Larksong Grotto Counting Stars

Aspen padded slowly along the length of the pack borders making sure the scent markers remained fresh and there were no intruders, especially with the still minimal amounts of food. She wouldn't put it past other wolves to venture out of their packlands and stray upon the grotto's or really anywhere else.  

She was almost done her survey for today and after she had finished she had every intention of finding an alpha. Rumours had been floating around there was now a she wolf alpha and her scent was present among the grotto wolves. Guess she thought she could just waltz on in here. Aspen thought subtly rolling her eyes as she marked the last tree on her round. 

She stopped and stretched her thin body. She had come to be okay with the fact that she was hungry and lived off what food she could find or any that Charley would bring for her. Ah Charley. No matter what Aspen was up to that wolf was never far from her thoughts. Speaking of which where was he? She hadn't spoken to him in a little bit or really even seen that much of him. She hoped he was alright although she was sure he was just busy. 

With that thought she turned tail and headed into the woods in search of Reek or the Alphess. She had questions like why she was here and why she was suddenly promoted to alpha. Aspen was fairly sure Reek wouldn't be taking on a new mate after the whole...Tavi, situation. She let out a howl calling for either wolf, that way perhaps they could meet her half way. Save her some energy for talking. 

@Reek @Hosannah All welcome but I want to speak with the alphas about the new religion since Aspen is clueless about it at the moment XD

With the Seer fulfilling the will of Raas beyond the borders of the grotto, life for Reek became pretty quiet -- not that he was complaining about the silence. It was nice to have some peace for once, especially after falling apart at the seams as Reek had. He supposed he had Raas to thank for that. The Daystar had brought Reek emotional peace in exchange for his devotion. His pain, it was wiped clean. The alpha male of the grotto had been made new.

He took to the lake to wash himself, but his bath was inturrupted by a summons. Still sopping wet, Reek withdrew from the lake and set his course toward the source of the howl. He recognized that the voice belonged to Aspen, and while her howl carried no urgency in its tone, Reek wanted to be sure that nothing was amiss on his borders.

"Everything alright?" Asked the drowned rat as he approached.

Aspen hadn't been walking long before a rather wet looking Alpha appeared before her. She smiled slightly as she figured he had probably just been in the lake but she felt sort of guilty for pulling him away from his relaxation it seemed. "Oh uh, sorry to bother you Reek," she said with the proper body posture, ears pinned to her head and tail low.

"I have just been hearing rumours of a new alpha," she tried to say without sounding totally rude or sarcastic. She couldn't help but be the slightest bit annoyed the wolf had just waltzed in here and become alpha no questions asked. "I was just kind of curious as to..." she paused for a moment trying to think how to word this without sounding like a bitch. "Who she is? Why she's here?" Aspen spoke settling on that versus how that happened.

Ehhh sorry this took so long it was my last week of high school and my teachers were like "here have these projects" and well yea.

No worries!

Unlike some leaders, Reek did not demand his wolves to prostrate themselves before him. There was difference between this sort of submission and respect; Reek required only the latter. She spread with submissive posture and her tone was apologetic. It was largely unnecessary, so Reek shook his head to put her feelings to rest. "It's never a bother Aspen," he said, allowing a friendly smile to spread across his face. It was his job to address his subordinates concerns and question as a leader.

Finally, she spoke as to why she had called him forward. Word of the Seer had spread fast through the territory. "Yes, there is now another who leads beside me," he confirmed. Perhaps he could shed some light on the situation and dispel some of the falsehoods the rumors were bound to propagate. "She's a Seer -- sent by Raas, the Daystar, to help guide us back into his light." 

"This famine, it is a time of cleansing. With her help, we are to be reborn within the healing light of God." His smile, it was unwavering.

Aspen relaxed slightly as Reek explained it was no trouble that she had pulled him from a bath. She smiled slightly and then sat to listen to his explanation.

Aspen blinked as Reek finished talking about the new female. She must not have heard him right but he mentioned a whole bunch of weird words Daystar? Raas? Seer? Aspen tilted her head and had a rather puzzled look on your face. She decided Reek must not be feeling alright. 

"Uh, Reek....are you sure you're okay.. You're not making any sense," Aspen stated before he spoke again explaining something about being reborn within the healing light of god. Well that was something she recognized back from her hometown but still didn't make any sense as to why Reek was suddenly talking about it. He seemed like the last wolf on this planet that would take on a faith.

She was confused, in fact, they all were. It seemed all the members of the grotto resisted the light of the Lord, but soon they would all see. Soon, they would all know the love and forgiveness of Raas and that Reek was simply doing what was best for his pack -- it was a labor of love in which he did what he did. He would save them all! In the same way he himself had been saved.

"I'm well Aspen," he spoke, a smile spreading across his features -- much unlike the sorrowful frown that had once called Reek's face home. "Arguably, I'd say I'm more well than I've been in a very long time." The light of the Lord had opened Reek up and washed him clean.

But would He do the same for Aspen. Of that, Reek was sure. All she needed to do was ask.

Aspen tried desperately not to roll her eyes after Reeks reply to the question she asked. It wasnt exactly the answer she was looking for but hey what could she do. She decided to word her question slightly differently this time. "What I meant to say....was what the heck were you talking about....the daystar? Raas? I am so confused. It doesnt sound like you," she stated bluntly, hoping this was enough to get the answer she was looking for.

She waited patiently a slight tilt to her head and she was studying his face still unable to tell if Reek the alpha male she had met not so long ago was still in their somewhere and actually serious about this. Or if this was some kind of messed up joke. 

Short post is short

No worries! I like short posts :p

"Of course it doesn't," he replied, addressing her confusion in regard to his strangely chipper mood. There had been a clear change in Reek's personality following his conversion: a stark contrast seperating the broken man he had been and the man he was now. "I've been filled with the light of the Lord!" It was the only explanation he had for such a change. Nothing else but the light of Raas could purify his soul from the inside out.

"See, Aspen," he continued, grin failing to falter. "The Reek you knew was a broken, wreck of a man. I was bound by the shackles of guilt and waited for the swift hand of death to take me, but Raas, He has set me free." He could do the same for all of the wolves of the grotto -- all their painful memories and their guilty trappings -- they could be wiped clean. All they need provide was their devotion.

Even though Reek was beginning to explain everything, Aspen was still puzzled as to how things changed so quickly. She supposed perhaps this could do something go but it certainly did not explain the hell she had been through before meeting Charley, her literal other half. 

"You aren't wrong, you were pretty broken, but I still don't really believe nor understand how this whole thing works, I mean, I had a pretty shit start to life actually not just the start, pretty much the entire time up until coming here and meeting well Charley, surely this Raas guy would not purposely cause a wolf suffering, so why didn't he help me?" she asked still unsure about the situation and whether or not she could actually trust a word of what Reek was saying but she still wanted to know more. This way she could truly develop her own opinion on the situation.

She misunderstood, using the same argument Charley had spouted after Reek shared the good news with him. Obviously, her heart had been hardened by the heartless one. Perhaps she was too far gone like Reek's old friend, at least for now. Her emotional walls would not be penetrated, but Reek knew one thing was certain, walls had a way of tumbling down. With proper explanation, maybe she would come round.

He took his dripping muzzle and motioned for her to follow. "Come," he said, turning to lead her on a stroll around the border. "I will explain everything." Then, she would know the complex nature of Raas.

Aspen was slightly startled out of her forever puzzling thoughts about this situation as Reek turned in the direction of the borders and motioned for her to follow him. Seemed perhaps he was going to spend some time explaining.

Aspen turned and began to pad alongside him in a rather awkward silence as she waited for him to start talking. She didn't really have anything to say other than she was confused, and slightly bothered still by the fact the seer even existed in this pack. Oh well. That was stuff he either already knew or didn't need to know so instead she just kept quiet.

She followed, but she spoke not. While no question passed her lips, Reek could see them etched across her face. Her confusion was palpable. It was Reek's hope that he could wipe some of that confusion away with a bit of explanation. "You misinterpret," he said, leading her on both a physical and spiritual path. "You blame Raas for your misfortune, but the ills of the world are not his doing." They could not be. Raas was a perfect being -- Good incarnate. 

The Heartless on the otherhand. "But there is a tempter," he continued. "The Heartless lures souls with worldly temptation -- He is the adversary and the one who is responsible for your pain." It was one the light of Raas that could protect against the temptation of the Heartless. "Raas has given us freedom to choose for ourselves -- He protects those who ask for His protection."

He looked back to her as he walked. "Does this help explain Aspen?" He asked, smiling warmly.

Aspen padded alongside her alpha her curiousity ever present in her mind. She wished to try and make some sense of the information he was providing her yet for some reason she could not. He began talking about how Raas was pure and was not the cause of all her pain but the tempter the heartless was the reason she had suffered so much in the past. "Why didn't Raas try to help me then when the heartless caused me so much strife," she asked her gaze emotionless resting half on the ground in front of her half on the alpha as he continued to speak. 

He explaineed that Raas only helped those who seeked his help. This frustrated Aspen because the amount of nights she spent wishing that somebody, anybody to help her yet none came. She was left to the heartless to do what it wanted with her. "It helps but I don't think that I could ever fully trust this Raas guy because I can't tell you the number of nights i spent wishing and praying somebody would help me, nobody did," she said dissapointment present in her tone.

It was an unfortunate truth that not all prayers went answered. Raas had a plan -- much larger than any mere mortal's. To believe that ones own wants and desires were of the highest importance was blaspheme in itself. Suffering was a part of life. The sinful needed to suffer (just as Reek had), so they could be led into the protective light of Raas. Aspen, though it seemed she had truly asked for help, was still placing herself to be more important than the divine. That, was her downfall.

"We live in sin," he spoke, looking to Aspen as he continued forward. "To receive His grace we must shed our transgressions. If you give your soul to Him freely, I can promise you that you will be sheltered in His light." Her soul could still be saved. There was still hope for all of them.