Rift

Sleepy Mornings

The house was still and silent, not a single sound but for the small creaks and groans of a wooden house in the wind. All were still in bed, sleeping peacefully before the rushes and stresses of the coming day. Which made all too easy for the wolf to creep in silently.
It was a stealthy creature, lithe and silent, but my no means slight. Mountain Greys are among the largest- and therefore most feared - of wolf species, and this was no runt specimen, it's powerful shoulders hunched over as it stalked the dark halls.
A light pierced the gloom, leaking out of a door, slightly ajar. The wolf honed in on it, belly low to the ground as it stalked forward, nosing the door open on silent hinges before creeping forward to investigate.
There was a bed in the room, and atop it slept a human, little more then a cub. The wolf seemed to contemplate the small, feminine creature, tilting its head, before silent turning away. Perhaps it thought this prey too small.
It froze briefly as the small man-cub tossed in its sleep, then continued its search of the dark old house. Only a few metres from the small ones room was another that attracted the wolfs attention, but not from a light; it emanated with a pungent mix of multiple odours. The wolf refrained from gagging.
This room was much darker, the only light source being a orange blade of the early morning sun piercing through a gap between two drawn curtains. It would be much more pleasant for the wolf, if it wasn't for the cacophony of stenches.
Belly low to the ground, upper lip curled in a silent snarl, it silently crept towards its prey; a larger human, not yet fully grown but not far from it, asleep atop the bed, snoring softly. A much larger specimen, the wolf seemed to decide that this would be its prey this day.
Bunching up its leg muscles, tail straight out behind it, the wolf leapt upwards, paws splayed either side of the boy's head, it's powerful jaws closing towards the throat of its prey, the wolf...licked him.
The wolf viciously licked his helpless prey, mercilessly nuzzling his cheek. The boy never stood a chance.
"Oh dear, it's the Grey Death." Came the sarcastic, half-asleep grumble. "Whatever shall I do?" The boy turned over, pushing the oversized dog away. "Five more minutes, Aej. Just five more..." The boy drifted off again, causing a disapproving growl from the large Grey. It hopped lightly off the bed, then, gripping the corner of the blankets tightly, shook its head violently, pulling its head back as it did so. The boys only reaction was a small shiver.
With another disapproving growl, it padded across the floorboards to the curtains, which it promptly pulled open. The boy simply turned over. After flashing the boy a savage look, the wolf suddenly sparked an idea. It leapt upon the bed, sitting back on its haunches, getting itself comfortable.
The boy seemed to think that the predatory dog had surrendered, tossing and muttering something about 'good dog'. He had no idea.
As much as a wolf could, the dogs slight snarl changed into a sinister grin. It made a low rumble in its throat that, all of a sudden, grew into a loud, piercing bark. The boy bolted upright, eyes wide, primal instinct looking for any signs of danger. Instead, he found his Spirit sitting on his bed, looking very pleased with himself. It barked again, causing the boy to flinch.
"All right, I'm up!" He exclaimed. "Geez, can't a guy just sleep? Stupid dog..." The wolf answered to the flippant remark with an affectionate nip on the calf. The boy bent down as he picked up a random shirt from the ground and patted the wolfs flank. The wolf let out a wary sound. "Don't worry." The boy responded. "She won't know." Then, pulling on a pair of cargo pants from roughly the same area, the boy walked out of his bedroom, the wolf padding along beside with its tongue lolling. As the boy shuffled along, the door with light emerging, the one the wolf had previously visited, was pushed ajar.
Both the wolf and the boy had to resist the instinctive urge to take cover, even though they both knew there was no danger. The little girl walked out, rubbing her eyes and brushing her long, mousy-brown hair away with one hand, dragging a stuffed bear with the other. Behind her toddled a mewling ragdoll kitten, quickly hurrying to keep up with its other half. It hid from both the boy and the wolf behind the small girls leg.
"Lyle, what was that noise?" The girl questioned sleepily.
"Just Aegis." The boy replied. "Go back to sleep, Faline." The girl seemed to think about that momentarily, then nodded absently, dawdling back to her bed. The boy, evidently named Lyle, smiled after his little sister. A mirrored image of their mother, he thought. Minus a few years of course.
He continued on his way, coming to the kitchen-come-dining room at the front of the house. He threw a slice or two of bread from a paper bag onto a searing hot Solastone plate near a window. The day had barely begun, and yet the mysterious stone had already absorbed enough sunlight to become immensely hot, toasting his bread rather quickly.
As he waited for his bread to cook, Lyle set about packing his decrepit old bag, full of holes and missing one strap. Of course, he could easily just grab another bag from the pantry, but he treasured this bag, for good reason. After all, wouldn't you want to keep the memory of your father close?
He packed in a few books lying open on the table, mentally berating himself for forgetting to study, or more, berating himself for being rather pleased with himself for not studying, packing his lunch and anything else he may need for the coming day, then hurried to warily flip his toast of of the Solastone before it became charcoal.
It was a quiet morning, so far. Except, of course, for Aegis. But normally his mother was up by now, along with her almost archaic white fox, with one eye deep blue and the other piercingly dark. That animal was rather unnerving, always just seeming to pop up whenever you least-
"Ah!" Lyle jumped back from the shape in front of him. Of course, speak of the devil and he shall appear. The white fox was sitting on the table, right where Lyle had been making his breakfast, swishing its bushy tail back and forth. It didn't have the same proud, pleased-with-itself air that Aegis did. Rather the fox emanated a mysterious calm, as if it had been there the whole time.
It kept its mismatched eyes pinned on Lyle, unnerving him further. So he made a face at it.
"That's not going to help." Lyle jumped for the third time this morning already at the voice, turning around to see his mother leaning on with her shoulder against the wall.
"Geez, mom, don't do that!" His mother pushed off of the wall, arms folded as she made her way, a touch tiredly, to steal her sons toast.
"Thanks." She said casually, before walking to the other side of the bench to take a seat.
"Yeah, no problem." Lyle replied, a jokingly annoyed tone to his voice. "I made that piece just for you. It's not like I'm hungry anyway." He put the toast in his mouth to free his hands, then after making sure he had all he needed, he zipped his bag up and slung it on his back. Ripping a chunk off of the piece in his mouth, he made a desperate dive for the toast in his mothers hand. She simply swayed out of the way.
"Tell you what. I'll give you the toast." Lyle's mother couldn't help the impish grin on her face. "After, of course, you put on a new change of clothes."
Lyle froze. Damn it, how does she always know!? He looked up at Aegis, lying at wait by the door, nose on his paws. He swore the overgrown mutt was snickering.
"It was you, wasn't it?" He accused.
"No," came his mothers sharp-witted reply, along with a fresh shirt slapping Lyle in the face, "you just smell." Lyle made a face.
"Why, thanks." He replied rather sardonically, pulling off the old shirt and on the new. "My self-esteem has skyrocketed."
"Oh, shush, you." His mother said as she pushed off the table. She came over to Lyle and leaned up slightly to kiss him on the cheek, bringing back that proud, wistful feeling parents get when they see their child growing. "Have a good day, Lyle. Only a few more to go." Lyle struggled to lean away from his mothers embrace.
"Yep. Sure. You too. Bye." His mother released him with a half-hearted slap.
"Oh, you love it, you sook." Lyle just poked his tongue.
"Bye bye, Lyle." Came a small, girlish voice. Lyle waved his farewell to his little sister, still dragging her stuffed toy along and tiredly rubbing her eyes. Then, slinging his bag on as Aegis got to his feet, Lyle opened the door and finally left.