☾ ——- ❝ ＥＬＹＳＩＵＭ ❞ — [ closed ]

[The Trickster~]

E V A

╔xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╗
xxorganizer // she/her
xxlocation; the woods
xxtags; felix, drew, reyna
xxmentions; rio
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

Of course this was how the night was shaping up. Everything just kept getting stranger and stranger, Eva was almost half convinced she had fallen asleep while directing Briar and this was all some crazy fever dream. Or maybe she had actually died in the crash and was now in the afterlife. If that was the case at least she wouldn’t have to go back to work.

So, yes, the wolverine that had once been in front of them was now a human woman. Because of course she was. Why wouldn’t the wolverine actually be a girl? Eva was half convinced that this was some elaborate prank show she’d actually found herself in, and the camera crew would be emerging from the woods any second now. They couldn’t keep this up for too much longer.

Unless this is all real, her brain supplied her, unhelpfully. She was not in a state of mind to try to slot that fact into her concept of reality right now. Werepeople weren’t a thing, and she was simply just, out of it. That was it. The crash had done something to her head. Her eyes could no longer be trusted.

Eva realized she had simply been standing, shocked, wringing her hands in front of her as this lady, Rain, spoke even more sporadically than Eva’s thoughts. Great. This was the perfect person to follow into the woods at night. Surely nothing bad could come from this. But, if she was being honest about having help, that would be good. Medical help of any kind would be great right now.

“You really have a medic?” Maybe they had crashed near a ranger tower, or some group of forest workers. That could explain how they had all gotten out here so quickly, and why they had a medic and a place to go. A perfectly reasonable explanation. Although, the clothes Rain was wearing didn’t really scream “Park Ranger”, but it was late. Maybe she’d just been caught at a bad time.

“Do you work out here? Or did you stumble upon the crash? I didn’t think there was anyone else out here,” Eva asked, distinctly ignoring the fact that she was almost eighty percent sure this girl had been a wolverine a minute ago. Her mind was playing tricks on her. Surely there was some reasonable explanation. Or that television prank crew would appear from the bushes any minute.

Gently, she placed a hand on Felix’s good shoulder, shifting the sticks she was still holding to her other arm, trying to offer him a bit of comfort even if she was also feeling incredibly sure about everything. “I’m sure it’ll all work out. And if we can get you to a medic and get that arm checked out, that’ll be good.”

Following Rain seemed like the best course of action right now, even if that entailed following a stranger into the woods. They didn’t have many other options, and while she didn’t necessarily trust this new person, she did have hope that Rain would really help them. All Eva wanted at the moment was to be back at home, curled up with her cat, but that didn’t seem like it was going to be happening any time soon.

Then, of course, the scary bird had to appear and also start speaking English. Because things simply couldn’t get weirder. Another thing to ignore, because Eva really couldn’t deal with all of this. Turning slightly to look at Drew, Eva attempted to meet his gaze, trying to convey Do you also see all of this or am I actually losing my mind? With just her eyes.

“You know, at least this will make an interesting story someday,” She muttered, mostly to herself, turning back to her makeshift wolverine human guide. “We should probably get going then, Rain. Lead the way.”

[n ‎]

❝ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗥 𝗝𝗜𝗡🡖 ꏢ ❟❟
└──────────────────┐

''│
the driver :( | he/him | (@) the wreck
tags; danny soren| mentions; uhm <--

└──────────────────┘


the world around briar was effectively starting to crumble around him at rapidly increasing
speeds, the way his vision felt shaky and unstable, his breathing beginning to become rapid
and sharp and shaky - briar wasn't even sure he could feel the fingers on his hands anymore
, much less move at this point. the world around him was becoming unrecognizable, all
including even looking up at danny's face miserably, it felt like a stranger looking back at him.

oh, he was talking. danny was speaking to him. briar could only search his face desperately for a moment. his eyes finally landing on
his moving lips.

don't take the blame. don't take the blame.

if he had the strength and energy in his body to shake his head in defiance towards danny, he would have. he wasn't going to say
anything back to him, he wasn't going to respond to the advice he was receiving. he wasn't sure how he was supposed to anymore,
anyway. briar only felt the doomed feeling in his stomach drilling further into his guts as he let his eyes fall back onto the dark
tarmac, glass and blood covering the pavement. how was he supposed to deny when he had already been pointed out as the driver?
briar wasn't sure if danny had heard the very words that had came out of that man's mouth, all briar knew was his position in the
driver's seat was already exposed, and he was already scheduled a quick visit straight to hell. briar felt like there was no means of
protecting him anymore, he had no more anonymity.

briar tuned out again. he wasn't sure how he could listen. any of the words spoken around him or towards him were turning into
nonsense in his head - still unable to process the world around him. his vision blurring more and more as the moments pass, briar
felt his entire body slurring and lagging with him. he couldn't get himself to move on his own, feeling like it was trying to lift more
weight than he was used to just trying to lift his leg off of the ground to step backwards. he couldn't move himself an inch. he could
hear danny trailing off on his sentences - he could hear the crunching of leaves and gravel and the sound of someone approaching
behind him, but he couldn't move himself to turn around. he couldn't move himself enough to find out who had approached them.
for all briar knew at that point, michael myers himself could be behind him ready to put briar out of his misery.

he could hear speaking, he could hear the short voice behind him. was it soren? briar couldn't figure it out. it could have been
collie. did collie come back to save them? briar almost felt like he was spectating his own body at the moment, unable to move
himself and unable to control any part of his body as he just held his arms across his chest defensively, his head hung in defeat.
he was panicking to himself, unsure why he couldn't get himself to move physically. he felt so stuck, like he was in a nightmare
he couldn't wake up from no matter how hard he tried. no words could come out of his mouth either, nothing was functioning.
he felt like his entire body had shut off and he was still unfortunately awake and having to listen and witness it all without
having any free will to respond anymore. autopilot he couldn't turn off.

feeling the hands on his shoulders, briar jumped - or at least he thought he did. the fear shot through his body, but he couldn't
feel himself react physically. a huff of air coming out of briar's mouth as danny grabbed him and began to move them together,
briar's eyes felt glued onto the ground below him, like the position of his eyes were stuck in place. he was walking, but he still
couldn't control his body. oh my god, why couldn't he move? briar could only tightly clench his jaw shut - his teeth clashing so hard
he was worried they were going to shatter if he added any more pressure. it hurt his head to hold his jaw so tightly closed- yet,
he still felt like he had no control over his physical body. it was reacting for him. the world was so loud, it was screaming at him
from every single angle, it felt like his head was going to explode with all the ringing in his ears. yet, it was still all too silent. he
still couldn't hear anyone around him. the only reason briar knew he wasn't alone on the road at that moment was danny's hands on
his shoulders ground him,-

wait, where's his hands?

holy hell, where were his hands?

the weight that was once heavy on briar's shoulders, warming his skin where the rest of his body was cold from the air was suddenly
lighter again - the cold feeling returning quicker than he was expecting, and his the knot tightened in his throat enough briar wasn't
sure he could remember how to breathe. "d..." briar stumbled out, it almost hurt to try and speak. it was almost like he was
dragging the words out of his mouth, it was the only way he could get himself to speak. "dann..danny?" briar's eyes were still stuck
on the ground beneath him, he wasn't sure how he could lift his head, the weight of it was so overwhelming on his neck. "danny?"
he tried to say out again, he wasn't sure how loud his words were. he couldn't hear himself speak, he wasn't even sure if he was
talking at all. he couldn't hear anything around him other than the ringing in his ear and the panicked voices from his own head.

he couldn't tell what was going on anymore. he didn't know what was real anymore, if he was really saying things and calling for
anyone to save him or if he was talking to himself in his head and only staring at the ground like a crazed psycho. he didn't know if
he was alone or not- he didn't know long he had been left alone, all he knew was the panic in his chest and his entire body was
spreading through like wildfire, the only thing being louder is the physical pain screaming right back at him. where did danny go?

hearing soren's voice felt safe again - hope filling up his stomach as briar finally let out a heavy pained huff, moving himself to
turn slightly to soren, his eyebrows furrowed heavy as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. what did he say? briar wasn't sure,
briar didn't hear him. he heard his voice, he recognized his tone, he recognized him. damnit, what did he say? where was he?
briar could only let out pathetic hiccups as his eyes searched the dark surrounding them desperately. he could hardly see anything
with how blurry the world looked around him at that point, the dim lights appearing more bright in his eyes and the figures of
people no longer looking competent. briar was losing it. feeling the weight and warmth of another layer of clothing wrapped
around briar's shoulders only helped him exhale a bit more - his shoulders relaxing slightly. briar wouldn't let them hang too low-
they hurt too bad not to hold in his own hands.

he was talking again. briar could focus this time. he was listening this time. the words felt hard to process and understand, like
they were warbling in his own perception. wait, he'll be back? "no, no no-" he managed to mumble out, trying to shake his head in
panic as he turned himself around completely, his eyes desperately searching. no, no did he already walk off? where was he?
"s-sor...soren?" he struggled out again, it almost hurt to speak. it felt like he was dragging the words out of his lungs and struggling
to support them, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to get words out. especially when he was so desperate to get them out, the desperation
only clawed at his throat the more his nails dug into his biceps through his shirt. "soren, please," he let out, his head hanging down
once more in defeat again - his eyes shutting tightly closed. oh my god, they left him again. why were they all leaving him?

the panic only set further into briar's stomach and chest further, the only reason briar wasn't crumpling to the ground in a ball
out of desperation was due to the pain in his body. tears welded up in his eyes eagerly again, the familiar feeling of the hot
stinging sensation bothering his eyes as he only dug his nails further into his arm. first collie was gone, then danny, now soren. was
briar even with anyone at this point? briar only wished he wasn't in such horrible physical shape, he would have walked one
direction and would have never turned around if he had the chance. the anger was bubbling in his body just as much as the pure
anxiety and panic. what was even going on around them anymore?

with his eyes closed, he struggled to even find a way to keep himself standing up and centered. he could feel himself swaying
around, he didn't need to open his eyes to know he was rocking back and forth desperately trying to keep his balance. why was
everyone leaving him? he didn't even care about the wolf man anymore, he couldn't find himself caring at all about how a man
just shifted from a wolf into a human after pummeling him into the road. briar couldn't believe the fact everyone consistently
found a way to ditch him. at this point, he just wanted to be left on the road to die where he had so recklessly spun off.

soren's return startled him - he wasn't sure how long he had stood there fighting the urge to throw up and cry all while rocking
himself back and forth. the sudden speaking causing him to jump - he felt his body react this time, at least he knew he reacted
this time, a pained cry coming from his lips as soren moved briar's arm to wrap it around his shoulder. briar could only let out
a sad sob and frown following fast after, "please don't leave me again, please stop leaving me," he let out softly, his bottom lip
quivering desperately as his eyes only remained on the ground even when he opened them again.

he wasn't ready to begin walking, but they did anyway. briar didn't want to talk to him anymore, briar wasn't sure any of his
words were going to be heard anymore. he felt so much doubt, he couldn't find the point in speaking anymore if his words were
falling on deaf ears. briar didn't want to talk to anyone.

[kalo.]

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

indentindentThe reaction from the humans told Reyna one of three things. One, she made the wrong decision by shifting in the first place [hell the decision to follow Rio in the first place was the wrong idea she should've stayed back at the cabin like a good listener but she was too busy thinking rashly]. Two, there was a ninety percent chance that she was going to have to flee after this encounter. Especially if her attempt to stay under cover and away from Danny proves to have failed, it will suck, having the leave some of the best years of her life behind just because a van crashed and so happened to have someone from her old life in it. What did she do to deserve this karma? Third, she realized how difficult it was going to be to have to lead these humans back to a cabin. In the woods. In the dark. With no kind of light on her. She left with nothing, not even a flashlight, and now she had to pretend to know where she was going. Should she shift back? Or would that create some kind of freakout with the humans again?

indentindentShe debated it in her head for a bit, but she knew she had to get this... sad-looking man back to Salem as fast as she could. "Don't worry, I'll get you guys there as fast as I can. It's just dark out, so if anyone has a sort of light to shine that would be appreciated! I don't exactly have the eyes of a Wolverine after all!" Maybe the wrong thing to say but she couldn't help but crack out a small laugh, hoping that the obnoxious sound didn't travel and scare them. Her eyes shot a quick look to the side as they started moving, ignoring the way Danny hovered near what seemed to be a... deceased person. Nor did she let herself think too hard about the blood from the one person she saw as a mother figure on the road. This night was full of terror that the poor girl couldn't quite comprehend, but for now, she was trying her best to keep these three humans from falling into a spiral. The last thing she needed was for them to start screaming and making a scene. So jokes it was.

indentindent"Alright ladies and gentlemen we're going to be going on quite a bumpy ride here in the Canadian forest, i'm going to need all hands and feet inside the ride at all times." She turned around to face the three, walking backward into the forest. "Any pictures taken will be confiscated and you'll have to buy our lovely overpriced merchandise instead. Please stay seated for the duration of the ride!" She made a little 'woooosh' sound and moved around as if she was on a rollercoaster [not that she had been on one she's banking on those Disney films she watched as a kid]. She knew the rough way home, and hey if she could get home before the rest of the pack then she could at least explain that she was bringing them back to help. And that her name was Rain. Yeah. Not suspicious at all. Maybe at least Rio would approve of not using her real name.

indentindentIt was difficult to navigate the woods and have everyone follow her, between the fact that they all looked one wrong move away from snapping like spaghetti and it was nearly pitch black out. Being in the middle of the woods provided no light pollution to even help a little, and not being shifted meant Reyna was squinting trying to look as far as she could. They were lucky that there wasn't much in their way besides some low-hanging branches. Not fallen trees or big holes to go around. This was beneficial because if the broken-armed man had to climb over some trees he would've actually fallen apart.

indentindentThe good news is the cabin wasn't that far, and she would have hopefully ample time to drop them off at Salem and run to her room and try and hide or... to something. She glanced at the people behind her, they were all holding onto each other to stay connected and Reyna almost felt back thinking that she could've offered her hand and kept them feeling safe. "We're almost there, I promise, it's just right up here. Salem will help you all right away! He's amazing you're in safe hands!"

indentindentShe let out another giggle before she turned around and let herself look up. She could just see the light from the cabin, the others must've been awake and wondering what had happened, so she'd have some explaining to do. Especially because she straight up just dipped and left the others back. She assumed they had walked faster as there were only three of them and not a huge group. It paid to be efficient in this time too, as Reyna had to come up with a plan on how to deceive Danny and pretend she wasn't Reyna. She needed to make sure the others knew not to use her name... but how?

indentindentBut they were here, and she let out a smile as the light finally lit them all up. "Tadda! Welcome to paradise! Please exit the car safely and make your way inside for pictures!"

[n ‎]

❝ 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗠 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚🡖 ꏢ ❟❟
└──────────────────┐

''│
mr medic| he/they | (@) home ty
tags; reyna court humans|mentions;':c

└──────────────────┘


salem only felt tempted to follow courtney's lead of shifting into their animal forms so he could at least keep up with the two of them when they began their way into the forest - but with his eyes already catching movement in the corners of his peripheral, salem only felt himself easily losing track of the people and actions in front of him as he let his focus shift to the dark figure moving around the boathouse and the dock, his eyebrows furrowing heavily as he squinted his eyes to try and focus on the figure, figuring out which one of them was moving around over there in the dark. were the rest of them over there as well? did they know where the rest of the shifters were? salem only puffed out his cheeks lightly as he continued to fixate on the movement figure, his gaze not wavering.

what did they have in their arms?

salem let his hands grab the railing of the porch as he tried to lean closer towards the boat house without really making any stride to go towards it - knowing the group's direction was aimed in a different way in the woods, salem only wanted to keep his eyes fixated on the moving mysterious figure after he figured out who it was. he couldn't put together who it could have been- there would be no real reason to be going to the boat house that late in the night, let alone in autumn, the air turning cold and uncomfortable to think about getting drenched in.

salem let his gaze drop back to the girls in front of him, shaking his head only slightly as he perked his attention up once more. nish still wasn't outside. salem knew he told nish he was going to go around to find where everyone was, but did that technically include leaving the vicinity of the entire cabins and home to go look for them or did that not count? salem only turned around on his heel to return into the cabin once more to quickly find if nish had gotten up and moved or not before the sound of a familiar voice speaking along with the crunching of leaves and branches immediately caused salem to pause - his hand tightening around the doorknob before eventually letting go completely to turn around. the voice of reyna was always familiar - there was no way in hell he wouldn't remember her voice, even if she was miles away or somehow speaking underwater through a cup with a string. her voice was always going to be recognizable to salem, even if he couldn't figure out where it was coming from in the dark forest in front of him.

salem only let himself bounce off of the porch after hearing the familiar voice speaking some more, his shoes crunching the grass under him as he let himself drop from the second to last stair - his hand running through his own hair anxiously as he allowed himself to walk forward slightly, trying not to get too far in front of the caribou with the worries both forms of him would be easy to mow down. the moment his eyes finally found where reyna was coming in from, salem could only slow himself in his tracks until he was fully at a halt - hoping him stopping wouldn't accidentally give the caribou a one-way package to run him over because he stopped in front of a bigger moving animal. the figures around reyna were unrecognizable - at least the heights and the shapes didn't feel recognizable to him. no one that tall was around except maybe mercer - but even then it felt off standing next to reyna. he didn't recognize the height next to her of someone that tall other than nish, and salem knew where nish was. there were two other bodies still - two of them almost the same height. who were these people?

salem's eyebrows only furrowed deeper into his expression, his frown deepening as anxiety set far enough into his stomach he had to hold his arm against it gently, watching his breathing particularly as they approached the cabin and the group. the panic only set in even more as their faces began to form and build in front of him - salem had no idea who these people were. reyna was bringing strangers onto the property. they looked incredibly terrible - one of them had their arm crossed their chest in a way that looked like a depressing sling to a horrible break - salem could see the severity even from where he was standing. one looked like there was more blood on his shirt than should be possible - if reyna told him he was an axe murderer who just got done with his latest mission, salem wouldn't hesitate to believe her. the woman didn't look too roughed up - but she didn't look like she was doing too great, either.

who were these people?

salem backed up in his traces quickly - swallowing hard as he leaned towards courtney. "don't shift back. don't shift back from your caribou yet," he whispered to her - his words fast and panicked as he kept his eyes locked on the moving figures in front of him, not forgetting about the person moving around the boathouse as he watched around and waited still for someone to emerge from the cabin. "go somewhere they can't see you. go behind the house to the back door or just to the side of the house - don't let them know and don't let them see you," he hushed quickly, nodding quickly to himself, the panic setting in only as he feared the unknown possibilities in front of him.

after sucking in another panicked breath, looking back at the caribou shifter one more time with a panicked look but his eyes softening, he swallowed hard. he trusted courtney- he knew whatever she decided to do with the situation at hand in front of them she was going to handle it to the best of her ability - sometimes he didn't agree with the actions she made, but sometimes she didn't agree with him either, it wasn't worth going back and forth. he trusted her. pulling his shorts down his thighs further one more time, salem let out a defeated sigh as he shoved his hands into his hoodie sleeves and began walking towards reyna to meet her halfway, his lips curled inwards as he ran his tongue against his lips nervously.

salem didn't understand what was going on- he could hear the bit reyna was doing, he could hear the weird tone in her voice and the eccentric actions in her body, salem could only try and not ruin the mood she was so clearly trying to set with the panicked face he had so plastered on easily - his smile shaky and struggling to stay strong on his lips."heyyy....."he said slowly, almost like he wasn't sure how to even speak the words in general. "whoo...are they?" pulling his hand from his hoodie pocket to hold it towards the group of people - salem could only sadly attempt to mask the pure horror and confusion as he looked at them, his expression and mask dropping almost too frequently. he still found himself struggling to keep his attention committed fully to the group in front of him, his eyes still nervously and curiously watching as someone emerged from the boathouse, the thing in their hands effectively missing as salem could only stare harder, his eyebrows furrowing so hard he was worried he was never going to be able to move his eyebrows from his kind of position on his face anymore.

salem only swallowed nervously as he looked back at the group of people - reyna was barefoot. did she walk the whole way back here barefoot? the group of people looked rough and in awful shape - the three behind reyna huddled together defensively, salem was close enough to them he could see one of the boy's knuckles turning white as he held onto the other's hand - the fear in their eyes matching or almost overbearing salem's. he didn't know who they were, but unfortunately, the trust salem held in reyna was always going to have priority to salem's decision making. "do you think you can take them to my medic's shed? i can try and help them there and see if there's anything i can do but i just- i have to check something really quick-" salem shook his head, trying to hide the general annoyance radiating off him from the sole fact he felt left out. "where is rio? do you know where everyone is?" salem asked again, hoping this time at least reyna would have an answer for him. salem could only hope reyna could tell him something rather than just explaining these three humans were now three more pickles. salem only let out one more defeated and upset sigh, shaking his head at reyna again. " and where are your shoes..? i hope you didn't hurt yourself walking around like that, i don't need you to join these guys in there either," salem muttered quietly to the shifter in front of him.

[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; reyna, salem, (humans)
location; road > josie's cabin
twenty-five x⋅x cisfemale, she/her x⋅x dog

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

Coby couldn't help but feel a touch discouraged when she couldn't draw anything more than a curt nod out of Rio when introducing the two men to each other. She knew who he was, and would never have asked him to change, but she had hoped for at least a polite greetings, or maybe even a slightly more courteous nod to signal that she hadn't gone entirely astray in placing her trust in the blonde — Collie. She really needed to start calling him by his name in her head. Yet even stranger, perhaps, that usually Rio's cautiousness would have caused her to reconsider and ask herself whether there was something she had missed, but her instinct was screaming at her to not complicate things by overthinking, even as Collie said nothing and merely mirrored the nod offered by Rio.

indentindentCollie was... so earnest — and this earnestness had no ill air to it, nothing digging at her, nothing to signal that it was merely artifice. She had met humans talented at feigning benevolence before, and she just couldn't see anything of the sort in Collie. If her judgment truly had failed, she hoped the consequences would land solely on her and not the rest of the pack, but that wasn't a luxury one often had as a second. Or a leader. That part about Rio's reaction she could understand, to the point that it gnawed at her chest — there was a lot at stake. She had expected Collie to step away when Rio icily hinted at needing a moment to talk in private, but when Collie hesitated, Coby looked to him, and happened to catch his eye. She tried to silently convey that there was nothing to worry about, that they had agreed to trust each other, and she wasn't about to break that trust now. They weren't going to disappear once he turned his back.

indentindentAs Collie left to gather the humans' belongings, Coby began to worry about something else: that she might have overstepped. This situation was, admittedly, new to her, and it was safe to say that she was improvising, with only her instincts to guide her. Even an hour or two ago, had a group of humans simply appeared on Rio's lands, she might have been terrified, perhaps advocated for staying out of sight and hoping that they left. Yet this was different. There were many injured, and they were the only ones around with the means to help. As difficult as their secret made it, she did believe they had an obligation to do what they could in minimizing the suffering. Few of the shifters owed anything to humans — quite the opposite — but she just couldn't bring herself to turn her back on someone who was hurt and afraid.

indentindentNow Coby tried not to be nervous. She trusted Rio, deeply, but if she had done wrong, she also expected him to correct her. But as he came closer and the lines of his face softened, she knew that she had committed no irredeemable mistake. He voiced his fears, and she understood the reasons for them. Yet she worried about turning this road into a battleground, into a situation of us vs. them. It was natural to assume that the humans would have come to them already thinking of the shifters as an antagonistic force, and for the shifters to answer in kind by taking them for attackers, but she had no desire to enforce those views. So many of them were injured, and she didn't think they had much of a choice but to play nice with those who offered help. If they were to turn against the shifters once that help had been given... well, it wasn't something she wanted to entertain as a plausibility. But she couldn't fault Rio for considering it.
indentindentindent"He gave me his word," she said, subdued as usual. It might've sounded naive, but had Collie given her any reason not to trust him so far, she wouldn't have. "I don't know if we have a choice. Some of them know about us now, and I think the best thing to do might be to show them why we aren't an enemy. Even if they didn't know, leaving them out here..." She didn't finish the thought, but it would have been unnecessarily cruel.

indentindentCoby's head turned in time with Rio's, their eyes drawn away by Reyna's voice ringing clear in the night. Coby hadn't known that she was out here, and while Coby knew her to be capable, and most likely much braver than herself, she didn't like the idea of her left alone with strangers any more than Rio seemed to. Reyna might've liked to tease Coby, but that didn't make her any less precious to all of them, and she nodded as Rio excused himself, made more comfortable by the idea of him checking in with her. However, it meant that Coby was left to linger uncomfortably, and she fidgeted with her own hands, nervously chipping at the blood that had dried under her fingernails.

indentindentWhen Rio reappeared, she thought he had come to release her from the purgatory of being left alone with her own worries, but what he said merely made her stomach sink. And yet it made all the sense in the world. She looked up at him, lips slightly parted with the uncertainty of what to say. Of course they couldn't leave, now that they had witnessed their secret and held knowledge which, if carried out into the world, could mark the doom of them all. But what did he mean? Would they stay for good, imprisoned on the pack's lands? Or was there a more sinister meaning, something dark enough that Coby refused to name it for herself? The latter was out of the question for her, but what was the solution then? Blindfold them and drive them out of the forest, and hope that they didn't know the way back? God. These were the manner of decisions that marked a person with the emblem of good or evil for life, and as cold as she felt, it suddenly seemed nothing in comparison to the cold rising from within.

indentindentShe was left staring after Rio as he took his leave, which released her from the necessity of immediately providing an answer to their seemingly impossible dilemma, but left her with a part of the burden she now knew he carried. What a heavy weight, to have to decide the fate of so many human beings. One would have already been too much to bear. She had been so distracted by the conversation that had taken place that she started slightly as Collie returned — but any anxiety quickly drained from her as she saw how ridiculous he looked, with what she counted to be five bags balanced across his frame like a pack mule on a mountain trail. Had the past hour of her life not been something of a waking nightmare, she might have burst out laughing. In these circumstances it merely felt like whiplash, and she managed a feeble smile in return for his charming grin.

indentindentHe thanked her for her help, but Coby couldn't bring herself to accept it when she felt that the help she had offered had been so lacking, and so she simply nodded, eyes wandering to the ground in an attempt to lessen the shyness that was rising under his attention. Yet her gaze soon climbed back to his face when he offered his jacket, and she couldn't help but wonder how he dared to be so kind after the things she had talked about with Rio. But he didn't know about any of that, and Coby knew it wasn't her place to tell him. She was freezing, to the point that she could slowly feel the sensation fleeing from the very tips of her fingers, but still, she hesitated, before the pure discomfort of the cold won out in the ongoing debate within her head.

indentindentGingerly, she pulled back the zipper on the bag offered, and drew out the jacket that was most definitely several sizes too large for her, but that already seemed so comfortable in her hands that she might have cried had she had any tears left. The light brown fabric was velvety with wear under her touch, and as she carefully pulled it on, the lining proved even softer — and warmer. It didn't hurt that she was drowning in it, because all she could think about was the feeling slowly returning to her extremities — and how nice the jacket smelled wrapped around her, in spite of his claim about a broken washing machine. God, it smelled so comforting, and that absolutely wasn't an appropriate thing to say to someone you'd just met and who had offered you their jacket out of the kindness of their heart. She could feel her cheeks flushing for the second time that night.
indentindentindent"Thanks. It's nice," she spoke, quietly, still hoping that the moon wasn't bright enough to make out the colour on her cheeks.

indentindentThe topic switching to Rio was a welcome distraction, until Coby felt the guilt that rose with the memory of what he had said. The excuses were already beginning to form, and she feared she was about to begin babbling nearly as badly as Collie had when he had seen her shift. She fidgeted with the too-long sleeves of his jacket and stared at the flattened grass at their feet. The shepherd following Collie around appeared calmer now — maybe she had made the right choice with shifting, after all.
indentindentindent"He's just protective," she offered, softly, but feeling a little uneasy. It seemed like too daunting a topic to explain their caution of humans in the moment without making him feel guilty for being one. She doubted he'd had a choice in the matter, and neither did she feel like making him think he was the enemy. It's complicated. "He wouldn't have left you stranded once he saw you were injured." That might have been a lie, but it was a little white lie — or at least that's what she told herself. And was it bad that Coby herself believed it? She looked up to Rio, and it was difficult to think badly of him, when all he had ever done was for the shifters' benefit. He had given them his lands and the cabins so they could have a home, and it frankly felt a little shameful to even question him, no matter what her position in the pack was, and no matter how honest he wanted her to be with him. Fortunately, her respect for him was often enough to allow her to speak her mind, but this situation was different. It was new, unprecedented.

indentindent"Which way is it, back to your home?" Ah, focus, Coby. She looked him over once more, and she would have offered to carry at least one of the bags, but she feared his carefully balanced system might have crumbled if they were to remove a piece. Like a giant jenga tower, if those were still a thing.
indentindentindent"It's through the woods here. The path isn't very good, but it isn't far," she said, her tone apologetic. She glanced up at Rio's silhouette on the road, then turned back to Collie. He was strong, clearly, but they didn't need to push it. He'd just gone through a car accident after all, and the sooner he could set those bags down, probably the better. "I think we can go. He'll bring the rest of your friends once they're ready." Still, she lingered for a moment, somewhat of a stranger to taking the initiative, before stealing one last glance at the road that had claimed her friend's life, and stepping back into the shadowed forest.

indentindentEntering the trees meant leaving behind the pale fingers of moonlight vainly stretching themselves toward the forest floor. Coby waded blindly through the mat of fallen leaves, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the drop in light, and knowing that this path was only familiar to herself, she moved slowly at first, pointing out dips in the ground and jutting roots that lay across the trail in the hopes of keeping Collie from stumbling. She tried not to go too far so that he could follow her silhouette in spite of the dark, and even as she grew accustomed to the darkness, she couldn't see far, and what she did see was a landscape mostly drained of colour, illustrated in vague shapes and looming shadows. Even in the middle of the day, the trail was a faint brown line worn into the undergrowth, and with the autumn leaves further blurring its borders, she relied mostly on the memory of countless nighttime walks.

indentindentHad navigating the way back home been any easier, Coby might have attempted to make small talk. She was hopelessly aware that she had hardly talked to anyone outside of the pack for a few years, and she wasn't a talented conversationalist on the best of days, but she was curious of him in spite of herself. She wanted to know where they had come from and what their intended destination had been, because it certainly couldn't have been the private lands of a non-existent logging company in the Canadian wilderness. The last time she had been to a city was when she had been on the run, mostly focused on survival, and it would have been nice to hear something good about that world which now seemed so distant from her. But the walk was unfortunately arduous, and it was a relief when the trees began to thin and the light of the yard spilled toward them, glistening on the wet leaves at their feet. Was it wrong to feel excited about showing Collie her world?

indentindentHowever, she was stopped short as soon as she left the cover of the woods and found herself standing on the edge of the grassy clearing. There was a small group of people spilling from the porch, gathered in the warm, comforting light streaming from the cabin's windows, and all of a sudden Coby felt sick. She looked down at herself, at the bloodstains spreading around her knees, and thought about the red dried on her hands under the cover of Collie's jacket. She couldn't do it. She couldn't walk up to them and repeat what had happened, couldn't talk about Josie without picturing the way she had seen her friend lying broken in the middle of the road. And so she froze, eyes fixated on the faces that knew her the best and trusted her to be honest with them. She wanted to flee, and yet the thought of going back into the cabin she had shared with Josie by herself felt terrifying.

indentindentindent"I— I should—" she floundered, at a loss for an excuse, until she remembered the state they were both in. The aftermath of Collie's broken nose still decorated the lower half of his face, and she was covered in Josie's blood and rather eager for a change of clothing. It was selfish, however, to ask him to accompany her so that she could pretend a while longer, when she should have told him to go see Salem, or talk to his friends, or, hell, get a midnight snack from the kitchen — anything but tend to her whims.
indentindentindent"Do you... do you want to come clean up before joining everyone? I live in the smaller cabin over there, right next to where Rio said you could stay for the night," she rambled, staring more at the oversized sleeves than looking at Collie. She grasped for something more — some justification for him to stick around. "I think we— I've got some blankets in the closet, if you want to take those to your friends, I mean." She was trying her best not to sound like she was begging this half-stranger not to leave her all by herself, and failing miserably. But to her relief, Collie was merciful, and offered no objections to following her inside.

indentindentCoby had already climbed the few steps to the door when she stopped to stare at it, a terrible pit in her stomach and a lump in her throat. Collie was a welcome distraction, as wrong as it felt to treat him as such.
indentindentindent"You can leave the bags on the porch, or inside. Anywhere's fine, really," she went on, distracted by how turning the handle felt a little like being torn in half. Inside, she slowly peeled off the jacket, and with Collie's hands full, placed it on the hooks by the door, and tried not to think about how right it looked hanging there.
indentindentindent"I should go wash up," she said, wringing her hands, and feeling slightly awkward now that they were alone. "The bathroom's just through there. The blankets should be in the closet behind you. There should be a clean towel, too. I won't be long."

indentindentCoby closed the bathroom door behind herself, and turned on the tap. Josie had never been someone to hoard toiletries, and so most of the bottles lined by the mirror were Coby's, but even seeing her toothbrush ached. Her eyes burned and she let the tears come instead of fighting them, and as she placed her hands under the stream of warm water to scrub them clean, she stopped to stare at the pink-tinted water swirling into the drain. Josie's blood. It made her ill. Coby's stomach turned and she pivoted to the trash can, afraid that she was going to lose her last meal, before the feeling passed. She finished washing her hands, and rinsed the tears from her wan cheeks, before putting on the best semblance of a brave face she could. It wasn't very convincing.
indentindentindent"Bathroom's free. Um, let me know if you need anything," she offered, uncertain if it was the right thing to say. Honestly, she had never done this — the cabin, which had really been Josie's, was the first permanent home she had had, and it was difficult to have experience in welcoming a guest without a home. Instead, it had been she who had been welcomed, by Rio, and by Josie. Back when she had been able to use Mercer like a shield, someone to handle the outside world for her. Now she had lost both of them.

indentindentWhile Collie was cleaning up, Coby pulled on some sweatpants and the first shirt she could find — an old, pale blue sweater with a print about manta rays. The sleeves hung well past her hands, because it had once been Archie's, before she had appropriated it for herself. It had just been too comfortable to resist. She placed the bloodied clothes in the hamper and tried not to think about tomorrow, when future Coby would have to pull them back out and figure out how to get them clean. She tried not to think about tomorrow in general, because she didn't want to touch Josie's things. Even the thought of clearing anything out felt wrong, and so she went for the closet to find the blankets she had promised to Collie.

[chase.]

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ security ] [ he/him ] [ location - wreckage] [ feeling - squeaky clean and out of his depths ]

xxxxx

xxxxxAs Collie followed Coby, now well adjusted to balancing the bags, the dense forest began to thin. For the first time, he caught sight of the cabins—warm and nestled within a small clearing of sorts, forming a hidden home in the heart of the wilderness. It hadn’t seemed feasible earlier; for something so welcoming-seeming to be within the brutality of the untamed forest, but yet here it was. It felt safe, a stark contrast from the rather daunting and uneasy journey from the road. There were more people here; that much was obviously from the soft buzzing of voices over by the larger of the buildings, and he could just about make out a few familiar faces in the distance. Felix, Eva, and Drew. A part of him instinctively wanted to join them, to ease the tension that hummed quietly in his chest with the comfort of their presence. But before he could make a step towards them, Coby spoke softly-rambling in a similar manner he had done earlier. Her voice was calm enough, but there was a hint of something in it, nervousness or perhaps uncertainty? Collie’s chest ached at the tone regardless. He glanced at her, noticing the way she shifted her weight almost unnoticeably, her eyes not quite meeting his. It was subtle, but it was there, a vulnerability that tugged at him. She either didn’t want to be alone, or she was impossibly polite, the latter could very well be true given everything she had already done for them.

His friend’s presence was inviting, but he turned his attention to Coby. He didn’t need to think twice. There was just something about the way she stood there, drowned in his jacket and waiting kindly for his answer. He wanted to stay with her, he just hoped he wasn’t accidentally imposing. “Yeah,” he murmured, offering a small but lop-sided smile, “That sounds good.” The straps dug into his skin as he adjusted the bags—smiling to himself as he walked obediently, gaze focused on the outline of his jacket draped over her shoulders. It had been an offhand offer earlier, but now—seeing her wear it in the warm glow of the clearing, it struck him just how much it suited her. It was a bit too large, the sleeves were too long and the fit was loose, but he thought it looked perfect. In his admittedly biased opinion, that was.

Collie wordlessly followed Coby into the cabin, occasionally clicking his tongue at Captain to keep the dog with him, and not let the shepherd chase god knows what, god knows where. If he’d remembered correctly, Coby had said there was someone who could turn into a fox around here—that was not a Disney story Collie felt like ruining for himself. Again. He’d had his childhood ruined once already when a fellow soldier lent him “The Fox And The Hound” book, and the subsequent brawl that broke out after it had certainly been something to remember. He kissed his teeth, looking at his shepherd. ‘Please, please, behave, big man.’ The dog just blinked at him, tongue lolling out comfortably to the side. At least he’d warmed up easily to Coby.

Once in the safety of the cabin, Collie hummed in acknowledgment of Coby’s words. “Gotcha, thank you—again. ” He slipped the heavy bags from his shoulders, finally relieved of their weight, and set them down by the door with a soft thud. His muscles ached from the strain, but the exhaustion was secondary to the quiet stillness of the space around him. With more care than usual for him, he unlaced his boots and neatly set them down too; it felt too impolite to track dirt in her home after everything she had done. He could afford the inconvenience of having to relace them in a few minutes, it was a small price to pay for her hospitality. He was raised in an orphanage, not a barn. Coby stepped away to what he presumed to be the bathroom, and Collie knew, logically, the right thing to do was to make a start on the blankets she’d directed him too—but the curiosity ached in him. Once a soldier, always a soldier, Collie cursed wordlessly as he silently looked around; scouting the place as politely as he could.

By the door, there were another pair of shoes—slightly bigger than Coby’s, and worn in a way that suggested regular use. Collie tilted his head, vaguely aware of the way Captain pressed his nose to the floor; sniffing furiously. “Stop it, that’s impolite dude.” He chided softly, half-heartedly nudging the canine. Captain, with all the sensibility of a toddler, just huffed in annoyance—leaving to curl up by the bags. “Brat.” Collie breathed, rolling his eyes as he left the dog to his sulking.

The soft, steady noise of running water gave him the confidence to step into the kitchen, reassured that Coby was occupied still. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable by his glorified snooping. As much as he could blame it on old habits, he was only haphazardly glancing at the windows and doorways for potential exits; instead most of his attention was focused on the little trinkets and set ups that painted a picture of the occupant. On the counter by the sink, two mugs sat side by side, one still half-filled with what smelled like straight black coffee. It struck him then, the unmistakable signs that someone else lived here. Occupants, not occupant.

He slowly turned his gaze towards the wall, where a small photograph in a simple frame caught his attention. Oh. Oh, no. Collie winced, lips parting slightly as he lifted his hand to the photo. He didn’t touch it—instead his fingers hovered over it slightly as if he itched to pick it up and inspect it further. It was a picture of Coby, and another woman. They stood together, smiling. It wasn’t the best quality photo he’d ever seen, but he could see the tattoos, the pale skin and the ebony black hair. On the road the body had been covered mostly with a coat, but he’d seen enough to be confident that it was the same woman. His heart sunk, even more than it had when he’d written Ennis off as gone. A friend. That’s what she’d called her, right? A dear friend? Wait, was she—

The sound of running water stopped, and Collie’s head snapped up. He muttered a curse. Turning on his heel, he padded back to the closet—thankful that he’d taken his boots off. Trying to be stealthy was so much easier in socks, that was for certain. Collie had barely grabbed a clean towel by the time Coby reappeared. Guilt ebbed at him for snooping, and he found himself grateful for bruises and blood that covered his flushed cheeks.

“Let me know if you need anything.” Collie had to turn his face towards Captain to hide his expression. ‘Let you know if I need anything? Christ, let me know if you need anything!’ Here he was, intruding in Coby’s home—the home she shared, had shared—with the woman who his colleague had just, well, killed. Collie busied himself with searching his bag for a med kit, specifically a rather lacking, canine first aid kit. The company had given him one when he’d started as a security worker, and he’d shamelessly stole it for the trip on the off-chance that his dog got bit by a squirrel or something. Not in case he found himself in a two casualty car wreck. Clumsily he curled his hand around a near-empty roll of medical adhesive. That would do. It wasn’t like the neon pink vet wrap was going to be of any use. Gingerly, Collie walked to the bathroom. “Will do.” He replied quietly. The ceiling could fall on top of him and he wouldn’t ask Coby for help, not after what he’d just learnt. His needs paled pathetically in comparison to hers.

With the door safely closed behind him, his hands gripped either side of the white basin as he looked at himself in the mirror. He pointedly ignored the second toothbrush—another reminder that the ‘dear friend’ had lived here, alongside Coby. With a sigh he turned the tap on, using his spare arm to pull his bloodied shirt over his head. His nosebleed had successfully decorated both the lower half of his face—staining his facial hair, and then as if that hadn’t been enough, his chest was tinted pink from where it had bled through the fabric. Collie looked at the towel he’d borrowed from Coby. It wasn’t the lightest shade in the world, but it was a far cry from a colour dark enough to prevent staining it with blood. Tomorrow he’d go back to the wreck and look for his wallet so he could reimburse the poor woman.

It wasn’t the first time he’d been forced to clean himself up in a sink, messily dragging his hand over his face to scrub the blood away, but it had certainly been awhile. His skin burned and his eye twitched as he dragged the towel over his torso, scraping the blood away but pressing against the splattering of bruises in the process. There was a particularly delicate spot over the right side of his ribcage. A cracked rib then, not the worst thing in the world. Collie dumbly poked at it for a second longer, before relenting. It would heal on its own, considering he hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt he certainly had some sort of guardian angel to thank that the only casualties had been a rib and his nose. Right. His nose. Collie looked up at the mirror, his face now scrubbed clear of blood and grime. The only colouring that remained were the small patches of bruises, a deep reddish purple lining one side of his jaw, and another blooming along his cheekbone. Collie tore some of the medical tape between his teeth, eyeing up his reflection. Soren had done a remarkably good job considering his potential lack of experience. The nose itself was pretty damn straight, he just had to make sure to keep it that way whilst it healed. His eyes watered as he placed a small strip of tape over the bridge of his nose, pressing it against his skin firmly and rubbing it to activate the adhesive. He groaned, trying to muffle the sound. God the nose was a sensitive place to hurt. A couple tears fell into the sink; not out of pain but out of reflex for touching the area.

It was a patch job at best, a single strip of tape was not exactly the ideal splint for a broken nose—but it was better than nothing. He splashed his face with the water once more, before gently patting his skin dry with a clean area of the towel. Without the blood staining his torso he could better see the extent of the damage. There were a multitude of bruises decorating the area, but nothing worse than a graze breaking the skin. He flexed his back, and then rolled his shoulders. He’d be stiff tomorrow, that was a guarantee—but everything moved as it should. His right arm, the one with deep scars tearing through the curves of his bicep, seemed normal, or as normal as it usually did now. Thank god for that. If Collie had reawakened the injuries from his last accident, he’d have had one hell of a meltdown over it.

With one last glance at the toothbrushes, he ducked his head and stepped back out into the hallway. His bloodied shirt was crumpled in his hands, the towel having been left neatly folded in the bathroom. “Sorry, I didn’t know where you wanted the towel—it’s just in there, if you want me to move it just let me know. Oh, and I uh, I owe you a new one I’m afraid. Or the money for one, it’s not too bad but it’s a little stained now. Or I can try clean it tomorrow if you want?” He rambled, trying to chase the image of the photograph from his mind. He held the shirt in his hands tighter as he approached, wringing his hands with it. The contrast between the photograph and the loss that now hung over this cabin was itching to haunt him; and he could only imagine what Coby might be feeling. He swallowed hard, his chest tightening. There wasn’t anything he could do to help smooth over the events of the night, and it left him feeling rather awkward. He didn’t want to give her pity, but he was in awe at how well she seemed to be composed all things considered. Her eyes looked bloodshot still, but she continued going through the motions. She was strong, that wasn’t something Collie was going to doubt after tonight. She was one hell of a woman, Collie just hoped she’d have someone to lean on after this whole ordeal. The spooky bastard from the road didn’t seem like a comfort to anyone, not even the devil, but perhaps there was someone he had yet to meet that might be able to help? Collie didn’t even know the dead woman’s name. Actually, he didn’t know anyone’s names other than Coby, Mercer and Rio. God, ‘Rio’ did not fit that haunted look. Not that he’d say that to his face.

With nowhere better to put it, he shoved his bloodied shirt back into his bag—tucking it down one of the corners to try prevent it from contaminating his other belongings. “I like your sweater.” He complimented lamely at last, his need to fill the silence winning out against his better judgement. “I don’t know anything about the ocean but I think they’re pretty cool. I saw stingrays in an aquarium once in Europe—they look like they’re smiling from underneath don’t they,” He continued, pulling a fresh white t-shirt over his head. ‘Yeah Collie, talk about the giant stingrays. Does she even like stingrays?’ He read the text on her sweater. ‘Manta rays. What’s the difference? Was there one? Collie man, get a grip. ’

“Anyways,” he chuckled sheepishly, carefully rolling his shoulders to try and release some of the tension. “So, a wolf, a fox, and a dog, is everyone here one of the above or do you guys have other options?” Collie hesitated for a second. “I’m sorry that’s a bit personal, you probably want to keep that to yourselves.” Collie held his arms out towards her, offering to be loaded up with blankets like a pack mule once more. The gears in his head turned and he stiffened imperceptibly. He was one hell of a loose end; as was Briar, and anyone else that might’ve witnessed the phenomenon that was an animal turning into a human. He knew what the military’s answers to loose ends were. ‘Stop it dude, they’ve been nothing but kind. ’

Blue eyes blinked at Coby as he offered her a smile, it was easier to flash his teeth now without all the dried blood pulling his skin taut. “What’s the plan then, boss? I’ll follow your lead.” Truthfully, Collie did not want to leave and face the chaos that were his colleagues and their emotions, but he’d managed to stall for long enough—and he was definitely going to be outstaying Coby’s welcome if he didn’t get a shift on. He eyed his jacket that had been so carefully hung by the door, but made no move to grab it. It would be an excuse to come back later. It looked better on her than it did him, anyway, he could suffer the loss of one jacket for the greater good.

No matter how hard he tried to shake it, the photograph appeared on the back of his eyelids everytime he blinked. Collie exhaled, looking at the floor for a few moments to build up some resolve before he tilted his head back at Coby. “What’s her name? Your friend, I mean. If you’re okay with sharing.” He murmured gently, making an effort not to speak in past tense—that was too deep a decision for him to make.

[ inventory : n/a ]

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

[Foe Paw]

[ 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙇𝙊 𝘿𝙄𝘼𝙎 ] ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

[ leader— he/him — 39 ] [ location — a state of confusion → cabin ] [tagged — briar, soren, ? ]

x

xxxxHe wondered if he was going to remember this year, once it was over.

xxxxDanny's son was born in October 2013, and died before the year was out.

xxxxHe doesn't remember it, though. He remembers beforehand easily enough, the nurses being concerned that Nicholas never moved or turned on the ultrasounds; remembers the meeting with the grimly compassionate doctor, where his hopes were finally pierced with the inevitability of it; and then, nothing. Whatever he saw, said or did during that time - it was all all a blank, up until somewhere in February of 2015.

xxxxIt was uncanny, and disconcerting - it still happened, sometimes, to have someone reference a thing to him, maybe that they've done together, and to have no idea when or where that was supposed to be. There were holes in his past, where he could have done anything, and he didn't even know enough to understand what it is he was missing. The only reason he knows the date his son died is because he saw the death certificate, years later, while he'd been clearing his desk back in his home office. He knew there was a funeral, for example, because later he heard someone mention to him the speech he gave there, and he was too afraid to ask what it was he said. He knew he wasn't working, during that time, because he remembered reading the email reassuring him about his extended sabbatical, but he wondered when that happened. Did he have the forethought to ask for time off, or did he try to go to work right after but do something so obviously off-kilter in front of his superior that made the man shelve him? That would explain why some folks in the legal department were treating him like he was made of glass, once he came back.

xxxxThat notion used to terrify him. Now, though, he wondered if forgetfulness might not be a relief.

xxxxMaybe this is what it felt like during that time. Strained quiet, physical pain, blinded disorientation. If this impulse to keep himself together welling so strongly that it crushed every other reaction down would compact it into a smooth surface, underneath which his mind would then scrape off this nightmarish night.

xxxxBecause this hurt.

xxxxDanny liked that Ennis was stronger than him. People had a tendency to think that his notable height also meant that he was strong, and thus whenever someone needed to carry a printer, move boxes of documents or lift a sofa, they usually came to him. And Danny helped, of course. His strength was merely a convenient side effect of keeping active allied to a body that naturally tended towards it. It wasn't, however, part of his job. Wasn't something he specifically developed, like Ennis had over more than one career change. Ennis knew that well enough to go along with Danny's frequent opportunities for Ennis to showcase his physical prowess. Still, though, one bit of showboating demanded another in return, so Danny was often there, besides him, comparing or arm-wrestling or trying to pull off the same move. Ennis was strong; Danny, though, was no slouch.

xxxxThat meant he should be able to do this.

xxxxHim and Ennis weighed more or less the same; he could deadlift that much without much problem. The issue was endurance. One step, two steps - simple. As he kept walking, though, bowing under Ennis' cooling weight, it started to strain, then to hurt. The boneless, unstable, stinking thing that had once been his boyfriend dug into his shoulder painfully; his other arm reaching across to steady it. His ragged breaths collected against it. His joints complained - the bruise his torso gave out a sharp pain every time he inhaled. He couldn't stop to rest, though; the only reason he was still moving was because movement itself propelled him forward, in such a way that once he was already going forward it was easier to place another foot in front and keep on ahead. There couldn't be rest, yet, not while they were still far from - from where they were going to. Keep going forward.

xxxxA root, unseen in the dark, snagged his foot.

xxxxDanny fell.

xxxxHis knee buckled, sending him crashing down on the ground with a mute gasp of surprise. He hit the floor painfully, only at the last second reaching out a hand so it hit the forest floor first, instead of his face. Ennis' body weight came down on top of him, pushing his face into dirt, before rolling to the side. His hand had snagged on something and was cut open, adding the smell of fresh blood to the already coagulating one soaking into his back and shoulders.

xxxxDanny sat back up on his haunches, spitting to the side to clear out the dirt in his mouth, and beheld his abject failure.

xxxxHow could he do this to Ennis? It wasn’t a hard task. All it involved was picking him up and carrying him. Heavy, but accomplishable. And yet, he still managed to find himself here, humiliated and useless, with Ennis sprawled in a knot of loose, lifeless limbs in some distant forest. If they had been in each other's places, Ennis wouldn't have let him down. He'd have managed this, easy. There were no other options, though. Someone had to. This time he'd go slower. He wouldn't trip again. He planned in his head the series of steps he'd have to do to get up and get Ennis up, steadier this time, and get back moving. The first step was getting up.

xxxxHe considered the titanic task of getting back to his feet. Considered instead bashing his head against the rock that had just sliced his hand open and hurrying up the dissociative fugue to let him forget this already.

xxxxAnd then Soren was there, a warm, solid hand on his shoulder, support to help him climb back up. Jostled out of the paralysis of that first step, he leant on Soren enough to get back up, wiping at his face listlessly again before going back to where Ennis had fallen, being followed by the quiet support of Soren. Bending down - bend at the knees, not the waist, the little snatch of advice went through his head - to lift him into his arms again. This was easier than the first time, in two, and when Soren stepped away it felt less likely to overbalance.

xxxxSoren was saying something. Danny stared at him, stupidly, having processed almost nothing from it - but the tone was steady, calm, and solid. There was a touch at his elbow, too, which let him start stumbling forward without having to spend much of his exhausted resources into pathfinding. Just follow behind Soren, that was easy. If he stepped where he stepped, he might not have a repeat of that humiliating fall.

xxxxDanny followed the tradesman to Briar, where he then started checking in with the younger man. Danny, swaying under the weight of the body, took a moment to, again, be intensely relieved that at least Soren was here to help while he was busy with Ennis. Soren then paused to speak to the pale man, which went in a direction, and they took the travel back up. Having stepped a little ahead from them, the dark figure was hard to discern for Danny, so he just focused on following along behind the duo of Soren supporting Briar.

xxxxHe couldn't for the life of him have said how long the trek through the darkened woods was. They had abandoned the clear asphalt-under-moonlight and started to thread their way through the full, velvety darkness under trees. The effort of carrying a full adult started to turn from tiring to straining to draining. Every muscle in his body begged him to stop. The bruised ribs seemed to be threatening to crack under the weight. Every step through the unseen forest floor carried the fear that he'd step wrongly again; he took to walking even closer to the two coworkers, trying to step exactly where Soren did. He took to lying to himself - promising just another couple of steps, then it'll be over, so he could trick himself into keeping going for that short amount of time and using the weight of momentum to promise himself the end again before the disappointment and exhaustion could catch up to him.

xxxxAnd then, the trees cleared into grass. Buildings. Light. Danny looked up into it, too drained to feel relief at the end of the journey, and continued walking along with the group as they headed off to one of the smaller buildings.

xxxxWhat did he do now that he got through the woods with Ennis? He needed a second step. Another task to promise to himself before being able to sleep. Danny stayed there, swaying, and made himself consider the future.

xxxxEnnis' parents had recently passed. He hadn't had siblings, either. Who even was there, that Danny had to contact about this? Who in Ennis' life needed to know he died? With a sinking feeling, Danny realized he didn't know. His emergency contact was Danny. He hadn't ever heard of cousins or other relatives. Ennis didn't even make his will, and last time Danny had asked if he'd updated it recently, he'd laughed it off, saying something about being too young to die.

xxxxDanny wanted to strangle him right now. Instead of knowing what to do, he'd have to go looking for who should receive the remnants of Ennis' life before it all ended up escheated. He considered sitting through that terrible apartment, cleaning it up for the last time, going over every scrap of paper to see if one of them pointed to something Danny thought he'd have time to ask the man himself.

xxxxHe felt sick.

xxxxNot that one. What else might he do?

xxxxHe'd have to call the newspaper and place an obituary. Maybe one in Ennis' home town too.

xxxxThis wasn't working. Think smaller; a more immediate, less daunting future. Where was he going to put Ennis down now, so he could check on the rest of the group and ask about medicine and passage? He couldn't stay out here. However long getting folks checked out and waiting for someone to come from the city took, he should at least be some place inside.

xxxxHe turned to the man in the dark clothes, now easier to spot as the moonlight shone down on the scene again. Danny stepped up, tried to make his throat work again, and after a couple of seconds managed to produce a croaky "where?", gesturing down to the body in his arms.

xxxxThe man pointed him towards a building just a bit above to the one they were being gathered near. Danny nodded his gratitude and stumbled that way. The building turned out to be a shed, whose door left unlocked Danny opened with his elbow and then stepped in. Nothing but more dark shapes inside. He stepped back out of it and placed Ennis so carefully down on the grass in front of the door, before going back inside and fumbling for a light switch near the entrance.

xxxxElectric light, after so long in the dark night, was almost blinding. It helped see what he was doing, certainly, but as he appraised the inside of that shed he still wished bitterly his glasses worked. It seemed like a typical storage shed, overfull with boxes and other items that Danny couldn't see clearly, but could probably guess sat somewhere in that dubious sometimes-useful range of things; right next to the door. A clear path further in was there, but hard to discern. There wasn't any clear space.

xxxxDanny stared at it all, wishing he was anywhere else. Just this thing and then you can rest, he promised himself, and stepped in further, squinting at the items until he saw an off-white plastic table, straining under the weight of boxes, the top of which was open enough to show some old books, colorful in that official textbook kind of way. He lifted those, dislodging a spider into panicked retreat which he only noticed once it was already halfway up his arm. Unconcerned, he placed the boxes instead on other steady-enough piles of things around. Once it was clear of other things, Danny stepped back outside and lifted Ennis again for the last time, placing him down on the plastic table in that storage shed.

xxxxHe paused besides it, looking down at the face gone slack in death. It was really noticeable, Danny realized, now that he was here, looking. Something went missing in someone once they passed, which would never let them be mistaken for merely sleeping. Never again would that face make the expression of profound thought that took by surprise anyone who mistook him for a common thug. No gruff smiles. Nothing else. He'd seen Ennis bleeding before, and it had been concerning, but this - the sluggish flow of blood from wounds that didn't have a pumping heart to make them move, but only passively stained Ennis' clothes, and all that touched him, sickly dark red.

xxxxDanny looked down at his hands. Now that he'd stopped, he realized the blood on them was starting to dry, and it felt tacky. Even the cut he got when falling down was mostly done adding fresh red to it.

xxxxHe wondered if there was something he should be saying. Ennis wouldn't be hearing, though, so it felt pointless to apologize now. To say goodbye. He never spoke to his son's grave, either; visited, but not out of the imagination that someone would be listening to him. That anything he could say would correct that break in the order of things, of a future lost.

xxxxHe stepped back out, turned off the lights. Stood there, in the darkened doorway of the storage shed, trying to think of what to do now. Nothing.

[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; courtney, salem, reyna
mentioned; coby, (rio), (cabin humans)
location; boathouse > main cabin
twenty-seven x⋅x cismale, he/him x⋅x wolf

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

The smoky-sweet smell of autumn descended from the trees around the river, and the slow-moving water under the weathered planks kept up its sloshing hum. Mercer shivered as the warmth of physical exertion fled from his muscles and the cold air hovering around the dock pushed through the holes in his miserable t-shirt and touched its chilly fingers to his skin. Distant scraps of voices descended from the cabins, tumbling through the scattered trees and down the brush-covered hill. People must have been making their way back, and that likely meant Rio unfortunately hadn't strangled any of them yet. Mercer pushed a hanging strand of black hair from his face, scraped the toe of his shoe at some lichen growing on the wet wood, and abandoned his longing for a cigarette in favour of seeing who had returned.

indentindentHe cast one last look at the feeble light spilling out past the cracked boathouse door, and thought about how he likely should have felt more sorry for her. Josie had hated his guts, sure, but she had done a lot for Coby. The only way Mercer could really stir up some feeling of pain was by thinking about how much she must have been hurting right now. There was a strange hollow hole in the place where grief should have been, or where the horror of witnessing tragedy and death might have lived, but his upbringing had knocked that sense out of him a long time ago. Where the head of a picturesque nuclear family would've come home with his briefcase after a day at work, Eddy would come home with blood on his clothes and set his piece down on the dinner table. Always a new lesson for his son to learn, so he wouldn't make a fool of himself when the time came to join the gang.

indentindentMercer set up the slick steps, which were precariously pliant with what must have been some advancing rot or simply one too many years enduring the seasons. He should have been relieved to see someone moving in Coby's cabin, a vague shape casting itself against the curtains, but instead he was struck by a new hesitation that tore at him rather cruelly. The excuse was good: he wanted to check in on her, see how she was doing after the loss of her friend. What better way to weasel his way back into her life than by comforting her and showing that he still cared? Everything that had happened was a simple lapse in his sanity, and he could be better, here's the proof. But the thought of knocking on her door and cornering her with his concern seemed ripe to blow up in his face. He could imagine another fight, and that door shut even more tightly in his face than it had been before. Later, then.

indentindentHe tore himself away from the sight of the cabin sitting in the dark, and turned instead to the larger cabin standing right beside it. Something akin to a crowd had gathered on the porch and the ground below, and the sight of more strangers he had yet to meet made him itch with the urge to destroy something. It didn't hurt that Reyna had seemingly led them there, with the way she was standing at the point of the group like a tour guide, and he would never pass on an opportunity to make that menace's day a little worse. With the rather temperate reaction from both Courtney and Salem, telling by the lack of kicking being done by the caribou, he didn't think they were aware of the crime these humans had committed against them, and it was rather impolite for Reyna to not have informed them. Mercer thought they had every right to know and form their opinions only after having been given all the facts. It only seemed fair.

indentindentOnce he was close enough, he let a humourless laugh echo out into the night before stopping abruptly, his face falling into an expression bordering irritation. He pointed at the obvious caribou standing under the porch lights, gesturing for the group of humans like a game show host, before zeroing in on Reyna.
indentindentindent"Whoa! Is that a part of your little guided tour? Careful now, daddy might get angry," he sneered at the girl, before ruthlessly marching on to Salem, who was fussing over all the injuries in sight and then some. Courtney was unfortunate in catching a stray, but it wasn't as if she liked him, either way. What Mercer was aware of, however, was that he couldn't get himself kicked out. Not only did he refuse to part with Coby, but hiding out in the wilderness might have been the sole thing keeping him alive. Were he to show his face in any city, word would inevitably reach some of his old acquaintances, and they would come to collect on equally old debts. Most likely in spilled blood and loose teeth. And so he might not have been able to lose his temper entirely, but he could be a miserable jerk.

indentindentHe stopped almost shoulder-to-shoulder with Salem and took a moment to read his face just to build up some anticipation. Then he pulled the mockery of a smile back onto his face, and held up his bloody palms to present the evidence to everyone within sight.
indentindentindent"Those folks just hit Josie with their car, thought you'd wanna know," he announced, the smile falling again and being replaced by apathy as he set his arms down. He made a move as if he was about to leave, before turning back to Salem once more, the pretence of an apologetic breath whistling through his teeth. "Oh, and she didn't make it." His tone was dead, uncaring. "The corpse is in the boathouse if you wanna see for yourself." With sufficient seeds sown for destruction, he took off for the cabin, impolitely shouldering past Courtney before she could think to headbutt him through the porch railing. It would have been lovely to stay and see the aftermath of his interjection, but being sent into hospice just wasn't a risk he could take. Especially since Salem wasn't likely to care for his injuries after what he had just done.

indentindentMercer jerked open the cabin door and let it slam shut behind him. He kicked the shoes off his feet and didn't even bother to rinse the dried blood off his hands before trudging into the kitchen to slap together a sandwich. Delivering bad news always seemed to make him hungry.

[chase.]

𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 xxxx ♛
─────────────────────────────────────────
[ raven ] [ he/him ] [ location - road > clearing > boathouse ] [ feeling - things. ]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxThe cool breeze stirred his shirt, but Rio remained still, his eyes fixed ahead as he watched the humans gather themselves. The scene before him played out slowly—disjointed movements as the men fumbled through the dark, trying to make sense of their surroundings. They spoke, their voices carrying faintly through the quiet night, but Rio was too far away to catch their words. He wasn’t interested in their conversations anyway—only in how they were regrouping, assessing their ability to move on. There was a muffled thud in the distance, the sight obscured by the trees, and Rio rolled his eyes in distaste. Humans, in his limited childhood experience, never changed. Rational thinking seemed to drain from them the moment they were faced with something they did not wish to comprehend. Or for some of them, it did. As much as he stubbornly wished to declare them all incompetent—a few had managed to keep their heads amidst the chaos. He wondered if they’d have the decency to thank their friend later, for if it had been up to Rio, he’d have left the staggering man to lose himself in the vast wilderness. Nature could reclaim the human now, for all the raven-haired man cared.

After a minute or so, the elongated shadows moved back towards the road, and Rio’s sharp eyes tracked each motion with cold detachment. One of them herded the others like lambs separated from their mother, and Rio glanced over his build. He seemed intact, bloodied and scuffed—but compared to the driver and the barely-lucid tallest man—he was at least coherent. Soren, if Rio had heard the driver correctly. Soren, Briar, and Danny. Rio stared at the latter for a moment. The words he had spoken minutes ago still lingered in his mind, and as much as Rio tried to clear his head of the sentence, it seemed to come back to the forefront at the sight of the lanky figure.

“Hopefully, soon, we’ll be able to find out exactly what happened.”

As if they did not already know. As if it hadn’t been laid bare across the glass-littered tarmac for all the constellations in the night-sky to bear witness to. As if the murderer himself hadn’t cried out an apology between broken breaths and hiccuped sobs. As if the means of the tragedy wasn’t currently filling the crisp air with the putrid stench of burnt rubber and gasoline. Rio’s crimson-stained fingers twitched. It was arduous to keep up the charade of dignified nonchalance now both Coby and Reyna had taken leave. Perhaps it was a saving grace, that he had sent Mercer away, for if the wolf was still here, the raven wasn’t certain he’d abstain from a degrading display of violence. Murders were for crows, ravens were merely an unkindness. As far as the arbitrary rules of human science had decided, anyways. The blonde called to him, and Rio let his eyes linger on his palms. He exhaled, carefully curling his hands into fists. He’d gotten enough blood on his hands tonight. “I do.” He replied at last, taking a second longer to regard three men. “You may call me Orion. Your friends have already been led there, I believe one of them has taken your belongings.” He continued, the last thing he fancied was for them to panic like hens once they realised over half their group had disappeared into the wild.

Rio didn’t speak another word as he turned from them, allowing his silhouette to be swallowed between the firs. He moved through the dark trail with a quiet, confident grace— the forest seeming to part around them as he led the humans towards his home. The moonlight barely pierced the dense canopy above, and the path was nothing more than a murky blend of shifting shadows, but Rio didn’t hesitate. Nine years he had lived here, and whilst the terrain was nearly always navigated with talons and feathered wings, it was still his home. Sharp eyes caught every root and stone, every subtle shift in the terrain that whispered threats of catching someone off-guard. As if he would allow himself to show anything less than perfection in front of the trespassers; they were new and he was simply not. They were unwelcome and he would be damned if he didn’t exacerbate that truth at any petty opportunity.

Behind him he couldn’t discern how the humans were faring; and he didn’t make an effort to check. If they were struggling, he wouldn’t slow. He had made a promise to Coby that he would help, but that didn’t extend to pitifully coddling them. If they couldn’t keep up, then they would be left behind—it was as simple as that. There was no inclination to ease their path, he had no interest in it. They were simply not his responsibility, not in the way his pack was, and he felt no obligation beyond the one he had reluctantly accepted out of respect for his second. He had given them a direction, a chance to follow, and that alone was more than he believed they deserved.

A warm glow spread through the thinning evergreen, and Rio’s steps slowed in response. His gaze lingered in the direction of the boathouse for a moment, tension creeping into his posture. Josie was there; he could tell from the faint glow that peaked through the trees that partly concealed the building. Mercer had been tasked with settling Josie’s body there, but Rio’s trust in him was thin at best. He felt the familiar chill of doubt crawl up his spine. Mercer was a little too impulsive, too unreliable in Rio’s opinion for such a delicate responsibility—but he had been the best choice given the circumstance. Rio blinked slowly; first he would go and check that Josie had been handled with respect she deserved, and then he would return to the fray. His resolve was steadily crumbling behind his eyes; he could feel it leaking as if he was trying to cup water with his hands. A moment; that was all he needed. Just a short moment to weave the threads of his composure back to its usual tapestry of cold impassiveness.

Before he had a chance to break from the humans, Danny approached him—voice an undsteady croak. “Where?”

‘Right. The body.’ Rio soundlessly jutted his chin in the direction of the storage barn. “Leave it in there.” In all truth, he would have greatly preferred it to have been left by the wreckage, or perhaps dropped somewhere along the walk back—but within the pack, there were individuals whose heart’s bled warmer than his and undoubtedly the dead man would end up somewhere half-respectable whether Rio permitted it or not. Allowing the human a slither of decency now would spare him the pleading looks from the ones more sympathetic to their plight. Disinterested, Rio only watched the man stagger for a moment before he turned in the other direction. “Your friends are over there.” He said to the remaining two in his usual low tone, tilting his head towards the main cabin where the bulk of the bodies remained.

Without another word, his jaw tightened and he turned from the clearing and back into the tree-line. He needed to be sure—needed to see that the fallen had been properly cared for, it was just too important to leave unchecked. His body trembled almost unnoticeably as he manoeuvred through the trees; thankful for their cover as his composure frayed further. He could tend to his people afterwards—for now he needed a moment away from the bustle, a moment with the one he had failed to adequately protect. Mutely he made his way down the weathered steps, each movement steady and sure despite the way his muscles twitched. In the corner of his vision, the light in the storage barn flicked off. Rio’s eyes narrowed in disapproval. Somehow his opinion of the humans hadn’t managed to reach rock-bottom after all. Even Mercer had granted Josie a light. Perhaps he would forgive Mercer’s recklessness more easily, his opinion of the man shifted like an ancient pendulum it seemed. It was easy for Rio’s obstinance to judge Mercer for his past actions, but as Rio opened the door to the boathouse, it seemed Mercer had earned a spark of gratitude from the leader.

Rio stepped past the threshold, gently clicking the door shut behind him. The atmosphere inside the neglected boathouse was thick with stillness, broken only by the gentle lullaby of a singular, dim lamp. Dust clung to the air, disturbed by Rio’s movements as he stepped further, grey eyes adjusting to the soft light. The space, usually forgotten and rarely used, felt hollow—old wood creaking faintly underfoot. Objects littered the floor, shards of glass mingled with some netting, and other various items were sprawled around, not that Rio minded. He would have done the same thing. The space was cleaner than the storage barn; that was something.

In the centre of the room, Josie’s body lay still on the wooden table, still covered by his coat. Rio moved toward her, the floor groaning beneath his careful steps. He knelt slowly beside the table, leaning on his knees as he placed his exposed forearms on the cool surface. Without a word, he delicately reached out and took her cold hand between both of his own. In the dim orange lighting, the blood that covered his skin was less noticeable; the colour absorbed by the ambience. Her fingers were still, and the stiffness sent a wave of hollow finality through him. He held her hand gently, as if she could still feel it, still feel the warmth of his touch. She couldn’t.

His chest tightened with a familiar ache, a weight that pressed harder with each passing moment, though he made no sound. The grief was sharp, but Rio brawled with it beneath his cold exterior, attempting to cover up the cracks as they appeared. It was an uphill battle, one to match Sisyphus’ eternal struggle. His breathing grew laboured, shallow and uneven, each inhale dragging against the tightness of his chest. It wasn’t all-consuming, overwhelming hysteria—for now, at least, it was far more restrained. His breath hitched slightly, but he swallowed the sound, forcing himself to breathe more deeply, more slowly. He had to stay composed. This was Josie, and she deserved more than his collapse. His pack deserved more. He had let her down, he could not bear to let them down—not when they needed him to hold his head high and work through the problem with steady hands.

“You can rest now, I will keep them safe.” He promised at last, voice wavering. His voice was jarring against the silence, and despite it having been a whisper it still sounded too loud all the same. Rio squeezed her hand, resting his forehead against the edge of the table as the floor pressed painfully against his knees. His breathing hitched again, and once more Rio swallowed it down. He closed his eyes, trying to smother the stinging that gathered within them. “You-” He chuckled pathetically at himself as his voice cracked. The sound split his composure in half. A tear fell to the floor, and then another, and Rio’s shoulders shuddered against his will. “You were always better than I, with them.” He admitted weakly, the declaration barely audible between his shaky breaths. His throat burned, and he held Josie’s hand tighter in response. Not that she could return the feeling with her own comfort. Lord, what he would give just to feel her reassurance once more. A sob was choked down his throat; now was not the time for such an unbecoming loss of control. Instead he allowed another droplet to fall to the floor, splashing silently beneath his laboured breaths. A compromise.

“I fear I will falter without you-” He whispered, his voice a shadow of its usual calmness, each syllable trembling like a leaf in the wind. He drew in a shaky breath, finally lifting his head to look at his friend—to where the fabric of his coat was draped over her face. “Coby would have made you proud tonight.” He started instead, a pained smile tugging at the corner of his quivering lips as he tried to slow the glistening tracks that ran down his pale skin. With an aching chest, he forced his spine so straighten, and he held his chin just above their hands. Wet droplets splashed against his fingers, liquid turning pink as they ran down his forearms. “I confess I do not yet understand her sympathy for them, but perhaps I will in time.” He wasn’t convinced by his own words, but he would try. At the very least, he would try.

A painful anger flared in his chest, guilt interlocking with his fingers as he held Josie’s hand. “The driver lives.” He continued, once more dropping his head below his hands. “I do not know how I am to stand by and allow it, but I also do not believe that vengeance was your nature.” Rio felt like a sinner, brandishing his wrongdoings to something higher than himself. Here, bathed in the dim light of the lamp, knelt on the cold flooring with his hands above him—holding Josie’s—he felt small. The type of small he usually felt when gliding underneath the blanket of stars, twisting and turning between the vast valleys—a negligible body of feathers in a world much greater than himself. Sooner or later, all’s thread would be cut. Death came for everyone and everything, it was perhaps the one constant the world had to offer. Some viewed life as two points, a beginning and an end, with the faintest line to connect them. Others preferred to see it as a loop, a circle with no tangible start or finish. Rio wasn’t certain of what he believed, but right now neither option offered comfort. Creatures feared death, it was an unknown that humanity would likely never agree on a conclusion for. Throughout the millennia, every society and civilisation had painted their own ideas; the ancient Greeks had the underworld, the Egyptians had their field of reeds or the duat, the norsemen had Valhalla and the Catholics, heaven and hell. Some believed in reincarnation, almost all considered a judgement based on actions or morals in life. If that was the case, at least Josie would be alright. The tears had trickled to a stop, and Rio tilted his head once more to look at the body under the coat. It wasn’t the unknown that frightened him, not this unknown. The known fact was Josie’s passing was going to leave a scar throughout the pack; perhaps one even greater than Elijah’s. It was a chance he wasn’t sure he was braced adequately for.

Rio inhaled, softly rubbing his thumb up and down over the back of her hand. “Forgive me.” It was a broken plea, and Rio was scornful of how desperate he sounded. Maybe Josie could hear him, maybe she couldn’t. Rio wouldn’t know until it was his time, and he was at peace with that idea. “I created this place, this home, to protect us against man—the cruellest animal. Yet somehow even here their plague has spread. You did not deserve this, Josie.” At least Elijah had been claimed by the river, by nature. Not a cold and unfeeling hulk of metal. “You deserved so, so, much better.” Rio pressed a kiss to the back of her palm—using his hand as a barrier between his face and the even colder skin below. He allowed his head to linger for a moment, exhaling a gentle cloud of warm air. “Farewell, my dear.” He murmured as he gently squeezed her hand between his. The gesture wasn’t reciprocated—of course it wasn’t. Rio didn’t fight the wet that trickled down his face once more, if he allowed a small moment of vulnerability now, it would decrease the chances of a catastrophic reservoir break later.

“I will return to stay with you tonight, of that you have my word.” Rio spoke, his deep voice steadier than it had been earlier. It was a tradition he still carried with him from his home; sitting vigil with the deceased the nights leading up to the funeral. He had done it for everyone he had lost so far, Josie would be no exception no matter the circumstance. Rio took a deep breath as he tried to summon his typical stony-expression. It didn’t quite work, his bloodshot eyes felt raw, and the tremble in his frame had yet to dissipate entirely. Faint trails of liquid had stained pink tracks down his forearms from where his tears had activated the dried substance like cheap watercolour. He withdrew his hands, carefully tucking hers back under the shielding cover of the fabric. Slowly, he rose from his knees, the weight of grief making the motion feel heavier than it should have. His joints ached with the tension he had held in, but he kept his movements measured, almost deliberate. He stood over her for a moment, watching as the flickering light of the lamp cast faint shadows across the fabric. Rio swallowed hard, pushing down the emotion threatening to resurface once more.

With careful hands, he reached out and adjusted the coat he had draped over her, smoothing it over her body with a quiet reverence. The fabric shifted slightly under his touch, and he made sure it was placed neatly, as though it could offer some small measure of comfort in death. His fingers lingered on the edge of the coat for a moment longer, as if reluctant to let go, before he finally straightened up, his face impassive once more. Rio took a steady breath, letting the cold air of the boathouse fill his lungs as he prepared to walk away. There was still work to be done, the night far from over.

[ inventory : n/a ]

[ tags : soren, danny, briar > josie/none ] [ mentions : coby, mercer, briar ]

[n ‎]

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

''│
(@)wreck --> cabin |'mentions; mercer
tags; felix eva reyna| this coding sucks

└──────────────────┘


nothing was making sense in the grand scheme of everything, if drew really had to lay it all down in front of himself. he really, really didn't want to, especially when the wolverine he just thought was a nosey little rat was actually a girl about to lead them through the dark and scary woods, that had no real end in sight. granted, it was hard to even see his hand straight out in front of him sometimes, but hopefully the cabin wasn't some abandoned one and they weren't truly following a ghost girl! he just thought it was a smart wolverine looking to rob collie! the picture he took is so weird to him now! what is he supposed to really do with this information now?

nothing, he guesses.

drew couldn't find it in himself to move, much - his body felt heavier and harder to move than usual, the pit in his stomach feeling like a solid anchor to keeping him stuck where he was. the only thing that really made his focus go away from thinking he was slowly losing grip of reality and falling into psychosis was felix's voice after hearing the mysterious man speak once more- the quieter monotone words causing drew's head to look towards him slowly, a huff of air coming from his nose. "it'll stop here, we- it- no i'll, i'll make sure," he muttered back quietly, his eyes falling back down to his own bloodied converse in a dazed movement before another defeated huff of air fell, exhaling from his mouth this time.

he felt bad - he really did. he knew there wasn't much he could do about it or to make it better, but if anything, that fact only made him feel a little worse. with the speeds of how collie and soren exited the vehicle, drew could only assume their conditions were alright, but outside of those two? he really had no idea if anyone else was even okay. the condition felix was in made his stomach twist with anxiety- and drew didn't even want to risk something happening to eva, especially when he was there to prevent anything now. god, he felt so useless, and the feeling only remained as the group around him felt like it was disappearing. every time drew turned around someone disappeared - danny was no where to be found from drew's point of view, for all he knew he was experiencing ghostly hallucinations or they really had just left without them.

both were probable!

the idea of a medic sounded good. it really, really did. eva sounded more grounded and hopeful than any of the voices that were flying around in andrew's brain. he felt doubtful - but at the same time what else was there for them? maybe it was stupid, to go wandering around following a random girl that showed up in the middle of no where after they crashed in the middle of the forest hours away from any real civilization telling her to follow them for help. maybe they were just walking themselves into their own fated doom, letting themselves walk into their own graves. but what else did they have to lose? the car was totaled beyond belief, they couldn't have everyone walk for hours when they were in this condition but being sitting ducks equally felt just as dangerous, the helplessness and fear of the situation only setting in and solidifying. he couldn't do anything anymore.

felix needed help. eva was right about that, too. even if the situation was scary and dangerous, this was the only offer of immediate help. drew felt stupid no matter what decision he was about to make- nothing seeming like the right or smart choice. whoever this person was, whoever they claimed to be, the wolverine turned human within moments, they seemed to be the only option. drew trusted eva's decision, he trusted her judgment and the way she looked at the bigger picture. he couldn't help the anxiety bubbling in his stomach, threatening to eat away at him, however.

he could only meet eva's gaze back with almost sad disappointment- the fear in his eyes only being replaced with morbid acceptance. he was ready to start designing his own obituary along with everyone else's in the office. drew could only wonder what was going to be on the news from a situation like this. if they were ever even going to make it there, at all. man it would be so disappointing if they didn't even get a sad little thing on reddit or twitter somewhere. letting out another sigh, drew only shook his head. "what a stupid story. maybe we can pitch it to some indie horror game developers." drew shook his head back to eva.

the offer of light only made drew sigh, before the light only came back to his eyes temporarily, a smile gracing his lips for a short moment. "actually, i do have TWO cellphones on me! two of them! that's plenty of flashlights, right?" he smirked again, pulling collie's phone out along with his own as he held them out to the wolverine girl. with her new bit of her being a tour guide throughout the dark and scary forest, the pit in drew's stomach never felt lightened - it only deepened itself further into his abdomen and guts, his hand dropping to his own stomach to hold it defensively. it felt shameful, but the lump in his throat was beginning to feel overwhelming, like it was threatening to rip tears from his throat the second he tried to open his mouth. drew only let his hand shakily fall towards felix, tapping his hip anxiously to get his attention as they walked.

he tapped him again just to make sure, his hand then moving to his arm where he had grabbed it the first time, letting out heavy breaths to himself, trying to relieve the lump in his throat. "hey look i- i can't front i'm terrified just pl-please, hold my hand," he tried to laugh off nervously, but drew's gaze was weak and pathetic, he couldn't get himself to make eye contact properly when his chest and head felt so heavy. fortunately for him, the warmth and comfort of felix's hand around his was enough to help him stay stable walking through the forest behind their newly found and newly hired tour guide.

drew didn't know how long the walk really was, when he focused on how dark and scary it was around him it felt like time stretched on forever. the sounds of the foliage crunching under them and the wildlife active around them, the moon light being the only really bright thing in the sky other than the two annoying phones drew offered out. hopefully neither of their phones died with drew offering it up like that. the tour guide was doing her best, definitely. even if it wasn't much, someone acting like it wasn't that big of a deal even though it was just felt like it was going to be easier to breathe when they were walking towards what felt like unequivocal doom. his grip on felix's hand only wavered every time he jumped at any kind of sound that felt unexpected - his face heating up with embarrassment every time he shamefully has to untighten his grip.

the sight of the cabin had drew let out a sigh of relief - the breath he was holding finally escaping his lungs when the cabin that met his eyes wasn't an abandoned old scary house that had the windows boarded up and the door barely hanging on. drew didn't want to let his expectations get up for any sort of comfort when he wasn't fully convinced he was still fully conscious and aware- but the lights of the cabin and seeing the little set up they had hidden further back was the first time drew felt like he could let his shoulders fall without fear.

it was clear the mysterious stranger was telling the truth - another boy and what looked like to be an incredibly threatening reindeer on the porch drew only let his gaze drop again. the boy approached them - talking to her in a quieter tone. drew couldn't exactly hear every word muttered from him, but he didn't really care too much to listen. a shaky sigh fell from drew's lips again as he used the tip of his converse to draw mindless circles and shapes in the dirt, keeping his hand held on his stomach and his other against felix's hip with their hands still together, drew only letting himself focus on felix's thumb on his knuckles as he felt himself freeze with the appearance of more people again.

this man was scary - his aura threatening and intimidating. drew only wished he could have giggled at his guided tour comment only knowing his thought process this entire time - however, he didn't seem to be joking, either. he clearly wasn't happy at the arrival of the group, and even drew wanted to lift his gaze for any reason, drew only felt like it was big red danger signs if he even tried to make eye contact with the big bad wolf. unfortunately for them - it appears that the animal, or whatever it was that they hit, held the name josie. the news had clearly affected the boy - his demeanor towards the group and mood overall shifting almost immediately, when the blonde boy turned his gaze around his eyes felt colder. it was clear what the stranger had reported to him had affected him - the nervous and shaky attitude from him switching to a colder and unwelcoming one.

he still lead them forward- his words sharp and quick to the point as he ushered them forward and towards the cabin where they'd supposedly get treated. andrew felt uncomfortable, the tension in the air never relieving. it was consistently feeling harder to breathe the further they went in. it was too late to even fantasize about staying home, but drew couldn't help but miss his dino nugget pillow and his gengar stuffy and the general comfort of just being safe at home. the blonde boy particularly putting his hand on drew's back to try and gently push them to walk forward faster before the lights were turned on what appeared to be the medical cabin and the boy started to clean up areas to get them situated. drew only looked at their supposed tour guide with a desperate frown, hoping she could read the sos signs from his eyes.

he noticed the hesitation in the blondes actions to get felix and everyone sitting down somewhere and comfortable, and he definitely noticed the door slamming on his way out when he told them to wait for him to come back. drew could only let out another heavy sigh, like he had been holding his breath for minutes, his eyes burning when he lets them close for longer than a blink. "hey," he let out heavily, his voice airy with uncertainty. "at least- at least your arm is going to get looked at. it- it won't get worse, it can't get worse," saying those words only made drew felt like crying. he didn't believe himself, but he tried so hard to sound certain. he didn't want felix and eva to freak out and worry anymore than they had to. in those moments, he just wanted them to feel safer than he certainly did. a part of him wanted to see if his phone has died from using it as a flashlight at all. maybe some of his games were still playable, what if the key to relaxing really was hello kitty island adventures?

looking up fully for the first time at the girl, drew only smiled at her pathetically. "whatever your name is, ms tour guide, uh- thank you," he let out slowly, nodding as he spoke. "thanks for uhm, bringing us here. i really wouldn't have wanted his arm to get worse or anything, uh.." regretting biting his lip as the taste of blood was strong and sharp on the tip of his tongue, "and, sorry. for making you walk barefoot."