+:Battleborn:+ (Odyssey)

[⋆Ravɛn]

M A D D O X

I've been a thousand places

and shook a million hands

I don't know where I'm going

But I know just where I've been

I've flown a million miles

And I rode so many more

Everyday a castaway

A vagabond battle born

For some reason, crossing the border always set Maddox on edge.

Maybe it was something about the way so many scents assaulted his nostrils, masculine and feminine alike. Maybe it was the fleeting glimpses he caught of the alphas, their shrewd eyes watching him as he strode casually across the grass. Whatever it was, it irritated him to no end and make his hackles itch to rise. Walking through the packland was a struggle, each step calculated and composed as Maddox fought to appear harmless. If he looked like he posed a threat, if he made one wrong move, his visiting rights would be revoked. Kasimira had made that blindingly clear.

The whole arrangement was still a little odd, in his honest opinion. Never before had he met a wolf who was not part of a pack, but still was allowed to come and go for a she-wolf. Then again, Adali wasn’t just any she-wolf. If she was average, he wouldn’t be here. So each time he visited, he walked carefully, he held his tongue, and he caused no problems. More than once he had longed to snap at Kasimira, or to wipe the arrogant smirk from her lover’s face. But no, he couldn’t, so at the end of the day Maddox left Irrsin feeling very much wound up, but endlessly glad to have seen Adali. She was amazing, the brightest part of each day that he saw her, although it wasn’t quite as much as he would have liked. But to see her daily he would have to join Irrsin, and even then, things would be difficult with her being a sklavin and him joining freely. Besides, Maddox didn’t do well in pack settings. Issues with authority, difficulty getting along with others, the whole nine yards.

As he moved further and further into the lush depths of Irrsin, Maddox knew that he was being watched. He could feel the way his spine crawled, the way his pelt tingled in places as if he could physically feel the eyes on him. He angled his head to the east, just slightly, only to find the way clear. Then, as inconspicuously as he had done the first time, he cut his gaze sharply to the west. There, on the distant horizon, was a flash of white. He could tell by the large, broad build that it was Tortuga. He hadn’t seen much of the other slender white she-wolf – Dresna – lately, although he certainly wasn’t complaining about that. She was so quiet that Maddox could never tell if she was just extremely mellow, or as stuck-up and snooty as her mother. He didn’t exactly care to find out, either.

Finally the dens came into view on the horizon. Maddox could only assume that since he hadn’t seen Adali patrolling that she was still slumbering inside; he hadn’t exactly meant to come so early, but he managed how he could. Studiously ignoring the eyes that followed him, he trotted forward until he was right outside, his tail swishing back and forth slowly. Kasimira had specified that he was not allowed in the dens under any circumstances, so the reddish hued male tilted his stark white face back and barked once, letting it taper off into a short, low, gravelly howl. It was how he always called Adali, and when the sound died away, he waited. After throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, he was relieved to find that Tortuga was no longer staring at him; the ivory male was slowly disappearing across the horizon, moving towards the furthest border. That was the good thing about Tortuga being on patrol duty when he visited: as annoying as his gaze initially was, he always wandered off and left Maddox and Adali to their own devices. This eased the tension rolling off of Maddox’s body, but only by a fraction.

This is as good as it’s going to get, I suppose.

[Ὀδύσσεια♐]

Adali

Adali had tried for so long to convince herself that she was happy. She tried for so long to convince herself that her position, no matter how precarious, was the one in which she belonged. The one she was destined for. She was born a sklavin, lived as a sklavin and she would, assuredly, die as a sklavin. The chains in which she was birthed would follow her to her grave, and it was coming fast. But, alas, it was the way the gears of the world churned, and who was she to question how the world worked? She would smile when she needed to smile (or maybe it had always been more of a grimace), nod when she needed to nod, say a word or two when looked upon expectantly, cower beneath a snarl when someone was angry with her. Never was there protest. She was always what anyone needed her to be, even with the dark cloud and anxiety looming constantly over her head and threatening to reduce her to nothing. And, once upon a time, Adali had told herself that she was okay with that.

And then Maddox had walked into her life.

As much as he had lifted her up, Maddox had also made her realize that was was wholeheartedly unhappy. She was unhappy belonging to everyone. She was unhappy comparing herself to her dominor's beauty, intelligence, grace, importance. She was unhappy living her life by what everyone else expected her to be. She didn't want to be that sniveling, cowering she-wolf - the one that wished only for the earth beneath her paws to swallow her whole or the one who trembled every time her dominors so much as glanced her way. No, every time Kasimira so much as glanced her way. That disapproving, suspicious stare that was thrust upon her and sent the most suffocating tendrils of fear coursing through her body.

It was early in the day and Adali knew she should have been one of the first to rise. She always had been, in fear of sleeping too long and whatever punishment such an act would bring. She told herself that she didn't know what time it was and that everyone else was still there, asleep around her. But she knew. They had left her there some time before. Astonishingly, nobody seemed to notice... or they just didnt care, but Adali was so expectant of punishment that she could not convince herself of the latter. It was funny, really, because if there was one thing the she-wolf was good at, it was convincing herself of whatever she needed to to survive. And so she lay there, curled into the tiniest, unnoticeable ball she could morph her gangly form into. Her tail hid her face from the world. Maybe that's what made it so easy to hide from it that day.

It was only a familiar, rough yet deliciously sweet howl that managed to stir the still form where it lay. Adali had not seen Maddox in many days. There had been occasions when she would greet him with more joy than the last, but today was not one of them. However, it was not from lack of affection or even love. She loved him. She had admitted it to herself some time ago. He knew it, didn't he? Everything had become such a blurr that Adali was not sure if she had ever confessed this to him or if it had been a figment of her imagination trying to whisk her away from this place. She was drawn to the entrance of the den and to the scent of the brute that, for reasons beyond her understanding, went out of his way to see her. Adali did not consider herself enough of a catch to warrant his affections. Such things went to females like Kasi, not cowering sklavins. But she did not think him insincere. Convinced that he truly possessed some amount of feelings for her, even if she could never quite figure out why, she went to him.

The she-wolf was not unaware of the gazes that followed the brute every time he dare visit and she was sure she felt just as uncomfortable as he must have. Head low and tail tucked in its customary position, she stalked past him with darting eyes and flattened ears. It was plain to see, to anyone who cared to acknowledge it, that she was in some distress. She wanted to get away from everyone that was not him. In that moment Adali trusted only one soul. A quick scan was all it took and she noticed nobody of great importance. "I want to go for a hunt," said Adali in her passing, only low enough for him to hear. "I want to," she had said. For once, she wasn't asking anyone's permission.

[⋆Ravɛn]

M A D D O X

Maddox, for some reason, had expected to wait a few moments. If Adali was asleep, he was perfectly content with waiting while she roused herself, which was why her sudden appearance was startling. As she darted out of the den, a blur of brilliant white, Maddox felt his grin stretching. So she was excited to see him, then, which made him—

"I want to go for a hunt.”

As quickly as she’d left the den, she stalked past him, tossing these words at him so quietly that he nearly missed them. Her entire posture screamed unease, and Maddox immediately wiped the grin off of his face. Something was wrong, but he couldn’t badger her about it here. Not in the open, where anyone could see or hear. Trying his hardest to maintain a sense of normality for the sake of appearances, he bounded after her, falling in beside her at a trot. It was entirely too difficult to force his body to hold a steady, easy gait when he wanted nothing more than to shelter Adali from whatever was bothering her. A million scenarios ran through his head, a million nightmares, until his heart was thundering in his chest and blood rushed in his ears.

He strolled alongside her like nothing was wrong, a grin on his muzzle again, albeit a forced one. He hoped that she knew that he wasn’t ignorant to her suffering as he lead her in the opposite direction that he had seen Tortuga wander, towards the furthest border where he had first sought her out so many moons ago. He could still remember waiting just beyond the line of trees, his nerves frayed when Adali finally appeared on the horizon, fur luminescent in the moonlight as she raced after a rabbit. And now here he was, walking her back to that same spot so calmly. It was the only place he knew to take her; prey constantly lingered around the line of trees, and it was easy to spot someone approaching across the vast meadow. Privacy wouldn’t be an issue, as long as he could contain his worries long enough to get her there…

It was slow going, but finally, a hint of the forest appeared on the horizon. Maddox sped up just slightly, his long legs tensed as if prepared to run. Upon crossing the stream and reaching the grassy area near the border, Maddox stopped, making a grand show of stretching while he scoped out the area. He could see nothing, could smell nothing but old scents and rabbits. He straightened, shaking dirt from his pelt before he pinned Adali with his golden gaze.

”We can hunt truly if you’d like, to be convincing or if you’re hungry, but either way we’re safe here. For now.” He paused only a moment before rushing on, his voice low and worried. Maddox had never been one to blatantly display his emotions, but when it came to Adali, he couldn’t help it. He cared so deeply for her, he loved her, and seeing her as he had when she’d first emerged from the dens had set a fire ablaze inside of his heart. And his head. ”What’s upset you? Has anyone hurt you, Adali?”

Say no. Because I swear if they have, I will tear them apart.

[Ὀδύσσεια♐]

Adali

For Adali, the trek was far too short and went by in a flash. One moment she was stalking out from the depths of the dens and the next she'd found a familiar line of trees on the near horizon. Passed the trickling stream and sweeping meadows they had gone and the sun had risen farther into the sky. But for her, it was not far enough. If she had possessed any semblance of bravery, she might have asked him to lead her further. Beyond the borders and far, far away. She did not fault him for his obvious efforts towards normal appearances. One of them had to. He told her she was safe, but Adali wasn't entirely sure what safe really was. He pinned her with a striking gaze that had sent butterflies thundering within her on too many occasions. But this day, all she could do was stand there and fight to feel nothing.

"Has anyone hurt you, Adali?” The she-wolf looked at her companion for a fleeting moment, clearly not expecting the question even though she knew it should not have come as a surprise. Such concern was perfectly normal between those who cared for each other, was it not? But how could he possibly be so concerned for her? He must have felt something in his heart for her but even after all this time, she still struggled to comprehend that someone actually gave a damn. And he'd said it with such intensity and vigor that it took her slightly aback. She was touched yet still so very confused. Had anyone hurt her? He was the only one to ever ask and she struggled for an answer.

Her gaze fell to her paws, darting from one to the other in rushed thoughts and reeling images. Flashes of jaws danced a deadly dance before her vision, the crackle of snarls tearing within her ears and shooting waves of a lifelong terror throughout. The worst of such things had happened in her previous pack, right? The place she'd come from long before - a place she could not picture. It had been better here in Irrsin, had it not? Adali found she no longer knew then from now. There were so many variations of pain and hurt. From the hot gash of a bite to the sting of words or a venomous glance. Yes, she had been hurt. She wanted to cry out not just to him, but to the world. She wanted to go to him and bury her face into his fur as she had done many moons before. It was the only place she had ever felt right. "No," it was a simple answer, and the only one she knew how to give right then. "I'm okay." She was not okay, but she didn't want to be a coward. She didn't want to be weak. Would it not make her weak? In all of her confusion Adali didn't seem to understand that the comfort of a loved one was a far cry from trembling at the paws of her dominors.

"I really do want to hunt," she said as she busied herself and distracted herself with sniffing out her prey. Anything to get far from her reality. She ambled away toward the brush and treeline, but half of her attention was still focused on Maddox at her back. So split in her focus was she that she was slightly startled when a silvery hare darted from the grasses, making a beeline for the underbrush. She flew after it, seeming unaware of her leap across the border.

[⋆Ravɛn]

M A D D O X

”No. I’m okay.”

Adali’s response was both relieving, and unnerving. It was something about the way she said it, her voice so simple and flat, that made Maddox peer more closely at her. The most concerning thing, however, was how she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Confusion crawled up his spine like fingers, unfamiliar and very much unnerving. He had never fretted over a female before; in fact, they had always worried over him. But this was different. Something had changed since the last time Maddox had crossed the borders, and not knowing what made him very uncomfortable.

"I really do want to hunt.”

Maddox blinked slowly, watching as Adali turned and moved away from him. He knew he should have followed immediately for the sake of keeping up appearances, but in that moment, he couldn’t force his paws to move. He was frozen, a dull hum vibrating in his ears as he stared after her. It was startling to be the one worried about someone else for once, and in a way, to be the one whose affection wasn’t returned. For a moment, he feared that perhaps Adali had found someone else, or decided that he was too much of a risk to be with. Almost immediately, he forced those thoughts from his head. Insecurity was something that he had never felt before, and he didn’t like it.

Sudden movement shocked him out of his reverie. Maddox jerked just slightly, muscles tensed for fight or flight, before realizing that it was a hare. Not a threat. Calm down. He hesitated for a single heartbeat as Adali took off after it, before bounding after her, losing himself in the burn that was building in his muscles. He was far too distracted to hunt, so instead of actively chasing the hare, he followed after Adali, turning when she turned and always dropping back when she slowed. He didn’t want to get in her way; he wanted her to hunt and eat, in hopes that afterwards she would feel a bit better.

Love was a strange thing. It made you forget about your own troubles, your own needs, all because you were worried about someone else. Maddox had very clearly been hit hard. As he had crossed the border, he had hoped Adali would want to hunt; he hadn’t eaten at all that day, and his stomach had cramped and growled needily. But now the brute found that his appetite was gone, swallowed by worry and doubt. It was…frustrating, truly.

He was sure that his confusion and sluggishness was showing, loud and clear as a beacon, but he couldn’t help it. As he stumbled along after Adali he was helpless, completely captivated by her.

[Ὀδύσσεια♐]

Adali

Her stride was long, swift and with direction. And yet, Adali was lost. All she knew was to keep going, keep running. There was something ahead that was waiting for her, always behind the next tree and through that oncoming cluster of bushes. The border had been left far behind them, nothing more than a conquered barricade that had caged her for so long. A startled squirrel veered into her path and she took a snap at it, teeth clamping down on nothing. But still, she did not slow. There was wind in her rustled coat of near-white, a stinging scrape gouged on her nose, delicious burning in her exerted legs. Her lungs yearned for air, but she did concede to their cry. The hare was long gone, but the hunt was still on. She didn't know where she was, but she knew exactly what she was headed for.

Her eyes opened for the first time in her life, drinking in the rushing of the leaves gone by and the dirt beneath her her paws. Some place far in the distance she could hear the snarls, see those vicious jaws and those judging stares, but they could not reach her. Off of her shoulders went the world. In that moment, she was free.

Suddenly, she was falling. All it took was the snag of a root underfoot and pure exhaustion in her bones before she was sent careening straight to the ground. Head over tail she went, skidding along a blanket of pine needles and decaying leaves. By some miracle or the grace of the good Gods watching over her, she missed a sizable cluster of protruding rocks before coming to a halt in a cloud of leafy debris. There she lay, motionless and mute, for too many breaths. All was silent in the woods.

And then... something. Adali herself wasn't sure if she was laughing or crying at first. It could have been a mixture of both. Beaten and battered by her tumble, the she-wolf found her trembling legs and golden gaze met golden gaze. She stared at Maddox for too long upon her realization that he'd followed her the whole way. How far had she gone? Where was her alphess now? What did it matter? The more she asked herself these very questions, the less she cared. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. Some might say that Adali was a victim of herself. Fears are often exaggerated within one's mind. But right then, in that brief period of time, they were gone. Her dominors were gone, her daymares were gone, her nightmares were gone. The one thing that was there and the one thing that mattered right then was the very wolf that had chased after her all this way.

As abruptly as she'd fallen, Adali was stumbling back to Maddox. He was the only one and the only thing that that counted, yet it was not a new-found revelation. He had counted more than any other soul before. He was important. It was okay to lay bare her weakness because in that moment, she didn't feel weak at all. There, nuzzled into the fur at his chest and surrounded by the silence of this unknown forest, she felt okay again.

[⋆Ravɛn]

M A D D O X

The moment that Adali raced over the border, Maddox faltered. It was a slight stumble, a tiny misstep before he was off after her, but it had definitely been there. Ever since he had begun visiting her, they hadn’t crossed the border. Maddox wasn’t entirely sure where Kasimira stood on the idea, which made him nervous, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let Adali charge off on her own. So he followed her, unbound by the restraints of Irrsin. And apparently today, so was Adali. Just the thought had a laugh slipping through Maddox’s teeth, and despite the fact that the noise was lost in the wind, he still felt…exuberant. It was like all worries were forgotten when he ran like this, pushing himself to his absolute limit, weaving after the only she-wolf he ever truly loved. The wind ripped away everything; it tore away Irrsin, left rankings in its dust, and completely swallowed all doubt that had previously clawed through Maddox. It was amazing.

Until Adali fell.

In a single second, Maddox’s world narrowed to a single point; the area where Adali dropped, tumbling wildly down an incline. ”Adali!” he barked, lurching after her, narrowly avoiding tripping as well. He skidded down the hill, panting hard when he reached the bottom, fully prepared to see the worst…only to be greeted by laughter. For a moment Maddox stood frozen, torn between horror and amusement until the latter won over. Then, he began to chuckle, which swiftly evolved to full-on laughter. In retrospect, the drop-off had seemed a lot larger when he’d seen Adali fall. God, the things you do for love…

”Gods, Adali, you scared the life out of me,” he began, but no sooner were the words out of his mouth than Adali was on her feet, bee-lining straight for him. The moment she touched him, burying her beautiful, narrow face in his chest, Maddox breathed a sigh of relief. All the worry, all the irritable nagging thoughts…gone. Just like that. She had so much power over him and she didn’t even know it. She could influence his moods, and she’d changed him so much since they’d first met. He was less reckless now, less apathetic, and it was all because of the snow white she-wolf nuzzled against his fur.

Dipping his head, Maddox nuzzled against her, breathing in her earthy, feminine scent. He wanted to take her away, as far away as he could imagine, so badly. He wanted to be able to love her freely without worrying over the repercussions, but most of all, he wanted her to live a fear-free life. A creature as beautiful as she was didn’t deserve to be confined.

”Are you feeling better, love?”

[Ὀδύσσεια♐]

Adali

”Are you feeling better, love?”

Love. A familiar yet still strange flutter tickled her heart and stomach, one that only Maddox had ever been able to rise in her. She rolled the sacred word around in her head many times and felt very much like a love-struck pup upon seeing a handsome brute for the first time. Of course, that's almost exactly what she was. Before him, she'd cared little to nothing about love. There had always been far more important things in life, such as simply surviving every day. Now it's what swelled in her chest and quickened her pulse every time she thought of Maddox and every time she met his fiery gaze. It was what filled her with dread and uncertainty every time she thought she would never see him again on the lonely days he was gone. "Yes," said the brightly colored she-wolf, "so much better."

Without moving from her huddled spot against him, Adali's eyes wandered and searched. Around them was an unfamiliar place that could have been anywhere. Leaves rained down like heavy drops from the canopy and somewhere above their heads was the song of a bird, singing to the late morning's golden light. She could still recall the day Maddox had burst into her life in an unknown forest in an unknown place much like this one. She could still remember the fear that had clutched at every fiber of her being, so afraid of what Kasimira would say or do about her absence. But no such feeling gripped at her now. Words born of this new-found independence and confidence welled up inside her then. "I think I'm lost," she breathed, eyes falling shut as she rested against him. He was there, with her, and so very real that she could not fathom leaving him now. "I would like to stay lost."

When finally she pulled herself back a pace, Adali found her legs with some renewed energy. But this relief was met with the silent rumble of her stomach; she really had been hungry earlier. Much to her chagrin, the rabbit that had sparked her run was long gone, left somewhere in the dust of her path. The she-wolf decided to take this opportunity for a sudden idea. She turned her focus onto Maddox once more, albeit with a somewhat shy bow of her head. "Hunt with me?" So soft was her voice that part of her feared he might have missed it.

For all the semblance of bravery she'd gathered this day, she found herself fearing his rejection. She knew it was unfounded; they'd hunted together numerous times before. Why did such a request rattle her nerves so? Before he could possibly deny her, Adali was turning and ambling away. Out of habit she tucked her tail yet her ears miraculously remained taut upon her head. She purposely directed herself in the very direction she'd originally been running, which was in the completely opposite direction than Irrsin. She only allowed herself a glance back to see if Maddox still followed as he had before.