This life to share.

Shandom Qi'Vaex · 01-04-2012, 09:28 PM

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.: OOC :. New Dawn, you are killing me :| Except not really, because now I have buckets of muse for Shandom...but almost none for Columbine. Ah, toss ups. Anyway, he's not going to give details of his past in this post. Nuki, if Tit wants to talk to him further about it, just shoot me a PM and lemme know :3 .: WC :. 2071

When he heard the beckoning call of his Alphess, Shandom instinctively dropped what he was doing and spun in her direction. It hadn't been all that important, anyway - the alabaster male was scampering around, appreciating the benefits of four legs and just generally enjoying himself. But he would not turn down an opportunity to speak with his young leader; she was interesting and ethereal in a strange way, and Shandom had found that he could respect her. He heeded the beckoning of her call, letting a deep bark pass from his lips, though she could not have heard it from the distance. With his focus slightly clouded, he did not hear the final notes of her song; if he had, the male probably would not have heeded the non-mandatory summons. His story was dark, troublesome; terrifying, almost. Wolves in the areas of Etienne knew his name, knew the story; he was ostracized and hated and feared, for both his own crimes and the ones committed by the sister he held so dear.

Regardless, he did not hear that initially, and scampered to find his Alphess. The journey did not take long, and it appeared he was one of the first to arrive. Slinking in to a submissive pose, the handsome man tucked his busy tail beneath his muscular legs and nodded to the girl on the mound. My Alphess. You are well, Miss? He was still not comfortable enough with the Alphas to use less formalized greetings, and he doubted he ever would be. Shandom demanded respect when he held their position; in turn, he expected them to have the same standards. The male had no problem with that. Respect, authority, submission and dominance - all were familiar to him, and well loved. Today, Titania appeared to be perhaps a hair more relaxed than she had been at the initial meeting. Again, to be expected. That first meeting had been one of great importance - it was the first time the pack was together as a family.

He'd missed having one of those.

The pale male sat in silence near the base of the small mound, waiting and watching as others arrived. His scarred countenance observed them and he nodded in greeting as each arrived. Shandom counted them as friends now, family in the spiritual sense of the word; he was not bound by blood to them. But, then again, he'd never been bound by blood to the Yaes. The only blood-brother he knew was Odin, and while he missed his star-gazing brother desperately some days, his true family had always lay with Linquilea, and her beautiful smile. She was his sister, his reason for existing, as well as the love of his life. Sometimes, he could not believe he ruined that bond.

When Titania began to speak, encouraging them to tell their stories, Shandom stiffened momentarily. He doubted it went unnoticed. The male's dark eyes darted to the ground and then into the distance in the direction of the West, as if a powerful magnet drew him that direction. His heart, in truth, would always remain there. Or at least a bit of it. New Dawn held a powerful attraction for him, and he could call it home, but Etienne was the land of his ancestors, and the land where the happiest memories of his life remained. This den, though cozy, could not replace the cavern where Lea and he tangled together in sleep, seemingly eternally entwined by the Fates themselves. Shandom, on occassion, wondered what transgression he committed in an earlier life to cause such strife in this one. it was certainly something to muse about.

It appeared he would go first. The male drew breath, knowing it was a long and rather sordid tale. Shandom wondered if he would be run off the land for his story, and it was then he decided he would leave the gruesome details of the crimes to a later date. Perhaps telling an entire group of wolves at the same time would not be prudent. I was born in a land far from here, a journey of many days and one that, in my wanderings, took me several years. I was not born scarred; as a youth, I employed full use of my vision and had nothing to interrupt the whiteness of my fur. My pack was not genetically shifting; until I...left... I had not heard of the virus, and I lived the first three years of my life exclusively on four paws. My parents were the leaders of the pack - Etienne - but they went missing when I was very young. The Betas, Gyek and Kora Yae, took my brother, Odin, and I, into their care - our families had long been friends, and they were not interested in disrupting the ancestral lineage of the pack. My family, the Qi'Vaex family - though I will not use that surname here, not out of disgust but out of respect - had led Etienne for as long as memory could recall. I would be the leader when I grew old enough, but until then, Gyek would lead. Shandom hoped Titania noticed he left the phrase Alpha out of his speech. It was not to undermine his story, but instead to emphasize the point that he had no interest in ever doing that again. By telling his story, the alabaster male was putting his position in the pack in jeopardy. Former Alphas were not so readily accepted by actual Alphas, regardless of how vehemently the former renounced their status.

Allow me, for a moment, to explain Etienne. Shandom interrupted his story to get this important point across, though he had a feeling it was nothing more than to distract the other wolves from the gruesome story he was about to tell. I came to these lands, having not been a pack wolf for several years, searching for a place like my home. I am drawn to New Dawn, and the wolves who live within it, for the reason that it is much like my homeland. Etienne is, first and foremost, a family. Not all the wolves are biologically related, but we lived in close quarters. The dens are nestled together, so no-one is ever far from the collective pack. Each wolf is extremely proud of Etienne, as well as extremely defensive. The culture is that of protection, first and foremost; no creature is allowed within the territory unless they are, in fact, a member of Etienne. Visitors are not permitted; growing up, I was taught to be deeply distrustful of anyone I did not know. And is that not natural? A bitter chuckle escaped his lips as he considered what had happened to his biological parents. I was deprived the opportunity to learn how to be a leader under my father, Farax, because a group of wolves who seek nothing more than chaos decided to abduct my mother. Their reasons are still unknown to Etienne, or at least they were when I departed; since that incident, the pack has become even more secretive and reclusive. But still, they are happy there, or at least I hope they still are. Shandom shook his head, and realized he was far from the conversation he meant to have. I apologize, and I hope you will all forgive my long winded tale. I am a story teller, and I love to talk; unfortunately, over the past several moons, I have been deprived of that opportunity. I assure you, after I have run myself hoarse, you will probably never hear me say this much ever again. The statement was true. The Qi'Vaex man was not a particularly long-winded creature. Speaking this much would be a first for him, perhaps ever.

Gyek and Kora had a daughter, Linquilea. She and I did not get off to the...best start... Here he chuckled, eyes on the ground briefly before they returned to the faces of his pack, careful to not make eye contact where it was not appropriate. But she soon became my best friend in the entire world. She was my Lea-Belle, the one creature I allowed true friendship; as a child, I was not so mature as I am now, naturally. Lea was beautiful, strong, kind, and.... The words here would be difficult to say. It would be an admission he had not made to anyone, at least not aloud. He hoped his new family would accept the difficulty of the statement, as for a moment Shandom struggled with it. And she was dangerously unbalanced. I did not take note of it; I am not ashamed to admit that I was smitten with her, and to this day, my heart belongs to Linquilea Yae. But Lea did not return my affections, as I learned - she found a mate when we were still young, barely six moons past our yearling birthday. I will readily admit my greatest flaw is jealousy. I loved her so passionately that it consumed my soul in a dangerous way; while I was also focused on training to be an adequate leader of Etienne, I could not think of any other creature besides my Lea-Belle. The pair of us, for so long, were expected to become mates and be the new leaders of the clan, although it was slightly scandalous - she is black as night, you see, and the Qi'Vaex line is traditionally pure white. Regardless, I was eager to break tradition for her. To this day, I can see in my mind the pups she would have bore us.... Sable mixed with the purest white; they would have been strikingly beautiful, and a wonderful combination of both of our traits...

But, as I said, Lea did not love me in that manner. I was her brother and her best friend; never anything more, and certainly never anything less. In my blindness, I did not notice her instability - in fact, I was wont to notice anything but my own jealousy and fear for losing her. When she bore pups I.... Shandom's voice wavered slightly, and for a moment he was silent. I could not handle it. We were three years when she had her children, Xyvi and Kora Dy'Nix, by a man named Jax, who I despised for reasons beyond Linquilea's affections. It was here that he reached the complicated part of his story. How to tell a collective group of wolves that he was a murderer of children, as well as parents? He had betrayed Etienne in an unforgivable way; even strangers to the land would be able to notice that. Sighing, Shandom shook his head. I committed a terrible crime, and Linquilea was blamed for it. At this point in my life, I was the leader of Etienne; nobody suspected I would act in such a manner, though she insisted it was me. She was run off the land and branded a killer; since then, my beautiful, amazing Lea-Belle... She has not been the same, and I doubt she ever will be. The girl I loved turned in to a monster of the night, rampaging lands. Her first order of business when she returned to Etienne was to break my alliances with the pack. She did so extremely successfully, and it is she who gave me this scar, and the blindness in my eye. But, to this day, I am not ashamed to admit I still love her, more than I can describe. It is a strange and complicated thing, love. It makes you do... crazy things.

His last words were spoken extremely softly, and he was silent for several more moments. I apologize, pack mates. I did not intend to babble so extensively. But you have a right to know my story, but also to know that I am not the man I once was. I am not so prone to rash, impulsive acts; my jealousy is not as potent as it once was. Certainly, I am flawed, and the furthest thing from a pure creature. My mistakes are my own, and they have made me into a stronger wolf. I hope you do not take away from my story that I am a bad creature. I have no ill intentions towards any of you, nor will I ever. My love for my sister will not stand in the way of my love for my pack, I assure you.

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