07-13-2009, 04:03 AM
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| http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_jaws.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:221px; padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-bottom:10px;"> Wolf blood didn't automatically condemn a soul—Kaena was far more protective of Inferni and her family than she was a vicious wolf-hater now that she was older and somewhat wiser. Still, there was absolutely no doubt that the grayscale mixed breed seriously disliked wolves, and needed little provocation to show one some fang and fight. Her thoughts turned to Skylar and DaVinci—had they met under better circumstances (i.e., when the idiots weren't trespassing on clearly marked, bordered Inferni territory) Kaena would have been friendly, if cautious—just as she was now with Talon. After all, both of those canines clearly had coyote blood in their veins. Hybrids could always be swayed to Inferni's cause—if Cour des Miracles did not survive the test of time as so many wolf packs did not, Talon might eventually end up an Inferni member. Indeed, Talon was intelligent enough to stay off of claimed land when he wasn't expressly invited, so that put him in far better standing than either Skylar or DaVinci from the one-eyed hybrid's perspective. He didn't seem to have much to say in response to her attitude regarding packs and he information she'd given about Inferni and living in it; then again, she hadn't exactly revealed a great deal of knowledge to Talon. The wolf looked down over the edge as she had, and delivered the same sort of guarded response the coyote had given him. Talon hadn't pried after that, but the hybrid knew a little about his pack, and she wondered if he was speaking of Cour des Miracles or of wolf packs in general. "Nobody's got it perfect yet," she allowed, which was the closest thing to revealing a flaw in Inferni's system. Truth be told, Kaena would have had to search hard to find one anyway. She held the clan in high regard, and she would have had to look hard even with a gun to her head. The wolf's gaze fell onto Kaena, and he felt her study her, just as she'd taken in his raven-feathered coat and his weapon, which he'd kindly laid to the side. That action finally put Kaena almost completely at ease, though there was definitely a part of her which was still quite wary of the wolf at her side. Still, she'd managed to have civil conversations with creatures that had come quite close to killing her before—Kiriska echoed on her mind, that raven-furred wolf who'd nearly torn her throat out. They'd met again, what felt like eons after their original, nearly-fatal encounter. Kiriska had been with one less limb, and Kaena had been starving half-to-death and broken-hearted. It was the same kind of conversation she'd entertained with Jael—one that questioned every belief at the core of her being. In the end, Kaena could not change, no matter how illogical her beliefs and behavior seemed at times. There was simply no pattern to her actions; she was a completely random creature. His question drew her attention away from thoughts of long-dead wolves she'd kind-of, sort-of befriended—or at least, tried not to kill. This was a subject she was more than happy to divulge information about, and she turned her shoulder toward him to provide a better view. In the same respect, it was a gesture of trust; it exposed the Lykoi woman's heart squarely to the male. If he had concealed something and was planning on pulling a fast one on her, now would be his opportunity. The hybrid was prepared, howevever, and her eye never left Talon's face, searching it for the slightest shift in his emotions, any indication he was about to strike. Most creatures had a tell of some sort, something which proclaimed they were about to attack. Salvaged's had been his eyes. They always widened just the slightest bit, or so Kaena thought. She would run, if it was the case. Her lupus form was likely faster than his two legs anyway, and she could probably beat him to Inferni at a sprint anyway. The ash-colored hybrid spoke, her gaze still on Talon. "My tattoo is a chaos star. I chose it to represent my family, the Lykois," she said, her tone both possessive and proud of her family—it was, after all, completely made up of her progeny. She had been the first to bear it, though certainly she was not the last—many of her children held this same bloody red mark, though they each were given the choice whether or not to wear it. "The points are the many ways chaos pulls us from the center," she explained further, wishing she had shifted so she might use her fingers to illustrate the arrows and the ring at the center of the tattoo. This ring was right over her heart, a personal memento to Kaena that she was a slave to discord. "Some of my family wear it, others don't," she said, a hint of sadness creeping into her voice. Most of her children had never had the opportunity to get their chaos star—the practice had only been started on her third surviving litter, the one that had given her Ahemait, Razekiel, and Samael. Gabriel's litter was almost a year and a half by the time Ahemait's litter got their tattoos, and she hadn't even been around to offer Rachias, Arkham, and Andre. The hybrid wondered if Eris would have accepted her Lykoi heritage; such a move by the sable girl would have been a step in the right direction in Kaena's perspective, anyway. It didn't separate her entirely from her Eternity blood, but it was a conscious choice of Lykoi, and the coyote hybrid saw that decision fell along the same lines as the one that had befallen Jael, Halo, and Enigma. They could have lived in whatever godforsaken hole their mother had whelped them in, but they chose to seek out Inferni after Vitium kidnapped them and set them loose on the world. It was this same choice which helped to condemn DaVinci and Skylar. They had made the choice to live as wolves, yet they showed no respect for the borders of their cousin species. She wondered, briefly, if the packs had such problems like that, and made a mental note to ask Talon , if the opportunity arose. The chrome hybrid had wondered about his attire previously, and since he had asked a question, she thought she could return the favor now. "I've never seen anything like that before," she said, indicating the raven-feather cloak with a toss of her tapered coyote head. "Did you make it?" The curiosity was clear in her voice, and for the first time, Kaena seemed truly friendly. All external signs of stress and wariness had evaporated from her demeanor, and the coyote seemed quite settled and at ease, her eye regarding him with interest instead of caution. |