Coming Home
09-27-2014, 05:08 PM
Walk | Talk | Think Ashtoreth had joined Olympus out of desperation and they had taken her and her two children in with kindness and understanding. She had been awarded a lead hunter's rank, bestowed with the same responsibility that she had once wielded within old Valhalla's borders, and had accepted it with honor and gratitude. They had done just about everything they could within their power to make her feel at home there with them, done everything to get her to stay. And yet news of her new leaders' defeat was met with a shocking indifference. She knew she should have been upset and distraught at being a loner again, of no longer having the stability that she had fought to attain for both herself and her daughter and son. She should have felt some sense of desire to follow those leaders who had been so kind to her when she had needed that kindness most. But all she felt for them was a sadness that these feelings were absent. She had them with her now, Cador and Vaishya, and hoped they would not, and more importantly had not, lost patience with her. Their lives had been anything but comfortable and stable since their youth, and now, at nearly a year old, they were homeless and on the move again. And rather than follow the leaders who had taken her family in she was planning on bringing them to old faces who were likely unfamiliar to them, family that she considered hers but that she did not know if they considered theirs. Perhaps, if they stayed, they might grow to feel that way, but for now she could hardly guess what ran through their minds as they followed her to the Valhallan refugees. Purple and gold eyes shifted with a sidelong glance over one grey shoulder at the youths that traveled with her, searching their faces for any indication of what they felt. Anger? Sadness? Distress? Frustration? What of it was directed at Olympus for being lost? What of it was directed at her for moving them again? Disliking the thoughts that her mind was creating, Ashtoreth's ears tilted back against her head worriedly before she made herself look ahead once more, putting her attention back into her swift gait. There was no sense worrying over and over again. They were going to be home soon. Everything would be okay then. The willows stood with swaying branches, their soft movements beckoning them within their safety to join those who awaited their arrival. Ash felt her heart beat slightly faster at the thought of being reunited with them, of finally feeling comfortable and at ease. Her tail wagged at her heels, not out of anxiety but excitement, feeling as if all of her wanderings, all of the travels she had forced on her family, were finally coming to an end. "We've made it," she said aloud to both her children, turning to glance at them both with a hopeful expression. How she wished she knew them well enough to understand what they were thinking! Suddenly nervous, she asked of them, "Will you call with me?" She did not only ask simply for their assistance, though that was part of it, but for their acceptance, their approval, for bringing them here. They were a family, after all. She did not want them to feel alienated with her choices. She hoped more than anything they would embrace this chance to settle again among wolves they could trust to care for them and stand by them, with and without the trappings of a full-fledged pack. And as she tilted her head back, offering a quiet summons to those wolves who would recognize her sound, she hoped desperately that the voices of her children would join in too. |