again, closing the distance between them if she stopped. "I always looked for you, I waited just for you." Came his voice in the quiet of the night. She had always been his one obsession without fail, their love never needed to be stated. He was quite aware of her feelings toward him as he assumed she knew how dedicated he was toward her.

As if to make sure this wasn't some sort of dream or trick that the demons of the valley sought to torment him with, he reached out for her, a cold paw to graze her soft fur. He'd stagger forward again, those vibrant eyes of his that so often hardened and narrowed at everyone, seemed to soften now as he looked to the wintry blue and white female. The hulking male's head coming to rest against the side of her neck and he inhaled deeply. "We're both here now. You're home, and we're together."

Most of the valley regarded Majority as Tatari's mate. As if she was his to claim, and he had tamed some wild wraith. In truth, she belonged to no one, it was the Warlord who belonged to her.