sever the shame we have come to reclaim.

[Rurik Russo]

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as she deceived me i watched and went out of my mind     Rurik regretted very little he'd done in his life; almost everything was worthwhile to him. Even after everything that had happened on this continent, the silver-furred man did not consider it a mistake to come here. He was glad he'd wanted to see the world, even if it had cost him a hell of a lot in the long run, it had still gained him three sons and a purpose which he now had to fulfill. There was a certain amount of guilt over Kiska still lingering in the man somewhere, but he had mostly recovered those issues; it was now his lost children who plagued him as he slept, fitful dreams of his adult sons in the passing glances. Rurik sorely wished he'd been able to see things the way he saw them now—maybe he'd still have Kiska, maybe he'd still have Syemv. He was not sure.     The silver wolf nodded in agreement with what the sable female spoke. He couldn't imagine choosing something like alphaship over his children—if he had known Zaets, Zorish, and Vladimir were his own, he would have taken care of them, simple as that. He smiled sadly, and shook his head. "You speak the truth. Can't say I would think of rank before family if I had his paws. But it is a damn shame, printsyessa, he cannot see the pretty daughter he gave up," the wolf offered, grinning at her. It was his usual cheeky sort of smile, but there was a genuineness shining in his ice-colored eyes. He meant the compliment wholeheartedly; he wished maybe someday Savina's father would come around to see what he'd blown off for something as simple as rank. He was a simple myrmidon of culture and society, chasing after unimportant things that did not matter in the long run.     "Aye? Back in Sobirat'sya, they tell stories of the Vodyanye. They are water spirits, and I have prayed to them through more than one nasty storm. Maybe one looked after you?" he suggested, drawing from his native religion. Rurik did not follow the polytheism favored by many of the elders in his homeland, and instead he placed special emphasis on one god in particular, with some smaller spirits to assist. It was not to say he disbelieved these other gods, he simply chose to emphasize one in particular, elevating Stribog above the rest of them.

Thanks to Cammie for the table & image![/html]