Taliesin Di Rhiannon
3/21/08
Luperci
Male
Onifalkon@yahoo.com
nezuminokage@live.com (IM)
Deuce has been telling me about it for the past year or so, and finally convinced me to join as one of her pups

Taliesin stretched his fore-legs, arched his back, and yawned thus accomplishing the most important things of waking up, especially from a nap! Thus roused he started to look about, wondering what there was of interest; nothing he thought disappointed. The pup was all but about to give up and wake up Noah when he noticed something that was different: light. Light meant outside, and outside meant fun! With an eager yip the boy started for the opening but paused as he reached the glorious freedom. He suddenly wondered why he had never been out alone before, was it wrong? Dangerous? What even was danger?
He had heard the term over and over, but it meant nothing other than something he should avoid. But why? Was danger that bad? Maybe if he got to know this danger, who or whatever it might be, he would find that he liked it! Suddenly filled with the courage only foolish youth could offer Taliesin moved outside and was dazzled once more by the brilliant day. The light was so wonderful, but even more so today! What a joy it was to be out in it! Contented by this he sat down and basked, eyes closed, in the warmth and light of the sun. It truly was wonderful.

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She and Lucifer had spilt up. They were done as mates. She wasn't ready to leave Vale lands yet, though. Not yet. She had to find her boys. Noah was most always clinging to Lucifer, but Taliesin was her little boy. Lucifer and Naniko had hidden the boys in the house. When she'd went to find them, she coudn't. She was wandering the yard surroundng the Manor, just wandering, when a yip caught her attention.

A smile touched her lips. It was Talieisn. She knew his voice anywhere. She'd taken her 'normal' form today, and was sniffing around. The boys had seen in in normal and Optime form, it was all okay. She bounded forward, letting out a gleefull chuff of her own. Upon seeing her son, she nuzzled him, her tail wagging. She immediately began the joyful task of grooming him.

His father may not want her around, but the younger black male couldn't keep the pale mother away from her sons. Not a one of the five.

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The pup nuzzled against his mum, and playfully rolled about as though trying to avoid the cleaning. After all, what pup wanted to be clean? Taliesin didn't really object, but the game had to be played out: he struggled, she pinned him, he cried, she ignored him, he grudgingly got cleaned, and she let him go; it was tradition! The boy was glad to see Deuce though, he had missed his mum, even if he wasn't sure why. He just preferred her to Lucifer he guessed, though Noah preferred Lucifer, but that didn't matter now, at last he had his mother again.
He thought to ask where she had been, but then he had an odd concept that maybe he shouldn't, it just didn't seem like he should. Taliesin didn't care for these feelings that told him to or not to do things, but held no explanation; it would have been so much better to know why. Why... he found himself asking that question quite often lately, and he once more wondered why. Did the reasons behind things matter that much? Or was he just being a nosy little puppy? Then it struck him that he was a nosy little puppy, the pun -though he didn't understand the concept of puns- hit him as funny and he giggled as much a wolf could. It turned out to be an odd noise that might have been called a growl at any other age.

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ah. So ya know, the boys can talk. It's cute 'baby' speech, and will be for about two months, but they do talk. ^_^
Mo chroi= "my heart" in Irish

Good goddess! She'd never had a pup struggle this much. But then, Taliesin shared her with three to four other boys, depending on where Jazper was. Dierdre had been a girl, and girls tended to be cleaner. Shadow was a boy, but he'd been naturally fastidious. The pale mother simply pinned her son down and cleaned him, chuckling softly as she did.

At his giggle, she looked at him curiously. "And what's so funny, mo chroi?" She nudged him, playfully bowling him over. Her tail wagged back and forth, inviting the boy to pounce on it. It had always been his and Noah's favorite past time. Even their siblings who were gone now had enjoyed the game of hunting the tail.

She missed Dierdre. She ferverntly hoped her daughter had made it through the fire. The pair had just started working out their problems when Deirdre had gotten pregnant. The two women had gone through pregnancy together. It was the fire that had seperated them. The fire had claimed so much...and now it seemed that perhaps Deuce and lucifer's love had died in the flames as well. Perhaps it was just as well. The pair had been ill-suited. She didn't know exactly what the boy was looking for, but she hoped he found it. As for herself, she was done with love for a while.

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Taliesin leaped at the tail playfully but intentionally made no reply to her question. Taliesin liked not telling, it made him feel important to know things that others didn't, he could tell them at any time, but until then he held the power! The boy bit at the tail as though it were any other prey item, though he had never quite seen what prey looked like. He imagined it looked rather odd, it certainly looked bad being spit up to eat, though he was sure that it didn't come from his mum's tummy. If it did, why did she have to go looking for it?
Maybe it was fluffy like his mother's tail, or maybe not, he really had no idea. Taliesin was suddenly struck with a great desire to actually see prey. Thinking hard he finally came to the word that meant seeing prey, so he asked in a manner that seemed rather random: "hunt?" He wasn't entirely sure what a hunt was, per say, but he knew it meant prey.

--they already got ya titled up You's official. LOL--

Deuce swished her tail, laughing as Taliesin chased it. His question seemed to come out of no-where. But that was okay. She remembered Dierdre talking like that, when the girl talked. Deuce tucked her tail underneath, out of sight. She looked at her son curiously. Was he old enough to start hunting already? Boy...she was a poor choice to ask.

Deuce smiled, though. We can hunt if you want, Taliesin. I'm surprised your father hasn't taken you out yet. he's already taen Noah several times, she thouight but didn't add. Chalk one more point up to Lucifer's defencies. Oh well.

Deuce nudged the boy in the direction they would be going. she glanced at him to make sure he was following. he tended to be a bit of a wanderer sometimes. She paused, watching the grass. There was movement. She placed a paw down in front of him. In a soft, low voice, she spoke. "there's a mouse just ahead. See it there? Shh, don't move." When the mouse resumed it's foraging, she spoke again. "Watch me, love. I'll catch it for you."

She padded forward, watching the mouse. At the right moment, she pounced, tossing the creature into the air. She snapped it's back. When she'd been on her own, mice were all she ate. She padded back to the small white boy, dropping it at his feet. You try now, love.

OoC: woo! ^^

Taliesin watched intensely, and when the mouse came into his range he pounced on it imitating what he had seen. Admittedly, the mouse was neat, and he did enjoy attacking it, but he still wondered what prey was. Maybe it was like the mouse, small and furry. The thought went quickly from his head as he spotted another mouse, this one he would catch! Getting down low he stalked, somewhat awkwardly, towards it; when he was close enough he hunched even lower building power in his legs like springs. The mouse noticed the movement of some grass and started off just a half second before Taliesin lunged. The pup slammed his face into the soft earth, the mouse no where in sight, and tumbled. Confused he looked up in surprise and started sniffing for the rodent, quickly finding a hole. "HOLE!" he yipped, and right away he went to digging.
Digging was always a delight, and the things one found while digging was always interesting. White paw soon turned brown as the pup joyfully dug into the soft spring soil. What fun! In a matter of minutes his face was covered, as was his belly and fore-legs. He had just been cleaned, and already he was dirtier than he had been to begin with.

Deuce watched her son mimic hunting with a smile, which soon turned into a laugh. She couldn't help it. It was just so damn funny. Taliesin was a lot like Dierdre had been in some ways. He was a simple, striaghtforward guy. And so adorable. the best of her and his father.

His digging was certainly enthusiastic. Dirt flew as he pulled it from the hole. She watched him, her bi-colored eyes twinkling with mirth. When she was certain he was totally occupied with his hole, she crept up behind him and pounced, chuffing excitedly. She then dashed off, spanking her paws on the ground, inviting him to play with her.

Tag. She loved tag. Even at the ripe old age of five, she adored tag.

The pup rolled off and shook some of the dirt away, then chased after Deuce. Tag was indeed a fun game, though he hadn't much played it. He was making good progress towards her when a butterfly fluttered into view, the eye catching bug stole Taliesin away from his current task and he was soon chasing it, occasionally leaping to try and catch it, with no luck what so ever. Soon the boy found himself in tall grass, and the butterfly disappeared. His eyes full of wonder at this new adventure the pup crept forward through the thick stalks quickly lost himself in the grass.
He didn't see the brown bear, ro her cubs up ahead of himself, but he could smell that there was something new! Maybe that's prey! he thought excitedly and he started faster towards the scent. In the back of his mind he heard the warnings he had always been given about going after things by himself, but surely he was fine! After all, danger might be friendly, and his mum was right behind him. What could possibly go wrong?

OoC: sorry, I know that last line is cliche, but it matched the situation so perfectly

The mother turned to see where her son was in relation to herself, and suddenly realized he was nowhere behind her. And then she heard the roar of a mother protecting her child. A mother bear. She saw the mother stand. Bi-colroed eyes widened, her heart froze.

And then she was moving, pushing her body into a shift. Ligaments stretched, muscles screamed in protest. But she continued to push even as she ran. She forced the shift too fast. She'd pay for it later, but for now she had to protect her son. She wouldn't lose him. Not now, not ever.

She screamed, a primal scream, as she grabbed a branch in one swift movement. Was this dangerous? hell yes. Was it sane? Fuck no. But she'd protect her child at any cost. Even if it meant laying down her own life. This was her son, her pride and joy. Her favorite child. She'd protect him. She leapt between the boy and the bear, brandishing the branch threateningly.

Taliesin saw the bear and whimpered, tucking his tail between his legs and slinking off. He didn't know what that thing was, but it was big, and probably NOT friendly; it had certainly scared him, and mum! He whined as he started away making sure that his mum knew that he was leaving the area of the bear. Once he was out of what he saw as the vicinity he his in the open roots of a tree.
Maybe that was what danger was, if so, then he now understood why he had been told to avoid it. At the least he knew that what he had seen wasn't prey, wolves ate prey, and there was no way that he could have eaten that thing! He sat in the roots of the tree hoping that the thing wouldn't eat his mum, did things eat wolves? Suddenly he wondered, he knew that wolves ate stuff, and that mice and voles ate grass, and that grass ate the air and the sun -something that had been explained repeatedly to him on how it worked, but he still had no idea how it worked at all. Photosynthesis was simply beyond the understanding level of a pup like himself.
He guessed it was possible, but what ate the eater of wolves? and what ate that? Was there an end to the eating? The idea was too big for the little boy to wrap himself around, so he stopped thinking, and started to worry. What would he do if his mum was eaten? He could go back to the others, but dah would be mad at him, dah liked Noah, not him.
Suddenly another thought occurred to him. Might the mice be mums? Did they have packs too? What did their family do without them? The thought saddened him, and he realized that he had been the monster to the little mouse he had tried to pounce on... and what of the one mum had killed? Taliesin laid his head down and whimpered disheartened, life certainly was a depressing thing.

Deuce yelled again, waving the branch. Git! GIT! I ain't hurtin you baby, you get away from mine! She saw Tal move away quickly and kept between the momma bear and her son. A thunderous grown rose in her throat and she suddenly leapt at the bear, seeing that it was still going to hurt her son.

She dropped the branch.. She'd only been using it to look bigger anyways. Her claws extended, she slashed at the bear, snarling. She felt redhot pain as the ber slashed at her, but she managed to sink her claws into a venerable spot in it's face. She didn't wnat to kill it, just make it leave. The bear screamed in pain and pulled away. She herded her cub away.

Deuce stood there for a moment, panting. She then turned and grabbed a leaf of the elephant ear plant nearby and pressed it to her wound, easing to the ground. Musn't let Tal see her bleeding. Though the boy probably saw the whole thing, dangling bear eye and all. She looked around and saw some aloe nearby. She picked that, crushing the leaves and spreading it on her wounds. She could sew it when she got back to the den. luckily it was nearby.

Taliesin Dir Rhiannon, you can come out now. the bear is gone.

The pup moved out of his hiding spot and came to her, tail tucked between his legs, ears laid back, and as much of a sorry look as he could manage. He could see that she was hurt, but at least she was alive. The pup nuzzled her apologetically and rolled onto his back. He knew now that going after the scent alone was a bad idea, and he was fairly certain that the beast had indeed been danger. Taliesin would have to be more careful in the future!
But at least he had a name for the scent, a scent he intended to avoid at this point. Bear, a creature he wasn't soon to forget! It made him wonder what else might be scary, or hurt his mum; was everything like that? Mice were scared of him, as were voles, so what set the difference between him being afraid and them? Then it hit him, the biggest difference was size! He was much larger than a mouse, but the bear had been much bigger than him. So things that were bigger were bad, but smaller things were okay. That squared away in his mind he went back to being sorry.

She picked up her son, cuddling him. She'd been so scared, so afraid. She'd die if she lost him. She held him to her, crooning to him in irish, holding him tightly. She thanked the Goddess Rhiannon that he'd made it unscathed.

Then she set him down, her bi-colored eyes stern. How many times have I told you not to be running around by yourself? You could get killed! Do you want to be like Shadow? Do you want to get yourself killed?! She and Lucifer had made it a pint to tell the boys that they'd had an older brother by the name of Shadow Erikson Sawtooth. And that he'd died because h'd wandered by himself with out either parent.

She didn't tell them that she'd found him mangled and bloody and that the coyotes had defectaed and urinated on the boy.

The boy remembered the story, and it was brought poignantly to mind. "Sorry" he murmured as he lowered his gaze. He had been warned, and now he knew better, and that's how the learning curve goes. Learn from your mistakes he remembered being told over and over, and he intended never to make that same mistake, bears would be avoided! The puppy did his absolute best to look sorry, but now that the worry had passed he didn't much feel sorry, what he felt was like pouncing on the bug in front of him. It was a big yellow grub of some kind, but he fought hard to not attack it, he was supposed to be paying heed to mum. Most of what she was saying was being completely ignored though, but it was the same things he had heard before.
Previous thoughts of the wrongness of killing also fled his mind. He was, in the truest fashion, distracted by the present to worry about the future. A puppy would be a puppy as it were. Finally his want to play got the better of him and Taliesin pounced on the grub, flipped it up, and caught it in his mouth. A neat trick to be sure, but the grub tasted like, what he imagined, the underside of coyote dung. Gagging he spat it out and the little worm went on its way, a bit perturbed but no worse for wear. The pup tried desperately to clean his tongue with his paw, but to no avail, the taste wouldn't come out.

She knew it was old news to the boy...but the mother couldn't stand the thought of losing him. He was her son. he wonder lovely son. He was a child concieved of love. Unlike Dierdre who's been concieved in lust, or Shadow, who was concieved of rape. Taliesin and Noah were concieved of love.

Bi-colored eyes were distand and thoughtful as the boy played with a grub. Strange...he was concieved of a love..which had fallen apart. Somewhere. She didn't know where. Noah had spoken of Colibri beofre. She wondered if Taliesin had met her before too. She didn't ask, though. If he'd met her, he'd say so. Eventually. He was a lot like the male who raised her, the male he'd been named after. Taliesin Dir had been his name. He'd looked like the boy too. minus the eyes. Her adopted father's eyes had been green. A bright acific green. Like Sorans.

Was what lucifer said true? Was she still in love with Soran? Maybe...maybe a little.

Soon enough he was bored again with that, and he sought something new. If he couldn't stop tasting the bug, he would distract himself enough to forget it, and so, once more, the boy wandered off. He marveled at the world, no matter how much he saw there was always more to see, and Taliesin intended to see as much as he could! What lay beyond that tree? What beyond the rock beyond the tree? So on and so forth to the edges of the earth he would explore! Tal envisioned himself at the furthest reaches, some place totally different that this one, a place where nobody had even been to! How far was it? How far had the packs gone?
The questions flooded his mind as he looked around, poking his head into every crevice, nook, and cranny. There was always something in a hole, and he loved to look into every one of them. So he continued until he found something truly extraordinary! Gently Taliesin pulled out the shiny sparkle that had caught his attention, it was a circle! He set the ring down and was amazed by the odd trinket, though he wasn't sure what, exactly, it was. He picked it up and realized that he would have to carry it in his mouth if he wanted to keep it, the piece was too small to put one of his toes into, not that it would have comfortable to have a metal band around his toe anyways. With a shrug he picked it back up and started exploring again, completely oblivious to the warnings he had JUST been given, and to the thoughts of danger and bears.

--gosh he's adorable! i'm almost done with a shiney table for ya.--

Deuce followed her son at a safe distance, not wanting him to feel stalked, but close enough to reue him from danger. She wouldn't shift down again until she had the chance to care of her new wound. She was smart enough at that. She was healer of the pack, along with naniko.

She wondered if Naniko knew she and Lucifer had split up. probably...afterall, the boys had been hidden from her. her grandchildren as well. It infuriated the mother. Her children taken away and hidden. She was of half a mind to steal taliesin and run away with him. Go to Fatin's pack, or to Tay's pack. Somewhere....somewhere but here.

Tal continued but was soon tired of his explorations, or rather, just plain tired. He turned back and sniffed at his trail to follow it back, he was ready for a nap, but was smart enough not to take one out in the wild like that. The pup soon found Deuce and went to her wagging his tail contentedly. He decided to show her his prize, and thus dropped the ring at her feet nudging it towards her in the most puppyish fashion.
He asked her, in his own round about way, what it was. This was one of the best parts of finding things, learning about them! Taliesin loved to learn, loved to discover, hence why he liked to explore. Exploration is one of the best ways to learn, though he wondered if there was a better way. The pup yawned and sat waiting for an explanation.

--OH! Dude! i know exactly what ring he just found! LMAO--

When she and Lucifer had called it off, Deuce, in a fit of pique, had taken the ring he'd given her off the chain it had been on. And deliberately lost it. Evidentally, she hadn't lost it good enough. Taliesin nudged it clkoser, and the mother eyed it like she would a snake. A particular nasty snake. that was poised to strike.

After a moment, she sighed and picked it up. A long time ago, your father gave this to me. The humans used them to symbolize their commitment to eachother. When they became mates. They called it marriage. Your father made me a special dinner, and gave me this ring. He promised me forever....

The sadness in her eyes said something along the lines of 'forever was a lie'. And it was. not even two days ago they'd decided it wasn't working. And that they were free of eachother. The love had gone...somewhere. Barely two months after the birth of their sons, the mateship was over. Forever indeed.