👑 || Reina || 👑

Hiraeth

~ homesickness or nostalgia, an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret.

The feeling of longing for a home that no longer exists or never was.

-

Thick brush and thorny vines made navigating the storm that much more difficult. Every drop that fell hit her skin as through the coat she wore had been washed away completely by the hours of rain she already endured. She was alone through no fault of her own, though in many ways she knew if she had made the right choice- but no. It wasn't the right time for that now. Hunger clawed through her like lightning and thunder, like she had already died and become one with the elements. She didn't know what made her keep going but it must have had something to do with the shapes she saw watching her from the other side of the trees.

Heavy with the weight of the rain, she pushed forward. On the horizon stood a group of five sharp shadows. It could mean safety, or it could mean death. The grey of the clouds and the blinding swirl of debris from the wind hid whatever truth waited there for her but she didn't care either way. Her journey had exhausted her beyond the point of concern for her own life. Truly anything would be better, she thought, than the seemingly infinite stumble she made through this unfamiliar territory. The shapes were standing so still in the chaos that she wasn't even sure they were real. Surely they were real, because they couldn't be imaginary? It was hard to tell. She was too weak to think it over.

-

On the ridge just ahead the little group of five waited patiently. Their position was shielded from the brunt of the wind by the small side of the rock face beside them, and the tall trees above kept most of the rainfall away from their wary eyes. They had been alone for some time now. This territory was once much safer, and much larger, before their leader disappeared after straying a bit too close to some kind of structure - they never learned exactly what became of him. It wasn't so hard to survive now but their loss and the passing of the elders had put some stress on them that had affected their hunting to the point of failing most days.

They wanted numbers. They wanted to feel safe again. Was this the way? This wolf crossing the clearing looked too thin to be a threat to them all together but it was still unwise to leave a potential thief around when food was this hard to find. The tension was mutual and not a single one of them moved a muscle as the wolf in front of them struggled to place any foot in front of the other. It seemed to be moving towards them intentionally. Do we leave? What if it's a trick? If we run will it catch us? If we don't run, what do we do? Eyes darted back and forth among them as the wolf closed the gap and finally reached the edge of the rocky cliff.

-

Finally she reached the hard dirt where the rock cliff met the soaked earth. She lifted her head. Five wolves, all with teeth bared and fur raised, stared down at her. Fear started to creep in as the rain faded and her small hope that she would survive the night did not grow as the sun broke over the hills behind her. She had nothing left, and collapsed into the mountainside before she could make a sound.

She awoke to the soft light of morning and the songs of birds she was sure she hadn't heard before. Had she really run that far? Her mouth was so dry, it was hard to keep her thoughts on anything else. She decided it didn't matter. The ache of the night stuck to her bones and radiated through to every inch of her body. She was not alone. The wolves from the night before stood tensely on the other side of some thin bushes that had manged to take root in the mountain rock. Too weak to lift her head, she closed her eyes and listened.

-

Reina was brought to a small stream a few miles away on the opposite edge of this mountain cliff, where she eventually told the five wolves how she came to be here in this new place. Snow, Yote, Frost, Bear, and Birch introduced themselves as the Nevre - a pack that was once hundreds strong. They told the tale of how machines came, then the structures, then the roads, and the prey slowly disappeared. Many of their pack starved. Many abandoned them. Those that stayed disappeared or became old and died, they were all that was left.

Reina knew of land beyond the mountains where food was plentiful and the land was untouched. Desperate for a real life and a real chance, the five accepted Reina as their new leader and followed her to become this - new legacy before you.