[ P ] Wasted On You

SIF ASGAUT

Quietly the rather small woman would wade within the water’s depths, each strand of fur slicked back below the shoulders, a small shiver trailing up her spine as some of the liquid lapped over her back from time to time. Wash away the grime, wash away the memories, wash away everything that plagued her mind and recently what felt like her body. Taking a breath, she would allow herself to relax against the lip of the falls, feeling the battering as the cascade collapsed into the otherwise calm pool as wind did not pick up here today. Sound was drowned out, her senses all depleted but not entirely, even as she allowed the cold to take away the tension from her muscles and cure the aches, she couldn't help but stay alert to little shifts that couldn’t be blurred out. This time of year the place wasn’t often trafficked but there was something more dangerous than thieves or rebels and that was the floods that invaded the land and she was not the strongest of swimmers, to get caught could spell doom for her. It was already quite the gamble she was making as it was.

After a good hour of rest, she would finally emerge from the water, shaking off with a weary sigh, bags tugging her bottom lids down and emphasizing the hollowed contours. The last few days had been a nightmare turned reality and she wasn’t so sure she was ready to head back with her report, not that there was much use of it, not like they could fight ghosts or demons. Work as a whole just sounded like a chore in the moment but as her stomach let out a gargle, she knew why. She hadn’t eaten anything for days if not close to a week, surviving off of stores within her body of fat and energy, though with lackluster sleep that energy too was barely there. She needed food, she needed to take care of herself even if it wasn’t for herself. An exasperated sigh would flood from her lungs as she knew this was properly her best bet to find anything without pointless haggling, though hunting prey wasn’t wasn’t she had done for a while. Being among the wealthy, pampered by her lord, she never had to lift a paw to find food; a luxury not many could afford.

The land was pregnant with life, everywhere she looked she could see a variety of feral beasts, some more bold than others as the larger creatures did not see her as much of a threat. The bison along a river a bit further east for instance definitely did nothing to show they were affected by her lingering close by and lucky for them she wasn’t in the mood to possibly get a horn in the gut and sliced open.

After some contemplation, she would settle on a small mountain goat that had trailed away from its family to get a drink and got stuck in the suctioning muds. It’s going to die anyway, might as well take advantage of the situation, she thought. It was a quick kill. Yet it was anything but quick as a blood lust pumped into her veins once her teeth had sunk into its flesh, giving it a rather gruesome death and it tickled a darker entity within her. All the emotions being let out in the kill, painting her face in vermillion, her eye empty as she did not stop harming it as it screamed in agony for her to let it go. Then it was silent. Dead and slowly becoming cold, yanked from the mud where it once stuck. She felt sick and yet she would dine, sanity already fried, she would force herself to eat. Organs her go to, even as she felt the muscles fire as nerves were hit, feeling like it was still very much alive even though it wasn’t. Even if she didn’t eat much, she would at the very least take in the most nutrients it had to offer.



"Sif speaks"

table by rae - image by Lunicea

I

t had been... too long since he'd made the journey south. Since Sorcha had told him she was pregnant he'd taken a leave from work to tend to her until the children came. Now they were here... three healthy and perfect children. It was more than he could have honestly ever asked for and yet, the pull of his other responsibilties began tugging on his shoulder as he and his little family settled into life. The children were good, Sorcha was good and it was sadly time to go back to work. A part of him truly didn't want to, after everything, but most of him did. The Army gave him purpose and a connection with his late father that he wasn't sure anything else would. He still had faith in Adamh and the Army but with his soon-to-be wife so publicly in opposition, it made him sometimes wonder if he'd followed the right path. If it came down to it, he knew he'd forsake his job for his family if he had to but then he'd have to find another way to keep them all fed and sheltered. A life outside the Kingdom was harder than within it and that was why he did not wish to see it fail.

He shook his head, forcing the thoughts away. Now was not the time to reminice on their arguments and discussions. He had to report to work and he made that his one and only thought as he passed through Maiden's Braid.

He had no interest or plan to stop but the scent of someone familiar caught his attention. His old commander, he was sure of it. Baelfire winced lightly, wondering what she might think of his long departure, or if she even knew. It had happened so suddenly, and after his recent promotion too. He'd not really notified anyone and some part of him felt... guilty. Maybe it was in his head and so that was what drove him to seek Sif out; he would never know her thoughts unless he asked.

As he honed in on her scent, the tang of fresh blood wafted into the air and he felt alarm bells go off in his head. Without hesitation, he began jogging towards her, hoping that he was not stumbling upon something horrific. When he found her, he was glad to see it was not she who was harmed, but her newfound meal. A breathy sigh of relief escaped him and he trotted up to her, tail swaying beside him. They had not conversed personally much outside of training, so he wasn't sure what to say. "Good day, Captain." he said with a nod of his head.

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

SIF ASGAUT

At the sound of movement, her ear would twitch a couple times before snapping toward the direction of which she heard something coming her way rather quickly, pupil like a pin as blood dripped down her jaw and beaded into the fur of her chest where it would thin into the water that that already had taken claim there. She didn’t know what to expect besides perhaps another predator as prey was more likely to dart away from the scent of blood rather than toward it, self preservation a far stronger instinct than selfless sacrifice. A rabbit would eat it’s own children before a predator could get a chance to dine on it’s measly scraps, which had always been quite the fascinating concept really. It would be wiser for the prey to just leave it behind as a distraction for their own escape or to hide away and sacrifice itself but instead it ensured one died by doing it itself. Not that whatever was coming sounded small enough to even be the larger cousin, the hare which had a little more fight in its paws which left her to wonder what exactly was about to come and try to steal her kill, a kill she was basically done with.

Rushing snow came into view, a blizzard in the form of a mammal. Another wolf. The pure untouched color and daunting stature made her tense, ears pinning back as she suddenly felt all the more nauseous at the sight. No! No, did it follow her? She nearly took a step back as her legs felt weak again but something more opposing reached her gaze as she wasn’t going to freeze up this time, she wasn’t going to let him win again. If she could she would do what she had to that mountain to him as a bloodlust burned bright in her veins, shoving the prey to the side, feeling it buckle under her push before jerking out of her path.

Then she noticed something. Black coals and an emerald instead of diamonds with a marring along where the other should be, causing any progress she might have made to come to an abrupt haul, her head level with her shoulders but slowly raising with realization. This wasn’t him. The scent of someone alive came to her nostrils, grasses not so different from that of which they were standing in not so different from his signature fragrance. In a relieved daze, she would fall a step back instead as she let out a sigh that released some of the smoke that had been building inside.

It wasn’t him.

The further she grounded herself, the more the world became whole and reality became more apparent; the haze fading, she’d finally take in who it was fully as he greeted her with respect and familiarity. “Greenhorn…” she barely uttered. A different kind of anger suddenly flipped like a switch as she recalled something shortly before she had left on the assignment she was returning from now, this boy’s absence from duty for more than just a grace period of which he was never granted or offered for that matter. “Where have you been, Soldier?” monotone as she took a few strides toward him without a single care of their size difference as she wanted to send his face into the earth and brand him with a mark of disgrace but she held it down within herself. A calm rage hid what boiled far darker inside, the punishments she was accustomed to receiving herself.

“You’ve been absent from your post for far too long and without a word according to your Lieutenant. The army is not your childhood playground; it is your job, one awarded to you for a show of promise and ability. Perhaps I was too hasty in my assessment. If you cannot so much as show up for your assignments then maybe it’s best I revoke it and reinforce what this job is back into that thick skull of yours,” she addressed, falling back easily into her job, her role as a Captain. She’d stop not far from him, eerily calm as she looked up into his gaze. “You better have a good reason,” stern, expectant as this was his time to save himself from her absolute ire.

"Sif speaks"

table by rae - image by Lunicea

H

e hadn't known what to expect, but it wasn't this. “Greenhorn…” she murmured, but he barely caught it and for a moment he thought perhaps he'd just misheard. His brow creased, "Where have you been, Soldier?" she demanded as she strode towards him. There seemed something off about her but he couldn't really place what. He gathered quickly, however, that she was pissed off. At him. His muzzle twitched as he felt indignation begin to stir within him. It wasn't often that someone made him feel... well, he wasn't really sure what this feeling was. Shame? Probably. It had been a long, long time since he'd felt that. “You’ve been absent from your post for far too long and without a word according to your Lieutenant. The army is not your childhood playground; it is your job, one awarded to you for a show of promise and ability. Perhaps I was too hasty in my assessment. If you cannot so much as show up for your assignments then maybe it’s best I revoke it and reinforce what this job is back into that thick skull of yours.”

The more she talked the more rigid his body became. He wanted to yell back at her, cut her off even and silence her for... calling him out.

He didn't like the things she said, but he hated most of all that she was right. “You better have a good reason,” she finished. Baelfire's stomach twitsted and he stilled himself. It would be unwise to let his emotions get the better of him and he had allowed domesticity to soften him. Everything else had fallen to the wayside in light of Sorcha's pregnancy and the birth of his children. He had tunnel vision when it came to them but he refused to be ashamed for that. To him, they were more than good enough. "Well, I just became a father." he stated blandly. He should have sent word but he guess it just slipped his mind. "I was on my way back to report to my Lieutenant to ask that I be stationed in the Highlands so I can be closer to home. My family needs me too." he said. He still wanted to provide for his community, for the Kingdom, but he would not sacrifice their happiness and safety for it. He supposed that made him selfish, but he couldn't care less.

"I didn't mean to be away for so long, I found out after she was released and I had to stay with her." he said. It wasn't as much of an excuse as it was an explination. He knew he could have made time to report. ”I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’ve got to go report to the barracks. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, Captain. Farewell.” he said with a nod of his head before turning to leave.

-exit

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck