© 2002-2024 Rochelle Simpson
Published on stormrise.com on February 19, 2002
Part 1

The majority of the behavior depicted in this story began well away from the Hurst, and was unknown to any of the other elves. -Ed.

The morning wasn't stormy and bleak, in fact just to spite the whole air of the moment it was sunny and filled with the songs of the surrounding woods. Darkrider, no more than five or six at this time, looked out at those woods and felt the urge to want to run out there and make them shut up, he wasn't having a good day, so why did they get to?

"Oh there you are honey, what are you looking at?" A shiver ran up Darkrider's spine as his mother ran up behind him. Her long dark hair flowing behind her, and her long and shapely form wrapped in green waves of cloth. Behind her the boy could see Wildlight talking with his father. That explained the feigned motherliness of his vampiric guardian. She only loved him when there was a tribe's mate around.

"Nothin." He assured her without meeting her eyes.

"Oh now look at you… you have dirt on your face, were you playing with Rookshaw again?" His mother crouched down in front of him to wipe the mud off. He looked away form her as she did it, the fakeness of her actions made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Yeah." He admitted as his eyes looked to the wolf in question. He had only just bonded with Rookshaw a month ago, and the wolf was Darkrider's world. It was his only friend he could tell about everything, his only companion… he could play with Rookshaw and pretend that his life wasn't the mockery that it was.

"It's healthy for a kid to get dirty and play with his bond Emerald." Darkrider's father laughed with his loud rousting tones. "Isn't that right Wildlight?" He nudged the chief who only smiled in return.

"Right." Wildlight assured him. Just then there were shouts from across the Hurst, some one was calling Wildlight's name and without a word Wildlight took off at a run to answer the call. Darkrider's parents watched him run to one of the other tribes mates and between gestures and sends he was obviously getting the story.

"He's such a fool." Darkrider's father groaned.

"Now, now Darkwolf he's just a pup doing a man's job that's all." Emerald sneered as she dragged Darkrider to his feet and pulled him behind her. He tripped slightly but caught his footing and followed his mother's steps. Honestly he had no sense of balance, but that was mostly because his legs wouldn't stop getting longer. He had tried asking his mom when they would stop growing… but the conversation that ensued had been enough to make him never ask anything again.