It was a pretty good game I think, one of the better ones I’ve had- especially with a girl. Although what I was going to do with all this moss all over me I had no idea. I managed to stand up at last, both of us having managed to roll the over at least once for a moment on top- though I was sure mine had lasted longer. I suppose that was arguable. I righted myself all the same, managing to seat myself before her now as she again refuted my claim to be King with her own claim to be Queen as the violet of my young gaze rested upon her as she claimed I could be guard. Guard?! That was a far less superior job then I had in mind for myself- the look of disdain crossing my features surely displaying what I thought of that idea as I snorted, one paw lifting to bat at her I a manner almost teasing. What? Every Casanova has to start somewhere don’t they? This was my….practice flirtation for when I was older and I thought girls were a lot more interesting then I did right now.
“You know- maybe we could both be Alpha’s, you can have this Swamp and I can have my fields and we could be like…allies and go to war against all the others.”
I grinned once more, tail waving at the prospect of these imaginary wars- my mind far too young, really, to fully appreciate what a war actually was- that is was a lost more then a game of wrestling like we’d just played- but how was I to know? I’d eat those words one day….one day sooner then everyone thought and I’d come to understand exactly what the cost of war was, though for now it was no more then a childish gimmick I enjoyed. Besides, I could make Belhara my friend now and then I wouldn’t have to do it when I was older. She was a bit strange I suppose, but I can deal with that. I’m very adaptable for someone so young. She seemed interested though in my mention of my talks with Grandfather Heyel- he’d been training me, teaching me things he said I needed to know, telling me his own version of secrets I suppose although why they mattered so much to Belhara I am not entirely sure, my shoulder rolling in a shrug.
“Just…things, stuff about history and what happened before and how to do things. What he says does not always make sense to me though. It will one day, I suppose.”
I don’t know why I was…reluctant to share more detailed information, I just was I suppose- content to leave it at that as her own form puffed up slightly at this mention of blood ties. It was strange really, to think I was related, sort of, to someone so dark when I was so…well, not. My family never really did like dark colours though I don’t think I find them all that bad, they are far more logical in the night then ours, in any time other than winter we stand out like glowing beacons. She says she has never met Vega before, my own head tilting slightly, unable to understand how she had never met her own sister although I suppose not all families are as wide and expansive as ours or hold so much weight in knowing them.
“I don’t know her that well, I’ve seen her I guess, with cousin Achilles- she looks a little bit like you, just a bit though.”
I nodded in assurance at this, white and silver form slightly aglow in the faint and dappled light of the swamp as my tail flicked once more and I asked after the stars. Maybe she couldn’t read them in the day but I still wanted to know what they had to say, even if I had to come back one night to find out. As for why Yojimbo never taught Heyel or Heyel never taught me I…don’t really know, head tilting slightly once more. Angels…Assassins…..we never really did have anything to do with stars- or at least if we did nobody ever told me about it. How impolite. My features managed a sort of frown, making them look far less handsome then they were with that scowl.
“I don’t think my family does the star thing, if Heyel can read them he has never said- my family has other ways but maybe I could come back in a few nights and you could tell me about what the stars say? I’d like to know. I have things to do when I grow up and maybe the stars can tell me what will happen.”
It was time for me to go, I suppose, waiting only to see whether she would be willing to meet again because, well, I could use a friend I suppose- especially one who could read the stars and I didn’t mind the idea of wrestling with her again, even if I was determined to win next time.
h y r u l e
The Once and Future King
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