"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
12-06-2019, 12:51 PM (This post was last modified: 12-06-2019, 12:53 PM by Valdis.)
how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage? too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
A breath catches in her throat.
Pain gouges her body.
Everything hurts; everything inside her screams. Each step is agonizing, both physically and emotionally. Her stomach stretches uncomfortably, but her mind is what terrorizes her as she battles the ailments of her heart.
Sinner. It has always been Sinner; and yet, when his absence left a hole in her, it was Litotes that mended it. She didn’t want to be touched, not at first. It was wrong to allow anyone to touch her skin other than Sinner; not even a friendly brush from Ruinam seemed right.
And yet, in her desperation, in her loneliness, she crumbled. The reservation deteriorated and the need for companionship bloomed. As foreign as it was to lean into Litotes, she doesn’t regret it. Though her heart belongs to Sinner, there is a piece that is Litotes’.
Determined to find solitude, Valdis pushes herself through the pain until she is underneath a large oak. Her eyes peer up at the gnarled branches as they groan in the wind. There is no sense calling to anyone – not Litotes or Sinner – because their scents have faded much like her own until this day. Heavy with child – there must be another? – Valdis presses herself against the pocked bark and slides down. Labored breaths rack through her as contractions burst through her core. Lathered in sweat almost immediately, Valdis succumbs and allows her eyes to drift shut as though it will help the process.
The sun had been hanging high when Valdis initially buckled down beneath the gnarled oak. When she comes to realization and awareness, the sun has nearly sunken below the horizon. Quiet bleating stirs her into action, standing above not one or two foals, but three. Surprise reflects in her cerulean eyes as they dote on each one, followed by soft nudges to smell them for the first time. A smile, though weary from her exertion, spreads thinly across her lips. ”My children,” she whispers into their huddle as the sunset glimmers off her skin – all of their skins.
Instincts encourage them to nurse, and she nuzzles each of them to stand and balance before nursing. In the midst, she names them, one by one. ”Mako,” she says to the filly, ”Wolf,” to the blue and gold boy, and finally, ”Bruxas,” to the palomino. He gives away the truth of his parentage, that he is not a son of the hellhound. At least the others more or less resemble her, a detail she admires quietly as nightfall looms nearer. Shadows crawl forward, swallowing them slowly, minute after minute. A trembling breath sighs from her lungs, waiting for the night crawlers to rise from the darkness and take first glance at her newborn brood.
Valdis
@[Sinner] @[litotes]
This only took an eternity to post. Figured I would tag because a) babies and b) just going with the flow of the murder seen. No idea what is to happen or how >
There would always be a part of her that he held deep within his heart. Even when he knew that she was his weakness—his downfall—he thought of her. Loved her perhaps.
He no longer fights against what nature had intended him to be. It had been natural after all. Being a predator is what he was made to be. The hunt was his purpose, the only calling in his life that has ever felt right truly.
Chaos and destruction are what fuels him.
But she was entirely different.
Somehow, she had wrapped herself around him, dug herself into the depths of his heart. It was only her that could do it when there had been so many others. Something about Valdis filled him with lust—love even, but he would not admit to that never.
When she comes to the forest, he knows. This was his domain—his hunting grounds and home. It was only natural for him to find her, considering now that spring had come. He knew that they were expecting another beautiful addition to their small family. It was always her children he had ever been interested in.
He catches her scent without much effort. It fuels him to quicken his pace, his footsteps precise, as he makes his way towards her location. When he finds her, he sees her near the large oak tree, not with one foal, but three.
Three!
It was a lot.
But something was wrong.
The hound prowls forward. His yellow glowing gaze examining carefully as the forest around them darkens as night is beginning to come. A word does not fall from his lips as he stops in front of her.
His gaze is locked onto the palomino. The hellhound inhales, somehow knowing it was not right. It was betrayal. Right in front of him he could see it.
A grimace slowly grows onto his dark face. His bright gaze, filled with disappointment and anger suddenly, turn to look at Valdis.
“Who?”
He asks only.
Sinner
the hound
@[Valdis] @[litotes] Not sure if Litotes would like to be here so just adding since the thread is from a bit ago
02-07-2020, 02:39 PM (This post was last modified: 02-07-2020, 02:40 PM by Valdis.)
how come I never got used to the feeling of sleeping in a cage? too long driving, too damn hungry; a tied-up hound but nothing stays
They are beautiful, each of them, but Valdis warily eyes little Bruxas as the galaxy markings swirl to life. It is easy to claim the other two, to say they are both children of Sinner, but the palomino boy… How he carries himself, his mannerisms gentle as he scrambles to his feet, desperate to nurse. Everything about him screams Litotes, and although Valdis does not regret the coupling, she fears for the boy. ”My sweet son, you will need to protect yourself,” because she hasn’t seen his father in so long. If Sinner finds them first… A bout of fear grips her with icy fingers, and she freezes except for her eyes that trace each of their faces in admiration. ”My children,” she echoes as kisses are tenderly pressed to their heads, cherishing these fleeting moments.
Again, Valdis is alone for the delivery. Just like Erio.
A sigh passes her lips as she longs for the end of her solitude, but she doesn’t expect her wish to come alive so soon. Her body flinches when there’s a nearby rustling that disturbs the quiet. Defensively, Valdis positions herself between the crackled noise and the triplets. Her eyes desperately search the shadows. She should be glad to see the familiar golden eyes the haunt her dreams, but instead her heart wrenches with a throb of fear. There’s not an ounce of warmth in his arrival, and she watches as his gaze falls to Bruxas. It was only a matter of time, she knew, but she hoped to have a chance of hiding the boy, to shield him from this very moment. Alas, Valdis failed. Usually so brave in the face of the hellhound, she falters. An anxious clench of her jaws prohibits her from speaking at first, wanting to run and clutch the secret so close that it follows her to the grave, but she’s unable to lie to him or deny him.
He was, and will forever be, her first.
Underneath his piercing stare, Valdis flinches again and forces her teeth apart to confess, albeit hesitantly. ”I thought you left me when I was stolen,” she pauses to swallow the lump of emotion choking her, ”and he kept me company…” The triplets peer up as their mother inches back again. She is disappointed in herself to exhibit fear to him, but she has never been the source of his anger nor the source of betrayal. Opening her mouth, she almost says his name. Litotes. It’s there, flirting with her tongue, but she is distracted by a crack of a nearby twig.
It is in a rare moment of clarity—before he locks himself away in a cave to forget—that Litotes finds the scent of Valdis.
He is in his lion-form, the tuft on the end of his tail flicking irritably back and forth. The pale of his white coat glimmers in the last of the dying sun, hot oranges and yellows reflecting where his fur isn’t marred by dust. Lie watches as the purples and indigos melt into the sky. The ghost of a smile lifts his lips, but quickly disappears when the scent of birth mingles with the clear springtime air.
Humpf, the lion grunts, lifting gemstone eyes in the direction the breeze took the scent from. Lie lifts from his tensed sit and pads slowly that way, then quickly picks up his pace when he realizes who it is that is giving birth. “Valdis,” the lion murmurs to himself, heart rate thudding aggressively in his chest while he weaves between tightly clumped trees. Dapples of beautiful dying light color the forest floor but all Lie can think is I know that must be my child. Now he runs swiftly, deft feline body finding no issue with dodging tree trunks.
Litotes knows Valdis has someone else, someone he knows he should make an enemy of. Sinner, the once bold king of Sylva, clearly haunted her, even when they curled into each other’s loneliness. Misery loves company, Lie told himself, even though in the back of his head he knew this misery will turn to danger if the hellhound finds out about Valdis’ affair.
And it does just that. Danger sits heavily in the air when Litotes finds Sinner bristling over Valdis.
“Mine,” the lion growls, curling the night’s shadows protectively around himself. The tendrils reach possessively around the triplets and their mother, even as Lie focuses solely on Sinner. “He’s mine. And the other two might be mine, as well.” The last sentence comes out as a snarl. Lie knows that they might be Sinner’s, as well, but they certainly look more like their mother than the pair of fathers.
The hackles on Lie’s back raise while he crouches defensively. Something heavy in his chest tells him how terribly this is about to go wrong.
and let the cool air in, feel the night slip in as it softly glides across your back and i hope you leave right before the sun comes up so i can watch it alone
