He couldn't sleep.
Dreams and images of his homeland flooded his mind. In every one was his ailing grandfather who, even at the end of his life, could muster the energy to join Jura on a patrol, or tell him a story, or teach him some secret about the pack and the families living within. He'd spent hours—nearly most of his young life, absorbing everything that he could and emulating the wiser elder. Now the pack was in the hands of Ithie, and he was nothing more than a rogue with weak ties to a fledgling pack and no way to apply the knowledge passed down to him.
He'd never thought to link the life of a pack leader and a king into one bundle. Jura, on a whole, was not an ambitious wolf. 'A leader should be the most humble of us all,' he could hear his grandfather say, 'and it would be a great, and terrible, fallacy to look down upon those you protect simply because you wear the bloodied mantle. They look to you for guidance, in all things.'
It would be beyond him to assume Charon or Amekaze needed advice in such things, as he was barely into adulthood himself. But he felt... well, useless.
So tonight his patrol carried him beyond the borders to the Terrace beyond. The moon was hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds, but the silence and neutrality of the place offered him a respite from his anxieties. He walked until the trees thinned enough so that he might look down on the valley below, and soon found a suitable spot to rest. He paused here, beside the rotting corpse of a fallen log, and sighed.
Dreams and images of his homeland flooded his mind. In every one was his ailing grandfather who, even at the end of his life, could muster the energy to join Jura on a patrol, or tell him a story, or teach him some secret about the pack and the families living within. He'd spent hours—nearly most of his young life, absorbing everything that he could and emulating the wiser elder. Now the pack was in the hands of Ithie, and he was nothing more than a rogue with weak ties to a fledgling pack and no way to apply the knowledge passed down to him.
He'd never thought to link the life of a pack leader and a king into one bundle. Jura, on a whole, was not an ambitious wolf. 'A leader should be the most humble of us all,' he could hear his grandfather say, 'and it would be a great, and terrible, fallacy to look down upon those you protect simply because you wear the bloodied mantle. They look to you for guidance, in all things.'
It would be beyond him to assume Charon or Amekaze needed advice in such things, as he was barely into adulthood himself. But he felt... well, useless.
So tonight his patrol carried him beyond the borders to the Terrace beyond. The moon was hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds, but the silence and neutrality of the place offered him a respite from his anxieties. He walked until the trees thinned enough so that he might look down on the valley below, and soon found a suitable spot to rest. He paused here, beside the rotting corpse of a fallen log, and sighed.
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
Messages In This Thread
your secret is safe - by Jura - October 25, 2015, 07:55 PM
RE: your secret is safe - by FitzDutiful - November 18, 2015, 08:35 AM