A lapse in judgement?, [p] Luna

[Luna Rheams]

She was starting to calm down and stand up when he licked her again. She looked surprised, when all of a sudden Cairo let out a scream of anger. She looked up to see the feline staring at another white wolf, standing above them on a ledge. Within moments, the other white wolf had gone, and luna was numb. Not with cold, but with a sudden, chilling fear.

her oldest brother, the one who had plotted with orion to kill their father. He'd been here, been standing there. She stood, moved out of the water, perfunctorily shaking the water from her coat. Cairo moved to her side, rubbing against her, making small worried noises. Luna lowed her nose to the feline, her midnighted eyes watchful- and scared.

Maroa. She said the name musingly, softly. She shuddered, looking younger, and lost, lonely, and confused. What was he doing here? Why was he following her? What did he want?

[Vale]

Did he really just do that? What was getting into him, that he did something so awkward, and yet it didn't feel as awkward as he thought it should. Vale did not have time to think very long on his previous actions, before he heard a sound from the cat that seemed to follow Luna everywhere, and was sure it was furious with him for licking Luna's muzzle.

The brute turned around rapidly, expecting to have the cat lunging for him from the sound of things, but saw instead that it was staring up at the ledge. As Vale tilted his head upwards to see what was infuriating the cat, he caught a glimpse of something white moving out of view, but had been too slow to catch a really good look. Was it another wolf he wondered?

Whatever had been up there, he guessed that Luna had seen it as well, at least the way she had so hastily moved out of the water. Was Luna... spooked? He could not be sure, but his Alpha looked fearful of something, as she said something, perhaps a name.

"Whats the matter Luna, are you ok?" Vale asked in a concerned tone, following her out of the stream to shake some of the water out of his coat. It was his hope that she would tell him, and not run off like the last time, but he half expected she would.

[Luna Rheams]

She was spooked. Very spooked. She hadn't seen Maroa since the day she challeneged orion, and had lost. Not since her older brother had confessed his dark secret to her, with some glee.

If I can't have his lands, no one will. His icy eyes had met her darker ones stright forward. Why not? She wasn't alpha anymore. She was tired and bleeding, and sore. But her fight had won her her freedom, though not in a way her father would have approved of. They were facing each other in what had once been the commons for their father's pack. And then maroa had lunged, and luna had run, broken hearted and alone.

She blinked, stirring from her memory as Cairo brushed her legs. An all too familiar ache in her womb had appeared, reminding her of everything she'd deliberatley lost that day. That...was my brother, maroa. He consipred with my mate, Orion, to destory my father and his pack.

She sighed softly. It seems so long ago, but it's not....

[Vale]

Luna seemed to be very disturbed by whoever was on the ridge, and it made him want to know their identity even more. He had known her for a terribly long time, so he couldn't know everything or even most about Luna, but she had always seemed confident and above most fears.

Eventually, his Alpha started to speak, to explain at least part of what was bothering her so much. It was a tale that was hard to believe, though he had no reason to doubt Luna up to that point, and he did indeed take it at face value. Her own brother had helped with the downfall of his father, something he couldn't imagine himself doing to his own father.

"Thats terrible! He helped... " There was a slight pause as it struck him that from the sound of it, she still had a mate, and aside from the way she sounded upset over his father being destroy, there was no indication that bond had been severed. your mate, do something that despicable?" Vale made the effort to cover up his hesitation, though it was anyone's guess if Luna would notice the male's stumbling.

His mind began to think, to digest what had been told to him so far, and soon he had a question to ask [b]"... But why is he here then? For that matter, why was he lurking around where we couldn't see him?"[ /b]. Being forced to watch Luna look so upset was troubling to Vale, even more so since he didn't know how he could help yet, and wasn't even sure he could. One thing was sure however, he was not going to let Luna run off like she did last time, at least not without an attempt to get her to let him help.

[Luna Rheams]

She shuddered, then physically shook herself. Cairo continued to rub against her until an irritable swat of Luna's massive paw sent the feline stumbling a few steps away. Cairo let out a planative mew but didn't force herself on Luna again.

She began pacing, the spring air not doing much to calm her this time. She was agitated. She wanted to follow Maroa and find out where he went to. She wanted to kill him for what he'd done to thier father. Yes...Maroa was angry that he was the oldest and father would have given the lands to me, or my pups, should I have any. And Orion wanted revenge on me. For making him wait to mate me. For making him rape me.

She stilled for a moment, realizing just how much she'd given this male. She mentally cursed, then gave him a quick version of the ending of the story. I challenged Orion that day, fucked him up, then deliberately lost so i would be outcast. I lost my pack, my father and family all in the same day.

The omission of the pups was deliberate. The ache in her womb was stronger now, and depresssingly real. She never regretted it....she just wondered what might have been.

[Vale]

OOCI foresee poor Vale getting in over his head and bleeding. ):

IC

He knew that it happened, that some males simply forced themselves upon femmes of their choosing, and it was even accepted practice in some packs, but it was something that Vale himself found vile. To hear Luna say that such a terrible thing had happened to her, and that no one had helped her... he had a hard time stomaching something like that. It caused him to bristle noticeably when she had revealed that darker part of her past.

The temptation was strong for the brute, to stalk after what seemed to be a ghost from the past, and protect Luna by running them off. There was not much questioning of the feasibility of such a plan, he had no idea how strong or how cunning this "Maroa" was, but come hell or high water he was not going to let anyone make his Alpha look like she did right then. Vale was not normally so aggressive, often he was the sort to just walk away from a conflict, but this was different, he had feelings for Luna, even if he didn't really recognize them as such.

Soon he had heard the whole story, or at least a vague summary detailing what Luna wanted to tell him, and he felt like he needed to say or do something to comfort the upset creature in front of him. There was a moment of hesitation before Vale started moving closer to try and comfort Luna with a nuzzle, and at the same time he tried to reassure her with his words "Thats, thats just terrible Luna. I'm sorry that no one did the right thing back then, that no one tried to stop this Maroa, and Orion from hurting you... for whatever its worth, I won't make the same mistake, I will be right beside you if Maroa is here for malevolent reasons.".

It may have been too soon to ask it, but Vale felt driven for some reason. "Luna? I kind of want to go see what he wanted, make sure hes not here to hurt you, but I don't really want to leave you alone here..." was Vale's concerned sounding query, one that did not explicitly ask if she wanted to come along, but that was his intent behind it.

[Luna Rheams]

((LOL. Poor vale. If it helps, since I'm NPCing maroa for now, Vale could be unable to find the mean boy. LOL))

She couldn't help but to relax when vale came closer, nuzzling her even as he spoke. She dimly heard Cairo growl, but let it go. She nuzzled him back, timidly. Under her silken pelt, faintly discernable, the alphess trembled. Small, tiny tremors...of fear? perhaps.

After a moment, brief, but all too long, she pulled away from the embrace, a shutter falling over her eyes, rendering them as empty as a cloudy night sky. She was again the composed, dignified alpha of the Calvacade pack. She moved away, already intent on keeping Vale as far away from Maroa and Orion as possible.

He offered to find her brother, and the femme laughed darkly, something brittle and bitter in her voice. You won't find him unless he wants to be found. And if he wants to be found, you wouldn't survive. He's never fought fair, Vale. He's a coward...but a smart one.

She looked at vale, something stern and warning in her midnighted blues. Do not go after him.

[Vale]

OOCBlah, sorry. Its a bit wishy washy, and kind of short. ):

Something strange could be felt while trying to comfort Luna, he almost missed it at first, but she almost felt like her body was trembling, the sensation was slight, and could have just as easily been his imagination. Just the thought of Luna being fearful enough to tremble was enough to make him lean against her even more, trying so hard to comfort her, and maybe make her forget the past for a few moments anyways. The embrace was abruptly ended when Luna pulled away.

Before the male had a chance to protest, she had also started to attack his plan to find her brother, it hurt somewhat coming from Luna, but it also probably held truth. He couldn't do much good for Luna if he stormed off and was caught in an ambush, and the stern command that followed was probably from an Alpha to her subordinate, rather then a friendly warning. It was hard for him to not go, but even with Vale as fired up as he was, he still knew that Luna was the Alpha and called the shots. "Ok... I won't go after him."

There was a short pause where Vale wasn't sure what to do, or even what to say. "Luna? At least let me stay near you, I'd feel responsible if I left you alone and wasn't there to protect you." Vale pleaded with Luna while moving closer again, but only going half way to let her make the rest of the walk if she agreed. It was a strange feeling that had overcome him since it first became apparent that there was danger, he felt like he had to protect her, his personal safety taking second place behind that, it was rather new to Vale.

[Luna Rheams]

She relaxed as he agreed not to go after her brother. But then - ""Luna? At least let me stay near you, I'd feel responsible if I left you alone and wasn't there to protect you." " She turned to face him, her expression indecipherable.

After a long, silent moment, she relented. Okay. You can stay in my den with me. Cairo will just have to get used to it. At her name, the calico perked up, deliberatley moving between Vale and Luna, purring. The cat gave Vale an icy glare through ice blue eyes, then nuzzled Luna.

Luna, who was distracted, didn't notice the cat's anomosity towards vale. Instead, she moved towards the back entrance, investigating. Moroa had come from the top of the rock pile, then down. So he hadn't been near the back entrance. That was a plus.

Luna turned midnighted eyes back on vale. Something made her heart flutter. Maybe the way he was being so protective of her? It was rather cute. She gave him a brief smile, then returned her attention to the concerns at hand.

[Vale]

There was a moment of silence as she faced him, the fear that she would refuse his request, that he would have to worry if she was safe every time he went to sleep, but there was an inaudible sigh of relief from Vale when just the opposite happened. He would be able to keep watchful eye over Luna, or was he doing this because she was the Alpha, not even Vale knew the answer to that question for sure, though he was certain he would do the same even if she was the same rank as he, or even lower.

"Thank you Luna, it will be easier sleeping that way." Vale gratefully replied to the female, while at the same time he notice the way Cairo seemed to be glaring at him. He tried to think if he had done anything wrong, but drew blanks several times before deciding to ignore it. That was not the only thing he had been oblivious to, completely overlooking the awkwardness of sleeping in the same den as someone he found attractive. At that particular moment however, such thoughts were far from his mind that was still adrenaline fueled, and it would likely not strike through his thick skull until it was time to head off to sleep anyways.

Vale was not far behind when Luna started towards the back entrance to investigate, eager to loyally follow beside her as a vigilant protector. For the time being he was starting to feel reassured that the brother had gone back to being ethereal, which helped his nerves settle down, and his muscles relax. "It looks like hes gone for now at least, what do you want to do for now?"

[Luna Rheams]

((ugh. using a left handed mouse is a pain in my arse. >.< ))

She contiuned to investigate her brother's scent. Same old Maroa, steeped in violence and blood. She made a face at his scent, his insanity. Then without flinching, she marked over where his scent was, reclaiming the den as hers. She looked at vale, calmer.

Since you've taken up the role of my protector, you now have the rank of warrior. You walk the borders and greet joiners if I'm not there already. You're also in charge of keeping the pack ready for any possible war that might come our way, whether from panic, or from my brother.

Cairo mewed planitively and luna looked at her thoughtfully. Cairo you can speak in front of Vale. he's a friend, not an enemy. When the cat shook her head, Luna rolled her eyes. Okay then. be that way.

She looked at her den thoughtfully, then moved back down the hill to the creek, drinking slowly. She stood for a moment, feeling on edge, then relaxed again, taking a slow breath. It's going to be okay. Don't start panicing, she thought to herself.

[Vale]

Vale continued to watch Luna while she reclaimed her den, noting that she didn't look nearly as upset as earlier, which was a very good thing in his eyes. He hated the feeling of Luna being upset, and at the same time being unable to do much about it. The brute smiled back at Luna when she looked at him, tail wagging slightly at the same time.

Then his expression turned to a surprised one, having been promoted to a higher rank, which was something he had not expected at all. Though the job entailed something he would have no qualms doing, protecting Luna. "Ok Luna, I will do my best. Don't worry about anything!" was his eager reply, hoping that she would take the last bit especially to heart. Though he wondered if they would really have to fight Panic at some point, it was something he really hoped would never happen, and wouldn't be sure how he would react if the situation actually came up.

Once Luna had started back down to the creek, Vale decided that then was as good a time as any to start doing his job, and started to move alongside Luna. He didn't want to leave Luna's side unless he had to, for fear her brother might come back while he was away. After padding up alongside her as she drank, he felt the urge to budge up alongside of her, but decided that it was probably not the best time to be too close. "Should I tell other pack members I meet to be on the look out for Maroa then?" Vale asked cautiously, not sure if it would be a wise move to worry the pack about a marauder stalking through the lands.

[Luna Rheams]

She quirked an eyebrow. An alpha who doesn't worry is soon a dead alpha, my friend. She nudged him playfully when he stood beside her at the creek. "Should I tell other pack members I meet to be on the look out for Maroa then?" She debated on it, then shook her head.

No....There is no reason to worry them just yet. Hs scent alone is enough to mark him as one to be wary of. If he comes back, we'll worry them then. But not yet. She looked at the calico feline thoughfully as she forcefully inserted herself between her and vale. It clicked within seconds that the feline ws jealous. Luna looked at the cat thoughtfully, then moved away from both feline and compainion.

She travelled downcreek, following a well marked path. Her scent, the scent of sandlewood and roses was everywhere, it was obvious this was an area she frequented. She moved as surefooted as the feline that tagged along with her. She gave vale an amused look, then continued on her way. She had something she wanted her warrior to see.

[Vale]

OOC I'll get a reply to the thread on the other board when I wake up on saturday. xP

IC

Vale smiled at Luna's reply to his assertion that she did not need to worry, and thought about arguing that too much worry can have a detrimental effect too, but passed up the opportunity when he felt a playful nudge against him. Instead he just hoped that there wouldn't be things to worry about for long, as wishful as it may have been.

The brute looked a little perplexed by the Alpha's decision not to have other pack members alert in regards to Maroa, after all it would give them more eyes watching a potential threat, but he trusted Luna's judgment, and it was his duty to follow regardless what he thought the better decision was. "Ok, I understand. I'll keep my eyes open for him, but keep my lips sealed when it comes to the rest of the pack.".

Yet again Luna's constant feline companion seemed to act strangely, forcing it's way in between the two wolves, but the purpose of which was unknown to Vale, who was still very much oblivious. Before he had much time to think on such thoughts however, Luna began to move downstream, looking as though he was supposed to follow. An intrigued blink or two later and Vale was following loyally behind, his mind on where they might be going. "So where are we going Luna?

[Luna Rheams]

The feline slowed down, reluctant to follow where Luna was leading. Luna turned a corner on the path and stopped. In front of her laid a waterfall, one that was large and beautiful, cascading down and to a pool of water. The pool was a deep blue, like the alpha's eyes only more blue. Off the pool came the creek the trio had followed.

Cairo climbed a tree and hissed balefully. Luna glanced up at her to see the cat staring at vale. She gave vale a rueful smile, then moved on to the pool. She stood by the water, looking pensively at her reflection.

Besides the waterfall, the place was as rocky as the rest of her lands. Rocky like the fey's soul. Troubled as her spirit. She sighed softly, reflecting on her past for only a moment before looking up at the waterfall. What have I done to deserve this, great mother?

there was no answer. there never was.