At the end of the road [acceptance]

[River]

Roleplay between Shinshoku & Siv in Stonemngard.

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Never had he imagined the world to be so vast and never had he thought he would walk so much of it. In reality, Shinshoku hadn't walked all that much; following a linear path from the sweaty jungles to the depts of the marshlands. Still, he felt as though he had arrived to the ends of the earth. Perhaps it wasn't the case... but the young wolf had nearly walked to the ends of his own life. He was thin and undernourished. His frame clearly let show his bones and his paws looked as though they would snap with the next step. Shinshoku didn't remember his last meal... survival had been gained through scavenging upon whichever morsels he could find. Many days, there had been no such finds... and the youth simply kept walking, while praying the next few miles would bring him food.

This land... seemed barren to him. If not for the water, the mud and the grass that poked through it, this land was as barren as the outlands. It had no food and Shinshoku felt despair grasp his rapidly beating heart. Hunger had long away faded into a muted lassitude that weighted heavily upon his each and every step. Feeling his strenght fade away, the youth fell into the mud as his paws buckled from underneath him. He realised so many things now. How his mother and adoptive father had worked hard to provide them with the means to survive... how he had taken everything for granted... and how he had mocked all they had tried to teach him. Regret grasped him as he believed he would soon face his final moments, alone in this land he believed to be barren. But even as he lay in the mud, he still cursed the brother who had torned at his face and ruined his right eye. He would grieve the others for the injustice he had done them... but never would he forgive the crimson beast that had cast him away.

Opening the only eye he had left, Shoku noticed something in the muddy water in front of him. Inches from his nose! A thick fat frog looked at him! Already, the youth felt the drool gather at his mouth. It was a feast to him... if only... he could reach... just... a little.... further....
Turning his head to the side, covering the right side of his face with mud and lifting his head to see better, Shinshoku snapped his jaws at the frog. Snap Snap Snap! While twisting his body in the mud, propelling himself with whatever energy he had left, the youth made his best effort to catch the amphibian. Trails of drool hung between his jaws and layered into the muddy water while his futile attempts were made. The jolly creature simply hopped away, leaving the starved yearling to whimper and whine. Shinshoku turned his head upright once more, watching with desmay as his last chance at a meal made his easy escape.

He would surely die now...

[River]

The Viscount's days in Stonemngard were beginning to grow quite tiresome; she didn't have anything to do at all. With the absence of her more active sibling, Annelyse, she also had nothing to attend to. No meetings, no mass acceptances.. everything was entirely too uneventful for the likings of the assassin. Of course, on an island like Stonemngard, you could pace back and forth from one end of the pack lands to the other in a mere hour or so; that had been what she'd grown used to passing the time with. Back and forth, back and forth, all day long. Nothing ever happened and it was pissing her off. Siv hadn't seen much excitement since she'd first gathered when Stonemngard was born. She thought that the lack of activity back then was bad - she'd never even expected the amount of laziness that had taken Stonemngard in its vice grip. Silence had laced the land since morning. Very few things had dared to penetrate the uneasy silence, either. A few birds sang here and there, but soon enough the songs had blurred together and quieted all together in the mind of the Viscount.

A low growl rumbled it's way forth out of her muzzle, dripping with saliva from her endless pacing; she was tired, but what the fuck else was there to do? Torturing herself physically seemed like a good cure for boredom, and it had worked for a while. Then the plan had failed, her cure turning out to be an enhancer for the consistant waves of inactivity that seemed to crash upon the island like waves to a rocky shoreline. Despite her love for consistancy and the bitter hatred she held for change, Siv had decided that the very thing she detested would be the exact thing she needed. So instead of keeping up her routine back and forth, she decided to pace around the island, seeing what she could find. Plants seemed to blur together in an endless line of the very same thing; green, green, green, more green. Then the scent of the THING hit her; definitely not Stonemngard, and the very smell of the intruder pissed her off even more. Irritated as she was already, that was surely not a good thing at all. The Viscount's fur rose up in anger, and she trotted forward, muzzle close to the ground as she followed the scent trail of the THING.

The smell of the THING seemed fatigued in the way that, the scent held a kind of uncleanliness to it, like the THING was dirty and disgusting, almost like a dead animal. But.. it wasn't dead, unless it was some sort of paranormal zombie wolf out to eat them all; not likely. Siv wondered how the beast had gotten into Stonemngard undetected; then the realization of how poorly their borders were guarded hit her, and she growled in frustration. At that moment a frog jumped out in front of her. The wolf's jaws were quick to snap the amphibian up. God how Siv hated those damned creatures - they tasted horrible and made too much noise at night. She didn't bother eating the frog - simply held it in her jaws, wanting to vomit from the horrid taste the creature brought to her mouth. Another form of self-torture? Possibly.

Her foot hit something furry. Immediately she jumped back, snarling from around her less-than-tasteful meal. After a moment, she moved forward, careful to move around whatever the fuck it was she'd hit beforehand. The scent of the frog seemed to cover up the scent she'd been following, but Siv had a good idea that this THING was what had carried that deathly scent. She stepped back, growling, a dissaproving look shining in her green eyes. The Viscount dropped the frog on the ground where it just flopped, lifeless. "Who the fuck are you?", she questioned rather brashly, her stance defensive; this wolf looked awful, and not just because of the shape his body was in. He was covered in scars. For a moment the female felt bad for him, but then she hardened up again, growling once more to him. "You're... safe here."

[River]

Resting in the mud, the youth allowed his eyes to close for a moment. The sound of water came to him, distant and distorted, almost lulling him into a deadly slumber. 'I'm sorry, Mother', he thought bitterly. When the sound came closer, Shinshoku didn't move nor make a sound sake for his superficial breathing. It was only when the scent of blood came to his nose that he opened his eyes. They stared ahead with a nearly static quality now.. a ghost of a wolf, he was. Such a horrid sight to anyone that was to come near. Lifting his glance, Shoku saw another wolf. The disconcerting look to her glare was nothing unfamiliar to him. Everywhere he had gone, he had been chased away. 'No more', he thought. Even if they were to attack him, he did not have the force to flee, much less defend himself.

It was then that he noticed the dead frog in her maw and his eyes lit up. As soon as she dropped it, he opened his jaws as if the meal would come hopping into his mouth. There he lay with his mouth open, waiting, confident that it would come to him like it would in a dream. When the amphibian's corpse laid motionless in the mud before him, Shoku whined. He finally realised he would have to move in order to aquire it.

"Who the bone are you?"

"Allow me... this feast you throw away... please"

To beg pained him more than the starvation ever had. But it came down in a wolf's life (just a shame it came so early for this one), when pride had to be set aside for the sake of survival. He would gather himself, rising upon shaking paws and move temptivly towards the abandoned prey. Ears flattened against his skull, he would move an inch, stop to check if she was going to stop him.. then move two inches.... check, and proceed until he was close enough to snatch the prey. Even as he devoured it, his paws shook from under him, partially from exaustion, partially from excitement at having his first bite in weeks. Shinshoku's tail began to wag slightly, going beyond his own notice. Nothing was spared from the frog and everything was devoured in less than seconds. Long after the meal had gone down to his stomach, the youth was still searching the ground for remains, lapping at the water and mud to receive any precious drop he may have missed.

"You're... safe here."

Safety had become such a farfetch concept over the months.... One he would never feel again, save for in the embrace of the silver mother. Glancing up to the dominating female, Shoku lowered himself to the ground with his tail curled between his back paws. Dare he believe her? Had he finally found a place where he would not be chased away, or ignored like an unwanted guest and left to starve?

"Where... where am I?...."

[River]

"Allow me... this feast you throw away... please"

Brow raised at the words, the Emeralds ears raising a little. This thing before her was not a wolf.. it was simply a sac of bones and flesh and fur. There was little life to it; she watched as the creature snapped up the amphibian so hungrily, as if it hadn't eaten in years. Siv almost felt pity for the beast, but almost never counted. Pity just wasn't something that the Emerald Viscount had too much familiarity with. She hadn't pitied her own siblings when their mother had died, and didn't bother to comfort them; oh no. Life was to move on, and if it moved on without them, then so be it. Siv's green gaze swept over the body of the horrid looking beast before her, ears flattening against her head for only a second before flipping back up to their normally high position.

"Where... where am I?...."

So not only was he half starved, he was lost, as well. What next, honestly? Siv thought that those two things were just a mountain of problems, but she didn't act on it. Although she wasn't the kindest of all of her siblings( she was pretty much just the biggest bitch inside the pack lands ), she did not attack the wolf, didn't put him out of his pathetic misery. "Stonemngard.", she said firmly, taking a step toward the freakishly skinny beast. The girl felt cold mud, chilled by the cool winter waters, squelch up between her toes. However used to it she was, she still detested it; the fact that she wasn't vain what so ever didn't cross the minds of most. She hated the mud because it left tracks, easily followed; any wolf could so very easily track down an enemy and kill it within a days time, or maybe even less. Realizing she was wandering from the subject at hand, she ceased her thoughts, creeping closer to the canine.

She didn't expect his weak form to move much. She circled behind him, and came up on his left side, lowering her own body down to lay beside him. She did not touch him, not yet; that was his choice overall. "Body warmth. Even in the marshes the cold prevails.. ", she warned him in a low voice. He was in no state to be out in the cold by himself; here Siv was, healthy and well-fed, warm and furry, and there he was.. skinny with barely anything good about him. That he could even speak was a miracle to the Emerald Viscount. "I'm Siv, Emerald Viscount of Stonemngard." She didn't like formalities, but sometimes the situation called for them.

[River]

"Stonemngard."

The word was foreign, devoid of any memories or recollection to the yearling. He remembered his mother speaking of other packs, but even in that knowledge, he did not remember such name. It sounded harsh and cold... like a river... like a stone... like the solid glance of the strong female before him. Why she had not yet chased him or mauled him to death was a mystery to him. Even the birds had ignored him as of late; no longer seeing him as a living being but as a walking shadow. Only the buzzards had seem to follow him a while but now he was far away from their territory. As he lied in the cold muddy waters, Shinshoku could not think of anything to reply. Still, he feared his silence would aggravate her and kept his ears flattened low against his bony neck. He looked old... like an old wolf at the end of his years... perhaps it was why she hadn't killed him yet. Perhaps, it was out of respect for what she thought to be an elder. Shoku was but a yearling, but his scars made him look like an ancient beast of burden.

When she came behind him to circle his form, Shinshoku waited for death. Perhaps she was one of those who did not like to look into the eyes of the dying as they finished them off. He stared ahead blankly as he imagined the tight embrace of her fangs against his throat... how bitter it would feel to let what little of life he had known be swept away by her jaw. The wait lasted an eternity and it was only once she spoke that he realised she was now lying beside him. Why? he wondered.. the water was so cold and the mud felt so horrible against his fur. Head turned to look at her, he kept it low with his ears still flattened.

"Body warmth. Even in the marshes the cold prevails.. "

He knew of what she spoke. At the very moment they looked at each other, he could feel the numbing of his paws and the tip of his tail. It was as though they were made of stone and they were no longer a part of his living form. Still, she spoke to him as if he were alive and feeling the beating of his heart grow steadier, he knew she was right. Was there still hope? Perhaps he didn't have to die here. It was then that he understood. She offered him more than her presence... more than her body warmth. What she offered him was life. "Come by my side and live" she said to him... in his heart... in his mind. He hesitated, even as he knew that time was a factor to his existence. Still fear inflicted from previous experiences caused him to hesitate her life giving offer. It was short lived. The yearling knew that if he wanted a chance at seeing another sunrise, he needed to heed her words of advice. Slowly, Shinshoku inched forward. Though he could not feel his toes or the sensation of his weight upon them, he could still command them and thus he stood in a half crouch to move closer to her. Softly he laid beside her in the mud and in a moment of trust, came to lay his head against her paws. Even as they were submerged in freezing water, he could feel her warmth... could feel her life and the beating of her heart at her breast and it calmed him.

"I'm Siv, Emerald Viscount of Stonemngard."

Emerald... even though he could no longer raise his head to look at her, he knew this was the color of her eyes. Her name was short and easy to remember, for that even if he fell into slumber, he would call her by her name once he's awaken. She would forever be synonym of life and he would owe her his very soul. As he lay beside her, he was reminded of his mother... She had feared him for he had been a shadow of his father's wrath. Still, she had offered him shelter, warmth and food. He had taken it all, greedily, without thanks, without consideration. For the first time in his life, as he laid beside the viscount, sharing her warmth, he felt grateful for what she offered. He thought of giving her his name in exchange for hers... the thought ran into his mind several times before it came to his tongue. It was as if his mind no longer wanted to command the wretched form that had become his body. Still, he made the effort to speak once more and gave her his name before drifting into a recuperative sleep.

"Shinshoku..."

Whispered in a breath, the yearling's name sounded like a curse...

[River]

It was strange to have a meeting with someone in which there was no snarl, no angry growl of irritation and savagery. The Viscount had met bodies, long lifeless and void of any soul at all that she had snapped and snarled at, showing the true demoness buried down deep within the cold soul of the Emerald. This creature before her was so pathetic, so weak.. why she hadn't slain him yet was a complete mystery. An impulse that had told her not to act in a vicious way had changed everything. This thing before her was no wolf, not yet. A sack of bones and flesh were all he was to her. He had no soul, no meaning. The bitch viscount had taken mercy on none before. She had even chased a youth, a barely living child from her lands; savagery, or mere insanity? Both were attributes that had gotten Siv to her high position, so to her they held no downfall in her future. Her personality, and mere genetics; Siv was born royalty to the creator of Stonemngard. She would not fall as long as her homeland still stood tall.

The little body moved closer to her, she realised suddenly, snapping out of her dazed state of thought. He was right up against her, his head on her paws. For a moment Siv almost reared up in anger, but something stopped her. Was the viscount finally experiencing some snippit of sympathy? No one could tell for sure. The stone colored female couldn't move herself for a few moments, green eyes trained on the head of that weak creature that had snuggled so close up to her. Touch wasn't something that the emerald viscount was too fond of, but she knew that by laying with him she had invited such a thing.

"Shinshoku..."

Now the wolf had a name to her. No soul, no meaning, but a name. As the wolf passed out beside her, Siv had to think of what to do. He had a name now, so she couldn't just leave him. No, nonono. That was a bad thing. So the emerald viscount stood slowly, slipping herself out from under Shinshoku's head and away from his body. Before the youths head could plummet into the waters that might have drowned him, she snapped at his neck scruff, and began to pull him from the chilly waters. Dry ground, she decided. That was what he needed first. The taste of his fur in her mouth slightly intoxicated Siv; she had to hold herself back from snapping down harder and biting, ripping through his skin to the life-liquid that flowed right under. Quickly as she could, she got him out of the water and let him drop, shaking her head to try and clear the thoughts from her mind.

Child. Child.

He was hers now. Her child. She knew not if he was older or younger, but to the crazed wretch, it mattered not; Shinshoku was hers now, and would be until he left. So Siv lay down beside of him again, curling her body around his and laying her head down close to his. It wasn't so much a motherly action as it was a simple tained tactic used to stay alive in cold temperatures. Siv was no mother; she was a professional in survival, and that was what the weak male needed. Survival.

[River]

Sleeping had always been a dangerous thing, ever since his journey began. Deep within the darkness of his mind waited the devils and the demons that wanted to consume him. They snarled, laughed, tortured and despite of how badly he wanted them to stop, they kept inflicting the pain. They would whisper to him that he diserved it... that he'd provoked them and driven by the agony, he had begun to believe them. Among them was the face of the crimson demon. His white fur was tainted with blood so dark that it would never wash away and his eyes burned him more than fire and flame ever could. This piece of slumber, he was given under the viscount's care, was no exception. Sweat rolled from underneat his furs and the youth awoke in a startle that caused him to gasp. Wide eyes looking about, Shinshoku had the strange sensation he had been suffocating... drowning and that he'd only been allowed to breathe once he'd awaken.

The yearling was surprised to find that he was no longer in the water but now lying on dry land. Calming his mind, his only working eye stared forward as his breathing became regular. The frog he'd previously eaten had already been digested, swallowed by a stomach starved for life. However meager this meal had been and however disturbed his sleep, the youth felt better than he had in weeks. Rolling onto his stomach, Shoku attempted to stand. Though his legs slightly shook from the effort, he found himself able to mobilize them (which was a lot to say since he'd literally crawled into the marshes). It was then that he glanced upon her once more. What madness had allowed her to bring him back from the dead, he did not know. For fear she would ignore the reason herself, he decided never to question her on the matter.

When a croaking sound came to his ears, Shoku allowed himself to look away. Ears perked, the young wolf looked around to find it's origin. He knew that the sound would lead him to a frog and as gross as the texture and taste of the creature was, it was still food. Starved for it's flesh as he'd once been starved for life, the young wolf allowed himself to move in it's direction. Close to the water's edge was the frog, who's color and looks left no doubt to how gross it's taste actually was.

Salivating, Shinsoku dove down, jaws snapping at the creature. His front teeth came snapping the air, a few inches away from the swamp beast whom still hadn't moved. The loss of his eye had made it difficult to judge distanced and it was with a frustrated snort that he settled on slamming a paw down to catch it. Quickly, the frog was devoured and just like the other one, nothing was left. Not wishing to anger the female by his sudden need to have another bite, the yearling returned to her with his head hung low in respect, licking his lips.

He would be her slave now, if she so wanted it of him... if not, he would resume his journey to nowhere.
Her eyes, cold and stark had a cruel glaze to them... still, Shinshoku was convinced that the outside world was even more cruel than she.