Family of Strays

Finally done! ;o; At least I thiiiink I'm happy with it now. Anyways, this is Socks with his family before they were separated and Socks became an emotional, unstable wreck, haha! His mother is known as Scraps, a name she earned because of all the "scraps" of food the humans would throw to her, but her real name is Sunka (pronounced "shunka") which means "dog" in Lakota. The tan colored puppy is Skipper and the black puppy is Shadow. I know, gotta have all S-names because I'm a dork. Their father is a black wolf whose name I'm still debating (but c'mon, it's gotta be an S-name right...? Maybe)! Scraps is a mix of border collie, siberian husky, german shepherd and who-the-hell-even-knows. Socks looks smaller than his siblings because well, he is. He's the runt of the litter. As promised, here's an updated story summary/history on my derpy little Socksy and how he met Pibbles, Sparkz, etc (I really should post this on his new reference sheet instead...when/if I ever get that done XD):

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Born to a streetwise stray dog and a wandering lone wolf Socks spent the first few months of his life learning to survive and stealing away to the forest to satisfy his growing wanderlust. When he was around four months old animal control took his mother, brother and sister away while he was busy exploring. Although he chased the truck for as far as his little paws would carry him he was unable to rescue them. Forlorn and overwhelmed with fear, guilt and regret Socks trudged through day by day keeping himself alive only because he was determined to somehow find his family again. During this lonely time his eyes began to open to just how cruel and twisted humans could really be and he became extremely wary of them.

After months of searching Socks finally stumbled on the animal shelter. He recognized the truck instantly but could find no traces of his family. Breaking into the pound only led to more heartbreak and a dangerous new rage that was triggered when confronted with the officer that took his family. But in the midst of all the negativity Socks also made a new friend: a young pit bull named Pibbles who had just recently become a first time mother. Pibbles was impounded while still pregnant after the police busted a massive dogfighting case. To say Socks was horrified to learn what Pibbles had endured is an understatement. He wanted desperately to get the family out of the shelter but after his violent, vengeful outburst he had no choice but to flee for his life.

He would meet Pibbles and her puppies again months later after they had been rescued and placed in a foster home. But by this time Socks had become very jaded and allowed his anxiety to all but consume him. Pibbles, with her sweet and understanding nature, helped get through to him and convince him the human world isn't all bad. For a while he stayed nearby his friend and became an adoptive big brother to her little ones. But when the foster decided it was time for the puppies to go to "forever homes" Socks was triggered by intense memories of his own family being taken away. His weak trust in humans once again crushed, he fled the safety and comfort of his friend and swore never to allow himself to get close to anyone again.

Socks spent most of his time in the forest, going for long runs just to clear his head, allowing himself to become lost in daydreams all while trying not to focus on the voices screaming within his mind. For all his wanderlust he thrived more on companionship and the loneliness was almost unbearable. But the distrust he felt was not only towards humans but towards himself, his anxiety reassuring him day after day that it was his fault his family was taken, that he was too weak and stupid to save them. This was another reason he kept himself in isolation, for he feared if he let someone into his heart he would be unable to protect them properly. Truly he felt he wasn't deserving of the companionship he longed for.

But the fates would not allow him to remain in solitude forever and slowly he began trying to make casual friends with various animals. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons...most of them ran from him which saddened him, he never had any intention of harming anyone. To be perceived as a threat only gave confidence to the ever present voices in his head telling him he was unworthy. Nevertheless as time marched on Socks fought to remember the lessons Pibbles had taught him, to keep that small flicker of hope alive, hope that not everything is terrible. Some days were worse than others but keeping his insecurities (mostly) hidden became part of his routine.

Although most of his time was spent out in the wilds and as far from humans as he could be, Socks still occasionally wandered into town to scrounge for food. Unless wild berries were the prey hunting was not an option as he found himself unable and unwilling to harm another living being. Perhaps in part thanks to his harming obsession and fear of hurting anyone but also because, despite what he thought of himself, he had a kind heart. It was on one of his ventures into town that he first met Sparkz, a cat that would eventually allow him to open his world to friendship once more. Although Sparkz, like so many, was afraid of him at first Socks felt a natural kinship towards him and was persistent in convincing him he meant no harm. The natural urge to protect and be close to someone won over his anxiety and he found himself caring more about Sparkz than what the voices were telling him.

In finding friendship again Socks decided to confront some regrets from his past and reunited with Pibbles. She had stayed on at the foster home, now her forever home, along with her son Rascal. While Socks was delighted to learn Rascal got to stay with his mother he was still upset as to why the rest of the puppies were placed in different homes. A family should stay together always, that's the way Socks viewed it and nothing would ever change his mind. For Pibbles' sake he kept his thoughts and feelings about it bottled up and instead focused on rekindling his friendship with her. Shortly after these events Socks would have his first encounter with Demon. A violent, deranged pit bull who also happened to have a connection to Pibbles and her dark days in the dogfighting world. Although Socks wouldn't learn of his past with Pibbles for a while, meeting Demon struck him with both fear and pity: what could have happened to turn a dog into such a monster?

Demon came to see Socks as an annoyance, someone who always got in his way when he wanted to "play" with his "chew toy", also known as Sparkz. But over time this turned to amusement and Socks, too, became a "play thing" for Demon: an outlet for his sadistic energy and bloodlust. To say that Socks hates Demon would be wrong, especially after learning a bit more about him from Pibbles, but he hates what he does and how he treats Sparkz. Because he's overly protective Socks has found himself facing off against the psychopathic dog multiple times. Most often Demon, being a trained and experienced fighter, has the upper paw but Socks has an uncontrollable rage that, if triggered, is a force to be reckoned with.

Although Socks has his own inner demons to fight he usually manages to take Pibbles' lead and keep them locked away, showing the world his positive side instead. When he's free to express that his true character shines through: a sweet, playful, loyal mutt who's heart is content and world is complete as long as he has a good friend by his side. He's never given up on one day finding his birth family and would defend his "pack" with every ounce of his soul.

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