Of Daughters and Fathers (DESTINY!)

[Ärï]

Sierra looked around the lakeshore as she made her way along the sandy beach. Her coppery red fur rippled over her young body as she walked, looking around with curious amber eyes. The lake looked huge to eyes so young.

"Don't go too far Sierra" barked a voice behind her. "We have to wait for Yoru."

Sierra turned and saw her mother, the femme she was copied from down to the slim light frame and copper coat, coming toward her. She was walking a little slow and seemed to be waiting for Sierra's sister, Yoru. Sierra watched her mother approach. She looked sad but that wasn't anything new. Sunblaze always looked sad. Sun told her it was because her and Yoru's father had gone missing but Sierra didn't know if that was all of it.

Her mind was distracted by the sound of approaching paws and a scent coming to her on the breeze. Looking around, Sierra saw Sunblaze come to a halt, ears forward and looking wary.

[Destiny]

Bright autumn orange and dusky dirt brown canvas of young femmora became visible. Topaz pools glimmered brightly with hope and joy. Yoru knew not of the sadness which so obviously clouded her mother's heart and mind. It seemed that way anyhow. Fae danced easily across the earth until peltage brushed her mothers. A small yip of greeting was sent to Aries who was farther ahead. Yoru paused as a strangely familier scent drifted vaguely to her nostrils on the breeze. Most likely it drifted from across the lake.

Snowy canvas rippled under powerful muscles. Pools, like two pieces of ice, sliced through every crevice of the forest. Like claws slicing through flesh. Every corner of the forest bled with detail and information that could be helpful or un-helpful to him. As massive paws struck the ground it would vibrate slightly under his weight. Breathing was slightly labored as a cough would escape him every few steps. Brute would remain in the deep shadows around the lakeside. Well, well hidden.

[Ärï]

Sierra yipped in greeting to her sister, wagging her tail. The smell on the breeze made her a little uneasy but Sierra tried to ignore it as long as her mother wasn't alarmed. It smelled familiar, almost comforting, like some long forgotten memory coming to the surface.

Sunblaze slipped away from her daughters, walking toward the trees that surrounded the lakeshore. Saddened topaz eyes gazed through the rough pine trees and rocky bolders. A soft sigh escaped her maw as the coppery female stared longingly for something she knew wasn't there.

"Momma" Sierra barked, looking at her mother. "What's wrong?"

[Destiny]

Silken dusty paws barely touched the earth as femmora approached her sister. Long, pink tounge would rasp over Sierra's ear in a friendly sisterly gesture. Then pools of liquid topaz drifted towards her mother. Sierra was an exact copy of Sunblaze. Yoru was a mix of a more flaming yet darker auburn color and a dusty brown. Of course, femme's coat was not fully grown out yet so it would likely change as she aged. Mother seemed sorrowful, as if wishing something that wasn't there was.

Brute slinked along the forest floor. Weaving between tree trunks that covered the forest around the lake. The lighting was dim and barely existent inside the forest depths. Brute was confined here, to the shadows. It was what was best. If wolven eyes would happen to chance upon his figure, or a flash of his silken snowy canvas, they would think it nothing more then a trick of the eye. Or, if he was less fortunate, they may think of him as a spirit. Come to the lake for some reason unknown to those who dwelled in the realm of the living. Brute would be swift anyway, he'd try to avoid there line of sight. It was crucial that they not find him here, not find him ever. Unless, by some miracle, a cure was found then the disease would eventually kill him. So far massive brute had managed to fight it. Sleeping for as long as was needed, hunting as often as possible, even drinking only the purest water. The water of Thw Twilight Lake was all that he would allow to quench his thirst now.

[Ärï]

Sunblaze sighed sadly. "Its nothing" Sunblaze murmured. The young mother turned to look at her two beautiful daughters. Her heart cried each time she looked at them and she remembered Akani, the daughter Sunblaze had been forced to kill, the copy of Thite...

The mere thought of his name tore the rift in her heart and Sunblaze winced as if feeling the physical pain of the tear. It hurt to think of him so she tried not to. She tried to focus on her daughters, on the living. Her river of tears had run dry and her heart hollowed, even though she kept up a sweet loving bond with Yoru and Sierra. "I was just...thinking about your father" Sun murmured softly. Sunblaze sat back on her hunches, looking at her daughters.

Sierra let out a soft whine of concern, padding over to her mother. She placed herself between Sunblaze's front paws, her back pressed against her mothers warm, soft belly-chest fur, whining softly. "Momma...why are you always sad?"

[Destiny]

Dusky brown auds lowered slightly. Femmora could sence the sorrow radiating from her mother like wind on a moor. It swept through her. Femmora blinked with un-spoken curiosity as Sunblaze spoke of there father. Yoru couldn't remember there father, nor did she wish to. Any wolf who left a fae to raise two pups on her own was not deserving of love nor of affection. There were times when Yoru thought she remembered having another sibling, a sister besides Sierria. But when she tried to bring the memory to the front of her mind it disintegrated as if it did not exist. Placing one dusky brown paw in front of the other femme padded towards her mother. Giving Sunblaze a lick on the leg since she could not yet reach her mother's shoulder.

Tears welled up in his pools so that it looked like the ice was melting. The scents of his family were here. Only now had he realized that they were at the Twilight Lake. Brute scented the air. Yoru, his daughter, a mixture of Kojo and her mother. Sierra, an exact copy of her mother. Then there was.... Brute couldn't even think the name. The memory burned him. Just thinking about her felt like having a claw slice his heart open and just let it bleed. Even after he had promised her that he would never leave her side, after he had promised that he would always be there....

[Ärï]

Sunblaze bent her head and tenderly licked Yoru between her ears, raising a paw and tucking her two daughters in front of her in a sort of wolf hug. "I'll be alright girls...I'm...just sad I suppose. You two mean everything to me now, I just have to learn to accept that I wasn't good enough" Sunblaze murmured softly, head bent and her muzzle brushing Yoru and Sierra's ears. "I'm just glad I have you two with me now."

A tear escaped Sun's topaz eyes, slipping down her muzzle and dropping to the earth below. Her mind was playing tricks on her as she sat her with her daughters, trying to not think about him, doing everything possible to not think about him. It seemed impossible here. For some reason it felt like he was there, very close by, taunting her. After all the times he said he loved her, he up and vanished though she had left as well, to protect him from finding out what she had done. What she had done to Akani was unforgivable...Thite would have only dispised her more. It was better for him not to know....

[Destiny]

The femme brushed her orangeish muzzle against her mother's chest as she was pulled close. There was a dark, angered like glint in the femme's topaz pools. "It's not you who was not good enough mom. Dad did not know how to appreciate you. He was the one who abandoned you." There was a rough, low anger to her melodic voice. Dusky ears pinned back against auburn skull as she glared towards the forest nearby. Once she thought she saw a fern rustle. Yoru convinced herself that it was nothing but a trick of the eye. There so called father was a traitor.

Snowy peltage did not glimmer or shine with health. Yet, it was not dull or dead looking. The brute seemed to be balancing the disease rather well, for now. As a branch cracked beneath the weight of his massive paws it seemed much louder to his auds then it actually was. Brute shook his head, he was simply being paranoid. The darkness of the forest seemed to be enveloping him. In every crevice there seemed to be a shadow jumping out at him. Voices screamed in his auds that were not acutally there. Your a good for nothing loser! Howled the voice of his father in rage. Why can't you be a real wolf? Cried the sorrowed and angered voice of his mother. Lazy good for nothing! I'm glad mother and father threw you out to die! Came the en-chanting, icy cold voice of his sister. Brute shook his head violently. He wanted to scream, to cry out. Brute could not dare to open his maw. He must suffer through this in silence.

[Ärï]

"Shh Yoru" Sunblaze murmured, brushing her muzzle against Yoru's. "I still...beleive he wouldn't hurt me on purpose...unless he had a reason. Hopefully someday you two can meet him." Sunblaze tried to smile but her smile was no longer the one that could light up the night and it didn't travel to her saddened honey eyes.

Sierra looked over at Yoru, surprised by her sister's anger at the mention of their father. Neither of them had ever met him and any memories they may have of him were fuzzy and often discarded as wistful dreams of pups wishing for a father. All pups wanted simple things, protection, love, a plact to sleep and other basic needs. Though they didn't have a father, they had a capable mother willing to throw herself in front of a bullet to save her pups. In Sierra's view, they didn't need a father to keep them safe when Sunblaze did that just fine on her own but she didn't make her anger obvious, or at least tried not to.

[Destiny]

Topaz pools turned back to her mother. Femme blinked in surprise and suspcious anger. "How can you beleive that after....." Yoru cocked her crown slightly. "What exactly happened? Did dad just leave? Did he dissapear?" There was very obvious curiosity in the still slightly angry tone of Yoru's voice. Dusky brown tipped tail flicked back and forth over the earth. Topaz eyes wandered from the face of her mother to her sister Sierra who sat opposite her. Yoru perked her auds at the seemingly distant, barely audible sound of a branch breaking under pressure. Crown turned as she glared into the depths of the forest. Trying to find something hidden there.

The brute's snowy auds were pinned back against his skull as he tried to keep the voices away. It was too no avail. Still they rang loudly in his head. Stabbing at his already shredded soul. Your the runt of the litter, weak and useless. You don't deserve life. Came the sneering angry voice of Svel. Mila and Claw died while you and Svel survived. Svel is ceratinly worthy but you are not. It should have been Claw who lived not you. He would have followed in our footsteps and carried on the family bloodlines in honour. In anguish he began to run across the forest again. From every corner of his mind the voices screamed. Haunting him, taunting him, tormenting him until he felt as if he would go completely insane. Still, his jaw remained clamped shut. No sound escaping him. Not so much as a growl or cry of sorrow. Nothing.

[Ärï]

Sunblaze sighed. "Yoru...I....can't tell you that now sweetheart" Sunblaze murmured softly, staring fixedly at the earth. She wouldn't tell them. Ever. If anything she hoped never to see Thite again just so she could protect him from finding out what a monster she was. She was a pup killer, lowest of the low. Rising to her paws, Sunblaze met the gazes of her two daughters. "You two stay here alright? I'm going to hunt. You can play on the shore but don't go into the water too far. If someone approaches, howl and I'll be there in an instant."

The soft sounds of disturbances in the forest were making Sunblaze uneasy. She wouldn't go far from her pups, just far enough to do a scope of the area and make sure the wolf skulking in the darkness wasn't a harm to her small family. She wouldn't let anyone near her pups that intended harm. Sunblaze padded toward the trees, ears swerving with each sigh of the wind, nose taking in the scents of the land around her.

Sierra rose to her paws and tagged Yoru. "Come on Yoru, let's play" Sierra barked, "just until mother comes back. Catch me if you can!" Sierra flicked her sister's nose with her tail before taking off down the shore.

[Destiny]

The femme eyed her mother for a moment. Then turned her gaze to Sierra. Femme only flicked a dusky brown aud as Sunblaze padded off to go hunt. Yoru didn't like that her mother was keeping secrets. Not one bit. The femme blinked in surprise as Sierra tagged her. Shrugging her shoulders Yoru lept to her paws and raced after her sister. Yoru was swift, quickly she began to gain ground on her sister. Or so it seemed to her anyway.

The brute skidded to a sudden halt. The scent of... her... was coming too him strongely. She was on the move and headed his way. Thinking quickly brute turned and dashed off in some other direction. Snowy pelt did not blend in well with the forest, if she was looking in the direction he was taking he could easily be spotted. This thought made massive paws move faster, leaving deep and very real tracks in the forest floor. The brute began to slow now. The scent of water drifted to him from the trees. Weaving silently through the trees he came to a halt at the forest's edge. Now he was very close to the lake. Only a few wolf lengths from the shore. Brute began to slink silently towards the lake. Figure pinned to the ground, tail dragging behind him. Too bad he was massive.

[Ärï]

Sunblaze's eyes, though dulled with sorrow, did not miss the tracks as she came across them. Her eyes flickered with momentary curiousity before being cloaked in determination to find the wolf stalking her family. Sunblaze was a small wolf, light and slender with copper red fur laying beautifully against her lean-muscled frame. Occasionally the sunlight glinted gold off her back and shoulders as she moved. Nearing the lake once more, Sunblaze looked around, head raised as she leapt onto a boulder, continuing to gaze around curiously. She knew someone was here but the wind was blowing in the wrong direction. Sitting back on her hunches and sighing in defeat, Sunblaze stared around. Her eyes caught a glint of white. Topaz eyes focused on the mass and widened, half shock and half horror. "Damn it all" Sunblaze murmured, slinking back and nearly falling off the boulder. She looked like she was cowering.

Sierra laughed and glanced over her shoulder to see her darker-furred sister bounding after her. At least Yoru was in somewhat of a playful mood. Like their mother, Yoru was fast. Sierra was small and light but not quite that fast yet. Yoru was gaining ground so Sierra tried to run faster. "Come on slow poke!" Sierra teased, smiling at her sister over her shoulder.

[Destiny]

With a new found burst of energy Yoru's strides lengthened. "Who are you calling slowpoke, slowpoke?" Came her reply in a teasing and playful tone. Femmora looked like a wolf on fire as she dashed after her sister. Figure of the femme was long and stretched out. Yoru's strength was her speed and she would not be overly large, or so it seemed as of now. Perhaps the size of her mother, Sunblaze. The wind carried the scent of her mother from the forest behind her. It also carried the scent of another wolf. Yoru didn't turn to search out the figure, playing with Sierra was more fun then worrying over some wolf. Sunblaze would take care of it anyhow.

Quickly brute dashed across the small area of completely open ground. The voices were screaming loudly in his skull now. Her scent flowed over him from behind. Taunting him, tormenting him. Farther along the lakeshore the small figure's of his daughters came to him. Yoru and Sierra. He did not see Akani but he assumed that she was just hiding somewhere. Instead of slowing as brute neared the lakeshore brute kept a steady pace. Rising to stand his full height when he was but a few pawsteps from the water. Brute leaped onto a large boulder then through himself outward. Towards the lake. Towards open water. Towards nice icy cold that would numb his senses enough so that the only thoughts were of how to survive. The voices would have to leave him alone then. Sailing through the air he remained silent. He looked like nothing more then a ghost.

[Ärï]

Sunblaze watched with sad eyes. Sitting up, she turned her muzzle skyward and let out a soft howl that carried across the lake. It was a simple howl, nothing to alarm her pups, just a simple greeting howl, as if she was calling out to the wolf that had been nearby. It wouldn't alarm the pups but...it would let Him know she was nearby if he didn't already. Though she was scared stiff at the idea of meeting him, Sunblaze knew she wanted to. It wasn't about her anymore though. It was about her daughters. Only her daughters. Compared to them, she meant little, almost nothing.

Rising from the boulder, Sunblaze leapt from it and began to slowly trek back toward her daughters. She was on the oppisate side of the Twilight Lake from them, having followed Thite. She could still see the two playing on the other side and smiled sadly, pausing to watch them, head raised and looking mournful.

Sierra swerved and felt Yoru shoot past her as Sierra took off in the oppisate direction. As she ran, Sierra caught the sound of her mother howling. It was the type of howl wolves gave to exchange a greeting. Maybe she had found the other wolf? Sierra turned her head skyward too and let out her own pup-like howl that was still beautiful in its own way. Cutting off her howl, Sierra glanced back to see if Yoru noticed she'd made a u-turn.