[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;">
The rain had been coming steadily for the past two days, turning the Waste into a swampy, soggy mess of a territory. Gabriel never regretted settling his clan there, and indeed that had proven a wise choice. When Haku had brought his pack after the coyotes, they had been fighting uphill. They had driven Dahlia from their land with minimal losses. No doubt, should such an event occur again, they would be well prepared. Their numbers were not what Gabriel wished to see, but there was nothing that he could do about that.
When there finally was a break in the weather, Inferni had been too muddy to do much hunting. Gabriel had traveled southwest, and spent several hours looking for suitable hunting grounds. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to be found. By chance, he managed to scare up a large hare, one which was quickly consumed. The Aquila was currently cleaning his face off in one of the too-blue lakes, and when finished lifted his head, shook out his fur, and continued on his way. He would only need an hour or two to get back to Inferni, if that.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237"> ┤I dug up the ratio XD It doesn't change anything, but Trigger's 60% wolf and 40% coyote. The way I heard it, Asphyxia's heritage had to be changed after her conception in order to make the wolf/coyote ratios in some of her offspring add-up. In terms of appearance, Trigger's frame gives him away as a coyote, though his size would clearly distinguish him as largely wolf. I apologize for the length, I guess I was just getting the feel for him. I'll certainly try to make them shorter from here on, especially once the fighting starts.├
The curious yearling sniffed through a territory with no name. Jantus--the spokesperson for their group--either hadn't learned the specific name of this territory, or he hadn't remembered to share it with the rest of them. It shouldn't have mattered overmuch: they weren't supposed to venture out from the group's impromptu living area outside of Phoenix Valley. Nonetheless, what he was supposed to do and what he did were frequently opposed, and his adventurous nature would not permit him to stay cooped up for long. The young hybrid's name was Trigger, the son of two canines who had cared about one another greatly, despite their short time together. He had a blond quality about his fur, except on his dorsal side, which was dominated by the black of his mother's coat. He loved her more than anyone, and so he preferred his dorsal color to his ventral one. She'd told him his bottom side he'd gotten from his father. He supposed that's who he was supposed to be similar to, but he also thought that black was a tougher color than the array of yellow hues--from beige to a pale gold--he sported beneath.
He'd spent a little too much time around Jantus and the other wolves of Snow-capped Pine, it was true, and fighting had become a certain love of his, perhaps more due to his competitive nature and a love of winning than an actual appreciation of skill or defending the weak. He was a little young to contemplate the impact of combat on canine relations. All he knew was that he liked watching the 'Pine wolves spar, and he joined them as often as he could get away with it. Some people said that his sister, Culexa, was a better student than he was. She couldn't beat him in a fight, though, so it showed what they knew.
It was just as he was beginning to become bored and head back that he noticed a dog in the distance. He guessed it was a dog...he couldn't smell much being upwind of the stranger, but it didn't look like a wolf or a coyote. Trigger was tall at the shoulder, and he'd soon be taller than the average wolf, though he'd never be built like one. It was perhaps due to this early height in conjunction with his sparring experience with the Pine wolves that the sight of the dog's scars excited him, rather than put him on his guard.
"Hey!" he called out, trotting within a dozen feet of the stranger. "You a warrior or something? You look like you've been in lots of fights." The question was awkward and blunt; he was holding back his real curiosity: Are you from Inferni? The clan founded by coyotes held a peculiar interest for him. Anyone who could demand fear and acceptance from bigger people around them must be plenty tough. On the other hand, he knew that his father had not liked them. He wasn't sure yet how he felt about his mother's old clan mates...at worst, they'd make good fodder for the fights he sometimes had in his day-dreams.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> No worry about length! :]
Suddenly, the wind brought a new and unfamiliar scent. Gabriel stopped moving only seconds before a voice came from behind him. Soon enough, a boy was approaching. Something about his scent was very familiar, but he was not. The fact that the stranger was mostly wolf (even though he was still thin, and bore tell-tale signs of his heritage) and asking him about fights made the four year old tense slightly. After the encounter with Princess, he severely hoped this wasn’t another kid looking to prove themselves.
There was nothing aggressive in the other male, however, so Gabriel’s posture did not change. He was alert, as was very present in his hawk-like eyes. “You could say that,” he said, flicking one ear dismissively. No part of his upbringing had found that word settling in his lexicon. “I take it you aren’t from around here,” Gabriel added. A pack wolf would recognize Inferni’s scent—a salty, dry-grass mixture that had the slightest hint of smoke and ash in it.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤├
The dog--Trigger's eye wasn't experienced enough to categorize him any further than that--answered in smooth fashion. As with most adolescents, the coy-wolf was impressed by confidence, and the comfort with which this new person addressed strangers rang like confidence. Confident people were naturally more interesting, and generally speaking, more dominant. His ears perked up at the reply: it wasn't as clear cut as he'd have liked, but it wasn't a denial. So, he was a warrior or guardian of some sort. Maybe a soldier? It was hard to say. He'd asked some older wolves the difference behind some of the terms, and the answers he'd received were varied. Most wolves didn't fit perfectly into any one category, but most Pine wolves deemed themselves 'protectors of the packland'; the best ones were sometimes called 'warriors.' If he was happy to have his guess affirmed, he was more interested still to actually talk to someone like this.
"Not me." He paused short of mentioning his business. He knew that his father was a controversial figure in the territory. Advertising the funeral was probably a bad idea: he at least had enough sense to reason that far. "But my parents both were. I might even have some family around here, I guess." He was inching closer to it. A bit hastily, he decided to mention the name he was curious about. If he brought it up first, he might get his answer without asking directly. "Maybe some around Inferni, but I'm not sure."
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;">
Gabriel didn’t look much like anything but a dog—dogs themselves had thought he was one. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. There was no stigma attached to him about dogs, knowing only that they had once been wild, and were likely returning to that state now. What he knew about evolution and adaptation taught him this; but he had seen the proof in Utah, and known the feral animals to be just as vicious (and as violent) as their cousins.
The boy had family from the area. Gabriel’s eyes narrowed slightly. Was that why he was familiar? He didn’t look much like anyone he had ever seen before. Then again, Gabriel hadn’t met very many wolves. This idea was shattered at the mention of Inferni. There was a distinct change in the Aquila’s face, but it was more surprised then anything else. “Inferni? Who do you know from Inferni?” Obviously, one of his parents, but in the past year enough faces had come and gone that he no longer remembered them all.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤├
He wasn't being careful now. The surprise writ on Gabriel's face was enticing enough to drive the teen on further. After all, what was better than proving yourself in the eyes of someone who had something you wanted, or was something you wanted to be yourself? He didn't know about belonging to Inferni or not, but where Jantus and the others might have told him Inferni was no good, he saw a fighter here, and that was validation enough as far as he was concerned...so long as he was out here alone and not going to get in trouble for it. Eager to keep up the interest he'd incited, he continued without caution.
"My mom used to live there," he said, proud of the fact. "Her name's Asphyxia; she was a member of Inferni for a while. I'm not sure how long, but she was definitely there." He swelled up at that. His situation was complicated. He knew that Inferni had done many bad things, but for right now, having connections with them meant something in the eyes of this hardened warrior adult. The Pine wolves could provide this same sort of reinforcement with their years of fighting and war stories, but they rarely did for him. He wasn't old enough or big enough or disciplined enough to impress them. Around here, though, he might not be seen as just a kid if he played things right.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> Sorry this is so short.
He doubted, truly, that this boy knew he was a member of Inferni. That he was the leader of Inferni. It was not surprising, given that he resembled neither of his parents. Though, truly, even Kaena didn’t look much like a coyote. His family was made up of mixed blood, and this was what had enabled it to endure.
A second and more violent change overcame Gabriel. It twisted his face into a vicious snarl, turning it dark. The tension in his body rushed back in, tightening muscles that caused the fur along his spine to rise. Low and deep in his long chest a rumbling growl began to vibrate, rippling through his body. “That whore,” he spat. “I hope she’s fucking dead.” And he did. Gabriel hated her, and he hated her daughter. Hybrid alone was safe from this rage against the Massacre family. Hybrid was the only one loyal to Inferni; more importantly, loyal to Gabriel.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤No worries, the thread's pace compensates for our short posts =P├
"Huh?" Trigger was brought up completely short by this outburst, and his ears instinctively fell back. He didn't understand...the stranger had become belligerent immediately, just at the mention of his mother's name. That wasn't right, she had been a member of Inferni. Then again, being a member of Inferni could easily make you enemies, and if this person wasn't from there, he might have hated his mother for other...but no. That wasn't good enough. It was only a heartbeat before the yearling's comprehension caught up with his surprise and his own face turned into an indignant grimace.
"What did you say!?" he yelled, hackles rising all along his neck, fangs bared. He'd admired this dog just a few moments ago, and now this? It wasn't hard for the youth to turn on a dime where anger was involved...everything positive about Gabriel was washed away. Even the presence of his scars and fighting history was for the moment forgotten. If there was one thing his friends and family had him pegged for, it was hair-trigger anger. How dare this mutt speak about his mother that way?! She had been the best of Inferni, he had no doubt.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> Dude, that was a super fast reply. XD I'll try and keep up.
Even though the deep-buried anger was rising, Gabriel kept his head. He knew, almost instantly, that he had pushed the boy. There was such a hair-trigger response that it was clear. Who had she gone off and bore children with? Who had she really abandoned her clan for? After, of course, she had been the singular cause of a war that had cost them so many lives, cost his own daughter her innocence. And he hated her for that. He hated her for that he hated her daughter for abandoning their family when all he had ever wanted was stability. All he had sacrificed, all the people he had hurt and killed for her, that didn’t matter.
Someone else had to feel that. “I said she’s a fucking whore,” he barked, off-white teeth bared, electricity running through his bones. “The world’ll be better off when she’s dead.” Now, he wanted to push. That faint ringing was in his ears. He thought, vaguely, of the orange-white wolf with one arm. The way he had made that noise, that yelping sound. How it felt to break his ribs, how he had needed it. Suddenly, he understood—he needed blood, and he needed that hurt. Gabriel lowered his head, pinned his ears, and let out a singular, wordless challenge.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤I might get one more in after this if you've got the time, headed off to college at 11:30 =\├
Trigger didn't wait for long. He couldn't...it wasn't yet in his nature to put reason before feeling. He was alive with hormones and with burning hatred for this person who would think, would dare to insult his mother. She was the best person to come out of this damn place. Inferni had murdered children. Inferni had invaded peaceful packs. Inferni condoned the rape of other people. Inferni did all this, but not his mother. Whether he actually knew better than that was irrelevant: right now, she was perfect and anyone who would speak ill of her was lower than dirt, lower than spit, evil...deserving of whatever his anger could do to them.
"I'll KILL you!" he screamed just as Gabriel began to give his challenge, and in a flash, he launched himself at his enemy. If he had anything in his favor, it was the speed of his mounting aggression: he was impulsive, at times unpredictable. That wouldn't avail him against an already wary opponent, though, and much more problematic: he was too upset to employ what little technique he knew. His head was low--he remembered that much--but his parted jaws weren't aiming for a weakness, they were aiming for flesh only. Anything that could bleed would do so for his mother's insulted name.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> Sorry about the delay, I went for a walk with the boy and dog. :]
The boy let out a war-cry, but his words no longer mattered. Gabriel was ready and waiting. His tail had gone brush-bottle, and his legs were steel coiled-springs. All too quickly the golden-black wolf had charged, but it was a sloppy attack—there was no thought behind it except that fury. It was expected, in some small part, because Gabriel could see himself in the boy. As similar as he had once been, four years of training, experience, and the detached calculation of a killer had made him into a machine.
Gabriel moved his body forward, met the boy’s charge, but ran like liquid along his side. Then, slamming his feet into the ground, he pivoted and brought his teeth around, reaching for the unguarded flank. It was not his goal to kill the boy—not yet, at least. This was a game; he wanted blood, and he wanted to hear that noise that was so addictive, so delicious, so horrible that it filled his brain with screaming white space, filled it with that same sensation that came with the singular release of love.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Not a problem: we've already had three replies each just today, who can complain about that? As for powerplay, don't feel compelled to 'play along' if you don't like how something's written: if you private message me, I'll go back and edit the post.├
The stranger did not delay, and seemingly slid along his side as he charged. Both turned tightly into the body of the other, but Trigger's motions were less fluid, less practiced. A yelp erupted from him as jaws clamped down on his side, pain sapping his strength a split second before he answered with a sharp snap of his own into the side of his enemy. The tone of their flesh was different: his body was softer than the dog's, he was younger and weaker and it showed. Teeth were teeth, and he tasted blood--not altogether new, but unusual in that he hadn't drawn it accidentally as every time before when fighting. He'd given up more than he'd taken, though.
He had been hurt, but the passing revelation brought on by the blood on his tongue...the subtle dawning of the realism of the fight, spurred him on harder. As they parted slightly from their first contact, he dove forward, lunging with his fangs, his body stretching forward and seeking the neck of his enemy. That was introductory fighting, and he saw it now: the neck would stop his enemy from biting him effectively. It would drop him, too, if Trigger could find his throat or open an artery. All he had to do was think enough to direct his attacks, and his anger would give them the strength to win. No one insulted his mother. Not this dog, especially! No one who could hate his mother was worth a damn.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;">
There was the familiar taste of blood, and though he did not realize it, he had begun to salivate. Though the bear-trap reflexes in his jaw intended to sink and hold, Gabriel was not thinking like a wolf. Training over the years (less training early on, though) had shown him that fighting a wolf like a wolf often led to an unwelcomed outcome. He knew how to think the way that they did, but had rarely employed the same instincts. Against coyotes, he fought like a wolf, as he had done with Hybrid. Brute weight had served him well.
A snap against his side (one marked by scars of previous battles) drew blood, but not enough to concern him. As soon as the boy moved again—he could feel it through his teeth—Gabriel released his hold. He moved quickly, and avoided the oncoming blow. Without a sound, the hybrid pushed forward and followed Trigger’s movement, sinking his teeth into the boy’s left hindquarter. He was not latching on; he held just long enough to make his opponent move. Once he was bleeding, once he exposed himself, it would be over.
But not before he felt something.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Wouldn't have taken me so long, but I've had some pre-Thanksgiving chores.├
He wasn't fast enough. He'd wanted the neck, but the stranger kept pace with him like it was nothing. It was disparaging, it hurt his motivation, made him falter and fall a half-step behind. Trying was hard when you weren't sure you had a chance...performing in front of others was always a concern of adolescence. The pain of the next bite dragged him back into the fray, but he couldn't take the neck, and the dog wasn't standing still or presenting an easy target. Trigger swung his head and clapped his jaws tight on the flesh of his enemy's back, but again the bite was shallow and he'd gotten hurt worse than he'd hurt the bastard who'd insulted his mother. The enemy had not held on, but Trigger couldn't either...his hold wasn't strong enough, it wasn't in a place that mattered.
He heard screaming...but as it rang in his ears he felt like it had been echoing towards him since the fight began. It wasn't his voice, it was his sister's, from a long time ago when he'd gotten into a fight with someone else...someone who thought they'd call out the blustery pup. He remembered something very strange that had happened that day...and he remembered it now as he began reliving each detail. His vision flared red, and a guttural, bestial snarl was drawn out slowly from behind his curled lips. There was something unnatural about it, he didn't sound like he had before, in a world of intelligent and civilized wolves, he now sounded demented, or rabid. The amber eyes he got from his father flashed wildly from beneath his brow, not belligerent but open wide and bright with hungry, fevered insanity. He was slower than his enemy, his momentary shift in mentality had cost him a breath, enough to give his enemy clear access...but pain didn't matter now.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> I left this open so you can say if Trigger got any facial wounds or not (how deep Gabe struck and where is your call), and also so that Gabe's hindquarters are exposed to Trigger while he gets near the belly. Also, this is probably when Jantus should come in and scare the shit out of Gabe. :}
Gabriel felt teeth on the thick fur along his back, but the grip was weak and did not hold. Using this to pin-point his enemy, the Aquila spun. There was his opening. Without a noise; without the victory cry that so many had taken before him, Gabriel’s teeth sought the face. Only then, when he had gotten remarkably close, did he see that subtle change. Something deep in his psyche recognized it first; something that suddenly and powerfully demanded an end-game. The boy was no longer thinking rationally. The boy was no longer thinking.
Almost as soon as he connected with flesh, Gabriel’s feet were moving. He needed to push forward and end it. If this boy was given a chance, he would take it. Gabriel would not, and could not allow that to happen. Amber eyes narrowed, ears pinned low against his skull, the doggish mix-breed’s head struck out like a viper, going past the throat (even though this was the weak point, he could not risk having his own so exposed) and for the much less protected belly. He’d rip the boy apart long before that madness in him realized it was happening.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤If it's alright, I'm going to assume that Gabriel lets go the instant he realizes he hit something other than Trigger, rather than latching on? PS: Tried to make it scary XD├
A fang scraped along his skull, but the childish part of his mind that would have been alarmed and terrified of the sound was quiet now, muted beneath the roaring in his ears. White noise, empty ringing, the sound mattered less than the feeling. The sensation could be felt, but it was just an affirmation of the fight's purpose, and a queasy pleasure accompanied it. Surging forward, the connection was broken immediately, though there hadn't been much resistance, as it seemed to be the stranger's intention from the start. Trigger was no longer in a state of mind to anticipate his enemy's motives, only the promise of blood on his tongue, cloyingly sweet and pooled about his fangs.
He was fearless now, mindless. The dog could never inflict enough harm upon him to make him stop, could never submit him. In a world of social animals, where submission came before the kill, it was a dangerous mentality. Nevertheless, the body could be disabled even if the mind could not; the body could be destroyed to where the mind could drive it forward no more. The fangs seeking his gut would do exactly that, even as his own maw reached with vicious abandon toward the veteran's exposed thigh. It was only on account of the scuffle and snarling that neither of them heard the approach of a creature that outweighed them both combined.
Jantus had been searching for Trigger for three hours, and he hadn't been enjoying the chore. The boy was supposed to stay within sight of another group member at all times. Not only was he too young to be out alone (by the Pine's standards), he was known for being a little reckless and altogether too adventurous for his own good. This could be a dangerous place, and as far as he could tell, the place Skoll had warned them about--Inferni--was still somewhere up north, but how far he couldn't say. It was with great surprise that he found the boy already locked in combat with one of the locals. It was worse, however, that the person he was struggling with was beyond doubt a member of Inferni. Jantus was no expert, but the scars, mixed heritage, and the fact that the first encounter with this person had resulted in combat left the big alpha sure enough of Gabriel's affiliations to take action.
His shadow fell on them a moment before he waded in through their melee. He'd had to dive between them; Trigger was attacking an exposed leg which he supposed the bastard deserved, but the more experienced and much more dangerous adult was aiming to disembowel the boy. Trigger's jaws ineffectually grazed the alpha's flesh: they'd been preparing for a target that could fit between them, which his torso wasn't. The stranger's attack, the one Jantus had sped forward to stop, closed temporarily on his extended forearm. The bruising along his right side still made him sore, but with both knees still beneath him, he swung his massive arm at the Infernian, driving him back, while lifting the frothing Trigger up by the nape of his neck. He seemed crazy...this was serious: he'd only seen the kid in this state once before, and it had been murder trying to get him to snap out of it. He pushed his charge down into the dirt, the youth's fury stifled to frantic snarls and impotent growling as the leader of the Snow-capped Pine strong-armed him down onto his belly.
"Get AWAY." he bellowed, his own complexion twisting into a feral grimace. Pinning the teenager with a knee, he freed his other arm, both ape-like appendages bulging with muscle hidden beneath thick fur and the fat of a well-fed leader. His claws were extended on one hand, while the other clenched into a tight, meaty fist. No diplomacy, here. If the attacker made a go at him or the boy, he intended to kill him.
| [/html]
[html] http://sleepyglow.net/souls/gifts/gabrieltable.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> You can reply again if you want and I'll close this. :]
Gabriel’s teeth closed not around the target he had intended, but instead on something much thicker. The sinew he connected with turned those warning bells into a bellowing scream. Almost instantly he released his hold, barely taking time to see what he had caught on. Someone else (someone with an arm large enough to encompass his jaw) had joined the fray. By what he could tell, in those few seconds, it was no ally of his. Gabriel bolted a fair distance away before he turned, and what he saw shocked him.
A wolf, massive in both height and girth, had pinned the boy under his leg. There was only violence in his posture, indicating that he was protecting the frothing thing under him. Gabriel’s fur, still all on end, was not enough to change the fact he was dwarfed by the hulking beast. With one final growl, the Aquila turned tail and fled, darting off into the forest. He knew from the size of the giant that he would no doubt be able to outrun him, but he wasn’t taking any chances.
|
[/html]
[html] http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad34 ... bott0m.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-bottom:240px; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#252237">┤Alright. It was fun!├
Jantus's own growling petered off as the stranger from Inferni turned and fled. It was best, he supposed. No point in getting involved in the unusual status quo of the territory...as long as Trigger hadn't been seriously hurt, he didn't figure any harm had been done. Looking down, he noticed that the snarling animal beneath him was starting to lose some of its energy. After a few seconds, he realized that it was probably due to lack of air.
"Whoops!" he exclaimed, lifting his knee and lifting the youth back up by his nape. He'd been bloodied a bit on his sides, and there was a nasty gash on the top of his head, but he still had both ears...it seemed like he'd come in before the Infernian had decided he wanted things to get nasty. For the best, especially because he knew that he'd then not only be responsible (not something he wanted on his conscience), but also that he'd need to bring his Pine wolves up here to answer Inferni in kind, and somehow he doubted that Skoll would have wanted an army of fifty Pine wolves upsetting the fretful balance of Souls, disheartening as that balance sometimes was. "Sorry kiddo, didn't mean to crush you, but it looks like maybe that did the job." The black and yellow hybrid had come back to himself a little: it seemed that even someone in a berserk state of mind had to face their inability to act eventually...boundless fury meant very little when your body couldn't move.
He was sniffling now, taking great intakes of breath and was clearly shaken up by the whole affair. Like last time, it had scared him: Jantus had heard from Skoll about berserking, how it was in his blood. The gold warrior had learned to control when and if he entered it, but that control was hard to earn, and difficult to maintain. The alpha had no doubt that his son--who had been, arguably, unfortunate to inherit the trait--would continue to be frightened at the loss of self-control until he had entered it a few more times, and became comfortable with it as his father had. If Skoll and Asphyxia had their wish, however, he would never lead a life where that was necessary. Even if it meant occasional upset, he hoped their wish came true.
"I...I could have... Trigger tried to work some bluster into his situation, but Jantus would wait for it. He didn't want to be around if that lone belligerent decided to call up his friends. No doubt, if he did decide to return for a second round, he'd be bringing a lot of clan mates if he wanted to be sure of their deaths, and he didn't plan to receive a counter-attack like that without the rest of his people at his side, and hopefully the extended protection of Phoenix Valley, though he had no doubt that if they had to warn Inferni away from their borders, Skoll's funeral party would be ordered to leave the premises immediately.
"Save it," he said, cutting across Trigger's mumbled bluff. "We'll get Mala to fix you up when we get back, and then you can think about how to explain what you were doing so far out here by yourself, how the fight got started, and how you wouldn't have gotten yourself killed if I hadn't shown up." He wanted to comfort the boy, and to even congratulate him: this had been his first real fight, and that was a serious milestone for a youth in Snow-capped Pine. Nonetheless, he had almost gotten killed over what probably amounted to nothing, and Jantus wouldn't be over that soon. The others in the Pine would give him plenty of positive reinforcement anyway, so for now they could deal with the punitive side of the affair. He saw that the boy's flank had been hurt during the fight, and so he lifted him up and set him on his shoulders. Not a comfortable method of travel, but the weight was nothing to him, and they began heading back.
| [/html]
|
