aaaaa I'm so sorry this is very very long go to the bottom of the n&c for info set before crystals~brothers "where'd my rabbit go?" the shopkeeper exclaimed. shadow was quick to get out of the scene before he noticed him. The rabbit was heavy in comparison to shadow's small size, but he was used to it, every week he looked for mice foolish enough to run about the marketplace, or steal cooked ones from sellers, that way his family wouldn't have less of a share when viper went to get prey from the real woods. he'd eat about a third of it and then pretend to eat when viper came with one or two rabbits to share "strays have to pay tax in prey to queen pearl because they don't have enough money to pay silver moonly" viper had explained /it's because of that DUMB queen daddy and my littermates died!/ shadow thought in disgust /I see NO reason to give her the pitiful amount prey we DO have/ shadow quietly padded into the little alleyway where his mother and his half-brother fox were. fox pounced on an ant, smiling he proudly announced it to hydrangea, shadow and his mother. "good job, fox! you're going to be a great hunter someday" she praised him shadow hid his rabbit behind an old, broken, shop hut in the alley and grudgingly tore into his usual third /sure, fox will be a good hunter but I'M the one who's giving my family more food but they don't even know. In fact, if I told viper he'd probably scold me for stealing/ shadow thought /but dad wouldn't, he'd be proud of me, he'd understand me/ shadow had felt like an outsider in his family since fox was born, he kept his last name: midnight, but viper, fox, and hydrangea were all whitetails now. and he never felt like he could trust hydrangea with his thoughts or feelings or that she loved him as much as fox she always seemed to praise fox more and protect him from doing things /maybe because he's younger?/ shadow thought fox was one and a half moons old shadow was three but fox always seemed cautious much more cautious than shadow ever was it seemed fox didn't really need protecting because he could protect himself. /she just likes him better because he's not me. she thinks I'm too reckless, she thinks I'm going to eventually die like the rest of the midnights so why get attached?/ shadow thought /she'll just start over with her NEW mate and NEW son and forget me like she forgot limestone/ shadow got mad at himself for thinking this but he had reason to believe it, he had nothing against fox, nothing against viper but he just couldn't understand his own mother /I probably am going to die though, I'd hate to die being on bad terms with ANYONE I'd feel so bad/ shadow thought /maybe I should talk to her about it?/ just then, fox came over to shadow "shadow, why you have foods?" he asked shadow's fur bristled "don't tell mom!" he hissed "Ok I'll tell mom" fox replied "fox! NO" shadow face-pawed but fox was already going over to hydrangea. "shadow I am very dissapointed in you" hydrangea scolded "you should know better than to steal from wolves who worked hard to get rabbits for others" shadow's ears heated "I'M working hard to get rabbits for ME so YOU don't have to share viper's rabbits with me!" he spat back "then why didn't you give the rabbit to us?" hydrangea replied "because I KNEW you'd be so 'dissapointed in me' for stealing!" shadow shouted hydrangea stared at shadow who was glaring at her her gaze was soft and she reached behind her tail and handed a peice of paper to shadow: it was an image of limestone, with a paw on younger shadow's head they were both laughing. shadow's eyes became wet and he ran into his mother's fur "I'm sorry" he wailed /she might not love me as much anymore but I miss her/ shadow thought hydrangea wrapped her tail around shadow "limestone is in the past, shadow but I know you miss him" hydrangea said "you need to move on it'll be better for you" "I... I can't..." shadow whimpered /I'll be an outsider forever.../ "you can do anything, my little shadow" crystals~brothers happens a week later shadow follows misty through the damp forest with a heavy heart /now hydrangea and viper are going to die and it will be all my fault because I was too afraid to help and I couldn't move on like hydrangea asked and I'll never see them again/ he thought wistfully, then he looked at fox behind him who seemed uncertain and clueless /well, I haven't lost everyone fox is still here/ shadow smiled encouragingly at his brother who smiled back "we've made it" misty said cooly shadow and fox stared in awe (sound familiar to any of you readers? ;) ) at the proudly standing camp, bustling with all sorts of wolves and wildflowers and dens a reddish brown wolf about shadow's age came up to them "ay! misty's back!" he exclaimed "and ah- who are these guys?" he asked "newcomers" misty said "ohhh well welcome! the name's aspen!" said the wolf extending his paw "shadow" shadow replied (continued in n&c)
"and this is my half-brother, fox" shadow gestured to fox who waved shyly "lemme show ya around" aspen insisted shadow had met every (wolf in wildpack which is the name of this group he did his best to take in hydrangea's words and move on from his past it was hard but he managed to keep it inside and became best friends with aspen and frost. aspen came to wildpack with his mother who had come from the sapphire kingdom to see misty and frost had run away from an orphanage when her mother and sister had been put in the sapphire kingdom dungeon and she said she'd go back when she becomes a yearling in three moons "but we'll miss you!" shadow exclaimed "I know and I'll miss you guys but I don't have a future here it's the same thing every day and I need to go deeper" frost explained "that makes sense I guess" aspen replied "but what are you planning on doing in the sapphire kingdom?" frost's eyes lit up "I'm planning on getting a job in the palace and having a mate and pups but you never know" frost said. "why would you want a mate and pups?" shadow asked "you could do fine without them" "well, since you guys will be here I'd want wolves to be there for me and support me, that's what families do right?" frost replied shadow froze /only fox ever supported me and was there for me/ he thought /we may be very different but we're definitely family/ just trying to sort out hydrangea and shadow's complicated relationship somehow...? and showing shadow and fox's connection pre crystal and foxglove / means thoughts I tried punctuation but I hate the timeconsumingness of adding it don't tell me off about it protagonist: shadow theories and such are welcome
