A quiet whimper caught on the breeze, drifting towards the skies before being engulfed by the beautiful melody of nature. Warm waters lapped lazily at the flesh of a rather pathetic looking female, teasing her fur while cleansing it of dirt and grime. She wished it would cleanse her body of other things, other self-inflicted horrors that would never be erased. Her soul was soiled, filthy. She was the Hester Prynne of the Haishin pack. Except... she didn't carry the badge of her sins with pride. Legacy saw herself as nothing more than a dirty little whore with the bastard child of a madman.
And her child was no where to be found at the moment. Terror rarely strayed far, of course, at little more than three months of age. Overprotective, it was rare that she actually let him out of her sight. He was still a pup though, and exploration sometimes got the better of him. Given her current frame of mind, Legacy actually couldn't be bothered to go after him. She couldn't be bothered to do much of anything. Self-loathing had again taken root, forcing her to repeat the cleansing ritual that had lately become habit.
In the shallows of the Enackir Hot Springs lay the Mexican femora, whimpers escaping her maw every so often as she dwelled on how screwed up her life was. Was she really nothing more than a heartless bitch? The question tumbled through her mind on endless repeat. Reality seemed to disappear from her vision, being replaced with lapping water and an endless void that brought no answers to her musings.
The distant call of her alpha had sounded some time ago but she was not compelled to answer it. She didn't feel clean yet; she would not budge until she felt clean. Of course, that would require her to no longer feel guilt for her past actions. Until that happened she doubted she would ever stay far from the hot springs. The water always pulled her back, beckoned her into its shallows, and failed to clean her soul the way it cleaned her body. She always felt filthy lately, and as long as she continued to wallow the longer she would feel unclean.
A purebred Mexican wolf pup; one would assume any pup would be playful, spontaneous and fun loving. Terror was an exception. Terror no longer played since his siblings were killed by his wretched father, and his depressed mother didn't play either. Not that Terror would want to, he would be too occupied wandering off, or fearing his father would come after him next. Since the incident, Rapture never returned. The brute thought all pups were gone, Terror was hiding in the bushes and so Rapture never knew about him. Terror can be thankful for obeying his mother, his two siblings should have listened as well.
Right on her heels was where Terror stayed for a majority of their travels. But the sketchy male pup would always look over his shoulder for danger, always feeling followed by his demon of a father. The physical connection broke from mother and son once a squirrel made rustling sounds in the brush; freaking the pup out to the point where Terror bolted off in a random direction. The young pup thought it was Rapture, the blood scent soon reminiscing in his nostrils made it hard to breath; along with the constant running and fear.
After wandering off with panic for at least fifteen minutes, Terror soon realized nobody was following him at all. Once again it was his overreacting imagination, but thanks to his dreadful father; broke his mind set all together. Panting and tired, the little pup traced back and followed his messy paw prints back to his mother, who would most likely assume that her child wasn't even gone in the first place.
Once arriving to a new setting, steam and hot water entering his nares and a vague scent of his mother. Rushing over, ignoring the blazing hot water his mother was washing in, Terror huddled close to Legacy for comfort. Another day, another traumatic event. And it will most likely continue throughout his entire life. Once again, Rapture had destroyed another wolf. Mentally this time.
Revan made her way slowly through the bushes; she was tired and sore. The Tundra female's black fur was matted, she longed for a bath, and there was a long scrape down one flank, but she knew that she had to be very careful here. A day or so ago, she had passed the boundary that marked the border of a pack's territory. Oddly enough, she had not met any other wolves yet, even though she was deep into a marked territory. This was slightly worrying, but she wasn't going to let it stop her.
When Revan caught the scent of water, she stopped for a moment. The water's scent was strange, mixed with minerals and other things that she could not identify. Thinking for a moment then making a decision, Revan altered her course to aim towards the scent. Perhaps she would encounter others there, and if so, would pay her courtesy to the ones who claimed this area as their own. If not, she would, hopefully, be able to cleanse her fur of the grime of her journey, and then she would move on.
Revan froze for a moment when she caught sight of a set of small, messy paw prints, leading in the same general direction that she was headed. Obviously the prints were made by a pup, and said pup had been in a great hurry to get wherever it was going. Revan pondered this for a few moments. Should she follow the prints? Actually seek out others? Well, she could always stay out of sight and leave if she chose. 'Here we go,' she thought, and began to follow the trail.
The prints led Revan to a large hot spring. Peering through the screen of bushes, she caught sight of the pup whose prints she had followed. He was huddled close to another wolf who, judging from the similarities of their markings, was most likely his mother. Taking a deep breath, Revan stepped out of concealment, deliberately making enough noise to announce her presence, and carefully made her way to the pool's edge.
The feeling of another being pressed against her side caused Legacy to stir from her self-loathing musings. Instinctively she nuzzled into the figure, pulling him as close a possible. She'd know the growing male anywhere. He was her son. He was the only thing in her life that seemed right, even if his father was a monster. He was hers, and he loved her, and that was all that mattered. He was her only bright light in a sea of darkness.
"Terror, when did you get so big?" she murmured. The pup seemed to grow like a weed. Every time she turned around he had gained another inch or two. Of course, considering she passed most of her time in a daze stupor there was little surprise time seemed to fly. Absentmindedly her tongue ran across his head and ears, bathing him in a way the water couldn't. Something had spooked him, and the quiet kisses were the only thing she could think of to comfort him. "Shh. It's alright. Mommy's here."
She would have continued to try and sooth her offspring had a rustle in the bushes not startled her. Instantly her ears perked forward as she searched out the sound with her eyes. Had Terror not been present, she probably would have paid no mind at all to whoever dared to invade her peace. Towards her son she was over protective, however, having already lost her other two offspring. She would let nothing take him away from her, not even death.
As the dark coated female broke free of the bushes, Legacy's eyes instantly narrowed. A low, warning growl rumbled in her throat as she pulled Terror closer to her. She did not like the silent way in which this femme was approaching them. What was worse, because she herself had never bothered to check in with Zethrox she had no idea if this wolf was allowed within Haishin's boundaries or not. Ah well. If the stranger wasn't going to respect pack law, Legacy would take care of that for her.
Throwing her head back, the Mexican female let out a long, loud howl. "A stranger's made it to the springs, Zethrox." It was short and clipped, filled with contempt. Her eyes never left the Tundra wolf as she again tried to pull Terror closer to her. There was something dominant in the way she lay there, ears erect and eyes cold and demanding. She didn't like the way this stranger had approached, and whether or not Legacy actually had any authority was not going to prevent her from acting like she did. There was no knowing how long it would take the alpha she'd just howled for to arrive, and she had a son to protect. Voice cold, she purposely locked her eyes upon the other fae in challenge. "Can I help you?"
His golden eyes looked up at his mother as she asked him when he got big. Really, he didn't notice it that much. Possibly she realizes it more because she hardly ever pays real attention to him... A lot of the time she's too occupied loathing to herself. "I..I dunno.." Terror replied, the feeling of his mother's tongue along his head was able to calm the little guy down. Terror knew nobody was going to get him now that he was with his mother. The hot water was actually quite relaxing, though the odor it protruded was a little overwhelming to the senses, but overall Terror felt at ease now.
"I-I think someone was chasing me for a long time. It was really scary and --" Terror got cut off by the sudden rustle of bushes along with his mother squeezing him closer to her. Wide eyed with fright the puppy peeked over, shuddering like a leaf by his mother. " -- They are here! It is what chased me! Mommy~" Terror whined and buried his face into Legacy's chest, whimpering pathetically. Terror didn't know it, but in fact nobody was chasing him at all. The new wolf just appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time, and of course Terror would blame the first one he sees as the criminal.
Crying softly to himself, unable to work up the courage to see who was the culprit. But his mother's howl made him jerk up frightened and he whined some more. With all the horror he's witnessed in his life, it was only natural for him to react this way. A terrified little pup with a monster of a dad, anyone born and raised as a child of Rapture would be demented. "Th-they are gonna get me, don't let them take me momma..."
Revan stopped immediately and met the other female's guarded gaze for a moment before dropping her own respectfully. Her ears twitched at the other's howl. The Mexican female was calling her alpha. 'Well,' she thought. 'It's too late to back out now.'
Revan shifted her posture to a non-threatening stance, though she wasn't sure how threatening she had looked in the first place - a small, bedraggled, scraped up adolescent wolf. She had noted the almost fearful way that the other protected her pup. While it was true that Revan hadn't spent much time around other wolves, she could sense that there was something hidden here. She filed that observation away for further study later. Right now, she had enough to deal with. "My name is Revan," she said softly. "I mean no harm to either you or your pup." Her gaze flicked to the young male as she said this, noting his huddled position next to his mother and the strange fearful look in his eyes.
'Something scared that pup badly,' Revan thought. All the pups she had seen on her travels were playful creatures, and while they had been wary of her as she passed through their pack's lands, it was nothing like this pup's abject fear. Filing that thought away with the other, she carefully walked around the pair to the edge of the spring and dropped gracefully to a seated position. "I'm sorry if I frightened you," she said to the pup. "I was following your tracks because the led in the direction of the water I smelled. No other reason."
The hot spring water looked so inviting, but it would be very bad etiquette to enter the water without permission from a member of the pack that claimed the territory. Revan respected the rules and etiquette of wolf society, which was one of the reasons the had not hunted since crossing the border. "I came seeking a place to bathe, and, if I found one of the pack that claims this place, to pay my respects. May I use the spring? I will stay in your sight until your alpha arrives." Revan looked longingly at the spring once more, then turned her gaze back to the other female.
Her son's words did nothing to reassure her. A warning growl ripped from her throat as Terror declared the stranger to be what had chased him. While most of his accusations ended up being the wild assumptions of a tormented youth, that did not stop Legacy from believing the words he spoke. Whenever he pointed out a cause of his distress, she dove straight into overprotective mode. No one got away with tormenting her little Terror. She refused to lose the only thing in her life that actually mattered to her (even if she didn't always act like she cared).
"Shh. Mommy's not gonna let anything happen to you," she tried to sooth. As nonthreatening as the strange female, Revan, tried to look, it did nothing to ease Legacy's own hostility. Protectively she stepped over her son, safely ensnaring him in the cage of her legs. Her eyes watched Revan like a hawk, and she moved in time with the other female, never letting her out of her sight. If she dared to step any closer to them, the Mexican was ready to meet her with fangs.
She was only half listening to the mumblings of the intruder. Right now she was more concerned with her pup and doing whatever it took to keep him safe. The fact that Revan's appearance had caused him so much distress only fueled her fire. She didn't care what the femme's excuse was. Legacy had a self-gratifying, sadistic streak that would prevent her from giving in to the stranger's requests. Once - If Zethrox arrived, he could chastise her for her cruel actions then. For now, the multi-hued female was going to provide Revan with the discomfort Revan had inadvertently seemed to cause Terror.
Her tone was snide as she spoke. "Sneaking around on claimed land isn't exactly respectful. You are going to sit right there and not move a muscle until I say otherwise. Or," she paused, her naturally flirty nature holding a much deadlier edge than it ever had. "You'll run now and I won't have to hurt you for scaring my son." There was something sickeningly sweet in the way she said her words, her eyes sparkling innocently as she smiled a fanged smirk. Legacy had always been trouble, but the addition of her son seemed to make all of her worst traits worse.
In his adolescent mind, the black female was radiating black head from her body. Her eyes were a fierce, pupil less red color, all her teeth bright white and beaming at him with blood dripping from the tips of her fangs. She was scary, nightmarish. But it was all in Terror's little mind, his innocent mind, not his demented one. Not yet at least. All he wanted was for this wolf to go away and for him to never see her again. And his mother was doing a good job keeping the black wolf at bay.
His nose buried into his mother's chest for comfort he inhaled her scent and kept his golden eyes behind the lids. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed, all the bad images will go away. He whined and whimpered, muffled against his mother's coat. The heat of the springs were probably making him delirious and the images even more stronger. The fumes, same thing. "Oh mama I hope Big Zeth comes soon, he'll make all monsters go away..." Big Zeth, aka Zethrox; alpha of Haishin whom Terror has much respect for. Zethrox was like a fatherly figure to the pup, but Terror always knew that he wasn't his father.
It was all a waiting game now. Legacy protects, Terror hides in fear. And the new wolf, watching at waiting for Zethrox perhaps. There was a maniacal laugh ringing in little Terror's ears... Inherited by his father that would always haunt him. That would be the worst if Rapture showed up, though the Mexican brute is unaware of Terror's existence as of now. Terror's father will be and will forever be... His worst Nightmare.
Revan flinched as if slapped. The coldness of the other female reminded her of her original alpha. Her first instinctive response would have been to snarl defensively at the other, but she reined in her anger and shoved it away, knowing that fighting would serve no purpose here. Sighing softly, she lay down, submissively, making herself as small as she could. "As you wish," she said, turning to lick at the nasty scrape on her flank. It throbbed. "For your information, however, I was not sneaking. I made no effort to hide my presence. And running now would serve no purpose, as making myself known to the pack that lives here was part of the reason I crossed the border in the first place."
Revan had hoped to find a kinder wolf in her first foray into the unknown, but it appeared that it was not to be. Or perhaps the other's coldness was due to Revan's inadvertent frightening of the pup that was now cowering behind the Mexican female's front legs. She wondered what had scared the pup so much that the simple sight of a strange wolf, one that, in truth, was not that much older than he was, would send him cowering like that. Especially since it would be obvious to most that Revan was no threat. Even if her posture had not been screaming such - a pup should be able to read that much - she knew that she radiated exhaustion and pain. She made no attempt to hide this, in the back of her mind, she hoped, for some reason, that the pup would see her state and realize that she was no threat. She knew that this was unlikely, however, and spoke again. "Again, I apologize for scaring your son. I was not chasing him, and have no intentions of hurting anyone. I have not hunted since I crossed the border." Letting the other know that she had respected the other packs claim of the territory seemed a wise idea.
Revan had an inkling that the pups distress had to do with family troubles, although why she felt this, she had no idea. But it was not her place to ask. Perhaps if this pack accepted her, she would be able to help, but, at the moment, she just hoped the mother wouldn't attack her for scaring him. Curling into a ball of black fur, Revan settled down to wait for the other female's response, and the alpha's arrival.
ooc: Hester Prynne is the main character in Hawthorn's The Scarlett Letter. She had an affair that resulted in her having a child, and as a result her Puritan community made her wear an A on all of her clothing so that everyone would know she was an adulterous.
Legacy tried to shush her pup, taking a moment to crane her neck down and nuzzle the side of his face with her own. For once, she too was hoping Zethrox would show up sooner rather than later. She was pretty sure she was on rather thin ice with the alpha currently, considering she couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen him. And on top of that, she was acting like quite the little hypocrite right now.
A loud snort escaped her as the matter-of-fact words of Revan assaulted her ears. Is that what this female thought good etiquette was? Waltzing into an unknown territory unannounced? What if the pack that lived there was a band of bloodthirsty rogues, looking for some fresh meat or a little fun? Such animals wouldn't have hesitated to take advantage of poor Revan had she accidentally stumbled across one of them. She was lucky all she had to deal with was Legacy's sharp tongue and Terror's paranoia.
"A smart wolf howls at the border and waits for a pack member to greet her. She doesn't go seeking trouble." There was something different in her tone this time. It almost sounded a bit like defeat. Of course, Legacy hadn't just insulted Revan. She'd also insulted herself. She'd given the same snide warning she'd heard herself many times in the past. Like the black female, she had walked right into Haishin territory without so much as a word. Unlike Revan, however, she actually had been seeking trouble back then. Or rather, she'd been trying to escape from Rapture and inadvertently charmed her way into Zethrox's good graces. Maybe she was trying to spare the young Tundra wolf from sharing her fate. After all, Legacy's past had come back to bite her in the ass. Maybe if she had used her manners back then she wouldn't be living such an unfortunate life now.
When Revan spoke again, the Mexican's eyes narrowed slightly into a glare. She gave the other's ragged appearance a once over while still keeping Terror close. While there did seem to be some truth to her words, she wasn't yet ready to believe everything she heard. A great actress herself, she didn't want to end up falling for some trick that would only get her into more trouble. Still, that didn't keep her from barking out, "Apologize to him, not me. He's young, not incompetent. Right Terror?" It was up to Terror to accept any apologies, but to do that he first had to be the one receiving the apologies. Legacy refused to forgive someone for him.
Revan snorted softly. "I did. Howl at the border, that is. I waited two days. No response. I was not about to wait longer. Not with an injury." She licked the scrape on her flank again. It was the result of a nasty tumble she had taken while trying to reach the top of a nearby mountain. her hind paws had caught on loose shale and the entire mountainside had crumbled out from under her. She had slid/tumbled down to the bottom of the crag. She knew that she had been lucky to come away from it with just bruises and that scrape, as opposed to breaking her neck.
Flicking her ears in acquiescence to the other female's response, Revan returned her gaze to the cowering pup. "I do apologize for frightening you, Terror, is it?" she said. "It was never my intent." She turned her head, baring her throat towards the pup in a gesture of submission.
{Oh my god, shortest post EVER!! *facepalms* My muse deserted me mid-post!}
Zethrox hated that it had taken him so long to respond to Legacy's cry. In all honesty, he was still a little bitter about all the events that had unfolded in the past months and could not yet bring himself to accept that he had lost control of his pack. Now things were starting to reform, and he could not even drag himself to answer the cry of a pack mate without delay? I'm getting old. Old with no heirs, he thought sadly. He was a touch uncomfortable with his situation, and it would only be a matter of time until he needed to name a Beta that would likely take over with his passing. He was growing older by the day, and the longer he delayed, the less time he would have to prepare the future leader of Haishin to take over when he died. Such morbid thoughts were growing more frequent in the brute, especially when he thought about his previous relationships. He was an old wolf, and he would not be a suitable companion for many femmes. At this point, Legacy's Terror was the only pup to have been born into the pack in all its existence. Although Zethrox had been strongly against any breedings without his permission, he could not bring himself to end the only pups to grace Kamari in years. Besides, their father had done a good enough job trying to eliminate them... He growled.
Death was now becoming inevitable for the old alpha. While he could sufficiently perform his job now, how long was it until the pack simply fell into a routine, and he became but a figurehead to a pack that was run by itself? Or perhaps a younger, stronger brute or femme would come in and oust him from his position... The options were numerous, and none of them pointed to him being capable of controlling the pack more than another year. He was aging quickly, and the stress of his rank did not do well for his health either.
While Zethrox prowled towards the springs, he could hear the voices and gradually spotted both Legacy and Terror near the water. He could not help but smile; the little pup was his pride and joy. Although he was nowhere near being his own offspring, the little brute was the first glimmer of happiness in Zethrox since Ardemu had been killed. Perhaps this young one would grow into something that would be suitable alpha material. But these matters could wait until later. Hopefully his delays had not allowed the intruder that Legacy had spoken of escape to wander his territory without any reprive. His posture grew more dominant, more rigid. He spied the unfamiliar wolf, the forms of the three canines growing larger with each step towards the rag-tag group.
Approaching Legacy's side, he greeted her with a curt nod of his head. "I apologize for my delay in responding, it has been a rather difficult day," he stated, knowing well enough that Legacy would not argue. Zethrox had done the femme enough favors by not banishing her from the lands, or killing her pups for that matter, that a snide remark would be dealt with harshly. He simply was not in the mood for wishy-washy ruling anymore. The recent events had hardened Zethrox, though not to the point that he could not be reasoned with.
A fraction of a second before he turned to greet the new wolf, Zethrox caught glance of a frightened Terror. His head snapped up to meet the stranger's gaze with a bit of a growl. "I suppose I should ask why you dared to enter my territory without permission," he snapped, his tone a little coarser than he had originally intended. He calmed himself. "I am Zethrox, Alpha of the Haishin Pack. What business do you have here? I see that our Terror has not taken well to your intrusion." His eyes narrowed briefly, demanding a response.
((OOC: He's not a real jerk, just protective of Terror XD))
Terror looked upon his hazy reflection in the hot waters of the spring while the adults argued with one another. He hated being the center of attention most of the time, because he was always getting himself into situations that were unable to be avoided when it comes to being in the center of it all. It never used to be like this when he was a newborn, he was just like all the rest of his siblings. But now that he was the only one remaining, now he didn't have a choice but to have all eyes and ears on him. Watching his every move, listening to his every word.
When the stranger wolf said his name, he flinched. Golden eyes wide with fear met with her yellowish green ones, that were no longer the sight of red as of a demon. No, she wasn't a bad wolf after all. After Little Terror relaxed, he had seen this female as just a wolf, her energy didn't have darkness at all. His gaze shied away from hers as he looked back into the water, "It's okay..." he said softly, smiling up at his mother. Soon enough all fear washed away from his body as Zethrox joined the scene. His little tail splashed around in the water as it wagged, he smiled and bounced towards the Alpha wolf, glad to see him here.
The elder brute confronted the black female with a rather edge in his tone. Terror licked his lips, spying Revan's submissive posture towards the pup and well, all wolves around her. She didn't seem bad at all... Maybe it was the lack of sleep causing him to see such dreadful nightmarish figures in the back of his mind. "Oh... It's okay now Big Zeth... I'm not scared anymore."
Legacy growled but said nothing. So the stranger claimed to have howled? Surely she would have heard such a thing. She couldn't have been so out of it the last few days that the only sound she was aware of was that of her own heartbeat steadily counting the passing seconds of her miserable life. Could she? The thought alone caused bile to rise in the back of her throat. She didn't want to think about it.
Of course, Zethrox's appearance forced most thoughts out of her mind, if only for a brief period. The alpha was here now, which meant she had to be on her best behaviour. Instantly her own dominant posture dropped, tail falling behind her as her head hung low out of a mixture of shame and respect. She was indebted to the old brute, a debt she would probably never be able to repay, and had resigned herself to walking on eggshells around him. She needed someplace safe to raise Terror, and her determination to protect her only living child out-shined any will she had to tease. The Legacy before Zethrox now was not the one that had conned her way into Haishin what seemed like ages ago.
A small whimper was the only greeting she managed to muster before her body once again plunged itself into the caress of the steamy waters. The unclean feeling that always haunted her was always strongest whenever the alpha was present. His kindness towards her only made her mistakes sting that much more. She couldn't look at him without guilt and shame sneaking into her gaze. Legacy had messed up royally, and all it took was a little kindness thrown her way to make that blatantly obvious.
When Terror left her side to greet Zeth, she nearly panicked. She didn't want him someplace she couldn't see him, feel him, protect him. But it was only Zethrox, she had to remind herself. The alpha wouldn't hurt her son. Still, she greatly disliked the way Terror looked up to the other male. Call it jealously. She may have been Terror's mother, but the awe and respect he held for the alpha male would be something she never received from him. Frankly, she was lucky Terror even liked her at all. After what his father did she was surprised the pup didn't try to paint his own mother as a monster as well.
Revan watched the interactions between the three with curiosity and slight confusion. Was this normal pack behavior? She read many emotions in the postures of the others. From Zethrox, much of the confidence expected in an alpha, but little of the dominating fierceness she had seen in other alphas she'd met. His body language told her that he was confident in his position and felt no need to shove it down other's throats. She felt respect building in her almost immediately. From Terror, there was much respect for Zethrox, almost hero-worship in a way; also, and Revan was very relieved to see this, the pup's fear of her was gone. He was defending her to the alpha. Gratitude rose. From the other female - whose name she still didn't know, a confusing mix of signals. Respect, shame, jealousy, panic, pain, self-loathing - all radiated from the Mexican femme in waves. Revan could almost feel them slamming into her. It made her feel slightly sick. She swallowed hard.
Nodding gratefully to Terror, Revan turned her full attention to Zethrox. Now she faced a dilemma. When she had decided to travel to find a pack, she had not thought about how to approach the alpha. What was she going to say? Gathering up her courage, Revan decided to be blunt. "I was told that there were packs here that accepted loners into their ranks." Her eyes rose to meet the alpha's for a moment before dropping respectfully. "I came seeking such a pack."
