Explinations

Days passed before Graypaw was even willing to look at me again.  Yes, his name was Graypaw.  His parents weren't very imaginative.  I can almost see the thought process, "hmmm... He has grey fur.  Let's call him Graypaw."  You see, classically Furgar names contain two parts.  An adjective and a part of the Furgar anatomy.  The Furgar chief was named Swifttail.

My parents were different, however.  My parents were not both Furgar, you see.  Since the rejoining of the tribes, there have been Furgar pairing with Bastog.  Not a very common practice, but it happened.  Bastog names are different than Furgar names.  Bastog call their children by plant names.  Flowers for females and trees for males.

For example, my mother's name is Rose and her brother is named Oak.  But my parents decided to be different with me.  They went in a whole new direction.  My name is Dusk.  They decided that since my fur is a dusky brown that it was most fitting.

So with all of that explained, let me get back to my story.  So it was days before Graypaw would even lay eyes on me again.  He had really been spooked by what almost happened.  I was sure he felt as I did and wanted it too, but I'm sure he just didn't want to admit it to himself.

He was proud and came from a strong line of fine Furgar stock.  Great hunters.  His father was a real Furgar's Furgar so to speak.  Halfbreed's like me were generally not as highly regarded.  Even though the tribe was one, there were those who frowned upon unions of the two races.

And to make things worse, my father was a trader.  He traded with men.  Men may be our allies, but they are still looked upon with distrust.  And those who dealt with men, were "tainted".  Those same Furgar and Bastog who looked down on my father for dealing with men, were the first lined up to trade for his merchandise, however.  A little sickening if you ask me.

So you're probably wondering how it works when a Furgar and a Bastog mate.  What kind of race am I?  Well, I am a Furgar.  You see, the males take on the race of the father and the females take on the race of the mother in a mixed union like this.  I know.  It's all very complicated.  I guess that's how the Fur Lord wants it.

Who is the Fur Lord?  He is our deity.  He created both races.  From what I understand, he looks like a giant anthropomorphic ferret.  Strange huh?  And I'm totally getting off topic again.  Well, I'll let you sit with this and get back to my story next time.

From the start

My story may sometimes be hard to hear but it is worth telling.  It's a classic story of love, betrayal, loss and persecution.  I am a Furgar.  In case you don't know what that is, we are a tribal race of canine descent.  We won our freedom from Bastog rule (they are a tribal race of feline descent) by separating the two tribes.  Then a group of adventurers brought our tribes back together so we now coexist as the twin tribe.  My childhood was normal.  Nothing special happened to me.  I'll not bore you with the details of that.  Let me get right to the interesting parts.

It was warm that day.  The sun shone down on the wolf fields.  I sat watching the breeze sway the grass.  I could feel someone watching me.  It was not an uncomfortable feeling, however.  I glanced around to see if I could find the eyes that had pinned their gaze on me.

He was trying to hide behind a bush.  His ashen fur swaying with the blades of grass.  He ducked lower when he saw me looking.  I beckoned him over and asked him to have a seat beside me.  "What are you looking at?"  He asked, trying to break the tension.

I told him I was just watching the breeze.  Then this awkward silence fell over us both.  It lasted for several minutes.  Suddenly I felt a laugh bubble up from my gut.  It burst forth for no obvious reason breaking the defining silence.  I felt better after letting the tension pass.  "Do you ever just stop and watch nature?"  I asked him.

"Um, depends on what you mean by 'nature'..." he responded.  He snickered a little with his comment.  It was cute.  He was so bad at this and I wanted to just tackle him and show him how I felt, but I restrained myself.  He was trying to hide his feelings, so I didn't want to push.

I stared out over the field again.  I felt his gaze turn back to me, but he was trying to be subtle and not show he was looking at me.  He tried to pretend he was also watching the grass grow.  I felt the grass next to my paw move.  He was moving his paw closer to mine.  I knew if I made a move, it would startle him and this moment would end.

Hours must have passed, and neither of us said anything.  Not wanting to break the moment, we sat in silence just enjoying each other's company.  I knew that if I said or did anything that it could scare him off and I was just so happy having him here, beside me.

The sun was setting.  I decided to make my move.  I slid my paw over to his.  I moved to stroke his paw lightly.  He jumped.  "I should get going..." he said, getting up.  I knew I had moved to fast.  He wasn't ready for what I had hoped for.

I knew this would not be our last encounter, but it would take time.  Until then, he would continue to watch me from the bushes and I would have to be okay with that.