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 Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 1:52 am
"We've had to earn her love again," Kai added. Now that he had opened the box he found it very difficult to stop, and regardless, he liked talking about his home. He found himself oddly proud of it now that he had some distance. Honestly, the closer he came to home, the more nostalgic for it he was. "And we have, for the most part. But we don't get any more free help from the sea goddess. We need to pay for it." Sometimes with lives.
"Yes. We are self-sufficient. A breed apart, or so they say." Kamiya hoped that Kai wouldn't open his big maw about the way the pack swelled its ranks when inbreeding seemed imminent. If the storyteller worried so much about sacrifices and slaves, she doubted the kidnapping would go over well.
"If I remember right, the reason the evil wolves on the mountain survived was because one of the chosen wolves was in love with someone who hadn't been chosen. She'd shown them a place they could hide. And then that secret spread to dozens of wolves." Kami smiled an odd, mirthless smile. "That's why we're not supposed to mingle with outsiders if it can be helped. Or one reason, anyway. I think it's mostly because they'd have a hard time understanding us."
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 5:33 pm
Senka thought of her own pack and wondered, for the first time, about its course. If not for Cinaed’s resolve, or the gods’ warning, would they have become something like the Kapu’Moana? Would they have shut out the world? To another wolf, it might have been humbling to realize that fate could have left her in a position not unlike Kai’s or even Kamiya’s, but had chosen, instead, to bless her with her pack. To Senka, however, the thought was merely an observation, for she rarely bothered to worry herself over what could have been.
Now, as for their fickle sea goddess…
“Perhaps her anger was over that very incident,” she suggested. “Perhaps she did not appreciate one of her chosen undermining her decision after begging for help.” Nonetheless, Senka thought it was a little ridiculous to keep avoiding the world after so long, whatever the reason, but she did understand the power of tradition. In her travels, she had seen wolves still doing mysterious rituals long after their meaning had been forgotten. Preventing something similar from occurring in her pack was just one of many reasons for the presence of their storytellers.
It was a responsibility that she had never taken lightly.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:41 pm
"Yes," Kai said, nodding. "I think that's it. I would be angry, too."
He smiled a sheepish smile and glanced over his shoulder, brow furrowing. It sounded like someone was coming up over the hill. The rest of them were catching up after all. "It's been enlightening, Senka, and I hope we have given you something to consider." His honey-gold eyes flicked to her good-naturedly. "But we really should be going. We've lingered too long, I'm afraid, and we'll have to walk double-fast to catch up."
Kamiya shot him a 'great, now you think of this, why didn't you do that earlier' sort of look, wrinkled her nose, and then looked back at Senka with bright, distrustful eyes. "Yes. Perhaps our paths will cross again," she said, in the hollow way of someone who thinks no such thing will ever happen.
Deciding that this was quite enough socialization for her week, she turned and started down the hill, hoping Kai would have enough sense to follow her.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:07 pm
Senka grinned. Ever-testy, was Kamiya. At least she had provided Senka with ample amusement for the day, right down to the last. The grey wolf looked at Kai. Now, that had certainly been an experience. Though she had dragged his story out of him, forced him to face a few of his demons, she felt that he was not the only one to learn something today. She had gained more than mere bedtime tales, herself. In fact, she had acquired quite a lot of philosophy to consider in her spare time.
“I assure you that it has been an equally illuminating experience for me,” she said, inclining her head in a graceful half-bow. “I wish you success in your endeavors.” With that, Senka rose and resumed her uphill course. An entertaining interlude it had been, but it was time to move on. There was a whole world full of stories just waiting for her to find them.
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