God, why was he back here? He should've known better. The quiet days of a wanderer were weighing on him like stones... He was a dumbass, that much was true, but he knew a good thing when he saw it. The Teekon was where he belonged... or so he hoped. He'd followed the stars and sent his songs upon the wind to try and find whatever was left of those that had cared for him when he'd been small. He chuckled. Well, he wasn't small anymore. Despite his diet of scraps and the occasional successful hunt with other loners, the young boy had grown into a juggernaut.
Everywhere he went, all he could see was how things used to be. How the wilderness shifted, when one was gone for just a blink, just a season or two. But there was one thing he had to know. He clung to a memory like a child to a toy, knowing that he'd one day outgrow it. Perhaps he already had - perhaps she was gone. Not that the answer mattered.
He found the tree of that day, though this time met it under starlight. He leaned against it, in the same manner as before. And waited for
@Mintaka - or perhaps he waited for her not to show up.
Tagging Auntie
@Keres to be here babysitter so she doesn't get in trouble ^^
Note to self: takes place on the 16th
It had been a long time since Mintaka had been here - since summer, she recalled. But she'd been wanting to go back, and Auntie Keres had agreed to go with her tonight. Of course, that didn't mean that she had to have her immediately at her side, and Mintaka was fairly comfortable wandering a bit. As long as Keres was somewhere nearby, she figured her mother would be happy.
She'd been wanting to revisit this place, not just because it was beautiful and she hadn't had the chance to truly experience it before, but also because part of her truly hoped the boy she'd met here before would be back. Of course, she knew it was unlikely that he'd just be lingering near the tree like before, but she wanted to check, regardless.
And in the dark, it would seem that he hadn't. The tree stood there, looking much different without most of its leaves, and from a distance she didn't see the dark shape that leaned against it. Still, she padded closer.
It wasn't until she was almost right up on it that she finally saw the massive figure leaning against the tree, and at first didn't connect the dots. Surely there was no way Almight had gotten this big, right? He hadn't been much bigger than her to start with.
"Hello," she greeted amiably, tail swaying behind her. It was better to be friendly with strangers, she'd found - even if this one wasn't really a stranger at all.
"Is the tree comfortable to lean on?" Because it didn't really look like it would be.
His eyes drifted to the heavens. He believed in nothing that was up there, and yet he felt so small underneath a cloak of stars so grand. Sure, he'd probably scare the mice into their holes and the birds to the highest branches of their tree, but he was nothing compared to the mountains that in turn cowered in the presence of the sky. It was all the more reason to pretend to be grand - to be almighty.
His lids fluttered upon hearing something - someone - approach. He held his breath unintentionally, a lighter speck growing closer and turning into a young girl. Even under the moonlight, with her eyes now more gentle in colour than he remembered them, he recognized her. He shook his "mane" in a bad-boy-like fashion, staring briefly into the distance again. He wasn't sure whether the recognition was mutual, so he hoped to clue her in.
Not really - but you wouldn't understand.
His voice was now a low rumble - not precisely as how he'd imagined as a boy, but much more soothing than the croaky sounds of puberty. He smirked then, giving her a little side-eye. Surely, a drug-dealing-skater-boy wasn't that easy to forget.
Mintaka had not changed as much as he had. Sure, she was taller, a bit broader, but there had been no dramatic metamorphasis for her. No dramatic enlarging, no gruffness to her voice. Still the same, but no longer a tiny silver puffball as she had been.
And even though his voice had changed, his eyes had not, nor did his rhetoric.
You wouldn't understand.
The recognition hit her all at once, then, and her eyes brightened. But if he could play this game, so could she. Sidling up to the tree, she leaned her flank on it - the bark was rough, but it wasn't too bad, actually.
"Maybe I could," she offered, a smile spreading across her maw as she echoed herself. But then, more playfully, she decided to mimic him, as well. "What's ye'r name, babe?" Her voice was purposefully lowered, mischeivous and excited. Almight had been her first true encounter outside of her own family, and she'd missed out on a lot with him, she felt, wondering if things would've changed had he followed them up the mountain that day.
He followed her movements carefully. Was he dreaming? He had had a lack of sleep for some time now as nightmares swirled around in his mind. If this was a dream, it could very well be the best one he'd ever had. He rumbled a soft chuckle as they both recalled their first meeting. At least she hadn't forgotten him - that would've been a cruel joke. Then again, the world only played cruel jokes on him.
It's good to see you again, Minty.
He said, perhaps the most genuine words he'd ever spoken directly towards her. He shifted his body, satisfying an itch he didn't know he had with the bark of the tree, then sitting down with a soft hmf. Even better to not see Mi-rawr again.
He smirked. Who knows, perhaps if her family hadn't come running, she would've gone with him to lands unknown. Not that he was great at convincing others to stick with him willingly. He wore them down, like soft pencils writing on sandpaper.
A smile broke out on her face and she wagged her tail, thumping it lightly against the tree as she circled around it to face him more fully. Of course she hadn't forgotten him - he was probably one of her favorite people she'd ever met, even if he was kind of weird. Mintaka was weird, too, so it canceled out, probably.
"It's good to see you too!" she responded eagerly, bouncing just slightly on her paws. Ignoring the Mi-rawr comment for now, she simply shook her head. "You got so big! I almost didn't recognize you at first." She sat down in front of him and looked up, eyes crinkling in a genuine smile. "I didn't think you'd be here, either, but I'm really glad you are. I wanted to say sorry, for last time. Things got... weird." An understatement, really. Things had gotten downright hostile in some of their cases. "And I couldn't leave again for a while. So, I'm really glad that you were here tonight. I was hoping to see you. So, uh, yeah." She was probably rambling, and she didn't think cool girls did that, so it was for the best if she were to just shut up.
She lit up the dark night and warmed the chilling autumn winds with the way she spoke. He'd never met anyone quite like her before, so full of genuine emotion. It was kind of daunting in a way, for someone like him. Though he vowed to never speak of his time outside the wilderness again, the scars still lingered and stung in ways that kept him from something like love or caring. He'd not met the nicest wolves on his travels, far from it. Had it not been for his brute strength, he probably would've met his demise out there.
He cleared his throat, unfamiliar with this kind of interaction. So, you're still cooped up in that place, hm?
He asked, suppressing his distaste for her seemingly controlling home. She'd been sheltered as much as he had been abandoned - two halves of the same cursed coin. He was glad he never accepted the invitation. Who knows what they would have twisted him into.
Their lives up until that point had been so different. Mintaka could not begin to understand just how different, though. She had kind of figured that he hadn't had much of a family to go back to, and that seemed to be true now. After all, the only wolf she could smell on his fur was him - nothing more. Unlike her own, where the scents of her family and packmates would cling. Part of her felt bad for him. Part of her envied that freedom.
"I'm... yeah, I am," she admitted quietly. Stuck on the mountain - she didn't like to think of it too much. If she didn't think about it, she could pretend she was happy. Pretend like she didn't mind having someone watch her every move, follow her everywhere. It didn't occur to her that she was a child, and that she needed the protection. It just felt stifling. "My mother has people watch us, whenever we want to go somewhere. Especially after Mira left for a while." She still didn't really understand that whole thing. Now, it seemed that they had even more of a watch on them. "I just kinda try to... listen, and stuff. Make her proud of me." But did Hydra really feel pride for her? She wasn't quiet and obedient like Caelum, or observant like Altair, or fierce like Mira. What traits did she possess that her mother would truly be proud of? Surely she hadn't been what Hydra was expecting.
A disappointment.
The only one he still saw as family was Abaddon, but he'd left him behind too. Of course, it'd been his own dumb fault, not that he'd ever admit to such a truth. The only one that hadn't straight up abandoned him just yet was Minty, but his affections were fragile. One more rejection and the boy would light up from the inside, burning everything to the ground with him.
He pulled up his nose and scoffed. Why would you wanna impress someone like that?
He asked. He shook his head with a soft tsk. He hadn't liked being born half of an orphan, a fawn stuck in the mud. He hadn't liked growing up quickly and dealing with his big brother's bullshit when they'd been travelling together. But he knew for damn sure that if anyone had kept him from going where he wanted or tried to supervise him at the age Minty was - she did look a little younger than him - he would've packed his bags and gone his own way. You don't need her to be proud of you - not if you already know you're amazing.
He rumbled nearly angrily.
"Because she's my mom. And she's, like, proud of Mira and Caelum and Altair - they don't cause problems like I do. I think I get on her nerves, and she thinks I'm annoying, or stupid. Probably both." Mintaka felt her eyes burn, blinking rapidly to stave off a sudden onslaught of tears. She didn't think about this stuff often - this horrible fear that festered in her that her mother didn't love her like she loved the others. That maybe she was too bold, too naive, too imaginative, too... Mintaka. Even Mira felt the need to protect her.
Almight kept talking, and mentioned something that Mintaka had also not considered. She didn't need Hydra to be proud of her...? But it felt so necessary. "I'm not very amazing," she admitted, ears swiveling to the sides. "I don't really know why I want her to be proud of me. She's the only one I've ever really cared about what she thought. It's probably really stupid." She sighed heavily and looked up at him from where she lay. "Probably super not-cool of me."
Look.
He said all seriously, really getting agitated now. He looked the other way to hide this, but it was clear as day in his voice. He wasn't angry at Minty, more at what those wolves had made her believe. Fuck everyone that you have to work for to have them show you the affection you deserve.
His ear flicked. Her perked up when she mentioned not being amazing and talking about herself, openly, digging her own grave. He spun where he stood, making his way over to her.
He looked her in the eyes, fire burning in the silver of his eyes. Don't you ever say that again.
He warned, looking down at her. He worried for a moment, thinking he might scare her more than anything like this, and so decided to back off a little and avert his gaze. Minty, you're the best person I've ever met. Why stay with those - those stuck-up dipshits when you could be - when you already are so much more?
Maybe she should have been intimidated by his approach - he was huge, after all, and looked and sounded aggressive. But she'd had wolves intimidate her before, and there was no sense in getting worked up over it. So she just lay there, listening to him talk about her, her family. And it was conflicting, because though he was being harsh, it wasn't entirely off-base. Affection was hard to come by, and often Mintaka wondered what it'd take to get her mother to just touch her - care for her like Keres had when she had been sick, or play with her like Bronco did. Hydra loved her, she knew that, but there was such a divide in their own personal needs that it was difficult for them to connect. Not like the connection Mira had with their mother - this sort of aggression and protectiveness that set them apart.
Come to think of it, the only true time Hydra had shown pride in her was... well, when Mintaka was trying too hard to get her attention, to change her personality into something that she wasn't really.
She really didn't belong there.
And she didn't necessarily agree with him, that she was better. Because in her mind, Hydra and Mira were the ones who were better. But she was too different, and she didn't know if she would ever be able to make the connections she needed in order to stay there.
"I... think I'm afraid," she whispered, throat tightening around her words as she looked to the side. Avoiding eye contact as her own burned with tears. "I don't fit in there. I know that, when there's no more room for us in the pack, I'd probably be the one they expect to leave. I don't even know what they want me to be." But what they wanted her to be wasn't who she was. "But I'm scared. If I leave, she'll hate me. She might not ever want to see me again - I'd be alone." Her cheeks were wet - she couldn't remember the last time she had cried. But this would do it.
He'd never sought the approval of anyone, as far as he remembered. Quite the opposite really; he sought their boundaries, the ways he could tick them off without trying. Yeah, he was good at getting his ass kicked. He kind of liked being defiant that way - his whole Loner status was one he carried with pride instead of fear, like Minty. He didn't understand why it was hard for her to leave; he'd never been attached to something, someone. Still, his brows raised with worry, empathy perhaps. It felt foreign. He didn't like it at all, but this was for Minty damnit (that's what he told himself at least, but it was also very much selfish of him to convince her of leaving like this, knowing she'd never be able to go back).
Sometimes, alone is better.
He sighed, cooling off due to the somber atmosphere. I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for someone I'm not.
Perhaps that's why he hadn't sought a home - a pack. He huffed, straightening his back awkwardly. And you wouldn't be alone, y'know? I could, potentially, stick with you - if you want.
He said in an annoyed manner. God, he felt really uncomfortable offering this, but secretly it was what he wanted. You could say he was a bit of a tsundere.
It wasn't so much the fear of being a loner, but the fear of alienation from her pack in a way that would be irreparable. Away from her family forever. But, she also had to consider, what was she truly missing? Her mother's protection? Judgment? Did they even love her at all?
"You would go with me?" she asked, ears angling toward him. She was a bit surprised, if she was being honest. Not just because they'd only met twice now, but because she hadn't ever thought she might have someone to go with if she were to leave. That made it... less terrifying.
Heh, yeah.
He answered smugly, grinning. Sure as Hell not gonna stay here.
He added, giving a quick glance about the Terrace. As much as it was beautiful in the gentle glow of night, Almight never stuck to one place for long. He didn't like the boundaries of a territory - that wolves in the area might recognize him or, god forbid, Minty and drag them both before her mother.
You ever been beyond this place? Say... to those mountains over there?
He said, pointing with his muzzle to the peaks that were only barely visible above numerous obstacles. Who knows what's behind them...
He breathed in awe. He wanted to see it - see it all, but most importantly, he wanted Minty to see it.
Cameo!
While Keres had come with the child to supervise her, she did not hover, simply staying back — out of ear shot, unless there was some great commotion — and allowing the girl a bit of freedom to explore. It was here she lay, keeping a watchful eye upon the two, oblivious to the seeds of escape the boy sowed in her niece's mind.
As much of a mistake this might end up being, Almight was... convincing, and Mintaka was certainly not capable of thinking too far into the future. Sure, she might never see her mother again - might be killed if she came back, even - but this entrapment and tight hold that Hydra had on her was stifling, and she felt like she needed to go. After all, their pack was overcrowded, and she might have to leave anyway in a few months, when more puppies were born. Why not just expidite that process herself?
It was better than getting kicked out.
"I want to go," she murmured quietly, lowering her head and taking a deep breath. "I don't want to stay here anymore. But I can't leave tonight - could you give me a few days?" the girl implored, looking up at the boy. "I'll go with you."
Though his spirit lifted and a genuine smile appeared as she stated she'd rather leave with him, both those positives were wiped by her next tidbit of emotional baggage. He pondered for a moment, seeking her gaze. She seemed serious, but he had a bad rep around here. Once he was spotted by one of those crazy family members of hers, he'd be toast. He sighed long, and slow.
Three sun falls. That's when I'll go - I can't stay in one place for long.
His ear flicked in fake annoyance and he offered her a smile. He wondered then, if Mintaka would really show up around that time. He wanted to say he didn't care whether she'd accompany him or not, as he'd made it this far on his own, but a part of him - a very selfish part - almost needed this to work out.
Three sun falls. Okay, she thought, she could do that. The girl nodded her head, offering him a small smile in return. None of the fear had set in yet, just a thrumming excitement beneath her skin and the promise of freedom that she'd never had before. And maybe she was ruining her life - maybe this was a huge mistake. But she wasn't thinking about that right now.
"I'll see you here, then," she replied, getting to her paws. "For now, I should get back. I'll... I'll be here in three days." Without an escort, without permission. It was exciting.
Feel free to wrap this one up!
See you then.
He rumbled, hoping and wishing she'd really come then. He almost didn't allow himself the luxury of hoping for things anymore. He assumed the worst of wolves, because that's what they usually showed him. Minty was only slightly better than what he'd come to know, thus he clung to it... He wondered if she knew that she had the power to shatter him so easily.
![[Image: 2b76f6828dd83664439af3f784a3e1f87b344d36_00.gif]](https://pa1.narvii.com/6506/2b76f6828dd83664439af3f784a3e1f87b344d36_00.gif)