[ P ] shattered dreams

W

ell the day had started off really terrible, and only progressively got worse as the day progressed. The sounds of the parade celebrations could still be heard, but he was not near the bright lights and the partying that was happening. Instead, he was sitting among the shadows - thinking and listening. The failures of today were something he did not want to be focusing on, but there was nothing else for him to do. He could go back home, he could run away - but what good would that do? He wanted to be left alone to think. Lenora would probably never forgive him - not that he should be the one to extend the olive branch. She would never apologize or see the wrongs that she did to all of them. Hanging out with a Verlice was disgusting of her. How could she? Riften snarled to himself as he thought over the look of that girl, burning her image into his mind. If he ever faced off against Ryker it would not be soon enough. He could come up with a plan to train himself to fight, and he could prepare himself for their face-off again.

The more that he thought about it, he felt as though that could be a real thing. Then he thought more on Lenora. She needed a good smack on the side of her head, something to get her brain back on track. Riften had heard of hitmen - those hired to go hitting people, maybe to fix them. What a wild world they lived in that hitmen were a real thing. He probably should have hired for her to be hit long ago. Especially during the war, maybe she never would have locked him up. After this night, Riften would make it a point to hire a hitman to hit Lenora, get her sense back. Then he thought of Rayne and that open wound. He also thought a hit on Reuben would be good for him too. While in the shadows, a bit of light reflected off of something that caught his eye. Riften sat up and walked over to the object. Upon inspection, he found it to be a bottle containing alcohol. He had never touched the substance, and really didn't know anything about it.

But as he moved the bottle to his lips, and the fire water bit him. He swallowed the bit in his mouth. Maybe this could drown his worries from his mind?

@Raith

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

One encounter so far had left him shaken, teetering away from the crowds as quickly as he could, desperate for a little salvation away from all of this madness. He just wanted it all to end, to be alone from all these strangers once more as he staggered to find a grasp somewhere, anywhere that could allow him some repose. There were glimmers of hope that maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing, that it could allow for a much needed change that the war had only broken them further away from. He already knew not all Mainlanders were bad. He had met plenty of good ones but there were still the ghosts that haunted him day in and day out even since, especially those purple eyes that hunted him down. He kept expecting to see her among the fold, to tear into his flesh again as she had all those seasons ago. It had been about a year since his hip had been crushed and with any luck the foul beast had been slaughtered by one of his comrades later on in the carnage.

At the same time, he wished to be the one to slice her throat in two and regain some semblance of pride for who he was. He wasn’t so sure he could keep his orders in check to behave if she appeared.

A sigh flares his nostrils as he tried to draw his focus away from that horrible woman that seemed to be laughing in his head, twisted in his understanding the woman wished his mother dead. Instead, he tried to draw upon any positive that might appear within the flock that was slowly dying down and with it hopefully these wolves would go home. Maybe a light to ease his mind might appear as his attention drifted in search for the one that had brought him comfort once before, greatly wishing to fall into that lagoon again with the other boy.

He would find no such luck as he finally got away from the cluster of strangers, realizing he was breathing a little heavier than normal as he could hear himself far more easily. Trying to compose himself and control his air flow, her wouldn’t notice a wolf on the ground pursuing a bottle and abruptly tripped over him and by the feeling of it possibly kicked him right in the face as he crashed far from elegantly into the sand on the stranger's other side and his bum leg dangling on the stranger like a dead rabbit was tossed on him. A grunt of frustration rumbled from his throat, not too quick to get back up.

table ; bunny manip ; wisper

T

he fire water within the bottle was cold to the tongue, but the way it singed his taste buds was something he could not understand. He knew that if his parents saw him doing this, they would not be very pleased. Especially mother. But here he was, a rebel without a cause. When he was tripped over, he quickly pulled back his hind legs, and winced in pain he was still feeling from the fight with his sister. His side hurt very badly, but the more that he drank from the fire water, the less the pain was there. It was magic! Riften looked to the other as he had slammed his body to the ground, "are you alright? I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make you fall." He wanted to get up and help the other, but really, he should just stay where he was for fear the magic water would wear off. "Trying to get away from the stupid parade too?" he asked the other.

@Raith

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

It took him a moment to get his bearings as he laid there for a few extensive moments, battling internally with himself to gain the will to deal with the pain he was forced to endure each time he had to get up. Truthfully, he just wanted to lay there the rest of the night, not having to get up ever again. Pretend he’s dead for a little while but he knew that wasn’t quite an option for him at the moment since his bad leg was actively on another wolf right now. He couldn’t stay this way forever, even if it was a little comfier than if he was slouched in a den by himself. A voice would nudge him back to his cruel reality where he would have to get up, but it wasn’t an angry tone he would have expected. It seemed peculiar to be the one getting an apology over this situation, feeling like he only had himself to blame.

“I no look going. Mine fault,” he tried to speak in the common tongue, the words blocky and uncomfortable for him. He couldn’t expect everyone he ran into to know Gaelic like he was far more fluent in it and maybe it would be the perfect chance for him to test out what Stellaluna had taught him. Truthfully, he had pushed harder to learn it so he could impress someone.

Carefully, he would stir, using the strength in his working legs to push himself up and off the other, though would end up flopping over and rolling onto his back instead of succeeding in his venture. Tilting his head toward the stranger, he had to do a double take upon seeing pointed markings that he only could compare to one other he knew, and it made him forget to breathe for a moment. His markings were brown, he couldn’t be Atlas. The voice also didn’t match, it wasn’t as delicate from what he could tell, and Atlas knew to speak to him in his own tongue.

“Yes. Also looking sisters. See angry… fire… women?” he tried to explain the best he could without slipping to the other language. He could only imagine Roisin and Searla were as angry as could be if they were around this parade.

table ; bunny manip ; wisper

H

is broken common was strange to him. Riften had never thought he would meet someone who was not born and spoke the same as him. Riften almost wanted to get up and help him, but from feeling his own pain - decided against it. "I should be more careful... so still, I am sorry." As the other explained that he was looking for his sisters, Riften scoffed. "Why would you be looking for sisters? I have a sister. She is the worst wolf I have ever met." He was still very angry with Lenora and he was uncertain if he would ever be able to get over that. "I have only seen one fiery woman, but she is not related to you. She is unfortunately related to me. Take my advice, friend. If you see a dumb girl with purple eyes, and a mostly grey coat. She has white on her, but that is probably the most pure thing about her. She is toxic, vile, will strike you down for no reason." He could continue to go on about his evil sister for hours, but he didn't think this stranger would want to hear it.

"Sorry, you probably don't want to hear about my problems.." Riften took another drink from the bottle. The taste was getting a little more manageable. "You want some? Of my alcohol... I mean?" He asked as he nudged the bottle closer to the stranger. "I'm Riften, by the way."

@Raith

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

He laid there thinking to himself for a moment, his tail twitching back and forth quietly as his mind swam to a certain boy once more until a voice broke his attention. Hesitantly, he nodded his head in a not so convincing sign of understanding what the other meant with his apology. There was no point in arguing this point, feeling like both would be stuck in their own heads on who was right to apologize and that was just silly.

The shift to sisters would cause his ears to perk far more alert, surprised someone could hold such distaste toward their own siblings when those were the few wolves he did trust. His father on the other hand, Raith wasn't so sure he could trust him anymore after everything he came to realize was unhealthy and wrong with the relationship they carried since he was born. There was no pleasing that man and everything he did seemed to be wrong by him. It was frustrating. Before he could even think to speak back, the other male had started to go onto a tangent of sorts and slowly he found himself rolling over onto his belly, brows furrowing. The more details would cause his tail to start to thrash in a hostile way, now feeling like he might understand why.

The mother killer.

“Soldier? Potion eyed monster?” he asked impulsively, wanting clarification that this was the woman that hurt him during the war. Maybe the fae was blessing him this day with answers of who she was since she had never addressed who she was in that cell a year ago. “I do,” he interjected, very much invested in this supposed sister now.

As he was offered the bottle, he leaned toward it to sniff it, tilting his head at it before wrinkling his nose in disgust. “What that? Smell poison,” he asked, perplexed by the substance he had never encountered before though he was pretty sure he smelled it sometimes around the fortress. A strange word presented would make his head tilt the opposite way before realizing that it was a name. “I Raith. Maybe nice meet, Riften, time will see.”

table ; bunny manip ; wisper

T

he other male had problems like he did. Sisters. Were they bothersome to every brother? Or were they just the unlucky would to be tied to such horrible wolves? "Yeah, purple eyes that look like Amethyst. Purple like a POISONOUS mushroom." He was angry when he thought of her. Angry that she had the beautiful eyes of her mother. Why was she so deserving? Riften gave a soft chuckle, "not poison... well not like it can kill you.." He supposed that if someone consumed enough they could die... maybe... "Never touched the stuff until today, but this makes the pain go away. I thiiiink it's called whiskey or rum or something along those lines. Wine is red, and this is..." he peered into the opening of the bottle, starting to feel it himself. "Looks brown, but not shit brown... like soft mud, I guess..." he moved closer to give him the bottle.

It was then that a weird smell wafted towards his nostrils. Feeling confused, Riften tilted his head slightly to the side and allowing his nose to smell more of the scent. His brows furrowed because it would be impossible... right? The scent did not go away, it was lingering. Riften smelled himself, it wasn't there. He smelled the male again and there it was. "You know what is like really funny? When I came over to you just now... you smelled like my brother Atlas. But that is impossible. He is at the college, getting all smart and knowledgable about everything that has to do with laws."

@Raith

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Anger was slowly boiling up in him as the other clarified his suspicions, his tail trashing behind him with every bit wanting the woman to manifest before him now so he could take a chunk out of her, or to break her neck and bring her still alive corpse to his mother as a gift. His nose wrinkled at his own thoughts, knowing how messed up they sounded but she had caused so much strife for their family and he wanted to rectify it as best he could. “She hurt,” he tried his best to communicate, pointing at his hip that the boy's sister had harmed him greatly, nudging his leg with his nose to make it wiggle with not a single flex of tension due to no muscle really being there anymore from lack of use.

The shift to the drink the other waved around and looked at would sour some of the conversation, not liking the shift from poison eyes to poison drinks but at least it was confirmed it wasn’t poison. He continued to glare at it as the other talked, some of it going right over the veteran’s head from not being able to translate everything fast enough into his own language. He let out a contemplative grumble, poking the bottle with his paw to watch it swirl inside, as if it might magically change to a more appealing color he’d want to actually eat. Hesitantly, he took it as it was pushed on him to try, letting out a sigh of defeat. He ate mushrooms before, would it be that much different? Tipping it back till he could get it to touch his tongue, he instantly hated it, but it took something else to make him drop the alcohol entirely.

With a clank to the ground, the glass fractured but didn’t shatter as he looked at the stranger while his tongue burned. The sniffing of him had been strange enough without the other having to add something he felt was strange too. “Atlas…” he repeated the name like it was a ghost and it made him want to run off and find the boy again in the crowd. His gaze trailed over the crowd that merrily partook in games, his tail twitching with anxiousness as he tried to find that soft coat. “Brothers? You and Atlas? You do look less pretty, mud version,” he said, poking the boy’s stockings the two shared in different colors. His brow furrowed, squinting at him closer. Thinking about it, there was some silver in Atlas eyes too.

table ; bunny manip ; wisper

W

ith the male telling Riften that his own sister had harmed him too, his blood boiled. "That bitch," he said in a hushed voice. He was angry with Lenora, and seeing what kind of soldier she was, it made him even more mad. What had this male done to her? Nothing probably. She was just a raging bitch, everyone should be on the lookout for Lenora the raging bitch Imperial soldier. He would probably have done more, if he was not feeling the pain of the broken rib. In this moment, he didn't know what was wrong with him, he only knew the pain that was slowly being masked by the warmth of the contents that swirled around in the bottle. Sharing the bottle's contents with someone else was nice. Was this a new friendship building on the practice of hating his sister together, and also drinking alcohol? With the mention of Atlas, Riften actually laughed. "You think Atlas is beautiful?" his question was not made to make the other feel bad about his feleings, and before the male could answer, Riften shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you are right.." He said as he thought about it.

"Atlas got the beautiful coloring from my mother, the little dashes of color are much softer than my own, and he does do a better job of keeping himself clean. Though, how dirty can you actually be with your nose stuffed in the pages of books?" He liked talking about Atlas, he was actually a good sibling. Turning his head to the other, he took the bottle for himself, taking another drink as the liquor made his cheeks feel flush with heat. When he placed it back down between the pair of them, he looked over his new friend, quirking one his eyebrows up, he said "how do you know Atlas? Do you go to the college too?"

@Raith

code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck