█▐ ❆ ࿐ᐤ THE TAIL OF A TIMBER wolf flicks against the enshrouding amber ━ elusive to its beholder. Gray’s breath is ragged as he chases after the graceful creature, bewildered by her SOLITUDE. The canine’s fur bristles with the frigid wind as he continues to amble after its wake, thrashing through the surrounding yellow plumes ; the name upon his tongue is too bittersweet to utter. The longer Gray coaxes it, the more CRIPPLING it becomes… &&. he cannot yet fathom why. It is only a name. And as he staggers after the fleeing wolf, he attempts even harder… but he now he can only taste swirling storm and hurricane.
Ur ━━ ━ !!
HIS LASHES FLUTTERS OPEN, heavy from renegade moisture. Palms press hard against the tributaries coursing down sullen cheeks ; his mannerisms are almost VIOLENT. Bewildered by his own state, Gray perches upright for a moment, peering into the morning’s golden dimness until he recalls what has transpired. The anesthetizing disorientation dwindles quickly &&. he watches the expanse of mattress extend for miles on either side of him, the ghastly sheets eerily taut until they disappear seamlessly over the mattress’ rim.
These nightmare memories pursued him like a skittering SHADOW, reminding of the darkness that once plagued his fragile soul. He had thought it was all over. He thought the pain had finally eluded him. He had a new family— a reason to SMILE, brimming with unbridled hope. But the despair that Deliora embodied never truly left, did it? It ravaged his home, pillaged his parents away, scourged the life of one of his first friends, and forced Ur to sacrifice her own self…
His hand fiddles, aches, &&. turns until it’s a blubbering mess of ANXIETY. Time was lost on the Ice-Mage as he was thrust into this grievous existence; a raw, naked, one. Gray realizes that each loss only gets harder and every ounce of willpower he musters in order not to BREAK chips away at him, leaving his insides threadbare.
…The beating heart behind a stony sternum becomes an OPEN WOUND.*
⠀
( You have forgotten yourself
— thus you have forgotten me. )
⠀⠀
❝ N-No… No. –How could I? ❞
