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 Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 7:18 am
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“You can trust me… Remember?” Her words were punctuated by a grin; soft, sweet, and encouraging. A gesture that seemed to chip away at her companion’s thick hide the longer she sat within it. And she sat still, settled next to him but not too close; dancing in her own head along that fine line.
From the very moment she set her eyes upon Grim, Fen Mire knew he would be hers. The brute was larger than any wolf she had ever seen in all her life, and that alone would have tempted her! But he rivaled the size of her own brother, Wood Rot, whose desperation could be felt on the high winds of these ice giants and... it was likely that which sealed the deal.
Anything to spite her brother.
The exotic nature of this wolf amused, baffled, and intrigued her all at once. He was quickly becoming her favorite obsession, and she'd hint at it... with her laughter, her coyness, her lingering gaze. She had no idea what secrets he held between his teeth, or what stories he swallowed back out of fear or worry or… whatever truly stifled behemoths like himself, but she wanted to know. She wanted to know everything, all of it, so badly… And she’d do just about anything to get it out of him.
Those crystalline blue eyes had locked onto Grim once again, with no intention of wavering. Her capacity for presence was remarkable.
"I won't tell a soul. I swear it."
The thought of her brother thrashing through the thickest part of the Forest skipped across her vision and for a second, that sweet smile turned frenzied.
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Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 4:36 pm
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Those orange eyes, as bright and full as a harvest moon, swept sidelong to look at the female that sat next to him - next to, but not too close. She was so much smaller than the females of his pack, than those that had raised him and been raised with him, fought with him and fought beside him. At first he had thought her a weak thing and maybe that was why he had agreed to travel with her for a time. After all, he had plenty of it. It hadn't taken long to see the way her mind worked and even if he couldn't always fathom why she did or said the things that she did he could still admire her wits and her tongue.
Not that he would admit it.
"You are incessant."
The sigh that fell from his jaws was only half annoyed and as he looked away from her again and out to the shrubbery that concealed the tiny clearing, his tail was tapping lightly against the earth in thought. What was the harm in sharing his inner worries? It's not like this small, feisty creature would ever even meet those closest to him. Fine, he thought, and the tension in his shoulders released.
"A long, long time ago my pack was a part of the - well, the alpha's pack - and we claim to come from the same roots as those who lead our kind. I don't know how or why, but we split before anyone in my pack was even born - before their parents or their parents were born." It didn't sound half as eloquent as when his grandmother told the story but Grim had never pretended at being a story teller. It was simply the way it was. "An old wise female is said to have been given a vision of a female in our pack, the Vultures, giving birth to a white marked son in times of trouble. She said he would rise up and overthrow those with power and herald in a new age of prosperity or whatever."
The way his nose curled at the end suggested how much weight he put in the vision which, by now, seemed like little more than some silly pup's tale to him.
"Blah blah, then I was born."
The dark shoulders rolled and his face turned back to hers, seeking her reaction to it all. It wasn't the whole of it, not yet - it was just the catalyst to his travels but not any explanation of why he had run so far from home.
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2019 8:21 pm
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Fen Mire was an emotional iceberg. A complying, deliberate soul upon the surface and a twisting nether beneath the waves. One whose depth was better felt than seen...
But she wondered just how much Grim could see, for she had worked so hard to unravel slowly. To unveil one piece at a time in order to earn his trust; working at him like a rabid dog, careful not to show her hand or the lead it carried. It was a show of patience, even now as hers was a waning effort. Was he aware? Did he care if she 'knew' about things, his life, or not? Did he know the harm it could bring?
The she-wolf let a smile pass across her dark lips, weighing it carefully to avoid slipping any sinister intent. And her eyes. If they could have bore deeper into him, seen through to all he omitted, they would have. Her interests were peaked. This was it. That gut instinct. The part of her that knew he was something else… More. Had he hinted to it before? Some idle thoughts shared in passing, perhaps? Somewhere within her Fen Mire felt as if she had won, a flurry of butterflies riling in her belly. A goal had been achieved! One of many gradually being discovered. Their time together might have been brief, but she was incessant. An iceberg. A mosquito. All wrapped in one.
Aside from the slow nod of her head, Fen Mire did not move. She would pry open his jaws, spill out the truth, and win her prize without ever lifting a paw. Her lips parted now, and the sweet sound of her voice rolled as smoothly as his large, dark shoulders had.
“And here you are." It was almost delighted, suggesting flirtatious notes, if not for the melancholy that to took hold of her. Her features morphed from neutrality to concern. For him? For herself? For them both? Even if feigned, she had nearly mastered the art of deception. Nearly. "Grim... was there trouble?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 9:06 am
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There were times when Grim looked at her and he thought he saw an ocean beyond her eyes that he could not fathom; it was endless, wild, like the untamed creatures his grandmother told stories of from times long past and forgotten. As sure as it sparked a gnawing fear in him, barely registered in the pit of his belly, so too did it draw him deeper into her grasp. She was all of the unknown contained in one fragile, delicate frame and it sang to him the same way his grandmother's stories had when he was a young pup, before he knew how to listen to his fear and gauge the risks. Fear was a funny thing, after all.
"Yes and no," he wanted to sigh out his frustration. She was picking at his inner most worries and concerns and forcing him to give voice to them in a way he had never done before. It was easier to act than to speak. It was easier to run. Giving words to his thoughts made them real, forced him to weigh his actions against the consequences. She wasn't just digging a story from him but, too, she was shedding light on the seed from which his entire existence had grown. His heavy paws twitched where they lay stretched out before him, eager to stand and move and pace. He satisfied the urge simply by unsheathing his claws and digging them uselessly into the dirt, grounding himself.
"There are whispers that our King is unsettled. He has killed many threats to his throne over the last few years and many of them were justified, but some.."
He looked away to hide the thoughts looming behind his eyes. That wasn't his story to tell.
"When I was born they were afraid that he would remember the words of the prophetess and come for me. White is very rare among our kind, all the more so when we hail from pure blood, so my clan secluded themselves even deeper into the wilds." Even without looking at her he was sure he would see the frown that had pulled his jowls tight. He could feel the pressure between his eyes. "My sister, and others born close to me, wear white war paint to conceal me."
He drew his paws closer to himself, scouring the earth, no longer simply using it to ground himself but to release some frustration he could not upon - well, upon who? The King? The Prophetess? Fate? He didn't know and it made him growl out of frustration.
"I think they would all be safer if I never went home." With effort, he looked back at her, no longer concealing the sneer on his face. "So here I am."
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Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2020 11:12 am
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She recognized futility, felt fire ignite within her chest, and stared at Grim as if she were staring into a mirror. Matching only his mood by furrowing her brows.
When his claws punctured the earth, her gaze flicked to meet them, and her heart skipped a beat.
To some degree Fen Mire was relieved. They were both victims. Somewhere beneath the waves, in the darkest parts of her, there had always been a deep and profound desire to be understood. This seemed to quell that desire. HE seemed to. But Fen craved company within her misery, not a way out of it, and would drag the world down with her; hand in hand. ‘Suffer as I have suffered.’ It was what she was owed, after all.
She would never need any more to be said on the matter of his upbringing or history. She had heard enough. She was here to stay.
“Life was unfair long before you had the chance to sour it for yourself.” That futility, like a foreign body writing within the innocent, reminded her of so many terrible, exciting things. A slow breath escaped her, held for far too long in a chest that still fumed. Little seemed to change behind her gaze. It was soft, encouraging, impassioned, and hungry…except, the empathy behind it all had morphed. Effortless, raw, genuine in a way it hadn’t been before. She no longer needed to feign that.
“Do you really think leaving will keep it from destroying everything you love?” His recoil was an invitation and she leaned in closer, her breath sweetened by meats devoured in shared company and her tone rich and raspy; daringly intimate and wildly perverse.
“Destiny is a lie.” Did she really believe that?
“And passivity is cowardice. Life does not reward you for abiding by any of it. You are alive, which puts your family in danger no matter how far you run. Take a stand or die. Death is your only way out and their only assured salvation. But what a waste that would be.” She mused, appearing contemplative and insistent all at once. “So stand instead. Do not let life lead you… lead, in this life, as you were clearly born to.”
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