He lay at the base of the mountain with his limbs tangled restlessly and his eyelids fluttering down with sleep over pale cyan eyes that were broken and haunted when he was alone, and cold as frost in company. Jase's ribs rose and fell at an erratic, irregular pace and his disheveled fur just barely concealed the multiple cuts marring his skin. The vulnerable tremble of his sinewy muscles gave away his state of dreaming. His dreams were a place that were chilly and remote, edged with serrated ice and not welcoming at all - the last place he'd ever want to be.
The younger male faced the older one with defiance blazing in the brilliant blue of his eyes and a valiant swing in his tail. Younger Jase was far too reckless for his own good, too dominant to stay the omega as he'd automatically become after failing in his first fight against the beta, and too strong in every way to be taken down the easy way. The ridged stones pressed into the sensitive pads of Jase's paws and slowly, his hackles rose. A foreboding feeling bloomed in the pit of the boy's stomach. For the first time in his life, he wanted to run. Like a coward. Like everything he was not.
In his sleep, the wolf shifted, his coat slowly becoming crusted with the beginnings of ice carried in along with the bitter, stinging wind that wrapped itself around Misty Mountain. Fog hung around him thickly, concealing him from any passerby. Softly, still unconscious, still lost in a world in which his fate and destiny was not his to control, Jase whined. It was a heartbroken, heartbreaking sound and he wasn't even aware that it'd emerged. Of course he wasn't - for if he was, he would be angry at himself for betraying emotion. Emotion was not good. It only came around to hurt him in the end.
"Stupid child," the wolf opposite him said quietly, a threatening growl laced with his words. Sercen was slim but tall, with a prominent face and a strong jaw, leaving the dust-brown male looking unbalanced and lopsided, almost comical. Jase didn't dare underestimate the older lupine, though, and he steeled himself for what was to come. A fight, perhaps? Considering Jase's uncanny bad luck when it came to feats of physical prowess... he wasn't sure how well this would go over. The fates knew he'd probably manage to get himself killed. No matter, he still drew himself to his full height, which was tall enough to suggest a future in which he'd tower over most. Still, Sercen was unperturbed.
"I am not stupid," Jase hissed back in a voice that did not seem to be his. "I may be a fool, but I am far more capable than you."
Here was where he expected a jump, an attack with flying legs and clumsily aimed teeth. He braced himself for pain, for the possibility of injury, but it never came. Instead, a smoky chuckle met him, ferocious anger masked in its depths by the actually mirthful sound. Jase frowned, growing frustrated and about ready to start this on his own, even if it was a hopeless match.
Jase was far more of an opponent now, two years after his supposed 'death'. He'd trained himself, and he'd trained himself hard to withstand any situation, and beat any wolf that dared come by him with a challenge. Should anyone do so, he knew he was ready. In his heart of hearts, though, he wished he could simply back down and lower his tail and flee any scene which called for violence. Unfortunately, Jase's pride hindered that desire.
Before his dream could progress any further, Jase jolted, his entire body seeming to jump as he opened his eyes and glanced around blearily, inhaling painfully as he did so. For a moment, he forgot where he was, and the weight of the world and his burdens was lifted from his shoulders. But he couldn't live in that moment, so just a few seconds later, it all rushed back to him. Jase sighed, and turned to stare up at the looming structure that was the Mountain.
JASE,
oh well, oh well, guess i'll see you in hell.