[html]  you calm the storms, and you give me rest... [ooc] I really wanted to get this up before I had to get offline-I hope it's okay <3 [bic] ...you hold me in your hands, you won't let me fall.
It had been a few days since the pack had become established, since everyone had settled down a little. She was feeling comfortable here in Twilight Vale...but she wasn't sure about leaving the packlands just yet. Right now the lands were a safe haven, her one special place. She didn't want to go out there...and find out who'd survived and who hadn't. It was too frightening to think that some of her friends might be gone. But one already was. She put her head down onto her paws. She was thankful for the nicer weather--it meant that the pups could be outside sometimes. Dierdre's weren't very strong yet...but she knew that it would come with time, as they grew. Dierdre had been a strong wolf, and she knew that Pilot was strong. The pups would definitely live. Naniko sat down outside of Deuce's den, taking a break for a moment. She'd spent most of the day inside with the pups, giving the mother a break from puppysitting. Deuce would return in a little while to feed them again, but Naniko was content with staying with all four of them while the older female took a run.
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He was content with finding Tayui and the idea of establishing Shadowed Sun with her was thrilling. However, he couldn’t help but let things of the barely distant past fall away just yet. He wasn’t ready to leave Storm, and his stomach churned every time he thought about those they had lost. Dierdre was always on his mind, plaguing him like some deathly disease. He still didn’t understand everything, but he had forgiven her for that. He only wished he could have seen her again, just to know for sure that she had survived the flames.
He walked idly, only wishing to explore more of the lands that he would be calling home, along with the rest of the wolves that were forced to leave. Now that he was alone, he let thoughts of everything and anything flow into his head. He repressed nothing. This was his time reflect and try to let go.
The arrowhead necklace swung on his neck, glinting as its sharp edges caught the light. It had bounced off his chest, nicking him a bit, and now a raw thin line ran over his heart. His grey eyes flicked from here to there, but not particularly searching for anything – just looking. But what he saw off to his left was a surprise. And old face.
"Naniko?" He asked, letting a grin take his lips. He wandered over, wondering if she was alone or not. "Is that really you? He felt the need to ask, as if this was some sort of mirage.
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> I will make you a table sometime =o if I can find a good picture. I liked this background a lot, so I ended up making it my own >> -loser- And I'm not sure if Pilot is in werewolf form or not--assuming that he is? If not, I can definitely change my post.
She had really missed Clouded Tears for the first few days, but now reality was sinking in. She knew that they could never go back to those charred lands to live, that the lands would be poisoned for years as a result of the fire. She was thankful that so many had come out of it alive...while she felt sorrow for those who had perished to the flames.
Naniko sat down next to the tree, pulling her knees up to her chest. It was hard here, in this new place...but Twilight Vale would pull through. They would have to make it a home.
She almost jumped when she heard a voice nearby, one that sounded very, very familiar. Pilot! "Oh my!" She lept up from her sitting position, running toward the white male. He smelled so strange! But then, she probably did, too. When she reached him she practically tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck. It was so good to see someone she knew, to know that another of her friends had made it through. "I'm just so.." She almost couldn't talk, her throat closing up around a lump of emotion. "Glad!"
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... rtxela.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Yeah, he's on two legs! I forgot to mention that. 
When her form leapt up from the ground, he knew it had to be true. This was no mere mirage. The apothecary from Clouded Tears really was only a few meters away from him. He let a beaming smile take his lips, and opened his arms as she threw herself at him to wrap around his neck in an embrace. "It’s really good to see you, Naniko!" He said in reply to her, feeling the same emotions she must have been struggling with. All of this was so hard – that was the only word to describe it. None of them had wanted to leave. In time, their new packs would become home. But at the moment, Shadowed Sun still felt strange to him.
"I’m glad to see you’ve gotten out okay. Have you come across any others?" The smells were strange here, but they were like that almost everywhere. He had no idea that he had actually waltzed into a new pack’s lands. He prayed silently that she might mention Dierdre, but Pilot had no way of knowing whether she had left Storm and the surrounding areas long before the fire or not. After the note, he was unsure of almost everything.
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Naniko hadn't even known that Dierdre was pregnant until she had realized that the other was in labor before, during the fire. She also hadn't really thought about who the father might be, focusing instead on making sure that they were doing well. There wasn't a lot that she could do for them other than to keep them clean, to let their burns heal, because she knew that it was dangerous to use medicines on ones as young as them.
A loud squeaking from inside the den made her let Pilot go, her head turning to look back into the darkness. Deuce's pups were at least a week older than Dierdre's were, and sometimes they crawled on top of the younger ones of the group. Apollo and Sirius didn't appreciate this, and she often had to go in and separate them. Sometimes the two didn't mind being laid on top of, because it was warmer, but when they weren't sleepy they didn't like it at all.
Naniko shot him an apologetic look, motioning for him to follow her. "Sorry, I thought they were all asleep again. They're having trouble getting to into a schedule..." She approached the den, talking as she went. "I met up with Conri, Nocht, Lucifer, Deuce, and their two little ones right after the fire. We've been living here ever since that day--we started a pack, "Twilight Vale." She crawled partway into the den, separating the pups to their respective corners, then coming back out, looking at Pilot. "You haven't seen Dierdre?" She began, cautiously. "She dissapeared on me..and I thought that maybe she had gone and found you"
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Pilot trailed after her as she went to the den to check on the pups. He had had no idea that Deuce had had a new litter, but that’s what he assumed from what Naniko had said. Besides that, he wasn’t aware that his own children were also inside the den in front of him. He could hear their soft barks, more like bird chirps, up until Naniko had separated them from one another. The thought of the young made a smile appear, but it also made him think of Deirdre and Phoenix’s own children. Both whom he hadn’t seen since the fire.
"Dierdre?" He said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "No," he cleared his throat and said a bit louder, "No, I haven’t seen her. But you saw her? After the fire? She’s alright?" He could feel his heart beat quicken in his chest and couldn’t help but let a smile grace his lips. Even if she had disappeared, she had survived. That was all he needed. "I haven’t seen her since she left Storm." What had she said? Was she okay? Did she mention him at all?
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She bit her lip, looking back at him. How could she say it? He looked so happy. The last time she had seen Dierdre, besides during the fire, had been around three months ago, when she'd come looking for herbs. That was another thing that had made her second guess herself about Dierdre's pregnancy...she had thought that her herbs would have worked. But they must not have.
"Pilot, I...I'm not sure what to say. Yes, I saw her during the fire." She frowned. "But...well, I lost her. I told her I was going to look for a way out, and she said that she wanted to stay with the puppies and that she'd be there when I got back. But when I came back, all that was there was her children. Deuce is taking care of them, with me babysitting. We were hoping that she was out there somewhere, trying to find her way back...but it's been two weeks."
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He could feel the hot liquid drenching the fur on his cheeks, seeping down to the soft skin below. The puppies. Children. Their children. Sure, there was still a bit of doubt in the back of his mind after that letter, but he had a feeling. They had to be their children, right? He knew they weren’t illegitimate with some other father – the person (whom Pilot did not know) had been the one Dierdre cheated on him with.
He looked to Naniko, brows furrowing with a tangle of emotions. "Her children?" He choked out as tears now streamed further down his face. He wasn’t sure how to react – Dierdre was gone. But at least the puppies were okay. He knelt down to the ground and brought both hands to his face, shaking his head slowly. Looking back to Naniko, he dropped his hands and asked in a hushed voice, "Can I see them?"
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> -loves on- If you wanted, Pilot could take Sirius back with him to Shadowed Sun? Maybe not this time, as Sirius would still need a mother's milk for a few more weeks, but Pilot could take him at the end of the second month as an NPC? I think they're playable after two months? I want to play him in Shadowed Sun, anyway, and ICly Naniko would want Pilot to be in the pups' lives, so it would make sense there too!
She was startled when she saw the tears. Dierdre hadn't said anything about Pilot when she had come to Naniko for the herbs that would get rid of the puppies within her. The healer had assumed that the herbs hadn't worked, or that she'd gotten the wrong combination...because Dierdre had indeed given birth. There were two more in the litter, but she wasn't sure if Pilot needed to know that...why explain about something that was already gone?
"I...Oh Pilot, of course you can." She hurried, turning away and going into the den. Naniko emerged a few moments later with the two squirming bundles. "She never told you...that she was pregnant?" She asked. "I was there when they were born, and she told me their names. This one-" She offered the larger, white male to him, "Is Apollo Haddon...and I have Sirius Revlis. Two strong little boys. I had thought about you...but I wasn't sure why she had named him the way she did. She named one after our father, and I didn't realize. I should have come looking for you. They were pretty badly burnt, and I didn't want to move them for a while, though.."
She held Sirius, stroking his head. His little tail wagged a bit, used to Naniko's smells and touches, and he squeaked when she tickled him beneath the chin. "I'm so stupid...of course they had to have a father." And now she was attached to them. She shouldn't have ever cared for them, should have just left them with Deuce and never come to see them or play with them.
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... dmll-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Okay, sounds good to me. Maybe the idea could be brought up once they get a bit older?
Apollo Haddon. Then it had to be true – they were his. Dierdre wouldn’t be cruel enough to tease him by naming her children with Pilot’s name if they weren’t his. She had to have known somehow. But still, Sirius was colored red and that made him silently wonder. Pilot’s bloodline was a mystery, so of course there could have been some red wolf or other blood to cause Sirius to gain those attributes. But what if…
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and cradled Apollo in his arms. He gently ran two fingers down his back, watching with a smile forming through the tears as the pup made soft cries. He heard everything that Naniko had said, but his reply got lost as he looked down to his son. "Apollo," he whispered, stroking him gently. He looked to Sirius and shook his head. "I can’t believe this." He stepped closer to Naniko so that he could gently stroke Sirius on his small head. "They’re so small," he commented, looking back to the bundle in his arms. "Two weeks old?" He asked, looking up to Naniko and wiping he cheeks with one hand.
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Of course I can't play both Nani and Siri in the same pack -shrug- it just depends on if I can take a third character--what time. :3 Maybe when he's two months, maybe three.
She'd never had any children of her own, but she'd taken care of kids before. These were different from the ones that she usually puppysat for, though...most were older. Davinci had been old enough to begin eating meat when Iskata had left him with her, so she'd chewed the meat and given it to him that way. But these little ones were too young for meat. Naniko wasn't sure if the pups were oddly colored or not; pelt color varied from generation to generation a lot. She'd never seen Dierdre's father, though, or Pilot's parents. Maybe they had golden fur. "Yep, two weeks. They're looking a lot better than they were before--a lot of smoke inhalation and minor burns." Even the youngest of the pack hadn't gotten away from the fires unscathed. She wasn't sure if they would have any scars from it or if the tiny flecks of fur would regrow over them. "Just tiny little parts. But they cried a lot" She knew how bad burns hurt. With all the floating pieces of burnt stuff in the air, she was surprised they hadn't been worse. "I talked to Lucifer...and he asked me to ask you if you'd let them stay here for a while. Not permanently or anything, if you don't want...them to....but he said that Deuce is really attached to them. Me, too. And they'll need her milk for at least another month and a half"
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"Of course, of course," he said, gently handing Apollo back to Naniko so she could return them to the safety of the den. "Thank you so much for watching over them. And could you tell Deuce that it means a lot to me that she’s treating them as her own." If Pilot was able to care for them, he would have taken them home in a heart beat, but he knew it was for their own health to stay here in Twilight Vale. Already, though, he was thinking of the things he would do when they finally got old enough to play outside. Much like he had with Icarus, Kansas, and Ember, Pilot was bound to share all kinds of stories and games with his children.
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She put the young pups back into the den, next to their sleeping uncles. She returned a moment later, looking back behind herself to reassure herself that they weren't squeaking or needing attention. Naniko really did like looking after them. She was glad that Pilot agreed to let them stay--she could understand how hard it could be for him to leave, now that he knew that they were here. But there wasn't a rule against him visiting them. "You know you're welcome here any time"
Her arms still felt heavy, like she was holding them, even when she wasn't. "You're a member of my family--if you ever have any trouble, just call for me." But she would make sure that they knew that Pilot was welcomed. "They usually sleep most of the night, so they're up for at least a few hours at a time during the day" She wanted him to be involved--they'd grow up knowing who he was. "I'm so glad you're all right. And that they're all right"
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... dmll-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Want to end this here? :]
"Thanks, Naniko. For everything. Really." He looked to the den knowing that both of his children lay inside within the safety of its walls. There was no doubt in his mind that they would be well cared for here in Twilight Vale, and he was glad to know he could come to see them anytime he wished. To see Dierdre now would have been the icing on the cake, but he knew that it wouldn’t be the case. He knew she was alright, and that was good enough for him. Even if she had gone away, he knew she had survived the flames.
"Well, I suppose I’ll head home to Shadowed Sun. I didn’t manage to salvage any of the herbs you had given us, so I’m planning on starting a garden. I’m hoping we might be able to sprout a few things, even though it’s getting later into the season." He turned to go, looking back with a grin. "Take care, Naniko. I’ll probably stop by again very soon. "
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