Waiting for you || [o]

[⋆Ravɛn]

MATRID

I have died everyday waiting for you,
Darling, don’t be afraid, I have loved you
for a thousand years

Morning had slowly faded into evening, and evening to night. The moon was a crescent in the sky, and all around the chirping of crickets was faintly audible beneath the sounds of the falls. Somewhere deep in the forest that surrounded the waterfall, an owl hooted. Stars dotted the cloudless sky like diamonds; by all means, the falls should have been a beautiful, peaceful place. But for Matrid, it was just as confusing and broken as the rest of the world.

The burly female carefully picked her way down to the rippling pool that rested at the feet of the falls. Her paw pads were sore from days of traveling, and her stomach clenched and cramped with hunger. Most of all, her heart ached. She missed Irrsin, she missed Kasimira and Calliope and the pups, even Zy. More than anything, she missed Kyren. When the flames had started, she had tried her hardest to stay with him, but she had failed. She had been so close to being happy, too, and that was the worst part. The alphas had approved of her relationship with the Beta, and Kyren had even hinted that they were considering granting her freedom. But now her home was gone, her mate was somewhere unknown (she refused to think he might be dead), and she was nothing but a simple sklavin again.

Mournfully she collapsed by the pool, dipping her forepaws into the cool water to soothe their throbbing. One of them had cracked and was bleeding so badly that she limped and left bloody paw prints when she walked. I won’t survive much longer if I continue on like this. I need to go home. But did she have a home now? What had become of Irrsin? Closing her dark eyes against the torrent of painful thoughts, she sighed softly to herself.

Sitting around sulking was doing nothing, that much Matrid knew, but she found that it was hard to drag herself out of her deep depression. Over and over she had to force her mind away from her tiresome thoughts. Eperna will take care of me, she continuously reminded herself. What will be, will be.

Her stomach gave another painful lurch, driving her to her feet. Holding her injured paw in the air, she stared down into the water, desperate for even a glimpse of a meal. When something silver flashed beneath her nose, she did not think; she simply lunged. Her teeth sank into something slick, and she leaped backwards, tossing her prize onto the shore. The silver carp was decently sized, and just the sight of it sent her stomach into a rumbling fit. Eagerly she pounced the wriggling creature, tearing into it as if it were a succulent deer instead of a sub-par fish. By the time she had finished, her hunger was mild and slightly more bearable.

With only the crickets to keep her company, Matrid limped back to her spot beside the water, settling into a laying position. Perhaps she would sleep here tonight, and set out for Irrsin the next day.

If anything remains.

[»Image]

PHRINO

Night was heavily upon the land as Phrino slunk through the forest. His pelt was a shimmer of gold and his eyes two blinking orbs in the pale moonlight. He moved quickly through the undergrowth, tossing the new Alpha's gestures and interaction back and forth in his mind. He seemed better than Erus had been, so if nothing else, that was an upgrade. He'd definitely seen the male before though, and the incontinence of it all made the male squirm slightly. It wasn't like him to forget a face.

After Stolz's introduction to Regnen, Phrino had been quick to leave the territory. He needed to think, he needed to consider all of his options. Would he stay? Stolz didn't seem to completely trust his stories, but he hadn't called him out on them either. He was almost in a state of limbo; not committed to anyone place, but still not leaving Regnen to explore other options. A small part of him hoped that somehow, someway, Wicca might return. If she did, he would apologize for his behavior, make her believe he'd changed. She would accept his apology and give her own. And then they would run off together and explore Ravensbruck together, without limits, without duties to attend.

Well. That's how I'd like it to go. The male inwardly cursed himself for how he'd treated the beautiful she-wolf. He'd been his typical jock self, reverting to the training he'd received in Dachau. He'd been trained in high intensity scenarios, practically taught to apprehend another wolf with his eyes closed. For that reason alone, the Zielle life didn't match up too often with regular life in a pack. Everyone who wasn't in the organization was an enemy. He'd gotten over that mindset for the most part, but sometimes it still hung around. Funny, how those things work.

Phrino's pace slowed as he neared the crashing sound of the falls, peering through a few nearby bushes to screen the area. At this time of night, anything was possible. True to his instincts, a she-wolf laid just a few paces away. She seemed to be resting, which certainly paid no threat to a wolf like himself. Upon further inspection, she was rather pretty, with a partially black saddle and rich, tawny undertones. Not his typical girl, but not too shabby by any means. His flirtatious self turned on, Phrino forced down the warmth below his stomach and moved out to meet her head on.

"So what's a pretty she-wolf like you doing at this hour of night?"

Winking, Phrino moved stand just out of the water's grasp, casting a glance at the female. Prettier up close for sure.

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[⋆Ravɛn]

MATRID

Sleep would not come for Matrid, no matter how hard she tried. Each noise had her head lifting, her eyes searching wildly for the source of the noises. When a bird burst from the trees, startled out of his nest by something unseen, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

When a voice followed shortly later, Matrid thought she would have a heart attack.

”So what’s a pretty she-wolf like you doing out at this hour of night?”

Matrid was on her feet in an instant, whirling to find a brute standing near her. He was the same height as her, with a thick coat of tans and khaki and grays, but it was his eyes that caught her attention: bright amber, so different from her dull brown. Despite the fact that he was blatantly, obviously handsome (and he had called her pretty! Ha!), she took a weary step back. He was a stranger, and for all she knew, he could have been a dominor. Quickly her mind worked, calculating and evaluating the situation. The last thing that she wanted to do was to be ripped away from her home when she was so very close. He could be a simple freior, or a wandering pack member. Maybe he knows something about Irrsin…but is it worth the risk?

Straightening from her slouching stance so that her lowly position was not so obvious, she cocked her head as if studying him.

”Relaxing,” she replied vaguely, steeling her voice as she nodded her head towards the water. ”The sound of the falls is so soothing.”

Falling silent, she considered her options. She would have very little chance of outrunning him if she needed to, since they were nearly similarly matched. Her only choice was to stick around and pray that he was no threat. He didn’t seem to be, especially not if he was complimenting her, but brutes were tricky and for Matrid, old habits died hard. It was difficult for her not to be weary. For a while she had been better, after Kasimira had claimed her. She hadn’t been an awful dominor; she had never abused Matrid, and for that, the Sklavin was grateful. After her original dominor, she had been entirely convinced that she had deserved to be treated badly, but after her time in Irrsin…

But you’re not home anymore. You’re lost. Her thoughts dragged her back to reality, back to the falls and the stranger. Blinking curiously at him, she cleared her throat before speaking. ”I could ask you the same. What’s your name?” For the first time in a while, Matrid’s aching heart had quieted, if only slightly. While a part of her would always dwell on her shattered world, keeping her thoughts occupied with her current situation made things…easier. Oddly, she hoped that this brute would be good company. The thought of staying away from home any longer instead of returning like Kasimira would have expected made her stomach roil, but she pushed the thought away. She would return. In time.

[»Image]

PHRINO

”Relaxing, the sound of the falls is so soothing.”

Fair enough. A typical answer of wolves when visiting at the falls. The water was serene even in the well-known, steady and hard rush, and it played nicely with the light that refracted splinters of midnight silvers and pale whites onto the ground. But whenever someone ventured here, there was something on their mind. Hell, he had plenty of things buzzing around himself. Grinning, Phrino was amused by the accusation (however slight) the female threw at him.

”I could ask you the same. What’s your name?”

Not bad, darling. Phrino was impressed with the vigor she had shown, both in her response to his initial arrival and her smart quip. In her defense, it was rather late at night, with the moon almost at the highest point of it's starry ascent. As if to pacify her, Phrino answered easily and with the straightforwardness of a shot arrow.

"Phrino. And if you're curious, I came here for a break from my current, well, duties."

He searched for the right word, hoping his evasiveness wouldn't throw off the female entirely. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, rather that the full story wasn't quite suited for a new acquaintance. Maybe after a little more out of her, he'd open up. Maybe.

The khaki male strode forward to sit closer to the female; not s close as to be uncomfortable, but within a friendly talking distance. She was awfully pretty. Sigh. He'd curse Brenn for all the hell he'd gone through, but he had at least granted him with looks to catch the ladies. Maybe, if he played nice he could have a little fun. It had been ages since he'd spent that night with Calliope, and frankly, his love life had been filled with anything but females since then. Pulling up his Zielle demeanor and padding into the water, Phrino looked back over his shoulder and posed a question to the female.

"Any chance you'd care to join me...?"

He searched blatantly for a name, flashing a smile as if to encourage her. He needed to get back into the game, that was for sure.

[/size]

[⋆Ravɛn]

MATRID

"Phrino. And if you're curious, I came here for a break from my current, well, duties."

For a heartbeat, Matrid waited to see if the brute would elaborate on his duties. When he didn't, she decided not to pry. Some wolves had secrets that were better kept than told. She had learned that long, long ago.

Her dark eyes stayed glued to his frame as he moved forward, past her and into the water that rested at the foot of the falls. He seemed to be normal enough; so far, she had seen nothing that hinted of threats or danger. Perhaps it was a good thing that company had found her tonight. Otherwise, she might have stayed here for hours, dwelling on her past and sinking further into her sorrow. A distraction was a good thing. And while she felt slightly guilty for not turning and running straight back to Irrsin, she knew that she had to rest; her paw was already in questionable condition. She needed to let it heal before traveling any further, no matter how close Irrsin might be. And as soon as it's feeling better, I'll continue on. But for now...

"Any chance you'd care to join me...?"

Blinking away her thoughts, Matrid glanced towards Phrino, who was watching her questioningly. Realizing that she had yet to introduce herself, she frowned slightly. She had been away from Irrsin for only a short time and already she had forgotten her manners. It was very...unusual of her.

"Matrid," she filled in, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the falls. A familiar pang of shame twisted in her gut; she had always hated her name, hated how plain and boring it sounded rolling off of the tongue. So many times she had considered lying; how easy it would be to change it, to tell strangers that happened upon her that it was something more exotic or beautiful. But in the end, she never did. She was plain, boring Matrid. While she may have been able to change her name, she never would have been able to change herself.

From her vantage point on the shore, Phrino's offer was tempting. The water looked cool and refreshing, beautiful in the way the moon reflected off of it's surface. Her paw throbbed painfully, and involuntarily, she winced. Perhaps just a moment in the water, just to soothe her paw and pacify Phrino. Then she could back safely onto the shore again.

Carefully edging forward, she stepped daintily into the water, staring down at a school of minnows as they darted past her paws. Then, glancing towards Phrino again, she pulled her lips into a smile before advancing until the water lapped gently at her belly. Sighing with relief as the throbbing in her paw eased, Matrid edged slightly closer to Phrino, enough to seem friendly but not overly-so.

"So do you spend all of your time wandering around in the dead of night, or do you belong to any of the packs?" Her tone was partially teasing, partially curious. She hadn't seen him before, but then again, Matrid hadn't ventured out of Irrsin until the fire. Briefly her thoughts returned to her pack, to Kyren and Calliope and the pups, but as quickly as the thoughts had come, she chased them away. Tonight, she was determined to relax. There would be enough reminders when she returned to Irrsin, after all.