Alpha to Omega-mxm

Chapter 1

Everything hurt. 

He had no idea how long he had been walking, or how many suns had set and risen within that span of time. Everything was a blur of darkness and pain. Most people would have already tried to end their lives, but he knew that he deserved to suffer. It wouldn't take too long, just one more day, or hour, or minute. His body was decaying from the inside out, rotting away from the silver that flowed through his system like water. 

His lungs quivered with each inhale and exhale, struggling to accommodate enough oxygen within their damaged tissue. 

With only the faint rasp of his breathing and the shuffling of his feet within the leaf litter meeting his ears, Marquise continued his trudge through the dense forest around him. 

It wasn't that he hadn't come across any threats since he'd left his former home, either. He had most definitely been found quite quickly by all manner of creatures. He had no doubt that they had been attracted by the smell of decay coming from his body, but most of them must have been scavengers, because they simply followed him, curious as to why he wasn't dead yet, but not willing to try and deliver a final blow. 

Even some wild werewolves had found him a while ago, and while they had growled and griped about him intruding on their territory, not a single one had dared to get close enough to bite. 

They didn't trust him, and he wasn't surprised in the least. He smelled like death, yet for some reason, somehow, he was still walking. They had followed him for quite some distance, though, only stopping after he evidently crossed into a different territory.  

He had also removed his shoes some time ago after tripping one too many times as he dragged his aching feet. His long coat had been discarded some time later as its weight had been too much for his deteriorating body to continue carrying. Now, his right hand was completely black, likely planning on being the next item he left behind. 

An extended period of time passed before he realized something and finally slowed to a stop near a large lake. 

Ah... a storm about to begin. 

He hadn't noticed it while deep within the dense forest, but now that he had wandered into a large opening, he could just-barely see the darkening clouds and hear the faint rippling of water on the surface of the lake before him as it was whipped up into little waves by the wind. 

Licking his dry, cracked lips, Marquise slowly inched his way down the slight incline leading to the water. His bare toes brushed against tall grass and moist dirt as he got closer to its edge.

This seems like a nice place to rest forever. 

He inched forward a few more steps before glancing downward. He was already missing his right eye, and with his left one absolutely exhausted from his refusal to sleep, it was barely able to make out the soft, watery mud he'd walked into. 

With his mind momentarily distracted from the constant pain he was in, Marquise carefully lowered himself into the cool water and dirt mixture settled just beneath its rippling surface. 

The water from the lake flowed just close enough to where he was to keep a few inches of it above the mud, but that was perfectly fine. He'd just needed to sit and for some reason, he chose the wet spot over the dry. 

It didn't matter either way in the long run, so he didn't care if he finished ruining his dirty clothing. 

Licking his lips again, he lifted his right hand close to his face in order to look it over. Its bandage had fallen off some time ago, revealing dark skin and the rotting flesh just beneath its surface. The discoloration had already begun to travel up his wrist, too.