Path of our Fate...Story version...

Story by kaleemmcintyre on SoFurry

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#1 of Path's of our Fate...


Comic: http://yiffstar.com/?pid=85376

    • * The alpha fox woke with the yawning of the new dawn's sun. The rays from the amber orb drifted over the edge of the horizon and then shot into his den inside of the mountain cave directly into his muzzle stirring him from a hunt that had only been in his dreams. The large grey vulpine growled and mumbled in his heavy, masculine voice of his displeasure at being roused as his jaws were a hair's breath away from the scruff of a tender young faun. Even now the fox could taste the crimson life blood of the young buck's body coursing over his teeth and tongue stirring a hunger in his belly. A grumble, much louder than from his muzzle, emanated from his stomach making the grey barbarian vulpine caress his hollow pit above his loin cloth before rising onto all four of his paw pads and stretching out like a lesser animal. The bulk of his body was so that the male had to position himself in that manner less he knock the outcropping of his den's stone ceiling with his head, as in times before when he first dominated this cavern. Walking on all fours was a simple feat for the fox as his double jointed legs easily bent forward allowing him to maneuver his body in such a way that he mimicked the posturing of his feral cousins. Letting himself off of his fur pelted bed and out of his cool den into the warming valley that he had claimed as his own the fox stood up to his full height. In the misty morning air the grey barbarian looked to the edges of his lands and puffed up his chest proudly before letting out a hard yowl of pleasure rumbling the earth and rousing the native wildlife to his presence. Birds took to the sky as they knew the call of the master of the forested valley was awake and ready to churn the wheel of life yet again with a daily hunt. Deer raised their heads and looked to the source of the sounds before prancing nervously in place. Squirrels and chipmunks fought for space among the branches and roots of the trees as they scampered to the cover of safety while rabbits hopped away as fast as their frightened legs could carry them into their burrows. When the fox had thoroughly made himself known he flexed his claws and then walked the trail of the path leading up the rocky mountain face before down into the valley. As his naked paw padded feet clamored over the jade wisps of grass the barbarian strolled over to an old redwood tree that sheathed a broad, double bladed axe; his weapon of choice made by his people and given to him upon entering the age of adults at thirteen summers old. Taking the polished handle and ripping the metal from the tree like the flesh from an animal the fox swung the axe with ample dexterity and almost perfect precision before shouldering it onto his left side and then strolling into the arms of the forest. The sentinel of trees welcomed the masculine alpha like one of their own as the fox walked into their fold scenting the wind for his prey of the day. It had been two days since he had last feasted on the rich, tender bones of anything bigger than an overly plump rabbit whose neck he had easily crushed when bored. The barbarian choosing to let the herd of deer that roved his lands, seeking their own way through the ramparts that were life, be for a few days to let the flames that were hunger nip and knaw at his belly until he felt the time was right to take on the younger males and dance the dance of predator and prey. Today would be that day and the fox didn't bother to hide his joy at the thought of tearing into one of them with either his weapon or his own claws and fangs as he licked his muzzle in anticipation. The wind changed singing the place of the herd into his nose making the grey vulpine's stomach quiver with need to be sated. Picking up his stride the barbarian let his boisterous tail slash into the air as it picked up from the grassy plain beneath his feat demonstrating his excitement to the world. The fox stopped when a scent caught his attention turning his head from the delectable odor of venison to something else entirely. As the lord of the lands spanning more than half a mile in diameter the barbarian was knowledgeable of all of the creatures, no matter how great or miniscule that entered his territory. The scent of fresh rabbit's blood soaked over that of a wolf's made the fox growl low and gnash his fangs together in fury. Someone either was unknowing of the spirit of superiority that roved these lands or was foolhardy enough to trespass without trepidation and plunder the spoils of his domain. They would soon find themselves slaking the barbarian's hunger in a most painful and grotesque of ways. The grey fox crept quietly along on the balls of his padded feet as the smell of blood soured the air making it harder for him to control the fury welling inside of his vision. His grip on the clothed handle of his weapon grew so that the wood splintered and cracked silently in awe. The spongy, damp sounds of fangs and tongue tearing into flesh woke the barbarian's ears from their lowered place atop his head and sent them into immediate attention. The large tri-pointed appendages curved around taking in every sound through the forest but most importantly that of the chomping muzzle greedily feasted on the flesh on a recently slain rodent. Stepping from the edge of a single oak wood tree the grey fox found a sight that made him pause before stilling all of his body's functions. There, sitting on the red streaked ground was a young ashen-ebony furred wolf pup clothed in what was less that cloth, more so to be rags stitched together in the modest hopes of decency. The fox blinked several times as his senses chronicled every feature of the adolescent wolf from the outer white fur of his lean upper body to the crimson frothed muzzle eagerly tearing into the rabbit tightly clutched into his paws. From what the grey vulpine could see the pup had an outer pattern of colored fur that was dominantly colorless while the inside of his body from the edges of his snout down to his inner torso was midnight black. The barbarian guessed that the rest of the pup's inner body was the same dark shade though he could only see so much from the ragged remains of the cloth hugging him as best it could. When the vulpine found his feet ushering him forward until several feet distanced them from one another the grey fox stopped and made a soft crooning noise in the depths of his throat startling the younger creature. The wolf's head snapped up and his eyes opened wide in unadultered terror as he watched the mass of alpha vulpine overshadow him. Silence erupted between them for moments on end it seemed as the pup's muzzle dripped in the sweet, honeyed blood of his prey. The wolf whimpered but stayed frozen as fear gripped him in claws as tight as Death's. His cobalt orbs danced with milky tears as the pup found himself enraptured by the alpha male before him. Likewise the fox was taken to a realm beyond his own as the aura of the terrified youth captured him as tightly as any trap. An eerie connection of understanding passed between the two as the fox slowly backed away releasing his overpowering presence from the over the pup. The young wolf let his eyes blink for several seconds before he slowly lowered his teeth and tongue back into the cooling corpse of his meal all the while never taking his sight from the other. The barbarian watched as the younger male tore resolutely into his meal while carefully turning the rodent over in between his paws like a stalk of corn as he ripped fur from the carcass to get to the tender parts before his fangs met bones. The fox couldn't halt his head from cocking to one side as his ears fluttered over his head taking in every noise the monochrome pup made. It took at grand total of five minutes as the pup sucked the juices from the bones of the now skeletal rabbit while leaving the head intact to stare with lifelessly at nothing before placing the frame of the critter down before him and then slowly backing away into the underbrush behind him. Never once did his eyes leave the alpha's and likewise the vulpine's own rustic orbs faltered not once in their battle of wills. When the pup's silhouette became a faded memory to the vulpine did the fox snap his head from the place where the pup had been to turn away. For an unknowing reason the barbarian found that his lips had tugged upwards and his body seemed to hum with new life. As if the sight of the younger male had inflamed a new vigor inside of himself from somewhere deep within his core. Shivering in some unknown anticipation the grey vulpine hefted his docile axe onto his shoulder again and then took to his path back to stalk his own meal for the day. The thoughts of the pup, however, left his mind at no time between the search and hunt for his prey. More so, the visions of the almost bare young wolf seem to tease the fox along with his loins. Casting those thoughts from him like water from a pond the barbarian centered his full concentration on his task at paw. The deer strutting across the earth never knew of the dangers just meters away from their falsely secured herd as the most dominant buck scrutinized the surrounding area of the forest along with its kind. The grey fox made certain that he would be the one he brought down as the majestic animal waved its leaf shaped tail while its antlered head cautiously angled backwards and forth in search of jeopardy to the herd. The vulpine could taste the musky scent of the other male on the cusps of his senses and a leisurely sweep of his tongue along the rim of his muzzle along with the tensing muscles of his blade arm were the only indications of his readiness to strike. The wind favored the barbarian as the soft breeze cast his scent away from the grazing animals into the distance and drew the alpha buck to him. Bending his knees ever so slightly, gripping his axe with a heavy paw, calming his breathing with time honored practice the fox waited. When the buck turned its head to look at the rest of the herd the vulpine struck. There was no sound from him save the crashing of his body from behind a small berry bush and by that time the buck could only turn to stare into the eyes of his death as the glinting edge of the double bladed weapon howled through the air. Because of the slow turn of its head still occupied with the rest of his kind the buck saved the greater majority of his face and antlers from being cleaved in two but it didn't spare the creature's life, only the sweet mercifulness of an agonizing departure from life. Blood spattered everywhere when the whistle of the blade cut through bone and ligaments before stopping inches from the ground. The cut was so clean that the axe's head was spared from being tarnished by the animal's life fluids on the resounding swipe but when the deer's muzzle and snout fell away to the ground a wave of red stained the silvery varnish. The barbarian watched as the buck's body kissed the ground and flailed around for the fraction of a second and then settle prior to the surviving herd kick up at the ground and then shoot off into the cluster of trees and shrubbery. A great lost had befell them in the death of their newest alpha but another would take the mantle days to come, as was the way of life when the dance of predator and prey was staged. The grey fox slashed his axe through the air loosening the blood from the edges before going over to the now incapacitated animal and wiping the twin sides of the axe onto the deer's hide. Grunting in satisfaction at his kill the vulpine grabbed the hind legs of his catch and hefted it up with minimum effort. The large quarry would fill him for a week before he would need to hunt again if he ate down-to-earth portions and avoided the almost voracious feeding that his people were known for after a successful hunt. Walking back to his mountain den the triumphant hunter thought over of which pieces of the inner organs he should pick at when his ears shot up and swallowed up the sounds of someone nearby. The same someone yelping out for help. The voice sounded too young to be an adult and when that fact surged through the alpha fox images poured into his mind of a certain wolf pup. A tidal wave of emotions ran through the vulpine with the speed of a descending lightning bolt from the sky and the barbarian's body was in action eating up the ground without command. The buck in his paws only slowed him down as the fox found the cries growing more desperate and in the same instant he had broken off into a forward vault the grey vulpine dropped his kill and raced onwards with his axe ready by his side. By the time the barbarian got to the axis of the yelps source what he found made rage boil within his veins. In a small, ruined clearing where strangers to his territory dressed in metal armor with helmets of steel casing their heads. The strangers were surveying the area with dedication that came only with desperation and determined vigilance. A sudden yelp made the fox turn his head to see the monochrome wolf pup from before being manhandled by one of the armored interlopers. The growl that ruptured from the grey vulpine's lips startled the soldiers and made the one holding the pup drop the young wolf onto his tail where he bounced before settling. The pup shook his head before looking to the stranger from before and then watched as the fox roared before charging the man who had been trying to take him away from his home. The barbarian couldn't suppress it, the truth that lay within the breast of his people from centuries before; the all encompassing desire to maim and slaughter without remorse of regret. The same passionate ferocity that made them outcast to the civilized world and guardians to nature's most primal of secrets. The soldier that had held the pup didn't have the second to unsheathe his sword as a claw from the fox broke through his helmet into his head ripping through to the other side in a wet and sticky burst of grey matter. Tearing his garnet stained paw from the now dead man the fox turned to the others who were caught in indecision. The choice, however, was made for them as the barbarian cam at them with his weapon raised and the song of battle laden in his voice. The pup watched the stranger in awed terror and yet dismayed wonder as the fox danced into the fray with the grace of a berserker. The grey vulpine barked and yowled as he cut through the men with ease that spoke of lifetimes of battle. As the soldiers who still stood watched their comrades fall to their deaths the all encompassing need to live swept them up and forced their armored feet to flee from the mad fox. Only three would live to tell them tell from the original seven who voted to oversee the capture and pursuit mission their commanding officer had asked them to volunteer for. Of the three that ran as fast as they could from the carnage laid behind them not one would ever pick up a weapon from that day forward. When the fox saw the others run with their tails sunk underneath their richly clothed bodies the tide of madness ebbed to an even pool of calmed tranquility. However, with the battle done, if it could have been called that even by the most warped of minds, the fox found himself in the cooling fluids and guts of his beaten foes. Instinct made him reach a paw down to wipe his naked chest off, that was until a soft whimper made him whip around with a heavy grip on his axe. The pup watched as the older male looked to him with those flaring orbs and cupped his muzzle to keep himself from natural shriek of apprehension. The fox dissipated the last dregs of his wrath from around the edges of his vision and mind before letting his weapon fall from between his paws to clatter to the blood streaked grass. Dropping to his knees and still towering over the pup the barbarian made soft wounds emit from his muzzle eliciting tranquility from the young wolf. The pup barked some before his body settled down and he eased himself over to the large male. His senses were telling him that the fox wouldn't hurt him despite his previous slaughter. Instinct begged the wolf to step closer when the vulpine wagged his tail and lowered his head further down so that he was eye level with the pup. When the younger male was inches away enough the barbarian reached out a claw cleaned of the filth of battle to finger the other's body and prod at his ribs. The pup chuckled when the sharp nail like point poked at him teasing his senses. The grey fox touched the younger wolf over and over on different spots before becoming satisfied with his examination. As long as internal injuries were none existent and physical wounds were slight the pup would heal. Standing up to his full height once more the fox finally took an interest at his surroundings. Where he stood looked to be the wastes of a camper's site. There were broken tents mildewing from constant weathering, old pots and pans easily seeing better days from constant use instead of laying in one place getting dirty and worn down, and some old sleeping bags that were mostly ripped apart now. The fox turned his attention to the monochrome pup who looking over the now dead soldiers before retracting his attention to the area he now encompassed. Since this was technically his territory, even though the vulpine had an idea that he was a few dozen yards from his last scent mark, he wondered why he had only seen the younger wolf as of recently. Surely his family had been killed or abandoned the pup as he wandered in such rags and ate like the barbarian's people but how had the pup and his people gotten so close to here as to not alert his attentions earlier? Dragging his mind from his endless assumptions the fox strove to ask the pup what he knew. However, once again another event prevented him from following through on prior plans. The wolf was making foreign gestures with his pas, body, and tail and once he was settled to bouncing on the balls of his footpads the earth swallowed up the remains of the deceased soldiers so that nothing remained of their presence. The fox growled at the pup making him cease his bouncing to look at his quasi-savior. The grey vulpine was shocked, angry, a somewhat frightened by what he had seen. The art of sorcery was not a thing to be toyed with and yet here the young wolf had commanded the earth herself to his bidding. This raised questions in the wolf's mind along with the fur along his neck. At the tears of innocence raining down the pup's muzzle the fox lost his apprehension to take on a small smile of reassurance. Instantly the young wolf quieted down before going stock still, moving only to breath as his chest expanded and then collapsed. Understanding fled him as the vulpine had innumerable questions for the pup but he knew that his answers would not come today, and in the back of his mind a voice growled that what he sought may find him in a world not his own. However, the one question he did have that pressed against the folds of his conscious was easily answered when the barbarian stepped to the pup and then took his paw into his own. Not knowing what to do about this strange male the young wolf curled into a slight ball as he watched the paw loom in front of his body. Unsure of what to do he waited as the earth quivered around him. The fox waited for the tremors of unknowing to flee from the pup before a tentative paw reached out for his own. The valley that was the vulpine's paw gobbled up the monochrome wolf's own before clasping around him securely and then leading him away. The fox picked up his axe before he was too far away to remember and the followed his path back to his earlier prize with a new addition along the way beside him. Scaring off his brethren who both watched over and picked at his kill the barbarian grasped the cold buck's hind legs in the same paw as his axe, maneuvering everything with nimbleness that was impressive even to himself, while still holding onto the pup's paw. The pup looked to the large deer that had been slain and then to the man who had hauled it into his paws before wondering where the larger vulpine was taking him. Fear didn't claw at his belly as it might have days ago as the wolf found himself nuzzling the older male's unclothed leg finding that the strength of the other made his uncertainties abate and trepidations ease into nothing. The fox walked on while stealing glances at his new burden before a smile spilt his muzzle. Once back at the cave entrance inside of the mountain the fox released the wolf and pushed him forward into the cave. The pup blinked up at him before tiptoeing into the darkness sniffing around while the fox set about cleaning dinner. A careful ear kept out for the younger male as the fox cut the deer open with his claws and then rooted through the animal purging the unwanted parts and pieces for his tricksters' brethren who had followed behind him at their leisure. When the pup had finished his explorations of the mountain's inner sanctity the deer was cleaned and readied. The alpha fox would normally have taken his share before leaving whatever he didn't eat, which would have been little less than nothing, for the young wolf but instead he moved to one end of the animal and the patted the area next to him before kneeling down and taking fresh bites from the venison. The monochrome wolf happily yipped and sat beside his new guardian before devouring his portion of the animal. The two ate with restrained heartiness as bite by bit the deer lost its fur and flesh and was transformed into bones. When they finished with the barbarian eating a fraction less than his true fill the older male hefted the beast up and threw it away next to the left over organs that were drawing attention from other scavengers of his forest. Growling a yawn the grey vulpine popped his shoulders and then headed for the tree that was just beneath the entrance to his den. Having never let his axe from his side the barbarian lifted his weapon and gazed over its cleaned edges before slamming it into the bark of the tree down to the groove made from prior sheathing. Having done that the fox returned to his charge, who silently waited for him in the same spot as he had been left before lowering himself to all fours and entering his den. The younger wolf followed behind, being able to stand up inside of the cave unlike his guardian, and then watched as the older male circled the piles of furs on the floor and settled down to slumber. Standing there for a few minutes more the pup whimpered and drew the attention of the fox who growled at him and bayed him over with a paw. Not used to sleeping with others the fox let the pup ease onto the floor and into the groove of his bulkier body before the gray vulpine settled his muzzle atop the wolf's head and calmed his breathing enough to try and grasp at sleep. The younger wolf drew in the masculine scent of the older male and found that it soothed his battered mind into fitful sleep within minutes. Curling up as much as he could the monochrome pup sighed as his tail draped over his protector's thighs and loin cloth before he fell into darkness. The fox let his own tail cover the young wolf before he too raced into sleep's arms. Outside the sun was beginning paint the sky above a brilliant tapestry of aurora like colors as a single, strong breeze blew through the forested valley and into the inside of the cave. A single black paw rose up and shooed it away before the paw returned to be curled into a strong furred body. The breeze followed the commands of the paw and for the rest of the evening the wind bothered neither fox nor wolf. Unusual since the wind almost always flowed into the direction of the cave.
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