1/29/2025, 9:04 PM
![[Image: Viv_Elli.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Viv_Elli.gif)
SKILL : WARRIOR ( 1 / 5 )
It was nice to see other parts of the world not contained within the scope of Northfall's peaks, but Elli was... spent.
Her fortitude had limits, even if she didn't show it. She did not unravel easily within view of others, not even her brothers. Elli's anger, dense and caustic, had given her the willpower to get through their near-month of travel, but even it was beginning to wane as they crept closer to Northfall.
Its peaks reminded her of what she would never find within its embrace. Her grandfather was gone and he was not coming back - they could not even retrieve his body to give him a proper send-off. Instead, they were forced to mourn from afar, to honor something as intangible as a soul. Some might argue there was something poetic in his tomb made of ice and mountain, but the northern summit hadn't been his mountain and his body would now be apart from it, for time immaterial.
All because of some golden bitch who thought she was some sort of deity.
Her thoughts seemed to always circle back to the cause of it all: Freya. It was her fault that any of this happened - if her fragile pride hadn't been so delicate, Ragnar would still be here. Of course, Elli lacked the introspection to recognize she, herself, would not take kindly to a lover moving on, but that was beside the point - she claimed no divinity, but hell, if everyone else was doing it, why not her?
She was quite fond of Loki, after all.
The distant rumble of rocks and snow shifting did not stir Elli, nor strike her as something in need of attention. At most, it was a detail to mention to the pack when they returned, but she largely glossed over it as she curled back into the puddle of her brothers' warm bodies.
After the trio had woken, Elli was quick to get on her feet. She was shaking the night's lingering effects off when the birds descended and she watched with remote amusement as Vitus attempted to dissuade the winged menaces from aggravating him.
Her willingness to jest faded as they progressed on their journey and something ominous settled in her chest. The birds were circling - she was no fool, she knew what that meant. Scavengers circled when they found something to feast upon, and usually it meant that there might be a nearby herd of something or other that had suffered a loss, but this seemed... different.
It was one too many strange things in a long line of oddities.
Wordlessly, she followed Vitus' lead and clenched her jaws against the foreboding that created a film on her tongue.
There was an entire flock of birds converged onto the site, squabbling over whatever unfortunate soul they had found. Her muzzle scrunched at the carrion-eaters, but her expression dissolved when the black birds scattered and she saw what they had been fighting over.
It was their father.
She wasn't sure if the world had gone silent or she had become deaf, but everything fell away. Two-toned eyes stared, but they did not see, not really. Elli knew she was looking at her father, but she felt so distant as to be entirely removed from the scene; panic drive her to dissociate for a few long moments, entirely unaware that her brother's blue eyes were trained upon her.
How
Many
More
Did
She
Have
To
Lose?
All at once, the crushing pain she had warded away came crashing down, nearly sundering her to her belly as her expression pleated into one of distress and a sheen of tears threatened landfall.
In true Elli fashion, however, she bypassed the deeper well of white-hot pain and vulnerability and reached for the anger that lived closer to the surface these days.
The birds... how dare they pick at his body? As if they had any right, any claim over their father's body? He wasn't some piece of prey thrown out into the elements without care - he was Leviathan.
A thunderous snarl was all the warning the assembled wild birds received before she lunged forward. Birds that had been slower to leave their prize were clamped between powerful jaws. Each crunch of bone and dying screech were fuel for the tempest's fire, their feathered bodies thrown aside to pursue the next until none of the beasts lingered.
Those with more intelligence than hunger escaped harm, but several avians dotted the snow-covered earth by the time Elli collapsed onto her haunches next to Leviathan's body. The fire within her had burned out - it left her scorched, a hollowed husk. She trembled, her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing labored from the exertion, panic, and the raw emotion that possessed her. Tears had finally fallen, blazing hot trails down her muzzle as she ran out of anger she could angle at anyone.
There were no more birds she could execute and she was nothing against forces of nature.
Her fortitude had limits, even if she didn't show it. She did not unravel easily within view of others, not even her brothers. Elli's anger, dense and caustic, had given her the willpower to get through their near-month of travel, but even it was beginning to wane as they crept closer to Northfall.
Its peaks reminded her of what she would never find within its embrace. Her grandfather was gone and he was not coming back - they could not even retrieve his body to give him a proper send-off. Instead, they were forced to mourn from afar, to honor something as intangible as a soul. Some might argue there was something poetic in his tomb made of ice and mountain, but the northern summit hadn't been his mountain and his body would now be apart from it, for time immaterial.
All because of some golden bitch who thought she was some sort of deity.
Her thoughts seemed to always circle back to the cause of it all: Freya. It was her fault that any of this happened - if her fragile pride hadn't been so delicate, Ragnar would still be here. Of course, Elli lacked the introspection to recognize she, herself, would not take kindly to a lover moving on, but that was beside the point - she claimed no divinity, but hell, if everyone else was doing it, why not her?
She was quite fond of Loki, after all.
The distant rumble of rocks and snow shifting did not stir Elli, nor strike her as something in need of attention. At most, it was a detail to mention to the pack when they returned, but she largely glossed over it as she curled back into the puddle of her brothers' warm bodies.
After the trio had woken, Elli was quick to get on her feet. She was shaking the night's lingering effects off when the birds descended and she watched with remote amusement as Vitus attempted to dissuade the winged menaces from aggravating him.
Pet?Elli echoed, flashing a devilish grin.
I can turn them into breakfast, if you prefer.
Her willingness to jest faded as they progressed on their journey and something ominous settled in her chest. The birds were circling - she was no fool, she knew what that meant. Scavengers circled when they found something to feast upon, and usually it meant that there might be a nearby herd of something or other that had suffered a loss, but this seemed... different.
It was one too many strange things in a long line of oddities.
Wordlessly, she followed Vitus' lead and clenched her jaws against the foreboding that created a film on her tongue.
There was an entire flock of birds converged onto the site, squabbling over whatever unfortunate soul they had found. Her muzzle scrunched at the carrion-eaters, but her expression dissolved when the black birds scattered and she saw what they had been fighting over.
It was their father.
She wasn't sure if the world had gone silent or she had become deaf, but everything fell away. Two-toned eyes stared, but they did not see, not really. Elli knew she was looking at her father, but she felt so distant as to be entirely removed from the scene; panic drive her to dissociate for a few long moments, entirely unaware that her brother's blue eyes were trained upon her.
How
Many
More
Did
She
Have
To
Lose?
All at once, the crushing pain she had warded away came crashing down, nearly sundering her to her belly as her expression pleated into one of distress and a sheen of tears threatened landfall.
In true Elli fashion, however, she bypassed the deeper well of white-hot pain and vulnerability and reached for the anger that lived closer to the surface these days.
The birds... how dare they pick at his body? As if they had any right, any claim over their father's body? He wasn't some piece of prey thrown out into the elements without care - he was Leviathan.
A thunderous snarl was all the warning the assembled wild birds received before she lunged forward. Birds that had been slower to leave their prize were clamped between powerful jaws. Each crunch of bone and dying screech were fuel for the tempest's fire, their feathered bodies thrown aside to pursue the next until none of the beasts lingered.
Those with more intelligence than hunger escaped harm, but several avians dotted the snow-covered earth by the time Elli collapsed onto her haunches next to Leviathan's body. The fire within her had burned out - it left her scorched, a hollowed husk. She trembled, her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing labored from the exertion, panic, and the raw emotion that possessed her. Tears had finally fallen, blazing hot trails down her muzzle as she ran out of anger she could angle at anyone.
There were no more birds she could execute and she was nothing against forces of nature.