--! All Their Wasted Grace [OPEN]

[¿℟ᵿҝɸ]

[atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true][bg=000000] R A T E Y O U R S E L F& H A T E Y O U R S E L F ALL THE COURAGE YOU HAVE LEFT WASTED ON FIXING ALL THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR OWN HEAD Have you ever had the feeling that your whole world was just collapsing in around you? For Zy, that process was taking place around him in the form of a raging inferno, bent on assimilating him with the ashes and cinders that were once part of the land of Irrsin. It was once, because now the open grasslands had been claimed by a new ruler- one that was much more dangerous, and terrifying, than Kasimira had ever been. Zy would much rather be facing down his furious Queen than this angry affront from hell brought to life by nature. At least Kasimira could be entertaining. This, this was pure terror. The only thing Zy could do was run. And run. And keep running as the flames whipped him onward; a reminder that they were still there. The only thing keeping him going was fear. He could feel the heat behind him as he fled from the pursuing hellfire. The smoke surrounding him slowly started to cloud both his vision and lungs, making escape even more strenuous. He thought about just giving up. It would certainly be easier to surrender to the black clouds and allow himself to be enveloped by a baptismal fire than to continue his seemingly futile efforts of escape. He could feel himself slowing involuntarily, as if his body had decided for him. 'This wasn't how it was supposed to end', he thought. He panicked at the encroaching darkness caused by the claustrophobic smoke flooding his senses. His frantic sprint slowed to a pitiful stumble in his last ditch instinctive effort to escape; blackness forcing its way through his consciousness. Eventually the male collapsed, his fate out of his own control, and with the crackling of the flames growing ever closer. ***** Zy awoke with his face buried in charred, blackened, earth, unsure of just how he survived, or if he was even alive. He attempted to stand, but ended up toppling back over. Resigning to his current fate he laid in the ashes of his captive home, attempting to think of anything but his current situation in vain. He wondered how he survived, if he actually did. For all he knew the afterlife could just be some charred landscape like the one he was in now. Or maybe it was hell. That's more likely where he thought he'd end up anyway if it existed. His current solitary isolation in a vacant landscape sure seemed like something those bureaucrats in purgatory would set up just for him. How considerate. Just then, in the far distance, he heard something that sounded faintly like the howl of a fellow wolf. He was way too out of it to recognize who it was, or even where it came from, but knew it was another living being. Wait... that meant... "HA. I LIVED! SUCK IT YOU HEARTLESS BASTARDS UP THERE!" he cockily yelled skyward while making ash-angels by rolling around on the well-done grass. He could care less how he managed it, or even if those 'bastards' he just insulted had something to do with his existence at the moment. His uncanny ability to dodge death wasn't limited to just pissed off wolves after all. Maybe it was his fear of accepting that his home may have been burned to the ground, or maybe it was actual joy from still being alive, but Zy began to laugh hysterically, and couldn't stop. That is, until reality actually did sink in through his thick skull. He was completely, utterly, and entirely, alone. He felt a sudden pang of abandonment and, strangely, guilt, when he realized how quickly he ran from his fellow pack-members. He remembered when the fire started he was a good distance away from the rest of them, as usual, but he didn't even think twice of running toward them to see if they were all heading out of the flames. "Why should I care if any of them got out... not like they would if I didn't", Zy grumbled half-heartedly to himself. Truth was, he didn't understand how he could feel guilty at all about wolves that hardly wanted him around. Sure, they were entertaining, but they'd all probably ditch him the first chance they got, like always. He promised himself he wouldn't get attached to any of them, so why was he hoping to hear Tortuga or Kasimira, or even Calliope, any of them, yell out 'Zy!' right now. He stood shakily on his weakened, exhausted, frame, and began slowly stumbling back the same path he was earlier running for his life down. Zy wasn't sure why he was heading back, positive that death was the only companion to find along the way, but he did so anyway. Only thing he could do was keep going. OOC;; Sooo irritated that I can't get my new table code to work. :I Eff codes. Uhh. Open. Immy told me to get back here.

[⋆Ravɛn]

D R E S N A

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*

Only once the clouds have gone to sleep
can you see us in the sky
we are afraid and alone
God knows I don't want to be an angel

It reeked of blackened earth and desperation.

But desperation from what, Dresna wondered? Did the smell come from the earth itself, desperate to recover, to thrive? Did it come from the mangey wildlife she spotted as she slunk closer to Irrsin, her paws leaving tell-tale prints in the soot. Her fur, as white and glorious as her father's, was darkened by the remains of the fire. Black was smeared up her legs, lightly freckled across her belly and chest. What would she look like, if she encountered anyone else? Would she look like the pitiful remains of a raging inferno, or would she appear as if she were the imbodiment of survival? She felt...like neither. She felt nothing, with the exception of a small twinge of hope. Yet she wasn't letting hope drive her. The fire had taught her that the world could be cruel, and that to hope was dangerous. If you walked into a situation, hoping for nothing, not a hint of a prayer, you wouldn't be disappointed one way or another. Right?

After all, where had hope gotten her? In the beginning, when her father had sent her along the shore, she had perked at every movement, investigated every sound. Yet still, she had seen paw nor tail of her Irrsin pack members. Which included her mother and her siblings.

Ah. That sent a ripple of pain through her, and for a brief moment, she paused. Were they here, waiting for her? Maybe her father had found them first. Maybe she was overreacting, and they were safely huddled in the den. But ah, there was hope again. Forceably she pressed the thoughts from her mind, lunging forward. There was no time for that. And she couldn't afford to be bumbling around, consumed by her little head fantasies. Just because she had set foot on Irrsin territory didn't mean there weren't threats lurking. Rogues and thieving Dominors were both likely, and the last thing that Dresna needed was to run into trouble on her own. She wasn't exactly scrawny, but she was petite, all swinging hips and coy glances like her mother. She was feminine. And despite the fact that she was strong-willed and stubborn, just like both of her parents, feminine could be seen as weak. Ha! She thought, her lips pulling back into a snarl. Hardly. If it was one thing her parents had taught her, it was that she was not weak. Sure, she may have been...quiet. She kept to herself on matters that she found trivial. But that didn't mean she was a poor, defenseless pup. She had grown quite a lot, actually. She looked like a young lady now, sprinting headlong towards adulthood.

Suddenly, there was a harsh, abrupt sound. Or maybe it was only harsh because she had been traveling in silence for so long. It was familiar, a loud, careless cackle...and ah, of course. How could she ever misplace that sound in her memories? It was Zy. Immediately she turned towards the sound, her bright blue eyes scanning the horizon. There, that moving speck in on the distant hill...that must have been him. Immediately she trotted forward, moving quickly towards him. Her mind whispered for her to be careful, but the closer she got, the more familiar his features became. She herself didn't have a very personal relationship with Zy, but her brother had loved the silly brute. She had constantly found herself rolling her eyes at their jokes, and turning her head away from their sly remarks. But now she would have given anything to have Marzell here, making some smartass remark under his breath to Zy.

She was only a few steps away from him now, close enough to stick out her neck and poke him with her muzzle. She refrained, however, sticking to her distance.

"Zy?" She said. Her voice was confident and sure, making her word sound more like a statement than a question. She tried again. "I have to say, I didn't expect to find you, of all people, lurking around here. I figured you would be miles away by now."

Ah, did that sound too harsh? To soften her words, she shot him a brief smile, before looking him over. He looked healthy. No horrible, life-altering burns. Reluctantly, she allowed the little twinge of hope to rear it's head again. At least it was someone.

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[¿℟ᵿҝɸ]

[atrb=width,500,true][atrb=border,0,true][bg=000000] R A T E Y O U R S E L F& H A T E Y O U R S E L F ALL THE COURAGE YOU HAVE LEFT WASTED ON FIXING ALL THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR OWN HEAD 'One more step, then I'll turn back. I'll leave right after I round this rock. Or this one. Or this.... bush? No, dead rabbit. The next one, I swear I'm leaving.' He didn't know why he kept walking. Zy couldn't understand what he expected to find in the burnt ruins of what once was Irrsin. Every step he took toward the now extinguished epicenter of terror was, to him, one last chance to turn tail before he had to face up to the truth of his situation. Every landmark he saw, from charred rock to bunny bbq, he swore was his sign to follow his instincts and run. He knew the chances of anyone surviving were slim to none, and even if they did, the flames had scattered the pack like a kid in a flock of seagulls. While his body trudged onward, his mind was gridlocked with itself. Two tiny nagging voices berated each other both equally irritating, and both manifested from Zy's own conflicted thoughts. 'They could be safe, like you.' 'Or not, like that poor creature.' 'You should at least see if they really are dead.' 'No, why not just forget them and run away like always.' Usually there wouldn't even be this argument; Zy would have been half way across Ravensbruck at the first sign of tragedy like this. But something... something was holding him back, and he despised himself for it. He didn't even know what it was. 'What am I doing...' He slumped back onto his haunches, staring bleakly at the soot covered ground, unsure of just what to do with himself. If Kasimira was gone, then there was no order, no fruitless battle to wage, no place for him. He could practically hear her snide remarks if she were to see him now. The rebellious, egotistical, flirtatious Zy, reduced to the pitiful sklavin he truly was. The thought of her pompous mockery almost made him laugh too. As he continued to sit in silence, pondering the meaning of his life now that he believed his last chance had been torched by fate, the sudden sound of ‘Zy?’ shocked him out of his pensive state. He wheeled around backwards so quickly that instead of ending upright he lost his balance and landed flat on his back, like a gracefully beached whale. While in his disoriented state he saw a blur of white a few feet away and immediately his face lit up with a sort of baffled, but happy, grin. At first he thought it was his homeboy Tortuga, valiantly looming over his fire scarred lands with sheer awesome, riding out of the chaos as a beacon of hope to come save the princess Zy from his terrible fate. But then he realized it was just Dresna, his daughter, and not the studly dominor himself. He couldn’t help being a little disappointed, since the Tortuga story would have been so much better to tell later, but the fem look-alike wasn’t the worst outcome. "I have to say, I didn't expect to find you, of all people, lurking around here. I figured you would be miles away by now." Oooh, harsh words from the mini-tort. Zy could tell she realized how jaded she sounded, adding a smile in to soften the blow, but he didn’t really get why. It wasn’t exactly a hidden trade secret that the male constantly wandered off, and the question itself was one he had just given up answering. He wasn’t at all surprised. In fact, he was almost a little proud of the quiet pup for taking a jab at him. Maybe she had inherited her mother’s wit after all . “Lurking? Oh come onnn Snowball, why you gotta make me the badguy all the time.” He smirked, pretending to be hurt by her accusation. “I woulda gotten the hell outta dodge, but my inner gentleman sensed a young damsel in distress. Must be you, right?” Zy rolled over and managed to stand up before shaking a dust cloud of unnoticeable ash off his black hued pelt. He looked at Dresna’s coat, wondering how she had fared during the event, and could only giggle at the sight before him. She looked like the snow on the streets that had been sitting there for a while and collecting all the dirt and grime from the surrounding area. Kind of pitiful really, the poor girl. He guessed white wasn’t the best color for situations like this, and couldn’t resist trying to make it worse. “Hey, watch this.” Zy sauntered over and smooshed his head into her side and backed away, leaving an oddly shaped print of soot behind. “Behold! My masterpiece.” He stood aside to admire his creation, laughing at his ‘artistic prowess’ , and sad victim. Honestly, he wasn’t just trying to be a total d-bag, and really thought the girl could use some cheering up. After the initial shock of seeing another wolf, realizing it wasn’t his man-crush Tortuga, and finally dragging himself out of his hole of self pity, Zy noticed his once little princess looked far too grown up for her own good. This event had to be stressful for her- hell, who wouldn’t it be stressful for- and couldn’t stand seeing such a cute face look so distressed. Come to think of it, she was actually growing into quite the adorable fem. It made the male feel a little bit like that creepy uncle no one ever wants to talk about. Gross. “So, really. You ok? I mean, as ok as you can be after something… all… “ He trailed off into an awkward silence, trying to think of a word that summed up today without being too horrible. “… bad.” After pausing for another awkward second he sheepishly smiled and lightly laughed at himself. “Today just sucks doesn’t it.”

[⋆Ravɛn]

D R E S N A

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*

Only once the clouds have gone to sleep
can you see us in the sky
we are afraid and alone
God knows I don't want to be an angel

“Lurking? Oh come onnn Snowball, why you gotta make me the badguy all the time? I woulda gotten the hell outta dodge, but my inner gentleman sensed a young damsel in distress. Must be you, right?”

Yep, it was definitely good ol' Zy. Those teasing words, that playful smirk...wouldn't be Zy without them, after all.

"Snowball?" She quipped. "And I'm certainly not in distress. In fact, I'd think it was you that's in distress."

She had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before he was on about something else, and she blinked at him for a moment, confused at to what she was supposed to be watching. Until Zy suddenly lurched forward, his head connecting with her side in a ram-like movement. A soft 'oof' slipped from her muzzle as she stepped to the side, staring incredulously at the big ugly soot mark on her pearly fur as Zy exclaimed, "Behold! My masterpiece." For a moment, irritation and an odd hysterical urge to laugh battled to the death inside of her. She was usually such a clean freak, always wanting her fur in pristine condition. Always wanting to shine. But after everyting that had happened, after all the stress and the worrying, what the hell? Marzell had always called her uptight and boring, after all. With his old, mocking words teasing her brain, Dresna indignantly dipped her head into the soot before rubbing her head all along Zy's back. She stepped back, a smug expression on her face, before narrowing her bright eyes at him.

"That," she said, as she took in his dark fur, so dark that it appeared untouched by the soot. "Is unfair. Now I look like a mutt, and you look as fresh as a field of daisies!"

Shaking her head, she took a step back, glancing over her shoulder. Still no sign of the others, but at least she had found Zy. Somehow, he cheered her up, with his silly antics. Had she found, say, Kyren or her mother, or any of the others for that matter, the situation would have been ten times more serious. She would have still been tense and worked up, likely prowling the horizon, searching desperately. But standing here with only Zy, who had always been...sure, a little obnoxious but still quirky, she found that she was relaxing. She sat back on her rump with a sigh, her ears flicking forward as his voice reached them. “So, really. You ok? I mean, as ok as you can be after something… all… bad.”

There was a pregnant pause where Dresna didn't know what to say, but luckily, Zy continued weakly.

“Today just sucks doesn’t it.”

A soft bubble of laughter escape her as she nodded her head once, quickly. She turned her attention back to him, wondering if it had been hard for Zy, too. He liked to pretend like he didn't care much for Irrsin, and always as if he would rather be elsewhere, likely parading around with gorgeous she-wolfs. Yet he always had a knack of popping up after a while, weaving in and out of her childhood memories, like a ghost but always returning. She had grown used to her mother demanding to know where Zy was, and Tortuga shrugging, Calliope looking slightly worried, and Kyren rolling his eyes. No one ever supplied an answer, but a few weeks later, Zy would come ambling along the trail. It was something she kind of loved about him, something that made him unique and interesting. Something that made him Zy.

She realized that she had spaced out. Shaking her head, she thought back to his questions, clearing her throat. "It's hard," she said, and then she faltered. Dresna didn't talk about her feelings. It wasn't a very future-alphess-type thing to do, spouting about how terribly she missed her mother and how she hoped her siblings were okay. So instead she shrugged, averting her gaze and forcing a firm smile onto her black-rimmed lips. "It does suck, as you so helpfully put it," this was said with a coy smirk aimed in his direction, mirroring his very similar ones. Right back at you. "But I just think that there's no point moping about it, you know? It must have happened for a reason."

She sounded so sure that she almost convinced herself.

Blinking away her thoughts for perhaps the millionth time, she tilted her head, focusing her clear blue eyes on him. "And what about you? How are you doing?

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[Thomassen]

Thomassen

A dark Grey male struggled through the suffocating grass -- if he could still call the tall burning stalks that. He hadn't done anything wrong. Perhaps it was his minimal activity within the pack that had caused this fire. No. It couldn't be. There were so many that had gone missing for a while. He wasn't the only one. Kasimira and the others would still be in their dens. Hopefully. Now, he had to see if he could find the others during or after this inferno. The only problem was, he was completely lost in the fiery blaze.

A clump of grass exploded into flames in front of him, startling and causing him to yelp and leap back. The sparks floated down onto his back. Feeling the sharp pain of the embers, the brute burst into a sprint, hoping to put out the flames. The heat became worse, and the brute threw himself to the ground, rolling and crying until his backside felt a little cooler. He picked himself back up after a moment of lying down, looked back to see that his rump was no longer a torch. He heaved a sigh of relief before continuing with his meandering.

It only took a couple more paw-steps before he became exhausted. The smoke, the ashes, the glowing ardour all finally coming together and bashing at the fatigued animal. He stumbled to a stop and fell down where he was. His head swam and seared with pain as he slowly fell into a blackness.

---

Thomassen blinked open his eyes. How much time had passed when he had blacked out? A few minutes? Hours? Days? Hopefully not. His stomach rumbled with hunger. When was the last time he had eaten? His equilibrium was completely thrown. He could barely see after all the sticky ashes that had piled up on his head and eyelids after his collapse. His rump had started to sting again.

The wolf shook his head, trying his best to clear his vision. Maybe the pack was nearby. He observed his surroundings, but saw nothing familiar. The fire had practically burned everything to the ground; a desolate plains instead of the teeming-with-life plains. Now he could barely tell cinders from dirt. He put a paw out and felt the sticky mixture of moist soil and cinder. His lips curled up in disgust as he trekked along the repulsive layer of earth.

His ears pricked as he suddenly heard the sound of talking -- wait, talking? -- and he picked up his pace, eventually breaking into a lope. His young lungs, however, were filled with smoke and didn't provide him with the oxygen he needed to keep his stamina up. He slowed back down, and much to his surprise, saw Zy and -- it couldn't be! -- young Dresna having what seemed like a banter. The usual bantering between the two almost brought a smile to Thom's lips, had the situation not been so catastrophic.

He stopped as a coughing fit took over his body. This dust-filled air isn't helping me get much better, he cursed to himself. His stomach rumbled again; Thom swore he heard it say it wanted food. As he drew closer to the couple, he let out as loud a howl as his voice would let him, which was, unfortunately, not very loud.

"Hooooowde--!" Thom was cut off with another cough. At least he was close enough to them he could hear a basic conversation.

[[Words; 578]]

[[OOC: Not sure about activity on here, but I do think it'll pick up]]