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RP A Once Proud Wolf, Now Declawed

SirSkully

🦊 FM of Neshaten
🦾 FM of Nepleslia
🎖️ Game Master
RP Date
ye 41
RP Location
Obsidian City, Sirrus IV
It was a crisp, clear night, rather nice for a walk if you didn't mind a slight chill eating at your bones and spreading goose-bumps across your skin - Hati Pine had not been seen in... a good two months, all evidence pointed to the lupine clone leaving of his own volition but anybody who knew him knew the young wolf had been in anything but a stable state of mind just before his fall from the grid.

The boy was a SABER operative, what could you do? he was trained to be neither seen nor heard and as time began to pass those around him assumed that Hati was either dead, or would come back in his own time, whenever that may be.

A lone Nepleslian-made civilian shuttle puttered through the atmosphere at an odd angle, the thrusters not flaring nearly as much as they should as it slowly arced down towards the city of Obsidian - the sparkling gemstone in New Dusk Conclave's under-construction crown, it called to the ship's navigation systems like a beacon to the beat-up shuttle.

The intended trajectory would have been the star-port if the engines hadn't given out, shuttle's nose tipping off to the side as it began to pass over the city's park, no corrections being made to avoid the misalignment that sent the sorry excuse of a shuttle back over the other side of the city and into the wooded lands that surrounded it. It hit the ground with an almighty thud of Nerimium screaming, skipping back off the ground for another fifteen meters before slamming back down, tearing up various shrubberies and uprooting orange trees in its path as the ship slowly ground to a halt at the end of the trench that had just been dug.

Hati's geist popped back up onto the network the moment he entered city limits, somewhere in the cockpit of that crumpled shuttle's carcass, vitals weak.

A bike with black body-suited figure mounted upon it, waited on a hill just outside the city, the mysterious female having camped there for a few days. With a mask covered face turned to the sky as the shuttle made it's horrific attempt at a landing, she kicked the bike into gear. With the kick up of dirt, it sped through nature, taking a long curved path around the perimeter of the city. The vehicle was pulled to a halt just 5 yards shy of the wreck.

With a stride of determination, the figure made it a short walk towards the shuttle, only stopping to look for a hatch.

The acrid stench of burning electronics wafted through the wilderness, small bit of smoke pouring from cracks in the shuttle's twisted hull as an orange docking light slowly blinked itself out of existence - relative to the orientation of the planet, the ship was on its side, so what was once a side door was now a warped and ruined top-hatch that gave a small bit of a view into the shuttle's interior - the mess of sparks and red warning lights it was, their evil glow highlighting a figure slumped over sideways in the pilot's seat.

With the finesse of a cat burglar, the woman scaled the derelict hull, using rents and tears as foot holds. Once on top, she squeezed through the warped side hatch, lowering herself down into the interior. With a thud, and a clank as her foot knocked away a stray canister, she maneuvered towards the cockpit and to the slumped pilot. If the IFF had been right, this was her object of interest, the young man who had something important of her's.

The cockpit had a rather strong and unpleasant odor, one of unwashed bodies, the sickly sweet scent of decay, and a little bit of wet dog thrown into the mix as the pilot began stirring - with that blood-matted black tail it wasn't hard to see who it was sluggishly reaching for a knife in the vain hope he could use it to cut through the restricting harness, fingers outstretched with a pained moan of effort as the extended limb fell just short, rather obviously unaware of the suited woman's presence.

"Here let me help you with that bud." the female figure stated before pulling the knife he had been reaching for after she entered the cockpit. Sliding the blade out quickly, but making sure to remain out of arms reach for the moment she turned to him. "I'm going to cut you down, so just take it easy and remain calm." she assured before approaching.

As she moved around, it was hard to believe this gaunt and broken-looking creature with large, sad, red eyes was the same man in the missing person's poster - cheeks sunken down enough to see the clear outline of his skull beneath, skin marred with angry yellow zippers of sickly flesh connected via diseased streaks of red, "Muhhh~" Hati managed to murmur out before letting his body go limp in the chair defeatedly, still conscious but lacking much strength to fight back with - left arm that ended above the elbow with a tied-off sleeve of his loose undersuit a clear contributor to all this.

The knife was carefully slipped under the strap as she moved under him to catch once freed. With a sharp and strong flick of the blade, the strap was cut, then the other, letting the man fall into her arms. He was lighter given his state, something that still wouldn't make dragging him out easy. The masked woman looked deeper into the dead shuttle back the way she had come, looking for an exit easier then how she got in. It was also to possibly spot what he had taken from her two months ago.

A short moment of looking around would reveal a hole where the hull had separated from the rear booster manifold as Hati let out a very dry gulp - possibly trying to make getting a word or two out easier but still all he could manage was a rather pathetic, "Reewf-" as the sad creature's one remaining hand clawed towards a loose conduit cover, growing a little heavier as his consciousness began fading again.

She thought she understood the message, figuring it was what she was looking for. But first things first. With a huff of effort, the woman began to drag him out of the craft and to her bike, ignoring the what was probably a rifle, to get him out first. It wasn't going anywhere, and needed some serious help. Hopefully he wouldn't resist do to ignoring the item.

Panicked wheezes leaked from the wolf's maw as he weakly scrambled against her shoulder, though combined effort and pain won out as Hati winced before becoming dead weight like he had been moments ago - even the supposedly skin-tight undersuit looking baggy over his body as both feet dragged through the dirt once they got outside the ship.

He wouldn't be resisting anymore, at least.

With no more fight left in him, the woman felt she need to hurry, knowing full well that he desperately needed help soon. With some more effort, she eventually got him to the bike. Mounting once more, she had him in front of her so she could hold onto the man with one arm around his chest. With great care to hold him tight to the woman's body as not to fall off, she kicked dirt once again as she raced the bike to the closest city gate where she would drop him off to the medics. She placed a anonymous emergency call to meet them there as the bike made a smaller curve to the closest gate.

In his unconscious haze her embrace was... soothing, something the wolf hadn't felt for a good while and sure enough a team of paramedics were waiting to accept his sorry excuse for a body.

They had their work cut out for them indeed; multiple fractures, blood diluted by heavy chem usage, blood poisoning caused by the rather infected stump of his arm, numerous bruises and small contusions across his pale skin, dehydration, malnourishment, a small bit of clotted internal bleeding, a few third-degree burns, fatigue... the list went on and on but eventually Hati's condition had been stabilized and they carefully watched his still body.

People might have visited, he wasn't too sure, Hati got some much needed rest for the next three days as his body attempted to recover from the hell and ensuing near-death experience that followed - but once awake he had immediately started looking for a way out, there wasn't any chance he'd sit here and sob while his Mum's rifle rotted in the broken ship.

He knew it wouldn't be long before they traced his Geist, so Hati had been as quick as he could be given his current state, clambering out the window and stealing some clothes from a nearby clothesline before dragging himself off to where the ship had come down - wrapped in an oversized hoody and some loose tracksuit pants to hide his frail body, who the hell had dragged him out of that wreck anyway?

The wolf sighed, it didn't matter, and he began slowly circling the ship to look for an easy way in - finding the breach he had been dragged out from with little hassle before carefully padding his way inside, careful to not cut his bare feet on any of the debris as Hati approached the shoddily replaced conduit with a small breath.

Hati had almosot reached for it with his left arm... it still felt like it was there, his confused nerve endings trying to make sense of the fact so much of their infrastructure had been torn away so suddenly - but instead the boney fingers of his right hand settled on the lip and pulled, a few more attempts before it finally came away to reveal...

His features dropped, the one thing he had left of his mother's, the one thing he'd helped onto that had kept the wolf going... the thing whose barrel he had tasted before realizing how much of a disrespect that would be to the legacy of the wonderful woman Sarah Pine who'd been such a nice mother to him...

It was gone...

A few small choking sounds left the hood as Hati slammed his fist into the wall, slowly sliding down it and onto his knees as some glass cut through his pants and bit into his legs but it didn't matter, nothing really mattered besides the fact he had fucked up so badly, chokes turning into sobbing sounds as tears streaked down his face to quietly plat against the floor.

It had already begun to grow darker outside, as evening set in, the sun began to lower. The light cast in through the breach he had entered through more, and the shadowed silhoutte rose on the floor before him, indicating someone standing just inside said breach. The soft sounds of someone stepping in could be heard behind him. It was clear whoever it was, was not trying to hide, or be stealthy.

For a moment, it didn't matter to Hati who the hell it was, he simple sat there and sobbed - if it was someone who'd been sent to get him then whatever, if it was some scrapper who'd taken the gun and was about to drive a bullet into the back of his head then even better - he tensed up at that last thought... if it was a scrapper then there was a chance it was the bastard who'd taken the rifle, so Hati's hand trailed down the wall slowly to wrap around a particularly cruel-looking shard of metal before he slowly stood up to turn around, body obscuring the improvised shiv from whoever would greet him.

It was the masked female figure from before if he remembered her at all, but sure enough, there was the rifle slung across their back. They must have camped nearby over night as he was treated in the hospital. The Black Rose, what could be seen behind her frame, had been cleaned some. They didn't say anything at first, only standing looking the man over for a moment, their cloak hanging loosely over their body to hide most of the figure beneath. She stepped forward a couple paces, a muffled and augmented voice coming from the mask, "I would advise dropping the sharp object, it's not nice to hide such dangerous things."

In some distant part of his mind, he did find the figure indeed familiar, but that might as well have all been white noise to the wolf - his brow furrowed and red eyes narrowed, focused solely on the fact somebody had his mother's rifle and he needed it back, two steps were taken with malicious intent to close the gap before Hati let out one coarse cough. The shiv was dropped to the floor with a clatter as Hati raised that hand to cover his mouth, slumping his frail frame against the wall as he rode out the coughing fit, nothing but hate and pain in his eyes as a little bit of blood soaked through his clothes.

"You are a mess young man. My camp is just a few yards from here, you need rest, so you're coming with me." The figure said firmly as she moved to help him up, reaching a hand out to lift him by the upper arm.

Hati was about to tell the figure to fuck off before he thought about it for a moment, if they were at this person's camp then surely their guard would be down, and in his current state he needed all the help he could get - so with a plan in mind, Hati let the lung-rattling coughs pass through his system and offered up little resistance as he was helped along, her hand able to feel the skin and bone beneath his clothes.

"Whatever~" came his hollow voice, not even a snark remark as the wolf's eyes blinked back tears with a ragged breath.

With a gentleness, the woman slipped in under one arm to support him, once she had a hold, she helped Hati more or less stumble out of the wreck. It was a much easier wreck then the first time she had helped him out. Once clear of the wreck, she lead him over to the nearby treeline, where a campsite was set aside in the shade. A tent, log, the bike from before, and a campfire sat. She lowered him to rest against the log before grabbing a saddle bag from the DR1 that had a medical symbol on it. Bringing it over, she quietly began to treat his cuts, applying sealant and bandages.

A small sigh came from the wolf as he was lowered but not much else, not even a wince of pain as the cuts on his legs were dealt with, whatever managed to stain the rest of his stolen clothes seemingly having sealed back up on their own as Hati's one remaining hand rested on the ground. He wasn't that moody, snarky, dare I say edgy, teen anymore - whatever the hell had put him in this state had irreversably damaged the wolf beyond just what medical personnel could heal.

"Who are you anyway?" he asked quietly after a moment, same lack of emotion to his words, which took a good bit of effort for him to bother getting out in the first place.

"Someone who cares about you and your family Hati. More then you know. I was actually looking for you, and I almost thought I'd have to search you out. That rifle, The Black Rose, is important. The way you hid it made that clear, but I need it for a bit. Now I don't know what happened to you, but once you're rested, and have healed some....me and you can talk all about on my return." she simply said as she worked, next debating as she pulled a hypo out, whether to administer it or not. Hati would recognize it as Stym, a stimulant he had taken heavily before.

He listened, eyes settling on the green and silver injector with a certain hunger in his eyes before they moved away shamefully, Hati's hand slowly thumbing over a rock as his gaze rose up to meet the masked woman's blank expression, "Don't... don't jab me with that stuff..." he let out, not very convincingly but it was something he knew would begin to spiral back out of control if he let the green stuff energize his system again.

"... you're not telling me who the hell you are... but that rifle belonged to the only good person in this fucked up world," Hati's voice began building up into a faint growl, lips peeling back to reveal hints of his sharp canines, "...and you aren't taking it from me~" he hissed, gripping around the rock and bringing his remaining arm up to try and club at the woman's head.

He would find her prepared as a forearm was swiped up to block him at the wrist before her hand gripped it and shoved the arm down with a vice like grip. Her thumb was pressed into the pressure point of the underside of the wrist, making the grip a bit uncomfortable. "Because you're not ready to know yet. Get the anger issues in check, and then we'll talk. Now, drop the rock, before I have to dislocate that wrist. I am not here to harm you." she said sternly, an air of disappointment in her voice. "You said your mother was a good woman, follow by the example you saw in her. But you may be surprised to know the truth about the people you thought you knew the best. Case in point, your mother may have been the nicest person on this world to you, and she may have been for the time you knew her. But she was an assassin, she murdered people for money."

Hati winced as his hand was forced back down to the ground, rock rolling out of his grip as he pushed back for a short moment before realizing he wouldn't make much progress - as this mysterious started going in-depth about his mother though, the wolf listened attentively, he'd known Sarah had been into merc work maybe before becoming a mother to many... but he didn't know she was a full-blown assassin.

He stayed quiet for a moment longer, clearly mulling over her words before a long sigh was let out and Hati looked up into where he assumed the masked woman's eyes were, "...trust me, I'm~ I'm not a good person... how the hell do you know all this?" he asked, strangely enough believing her words, it was something about the tone and way she spoke - it was reassuring and he had no idea why.

"More or less, we used to work very closely. And I'm not a good person either. And it's not easy to be one, but cared enough to hold onto the rifle, to her memory. It was a long road that lead her to do what she did, but in the end she saw her mistakes. I just hope you can see your's before you end up like her."

"Hrmm~" Hati mumbled out as he listened to the modulated voice, arms going to cross before he again remembered the left one ended above the elbow, a little huff of frustration leaving the wolf's lips before he spoke again, " ...why do you even care what happens to me?"

"That's.......complicated. I guess I don't want to see you throw it all the way, and put you back on the path Sarah would have been happy with. Proud to see you on." came her reply after what seemed a hesitant moment. The mask shifted on the woman's face as she had thought on that answer, but settled again just before she had spoken. Going back to her work of mending what she could, she placed the hypo back in the case, then simply gave him normal pain meds instead. "So, rest here, doctor's orders. Any last questions before I hit the sack, which as I re-iterate, you are doing as well."

Hati took the pain meds with a dry swallow and a small wince, huffing as he listened to the masked woman's words with only one real thing to say, "Whatever... you know people will be coming after me soon, right?" he asked bluntly before pointing to the back of his neck where the Geist was situated, small little compact computer humming away in synergy with his mind seamlessly.

"If I didn't have a jammer for that little toy in your neck maybe. Mine's been modified to stay off the net, and I can extend that to a few people around me. All they know is you're off in the woods again. Won't matter much anyways, I'm leaving in the morning, shit to do and work to be done." She said smartly waving a finger with a quiet tsk. Placing everything back in the case, the woman brought it back to the bike before walking towards the tend. Moving the rifle to be cradled in her arms, she briefly turned back to him. "Dinner is in the pot over the fire, help yourself. Anything before I sleep?"

Hati simply shook his head in response before turning his back to the woman with a solemn sigh, arm wrapping under his head as a pillow as he felt the small rocks and sticks dig into him a little - it wasn't comfortable, but it was what he had gotten used to, all things considered... the wolf set a mental alarm to go off in an hour and squeezed his eyes shut.

The figure satisfied that he would rest, slipped into the tent with her prize before zipping up the flap for privacy. Now unseen by Hati, and able to relax, the mask was pulled away. A sigh left her lips as the hood was re-adjusted over her raven hair, covering her face just in case he tried to peek in. Crystal blue eyes settled on the black rose hand painted with love and care on the rifle's stock, she held it close as if acting as a safety blanket. Silently she cried, hating the facts she hid from that boy, and the pain he was in. Eventually with the comfort of the familiar rifle in her arms, the woman finally fell asleep.

Exactly an hour later, down to the nanosecond, Hati's red eyes fluttered open - now glowing slightly from their natural output of infrared and ultraviolet light, the wolf blinked a few times and swallowed before turning back over towards the tent and with a small grunt of effort managed to shift his vision to filtering out all but the IR spectrum.

These things that came so naturally before seemed like such a hassle now, doctors said it would heal in time but for the time being he'd have to live with one ear being a little deaf and his nose constantly feeling like it was blocked despite no physical blockages being in place, something do to with his melting pot of a genetic code having just been put through quite the traumatic ordeal - they'd said.

He focused on the tent, attempting to peer through the outer layer and peek at the woman's heat signature, noting that she at least looked asleep if nothing else and that the cold object in her embrace was probably the rifle. It was... a little weird, Hati felt as if he'd know of somebody so obviously caring about his mother or... the whole situation was making his head hurt, so instead the wolf decided to silently stand and approach the tent, slowly to make sure his broken body didn't stumble or trip before beginning to undo the tent's zipper as quietly as possible.

The embrace of the rifle let her slip into a peaceful sleep, deeper then she had been able to have in a while. A soft feminine snoring emenated from under the hood, head rested against the barrel like cuddling with a long lost friend. She barely stirred as the zipper was undone, only a small shuffle to bring the rifle closer. Her cloak was wrapped around herself like a blanket, leaving the shapely suited legs visible.

Standing in a low crouch, the wolf let in a small murmuring breath before he began skulking into the tent, one foot slowly being placed in front of the other in an attempt to make the least bit of noise possible as he stepped around her sleeping figure and slowly lower his hand until it was able to grip around the barrel.

He was... curious though, who the hell was this person who'd pulled him from a wreck and gotten him to a hospital? realistically he probably owed her his life but something just seemed off, so his hand moved from the barrel to try and slowly slip back just the front of her hood ever so gently

Hati's already pale features became translucent as he paused momentarily with wide red eyes before loweing the tip of the hood, taking a good long second to process those cheekbones and lips, those blue eyes and that nose... the raven hair the same shade as his own coat besides a few white details, no it couldn't be her, it was just that pale reflection his mind had conjured to keep him going...

He wasn't in danger now though, was he? no...

A shudder wracked the wolf's system as he suddenly found himself unable to act on anything but the most basic of functions, legs going up to his chest and arm wrapping around his knees before a terrible pang of pain wracked his head, causing the confused and scared Fenrir lupine to grip at the side of his head with a low growl of injury as some horrid ringing began building in his skull - causing another small whimper of... he didn't really think there was a word in the Trade dictionary to describe this particular mix of emotions.

She did not wake right away, only stirring as he growled to mumble in her sleep, "Hrm, Rose, Michael is crying again and it's your turn to feed him again. Chest still sore from earlierrr.." But as he whimpered loudly, she awoke quickly, initially sitting up to look to her open tent flap thinking he was in pain outside and that something was wrong. The latter being right, but she quickly realized with a scared startle that he was right there. "GODDESS FUCK! Hati, whadda doing in here?!" she exclamed as she rolled over to the other side of the rifle out of instinct, her features clear to see again.

Hati flinched at her unmodulated voice, breathing becoming ragged hyperventilating amidst unintelligible muttering against his knees as the quick huffs and puffs denied his panicking body the oxygen it required - fangs biting down into his bottom lip more than they should as the once so tough and moody wolf remained huddled up in a little ball.

"Y...you..." he squeaked out before bringing an accusatory finger out to point at the woman, "You died... I~ we~ you were buried... NO! YOU'RE NOT REAL, YOU'RE JUST IN MY HEAD AGAIN!" the clearly troubled creature yelled at her before going back into a ball, falling onto his side on the floor as unrestrained tears could be heard.

Sarah choked up as her heart slowed to normal, gently the rifle was set aside before she scooted slowly closer. She wasn't sure what to do at first, knowing revealing who she was might get this reaction. Her gloves were unattached and slid off from her suit, a hand reaching down to take his, hoping the touch would calm him. "Hati, honey, I need you to listen. Yes, I died, my body did. But Seraphina did something to save me, for months I sat in a digital room with no body. Only recently was I given a new one, Hati, I'm alive.....I'm real, not in your mind. Please, take my hand."

Hati moved away slightly as she got closer, just enough to remain out of her reach as the wolf got up onto his haunches with one hand on the ground for better balance, tears streaming down his pale cheeks as those red eyes regarded this revenant calling herself his mother with a mixed look of confusion, hate, anger and sadness.

"...how do I know it's you...? those reapers missed me... how do I know it's not~" his shaky words were cut off by more ringing threatening to split his head apart, hand pressing itself into his forehead before this lot faded rather quickly.

"...Say something only my mum would know... something off record... or else you're not my fucking mother~"

"I remember the day you broke the programming, how you came up to me and cuddled up to my lap. It was if you were a little puppy, that's when I started to call you Woofy. You were always such a good boy, always such a good son. Please hear me and know I speak the truth, I'm real, it's momma. I am not here to hurt you, never would I hurt one of my sons, not family I love. Take my hand and feel that I am real Woofy, let momma take care of you." she cooed with a few tears, her voice warm as she tried to get him to relax, and to just let her get close.

He listened, bottom lip quivvering as what this woman said made all too much sense to the confused wolf, a few more sad sobs left his features before Hati pounced forward into Sarah's chest, burrying his face there as the one good arm wrapped around her waist and the prematurely shortened one held her ribs, "I'm sorry I clubbed at your head, I'm sorry I stole your rifle, I'm sorry I ran away from home, I~I~I~ I missed you and I'm so sorry Momma," he choked out while crying into her chest with no restraint, sobbing and spluttering and not wanting to let go, as if doing so would have her torn away from him again

"Shhhh, there there, I'm here now. I just wish our reunion could have been a bit gentler, but the circumstances we're given rarely comply. You don't have to be sad anymore Woofy, everything will be alright. It's a long story, and I'm sorry you had to see what happened to me, but I'm better now." Sarah soothed as she held the sobbing young man, giving tears of her own at not having been able to be there for him.

Hati's tail had slipped out during the pounce and now lay limply across the floor of the tent, a limb that Sarah would have been so used to seeing flicking about happily whenever they were together now sat still like a corpse as Hati cried against her chest for a few more moments - eventually looking up into her blue eyes with his own red ones having glassed over, "I just... I don't~ how?" he choked out.

First she with a little effort, pulled him closer and more upright against her to rest against the crook of her arm, the other hand peeting his head as she began to explain. "Just before my body died, and I thought it was over, I closed my eyes one last time. I felt cold, but different, and thinking I had passed to some other place like some people say....well I opened my eyes, and found myself standing in a white room. The furniture, the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. All were stark white, just like I guess milk. I thought to myself, "Is this heaven, or hell, some place inbetween?" as I looked around then at my hands. That's when the walls faded, and I Seraphina stood outside in a much larger chamber."

"It was some sort of facility, and then that's when she explained to me what she had done. Before I died, she had transferred my digital mind to a data storage device of some type. I was shown footage of my own funeral, I just couldn't believe it. She showed me the new body she was growing, but it would take time, but I had access to the city's systems and could watch everyone as I waited. Even now, it's so hard to believe even for me, that I got this second chance. I'm not even Geshrin anymore, but human like everyone else in our family now." The petting had continued through out the whole retelling, her moist blues eyes regarding him warmly as she watched him rested against her.

He'd calmed down a little under her loving touch, having been reduced to a few sobs and occasional canid-whimper while settling his unhealthily gaunt body against hers, cheek nuzzling into Sarah a little bit, "...I~ I'd only just made my peace with your passing a few days ago and now~" Hati shook his head a little, sinking a little lower into his mother's embrace.

"The others can't know yet... can they?" he asked, while no genius the wolf had always been a little too smart for his own good, and so even in this odd emotional state of relief and sadness he'd tried wrapping his mind around the bigger picture.

Sarah gave him a sad sympathetic smile, "No, not just yet. I made a promise to Thorn, that I would make things right, to fix the wrong that brought about this situation. Rose made a mistake, and she paid for it, but now I have a chance to fix it. Thorn still has people after her, I need my rifle to take care of them. So I need to go away for a bit on a trip, couple weeks at least, to take care of some bad people. I never thought I would be doing this kind of work again, but I am for the right reasons this time. I'm bringing Thorn into my life as well, whether Rose likes it or not, just as it should have been. Only you, Thorn, and Seraphina know about this."

"I can try to understand... but of course... take it~ I never claimed the rifle was mine... it was just~" Hati choked out as the constant stream of tears picked up again, his head hiding itself in her collarbone out of shame, "I'm so sorry Mum... I~ I used your passing as an excuse to almost bring about my own... I understand if you're mad~"

"Hati, I'm not mad, what matters is you're alive. Your family probably misses you and is worried. So tomorrow, you're going to return to the hospital for full treatment. But for tonight, you are staying here with me, and I am not letting you go. I missed you all, and it hurt not being able to go see any of you, hold you, or even talk to anyone."

"Alright~ I just really don't want to be swarmed by everyone all at once..." Hati agreed as he calmed down slowly, fingers digging into the material wrapped over Sarah's lower back with a loving squeeze from the one-armed pup as he looked up to her. "Did... did you read my medical report while I was out?"

She shook her head, "No, but the way you looked at that hypo earlier gave me a good idea of what's in it. I'm going to help you get clean when I get back, and to do that, you are staying home with me." she said rubbing his back before planting a kiss on his head, "We're going to have to get you accustomed to a prosthetic as well. Just the things me and you will need to do when I get back."

He nodded a few times, tears having finally stopped as Hati sniffed once before responding, "Just... please don't read over it then, some of the things I went through~ it's bad enough seeing the way the medical personnel look at me, and I don't think I could handle you looking at me that way too," he offered, a small ragged breath leaving his lungs, a few white roots sticking out slightly in the fringe of his otherwise raven hair.

"Just... please, Momma, that's all I ask~"

"Baby, I would never look at you that way if I read it, please don't think I would. I don't judge my children on their mistakes, I only want to help them through making sure they don't make them again. I want to see you become the best man you can be, to live honest. That's not something I was good at for a long time, and I don't want to see you all make those mistakes I made. I haven't been there like I should, seen the things that only dying manage to bring to my eyes. I've been such a bad mom, and I'm so so so sorry Woofy." Sarah cried as she cradled Hati, her head resting against his as she pulled him close to the chest. Holding him, embracing a broken son, she broke causing her own tears to flow.

It was his turn to comfort her, hand gently rubbing and patting his Mother's back as Hati let out a low, sympathetic whimper, "...take it from someone who was born in a vat and is barely related to you... yet someone who you took under your wing all the same," he began, hand moving to slowly card down her cheek and wipe away some of her tears as Hati forced his stinging tear ducts to hold back for now.

"...you're the best Mum I could have had... I can't speak for the others... but I'm sure they agree~"

"I don't care if you all came out of a tube, you're all my babies." Sarah cried some more, "I never wanted a life for any of you as some warlord's tools, I wanted you all to have freedom and lives of your own. You, Talos, Jacky, Lynn, Spark, Jack, Mark, and Armora have all grown into wonderful people that I'm proud of."

"You think a bad mother would say something like that?" was all he had to offer at first, a blunt response before the wolf's began tail curving around his mother's knee slowly as the tip brushed up against her shin.

"I hope your right, my parents weren't the best example. I started working as an assassin when I was your age actually, so full of hate and anger, blaming the elysian's for their death which was a lie in the end. The greatest irony is it's an Elysian who saved me. My life is strange and far from normal.......But, I wouldn't trade it for any other."

Hati smirked a little, just the tiniest bit but it was more than he had done in a good while, choosing to settle a little further into his Mother's embrace as the young wolf pondered just how much he had in common with this woman who was only vaguely his genetic ancestor, "Nothing is ever normal for a Pine, is it?" he sighed a little, hand trailing down to weakly grasp one of Sarah's.

"...I missed you, Mum... your everything... and you being back feels like a cruel dream I'm about to wake up from~ I'm not sure if that's the case but regardless of if it is... I just want to say that I love you, and that you're the most important person in my life," Hati's smirk slowly faded as his face went back to that resting pout.

She gave the hand a tender squeeze, "This isn't the case, and I'm not going to let it become a dream. I may have to take a trip, but it's only going to be a few days. I'd take you with me, but you're in no condition to travel."

Sarah was sad she'd have to disappear for a bit, and just after their little reunion, but what she had to do. It had to be done, had to make good on her promise. "But while I'm gone. Give Sera a hug and tell her thank you for me. Try to get along with Jack better, he's hurting, and you being a good brother helps."

"Okay..." Hati breathed out as his head fell back to resting against the softness of her chest, a dry gulp from Fenrir's wolf, "...I need to rethink a lot of things and get my act together, no promises but I'll try~"

"That's all I ask Woofy, just to try, and I will help you. So enough moping, cheer up, things will be better." she replied, brushing his hair with a sympathetic hand, her voice nothing but warm and motherly. A loving peck was placed atop the wolf boy's head, enjoying the closeness. This was something she hoped to share with him again after she got back, and her existence was revealed.

"I'll try~" Hati repeated, tail wagging slightly as the kiss was pressed to the top of his head, the white roots of his fringe becoming a little more prevalent as Sarah messed with his hair yet nothing but a small sound of comfort left the wolve's lips for a moment.

"...I should tell you, your gun...? I uh, dropped it and can't seem to get the optics right past seven hundred meters... figure maybe you know what to do with it~" he admitted, face turning to hide a little more in her chest.

Sarah's eyes drifted over to the rifle for a moment, not out of disappointment, but curiousity. The scope did look a little battered, but that wasn't something to upset her, would just mean she needed to either fix it, or replace it go on her hunts. "That's okay, I figured i'd have to do something about that scope sooner then later. I was having issues before that even, so now it's just an excuse to finally quite procrastinating on fixing it. Thank you for telling me, don't worry I'm not mad or anything." she said with a reassuring pat on his head.

"I... just didn't want to be the reason something else happened to you... but I'm glad you're not too mad with me," he offered with a low-spirited smile, Hati was so glad she was back but he knew a lot of things wouldn't be able to go back to the way they were.

"...I feel like there's something else I need to tell you, Momma, but I just don't know what that thing is..."

"Take your time, there is no rush. We'll have plenty of time to talk, and tell each other all about the time we've had. Even I have things to tell you......one being you have a third mom. I haven't spoken to Rose yet to let her know I'm alive, but I have spoken with Thorn, and made things right. Not the most normal news, but love is a strange thing when you love someone."

Hati's eyebrows arched as he looked up at Sarah for a moment, processing it all before hunkering back down against her comfortable figure, "...huh, alright then... I know it probably hasn't been fair on Rose, with me not really talking to her... but if that's how things go then I'll stand by your decision," the wolf murmured sleepily with a few blinks, if it made Sarah happy then Hati would have to find a way to deal with it.

The raven haired woman repositioned herself to where they were laying down, snuggling up to her son to sleep. Happy he was accepting of this news, she pulled him close. "Sounds like Woofy needs to rest, I'll make you breakfast in the morning. I've gotten pretty good at preparing rations, even though not the best meal. Wait til everything is back to normal though, I'll make you all pancakes." Sarah whispered sweetly as she began to doze off as well from the emotional stress of the day.

"sounds good..." Hati murmured into her chest before passing out, tonight's bout of overwhelming emotions combined with the physical and mental stress that would tie almost anyone else to a bed was overwhelming for his overworked system - Hati never had been much of a snorer, all he let out were gentle little breaths against his Mother's chest as he slept, managing to find some peace in such a simple feeling of closeness with his preferred paternal figure.
 
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