Post by Nova Aviana Ulysses on Jan 17, 2015 13:22:56 GMT -5
Dark chestnut hued eyes gazed across to the opposite bank of the wide river, fixated on watching the herd of small antelope graze on the grass. Much like the desert, Nova imagined that the plain on the other side of the river had yet to be touched by the icy fingers of winter. She had been walking south, following the riverbank when the wind carried their scent across the way and stopped her in her tracks and she had been watching them for a better part of the afternoon. When she had woken up this morning both Kuruk and Thanatos were gone. This was becoming a daily occurrence; both males would leave her at the safety of their den site and go off in search of…something; as if she would be protected from the dangers of the wild world by a thick bramble of thorn ridden vegetation?
Nova had no inclination as to what Thanatos and Kuruk were searching for, but with each passing day they would travel further away from the den site and lately, not return until days later. Whenever they did return, both males were particularly vague about their whereabouts and brushed her aside when she asked if she could come with them sometime. This morning she had abruptly decided that she was going to figure out just what those two boys were up too. She had followed Thanatos’ trail for roughly a mile straight west into the desert when she decided that she should turn back. She did not want to risk losing his scent and becoming disorientated in the sands and lose her way. The only thing she would have to be thankful for then would be the failing heat of the sun at this time of year.
She doubled back towards the den site and had begun retracing Kuruk’s trail that followed the riverbank when an hour in to her trek the sound and smell of the antelope had attracted her attention. By then, her pace had slowed to nearly a crawl, irritated with Kuruk and Thanatos for leaving her behind again, so she reclined to her haunches telling herself that they would just have to find her. In the beginning, watching the antelope graze had a calming effect. Studying their behavior kept her mind busy, but antelope were boring creatures Nova decided and her mind began to reflect, as it always seemed to do, on days gone by.
First she considered what her life might be like now if she had ever made it to Omarasa to live alongside Torrhen. She imagined he would be kind and tender, but their relationship would be dutiful and loveless. He would try to plant an heir in her womb as soon as she came in to heat and the thought of the old male inside of her made Nova cringe. Even given the amount of pain she had endured over the summer, when Thanatos broke her virginal wall, she would take that pain over the humiliation of mating with a male older than her own father.
One at a time, the antelope would lift their heads and scan the surroundings of the herd. A few times, the antelope had even spied Nova sitting there across the way watching them, but confident in the fact that Nova was of little threat on the other side of the river they would drop their head and continue to graze. Her mind was too distracted at this point to be concerned by the antelope’s disrespect for her species. She had entered into her first estrus season two nights ago, and knew that it was only a matter of time before her alluring scent might bring lone males from far and wide searching to quell her body’s instinctual desire to breed and bare young. For now though, she still had control… But for how much longer she was unsure.
The blood and the sickly sweet smell that followed was not something that would go unrecognized by Thanatos and Kuruk either. Nova did not want to see them fight anymore, least of all over her. The idea threatened to bring tears to her eyes. She could leave them again, like she had done multiple times in the past… But something in the back of her mind told her that that might be the worst idea of all. If she left Kuruk and Thanatos she would open herself up for a fate much worse than breaking the heart of either brother if she succumbed to temptation. In her heart and mind, Thanatos was the obvious choice for a mate, she loved him, he loved her… But time and time again her body would betray what she felt in her heart for Thanatos. Whenever his older brother Kuruk showed his devilishly handsome face, her stomach would twist into knots and the primal attraction she felt for him came unbidden.
She wanted to run away with Thanatos, she felt the only way she could ever truly be faithful to him is if they separated themselves from Kuruk, but Nova knew better than to even ask. After all the Kuruk had done to shame his brother, Thanatos forgave him and stood by his side. Nova wished the choice could be easier… She wanted to be a mother but she didn’t want to be just anyone’s mate.
tags: Thanatos
words: eight ninety
notes: this went in a very different direction than I had intended.