Journey to the Blood Stained Home

Elysia wanted to rejoice, feeling as if the story Derek was telling just might have a happy ending despite the odds. Every loving look in his eyes, a smile at a memory - they were all things that made Elysia forget why they were there. Pallatser and her pups - her three beautiful pups - Elysia wouldnt meet them. Elysia was here - with Derek - because Pallatsera was dead. Elysia perked her ears, feeling Derek's story drawing to a close. She wanted to know, how it happened, but at the same time she wanted to remain naiive. But that wasn't always an option.

But apparently, Derek was not Pallatsera's first mate. There had been another, and more pups. Two litters, two mates, two lives Elysia had no knowledge of. She had wanted so desperately to be a part of Pallatsera's life - but she was just too late. Her heart clenched as Derek began talking about the river. The look in his eyes, the pace of his words - Elysia knew it was coming. This was the end, where it all came crashing down. Elysia wanted to shake her head, deny it all. Pallatsera had always loved water. It made her feel peaceful. She was an excellent swimmer. She couldn't have drowned, she never would have...

And her pups, her beautiful pups. Not even one could survive? Not even one to carry on her legacy? Who carried it now? Who kept her alive? Who would prevent her memory from fading? Sorrow only lasts so long, and then it all fades away. How long until Derek took another mate? Until Pallatsera was a painfully hidden memory best forgotten. Elysia burried her face in her paws, her shoulders hunched with grief. She felt a wailing howl building in her throat, but she fought to keep it down. Elysia looked to Derek, feeling his emotions mirrored on her features. They shared a similar greif - one that was different from the waiting pack that had lost an alpha.

Elysia shifted her weight, moving mechanically. She curled into a tight ball, pressing her back against Derek. She twisted her neck, laying her head across his back. She wanted to feel Pallatsera's memories alive, to know that she was still loved. Her voice was quiet and choked - words coming out through forced lips. "Thank you."

Derek wanted to stay like that pretend the wolf so similar was Palla and that he could forget the months of heartache and pain. The sympathetic glances from his pack mates, how they had either tried to brush the indecent away or tip toe around him. But he couldn't, the wolf with him now was not Palla, though similar, she had never known her sister after she had left. But it felt good to have someone that truly understood what Derek was feeling. When Palla had been alive he had been her rock, both their paths so horrid that they were together just for comfort. But when she left he had had no one as a rock. Perhaps he could make a friend of Elysia, invite her to the pack, just so he wouldn't be alone.
It seemed selfish but he was tired of being strong, of always holding his head up, he wanted a friend. He nodded her strangled words telling him now was not the time to ask. "I am sorry i could not have a happier tale, i so wish i could say that it was all a joke and have Palla come leaping out of the bush as she so often did, but alas it is not so." He laid his head on her paws just as she had laid her head on his back. It hurt for how often had he done that with Palla? He sighed, a quite wisp of breath, waiting for her to speak.

Elysia didnt want him to apologize. A happier story? They all had a sad story to tell. It laid in the bottom of their stomachs, writhing and growing and feeding off of their sorrow until it found a way out. Derek, he had released his grief or at least a portion of it. Elysia's, well it had only begun to form - massing like a writhing bundle of snakes in the pit of her stomach. She felt Derek's head rest on her paws, feeding off of his calm and his presence. She buried her face deeper into his soft fur, closing her eyes against the waves of pain and loss that were just beginning to strike her. Reality set in.

Elysia took a breath, speaking in a quiet voice. She wanted to talk, almost as if it would make the pain better. "She used to wrestle with us - my siblings and I. Sometimes, just me and her. She set time aside for me and me alone. I had a bond with her I never managed to form with Versitha, my own littermate. It was always Pallatsera, always her and no one else." Elysia smiled sadly, basking in memories. "Sometimes she would let me win. I looked to her for everything. If Pallatsera went on a hunt, I went on a hunt. If Pallatsera held her head high in defeat, so would I." She whispered. "We would talk of having our own pack. She promised she would find me, that we would always be together. She said I would be her second in command and our pups would be friends like we were."

Promises seemed so fragile now that they were broken.

Derek listened a small smile coming to his lips, He could see Palla pulling the big sister act, she had done that with many here. He had often seen her head tilt just that much higher when she faced a foe she did not think she could defeat. And it had been that personality that sparked his love. She had been so strong, and he had been so scared, afraid of his past, and his future until he had met her. He felt Elysia's pain, there had been so many promises he had made to Sera, that one day they would have it all, that nothing would separate them. The would be together forever. Where had forever gone? why had it left so soon, leaving those that still loved her behind. He waited to see if there was anything else Elysia wanted to say before he asked her something.

Elysia was not quite through with her story. Her lips curved down as she continued quietly. "I knew she would disperse eventually, I guess I just thought she would wait for me. She didnt, though she promised that we would find each other again. My next year passed in agonizing lethargy until I finally dispersed with my sister - the one I was searching for today - Versitha." Elysia trailed off guiltily. She should still be searching for Versitha, though it was a search that would always be half-hearted.

"I never stopped searching for Pallatsera, forcing Versitha to accompany me. We fought and seperated, though I regretted my words and went to find her. Thus I searched for Versitha, though always secretly looking more for Pallatsera." Elysia whined quietly, summing up her short story. "I guess I deserved to find her this way." She rested her head comfortably in Derek's fur - already feeling familiar with him. She was finished, though would provide more details if questioned. She just didnt know what else to say, what did he want to know. She whispered: "Just ask me, ask me anything you want to know and I'll tell you."

Faith sighed "Another time making friends...Failed" she said to herself. It was hopeless to her by now, everything she had thought or tried did not work. Maybe it was true she was just like a turtle. Her heart sank like a ship, maybe it wasn't fate that she had came here. Maybe she should just go, leave and never come back. With everyone talking to wolves they had already knew, it was like Faith was invisible. Her paws sank underneath her, as she fell down to the earth. she curled her soft tail around herself trying her best to get a feeling of protection. She wanted everyone to see the really Faith...but she couldn't trust anyone with her feelings right now. No one, everyone seemed to walk away or leave once she came up to them. Or well the first two wolves did, maybe this was the sign she need, to leave, to find her real home.

Faith raised her head to look at the female, she slowly turned her head to see if she was talking to her. Once she realized it was her"Hello" she said almost in a calm tone. Her paws raised along with her torso in a sitting position.

"Faith....Faith....Faith" she said repeating her name in different pitches. A small smile came across her face as her tail started to wag. "Just call me Faith the turtle" she said laughing

Maiara looked around as the members of the pack conversed in their seperate groups, all thoughts of their urgent trip so easily forgotten. Her paws itched in want of movement. Not only for Runes sake, but also because she could feel the wind growing colder against her pelt. Even the shadows had grown chill. Rust colored leaves were now dusty brown and those that hadn't fallen, rattled in the trees. Although Autumn had not yet departed, Winter was already giving a premonition of its arrival. She looked around for Rune to make sure he had no further plans to complete. Any new loners could be taken care of while they walked. And she could feel it in her bones, wherever Rune needed them to go, it was time to set off.

Kira stood to her paws, having cleared her thoughts. Before long she stumbled upon the shore of the lake. Seeing Zero she stopped before hesitantly padding forward. "Hey Zero" she said as she approached, hoping not to disturb him greatly.

((Kira was bored at staring at trees ))

Charna trotted through the woods, swirving lithely, gradually getting faster. Just moving felt good. Before long, she burst from the trees and was staring at a vast field. She could see another male, and where elk had grazed. She decided to leave the male be - he looked sullen. Instead, she let out a burst of soft, but gleeful, laughter and rolled in the grasses. She cared not who saw her, for she was a part of something larger. A family. And this one seemed to be a place where many good times were made.

(Lame, but I wanted to post XD and poor Z, all flustered over a girl)

Derek lay there for what seemed an immeasurable amount of time. Question sprang through his mind and just as quickly left, how could he ask questions about her, when he should have known her when she was alive? He sighed his grey eyes opening as he lifted his head from her paws. Not to draw away but to look at her. She resembled her sister in so many ways, and now they both had one more connection, not only had they both loved her in life, but they grieved for her in death as well. "Elysia i have to ask you to stay, i know you still wish to look for you other sister, but you are the only one other than myself that truly knew Palla in any way. You are the only one i could talk to that would understand. Banishing Winds i believe miss her, and those who knew her certainly do, but not like you or I." He asked the question that truly was on his mind.

Elysia was stunned, if that could even begin to cover how she felt. She raised her own head from Derek's soft fur, shifting so she could look directly at him. His eyes, his words sounded so genuine. Elysia wanted to agree, if it would make everything okay again. But it wouldn't, though perhaps it was a step. Then again, could she really abandon Versitha? It wasn't right. She loved her sister.

You abandoned her the moment you were born.

Elysia hated the thought the moment it crossed her mind, but it was true. Everything for Elysia had always been about Pallatsera. From the beginning. Versitha had been like a sidekick, a henchman of sorts but never the big picture. She deserved to be someone's big picture, but she wasn't Elysia's. But what was right? It was no longer about what Elysia wanted, but what Pallatsera would have done. She looked to Derek, his sad eyes and the loneliness. She knew that would become her too. She chewed her lip and nodded.

"I can't go on." Her voice was a whisper, admitting her guilt. "It was never about Versitha. I wanted it to be, but it wasn't. It was always Pallatsera." She looked to Derek, fear flashing in her eyes like lightning. "But will they want me? Look at me, Derek. I'm a walking reminder of everything they want to move past." She rested her head on Derek's paws. "I dont even want to see my own reflection."

Derek sighed with relief but knew he had to convince her the pack would want her. "Though you bear a resemblance and that for a time people will be sad around you. Sooner or later you will come to remind them of the good things about Palla, and soon they will be begin to see you as your own wolf." He remembered his own experience "I don't mind the way you look." He said truth in his eyes, he smiled to help her courage.

(So lame but i am trying to multitask.)

Aceline let out a small smile"It was nice to meet you...Mahina" she said in a soft tone. Her dark brown eyes followed a semi large brute...know by Zero. "Time to make friends" she said under her breath as she rose up. her lean long legs carried her towards the brute, her soft light gray pelt, lusted with soft silver. As the sun's rays hit her pelt, a soft sheen of light blue covered her. With a small smile on her face, she followed the male before she swiftly jumped in front of him. "Hello" she said in a firm tone

Aceline let out a small laugh "Hey shadow" she said. Her soft dark brown eyes, with a sheen of hazel looked at the wolves. She let out a small laugh, as she pranced around Shadow and Zero, circling them. She felt happy around shadow, hoping to give some of her sunshine spirit to Zero, who seemed down.

"Yes of course, but im still new, so im like a outcast" she said almost in a sad tone. Still prancing around the group, she lifted up her head towards the sky. Her soft brown eyes looked towards Shadow"Do you like the pack?" she asked in a curious tone.