Niklaus Athanasius came from a tribe of wolves who made their home within the caverns cut into a mountain. The majority of his puppyhood was normal and filled with love, as his parents (along with the rest of the pack) doted on him due to him being born the runt. While his rapid growth was unexpected, he remained the ‘prince’ of the pack and there was talk of him eventually taking over the pack once he grew and his father was incapable of leading. However, once his eyes began their shift from puppy-blue to their future colour, there was a dramatic shift in how the pack felt toward him. It was his brother who had noticed first, who was envious of the attention Niklaus received, and immediately he called for their parents. Klaus’ blood-red eyes had come to shock to his parents – along with the rest of the pack – and it was that moment that everything changed for the young pup. Red eyes, the colour of spilled blood, were seen as a bad omen in the pack, as their former leader – along with the leader <i>before that</i> – had possessed the same colour and they both had gone insane. Their insanity had resulted in the murders of many pack members before both leaders were eventually ‘taken care of’ (ie. killed). Due to superstition, he was abandoned by his parents – he had heard stories of the murderous wolves but was confused as to why his parents were exiling him from the pack. All the love he had received prior had suddenly vanished, and his parents looked at him with distaste as they carried him down the mountain. Before they reached the bottom they released him, assuring him that if he ever returned he would not be welcome among them. After several days of travel Niklaus grew weary as starvation began to settle in and fainted, resulting in him stumbling down some rocks and losing consciousness. He woke up, hours later after the sun had fallen past the horizon, with little recollection of what had happened. The majority of his memory was gone, though bits and pieces remained (like his name). He did not care to connect the pieces that survived, as the one memory that stood out was his parents leaving him. He continued traveling, determined to survive on his own while scavenging food and watching other wolves hunt so he could teach himself.