I don't like this any more, Dad

Oh, how little Avacyn's shaking sobs crushed him inside... Alastor was at a loss for what to do. Nothing in his life before now had ever made him feel as totally helpless and out of control as this plague did. Life had been easy before his family. He hadn't had to care about things like apocalypses or give a damn about anyone else's feelings. With family came love, and with love came a need to protect and provide. Alastor had never been a very caring wolf, and to some degree he still wasn't, but his children had brought to life a part of him he'd long thought dead. He'd found devotion, affection, tenderness, love for his children that had softened his jagged edges left behind by a ruthless life. He would burn hells and tear down heavens to give his daughter the world, and right now he was being defeated by a mushroom. A fucking mushroom! Alastor was pissed—pissed at the world, pissed at whatever had caused this, pissed that it had affected his child.

The whispers in his head started up again and Alastor tugged Avacyn closer to his chest while she clung to him and sobbed. He stared out the cave entrance, his heart rate spiking. "...not gonna take her... Can't take her..." he muttered to himself as dark voices from the past crawled out of the dredges of his brain. No one would take his daughter from him. He'd kill whatever came through that entrance after her. Was that shadows moving outside? Or was someone actually there? Dark eyes narrowed and lips pulled back from teeth in a silent growl, just daring someone to come in this cave. He blinked a few times to clear the glowing goop from his eyes and watched the door. Nobody came. Was he imagining things? Hadn't someone just been there?

Sniffling and running a paw across his fluorescent fluid dripping nose, Alastor did his best to try and clear his sinuses that had become clogged from the ooze like a bad cold. A slight shuffle against him drew Alastor's attention back down to the little bundle of violet and navy fur tucked up into him, his expression softening in an instant while he gazed into those bleary tear-filled eyes that matched his own so perfectly. Eyes as rich and dark as black diamonds, beautiful in every aspect. Avacyn would no doubt steal the breaths and hearts of many a boy in her lifetime. It was so funny for Alastor to think of how she wore them so perfectly, where he had received hushed whispers and skeptical glances from the Mirovis wolves for his odd colored irises. She would never know such bigotry. Avacyn was perfect in every single way, despite the worrying amount of glowing mushrooms sprouting off of her.

Then all of a sudden her coughing started up again. That had been the most concerning part of her ailments. Alastor knew a cough could be as benign as allergies or as fatal as pneumonia. In this case, he feared the mushrooms had something to do with it, and he prayed it wasn't severe or could be reversed. With a gentle paw, he rubbed Avacyn's back until her coughing had subsided, scooping up a nearby bowl and water skin and filling it for her to drink. His daughter asked him to tell her a story, and so he would. The dire brute pursed his lips and hummed while he ran through his mental library to find a tale worth telling her.

"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a prince. He was dashing, and handsome, and juuuuust the right amount of crazy to be fun! But the prince was lonely. As a young boy, he had found a beautiful princess, and the two had been destined to be married. But then, one day, the princess disappeared. She had left him behind and was never heard from again. The prince was lost, and he didn't know what to do. He searched high and low for his princess, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not find her. The prince was heartbroken, for the princess that made him feel special and loved had hurt him so deeply and left him all alone. He wandered his kingdom without aim, drifting like a leaf on the wind."

"Then one day, just as the prince was giving up hope of ever feeling like he mattered, he found another princess. She was brave and strong and far more beautiful than any wolf he'd ever seen before! And she was in danger. A massive beast was attempting to eat her! The prince, bewitched by her prowess, leapt into the fray to fight the monster with her. It was a dangerous fight; teeth and fangs gnashed, claws ripped and tore, blood painted the walls and floor of the beast's cave! Anyone else would have been slain by the monster—but not the prince and princess. Working together, they killed the beast, and in the aftermath, they found love in one another. The prince had found a wolf who saw him for what he was and loved him all the same, and the princess found a wolf so closely matching her it was like they shared the same soul."

"Over time, their love grew, and the princess desired what all princesses want: a kingdom of her own, a castle, and a family. The prince, who had never had a family before, was terrified by the idea, but he trusted his love, and together they had two beautiful children: another prince and princess, both as breathtaking and unique as the stars in the sky. It wasn't an easy road, and they faced many challenges along the way—including some annoying mushrooms—but with their family, the prince and princess worked to create the world they wanted to give to their children, and they built a kingdom together that one day would be ruled by their children, and then their children's children, and so on for all generations to come."

"Alastor Mendacium"