Indifference

Loki made his way through the forest, his ears pricked and on edge, as they always were in this time of trial. He had no particular goal of location this time, eager to return to his mate, but needing to escape the walls of the camp first. The dark male was in shock. So much had taken place....this pack was a graveyard of horrors. Nothing like the peaceful haven it was before. Loki sighed, and prepared to turn his nose back to camp, Keme would be waiting, but suddenly he paused. 

A roughly familiar scent hit his nose from somewhere within the shrubs. He padded very slowly towards the scent and his eyes widened in shock as he made out the brown, mangled shape of Rhaegan. The black watch wolf. Loki hadn't seen him in a long time, his scent fading from the scene shortly after a heating gathering with the Black Watch. 

"Rhaegan?" he stated, unable to tell if the brown male was alive or not.

A mangled ear drooped in the direction of the address, tipping back like a a dry autumn leaf breaking from its stem. This was neither Kimber nor Finarel. It was male. The voice was familiar, but Rhaegan could not immediately recall it and didn't ponder their identity further. They were here to heal him or to harm him, the rogue hardly cared which, so long as they got it over with and left him to his indifference.

A rough breeze shook the trees, and for a moment Rhae thought he smelled blood on it. Muscles stiff, he lifted his aching head slowly. But he could not pinpoint the source. It must have been his imagination. The motion brought the newcomer into view - a dark Valerian, a rebel. They were familiar. They had been at the gathering when Rhaegan declared himself. 

Briefly fixing the wolf with an empty gaze, Rhae grimaced, then dropped his head so that it was turned away. He felt a flicker of agitation, hoping his disinterest would be enough to deter further conversation but getting the idea that it would not. Perhaps if he simply ignored the rebel... 

Loki watched as the brown male seemingly acknowledged his existence, before turning his head away. A deep shock began to build up in his veins. Since when had this proud wolf turned to such despair? Loki would have expected an act of defiance or even hostility to him, but there was nothing. No reaction. He was helpless, vulnerable. Loki felt a deep anger begin to rise in the bottom of his chest. 

They were supposed to be a beacon of hope for the wolves in Vale that hated the life under Alar. They were supposed to be that shining light, something for them to look too, and here they were....grovelling at the feat of the enemy. "Rheagan. Get. Up" Loki growled, his eyes burning. 

He wasn't about to let this wolf die. Not now. They had pushed through this far, and if they persisted, they would make it. They couldn't give up.

Get up. 

Rhaegan's eyelids creased at the accusation in their voice. His form grew rigid, hackles taut and claws pressed into the soft forest floor. Just like the others. They didn't understand. They refused to. For all the good intentions of the Vale Rebels, none them knew Rhaegan. They insisted on treating his wounds and leaving him in agony. 

There was a gaping hole in his chest where a heart should have been. Hexa, Ivan, Reicher, Davis, Alek, Veron, Estella... Polaris... Renier... Shen... Enzo... all betrayers, every single one of them. Almost too many to count now. Certainly everyone he'd ever put faith in was now among the list of those who'd turned their backS. They'd each taken their pound of flesh, and now Rhaegan had nothing but a broken, hollow shell to live in. What was it about him that turned them so? It had been this way since he was young. 

Well, he'd had enough of it. Rhaegan didn't want to fight anymore. Let them win their petty squabbles, the fools. 

Loki felt his ears lay flat against his head as the dark male refused to respond. He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the drainage of the past few days building up in his mind. "You can't afford to give up Rhaegan" he added, his voice adding a sense of desperation into the air. So many had fallen victim to the darkness.

"When you walked in on the Vale meeting, you said that you would help undo the wrongs." he continued, taking a few paw steps closer. 

"Now is your chance!" he growled, "Don't let Alar see that he has damaged you. Never let the devil see how how he has worked. Don't give him the satisfaction. Stand up! Prove to yourself that you are strong enough to combat this." he finished, willing the brown male to consider what he was saying. This was exactly what Alar wanted! To work his way in through the heart of Vale. Rot it from the inside out. 

"We can't let Vale fall."

Now, the rogue growled, a deep and menacing warning. Couldn't afford to give up? What he could not afford was to waste one more moment of his wretched existence fighting for causes that couldn't be won and wars the would never end! "You fool!" He flared, pinching his shoulders in an attempt to prop himself up and address the nuisance. "Vale has fallen! My own kin support the regent. The very skies serve him. Alar's control is absolute."

Rhaegan's expression was pained. "Renier is gone. One of your own rules now. And I have bled enough. Let Alar believe I am dead..." His gaze dropped, and Rhae would not look at the black one as he added, "It will soon be the truth." He did not care what had been promised before. What were promises, except things to be broken? 

Coward! Loki thought inwardly. How could one think such things of a pack that was still breathing. "Vale hasn't fallen as long as one noble breath still lingers." Loki retorted, his neck fur bristling defensively. Vale was his home. Faust had formed the pack in nobility and strength, and as long as Loki had a scrap of life in him, he would continue to fight for what the Alpha male had wished. 

"I may be a fool for defending my home." The black male added, his ears flattening, stubborn courage building in his limbs. "But I would rather die as the only idiot who was brave enough to stand up to that black cur, that live as a coward who watched on as it crumbled. Knowing they could still do something." Loki felt his blood pump hard in his ears. 

"Vale is giving up too soon."

One noble breath. Rhaegan gave a forceful huff, wincing as his ribs rebelled against the motion. "You think I did not stand up to him?" The outcast replied. His tone was low, tired, but there was a dark edge to it - like the rumble of an oncoming storm. Rhae's eyes flashed, and he lunged forward though the effort left him shaking, "LOOK AT ME!" 

A metallic tang cut through the air as red saliva ran down the rogue's lip. "I have given my life to fighting, and see what is left?" In his heart, it felt like a stone had settled. Long had Rhaegan felt thus, but to admit it out loud made the realization all the more terrible. He was broken. 

Sliding heavily back down to the ground, Rhae shut his eyes, expression pained as though reliving a nightmare. Once, he might have admired this black one's courage. How he wished he could summon such sentiment, again! But all the exile felt was emptiness. "You think you have felt betrayal... You think you understand the need for vengeance? You are a fool. None know these things better than I. And I've suffered for it. Greatly."

"Vale is no longer my concern. Which means I am no longer yours." He growled, an air of finality in his tone. "Leave. Go. Fight your 'noble' battles, die your 'noble' death. It doesn't matter. You will not be remembered."

Loki took a quick step backwards as the dark male threw his weight forwards, his limbs shaking with the obvious effort, and his eyes pinned in a dark madness. He noticed the blood....sensed his pain. He was not lost for sympathy. Loki knew was this wolf had been through. He had seen it with his own eyes, and was aware of the apparent justification that Rhaegan sort to avenge regarding his retreat. But if he thought his words were going to sway Loki, he was wrong. 

Loss was a part of battle. But the strong were the ones that could continue on, push through and come out the other side. Those were the ones that were going to keep the pack standing, even when everything else fought to make it collapse. 

The dark male flicked one ear, and listened in silence as the former Black Watch wolf spat venom at him, his words dripping with rage, hostility, hopelessness. The recipe of the future it seemed. He shook his head slowly when Rhaegan finished, his green eyes burning, but his stance not swayed. "I may not be remembered." he muttered quietly.

"But I will fight till to the end to make sure that the Vale that Faust created. Will. Be."