Welcome to Gaia! ::

For Roho and Nada

Starry Skies Ahead
Mother's name(s): Raqiyah || Firebrand
Mother's owner: Anderleit
Mother's personality: She's a compassionate, open and honest dog who grew up learning how to be a soldier. Though most of that life has been happily left behind, parts of her will always be affected by that training.

Father's name(s): Agios || Clear Sky
Father's owner: Talencia
Father's personality: Serious by nature, Agios is learning to unwind and be happy as he never could growing up. He will stand quietly for what is right, take action when it is needed, and feels it is his place to protect and guard those less able to defend themselves.

Pup's name(s): Ajiambo || Crimson Rays
Pup's owner: SSBros
Pup's personality: Despite all that they've been through, she has quite a playful and up-beat personality, and tends to look on the bright side of things. If she sees someone who is sad, such as her parents, she'll try to do all she can to cheer them up.

Family's History: Agios was born in a militant setting of generations of war with a day-dwelling pack that lived on the same plain. Despite being raised to hate the wild dogs from the other pack, he found never could abide the kind of senseless animosity and cruelty that happened on a daily basis right before his eyes, even at a young age. The night-pack frequently made slaves of the day-pack members that they captured, who were then used in day-to-day chores that were unpleasant or unpopular. They also were physically abused, often starved, and commonly seen as less than alive. When he came of age, he chose to become a slave guard to try and mitigate the abuse and mistreatment that the slaves endured. It broke his heart to see the state in which they kept these 'enemies' who were of their own kind, from oldster to pup.

He spent his days carefully and quietly attempting to ease the burden of these slaves. He would often sneak extra food into their enclosure during the day, when most of the pack was asleep. He dominated the more abusive guards, claiming that injured slaves could do no work, thus reducing the amount of damage done to them. Still his heart felt burdened with guilt, that he did no more to defend and uplift the day-pack slaves.

Things took a new turn for him, however, when a new batch of day-pack slaves arrived one day. Among them was a girl of sunset shades, a bright point in the misery of his daily life. She was beautiful and proud in her new imprisonment, and Agios began to find himself protecting her more actively from the attentions of the other guards than he did any other of the slaves. He began to linger near her, speak softly with her when no one else was near, learning more about her over time. Her name was Raqiyah, and he came to admire her resilient spirit and her kindness to the other slaves. She was no push-over, to be sure, but intelligence shone in her actions and words, and she came to accept that he was unlike the other guards.

Between her talks with him, and muted conversations with other slaves, she too began to realize how foolish and pointless the bloodshed between the two packs truly was. Why, there were even some of the night-pack in the slave quarters, put there for speaking against the long conflict! It wasn't long before she felt as disgusted with her own pack as she was with their enemies. Did her pack not also do the same to their prisoners? Did not both sides kill and fight for the sake of traditional hate? Neither pack deserved devotion, neither pack really knew how to love.

Time progressed, and before long, there is more than just his guilty conscience driving him to keep her safe... for he had fallen hard for this daytime beauty. He found her bold but gentle heart both admirable and irresistible. Since some of the cruelty of the guards involved more intimate encounters, it wasn't immediately alarming to most of the other guards when Raqiyah became noticably pregnant. The couple was quietly overjoyed, but also deeply troubled. This wasn't the situation either of them wanted puppies born into. There was no clear solution, so they bided their time.

However, their little happiness had not gone unnoticed. Another guard, one of the worst bullies, had caught on. He and Agios had often had confrontations in the past over the treatment of the slaves, but here now was a way to hold sway over his rival. Raqiyah was well into her pregnancy, though not ready yet to give birth, when the evil wild dog assaulted her while Agios was off-duty. His beating left her alive but in great pain. When he came on duty, Agios found the other slaves gathered around her, as she wept in pain, agony, and grief. She lost the litter... or nearly all of it. One small pup had survived, and was snuggled up against her mother, tiny and perfect.

Nearly incoherent with rage, Agios knelt beside his beloved, who gazed at him with equal fire in her eyes. They decided it was time for drastic measures, both for the here and now, and for the future. Between them, they prepared the slaves for winning their freedom, and they struck just after dawn, when the pack had settled in for sleep. The guards were overpowered, and the majority of the slaves won free. Before they left, Agios and Raqiyah paused with the same thought. "I am not strong enough, so it must be you," the lovely female told her mate, her voice dripping with murder. One life for those of their puppies. With a nod he left her side, and when he returned to her blood was staining his muzzle and chest. Wordlessly both adults turned towards freedom, with their daughter Ajiambo carried by her father. None of them ever looked back.

After traveling as far and fast as Raqiyah's injured condition allowed, the little family turned towards the setting sun. Though it often pained Agios' eyes, they traveled into the sun, following it's path west. It was in Raqiyah's heart that the sun would not desert them, that it would surely lead them to safety and rest. As they traveled, Ajiambo grew and blossomed, despite the less than stable life she'd been born into. She became a kind-hearted and sweet-natured girl, seeking to bring light and laughter into their daily travels.

The day they discovered themselves on the edge of Pakiti Ya'jua territory, Raqiyah knew her faith had been rewarded. With relief, they padded wearily into a new place to belong, a place that was open to all kinds of dogs, all colors of pelt, all hearts that held life and love as supreme. Here was a home for Ajiambo to grow up in, where she would not know hate, nor cruelty, nor war. At long last, they were home.