The Pack's Welcome (attn WolfbrotherKronos)

[thehumantrashcan]

The warm sun woke Tannyr, as it filtered through the leaves overhead. He found himself in a bed of moss not far from where the wagon's camp had been. He jolted upright remembering the bandits. Instantly a sharp pain shot through his head and his vision swam and darkness overcame him once more. Everything became fire, chaos, and screaming again.

 

Elli screamed. Tannyr turned from helping his aunt onto the horse in time to see a dirty man grab Elli by the hair and yank her to the ground. A roar erupted from Tannyr's throat as he charged toward the bandit. His vision became red he knocked the man down to the ground.

 

No.

 

Tannyr's hands were a blur, slashing at the bandit's face, gouging eyes, filling his fingernails with the man's skin. Soon, his hands became slick with blood.

 

No!

 

Tannyr gave a howl and snapped his teeth around the gurgling bandit's throat. Warm blood flooded into his muzzle...”wait I have a mouth” he thought.

 

NO!

 

He blinked and wiped blood from his face. He looked up and snapped back from the rage that had consumed him. The wagons were on fire and his fellow Tuathan'an were running in fear as the dozen bandits ran from wagon to wagon, grabbing women as they went. Then his eyes met Elli's...

 

NOOOOOO!!!!

 

Tannyr woke weeping, not giving pause to the throbbing in his head. He looked again at the place they had camped. There stood 3 chard remains of what were once colorful wagons. Near by, underneath a large oak were 5 freshly covered graves.

 

As he pushed himself up to a less awkward sitting position his hand hit a pack lying next to him. He saw his lute sticking out of the top and a solid walking stick laying next to it. He touched his head as his vision swam once more and found it well bandaged. He remembered being struck on the head after he saw Elli stare at him in horror, after he had killed...He had killed!

 

Tannyr began weeping anew. He had killed, he had struck and torn at that bandit. He had left the way of the leaf! How could he have done such a thing? What had come over him? Did it have to do with his eyes changing? Was he becoming a wolf like he did in his dreams?

 

Then reality dawned on him. The wagons had left. None of the Tuatha'an were there. He was alone. He had abandoned the Way so they had abandoned him.

 

A rustling of paper drew his attention to the pack again and he saw a slip sticking out of a pocket. He pulled it out and read it,

 

“To my son,

You have made your decision and followed the darkness in your heart that came with

your yellow eyes. It grieves me to see you leave the Way and thus leave us. If it is any

consolation, Elli was able to escape to the woods because of your sacrifice. A

sacrifice that should never had been paid. You are no longer one of us, you are no longer

my son. You will now always be a stranger to us if you decide to come to our fires.

The Mahdi

 

He crumpled the paper in his fist and curled into a ball as he wept himself into exhaustion and sleep overtook him once more.  

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Karoan Vear moved quietly through the woods.  This wasn't his normal job.  As Head Watcher, he could facilitate these sort of things when all the Trackers were busy though.  Someone needed to help the pup and soon.  Whispering Breeze, the gray wolf next to him, sent images, relaying that the pup was agitated - upset. Karoan knew that earlier there had been a Tuatha'an group nearby. The Tinkers were a friendly bunch and welcomed all to their fires, but the wolves in the area had warned him of bandits.  Tuatha'an were an easy target.  They would not fight back.

 

The situation had Karoan thinking.  The pup was alone now and upset.  The pieces fit together.  He could have easily been one of the Tinkers.  The wolves said the pup had fought.  The wolf had gained control.  He had killed.  If he was a follower of the Way of the Leaf, they had likely abandoned him.  It was their culture.  The whole way of the leaf had never really made sense to Karoan.

 

That didn't matter though.  What did matter was that the young man needed to learn to control his abilities.  This time he had killed a bandit, but what about next time? Would it be an innocent bystander?  Karoan couldn't allow that to happen.  It was why he was a tracker - among other things.

 

The pup sleeps, Breeze sent to Karoan.

 

Karoan looked at the wolf that trotted besides him.  They were close.

 

Keep to the edge of the woods and watch.  I'll wait for him to wake, it might be best if he only sees me first.

 

The wolf sent more images.  Images of danger.  Karoan smiled.  The young man didn't strike Karoan as one who would attack him and Karoan sent another message to the wolf. Stay close but out of sight.  If the pup proved dangerous, the wolf could intervene. 

 

The wolf complied, albeit reluctantly. Karoan entered a clearing where the young man lay asleep.  His clothing gave him away as a Tuatha'an, the bright colors contrasted with Karoan's earth tones. The sun would rise soon, so Karoan started a fire and began to prepare breakfast for himself and the kid.  He worked quietly as to not wake his sleeping companion.  He would need all the rest he could. Karoan used this time to prepare himself.  The young man's life had just turned around, and Karoan had to help him through it.

 

((OOC: Karoan is an older man - 56 years old. Here is a physical description for you.

 

 6ft 2in. well muscled but not heavy, he has dark shaggy hair that falls in tight curls over his shoulders. He has taken to fastening it at the nape of his neck with a piece of leather set with bone, carved with wolves and mountains. His eyes before the Howling were a soft blue, his features matching. In the years since, his face has lost the roundness of youth and taken on a lean, rugged look. His age shows in the fine creases of his skin and the streaks of silver in his curls. He has a Fatherly look about him most times that people find friendly and honest.))

[thehumantrashcan]

Tannyr woke to the crackling of fire and the smell of food. He smiled thinking of his aunt bustling around the camp fire making breakfast, probably getting ready to wake his father. He always enjoy her bossy attitude towards his father, her younger brother. After her husband had been killed she quickly took up bossing her little brother again. He could picture what they had been like as children and loved to hear the embarrassing stories his aunt would tell of his father and her always seeming to hold his life together by the skin of her teeth. By her accounts, he wouldn't know how to dress himself if it hadn't been for her. He felt the sun on his face and the moss beneath him. He must have fallen asleep singing and playing music around the fire again.

 

Then the smell of a stranger made his hackles rise. Hackles...I don't have hackles. Arg, wolves get out of my head. He glanced up to see a man hunched over a fire a few feet away.  His throat tightened as that fateful night's events flooded back. He glanced around expecting to see more of the bandits. Just thinking of the bandits made him want to lunge forward at the man working over the fire.

 

How could things have become such a disaster. He was supposed to be preparing to marry Elli and learning how to be the Mahdi. Now he was looking at the back of the man who was probably preparing to kill him, maybe after he and his fellow bandits were able to beat him to their hearts pleasure. But this time he would not fight back, he would redeem himself and follow the way of the leaf, to let himself live his appointed time. He would not fight the wind this time.

 

“If you're going to kill me you should just get it over with, my head injury will probably make me go unconscious the moment you start beating me. You won't find it very enjoyable.”

 

Tannyr steeled himself for his death. With everything he had done he almost felt he deserved what he was about to face.  He had forsaken everything he believed and been forsaken by everyone he cared for.  What else was there besides his family, his hope for a family, and his core beliefs?

[WolfbrotherKronos]

The smell of bacon filled the air with eggs and some vegetables.  The young Tuatha'an slept soundly, making very little noise.  No doubt the young one was tired from the entire ordeal - both emotionally and physically.  The young man stirred and awoke, and Karoan had to admit his response was unexpected.  The Watcher had many thoughts on how the boy might have reacted, but he never expected simple...acceptance.  

 

Karoan couldn't help but chuckle.  "I'm not here to kill you, son."

 

He picked up a plate and loaded some food on it, setting it on a log to his right.  "You have to be hungry. Please eat."

 

Loading a second plate, Karoan kept this for himself and took a bite before turning his gaze to the Tuatha'an.  Karoan met his eyes without fear, showing as much kindness and encouargment as he could.  Of course, now the boy would see that they had a similar trait.  Their eyes both burned with a golden hue.  It was this that Karoan wanted his companion to see.  It was important that he know Karoan had something in common with him.

 

"I'm here to help you, not kill you." Karoan repeated, gesturing at the plate. "Please, eat and we can talk."

[thehumantrashcan]

Tannyr was taken aback by the kind voice that responded to him,

 

“I'm not here to kill you, son.”

 

Who was this person? “Son” oh the pain that word brought, and healing. His own father had disowned him. Perhaps the bandits had left and this was a kind stranger who had come across his unconscious body. He was even offering food. Perhaps he knew where the wagons had gone and Tannyr could try to apologize to his father and the rest of the Tuatha'an.

 

“You have to be hungry. Please eat.”

 

Just wait until this man saw his eyes, he wouldn't call him “son” for long. His eyes made everyone uncomfortable. Except Elli...

 

Tannyr opened his mouth to speak and then he saw the eyes. The yellow eyes.

 

He did this to me. He's a wolf, he's a WOLF!

 

The words the man spoke just sounded like bees buzzing as the red crept into his vision again. Tannyr lunged forward with a swipe of his claw

 

“You did this to me!”

 

and again

 

“You're one of the wolves!”

 

and again.

 

“I just want to be left alone!”

 

The world started to swim again from his weakened state and with a desperate lunge he tried biting at the strangers throat.

Edited February 13, 2017 by thehumantrashcan

[WolfbrotherKronos]

The kid panicked.  This is more of what Karoan would have expected.  Karoan didn't move as the kid lunged.  He didn't have to. Breeze reacted faster than any of them could have.  The wolf had no intentions of hurting the Tinker, but he would hold him until he calmed down.

 

As the Tinker lunged, the gray wolf came out of his spot in the trees.  He moved with blinding speed, pushing the pup down on the ground and laying across his chest so he couldn't get up. The wolf looked at the Tinker and back at Karoan.

 

"I have done nothing to you," Karoan said, his voice calm. "This is who you are, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be. My friend here has no desire to hurt you, and neither do I.  We both want to help you.  Calm down so we can talk, and Breeze here will release you."

[thehumantrashcan]

 The breath was knocked out of Tannyr in an instant. The world turned upside down and suddenly it felt as if a heavy warm blanket of fur rested on him. He tried to cradle his aching head in his arms and found his arms were like lead. No they were pinned! He opened his eyes and saw two golden orbs staring down at him. They turned to look at the stranger and he realized a wolf was on him.

 

“I have done nothing to you,” the man spoke. “This is who you are, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be.” Who I am? I'm a Tuatha'an, not a mindless killing beast. “My friend here has no desire to hurt you, and neither do I. We both want to help you. Calm down so we can talk, and Breeze here will release you.”

 

A conflict rose inside Tannyr as he tried to regain his breath. He had become everything he hated, everything he was taught was wrong and been cast out for it and yet here a complete stranger sat here telling him he was accepted for what he was becoming.

 

The tears began to pour again. “What is happening to me?!” cried Tannyr. “Am I just turning into a mindless beast, I can't control my rage, I'm a Tuatha'an, I can't turn into a wolf, I can't!”

 

Raged tinged his voice, “I killed a man, let alone attacked you, maybe I do deserve to turn into a wolf! I've left the way of the leaf.”

[WolfbrotherKronos]

The lad began to cry.  Karoan was a fatherly type.  He wouldn't hold it against him, nor would he judge him for it.  The Howling could be painful especially emotionally.  He had lost control.  He had killed.  No one dealt well with that.  Karoan couldn't imagine how a peaceful Tinker would deal with it.  He had been abandoned by his clan.  Karoan sent images to Breeze asking the wolf to get up.  The wolf complied, but sat nearby, an ear twitching.

 

"You are not a mindless beast. You don't know how to control what you have.  That's why we are here.  We can take you somewhere where you can learn how to control yourself safely," Karoan said calmly, kneeling down so he didn't tower over the lad. "I didn't get here fast enough - for that I am sorry.  I can't imagine the pain and confusion you feel right now.  We can't undo what has happened and as far as attacking me, I'm not surprised and all is forgiven.  You are a human and you are not turning into a wolf.  You have wolf-like abilities and qualities, but you are not a wolf and you won't lose control on my watch."

 

Karoan reached out a hand to help the young man up. "You've lost your family and I'm sure you feel very alone. It's a feeling I know." Karoan briefly remembered the fire. "I offer you a new family - a group of people like us who are completely control of what we are."

[thehumantrashcan]

Tannyr wiped his eyes trying to get a grip on his emotions. So much had happened since that...night, and now this! The man's words raced through his mind as he accepted the man's hand and stood, holding on to the man's arm for extra support when his legs wobbled from the lack of use and his head injury. He hoped this injury would heal soon.

 

Tannyr was overwhelmed with everything the man said, “new family,” “wolf-like abilities and qualities,” “not turning into a wolf.” How was he supposed to take all that in.

 

Tannyr had a hard time looking the man in the eyes but managed to mumble an apology. He walked over to the log and sat next to the plate of food. Something seemed to be drawing him to that food and making his mouth water like it never had before.

 

“I think I just need a moment”

 

He picked up the plate and notice the meat, it was called bacon, wasn't it? He had never had that before and the smell and look of it made his stomach groan with a deep longing. He picked it up and smelled it. He had to keep swallowing he was salivating so much.

 

But this had been an animal, it had suffered to get to this point, it had been killed. Could he really keep going down this path away from the leaf. Perhaps it had to do with him developing wolf-like qualities. Ever since his eyes changed the usual grains and vegetables his wagon train usually ate seemed to leave him empty. Maybe one bite would give him an answer.

 

He had never tasted something so good, it was so good...it hurt. He tried to savor every bite but his hunger and this amazing taste carried him away. Before he knew it, he was licking his hands and plate just to get the grease from that Light blessed food.

 

He looked up, embarrassed. “It seems I do need to work on control.” Tannyr said sheepishly. “I just never knew bacon was so good. Thank you for the food.”

“I have so many questions but I suppose I'll start with the simplest. My name's Tannyr, what's yours?”

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Karoan helped the pup to his feet and back down to a sitting posture.  There was a wound on his head.  Karoan had some bandages in his pack that would at least cover it.  He had no doubt the pup would be fine though. Karoan almost had to chuckled when the Tinker began to wolf down (no pun intended) his food. He was clearly very hungry.  Karoan, for his part, finished his food with a little more grace.

 

Breeze went and laid down at the edge of their "camp." He wasn't interested in their cooked food and would likely hunt for his own later.  There wasn't the distrust the wolf felt for the boy before before.  The wolf had patience, however, and ultimately they were there to make sure the Tinker didn't hurt himself or anyone else - a thought that Karoan found odd.  Clearly the boy had hurt someone.  It explained why he was by himself.

 

The boy finished his food, licking his plate and fingers.  Karoan did laugh when he said he had to work on control.  He was clearly embarrassed although there was no reason to be.  "It's fine and you're welcome.  You'll get used to all of this eventually, although it might take time.  My name's Karoan - Karoan Vear. This -" He gestured to the wolf. "Is Whispering Breeze."

 

Karoan was aware that Breeze sent the pup an image.  It was how they communicated.  He was only aware because the wolf had told him he had done so.  An image of a rising sun.  Karoan knew it was a greeting, but whether or not Tannyr knew they would soon find out.

[thehumantrashcan]

“You'll get used to all of this eventually, although it might take time.”

More like a lifetime, thought Tannyr.

 

The realization that he had just eaten a creature started to hit him. He started to wonder if all that delicious food was going to come back up. Especially since it had been a couple of days since he remembered eating. Shocking an empty stomach wasn't a wise thing to do, especially with a new food like meat.

 

He was surprised to hear the wolf had a name and as Tannyr opened his mouth to ask how Karoan managed to tame a wolf his senses were overwhelmed.

 

The sun began to rise above the horizon as the smell of dew and dirt and grass mingled.  The morning lark began its morning song and the feeling of welcoming a new day rushed over him.

 

He snapped his vision back to the wolf. Did that just...

 

“Did that wolf of yours just...”

 

Tannyr looked back to Karoan. “I felt like...”

 

Tannyr looked back at the wolf and looked into it's eyes for the first time. There lay something intelligent, something more than just a “mindless beast.”

 

As Tannyr looked again at Karoan he saw a knowing twinkle in his eye. “Did that wolf just...talk? Or send me something? Did you see it too?”

 

Tannyr remember that intelligence in those wolf eyes. “Sorry, I mean Whispering Breeze.” Nodding at the wolf.

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Karoan laughed.  The pup would learn eventually, but his reaction was very interesting.  There was more to notice though.  The look that Tannyr gave the wolf - the recognition in his eyes.  He didn't just see a beast.  That would be good for him in the long run.

 

"Yes - I saw it to.  It's how they talk to us - through images.  In time you will learn to decipher what they are trying to say to you.  Wolves are very intelligent, and rather poetic as well.  It's hard to put what they are saying into exact words.  For example, Breeze's name is actually more like. 'The Quiet Morning Wind Moves the Gentle Grass Calmly and Smoothly,' or something like that. They are also prideful."

 

Karoan stoked the fire for a bit. "I could tell you what the message he sent meant, but I think it would be better for you to try on your own.  What do you think he said?"

[thehumantrashcan]

“So it’s how they talk? Amazing!”

Tannyr realized the picture he received from the wolf was almost the same as how he feels and thinks when he is playing music.  The emotions and senses he tries to portray when he sings and plays music, he always tried to express himself by passing all of those things to the listeners through his music and here a wolf was doing it as just the normal way he expresses himself.  He was amazed.  This wolf was truly more than a dumb animal, he had a picture into the heart and mind of an incredibly intelligent and expressive creature.

He thought back to the feelings, senses, and picture the wolf sent him.  

The sun began to rise above the horizon as the smell of dew and dirt and grass mingled.  A morning lark began its song and the feeling of welcoming a new day rushed over him.

This wasn’t just expressing it’s a new day, it was a welcome in a way, but more than that.  It was as if Breeze was saying welcome new pup to a new and exciting world, full of potential.  Welcome to a new full day, a new life, a new chapter.

“I suppose he said welcome, but it’s more than that, just like his name is more than Breeze. It’s a welcome to a new world, a new day, a new life.  And he’s right, this is more than I thought it was.” Tannyr said, with excitement in his eyes.

He glanced back at the burnt out wagons and the graves, “It makes me worried about the darkness that comes with it too.  Is there more to that?  The rage, the killing,...the hunger?  And what about the keening of the senses, I was able to see farther and clearer than anyone else in the wagons, and the smells, I could tell who someone was just from their smell!  And..sorry, that’s too many questions.  I should know better when talking to a wise elder.  Please, just answer me one question, I don’t have to kill do I, that’s not who I am now, is it?  You’re here to help me not kill again, to get control of that rage and hunger?”

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Karoan smiled.  Tannyr was catching on fast and that boded well for him. He would adjust well.  At least Karoan thought he would.  There were certain parts the pup would struggle with based on his background.

 

"We will teach you to control all of your abilities including those that are more harmful.  We will teach you these to protect yourself and others. And it's okay that you have questions.  That's why I'm here." Karoan gave him an encouraging smile. "YOur senses are keener and you will get used to dealing with that.  Smell will tell you many things - eventually you'll be able to interpret emotions from it as well."

 

Killing - He wouldn't have to kill.  Karoan knew that, but there was part of this he wouldn't like.  "We will help you control the rage and the hunger.  We are not mindless killing beasts.  We do not expect you to kill anyone, but we do expect you to learn how to defend yourself and your fellow wolfkin."

 

He sighed, making sure to look at the young man. "Basic skills only - again you won't have to kill anyone.  There are those among us who are dedicated to healing.  You will have options.  And a choice of what you choose to use.  I know Tuath'an don't like violence and really don't like swords."

[thehumantrashcan]

Tannyr chuckled at the kind man's words. He thought about all his lessons on the way of the leaf, what his entire life was built around. Then he remembered the bacon and...that night. He had already begun taking steps from who he believed he was. How could he have become someone that would add to all the pain, hate, and pointless death in this world. Sure he had heard before, the reasoning of some of their guests, how sometimes violence was needed to protect, to defeat evil and darkness, but the Tuatha'an knew that any violence would just add to the destruction, not prevent it. It damaged the mind of the one committing that violence. Already he felt the regret in his heart, and his stomach was churning, just from the meat he had eaten. The pain and the sorrow for taking a man's life was still too unbearable to handle if he dwelt on it.

 

But wasn't he a wolf now? Or at least, something like it? He thought back to the dreams he had, trying to recall the images and feelings the wolves in his dreams had seemed to send him. They were laughing, sending pictures of a wolf trying to pull out it's claws and break it's teeth, a wolf refusing to hunt and dying from starvation. There was even a little pity and disgust wrapped up in those dreams. There was even a picture of a grown wolf trying to drink milk from it's mother. He thought the wolves really thought that was funny. What was a wolf if it couldn't fight, hunt, kill?

 

“I need some time to figure this out.” Tannyr replied. “This is all so much. Could you excuse me, I need to grieve over the Tuatha'an that are buried over there, I'm not even sure which of my people were killed from our wagons.”

 

Tannyr went over to his pack and found his reed pipe and walked over to the graves. He had no way of knowing who had died. The Tuatha'an never marked or signified who was buried, a leaf didn't need any pomp when it fell to the ground and became one with the ground. But he had a good guess that one of the graves was the bandit he had killed.

 

He thought back to some of the songs he had learned over the years, songs of sorrow and regret, of death and loss. He closed his eyes and lost himself in his music, pouring all his sorrow for what he had done into it, all the sorrow of losing his family, his love Elli, his people. He felt the tears running down his cheeks as he played. He played some songs he knew but mostly he played from his broken heart. He hoped that he could release all this pain in him so he could make some kind of decision, to figure out if there was any chance of reconciling becoming a wolf and the way of a leaf.

 

It seems like hours before exhaustion took over. He had no more tears, no more breath, no more energy to give. He realized he had kept the kind man waiting for too long. He turned to face him.

 

“Thank you for giving me that time. I suppose I should ask where we should go? What do I call myself, what is this whole process of becoming this...wolf, or at least a new type of person? I know you would like a response to the 'learn how to defend yourself' but I need time to take all this in. I've lived my whole life believing that any kind of violence does just as much damage to the one causing the violence as the one having violence done to them.”

 

He closed his eyes, trying to wipe the images from that night of him killing a man with is bare hands.

 

Tannyr chuckled, “About the only thing helping me move forward with this change is our teaching on accepting whatever may come, like a leaf falling, tossed by the wind. Although, don't think the teachings ever covered what's happening to me.”

 

Tannyr brightened, “Perhaps you could tell me your story. Did you have an upbringing that warred with this change?”

[WolfbrotherKronos]

Tannyr needed time to cope.  Time is something that Karoan could give.  As long as the young tinker didn't leave, Karoan would give him some space. There was much to cope with and Tannyr's whole life had changed.  He had been abandoned.  Karoan could understand somewhat.  He had everything taken from him.  His life wasn't an easy one, but he had learned and grown.  Karoan was sure that Tannyr would do the same.

 

The pup came back, and Karoan let him talk.  Tannyr needed to process and sometimes talking helped that. He had questions, and Karoan would provide them the best he could.  "We will be heading to a stedding.  That is where we stay, and it is where you will stay until it's deemed you can leave safely.  It will take awhile to get there, we take care to not be followed.  There are those that...are...well...nervous around our time. Also - you're not turning into a wolf. Wolf-like characteristics and abilities, yes. But you are a man - always remember that."

 

Karoan paused.  His own story wasn't a happy one either. "I was thought to be a darkfriend by those in my village.  It escalated.  Dragon fang on the door, and then eventually a fire.  Many of us have similar stories.  We lost everything."

[thehumantrashcan]

"It seems the wolfkin have a quite a bond if we are all born out of pain and loss."

 

Fire, pain, death.

 

That night flashed back into his mind, remembering that hunger, that animalistic rage.  The feeling of his fingers gouging flesh, and blood and life draining out of the man as his face and throat were wrecked. The taste of the blood in his mouth, feeding that hunger, as the man's life ended between his teeth. Tears began to roll down his eyes at the memory, how could he look back on such an event and even consider that such a person was him? But there very fact that his mouth began salivating at the memory of that blood in his mouth made him ready to vomit and run screaming.

 

 

"I don't think I could ever live with myself if I let that hunger and rage take hold of me again.  How do you control it?  What will happen if I don't?"

[WolfbrotherKronos]

(ooc: sorry about the delay - I started a summer job and have been busy - I'll respond asap))