fire & ice

Everything he had been living for was a lie. He was starting to see the truth in it all. He was starting to understand what it all meant and why things would never just be how he had wished them to. He tried doing things his way and what did it get him? Heartbreak. Failure. Loneliness. Betrayal. If he had followed what father had said, would he be in this position right now? This question loomed over his head. He could have stayed south when he was freed, but what if he was wanted? Not by Rayne, obviously, but by the army. Would they want their revenge for him being broken out? He would not truly wish to risk it. So he headed home. He wanted to see his mother, his father, his brother. He was unsure if he would want to see Lenora - the pain of her betrayal was still fresh, more so than father's. The rain fell from the sky, soaking the pup in its might as it rained from up high. The sounds of thunder rattled in the distance. He would venture all night and day if that was what it took to find his family. Not entirely sure where they were, he released a sad howl into the clouds - hoping it would not be outshined by the clash of thunder. He sang his heart out into several long howls. He would find them. His ears were alert, listening to any sounds that might give away that someone was coming near him. "honor the gods that walk among us" @Merrin @Argent

A horrible storm was tearing it's way through the lands of Aberdeen and the elders of the Argent family huddled into the deepest part of their cave home while it passed. It went on seemingly forever and Merrin did her best to catch sleep wherever she could while the thunder crashed outside. She'd always hated the sounds of storms ever since she was a small child. She had feared a monster that awaited her outside that would eventually one day break through to her safety to get her. Trembling lightly, she tucked herself close into the arctic fur of her Luciel, immediately finding comfort in the warmth of his presence alone.

Her eyelids began to lower while she nodded off, the sound of a mournful howl turning her ears at attention. There was a moment where she thought a nightmare was trying to take her, but when her eyes fluttered open the sound continued. Merrin lifted her head, brows furrowing as she stared in confusion and utter disbelief at the doorway for a moment while the tension in her body forced her to stand. Lilac orbs widening, she looked to Luciel then. “That's Riften." She gasped and without a shadow of a doubt, she knew her son was out there fighting a storm and likely trying to find them.

“Luciel! That's Riften!" Merrin exclaimed with more conviction this time, concern spurring her into action as she raced for the mouth of the cave. Without hesitation, she flung herself out into the middle of the storm, rain pelting her and blinding her vision. She focused on the cry of her child and surged forward, taking in a deep breath and returning the howl as loud as she possibly could. When she heard it closer to her is when she started to call out his name into the harshness of the tempest. “Rifteeeen!!! I'm heeeere!! I'm heeeere!!"

@Riften @Luciel

table ; bunny - - art ; Raven

The rain poured over the wolf, and though he felt the desperation of finding his family, he felt he could go no more. He was tired. The thunder raged on, showing no signs of stopping, and suddenly a flash of light rolled through the clouds above his head. Ears pinned, he looked up with fearful eyes. He had never seen anything like this before, and he yelped out of fear. But through the silence that came between the thunder's roars, he heard a sound that he knew better than anything else. It was the first sound he heard, even before he was brought into the world. Mother. Riften turned his head to look for her, to listen to where his name was being shouted from. More light flashed over his head, but he no longer cared about that. Mother was here. Riften rushed, kicking up the dirt and mud behind him as he raced towards the one he knew to be safe. Silver eyes fell upon the form of his mother. He froze in shock that he was actually gazing upon her. She was so beautiful, and so different than he had last seen her. But she would still always be his mother. Finally, he was able to move forward, to race towards her. Even in his fear of the outside world, his tail was wagging quickly behind him. As he drew nearer to her, he tried to stop himself from colliding so roughly against her, but he had little traction on the ground. His form melded into hers, as he buried his head into her chest, weeping into her coat. His form was breathing heavily from not only running, but the beating of his heart making it feel as though he had betrayed his mother. Just because his father did not agree with what he wanted to do, who was to say that mother did not deserve the chance to voice her opinion on the matter? He whimpered into her chest as the tears mixed with the rain. "I am sorry mom, I am so sorry..." his voice cracked as he spoke, through the sobbing. He never wanted to be away from her again. "honor the gods that walk among us" @Merrin @Argent

Between the endless torrent of raindrops she finally saw him after trying to howl and scream his name above the raging storm. “Riften!!" Merrin called to him again to make sure he had seen her and then she watched him come racing towards her. She lowered herself to catch him in her arms, though nothing prepared her for the full force impact of her nearly grown son. He knocked the wind out of her completely and might have sent her sprawling in the mud if she hadn't been clinging to him so tightly.

The elder woman coughed and gasped for breath after the collision, but she held onto him for fear of losing him again once she let him go. She suddenly realized that she could feel his shoulders shaking and the boy kept apologizing over and over while sobs wracked his body. Merrin felt herself break along with him, not knowing a thing about what he had endured, yet feeling the depths of his pain, nonetheless. She held him as he cried, lifting a paw to stroke his head gently.

“Oh, my boy...my son..." Merrin spoke close to his ear so that he could hear her as she did her best to provide some comfort. “There, there...I'm here, I'm here...let it all go...you are safe...and so very loved..." She reminded him if somehow the world had made him forget. Then she was reminded that they were being buffeted by harsh winds while rainfall soaked them to the bone.

Merrin nudged the side of his head gently with her nose and gestured with her head back in the direction she'd come from. “Come! We'll go inside and dry off! She raised her voice so that she could be heard and then gave him one more nudge to urge him in the right direction back towards their home cave.

@Riften

table ; bunny - - art ; Raven

The wind was blowing fiercely enough to ruffle the fur of Argent’s cheeks even as he sat sheltered within the confines of their beachside cave. A distant howl had drawn Merrin out into the elements and Argent found himself limping after her. His beloved was faster than him and had already reached the side of the son before he made it close enough to see the tan fur and sable markings. A relieved huff followed and he nodded, jerking his head towards the cave for Riften to follow. He was happy to see their child unharmed, but at the same time worried that the tension that had driven them apart in the first place still lingered. Argent couldn’t deny that he was still hurt that his son had so easily abandoned his family for a Princess who he had never met face to face. Lenora had run from them too and the hurt of losing not one, but two children had certainly added to the speckling of grey dotting his muzzle.

He still held out hope that Atlas would be able to visit once he was done with his studies yet the doubt still lingered. What if he was a terrible father? It wasn’t Merrin’s fault. He had been the one to drive away Riften and even if they did both share a responsibility for Lenora’s absence it had been his actions that had led to them being thrown in the dungeon.

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Feeling his mother's embrace, Riften seemed to have all of his worries wash away. Mama's boy.. he thought to himself, but it was true. Nobody was here to see the young male acting in this manner. He snuggled into her and allowed the tears to pour from his eyes. She comforted him better than anyone, as though nobody really knew how to do this for him. Lenora was a tough-love sort, and Atlas the thinker. It was rare to see some or any sort of emotion from him. He was a lot like dad. Dad. Mother wanted them to get out of the rain, which was the right move. They could freeze to death in this nasty weather or worse. Riften walked with his mother and was led to the new place they would call home. Without a word, Riften rushed his father too, burying his face in his coat. "Dad..." he didn't know what he was going to say. He was not sorry for following his heart. He was not sorry for going out on his own and learning what the world truly was like. He just really didn't know what to say. He wanted the hurt to heal, but he had never experienced anything like that before. But then something struck a chord in his mind. He could avoid their little dispute and shed some light on some of the horrible things that had happened to him. "I have news about Lenora... and someone else..." "honor the gods that walk among us" @Merrin @Argent

As she urged Riften back towards the cave, Luciel's appearance caused a lump to form in her throat. Although, she did not know the full details of the disagreement between her mate and their son, she knew that Luciel had taken Riften's sudden departure very hard. There was hardly a second for Merrin to worry about their interaction as Riften burst forward to hug into the arctic fur of his father so fiercely.

Merrin allowed them a moment, her eyes filling with tears at the sight of that reunion. There were likely many things that were unspoken that would need to be brought to light. For now, it was a welcome show of affection and neither of them could deny their love for one another underneath it all. The wind tore at her already shivering body and she proceeded forward, waving her tail to gesture them to follow. “Let's get out of the storm, boys!"

When they started to move again, she picked up what Riften was saying to Luciel and she honed in on him as they breached the threshold. Shaking her coat, Merrin went to fuss over the two of them, not taking her eyes off of Riften. “Lenora? You saw her? Is she well? And who is someone else?" Her voice rose with concern and then she recalled that Riften had been missing on that day that she'd told her other two pups everything. It was a reminder that she would have to dive into those details of her past yet again. “We've got quite a lot to tell you too, Riften...I hope you're planning to stay a while..."

@Argent @Riften

table ; bunny - - art ; Raven

Big grey paws embraced the son that he had missed so dearly even if he was still hurt by being rejected. Forgiveness came easy when the one in question was his own child. He snuggled into him and released a heavy sigh. He was safe. He was home.

Tension pulsed through the muscles that had grown much softer than his years as a soldier, but there was still the shape of a warrior that filled his solid build, as he heard Lenora’s name mentioned. Grey ears twitched urgency and his stormy gaze latched on to his eldest son, unwilling to look away, even as they walked together into the cave they called home. Questions buzzed through his mind and his paws shuffled restlessly. Was she safe? Had someone hurt her? Argent couldn’t help thinking of the threats that Nalik had made against their children and guilt made his stomach swirl with unease. “Is she okay? Did someone hurt her?” he couldn’t stop them from bursting out of him once they were inside.

Argent had no idea of what had unfolded for his children following the end of the war. What little he could glean from Atlas’s messages wasn’t enough. Their family was splintered between two lands and he could no longer be as present as he wanted to. With Riften with them he felt a little less restless, but his other two children were still so far out of reach and his protective instincts made him feel all the more helpless.

code: elyon | art: ashon

As the embrace with his father ended, Riften walked with them into the den to be out of the storm. The hard part was not getting to see his parents again, the hard part was the now. He had opened up that things had happened - kinda. There was going to be a lot to explain and he wasn't sure if his father had told mother everything or not, and he really didn't want to leave either of them in the unknown. "Well, a lot has happened, and it is best to start from the beginning, when I last saw dad.." he spoke as he took a seat inside the den. "You both might want to take a seat...." He looked to the pair of them, wondering if they were even ready to hear the words he was about to tell them. He knew it was time to unload the whole story on him, as he had done to Atlas. "I don't know what dad told you, if he told you about whatever happened between us... But I was writing letters to the princess, I had been doing it for months by this time. He confronted me about my future, and I told him about the love and devotion I had for the princess, only I was wrong. I am sorry I challenged you on that father, I have changed." He cleared his throat and looked at his mother specifically. "I joined the Jacobites for the second battle. I wanted to prove to the princess that I was a good mate for her, that I would do anything to protect her. Looking back at the things I saw, the things I went through on that field of battle - it was not the place for me.. I was overwhelmed, and the Imperials wanted nothing more than to kill me. They attacked a boy my age, almost trying to drown him. I stopped them and allowed him to run free, but more and more Jacobites were falling down, or being taken out. The Imperials rushed me... and I thought I was seriously going to die.." he choked a little as he started to think about Rayne. "Until she saved me." How does one explain what a female she was, how does one explain this pure angel sent to save him? "The battle was over and I was free to leave. She ended up beating all of the Imperials, it was unreal to witness. I spent my time, healing up and looking for her after the fight. I did find her, and I sang to her a song I wrote just for her - a thank you of sorts for saving me, and a profession of my feelings for her..." He figured his father would try to stop him and say something along the lines of "you can't love a girl you just met" - something to that effect, but before any of them could respond, he continued. "I went to the third battle, but this time it was worse." Now was the part with Lenora, and he did not know if was quite ready for that or not. "Lenora was there, on the Imperial side. She attacked me, and knocked me out... After that my memory was pretty much gone, and when I awoke - I was in Imperial jail. It was so cold there, and dark, damp... a terrible place." As he thought of that horrid place, the tears in his eyes built up. "She came to visit me - Lenora... but she did not let me free. She wanted me to explain myself, to tell her what I was doing there, but I was mad at her. I was upset that she would choose the Imperials over her own brother's safety. She told me you guys had moved up here. That was it... she left me to rot." He was pretty mad about it, and he wasn't sure he would be able to easily get over something like that. He dropped his eyes and looked to his paws. When he lifted his head, he looked to his father, "I was saved by a member of Jacob's army. I ran as fast as I could, getting out of there and making my way up here." Just when they might have thought it to be over, he took a deep breath. "It took me a while to find you guys, as I was looking for her for a while. Rayne is her name... Well, I found her, affectionately kissing a male that was all black. She never told me she had a mate before, she.... she...... just..." Riften felt his heart breaking again, as the image replayed in his mind. Tears fell from his eyes, and his heart sank into his stomach. He could not believe he was crying about her again. How did he allow this angel to have such a hold on him? He didn't want to tell them everything, but he knew they deserved an explanation about where he had been and why he had done it. "I am not a member of their army anymore... I never want to witness anything like that again..." "honor the gods that walk among us" @Merrin @Argent