Lubomir's parents met at a dragon wolf pack byway, a crossing over a small stream in an area of overlap between the water type territory and the earth type territory.
They were both young adults, raised in the ways of their respective types, they'd grown up knowing the the consequences of even so much as looking at a wolf from another type's pack for a moment too long. And yet, when their paths crossed as their packs passed one another at the crossing, their eyes locked and they both felt a shudder down into the depths of their hearts, knowing they were doomed...
Returning to his pack's home territory in the woods, Kheiron couldn't get the beautiful water type girl out of his head. He knew it was crazy, and desperately hoped that no one had seen they way their eyes had met, the way they each stared for what seemed like forever as they passed, an electric current passing between them, connecting them, moving their destinies. When night finally fell he tossed and turned fitfully, desperately trying to come up with a way he could see her again, yet fighting himself, knowing that seeing her again would pose great risk for both of them, could mean expulsion from their packs, their homes, everything they knew. But he couldn't not see her again. He eventually fell into a fitful slumber where he dreamed he was frolicking after her in the woods, never quite able to catch up, until suddenly he was beset from all sides by the elders of his pack and suddenly he was the one being chased and he was running for his life until he woke up in a panic.
Luckily the dawn was beginning to break over the tree tops and he didn't have to try to fall back to sleep.
Avon had never once fawned over any of the young males in the water type dragon wolf territory. She had come of age the previous summer, but she had grown up with most of them, the puppies of most of the water type packs spent their summers swimming up and down the Mistral River together and, to her, they all felt like her brothers. For most of her type this offered the advantage of familiarity when it came time to begin courting and choosing mates, but Avon found herself bored. She had nearly resigned herself to a solitary life, helping her sister's with their pups, or helping manage daily life for her pack.
But then she saw him. A handsome stranger, an earth type young male at a stream crossing, their packs moving in opposite directions, all the other members doing everything they could to look away from the other, forbidden, sub-type pack. But somehow their eyes locked at the exact right second and she couldn't bring herself to tear away her gaze, even as every nerve of her being screamed at her that she'd be condemned, she continued to hold his gaze, to drink in his rugged face, his beautiful wings the likes of which she'd never seen before, and to lose herself in the depths of his eyes. She knew, in her soul, that she'd do whatever she had to to make sure she spent the rest of her life meeting and holding that gaze.
She managed to hold herself together as her pack continued on toward their main territory closer to the river. Her nerves were jangled, and her heart was aflutter in a way she had never imagined she'd ever feel in her life. When it came time to turn in for the evening she tried to curl up as far away from everyone else as she could so she could be alone with her thoughts. Her elder sister, Allegra, noticed however, and edged over to her and began speaking to her in a voice barely audible over the sounds of the river.
"I saw you. You can't do it, you know you can't do it, Av, you have to forget him."
Avon glared at her over the brush of her tail, "I can do whatever I want, consequences or not. The elders don't know what they're talking about and if they want to throw me out, so be it."
"Avon, no!" Allegra gasped, "no one who's ever been expelled from the pack has ever been happy, I don't want to lose you to that miserable life, you belong here, with your own kind."
"You aren't going to understand, Allegra. This is bigger than me, I don't feel like I have a choice. Maybe I'll be unhappy out there, but there's no way to know for sure, is there? There's equal potential for me to live the rest of my life out there in joy. One thing I do know for certain... I can feel it deep down inside me, like its a part of me... its that if I stay here, if I don't go find him then I will for sure spend the rest of my life unhappy."
Allegra sobbed. Avon snuggled up against her and nuzzled her cheek. It was something they were just both going to have to accept.
The star-crossed lovers spent almost a moon cycle pining for one another from afar before a chance to meet up finally presented itself. Kheiron's pack was again traveling through the part of their territory that overlapped with the water type territory. The young males were all divided loosely into hunting parties, as a way to organize demonstrations of their prowess for the young ladies they were hoping to catch the eyes of. Kheiron only vaguely listened to the directions given to him by the elders, as soon as the hunt began he slipped off to prowl along the far edge of the territory line where it crossed over into full water type territory. He could see the edge of the river from where he paced among bushes in the meadow he found himself in. He had taken the first chance he had to get close to her again, but now his plan had faltered and he was unsure what his next move should be.
Across the river, Avon and Allegra were wandering through the swamp with two of their younger brothers looking for frogs to snack on when Avon felt a sudden urge to go for a swim. She shot Allegra and urgent, pleading look, hoping she understood the message to keep the boys with her. She edged slowly away before she was out of their sight then she bounded headlong toward the river, dove in and was across it like a bullet.
She emerged from the river just downstream of the magical pygmy corgi meadow Kherion was having his existential crisis in. She climbed gracefully out of the water and began to walk north along the sandy bank. Suddenly she noticed the tops of wings over the scrub that made up the buffer between the river and the meadow. They flexed and flapped a couple of times before they disappeared, she would have known those wings anywhere, had dreamt of them on countless nights since she first saw the wolf they belonged to. By the look of them he was facing away from her. She crept silently closer up the river bank before finding a sunny spot in the open to clean off her fur after her swim. She made sure to preen with flare and to make some noise as she did so, just enough to turn his head.
He heard a shuffling and the clearing of a throat. Startled, worried he'd been caught already without even the chance to meet her, he jumped half out of his skin, lifting off from the ground slightly in fright. When he landed facing the direction of the sound he couldn't believe his eyes. Here she was, a few leaps from where he stood, mesmerized, transfixed by the view and his wild good fortune. His heart raced fit to burst through his chest. What now? She was still just beyond the edge of his territory. But there was no denying why either of them had come here, they could get caught anywhere and would still be caught, so what difference did it really make?
As he was working up the courage to go to her she paused, looked up at him with her big brown eyes and in that instant he sprung into motion, half bounding, half flying low over the scrub. At the same time she moved forward to him like water in a beautiful fluid motion, and suddenly they were touching, nuzzling one another, breathing in each others' scent, circling to take in the full view of the other, only to come back in to lean on each other, ruffling fur and just generally feeling the body heat and life force emanating from the place where their bodies touched. There was no need to speak just yet, the joy of physical contact was like sustenance for their souls and they took their time drinking it all in, reveling, bonding.
They settled quietly down among the bushes to hide them from the general line of sight all around, curled up together, lost in each others' eyes. Kheiron draped a wing over Avon's back to further shield her from sight. Finally she spoke.
"What are we going to do?" she said in a voice full of frightened emotion. He knew exactly what she meant, but he had no ideas.
"We'll figure something out. We have to," he replied as he nuzzled behind her ear.
Suddenly their reverie was cut through by a hissing sound echoing across the water. Avon poked her head up to see her sister across on the opposite bank looking frantic. Suddenly she saw movement from the corner of her eye, one of her brothers emerging from the water just past where they were hiding. Avon's eyes went wide, she panicked and leaped up, she bolted for the water and dove in headlong attempting to appear to have been there all along. Khieron hadn't seen Avon's brother, he only had eyes for Avon. He bellowed after her, "Wait! I don't even know your name!" but she was gone and suddenly he was being circled by a growling yearling water type, Avon's brother, with her other brother emerging from the river. He backed away slowly, back into the shared territory of the meadow, but when he turned to run back to the forest he nearly ran headfirst into one of his pack's elders who had come to find him when he was noticed to have gone missing from the hunting demonstration.
The elder scowled down at him and he was unsure what had been seen. He hunched down in submission and crept past. The elder turned and escorted him back to where the rest of the pack was waiting.
Their trials were short. There wasn't much evidence to be presented but what there was neither of them denied when confronted. Expulsion ceremonies varied for each sub type, and to some degree from pack to pack, but the thing th
at remained consistent throughout all of the dragon wolves is that expulsion ceremonies happened on the full moon, which gave the accused time to prepare for their new lives, cut loose from their families and the only homes they had ever known.
For Kheiron and Avon it merely gave them time to meet again beforehand. By the time a pack has branded an individual as a traitor they've already cut ties and no longer care what is done as long as that doesn't include going rogue and turning on the pack. So, they freely visited each other in the magical pygmy corgi meadow at every opportunity to discuss what they would do after the next full moon had passed.
Three days before the ceremony they finally decided to meet back in the meadow and to set out from there. There was a settlement just south of it that connected to domestic dog trade routes which they thought would be their best chance of traveling through the territories which would, once they were expelled, become hostile towards them. When they parted ways that day they knew that in three evenings' time they'd be able to be together forever, no matter what else happened.
The expulsion ceremonies of most packs were emotional affairs, the elders of the packs, and sometimes even elders from other packs around the territory, would gather all of the pack members and rile them up with stories of horrible atrocities perpetrated by the sub type with which the traitorous member had been found guilty of fraternizing with. Most of the stories were ancient, passed down through the generations, getting embellished more with every successive retelling. The families of the traitor would work themselves into an emotional wreck, guilt tripping them the entire time. They'd go around to members of the pack who wanted to "be rid" of memories they'd had with the traitor, the members would tell the memories to the elders who would then absolve them from ever having to think about the traitor or the story again. The traitor would sit, submissive, listening to the pack members they had grown up with, been raised by and always felt protected by telling stories about, and then asking for absolution from, having consorted with the condemned. When the stories had all been told the elders would notch the end of the left ear to mark the traitor so that all the other dragon wolves would know, at first glance, that this individual was a traitor and not to be trusted within their territory. At the very end, when the pack had worked itself into a fervor any who felt adequately enraged by the actions of the wolf being expelled were welcome to join in chasing them off into the forest. When the last wolf to remain in the chase had finally returned to the pack the ceremony was complete and the ties were severed.
The expulsion chase could be quick, or it could go on for hours, depending on how angry the pursuing pack members were. Khieron had never been particularly well liked among his pack, but he wasn't disliked, he had mostly kept to himself and minded his own, and though there had been plenty of absolution stories thrown and the pack was adequately worked up for the satisfaction of the elders, none of the pursuers seemed particularly angry at him and they mostly gave up chase after about twenty minutes, at which time he circled back around to work his way to the meeting place.
Avon was not so lucky. Her parents had had high hopes for her finding a higher ranked mate within one of the nearby water type packs and advancing their family line and to instead have this disgrace placed upon them, they were positively outraged. Her two brothers who had caught them were also furious that she would betray the water types, and distraught that she had to leave. Her pack had always been an extra tight knit group and they took her falling for an outsider as a personal attack on the reputation of everyone who had ever known her. The outrage echoed up and down the river, young wolves came from packs all over the territory who had grown up playing with her all summer, urged by their families to purge their memories of her so as not to bring a similar shame upon their own packs. When the time came for her chase she felt ready, but they followed her for over an hour, well into the night. The moon was high when she finally knew the last chaser had turned back. Exhausted, she made her way to the river, slid into its cool embrace and began to swim back upriver toward the meeting place.
Avon emerged from the river just as the sky was beginning to fade from black into pinkish gray, and was greeted immediately by Khieron. They joyfully embraced, all the fear and sadness and tired ache in her bones from the previous night washed away the instant they made contact. This was what home meant for them now.
Unable to wait and rest because of the dawn breaking quickly over them, they headed toward the settlement, the Village of Lhut. By mid morning they had made it there, and spent the better part of the day stalking around the outskirts of town trying to get a feel for how best to interact with the domestic dogs living there. As evening fell they were no closer to finding anyone they were comfortable talking to so they found shelter underneath an outdoor stairwell in a dark alley and hoped that they'd be able to sleep through the night without any hassle.
Khieron awoke with a start, his first reaction a snarl in response to being poked from above by an unknown stranger. It was dawn and a little elderly dog was leaning over the edge of the stairs above them, he quickly withdrew his outstretched paw at the sight of Khieron's wolf teeth bared up at him. He backed away muttering about 'just trying to help' when Avon stirred from under Khieron's wing and moved to the bottom of the stairs to get a better look at the old dog. She implored him where they could find someone to travel with to get out of the village and make their way to any forest areas that didn't fall under the territories of the dragon wolves. He looked skeptically down at Khieron before explaining to Avon that there weren't any traders coming in or out today that he was aware of but that they should still be able to follow the trade path just fine on their own, and that last time he checked the largest unclaimed patch of forest lay to the west beyond the largest domestic dog town, the Town of Seren. She thanked him and Khieron grunted, and together they set off for the trade road to take them south and west.
They traveled from Lhut to the Boglach settlement on the edge of the southern swamps where they met up with a couple of travelers from farther north who were maybe not happy to have them along, but not entirely put out by them either. Together they made their way across the river, Avon looking longingly down into the water as they passed over the bridge, and into the largest domestic settlement that either of them had ever seen in their lives.
Seren was a town full of life. The earliest proper settlement in the Arach Valley made by domestic dogs and it had sprawled into a lovely and rustic miniature metropolis. They were still wary of the dogs, but had become bolder as they traveled and saw more of how the dogs interacted with one another, and once they made it within the limits of Seren proper they wandered around like tourists, taking in all the strange and exciting new sights and smells and sounds.
Come nightfall they again found a secluded alleyway to creep into to sleep and their night passed uneventfully.
The following day as they crept around the outskirts of town trying to get their bearings they were heralded, much to their surprise, by a fellow dragon wolf. A very obvious air type, he bore the notched left ear of the expelled, but he was in high spirits and he welcomed them and invited them to come to his hovel for food and water, and to figure out what they were going to do with themselves.
Grateful and relieved the pair exchanged glances and followed the friendly stranger to a neighborhood of lean-to's on the northern outer edge of the town, they were greeted at the door by a ruffled looking but beautiful collie dog and three rowdy puppies, obviously also belonging to the air type wolf who'd led them there, one even having tiny little white feathered wings. The collie looked the newcomers over and sighed but welcomed them in just the same. The puppies swarmed around them as they settled in for some warm water and a loaf of bread. The friendly stranger offered them all sorts of advice, he kept them talking for the better part of the day about how to survive living like the domestic dogs and how to find work and all sorts of useful things... for town life. He barely paused the entire time, obviously a bit overwhelmed by the chance to socialize and share his worldly knowledge with his own kind. When they finally had the chance to explain that they didn't really want to be part of town life he appeared crestfallen. Begrudgingly he shared that the westernmost part of town butted up against the unclaimed territory and would be easy for them to slip through into the neutral zone without any issue. Slightly embarrassed to have disappointed their new friend, they departed, thankful for the refreshment, and hurried to be on their way west, onward to their future together.
The unclaimed territory west of Seren was a good sized area, the pair would come to learn. They found a clearing the first day within easy walk to get back to town, it had a tiny reflecting pool fed by a spring and a few rocky outcroppings that would work well as both lookout points and as a bit of protection, so they settled in and began making it their own.
Over time they explored the unclaimed area and found it to connect by thin bands around the top of the nearest earth type territory to another pocket of free wilderness caught between fire, earth and water type territories to the north of Seren. From that pocket there was even a trade route through the overlapping territories below it to a smaller pocket that abutted the territory where Avon had grown up. They didn't know what to do with the information exactly, but it gave Avon a bit of comfort knowing she could get close to the place she had known and loved for so long.
Their friend, the air type wolf, visited and brought his mate and their growing pups to the clearing somewhat regularly, and they began making occasional trips into town, though mostly only to visit with other expelled dragon wolves as well. The town life and large numbers of domestic dogs still made them wary, but they were open to meeting new faces as long as they seemed trustworthy and non judgemental. The two were firm believers that anyone could be a friend or an ally if given the right opportunity, the longer they were away from their former packs the more they realized how foolish it had been to believe the hate speech they'd grown up with about the other types, and even about the domestic dogs and other species.
The unclaimed territory was full of other canines to whom they had attempted to reach out. They had startled a couple of magical pygmy corgis early on, and a swarm of fairy poms often visited their reflecting pool. They had also seen a celestial fox in an elder tree near dusk one time. They knew from the lore that the unclaimed territories always had populations of mist wolves, but that they'd likely never see one because of how secretive they were as a species, but they made a point to keep an eye out to welcome them should one ever show itself.
The summer after they first came to their little private settlement, Avon gave birth to their first litter. The puppies were a beautiful mix of the colors of both of their types and both parents took immense joy in raising their young together and teaching them acceptance of everyone. Their pups were overall very outgoing and gregarious, they could tumble around and play all day, as most pups can. Their parents took to watching them in shifts, taking turns exploring and visiting Seren. Often a couple more adventurous pups would go along with the traveling parent, leaving behind the home bodies to hang around their peaceful little glen.
Lubomir was the third puppy in the litter of seven. He wanted to be an adventurous puppy, but from the moment he started to walk he was unbearably clumsy. Embarrassed constantly even at such a young age, he always remained at home with the non-adventurous puppies to hang out in the shade and play in the reflecting pool. Because he felt the urge to get up and do something but he was afraid to do too much walking (and his wings were still not strong enough to carry him) he began to develop a protective streak. He would often manage to climb to the top of one of the rocky outcroppings and perch there all day, watching over everyone "for their safety." It could get boring, but at least he wasn't being laughed at.
That is, until one day when someone sneaked up from behind him...
They were both young adults, raised in the ways of their respective types, they'd grown up knowing the the consequences of even so much as looking at a wolf from another type's pack for a moment too long. And yet, when their paths crossed as their packs passed one another at the crossing, their eyes locked and they both felt a shudder down into the depths of their hearts, knowing they were doomed...
Returning to his pack's home territory in the woods, Kheiron couldn't get the beautiful water type girl out of his head. He knew it was crazy, and desperately hoped that no one had seen they way their eyes had met, the way they each stared for what seemed like forever as they passed, an electric current passing between them, connecting them, moving their destinies. When night finally fell he tossed and turned fitfully, desperately trying to come up with a way he could see her again, yet fighting himself, knowing that seeing her again would pose great risk for both of them, could mean expulsion from their packs, their homes, everything they knew. But he couldn't not see her again. He eventually fell into a fitful slumber where he dreamed he was frolicking after her in the woods, never quite able to catch up, until suddenly he was beset from all sides by the elders of his pack and suddenly he was the one being chased and he was running for his life until he woke up in a panic.
Luckily the dawn was beginning to break over the tree tops and he didn't have to try to fall back to sleep.
Avon had never once fawned over any of the young males in the water type dragon wolf territory. She had come of age the previous summer, but she had grown up with most of them, the puppies of most of the water type packs spent their summers swimming up and down the Mistral River together and, to her, they all felt like her brothers. For most of her type this offered the advantage of familiarity when it came time to begin courting and choosing mates, but Avon found herself bored. She had nearly resigned herself to a solitary life, helping her sister's with their pups, or helping manage daily life for her pack.
But then she saw him. A handsome stranger, an earth type young male at a stream crossing, their packs moving in opposite directions, all the other members doing everything they could to look away from the other, forbidden, sub-type pack. But somehow their eyes locked at the exact right second and she couldn't bring herself to tear away her gaze, even as every nerve of her being screamed at her that she'd be condemned, she continued to hold his gaze, to drink in his rugged face, his beautiful wings the likes of which she'd never seen before, and to lose herself in the depths of his eyes. She knew, in her soul, that she'd do whatever she had to to make sure she spent the rest of her life meeting and holding that gaze.
She managed to hold herself together as her pack continued on toward their main territory closer to the river. Her nerves were jangled, and her heart was aflutter in a way she had never imagined she'd ever feel in her life. When it came time to turn in for the evening she tried to curl up as far away from everyone else as she could so she could be alone with her thoughts. Her elder sister, Allegra, noticed however, and edged over to her and began speaking to her in a voice barely audible over the sounds of the river.
"I saw you. You can't do it, you know you can't do it, Av, you have to forget him."
Avon glared at her over the brush of her tail, "I can do whatever I want, consequences or not. The elders don't know what they're talking about and if they want to throw me out, so be it."
"Avon, no!" Allegra gasped, "no one who's ever been expelled from the pack has ever been happy, I don't want to lose you to that miserable life, you belong here, with your own kind."
"You aren't going to understand, Allegra. This is bigger than me, I don't feel like I have a choice. Maybe I'll be unhappy out there, but there's no way to know for sure, is there? There's equal potential for me to live the rest of my life out there in joy. One thing I do know for certain... I can feel it deep down inside me, like its a part of me... its that if I stay here, if I don't go find him then I will for sure spend the rest of my life unhappy."
Allegra sobbed. Avon snuggled up against her and nuzzled her cheek. It was something they were just both going to have to accept.
The star-crossed lovers spent almost a moon cycle pining for one another from afar before a chance to meet up finally presented itself. Kheiron's pack was again traveling through the part of their territory that overlapped with the water type territory. The young males were all divided loosely into hunting parties, as a way to organize demonstrations of their prowess for the young ladies they were hoping to catch the eyes of. Kheiron only vaguely listened to the directions given to him by the elders, as soon as the hunt began he slipped off to prowl along the far edge of the territory line where it crossed over into full water type territory. He could see the edge of the river from where he paced among bushes in the meadow he found himself in. He had taken the first chance he had to get close to her again, but now his plan had faltered and he was unsure what his next move should be.
Across the river, Avon and Allegra were wandering through the swamp with two of their younger brothers looking for frogs to snack on when Avon felt a sudden urge to go for a swim. She shot Allegra and urgent, pleading look, hoping she understood the message to keep the boys with her. She edged slowly away before she was out of their sight then she bounded headlong toward the river, dove in and was across it like a bullet.
She emerged from the river just downstream of the magical pygmy corgi meadow Kherion was having his existential crisis in. She climbed gracefully out of the water and began to walk north along the sandy bank. Suddenly she noticed the tops of wings over the scrub that made up the buffer between the river and the meadow. They flexed and flapped a couple of times before they disappeared, she would have known those wings anywhere, had dreamt of them on countless nights since she first saw the wolf they belonged to. By the look of them he was facing away from her. She crept silently closer up the river bank before finding a sunny spot in the open to clean off her fur after her swim. She made sure to preen with flare and to make some noise as she did so, just enough to turn his head.
He heard a shuffling and the clearing of a throat. Startled, worried he'd been caught already without even the chance to meet her, he jumped half out of his skin, lifting off from the ground slightly in fright. When he landed facing the direction of the sound he couldn't believe his eyes. Here she was, a few leaps from where he stood, mesmerized, transfixed by the view and his wild good fortune. His heart raced fit to burst through his chest. What now? She was still just beyond the edge of his territory. But there was no denying why either of them had come here, they could get caught anywhere and would still be caught, so what difference did it really make?
As he was working up the courage to go to her she paused, looked up at him with her big brown eyes and in that instant he sprung into motion, half bounding, half flying low over the scrub. At the same time she moved forward to him like water in a beautiful fluid motion, and suddenly they were touching, nuzzling one another, breathing in each others' scent, circling to take in the full view of the other, only to come back in to lean on each other, ruffling fur and just generally feeling the body heat and life force emanating from the place where their bodies touched. There was no need to speak just yet, the joy of physical contact was like sustenance for their souls and they took their time drinking it all in, reveling, bonding.
They settled quietly down among the bushes to hide them from the general line of sight all around, curled up together, lost in each others' eyes. Kheiron draped a wing over Avon's back to further shield her from sight. Finally she spoke.
"What are we going to do?" she said in a voice full of frightened emotion. He knew exactly what she meant, but he had no ideas.
"We'll figure something out. We have to," he replied as he nuzzled behind her ear.
Suddenly their reverie was cut through by a hissing sound echoing across the water. Avon poked her head up to see her sister across on the opposite bank looking frantic. Suddenly she saw movement from the corner of her eye, one of her brothers emerging from the water just past where they were hiding. Avon's eyes went wide, she panicked and leaped up, she bolted for the water and dove in headlong attempting to appear to have been there all along. Khieron hadn't seen Avon's brother, he only had eyes for Avon. He bellowed after her, "Wait! I don't even know your name!" but she was gone and suddenly he was being circled by a growling yearling water type, Avon's brother, with her other brother emerging from the river. He backed away slowly, back into the shared territory of the meadow, but when he turned to run back to the forest he nearly ran headfirst into one of his pack's elders who had come to find him when he was noticed to have gone missing from the hunting demonstration.
The elder scowled down at him and he was unsure what had been seen. He hunched down in submission and crept past. The elder turned and escorted him back to where the rest of the pack was waiting.
Their trials were short. There wasn't much evidence to be presented but what there was neither of them denied when confronted. Expulsion ceremonies varied for each sub type, and to some degree from pack to pack, but the thing th
at remained consistent throughout all of the dragon wolves is that expulsion ceremonies happened on the full moon, which gave the accused time to prepare for their new lives, cut loose from their families and the only homes they had ever known.
For Kheiron and Avon it merely gave them time to meet again beforehand. By the time a pack has branded an individual as a traitor they've already cut ties and no longer care what is done as long as that doesn't include going rogue and turning on the pack. So, they freely visited each other in the magical pygmy corgi meadow at every opportunity to discuss what they would do after the next full moon had passed.
Three days before the ceremony they finally decided to meet back in the meadow and to set out from there. There was a settlement just south of it that connected to domestic dog trade routes which they thought would be their best chance of traveling through the territories which would, once they were expelled, become hostile towards them. When they parted ways that day they knew that in three evenings' time they'd be able to be together forever, no matter what else happened.
The expulsion ceremonies of most packs were emotional affairs, the elders of the packs, and sometimes even elders from other packs around the territory, would gather all of the pack members and rile them up with stories of horrible atrocities perpetrated by the sub type with which the traitorous member had been found guilty of fraternizing with. Most of the stories were ancient, passed down through the generations, getting embellished more with every successive retelling. The families of the traitor would work themselves into an emotional wreck, guilt tripping them the entire time. They'd go around to members of the pack who wanted to "be rid" of memories they'd had with the traitor, the members would tell the memories to the elders who would then absolve them from ever having to think about the traitor or the story again. The traitor would sit, submissive, listening to the pack members they had grown up with, been raised by and always felt protected by telling stories about, and then asking for absolution from, having consorted with the condemned. When the stories had all been told the elders would notch the end of the left ear to mark the traitor so that all the other dragon wolves would know, at first glance, that this individual was a traitor and not to be trusted within their territory. At the very end, when the pack had worked itself into a fervor any who felt adequately enraged by the actions of the wolf being expelled were welcome to join in chasing them off into the forest. When the last wolf to remain in the chase had finally returned to the pack the ceremony was complete and the ties were severed.
The expulsion chase could be quick, or it could go on for hours, depending on how angry the pursuing pack members were. Khieron had never been particularly well liked among his pack, but he wasn't disliked, he had mostly kept to himself and minded his own, and though there had been plenty of absolution stories thrown and the pack was adequately worked up for the satisfaction of the elders, none of the pursuers seemed particularly angry at him and they mostly gave up chase after about twenty minutes, at which time he circled back around to work his way to the meeting place.
Avon was not so lucky. Her parents had had high hopes for her finding a higher ranked mate within one of the nearby water type packs and advancing their family line and to instead have this disgrace placed upon them, they were positively outraged. Her two brothers who had caught them were also furious that she would betray the water types, and distraught that she had to leave. Her pack had always been an extra tight knit group and they took her falling for an outsider as a personal attack on the reputation of everyone who had ever known her. The outrage echoed up and down the river, young wolves came from packs all over the territory who had grown up playing with her all summer, urged by their families to purge their memories of her so as not to bring a similar shame upon their own packs. When the time came for her chase she felt ready, but they followed her for over an hour, well into the night. The moon was high when she finally knew the last chaser had turned back. Exhausted, she made her way to the river, slid into its cool embrace and began to swim back upriver toward the meeting place.
Avon emerged from the river just as the sky was beginning to fade from black into pinkish gray, and was greeted immediately by Khieron. They joyfully embraced, all the fear and sadness and tired ache in her bones from the previous night washed away the instant they made contact. This was what home meant for them now.
Unable to wait and rest because of the dawn breaking quickly over them, they headed toward the settlement, the Village of Lhut. By mid morning they had made it there, and spent the better part of the day stalking around the outskirts of town trying to get a feel for how best to interact with the domestic dogs living there. As evening fell they were no closer to finding anyone they were comfortable talking to so they found shelter underneath an outdoor stairwell in a dark alley and hoped that they'd be able to sleep through the night without any hassle.
Khieron awoke with a start, his first reaction a snarl in response to being poked from above by an unknown stranger. It was dawn and a little elderly dog was leaning over the edge of the stairs above them, he quickly withdrew his outstretched paw at the sight of Khieron's wolf teeth bared up at him. He backed away muttering about 'just trying to help' when Avon stirred from under Khieron's wing and moved to the bottom of the stairs to get a better look at the old dog. She implored him where they could find someone to travel with to get out of the village and make their way to any forest areas that didn't fall under the territories of the dragon wolves. He looked skeptically down at Khieron before explaining to Avon that there weren't any traders coming in or out today that he was aware of but that they should still be able to follow the trade path just fine on their own, and that last time he checked the largest unclaimed patch of forest lay to the west beyond the largest domestic dog town, the Town of Seren. She thanked him and Khieron grunted, and together they set off for the trade road to take them south and west.
They traveled from Lhut to the Boglach settlement on the edge of the southern swamps where they met up with a couple of travelers from farther north who were maybe not happy to have them along, but not entirely put out by them either. Together they made their way across the river, Avon looking longingly down into the water as they passed over the bridge, and into the largest domestic settlement that either of them had ever seen in their lives.
Seren was a town full of life. The earliest proper settlement in the Arach Valley made by domestic dogs and it had sprawled into a lovely and rustic miniature metropolis. They were still wary of the dogs, but had become bolder as they traveled and saw more of how the dogs interacted with one another, and once they made it within the limits of Seren proper they wandered around like tourists, taking in all the strange and exciting new sights and smells and sounds.
Come nightfall they again found a secluded alleyway to creep into to sleep and their night passed uneventfully.
The following day as they crept around the outskirts of town trying to get their bearings they were heralded, much to their surprise, by a fellow dragon wolf. A very obvious air type, he bore the notched left ear of the expelled, but he was in high spirits and he welcomed them and invited them to come to his hovel for food and water, and to figure out what they were going to do with themselves.
Grateful and relieved the pair exchanged glances and followed the friendly stranger to a neighborhood of lean-to's on the northern outer edge of the town, they were greeted at the door by a ruffled looking but beautiful collie dog and three rowdy puppies, obviously also belonging to the air type wolf who'd led them there, one even having tiny little white feathered wings. The collie looked the newcomers over and sighed but welcomed them in just the same. The puppies swarmed around them as they settled in for some warm water and a loaf of bread. The friendly stranger offered them all sorts of advice, he kept them talking for the better part of the day about how to survive living like the domestic dogs and how to find work and all sorts of useful things... for town life. He barely paused the entire time, obviously a bit overwhelmed by the chance to socialize and share his worldly knowledge with his own kind. When they finally had the chance to explain that they didn't really want to be part of town life he appeared crestfallen. Begrudgingly he shared that the westernmost part of town butted up against the unclaimed territory and would be easy for them to slip through into the neutral zone without any issue. Slightly embarrassed to have disappointed their new friend, they departed, thankful for the refreshment, and hurried to be on their way west, onward to their future together.
The unclaimed territory west of Seren was a good sized area, the pair would come to learn. They found a clearing the first day within easy walk to get back to town, it had a tiny reflecting pool fed by a spring and a few rocky outcroppings that would work well as both lookout points and as a bit of protection, so they settled in and began making it their own.
Over time they explored the unclaimed area and found it to connect by thin bands around the top of the nearest earth type territory to another pocket of free wilderness caught between fire, earth and water type territories to the north of Seren. From that pocket there was even a trade route through the overlapping territories below it to a smaller pocket that abutted the territory where Avon had grown up. They didn't know what to do with the information exactly, but it gave Avon a bit of comfort knowing she could get close to the place she had known and loved for so long.
Their friend, the air type wolf, visited and brought his mate and their growing pups to the clearing somewhat regularly, and they began making occasional trips into town, though mostly only to visit with other expelled dragon wolves as well. The town life and large numbers of domestic dogs still made them wary, but they were open to meeting new faces as long as they seemed trustworthy and non judgemental. The two were firm believers that anyone could be a friend or an ally if given the right opportunity, the longer they were away from their former packs the more they realized how foolish it had been to believe the hate speech they'd grown up with about the other types, and even about the domestic dogs and other species.
The unclaimed territory was full of other canines to whom they had attempted to reach out. They had startled a couple of magical pygmy corgis early on, and a swarm of fairy poms often visited their reflecting pool. They had also seen a celestial fox in an elder tree near dusk one time. They knew from the lore that the unclaimed territories always had populations of mist wolves, but that they'd likely never see one because of how secretive they were as a species, but they made a point to keep an eye out to welcome them should one ever show itself.
The summer after they first came to their little private settlement, Avon gave birth to their first litter. The puppies were a beautiful mix of the colors of both of their types and both parents took immense joy in raising their young together and teaching them acceptance of everyone. Their pups were overall very outgoing and gregarious, they could tumble around and play all day, as most pups can. Their parents took to watching them in shifts, taking turns exploring and visiting Seren. Often a couple more adventurous pups would go along with the traveling parent, leaving behind the home bodies to hang around their peaceful little glen.
Lubomir was the third puppy in the litter of seven. He wanted to be an adventurous puppy, but from the moment he started to walk he was unbearably clumsy. Embarrassed constantly even at such a young age, he always remained at home with the non-adventurous puppies to hang out in the shade and play in the reflecting pool. Because he felt the urge to get up and do something but he was afraid to do too much walking (and his wings were still not strong enough to carry him) he began to develop a protective streak. He would often manage to climb to the top of one of the rocky outcroppings and perch there all day, watching over everyone "for their safety." It could get boring, but at least he wasn't being laughed at.
That is, until one day when someone sneaked up from behind him...