A God's pack

Day 54

POV change; Bear

Another hot day, another long but successful hunt. Bear had been keeping himself the usual amount of busy with the daily hunting, and now that Time was a semi-permanent fixture in Astaira's hunting party he had taken back up patrolling the borders for him again. The border along the ancient forest, where the Healer resided, still made him very uncomfortable but the being hadn't deemed him worth the time to bother so he would continue with doing this until that was no longer the case. Sitting in front of the, currently, dead fire, Bear quickly noticed the hostility in the area as Time dragged a stumbling, stammering, Tero into camp. He didn't think he had ever seen Time look this mad before, so whatever the scout had done he had taken it as a personal affront. Bear stretched, slowly getting to his feet before approaching the unfolding scene. 

"I can't believe you, it has become strikingly clear to me that you have absolutely no respect for what we stand for." he snapped, in a manner that reminded the guard a bit of Felis when she was mad. Too bad about her leaving, Surie still seemed quite torn up about it. 

"I.. I swear it was a one-time thing, it won't happen again." the brown-haired man responded, the volume of the exchange being loud enough to draw the attention of the rest of the pack, as they began to gather to see what was going on. Tero was on the ground, on all fours where Time had put him, and the Heir-God stood over him head tilted back in an overtly dominant way that Bear hadn't seen him display many times before. Drifter, Tero's little brother, cautiously stepped in between the two to defend his family.

"Calm down, what happened?" the young adult asked, looking between his brother and Time with uncertainty. 

"Yeah, Tero, why don't you tell everyone what happened?" Time goaded, a sneer on his face, a look that the brown-haired man looked away from. Some part of Bear could tell that whatever had caused this wasn't going to be explicitly stated by either party, he focused more onto the scout instead of the muttered excuses he was spewing. Besides the fact that Tero was a dusty mess, most likely from being caught doing something he shouldn't, he was also.... covered in blood? It wasn't as easy to tell based on all of the dust sticking to it. Bear tuned back in.

"I.. I promise it won't happen again, it was an accident, really." even Drifter didn't seem satisfied with that answer. 'It was an accident.'

"You killed someone didn't you, Tero?" Bear asked, causing a look of shock to cross the brown-haired man's face. Time didn't deny it, he would have had that not been the case. The dusty young-adult gave his brother a wide-eyed, and disgusted, look as he back away from him and Tero looked crushed at the gesture. 

"Why don't you tell everyone exactly what happened, Tero?" Time pressed again, voice threateningly dark as he glared down at the man. 

"I.. I didn't mean to k-... They were just talking a lot of big game, they were threatening us... what was I supposed to do?" the desperation on his voice, on his face, made Bear frown. Who was 'they', had he killed more than one?

"They were three human hunters who realized you were a werewolf and were threatening you will dumb words, and you not only lent credence to their belief by shifting to attack them but you killed one of them." everyone in the pack had been quiet, shocked, but now they knew the real reason Time was so mad. Two people, two hunters, were running home to their families with a tale of a werewolf killing their friend in the woods. The safety of living so far from human villages, towns, people had just evaporated. They would be targets now, hunted. Tero had just put the entire pack at risk. 

"What-?" a voice crack, Bear turned to look at Drifter who was blinking tears out of his eyes. "What are we going to do now?" 

Everyone seemed equally as concerned, uncertain, afraid, as the young adult was. Time ran a hand over his face, stress-lines obvious even with his eyes shaded, Bear carefully approached the Heir-God and lightly tapped him. The tired man gave him a look, before sighing and turning to address the pack as a whole. 

"I will go to speak with Sar'ene. We will be changing out roles of some of the members, Tero will no longer be allowed outside of the camp without supervision so he cannot cause more issues... we.. will be hiding some of the more obvious werewolf members so that if hunters do show up they find nothing." it was not a bad idea. Some eye-colors, like Tero's pale orange ones, like Rory's gold ones, were obviously werewolves seeing as humans couldn't have such colors. Vs. eyes like Drifter's, or Vaitelin's where the color glowed so faintly as to be nonexistent. 

"And when the huntas' come, asking fer' an orang' eyed devil, what'll we tell 'em?" Rory asked, obvious by the tone on his voice that he was willing to throw Tero to the wolves because of this. Rory was the most in-danger of hunters, the curse still physically present on his skin with golden star-dust markings, there was absolutely no pretending he was anything but a werewolf. There was no hiding it.

"We... will tell them that the... werewolf attacked some of our own and that we chased him off... that we don't know where he is." 

"That will explain some of the empty houses." Bear agreed, lightly, watching the Heir-God nod vaguely in response. 

"How long do we have?" Robin whispered, tone soft, her young son held close to her chest while her knuckles were turned white. 

"We... have to assume that the response will be immediate. We start now." Time turned to Bear, giving him a look.

"I would like for you to arrange the new groups for me while I venture down the mountain." 

"Me?"

"You are sensitive enough to mortality to know who best passes for human. I trust your judgment." Bear took a deep breath, scanning the pack, before nodding.

"Relis is still out there, what do we do about him?" 

"He... passes well enough for a human, I think he'll be fine should the worst occur." Bear nodded in understanding, dipping his head as the Heir-God gave one long look over his pack before turning and descending down the mountain. 

"Alright, we'll be switching parties so if you will have to forgive me if you end up in a less-than-comfortable group." he could feel a bit of stress in his throat but this was necessary. 

"Robin, Astaira, Drifter, and Vaitelin will function as one group. You all are the easiest to pass as human so you will be taking the lands closest to the incident. " Robin blinked, she hadn't been used as a hunter since before even he had joined the group, but she swallowed and nodded in understanding. 

"Hercules, myself, and Surie will have to do for the second group of hunters, we can pass pretty well for human in the day." not at night, though. They would need to start enforcing a curfew to prevent the glow from giving them away. 

"Rory, Tero, you both can't pass so we'll have to figure out somewhere for you two to lie low for this." 

"I think I pass pretty damn well fer' a human, wouldn't ya' say, boy?" Heeteri spoke up, the messy-haired human giving a grin to his adopted-son but it wasn't returned. Seemed Soaphoet was more aware of how much danger they too were in than his father was. 

"You two should leave, if the hunters deem us dangerous you could be hunted with us."

"You lot gave us'ins a place to sleep when no body else would', I aint tappin' out quite yet. Put me ta' work." the old ship-hand insisted with a toothless smile.

"I... very well. Astaira will now be in my group, you can take her place."

"Soaphoet here 'ould make a rat'er nice scout too, wouldn' ya' say, boy?" the teen blinked at his father, before looking at Bear and nodding. 

"I used ta' be a lookou' on our ol' ship, I can do that fer' you'ins." Bear nodded in response, so they had their replacement for Tero now. Looking around the rest of the group, he found it rather lucky that the youth, Rem and Aika, both had eyes that didn't clearly give them away. As far as a group of werewolves go, they had mostly pulled some pretty lucky cards. If only they had Felis, still, she was incredibly human-looking.... not very human-acting but one could chalk that up to fiery personality. 

"That will have to do for now, we'll see how things go when Time gets back." hopefully that would be soon. The faster they were ready the better. 

POV change: Time

His hands had stopped shaking since he had found Sar'ene, the two were walking back up the mountain but Time would have preferred for them to be going with a bit more haste. The Space God didn't seem too fussed over it, either he knew something he did not or he just didn't care about defending a bunch of stupid mortals. 

"Can you repeat exactly what you are intending for me, Iniko?" the smooth-voiced man asked, casually, causing the young-God to give him a pointed look over his shoulder. 

"I'm re-doing the hunting parties, so they will only see the most human of us, and I'd like you to hide the obvious werewolves." he explained, again, watching his cousin ran a hand through his hair and looking over at the rain-forest he lived within.

"And, what if the obvious werewolves don't want to hide away?" 

"They..." Time paused, he hadn't considered that. Why wouldn't they want to hide? The only other option was either blatantly attacking the hunters, which would only call angry Demi-Gods upon them, or to.. die. 

"If they don't want to hide they will have to leave the pack, I guess." he finished with a frown, watching Sar'ene nod in understanding. The rest of the walk up the mountain was quiet, and by the time they reach the east-entrance of it the sun was beginning to set. Sar'ene took charge now, walking past Time and stepping up close to the fire to look at the mixed group of people sitting around it. 

"You-" he pointed at Tero, who looked guilty and glanced away at the gesture. "-fucked up things for everyone." the brown-haired werewolf made no move to defend himself... nor did anyone else at the fire. There was too much at stake to be fussed over protecting the ego of the man who had brought this upon them. 

"Now, I have been asked to hide the more... obvious werewolves. Which would be the idiot-" point at Tero, who frowned slightly. "And the gilded one." he pointed at Rory, noting his cursed star-studded skin and golden-glowed eyes. 

"If anyone would like to leave, to escape from the danger to come, you should do so now." Sar'ene instructed coldly, Time made no move to disagree with his cousin as he stepped up to stand beside the similar man. For a long moment, there was a tense silence until Rory stood with a deep huff. Arms crossed defensively. 

"I like ya' lot, but... not 'nough to 'ide in a corner or die." Time couldn't blame the man, he was covered in marks of being a werewolf, if he was found... there was no disguising what he was. 

"It was nice having you here, Rory. I'm sorry things ended like this." he couldn't help the apologetic note to his voice, the golden-eyed werewolf gave him a look.

"Not yer' fault, its his." pointing a Tero who winced in response. "was a pleasur'." the werewolf dipped his head, briefly hugging Surie and Astaira, before he left the camp with a down-cast look. Something told Time that the face of their pack was going to change a bit more before all of this was over. 

"Smart boy, now I just have to hide the Tero." Time got the distinct impression that Sar'ene hadn't cared for the werewolf even before all of this but he didn't care to ask. He had more important things to worry about right now. 

"Is everyone settled with their hunting parties?" he asked Bear, lightly, who looked up and nodded with a tense smile. He had asked a lot of the man, to take some of the possible weight if something bad was to happen, but he hoped that if the hunters did show up they could redirect them without fear. 

"Alright, lastly... as much as I hate to impose on anyone. We'll be instating a curfew, everyone with glowing eyes must stay indoors as soon as it starts to get dark." while no one seemed to like this, no one spoke up to fight the new rule either. They knew it was needed.

"So,uh, do me and Vaitelin get to be exempt?" Drifter spoke up, glancing at his fellow hunter. 

"Yes, as are Heeteri, Soaphoet, and Relis. It will look suspicious if everyone in the pack disappears before dark." the youth nodded in understanding, but the mood on the air remained somber. 

"Any questions?" he added, glancing at Sar'ene who gave him an encouraging smile. Silence followed his words, as most of the pack stared distantly into the fire. 

"Great, curfew starts tonight. Try to get some rest, everyone, I will do my best to bring us all to the other side of this." 

Day 81

So far, so good. Currently, the only news on the hunter front was Relis returning with 'rumors' of a group or two planning on heading out this way but neither scouts, nor hunting parties, had come across any strange encounters as of yet. The entire thing was already exhausting, Time had been using an absurd amount of his ether to expand his range, trying to keep an eye on his pack when they were generally outside of his reach. Tero had long since stopped being his problem, Sar'ene now keeping an eye on and hiding the orange-eyed werewolf... it still felt very unfair that the man who caused this all to happen to them got to be protected while those who had no part in the problem were risking danger every day. The hunting groups weren't doing as good as usual, they weren't used to working in this system or, in Robin's case, were out of shape for the job. They were getting enough to live off of but not enough to put much of anything away for when the seasons turned harsher. It would have to be good enough for now.

Time was feeling very drained, sitting criss-cross and hunched over in front of the small-burning flame in the fire-pit, his ether so low that he could hardly feel the edge of the mountain anymore. Ideally, now would be a good time to rest and restore his ether but the young-God was too nervous that something would happen in order to sleep. It would have to wait until... however long from now when this passed. The most difficult part for, not only himself but, Robin was Sar'ene taking Aika and Rem with him. The reasoning being that they would be safer away from the group, it had been a difficult and emotional conversation but... eventually, Robin had agreed to the terms through tears. It left the camp feeling very empty without the needy toddler constantly begging for his attention and Robin seemed rather lifeless as well. He could only imagine how upset, and difficult to manage, Aika was being right now.... and Sar'ene didn't even like children. 

Blinking blankly into the little fire, Time nearly dozed off until a spike of other-person panic shot through the edge of his current range. At the bottom of the mountain. Something had happened. The young-God sat bolt up, blinking the bleary fog out of his eyes, and attempted to focus down on the danger at the edge of his mind. Attacked, blood, hunted. Somebody's horrified thoughts. Time, briefly, struggled to get to his feet. These thoughts were somewhat familiar, he would have to guess Drifter as that was the only person he knew of that had particularly strong mental-fortitude. Minimizing the amount of focus he offered to everything else he was able to get a bit more information, now knowing the target also helped; the image of Vaitelin taking an arrow through the lower-leg, and Heeteri taking one to the-... Time retracted from the memory, shaking his head violently in an attempt to get the visceral scene out of his mind. The only needed information from that was Vaitelin was hurt, and Heeteri was... dead. The first of the pack who had died, and also a human. 

The young-God took a deep breath, before entering the storehouse to quickly get ready to treat Vaitelin before the worse could occur. They had lost one... they didn't need to lose another. Timing perfect, the dark-man left the storehouse with the materials he would need just in time to see a bloodied, wheezing, Drifter helping Vaitelin limp into camp. 

"Time... I... we were-" the young-adult's voice was cracking, grey-eyes stressed, worried, and filled with sorrow. 

"I know, I saw. We will retrieve Heeteri when the immediate danger has passed." he responded, cooly, causing the youth to swallow thickly before nodding somberly. It was rather impressive that Drifter had managed to help Vaitelin as much as he had, an attempt of a tourniquet wrapped just above Vaitelin's knee and the larger werewolf had been kept remarkably clean of dust.... which the same could not be said for the dirty-blond. 

"Can you help him get to his house?" Time asked lightly, to which Drifter nodded and began to help the hunter limp painfully to his thatched house. The young-God followed, turning away from the two hunters in order to whip open the furs covering the windows so he could see what he was doing. Small fire to the hands to sanitize, he'd heal, before he kneeled down next to Vaitelin to see the damage. The sandy-haired man had remained starkly, strangely, quiet for the whole of this interaction, only making any noise in order to curse when Time pulled the remainder of the arrow's shaft from the new hole in the hunter's leg. 

"Where's Robin?" he asked Drifter, but continued to focus on the immediate issue of the wounded man, he'd likely live from such an injury as long as infection didn't get a chance to set in. 

"She split off from the rest of the group... to distract the hunters. I tried to stop her, I did, but I had to get Vaitelin help and she ran off before I could do anything." guilt written all over the youth's voice, fear, Time's movements paused as he briefly considered the worst-case scenario... Robin being caught and killed, but he quickly suppressed this fear and began to apply a, no doubt painful, anti-bacterial to the wound-site. 

"She'll be fine, she's a smart lady that one." Vaitelin piped up, for the first time today, but Time wasn't sure if it was to make them believe it or himself. The Young-God nodded, dully, in agreement as he opened a porcelain container and dipped his freshly burned fingers into the medicinal-honey mix. 

"You might want to find something to bite down on, this isn't going to feel very good." he instructed, shortly, which caused the hunter to tense. Time allowed the man a few minutes to prepare himself before he began the awful process of sealing the wound site with the mixture. To his credit, Vaitelin didn't scream... but he did attempt to pull away a few times. Though this likely only took a few minutes it felt like ages until the hole was sufficiently sealed and the young-God could finally apply the cotton bandages to the leg. 

"When did you learn medicine?" Drifter asked hoarsely, Time hadn't even noticed that the young-adult had been intently watching the whole thing.

"That is what the tomes Relis retrieved for me is for. Healing mortals." he responded, finally removing the tourniquet and sitting down flat on the wooden-planked floor. 

"You won't be allowed to hunt for a month or two, and I'll have to redo the wound dressing every few hours." Time informed in a tired tone, which caused the sandy-haired man to sigh as he tensely moved his bandaged leg. 

"Grand." 

"What do we do now? Heeteri's body is out there and we still don't know if everyone else is okay." Drifter asked anxiously. 

"We wait, we wait for everyone to come back. Splitting ourselves up will make us easier targets." silence followed as Drifter turned his eyes to look at his fellow hunter, who was staring down at his wounded-leg with a blank look.

"Ay', thanks for stepping in, kid, if not for ya' I'd probably be dead down there with him." 

"Only wish I could have saved him too..."

"Kid, not even all the magic, blessings, and ether in the world would save him. You can't heal a well-placed arrow through the skull." Time winced at the wording, the memory he had stolen from Drifter re-emerging, the young-adult looked like he had been reminded of that too. 

"I'm not looking forward to breaking the news to Soaphoet." Time muttered, which caused the room to fall into a tense, upset, silence. He knew that this was going to be rough... but there was no way he could have prepared for this. 

Waiting by the fire for everyone to return felt like a long-lived nightmare, the first to return was the second hunting party. The second that the other group stepped in Vaitelin, stiffly, got to his feet with one of the most relieved looks on his face. The two weren't known for public affection but Astaira noticed the bandages on his leg immediately and darted across the camp like a bolt, enveloping the hurt hunter into a desperate hug. Time was pretty sure they had both been teary-eyed. How they had went from at each other's throats to almost in tears with worry for the other was beyond him but it made him feel a little less solemn to see. They returned empty-handed but with no interactions with the hunters that had terrorized the other group, leading Time to believe that they were keeping to the forests to keep on better-footing when dealing with werewolves. Smart, but that also marked them as long-term dangerous. 

"I... I see Vaitelin was injured-" Astaira started, tone careful, the anxiety she was obviously feeling slightly calmed when said hunter lightly took one of her hands into his. "-and Drifter is okay, but... where are Robin and Heeteri?" she asked, looking at Time for an answer. Though either of the other hunting party could respond he understood why she was asking him, he was their leader after all. 

"We don't know where Robin is, she took it upon herself to distract the hunters so Drifter could bring Vaitelin here before the bleeding got too bad, as for Heeteri.... he was not so lucky. He was shot and was, likely, dead before he even hit the ground." a shocked, solemn, air fell over the group. They had likely prepared for death to occur when they became aware of the oncoming hunters but to have it happen was different... and to one of the two humans no less. 

"I told him they should leave, that they would be seen as dangerous too." Bear's voice was tense, stressed, and laced with guilt as if it had been his fault. 

"I know-" he didn't, actually, he must not have been here for that conversation, but that didn't matter right now. "-its not anyone's fault but the hunter who took the shot." 

"and Tero's." surprisingly, it was Drifter who said that. A numb look on his face as he stared into the fire. 

"So, we just have to wait here and hope that Robin's okay?" Hercules asked, obviously not liking the idea of leaving someone by themself when there were hunters about, Time couldn't blame him but...there really wasn't anything that could be done. The only person safe from them was himself and he had to stay with the main group to make sure this camp didn't become a blood bath. 

"Yes, she'll return to us when she can." he responded, the painted man stared at him for a long moment before sighing and turning to look out at the west-entrance to the camp. Now they were all playing the waiting game, and it was starting to get close to the new curfew when, finally, Robin stumbled into camp a dusty mess. Thank the Stars, she was not only alive but uninjured. Time got to his feet, cautiously crossing the camp, Robin nearly collapsed into his arms with a strangled sob. 

"They burned Heeteri's body...." she cried, quietly, seems she had stuck around to watch the hunters which was an intensely bad idea. There was nothing to return, nothing to mourn, and whatever manner that Heeteri would have wanted to be honored in was now moot. This would only make the grieving more difficult for Soaphoet when he found out. It would do them no good to have everyone waiting up for the rest of the day, turning night, and Robin would probably do best without being prodded by the pack right then. 

"I'm sorry to say that it is curfew." he announced to the pack, causing the majority of the people present to get up and quietly enter their homes. Time, carefully, assisted the exhausted red-head to her's but he couldn't imagine seeing the empty beds of Rem and Aika were going to help her mental state... but her eyes would be a dead give-away to what she was the second the sun started to set. Now, the camp mostly empty, Time sat down to wait near the fire with Drifter. Relis and Soaphoet were still not back yet, and he was starting to get worried that these hunters were just using the attack as an excuse to kill senselessly.

"Ther' was a lot of 'ommotion in the 'oods earlier, er'ryone a'ight?" Time could feel himself tense at the sound of the teen's voice, Soaphoet entering the mostly empty camp with a stretch as he approached the fire. Drifter looked up at the young human, eyes wild and desperate and sad and the youth seemed to notice the tense air immediately. 

"A'ight, what happen'd?" he asked with a deep frown, sitting down next to Drifter who now looked like he was on the verge of tears. Time opened his mouth, about to break the news, but the dirty-blond seemed to be too unstable to sit still any longer. He wrapped the, now surprised, teen in a massive, all-encompassing, hug while repeating 'I'm sorry' in a tear-soaked mantra. Soaphoet stiffened, confusion, fear, and disbelief on his face.

"what?.. What happen'd?" he repeated, though he wasn't an idiot and Time could tell by the fogginess in his eyes that he was desperately trying to deny what he now knew. 

"One of the hunting parties was attacked by the bountyhunters... Heeteri was killed in the exchange." he explained carefully, voice light. There was no good way to say it, no sugar coating death, and Soaphoet looked empty at the news. He had expected tears, or cursing, or accusations, but none of those came. Just the teen staring at him wide-eyed, like he had been struck, seeming to go numb. 

"That's-" his voice choked, hoarse, hollow. "That's not a funny joke, there, mista'." he said, the words should sound distrustful but they just sounded lost. Like he had been dunked into a pool of ice. 

"I'm so sorry. We-we didn't see them, and they had arrows, and we didn't know they were there yet and I..." the flow of absolute regret and guilt from Drifter seemed to drive home that this was real. A few tears managed their way out of the youth's eyes now, but his face remained stoic. 

"Stop, stop 'et, I don' want to 'ear  anymore." Soaphoet said, quietly, roughly pushing Drifter away when he didn't stop the flood of apologies. Now, not hidden in the teen, Time could tell that the young-adult was red-faced sobbing, broken down. He had stopped speaking now but that didn't stop him from openly crying. 

"Is there anything we can do for you, Soaphoet?" Time asked, carefully, watching the youth evenly as angry eyes were turned to him.

"Unless ya' can bring 'ack the dead ya' can bite me." he snapped, further disentangling himself from the hunter and getting up to his feet. Brushing himself off with a warning glance at Drifter before retreating to his house. Time let out a breath he had been holding, getting up and crossing the camp to kneel next to the still-sobbing man. 

"I'm sorry." he apologized for one last time, his entire form trembling. The young-God sighed, quietly, shaking his head as he offered the youth a cotton-cloth, which Drifter took and quickly used to try to remove the tear-stains from his face. He remembered when Drifter had been Soaphoet's age and he wondered what he would have done if Tero had died then. Time sat down next to the guilt-ridden hunter, placing a hand on his back to soothe the young-adult. It took some time before he stopped shaking, and even longer for the flood of tears to stop, he didn't even look any better now that it had passed. Exhausted, lost, and sad. 

"You should get some sleep, Drifter. You've had a long day." the young werewolf looked like he wanted to object, to argue, but Time shook his head when he opened his mouth to speak. Rubbing a hand over one of his puffy eyes, the dirty-blond reluctantly got to his feet and went to lay down in the hunter's house that he shared with Hercules and Bear. If either of the two of them were still awake they would see to it that Drifter was okay. Now he was sitting up the barely dark camp by himself, and Relis had still not returned yet. In danger or busy, he always got back the latest so it was probably just that but... the events of the day had he worried about everyone and what was to come. They had purposefully put that hunting party into the woods closest to the incident because they all passed for human, hell, Heeteri was human and yet they had still been attacked. Was no one safe? Were these hunters just here for the blood and less so for the 'protection' aspect of wolf-hunting? Was he about to lead his followers into an early grave? Time began to pick at his hands as he stared into the fire, right now he missed his simple youth in the sphere. Where he didn't have to protect anyone and it was safe. Had he made a mistake coming here and gathering these people together? Was he making one now?.... It was going to be a long night, waiting for the sun to come up.

"Heelllooo. Anyone living in this charming hovel?" a voice he didn't know asked loudly, too comfortable for his liking. Time turned his head to look at the voice, a group of about six humans had made their way into his camp and were approaching him. At the gesture, and the glow of his eyes, one of the hunters startled and drew an arrow tight against his bow. What looked to be the leader of the group, a human with orange hair, put his hand out in front of his companions bow and lowered the drawn weapon.

"That's not the glow of a werewolf, friend." the leader spoke, obviously being the man who had announced their presence before. 

"If it's not a werewolf than what is et?" another asked, brown-haired and dull-of-expression. Time got to his feet, using the perfect posture he had been taught as he gave the humans a threatening look that had several in the group taking a wary step back.

"A God, I didn't think you lot bothered with our kind anymore." the leader responded, dipping his head respectfully, but Time didn't care much for the gesture. 

"I have lived here with my followers for five years, am I to understand you six were the ones who attacked my hunters this afternoon?" he demanded, pouring the little remaining ether he had into his voice to sound more threatening and powerful. The leader frowned in response, glancing at the rest of his party with a raised eyebrow. 

"Anyone want to fill me in on what he's talkin' about?" he asked in an equally demanding tone, powerful for a human. 

"We, uh, ran into a group of hunters earlier today. They all had the non-glowing form of eye color so we thought they must be of the same pack as the killer." the second spoke up, the same one who had drawn an arrow at Time.

"So, what, you just shot at them?" the leader asked, to which a few of the party nodded.

"Injured one of my best followers, killed another, and harassed my favorite priestess." Time took several more steps towards the group, causing them to step back, the leader putting his hands up in a submissive manner. 

"I did not order that, we're werewolf hunters, not monsters." he responded. 

"One of my men is still dead." he pressed through gritted teeth. 

"Yer' a God aren't you, can't ya' just bring 'em back?" the stupid accented one asked. 

"I can heal the living, I can't resurrect someone with an arrow through his brain." he spat back, causing the leader to frown. 

"I'll make sure that they are properly punished for their idiocy, but I actually came up here for a reason." 

"What?" he asked impatiently, narrowing his eyes. 

"I want to see the people you got here, make sure you don't have any monsters in ya' midst." the leader responded, Time shook his head in immediate refusal. 

"Unless you forgot, boy, these are my mountains." he couldn't believe the absolute gall of this mortal to make demands of him. This was his camp they had walked into and they had no power here.

"Well, ya'see, that presents some problems cause I can't, in good conscience, tell my boys not to attack the people here on sight if I have no proof of them not being blood-thirsty werewolves now can I?" Oooooohhh, if only he could just kill them all right now. His burned hands itched with the desire to wring the leader-human's neck.

"Ay', calm down everyone. We can come to an agreement." Vaitelin's voice, the grey-eyed man hobbling out of his shared house with Astaira to stand next to Time, a small smile on his face. The leader human's eyes focused onto Vaitelin's grey ones, no glow, before glancing down at the bandages on his leg.

"You the hunter my boys attacked?"

"That'd be me. Good thing my 'son' was with us or I might not have been so lucky." marking Drifter as his son was a good way to make them both having grey eyes less suspicious. They shared enough color characteristics for it to not be a far stretch. 

"I apologize, but you understand what all with the grey-eyes that they thought you were a disguised werewolf." the leader didn't look like he believed his words, he still thought Vaitelin' was a werewolf. 

"Would have been nice not to have my old friend killed for such a misunderstandin', though." the sandy-haired man responded, before sighing and leaning against Time to take the weight off his injured leg. 

"Anyway, we can't wake up the whole clan to show ya' everyone's eyes, we got kids and we got wounded so they don't need ta' be woken up at this hour, but I could wake up a few of our fellow followers to show ya'll we ain't a giant herd of dog-men up here... in good-faith." Vaitelin offered. 

"You were attacked before?" the leader asked. 

"Yes, there is a lone-wolf in the area that has been causing us some trouble. Orange-eyed devil, that." Time agreed without missing a beat. 

"Orange-eyes? That's the same one that attacked Kersin's buddy out in the woods." the second piped up, looking at his leader. 

"There is a reason you can't trust wolf-men, violent and unpredictable." the young-God added, to which the leader nodded in agreement. 

"Yes, not to mention very hard to track or defend against." Time turned his head to look at the scout that had now arrived on the scene. The leader of the hunting group tensed when he turned to look at the blond, analyzing his eyes, before quickly deeming him human when he found that the bright-blue of Relis's eyes didn't glow in the slightest. If Relis had been a werewolf they would have been a dead give-away even in the light... more importantly it looked like the scout had bite and tear wounds? Had he done that to himself? Time knitted his eyebrows together, looking about the camp, before crossing the clearing and allowing the blond to collapse into him much like Robin had just a few hours before. 

"By the stars, Relis, is that why you've been missin' so long? We thought you were dead." Vaitelin's concern was real.

"Makers above, you people can't catch a break can ya'?" the leader looked to be starting to believe that they weren't the threat here, good. 

"Vaitelin, could you get Soaphoet for me? And Astaira? To prove to these men that we aren't a danger to them." his voice was intentionally short, tense, he was just as tired of dealing with them as he sounded.

"You... want me to wake my 'wife' for this?" he asked, a confused look on his face. "I don't think she'll be as... forgivin' of them attackin' us earlier as either of us are." 

"I own this mountain, she'll listen." Time responded, Vaitelin hesitated, before nodding and hobbling back into his house. The hunting party tensed once more when Vaitelin returned from the entrance of his house, this time with Astaira helping him. The same man who had threatened him with an arrow re-notched his bow.

"And you are telling me that's not a-?"

"A werewolf? No, she's a demi-goddess. I was under the impression your people worked with her kind frequently, you can't tell the difference between those two groups?" he responded, making sure to underline how stupid it would be to ever mistake a demi-god for a werewolf just to make the leader of the hunting party feel dumb. In all honesty, werewolves and demi-gods had almost exactly the same kind of eye-glow. Astaira glared at them hotly, dropping Vaitelin who stumbled as she marched across the clearing with purpose.

"How dare you mortals come here, to our camp, after what you did not even hours ago!" she snapped, making the hunter leader hold his hands up submissively. 

"Now, Astaira, getting cross doesn't solve anythin'-" 

"You shot my husband, you killed a poor kid's father out there!" she threw the words in their faces. Time winced at this, before tilting his head at Vaitelin. The hunter sighed, dipped his head, and went to fetch Soaphoet for him. 

"We orphaned some kid?" the leader responded in surprise.

"Yes! Heeteri, that's the name of the man you killed in cold-blood! Now his son has no family left." Astaira pressed, narrowed blue eyes blazing in the way that only a godly-being's could.  The two immortals fell silent as Vaitelin returned with Soaphoet, the hunter trailing the youth with a concerned look on his face. The lead hunter looked at Soaphoet carefully, the teen's green eyes were puffy from tears now but there was no glow. He was human, afterall, and the exhausted, lost, look on his face would have been impossible to fake.

"I... see. We have obviously only caused your hurting following more pain. I.. apologize for the way my hunters have acted today, we will bother your people no more." he said, finally, after a long moment of examining the group before him. The man opened his mouth to speak again but shut it as Time stumbled. Relis going limp, but he couldn't tell if the scout had actually lost enough blood to pass out from or if it was an act... if he was pretending it was an awfully good show of it. Time shifted, carefully, before picking the blond up so he didn't fall-over onto the now bloodied ground. The young-god growled when the hunter hesitated on leaving. 

"What? Have you not toyed with us enough?" he snapped in frustration.

"I just wanted to know if you had any idea where we could find the monster." the leader responded evenly.

"The forest is where it attacks, you'll find it there. Now, I will ask only once. Leave." he instructed, sharply, the group hesitated before the leader dipped his head respectfully and turned to lead his group out of their camp. Time gritted his teeth watching them leave, he wanted to end them, but doing so would only lead to more hunters. This was the only option... now... it was time to try to tend to Relis's wounds. 

Day 82

Turns out, Relis had actually passed out the night prior and hadn't been pretending. It had become pretty obvious when the scout didn't snap-back to normalcy when the hunters were well away from the group. But, based on how embarrassed the blond was when he, finally, came to it was likely only partially due to blood loss. Regardless of the reason, Time had done his best to disinfect and bandage the wounds he could without overstepping any lines while the scout was out-cold. It had taken a long while, mostly because bite-wounds are some of the easiest things to catch rot so he had been painstakingly meticulous with the cleaning process, but he was pretty sure that Relis wasn't going to end up with a self-induced infection now... but that also meant that two of their more experienced, and useful, members were currently out of commission. Soaphoet was also grieving, and Drifter almost seemed in shock, so they weren't going to be very useful right now. Astaira, Surie, Robin, Hercules, and Bear had all condensed into a single hunting party that was being sent out as far away from the hunter-infested woods as possible. Time was sticking in the camp to keep an eye on all of the unwell pack members. 

"Do ya' have to be so rough?" Vaitelin whined as he rubbed his freshly bandaged leg, so far the wound looked to be doing alright. The amount of blood one would expect but no sign of infection. Hopefully it would stay that way, he'd hate to have to try and... cut off Vaitelin's leg to stop the rot from spreading. 

"Yes, I do, stop complaining." his own hands were bandaged now too, which hadn't made caring for the wounds of the others any easier. Relis had insisted on it when he had realized that Time had not only burned them, albeit intentionally, as well as repeatedly ripped open several places. Said something about 'Gods not being immune to sickness'. Whatever. 

"So... do ya' think that that display last night will be enough to keep them hunters from attackin' us again?" Vaitelin asked carefully, a concerned look on his face as he glanced over at the forest behind them. Obviously still on edge about being hunted for sport. 

"I don't think it will completely remove us from the radar but I think they'll leave us be for the moment." Time responded shortly, closing the containers of anti-bacterial and honey mixtures that he had taken from the storehouse. The blond scout was still alseep, per usual with his schedule, so he'd let the bandages on his own hands go for a while longer. Not like the cotton would stop him from tearing open the sensitive spots on his hands, anyway. Time sat up as a bed-head dirty-blond left his shared house and stepped into the area around with fire-pit with an exhausted expression. Drifter's eyes were still puffy-pink, and there were still tear stains on his face, but he looked to be starting to come to terms with what had happened. Vaitelin patted the ground next to him in offering and the other hunter didn't even hesitate to drop down next to his fellow grey-eyed werewolf. 

"You doin' alright, Drifter? You look like you are livin' through all the rings of hell." the sandy-colored man said, a light attempt at humor on his voice which Drifter offered a pitiful smile to. 

"Has anyone seen Soap today?" he asked lightly, almost hopefully, he seemed to think that the teen blamed him for the death of Heeteri. 

"Not yet, kid, he's going through a lot right now, it might be a while before he wants to interact with the rest of us." Vaitelin responded lightly, placing a hand on Drifter's shoulder to comfort the young-adult when he began to sulk a bit at his words. 

"Hellooooo? Godly one? Do you happen to be home?" the voice of the hunter from the night before carrying on the wind, and Drifter tensed like a board at the voice, wide-eyed wild desperation on his face as he gave a look to Time that read-only of fear. Time sighed, getting to his feet, before crossing the clearing with crossed arms to address the red-haired man.

"Did you not bother us enough last night?" he asked, shortly, causing the hunter to show his hands submissively but there was an oddly triumphant look on his face. Did he know something? Had something happened? Only now was Time noticing that the man had a crossbow slung onto his shoulder instead of the usual bow that the rest of his party had carried the night before. 

"Just come to tell you the good news. We found the orange-eyed beast that you were having trouble with before. He... well he won't be an issue anymore." Time's blood ran cold and confusion filled him. What? Sar'ene was supposed to be hiding Tero what had happened? Was it Tero? Was it some other werewolf who had done nothing to deserve such a fate? Time managed to keep a blank expression, but it was an act of will to not look over his shoulder to check to see how Drifter was taking the news. 

"Are you sure it's the same one?" Time responded, tone neutral despite how his mind rushed. 

"Medium brown skin, brown messy hair, pale orange eyes? Totally different kind of orange from yours, more of a rusty orange rather than the ember one you got." that... yeah that was him. Time nodded slowly in response, responding in a few words of affirmation that made the lead hunter smile. 

"Well, now that we've got our man my hunting party will be on the way outs. Sorry about that awful incident yesterday, some of my party will be seeing jail time for it... they just don't know that part yet. Nice meeting a true-God, thought ya'll didn't exist anymore, nice to be wrong about something like that. Have fun with your... mountain cult." the red-haired man dipped his head before turning to descend the mountain again while whistling a cheerful tune. Time waited on the edge of camp, watching the man leave, until he was well out of eye-sight before he turned and crossed the clearing to check on Drifter. The dirty-blond just looked.... shocked. Sure, he was crying, the tears flowing freely from his eyes again but he didn't seem to fully comprehend what had just happened. 

"I... I know that this was his fault but..." the weight of the situation finally seemed to hit Drifter as a choked sob left him, Vaitelin carefully turning to pull the younger hunter into a hug. Tero, not unlike Heeteri with Soaphoet, had been Drifter's only family.... that marked both of them as offically unclaimed. Yes, they had names for at one point they had families, but if they ever left the pack they would have no one to vouch for them... meaning they were, essentially, as stuck here as Hercules was. Leaving would mark them outcasts, outlaws, to society. This was the only place they would be allowed full personhood unless someone was willing to take the chance he had with Hercules, with Rem, with Relis. 

"I.. I'm going to check on Soaphoet." Drifter pulled himself together, rubbing a hand over his face before getting to his uneven feet.

"Are you sure you should do that right now, Drifter?" Time asked, carefully, to which the young adult nodded vaguely before crossing the camp and leaving them to deal with the shock of finding out that Tero was gone... just like that. No ceremony, no visible blood, no fanfare, just gone.

"I can't believe Tero's dead, he's been here with us for four years... and now he's just not. Ever again." Vaitelin commented cooly, staring into the woods like he was trying to fully process the news, Time wasn't sure he had quite taken it all in yet either. Yes, he hadn't been Tero's biggest fan recently, but he hadn't wished harm on the werewolf either. He was just impulsive not malicious... and that drew into question what had occurred to allow him into the hunter's sights. 

"Do... do you think those hunters are really leaving now?" Vaitelin asked, turning to look at him intensely. 

"I don't know, but I can hope it's the truth... I'll... give it a few days and then I'll go searching for them myself." the hunter nodded in agreement at the idea, the two of the falling into a comfortable, but stressed, silence. He would have to break the news about Tero's death tonight, and unlike Heeteri's it was likely going to be a much more mixed bag of reactions from hearing it, he wasn't looking forward to the exchange. 

Day 103

Time had asked Sar'ene what had happened with Tero almost as soon as the hunters had returned that day, the Space-God had looked at him and said 'Well, him dying fixed your problem didn't it?' which he wasn't entirely sure what that meant. It took some further pressing, and the breathing in of poisoned purple smoke that made him feel hollow, but eventually Sar'ene explained that Tero had not wanted to wait out and hide any longer and that he had just... allowed the werewolf to leave on his own accord. The True-God claimed he wasn't entirely sure what occurred after that, but that he was glad things were done with now. Time wasn't sure if he believed his cousin's answer at the time, but he wasn't interested in figuring out if that was the truth or not. Tero was still dead, and he didn't want to hear Sar'ene say that he had set up a mortal's death. So, Time merely agreed. 

For a few weeks the pack had waited to see if the hunters would turn up again... they didn't. So, now that they were fairly sure the mountain was mostly safe again Robin and Relis ventured down to the rain forest to, finally, take Aika and Rem back with them to the camp. Time, on the other hand, was now feeling confident enough to go search the forest for signs of the hunters possibly still lurking about. Bear had tried to go with him but the reminder that they were dealing with werewolf-hunters aswaged the attempt. 

Now, Time was carefully walking the dark shadows of the ancient forest attempting to, vainly, make a connection with the deep well of ether stored in the roots to see if he could find a memory of the hunters. He still hadn't slept since the first night, when Tero had killed that man, so his own power was weak, low, and it was becoming increasingly more obvious that in order to properly see what was happening he'd need more ether to properly circulate through. Stubborn, and also aware that he wouldn't be able to rest until he was sure they were safe, the young-God continued to walked deeper into the heart of the forest in an attempt to find.... something. 

"Hello, young-one, it has been some time since one of yours has been down this way." the Healer's voice, he stopped in his tracks before turning to look at the autumn being. Time blinked slightly blurry eyes at the other immortal, he felt like he was seeing double as he saw the usual multi-tone healer.... and a different-colored variant at the same time. For some reason seeing like this was making him dizzy, lightheaded, and he shifted his eyes to the ground to quiet whatever force was pressing on his brain like a weight. 

"You are very weak right now, Time, your is ether so low you could be mistaken for a mortal." they said, lightly, beginning to close the distance between them. The young-God closed his eyes, the closer the Healer got the more head-splitting the pressure in his mind became. 

"What do you see?" the other immortal asked, lightly pressing an ice-cold hand to his forehead like they were expecting to find him feverish. Time cracked his eyes open again to look at the healer, a being much shorter than anyone else he knew, but immediately regretted it as it seemed that whatever was causing his double-vision had gotten worse. 

"A lot of you, too much actually." he responded shortly, pulling away from the Healer's hand now and stepping back. 

"I don't know if that is supposed to be an actual response or not."  they responded, to which Time responded with a vague waving of his hand in front of his face, a commonly used gesture for eye-sight related issues.

"I see, are you seeing multiple of me? Perhaps like looking at different versions of the same person?" the Healer asked, causing the young-God to narrow his eyes slightly suspiciously before nodding. 

"I didn't notice you when you first came into my woods, you know, you are quiet as a mortal mouse. That is why you are seeing me like this, because the world doesn't know on what side of ether you fall to so it doesn't know what you should see." Time frowned at the explanation, trying to defiantly glare at the short-being but quickly finding that the gesture made his brain feel like it was being pierced. 

"That's dumb, I'm a God how could I be mistaken for anything else?" he responded, shortly, rubbing his face with his still-bandaged palm to try and remove some of the tension. 

"You bled yourself dry. If you continue like you are now you are going to become as lifeless as the victims of the first shapeshifters." a clear warning on their tone, Time remembered meeting one of the last still-living Gods who had been ravaged in such a manner. Empty, hollow, like a ghost of a person... sometimes he could swear that the man was slightly transparent. 

"So, what do you recommend then, Healer?" he was getting tired of this conversation. 

"Return home."

"I can't, I have to see if the danger has passed."

"What danger do you speak of? I can help." they offered, causing Time to open one of his eyes to painfully examine the healer. 

"The bounty hunters who came here to kill werewolves. I need to know if they are gone yet."

"Oh? That loud group of annoying humans?" the Healer asked, to which Time shrugged neutrally. The air suddenly had a bite to it, like glass, before the Healer opened their endless blue eyes again.

"They left, they had what they came for. There are others, but none of them are very competent and I believe they will go away shortly." 

"Good, great. Thanks." he wasn't sure if he truly believed that, not that he had any reason not to believe the Healer. 

"You should go home now." the Healer pressed. Time turned to begin the, now, long walk back to camp making an 'I'm going' gesture. 

"No, young-one, I mean your home. The sphere." 

"Why would I go back there?" he responded incredulously. 

"It is the best way to retrieve the ether you lost, and I believe you will find things go better for you if you do." they responded, lightly. 

"What, you double as an Oracle too now?" Time asked sharply, causing the still multi-healer to roll their eyes at him.

"Listen to me, or don't. But you can feel the same as me the drive to return to your kind. Listen to it, your people will wait for you and they will be better off if you do." the Healer dipped into a graceful, respectful, bow before turning to leave him with his thoughts. As the other immortal left his headache eased, and it became less painful to look around. Return home, to his mother and his old friends. Why would he want to do that? Why would that help him? He asked himself this, but the Healer was right about the pull he felt to go back.... he had to go. Something in him demanded it. He didn't want to, he liked being here, but he began the trek back to the sphere without another thought of it. This was something he needed to do. He didn't know why, but he did. 

Day 106

The walk back was taking much longer than he thought it should, surely it had only taken him a day or two to reach the mountains from his home meadows, right? That's how he thought it happened, but it had been at least three days now and he was still not quite back yet. He wouldn't have just up and left without word if he had properly remembered how long it would take for him to get and then return, but it was too late now. Hopefully, the pack was doing just fine without his input, as they had proven to do so in the past but times were a little different right now than usual. He couldn't help but wonder who stepped up to take charge when they found that he was missing, and wonder what his pack had thought had happened to him. Did they think he had abandoned them? Did they think him asleep in the woods somewhere? Did they think him dead? All of these concerned would have to wait until he got back, he could do nothing about it from here. 

Eventually, the familiar meadows of his youth, covered in old marble buildings, came into view. Time didn't expect anything abnormal to happen when he approached but it felt like he had just attempted to step through a wall. That's.... well to say it was odd would be an understatement. He was vaguely aware of the fact that the sphere was intended to keep certain people out, but he was a God... one that had come from this very sphere none-the-less... why would it be keeping him of all people out? He wasn't left to ruminate on it long, a familiar form coming into view, hair greying but kept in long gold-infused braids. 

"Hello, nephew, you return to us in ill straits, do you not?" he spoke, voice still deep and thrumming and as he held a hand out to Time, expectantly. His uncle, Ott'ou, was still an imposing, tall, man even with signs of age wearing on his face. He felt like a child in comparison, hesitantly reach out his arm which the true-god took by his wrist before pulling him through the wall like it hardly existed. Back in the sphere, just like that, but he was now feeling queasy and unbalanced. 

"How did you know I was here, uncle?" he asked, cautiously, removing his arm from the other's grasp with a twist and a wince. He suddenly felt very frail, like the True-God of Time could snap him in half with a wrong move. 

"I am a True-God, Time, it doesn't matter to me if you are pretending to be mortal. I will always know you." Ott'ou responded, shortly, turning and beginning to walk away from the border of the meadow, obviously, expecting Time to follow. The young-God quickened his step to keep up with the taller being, allowing himself to look around at the living paradise he had grown up in. Many of the gods and goddesses were laying around, not doing much of anything, just drinking and smoke and laughing and.. being carefree of the dangers outside of their walls. Most Gods weren't important enough in the pantheon to need to do much of anything. Most of them didn't even notice he was there.

"What do you mean pretending to be mortal? I have never claimed to be anything except Godly." he asked in confusion, slowing his pace when he noticed the familiar structure of what had once been his father's estate. Based on the new, massive, drapings he had to guess that it was now his uncle's. Was his father truly deceased then? 

"Your ether, boy, so weak that one could mistake you for a rat crawling around the sphere's edges instead of a God." his uncle responded in a short, slightly agitated, tone. That was the second time someone how likened him to a rodent based on power-level, was it really that bad? Time hesitated as Ott'ou opened one of the drapings and looked at him expectantly, only giving in to the obvious command when the True-God seemed to be getting impatient with him. 

"What mess of trouble did you get yourself in to be so thoroughly drained? Go shapeshifter hunting?" the older god asked, though he seemed uninterested in the reason and was mostly just giving him a hard time. He still didn't understand why his uncle had always disliked him so much, not like he had ever done anything to the man to warrant it. 

"No, my followers were being hunted." Time responded with a huff, looking away when the Time God gave him a look in response. He knew very well how his uncle, hell even his own father, felt about mortals. In his shoes, the two of them would have just feed his followers to the hunters and started over without fear. 

"You are a constant source of disappointment. At least my poor brother didn't live long enough to see you make such an obvious fool out of yourself. First, you leave the sphere to create some idiot cult on the side of some no-where mountain, you help your cousin shirk his duties, completely ignore your responsibilities as a future main-god, and then you drain your ether almost to the point of death for some ratty mortals." the destratification was practically filling the air at this point, it was an act of will to not scowl at the much more powerful being, but he managed to keep a neutral demeanor. 

"Ott'ou! Don't you talk to my son like that!" a blessing in the form of a woman responded, Time felt like he could faint from relief as the powerful Goddess entered the room with all the grace, and power, that one would expect of such an experienced immortal. His mother, her skin several shades darker than his own but her hair the same-kind of tight cornrow braid that he commonly used. She still looked just as stunning as she was always said to be, being the Goddess of woman would do that to you. Time smiled warmly, quickly enveloping the small woman into a hug. Out of everyone here, she had been the one he missed the most. 

"Iniko, sweetie, you are so quiet I didn't even realize you were here until I heard your uncle berating you." her tone was obviously worried, his mother carefully taking his face into her hands and looking at him like she wasn't sure he was real without his ether asserting his presence. But he was here, and he was real. 

"I'm sorry I've been gone so long, mama, but I'm okay." he responded lightly, not that she was having any of it.

"You aren't alright, someone could mistake you for a human with how empty you are, Iniko. What happened? Did someone attack you?" Time shook his head at her pressing questions, carefully, and slowly, removing her hands from his face as to avoid further agitating her concern. 

"My followers were in danger, I didn't intend to bleed myself so much. I didn't even know it was that bad." that didn't seem to soothe his mother any. 

"You couldn't tell? Do you usually see so poorly?" Time evaded her hands, this time, stepping back and putting up his hands in a calming, placating manner. Ott'ou cleared his throat, reminding him that his uncle was still here. 

"If you do not mind, Junot, I need to speak with my heir about more than just his lack of power." the Time God spoke, shortly, making a short shooing gesture that had the Goddess scowling at him. These two had never gotten along either... actually did anyone get along with his uncle? As much as she didn't seem pleased with the situation it wasn't really her place to interfere at this point. The Goddess squished him into another hug before leaving, now he was stuck with Ott'ou again. 

"What is this all about, uncle?" he asked with a sigh, turning to look at the True-God. 

"I gave your cousin a five-year head start, one that he has done less than nothing with.I think his chance is up, and my reign is at an end." oh, oh. Wait, no way this was actually happening. He had fully expected his uncle to stubbornly hold onto his power until his death.

"What, really?" Time asked in an incredulous tone, stepping closer to the Time God and letting his shoes chime against the mystified marble. 

"I have one condition, though, so don't get too excited." the elder God nearly snapped, obviously less than enthused about the idea of giving up his god hood. The young-God nodded, as to be expected of his uncle. Nothing came for free.

"As you are, no doubt, aware my son broke his engagement with that demi-goddess friend of yours."

"I'm not going to become engaged to Astaira-" he responded reflexively, to which the God held up a silencing hand at. 

"No, for you I can offer something better. Do you recall the God of Weather and Sky?" yes, he recalled him vividly. His father had been absolutely enamored with the sky, so he and Ostolous had been close friends. 

"Ostolous, right?" he responded, vaguely, to which the Time God nodded.

"Did you know he had a daughter?" the Time god continued, crossing the marble floor and pouring himself a glass of deep red wine... atleast he wasn't reaching for the scotch. To Time's surprise, the True-god offered him a glass as well, which he took with some hesitancy. 

"No, I didn't know he got married?"

"He didn't, she's a bastard. I didn't think you were the type to care about that, though."

"I'm not."

"Good, she's still an heir-God for the moment... you know how stubborn Ostolous is. But, when she becomes a True Goddess she could be very powerful.... and she could be useful for that mountain cult of yours." Time already knew where this was going, but he wasn't going to make any moves to directly respond until Ott'ou got to the point of the conversation. 

"If you agree to become engaged to her, I will step down as God." there it was, looks like he needed no prodding to make his deal evident. 

"Okay, what do you get out of this arrangement, exactly? Why do you care?"

"As a favor. To your father. I'm sure he would have liked for his best friend's line not to end so soon after his death and no one else is willing to marry a bastard into their line." huh, strangely sentimental for someone who was usually so conflictive. The greying-god swirled his dark-colored wine in his glass, taking a disinterested sip. 

"You and I are, technically, of the same line. You... don't have a problem with me marrying a lesser god?" he asked carefully to which the Time God shrugged. 

"I would have a few years ago, but.... you have been gone long enough for some things to be different now. I would also see it as a personal favor if you agreed to the engagement." 

"Why? You and Ostolous never got along anyway."

"No, we still don't, but his daughter is a lovely young lady, and as much as I think your choice to go live on the side of some random hill is incredibly stupid, I do think she would be better off away from the courts." away from the looks, the gossip, the sharp words, because of something she had no part in. Time could understand that, he didn't like the courts very much either. Time looked down at his wine glass, tapping the perfect edge of the cup with a bandaged finger, before sighing.

"Can I meet her before I make that agreement?" Time asked, to which Ott'ou gave him a long look. 

"Very well. She's not far. She likes to spend her free time in your mother's old garden. You'll know her when you see her." The True-God followed his words with a dismissive gesture, to which the young-god bowed deeply as expected of him before walking through the long corridors of the marble estate he had grown up in. This felt odd to even consider, but with his own God-hood being held ramson he might as well see the true terms of the arrangement.

Brushing past the new drappery that had replaced the stary-sky one that his father had used, Time stepped out into the relatively small patch of meadow that was kept in the center of their estate. A small courtyard that his mother had once filled with beautiful and useful flowers. Now that he lived on the side of a mountain and had to worry about injuries he wished his mother had kept up with such flowers, now it was only the hardiest of plants that had survived here without constant care. The vines climbing up the insides of the estate and marking it as overgrown. It was still a lofty, calm, beautiful place but it had obviously been left completely empty for some time. 

The Young-God hummed to himself, as he carefully followed the no-longer visible old path around the old benches and other statuettes that had once filled the garden. He was sure they were still there but... he couldn't see them anymore. It was amazing what some godly-blessed plants could do in just a few years time. He had basically forgotten his purpose for coming here when the sound of someone dropping something porcelain with shock startled him into taking a few steps to the side. He wasn't the only one surprised, there was a hazel-eyed heir-Goddess staring at him with wide, shocked, eyes. He could see what his uncle had meant when he said he would know her when he saw her.

She looked like Ostolous's daughter. Long hair was worn loosely down her back, falling into her face to mostly cover her eyes now. The most noticeable difference between Ostolous and his daughter was that her main hair color was orange, like a slightly reddy carrot, instead of the blond the weather-god boasted. While her main color was orange, her hair turned to pale warm-white half-way down her back and in certain areas around her crown, making it look like she perpetually had snow in her hair. Her skin was light tan, but had a blue-undertone like someone who had spent time out in the winter wind without the proper garb... just like a weather-god should look.

"You're so quiet." she said softly, once again referring to how weak his current ether was, her breath came out in an icy cloud in front of her. She was still holding her hands like she had just dropped the vase that had shattered onto the ground. 

'Yes, so I keep hearing." he responded, which seemed to remind her that she was actually interacting with a living person and not a figment of her imagination. Quickly, gracelessly, she dipping into a curtesy that she nearly tripped on. Being polite and courtly likely wasn't something she had the most experience with but he dipped into a polite bow out of habit.

"Oh, and I dropped that poor vase too." she at least looked embarrassed, understandably so.

"It's just a vase, I'm sure my family has plenty of them." Time said calmly, but the poor thing still looked guilty about it.

"I am Time, Heir-God to Ott'ou, I don't think we've ever met." he continued, the introduction seeming to make her worry less about the shattered remains of the container at her feet.

"Oh! Right, no we haven't. I'm Dulce, Ostolus's heir." The young-god blinked at the woman, unable to stop himself from asking.

"What, like sweet-?" she looked exasperated like that was something she was asked everytime she introduced herself.

"Yes, like a sweet jam." she sighed, maybe not the best first impression to ask that.

"Your father named you, didn't he?" Time asked with a humorous tone, that question actually caused a light laugh in response from the goddess.

"He did! My mom looked at him like he had gone insane when he told her that." 

"Don't worry, my father was pretty bad at picking names too." 

"Well, at least he named you Time when you were set up to be the Time God instead of the space one, yeah? That would have been confusing." honestly, he didn't dislike her. She was friendly, sweet, and very lovely... but was he sure he wanted to agree to an engagement with someone he didn't know? That had been part of the reason he had been so willing to leave in the first place. She seemed to read his thoughts, his ether was so low that she actually might have been able to.

"You're wondering why you should agree, right?" Dolce asked, beginning to fidget with one of the green-blue ribbons on her under-blouse. 

"Do you even want to get engaged? You don't know me, you probably have no idea what I'm even like." to the point, he wasn't sure if he wanted to get betrothed to someone he didn't even know and he didn't see why she would want any differently. 

"Actually, you underestimate how much people know about you here. You were always very... vibrant, so while I don't know you I know what you're like." she responded, which made Time cross his arms a little defensively. Did the sphere really know his well enough for someone he didn't recall ever meeting before to know about him?

"As far as the betrothal goes... You're one of the only people who I've been led to believe wouldn't care about my blood, and you're around my age, and you seem very kind..."

"And you would get away from the courts." he finished, to which the snowy-marked woman bit her lip before nodding. 

"You don't have to love me, you don't have to even like me, but this would get us both what we need, right?" Dolce continued, ready to essentially sell herself in the name of getting away from the sphere. Would he have done the same in her shoes? He didn't know, the two of them lived in very different worlds even before he had left. She would never be allowed the freedoms he had been, they were different kinds of Gods.

"What we want, or what our families want?" Time responded, to which Dolce opened her mouth to respond before closing it again. The Heir-Goddess continued to fidget with her ribbons, leaving him with the silence he needed to properly think. If he said no Dolce would be forced to stay here within the courts and continue to put up with their mockery, he would be denied God-hood for as long as Ott'ou could hold it, he might even be disowned from his father's side of the family for it. If he agreed.. he would be getting engaged to someone who he didn't love and didn't know, he'd be giving in to the very thing he had left to avoid, but he would become a True-God. Was the power worth giving up on his own hopes? He had wanted something more long-lasting than just a betrothal, he had hoped for love. But... he wasn't likely to find that out on the side of a mountain either, not with any Godly being.  

"So, to clarify, you want to get engaged?" he asked, turning his eyes to the Goddess who blinked pale hazel eyes at him before nodding. 

"If you would allow it." Dolce responded, looking up at him through her hair.

"I'll speak with my uncle then, you should see that you are prepared to leave. I won't be coming back here." he warned, he had expected some hesitance at his words but Dolce shinned up like a star. Bouncing on her feet slightly with excitement as she pushed her hair out of her face to grin at him.

"Thank you!" she curtsied again, more readily this time, before turning and swiftly leaving the garden. Now, to speak with Ott'ou. Time looked down at the nearly empty glass of wine he had forgotten about, downing the small remainder left before turning and exiting the old, overgrown, garden the way he had came. He was in no rush to return to his uncle, he didn't particularly care to see the triumphant look that would cut across the old man's face when he made his agreement to the terms clear. He couldn't walk slow enough, he still ended up walking up to the True-God, eventually. 

The greying man gave him a once-over, taking the empty wine glass from his hand and refilling it before handing it back without so much as a word. Ott'ou took down the remainder of his own glass, refilling it too much before turning to lean against the marble wall with an expectant look.

"So? Have you come to a decision?" he asked, beginning to sip at his overflowing wine glass again. The man didn't look like he knew what answer he wanted, most likely wanting to know that the family would live on in some manner via a proper marriage but also not wanting to give up his power so soon. He was a lot younger than Time's father was, and he hadn't been a God for all that long in comparison. 

"I agree to your terms." Time responded with a sigh, his uncle seemed to examine him for a long moment before nodding in approval but the winning look never happened. He didn't look exceptionally pleased with himself, he... just seemed happy with Time's choice. 

"Good, glad that you agreed. I'm sure Ostolous will be happy too." the Time God swirled his wine glass, staring at it emptily, before downing the rest of the glass again, crushing the glass into shards in his hand and giving Time a look. Like he had been working up the nerve to give up his power. 

"Alright, let's get this over with shall we?" Ott'ou wasn't really asking, and he didn't give Time much of a chance to prepare himself. 

He felt strange, fuzzy, like a cup that was empty but how somehow filled the area with itself. Everything still felt off-kilter and his skin felt electrified. Cracks in his skin like stained glass, filled with gold, and even something as simple as breathing felt different. His uncle had seemed shocked by how different he felt after handing him the reigns, nearly dropping to the floor with the shaking. 

"You're real." Ott'ou had said, like a whisper of a man seeing a ghost. Probably because he looked even more like his father now that he was officially a True-God, he could see a younger version of his father in his uncle's mind. See the regret that he had let things end on such a bad note with his brother. But he couldn't bring himself to care anymore for the man than he had before, his uncle had been a dirty, rotten, man both as a God and as a family member. His mother had nearly cried seeing him like this, happy tears, but also some part of it hurt to see him looking so much like her late husband. Made her feel old. 

Leaving the estate, he was vibrantly aware of all of the other Gods, and their heirs, in the surrounding area.. and they were aware of him as well. Not ignoring him like they had when he entered... no they hadn't ignored him, his ether had been so quiet they hadn't seen him there, as far as most of them could tell he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the presence of the previous Time God as surely as the ocean would the fire of a lit-candle. 

"Wow... you really do look just like your father, you know that?" Ostolous's voice, a memory in the man's mind about back when they had been young and adventurous. When they had agreed to sail the seas together, something that never happened because of the betrothal to his mother. 

"I'm coming to see that, yes." he hadn't spoken until now, but... his voice was deeper, more methodical, intentional like the pronunciation was perfect and slow. Deliberate. The new God turned to look at the old one, the weather God's blond hair had turned silver at one point, smile-line wrinkles deep into the areas around his mouth and eyes, but he was holding up well for a God that had been made at the same time as his own father had been. 

"Stars, you even almost sound like him too. If I was any older my mind might mistake you for him." the old Weather-god obviously was still mourning the death of his best friend, the man he had seen as his brother actually, but he was attempting to hide it behind his sunny smile. A good attempt, but Time was much more aware of things now. 

"You would be forgiven for doing so, I'm basically his clone." the new-god paused, glancing briefly at the red-haired heir-Goddess that had entered the scene. She was examining him, she had known that he would look different as a True-God but she hadn't known exactly what that would mean, seeing himself through her eyes.... Time pulled away from her ether like a child would a fire, he didn't want to see himself through others...even if the outlook was favorable, for some reason it made him feel dirty. He shifted, crossing his arms defensively, managing to catch another brief glimpse of how he looked now from her mostly unguarded mind before he could throw up his own mental barrier quick enough to block them out. Just because he could more readily take from others doesn't mean he should. There were things that even he shouldn't know. Ostolous seemed to find his response amusing, shaking his head fondly.

"You've always been one of the good ones, even when you were a little bratty boy, and while I would prefer my only daughter stay close... if she has to travel far I'm glad it's with you." the old god seemed to be very genuine, a bitter-sweet look on his face as he looked at Dolce. She looked embarrassed, but she wasn't melting from it so it wasn't too bad. 

"I trust that you'll treat her well."

"I would never do otherwise, Ostolous. Brat though I maybe, I've always been good to the people around me." he responded, to which the god shook his head before dragging him into a wheeze-inducingly tight bear-hug. Time winced when he was put back down, rubbing his hands across his back while vaguely watching Ostolous kiss his daughter on the forehead and hug her goodbye. He whispered something to her Time couldn't hear, but it wasn't really any of his business so he decided to stay out of it. When the God stepped away, Dolce stepped over to stand next to Time, a bright smile on her face. 

"Are you ready, Dolce?" he asked, lightly, still a little.... off-kilter from how different he felt and sounded. 

"Yes! I'm ready to go when you are!" she responded in an eager tone. 

"Are you sure? Not forgetting anything?" he prompted, the heir-goddess snorted at him while shaking her head. 

"I'm ready, if I forgot anything then it obviously wasn't very important." 

"Very well, we should start leaving now then. The trip is rather long on foot." Dolce looked ready to take on the world, a spring to her step, and Time still wasn't sure how he felt about the agreement he had made... at least she seemed happy with how things turned out. He supposed he'd see how long that attitude lasted for outside of the safety, and comfort, of the sphere.