A shadow of hope. (Gunnar)

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**This thread happens after the events of THIS icc**

Far away from the place where the campers usually were, far away from anyone that could help or at least set the alarm off, deep in the woods, where only creatures, lares, nypms and satyrs could dwell, was laying on the wet, cold ground the body of a slenderly built girl. If she was standing, she would be 5 foot 2 or maybe 3 inches, but there on the ground she only seemed shorter than she really was. It seems as if she was just taking a nap in the middle of the forest, but for the dark red color that was covering the earth under and surrounding the upper part of her body.

"everyone... was right..."

She said in a mere whisper, with her soft sweet voice, that was almost not audible, unless you got really close to her. A single tear ran over her nose bridge and down her temple. She was laying on her front, with her left hand right under the place where her weak erratic heart was still fighting to keep beating, to keep her alive as much as it was possible. But with every single beat of it, she also felt how she was getting closer to leave the world of the living... with every single beat more blood like liquid rubies was leaving her body and soaking the ground under her body.

"Gunnar was right..."

She had tried to ask for help, but her voice wasn't strong enough to get to the limits of the woods, it would be a miracle if someone could listen to her voice. but with a lung ripped it was difficult to talk and not feel as you were drawning in your own blood. She tried to get up and walk back to the cohorts, tell someone what she had heard, what she had been wounded for, but her body wasn't responding, her heart wasn't strong enough to make her body move again.

"This is... a nice place..."

So she decided to stay there, to admire the place with her last minutes of having human eyes. she would try to get some peace of mind and soul before her grandfather went to pick up her soul. She knew he would be hurt when he saw her dead, so she wanted him to see that at least she wasn't in pain, she wasn't scared and that she had left the world of the living not crying, not like a coward, but with her chin up and a smile. She started to close her eyes, feeling cold and lonely.

"peaceful place... at least..."

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Gunnar didn't normally venture into the forest. But he did now, he was gathering some wildflowers for Tessa. Buying flowers from time to time was nice but doing things yourself for someone you care about, that was what really made things different. It was done out of love and not that getting a bunch of expensive presents wasn't nice, but things from the heart, that's what really mattered. He had some wild baby's breath, some wild roses, a few other things that he thought she would like. But the woods were quiet. Something was amiss. Gunnar closed his eyes and listened to his surroundings. There was no wind, no sound... wait. His brow furrowed as he turned his head side to side as if he was trying to hear someone whisper his name from across the room. There it was. He was sure of what it was now. A heart beat. He dropped the flowers and brought up one of his daggers to his hands. He wasn't about to walk blindly into something that would potentially kill him. HE kept it hidden in his sleeve, the hilt tight in his hand. Gunnar spotted a shadow and moved quickly as he silently ran towards it.

Gunnar came out of another shadow and froze in place, silent and still. There was a smell that permeated his nose, blood. He knew that smell well. There were many time he had taken in that scent while he was making a kill. There was a trail? A splash here, a little bit there.... Gunanr followed it. Something was hurt. Maybe it was just a deer in it's death throes or another animal that had been hunted down for food. Maybe it was a monster that had run afoul a demi-god who was prepared for danger. No, that wasn't it. The monsters didn't get this far in without disentigrating or being slain. His feet moved quickly and his hand tightened around the dagger in his sleeve. He drew it and stood ready to attack the second he saw movement. If he had to kill something lurking in this woods, Gunnar would take it upon himself to make sure that whatever was terrorizing around the camp was dead. He took in a deep breath, his face was a cold and emotionless mask. He didn't show fear, anger or frustration as he stalked his prey. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

When he came upon the figure lying in the middle of the forest floor. Blood had pooled and it was hard to see exactly who it was. He moved silently to get a better look. It was Lilith. The first thought that went through his mind was stupid girl she finally has met her end that she so rightly deserved. She was a useless legacy and it was a disgrace to call her cousin. She wasn't family though she didn't seem to be able to get it through that thick and dense skull that contained her brain. But she was dear to their grandfather, for some strange reason, Ukki had some sort of emotional attatchment to this.... this thing. She was also a friend of his beloved Tessa. She would never forgive him if her friend was hurt and he did nothing to at least try to help. His eyes scanned her body quickly. It seemed that she had suffered a deep wound, no other apparent injuries, no head injuries. He knelt down beside her head. “Lilith?” He called her name, his voice flat and emotionless. Again he called her name. “Lilith answer me.” He stated as he dug through his pockets. He produced a small bear which he promptly cut the back open. Out came a bag of ambrosia and a small canteen of nectar. This was one of his panic kits. He had them stashed in places all over the camp, his apartments, Lyn had one, Tessa had one in her drawer if she had ever bothered to look, and even he had stashed one in the praetor's office incase something were to happen to his good friend Remus.

HE dug through the bag and pulled out some gauze and some alcohol pads and some bandages. “Stop being a wuss, if you die, I will mock you forever in eternity when I get there you stupid girl.” Gunnar stated as he poured alcohol over her wound and placed pressure on it to stem the blood. He surveyed her, she wasn't armed. Stupid, stupid child, he thought. If she died, he would ask Grandfather Pluto to have a special place of torture for her. Stupidity had to be offered a place in the underworld. “You are a disgrace.”

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The moment she closed her eyes, cold and darkness started to get control of everything in her. Her mind started drifting to place where she didn't think she could access again. The place where she could see her parents. In fact she had been taken to the place where almost gone goddess Moneta had her realm. She blinked and when opened her eyes, she realized she was in a place that she knew very well, she hasn't been there for almost 8 years and the sight of the place the beautiful green landscape hurt her deeply and at the same time gave her some peace if that was nearly possible.

"This is not possible... this place..." she said as she walked slowly down the road that she was on. She looked around and noticed on the left a couple of feet from where she was, the blue-green sea... there was also a rock where her father sat her on so he could tie her shoe laces once. She half smiled at that memory, in fact the image as a film was played and she could see her father and her mother. they were young and smiling, a hyper girl was running around them, yelling and jumping. She seemed to be so happy, so unaware of the pain and sorrow that the world could behold.

Lilith breathed deeply and smiled a bit more when she saw that moment of her life, she remembered that day and it had been, as the face of the little girl was reflecting, one of the happiest moments in her life. But then as if the movie was over and someone was telling her to leave the mvie theater, the image and all of it just vanished and she found herself in a dark space, nothing around. So she felt the pain again, the fear of being alone. She started walking trying to find an exit to that place, she maybe wasn't able to travel using shadows, but she had always been able to see in black pitch places, so darkness wasn't what scared her, but the fact that in that moment, so close to the end, she could feel again how her soul was still shattered as Felicity's blade had left it.

She kept walking, trying to get to any place where she could feel a bit better. In the back of that dark, empty place, she saw a shape... some one... and when she focused in a better way, she realized it hadn't been him, but the image of her parents, looking at her with lovely eyes, with sadness... She smiled back at them, she wanted them to know that it was ok, that she would finally be with them or at least something like that. In the back of those scenes she could still listen to her slow erratic heart beats in her ears.

Suddenly she felt that someone was stroking her hair. It wasn't her imagination, Mors had done it so many times before, a couple of days before that tragic day, he had been in the infirmary and he had done it too. So she could remember it very well. Then she knew it was going to end very soon, she would be able to see him and she will let him lead her to the underworld.

"Lilith?"

That couldn't be Mors, that voice wasn't soft and tender, gentle as always as the god of Death called her. The voice was flat and emotionless. Would he be upset at her? would he be angry because she lost that combat?

“Lilith answer me.”

"grand... pa..."

She replied to the flat, emotionless voice. He couldn't be Mors, but well... maybe she had finally got to his bad side, maybe he didn't love her anymore for being such a bad warrior, such a deseption as a Roman and as a legacy. now she wasn't sure if she wanted to face him. She faintly felt some hands turning her on her back. Suddenly, she couldn't think more about it, the voice talked to her again, talking about mocking her in the afterlife, and then a shocking pain crossed her chest, something like acid got into her wound that made her open her eyes due the shock. She breathed in fast which made her cough some blood, but she was awake once more.

“You are a disgrace.”

She heard the voice again as she tried to focus the origin of it. She felt some pressure on her chest and decided to go from that place as the source of the voice. She followed the arms that led her to wide shoulders and strong neck, then lifted her sight a bit more and there he was. "Gun...nar...?" she barely said his name but it clearly was a question, she couldn't believe that it was him trying to save her. "don't need you... to t-tell me... what I... al-lready know..." she half smiled and usually it had been a nice sweet smile, but now it was stained with her own blood staining her teeth and pouring from the corner of her mouth.

Then he frowned in pain and slowly she put her left hand on his hand that was pressing her wound to stem the blood. "t-too... late..." she knew it, it was too late for her, but maybe he could do that unique and last favor to her. Maybe he could give Remus her message, that someone was going to kill him, Vivian was going to kill him. but she felt her heart failing, time wasn't on her side and well when had Saturn beaing on the side of the Camp?