BLOW THE SMOKE IN DIAMOND SHAPE

It was in the mother?s remark to her son, that Gargoyle?s first inkling at the truth was found. It was all that was needed to shed a new light upon the scene. Up until that moment, Gargoyle had assumed her to be of the prior Tortugan allegiance, some wolf under Desdemonda?s rule, now looking for answers as to what had happened to her queen and packmates. Not so. Not so by a long shot. She was a challenger. Gargoyle was sick of challengers. A slow, guttural growl escaped his muzzle in the form of an exhale. Despite the deadpan face and blank, stoney eyes, complete irritation and disappointment was made clear in that one sound. ?All wolves that lie within these borders are loyal to myself and none other. They have proven such time after time. I shall never understand why wolves choose to grapple for empty titles and scraps of land.? He gazed down at her, nothing in his eyes, but true disgust in his heart. After the experience he had recently had, he could feel nothing else for pack-challengers. Yet, a wayward glance at the pup, made him wonder. The truth was, this was a battle he would not fight. He didn?t have to. His family was already on the verge of moving. He and his sister had discovered that Mt. Volkan was far from extinct, and after the eruption of Mt.Animi, no one had a mind to look at another volcano, let alone live on one.

His family would not be needing Tortuga, the land would once again be open to the claim of any crazy enough to lurk in it?s shadows. But he didn?t mention this. As of yet, that issue was not a part of the conversation. Gargoyle wanted to know what sort of a character stood before him. ?The fact is, that if you by some miracle win, you shall be left with nothing but the volcanic slopes ? assuming none of my packmates gang together and kill you. Tell me, if you would be so kind, what makes such a risk worth the taking? If you lose, you leave your son motherless, if you win your very presence forces an entire pack of wolves to vacate yet another home.? He had let his words hang in the ash tainted air for barely a moment before he was lowering his head to better match her eyelevel. Should she blink, she would miss it, but for a moment there was a glimmer of something in those depths: cool, calculating curiosity, simple and straightforward, but as intense as blue flame. ?What is it that drives the diamond-eyed wolf before me to the brink of such a decision??