<style type="text/css">
.Hotaru {padding:10px; border: 4px double #000; background:#0a175c; color:#fff; opacity: 0.8; filter: alpha(opacity = 80); line-height:120%;}
.Hotaru b{color:#e48303; text-shadow:1px 1px 0px #000; font-weight:bold;}</style>
Once again Juliet spoke in a monotone voice. And once again she asked a stupid question. So many questions and all of them made Hotaru boil with rage. She didn't want to have to explain herself or her situation to this stupid girl, nor did she want to even think about such things. Hotaru thought she had made her feelings on the matter very clear yet here Juliet was asking if it was "okay." No it wasn't okay. Hotaru was about ready to grab her staff from inside the house and smack Juliet over the head with it. Her fingers flexed as the temptation roared through her body. In the end she didn't do it. Fawkes was right, she was just using this girl as a scapegoat and she needed to act civil.
With a deep sigh Hotaru began to speak. Her words were hushed and quiet. She didn't want other people to overhear what she was saying. "Okay, I'll tell you. But there are a few rules. First rule: NO MORE QUESTIONS. Second rule: I'm not repeating anything I say so don't ask. Third rule: No more questions, I'm serious. The final rule: you can't tell anyone. This is a private matter and your lucky I'm even discussing it with you." Hotaru didn't really trust Juliet not to say anything so she put extra emphasis on the last rule. Even Shawchert didn't know her full story, he just knew about Cain and only because he had been their to witness the nomad abandon her. Hotaru felt the other's had too much pity for her and hearing the story would only increase their feelings.
Now that she had laid down some ground rules the blind wolf was ready to begin her story. Hotaru started with her family. She spoke of the Kido pack just west of Nova Scotia. It was only a few days walk to the area where she had grown up. There her family had lived there for decades, since the end of humanity and perhaps even before that. She spoke of her twin brother Adrian and how she loved him more than anything else. With Adrain by her side the two of them created beautiful works of art. Hotaru had a talent for crafting and her uncle taught her how to carve while Adrian had a talent for music so their grandmother taught him how to sing and play various instruments. Hotaru spoke with a lot of love and a deep longing. She missed her family and she missed the brother she had once loved so much. She was both happy and sad to be talking about them and her mixed feeling showed in her words and posture.
With the explanation of her family out of the way Hotaru turned to the events leading up to her loss of vision. She spoke of a neighboring pack, one that was smaller than her own and had just gone through a shift in power. Despite it's smaller size the pack still dared to try and take their lands. This started a war, one that Hotaru was sure her pack would win. They had many battles, but most Hotaru did not participate in directly. Instead she had carved the bows and hilts for swords. She had fletched their arrows and stitched their wounds. It was only during the last battle that Hotaru had decided to join in. She had learned to use a staff and spear and both she had carved herself. Both sides had suffered casualties but the opposing side was in worse shape. The Kido pack firmly believed that by the end of the battle the war would be over and sadly they were right.
The battle hadn't even started when screaming broke out. Hotaru had turned to see her brother fell his own father with a sword. Hotaru explained how stunned she was that her own brother would betray the pack. As her father fell she had heard war cries coming from the rival pack and had turned to face them. It was then that Hotaru had felt a sharp blow to the back of her head and she had passed out before hitting the floor.
"By the time I woke up everyone was dead and my vision was gone. According to a nomad that found me I was the only survivor from my family while the other pack had moved onto our lands. They must of thought I was dead, it was the only explanation as to why they left me alive. That is my story, are you satisfied now?" By the time her story was done, silent tears were dripping down her face. Somehow, they made her feel better. Hotaru had made the decision to leave out Cain and his betrayal. It wasn't relevant to the story she was telling and she didn't want to have to deal with those feelings as well.
[/html]