Annihilation (Merit/Vincent/Rika)- FINISHED

[jarahamee]

As Rika and Vincent investigated the tracks, they would find their edges sharp and overlayed over rain and leaves. Fresh tracks, just like the ones at the camp. The same handful of men who had left the camp days ago had come here.

Had they camped since then? Or had they wandered the wilderness?

The archeologist chose not to dwell on it. There was no point; they weren’t here to track interlopers through the woods. They were here to take a dangerous item somewhere for safekeeping.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and Merit’s hand traveled over the edge of the makeshift doorway. Darkness yawned before her. The soft muttering as she stared into the crevasse echoed in her ears.

This rock formation was undeniably a doorway.

Merit stared up at the place where the two slabs of stone intersected, noticing an inscription there. To the other two, she seemed to be staring at nothing at all.

She ran her finger along the contours of the single word scratched into the doorway.

“Temperance.”

The archeologist remarked, perhaps to herself. Merit reached into her pack and pulled out a flashlight. She twirled between her fingers, and then pressed forward and into the thick and oppressive darkness.

So unnaturally thick that the moment the two stepped in, the light before them disappeared, and they found themselves swimming in a sea of nothing.

[beastly]

Vincent watched Dr. Nasr inspect the stones, seeing something he couldn't. She was the expert, so perhaps she had a better eye for these things. Or, perhaps, things were more in flux here. Maybe there was something there he couldn't see? The whole reason they were here was because this was a strange, wrong, weird place.

He stepped into the cave after her, and was hit by the nothing. The darkness. Something in his spine reacted, a decades old dread mixed with something more primal. He was still on solid ground, but could see nothing. The air didn't feel like that of a cave. It didn't track. He should be able to see Dr. Nasr's flashlight. All his senses were suddenly turned up to maximum as he fumbled for his cellphone with one hand and extended his other hand to grope for the cavern wall or perhaps find one of his companions.

"D-Dr. Nasr- A-Agent Ashrun?"

[qhostqrowls]

The moment Rika stepped foot into the crevasse, she found herself separated from the others. The woman stopped short, the darkness oppressive and absolute. Her heightened senses picked up absolutely nothing.

“Dr. Nasr? Hudson?”

There was no reply, and she reached for her flashlight. There was solid ground beneath her, but she was hesitant to move forward.

She put her hand to her mouth, biting down on her thumb until she felt blood well. She smeared it across her throat, feeling a familiar burn as the rune activated.

[jarahamee]

No one answered Vincent. There was only warm, oppressive silence. He wandered through the thick darkness, becoming increasingly disoriented. His recollection and his mental acuity became hazy as he continued onwards. Where was he? What was he doing here? All these things began to lose their meaning in his mind.

And then, his body told him that he was lying down in a familiar place on a Saturday morning. He was not wearing a pack, his boots, or indeed, anything at all. There was a sheet and heavy blanket over his body, which was comfortably warm. A nest he didn’t want to leave.

There was the soft pressure of something, no, someone, leaning against his side, breathing evenly. A familiar person.

Distantly, perhaps in another room, there was the soft murmur of conversation. People who a part of his brain told him were familiar. His brain rang no alarm bells. He felt at peace.

Elsewhere, Agent Ashrun’s question went unheard. No one answered her, and while she created light, she saw nothing. The darkness felt smothering, closing in on her, surrounding her entirely. It was like drowning, but in air rather than water.

Nothing. Her feet lost contact with the ground.

And then met it again. She opened her eyes again, and the feeling was not unlike waking from a dream.

A forest, filled with plants alien to this world, but familiar to Rika. The gentle, humid air she knew proceeded a spring storm. The soft scent of rotting foliage intermingled with undergrowth.

And, just through the trees, a small clearing, through which flowed a slow-moving river.

A familiar set of shapes by the side of the river. A large, dark, sleek shape that she instantly recognized as her partner, and the two smaller shapes of her children splashing about in the shallow water, playing with a stick.

[qhostqrowls]

Rika shook her head, blinking slowly. She had been doing something important. But for the life of her, she couldn't remember what.

There was a storm on the horizon, and she knew soon enough the lazy flow of the ash-white water would become wild and swollen with rain. But for now it was calm and gentle, and they could lounge in the shallows and watch the cubs play until the storm broke.

Foliage changed to sandy-silt beneath her paws, and she chuffed out a greeting. Selsi raised her sleek head, her hawkish stare softening to an affectionate squint. The cubs were too busy fighting over the stick to notice her return, and Rika flopped down next to her mate, rubbing her cheek against her face, a content purr rumbling in her chest.

[beastly]

Vincent groaned and turned onto his back, shifting carefully in an attempt not to wake his partner as he sat up. He stared at their ceiling, listening to the chatter of what he remembered were his...children. That had been some dream, the kind that leaves you trying to figure out where you are upon awaking. His dream was fading, and he could only remember... Walking in the woods? It was already foggy, and growing harder to recall.

He glanced beside him and saw dark curly hair peaking out from the blankets. His eyes crinkled in a surge of fondness, and he watched the rise and fall of her breathing. He covered a yawn, then rubbed his face. His hand lingered on the scar he'd received a few years back trying to fix the roofing for some reason.

...
They needed to think about having it maintained. That was it.

[jarahamee]

Selsi dipped her face close, so their muzzles touched briefly, and she raised her head, allowing Rika to rub under it, before turning back towards the cubs in the river. Her thick, silky pelt was marked with dark chocolate spots and swirls arcing over her back and shoulders. While she had cleaned herself already, Rika could see the faint stain of blood lingering on her foreclaws.

It had been a quiet day and the two of them had spent most of it lounging. They had made a kill the day before, and, the last few days had been spent luxuriously eating what Selsi considered its best parts, after the innards. She had been so proud of what short work they had made of the great crocodile that had dared live in their pond.

Her eyes glinted, and Selsi leaned over to bump Rika under her head, making a playful grumble, before wading out into the shallows.

The cubs played together, their boy dunking the girl underwater (however briefly), before they resurfaced again.

Selsi seemed unperturbed by their roughhousing, though she glanced over her shoulder at Rika, tail lifted, as if waiting to see if she would join them. Her dark eyes gleamed like polished stone.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even as he moved carefully to avoid waking her, it seemed that any amount of shifting was enough to rouse Malak. She groaned softly as her arms slid around him more purposefully, as if to prevent him from leaving the bed at all. She then sat up, squinting back at him.

She was almost forty, but still looked much like she had the day they met. The faint glow of her halo matched the same faint glow in her golden eyes in the dim room. Unlike Vincent, she appeared to be wearing some kind of nightgown. He remembered, he had put on a robe after he showered, but then, as usual, got too warm and discarded it somewhere.

Her voice was a mixture between a plead and a displeased growl. Her arms were strong around his body.

“We have another hour. You don’t… need to get up yet. Stay here with me.”

The back of his mind supplied him with answers: the children had another hour of television they were allowed to watch with Cinnamon, before Joey had to get ready to go to his soccer game, and Ilea was due at her art class. The peace-offering of television had been enough to pacify the children and had allowed them to make room for time with each other on Friday nights (Cinnamon slept in one of the children’s rooms, for fastest access to cartoons in the morning).

Through the door, he thought he might have heard a conspiracy to get the "bagel bites" out of the freezer as supplemental breakfast. Cinnamon chimed in with his own opinion. The television murmured; whatever discussion the children had was apparently settled now.

[qhostqrowls]

Rika rose with a grumble, trailing her mate into the water. She had just been getting comfortable.

The first dunk she ignored, but when Ashai next held his sibling beneath the water a few heartbeats too long, she padded over to intervene.

“Gentle,” She chided, shoving softly at him with a splayed paw. The cub growled, rolling onto his back and then bounding playfully away. Rika pounced, grabbing him gently with her forepaws and flopping heavily into the water, pulling him close.

He snarled with a fake anger as she cleaned his face with her rough tongue. She felt a swell of affection as he looked up at her with those dark eyes, and rubbed her cheek against his. She had missed them - felt it in her chest. But why? She had been with them this whole time.

Kisra clambered onto her side, claws digging painfully into her sleek fur. Rika’s muzzle twitched. They were getting so big. Stronger than they yet knew.

“He’s not sharing,” She complained, a plaintive meow.

“Then teach him to share.” Selsi said from behind them, and Rika huffed out a laugh at the way the cub stared down at her brother.

She rose, and Kisra plopped back into the water, Ashai ducking beneath the surface to swim a few feet away.

“It’s mine now,” She said, picking the stick up in her jaws. “Bet you can’t get it back.”

[jarahamee]

Selsi swam gracefully closer to the center of the river, keeping a watchful eye on the cubs as they played. She made a large and lazy circle around Rika, before rolling hard to the right, splashing her with water as she moved. The large mustelid’s blunt head resurfaced, blinking back at Rika.

Her eyes squeezed closed in a mischievous alien smile.

“We should go upriver to hunt tomorrow,” offered Selsi, making a slow arc around Kisra. She was already anticipating Ashai’s ‘revenge.’ Hopefully their cub would not be injured when he came around to dunk her again after she took the stick.

Kisra grasped the stick between her teeth, paddling frantically for the other side, only to be surprised by Ashai, who leapt on her back and mouthed her legs.

“Hey! Moooomm!!”

She splashed frantically, crawling her way out and into the calm but muddy shores, dragging her brother behind her.

[beastly]

"I know. Sorry, dear. Had weird dreams."

Vincent leaned in and kissed Malak's forehead, still feeling sleepy and cozy. The morning light was only just creeping across the wall, and they had some time before they needed to start getting things rolling.

Vincent smiled as he overhead the children's bagel plot, putting an arm around his wife.

"I think...They're about to start foraging."

Ilea was fully capable of operating a microwave, he had no concerns. He had been planning to try the new plant bacon out on them, but that could wait. He did think it was funny, hearing them conspire through the door.

[jarahamee]

“You always have such strange dreams. Troubled dreams. You should talk to your therapist about them.”

She brushed a hand against his cheek. Her fingers were thin and long; a surgeon’s fingers and leaned her head against his gently. Her hair was still jet black, while his had become more visibly gray these last few years.

While her tone was as serious as ever, there was a note of concern in her voice. Almost reluctantly, she grasped towards the nightstand, fumbling for her glasses, before sliding them on. Her other arm stayed stubbornly around Vincent’s body.

“Foraging? I’m sure it’s the bagel bites.”

Malak turned her head sleepily in the direction of the door, turned her head, listening, suspicious. While she wasn’t necessarily against the idea of bagel bites, she did prefer the children to eat a more well-rounded breakfast. Still, once in a while wasn’t going to hurt, and they did buy them for a reason.

“We’ll have to clean up before six. Before your brothers get here.”

While his brothers didn’t live close, they visited relatively frequently. Malak had always commented that they both seemed like and unlike Vincent in appearance, especially as Vincent had began to age more visibly, while his vampire brothers remained youthful. Both had ordinary industry jobs, which always came as a surprise to her when she remembered it.

[beastly]

"Mmm hmm."

He always forgot to bring up dreams with the therapist. It would probably do him some good. This dream wasn't really bad, just fuzzy... but it had awoken him. That probably meant it'd be worth talking about. Malak was usually right, so he nodded. Next week.

He tilted with her as she grabbed for her glasses with a crooked little grin. She was so pretty. Even first thing in the morning with bedhead.

"I think so. Breakfast of champions."

He stayed sat with an arm around Malak, gradually waking up fully and stifling a yawn. And then it was like he was hit by a truck. He blinked at her, and was confused by his own confusion and the rush of emotion he couldn't source.

"Yes- Oh! Th-the twins? Today?"

God, he'd missed them. They visited a few times a year, he couldn't identify why there was such a deep ache in his heart. It felt more like years since he'd seen them. If only they would move to Washington... The WDSA had far better resources for vampires, and, selfishly, they would be closer.

[qhostqrowls]

Rika’s jaws parted in a panting, animal grin, eyes narrowed to slits. Upriver meant wilder and wider waters - the riverbanks were miles apart at the some stretches.

“We should. It’s Beyu calving season. Better eating than reptile.”

This time of year it was all too easy to drag them to the depths when they came to drink at the waters edge. Where there was prey, there was competition, but with the strength of the pack even larger predators slunk out of their way.

“That’s why I suggested it,” Selsi huffed, an affectionate glint in her eyes despite her haughty tone. Rika huffed back, spraying water over her with a flick of her tail.

“I’ll get you the fattest calf.” She purred, ignoring the cubs escalating scuffle.

[jarahamee]

Malak caught his loving gaze, and her very serious expression twisted into a smile. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, the contact both pleasant and oddly painful. As years passed, her power had grown, and physical contact with her had become increasingly intense.

“We’ll have to cook them eggs and soy-bacon tomorrow then. Maybe I can make a fruit salad to balance out the nutritional value of Bagel Bites. “

She sighed. Her plans for a healthy breakfast was ruined. Between the two of them, she had always been the one who obsessed over nutrient content and diet quality. Vincent, on the other hand, was far more permissive, and would often take the children out for treats or to go to fast food restaurants.

Malak leaned back against him, as if he were a chair, her hands resting on his arms. She seemed content, and he knew very well that she valued their time alone together even more now that they had two children (three if one counted Cinnamon).

Through the wall, they could both hear the faint beep of the microwave. As Vincent predicted, the children had decided to use it to cook the bagel bites.

“Yes. You didn’t mark your calender, did you?”

Her voice was gentle, but had the exasperated edge that he had come to recognize. It was far from the first time that Vincent hadn’t marked his calender for something. While he was earnest and sweet, keeping track of anything was not one of his better qualities.

“Yes. They’re here today and tomorrow, then they’re heading back to Illinois.”


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Oh, making me promises already.”

Selsi twisted in a spiral, peeling away from Rika as she dove deep, only to resurface nearby a few seconds later with a gentle splash. Her head tilted upwards, towards the sky, and her tail slapped the water.

“I miss the taste of tender calf meat. A shame they cannot calve all year long. I suppose I might get tired of the taste if I ate them every day though…”

From her tone, she was clearly joking. She dragged herself up and out onto the far bank, shaking herself dry in the process. She was muscular, her hide both thick-skinned and thick-furred, a low dark shape that sped over the ground.

She peered behind her shoulder, and then rolled on her back, legs in the air.

As if on cue, Ashai burst out of the water with the stick, Kisra hot on her tail. Ashai bowled directly into Selsi, who made a growl of her very own, and turned towards them sharply. Kisra just managed to stop immediately in front of the both of them, scattering sand and debris over their bodies.

Selsi huffed.
“Both of you, go wash off. There is more sand on us than on the beach!”

[qhostqrowls]

“You know I keep them.”

She stayed in the water, watching Selsi fondly. There was barely a current as she paddled in a lazy circle, enjoying the feel of the water and the warmth of the sun on her back. It was a perfect day, and she was glad it was just the four of them.

The stick was forgotten, the scolded cubs running obediently back into the water. Rika slipped below the surface after them.

She dove deep, swimming silently nearer their silhouettes.

With a flick of her tail she erupted from the water, snarling ferociously as the cubs squealed and splashed away. She caught Kisra by the ruff, hefting her upwards while Ashai paddled desperately for the shore, his little head ducking beneath the surface with each giggle.

Selsi looked on, unimpressed, as Rika clambered out, water streaming from her coat. Ashai slipped between her legs to nip at his captured sisters tail, and then ran to Selsi’s side before she could be released.

“Let go!” Kisra protested, batting at her face as she deposited her gently on sand.

“I think I’ll eat you instead.” Rika teased, grasping her with her forepaws. “A little snack before I sleep.”