|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:09 am
Even after all these years, the once mighty and still proud female still longed for her dead son. Her remaining son and daughter often stumbled upon her staring at the vast night sky, her eyes fixed on the twinkling stars, as if they had the power to bring Ares back from the dead. Hephaestus would press his ears to his skull and whimper quietly for his mother, for although she grieved, she did so in silence, always away from her children and grandson. He longed to comfort her, but she held more fiery pride than his mighty father once had; if she discovered that he had found her in such a state, she would no doubt scold him and tell him that she was doing nothing more than daydreaming.
She was so strong. Other than these few moments of weakness she had from time to time, when her female thoughts took control and reminded her of her failure as a mother, she was the strongest, most resilient wolf any of them had seen since Zeus died. A mighty Alpha she had been.
Now, that might was far from dwindled, but she contented herself with the care of her living children, the grandchild she would take on the world for, and the two outcasts she had grown to love with all her heart. ~~~~~~~~ Growling irritably, Athena padded across the meadow, her tail stiff and ears twitching spastically, as if they didn't know whether to p***k forward in indignation, or flatten to her skull in anger.
It never ceased to amaze her, how utterly stupid her mother was. No matter how much Athena snarled and snapped, Dione still treated her as a child, and a child that loved her mother non-the-less. And Heph would sit there, all high and mighty, and share in the old b***h's delusions, his freak of a son lolling in the sun with the two freak outcasts.
It sickened her. How she hated them all. They were a waste of her time, and she felt trapped by their presence, yet found herself unable to leave. Not for the first time, she wondered if her father's dying words had been a curse on her, as if he knew her dark secrets, her inner hate for her oh-so-loving family.
"You will stay together, and keep each other safe. I'm sure of it . . . "
Of course he was sure of it! He had made it true with his twisted magicks!
Her tongue lolled from between her fangs, as if something vile had spread its foul taste in her mouth. Magick. Zeus' magick had twisted inside Heph, yet had never blossomed into anything more than a tingle beneath his fur. But his whelp, the spike haired freak, was showing more and more of the magick everyday! It zipped and zapped from his paws with every step, as if he had captured the power of the lightning from the last summer storm within his body.
Shivering in a fear she kept deeply hidden, the orange, black slashed female leapt the trickle of creek that barred her way from escaping her effed up family for the afternoon. Even a few hours of complete boredom on the edge of the packlands was better then being anywhere near them.~~~~~~~~ Shifting in the warm sunlight, Heph watched with half-lidded eyes as his sister trotted away as if she had badgers biting at her heels. His tail thumped once, lazily, and he realized that he was happy she was leaving. He honestly had no idea why she even stayed with them, for although his mother believed her daughter loved her dearly, he knew Athena despised them all. At first, when he had been younger, it had heart him dearly, for he had loved his littermate, especially so after the loss of his dear brother.
Now? Now he simply didn't care, and wished she would leave and never step paw back on his lands. The only reason he didn't outright ask her to go was because of Dione; it would hurt his mother deeply if she discovered one of her own kin hated her as fire hates water.
But his silence was causing a serious conflict within him, his Alpha instincts warring with those of a loving son. The whole situation made his head hurt.
A rich laugh made him shift his gaze, greens orbs searching for the source of the sound. Leto, one of the outcasts, though he had firmly decided against calling him that anymore, was rolling on his back like a pup, maw wide in a happy grin. It made him smile, because the white wolf normally hated doing anything that might mean dirt on his fur. It had taken a while to get used to Leto's dirt-phobia, and he still didn't understand it, but it seemed that the young wolf was loosening up a bit.
Not for the first time, he wondered where the phobia came from. Had it anything to do with the haunting look in the young wolf's eyes when they'd found him? Or the way he had seemed a broken thing for months after dragging him back to the family den, Syn using his unbelievable talents to ease the white male's pains.
All of them had made a point to avoid the subject when Leto had started to visibly recover; he would tell them on his own.
Sighing, his gaze then shifted to Kajahli, the ever cowering, starkly purple wolf he had found as a cub shortly after stumbling upon Leto. Kaj was . . . an interesting one. The poor pup-turned-teen was terrified of anything and everything, startled by the slightest sound or movement. Again, Heph knew there was a reason for the purple one's fears, but he refrained from asking. He was nothing if not patient.
Finally, his gaze came to rest on his son; first, at the shock of spiky white hair jutting straight up from his skull, to his two-toned eyes, and finally to the now ever-present licks of miniature lightning that played about his paws.
Kiion was his whole world. The boy's mother had died at birth, something Heph constantly grieved about; deep down, he had wondered since that day if it had been the magick his body had shared with that of his unborn pup's that had killed his poor mate. It something he felt unending guilt for, but every time he gazed upon his healthy, beautiful son, the guilt seemed to melt away. Kiion had a gift for healing, and it was something his mate would have cherished even if it meant her death.
Many would call his family a pack of scarred lostlings, with too many hurts to be a proper pack, but they were his. His family, his life. He would protect them until his dying day, in every way possible.
He was their leader.
He was Alpha.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:13 pm
Leto cut his laughter short with a frown, realizing what he was doing. The white wolf hadn't laughed . . . Well, he honestly couldn't remember the last time he had laughed. Or felt much joy.
Kaj and Kiion both stared at him, worry in their eyes, and he shook his head with a smile, ears flicking back and forth. "I'm fine. I just . . . need to go for a walk." "Want company?" Kiion asked, head cocked to one side. He didn't necisserily believe his friend, because he felt that Leto wasn't as fine as he admitted. His magicks could sense the old pain, coming back up to bite at him as it usually did whenever Leto had reason to think about his past. The shaman wondered idly what had brought those memories to the surface, but didn't ask. "Maybe later."
With that, Leto padded off, shaking his fur absently of dirt as he did, the black and white scarf swaying as he went.
His wandering feet took him along the small stream running through the middle of the packlands, where it later joined the larger river at the edge of Hephaestus' territory.
Unwillingly, his thoughts took a sour turn, and the pessimist within him wondered how he had gotten so lucky to find such a seemingly accepting new family. One that had taken him in without any explination from him as to why he wasn't with his pack. What did his new family want from him?
Growling at himself and his nonsense, he jumped into the stream, letting the cool water ease his thoughts. It lapped idly at his chest, but it was no deeper. He felt a tug, and looked down to find the gently current grabbing lightly at his scarf, but it was wrapped securely around his neck. His ears flickered back, then forward again as he remembered his time with the humans.
The young girl that had given him the scarf seemed to smile up at him from the water, and Leto jumped, startled. In an instant, he was searching frantically for the face again, but it was gone, just as she truly was. A different ache resurfaced as he remembered how the girl's village had been flooded, the unexpected wave of the flash flood wiping the small group of people out.
And sweeping him miles downriver in the process . . .
Grimacing, he turned to look back the way he had come, where his new pack spent most days in the comfortable grasses, soaking up the sun. Feeling foolish for his earlier thoughts, he turned and loped back to them.
~~~~~
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:08 am
Kajahli watched Leto leave, feeling his ears flatten to his skull. What if Leto was attacked by bears? Or stung by a bee and couldn't move? Dozens of fears and what ifs spilled through the young wolf's mind, and he didn't realize he was shaking until Kiion pawed at his chest. The little purple wolf turned and immediatly got a lick to the end of his nose, making him blink.
"Kaj, remember what I told you?" Kiion murmured gently, tail wagging. He grinned inwardly at little Kajahli's constant worry, glad that it was no longer the debilitating fear it had been when they'd found him. The purple wolf could actually go for a walk now without turning into a whimpering, quivering lump of fear.
Purple fear. Very very purple fear.
Flattening his ears in chagrin, the young purple wolf smiled in embarressment. "Just because it can, doesn't mean it will."
It had taken a very long time for Kajahli to believe that, but after a while, when all the things he constantly thought about never started happening, he'd started to think that Kiion had a point. But still, it never did any harm to worry.
"That's right," Hephaestus murmured, his huge form suddenly casting an even larger shadow over Kajahli. The alpha watched as the purple wolf nearly jumped out of his skin, and silently berated himself. It was so easy to forget how easily frightened his young charge was, and Kiion shot him a level stare.
Waving his tail in apology, he nudged the purple male as he walked past him, did the same to his son, then lay down at an angle between them, tongue lolling in the gentle heat of the midday sun.
"Is Leto alright?" he asked, to neither of them in particular, knowing that his son would have a better answer than either of them, but not wanting to hurt Kajahli's feelings. He saw Kajahli exchange a look with Kiion.
The spiky haired wolf shook his head, yawning widely as he did. He shifted his paws and little flickers of blue-white static drifted between his toes before disappearing into the ground. "No, he's not. He just pretends to be, like usual."
Hephaestus frowned, one ear flicking backwards. "Does he know that you can feel him?" he asked quietly, worrying, not for the first time, about the white wolf splattered with red, like blood.
The alpha's son shook his head, sending his main of spiky hair to waving. The silver bracelets around his paws clinked lightly as he crossed his front paws. "No, I don't think so. Otherwise he wouldn't bother to lie to me."
"Maybe you should tell him. He won't have any way to hide anymore, and maybe he'll start talking. It would be better if he talks," the alpha murmured, worried about the white wolf and how he kept everything to himself, as if he thought he couldn't share what he was feeling. Heph wasn't sure if it was just pride, or something else for Leto.
Kajahli nodded, smiling happily. "It's what got me to talk," he added, tail wagging behind him in the grass. He'd made a habit of smiling more to please his new family, but lately, he'd discovered that the smiles had started coming naturally, which made him even happier.
Kiion sighed unhappily, veiling his true emotions and burying them deep. It wouldn't do any good to explain why he didn't want to pry into Leto's privacy. His father wouldn't understand. "Alright, I'll tell him later tonight, after he's had a chance to think. He's usually in a better mood after going for a walk."
Pushing to his feet, the Shaman stretched for a long moment, then he walked away down the hill, leaving his father and friend to their own thoughts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:13 pm
Dione flicked her ears around at the sound of approaching paws, knowing by the heavy tread that it was her son. Smiling, she lifted her head and wagged her tail as he approached. He was such a handsome wolf, reminding her of her own father, and her long-dead mate, but not in a horrible way. She no longer wept when thinking of them anymore, but instead remembered everything good about them and their time with her. "Mother, you're grinning again," Hephaestus said as he approached, meeting her blue gaze with smiling eyes. Then he flicked his own gaze passed the white wolf, to the world laid out below her. He knew that the cliff edge was her favorite place to order her thoughts, and to take her naps.
It also happened to be his.
The territory his father had staked out for his family was the most beautiful of all the land, at least in Hephaestus' opinion. To the North, a gentle, sloping countryside of meadows and forest both, and a beautiful meandering river. To the South, however, the world simply fell away, the river falling over the edge in a roaring waterfall. The sheer cliff face stretched east to west for miles, with the forest continuing more than a hundred feet below them.
"Athena took off North again.""I know," she murmured, watching her son. The proud female had known for a while that her daughter despised her. Though it had bothered her at first, much like her son, she had grown irritated by it all. Dione had no time for Athena's temper tantrums anymore. "I was the reason she stormed off," she added idly, licking a paw.Heph's ears pricked forward in surprise, his eyes blinking. "Really? But . . . " He had thought Dione was oblivious to her daughter's feelings, and suddenly felt ashamed that he had assumed his mother was that blind. "So you've known then?"Dione smiled kindly, knowing her son's thoughts. She pushed her old self to her paws and padded over to him, licking his ears. "For a while, yes. She's become rather blatant lately."Growling, the alpha focused his gaze on the distant horizon, where storm clouds seemed to be gathering. He wondered if they would finally get some snow this winter, and debated about checking the winter dens to see if they needed to be repaired or re-dug.
"That's a word. Not one I'd use, but you wouldn't approve of what I have to say about her.""She is still my daughter, Heph. And your sister." Sighing, Dione sat on her haunches, wondering what to do. "I know she wants to leave, yet she doesn't. Why?"
It was a complete mystery to her as to why Athena continued to stay, and she had asked her daughter as much. It was the start of what had escalated into their earlier fight, and why the other beta had run off again. Narrowing her eyes, Dione gnashed her teeth. "If we make her so miserable, why doesn't she just go?"Hephaestus felt himself frown, but he had suddenly remembered something Athena had snarled at him once, and wondered if it had any meaning to it after all. "I don't think she can."Confused, Dione tilted her head, one ear flicking backwards for a brief moment. "What do you mean? What's holding her here?"Turning his gaze to his mother, Hephaestus answered, "Athena told me once that dad said something to her before he died. Something about staying together. You remember how superstitious she was when she was younger. That hasn't changed much, except by getting worse.""She honestly believes that her father's words bind her to the pack?" Dione asked, astounded. She supposed it was possible. Her own father had once told her that if she believed in something hard enough, it could come true. It was possible that Athena was taking that to the extreme. Heph's tail twitched once, one ear flicking backwards at the same time: the wolf version of a shrug. "Anything's possible with her, you know that."Dione nodded wryly, recalling several instances from her childrens' puppyhood. But then she brushed all thoughts of Athena aside and leaned against her son, taking comfort in his strength. Never had she seen another wolf like him, so willing to take in orphans. So willing to give a home to a sister that despised not only him, but also his son. There wasn't a kinder soul in the world, and she was proud to call him alpha. "Heph?"Blinking as he changed his thoughts to something else, he glanced down at his mother, smiling softly. "Hmm?""I love you, my alpha. My son. You do me proud. Your father too . . . "Feeling his fur warm in embarrassment, Hephaestus ducked his head, but his tail wagged in pleasure. Nuzzling his mother, he nipped her ears, and they both turned their gazes to the west, watching as the sun set on the lands of the Acropolis pack.
END
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
