Green Labyrinth
They....help him. Total strangers, not members of his pack - they approach him, reassure him, try to bring him away from the black hole of ghosts that he's currently trapped in. Still his head bobs up and down, up and down, as repetitive as a metronome with the force of his terror - he'd never realised until now that he was weak, that he would crumble into a mess of stereotypical behaviour at the slightest sense of fear. He's never really felt fear before, not on this level. His reaction to it stuns him - he's surprised and disgusted at his own weakness. There's a stallion shielding him, when surely he should be the one protecting others? That's what Father would want....he wouldn't want this cowering mess of a son, this quivering omega runt.
It's his prickled pride, more than anything else, that helps him out of it. Come on! You're braver than that, says a filly, a large and strong and normal filly who doesn't bob her head up and down, up and down like her life depends on it. She's a paragon of light and strength, and Mbwana lifts his twitching head to stare at her. "I am," he says, an echo of conviction. "I am." This spurs him into action, and with a burst of strength that he doesn't truly feel, he lunges towards the ghosts alongside Otem and Tamlin. Askari growls at his heels and lunges into battle as well, his overlarge ears flailing around behind him as he bites and tears at any spectre that comes near. For the first time they fight in tandem, and even though it's against an opponent that they cannot hope to beat, it feels good to know he's doing something, that he's not giving in to the head-bobbing and the terror. Then, it's over. The ghosts are gone, consumed by the wolf god in the distance, and all that Mbwana is left with is a frisson of his fear and a sense of pride that he managed to overcome it. Askari pants loudly next to him, limping slightly where he'd caught his paw on a stone in the fracas. "Thank you," Mbwana says to the stallion and the filly, his helpers, his saviours. Then he is gone, Askari by his side, running like his life depends on it as far away from this place as they can possibly go. THE DOG LORD |
@Otem @Tamlin
