Mind was still reeling, and legs wanted nothing more than to keep moving. She'd been going for what felt like days, which was probably more accurately a couple hours, children didn't really have a concept of time or how it worked in high tension situations, Shuck was no different. The only thing that was certain was she had put a considerable distance between herself and Inaria.

Chest heaved and legs buckled under her finally, and the youth gave a haggard, breathy exhale. Pain rippled throughout her storm wrapped form, and she grimaced bitterly at the blood that smeared against her pale shoulder and slicked the smokey black of her neck fur down.

The wound wasn't awful, it'd heal, and she wasn't worried about that, the pain sucked, but she could manage. The last reserves of her energy were spent tiredly dragging herself atop some tree roots to rest and regain her strength. Bitterly watching a colony of ants worked in and out of their little dirt hill, the girl was furious, downright seething. That wasn't how it was supposed to go down. However, she knew if she stayed that big brown fucker would have killed her in one hit, just like he'd done to those two bitches.

That black and blue twat though, that one was MINE! That familiar voice had nothing to comment, it was quiet for now, just her and the birdsong of this unfamiliar forest. Shuck felt cheated, muzzle wrinkling angrily, attempting to move her paw to swat down on the ants, but the energy just wasn't there. "fuck fuck fuck fUCK FUCK FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKK!!" The girl screamed loud enough to disturb the birds, the forest falling silent, she'd be alone again.

Or so she thought.

Stellairria had no idea when it happened but, she'd one day found herself alone.

She had be scared, confused, she felt like a cornered animal.

This was in the past though. This time away from her crutch, from the soft familiar faces.... It had not turned her heart to ice, no no, it had willed her to recover. Recover she had, the once thin, unstable, sickly wolf was filled out once more, granted she was still rather timid, still one to jump at sudden movement, noise.... She did still have horrible nightmares and in colder weather or if she pushed too hard, she did have a nasty limp thanks to that injury she'd gotten so long ago. That has also healed up quite nicely. Of course, the thing that scared her the most was the idea that He had moved on, found another Light to shine within his dark world, a new face to bring him joy.

She felt a pang in her chest as she lay in a meadow, gazing up at the night sky, at the moon and the stars that danced about in the sky. She missed him, missed the X Clan, missed Puffin, Terebellum, Alana, Julek.... She missed faces she couldn't put a name to and as mentioned before.... She missed... Him... The one wolf who never gave up on her, who did all he could for her, who fought for her, whom she'd hurt, who forgave her. She swallowed, her sky-blue gaze upon the near full moon, black tipped ears falling back in sorrow as she finally whispered his name.

“Ticonderoga...”

The golden wolf laid her head down on her paws and closed her eyes, she had a lot of traveling to do when the sun rose, she needed to sleep. Needed to keep hope alive. She had finally caught scents she knew, especially his, they were faint at first but, growing stronger and stronger as she traveled, letting the wind and spirits guide her home... Or at least she prayed each night to Mother Moon before bedding down that she be guided home....


She rose with the morning song-birds, she moved with a sense of grace and calm. She was determined to get there, determined to get home.... Or at least to the only group she could honestly call home. Each step brought her closer, each scent on the breeze having her heart skip a beat. Stronger, and stronger they grew... Stronger.... The landscape wasn't as she remembered it, she found herself traveling steep hills, found herself moving toward a... A valley? The sun was setting again as she crested a large hill, or was it a small mountain? Either way, she was tired, limping, but.... She found herself looking over something in the distance, something stunning and beautiful. As the setting sun painted the sky, it so too painted the rivers and lakes that dotted the landscape, taking her breath away and leaving her in a state of shock and awe. This was.... This was beautiful, too beautiful for words. She needed to rest though, she figured she had another good day or two of traveling to do.

“Mother Moon.... Please.... Please let this be them... I miss them greatly, I would like to go home..... I need to go home, be home....”

Came the soft pleading prayer in a whisper as she drifted off. She was tucked away in a small thicket, hidden safely and boy was she tired.


The sun was well up by the time she woke and began moving again, that limp lingering now but, she was determined and so felt like she was... So close. So very close to being home. Stella didn't stop now, she pushed and pushed hard, having to hold up her left hind leg now and again just to rest it. She'd have a hard time having to do a lot of hunting, that was for sure, ah well, she'd find her place again... If they let her back in. Stella wasn't sure how it had gotten so late but, it was dark by the time she'd reached the strong scent border. She could... Smell... Akutan..? Yes!! That was Akutan! She wanted to run over the border, run deep into the pack lands and find Ticon, find the X Clan but, she knew better. She put weight back down on her left leg again, dancing in place some, feeling a strong ghust of wind push from behind her, sending out her scent. Well, may as well announce herself in song too!

The golden wolf tilted her head back, letting out a melodic howl that some would know, her song ringing out in a light lullaby into the night sky. She looked to the moon as she shown her silver glow down over Nardir. “Thank you... Thank you Mother Moon, thank you!” She breathed out, letting out another call, just in case everyone was asleep or didn't believe their ears the first time, it wasn't urgent, it was more of an 'I'm here.... I'm home....' Stellairra stood quietly now, the only thing she could hear was her heart pounding in her ears, the only thing she felt was hope.... The one thing she wanted to see was Ticon but, she would be glad to see Akutan too, or any of the border patrol .... But last she knew, Ticon was a border guard, least he was in the Nardir that she'd once lived in.


I'm home Ticon... I'm home... I'm so sorry I was gone so long.... Please be here...  Please remember me.... I want to see you again, I want to see your smile, hear your laugh, hear your voice.... I want to see you so badly....


Thoughts played out in her mind, how would she apologize to him for being gone for so long? How would she make it up to him? Would he even want her to? She swallowed, her ears dropping a bit, she was getting achy.... Slowly the small golden wolf lowered her rump to the ground, curling her tail about her paws as she patiently waited, her gaze once again upon the stars. Before she knew it, she found herself humming, even singing words on and off.



“A thousand blades unto the sky...

Reach out and link our worlds, yours and mine...



Let the tide rush over you....




And one day I know we shall meet again...

















My Dearly Beloved......”

ooc

The bleeding girl sprints through Inaria, her wails and cries echoing through the fields and trees like a banshee. There is a deep crimson that stains half of her face, down along her neck and her chest, a stark contrast to the pale white fur and even the other shade of red that she was born with. She leaves nothing but blood in her wake, her pawpads cut to pieces and it hurts everything huRTS WHY DID THIS HAPPEN WHY WHY WHY--

Everything is overwhelming to her, and she dashed past anyone and everyone, whether they wanted to help or not. She didn't stop, couldn't stop, all she could see was this darkness and all she could feel was a horrible pain and everything was closing in on her and god make it stop MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!

The blind girl crashes full force into a lone, colossal oak tree within one of Inaria's fields, the ruined side of her face smashing into the bark and leaving a mix of blood and white fur upon it. She still lets out an ugly cry, her 'good' eye clamped shut but her other eye still had the remains of the burst eyeball within - an awful, sickening sight.

(They're coming for you, they're getting closer)

"DON'T HURT ME! DON'T HURT ME PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" She shrieks at whoever approaches her first, trying to move away and pressing herself against the tree.

And still, she screams.

It had ended before it begun, really. Cas had hardly begun to know Elysium. Beyond a brief introduction the cave system they claimed as home, he knew little of their beliefs, what they stood for. He'd known only Her. It would take little convincing to make him believe that Sol'shira was indeed a goddess, he'd seen her among her incredible underground garden, amazed at how she cultivated and helped it to flourish.

Even that was gone now, along with all others who counted themselves leaders or followers. The caverns turned into nothing more than an empty maze. The plant life had died out, and soon the cozy home had become cold and unwelcoming, all other life fading away, disappearing, escaping. They'd stayed- she had stayed, and Casanova by her side- longer than the rest, trying in futility to keep the very last blooms from dying out. He'd begun to murmur soft pleas, eventually near begging Sol to let go. They could not survive there any longer, they had to move on, she had to move on. The magic was gone, the sanctuary was gone.

Moving on was easy enough for the violet hellion, he'd done it much of his life, a nomad more often than not, but it was clear the loss weighed heavy on his new companion. Still, he stayed by her side, urging her forward. "C'mon, Chickadee." He would murmur, pressing himself very gently against her side, offering to help shoulder her burden even as they trekked onward.

"We've got the whole world ahead of us now." Us, whatever that was really... He'd not exactly stopped to ask as Sol'shira watched her hard work, her very heart and soul be eaten away. Now wasn't the time, all that mattered now was to see that smile again. She could brighten a whole cavern when she did. "It's beautiful," The world, he meant, of course. "I'll show you the best parts of the Straits."

He wracked his brain as they moved, Sol setting their pace, though with some encouraging nudges from Casanova. He'd seen much of the Straits, and all he wanted now was to find her something even half as wondrous and beautiful as her garden, as herself.

"I know a place-" he blurted suddenly, head lifting, golden eyes bright and spaded tail swishing excitedly. "With the most beautiful forest of purple trees." Going there might mean again settling down, stopping the wandering. With Sol, he could do that.

The air was crisp, it made it easier to slip in and out of her lungs, the ground hard from the early winter that blew down from the mountains, but up there she hoped for freedom, beyond the fringe meant safety, but whatever tailed her had not let up.

Life was supposed to be easier, it was supposed to be good, but it hadn't and Cort was sure that it never would be. Ever since the fall of Grimsthorpe, hell, the fall of Alteron for that matter she had been running. No where was safe and she had to wonder if this was some curse placed upon her. She was sick of it though, sick of running. Her legs nearly giving out on her as she felt her heart nearly burst.

It was only when she found herself chased into a corner, a gorge of rocks, steep cliff face slopes on either side and behind that would prevent her from climbing and she cursed under her breath. Turning only when she felt enough resolve in her heart to face down who her pursuer was. Breath ragged and overall appearance disheveled, Cortana was a far cry from the regal Queen she once had been, but that sharp look in those cold, yet panicked eyes, that look. That wonderful look, in that moment she would've never looked anymore beautiful than she did in that single moment.

"What do you want?!" The hoarse whisper of a banshee against the howling winds that whipped down the the mountains above. Her teeth bared, but she stood unsure, weak. But as two figures stepped out, pupils would widen and a staccato laugh shook her body, once, twice, three times. Absolutely hysterical.

s y b e l l a

"We have to bury them now,"
"No. No, no, no. Just a little longer, please... Just a little longer..."

---

As she lay above the ground, beneath where her children buried, she had to put life into perspective. She was above. They were below. Resting, he'd said. At peace. Six little bodies covered in mud, and dirt, and stones, and probably now being devoured by carcass eating insects. They weren't really resting or at peace, but Iron had the sense to know that she couldn't coddle six dead children any longer than she had. So instead of nurturing the dead bodies, she spent all of her time resting on the ground they were placed in. It was in the same canopy she was meant to be nursing them, the same canopy that she endured agonizing pain to deliver one, two, three, four, five... six dead children.  

With gentle touches, she let her paw graze over the small piles that they'd placed -- no, that Iron placed -- above them. Careful not to press too hard, not wanting to hurt them in anyway, anymore than she already had. She placed an ear to the soil, wishing she was listening to the small chirps and whines of her six babies rather than listening to the small colony of earth-diggers, or whatever it was she was hearing. She didn't know and didn't even care.

From this angle she swore she could see the Earth spinning still, the sun came and went, the birds still sang... but her world seemed to be at an abrupt stop and she had no desire to figure out what to do next. Iron was doing his best to be there for her, she appreciated it even though she had little to say to him, but she wasn't mad that he'd take small moments to himself. She probably needed it more than he did, maybe he knew that. Maybe that's why he made excuses to leave. Sybella knew he had guilt for what had happened, though she knew it wasn't his fault (she was the one who was defective, she'd sworn at him).

Something inside of her, the last bit of awareness she had, knew that she should get up. Move on. There was still a sharp, piercing pain in her side that Harriette should probably examine, but it felt better to be close to them. She should probably eat, too, as Iron had suggested. There was no appetite to satisfy. Rather, she felt guilt for feeding her hunger when it was her babies that should be eating. It wasn't fair.
But they were gone.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
and Six.

Dead.
So she lay, too, lifeless.

The amount of visitors that had flooded into Inaria's relatively peaceful forest was overwhelming to her. Suddenly she awoke one day to a myriad of smells of different origins - similar in some ways but each individual had an element that was wildly different. She hung back in the healer's garden, the only other place of comfort other than her home; which she avoided for the most part, she did not want to deal with the conversation that she'd likely have with her father - "Why don't you go make some new friends, Leo?"

With the help of some others, notably her father and Anglachel (the mysterious, yet kind healer from another land), the garden was beginning to become restored to it's former glory. There was still work to do, so Leonora tried to set her mind on her work as much as she could to distract her from the grief and guilt of Prince Wheatley's death (she still hadn't ventured into the den where he had passed).

She was taking a break from managing the gardens to get a drink by the nearby river, dipping her toes into the rushing stream to clean the dirt off of them. She didn't notice the other girl approach until she was too close for comfort (there was still a little bit of distance between them, but there are those in this world that you'd rather keep much farther away - oh poor Leonora, you wouldn't know anything about that). The smell of blood in the air made her turn her attention to the approaching girl, but her eyes stared past her at the trees behind.

"A-are you okay? I can smell blood on you." She stepped away from the river and towards the stranger. "It's okay, I can help."

(Nothing can truly protect us from evil in the world).

s y b e l l a

Weeks have been spent preparing for this.
She was ready.

The night was stealing the last bit of sunlight, temperatures dropping to welcome a stinging breeze. Sybella was comfortable though and there were no complaints. What was there to be bitter about? She sprawled in a thicket of lush grasses and lavender (sworn to help her relax). A canopy of twigs and fallen branches surround her, courtesy of Iron. Where was he, anyway? He'd disappeared to fetch last minute necessities, whatever else she may need, before their arrival. Her children. Their children. Yes, the stars in her sky -- already. This swollen belly of hers was ready to deflate! At last, she would be able to nuzzle her own kin and teach them how to be kind and watch them grow, just as she always dreamed. And she'd have Iron there with her. It felt like life was beginning to have purpose, finally.

Through the occasional discomfort, Sybella could feel herself drifting in and out of sleep. She fought desperately to stay awake, though, but the longer she waited for Iron the heavier her eyes felt.

Heavier... Heavier... and slowly, slumber won.

Until it didn't.

A ripping pain in her side drove her to sit upright, feeling a sense of delirium as she tried to figure out how long she'd been sleeping. It was darker than it'd been before she closed her eyes for the last time, and where was Iron? This pain was so unfamiliar, but she refused to let her anxieties heighten. This was all unfamiliar to her, after all.

The pain deepened and began to take control of her entire abdomen, all of her insides feeling as though they were being torn from inside out. Previously soft, rhythmic breathing became rapid. Red paws reached to crawl out from her nest, looking for a sign from Iron that he was close. The only way she felt she could ease the pain was to push, and so she did. Through clenched teeth and suppressing screams, Sybella pushed. She pushed through tears of pain, digging her paws deep within the soil, feeling the cool loose dirt beneath her toes and under her nails. Each of her five senses was aggravated, feeling every one of her muscles tearing as she fought to relieve the pain that was overcoming her.

Until finally, it was over.

With her chest still heaving, Sybella felt the sharp irritation finally alleviate from her stomach, and noticed six small, dainty figures beside her. Each one angelic in their own way, curled within themselves and each other. Her face couldn't shield her joy, even after the trauma it took to get them here. She nudged one closer to her, urging them to eat. But as she pressed her nose against their soft, wet sides... she noticed that they were limp. "Oh.. Oh, no." She whispered, licking the pup clean, reaching for another.

Limp. Cold.

"No.."

Another. Lifeless.

The next, still.

"NO."

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth, still...

Sybella felt strained, like her breath had been stolen from her and her limbs paralyzed. Her face was wet, but she couldn't hear her sobs. Couldn't feel her heart racing, couldn't align her thoughts. What did she do? Why didn't Harriette see this coming? How did this happen? Where was -- "IRON!" She shrieked between weeping, pulling the six lifeless bodies close to her, rubbing her cheeks lovingly against their small bodies. Calling for Iron over and over, licking them clean. Caring for them, just as a mother should. As a mother would. That's what she was preparing for, what she was ready for. She was a mother.

Until she wasn't.