It was the unfamiliar crashing sound that drew Akkomiakattar towards unfamiliar territory. She usually kept to forests and meadows but while wandering she had caught the sound of....well something. She didn't know what.
Having eaten earlier that day she had nothing vital to attend to so she decided to check out what it was. She had been travelling a couple days and had finally reached her destination. Her pink and blue ears perked as the sound of the crashing was the loudest she'd ever heard it.
Grinning to herself she trotted out from the shrubbery lining the beach stopping suddenly. Wha? She whimpered and back tracked quickly, when she went towards teh crashing sound her paws began to sink into the ground. She didn't understand, the ground had never sunk underneath her before.
Crouching down she crawled forwards sniffing at the ground as she went, when her black nose reached the sinking substance she sniffed deeply and immedieatly sneezed shaking her head wildly. What was this stuff? She shuffled forwards still on her belly, ready to run away if she started to sink into the ground. As she shuffled she could feel the ground shift beneath her, but she didn't sink nearly as much as she did when she was standing. Maybe she was safe as long as she didn't stand up? Her blue eyes looked around quickly, she was hoping there were no other wolves or other animals around to see her in this embarrassing position, surrounded by golden ground and too scared to stand up.
---
Blood splattered the ground as the wolf hung from a tree from his paws, intestines splaying from a gash in his gut. The stench of rotting copper infiltrated the God's nostrils as he peered around, ears flat against a cream-gold skull.
"I know you're here," he snarled out, though the only response was silence and the soft jingles of the bracelets around a paw. "So quit being a coward and face me!"
And the corpse swung, slowly at first, the wolf's white fur matted and strangely familiar, but it wasn't until he saw the moon-shaped mark on his forehead that he panicked.
Not his forehead. -Her- forehead.
The goddess had been slain?!
"Father!"
~
Chronos jerked from the nightmare with a scream that could shake the dead, up on his paws in an instant as he rushed outside. The images, memories? were so vivid, so crystal clear.... They weren't real, though. Dreams, only nightmares... Only demons.
He shivered as soft salt-wind brushed over a clockwork-marked pelt. He remembered nothing; for all he knew, these were nightmares. Not memories. Fenrir...he'd cursed him...
Head hung low, he strode quickly from the den, his body smaller than that of a normal male wolf. An hourglass pendant hung from his neck, swinging with every motion he made as he lunged into the sea of angry waves.
The other wolfess he neither smelled nor saw, as she resembled the sea herself, and perhaps he wasn't known of until his head was thrown back and he let cry a scream of mourning into the summer sky.
---
Akko supposed she could call what she was making headway, truthfully she knew her progress was slow and pitiful, but how was she to know that she wouldn't sink into the earth if she stood upright? The whole time she was shuffling she was headed for the crashing sound, which she now could see was water hitting the shore.
She had paused her shuffling towards the water and she was just about to get moving again when an earsplitting howl came out of nowhere. Yelping she sprang up out of habit, whipping around until she could see the other wolf. She was so surprised and on guard that she didn't even realize that she was standing up in the sand and while her paws sunk a bit she wasn't eaten by the earth like she had previously thought. Blue eyes wide she stared across the beach at the other wolf, sniffing the air trying to catch his scent. She was surprised when his scent confirmed that he was in fact a male, he looked small for a male but maybe she was just farther away than she thought.
As her heart beat slowed and she calmed down she thought about what had just happened and she realized that his call was not one of anger or aggression but it was full of sadness. This immediately softened her and she instinctively took a step towards him wanting to ease his pain, even if she didn't know him or why he was sad. She didn't move any further though, she had been attacked while trying to help another before and she didn't want to repeat that experience.
---
Why him? The least that could've been given to him was memory. What it had been like as a puppy, perhaps as a young adult, even! Had he ever had fun? Had he ever been taught to dance, or prance, or sing to the stars? Had he ever been taught to woo a woman?
Instead, he'd been dropped into a cove without memory of who he was or why he was here. His first memories were the first steps he took as he swam his way to shore and found a den to curl up in. He learned later that his name was Chronos...or at least that's what fit. Nothing else came easy.
Perhaps that was just life... And if so, what was the point in living?
He raised his muzzle to let another cry fall when another voice was heard. Her yelp caused him to startle, hackles raising as he reared much like a stallion might and lunged not at, but away, from the sound.
Several feet back, emerald eyes studied the line of waves, picking out a painted blue and lavender femme, the only thing separating her from the water and sky and clouds being her shadow.
His dream-life never had shadows. So she was real.
And as he calmed, he lowered his head and stepped forwards, curious and afraid. "Who goes there?"
---
Eyes the same blue as the sky watched the male as he reared and then ran from her. Her brows furrowed confused, she wasn't intimidating in the least (or so she thought). She didn't move though, except for that one step, watching and waiting for him to make his move first. He was obviously more skittish than she was.
She took a moment as they stared at each other to really look at him. His pelt intrigued her, the big markings made some sort of wheel with teeth. She wagged her tail slowly as her eyes made her way back to his, trying to show him she meant no harm. She had to wonder what could traumatize him so that he balked at just the sight of another.
Patiently she waited for the male to speak or run, she knew one of them would happen eventually. Soon enough her ears perked swiveling towards him, catching his words. She smiled, her tail wagging a bit faster now still trying to show her friendliness. She took another step towards him and then stopped to speak, "I'm Akkomiakattar, but you can call me Akko. I mean you no harm." It hurt her to see him so....damaged, of course it hurt her to see any wolf, male or female, hurt. She wanted to fix everyone's problems, maybe if she did she wouldn't have to face her own.
---
His muscles were taut as he watched her, tail flagging evenly with his spine, ears pricking up. She met his gaze, sapphire touching emerald for a brief second, more than once. Neither time was demanding or assertive and the loner relaxed, tail giving one brief wag. And then she spoke.
Akkomiakattar... A mouthful... Her mother must've been insane. But she'd had one, more than likely. A grimace rose on his maw; another piece of the puzzle he couldn't remember.
Minutes passed between them as waves crashed around their paws. Chronos took a breath to steady to heavy beat of his heart, which had grown rapid at the sight of another wolf. And a wolf that wouldn't run him out of his own land. If the sea could be tamed, that was...
And slowly, he waded towards her, his tail tucking and neck stretched out as if he was a child reaching for its mother, for comfort. He paused only feet away, watching her, and she could easily see with just a glance that he teetered on the border of wanting her approval and wanting her out of his sight.
"I'm...Chronos."
---
Akko subtly shifted her weight from paw to paw anxious in his silence. She could tell they were still on thin ice, while she wanted to comfort him she was still ready to turn and flee if he struck out at her. The only thing she could do while he decided what his course of action would be was to gaze into his green eyes with a gentle look, attempting to persuade him that she wasn't one to run away from or attack.
During all of this Akko had become so involved with trying to figure out this strange male that she hadn't realized the tide had risen and was now lapping along her paws. She didn't start, she had been in water before and she had a feeling if she made a sudden movement it would scare him and that would scare her.
She caught her breath as he began to move, watching him- seeing the way his tail was tucked between his legs and the way his muzzle stretched out towards her. She felt for him, empathetic by nature this male seemed to be affecting her more than others she had spent time with.
When she heard his name she was reminded that she needed to breath so that she could speak herself. Exhaling slowly she kept her gaze on him. It was plain to see that he was conflicted and she wasn't going to let him run her off. Stepping forwards she didn't stop until she was scant inches from him. "Chronos," She repeated his name before she lowered her muzzle so she could press her sky blue cheek to his white one for just a moment before pulling away, letting him decide if he wanted to allow himself to be comforted. "What saddens you so?" She couldn't help but ask, her own voice sad, sharing his sadness.
---
The tides were natural for him; he'd not noticed it'd moved up as the moon moved down, or perhaps it was vice-versa. He didn't bother with the simple things he couldn't control...only the simple things he could.
Chronos kept his eyes locked onto hers almost in plea and although part of him wanted her to go away, it was because of pride, when most of him wanted a body to curl up against, to cry with.
She covered the distance between them easily, watching him the entirety of the time. She was being careful around him, as if he were a feral puppy... With any other wolf, perhaps Chronos would've been hurt or offended by this behavior, but it was the only thing keeping him solid at this time. And she touched him.
The fence he once teetered upon warbled and he fell to one side, heart dropping at the brief but nearly...perfect touch of fur, the perfect ring of her voice, soft, motherly. It sent a shiver down his spine and he let himself smile, although it was a tad wry.
"Memories, for most...bring pain..." Chronos began, gazing out to sea, watching nothing and everything. "But not having them brings more sorrow, more hurt than being able to look back on them and decide, hey, I could've done that differently. I can't dwell on what I remember because I do not remember anything and that's what I dwell upon..."
---
The femme knew if she broke her gaze, if she pulled her blue eyes away from his green ones even for just a second that she'd never be able to help him. She easily kept his gaze, she didn't feel the need to look away, she didn't want to look away to be honest. She'd helped many wolves as she grew up, usually comforting them over trifle things- an argument with a friend, becoming lost in the forest. There was once a time she had sat next to a very old wolf, keeping him company as he died. She didn't know him she just knew he didn't want to be alone as he died. But even that, it seemed like a trivial thing compared to what was in front of her. This male...she could tell that there was a deep hurt troubling this wolf. She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to fix him.
As their fur touched she wanted to stay, stay close to him but that wasn't her choice and she made herself pull her muzzle away. When she looked at him again she saw his smile and she couldn't help but smile in return. Maybe she could help him, maybe.....maybe if she managed to help him, one with so much hurt, she'd finally be able to help herself. She suppressed a shudder, her own problems weren't ones that she wanted to even think of. Instead she listened to his words trying to understand. It took her a moment but once his words settled upon her she felt her heart ache once more.
To not remember anything about your past. She didn't dwell on the ache though, instead she looked for his eyes. She waited until she found those emerald eyes with her sky blue ones to speak. "I do not know how to bring back old memories, but until we find a way...." She paused trailing off a moment, reaching out with her maw to nuzzle him again, "We can make new memories for you to hold onto" The corners of her maw quirked upwards in a small smile, watching him for a reaction.
Yes, she had decided for certain now. She would take him under her wing as long as she had too, if she could help one so lost as he was then certainly, certainly she would be able to face her own demons.
---
There was never a way to retrieve such lost reminders of a past except to forget about them and Chronos wasn't ready to forget. And the days that he was ready, those were the days he had the nightmares and they were the ones that left him needing to know more than wanting.
In reality, he was afraid that if he learned of his past...perhaps he wouldn't like even himself anymore.
But new memories? That he hadn't thought of...
A smile, a true smile, rose up on his face and he returned the soft gesture of a nuzzle with one of his own, breathing in fur and seasalt and comfort... The femme was a comfort by just existing.
"I'd like that...I think," he admitted, ducking his head as heat rose to his face, then met her gaze once more. She was constantly searching for it. By now, he'd relaxed, shoulderblades no longer touching, and his tail rested in an easy arch as well. "To create something new to replace the old. Even if temporary... I've never really tried?"
What was the point in trying when you were destined to fail?
"Akkomiakattar... Let's go."
As he turned to trot out of the waves, she would be able to see the bangles swaying to and fro from forepaws, once freed from the water making soft 'ching' sounds as they brushed together. He got to the beach, and then looked over his shoulder, wagging his tail.
Just once, but it was enough to show his newfound happiness.
---
