I walk a lonley road....

The clouds grew closer with each passing minute. Soon, it was overhead, swirling and pitching, a dark and angry stormcloud. The rolling front reflected the citrine sunset and golden desert, thunder growling towards the horizon. Aku-Aku came to an abrupt halt, tilted his blind eyes at the sky, and grinned. "So the old call still works... Excellent," he murmured. The footsteps on the Earth told him that Raven was still dancing, and he said nothing, lest he interrupt the silent cleansing of her spirit. He instead walked up to Angie, who stood over Tyrone's body like a quiet guardian. "Bring him to the center, do not mind the markings. I will bind his legs together. And then, we will let the spirits do their work," he murmured, and Angie nodded, pulling on her blood-father's scruff and dragging him to the very middle of the plateau. The thunder clenched her insides as she used dried rabbit sinews to wrap all four of his paws together, preventing him from moving. She didn't know what these 'spirits' had in mind for him, but at least something would be done.

Aku-Aku raised his head to the sky again, continuing the call, but with a different dialect. Something much older, something that Angie couldn't understand. She felt something stir in her stomach and rise in her chest, and then she found her paws moving beneath her, dancing to something that she didn't have the memory to remember. She then raised her head and howled, long and strong, echoing the thunder. It was a howl that was picked up by the wind and taken into the storm...

He heard a howl, loud and clear. It was not a howl he recognized, but it felt familiar, somehow. His bones ached and his fur was caked with dried blood. He shouldn't be alive. Shouldn't still be here. But this howl... It was pulling him through. He was a small pup in a black world, but all this howl could tell him was... He was not alone. Tyrone pushed himself up and began to walk, slowly, towards what he thought was a faint light at the end of the tunnel. The realm of the living, the world that he knew. Where life was. Where Raven was, though this was not her howl. Just as he was able to feel the warmth on his face, a crashing coldness knocked him backward, spiraling him away from the light. The snarl was unmistakable.

"You shall not pass," Umbulali hissed, eyes blazing red with raging and fur standing on end. "Go home. Go die. This is my world. And your soul will feed mine."

But Tyrone stood, the sound of the unknown wolf's howl channeling through his veins; and if he strained his ears, he could even hear some kind of chanting, sounding to the beat of his heart. "No. Your soul will feed mine," he growled, and lunged for Umbulali's throat.

The large wolf lying on the ground screamed, eyes flying open, as if electrocuted. His jaws opened and his legs kicked, but remained bound within the sinews. Angie paused for a moment, turning to Aku-Aku, fearing that Tyrone was in pain. But Aku-Aku ignored her, continuing his chant, proceeding as usual. If he did not find anything wrong, then certainly... This was the way the ritual must go. It would not be easy, nor painless, but in the end, hopefully Tyrone would be the wolf to come out of it.

The large wolf at the center of the pleatau screamed and screamed, bones crackling and spine twisting in a mix of pain and horror, writhing against the binds holding his legs together. Lightning split the crimson sky, thunder crashing like Thor's hammer. And still, above the howling wind and angry storm, the tiny desert fox yipped an ancient song, a native chant of long, long ago.

Claws and teeth swung at the dark wolf, Tyrone now filled with a strength so immense he could not be thrown down. There was a howl that he could not recognize and another he thought he did, and he knew that there was someone on the outside reaching him and granting him this power. Umbulali yelped, stung by this strange fire that burst in every punch, every snap, every move that Tyrone made. He swore that he could see real flames in the brute's eyes, burning bright like a light in the dark, and it suddenly made him feel very, very small. Yet, Umbulali fought back, thrashing and snarling, but he could not fight the sheer strength of this wolf before him.

"Damn you!" he cried, tumbling over in the darkness, spitting out blood, the fur on his face singed and smoking. "Do you know who I am? I am Umbulali, bringer of shadows, taker of souls! No soul will defy the power of my own, not even your --"

But the evil harbinger of souls suddenly found that he could not breathe, and it was because of the teeth at his throat, the fire that erupted throughout all of him. He screamed, fur melting off as he was burned alive, until he was nothing more than a pile of bones and ashes.

The Mexican wolf suddenly gasped, sputtered, as if coming up for air from being underwater. He coughed up something dark and black, and Aku-Aku lowered his muzzle, his song dissipating with the wind. He smiled, slow and warm, a gentle rain drizzling from the amber sky, the storm now passed. Blind eyes turned to Raven and Angie, and then to Tyrone. He blinked a couple of times, brow furrowed, looking around, obviously very confused. Aku-Aku approached him and undid his binds.

"Welcome back."

"Welcome home."...

The words echoed in the space. Who was this fox? Where was he? The sky was orange and the rain drizzled down, the tang of old blood and dirt swirling around his muzzle. Tyrone squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. It felt as if he had been hit in the head by a rhino. But then...

"Tyrone?"

It was her... Her voice...

"Raven?"

He turned to see her standing there, on edge, blue eyes wider than they had ever been. It felt as if he hadn't seen in her in years, and a smile broke out on his face, like a child seeing his long-lost friend. "Raven!" he exclaimed, his voice hoarse, but his enthusiasm boundless. He scrambled to stand and found himself stumbling over, his left side giving out the moment he put weight on it. He stumbled over on the ground, pain shooting through his body; it occurred to him that he had been wounded, but he couldn't figure out how.

Aku-Aku, meanwhile, went to the black vomit that Tyrone had spewed. It was naturally foul-smelling, and almost seemed to be hissing, like a piece of charred skin or black ooze. Angie neared him, wanting to be certain that what she was looking at was the thing that had taken control of Tyrone. "So... Is that it?" she asked, glancing at the large wolf and seeing him stumble. Despite all that had happened, she wasn't comfortable yet approaching him, demon or no demon. "Yes. That is Umbulali, the Black Soul... An ancient, evil spirit that once roamed these desert sands and winds... Now, hmm, burned it seems. I'm not sure how that happened..." the fox replied, and turned to begin digging a deep hole. He kicked the black nastiness in, and covered it with a hefty pile of red dirt. He looked to Angie once more. "My work here is done. The three of you may stay as long as you like, but I'm sorry, I don't have much to provide."

"Thank you, Aku-Aku," Angie responded, eyes turning up to Raven and the large wolf that... that was supposed to be her father. Now would be the perfect moment to slip away, erase herself from the page, never be seen by either of them again. She was so tempted to just start heading down the side of the plateau, yet... She wanted to see how all of this would really end.

Tyrone groaned, his head spinning and his body feeling as if he had been smashed by one hundred boulders. But his weary gaze looked upon the most beautiful fem he had set his heart on, and he couldn't help but smile. Yes, he knew he was hurt, but at the same time, he felt... better. "Who... Who would it be otherwise?" he croaked, limp tail swinging. It even hurt to wag. His head was pounding and there was a strange metallic taste in his mouth, like blood, but it wasn't blood. He also thought he could smell something singed, like burning fields during a wildfire. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and saw a tri-colored fem and a small, dusty fox. "Who is that?" he asked, squinting at the pair of them.

Angie froze, the orange eyes of the wolf that was to be her father looking directly at her. She glanced at Aku-Aku for guidance, but he only issued a reassuring nod and slipped away into his den. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean. Raven was looking at her, too, with a hesitant expression. What was she supposed to do? She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a few steps towards them, ears folded. "I... I'm your daughter."

Tyrone's brow furrowed. "Daughter?" he echoed. Quizzical orange eyes turned back to Raven. "We... have a daughter? What happened? I don't..." He sat back on his haunches, his legs tired and his head hurting even more now. It felt as if he had been asleep for far too long, but at the same time, like he had eaten a poisonous plant and had been sick. There were few flashes of memories that felt as if they weren't his, but he couldn't be sure. "Was I... Was I asleep or something? Or sick? Why am I here? How did I get here?"

Angie's ears fell back in disappointment. Of course he didn't know who she was, he had never seen her, let alone know that he had a litter before leaving them. Her disappointment was soon followed by anger; he should have known better. That's what happened when you mate. Even when she was just a yearling and before she hit her first heat, she could understand that. It wasn't hard to figure out. Did he remember anything of his old pack at all? Or maybe he was the wrong wolf, the wrong father. There were plenty of hessians out there. But their tri-hued coats were the same, and the stories leading to his whereabouts were true. It was him. And she had to accept that he didn't know she existed. "I'm going for a walk," was all she said with a firm brow, wishing to forget all of this. If she was lost in the desert for a while, who cared? Certainly not the one who had sired her.

Tyrone regarded Raven with confusion still. "My old pack?" he echoed, chewing his lip. He closed his eyes, trying to wade through the memories. He recalled finding the valley, following the old man, and fighting off Lenzelle, Mira, and Darrell... He then looked to Raven again so quickly, he winced at the sharp pain in his neck, orange eyes brimmed with a look of shock. "Oh no. Did they find you? Did they hurt you?" he stood up, stepping towards her, wholly concerned. "What did they do to you?"

His gaze whipped over to Angie, untrusting. "What did she do to you?" he growled. Raven said that she was his daughter, but that didn't mean anything if she was loyal to the old pack. His old pack wanted him dead, he knew that much, and Angie could be his assassin. Angie's lip curled at him in response and her yellow glare hardened. "Fuck off," she barked, and picked up her pace down the slope, away from the plateau. Confused, Tyrone looked over his shoulder at Raven. "I don't... What's going on, Raven?"

He... He hurt her? Tyrone slumped back on his haunches, brow knitted, eyes shut and confused. Images and voices blurred in his head, but he couldn't distinguish what was happening in the memories that... Memories that were like a discontinued dream. There were flashes of him fighting Darrel and Lenzelle... Of him washing up in a large pond... And even of him in an enclosed space with Raven beneath him. He looked up at her, the woman he loved, his orange eyes bright. "I..." he began, but he was at a loss for words. This was his body, something he had been fighting for what felt like months, but he couldn't help but be disgusted at the things he had done. He stood and approached, ears back and tail low. "That wasn't me. You know that wasn't me. Raven, you... you know that I would never hurt you the way that... That not-me did..."

He was standing close to her, now, within snapping distance if she chose, but not close enough to touch. He kept his head lower than hers. He wanted to lick her muzzle, wrap his bod around hers, and show her that he had the capacity to love her with all his heart. But the glassiness of her eyes, so crystal clear and blue, told him without words that he could not. He sighed. "I don't know how to fix this... but I want to. I want to love you, Raven. I want to love you and do what's right... for us," he said. Nobler words had never been spoken.