Our New Home

Kemo burst through the trees and skidded to a halt, looking around wildly for the source of the howl. An unknown scent caught his nose the moment he stopped, telling him an intruder was inside the packlands. "Who has trespassed on my lands? I am Alpha of these lands and I have come to find out who has invaded them. Show yourself, I won't hurt you unless you give me a reason to." He looked around the clearing in an effort to see where the intruder was. He had no idea if this creature was a threat, sneaking up behind him for an ambush, or merely a curious being, intent on seeking out the secrets that could be found here.

She stood in one smooth unhurried spill, stepping forward with an elegance that seemed otherworldly. Ebony fur coated her gracious form, strong to behold with eyes that glittered the colour of a true wolf. A slow bow of her head accompanied a sway of her tail before she lifted gleaming eyes and spoke out proudly. "Greetings, Alpha. Thank you for attending to my howl so fast." She spoke with the honeyed tongue of a princess, one trained to be diplomatic. The tone to her voice was beyond pleasant, it was an assault on the auditory sense. Honey and husk tones combined to caress the air, even after she spoke and sank onto well muscled haunches, her eyes afixed to the males shoulder in politeness.

Kemo turned as a black coated wolfess, easily determined by her smaller and lean physique, came gracefully toward him. His ears perked toward her, his hackles raising ever so slightly, tail held straight behind him. He was determined to make sure he meant seriousness and would attack if need be, but he made sure not to provoke her. She had a coat to match his own, solid black, though it seemed to be more properly groomed, a definite indication of royalty, though his brown and gold eyes didn't need that detail to let him know of her royal ties. She walked with the smooth dainty gait of a princess, far too young to be a queen, something he recognized instantly from his days as an Alpha Prince and Alpha King. Her manners were well honed, choosing to bow politely and look at his shoulder instead of his eyes. "You're welcome, though no offense, but it wasn't for your benefit as much as for the safety of my lands. As a princess yourself, you must understand how an Alpha tends to strangers. You, however, don't seem to be intent on being a threat." A wolfish smile appeared on his muzzle as he stood and circled around her, sniffing her all over to find any identifying scents, along with marking her own in his permanent memory. Satisfied with his assessment, he sat just in front of her to show her she could relax. "Tell me, Miss, what are you doing all the way out here in the scenic middle of nowhere? Where do you hail from?"

Seeing the pain and sadness deep in Kemo's eyes, a deep wound that will not heal for a long time. All of us affected, all of us in pain with Shantsa lost, but not to the extent that Kemo is feeling. Temo watches as Kemo leaves and seeing he needs some alone time, makes sure that none of the pups try and follow.

Glancing at Jace, he could see in her eyes, a reflection of his. The loss of a friend, a sister, now an emptiness deep in the soul. Not knowing what to say, to Kemo, to the pups, even to Jace, he shrugs his shoulders slightly at a loss of what to do or say.

Definitely a princess in all ways, she allowed herself a wolfish smile as she was sniffed, not showing a single hint of the agression that most would have shown. She had been brought up to be diplomatic, trained from birth to take the place as Alphess in her mothers pack...that was until her brother overthrew her parents and tried to take his own litter-sister as a mate. The thought made her give a delicate shudder, even as she dropped her golden eyes to the floor to hide the mixture of revulsion and grief which still mingled deep in her heart.

"In honest, Lord, I came to seek sanctuary from the madness of my litter-brother. He slaughtered our Lord and Lady, our mother and father, to take from them the throne of the pack. He wanted me to bear pups for him, though my mothers plan was for me to have a mate outside our pack." She raised her noble muzzle and stared him in the eyes, proving to herself as well as him that she was worthy of such the title. Alpha, queen, both were her titles now for a pack loose in madness. A sigh rippled the deep chest, the shadowed coat gleaming slightly when she was removed from shadows. "My name is WaterSinger, though family called me Singer. The pack referred tome as ShadowWalker however. May I know the name of the one I am speaking to please?" Her manners kicked in as she forced that grief deep within her, forcing curiosity and politeness to the fore instead. Her eyes once again fell to his shoulder, suddenly realising that she had been holding his gaze.

Kemo listened to her story with rapt interest, noting the delicate shiver, his ears going further and further back the more she told. When she finished he was absolutely dumbfounded by what he heard. "Your own litter-brother, trying to take you as his mate? That's just...madness." He chuckled slightly at the word as she had described the brother using the word madness all ready, but the chuckle was short-lived, more in shock than humor. "I am quite familiar with betrayal...especially within my own family and my own pack. I can only understand so much of what you've been through, but I can understand the pain that comes with betrayal." He paused for a moment, remembering something long ago. "Watersinger? Such an exotic name..But I will call you Singer, if you don't mind." He ignored the fact that she had been holding his gaze, knowing she normally wouldn't have insulted him so, and frankly, he just didn't care about little things like that anymore when so much more took up his mind lately. He fought to keep himself focused on the present. He looked up as she asked who she was speaking to. She must have not heard him earlier when he announced his name. "Of course, my name's Kemo. A pleasure to meet you." He smiled wolfishly, nuzzling her in greeting. "Tell me Singer, would you mind staying in a communal den with my pack and I? You seem like a nice wolfess and I don't think anybody would mind letting you stay."

Jace watches Kemo's mood worsen with sad eyes, wondering if maybe her decision to invite them for the story had been right or wrong. The idea of wanting to be away from the only family they had was incomprehensible to her so she had assumed it was natural for all and everyone, obviously she had been wrong in her assessment as Kemo left with an angry snarl. She also wondered if this was the beginning of the end for what had been an attempt to resurrect the Blood Moon pack. Surely the fracturing that danced wire-thin across the bonds that connected them together would widen and grow as the anger increased and the love dwindled. She stared troubled into the fire and sat down amongst her babies, shifting into Were form, getting pounced on almost immediately.

~~

The first thing Beth was aware of was the smell of smoke, the crackling of wood and a soft, gentle voice quietly speaking. Her head felt filled with sand and she was groggy so focused on the voice in an attempt to wake up further. The voice was just beginning a story of some kind. And slowly the words began to make sense to her she followed the tale about the wolfess and the man. She tried to open her eyes but her head spun and her stomach rebelled so she lay still on her side with her eyes closed until she stopped feeling sick. She tried to open her eyes again and found the reaction wasn't as bad. The first thing she saw was a herd of puppies, looking so cute so almost squealed at the cuteness factor but didn't want to disturb the story as it was coming to its dramatic ending, she smiled as the man got his wish and became a wolf to join his love.

A sudden snarl made her jump as she saw Shadow/Kemo's tail disappearing out of the den, and she wondered why he was angry enough to leave his pack-mates. Unknown to Beth, Siber had noticed that she was awake and was staring intently at the human as though trying to memorize her features. Beth then noticed that something was happening to Jace, who she figured had been the storyteller. Her skin was rippling with a strange energy, her features changing and distorting into a different shape; her clothes disappearing into the energy only to be replaced by thick black fur, her ears moving up to the top of her head and elongating into points, her nose stretching from her face and turning into a muzzle with a canine nose at the end, last was a tail that grew from the extension of her spine. Beth stared with wide eyes at the creature that stood before her, not human and not wolf but in-between, a soft voice floated across her mind as though from a very distant memory,

....And for when the time comes where a wolf's teeth are not enough nor a humans weapons both shall be combined into one creature, hunter strong, runner fast and human smart...

Beth shivered...and then began noticing the details, such as her odd colored eyes, the scars and the bullet hole through one ear, Beth realized she had seen her before but only on a wolf's body, it was Ayame!

~~

Jace's ears perked up as a strange howl floated on the wind, she tilted her head to the side and stared out into the darkness that was kept at bay by the fire that crackled and burned merrily. Her muzzle wrinkled up a little in the beginning of a growl before remembering that Kemo was out there and that he would sort out any trespassers as was his right as Alpha. She returned to playing with her pups, inviting Kemo's pups to play as well which resulted in an all out puppy attack against her as she rolled on the floor with them, trying to keep them from thinking bad thoughts and worrying about their parents, and then,

"Mama! I look like her now!" Her head jerked up

Across the fire from her she noticed that Beth had finally woken up and was staring at what had attracted Jace's attention. Siber had managed human form, a child of about 6 or 7. Wavy curls of long brown hair and striking blue eyes, both her hair and eye color were several shades off from her own in human form but then there were Temo's genes in there as well, in the shape of her face and the slant of her brow and her smile. A grin curled Jace's muzzle and she shifted back to human, ignoring Beth for the moment. She stepped around the fire and picked her daughter up by the waist and hoisting her high about her head and spinning the pup around in a circle, Siber giggling at the play,

"Well done my darling, I was wondering which of you would be the next to join us in the world of multi-forms." A small tugging at her leg by tiny hands attracted her gaze downwards to see Serenity had changed as well to match her sister. The tight ringlets of white-blonde hair resting around her face and whiskey amber eyes staring up at her out of Jace's mother's face, wanting the attention as well.

"Look Ma, I can still do it too." She smiled down at her oldest daughter and leaned down to pick her up as well. Both of them fitting into her arms with an ease that must have been pre-determined by the Elders themselves. She turned to Temo with pride in her gaze, to show off the two perfect daughters they had created together.

She shook her head to the offer, her eyes suddenly fearful again. "If I were to lead him to the dens, and he hurt somewolf, I would never be able to forgive myself. Just my presence here could risk your pack and for that I beg forgiveness Lord Kemo." Her soft, thick dark coat seemed to hide her body for a moment after the nuzzling, as she shifted into the shadows. It was almost mystical, her ability to hide within shadows. Even her scent was faint, misleading any wolf as to the age of her spoor should she be followed. She stepped forwards with a forced laugh, brushing her nose against Kemo's shoulder and learning his scent in that single movement.

With a sudden move that was clearly playful, she wolf-grins at him and throws her body onto the ground, spreading her large form out as she laps her paws, grooming them and tugging out a multitude of thorns which had resided in between the toes. As she twists to repeat the actions on her hind paws, scars show up in sharp relief against her ribs, claws which had raked and bled her ribs, tormentingly long sweeps from shoulder to flank.

Sitting, staring into the fire, watching the flames dance. Knowing Kemo's heart is broken, not knowing what to do but also knowing that he, Temo, can't do anything to help. Hearing Kemo's snarl, his ear follows Kemo as he leaves. His eyes reflecting the orange glow of the fire, dimly aware of Jace and the pups. His ears twitch at the strange howl from a wolf far off in the distance, knowing Kemo will deal with them he continues to stare into the fire watching the flames dance over the hot coals.

Hearing the stirring of the human as she wakes up, his thoughts turn to her. Who was she, why was she here, why was she still alive and in the common den with them. What was Kemo's reasoning for letting her live and be near them, learning their secrets.

It was several seconds before the full meaning registered on his consciousness when the tiny and young voice announcing "Mama! I look like her now!" floated across the room and into his ears. Turning to see Jace picking up Siber and spinning her around in a circle high over her head. A smile begins to form on his muzzle as he hears the giggles of a happy pup reverberate around the den. His eyes move to Serenity when she says "Look Ma, I can still do it too." His smile broadens and happiness is in his eyes as the sadness and seriousness is forgotten for the moment.

Watching Jace pick up Serenity and hold both their daughters and smiling at him with pride in her eyes, he gets up and changes from lycan to human form and steps over to her. Pride in his eyes too, he ruffles the locks of hair on both of their daughters making them giggle more before he places his hands onto Jace's shoulders and Kisses her.

Kemo laughed as his mind registered after a brief moment of confusion what she had said. "You underestimate my pack Singer. We are a pack of prolly the craziest wolves you have ever met. The title of the craziest one is still up in the air, but some have voted for me, some for Jace, and some for Temo, and Shan...." He cut the sentence off before she could understand the name he had almost blurted out. A wave of sadness passed through him again, but it was only really obvious in his eyes. "Well, you don't have to worry anyways. We are special and are perfectly capable of handling anything that can be thrown at us and we've been through much worse...much much worse."

As he watched her groom her paws and the scars showed themselves, he realized she must have been through worse as well. If he didn't question his own thinking, he might have thought that she had been one of the wolfesses he had set free from the evil Kerion all those...well so long ago. "Singer? I insist you stay with us. We can provide you with everything you need and you won't have to worry about your step brother again while you're with us. I'm not going to force your decision, however, you may choose what you will." He sat down and watched her groom her paws, his mind still fighting to stay focused on the task at hand.

Her ears flicker, the ebony coloured pelt twitches and golden eyes fall upon her paws as she thinks, completely still for a second. Her nose then twitches and she stands, shaking that gloriously thick pelt back into place before sinking onto her haunches in one of her more elegant movements, her tail creeping around her paws to keep them warm as she stared upwards and sighed softly. "Thank you, Lord Kemo. I accept your gracious offer, and only ask that you tell the pack not to be offended when I keep myself to myself. If my brother was to appear, I fear I will simply give myself up now, I haven't the strength to keep fighting him any longer. He has won finally." She stands and waits for him to show her the way, her entire body language suddenly howling shy, something not so expected of a Princess of a pack.

Kemo watched her compose herself before thanking him for his request. It reminded him of his early days as Alpha King, as certainly in those times he dealt with many leagues of royalty from far distant lands, though only one would ever leave such an imprint of his heart as....well, I suppose only time would tell if that hole would ever be filled again. His ears lowered for a moment as he finally caught up. "Yes, you're very welcome Singer. The dens are this way if you will trust me enough to follow." He turned and headed toward the dens.

"So, you think that because you are exhausted, he has won? I find that very peculiar. It reminds me of a story that actually happened only a little more than a year ago. If you would like to hear it. Believe it or not, we've all had our demons in the past, and some still haunt us today. Your story is, interesting..but it could be added to the list of the pack's pasts. Basically what I'm trying to say is, you'll be welcomed with open arms here." He showed her the entrance to the common den where everyone currently was, entering after her with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Jace, Temo, Pups, This is WaterSinger, though she prefers Singer. She's had a past like many of ours, and I figured she would fit well among this crazy pack we have going here." He again smiled, that old Kemo charm appearing, but not in the way it should be...Depression is like a giant balloon that's slowly running out of air and you have to hold it up all by yourself as it gets heavier and heavier.

Oh yes, of course it was easy for someone to think, "Just throw it away"...but Kemo couldn't just throw it away. He even shut off access to his mind so that his siblings wouldn't have to hear the depressing musings that plagued him, the haunting silence of Shantsa's necklace. So yes, the Kemo charm was there, but it was only there through instinct, as he was too preoccupied to be in a joking mood for long. All this could have been heard by his brother and even Jace before he thought to shut off his connection to them, but that didn't matter to him.

He ran over to his pups and tackled them, tail wagging slightly, giving each of them a lick and a nuzzle before laying down with all of them.

She flinches a little upon being introduced, but lowers that large head regally to those she is introduced at. Her tail gives a small sway at the sight of the pups, the fact that they are formed of human and not not something she is bothered by. Golden eyes alight on Kemo, Temo and Jace - the pups soon holding her attention as she plants her muscled haunches to the ground, and then sinks down, blinking slowly, more like a cat than a wolf would. Her ears remain perked, those glorious eyes haunted still by the past as she heaves a soft sigh and rests her nose upon her paws, those almighty plates of foot which carried her with grace and dignity.

(( hehe we all have demons, some of us actually are demons...well half demons at least and quarter demons lol! ))

Jace smiles as her daughters giggle and her sons bark at their feet, wanting up into the family action. She kisses Temo back firmly, letting the love she felt for him show through, before a wriggling in her arms distracted her and the two little girls transformed back into wolves, that being the form they are most comfortable in. They squirmed around wanting to be put back down and she let them loose, where they immediately began pushing their brothers to try it. She straightened up as Kemo reappeared and led in a strange black wolfess with golden amber eyes and introduced her as WaterSinger, although preferring Singer.

Jace nods her head graciously, her long hair swaying, "Greetings Miss Singer, Welcome to pack Blood Moon." She flops down onto the ground and shifts back to wolf form and grabs the nearest of her pups and begins to groom its fur, despite loud protestions.

As pups began to grow weary of play and the adults settled down to talk, a small white flake of frozen water drifted down from the white clouded sky as darkness began to roll in. A second flake floated down, followed by a third and a fourth and a fifth and so on until millions upon millions were floating down from the heavens to coat the ground below in a soft cold blanket of white that grew quickly in centimeters then inches, covering everything and anything.

As the snow cascaded down upon her mighty body, she sneezed briefly and stood, shaking off the cold white particles which aged her as she growled. Her golden eyes flashed before she circled in the snow, her eyes continuously caught by the pups. A sigh rippled her sides, the muscles there twitching as something slightly wistful slid through haunted depths of those forceful eyes. She knew deep down her only chance to have pups of her own would be for her to join with her brother - for any male that dared impregnate her would be slaughtered as her family were. The thought made her ears wilt back against her head before she shook the thick pelt free of clinging snow. She was free for a time, and before even one hair was harmed on this pup-filled pack she would give herself up.

Jace watched the snow fall thick and heavy with perked up ears and a slowly wagging tail, a love of the white stuff that stretched a lifetime came to the fore, even when the cold white flakes had been slowly draining the life from her as a pup she had marveled at it with quiescent awe. Her gaze turned to the golden-eyed one with the hide as scarred as her own as she growled at the falling snow, and a strange thought entered her brain whispered by The Voices;

The Singer of Water, who never freeze. Shall stray into the Autumn of summer breezes. The Singer of Songs that are drenched in blood. Shall run with the ethereal sun-kissed flood. Dances of gold and Dances of spirit...can you hear it?...hear it?...hear it?....

Then they tailed off, Jace shook her head perplexed, The Voices were strange sometimes and spouted things only they could understand. She caught eyes with the new wolfess and saw deep sadness in them but the Singer of Water blinked and it was gone. She looked over her again and saw represents of many hard won battles, fights for the life and the scars of time. She cocked her head to the side and spoke slowly, thinking about each word before she said it,

"Where do you come from Singer? A pack so far away as the mountains? Or over and beyond."

She was startled by the words, and looked up with hackles raised and lips wrinkled off of teeth. When she realised it was the mother of the pups, Jace, her ears again met her skull before she dropped her head in apology. She thought before she spoke, her eyes flickering side to side before she sighed, and padded in closer to the female, her nose working furiously all the time, never allowing herself to relax. "From beyond the mountains, where a pack is called an Asara. I was born to a land of snow and trees. My pack was one of the largest around, and we were happy." She stopped talking as her words of snow brought back images of the patterns blood made upon the snow, and just how much a body melted into the snow before the spirit walked with the Gods.

"A pack like that is hard to replicate, and though I have passed through so many, none have come close to measuring up to the throne upon which I should be ruling now, with a mate at my side even stronger than I am. What I wouldn't give up for my parents to be in my place today, I would gladly wait..." Her soft voice trembled as it trailed off, and she bit her lip until blood seeped down her chin in an effort to bite back the words that threatened to flood from her, things she hadn't been able to tell Lord Kemo since he was, after all male. She turned her noble head to the side, and breathed in slowly, composing herself with all the manners royalty should have before she turned back to the female.

Jace jerked back in surprise at the hostile behavior and then half-rose to her feet from her laying position, her own lips curling back from her teeth instinctively and a menacing growl rumbled up her throat. She stopped mid-growl as Singer dropped her head in apology and wagged her tail to show 'no harm, no foul' before settling back down and watching the wary she-wolf come closer. She listened with her ears perked and head tilted, as the female told of a land of snow and trees and remembered her own home-pack.

Jace took pity on the female struggling to hold herself together and decided to do the talking while she composed herself.

"My home-pack was a big one as well, 50 strong at the time of its death i think." Jace falls silent for a second, thinking,

"Had I grown up with it, I would have become the Omega or Tulue-Sfu as we call it. As things went I ended up in a huge human den after they were slaughtered by humans. An Omega forced to be an Alpha does not fare well in the sanity department, unable to obey and unable to lead I've never been in a pack before I came to this one after I was fixed...." Jace trails off and looks away studying the wall and wondering if she has scared this new female with her screwed up history.

Her ears perked before she sighed, muttering in her native language. "May Filiolus purgo vestri animus , quod otium vestri sarcina Jace." (May the Gods cleanse your soul, and ease your burden, Jace.) Her heart was in every single word she uttered, and she leant forward directly afterwards, touching her nose to the cheek of the dark-coated mother. Her tail swayed as she concentrated on sending healing thoughts and wishes to her, hoping to at least do some good, to earn some karma for when her brother finally caught up.

"Iam meus frater mos reperio mihi take mihi quod vis mihi ut exsisto suus." (Now my brother will find me, take me and force me to be his.) Her heart broke again in that second, her ears perking a little as she heaved a sigh out, shuffling her large body until she could feel the warmth of Jace against her side, the familiar feel of another wolf calming to her. Her head drooped over her paws before she sighed a little, her entire frame stretching out. She was immense in size, long and tall, but slim in the waist, every inch the femme wolf she was raised to be. "It has been too long since I have been this close to another...maybe I should go to my brother..."

Temo noticing the fire was starting to die down, so he gets more wood and in a shower of sparks from the embers, he piles more wood onto the fire. Shifting back to his wolf form he lays down near Jace. The pups playing around them as he lays his head down onto his forelegs and stares into the fire.

Watching the snow sizzle in the fire as the flakes fell to their doom. Listening to Jace and Singer talk. Quiet, nothing to say about past packs as he doesn't remember much of his short stay with his. He continues to lay quietly and watching the pups and fire as he listens to the others talk.

>_< blagh fail post

She looks at Singer and nods as The Voices translate the language into an understandable one for her. She smiles slightly at the sentiment behind the words thinking to herself,

'There's nothing the gods would like more than to crush my demonic soul'

But appreciating the gesture, the kind words and calming thoughts being projected from the others mind. She nuzzles the larger female, understanding the need to seek comfort from others of lupine decent. Her head jerked around and she leveled her gaze upon Singer when one of the translations disturbed her and she muttered in her pack language,

"Not as long as this body still runs."

Jace watched as the curious Axejec and Alexander came waddling up to them and Alex growled an invitation to play while Axejac proceeded to crawl on his mothers back and tug on her ears

The femme stared at the pup in fascination, her tail beginning to sway in long lazy strokes. She enjoyed the touch of Jace at her side, that sensation that reminded her slightly of being back in a pack. She bellied forward slowly, and sniffed over the pup, giving ebony pelted pup time to catch her wild scent. Once she knew it was okay, and Jace wasn't going to snap at her, she nudged the little puppy in the side, using only the tiniest bit of strength so as not to hurt him. Her tail flogged her own midnight sides as her golden eyes brightened with life and colour, excitement raising in her body until her hips and hind rose of their own accord, making her look like an extremely overgrown pup. "Adveho , Parum Unus , permissum nos lascivio a venatus." (Come, Little One, let us play a game.)

It was hard for her to break from the habit of using her birth-language in times of stress, despite the fact she had been taught that to do such a thing could be considered the epitome of rude, especially among those who didn't know the language. She was gently as her eyes and heart devoured the pup, entranced by his tiny paws and frame next to hers. But she was such a large vision of a wolf! Built along lines that echoed hints of Dire wolf, the largest wolf ever known, but smaller, able to take down a medium sized deer alone with a minimum of effort. As she shifted, however, her left thigh showed to the others, a mass of scar tissue - clearly caused by claws - adorned across it, showing force. No one yet knew, had yet seen, but her right was worse, where her brother had tried to injure her badly enough to stop her escaping.

Jace rolls over onto her back, knocking off the climbing Axejec. The pup growling in outrage at his sudden upheaval and Jace huffed into his face, making the pup sneeze. She grins, her eyes alight with motherly love and laughs, her tail wagging back and forth as she stared at her baby from an upside down position. She watched Singer as she played with Alex, the pup being confused by the Latin and barking his confusion before joining in play.

She rolled back other onto her belly, her fur speckled with the dust from the den floor. She watched as flakes of white ice drift in through the entrance as though curious about its occupants before melting from the heat within, creating damp at the opening. She spied Temo, who appeared lost in thought, the firelight reflecting in his black eyes making them appear as though they themselves were on fire. She tilted her head and wondered what he thought about, then felt a little bad as it seemed as though she had been ignoring him. She tip-toes towards him and then jumped over onto him, her paws ending up at either side of his body as she licked up the side of his face in a wet woofie kiss.

Watching the fire play over the coals. Finding peace in the randomness of flares as small pockets of gas erupt from the wood and ignite. Only half listening to the conversation that Temo was unable understand. Suddenly discovering Jace standing over him and licking his face, he rolls onto his side and licks her face.