Rough Expectations {Sabaoka Family}

[Kegan]

It was amazing, how tightly his attention was held by the sky; each cloud that floated by was a new and exciting piece of the scenery, every bird whipping past a fascinating mystery. There was so much stuff out here, so many things that captured his attention all at once that he was literally frozen to the spot, his tiny paws stuck in the dirt as though they were pasted there. Behind him were his mother and father--Sabaoth he did not take comfort in, but Roka he knew would never let anything happen to him. Even still, his brain appeared to be too overloaded for him to go anywhere else, and he was content to sit and stare while his siblings darted around and played with each other.

Suddenly there were teeth on his neck, and the pup went limp as his mother grabbed him and pulled his small body up to her chest, setting him on the ground and placing a paw in front of him as though to keep the boy next to her. Kegan, however, had no interest in escaping from the warmth and comfort that her closeness provided, and he licked at her ankle lovingly in response. Her quiet and gruff voice entered his ears and soothed every fear he didn't know he was battling, her words sweet and soft as her caressing tongue. "What do the stars look like, momma?" he asked as quietly as he could--which wasn't very quietly at all, for he was not very practiced. "And why did you look at them alone? Didn't you have brothers and sisters to watch with you?"

Kegan, not knowing any different, did not think to worry about if his question would bring Roka sadness, or anger; he was just a child, and curious. His mother had not spoken of any past, and for all he know, her life started shortly before his did. Eagerly he craned his neck up, seeing that Roka had turned to Sabaoth to smile, and he wondered just what the appeal was. This was the first time he remembered the male as his father, and though he had seen and smelled him briefly before, he had never experienced the male, and was terrified of his size. Roka was larger than him, but comfortingly so; Sabaoth was a literal giant.

The more he realized that Roka loved his father, the less scary he seemed, but Kegan was weary regardless. He knew he should be eager to ask him questions as well, to make sure he was not as scary as he seemed, but it was hard for him to want to address a beast he hardly knew, especially when Roka had initiated conversation. So he held his tongue and gazed at his father with round brown eyes in silence, the sounds of his siblings playing a quiet din in the background.

Words || 490
Tags || Sabaoth , Roka, Rhys , Taranis , Liadan
Notes || Baby Kegan is so hard to play why can't they GROW UP ALREADY

[Sabaoth]

At the mention of alligator’s, Sabaoth watched, amused, as Liadan froze in her tracks. While she tried valiantly – or as valiantly as a pup could – to put on a brave face, a moment later she was peppering him with uncertain questions, shuffling closer to him as she glanced about. It was almost as if she expected alligators to come from the trees, and Sabaoth bit back a chuckle as he suddenly lowered himself to his belly, crawling slowly towards her. ”They walk low, like this, with big long snouts full of razor sharp teeth,” he told her, voice low as he glanced about, as if expecting to see a swarm of alligators come waddling from the underbrush. ”They’re as long as me – sometimes longer – and much heavily, with skin as tough as rocks. But don’t worry; the live in the swamps, where they hide beneath the cover of the dark, murky water. You must always be careful if you venture there.” His voice turned gruff briefly, but then he was smiling, stretching his neck out to ruffle her fur before moving to take his place beside Roka again – just as Liadan squealed indignantly, turning to snap at Rhys, who proceeded to rocket off as fast as he’d approached, colliding with Taranis.

Several moments later, Taranis’s voice rang out, triumphant with pride at apparently having bested his brother. ”Well done,” Sabaoth said, not only to Taranis, but to Rhys as well. ”You must continue to practice with each other as you grow. You’ll both have advantages that you may learn from.”

For a long moment he watched them as they continued to wrestle, until the sound of Roka’s soft voice followed by Kegan’s inquisitive questions drew Sabaoth’s attentions. As his gaze fell upon his smallest son, he found that already Kegan was watching him, something pensive and uncertain in his gaze. It seemed as if Kegan was afraid of him, something that Sabaoth had not missed, but the General was certain that with time, the fear would diminish. He would be around more, he told himself, now that the first wave of the agoge had ended. ”The stars are very beautiful,” Sabaoth told him in some attempt to ease the look glistening in Kegan’s gaze. ”Perhaps one night your mother will show them to you, and you will watch them together so that she doesn’t have to watch them alone anymore.”

For a moment longer he watched Kegan, a half-smile upon his muzzle, until once more Liadan’s voice grabbed his attention. She’d wiggled closer, staring up at him with wide green eyes. ”Pa, you wouldn’t really feed me to an… to the… an…alligators, would you?” Chuckling under his breath, Sabaoth shifted so that he was closer to her, his massive side bumping her small frame gently. ”Of course I wouldn’t. And I would never let one harm any of you. They may be large and fierce – but so is your father.” His last statement was accompanied by a wink. It was strange how swiftly he’d warmed to his pups; with them, anger did not exist within him. Nor did irritation, or apathy, or any other negative emotion that usually plagued the General. Instead there was only a sense of contentedness, and something that he knew was happiness.

TAG: Roka, Rhys , Liadan , Taranis , Kegan
WORDS: 546
NOTES: Sorry guys, I totally forgot it was my turn ;-; <3

[Roka]

Roka couldn't help but chuckle as she watched her mate crouch low to imitate an alligator. Roka had seen the scaled beasts in the swamp a time or two, but they had never bothered her during her time there. Liadan was very obviously disturbed by the idea of being fed to the giant of a lizard, but before Roka could soothe her daughters worries Sabaoth was already easing her fear. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Rhys and Taranis wrestling with one another, play fighting. Taranis pinned his brother after a few minutes and rose triumphantly seeking the praise of his parents. As a mother she had always known that her children would make great warriors and among his siblings, Taranis seemed to shine the brightest when it came to combat. Liadan was fierce compared to her brothers braver than Roka had thought to expect from a daughter. Considering her parentage though she should have known better. Kegan's little voice reached her ears asking her why she had looked at the stars alone. Growing up with siblings had allowed him to miss out on the experience of being lonely. Whether he wanted them or not they would be there for him, to play, to talk, even to sleep. "No Kegan. I didn't have any brothers or sisters like you did. I grew up all by myself because my mother was gone and my father was very cruel. The stars would help me sleep when I was feeling all alone."

The sound of her mate's voice telling Kegan that he should watch the stars with Roka warmed her heart a little. Sharing the stars with him was something that she could look forward to now. Something that they could enjoy together. "When it is dark outside and the sky is black it is filled with thousands of twinkling lights called stars. The best part is no matter where you go or how far you travel there will always be stars in the night sky." His little tongue rasped along her leg and she reached down to nuzzle him, licking gently. Roka had never thought to expect these feelings of being a mother. Her love for her pups seemed never ending, even as they grew. She could tell that Sabaoth had also been taken off guard by his obvious love of fatherhood. He was so good with their pups, something that she had never even hoped to expect. He set an example as a father that Roka had never had in her life, and it made her glad once again that she had chosen him to be her male. Reaching down she began to whisper again in her little Kegan's ear. "See your daddy isn't scary, right? I will tell you a secret. He may look scary on the outside, but mommy can take him and so can you." She chuckled her warm breath fanning out over her son's ears. She wanted so badly for him to lose his fear of Sabaoth, because he wasn't the only giant that roamed Ina'mos. Almost all of his family was a giant compared to Roka. He would grow into his own strength and then perhaps he would realize that Sabaoth was not anything to be afraid of. 

She watched as her pups played on enjoying their first outing from the caverns. Her chest rumbled in contentment watching how beautiful her family was especially when they were all together.




Sabaoth Taranis Kegan Liadan

[Rhys]

Rhys giggled as his brother tickled him before running off to tell of his triumph. Rhys loved playing with his brother, getting to practice their sills together. "I am gunna win this time Taranis!" He jumped up from the ground and began to chase his brother around. He heard his mother from a distance talking to Kegan about how she had no siblings. He couldn't imagine what growing up would be like if he didn't have any siblings. He looked over and saw the Kegan was tucked safely into his mothers chest and it made him a little envious. Kegan was getting special attention from their mother, something that he wanted too! He wanted to get cuddled and told special stories, it wasn't very fair that Kegan was getting extra time with Roka just because he didn't want to play. He crept closer to them trying his best to be very sneaky. "I want to see the stars too mommy!" She looked down at him and gave him a smile before turning back to Kegan to whisper to him. He grumbled a little before choosing to join his father and Liadan. "Will I be big and strong like you daddy? I want to fight an alligator!" He&nbsp;figure that if his dad was big enough to take on an alligator then he could too. He was just&nbsp;smaller than Taranis so that meant he had to be&nbsp;growing big enough to be like his father. "I want to learn to fight and be a warrior just like you." Even at his young age he aspired to be a strong warrior just like is father. He would be a king all on his own someday, he wanted to rule his own empire and be as brave as Sabaoth. First he would have to finish his Agoge, but for now he would have to practice as much as he could to be the best. He wanted to be the best at everything.



Sabaoth Liadan Kegan Taranis

[Liadan]

For a brief moment, her father’s alligator impression gave Liadan a fright. The way he crawled toward her, low to the ground as if he were about to pounce…She could only imagine how much more terrifying a real one was. Their razor sharp teeth, thick skins, and long snouts made them sound more like horror story than a real creature that lived on the island with them, and she wondered if her father was pulling her tail. She glanced quickly at her mother to see if she could confirm or deny this monster, but saw that she was occupied with her brother, Kegan. Despite being larger than Liadan, he had less than half of her courage. She saw the way he looked warily at their father, as though he would snap and gobble them all up at a second’s notice. When they’d first been born and Sabaoth was scarce, she’d felt similarly. Their father was certainly and intimidating wolf, all scarred and hulking muscle, but now she looked up to him. Did Kegan not look up him? Did he not want to be a strong warrior like father?

When she turned back to Sabaoth, his tone changed and he gave her a stern warning: “ You must always be careful if you venture there.” Too young to appreciate the true seriousness of his advice, Liadan shrugged it off with a vague “I will!” but already she was beginning to plan her adventure to the swamp. That was sure to prove her bravery to her parents, though she would wait until she’d grown some more. As long as father didn’t feed her to them before she had the chance to grow some more…

But then he was reassuring her, telling her that he would never let anything happen to any of them and nudging her gently. “Good,” she said, nodding. “You won’t need to protect me forever, though,” she reassured him in turn. “One day I’ll be strong enough to protect myself!” A moment later, Kegan arrived, having just lost his spar with Taranis. As he questioned their father about being a warrior, she felt a sting of jealousy and resentment. “I’m going to be a warrior, too!” she vied, grinning at her brother mischievously. The bitterness was gone in an instant, her childish excitement taking over. Her attention shifted from their father to her brother, viewing him as potential training.

Then she lowered her chest to the ground, her rump wiggling playfully in the air, all thoughts of alligators completely forgotten. “Let’s fight, Rhys! I bet I can beat you!” With no further warning, Liadan pounced at him, trying to tackle him into the dirt.

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Word count: 445
Notes: bad post is bad
Tags: Taranis Kegan Sabaoth Roka Rhys