just can't wait to be king
#1
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Word Count :: 458

Sometimes Skoll liked to pretend that he was King.

He definitely had the dominant attitude for it. He was gentle when he pushed or pinned his siblings, but it was still a type of practice-play common to canines establishing hierarchy at a young age. He was never mean about it, of course, because leaders had to be fair and kind. They had to be fierce to protect their kingdom but also love fiercely, and those ideals had been cemented early in the golden prince’s mind. Raised in a loving family, with the AniWayan conflict making up a lot of his early life, he knew well what it meant to take care of loved ones.

Today the puppy was patrolling the borders—or pretending to, at least, while keeping the Haskel-Catori residence in sight as he wandered around. He had promised to be close to the house or with an adult when no one else was watching him; many of the Court members were busy with adapting to winter and making sure that everything was sound and running smoothly, so he couldn’t be watched every waking moment of the day—though he often crept out from underneath a babysitter’s nose as per his rambunctious and curious personality.

He minded a lot of the time, though, and right now he pranced along an imaginary boundary. He would occasionally lift his nose to sniff the air or turn his ears toward strange sounds. At one point, he chased a rabbit until he could no longer see the house, and then he came right back, trudging through the light carpeting of snow. It had melted somewhat since he’d played in it with Lottie, but it was still a wonder to see the white stuff everywhere.

Skoll paused and looked over his shoulder at himself—at his pale blonde fur, at his wolfish tail that he could still curl over his back if he wanted. An idea struck him, and he began to roll around in the snow until he was coated with it, the tips of his fur white. The effect made him feel almost a light creamy color just like his daddy, and he could maybe pretend he was as big as his daddy, too—but that would require a little bit more than just imagination.

The Haskel boy turned in a circle then wagged his tail excitedly when he spied a big flat stone. Galloping toward it, he leaped then scrabbled against the slick cold surface, falling on his butt in the snow before trying again and again. When he finally got it, he puffed his chest out and splayed his paws in a powerful wide stance.

Then Skoll tilted his head back and let out a powerful kingly howl.

Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#2
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I'm listening to the Lion King songs and I've had this table forever. Win. <3


The dog King had only been back in his kingdom for a short while after Maska, Dawali, and the other supporters had left the tribe. He had desperately missed his family, but he had not felt safe returning to the kingdom until he knew that the area was safe again. Vigilante had not seen his young children in weeks and had almost feared returning, for he did not wish to find out that they hated him for being gone so long. More than the young Skoll, Hati, and Lottie, he had missed Ayita and the company she provided him with.

His worries about being loathed by his children had been eased upon his arrival and he had been home for roughly a week now. Though he spent much of the time at home with his family, the King did not neglect his duties and made daily patrols around the borders. Now that Niro and Amaranth were gone, and something was going on with Haven that the King knew little of, there were less wolves to do the patrols and they fell primarily on his shoulders, and Strelein's, as well. The caramel-colored dog was returning from one of these patrols when he heard a puppy howl that was comically-dominant. He smiled, moving more quickly.

Jade eyes fell on his golden son and his rock throne and the King chuckled, nearly laughed, even. He was so grateful that his youngest children had been spared much to do with the felonious Maska. "Impressive, son," the deep voice praised.

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#3
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Word Count :: 330

haha awesome! Big Grin and I think Skoll is gonna explode...

A laugh and a comfortingly strong voice cut off the boy’s howl. Green eyes barely a shade off the creamy dog’s widened to the size of moons, and Skoll let out a euphoric squeal of, “Daddy!” before leaping mightily from the rock.

Or, at least leaping mightily had been the idea. He misjudged and fell against his father’s leg, quickly rolling over onto his back with paws tucked against his snowy-colored chest. Big eyes continued to gaze adoringly up at the King as his tail wagged against the grass.

“Did I do good?” the young Haskel burst out. “Really? I gunna be like you!” He continued to wriggle, as if he couldn’t decide whether to leap up onto all fours or keep lying puppishly at his father’s feet. There was a pause as Skoll wondered what to say before the might of Vigilante; while it had been a while since he had returned, the boy still found himself thinking of his father as someone to worship, someone who went away and did really important things. Definitely, his absence had shaped the boy’s image of him, but whether or not that was good had yet to be seen. Right now, he smiled and flipped over onto his tummy, giggling and inhaling for a huge childish ramble.

“Guess what! Guess what! Terra an’ I finded”—he paused, tried to correct himself—“founded bones in the temple-place! An’ I look fer fairies in the fields, an’ Caspa says there not any fairies, an’ there were no fairies ’cause the flowers dead, I think. She pushed me onna swing! Daddy, is Caspa part ghost?” His tale ended with an abrupt question and a tilt of his head. The young woman had insisted she was a wolfdog like he was, but he still thought her fur was a little too wispy and pretty and her features a little too long to be a normal wolfdog. But his daddy knew everything; surely he could tell him.

Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#4
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xD No exploding puppies! That'd be so messy!


The excitement in the air was tangible, thick with the squeaks of the sun pup. Vigilante laughed, a hearty sound, as he leaned down to affectionately nudge his son's cheek. It was so relieving to know that his children did not hate him for being gone for so long. If he could have avoided that completely, he would have, but it was done now and he did not have to worry about being absent in their lives for long periods of time.

"Someday, my son," he said with a smile. The King was not in any rush for his children to grow up, however much Skoll might want to be just like him. Noah and Liam had grown far too quickly (and it still pained him to think of the darker boy, whose whereabouts he did not know) and he hoped it would not be the case with these three little bundles. He wanted to be able to enjoy their childhood and watching them grow into the fine adults that he knew they would be.

Dark ears flicked as he listened to the excited ramble, his thoughts quickly searching for the face of Caspa. He recognized Terra's name immediately, having seen her only a short while prior when the trespasser had come, but Caspa's took a moment for him to place. Once he did have a mental image of her, he chuckled. "I don't think she is a ghost," he said. "But maybe there are some in the temple where you found the bones. What sort of bones were they?" he asked. Vigilante had not explored the temple within their territory much at all, but he hoped they were not canine bones. That could be difficult to explain.

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#5
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Word Count :: 219

Skoll thrashed his tail exuberantly as his father came down to nudge him, his deep voice and smile soothing as always. When Vigilante was around, the puppy felt like he didn’t have to be big so fast. His father was here and would protect the family and be leader and everything would be okay. Sometimes the boy had felt like he’d needed to fill in when the dog King was gone, although he didn’t quite think of it that way. There was no need now, though, and he could relax and enjoy all the time he could spend with his sometimes busy father.

Vigilante chuckled and said that he didn’t think Caspa was a ghost, which gave the boy pause. He frowned and was about to ask if she was maybe a little tiny bit part ghost when he went on, and Skoll was all too happy to describe the temple. “I not see any ghosts, but maybe.” He shuddered lightly as he remembered the funny-looking skeleton that Terra had proceeded to wreck.

“Funny old bones!” the prince said passionately, rolling onto all fours and staring solemnly up at his father. “With a funny-lookin’ short face!” Other than that, the bones had looked almost luperci, though the boy luckily didn’t have experience with the remains of his own kind.


Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#6
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300+


The King lowered his chest to the ground, using one paw to swipe affectionately at his son. "You're very brave for going in there," Vigilante praised, his voice deep, a Kingly smile adorning his muzzle. He made a mental note to explore the temple himself sooner, rather than later. Though it was clearly too late to stop his children from going there, he certainly wanted to ensure that it was safe for puppies and adults alike; he should have done so when it was first discovered, but the King was a busy dog.

His children had all begun exploring the pack lands without their parents, though they were not permitted to be far without a guardian. Though the father worried for their safety when they were not within his sight, Vigilante knew that no one in his pack would allow harm to come to the princess and princes of the pack. It would be the same with any litter; it just so happened that there was only one other puppy in the pack and he was very rarely found without his father now that his mother was gone. Elias was older than the King's three children, though not by much, and still they did not get together often. Ezra was hurt by the loss of Ever and it carried into his parenting, a completely understandable fact of life.

Still, even if Skoll had already had free run of the pack lands for quite some time, there had to be something he hadn't seen yet, or something he wanted to explore further. Maybe they could make a day of it together, spend the day doing things as father and son. Wagging his tail above his back, the King nudged his son with his muzzle. "So, son, what should be we do today?" The choice was entirely that of the sun pup.

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#7
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SSWM Word Count :: 388

A large paw reached out to swat at the blonde child, who growled ferociously and, even as he was rolled over by the gentle blow, flailed his own pale paws in retaliation. He wriggled on his back in the snowy grass, tail thumping on the ground; the wagging only increased in intensity and tempo when the King commended him for his bravery, spraying snow everywhere. It meant a ton to the small child; he could have burst with delight.

“I try be like you,” Skoll explained, grinning from ear to ear. He would be boasting to anyone else to his father, of course, but Vigilante had a lot of influence on the boy despite not constantly being around. “But not that scary,” the boy went on, tipping his chin down in a parody of modesty. “No monsters or ghosts or…nothin’.” He almost extended the list, adding pirates and dragons and AniWayans to boot, but he didn’t think that it would be smart to bring in that last one. Not after “Lady Lohi” visited seeking friendship and Ayita had stressed that the princes had to treat her like an honored guest.

The King waved his royal tail, and Skoll was nudged up onto his paws. His green eyes widened at the question, and his paws began to knead against the ground as he contemplated what to do. There was so much! He was a little nervous about suggesting something that would be boring or would waste his father’s time, though Vigilante had never given him reason to be worried about something like that. He tried to think of all he’d explored, both under adult supervision and without, though those times would be kept secret. Most of the time a pack member found him before he got in trouble, at least.

“Go see horses?” Skoll Haskel blurted suddenly. He hadn’t been able to investigate the stables as thoroughly as he would’ve liked; most of his guardians were worried about the rambunctious pup getting trampled to death. But he’d seen the horses going with their riders around the territory, and the boy was extremely curious about them. They always looked strong and fast, and he liked to pretend he was a horse sometimes so he could gallop tirelessly across the land. Unfortunately, he was a little too small for that yet.

Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#8
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192.


Vigilante chuckled at the golden boy's admission and the modest adjustment to the words that he spoke about the temple. Though he hated having been away for so long, his son clearly did not hold it against him and it appeared that neither Hati nor Lottie did, either. "Someday when you're big, you can be just like me," the dog King advised, and then his momentarily solemn face turned playful again, "but for now, you should enjoy being a pup." He barked happily, watching Skoll do a small, excited dance in place.

Going to see the horses and the stables sounded like a fine idea, and he rose to stand tall, jade eyes watching his son to make sure he did not run off too far once they started moving. "Let's go see them, then," the proud father encouraged, loping at a gentle pace in the direction of the large building where they kept the livestock. He would much rather his children explore more risky places when he was with them rather than when they were alone, and so he was very willing to go with Skoll to show him the horses.

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#9
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SSWM Word Count :: 388

His father's advice was heeded with erect ears and an expression of concentration, though the real value in his words went over the boy's blonde head. The brief solemnity in the King's face as well as the sheer fact that the King was speaking at all made the pup realize that this was important, however, and he nodded lightly. He saw no reason not to enjoy being young, though soon he would be all too ready to grow up and become his own person as was the way of adolescents. Right now, there was nothing in the world forcing him to mature before his time, other than a parent that he adored and dreams of ruling the Kingdom just like his daddy.

Yipping, Skoll ran around the creamy, dark-masked dog once more before Vigilante loped toward the stables. His paws were still too big for the rest of him, and he stumbled over himself when he went too fast, but where the boy lacked in grace and speed he made up for in endurance. He trotted with the ease of wolf ancestors tailing sick prey, his developing muscles already evident though they were shielded with baby fat and puppy fluff.

Soon, the racetrack and stables came into view. With a burst of energy the boy scrambled ahead of his father, only to stop short when he saw the first of the majestic creatures behind a stall door. The equine turned its ears toward him curiously, and Skoll found himself at a sudden loss for what to do. He was certainly small enough to sneak under one of the stalls, but after many lectures on the trampling effect of hooves, he knew that wasn't a good idea. But there wasn't really any way for him to get a better look at the horses from this height, unless his father picked him up or they found one of the beasts out being exercised or grazing.

"Can you ride a horse, Daddy?" Skoll questioned suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. He knew that he saw Alder, the masked Marshall all the time with the horses, but not his father. That gave him brief pause before he asked the next question more quietly; surely the fact that Vigilante knew everything might make up for his lack of familiarity with the mounts. "Do you know their names?"

Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#10
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620.


His son did not argue against the King’s words to stay young while he could, and for that the dog mutt was thankful. The sun-furred boy looked at him with an expression of absolute seriousness at this instruction, and through his serious, sage-like expression, Vigilante wanted to laugh at the expression for the sheer intensity of it. Instead, he did not continue that bit of conversation; Skoll seemed to understand it. He wanted only for his children to be allowed to grow up with the childhood they deserved, the one he had never been given. Liam and Noah had not been given that opportunity and he did not want the same to fall on Skoll, Hati, and Lottie. It was bad enough that they had already witnessed war at such a young age, even if they seemed to be fine in the aftermath. Ayita had apparently done enough to keep them out of the heart of it, out of the direct path of harm and fighting.

Vigilante laughed openly at the excited way his son danced around him and then ran ahead of him, racing to the stables in the excited way that only puppies could. The King followed quickly, shifting his body to his infrequently-used two-legged form. The horses seemed more comfortable around the canines that stood on two legs like the humans once did, and perhaps this was because both Heath and Alder, the only two Marshalls that had ever been in the kingdom, had used this form to care for the horses. Along with the easiness of the horses, the dog King felt that it would be safer for Skoll if he could easily pick him up. The horses, though owned by the members of the kingdom and mostly tamed, still posed a danger to the young ones of the pack. Their hooves could always cause devastation if children were not careful, no matter how safe the horse.

Entering the stables on two legs instead of the four he preferred, Vigilante spotted Skoll standing in front of one of the stalls. His son looked at him, and the question was met with a shake of his head. Though he had a horse companion, he had never learned to ride, and in fact, he found the practice very strange indeed. “No, I cannot,” he admitted to his son. While he was a proud man, he did not have a problem with admitting to his son that he could not do something that other members of the kingdom could do. It was simply something he had never learned to do, and if he had, he was a bit concerned about his size. He was not a small canine, and while his stallion was large as well, he did not want to injure the equine.

Leaning down, he picked up the boy and lifted him higher so that he could look at the horse’s face instead of at its hooves. Certainly that was a better view than four hooves on some hay that was probably a bit dirty. “Some of them have names because they’re owned by different members of the kingdom, like I have Nádherné, and like Alder has Hawthorne. Some of them, though, belong to the whole pack and they don’t have names.” He looked at the cream and white mare inside the stall that Skoll had stopped in front of. “Maybe you can think of a good name for this one,” he suggested. It would do no harm to give them names, and he could call for Ayita or Liam at some point to paint the names on the doors of the stalls. It would give the pack’s communal horses more identity if they had individual names.


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#11
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SSWM Word Count :: 373 Blurr crud post.

When Skoll finally looked around to see his father, Vigilante had shifted shape into his optime form, something that was uncommon for the King. He looked no less powerful and majestic, however, and the boy found his tail wagging quickly at the sight of the strong man. He had no doubt that his father could stand up to anyone and anything, that nothing at all could take him down. He was a King and looked the part, as far as the boy was concerned. All of his idolatry toward the creamy-furred dog seemed well deserved.

The fact that his daddy couldn’t ride horses didn’t detract from his heroic image, and the boy only bobbed his head in acknowledgment. Not everyone could do everything; his caretakers had instilled this in him a few times whenever he grew frustrated at one of his failed actions, whether that was trying to do something before his time or soar like one of the seabirds he saw drifting over the coastline.

“I wanna ride,” Skoll informed Vigilante with a shrug of his shoulders and a little grin. Or even if he couldn’t ride for some reason, he wanted to do something around the horses. Even running alongside them in a fully-grown lupus form would be fun, though he had slightly higher aspirations than what his father had accomplished.

Strong hands grabbed the child, who held still to make the job easier—at least until he saw the creamy horsey face, at which point he wiggled and yipped with excitement. The mare’s ears turned toward the boy curiously then flicked back again. At his father’s words, however, he calmed down once more and memorized the pair of names offered to him. He knew of Hawthorne, being the Marshall’s horse friend, but he hadn’t known that his father had an equine companion too. Or maybe he had and had forgotten, back when he was silly and young and didn’t care about the really really important things.

A loud gasp was his reply to his father’s suggestion before he peered with intense concentration at the mare, green eyes narrowed. It was an amazing responsibility to bestow a title upon a noble steed.

“Call 'er Jolie!” Skoll said, beaming. “Prettyface for short!”

Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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#12
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I'm sorry for the wait. :c


"I'm sure you will be able to learn when you are old enough to shift," the King supplied, thinking of the various members of the Court who could teach the sunshine boy to ride. Ayita knew the basics, so if Alder or Haven happened to be unable to teach Skoll, then at least his mother could show him how to. It did not bother him that he would not be able to teach his son this skill. He had enough humility to know what was within his limits and it did not hinder his ability as the King to not know how to ride, or teach someone else.

For a brief moment, he worried that his son's excited noises would startle the mare, but she was a docile creature and this did not seem to be a problem. An amused grin spread over the dog mutt's dark face at the way Skoll took the suggestion very seriously, staring intently at the equine. A deep laugh was his initial response to the suggestion, a warm sound that he did not make nearly enough. "Prettyface it is," he agreed. "We'll have to go tell your mother so she can write out Jolie's name on her door, and you can tell her all about how you got to name her. Would you like to name any of the others?" From what he knew, there were four communal horses and none had names, except, of course, Prettyface.

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#13
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Word Count :: 214 Wanna wrap up soon? :3

Shifting. Skoll could not wait to shift. He was fine with his father’s admonishment about enjoying his youth while he could, and he was okay with being a kid, but he really did want to learn how to transform into a luperci shape. He wanted to unlock his potential, use his hands, learn to ride; in this sense, he was impatient to grow already. In the end, he might be like his father and still prefer a four-legged shape, but it was hard not to want something he couldn’t yet have.

Laughter thundered from his father’s dark jaws, and the young hybrid grinned at the big dog. “Yes, gotta tell Mom. ’s a French name!” he confided, believing that this would please his mother. His green eyes widened at the question, though, and he found himself turning to look for the other nameless horses. After a moment, though, he frowned and shook his head.

“Let Hati’n’Lottie name ’em,” the young Haskel said graciously, speaking in his kindest prince’s voice. Naming was hard work, but he wanted his siblings to at least have a go at it. If they picked stupid names or were too slow at naming, he’d of course snatch his privilege right back up, but he couldn’t think of any right now.


Image courtesy of Frank Wuestefeld @ flickr; Table by the Mentors!

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