Raging (open)

[ATHENODORA VOLTURI]

Athenodora smiled as she stood at the edge of the water watching the waves as they crashed down on the beach. The wind around her was howling causing the black cloak she wore to whip around her and the loose strands of hair that peeked out from under the hood of her cloak to occasionally slap her face. The rain that fell and landed on the blonde slid down over the water proof material of her cloak although it did soak through the jeans she wore which became visible because of the cloak whipping around her legs. Her feet were barefoot and her toes occasionally wiggled in the sand as she lightly held a pair of black ankle boots in her hands. Out across the ocean she would occasionally see a streak of lightening zig zag across the sky and each time a bolt lit up the sky, Athendora's smile grew for a moment.

Even as a child, Athenodora had loved storms. While her siblings had all ran to their mother when they were children any time a storm raged, Athendora ran to a window. She wanted to see the storm that raged outside and more often than not the servants had found her trying to sneak out on balcony's to be able to stand outside and feel the storm. The wind, the rain and the electricity that charged the air each time lightening flashed were all things that she loved. Her mother would often scold her for trying to sneak out of the house but the rare occasions that her father was home during a storm, he would laugh and say that she was his daughter and was afraid of nothing.

The rumble of thunder warned of another lightening bold and within a few seconds it was dancing across the ocean sky. Although Athendora was technically standing alone on the beach so she could enjoy the storm, Athenodora knew that she was not alone. Patrolling the edge of the beach were her bodyguards. The Volturi men that Caius entrusted to keep her safe whenever she was out. While before she had only a couple that accompanied her from the tower to their room in the castle, Athenodora now had a small group of five vampires assigned to go wherever she went and who were expected to keep her safe. They all knew that if anything happened to Athenodora, even the smallest scratch would put them before Caius and he was not a man that anybody wanted to stand before and explain to him why his wife had been injured.

Despite the raging wind, Athendora heard the footsteps that approached her from behind as she looked out over the storm. Because the wind was blowing off the ocean, she couldn't catch their scent but if they'd gotten past her guards then she knew that whoever had arrived was a friend. Nobody else would have been allowed to to get this close to her. Without turning around, all that left Athenodora's lips was a soft, melodic: "Can I help you?"

[CAIUS VOLTURI]

There was a time when Caius prayed for storms. He tried to stop thinking about the past; he actually hadn’t thought about what happened three thousand years ago in a long time, but more recent events brought history to life. Like husband like wife – imprisoned by stone. The freed man still stayed in solitude, watching out of an open archway as the colorful neon lightening ripped apart the otherwise dark and broody sky. He couldn’t help but think about the times when he was in chains and the rain would wash away the tears of joy and relief from his face as he and the dozens of others lapped up the water from either stone or dirt ground. He enjoyed the feeling of rain of his face, and so he made his descent from the west of the castle and towards the coastline.

There were many sins to be washed away.

As Caius got further from the castle he instantly noticed a small group of guards at the overlook where he intended to view the violent battle of electricity and water from, and when he got even closer he noticed a more curious thing – they were his wife’s guards. He waved his way through, watching at the front of the force as his beloved walked the length of the beach towards the ocean. A few tranquil minutes passed of the vampire enjoying the view before a roar of thunder and the crack of lightening flashed back memories of the stormy nights he spent with her in the tower she was confined to. The nights he didn’t want to be alone but couldn’t lay in his own bed both back home as well as in their new home were results of his own doing. No amount of rain could wash the guilt away.

The shameful husband made his way to the beach, taking off the harnessed leather heeled boots he was wearing in hopes the cold and wet sand would make him feel something other than a deep pit of guilt when he looked at her. As Caius took a very human-paced walk to the crashing waters he shed his layers, letting his black cloak fall to the equally dark looking sand, forgotten. He stopped in his tracks when he heard her voice call out –

’Can I help you?’

”You already have, in more ways than you’ll ever understand.” He cautiously stepped closer to the woman, her pale and blonde features strikingly glowing against the darkness of their surroundings. ”You’ve always loved storms, maybe that’s why you love me.”

TAG: ATHENODORA VOLTURI

[ATHENODORA VOLTURI]

The sound of her husband's voice responding to her question, caused the smile on Athenodora's lips to grow. It had taken time and Athenodora knew that any normal human being would say it was wrong, but she had eventually fallen in love with the man who had murdered her father and who's men had completely annihilated her family and the city she'd grown up in. She still occasionally had dreams of that night. Of watching from the balcony with her family and Caius battled her father. It had been a savage dance that Athenodora had not been able to tear her eyes away from and it was one that had had a surprise ending in her opinion. Her father had been the best general and warrior of the time. Even younger soldiers who may have been physically stronger than her father couldn't beat him because they didn't understand the deadly dance of war. They didn't understand how to read their opponent which had always given her father the upper hand. Athenodora and the rest of her family had expected this battle to play out like every other. She had expected to see Caius at the end of her father's sword, so when she instead had seen her father's head cut clean off of his body by Caius' sword. She, her mother and her other siblings had all screamed. For a brief moment, Athenodora had made eye contact with Caius as her father's body fell to the floor and then she was being dragged out of the room by her mother.

For a period of time after that Athenodora had wanted nothing to do with Caius. He had taken her with him after the rest of her family had been slaughtered and he hadn't been mean to her at all but Athenodora had certainly been anything but kind to him. She had called him a monster as well as various other names any time he went to see her but over time her anger for him faded. Over time she began to love him and eventually she stopped calling him a monster and began to call him another name. Her mate.

Athenodora could not imagine living her life without Caius and as he walked up behind her, she didn't even turn to look him. Reaching back she took his hand and pulled him up behind her. She felt his chest pressing against her back as she laced her fingers through both his hands and pulled his arms around her waist. With her arms resting on top of his and her fingers laced with his, Athenodora continued to look out over the ocean. Tilting her head sideways a bit, the top of her head brushed lightly against his cheek and she softly said: "Perhaps. Your wildly passionate and passionately wild. I never know what to expect from you but I wouldn't have you any other way my love."

Turning her head, Athenodora placed a light kiss on his cheek before leaning her head against him again and looking out over the ocean. As another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky, she asked: "What brings you out here love?"

[CAIUS VOLTURI]

When his wife didn't turn to greet him his mind whirled like the wind on the surface of the water, a stir of chaotic elements crashing together.  Caius understood why it might be hard to face him, for as hard as he has tried to protect her for two thousand plus years he also did a fantastic job of hurting her in the most cruel ways; First with the slaughter of her family when she was a human, the turning of her, and then with her imprisonment as a vampire.  For every thousand safe kisses and foes vanquished he managed to cover it with one huge blanket of few-and-far-between major misdeeds.  He is an extreme case so to speak, and she handled him with a grace he had never known before and has yet to see in anyone else. 

The gentle dancing of her fingers over his as she reached back to pull him closer added to the electricity in the air.  The taller vampire bent his head down, resting his chin in the crook of her neck.  Just as he locked all of his fingers with hers another lightening bolt clapped through the sky, and as he wrapped his hands around her waist he took in every smell. the saltwater, the static air. But she was his favorite. Athenodora called him passionate, but before her he was passionate about nothing. He was empty until he found purpose in taking care of her, until the day came where it was afterlife or death. After years of keeping Dora safe as a human he couldn't bare to lose her. He had grown undeniably attached to the girl woman, and a life without her wasn't one worth continuing. The same sentiment still stands today, but stronger. Even after thousands of years he continues to grow more passionate each day, and with her by his side once again it brews in him like the storm around them. "I could ask you the same question." He buried his nose in the crook of her neck, moving his face to kiss her cheek as he momentarily tightened his grip around her, somehow pulling her even closer. It was a good thing breathing was a thing of the past for them.

Caius more than anyone understood the need to fly after being in a cage, and it was for that reason he need not really ask why she was out there. He knew his wife inside and out after centuries, or so he thought. Or so he used to, before what he refers to as the dark time. After a short pause he continued.  "I'm here for you, of course." Despite his unforgivable moves in the past he would still do anything for her, kill anyone or be anyone for her. He wanted to give her the world, power, everything. She was responsible for his drive to stay in his own coven - to be able to give her everything. Yet the feeling of failure still loomed over him, almost materialized in the storm clouds above them.

As his focus changed to look out into the sea he moved his head to rest gently against hers, resting the side of his chin along her golden-white crown of perfect hair. "I thought I could wash some of my sins away in this storm, but seeing you conflicts me." Caius moved his head to look at his wife as her dark shrouds danced in the wind and wrapped around them. "To repent, or to sin some more?" A devilish smirk crept onto his otherwise serene demeanor.

Dora always had a way of making his worries burn to ashes.

TAG: ATHENODORA VOLTURI

[ATHENODORA VOLTURI]

Athenodora laughed when Caius said that he could ask her the same question. She supposed he could ask her why she was out in the open like this, but the truth was he undoubtedly already knew the answer. After centuries of being kept in a tower with only two other women for company and one of those women was essentially forcing Athendora to be happy with her confinement, she needed to be free. She probably spent a lot more time outdoors then indoors and if she was inside it was only because Caius had called her for something. If Athendora could avoid the confinements of walls around her, she would.

When Caius said that he was outdoors to try and wash away sins of his past, Athendora turned a questioning gaze on him. She knew that he regretted the part he played in her confinement. She knew that he even regretted destroying her family and taking them from her but she had long since forgiven him for those past misdeeds. Before she could say anything about his sins though, Caius was saying that seeing her conflicted him. When he said that he didn't know if he should repent or sin some more, the devilish twinkle in his eyes told her exactly what her husband had in mind in regards to sinning. With a smirk, she brushed her lips over his chin lightly before turning slightly to look back over both their shoulders at the guards who were within view of them along the edge of the beach.

"You know I will do just about anything for you my love. However putting on a show for the guards is not one of them." Athendora responded with a laugh as she turned to look out over the ocean again as a bolt of lightening streaked across the sky. Athendora knew that Caius would never ask her to anything like that because as much as she didn't want the other men to see her without her clothing, she knew Caius would likely gut any man who dared to even look at her before she'd dressed. She was his and her without clothing was something meant for only his eyes.