Toxicity sat outside practicing carving her sigil into the ground with a stick. So this was a mark that they could use to represent themselves, huh? Archon had said it was okay if they changed it a little later, but Tox wanted to perfect it now. He said that only the Abraxas got one, but that their mom had helped him add to his since she was just as much a part of him as his blood. Toxicity didn't really get that, especially since he said that their mother was a mortal, but he said that he would explain that in their next sermon. She was kind of excited to learn more about the world around them.

In this pack, there were the Abraxas and the Kleins. Her mother was the empress of the Kleins and then her uncle was the heir or something. But not her mother's heir. He was supposed to be emperor, but Deathbelle had beaten him to it. Then their dad was an Abraxas. And he said there were a lot of Abraxas in the world, but that he came to spread the Abraxas here. They were the spread, Toxicity and her siblings. From what she understood, all the Abraxas kids in the pack were meant to spread the Abraxas name, but Toxicity didn't know how yet. Her father said that was part of the third sermon he would give this season.

It was a lot to think about, but Toxicity wanted to know it all right now. She didn't want to ask her parents more and more because she thought it was annoying. Obi was always open to answer questions and their dad had told them that Obi knows second best about the Abraxas things, but that all Klein questions would have to go to their mother or Hannibal. Still, she felt as if she was annoying them with all her questioning. Besides, she liked to ask a question, get a thorough answer, then think for a while rather than asking several questions in succession. Sometimes she couldn't help herself, though. Knowledge was just as good as food, Toxicity thought. She had been hungry and she felt like that want for food was similar for when she wanted to know things except she never got full from knowing more things yet. Tox wondered how many things she'd have to know before her brain was full like her belly.

Toxicity's stick broke and she let out a soft sigh before going to grab another one. There was still so much to learn, so much to perfect... She wondered how she would ever get to know it all.

Word Count: 439

gimme peace, gimme dharma Her sigil was the best one, without a doubt. Calamity had memorized it and could replicate it with almost perfect clarity. Not that she really believed in any of the nonsense her father spouted, but if she was given a task, she was going to give it her all. She would be the best sigil-maker, the best princess, the best... whatever. The pup didn't quite understand where all of her siblings came from - there were a ton of "moms" floating around Ashen. What she did know was that her mom was Deathbelle, and she was the best one. And also the Empress. Which meant she could do whatever she wanted... which was pretty cool. When Cal grew up, she wanted to be able to do whatever she wanted as well. While Calamity was just as excited to learn about the world around them, she was also eager to suss out where Archon's theories failed. It wasn't in her nature to take anything at face value. Of course she was better than everyone else, but that was just because she was Calamity. The pup wasn't sure how much her awesomeness had to do with being either a Klein or an Abraxas, much less being a god. Being part of Ashen was great, though! All of her family were here. As she headed out from the den and over to the lake, it wasn't long before she stumbled upon Tox carving her own sigil in the ground. "Is that yours?" She asked, angling her muzzle towards the scratching in the ground. "It's pretty cool, I guess," Cal said stubbornly. Not better than hers. But pretty good. The sisters all had a deep affection for each other, but their distinct personalities were becoming apparent now that they were growing into their individuality. They wouldn't stay cooped up inside the den forever, that was for sure. "Why'd you pick that?" Maybe if Tox could defend it well enough, it would become more interesting. wc 330 twc 769 "calamity ordains you unworthy"

Calamity came to Toxicity's side to take a look at her sigil. She said it was pretty cool, but Toxicity found herself erasing it quickly with her paw. "It's not done yet," she said a little more crossly than she had meant to. "It's supposed to represent family and also God and also the pack, but... it's a little hard to put all of that together into one big circle." She was frustrated. Trying to fit the many parts of her life into one big circle. Trying to make all the right parts stand out.

"The Abraxas, the Kleins... Gods, mortals, spirits, voices, bloodlines, siblings, and half siblings... I have to learn to balance it all." She shook her head, not sure where to start. Instead she drew slow circles in the dirt over and over again. What did it all mean? How could she put all of them in her circle? Not only her sigil, but also her life? "Between Abraxas and Klein and even between the siblings, it's hard to see who or what comes out on top. Surely we have all received blessings- some even more so," Toxicity motioned to her sister's horns. "But how does this work in the large scheme of this life? Of my sigil- my story?"

It didn't make a lot of sense to her. Packs, family, religion, ancestry, royalty, heirs, blessed blood, cursed blood, and all those words meant so much and yet so little. They were all one in the same. Every wolf she looked at was just a wolf. Her siblings had some interesting features, but where did that leave Tox and the other 'normal' pups? Were they less blessed? Less cursed? Or was it the opposite? What about Obi, he wasn't even a wolf to begin with and yet he was someone Toxicity couldn't imagine her father without. They moved as one, like close siblings or like birds as they traveled in arrows across the sky. What was her arrow? What was her direction?

"One of us if the heir to this pack, but there is also an Abraxas pack. That would make this a Klein-Abraxas pack so does that mean there will be another Klein only pack? What about the rest of us that aren't heirs? What do we do? Are we not also chosen? Called to a higher order of being? What will become of us?" Toxicity sought to meet her sister's eyes, her own reflecting great contemplation and the struggles within her own mind. "Will we not be able to stay like this forever?"

wc: 425
twc: 1194

gimme peace, gimme dharma Cal nodded, a bit baffled at Toxicity's frustration. She was taking this much more seriously than the antlered pup had. It was clear that their father's religion was very important to her, and while Cal was still dubious about the whole thing, she wasn't brave enough to contradict her sister. Yet. "I don't know if there's a circle in the whole world big enough," she conceded. That much definitely seemed true. Tox was bringing to light a lot more variables than Cala had ever considered. Spirits? Voices? She had a hard enough time with their pious father and all of his other children. There were so many of them! "Blessings..." she grumbled. Her horns rarely felt like a gift. Perhaps once they had grown all the way in, her head wouldn't ache so badly. Was this constant headache really a blessing? This rage that flooded her veins? She just wanted to ram into things. That wasn't very pious at all. The question of heir made her fold her ears. Cal had no desire to step into the spotlight. Their mother was graceful, like a dancer. All Calamity wanted was a sliver of the same grace. There was no compulsion towards leadership in her body. Too many wolves already depended on the pack - like the crawling masses of Archon's children, and Hannibal's new children as well. So many children. "Well... we get to decide what we want to do," Cal said bravely, lifting her head up to meet Toxicity's bicolored eyes squarely. "I want to be graceful, like mother. That's for sure. Maybe the others can visit the Abraxas pack and learn from them? But I'm happy here." "Okay, let's look at like this," Cal scratched behind her ear, then drew a wide circle. It was big enough to encompass the both of them. Within the circle, she drew six smaller circles. Within those circles, she placed varying numbers of dots. "Here. This is your everything. All the circles within the circle. Right?" wc 332 twc 1526 "calamity ordains you unworthy"