#or that it should've at least been posted on october 1st

[formigoid]

girl please dont eat the symbolic stars. girl nooooo

[prismadog]

Found Family AU: Childhood [Emptober 5th]

so...yeah...two days late now, sorry about that. I, once again, struggled to come up with an idea. some of these prompts would be better suited for artwork but if I tried that, well, then there'd never be any content - not for a lack of trying, just, I'm really slow when it comes to drawing [there is a Lizzie, Jimmy, and Joel wip that's been sitting open for at least three weeks now. and a Scott & Xornoth concept wip that's been sitting around for about a month, if not more.]

but hey, got one out finally. honestly, probably should've started these when I first found the prompt list last month, but I didn't even think I was going to do this until the night before October 1st.

I took a slightly different turn with the prompt - it's still "childhood" but...not. it's about Lord of Mars. It's a bit longer than planned, might not be a perfect childhood segment, but hey, I tried. I'm running on a few hours sleep, at least, so, yeah, hope you guys enjoy it anyway!

-

Childhood

Lord of Mars sits behind his gravestone, dark eyes on his pack - his family, his brothers and sisters, his Mother - that sit surrounding it, grieving his death. in the center, with Mother at her back, is his sister Shrub, planting one of her mushrooms in the dirt.

"we should all aspire to be like Mars," the little gnome says, her voice soft and strained. she sits back on her heels, resting against Mother's chest, and sniffles.

Mother nuzzles Shrub, wrapping a large paw around her smaller body and pulling her close. Shrub, in turn, latches onto the huge direwolf and buries her face in her fur. her body starts shaking.

his siblings stay for a moment longer, nuzzling each other in comfort, then return to their posts - just because one of their own has fallen, does not mean they can slack in their duties of protecting their territory, their forest, their home.

Mars watches his sister and Mother, looking back over his short life.

-

Mars, before he was known as such, was the runt of a litter of four - Venus, Gemini, and Cancer. they were bigger than him, stronger than him, more vocal than him. he couldn't keep up with them, but they didn't hold it against him - runts happen and in this pack, the runts are well-taken care of.

Mother babied him, always kept him close and nuzzled him and made sure he never strayed far from her side. she also kept a close eye on him when he played with his littermates - if things got a bit too rough, Mother would step in and pull him away. he never liked that but who was he to argue against Mother - she's the Guardian of the Forest.

he was barely over one moon old when Shrub came into their lives. there was a storm and Mother ran from the den, he didn't know why and neither did anyone else - not his littermates, not his older siblings - but his elder brothers and sisters didn't seem overly worried, they just silently kept watch for her return.

and return she did, not long later, with a new packmate in tow. the creature, later he found she was called a 'gnome', clung to Mother's side, cold and wet, making the same sounds that he and the other pups make when they're upset. Mother brought the creature into the den and settled around the little thing, comforting it when the others came close.

thunder clashed overhead and the creature startled, the crying worsening. it wasn't his first storm but he still pushed his way to the front, to Mother, where he snuggled into her side. his siblings, littermates and all, joined into a pile.

the pups lay practically on top of the creature, vying for attention from it and Mother. and the older dire wolves lay close, bodies touching in the form of comfort, of safety, of protection.

Shrub, as she later introduced herself, was one of them from the moment Mother brought her into the den.

he grew up at the gnome's side, playing with her and learning with her the ways of the pack - how to keep guard, how to fight, how to protect their home. she in turn gave them names - Mother was dubbed Lady Sun, the eldest was Lord of the Moon, his older sisters Aries and Taurus, his older brother Mercury, his littermates Venus and Gemini and Cancer, and he was named Mars.

nearing his fifth moon, another creature came to them, a spirit, this one reeking of darkness, a permanent sinister grin on its face. Mother's kind sweet nature became that of a warrior - she stood before the beast, growling low in her throat, her body ready to spring, her hackles raised. this was the first time he'd seen Mother in such a way.

the beast, the demon - the spirits of the forest whispered - stood silently, as though unafraid of the predator defending her pack. "S̵̙͕̀̃ḣ̖̻͛̓r̴̨̦͕̝ư̡͕̭̇b̬͖̏́͢," it called in a voice that was the very essence of evil. ["Shrub"]

the gnome, his sister, who was hiding with his elder siblings, broke past the defense and towards the beast, shrieking in glee. Mother tried to stop her but she was too fast.

Shrub flung herself at the beast, latching onto it and making the kinds of noises the pups make when happy. Mother watched as the beast wrapped the girl up in its arms - she growled and their gnome looked back.

"it's okay, Lady Sun," Shrub said. she released the beast from her embrace but still kept one of her paws on it. "this is my dad! they're just here to say 'hi'," she said, to Mother, to the pack, "I promise they won't hurt any of you!"

true to her word, the beast, Shrub's sire Xornoth - she named him later - never brought harm to the pack. in the time it took Mars to grow into adulthood - 24 moons, 2 cycles - Xornoth never once raised a finger against anyone. not Shrub, not Mother, not his elder siblings, not the pups that followed after him.

the demon simply watched the pack from afar, finding only companionship with their gnome.

-

and now, another several moons since, at the end of one life and the beginning of the next, the demon still watches. Mars sees them behind Mother, on a hill near one of the guardian statues.

the demon looks back at him, crimson eyes seeing him the way Mother can, and bows their head - a show of grief, of sorrow, of honor, for the life lost. he bows his head in kind, then looks to Mother.

Mother turns her head in the demon's direction and nudges the gnome clinging to her. Shrub wipes her eyes and glances up at her father when they appear closer, only a few feet away from them all.

"Dad," is all she says before flinging herself into Xornoth's arms, her crying starting up again.

the demon holds her close. "M͉̅ͮ͒ͤā̤̓̍͘r̴̨̦͕̝s̠҉͍͊ͅ f̵͖̜̉ͅo̯̱̊͊͢ư̡͕̭̇ĝ̽̓̀͑ḣ̖̻͛̓t̲̂̓ͩ̑ w̦̺̐̐͟ẹ̿͋̒̕l̙͖̑̾ͣl̙͖̑̾ͣ," they say, their voice always dripping with malevolence, but the words are softer now, gentler. ["Mars fought well"]

Mars moves to stand with Mother, nuzzling her shoulder. he vows to continue protecting the pack in his new life as a spirit.

---