10-28-2007, 12:47 AM
Icarus
The den was darker than usual tonight. All of the sudden it wasn't cozy anymore. Instead to the pup it was suffocating. And the tears that were hiding just beyond the blue eyes Icarus had inherited from his mother only made things worse. If he didn't suffocate in all of the disappointment of his parents, then he would surely drown in his own sorrow. Things were not going to be good. He knew that just from the long walk home.
The pup had been caught on Inferni lands with a pup from Jaded Shadows, Amaury. They had thought it would be okay to go play on the beach together, especially with a little bit of reassurance from Amaury. However, it turns out that they weren't exactly welcomed there. Why? Icarus still wasn't crystal clear about that just yet. But by the look in his father's eyes, he assumed that he would soon find out.
"Dadddd." The boy dared to whimper in a soft tone barely audible. "I didn' mean tah do nothin'." The pup sat in a far corner, tailed curled around his four small paws. The blue eyes fell towards the ground as he felt his father's gaze closed in on him. He was in trouble now.
Phoenix
Phoenix spoke next to nothing since getting his son back. He knew the silence itself conveyed his dissapointment in his wayward son. In reality, though, he was more angry at the coyotes than the pup. If it weren't for their sociopathic tendencies, he wouldn't have to worry so much about the well-being of his children. Of course, he knew that they weren't the root of the problem either, but their continued predjudices only served to aggravate the rift between the two species. He was seething with anger at the whole situation and struggled to put a cap on it before he let it out on the wrong person.
The elder Phoenix paced back and forth until his boy finally broke the silence, and his sharp gaze bent down to bore into the boy. The main reason why he hadn't said anything yet was that there was so much he wanted to say, but he had no idea how to begin. He was relieved his son hadn't been seriously hurt, but he was also angry that the boy had run off in the first place. Fatherhood was an overwhelming job, and shenanigans like this didn't make his life any easier. While he doubted that a war could have resulted from this incident, he just wanted to stay the hell away from Inferni and let them have the beach they were willing to kill for.
Finally the father took a deep sigh and sat down facing his shrunk-down mirror image. He'd been this troublesome for his parents around this age, and he couldn't fault the boy for wanted to know more about the world around him. But he was still too small to take care of himself out in that big, dangerous world. "I know you didn't son," he said, calmly. "But jus' because you don't know about danger don't mean it ain't there. There're a lot of bad things an' bad folks outside Storm who don't care that you're a pup. They'll hurt you jus' because you're smaller then them. An' a lot of 'em live in Inferni, on th'beach. You still got a lot t'learn 'bout the world, an' the reason your mother an' I make rules is to protect you. You disobey us, you put yourself is serious danger. Do you understand me?"
Icarus
Icarus didn't care about the rest of the world, and his father's lesson about its cruelties wasn't exactly the entertainment he was looking for. He and Amaury had been just fine, even if that coyote pup had come along. It wasn't like they had gotten hurt or anything. Besides, they were just having a bit of fun.
He didn't dare to look up at his father while he spoke. The tears welling in his eyes threatened to spill over their rims if he looked anywhere other than his paws. Danger, danger, danger. That's all the grown-ups were ever worried about. His parents were always warning them about danger when ever they ventured out of the den. Even now he recited similar words. There's danger everywhere, don't yah know? Sure, the message had been clearly implanted into the little cranium of his, but he wouldn't really absorb the advice until he saw what danger was. Today… there had been no danger. What was his father freaking out about?
"Yes, daddy. I understan'." He had to speak now, for Phoenix had directed the question towards him. He was doing better staying quiet. But now that his father had opened the door, he shoved the rest of the way through it. "But daddy, we was just playin'. There weren't no bad guys there. Just lil' pincher crabs, and theys weren't hurtin' nobody."
Phoenix
Phoenix wanted to be able to trust his children, but the fact of the matter was he couldn't stop worrying. During the first few months living alone as a pup, something had tried to eat him almost on a daily basis. Puppies were not yet the formidable predators they were destinied to grow into. And at Icarus's age, he was the perfect size to make a convenient snack for any one of the other major predators that roamed the lands. Phoenix just didn't want to lose any of his children, and he couldn't be there to protect his son when he was halfway across the valley.
The adult sighed again as his son protested. How much easier this would have been if an Inferni coyote had actually made issue of this. Phoenix didn't want his son to get hurt, but if he'd just gotten shaken up a bit then he would understand. Phoenix hadn't understood how frightening the world truly was until the first time a predator had attacked him.
"Miss Phasma used t'live over there at the beach," Phoenix explained. Perhaps if he could not hammer the lesson in with academics he could use an example. "She used t'be the alpha of another pack. Then the Inferni coyotes decided they wanted her land, and they attacked her pack. They really hurt her friends and even killed a couple pups." He pasued for dramatic effect, giving the young boy a chance to process the horrific facts. "Not everybody who lives in Inferni is bad, son, but most of them hate wolves... for no good reasons. You stay away from 'em... and until you're older, you'll stay inside Storm unless you're with me, Mama, Moon or Pilot an' Dierdre." He hated tomake such an authoritarian ruling, but until Icarus was old enough to understand the murky situation between the pack and the clan, he left him with no choice.
Icarus
Stay in Storm? His father was being completely ridiculous. Icarus could take care of himself! He wasn't that small anymore. He was two months old now, for pete's sake! He wanted to yell and scream and tell him just how unfair he was being, but Icarus was smart enough to realize that wouldn't get him anywhere. However, he wasn't old enough to shy away from pouting. And that's just what he did. A grimace formed along his small face and he left a heavy sigh sound after his father's words. Phoenix just didn't understand... Icarus could take care of himself.
"Okay, daddy." He wanted to say so much more, but he couldn't find the use in it. His father would just turn it around and use it as a springboard for some other lesson. And right now that was the last thing Icarus wanted. He just wanted to go and play. After blowing of some steam and taking his anger out by yowling at a squirrel or two, that was.
"Can I g'out now?" He knew he was in trouble for venturing outside of Storm, but it was worth a shot. Daddy wouldn't make him stay inside for the night, would he?
Phoenix
There was just so much Phoenix needed to teach his son. Pups were basically blank slates, needing the knowledge to be put there by their parents. It was a grave responsibility, something with tricky pacing. Too much information, and it could overwhelm them; too little, and they could lose interest. Icarus seemed to have inherited both his childhood impatience and his mother’s sense of adventure. At least Icarus knew better than to argue. Phoenix could see he was unhappy, but didn’t care. As long as the boy stayed healthy, in time he would grow to appreciate what Phoenix was doing here.
It was getting late, and when Icarus seemed to shrug off what he was saying Phoenix just let loose another ragged sigh. Had anything he said sunk in? Was he a poor father for not commanding his son’s attention and loyalty? “Eventually you’ll be old enough t’take care of yourself,” Phoenix tried to explain, “But right now you’re still a little too young. Trust me, I was twice your age when I hadda take care of myself an’ I barely survived. Your mother an’ I love you, is all, an’ we don’t wanna see you get hurt.”
He still wasn’t totally convinced he had gotten the message through. Kansas and Ember had yet to give him this sort of trouble, though he would have expected a stunt like this from Firefly. Sun and Moon had never been this kind of trouble either. All children were different, he knew, but at least this time around he had Moon and Dierdre to help him and Iskata keep an eye on any troublemakers. It was just a shame Sun had gone off at a vital time like this. “Do you mind me comin’ along?” the father asked, leaning down to look his son in the eye. “I’d like t’spend some more time with you, an’ have some fun this time.” A situation like this called for some male bonding.
The den was darker than usual tonight. All of the sudden it wasn't cozy anymore. Instead to the pup it was suffocating. And the tears that were hiding just beyond the blue eyes Icarus had inherited from his mother only made things worse. If he didn't suffocate in all of the disappointment of his parents, then he would surely drown in his own sorrow. Things were not going to be good. He knew that just from the long walk home.
The pup had been caught on Inferni lands with a pup from Jaded Shadows, Amaury. They had thought it would be okay to go play on the beach together, especially with a little bit of reassurance from Amaury. However, it turns out that they weren't exactly welcomed there. Why? Icarus still wasn't crystal clear about that just yet. But by the look in his father's eyes, he assumed that he would soon find out.
"Dadddd." The boy dared to whimper in a soft tone barely audible. "I didn' mean tah do nothin'." The pup sat in a far corner, tailed curled around his four small paws. The blue eyes fell towards the ground as he felt his father's gaze closed in on him. He was in trouble now.
Phoenix
Phoenix spoke next to nothing since getting his son back. He knew the silence itself conveyed his dissapointment in his wayward son. In reality, though, he was more angry at the coyotes than the pup. If it weren't for their sociopathic tendencies, he wouldn't have to worry so much about the well-being of his children. Of course, he knew that they weren't the root of the problem either, but their continued predjudices only served to aggravate the rift between the two species. He was seething with anger at the whole situation and struggled to put a cap on it before he let it out on the wrong person.
The elder Phoenix paced back and forth until his boy finally broke the silence, and his sharp gaze bent down to bore into the boy. The main reason why he hadn't said anything yet was that there was so much he wanted to say, but he had no idea how to begin. He was relieved his son hadn't been seriously hurt, but he was also angry that the boy had run off in the first place. Fatherhood was an overwhelming job, and shenanigans like this didn't make his life any easier. While he doubted that a war could have resulted from this incident, he just wanted to stay the hell away from Inferni and let them have the beach they were willing to kill for.
Finally the father took a deep sigh and sat down facing his shrunk-down mirror image. He'd been this troublesome for his parents around this age, and he couldn't fault the boy for wanted to know more about the world around him. But he was still too small to take care of himself out in that big, dangerous world. "I know you didn't son," he said, calmly. "But jus' because you don't know about danger don't mean it ain't there. There're a lot of bad things an' bad folks outside Storm who don't care that you're a pup. They'll hurt you jus' because you're smaller then them. An' a lot of 'em live in Inferni, on th'beach. You still got a lot t'learn 'bout the world, an' the reason your mother an' I make rules is to protect you. You disobey us, you put yourself is serious danger. Do you understand me?"
Icarus
Icarus didn't care about the rest of the world, and his father's lesson about its cruelties wasn't exactly the entertainment he was looking for. He and Amaury had been just fine, even if that coyote pup had come along. It wasn't like they had gotten hurt or anything. Besides, they were just having a bit of fun.
He didn't dare to look up at his father while he spoke. The tears welling in his eyes threatened to spill over their rims if he looked anywhere other than his paws. Danger, danger, danger. That's all the grown-ups were ever worried about. His parents were always warning them about danger when ever they ventured out of the den. Even now he recited similar words. There's danger everywhere, don't yah know? Sure, the message had been clearly implanted into the little cranium of his, but he wouldn't really absorb the advice until he saw what danger was. Today… there had been no danger. What was his father freaking out about?
"Yes, daddy. I understan'." He had to speak now, for Phoenix had directed the question towards him. He was doing better staying quiet. But now that his father had opened the door, he shoved the rest of the way through it. "But daddy, we was just playin'. There weren't no bad guys there. Just lil' pincher crabs, and theys weren't hurtin' nobody."
Phoenix
Phoenix wanted to be able to trust his children, but the fact of the matter was he couldn't stop worrying. During the first few months living alone as a pup, something had tried to eat him almost on a daily basis. Puppies were not yet the formidable predators they were destinied to grow into. And at Icarus's age, he was the perfect size to make a convenient snack for any one of the other major predators that roamed the lands. Phoenix just didn't want to lose any of his children, and he couldn't be there to protect his son when he was halfway across the valley.
The adult sighed again as his son protested. How much easier this would have been if an Inferni coyote had actually made issue of this. Phoenix didn't want his son to get hurt, but if he'd just gotten shaken up a bit then he would understand. Phoenix hadn't understood how frightening the world truly was until the first time a predator had attacked him.
"Miss Phasma used t'live over there at the beach," Phoenix explained. Perhaps if he could not hammer the lesson in with academics he could use an example. "She used t'be the alpha of another pack. Then the Inferni coyotes decided they wanted her land, and they attacked her pack. They really hurt her friends and even killed a couple pups." He pasued for dramatic effect, giving the young boy a chance to process the horrific facts. "Not everybody who lives in Inferni is bad, son, but most of them hate wolves... for no good reasons. You stay away from 'em... and until you're older, you'll stay inside Storm unless you're with me, Mama, Moon or Pilot an' Dierdre." He hated tomake such an authoritarian ruling, but until Icarus was old enough to understand the murky situation between the pack and the clan, he left him with no choice.
Icarus
Stay in Storm? His father was being completely ridiculous. Icarus could take care of himself! He wasn't that small anymore. He was two months old now, for pete's sake! He wanted to yell and scream and tell him just how unfair he was being, but Icarus was smart enough to realize that wouldn't get him anywhere. However, he wasn't old enough to shy away from pouting. And that's just what he did. A grimace formed along his small face and he left a heavy sigh sound after his father's words. Phoenix just didn't understand... Icarus could take care of himself.
"Okay, daddy." He wanted to say so much more, but he couldn't find the use in it. His father would just turn it around and use it as a springboard for some other lesson. And right now that was the last thing Icarus wanted. He just wanted to go and play. After blowing of some steam and taking his anger out by yowling at a squirrel or two, that was.
"Can I g'out now?" He knew he was in trouble for venturing outside of Storm, but it was worth a shot. Daddy wouldn't make him stay inside for the night, would he?
Phoenix
There was just so much Phoenix needed to teach his son. Pups were basically blank slates, needing the knowledge to be put there by their parents. It was a grave responsibility, something with tricky pacing. Too much information, and it could overwhelm them; too little, and they could lose interest. Icarus seemed to have inherited both his childhood impatience and his mother’s sense of adventure. At least Icarus knew better than to argue. Phoenix could see he was unhappy, but didn’t care. As long as the boy stayed healthy, in time he would grow to appreciate what Phoenix was doing here.
It was getting late, and when Icarus seemed to shrug off what he was saying Phoenix just let loose another ragged sigh. Had anything he said sunk in? Was he a poor father for not commanding his son’s attention and loyalty? “Eventually you’ll be old enough t’take care of yourself,” Phoenix tried to explain, “But right now you’re still a little too young. Trust me, I was twice your age when I hadda take care of myself an’ I barely survived. Your mother an’ I love you, is all, an’ we don’t wanna see you get hurt.”
He still wasn’t totally convinced he had gotten the message through. Kansas and Ember had yet to give him this sort of trouble, though he would have expected a stunt like this from Firefly. Sun and Moon had never been this kind of trouble either. All children were different, he knew, but at least this time around he had Moon and Dierdre to help him and Iskata keep an eye on any troublemakers. It was just a shame Sun had gone off at a vital time like this. “Do you mind me comin’ along?” the father asked, leaning down to look his son in the eye. “I’d like t’spend some more time with you, an’ have some fun this time.” A situation like this called for some male bonding.