The scraggly little one-eyed wolf sighed. 

The wheel of fortunes kept spinning. Those foolish enough to ride to the top of it inevitably found themselves crushed beneath its weight when it turned. Isaiah did not try to climb the wheel, or to stop it. It spun and spun, tearing ruts in the dirt and dripping blood as it rolled, and Isaiah's only concern was to avoid its path. That's why he was still here, after all the kings and queens who had ruled over him were dead or exiled. 

Isaiah pawed at the ground in the rose garden, dirt in his dainty toes. A pile of bulbs rested beside him. He paused to cough with exertion. A shallow bed wouldn't be good enough. Some plants were like corpses or secrets, and needed to be buried deep. 

There had been some chaos, something about the Sovereign and the Eyes, something about newly fashioned crowns for a new batch of heads. It all made so very little difference to the little one-eyed wolf. He had been born illegal, child of a slave. He'd become through deception and persistence a legitimate citizen of this forest, under some name or other. And then he was a Healer, and then he was an Acolyte, and then he was a Surgeon. Now he they called him the Star, but it didn't matter. Names were breath on the wind. His name had served Rapier, Blade, Scimitar, Ajax, Anya, Azuhel, Gideon, Azuhel again, and now three new strangers who called themselves the Greater Secret. But his heart had only ever served the forest. The forest was what ate them all in the end, swallowing their bodies into the roots and mosses and fungus. 

The wolf swept a dirty paw across his dirty face, pointlessly. He shook his shaggy, greasy coat, draped over his skeletal figure, sides still racked with coughing from the labor of his work. He looked around at the thorns and vines that surrounded the garden like a maze, blooming red against all the green. Isaiah loved flowers, though he couldn't say that roses were a favorite. "...Miss the fucking medic tower." He grumbles as he plops down by the half-finished bed. He'd put in a lot of work into that place. 

It'd gone up in flames of course. The costs of war. Oukoku and Azuhel did love their fire. 

In some distant future, incredible flora would blossom from the burned wound. But Isaiah didn't make too much of a habit of hoping for the future. That was a thing stupid people did.

[ set after Shark/Rita reunion, before Gemini. transferring from discord. ]

Her form lumbered, ached. Ever since they'd found each other again, Rita had been dutifully tending to her mate's needs. But said needs were much and many, and the days had worn heavily on her shoulders. The weight of equal guilt and ignoring heartache for his sake, for the sake of his recovery. His form was curled, shaking but asleep, as she left him that dawn. He needed new herbs. Rita was never a skilled physician, and she couldn't pick out quick or convenient cures for what she needed. Her limited lessons with her daughter left her with only a few options she could still remember, and so she had to go the extra mile to seek them out, specifically. Her travels led her here. The scarred remains of what might have once been a beautiful field. Even under the ashen remnants, dusted and scattered and seemingly reckless, puffed up at each step. The air was thick and harsh in her lungs, but she pursued. Shoulders rolled as she kept her golden gaze alight, on alert for signs of others. She'd never be able to help Shark if someone else got to her. With a scowl on her maw she'd lean down and nudge sodden ashes away to reveal the budding plants beneath. Soft, green leaves were so wrong against the barren death that stretched over these low hills. And yet they grew, resistant to the choking grasp of ash. Resistant to death.

[ takes place after Rita/Badger but before Gemini. transferring from discord. ]

T R I P P Normally he wasn't this far from his den but he needed something special to bring home to his mate, she was getting a bit crazy being stuck at home so often and wanted to spruce up the place a bit. Something about it looking too drab and unkept. He didn't get it, the den was FINE! He wasn't about to argue with her though, he liked having his tail and that was normally the first thing she went for if he gave her any sort of lip these days. She really was coming down with a bad case of cabin fever! Myabe he'd take her out one of these days if the weather allowed but not today, the sun would be setting soon and it was already dangerous enough being out so late. He was frowning deeply, the thing he was looking for just not showing up, his mood was beginning to turn sour and if this kept up he was going to be more than angry when he got home. It wouldn't help one bit and he knew this but maybe just avoiding the angry woman would be the best if he seriously couldn't find it! He was about to give up when movement caught his molten eye. There, finally, he found it! Rushing over, snapping at the ravens picking away at the thinning carcass, he took away the skull of the long dead thing he'd left many days earlier. Now she wouldn't be pissy anymore, how could she!? He smiled to himself and took the skull with him, not noticing if anyone was near by at the time because there was never anyone near by...not anymore. The sun was finally beginning to leave the sky and shadows began to grow, that meant it was time to head back. He hated being out at dark, it always made him so sleepy. He started to pick up the pace, best to not keep her waiting, happy wife happy life after all!

ooc: hi this is open but its very short form/no order, if you will, chaotic and what have you


"I'm gettin real, real, real tired of shadows," groaned Azrael, dropping a musty old half-eaten rat from his jaws and glancing towards the wildflowers. Not that anyone was there, but he like, genuinely stops every ten minutes and says that, you know, on a whim that someone is there and he happens to catch them. "SHOW YOURSELF," he grumbles as he takes the rat back into his mouth, preparing to move on.

Finally. A day in this godforsaken forest where it wasn't raining.

Aves once liked the rain, it was novel to the valley and made the flowers bloom. The first time it rained on their escape it seemed like a cleanse to wash the last of the Oukoku Kai from their pelts. But the second time came, and the third, and too many other times. But today her coat was dry, well, as dry as it could be in this humidity.

Alteron had its charms. The green was nice, as was the shade from the sun. The decor however just had to be changed. Back in the valley when you wanted a wolf dead you tossed them in a tar pit never to be seen again like a civilized society. Here the ground was littered with not only bones, but rotting bits and bodies. Aves understood war was messy. War is what brought them here. But really, time had passed, could they have cleaned up a little? Certainly there were slaves around that could haul this garbage to the bone pit. Perhaps she would run this by Falco later.

"Ugh.." She kicked a bone aside. She may be loyal to Alteron now but those who had fallen to her previous homeland meant nothing to her. Aves plodded along until another body appeared. This one couldn't have been a war causality, too fresh, only a few flies buzzing about. She paused and looked about as she thought of what to do. There was a shallow ravine no more than a few yards away with no visible water source. Perhaps it would like to rest there.

The fringe walked over the corpse and started to nudge it towards its grave when Aves came to the sudden realization that the corpse was warm. And moving.

"Oh!" Head shot up as she backed away.