The Untold Story of Texas and Lappland (Arknights)

Days of Forgotten Past 12

No.

Her first home.

She cast one last look back at the bridge as she stepped off, a slight tremble in her limbs. The necklace clutched tightly, the tag at the end swung precariously. Morbidly, she pictured the chain breaking. The tag would fall off and disappear into one of the many puddles before slithering down into an awaiting drain. Maybe such a fate was befitting for this gift. Maybe it would be easier to let it go this way. If not from being dropped off the bridge, perhaps this course of action was best. She could always just claim to have lost it on accident.

But no.

That would be a lie, and she knew very well how lies ended.

So Texas stuffed the necklace back in her pocket and left the bridge for now.

*****

The Texas family mansion was just as grand as it had always been. Those white pillars overlooking the peaceful garden out front. Texas remembered walking with her mother down the aisles of roses, violets and daffodils, breathing in their heady scent as they gave the plants water and fertilizer. She had found the activity peaceful albeit boring. There was just something very bothersome about plants. Maybe it was just how little they did in general. It reminded her of the turtle she tried to make her pet all those years ago. She and Lappland ended up releasing it back into the wild in the end, once they figured out that turtles were always slow.

The thought of Lappland made tears well in the corners of her eyes. Texas blinked them back angrily. When would those memories stop hurting? Never, not while there are things unsaid her mind whispered. Lappland you just won't leave me be.

It was these thoughts that followed her through dinner and to her bed that night. And when she closed her eyes, the pain came to her dreams. Like an old friend they were at every corner, haunting her darkest nightmares.

*****

Days blurred into weeks. Texas found herself at the bridge again.

And once again she wasn't alone.

Emperor sat on the railing, his webbed feet hanging off the edge. He was dressed in the same style as always, rapper shirt and cap with glasses. Texas eyed him out of the corner of her vision as she chewed on a pocky stick. The necklace she wore for so long was a heavy weight in her pocket still. She may have lost the battle of throwing it into the abyss of a river, but that didn't mean it would go back to resting over her heart. Too many ties had been cut recently. Her core burned with the knowledge of the loss.

"Heard you been through a lot recently."

"Yeah." Texas acknowledged him with the small word, her dark ears twitching.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really." She admitted.

"Aight."

A silence stretched between them, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Texas watched the water rippling in the river below. This bridge had been around since Houston was born. The wood was sturdy but warped, years of rain and travel over it aging the planks. Her fingernails dig into wood, seeking the crevices formed by other wolves who came before her. And if she dared to look to her right there was the forest. And beyond that, Siracusa. Siracusa, where wolves ran free and lived as wild as the ancestors of long past.

"I don't know what to do Emperor."

"I figured."

"Could you tell me what to do?"

She had been making decisions for so, so long. Look where it got me. Nowhere. She thought of Eagle, Hawke and the rest. All of them supported the decision to disband, had gladly done it because she believed it was the right thing to do. Now she wasn't sure if any choices she made had been the right ones. If we hadn't disbanded . . . maybe Gran would still be alive. And maybe Lappland and I . . . we'd still be together. A little broken but alright. But some part of her knew even if she kept the pack together it wouldn't have mattered. What happened between the two of them ran so much deeper.