☾ ——- ❝ ＥＬＹＳＩＵＭ ❞ — [ closed ]

[chase.]

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ security ] [ he/him ] [ location - wreckage] [ feeling - like a clown ]

xxxxx

xxxxxCollie jolted so harshly he thought he’d give himself whiplash—the piercing bark from the shepherd startling him more than he’d admit. In Captain’s defence, they’d just been abruptly off-roading courtesy of Briar, then immediately forced to acknowledge the existence of werewolves; it was alright to be off-kilter. In Collie’s jumpy defence—he’d had to witness everything with the burden of a significantly higher sentience than his dog. The rust coloured canine had only snarled—and a rather concerning mockery of one at that, but it had been enough to vividly upset his dog. Christ, Captain this is why the dog always dies first. Stealth was just apparently a foreign concept to his shepherd, unless he was trying to take something off Collie’s dinner plate. I know! There’s lots of scary animals in this god forsaken forest, let’s try and maul the wolf and make a start at their dog! Collie’s jaw slackened in disbelief as he shook his head, turning from the stranger’s dog and his own.

It’s a dog!
It’s just a—

He owed Captain an apology.

Really, he should’ve seen it coming. In what book, bad tv show or cringy film did that not happen in. Collie had always considered himself a man of science. The supernatural were for the people with the crystals, the star signs and expensive reusable water bottles, like Drew, for instance. Collie had always had always found those ‘click here to see how compatible your horoscope is with x, y and z’ a fantastic way to run the clock at work, but he’d always snorted at the ridiculousness of it all. Perhaps it was time for him to buy some facepaint, a red nose and a curly wig, because he was a clown and the circus was calling his name. He had been dared to get his fortune read once, years ago, when his team was out on deployment somewhere in Eastern Europe. It had been a good laugh and giggle at the time but right now Collie wished he could remember what was said—he definitely shouldn’t have been so cocky and so brazenly disrespectful of the outcome. Karma was in the process of taking his legs out from under him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The woman spoke, and Collie blinked at the apology. Just go with it man. Just go with it. The wolf’s a man, the dog’s a woman—oh Christ, Bambi’s dad was the body that had been in the grim reaper’s arms. Collie had quite literally walked Briar right into a meeting with death and the jaws of a werewolf. The list of owed apologies grew by the second. Felix, Briar, Captain, Drew, the strangers—Christ! Just breathe Collie, you don’t understand Russian, you don’t need to understand this. Just accept it. “I think you’re, uh, yeah, I, yeah. Right.” Collie replied dumbly, stumbling over his words as he blinked again, kissing his teeth. His dog had certainly sensed that something was amiss, she had that much right. He took a moment to look at the woman, it was the same person from earlier, with red dried on the skin of her hands and shiny brunette hair—the one who’d called the wolf away from Briar. The one he’d—Collie looked at the cube of chicken in the dirt. Perhaps if it hadn’t been there he’d have been able to double down and continue to gaslight himself for comfort, but it was there. It was proof that there’d been a dog there.

He opened his mouth, a pathetic apology on his tongue for the dog treat. That was probably incredibly offensive and any colour Collie had left in his face drained at the idea of insulting her; or any of these people. He had thrown a dog treat at a stranger, telling them to eat it. This wasn’t Soren or Felix, he couldn’t just do that. Could he pull the ‘I’m an orphan I didn’t have parents to teach me manners.’ excuse? I mean, being raised by the army was bound to leave some gaps in cordiality. In the end the blonde decided he’d just forget about the entire incident, the stranger seemed to be courteous enough to spare him the humiliation by not acknowledging it, and who was Collie to look a gift horse in the mouth? Instead he slowly rose to his feet, stepping closer to the shepherd in case he needed to lunge for the collar again.

Mercer. He recognised that name, the name she’d yelled earlier. Right, yes, the wolf-man. Man who turned into a wolf. Wolf-man. Collie winced at the explanation for the creature’s actions, his heart lurching at the idea that he would’ve attacked the woman, who had clearly been beside herself with grief at the accident. His mouth opened but no words came out, and instead he wet his bottom lip with his tongue, blinking again as he struggled to reign in his emotions. He stared at the ground for a moment, eyes flicking back and forth before finally turning back to the stranger. “No, no, I would never. Why would anyone-” Collie cut himself off, realisation dampening his expression. “I’m sorry, that was naive. Of course people would’ve.” The knife he’d since pocketed felt heavy, and Collie wanted to ask why Briar had been taken to the tarmac instead of him, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. “I’m sorry if I scared you with the knife, I thought maybe the creature we hit needed, y’know. A kindness. Or that it was a bear or something, I didn’t, I wouldn’t have-” Collie wanted to say that he’d never hurt someone else but that was a lie too big to tell. He’d done his fair share of following orders as a soldier and even being gruff as a security guard, but that was in the past. Collie couldn’t even bring himself to kill spiders.

It had almost been too easy to forget that he’d witnessed the woman in-front of him change from a dog with how she spoke. Maybe Collie’s sanity was just trying to desperately scrabble for purchase against the whirlwind of new information; content to easily brush off what he’d seen. Easily lulling himself into a false sense of security with what he’d already known. The offer of shelter brought him crashing back to reality and he swallowed thickly. She spoke as if she didn’t have the authority to make the decision alone, ‘I’m sure you could’ instead of just ‘you could’, it was the same way Collie spoke when trying to swerve underneath his manager. That seemed fair enough, inviting eight, seven strangers into your home was probably a decision that needed to be agreed upon by the others that lived there. For the first time Collie realised that it was unlikely to have just been the three strangers nearby. As familiar as they had seemed with each other on the road, they weren’t the typical picture of roommates—then again two out of the three had just proven themselves supernatural. How far fetched was the media around werewolves, did they group together in packs like twilight? Somehow he didn’t think that basing his knowledge off of that film was the best idea.

“That, er, yeah that would be kind of you. If you’re sure, that is.” He spoke at last, hesitantly. If the strangers had hostile intentions, rejecting the offer would only delay the inevitable. He could throw his hand out, accept the woman’s words as genuine and kind, or he could accuse her of being dangerous and if he was right, he’d just be mauled anyway. Collie’s blue eyes softened as he looked at her face, she didn’t look any different from him—not in this form at least. She was hurting, they’d killed someone she knew, and it being an accident didn’t subtract from the grief. He’d seen malice and deceit in the eyes of people, he’d been lured like a rabbit to a snare more times than he could count throughout his old career. Perhaps the two men might see it fit to end his life tonight, but at least she didn’t seem to have that intention. Any of his colleagues that had witnessed the nature of the strangers were a risk—a loose end that once upon a time Collie might’ve been commanded to brutally tie. He wouldn’t speak of it to anyone, a change of career might be in order though; somehow going back to a minimum-wage security guard didn’t seem like something tangible after witnessing the existence of these people. Maybe he could convince Soren to live in the wild with him, at least until the existence of these creatures was nothing more than a distant, hazy memory. Collie could keep a secret. He couldn’t speak for the others though, certainly not Briar who had been wailing about the true nature of the wolf to anyone within earshot.

At last he nodded again, “You can trust me, I just want to get my friends somewhere safe, I don’t, I-” Collie paused, taking a second to gather his words. “I don’t understand this.” He gestured limply towards her and vaguely towards the road where he’d last seen the two men. “But I trust you, and the others, they’re good people. My best friend is up there, he, he’s good. If anyone tries anything, we can handle it. We got lucky, we were in the back so we’re not, yknow, in too bad of a state-” He paused, considering each individual colleague. Danny was the most likely to derail considering the state of his late boyfriend..Collie had sparred that, that wasn’t really a concern if he had warning. Eva? She was one of the kindest people he knew, she got along with practically everyone. Felix? Whilst Collie couldn’t exactly see him getting violent, he was also severely handicapped with the state of his arm. Mercer had made sure to take Briar out of the equation. That left Drew. Collie quite frankly had no idea how Drew was going to react. “We’re shaken but they’re decent people, I have faith in them.” Collie finally decided, praying to whatever god was left that he was right.

It felt wrong to offer condolences for her lost one, since he’d been on the opposing side. If there even were sides to this. Nothing he could say was going to change the fact he’d been in the car. Collie spoke again, his talkative nature starting to somewhat snowball back to its usual shape. “Name’s Collie, like y’know, the dog—wait, I promise that’s what they call me, that wasn’t a joke or anything I swear.” Great job, fantastic even. Do you hear that Collie? The circus is calling your name. Again. He slowly patted his pockets, even though he knew his wallet was long gone, along with his licence to support his statement. “Anyways, so uh, a dog, that’s pretty neat. I like it, I think you’re c-” Collie cut himself off immediately, choking back a spluttering cough as he cleared his throat. “So is it a canine thing with you guys? Do you guys have a name, I guess you’re not humans? Or are you?” Collie stammered pitifully, wanting to crawl away from his mess. His typical confident and charismatic nature completely derailed by the chaos. Maybe Soren or the Grim Reaper could do him the courtesy of euthanising him.

[ inventory : pocket knife ]

[ tags, coby] [ mentions, the humans ]

[kalo.]

│███ 𝚁𝚎𝚢𝚗𝚊 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜 . . . <3
───────────────────────────── [ wolverine shifter ] [ mentions danny, rio ] [ tagged felix, eva, drew ]

indentindentSo much had happened already, and it seemed that the day would continue to throw hurdles at the poor wolverine. There was a crowd of three around her, and last time she checked Rio had always taught her to 'stay hidden and away from humans. The less attention you gather the better'. Even Josie had taught Reyna different tricks to get away from humans and stay silent through the night. Which, clearly wasn't working as she was in the eyesight of three humans, potentially more as the commotion behind her had died down. She could hear someone walking behind her near the crash, but that wasn't her problem right now. What was her problem was what to do with the people in front of her. She just prayed Rio and... well Josie wasn't here anymore [which Reyna was actively ignoring and going to deal with later] would forgive her.

indentindentIt didn't help that they seemed deathly afraid, and the one man was bringing a stick up to her face. She couldn't help but just stare at him, feeling a growl slowly form in her throat. It was instinctive and not something she truly intended to do, but the animal in her wanted to attack. She was stronger than that tho, and after careful consideration [two seconds of thinking] she opened her mouth to grab the stick but her teeth had pierced the outside of the wallet and gotten stuck. She stood there then, wallet stuck to her upper canines, and a panicked look on her face as a stick continued to poke at her muzzle. She took the moment to quickly shake her head, trying hard to get the wallet out of her mouth. She realized that unless she used her paws or had some assistance, she'd be stuck here with a wallet in her mouth. She let her eyes lift up to look at the group, and upon seeing the state of them all [which terrified Reyna, there was a lot wrong with them and they needed some assistance asap]. It didn't help that the scent of iron was heavy in the air and was irritating her sinuses. She needed to make a decision now to help them.

indentindentRio had always told Reyna never to shift in front of humans, and she trusted and listened his judgment. After all, he had taken her in when she first showed up on the property, with a bloody face and a lot of undisclosed baggage. She was fortunate that he offered medical attention at least, but he offered her a place to stay which made Reyna eternally grateful. She was safe from the gazes of people or shifters she knew and could live out a life hidden and away from any authority. He was a paternal figure that Reyna trusted, and if she shifted it felt like it would ruin all of the trust they'd built. But these humans needed help, and she wanted to get them to Salem even if her gut felt heavy and scared at the notion of Danny figuring out who she was. She needed a fake name.

indentindentUpon careful consideration, and a bit of panic, she decided she needed to shift. She could maybe play it off as some sort of hallucination. Adrenaline? Yeah, that would work. They'd take that well. Without a second thought, Reyna let herself shift to her human form. She slowly appeared and realized how unprepared she was for this interaction. She had nothing planned, no sense of what was right or wrong right now, and ten counts of guilt building on her character. Reyna felt as if she had betrayed Rio, and the potential to get caught by Danny before she could shift and make her way out of this was slim. But she had to at least do what was right, and if she got in trouble and kicked out by Rio she'd take that risk and leave at least with her morals in check [she had no morals].

indentindentUpon removing the wallet from her mouth and holding it in her hand [and to transfer to her pocket for later, it would at least stay hidden that way] she assessed the situation. She was wearing, to start, no shoes. She always walked around the cabin barefooted, and even outside, and being barefoot near a car wreck where glass was everything wasn't exactly smart. She'd be surprised if she didn't have any glass stuck between her paws or in her feet. Secondly, she had an extra large pair of plaid pj pants on, some that she had stolen from her older brother before she left with nothing but her backpack on her back. It was at least one of the only pieces of home she had left. Her shirt was still covered in flour from when she tried to bake earlier that night, and it had several holes throughout from overall wear and tear. [What was on the shirt was also a mystery. The text and logo of whatever was on it before had worn off over time, leaving nothing but a few white dots.] After the wallet was slipped into her pocket she lifted her hands up in a defensive position.

indentindent"I bring no harm, but if I were you three i'd check my head for a concussion because chances are i'm not real-" the overall message she was trying to convey would most likely not get across, and she'd just look like a lunatic instead. But she had a bit to keep up now. "My name is... uh... Raaaain. Yeah, Rain!" She felt her face slowly heat up from the awful acting she was putting on, but she needed to try and deceive these people as best as she could [she was in fact doing a terrible job]. "Um, you guys look like you could maybe use some help? Judging by the uh..." She slowly let her eyes linger around the three of them. They all looked banged up, and it was a shame Reyna would never see them again after they got some help. "If you guys um, y'know follow me I can get you to a medic? I'm sure i'm allowed to do that. If I heard correctly i'm sure you're invited to the cabin!" She felt her face growing more and more red at the notion that she was most likely going to get in trouble for yapping, getting herself out as a shifter, and inviting these strangers for medical help.

indentindentAfter a second of awkward silence she couldn't help but just let out a nervous smile. "Well it was nice to meet you all, but the way you're staring at me is making me mildly uncomfortable so i'm going to remove myself. Toodaloo!" She couldn't help but feel out of place with the three staring at her, and she was worried for a minute she'd get called a witch and create more of a mess for Rio to try and clean up. She couldn't wait to be trapped in her room for the mess she started to create. But hey, if Mercer could get away with shifting in front of everyone why couldn't she? Plus Rio would be more lenient toward Reyna.... right?

indentindentAfter turning around she felt herself froze again because not far from her was the wreck, where it seemed Danny had migrated too. Okay turned out she was going to hang with these three and stay away from moving back around to the cabin. "Just kidding!" She let out a nervous laugh before turning back around and walking toward the three of them. She clapped her hands together before looking at Felix with a rather distraught expression. "How about we just, follow me and I'll get you to our medic!" She did her best to keep her back toward Danny and to slowly point toward the woods in the direction of the cabin. "Nothing beats a stroll in the woods at night, right?" Reyna just realized how poorly she could see, the only saving grace was some of the limited lights that were littered around the area. Another nervous chuckle left her as she tried to think of a way to get the three of them moving. "Please just follow me I promise i'm not going to bring you any harm, but if we stay here I'll probably get tackled and harassed so. Let's go!" Without waiting she started to move, turning to the side to watch them with pleading eyes.

[n ‎]

❝ 𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚🡖 ꏢ ❟❟
└──────────────────┐

''│
he saw that | he/they | (@) the wreck
tags; felix eva reyna| mentions; idklol

└──────────────────┘


getting immediately threatened by sharp sticks wasn't exactly how he expected meeting up
with eva and felix - but drew knew he couldn't blame them. the situation scary and awfully
confusing, sharp sticks almost felt inappropriately under-armed. or maybe drew was just
preparing himself for an apocalyptic setting that wasn't really coming.

wasn't like it was going to stop his imagination, though.

nodding quickly, drew only let a awkward and nervous smile waver on his lips, a nervous giggle following. "yeah?" drew returned
to felix quietly, his lips curving upwards into a small slowly, his body reacting as it processed. he was happy to see them, but he
wasn't happy to see the state they were in, their physical both looking rough. drew particularly felt his stomach twist upsettingly
when he kept finding his eyes falling to felix's arm. he watched collie basically crumple into half of his actual size in the car seat
behind them, it made his stomach churn uncomfortably. it was a shitshow out here, and while drew usually thrived in chaos and
found ways to work around the world, he was stumped. just completely grounded and stumped.

drew only tilted his head slightly to eva, swallowing his breath quickly. while the taste of iron was definitely not something he
was enjoying, and he knew it was going to make his stomach hurt if he didn't get the blood away and out of his mouth, he was
pretty much fine. maybe getting dizzier slowly from the blood loss, but it's not like anyone was going to die or anything. letting
out a heavy sigh, drew only nodded towards her. "i'm okay, promise," he nodded to her, his smile struggling to keep steady. "i
get bloody noses a lot, i guess whiplash does a number on it maybe, i don't know, i'm not a doctor," drew rolled his eyes as he
rambled, letting his chest rise quickly with a dramatic inhale and dropping with an even more dramatic sigh. his head felt like
it was ringing, but it was harder to focus on how his own body felt when he was around the others. the last time he remembered
passing a gas station was at least an hour ago - the thought of that being the only civilization other than the walking dead in the
street was giving drew anxiety.

thank god for whatever was about to happen, right?

scoffing at felix one more time, drew only let his head hang slightly with a stupid grin following, he would have laughed if he
had figured out how to get full control over his body again. unfortunately, all that came out of him was an amused huff. if only
there wasn't a lot of injuries on his own body and a scary wild animal in front of the trio! drew could see the way felix was
fighting back his own words of denial, but thank god for the wolverine proving it's existence for him, making some of drew's
insane stories look like they finally had a bit of truth to them, even though honestly doubting them is the best plan of action.
drew only furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as felix started to approach it, anxiety and fear bubbling up in his stomach
quickly as felix began to approach the animal slowly, poking his stick at it's face. a part of him felt oddly proud - seeing the
man do something that was honestly a little scary and something drew one hundred percent wouldn't have done on his own
will, but another part of him was worried that felix was about to get mauled by a wild animal with a lot of sharp teeth and
even sharper claws.

the growling didn't help whatsoever, either.

"h-hey, be careful,-" drew said quickly, his lips pursing together tightly as he watched felix poke the stick towards the animal's
mouth, the stick touching it's muzzle with almost too much movement as drew could only occasionally stop breathing entirely,
holding his breath with his hand reached out towards felix' s sleeve, ready to pull him back if anything was about to happen.
which, it was, but not exactly what he was expecting. "oh my god-" the words falling out of his mouth with so much restraint
and discomfort it was like he was going to throw up letting the words come out of his mouth, the hand that was ready to grab
feeling reaching forward quickly to grab his sleeve tightly into his fist, hiccupping out of fear when he pulled felix back to him
and eva, his grip shaking but unwavering as he moved his grip down to his arm, holding onto it tightly out of the fear that he
just watched a wolverine turn into a woman. out of no where. the wolverine that stole the wallet from the back of the van
and drew took a picture of was a human and standing in front of him.

"holy hell, are we dead?" he questioned without waiting, his lips struggling to meet each other and close as his jaw continously
hung open, his chest suddenly raising and dropping faster than it was earlier, and his eyes were the side comparable to saucers.
concussion. yeah, she's right. she's probably not real. drew's probably dead and his brain was just having fun with his rapidly
decaying frontal lobe. he nodded to her as she spoke, his head moving almost like he was dazed as she spoke. yeah, she's so
totally right. he totally has a concussion and he's so probably dying in the back of the van right now and has no idea what's
actually going on. that's definitely what's happening. "rain. rain," he repeated twice, a small pathetic whimper falling from his
lips as he could only let his eyes fall down to the ground slowly, his hand slipping off of felix's arm and falling to his side limply,
his hands shaking out of pure confusion and adrenaline.

who the hell had a medic out here? who the hell was this girl? she was a random hallucination in the middle of the woods that
showed up becoming a human from a wolverine and was now telling them that they should follow her farther into the deep, dark,
scary forest to get help from her medic. "hhhhng i'm in hell," he whimpered out pathetically, shaking his head as he only let
his gaze fall further down, his throat running dry. who the hell would have invited them? was it the tall dark and mysterious man
in the road? was it the dead body in his arms that invited them? drew couldn't wrap his head rationally around anything in the
moment, everything trying to turn itself into glitter and sparkles but failing miserably. there was no way in hell that something
like this was real and going on. he had to be on a hidden prank show. come out, ashton kutcher, you got them! you got them good!
holy good god please come out!

his hands pressing against his chest with his palms together, drew only put his head down to pray a simple prayer. he was never
religious, not until then. he was praying for anything at that point, whether it was to wake up, go home, or just get out of there.
please, for the love of god, where was the dude with the microphone and the confetti to yell ' you just got pranked!'? drew only
opened his eyes to stop praying after he had felt the blood dripping down off his nose and onto his hand again. it was bleeding
again. for the love of god, he couldn't even get a break from his own body having it's own breakdowns. drew only swallowed
hard and heavy as he closed his eyes, letting out a strained sigh as he looked up again at the girl. she didn't look threatening at
all. she was pretty, she seemed nice. she was barefoot. which was weird. maybe she was a ghost. maybe everyone here was dead
and they were just the walking dead. haha. she had pajama pants on and it looked like it was something on her shirt. flour, maybe.
drew didn't know. the more he looked at her the less threatening she really was, if anything he felt more fear when she had her
sharp claws and fangs. the conflicting emotions in his head were only making him dizzier, or maybe it was the blood loss, but drew
simply couldn't get his head to stay on straight.

so he just decided to let his head fall completely off.

"wow honestly, you know, you're right!" drew only let out an amused scoff between his words, nodding his head again without any
precaution to his again bleeding nose as he could feel the insanity start leaking into his head. "we do need a medic and i have no
damn clue who you are or where you came from but i think i will follow you in the woods. you've convinced me, i'll go with
you into the deep scary woods and hopefully maybe you can fix my cute friend's broken arm here!" drew was losing it. he was
speaking like he was a podcast or trying out for an overexcited voice actor. drew only looked back to see how the other's had
looked and where everyone was, the scattering of everyone and seeing multiple people in arms only made drew nauseated, a
sharp inhale filling his nose (or at least trying to, with how much blood is still managing to drip onto his converse right now) as
he turned around again. "okay. yeah okay. yeah. yeah. yeah no lead the way wolverine, i... i don't wanna get tackled yeah," he
mumbled, his eyes searching eva and felix desperately like he didn't just already sign their departure off for them. sorry, guys.
he panicked under the pressure. nothing felt truly safe in the moment and every decision drew could have made he felt like
was going to lead him directly to a game over scene. it was just a dream, right? it was fine to follow weird talking shapeshifting
animals because it was just a dream!

[chase.]

𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ raven ] [ he/him ] [ location - road ] [ feeling - not very bonita ]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxRio watched with cold, detached eyes as the man turned his back on him and began to stumble away, taking the driver with him. Perhaps he should’ve implored himself to try and muster up some empathy, but to Rio it was little more than a distant scene; something that barely touched him. He’d experienced the suffocating grief of losing a human life before, years ago with his childhood love; somehow nothing since had managed to elicit any emotion beside meagre indifference. The shifters were another story, despite his best efforts they’d managed to grip his heart—a few in particular had a rather worrying hold on it. The loss of his previous second, Coby’s predecessor, had been the last time he’d shed tears. Yet he could feel a familiar sting threaten to chip the facade.

Rio glanced at the glass-littered tarmac, pointedly ignoring the way his palms had been stained crimson from holding Josie. His pale face portrayed none of the sickening turmoil rolling beneath the surface, a knot of grief twisting tightly in his chest. With the adrenaline beginning to wear off, the grim reality was starting to take root, like setting cement. Surrounded by strangers and disarray, there was no room for mourning—the humans didn’t deserve to see him vulnerable, and it was not a burden he would place upon his pack. So, he buried the pain deeper, forcing the emotion down with a practised ease, heart hardening and clenching until it felt like lead. There would be time, later, to mourn Josie with the respect and depth she deserved. The mask would crack eventually, but he would mourn in the silence, in his own company. For now he stood tall, impassive and steadfast; as he felt a leader should be.

There was no sympathy in Rio’s gaze as he watched the man, Danny, struggle to balance the weight of his friend. No flicker of understanding or pity. Humans were unbelievably fragile, but their deaths were just as irrelevant to him as the night air around them. People had hunted his kind for centuries, they’d wiped out the entire bloodline of Aster out of their own fear—chasing Rio from his home country in their selfish desire to turn anything they didn’t understand into ashes. Others in the pack had similar stories, loved ones lost or chased away by the paranoia of people, hunted to the brink like animals. Rio closed his eyes gently as the memories of his late relationship ebbed in his mind. The humans had gone as far as killing one of their own in their fool’s mission, the epitome of their destructive nature had ripped someone dear from him. They'd put the world to torch if it meant no one could have it, self-serving and self-annihilating as they were. His lip curled into a slight sneer, and now here he was, inviting them into their sanctuary.

“Perhaps we should put him out of his misery.” Rio mused frostily at last, watching as the tall man staggered along, having now been forced to sling the man unceremoniously over his shoulder. “They don’t even carry their dead with respect.” He continued, tone icy and laced with disapproval. After a moment longer of watching Danny struggle, unravelled and seemingly untethered from reality, he turned his head over his shoulder. His earlier fury towards the wolf had been watered down by exhaustion, and he exhaled slowly, blinking at the body Mercer held. The chaos had subsided; instead replaced with a more weary and sombre atmosphere—much like the smoking remains of a bushfire after a downpour, Rio was left to snuff out the remaining embers. “Take Josie home, clear the table in the boathouse—or wherever you see fit. Just not the cabins, I do not wish to upset the others with her presence.” Rio took a step to the side, the shattered glass beginning to turn to sparkly powder in some areas under the weight of his boot. He toed a particularly large shard, grinding it to dust. “I will decide the funeral arrangements with Coby, when she is able.”

Rio stood still, his eyes locked on Mercer as he lingered; face impassive as he waited for the subordinate to absorb the order. The air between the two men seemed thick with unspoken tension, but the raven stood firm by his authority. Only when Mercer moved, did Rio finally turn his back—still refusing to let his shoulders slump despite the weariness. Rio’s gaze shifted towards the slope where his second, Coby, now lingered below. She was speaking to someone, the words lost to the distance, one of the strangers; most likely. Rio sighed, it was time to move the intruders towards his home—to the place he’d spent years protecting his pack from the outside world. There was no other choice, he knew that. The humans had seen too much, been dragged too far into their world to be allowed to roam elsewhere.

The slope was slick with mud, the autumn earth damp with rain had only been made more slippery by the vehicle’s weight tearing through it. Rio had no desire to trudge through the muck to reach her, his hands were bloodied and he’d already sacrificed one item of clothing tonight. The weariness in his bones didn’t extend into an acceptance of unnecessary discomfort. Without hesitation he allowed his form to shift. It was a trivial use of his ability, but he’d not spent a childhood alone in an empty estate swapping between forms at the blink of an eye to not use it for his own convenience. Perhaps he’d have to reevaluate his opinion on human sloth.

The air caught his feathers easily as he stretched his wings out, gliding towards his second-in-command, the fear of losing his footing down the muddy slope lost. The freedom of flight was a brief but welcome escape from the weight of the night’s events, but it only lasted seconds. Almost as soon as he’d taken flight, he descended, his grey eyes fixated on the blonde’s back. As his talons neared the ground, Rio shifted —easily stepping onto the earth as a person once again. The loose fabric of his clothing swayed with the residual motion for a second before settling quietly, but the disturbance had been just enough to alert the human. The man spun round, and Rio’s indifferent gaze met his, utterly unbothered by the startled reaction. The blonde staggered in shock, before getting a hold of his dog. Rio narrowed his eyes imperceptibly at the shepherd, before turning his focus elsewhere—back to his second. “Mercer is taking Josie back home, we will walk back with the humans. They may stay in the lounge tonight and see Salem if he wishes to offer his services. A couple of them are in disrepair to say the least.”

Rio paused for a moment, searching Coby’s eyes with his own. “If you’d prefer to head back alone, I understand.” The unspoken offer of her running back home in her shifted form laid bare between them. His eyes flicked briefly to the dark sky above, where the freedom of flight beckoned—tempting him to shift into his raven form and disregard the tedious task ahead altogether. Walking was a waste of energy when he could easily glide through the night air, but the humans were damaged and disorganised, they needed to be herded like cattle. Even if that meant an inconvenient and muddy trek through the forest. His boots were already scuffed with dirt from just standing there, and Rio forced himself to suppress a sigh of annoyance. He should at-least be thankful he had forwent changing from his day clothes whilst painting, having to stand here barefoot in nightwear would’ve pushed him off the edge. Guiding the humans through the forest was a responsibility he didn’t want, but it was one he couldn’t shirk—Reyna was still somewhere in the vicinity, and he wasn’t going to leave them unattended without her accounted for.

[ inventory : n/a ]

[ tags : mercer > collie, coby ] [ mentions : danny, others ]

[друг]

❝ no matter where I run, the ways they lead me right back herexxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI think it's time I stop running from myself

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

⸸ ⋅ ─── ⋅ 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 ⋅ ── ⋅

████
████

┌─────────────────────────────┐

│
│
│
│

tagging; rio, danny
mentioned; briar, soren, coby, collie
location; road > forest > boathouse
twenty-seven x⋅x cismale, he/him x⋅x wolf

│
│
│
│
└─────────────────────────────┘

The tremor of barely contained anger still sparked in every fiber of Mercer's body, little live-wires that made his fingers twitch as they held the body bequeathed to him. He had more than once considered the possibility of what would amount to catastrophe for the shifters, when the unwelcome thought had intruded on his mind. This was it, strangers arriving uninvited and unexplained in a place that should have been on nobody's radar. The others seemed to have made up their minds about the nature of their appearance, but Mercer remained unconvinced. Who knew if the crash had been the only unexpected part of their plan, a shock strong enough to convince the shifters that there were no ulterior motives at play? And even if they were simply victims, who would come looking for them? Who would trace them into these woods, and bring the attention of the entire world with them?

indentindentEven now, they were whispering something. The tall man had angled himself away from Mercer, and his head was filling with barbed-wire echoes of what might have been said to the blubbering driver. They're conspiring. They're planning their next move. We let our guards down, and they'll slaughter us like cattle. He turned himself a degree toward Orion, the body in his arms hindering his agility, and something akin to a growl twisting the lines of his mouth.
indentindentindent"You can't be swallowing this act," he insisted, his words sharp as a blade, but quiet. Mercer couldn't claim that things between Josie and himself had been particularly affectionate — her distaste for him was hardly a secret — but these humans didn't care what they thought of each other. They were here to hunt, and they would come for their trophies whether the loss would sting a little or a lot. And when the tall man offered his condolences, such a sterile and empty word, Mercer's jaw twitched. How many people had he heard talk like this, giving all the right words of reassurance, with none of the sincerity required behind them? His anger tasted of dread.

indentindentThe raven disregarded any cynical warning from Mercer and stepped forth to offer them shelter. To reveal the location of their home. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had Orion lost his mind? For him to invite these people into their lone corner of safety on this earth, it was safe to say that Mercer wasn't pleased. The blood of these humans carried the taint of the spilled blood of his ancestors, and the ancestors of perhaps every other shifter in the pack. The very fresh blood of Josie, still seeping into the cracks of the pavement under their feet. He set his black eyes on the raven, incapable of hiding his disgust over him having given in so easily. Chances were that Mercer wouldn't have lost a minute of sleep over leaving every single one of them to die in the ditch they had crashed into.
indentindentindent"We know damn well what happened," he spat, hissing the words at the tall man like a snake. There was something devious about him, and Mercer feared he could lie to their faces all the while stabbing them in the back. He might have known far more than he let on, just to get them to underestimate him.

indentindentBut then the thought of how this had been Coby's wish rushed over him like a wave of pacifying balm, tying his violent hands behind his back before they could commit to something disgraceful. She was too kind for her own good, but this was a part of the reason why he hung in her wake like a faithful hound, a black dog that couldn't help its nature. She could have her saintly acts, and Mercer would make sure these humans would behave. Or they could die, as easily as the thought came to him. A sole reason to suspect that they were not who they claimed to be, and he would be at their throats. The slim possibility remained that they would choose to walk away, and perhaps he and Orion could make them disappear for good into the dark, but he had little faith in them having the guts to turn down the only shelter made available to them. Or to ignore an opportunity to so easily infiltrate any and all defenses still protecting the pack.

indentindentWhen another stranger closed in on their little negotiation, at first Mercer thought that the man with the knife had come back. But it turned out to be someone he hadn't seen before, just with a similar head of shaggy, off-blonde hair. He was coiled to strike, expecting an attack now that the humans outnumbered the shifters, but instead, their nauseating expressions of affection continued, and Mercer curled his lip. He wasn't certain what had been said, mostly because he did not care, but nearly as suddenly as he had appeared, the blonde man was trailing behind the others as they unsteadily made their way down the slope and toward the crash. It was only a moment that he remained confused by the sudden turn, until the anger flooded back.
indentindentindent"We're letting him walk away?" he mumbled through clenched teeth, unsure whether he wanted Orion to catch the comment or not. It likely only would have resulted in another lecture, and he wasn't sure how much more his questionable patience could take. Dropping Josie on the pavement to attack a bystander might have been the last straw when it came to his strained membership in the pack.

indentindent"Perhaps we should put him out of his misery." The comment caught Mercer by surprise. It was, really, the best idea Orion had had all night. Unfortunately, it clearly wasn't a serious suggestion, but as Mercer turned his black eyes to his cold face again, they were a little less framed by seething anger. Discreetly, he adjusted his hold on Josie as Orion remarked on the tall one's manners. Shifting onto four legs and dragging the body back was out of the question, then. For once in his life, he saw it best not to argue with the orders he was given, even if it meant an irritating trek through the dark, muddy woods. And it fit him just fine to avoid everyone who had stayed back at the cabins — he had no interest in answering their questions, or dealing with their outbursts of emotion. Someone else could explain the disaster that the night had become. He even felt like a damn saint when he could hear Coby's name out of Orion's mouth without making a face over it. Probably something to do with the context of a funeral.

indentindentThe sole reason Mercer hesitated with his opportunity to walk away from this roadside problem was Coby. Yet Orion was staring him down with the kind of stony authority slightly too reminiscent of a prison warden, and as much as it made his hackles rise, in a way that had his body screaming at him to argue back for the sake of being difficult, he moved — all the way to the edge of the pavement, where he watched the raven float down to Coby, who was, to Mercer's chagrin, talking with the blonde man from before. The image of a knife sticking out of him flashed through Mercer's head. He knew, no matter his distrust of the raven in other matters, that no harm would come to Coby when he was nearby, and as much as it burned to know that someone else carried a deep affection for her, at least it was good for keeping her safe. Still, it was hard to leave the face, and the heart, that had dragged him through so many days of misery — especially in the presence of the other man whom he knew to be carrying a weapon. He had to force himself to tear his eyes away and head down the slope. If anything happened to her, he would have his excuse to hurt everyone who had failed to prevent it.

indentindentIt was darker in the forest than it had been on the road. The moon couldn't reach as deep through the canopy as it would in the open, and his eyes took a moment to adjust before he could see where he was stepping. Even then, he kept tripping on roots that crossed what should have been a familiar path, and the muddy earth didn't make it any easier to regain his footing with the weight in his arms and the way the body obscured his sight. He complained under his breath, muttering aimlessly about having been given this task, the man with the knife, Orion, and the cursed humans who had had to appear in the middle of the night, or at all. Barging through the undergrowth on four legs, too panicked to care, had been much easier than retracing his route on two feet, now forced to dodge needle-lined branches lest they painfully scrape up his exposed skin. A hole-riddled t-shirt and threadbare sweatpants hadn't been the best choice of clothing for a hike.

indentindentThe forest had gone eerily silent, and somehow it was even more unnerving than the usual distant screams of animals in the dark. There was no birdsong either, but Mercer didn't know whether it was because of the night or the noise they had caused. Either way, he wouldn't have recognised anything but the most common ones — in particular the robins, because for some reason they had been fond of the woods behind the barred windows of the group home, and Coby had named them for him like he wasn't some scarred-up wreck of a boy who had no right being on the receiving end of kindness. He shouldn't have missed it. Not the group home, or the streets after. But there had been a simplicity to it that had allowed her to matter the most — and for him to matter the most to her, or at least nearly as much as Archie. This place, the pack, it could be so complicated. Mercer had never learned to share her time with others, and maybe that had been the beginning of their downfall. And maybe those terrible places were the only ones where Coby could love him, in a way that was lasting. A memory of concrete floors, caged fluorescents, and a plaster wall pitted with white craters intruded on his thoughts, but he forced his mind back to Coby. Her face, when it had still lit up with love at the sight of him. Maybe she could forgive him even the slightest amount of his stupidity if he did right by Josie.

indentindentPinpricks of light showed past the black bodies of the trees, and Mercer knew that he hadn't gotten himself lost in the dark. He didn't leave the cover of the treeline until he had, with difficulty, circled back around the cabins, avoiding the view out of the windows, and down the slick wooden steps, to the boathouse. The water was nearly still, only whispering softly as it gently rocked against the riverbank and the hems of the wooden walls. The doors were shut tight, but it seemed disrespectful to dump the body back on the ground, and that's when Mercer realised the difficulty of handling this on his own. He adjusted her in his arms, leaning this way and that to allow his fingers enough movement to pull open the large door, all the while trying not to drop the coat that was draped over her. He didn't want to see her face right now.

indentindentIt was unfathomably creepy in the old boathouse. Ghoulish fingers of moonlight reached down from cracks in the dark boarding, and opening the door had sent a cloud of dust into the murky air that now shifted as vague shapes at the edges of one's vision. Everything creaked with phantom footsteps. The fact that he was carrying a corpse didn't help in the slightest. The table Orion had mentioned was covered in random clutter — dirty glass jars, a broken old oar, some kind of netting... After having already struggled with the door, Mercer simply did not have the care or patience in him to carefully clear the surface. Instead, he swept all the crap onto the floor with his arm, still holding the body. Something shattered on impact. It might have been a fifty/fifty whether it would have been more or less disrespectful to just put the body on the grimy floor instead.

indentindentBut with Josie laid out on the table, Mercer found himself beginning to feel deeply awkward. He wasn't a caretaker, or someone to whom being attentive came naturally. All those loving feelings that had come so effortlessly with Coby had fled from him like rats from a burning basement when she had told him they were done. His father hadn't ever really made an effort to instill anything but anger and violence in his son, either, and his mother had died when he was three — he couldn't even remember her face, but he had always considered this a blessing. No empty idol to haunt his thoughts and cause him grief. It was just Mercer, a knife, and a world he felt owed him something. Owed him a lot, in fact. Had he been a fool in believing that Coby could have changed that? It wasn't really love anymore, but attachment. He had to protect her. He just had to.

indentindentHe left Josie as she was, not daring to touch the coat that turned her from a dead person he had once known into the vague shape of one. All he did was light the dim lamp, because it seemed wrong, even to him, to leave her alone in the dark. The thought of going back to sleep crossed his mind, but he doubted he would be able to settle until Coby had returned, and neither did he have any desire to be the first one to return to the cabin, thus forced to explain where they had all disappeared to in the middle of the night. Instead, he walked out to the dock, and watched the dark waters for a moment before digging around with his still-bloody hands in the pockets of his sweatpants, in search of a carton of cigarettes. He came up empty, with only the thought of having not grabbed the battered pack on his way out. Damn it. Screw this entire night.

[друг]

❝ watching the weather in the 4x4, with the headlights onxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyou look pretty when you cry, and pretty when you don’t

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

◈ ⋅ ─── ⋅ 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 ⋅

████
████

┌─────────────────────────────┐

│
│
│
│

tagging; collie, rio
mentioned; courtney, (humans)
location; side of the road
twenty-five x⋅x cisfemale, she/her x⋅x dog

│
│
│
│
└─────────────────────────────┘

The man's widened blue eyes lowered to the dog treat sitting in the dirt between them, and Coby's line of sight followed. She gave a small, embarrassed smile, like the misunderstanding had already been forgiven on her part. Really, it was a mistake anyone could have made, when they still lived the world where animals were animals and people were people. Nonetheless, she watched him with careful eyes, noting each minute shift as he stepped closer to his dog or gasped for the right words to place into the air that seemed to hang so still. Why would anyone- the cut-short question made her face fall just a little, but he appeared to quickly grasp his own mistake without her having to explain the most aching part of her own existence. She was different, the shifters were all different. It was so simple, and yet so complicated.

indentindentThe creature they'd hit. Coby looked to the ground, then away at the woods to keep the tears that threatened to re-emerge from falling. She swallowed around the lump growing in her throat, and tried to shape her face back into a sad smile, but didn't quite manage.
indentindentindent"She's—" her voice wavered immediately, and she took a moment longer to compose herself. "She was a dear friend. She's being looked after." The words were quiet, small and sad. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to reassure him in this way. Maybe it was what she needed to hear — what she needed to say in order to make herself feel better.
indentindentAnd yet Coby couldn't bring herself to lie about not having been alarmed by the knife to ease his mind. Of course she had been frightened, either by the thought that the pack might have been attacked because they were shifters, or simply because emotions were running high after something as tragic as the crash. Anything could have happened, and maybe they had, in the end, avoided an even greater tragedy, if such a thing existed. What she no longer believed was that this man had any intention of hurting her, or any of the others. She might have placed a hint too much trust in her own ability to assess his intentions, but there was a sincerity shining from him that was proving rather disarming. Either he was a wonderful actor, or he was as shocked by all of this as the rest of them.

indentindentHe just wanted to get his friends somewhere safe. Coby answered him with a soft nod, and maybe she had been expecting to begin crying again at the mention of a best friend, but instead she found it oddly touching, in the way that managed to pull the sad smile from her that she had been grasping for earlier. This friend sounded like a caring person, and she imagined anyone close to him, this blonde in particular, must have been quite the same. The line of reasoning instilled a little more confidence in her, as much as it existed inside of her own head, and largely without proof. All she really knew was that she wanted to believe him, and so she did.
indentindentindent"I can help you make your case to Rio. He has final say, but I'm sure he'll understand." As severe as Rio could appear, Coby wasn't exaggerating. She had a lot of faith in him, in his sense of right and wrong, and she trusted that he would help. It just wasn't her place to decide for him.

indentindentThe man — Collie — was suddenly rambling on, and all she could think was that he sure seemed to have a habit of painting himself into corners. Her smile returned, this time a little less sad, and she was waiting for a break in his run-on sentence to reassure him again, this time about not having been offended, when she could feel her cheeks redden. Oh god, moving on. Disregard. It didn't happen. The confused questions soon came cascading like a waterfall out of his stammering mouth, and in a way, it was a saving grace from what he had caught himself doing — apparently calling her cute. That part had been rather clear in the spluttering that had followed. She tried to will the warmth in her cheeks away, and hoped it wasn't so obvious in the dim light, but thinking about it seemed to only make it worsen.

indentindentindent"I'm Coby. Uhm—" she stuttered, finding herself slightly stunned as she parsed through everything he had asked. If Rio was going to be upset at her for revealing all of their secrets, that ship had probably already sailed when she had shifted and proven that it wasn't just one of them. "I guess it's a canine thing for some of us," she fumbled, catching herself repeating the way he had put it for the sake of ease. "Just not everyone." The first examples that came to mind seemed inappropriate in their context. Josie, of course, but she worried both about breaking down if she spoke that name out loud, and about what kind of further trauma she would be inflicting on him if she were to explain exactly what they had struck in the night. Courtney came to mind soon after, but was it really easiest to explain the caribou? The wolf had caused enough of a reaction. It was still fresh in her mind, how he had turned around and walked away as if in a stupor.
indentindentindent"Our medic is a fox," she offered pathetically, hoping that it wasn't too much of a leap for his mind right now, but distinct enough to illustrate what she was trying to say. She had never had to explain this to anyone who wasn't a shifter before, and she was only realising this fact in the middle of attempting to put it all into words that made sense.

indentindentBut were they human? Coby could feel herself beginning to squirm. Truthfully, she wasn't sure, and she did not even know whether this was a line of inquiry that anyone had really followed before. Of course they looked human half of the time, but humans couldn't ordinarily turn into something else. Coby searched Collie's face, and saw something familiar in the emotions she found there. She knew how frightening it had been to discover what she was without guidance from anybody — in that group home, not knowing what was wrong with her — but at least Archie'd had her when his time had come. And she knew what Mercer feared: that the wolf would consume him. What she couldn't really explain was why they were this way, or whether what Mercer feared was even possible. Perhaps anyone who might have had those answers was now long gone, either killed or just dead. She could have pretended that she knew everything, just fudged a comforting explanation in the moment, but honesty felt like the best policy here.

indentindentindent"To be honest, I don't know." They were certainly brushing up against something that was a touch too existential for this late at night. "Some of us call ourselves shifters, and there must be a genetic component to it—" she and Archie proved that much, "—but whether we're human might depend on who you ask." There was definitely a contrast there, but the gulf between them and humans might have been entirely created by the way they had been perceived and, consequently, treated. She couldn't fault any of her peers for setting themselves as separate from those who couldn't shift, and she certainly wasn't innocent of thinking this way, either. The wounds were simply too deep. But this didn't mean she believed they couldn't coexist. Maybe they could, out here, far away from the cities, and the masses of people, and the confusing opinions they held. This Collie had proven quite understanding, thus far.

indentindentCoby was ready to bail herself out by suggesting that they might go talk to Rio about her offer of shelter, when the familiar soft whoosh of his wings told her that he had come to them instead. Looking past Collie, she watched him land with grace, and when the human startled, she looked at Rio pleadingly, as if to ask him whether he was trying to give this poor man an attack of some kind. She was really trying her hardest to facilitate the peace between their two groups. But it was a pleasant surprise, for a change, when Rio revealed that he had already given the humans permission to shelter for the night. It was easier than having to ask, but Coby still decided she owed their leader for having roped him into the rescue efforts in the first place. They were taking a risk by exposing themselves like this, and she had a feeling that Rio understood this more deeply than all the rest of them.
indentindentindent"Thank you." Coby meant it sincerely. He had no obligations, really, to offer his buildings and the possibility of medical care to the humans. It was an act of generosity, and she needed him to know that she was grateful for it. As for walking back alone, Collie's reaction had made it more than clear that he wasn't eager to be left alone with Rio. Coby might have known him now, but she, too, had once been intimidated by his darkened demeanour, some years ago. And truth be told, she didn't want to be alone, either. "I'll be alright."

indentindentShe stepped closer, until she was the midpoint in a little crescent moon formed by the three of them. It was uncomfortable to place herself as the center of the attention like this, but she doubted the two men would ever become polite unless they had a little help. Admittedly, it should have been harder to have so much empathy for someone who had been traveling in the car that had killed her best friend, but she couldn't help it. They lived in a world in which innocence was enough to absolve no one, after all — the thought passed through her mind, and Coby started to realise just how cold and tired she was. She wrapped her arms around herself.
indentindentindent"Collie, this is Rio. Um— he could be called our leader." It was a little awkward to say it out loud to a human who had only just found out about their existence, thus the mitigating words, but they knew it to be true. She just rarely called him that anywhere but in her thoughts, even if she was his second, and had all the respect for him that was appropriate. He had earned it. "And Rio, this is Collie." She looked at Rio, with that same soft pleading in her eyes. "He told me about his friends— that they're good people. I believe him."

indentindentThen it was time to turn back to Collie, as shy as she felt looking a near-stranger in the eyes from this close. "Should we go gather you friends?" She imagined it would certainly help if the directions came from him, instead of from the people they had just met on a dark road.

[chase.]

𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ raven ] [ he/him ] [ location - wreck ] [ feeling - defeated ] [ status - human for the entire post I promise ]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxRio’s gaze sharpened with a glint of interest as Coby stepped forward, bridging the gap between himself and the blonde. It was subtle, just the briefest narrowing of his eyes, but for Rio, it was as close to surprise as he would allow himself to show in the moment—in front of the blonde who seemed to have nothing better to do than simply stare between the shifters. Rio’s eyes flickered between Coby and the human, studying the stranger with a quiet scrutiny. He offered no words of greeting, only the tiniest of nods, acknowledging the introduction without truly engaging. Her words lingered in his head for a moment, grating against him. She had been within her rights to introduce him as she knew him, but a cold spark of distaste soured his throat. “Rio” was a name reserved for his pack, for those who had earned the right to call him something personal. Hearing it tossed out to these humans so casually felt wrong, they had not earnt the familiarity of a nickname and they didn’t deserve to. For Coby’s sake he would not be difficult, however the moment she was out of earshot he would be curtly correcting his name. Orion, formal and aloof—a reminder that they would never be close enough to call him anything else. Rio was reserved for those who belonged; these humans were anything but.

He remained quiet as Coby continued, now addressing the human, his hidden displeasure tightly controlled; visible only in the slightest tension at the corners of his mouth. Her loyalty to the pack was ironclad, her instincts sharp, and Rio trusted her implicitly. Never once had he questioned her judgement, there was an unspoken bond between them—a mutual respect that went beyond words. Choosing her as his second had been one of the most certain decisions of his life; she had nothing left to prove to him, for he had seen more than enough to remain steadfast in his opinion. But tonight, as he watched her interact with the human, Rio felt a flicker of unease he couldn’t quite tamp down. As unwavering as his confidence was in her was, he found himself struggling to understand the interaction. Minutes, she had been left alone with the stranger for mere moments, and yet she seemed to have willingly placed her faith in the man whom she knew so little of. Rio couldn’t fathom it.

“Give us a moment.” He interjected sternly, smoothly cutting off the human from responding. The man, Collie as Coby had mentioned, hesitated. A silent challenge seemed to begin to simmer between them, and Rio remained unyielding. The blonde broke eye contact first, glancing at Coby for a split second. Rio’s expression hardened; displeased with the idea that his Second’s presence emboldened the human enough to try and hold his ground. For a fleeting moment, the man’s defiance sparked, his shoulders squaring slightly as if preparing to push back against the unspoken command in Rio’s stare. Then, as if he had thought better, Collie retreated with a subtle nod, his resolve cracking under the pressure as his brief defiance melted into a quiet submission. Rio watched him step back, the human now rambling about the fact he should try to gather some of their belongings. Coby’s influence had given the man a moment of false bravery, but in the end the fear of the unknown had won out. But how long until he became comfortable enough to outright challenge his authority? It was a paranoid thought, the blonde had merely hesitated over the idea of stepping away from Coby—it wasn’t something to be disproportionately vexed over.

Instead Rio moved toward Coby, his steps deliberate and measured, as if each one carried the weight of his thoughts. The ground beneath him was uneven but he navigated it with the silent grace that came naturally to him—despite the way the soft earth moved under the weight, deforming under the tread of his shoes. Pale fingers curled at his sides, fingernails barely brushing the palms. It was an odd sensation, usually he was able to tuck his hands into the pockets of his coat—but his coat had been relinquished to shroud Josie. Now he stood feeling bare; the long sleeves of his thick shirt bunched at his elbows, revealing the pale skin of his forearms. Illuminated by the moonlight he looked paler than usual, which was a feat in itself considering his already ghostly-complexion. If the cold touch of the night air bothered him, he didn’t show it, instead the blood that coated his palms cracked as he flexed his fingers subtly. The itch to sink amongst the hem of his coat nagged at the nape of his exposed neck, and his nose twitched in distaste at the sensation. The thin, delicate silver chain of his necklace tickled his skin as it shifted; no longer restrained under the heavy collar. The raven heirloom that hung from it was hidden beneath his shirt, but it rhythmically tapped against his chest in time with his steps—a soundless reminder of what humanity had once done.

As he drew closer, standing beside her—his face softened; the hard edges momentarily easing in the familiar presence. Rio looked at the floor, head dipped tentatively to better hush his words and keep them between himself and Coby. A few paces away the rustling of clothes and zippers carried across the breeze, the blonde surprisingly committed to sorting out their belongings. Rio pursed his lips, he should have been grateful that the man had obliged their privacy instead of attempting to eavesdrop. But Rio didn’t often reserve praise for humanity. “Sharp as a marble, isn’t he.” The raven simply mused rhetorically, taking a moment to eye the human for any sign of a reaction. Nothing.

He inhaled, grey eyes blinking at Coby before turning back to the ground. Rio usually spoke with a calm and measured voice, the smooth cadence never adjusted unless in a desperate situation. His accent made it difficult to blend his words amongst the sentences of others, and in situations like the present, he found himself excruciatingly aware of his distinctive manner of speaking. Still, he kept his tone characteristically subdued, making an effort to shield it from anyone but his Second. “I fear you are trusting them too easily, Coby.” He murmured. It was gentle and concerned, entirely void of disappointment or even a slight scorn. “He may say they are good, but I doubt any malevolent creature would speak plainly to your face of their ill-intent.” He let his eyes flick up to Collie again, before he turned back to Coby. “They are scared. He is scared.” Rio exhaled silently. “He understood he could not stand to fight us when Mercer showed him our hand, and he froze on the road at the sight of us. Fleeing is not an option here,” Rio shrugged his shoulders, gesturing half-heartedly around them. “There is nowhere for him to go. So instead he stays and he fawns. Whether it is only for y—”

A familiar voice cut through the air, bright and unmistakable. The sound jolted him, breaking his focus. Rio’s expression flickered, his attention snapping away from Coby as he straightened abruptly. His head turned toward the source of the voice, recognition flashing in his eyes. For a moment, everything else faded—the humans, the wreck, the cold night, even Coby’s quiet presence beside him. “Reyna.” He breathed. So she had seen it fit to shift.

Rio dipped his head to Coby, in a polite apology. “Excuse me, I’ll just be a moment.” He spoke, already stepping away, a frosty protectiveness biting at his hackles. There was a muted urgency in the way he turned towards the sound, the instinct to rush to her side flaring beneath his collected exterior. Seeing her as a wolverine had been one thing, the girl’s natural curiosity seemingly having gained the better of her. Perhaps he had reacted inappropriately to her appearance, maybe he had been too preoccupied with Mercer to properly address the presence of her at the site of such an incident. For a moment his guard slipped, and his focus gripped onto the soft, familiar tones drifting through the trees. The impulse to shelter her was immediate, engraved into his bones, but as he listened more closely his steps slowed. She didn’t sound to be in immediate danger. Other voices blurred together in Rio’s ears, but nothing overly hostile seemed to be unfolding.

Rio hesitated, caught between the instinct to intervene and bristle at the strangers, and the reality that Reyna was a grown adult. As much as he longed to, it was pathetic to even attempt to shield her from the world; it would do her no favours to be overbearing. He forced himself to take a breath. It was easy to forget that Reyna was already twenty-three when she had still been a teenager upon arrival all those years ago. His thoughts wandered back to a simpler time, when his biggest concern had been a damned lizard. He remembered the day she had begged him for the creature, eyes sparkling with excitement as she pleaded her case. Rio, ever the reluctant guardian, had tried to brush it off. He had grumbled about the impracticality of it, but her persistence had worn him down like a river to the valley. Finally, he had agreed; though not before a heavy sigh and a stern warning about responsibility. But oh how it had been worth it. The way she’d lit up with victorious joy. The memory, the sight of her holding the tiny dragon as if it were the most precious thing in the world, was seared into his mind. A reminder of the softer side she effortlessly brought out in him. He had feigned nonchalance when she’d proudly proclaimed the name of the creature to be ‘Pickles’. But oh, the dumb smile plastered across his face that evening that only Salem had bore witness to.

Even now, with all that time passed, it was hard for him to shake that image of her. She was grown now, she was capable—responsible and strong, but the memories lingered and they pulled at his resolve like a child playing with frayed stitching. It was those moments, the small and tender ones, that made it so difficult to let go. Rio squeezed his eyes shut, sighing into the night. As much as it went against his nature, he knew she could handle herself—and the humans.

“Reyna?” He called softly, keeping his distance, more for his sake than anything. He could barely see her from where she’d already tucked herself into the woods, and that helped to steel his resolve. Silhouettes of others made his hackles rise, and Rio wrestled with the painful, traitorous, thud in his chest. “Coby and I will bring the others and meet you there—” Rio slid into his leadership tone more easily than he thought was possible given the circumstances. He hadn’t yelled, but he had at least managed to raise his voice, given it a chance to be heard across the distance. Without waiting for an acknowledgment of if he’d been heard, Rio stepped back. Any longer stood there watching, and he risked caving. Reyna could be trusted, he needed to allow her the space to prove herself—and she couldn’t do that with his shadow looming over her. The three most physically intimidating individuals remained with himself and Coby, and that thought helped to carefully smooth the concerned creases in his expression.

When he reached Coby, the weight of the night seemed to pull at his shoulders—but the raven masked it with his usual stony restraint. He glanced at her briefly, his expression unreadable as he searched her eyes for a hint of disapproval or questioning. He stood there in silence for a few moments, regaining his composure. “I can not allow them to leave tomorrow, not after what they have witnessed tonight.” He spoke at last, watching Collie adjust the bags he’d managed to pile onto his stocky frame. “Too many lives would be at risk, it is a chance I will not take.” Rio was exhausted, but the night for him was far from over. Plans for a funeral had to be made, and somehow there was still something even more pressing than that to decide; what to do with the strangers. If only it had just been himself and Mercer to stumble upon the accident.

Rio lingered near Coby for a moment longer, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Without a word, he made the quiet decision to leave her side, knowing she would understand his need for temporary solitude. For once, he didn’t have it within himself to shift—and so he navigated the slope carefully, steps light but purposeful. From atop the road, he could see the remaining stragglers, but he made no motion to move towards them. Instead he folded his arms across his chest, keeping a silent vigil. They’d be able to see him from here, and he’d get their attention sooner or later. Once they’d gathered themselves.

[ inventory : n/a ]

[ tags : collie, coby, reyna ] [ mentions : pickles, salem, lost track ]

[chase.]

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ security ] [ he/him ] [ location - wreckage] [ feeling - like that mule from ‘buckaroo!’ ]

xxxxx

xxxxxThe thumping of his heart in his ears faded as Coby introduced him to the stranger—Rio— that was certainly not a name that matched with the man’s appearance. Collie tilted his head, looking over the other man, swallowing down the hit on his ego at having jolted like a startled alleycat at his sudden presence. Surely he’d have heard the sound of someone approaching behind him? Even just the soft footsteps down a slope, or the crackle of a broken stick? He’d have never lasted more than a few months in the army if he wasn’t tuned to his surroundings. Collie bit the inside of his cheek absentmindedly, the thrumming in his ears never fully subsiding. He had always carried an effortless charm, his blonde hair mused and tousled in a way that complimented his near-permanent smile, but tonight he found his natural confidence wavering.

Collie considered outstretching his hand for a formal shake, but one look at Rio’s blood-stained palms kept his fist firmly clenched by his side. Never in his life had he been squeamish, but somehow the idea of having their friend’s blood on his hands..literally this time, made him squirm internally. It seemed disrespectful, so Collie simply returned the man’s nod with a jarring twitch of his own head. Thankfully he found himself able to cling to Coby’s voice in the uncomfortable interaction, and he choked down the urge to fill the silence with his ramblings. She had an air of authority around her, and his face warmed as she vouched for him. The dirty blonde was practically incapable of deception, only ever able to lie during a high stakes card game amongst his friends, and for once he was thankful for his habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Not even a second after Coby had addressed him, the raven-haired man interjected. It was stern and cold; impolite might be an extreme, but Collie found himself hesitating like a deer in the headlights. It hadn’t exactly been a request, but Collie subconsciously glanced at Coby, itching for some reassurance. The leader. That was who he should’ve been focused on pleasing, but instead he was drawn to the woman. She was soft-spoken and he sought unusual solace in her presence, though he couldn’t shake the commanding authority in her voice when she’d recalled the wolf-man away from Briar. Maybe once or twice in his life had he felt so allured, and it had certainly not been what he had expected to experience tonight.

Out of his peripheral vision he was acutely aware that the unsettling figure was still staring at him. In another place, at another time, Rio’s presence wouldn’t have been so terrifying— and Collie would have puffed out his chest for a standoff. But here, it was overwhelming, his unreadable expression and cold eyes that seemed to just look straight through Collie. The tension between them was palpable, Collie’s arm twitching painfully at his side as he fought the urge to look away. Despite his best efforts to maintain his composure, his resolve wavered. Under the unyielding gaze of the stranger, the confidence he’d tried to muster crumbled like a house of cards and Collie broke eye contact. If he had a tail, it’d be between his legs as he retreated a few steps; the bitter sting of shame biting at his pride.

“Yeah, right, sorry, of course.” Collie relented, “I should really start going through our stuff anyway, gathering what we need and that sorta stuff—” He tried lamely, as if his decision to scramble away hadn’t been influenced whatsoever by the daunting figure.

Collie moved to the pile of bags, his hands shaking slightly as he began to gather them, each movement deliberate as he tried to distract himself from the tension that had sparked between the two men. Perhaps Rio was not the grim reaper, but Collie was no longer in the business of tempting fate by poking bears with sticks. Still angled slightly towards the two shifters, he bent down and methodically began sorting through the scattered luggage—grouping them together based on how easy they might be to carry. Ennis’ bag was pushed aside. Maybe tomorrow he would come back for it for Danny’s sake, but unless Ennis was smuggling super soldier serum, a dead man’s belongings weren’t high on the priority list. Collie zipped his own bag back up, tugging it along the ground towards his makeshift “keep” pile. Every few seconds his gaze flicked towards Coby and Rio, unable to ignore the shift in the air.

The man had changed slightly, his rigid posture almost unnoticeably softer next to Coby. It seemed unnatural in a way, for a person so haunting and sharp to appear more relaxed whilst still in the presence of a stranger such as Collie. The way Rio leaned in closer, his voice low and smooth, suggested a familiarity that made Collie uneasy, as if he was witnessing something he wasn’t meant to see. It wasn’t as if he could hear what was being said, but the muttered words sent a chill through him—and deep down Collie knew with dread that he and his friends were likely the subject at hand. Great, fantastic even! Collie liked being the centre of attention at work or during a party, but this was just a little too serious for him. Shy wasn’t typically a word in Collie’s vocabulary, but goosebumps crawled up his arms as he tightened his hold around a bag strap. ‘Stop it man, just ignore ‘em.’

Felix’s bag—he definitely owed it to the boy to take that. Eva would also probably appreciate having her belongings; it wasn’t that Collie wouldn’t share his clothes with her, but he definitely lacked certain garments. Danny could share his and Soren’s clothes for the time being. Briar and Drew could share one of their bags—they were a similar size. Collie blinked at the five bags he’d pulled aside to take, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he mulled over his options. Five was a big bite. Four would be more manageable—but Collie didn’t have the heart to pick which one to leave behind. He’d grown rather fond of his pile, so fond that Rio’s departure had gone entirely unnoticed by him.

With a newfound determination, to carry as much as he could physically bear, he began to steadily arrange the bags. The weight itself wasn’t as bad as he expected, but he struggled significantly more with balancing them—as one strap went over his shoulder, he had to tilt precariously to one side to counter the weight, before mirroring the action with a another bag. Collie looped straps across his arms, over his chest and around his back until he was almost completely encumbered. If one of the bags ripped open now, he’d probably just break down. Each bag had added a new strain, pulling at his tender muscles and digging into his bruised skin; but it brought a welcoming sense of purpose.

As Collie adjusted the last strap, throwing his shoulders violently to hoist the duffel higher on his back, he noticed that Rio had relinquished his place by Coby’s side. Oh. Huh. The blonde’s chest tightened with a mix of relief and yearning as he realised he could go back to her now—the invisible barrier that Rio’s presence had created finally lifted. He stood carefully, legs slightly splayed as he adapted to the newfound weight, taking care not to let any of the bags slip from his back in fear of sending him hurtling to the ground with them. He felt like Bambi, leg muscles twitching and balance shifting precariously as he made his final adjustments. Well, thank Christ for the army conditioning he’d been forced to endure—and since kept up with out of habit.

Collie’s steps were still careful, almost sheepish, as if he feared that any sudden movement might snap Rio’s attention back to him. Even Captain seemed to pick up on his owner’s anxiety, slinking calmly in the shadows beside him as they moved in tandem. Finally, Collie’s boyish smile spread across his face again, and he found himself directing it at Coby.

“Thanks for, uh, you know, all your help back there.” He murmured, still apprehensive about the leader’s presence nearby. They were an odd trio—Coby, Mercer and Rio, and Collie was impressed with the invisible pull she seemed to have over the other two. He flashed her a lopsided grin, he had tried to sound casual but the words came out rushed, tumbling over each other as he shifted his weight to keep the bags from sliding off his shoulders. A strap slipped, and he fumbled to catch it, a warm tinge flushing his cheeks as he fought to maintain some semblance of cool. A calm breeze tousled his hair, and Collie was thankful for the icy relief, despite the chill of the October air—the man typically ran at a ridiculously warm temperature and right now it was only exacerbated by the weight he was lifting. He considered making a joke about it to the woman next to him, but instead he found himself biting his lip—slapping himself internally for his lack of consideration.

“Oh. Christ, are you cold? I’m sorry it’s a bit late to ask that isn’t it.” He chuckled awkwardly, if his hand had been free he’d have rubbed the back of his neck again in embarrassment. Well done Collie. “I’m a bit—uh—tied up.” He continued, pausing between words as he tried to assess whether or not he could access his bag without toppling over. That was a no go. “But you’re welcome to my jacket if you can get to my bag. It’s clean and everything, my washing machine broke but—”

The shadow on the road turned, and Collie swallowed his heart, blinking at Rio for a second before the man simply turned away. ‘Jesus H. Christ. That guy has no chill. None. Absolutely none. Spooky bastard.’ “I gotta say, you’re much more comforting.” Collie whispered, his voice slightly strained. “I think I have you to thank for us being able to stay the night, I don’t believe he came to that conclusion by himself.” Despite his fumbling, there was something undeniably warm in the way he stood beside her, an unspoken gratitude that ran deeper than his stumbling words. Collie’s presence, though chaotic, was sincere, and his appreciation for Coby’s help was clear in every awkward, endearing gesture.

He fidgeted, hosting a bag further up his back from where it had begun to slip again. The slope up to the road seemed impossibly steep now that Collie was balancing bags like a pack-mule, and he frowned at the idea of having to follow the man up it. “Which way is it, back to your home?” He asked at last. Between the choices of having to crawl up the slope on all fours or risk breaking his back and skidding back down on two legs, he wasn’t sure which one would make him look like more of an idiot.

[ inventory : five different bags and everything within them ]

[ tags, rio, coby] [ mentions, the humans ]

[guh-huh!]

❛xＦＥＬＩＸ　！
────────────────────────────────────────────────────
xxmale // tech wiz // feeling: is this a fursona convention? // tagged: drew, eva, reyna, rio, (group).
────────────────────────────────────────────────────

xx'xxthe wolverine shifts into a human. it happens so cleanly and directly in felix's face, and he can’t tell what’s scarier- how natural the words sound as the wolverine-girl speaks them, or the way that, after he faces an obligatory crisis of pondering what's even real anymore, there’s nothing even close to shock that he can feel dwelling in him afterwards. he thinks he should feel terrified, for wandering out into the middle of the woods, for having his arm broken in a crash, for something- but the feeling doesn’t come.

xx'xxif it’s not numbness, then it’s something similar, some other heavy feeling of worry that felix doesn’t feel like placing, for fear of making it too real.

xx'xxit’s so quiet then, and felix is pressing himself into drew's arm as if it’ll block out the situation in his brain, too. rain- the wolverine, whatever has morphed in front of his very eyes, he completely flipped his concept of reality right on its axis, and has struck him with this perpetually nauseous feeling right in the pit of his stomach as he cowers. he sits there, trying to find the guts to actually make himself get up and follow the voice to a medic, avoiding confronting what’s troubling him. despite his disinterest in discussing it, this inner turmoil is all he can focus on.

xx'xxa little distractedly, his eyes flit down to where drew’s hand had been perched his own, and he comes to the conclusion that he no longer has to hold onto somebody for safety of being bitten. he doesn’t let go though, not yet. just stares at the bitten-down nails and the slightly calloused fingertips- the only tangible thing grounding him to reality at the moment.

xx'xxbut then, drew begins to pull away from him out of pure shock and terror at the situation. felix sighs, and figures it’s time that he let drew have his hand back. he lets go, and then places his own hand over his makeshift cast, as if to make sure he doesn’t reach for drew’s other hand next.

xx'xxfelix’s resolve to stay composed is dwindling quickly, slipping from his clammy, twisting fingers. “can we not talk about death, please? i think i'm gonna be sick,” he asks, hoping the politeness of his request will assure the others that he’s serious, that this is the last thing he wants to be dealing with right now.

xx'xx“i’m just- i don’t know, okay? i don’t know what to think, but i don’t… i just don’t feel good about this right now.” he admits with a strong start, and a small and vulnerable finish. his abruptly feeble tone is a challenge to drew's own aggressive and incredulous one, and he hopes, maybe fruitlessly so, that it’ll do something to dissipate at least some of the static tension that lies stubbornly between the group. it comes as an afterthought, almost uncontrollable as he adds with the same resigned quietness, “i just want to go some place that isn't here.”

xx'xxthere’s this growing twinge of pain that’s spreading right around his heart, tight and uncomfortably warm, wrenching- it’s the feeling of knowing that he’s about to do something he really doesn't want to do. his own brain is growing confused with the interrupted transmission between his thoughts and his actions, his feet moving forward as if nothing at all can stop it. he follows 'rain' a few steps into the forest thicket, using one arm to try and push any branches that might get caught in his face or hair.

xx'xxa mission that, appears to be fruitless; as he gets smacked with the second bottlebrush branch of the night. he wants nothing more than to just head back home or rewind the past six hours of his life and decide not to go on the trip at all, but felix can't do anything outside of follow the probable-hallucination ahead of him. if it's some sort of warped-up guardian angel, he silently hopes that he hadn't screwed up so much in life that this is the person who's leading him to heaven.

xx'xxspeaking of an angel– was that another figure in the shape of a raven coming to talk to rain? with the wings outstretched, felix was pretty much convinced that he was getting closer, and closer to simply blacking out due to the pain shooting up his arm and the buffering white noise threatening to cloud out his mind any second.

xx'xxwithout so much as even a flinch or a look up at the source of the voice coming from the raven, felix snaps back in a mumbled sort of monotone, "can this day go one minute without messing me up even further?"

[друг]

❝ If I was aware of the open outside, of the planets and the citiesxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxand the flowers and the bedrooms — I’d go away for too long now

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

⯭ ⋅ ── ⋅ 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐋𝐋 ⋅ ─ ⋅

████
████

┌─────────────────────────────┐

│
│
│
│

tagging; briar, danny
mentioned; collie, rio
location; the road
thirty-two ⋅ cismale, he/himx⋅xcontractor

│
│
│
│
└─────────────────────────────┘

There were countless things Soren probably could or should have said other than sorry — some kind of elaborate, drawn out story that could have cushioned Danny's landing into the land of grief like one of those big inflatable things used by firefighters on TV. But he hadn't been clever enough, or perhaps emotionless enough, to come up with any of them when the time had come to look him in the eyes and lay the cards on the table. Chances were, the defeated expression on his face that had stolen away the boyish smile would have revealed everything far before he would have reached whatever comforting phrase he could have conjured. He was far too honest to break the news with any sort of skill, at least without the script of hello sir/ma'am, I'm sorry to say, and as he watched the reality sinking into Danny, he couldn't help but worry that maybe sincerity had cut too deep this time.

indentindentThere seemed to be many things moving underneath the surface of Danny's face, thoughts and the fragments of expressions that revealed them, and Soren wanted to say that he didn't have to say anything, actually, that they could simply go and deal with whatever needed to be done together — that he wasn't alone in having to handle this, even if Soren had no idea what they were supposed to do now. And yet none of it felt right, and he stayed silent. Danny appeared to have been wrestling with the same issue. What could one even say, really, in the face of something like this, without cheapening the magnitude of the loss? What truly worried Soren, however, was the mechanical way Danny suddenly turned and began walking, with Briar still hanging from his side. He would have offered to help Briar instead, but the man kept going without a break, and Soren was reduced to hanging at their heels like a stray dog, unsure what to do or say to ease any of these burdens.

indentindentNear the wreck of the van, Danny let Briar go, and Soren stayed with him. Maybe he imagined that Danny deserved a moment alone with Ennis, and that he would return to them once he had gotten it. And thus Soren shifted his focus onto Briar, who seemed to be in a bad way, to the extent that Soren had no desire to add to his fear or suffering by showing his own concern. But Briar was holding his body in a way that betrayed significant pain, and the things that Soren could do to help him were incredibly limited.
indentindentindent"Let's keep you warm, buddy," he said, his tone as encouraging as he could manage. He didn't have to go far to dig through the pile of luggage that was still left on the grass, and found the largest, most blanket-like sweater he could before returning to Briar to carefully drape it around his shoulders. He wasn't sure exactly where he was injured, in addition to the blood glistening in his hair, and the part he didn't want to say out loud was that if Ennis had been so unlucky, the damage suffered by the one other person in the front might have been cause for genuine concern. Even if he wasn't bleeding visibly, something he had been taught as a marine was that the bleeding being internal wasn't a good thing. The positive side, even if it might not have felt like it to him, was that Briar remained conscious.

indentindentWhen Soren turned his head to check on Danny, he was met with the alarming reality that the man was nowhere to be seen. In the brief interval of time that he had been focusing on Briar, Danny had disappeared, and so had Ennis's body. Herding cats, then. He could do that. But he didn't want to worry Briar, when he already had his injuries to deal with.
indentindentindent"I'll be right back, just wait here. Don't try to move on your own." With that, he returned near the place he had left Ennis. The headlights on the van were somehow still going, their flickering having turned irregular, like the battery was about to drain for good. If he wanted to use them as his only landmark in this darkness, he would have to move fast. He scanned his surroundings in the dim light, and almost lost among the grass, he saw his jacket, covered equally in blood and mud. That way, then.

indentindentSoren followed him into the dark, admittedly moving almost as blind as he must have been. The air near the smoking engine must have been more acrid than he had realised, because the fresh, cold air was almost sharp in his nose and throat in comparison. Was Danny in shock? Wandering around without knowing where he was going? In a way, Soren could understand the drive to do this, especially when one wasn't thinking clearly — maybe it felt better just to be moving towards something, even if he didn't know the destination. It was difficult to walk quickly in the unfamiliar terrain, with the ground concealed by the shadows, wading through rain-slick leaves, and mud clinging to his heels like hands reaching out to drag him down. He stumbled a few times, snagging the toe of his boot on something unexpectedly hard jutting out of the ground, but managed not to fall. Some distant thought of not having to do this in full kit, with tens of pounds hanging from his back, kept his mind from despairing.

indentindentWhen he finally saw Danny's back moving ahead, the shape of what must have been Ennis growing out of his silhouette, he picked up his pace, only for it to become unnecessary. Danny stumbled, and unlike Soren, with the weight of Ennis bearing down on him, he wasn't lucky enough to regain his footing on time. He fell in a way that looked painful, hitting the ground quite heavily, and Soren's stomach sank when he saw Ennis' body sprawling onto the ground from his grip. He had thought he had seen everything by then, but then something like this happened. Soren rushed to him, and without saying anything, took hold of his arm and shoulder to help him back up. It was difficult to admit to himself, but he didn't really want to look at Ennis. Still, when Danny made a move to gather him up again, he helped as he could, supporting some of the weight until he was situated. His skin was freezing cold and stiff, and Soren tried not to think about it. It's just Ennis.

indentindentIt still seemed wrong to break the silence, but as it stretched, Soren knew he had to say something. They needed to return to the group before they got separated for good, and he couldn't leave Danny out here in the dark alone, no matter how much of a blow this ordeal had been to his state of mind. He was frankly a miserable sight, covered in dirt, and his glasses broken likely beyond repair.
indentindentindent"Let's go back to the road, Danny. I think those people, they're gonna take us someplace. And it's probably gonna be warmer than out here. We can sort all this out when we get there," he promised, and with it said, he placed a light hand under one of Danny's elbows to pivot him back toward the wavering glow of the headlights and the place where he had left Briar.

indentindentThe walk back made it difficult to keep his mind focused on the positive. He was leading the way, and with each step, fumbling their way through the muck toward the light, he could feel the presence of Danny at his back. Yet it wasn't Danny that was haunting him, but the body in his arms. There was something so utterly grim about it, about this makeshift funeral procession, that Soren kept having to shake his mind from it and try to focus on the way ahead. Yet Ennis's face kept intruding on his thoughts, the way he had seen it, among the grass, pale and dead in the moonlight. He wished he could have focused on the times Ennis had been alive, something like the last time they had all piled into a booth in some dimly lit bar, onto battered leather couches, with beers on the sticky table in front of them.

indentindentSoren's parents had been firm believers in the afterlife, but he had never thought about it too deeply, instead going back and forth on some vague idea of seeing all of his loved ones after he died. In the desert, it had seemed like every day something would happen that made his mind flip on its beliefs, alternating between faith in something beyond and a necessity to cling to that which was tangible and concrete. It was easy to hope for it to be true now, that they would all meet Ennis again, perhaps in some afterlife version of that dingy bar, but he worried about fooling himself. He worried that he would place too much emphasis on something that might not happen, spending all the hard times longing after something that wouldn't come, instead of turning to those that were there with him in the moment to ease the hardship. Soren wished Collie were here, to possibly crack some ill-timed joke and break the uneasy silence that was hanging over them.

indentindentWhen they re-emerged at the wreck, Soren waited until Danny was near enough to keep an eye on, before returning to check on Briar. Truthfully, he felt quite bad about having had to leave him alone, but he was back now, and he needed to focus on that.
indentindentindent"I'll help you up, let me know if anything hurts too much, yeah?" He looped a solid arm under Briar's armpit and around his back, trying to support him while not tugging anything too hard out of fear of worsening the damage. He had been taught how to make an improvised stretcher, but the amount of free arms to carry it seemed limited at the moment, and as long as Briar could walk by leaning his weight on him, they could manage. Either way, a journey in any direction would be arduous, and as he eyed the slope leading to the road, his resolve began to waver.
indentindentindent"We'll take it slow," he said, unsure whether he was reassuring himself or Briar.

indentindentSoren's knees and palms were scuffed with dirt and grass stains by the time they made it up to the road, but at least he hadn't dropped Briar at any point. The sight of the black-haired man Danny had been talking to earlier was a relief at that point, and Soren waved his free arm in an attempt to flag him down.
indentindentindent"Did you have a place nearby?" he called out, not an ounce of caution left in his voice. Both Danny and Briar needed a warm, dry place to rest before they caved in entirely, and that was the sole thing Soren could focus on at the moment. Just one foot in front of the other.