Raschen chuckled softly. "Yes, yes...."<br/><br/>He took a moment to set the events in order in his mind before he smiled gently. "Together the group made for the southern borders, into the valley that bridged the Warren with the remnants of ancient Hume ruins. We called it the Steel Forrest for its thick foliage that merely hid beneath it towering monoliths of stone and metal..." He smiled for a moment and to honor the Hyane's death, he left out a few spaces of the story.<br/><br/>"It was however...on the second night of their travel into the valley that another story began..." He muttered softly, gently stroking the tall ears of the little one's in his lap and smiling. "That night, the Hume warrior conceived two kittens from her Kuguar lover...and after that night..they knew each other as mates..." He sighed happily before continuing.<br/><br/>"In those long days of travel though.." he began again with an expression of regret. " The kuguar's mind...so transfixed on the protection of his mate...and the downfall of these creatures that would so easily descend their reign upon her and every one else in the Warren...began to fracture and lose its grip. The proud Kuguar brandished his power continuously...ever pouring more energy into himself from the world around him as they approached the old Hume City." He looked at glowing cracks and scars in his flesh and traveling down his limbs, sighing and looking back up.<br/><br/>"His power however, so constantly in use..grew stronger with ever passing day. The group took refuge within the white confines of a Hume structure surrounded within by pillars of white stone. It was a safe place for the night and they needed their rest....for the battle was soon approaching and the Cotl were already well aware of the groups thought to be stealthy arrival." He could feel Tristan settle to sit up once more as, to him, the boring part was over and it was time for the good part, an eager grin spread of the kitten's lips.<br/><br/>"The next morning, the group broke apart so as to not make themselves easy targets. It was simple to find where the Cotl held themselves. They were a race of prideful beasts so where else would they stay but within the tallest structures of their city. The group had a plan and the Hyane was the beginning. He used hyane intellect with weaponry to set off long explosions on the northern borders of the city. The shaking and the noise of the blasts bought the group time to enter the Cotl fortress, ...at the cost of the Hyane's life. But even with successful entry...it was as if the War had begun again..only against a common enemy. Scales and wings were everywhere. Splashes of blood and flesh at every turn as the Kuguar and his Hume mate tore through them with the use of their powerful magicks. The Hase used their speed and agile strikes to bring the Cotl in their way to the ground as they followed the Hume and Kuguar up the steel towers. Higher and Higher. The Hume had used her magicks to find her way to the top swiftly to see what would be waiting for them. What she found was terror itself; their king. A mammoth Cotl that stood as tall as the Hyane mountains, scales of black sea and eyes of flame. Their king was a terrible tyrant with unimaginable strength. Sadly...in the shock of seeing this beast...and the distraction of her mate's arrival to the chamber, the Hume was caught by one of the king's guards and bitten, filling her body with the poison that coursed through the veins of every Cotl. "<br/><br/>He sighed and took another breath as the story took its turn toward its end. "There was no time to treat her wounds. The Kuguar's own magicks had corrupted his mind. There was blood in his eyes and the terrible power of Gaea's rage in his paws. The Hume, even in her weakened state, took the others to safety where they looked in horrible fear for their Kuguar companion in the distance. They could only watch as the Kuguar King emerged from his chamber, standing eye to eye with the buildings that surrounded him. It was then that the battle for the Warren began again. The earth shook and spewed forth its flesh and bone as weaponry for the Kuguar as he stood against the monstrous creature. The city was painted in the acidic blood of Cotl and splashed in red from the Kuguars wounds. But what is a snake to stand against the ground he slithered upon? He fell prey to the Kuguar's power and to this day, his towering lifeless corpse lays speared upon a spire of summoned earth."<br/><br/>He chuckled at Tristan's excited wriggling in his lap at the end of the battle scene in his favorite story. "But even in victory there is a tinge of sadness. The Hume was growing weaker by the moment. If the battle had not ended when it had...she would have been lost. The kuguar, weak and exhausted, returned, but moments before his mate and their little ones would have passed away, his gentle touch, carrying the purity of Gaea's embrace, freed her from the poison's clutches. The following days, leading into the beginning of the Warren winter, were spent in worry of what their homes may say to the existence of half breed childr growing within the belly of the Hume....their worries were justified as the moment the Kuguar priestess knew of them...she cast her own son away, exiling he, his mate and his companions for protecting them. Where could they go? Where could they be born and raised safely? To the south was the remnants of the Cotl, the North; the Hume compound; the east harbored the Hyane....there was only west...and west they traveled with a swiftness only fear for your family could produce." He smiled and pet his drowsy little ones.<br/><br/>"In their escape...two childr were born to the Hume and Kuguar..." he pet Tristan..."A fiery little boy.." he then stroked Lark's ears. "And a rather familiarly furred little girl.." he chuckled. "Their father, resolute in protecting his little one's, his mate and his new family, knew he could not give those who hunted them the chance to strike and so, regretfully..he cut off the Warren fro the western planes with the power that Gaea had gifted him. He was true to his name of Earth mover, splitting the grounds apart for miles in every directions. None shall ever pass west fro the Warren again...and the group could begin their new life in the west.." he said with a smile.<br/><br/>He chuckled to the sleeping kittens in his lap and then looked back to Ituha. "Good enough story?