Weight of everything

LOCATION | North part of Grounds of Lily, near the forest and foot of the mountains.
DATE | January 2nd 2022
TIME | Afternoon, before the sun has gone down
WEATHER | Cold, snowy
ATTIRE | Link (without bag)
TOPIC FOR | @Remy xx
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The Russian Pack had been like a parasite since the middle of last month, when Adonis her younger brother had made a smaller attack in her homeland by attacking her nephew Elias. Melanie and Damian had to put on a show of force to remind their members who was in charge - and it wasn't Adonis and his black and white vision of things. Adonis was like the devil whispering on the shoulder of this Russian alpha Stepan. Melanie was still unsure why they were here, and she didn't have Elias or Leon's powers to compel people to tell her what she wanted. She had tried over the last few days helping Zoe's granddaughter Cecilia come to term with the whole, you are soon going to have  your first change - but right now, she had to push that aside as she had smelled a few strange werewolves - and tracing through the territory that was now expanded to be hers, well Damian's but theirs. Of course, she expected nothing else from them than to test who well it was protected. That was when they had seen her. And Melanie being against everything they were standing for, they launch towards her, and at first she didn't move. It was with little effort she made a force field to push them back from their starting point, making the four wolves jump up from the ground. "Seriously, you have nothing better to do?" She had asked them before they ran towards her again. What was up with this narrowminded mindset that being a werewolf wasn't for a woman, that they should all just be killed off like they were nothing. Here she was, the second born pureblood, beta to the greatest pack, and someone had a bone to pick with her birthright?

One of them ran off by the overwhelming sensation of her strong aura, and the wolf was satisfied that someone at least could realize it was a losing battle they had entered. "I think you are a little bit lost," she clicked her tongue a little bit still just standing by her side of the territory, watching the remaining three move to the side, like a tiger trapped behind a cage. They growled a her, not that it even made her flinch. She could call the others have them come down here, but right now she was just trying to see if she could keep them from doing something stupid. And of course they made the choice to transform into their wolves shapes, growling even more. "And here I was just hoping of being able to go home," she mumbled a little bit before taking off he coat, then at least she could wear it when this was over, looking at them showing off their teeth at her, as if their small barks even scared her for a second.

And old familiar, very familiar scent reached he, enough to actually distract her for a second, making their wolves take their jump at her, making her back collide with the wet, cold ground beneath her, a growl left the beta, before using her force field to force the wolves off her, one of them had manage to get a good bite on her right shoulder, but she barely notice stuff like that anymore. Melanie's beta eyes glowed up, just a few more seconds, she had to breath otherwise she would transform, because she wanted nothing more than to tear these wolves apart.

ATTIRE: Here! - With matte-brown leather boots and a loose white linen shirt.

As always, Remiel took a few days to himself at the start of a new year. The new year had so much power, and tonight the new moon would bring some much-needed peace and time for reflection for the old angel. He had been walking the mountains, enjoying the playful snowflakes as they descended the sky and turned everything quiet around him. It dulled all sounds from the town not far away and left a calming blanket of white across the forest underneath him. The cold air felt light on his cheeks as his head perked up at a peculiar aura. Perhaps, he thought, he had entered someone’s territory. The forest was divided, after all, almost everywhere, and he had yet to sit down and keep up with who ‘owned’ what these days. It changed like the weather.
But no.
That wasn’t it.
Remy’s eyebrows knitted firmly together in his forehead. His eyes glazed over for a short moment before turning bright turquoise; and then he saw everything around him. Things seemed to slow down. Even the snowflakes fell a little gentler as his mind sped through the mountainside, down into the forest he was about to enter. Trees rushed past him; one snow covered branch after the other until – there. A wolf. More wolves, actually. And they looked like bad business.
He was usually not one to interfere in pack business - why would he? That was way out of his jurisdiction and frankly absolutely none of his business - but something told him to keep an eye on those. The edges of his long, graced the fluffy snow as he gracefully walked to the cliff of the little mountain side he had been sitting at. His wings folded out behind him, pushing through the neatly sewed holes in the back of his clothes and he took a second to locate the wolves again, before letting the light breezy wind, catch onto the feathers and push him over the edge. Flying through snow was usually not a great feeling. The little flakes could catch onto the delicate feathers of their wings, and would gain weight and irritation along the way, but Remy gently urged the wind around him to push the snow away from him as he glided through the sky.

The wolves had found momentum, clearly catching whatever they had been hunting, and Remy decided that he could easily land on a branch above them without them noticing – they were after all caught up in something else. His foot found slippery wood beneath them, and he elegantly grabbed onto the branch next to him, so he could relax his wings and peak down.
And here I was, just hoping of being able to go home.
It was an entirely unplanned, surprised little chuckle that escaped him by the sound of the most familiar voice. Mel.
He saw her head perk up, turning slightly towards him and his laughter quickly faded, as the wolves took their shot at her distraction and she hit the ground. With a low growl he pushed off the branch, letting himself dump down in front of her. The wind rose around them, swirling the snow up in a protective circle with them in the middle. “Didn’t mean to distract you, princess.” Remy smiled warmly and lifted a hand for her to grab. “Would you like a hand?”

It was something that had surprised her. These werewolves being able to transform without much trouble under a new moon even if it slowed them down. Melanie herself was affected by the forces of the moon, but not to the same struggle as wolves that hadn't lived as long as her. So, despite the set back of her back hitting the ground while the wolves tried to reach for her throat, she was just about to launch a force field to blast them off her when a wind rose around them, casting them away from her. For a second she thought it had to be Damian, because if someone she knew well playing with the forces of the air, it would be her older brother. Then again, she hadn't caught his scent, so why would it be? Just as her mind got back to the scent that she had caught moments ago, Remiel spoke and a brighter smile brushed over her lips as she took his hand and got back up on her feet. "All forgiven," she gave him a little smirk before looking towards the three werewolves circling around the wind that kept them at distance.

No wonder the wolves were getting nervous, she could feel it. But who wouldn't? Her aura was strong, and then you had Remiel's aura next to it, it could be overwhelming. "We have had a little issue with some Russian wolves over the last month," she explained the fall out. She wasn't sure if Adonis was in town, she hoped he had sailed far away. Her and Damian still had yet to find out what the pack had travelled this far to get, because even if the Russians were attacking them, she could almost sense it was some sort of show. To distract them, while getting some extra things done. But she had plenty of time to explain in. "I didn't know you were around these parts - you look good" she exhaled moving her green eyes back towards his.

He knew that the wolves were gathering closer around them, even if his eyes weren't on them. His wind was not exactly strong enough to not allow them to jump through if they had enough speed, and they would sadly figure that out sooner rather than later. But for a second, it felt as though they were alone there in the eye of the storm. Those green eyes that he knew so well and the blonde hair that whirled playfully around her face as she grabbed hold of his hand. It was a lovely sense of calm he felt as he stood there next to her; even with all the chaos around them.
"Russian, huh?" His head tilted lightly, taking a second to study her face, feeling somehow safe in their little, windy bubble; as though time was slower on the outside and stood still around them. Last he had kept tabs on her, she had been in Russia. "Who have you guys been messing with for them to come this far out?" Of course a highly rhetorical question that would need answering at another time. A question he said with warmth and a hint of playfulness in spite of the seriousness of it all.

His eyebrow raised lightly, flashing a smile at the green eyes that looked over at him. "I didn't know you were back," he replied, his other eyebrow joining the first with a smile that turned tender as his eyes sunk to her shoulder. "You've looked better," he added sarcastically, nodding at the bite she had taken, avoiding her compliment. He knew he probably shouldn't worry - she was more than capable of handling herself anyway; always had been. And of course it was a lie. She looked beautiful as ever; messy hair and all.
A loud roar pierced through the loud, sweeping wind, popping the bubble Remy had found himself in. He saw the wolf's muscles contract at the hip and tilted his head, knowing it meant it had gained enough confidence to jump. "I'm gonna let the wind fall," he informed plainly, expecting her to push the jumping wolf away, catching it off guard as soon as it had set off. And just as the wolf pushed back, Remy flattened his palm, and with it, the wind dissolved up and away, allowing the snow to lazily continue its path to the ground.

Melanie rolled her eyes gently by his comment, if anything she never saw her pack as someone who messed with others, rather than other packs trying to believe they stood a chance. Damian was the ultimative alpha, and even so she knew it sometimes caused other alphas to become scared, and sometimes fear forced people to take extreme actions. Like this pack, which was under the supervise of Adonis.

She shook her head a little, lashing out to give him a softer slap towards his arm. Well, Melanie knew she looked a mess and he was the worst in taking a compliment if it wasn't rather obvious to his skills or given powers. The roar made the beta's eyes glow as she turned her head. She knew all about the wolves and their body language, she had been at this for over 8000 years. She gave a small nod to sign she had listened - Melanie didn't need to rely on her werewolf strengths to push him away, she had excellent skill with using her forcefields. So as the wolf set off she created a force field around around the wolf to push it far back, till it hit a tree with enough force for a crack. It didn't kill the wolf, just forced it back to its human shape knocked out for the moment. "I am getting real tired of this shit," a groan left her looking at the two remaining wolves setting their cause towards her and Remiel.

"Enough! She roared, making the wolves stop within seconds confused. Well no, she didn't have the same powerful roar like her older brother that could make even other alphas summit to him. But she had enough power to make these wolves stop and realize that they were playing with fire if coming in closer. Despite them still growling not pleasant with the whole aspect of this, a female werewolf, a beta - but not just a beta, the first of the kind. She snarled at them, not paying much attention to Remiel at this point because this was between the wolves, and she was sick and tired of the Russian wolves trying to challenge her. "This is your final warning," she clicked her tongue, felling how the wolf within her much rather wanted to fight them on their actions, "go back to Russia," her voice so calm and collected, with the danger hanging on the tip of her tongue, she wasn't afraid to transform and hunt them down. Let there be blood, but she rather it had to come to that, but she knew it could come down to that, and so be it. The wolves didn't move at first, then they started to step back, one step at the time, not turning around at first. At least they were somewhat smart - stupid to turn your back on the enemy, but as Melanie took a step forward they spun around almost falling into each other trying to run off - and then they set off.

She exhaled and licked her lips a little bit, a small growl left her as she tried to calm herself back down again. Then looking towards Remiel and took a smaller breath in. "They are here for something, we don't know yet - I just think they attack us to distract us from the obvious," Melanie knew for a fact because of Damian that Tatia had small trouble with the Russians as well. If it wasn't the mafia it was the pack, not sure which of them who were the worst at this point.

Remy feigned a theatrical pout as her hand gently pushed on his upper arm. As he lowered the wind, he also retracted his majestic wings, not wanting them to get scratches in the wilderness around them; even less wanting them to catch the claw of a werewolf. If he had thought the battle anything on his level, they would have stayed out as they had done in countless other battles, but the wolves were already uneasy and feeling less and less hopeful by the second, so in his mind they had clearly already won.
One wolf turned back to human, and Remy gently ignored the two others for a second, to regard the human curiously, before turning back with a wide, genuine smile to the other wolves. A stark contrast to Mel and her stern growls, Remy elegantly jumped sideways, ready to halt the snow for a thunderstorm.
Enough! The powerful, thunderous roar had even him stop and turn his head to the blonde beta and he politely lowered his arms that had been raised to attack; his eyes glistening as he fondly watched her take control. As she should. It was none of his business, he had to remind himself. And to his proudness, the wolves took her words serious enough to start their retreat. Her snarl turned to sharp, calm control on the outside, but her blood rushed around her body with the adrenaline and her heartbeat was galloping faster than any horse.

Remy reached for her to place his hand on her arm, letting his calming aura shine a little brighter. He knew he had no business in this, but her low, frustrated growl invited him to at least ask questions. “Do you know what pack they belong to?” There were an unusual amount of large packs in Russia. Perhaps it was the sheer amount of wild nature in the country, or maybe the wolves simply had less control and in turn, turned more humans, but it had always been a country of wolves, shifters and thunderbirds. And somehow there had been a large amount of Russians meddling with Gaia lately, he knew. Not just wolves. Mafia. Demons. It was too early to draw any sort of links between either of course, but it was a peculiar incident that so many Russians seemed to have business with Gaia all of the sudden.
Remy gave her arm a gentle squeeze before lifting his hand to her hair, pushing it out of the way of where the wolf had bitten her on her shoulder. His worried eyes lifted to lock with hers. Green like the moss that would usually cover the mountainside. “You okay?” His voice was calm and bright, but his eyes had lost a little of the excitable gleam they had had a second before. She didn’t feel as though in pain, but you never knew. “Do you need help healing?” He knew she would heal by herself, but felt somewhat eager to help. It had been his fault after all, distracting her with his strong aura and that little laughter in the treetops.

Melanie took a deeper breath in letting the calming aura from him tame the wildfire that roamed within her. She nodded a little, "yeah, they call themselves: The Pack. Classic, and very creative. I know," she shook her head a little bit, "it's the largest pack in that area, spread over Russia and some even in Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Estonia" Melanie informed a little messaging her forehead for a moment, just before he lifted his hand up to brush a bit back to free her shoulder, her eyes moved shortly towards the bite. Of course it was hurting a bit, the scratches from the claws down her sides, but she could withstand it. You okay? Her eyes flickered back to his and she took a deeper breath in returning to the aftermath of the attack rather than the shocked state where she was on edge for the next blow to hit. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," she confirmed as she exhaled softly.

She licked her lips a little bit and took a somewhat deeper breath in as he asked if she needed help healing. "Feeling a little bit guilty are we?" She raised her brow a little bit, but cracked a softer smile as she looked at him. "I guess a little speed healing wouldn't hurt," Melanie pulled a little smirk. And once she got her jacket back on you couldn't even see the blood, success story. "Damian and I have the entire pack thing under control," at least for the most part. There hadn't been more attacks since the take down last month and then today, small attacks. "Damian and his girlfriend - who is a leader of a pack in the north part of the forest, they are a searching the other end of the forest, we keep small patrols to make sure they don't do - you know anything stupid, like this," she shook her head a little bit.

Remy nodded with a smile that threatened to grow a little too cheerful and solemnly had to pinch his lips together to not let his smile turn into a wide grin at her steady flow sarcasm. It was a serious matter after all and he wouldn’t like for her to feel he didn’t take her issue seriously when he sincerely did. “Creative indeed,” he agreed before letting his soft smile fade. He tilted his head lightly and regarded her with puzzlement in his younger featured face. “Who is their alpha? Have you had official words with them?” So many questions, and most of them she had probably explained to many people many times so he contained his eagerness. More than anything, he realized as his eyes found hers and her pulse slowly lowered, he had simply missed her presence and any question was a good enough reason to stay near her. Her confirmation had the warm smile return to his eyes and he nodded with her, content with the answer.

He nodded guiltily, his brown eyes widening in a silent apology. It had been his fault after all, so a small help was no ask. A little speed healing wouldn’t hurt. Remy found himself light up and offered her his right hand with a mischievous smile. The wind seemed a little warmer around them and in a little, overly exited moment it found it’s way under his feet and gently lifted him up a couple of centimetres from the ground before falling calmly around them again. He knew he was nowhere near able to heal people as his brother Raphael, but he could help with cuts and at least do exactly as she had said; speed up the healing a bit. If she took his hand, he would allow the bright light to swirl around them and find the way to the cuts. It would feel warm and soothing and would at the least stop the flow of blood.
Remy’s eyebrows furrowed, his face turning more serious as she explained what they were doing; her and Damian. “So it’s a reoccurring thing that they’re trespassing?” He asked a little puzzled at the news.

Had she spoken to this Stepan? One time and tried another. "Yeah, but every single time, he has pretty much just tried to kill me. Seeing his visions points out that no females should be allowed to be werewolves or even knwo about them. They kill everyone who knows about them - and I will be damned that I hold a beta title, even if I was the one inventing that - but I don't know, my little brother is like a devil on their shoulders, whispering - just waiting for me to come close enough again and turn my back for a moment," she mumbled a little in a sigh. Now she hated fighting with Adonis, but she had done so for 8000 years, she was sadly used to it by now. But overall as she said, she was okay. Which was the truth.

Melanie watch him light up and offer his right hand, so she took it, always intrigued by that mischievous little smile of his. Feeling the warm wind around them, just shortly and she could feel the healing process speed up. She trusted him after all so taking his hand had been the smallest issue tonight. "Well, since last month at least, they started invading back the 11th of December, and then it's been a little on and off. We know they had set themselves in the west part of the woods, and sometimes jerks like the ones you just saw shows up checking if we fight back or not," she licked her lips a little bit shaking her head. "I think it's mostly just Adonis and trying to push us, see if we respond, by all means - can we please, just go down to the town and get a drink or something. I would invite you back to the mansion, but I'm afraid that people questioning is a huge thing right now, and I really just selfishly want you all to myself," Melanie chuckled a little bit.

Remy couldn’t help rolling his eyes excessively at the notion of the sexist hierarchy and belief that this pack apparently had. Had people really not moved on from that nonsense yet? It annoyed him even more than her casual remark that the fella had tried to kill her; wolves were oftentimes like that he knew, and though he didn’t like it, he had no business telling them how to do their business. However the ignorance of thinking her any less simply because she was born female was enough to provoke a scoff from him. Perhaps it was that this whoever-he-was thought him stronger than Melanie that in reality rubbed the angel the wrong way. She was one of the strongest to exist because of her old age and her original powers; for anyone to ignore that and diminish it was frankly infuriating.
“Mh, he’s still out to get you, is he?” It didn’t surprise him at all, this mentioning of her brother. He seemed to always be the core of her problems. Not exactly a foreign concept to Remy. His own brother had started the longest war in heaven and then spent the rest of his miserable life attempting to corrupt humanity. Family could be tricky like that.

As the warmth swirled playfully around them, he couldn’t help a laughter echoing the comfort of the wind and the light that shone from him and momentarily lit up and reflected the bright snow around them. The lazy snowflakes melted in the air for a short second before returning their usual route towards the white ground. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before letting go of her, placing his own hands back in the pocket of his long coat; listening intensely to her reply to his question, nodding at the end of the sentence. “I know he is family, Mel,” he muttered, feeling deflated on her behalf; it all sounded exhausting! “But it can’t keep on being like this.”
Remy raised a playful eyebrow tilting his head at her, a faint smile pushing his lips upwards as her streak of words changed into a proposition to go get a drink. He knew deep inside that he would have never asked her, not wanting to overstep any boundaries between them, but felt his shoulders relax at her little chuckle. “People would be pretty ignorant to have the nerve to question me,” he cheekily pointed out. Not at all in an purposefully arrogant way but in a plain statement that frankly, questioning archangels was not something he expected anyone to get in  the habit of. His tilted head with a soft smile and he nodded at her proposition. “A drink sounds wonderful,” he chirped in, echoing her warm chuckle.

"He is not family, - or you know, we cast him out a long time ago," she corrected Remy with a still gentle voice. Adonis had a history of being forgiven time to time then screwing her and Damian over again. An evil circle, but who wouldn't want to believe your sibling had changed? Melanie took a deeper breath in, "he is hiding for us, its not like we aren't trying," she exhaled well she was exhausted. One thing was Adonis being on the loose, then there was the fact that Revna - Ilene or what on earth her name was these days also just walked around down town. She hated it. The crippling paranoia of having to look over ones shoulder all the time.

"Oh please they are not questioning you. I just to have you all to myself that is all," she pointed out, knowing that there would be any questioning in that way. Melanie had just happened to have met up with serval of her former love interests since she had been back in Athena, almost like some god found it funny to let her visit people from her past. So, to avoid more of: oh have you been talking to that person questions for a moment, this was how she wanted to do things. "Awesome," she replied with a soft nod, then picking up her jacket to put it back on. "It only takes what ten minutes walking down town from here," she theorized but never really counted the minutes. "Give me a second, I will just text Elias about the other wolves we encountered," she picked her phone out and started texting her nephew not that it took long. "Now I'm ready," she nodded before heading towards the location, knowing very tell that Remiel could just teleport them there, but she liked walking and take in the nature around them. "So, tell me - what have you been up to lately?"