Tybalt Aetós
All around him, spring seized the mysterious woods. The snowbanks melted away, revealing the forest floor, where new plants sprouted. But Tybalt found no pleasure in the changing seasons, and seemed not to notice the new life around him at all. Flowers bloomed, but Tybalt didn’t see them. Birds sang, but he didn’t hear. He sat alone with his left forepaw held up from the ground, hanging uselessly there in front of him. The paw pads were bloody and raw, after one wrong step led him into a bunch of brambles. He had managed to pull the thorns out, limping away to tend to his wounds. His father had disappeared again. Tybalt didn’t ask where he went to, or why he left. He was used to it by now. It had been this way all his life. The boy was not quite a yearling, since he had been born in the summer, but he was no longer a small child. The chubbiness of youth had started to melt away into a lanky physique, with long legs and the promise of a wolf who would grow to be large. His face was gaunt, his form lean after a difficult winter still learning how to hunt for himself in the Fae Forest. Sometimes Dad was there. Often, he wasn’t. Tybalt had managed to hang on until spring, and as the ice melted, he felt more hopeful. Still, in the night, it was hard. No one was there when he was scared or sad. He had gotten used to it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still impactful on the growing boy and his perception of the world around him, a world that had proven to be cold, distant, and unforgiving. A world in which no one stayed. He couldn’t even find the hedgehog friend he had made weeks ago. He wanted to find The Girl, but had no idea where to begin. She was near, but it had been months since he had seen her, and she would probably be upset with him, even if he did find her. She wouldn’t want him around. No one seemed to. The boy settled into a lying position with paw stretched outward. Dull green eyes stared at the injured appendage. How could something so small hurt so much? No. Many wolves endured much worse than a silly hurt paw. It was just that he was weak, and as useless as that paw. @Savard |
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Tybalt Aetós
His vision had grown hazy as he stared at his injured paw. A deep voice warned: “You can’t stay here, there’s no food here. Far too overgrown. Deer avoid places they know they will get stuck in.” For a moment, he thought it was Dad addressing him, but instead of seeing his sire’s dark mask, it was a golden furred wolf that addressed him. Recognition crept into Tybalt’s consciousness, and the boy’s darkened face lit up as he attempted to pull himself into a sitting pain, wincing as his paw throbbed.He could ignore the pain, though; he was excited to see a familiar face, even if it wasn’t Dad. ”Sabard!” He attempted the wolf’s name and was nearly successful. His enthusiasm was quickly replaced by confusion, however, aware that this encounter didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Tybalt knew about the guards that watched over certain places now forbidden to northerners. His head turned slightly to the side as he regarded the grown-up curiously. ”This isn’t yer home. What’re ya doin’ out ‘ere?” After a silent second, his voice, deeper now than it had been during their previous interaction, spoke again: ”Can’t leave,” he informed the golden-hued brute with a stern nod. Eyes that matched the verdant forest turned away from Savard to examine the treeline that surrounded them, the brush that was quickly becoming overgrown, filled with thorns to poke and vines to trip over. ”This’s where Dad lives, ‘nd he might come back ag’in.” And what else was there to do but wait for this possible outcome? @Savard |
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Tybalt Aetós
“I wasn’t asking, kid.” Everyone seemed to just boss him around, only to do bad things. Savard gestured toward a dark path, trod by countless others of their species, some alive but many long since dead. “Your father’s not coming back, Tybalt. He’s been arrested. I came all this way for you because I heard about it.” Arrested? Again? The boy frowned. Tybalt knew all about those Imperial jerks and their stinky prisons, having been taught that important lesson in his earliest months. Now he had his own harrowing tales to tell about the Imperials, given how awful his time there had been. He had met terrible, mean wolves there. But he had also met Savard. So, he supposed, it wasn’t all bad. Even still, he had no desire to ever be in Rionna again. And the thought of his father behind bars again drew a lengthy sigh from his lungs.His ears pricked forward as Savard was soon speaking again: ”Now come on… there’s nothing for us here.” ”Can’t,” he reiterated with a resolute nod and a somber expression. ”Have ta be good. Obedient. Friendly. Speaking the right language. That was what it took to be deemed acceptable. He had learned this lesson over and over again in the months he had been alive – not even a whole year had gone by, but it was plenty long enough for the boy to have experienced the cruelty of a world in which he never really belonged. What if Savard was just as bad as The Lady had been? Or any of the terrible soldiers? There existed a more wary look in his dull jade eyes now than in his younger months, the aftershocks of the poor treatment he had received along the way. Tybalt pulled himself to his paws, off of the cold forest floor. He was reminded of his injured paw when a jolt of pain shot through his foreleg, and he stood with that paw dangling midair awkwardly. His posture straightened so that he was at his full height – tall for a boy not yet a yearling. It made his lean frame all the more noticeable, the way bones protruded from beneath his filthy pelt. Savard had been kind in the past. But Tybalt’s judgment had been so terribly misguided before. How could he trust himself when he had been so very wrong, so often? Still, the grown-up wolf’s words resonated within his tired mind: I came all this way for you. It was hard to believe that anyone would do the random boy such a favor. ”Sabard. Ye came out ‘ere … fer me?” His voice was hushed, as if speaking too loudly would only send the man running away. Just like the rest of them. "Why...?" |