It's safe in here. (Ahote)

[Hawk Tharak]

[atrb=style, width: 450px; background-color: #949494; background-image: url(http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h448/soarly/Wonderwhy/hawktharakcroppedfooter.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #7b7b7b, bTable][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing, 10,true] HAWK THARAK that which does not kill us makes us stronger

[atrb=style, font-family: arial; text-align: justify; background: #7d7c7c; border: 1px solid #595555; color: #ffffff; padding: 3px; opacity: 0.5]Even in the tree hollow-den, Hawk could feel the warmth radiating from the hot sun outside, and smell the earthy scent of the forest outside brought in by a gentle breeze. She was certain that it was a wonderful day outside but she could not bring herself to get up and venture outside. Of course, there had been a few occasions when she had tried to go out, but she felt too exposed - it was like having many eyes on her at once - so she quickly got inside her safe haven, the female den. She was not stupid enough to think that being stuck in a damp den was healthy, but at least it was safer than outside, the world where dragons and griffins roamed. An image of a handsome golden griffin penetrated her weak mind and she flinched at its wild ferocity, her bare lump on her right shoulder, a stark reminder of her lost wing, exploded with the memory of pain. Although it was more or less healed thanks to a healer's care, there had been frequent twinges of pain whenever she remembered a little of the attack. Her mind was almost wiped clean of her life, with just a few pieces that did not make sense, and few others that she wanted to be erased from her mind. She still remembered her mother's soft crooning voice as she taught Hawk and her brother, however she did not remember the time when the siblings left their mother. Hawk still remembered three wolves, a desert, and a dragon, all which she guessed was linked to each other, yet she could not join both of them properly to create a full memory. She could remember the comforting presence of a particular brown keiyou, but she couldn't remember how they met. It was all confusing and horrible. And Hawk couldn't see it improving any time soon unless she faced her fears and go outside. Fat chance of that happening any time soon. But she could do this: Hawk crawled to the edge of the hollow and allowed her head to venture outside to bask in the sun. Slowly but surely, she dropped her head to her scarred paws, closing her eyes under the soft warmth of the sunlight. She allowed the tangy forest scents to caress and carry her thoughts away serenely. Hawk welcomed this sense of tranquillity which she did not feel very often nowadays. With these soft sensations assaulting her every senses, Hawk was feeling herself being drifted off into the dreamworld. It was first time in ages she finally felt fully relaxed and not as bothered by her nerves. This time, she thought, she probably wouldn't be bothered by the recurring unclear nightmares. No. It wasn't actually a thought. It was more like a desperate hope.

[Ahote]

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[atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/ahotemid.jpg] The large green alpha was making his way back to the Home Tree after patrolling most of the night. It would be most because he had spent a certain amount of time with a Mistress whom he would not name. No one could blame Ahote for slacking his lust with Diamanta, she was beautiful, and passionate , and had eyes only for him. Thusfar he had not found a female, beyond his love for Rhiannon who could match her, and he made sure to kept his pelt by not telling either one of them about each other. Diamanta because he was sure the hybrid would attempt to flay the pelt off the myou and Rhiannon because he felt in a way she still loved that...that male Forte. His shoulders were fraught with tension at the idea she would return to the canyon and go on with life without him and take back that deserter was stressing him out, and after such a relaxing night. He sighed, his yellowed and green eyes rolling upwards to the sky. He had less to worry about patrolling now that they had their fair share of wolves, and now that his own sons were grown they did their fair share of hunting and patrolling, take the weight and spreading it evenly among them. He noticed even his daughters hunted for themselves what small prey they could. He did not want anyone impregnating any of his daughters, Luparia, Eolande, or Adraxxia. But he knew in time that they would find out amongst each other how to take care of themselves and others, through hunting small game, flirting with the males, or learning about herbs to help the other pack members. Soon he would need to have a pack meeting, to change everyone's ranks, shine the light on the younger generation, and give them some attention. Yes, his mind affirmed, and it was the perfect time of year, the sun was warming the pack and bringing food closer and closer making sure that the wolves could stock up on their fat storage for the coming fall and winter which he knew as usual would be hard on everyone. It was hard to get out and get exercise when there were several feet of snow on the ground, but the advantages were any wolf who took a lower level den would have snow packed in to contain body heat, in the female and male home trees. As he thought about the coming events and how things had grown his paws were carried just a little higher, slipping from shadow to shadow as he came closer to home. However, as he neared his Home Tree where he intended to take a nap so that he could be readily available to his wolves and any threats that may arise he saw a body curled up outside. He knew her by her own winged form and his mouth curled into a tight smile. Hawk...When he had heard of her previously described to him by his Skoll Alucio, she had had two wings, and turned down the offer to join the pack. Now here she was, one winged and looked bedraggled, and all alone in the world, whether the large brute wanted to admit it, it pulled at his heart strings. So many more females found their way to the Taiga broken, shattered beings who needed so much help coming back together. He had no problem with this and while others may have thought that his pack was weak for accepting them, he knew his males would fight tooth and nail to protect them, and by caring for pups, and each other it gave the females a sense of purpose and being, helped them come back to themselves regardless of how long they hibernated in their den to begin with. His eyes trailed over her resting form and he made a soft haurmph sound to let her know he was a few feet away. It was hard to deal with females who had been abused or taken advantage of, some wanted to be touched, to feel something, and some where terrified of a smile. Although given the fact that his sabers hung down past his lips, he could see how a smile from him might not be all that reassuring. He shook himself briefly before making his way over to her. He stopped about a foot or two away, circled around and lay down next to her. He wanted her to know that in no way was napping unacceptable in fact he easily enjoyed the past time when other more pressing things and situations did not need to be taken care of. His eyes remained open and on her though as he finally spoke, his voice soft and soothing, as opposed to it's potential to boom across his territory in defense of his land and his pack. Many wolves may have seen his territorial nature as a weakness he believed it was something else, if you had something worth protecting you were possessive of it, and when you stopped being so was the day someone took it from you. He had too many pups and pack members relying on him to lose it to anyone else. “Hello Hawk...I see the afternoon sun is treating you well, and here you have found an excellent warm place to nap...” He mentioned nothing of her wing, or the trials she had been through, for now superficial conversation would be the best thing he could do for her. If she wanted to talk about the things that had happened to her then she could, and he would give her the best listening ears he possibly could. For now though he lowered his head, and tilted it to the side to look at her. “How are you doing here so far? Has someone given you enough food?” Not in his opinion but again he really couldn't press the food down her throat if she didn't want it, or couldn't handle it. He could only be extremely thankful that the healers he did have were there to help her...otherwise he could not have imagined the shape she would be in, mentally or physically. He let the silence lay comfortably between them as he waited patiently.

[Hawk Tharak]

[atrb=style, width: 450px; background-color: #949494; background-image: url(http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h448/soarly/Wonderwhy/hawktharakcroppedfooter.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #7b7b7b, bTable][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing, 10,true] HAWK THARAK that which does not kill us makes us stronger

[atrb=style, font-family: arial; text-align: justify; background: #7d7c7c; border: 1px solid #595555; color: #ffffff; padding: 3px; opacity: 0.5]As Hawk felt her eyelids drooping over her intense golden eyes, she heard a noise not too far away from her. She ignored the sound and made no movements to acknowledge it, except for her tufted tail which was twitching irritably. Couldn't the wolf see how tired she was? Or that she was trying to sleep? Trying to block the intruder out, she squeezed her eyelids together tightly, but it didn't seem to dissuade them; she felt a body settling beside her. A faint growl rumbled in her throat and she turned her head. Once she saw the familiar, yet strange face of her leader, the sound in her throat silenced immediately. "Ahote?" Her eagle-like eyes were wide and staring, surprised at his presence. Why would he be here? The thought of him resting or even coming here to comfort her never crossed her mind. She flattened her ears and her wing pressed to her side when he spoke. His voice was distinctive, yet it was easy to see why he was the leader of the Enclave. But his voice did nothing to soothe his words which were infuriating. Suddenly, she broke out of her obedient stance, "It would be a nice nap if you had chosen to leave me alone." Then something in her mind said wrong. This was no way to greet a leader, especially her leader. She stared at him, speechless for a moment before muttering, "Sorry." It sickened her to be so obedient; it was completely against her nature. But then she didn't know who she was supposed to be. That wasn't something she wanted to think about now, especially not with Ahote beside her. Hawk watched him silently as he seemed to observe her. Probably to check if one of his females was healing well. Well, everyone had the same look whenever they had their eyes on her. Except for that bitch Kirai who had mocked her the moment she laid her gaze on her. Hawk heard the pup's father had died soon after their fight. Good riddance. But it felt wrong to say that, as she didn't know Nautic well. Once again her confusion about herself invaded her mind, which she quickly brushed it out of her mind. Instead she focused on Ahote and his food question. "No, I'm horribly starved here." She quickly stopped herself before saying any more silly stuff. Being sarcastic was not being obedient. "Sorry." She gave him a tiny shrug. "It's just..." The remaining words faded on her tongue, positively sure that he didn't want to hear her problems. They must be so trivial compared to the pressing matters of leading a pack. Besides she wasn't going to be like this forever, stuck between her forgotten self and her present self. Once her mind repaired itself, she would be back to normal... Right?

[Ahote]

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[atrb=background,http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/lilDiablo_/ahotemid.jpg] Someday Ahote would swear by the Great Spirit that he had inherited a pack and a system of running it that brought females to him that were completely damaged, broken, heart shattered, or some other issue. So rarely did he find a female who could hold her own and didn’t have issues, as it stood only Diamanta came to mind, and as it did her musk filled his nose as if he were right there next to her. It triggered a rather physical response and as he was lying down, he could only be more than thankful, THAT female was very much so like a drug. When he had first decided to lay down next to her, he heard that growl of hers, and his ears went to a perked, attention position, If she chose to attack him, he would put her down, as gently as he could considering she had been injured and he knew it was a very real possibility that she would try to take a pound of flash from him. From what Alucio had told him she didn’t agree with how the pack was run, but he didn’t quite think he needed to bring that up, not while she was so completely on edge and frazzled within an inch of sanity. When she acknowledged him by calling his name he merely nodded kindly to her, any intruder would see the nastier side of the brute beside her but for all intensive purposes with pups and females who needed a kind ear, or paw he would be there. He had not been given the gift of healing or knowledge of herbs, although it would have helped him through the several litters that were born and several injuries that happened. But it could not be said that mentally and emotionally he did not try to be available for those who needed him, and now as his own pups got older he tried to be even more available to help them through the years when he had had no one. As she snapped at him he simply tilted his head and looked at her. She had not been outright disrespectful yet, and he was giving her about as much room as he was going to give her to hang herself. His own ears flattened slightly and he looked at her the way he would look at a pup who was trying the limits of his patience. Injury or not, she was well enough to move and come bask in the sun which meant she hadn’t quite lost complete leave of her senses yet, which is the only reason he said nothing. “Hawk…” He began slowly, and quietly so that their conversation would at least have the illusion of privacy, “Just because the rules of the pack state that females cannot hunt large game or fight, does not mean that they have to be cowering, completely submissive wolves. I made those laws for the pack to keep the mothers in my pack safe, I know what it is like to grow up without a mother without parents in general, it is a bad thing for most pups and they spend their entire life wondering why they weren’t wanted, or why someone let their parents go off and do something stupid so they couldn’t come back to them. However, I have plenty of females in this pack who know exactly who they are and though they show proper respect, you would be hard pressed to find them submissive, simply respectful.” He was not going to say she had nothing to be sorry for, because she did, she could be assertive without being disrespectful as far as he was concerned. He chuckled at her comment to being half starved, “Well if you are then it would be your own fault, now is the season for plenty, and I know the male wolves have done much to ensure everyone has enough before fall and winter come and take that abundance away. But I suppose you haven’t been out to hunt anything for yourself, which I can admit, it does change the taste, but you must have hunted plenty before you came here.” He was slowly broaching on who she had been, what she had been doing before she came here, Ahote knew she wasn’t truly happy here, but if he could be a slow and steady influence on her, she could come back to herself and find out where she might be truly happy. “You don’t have to keep apologizing to me, every time you say something you think might offend me. We are talking, we’re not arguing, you are not challenging me, I find sarcasm is a great way to deal with things we may have sealed up or don’t want to deal with, don’t feel like you have to apologize for what is natural.” This of course followed a thin line, when things became outright insulting and disrespectful, THEN he would step in and let her know the error of her ways but so far he could only see she was struggling to try to contain her natural inclination and personality, which was wrong. “It’s just what Hawk? Why don’t you talk to me? Truly who better to talk to? You’ve reached the top of the gossip pile, it can’t go any higher than me unless you fancy talking to the Great Spirit…..and if anyone were in a position to help you, it would be me. I doubt I was gifted with broad shoulders if I weren’t meant to hold onto the burdens of those who fall under my vigilance and care..” His yellow and green tinted eyes stared at her, and into her eyes, not at her wing, for at this point the lacking of her other wing was a moot point. It was gone, it could never be replaced and Ahote knew that there was much more to repair within her mind and heart than could ever be repaired on her physical body, that would heal. Time, food, shelter all the things his pack could provide would help her, but her mind, her emotions, her heart, those were shattered, she was angry, hurt, confused and he could see those emotions chase across those slightly full hawk eyes, lacking the emotion he knew could fill them to the brim. “Hawk, I know many members may see an alpha as someone untouchable, or someone they can’t talk to but that is not me, if I can help, even by listening, I will. You deserve to have someone who can at least listen, and sometimes, when things are said out in the open, it gives you a more clear mental picture..”