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”Alright, all of you up, quick, hurry. Ambro you’re going to tread on your brother’s tail, careful. Mithos don’t do that, come now Elara, wake up baby. Celeste you look beautiful, I love your attention to detail with your fur and Zaphkiel….here, let me fix that."

I refuse, utterly, to allow a single child of mine, no matter how old they are to walk outside of this den looking anything other then handsome…or beautiful in the case of my daughters. Starfall may well be the only exception, the boy was, after all- an utterly lost cause and the mere thought of him only sought to agitate me. I reached towards Zaphkiel now, moving to run my tongue over his left ear and flatten his fur before waiting for him to exit the den, reaching for each child in turn as they past, violet and blue gaze drifting over my daughters with extra care- assuring myself Elara, Ambrosia and Celeste were the epitome of perfection. It’s not like they have to try particularly hard though, my daughters are exceptional, exquisite, beautiful and my sons in turn are nothing short of handsome, defined and well-muscled- everything a boy should be. Not that I expected anything less. I am entirely sure I alone am Heyel’s superior when it comes to looks, so why should my children be any different? It is rare indeed that I am given a day off from my work, that I am given to spend long periods of time with my children. Andromeda has done most of the rising and this I will admit….although truly it is not from any lack of desire on my part, truly I fear that I may not be…..a very good Father. I worry I will ruin them, the way I ruined Starfall and I could hardly stand it if ever any of my children looked at me that way again. I adore them, every one of them. Sometimes I simply do not know how to show it, yet today I am going to try at least.

I paused outside the den, large, towering white form watching as my equally white and red children filed past, the occasional pup coloured in black or grey or entirely russet and yet I find little disdain in this, feeling only pride in what I have produced as I collected my unruly brood, moving to lead them, long strides eating away at the ground, forcing myself to slow before an idea turned within my mind, turning to face the line of children that filed behind me.

”Babies….whatever happens today I think we should all make a promise to not tell Mother, alright? It will be a…special secret, yes?"

I waited for confirmation from each of them, eyes resting upon Ambrosia and Elara first before drifting to Celeste and my sons. I had no desire to put them in any danger and yet I am entirely assured if I accidentally lose, drop, scratch or scrape one of them Andromeda will not be…pleased. Best that we simply not tell her at all. Although….she may notice an empty den. Hmmm. I shook the thought off for now, moving to lead the way again through the early morning light and towards the lower cliffs and rocky outcrops that so define the land we live in, quite eager to show my pups what it was I had found on my patrol in the early hours of this morning, tail waving behind myself momentarily as I broke into a lope- cresting the small rise before pausing atop it, waiting for each of my children to arrive beside me in turn, lips pulling into a grin as I gestured down to the rather expansive rabbit warren I had found at the base of the cliffs, one head after another peering out of the rabbit holes before darting back in, another darting out to race into another hole as I felt my own desire to chase surge- one I suppressed for now. I hardly see why life lessons cannot be the least bit entertaining and really, trying to catch one of the rabbits as they dart in an out seems fairly entertaining to me. I want to see them chase and catch and pounce and play, I want to see which of them can earn a meal for themselves and which simply need further practice. I have every intention of taking my children on a true hunt and I want to see where each of them as at. Besides, chasing things is, well, it’s fun. Maybe I’ll even try myself. For now though I turned back to my children. There were more holes then I could count, plenty of space and hell, if they worked together it would be all the more easier, then again, I was always something of a lone wolf and I want to see if any of my children take after me.

”See all those rabbits down there? Well, it is a special assassin mission I have been given and the Queen herself has said these rabbits must be removed, so, my children, this is the task I am assigning each of you today, clear out this rabbit warren. Go on then, show me which one of you is the very best at this."

I simply gestured for them to go on head, more then one warren located upon the grass to assure my Celeste need not dirty herself if she did not desire, quite content to release my own personal army atop the hill, watching each in turn. After all, I wanted to see who was a leader, who was a follower, who was a thinker and who was the fastest or most agile and if they needed help then I’d help, maybe even teach them something. The beginnings of a small touched my lips ever so softly as I watched them. They were my world, each of them, so wanted, so loved. There is nothing I would not do for any one of them. Nothing.








AZRAEL

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"7 years ~ Andromeda ~ Sire of Meryl/Starfall/Guardian/Celeste/Iophiel/Mithos/Ambrosia/Elara/Zaphkiel ~ Diveen "