Word Count » 713
ERIS TALKS A LOT OK. also holy carp woman stop making me post a lot of words at you awkjfwkef
It had been difficult for Eris, at first, to shed the Atotoztli's skin and come into her own. She had questioned herself and them over and over on that journey northward, whirling them in her head. It was not until she had come to this place, here, that she had settled her head and discerned the truth from their fiction. They might have gotten some things, right, as Eris believed there was some nugget of truth in nearly any system of belief, but that they were partially right did not prevent them from being grievously wrong where other things were concerned. Perhaps it was much the same with the Holt canines; Eris did not doubt that there was some deep, secret truth to their teaching, but one needed to strip away the orthodoxy and corruption of man and canine alike to find that center of veracity.
The sable coyote smiled at him queerly as he spoke of faults. How could such a thing be considered a fault? She herself tried to consider Salvia a lover of women, or Pandemic a lover of boys -- disappointed she might be in the loss of their heritage to be passed along, the coyote did not think she could ostracize them. She would have loved them all the same, she thought. He will learn, the sable-shaded woman thought to herself, pondering how long it might take him. If he failed to reconcile his thinking with his bodily attraction, it might tear him apart. The sable-shaded woman did not believe in denying herself or ignoring the desires of the soul; certainly, Jeremiah's orientation arose from within, and it would be an error of spiritual significance on his part to deny his spirit its sustenance. These thoughts she kept to herself, however, and smiled in response to his pledge.
“Very good,” the coyote said, her smile remaining on those sable-shaded lips. “We are called Salsola. Now that you have our name, there's no turning back,” the coyote added, grinning. She did not think Jeremiah would dislike their pack. Surely, everyone found Janos and Bastion somewhat intimidating, and her Larkspur was no great conversationalist, but the sable-shaded woman herself liked Jeremiah, and such an affinity boded well for the merle shepherd. Eris was not so difficult to please or demanding. “You'll remain my charge, I think, for the first few weeks of your membership. You will have to do as I ask, but I'm not so demanding,” the coyote said, shaking her head. She did not intend to treat Jeremiah or any other she accepted to Salsola as a slave, but they would do the bidding of The Auxiliary for the good of the pack. “I might ask you to hunt with me, or to teach my children a skill. Nothing truly servile. We have slaves for those needs,” the hybrid explained, mentioning only in passing the slaves they kept. Surely his book spoke of that -- the Quauhtli had mentioned slaves endlessly, or so she remembered.
“Walk with me and see,” the coyote said, waving her driftwood stick not-so-delicately in the direction of Salsola. “When your time as my sponsor has ended, I'll come to you and grant you a place in The Family's ranks, provided you have worked for the good of the pack and performed well as my charge. Otherwise, you'll remain in the low ranks until you can prove yourself,” the coyote said, explaining and speaking truthfully. Jeremiah was hers now -- he had agreed and pledged himself, and he had their name. “You're also supposed to present the leadership with a gift for admittance,” she added, smirking at this. “But you have come a long way and I am a patient person, if you lack anything of decent value right this minute.” She would not grant him a pass on this simply for their prior knowledge of one another, but she would be just fine with waiting until he had ridden his big black horse to Halifax and gained something of worth. “The gift -- it might also be knowledge,” Eris added, nearly an afterthought. She had not learned much of the Holt canine's beliefs, and as they were a religious folk, or so it would seem, she had an interest in them, as always.
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