Like a Sandstorm
Cybele walked along the baren land with her head held high and proud. The wind, clearly jealous in the power of her stride, was hostile in its attempts to toss her off of her determined, straight line path into the hardened ground. 'This really is the bones of the earth, eh?' the wolf thought to herself. 'Hard to believe anything but a tumbleweed could prosper here.' Despite the thoughts, Cybele continued, because she wanted to see for her own eyes what kind of wonders were being done in the lands otherwise written off by wolves as hopeless and barren. When she got to a place that was less rugged, Cybele sat down as patiently as one like her could. "Excuse me?" She called out in her most pretty fanciful girl voice she could muster. Yeah, she would have to work on that. It didn't seem to get a lot of attention either. Not that she could blame them; this was a pretty far empty stretch that she doubted anyone constantly patrolled for visitors. With that being said, she was free to let it out now. She sucked in enough air to puff her chest like a rooster and howled a low and long sound that seemed to echo for miles. No way they couldn't here that! |
It was time for him to stop moping, he was still allowed to grieve of course but Helios knew wallowing in his feelings wouldn’t help any, he should know. He was getting good at dealing with loss. He was still pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing. He was Ephor and he would step up, if for his son’s sake if nothing else. So when a small echoing call reached him, clearly directed at them he rose to his paws to answer. The man was surprised to find the woman so far away however, still far from the lush paradise of the estuary and planted firmly on the land across from the narrow land bridge. Front paws on his side of the border, facing out across the thin stretch of land he narrowed his eyes. They had no lack of enemies and he wasn’t about to be lured out of his territory. " If you have no malice in you, there is no reason to stand so far away." He called out, jerking his head back to tell her to cross the bridge. "Burn Baby Burn" |
The wolf perked her ears up at the voice, narrowing in onto the russet blur in the distance. No malice, huh? Better check herself. Nope, no malice to be seen. She even washed her face of the blood after eating. So she pranced on happily, as she approached the land the air became more breathable and the ground under her paws started to feel fertile. "This is more like it. Has the desert been hiding this the whole time?" She spoke with a more casual tone now. Naturally, casual for her was a bit on the loud side. "Are you the handsome gent who runs this then?" |
Hercules's ears perked at the howl that came from the border and instantly a curious, excited feeling bubbled up in his gut. He wanted so badly to see Pantheon grow and flourish and it seemed that maybe this would be just the case. First Charm and now this new commer. Pantheon would grow, he was sure of it. One wolf at a time! Of course he reminded himself as he trotted toward where the sound echoed from that this wolf may not even want to join. They might change their mind. It might be someone who was lost or maybe even a visitor from another pack. All of these thoughts helped to calm the young Patriarch down before he arrived to see his father standing across from a mostly cream colored woman. Hercules smirked as he trotted up next to Helios, arriving just in time to hear the woman's question about if his father was the "handsome gent" who ran Pantheon. He chuckled softly and replied, "No, I'm afraid that would be me, madam." He gave her a friendly smile and glanced to his father before letting his orange gaze meet the woman's again. "I am Hercules, the Patriarch here in Pantheon. This is my father Helios, a Ephor. What can we do for you today?" |
Despite her laid back and friendly demeanor, Cybele was always at some level of alert. It was something that had become deeply engraved into her being in the dog-eat-dog ways of the land. Cybele could hear the other wolf approaching, and in the darker corners of her mind it made her worry. If things didn't go well, two to one on their home turf didn't sound so good for her. But she managed to push the thoughts away and keep up her casual non-hostile demeanor. Turning to face the arriving wolf, her heart nearly fell out of her chest. He was so cute. Just fresh out of puppyhood and looking like his father just decided to split in half one day! And to be the alpha of the pack at such a young age? She didn't know if she wanted to coo and cuddle him or laugh in surprise. Of course, she would in reality do neither. Thats definitely a good way to get on an entire pack's bad side. Cybele held it together with the strength and resolve that only she could pull off, but the wide smile remained on her face. "And a spitting image of him you are!" Pulling herself together, Cybele cleared her throat and returned to some sort of respectable and more composed stature. "But yes, why I am here. I'm here because this pack has been seeming to cause a lot of a stir in the west; packs that accept outsiders are more of a "East side thing" as they would say. But this is a good thing. " Cybele quickly added with a confidant gleam and continued, "Its something I want to be a part of. I can be a little extra muscle. Never to much of that, right? " |
The woman approached, her demeanor clearly happy though he still wasn’t about to lower his defenses. A question, probably rhetorical fell from her lips and despite himself he answered. " Be glad you found our little slice of paradise… rumors say there’s a ‘oasis’ in the desert somewhere, though apparently you need to walk for nearly a day in the middle of the sand to reach it." The man was about to answer her second question, but the answer would arrive on the scene. His son would trot up beside him and Helios would lean back to settle upon his haunches. He chuckled as well, allowing his son to take control of the situation. It was strange when he thought of it… Hercules certainly wasn’t his double, the lack of a stripe running down his back or Helios having no black markings was enough to differentiate the two… but of all of his children Hercules was the most that resembled him. The woman spoke again and Helios’ focus was pulled back to their visitor. " Well if we’re still somehow making a stir within the other packs, there is certainly no such thing as too much muscle." He cast russet gaze once more to his son, wondering what he was thinking. "Burn Baby Burn" |
Hercules smirked and glanced toward his father at the woman's mention of their resemblance. They lacked any similar markings, but color wise he could see what she meant. He certainly resembled Helios more than his siblings anyway. His eyes went back to their visitor when she spoke to explain her reason for being here. Ah, so she did look to join. He was glad to hear that. He glanced toward his father with a nod of agreement at his comment about extra muscle being a good thing. He looked to her again. So she was a fighter then. He was certainly not in a position to turn away potential members, especially if they were any good at a particular trade. "I'm inclined to agree. More muscle, as you put it, is never a bad thing. You should keep in mind that I expect a lot out of my members. We will hold regular training sessions to make sure your skills stay sharp and if it's a warrior you want to be then you'll be working closely with my brother, Thanatos. He is our lead warrior. We are all like a family here. I expect you to treat all of our members as such." He smiled a little and continued, "If all of that sounds alright with you than I'd be happy to offer you a home here, miss..." He paused so she could fill in her name. His second new member since he became alpha. Slowly but surely they were growing, one member at a time. |