Ravensblood Forest from silence rose a symphony

Join…?

Oh, he didn’t know about that. The betrayals of the past stung him like a knife through the chest, the wolves that had once chattered idly with him turned upon the small male like lightning flashes within a storm. They had torn his face, they had left him bleeding in the snow, and they had once been his brothers as well. Once, he had found safety in their circle… more than once he had been burned by the wrath of blood-hungry wolves searching for a weakness to exploit. The thoughts were made visible by the low-laying of his ears, the downturn of his mouth, the gentle look to the side. 

“I could not ask you to protect those who are the enemy of wolves here.” Kingslend’s words had stung him, his winter-y pelt having drawn their aggravation. “I could not ask you to get hurt because of us; we have very little to offer you, and any debt will struggle to be repaid.”

His little Minah, strange as she was, was worth little. She had no hunting skills really, no tracking skills either and perhaps failed to read the tone of the air far too many times than the white wolf could count; and so it would be left to him to repay the brothers, and what could he offer but the ways of the stars…? Would they care, would it ever be enough? And yet, and yet…!

The wolf was far too soft.

“But…” A golden gaze shone upon an outstretched paw, “... I think I would be a fool to turn down your kindness.”

Gently, awkwardly (for the movement was strange to he who usually bowed his head for most actions), Akai touched his warm paw-pad against the blonde wolf’s paw with a shaky smile forming upon his muzzle. He had to forgive, not let new kindness shrink in the shadow of old friendships spurned, and perhaps having one or two friends out here was not such a bad idea after all. He spared that same curt smile to the large black fellow without a lick of common-tongue about him, and uttered very softly,

“Perhaps I could teach you common-tongue in return…” How painfully unaware of what value he really had to the brothers and their wantings, “I will follow you to your dens… and I will call the girl.”

Ominously, as if the shadows were lifting, the birds hushed themselves, turned their dark gazes upwards and fled with the barest tufts of raven feathers falling from the ground. In the quiet that kissed the end-beats of their wing-tips, the feeling of relaxation flowed over Akai’s body like the rush of a warm breeze.

It felt… nice to know that kind creatures still existed in this world.