black sun

 

 Smoke. Thick black hurls of it breathe from the evergreen forest in the mountains. Where snow once gripped tight and refused to let go is now cracked and black from being scorched. Orders from the army had been to evacuate anyone left on the outskirts of the town nearby, but Vedette had heard the case of two brothers playing near the woods. A screaming mother praying to the Moon Goddess for her sons' safe return. Vedette, without so much of a nod to her other cadets, darted towards the blazing evergreens. It didn't take her long to find one of the crying boys, standing in front of a tree that had crushed the other child. Plums of smoke rose near to them, the fire spreading faster and faster with the wind - which would have been a relief if they weren't so close to the fire. Vedette's eyes were emotionless as she watched the child wail for his brother to get up. But for him, he'd never see the light of day again, his lifeless body bent in ways that would not be possible to survive from. With little of a greeting, she swooped in, grasping the child by the scruff and turning sharply to run off. Unfortunately, another tree moaned in the distance and fell, its great height crashing down, blocking the path that had been her escape route. Vedette could feel the heat on her backside, and darted to the side, out of the way of the churning fire. She breathed through her nose, inhaling the black air and feeling her head dizzy. She remembered a scene like this from her youth, but her mouth does not emote. As soon as she saw a route, she ran after it with the screaming child in her maw. Creaking sounds came from the burning forest, trees falling because of the fire eating their cores. Vedette hadn't even seen the fallen branch in her way, and her cadets on the other side yelling for her to move faster. But there was no moving faster. She was bolting as fast as she could with her weight and the child's. With all her might, she tossed the child over the fallen bramble, watching a cadet run forward — but then it was black, heat crushing every atom of her.

---

 

"The child, Reinhart!" A shout came from her as if waking from a bad dream. The national guardswoman scrambled to her paws. Blood orange eyes peer around her, caught in the dark smog of mist. There was no Reinhart, no fire, no army waiting for her. But there was a churning, not far off, the smell of salt. Ocean. She was on a shoreline. The wind ruffles the edges of her tan fur, where there should have been burns, were now patches of full fur being ruffled. Her heart rammed as rapidly as her mind whirled; but her face held no such emotion, just blank, surveying. Vedette inhaled rapidly, as if needing to gasp for air, but all the oxygen she needed was already in her lungs. But how could that be? Wasn't she dead? Examining the surrounding fog, her nose twitched, trying to find a scent other than sea salt. Was this purgatory? Was she awaiting judgement from the Moon Goddess? Vedette's legs did not tremble nor did she cry out for someone. She just stood, waiting.

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It seemed awfully quiet upon this day — where even the moaning beast kept at bay. There was only a silence, only the waves breaking that barrier and the occasional cry of the seagulls at work. They had trouble piercing through the fog itself and often or not, the land was free of the flying scavengers. It was a welcoming protector, even if it wasn't the prettiest around. When it disappeared — it remained bleak with debri and course sand that mixed with rocks itself. But for those at Dragonford, a secret sanctuary of many prey was within so. To the waters, and even the forest..

She wouldn't be surprised if some were hunting without her knowing. They could not always see the beach from the isle ; as though it was a blanket for the home, it also had a drawback.. They could not see who may be there, unless they were already at the beach. Vendrussel was often one of those guardians, and though an Alpha ; she didn't stand about, especially with how few there was within Dragonford. She would take to arms, if needed, and grapple those who walk toward.

A voice rung out into the fog, and she raised her head as her ears swiveled to the nose. Tail, standing high and alert as she rose a nose to catch a scent ; any scent, to find this one. It was unusual if more then one were crossing, and it brought slight suspicion if this meant there was a hunting party around.. Thus, she was prepared if so — a confrontation.

Prowling through the bone thick fog, she saw a figure within the distance, yet alone and no scent beside her own, and yet something else in the air tingled just a bit, but Vendrussel couldn't make out what that smell was, as it felt mixed within the sea salt air, "You seem lost, stranger."

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 The dense fog held the rapid churning of the ocean, lowering the volume of the surroundings with its thick bony tendrils slipping through the air. Each foggy mass seemed like a wandering spirit, so many of them that the place was misted over with this eternal white haze. The taste of salt stayed on the edges of her breath. It was the only thing that felt familiar to Vedette; the ocean. Nothing seemed real in this realm. Wherever she was, it was far from home. 

 She didn't know how long she would stand here. The sand beneath her paws felt odd. It was familiar, as where she was from there was a sea, one she avoided because of the pirates that took up most of it. Even as a soldier, there was some scum you couldn't scrape off the pavement. They were slick enough to keep themselves clean and covered their tracks. Vedette's orange eyes cut through the mist like reflecting headlights. Her gaze spread across the mist, trying to sort out a shadow that might mean that her judgement day might be near. Something moved in the shadows, but she stayed still and surveying. 

 'You seem lost, stranger.' A voice cut through the same blank slate that surrounded her. The shadow pulled itself together in full form. The shape of another wolf adorned with colors of the ocean she barely saw. Dark blues and grays dappled across her pelt, decorating her as a soldier of the sea. She did not smell like home; she smells exactly like the surrounding ocean. If Vedette believed in faeries and all that the wolves believed in her homeland, she might have thought that this woman was a mermaid. "I am indeed lost." She answered, her voice gruff as if she hadn't spoken in a long time. "Where is this place?" Her question lingered; how far was she out of her nation? She took another wide look around to make sure there weren't any other shapes coming out of the mists. Though if she listened close enough, she could hear something like groans coming from the echoing distance in the fog. She told herself her mind was playing tricks. It was just the ocean. 

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As she approached closer in a few ; the individual reminded her vaguely of @Dreadnought, it wasn't their appearance, but more the stare and look they gave. The stance they took and the calmness within their their brighter eyes — but did not think they were related. She held tans, colors like a brighter beach then the one they were on and the mixture of blacks upon their pelt itself. A complete stranger, she thought, someone Vendrussel didn't recognize by either sight or smell.

A wayfarer, she deducted. Someone who knew not where they were, and maybe but another who was swept into the unknown and into the land itself, "You are at the Behemoth's Brim," she said, a gaze looking around within the endless fog. There was no other scents that she could deduct, when raising her nose to the air itself. Even her ears flickered, only catching sounds of the waves and gulls and no steps crunching against the sands. She was utterly alone, Vendrussel thought.

"Part of my ford's hunting grounds."

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 The current washed in and out of the shoreline. Vedette wasn't close enough to feel the water touch her paws. But the thickness of the fog was tainted with the smell of salt and seaweed, meaning it must be closer than she assumed. It made Vedette's nose twitch. She couldn't figure out if she liked it or not. But that seemed to be the only twinge on the woman's face, otherwise she would have looked stone carved, like a statue. Her eyes flicker over the sea dragon, examining her and the words that fell from her lips. 'You are at Behemoth's Brim.' Behemoth's Brim? She'd never heard of it. "I see. What nation are we in?" She questioned, her voice diplomatic as usual when speaking to an equal. Maybe she could find her way back home. But there was a voice in the back of her head that told her there would be no going back. That there was no way one just caught in the scorching fires of the forest and awoke in mists, waiting for judgement. There was no more home. Not that there had been anything for her there but regret and the only family she had been in the army — and she didn't consider any of them close enough to miss. She had always been in different barracks as her status as national guardsmen. She rarely had a partner alongside her. Alone had been how she lived most of her life, even when she grew up beside her grandmother. 

 Soft caws came from overhead. Her ears flicked, nothing like she'd ever heard. Then again, she only knew birds of the evergreens and rolling hills. Vedette didn't know what kind of birds flocked to the ocean - it seemed crazy enough to her. Maybe they could see what was out there, if there was anything. 'Part of my ford's hunting grounds.' Vedette stood stiff, giving a curt nod. "My apologizes." The gears in Vedette's head started to turn. She had no home here, nothing. The only thing she knew was right in front of her. "You say this is your ford's hunting grounds?" She asked, a mere inquiry before she weighed the options - she'd shown up at the army's doorstep in almost the same way. Lost to the world and herself. Here she found herself again, in the same situation, at the mercy of someone else. "This is obviously not my home. I do not know how I have found myself here." 'Since you are no Moon Goddess, I can assume this is not death, but some other trial.' The words swam in her head but did not leave her lips. "But in my old nation, I worked as a national guards-woman. Trained with the army there and specialized in natural disasters." She paused, and took a breath, a short enough one to give her the strength to push through the next words, hoping she didn't sound useless and nothing more than a beggar. "Your ford, does it need anyone to that degree? I can work as a cadet if needed. Protect your hunting grounds, your ford." If this didn't work - she'd have to find some home, something to ground her, to teach her of this new world she found herself in. Though she could not admit that she needed that kind of help, though to the common eye, it could be seen that she was as new as a hatching egg, not used to the dampened sun or how this nation worked. 

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Nation? She understood the term at times determined a large groups lands, but majority, if not all the packs around, held only small portions of territory with an occasional hunting ground, like her own, "the region does not have a name," Vendrussel responded, a relaxation settling slightly from the non-aggression give, and the lack of others upon her scent. Like many others, she seemed someone to be simply.. Lost, within the land itself, as so many others have — but wasn't sure if the other simply 'appeared' or just walked into. Vendrussel was unaware that the regions were unwalkable, and unleavable as well. 

A military woman, not something the dragoness was unfamiliar with, but it had been some time since she met another so formal in the making. She nodded toward the question, and was rather surprised by the next bits as she opened her eyes and raised a brow, "You wish to join?" Vendrussel said needing to re-clarify such a way. She was quick to take control of her own situation, to the point of calculating that the other perhaps needed somewhere to settle within the meanwhile. A mind that was always wanted, and resulted in a faint smile upon her face, "we are not like an army, but we always value guards if you truly wish so."

Majority of ranks were relatively simple, and of honor then a hierarchy. A trust to build between then to look down upon the lower ranking ; she didn't want that at all, "though we do have a trial for newcomers," and her gaze drifted toward the ocean.

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 'How interesting.' The thought found itself front and center in her mind. Where Vedette was raised was becoming quite apparent that this place was nothing like that. The woman struggled to find a grip on reality. It's as if her entire world, her being, structure — everything was out of whack. How easily she could be uprooted and thrown into an icy world where she was a young doe trying to learn to walk. "Hm." Was all she could really muster, eyebrows knitted together as she tried to keep her composure. "Alright." She learned not to question things. Something she learned early on from her grandmother, who seemed to neither know the answer or swat her for being so nosy. 

 "I do." She was also very straightforward. It was best to get to the point. "This is your ford, isn't it? I owe you a debt for this information. And I know I will be needing more help in the future." She hated to admit it. But not knowing was something she wasn't used to and needed to be informed. It was the only way she could help. And the only thing that felt familiar was what she had been doing in the past, guarding, protecting. It was somewhat selfish on her part as well. Joining this woman meant that she'd have somewhat of an advantage. Not going into this world completely blindsighted. 'We are not like an army, but we always value guards if you truly wish so.' Not an army? This, too, twisted her head, but she followed with a curt nod. 'Though we do have a trial for newcomers.' Vedette's blood orange eyes followed her gaze towards the ocean. "Whatever it is, I can prove my worth." She answered. There was very little fear that boiled through Vedette. She'd lost so much, so young that very little scared her. She'd been through a lifetime of fear already. What more was there to distress about? 

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new thread

---

"Even without being one of us, I would not turn away someone who sought questions." She smiled lightly, a gesture of kindness to not turn away strangers so much. Though the brim may be an hunting ground to the ford — they weren't so hurriedly to scare away strangers. As long as they did not hunt in so, it was but a bridge between the north and south ; but in a truth, Vendrussel wouldn't like if it gained so much traffic.

"If you truly wish so, then follow me," with a nod as the other held no fear to such challenges.. Her paws faced to the ocean itself, and followed into the watery depths, "be wary though, for we do hang in war." She threw these words as her body sunk into the ocean, swimming into. A warning, to the other, just in-case she wished to turn her back — Vendrussel, would not throw others into harm if they didn't wish so.

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 The woman offered a kind sentiment of words; even if Vedette had not joined, she'd still be given information. Vedette should have replied kindly or responded with a smile, but her lips were pulled straight; dead set. She wasn't a free-loader. She'd worked almost her whole life, whether or not anyone knew it. A moral code between herself and, well, herself. It wasn't like she had anyone of sound mind watching over her in her youth — if anything, the caregiver she was given; she was lucky she made it through. Maybe her father wanted it that way. Unfortunately, left on her own, and now in some new place, all she had to hang onto was herself, and now the kindness of a stranger. 

 'If you truly wish so, then follow me.' Vedette's head bobbed in response in a single clipped nod. The national guards-woman fell a tail length step behind her, in a rhythmic stride. 'Be wary though, for we do hang in war.' It should have struck her with shock or some other overbearing emotion to remind her that indeed, she was alive and real. But that'd always been the problem she'd never considered her life worth much of keeping, anyway. It offered an escape, a viable worry that could cram the insides of her brain with something that she knew. The brash, fierce water broke against her body, muscles working alongside her to keep her afloat. This was the first time she'd ever set a paw in the ocean. Vedette was toned and built for the prospect of the fight — of protection. But Vendressuel is rather built of a second life in the water, like a fish. "Then we march." She finally commented. There isn't an end to this life anyway, right? 

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