Lazjig & Others

When the falcon again soared overhead, Lazjig looked up from where she'd retired, towards the edge of another thicket. One ear tilted back, as if listening for something, while her golden eyes focused on a outline of the winged creature circling above her. To her canine eyes, it was impossible at this distance to tell what kind of avian was flying around, let alone identify who it was. Feeling a little uneasy, the exiled queen hunkered down in the dense foliage and waited for the bird to leave.

Mesa didn't leave, however. She circled around the area a few times before she was satisfied that there was no army lurking about to spring an ambush. She couldn't be certain there was no one else in the area, considering how dense the plants were, but at least she could feel safe that the Haunters hadn't come in mass. As far as her eyes could tell, it was just Hydras.

Rein

She moved quickly, keeping pace easily with Lyckos but as soon as her pads hit the earth by the lake, she began to slow and look for Mesa. Where? She asked softly. Aaka didn't like to be kept waiting. She wanted to see Hydras once more, for after her death she had missed so much! Like the pups. Lyckos and his mate probably had pups by now. She missed so much, so much in her death.

Lyckos & Camden

Lyckos and Aaka had moved side by side, obvious desperation to see their friend and mate, racing towards Pike's Lake at a pace some would find difficult to keep up with. It was ironic that the place he would see his mate again was the place where she had died. Aaka slowed when she reached the Lake, and Lyckos did too, not to see where Mesa was, for he had been watching her intently for the whole journey, but because as soon as he set paw upon this ground the memories came flooding back.

Flashes, a barrage of bodies, snarls and cries. Two sides tearing into each other, dead comrades littering the ground, the living bloodied but fighting on in their name. Risen, Kalaber, Hydras...

She plunged forward, lashing out at Suenga, but as he went to turn away, Lyckos saw her body go lax and fall. Everything stopped; nothing else mattered in the moments that stretched for eternity as she hit the ground. Those fierce eyes were soulless; the Queen had fallen. His throat closed, his body became as rigid as stone, and his eyes were fixed on her body. No, it was impossible. "Fire!" Lyckos was almost tempted to stay, and be engulfed by the flames that would take him to Hydras in the afterlife, but the cries of his pack mates, family and friends drove him to sound the retreat. With one final glance to his fallen love, Lyckos retreated, from the battle, and within himself.

His features were so clogged with emotion it would be difficult to say what he was truly feeling. Obviously, being back here was not a good thing for him, even though he knew Hydras was actually alive. He would never forget that moment. His pack had lost its heart here, but they had finally began to find themselves again. He had believed he was the only original alpha to still live that was present at that fight: Risen had disappeared, supposedly dead, he knew Kalaber was dead because he had killed him, Hydras had 'died' in the very battle itself, so that left him. Now, it seemed, he not only would be getting his mate back, but Aaka as well.

"Hold on," he replied quietly, "first we must wait for the others." No sooner had he said this but another stepped onto the Lakeside, padding towards Lyckos and Rein, no doubt closely followed by his pack mates. Camden was almost the spitting image of Lyckos, tall and muscular, a light brindle coat, and those hazel eyes. Aaka would not have to wonder about Lyckos' offspring any longer, they would be meeting her soon enough. Camden took Lyckos' opposite side to Rein, his eyes looking up to Mesa. He didn't know what to say; "Okay, let’s go and see Mom now," didn't seem right for such a moment. So, he stayed silent, waiting for the rest of the Lurkers whom were close to Hydras, before they would approach their lost Queen as a group; the body of the Lurkers, which was missing its heart.

Lazjig & Others

His paws felt as if they were made of lead, with each step being harder than the last. Seeing Narsia die those years ago had been a particularly hard blow on Bullet, but to watch his last sister fall, and then to watch his own daughter slip from life right in front of him after the battle... it had all but broken the once jovial teddy-bear of a hybrid. And yet, when Hydras' survival had been announced, the surge of hope that had briefly lifted his spirits had instantly turned bitter with the same nagging questions that had plagued Lyckos. Why hadn't she returned to them? Why was she supposedly cavorting about with Tumult?! Something was terribly wrong...

Where Bullet was taking up a pace behind the group, having been overtaken despite setting out first, Ninaki came to stand just a shoulder behind and to the side of Rein. Even in his gruff, stoic nature, the slender hybrid had always been highly respectful of Aaka, and it was only right that he stood beside her now. Skeil was panting quietly as she stopped beside Bullet and caught her breath after the long run. Her heart was a mix of feelings right now, all of which seemed to be expressed in varying degrees in her anxious brown eyes. And finally, Lerna and Argolis each crowded forward, taking their respectful places with their father and brother. Argolis had desperately willed his features to remain expressionless, while his sister carried more of a somber, half-expectant look. Mo< Once the group had assembled, Mesa glided lightly down to a lower branch, clasping her talons around a lanky birch branch and placing herself about eye-level with her larger comrades, "She's a few yards straight ahead."

Rein * Sequioa * Sasha

Aaka glanced towards Bullet and the rest of the Lurkers to give them a wan smile. Seeing Hydras after being gone so long... It felt good to be home. Well, sort of. She could feel Rein pacing, not at all happy with the idea, but Aaka was placating her. I just want to see an old friend, puppy. Then you can have your body back. A snarl was her response, but Aaka ignored her now, and began to walk forward, her head down, bright yellow eyes alight and on fire. Hyrdas, oh Hydras my dear. Come out, come out wherever you are... Aaka may be a brave fool, but this wasn't her body and she knew exactly what dying was like. It wasn't so bad, not really. Okay, so it was. It was hell. And she wasn't wishing that sort of hell on her friends right now.

Sequioa came next, the thick hybrid with her black and tan coat. She stayed well behind Lyckos, for he was still alpha, but then her eyes landed on Aaka. Every muscle in her body went stiff, and she had to choke off a snarl. She had hated Aaka. the wolfess had taken nearly everything from her. When she had died, Sequioa had secretly rejoiced. Kalion waas the only one who knew, and she had sworn him to secrecy. Why couldn't you just stay dead, Aaka?

Sasha came as well, the pretty doberman with her sweet personality. She had wanted to come, to be with her mate. To be with the only family she had ever known. Hydras? She missed her. She missed the happiness of the pack. She missed being happy, being loved.

Lyckos & Camden

With his family around him, Lyckos felt a little more comfortable, but the irony of this situation was not lost on him. Neither was the knawing cocktail of emotions that ate away at him each second. Mesa's directions made his breath catch in his throat, and though desperation wanted to shove him forwards and seek out the love he had lost, he found himself routed to the spot. Mesa had warned she was not herself, but surely she would see them and regret ever being with the Haunters. She would come back to them, come back to him.

When Aaka moved forward, Lyckos followed by her side. While her head was down, his was up, his hazel eyes scanning all around him, his senses on high alert for the scent of her. Then, he found it, the scent of Hydras. Bursting through the brush, Lyckos set his eyes on his mate. Everything seemed to stop while he looked at her, and all those emotions overwhelmed him so he could manage nothing but "Hydras..."

Camden was quick to follow his father, and on the sight of his mother, he bounded forward, his tail wagging furiously, as he attempted to nuzzle her. "Mom!"

Lazjig & Others

The rustling of many bodies and the thrum of soft paws on the ground hadn't gone unnoticed by the wolfdog. She'd been particularly wary of late, with Tumult's absence, and Quilikham's insistence on staying hidden and away from the others. It was a desperately lonely life for the old Queen. She couldn't remember who she was, and only had vague memories of this or that... nothing concrete enough to give her any hints about her past life, or those she use to love, but enough to make her long for companionship again.

In a bitter twist of irony, it was Tumult who her desolate, craving heart had turned to, in order to fill the emptiness that had settled into it. Lyckos was a stranger to her, and he remained that way even when his face finally broke through the last line of vegetation and her yellow eyes met the hazel orbs of his for the first time in over a year. Something very unnerving roiled through her mind, something about that brindle face staring back at her... Hydras... why did that voice mind her mind tingle so?!

"Back off!" More than anything else, Lazjig was startled by the rush of faces that suddenly met her, and she allowed her keen defensiveness overrule whatever emotions were trying to emerge. Savagely, she sent her fangs at Camden's face, not hesitating to slash straight to the bone in a way that she would have never done to her own son, or any of her pack members for that matter. Eyes turned killer in a heartbeat as the old queen took a brisk step backwards, bristling her ruff and baring her fangs, "I don't know who you think you are, but your words won't work on me."

Bullet stopped dead in his tracks, staring dumbfoundedly at the attack Hydras unleashed on Camden, and visibly recoiling from the harsh tone she used against them. The wild light in her eyes was more than just of hatred, there was a deep confusion in them that greatly disturbed the brother, so much so that he couldn't manage any words. "Mother!" Lerna gasps in horror, having been ready to join Camden in greeting their long-lost dam, "Mother, it's us! What's... what's wrong? What have the done to you?"

Horrified himself, Ninaki somehow managed to keep his composure intact enough to take a wise step back. His old friend looked and smelled like herself, but that expression... and those tones... something was desperately wrong here. "Lyckos..."

Rein

She eyed the wolfdog cautiously. She could see the subtle differences and where everyone else was standoffish and wary, she barked a laugh. Hydras and her, they were hardly any different. Hyrdras just couldn't remember who she had been. But Aaka remembered. Aaka remembered everything, and regretted every moment of it. Back up. She hissed softly after the irony had begun to fade into her mind. She came closer to the female, and her bright yellow eyes gazed straight into the old Queen's. They've done a number on you, haven't they babygirl? She murmured softly. The white wolfess was deadly calm, but her eyes were challenging. If Hydras attacked, Aaka wasn't just going to stand by and let her. She'd fight back, and hopefully knock some sense into the old queen. You never change, do you, Hydras? She murmured softly. She hoped that her words, the tone of her voice, would bring back memories. Memories of the two fighting side by side, tearing into one anothers enemies. Of them laughing, teasing. But she had a feeling, nothing would ever change.

Lyckos & Camden

Lyckos face fell, shock visable on his face when her sharp words hit him, smacking him, and causing him to take a step back.

Camden, overwhelmed with happiness, was not expecting an attack at all, especially not one as savage as the one Hydras sent for him. Her fangs buried deep into the side of his face, slicing into his left eye and instantly blinding him. The yelp that escaped him was so loud it echoed across the lake, and he drew back sharply, sinking low onto his belly as blood seeped from his wounds and from his pierced eye.

Lyckos flinched, horrified as he watched his mate strike down her own son. Everyone's shock was mirrored by Lyckos, who had no idea what to do. He let Aaka moved forward to speak, but when Camden turned to his father, and Lyckos took in how much damage she had actually done, Lyckos couldn't help the rage that overcame him, "HYDRAS!" he roared when Camden scurried to his side, bleeding heavily from his face, and with that hollowed out eye. "What the hell do you think your doing?!" He lunged forward to stand beside Aaka, those hazel eyes aflame. Yes, he was shocked and hurt and happy and confused all in one, but even Hydras wasn't going to get away with injuring his son. Then, the one thing he was desperate to know spilled out, even though it was painful to say, "Where is Tumult?!" I'm going to kill him.

Lazjig & Others

"Stop calling me that! Lazjig hissed, taking a step back when Rein came forward. Her natural personality was still intact, and she almost drove forward to attack, but held off because there were so many others around her; she was tough, but she was smart enough to know how vulnerable she was now. The name, he said they'd use that name... but it was just a ploy, a trick to draw her to them so they could hurt he and the others. They were the enemies.

"I said back the hell off! I'm no ones mother." The terms of 'mother' and 'mom' bounced around in her skull, wanting to bring up memories that lay dormant and buried, but they couldn't quite be reached. Lazjig took another pace back before she stopped and stood her ground, ready to launch at the next one who dared get near her. The fury in her eyes was matched only by the twisted confusion she felt running through her; she couldn't place it, but something about Camden looked so familiar. And the big hybrid standing by the dane... Lazjig blinked once, sharply, and intensified her snarls. They were just playing with her, is all... they were trying to trick her.

"Hydras, what are you doing?!" Skeil gasped, charging forward to stand beside the bleeding Camden, whom her heart went out to just now. It really tore at her to see that blissful joy of his being so abruptly and harshly torn away, and like the others, she was infinitely disturbed to see her old friend behaving this way.

As much as it hurt him, Ninaki backed up Lyckos as he rumbled darkly at their lost Queen, "Hydras, if you have any shred of sense left, you'll back down on your aggression and hear us out. We're your family, your friends... all you've ever known."

Her muscles were so constricted that the felt like rocks settled underneath her pelt. It was so hard to concentrate amid all that she was hearing, and the little fragments of memory that kept trying to resurface made it even harder, "Don't you dare speak of Tumult. Don't try and tell me I belong with you - I know what you are, and I don't want any part of it. My place is and has always been with Tumult."

Greyfell

The zebra was quick to arrive after Bandit and Velvet escaped with their followers. He originally came to warn Lyckos of their plot to frame the Lurkers, but he stopped to listen to the group.

Tumult had really done a number on the poor girl, hadn't he?

"Hydras." Came a voice from nearby. But it wasn't that of Greyfell, nor anybody else, for that matter. It was Keres, formerly known as Tainted. "This is your family. Look at your mate and children. You are a Shadow Lurker, Hydras, and Tumult is the one who brainwashed you. Do you remember of your childhood? Your history with the Lurkers? Do you remember me and Suenga, and Suenga's guardian snake who nearly took your life? You belong with them, Hydras." She kept her distance, respecting the Lurkers' space. Her head was bowed to Lyckos.

Greyfell stared for a long time before speaking. "Lajzig, it's true - Tumult brainwashed you. You are not Lajzig, my dear. You are Hydras."

Rein

At the sight of the blood, Rein recoiled deep inside her body. Aaka was friends with that? But as the others snarled and raged in Hydras's face, Aaka merely stood and watched. When things began to esculate with the screaming and the yellowing, she finally let herself be heard. ENOUGH She roared. Her eyes went back to Hydras, and her voice was back to being calm, normal. Lazjig? Thats a pretty name, but I think I like Hydras better... Don't you miss it? Being a queen? Walking down a path, barely discernable between light and dark? Others accepting alliances from the strongest pack in the valley, or fearing the very name that was once yours? What have they done, my pretty, pretty Hydras? I believe they destroyed you. Little, pathetic Tumult. He brainwashed you, made you weak. She was purposely goading the female. She wasn't backing down, keeping those bright eyes on Hydras's. Remember me, remember me. I wasn't there to save you, but i'm here now.

Lyckos & Camden

Lyckos whined, a noise that had never come out of his mouth since his puphood, a whine that was so raw in all its hurt that Camden suddenly felt all that sorrow that coursed through his father. "No..." he whispered, almost defeated, "Hydras...You're...You..." he met her intense glare with those hazel eyes of his, taking in that tri-toned face that, even now, sent his heart beating erratically as his love for her overwhelmed him. This was Hydras, but it wasn't their Hydras. What has he done to you?

"Hydras, do you even know who I am?" he asked, a bitter pain in his voice, and even a slight whine at the end as Camden brushed against his father, flat on his belly on the ground beside Lyckos, but close enough so that he could look up into the face of his mother. No matter how much pain she caused him, she was still his mommy, and he watched her with a child-like innocence, even as the blood trickled down his face and pooled in his hollowed out eye. Camden gently nosed Skeil, seeking comfort out of her that Lyckos was unable to give with all the emotional pain he was feeling.

Lyckos was so blinded by confusion and hurt, he didn't even have the strength to turn and chase off Keres. Hydras was the only thing he could concentrate on, and nothing else, not even the quivering child at his side.

Lajzig & Others

The situation was incredibly strained as it was, the air itself filled with suffocating tension. It was maddening to see these faces and feel the tiny buds of lost memories, and yet have absolutely no recollection of who they were, or what they meant to her. She couldn't deny how the three younger hybrids before her seemed to draw at the depths of her heart, or how Lycko's voice felt so natural to her ears. Even when Keres appeared, Hydras didn't recall the one who'd nearly killed her, and yet she couldn't deny that this group had to have some connection with her. "You're wrong..." The fallen queen didn't sound quite as certain as she did a moment ago.

"Get out of here!" Ninaki wheeled around flashing his fangs at Keres and lunging forward to put himself within a few feet of the hybrid. Of the higher ranking members, the beta was one of the least trustful of old enemies, and far more critical in his judgment of them. Skeil bristled where she stood, ready to back up her old friend if need be, but preferring to let Ninaki blow off some needed steam and drive away the one who'd hurt their queen so badly. "Easy Cam..." The pitbull shushed in a tender voice, her words completely contrasting the deadly look on her face that was for the Haunters, "Keep your head still." Her stocky legs shuffled closer to her wounded brethren, placing herself right up against him for support and comfort, when he certainly needed it.

Lerna's ears went back in despair, hardly able to contain herself at hearing her father's whimper, and watching her mother tear into Camden like she did. "Mother, please! Pleas listen to us! We're your family." Where Skeil had sided up with Camden, the chocolately Learna inched a little closer to her father. Argolis was still at a loss for words, but he did manage an uneasy rumble to express his anxiety. This was not his mother... she would never talk to dad like that, or hurt her son...

Hydras felt her world start to crack. "My name is Lazjig!" She tried to rally her confidence again, but found it a little lacking in the face of so many words and revelations going against her, "And my place is with the Haunters, as Tumult intended." The whine from her mate further unsettled the hybrid, for reasons she couldn't understand, "You're nothing but enemies, strangers at best."

Lyckos & Camden

"No!" he cried out, the whine still lingering in the back of his throat, "Your name is Hydras! Hydras!"

Camden whimpered quietly, pressing himself against Skeil. "I don't understand..." he whispered, and in that moment he began to regress, becoming a pup once more as he seemed to curl up between his father and Skeil, searching his mother's face for affection he would never again receive. "Momma..." he pleaded, with a pup-like innocence.

Lyckos felt Lerna brush against him, and was still aware of the quivering Camden, and felt the loss of hope and the despair that his children were feeling. Shifting his weight towards his daughter, Lyckos looked Hydras straight in the eyes, "We are you family. We are the Shadow Lurkers, the pack your parents founded and that was passed down to you. The pack that you asked me to lead beside you. Hydras, it's me, Lyckos, your mate! How can you not recognise your own mate and pups!" he begged, a note of defeat in his voice.

"Lerna, Camden, Argolis!" he motioned to their three offspring, "they are your children, Hydras! Our children! Look at them! Do you not see yourself? Can you really tell me that they do not even stir something in your heart? Can you really tell me that...that I don't stir something in your heart?" he trailed off, his voice quiet, but his words as clear as day.

"Ninaki, Skeil...do none of us mean anything to you?"

Lazjig & Others

Deep, deep down beneath all of the confusion and repressed memories, something continued to nag at the back of her mind, and tug at the base of her heart. Something about that deep voice of Lyckos, and the tortured looks in the eyes of those confronting her... why was she feeling these things, things that didn't have any memory or emotion to go with them, but that still compelled her?! It drove her mad, because that unknown draw wanted to nudge her forward and hear Lyckos out, but to accept his words was to accept that Tumult had been lying to her all this time. Tumult had become her entire world, the only thing that was certain and concrete to her. If she could not believe him... no, that was not something she could think about. She loved him; he would not lie to her.

For a horrible few seconds, the queen was struck by a rare bout of indecisiveness, where she could neither snarl out at the Lurkers, nor give in and stop looking at them like enemies. For a moment, she even looked bewildered and confused; and at this time, a tiny figure ghosted out from the foliage and stood beside the old Lurker Queen. "Lazjig has had enough of your heckling." The tiny muntjac, so short that she could easily stand beneath Hydras, defiantly spoke out against the Lurkers, "What twisted games you play, to use words like 'children' and 'mate'. Lazjig has all she needs in Tumult, and won't be broken by your cruel lies and attempts at manipulation." For a creature so terribly timid and shy as Quil was, it was a wonder why she dared be so bold around so many enemies, when any one of them could so easily tear her to shreds. But she had two things distinctly on her side... Lazjig trusted her entirely, and Quil was banking on the fact that the Lurkers wouldn't risk attacking her and further upsetting their lost Queen. And secondly, a pungent, spicy odor that wafted from the tiny deer suggested that she been wise to employ the same sort of poison on her being as they'd used in the battle.

Lyckos & Camden

He finally had her listening, really listening to him, and he thought he saw a flicker of confusion in her eyes, but with Quil’s appearance, Lyckos knew he was not going to be able to convince Hydras otherwise. He would never be able to. So, as his heart broke for the final time and he realised that this was not his mate, this was someone else and that his Hydras had in fact died in the fire, Lyckos voiced what raced through his mind.

“I was lucky enough to fall in love with my best friend, my closest confident, to have a home that you let me into, to have a family with you...but it’s not you, is it Hydras? My Hydras is no longer there, behind those eyes I see someone different. Everything you did for me...I can never thank you enough for, but you don’t know what I’m talking about, you don’t remember anything. For that, I would not think any differently of you, for we could have started again, we could have helped you to remember, but they stole you from us. Tumult has made sure you do not remember, has turned you into a puppet for him so that he can use you as a weapon against us, and so...that...that makes you a threat to us.”

Lyckos refused to waiver, even as Camden looked up at him wild-eyed in disbelief. Yes, he knew his mother had attacked him, and that she had called them enemies, but she was still his mother. Surely his father was not going to say what he thought he was?

Lyckos looked her right in the eyes, drinking in her face one last time, before making the hardest decision of his life.

“Anyone who sides with Tumult is automatically branded an enemy, but you are different. You mean more to us than you could possibly imagine, and so we will never harm you, and could never bring ourselves to. However, as you have clearly chosen a side, I cannot let this bond between us, no matter how one-sided, disrupt my pack or cause us harm or pain, and so I am warning you to stay away from the alleys, Emerald Pines, anywhere that has our scent. I never want to see you on our land, for if we cannot have you standing beside us, leading us, then I cannot allow you near us at all. As of now you are no longer a part of the Shadow Lurkers.”

He paused, taking one deep breath to stop himself from falling apart, and then said his final piece.

“But know one thing, Hydras...Lazjig. I always am, and always will be yours, and only yours.”

Then he turned, knowing it was now or never, breaking eye contact, all contact, and walking away before he could convince himself not to. He had to leave, no matter how heavy his paws were, or his heart, he had to go, to put her behind him forever or risk losing his sanity in a battle he would never win, no matter how great his will. And with his turn from his mate, Lyckos locked all those feelings away...every feeling for Hydras was caged within his heart, and he made a promise to himself to never let someone have so much sway over him, because it would only leave room for hurt. The place in his heart for a mate was filled with the memories of Hydras, his Hydras who had died in the Pike’s Lake battle, not this Lazjig who stood behind him and poisoned the memories of his mate. As his children approached him, Lyckos nuzzled each of them in turn, putting all the love he had felt for their mother into them. As the alpha, Lyckos now had to be the strength behind the pack, and if the Lurkers were ever going to get over this, he had to lead the way, by cutting her out of their life, and taking them away.

::Howl::

As the Shadow Lurkers began to retreat, and as Hydras stood there, beginning to question everything Tumult had worked so hard for her to believe. As if on cue, a low and solemn howl reached above the sky like a wave, coming down and crashing around the beasts at Pikes lake. Lonely, tired, the deep howl could be heard as eerie, and to some, to Lazjig, welcoming. For this voice, this symphony, called for her, and for Quil. It was Tumult, he had returned. Waiting for Lazjig and Quil in the Croal Mountains.