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 Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 4:20 pm
 Xihuitl was roaming around the parklands, practicing his skills as some would see it. It had been many nights since he had shadow walked, and he did not want to lose his touch. It was a lost art to his brothers and he was going to make sure he didn't lose it also.
All in all, the night was quiet, he could hear some birds not too far in the distance. And the relaxing trickle of water in the stream near by. He was still on alert though, many strangers had been coming dangerously close to the pack lands, and with the pups still unmarked by the pack fully they were open to being taken back to their natural homes. Something that he would not lt happen, or the war master for that matter. Xihuitl sighed and lay in the shadow of a tree, almost completely invisible except for his yellow green eyes.
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Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:37 pm
 Ashur didn't know where he was.
He was a long way from home. That much he knew. He had wandered too far, crossed the river, lost the scent. Now he was cold, and hungry, and damp. The sun had come and gone many times, since he first left home; he felt its warmth, and if he turned his head toward the sky he could just barely make out hints of light and shadow.
His stomach growled. He was ferociously hungry, and had no idea how to find food for himself. Once, he had caught the scent of something dead, and had tried to scavenge it; but he was chased away, and barely escaped. He could still feel the hot breath of his aggressor on his heels, though he knew he was quite alone.
He was too old to cry, but he couldn't stop himself. He fell to his belly, burying his muzzle between his paws, and tried to collect himself. Tears fell from his blank eyes, and in his misery he didn't notice that he had stumbled into pack lands.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:42 am
Xihuitl was peaceful at the moment, he could barely hear his brothers roaming around in the night, making small game of whatever they saw.The pups were in training and were still learning how to hunt. He smiled slightly and shook his hood off exposing his star covered head.
Then the wind carried something to his ears, crying? He rose to four paw and started towards the sound. Xihuitl was ready to carry out what his pack had always done, offer life in the pack or take it from this male. But what he saw made him stop. This almost grown male was laying on his belly crying, what a silly thing to do. The starry male sat down and watched for a moment in complete silence.
"You are a disgrace, crying on the round like a pup. Get up boy, stand straight and let me have a look at you." He said but something tipped him off that this wolf was not what he seemed. The Starry male had been searching for someone to take in the old ways of the pack, someone who could carry on the legend if he were to die.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:52 am
Asher leapt to his paws, wheeling around to face the other. He bared his teeth, his ears folding back to his skull, his milky white eyes staring blankly forward. His body trembled.
He could not see the wolf's cloak, the burning mark above his eyes. He could not see, too, the eerie world that he had fallen into, the ghostlike trees, the damp swamp.
A tear crept down his cheek, but he ignored it, his heart burning in shame. "Who are you?" He asked, trying to conceal the quiver in his voice.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 3:32 pm
"I am either your life or your death, depending on how you chose." He said and rose to his feel, now seeing that this wolf was completely blind. "Pup you think you can fight me when you can't see, and i am one of the best warriors in my pack."
Xihuitl saw a spirit thought that he found most interesting. "Why are you here all alone young one? You probably can't even see where i am." He said and smacked the blue and creme wolf with his tail. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you . . . . yet." A smile came across his face.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:42 pm
Ashur's head was an empty, panicked buzz. Where was he? Where had he ended up? How had he gotten so far away from home? Where was Tahoma, his beloved brother? Where was his father and his bell?
Still, even as the terror welled in him, he recognized a certain thrill of excitement. Wherever he was, he was talking to a wolf with power....and Ashur was interested in power. Heart thudding with excitement as much as fear, he drew himself to his full height, determined to hold his own against his unseen foe.
The brush of the other wolf's tail startled him, and he whirled around, baring his teeth once more. "No riddles!" He said, trying to sound confident instead of petulant. "Tell me who you are and where I am!"
If he was to die, he would die like a true wolf...head and tail held high.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:59 pm
Xihuitl snickered at his will to keep fighting. "You are within a realm of the shadow wolves. And I'm sure you are very far from home." he sat down and heard the belly of the smaller wolf. "You are hungry, if you relax i will get you something to eat." He said and then flicked his eyes to the milky eyes. "That is if you are interested in joining a life much greater than your own."
The starry wolf knew that he wanted something, all wolves do. "You crave power, i can give that to you, i can teach you things that will make you more powerful. Just because your sight is gone doesn't mean that you are weak." He wondered if this male would take the bait, if he would join and become Xihuitl's apprentice. Something gnawed at him about this boy.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:26 pm
"I'm not weak!" Ashur said, boldly, but the words seduced him. He had spent so much of his life being overlooked...believing that he could grow only to be as weak and worthless as his own timid mother. Could he be strong? Could he perhaps be even stronger than a wolf with his sight?
His stomach growled, loudly, and he was forced to agree that he was hungry. His ears flicked back to his head. "My name is Ashur," he muttered, grudgingly. "Thank you. For food."
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:40 pm
Xihuitl smiled and left for a moment, then brought back a fox throwing it to the pups feet. "Eat and listen Ashur." He said and sat down. "My pack is a band of brothers, strong and binder to the shadows. We are feared by mothers who hide her pups in the night from us. I am Xihuitl, storyteller for the pack." He said and watched the laced eyes pup.
"I have searched long for someone to learn my ways, to tell the stories of the pack and the ways of the old pack. I am one of the oldest members of the pack and have power even though i am not a fighter. I could teach you the ways of shadow walking, and how to manipulate prey to do what you will. Simply because you are blind only means that your other senses are heightened, if you train your mind you can learn to feel the earth around you."
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:06 pm
Ashur tore into the fox the moment it was laid before him. He was too hungry for politeness. He tasted it, and the meat was strange. He was unaccustomed to red meat, having grown up largely on fish from the rivers of Akiki Chibale, and he had certainly never eaten anything like this. The blood tasted rich and salty, and the meat was coppery.
His tail twitched behind him as he soaked in the other wolf's words. Power? Shadows? he hardly grasped the full meaning, but the idea was intoxicating. Yes. Yes, he wanted this, more than he had ever wanted anything. This was a thousand times better than crawling his way back home, to relying once more on Tahoma's eyes or his pack's sympathy.
"Teach me," he said, licking the blood from his chops. It stained his muzzle deep crimson. "Xihuitl. Please, teach me. I will be the best student you have ever had."
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 8:45 pm
Xihuitl smiled and nodded, "Welcome to the brotherhood Ashur, you are to be my apprentice. I will teach you all my ways and you will have power within your strengths."
He rose to his feet and thought for a moment. "Lets go, you will stay in my den while i talk to my brothers about you. They may not be happy about you we normally only take the strongest males to join our ranks." Xihuitl said and walked up to the male biting on his ear slightly. "Can you follow me, or do you want to hold on? Our land is a bit rocky." This pup was going to become like his son, and as such he would be given more compassion that his brothers did not get.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:17 pm
Ashur shook his head, emphatically. "I can follow," he said, smacking his lips and savoring the lingering taste of blood on his tongue. He trailed close behind Xihuitl, trying to memorize his scent. "You don't have to baby me."
Oh, if only he knew what was in store, he wouldn't worry about being babied ever again.
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:29 pm
Xihuitl smiled and nodded, "Very well, but i will be the only one you will get any compassion from. The other brothers will kill you if you get in the way." He said and kept his yellow eyes on the darkened path.
"Tell me about yourself Ashur, i must know what i am dealing with."
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Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:06 pm
Kill him?
The thought chilled and excited him. This wolf meant business. Ashur liked that. The fear hadn't settled in, yet. For a blind wolf, lost and alone, every day could mean death. What difference did it matter if the wolves in this pack would dispose of him? Plenty of others would do the same. He didn't think it was particularly cruel.
"I won't be a nuisance," he said, firmly. His paws felt out the ground ahead of him; it was rocky and hard, and the small pebbles tore at his feet. He liked the pain. "I'm used to doing stuff on my own, anyway," he ventured, eager to show this strange new wolf that he was serious. "I mean, I have so many brothers and sisters. And my mom's blind, too. She couldn't really take care of all of us all the time."
Which was, of course, how he had ended up all alone. Well, that and his willful desire to run away, however ill-advised that had been.
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Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:05 pm
Xihuitl smiled under his hood, "You seem self sufficient, yet you are skin and bones, crying on the floor of my forest. I think you are lying, you need others to do many things." He said and came into the pack grounds where his den was located, it was decorated in skulls and was meant to scare off his pack mates.
"We are here, get in, and rest, your training starts when you are healthy again. It would kill since you are so malnourished."
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