amber is the color of your energy

He'd finally made it. He'd escaped the battle with the help of one of his comrades and fled to safety.

To Haven.

He stood on at the doorway to Nephele and Kylar's home, his breath ragged and hi white fur stained with his blood and the blood of Adamh's enemies. He was so tired and he could fight no more but he needed help before figuring out what to do next. He did not know what had become of his son and he thought for a second he'd even seen Orlaith there amongst the fray. Once he was stable he would find his way back to Perth and see if everyone was alright and there... there he would stay. He had made up his mind that he was done with this. This fight was no longer his and he was simply done. Whatever happened, he would be resigning and moving back to Perth.

"Nephele? Kylar?" he called out before stepping inside Haven. They were nowhere to be found. The place was upkept however, so he suspected they had simply been evacuated for the war or were out gathering supplies for the very same reason. Many would need help after this and this would be one of the places to go to get it.

He found a spot to lie down and get comfortable while he waited but who greeted him when someone finally showed up he did not expect. It was Anthe, his friends other daughter. The sickly one. She carried herbs with her and once she saw him she dropped them at the door and went to his side. He frowned as he looked up at her and asked where Nephele and Kyler were. Her face changed and she frowned, too. She told him and his heart sank. No... not them too.

It was with a heavy heart he allowed her to treat him and then, he fell to sleep. When he awoke she was waiting, asking if he needed anything, but he was fine now. He sighed and saw something glinting out of the corner of his eye as the fading lights from the sun filtered in through the windows. The opal. The one he'd helped Nephele pick out for Kylar so long ago. It was how they had met. His heart ached and he looked at Anthe, requesting that he could take it to remember them by. She agreed, having no need for the jewel herself. He nodded, took the stone, and bid her farewell. As he slowly shuffled out the door with the opal in his mouth, he felt tears welling in his eyes as he thought of the kind moments he'd shared with his now late friends. He had lost so much in this war and though battle had not taken them in a violent way their deaths were still saddening. He sighed and headed towards home...

"..."

so we'll run to the sea—

What was he thinking fighting a war that wasn't his? And for a king he didn't believe in? Bastien's loyalty was a fickle thing to be sure, but it was grief and cold bitterness for the man that ended his career that turned him away from King Adamh now. He couldn't fight under the Imperial flag anymore. He'd turned to the Jacobites in the hopes that aiding their plight might improve his own situation. Clearly that had been a fatal mistake as a woman was dead because of it.

At the first opportunity to do so, the former soldier turned refugee broke free from the Imperial and Jacobian dogpile and left the scene. The savagery that took place exacerbated the wounds he already had that were not yet healed and heaped on added mental trauma. He felt an immense wave of guilt for what he'd done. She was not the first wolf to fall as one of his victims. But her death proved how fragile this life was that he carved out for himself and the illusion that he was a changed man. He wasn't, not really.

A scowl lined his frigid features. His body was moving away from the bloody battlegrounds of the college campus but his mind remained. Winter came early in the form of another wolf, one that drew him back to the present moment due to his familiarity. "Long time no see," he regarded the arctic soldier with distrust even if his tone was neutral. "I can't say I wouldn't have been happy to never see your face again. I suppose karma is a bitch." Bastien stood across from the soldier who'd done him in not long ago. He hoped it was only wariness he was conveying and not aggression. It would be foolish to jump into another fight so soon – but he would if he must.

—and find no captain waiting

code // art

sometimes, all i think about is you

As he walked he thought about all the times he'd shared with his friends; both the good and the bad. It all blended together in a reel of his life and he wondered just when the reaper would claim him. He wasn't getting any younger and somehow he'd survived the war but what did that mean? Baelfire knew death could come at any moment. He could drop dead today before ever making it home and then what? What came after? He mused overt his idly as he walked, usually he never pondered these things but death had a funny way of making you think about your own mortality.

"Long time no see," a voice said and Baelfire turned his head to see just who was talking to him. He nearly dropped the opal in surprise when he came face to face with a Jacobite soldier he'd met on the field what seemed like eons ago.

"I can't say I wouldn't have been happy to never see your face again. I suppose karma is a bitch." he said, his tone wary as he eyed Baelfire. The soldier bristled slightly and lowered his head slowly to put down the stone he carried in his mouth. If he needed to fight, he needed to be ready. His own motions were slow, as if anything might set this man off. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"..."

code // art

so we'll run to the sea—

Recognition became indistinguishable from surprise in the soldier's single eye. Bastien noted this with no small amount of amusement. They had been equally prepared to never see each other again after the last showdown, it seemed, and that should have been the case. He hadn't planned on heeding Jacob's most recent call to arms. It would be easy to chalk it up to convenience, but that would be lying to himself. In reality there had been some agency of his own in the decision that would be a disservice to the honor he was trying to cultivate in writing it off as such.

Bastien's gaze followed the opal with curious interest, and almost commented on it. Instead, a snap made his muzzle wrinkle, a half-grin straining across it. "Stand down, soldier. I'm not looking for a fight, if you couldn't already tell." Dry blood stained his white fur a dirty brown, though in places it still flowed where his movements aggravated the wounds -- and not to mention the giant, gaping hole in his throat that freely spat spatters on the ground at his feet. If they came to blows, there would be no denying who would win this time. "I've heard there's a clinic somewhere around here. Don't suppose you'd kindly help me out with that?" This soldier owed him nothing and, if he's anything like Bastien had been as a lieutenant, should certainly turn him away. He hoped against hope that Baelfire was a better man than he'd ever been.

—and find no captain waiting

code // art

sometimes, all i think about is you

A closer look at the man would reveal he was wounded. He then claimed he wasn't looking for a fight. "Looks like you already found one," he commented. He was wounded himself but Anthe had patched him up well. It would seem this man was looking for the clinic and Baelfire bristled slightly. He didn't like the idea of Anthe being alone with this man, as Baelfire saw him as potentially dangerous. "Are you looking for Haven?" he asked.

"I can show you the way there but I'd like to accompany you, if you don't mind." he said.

Even though this man was injured, he was a threat until proven otherwise, and Baelfire would never forgive himself if something happened to Nephele's daughter that he could have prevented. He turned back towards the way he'd been coming from after plucking his gem up from the ground the nodded his head, beckoning for the unnamed man to follow him back towards Haven. It would not take long before he reached the clinic's door step once again.

"..."

code // art

so we'll run to the sea—

A better man indeed. Bastien stifled his gratitude, not so reformed as to show it to an enemy soldier, and instead sneered at him. "It's hard not to get involved in one when alla youse crown-kissers are tearing the college apart." That attitude wasn't going to get him medical care though, so he chuckled, attempting to soften the tension between them.

The man offered to serve as his guide on the condition he came with. Playing tourist in his homelands with an Imperial soldier wasn't on his list of things he was particularly keen on, but there was little he could do but accept those terms with a shrug. He needed to get patched up - for once, it was a bit more important than his pride. "Do I get the red carpet treatment too?" He added, then added, noting the blood-spatter trail he'd left in his wake, "Ah, no need. I'll just make my own."

Bastien fell into an uneven stagger behind him, curiously eying the stone once again. Hardly a budding geologist, he had no clue what it could be or its significance, but the way the bleeding sunlight caught in the multi-hued bands kept drawing his eye to it. "So... is that a gift or your dinner?" Bastien mused over the image of a rock-munching wolf with an amused hum, "Makes sense - I was wondering why your teeth were so blunt. I've met squirrels whose bites hurt worse."

—and find no captain waiting

code // art

sometimes, all i think about is you

The man's response was expected, it would be weird for him to be entirely friendly after their last encounter, but Baelfire wouldn't go as far to say they had 'torn the college apart' as he so put it. However, he wasn't in the mood to argue that point.

Another cheeky retort was made before he noted the bloodied trail he'd left behind. Baelfire's brow rose and hew wondered how this man was even still conscious. "A ruffian till the end, I see." he murmured quietly, though whether his words were loud enough to be heard or not was of no concern to him. He wasn't exactly trying to hide his thoughts.

It wasn't long before he fell in line behind Baelfire as he began leading him to Haven, and it also wasn't long before he questioned him about the stone he carried. At this, the soldier bristled lightly. "It's what's left of an old friend is all." he replied.

Carrying the stone made it hard to talk but he still managed.

Soon, they were at Haven's doorstep again and he placed the opal on the ground once more to call out to Anthe. "I have another patient for you." he said as she answered them. "I know it's probably hard for you but be on your best behavior for her." he growled as he turned his head sideways to peer at Bastien with his single eye.

If there was any sign of trouble, he'd be on the man like a fly on shit.

"..."

code // art

so we'll run to the sea—

As the soldier turned to lead on, he muttered something almost unintelligible that made Bastien's ears flick to catch the heavy weight of judgment in it. No matter. They could remain enemies as was necessitated by being on two opposing sides of the same war for all he cared, but there was a grimace on his face that contradicted that notion that would only be seen by Baelfire's back and the appearing stars.

He was baited out of silence only long enough to breathe a husky "I see" at the explanation about the shimmering gemstone. The man's fur raised into several thousand shivering quills pointed at him, their warning clear, so he dropped the subject with an eyeroll that seemed to arc from amusement right into mild annoyance. Curiosity didn't automatically make him a thief, though he supposed he couldn't fault the man his caution.

"Your stereotyping is grating," complained Bastien as they reached the clinic, finally voicing his mounting frustration as Baelfire threatened him. "I fought in the same battles you did, but only one of us is making assumptions." Nevermind that he'd initiated the throwing around of those assumptions, a fact he was pointedly ignoring. Of course, he'd say it was all in jest, however true that was.

He gave a stiff nod to Anthe though, deferring to her instructions, but mostly ignored her presence beyond that. His wounds were tended to, and he was given something that made his body and mind feel as light as his eyelids were heavy and put on a strict bedrest. The lethal wound across his throat needed time to heal. It wasn't long before the effects of the drugs took hold, and Bastien stretched out in his cot, patting the space next to him with his giant obsidian tail. "Since we'll be here for a bit, might as well cuddle up, eh?" The rasped words tried to taunt a reaction out of the soldier, crimson eyes strangely bright despite their haze.

—and find no captain waiting

code // art

sometimes, all i think about is you

He wasn't questioned further about the opal and for that small reprieve, he was grateful. He'd rather not launch into a story about his friend, Nephele, and how he come to loser her in the end.

His ears twitched as the man commented again, finding his behavior just as grating a Baelfire found his. He scoffed and looked at the man while they walked. He was about to ask just what 'assumptions' he was making outside the one that this man was trouble but they had arrived and he deemed it rude to have this conversation before Anthe, who would likely not want to be included in their little tussle of words.

Baelfire watched as the unnamed man got what he needed and then sought out a place to lie down, taunting a little bit with a coy invitation and bright eyes. "I'd rather claw my own eye out," he scoffed as he sat in the corner of the room. Anthe dismissed herself then, and they were left alone once again.

He wasn't sure what to do or say as he glowered at the other man but eventually, he came up with something."Does Jacob have no doctors?" he asked, ears flicking as he looked the man up and down. Why come all the way here for healing when he could surely flee to the Highlands where he belonged? Baelfire knew that was where he was to end up after all was said and done and surely there were places to go up there. He only spent most of his time in Perth so he did not know about the rest of it.

"..."

code // art

so we'll run to the sea—

Poking at the surly polar bear-wolf proved to be easy entertainment for the delirious man. He anticipated that his invitation wouldn't be well received, but what else was there to do until the doctor gave him a clean bill of health? "I like a man with scars," came Bastien's coquettish response, seemingly ravishing Baelfire with his eyes, though his grin erred too close to amused to be taken seriously. Imagining the soldier gouging his remaining eye out was a scene that tickled the sadist in him.

Does Jacob have no doctors? At this, he laughed, then flinched, pain flaring from his throat. "Am I to assume Jacob has better doctors than he has soldiers? Judging by their poor performances, I thought it'd safer to hedge my bets elsewhere." Bastien was lucid enough to still feel bitter, and a note of that bitterness weaseled into his tone... and something detectably sobered. There were events he hadn't yet processed that threatened to override the pleasant buzz he was currently enjoying. "Besides, I doubt I'd have made it much farther than here..." He tried to outpace the looming spiral with more careless sarcasm, but this time the smirk didn't quite reach his eyes.

—and find no captain waiting

code // art