Storm Warning

Finally, it had happened. After two long years of living at the croal mountains, Storm Warning had finally lost his mind. To him,everything was still the same. Kachina was alive, Enola, Akecheta, and Ageni were all here. The large male trotted to the Mountains, and stopped as he reached the center at the massive rock that was his and Kachinas. Laying down he smiled, and what he saw, no one else could. Amber orbs seemed glazed and distant as he lay there. He looked like a replica of his daughter Enola, both were bones and rags, and it looked as if the wind were to blow to hard, he would be taken away with it. Scary huh? Storm smiled as he watched what only he could see. Kachina would be back soon, she was just out hunting. Yes, she'd be back and she would love to see that her mate to was back and here to stay for good.

Enola and Ageni were rough housing while there brother watched making sure that they didn't get to rough. Kachina was out with one of her friends visiting with the other packs. Storm smiled to himself as his replica pinned her golden sister. How much Ageni looked like her lovely mother. She would be a heart breaker one day. Akecheta, he was dads strong warrior, his pride was as big as his fathers. Storms chest puffed out a bit. The others in the pack were somewhere else leaving him be but he didn't mind so much. He liked it quiet like this, when no one was bothering him and he could watch his children without worrying about someone snatching them away or rough housing to hard. Yes, life was peaceful.

Storm didn't know that this was no longer his land. That this was now Eytan and Nitas lands, but that glazed look was still there. The mountains had been his for awhile, but never could he rid himself of the memory of home. And now his weary feet carried him here. Now he was the packs problem, for he was dead center in there territory, lost in a memory that had never even existed.

Gavan*Astra

Tall, gangly Gavan was much older than Storm Warning could possibly remember, if the former alphen even recalled that Eytan and Nita had pups. He had grown lean and quick, with his father's powerful strength, and his mother's shadowed eyes: eyes that held secrets beyond bearing, beyond ages, beyond memory. Now aged two summers, he was an imposing figure, but a brooding one and a little hard to get close to. Miakoda's murder had shaken what was once his firm standing, and he had sunk back into himself, projecting a false face to those outside himself. He was still intensely protective of his family, but like his brother, Blade, he had mostly withdrawn from personal interaction.

So it was unusual to see him abroad this morning with his sister, Astra. The once fragile and detached female had finally learned to control her empath-like abilities, and was more able to live in this world rather than in the one beyond the stars where she had spent most of her puphood. Though she was still more spiritually connected to the world around her than most wolves, she no longer gazed into space for indefinite periods, or chanted in the singsong voice that had frightened her father so much when she was small. It had been in that voice that she had emotionlessly reported Miakoda's death, and though some small part of her had watched her parents wilt, she could not share their pain. Now she felt others' pain as keenly as if it were her own, and it was the waves of Storm Warning that brought her to bring a halt to her morning stroll, causing Gavan to pause in concern.

Astra? Something wrong?

Harks stood stiff and high on her skull, quivering to a sound that was more mental that physical. Maw opened without emitting a sound, and she wordlessly dashed away through the trees, Gavan struggling to keep up.

It was in this manner that they arrived in the clearing, responding to a call that only Astra could hear. Gavan was the older of them, and though Astra could not remember her former alphen, Gavan recalled him instantly. Jowls dropped to sound his name, but Astra reached up and took her brother's snout in her mouth, hissing, Quiet! Can't you hear it? When he shook his head, she sighed and released him, shoving her shoulder back into him to send him back into the trees. Something was not right about this wolf.

Silently, she lay down, her silver streaked coat only a few shades darker than the snow she burrowed into. Positioning herself carefully, she assumed a completely relaxed, non-threatening position. When this was finally accomplished, she let her voice come forth softly, sagely using the words of respect that came into her mind as though placed there. Hello, elder brother.

Storm Warning

He continued to stare in the distance, and when he heard another speak, he turned and that odd look was still in his eyes. "Aren't they beautiful, Astra? They're growing. They'll be bigger then me soon." He turned back to his 'pups' his eyes distant and glassy. "Do you know when Kachina will be back? I have good news for her. Very good news indeed. And you, Gavan. How are you?" Silver toned male was speaking lightly, as if the sun were shining and it were spring time again, even though it was dead of winter. He continued to stare, beginning to hum softly now, and old tune that many could hear him sing when things were good. "Aakas never going to bother us again, isn't that wonderful news you guys? And Moon Spirit, ah my lovely kind sister. Shes going to come by with her pups so you guys can play." He didn't exactly remember the pups, he could see them still in their pup form. He recognized voices, thats how he knew the two. "Is your father around? And mother? I'm sure they would love to hear the news as well. Tell them the alphas back, and here to stay"

Nita*Ageni*RipTide*Kala*Poison Blade

Nita bolted as she spotted Storm. Her head was held high and so was her tail. She had been still greiving the loss of her duaghter Miakoda, who Kali had killed in her insanity. She puased standing by Storm, her best friend's mate. Oh, how she missed Katchina so much, but there was nothing to be done. She heard his voice and grew worried. She sat beside him looking over her shoulder as two of her most recent pups tagged along in.

Kala bounced around giggling non stop. Her white coat bounced with her movements so graceful and full of life. She wanted to run, to learn, to play and experience the world. Behind her growling and always angry, was RipTide, a devious and blind male. He had a more bulky figure, but the two pups were both rather young and clueless. Rip sat beside his mother, sitting up straight and seeing nothing, but darkness and hearing a strange voice. His lips pulled back and his coat brisk as needles. He growled bitterly and his eyes so cold and unbaring as they did not move one bit.

"You crazy idiot," he muttered wanting to say more, but Kala leapt onto his back pinning him to the ground and shutting him up. Nita turned back to Storm with a gentle smile.

"I'm not sure when she's coming back. If you want to see her you'll have to wait to meet her someday in the furture. She's far away right now Storm," she explained kindly. She wasn't the right one to say anything to anger him. She didn't mind him being there understanding what he went through. Tears filled her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. Oh how she missed her dear Miakoda so brave, just like Blade who was watching at a distance with curosity.

Ageni now came in with a limp. She had been missing for awhile and she looked terrible. Ageni was so beautiful before, with her light cream coat and gentle face. She now looked rough and had a scar going across her face and some over her shoulders that would never heal. She nearly died, and she was still weak from the attack. She stopped at a distance staring at him with anger. Ageni was always the sweet one, always wanting to love and be loved, but now she was lost and alone with her brother insane. He looked just like Storm, only much larger. Ageni had now grown bitter like Enola and turned her noise to him. She turned away, but still not too far at a distance for Nita barked for her to come over. She painfully limped up to them and sat down. She was the same size as her mother, still beautiful only full of scars from her incodent. She scuffed with great displeasure of being around him. I hate you, she wanted to snap, but she said nothing. Nita was baffled by the way Ageni had been acting lately, and she didn't know what to do.

Thunderhead*Gavan*Astra

Astra closed her eyes quietly, listening to the thrum of others around her, and slow symphony that only she could hear. Her mother's arrival did not cause her to open them, though three more instruments added to the chorus. Riptide the drum of waves, Kala a lingering flute, Nita a soaring violin. Behind her, Gavan was a trumpet, but muted with trying not to feel anything. The last of Nita's younger pups, Thunder, barrelled into the clearing to collide with his mother's leg, and timpani sounded in her brain. She mentally cast these aside, focusing in on Storm.

In a way she could never understand, Astra had always heard others in sounds between her ears, and as she homed in on Storm's mental "beat", she heard the high screaming of an organ, the wailing of a thousand trumpets, the squealing of woodwinds, all clattered together in a minor key. For time in only a few spare moments, her mouth opened and closed without making a sound as she gasped a little for breath. Finally, though she could not see what he saw, she felt enough of him to know that whatever he did see was not of this time, perhaps not of this world.

At this point, hearing Storm speak, she gathered herself enough to smile, and spoke softly, encouragingly, as did her mother. Yes, they are lovely, Sir. That does sound like fun. Perhaps someday we all will play together. It was a riddle within a riddle, but she was instinctively following her mother's lead.

Gavan eyed his sister quizzically, wondering if she was losing it, too. His eyes bored into the back of her head, but she ignored him.

Storm Warning

His eyes lit up at the sight of Nita, but when she said Kachina wasn't with him, his face fell a bit. "Oh...Well, thats okay. She'll be back soon. I know she will." He had a glimpse, just a flicker, of Kachina, her body ragged and torn. He frowned a moment but shook his head, clearing the image. No, the fighting days were over now. Yeah, thats it, think positive. No more fighting, no more war. Everything was perfect. Everything. When he saw his daughter, his eyes flickered with uncertainty. He looked back to where his 'pups' were playing, then back to Ageni. He smiled to his youngest, his tail wagging slightly. "Mama will be back soon, Ageni. Isn't that great? Then we can all play. Just like we used to." He still saw the pups, but he saw Ageni, recognized her for who she was. He turned back to the illusion, then spoke again this time to Gavan. "You should smile more. You don't want your face frozen like that, do you Gavan?" His smile still in place, that odd look still in his eyes, he continued staring as if into space. Only Astra knew, she had to. Everything was gone, his mate, his children. Although, the children part had been his fault. In his misery he had ran to the only place he knew- The Croal Mountains. It was as close as he could get to these mountains here, without it actually being these mountains. "Yes, we'll all play tag like we used to, run and play. Kachina will love to hear the news that I have. Its good news. I never have good news, but today I do." The last bit was said in more of a sing song type voice, his tail continuing to wag. Although he was not even a shadow of his former self, there was still in aura of power to the weak and faded male. That little bit that everyone would see, would feel. But....Its not something that should be there. They would see. Kachina would come back, she had to. She wouldn't leave him, or her pups. She loved him. Didn't she?

Nita*Poison Blade*RipTide*Kala*Ageni

Katchina was dead, gone and killed by n old enemy and Storm was no where to be seen until it was too late for her. Her soul lingered over them, watching in sadness and worry. She was never happy, not after watching her family be so torn apart. She hated to see Enola in such a state when all she had to do was open her eyes, but blinded by terrible events. Ageni so sweet who now grew bitter, and was given up hope and now she was physically scared for life. Then Akecheta so brave, and wanting to help, now a ruthless beast, and... Storm, the one she loved suffering so terribly.

Nita nodded to him gently as he spoke. "I'm sure she'll be glad to hear the news," Nita said nearly chocking on her words. "She's with my duaghter right now Storm, watching her for me. You've seen my duaghter Miakoda haven't you? A gray pup full of energy and so curious," she told him with her heart longging for her dead pup. She slowly stood up just wanting to run off, but she did not. She only wished that Eytan was here where ever he was. She sat back down and nudged Rip gently. He only growled with such anger and hatred, and Nita could only wonder why. It couldn't possibly be his blindness alone that made him so bitter could it? Rip slowly walked away shaking his head with great anguish.

Kala bounced beside Storm looking up at him playfully. Her tail was wagging and she was smiling so blissfully. "Hello sir, I wanna play tag with you guys! Can I sir?" she asked in a high pitched voice that barked franticlly with joy. Her ears flickered to hear something and a familiar scent tickled her noise. She glanced over her shoulder to the shadows where her older brother hide. "Come on Blade! Your always hiding!" She shouted with a mouth full of giggles. Blade slowly walked up to them with a blank expression unsure of how to react to this. He looked at everyone and it was so strange.

"Hello sister," he said to Astra as he sat beside her and nudged her shoulder gently trying to comfort her as best as he could.

Ageni sat there with demonic growls erupting from her jaws shut tightly. Her lips drawn back to show the very tips of her ivory canines. "Mother is dead you idiot!" She blurted out as tears streamed down her face. "Look at us, you abandond us! Enola looked terrible last time I saw her, and Akecheta is almost as bad as Kali who killed Miakoda and tryied to kill many others. I was attacked and I saw my life flash before me, I saw mother... I saw her spirit in that," she barked feeling so confused. Nita bit her shoulder to make her hush and she did, lowering her head in a rush of anger that took over her body. She felt her fresh scars burning, the one that went across her face more then ever.

Storm Warning * Vivatir

The first of Moon Spirits pups came, fast paced and full of energy. Not thinking, the little dreamer rushed past the borders and deeper into the territory. Seeing the small pup, Kala, Vivatir yipped and pounced, landing hard on the other. "I wanna play!" She said. The soft white female giggled, then saw Storm. She blinked as she saw him. He looked vaguely familiar...

Hearing his daughters words he blinked. Standing, the male glared hard at her, his dark yellow eyes glaring into hers. "She is not dead. I saw her. I know where she is, and Miakoda is not dead either. What would make you say such hated things, Ageni? You were always my sweet little angel, my golden daughter. I never abandoned you. What I did was for your own good. He looked to Nita and with that same glassy look that he had had a few moments before, he said "I am sorry for my daughters harsh words, Nita. They'll be back soon. I know they will. Because I have good news." She had to come back, she just had to. She wouldn't leave him...

Nita*Ageni*Kala

"For my own good!" Ageni snapped bitterly as her cream coat grew brisk as needles. "Look at my face father! If you never left me I wouldn't have died on the inside! They are dead, and you did not do it for me, it was for your own selfish reasons becuase you cannot stop thinking about mother. I need you father, I need you, Enola needs you, Akecheta needs you, but you are no where to be found except some crazy dream world!" She cried.

"It's alright Storm, Ageni has been through alont," Nita replied with a gentle sigh. "We all have," she muttered.

Kala bit the other white pup that jumped on her and giggled more. "Then prepare for me!!!" Kala shouted squeezing away from Vivatir and trying to jump on her back.

Eytan*Thunderhead*Gavan*Astra

Do you hear them?
High in heavens of ebony blood
Echoing through the ages, ages
filled with old love, old pleasure, old pain.

The stars are screaming tonight.

Can't you hear them?
I can't be the only one
Who hears the echoes of long forgotten things.
Please tell me you hear them.
Please tell me I'm not crazy.
I can't be the only one
Who hears the stars...
The stars are screaming tonight.

Astra barely noted Blade's nudge, though she leaned into it unconciously. She wanted comfort, wanted it so badly, but the great screaming of 'Storm' was filling her mind, swirling around her with no relief. Finally, desperately, she pulled back, gasping for air as though she'd been drowning.

Nita's pain hit her oldest son in waves, and he turned away into the woods. Ma needed Da, and she needed him now.

Thunder watched as the other pups tumbled and played, but his brother's growls caught his attention, and so he padded up quietly to Rip, voice soft and tenative in a pup's question.Rip?

It was at this point that Eytan arrived, coming instantly to his mate's side with a nuzzle and a quick swipe of tongue to wipe away the tears. He stood very close to her so that his fur tickled hers, and it was only then that he spotted the maddened father. He was startled to see Storm Warning here, because the last time they had conversed Storm had violently protested ever coming back home. He looked over to his eldest children, looking for answers, and found only the pain in Astra's eyes, the comfort in Blade's. Finally, he spoke softly. Hello, Storm. How...nice to see you again.

Storm Warning * Blind * Vivatir

Vivatir giggled and pounced once more before she was caught beneath Kala. "Your bigger then me!" She giggled in protest.

Blind, a white wolfess that had taken up residence here, came forth. Gently she nuzzled Astra, then moved towards Storm and Ageni. She stepped between Ageni and her angered father, her Blind eyes taking in nothing but her ears hearing every word, every whisper that was spoken. I Walk alone, think of home, memories of long ago, No one knows I lost my soul long ago An ancient song, and one she knew well. Her milky orbs seemed sad as she spoke kindly to the bristling father "Kachina died Storm. She lives high above, her gaze always following you. Your pups, they were lost without you. Ageni, shes been fighting for her life. Akecheta, hes full of hate and anger. Your daughter Enola, she hangs on to life by a thread with that hope that someone that she loves very much will remember her, and love her back. In your eyes, Storm, what you did was right. What you did was always right, because you thought that if you went away, all of your childrens problems would go away. You left them when they needed you most. Her words were soothing and gentle, as the elderly female sat down. She was about eight or nine now, and didn't have much life left. But, at least for now she could help out Eytan and Nita with their most recent problem.

He was bristling with anger at his daughters words, but when the large white wolfess spoke, he froze. No....No no no. His eyes drifted to Eytan, who had spoken before Blind. Shes not dead....Shes coming back. Tears welled up in the males eyes as another flash hit him.

The rain was pouring, all he could hear was the thundering of his heart as he ran faster and faster. He had to warn her, they were coming. Faster, faster-Suddenly he was sent hurtling to the side. Shaking his head, the male stood up and his eyes landed on the form of Aaka. "Aaka! Aaka we have to hurry! Hurry, Aaka they're going to kill her!" Something about his sisters eyes set him off balance. They were wild, crazy. "Aaka...." His white sister gave no warning, not even a shift of muscle as suddenly she lunged forward and grabbed hold of her brothers throat. He couldn't breathe, but her fangs were sinking no deeper. Only enough to cut off his air supply. The rest was darkness except these words "Now I have to run, dear Storm. I must make it look like I am fighting for your precious little mate, while you are no where to be found."

Aaka had helped in the killing of Kachina. She had subdued Storm, leaving him in the mud and pouring rain, giving herself time to run and help Kachina....Storm remembered his mates ragged body, her haunting eyes. "She killed her.....Aaka killed Kachina." His eyes drifted to Blind, who didn't say a word. "You knew....You knew!" Suddenly the male lunged for the white wolfess, who had no hopes against the angered male. Even in his weakened state, he was strong and driven by a burning love. Blind was well, blind and her bones weak with arthritis. She felt his teeth slash across her face, her shoulder. She yelped and tried to pull away from the large male, but he wasn't giving up so easily. She had known that Aaka had chocked him, made him pass out. She hadn't help, had done nothing to aid him. She had known....

Eytan

He was horrified as all in a moment Storm went from the reminiscing father to an attacking madman. He was upon Blind before Eytan could react, but when it finally hit home, he leapt to her defense, growling as he came from an angle to drive his weight into Storm's chest to tear him away from Blind. His words were quick and precise, trying to convince. You said it yourself. Blind did not kill Kachina. Aaka did. Do not waste your anger on those who are innocent.

He was braced, keeping himself carefully in front of the blind and injured female. He did not know how far this was going to go, but he hoped it wouldn't come to a death match between he and his former alphen.

Ageni

Ageni's eyes narrowed listening to what was being said. "Black Magic killed mother at battle. But if it wasn't for Aaka this would have never of happened. She has destroyed many, leaving them to drownd in anguish and cry for lost loved once who we so despartely want to see again. She will pay! I can't believe I'm saying this,but I'm going to get Kali's help. She has befriend many dark wolves who want to seek revenge on Aaka. I have an idea, and father if you really love me, and Katchina you'll help. Meet me at the ruins," she said before running off, burning with anger.

Storm Warning

He was about to go for the killing blow on the blind fae, when he was thrust back. With an angered snarl, he turned white ivories when suddenly his daughters voice hit him. She will pay.... As if in a trance, the male followed his golden daughter, heading to the ruins as if nothing had happened.

Eytan

Eytan kept himself parked in front of Blind, not attacking but keeping Storm from attacking her again. It took several minutes after both Ageni and Storm left before he was willing to relax, and finally turned eyes to the injured fae. You alright?