Lycos Forest

Lexi had been tearing at the bear's back, trying to work his fangs in, when he fell. The black wolf saw a gigantic brown paw coming down upon his pup. "NO!!" Zaylex yelled, charging forward as fast as he could, trying to push his son out of the way.

Kira saw the havoc of the bears the moment Valtameri and her came in from their feeble hunt. she was talking cheerily about how the bears must have scared all the prey away and how it would be back in a few days when she was cut off in mid-sentence with the fearsome amount of heartbeats and roars and shrieks exploding into her face. She instantly ent into the traits of leading that she had inherited from her brothers. "Valt! Help Zaylex, he's injured! I will help Lexdin, I don't know how, but I will." she ground her teeth together and was instantly in front of the little black pup, she forced herself to become visible to him. "Lexdin! You need go to see your mother, if you don't, I promise you, you will die." her voice was eerily calm and didn't sound like it belonged to her. "These bears will not take mercy on how cute you are, they will not take mercy on your age and lack of strength. They will enjoy the crunch your bones make when they step on you and they will pause to watch you scream in pain just before you die. Go. Find. Your. Mother." she paused for a moment, "Now!" she snapped at him, then turned to the bear just before his paw slammed down on the black pup. Making herself instantly visible to the bear. "I wouldn't do that, I can make your life a living hell, remember, I am invincible. I might have only words, but I also have the control over heartbeats, I can scare every last bit of prey off, or I can convince them all to go elsewhere so you can eat forever in abundance and frolic in their bones. I can find the crackling and heat of anything in the earth, and so, I can set you on fire, or I can set your brother on fire. Or, to avoid all that crap and just cut straight to the chase, you can stop attacking us and our home, and.." her voice cut off as she realized what she was about to do. She sent a mental message to Valtameri, which she had learned how to do through knowing him so well, "I love you. I am sorry." was the only whisper she could manage, she turned back to face the bears. Through the havoc and screams her voice rang clear through all of the fighting. "And I will serve you in all your years, I will be your slave, your advisor, your guard, as long as you live. I will pledge my soul to your aid and needs for the rest of your lives, if you leave my pack alone for the rest of it's life." she bowed her head and a drop of mist hit the ground and exploded into the air in a gold shimmer. Her eyes met those of Valtameri and another tear fell. "I love you." she sent him again and again. She would send him one every day if the bears accepted her offer, an update and her love. she made this decision right there on the spot, the pack would let her go, she was of no value to them in death.

Kyo nodded to Nukpana and attacked the bear with him, but the moment his sister pleadged herself to the bears, he froze and dropped to the ground. He walked slowly over the the golden mist fae, her tears landed on his nose, bits of the mist sticking to muzzle. "Why?" he asked with tears in his eyes. He shook the mist away from his face and turned to the bears. "You heard the fae, what is your choice?" he demanded with power in his voice despite the blood flowing steadily from a gash on his flank. Kyo watched as the pack recolected itself and he smiled a sad smile at Kira. She returned it. He visualized a question and tried to make is show through his eyes. "Will you return?" they said. she smiled again. "K-" his sister silenced him instantly. She shook her head violently and Kyo remembered the law of the pledge. "Don't say her name!" he barked at the whole pack. "Names have power!" (Percy Jackson Reference for ma nerd herd buds) Ky pulled Lexdin from the bears reach and walked him to his mother. "Mom, check him for injuries please."

Feather instantly obeyed her son, she padded his cuts and scrapes with cobweb as efficiently as she had her first day as lead healer. The moment she was finished, she strode calmly to Fellaree. "Fellaree, Lexdin is alright, a few scrapes and bruises, but he will heal quickly with next-to-no scarring." she said in a business matter-of-fact way. Feather walked to her daughter, "My dear, I know your choice is for the best of the pack, but should the bears take your offer, remember you are always in my mind, and I mean always, you will have a bed made up in my den once their decision is made, should they not accept your offer, I love you my daughter." she smiled and turned away. quickly accompanied by Nukpana, who was bleeding from a slit in his neck. "Come, Nukpana, I will help you." she said gently as the male pressed up against her.

Nuke pressed himself against his love, partially for his own support, but mostly to comfort her. "Feather, I'm sure everything will be fine, remember, she is a strong young fae and she cannot be harmed. She's also very smart. She will find a way home." he assured the female. He smiled gently and licked her cheek as the reached the medicine den. It was empty. Feather began slowly bandaging his neck and the moment he was done he spoke. "Feather I'm in love with you." She smiled and replied her affections towards him and for a moment they just stood there before...

Well... you know... [b]EXPLICIT[/b]

Valtameri stood there, staring at his spirit guide and best friend. He shook, mind frozen in place but wildly turning as a million responses went through his brain. The dead, now somewhat alive, fae had captured his heart. As well as being the only wolf he had ever loved besides his mother and father, she was his best friend. "No... NO!" Meri shouted, tears dripping down his face. The tan wolf ignored the wolves staring at him, never hearing him talk above a low rumble, and barked again, "You- you can't just leave! You can't leave the pack, us, me!" Valti spoke in a whisper directed only to her, "I love you..."

Zaylex had stood in shock as his sister appeared, seemingly out of no where, and she sacrificed herself for the pack. The ebony wolf listened to Valtameri yelling, the usually calm brute crying heavily. He slowly walked back to Fellaree and their pups, never taking his eyes off of his sister and her illicit love.
(I say illicit because, let's face it, a live wolf and a dead wolf being mates is sorta like medicine cats having mates in the warriors series. It might affect their job, and it would be extremely unnatural. Of course, that didn't stop poor Shilo, and now Valtameri... I digress.)

(@ Valt... Ya... It was already mentioned that Shamans and their partners can't have that kind of relationship..)

Orson- Ore looked at his brother. There wasn't much they could do with the spirit wolf. Very little in fact. Well let's see...

Arc- Arc looked at the wolf, he then looked at his brother. After having two full grown male wolves jump on him after he almost hit the pup he was pretty injured. "So you say you will come with us if we stop fighting? Well then we will take you up on that..." He said close to instantly. He stepped towards his brother. In the end he didn't care for the territory. He only wanted a safe place for his brother. He in his mind was actually happy that the fae said anything. He needed an excuse to end the fight.

Kira swallowed the lump in her throat and it melted into sadness when she heard Valtameri's pleads. She moved slowly to him and spoke gently. "Valtameri.." she managed to whisper before her tears began to fall again. She turned to the bears, who still had not moved. "Tomorrow, I will meet you at the edge of the territory in the morning. I must say my good-byes. she said quietly to the large brown animals. Facing the pack she smiled. "I'll be alright, I will not be harmed by them, Valtameri will always hear what I want him to hear, and I will tell him if it is for you to hear. I love you all. I am going to spend my last night with me partner." she bowed formally to the wolves she had adressed and moved back to Valt. "Let's spend on night together, me and you. I want you to be the last wolf I see."

(...I did not remember that. I feel stupid a lot, like, majorly stupid :I)
Valtameri looked at her, his final tears dripping off his face, and he rose, trying to keep his pride to some degree. The collared wolf nodded and started walking beside the spirit to one of their usual haunts (get it? She's dead?). After a while of walking, the sky had begun to turn a gray-purple of dusk, and he sighed and turned to her. "You don't... have to do this..." he said, looking at the sky. Valti turned once more to face her, and nuzzled her neck, feeling cool wisps of mist on his muzzle.

Kira held back tears as his touch whispered through her. "I can't allow the pack to die at my expense." she covered a sob in Valtameri's fur. Kira placed her paws on the ground and once more felt like a living wolf. "My darlind Valtameri, may I give you my oath that I will indeed see you again or should my soul at least be paired to your in the afterlife?" she asked, licking his neck.

Valtameri smiled sadly, and responded, "Please..." Meri thought of something, "Will you return to us when they die? If I wait for you, do you promise you will return?" The brown wolf was determined that this would not be the last time he saw her, that he would hear her voice again, see her golden fur.

Ki sighed and a smile whispered across her lips. "My dearest, I will even speed the process." Her voice was laced with the danger of poison and her eyes were dark and a hollow endless. "I will speed the process and return to you my lovely. I will aid them in death." she grimaced in pleasure at her brilliant plan to kill the bears.

Valta's eyes widened, but he didn't feel particularly worried for the bears. They had brought this themselves, fighting with the wolves. However, he was a bit... confused... about how any kind of process of hurting them would go down. "If... you do, how will you? I thought you are mist to anyone touching you? And, if you do hurt them, what about you? What if they manage to hurt you, as you kill them?" Meri asked, worry lacing his orbs as he stared into her honey eyes.

Kira grimaced, "poison, find a sick animal, get them angry, tell them that something healthy is bad and something bad is healthy." she smiled, "I will come up with something," he smiled was once again lined with poison more fatal than that of a viper. "Valtameri, in spirit, if you die, will you be an earthbound soul like I am, will you be my mate?"she asked softly, all hatred vanishing from her voice. Tonight, she did not wish to speak of her near future, she wished to love the male who understood her.

"Of course... Kira, I love you... you are the only one I really talk to, I'd be insane not to love you, and insane to not want to be your mate..." the brown wolf said, curled around the spirit he had only seen a bit of before she had died.

The blonde fae licked his cheek. "Valtameri, you don't know how glad I am to hear that. You give me the hope that I have a chance at love, at you." she closed her eyes and curved herself into his shape. "Oh Valt, what would I ever do without you." she sighed, it wasn't a question, it had already been answered. She would have lost her mind and ended up becoming best friends with another dead wolf who would have turned out to enjoy haunting the living.

The collared wolf smiled as he felt the cool tendrils of mist become entangled in his long, tan fur. "I've never loved anyone before you, and I can't think of myself loving anyone else now. My dear, we can live with each other for eternity..."

Kira smiled and laughed a little, "or, you know, 'die' with each other." she burst out laughing at the not-so-funny joke. It was a few minutes before she calmed herself down and her face went hot from embarrassment, "sorry, I don't know why I found that so funny," she was still smiling though, as she curled up and dozed into a sleep while the sun faded into darkness and the full moon rose in the air.

Valtameri chuckled and curled his tail around her. Seeing the moon rise, Meri gave a sad sigh. In the morning, they would be taken away from each other... he didn't know how he would handle it. "I love you, my darling," the male whispered into his angel's ear, wondering if she could hear him in sleep before passing into darkness himself.

(Angel? She's dead? See what I did there?)

The golden and orange hues began to rise over the tips of the trees. Kira felt the warmth seep through the mist that was she and her eyes fluttered into the world. She moved without stirring her proclaimed love, Valtameri, and lifted into the air above him. She sent sweet dreams into his mind of the two of them enjoying themselves together as though she were still alive or he were dead. The golden far lifted her paws for a moment before placing herm on the earth, feeling the grass tickle her paws she wondered when the first snow would come, and so it did. Flakes of white began to land around her and leave trails of cold icy joy in her misty form. She licked Valt once before vanishing into the edges of the territory where she had arranged to meet the bears, dawn was only just arriving and she felt their pulses through the earth. "I love you all," she whispered, finding her way to their den.

[/color=brown]"I am here. Let's go."[/color] her voice had no sparkle, now it was icy cold like the snow, but hard like a frozen bone. She was not concentrating on anything anymore, only how to kill the bears. How to return to her love, stronger than she had been when she had left.

Valta awoke with a start, wondering if everything had been a dream. He smelt the mist on his fur, though, and reasoned everything that had happened last night had indeed not been a dream, but reality. The tan wolf felt his eyes watering, and attempted to force his feelings into stasis. He could resume his reasoning and moping soon, he had to walk around, find someone. And so the collared wolf started trotting along a path, stopping at a familiar scent. It smelled like Kira, but darker and more earthy. Trudging from the main den site, silvery white fur splattered in dirt and blood, was Keli. Valtameri recalled that she had been demoted to omega with her mate.

"Keli, right?" He asked, noticing her tail tuck in between her legs and her ears fold back at the sound of a pack member, a high-ranked one at that.
"Yea... that's my name... and you're...?" The female asked, amber eyes glittering in curiosity of this wolf and why he wasn't back at camp. She suddenly remember him, he was the Shaman her deceased sister had fallen for.
"Where's your mate?" Valtameri asked. "Isn't he protective of you? I mean, that's what the pack says, but..."
"Nevanko is fine. He is back at the den camp. May I be impolite and ask why you are out here talking to me?"
"No... real reason. But, I'm going to be getting back to camp, have a good morning." And with that, Valtameri padded away, leaving the multicolored canine to process the oddity that was him.

Once he returned home, Meri turned to the healer's den. What he saw made his heart ache. Nukpana curled around Feather. Nukpana had the brown coat of Valtameri, and Feather shared her coat partially with Kira.
"Feather, I must speak to you. Care to join me outside?" He asked, broken sorrow deep in his neutral tone.

Feather woke softly and smiled at Valtameri, "excuse me, Nukpana." She licked him and gave him a smile as well before exiting the den and flicking her tail to motion Valt around the corner. "What is it, dear?" she asked, not impolitely, but quietly, she didn't want to wake Nuke, as he would probably be back asleep by now. "Has it got ot do with Kira? She's gone, isn't she," the last phrase was not in question form, more of a dissappointed rhetorical.

He nodded. "I love her. She's gone, until they die." The brown male whispered, pain evident in his eyes, reverting back to the original, short, curt way he spoke.

Feather nodded, "Valtameri," she looked at him gently, her eyes were soft. "Would you like to be my friend? At least until Kira returns?" her voice was gentle and she met his eyes with a quiet smile.

Valtameri looked up to her with wary eyes. "You don't mind Kira and I?" The brute asked.