Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga or the Characters within it. BTWs the AN that will follow this one will clear up some logistical issues for past readers of mine. It will also be the same one for my other story Love is as Love does. TLDR: Please read Love is as love does, it's the sister story to this one.
AN: Hello, hello, hello everyone. I know, it's been a while since I have posted to this site but I haven't forgotten about my stories. Life has literally been the most hectic thing in the world since I graduated undergrad and for a while nothing I wrote was good enough for me. To be honest, I lost my muse and I didn't want to write for a very long time. I haven't. For whatever reason over the last few months I have found it again, and I am truly grateful so I decided that I would post not just one new chapter for an old fic, but I'd start a new one. I'm not completely happy as to how these two chapters turned out but I didn't want to hold it off any longer. As I continue, hopefully I will get back in the swing of things. Practice makes perfect.
Please note that This Too Shall Pass (T.T.S.P. because sooner or later I will become tired of typing that out completely) is a companion piece to Love is as Love does. If you have not read that fic please take the time to read it because it does explain a lot about what it going on in this first chapter. The stories will continue on separately from each other, and sometimes may interweave (at least in the begin). While this is a companion piece, it is also a story that can and will stand on its own.
Lastly, let's get the technical stuff out of the way before we continue forward shall we? As of right not between the three fics (maybe more) I will have a posting schedule of either Tuesday or Thursday. That gives me enough time to write and edit. In regards to editing, I am looking for a beta so if you are one or know one please message me. I cannot pick up the mantle of beta for anyone right now but as time progresses maybe I'll be able to find the time. I am going to be continuing Amortentia, as well as Love is as Love does (if you couldn't figure it out), but I will not commit to any other fics right now. My goal is to finish off the ones I have started (and posted) before starting a new one.
That's it for now. If you've read this far thank you for sticking with me. I am so sorry that I have taken so long away from these stories but I will try to become a little more regular with these things. So without further adieu…
Chapter 1: Cold Water
Krys's P.O.V.
Burning. There was only the smell of burning flesh and muffled cried. Darkened skies, lined with decaying hung hollow faces, marred my vision as my bare feet traversed over the smooth wet stones. I stumbled through the night as thorned bushes scrapped against my arms, face and legs in their attempt to keep my prisoner. And keep me prisoner they did.
Every night was the same. I would run as fast as my legs could carry me through this endless, forested maze. Chasing the white wolf with blue eyes had become my refuge, it being my only guide through this hell. I ran, I ran as fast as my legs would carry me and my burning chest would allow. The wolf's white fur glowed pink in the light of the blood moon as it ran. Never slowing. Always just outside of my reach. Once my savior, this blessing that once stood to signify power and purity, a sign of prosperity onto my tribe, now only served to remind me of all that I truly was.
"Weak!" His words bellowed through the stale air as the bitter cold snipped at the bareness of my flesh. "You are weak now, but soon you'll be the strongest of them all."
The baritone in his stoic voice pushed my heart into a panicked frenzy. My cold skin glistened with the sweat my fear had forced to the surface. There was a pitiful bruised yelp that ricocheted through the soundless forest, and the once grotesquely green branches stood barren and decaying white. The wolf was nowhere in sight.
"Papa!" I screamed a blood curdling pitch that rang through the empty space ahead of me. "Help me." My pleading was frantic as I tried to orient my eyes to the startling darkness, my only light had been the glow of the white wolf…and now it's warmth was gone.
It's grotesque chuckle rang in the air, bombarding me from all sides, taunting me as I struggled to make heads or tales of my surroundings. The padding of hooves echoed through the barren dilapidated forest, and for the first time since this had begun my feet were rooted into the ground. Fear had paralyzed me. In all of my frantic running, my senses had become frayed and I did not notice that the blood moon had moved closer. It's once dull light now pierced my vision red. I drew my hands to my face to rub my eyes, and stopped short. Seeping through my fingers was a thick ruby red fluid that pulsed with the beat of my own treacherous heat. A scream lodged itself into my throat as I choked on the air around it. The hooves echoed louder around me. My head hung with the shamed of my own defeat. She had won. She always won.
A soft feminine hand grazed against my darkened cheek, smearing blood as it moved across my skin with electric pulses. It firmly planted itself under my chin and yanked with unnecessary force until I stared defiantly back into it's eyes. Once blue, vibrant and warm, these sadistic glowing red orbs swam with triumph as a smirk spread across her powered mauve lips.
"Destruction." I felt trapped beneath the weight of the one word that she had uttered. "Destruction is the legacy that we will leave behind." Her smirk widened, an insult to my defiant glare.
"It is your legacy." My pleading was pitiful and my eyes swam with glowing liquid gems.
"No," she paused walking to stand near her white steed. This white horse only served to insult me even more. It was an empty shadow of the white wolf that came before it. A pitiful neigh escaped through the caged mouth of this monster. It's eyes glowed red like the blood moon and the rider that mounted it. "it is our legacy Krystal. You and I are the same."
Her maniacal laughter pierced through my chest, and as always, all I could do was feel the impending sense of hopelessness start to take root.
"No it doesn't have to be this way." I tried to force myself to stand once again, but I was frozen. SHE ALWAYS WON! There was no sense in fighting her now. Her long curly black hair stood vibrant while laced with red. Her chocolate brown skin glowed a golden hue. She was greatness personified, and I…I was weak. Did I actually stand a chance at besting her.
"You don't even believe that Krys." As she turned her steed away from me, taunting, it dawned on me that she didn't perceive me as a threat. She and I knew the outcome of this war that I chose to wage. The crest of our clan, the mark of the black dragon, billowed on her white cape through the stale dark night. "You pretend that you don't want this but here we are. Look at the destruction that you caused on your own."
There was a moment of confusion before I registered what was really going on. I was no prisoner here. This forest of desolation was of my creation. There was no other, just me. Momentarily I was stunned. I dismounted the white steed and cautiously made my way over to the river bed, the only thing in this god forsaken place that wasn't drenched in death and misery.
Shock took hold of my limbs as stared at the glowing red orbs of my reflection. Just as the case with the cape clipped to my neck, my gold breast plate bore the black dragon.
"This is our legacy, Krys. Handed down to us by father." The other held her hand out to me, and I shrank away. "Mother tells you that there is another way but she is weak. They are all weak."
"No!" I screamed as I stumbled back into the icy cold riverbed. Her face contorted with rage, and for the first time ever, I saw her for the monster that she was.
"Always no. Krystal, you and I are the same. This," she spread her arms wide and chuckled "is our legacy. Stop trying to run from it. You're only hurting yourself."
Her tone was smug. I had fought this for as long as I has the strength to. She was right. I inched to stand next to her, ready to concede to the monster that father knew I was, when a russet wolf barreled into the space between she and I. She snarled at it but for a brief moment she shrank away from me. Uncertainty marred her features as the russet wolf's masculinity surged into the air. "No! There is another way." I was sure I hadn't imagined it. The wolf was not the one who spoke to us.
"What, Pocahontas? Surprised to see me?" A bright warm smile spread across his golden olive skin as his tall frame inched slowly around the russet wolf.
"Why are you here?" I tried cautiously. My voice broke.
"Come on Alpha. You've got more than that." He continued to smile. As he moved closer to me, the warm light that surrounded him and the wolf distorted everything. In place of the grotesque and white, lush bushes and tress began to sprout.
"Why are you here?" I tried again, suffocating under the weight of my armor.
"I don't think I can hear you princess." He moved closer to me, his bare chest consumed most of my vision. Angles and planes was all I could make out as I glared. He flexed his defined chest and chuckled.
"What the hell are you doing here Jacob?" I roared as agitation rooted itself under my skin.
He laughed a hearty laugh as he gently swept my disheveled hair from my rounded cheeks. "Better!"
I smacked his hand from my face as his grin widened. The sense of relief consumed my very being as I sulked in front of him. "Answer me!"
"Do you ever smile? You know, blush like a girl?" The idiot hadn't stopped smiling.
"Answer me Black!" I cut sharply.
"Sure, sure. Just wake up." Russet fur bristled as a snarl consumed the wolf's muzzle. "I can't keep her away forever. That doesn't mean that I won't try."
"What? I need an answer Black." I reached out my hand and was met with nothingness.
"Wake up." He said, but the voice that spilt from his lips was not of him.
"How come you're here?" I asked, frantic. "Jacob, what's going on?"
Power rippled through his warmth, and I felt a chill deep in my bones. "You have to go. Wake up and you'll find your answers."
"Krys, wake up." The other voice, more feminine, rang out frantically through the air.
"Jacob!" I saw the white steed descend onto him, but, as I reached out to him, my eyes opened.
"Oh my God." Devo sighed with relief, her shoulders slouched as she gently laid me back onto my soft plush green blankets. Tears stained her creamy pale cheeks, and for a brief moment she rested her small hands above her head…yanking curls through agile fingers. "Usually when this happens Momma's here."
"Momma isn't here?" I yawned, sitting up slowly as I attempted to ground myself back into the world in front of me. White walls, windows, white furniture, white night gown?! Check, check, check, and check. Frantic older sister? Check! I frowned as I brushed my disheveled hair from my eyes. Warmth spread across my cheeks, and for a split second I found myself back in that moment angrily staring at his golden olive warmth. I rested my hand against my cheek, frozen in a different kind of way as his warmth spread across my face.
"Krys? Can you here me?" Devo brushed her slim fingers across my forehead. "You're burning up."
"We're wolves." I brushed her hand away gently as I stared at her black night dress. My thoughts were chaotic, if I made eye contact with her now she'd guess something was amiss.
"Yes, but you're hotter than usual." She reached over to the night stand and grabbed the white porcelain cup filled with water. "Here, drink this. You must be thirsty."
She handed over the cup and I silently obeyed, not quite in the right mindset to be my usual rebellious self.
"Mum is on her way now." A voice bellowed through the quiet sanctuary of my bedroom. Great, he's awake. The door swung open with more force than absolutely necessary. "My goodness, you're awake." Relief stained his words.
"Yes Liam, when people go to sleep they eventually wake up." I quipped, and glared at his blue eyes. His shirtless form was a bare shadow in comparison to Jacob's.
"I'd ask if you were okay but your heart is a little erratic there," He frowned as he moved to sit gently next to me. His hand grazed my forehead. "and you're hotter than normal."
I slapped his fingers away. "Yeah, yeah. We've been through this."
"Well," a thick Scottish accent floated gently through the air. "if that attitude means anything I'd say the lass is okay." I stared momentarily at Derek's olive shirtless chest, and images of Jacob Black were conjured up again for me. My heart raced frantically. It was almost as if he were here now, his warmth grazed every inch of my bare skin.
"I assure you, I'm fine." Energy crackled through the air as I protested/
"Yet your heart is racing my dear." Lady Aithne floated into the room, her porcelain skin and vibrant blonde locks glowed in the morning light. Her tall silhouette momentarily blocked the doorway as she walked into my line of sight. "This is the first time you've been able to wake without I or your mother once the dream takes you."
"It was different this time as well, Lady Aithne." Devo started. "I could feel the cold and smell rotting flesh."
"Your eyes are glowing icy blue, Krystal." Lady Aithne frowned as she moved her hand to gently pat my head. "The smell of fear is still in the air."
"It's always the same." I was glum.
"Except this time, it wasn't." She replied, frank.
"No it wasn't." I could not do anything but glower. I respected this woman just as I did my own mother. As snarky as I was, she was always excluded from the mix.
"Care to tell me why?" She asked and was only met with silence. "Maybe it'll be best if you guys left Krystal and I to talk."
"We're always forced to leave. We're her family too, ya' know?" Liam objected in agitation.
"I understand how you three feel but," Lady Aithne started.
"Where's Momma?" I asked quickly before we could get into this conversation. It wasn't that I didn't trust them, most certainly I loved them. It's just it was…hard.
"She's with Jacob, love." It seemed as though her frown was permanently etched onto her beautiful face. Time stood still for a moment as I slowly processed what she said to me.
"Why is she with Jacob?" I asked as his words slowly replayed in my mind. Wake up and you'll find your answers. My slowing heart traitorously picked up pace again as I locked eyes with Devo. Derek arched his eyebrow momentarily as he frowned.
"He's fine." His response was curt. "Your mum thinks it's Budenje."
"Budenje?" Liam's face shrouded in confusion.
"L'e" Lady Aithne began but I already had the answer out.
"L'eveil is how we refer to it. Croatian is not a language that many in this pack are familiar with."
"There are packs that still us Croatian?" Liam was incredulous. Derek glared at him.
"Yes. Some packs don't have the luxury to be as forward as yours Liam." Derek sneered.
"Ours, Derek." I corrected firmly. "You are a wolf in my pack now." Derek hung his head and shrunk back. I gently slid my feet off the edge of the bed to stand.
"Your differences are neither here nor there," I paused, stretching my arms above my head, yawning again. "For Jacob to be going through the awakening he'd have to have met his life mate."
"Or so we're told, but not all wolves meet their life mates when it happens. You didn't." Liam shrugged.
Lady Aithne chuckled. "There are still so many things you know not little ones." She gently ran her fingers across her satin robes. "Not all wolves will go through L'eveil."
"We know that mum. It's a blessing of the highest honor." Liam started. "But…"
"But, all wolves that have gone through L'eveil have met their life mates. Even our Krys. It may have been for but a moment but she did meet him." All eyes in the room locked onto me, and as the hairs on my skin stood. I felt naked. "These wolves are known to be connected on a conscious and subconscious level. Some couples even report to having entered each other's dreams."
I swiveled slowly on the balls of my feet, shock spreading across my rounded face. "What?"
There was a pause. "Not all wolves go through…" Liam began to repeat and I rolled my eyes.
"I heard that part." I bit, and immediately I regretted it. "What I meant was the part about the dreams." My response was meek as I stared at Liam apologetically. He was only trying to help and here I was snapping at him.
"We don't know how factual that is love." Lady Aithne moved back into my line of sight as the scent of lilacs and garden herbs filled the air. My shoulders slumped as exhaustion took hold of my limbs. I smiled softly as I moved to the bright bathroom. "Maybe a bath would do you some good."
"Maybe." I dragged my feet over the soft white plush carper of my room. Everything in this room was white, because I was the white wolf; a wolf that hadn't been seen since The Great Mother herself blessed the first of the clans, a wolf that had come to signify prosperity. I didn't feel as though I signified prosperity. I was my father's daughter, and he had been titled "The Angel of Death". How could someone like me signify peace? I closed the bathroom door and slid my dress above my head before stepping into the water. It wasn't the same as his warmth.
'Look at yourself Krys, he saved you once and you're fawning over him.' I grunted as suds slid up to my chin. I did not have time to fawn over men. I was trying to save myself. 'But he saved you.' I growled at the thought and forcibly sat up straight. Which was it? Did I want him to save me or not?
My face flushed and I found myself surrounded by thoughts of Jacob Black. Budenje…Croatian was a dead language to a majority of the clans but it did convey a message that all the other translations did not. L'eveil made it seem as though it was some romantic, majestic thing. It made it seem as though it was a blessing. But I remembered the pain of it all. I felt it in my soul, deep in the pit of my bones. I wanted to die. What about this was a blessing?
A single tear slid down my face and I quickly brushed it away. Pity consumed me as I though of Jacob writing in pain, seeking out his sanity with no end in sight. I'd visit him. I could repay the favor from earlier.
Some couples even report to having entered each other's dreams. I thought back to Lady Aithne's words, and a blush spread across my cheek. No way Jacob and I were connected. He was way too happy for someone like me. An idiot, really.
"Poor Jacob Black." I muttered out loud allowing my frame to slide back beneath the bubbles.
"What's so poor about me?" His voice echoed through the bathroom before I could make heads or tails of where it was coming from. "You're not crazy. I'm here with you, completely enjoying the sight."
I slid my arms around my chest abruptly and turned to face Jacob Black. His golden olive skin glowed against the white tile of the bathroom. A startled scream seeped through my lips, and within moments I heard the door slam open.
"Krys, are you okay?" I heard Devo's muffled voice float from behind the two chiseled chests that stood in front of her.
"Yeah…" I scanned the room. "I thought I saw something."
"Come on Krys, you can't respond like that whenever you see a spider. You nearly gave us a heart attack." Liam pouted, and Derek huffed.
"I'm sorry." I muttered, and found myself staring at the empty wall he just occupied. I hadn't imagined it. Jacob Black had been here. I just didn't know how.
A/N: And there you have it ladies and gents. The end of the first chapter to this story. I will be posting the next Chapter to L.I.A.L.D. (look I'm already getting lazy), so stay tuned for that. As always your comments and likes are greatly appreciated. Thank you for sticking with me for this long. Until next time, Lovies.