Kichi had been in a peaceful state of sleep for a time but his awareness was kicking in, letting him know it was colder now.  The pup raised his head glancing to the left and right as he noticed that both Al and Lurid had disappeared.  Kichi felt a moment of frustration then a bit of fear sinking in at being alone.  It wasn’t the first time had been alone and most of the time it didn’t bother him.  Kichi stood up and walked out of the den, ears straining for sounds.  The problem was that no one had warned him.  Where had they gone?  How long would they be gone?  Was it something dangerous that being alone could be permanent? The fear faded as Kichi let out a sigh then took another look around.  He could hear Ilyn’s death snoozing breaths and a bunch of crickets singing or conversing or whatever.  No one to stop him from a bit of exploring.  Kichi stretched, letting out a silent yawn to help wake up more.  He’d never been exploring alone at night, maybe this would be a good thing after all.  He decided to let his deer also remain sleeping soundly as he didn’t trust it to walk as silently as needed. Kichi was about six months old now and felt confident he could handle himself if any threat were to show up. He quietly left the den sight, making sure to not wake Ilyn.  Mom’s bird was likely dead asleep also – would it wake up enough to follow?  Right now Kichi didn’t care and spitefully hoped it was dead asleep and Lurid and Al got a taste of what it was like for someone to slip away without warning.  They wanted to make him worry? Let them be worried if they got back first. Kichi moved calmly through the silent forest.  The grey and white pup let his own steps be as quiet as the forest so that the chirping crickets were louder than his steps.  After a time he caught a scent he knew well.  Elk, the more horrid and evil prey animals to exist.  The monster that had killed his parents was an elk after all.  That one was dead so he would never get revenge on it but perhaps another elk would feel satisfying.  The thought of hunting an elk put the fear back in his stomach.  Hunting had terrified him for a long time but right now he would prove himself with the ultimate hunt.   Kichi followed the scent, feeling the fear gripping his stomach and the following anger that he fostered to fight the fear.  Hate was a powerful tool to counter fear, it was a lesson he had learned months ago and now he stoked that anger.  Kichi had always fought the memories of what had happened that terrible day but now for the first time the pup let himself remember, there was no way not to.  He remembered the smell of blood, the look of his parent's flesh on the dead elk’s antlers.  Kichi recalled how giant the elk’s eye had seemed to him back then and he recalled the fear.  The fear had choked his heart and filled his mind back then so that no other thought could get past.   Now the fear was there but not as strong as the hate that pumped with every beat of his heart.  Finally, he spotted a stag.  It wasn’t the only one, he could smell others around but this one would never see its family again.  The hate was making it hard to think but it didn’t matter.  Kichi could see the enemy, smell it and he would soon feel its blood in his jaws.  It didn’t matter his lack of hunting experience right now.  It didn’t matter that Kichi still wasn’t fully grown nor had all the bulk as he would one day have as an adult.  It had to die.  Now. Kichi ran towards the elk with the expectation it would run but instead saw it turning to face him and showing off those dangerous antlers.  Evil stabbing and slashing antlers that could kill a wolf.  Kichi tried to circle around and was forced to back off as the buck charged towards him.  When the buck quit charging Kichi quit running and the two had a stare-down.  Kichi couldn’t wait and charged in again only to find a pair of antlers chasing him away.   The standoff lasted a few seconds before the elk turned to lope off.  The bold prey didn’t appear scared, it was simply done playing with a pup.  Kichi charged after it, finally seeing a chance to attack something other than antlers.  He was catching up and just needed a few more strides to sink teeth into the leg.  His mind was focused on that and had forgotten to be ready for a counter-attack.  The elk suddenly turned around, its antlers turning to face the overconfident young wolf.  Kichi saw the attack coming and leaped sideways to avoid the antlers.  They would have torn off half his face had he not turned, as it was he felt a sharp tine slash a bit under the eye and up halfway to the ear.  Kichi shrieked with the sudden pain unlike any he had felt before and the realization of how close he was to being killed. Kichi still wanted it dead but found himself fleeing with his tail between his legs. The horrible elk chased him! He felt a tine slash at his leg, hardly more than a scratch but it was more than enough that Kichi was imagining his own death.  He howled in terror for Al or Lurid.  Kichi ran faster and didn’t bother looking back.  At some point, he realized the elk had quit following.  Panting heavily he walked a short distance further before lying down.  Help would come, right?  It depended on how far away they had gone and if they were in trouble or not.  Kichi keened a soft whine.  He didn’t want to feel independent and brave right now.  He wanted Lurid or Al to tell him he would be ok.  How bad were the injuries?  Mom and dad had died to one of those things after all.  He wanted them to watch over him so he could sleep, or walk back with him just for companionship. "Speech" Think

Alastor was stumbling back towards their den with a goofy, satisfied grin on his face, still reveling in a state of bliss from his evening escapades with Lurid. He was walking alongside his betrothed, offering his body as a crutch for her to use for support while he escorted her back to bed. Tonight had been the single best night of his life. Between the confessions between himself and Lurid, her reassurance that he could never bring harm to her, and their consummation of their commitment to one another, tonight had been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences. His neck still ached from Lurid's bites, and he was wearing some fresh cuts and scratches from their throes of passion, but he wouldn't have traded away any of his battle scars. He wore them with pride, beaming at the beautiful pale ghost glistening at his side. Oh, how he loved her...

"Shhh..." whispered Alastor to Lurid as they approached their den. Of course, he didn't need to tell her how to parent. Her maternal instincts far outweighed anything he could say. His responsibilities were safety and security, and he prided himself on being the best enforcer to his queen's will. Slipping silently back into the den, the first thing Alastor was struck by was how quiet it was. There were no soft sounds of breathing, no snoring, nothing to tip him off that anyone else was in here. The large wolf made his way as quietly as he could over to the pile of furs the "family" used as bedding, nosing about in the dark in search of the boy. They were empty. Panic gripped Alastor's heart as he rifled through the furs again. They were cold; Kichi hadn't been in bed for some time. "Lurid, he's gone!" he called out to her before storming over to the entrance of the den, kicking one of Ilyn's paws out from under his head so the bear's head hit the ground with a thud. "I gave you one job!" he said with a snarl, stopping just outside the den to sniff furiously at the ground. Kichi's scent lingered, but it was faint. The boy must have slipped out shortly after they'd gone off on their own.

"KICHI!" Alastor's shouts into the dark yielded nothing but an echo of his own call. "KICHI!" This time, Alastor's ears caught the tail end of a distant squeal, followed by the terrified howl of a puppy somewhere in the dark forest. Kichi. The thought hadn't even finished manifesting in his mind before Alastor's paws were pounding the ground in a rapid sprint. The brute took off like a shot, racing through the trees in the direction he had heard the boy's howl. Damn it, Kichi, how far did you go?! As he ran, Alastor's nose flared to catch any trace of the boy's scent in the air. There! His nose twitched as the familiar smell filled his olfactory senses. Like a heat-seeking missile, Alastor turned mid-stride and bounded after the scent as it wound its way through the woods. A soft whine alerted the man that he was getting closer, and soon he saw the pale grey form of Kichi lying down amongst the trees. Kichi! Thank the gods!

"Kichi!" Alastor called out to the boy before he had even come upon him yet, staggering to a skidding halt near the injured pup and collapsing to the ground to wrap his body protectively around the body's smaller form. "It's okay, you're safe. I've got you, I've got you now. LURID!" Alastor released a short howl to his alpha, knowing she wouldn't have been able to keep up with his pace in her current state, providing her with a beacon by which to find them. Panting hard from the physical exertion as well as the adrenaline, Alastor took a few deep breaths to steady himself before peeling back just enough to look at Kichi. He had been fully intending to question and scold the boy for running away in the middle of the night, but the moment he saw the deep gash across the side of his face, Alastor's relieved expression dropped like a rock. "What happened? Are you okay? What did this to you?" he asked, his questions coming out one after another while he placed a careful lick over the boy's face to clean off some of the blood. Damn it all, Lurid really needed to get here to help him take care of the boy.

"Speech" | Thoughts

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
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Her gossamer body still hummed with residual pleasure and throbbed at various points with a pain that could only be described as decadent as they made their way home to the redwood forest. Every now and again she would lean against Alastor, giggling like a school girl as she rode her after-sex high the whole way to the den. Lurid had never felt this good while being this sore, but she was determined to squeeze every ounce of happiness from the experience. It had been a crazy night for them both, from potential heartbreak to finally becoming one in a single night was bound to give anyone emotional whiplash. The alabaster empress found herself staring at Alastor more than watching where she was going, not wanting to dwell on just how close she had come to losing him because of some unearthly being in a cave. If she ever saw that thing again, she would openly feast on it. She had been possessive of her dark knight before, protective as well, but something shifted tonight. Being tortured every day would look like heaven compared to what she would do to any other being who dared try and sever their bond, mortal or otherwise. He was her anchor, just as she was his. Holographic eyes stared lovingly at the demon who possessed her so thoroughly, unable to keep herself from watching how he moved with her. As they got closer to home, she went to speak her mind, to tell Alastor how much she loved him, how much he meant to her, but even as her lips parted Alastor silenced her.

Her brows furrowed for a moment out of hurt, but then she saw his expression and followed his gaze around the immediate area. It was quiet...too quiet. Instantaneously, a physical shift occurred in the ivory devil, a visible shift. Cold dread slapped her into reality, filling her with maternal panic. Her eyes shifted toward Alastor as he moved forward, but she found herself rooted in place, trying not to panic. She could hear him searching the den, her ears focusing in on the deep, heavy sounds of Ilyn's familiar sleeping breaths. 'Lurid, he's not here...' The moonlight heathen blinked in the darkness, 'Lurid, he's not here...' Had she heard correctly? Why was it suddenly so cold?

Not a moment later, without saying anything, Lurid started searching for her baby's scent and followed the freshest trail with a three-legged lope. Alastor moved ahead of her' faster than she could be in her current state. Curse that stupid bug god! She would rip the wings from every lightning bug she saw from now on if anything happened to her child. She was still catching up when her dark knight called to her urgently, which had hsr adjusting her course and making a beeline for them. Her left forelimb ached from exertion, but she made it to them just as Alastor asked what happened. Was Kichi hurt? Kichi had better not be hurt! Then she saw the blood, then the gash, and her sight zeroed in on it. Kichi was hurt! Without hesitation she curled up around her baby, wordless but visibly stressed with tears in her eyes! She tried really hard not to be angry with the boy for getting himself hurt by sneaking out again, the time for that would come later. "What happened, Little Love?" He was shaken enough already, so Lurid soothed him the best she could, grateful he hadn't died. She wrapped her tail around them and held him tightly, but gently, to her larger frame and did her best to comfort her little storm cloud.

It was taking forever.  Kichi didn’t know how long the two would have been gone and if they could even hear his howl or track him down.  What if they’d found themselves in some other mess like the last time they left him.  What if no one was coming?  What if.  Kichi didn’t question it anymore but with his head lying on the ground his eyes would look up and watch the area with fear nibbling up his insides.  How long could he wait?  How long had it been?  Looking up at the sky he had to acknowledge not as long as it felt like.

Suddenly he heard Al and relief swept through him.  He wasn’t alone.  The moment Al was against him Kichi did his part of making sure he was pressed into the wolf as much as possible, part of him seeming to disappear within the thick fur coat.  The words ‘safe’ was a blessing to the independent pup at the moment.  Kichi’s head turned a bit with a whine and flinch at the pressure of Al’s tongue on the cut.  Overall the boy tried to be tough but he’d had it tonight.  Fear, exhaustion, and damnit the cut on his face hurt more when Kichi moved any portion of the area and it was amazing how many tiny changes one made to facial expressions without noticing.  Pain, fear, tired.

Lurid showed up and both the giants were around him.  He hadn’t answered Al while it was just them, not out of defiance so much as just collecting himself and wondering how to admit his mistake without it sounding so mistake-ish.  He could forget the part of his starting the elk chase but that felt wrong.  “There was an elk, and I chased it but it didn’t run.” That should be enough of an explanation.  It was enough for Kichi.  They’d fix it.  Kichi had no doubt they’d make it pay just so long as they made it pay without leaving him.

Alastor glanced up when he heard footsteps approaching, waving Lurid over to where he lay protecting Kichi. He happily relinquished his position around Kichi once she came over and wrapped herself around him in typical motherly fashion to shield him from the hurtful world. He had never seen Lurid in her element as a mother, but he had to admit that motherhood suited her well. She looked like she belonged there, protecting her child and comforting the pain away. The tenderness was so uncharacteristic from the Lurid he knew, but it was simply another dimension of her personality he hadn't seen yet. Kichi explained in one simple sentence what had happened. Kichi had gotten out of bed and tried to hunt an elk all on his own? Was he trying to score some revenge for what he believed happened to his birth parents? Alastor's brow knitted together, confusion in his obsidian eyes, then anger, then rage. Not at Kichi—not at the sweet little boy of his lover—but at the elk. How dare a prey animal think it could harm the boy without ramifications! Well, if Kichi wanted his revenge in blood, Alastor was going to help deliver.

Fixing Lurid with his murderous stare, he padded closer to lean in and go to plant a firm kiss on her forehead while she comforted her son. "Stay with Kichi. Take him home," he said with a low, rumbling growl building in his voice. He knew he could not command Lurid, but his words were given in strong suggestion, as he had murder on his mind. Alastor's nose twitched, picking up the scent of the elk as it veered off into the dark woods. Alastor's eyes narrowed as red crept into the edges of his vision. Heavy paws blasted off of the ground, beating against the earth while the dire brute launched through the trees with murder on his mind. Kichi wanted the elk dead. The elk would die. The elk must die. No one harmed his family, not so long as he drew breath. The scent trail was still fresh and was easy for the brute to follow. He was not concerned about the amount of noise his footfalls were making or about best hunting practices he was ignoring. This was not a hunt. This was going to be a slaughter. The scent got stronger. The elk had come this way and slowed down, probably thinking it was safe and far enough away from the small puppy it had tried to gore. It did not count on the mountain of muscle and fur now coming to rip it to shreds.

A silhouette appeared through the trees just ahead, a crown of antlers upon its skull. The scent trail led directly to it. That was his prey. A predatory growl erupted in the man's chest as he shot like a rocket directly at the elk, leaping over a fallen log and pouncing the elk all in one motion. The cervine had no time to react as the hulking black wolf lunged from the darkness, sharp white fangs appearing for a second before they sank into the flesh and muscle on the elk's neck. The prey animal released a primal cry of fear and pain, trying to kick and buck, but it was too late. Alastor threw his weight against the animal, knocking it off its stalky legs while keeping his teeth gripping tight to the flesh on the animal's neck, effectively bringing it down to the ground. Alastor snarled as he thrashed the animal, shaking it in his powerful jaws while it bellowed and bleated for help. The taste of fresh blood flooded Alastor's tastebuds, and the animal inside the man awoke once again. Pupils dilated in the silvery moonlight. Jaws crunched harder into the sinew of his hapless prey. One large paw came up to the elk's neck, digging his claws through the tender flesh until he felt thick cords, and then he ripped away with all his might.

The elk gave a guttural bellow as Alastor tore the animal's carotid right from its neck, thick spurts of blood spraying from the gashes in its throat. Every beat of the elk's heart pumped more and more blood out of its body, staining the earth with dark puddles of its life essence. Alastor released the elk with a primal growl, watching in dark delight as the animal scrambled to get to its legs and bound away, making it a few feet before stumbling into a tree, then collapsing to the ground from the sudden blood loss. Grinning like a maniac, Alastor sauntered over to the struggling elk, savoring the taste of its blood and the weakening cries it was making as it died slowly. He saw the wide, panicked look in its eyes as he drew nearer. It was afraid. Good. Alastor wanted it to feel the same helpless fear that Kichi had when it had tried to gore the boy. Once more, the elk struggled to its legs, staggering a couple of steps away before its legs gave out. By now, the dire wolf had drawn down on his victim, listening to its labored breathing while he licked his teeth clean of red stains. The elk gave one final loud bellow for help, and then Alastor bit down on the elk's throat, squeezing hard until he felt a pop of the creature's windpipe against his jaws. He didn't kill the animal instantly, instead letting to suffocate and choke on its own blood, tasting each spurt its failing heart pumped into his mouth automatically.

The elk's legs kicked weakly against the ground. Its head flopped to the side, tongue hanging from its mouth while doe-like eyes glazed over and clouded. The legs stopped moving. Its chest stopped rising and falling. The blood no longer spurted into his mouth, instead dribbling from the fatal wounds on its neck. For good measure, Alastor grabbed the elk's skull and twisted, feeling the vertebrae snap, then twisted it the opposite way to the same effect. He repeated his over and over, biting harder into the elk's neck until his jaws snapped closed and the elk's head was ripped forcefully from its corpse. There was no practical reason other than the animal inside demanding more blood and carnage. He had hunted and killed the elk out of pure vengeance, and now his bloodlust was satisfied.

As the adrenaline burned out in his veins and the heat of combat cooled off, Alastor began to regain some semblance of his tattered sanity. He blinked his coal eyes once, twice, then surveyed his work. A smile touched his face, tinted red from the gore. That would do... that would do... Oh, but he had to bring back something for Kichi! The boy had initiated his first hunt, and against the animal that had killed his parents, nonetheless! He deserved some sort of prize from the kill, something for him to remind himself that he had new "parents" looking out for him—wolves that would not fall as easily. But what...? Ah, that will do nicely...! he thought while his eyes passed over the rack of antlers atop the severed head. Alastor took the head in his paws again, holding it steady while he grabbed an antler by the base, twisting and yanking until he had ripped it from the skull. The long set of antler clutched securely in his grasp, Alastor turned, kicked the elk's decapitated head off into some bushes, and walked leisurely back to his family. He found them again back at the den, walking toward the tree, covered in blood and carrying his present for Kichi. If they didn't see or hear him, they would almost certainly smell him coming back.

"Speech" | Thoughts

Warning: Alastor is an explicitly mature character for violent and sexual content. Read his threads with caution.
As his mate, Manea may enter any of Alastor's threads not marked Private.
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