Father and Son

[October 25-Open to Tramp and Scamp]

Sad brown eyes regarded the stars shining in the evening sky. Tramp couldn't help but be reminded of the first night he'd spent with Lady. And how he'd failed her. Again, and again, and again. Then, after she'd died, he'd failed his family. When they'd needed him most, he'd withdrawn from his surroundings.

He gave a sudden snort, and shook himself out of his dark mood. He'd promised Jock, Danielle, and, most of all, Lady that he would look after what was left of his family. If they didn't reject him. He'd tried to catch some of his children alone, but hadn't been successful so far. He stood, and gave one last look up at the stars, then turned to head back towards the Heroes Camp. But he hadn't gone far when he heard some movement nearby, revealing that he wasn't alone.

His ears perked up, and he sniffed the air as he looked around. He caught a familiar scent on the night air. Could it be? "Whirlwind?"

Scamp froze mid step, "Hey Dad" he answered with a half-hearted smile, he hadn't really been expecting his dad to notice him out here. He had been looking for Vitani again, and had come up short of finding her, again.

So he allowed himself to take a few steps closer to his father, his dad had screwed up, quite a lot. Scamp didn't particularly want to deal with him right now, he had bigger fish to fry than his own father. His murderer for example. Scamp stood there near his father quite awkwardly for quite some time, he didn't know what to say to him. Tramp had fathered Angel and didn't even bother to find out about it, then when he found out he didn't tell them straight away. That in itself caused him so much pain, he had to suffer through finding out that he was in love with his half sister. Then Tramp caused Lady to disappear and run away with another dog, leaving them without a mother because of his mistake.

Scamp missed his mother, she really loved him and there were still times when he wished that she was somewhere nearby to hug him and treat him like a pup again. Right now he kind of wished she was here to see how big he'd gotten, he'd grown a fair bit since she or Tamp had seen him last. He was almost as big as his dad now.

Finally Scamp decided he needed to say something, with a slight frown appearing on his features he spoke one question, one quite cold question. "What do you want?"

Tramp felt some of the tension leave him. After Dani's angry, disgusted reaction to seeing him, he'd half-expected the same thing from Scamp. After all, finding out Angel was his half sister when he'd been so clearly in love with her hadn't been easy for the grey pup. Though he was hardly a pup anymore. He'd grown up, and Tramp hadn't been there to see it happen. He wished Pidge could have been here to see what fine young dogs her children had grown into.

"What do you want?"

Tramp sighed, hurt more than he thought he'd have been at how cold Scamp's question had been. In truth, he hadn't expected to see Scamp out here, and was momentarily at a loss. He sat down, and let his head droop a bit.

"I just...I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for not being here, after...after your mother died. And...and for all of the mistakes I made," he said, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

Scamp rolled his eyes as his father spoke, as sad and sorry as his father seemed he just couldn't take him seriously. Not after all the pain that he had caused. He was not going to get away with it that easily. "You think a few sad words can smooth over all that you've done, huh pop?" Scamp asked him with a sharper tone, he was not a happy pup at this point. After his talk with Angel yesterday his mood had turned sour, dark thoughts making their place in his mind and allowing his anger to lash out at people. Like his father.

Scamp allowed his eyes to narrow slightly at his father, the dog who had lied to him for so long, repeatedly even. "How do I know you're not lying? How do I know this is the truth? Or that you're not hiding more horrible things that I don't know about yet?" Scamp lashed out, asking the questions that naturally came with his angered line of thought. If Tramp paid close attention to his son he would see the tears starting to appear at the corner of Scamp's eyes. Grey little pup was hurt. "I'm tired of the lies pop, I'm tired of the secrets." Scamp ended, his scowl set in his jaw to stop his lip from trembling. He was mad yes but sad too, all his father's lies had added up and had hurt him in so many ways. If all Tramp was going to do was keep lying to him then Scamp wanted nothing to do with him.

Tramp weathered Scamp's angry accusations, unable to meet his son's eyes. Scamp had every right to be angry with him. To hate him, even. It was no more than he deserved. He shook his head slightly.

"There's nothing I can say to smooth things over. I'm not asking for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it. But you deserve an apology," he said softly. He paused, and thought about what he could say to make Scamp believe him.

"What can I say to make you believe me? Other than to promise there'll be no more lies. No more secrets. I would swear any oath you wanted, even on my own life," he said, lowering himself down onto his belly and looking up at his son, spotting the hint of tears forming in Scamp's eyes. It had seemed like a good idea, at the time, to keep some of his past deeds a secret, but now, he knew just how bad of an idea that had been. He wished more than anything that he could make things right, but it was far too late for that.

Scamp continued to scowl at his father, his words weren't making him feel any better. "Why didn't you start off with no more lies?" Scamp snapped at his father, "hm? Why did you think lying was better? What made you thinking that lying to us that whole time was a good idea?" Scamp's feelings lashed out at his father, his eyes lowered down to look his father in the eyes. Tears beginning to stream down his snarling muzzle.

Scamp finally couldn't take it, "Do you even know what you've done?" Scamp shouted, "You are the reason our family is ruined, you are the reason mom is gone, its all your fault!" Scamp screamed at his father and then finally stormed off, not looking back at his father. He didn't know what words were going to come out of his father's mouth, but he no longer wanted to listen.

Tramp lowered his eyes as Scamp snapped at him. Why. He'd asked himself the same question many times, even though he knew why he'd lied in the first place. But, like many lies, it had only gotten bigger as time passed, until Lady had been driven away, and his family scattered. And now, he'd lost every friend he'd ever had. He was truly alone.

His head snapped up in shock when Scamp shouted, pouring his feelings out in angry accusation as the tears in his eyes finally fell. Before Tramp could answer, his son turned away, and stormed off. He lurched to his feet, and darted forward, cutting in front of his son, body still held low. There was still one last thing to say.

"You want the truth? Fine, here's the truth. Yes, I know what I did. I know I'm to blame for all of our family's problems. I killed my beautiful Pidge as surely as if I set my teeth on her myself," he said, his voice harsh as his own tears started falling. His eyes lost their focus as he stepped back. "Why did I lie? I was afraid. I was afraid I'd lose what I cared about most in this world if I admitted my mistakes. If I admitted my weaknesses."

He backed away, staring off across the horizon as he turned away from his son in despair, sinking back down to the ground, drained of all energy. "Now you know everything. If you hate me, if you never want to see me again, I'll understand. But if you ever need anything from me, just ask. Even if it means my life."

His only remaining reason for living was seeing his children safely through this war as best he could. Nothing else remained beyond that.