2/5/2025, 5:28 AM
(This post was last modified: 2/16/2025, 3:52 AM by Raum.
Edit Reason: edited to have Raum bring Jasmine with him instead of leaving her at the base of the mountain
)
TW for slightly graphic / gorey description. Summary: Raum coming up the mountain with Jasmine's body slung over his back.
The mountain loomed above him, its jagged peaks dusted in fresh snow, the cold biting into the wounds that marred his frame. Raum moved with measured steps, each one deliberate, his body protesting against the steep incline. The bear had left its mark, though he had fared better than she had.
Her weight dragged at him, uneven and heavy, shifting with each step. What remained of her clung to his back like a grotesque fur coat, her broken body slung across his spine, limbs dangling, head lolling with the motion of his stride. The scent of blood clung thick to his fur, sour and unshakable, seeping into him like a stain that would never lift. It had been an effort to place her there, to maneuver what little was left into something he could carry. But she had been his responsibility, and so she was his burden now.
A fresh flurry of snowfall drifted down from the slate sky, settling in the grooves of his fur. The world was silent but for the whisper of the wind and the slow crunch of his steps against ice and stone. The mountain would claim her soon—he had seen the truth in the way the earth drank greedily of her blood, in the silence that followed once the bear had gone.
It should have been him.
The thought pressed against his ribs, unwanted. Raum pushed it aside. It hadn’t been him, and so he was here. He had a task to complete, and he was not one to leave loose ends. Jasmine’s family would know what had become of her. The weight of that knowledge was his to bear, just as he bore her now.
Then, the howl.
It cut through the quiet, distant but clear, carried on the wind from somewhere above. His ears swiveled, and he stilled, breath misting in the cold. Someone else was here. Someone who had yet to see what lay across his back.
Raum resumed his climb, this time toward the sound. The snowfall thickened slightly, a gentle veil that blurred the world around him, but he pressed on. His muscles burned beneath the weight, but he did not slow. There was little room for hesitation, little point in bracing himself for what awaited him at the summit.
He had already seen the worst of it.
Her weight dragged at him, uneven and heavy, shifting with each step. What remained of her clung to his back like a grotesque fur coat, her broken body slung across his spine, limbs dangling, head lolling with the motion of his stride. The scent of blood clung thick to his fur, sour and unshakable, seeping into him like a stain that would never lift. It had been an effort to place her there, to maneuver what little was left into something he could carry. But she had been his responsibility, and so she was his burden now.
A fresh flurry of snowfall drifted down from the slate sky, settling in the grooves of his fur. The world was silent but for the whisper of the wind and the slow crunch of his steps against ice and stone. The mountain would claim her soon—he had seen the truth in the way the earth drank greedily of her blood, in the silence that followed once the bear had gone.
It should have been him.
The thought pressed against his ribs, unwanted. Raum pushed it aside. It hadn’t been him, and so he was here. He had a task to complete, and he was not one to leave loose ends. Jasmine’s family would know what had become of her. The weight of that knowledge was his to bear, just as he bore her now.
Then, the howl.
It cut through the quiet, distant but clear, carried on the wind from somewhere above. His ears swiveled, and he stilled, breath misting in the cold. Someone else was here. Someone who had yet to see what lay across his back.
Raum resumed his climb, this time toward the sound. The snowfall thickened slightly, a gentle veil that blurred the world around him, but he pressed on. His muscles burned beneath the weight, but he did not slow. There was little room for hesitation, little point in bracing himself for what awaited him at the summit.
He had already seen the worst of it.
arriving next round or maybe the one after, haven't decided yet
Skill 1/5: Heartbroken
