Broken Traditions and a Cocky Teenager

Aodh hummed to himself as he strolled through town, an old worn rucksack slung over one shoulder.

He wore a loose pair of tripp pants and an old Flogging Molly band tee, hands stuffed in his pockets.

He had ruined one too many shirts so decided that he needed to go out and buy some more. Tony didn't like people buying things online and having them shipped to the mansion, so he was forced to venture out into town.

He had almost dragged Zeke along with him to keep him company, but he didn't wan tot leave Moe on her own.

Perry and his mate Doug sat up on the balcony of a dodgy fish and chips joint.

"Man, this stuff tastes like shit." Doug complained as he sat up on the balcony railing, his legs dangling hazardously over the edge as the two of them over looked the town bustling below them.

Perry smacked Doug on the chest.
"Look at the red head, what's your bet I can peg him from here?"
Doug simply snorted in reply.

"Faggot!"
Perry called out, throwing the mushed up remains of what once was a piece of battered fish at the red head as he walked past, hitting him square on the shoulder.

The two boys laughed hysterically, the laughter accompanied by the sloppy sound of the boy's gum rolling around in his mouth

Aodh stopped dead when he felt something splat against his shoulder and slide down his back.

His nostrils flared and he smelt the crap people called fish nowadays encirle him like a thick smog.

He sighed heavily. This was one of his favourite shirts. It better not stain.

The Lycan turned around, silver eyes flickering up to the two of them. "It's not nice calling yourself names like that, y'know. People may wonder."

The boys burst into laughter.
"Nice come back!" Perry yelled down at him, showering the man with what was left of their fries.

"Wouldn't worry about that shirt, throw five cats and a lit firecracker in a bag, and that's almost as bad as that music sounds.

The worlds better off."

Aodh inhaled deeply, eyes sliding shut as chips beat against him.

If he managed not to kill these two assholes he'd be able to go to Aeker with his head held high. If not...well he hoped the vampire was out when he was washing the blood off his skin.

"Yeah? Bet your shit could make a deaf person's ears bleed."

Maybe it was childish bantering back, but he could care.

At this point the two boy were pissing themselves laughing, their legs kicking against the railing as they did so.

"How about you take your shit music and fuck off old man."

The boys started chanting obscenities at the red head while flipping him off.

Perry leaned over the railing, and since he had already dumped all the food they head left on decided to spit his gum at him.

He hacked up a large amount of saliva and spat it at the man, the drool and gum both landing right in his hair.
Doug followed suit, also landing his gum in the man hair before bursting into another fit of laughter.

Aodh's face drained of emotion when the gum sailed through the air and tangled with his hair. He wouldn't be able to get that out without cutting it.

Screw going back to Aeker with his head held high.

"You kids messed with the wrong fucking old man," he hissed under his breath as his feet took him towards the teenagers.

He was going to fucking kill them slowly and painfully.

He'd have to cut his hair prematurely. The family tradition was finally shot. He had kept it up for eighteen hundred years and these two little shits just waltzed up and ruined it.

The boys laughter stopped at the man stormed towards the building.

"Fuck!"

They both shouted in unison as they jumped up from their seats and raced towards the back exit of the building, splitting into opposite directions as they made it outside.

As soon as the two of them bolted, Aodh broke into a sprint.

He'd chase the one that caused the most ruckus first then track down the accomplice and off him.

Aodh gave chase to Perry, weaving past all obstacles in his way.

He was going to slaughter this kid in the most violent way he counld think of.

Perry swore loudly as he looked over his shoulder and noticed the red head chasing after him.

He was used to being chased after pissing someone off but this guy was fast.
He swerved through the stores and ducked down into and alley hoping the man didn’t see where he went.

The boy sighed softly and slid down the wall, confident that the man hadn’t see him through the crowd.

Aodh growled under his breath, nostrils flaring to pick up the boy's scent.

If he lost sight of him, he was still going to chase him following his nose. This little shit wasn't getting away from him after what he had done.

"Cac," he hissed when the boy swerved into a store.

He gave chase, following him now by his nose instead of sight. He was glad he was as old as he was. Without Eighteen hundred years practise, he wouldn't have been able to track the boy like he was doing now.

The Lycan stepped out into the alley way, silver eyes locking onto the teenager and narrowing dangerously. "You really know how to get onto the bad side of the wrong people." In his anger his Irish brogue became more pronounced.

Perry scrambled to his feet as the he heard the man talk, slowly backing away from him before tripping over his feet and falling back onto the floor.

“Man, it was just a joke!”

His eyes were wide as he looked up at the man looming over him.
“Look, I’m sorry, you don’t need to do this…”

Aodh grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled it over a shoulder, showing off the gum tangled into it.

"Just a joke?" he seethed.

"Very funny joke, hear all that laughter you caused with your little joke?"

He dropped the lock of hair, glaring down at it in disgust for a minute before stalking towards the boy. "Do you have any really close family, kid? A brother or a sister? Or are you really close to your mom or dad?"

"It's just a little gum, I think you're over reacting."
He replied as he got back onto his feet.

When the man stepped forward, he took a step backwards.

"What's my family got to do with anything?"
He asked, narrowing his eyes at the red head slightly, there was no way he was telling this about his family.

"Family has everything to do with what you just did."

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "I had a very big family once. I had seventeen brothers and sisters. We were a very close-knit family. And we had this little tradition. We'd only ever cut our hair when it got to the back of our knees."

He cocked his head to the side slightly, eyes trailing down over the boy slowly. "But they died. Every last one of them bar my twin brother died. So I kept on the tradition even when my brother stopped. it was something to keep me close to my family. It's very important to me."

He gave a dark snarl. "Tell me, is my hair at the back of my knees yet, kid?"

Tahir had gone into the city of Catania to get better accustomed to the culture of Italy. It was very different then the culture he was raised in, partially due to the fact that it was an entirely different time.

Many things here fascinated him. But what got to him the most were the fiery metal chariots pulled by no horses. In all his time he never would have perceived something like that existing.

But then something caught his attention.

It was the scent of another lycan, near by. His eyes darted over and saw a large red haired man tracking down a teenage boy.

The Persian raised his brow, this didn't look good.

He followed after them and was able to come in to pick up the last thing the lycan man had said.

So this kid had decided to be a dick to the wrong guy. Poor sod.

Tahir didn't want to intrude on other people's affairs, but this looked like it could get bloody very easily.

Cautiously he approached Aodh and cleared his throat to get the man's attention.

"N-no..."

He whimpered as he backed away as far as he could from the man, gripping onto the wall behind him, to say he was fuck was an understatement.

When another man appeared behind the red head a spark of hope appeared in his eyes.

"Hey man! Help, this guy is crazy!"
He called over, looking at the black haired man with panic eyes.

"Right, no."

He took another step forwards, ignoring the man behind him for now. "How happy do you think I am that I have to break the only thing keeping me close to my family?"

When the boy called out to the man behind him he sighed heavily.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked the other Lycan, eyes not moving from Perry. "If you're another pup that wants to meet the Big Bad Beta you need to piss off and come back another time. I'm busy."

So this was the Beta of his new pack. That's great.

"Look, I'm not trying to pry but I think you need to calm down. He's just a kid."

Was all the lycan said, his tone deep and husky. If this caused the other to try and hurt him, at least it would be a somewhat even fight.

This human on the other hand didn't stand a chance. He didn't like the unfair odds. Like a little kid squishing an ant to try and feel some sort of misplaced power.

Perry melted under the red heads glares, shying away from him as much as he could.

"Please..."

He whimpered softly, looking up at the redhead with terrified eyes, his body trembling.

Perry was like any other kid, acting tough in front of his friends despite the fact that he just a child on his own.

"I'm sorry..."

"The term kid has changed over the years. I was a man by the time I was fourteen. And now people his age are kids."

He snorted. "He'd have been killed for a lot less than upsetting a family tradition that I've kept up for nearly two thousand years in my time, pup."

He stepped forwards again, yanking Perry up face-to-face with him by his hair.

"Tell me, you ever been into the whole Werewolf thing? American Werewolf in London, Twilight, Harry Potter and all that shit?"

Tahir shook his head, he couldn't argue with that. In his day people had their hands chopped off for stealing, women were publicly stoned for cheating on their husbands, and virgin girls were sacrificed for their blood.

But he still couldn't help but feel sorry for the pathetic human. His eyes glimmered with true fear thanks to Aodh. Tahir had seen that fear many times in the faces of the people that fell to his blade before their eyes rolled into the back of their head and their jaws contorted into pain, blood dripping from their tongues.

"It's not a fair fight. It would be like killing an infant. If you're a man like you say you are then why lower yourself to that disgraceful kind of slaughter?" He asked, tone steady and even.

"I know what he did was a real shitty thing to do, and the little fucker doesn't deserve to just get away with it. Rough him up a bit, break a few bones, teach him his lesson. But don't kill him."

He only hoped he could get through to the angry Beta.

Perry yelped loudly as he was hoisted up by his head, struggling to free himself from the man's grasp.

His breath came in quick and panic pants, they were talking about killing him?
The colour drained from his face as he was forced to look at the red head, his hands reaching up to attempt to make the man's hand release him.

"I'm sorry..."
He sobbed as tears began to well up in his eyes.

Aodh snorted loudly when tears began welling in the teenagers eyes. "Seriously? That's just pathetic."

The Lycan snorted again and shook Perry roughly. "Answer my question, you into werewolves?"

He turned a glance over his shoulder to the other Lycan. "I'll never get you kids and your morals. You're what? A couple hundred years old, right? Come on, pup, you've gotta be jaded enough by now too not care about killing. I was still in double digits when I stopped caring."

He shook his head sadly, hair whipping out around him. "These new laws and rules are really affecting you pups. It's a shame; life would be so much more interesting if no one had morals."

Tahir let out a low growl at Aodh's words. This man was backwards.

At once point in history Tahir had killed without remorse. The begging and the pleading was like cheering inside his head. The body count was a thing to brag about. Human life was nothing.

When his family was taken from him it changed everything. It took seeing their mangled, butchered bodies for the man to finally understand the value of life.

To the Mongols, the people he loved dearly were just a body count. It sickened him to think that their cries and pleads were heard with evil satisfaction.

This kid probably had a family. Or someone who cared about him. Even if he did a shitty thing it didn't change that. He hadn't meant any real harm. He didn't deserve to die for this. It was that clear to Tahir.

"You call yourself a leader? You're pathetic." He stated coldly, and he meant it too. Anyone who dabbled in killing those that didn't stand a chance had no respect from the Persian.