#Lortober Day 1 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nix-lw · 2 years ago

Photo

Lortober Day 1: HOME

Yrsa awoke first that morning, as she usually did. It was the dawn of a new day for the packs of Icerun. Winter was approaching and so the nights grew longer and days shorter. Looking over at the clock standing on the dresser, it seemed to be another hour until dawn would actually break, so she had plenty of time to take her morning walk up to the guard tower. Yrsa loved watching the first rays of sunlight dance across the mountainside next to their home. As she quietly stepped outside into the cold morning air she could see that the first snow of the year had fallen overnight. The streets were covered in a thin layer of snow and ice, making feet slightly chilly as she walked.

Reaching the edge of town within a few minutes she bid the patrolling guards good morning before climbing up into the tower. Mornings were usually quiet in this small town, not like in the soldier camps she was used to. But Yrsa had quickly come to realize that she much prefered a slow, quiet morning than the sound of a loud battlehorn and relentless morning exercises. She reached the top of the guard tower and made herself comfortable in order to wait for the sun to rise above the mountain ridge. It shouldn’t be too long of a wait. It shouldn't have been.

No matter how long she stared at the dark sky it didn’t seem to get any brighter. Just then, a small flickering light caught her eye. A shooting star! How long had it been since she had last seen one of those? Yrsa closed her eyes and made a wish. When she opened her eyes the star was gone.

“I hope my wish comes true this year…. I hope we can find Alfhild..” Her beloved daughter that had gone missing as a pup all those years ago, lost in the midst of Mistvale and never seen again. Some days she swore she could hear her laugh just behind the trees at the edge of the dark forest. Yrsa let out a sigh and turned her eyes towards the world below her. The meadow just outside the fortress walls was covered in a blanket of shimmering snow. The small ice crystals twinkled like stars as a sudden light suddenly appeared in the sky.

Another shooting star! And then another! Instead of the morning sun slowly rising into the sky and filling the world with its warm light, the sky was now illuminated by thousands upon thousands of falling stars. They fell like raindrops across the sky, their bright tails trailing behind. It would have been beautiful, had it not been for the unsettling green light the stars left behind. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.

Yrsa could feel her fur stand on end as she quickly rose up and climbed down the tower. She ran back home as fast as her legs could carry her. Reaching her house, she pushed the door open and hurried into the bedroom where her mate was still sleeping. “Fayrn! Wake up!” She shook her mate by the scruff of his neck and let go when she felt him stir. As he opened his eyes and turned his attention to her, a concerned look across his face. “Yrsa? What is it, my love?” “Somethings not right! You need to come out right now!”

As they emerged from their house they saw the stars falling continuously, small embers that left a sickening green light across the sky. It filled the two wolves with dread. They hurried to the town gate, to meet up with the guards and Captain Herdals. As they approached the gates they met with a sight that sent a chill down their spines.

Beyond the gates, across the meadow, they could see the same glowing light coming from the edge of the forest. But it wasn’t stars that shone, it was eyes. Eyes of monsters. Large, dark forms appeared out from behind the trees. Their eyes glowing a sickening pale green. Then, something stepped out into the clearing that made their hearts freeze. Although her shape was stretched and twisted, they recognised the wolf before them. It was Alfhild. Their lost daughter. She approached them slowly, her long limbs moving with slender graze over the blanket of frost that had settled on the grassy fields.

“Greetings birthparents. I’m…no…..we are home~!”

That’s when the monsters behind her started to charge toward them. Hundreds, thousands of black beasts covered in thorns and tar rushed out from the forest towards the town. Yrsa and Fayrn watched in horror as the beasts rushed forward, knowing that there was no way they would be able to defeat all of them. They looked at eachother and gave a silent nod. They would have to fight.

Soon the air was filled with snarls and screams as the battle raged on. And as the white snow was stained red with blood a sickening laughter could be heard echoing in the night.

“We are home!”

Then, in the deepest part of Mistvale, Lake Veridia began to boil. From its murky waters rose a dark shape, twisted and corrupted, its eyes glowing with rage. A gigantic wolf head rose over the treetops. Korvo opened his mouth for the first time in centuries and howled.

“We are finally back home!”

(I had initially planned to write a cozy little story describing my starter pair´s new home, but alas my brain went into spooky mode and here we are. Hope you enjoy! Happy Lortober everyone!)

#lorwolf #lortober #lortober 2022 #lortober day 1 home #spoopy month is here

8 notes · View notes

ruinous-robes · 2 years ago

Text

Chapter 10: And So The Sky Fell

Aaand here we are! My last entry for Lortober, here at the very buzzer. I owe getting my motivation back to this event, so I'm eternally grateful. This prompt is for the alternative prompt of "offering."

I'm putting a big content warning here for depictions of panic attacks from the point of view character. If that's something that you have problems with, please be well aware.

Also, as so many have asked, this story is finally fully updated on ao3! And I don't do this often, but I do actually have a song that pairs with this chapter :>

I hope everyone enjoys! This officially wraps up arc 1, and I should be back briefly with the start of the next leg of this journey.

Achilles found him just as Patroclus had finished bandaging his leg with the remains of his ruined robes. Patroclus didn’t hear him — Achilles walked silently, every step carefully placed — but he would know him anywhere: in the dark, in a crowded room, even in death.

Achilles sat down beside him on the hard stone of the courtyard. They were all supposed to dance there, before the night had gone to hell. All of the lanterns were still lit, hanging from the greenery and columns. Patroclus could see him out of the corner of his eye. Achilles’ nose had stopped bleeding, but the claw marks were still angry and red. Patroclus thought it might scar. Achilles, too, was wearing his ruined, bloody chiton. He had washed his paws, at least, and he held something in a box between them.

Achilles cleared his throat, opening up the box. “I’m not much of a medic, but I think I can at least restitch your leg, if you’ll let me.”

There once was a wolf who loved the earth but chased the sun.

Patroclus offered his leg. He still didn’t say anything as Achilles removed his hastily done bandages.

Achilles hissed when he saw the damage. Patroclus had already seen it. He doubted that it would ever heal right, that he would ever walk without a pronounced limp again. It was a small price to pay, he supposed. After all, Aster wouldn’t, either.

Patroclus felt manic laughter bubbling up and shoved it back down. He didn’t feel very okay, not at all.

“Patroclus? Hey, you there?”

He was as fast as the moon and stars, and one day, he came very close to catching it.

Patroclus forced himself to nod, to look Achilles in his eyes. A part of himself calmed when there was that same kindness he had known from before. He found that he had needed to see it, to make sure that no matter what cruelty Achilles was capable of, he could come back to himself.

“I— I’m so sorry, for everything. For lying, for… for running away. For— for this.” He didn’t have to elaborate. “But something just came over me. I— I couldn’t even stop myself. He was hurting you.”

A long beat of silence passed. Patroclus barely felt the needle or the sting of himself being pieced back together. He trusted Achilles. He trusted him to put him together and to tear him apart. It didn’t much matter to Patroclus. He supposed there wasn’t much of a difference.

Below, all the creatures cheered him on, but the earth knew it was a doomed quest, and cried, for its words could not reach the wolf, high in the sky as he was.

When Achilles spoke again, his voice shook. “… you aren’t afraid of me, are you?”

That shook Patroclus a little more awake. “Never. I could never fear you, Achilles.”

Achilles searched his eyes, and seemed satisfied with what he saw there. “Good. That’s… that’s good.”

Again, that silence. Even the breeze had settled, like it was waiting for something. They had only the screaming of the night insects, far off in the distance. If Patroclus listened hard enough, he could hear wolves speaking inside the palace. He couldn’t care less.

“I— I know this is probably the absolute worst time to say this, Pat, but I don’t think I can live with myself if I don’t say something now—“

As the wolf sank his teeth into the sun’s surface, he caught fire and fell all the way back down, blazing like a star as he went and struck down in a bed of yarrow and black clay.

“— But I meant it. I am in love with you, and that scared me. It scared me so bad. I’ve never felt the way I feel about you—“

The earth covered his broken body with mountains and rivers, and never again loved anything that walked its surface.

“— and maybe this is too soon, or you’ll think I’m crazy for even saying this. Hell, I think maybe I am, saying this after I just… just cut off a guy’s paws, but…”

Patroclus prayed to the Creator who he knew didn’t care about him for Achilles to stop.

“But I would like to spend my life with you. If you’ll have me. For real, this time. M-maybe not right now, obviously! I know this is sudden and crazy and—“

“I can’t marry you, Achilles. Ever.”

Patroclus wasn’t looking at him anymore, but he could feel Achilles’ heart crack. It made him hate himself, more than a little bit.

“What?” He sounded so small.

“I’m supposed to kill you,” Patroclus said. His voice was hollow, tinny. He felt like he was underwater.

“Patroclus, what are you talking about? You saved my life.” Achilles sounded confused and more than a little distressed.

“That was that time, but— but the Spinner’s will isn’t always good. It isn’t always what I want. You remember what I told you, about my first vision? That’s my sacred mission. It always has been from the start. I’m supposed to make sure you die, and you die in the way the Spinner wants and I— I…”

Patroclus stared down at his wings, thought of all the threads he had pulled and changed and snipped in pursuit of this awful, horrible mission he had been set on. He knew that the Creators could be cruel. He knew that their wills expanded far past his own, but it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to do this to Patroclus. It wasn’t fair to let him have everything he ever wanted — to love and be loved — and to ask him to give it all up willingly, with a smile on his face.

His vision was blurry; he couldn’t breathe.

He felt himself break.

“I don’t want to do this anymore!” he sobbed.

Patroclus was dying, he thought. This was what it felt like to die. Maybe he was actually bleeding out on the floor on the stage, back inside, and was only imagining the freedom of the beautiful open skies and plains as a death mirage. Maybe Aster had actually ripped his throat out. It couldn’t hurt much worse than this. Somehow, he ended up flat on his back, with his wings spread-eagled. The stars wheeled above him, dim from the light of the lanterns. They looked like his threads who never showed him the future he wanted.

How could you do this to me? he screamed in his mind. There was no answer. There was never an answer. Above him, the stars twinkled. He felt mocked.

His head was being cushioned, and something tickled across his cheeks and his ears, sticking his fur up in all manner of wild directions. It took him a moment to realize Achilles was licking him methodically: gently across his cheek, the back of his ears, occasionally just above his eyebrow. It felt… nice— the rhythm, the way he could predict each motion and the feel of it. Slowly, his chest stopped heaving, and the stars stopped circling, sitting in place. His eyes were still watery, and he brushed at them with his still glittery green claw.

“There you are,” Achilles said. He flopped his head against Patroclus’ shoulder so that Patroclus had to crane his neck to look down at him. “You scared the shit out of me.”

Patroclus huffed a strangled laugh. His eyes hurt now. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me for having a panic attack. It’s not your fault.”

Patroclus didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything. He just looked up at the unfeeling stars again, where his Creator watched him. They were probably disgusted with him.

It hit him suddenly that he didn’t think he much cared.

“I totally get it if you don’t wanna talk about what just happened, but… you realize you aren’t the only one who gets to decide, right?” Achilles said. “Even if I’m supposed to die, and you’re supposed to be some scary, evil warden of death, and there’s nothing anyone can do to change that, then I should still get a say. I’d much rather it be you taking me there than to live without you because you think you’re some irredeemable monster.”

That struck Patroclus like a bolt of lightning. He sat up, displacing Achilles’ head and instead turning fully to look at him. “You mean that?”

“Well, I mean… you said yourself that futures can change. I just think it would suck if you did all of this, and I still died anyway.”

The gears in Patroclus’ mind turned. The future could change. And… and maybe if the Fatespinner lost their acting hand, maybe then it would turn around.

Maybe Patroclus didn’t have to do this anymore at all.

“I think… I think I’m done,” he said. “Yeah. I think I’m through.”

“… with us? Because you really could’ve cut me off if you were just gonna still gonna say no—“

“No, no, Achilles. I’m done with Fate. I’m done with Weaving. If they want you to die, then they’ll have to find someone else to keep their blasted webs straight. I think I’m perfectly fine to live not knowing what the next day will bring.”

Patroclus, with a great deal of effort, heaved himself to his feet. His body hurt all over, like the night was catching up with him. The courtyard sat on top of a hill overlooking the oasis, where the trading ships came and went. The water rippled gently below, reflecting the light of the moons. The breeze of the sea wafted salt into his nose, ruffling his fur. He pulled on his pendant until the chain snapped.

He looked down at the paw sized stone, carved with its lion head.

You want sacrifice? he thought venomously. I’ll show you my damn sacrifice.

With all of his strength, he hurled the stone as far as it would go, and he turned away. He never saw if it made it to the sea. He didn’t care.

Patroclus turned back to Achilles, who was watching him closely, some unnameable emotion in his eyes. “You may very well still die, but I’ll be with you until the very end. I swear it on my life.”

“You didn’t have to do all that,” Achilles said softly. Now it looked like he might cry.

Patroclus stepped closer, wrapping a wing around Achilles’ shoulder and burying his nose in the salt-sweet smell of his fur. “No, but I wanted to.”

There had been a wire tightening around Patroclus’ neck from the moment he was born, silvery and deadly. He had grown accustomed to the snare over the years, how it made him bleed and crushed at his windpipe. It had almost felt like a friend.

He didn’t know how nice it felt to breathe freely.

“Let’s go inside,” Patroclus said. “I’m tired of the cold.”

#arc of the suneater #lortober #lore wolf #lorwolf #ave: achilles #ave: patroclus

5 notes · View notes