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 Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:17 pm
 Fogmane trotted through the undergrowth, nosing a bush here and there as he mused on the dream he had had last night. If he tried, he could almost remember it, almost taste it--then it slipped away again. It had happened many times since he was a hatchling with parents he could no longer remember. Running...orange paws pounding the earth...something around his throat...and his legs...his cuffs...
And there was the scent. That scent that followed him. In his waking moments, he could no more remember it than he could remember what had gone before him. All he knew was that it was enticing, leading him on. But to what? That was a question he could not answer. Not at all. Not one bit. Fogmane sighed. It's important, I know it is. I'd say it was my mother, but it doesn't feel like that. It feels like something more...like the best smell in all the world...
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:27 pm
 Aine was lost. She sat down and looked around dejectedly. She couldn't remember where she was or really how she'd gotten there. She vaguely remembered getting separated from her family many long years ago and had since then been wandering aimlessly looking for the way back home. A way that would vanish from her mind the instant she half remembered it.
She curled her tail around herself and sighed reaching up to touch the torque around her neck. It had belonged to her father, at least she was nearly sure it had. She shook her head to clear the fuzzy thoughts. It hurt sometimes to think of things that she'd lost. Especially....him. She didn't remember who he was or how'd they'd met or even if he was real...it was just a dull ache that something in her life was missing. She swallowed a sob and curled her tail around herself tighter. She just wanted to go home.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:38 pm
Foggy sighed as the rabbit slipped away from him. Another lost prey. He was fairly certain he had had deer before, but it was hard to catch alone. And fish...he hated fish. Slimy, cold, wriggling...he shuddered just thinking about it. Instead he searched around, sniffing out more rabbits to chase. Then he smelled it. The smell from his dream, from the past...warm, comforting, promising, caressing, leading him on. Foggy's head shot up and he whirled around, his nostrils flaring and his earring swinging gently in his ear. She's here! some part of him crowed in triumph.
But who was she? He knew it was a female scent. The female scent. His intense curiosity inflamed him, and before he knew it, his paws were pounding the forest floor, scrambling over rocks, heart pounding against his ribs so hard that as he tripped over a tree root, he thought it might keep going and shoot out of his nose. He had to find her, and soon, before she slipped back into his sleeping world. Leaping over a ditch, he saw a tan dragon, the sunlight shining off a gold collar around her neck. Foggy's heart almost stopped.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:47 pm
Aine's head snapped up as she heard the pound of paws pounding towards her. Her eyes widened as the gray male closed in on her. Her coral eyes reflecting a mix of fear and relief. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears drowning out all the other sounds around her. She was sure he could hear it.
"Who are you...!?" she managed to croak out, backing away from him. "What do you want from me!?" she gasped.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:04 pm
Foggy stared at her, almost unable to speak. Breathe! he told himself firmly as he gazed at the beautiful female, his blue eyes wide. "My name's Fogmane," he gasped out, only lightly winded from the race across the rough terrain. He sat down and took a deep breath, shaking his head to calm down a little, though his heart still hammered at his ribs. "Sorry if I startled you, I...uh, I haven't seen another dragon in a while." Not exactly a lie...he hadn't seen another dragon in a while, but that wasn't the reason he came over here. After all, what would she think if he said "I came over here because you smell good"?!
He curled his tail around his paws, drinking in her appearance and attempting not to look so threatening. He smiled reassuringly and added, "You can call me Foggy for short."
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:18 pm
Aine nodded slightly not quite believing him. There was more to this she was sure, but what she had no idea. She let her eyes drift over him. There was....something familiar about him....like something out a dream...or a memory...but it was cloudy...as if seen through ice.
"Aine..." she said quietly. "My name is Aine." she swallowed hard and looked around wishing there was someone else around to help her. While she felt Foggy wouldn't do her any harm, being around him made her uncomfortable. She felt a tight confused surge of emotions all balled up inside of her. Half of her wanted to go to him, nuzzle him and never let him go again, the rest wanted to run.
She looked at him again trying to sort herself out wanting to give him a minute, to make her understand what was going on inside of her.
Next thing she knew she burst through the undergrowth running as if her life depended upon it.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:49 pm
Foggy nodded. Aine...it was a beautiful name...the most beautiful name, in fact. He felt his heart beat faster. Is this love? This is what they say it is...happiness, infatuation, hammering of the heart...I guess it is... "It's nice to meet you," Foggy murmured, trying to banish the thickness from his voice.
His eyes widened as Aine raced away. Chagrined, he thrust himself up onto his paws, pounding after her, his long legs easily propelling him over logs and rocks. He didn't know why he was doing it--okay, he did. He only hoped that he wasn't frightening her. He didn't want to lose her, the female whose scent lingered on after dawn had broken...he couldn't let Aine leave his sight.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:27 pm
Aine ducked and darted through the trees using her size to wriggle up through thickets. Have to get away, have to get away! her brain screamed at her. She was scared out of her wits right now, but didn't really understand why.
His voice, his eyes, his scent, it all invaded her senses driving her out of her mind with emotions she wasn't ready to deal with. She hadn't loved anyone in so long...she wasn't even sure she was capable of love. She'd always limited her contact with other dragons out of fear of them asking to many questions she had no answers for.
She darted around a bush and made to jump over a small gully with a stream cutting through it. She coiled her back legs and jumped, but one of her back feet became tangled in some roots and instead of clearing the gully she tumbled head first into it, straining her back foot. She yelped and crashed into the water landing rather hard.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:27 pm
Foggy wove in and out of the undergrowth, forced to leap over the brambles and briars, desperate not to lose sight of her. Aine, Aine, Aine! They must have met...everything about her looked right. She'd feel right, he knew it, but they weren't together. Not yet. They hadn't touched. Would they touch, he wondered? Probably not yet...she was frightened...I must have been quite the scare. Charging at her from the trees...I just hope she can forgive me...
At the sound of water splashing ahead and a yelp, Foggy slowed down, his heart racing, so that when he came out of the undergrowth, it wasn't at a hard run. "Aine, are you all right?" he asked, his heart trying to crawl out of his mouth. He strode over to the gully, peering at Aine worriedly.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 10:35 pm
Aine whimpered and stood up testing her back foot. She choked back a cry as it wouldn't support her weight and she fell back into the water. At the sound of her name she looked up into Foggy's eyes and cowered back a bit. "Foggy......" she managed to choke out swallowing tears at the pain that lanced up her leg from her foot.
"Why...?" she asked. "Why did you chase me...?" she asked. The question sounding silly to her, as something in the back of her mind was jarred by the word "chase." Had he ever chased her before? And not in a bad way...the emotions that came with the word weren't of fear and danger, but fun and play. She shook her head trying to organize her thoughts.
"Why are you haunting me....?" she whispered more to herself than to him.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:03 pm
Foggy winced as Aine fell into the water. He took an unconscious step forward. He stopped, trembling at the agony she obviously was in, gulped at her question. How can I tell you why? You're in my dreams, I know you are...your scent is fresher, it lingers after I wake up... But that sounded creepy beyond belief...Great StarClan, what can I tell her? He sighed.
"Because...I don't want to lose you..." he began slowly. "I...I feel like I've met you before. I dream a lot. I feel like everything I do, I have this sense of, I don't know, deja vu. I feel it with you, but not in a bad way." His eyes widened as he caught, barely her whisper. "You could almost say..." he whispered, "...that you haunt me, too..." Foggy stood up. "I'm sorry about your paw, Aine. It's my fault, I frightened you. I'm not sure if you can walk far on it, let alone hunt on it." He pulled his tail around himself, itching to help her, some instinct hating himself for not rushing to her side and supporting her. "Are you hungry?" he asked. "I could hunt for you, if you'd like..." She had lovely eyes...so beautiful...so haunting...
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:15 pm
Aine's head snapped up as she listened to his explanation. "I...I haunt you..." she said not meaning it as a question. She swallowed and looked up into his blue eyes again. Things slowly clicking into place. "I dream about you too...." she whispered. "Every night...along with the family I can't find." she said her eyes narrowed slightly before she nodded. "It is you...I'm sure of it. I don't understand how or why....but it is you." she said.
She shook her head slowly starting to cry ignoring his questions and the pain in her foot. "I've been so alone!" she wailed. "So alone! I kept searching but I never found anyone! I just wanted to go home! I just wanted to find you! I thought you'd have the answers, to the questions that I keep inside me."
She put her head against the wall of the gully and looked up at him through her tears. "What am I to you? " she asked.
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Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 11:29 pm
Foggy could no longer stand it. He rushed forward to press against her side. "Easy, Aine," he murmured softly. "Sit down, you need to take the weight off of your paw." He nuzzled her gently, not even noticing what he was doing. He felt his heart ache at the pain in Aine's voice. A home...a home with a child...he almost thought he could remember it from a dream...feathers and wind...his heart cried out at that thought and sorrow washed over him. He was certain now who Aine was. What she was. "I think you were my mate in another life," he whispered.
"Aine...I don't want to see you in pain...I don't want to see you so upset..." Foggy wrapped his tail around Aine, pulling himself close to her. "Please...I'll make it better for you, I promise..." His heart thudded fast, like a rabbit throwing itself at his ribs, at the feel of her body against his own. She's the one...I know she is...my poor Aine...you aren't used to this, to being reborn...
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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 7:20 am
Aine's heart pounded loudly in her ears as he nuzzled her. Before she could realize what she was doing she was returning them sobbing into his strong chest. The feel of him close to her as familiar as her own reflection. "I'd believe that." she whispered as he soothed her.
She willingly let him pull her close and she settled herself against him, her ear twitching at his heart beat, hers slowly matching his in time. This felt right. Of all the place's she'd been, of all the dragons she'd met, this was where she belonged. "I know you will..." she whispered. "I trust you...I trust you with my life, as it would seem I've already given you my heart." she said. She stifled a sob. "I missed you! I missed you so much!" she cried.
She stayed there against his chest letting tears flow from her eyes before bothering to speak again. "I'm sorry I ran." she said quietly. "I was just...so confused." she said nuzzling him. "I'm sorry, Foggy..."
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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:07 am
Foggy arched his neck over Aine's, gingerly lifted his front leg to rest over her shoulders. She felt right against him, deeply, strongly right. Against his chest he thought he could feel her heartbeat entwined with his and he made a soft sound like a purr deep in his throat. "I've missed you, too, my Aine," he whispered. Her sobs tore at his heart, making his eyes feel hot and his head feel guilty.
"I forgive you," he murmured softly. "Can you forgive me for not finding you sooner? I'm so sorry, Aine...I truly am...but it's all right now. I'll never leave you, I promise. We'll be together forever." He played with her torque and nuzzled her. "I trust you with my life, my heart, and my future. And I will not betray your trust in me. I love you..." He closed his eyes and squeezed her tight. "I love you so much that I was hurting and I didn't know it..."
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