New Beginnings [Sirius]

Of everything the wolf who seemed to be the only one enjoying this game would say, Dove anticipated . . . not what was said. Memories swirled in his vision, blocking the sun as effectively as the canopy above them. Non-existent blood stained the fresh soil around them and a harsher sun than the one currently embellishing the sky beamed down upon his fur. The scar on his left shoulder burned fiercely, as though it were freshly wrought rather than completely healed, and he unconsciously shifted his weight to his right side.

In his vision, his brother's snow white muzzle gleamed with his blood, the interloper that Dove had been guiding back to their borders dead at his paws. It was only a moment, there and gone between one breath and the next, but a shiver rode his spine as Sirius came back into view. "Someone leagues away from here," Dove said in a haunted voice, answering with more truth than he'd intended. Quickly, he spun away from Sirius, nose lowering to the ground as he sought out a scent to track, willing an interference of any sort to disrupt this conversation.

Truthfully, he didn't suppose the trauma he'd gathered would be so vicious in its quest for him, had it only been once or twice. But the same blood spilled and more scars garnered, on a near day-to-day basis, for four years? His tail ached to tuck, but it was sheer stubbornness and ornery will that would not let it. Had he been alone, he would have scoffed at himself; left distrustful and dubious at the first sign of kindness but ready to do battle at the first hint of wickedness. What a prince, he thought bitterly.