the wolf is free

lyra castor - twenty two -- werewolf part of the nightmare roleplay group

[skcgsra]

daphne aesthetic

(photo sources: x x x x x x x x x x )

[umconto-de-fadas]

[crystalmariereeddaily]

[oblivion-crackships]

[recklesswolfpup]

E verything sucked.

Well, everything since the Hunter’s Moon had. Lyra was friendly with just about the entire town, save for a select few of the population, and to see so many people she had known die was surreal. She was still recovering from it, honestly, but didn’t talk to anyone about her feelings. She hadn’t lost a family member in the events of the Moon like others had. They hurt more and needed help more than anyone else did. At least that’s how she felt about it.

For some reason, though, her heart was extremely heavy lately, as if her soul was trying to tell her something she wasn’t yet ready to understand. Truthfully, she didn’t understand anything that had been going on lately and she had been trying incredibly hard to find answers, but just as soon as something seemed within reach, she was pushed back several steps and often had to start over. Most days, it felt as if the answer was too close for her to find, and that’s what was bothering her so much. It was like the sickening feeling of being watched when walking alone at night, but not being able to locate the source of the discomfort.

Times like these called for a huge cup of hot chocolate from the diner and quality time with her mother, though she figured Freya would be incredibly busy with her council duties as everyone in town was still demanding that The Council somehow wave their hands and solve everything in a day. While she agreed that the leaders of the town could have been doing more to help, she didn’t think that they could solve every issue on their own. In her opinion, the town needed to work harder together if anything were to be accomplished, but not many people would listen to a rebellious child with a criminal record.

It didn’t take as long as she thought it would to hike to her mother’s house, perhaps because she had been lost in thought the entire time. She had considered asking Tris to drive her there, but didn’t want to risk interrupting his work. He had to be busy; she knew already how thinly stretched the guards were with everything. Besides, it wasn’t too cold that she couldn’t just walk herself places. Upon arriving at the front door, Lyra let herself in with the key she still kept on her necklace chain and called for her mother as she made her way to the living room.

Without most of her art, the house seemed bare and empty, like the soul was being sucked out of it. It felt strange to see her mother’s house not littered with paintings and sketches like it had been when she was growing up. She made a note to rectify that situation as soon as she could, whether it was with a mural painted directly onto the wall or by giving her mother several framed pieces to hang wherever she pleased. She tried to ignore the empty feeling crawling under her skin as she made herself comfortable, but it was unsettling. Her only hope was that her mother would come into the room soon -- or back home.

[recklesswolfpup]

heckishhexing:

Normally, Jess would have opted for a scone and a coffee to go, but this was an outing with a possible friend. “Oh well, it’s actually not been all that bad, just a bit more paperwork than normal.” That only really affected her and Orion really, and made things a bit more interesting during the slow days. Thankfully, she didn’t have to deal with most of the grieving family members. No, she just did the paperwork and spoke to the attorneys. Good thing too, she wasn’t exactly what anyone would consider empathetic. 

After the waitress came and took their orders, she tilted her head as she spoke to Lyra. “But what about you? How are you dealing with all this drama going on?” The fact that the girl hadn’t decided to cancel certainly said something. Most people were still held up in their houses, too afraid of this ancient hag to continue with their day to day lives. A notion the witch scoffed at. No matter what was going on, the world kept turning.  

It was curious that bank workers would have paperwork when deaths were involved, but she didn’t want to pry at risk of sounding stupid; she didn’t know how involved banks were with the life and death of its clients. She gave a simple nod and fidgeted with one o the sugar packets on the counter. “Sorry to hear that. It doesn’t sound too fun.” With her job in the spring and summer as a teaching assistant, she understood how boring it was to be trapped in a boring room most of the day, but she never had to handle paperwork. That was all Mr. Ridley’s job, and she was all too happy to ignore that part of it.

“I’m...” she took a moment to think about it all. When the Huntress struck, she had been a wolf, oblivious to anything going on around her. If she witnessed anything, she didn’t remember; the powerful magic of that night had caused the wolf to take over her mind and anything that happened was tucked away in its mind, not hers. But she did know many people that had died. She knew several people that had lost family. She mourned with them and attended each of their funerals, murderers be damned. “Dealing. It’s not easy to see so many people die. I’ll be happy once this bitch is dead.”

[recklesswolfpup]

ovidslegacy:

“You could likely eat a horse and not put on a single ounce.” He’d been like her once, young and full of energy. Now look at him. He couldn’t even look at his own reflection without thinking about how old he had got. But the wolf was still spry. That was where he found himself really living. He glazed over the exact name of the meal he ordered, all he saw was fried eggs and meat, paired with a black coffee. He waited for their drinks to arrive before springing his trap. She had brought him here but it had brought about his own agenda. “I saw your mother recently..” He sipped at the coffee and settled it down before continuing. “She told me about Tris.”

“Doubtful, but I’ll try it someday.” She grinned at him. Currently, she was hungry enough to eat a horse, but was perfectly content to wait until her food arrived. Patience was something she was working on, even if it was something the wolf did not understand too well sometimes. Once her drink arrived, she began to gulp half of it down before placing it onto the table and shifting in her seat. At the mention of her mother, she looked back up at her uncle, raising an eyebrow. That was a loaded topic to bring up so casually and she wondered just what was coming next.

“Did you now?” Was her only response as she waited for him to continue. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest when he brought up Tris and she tried very hard not to look visibly shaken by his statement. She folded her hands in her lap and sat up straight, glad to have a long sleeved shirt and jacket on to cover her wounds. Her mother had caused enough of a fuss about it that she wasn’t surprised that her uncle had caught wind of what had happened. She was slowly becoming good at asking all of her nervous energy behind a blank face, though she doubted she would ever perfect hiding the emotions from her eyes as Freya did. Putting this learned trait to use, she asked, “What did she say?”

[recklesswolfpup]

ovidslegacy :

Orion followed in her steps, entering the diner with his stomach practically tearing itself apart now. He was s t a r v e d. The cookie had helped, a bit.He gave nods to a few of the patrons, he knew the whole town by face if not by their bank statements. Sliding in the booth opposite Lyra he followed suit, grabbing a menu and casting a quick gaze over it. He knew exactly what he wanted, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking. Just in case. “I think if you were able to fit cake in your bag I’d have grown very fat a very long time ago.” 

“You wouldn’t need to worry about that if you ran around and had more fun than you do. Look at me, I eat cake every day and I’m perfectly healthy.” She grinned and set her menu down. Once their server came over, she ordered her usual breakfast: the little bear special and a cup of iced coffee, extra creamy and extra sweet. She had plans to deviate from her very particular breakfast habits, but imagined that those days wouldn’t come until she was a few years older with a couple of her own little wolves running around town. “What’s new?”

[recklesswolfpup]

sanguineousmaster :

His lips pressed together as he attempted to hold back another smile. This was terrible for his image, all this cheery smiling. Still, the pup was funny in her own way and he appreciated that. “They are quite fresh, I assure you,” he promised, the smile breaking through to become a grin. “Baked them this morning.”

One hand moved to motion toward the stairs, his head bowing ever so slightly toward her. “Please, I understand this may be odd considering the circumstances, but it is rare I have company.” Rare was putting it lightly. He never had company that wasn’t business relates, and even then he certainly wouldn’t consider them company.

Her smirk turned into a laugh and a wide, bright smile when she saw Vlad’s expression. She was more than happy to take him up on his offer now that the air seemed to be cleared of their awkward first encounter, and she was, admittedly, a bit hungry. At his gesture, she headed for the stairs, only looking over her shoulder once to be sure that he was following her.

She hopped up the stairs quickly, and once she reached the upper level, looked around at the splendor that was Vlad’s home. “Woah, this is your house?” She didn’t mean to sound so enthusiastic, but it was impressive. It looked like a museum to her, or how she imagined one would look, and she couldn’t help getting distracted by all of the nick knacks and interesting objects. “This is amazing!”

[untraditionalwitch-blog]

Falling Apart

[recklesswolfpup]

untraditionalwitch :

Toni felt a pang of guilt as Lyra asked if she was the one who’d hurt her. It hurt her that Lyra was afraid of that. It wasn’t often that she was out with Lyra during the full moons, but not once had her best friend ever hurt her. “Oh, Lyra, no,” she said softly, reaching up to gently cup Lyra’s cheek.

She winced when Lyra brought up her parents. Well, that let her know that Lyra was unaware of what had happened last night. That was… a mixed blessing. It meant Lyra hadn’t been panicking and worried about her, but it also meant she had to go over the details of the attack again.

She choked on her words, unable to get anything out, and when the shorter girl pulled her into a hug, her very thin walls crumbled. She wrapped her arms around Lyra’s waist, bending to bury her face in her friend’s shoulder.

Tears streamed down her face, sobs wracking her slender frame. She clung to Lyra, seeking comfort in her familiar embrace. It took her a few minutes to gather control of herself and she slowly pulled back, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hands. She had to explain, had to tell Lyra what had happened. She didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to think about it, but she had no choice. “They… t-they’re dead, Lyra,” she said quietly, her voice wavering. She gasped for breath, pressing a hand to her lips as she tried to explain.

“W-we were attacked last night… and… a-and they’re both dead.” She couldn’t look at her friend, pain and guilt washing over her face. “I c-couldn’t save them, couldn’t fight and… a-and they’re gone.” It would be so hard to believe if she hadn’t seen it herself, hadn’t watched her father hacked down, heard her mother’s screams. The sight and smell of the blood haunted her, and her heart pounded when she remember the fear she felt as she fled from her home.

The sobs nearly broke Lyra’s heart as she held Toni as tight as she could. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a breakdown like this and it worried her to her core. As Toni sobbed, she kept holding onto her, just as tightly as the witch clung to her. She almost didn’t want to let Toni go, for fear of her collapsing on the ground in a puddle of tears. Whatever happened last night, she was more than happy that she couldn’t remember it. Perhaps it was for the best.

Shock set in as Toni explained the events of the night before. Her heart pounded in her ears and time seemed to stop for just a moment. It didn’t make any sense. How could their hidden town be attacked? How could Toni’s parents be dead? She didn’t realize that her hands were shaking as she stared up at Toni, her brown eyes wide and watery. This couldn’t be real. “Oh, no, Toni!”

She quickly embraced her friend again, wishing that she were able to cast away her anguish or take it upon herself even for a moment. It must have been a heavy burden to bear, especially since she seemed to have witnessed it. She would have traded anything to be able to switch memories of the full moon with Toni, to let her forget what she saw, even if it only made her pain fade the smallest bit. “It’s not your fault, okay? You don’t need to feel guilty about it. It’s going to be alright.”

[recklesswolfpup]

hellishhexing :

Everyone in the town was aware of the attacks. In a town so small where almost everyone knew everyone, this type of news was impossible to miss. While most were panicked by what was going on, Jess was almost excited by it. For a town full of supernatural beings, Nightmare could be so painfully boring. It might have been a horrible way of thinking, but if that ancient hag tried to come for her, this was a chance for her to really see how far her powers had developed. 

Of course Jess hadn’t forgotten about her coffee date with Lyra. She’d made sure to write it down in her calendar after Lyra had left the bank. Jess showed up at the diner at ten forty five. Honestly, the thought of breakfast seemed heavenly. The scents coming from the kitchen were divine. Immediately she spotted the girl and took a seat next to her at the bar. “Good morning,” Jess greeted.  “I don’t know about you but I’m starving.” 

“Good morning to you, too!” Lyra turned in her seat to smile at Jess once she sat down. It was near impossible to resist ordering something, so she was thankful to have a book to pass the time. She closed her book and put it in her bag and grabbed a menu, deciding that she wanted something more substantial than a muffin to go with her coffee. “You and me both.”

While small talk wasn’t one of her strong suits, she was more than excited to get to know her potential new friend, even if she still technically was lying to her about her identity. Though, did such things as legal last names really matter in a hidden town such as this? She didn’t think so. “How’s work been with all of this...drama happening?”

[untraditionalwitch-blog]

Falling Apart

[recklesswolfpup]

untraditionalwitch :

Toni had found her way to Vlad’s study, looking through books she was sure the vampire wouldn’t like her reading. But he wasn’t home right now, and she was going to take advantage of that. The pounding on the door nearly made her jump out of her skin, and she panicked for a moment until Lyra’s voice could be heard, muffled through the thick wood.

Taking a deep breath, she crossed the entryway, barefoot and in borrowed clothes, and opened the door. Bags under her eyes and disheveled hair made it obvious she hadn’t slept well, the bandage around her left arm the only visible sign of the scuffle the night before.

“Lyra,” she said with an unusual heaviness to her voice. Normally she would be happy to see her friend but today… today there wasn’t anything to be happy about.

When the door opened, Lyra finally stopped pacing and looked Toni over. She looked exhausted and the sight of a bandage made Lyra’s heart sink. She still couldn’t remember anything about the previous night and her immediate fear was that she had been the cause of Toni’s injury. She quickly walked inside of the house, squeezing her way past Toni, and grabbed her arm, gently. “What happened? Did...I hurt you?”

Her heart was pounding and she looked up at her friend with big, watery eyes, ready to cry if the answer was yes, however unlikely it was. She was always emotional after a transformation, and the lost memories only made her that much ore irrational as well. “Why are you here instead of home? There’s no way your parents let you spend the night at Vlad’s place.”

She didn’t mean for her tone to sound so harsh as she questioned Toni’s choice of shelter from whatever had gone on, and she made a note to apologize in case a certain vampire was listening in on their conversation. After a few silent moments, she hugged her best friend, not really waiting for any sort of response or anything; she just looked in need of some sort of comfort. “What’s going on?”

[untraditionalwitch-blog]

Falling Apart

[recklesswolfpup]

untraditionalwitch :

@recklesswolfpup

Shortly after waking up, Toni felt herself completely numb. She sat in the middle of the unfamiliar bed, looking around at the room in the light of late-morning. By now the town would be up, they’d know of the attack, word would be spreading that her parents had been killed.

Unbeknownst to the young witch, her parents weren’t the only ones who had died in the night, many others had lost their lives to the huntress.

She didn’t care how and when the rest of the town found out, her mind went to Lyra, the woman was basically the only family she had left. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the woman’s room, an area she knew very well. It didn’t take long for her scrawl a message on Lyra’s mirror, something simple, but that would let her know she was alive.

                                                 I’m at Vlad’s.                                                           -T

Lyra had woken up on her bed, naked and covered in dirt and blood from the previous night’s full moon. She didn’t remember much from it after a loud blast that had knocked her on her ass, and the blood concerned her. But, seeing as no one had come knocking on her door to drag her in front of the pack for losing control, she assumed it was just from running around in the woods all night.

As she yawned and walked into her bathroom, she noticed black writing on her mirror, large and not easily missed. The message was short and to the point and Lyra wondered why Toni was at Vlad’s or why she felt the need to inform her. Her suspicions immediately began to build up fast, and she almost ran out of her house naked to see what was going on. Deciding against it, she went back inside and pulled on one of Tris’s large flannel shirts and a pair of leggings and left, knowing that shoes only slowed her down when she ran.

Once she arrived at Vlad’s, she didn’t know if she should knock or walk in, and stepped onto the porch. It took her five minutes to make up her mind, and once she did, she began to beat on the door. She hoped Toni was alright, because she was barefoot and naked under thin clothes in the cold morning air and wanted nothing more than to shower away the grime her transformation. “Toni? Vlad? Anyone?”

[recklesswolfpup]

guardbear :

Though Tris wasn’t exactly one for public affections, he actually enjoyed having her on his arm. It had been years since he’d had a proper girlfriend, since highschool, really. He’d never been lonely exactly, he had his fair share of company over the years, but nothing serious, nothing like Lyra.

“Lucky us, hm?” he said with a laugh, taking a plate as it was handed to him and following her along the buffet line, piling his plate high with the food that he knew would be delicious. It always was at these gatherings. His dessert plate wasn’t nearly as full as Lyra’s, but he had decent portions of everything. And overly decent portions of meat. He loved himself a good steak.

“I don’t think we have any magical food. I’m pretty sure it’s just garlic powder,” he teased, getting comfortable next to her and digging into his food easily. He was grateful they cooked the steaks properly, and hummed happily as it nearly melted in his mouth. “Food’s good this year.”

While she let the idea of the magic being ‘garlic powder’ stew in her mind, Lyra looked around at the decorations. They were similar to years previous, but each celebration always had something different and new about it while remaining traditional, which was something she loved about the town’s parties. To her, every aspect was magical, especially the garlic powder, because it worked wonders on her taste buds. “Of course it is!”

By the time her steak was gone, her lipstick was as well, so she wiped off the remnants with her napkin and ordered another glass of wine from the server that passed by their table. It was almost time to dig into her dessert plate, a thought that made her smile with pure joy. “I hope we see Toni soon. I stayed home all day getting ready. I didn’t get to see her dress.”

Once her wine came, she immediately took a bite of chocolate cake and had to place a hand on Tris’s wrist and give him a light squeeze to prevent herself from making ridiculous noises. It was so good. Better than what was normally served at the diner. She could hardly believe there was no magic involved in something like this. “Tris, you’ve got to try this. But get your own, please. This is mine.”

[recklesswolfpup]

ovidslegacy :

He laughed and nodded as they walked, turning the street corner so that the diner came into view. Already he could smell something on the wind. Something fried and terrible for his arteries, but something that made him salivate in apprehension. The cookie hadn’t done a very good job of tiding him over now that he could smell his real breakfast. “The cookie came from you though! I hardly had a choice in the matter, it was that or wait.” 

Lyra hurried ahead just a few paces and pulled the door wide open, resulting in a gust of bacon scented air from the diner that had her stomach grumbling even worse than it had been when she woke up. As they entered, she slid into a booth fairly close to the door and pulled the menu from the stand on the back edge of the table. Everything sounded delicious and she wanted it all. “Then don’t ask me for snacks next time if you’re going to complain that I have delicious and home made cookies from this very diner. We’re all lucky that cake can’t fit in my bag, otherwise I would have offered you that.”

[recklesswolfpup]

@hellishhexing

A few days had passed since the attacks had happened and Lyra still didn’t know what to think. And, honestly, she should have been at home hiding, but being cooped up for an indefinite amount of time wasn’t something she enjoyed at all. So, in her usual spirit of rebellion, she headed to the diner for breakfast, but had the good sense to at least keep a knife in her boot in case anything happened. It felt strange to do that, especially since Nightmare was quite the opposite of its given name and she had grown up trusting just about everyone in town, much to her mother’s dismay.

She arrived just before ten thirty to the diner and took a seat at the bar and waited. She was hoping that despite the chaos going on outside that Jess didn’t forget about their coffee date, but would understand if she had. While she waited, she pulled a book from her messenger bag and started to read, hoping that it would pass the time a little faster than staring at the clock would.

[recklesswolfpup]

untraditionalwitch :

Toni was about dead on her feet when they finally reached the diner, but she couldn’t hide the grin as they looked around. She was just so excited to be in a human town. She caught up to Lyra at the door of the diner and gasped at the cold air that greeted her. She shivered, surprised by the sudden change in temperature. It was like fall inside the building, though it was still summer outside!

“Wow,” she breathed, clutching the straps of her backpack as she made her way to a table, sitting in a booth under a window, just as she always did in the diner back home. “Why is it so cold in here?” she asked Lyra, more than a little confused.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly, her voice slightly above a whisper, and slid into the booth she rubbed her arms and shivered. “Is it some kind of magic? You can tell when it’s being used, can’t you?”

She looked around the small diner, and noticed some people wearing short pants and short sleeves. It didn’t make much sense to her, seeing as the room was freezing. From her backpack, she pulled out a jacket and put it on, shoving her hands into the pockets and letting another chill roll through her. “I hope they have hot chocolate.”