HI! sswm 257

The howl caused oversized ears to stand attention on top of his light blonde head. Eyes opened to reveal deep scarlet as his light slumber was disturbed. There were no stars in the sky now, but there was light. Anything to escape the caves. The young male stood and took a moment to stretch before he left the cave’s mouth behind and headed down into the more forested area of the Anathema territory. The call belonged to a stranger, and the flawed Lykoi prince found his curiosity awaken within his growing form. Tail moved fluidly behind his pacing form, and it did not take long before he found the stranger’s face, waiting by the borders obediently. He liked that. He had never been through this procedure before, but did not take for granted that it was a stranger wishing for a home. This was what he wanted though, for he craved a reason to call for his beloved, pale leader with the emerald eyes.

”Who are you?” he asked, scarlet eyes framed with lilac filling with firm suspicion as he stared at the adult. These were his lands more than they were hers, and therefore he had the full right to parade and act as he pleased. Although he was young and had not yet had the time to grow into his full size, he was no scrawny runt anymore. He cocked his head slightly to the left, allowing hackles to rise in an attempt to make his form seem larger than it really was.

sswm 321

He was content with her behaviour. Children could so easily be laughed at and it could at times be hard to be taken serious. However, this female’s gaze did not once rise to seek eye contact, and it soothed his young, arrogant mind straight away. A smile of contentment refrained from settling on his lips though, as this was the first official.. thing he had done for Anathema yet. In fact he was not certain if Naniko would permit such a thing, but here he was now and turning around to leave this to someone else was not a valid option that he felt required to make. Her name was a mouthful, but no more than other silly titles were. A name was a name, and it meant little in the Lykoi hybrid’s ears. He had manners enough to return the courtesy, only because she did such a damn good job at playing submissive. ”I am Itachi Lykoi,” Pride was well apparent in his voice, though he did not think she would recognize him as a prince. Few did, but he knew with certainty that his blood was vivid and royal. That was enough.

His heart’s pace quickened as she revealed that she sought a home. He would see Naniko again, and he would be able to show her that he could easily do the work of an adult. ”What can you offer Anathema?” he sternly asked, giving her the name of the pack whose borders they were currently standing on. Ruby continued to stare at her grayscale form. He had barely gotten a glimpse of them, as her gaze was carefully averted, but she had lovely eyes. The different hues in different individuals’ eyes continued to astonish him. His leader’s emeralds remained pure perfection, but he had a weakness for blue as well. Strange how he could get lost in eyes dressed in a simple colour.

sswm 241

To boost the arrogant youth’s ego could be a good way to go, though the woman should be careful not to feed it too much. Ears took in the words she had to say. Her voice was draped with lovely sugar, and he pushed his pale golden chest just a little bit further to absorb the complimenting tones she offered him. Of course it was a pleasure; did she not understand that his name more or less reeked with his royalty? He sat down on the frozen ground, gently wrapping his silky tail around his pale paws. She listed up her skills and he nodded despite the fact that she could not see this. He quite adored this role he was playing; it made him feel important and less of a child, which was very good in his world. These seemed only to be her strengths however, and he did not adore pack members that were so full of themselves that they could not name a flaw.

He did not believe this woman was one such person though, as all he had asked for was those strengths. ”Do you have any weaknesses then?” he wondered, cocking his head further and further to the side as he found himself smiling at her submissive form. His tone was not exactly mocking, but an adult from Anathema could probably have put him in place had they heard the arrogance in his youthful voice.

sswm 306

He nodded against as she served him her answer. He did not catch the meaning of “not very personable”, but he was not about to ask about it. No, Itachi was content with the answers she had so willingly given away, and what he really wanted to do was to call for the woman with the beautiful eyes. He got up on four paws again, fully recovered from the hours of sleep earlier and feeling his youthful energy fuel him and make him somewhat restless. Ruby turned to gaze up towards the hill in the direction of the caves, but no one else had arrived to take over the scene. Good, he wanted to remain in charge until the Queen appeared to judge this woman seeking a place within Anathema’s proud ranks. Did these thoughts concur that this was in fact his new home now, then? He supposed they did, and did not find the taste of the revelation too bitter.

He turned fully, away from her, and released a howl of request. It was for any of the two leaders, but he knew who he hoped to see. His blonde tail wagged in immerse expectation as he turned back to her. He had done a good job at this, and it was important to please his superiors. It mattered little that Fiachra’s acceptance would immediately make her the Lykoi’s superior, but that was all right. He had done everything right, and to be honest, rank was not something he would strive to possess. He cared little for others, with the lonely exception of the pale woman that had offered him a home in these lands when Inferni had closed its doors in his face. "A leader will come to judge whether or not you are worthy," he proudly declared, stating the obvious.

sswm 325

The boy was aware that he was perhaps taking this a bit too long, but practise eventually resulted in some variation of perfection. He thought he was doing well considering alternative endings that he could conjure out of the air as he waited for the pale queen or her sub-leader to arrive. The female did not reply with anything at all, and he was satisfied with this; disinterested in this woman as a unique individual for now. It was.. difficult for the golden boy to fight the apathy that so easily remained nestled within his cooling core. All he wished for was to lay his sunset eyes on flawless, pale fur, and it was not too much to ask, as the sound of approach soon reached. Audits perked forward and he turned to see the queen approach, majestic and graceful as she always remained around his devoted figure.

Contentment was apparent within deep red as she complimented his already spoiled ego. His muzzle dipped to face the snow covered ground as it battled for purity with Naniko’s dazzling pelt coat, and he expressed his gratitude in silence. He ignored the childish title, ”boy”, thinking that he would gradually earn his weight in gold eventually. ”This is Fiachra Gervase and she wishes to join our ranks.” The young Lykoi’s face turned to the grayscale woman as he spoke now, keeping a keen eye on her body language so that he would know immediately if he got anything wrong. ”She tells me that she is a fair hunter and has knowledge of mending clothing. She also practices medicine.” Those seemed to be the strengths she had listed up, and the boy wondered if she knew how to mend torn flesh as well as she dared to claim that she practised medicine.

Ruby turned back to the angelic face of his female leader, though he was vary of maintaining constant eye contact with the lovely adult.

sswm 241

His queen seemed pleased and therefore so was he. Gaze had travelled to and fro as he had said his short lines that described the rock hued woman, more or less, but now turned to settle fully on the soon to be member of Anathema. Itachi had been through the same process when he had fled to the mountains in pursuit of the forming pack, and he was proud to hold traces of his queen’s blood within his own crimson streams. His role was done here, and though he knew he wished to linger with the white mistress, he did not want to tempt fate and risk becoming an annoyance to her. He had to give it time, and though he was too young to own immerse amounts of patience, he would try his best anyway. All he had was time, here.

Faded gold ears rested peacefully against the fine hues decorating his skull. Perhaps he should leave, but the boy was intrigued by this unique ritual that the leaders made everyone go through. He adored the effect it brought to his chest, and dark rubies travelled to the sharp knife, hungry to see and inhale fresh blood. The youth’s tail wagged behind him as he kept his respectable distance to them both, though placed his paws closest to the pale woman to underline the fact that he was an existing subordinate, ready to bend to her every will.