LIES IN THE LOW // SEABANE

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It was a warm day. The sun shone upon the tropic island, reaching its yellow tendrils through the heavy foliage. Seabane trotted toward the shoreline. He had finished his morning duties--for the most part--and decided to take a small rest before the evening hunt. He panted slightly as he walked. He could still remember the glory of Kinan's final hour. He had been one of the few to stand by Atervis when he confronted the masochistic wolf. And he had been the one to suggest that Atervis be crowned their Alpha. It hadn't taken much convincing, as the make-shift pack were all too willing to pledge their loyalty and allegiance to Nightbane. The one who had saved them, and avenged them.

Seabane had lost his family as well. But, he did not think of this now. He had Atervis now. Though neither of them admitted it, Atervis was very much a father to Seabane now. He was an older brother to him as well, and they acted more as such when they were surrounded by Stormbourne. But privately, they slipped into the routine of a father and his son. It was quite comfortable, and natural. It was easy. And it was soothing to the young male.

Now, as he approached the sandy shore, he spotted the night-hued male. He was laying, outstretched, with his head on his paws. He looked as if he was resting as well. Seabane smiled slightly. He walked leisurely up to the wolf, approaching his right side. He stopped at his shoulder and sat, so that his front paws went no further than the alpha's shoulder. His mangled left ear twitched, and his right ear turned toward the sea, picking up the sound of the crashing waves.

I have done as you have asked, Atervis.

He paused, his tone respectful and slightly distant. And then he spoke softly to the male.

Could I ask something of you, my dear friend?

He said it in such a way that, if you weren't listening carefully, it would sound like he said 'father' instead of 'friend'.

Tags: @pride
OOC: First Seabane post!! Sorry that its so bad, my very first post with a new character is always a little rough. (:

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a  t   e   r   v   i   s 

Honest to God I'll break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart.

Visions of crimson danced beneath Atervis' closed eyes— not so much dreams as they were memories. He knew better than to sleep heavily here, dream peacefully out in the open. Instead, he was there to reflect, to remember what he'd lost and how he'd gotten here in the first place. Regardless, the brow of the alpha furrowed just slightly in thought, tail swishing once as it curled against his flank. The Stormbourne were born from a bloodied land, and tragedy pulsed thick in their veins. The memories that flicked through his mind like a bunch of shattered glass were proof of that. 

Snarls rising in the distance. A bloodied howl. Shouts and excitement thick in the air. Muscles beneath black fur rippled. An unsettling chill rising up his spine at the sound. The sound of paws hitting the ground hard. A cry in the distance. One of a pup— Prier. Something tightened in the back of his throat, something painful and tight. The surrounding trees blurring past as he willed himself to move faster. His heart racing in his ears. His lungs burning with the sharp breaths pulled in from parted jaws. More cries. More howls. The sound of wolves on the hunt. The sound of a wolf running for her life. His hoarse, desperate cry over the suddenly deafening silence of the Tropics around them. His heart continued to pound painfully against his ribs, almost suffocating him. The eerily stillness of the clearing as he found her lying there, mangled and bloodied. The feel of hot, wet blood against his nose as he nudged her and bid her farewell. The feel of her neck between his jaws as he finished what Kinan had left to come after suffering.

Carrying her to the ocean, where she would be swept away to be at peace.

A large, black ear swiveled abruptly the moment a set of paws touched the sand within earshot, his eyes still closed. The tension in his jaw eased and his heart rate slowed as the newcomer approached, and Atervis remained still, as unreadable as ever. The warm, salty breeze that rolled across the beach brought the scent of someone familiar, someone close. It was almost enough to have his stomach rolling again, so fresh were the memories of Prier's final moments, only to be faced with Atervis' second chance at family— a family he'd been determined to chase away at some point.

As Seabane came to sit beside him, Atervis lifted a single lid to regard the wolf beside him, not feeling immediately pressed to sit up himself. The other wolf had been fortunate to pick the side that would cast his shadow the opposite direction, allowing Atervis is time in the sun once more. For a moment, before Seabane spoke, Atervis was left remembering the time he was so hard on the male. He'd come to him to pitifully, seeking someone to teach him to fight so that he might face down Kinan himself. Atervis could still remember the pup stumbling into his den behind the falls, the blood in his veins that had boiled at the sound of Kinan's name used so loosely. What the young blood hadn't realized at the time, was that Atervis had his own vendetta, though he'd long since buried it out of lack of desire to stoop to Kinan's level.

When he had finally relented to train the boy, he wasn't exactly easy on him, in any way. Initially he had done so to scare the stubborn whelp off, but eventually that had shifted and grew into Atervis showing the wolf that Kinan did not, and never would, play by the rules. To deal with a monster, you had to be a monster. It had nearly killed him, during the kid's training, to stand beside and watch over another young blood, particularly with Prier's death so fresh in his mind. In a lot of ways, he reminded him of her, and in another way, it had Atervis reeling and putting up wall after wall. He couldn't allow anyone to get close. Not the pup. Not the old bat that poked fun of him at the base of the falls. Not the elder brothers of Prier.

"I have done as you have asked, Atervis." That same heavy lid lowered again as he listened, as if waiting for the words he knew would follow. More words, as there always were. The boy had grown into a fine wolf, eventually earning that position at his side he took now, and the name of Beta. Sure, he got under Atervis' skin and drove him insane sometimes, but he'd done it so often that he seemed to have taken root there now, a permanent fixture in Atervis' life. He'd never admit it aloud, but the kid was family. "Could I ask something of you, my dear friend?" Atervis was not a wolf of many words, if any at all, and he appreciated that Seabane could understand that, to an extent.

"Aye." Came the Alpha's short response, ear flicking absently as his eyes opened again, this time focused on the rolling waves before him. The warm, salted breeze ruffled and wove through the thick black fur that lined his frame, the red of his eyes bright against the color. Able to put the thoughts of Prier aside, he patiently waited for the younger wolf's question.

COUNT: 899 words  

TAG: @ej (SEABANE), OPEN

NOTES: oh god I rambled, sorry.

CREDIT to accio sonic!@shadowplay

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Aye.

A charcoal ear flicked toward the multi-colored male, and his blood eyes opened, flicking toward the waves. Seabane's eyes became directed toward Atervis' for a moment, and then swept back towards the waves as well. He watched as they came alive, roaring quietly, and then crashing to the beach. They crawled up the beach toward the male pair, but never quite reached them. Seabane was silent for a long moment, and then his voice broke the silence randomly. It would seem to a stranger that he had chosen not to ask his question at first, or that he had forgotten about it. In reality, however, this was normal between the two. The silence was comfortable, not elongated or awkward. It was a sort of form of communication by itself. And then his voice broke the silence, in a quiet whisper.

Do you ever regret it?

He wasn't referring to becoming the leader of Sharktooth Island, or killing off Shadepaw. He knew that there was no regret there. What he really meant was, "Do you ever regret the horror of it all? Watching him die? Training me, as a young pup, to fight and kill violently?" But Atveris would know. Of that, Seabane was sure.

Tags: @pride
OOC: Shorter but better (: sorry about the wait!!

[Deleted]

a  t   e   r   v   i   s 

Honest to God I'll break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart.

Silence. It wasn't unfamiliar to Atervis; quite the opposite, actually. Like an old friend, it's presence was something he welcomed. He supposed he could have been annoyed, being kept waiting on a question, one who's arrival hung in mid air. Instead, Atervis was equally silent. Allowing his conscience to slip peacefully back into the sounds of their territory; their home. At the sound of Seabane's voice, his eyes lifted to the waves again, his frame remaining frozen as his voice rumbled from the pit of his chest. Where the younger male's had been quiet, almost soft, Atervis' was strong and firm.


"Regret is something I do not harbor." Curt. To the point. A pause between words before the Alpha continued, as if stirred by the question. "It is something one does not tend to feel when thought is given before action. If I were to spend every waking moment wondering 'What if?' I would not be where I am today." Slowly, the larger of the two males lifted to his feet, muscles rippling beneath a black pelt. Movement only continued until he too was sitting, broad shoulders squared and head held high. "I could never regret ripping the life from him." There was nothing but truth in his tone, albeit a cold sort. "I trained you to see you stronger. Able to defend yourself as others were not." A black lip curled, ever so slightly, at the thought of Prier. She was a name unspoken, and though the rumors of the small pup that had shadowed Atervis in the earlier years of the Shadepaw make have trickled through Stormbourne here and there, no one but Atervis and Prier's siblings knew the honest truth. 

COUNT: 283 words  

TAG: @ej (SEABANE), OPEN

EDIT: Due to inactivity, this thread has been archived. Should @ej return, this thread may be resumed at any time.

CREDIT to accio sonic!@shadowplay