The Story Continues

Samhain watched each of the pups in turn as he told his story. For being one who was not known for his skills in speaking it warmed his heart to see that a couple of the pups even looked at him with some attention. True to the feeling he was surprised, moved even, when a question was posed to his story. His white masked head tilted slightly and the big wolf seemed to lean closer to Abel, who had spoken. Attention focused on the young male with an intensity that seemed to see right through him. A second later, Alouette chimed in and her father’s attention shifted to her. The studious look softened on her form. He knew his daughter and that which surrounded her whereas the boy had been a stranger.

The story never ends. The man explained in his hollow voice. It is reborn and breaths again with every breath you take. The paths twist and turn with every choice you make. He looked back at Abel with his bursting burnt orange eyes. It is up to you, and your soul, if you should walk beside Fate and Life, or let them give you to Madness. The two forces were not always the enemy of the world or of the lives of the wolves they played with. Sometimes they walked with Mercy.

Samhain shifted to his daughter and his eyes darkened for a moment. Broken. After the pups had been born Psyche had vanished. A hole remained inside him where she had once breathed air into his being. From Alouette his gaze moved to Solstice, her mother also wiped from the world in which they walked. Broken. He was neither broken, nor whole. Father answered daughter, echoing his own being, wishing he could comfort them both.

*** *** ***

Silently, Thoth watched the gathering of youth. His lip slowly started to curl over his white teeth. This was not the situation he had been wanting to find himself in. Only about half his attention flickered to and from the words of his father. In some cavern of his mind he would remember this tale, it could be useful later. In his experience, though his did not like it, his father often had something important to say. The older man rarely spoke needlessly, his words carrying a strange weight in its lack of force.

A moving shadow captured his attention more than the story. Sekhmet’s scent drifted through his nose. He breathed deep and his eyes flashed to her. Otherwise unmoving he watched her move around the group of pups. Each movement she made, he regarded and studied. She was prowling, hunting. She was a constant curiosity to him. His hackles rose in subtle excitement, waiting for her cues on a mark.

*** *** ***

The promise of a story was not what had called the youth out of the forests, it was the gathering and curiosity of the world of Asteraia. Once he arrived the story was already half told, creating a confusing sense in the young prince. Not that it mattered too much, his attention drifted almost immediately. Two toned eyes flickered to a young pup keeping to the edges of the company. She seemed to be focused the other of the gathering instead of the story itself. He pondered if many, or any, would notice the shadow slipping away.

Wiping away his smile, his face turned to a mask of mischief. His two tones eyes glowed with a deviousness that this day transformed to a sense of danger.

Hey… He whispered, sliding up beside her. You’re a sneaky shadow. Have you visited the shadows of the forests? They can be all sorts of fun.

Samhain:|:THOTH:|:Tepiltzin