The Returning of Two Long Forgotten

[Arias]

The scent of home. It sickened me, it truly did. Too long have I lived the life of a Kerl it seems that List is now enemy territory. In all respects I am not longer a List varg, for the scents of my family have long ago shed my body along with that ridiculous puppy fur I used to wear. My future was the Balkar, and my present was the life of a Kerl. My experiences had taken me far from these lands, and by further I mean from Transylvania. Sadly I had only encountered one other varg – a Kerl in fact – from these lands, and after such a meeting I knew that I had to discover more. I was changing; something inside me had been awakened during that meeting with Awiergan. And now, I wanted answers.

The land was beginning to get rocky and the deciduous woodland began to grow sparse, the foundations for an evergreen pine forest were taking over. I was so close that now, I could even taste the wretched scent of List. The invisible scent barrier washed over me suddenly and I growled darkly as I could feel the stench clinging to my newly developed adult winter pelt.
The thought of what my parents would think when they laid their eyes upon me brought a broad grin to my muzzle. It surely would startle them for a moment or two to see just how much I have developed and grown. Not quite as large as my father sadly, but still my legs were long and sturdy which helped to make me appear larger. I would never have the same build as a warrior like the Lacan, yet I knew my time would come. Speed and stealth were my allies, but I knew my jaws would serve well one of these days.

My fiery eyes blazed and danced with some hidden being, something that surely my mother and father might recognise. Reaching a particularly large outcrop of rocks, I figured this would be my best place to stand. Grinning darkly I bound towards it, pushing off with my powerful hind legs and landing dexterously onto the highest of the collection. Settling back onto my haunches I curled my thick, brushy tassel round my nimble paws and peered back and forth before throwing back my head and letting out my song. It was hard and proud, a long forgotten son and father calling out to his family. He was inside me…calling out with me. Leohlic.

((Sorry its so awful))

[Gryffin]

The pine scent of the mountainous air wafted throughout the terrain of List. The fall of snow had ceased by the morn and it had left a blanket of untouched white. The winter left a cold silence to wash over the mountains. The rugged terrain belonging to a pack of wolves that swore they would regain the fierce nature it had been created with. A new era had befallen the mountain pack, but every plan had baby step first.

Emerald orbs blinked open, lips turned up in swift distaste. The scent of a musky lera came to the lupus's senses making her lips curl even more. Blood tipped ears fell back as the she wolf turn, back legs swift as she was propelled forward driven by unknown bloodlust and ferocity woven into her from the minute she was brought into the world. Talons swiped as teeth found it's source and pierced through red flesh and fur. The flame pelted fox fell limp and was then thrown metres away with disgust. No Gryffin could care less, this was her land.

But the piercing howl of another caught the drappa's attention. Giving a sneer to the dead vixen she turned and swept away, auburn tail sweeping after her as she raced towards the song.

It was a deep one. One the femme could not recognize herself. But when she arrived she was met with the scent of unknown. Hackles pricked in uncertainty, the beginnings of a snarl plastered onto her maw as she neared. Emerald orbs spotted it next. A radiant form of a young male wolf. Was this a stranger? Gryffin stopped. He could be labeled as an adolescent and his confident poise and regal howl was too cocky to say he was an intruder.

Gryffin watched him still, her eyes watching his and they revealed a familiarity in them. The tri hued she wolf padded closer to get a better glance and the scent of the male drew closer to her nares once more, and so sparked the realization. So the wolf had tained a scent of that of the kerl lands but the the alpha would never be able to forget the scent of her own kin. White muzzle was thrown into the air to respond with her own confident howl.

Gryffin padded out her head high as she neared. Though she couldn't hide the pride in here jade eyes. "My Arias how you've grown" The tri hued she wolf spoke as she padded a full circle around the rock the male roosted upon. Gryffin beamed, a grin on her lips, she had expected this day to come. Already she had let her son go and live his youth in the land of the kerl. Like her own brothers they too had left List at a young age. This though was her only son, and so she would have rested much of her expectations onto his shoulders. She would not, let this wolf ruin what his lineage had sewn into his blood, if he were to ever think about leading the life anywhere else. Gryffin would be sorely disappointed.
"So my son, how has the life of the kerl been for you? she asked, he was no longer a pup and she would no longer treat him like a blind whelp.

[ending sucks but meh]

[Arias]

Time passed by and slowly I felt my backside go numb on the rocky outcrop. Shifting myself into a more comfortable position, I continued to wait patiently. After all, I knew the lands of List were vast and mountainous. If the pack were grouped together in one place – then it might take them all night to find any trace of me. Though no howl came to me, I could tell that another had arrived silently onto the scene in which was about to unfold.
Swivelling my aud back and tenitively scenting the light breeze, I distinguished that a pack member had snuck up on me. The beginnings of a smirk began to tweak at the edges of my muzzle, yet I covered it wisely. It was Gryffin; his mother. She was a proud varg, one of stealth and secrecy in her actions. It was just unfortunate on her behalf that the breeze was playing games on this day. Not to mention, a certain something within me happened to alter to her presence. It was hard to decipher what exactly this being felt, but I pushed it aside anyway as she approached me, wicked muzzle sporting a sickeningly proud grin.

I peered down at her larger form and sneered at her comment. Grown? Ha! She didn’t know the half of it. And yet, I began to beam with pride myself. I had made Gryffin proud. It was all wrong! She deserved to be punished for how she had once treated me. Taking on her only son as an emissary and allowing him to embarrass himself in that battle against Fiory. My lips twitched with the thought and I got to my paws, turning my body round to face her. “Well hello yourself mother,” I replied, pushing myself lightly off the boulder and landing dexterously by her side.
It was humiliating that my stature did not quite reach that of my mother’s – in fact, I was a mere inch shorter. Taking a step away from her I rose my head and allowed my hackles to bristle slightly, toying with the attempt of seeming larger than her.

And yet her next words brought memories back. Though memories that were not of my own. Averting my fiery gaze I frowned deeply as the image of a small, crimson pelted varg came into mind. Stirring viciously from a silent sleep within the crevice of the Carpathian mountainside. Shaking my head sharply, I peered up from the corner of my eye towards Gryffin. Questions now plagued my thoughts, and I needed them answered.
A low growl trembled inside my chest as I lifted my head once more; looking now directly into her emerald jewelled eyes. “It has been interesting to say the least. And certainly unforgettable. But there were a few things I have been meaning to find out for some time now. And that is the reason for my short return,” I growled in reply to her question. The arrival of my father or the rest of the pack could wait, Gryffin was the one who knew the most of Leohlic, she was his daughter afterall.

[Gryffin]

Emerald orbs watched the adolscent male, certainly he was too proud for his own good. But certainly that was what it took to become greater than who you are. Doubting yourself only made you a sikla.

Gryffin raised a brow giving a nod to his return of a greeting. Auburn tail gave a swish. The dam further observed her son, detecting the changes that took him. Yes he was a born fighter, Gryffin could see this before the whelp had opened his eyes.

Of course Gryffin remembered how much Arias had hated the idea of even lifting an ear to the word emmisary, and no doubt his lack of interest in his training had marked his hatrad of staying in List. And for a while Gryffin expected that her headstrong son would have despised her. But no pain no game. Did he think the road to greatness would be silver lined? But did she care if her son did not want to travel the road of an emissarry? No she did not care. Though her son better learn that he wont get everything he wanted in his life.

With the he wolfs actions Gryffin smirked with a toothy grin, raising her brow she lifted herself, her hackles brushing so the tri hued she wolf was once again higher then the kin. Black lips grinned as she heard the male's reply. Ah, so this was a short return, Gryffin had not expected him to stay too long anyways. The autumn toned drappa had saw it before, when he had been younger, his toes itched at the borders, impatiently waiting for the day he could venture out and on his own. But memories would be kept for another time. Gryffin twitched an ear, her eyes blinking slowly as she took in the form of her son "And what would that reason be?"

[Captain Z]

Rusty crimson forepaws tore through the powder snow of the mountains, the winter-fresh scent ripening in the thin atmosphere of List. The limbs of the evergreens were given the burden of the harsh mountain climate, and though still flourishing, they fell in depression barely supporting the magnificent white blanket. Cold winds rushed through them, leaving a tail of dancing snow flakes, spiraling as if never again to reach the ground. They tore through the obsidian feather-like coat of a common friend, one with the cold saphiric gaze of which some look up to, and one with a bittersweet blood lust; a jagged cranium and onyx spears fresh with flesh of which some still feared.

He was the leader of the Night Hunters, wolves that founded and built the pack here. And while building a mountainous haven to raise a family, they forever left the children raised here in debt to the protection of this pack. The pack took care of itself since the days when its father passed, the young being trained to protect the old, the quick being taught to hear the danger of the world below. Yet now, the ones that were truly gifted in their given task were expected to take their soul and lives to somewhere else where it was truly owed. Back in the ranks of the Night Hunters.

Gryffin, such a loving innocent and sweet mother fell victim to this unwritten rule. It wasnt her herself that was owed this burden, no. However, the blood of her Balkan father had now fed into a healthy well bred family. And best of the batch was their son Arias, a seemingly flawless young yup with some arrogance and cockyness. Although Ziev was one to hate such young runts, it was not what was held by the physical composition of this boy, but rather what was in his blood. He shared the bloodline of the very same wolf who gave Ziev his first rank. The very same wolf who was the leader of the night hunters, two generations before him.

The saphiric gaze tore into the territory of the List in which was the common area amongst their pack members. The very same area he was known to visit on his several visits of the mountain top asset. The scents were foully concentrated here, which is how the nihtgenge did most of his navigation. His obsidian form strolled right in, his hackles rising and falling while his paws replaced each other in flawless execution. And conveniently placed, the two wolves of List most important to him almost awaited him on a silver plate. His rusty tipped auds catching hint of segments of conversation. The first smirked. No true warrior of mine grows by the side of their mother. Heh. Of course. Boys will always we boys.. His glossy ivory split his obsidian facade, as his frigid venomous eyes met the two wolves at a closer distance. "Because its time for him to come with me," fell the voice of the nihtgenge, his form slowly halting between the two relatives. "They can't stay young blind and helpless forever."

[Arias]

I watched as my mother squared herself up to me. She was above me in all ways now…in height and in rank. But still, that did not stop me proving myself to her that I am worth more than an emissary. I was to become a warrior, part of the Balkar. Something my mother could never be…and that would be enough to make her jealous. At least, if not now, it would some day when I had the skills to show her up. Then I would have my revenge.
She questioned me now about my return, and just as I was about to explain to her my predicament, another entered the scene. My fiery eyes flashed with frustration as my muzzle swivelled round to fall upon the sapphire glare of none other than the First of the Balkar. Immediately the anger in my eyes was replaced by awe and, for some reason, fear. His words broke the silence between the three of us and struck me hard with realisation. The day had come, it was actually happening. I was to become the one thing I had been born to follow in the steps of. Nothing could help mask the excitement that was flickering in my eyes and playing as a grin on my whitened muzzle.

Glancing from Ziev back to Gryffin, My broad auds perked forward and I suddenly felt the need to boast. Yet, I stopped myself. I had come here for a reason, and no matter if the First were here to take me away, I would fulfil my journey’s purpose. Ziev might actually prove useful anyway with my questions.
My next words would surely stump them, cause them to question me, maybe even laugh at me. But it was the truth and it needed to be let out. I couldn’t hold it in anymore. Taking in a deep breath I let it out in a sigh, my tail flicking slightly with worry at their coming reactions. “Leohlic, he has returned.”

(Aweful I know, but I felt this thread needed to move along a bit faster.)

[Fiory]

((I do hope it's alright if I intrude for but a moment...if not, I'll gladly delete this. ))

Ebon mits lightly grazed across the lands of List that for so long had belonged to them. Such a new feeling, to hold no single high rank anylonger, nor to feel the need to prove oneself into a mighty oblivion just for the sake of protecting the pack she held dear to her heart. Goldenrod auditories flicked softly in the shadows a breeze shifting and her gait never ceasing. A familiar howl had been heard by the aging cosmic femora, and as curiousity would have it she had set out to investigate as was her normal reaction anytime before hand. However, upon reaching the very place where the owner of the howl resided, it was clear no further action upon her part was needed. The Drappa of List, her neice of fiery liniage and a proud demeanor stood facing the varg who had announced himself; a becon of pride for the stargazer to behold. Ah, and another young face she would not soon forget lest her mind slipped a bit more in the coming years. That paled fur and crimson neckline, how fitting a size Arias had grown, just like the grandfather he never would know.

Slinking gracefully from the shadowed edges, the stargazer's hues of brilliant gold sparkled with everlasting beauty beyond age at the two she knew all too well, before those eyes glanced towards the ebony stocky frame of the First nearby. Oh what a varg he seemed to be, a cool collective and vicious thing, hell bent on fullfilling whatever the deeds of his god Wolfbane commanded; an errand boy in Fiory's eyes, though she never really did get off on the correct paw with Ziev.

"My Drappa, if I am not intruding too far..." Her voice was soft, supple and kind, gentle to the ears with that mystical air that had become her trademark among transylvania. A light grin rose upon her ebony muzzle, and the pitch femme glance softly over at her higher ranking niece. The stargazing nurse had yet to learn to lower her head to Gryffin at the beginning to show respect, though she would let old habits die harshly in time. Ears of golden rod meadows lightly flicked backward before a gentle serene bow of her neck was given only to the form of Gryffin and no one else. Arias had no rank, and therefore since age was upon her side Fiory need not submit to the likes of him, were as Ziev although he was still the First of the Balkar and technically speaking perhaps outranked her, he was however in a different pack and perhaps percieved as more of an equal then merely a Dragga of another Pack.

"Did my aging ears hear correctly, that you believe you are the reincarnation of the great Leohlic Arias?" Her gaze turned fiery, and a glimmer of mysteriously mischeif making gleamed wildly in her eyes. Her head stood proud beside that of Gryffin, and her grin lightly fell out along her long slender muzzle. "Leohlic I am afraid has been long dead, my dear mann, and unfortunatly you do not have the stature to reclaim his greatness....at least, not yet..." Her words were quiet, connivingly simple and all in all a gentle reminder to the younger male that even though the blood of the greater varg of crimson roamed freely through his veins, Arias was not Leohlic, and perhaps he never would be. Thos were paw marks that would prove incredibly hard to fill...but Arias would more then liekly learn of this much later....

"So you are taking him Ziev, you old fiend? To teach him of the Balkarian ways as what is I am sure custom?" Fiory's muzzle never moved from staring down the young mann before her, but those eyes turned away to glare in silence upon the ebon varg of the Balkar. It had always been clear to both the Balkar and to List that Fiory's dislike for the Night Hunters was all to apparent in her every day actions. It hadn't seemed like too long ago when Ziev had payed another visit earlier in the winter when the star gazer's bones were nearly poking through her fur. And even at that time, when the oformer Drappa had seemed her weakest, she appeared fully capable of standing her ground to the Balkarian Dragga. This time, obviously even though she had stripped herself of her own rank, seemed little different then the last time they had met together. The same tone of voice was given, laced with poison roses and sweet daggers of everlasting loathing. Clearly, even though she was only but a nurse, Fiory would never truly submit herself to the likes of her Balkarin allies...

[Gryffin]

Emerald optics watched her son with a grin when a voice interrupted them. The Fae turned to give a glare, tail twitching as her emerald orbs fell onto the large shadow that appeared from seemingly no where. Flawless in some ways. But his presence only brought irritation to the autumn drappa. At his words Gryffin only flicked an ear. She had known in time that her son would fall under the ranks of the nihtgenge, and she would be damn disappointed if it had not. She would not her only son waste away his life as a kerl. They were no body's as dust riddled as a sikla. emerald oculars give a blink as she turned to view the masculine. "Don't get your tail all tied. His birth rights been marked long before you set your eyes 'pon his existence" Gryffin grinned, as her head gave somewhat of a nod of a greeting to the First.

Gryffin looked to her son, misunderstanding his statement for the moment as she starred at him. the tellings of her father had been passed around in List and obviously Gryffin would not have let her kin live on without the knowledge of the blood that pumped through their hearts. Any further speech would be stalled due to the arrival of the stargazer.

Irritated once more the autumn Fae turned to see who exactly it was that decided to pop by for a spell once more. Her eyes fell upon the bodice of her aunt. Gryffin gave her a nod of a greeting, the bow that she had developed when her nurse was drappa had evaporated within the last moons. Gryffin allowed Fiory to carry on with her thoughts, more curious as to what the femme had to say.

Gryffin raised a brow as to what Fiory had said. True it was true, no matter how much the tri hued emissary hoped her only son would live up to his grand sires name. He was nothing much of the sort yet. He had to first be granted a position in the night hunter pack. Though the idea fed Gryffin's desire. "So sure are we Arias?" the tri hued dam asked. Her tongue clicked. "You've a long way to go Arias". Gryffin spoke, perhaps it was meant to be degrading almost willing to crush his overly empowering ego. But was it not that that would present opportunities and the willingness to possess the adolescent to strive harder to become the late crimson First.

Looking out from the corner of her eyes she watched Fiory spoke to Ziev. The slight click and pasty swipe of her tongue was enough to remind her of the stargazer's dislike with the now present First as well as her unswaying demise of the Balkar. Gryffin only ignored it, she was born to be a balkar and if not for her gender she would not be drowning in the disappointment nor the jealousy that nipped at her come the time where her brothers Fernlick and Baleful had left her to fall under the ranks of the night hunters. The feelings that would so surely to flow through Sora's veins by now.

But it was Arias's turn to fall under the spotlight now as it was time for a new chapter in this brute's life.

[Sudak]

It had seen like many moons since the disappearance of the Alpha's son, Arias. The howl that soon rang in his auds however had the tone of one varg Sudak would not soon forget. The ivory mann had at once taken a liking to his lone son upon his birth. Watching the pup rise to a youth to then make his way to the life of a Kerl was something Sudak watched with keen interest. An ever watchful eye always lay on Arias. Soon following the howl of his son his mate followed with her softer toned song. Sudak gave a smirk. She would no doubtedly be to her son's side before he was. That was good, they could use some time one on one. The mann took to his pads making his way through the lands to the growing party.

Reaching the indeed growing sounds of the gathering Sudak was about to make his entrance when he heard the voice of none other then Ziev. Sudak and he had had their run ins when Sudak was still Beta but never had they encountered as Alphas. Most disputes between the two had been settled in Sudak's mind but were they in the First of the Balkar's. Soon thereafter Arias' voice softly split the air with the mention of Leohlic. The Alpha's eyes widened as his son uttered those words and the conversation among the group continued. What a claim for his son to make indeed. Only time would tell whether Arias would prove himself worthy of that statement.

Padding slowly from the brush he caught sight of his son then panning he caught sight of Ziev, Gryffin, and Fiory. So his son was to be taken into the Balkar. Sudak knew his son dreamed of this moment and a smirk came across his maw directed at Arias. Indeed Sudak was proud but his lineage indeed had a hand in his success to this point. Only Arias could determine how far he took his opportunities that now lay before him.

No words were needed between Sudak and his son. That short smile said all Sudak had needed to say.

(ehh.. considering I haven't posted in a while.. sucked, I know..)

[Arias]

My head shot round at the sound of my previous Drappa’s voice. Her old and withering frame was recovering slowly from the winter’s cruel bite. My muzzle began to twitch with the urge to snarl and snap at her as my brow furrowed into a deep frown. Fiory was outliving a death she should have grasped moons ago, and I would have been more than happy to take that precious sunshine out of her eyes to leave them stone cold for the ravens to peck at. What exactly was she worth now? After the way she had humiliated me in front of my parents on the day she agreed to fight with me, I could never live such shame down. Fiory deserved death – and it would be by my jaws that she would suffer. One day at least, it was still a dream.
Her words hit me hard and I pulled myself back from the severe urge to lunge forward and latch onto her scraggly throat. I had never claimed to be the Great Leohlic, and in truth I never will live up to such standards. And I had claimed, was his return. Flexing my large, broad auds forward I let a deep growl quiver in my throat. “No one could live up to Leohlic, not even his own children and their children. I will never fully become Leohlic,” I replied, choosing my words carefully.

There was no way on this mortal earth that I could prove to these inadequate beasts that my grandfather’s spirit was now residing inside me. All I could do was trust and hope that my mother would understand. Answer my questions and help me figure such a complicated varg out. Turning my fiery eyes away from the bedraggled old bitch, I once again looked to my mother, ignoring her words. She was a proud varg, and wouldn’t have let herself appear weak or affected by his news. Though somehow I knew that Gryffin was going to listen.
The issues of becoming a Balkar would come after. I hadn’t trekked far and wide from the kerl lands beyond the Transylvanian forest to have my initial quest shunned and forgotten about. I would get my answer, no matter how long it took to obtain them. “Mother, do you ever remember your father having severe pains? Unexplainable jolts of thunder that would strike him at any unannounced moment? Did he once know a beast, most unlike any varg you have ever met that looks nothing more than a walking carcass that went by the name of Tasá? Does any of this register with you?” I asked her quietly. I knew the others could hear my questions, however Fiory and Ziev appeared to be in their own little world that I couldn’t have cared less.

The appearance of my father did not register to me. I was too focused on listening to Gryffin, I wanted answers and I wanted decent explanations. Until Sudak made himself shown to me, I was unaware of his presence.

[Gryffin]

Emerald optics swept them over her only son. Auburn tassel giving a flicker as blood tinted ears twitched at the sound of parting brambles. Cranium turned to spot the sight of Sudak. Gryffin gave a nod to the dragga, acknowledging his presence before turning her attention back upon the adolscent,

Gryffin nodded as tongue swiped her lips. Her son was wise in his words as they pulled away from any naive toppings. True the tri hued femme would never be like Leohlic, she could never live up to such achievments and so dissappoint sank in the back of her heart, though the sense that neither Fernlick, Baleful nor the little runt Jade would ever fall perfectly in their sire's footsteps.

Though it seemed Arias was not just here for a mere greeting nor a side note that spoke about his newfound path towards the nighthunters. No, there was much more he wanted, and more reason he was here. Gryffin could see it in his eyes.

And so it came, the casual questions, but the thirst of knowledge and hungry curiousity clung to ever syllable of the adolescents words. Gryffin paused, her mind working back to remember to think. Emerald optics blinked " Severe pains? There were times when spasms overtook him, shocked him and shook him. Spasms that seem to take over him, controling his body." Gryffin seemed to recall. Though many of the times her father had left the listern lands to return to the Balkar lands, where the femme guessed, he was most comfortable with. "Tasa?" The name wrung a bell. Perhaps she had heard her father speak of this beast. Perhaps she had heard it forming and passing it by tongue within the vargs of the Carpathian during her scouting travels. Nonetheless she had a small idea of who and where this monster resided. "I cannot be sure Arias. But from what I've heard she is a beast, residing in the muddy trenches near Sarnes. But I know nothing else of this mutated varg you speak of" Gryffin spoke calmly, her hues blinking as curiosity slithered around her own throat, and more so to why her son had asked these questions. What exactly had he seen during his travels as a kerl?