Bright Moon - a land sullied by mystery and the ravaging scars of a terrible fire. Abandoned as a pack land for years, the terra has been used as a gathering place for the brazen and bloodthirsty drawn there by the lingering pall of death. Yet from the ashes there comes an unordained phoenix, the rainbow hues of hope glinting in her mismatched globes. Through the obsidian drapes obscuring the scenery, she alone was able to catch the perfumed aroma of new life on the breeze and hear the sluggish streams flowing ever swifter into the morning.
Thus, with a purpose, she set out to map the incognita, discovering daily the extent of the reawakening and unearthing within herself a desire to return the landscape to its former glory. Now she stands tall as privileged Alpha of the lands, lording over the rock-strewn prairie and bountiful forests with a firm but gentle paw.
Having finally realized her deepest longing to be a queen, Satowra is focused solely on the revival and maintenance of the Bright Moon Pack. Her question to each prospective warrior that comes to the border is simple:
"Do you have what it takes?"
IP: 65.29.75.36
Posted on February 11, 2019 at 02:02:38 AM by Athene
 |
|
Kershov said her name, but it was as a question rather than anything else. He was confused by what she had said, and her name, as it slipped through his lips, it was laced with a hint of concern. But that… That only grew when the next pup came out and Athene was no more happy than she had been right after the birth of their first one. Again, Kershov said something, a question, but she merely shook her head and growled, ignoring him for now in order to continue on with her labor. Athene was a strong independent wolf, but right now she was putting all of her energy into pushing out the pups, she couldn’t lend any to answering Kershov, especially when he would see for himself soon enough. She knew she had to try to pace herself, but the pups seemed to have a mind of their own as they kept coming, giving her no break at all. It was like a war, with endless enemies coming at you, and whenever one fell two more took their place… Only these were not ones that Athene could slay. No, these were ones that Athene had to weather and bring into this world, and then care for despite her own exhaustion. She would get no reprieve, but she expected none anyway. And in a moment of temporary insanity, she laughed as she thought back to her first litter. She had thought that two was a good number at the time… And that thought was only multiplied now as she pushed out pup after pup – it was like a neverending stream of new lives. Apparently, the gods had a plan for her and Kershov to completely re-populate the world, with only wolves borne of their own genetics, from her womb and his semen… And for some reason that was absolutely hilarious to her. An uncontrollable laughter slipped over her, and it was terrifying in and of itself because it was so rare that she actually laughed. She had known that Kershov was prolific – hell, he had had multiple litters by multiple bitches in the past year alone, but apparently now that he was monogamous, he had to make up for it by having a large litter with Athene. She laughed again, an airy, breathy giggle really. But then the next pup had started to come through her canal, cutting her laugh short, and she had been drawn back to center in order to focus on it all. But then, just as odd as her own laughter had been, Kershov laughed himself. Only his went on much longer than hers had, and as much as she wanted to be angry at him for laughing at her, she couldn’t bring herself to. Only a second before, she herself had been laughing… But what would make her blood boil was when he spoke next, and brought up the name of the she wolf witch, who Athene absolutely despised and loathed. Athene snarled, bearing her teeth at him and went to lunge at his shoulder to hit a glancing blow… Only she withdrew as her mate suddenly scooped up one of the pups that she had just popped out and curled it close to him. Athene inhaled sharply in shock, at war with her own emotions as she both feared for what he might do to the pup, and wished that he would dispose of it all at the same time. Unable to come to terms with what she felt, she continued to snarl, her lips wrinkled up to expose her pale gums, dehydrated as she was from losing so much fluid and protein and nutrients to the pups. To Athene‘s confusion and horror and wonder… He started to clean the pup. Only it was not a pup… It was a mutant, a hybrid, a chimera mixed of multiple things altogether. Athene was the parent who could be said to be closest to this little faeling - Athene had antlers whereas this little one had horns… But this little one also had hooves instead of paws. It had taken Athene a long time to come to terms with her own mutation, but was now and would be continued to be challenged with the world making it one step worse. Making her wolf pup who was meant to be a warrior that much closer to being prey instead of predator. And she hated whatever magical thread had called such a curse upon her pups, who were all meant to be magnificent instead of twisted. And yet… And yet Kershov seem to accept them. She watched as he replaced the first one and grab another. She had no idea why he was so amused by them, so curious about them. And then… One single last time, he spoke. Just as he had with the first litter, he put their welfare, their future, their well-being entirely upon Athene. It was not that he saw it as a shewolf‘s job to do so, but rather understood and accepted that she had done most of the work and she would continue to have to do most of the work for them. She bore them in their body, allowed them to grow within her womb. She had had to push them out and endure the agony of whelping. And she would have to nurse them, feeding them until they could eat solid food. Kershov was giving her the choice – if she lived, or if she died. As with the first litter, he would accept her decision, whatever it was, without any negative feelings toward her, without a word of conflict to be said. And just like that, in a single instant, she had to make a choice. All of her different and harsh judgments would come to bear in this instant, right now. She had to decide whether they were weak or strong, whether they were worthy or a nuisance, whether she would accept them… Or kill them. All of her instincts, her training, her previous upbringing told her to destroy these mutations. That they were a cur on her blood line and would be a curse moving forward. But that had been her old life, and if Kershov could believe in them, couldn’t she? Her own mutation was something she had originally thought of as a curse itself, but how many times had she used it to her advantage now during a hunt - allowing her antlers to be exposed in the woods so that her prey would not flee despite the smell of wolf upon the air. Perhaps, with their limbs, they could never be warriors… But perhaps they could be something else instead. It would be weird… And odd really, to raise them. She had been the youngest and most praised warrior in her old tribe… yet now all of that would mean nothing. An expert on war… And it would do nothing for her pups now. But she had decided, she had finally made a choice, and she would stick to it. Slowly, she leaned down and groomed each of her five pups, before urging them to her belly so that they would nurse. “A chance will be given to each of our young Fail, and into the graveyard they shall be flung. But given what happened with Sergei, I now see… They may still be worthy, even if not like you or me. “As pups they shall in all paths be trained So that knowledge of their options can be gained. Time given them for strengths onto which they can seize No set of trials shall be run by any of these. “As they age into teens they shall have to choose A single path to excel in, or else their life they will lose. Experts must they be in order to continue living And so this is the compromise that I am giving. “As you said, what matters is solely me and you Together we can persevere and overcome war or a coup. Not even our young can between us a wedge drive All we need is each other to forever survive.” Slowly, her lips settled back down, resheathing her teeth, and she reached out, this time not to strike out at him but instead to nuzzle against his gnarled face. She gestured to her side, encouraging him to come nearer, to cuddle up close in order to keep the strange pups warm from the chill of the night. WC 1415 |
| .Athene. |
Replies:
There have been no replies.
Post a reply:
<--
-->