late this afternoon i heard your voice, for the first time in what felt like years
late this afternoon i heard your voice, for the first time in what felt like years
Dahmer Oriel Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:54 am
Ghost had spent the majority of her life trapped in a dark and stifling cave. She had nothing but the weak sunlight that managed to trickle its way into her prison from the opening that was always too far away. There was also the vague promise of a visit from Jahre, but who counted that?
The only way to mark the passage of time was to watch her light slowly recede throughout the day until it disappeared entirely and the crickets began to chirp and sing their nightly chorus. This was around the same time Ghost began to lose her fight not to cry. She would lean herself up against the cold rock wall, pushing her forehead into the hard surface as she struggled to keep the tears at bay. It never worked. The nights were long and difficult. They always were. What little sleep she managed to steal was restless and plagued by nightmares filled with sun beams and mothers that never returned. She always woke well before dawn and would spend hours just staring in the direction of the cave's opening, terrified that the light wouldn't arrive. Somehow, miraculously, it always did. But the hours she spent waiting for the morning to come were the longest and most painful of Ghost's life....until now.
It had been almost three weeks since Ghost had seen Zane. With every day that crawled by, time seemed to pass slower than the twenty four hours before. Being trapped in that cave was nothing in comparison – this was agony. It was difficult for the female to stick to the promise she had forced herself to make that morning. She had vowed not to bother Zane, not to push him any further when it came to her friendship or anything else she might want. She slipped up a few times, making it all the way to the entrance to his home before reason managed to take hold and the skinny female fled, berating herself every step of the way. Once or twice she even called out for him, but he never answered. Those days were tough. It was entirely possible that Zane just wasn't home, but a large part of Ghost was convinced that the male definitely was home and just had no interest in speaking with her. She could imagine him cringing away from the den's opening, sticking to the shadows and trying desperately not to make any noise. He'd breathe a huge sigh of relief whenever she gave up and went away. But just to be safe, she just knew he'd stay still for an extra ten or so minutes, just to play it safe before emerging cautiously to see that the coast was clear. It was so easy for her to picture this, so easy to convince herself that this was what really happened whenever she did manage the courage to get that close. It made the most sense. If he wanted her in any way (be it as a friend, acquaintance or more), he wouldn't have left her in the first place! She had her chance and she had blown it by asking for too much, too soon. Now she just had to deal with the fallout. And yet...
On some days she'd swear she could smell him. The first time it was like a punch to the gut, almost taking her paws right out from under her. It was early morning and she had been on her way to visit Dahmer and Sherlock.
Her best friend's partner had been a lot more amicable since the disaster Dahmer had walked in on. Ghost had a feeling that the massive male had spent the time she was passed out on their couch lecturing his mate on using friends as subjects in her experiments. From then on, Sherlock was openly kinder to Ghost whenever she visited. It couldn't have come at a better time – Ghost didn't know what she'd do without those visits. If Dahmer wasn't there to encourage (or force, really) her to get out and visit, she figured she'd go insane. Although it may have already been too late.
Ghost had stepped outside and sprung forward, taking a deep breath before running to her friend's in the warm summer morning's air. When the scent hit her she almost buckled, ears flying back, eyes wide with surprise. She wheeled around frantically, gaze raking the trees as though she'd turn to find Zane just to her left, hanging out in a tree. The bedraggled wolf's heart pounded in her chest, her eyes narrowed almost into slits as she perused the area around her home. Aside from the usual morning hustle and bustle, Ghost had no visitors. She would have left it at that, attributing finding his scent to her overactive imagination, wishful thinking or oncoming insanity – but a few days later it was there again. She was returning from a walk with Dahmer and his scent immediately caught her attention. It had poured the night before as well, so she knew it wasn't just lingering from when Zane was a regular visitor. So what did it mean? She had no idea.
And now days later, Ghost still didn't have any answers. Trying to force herself to think of other things was impossible – her mind was on a constantly looping track and there was no way for her to skip to another song. It would be hilarious, she thought drily as the climbed the outcropping of rocks, if it wasn't so fucking pathetic. The self deprecating smirk slid off her face and was replaced with something a little more grim and the halfling turned her entire attention to the task at hand.
The sun dipped behind the early evening clouds and the waves crashed against the shore below her. Ghost pulled herself up and over the top of the rock, a little clumsy but still managing a bit of the technique Dahmer had showed her (even Sherlock had shown some interest in training Ghost in some aspects of their old craft). While the halfling form was definitely suited for sprinting and running, it didn't allow for fully developed claws and that made climbing a bit more difficult. But Ghost wasn't willing to attempt a full shift yet – she just couldn't. So instead she enjoyed the thrilling speeds her new form was capable of, and marvelled at the small amount of dexterity her shifted paws afforded her.
The ruffled and too-skinny wolf sat back, setting her pack aside as she turned to face the water. A cool ocean breeze teased her slightly yellowing fur and gulls cried as they wheeled overhead. Without seeming to realize it, the female had gathered a pile of rocks around her and there she sat: leaning slightly forward, legs hanging off the edge of her perch. Her gaze remained blue and steely. It was focused on the water and did not waver even slightly as she slowly and methodically began throwing rocks into the frothy depths below. Her throws were clumsy and off at first, but over the next hour or so she persevered, never pausing (unless it was to replenish her arsenal) until eventually, her aim was true. And even then she continued, her features becoming more and more grim as though they were cut from stone. She became more and more intent on her task, convinced she'd be able to throw a rock all the way across the ocean if she really focused. But it didn't matter. No matter how hard she threw herself into what she was doing, her thoughts were always elsewhere, always on him.
Dahmer Oriel- Admin
- Posts : 23
Join date : 2013-08-04
Age : 35
Location : Wiarton, Ontario -
Re: late this afternoon i heard your voice, for the first time in what felt like years
zane tialys Wed Oct 08, 2014 10:41 pm
Zane lay in his den, thoughts of the last encounter he had had with Ghost and how disastrous it had turned out. He couldn’t help but think that it was his fault that Ghost had left early in the morning after the storm. It made him feel terrible that he had left her, but he had assumed she had left because she was embarrassed about the entire situation. So he had let a few days go by so things wouldn’t be so raw for Ghost and then went to search her out. He’d gone to her den a few times to discover that she wasn’t home, and would linger in hopes she would show up but would eventually leave after becoming discouraged. Some days he would get to her place and find her scent and Dahmer’s scent mingled, like he had spent the previous day sitting with her. On a few of those occasions when he got home, he could have sworn that he could smell Ghost around his den but would convince himself that he was just imagining it, calling it wishful thinking. So instead, he would go back into his den and spend the evening alone.
The last three weeks of missed meetings with Ghost was breaking Zane’s heart; he had grown to love spending time with her and was missing her terribly. He had known from their first meeting that she was something special, had felt a connection with her that had only grown stronger the more they had spent together. He had been meaning to say something to Ghost for a while, to confess his feelings but always grew too self-conscious, but each time he went to approach the subject he would freeze, afraid that Ghost would tell him that he was sweet but she didn’t feel the same way he did.
Three weeks and finally Zane had decided enough was enough. No more missed meetings, no more avoidance. He was going to get down to the bottom of this situation and figure it out- and if it meant that he would discover that Ghost didn’t want to see him again, then at least he would get some sort of closure, even though it would devastate him and hurt like hell.
So with his mind made up, Zane set out into the late afternoon sun and made his way to Ghost’s door. He could feel himself becoming anxious with each step closer he got to his destination, not exactly sure what he would do the moment he got face to face with Ghost. He figure he would have to wing it, unsure of how Ghost would react when she saw him. The moment he got to Ghost’s den he scratched at the door and called out for her. When no noise came from within, no sound of scrambling to answer the door or even to hide he realized that she wasn’t at home. Zane stepped back from the door and took a look around the clearing, wondering what his next move should be. He could stay and wait for her to return home or he could try to locate her. He stayed motionless for a moment and then made up his mind- he’d go searching for her and if he couldn’t find her, then he’d return to her den and wait for her there.
With his mind made up, Zane set off towards the west, following the strongest scent he could find. He had half a mind to try to locate Dahmer and ask if he knew where Ghost was but something held him back- he knew that Dahmer had spent a lot of time with Ghost in her den during the last few weeks and wasn’t fully convinced Dahmer would tell him where she was if she wasn’t spending time with him. Dahmer was incredibly protective of Ghost, so much to the point that he may not even tell him where Ghost was even if she was in the same room as him. So to save himself from an awkward and embarrassing encounter, Zane decided to just look for her on his own.
Zane was thankful that it seemed that Ghost had stayed close to home for the last few days, since it was making the scent trail easier to follow. It was still painstakingly slow and Zane found himself coming up to dead ends and found himself having to either back track on several occasions or to just blindly carry on. The moment the large male found himself near the beach he nearly lost the scent but decided to search the beach in a hope that the water was just muting Ghost’s scent. He emerged from the thinning forest and walked on to the rocky sand, eyes scouring the horizon for Ghost’s familiar form.
It didn’t take long before he found her, the only other occupant on this stretch of beach. She was perched on a high rock near the water, throwing rocks into the water and watching them skip. He stood silently on the beach, his paws on the sand and watched Ghost throw rock after rock into the waiting water. He was transfixed, taking in every detail about the wolf that stood before him, like it was possibly going to be the last time that he saw her. Zane noticed that her once brilliant white fur was now dull and had a vague yellowish tone to it and he wondered if she had been as lonely as he had during their silences. The sight gave him a guilty sort of hope- because maybe, just maybe, she missed him as much as he missed her.
Zane mentally shook himself and made his way slowly towards where Ghost stood, her intense concentration on the rocks and ocean taking all of her attention that she failed to notice him approaching. He stopped a few feet away from her, the salty breeze ruffling their furs. He stayed quiet for another moment, the only sound between them was the ocean moving in front of them and the occasional bird crying out. With his heart in his throat, Zane finally broke the silence as he offered his friend a nervous smile, Hey Jane.
zane tialys- Admin
- Posts : 12
Join date : 2013-08-12
Re: late this afternoon i heard your voice, for the first time in what felt like years
oo ghost Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:05 am
For the first time in a while, Ghost paused what she was doing in order to cast a worried look at the sky. The sun was almost entirely behind the horizon, its golden glow beckoning at her from behind the mountains in the distance. A soft whine slipped from between her teeth and the halfling's claws clenched unconsciously at the rock in her hand. A wild urge welled up from within her, possessing the young female with the irrational need to somehow follow the sun, to chase it across the sky. Or at least find some way to bottle some for now, to give her a way to make it through one more night. Even before the evening had fully set in enough for the darkness to completely take over, Ghost knew that tonight was going to be hell. Her forlorn whimper turned into an exasperated growl and she climbed to her feet in order to send her rock flying, the furthest yet. It didn't really help, and she wasn't entirely sure why she expected it might. What did she think would happen? She'd manage throw it as far as the sun, maybe knock it out of the sky? That would solve everything. She'd succeed in destroying earth and setting the world on fire, but the werewolf also wouldn't have to worry about spending another night alone. That was an even trade off, right? No, probably not. She lowered herself to the rocks again, slumping forward. The next several minutes or so passed for her in this matter, a few rocks thrown at the ocean halfheartedly – most of them didn't even make it to the water, shattering against the shore below.
Before long, Ghost knew she wouldn't be able to put off going home any longer. Unless she was planning on staying out here all night. Maybe if the moon was bright enough, she would have given it serious consideration but with her luck, she knew the clear sky would probably disappear instantly and become a wall of solid black. She was terrified of spending another sleepless night waiting for the sun to return – but at least home it would be in familiar territory. She'd be able to scrounge up as much comfort as possible amongst her own things. Would that be enough? The night before had been frightening – for a short period of time, Ghost had managed to convince herself that morning wasn't coming at all and that she was condemned to spend the rest of her life scrambling around in the dark, calling out for friends that couldn't find her, or eventually decided they didn't even want to answer. The skinny female spent several hours tucked away in a far corner, the blanket she and Zane had slept on wrapped around her shoulder as she rocked and and forth, struggling to maintain steady breaths. Eventually the sun did rise, light creeping through the windows and falling across her grateful face as she collapsed against the wall, her panting giving way to relieved sobs. Her hitching breaths eventually gave way to a more even pattern as she finally managed to fall into a troubled sleep, waking hours after noon, shaken but alive. Could she take another night like that? What were her options? Even if she had no intention of attempting to sleep, the thought of spending the night in her cabin alone still horrified her.
Ghost heaved another great sigh, bringing her hands to her face. She rubbed at her eyes, hard and furious as though she could pull at the shame that threatened to eat her alive. She knew just what she needed to do, and while the thought of it made her stomach churn with guilt, Ghost knew she was doing it anyway: it was essential for her survival. Another peek at the horizon told the wolf that she had a little ways to go before she'd have to present herself at Dahmer and Sherlock's door. Dahmer would welcome her with a giant hug and understanding smile. And Sherlock – hell, she'd probably be a lot more welcoming now than she ever was. Especially after the whole drug fiasco. But somehow that made things even worse – Ghost wanted to feel as though she was someone strong enough to handle Sherlock's doubt or scorn. A part of her felt like she'd be okay if she was someone worthy of Sherlock's respect. If she was strong enough to earn that, then she'd be strong enough to survive losing Zane. Then again....maybe Sherlock's pity was her greatest advantage right now – she did look pretty fucking pathetic. If Ghost told Sherlock about her sleepless nights, maybe the scientist would be willing to give her some more of that drug – an entire night of oblivion would be amazing right about now. She was sure that Sherlock hadn't had any other participants when it came to testing that stuff out. Maybe she still needed some data? It would definitely make her feel a lot less like a loser for spending the night and asking for help. She'd actually be helping out in a way.
That made the prospect of showing up at their place feel a little less like defeat and not nearly as embarrassing – Ghost was finally able to get to her feet once again. She held the remaining six or so rocks in her right hand, and she cradled them and her arm against her side, unwilling to let any of them fall. The skinny female faced the ocean, her eyes narrowed slightly as the last of the sun's light fell behind what few clouds blotted the sky. She chucked a couple as hard she could, watching with satisfaction as they sliced into the waves. The young orphan was about to finally turn back in order to climb down and make her way to her friends' when a noise caught her attention. Her head whipped around, ears and nose working furiously to locate the source. When Ghost finally did, a soft gasp huffed from her chest. She could just barely see him there – his nervous greeting calling out to her from over the rocks, but it was Zane. The encroaching darkness almost made her miss his smile, but there it was: knocking the wind out of her once again. Her eyes filled instantly will tears and she hated herself for being like this – Ghost didn't want Zane to see how badly she was doing. She didn't want him to feel bad. The fact that he was here at all was a miracle of sorts...and if she managed to scare him away again, well she knew she'd never forgive herself.
There was a loud noise as the rocks that were in her arm fell to her feet, and she absolutely started, struggling to keep her balance for several seconds before giving in entirely and falling to her knees. How stupid could she be? She shook her head in disgust, unable to bring her gaze upon him again. Instead the female focused on gathering the rocks around her again, piling them one by one. She focused intently as if it was the most important task in the world, managing to answer her former friend after a few moments. Zane. Hi. She would have said more – a million things, every single one more important than the next, but her words failed her. The two syllables she did manage were ragged and cracked, sounding as broken as the one voicing them. So instead she swept each rock off the edge of the cliff, listening to them clatter against the boulders below. She imagined walking along the shore all tomorrow morning until she was able to find their remains spread out along the coast, shattered and broken: just like the one who sent them there.
oo ghost- Posts : 24
Join date : 2013-08-06