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Adder walked around the strange place he had been brought. His nose filled with familiar yet odd smells. He seemed to know this place, but he could not recall how. In his mind he cursed those fickle humans that had left him here, abandoned and alone. 

He had been a Zoo animal, and had lived a comfortable life there. He had not been born in captivity but had been raised there. Though he did not know it this was the home of his mother and forefathers. A place that was relatively unknown to him. A protest over keeping a bear in a zoo had brought him here, far from his comfort and life of ease. 

He wandered aimlessly unsure of his location or future.

He had given the healer of the wolves time to care for his wounds. The arrows had been removed, painfully so for the ones whose shaft had broken under his flesh. He had grit his teeth, refusing to take any of the herbs offered to him for the pain. The suffering was a lesson to be learned, just as Taverin's death had been. He swallowed his pride, his pain, and his tears... there would be time to grieve later. When the healer applied the salve to his open wounds, the sabre breathed easier. The moment it was done, he stood up again much to the dismay of the one who had cared for him. He had thanked the healer, but there would be no arguing against him. Taverin still lay at the border and awaited the final rites. He couldn't keep him waiting too long for fear his soul would wander, get lost, and become a ghost. The journey back to the border was easier for the absence of the projectiles in his flesh, but he was tired and once or twice on the way he had stopped to catch his breath. When he arrived back to the site of Taverin's death, he found him laying there as before and beside him lay the one who had promised to watch over him.

"Thank you... it means a lot to me for you to have done this."

Glancing from the golden furred wolf back to Taverin, he swallowed the emotions that returned to him. His sight was pulled towards the spear still caught in his brother's chest. His heart swelled with anger, and his claws came out to grip at the earth beneath his paws... until he caught himself again. Looking away, he gathered himself, calming his flaring temper. The humans had just been protecting their home... he would have done the same. Roderik was wise enough to see, that the strength of heart he needed to overcome this trial was more important than the strength of his claws for the cause of revenge. Looking back to the spear, he frowned and moved towards it, clasping it within his strong jaws. Though he knew the weapon no longer caused his friend pain, he could not bare to see it stuck within him any longer. With a paw against Taverin's shoulder,  Roderik pulled out the spear. Holding it within his jaws he bit down until he crushed it. It fell in two at his feet, it's splintered pieces scattering about.

Looking up to the trees nearby, Roderik remembered Taverin's gaze going to them in awe despite his pain. He had loved those trees, and so he thought to lay him to rest beneath one of these gentle giant's watchful gaze. Silently, he prepared the grave. There usually would have been certain herbs laying at the bottom, but he knew not which herbs this forest could provide or where to find them. Still, he tried as best as he could to keep to the customs and gathered some tall grass to place there instead. Water from their home should have been poured on his forehead to remind him of where they had come from, and where his spirit must go. Morning dew remaining on a nearby flower was all he could find, and he hoped somehow that it would do. Pressing his forehead against Taverin's, he shared in the water that wet his fur, a reminder that he would one day cross the great divide as all living things would.

"Taverin... Proud sabre of Stoneclaw, Son of Cay and Erurru, Your time has come to cross the great divide and join our ancestors beyond the sea of stars." His voice broke then, his tears mixing with the dew on their fur. "You left us too soon my friend... May your spirit find it's way to those who await you. Until we meet again."

His strength ebbed as he continued his work. It was backbreaking, where several of his kind usually participated in this event, he was alone to do what needed to be done. He worked so that some of the wounds at his back began to bleed through the herbs that the healer had applied on them. As Taverin now lay below the earth, Roderik stood there with a sense of utter loss. What was he to do without him? Where was he to go? Home had never been a land, it had been a heart and it was gone now.  His eyes filled with sorrow, he raised high his right paw with his sharp claws fully extended and brought it down on the front of the tree with all the strength he was able to muster. The bark split with a great noise, his claws leaving great gashes in the wood beneath. This marked the resting place of his brother in arms. So long as the tree stood, it would bear it's mark; so deep it was that it would never heal. Roderik felt his heart would be the same... forever marked with Taverin's death. He felt the pangs of guilt strangling him and stepped away with difficulty.

He would stay in the garden where he had been brought until the wounds at his back had healed.
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ooc: There's a sabre in the garden! Anyone joining the thread must do so in the time frame of a day or two after the events of this post. You might walk into the garden to stumble on a sleeping Roderik, or actually follow his scent there, but at this point its a day or two after Taverin's death/burial and Roderik is resting in the garden. Anyone may join! I'd love to see troublesome pups seeing a sabre for the first time! or anyone really. Let's just have fun <3

<img src="https://i.imgur.com/wEqSw7D.png" border="0" alt="user posted image">

There are creatures that lurk in the darkness. Some big and terrifying, and others small and unassuming. All were a mystery to the outside, and Phosphorus was standing on the cusp of their world. Dusk had begun to fall across the land, a blood red sun setting beyond the mountains. The golden prince had travelled far, carrying injuries both inside and out. Fresh scars were tight as the outer layers of skin began to heal, and his muscles still ached from the beating he had endured. But what hurt the most was his pride.
 
He had eagerly believed his brother when he spoke of conquest, of overthrowing their corrupt and callous father. They would have led their people into a greater era of prosperity. Everything had gone so smoothly, until the end. Brothers that had stayed loyal to their father had inconveniently intervened at the last possible moment. Outnumbered he and the other rebels were brought to lay at their fathers’ paws. The look he gave his wayward sons would be forever burned in Phosphorus’ mind. He watched, as one by one his ‘traitorous’ brothers were slain like rabbit. He had felt fear. The fear of inevitable death that inched ever closer. He was sure father had seen it. By whatever power unseen, he was let go, exiled from the only home he ever knew. His fathers’ spies made sure he had left the outermost regions of the territory, and then he was all alone.
 
He had wondered for days, resorting to the skills he had learned as a young pup. He had survived thus far by scavenging and tricking those bigger and dumber than he was. He had survived up until this moment, standing at the edge of the woods. Phosphorus didn’t know if he had stumbled on it by sheer luck, or if fate had drawn him here. What he did know, was that he could smell something familiar. Foxes. He had longed to be with his own kind, and the scent had drawn him towards this location. As the sky grew darker he progressed into the woods, the long shadows enveloping his bright form. He didn’t bother to make a sound, they would notice him either way. Instead he waited in silence, appreciating flora surrounding him.

ooc - mmm look who's here to be worst character