literature

DotW: The Fall

Deviation Actions

Published: Jan 23, 2018

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Literature Text

Perhaps leaving Aryn just at the start of Winter had been a poor choice on Teva's behalf but as of late she seemed entirely full of them - so much so that her mother, the Lady Athena, had graced her face with fangs as punishment for her worst of offenses. Still, the dark she wolf couldn't deny the desperate need to escape she had felt and with the pack scattered across the territory then had seemed like as good a time as any.

Hunting was both harder and easier now. Hunting alone meant anything bigger than a deer was out of the question but it also meant she didn't have to worry about killing anyone else. During winter she'd barely gotten by by mostly scavenging on the carcasses of those who were unable to find enough to eat during winter. It got a bit easier as the world warmed but now leaves were beginning to fall, bucks had sharp weapons atop their heads and animals were preparing to hibernate again.

It was getting late, the light fading fast, but Teva couldn't help but follow a doe she'd found wounded early on in the day. It was slowing the more it bled and it seemed to stop caring about her presence. Finally in the last fingers of light she launched the final assault. Teva pushed forward with all her might to latch onto the deer's neck. It came down easily and didn't even try to avoid her. Only moments passed before the life was gone from the deer.

Teva let go, taking a moment to just enjoy the cool air and the crisp smell of autumn. She was just beginning to lick her lips free of the deer's blood when a commotion heading her way sent her scrambling to her paws.

It had been a long hunt. The longest perhaps since her incident in Fellfang. This doe was not giving up, but neither was Shen. She hadn’t had a proper meal in weeks, not since before she had left Alar behind her. Even the thought of the other wolf made her blood boil and she raced faster after the doe. Almost every other prey she had tried on had easily evaded her rage-fueled and thus sloppy assaults, but this unlucky deer she had managed to tear a good hole into. Now it was a matter of just chasing it down until it bled out, occasionally she’d catch up enough to get another blow in, but usually she hung back, to save her strength for the final push that would end in a finally a full stomach.

Night was falling when a strange scent mingled with the scent of her deer. Another wolf… her green eyes widened in desperation and she surged forward rapidly toward her deer. Another wolf was nearby, if it got to her deer first…

She rocketed through the undergrowth, freezing when saw a brown mass dead on the ground. Her wide eyes went from the deer to a black she-wolf who stood over it. Shen looked absolutely stunned. No… no, no I’m NOT letting this go! Shen’s fur bristled and she flashed her long fangs ferociously, her new hate for this she-wolf so immense it was overwhelming. “I’ve been on that doe all day, I’M the one who wounded it, now back off!!” She roared, stalking forward. She was not afraid to fight for this one, though for her it was only half about the food even if she wouldn’t realize that. Her anger had festered, her hate for everything at an all-time-high. She wanted the food, and she wanted an outlet.

Teva’s fur bristled out of instinct. A strange she wolf bigger than her started staking her claim on the deer. The black former arynian couldn’t help the immediate bite back that spewed forth.

”Maybe if you were a better hunter you would have killed before it became mine.” Out here in no wolf’s territory she needn’t bow to others commands or wills - especially not this mud colored loner. ”I️ will not simply give this to you out of pity - I️ have none for some nobody like you.” Then the stranger lunged. Despite being acutely aware of the tension in the air, Teva hadn’t really expected her to attack.

The suddenness of it sent adrenaline pumping through her veins... and then fear. The last time such power had propelled her had been when Vasilis died.

There wasn’t time for thought. She dodged the she wolf’s initial attack, pausing to look back and see what she would do. No doubt it would be another attack and this time Teva braced, fangs bared. She would not back down like some coward.

Shenandoah could tell immediately that this wolf wasn’t giving up easily. Her loud and angry insults ignited fury inside Shen that was near constantly boiling over ever since she had learned the truth about Alar, ever since she had started to hunt him down. She was always searching for an outlet, always searching for a way to make the world pay. And this prey stealer, who insulted her hunting, and called her pitiful. “Why you filthy little-” she was too angry for more words. Words would do nothing. She would show this one just how good a hunter she was, and who exactly it was who needed pity. If this wolf wanted to fight, then she would fight!

A wild energy filled her paws and made them twitch, the lessons from her father and Loki and all the rest raced through her mind and finally she flew forward with large jaws gaping wide and ready to crunch down in this ungrateful little scrap’s face. The fear in the other’s icy eyes, the way her fur moved in panic as she rushed away, Shen had not felt such a blood lust since Enzo or Kimber or Kyros or Loki or Alar. She could see his face in this she-wolf’s. And she wasn’t stopping. No she needed this. She wheeled around on the spot, not pausing a moment before flying forward at the black she-wolf again, snarling and ready to literally kill her.

Teva let a snarl rip through her body as the brown she wolf’s second attack sent her tumbling backwards. She kicked with all her might to keep the loner from landing any fatal wounds.

Teva did all she could to prevent her from landing any blows at all. The pain of her mother’s punishment was still fresh in her mind. She didn’t need another reminder of how it felt for another’s fangs to sink into her flesh.

Adrenaline fueled her - keeping her muscles alive with power. The black she wolf snapped her jaws at her attacker, trying just as furiously to end the other’s life.

A small break.

The arynian scrambled to her paws to keep her delicate underside protected. This wolf was strong.

Their fight had led them away from the kill to a more rocky portion of this forest. The earth was littered with boulders of various sizes hiding dangerous crevices from view - their presence only given away by the sound of water trickling down into them.

Blood dripped onto one boulder as Teva climbed onto it. The rush of it all numbed her limbs and her coat hid the wounds but the brown loner had done a great deal of damage in her frenzied attack.

Stubbornly, Teva refused to back down. Instead she taunted the loner with a smug smile from her perch.

Shenandoah felt a rush of triumph when she full out tackled the black wolf and they went tumbling to the ground, snapping and snarling in a furious rage. But this was no weak opponent. She was quite formidable. All the better, Shen thought with a sick high making her feel light and unstoppable. She wanted the challenge, she wanted the fight, she wanted to hurt and be hurt.

In their frenzied battle they had ended up in a different area of forest, but Shenandoah hardly noticed. Finally the other broke free from Shen and scrambled away. Shen could hear her panting breaths, smell her blood, and she gave chase immediately, stopping at the base of a rock that the black wolf had leaped on top of. Shen didn’t notice her injuries until now, the broken fur on her nape and chest, injuries that of course she should have expected given her headlong assault with no thought to defense. The adrenaline masked the worst of them, though, and she thought nothing of them as she glared up at the other, panting to catch her breath as she prepared for the imminent second chapter to their encounter.

If she was mad before, seeing the smug, taunting look on the black wolf’s face made her go absolutely berserk. A primal roar-like growling scream ripped from her throat and she launched herself upward, anger giving her strength, sailing straight up the rock within a bound or two and aiming to tackle the smirking she-wolf right off her stony throne.

Teva huffed, her smug smirk melting into a disgruntled frown as the loner charged once more. Her breather was over.

As she scaled the rock with a horrifying quickness, Teva rose to meet her but the power behind the brown she wolf’s launch pushed her back. A cold fear ran through her veins as one of her paws found only air.

Teva no longer tried pushing the wolf away - now she clung to her knowing that one wrong move would send her down who knows how far.

”Wait,” she struggled - voice throttled by the wolf’s grip on her throat. ”Wait!” she pleaded as her balance began to shift.

Maybe the loner had heard her, maybe she had loosened her grip to not fall with her. Either way, Teva found herself falling alone. She locked eyes with the loner - one last plea for help.

This time Teva would suffer the consequences of her foolish actions. Vasilis couldn’t save her again and no pack, worrying mother, or fragile brother would be there. She was alone.

And she would die alone.

Shenandoah didn’t know what was on the other side of the rock, her eyes were shut as she pummeled into the she-wolf, her huge jaws snapping shut around her throat. The loner seemed to cling into her now, which disarmed Shen a bit. Was this some sort of trick?? She heard her wheeze out some words, desperate and fearful, and Shen finally opened her eyes to see their precarious position, and she felt how gravity was lurching both of them forward. From all the chaos she hadn’t even noticed the plunging cliff that they were practically on top of.

Shen ceased her strangling on the she-wolf, recoiling in fear, and noticed too late that her deadly vice-grip on the black wolf’s throat had been just as deadly to release as it had been to hold. She stared dumbly back as those icy blue eyes locked on her in wild terror, desperate for help. But she was gone far before Shen could react. And beyond that, Shen herself was slipping from the stone, just barely managing to keep herself from falling by springing to the side, off the side of the rock and onto the ground beside it. She scrambled to the cliff edge, huddled against the base of the rock with her head hanging over the lip, staring down into the shadows with shocked gray-green eyes wide and unable to fathom what was happening.

Teva was consumed with fear as the loner seemed to grow smaller and smaller as she fell away from the cliff edge. She wanted desperately to grab something, anything, that would save her.

She didn't want to die.

The black wolf wanted to cry out - to scream - but her voice never made it out. Instead a yelp jumped from her as her leg collided with a rock, tearing a gash along it. The rest of the ground came next knocking the wind from her and sending her rolling down the sloped base of the cliff collding with rocks until she finally slid to a stop on her side. Smaller rocks continued rolling down past her body but nothing else moved. The world was silent although she was unsure if maybe she'd hit her head that hard or if even nature was holding its breath to see if she'd get up.

She didn't. Teva had only long enough to take a shaky breath before unconsciousness claimed her.