Thy Fathers Rule
The night was dark, and stars shone in the sky. All was still and quiet, just as it should be at midnight. Suddenly, the peace was broken by the breaking of branches, and the pattering of many paws. After the branches had broke, silence fell again. Golden eyes began to gleam in between bushes, too many pairs to even count at a glance with all the restless pacing and shuffling. When all had settled, the branches broke before the thickset chest of a single, large greying wolf, who stepped calmly forward, and barked, the sound harsh and commanding.
In a single combined, noisy rush, they all leapt forward towards him, greeting him with affectionate nuzzles and small yips of happiness. Their tails swished and wagged, they touched muzzles and woofed at each other, as though meeting again for the first time in a long while. Only one wolf held back, a black wolf, who was significantly larger than most of the wolves, the riot of fur color making each wolf hard to see.
The single black wolf bared his teeth at the wolves, which caused four to leave the huge pack and gather around him. One of these wolves was a brown wolf, his coat the color of chesthunts, with reddish hints running along his spine. Yet another, who stood close to the brown wolf, was a steel grey. The remaining two wolves who flanked the black were matching white wolves, larger than any in the clearing.
Some of the other wolves broke away from the pack, and with playful exuberance began to chase each other, snapping and growling, pouncing and taunting each other, initiating yet more hyperactive behaviour. Behaviour which stopped at a low growl erupting from both the black and the old grey, whose eyes were linked together.
The grey leapt forward, his body melting into a silver lined mist, then flowing upwards into the form of a man, his eyes staying momentarily wolfen gold. As the gold faded to a brown, his human features became more pronounced. He wasn't a particulrly striking man, especially not at his advanced age. His hair was wild, unkept, and his face was scarred as though he had been savaged before. His hair was long enough to reach his collar, had he been wearing one, and held only a few strands of black now. His face, scarred as it was, was tanned and heavily lined, attesting to his age.
He was heavily muscled, muscles which rippled in his shoulders, chest and thighs. These muscles rippled in anger as the wolves around him settled into an uneasy relaxation, as he taunted the black wolf, as though it could understand him. A hint of his own wolfself was revealed in the growl that threaded thorugh his voice.
"Come, Rafael, hiding behind those others. You never show me the respect I deserve as both your pack leader and your father. You challenge me, so come and face me as a man, if you really are one."
The black snarled, as the five changed as though one, each missing the advanced senses they lost with every change.
The five stood clustered in a group, the young black-haired one mesturing angrily as he argued. He was arguing with two blonde twins, the only thing identifying one from the other being the fact that one had only short hair, and the other waist length silver-blonde hair. The other two had walked away, and sat upon a fallen tree. Both were male, and looked alike but had enough differences that showed they were only distantly related by blood. All of the five still had golden eyes, which made obvious the tension between them.
"Matteo, Sasha, let me face him! We need to hunt, to mate with others like us! If he has his own way, we would be starting packs with our lesser cousins, cousins which get shot and trapped daily!" The young man was pacing, and showing signs of a tightly reined in temper. His golden eyes picked out the other two of the group, who were discussing the matter between themselves. "Tom, what do you and Craig say I should do?"
The two men looked at each other, one with red hightlets to his chestnut colored hair, the other with steel grey hair, their kinship one of uncle and nephew.
"We say fight for our rights. We need to either get his approval, or to separate, to become our own pack away from here." It was Tom who had spoken first, him being the elder of the two, and oldest in the group. Now Craig spoke, a teasing tone injected into his voice.
"After all, Sasha is already the first female in our new pack, though I get the feeling she belongs to you, Rafael."
Rafael grinned, his cheeks flaring a little red, his black hair well kept. He glanced at Matteo, with blonde hair, golden eyes and a tan, at Sasha, with waist length hair, golden eyes and pale skin. He then turned his gaze to Tom and Craig, the two who sat side by side, their heads touching as they tilted them.. awaiting his words. *My friends, my...pack.* His smile faded, as he turned to face his father, his shoulders set stubbornly. All present, wolves and man, noted the similarities between the two. Neither was tall, but both were broad-shouldered, though who was larger, none could tell.
As Rafael approached on careful bare feet, his father, Moses, tensed himself, his large calloused hands balling into fists.
"Father, please hear us. We need to go and meet more of our own kind. Us five are bored here, and we don't feel you allow us the freedom we deserve. We only hunt with the others, we never get to go to a club like normal youngsters!" Rafael began to growl, his eyes which had faded to a warm chocolate brown flashed gold again as his whole body trembled, the outline misting slightly as he struggled to regain control of his emotions.
(To be continued....)