were all just scars in the making
Word Count → 747
Kiara mentioned that Vesper was probably good at fighting, and the tawny coywolf smirked bitterly before shaking her head. “It seems like I would be,” she said, a hint of her arrogance creeping through before she shook her head once more. “It was a two-on-one fight, against a luperci with a knife and her bodyguard. I left them with enough wounds to spill blood on me, but…” She rested her arms loosely on her knees. “I thought I could take on the world when I was a teenager. This place has shown me that there will always be someone better than me; I’ve had more than enough close calls. But I won’t give up until I can beat them, even if I join them in the meantime.” She flashed her teeth.
The hybrid meant every word that she said, however joking a tone she spoke in. Helotes had given her the first wounds Kiara had seen, and she hoped eventually to train alongside him. She wanted to best all of those who posed a threat and defend her life and the clan mates she respected—but each drop of blood was a lesson, and she needed to push aside some of her pride in order to recognize that. Soon—soon she would earn her arrogance again.
The white wolf seemed surprised that Ves was in a pack—and with good reason, if the former loner’s rants were anything to go by. Shrugging once more, she muttered, “Inferni is different—and I didn’t make my choice lightly. I respect the members there for their strength and their sense.” It had called to her, though not like the cliché tales of singing land and rising spirits. It would take a blind wolf not to be able to see how she fit in with the others—fierce, proud, with experience and skill to back up their stories.
Her almost adamant tone broke when the other mentioned them seeing each other, and she frowned. “I would love to see you on neutral territory between our packs, or perhaps even visit Ichika, but… It’s probably a good idea to stay away from Inferni’s borders. The others aren’t as friendly as I am.” Hiding her misgivings, she grinned sinisterly and ironically, teasing. She was supposedly a grouchy old hermit, and to say that Inferni was less fond of people as she was would hopefully be a powerful enough statement to make Kiara cautious. The last thing that Vesper wanted was for the pretty arctic wolf’s skull to end up on the border stakes.
Kiara explained that Vesper was still the same on two legs, and the coywolf frowned, quickly averting her sky blue eyes. She didn’t feel the same, though—not in body or personality. She had changed, screaming and fighting the change on the bloody floor of the patients’ room. She had joined a pack then, hadn’t she? She’d figured out that there was no going back, and instead she had thrown herself into the river to let the current take her.
But she only nodded, and glanced at the grouse with a chuckle. “Oh, you can have it,” she said quickly, pushing the plump dead bird at her friend. “I can catch something on my way back, and—well, it’s yours.” Hunting hadn’t been her main reason for venturing up the mountainside, anyway, and she could only guess that was what Kiara had wanted to do.
She nodded as Kiara mentioned the other Ichikans, frowning at mention of the young puppies that far north. “You could probably salvage some blankets from a human home somewhere,” she suggested. “I know some luperci wear cloaks and things to keep themselves warm.” She looked away, not sure how she could help out in this situation. Inferni was full of tough individuals, and even though she didn’t know her fellow clan mates that well, she could guess that many of the battle-scarred coyotes had braved tough winters before.
“It looks like a rat got hold of it,” Vesper remarked, her brows lifted as she saw the damage done to what looked like a beautiful white plume. “Oh, the puppy didn’t do this, did it?” This was why Vesper was hopeless around children—not that she had very much experience to go off of. All she knew was that her maternal instincts were absolutely zero. “Perhaps you should give it dead animals to play with, so it doesn’t chew your tail clean in half.” She grinned.
Vesper Optime by Nat; table code from the Mentors!
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