06-22-2009, 05:13 AM
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mall-caps;">In Character It was not that Kaena was surprised to see Rachias standing there before her; she had fully expected to see one of her abandoned children upon her entrance to Inferni. It had been that blessing and that hurt—Kaena had almost known she'd lost them, like she'd lost Kerberos so many years ago. He would be five and a half now, the living remnants of her first love, Zulifer. She wondered what had happened to him—he'd come back to Chimera once upon a time and stayed with Ahren for a few weeks, but he'd left just as quickly as he came, finding his half-siblings for just a moment before fleeing again. Perhaps this time he'd died, and the last of Zulifer was finally in the ground. By all rights, Kaena should have been dead—she should have died a hundred thousand times over, but each time she walked closest to the other side, something saved her, clutching hold of her wrist and drawing her back from the very razor edge of death. She should have been killed twice as a youth, with her siblings and later by her half-brother, and each time her father had saved her. After losing Zulifer and then Zarah, it was Inferni that called her home, giving her the strength to turn around and head back. The coyote realized then just how close she had come this time—perhaps fate had written that Eris should have saved her, and Eris had denied it. She thought any of her other children would have. There was no one there to catch her that time, and Kaena had to save herself that last time.. The hybrid straightened herself, slowly advancing toward Rachias. She was still reeling, in awe of the fully grown canine before her. The coyote wanted to take hold of her and run her fingers through her fur, but she was afraid Rachias wouldn't let her, so she kept her arms almost at her side, bent at the elbows slightly. "Almost did," the coyote whispered, stopping just short of Rachias and peering into her eyes. There was joy visible in Kaena's gaze shining brightly behind her fire-gold eye, but it was clouded with something akin to fear—fear of rejection, fear of being pushed away and screamed at. Gabriel had not shown her anger, but she hadn't walked away from Gabriel when he was barely out of the den. Rachias and Arkham had every reason to be angry—so had Andrezej, but darkest child was dead now. Another pang of guilt hit Kaena's heart, and she exhaled ragged, breaking her gaze from Rachias and instead focusing on the floor. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head from side to side, knowing full well it wasn't enough—there was nothing that would be. There were no words, there was no way to repair the divide she'd drawn between them. Even if Kae was a good mother to Rachias now, there was so much missed time, and Rachias was already an adult. She didn't need a mother. Again that shudder of fear gripped her, and she could not look at Rachias for a long moment, but again her scarred head rose, and that golden eye gazed at her daughter, still awed by her. |