It was one of those rare days where Dustiel sat and thought about where his life had brought him. Those days had been more frequent since Danel and his two beta's had disappeared."Betzalel,.." Dustiel growled to himself, with some contempt, and maybe a little lament or longing. The grey beta had been his mentor and nemesis since as long as he'd been in the pack.
A long long time ago, it now seemed, his mother had lead Betzalel a stray in his loyalty for Danel. Betzalel, in making his wrongs right, had slain Dustiel's mother. Dustiel was the only one of his mother's brood to survive. And survive he did - by killing his weakest sibling for food, then not allowing the others to feast, so that they, too, died, but of hunger, not his fangs.
After he was old enough, he left the den in search for his mother. What he found was a mostly rotted corpse of just bones and fur with the vague scent of his mother....and another. He equated this scent to that of whoever had killed her, and tracked him down here.
Betzalel and Danel had been walking together that day, when Dustiel, still a pup, had popped out of the shadows in their path, snarling and growling.
If not for Danel, Betzalel would have probably killed him. Instead, Dustiel was permitted into the pack. Technically he should have joined but other pups, but upon hearing his declaration to be the end of Betzalel and steal everything precious to him, Danel had made him the Beta's apprentice.
And now what? There was no Danel, and no Betzalel. Without an Alpha, he could not become a Beta. Then again, who's to say that any new Alpha chosen wouldn't just kick him to the curb, despite it all. That was probably his greatest fear. And if his fears came true? Disgrace. Hate.
He had no friends among anyone here. That was his own mistake. He'd been arrogant. Overly confident.
Now the golden-brown adolescent has determined to get to know those he had always considered below him. He spotted the one that Betzalel had always remarked as The Jester. As in the court jester, the jokester. Avidimi.
Avidimi didn't remember anything before the Brotherhood. There were some that said he didn't belong, simply because of his bright and cheerful demeanor. However, he was as fiercely loyal as they come. Intellectually, he was simple minded. Skill-wise, he was an excellent hunter, but his senses, other than that of humor, were numb. None the less, he felt loved within the pack. When the vagabond had turned traitor, Avidimi could not understand why. Of course, he was still a young adolescent back then, and things like that were still above his head, but Avidimi couldn't imagine life outside the Brotherhood.
It happened to be during a game of "let's case my own tail!" that Dustiel notice him, and likewise, Avidimi noticed Dustiel.
The poor guy seemed timid, and out of his element. Where was that hilariously arrogant p***k they'd all seen glimpses of?
"Yo, Dusty! What brings you down here?"
Dusty?
Dustiel felt his eyes narrow, and a tick of irritation, but pushed it aside with a put-on grin.
"Why, I've come to get to know the little people, that's all." He said while sauntering over to the green male.
"Awww, now don't be that way. Who knows, maybe one day someone will kick you off that pedestal of yours and you'll be just like us 'little people' too!" Avidimi laughed, not knowing he'd probably stuck a chord in Dustiel's psyche.
He went on:
"Y'know, I wonder when King Danel will return. Off the record he seemed to be going a little nutters after the whole traitor deal......"
"Who knows," Dustiel said sadly, headving a sigh.
Avidimi then gasped; "What if they never come back!?" There was extreme worry in his pale pink eyes. "What will we do then? There is NOOOOOOOO way that Danel's heir would be able to lead us! Ooooooooh~!"
"Well,....we'll see."
"Wow, you're really worried, aren't you?" If a new Alpha had to be chosen, Dustiel could very well likely lose everything he'd been working for. Avidmi felt sorry for they guy, and the joke he made earlier.
"Hey, man, I'm sorry 'bout what I said earlier. You know I was just joking. It's what I do..."
"Yeah." Dustiel said, turning away and looking at the ground. "No harm no fowl." Civility - he was learning it.
