Secret Woodlands hollow man

He was far beyond the length he had traveled his own in all the short time span of his life. It was not hard to get away from his mother, who would move from the birthing den out into the open world when the day was high and Bane rested (seeming to adapt to resting during the day more so then the night) and to come home at night when danger was about. His night time adaptation was likely due to no other sibling bothering him for attention and play, where he rested peacefully and kept to the lonely company of himself when his mother was not around.

This day, however, he changed. Near purposefully, he awaited his mother's leave from the den to stretch her bones before slipping off, minding to himself as came natural for the dark youth. He listens, he watches and does not encounter. In time he is left to wonder, to watch the other children with their mother and their father. Loosing interest, the pup ventures odd, stumbling on oddly long limbs and overly large footing until before him is the deep, deep tangled darkness of the forest beyond his pack's territory.

Though not yet past the borders and thus safe, still a feeling of eeriness prickles as his back side in a manner he had yet to feel before. Something made him near certain that he was being watched: the crunch of foot-steps, the hiss of breath. His puppy blue eyes searched the beyond, beyond the territory, beyond safety. "Dad?" Before he could register the question it was open to the air, the word the other children had used for their father being brought to his own lips for the very first time. A term in which he had never the need to use before. The shape, the shadow, perhaps all a figment of his imagination, moved and shifted within the deep of the thicket. "I knew yew'd come...." The words whispered from his lips, relieved and now fulfilled. He pushes forth with an obvious determination, following the shadow as it moved, lurking him further into the deep unknown.

There is the most perfect metaphor at the very end of this post. (didn't do it on purpose)

As of late the young male's thoughts had crept closer and closer to Azariah, Wishing to offer her his name, as a true mate. As terrifying and immense as it was, still he was very sure that was what he wanted. With his thoughts on the she wolf it took him a moment to realize where he was. Ashanti's den was nearby and he hadn't seen Bane a second time for it seemed Ashanti was always nowhere to be found. Hollow had kept away from her for fear of sending her into another spiral. Only the scent of Bane told him that she was performing her motherly duties as far as the pup's nourishment was concerned.

Turning on the trail, Hollow moved silent as a ghost towards Bane, not a sound escaped his jaws, and his paws trod more lightly than that of a mouse. His silence was held even at the moment he crossed the border. Not a moment later did his heart break in two for the pup, the sure voice speaking of a father that the dark male himself had seen die. [I[It is not the time nor place to tell him his father is dead, nor is it the time to tell him of the terrors he caused.[/I] The thought in his mind shot another pain into Hollow's chest. The poor little guy would never know just how terrible his father had been.

"Bane? Bane! Where are you?" Hollow called to the pup in a whimsical tone wishing to capture his a attention. "You should not be so far from home without protection." His tone remained light, fearing that he may catch the pup off guard and frighten him. With that thought in mind Hollow brought his stalking to a halt, and waited for the pup for a few moments. Hopefully he could find his way.

You mean the 'Hopefully he would find his way"? :D I got a double meaning out of that.

A sound called out to him, a voice. It sounded young, something he had not expected but did not hold the mind span as of yet in his youth to think too clearly on it. Away from the den and having approached towards the boarders, he is caught and turns around, trying to seek out the call of the wolf with those fogged, bright puppy blue eyes. Finally, he saw that shadow he had been seeking for, or what he assumed to have been this. He pads awkwardly into his direction, his body structure a sure sign of his long and powerful limbs to come.

"Dad?" Though Hollow had met him before, Bane's memory of the first few moments of his life were quickly fading away with the new information of the world out before him. There would be no realization at the youth of Hollow, that he was less likely to be his father due to this, but his senses had not yet developed fully enough to tell, anyhow. Not to mention, the blue of his eyes that matched not with his own, at some point to turn a bright orange hue as his true father, dead to the world, had held. All Bane could tell was that he was dark, big, and the first male he had face-to-face met in all his life. It had to be his daddy. "War have yew been?" He speaks as he continues to push closer, stumbling over himself as he tries to quickly make way to his 'father'. However, as he comes close he is uncertain how to act. Should he jump up and down and lick at him? Lean into him in affection? He could only stare, dumbfounded.

Awesome double meaning is awesome. Now *sets up plot line*

Hollow could have cried out for the pup, the one that did not know of his terrible origin. However it was not Hollow's place to tell, unless Ashanti wished it. He could not take away what had been done, but he could try to soften the blow when it came. He racked his brain, trying to find some way to place his words so that it wouldn't hurt the little Aranna's heart. He could not just tell him that his father would never come, and Ashanti wouldn't do it so it was up to Hollow, and as much as he did not want to, he knew he had to. Bane could not believe Hollow was his father, although Hollow began to feel a strange sensation soften his heart. The little helpless pup that at the moment looked so much like him, Hollow felt for a moment that Bane almost could be his son.

He wasn't. Bane was the fruit of an evil deed, and Hollow had to hide that from him now, the very best he could, and so at last he thought of a solution. "No Bane, I am not your father, but I can tell you a story about him.... I... knew him." Hollow's last two words were choked out, one day this may destroy the dark guardian. But he had to do something, so that Bane would remember his father as a good wolf, at least until the time came for him to reveal the secret of his origin. He lay down with his head raised towards the pup. "Come and sit with me, I shall tell you the story of how you came to be, and of your father, his name was Scar." The sadness and pain in Hollow's eyes was evident, though to the pup he would probably never see it, nor would his mind comprehend it, at least not for a few more months.

A questionable child, born from the loins of a dishearten and depressed mother with thought to kill it. Breed in an act of lust, power and hatred and spawned by a man of equally evil and sadistic humor. All of the wolves of the other side of the mountains had been wiped clean. Their murders, their disease, nearly gone from the lands with nothing to account for - savor him. He was the last known existence of what had happened in those lands and a direct bloodline to the Leader of such chaos. It was a wonder why they questioned him. It was a wonder why, for the time, he remained a secret to the world. What did the pack think? What did his mother think? What would all the packs of Relic Lore think when Bane's existence came to light?

A very sharp and obvious disappointment struck him once Hollow said that he was not his father, causing the child to back up and offer a narrowing of his eyes to a wolf that now to him was nothing more then a stranger. Hollow laid, his throat lifting to the child as he looked to view him, taking away the threat Bane might have felt before the man he know could say was nothing to him. Though Bane's curiosity pulled and his need to answers revealed and slowly did the child make his way to the wolf who mentioned his father, said that he knew him. Perhaps he was on a long hunt for food? Perhaps he was in another group? Maybe he was fighting the bad things away? the Aranna boy's knowledge of life was vague and little and so he struggled to think up anything he could as to why his father was absent his life as of yet. "Scar." The child's body wrinkled, settling in a sloppy sit before Hollow as he waited.

Sorry about thr lack of any fancieness my laptop decided to no longer charge



Silence followed the pup's word. As the young Aranna peered at himhe suddenly realized he had no idea what to tell the boy. Slyscar had been a terrible wolf, murderer, rapist, foul deamon from the very opposite side of good. It would be nearly impossible to turn that into something good. How could he possibly make the child feel better about his father that he must surely miss. He would clearly recognize the abscence of a father figure. As he gazed at the boy a thought occured to him, he would have to make up a whole lifea whole lie but what else could he do? Bane would not react well to know that he was a forced child, no one would. So with a sick heart, knowing what he was about to do was against his way, Hollow spoke. "Bane, your father was an interesting wolf."

He took a deep breath, there wasno turning back now for sure. "He was a dilligent worker, he always did his job, neverlet a soul down. But one day something happened, Scar took a border patrol and came back sick. At first he just could not keep his meals down but then it began to hurt his brain. He turned mean, so unlike he was. But in his true spirit he left us to avoid getting any of us sick, so that there would be a future for you." It was a believable story and a half truth. Slyscar had been sacrificed so that pups like Bane would have a future, his adventurous mind would have been lost had slyscar gotten to him and harmed him. But in Hollow's mind it was still a lie and still twisted his stomach. Hollow nodded his head at Bane as if his lie were certain fact.

tis okay. no need for fancy to rp!

He could not miss him, for Bane Aranna could not miss something that he did not have in the first place. For a long time, or what seemed like a long time in his brief life time, he had been blissfully unaware as this thing called 'father', content to live his life with mother and mother only for all the days of his life. It was not until he was able to venture, to view the other children from the safety in distance did he hear the words father, did he see the big, protective figure of a male wolf that he did not have. He wanted one. Desperately. Where was his? Why was he not hear for he and his mother?

The child waited and, surprisingly patiently. There was no jumping up and down with excitement for what he may hear. There was no pestering of 'common common!' from his lips. The child merely sat silently and content in this silence, waited for the stranger to speak. The word 'interesting' for foreign to him as the words slipped past the male's lips, but Bane was eager for the man to speak on and so did not interrupt despite the question of the word which lay on his tongue. Though the word was wondrous and beauty with different things he did not know, he had thus far learned to wait and learn though observation then to outright question. It was a way of independence for a will to learn on his own and, should then he still not understand, a question when then be in order.

What he knew of his father thus far was this: he was a hard worker, doing his job for the pack. Bane knew what 'work' and 'job' meant, having questioned where his mother was when she was not with him and these words came into play, along with 'herbs' and 'healing'. Then his father was sick, sick in a way that made his belly hurt as he had before and his head hurt in ways his mother knew to fix with her herbs. Bane had headache once, when he kept to the sun for far too long. He got mean because he was sick and left to keep everyone safe. But where was he now? "He left." Bane repeated these words that Hollow had said with his confirmed nod. Bane sighs, his puppy blue eyes direct upon the wolf before him, secretly a bold and challenging maneuver as he questioned. "Where now?" When he does bother to speak, his sentences are chopped and short. Bane does not like speaking before others with words unless he knows them correctly (or what he believes them to be correct), choosing time for practice before his mother and with himself.

(This post was last modified: Jul 06, 2013, 11:45 PM by Bane.)

Hollow's heart could have broken once again just for what Bane must feel. He did not know that the boy didn't think his father dead, but the feeling of knowing he was not there must have been tough to handle. As Koda was always busy with the Renier siblings, and Liam was no where to be found Hollow felt a strange sense creep up his spine. A duty to this little male, Hollow had lead Ashanti home from her ordeal, had been there when Bane was born, and was here now, hiding the boy from the pain and anger that would surely arise from the truth of his father someday.

At the boy's question Hollow could find but one answer, "We don't know." Of course Hollow was sure the body of Slyscar had long since been taken back by the land, and if there was an afterlife, his was not a good one. The thought shot another pain through his heart and in an effort to change the tone of the conversation Hollow instead offered up something he was sure Bane would enjoy. "I still have part of this border to check, how would you like to come and see it with me?." He felt awkward at first, this was not his child, but he deserved a father figure. Hollow was determined to be that for him.

They did not known where his father was, it was simple as that. His sickness could still be inside of him which kept him from returning home or he could have died from it, though death was a concept the child had yet to learn in order to thick upon. For all the boy knew, his father was out there somewhere, trying to keep better and in the mean time staying away from home so he didn't get anyone else sick or hurt anyone's feelings with his bad mood, likely stemmed up from feeling physically bad in the first place. Bane did not like the answer though he could not contest it and so, sat there silently, a frown touching his expression over black lips. Soon his dad would return and if not, when Bane was old enough he would go out there and visit him, this was certain.

Now, with the subject changed, came a different air to the mood, something Bane could sense but did not yet understand enough to question. Bane did not easily forget that they were talking about his father, but just believed there was nothing else that could be said about it - not until they found him, at least. Lifting up from the ground, Bane pulls up a small smile from his features and nods silently, eager to get to see the world beyond their home from the safety line of the borders. Surely, there was so much to explore and so much of the pack land he did not know and with an eagerness he hoped to gain such information from Hollow's knowledge.

Hollow set off at a very slow pace, intending on marking the small portion of border that he had yet to take care of due to Bane's exploration. So with the image of a wolf torn to shreds burned into his memory all over again Hollow crept slowly back towards the border. All the while his mouth half open partially to scent and partially trying to speak. At first the young male didn't know what to do or say, he was very sure that Bane would merely wonder at everything around them so that bought him time. Until at last Hollow came across the perfect thing to show Bane in his own way that he was a friend. An old antler, something he was very sure Bane had never seen, so Hollow blocked it from view for a moment and positioned it in his mouth so that he looked as though he were smiling with gigantic bottom teeth.

With a laugh he dropped it before Bane and stepped back, "Do you know what this is?." He sat on his haunches and awaited Bane's answer, all the while his tail remained still, ears pricked, leathery nose quivering and scenting. Constant alert for any danger at all, Hollow was determined to protect all the pups but right now his charge was Bane and that was one pup that would gain a little more attention than the rest whether or not he knew it. Hollow had already decided that it was not his fate to be a true father as Azariah was barren (or so he thought) so he settled for being a friend and trusted male figure if he could. Hollow hoped the pups of Secret Woodlands would see him as that, something like an uncle they could go to whenever their father wasn't around, or their mother especially in Bane's case.