Simply Sinful

@Silver and all welcome!

The night was his friend. In the darkness he moved like a shadow, though awkwardly and without the grace he had but a few months ago. In the distance, rising high above the tree line he saw the peaks of the mountain. His former kingdom. The place where his family lived out their lives without a second thought of him. From this far away he could almost swear he could hear them laughing at him. Perhaps he was paranoid, consumed with thoughts of slaughtering his former mate just to get him through the days, but that didn't make it any less satisfying picturing the light fading from her eyes over and over again. Maybe he was losing his marbles, but what more could be expected from having spent months in a hole in the ground, the bottom of which was filled with stale water and being beaten to a pulp most days. One needed something to think about to pass the time and he hadn't exactly been the most stable creature to begin with.

Though his stomach had shrunk, the effects of the meal he had taken from Sagacity was withering away and soon he would need to find another meal to sustain him. The downside to loner life was that food was harder to take down, made even harder by the onset of an early winter and the storms and flooding of late. He had never known such terrible weather in these parts. He would have to seek the shelter of a pack soon. Build up his strength before he would even attempt a trip up the mountain for his long awaited family reunion. He might be full of venom but he was not silly. He would not walk into his death without being prepared, though it pained him to wait.

Another icy gust collided into his back. Perched upon a mossy rock he stared emptily at the mountain peaks. His eyes steely not only in colour but in determination. His attention however was not as focused and subtle flicks of what remained of his eyes would tell any passer by that he was on the lookout. After being ambushed and taken prisioner, one tended to be a little overly cautious... not to mention paranoid to the point of insanity. Every rustle the wind made caused his hackles to bristle and fall, like the waves bashing upon the shore. Even the hoot of an owl in the distance caused his talons to tense and scrape the hardening moss clean off the rock where he sat.
He was a time bomb just waiting to explode, yet no one, not even himself knew just what might set him off. Tick tock. Tick tock.

(This post was last modified: Nov 11, 2013, 10:36 PM by Rhysis.)

• A wild datass appeared!

There was something not quite right about the boy of spun gold who walked through the shadows. It might have been the brilliance of his coat, which seemed strange in a wolf of his standing — that is, to say, no standing at all. Quite possibly though it had nothing to do with his coat, for it could have been his gait: so wild, frolicsome for no reason at all. Or it could have been his eyes, flickering eerie green as they caught the moonlight. But it seemed more than expected, iridescent green of a wolf's night-eyes. It seemed sick, tormented — gleeful.

Every where he looked he saw the dead body of his sister.

But when he turned to look for someone to blame he could find no one. There was no one to blame.

He could not see the scarlet letter pinned to his own chest.

It was over now and he thought he could go home. His job was done. But his paws would not take him home. They danced underneath him and led him strange places he had never been before. He did not like these places. He wanted to go home. But there was an insurmountable wall between him and his family that was more than the mountains that rose up to the west. Something else he could just not get past. He cried all night long and ran in every direction he knew but he could never escape the forest or his sister's ghost. He was her keeper.

He had always been her keeper.

ILU. They finally get to meet properly rather then just giving evils across the pack. ;___;

A bitter cold draft tickled his spine, resulting in an outward shiver. For a moment his eyes left the mountain and lowered to glance around the trees which surrounded him. By chance he spotted movement. Though the moonlight was not as bright here as it could have been, the shadows of trees mostly swallowing what light filtered down, there was an unmistakable flash of gold in the distance. Unable to hold it back, a low rumble fell from his lips; a quiet warning growl that the stranger would most likely not here being so far away. He had not been quite so outwardly angry before now, but he found it harder and harder to filter his emotions of late.

He had two choices. Make himself known or run and hide. Whilst he did not like the idea of running with his tail between his legs, he had no the strength or energy to protect himself should the wolf be hostile. He'd ensured the area was clear from the scent of a pack before he had taken to sitting upon the rock, but one could never be too careful. Afterall, the nomad's were notorious (or rather not so) for hiding their pack borders, there was no reason that other packs might not follow the same pattern.

As quickly as he could, though not as quickly as he'd like, he slipped down from the rock and landed somewhat painfully on the terrain. His paws falling in silence upon the ground. Sticking close to the shadows that the rock offered, he pressed his body against the cold, hard surface and allowed himself to shrink back and hide within the darkness and hope he was low enough that his scent might not be caught upon a breeze. All that was left to do was hope that whatever the golden creature was up to, it was not headed this way and it would have no interest in him.

• sob <3333

Without knowing why he veered off in a different direction. It must not have been the way home. He trusted his paws. He could not trust his heart anymore, for it had betrayed him. And his memory, oh his memory had been poisoned. He had to trust his paws. So instead of continuing on he turned back, hoping that his paws could find the right trail soon. He was sure he would know it when he found the winding trail that would lead him home and he would know it as intimately as he had known his sister's heart...

A sizable rock covered in lichen and moss marked a crossroads. The young monster stopped to catch his bearings, tipping his head up to catch the breeze. Something smelled vaguely familiar. Was he close to home? The impression was fleeting, however, and his momentary thoughts were forgotten all at once as a large black shape swooped down from the rock. Datura hopped backwards in his alarm, baring his teeth and turning back his ears. His first impression of this shadow was one of disgust — what kind of self-respecting person snuck up on people like this. As the details came into focus, Datura found his judgement reaffirmed. The stranger was true a shadow in more than just color: he was a shadow in form as well. So matted, so wretched, so skinny. Vagrant. "Watch yourself," the boy growled "People in these parts don't care for being surprised."

Unable to see the stranger from his current vantage point, he could only hold his breath and hope that his location would go undetected. Rhysis however, was not a lucky wolf; things tended not to go his way no matter how hard he tried to control the situation. This was one of those situations.

To the side the gold figure suddenly appeared; like a light being turned on in a dark room. The moonlight hit him full square in the face and Rhysis didn't need another second to realise that the large, golden wolf who stood before him was his eldest son. He might not have been in the running for father of the year, but there was still some attachment to the boy present. Unlike his dark brother, Datura had always proven he was more braun then brain. He was easily manipulated and thrived on being the bully in most situations. It was an asset that Rhysis would find much use for. The problem however, was that he had wished to remain hidden from the wolves of the mountain and so far this was his second encounter with one of his former pack within just a few days. Had they relocated? Had Sagacity neglected that little detail? There was only one way to find out.

"I wouldn't have thought that you would fear surprises, Datura." he said, raising his head to allow himself to be known. There was no point trying to hide himself, even less so at trying to mask who he was. He was still unsure if Datura would know that he was his father - Adonis had been clueless up until their hunting/manning-up trip. It wouldn't be hard to guess though, hopefully the golden boy's reaction would give it away.
He took a step forward, trying with all his might to hide the limp which the younger male would see as a weakness. He was already skinny and worn, he did not need to appear injured as well. The last time they had met he had been the boys King, now he was but a mere peasant. How the mighty had fallen. Raising his head high, he held himself as kingly as he could and ensured their eyes would meet - grey to gold. A whiff of the air told him that Datura had not visited the mountain recently - Sagacity's scent had been bold, strong but his son's was all but vanished. Had the boy left his mother behind? He could only hope. Having Datura at his side would be something worth fighting for. The boy was large, fit, strong and could offer him the protection that Valiant had in the past. He had to play this smoothly.

(This post was last modified: Nov 14, 2013, 09:45 AM by Rhysis.)

Look Out!

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the snow. Hunt Opportunity

• i'll leave it up to you what you want to do about the wabbits.

"I wouldn't have thought that you would fear surprises, Datura."

His ears turned backwards and forwards a few times as he tried to pull apart the messages hidden in this statement. A pouty, unattractive frown creased his face. He knew there was something meaningful there, but there was so many other things in those words that it was hard to focus. Why would this stranger have any cause to think any particular way about him? Did Datura fear surprises? Oh yes. Should he? Probably not, it made him seem weak. Is that what this stranger thought of him or was the condescension just imagined? But there was something far more important than all those things.

This man knew who he was.

He shivered as the man stepped forward into the half-light. Of all the possible faces he put onto this man — nanook, slyscar, adonis — he did not anticipate the face that the moon illuminated for him. He had no name for this man, but he recognized him. Of course this man would have known his name, any wolf who had spent time in the Pass should have known Datura. He was the prince. Then again — Datura's ears swiveled backwards as the man's gaze brushed against his own — this man had been more than a prince the last time they had seen each other. He felt queasy. This man had been king. And in that moment Datura was lost. What was he to do? He could drop his eyes to this dominant wolf's paws and have done with it... yet this man had been away from the pass far longer than Datura had. Neither of them were on packlands at the moment, and so dominance shouldn't have been a question... And yet this man showed no sign of averting his gaze politely or apologizing.

He sighed. Apparently it would be left to him to pick up the slack here — but no worries, Datura had more than enough manners for the both of them. His eyes descended and he felt the tension leave him. His golden gaze started to drift elsewhere as he muttered and apology, and as they roamed the thin blanket of snow beneath his paws he noticed that he was standing on rabbit tracks. His tail rose optimistically. They were fresh. But he had eaten recently and it would be rude to abandon this stranger-acquaintance-former-king so abruptly. Querulously, his eyes flicked back up towards the dark man. He certainly could use some rabbits.

(This post was last modified: Nov 15, 2013, 12:27 AM by Datura.)

We don't have to go after them right away, would be weird "Hey son I've not seen you in months after I was kidnapped and you don't even know I'm your father, lets hunt!"
Will be good to tackle them in the post at some point though, quickly he regains health the better aha. <3

It was wrong that when his golden boy lowered his eyes, he felt annoyed and outwardly expressed so with a flash of his pearly white teeth. Was there no part of him in any of his children? In fact the only child to have ever shown a piece of him was Belladonna when she turned her back on her family, selfishly taking what she believed to be a better life for herself and left them not caring how it would make everyone else feel. The tratiorous bitch had at least earnt herself some respect from him, unlike Datura and Adonis. On their "bonding" trip, Adonis had proven to be the whiney bitch he had always thought him. Asking to go home often, missing his mother and hoping she was safe without him, being overly cautious and day dreaming too often for his liking. Of course, he hadn't been expecting to hug it out and share stories with him, but at lesat make the boy realise he was royalty and it was time to sort his shit out and start acting like it. A few smacks round the head had done little to snap him out of his miserable state and despite his best effort they simply had not bonded- another lost cause. Datura however, he believed had potential. He was regal in his own right. A bully, often picking on Adonis and ensuring that respect was given where it was due. He reminded him of himself a little, picking on others when his father's back was turned, taking out the frustration he had built up inside him as he grew on anything smaller than himself to make himself feel bigger, better, stronger. That was fine on pack lands, but by the lack of Naira's ugly scent he was no longer part of the pass, at least for the time being. That made them equals... and here he was, grovelling and showing respect.

"Get your head up boy. I don't know what bullshit your mother has put in your head but you, my Son, are an Aquila and you do not bow your head to strangers." he spoke boldly, his own head remaining high and dominant as if he were king of the very world. Datura was younger, fitter and in better condition but he had to lead by example. He might have been a bit down on his luck of late, but he was a king in his own right and his son should follow in his pawprints.
Rhysis was unsure if he yet knew the truth of his identity. Perhaps Naira had told him, or Adonis had returned and broke the news. In any case, he wasn't going to pretend that his blood did not run through the golden boys veins. If anything he could help him. Afterall, blood was thicker than water, right?

He gaped at the man who called himself his father, unable to believe it. No. This man could not be... was not his father. Though Datura had been willing to open his heart to his mother after she had abandoned him and his sister up in the mountains, his mother had least been there to take him back, she had proudly declared her ties to him. This man had done little besides gaze upon this boy and watch him from a far. What kind of father was that? It didn't even make any sense. Clearly, this man was just some sick fuck who got his kicks from preying on youngsters, and Datura would have none of it.

Bitter and confused, the golden boy snarled back at the sickly black wolf. "Fuck off old-timer," he said, already turning away, "Go and peddle your lies to some one else."

As he walked away, he felt the rising winds blow through his fur. The breeze was strong and it carried the scent of early snow and a hard winter. Maybe he had been wrong to come back home so soon. With a heavy heart he turned his paws southward, hoping to find a warmer place to hide out the winter before he finally returned home. He wasn't ready yet anyway.