There really was no excuse for the length of his absence, but Serris felt no need to admit such a fact to anybody. He had some personal business to take care of and that was all. Mothers, brothers, aunts and cousins, did he have them? A smirk rose to those charcoal stained lips as Serris thought of his darkest, most intimate secret. The lines of his blood were of no matter to those not in those gushing crimson streams, and he intended to keep it that way. Accuse him of what you will: of abandonment, of neglect, of hatred and disrespect and cruelty. But this was the new and improved Serris, a glimpse of teenage Serris if you knew the story, and a toothy grave would be the least of his punishments now.
He strolled leisurely along the river that cut Blossom in two, knowing that the mouth of this great watery expanse would lead him straight home. To his pack. To his family. The regal tried his hardest to suppress the flash of sadness in his icy orbs at the thought. It was no secret that he had missed his borders. It was impossible for any Alpha to not lament the absence from his or her heart, the very land that filled them with life and opened their eyes to the divine. Yes, he would much rather withier away in a barren Munashii Gekko than to move to food and abandon those skyscraping trees, those stoic boulders. His very senses leaped at the thought of it, the thought of finally being able to return.
And yet how would they receive him? If he were the follower, the leader would merit no mercy from him. A reasonable assumption, of course, but one that bit to the marrow and started tumult within the finest of purebreds. He would have to hope that his pack members were of more forgiving morals and would accept him back with only the slightest resentment and under-the-breath chatter. That was conscious nature, and he could pass no judgments on that.
All this idle, romantic thought passed the time as he wound his way through the very heart of Blossom Forest, passing lovers and damned by the side of the river and dismissing them all just the same. So many new faces... not that he had known many before. A side point, really. Just something to make those steps easier to bear as he resisted breaking out into a full sprint at the very notion of his waiting borders. Would Alleria still be there, ripe to woo and still accepting of his complicated affection? What of his little soldier boy, Aindreas, a strong ally to be sure as Serris had come to realize in his absence. He would no doubt be taking pristine care of the territory. Monitoring the borders. Spending time with his bonnie lass. If she was still floating around the place, that is. He really had no idea who lacked the patience to stay, and who had the truly mad mindset to refuse to leave. And what of Kobato, the Princess of Munashii? She had not come visit her old man in quite some time, and although he was skeptical of his fantasies manifesting into reality, he could not bury the thought that she might be there waiting for him, a smile plastered on her face.
The chilling kiss of water on his callused paws wrought him back to reality. A wide swatch of autumn water flowed before him, nearly perpendicular to where it had once been flowing. The river had been dead straight for some time before this bend appeared. And Serris knew exactly what this landmark meant. One mile. One mile to home, to freedom, to giddy rule and cheerful spirits. And only the slightest bit of mischief and sarcasm. A bear with the heart of a bunny who took no shit from anybody. That was Serris, through and through.
And it was then that he really did break out into a sprint, pushing away from the ground like it were his demons and he a newly converted man. Leaves flew past in a painted blur, faces no doubt peering from the foliage in confusion. He didn’t care. This was pure, unadultered life that flowed through his veins and he would not cease its flow for anything.
With one great stride he bounded into the territory, tassel curling up like banner held proudly in a parade, talons reaching for the very feeling of Munashii earth between his toes. He advanced for a few strides before leaping with all his might into the quiet river he so often called a refuge. Now, it was his best friend welcoming him home. Flesh and fluid met in a powerful embrace, absorbing him until he was but a dark shadow beneath the surface, a river monster in the depths. Silky smooth sand rushed over the fur of his fores, shifting sirens dancing before his spheres and the water received him back. Yes, Serris was most definitely a romantic at heart, a boy of nature with a passion that could never be dampened. He sprung from the water like a pup gasping for its first breath, finally feeling a peace in his soul where before he had been threatened to be torn apart.
But just as he sprang up from the river another form darted from it, quitting the banks in the same type of madness that he had entered them. His body went rigid. Nares went to work automatically, but all he could smell was the sweetly dark aroma of his pack, his auds only deciphering the happy laughter of the water at his return. A flash of movement caught his eye, and he looked down to see streaks of crimson winding through the water’s path. Hackles rose instinctively, his pistons moving against the icy autumn flow to emerge on the bank. Serris could think of nothing else but finding that intruder and giving them something more to bleed about. He moved quietly but swiftly, loping with the ease of one who knew these woods like one’s own coat, and soon heard the howl that erupted through the trees. He halted immediately, emitting a low growl at the sound of the other baritone voice. Aindreas. Now the real question was what was that runt doing bleeding into the river, and why did he call almost sound like a summons of sorts, and not the kind that bode well for the King.
He found the Epsilon at the center of the pack, waiting, and Serris thought he could sit and how a private little talk with the boy. But as he grew closer he could hear the rustling of another set of paws and the faintest twinge of a foreign perfume managed to fight past the overwhelming scent of his home. And from what he could tell, this girl has Aindreas written all over her. No, things were not going to go well.
He was hidden but fifty feet away from the pair when words of challenge struck his auds, and not from the one he would have expected. It was the girl. Oh, he understood now. Aindreas had waiting till he was good and gone before letting his newest whore in to run the pack. Anger raged within him, bubbling like tar within the deepest part of his gut.
His entrance was a tense one, slipping soundlessly from the brush, banner held stiffly as high as it would go, its tense twitchings an obvious sign of is displeasure. He padded close enough to the duo to converse comfortably (or not so comfortably) and eyed them both, watching for reactions. Surely they didn’t expect him to appear so suddenly. But even in a situation like this, Serris was always a step ahead.
He turned to Aindreas first, keeping watch of the girl out of the corner of his orbs. “I dearly hope you were announcing my return with that howl,” he purred. “And not celebrating my funeral.” The words flowed out of him, sharp and bitter as any poison. A warning, a test, a greeting in its own way.
Then he turned to the fae. His steely blue oceans narrowed instantly, ice frosting their edges. They shone like two chilling crescent moons in the black midnight of his face, secretive and cold, revealing nothing. These words he would not say with the same leisure he had addressed Aindreas in. No, these words would be daggers ripping straight to the soul, parting flesh and cracking bone. She would not pay lightly for her crimes. “And what business do you have on my lands, you traitorous wench?” Of course he had heard her earlier lyrics, but now he could stare her down as she tried to explain her motives, probably feeble. If she was not resolute about this matter, Serris hoped he could scare her off and prevent a fight. Not that he didn’t love the occasional bloodbath, he just wasn’t in the mood to hurt little old ladies right now. But he would do anything for this pack, this family. His heart would not settle until he made these lands paradise once more.
[ OOC: Sorry for the whole thing before Azura, this post made me really fired up to write Serryberry, so I guess it works out for all of us in the end. ^^ And Violet, if you wish to proceed with the challenge respond here, then Serris will respond once more before we move to Quarrels Clearing. I will find a judge, and rules will be posted on the QC post. ]
|
