WTF?!?! (Rhain/Lupus/Open)

[Sivoncé™]

"I just don't understand you, Feather," Rhain barked socrnfully. "Summer is just too hot! I mean look, you're wilting all of my pretty flowers!"
Above the lands of the living, and even farther above the realm of Hellfire, the goddess of summer and the goddess of spring were in a rather heated debate over seasonal differences. Feather, however, appeared to have wandering interests.
"Well, that's the way it is, Rhain -- that's the way it's always been." Feather roes and sauntered away, hinting at a 'harrumph!' with the way she shrugged her shoulders and swung her hips as she left Rhain to stare dumbfoundedly after.
"Hmph!" Rhain sat sulking for a few moments, but, though one might suspect otherwise, the dead don't really have patience to do much of anything for a significantly long time. Rhain sighed heavily to herself, frowning at the summer-browned grass, and looked around at her surroundings.
Well, when all else fails, I guess there's always some quality stalking to do. Better check up on Flame and Death. Those two haven't done a thing since they reincarnated themselves! Though anticlimactic, Rhain was grateful that neither Flame or Death had gotten involved with much after their little "let's-reincarnate-and-save-the-world" stunt.
However, when Rhain saw the images of Death's latest endeavor forming in the grasses, her jaw nearly dropped off completely.
"LUPUS!"

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Slow days always seemed ever slower in eternity.
A soft sigh fell from his lips, the ebony giant glancing down at his paws, where aging scars had begun to seal over, but never quite disappear. His forelegs flexed and stretched, almost feline in nature, and he momentarily wondered why he no longer used his morphing abilities to his advantage. Anymore, at least. Wouldn’t a cat nap be more satisfying if I were actually a cat? But I digress… The male rose to his paws, greedily inhaling the air, and setting off in a comfortable lope. He was troubled, but his troubles had become much a part of him as a skin, or perhaps more so. In short, it was a typical day in the life of the deceased. But he had been sleeping alone.
Wonder where a certain spring goddess has wandered off to?
He made a brief pause at a nearby stream, lapping up the instantly replenished drops and stepping back to reveal a snapshot of the resident valley. It was cold.
Winter had always been his favorite season—not that he would ever mention it to his springtime lovely, mind you (although his handcrafted realm of eternal snow and ice might’ve given a cue). Judging by the chill brewing in the living realm, Rhain wouldn’t exactly enjoy this reign. But hey, maybe we’ll sneak in some holiday weather. Hopefully she’s not too bummed out about it all.
“Get cooking, Siveria—let’s see some white.”
Before he could utter any other phrase to the wind, a loud and familiar call signaled that he was needed. Instantly on the alert, Lupus dashed off toward the source of the sound, just barely halting in time. Hello, Rhain. “What? What is it?”

[Sivoncé™]

As if on cue, a small trickle of white fluff began a slow descent from above.

Eyes wide in disbelief, Rhain made a stiff nod to the visions she had been overlooking moments before. For a few moments, she was unable to say anything at all, she merely stared at him with mouth slightly agape. A snowflake landed on her nose and she sneezed back to life. Pausing to glare at the hateful little flake, she sighed and turned very seriously to Lupus.
"Your son has joined a crackpack called Lupus Mist."Her tone suggested he should have some sort of excuse for this.
This is an unexcusable waste of time! Of all things to get involved in....wasn't he supposed to be helping the packs out anyway since nobody up here knows what they heck is going on? What were they thinking, doing this, anyway? Wouldn't it be more helpful to plug the leak in Hellfire than to go romping around with a crackpack?!?

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Lupus stared blankly, not at all prepared for her big reveal. He hung onto her words for a minute, still and silent, as if he was waiting for her to continue. When she did not speak, he adopted a huh?? expression on his muzzle, and twitched an ear.
“…and… I have something to do with this?”
Just because he’s technically my son and the pack is named after me doesn’t mean… wait, where’d this pack come from?

[Sivoncé™]

Rhain's gaze was reproahcful and rather defensive.
"Well, I figured since they dubbed themselves 'Lupus Mist' that yes, you might have something to do with this. After all, I don't see any Verlust Mists or Sky Mists or Wind Mists running around. In fact, Blood Mist is the only one who hasn't dropped the 'Mist' thing altogether." Flustered, the red-pelted she-wolf peered down at the scene below.
"I thought we taught him better! Running off with girls to do drugs! It's like he missed out on his terrible teen years and now he has to go off and reincarnate just get a taste of rebellion!"
Well, he did have a really choppy upbringing, now, didn't he?
She muttered a question beneath her breath, not really intending for Lupus to hear,"Where is that mother of his anyway?"

[.Rabid Lycan.]

“Well, the hell if I know—it’s not like I’ve been accepting sacrifices or something!” For a while, anyways. “I haven’t even visited my old realm in ages—it’s probably collecting dust and weeds by now. I’m innocent here.”
Slightly rustled by the accusation, he padded over to the pool, and peered in, listening as Rhain spoke of Death and his wild adventures. He nearly grinned, but it was drowned with the tsunami of guilt that accompanied the name. “Well, at least he’s doing something. He never really had a childhood…” Not that I helped in that department.
Then, he caught her whisper. If only he had been sipping water—it was a sort of spit-out-water moment.
“Excusemeh?”
Wait, that was supposed to stay in italics.
Shaking away the thoughts, and voice suddenly higher pitched, he managed to form a reply. “Redfang is, erm… perfectly fine without this to worry about, I would think. She’s had quite enough on her plate without being reminded of, erm… you know… it wasn’t even liked a knocked her up! It was… professional-ish."

[Sivoncé™]

Rhain raised a skeptical brow. "Well, they seem to be under the notion that the children of Lupus will lead them to victory and territorial conquest. I can't decide if they're that high, or if they're really crazy." Sighing and muttering frustratedly to herself, Rhain shook his comments off with a mere shrug.
"Oh sure -- real professional. I bet you even paid her. Whatever; didn't she end up raising a replacement kid in Hellfire or something, anyway? Damon or Dayton or something like that?"
She didn't understand why, but she knew she was bitter, and she knew it was clear in every syllabal she spoke. Lupus probably'll think I'm jealous. But Rhain knew better -- it wasn't jealousy. It was annoyance, the under-your-skin-scratching-the-hell-out-of-you kind. Whether if was the change in season, or something else altogether that was rubbing her the wrong way was left up to interpretation.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

Lupus tilted his head further to one side. “Erm, well… I don’t know what they’re on, exactly… but Death’s a smart guy. Who knows—they headed back to do a job. They’re capable, they’re children of prophecy. Maybe he’ll actually do what they’re thinking.” He offered a very slight smile, honestly more amused than concerned with the ordeal, but the other half of the conversation weighted down his jaws.
“Hey, look—it was a spiritual matter, okay? It wasn’t like it was physical,”[/i] just intimate, but in a different sense, “but beyond that, we were different wolves, anyway. We changed—I changed. I’m not the lord of the dead, anymore. And Redfang… I never caught the kid’s name… to be honest, I haven’t checked in with her in far too long. But a load of dead bodies haven’t floated up in my name lately, so I suspect she’s changed, too. If she found someone to care for… good for her. She deserves it.”
He paused a little, caught between anxiety and annoyance. Beyond that, he could sense something was off balance—it was obvious, even, with the way she spoke and the way she acted, but he couldn’t bring himself to directly question it.
…almost wish I could run into Redfang again right about now… but it’s probably for the best that we don’t. Not like she needs me hanging around her life again.

[Sivoncé™]

Redfang was reallyonly a few yards away from the bickering couple, though she herself didn't know it; the red she-wolf, ironically similar in appearence to Rhain, had her back to them as she washed silently as she spoke in soft tones with her daughter, Rippedstripe. Rippedstripe also didn't realize how cloes they were to a bit of extra-extended family.

Rhain harrumphed and looked away from him with an expression wrinkled with what could've easily been disgust. "Spiritual, hm. So the drugs and the girls thing runs in the family, huh?"

[.Rabid Lycan.]

A growl bubbled in the back of his throat, and he barely shoved it down. But his patience was not as strong as it had been moments ago. “Now look here, it was different. It wasn’t like I was some teenager who got horny and said to myself ‘you know what I want to do today? Take advantage of one of my worshippers and father a son who reincarnates himself to do drugs’. I was… hollow… and detached… I wasn’t capable of any sort of defined emotion until I ran into you. Redfang’s a wonderful woman, but she’s not you, alright?”

[Sivoncé™]

Redfang and Rippedstripe cut their conversation short and peered curiously over their shoulders. Trouble in paradise? Aw, gawd, don't bring me into this mess...

Rhain whipped around and face him. "You've got nerve to say those things to me and come here with your stupid flowers you little cheater! I'm not talking about Redfang, either!" youstupidlilmanhoe!
"And you know what's the real kicker here? I almost cheated on you when you were whoring around with Verlust, but nooo, I STUCK TO MY DAMNED MARRIAGE VOWS!"
She viciously bit the heads off the flowers and left them in pieces at his feet.

[.Rabid Lycan.]

His jaws gaped, almost fish-like in their movements, as Rhain let off a stream of steady rage.
Cheater? Who else is there? …Mystic…? But I haven’t seen her since, er… He almost began counting with his toes, dismayed when he only got up to four, until the real fireworks started.
His temper suddenly began to boil.
“The hell?? What are you even talking about—Verlust killed me, remember? Last time I saw her, I tried to slash her throat. Oh, wait, yes—we fought with a very romantic candlelight setting. Forgive me.” He swept the fallen pieces away, the growl just barely bleeding into his voice. "And what do you even mean, you cheating with who?"[/i]

[Sivoncé™]

Rhain was several shades redder than normal, and trembling all over like a volcano ready to blow. And really, that's what she was; over the years, she had hidden her feelings and let them build up, but now that a little flame had sparked, nothing could stop the explosion that was to come. Everything, every bit of everything, was about to come to the surface in a sudden rush.
"New Moon!" She spat the name on the dirt, eyes narrowed to tiny slits as she stared Lupus down. "You're a cheater, you beat me, and you know what, you're selfish, too! How is it that I know about every one of your romantic endeavors, and I practically raised your children, but you knew forever that Regulus was Lucy's father and you never even asked what happened! You'd think you'd show some interest in my life once in a why, Golden Wolf knows all we talked about was you and yours!"

[.Rabid Lycan.]

He felt the sudden need to retreat back a couple steps, but held his ground, breathing heavier than normal. It was frustration and shock made flesh in a single union, and he suddenly wished he had remained in his cozy cat nap moments ago.
Her words wounded him, to be sure, and cut deep—but he had a knack for responding with violence. The temptation to slap her, to make all the words disappear, was also there, but he shoved it down into some dark crevice of his mind. The urge alone, the knowledge that he wanted to strike out, frightened him into a calmer mind. Not a volcano, but a timid storm.
“New Moon is a good friend— we never touched! Ask her herself!” How did you even know about her?? “I’ve never cheated on anyone— not you, not even Verlust. And…” he faltered a bit, opting to ignore the beating accusation for now, “…he… when you first talked about him… he hurt you, and it didn’t seem like something you’d want to talk about, okay? I don’t enjoy talking about my friends dying, or murdering your parents, or getting killed by your lover—I don’t think anybody would! But, hey, looks like I was wrong—you’ll have to forgive me for being an ignorant jackass! So hey, I’m sorry— is that what you want? My ears are open!”
And yet, another reason gnawed at his mind, but he couldn’t speak it, although he nearly did.
He hurt you—I don’t know every detail, but that much I’m sure of. And you know what? Maybe I’ve been a bit selfish—but not how you make it sound. I think of Regulus and you know what I think of? I think of me. ‘cause I’m not a fucking saint. I have issues and problems and I can’t help myself sometimes—it’s like I’m in a tunnel with one light, and it’s so goddamn bright that all I can do is fight my way out, and by the time I can see again, I realize all I’ve been fighting was YOU. YOU, Rhain—and I don’t want to fight. There’s been too much of that, far too much. I’ve seen generations upon generations before the four packs got to your generation—I’ve seen too many fights, too many friends die. But it’s in my blood, like a cancer, and I want it to leave, but it hurts so much… I… I could change though, couldn’t I? I’m not the same… I can’t be the same as I was… I’m not evil… give me a little time and I can change… I just don’t know how. I love you, Rhain, but I don’t want to hurt you… and it hurts so badly...