Legend of the Sky Wolves

Legend of the Sky Wolves - Introduction & OOC Notes

'Legend of the Sky Wolves' is a series of cutscenes, writings, stories, dream sequences, etc. which are written as a form of character growth for my character: Hati. This is mostly to help to build some backstory for the character, as well as some outside influence in her story. It is provided for those who are interested in getting some insight into the character, or who may be interested in creative writing in general. The 'White Wolf' is also an app-able character (see below), but I encourage anyone interested in apping this character to read the entire sequence of posted works before contacting me about them.

The story of the 'White Wolf'/'Golden Wolf' as written is loosely referenced off of the Norse tale of Skoll and Hati, two wolves who chased the sun and the moon, destined to eventually complete their quests during the Ragnarok. (For more information, see this link)

As an Appable Character

Over the years, I have discovered that I quite enjoy the character growth that comes from character relationships, so I would like to open up the 'White Wolf' as an appable character. I enjoy depth of role-play, and experiencing the ups and downs that come from both friendship and love.

While, for the sake of this story, the 'White Wolf' is simply a spirit guide and legend, I am open to someone coming on who would like to play them as a Player Character. The 'White Wolf' can be anyone, they do not have to be a werewolf specifically. They can be male or female, and of any race or species. The only key factor would be having some 'commonality' with the 'White Wolf' that Hati experiences. Something that would eventually show her that this is the person she's been looking for. The character would preferrably be neutral->good, who would be a positive influence rather than a negative one.

The 'White Wolf' is meant to be an important person in Hati's life. They can be a new character, or an existing one. They may not even know the destiny/tie they have to Hati, although they may 'feel' it somewhat. Due to the fact that this is a somewhat important role (either as a very close friend, or as a beloved to my character), I reserve the right to ask people to role-play with me for a while before deciding if someone fits the role of the 'White Wolf' for Hati or not. I also reserve the right to re-cast them if someone trying for the role idles out.

Ideally, I am looking for someone who is very character-driven and is patient enough to play out the building of the relationship between the two, which may take quite some time. The person should be at least reasonably active, with no intentions of idling, leaving, etc. I am looking for a long-term character connection, with someone creative enough to not just follow along with the story, but make it their own.

Chapter 1: Children's Stories

"I'm bored." The small black form of a young werewolf sits at the window, his breath fogging up the glass as he looks out into a whirling mass of white. While he certainly is still a child, Skoll is already big for a wolf, trained from a young age to follow in his father's pawprints. Today, though, his father is elsewhere. As the pack leader, it had always been Odin's job to keep them fed even in the worst times of winter, and so he had led the hunters out into the blizzard, intent on bringing back enough food to fill the bellies of his loyal wolves.

A moment later, a smaller wolf hops up beside the boy, nudging her head in to try to get a look around her brother's big head. "It's all white out there." She comments, then draws back, pawing the cold from her nose. "Of course it's white, it's a blizzard." Skoll quips back, ruffling the girl's fur as he hops down, stalking across the small room to sniff at the hearth. Hati stays behind, paws pressed against the window as she tries to see through the curtain of snow.

"Be kind to your sister." Gray lingers in the fur around their mother's muzzle, showing just how many years have passed since she had once been in her prime. Once, she had been Frigg, the Alpha female, and the most beautiful of the pack, but time had taken it's toll. Now, Odin had a young female he courted as his mate, and Frigg had her two pups. Odin still came to train Skoll, but... he never did accept Hati as his daughter.

"But she's being dumb." Skoll protests, peeking towards the pot, only to find himself being turned around by one of his mother's strong paws. "And you didn't marvel at the snow when you were her age?" The black wolf folds his arms, growling softly under his breath, "I didn't make such a big deal about it." He mutters, getting only a laugh from his mother in response.

"Why don't I tell you two a story to pass the time?" She muses, setting the top to the pot to let it simmer. It takes a tug of the tail to drag Hati's attention from the snow, but the smaller wolf with the two-toned fur blinks before settling down, looking up expectantly. "Is it about the snow?" She asks, tail wagging.

"Not about the snow, dearheart, but it's a story the both of you should hear." She walks over towards a bookcase, pulling down a dusty volume. Skoll groans, though, finally moving to sit next to his sister. "I hope this isn't one of those boring stories." While he's muttering, Hati chimes in, "I hope there's a horse in it." To which her brother responds, "I hope there's fighting." The girl sticks her tongue out at her brother, but she can't quite keep back a wiggle of excitement as their mother comes over, opening up the book to the first couple of pages.

"Long ago, when the land was still new and our race was still young, there lived two wolves, a brother and a sister named Skoll, and Hati." She starts, only to be interrupted by her daughter, "That's us!" The boy bats at her ear, "She said a /long time ago/, didn't you listen?" "Oh." Hati's ears slick back, seeming confused.

"It's alright, sweetheart. These are the wolves who you and your brother are named after." With this explination, Hati brightens a bit, ears lifting. "They were the strongest hunters of their pack, ranging far across the mountains after the most elusive of prey." She goes on, and this time it is her son who interrupts, "Yeah, definitely can't be about you, Hati." Which causes his sister to growl faintly, and shove at her brother's shoulder.

Clearing her throat, their mother flips a page as she goes on. "One day, while the two siblings were hunting, a great spirit from the sky came down to them in the form of an eagle." She flips the page towards them so that they can see the illustration of a great bird landing before two wolves. The sketches seem hand-drawn, like something that might have been written not as long ago as their mother had claimed. "He said onto them: 'You are the greatest hunters of my land, but there is one prey that you have not been able to catch.' Then, with a single talon, he pointed towards two other wolves upon the hillside."

As she turns the page, it reveals two forms - one colored in shades of gold and brown, the other as pure white as snow. "He bade the two wolves to give chase, and told them that if they ever were to catch their prey, they would find something far greater than just the hunt." While Hati had leaned forward to get a better view of the two wolves, Skoll had done is best to seem disinterested, glancing out of the corner of his eye. "So, Skoll said to his sister: 'I will chase the Golden Wolf.' And she said in reply: 'So then I will chase the White Wolf.' And as their prey set off, each one gave chase. Yet no matter how far they ran, neither could ever catch them. So for all time, each dawn, Skoll begins his chase of the Golden Wolf across the sky, and each night Hati nips at the heels of the White Wolf."

There is moment of quiet as she finishes the story, closing the book in her lap. "Mom?" Hati pipes up, head tilting, "Are they real?" Just as her mother is about to answer, though, Skoll pushes himself up, looking frustrated. "Of course not. It's just a silly story. The Golden Wolf is the sun, and the White Wolf is the moon. It's just some legend to explain why we've got night and day." Frigg chuckles to herself, shaking her head at her son before drawing Hati into a hug.

"It's more than just a story, Skoll. Every story has a ring of truth to it, and there's a reason why I named you two after the wolves in this one." Hati climbs up into her mother's lap, taking the book and opening it again to the page with the two wolves on the hillside. "Your father believes in it. Enough so that he betrothed you to that girl in the Valley pack." Skoll's ears tuck back, looking at his mother, "But mom... I don't even /like/ her." He protests, "It doesn't matter if you like her or not, dear heart. If she's your Golden Wolf, then it'll work out."

Skoll growls again, irritated and tired of being trapped indoors - and more-so by this story and what it might mean for his future. "What about Hati, then? I mean, dad hasn't gone mated her off to someone." It just seems so... unfair. But then the girl looks up, seeming completely serious and all-together unchildlike as she whispers, "Maybe... I have to find them on my own."

Frigg just smiles at this, ruffling her daughter's head as she plucks her up, setting the girl down on her feet. Hati continues to hold onto the book, but Skoll stalks back to the window, muttering again, "It's just a stupid story." Yet, even as quiet settled again over the small house, the story had been enough. Enough to spark a dream in the heart of a girl, and enough to drive a boy to want to be something more than just a silly wolf who runs forever - getting nowhere.

Chapter 2: The Hunted

The woods are still, the snow laying cold over grass and branch. In these coldest of months, there are few sounds of life among the trees, except for the cry of an owl on the hunt, or the lonely sound of a wolf's howl. Her breath hangs in the air, drawn into mist each time she takes breath into her powerful lungs and lets it out again. There is something about the thrill of it - to run through the trees, letting the speed carry wind through her fur and the feeling of hard-packed earth beneath her paws.

Here, in the quiet of the mid-winter woods, she is free. There are no memories to tickle at the back of her mind, trying to find purchase in a place that has long forgotten them. There is no words from strange people to taunt her mind, pulling at her understanding. All there is in this world is one wolf, her paws, the air in her lungs, and the night laying open and free.

But... something is wrong here.

Her feet come to a skidding stop, circling in a small clearing go get her bearings and catch her breath. That is when she hears it. In the distance, there is the howl of another wolf. Her nose twitches, ears slicking back as the sound draws closer. There should be no others, not in this place. 'Not alone.' The words nag at her like an itch that she can't quite scratch.

Then, she sees it. A flash of white fur through the trees. There! Her feet fly over the frozen ground, giving chase to that which has always eluded her. A brush of a tail, a silouette of a lupine body. Always there - just out of reach. Not tonight! Tonight, Hati races without heed of the danger, letting trees graze her shoulders. Yet, even as she draws closer to that unfathomable thing, there is something else, too.

Something is chasing at her heels. Voices call from memories long forgotten, tugging at her ears, pulling her heartstrings. Every time she gets closer, they pull her back like tendrils of some thing that she can no longer escape. Vines and twigs and underbrush catch at her paws, slow her down, try to trip her or make her fall.

But she is more clever than them. She knows that there is an open clearing in the distance, and there will be no voices or memories to hold her down. Nothing but clear open space and the White Wolf as her prey. Just a little further!

Then, just as she launches free from the trees, her feet skid upon the ground, her breath short and her eyes wide as she comes face to face with something that is clearly not the White Wolf. There, upon the snow, a body lays upon snow that is tinted crimson. The smell of blood is heavy in the air, and in that moment, all thought of her persuit is gone.

As she draws closer to that fallen form, something about this place just starts to feel all too familiar. Fear makes her heckles rise. Even before her nose reaches out to nudge that fallen form, there is a part of her that knows the wolf is dead. Yet, this is not /her/ wolf, not the one she had chased, and yet it is ... familiar. Her muzzle touches cold flesh, and as the head lulls towards her, Hati ends up face to face not with some stranger's corpse, but with her own lifeless eyes.

No! It's not possible. She jumps back, looking frantically around the clearing. That is when she sees him. The black wolf looms from the shadows, blood dripping from his toothy maw. Even as she scrambles, it's already too late. There is no escape. The last thing she sees is a flash of white up on the hill - the White Wolf watching her die, and then his fangs find her.

## *** ##

Hati wakes with a start, sitting up with a cold sweat clinging to her face and causing her hair to stick against her neck. Wind rushes in from a window that must have been knocked open by the storm raging outside. Shivering, she rolls out of bed, bare feet feeling leaden on the chill floor. The fire had gone out, possibly blown out by the same wind that had broken the catch on the window.

She reaches a hand to prop the window closed, looking out into a familiar sea of white that has only just begun to blanket the forest. Yet, this is not the same forest. This is not the place of her nightmares, but it is the only trees she knows, now. Her eyes sweep to the sleeping form of the doberman she'd only just begun training - clearly unphased by the cold, or by the dreams that had interrupted her sleep.

Pulling her blanket from her bed, Hati walks over to her workbench, covered in Lord Serrak's journals. Yet, it is not her Master's words that she had pined over the previous day. Instead, all that lingers for her night of work, is a sketch of a wolf with feathers hanging from his fur. It is the image that had infected her mind, and even now it seemed to bring with it those memories she'd tried so hard to forget.

With a growl, Hati seizes the paper and crumples it in her hand, walking over to the fireplace. There, she tosses down two new logs, then grabs a match, setting it to the edge of the paper. It doesn't take long for the dry tinder to catch, and she tosses the paper onto the logs. There... it only takes a moment for the image to uncurl, visible briefly against the flickering light, only to be consumed by the flames.