by `silver » Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:42 pm
𝐀𝐌𝐘𝐀𝐒 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐄
tags; ferdie, genim, harlow location; a really nice forest word count; 2,205
Humans. Always taking what does not belong to them and borrowing without so much as asking.
They arrived with cages made of titanium, shackles made for anchoring boats; humans once again seizing claim on the lives of others and condemning them to a fate that they had no say in. Amyas remembers how they were swallowed by a haze of red, caterwauls voiced by both fur and fang dripping with anguish as they broke. Their starved, desperate voices boomed raucously in the minds of whomever was left to listen—whomever hadn’t been eradicated or fled. Jaws clamped mercilessly against metal, a sheen of blood catching the unearthly light that had once brought them respite and solace but now drowned the area in a frigid sheen of silver. An array of unmoving bodies littered the cages. The stench of death choked those that still dared to draw breath. Amyas could only watch their Alpha morph themselves into someone they did not recognize. Frothing white and crimson at their maw, their pelt ragged, torn away by their resolve as they believed themselves—no, prided themselves—that they would become victorious against the festering wound that was humanity on this earth. A mangled lump of fur with its teeth and claws broken from futility, soiling the very air with every putrid exhale due to their pride-fueled efforts that was about to land them incarcerated and shipped off to the closest stretch of green. They did not know when enough was enough. The delirium clouded their judgement, told them that their pack was calling for them to continue to fight, to see another day for them, but the reality of it all turned to a single, sterile vial of clear liquid that was administered into their flank.
“Too unpredictable. Hard to believe that this was a person once.” A human clad in protective gear grumbled.
A small, whispered tone brought a wild light to Amyas's eyes, somehow blared over the roar of the nearby engine.
“Amyas, you’ve failed them as much as I have.” It dripped with honey, breathing a heavy fog into her mind that began to turn the scene before her into a blur. Her backpack had limply slumped off her shoulder and onto the grass where her feet no longer stood as she lurched forward, white-knuckled fist greeting the jawline of the one who'd spoken aloud with an audible crack. Why? The man fell to his knees, his cries of pain falling on deafened ears as she continued to beat him. Why am I so angry? When her backside grew heavy with the weight of another, her skin began to itch and her bones creaked, aching to the very marrow of her bones. Her head turned suddenly to lock eyes with her oppressor, igniting fear and sympathy in orbs that were not her own. Why am I fighting?
The moment's hesitation on the man's part was enough time for Amyas to secure a blow to his throat that had him careening backwards into another only for her to sense someone at her flank. Her hand reached instinctively towards them before she could get a good look at them, the feeling of cold metal brushing her fingers sending a shock through her static body. Fiery wisps of white exhaled from her lips, the world no longer blurring but rather sharpening, as the very air itself moved only for the breaths of those whom thought each of their lives were about to cease.
She did not dare to move, but her eyes flickered with a sudden tone of yellow, the man standing behind the barrel then pressing his gloved finger on the trigger. Amyas remained motionless in her spot, feeling his own gaze burning holes into her face as she stared down what very well could be her own demise. It was then that the oh so familiar questions that one asked themselves when faced with a challenge that could ultimately reduce them to nothing sprang to mind, but these were also the kind she was used to asking herself about so instead she focused on the most important one.
Will it finally happen today?
The man did not give her long to ponder. The moment his breath hitched, Amyas's hand gripped the gun's underside and pushed upwards in time for her ears to begin ringing with fresh pain. The recoil paired with her strength around it's metal body was enough for the man to release his claim of the item, her hand recognizing the weight with too much ease. He scrabbled for purchase along his waistband, Amyas's shoulders loosening visibly when she came to a silent decision after hearing an array of footsteps and safeties being disengaged.
"Here."
She didn't meet the man's eyes but rather felt them train onto her face once more, scenting how the mixture of fear and anger that he had reeked of only moments ago transgressed into that of disbelief. She hadn't noticed it before but there were still others here from the pack that were alive. It would do no favors to those whom were left if she too ended up like their alpha. With a deep sigh, Amyas simply walked away from the man, acknowledging those whom had accumulated around them with a harsh glance. In her wake, sat a glint of silver in the grass.
I can't believe I really just did that. A shudder passed through Amyas as she grasped the strap of her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder once again just as a shout for someone not to shoot cut the tension crackling in the air. More guns were pointed at her, some of the men that were attached to them urging her to head towards the nearby humvee that had been guzzling gasoline the whole time. It was then that she realized her heart was thudding so loud that blood was roaring in her ears, her hands swiftly shoving themselves into the pockets of the cardigan that she'd layered on top of a hoodie to hide their trembling. She couldn't tell if her quakes were out of anxiety or adrenaline but nonetheless, she entered the vehicle without any further complications to see that there were already a few others inside.
She kept her eyes trained away from the others, werewolf or not, in order to soothe not only herself but her wolf as well. How she hadn't shifted back when she'd witnessed her own alpha being euthanized in front of her, she didn't know nor could she really understand all the emotions that were attempting to break her normally stoic composure. Her ears were deaf to the ancient authority of her own late alpha even with the blood of the wolves pumping through her veins, so where exactly did her loyalty even lie? Was it because she'd only recently become a member unlike the majority of the pack? Or maybe it was just the fact that she'd been bitten rather than born. Whatever it was, it no longer mattered. It's not like I wanted to be Beta in the first place. She had gone into town for only a few hours to wander the streets listlessly and take a day for herself to relax only to return by nightfall to a pack that no longer existed. Her stomach churned at the feeling of guilt that threatened to gnaw at her already exhausted mind, whispering of her regrets and feeding off the last words that her alpha had uttered directly into her thoughts. Leave me alone. Hugging her backpack to her chest, Amyas squeezed her eyes shut in the hopes of sleep enrapturing her even if she knew she was giving her body too much credit in that regard. None of what happened would allow her to sleep well for a good while.
Or so she thought. Cold morning light struck her vision with it's weak golden rays against a bruised, cloudless sky from the windows of the humvee. Pressing up against the chilled panel of the vehicle, Amyas straightened up, shuffling quietly as she did so and earning a look from one of the guards that appeared to be the most attentive of the three before his gaze flicked to the space beside her. Genim. Ferdinand. The names leapt to mind before she could even look to them, their scents giving them their proper labels instead as her senses stirred to life. Had they seen the alpha fall to the hands of these humans? A single glance to the same guard told her that she shouldn't say anything unless it was something along the lines of needing to vomit or use the restroom. Even then, she doubted they'd open a single frame within the vehicle until they got to their destination. She pressed her mouth into a thin line as she settled back into her spot, deciding that she was too tired to deal with an unruly person right now anyway since she knew the hand she'd been dealt with these two was already going to be enough. If either of them decided to try anything, getting hit with the butt of a gun out of annoyance would be of their own accord.
The wheels of the humvee coming to a skidding halt were sooner than expected and was followed by a gust of bleak, autumnal air that radiated fresh earth and petrichor. One moment they were sitting shoulder to shoulder in a military car and the next, her boots were landing on the prettiest stretch of land she'd ever laid eyes on. Hundreds, if not thousands of trees sat atop of hills of emerald, bluish-gray mountains framing what she could see of the horizon and towering over their current location with a mass that beckoned her wolf to explore. Not yet. First, she had to deal with whatever mess that they had been dropped into. Then maybe she'll have a chance to scour the expanse that she could've only dreamt of being entrenched by in a reality she thought to never have been witness to.
It seems they weren't the only ones in this mess. Aside from the sea of varying shades of blues and greens that marked the forest ahead, there was also a good amount of heads weaving through the clearing which could only mean one thing. More than just Green Ridge had been swept into all this. It wasn't often she met other packs let alone werewolves and her body growing rigid with distrust was a dead giveaway, her hand lifting to rub at the back of her neck as she grumbled irritably. "I guess we're the only ones left of Green Ridge. How're you all fairing?" Amyas left the question more open ended for the sake of giving them an option as to whether or not they wanted to answer that question then and there. Neither wolf were the type to be shaken up so easily, but the alpha had been Ferdie's father and so this was her way of figuring out whether or not they'd witnessed his demise.
The wind that washed over them all didn't give her a chance to listen for their answers. Memories flitted across her mind, raking through the haze that normally encased her past with ease and upwelling with a sea that churned not with guilt this time, but warmth. Warmth that stopped the trembling of her hands and enveloped her in images that were filling her chest with a feeling that made her want to howl. Countless nights by a crackling flame emitting the same warmth, bouts of raucous laughter and the wordless, but noticed caresses of hands brushing past one another or the shifting of bodies as they moved welcomingly close. A time Amyas never expected to think back to right now, that half of her grew upset in not having made a better point to cement it to memory and the other half being eternally grateful for it's existence.
Harlow.
Amyas caught sight of the bucket hat that cut through the crowd before she saw his face, recognizing him now even more than before due to her senses having enhanced since the last time they’d met. The answer for him being here now was all too obvious. In meeting his gaze, she could feel her throat closing up as her breath hitched, trapped between answering and breathing as she hesitated briefly. It was then that he held out his hand to her, reaching past all the walls she'd so meticulously raised up after their initial meeting met it's conclusion and she fell to rock bottom. The light that she'd never expected to share a single moment with again had returned to beckon her with the same intensity.
"I think you're right and it seems like you've brought an audience this time." The hesitation she'd shown in comparison to the last time they'd met was prominent and yet the way that the darkness enshrouding her gaze faded to reveal a bright glint of amber shone enough to make it seem as if it had been a mistake all along. She laid her hand gently in his palm but gripped it lightly as her mind caught what would ensue, hoping that he too would remember.
Last edited by
`silver on Sun Sep 19, 2021 6:14 am, edited 2 times in total.
