Lion Head Mesa yesterday i woke up sucking a lemon

@Toula @Rashepses

he had left the wilds with his mother in her search of his once-siblings long ago, but they had never strayed far. at some point, he’d found himself completely alone- and he had spent his months just south of the lowlands, making an odd life for himself, somehow- motivated purely by a canine’s instinctual drive to keep living. there were hazy memories of the time before he was by himself, but they were few, leaving him with little to identify himself with. he knew his own name: athamas ostrega. he knew that his dark-furred mother had considered herself an important creature destined for greatness, the daughter of a supposed queen he never knew. but his former connections were lone-gone, and his childhood was a box of unanswered questions. 

he did seek purpose, still. in spite of the emptiness, and the loneliness, that he felt, he had understood there was more that could be gotten out of life. being alone now didn’t mean he needed to be alone forever. and though he often dreamt of a reunion to his blood-kin, one where he would’ve had more time with his siblings, a better understanding of what friendship was- the hope for that reality had withered away. 

he came to the mesa by way of the meadow. the autumn heat had begun to fade into early winter chill, and in this morning a light mist clouded the land. the grasses beneath his paws became sparse as he made his way towards a great, flat mountain that stood out against the bleak grey sky. the borders smelled of a group, a promise that he could be part of something… part of a community… athamas hesitated here for a long moment, indecisive. he was shy to summon anyone- who was he, to ask for a place anywhere? he had nothing to his name, no accomplishments worth mentioning. he was a remnant puzzle piece to an old legacy that he had never known, a skinny boy with little to offer except his desperation to know love and belonging. 

despite this all, his choice was finally made, and he released a call up into the empty morning air, standing then with his tail held low beside his haunches and his posture slightly submissive, a display of his respect to whoever might arrive.