08-28-2009, 06:05 AM
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| http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_fall.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:240px; padding-left:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-bottom:10px;"> Halcyon Mountain. Clipped, short steps brought the silver canine to the base of the mountain. It had been five weeks since she'd encountered Haku, and though she was still not completely healed on that pesky neck wound, she was no longer in pain. It showed; her body moved anxiously, almost desperately. For some time she'd been keeping to the coyote's territory, staying close to home. It felt like fearful behavior, though when she did take off from Inferni she had headed toward the mountain instead of the forest. It was still too soon to wander that way, not with Dahlian borders stretching so close to the city. That was a place to avoid—in the heat of the moment she might not have been apprehensive, but there was some lurking cold in her heart, the tiniest ball of terror that had seated itself in the silver hybrid's chest. The ashen coyote had danced too close to death this time, and she had plenty to lose now. It wasn't like when she was young and alone, the only one of her kind with no one to care about but herself. Though Kaena disliked traveling in her two-legged form, though lately she had been resigned to it, since walking on two legs disguised and relieved the limp in her foreleg. She had not shifted in several days now, and she hoped by the time she walked on four paws again there would be no limp. Even so, the Veritas was older now, and her body was more likely to suffer permanent damage, even from a slighter wounds. Still, the coyote did not feel it. She was a Luperci—they tended to live longer than their Nonnisi counterparts by several years, and Kaena knew in her bones if she cared for herself she might survive the better half of another decade. Maybe. The grizzled coyote stepped lightly, tilting her head back into the breeze. There was nothing interesting to be read on the wind or heard in the air, so she put her head down and carried on. It was only late afternoon, and the hybrid woman was quite pleased with the overcast day. It was a drastic change from the storms, and one she rather appreciated. The coyote woman paused on a rocky bluff, stalking to its edge and peering down into the forest, her single searing eye surveying the territory surrounding her. It was a quaint, enjoyable view; the slope before her was steep enough to provide her with a distant view of the waste, yet not so dangerously sharp an incline that it was dizzying to perch upon. The silver canid sighed heavily, breathing in the sweltering August air into her lungs. It was biting and heavy, and she could feel the humidity in the air dampening her coat slightly. She settled to her haunches, her ashen tail wrapping around her hips and settling beside her thigh. Her mind drifted, and she contemplated Inferni. It had been easy to return, and Gabriel had accepted her, crawling and piteous, back into the clan's arms. The warm gray canine had grown accustomed to the beat easily, that endless circle around the territory, the weight of the clan pulling at her shoulders. It was a welcome return on both accounts, it seemed, for Kaena felt more mentally settled than she had in a long time. Perhaps with age, she would not decline into dementia but arise from it? One could never tell. |