~ Change of Hearts ~
LYKOS
White.
Everything is white.
That's all Lykos knows as he lays buried under who knows how many feet of snow, with his body curled around the still form nestled against his chest. He can feel the warmth, but no movement, though that could easily be due to the pressure of the heavy blanket of white draped over them. Is his fur enough to shield against the several million particles of ice? Will they get out?
He gets his answer soon enough.
"Saphira!"
"Saph! Where are you?"
"Shout if you can hear us! We'll find you!"
Several female voices call out, muffled by the snow between them and his ears, but he can hear them. One he faintly recognizes to be Chloe's, and another… the goddess.
He can't manage to move. His body is much too battered for that. It feels as if it's taking all the little strength he has left just to keep himself somewhat conscious, but for how much longer can he hold out?
Then, he hears something else; faint sniffs and excited whines of timber wolves, followed by the noise of snow being scraped and dug through. It's really close, perhaps only a couple feet above him.
"The timbers got something!"
Forcing himself to ward off the ever encroaching will to simply be overcome by sleep, Lykos waits, listening as the sounds of digging and voices grow louder. Snow begins to shift and trickle down from right above his ears, before he feels something brush against them and scooping out more snow. Then again, against his head; his shoulders, his back, until finally the surface is broken. He closes his eyes as more of his face and body are cleared of snow, only reopening them when he no longer hears or feels any more digging being done.
The first thing he sees are the faces of three timber wolves, peering at him curiously before they back off to give way to the goddess of the hunt herself.
"Saphira?" Artemis prompts softly, probably expecting to see her huntress. However, upon only seeing Lykos, she falters, and the hope slips from her expression as she realizes that he is not the one she was hoping to find.
With an exhausted, half-lidded gaze, Lykos lifts his eyes to meet her silver ones and the two hold each other's gaze for a moment. Despite how horridly tired and weakened he is, he's still surprised when he finds the gleam of new emotions mar her face, ones he knows all too when he sees them. He saw them many times, in his own reflections… and when he met a kind Hesperide in the woods.
Guilt, and regret.
Artemis sniffles, falling to her knees in defeat. Her eyes glisten with the threat of tears as she slowly sweeps her gaze over him, seeming to take in more than just his wounds, but the weight of the situation. Her posture sways, as if threatening to keel over from the pain of her emotion alone.
"I- I saw you try to save…" she trails off, meeting his eyes once more while the tears finally begin to trickle down.
Behind the goddess, a crowd of hunters and campers has formed. He spots Thalia, Clarisse, and Laura among them. From the midst of the gathering, a blond girl forcefully shoves her way to the front; it's Chloe. The healer at first has a look of hope, but upon seeing only seeing Artemis and Lykos, her hopeful smile falters. Her eyes widen, and she slowly shakes her head, as if in horrified disbelief.
The moon goddess heaves a shaky breath, clearly fighting to contain her emotions as she hunches over to support herself on her palms. Lykos only feverishly watches her, waiting to see what she does now.
"I did this," she murmurs, her voice full of pain and regret. Locking their gaze, she finally says what he was waiting for.
"I- I'm so sorry."
There it is, and he knows that she is being sincere, genuine, with all her heart. Slowly blinking, Lykos wills energy into his legs and shifts his body more to the side, finally revealing the precious life that he had shielded with his own, nestled against his chest with her eyes closed. Artemis' eyes widen at the revelation and she scrambles toward him.
"Saphira!" she cries, practically diving to scoop the girl into her arms. As limp as she is, Artemis quickly raises the girl's body and presses her ear to Saphira's chest. For only a couple seconds, there is silence, which is then broken by the sob of relief that escapes the goddess' lips.
"She's alive!" she sobs, cradling Saphira to her chest. She snaps her tearful gaze to him, her voice cracking with emotion. "You kept her alive!"
The announcement rings out and throws the crowd into a joyful uproar, with many of the hunters cheering and hugging each other in relief that their sister was alright. Thalia leads the charge, followed by Laura, Amaris, and a few others, however the one who overtakes them all and beats them to the scene is none other than Chloe. The healer drops to a sliding halt right beside Artemis and dares to steal the unconscious Hesperide away from her in a fierce embrace that's quickly joined by Thalia and the others. The girls share sniffles and tears of joy, but Artemis surprises them all when she leans towards Lykos, but no one is more surprised than him when she reaches out to gently lay her hand on his head.
"Thank you," she whispers, "for saving my huntress."
Lykos sighs, slowly dipping his head in response. His rediscovery of the ability to speak seems to have been temporary, but even if he could still speak, she wouldn't understand him in this form. He watches as Chloe begins to tend to Saphira, joined by other healers who take great care in handling the unconscious girl. She will be okay; he has faith in Chloe.
His eyes begin to close while his head falls slowly towards the ground, laying in the soft, frigid snow. His exhaustion finally is overcoming him. They've won. Nothing will go wrong while he rests, surely. It's okay. He did what he had to do.
"Lykos?"
He hears a girl's voice; it's Thalia's, and a hand prompts him for a response, but he's too tired. He manages a flick of the ear, but he does not lift his head again. He's just going to sleep for a little while, get his energy back. They'll take care of Saphira while he rests.
Finally, he can feel a strange sense of peaceful calm begin to overcome him, thousands of years of pain, sadness, and loneliness washing away. The last time he felt this at peace was the latest reunion with Katarina... before she died. She had been right. He had found another person to devote himself to... maybe not in the same way as he had done for Katarina, but it is a way nonetheless. He has purpose now. He is not alone anymore.
With that final thought, Lykos closes his eyes and lets himself fade away.
