ω ι η ѕ т є η є ν є η т
{Who cherishes his company}
AlteredMelody
{He is called}
Orpheus
{Who he is}
Blossoming. Strong. Blessed. Free.
{Why he is}
Growing up, Orpheus was never really coddled by his mother. Not that he was the weakest, or the smallest, or was unfortunate enough to have a first-time mother who didn't know how to care for her young. It was simply the fact that the young male opted to be alone. Looking back, he wonders at this unconscious decision; did 'alone' choose him, or was the solitude solace for his bickering young pack mates and bossy, short-tempered, 'stop-chewing-on-my-ears-or-I'll-snap' mother? Either way, he doesn't regret it. Oftentimes in the first year of his life, during the warm, sun spotted spring afternoons in the diminishing forest in which he was raised, the cub would chase the wind. Orpheus didn't care that he didn't know where it was taking him. He felt that it was good, that it was right, and that he was free. His heart bursting with joy, the young male would sing songs with the birds and let it carry on the breeze to whoever would listen.
And he would return home to a nip on the muzzle from a worried mom or aunt.
His mind wanders to the autumn months; cool rains and frosty mornings with the sun's rays dolloping the ground through golden branches and warming his welcoming body, stiff from the night's cool. The falling leaves spreading ripples over the surface of his favorite calm stream fascinated Orpheus. The way the salmon would scatter in all directions only to re-group in order to investigate the imposing leaf floating slowly down with the current. The way the disturbance spread, grew, and vanished within seconds. The colors and shapes which would become distorted in the water's reflection. And the crisp, cool air, breeze ruffling his fur and sending shivers down his spine, would once again guide him to nowhere.
And then right back to a concerned family.
Summers and winters were the same, he reflects with a soft sigh. Wandering and playing and getting lost just because he liked to. There was the time one simmering day where he happened upon a human for the first time. He had taken shelter in the brush, shrouded by foliage and heat refraction. Cautiously, Orpheus had followed behind at a distance, his careful paws falling silently so as to avoid detection. He'd stalked behind until they had happened upon a dirt road, which the girl turned down, kicking stones as she went. Orpheus, conspicuously interested in this new creature, watched until she disappeared down the road. He waited for her as often as he could from then on, much to his pack's displeasure. After some time, he'd even gathered the courage to show himself to her, even if just for an instant, before darting away. He remembers fondly how her crashing footsteps had followed him for a distance of about a hundred yards before falling behind and stopping altogether. He'd turned to listen to her retreating form, half-debating whether he should follow or not. In the end, he had decided against it, his instinct to return to his safe home too strong.
This time, he was met by a flattened, treeless, deserted area where just hours ago his family had thrived.
Orpheus still searches for his lost life. During the day, when there's nothing better to do, he hopelessly surveys the perimeter of his new home for his mother, waiting to scold him with a sharp snap to the rump for leaving. But now, as the cold autumn night wind howls outside, he's content to just close his eyes and reflect. Not only on his family, but on the girl, too. The girl who changed him, who peaked his curiosity, and who brought him to his current fate. The one who became his companion.
And as he's falling into slumber that same girl strokes the length of his back with a warm hand and softly murmurs his blessing. 'Orpheus'.
by l o v e l y ~ » Sun Oct 07, 2012 2:02 pm 
