Whiskey Lullaby

Darkness. That was the norm now. There was no such thing as a sun, as a moon, as stars that scattered themselves among the sky, or such as thing as hope. All hope was gone. Vanished as if it never existed. Why is it that light always meant hope? Perhaps it was due to the ability to see, to focus on something and prepare rather than be surprised. If everyone had their way, most would choose the light to see the danger. However some would choose the darkness to be the danger and those were the ones to be cautious of. Yet there was just a fraction of inhabitants that could care less about ulterior motives and just wanted something back. Canines, or at least one, yearned for the moon to reappear. Cash had a strange fascination with the moon, ever since he was a pup, for he would always dedicate a sweet croon to her in hopes of keeping in her good graces. Apparently, it hadn't been working and he had no clue what to do. He wanted it, needed it, back for his own personal obsession, if not to protect his own. His own encompassing the Singin' Strays, Dixie, and her pups. The hound had taken those little rascals in as his own and had begun to love them as if they were. A part of his wishes they were his, but perhaps it was best they weren't. Last time Cash tried to have pups it ended badly. Again, that was another night he didn't serenade the moon. 

One by one, memories began to flood Cash's mind as he passed out from the den where he slept. He couldn't sleep because of said memories and also for the feeling of a gaping hole in him. Sure, him and Dixie were trying to get along again, but missing the one thing he always thought would be there really made him question is anything was permanent. Was love permanent? Would his legacy last forever? Would he ever be able to battle his demons and actually win? It was obvious this hound was deeply conflicted so the best way to deal with this was to do the only thing he knew how: singing. Cash walked a few yards away towards a broken termite mound on which he sat himself down. What ta sing? He thought to himself until the perfect song came to him. He'd caught himself humming this song quite a bit during his "dark era" and now it seemed fitting. Not for the occasion, but for the tempo. "She put him out. Like the end of a burning midnight cigarette, she broke his heart. We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time," he began to croon the melancholy tune. His deep, rumbling, gravel-like voice filling the air, transforming it from dark static to a deep velvet. Cash knew he was a good singer, and obviously wasn't afraid to let anyone know or knock them down, but perhaps that was the only thing he could do. He couldn't keep a lasting relationship without fighting or worse, nor was he much of a fighter. Of course he would fight, but it wasn't his calling. He wasn't the hysical type to release pain and stress as others tended to do. Instead, he continued to cry heart out. Hoping, just hoping, everything would return to the sky by some miracle. 

"But he never could get drunk enough to get her off his mind until the night..he put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger. And finally drank away her memory. Life is short, but this time it was bigger than the strength he had to get up off his knees." Those lyrics arose a wound deep within he believed to be buried. A wound to his heart in which Lady was dying, trying to birth his brood, but instead losing her life. Cash went crazy, crazier than he'd ever been. Uncertainty and grief had clouded his vision so much he couldn't think straight. Cash screwed his eyes shut as his breath hitches slightly and his chest began to ache. "We found him with his face down in the pillow, with a note that said 'I'd love her 'til I die. And then we buried him beneath the willow as the Angels sang a whiskey lullaby," Cash continued to croon, his voice recovering and becoming hauntingly smooth. Lady might not be in the picture anymore, but Dixie sure is, and he whole-heartedly believed that he was so in love with her now than ever. Sure she still got on his nerves, just as he did she, but that was what he missed. The excitement, the thrill, the love it all brought. The only thing that would make this better is if she was here, he thought to himself as he called out to the skies in song. 

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word count| 820 |
muse| Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss |
date| February 2nd|
open to| Dixie and Lady (for a moment ^^) |
notes| cashyyy |

"That's sure a beautiful tune, crooner."

Dixie had a smile across her muzzle as she padded towards the hound dude she loved so much. All of the broken days between them had led up to this moment. The reuniting. Granted Dixie would have never thought it would have taken so long. She never would have thought she'd have another dog's pups or Cash would fall for a kennel club princess before they got together again. Even though Dixie was determined to finish out this war with her head held high, she would have thought Enzo, Umeme and Sasha would have at least had Cash's DNA. But her path had been laid out and she couldn't go backwards. Only forwards.

"Dud'nt sound like a duet though," She said with a wink, sliding up next to Cash. She crossed her legs over before planting herself across from him. Her smile was that of the dog Cash brought to the spotlight. She felt like a teenager again. Sitting under the lack of stars and listening to Cash sing.

"Who you singin' to, Cash?"

That silky smooth hit his ears and sent a shiver down his spine. God how this woman had such an effect on him. It seemed like one small movement, one simple phrase, could be the end of him. With every moment he spent with the lovely belle, the more he felt himself unraveling and exposing himself. Of course, he'd never be one to let that fully show, but he could gosh darn well feel it. Dixie was home. She was long night rides down dirt roads with nothing but blind faith to guide them. She was happiness, she was anger, she was that little spice that made everything just right. Her being here made this dark moment just a little bit brighter. A soft smirk crawled upon his maw as she watched her pad around before finally resting herself in front of him. "Why thank ya' little lady," he chuckled, puffing his chest out proudly. Her complement did nothing to soothe his giant ego but he didn't mind it at all.

"Then ya' don't know yer country then. But..I'd always sing a song for you if that ain't what'cha want," the crooner teased with a wink. Of course, his body language would be so much better if there was light but he would have to incorporate his attitude into his voice. That shouldn't be so hard, would it? How different was it than singing? Cash was used to conveying a wide range of emotions through his croons and howls: happiness, pining, longing, sadness, good times, bad times, you name it. However, then he had a purpose to sing, a goal to strive towards. Now, out here, he had nothing. No goal, no glory, nothing. Sure there was winning the war and protecting his brood, but what would be in it for him? Would he even be important enough to have a legacy? He'd like to think he was, but perhaps he was only imagining things. Before he could become too lost in his thoughts, Dixie's question pulled him back from the abyss. "Huh? Oh..well..just an ol' friend who ain't around no more. Never knew how much she was needed 'til she ain't here. Amirite?" he inquired, tearing his gaze from the dame to the sky longingly. How he yearned for the moon, and it's light. Not only so he could see where he was going, but so that he could take in every shadow and curve of the beautiful dog in front of him.

It was funny how loved worked. The person you loved yesterday might not be the person you would love forever. A piece of his heart would always belong to that kennel princess, his song bird, but Dixie was more than his heart; she was his soul. Her voice spoke to it with a language that was unknown to the brain. It couldn't be thought about, only felt. Boy did he feel things. More than he would care to admit. He did have an image to keep up after all. For now, he would allow himself to feel young and reckless again. Cash moved closer to the golden canine, his head venturing out to gently nuzzle her neck for a moment before leaving her with a loving lick to her cheek. " 'Member that time we sang and danced in that holler on the way to the Opery? Ya know, the one with those purple 'n yeller wildflowers," he hummed. Those sweet spring time smells filling his memories. He could've swore he could still feel that Tennessee sun against his warm coat, grass dangling from him as he rolled around in the soft bluegrass. Cash's brown gaze softened as he looked at Dixie, his night-vision doing it's best to take in all of her soft, gentle features.

---

word count| 632 |
muse| Talledagea by Eric Church |
notes| so sorry about the late reply D:|

Firelight flicked across the floor, casting long eerie shadows and a wicked orange glow across the cell-block. The Termite mound was illuminated by one single fire-pit in it's center, just bright enough to toss it's light across the bones that made up the cell bars, but not pass to deeply into each individual cell. For the cocker spaniel held inside, the coming darkness had become a thick blanket that made her isolation feel all the more intense.

She was laying on her stomach, towards the back of her cell. Hind legs tucked firmly underneath her and her head placed across her forepaws. Hiding in the shadow between two licks of firelight., her features outlined in a haunting glow. For her part, Lady was looking pretty rough. Her normally well groomed fur was unkempt and dusty. Her paws where caked in dust up to her ankles, and her long fluffy ears seemed to want to frizz in every direction. But she refused to let herself go completely. Running her claws through her ear fur, or gently grooming herself when she got a few moments alone, she was able to keep her natural canine curves preserved. Thankfully, and mostly thanks to Two Tone, she was not starving. For the moment, she was dirty, dusty, but not down.

The honey furred spaniel slowly opened her eyes, eyelids fluttering as she heard the song drifting in, echoing down the cell-block. She raised her head, one ear perked as she recognized the voice. There could be no denying who it was. Her mind instantly flashing back to a time when she felt that she had the capability to move on. That she was in the protection of a knight in shining armor. He had been there in the darkest hours. When it seemed as if her little family was done, when her little boy had been snatched away, and when her belly grew as life blossomed within.

She rolled her shoulders to toss her long silky ears over her back, and for a few moments basked in the music. Pretending that it was a lullaby for her. But alas, those days where gone. Their litter gnashed amongst the jaws of war. A kindling love extinguished.

Yet, an old flame is hard to kill. While her love for the Tramp remained unmatched, a part of her heart always would belong to the hound dog. Perhaps that was why she didn't feel any pain upon hearing him sing. In fact, it brought her a serene joy. The end of her maw turning up is a far-away smile. It meant that the Cash she knew and loved was slowly overpowering the feral hate that had once consumed him. With or without Dixie, he was happy. To Lady, that's what mattered. Perhaps he would be happy knowing she was giving Tramp a second chance, knowing that her family was slowly making it's way back together. That a flame of hope was growing for them. Even locked away as a guest of Queen Zira, Lady was finally at peace with her old ills.

She lay her head back down at her paws, hoping he wouldn't see her like this. She wanted him to remember her how she was, the mother of his first litter, not the war trophy she had been turned into. But for now, the graceful cocker spaniel just silently basked in a final lullaby from afar.

"Then ya' don't know yer country then. But..I'd always sing a song for you if that ain't what'cha want."

"Puh." Dixie stuck her nose in the air as she walked past Cash. However a smile slipped on her soft muzzle. Even in this blackness, it felt for a brief moment like they were home again.. "Ah know mah country better'n a professor knows teachin'," she chuckled. She smiled towards the male, hoping he was talking about her...not somebody else. But she was too tired to get angry right then and there. She smirked like a high school girl receiving a kiss from her crush when Cash reached out and licked her cheek.

" 'Member that time we sang and danced in that holler on the way to the Opery? Ya know, the one with those purple 'n yeller wildflowers."

"Whoooo do ah ever," she laughed, "All five've us were just exhausted by that time. N'you reminded us all that it was about th'singin' not the travels. And we..." She smirked to the ground before wrapping her tail around Cash's back. She lay her head on his side in the comfort of his coat.

"Oh Cash," she said softly, "Sometimes ah wonder..." She faded off into the dark.