12-15-2007, 12:32 PM
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  Private for Pilot. Don't feel like you need to match the length of this post.  Run kid. Run! The little white wolf heard him, didn't she? He wasn't sure, she wasn't reacting, she saw them coming, but she didn't run. The first coyote ran at her, and he raced to stop him...was he moving through molasses? His feet wouldn't move quickly enough...he wasn't going to get there in time. The coyote reached her first, and his white fangs flashed red, in and out of the little pups skin again and again. Skoll looked down, maddened desperation crossing his face--why wouldn't his legs move any faster? Two coyotes had bitten down on his ankles, smaller, teenagers. He looked up again to see the little white wolf's body slammed against the ground, over and over...her assailant was rabid! He had to be; that or...A berserker. Suddenly, he was out of body, seeing himself from some point just away from him. The dismay on his own face was devastating, complete anguish as the maddened canine tore the little girl to shreds, and his brother ran forward to join him. Suddenly, something changed in the bronze wolf's eyes. No! The intelligence left them, lips peeled back, jaws slowly parted as his ears fell back...Stop! Eyes wide open in a bestial rage, the big werewolf launched one of the children, and turned his fangs on the other, exactly as the first coyote was still doing to the wolf pup. Don't do it! You aren't like them! His cries went unheard by the bronze warrior, but the older brother heard him, the one called Gabriel. "What do you mean? Look at what you're doing to MY SISTER! You're just like us. Maybe worse." A twisted smile appeared on his face, his laughing eyes focused on the disembodied spirit who even now looked at the horror of himself without his mind. Impossible! We're not the same! We can't be! The oldest brother had stopped listening to him as well, though, for his eyes had taken on the same animalistic stare as Skoll's own, his own lips had peeled back and he charged the big male, fangs flashing red. Blood began pouring from Skoll's belly, from the holes he and Molochai had left in the little ones, the ground ran red with it, as the child he'd launched came laughing back into the scene, rolling and playing in the sanguine sand. The situation was out of control! He couldn't stop the coyotes, he couldn't stop himself, he couldn't stop the blood from gushing so copiously from everyone! Powerless! His disembodied form turned to see Gronnor, his teacher, staring forlorn at the carnage. No! Don't look! I'm a good person! I am! He turned back and saw three of the four coyotes dead; the other berserker, the other monster, was the only one still standing, blood spuming from a dozen wounds that matched a dozen more he'd left on Skoll's uncontrolled body. Intelligence re-entered the brother. He was breathing hard as the blood level started rising. "You learned how to be the best fighter you could, received training from the best you could find, practice each morning, keep yourself in top physical condition...do your best to make yourself a class above everyone else, just so you can do this? Just so that when you lose control, no one can stop you?" He wanted to argue, he wanted to deny it, but words had left him as he watched the doggish hybrid talking to the looming monster wolf that was himself. Behind the coyote hybrid he saw the nameless wolf that had been supporting Inferni this whole time, telling Gibraltar he was dangerous, telling Phoenix that he'd be in trouble just for offering him his old place back. But it wasn't the Jaded Shadows alpha...it was Freyr! No! Father...how?! "How can you blame them for banishing you? Look at what you became, who would have died if you would have stayed? Skoll was back in his body again, the pool of blood now up to his knees. You don't know anything about it! It wasn't like that! he roared. Gabriel's eyes widened. "Going to kill me, now, Skoll? You're so very responsible with what he taught you. The bronze wolf turned back, Gronnor was already gone...he had walked away in shame. This...this isn't right. This isn't how it happened, I didn't kill any of them! I didn't kill any of them! THEY'RE ALL ALIVE! The bronze wolf woke with a start, his claws dug deep into the soil, eyes wide and then sorrowful, but relieved. It had just been a dream...just one of many that he had been suffering. It had gotten worse over the last year, each dream covering something different. He had dreamed about the Shadow Priests the last few nights. He wasn't sure whether or not he was happy that this one hadn't involved them, too. Looking around to get his bearings, it came back to him that he was in the Tranquil Springs, far away from anyone outside of Storm. Since Phoenix had revoked his invitation as a matter of interpack policy, the old wolf hadn't seen much reason in sticking around the border. He understood why it had needed to be done...the Inferni coyotes had blood on their mind, and given their history, it was too much to hope that they wouldn't draw blood for harboring him. For some reason, Jaded Shadows had sided with them. Those kids are hybrids...they probably have a parent within Jaded Shadows. It had been on his mind a lot, but that hadn't occurred to him yet. Oh well, I doubt I'm getting back to sleep tonight. ~The lyrics are from the best song ever written. |