Journey Below

[Felypsa]

Ammolite listened to the tale, with her eyes wide as a pup listening to an elder recite some ancient legend. She turned to Hawk to say something of admiration to him, and found that they were, in fact, very close. Closer than she had expected. Flustered and frustrated with herself, she turned away and spoke to the air instead. "Tagger and his two lapdogs...Hawk! Luke and Kindare! Didn't you say they were the adopted sons of your friend? They must be..." She immediately winced at the words. It must be painful enough having Hawk listen to his own tragic story retold, and he must have come to the same conclusion as she did. There was silence. Then, Ammolite whispered, so softly that only Hawk could hear, "I am so sorry. I had no idea..."[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk shook visably with anger at the actions of those he thought to almost be family. His back was rigid as he looked ready to snap into insanity.

Zales spoke lowly towards the other, sensing their anger. "Hawk...control your anger."

Yet Hawk did not do as Zales said. His golden eyes looked fiercely up the ceiling as he exclaimed out angrily. "DAMN YOU ICEWOLF FOR BEING SO TRUSTING!" With a flick of his tail, the warrior began to storm off down the hall. He knew not where he was going. His rage was out of control. Under his breath he uttered promises of revenge to himself. These words were for his own benefit, to sooth himself into being calm. Soon the wolven sat by the lake. His body felt drained suddenly as he looked down to the crystal clear waters. Ripples extended from below his dipped maw as a single tear fell from his golden eyes.

[Felypsa]

Ammolite was surprised and frightened at Hawk's sudden display of anger. She knew he would not take the news easily, but he was so furious...she felt a wave of rage towards Luke and Kindare for being so vile, at Tagger for being so manipulative. But it was so sad that Hawk felt anger towards his own friend, now deceased...the one who had done nothing wrong but to trust two wolves in need. Ammolite shuddered; what if she herself were too trusting of someone? It would be her downfall. Shaking her head, she made as if to follow Hawk and possibly comfort him, but Istariel stopped her.[/color]

"No, Ammolite. It is not wise to go to him now. He will take out his anger on you as well. I will go and make sure he is not to destructive or self-destructive; this is a task I must undertake. Please, Ammolite, this is for the best. Stay here with Azarak and Zales." Istariel commanded it, and it was so. She moved swiftly out of the chamber, and down the hall, until she reached Dalia's Lake. There she found Hawk, where she had expected him to me. Istariel approached him sinuously, her three tails entwined in a bizarre braid, and her rosy eyes soft. Her voice was very soothing. "This world has been cruel to you, but none of this is your fault. Nor is it the fault of your friend. He has got his punishment, Hawk, sad though it is. But you...you are given a second chance to remedy the wrongs." She sat down beside him without invitation and began to purr like a housecat, her tails rippling the water gently.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk was shaking as he sat by the lake. Yet no longer were his veins coursing with anger. No. Now he could only feel sorrow. His eyes flashed for a moment as a memory plagued his thoughts...

The winds tore across the eastern deserts. Hawk stood atop a dune as a curious pup. He watched as a group of giant wolves went to his village. They were probably just traders. Yet soon screams filled his ears as he watched the strange wolves kill his friends and family. With a cry of sorrow he ran through the sands, his golden fur helping him to blend in. Soon the pup form of Hawk slid to a halt behind the last dune. He heard the creatures talking to themselves.
"...-ere is it? The old one said a Chosen would be here."
"Shut up your buffoon. It's obvious that the pup is around here hiding. The old one is never wrong."
Suddenly Hawk ki-yied as fangs grabbed his scruff. His little form was lifted into the air as he was carried out to the opening.
"Ahhh there it is. Quickly, bind him and lets go. This place is too hot to my liking."
The last thing Hawk saw before his vision swirled was the bleeding form of his father's body.

When he awoke he was in a cold place. Everything was dark. Yet further examination showed him to be in a cave. Again the pup let loose his childish cries for his parents. Yet the only response he got was from a voice as young as his own. "Don't bother. We're both trapped in here. I'm Icewolf. They took me because someone called the 'Old one' told them I was a 'Chosen'."
Hawk shivered as he looked at the friendly, white face. Unsuringly he spoke. "I-I'm Hawk..."

Again the memory swirled into a mix of how Hawk grew up. Him and Icewolf grew up like brothers. They were trained on how to fight and kill. Whenever they failed at a task they would be forced to stay out in the cold. Icewolf, who was born in this kind of weather, could stand it. But Hawk could not. Whenever they were punished thusly, Icewolf would curl around Hawk to keep him warm. Hawk soon began to grow attached to this white wolven, feeling like he was a brother.

One last time the memory faded into another. This time there was a huge battle scene. A small group of wolves were surrounded by countless others. Icewolf roared out loudly as he slayed foe after foe with Hawk at his side. Suddenly some unidentified wolven yelled back. "ICEWOLF! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE! ME AND THOR WILL COVER YOU AS YOU RETREAT!"
Wordless Icewolf nodded as he led all of the group except two wolvens off. Soon they fought their way from the battle field. Hawk looked down anxiously as the last two fought fiercely one by one. "Come on Thor, Zues, run. Just run." Yet soon they disappeared underneath the masses of enemies. Their howls of pain echoed through the air. The last part of the memory was Hawk screaming his friends' names as Icewolf pulled him off.

The warrior watched as yet another tear fell from his eyes. The ripples it caused spread out slowly and placidly. Only word came from the mascu's lips. "Why...?"

[Felypsa]

Istariel watched Hawk, who was clearly lost in another world...some distant memories. Perhaps not so distant. Painful. Agonizing. Hawk was reliving grief from his past. She had to bring him back. It was an awful thing to be stuck in the past, unable to break free and live the present, hope for the future. She spoke to him softly: "No one can answer that question. Not now. You only find out when it happens to you yourself. And then, there's no going back to enlighten anyone else. Hawk, please," she added gently, "come back. There's no changing the past. Dwelling in it only causes further grief and pain. Please...stop hurting yourself like this. You're stronger than that." For some reason of her own, Istariel changed her form. She became a normal wolf with sleek black fur and rosy eyes, although she kept her three tails. She moved closer to Hawk and licked away a tear. "You have been given a second chance...don't waste it..."[/color]

In Zales' chamber, Ammolite paced restlessly under the watchful eyes of Azarak. Her eyes were dark blue and green, for she was saddened by Hawk's losses. She wanted to go to him, but she thought she would only be in the way. Istariel was better at such diplomatic things, anyway. She finally stopped pacing and stared at Zales. At length, she asked, "Now that he knows, what do you want him to do?" Her voice trembled a bit.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk looked to her after she changed forms. His facial features were blank as he was obviously thinking upon something. Somehow, now that he thought of it, Zales did look familiar. Yet he had been called something before. The warrior's gaze looked back to the placid waters as he furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what exactly it was that was tickling the edge of his mind. "..The old one is always right...That's it!" Hawk exclaimed the last part out and rose to his feet. Again his fury began to boil up as he jogged back to the chambers, too lost in his own intentions to pay the courtesy to Istariel that she deserved.

Zales looked to Ammolite as she posed the question. Those white, pupiless eyes were bone chilling with their gaze. "I don't tend to show myself. I prefer to aid those I want to from afar. Some may call it cowardice, but I have no need to fight. Not yet. I wish for Hawk to aid you, and I doubt it would happen any other way even if I tried. He is an odd creature. Once he makes a friend he will stick by them to the very end. That's part of the reason I had ch-" The creature cut himself short as he heard the exclamation that came from the warrior. A small smile pulled at his lips. "Well it seems he figured it out."

[Felypsa]

"Well," Istariel said to the empty air once Hawk was gone. "That's certainly never happened before." She absently changed back to her original form and followed Hawk, more than a little confused and not liking the feeling.[/color]

"He...what?" Ammolite jumped at Hawk's sudden exclamation. "What now? Oh no, he sounds really angry..." She moved away from the chamber's entrance so that she would not be in the way when Hawk came bustling in. She looked oddly at Zales. "You're not what you seem," she said accusingly, unafraid to speak her mind. "In fact, I think you've done much more to Hawk than what he deserves. I don't know what you've done, but if he's that mad about it, it can't be very good." She stood glaring at Zales even though she knew next to nothing about him, or why Hawk would be so furious all of a sudden. She just had this feeling that, were it not for Zales, Hawk wouldn't have died in the first place.[/color]

Azarak chuckled lowly and jumped up onto Ammolite's back. "Today is a day of surprises," he muttered. "I don't think I can take much more excitement! Ay me, I've got far more than what I bargained for..." He then fell silent, and stayed that way for a long time, waiting for Hawk to arrive.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk stormed into the chamber angrily. The very emotions rolled off him like a mist almost. Powerfully he struck Zales in the side of the head and then the chest. A few more times he would attack the blind wolf, his golden eyes fierce with his rage. As soon as he had inflicted enough pain upon the creature he would let loose his fury in his words. "You are the old one! You are the one who sent those murderers to my home! You are the cause for every single sorrow in my life! You are nothing but a taint upon me! You are a measely coward who fights for both sides!"

Zales was knocked over several times by the attacks that Hawk dealt. When the torrent of blows ended, the creature stood up. He spat the blood that resided in his mouth before smiling at the warrior. As Hawk spoke in his anger, Zales only nodded. "I am the old one. I made it so that you and all of the Defenders would be trained in one place and become good friends. Do not blame your sorrows on me Hawk. You know well that even if I had never touched your life, it would still have it's low points. Now stop in your fury and think of this. If I had never sent for you to become an Elite, you would still be in the desert. You would have a simple, boring life. You would never have met Ammolite, Istariel, or anyone you know now."

[Felypsa]

Ammolite suppressed a scream as Hawk attacked the elderly, blind wolf. She backed into a far corner of the chamber, watching as Hawk lashed out at Zales, accusing him of horrible things, a murderer and coward among them. She could hardly believe it; it was far worse than she had supposed. Hawk's parents had been murdered by Zales. Hawk's friends eventually sent to death on the orders of the same Zales. Her eyes were wide and red with fear - but there was also a green-blue, compassion and sadness, for Hawk. He too had had to live parentless for a while - he too had suffered the death of a parent - both parents in his case. But he had also had to watch as many of his beloved friends had died. Nothing she could say or do would ever make him feel better, she knew it. Why did I bring him with me? she wondered. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have to know the truth...but he wanted to come. And it's better to learn the truth from Zales than from the claws of Luke and Kindare. But she knew better than to say this. She kept silent.[/color]

Azarak, however, was held by no such inhibitions. "You can play the 'would-have' game all you want," he said, both to Hawk and Zales. "For better or for worse, the past is fixed. You're here now. We're here now. Nothing can be done to change what's already been done. Look, without Zales, maybe you wouldn't have met us, Hawk. But maybe you would have. Maybe your parents would still be alive; maybe not. You see? The 'would-have' game gets you nowhere, because you never know and, even if you did, you can't do anything about it. So you can yell at and hurt Zales, you can yell at and hurt me, you can yell at and hurt Ammolite even, and nothing will have changed. You've got to figure out what to do now, not what you should have done then." Now his ruby-red eyes were fixed entirely upon Hawk.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Despite suffering several wounds from the attacks, Zales remained calm. He looked to Ammolite for a moment before his gaze fell back to Hawk. "Look Hawk. You have sent fear into your friend. I will not deny my actions, nor will I justify them. Yet I did everything for a reason. Look at all the good you have done. You have aided countless creatures as a Defender. You have a good heart Hawk, despite being raised as a murderer. That is why I choose you for this. The world needs soldiers for the side of good. Tagger and Deathblood were mistakes on my part. I brought you back so that you could rebuild the Defenders. Azarak is right, we can not live in the past. We have to look to the future."

Hawk looked over to Ammolite, seeing the fear he had installed into her. Quickly he felt his anger drain from his body, leaving him fatigued. His hind end fell to the ground forlornly. The words of the others cascaded upon his ears. No. He would not rebuild rebuild the Defenders. Even if the group's intentions were pure, they failed miserably at their long term desire which was to protect all they could. Those golden eyes of his looked over to Ammolite, the one true friend he had left. His gaze was soft as he remained silent. Keeping his eyes on her, he shook his head. "I can not rebuild the Defenders, nor do I want to. Right now, all I want to do is help Ammolite find her father. If you truly know me Zales, you know that my mind can not be changed. The most I will do for the Defenders is avenge my brother Icewolf. But not this day." After he spoke his words, he rose to his feet and treaded over to Ammolite. Gently he bowed his head to her before tendely letting his cheek touch her own. The embrace was short and innocent before he pulled away. One of the things that unsettled him the most was how he had scared his friend.

[Felypsa]

As Hawk slowly calmed down and succumbed to reason, Ammolite's eyes lost their crimson. She listened wordlessly as Hawk explained what he was going to do. In part, she was relieved that he was staying with her and helping her find her father, but she also wondered if it was going to be that easy. Regardless of what Azarak and Zales said, Ammolite believed that their pasts - both Hawk's and her own - will continue to interfere. It was not that simple to just disregard what's already been done. She looked to Hawk and nudged him softly, smiling shakily. "Welcome back," she said, as if he had been gone somewhere. And he had been - the Hawk she had known had vanished in a spirit of fury, but now he had returned, for which she was grateful. She was not sure what else to say. She swallowed and added, "Since you're so willing to help me, I promise I'll help you. You're my friend, Hawk. I'm not going to leave you to deal with this alone." She smiled again, this time more steadily.[/color]

"If you're quite finished with your sentimental exchanges, may we move on?" Azarak asked, scurrying over towards the threshold of the chamber. "Unless I am mistake, the princess awaits us. The next step is about to take place." He looked back at Ammolite and Hawk, waiting for them to follow him.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk smiled at Ammolite's reasuring words. He bowed his head deeply in gratitude to her promise. At Azarak's words he turned around to say farewell to Zales. Yet the creature was no longer there. It was as if the mysterious being had never been there. However Hawk saw blood on the floor and knew that he had not imagined the whole thing. His golden eyes watched as three black feathers fluttered down to the floor. Hawk tilted his head to this. After a few moments he followed Azarak out of the chamber, pausing at the entrance to make sure Ammolite followed.

[Felypsa]

Ammolite too observed the blood and black feathers, but did not mention it. Zales' role, apparently, was complete, and there was no use looking for him again. If he needed to, he would show up again, of that Ammolite was sure. She walked beside Hawk behind Azarak, wondering what "the next step" was that the lizard alluded to.[/color]

Azarak led them back to the Lake and the Waterfall, where Istariel was waiting, not far from where she had been when she had comforted Hawk. For some reason of her own, she was in her three-tailed wolf form instead of the odd panther-form. For a moment, she tossed a disdainful look towards Hawk, then her eyes softened when she realized what he must have been through. But she politely did not mention Zales or anything about it, completing the feeling of Zales' appearance being like a dream. Instead she addressed Ammolite. "We need you for this next part. We need you to locate Fiendark - your father. Are you willing?"[/color]

Before Ammolite could answer, Azarak stepped up beside her. "Since you're the only one who has his blood, only you can locate him. The process is complicated, but it should work. We've tested it - we've used Istariel to find the king as an experiment. But since we have no idea where Fiendark is, or how far away he is, or if he's in another realm - we don't know if this will work. It's iffy at best. So what do you say?"[/color]

Ammolite looked at Hawk, unsure what to say. The whole thing made her nervous...but if it was the only way to find her father...Fiendark, that was his name. It made her shiver a little, though the cave was far from chilly.[/color]

[Monkey Monk]

Hawk remained silent as they entered the area about the lake. He could not help but feel guilty for having run off on Istariel when she had been comforting him. Lowly he bowed his head, whilst maintaining his silence that is, in hopes of conveying his apologies to her. As the other began to congregate amongst themselves, he listened in to their words intently. At the mention of their idea of finding Ammolite's father, his head quirked to one side. Curiousity filled his senses as he waited eagerly to see what sorcery they would unleash in hopes of finding the one they sought. It was then that a thought creapt it's way to his attention. Why did they want to find this demon so bad? Was he of importance? Yet as Ammolite's gaze fell upon him, he offered her a warm smile. This expression showed that he thought she should do as they ask. It would most definately shorten the time of their search.

[Felypsa]

That was all Ammolite needed. She turned to Azarak and her friend Istariel, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I'll do all I can," she said. "Tell me what to do." She was still a little nervous, but tried to convince herself that everything was going to go right.[/color]

Istariel's eyes had been narrowed at Hawk, but she finally gave the tiniest of nods, accepting his apology. But she turned away; there were more important things to deal with now. She dipped her tails into the water and said to Ammolite, "Wade into the middle of the Lake. Face Korian's Waterfall. Summon your desire to find your father. That is all you need to do. Azarak shall do the rest." She looked at the lizard pointedly.[/color]

"Very well, then," Ammolite said agreeably. She looked at Hawk and smiled, then entered the Lake. It was actually more shallow than one would suppose, and so Ammolite's head was still well above the surface by the time she got to the middle. She turned towards the Waterfall, and thought of how much she wanted to see her father for the first time...all she wanted to ask him...all of her curiosity that needed to be slaked.[/color]
Istariel turned to Hawk. "Now, Hawk, I suggest you and I stand back, for Azarak will conduct the procedure and we're best not to get in the way." Her rosy eyes glittered as she looked at him, her three tails swishing behind her softly.[/color]