07-05-2009, 01:16 AM
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mall-caps;">In Character The coyote's bright golden eye looked away from Gabriel for a moment, watching the rolling waves of long grass as the wind brushed across their territory, carrying the salty smell of the sea. She listened to him speak of war, not recognizing the names of the pack or Asphyxia, but she memorized them regardless. Chances were, Dahlia de Mai was still in existence, and the coyote had no idea how to regard them. Her son had referred to it as a past event, as if it had already come to its culmination. She accepted it readily, finding it no stranger than if he had told her a relative had returned for a visit. The coyote shook her head; quarrels and spats were unavoidable. Sometimes they were even necessary to keep people from going crazy. When she had her war with Salvaged, it had only been the two of them. There was no need to draw Inferni or Jaded Shadows into it, and though Kaena was the Aquila and she could have brought down all of Inferni on his pretty little head, raiding Jaded Shadows for his blood. She hadn't, and neither had he brought his wolves onto their territory, though they were neighbors, less than a mile separating points of their territory. "Would you still consider them hostile?" She needed to know this, in case she encountered a wolf who claimed to be part of that pack or smelled like it. The hybrid would inspect them, later—she would keep a good distance between herself and the borders, naturally, but she would get to know their smell, and any other pack's scent she encountered. It was necessary to ensure her survival—it was not so easy now; she did not know any of the wolf packs by name or scent yet, and it would have been dangerous to plunge in headfirst without first inquiring about Inferni's political climate. He spoke of Andre, and the coyote frowned. Perhaps there was still something, some event that Andre had never told anyone—maybe he would have told her? The coyote dismissed the thought; if he hated his siblings enough to threaten their existence, he wouldn't have given a shit about her, either. She made a pained expression, her head bobbing. "Then... he came back worse," the ashen hybrid added, disgust in her voice. It certainly wasn't Gabriel's fault—in his position she would have done the same. She would have given him the chance to live, albeit separately from the clan and family that had spawned him. It was the same with Vitium. Her ash-colored head shook, a rattling sigh escaping from her charcoal lips. "Maybe I could have done something." The statement was morose and full of bitter self-resentment, though the woman did not seek comfort. There was nothing that could heal that searing wound in her heart where her child had existed. Andre had made his own choices, certainly, but maybe if his mother had been more than a vague memory to him, he wouldn't have changed so. |