03-18-2017, 11:03 PM
Ruan
He was home.
The Taiga was an army of watchful sentries, canopies branching over like shields in protective salute, witnessing their stoic leader return in silent procession. Glacial blue eyes lit from a rich, black face, sober and direct in their verity. Dark and writhing shadows followed in his wake, sifted and drifted out of the way of his solid step as an icy snap surrounded the air around him. Slow. Steady. He was the beat of this heart. He was the love, the deeply embedded strength that was there, so quietly there, but always present.
And he made his presence known.
The robe of his quiet slid off his back as he progressed through their home, slipped like perfect silk to reveal the naked skin of the man they almost knew. The deep purple of royalty was dripped across his body like a painted rain, dark amethyst stones embedded within the imperfect ivory of him with violent slashes of scars down each of his sides. They were the vicious smiles of only a small piece of his life, and the stealth of the wolves he'd lived years with was not present today as he walked soundly among these trees, among these hearts.
You have keen ears, he remarked aloud as he continued calmly, steadily, knowing it to be true for each of the members in this family, this pack, this forest. He didn't call for them, didn't whistle and demand they show. Those true to the Taiga, true to their home, true to him, would sense him and would hear. He didn't have to see them to know it. He had spoken to them on a more personal level, those that were actively thriving within their borders, and he would continue to do so. He was one of them. Not above them.
Loyalty and compassion for each other is the only thing I have ever expected of us. If it is too much to bear, then you can follow your queen out of this forest. His tone was even and unyielding, and no hint of malice tainted his truths.
If he has earned respect, the faithful will stay. The trustworthy and true. The rest were freed from his offered guidance. He turned his bright eyes towards the perpetual darkness, the part of the forest where the powerful beast haunts in his ready quiet.
Romek.
And he waited for the hidden king.
@[Romek]
