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Post by {Mactíre} on Dec 4, 2012 3:09:06 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg]( NOTE: This is set about a week or so before Valk's capture and Rikki's death)
The chill breeze that ruffled the aging wolf's fur whispered of the winter to come as she made her way up the hill to the mental asylum. She hadn't been here since before her cubs' birth, instead bringing them up on the outskirts of Tempest territory, in a relatively secluded area. She had found she liked large groups less the older she got, but she didn't want her cubs to grow up as loners, either - there had been to great a risk of them dying with only one elderly parent to care for them. Even though she had been rescued by canines whose views aligned with those of the Tempest pack, she felt she owed little to those under Brooke's command. She had once been one of them, giving her life and service to the pack. But after she had been captured, so much had changed, both in her and the pack she had once loved.
Rikki had never known what to think of Brooke; the younger canine had come to the pack after Gravity's rise to power, and she had always been a rather ambitious bitch. The Arctic wolf had often wondered how things would have turned out if she hadn't left to find he dying mother - maybe she would have been Tempest's mistress, maybe not, and maybe Brooke would have become general even then.
But her desires to lead, or to help lead, the Tempest pack were gone, blown away like smoke in the wind. Like anything, power had a price, something that could be seen if you looked at any of the packs in Hexasol. Ofttimes, she thought that if she were to somehow become Tempest leader now, it would be a hollow prize. Few would follow a new leader who was even older than their current one, and a new leader whose views differed from theirs besides. And ruling without him there to be at her side, too, was unthinkable. Pushing the selfish thoughts from her mind, the old she-wolf padded into the asylum, ears quivering towards her skull as the noise of chatting canines greeted her. Keeping her eyes averted from all of them, she padded up the concrete stairs and along the corridor, until she came to the flight of stairs leading to the roof. It had been almost a year since she had been up here, until she remembered encountering Gravity standing on the top of the building.
Wincing at the bittersweet memory, Rikki padded almost hesitantly through the wrecked door-frame, her tail swishing behind her. Brown eyes narrowed instinctively to protect them from the wind as she came to centre of the place and sat down, looking out across Tempest territory. She wondered suddenly how Brooke was getting on; she'd heard a rumour that Bane had returned, having been captured by a group of rather feral canines - was that true, or just something someone had made up to spite the elderly dog? She felt a twinge of sympathy for the Tempest Mistress - she'd been through so much, losing most of her pups, and her mate as well. Now it seemed as if her pack was going downhill, too; but then she couldn't really say. All she knew was that there were no young, strong dogs Brooke currently intended to take over from her. She could understand why the Labrador mix wouldn't want to pass the leadership to her son; he didn't seem to be leadership material - plus it was a huge burden to give to one's offspring. One that Valkyrie seemed to lust after in her playful, childish ways.
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Post by SMIFFAGRIFF on Dec 12, 2012 0:24:21 GMT
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i739.photobucket.com/albums/xx34/Kitten_Lovour/brooketable1middle.png]It had been another long day. Despite the daylight hours being shorter with the winter set in full force, the hours seemed to drag these days for Brooke. Perhaps it was her age. Perhaps it was the mundane way things seemed to just be the same now. Perhaps it was the fact that no matter how much she denied it, she no longer wanted to lead this pack.
Responsibility still weighed down on her like a ton of bricks though. There was no one fit to take control of Tempest. Not yet, anyway. She had been giving the idea some thought. They needed someone young, someone strong, fit to lead for many years. Someone who had her will of iron, but perhaps not someone that would be so quick to jump into battle. The constant days of war had changed Brooke to a degree. She was no longer able to condone the violence she herself had helped cause. Sure, she still hated cats. She still wished they all would drop dead, and when it came to killing, she had very little remorse for the creatures... but it was seeing how her own pack had suffered that had changed her mind about fighting twenty-four-seven.
The elderly lab mix trod up the stairs to the top floor of the Asylum where she made her nest at night. A small smile worked its way onto her face despite her aching joints and muscles. The one thing she had wanted most in the world came back to her - Bane. If only for that fact, Brooke would keep pushing on until she couldn't anymore. Her mate had, after all, done all he could to return to her. It was inspiring. He had always been her light in the darkness besides... well--
Gravity, she thought. Her feelings for the former alpha were far from those of intimacy, but when she had joined Tempest, still young and naive, the wolf was the most prominent figure in her life. He had just been the General back then, she recalled. The pack had mourned the loss of Baron shortly after her arrival, but the wolf rose up and took control with such ease it was like the grief vanished in but a week. He had lead well, in his time. Brooke could only hope she had done just as good for the Tempest Pack as he did before he lost his mind.
It was with those thoughts in mind that she stepped into her room and found an unexpected face waiting for her. Ironic that it happened to be the mate of the former leader still haunting her thoughts to this very day, "Rikki?" Brooke had never been too sure of the canine standing before her. They had endured such similar trauma, part of which shared, and yet they seemed to always be butting heads in recent days. Once upon a time, they had been true packmates, but a rift had formed between them, and Brooke couldn't even fathom why.
Perhaps it had been her harsh treatment of Gravity upon his return, but while Rikki still placed her loyalties and perhaps foolish love in the former leader, Brooke had practically been heartbroken when he hadn't rushed to her aide like she did for him during his time in captivity. It seemed only right to banish him for his wrongdoings when he suddenly decided to show his face again.
She was sympathetic to the arctic wolf, though. Brooke knew what it was like to lose a mate, "Is there something a matter?"
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Post by {Mactíre} on Dec 13, 2012 6:10:00 GMT
| [atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] | [atrb=background,http://i46.tinypic.com/11tyfkw.jpg]The old she-wolf let the wind ruffle her fur, causing her countless scars to twinge as memories shuffled through her mind, one by one. The day her family joined the Tempest pack; her mother had been so relieved to reach a safe place, Rikki only remembered being exhausted and excited, not to mention slightly nervous. She'd onkly been a few months old. She could remember much between then and the day when she'd been accepted as a trainee Soldier; Baron had gladly accepted them, aand they'd been able to interact with all the other puppies and cubs in the pack - once they'd recovered their strength from the tiring journey. Soldier training had been rather grueling; she remembered falling asleep as soon as she had curled up at night, exhausted. She'd never been happier than when she'd been accepted as a soldier, though she'd always wondered about how much her mother approved. She'd never really said "well done", only all the way through her training reminded her that she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to. That had made her even more determined than ever to succeed, even though none of her siblings shared her ambitions of becoming a great fighter, and maybe even General and Mistress one day. They'd all become spies, hunters, or regular, all-round members, until they left.
She had met Gravity when he joined the pack not long after her first battle; as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, she admired him. For some reason, though, the sassy, reserved, never-lost-for-words-she-wolf never plucked up the courage to tell him how much she had grown to like him in his first few months as a Tempest member. They became friends and good comrades, and she had viewed him with a mixture of pride and envy when he was soon chosen as Baron's general, after his old one was killed by a lion. It was not long after that, a year after he had joined the pack, that Baron, too, was killed, and Gravity became the pack's leader.
News had reached Rikki not long after of her mother being close to death, out near the mountains where her mate had been killed and where she had birthed Rikki and her other cubs. She had traveled as fast as she could, only to reach her mother days too late. When she reached Hexasol a month later, she had foolishly gone to sleep in a corner of Iris territory.
So much had changed since those days. Most of her old comrades and the few friends she'd had were dead and gone, killed while serving the pack or dying of old age. There were a few, and ironically enough, two of them were the highest ranking dogs in the pack: Heuso and Brooke. She'd liked them well enough, though they'd never been friends, for she didn't make friends easily. But since Brooke and Bane had been captured by the Iris pride, and Florence had tortured all of them by forcing Bane to rape her, there had been some friction between the black lab mix and the Arctic wolf. She didn't quite know why; that day had done something terrible to both of them, and to Bane. And then there was the fact that Brooke, after becoming leader, had banished Gravity on his return without consulting anyone, without giving him a fair hearing. But the aged canine hadn't been there at the time, so she supposed she wasn't fit to judge. She just thought that, after everything they'd both been through, she would have forgiven him. She just didn't know any more.
Lost in thought, she didn't notice the Tempest Pack Mistress, one of the very canines she'd been thinking about, until she spoke. Turning so she was facing the other female, she returned her greeting, dipping her head courteously, as she'd do to any other creature. "Brooke." She pricked her ears as the Tempest leader spoke again and straightened up, wincing at the pain in her joints as she did so. It was yet another reminder of how old she was.
Brooke's question was spoken with no sarcastic or any other undertone; Rikki realised with relief that, so some extent, both of them had put all that lay betwen them behind them. There was no point in keeping old greviences going, anyway.
Letting her breath exhale in a sigh, warm in the cold, late autumn air, she spoke wearily. "Not really; nothing out of the ordinary. I just hope that my children - and yours - who wish to stay here don't have to go through everything we have. A vain though in this world, I know." She paused for a moment, letting her gaze drift across the other elderly female's features before adding, "I'm sorry I've been an non-participant since I. . . Returned. . . But I really didn't want my children to be tangled up in this war and I didn't know where else to go. And I don't have the heart for all of it any more. I don't know how you manage." She spoke with the same weariness; really, her time here was almost done. Her children were practically able to fend for themselves; there wasn't really anything left for her here. Brooke had her sympathy for continuing as leader of the Tempest Pack - but wait - "Brooke, I heard that Bane isn't dead - that you found each other again. Is it true?" Her voice was filled with hope, and a barely detectable undertone of hopeless longing, imagining how it would feel if Gravity returned to her now. She searched her old comrade's fears for a flicker of hapiness - something to confirm that it was true. No-one deserved to lose their mate, and to have Bane return would be heartening for Brooke, she knew.
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