"Hope, it was always hope that was pushing me, it got me this far...what am I without it?" The blue suited ring-bearer asked aloud, looking down at the ring that had bound her to the corps of blue lanterns, she was a proud defender of hope. A powerful lantern but power like this was useless if she couldn't aid her friends with it, her duties were always requiring her to leave the mansion for days on end. She was sick of it, why was she needed so badly when there were so many other bearers of hope at the corp's disposal. She gazed at the bright light blue glowing piece of technology and magic, placing her index finger and thumb on either side of it, with a deep breath she pulled the ring off of her finger. The brilliant glow around her began to fade, she then dropped the ring in her pocket. "You always put us in the right direction Mason, now I don't know where I'm going..." She said as she knelt down to the grave of the hero once known as Fracture. Right beside the grave was the sibling duo's most loved companion and pet, Pain, the wolf was curled up against the tombstone of the hero, never leaving his side as if he had still been alive, being out like this had made the wolf degrade somewhat.
His fur was matted down from the dirt which had dyed his snow white fur to a dirty brown color. His fur was clumped and patched, it was likely that he was suffering from the first few stages of mange. A part of the wolf’s ear had been missing, like it had been bitten off, flies already attacking the exposed cartilage on the area. Pain wanted nothing more than to stay here, to live and die by his master’s side, that was his wish. The wolf suffered greatly in the attempt to stay loyal, being attacked by other dogs and resisting the temptation to kill them in honor of Mason, refusing the idea of spilling blood on his grave. Day in and day out, the wolf was subjected to the agony of life only to find himself longing for the embrace of death, to run alongside Fracture once more. He was no longer coherent as he used to be, he barely noticed Sable, standing up from his laying position, rather weakly at that. As he stretched, the horror was already realized, Pain was starving, his fur not doing much to hide his skinny body now. As the wolf locked onto the approaching female, he began to growl defensively, baring his teeth as if he were going to do something, he was hesitant at first. Usually when he did this to passing people, thinking they were attempting to desecrate Mason in some way the reaction was never good, he was kicked, stomped, and even beaten to a point where he was left scarred. Blood still ran from the wolf’s cuts where he had been kicked and even stabbed at some areas. As fast as he was wasting away, it wasn’t granting him eternal rest soon enough.
Pain’s grey eyes locked onto the female and sniffed in her direction, once of his eyes was failing him from a hostile interaction between him and a hostile dog, men wanting to see how the hero’s wolf would do against a roided up dog on Venom, the fact that they used food to bait him was degrading but he went for it and paid with his sight. His growls continued before stopping at a huff of surprise and shock, withholding every tinge of happiness, his body couldn’t muster it anymore, he was too weak at this point. The wolf came from behind the large tombstone and faced Mason’s youngest sister, Sable.
The sounds of growls coming from behind Mason’s grave put her on edge, she wasn’t sure what that was but then she recognized the growls. She knew that it was Pain, what she didn’t know was that he had been out here for god knows how long, waiting. “Pain?!” She exclaimed, a smile forming before it shifted dramatically into a look of horror, her eyes widening as she took in what she was seeing. Her heart sank and her body trembled as the wolf crept closer to her, it was Pain, she knew it but he was so warped and changed. Patches of fur missing, bruising, scars, the flies attacking every wound, bringing him more agony, all of it sent a chill running up her spine. A hand went over her mouth as she dropped to her knee, trying to muffled and silence the sobs that began escaping her, tearing running down her cheeks and the hand that covered her mouth, dotting along the concrete. Her eyes shutting as the wolf weakly groaned as if to say he was okay, resting his massive head against her in an embrace that couldn’t be described with even the most detailed of words.Her cries of sadness getting louder as she buried her face into the dirt covered fur of the wolf, her tears soaking into it. The torrent of emotion gripped her in a void that proved to be ultimately inescapable, this had to have been her own fault for always being away from home. If she were there, this would never have happened. If she stayed, her last bit of family she had left wouldn’t be dying in the streets. “I’m sorry...I….I…” She couldn’t go on anymore, she was too broken down to speak properly, only able to stutter and stammer the words ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again. “I...I’ll fix this...I promise.” She sobbed, her hands shaking as gently reached toward the wolf’s face after pulling back, seeing if his reaction would be the same as it was long ago, when he was happier.
Pain weakly raised his paw at her approaching hand, placing it into her palm, his eyes locked down in an expression sadness even still, his eyes darting away from her and to Mason’s grave. Sable hiccuped as she she tried to regain composure, gently squeezing the wolf’s paw before releasing it. “I’m going to get you home…” She said, immediately noticing the way he looked at the grave caused her to frown. “I miss him too Pain…” She said gently petting the wolf before standing to her feet. Sable trying to coax him into following her, Pain just stared at her, he felt tied to this place. Sable let out a sigh before reaching into her pocket, it wasn’t much but it was something, pulling out an old pack of beef jerky, the wolf seemed to pick up the smell almost immediately. It would have only made sense, he hadn’t eaten in a while, he was probably lacking water too. “Come on, it’s okay..” She spoke as she watched Pain slowly begin to creep toward her, keeping his body low and his head down as if he were awaiting the next beating from someone, with a quick snap of his jaws he liberated the piece of food from her, a few more from that bag began to settle him in. His fear fading some, as he ate from her hand.
She began to walk out of the cemetery, keeping a close and wary eye on Pain, his walking wasn’t consistent, he was stopping and starting for the most part, though eventually they did make it to the mansion, entering through the back like she usually did to avoid getting stopped by the sentries roaming the halls, which often annoyed her. She made her way up to her room, Pain following behind, this time somewhat closer, it seemed his trust in her was rebuilding, he didn’t panic from her sudden movements or actions now. She knew he was starving now and if she gave him too much food, it would most likely kill him, she poured a vitamin water into a bowl to keep him in a stable condition, pour the leftover beef jerky onto a small plate. Sable pulled the blue glowing ring from her pocket and placed it into her miniature strongbox, locking it up. She traversed to her closet and opened it, greeted with the weapons she had stopped using so long ago, grabbing hold of the katanas she once used, sheathing one and running a gloved finger along the blade’s sharp edge before sheathing it as well. Reaching up at the top of her closet she pulled down the M9 that had belonged to Mason, she held onto it but never used it, she’d change that sometime. Loading the weapon and placing it on safe, she dropped it into the holster at her hip. “Let’s go huh?” She said, managing a small smile as she spoke in a singsong tone to Pain, gently lifting the massive grey wolf and carrying him to Mason’s room, it was only right of her, she went next door to her room and brought him his food and water before gently petting his head after setting him at the foot of the passed away hero’s bed.
“G-Grant?” She asked herself as she picked up the voice of her older brother within the mansion, she quickly left, moving silently, it took her a second to get used to her old habits but she picked them up regardless. Her ears trained to the sound of Grant’s voice, it was taking her minute for her long unused abilities started returning, the sound of a heartbeat pounding in her ears. The figure she was approaching looked like Grant, her first question was what he was doing. Willing herself to stand against the older sibling she drew her weapon and pressed the barrel against the back of his head. “You’re wrong brother, it’s not your mask anymore, it’s mine…” She spoke in a rather dead tone of voice, her words just as cold and icy as they once had been when she fought alongside Mason. Her thumb pulling back the hammer resonated through the room with the metallic click.
