A/N: Skidaddle's probably got an urge to kick y lazy arse for taking to
incredibly long to get this one up. Don't kill me! It's up! In my last
author's note I put 'you probably already know exactly what's coming'... My
question: was I 'hopped up on the goofballs' or something? This isn't
easily guessable in any way, shape or form, I'm afraid. Unless you're
trapped in my head like the other three. I mean... Um... Yes, moving onto
the story!
Part 2: Family/When the End Started
The elder eyrie dropped Ethea like she was a burning brand and not a cub of flesh and blood. He shuffled back a step, eyes darting back and forth into the underbrush. Ethea took this as a chance to scramble back a ways, far enough that she could run if she had to. She was too curious to leave completely, though, as he started muttering to himself.
"You can stop now! I know she's not real, just like the rest of them..." Ethea followed his gaze into the foliage but turned back, perplexed, as nothing presented itself. The male seemed to notice this too because he let out a shriek as proceeded to stomp and trash about in what could only be described as a temper tantrum. "STOP! STOPSTOPSTOP!"
"Who are you talking to?" Ethea clamped her beak shut tightly, having forgotten her wariness for a brief moment. The other eyrie stopped dead and looked at her again in that same manner she couldn't recognize.
"Is she real?" he murmured to himself, slinking forward slowly. "Of course I'm real," Ethea snorted indignantly, only remembering to skitter back again just before he came too close. "They keep sending me fake ones," he told her as if he was discussing the weather, switching moods quickly. "I tell them not to, and that I just want the real one, but they think that they can trick me into wanting someone else." He gave a low grunt of a chuckle as if in scorn.
Ethea couldn't help it. She was interested. "Who do you want?" She craned her neck back to look up at him, her tail swaying from side to side. The male blinked, looking as confused as she'd felt. "Why you, darling? Don't you recognize me?" Ethea balked, taking a closer look at him. Dark gray plumage, scruffy looking, and the sort of wild eyes... She took it all in, but no recognition sparked. He shook his head quickly, hurriedly drawing closer, too fast for her to scurry back and placing a paw on the back of her shoulders. "I didn't know it was you at first either, love, it's all right. Look again! Look again, and you'll see it's me... It's your daddy, Diviena..."
Ethea didn't understand, though she cowered at the mention of the name. "I'm no-", she started quickly, but the male started again, drowning her out. "I was getting worried about you! Your mother was too. She just caught a nice uni for the both of us and she's been waiting. Have you been off with that Viel again? That cub has a bad influence on you... Your mother and I think it would be best if you two left each other alone for the next while."
"But I'm not-" Ethea protested loudly, but once again the male silence spoke over her. "Of course you're not hungry, you just ate a kacheek! But we can't keep your mother waiting. No, no, no... Let's not keep her waiting."
Ethea had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she found herself being steered into the underbrush by the gray male, unable to squirm away from his firm grasp as he chattered away, mostly to himself. "You're looking thinner, has your mother noticed? I'll have to tell her. She'll be glad to have you back, we're been looking all day. You and Viel wandered far for such little ones, didn't you? Did he leave you out here? I'll be having a word with his sire, I can tell you that."
Eventually she gave up struggling watching him bemusedly as he kept up the relentless banter. It wasn't hard to tell that he was completely off his rocker after the first ten minutes. Occasionally he'd look to the sides at random trees and smile and nod, or chuckle as if someone had said something amusing. He'd reply with "Yes, she is getting big, isn't she," or maybe "Well, she is a growing cub. They all like to explore at this age."
She soon just let his voice fade into the background, troubling over the subject of what he'd been saying earlier. Diviena? Why in the hell would he think she was Diviena? Granted, she had her mother's pelt, but her mother had been, well, a mother! An adult. Full-grown. Ethea was still an adolescent, and undersized to boot. And her mother had had golden optics, Ethea had gotten her father's violet ones. What exactly was this eyrie thinking?
A glance upward to the still muttering creature assured her 'not much'. Not much that was sane, anyway... But, on the other hand, he was being pleasant; he was holding her gently... She couldn't see a reason to be afraid. She could wait until whenever they stopped walking to leave. She didn't think he'd be able to track her very well, if his state of mind was any indication.
* * *
All right, so maybe she'd been wrong... It had been a good few hours of walking, until she'd mumbled something about her paws being sore and he'd hurriedly brought them to a stop, making a great deal of inspecting her over for any signs of fatigue. She's assured him she was fine, but on an after though mentioned she might be hungry. It didn't take more than that for him to insist that she wait were they'd stopped as he collected some food.
She'd waited until she was sure he had wandered far enough away and then set off on her own in the opposite direction.
'The conversation had been nice,' she admitted to herself, if one-sided. And she wondered for a moment if her own father would have been that devoted to her if they'd stayed together as she'd grown older. From what she'd pieced together in the old eyrie's ramblings he hadn't thought much of Viel. But in what she could remember, he'd never been cruel to her... 'Is he really my grandfather?' she mused. She didn't know how she felt about that, if it was true. She missed her family, which was a fact. Save for her mother, whom she hoped was burning in hell for what she'd done. That was another point; this was her mother's father. And she'd gotten used to being on her own. And let's not forget that he's crazy beyond belief... That's not exactly the family she'd had in mind. And she'd never met him, so who said he was telling the truth? But who would know her mother from around here?
All right, so he had to be telling the truth. The fact still remained that she didn't know him, despite how well he thought he knew her (though he thought she was her mother from the sounds of things). She was still greatly confused, and maybe even reconsidering leaving without a word to him (he did seem nice... Deluded but nice). She wasn't given much of a choice, though, as a weight pressed down on her from above, forcing her knees to buckle so she lay sprawled flat on the ground.
"Again! He's here isn't he? That damn, Viel!" Ethea groaned at the familiar voice, but not at hearing it as she would have thought, but at him bringing up Viel again. "It's not Viel, I swear. He's not here," she said, feeling the need to defend him for some reason as she shrugged her way out from under his wing. "Oh, yes he is... VIEL GET OUT HERE! GET OUT!" Fearing that the eyrie might start throwing another of his temper tantrums Ethea rushed forward quickly. "I said he's not here! It's just me. Just me."
It took another moment, but he finally calmed down, even if he was still sending a few suspicious glances out into the trees. "You weren't leaving again, were you darling?" He rounded his gaze on her, and Ethea squirmed under the hurt in his eyes. 'Yes, I was. I was leaving, because I don't know you, you're not my father, Diviena is a sickening creature and she's DEAD, so leave me alone!' She would have liked to say it, dearly loved to just spit it out and run off right then. But she couldn't... "No... I was just looking for you... I'm not hungry anymore," she hesitated, wincing, "Father."
Ethea was torn. Had she done the right thing? She couldn't toy with him, but he was so sure... He wanted so much to believe she was his daughter. And, she wanted family, didn't she? Well, here was her chance! He was family. But was it worth getting tied down, when she'd spent so long trying to get rid of everything? Did she honestly think this was best?
Her doubts were numbed for a moment in the expression on the old eyrie's guise as she addressed him as a father figure. His beak spread wide, his head held a touch higher, back straightening, wings lifting up off his back ever so slightly. He looked so full... "Let's go back, Diviena. Even if you don't want the pteri I caught..."
"Dad," she continued, less hesitantly this time after seeing his reaction and finding that even her mood lifted, as if vicariously. "Can you not call me that..."
"Call you what?" He blinked.
"Diviena," she forced herself to say; though it seemed to her to leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Well, what else would I call you, darling?" He chortled. "It's your name." Ethea had to stifle a laugh at that. His expression was so simple, like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Mad beyond a doubt...
"I just... I like Ethea better. Can I be Ethea? Like a nickname..." She tried to sound reasonable and not give into the childish laughter that was picking at her. Debating for the right to use your own name...
He shrugged, placing a wing over her back again, resting it gently atop her. "If you like, Div-Ethea. Viel doesn't call you that, does he?" He gave her a second glance, suddenly looking wary. "No," she said quickly. "I just thought of it now." Ethea smiled sweetly, which placated the elder of the two, who nodded and looked ahead again.
They never did head back to whatever pteri he'd caught (or maybe just thought he'd caught), walking on. He picked up on talking to no one again, which was fine by her. She hadn't heard anyone speak in a long time before this...
So it was settled then. She'd stay with him. At least for now. She couldn't leave the old wanker on his own, she told herself. Surely he couldn't manage too well out here with only half a mind. And if things got to complicated then she'd leave. Faster this time, or while he slept so he wouldn't catch up.
But she'd stay...
* * *
In the months that followed, Ethea was able to begin making sense of what exactly had happened... Not in perfect clarity, but enough that she was able to play along with her grand parent (whose name turned out to be Ryke).
Diviena and Viel had known each other since childhood. They'd often wander off together in adventure, only to have to be sought out by their parents on numerous occasions when they stayed out too long. Obviously Ryke did not approve of how close they became, and she could only assume that his resentment would be even worse if they decided to be mates. So, they'd eloped. The rest of that story she knew only too well...
As for Ryke and his own mate Dilenne, they had their own troubles. Ryke was distraught by his only daughter's disappearance, especially because he knew that Viel had gone with her. He searched relentlessly for the two of them. Dilenne eventually came to terms with the fact that her daughter was gone, though that isn't to say that it didn't grieve her tremendously. But she got to the point where she felt she could move on with her life. Ryke never reached that stage. His searches increased in distance until he was barely ever back at the Clan.
This plagued Dilenne to no end. Not only had she lost her daughter, but she was losing her mate as well. She told him so finally, demanding in her fit of grief that he choose between them. His love and his missing child. Ryke never answered, just turned on heel and pretended the conversation never happened. He stayed for a few days and then left again, oblivious all the while he was present to Dilenne's tears. But his mate had had enough... Whether she loved him or not, she couldn't take the hurt anymore. The Clan moved on, migrating further South and Dilenne went with them... Ryke was on his own.
Whether he ever went back and discovered that his family and friends had abandoned them just as he'd abandoned them in pursuit of his child, Ethea never could find out. But at some point or another in his travels, he'd lost his mind. It seemed like he had told himself that Diviena and Viel were just wandering again, off on another adventure. He thought that Dilenne was back home, waiting for them to get back. As far as he let himself know, Diviena was still a cub, his cub. And unlike all the hallucinations that had started at one point, Ethea was real. And on some level she was familiar enough to make him believe that she was his child. His long-sought-after Diviena.
This was enough for him, so this new life became enough for her. Not that she didn't want to leave sometimes. Even if she did grow fond of Ryke, the delusions did get tiring. And at times he'd insist she wasn't real again and that she was another hallucination that 'they' sent him. And other days he's shut up completely and refuse to talk, say that his heart had died with his daughter and not even look at her. Then the next morning, act like nothing had happened.
But she stuck by him... He grew on you, and in a way he gave her something to call her own. If not family, then a responsibility. At times it felt more like he was the cub and she the adult. It gave her a reason... For what? She didn't know yet... She could only assume she'd figure it out somewhere down the line...
* * *
One of the upsides to Ryke was that he never wandered far from her, doting on her constantly, which she couldn't help but enjoy after so long on her own. A downside was that he had no sense of the need to be stealthy when food wasn't involved... As was the case in the next emergence of spring.
She hadn't expected them all to just... materialize from the trees, like they'd been there all along. She hadn't expected Ryke to run up to one in particular and embrace her like she was his mate (which, on hindsight she knew was exactly what he'd thought). She hadn't expected this to be the daughter of the Alpha. And she surely hadn't expected to find herself struggling to hold Ryke back from the femme as the offended clan closed in...
Life is full of surprises... She'd later find out so is death...
* * *
A/N: The summary above is brief, yes I know. But it will be elaborated on in the next chapter, which deals with Terru's first clan. It makes me happy and sad at the same time... So sue me, I love the little bitch that is my eyrie. She's like my baby ^^ My homicidal, maniacal little baby. Awwww... I would put in a '-hugs-' but I'd end up lacking an arm, so that doesn't make too much sense. Anywho, not my best work, I know... Sorry... I just wanted to get it written and out there. Maybe once I'm finished (if I ever finish, considering the RPs keep going x.X) I'll rewrite this chapter. So there it is! Comments? Oh come on, you know you want to. And I'm not just saying that to try and subliminally coax you into reviewing. Because you do want to review. Yeeeees, you definitely want to review.
Part 2: Family/When the End Started
The elder eyrie dropped Ethea like she was a burning brand and not a cub of flesh and blood. He shuffled back a step, eyes darting back and forth into the underbrush. Ethea took this as a chance to scramble back a ways, far enough that she could run if she had to. She was too curious to leave completely, though, as he started muttering to himself.
"You can stop now! I know she's not real, just like the rest of them..." Ethea followed his gaze into the foliage but turned back, perplexed, as nothing presented itself. The male seemed to notice this too because he let out a shriek as proceeded to stomp and trash about in what could only be described as a temper tantrum. "STOP! STOPSTOPSTOP!"
"Who are you talking to?" Ethea clamped her beak shut tightly, having forgotten her wariness for a brief moment. The other eyrie stopped dead and looked at her again in that same manner she couldn't recognize.
"Is she real?" he murmured to himself, slinking forward slowly. "Of course I'm real," Ethea snorted indignantly, only remembering to skitter back again just before he came too close. "They keep sending me fake ones," he told her as if he was discussing the weather, switching moods quickly. "I tell them not to, and that I just want the real one, but they think that they can trick me into wanting someone else." He gave a low grunt of a chuckle as if in scorn.
Ethea couldn't help it. She was interested. "Who do you want?" She craned her neck back to look up at him, her tail swaying from side to side. The male blinked, looking as confused as she'd felt. "Why you, darling? Don't you recognize me?" Ethea balked, taking a closer look at him. Dark gray plumage, scruffy looking, and the sort of wild eyes... She took it all in, but no recognition sparked. He shook his head quickly, hurriedly drawing closer, too fast for her to scurry back and placing a paw on the back of her shoulders. "I didn't know it was you at first either, love, it's all right. Look again! Look again, and you'll see it's me... It's your daddy, Diviena..."
Ethea didn't understand, though she cowered at the mention of the name. "I'm no-", she started quickly, but the male started again, drowning her out. "I was getting worried about you! Your mother was too. She just caught a nice uni for the both of us and she's been waiting. Have you been off with that Viel again? That cub has a bad influence on you... Your mother and I think it would be best if you two left each other alone for the next while."
"But I'm not-" Ethea protested loudly, but once again the male silence spoke over her. "Of course you're not hungry, you just ate a kacheek! But we can't keep your mother waiting. No, no, no... Let's not keep her waiting."
Ethea had absolutely no idea what was going on, but she found herself being steered into the underbrush by the gray male, unable to squirm away from his firm grasp as he chattered away, mostly to himself. "You're looking thinner, has your mother noticed? I'll have to tell her. She'll be glad to have you back, we're been looking all day. You and Viel wandered far for such little ones, didn't you? Did he leave you out here? I'll be having a word with his sire, I can tell you that."
Eventually she gave up struggling watching him bemusedly as he kept up the relentless banter. It wasn't hard to tell that he was completely off his rocker after the first ten minutes. Occasionally he'd look to the sides at random trees and smile and nod, or chuckle as if someone had said something amusing. He'd reply with "Yes, she is getting big, isn't she," or maybe "Well, she is a growing cub. They all like to explore at this age."
She soon just let his voice fade into the background, troubling over the subject of what he'd been saying earlier. Diviena? Why in the hell would he think she was Diviena? Granted, she had her mother's pelt, but her mother had been, well, a mother! An adult. Full-grown. Ethea was still an adolescent, and undersized to boot. And her mother had had golden optics, Ethea had gotten her father's violet ones. What exactly was this eyrie thinking?
A glance upward to the still muttering creature assured her 'not much'. Not much that was sane, anyway... But, on the other hand, he was being pleasant; he was holding her gently... She couldn't see a reason to be afraid. She could wait until whenever they stopped walking to leave. She didn't think he'd be able to track her very well, if his state of mind was any indication.
* * *
All right, so maybe she'd been wrong... It had been a good few hours of walking, until she'd mumbled something about her paws being sore and he'd hurriedly brought them to a stop, making a great deal of inspecting her over for any signs of fatigue. She's assured him she was fine, but on an after though mentioned she might be hungry. It didn't take more than that for him to insist that she wait were they'd stopped as he collected some food.
She'd waited until she was sure he had wandered far enough away and then set off on her own in the opposite direction.
'The conversation had been nice,' she admitted to herself, if one-sided. And she wondered for a moment if her own father would have been that devoted to her if they'd stayed together as she'd grown older. From what she'd pieced together in the old eyrie's ramblings he hadn't thought much of Viel. But in what she could remember, he'd never been cruel to her... 'Is he really my grandfather?' she mused. She didn't know how she felt about that, if it was true. She missed her family, which was a fact. Save for her mother, whom she hoped was burning in hell for what she'd done. That was another point; this was her mother's father. And she'd gotten used to being on her own. And let's not forget that he's crazy beyond belief... That's not exactly the family she'd had in mind. And she'd never met him, so who said he was telling the truth? But who would know her mother from around here?
All right, so he had to be telling the truth. The fact still remained that she didn't know him, despite how well he thought he knew her (though he thought she was her mother from the sounds of things). She was still greatly confused, and maybe even reconsidering leaving without a word to him (he did seem nice... Deluded but nice). She wasn't given much of a choice, though, as a weight pressed down on her from above, forcing her knees to buckle so she lay sprawled flat on the ground.
"Again! He's here isn't he? That damn, Viel!" Ethea groaned at the familiar voice, but not at hearing it as she would have thought, but at him bringing up Viel again. "It's not Viel, I swear. He's not here," she said, feeling the need to defend him for some reason as she shrugged her way out from under his wing. "Oh, yes he is... VIEL GET OUT HERE! GET OUT!" Fearing that the eyrie might start throwing another of his temper tantrums Ethea rushed forward quickly. "I said he's not here! It's just me. Just me."
It took another moment, but he finally calmed down, even if he was still sending a few suspicious glances out into the trees. "You weren't leaving again, were you darling?" He rounded his gaze on her, and Ethea squirmed under the hurt in his eyes. 'Yes, I was. I was leaving, because I don't know you, you're not my father, Diviena is a sickening creature and she's DEAD, so leave me alone!' She would have liked to say it, dearly loved to just spit it out and run off right then. But she couldn't... "No... I was just looking for you... I'm not hungry anymore," she hesitated, wincing, "Father."
Ethea was torn. Had she done the right thing? She couldn't toy with him, but he was so sure... He wanted so much to believe she was his daughter. And, she wanted family, didn't she? Well, here was her chance! He was family. But was it worth getting tied down, when she'd spent so long trying to get rid of everything? Did she honestly think this was best?
Her doubts were numbed for a moment in the expression on the old eyrie's guise as she addressed him as a father figure. His beak spread wide, his head held a touch higher, back straightening, wings lifting up off his back ever so slightly. He looked so full... "Let's go back, Diviena. Even if you don't want the pteri I caught..."
"Dad," she continued, less hesitantly this time after seeing his reaction and finding that even her mood lifted, as if vicariously. "Can you not call me that..."
"Call you what?" He blinked.
"Diviena," she forced herself to say; though it seemed to her to leave a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Well, what else would I call you, darling?" He chortled. "It's your name." Ethea had to stifle a laugh at that. His expression was so simple, like it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Mad beyond a doubt...
"I just... I like Ethea better. Can I be Ethea? Like a nickname..." She tried to sound reasonable and not give into the childish laughter that was picking at her. Debating for the right to use your own name...
He shrugged, placing a wing over her back again, resting it gently atop her. "If you like, Div-Ethea. Viel doesn't call you that, does he?" He gave her a second glance, suddenly looking wary. "No," she said quickly. "I just thought of it now." Ethea smiled sweetly, which placated the elder of the two, who nodded and looked ahead again.
They never did head back to whatever pteri he'd caught (or maybe just thought he'd caught), walking on. He picked up on talking to no one again, which was fine by her. She hadn't heard anyone speak in a long time before this...
So it was settled then. She'd stay with him. At least for now. She couldn't leave the old wanker on his own, she told herself. Surely he couldn't manage too well out here with only half a mind. And if things got to complicated then she'd leave. Faster this time, or while he slept so he wouldn't catch up.
But she'd stay...
* * *
In the months that followed, Ethea was able to begin making sense of what exactly had happened... Not in perfect clarity, but enough that she was able to play along with her grand parent (whose name turned out to be Ryke).
Diviena and Viel had known each other since childhood. They'd often wander off together in adventure, only to have to be sought out by their parents on numerous occasions when they stayed out too long. Obviously Ryke did not approve of how close they became, and she could only assume that his resentment would be even worse if they decided to be mates. So, they'd eloped. The rest of that story she knew only too well...
As for Ryke and his own mate Dilenne, they had their own troubles. Ryke was distraught by his only daughter's disappearance, especially because he knew that Viel had gone with her. He searched relentlessly for the two of them. Dilenne eventually came to terms with the fact that her daughter was gone, though that isn't to say that it didn't grieve her tremendously. But she got to the point where she felt she could move on with her life. Ryke never reached that stage. His searches increased in distance until he was barely ever back at the Clan.
This plagued Dilenne to no end. Not only had she lost her daughter, but she was losing her mate as well. She told him so finally, demanding in her fit of grief that he choose between them. His love and his missing child. Ryke never answered, just turned on heel and pretended the conversation never happened. He stayed for a few days and then left again, oblivious all the while he was present to Dilenne's tears. But his mate had had enough... Whether she loved him or not, she couldn't take the hurt anymore. The Clan moved on, migrating further South and Dilenne went with them... Ryke was on his own.
Whether he ever went back and discovered that his family and friends had abandoned them just as he'd abandoned them in pursuit of his child, Ethea never could find out. But at some point or another in his travels, he'd lost his mind. It seemed like he had told himself that Diviena and Viel were just wandering again, off on another adventure. He thought that Dilenne was back home, waiting for them to get back. As far as he let himself know, Diviena was still a cub, his cub. And unlike all the hallucinations that had started at one point, Ethea was real. And on some level she was familiar enough to make him believe that she was his child. His long-sought-after Diviena.
This was enough for him, so this new life became enough for her. Not that she didn't want to leave sometimes. Even if she did grow fond of Ryke, the delusions did get tiring. And at times he'd insist she wasn't real again and that she was another hallucination that 'they' sent him. And other days he's shut up completely and refuse to talk, say that his heart had died with his daughter and not even look at her. Then the next morning, act like nothing had happened.
But she stuck by him... He grew on you, and in a way he gave her something to call her own. If not family, then a responsibility. At times it felt more like he was the cub and she the adult. It gave her a reason... For what? She didn't know yet... She could only assume she'd figure it out somewhere down the line...
* * *
One of the upsides to Ryke was that he never wandered far from her, doting on her constantly, which she couldn't help but enjoy after so long on her own. A downside was that he had no sense of the need to be stealthy when food wasn't involved... As was the case in the next emergence of spring.
She hadn't expected them all to just... materialize from the trees, like they'd been there all along. She hadn't expected Ryke to run up to one in particular and embrace her like she was his mate (which, on hindsight she knew was exactly what he'd thought). She hadn't expected this to be the daughter of the Alpha. And she surely hadn't expected to find herself struggling to hold Ryke back from the femme as the offended clan closed in...
Life is full of surprises... She'd later find out so is death...
* * *
A/N: The summary above is brief, yes I know. But it will be elaborated on in the next chapter, which deals with Terru's first clan. It makes me happy and sad at the same time... So sue me, I love the little bitch that is my eyrie. She's like my baby ^^ My homicidal, maniacal little baby. Awwww... I would put in a '-hugs-' but I'd end up lacking an arm, so that doesn't make too much sense. Anywho, not my best work, I know... Sorry... I just wanted to get it written and out there. Maybe once I'm finished (if I ever finish, considering the RPs keep going x.X) I'll rewrite this chapter. So there it is! Comments? Oh come on, you know you want to. And I'm not just saying that to try and subliminally coax you into reviewing. Because you do want to review. Yeeeees, you definitely want to review.