[html]
The garden was growing and Pilot felt like he really had done something well. At the back of the small plot of herbs, he had planted a small bunch of flowers as well. They were pretty – a pristine white – though he wasn’t sure of its name. He had flipped open his book on medicines to see if he could perhaps find it in there, but had yet to discover it. Until he got his hands on a book full simply of flowers, he wouldn’t know that their name was really Rue anemone. In his mind he called them Dierdres.
He got on his knees, pulling up weeds that were just reaching into the paths of the other plants. His twine necklace hung from his neck – the obsidian arrowhead twirling at the end of its length. Thick clouds remained overhead, yet the summer heat persisted. There had been plenty of thunderstorms lately, driving most into their dens. This had prevented Pilot from traveling to Twilight Vale. Both of his sons were getting much older. He couldn’t believe it had already been two months since the fire.
[/html]
[html]
Sirius had not been in the new lands for very long, mostly hanging around the borderline. He had seen Pilot off and on over the last couple of weeks, and knew him as his father...but he didn't know how the wolf would feel about him coming here. Would he be really mad at him? He hadn't told anyone when he had left Twilight Vale...maybe he wouldn't be welcomed here.
Pieces of fluff hung in the air above his head, drifting along like big pieces of snow, floating. He watched them with interested green eyes, them being the only thing moving in his surroundings. Sirius really liked the big fluffy seeds...they were the same color as Naniko, Deuce, and Pilot...three very comforting things in his life. He followed one as it drifted, ending up at the edge of a big field of dirt. There were some flowers sticking up from the ground in rows, something that he found very puzzling. Who had arranged them like that? Most of the flowers were already taller than he was so he couldn't see over them, the blooms a bright, brilliant white. He reached up to smell one, sneezing when it tickled his nose.
[/html]
[html]
He could smell the rain. New rain, not what had already fallen. He turned his silver eyes up to the cloudy sky and knew for sure. The light smoky haze had deepened to a dark charcoal off in the distance. Soon there would be more rain – more water for the plants. So long as too much didn’t fall, the herbs would appreciate it. He only hoped they wouldn’t drown in it all.
A couple of birds overhead fluttered by, seeking shelter from the coming rains and talking about Pilot and his garden below. He looked up from his plants to find what the birds had mentioned – his son. 'That youngster sure stands out against all the white and green down there,' they had commented. A smile pulled at his lips, causing that small silver stud in his lip to glint. "Sirius!" He called out as his son sneezed, sending dandelion seeds up into the air.
[/html]
[html]
The birds screeched above him and he looked up, frowning. Why did they have to be so noisy? He wasn't any kind of a threat...but they were running away. Or was it called flying? He loved chasing things that flew...maybe someday he'd be able to fly after them.
He heard his name and looked up curiously, blinking. "Da!" His young eyes lit up and he started toward Pilot, going through the rows, his paws crushing a few of the flowers. "Ohhh..." He looked back at the flowers, stopping and staring at them. "I kwisheded da flowezz"
[/html]
He escaped from TV, right? I'm pretty sure you had played out that he was confined or something like that? Should I just assume that Pilot doesn't know of any of this? (Since I'm not sure about the details myself.)[html]
"Aww, that doesn’t matter." He told his son, dismissing it only because it was his blood whom had accidentally tread on it. "Come here," he said to him, holding out his arms so that he could embrace the small pup. He could remember when the Phoenix children had come of age and started shifting. He knew it would only be a matter of time until his own children reached that stage, but for now he cherished and enjoyed their youth probably as much as they did.
"What are you up to?" He asked Sirius, studying the colors in his fur. It was so drastic from the stark white that Dierdre, Pilot, or even Apollo was covered in. Even though some speculation still remained in the back of his mind, he loved his son nonetheless.
[/html]
[html]
Yes, that's right ^^ Deuce was going crazy, and Lucifer told Naniko about it. Lucifer was going to go and talk to Deuce, so Naniko put the boys to bed and closed their doors so that they couldn't get out and get anywhere near the argument that the two would be having. Sirius woke up in the morning and wanted out, and was really upset because Lucifer had told him he couldn't see Deuce any more, so he escaped and ran away.
There were so many things that were new about this territory. Twilight Vale was so pretty at night time...would it be the same here? He knew that it was the same sky for all of them...maybe it was just how you thought about it. He was sure that this would be a great home, because this was where his father lived. Boys were supposed to live with their fathers. Sirius had heard about what had happened with his mother...and he was happy that he got to stay with his grandma and aunt for such a long time. But now he was bigger and able to make some of his own decisions.
He had been here for a little while, but not long enough for the land's scents to take over his coat. He still smelled like Twilight Vale. Sirius thought about this, then took a moment, dropping down onto his side in the dirt and rolling around a little. He wanted to smell like Shadowed Sun! Only when he was thouroughly covered in dirt did he look up and reach for Pilot, green eyes inquisitive.
"I's comed here now" That was it, really. He was going to live here, now. "We can stay together!"
[/html]
[html]
Pilot scooped up his boy, dirt and all, and held him in his arms. It was great being able to visit them both in Twilight Vale, but nothing compared to having Sirius right here with him. Deuce and the others in TV had been kind enough to care for his sons, so he would leave it up to the two youngsters where they wanted to live. Now that Sirius was here, however, he was thankful to have his son by his side.
"I’m glad you came," Pilot told him, ruffling the red fur on his head with a sweep of his hand. He silently wondered if the boys would ever get to know their mother and if Dierdre would ever decide to love Pilot again. He told himself he wouldn’t love anyone else, but he missed that feeling of being needed. There was a hole now that even his sons, no matter how much he wanted them to, could fill.
[/html]
[html]
"I didn' wike bein in dat room...whewe do you live at? Dere is a pwace for Siri derr, yes? I din' tell 'Powwy dat I was comin...I dust lefted" He tried to explain it as best as he could, the words feeling odd in his mouth. It was weird saying some of the words; he'd heard Naniko or Deuce say them, but had never tried saying himself. Like...place. His own name was almost impossible for him to pronounce, and he already had a shortened version of Apollo. 'Powwy'.
Everything was really far away from him on the ground, but he knew that Pilot wouldn't drop him. "We has a den all our own, wiv no rooms dat can wock"
[/html]
[html]
Pilot held in son in his arms and listened as the youngster poured out words in his small, yet determined voice. It was interesting to see how much his skill and vocabulary would develop over the weeks, as well as his physique. Soon enough there would be two large and healthy adults wandering amongst the rest of them.
"My den is just over there," Pilot told Sirius, pointing with one of his hands. He had constructed the garden right near his home so that he could easily tend to it. "There’s soft skins to sleep on and plenty of room for you, and Apollo... if he decides to come." He smiled at him, and gently placed him on the ground. He wiped the dirt from his shins as he stood up, and led the way to their home. He ducked his head inside, glad that he had decided to add extra room. Even though Dierdre was gone, he had made sure that there would be plenty of space in case she ever came back. "You left all on your own?" He asked him, hands placed on his knees as he squatted. Twilight Vale was quite a ways away from Shadowed Sun. Quite frankly he was amazed (and slightly impressed) that his son had traveled all that way.
[/html]
[html]
He did see a lot of Apollo...too much, maybe. it wasn't that he didn't enjoy his brother's presence...he loved everyone in his family. But sometimes he just got tired of playing games with him and helping him do things. Sirius liked being by himself, wandering all over the place and having adventures...but Apollo didn't. That was why he hadn't told Apollo about anything that he was planning on doing. He didn't think that his brother would want to go, even if he told him. Not such a long trip away from the safe arms of Deuce or Lucifer or Naniko.
Pilot's den sounded like a really nice, comfy place, and he nodded enthusiastically. "We goes thewe? We should goes thewe now" The youngster looked into the distance, his nose pointing toward the place Pilot had gestured toward. "I...doesn't think Powwy is comin. He is scowwed a lot of da times...a chicken" Sirius nodded. "But I is not scowwed. Noah is not never scowwed either. Da...I miss Noah."
He ran around with his older uncle all the time. It was almost like he was his brother, and not his uncle. Noah seemed to really understand Sirius...they play-fought all the time and played tug-of-war. Sirius shook his fur out, almost falling over onto the ground in the process. "Noah can come here some day"
[/html]
[html]
He told himself he wouldn’t be disappointed about his sons’ decisions on where they would live. Deuce and the others in Twilight Vale had become their family, he understood that. Even though he was their biological father, the two had grown up with a whole other family. Frankly, he was surprised that Sirius had come here. Surprised, but also very elated.
Pilot ducked into the den, sitting on one of the outstretched skins lying on the floor. "Well, I’m sure Noah will come and visit," Pilot told Sirius, though he wasn’t sure if that was entirely true. "Since you both are so brave, I’m sure he wouldn’t be too scared to come play with you." He watched as his son looked around the den, feeling slightly unattached. He wished that he acted towards his sons as he had with Phoenix’s children. But somehow he felt much too tired and old to be as playful. He needed to get over that.
[/html]
[html]
He climbed down into the den after Pilot, snuggling into the furs. They were so soft! In the house he'd shared bedrooms with Apollo for a while, then had moved off into his own room...but none of the blankets had ever been this soft. He didn't know what the mattresses had been made of, but it'd felt sort of springy and lumpy in places. Sirius put his head down onto the softest fur."I hopes he does" He said, nodding. "Where does all the ovuh wolfs in the pack live?" Sirius reclined down onto thte fur completely. "How will Noah know where I is at?"
[/html]
[html]
"The other wolves all have dens of their own," Pilot informed his son as he watched him snuggle into the fur. For a moment he missed his childhood and living with his mother, brother, and the rest of the squirrel community. But it also roused questions about his real parents – his mother and father, and the life they had. Had he also had siblings? But thinking back to those times made him think of the loneliness he also suffered from. That was one thing he never wanted for his children. He never wanted them to live with that feeling of emptiness.
Pilot slid over to his son and put a reassuring hand on his shoulders. "I’m sure if Noah really wants to come visit, he’ll know where you are. We wolves have good scent, you know. How else do you think you’re sniffer got you here?" He joked with his son, taking in big breaths of air so that his nose flared and made a series of sniffing noises.
[/html]
[html] 
"Why?" He asked. It didn't make sense, that wolves would want to live all by theirselves. He always wanted to stay with Pilot in his den...he hated being by himself. He'd had his own room in Twilight Vale, but it was in a bigger house with everyone else. So he had never really been alone. "Why don't they want to wive wiff each other? They don't wike each ovvah?"
"I just walkeded and I went where I thought you were...maybe I did use my nose wifout knowing it" He looked pleased with himself, proud that he had made it all the way to his father's pack by himself. "Luci said that Gamma Dewce wasn't doin' good...she was sick. Her head was sick"
|
| |
[/html]
[html]
"Of course they like each other." Pilot smiled to his son, loving the curious questions that youth often had. When he had first gone to Twilight Vale, he had discovered Naniko outside of a den where his sons had been safely inside. Later when he went to visit, he had discovered that there was a large human building in the middle of their lands. So he understood why Sirius may have been curious about Shadowed Sun’s culture. "But a den is a personal space. We all have our own dens so that we can go there whenever we feel like being alone, or just want a little privacy."
The mention of Deuce immediately made Pilot think of Dierdre. It was hard not to. The fact that Sirius said her head was sick made him think of one thing. Loneliness. But also despair, and questioning. She must have been suffering from the disappearance of her daughter just as much as Pilot was. Or so he assumed. "I’m sure Grandma Deuce will get better with time," he tried to reassure him. "Time heals everything," though he wasn’t entirely sure if he believed that.
[/html]
[html]
He had never really considered the house to be a personal space. Naniko and Conri had their own room that was separate from everybody else, one that none of the pups were really allowed to go into without permission. Naniko kept a lot of her books in there, and sometimes she let Sirius come in so that she could read to him. He had nightmares before, and she usually helped comfort him.
"When will I be old enough to has my own den?" He asked. "I can stay here? When I is bigger?" He was kind of worried about Deuce, about whether she would be okay if he was gone. He had left when he was really angry..."She can come see me here"
|
| |
[/html]
[html]
"Your own den? Well, when you get a little bit older. Maybe by the time your Mitis comes around, your coming of age. Maybe even before, if you really want to. You’ll know when its time." He sat himself down on one of the other skins, missing having all of the things of his old den – the violin, the books, and the sticks he and Dierdre had used to cook fish. He felt his den was oddly empty. He looked to his son as he spoke again.
"Of course she can come," Pilot replied, letting his hands fall into his lap. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing wrong with Deuce coming to visit. After all, she was his mother-in-law and the kids’ grandmother. The fact that Sirius mentioned her head was sick didn’t even cross his mind. He laid down on his back, staring up at the dark ceiling. His muscles ached a bit from the work he had done in the garden and he could smell the scent of dirt on his skin.
[/html]
[html]
The den would probably seem more lively with Sirius in it, once the youngster got adjusted. He would have to go back to Twilight Vale to get his toys, which he'd left in his room...hopefully Naniko didn't move them. He lifted his head at the thought, worried. "I has toys in da Vale...I doesn't know how to bring them" He was too little right now to be able to carry all of them himself...what was he going to do? "Issa long trip"
He put his head back down on the furs tiredly, his brow still creased.
|
| |
[/html]
[html]
Pilot titled his head to the side, looking over at his son who was snuggled in one of the furs. He remained there, listening to the young voice as Sirius expressed his worries about his toys. Pilot turned his gaze back up to the ceiling, arms bent at the elbows to cradle his head. "Don’t worry about that Sirius. We can always go back and get them." The added phrase from his son made Pilot nod in agreement. It was very true that it was a long trip.
He rolled onto his side, propping his head up with the palm of one hand, while his other arm fell gently over his side. "I can always go and get them for you sometime. I have a bag I can put them in to make sure I don’t leave any behind." He smiled at Sirius reassuringly, before turning to lie once more on his back. He tried to suppress a yawn, but failed. "Let’s take a little nap," he said, closing his eyes.
[/html]
|
