LAST CHAPTER!
Chapter 10
After the bounty had been literally ripped to pieces, each Drakkic approached Spider and Shriek and bowed in respect to them. Spider smiled, happy that the clan was back together...but then frowned when he noticed someone was missing.
"Where's Delta?" he asked.
"He left..." Hoth said, sadly, "he still can't see through his own hatred of you. I don't know if he will come back...or even survive for that matter..."
Spider lowered his head and sighed.
"So be it then..." he said, "It's his choice if he wants ter leave fer good...but I pray he realizes his mistake and comes back."
"You would accept him back?" Invy said, a bit surprised, "After what he just did?"
"Yes I would." Spider replied, "A lone drakkic may be strong...but his chances of survival is greater if he is in a group of others."
"Strength in numbers." Echa said with a nod.
Spider nodded and continued, "Learnin' how ter work together is essential in a group, but learnin' ter tolerate each others differences is jus' as if not more important. That is harder fer some ter der then others..."
"Like you said...I hope he realizes his mistake before he gets killed..."
Hoth said lowering his head, the others nodding in agreement.
Delta did come back about a week later. He was thin from being unsuccessful in his hunts most of the time and had numerous minor cuts on his body. He approached the clan with his body close to the ground in a submissive posture, head low and looking at the ground. The clan had just made a large kill and were eating. Delta stayed a good distance away, like all the matter of a lone wolf, unsure if they would accept him back or not and whined hungrily.
Delta saw Spider looked up and over at him, with an unreadable expression on his face. He watched as Spider, shakily stood up and bit into the carcass, tearing off a large hunk of meat. By now the rest of the clan had noticed him and were staring at him, again with unreadable expressions.
The suspense was too much for him, Delta flattened himself on the ground and covered his head with his arms, eyes closed and his body trembling. After what felt like an eternity, someone nudged him, gently and reassuringly. He opened his eyes and looked to see Spider standing over him, holding the large piece of meat he had seen him tear off earlier. He watched dumbfounded as Spider gently placed the meat on the ground in front of him.
"Eat." Spider said gently, then turned around and started heading back to the rest of the clan. "Yer look like yer need it."
Delta looked down at the meat and back up at Spider.
"Why?" He managed through a constricted throat, "after what I have done.."
Spider stopped and turned back toward him.
"Because kin take care of their own Delta and we all make mistakes...even me." he said.
"You? Make mistakes? But you seem so..."
"Perfect? No body is perfect. Hell I am certainly not perfect. That fight with Malice is an example..."
"How so?"
Spider sighed and hung his head, "I shouldn' have fought him alone, but at the time I thought it was best because of yer and the others inexperience. I was wrong...I had forgotten that members of a clan hardly der anythin' on their own...'specially in a time of need. I didn't have faith in yer and the others abilities and as a result I nearly got myself killed."
"But afterwards...I kept trying to get the others to leave you behind...I..." Delta's voice cracked, "Hated you so much that was willing to leave Shriek behind to die as well...I don't deserve to be in the clan..."
"We all have faults...and it is how yer deal with those faults that determines how strong yer will become. I am still struggling ter deal with my own...over protectiveness, stubbornness, and lettin' what happened in the past get ter me ter much."
"And me...short fuse, stubbornness, and holding stupid grudges." Delta said softly, looking at the ground again.
"Recognizing yer faults is the first step with dealin' with them and with the clans help yer will learn how ter deal with them."
"You mean..." Delta gasped in shock, "You're letting me back in?"
Spider nodded and smiled, "Welcome back Delta."
Delta stood up, tears in his eyes. He bowed to Spider, picked the meat with his jaws, and trotted to the others, who welcomed him warmly. Spider smiled again and joined them....
"You may be strong alone...but with friends and family you are even stronger...for even the mightiest tree cannot stand without its roots..."
Next fic will be called 'Reunion', but I don't know when I'll be posting the first chap of it....
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