"I'm cursed." Douceur looked up from the bag he was working on at the sound of the heartfelt lament. Or, it would have been heartfelt if it had been coming from just about anyone else. But then, Black Bart was known to whimper and whine from time to time and Dou had long ago learned to take it with a grain of sand.The younger male let out a sigh that begged for a pity he wouldn't get from the gentle giant and flopped down next to Dou, his face pressed into his paws.
"My mother cursed me on my birth and I'm forever to wander the worl' without a bonny lass at my side." And so was the simpering Dou had heard time and time again. He and Barth had been friends for a long time, and while he often deferred to Barth's orders, Dou was the elder and likely wiser in most things. He just knew and understood that Barth was far more a leader than he'd ever be. His muscle was put to far better use with Barth guiding it.
Now, usually, Dou would just let it go. He wouldn't say anything, just let Barth have his pity-party and be done with it.
But it seemed like today he was in a rather masochistic mood.
"Lose a lady again, did you?" Why had he even bothered to say anything? He should have just kept his big mouth shut.
"O' course I did, why else would I be here?" Why else indeed. It took an extreme effort and patience to not roll his eyes.
"Maybe you should try a diff-"
Barth frowned when Dou suddenly stopped speaking, looking up to see what had caught the other male's attention so strongly that he'd just shut down like that. He was looking past him, a slight frown on his face. What was-
As soon as Barth sat up and turned around, he knew exactly what had stolen Dou's words. Relief washed over him so strongly, he thought he might be pushed over from it. In an instant he was on his feet and running over to the tiny female that had just topped a nearby rise. He was on her before she could take a breath, curling around and nuzzling her as if she was his own beloved little sister.
"Oh, lass, we were so worried about ye." Rime thought she could handle it, this coming home thing. She thought she could stand seeing Barth and Dou and her brothers and parents again without feeling that sick lump in her chest. But she had been so very wrong. The pain only seemed to grow as Barth hugged and cuddled her. Nothing had changed and yet everything had. Barth still saw her as the little thing that needed coddling and protecting. She didn't even know how Dou saw her, but when her blue eyes met his as he slowly lumbered close, she could see the deep-seated concern. And yet for all that hadn't changed, she had. She felt used, broken, cold. When once Barth's cuddling would have prompted her to smirk and shove him away, she now felt nothing. Nothing but for the painful ache in her heart that told her this wasn't what she wanted. This scent that filled her head wasn't the one she wanted, the male pressed against her wasn't who she wanted. And she hated herself for that. She'd been used, a toy to entertain him while he went off in search of someone else. She'd meant nothing to him and yet somehow he'd meant everything to her. For that, she hated herself. For the pain she couldn't let go of, she hated herself. She had been abused and yet she was the one hurting from the loss when she should have nothing but hate.
With Barth's paws wrapped around her and his stupid, smiling face nuzzling her neck, she looked up, gold and blue eyes meeting for the first time in a long time.
Dou pulled up short at the look he had never before seen in Rime's eyes. He could only begin to describe it as devastation and a look of quiet resignation. Where there had once been a fire in her eyes, now there was nothing. Merely chips of ice in the poor girl's face. It was if something had taken her soul.
An anger so profound it scared the hell out of him grew within his heart. He wanted to maul whatever had taken their little girl away and destroyed her. Because this wasn't Auslief. This wasn't the reserved lioness who could be pushed to her limit and start yelling at the two big brutes who wouldn't leave her alone. This wasn't the girl who used to do anything to be useful so that she could come along on their hunts. This wasn't the little scamp who'd ask too many questions. This was Rime.
He wanted Auslief back.
Barth froze when he realized something was wrong, very wrong. Rime wasn't pushing him away. She wasn't grumbling at him or even whining that he needed to go find some other lady to paw all over. It was like holding a rock.A shocked frown on his maw, he pulled back, his dark eyes searching her face.
"Lass...?" She didn't move, didn't speak, and that terrified him. His heart turned cold as he placed his paws on either side of her maw, forcing her to look at him. "Baby, are ye okay?"
She blinked at him. Once. Twice. Then a slow breath in... and then out.
"I'm fine, Barth." Her words should have taken the strain out of his shoulders, should have lifted the burden that was starting to settle on his soul. But they didn't. All that frigid string of words managed to do was break his heart.
She didn't even object to him calling her baby. She hated endearments.
And then she was moving from his grasp, walking slowly past Dou, towards the inner pridelands.
"Rime?" Dou's voice was soft, but both males knew she could hear it. She kept walking. "...Auslief?"
Only then did her pawsteps falter. Only then did she stop, only then did they see her tremble. But she didn't look back at them.
"I'm tired, Dou. I had a long trip and I just want to get some rest." And with that she padded away.
It was only until the dragon's daughter was gone that either male spoke to one another. Dou didn't even really know if he could trust his own voice to speak just yet, and he sure as hell didn't want to share his feelings with Barth. That was a privilege only Rime had and he wasn't going to share it with anyone else.She deserved that much.
Barth, however, had far less tact than him.
"I'll gut the bloody b*****d," the golden lion snarled, black eyes blazing with a fury so fierce Dou wondered how it was that Barth didn't burst into flames. As much as Dou would have disagreed with him in the past, as much as any other time he wold have cautioned Barth against so rash an action, in this one thing they were united. Gods help whatever fool had hurt their princess.
For if a pirate ever found him, if one of the dragon's crew ever found him, Death would be a far kinder friend to the b*****d than they ever would be.
(WC: 1,224)