Poets of the fall

Walk | Talk | Think

Laziness had the boy in its grasp again. He lay sprawled within the den, dozing, half within the wakeful world and half inside the one of dreams. He had nothing that day that was of any great importance to draw him up and out of his chosen position, just hours to do with as he wanted, and with the borders around the den set by his parents, and occasionally reinforced by a stern talking to from his father, Eirik was reluctant to go wandering out beyond them again. He had gotten an earful the last time, no matter having ended up home safe and sound despite becoming the newest playmate to a snow leopard named Kathleen. He had been able to get out of that situation. A sense of invincibility had him convinced he could get out of anything else the world tried to throw at him.

He had never expected the world to go for his family instead, however. His sisters tended to be rather better than himself, or at least as far as he knew. If they were not, they did a marvelous job at not getting caught, but no matter the sound of the pup calling out upon the mountainside was enough to stir him from his restful state and into wakefulness. A sort of bleariness remained about him as he lifted his head, blinking his rosy pink eyes, and trying to place a name with the voice. Keiki?

A little wobbly, he got to his paws and hurried from their den to follow the sound, heading up the slope of the mountain and then beyond the safe boundary set out for them - oh boy, Dad would be mad if he knew. But that was a small matter when he finally came upon her, stuck amidst a pile of rocks that still had smaller siblings tumbling on down below them with a large wolf standing close beside. The brother side of him came out instantly. The grey fur along his spine bristled, his black-tipped ears leaning back to tuck threateningly against his skull. He growled, the sound still too childish to be considered a heavy threat but that was of no matter. His sister was crying and this wolf was right there; for all he knew, they were causing the problem!

"Get away from her!" he yelled, racing the last distance to get between the black wolf and his sister, too focused on the wolf to take notice of the fact his blue-eyed sibling was actually stuck where she was.