12-09-2011, 06:21 PM
backdated to the 7th, night time
7+
Finally it had come, the day she had been waiting for since her children had arrived into the world. Squalling and wet as they had been they were now large balls of fluff that were intent on running her and Temo ragged trying to keep up with them. The first snow of the year had been and was celebrated by herself now it was time for the true ritual. She could not call it a festival for she had no one to celebrate it with, no birth pack that she could share this tradition with and her children certainly couldn't walk all the way with her. So she sought to perform it alone in the shadows of the Halycon mountains. It should be performed on a snow wall built by dozens of willing hands but Jace had neither the man power not the amount or correct type of snow to build one and so it was in mountains she would try to honor this ritual that was older than her grandmother's grandmother's grandmother. Its roots striking back all the way to the formation of the pack which had been functioning for many a decade before the humans had come and died out, the pack formation that Jace's ancestors had begun.
But the ritual itself was not about the pack formation, no the Denahlii's were not that self orientated, it was to celebrate the coming of winter for even though it meant harsher weather and took many of their pups to the Great Mother, the ones that survived proved themselves to be stronger and were granted the gift of life as their reward. The celebration was for the test and for each to have the chance to show their worth and vitality. A celebration of life and to also say goodbye to the people who would not survive the coming cold months, the old and the sick, the young and less hardy, all were loved and all would be missed. But Jace had no birth pack to perform with and so instead she would sing and dance for their memory, the ones who had died with blood on their lips and love in their hearts, love for she and Elsie, for Loki and Ruko who were her mother's sister's children. Even the elderly and the sick had taken up their spears, arrows and bows in a righteous fury, to protect their past, present and future. She would sing and dance for them, to share their bravery and sacrifice with the world, to share their last stand.
The night had begun to grow heavy when she left her children and mate. Temo would not understand what she was doing and why, to see her in that state would only upset and distress him so. It was safer for everyone if he stayed behind and watched the young, the innocent. Her children were tucked up asleep for they were young and easily tired and the hybrid had made sure their day had been filled with extra exercise and fun times, their mother would not be the same for the next few days, she would be sadder and almost dead in a way until she could recover from her ordeal and return to her former self.
The Yakuso left her comfortable home and her loving family carrying nothing more than her beloved ceremonial knives and a pack filled with powdered herbs and other strange materials that she had been collecting for several weeks now. Streaks of orange and pink tinged the dark blue sky, remnants from a cloudless but cold day. Ashen paws sunk into cold snow as the female padded silently through the lands that she called her own. She was the shadow that you were never sure that you had actually seen, the noise that may have been your imagination, the scent that only hinted at her passing, she was almost invisible in her world of snow and icy breath.
She was making her way quickly towards the trails that led up into the mountains, she would need a large flat rock face for this and the best place to find one of those in Ichika was in the mountains where she also stood less of a chance fo disturbing someone.
7+
Finally it had come, the day she had been waiting for since her children had arrived into the world. Squalling and wet as they had been they were now large balls of fluff that were intent on running her and Temo ragged trying to keep up with them. The first snow of the year had been and was celebrated by herself now it was time for the true ritual. She could not call it a festival for she had no one to celebrate it with, no birth pack that she could share this tradition with and her children certainly couldn't walk all the way with her. So she sought to perform it alone in the shadows of the Halycon mountains. It should be performed on a snow wall built by dozens of willing hands but Jace had neither the man power not the amount or correct type of snow to build one and so it was in mountains she would try to honor this ritual that was older than her grandmother's grandmother's grandmother. Its roots striking back all the way to the formation of the pack which had been functioning for many a decade before the humans had come and died out, the pack formation that Jace's ancestors had begun.
But the ritual itself was not about the pack formation, no the Denahlii's were not that self orientated, it was to celebrate the coming of winter for even though it meant harsher weather and took many of their pups to the Great Mother, the ones that survived proved themselves to be stronger and were granted the gift of life as their reward. The celebration was for the test and for each to have the chance to show their worth and vitality. A celebration of life and to also say goodbye to the people who would not survive the coming cold months, the old and the sick, the young and less hardy, all were loved and all would be missed. But Jace had no birth pack to perform with and so instead she would sing and dance for their memory, the ones who had died with blood on their lips and love in their hearts, love for she and Elsie, for Loki and Ruko who were her mother's sister's children. Even the elderly and the sick had taken up their spears, arrows and bows in a righteous fury, to protect their past, present and future. She would sing and dance for them, to share their bravery and sacrifice with the world, to share their last stand.
The night had begun to grow heavy when she left her children and mate. Temo would not understand what she was doing and why, to see her in that state would only upset and distress him so. It was safer for everyone if he stayed behind and watched the young, the innocent. Her children were tucked up asleep for they were young and easily tired and the hybrid had made sure their day had been filled with extra exercise and fun times, their mother would not be the same for the next few days, she would be sadder and almost dead in a way until she could recover from her ordeal and return to her former self.
The Yakuso left her comfortable home and her loving family carrying nothing more than her beloved ceremonial knives and a pack filled with powdered herbs and other strange materials that she had been collecting for several weeks now. Streaks of orange and pink tinged the dark blue sky, remnants from a cloudless but cold day. Ashen paws sunk into cold snow as the female padded silently through the lands that she called her own. She was the shadow that you were never sure that you had actually seen, the noise that may have been your imagination, the scent that only hinted at her passing, she was almost invisible in her world of snow and icy breath.
She was making her way quickly towards the trails that led up into the mountains, she would need a large flat rock face for this and the best place to find one of those in Ichika was in the mountains where she also stood less of a chance fo disturbing someone.