Pronouns: She/Her
Bloodline: Daughter of Razael 💥
Certainly an odd pup to be born from such a brilliant father...Lusacan has always been a 'black sheep' among her siblings. While the rest of them were driven away she was left growing up on her own, or always trailing after her father's older litter of pups. She would try her best to fit in, but her odd ramblings about the sun and the stars made the rest of the older pups never take her seriously.
However, Lusacan has made a friend of Dumat. He has shown her to look to the stars and seek out gods of chaos and power, and to her surprise she found the stars talking back to her. The little wolf has much to learn from her new teacher, it seems.
— — —
Winter was on it's way. Lusacan could tell from the icy wind that had become more common these past few nights. They had already survived a winter in these mountains, however. She knew her kin was strong enough to survive another. The Third Winter seemed so far away know, with all it's hunger and pain, that Lusacan could hardly imagine a tragedy like that happening ever again. No. The Kin was strong. They would survive.
"What are you doing out here all alone? You'll freeze your ears off." Lusacan lolled her head to one side to greet the wolf approaching her. His bright red fur stuck out plainly against the dark, dreary backdrop of the woodlands. The disapproving look on his face matched it quite well, though.
"Good evening, Pan. Have you come to join me?" She paid no heed to her brother's warning. Pan shook his head and scoffed, but sat down next to her nonetheless. He had their father's thicker coat out of the two of them. Lusacan could already feel herself warming up as he pressed his body against hers. They sat together in silence and watched the clouds roll over the mountains. Their new home was nothing like the prairie, but it fascinated Lusacan all the same.
Lusacan had ventured out to the highest point in the Valley to gaze at their dens from above. In front of them was the valley she stayed in with Dumat and the other Hearts of the Kin, behind them were massive mountains of forest and snow. An autumn fog had rolled in and created a sea of mist within the forest. It twisted and turned like water, parting ways only when a creature moved within its depths. The pine trees stuck out sharply above the fog. Their peaks seemed as daunting as the mountains they grew on, casting long, deep shadows on the ground below. These lands were shrouded in mystery. Lusacan listened eagerly to all the wonders it told her.
"To answer your question: I am simply admiring the view," She finally broke the silence between them. This was typical for Lusacan. She was always known to be caught star-gazing rather than her practical duties. However, Pan knew his sister better than most. He might have been the only wolf to notice the way her paws shifted uneasily, or the way her tail twitched on it's own.
"Is that all?" Her brother pressed further. His tone told her it was not out of malice, but out of concern from her. There was a time when they were younger that she may have thought the worst of him…but he had certainly changed over the years.
"I can see I can't hide anything from you," She admitted with a sigh. Lusacan lowered her head and focused on the valley below them once more. The silence between them returned.
"Truthfully, I came here to admire the beauty of this valley. But I came up here because I'm…I'm scared, Pan."
"Scared? Of what?"
Lusacan did not meet her brother's gaze. Her eyes fixed onto the valley below. Although, she wasn't looking at the whole forest. No…her eyes were honed in on a specific den. The one den where she knew a sleeping beast lay, waiting for her like a predator waits for its prey.
"I am scared of Zazikel." Lusacan did not look back to Pan, but she could picture the look on his face. Zazikel. Paragon of The Kin. Their leader and their own blood. But most of all, he was Pan's one living son. She knew the pain her brother felt of what had become of his child and felt that same agony radiating from him right now.
"I don't know what has happened to him, but I'm going to find out. They've…I can feel something leading me to do this. I also think that what I may be attempting to find will not want to be found." Finally Lusacan raised her head back to meet Pan's gaze. The look of loss burned behind his ice-cold eyes. He had lost so much. More so than Lusacan. His litter-mates, his pups, his mother…and now she was telling him a horrible truth.
"Lusacan? No-no, don't say that. I know Zazikel…something's off with him, but he has been doing better recently. Hasn't he? I mean, after Razael he…" Pan trailed off. Not even he could convince himself. The two siblings knew something was dangerously wrong with The Paragon, and Lusacan couldn't stand by and watch it go on any longer. She had been listening to the spirits of this world tell her about the horrors Dumat had done. Her old mentor had done something horrible, and she only hoped she could fix what had been broken. At the very least, find a way to begin fixing the damage.
"I will talk to Zazikel, and whatever is inside of him, to try and make sense of this. One way or another, The Kin will find a way to save our Paragon from this fate."
"But if he-"
"If the worse comes to happen, I will still be near. I know you have never seen the world the way I do, Pan, but you have listened to me. Keep trying to listen. You will hear me even after my soul leaves this body," Lusacan explained, much to Pan's visible frustration. He looked ready to object, but his maw remained shut. All he could manage was to press his body closer to his sister's lithe body. With him being so near, Lusacan could hear the stifled whines echoing in his throat.
"I'm not scared of death, Pan. My only regret is having to leave the ones I love behind." She leaned into his chest, burrowing her face into his dense fur. It smelled of pine and wet dew, but underneath it Lusacan swore she could still smell the familiar scent of wheat and clay from the prairie. Even all the wonders of the afterlife could never make up for this feeling of love and warmth coming from her kin. She wished she could make it last forever.
"And I would've liked to see my fur turn grey," Lusacan chuckled, and Pan managed a wincing smile. Then they were quite once more.
It was a good way to spend her final night.
