Ankyra Sound he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father
the gunslinger
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#1
All Welcome 
hoping for @Reyes @Clementine or @Scarab but i would also love to have @Rosalyn or @Erzulie

it was good that his adventures with cadeau had allowed him to collect a myriad of things to take to erzulie and rosalyn’s children. he had two large pieces of deer antler, a tusk from an aggressive boar, several swatches of prey pelt, and a stone that created dazzling lights if the sun struck it just right. the items were tucked poorly in the folds of the hide and he carried that in his mouth as he trekked toward where their den was stationed.
 
the warmth from the summer sun was enough to keep his pace brisk. it was nice to have felt something more than the chilling bite of the winter winds. all around them, the wilds had changed into a lush environment that did not even come close to resembling the frigid wasteland that it had before. illidan could only hope that the heat would stay for a while.
 
as he approached the den, he placed the gifts at his paws and released a soft chuff to announce his presence there.
Ghost
backwater peon
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#2
The heat was not his friend but at least the seaside was somewhat forgiving in that regard, possessing a chill to the air that swept in from across the deep blue expanse to spread some form of relief; except, to feel that relief, he had to expose himself upon the beach instead of sequester himself within the den. The boy was getting more adventurous by the day despite his initial reluctance. He still liked to hang back and observe his siblings more often than lead them in to the sunlight, but at least he wasn't hiding in the dark while they played outside.

On this particular day he was hiding in the shadows of the den, but the soft sound of paws crunching sand caught in his ears and - without thinking - he decided to change it up, shoving his siblings aside to greet whoever was coming head-on. Maybe it would be his red mother, maybe it would be his gold mother — either way Reyes wanted to meet them first. Except he was not so lucky. Instead of the silhouette of either woman meeting his bright eyes, it was a black-capped boy.

The child rumbled a squeaky, crackling sound meant as a warning. He sort-of sounded like one of those little RC cars set on a racetrack — whirring rather than growling, unable to control his vocal chords enough to be a real threat. He moved to block the den mouth regardless of what his siblings were doing - but then he spotted the gifts, and all acts of defense stripped away. He zeroed-in on the shiny stone and swaggered boldly up to Illidan with his gaze locked upon it, losing all his childish fear.

Mmmnn, mine! Gimme! He commanded, and made to reach for it with his blocky face.
the gunslinger
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#3
illidan was surprised to see the stocky form of a red child emerge from the den. the pup’s face was set into an intense expression of fearlessness that the beta almost envied. he could not help but to smile softly at the growl. one ear swiveled to the side before standing tall again. his hawkish gaze was glued to the features of the boy in front of him. he was shocked at just how small the pup was. of course, they had been born for some time… but it was almost impossible to believe that any of them had once been a similar size.
 
the child took an immediate fascination in the stone. illidan’s smile spread slightly as the red pup charged forward and aimed to collect the present. smoothly, he placed a large ashen paw over the gifts and then lowered his dark head toward his newest companion. “that stone is just for you, but… it has a special power, and the only way that it’ll be able to show you the power is if you tell it your name,” illidan said in a hushed tone. his eyes darted toward the den mouth to see if any of the other children would come forward. there were more than enough gifts for the others. the young ghost believed it was only right that the first one to emerge would get to claim his prize before any of the others.
Ghost
backwater peon
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#4
He wanted the pretty rock! It sparkled kind of like the sand did when the sand was in direct light, and sorta like the dust in the den, and also like the water that Reyes still avoided. He wanted it! Why couldn't he have it? A broad paw had descended and kept him from it; he wasn't willing to sit back and let this bully hide his prize, so the boy began to protest. He rumbled again, eyes narrowing, and snapped his tiny teeth like a useless bear trap at Illidan's huge paw. The boy didn't quite catch the paw in his mouth though — he missed and ended up smucking his bowed head in to the limb, like a tree trunk.

Suddenly there were a pair of eyes at his level. Reyes stared at them in stunned silence, and then his gaze trailed to the glimpses of teeth as Illidan's mouth opened and he spoke. Reyes watched those teeth, barely paying attention to the rules that were being outlined, and when Illidan's mouth stopped moving he dove for his snout instead, smucking his face against it. Gimme!!!!!! Screw the rules! That was his shiny thing!
the gunslinger
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#5
the pup was a lot fierier than illidan had imagined. he watched with an intense glint to his gaze as the child began to furiously nip at his paw in an attempt to remove it from the treasures that had been brought. the ghost did not think it possible to house such spirit in such a small body, but he was thrilled to have found this willing of a participant. even though the child had not listened to a thing that illidan had said, the wildling was not dissuaded. there was a spark of interest in his hawkish gaze, just before he was battered in the face by the red pup.
 
’gimme!’
 
“no.”
 
his voice was firm, but not unkind. he tilted his head to the side just slightly, eyeing the boy to see if he would aim for another attack against illidan’s muzzle or his eyes. he did not believe that erzulie or rosalyn would raise a child to be rude, but he remembered how poor his own temper had been when he’d been a pup. he could not blame the red child for his desire to take what he believed was his.
 
“you must follow the rules before it is yours,” illidan asked, placing the ball in the young boy’s court. he would wait until reyes was prepared to accept the small requirements.
Ghost
backwater peon
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#6
He tried and he tried, fighting and biting and kicking, doing whatever he could. It wouldn't be enough. He was too small compared to the mountain of wolf that stood before him as an obstacle. His mothers would never do this to him - they gave what they could and Reyes was content, but this was different. This was a challenge that he had not faced before, and he was not taking it well. The adult refused him again and Reyes huffed and squealed. Buh it mine! He stated again — all of it was his, but he'd take the stone and leave the rest to his siblings, he was kind and he could... probably... share.

The paw wouldn't budge, and Reyes' teeth didn't do much at all. He was a bundle of energy though and wouldn't relent even as Illidan recapped the requirements: You must follow the rules before it is yours, he heard, but didn't heed. The boy frowned and rolled back on his haunches in the sand, kicking a small mound of grit towards Illidan's face. He slurred, No nice maan, no nice!

But he gradually calmed down, wasting his energy away as he fought and pouted until he had nothing left. He rolled to his side and then rose up to his feet again and glared at the paw - then Illidan's snout, his big bright eyes, unaware of how it would be percieved if he were in an adult's body and acting this way. So defiant and so demanding. Reyyy! Mmn? Rey wan' prilly! Gimme, there! Happy now? With a deeply frustrated look on his little face he even added, Pees?
Fear is the heart of love
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Ooc — Starrlight
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#7
Slowly, their children had begun to integrate.  Rosalyn watched as Reyes left, and gave it a moment before following.  They were still to be supervised, but (I think omg) on the cusp of no longer needing even that.  They were growing swiftly.

She emerged to see Illidan playing with him and settled onto her haunches with a slight smile.  She didn't make her presence known, not wanting to give her son another to go to.  This was a lesson she wanted to see... how to solve a problem when a packmate presented one.

this is a cameo and unless pulled in she can be skipped!
the gunslinger
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from where the ghost was sitting, it didn’t seem as though the sparkling stone was reyes’ at all. he wasn’t about to point this out to the child. it seemed as though fewer words carried the message better. at least, it might have been easier for the young boy to understand what was being said to him if the statements contained less fluff and more substance. illidan could recall what it had been like to be a young pup and to dislike how much talking had taken place around him. it hadn’t been until he had gotten older that he’d appreciated speech more for what it could offer.
 
when reyes seemed to remark that illidan was not a nice man, the dark-hooded wolf could not help but to smile softly. if only erzulie and rosalyn could see that! they surely wouldn’t want him hanging around if he was going to bully their pups all day. illidan had not noticed but rosalyn watched from a short distance away, not interfering in anything that they were doing.
 
after the pup had tired himself out, he seemed to take on a different tone. once the spunk had died down some, there came an introduction and even the sweetest please that illidan had ever heard in his life. his dark lips curled upward and stretched into a smile that could have been taken as nothing but genuinely touched. leaning forward again, illidan nodded his head to the child and just before removing his paw from the stone, offered his own name in a gravelly voice, “i’m illidan, rey. take your stone.”
Ghost
backwater peon
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#9
It was enough of a trade to earn the stone, and as soon as the man's paw lifted Reyes was nose-diving for it, grabbing at it greedily with his baby teeth. It wasn't a large stone but he wasn't a large boy yet; the stone lodged at an awkward angle between his jaws and prevented him from closing his mouth properly, leading him to salivate mercilessly and dribble spit from either side of his jowels. He did not mind it until he withdrew in the next scampering step, because the boy was suddenly off-balance with the dull weight of the stone and face planted in to the grains of sand. As he rose up again he was sputtering, coated in clingy bits of sand, spitting ugly gobs as if he were surfacing from a near-drowning experience, and the stone was thusly made in to a seed — firmly planted and lost to the grit.

After Reyes spasmed and cleared his face of cling-ons, he hurried to find the stone again. The boy moved like a whirlwind; digging here, digging there, causing the dry topsoil to shift and bury his stone further although he had no way of knowing. Maybe if he hadn't been so greedy for it things would've ended differently. As soon as his mind reached its attention span limit, he plopped back and wailed a note of defeat: nnNnnnaaaAAAaah! Naah no! nono! NO! With a furious stomp of his forequarter the boy lost his balance again and smucked his chest against the dirt, and that's where he sat, glowering and brooding over the lost treasure.
the gunslinger
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#10
i let this sit way too long <3 gonna wrap it up here and archive. illidan will be back in rus soon so i will make an updated thread when that time comes!! <333
 
the child did not seem to take even a moment to pause before he dove toward the stone. quickly, the pup snatched the colorful item and held it in his jaws with a comical expression. illidan watched with scrutiny, waiting to see if reyes would attempt to run with the rock in his mouth. it would not have been the best first impression if he had allowed for the child to choke on one of his gifts within moments of receiving it.
 
just in that moment, the russet pup toppled forward and buried his nose in the sands. when he emerged, it was to sputter away the granules and to realize that he had lost his prize in the depths of the sandy beach. illidan winced softly at the travesty that had taken place in front of him. after offering one of the other items and being aggressively denied at every attempt to speak, the ghost wandered toward the den and dropped off the gifts for rosalyn and erzulie.