The Blackhearts - Ch1
Bit of a foreword, I started this story a long time ago, The title is completely unoriginal, I know. And I use my own fursona as the main character, problem officer? Jokes aside, if you like this I have 8 more chapters and I'll upload if anybody wants.
The Blackhearts
Chapter 1
Fire and Ice
The sun had fallen victim to the gaping mouth of the horizon and had been swallowed whole as it had so many times before. It was a cool night in the desert, the red-orange sand rolled in small hills for many miles in all directions, but to the northeast the great and tall mountains could be seen, their white peaks glinting in the half moon light of a light blue moon. Throughout the desert where various stones and giant boulders jutting out of the sand, like the desert's wicked and gnarled teeth, remnants of what may have thrived in the wasteland thousands of years before.
Along the warm hills a lone white wolf walked slowly, it's head low and it's heart heavy. The moon's light shimmered on each beautifully pure white strand of fur, rippling off of the wolf's coat so magnificently that the wolf seemed to glow in the darkness of the desert. Her Icy-blue eyes stared at the ground as she moved her strong paws one after the other, but her gaze saw much farther than the sand before her. Visions kept replaying in her mind, visions barely a few hours old that she could not shake. Her pack had exiled her. Her strong and vibrant heart spoke too boldly about her calm and noble pack, the Whitedunes, and now she was banished from the mountains, sent to die in the desert heat.
The Whitedunes are a pack of purely white wolves with blue eyes, who live high in the mountains and thrive in the bitter winter weather that kills other wolves so effortlessly. Their coats are thicker than any other wolf's, as is their blood. But the lone Whitedune was in grave danger, and she knew it. The desert was no place for a wolf of her kind and when the sun would break free from the jaws of the horizon the desert would grow so hot that the thick-blooded wolf would suffer immensely and ultimately die from the heat.
The female padded up the tallest hill she could find in sight and sat on her haunches atop it, gazing out into the endless desert. She swung back her white muzzle and gazed at the celestial painting above her. Her emotions ran over eventually and she howled long and mournfully, crying her sadness to the stars that seemed to gaze down at her with almost pity. As she finished her wolf song she gazed out once again to the horizon, which had spit up a dark red crescent of a moon. It hung over the horizon like a bloody fang. There was a sudden sound to her left, and she jumped to her paws. Her stance was strong and her heart was brave, she was ready for anything to emerge from the darkness. Atop another small hill of sand, two blood-red orbs seemed to rise from the sand and hover a few feet above the ground. But as the figure crested the hill she could see that it was a very large black wolf, with eyes as red and fiery as the blood that flowed in her veins.
"Hello," The black wolf growled kindly, it's voice strong and that of a male.
The Whitedune did not reply, she just stared back into his eyes boldly, as wolves often do to challenge one another.
"Please," he growled again, "don't be frightened, I mean you no harm, white wolf."
"Who are you?" the Whitedune eventually growled.
"I should ask you the same question. The desert does not seem the place to find a Whitedune, a loner at that." The black wolf lowered his tail, "I am a Bloodflame, or, I was, I've recently left that pack."
Bloodflames were a pack of desert-dwelling wolves, whose coats were never a shade lighter than the darkest of reds, most of the pack was black though.
"Then we have fates not so different," the white wolf whimpered, her tail also sinking, "my pack has exiled me, and I am not familiar with lands beyond the mountains, so I ended up here."
The black wolf turned suddenly, "Come, follow me." He then started trotting off back in the direction he came from.
The Whitedune thought it a bad idea to follow a stranger even deeper into the desert, but then again, what choice did she have? Swallowing her pride, she ran from her hill after the black wolf and eventually caught up with him. She trotted a good distance behind him, that way if he did have dark intentions at least she would have some space to react. The two wolves kept a good pace thru the desert, ascending and descending a few dozen hills in the darkness, the male sometimes dipping his head to scent the ground and keep in the right direction. He lead the beautiful white female to a gigantic boulder laid atop a great pile of crumbling stones.
"Follow me," the black wolf said and he squeezed his way thru a small hole at the bottom of the large boulder and disappeared.
The Whitedune squeezed her way in as well and was astonished at what was on the other side. A large den, tall enough to stand, even jump around, with a cool stone floor. It was almost like a cave, with the large boulder serving as an excellent roof.
"This is my den," the Bloodflame growled softly, "you're welcome to stay as long as you need, it is cool in here during the days."
"I..." the white wolf started, not knowing how to thank such generosity, "...thank you very much. You are much too kind. But why help me?"
The black wolf nearly laughed, "I heard your howls, they were so sad. I couldn't leave a beautiful wolf such as yourself to just die in the heat."
The whitedune blushed under her fur, for she had thought the Blooflame very strong and handsome, and his scent was strong, the likes of a good alpha wolf. She eventually felt comfortable enough to lay down in a corner of the den.
"Does the white wolf have a name?" asked the Bloodflame.
She laid her head on her paws and stared up at him with her icy blue eyes and just whimpered.
The black wolf sat back on his haunches and gazed at the marvelous wolf that lay before him, her cerulean eyes darting all around, still rushing with emotion from the events earlier that day.
"Kyros," the black wolf finally growled after a few minutes of silence, "My name is Kyros."
The white wolf was staring at her paws in front of her, "Ashis." she replied, unmoving.
Kyros laid down finally, resting his strong black muzzle on his forelegs, between his paws, and stared longingly at Ashis. On the other side of the den Ashis still lay, her head still buzzing with thoughts, and her blue eyes darting back and forth with the events reoccurring in her mind. Left, right, up and down they darted, and Kyros was intrigued as to what could be thrashing so violently in her thoughts.
Almost two hours had passed and both wolves had blinked scarcely. Ashis could not sleep at all and suddenly her icy eyes wandered unknowingly directly into Kyros' fiery ones. They stared for a few minutes, which was unusual, for wolves rarely stared one another directly in the eye, as not to rouse their anger. But still they stared, and deep in their stomachs something was churning, a pulling feeling that seemed to bring their hearts closer. Kyros lifted his head from his paws and cocked his cunning ears forward, as did Ashis. Both wolves could smell each other's scent growing stronger in the den with their keen noses.
Hearts aflame they knew they could deny it no longer and simultaneously they both stood on their paws and walked very slowly toward the center of the den, their eye contact still unbroken. The scents grew stronger and their breaths grew heavier, both wolves had a tugging in their gut as they began pacing in a circle around each other, taking in one another's beauty with their eyes and their musky, lustful scents with their noses. The ice in Ashis' blue eyes was melted by the fire in Kyros' carmine eyes and the white wolf stopped pacing and widened her forepaws, taking a submissive stance, and the black wolf wasted no time in taking his mount. The Bloodflame's heavy, warm breaths rustled the soft white fur on the back of the Whitedune's neck and her soft voice could faintly be heard in the midst of her increasingly heavy breaths. For a while, they were one, they were together, and the fire in their hearts could not be doused by the storms in their minds. Instinct took over and the Black Wolf and the White Wolf were mating.
Ashis was woken by a big long tongue running along her muzzle. Kyros stood before her and at his feet was a fine desert hare.
"For you," Kyros smiled.
Ashis' long, fluffy tail wagged and she enjoyed her meal greatly. Kyros laid beside her and when she finished she pressed her lean body against his strong side and nuzzled into his long fur.
A few months passed and Ashis' stomach had begun to swell. Inside of her grew a fine litter of puppies and the two parents could not have been more proud, watching her stomach grow and awaiting the day their offspring would be born.
One warm morning, Ashis was jostled awake as Kyros left her side and squirmed thru the entrance and left to hunt. Without thinking twice Ashis fell back asleep and dreamed happily of her and Kyros, playing and teaching a fine family of cubs. She looked fondly into her mate's eyes and leaned in to nuzzle his handsome face, but Kyros, the puppies, and the entire earth suddenly went up as black smoke and she was startled from her slumber and woke panting heavily in the den. Kyros was nowhere in sight.
Ashis poked her head out of the hole, the sun had just disappeared and the western sky still had a tinge of purple to it. It was cool enough for the Whitedune to venture out into the desert, so she squeezed her way thru the hole, barely fitting because her stomach was so greatly expanded. She howled for her mate, but was answered only by the calls of distant owls. She began scenting the ground, following the faint scent Kyros had left behind. She lost it at times and had to backtrack and find it again.
She was slowed somewhat by her litter of puppies, but her heart was stained with fear, Kyros had been out all day and never returned. She feared the worst, but shook the thought. His scent began to grow stronger, he was nearby. But as she went, another terrible smell was caught in her attentive nose, the scent of blood.
"No!" she whined, as she trotted heavily up a hill. But as she crested the dune she was immediately knocked to the ground by the sight on the other side.
There lay Kyros in a pool of his own blood, and not far off were two other wolves, a black one and a burgundy one, both dead. With her eyes swelled with tears, Ashis howled so loudly in pain that it seemed to echo farther across the earth than any howl should. After she had mustered the strength to walk over to her mate's body, she had almost convinced herself he would spring up and be fine. But as she passed the two other wolves with dark coats and red eyes, it became all to true for the Whitedune. She collapsed onto her mate and whined terribly. But a sudden breath came into the seemingly dead black wolf.
"Ash.. Ashis..." he mustered thru all his pain, a vicious bite had been inflicted on his throat.
"Kyros," Ashis whined, "I'm here Kyros."
"Ashis... I.." the poor wolf mustered his last breath, "love, Ashis.. I love... you..." His last words came out in a suffering whimper and when his last breath left him, his heart stopped, and Kyros died under his mate.
"I love you too... Kyros..." The Whitedune threw her muzzle back and howled as loudly as she had before.
Ashis spent the night lying next to Kyros' body, and she felt it grow cold and it wounded her heart immensely. Just as the full red moon passed overhead, Ashis left her mate and headed for the den, the sun would rise soon.
Back in the den the white wolf collapsed into a whimpering mess, tears rolling down her pretty face. She eventually fell asleep and never wanted to wake again. But as she slept, her dreams were disrupted by a tugging feeling in her stomach. The sensation grew stronger with each wave until it woke her from her sleep and she knew what was about to happen, it was time for the puppies to be born.
Ashis spent near an hour birthing the whimpering, messy pups. But after the trial was over she licked their little coats clean and they all began suckling greedily at her stomach. Five beautiful cubs, Three gray, one with a black dorsal stripe, and one with black paws, and a pure black and pure white pup. Ashis felt immense pride at her litter of pups. But her poor little body had been strained terribly and her heart broken so violently, that the rush of love she felt for her pups was just too much for her body too take in one short day. She lay her head in the cool dirt and breathed a long sigh of relief, but never inhaled another breath. She was dead also.
The pups were doomed with no one to care for them. They only had each other to warm themselves in the cool den. After a few days, three of the pups had passed and a gray pup and a black pup were huddled together. The gray pup, blind still, pulled itself along the dusty den floor for a good while and it just ended up in a corner away from it's sibling. The world's sounds and scents were all intensely distorted to the pup and it didn't know how to react to anything. A sudden scratching sound startled it and it's most basic instinct was to keep quiet and lay low. A while passed and the sounds had subsided. The gray pup began whimpering, it was desperately hungry and cold now. Just as it stopped squirming and making noises, it felt a gentle muzzle grab it by the scruff. It's warm breath warmed the pup's little body and it was carried for what seemed to the newborn like an eternity.
Then suddenly it was laid gently on the ground again and it felt the familiar kicking of other puppies. Instinct took over once again and it rooted it's way into the stomach of a strange wolf and began to suckle.
A large golden wolf with scars on his muzzle and black marks all about his body stood above the pup, it was he who had carried it from the den to his mate, a pretty light-gray wolf, also marked with unusual black marks, who had a small litter of three cubs and happily accepted the orphan pup.
"Good," growled the gold wolf, "It's getting some nourishment, hopefully it will make a complete recovery."
The gray female looked fondly at her mate, "Looks like you found the poor thing just in the nick of time, Tusk."
"It was a grim sight, Aqua. The pup had crawled away from it's dead mother and her three other pups were dead also."
"His fur is beautiful," Aqua growled very softly, "black stripe, gray body, and white paws. A very unique little wolf indeed." Aqua admired the pup and licked it's little ears gently.
"What shall we call it?"
Just at that moment, the pup's eyes began to open very slowly, and both Tusk and Aqua gasped at the beautiful carmine orbs against the quiet gray of his face.
"Carmyne." Aqua said fondly.