06-29-2009, 05:54 AM
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mall-caps;">In Character Badpost is bad, because I need to sleep. D: mall-caps;">In Character The coyote had never understood children until she had her own. Her experiences with children were limited prior to her own ventures into child-rearing—and more often than not, she found them more annoying than anything else. She recalled that stupid, silly puppy who had walked on Inferni's land, declaring himself above and beyond their clearly proclaimed border. He'd seemed to shocked when she'd bit his ear—he was lucky she'd stopped there. Having her own children had not made Kaena any more sympathetic toward them—her own were smart enough to know not to walk over wolf borders and parade around on their land. At least, not until they were old and large enough to fight their own battles, anyway. Just a few feet outside of Inferni's land was enough for Ikatha to die, and Baneesh had been inside of their borders when he was killed. She had just gotten lucky that of her next two litters, seven children in all, only one had perished before his first year. The hybrid thought of him, that sore spot hurting in her chest again. Loss never grew less painful or got any easier, and it was particularly difficult for a mother to outlive her child. She would never know Andrezej as she should have, and she wondered if he would have done the same terrible things if she had been present. Yet if he had betrayed the rest of his family, she was no exception. The youth did seem to recognize her, and Kaena nodded in response to her statement. Indeed, she was mother of the Aquila, though it didn't grant her any rights—nor should it have. Upon Gabriel's return, when she had been Aquila and he was a familiar, unexpected scent at the borders, she had not given him special treatment, aside from skipping the perfunctory interrogations that always went with loners at the door. Kaena cracked half of a smile, the other half mangled by the scars sketched across her features. "Thank you," she said first, her smile showing appreciation. "I did, but not without some help," she answered, quick to show respect to the ghost of Yasu Zarah, should she be watching. Yes, it had been her idea—but Zarah had been the first leader, and she had known the other coyotes to hail to their cause. Without her, Kaena was just one troublesome wanderer, and Inferni never happened. Though she was an arrogant thing, she would show deference to her respected dead, and Zarah was nearly the pinnacle of that crowd. "What's your name?" she asked, eager to discern the girl's identity. She was too familiar; there was that strange feeling that they had met somewhere before, but Kaena knew that was impossible—the girl was clearly younger than the time she'd been gone. Her eyes were a deeper shade of gold, and her definite mixed heritage made her interesting to Kaena. There was always the possibility of more family, and though even Kaena wouldn't be able to put an actual term to their relation, it existed through the link she'd created with the de le Poer family by having Ahren's children. Once again, the scarred hybrid offered an akward smile, crooked, her single eye studying the black-and-gold canine, noting her perfectly coyote posture, her paws perfectly aligned and her legs tucked close to her body, the exemplar of coyote curiosity. |
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