i stayed in the darkness with you ★ [boyce]

[Ridley]

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind

To believe that one is bulletproof, untouchable by the world's malice and danger, was to be ignorant. It meant that they were blind, would be blind, until they acknowledged their own mortality and allowed their eyes to see. Even so, sometimes there was just no choice in the matter. Unstoppable forces or immovable objects came into play, making decisions useless in the face of destiny. A piece, whether pawn or king, could become suddenly stuck, sightless to anything else besides the one thing robbing them of vision and mobility. They would be trapped, safe to move a different day on the board of life, but stuck all the same.

What would Sapientia think, all the lovely pieces that lingered in the darkness waiting for a call to war, when they realized such a trap had captured their dark queen? There was no mistaking how blindsided Ridley was by her guest, her lovely guest that had accepted her invitation even when the odds said it would only end in tragedy for them both. But just one night! It was all they asked, all Ridley so desired. How bad could it all go? She'd spend the hours in the dark by Alice, forgetting of war and Midas and even sweet, gone Taru. Tonight, it would be her words and her thoughts and her actions. There would be no one influencing Ridley other than herself.

The night and all its stars held more promise than ever before. As Ridley settled down beneath them, the moonlight illuminating the moors as they expanded out before her, she could barely control the anxiety building in her chest. One night, one stolen night, to talk and laugh and touch. Now, just one night seemed almost too much to ask. Even so, it still made Ridley ache with the idea of having more than just a night. What of a stolen week with Alice? A stolen lifetime? Imagining the rest of her years flitted away with witty conversation and mutual desire caused a gentle smile to stretch on her face. It had been a brief conversation, after their paths had collided so unceremoniously, but one that had filled Ridley with a desire for companionship and wanting that she had yet to experience in a long while. She'd almost believed she had buried the loneliness in her heart so deep in her chest that she would never feel it again. But now, unleashed to feel its full pain all over again, Ridley wanted nothing more than for Alice to fill the emptiness that had resurfaced with their meeting. Only if for a night.

"So, what do you think of my throne?" the dark she-beast asked with a laugh. It was a joke, completely so. To be laying in the furthest reaches of the moors, just on the edge of the skinny pine forest that was some 10 or 20 years young, was nothing extravagant. Ridley simply favored it as her main hotspot for nighttime because she was rarely bothered, the moors were one place where she didn't feel claustrophobic, and the stars illuminated the empty space all around her so beautifully. "I'm sure you expected me to sleep on a mountain of Animos skulls, from all the poor souls I've gobbled up, what with all the stories others scratch up about me," the female laughed some more, teasing Alice about the very common perception that seemed to frighten other beings (even if all the stories weren't exactly lies). "But maybe you'll find me different," Ridley's laughing slowly faded as she looked towards the other female, holding her gaze calmly, "I'd hope you'd make up a much better story about me than your other simple-minded packmates." She was tempted to lean in a whisper the next few words, letting her mouth tingle with the fur around Alice's ear like she loved to do. The female restrained herself, however, keeping the distance between them as some kind of buffer (mostly for her own sake). "You can say how I kidnapped you, took you as my prisoner. How I, Ridley of Sapientia, let you live." How I wanted nothing more than to never let you go.

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart

[Boyce]

I don't tell anyone about the way you hold my hand,
I don't tell anyone about the things that we have planned

Never in her life had Alice engaged in rebellion. That is, the process of near anarchy where her superiors became null and void and the only thing that mattered were the things that she wanted. Sticking with the rules of thumb had always been something that she had done; it gave her a sense of danger to be sneaking around with the most hated adversary of her leader. The adrenaline that pumped like blood through her veins was more powerful than anything that she had ever experienced. Scratch that, being with Ridley and feeling the desire for the mentioned she-wolf took first place. There was nothing that could ever compare to how much she wanted the Sapientia alpha female. She was so elegant, so intelligent and so very beautiful. Especially when the moon and starlight caught the edges of her dark coat; turning it to the brightest silver. In the bright yellow hued eyes of the young black-and-white female, there was nothing more enchanting than that very sight. As Ridley laid beneath the stars in the comfort of her surroundings, Alice found herself studying the lovely leader. She knew from personal and physical experience that Ridley's body was both strong and feminine. There was hard muscle beneath her thick, dark furred coat that foretold of the hardships that had occurred in her life.

Alice was nothing like that. Her body held no hardness to it because she often lived the easy life, full of comfort and there was very little stress. Due to her insanity she was more often than not avoided during her time as a loner and even as a part of the Animos pack, she was never given anything difficult to do. Her abilities were highly underestimated by all those that she came across. Something in the depths of her jagged, torn mind whispered that Ridley was the first who did not see her as the others did. They all treated her like a child the second that they learned of her alternate persona. Would Ridley's treatment of her change when she learned the truth? In the short time that Alice had lived on this earth, she had learned many things to be true. None would be as dominant nor hold as much weight as the realization that she came across after the whole ordeal with Fenris. In this reality, painful as it was, if something appeared to be too good to be true then it most likely was. She found herself fearing the possibility that after this night Ridley would find herself realizing that Alice wasn't what she desired any longer. Was she just a play thing for now? Something that could be tossed to the side due to the lack of any attachment? That was something that shook Alice to her core. Terror at being a simple object flashed through her and caused her body to stiffen considerably. Despite her choice to follow Ridley further into Sapientia Saecolorum territory, she was no longer sure that such a decision was quite the wisest she could have made. What could come from what could be the biggest mistake of her life could quite possibly scar her deeply and leave her even more broken than she already was.

I won't tell anybody, won't tell anybody,
They want to push me down, they want to see you fall down

For a while longer she stayed standing near Ridley, her mind and fear in a brutal conflict with her heart and desire. Ultimately, the latter team won out and she found herself laying in the comfort of Ridley's warmth. For someone who was labelled as the coldest of all the leaders, Ridley possessed quite the warmth. It was like basking in the sun.. no it was like an eclipse. The war that was to begin with Animos and Sapientia was what made Alice compare Ridley to the eclipse. Sapientia's leader was the sun and right now Alice was her moon. She blocked the vision of war with her own frame, only a few rays of what was to come peeked out from around Alice's edges. Hm.. perhaps it wasn't so smart for her to make such a comparison. Eclipses were fleeting and happened rarely; that reflected on her previous thoughts of this relationship not lasting much like her happiness with Fenris. Thinking of her former mate yet again caused a taste of sweet bitterness to flutter on her mind. It was like mixing peaches with sake, a taste so peculiar that no other would be able to experience it. The sound of Ridley's rich laughter drew Alice back to the present and her attention immediately latched itself onto the wolf that she was risking everything just for one night.

"So, what do you think of my throne? I'm sure you expected me to sleep on a mountain of Animos skulls, from all the poor souls I've gobbled up, what with all the stories others scratch up about me,"

Won't tell anybody that you turn the world around,
I won't tell anyone that your voice is my favourite sound

"No, I can't say that such is anywhere near what I believed." She snuggled even closer to Ridley's warmth, trying to keep her mind off of the shadows. This was the latest that the young female had stayed awake for since Fenris promised his return. The shadows always held the promise that the wounded male would return for her and kill her. For a moment, she wondered what Ridley would do if Fenris appeared at this very moment. Would she stand up for her current desire or would she allow Alice to be slain? It was a perplexing matter and it held her interest for a moment before she realized that more of a reply was necessary. "For all I could believed, you might have slept on a shrine with rabbits and rainbows." She was completely joking with that statement as she did not know what to believe on the subject. Anything was possible when it came to Ridley; she just kept her mind open and allowed everything to come as a minor surprise.

"But maybe you'll find me different, I'd hope you'd make up a much better story about me than your other simple-minded packmates. You can say how I kidnapped you, took you as my prisoner. How I, Ridley of Sapientia, let you live."

There was no denying that Alice was completely transfixed with Ridley, even more so at this point. The other's deep, dark yellow eyes held the black-and-white female without much effort. Maybe Alice would find her different? She already did, that much was certain. The tales that she had picked up here and there about Ridley did not match up to what had been learned from being in her presence. In their own little reality, it was completely different and it was peaceful. There was nothing there that could cause them any form of harm or break the illusion that was surrounding them. Not even the thundering sounds of war that loomed on the horizon. Alice glanced down at her snow-white paws, her mind hard at work in regards to the seclusive illusion that was cast between the two. What she felt for Ridley was very much different than what she had thought to feel for Eligius. Yes, she felt a small liking towards her dominant male but it wasn't for the same reason that she was so attracted to the Sapientia wolf. Eligius had given her kindness where as no one else had. He was nice to her; it made sense that she would develop a small crush upon him. As for Ridley, it was something . It was pure desire with a tinge of lust. In her small state of sane denial, she refused to acknowledge that what she felt could go any deeper than that. It just wasn't possible and it was something that she knew that had to be. Even though there was that constant feeling that she did want something more.

I won't tell anybody, won't tell anybody,
They want to see us fall, they want to see us fall down

Her eyes lifted again, a new resolve in their depths. Tonight would simply be about sin, full of desire and nothing more. Alice felt a reply bubble up in her mouth, one that was completely sane however another answer pushed its way past and hovered on her tongue before she spoke it. "Or how about I tell them how I simply walked into your territory and put you under a trance. That my simple glance caught you and made me the object of your desires and how you spent a night with me, a wolf of Animos Regum. I could tell them of how your body was pressed against mine the entire night without so much a thought of prisoners or war." Her reply was quiet, yet bold and tinged with insanity. While Ridley held back from closing the space between them, Alice wasn't going to hold herself back. Not from this single night of desire. Her head ended up beneath Ridley's chin and the slightly younger female nuzzled herself there deeper until the beautiful female's scent flooded her senses and made all else disappear.

Not even the night sky could register in Alice's mind. Only they existed.

[Ridley]

A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind

The world was a tragic place, full of awful things and broken beings. It was guilty of showing little mercy and had a cruel way of exposing those for what they truly were. In many ways, Ridley's mind was the world. It was vast with knowledge, but quick to judge and full of cruelty. The thoughts within it were fractured, terrible things, void of mercy and dull with the beliefs of utter and complete helplessness. Much like vacant territories she had wandered after leaving behind Midas and Sapientia for a quest of self-discovery, even if only to return weeks later with an even more confusing idea of who she was, there was room for more molding within her mind as well. The world was open to change, as was Ridley. Just like she could have easily turned those isolated acres of free range into a pack territory for a group just like Animos or Sapientia, so could she figure out different mindsets other than those of different wolves in her life. When the dark-colored beast would ever start thinking for herself completely, instead of listening to the chorus of voices often filling her mind, she did not know.

It seemed that only the presence of Alice was enough for Ridley to taste the sweetness of who she really was. Around the strange Animos female, it seemed like strings no longer tugged at her fur and pulled her in the direction of war and destruction. She was content to sit among the stars, instead of walking along them on some stupid road some referred to as "fate". Destiny was to control and claim her life, directing the wolf down a path—to victory and solitude, she believed—that she had no choice but to walk. It was only Alice who seemed to give her the choice. The decision to follow Alice, after she had gotten up to walk away from Ridley and the entirely tragic affair between them, had been completely Ridley's to decide. Alice had given her the chance to choose, which was more than she could ask for. Midas had always just assumed, always just demanded.

To reign as the ultimate was nothing less than his daughter's destiny in his eyes, so why did Ridley even believe in any kind of predestined path anymore, especially when her father had always explained such a lonely ending? What good would ever come from fulfilling Midas's wishes and wiping out the Animos and everything they stood for? Then, Ridley could sit on a true throne of Animos skulls and bow before the Grim Reaper as his most bountiful bringer of gifts, all in hopes of.... what? It was easy enough to accept Midas's orders, but far harder to understand them. Why was she destined to be better than any of them? She'd never questioned it before. It was an odd change in her normally cemented mindset. Her picture of victory had also changed. Before, there hadn't been anyone else, no one she wanted to keep around besides herself and her loyal pack. Now, while the Reaper picked over the souls of her lost packmates, Alice was watching Ridley with an emptiness in her eyes as she stood in the sea of dead Animos. But she'd want to live, want to stay with me, even if they're all gone, wouldn't she? It would be better than dying. Wouldn't it? Ridley's dream of winning war and being the greatest queen had never been so confusing.


Ridley's confusion, the swarming thoughts that effectively clouded her mind, had caused her to zone out. It was Alice's words, her pressing up to snuggle into her, that roused the beast from its own trap. Sometimes it was hard to stop once she got going on something puzzling, and Ridley had never encountered something more puzzling than Alice before. The white knight was unraveling Ridley faster than she had ever expected. How fragile the dominant female felt beside her was almost inappropriate. Alice was just a lost, crazy distraction, not a knight. Why was Ridley so overwhelmed by the idea of her, then? The beat of Alice's heart, now so nearby, started to finally calm the dark wolf. "Or how about I tell them how I simply walked into your territory and put you under a trance. That my simple glance caught you and made me the object of your desires and how you spent a night with me, a wolf of Animos Regum. I could tell them of how your body was pressed against mine the entire night without so much a thought of prisoners or war." The words began to pour out of Alice's mouth, tinged with some kind of distance that Ridley could only figure meant that the female was slipping back into her realm of insanity. The dark female couldn't tell if she liked it or not. There was a certain fear she felt with the possibility that Alice might slip away and never come back to her.

"I wouldn't call it a trance," Ridley grinned at her latest obsession as she replied, "A trance makes it seem like I'm not completely in my senses. Then again, maybe I'm not, but I'd like to think I am. I want to be completely and totally here, with you." The female quieted as she thought of what to say about Alice wanting a night without thoughts of war or prisoners. How could she tell her that she'd already gone through books and books of thoughts about the topic of war? "And it'd be a lie if you said we didn't think of war. I never stop thinking about it. It's just, around you, I use my own mind to do it," Ridley added, hesitant about the last part that let on about the fact that Midas controlled her like a puppet most of the time. His voice was always there, except around Alice. The fear the Sapientia wolf had felt earlier about losing Alice to her insanity vanished as the female buried herself further into her chest. Ridley closed her eyes with a quiet sigh, allowing her head to grow heavy for a moment as she pressed herself to Alice. She felt weightless, yet so breakable. She played such dangerous games and sometimes the constant risk was exhausting.

"You know you ruined everything, don't you?" Ridley whispered as she rubbed her chin soothingly across the top of Alice's head. She was calm as she spoke, her eyes closed to the stars and night and the Sapientia territory. "You messed up my checkmate. You messed up my war. In a single day, a single conversation," more quiet words whispered into the night were nothing more than thoughts aloud. I don't know what to do anymore. My destiny doesn't seem as clear and I don't know what to do. My job is to be the best and avenge my father, but I can't completely do that with you here. Are you blocking my path or are you pointing me towards another? It was so easy in the chill of the nighttime breeze. What would become of them and all of Ridley's confusion come tomorrow morning? Would she forget about the crazy female and continue on her way to destroy all of Animos? There was no way they could go on living in their little illusion of infatuation.

"It's like I can finally think for myself, but I can't at the same time. I don't know what to do." Ridley's words no longer carried the charismatic arrogance that had always filled them. For the first time in a long while, the female was scared. Terrified because she could feel a sting in her chest that meant she actually did care about something, about Alice. She curled her body tighter around Alice's smaller form, using her massive frame to cover the other female as she kept her head on top of hers. It was like Ridley was trying to devour her, hide them both from the morning and the minutes that kept slipping by.

The stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart