#vantilles

Run with the Wolves

Run!

Ana Sophia Romero Callaghan was running. Running as fast as she could, faster than she’d ever run before. Her legs ached. Her lungs burned. Her heart was hammering in her ears and branches whipped her face, leaving scratches on her cheeks. Behind her, the reason for he desperate dash, a loud crashing as some giant thing rushed through the brush and branches.

Run!

The young girl leaped, hurdling over a fallen log. She hit the ground, rolled, and came up running again. Her skirt was tattered at the hem around her ankles, catching on low branches and rocks. The rest of the cloth was stained and soaked from mud and water where she had crossed a stream. She was exhausted, but she didn’t stop. She wouldn’t let it catch her.

RUN!

The giant beast was closer now. She could feel its hot breath on her neck. Hear it panting. It was so close that she saw its shadow as she ran, eclipsing her own with its mass.

RUN!

She fell. Tripping, her foot catching on a loose root. She cried out and then her voice was stopped as she hit the ground and her breath was knocked out of her. The beast was on her before she hit the dirt even. Massive maw open, saliva speckling her cheeks as its maw hover over her face.

Ana Sophia laughed. She sat up and threw her arms around the creature. It was like a dog, only so much bigger. A few years ago it had been big enough for her to ride. She was older now, too large to sit on his back. Part wolf, her father had told her. More than just part, it seemed, he was the size of a small donkey.

The wolfdog panted and licked the scratches on her face. Ana Sophia stood up and scratched his ears. “It’s no fair, Tio. You only caught me because I tripped. I almost made it to the cabin! I would have won!” She folded her arms and looked at her companion sternly. The dog huffed at her and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, a toothy grin forming on his face. Sometimes she was certain he knew what she was saying and was trying to talk with her. Like he was telling her he was only letting her stay ahead, and that he could have caught up at any time.

She turned and started walking. The cabin was just ahead, around a bend in the path that went past a large rock. It was her favorite place in the forest, small, quiet, out of the way. She went there when she wanted to be alone. The dog always followed. Tio had been with her family since she had been born, her father had told her.

He had told her about how he had found him caught in a snare. How he had freed the animal and fed him, and how ever since he had been a fast friend. The dog had taken the job as her protector since she could walk, and they were thick as thieves, always finding new mischief to get into.

It was Tio that had lead her to the cabin. Usually when they ran, Tio chased her. But that time, he had been the quarry. That was how she found the place, with the giant hound sitting beside it.

🌿 What way does your OC show that they care without using words? What way do others show your OC that they’re cared about without using speech?

Siegward’s ‘caring’ about others is a difficult thing to really quantify. He’s pretty far down there on Humanity. I guess sharing resources, such as blood with Mortimer, is one example. He shares his fleshcrafting skills with his pack freely, which is a way of him caring for them.

🌹 Where in the world does your OC feel most at home? Is there any reason why? If it’s not the place they were born, where were they born? Is there a certain somebody that makes them feel at home where ever they may be? What does home mean to them?

Crowley probably feels most at home in Jack’s library, but truthfully even there she does feel a little alienated in some ways. She knows that wherever she goes, the location will always feel a bit off to her, and she tries to focus more on the people who are there to help her feel less isolated in her environment, which is why she finds comfort there. She was born in Rotherhithe, England, which is a residental district within London.

Jack certainly makes her feel most at home, but truthfully any of the Anarchs help her feel more like she belongs, so long as they are people she can get along with. Home to her means a place where she can find solace and not live in constant fear, even if for a brief time.

🌿 What way does your OC show that they care without using words? What way do others show your OC that they’re cared about without using speech?

Physical touch is definitely the way Crowley shows she cares without speaking. Whether it be a hug, just a hand of reassurance, or something more, she speaks a lot through touch. As for others showing their care for her, I suppose their actions would come to mind. Something like Jack going on missions when she asks for example might be one? To be honest I have a hard time answering this one so...

💦 If you as the writer could erase one traumatic event from this OC’s life what would it be and why? 

Escape :: What do they do to destress? How successful is it?

Back home he would usually go for walks, swim down at the nearby swimming hole, or just read a book. Or he’d just lay in bed with his wife.