Children of the Starnik

Just bear in mind that it's all the same from the other ending up to the point the pup read the book with his class, so you might want to skip it to then. After that it's different. :D

Chapter 51: A Time for Everything and Everything in Place P2

Now, many of you would think that this was just a story that the Starnik had told their children, and their children before them to pass down when they no longer can. It's actually far more then that. This story was told, not by the Starnik, but by someone else. Two hundred years into the future, a time where everything was just the place the Starnik dreamed to create. Wolves and Human lived side by side, not just across the country, but across the globe.

The Starnik and others set out to other and distant countries so they could teach others that this can be done and will work. Russia being one of the major countries with a "wolf problem" as they put it, was the first to become the new safe zone for wolfs. Finland wasn't too far behind, Siberia shortly followed and as the Starnik travelled the world, they also found no sign of the Ditori, they did the right and cautious thing, to close down and accept that the world was going to change. It was only twenty years into the future that the world was at it was now, the Starnik lived to see it, and their youngest daughter cast her spell to all her descendents when they turned two, so that they too can live the life span of a human. Her children and their children after all inherited her gift, so they were to carry on. But at some point, that gift had to end, and soon the family lived ordinary, ten year lives.

Back over in America, you'd find humans and Wolves as equals, laws set down back in the days of the Starnik to keep them both in check and punishments. An attack from either species on the other is a jail sentence, they'd both go their, no longer a pound. Wolves started to get jobs, ones that they could of course. So things like game keepers, reserve guides, even teachers. Wolves had the natural ability to learn things as they grew up, some becoming far smarter then most humans to the point they received jobs in universities and even studied. They were paid, they didn't work for free. They had their own bank accounts, most lived in their own homes inside towns and cities. Some worked in care homes, wolf pups given up at birth were given into care and had the same treatment all human children did. They were given a social worker, sometimes which would be a wolf, they were given their own rooms, and they went to school. Nearly all wolf pups went to school in these days, but because of their shorter life span, they only spend three months in one grade before moving up to the next. They could even move onto college and even university if they so wished.

Technology expanded, not to the point of flying cars yet, but it had greatly improved. Finger and paw print recognition systems set up to make banking safer, it was used as a kind of key for a home. Simply scan your finger or paw print and the door opens. Devices and gadgets for wolves who chose to live in the towns and cities could be purchased, not all wanted to live the human lifestyle. This was the year 2218 now; flying cars weren't around like the futuristic sci-fi movies suggested back in the past. But technology had taken some big leaps. Phones, military, weapons, hospitals were just some of the places and things that had new ways to do what they did. Science persists they'll be able to solve the puzzle of the flying car in the next fifty years. A genetic drug even had been produced some years ago and proved to work. It was designed to expand a wolf's life by five years, now a senior wolf can live to possibly see their eighteenth birthday if they were healthy.

Crime and punishment wasn't a problem, like I said, both sides would go to jail, but a wolf would get a shorter sentence due to having a shorter life span. The longest they could get would be five years. There was the problem that arose with interspecies prostitution, but that was cut down by far and no reports have gone out about it for the last fifty years. Wolves hated the jails just as much as the humans; they should be out and free to move, not behind bars.

So that was the world, how it is now and what the two species are up to. But what of the Starnik and their descendents? Well, that's the thing. Nobody knows. The Starnik were known for being the most generous and loving family of all, that nothing stood between them. But after the first generation was born, nobody knows what happened to them. A place was discovered in Idaho in 2087 a temple like place. One large domed like room with more rooms that led off out of it. The ceiling looked like it caved in, a giant hole rested on the top. The walls and other rooms were still in tact, but the excavation team didn't know what to make of it, or what this place was. So they brought in their archaeology team, one of which was a wolf with a supernatural with the gift to understand and speak every known language there had ever been. He saw this was ancient Dire Wolf, the first thing he saw was the story of the Original Starnik, but across the large domed room was a second, telling the story of their successors. Their names cropped up several times in the second story. "Scott, Rosie, Lupa and Dakota" were written many times. Adding that to the rhyming poems another team found in the second room with a waterfall, they concluded this was where the Starnik once lived. But the main question, was what happened to them?

The Starnik were their saviours, the world's saviours, even. So it was called in and the few years that followed, it was turned into a museum. The rubble was cleared, the giant hole in the ceiling filled in to stop the rain and areas the public weren't to touch and go in taped off. Museum guides started to learn the history of the place and what the stories said so they could read them out to others. But then one day, one hundred years after the museum opened, something shocking happened. The head of the museum found on his desk, a book. And an old book it was; couldn't be more or less then one hundred years old. The pages were tattered and tearing and the cover not fairing much better. He asked where it came from, it was handed in by someone and they turned around to leave. They said they found it and that it belonged here. He gave it to an examiner who opened it, to find it was no ordinary book, nor was it an ordinary witch's book of shadows, but the youngest daughter of the Starnik, Myka's. The book had returned to its home. It was put on display but far enough away so the public couldn't get their hands on it. Only the people who worked their and the guides were allowed to take it down and show the public that was inside. Its contents were spells from her, diary entries of her life, pictures of her family, but also, a list of names. The next two pages didn't contain anything, they were blank.

Now, I said at the beginning that this was not just a story; I can say it's a lesson. This story was being told in a lesson. A fourth grade school class came with their teacher who happened to be a wolf to the museum on a field trip. Seven students and three wolves, all three still small pups. They walked around the museum, taking in the sites while she explained the story of the Starnik. "And this I believe is the very book Myka used to say her spells." She said as they came to it, making every child gasp in wonder and awe. It sat on a pedestal beside the waterfall in the Sanctum with a protective, glass cover over it. "It was brought here by an unknown person, but now the museum keeps it."

"How do you know all this ma'am?" A student asked. She turned to him with a smile as she pushed her glasses back towards her eyes.

"My family many generations ago were friends with the Starnik, their stories were passed over and down to me." She answered.

"What happened to them?" A wolf pup asked.

"No-one knows." She replied honestly. "There are many theories as to what happened to our saviours. One is that the bloodline continued to the point their descendants didn't inherit powers, so they led a quiet life. Another was that they bloodline stopped after the third generation was born, that the pups of Lupa, Faolan, Jack, Myka, Dakota and Chance were the last of the Starnik. Another I heard about was that the mother, Rosie, because of her immortality, she still walks the earth with her daughter Lupa who was still a spirit and couldn't die, watching over their family as they grow up." She said. "But then there was also the famous birth mark." She added. "It's said that only the Starnik bore the mark of two white claws, and that every she-wolf in the family carried the same mark. If the bloodline is still around today, and you see a she-wolf with two white claws on her front right paw, you can be sure that she is a Starnik, their descendent."

"What do you believe ma'am?" A second pup asked slyly and stepping forward to the front of the group. She smiled down at him, out of her entire class; she'll admit he was her favourite of the class. She couldn't figure out why though, there was just something about the pup she liked.

"I believe that they are always around us, that the bloodline of the Starnik never stopped and they live around us all the time in plain sight." She giggled, but why? "Now, moving on." She said as she walked off with her class right behind her and towards the waterfall where the next lesson started. But the wolf pup didn't move, it stood facing the book when a curious thought came into its mind. What was in it? He was only being a young and curious pup, he couldn't resist. He looked around, there wasn't any security in the area, and his class were the only people in here today, so he had the perfect moment while they weren't looking. He crept under the tape and climbed the pedestal to place his paws on the box and get a closer look. He could see the writings and the picture that was on the page. It was off two wolves, a black and white male and a light brown and white she-wolf. He knew them, he had seen many pictures to know that this was Dakota and Lupa of the Starnik.

The teacher looked back to see the young pup where he shouldn't be, only she didn't yell or call his name. Instead she told the children to stay there and looked into the waterfall, because some say you can see the spirits of the Starnik in it while she padded up to him. She stopped behind the line. "And what are you doing over there Nathan?" She giggled. He spun around and flattened his ears.

"I'm sorry miss, I just wanted to see." He said stepping down. But she stopped him when she jumped over the tape and motioned for him to come back and look.

"It's pretty cool right." She said.

"It's amazing to think that this was once in their paws."

"I know, think of everything that's inside it, all the secrets that are in it." She said acting all mysterious.

"You know you said that you heard the stories of the Starnik?" He questioned. "Can we come back here again, I like it here."

"Maybe another day, the school needs to organize it all again." She replied warmly. "Now come on, before we get in trouble." She said nudging the pup to keep moving. The pup ran back to the class, but she stopped and looked back at the book and was suddenly in deep thought. Flashes and pictures of things filled her mind, distant memories of everything she remembers in her passed. She smiled back at the book before walking back to her students.

The rest of the day flew by quicker then expected, Nathan loved every moment of it, he felt so at home, he loved the old things. They spent the entire day there, walking around each room and seeing every small thing there was. In the end they were forced to leave as it was closing time, so the teacher led her class outside and back to the school. She continued her lesson and asked if they had any questions they might have on the subject. Being the teacher and all, she assigned homework and asked them to study for the next day's lessons. They hated the idea, but what were they going to do about it.

Night rolled in quickly, and the full moon rose high in the sky to illuminate the forest around. The sounds of crickets and crunching paw steps as Nathan padded through the forest. He snuck out of his parent's ground den in the forest. They lived in a very nice and spacious hole in the ground, they being some of many wolves who preferred the outside home. They were all asleep, but he just couldn't resist. His teacher should never have taken him there because he just couldn't get enough of the museum. He felt a bond between it, like he was meant to be there. But he was but a pup, he couldn't resist as his curiosity grew. He ran through the forest and back to the museum. When he found it, he crawled into a hollowed out log and peeked through the other side at the entrance. A man stood at the gate, leaning against it and paying with his flashlight. Nathan just had to get inside somehow.

But then he heard more paw-steps, ones that came from behind him. We watched as dark brown and white she-wolf came passed the log and casually walked towards the guard. He couldn't believe it, it was his teacher! She didn't show any fear or anything else a she walked towards him. She then waved her paw gently in his direction, and the guard dropped down on the floor. Nathan wanted to gasp, did she kill him? She pushed the gates open and walked inside and down the tunnel, but she left them open. He took this as an opportunity to see if the man was alright. He was, he was breathing and his heart was fine. But he was snoring, he was asleep? His eyes perked when he heard a thud come from inside. So he cautiously walked inside and back through the tunnel.

He reached the end of it, but he didn't step out into the giant domed room. He stayed in the shadows and watched as his teacher walked across the room, passing three other guards that lay asleep on the floor, scattered across the room. Was she one of those wolves with super powers?

Suddenly, he sneezed, the dust floating in the air making him and the teachers ears perk. She turned around to face him, her eyes widened when she saw him disappearing back into the shadows. "Nathan?" She called out. He gulped and stepped out a little so she could see him. "What are you doing here?" She asked and turning around to face him completely. He slowly made his way towards her as he answered.

"I just wanted to come back." He said quietly and in fear he was going to be in big trouble. "Am I in trouble?" He questioned as he sat in front of her and bringing his shoulders higher then his head in shame. She only smiled down at him.

"Of course not." She replied, making him look back up to her. "As long as you don't tell anyone else that I'm here as well."

"Why are you here?" He asked and nodding.

"I just wanted to come here too. Wanna come with me?" She asked turning back around to walk towards the sanctum. He trotted to her side and the two wolves walked into the room with the waterfall.

"How did you make them fall asleep?" He asked looking back at the guard at snored on the floor.

"I know a good trick." She giggled. They padded back towards the waterfall, just sitting side by side and looking into the water. It was said that if you stare into the running waters, the Starnik appear sitting beside you. But they didn't see anything. "So what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I wanted to see it again too." He replied nervously. "I snuck out of my home."

"Well we shouldn't be too long; otherwise your parents might wonder where you are." She laughed lightly.

"Can you tell me another story?" He asked nervously. She looked down at him and tilted her head. "I like your stories." She smiled down at him and looked back into the waterfall at their reflections.

"The Starnik had their families and their pups had they their own one day. I believe the Starnik bloodline never failed, that it continued. Wolves say they've seen Lupa walking around the forest at night and in the town. They say it's because she's the Earth Angel, she comes and goes from the spirit world to watch over her descendants. She's like the guide that her grandmother was. She interferes with small things in her family's life to keep them safe but without them knowing. It's said she's been trying to draw them together for many years, wanting to keep the bloodline together."

"Have you seen her?" The young pup asked.

"I thought I did when I was coming here tonight. She was running across the path I was on and when I ran to catch her she was gone. She was said to have always liked to play with her family and loves to play with pups."

"What happened to her family?" His teacher sighed.

"They all died of old age, gracefully living out their human lives and dying with their families around them."

"That's so sad." Nathan said.

"It was how they wanted to go, but its said Lupa never left this world because of nature. SHe never aged, but when her mate died she wanted to stay on that side of life."

"Do you believe it?" He asked.

"I do, I've had my experience of weird things and sightings."

"Can we look at the book?" He then asked. She looked down from him and then across to the book that still rested inside the glass cover. So they got up and padded over to it. She let Nathan climb onto her back so he could see, they didn't want to touch it in case they set of an alarm which it most likely would at night, but they got up nice and close to it. "It looks so cool." He gasped at it again and placing his paws on her head to see it even clearer.

"My family many years ago brought it here." She giggled. He looked down to her with wide eyes.

"It was you?" He gasped.

"My family." She giggled. "It was given to us by the Starnik many years ago to keep safe seeing as they no longer needed it. When they heard they found this place, my "many greats" grandmother brought it here. She thought it belonged here." The pup couldn't believe everything that was happening tonight, he found his teacher breaking into the museum, she could make people fall asleep with a wave of her paw, they had the entire place to themselves, all the Starnik's possessions around them, Myka's book of Shadow's, he felt like he was in heaven. He was the happiest pup in the world.

His teacher walked back from the book, feeling that they were getting too close. So they padded back to the waterfall to look into its mirror. But only she gasped, making Nathan wonder what was wrong. She snapped her head down to him, he now starting to fear something was wrong. She stared him right in the eyes. He touched his face, thinking something was wrong with it or he had something on it. He looked down into the pool of water, only to see his eyes glowing green and swirling around his pupil slowly. "You're one of them." She muttered. He looked back up to her, confused as to what was happening.

"One of who?" He asked.

"One of the Starnik." She replied. "Only the Starnik's eyes do that, only their descendants do that." He looked back down into the pool of water and had a closer look at his eyes. That's when it all clicked into place, it made perfect sense now. His mother and father always said he was special, that one day he'd do great things. It explained when his father was really happy or upset he would turn his back to him or cover his face. His father always said he was special, but he thought that he was only saying it, that his father was only saying what all parents tell their pups. But no, this was really happening, it was all true. "But don't worry Nathan, you're not alone."

He looked back up to her and looked into her deep brown eyes, only for them to turn the same colour his were. They slowly swirled with the same colour that flooded his eyes. He was like her; she was another descendent of the Starnik. It explained how she was able to make all those guard fall asleep with a Wave of her paw, that was her power! What she said about her family receiving the book, they didn't, they always had it. But why?

The answer was simple, there were no more witches born into the family, so there was no-one to use it and it was only going to get further damaged and broken the longer they had it. The stories she said about her family being friends about the Starnik were false, they were passed on down the generations. Nathan was not yet old enough to understand, his parents were going to wait for his eyes to start to glow, then it would be easier for him to understand. But now it was too late. She lifted up her paw, revealing two white claws that only proved her to have their blood in her veins.

"Do you have powers yet?" She asked her distant nephew while setting her paw down and settling her eyes. He shook his head, still with eyes shining brightly. "You might not; it's a suppressed gene now, I was lucky to get it."

"I always wondered why I liked coming here." He said looking around again. "I love it here."

"It's our ancestral home, we're drawn to it." She giggled. "Tell you what, I'll look after you in school if you don't tell anyone about me or you other then your parents, deal?" She asked holding her paw out.

"Deal." He laughed like a sweet pup and shaking her paw.

"And I'll tell you what, if you ever get powers or become a witch like Myka, I'll be sure to get you that book back. It was brought and owned by my family so the museum won't have a choice but to give it back."

"Do you have children?" He asked.

"Not yet, but some day I'll teach them what I'm going to teach you." She said with a smile. "Now come on, let's get out of here before they wake up." She added while getting up and gesturing to the guards. "I'll take you home, we are family after all."

"OK ma'am." He replied.

"We're not in school anymore. Call me Taylor, that's my name." She giggled as they left side by side as family.

See, even the family bond remains a positive and forever existing gene in the Starnik's descendents. Little did they know... they were being watched, happily by a spirit who always came here. Think of her as another guard of the museum, one that watched out and dealt with whatever the guards failed to notice. Nathan looked back and towards her while he walked, she brought her paw up to her muzzled and gestured for him to be silent. He smiled back at her and she did in return as Taylor, descendant of Dakota and Nathan descendant of Myka walked out as family when they first walked in as teacher and student. Lupa sat on the other side of the sanctum, happily smiling at her brother and sister's bloodline; they were a good looking bunch. Lupa foresaw this event happening, she was going to be sure to see it that two parts of the family were brought back together, even if it meant revealing herself. She took over the two wolves instincts to drive them to the point they had to come. But what happened when they stepped through the doors was not caused by her. She wanted the family to be brought back together.

She giggled while walking up to the scripture she made for her brother all those years ago, the one Myka read and brought them back into the world. She placed her paw on it and listened to their voices in her head speaking to her and making her smile. Her powers allowing her to commune with them mentally from this plain to the next. She faded away, back so she could speak to them face to face. But beside the scripture lay a second piece of writing, one written by Myka when the family once returned here after it's destruction. It was a second spell, one that may not mean the end of the Starnik after all. It was one that didn't have to be read out, it only had to be sensed by Myka and it would work. It was an automatic spell, one that they hoped would never have to be used. They didn't want it to work, call it a fail safe should something happen in their absence.

"With death we part from this earthly plain, the veil shall open and let us return again, for when fires spark, this spell shall execute, bring back the Starnik to make the species stand resolute."

Dun Dun Dun, there you have it, the last Chapter to the Starnik series, the second ending. I think i like this ending better, because it shows that even a family as distant as those two can still be brought together from a great distance. But i'd like you to pick which one you thought was better. So guys without further ado, this is the last chapter )more or less) of Children of the Starnik, and the Starnik series over all. Six months of writing and typing and we get to this point, and let me tell you I've had a blast. I've had so much fun and it's great to come back from what i do during the day to read your reviews, they lift me up, and most of them make me laugh. But i'll save the rest of my speech for the Author's Note i'll do tomorrow and the quiz for those who want to do it. Just do me a favour and say whether you want to do it or not in the review you put on this. I'll finish by saying that if you want to read more of what i write, look out for "A Son of Wolves" which is a real Alpha and Omega Fanfic which will be up in the next few days. It's something i haven't seen on the archive yet, so tell me what you make of it. Oh, and let me know if you want anything for any part of the four series explained if you don't understand it. :D Until the 'morrow. :P

The FalconWolf