|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:46 pm
 Lucian was...displeased. He was young, to be sure. He was also decidedly and inescapably male, an unfortunate fate in his world. He did not pretend to know everything that there was to know, and certainly there were others wiser than he. However, in this matter, he was certain that he was right, or at least he was not wrong.
For whatever reason, males were inferior. He did not understand this, and was not entirely sure what he thought about it. Because of this fact, however, he was being held back. He could not protect his important people like he wanted to. His fragile mother. His precious sisters. He was not allowed to do anything that would truly help them. Nothing to defend them from their enemies. Nothing to keep them safe and whole and well.
He was rendered useless by his lot in life, and it was not a feeling that he enjoyed. If only he were allowed to fight. He had noticed, as they grew, that though his sisters were beginning to receive proper training, he was physically stronger. He was careful with this fact, of course. He did not want to hurt them, or get them in trouble or anything. However, if he was stronger than them, he should logically be stronger than their female enemies.
Sure, they were being trained to take care of themselves, but there was always someone better out there. Someone faster, or more skilled, or meaner. Someone who would not fight fairly. Surely it would be better if he, a strong and disposable male, could fight in their stead. If he could protect them when they were outmatched. Be their shield. Their strength. He could do so much more for them than clean a den or gather food, if only he were allowed...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:43 pm
 Chimera was an adult by seasons, but in his heart he was very much the troubled teen he had always been. He had grown surly and quiet as he aged. As a pup, he was tempted to smart off, to open his big mouth and say the first thing that came to mind.
That temptation had passed. He learned to brood in silence, now, and spoke only when spoken to unless he was among the slaves.
He counted none of them as friends, however. His father frowned upon it. They were brothers, in his eyes -- a great brotherhood of slaves, bound by loyalty and love of the Sisters. Several of the slaves were blood relations to Chimera: his blood-brothers, his cousins. So why did he feel no love toward them? Even his father filled him with sullen rage.
The life did have its charms, though. Being a slave meant that Chimera was largely invisible. He could travel throughout the pack and eavesdrop on others under guise of collecting debris. He could disappear for long hours and no one would mind, so long as his work was done. Indeed, they would probably be grateful to see him gone. Stupid, worthless male. Right? Right.
The lanky wolf shifted his weight, a long ear flicking. He was long-legged and bony, gaunt like his cousin Django and -- he hated to admit -- his grandfather Adonai. He had always expected to grow into his long legs and large paws, but it had never happened.
He caught the scent of another wolf and shifted his path. He would normally be eager to avoid other wolves, but Lucian wasn't so bad. For all the wolves in the pack, his cousin Lucian was about as easy to stomach as the others. Besides, he suspected that the young wolf might one day get himself into trouble, and he was eager to stop him...or to help...whichever seemed like more fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:11 pm
Suddenly realizing that he was not alone, Lucian turned to glare halfheartedly at the other male. It was only Chimera. He was not particularly fond of any of the males. So many were so weak and simpering. Of course, he was not particularly fond of anyone, except his immediate family. However, out of all of them, Chimera was one of the least annoying. At least he did not set Lucian's fangs on edge.
"Cousin," he said, not particularly welcoming. He needed an answer to his questions. Some loophole he could exploit. Something he could do that would not backlash on his mother and sister. He did not have time to converse with the bony, miserable male before him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:16 pm
The patched wolf raised his brows, a slight smile touching his maw. "You look deep in thought, cousin," he said, with a mocking sort of formality. Lucian was always so serious. Chimera didn't know how he could stand it.
Granted, when you looked like Chimera, it was hard to take anything very seriously.
"What's on your mind?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:32 pm
"Hardly anything you need be concerned with," he dismissed, turning to walk toward the river.
It was already dangerous enough even thinking the thoughts that Lucian had. Speaking them aloud would be beyond stupid. Not only could his family get in trouble, but they might even throw him out of the pack for such rebellious words. If they did that, he really would have no way of watching over his family. Then where would he be?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:10 pm
"I see," he said, trailing after the younger wolf. He recognized something of himself in his sullen demeanor. But the anger felt different from his own futile rage.
In truth, he should probably turn and head home. There was no point in getting involved, honestly. But, now that he'd opened the hornet's nest, he may as well see it through to the end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:23 pm
Upon reaching his favorite spot by the river, and realizing that Chimera was still following him, the younger male turned around with an irritated huff.
"What do you want, cousin? I've little patience today."
Well, he had little patience any day, really. Not for other males, but that was beside the point. Could he not be left in peace to figure out what he had to do? It wasn't like his downtrodden relation could help him...could he?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:58 pm
"Impatience is ill-fitting for a slave," Chimera said, but it was with a light, ironic smile -- a smile that said that he, too, saw fault with the lifestyle. "Better, if something's bothering you, that you talk to someone who won't tear your tail off."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:12 am
Lucian scowled at his cousin, annoyed, yet considering the offer anyway. Really, what could he do? More to the point, what would he bother to do? Knowing Chi, not much unless there was something in it for him.
"Have you noticed any...disadvantages in the way that the world works? Aside from the obvious ones, of course." To Lucian, who had never known or even heard of anything else beyond the way of life he was born to, male slavery was his world. It was life, and it was unlikely to change, though that did not mean that he did not want it to...at least a little.
Still, as soon as he said the words, he almost wished he could take them back. Almost. In a way, it was liberating to hint at his thoughts, even in such a vague and roundabout way as this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:26 am
"Being slaves?" Chimera responded, glancing around to see if anyone could overhear them. "Bowing and scraping and cleaning up after the messes of our superiors? Being worthless scum thanks to nothing more than our gender, which we have no control over?"
He grinned, a cold, wolfish grin.
"Nah. I can't imagine a thing wrong with it. I'm overwhelmed with happiness."
He wondered if his cousin had a sense of humor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:39 am
Lucian stared at his cousin drily. "I believe that falls under the category of the obvious."
Should he continue? Why not. It was pretty obvious that Chimera felt just about the same as him, or at least close enough.
"What I mean is, we could do so much more, if we were allowed to. We could be so much more."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:58 am
"Could we?" Chimera asked. The thought had struck him repeatedly. Was there a reason for their inferiority? The wolves at YMCA that he met had all been...well...not much of an improvement. Maybe this was all there was to life, after all.
"Tell me. What would you be, if you had the choice?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:10 am
Lucian gave the older male a considering gaze. Was it safe to say such a thing. Railing against authority was one thing, but this was something else entirely. Would Chimera be appalled? Would be laugh? Would he say enough is enough and report him to the females?
Well, at this point, what did he have to lose?
"I would be a warrior," he said, his eyes deadly serious. Perhaps, if he had been able to even imagine such a thing, he would have said that he would be alpha. Certainly, he had the drive, the potential. In another life, he may have been such a wolf. But as a slave, even daring to imagine life as a warrior was practically blasphemous. Wanting to be an alpha was incomprehensible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:37 pm
Chimera knew this feeling all too well, but he kept a quiet poker face about it. There was no point in giving away the game too early, and especially not until he knew how his young cousin would move forward. "And what would you want to be a warrior for?" He asked lightly.
The truth was, Chimera still trained religiously, though he had hit a plateau. He couldn't very well spar with Patroclus anymore. They were grown wolves, not children. And the alpha's son was busy with his father.
It didn't stop him from sneaking out at night to practice what he had learned, though. He wasn't as great of a warrior as he wanted to be, or even as good as he thought he was. But he was something. "Have you mentioned this to your grandfather?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 10:56 pm
Well, there was no immediate condemnation. That was something. On the other paw, neither was there any indication of what Chimera really thought. He was treating this like it was perfectly normal for a slave to speak of fighting. What was his cousin playing at?
Was he merely feeling him out, seeing who knew of Lucian's wicked ambition before he proceeded? Before he decided what to do with the information? Or was it something more? Why point to grandfather, of all people?
"Because I could be more than I am," he said. "I could be worth something. Truly be useful. Not just a slave huddling in the dens while enemies attack, but defending my family from enemies unseen. Even if they could never know it."
A pause, considering. "Why would I have told grandfather?" They were not close. In fact, they had rarely spoken at all. He was not one whom Lucian would have considered speaking of such things to. Not something like this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
