05-25-2008, 01:11 AM
Chapter Seven: The Raven Feud
March 2004--May 2004
A period of depression and bitterness followed for the golden warrior. He wandered the lands, feeling an unfamiliar darkness building in his heart. He still helped those in need on the rare occasion that he found his skills were needed, but when he employed his violent art, he often failed to check his hand, indulging in brutality above and beyond what the situation called for. He found a strange compromise between Gronnor's honor and the viciousness of HawkWind's gift, and with one part of him caught up in his teachings and the other in the dark seed of his bloodline, he traveled as an enigmatic soldier, an avatar of justice and of vengeance, a man who would be salvation for the down-trodden, but only by becoming a demon to those of evil intent.
During this time, Skoll did his best to follow rumors and old legends about the shadow wolf, the demon in the dark, the night wraith, who he knew to be his ancestor, HawkWind. These stories led him to a land fraught with bloodshed and hatred, a land ravaged by a conflict that was named the Raven Feud. Skoll learned of the tale, that two brothers of the ruling family had seen their father slain by the other, or so they both claimed, and each sought to avenge their father through the death of his brother. His soul still stained by his great failure in the Four Pack War, Skoll decided to assist their effort at their behest, hoping to be of some assistance to those he'd met, to perhaps redeem himself for his perceived failures with a second try.
When Skoll first entered the fray, he found himself to be well beyond the standard rank and file in terms of abilities. He was respected for this, and given high status in the war-time pack which had been assembled. One morning, he was accosted by a group of four, loyal soldiers of the rival faction under the other black-hued brother, eager to slay any isolated enemies who they found. Still bearing the lumber axes from his last battle, Skoll met his four enemies, three of them armed, and slew them all. When his allies rushed to his aid, hearing the sounds of battle, they saw what he had done, and stood in awe of this one man, who alone was equal to four. It had been the first time he had fought so many at once, but something evil had stirred within him during the battle...they had not all been killed cleanly, and great brutality had been wrought about the flesh of the last of them. It was a reminder of who he had been when Gronnor found him...the signature of his berserk fury. He was glorified by his allies, but he knew that his current state was feeding something hungry and angry within him, something which he did not wish to fuel further. Even though he was powerful, the ruling family had been great, and its influence had stretched far...more recruits joined the cause with every loss. Skoll could not see a quick end coming to the conflict, and did not see himself able to control his inner demons in this environment during a period of such emotional turmoil. Using this as justification, he fled the war, taking what clues he could about HawkWind, who now sometimes went by the name VoidFane in tales, with him.
Chapter Eight: Catching his Quarry
June 2004--January 2005
A period of restlessness consumed Skoll. Horrified by the monster within him, by the prospect that he could not undertake this life path while remaining as himself, he sought to retreat from it, though he never got very far. Whenever the bronze wolf met with a situation where he felt his skills could be put to use, where he felt like he was needed, he found himself providing his help. In the months that followed, the three-year-old made great strides in healing his soul of the marks left on it by his experiences, his fear of becoming the very creature which he was now tracking down ever-present, leading him down the correct path. His berserk rage had been something he had not experienced fully for some time, but had threatened to emerge many times, threatened to override the codes of conduct that his mentor had taught him, his sanity, his very spirit in favor of the demon that resided within HawkWind's bloodline...the demon which had been protecting his family for generations. Now...as he tracked HawkWind down, the stories becoming more and more recent, he began to feel the demon subside...his self-control returning as the pain of Galdra's passing, of Xander's unjust death, of Art's rejection, began to fade. While those feelings would always remain with him, their intensity waned, and so too did his aggression and the threat to his sanity.
After a few more months of fevered searching, the yellow-furred traveler came upon the ruin of what must have once been a human city. Atop the highest point of the earth in that place, he met a dying wolf, ancient, black as night with eyes consumed in white growth. He recognized him from descriptions immediately. Skoll introduced himself, and told the old wolf that he had been searching for him for over two years. He wanted to meet the figure of this great and sprawling tale, and to know what of the stories was truth, and what was fiction. The ancient wolf, HawkWind, known in that territory as VoidFane, proceeded to tell him all of his tale, from the beginning to the end. Skoll listened intently, and after the telling, which lasted through most of the night with the fifteen-year-old's labored breathing, he lay beside him until morning, waking to find the figure from the story, his life's pursuit, dead of old age. He arrived just in time. Before his death, HawkWind had asked of Skoll a boon: that the younger wolf might repay the Storm pack, whose territory had been made available to him, and provided solace for him in his final years of life. As old as he was, as deranged as he was, he had been largely unable of providing for them, and he hoped that Skoll, a more able wolf from his bloodline, would be able to repay them where he had failed. Taking on the debt owed by his oldest living relative, Skoll resolved, after much deliberation and several months, to join the Storm pack, and help them however he could.
So ends the story of Skoll's life before Bleeding Souls. That which transpires afterward is written elsewhere. This is the beginning, and though the end comes soon, the story still goes on.
March 2004--May 2004
A period of depression and bitterness followed for the golden warrior. He wandered the lands, feeling an unfamiliar darkness building in his heart. He still helped those in need on the rare occasion that he found his skills were needed, but when he employed his violent art, he often failed to check his hand, indulging in brutality above and beyond what the situation called for. He found a strange compromise between Gronnor's honor and the viciousness of HawkWind's gift, and with one part of him caught up in his teachings and the other in the dark seed of his bloodline, he traveled as an enigmatic soldier, an avatar of justice and of vengeance, a man who would be salvation for the down-trodden, but only by becoming a demon to those of evil intent.
During this time, Skoll did his best to follow rumors and old legends about the shadow wolf, the demon in the dark, the night wraith, who he knew to be his ancestor, HawkWind. These stories led him to a land fraught with bloodshed and hatred, a land ravaged by a conflict that was named the Raven Feud. Skoll learned of the tale, that two brothers of the ruling family had seen their father slain by the other, or so they both claimed, and each sought to avenge their father through the death of his brother. His soul still stained by his great failure in the Four Pack War, Skoll decided to assist their effort at their behest, hoping to be of some assistance to those he'd met, to perhaps redeem himself for his perceived failures with a second try.
When Skoll first entered the fray, he found himself to be well beyond the standard rank and file in terms of abilities. He was respected for this, and given high status in the war-time pack which had been assembled. One morning, he was accosted by a group of four, loyal soldiers of the rival faction under the other black-hued brother, eager to slay any isolated enemies who they found. Still bearing the lumber axes from his last battle, Skoll met his four enemies, three of them armed, and slew them all. When his allies rushed to his aid, hearing the sounds of battle, they saw what he had done, and stood in awe of this one man, who alone was equal to four. It had been the first time he had fought so many at once, but something evil had stirred within him during the battle...they had not all been killed cleanly, and great brutality had been wrought about the flesh of the last of them. It was a reminder of who he had been when Gronnor found him...the signature of his berserk fury. He was glorified by his allies, but he knew that his current state was feeding something hungry and angry within him, something which he did not wish to fuel further. Even though he was powerful, the ruling family had been great, and its influence had stretched far...more recruits joined the cause with every loss. Skoll could not see a quick end coming to the conflict, and did not see himself able to control his inner demons in this environment during a period of such emotional turmoil. Using this as justification, he fled the war, taking what clues he could about HawkWind, who now sometimes went by the name VoidFane in tales, with him.
Chapter Eight: Catching his Quarry
June 2004--January 2005
A period of restlessness consumed Skoll. Horrified by the monster within him, by the prospect that he could not undertake this life path while remaining as himself, he sought to retreat from it, though he never got very far. Whenever the bronze wolf met with a situation where he felt his skills could be put to use, where he felt like he was needed, he found himself providing his help. In the months that followed, the three-year-old made great strides in healing his soul of the marks left on it by his experiences, his fear of becoming the very creature which he was now tracking down ever-present, leading him down the correct path. His berserk rage had been something he had not experienced fully for some time, but had threatened to emerge many times, threatened to override the codes of conduct that his mentor had taught him, his sanity, his very spirit in favor of the demon that resided within HawkWind's bloodline...the demon which had been protecting his family for generations. Now...as he tracked HawkWind down, the stories becoming more and more recent, he began to feel the demon subside...his self-control returning as the pain of Galdra's passing, of Xander's unjust death, of Art's rejection, began to fade. While those feelings would always remain with him, their intensity waned, and so too did his aggression and the threat to his sanity.
After a few more months of fevered searching, the yellow-furred traveler came upon the ruin of what must have once been a human city. Atop the highest point of the earth in that place, he met a dying wolf, ancient, black as night with eyes consumed in white growth. He recognized him from descriptions immediately. Skoll introduced himself, and told the old wolf that he had been searching for him for over two years. He wanted to meet the figure of this great and sprawling tale, and to know what of the stories was truth, and what was fiction. The ancient wolf, HawkWind, known in that territory as VoidFane, proceeded to tell him all of his tale, from the beginning to the end. Skoll listened intently, and after the telling, which lasted through most of the night with the fifteen-year-old's labored breathing, he lay beside him until morning, waking to find the figure from the story, his life's pursuit, dead of old age. He arrived just in time. Before his death, HawkWind had asked of Skoll a boon: that the younger wolf might repay the Storm pack, whose territory had been made available to him, and provided solace for him in his final years of life. As old as he was, as deranged as he was, he had been largely unable of providing for them, and he hoped that Skoll, a more able wolf from his bloodline, would be able to repay them where he had failed. Taking on the debt owed by his oldest living relative, Skoll resolved, after much deliberation and several months, to join the Storm pack, and help them however he could.
So ends the story of Skoll's life before Bleeding Souls. That which transpires afterward is written elsewhere. This is the beginning, and though the end comes soon, the story still goes on.