He exhaled softly, a wolf from the cold Northern lands, he was not afraid of the weather this winter would bring. He bore the signature thick coat of the wolves of the North, but not the color of the arctic ones, for his was the color of storm clouds, to stainless silver, to pure snow. When he lived on the mountains, his pack lived near the top where there was no air. Literally. Sometimes Raziel missed it, the icy coldness and the sheer pleasure of the whipping north wind as it battered against him. Truthfully, he only joined a pack because he knew, despite his well-honed fighting skills and defense to the cold, if he didn't have enough food and protection, he might as well be flinging himself to the depths of Tartarus. Loners might try to eat him, and it won't be pleasant for both parties, Raziel wouldn't like the feeling of his own kind trying to eat him, and they wouldn't be too happy with dying, their guts spread across the white snow, a waving banner to hungry predators.
It was the best gift he could give them, the best lesson they've learnt, they best favor they ever got, death. If they had to live the life that his half siblings on his father's side lived, the only reason they weren't dead right now was because of their fear of going to Tartarus or the Fields of Punishment when they died. Pluto was a brilliant mastermind when it came to tortures, there were so many punished already but the god could still somehow create new ones. It was weird, scary but awesome at the same time.
Raziel missed his home but he knew it was necessary to leave it behind, how could a product of incest be the Praetor of the pack? What if he was found out? He and his family would be exiled, for no product of incest were to be allowed on their lands. Their sacred lands. Incest was the worse crime they could commit, to mate with their own siblings, what was his parents thinking for Jupiter's sake. Didn't they ever think about what would happen to the products of their abomination? How much fear the sterling warrior gone through as a kid? Along with his other brother Azrael. Insomnia was his best friend growing up, nothing could get him to sleep, only staring at the stars, the moon, the sea underneath could slowly lure him to Somnus's world. Raziel was glad that Anselm never knew about their parent's incest, depression nearly killed him once, the tiniest and the frailest, he didn't want it to happen again.
The silver agouti lifted his head, eyes of mysterious green shimmering underneath the morning sun. He had caught a rabbit and some ducks and placed them in a cache, now he was hungry and walking beside the Creek, he wondered if there was any other food except for fish. Raziel feasted on fish for weeks already, he needed a change.
Star was running her daily run along the Creek. It was so cold that she didn't even break a sweat, despite her lightning speed. She watched her paws, not looking ahead of her, and looking rather dissapointed. Star had been thinking about her sister a ton recently. She missed her. Star wondered what was the fate of her twin. Maybe she had run away as well, but she wouldn't be surprised if her father had gotten so fed up one day that he killed her. She frowned a little. Suddenly she ran head first into something. "Oof!" She sputtered out. "What-" She spun around to see what she had accidentally rammed into, or more like who.
A white furry cloud ball tumbled into him, he paused in his pawsteps as the cloud ball spoke and spun around. It was a wolf, with eyes as dark as the midnight sky. Raziel dipped his head to her in apology, "Are you alright, little lady?" he smiled apologetically. His tail twitching behind him, it was lowered in respect for since he was new, he was probably below a lot of wolves in the ranks. Not that the silver agouti really cared about the pack hierarchy, but he didn't want to be kicked out either. Eyes of the mysterious depths of the sea were full of apology as he gazed at her, not into the eyes though for he did not want to challenge her, even if he could probably beat her if it came to a fight.
"I'm new here," the silver agouti attempted to start a conversation between the two of them, if he didn't, there would probably be a gigantic awkward pause. "Raziel at your service, you can call me Raz." he shrugged. "Most do."
The thing that she had so rudely rammed into was Raziel, Raz apparently. "Yes sir, I'm okay. I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." She apoligized. It was true that the man could probably beat her, but she was still in training to be one of the pack warriors. "Alright, Raz. I am Star." She said. "Are you enjoying it in the Creek? Do you plan on staying long or just for the Winter?" She said, her voice flat and giving away zero emotion, like always. But she did care. She expected that the Creek have loyal members who were willing to serve their pack, just like she. Loyalty was everything to Star.
"Yes sir, I'm okay. I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Raziel's murky eyes were warm as he dipped his head politely to her, "Its fine, Star." he replied in a quiet tone, coated with a light accent. A questioning cant of his head and a soft bark of laughter as she spoke once more asking if he was staying long or just for winter. He found himself a little mind reader. "Can you read minds, Star? For it seems you can read mine." he smiled, "The Creek is quite nice, I'm waiting for winter actually, quite eagerly in fact. I want to see if winter in these wilds are as cold and harsh as it is in the Northern mountains."
Raziel took a step forward then sank down on his haunches, deciding it would be awkward for him to talk to her gazing downwards at her. He doubted she would like it either, for it would just remind her that she was short, and nobody liked being abnormally shorter than others. Or sicklier, look at Anselm. he growled to himself in his mind. "It depends, I guess. If I find a new home and family here, I'll probably stay." was his answer to her question. She didn't need to know, that his 'home' had high standards and his family was Azrael, Anselm and his abused half siblings. "Are there any interesting history? Angry wolves being kicked out? Rivals?"
Could the Creek change his thoughts about home and family?
Raziel was a good listener, a good leader had to listen before he dealt out missions or punishments. His adoptive father executed a lot of wolves by his own fangs and claws, Constantine believed that if a wolf was to be executed, it was to be done by yourself, after all you owed it to the wolf to hear his last words. But Raziel was a product of incest, in the eyes of the public, he had no honor or dignity, he was not bound by those rules. If he had to kill, he preferred doing it himself, but sometimes he chose another to do the job, killing too much could result in insanity. Look at his father, Aku. Constantine said he was once an honorable man until the killing stole away most of his sanity, his adoptive dad was still sane because he killed only when needed and without regret.
The first one, something about another pack and wolves getting kicked out because they didn't follow the 'rules' didn't bother him much. Raz himself felt no boundaries, he was free and perhaps the 'not following laws' streak got him kicked out of so many, not like he actually cared. The second one however, caught his attention. "The other is called the Bypass. I don't know it's full name. A man called Shadow was kicked out- I don't know why- and he stole away our only healer called Paarthurnax because they were in love."
Shadow. Hadrian Shadow Nox Angelus Mortis. His little brother was here? Murky eyes of the depths of the sea jerked upwards to look at her in surprise. But did not speak yet, and listened as she continued. "He kept bugging our new members and spreading gossip about us, and he also had his wolves trespassing on our land. We don't have a truce right now." The bugging part sounded like him and so was the spreading gossip, the most typical way to disband a pack and to gain control was to cause conflict between pack members. But having his wolves trespassing on pack lands was not like him. Raziel knew his little brother, and he knew he fought his own battles and forbidding anyone to help him.
"But...but that can't be possible." Raz shook his head widely, none of the wolves here knew his connection with Shadow which was probably for the best, but perhaps he could trust Star. "I know my little half brother, I know Hadrian Shadow. He fights his own battles, he never sends others to do his dirty work, his pride keeps him from that. The trespasser must be coincidentally one of his wolves, one of the dumber ones." he protested softly, murky green eyes wide and persuasive.
"So what happened next? Is Shadow still with the wolf he likes?" the concerned older brother part of him taking over. He didn't know what happened, after all he'd just wandered around until he came to these, beautifully innocent lands. There didn't seem to be wolves fighting, tearing each other's throats out, as far as he could see when the places he had been before he came to Teekon Wilds were full of wild bloodthirsty wolves. Every paw step he took, they were there, attempting to send each other to the underworld.
Troubled thoughts clouded the man's head and with a simple "Bye Star, it was nice meeting you," he flashed her a brief smile before turning and trotting away, thinking about all the times he had with his little brothers when he was younger. And he thought, maybe leaving Azrael and Anselm was not a good idea.