Exit thread.. set Jan 21st.[html]
Everything had been taken away from him. Once a young, naïve boy full of life, Pilot had been broken in so many ways. His heart, his body, his spirit… all in pieces in his hands. Even his own sons had left him. He had nothing now. He remained in AniWaya solely so he could have a place to live. Nothing compelled him anymore. He was broken.
But then, by a chance meeting, Pilot had a family again. He had a life, a purpose. A fellow member of AniWaya revealed to him about his true family... About the parents that had lost him and assumed him dead so many years ago now; but they were still alive and well. The whole pack was still situated around Long Lake off in the state of Maine. Just 400 hundred miles away. It would take him possibly a week or even two, but he was determined now to find his family. There were relatives there who assumed he was dead. How wonderful it would be to have something to hold onto again.
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we prey as wolves among the sheep
and slit the necks of soldiers while they sleep
It was the next day, but Apollo had made it to AniWaya. After what Savina had told him, he knew that he had to go and visit Pilot. Surely the old man wasn’t alright. He couldn’t believe that Pilot had spent months among those dirty coyotes of Inferni. And what Hybrid did... it was unspeakable. Even though he and his father didn’t have the best relationship, of course he felt pained for Pilot. No one should have to suffer what he must have.
He had never been to AniWaya, but he found the borders rather easily. He didn’t bother to stay at the borders and call for Pilot, and instead pushed through and searched for the scent. It was faint, but when he finally found it, Apollo trailed his lead towards his father.
"Pilot," he breathed, spotting his father outside of a den with furs in his arms. "Dad," he said instead, taking steps further towards him. He didn’t care that Pilot’s arms were full, but wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into an embrace.
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He began taking everything outside of his den. The few belongings he had, that was. He would bring a fur or two so that he would have something to sleep with during his travels and then again when he finally made it to Maine. He would bring some of his medicines perhaps, and whatever else he felt would fit into his small bag.
The voice that permeated the air surprised the silver male. When he looked up, he couldn’t believe who he saw. It had been a long time since he had last seen his son. Apollo had done a lot of growing up since then. He actually looked like a young man now. When he was caught in the bind of his son’s arms, he could feel the warm tears fill his eyes. Somehow that embrace was so reassuring for him.
"Apollo," he started, pulling his son away so that he could get a better look at him. "You’ve done some growing up," he commented through the tears with a smile. He looked a lot like Dierdre, and that thought broke his heart.
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we prey as wolves among the sheep
and slit the necks of soldiers while they sleep
It was good to see his father smile, even if it was accompanied by some tears. He couldn’t possibly imagine how his father felt, and Apollo didn’t think he ever would want to know. He smiled back at Pilot, nodding his head. "Sure have," he replied, though that wasn’t what he had come here to talk to Pilot about. The subject of Inferni and Hybrid was a scalding one, and Apollo wasn’t fond of the idea of picking it up. Yet, he knew that he would have to in order to conclude whether or not his father would be alright.
"Dad," he started, wondering how he should put things. He didn’t know details, and he didn’t want to. All he knew was that Hybrid had put his hands on Pilot, and that was enough to get the boy’s blood boiling. "I heard," he choked out, "about Inferni." He dropped his eyes, afraid to see what emotion would mirror in Pilot’s silver gaze.
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Pilot frowned at his son’s words, not wanting to think now about the time he had spent in the Waste. He had been naïve enough to believe that Hybrid had felt some sort of love towards him, but that was a lie. Hybrid didn’t love. In fact, Pilot wandered if he was even capable of it. What had taken place beyond Inferni’s borders was just a game to the coyote. And for Pilot, it was his own personal hell.
"I’m leaving," he responded, overshadowing the topic his son wanted really to hear about. "I found out that my family is still alive. Our family." He moved then, over to his bag where all of his items were stacked on the ground. He dropped the skins next to it, before turning back to look at Apollo. "My brother is here. In AniWaya. He came all the way from where my birth pack lives. They thought I was dead…" He shook his own head in disbelief, but finding a smile cross his features as he stared towards the ground. Looking towards Apollo again, he added, "I’m going to go meet them."
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we prey as wolves among the sheep
and slit the necks of soldiers while they sleep
"What?" Apollo started, before listening to his father elaborate. He had never known that Pilot had a brother, and any siblings for that matter. In fact, he didn’t really know much about his father. He was aware that Pilot had grown up in a pack called Storm, and that Storm had been around up until the day that Apollo was born. But other than that, everything else was a mystery. And thinking about it now, Apollo had never wondered why he didn’t have any aunts and uncles on Pilot’s side. He had just grown up knowing what he had, and never wondering.
"So... your family lives away from here? I thought you said you grew up in Storm, and that Storm was right over the mountain." He was confused. No one had ever explained to him about Pilot’s abandonment, his surrogate parents, or his discovery of ‘Souls. There was so much the young boy had yet to learn about his father.
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Pilot offered a slight smile, placing one hand on his son’s shoulder. "You’re right," he affirmed, nodding, "but there’s more to my past than just Storm." He let his hand fall away from Apollo’s shoulder and knelt beside his belongings. He began packing his things away while he divulged the most important details of his youth.
"I was born by a lake into a pack different than Storm. Apparently, I even had siblings. Yet, when I was really young, somehow I managed to wander away. They couldn’t find me. The whole pack searched, but somehow I was no where to be found. They assumed I must have died, as I was still really young. But the truth was, I had found a new family to take care of me. My mother, Leah, and my new brother, Aiden, were squirrels. They raised me like one of their own. And so I grew up with them. And it wasn’t 'til I was older that I joined Storm. So yes, that’s what I meant when I said Storm was my first pack. I have no memory of my birth family." He tightened the straps on his bag, and rose to his full height. "There’s not much here for me now, Apollo. And now that I know I have a real family, I need to go find them. It’s something in my life I can hold onto. We can have a family." That was all Pilot had ever wanted.
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we prey as wolves among the sheep
and slit the necks of soldiers while they sleep
Apollo listened closely as his father spoke, twisting his brows in interest and slight confusion. He had never known about these parts of Pilot’s past. It interested him to know that his father had somehow managed to survive without his mother at such a young age. He felt connected to Pilot for that – they both had had to grow up without their mothers.
"So you’re going to go back to that lake?" Apollo asked, ideas sparking in his head. "Do you know if your family is still there?" He moved closer towards Pilot and picked up his bag. It seemed rather heavy to him. "I could come – help carry your things." But that wasn’t his real motive. "There’s not much here for me either," he admitted.
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Pilot smiled at his son, nodding, "Yes, I’m going back to that lake. It’s about a week or so trek from here, but it all depends on how fast I travel. But I’m in no hurry. Lannen, my brother, said that they still lived there as far as he knew." A bigger smile broke on his lips. "I can finally meet my parents," he said mostly to himself.
He watched as Apollo came over to him, and the proposition warmed his heart. "Son, if you wanted to come, I’d be more than happy to have you." This would be one of the first times he had ever really done anything with his kin. He felt a great sense of pride in knowing the two would be traveling together – father and son, at last.
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