Post by seraaches on Aug 22, 2008 2:27:08 GMT -5
WC: Just over 2k
Info: Those who end up with a Hellhound will need to know this. xD Otherwise, comments are appreciated. <33
“Four generations ago,” the gravelly voice intoned. “There arose among us a great leader. He stood taller than most, and his rot was limited for he often forayed out into the distant Promised Lands to try and rid it of the infidels. Many thought he was the prophesied Returner, for the Returner will again bestow upon us those lands we are entitled to, but—“
“What drivel are you feeding these pups now?” A strong, younger voice broke the spell of the oldster and the litter of puppies bounced to their paws with happy howls.
“Zeus, Zeus!” the yelps reached a high enough decibel that his sensitive ears twitched in protest even as he winced playfully and put up his hands.
“Easy now, easy,” he smiled winningly at them before turning his gaze on the old man. He folded his arms and fixed the old Coonhound with a mischievously stern glare. “What nonsense are you telling these younglings? Not that old fairy tale again. . .”
The near-blind Lowland Coonhound smiled expansively at the younger man, his cataract covered eyes glinting white in the candlelight. “It’s the Prophesy,” his voice quavered slightly, but Zeus was not fooled. The old mutt had a lot of spirit left. “Someday,” the Coon continued easily. “You’ll see and understand.”
“Zeus, Zeus!” one of the puppies clambered for his attention. When he turned to look at her she smiled shyly. “Tell us a story, Zeus!”
“Yes, yes!” chorused the others. “We want a story!”
The Doberman Pinscher gave a low laugh, but obediently folded himself down into their midst. In a heartbeat, he was in a puppy pile and the children wrestled and tugged looking for the best perching spots. With only one incident of someone biting just a bit too hard—a little cocker spaniel now huddled in the man’s arms—they were soon ready to listen.
“Now, what story do you want to hear?”
“The Hellhound profiles!”
“When you crossed the Border for the first time!”
“About your ear.” This last suggestion piped up from his arms and Zeus glanced down at the boy curiously.
“That’s not a fun story,” the man told him gently. “It was very scary.”
The puppy snuggled closer to him. “That one.”
Zeus glanced at the other puppies, but they seemed pleased with this decision. Zeus gave a soft, harsh smile before nodding his head. “Very well. It happened a very long time ago, when I was just a little older than all of you. . .”
His ears kept flopping too far forward. Zeus gave an impatient toss of his head to send the large, black triangle flaps back out of his eyes for the fortieth time since they entered the bush. Trot wiggled next to him and the Dobie hissed under his breath at the other canine, “Stay still!”
“But you moved!” the other Lowlander puppy whined.
“That’s different; now stay still.” He put a little extra growl into the words to make his point and Trot subsided with a soft whimper. Zeus gave himself a little mental pat on the head and turned his attention back to his father.
The large Doberman Pinscher slipped forward another two steps then froze again, his exposed leg raised. Zeus watched the moisture drip through the bones of that leg and someday he would remember that as the signal for everything going wrong.
Alekto gave a short yip that sent his pack charging forward. Zeus made his own sound of excitement and Trot picked up on it, whining softly as the two puppies shot forward as well.
Their quarry was just ahead and Zeus felt the world narrow as he saw the two green horses up ahead. They looked exactly the same, down right to the moment when they realized that death roiled behind them. The two heads shot up and ears went back and their hindquarters bunched as they suddenly shot forward in unison.
Zeus distantly heard his father’s deep voice calling out, “Let the pups get them!”
Trot moved with him as they had been trained, and Zeus flicked an ear back as he heard Sarge’s heavy footsteps coming up on his other side. The smaller puppies flanked one of the colts and Trot excitedly nipped at its heels. The colt bucked and Zeus ducked swiftly, nearly getting clipped in the head. He would have gotten on to the other canine, but the blood was pounding through his body too and with a sudden snarl he leapt for the thing’s throat.
It gave a high-pitched squeal of terror, bald head tossing upwards, causing the Dobie’s teeth to clap shut on nothing but air. The equine tried to swerve away, but Trot was right there and the two tangled up together in a mass of limbs. Trot cried out and suddenly Zeus absolutely saw red. With a howl of rage, he leapt into the fray, biting and clawing at any flash of green he could see.
“SHIN!” The other one screamed and Zeus caught the feeling of Sarge falling. Something snatched his ear, ripping savagely and he bared his teeth and tried to snap at it.
“Zeus!” His father’s voice snapped through and the puppy tried to get up out of the mass of limbs and teeth. Something grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, tossing him lightly to the side. Zeus rolled back up to his feet, turning back towards the fray with his teeth still bared. The world slowed in a sickening lurch.
Alekto staggered suddenly and Zeus saw that his right front leg was snapped in half. A golden hoof came shooting out and the puppy opened his mouth to shout a warning. He could make no sound. It connected firmly with Alekto’s right temple. His father crumpled.
“NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He didn’t know what happened, the pack was howling in outrage, but no one moved to go to his father’s aid. No one. The Doberman puppy threw himself at the pile of bodies, teeth tearing through anything he could find. He saw the white of the green thing’s eyes, saw the knowledge flare in the green-grey depths as he sank his teeth deeply into the creature’s throat. A hot rush of blood filled his mouth, causing him to gag. No! His father! Trot! The thing thrashed wildly again, shaking Zeus’ whole body as its legs flailed wildly. Caboose went flying and Zeus, with a growl that wrenched through his entire body, jerked himself in a contrary motion to the colt. The whole throat came away, and the creature collapsed in on itself.
Zeus spat out the large piece of muscled flesh, turning his angry stare on the other colt that was flailing a short distance away. His movements were feeble.
“Look out!” One of the pack called the warning and Zeus’ head shot sideways to stare balefully at a Sorgaire Range skunk who had stopped to stare at them. Still glaring at the newcomer, the Doberman Pinscher spat blood to one side. The man flinched.
“Help. . . please. . .” the colt’s voice was almost impossible to hear.
The skunk stared at him, looked over at Zeus and the other Hellhounds, then back to the horse. “Neutral.” And he turned his back and kept on his way.
“No. . . please. . .Shin. . .” the thing’s voice was already fading away. Zeus was sickened by the sight of it.
“Collect my father,” he didn’t recognize his own voice.
The Hellhounds started and stared towards him. His hackles rose threateningly and he made a sound no living thing ever should. Sarge groggily got to his feet and stumbled towards their fallen packleader. After a moment, the others followed suit and Zeus allowed himself to hurry to Trot’s unmoving body. He nosed his friend, rolling the limp form slightly.
“C’mon, Trot, get up. We gotta go home.” If Trot was dead, he wouldn’t survive it. The other Lowlander gave a quiet moan and blearily opened his eyes to stare up at Zeus.
“Hey. . . Zeus. . .”
Zeus breathed a soft sigh of relief. “Hey, Trot. Get up, we’re going home.”
“There’s something behind you,” Trot said dazedly.
Frightened, Zeus whirled, but he didn’t see anyone. His ears flattened in concern and he decided Trot must have gotten hit a bit too hard in the head. “Let’s just go.”
Trot got to his feet and Zeus turned to see that some of the pack had Alekto’s too still body up on their shoulders. Sarge was there as well, the teenager braced purposefully beneath the much larger Dobie’s chest. Zeus swallowed hard. “Let’s go.”
“Zeus. . . the bodies. . .” one of the pack whined, tail tucking as he took on a submissive pose.
“Leave them!” the young Doberman snapped. “We have to get my father to camp.”
He marched resolutely forward, ears cocked back for fear that they would not follow him. But the footsteps behind him reassured him that they were. They would get Alekto the camp and everything would be fine. Everything had to be fine.
Behind them, two small bodies lay ruined.
“Was he okay?” a puppy ventured from his back and Zeus started. He swallowed hard and gave the little one a small, unreadable smile.
“No, he was dead.”
“What?”
“That’s not fair!”
One of the puppies began to sniffle. Zeus gave a half-smile and licked the side of her cheek. “No tears for the dead, huh? Those are too precious to waste.”
The cocker spaniel in his lap tilted his head sideways before looking up at the adult curiously. “Now you’re in charge of the Hellhounds.”
Zeus glanced down again. “Yes. I have been since that day.”
“Do you kill those things?”
Zeus’ expression hardened. “Yes, I do.” There was something regal in his manner now and his nose flared.
“Then why are you here?” the puppy asked innocently and the next smile on the Dobie’s face was cruel.
“I’m recruiting, little ones,” he rose suddenly, letting the children tumble to the floor. “And that’s why I need to be on my way.”
A chorus of mournful whines followed this announcement, but Zeus quickly set a stern look around. “None of that! Future Hellhounds don’t cry over silly things.”
The puppies immediately tried to shape up, and Zeus gave them a fond, forgiving smile. “I’ll see you all next time I’m here.”
“’kay!” the puppies chorused and the old Card quickly shooed them out of his door, leaving the packleader alone for a moment.
Zeus stared after them, the humour fading away as he waited for the man to return. The Coon shuffled back in and Zeus tilted his head at the other man. “So. The rumours.”
The elderly canine sighed and shuffled towards the cupboard. They were nearly bare. They always were here.
“Niklaus.” The name was barked as a command.
“True. All true. Exceedingly true.”
Zeus plopped to the ground with a curse. The Coon nodded and nosed around until he could find the cup he was looking for. Carrying it over to the man, he offered it to the Heart. Zeus shook his head tiredly. “I don’t want your water, Niklaus. I don’t need it.”
The Coonhound tried to hide his relief as he slowly returned the cup to its place. “The infidel has been in power for a long time. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of him sooner.”
Zeus gave an annoyed shake of his head, sending his full ear flapping. “All rumours. We’re always hearing rumours.”
Niklaus mused thoughtfully for a moment, near-blind eyes staring at nothing. “The rumours,” he said slowly. “Say that he’s not just an infidel, he’s a horse.”
Zeus’ eyes cut sharply to the other man. “So? There are plenty of horses around.”
Niklaus gave an innocent shrug. “Rumours say that he had his hair magically grown.”
The Dobie froze, tension singing through him. “Spit out your point, cur.”
The hound’s tail tucked between his legs at the tone. “Rumour says he was bald and had a strange, thick tail. . . like a whip.”
A low growl rattled through the Pinscher’s chest and he suddenly exploded upwards and out of the house, banging the door loudly behind him. Niklaus shuffled to the door, nosing it over to be certain that it had survived the temper of his guest. It was no more dented than usual and he carefully closed it again. It had to be difficult, the Coonhound mused, to be the Returner. Prophesy was a cruel mistress. And she was certainly female. Niklaus smiled blearily to himself and hummed as he wandered back towards his cupboard. This new sign deserved a bit of celebration.
Info: Those who end up with a Hellhound will need to know this. xD Otherwise, comments are appreciated. <33
-----------------------------------------------------------
“Four generations ago,” the gravelly voice intoned. “There arose among us a great leader. He stood taller than most, and his rot was limited for he often forayed out into the distant Promised Lands to try and rid it of the infidels. Many thought he was the prophesied Returner, for the Returner will again bestow upon us those lands we are entitled to, but—“
“What drivel are you feeding these pups now?” A strong, younger voice broke the spell of the oldster and the litter of puppies bounced to their paws with happy howls.
“Zeus, Zeus!” the yelps reached a high enough decibel that his sensitive ears twitched in protest even as he winced playfully and put up his hands.
“Easy now, easy,” he smiled winningly at them before turning his gaze on the old man. He folded his arms and fixed the old Coonhound with a mischievously stern glare. “What nonsense are you telling these younglings? Not that old fairy tale again. . .”
The near-blind Lowland Coonhound smiled expansively at the younger man, his cataract covered eyes glinting white in the candlelight. “It’s the Prophesy,” his voice quavered slightly, but Zeus was not fooled. The old mutt had a lot of spirit left. “Someday,” the Coon continued easily. “You’ll see and understand.”
“Zeus, Zeus!” one of the puppies clambered for his attention. When he turned to look at her she smiled shyly. “Tell us a story, Zeus!”
“Yes, yes!” chorused the others. “We want a story!”
The Doberman Pinscher gave a low laugh, but obediently folded himself down into their midst. In a heartbeat, he was in a puppy pile and the children wrestled and tugged looking for the best perching spots. With only one incident of someone biting just a bit too hard—a little cocker spaniel now huddled in the man’s arms—they were soon ready to listen.
“Now, what story do you want to hear?”
“The Hellhound profiles!”
“When you crossed the Border for the first time!”
“About your ear.” This last suggestion piped up from his arms and Zeus glanced down at the boy curiously.
“That’s not a fun story,” the man told him gently. “It was very scary.”
The puppy snuggled closer to him. “That one.”
Zeus glanced at the other puppies, but they seemed pleased with this decision. Zeus gave a soft, harsh smile before nodding his head. “Very well. It happened a very long time ago, when I was just a little older than all of you. . .”
-----------------------------------------------------------
His ears kept flopping too far forward. Zeus gave an impatient toss of his head to send the large, black triangle flaps back out of his eyes for the fortieth time since they entered the bush. Trot wiggled next to him and the Dobie hissed under his breath at the other canine, “Stay still!”
“But you moved!” the other Lowlander puppy whined.
“That’s different; now stay still.” He put a little extra growl into the words to make his point and Trot subsided with a soft whimper. Zeus gave himself a little mental pat on the head and turned his attention back to his father.
The large Doberman Pinscher slipped forward another two steps then froze again, his exposed leg raised. Zeus watched the moisture drip through the bones of that leg and someday he would remember that as the signal for everything going wrong.
Alekto gave a short yip that sent his pack charging forward. Zeus made his own sound of excitement and Trot picked up on it, whining softly as the two puppies shot forward as well.
Their quarry was just ahead and Zeus felt the world narrow as he saw the two green horses up ahead. They looked exactly the same, down right to the moment when they realized that death roiled behind them. The two heads shot up and ears went back and their hindquarters bunched as they suddenly shot forward in unison.
Zeus distantly heard his father’s deep voice calling out, “Let the pups get them!”
Trot moved with him as they had been trained, and Zeus flicked an ear back as he heard Sarge’s heavy footsteps coming up on his other side. The smaller puppies flanked one of the colts and Trot excitedly nipped at its heels. The colt bucked and Zeus ducked swiftly, nearly getting clipped in the head. He would have gotten on to the other canine, but the blood was pounding through his body too and with a sudden snarl he leapt for the thing’s throat.
It gave a high-pitched squeal of terror, bald head tossing upwards, causing the Dobie’s teeth to clap shut on nothing but air. The equine tried to swerve away, but Trot was right there and the two tangled up together in a mass of limbs. Trot cried out and suddenly Zeus absolutely saw red. With a howl of rage, he leapt into the fray, biting and clawing at any flash of green he could see.
“SHIN!” The other one screamed and Zeus caught the feeling of Sarge falling. Something snatched his ear, ripping savagely and he bared his teeth and tried to snap at it.
“Zeus!” His father’s voice snapped through and the puppy tried to get up out of the mass of limbs and teeth. Something grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, tossing him lightly to the side. Zeus rolled back up to his feet, turning back towards the fray with his teeth still bared. The world slowed in a sickening lurch.
Alekto staggered suddenly and Zeus saw that his right front leg was snapped in half. A golden hoof came shooting out and the puppy opened his mouth to shout a warning. He could make no sound. It connected firmly with Alekto’s right temple. His father crumpled.
“NNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He didn’t know what happened, the pack was howling in outrage, but no one moved to go to his father’s aid. No one. The Doberman puppy threw himself at the pile of bodies, teeth tearing through anything he could find. He saw the white of the green thing’s eyes, saw the knowledge flare in the green-grey depths as he sank his teeth deeply into the creature’s throat. A hot rush of blood filled his mouth, causing him to gag. No! His father! Trot! The thing thrashed wildly again, shaking Zeus’ whole body as its legs flailed wildly. Caboose went flying and Zeus, with a growl that wrenched through his entire body, jerked himself in a contrary motion to the colt. The whole throat came away, and the creature collapsed in on itself.
Zeus spat out the large piece of muscled flesh, turning his angry stare on the other colt that was flailing a short distance away. His movements were feeble.
“Look out!” One of the pack called the warning and Zeus’ head shot sideways to stare balefully at a Sorgaire Range skunk who had stopped to stare at them. Still glaring at the newcomer, the Doberman Pinscher spat blood to one side. The man flinched.
“Help. . . please. . .” the colt’s voice was almost impossible to hear.
The skunk stared at him, looked over at Zeus and the other Hellhounds, then back to the horse. “Neutral.” And he turned his back and kept on his way.
“No. . . please. . .Shin. . .” the thing’s voice was already fading away. Zeus was sickened by the sight of it.
“Collect my father,” he didn’t recognize his own voice.
The Hellhounds started and stared towards him. His hackles rose threateningly and he made a sound no living thing ever should. Sarge groggily got to his feet and stumbled towards their fallen packleader. After a moment, the others followed suit and Zeus allowed himself to hurry to Trot’s unmoving body. He nosed his friend, rolling the limp form slightly.
“C’mon, Trot, get up. We gotta go home.” If Trot was dead, he wouldn’t survive it. The other Lowlander gave a quiet moan and blearily opened his eyes to stare up at Zeus.
“Hey. . . Zeus. . .”
Zeus breathed a soft sigh of relief. “Hey, Trot. Get up, we’re going home.”
“There’s something behind you,” Trot said dazedly.
Frightened, Zeus whirled, but he didn’t see anyone. His ears flattened in concern and he decided Trot must have gotten hit a bit too hard in the head. “Let’s just go.”
Trot got to his feet and Zeus turned to see that some of the pack had Alekto’s too still body up on their shoulders. Sarge was there as well, the teenager braced purposefully beneath the much larger Dobie’s chest. Zeus swallowed hard. “Let’s go.”
“Zeus. . . the bodies. . .” one of the pack whined, tail tucking as he took on a submissive pose.
“Leave them!” the young Doberman snapped. “We have to get my father to camp.”
He marched resolutely forward, ears cocked back for fear that they would not follow him. But the footsteps behind him reassured him that they were. They would get Alekto the camp and everything would be fine. Everything had to be fine.
Behind them, two small bodies lay ruined.
-----------------------------------------------------------
“Was he okay?” a puppy ventured from his back and Zeus started. He swallowed hard and gave the little one a small, unreadable smile.
“No, he was dead.”
“What?”
“That’s not fair!”
One of the puppies began to sniffle. Zeus gave a half-smile and licked the side of her cheek. “No tears for the dead, huh? Those are too precious to waste.”
The cocker spaniel in his lap tilted his head sideways before looking up at the adult curiously. “Now you’re in charge of the Hellhounds.”
Zeus glanced down again. “Yes. I have been since that day.”
“Do you kill those things?”
Zeus’ expression hardened. “Yes, I do.” There was something regal in his manner now and his nose flared.
“Then why are you here?” the puppy asked innocently and the next smile on the Dobie’s face was cruel.
“I’m recruiting, little ones,” he rose suddenly, letting the children tumble to the floor. “And that’s why I need to be on my way.”
A chorus of mournful whines followed this announcement, but Zeus quickly set a stern look around. “None of that! Future Hellhounds don’t cry over silly things.”
The puppies immediately tried to shape up, and Zeus gave them a fond, forgiving smile. “I’ll see you all next time I’m here.”
“’kay!” the puppies chorused and the old Card quickly shooed them out of his door, leaving the packleader alone for a moment.
Zeus stared after them, the humour fading away as he waited for the man to return. The Coon shuffled back in and Zeus tilted his head at the other man. “So. The rumours.”
The elderly canine sighed and shuffled towards the cupboard. They were nearly bare. They always were here.
“Niklaus.” The name was barked as a command.
“True. All true. Exceedingly true.”
Zeus plopped to the ground with a curse. The Coon nodded and nosed around until he could find the cup he was looking for. Carrying it over to the man, he offered it to the Heart. Zeus shook his head tiredly. “I don’t want your water, Niklaus. I don’t need it.”
The Coonhound tried to hide his relief as he slowly returned the cup to its place. “The infidel has been in power for a long time. I’m surprised you hadn’t heard of him sooner.”
Zeus gave an annoyed shake of his head, sending his full ear flapping. “All rumours. We’re always hearing rumours.”
Niklaus mused thoughtfully for a moment, near-blind eyes staring at nothing. “The rumours,” he said slowly. “Say that he’s not just an infidel, he’s a horse.”
Zeus’ eyes cut sharply to the other man. “So? There are plenty of horses around.”
Niklaus gave an innocent shrug. “Rumours say that he had his hair magically grown.”
The Dobie froze, tension singing through him. “Spit out your point, cur.”
The hound’s tail tucked between his legs at the tone. “Rumour says he was bald and had a strange, thick tail. . . like a whip.”
A low growl rattled through the Pinscher’s chest and he suddenly exploded upwards and out of the house, banging the door loudly behind him. Niklaus shuffled to the door, nosing it over to be certain that it had survived the temper of his guest. It was no more dented than usual and he carefully closed it again. It had to be difficult, the Coonhound mused, to be the Returner. Prophesy was a cruel mistress. And she was certainly female. Niklaus smiled blearily to himself and hummed as he wandered back towards his cupboard. This new sign deserved a bit of celebration.
