Lost Ember

Oleander Elric

It was too much, all of it. There were wolves everywhere. Paws scrabbling against the dirt all around him. High-pitched squealing and laughter. It felt like the world was in his head and crushing him outside of his body all at once. It was too loud. Too scary. He swore he could feel flames licking at the bottoms of his pads and suddenly he couldn't breathe. The smoke filled his lungs. His sisters shrieked, father yelled and snarled, his mother called his name and then choked on it.

Tears filled the corners of his eyes and he clung to the sturdiness of a muscular forearm, burying his face into it to hide himself where he trembled. He squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering as he feared opening them to see the lifeless bodies of his family strewn around the park while the world kept spinning and children kept laughing. How can they be so happy when his Mama, Papa, Tallulah, and Ailey were dead?

Oleander couldn't understand and he didn't want to understand. He just wanted to be away from this place and back in his cozy new nest that was at his new home. He wanted to be held in strong arms while he cried, but he quickly realized it was only at home that that could happen. Out here he was nudged with a paw to coax him into venturing, but he refused, shaking his head. “I d-don't want t-to...I d-don't want to s-see...” Oleander whined, lifting his face to stare up at his adoptive mother with rounded, tear-filled eyes. “C-can we g-go home Miss C-Colonel...p-please? P-please...I d-don't like it here..."

@Sheik

enie

The sun was just reaching its apex when Sheik arrive at the park, alone. It was not often her parents let her out of their sight, especially after what happened to Hask, but today was a rare moment she supposed. She had finally whined and cried enough that Sif had told her off... and to be back before nightfall. With a wide smile, she promised and ran off into the streets of Rionna. With her estimation, she had hours before it got dark and thus she would have hours of fun! She giggled as she bounded across the grassy knoll that led down into the heart of the park, a pearl of grass and trees in between all the crumbling buildings that made up the majority of the town. It was as close to out of town as she was going to get without her parents going with her, though she didn't dare risk leaving town alone now. She pursed her lips as she looked at all the pups playing, their parents watching dutifully, and she wondered who she might walk up to first. She looked from between a wrestling duo, to a small pup who was pawing at his parents sullenly. This caused her to raise a brow curiously as she monitored him, wondering just why he didn't look like he was having fun at all.

He looked to be about her age, off a year by only months, while the wrestling duo looked much, much younger. She decided, then, that she'd go see what this boy was doing and if he'd like to play.

"Uhm, hi." she said shyly as she came closer. She didn't know this pup or this woman she assumed to be his mother, but she was eager to maybe make a friend or two today. She really only had her brother and her cousins to play with at home but making a friend that wasn't family couldn't be that hard, could it? "Do you wanna play?" she asked sweetly, her tail waving behind her as she looked at him. She didn't pay the parent much mind at all as her glassy blue eyes fixated on the boy before her. Of course, she didn't want to seem rude so she averted her gaze every so often so it didn't seem like she was staring, even though she pretty much was.

manip + code: clae

Oleander Elric

“Uhm, hi.”

An ashen ear flicked at a new voice and he whipped his head around, golden eyes wide and fearful. He attempted to tuck himself behind either of the Colonel's forearms, but she held them firmly against her body where she sat. He peered up at her with a helpless expression that quickly transformed into one of irritation. You're doing this on purpose! He spoke through his glare, blinking the remnants of tears away and swiping them from his cheeks with a paw before turning to look at this other pup.

Oleander's gaze wandered about to all of the other children at the park. Why hadn't she asked one of them to play? They clearly wanted to. He swallowed hard, shrinking slightly with his tail tucked as he met bright azure orbs that glanced elsewhere every so often while she awaited his answer. “Eh...hi..."< He mumbled, looking down at his paws forlornly. “I-I...erm...p-play? What d-do you p-play?"He stuttered uncertainly, hesitant to engage in general with another child.

enie

Sheik would be a fool not to notice the fear in the boy's eyes as she spoke to him and she watched the way he shrunk into his parents legs like he'd never seen another pup before. She wondered why he acted that way but decided it was best not to ask about it, at least not right now. She'd rather try and coax him out of his shell and see if he'd play with her first. He replied to her hesitantly and she offered him a warm smile and a wag of her tail. "We could play hide and seek... or tag... or anything, really!" she suggested. These were games she often played with her cousins and found very fun so she thought maybe he would too.

"Oh... and my name is Sheik," she said, finally introducing herself to the unknown boy. She left out her surname because it didn't really matter at the moment, she was sure the boy did not care about who the Asgauts or Tiamats were. "What's yours?" she asked curiously.

manip + code: clae

Oleander Elric

Oleander glanced up at the girl as she spoke, his avoidant gaze lessening when he noticed her smile and her tail wagging. “Oh, umm...ok-kay.” He started to lift his head, but his stance remained closed off, still wary of the strange girl. There was certainly interest and his expression became thoughtful as he mulled over the choice of games. “I'm g-good at hiding." He offered, his eyes flicking up at the Colonel daring her to say that she'd been the one to find him and it didn't seem hard for her.

She gave her name quickly after the invitation to play and he blinked at her, trying to memorize the name silently. Sheik...Sheik...Sheik... The tension in his body started to dissipate, like a fern unfurling to the light of the sun. Of course, she wanted his name in return and he tried to stand up taller to say it proudly like his Papa had taught him. He was supposed to be proud of his name after all. “Oleander." He started to smile slowly when he realized he could still say his name without stuttering.

@Sheik

enie

He seemed worried still, but she wouldn't let that deter her from trying to make a new friend. His shaky acquiescence caused her smile to widen. He then said he was good at hiding and her eyes grew a little wide with excitement. He introducing himself as Oldeander then stood a little taller, a smile even touching his face. That's the spirit! she thought to herself.

"Ooh, okay! Well we can play hide and seek. I will count to ten while you hide and then I will try to find you!" she said, explaining the rules of the game to him in case he did not know. She was usually pretty good at this game, she had played it with Haskell and her cousins numerous times. There were so many hiding places within the manse but she was confident she knew just about all of them by now. This place was new and it would pose a new challenge. There weren't too many hiding spots around the park, some bushes and trees here and there, so she didn't think she'd lose him in the chaos at the very least. "Are you ready?" she asked him.

manip + code: clae

Oleander Elric

Oleander's eyes were already darting around and past the other pup as he honed in on potential hiding spots. In this sort of setting, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from so he'd have to get pretty creative.A tree...a bush...a pile of boulders... It was at least something he could work with. He had been listening to her, but became distracted enough to not realize that she was waiting for his go ahead to start.

He blinked and then refocused on azure eyes, his response a bit delayed causing him to stumble over his words again. “Uh, um, y-yeah! R-ready, S-Sheik! He replied and then lowered himself into a stance, braced to kick off the ground to start running towards the places he was eyeing. He'd have to at least have a second for each of the potential areas to investigate whether they'd be good enough.

@Sheik

enie

It took him a moment to respond but when he agreed, she smiled back and nodded her head. She would close her crystalline blue eyes and begin the count before opening them and heading deeper into the park after her new friend. She didn't see him anywhere so he must've found a decent hiding spot and so the hunt began. She lifted her nose, tail swaying in the air as she tried to detect his unfamiliar scent. She trailed after him but got lost a few times along the way, peeking behind bushes and trees to find nothing there.

Sheik would not be deterred, however. She was confident she could find him eventually. There were only so many places to hide in the park anyway! She began to hum a little song as she walked, an easy-going pace taking hold of her small paws. She was in no rush, this was the fun of the game. The thrill of the chase!

exit sheik via searching for oleander <3

manip + code: clae