[PRP] You'll have to break me open. [Jack x Rune]

[NymiiNym]

What was he doing anymore?

The male no longer cared for the world around him. He could remember this feeling, how lost he had become when Llyod died. Now, he was alone, again, and had lost someone precious to him. Of course it was his fault. He had been the one who freaked when Aruna mated so quickly after leaving her previous mate, and then had children. He shouldn't have freaked.... he shouldn't have held onto the old traditional values. Now Sayre was gone, and now he lost his family...

Of course he had Alyss and Break. Mostly Break these days, since Alyss was off with Rayne half the time. Break was also mateless and moping about, so the two often ended up spending time together. It was sad that this needed to happen for Jack to mend his relationship with his only son.

However, Break would not be coming today. Nor Alyss. Both were busy and this left Jack in a dangerous mood. Without his children to distract him he was a hostile, angry, bitter man who had nothing else to do but snarl at his bad luck and cast hostile glances at anyone who dared to come close. His shadows would creep further than usual, surpassing trees and curling around rocks. Today was one of those days, shrouded in shadows and yellow eyes angrily narrowing at the closest animal that crossed his path. Ah, back to square one.
 

[Nasaiki]

Rune was so lost it wasn’t even funny; then again her whole purpose was to see the world. She really had to question if she was lost much at all. She wasn’t too worried about it as she had more pronounced and sharper claws than most others and any predator that tried to attack her in this forest was in for a nasty surprise. She looked at her back almost expecting to see her shadows to slither in an almost taunting way.

She wondered if this was how her Uncle Vanna felt as he traveled around the world. Of course he was actually searching for her mother at the time. Mai had gotten separated from her family and had just decided to explore the world. It was partially why Rune was out here exploring different areas like so. She wanted to become a better fox she supposed learn all that she could. Besides all her younger brothers where already out there exploring the world.

Suddenly her shadows moved and caught her attention. She almost wondered if Veha was following her again as he could turn himself invisible for short moments in time. However normally she had a sense that her brother was next to her. So was there something else around her. “Hello?” Rune called out in a non-threatening voice. Oh maybe she had wondered into some ones territory. She would have to make sure to apologize and explain she was lost.
 

[NymiiNym]

A voice? His shadows twitched and shuddered, expanding as his mood worsened. Slowly, they recoiled back to his person, his eyes narrowing. Who was that? It was a woman's voice, though not a woman he knew. Good. He half expected it to be Sayre.... But it wasn't. He would know if she was here without waiting for her voice. He would know. This stranger was just that, strange, and therefor unwanted.

"Who the hell are you?" Of course he was equally as unfriendly as the voice had been friendly. It was typical sulking Jack.  

[Nasaiki]

Well she supposed it was a good question, especially if she had wondered into another modifox’s property. The language didn’t really bother her all that much. Veha normally cussed and it wasn’t any worse than Uncle Abel, who wasn’t really her uncle but she could tell he was super close with her actual uncle and so she just called him that.
“Hmm who the hell am I? Well I’m Rune” and then she hit her forehead with her palm. Her shadows moved as if they were giggling at her. She wasn’t quite sure what to do in this situation. It was her fault, shouldn’t she say she was just passing through or she was another modifox or something along those lines. Anything but her name?
 

[NymiiNym]

It seemed humor was lost on him. He snarled violently in response, suddenly lunging from the darkness and revealing his form to the woman. Yellow eyes brimmed with hostility, his lips pulled back into a snarl. His ears flicked back as his shadows shivered and expanded at a rapid pace. Rune, the woman he so despised right this second, was unwelcomed. He wanted to be alone. To wallow and wither and starve to death. He had lost everything dear to him. He just wanted to fade.

"Then, Rune, it's a good idea to leave. Quickly." He was frightened, it showed in how he crouched and how his hostile eyes flicked around. What was he scared of? Himself. His own anger. His own desire to crush anyone or anything. He was afraid of becoming the man he was before Sayre. The man he had become when his ex-mate vanished and Llyod swiftly died. The man that had yet to be healed by love, and now was emerging once more.  

[Nasaiki]

Rune, to her credit didn’t flinch when suddenly she was faced to face with a rather mad modifox. She supposed half the reason she hadn’t flinched or at least yelped out at the surprise was the fact he had an aura similar to her. It was the first time she had seen it on some one that wasn’t a part of her family. Even in her family her shadows where the strongest and most pronounced, having even surrounded her bcr before she was hatched out to see the world. Seeing as she was staring she looked up at his eyes since that was the polite thing to do.
She opened her mouth to say she would love to leave; only she was a bit lost. When suddenly it seemed as if her shadows had caught on to the fact he was in a hostile state. It must have been due to the fact she had been staring at his shadows before. However the part that wasn’t based off Rune woke up and lunged towards him. “Wait please stop……! STOP IT DON’T HURT HIM!” Luckily they stopped right before getting to him and slithered back, moving in an agitated tone around Rune. She let out tiny breaths of air at the exertion… he didn’t look hurt thank modeities.
 

[NymiiNym]

He froze, eyes widening as she yelped at her shadows and they ceased. What was that? His ears flipped back and he gave an indignant snarl towards the shadows before they obeyed Rune's request and vanished to their owner. His own shadows shivered, returning closer to his form, his horrid mood having ceased briefly. They stayed close to him, spiraling here and there.

"Why did you stop them?" He questioned, suspicion within his tone and face. He stared at her, ears still flipped back. She had stopped them despite the fact he had threatened her. Why? He doubted even his ex-mate would have done that. Or even the mate before Sayre... Personally if his shadows could harm he wouldn't have stopped them from attacking one threatening him, either. So why had this girl? Was she naive?  

[Nasaiki]

Rune gave another mental push to her shadows who had decided they really wanted to rip this male into tiny little pieces. She wouldn’t put it past them since she had seen them physically interact with someone before. Luckily she had pretty good control over them. She looked back at the male and noticed a flicker of surprise; somehow she got the feeling that it was only half the reason.
“Well I found no reason why they should. I don’t like hurting others especially when it’s my fault. I got myself lost and trespassed; you have every right to be a bit hostile.” Rune replied. Maybe he would find her weak or soft but she didn’t like hurting others, it was always the last resort and she had been raised with a good set of manners. Besides it wasn’t as if he had attacked just tried to scare her and offered threats no reason to lash out.
 

[NymiiNym]

Viewing her, Jack smothered a laugh before it emerged. She was one if those.... The kind to use words instead of violence. Sayre had made him like that, however her disappearance had created this hostile male he had previously been before her. He viewed her, eyebrow raising before he grunted in response. Women.

"Tch." He jerked his head to the side, annoyed. He almost wished she had harmed him. He wanted it. He wanted to be hurt and broken and abused. The male wasn't right in the head anymore. He was a failure of a mate, father, and brother. He had nothing more than his failures in life to accompany him, and frankly, he rather be alone.

"You weren't trespassing." He admitted, ears flipping back. This land was as much his as it was hers.
 

[Nasaiki]

At least from her point of view there was a sort of silence that passed over them and Rune wondered what would happen next. Maybe next time she could take pointers from Veha or Wayra about traveling around the world. She wasn’t exactly sure what was supposed to happen next. While where she grew up was loving and a good environment for raising a family, it really didn’t have too many other foxes to interact with.
Rune was drawn out of her thoughts by the male in front of her and she wondered if she had done something wrong? Maybe he was one of those types that didn’t like manners and trying to take the non-violent route for as long as possible. Then again she had just met him so she wasn’t going to make assumptions even if the first meeting wasn’t going entirely as smoothly as she would have preferred meeting a new fox.
“mmm….not…” Rune trailed off suppressing the urge to frown at him, well why was he attacking her then if she had a right to be walking through here. She just stared at him for a few seconds as she tried to come up with a good explanation… the best one just made her chalk it up to him being a man.
 

[NymiiNym]

He viewed her again, frankly annoyed she was still on his "home." His response gave him nothing to go off of, tail flicking around his form and ears flicking slightly as his shadows shimmered and grew, coiling around his frame as agitation settled in. What was he to do now? She was a woman, one who had ventured into the forest he had taken to calling home. Had he hoped she'd be Sayre? Had he hoped she'd perhaps be Aruna or a different child? What had he hoped for?

"Are you quite done here?" He practically hissed as yellow eyes twitched. His body shivered slightly as a gust of wind hit the two, his body too malnourished to stand up long against it. Deciding to gracefully accept defeat, the dark male settled one his stomach and flicked his tail over his stomach, head lowering onto his paws to shield itself from the wretched wind.

Hunting was probably a good idea, but he honestly didn't have the strength to do so. He was relying on Break or Alyss these days, and both children had lives. He knew this, but it didn't stop him from wishing they'd stay home more. He was tired of being alone, tired of wishing for a woman he had no chance of returning to, ever. She was gone, forever. She would never return her love to him, and he would never again fight her drunken self off with mild laughs and a roll of his eyes as she cuddled into his fur and smothered him with kisses. No. She was gone, forever, and he would forever be alone.

Dammit, so why was a woman sent into his damn forest? Why couldn't he be left to rot like he so accepted and wanted? Why was this blue vixen here? Couldn't she just screw off like everyone had? Was she here to mock him? Probably.
 

[Nasaiki]

And here they were at a standstill again, although she was mostly used to stare downs, the only ones that really talked in her family where either her or her mom. Still she could read hostility from him, and while he said this wasn’t his territory. He was still treating it almost as if it was. The whole situation was slightly amusing, although she blamed half of that from her shadow’s personality which was always on the back of her mind. She wondered if the man in front of her also had the same problem.

She doubted it though, they were more an extension of him and aura than the almost sentient being that her own mutation was. He was staring at her again, which made her briefly wonder what deductions he was getting from her that needed two look overs. Well two could definitely do that, especially when he drew attention to himself from his sudden movements.

He didn’t look very well, he looked skinner than a male of his height should be, and it had a unnatural feel to it as well which meant he hadn’t been eating or probably from his attitude taking care of himself. What was so bad that it had kept him from thriving? There was plenty of prey out and he carried himself the way that one good at hunting would. It was rather personal so she had avoided it for the longest time but she finally looked down at his eyes. Ah he had the look of a hurt defeated injured animal, and she had always been taught that those had been the most dangerous.
His question drew her out of her thoughts. Was she quite done here? She did have the urge to at least get him some food probably a cross from her want to make up for trespassing and partially her own oldest sibling nature warring up. She should leave after all he had explicitly announced his desire for her to move on. Her eyes narrowed as an idea formed in her head, her side was mostly from her rather good nature, her shadows agreed for the whole it would so mock him aspect. She quickly ignored that feeling. “Ah yes. Yes I am”
 

[NymiiNym]

She was viewing him, and he hated it.

He wanted the damn woman to leave. Leave him to rot here. Leave him to miss what he hadn't cherished. Leave him to wilt until there was nothing left. He wanted her gone.

He had lost too much in his years. He had lost his best friend and brother. He had lost his first love. He had lost his mate shortly after failing her in bringing in healthy children to the world. He was a failure, and he wanted to be left alone. Her response sent a relieved sigh from his mouth, violently narrow yellow eyes rolling as he turned his back to her. Good.

"Then get out." He hissed with pure venom, though his voice cracked from the lack of use and he was reminded, again, that he was too weak to be much of a threat. His shadows shimmered and expanded, curling around trees and creeping under bushes, a sign he was going back to brooding over his life. This woman would leave, like all women, and he would await his children to remember him and visit. Or wait for the day Sayre returned to mock him. Or maybe, just maybe, wait for the day the light grew dark and he was returned to the earth he had arrived from.

 

[Nasaiki]

The way he looked was just sad to Rune. She while not having a regular childhood or have other foxes really talk to her loved life. She loved exploring life, and she wondered what was so utterly terrible that he had just decided to give up on living. However she kept her expression neutral knowing her looking was already upsetting him.

When he spoke again Rune just gave him a look back not flinching or backing down what so ever in the way that he spoke to her. He wasn’t the worst mouth he had ever seen and while he might muster up the strength to attack her, he at the same time wasn’t considered a threat. Hell even her shadows, while snarling at the threat, scoffed in annoyance or well gestured since they didn’t have vocal cords in order to scoff.

“Alright then” She stated conforming to the other shadow holder. She did however walk past him in order to get out of the forest. It looked like he wasn’t going anywhere and he had mentioned this wasn’t his land. She saw no reason to go out of her way; after all she was already leaving. However there was just a nagging feeling and she felt bad. He obviously wasn’t healthy and needed help. She blamed her mom’s genes for wanting to turn around and try to help him.

However the side she got from her father kept her walking. He had wanted no help what so ever and obviously wanted to sit there and waste away. After all he seemed like the type that would have enough spirit to live if he wanted to. Eventually the feeling in her chest about leaving some one behind to practically die started becoming a bit more uncomfortable. It, however would obviously fade with time. Even if it did cause her to turn back towards the forest every ten minutes.

After about an hour she stopped looking back and recognized the path she was on finally, seeing that it was going to get dark and she didn’t want to spend another night alone, she thought of a nearby mini tribe that allowed visitors to spend the night. It wouldnt take long to get to and hopefully they would share a meal with her, or even direct her towards a good place to get food.  

[NymiiNym]

He scuffed when she left, rolling his eyes gently and returning back to his sullen, balled up state. Good, the woman was gone, just like all the other women in his life. His ex-lifemate. His other kids.... Alyss stayed nearby luckily. Women were trouble, he didn't need them. Or want them.

Still, regret piled. The first friendly life that had walked upon him and he had scared her off. Was he lonely? Probably... Who wouldn't be in his state? He had went from a lifemate who adored him and a family of four children and then BAM! No mate. No children. No anything.

Hell, he even lost his brother.

So he was lonely. He hated to admit it, but he knew it was there, nagging and violently clawing at his heart. Lonely. He hadn't felt that since before he met Sayre. Since when Llyod went tumbling down the cliff. Since.....

Ugh.