With each step, powerful muscles contract and ease. Straining against the flesh that holds it all together. Sunset eyes stare almost darkly at the well worn path, ears twisting to listen as the river at his back seems to thrive. For a moment he pauses, a low rumble escaping his clenched teeth before the border that once signaled home now no longer meant anything. The memories bring him here; both good and bad, this was at once all he knew. The peaks were bred into him, the mountain air like heaven in his lungs now sits like tainted ash. Until the rumble he holds at bay seems to drown the peaceful life around him and jaws snap together. It is all that is needed to propel his feet forward, across that invisible barrier and to a place that once was shared with and by his blood.

The soil beneath his feet is smooth from use, yet he cannot miss the lack of tread now lingering within the earth. He can only assume it is from the lack of his sisters, they had been know to sneak away and journey this very path in their escape. All the while a grumbling mother paced the den, promising never again. Never was such an odd word, for it seemed not even she could tame them from their wandering hearts. Perhaps it was mother's denial or perhaps she just out right ignored the male scents that clung to them. But he knew their reasons for leaving which in the end was his reason for staying. They all were lovely creatures, soft and gentle and he knew several eyes followed in their wake, none so brave as to act in front of him but nonetheless they unknowingly demanded attention; protect, care, it seemed they pulled out the basics instincts by merely breathing. He was nothing like them, cold and hard. Mother was and still is the only one that understands the war he battles each day, so he clung to her. Kept near should he feel off and uneasy. The sheltered life was welcomed and it was also his downfall.

Never does he stop, scenting the air as he goes. The lack of those he knows still does not deter his ascent up the path. Massive feet give no heed to stealth as he lumbers bravely ahead. That is until he comes around the path, the scattered lower dens in sight, but only one seems to hold his fixation. Empty. Alone. Gone. The once thriving home that once kept his family now dormant. A growl escapes, ears flattening against his head as he steps cautiously forward. Eyes do not miss the string of shredded webs that seem to float easily from the mouth of the den against the wind. But it is not long before he seeks something darker, the remnants on just why it was all gone. He pauses at the mouth, sunset eyes looking down. Seeking the aftermath of a struggle... yet there is nothing. No blood, fur, or cracked earth. Time seems to have washed it all away. As the growl dies on his tongue and ears fall further in guilt and confusion. He expected to be tormented when and if he ever returned here, but all that is left is memories. If only memories could so easily be washed away as well.

It is then a pang seems to pierce his chest, an ache that spirals through out his body and for a moment he cannot breathe. So he goes to the closest comfort, passing swiftly through the webs and entering the den he had been birthed within. He can almost taste them, their scent still so vivid despite the lack of warmth and life. It is enough for a whispered whine to escape. Sunset eyes devouring the compact soil where their bodies once laid. Hesitantly he goes to it, singling out his spot; along side his mother, yet amidst the heap of his sisters limbs and coats. An odd tug at his heart as he plops down, curling himself up as he is swallowed by the silence. Soon he would go but for now he needed this memory of happiness, as the anger within seemed vacant and absent. For he never truly known what it meant to be without them, what would become of him now?

everett

THREE | OF NOWHERE | KEEPS NO SOUL | HOLDS NO HEART | REICH & EVERLYSE