Scarred. Marked. Mutated. Tattooed. Tested. Tried. Imprisoned. Escaped.

The past has caught up with him and this time, delivered something totally unexpected. Something he barely even dared dream of having. Zebriaca. Only he knows how just how many times she saved him. She had gathered pups from their old pack, the ESLP, those whom were not comfortable in the shadows. Or those too comfortable. Among this group of misfits was Ky. Another was Ky�s half-brother Cypress, struggling with warped elemental powers. Hidden in the deep reaches of DarkForest, somehow becoming with Zeb the head of this strange little half-pack, Steel found something he had never really had. He found his place. He found home. I had a dream last night. I hardly recognized myself, not without the layer upon layer of metallic-tipped fur. Missing the sandy-yellow patches. Not without the tattoos I have now become accustomed to, the scars I had gathered over the years, or without the harshness life had placed upon my shoulders. It was strange to see that puppy sitting in the ashen dirt, watching the activity of the massive pack flow around me. I didn�t know one of my ears didn�t stand up properly when I was that age. Hey, you think I went around gazing into still lakes often? I was more concerned about if I would beat Brou in our next fight and what the next place Goast discovered would be like. And then suddenly the pack was in choas. I couldn�t find Brou or Goast or even my mother anywhere. Crop tenders flew down the slopes, warriors were massing everywhere, and for some reason I saw then the Lead Warrior of my birth-pack had black eyes. Then there was fighting and death, sped up and blurred yet in slow motion so I could see every detail, and I leapt to my paws and tried to find out which way to run. I knew this was the Great War my pack had fought against their oldest enemies, who had allies themselves with fierce warrior Eyries. My pack had been decimated, although in other aspects they won. I had only been a pup, though my brother Goast had fought well to avenge the death of our father. Run! Then the fighting was not fighting any longer, but flames, flames all around! There were howls, but everything inside me told me to run away from them, away form the flames. When I stopped running, I found myself at the top of a steep cliff, miles away form anything that looked familiar. When I felt the sensation of eyes upon me I turned, somehow not surprised by the sight of the golden puppy sitting behind me although I�d never seen her before. She was younger than me, smaller, delicate, and without knowing why I reached out and picked her up. She was heavier than she appeared, but being lifted off the ground evicted no greater response than a knowing stare. She had a rouge patch of fur on her forehead, as if she�d been running swiftly and caught on something. I was just thinking I should recognize something about the necklace she was wearing� My eyes opened and I recalled the truth when I saw the metallic claws emerging from my toes. I lifted my muzzle off my paws to untangle the medallion from around my neck, where it had a tendency to get caught up in my metal chest-fur. Against my side I felt the silky touch of Zeb�s fur and I got up carefully so I didn�t wake her. I turned to watch her for a moment. It hit me all of a sudden I had been sleeping inside with her. I hadn�t slept inside the cave before � my claustrophobia ensured I was happier outside. My eyes gathered the tiny light particles others would be blind to in the dim light, and my night-vision kicked in. I stood looking down on Zeb, who I had loved for longer than I�d known. I leaned down and smoothed a stray patch of fur between her ears with my tongue, leaving her to sleep. Sitting on top of the rounded cave that was our home, I watched the sun spread dim rays over DarkForest. I looked down at my paws. There was no doubt about it - they were weapons. Huge battering rams, easily able to snap through bone, the long toes with those cruely curved metal claws. I'm a lot of things. I've done a lot of things, mainly the kind that have earnt me mortal enemies. I've killed. I've used those claws of mind to open a Lupine throat to the elements and left him to die. When I'm hungry and the vampric lust rises inside me I may kill again, but I don't use what I am as an excuse. Becoming a vamprie didn't change who I was, just gave me more strnegth to be it. I'm not sure where the lines are anymore... good and evil and whatever is in between. I'm not sure which side I belong to. If I even belong to a side. But somehow, here and now, none of it matters. As the clouds took over, I turned my head to the soft pawfalls and familiar crackle of ice, and watched Zebriaca sit down beside me. Words weren�t necessary. Neither of us knew if it would be a good morning or not, the weather meant little to either of us. Sunrises are nice to look at, but so are poison arrow frogs. But none of that was important. Whatever the day had in store we would deal with - together. That�s what makes a good day. Good or evil, killer or father, coward or, laughably, Alpha. I was none and all of these but more importnantly, I was hers.

Full name - Stone Steel, Stone being the name he had as a pup. Gender � Male. Owner - None. Colour - Grey, metallic, and sandy. Markings - Sandy on the inner side of his legs and his underparts, grey sides, metal-tipped fur: on his back, tail-tip and the top of his head, a small cape extending down each side of the neck neck, over his throat and upper chest, and on the inside of his ear. One ear bears two notches, the other dark scars. Possessions - Beautiful silver and emerald medialian around his neck. Eye colour - Pale, pale, blue. Biuld - Fairly tall, muscular and solid. Personality - Steel is essentially a protector, currently having had more than his fill of action and content to take a backseat if life's adventures. He is bound to his duty and has a sense of honor, but tends to have a one-track mind much of the time. Those he loves see his good side, while others... Pack|Status - Currently of Zebriaca's pack. Pet - None. Mate - Zebriaca, Pups - Renegade, Flint and Ky Parents - Father - deceased. Mother - status unknown Siblings - Older brother: Goast, deceased. Younger brother: Tully, deceased. An unnamed younger sister, status unknown.

Some of us made of concrete Some of us made of sand Some of us like the clear clue water, others catching it in their hands But we'll all just fade Some of us made of Steel Some of us like the earth Some of us are the clear blue sky while others fly through the air But we'll all just fade, so is it better to say Chances are, what you feel, is like everyone else Who is wrong, what is real? You can ask yourself But if you Find a way You can always carry on Some of us breakin' like ice Some of us like a Stone Some are just like the blowing wind Others always getting thrown Chances are, what you need is like everyone else It's in you, it's in me, you can see yourself But it you Find a way You can always carry on - Invetigo, Chances Are I just want to feel safe in my own skin I just want to be happy again I just want to feel deep in my own world but I'm so lonely I don't even want to be with myself anymore On a different day if I was safe in my own skin then I wouldn't feel so lost and so frightened But this is today and I'm lost in my own skin... - Dido

Then It was a long time ago when I curled up at my mother's side. Stone, that was what mother called me, on account of my stone-grey fur. I was a big pup, always was oversize, even when I was young. I was the only one in the litter. My father was killed by an enemy pack when I was but a few days old... yes, I started off life in the pack my mother belonged too. I grew up there. The Volcano Valley Lupes, they were called, a large pack. Conflicts, hunts, fights... really, your typical Lupe pack. My mother was content enough there, I suppose, in her early years. Now, however, she grieved the loss of my father. She didn't have the heart to raise another pup. She could think only of her loss. So I raised myself. I learnt to fight quickly. Rivalry was strong in the pack, for food, shelter... but I had it ok. I had an elder sibling, a full brother from my parent's last litter, by the name of Goast. He looked very alike to me, we were both large grey Lupes, though he was a bit taller. We became close friends, and as I grew, we roamed from our pack's territory together. There was little there to entertain us. The pack... it was very large, with many separate families of Lupes. I liked the excitement of living alongside live volcanoes. I was friends with some... I suppose after Goast, I spend a fair bit of time with Brou, a wiry, intelligent sandy Lupe around my age. He was a good companion, fearing nothing or no one, never afraid to stand up for himself, though he mainly kept to himself. But as I grew, I grew bored, longing for more than the pack had to offer me. Petty fights over a moose calf is not my idea of entertainment. I won all my fights after I grew strong enough, anyway. In the end, I left, with Goast, who shared my feelings. We both needed more, wanted adventure. Long since had the opposing pack who killed my father been destroyed, my brother Goast one of the lead warriors that fought against them. Our family did not hold a high rank... more like we were middle class, but my father, and now Goast, were well respected as Warriors. But the pack no longer held no interest for Goast or I. Mother still grieved, speaking to no-one, living only because Goast and I brought her food. Brou left with his family. Goast and I had spirits for adventure... so we set of in search of better amusement. We met many others. Some traveled with us for short or long periods of time. Most noticeably, for several months, a dark green Lupine called Veil became a close friend as he traveled with Goast and I. He was a near silent creature, private and reserved, but he lacked nothing in courage. Some packs opposed us in their territory and we battled many times, each time escaping, sometimes wounded, sometimes not. We never would have made it without Goast, though. Our luck did not continue to hold out, however. Goast, Veil and I raided a pack we shouldn�t have. In defending us, Goast was badly injured, but I managed to drag him to safety while Veil distracted the pack. Goast was very badly injured. Veil, who was still young at the time, helped me care for him. For two months he lay unable to walk, the hunting was left to me. I must give some of the credit to Veil though, he proved a strangely good, but welcome, healer. He stayed by my brother as I hunted for all of us, sometimes roaming far from them in a search to find them enough food. It was this time... I met Sasha. From the first time I laid eyes on her I'd never seen anyone so beautiful. She came to mean a lot to me for the short time we knew each other. She had troubles of her own... she was half starved, hunting for herself and a blind brother... whom I never actually met. He was antisocial, Sash explained, and ashamed of his scarred face. His lack of sight made hunting all but impossible, and Sasha, not the most talented hunter, was struggling to keep them both alive. For the next months, I had a hunting partner. We insisted we split our catch evenly, though I believe I would have given her everything I caught, despite the fact Goast and Veil relied on me. I don't know why... but seeing Sasha go hungry tore at my heart. Long years had passed since I last saw her. But as I feared, our story was not over when I left her. It was when Goast was better Veil left us for his own path, and Goast and I traveled on together, looking after each other once more. Though this time... I left a part of my heart behind with a tall, blue-eyed Lupess. It hurt me to leave her. I didn't want to. But what else was there for me other than Goast and the open road? I was not mate material, not for someone like Sash. She deserved so much better, someone decent. While she as with me, she wouldn�t find that someone. So I traveled on with Goast. Our adventures never seemed to cease. We were the cause of fights, we witnessed wars, we did hit-and-runs and stole food from packs. The pair of us, Goast and I, the two grey Lupes, never grew tired of the challenge, us against the world. What did I care about risking my life? I�d left behind the Lupess I loved. Young and foolish, I took endless chances. Goast, as always, never faltered form my side. There was nothing he feared. We would run side by side until the end. Unfortunately, the end was very, very near. Dr Frank Sloth glared at his assistant, a burly Techno, as he walked through the door. "Did you find out the information?" He snapped. Drew, the assistant, nodded. "Tully's mum told him about two brothers, older. Both grey, went off wandering before Tully was born. There is also more good news, Tully's mother has given birth to another pup. She is very young." Sloth grinned nastily, ignoring his assistant as he strode to the center of the room. All around there were wires and robotic arms, specially-designed cages, and bubbling potions spurting evil-looking quantities of smoke... Sloth's lab, his pride and joy. "Good. Now get out of my sight, and don't come back till you've caught the brothers. And the newborn! It'll be the control specimen. Tully's condition is deteriorting rapidly. But I do have the blood, skin and DNA samples from him, so he doesn't matter anymore. His three siblings will do nicely... similar DNA pattern, siblings are always linked... I must get to work on finishing that Neurometamorphasing mix... One fateful night, we slept, curled together for warmth. Veil had long since left us, and we had been on the road for over two years. From nowhere, a web of tough stands crashed down over us. We fought wildly and chewed at the strands, but it was made of some material that tore at our teeth and made our gums bleed. We were captured, trapped by a madman... Dr. Frank Sloth. We were taken to one of his labs. And we became test experiments. "Drew, have you got them?" Snapped Sloth. Drew nodded "Yes master, I have captured them all. I gave the two older brothers the dose you asked me too, both are out like lights, master. And the young female is awake, she's in Tully's old cell" Sloth smiled, filling a needle with a silvery, thick substance. "Good work - for once, Drew. Now, they are to be kept separate, I don't want them communicating. Won't do the younger male or the female any harm, but I don't want the older one's Neuro-mix compromised. Nothing must happen to him that I don't plan. Remember, these tests are new to anyone and everyone. Now, listen carefully. Place them all in separate cells. These are the rations you are to give them, and for goodness sake, check each time you feed them, I've genetically altered the food for the two males. Now, the older male's ident-tag will be SA, the younger male's is SB and the female's will be SC, the control specimen. I want their doors labeled that way. Now, SA will have the neuro-mix in his food, water and will have four uncut injections of it a day. The alloyconfiguring mix will be in the food and water of SB, and he will receive four uncut injections of it a day, the same as SA. SC receives nothing but average food, and I will put an empty needle in her four times a day, to equal number of injections SA and SB get, keep it balanced. Get to it, Drew. I never saw Goast again... not alive, anyway... after Dr Sloth put me in a small cage in an otherwise empty room. My torture, my experiment, had to do with metal, with steel. Each day I was taken from the cage and held down by robotic arms. A strand of my fur was pulled upwards, the tip was enclosed in a red-hot tube. The tube would remain on my fur tip for an hour, burning my skin if it touched or I struggled against the robot-arms. When it came off, the fur tip was no longer fur at all. It was metal. Each day I had four injections. I hated those. Whatever was in those needles was forced in through my veins, some part of the experiment, I suppose. I don't know what they put in them. I don't want to. I believe they altered the food and water I was given, too. The food was dry with no taste, the water always with a slightly bitter, metallicy hint. I should have realized... The metal-fur test went on until the whole of my back, tail-tip, the back of my neck and head were steel-tipped. I believe Sloth got bored after this, for it was a lengthy prosess, and then he started to experiment on other areas of my body. My face was the first target After being hit with lasers, eyes that once were bright blue turned the palest blue shade, seemingly a near colourless gray in some light. Eventually, they would be able to see in the dark and underwater. Normal ivory teeth became spiked fangs of steel. Then it was my paws, or claws, to be exact, which were covered with more metal. For days I could not see, eat, or walk, unable to escape the pain that burning inside me. Blood ran from my teeth and eyes most of the day... perhaps if I hadn't been half-blind I would have noticed something wasn't quite right with my blood anymore. I could put no weight on my paws without passing out in pain... and the same went for my teeth. I thought I would starve. In desperation I tried to eat some of the tasteless food I was provided with, fighting the pain, tasting my blood as I fought to stay conscious. I woke up two days later after collapsing. But the pain within me was finally ebbing away. As I grew stronger, slowly risking eating, gradually, my sight returned. But I could bear it no longer. I was getting out of that place if it killed me. One night I broke out, tore through a wall after knawing through my metal cage bars. Not even Dr Sloth realized what, and how powerful, I had become. I ran, I simply ran, for hours, ignoring all others, going over anything in my path. Ignoring my sore paws and teeth and everything which no longer mattered. Freedom, freedom at last! Room to run and hunt and battle once more! And so, I escaped. Nine months I had spent in that place of horror. I learnt that six months before my escape, Goast had been let go. And I learnt of what had happened to him, by secretly capturing Sloth�s slow moron of an assistant and threatening to kill him. After what I�d been through, I was fairly well tuned to the fine details of torture. His experiment had had to do with brain matter and psychology. My brother had been released because his test failed. He was, in all respects, insane. Weeks later, months probably, I found his body. Torn and savaged, beaten, bitten, bruised, all life gone. I was in a terrible rage when I found him; because anger was so much easier to cope with than the pain I felt, the unbearable sadness. There was nothing I could do for Goast now, save for one thing. I swore revenge on the ones that killed him. I would kill the ones who killed my bother, bring to them what they deserved. I could. My fighting skills were now beyond any of my imagining. The steel tips on my fur were a natural - or unnatural - armor, my metal teeth so strong I could crush rocks. I leant the names of the four that were present at his death; Wolverine, Shultz, Bold and Mav. Those four will be sorry for killing my brother, they will pay... For the death of my brother, I will see them die.

Escape, ESLP� and beyond. (Before) *Stone ran, the wind blowing his grey fur back... though it made no impression on the new additions - the metal-tipped spikes of his back, neck and tail-tip fur. Three months free and he was still loving every minute... though where Goast was... well, he was worried about his brother. Then he saw it. He pulled up short, wide tracks left in the dirt from his too-wide claws. It was a body. A massive, mid-grey body of a Lupe, crushed and broken, half-hidden by a shrub. Stone could feel his heart freeze as he moved closer. No. Don't let it be. It wasn't, couldn't possibly... With one paw, Stone gently, softly, lifted the dead Lupe's chin. Stared into the blank, bright blue eyes, now void of life. Months ago, his own eyes had looked like that. The features of this Lupine, once handsome, now twisted and terrible, were once mirrored in Stone's face. Goast was dead. ~NOO!!! NO, GOAST, GOAST!~ *Stone roared with fury, leaping back from the body, crashing his paw into a rock as he passed it. With his other paw, he swung, snarling and howling in rage. The rock splintered into fragments. Stone ran once more, ignoring each of his bleeding forepaws. He ran howling as he went, ears flat against his metaltipped neck. He ran so to escape this tearing pain, but there was no Lupe in the world who could run that fast. Hours later, Stone fell. He could run no more. His anger has not lasted the run... it had faded, given way to a much worse emotions, for Stone. Grief. The overbearing sadness at loosing the only family member who'd cared about him. Despair, the fear of being alone. Goast. Goast was dead. His brother was dead. Stone died that night, curled under straggly shrubs growing at the edge of a river. He died with his brother... and Steel was born. Months later ~I am now a member of the Evil Shadowed Lupe Pack. The Alpha is the one I've heard about, Brute the Savage. He lives up to his name... and there is something about him I do not trust. No matter. He had the sense to make me a Warrior after he saw me thrash Balios - his loud-mouthed moron of a nephew. Balios is going to be trouble. He's my size, and seems to see me as a threat to his position in the pack. He wasn't easy to beat - I'm not the only one who finds size equals power... and he's fast. But he lacks experience to a certain degree - and he's not one for tactics. He can be and was beaten... and although it wasn't easy, I made it look so. Brute wants Warriors for his pack. I have become one. And, as well as an enemy, the ESLP has provided me with an ally. Slash is the eldest daughter of Brute's, and she was quick to find me when I arrived. She wants nothing more than success for her pack, and a place for herself. She is young yet... but I suppose, I'm not really one to talk. Regardless, she is an important pack member. She can move in the trees like a Kougra, and is quicker than any would believe, arboreal or otherwise. I suppose she is beautiful... but I'm in the market for revenge, not a mate. I couldn't. Not... not after... Sasha... ~ *Steel's wide, metallic-glinting claws left clear marks in the dirt of DarkForest. This had to be it. How many forests, with the choking vines, such lack of sun, dark-leaved trees, and close-growing shrubs, could there be? This was not a place of light. Suddenly, appearing from the shadows of the trees, another Lupe appeared. He was big... Steel's height and build. His pelt was dark blue, a few odd scars, and an ugly sneer was pasted on his face. His scuff and tail bristled, ears pinned back. Steel's pale, pale blue eyes narrowed, meeting those of the hostile stranger. His eyes were black. Bare, bleak, black. This was one of Brute's line, alright. He had found the Evil Shadowed Lupe Pack. ~Yo, Mutant. You're tresspassin' on ESLP land~ Well, duh, Steel thought. Well, if he was going to become a member of this pack, he had to prove himself. He had no wish to be stuck looking after pups or hunting rodents. He was here to fight� And what better way of becoming known that beating up the local village idiot? ~You - Rockhead. You're about to get your fat be-hind kicked.~ Steel informed the block calmly, the barest traces of aggression spiking along his metal fur. They leapt at each other at the same instant, two snarls mixing in the darkness of the forest. Steel pulled up short, however, a move the blue beast was not expecting. Steel landed in front of him, dodging sideways. Balios snarled, paws hitting the ground hard. But it was Steel was felt the next flash of surprise, as the blockhead recovered and whirled around with amazing speed. He was faster than Steel, and from his size, must have been nearly as powerful. Steel swiped at him, a direct hit without any messing around. He felt his metallic claws dig deep into Balios� shoulder. The fight was on. Steel ended it. He had been waiting his chance, snapping his teeth swiftly but not actually aiming to hit him, so the thick blue Lupine would automatically assume he was slow at the bite. He had waited his chance, using his wide claws to keep Balios at large, and seized the first really clear shot he was given. Jaws of steel clamed like an unbreakable vice onto Balios�s upper shoulder. Steel pushed down with all his weight, the painful howl ringing in his ears, tasting blood, until his fangs met bone and he could feel it starting to splinter. With a snort he released his hold, paw raising, clenched, to deliver a stun-blow to the block�s jaw. He might not be too popular if he killed him. His task, to prove his worth, was done. From the first battle, Balios despised Steel. Within the ESLP, there were more battles fought than outside of it. Months later ~The ESLP is growing. Got some teen, Killer, and his sister Sheela, to join. Brute's pleased with them... I can see them growing into perfect little battling machines for the pack. Slash has been titled the ESLP espionage, and is always off spying on the enemy, trying to find out how her brother is settling in. I caught a young Kougra the other day, a weak blue feline, she was. But she knew something... something big. She'd seen who killed Goast... two Fire Eagles, and two Mt. Desri Lupes. Both packs are ESLP enemies. Wolverine, Bold, Shultz and Mav will pay for killing my brother. I swear it on Goast himself, they will die.~ Months later *Slash crouched beside Steel, watching him carefully from her slightly red-tinged shadow-eyes* ~Are you ready?~ *Steel's own pale blue eyes held the slightest hint of wariness as he nodded in reply, tones forcedly confident, like normal, as he replied* ~Fire away, Slashy~ *With one graceful bound, Slash covered the distance between them. Steel caught a glimpse of her eyes, a truly disturbing mix of ebon-black and blood-red, and then Slash sank her Vampiric fangs into Steel's lower neck, just over the throat. It was no use trying to bite Steel over his upper scruff... no tooth or claw, vampric or otherwise, would ever pierce the metaltipped fur there. Steel gasped with pain as he felt her teeth enter his neck. The pain spread down his neck to his head and through his body, burning with an unbearable intensity. He wanted to tell Slash to stop, but his mouth refused to work... and everything was starting to fade, into darkness... He lay is a void of swirling blood-red and deep ebony-black, feeling the arrows of pain fly through him. He heard a sickening grinding sound as his fangs extended. The sheer pain of it made him howl inside, though could he made no movement or sound physically. He could taste blood, taste metal, feel the fire burning in his blood as the foreign Vampric blood ran into his veins, mixing with whatever had been injected into him during his experimentation. Steel wanted to close his eyes against the void, but could not. He lay in the pain, felt it inside him, around him. He wanted to run, escape it... But he could not. Slash crouched motionless beside Steel's fallen form. As soon as she'd released him she'd known something was wrong. She recalled her father's transition to vamp - it had been a battle, and Ice, a vampric Mt. Desri member, had bitten her father in the neck. He'd been unconscious for about half a minute before recovering. It had taken her the same time frame to revive after her father turned her vamp... and it had been a good ten minutes since she released Steel. It was another hour before those pale, pale blue eyes opened. Now, an added tinge of red underlayed the icy shade. When Stele spat blood, Slash glimpsed the familiar metal flash of his forefangs - now the elongated fangs of a vamp. It had worked. ~Slash turned me vamp this morning. Her father made the change to her three weeks ago. The process was... painful. However vampric blood is supposed to work, it wasn't meant to work alongside whatever the stuff Sloth stuck inside me. But it was worth it. My fangs are the big difference... they're long. Really long... and still metal. I feel powerful, faster, and although there's hunger, something tells me satisfying it won't be a problem. I wandered from the pack this afternoon, getting sick of beating the living daylights out of Balios. Slash, ever the espionage, followed me. I met a Lupess. She's dark cloud, grey, silver and ebon. Good looking, but a tongue as sharp as my fur and a nature as cold as her ice-eyes. But in any case, I can't let myself fall for her any more than I can for Slash. I... I - still can't stop thinking about Sasha. At times, I wish so much I hadn't left her... it's as bad as loosing Goast. Worse, in some ways, because this was my fault, leaving Sash. But what other path was there for me? I had to go with Goast. And now... Sash deserves so much more than some metaltipped mutant. She'll find someone who loves her properly, someone who'll stay with her, take care of her, raise her pups. Sasha deserves better Zebriaca, is the stormcloud femme's name. She is - troubled. Who isn't, in this world? We talked for a while. She is entertaining, though dark in more than just pelt. Slash appeared half-way through. It was hard to make out what they thought of one another... I think in some ways they are too alike to really get along. In the end, Zeb agreed to come back to the pack with us. We've another ESLP member. I feel Zeb is going to make things interesting around here...~ Months later ~For the first time, I truly used my vampric fangs. It was Tae, cousin to Shultz and Mav, my sworn enemies. I was fighting Wolverine, yet another of the sworn ones... and she interfered. That'll teach her... though to some extent, I am curious. My transition to Vamp was nowhere near normal... I must ask Max exactly what is supposed to happen. Slash's conclusion was that it was so difficult because of what Sloth did to me, and I'm inclined to agree. Was it just my Vampric blood that passed to Tae... or something more?~ Months later ~A sapphire contains the great depths of the sky While a diamond shines like a drop of rain Rubies glow like the setting sun But it's flint the holds the flame~ It was Slash who found the firestone and learnt its secret. Killer, Sheela, and the new young ESLP pup Challie watched as Slash and Steel made the fire, metal claws with the spark from the flint, and trimmed and hardened the spears and darts, to gain new weapons. ~I have changed. Yet again. Nothing as drastic as last time, but... I woke from a bad dream I can no longer recall... and my mid-grey fur had gained stripes and patches of sand. My underparts, my sides, my chest, strips on my inner legs, my throat and cheeks have taken on the colour. I figured - hey. Why not make it noticeable? Especially with what Slash had planned for today. She came looking for me in the morning, full of it, excited with an idea. She complimented me on the new look, and then showed me a stone she kept tucked in her scruff. It was flint, she told me, the firestone. All it needed to create fire... was metal. Me. We hardened sticks in the fire we made. Spears for her, smaller darts for me. I made myself four bracelets, flexible rings of bark, which would go around the top of my darts to hold them in place around each of my legs. To conceal these, I attached long grass to each bark piece. Twelve darts to a paw. My weapons. Sandy, grey, metaltipped, pale-eyed with a hint of red, metallic clawed and toothed, vampric fangs, and dart-concealing grass-and-bark bracelets. I was one weird-looking animal. But what else was new?~ Months later ~The ESLP has really done it this time. Slash got wind that Tae was about to give birth... of all Lupes, to Wolverine's pups. They're mates now, apparently. My mortal enemy has spawned... but the birth was far from what the happy family would have hoped. Slash and Murco, the pup Max stole off the ESLP - no longer a pup, of course - knocked Tae out and brought her to ESLP territory. She birthed here. Of course, Wolverine came looking for him. That murderer, in ESLP territory, I wanted to kill him. I was there. I was standing in the shadows when he, and Shultz, and another Fire Eagle Member, came to get Tae back. Wolverine... and Shultz. And they walked free... But it was not for nothing. Brute and Max struck a bargain. He would let Wolverine, Tae, Shultz, and Satin walk, with five of the pups... but the other two pups would stay with the ESLP. Either Wolverine accepted that, or all the ESLP would fight, and kill, until all four adult Fire Eagles would die and all seven pups be turned ESLP. Of course, Brute would not have let that happen. Wolverine, Tae and Shultz are all Warriors, no escaping it. Satin is smaller, weaker... but there's something strange about him. Not the least of which� he�s Zebriaca�s adopted father. He would have fought hard, all of them would have, and Brute would not have accepted the loss he knew his pack would have suffered. But, of course, Wolverine was not going to let his mate and his two best friends die, Brute knew that. Wolverine would let go of two lives or say goodbye to ten. The pups are both female. NightShade, silver-starred, and Mask, a near bipolar split. They will fit in fine. Challie is growing and has two playmates, now. Killer and Sheela's sister Samantha has turned up. The ESLP continues to grow and I, wait for the time I will avenge my brother.~ Months later ~I've been feeling strange lately. Not sick... I don't get sick, not since Sloth. But there's definitely something wrong. I feel hot, I feel something stirring in the depths of my blood. Earlier, Zebriaca asked me what I was doing here. She saw straight through me. My dislike of Brute and Max. My aversion to snapped orders. She asked why I stayed with this pack and all I could scrape together in answer was the excuse of my brother's death. And the problem is, I don't know weather that is the truth... or if I feel there is no other place for me. The Volcano Valley Lupes? Ha, they'd have a new Alpha, I'd know none of them there, by now. What sane pack would take me? Some of the ESLP members can't even stand me. What hope would I have elsewhere? I'm a freak, a hybrid. A mutant mongrel. The ESLP is all I have. All this was not for nothing, however. I asked Zeb the same question. She was no more fond of Brute than I. She was most certainly not the follow-the-leader type, not one for the orders of a pack. She is the same. Zebriaca. She feels there is no other pack out there of her... she is a dark one. And I know why. She loved once... not that she admitted that. She loved a silver-flamed male called Sintelka and he was killed. That is what made her so dark, that is why she is an ESLP member. -Death twists you, changes you, follows you around and pops up everywhere around you when you least expect it so you can never truly be rid of it...- And then I got sick. I think it was some kind of reaction to the metal in my blood... I don't remember a lot of it. I was dizzy, half-concsious. I was saved my one with ties to me enemy. I hope the ESLP never get wind of that fact... Months later ~I cannot believe it. I'm a father. Slash turned up at the ESLP after two weeks of absence - with three pups. The eldest, a silver-flamed male. Black-eyed like Slash much and much of his line. Demonic - how could he escape it, with two vampric parents. Firestone, Slash calls him. More commonly, Flint. I saw Zeb's face when she saw Flint. I knew. Silver flames.... Slade, a near-black pup, is not mine. Nor Slash's. She stole him from the Fire Eagle Alphas. She really doesn't have a limit. Slade and Flint seem very close. The youngest pup... is Ky~ -Ky... I'm sorry. I didn't know...- ~When I saw him, I wished I could take him back. I wished for the second time I could have the strength to end my life. There is no living creature I would have wished this upon, this which Ky will now have to live with the rest of his life. I'm a father. Now what am I going to do?~ *Steel watched the last pup, those eyes of palest blue wider than they'd ever been. Oh no. Not this. He couldn't of cursed another this way... couldn't have... The youngest pup behind Slash padded on large paws, large for his age. Once, he might have been a normal-looking young Lupine, indigo with sold, stone-grey eyes. The dark blue no longer applied. This pup had a coat of dense metal spikes* ~Poor pup. I never meant for this to happen. To have fathered two demon-pups is bad enough... though with Flint, I never regretted that, not the way I did with Ky. Flint plainly enjoying being a demon - honestly, it is hard to picture him otherwise. But on the far-off morning when my fur changed and Slash came to me, I couldn't have foreseen this. Not this, what I had done to Ky. A demon, my blood, and my metal. My flesh and blood. The metal was on his coat, his claws, and his teeth, the same as me. Was it inside him, like me? Would it do to him what it had to me? What have I done? How could I know... realize, just what they did to me...? What have they done to me? Months later ~I did something I shouldn't have. I challenged Zebriaca over her silver-flamed male, her Sintelka. She reacted - well, like Zeb, defensively. She stalked off in a temper and hasn't been seen in the ESLP since. Life changes, as always. My patience with Balios grows thin, my guilt a stab to the heart every time I see Ky. I feel the air on my metal fur, I feel the electricity on the breeze. There's a storm coming. It�s more than just in the air. This is it. It will end now. I leave the ESLP territory and head into Border Forest, the line between the Fire Eagles forest and the ESLP's DarkForest. Zeb lies on a boulder above me, questioning in her own drawn way, so that she�s not really questioning at all. But my mind has other things to dwell on than her. I faintly recall greeting her without stopping. All my mind will focus on is my task ahead. I head into Fire Eagle territory.~ It will end now My attempts to avenge the past failed, largely. As the great storm brew I found Bold and I fought him, beat him. Killed him and realized all too late that Sasha, Sasha, was watching. Bold was her packmate. I should have run... or killed her... but I could do nothing. Not when those blue eyes were staring at me with that expression on her face. Wolverine came, as I knew he would, and in the end it was not he I ran from, but Sasha's eyes. I found myself trapped once more in my worst nightmare... with my worst enemy in the cell next door. I open my eyes to concrete and bars, to artificial scents and my enemy trapped next door. I stand shakily on injured and weary paws, unwilling to believe my eyes but unable to escape the sounds and smells along with it. I couldn�t be back. I couldn�t. With rising horror and my blood on fire, I desperately whirled around, and the effects, the appallingly familiar effects of the drug I knew I�d been given started to fade. My memory returned, I recalled Wolverine�s snarl, his claws tearing into my fur pelt and me fighting back, anger blinding me. A pity that I could see perfectly, far too perfectly, now. I recalled the last picture in my mind, the last thing I had done before this: glanced down at the dart embedded in my flesh. Before I fell into an artificial sleep. I felt my body shaking, metal fur scratching slightly. I stared around, peered through the bars of my cage. A hairless creature dully, emptily, returned my gaze from across the aisle. And� as I�d been able to tell with my nose� Wolverine was in the cage beside mine. He saw the tip of my muzzle, extending beyond the bars. I pulled back at his growl, heard and felt the vibrations of his paw slamming the bars on his side. These were new cages� the gaps between the bars were lesser, the calls concrete now, not strange plastic. But it was the same place. The smell, that smell, it haunted me. The slot for food and water were in the side of the rightpaw wall. There were no other openings save for the narrow spaces between the bars. ~Where are we, scum?~ Snarled Wolverine from next door. The hate and loathing in his voice broke through my terror. Oh, you can�t understand it. None who haven�t personally been there, done that, could understand. Your body is tortured, slowly but surly. Your mind, after a time, starts to play tricks, betray you. The pain grows worse each day until you feel you�d do anything to escape it, escape before it breaks you. It�s living hell. I stuck my muzzle-tip through the bars. Wolverine didn�t attempt to strike at me this time. ~You know about my metal fur. You might know it runs in my blood, too, if my blood still runs, and I�m sure you know its on my teeth and claws. Well. This is where I got them. Enjoy your stay, Wolvie~ I swung back as the second clash of paw-on-bars rang out. I couldn�t even feel pleased at annoying the Lupe who had killed my brother. My spirits has sunk lower than a snake�s belly-scales, and I stared desolately out into the aisle. Waiting. They would come. *Steel lay quietly upon his side. He could hear Wolverine and the mutated starry Lupine, Asilrin, they called him, talking to each other across the aisle. The metallic-hued Lupine was becoming more and more akin to his title every day that passed. Strand by strand they were tipping every grey and sandy fur along his chest and upper neck. The metallic shield nearly reached the cape on either side of his neck � more metal-tipped fur - which had been placed there so, so long ago� by the same being whom held Steel prisoner now. Dr Sloth. Steel was steadily loosing his will to live. Life had had its downsides when living with the ESLP� but there was what traces of family he could claim, there was Zeb, whatever their relationship had become, there was stability. Until of course he�d gone and wrecked all of that. His fault, of course, he failed in everything. Just look at him, pathetic big lump lying on a lab floor, not even fighting against the ones who slowly but surely mutated him. Bit by agonizing bit. Even Wolverine, who had killed his brother, lay in the cell next door� Steel did not even take comfort in the fact Wolverine might be undergoing a similar torture. His own consumed his mind. The light of day fell. The cells of the test specimens were windowless, but at the end of the aisle was a single window that let the captives know night form day. Clang! Steel jolted upright, wondering if he had simply awakened into a nightmare from his troubled mind. Clang! Steel got to his paws. Pressing his muzzle against the side of his bars, he looked out. Wolverine�s growl met his ears. Asilrin echoed the sound* ~Keep your metallic nose out of this, Steel. And if you so much as think of barking, you�ll have us to contend with~ *Clang! The mutated starry Lupine was not prone to idle threats. Steel shrugged at him and turned an eye sideways to Wolverine�s cage. Clang! CRrreeeeeee�. *Steel winced backwards �both from the screech and the metal inch-wide claws, just in front of his eyes. Wolverine�s voice growled at him, and with a start Steel realized the claws were sticking out a good foot or so from Wolverine�s paw. He moved backwards another pace. Man, his dreams were getting weird. Clang! There was a double-bar between Wolverine�s cage and Steel�s. The gap between the two bars was nearly twice as large as a normal gap, to accommodate the wall separator for the cage on either side. Clang! With a second screeeeeech the second bar between Wolverine's and Steel�s cages fell, sheared in two by the long metal claws. Steel began to get an odd feeling. This was no dream. Wolverine�s head appeared in his cage. Steel lifted a paw automatically for defense, eyes narrowing on his sworn enemy, waiting for the warrior�s pounce. It did not come. ~Steel you metal-headed moron, get out of the cage! You think the night-watch hasn�t heard that sound?!~ *Wolverine�s voice roared at him. Steel stared. Wolverine had squeezed his muscular body through the gap between their cages out into the aisle. Freedom. With a howl Steel flung himself towards the escape route, clawing and twisting his bulk to get through. It was a tight fit, and before he was half-way, the night-watch zafara padded in, the dart-gun held ready. Wolverine was ready, too. The zafara never stood a chance. The evil-hearted beast had helped in many an experiment, both Steel and Wolverine among them. But this was one lab-rat who had toutured his last victim. Even Steel flinched at Wolverine�s swift, brutal revenge � as he yanked his hindquarters out into the aisle. Wolverine slid forth the long metal claws and started slicing locks left right and center. It was an awesome sight to witness the warrior in a full rage, and seeing him in full throttle with claws the length of a doglefox was downright shocking* ~Steel, guard that doorway! Don�t let any lab-rat with a gun in here or we all stay caged for life!~ *He snarled, as Asilrin bounded from his prison. The mutated starry bounded to Steel�s side, levelly eying Steel* ~We hold the door together~ *Steel turned one pale eye to meet the starry�s. He looked like something from a pup�s worst nightmare � but Steel knew he himself was only marginally better in appearance. Chaos reigned as the night watches from all over the building came in investigate the noise. Between Steel, Wolverine, and Asilrin, none got more than a paw into the cage aisle. At last they stopped. Wolverine turned to face those who had been kept captive, some of them their whole lives. He raised a paw, the long claws glinting dully, as the fur on Steel�s back did.* ~We are free!~ *He roared, bolting down the length of the aisle amid returning roars. Leaping onto the windowsill, his thick claws smashed the three-inch glass and its pathetic mesh cover effortlessly* ~Freedom, my friends!~ *He bellowed, as the cool night air rushed in. Howling and crying, the ragged group tore for the window. It was a low second story, but a very small jump to make for freedom* Only Wolverine, Steel, and Asilrin remained inside. Steel was watching Wolverine; wary, waiting a snarl or another sign of aggression Wolverine was going to try and rip his throat out. As much as he hated Wolverine, the warrior returned it a thousand times� Steel had killed his cousin. And no-one touched Wolverine�s family. So much as harming one of his family�s hairs was a sin to Wolverine, and for one to be killed� but Steel was feeling something strange, something very out of place. It was not forgiveness, no, it was more a feeling of temporary tolerance. Wolverine had caught a glimpse at what Steel had been through in the lab� in a very personal manner. What it had changed Steel could not place. He did not argue over it. It was because of Wolverine Steel was free. And things had suddenly become many times more complicated than they should have been between two mortal enemies. Wolverine nodded to both Steel and Asilrin* ~Split up. Find anything flammable, and something to light this place up. We�ll burnt it to the ground!~ *They raced off down corridors and through doors, trashing offices and experimentation rooms, dragging paper, material from curtains, desk and chair fragments and anything else possible to the center office. Steel paused. The small room was one he had not seen before, but he recognized the instrument sitting on the solitary metal table by descriptions of the other lab captives. Some of them had been marked by Sloth as a means of identification and classification. Tattoos. Steel stared down at the piece of machinery, wrapped his paw around it, and picked it up. Cold, smooth metal� Defiance raised in Steel. This machine would be used one last time� in rebellion to the one who had made him a metal-hued mutant. When he was done, Steel raised one forearm. Steel-coiled muscles tensed� Steel had lost none of his strength. None physically, anyway. There was a crash and the wrenching, earsplitting tear of metal. The pieces of the machine and its stand rained to the floor as Steel turned and walked out, dragging along a desk for fuel as he went. He kept going until he met the silent faces of his sworn enemy and a mutated starry Lupine over the pile in the main office. The building was primarily wood. With the fire started, the three silently turned from their prison and left it to burn.* Freedom

Now Wolverine let me go. I let him go. We let each other go without trying to kill one another� both of us knew there would be another time. I ran once again. Older� perhaps not so much wiser, and a lot more confused than last time I had run from this place. I didn�t have a direction in mind really, when I started. Back to the ESLP? The idea made me laugh. Zebriaca was right, I didn�t belong there. Zeb. I realized slowly, as I traveled and hunted and wondering if I always stumbled at the end of the day, that was where I was heading. In some part of my mind I worried I was growing sick again, and I even noticed one night when I had a bad coughing fit that the substance I coughed up was metallic-looking. But I kept moving. Kept on and on although I wasn�t really sure of the way anymore� I found her. I collapsed on her doorstep and grinned weakly at her before passing out, leaving my life in her paws. Hellstorm knew I wasn�t achieving much while it was in mine.

Acquaintances and Enemies� and Families Brou Brou is, save for Goast, my earliest friend. My puphood memories are of him, of endless wrestles and exploration of the dangerously exciting territory of the pack we belonged to. We were brought together by the older warriors who recognized our potential, and matched as sparring partners. I was stronger, he was faster � I think we were matched for determination, which is why neither of us could continuously come out on top. He never spoke much, especially after his parents died, although more to me than many others. Which I suppose is why we got along, without the need to burden each other any more than necessary with emotional baggage. We didn�t need words to understand one another. After I left the pack, I thought I would never see him again. And I regretted loosing him. I always knew he wanted more form life, in the same way I did. But I was surprised when, back when I was still an ESLP member myself� Brou turned up. Recruited by the Beta, Max, he was much the same, although taller and more solid than I recalled. He�s still with the ESLP, and somehow life seems easier knowing a howl will reach his ears. Sasha What can I say about Sasha? She�s part of who I used to be. I can never go back to being Stone and therefore never go back to what might have been between us. Nothing more to it than that. She is the past - and finally, I am looking to the future. ~Stone? Thank you� for being there for me. For everything you do. If I don�t always thank you for it, it�s only because I�ve never been used to it~ Veil Veil also knew me back when I was Stone. He was an orphaned loner when I found him, a few months younger than me. Quiet, reserved, private, and nowhere near as bold as my brother or I. But nevertheless, he traveled with us for months and earned both our respect. He saved the life of Goast, and for that, I shall never forget our friendship. Though he left us after a few months traveling together, I later met up with him during my ESLP time. Though change has certainly made its mark on him, inside the emotionless vampric shell is the Lupe I knew, who saved Goast and ran beside us. For his sake, I still call Veil friend. ~You're insane. Both of you. But maybe I need a change of scene, Stone...~ Slash She was one of the first I met within the ESLP, and her potential to me as an ally brought about� I suppose, a friendship of types. I did not trust her, for I would have been a fool to, but I did admire her skill as a spy, warrior, and her intelligence. She birthed my two youngest pups but, I have to defend, I did not mean for it to happen. She was a mistake, I ignored my judgment because of lust for� it wasn�t lust for her, that I can say. Now we�re miles apart. She would not have mourned my loss. I do not mourn hers. I only miss my pups � their mother also was my mistake. ~He's yours, Steel, don't be fool enough to try and deny it. All you need is to look at you both.~ Zebriaca Zeb. I suppose, what she would be classed as now... is my mate. But it remains hard for me to class anyone quite like Zebriaca as �mine�, knowing what I do about her. But I can say there is no one else, not Brou, not Goast, probably not even me, who knows me like Zeb does. We�re certainly together now, I guess in charge of this little �pack� that includes my son, his closest friend, and his half-brother. She makes me laugh, she makes me howl at the moon, she�s saved my life, she stirs things within me I don�t think have ever seen the light, nor ever should. I have not yet taken her medallion from my neck; it reminds me that however fucked up life can get, whatever they do to my body, what�s inside is promised to her. I know who you are, Zeb. I won�t forget it. "Perhaps," *Zebriaca calls, running alongside him* "Because if I were still there when the others showed up, I would be mercilessly torn into pieces for your dirty work. Perhaps because you seem utterly incapable of trying something without messing up. Perhaps because you promised me once that if I followed you, you would let me help on your quest of vengeance--but then, you don't remember that, do you? A fool, to be blinded by your own hatred. Steel, your freakish body won't keep you safe forever, and whenever someone finds your weakness, you'd better damn well have someone like me to save your scrawny hide." Balios Loud-mouthed, self-assured, ruthless bully. ESLP and we locked heads more than once while I was there� but again, now I no longer belong to the pack he is of little concern. But perhaps, if we meet again one day, lessons will be in order. Ky My youngest son. Nothing in my life have ever regretted more than what I did to him - weather I meant it or not, could help it or not. It doesn�t matter, it�s still my fault he looks how he is, and I�ll never forgive myself for it. Because I didn�t, not even I could wish this upon another, let alone my own son. I know what it's like, to be considered a freak, called a mutant, seen as an unnatural, twisted creature. To see mothers hastily cover their pup�s eyes, sheapard them away. To see the horror, terror, disgust, on another�s face upon seeing you. I know. And now Ky will spend all his life going through what I have, because of me. He is a quiet pup, and he controls his demonic side well � something few can lay claim to doing. I�ve seen that sort of inner strength in another before� Ky seems older than his days, and is a mutely wise young Lupine. I have only one thing to say to him, and maybe one day, he will accept these words that I cannot. ~I'm sorry, Ky.~ Flint Ky's full brother, and so unlike him there are few who could tell it. He is a full-blooded ESLP member and loves it... there are parts of him that so easily, I see as parts of myself. That�s my ruthless side, my love for excitement. My boldness, the fearlessness I possessed when I was young. I know he is content with his life with the ESLP - and in a strange way, I am proud of him. He does not bend easily to other's wills, he is merciless and will finish whatever he sets his mind to. I wish him luck - for I fear there is far too much of myself inside of him for his own good. Wolverine He was one of the four who killed Goast. He murdered my brother. We fought long battles during my time as an ESLP member, his pack enemy to mine. He hunted me after I killed his cousin and was captured because of it. And he broke the bars between our cages. He is the reason I am free. Far too much between two who should, by all accounts, be mortal enemies. ~I wouldn�t have wished what went on in there on anyone, even my worst enemy. No living creature deserves treatment like that. And that�s why you�re going to turn around, and walk away, and I�m going to let you. And Steel? If you set paw near my family again� I will kill you.~

<bgsound src="http://www.majestypage.hpg.ig.com.br/Metallica%20-%20The%20Unforgiven2.mid" loop=infinite>