sweet like candy to my soul

[Valkyrie de le Poer]

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Sunshine danced lackadaisically across Inferni's sandy shores, lighting the inlet of the Bay of Fundy that pressed harshly to Hades Beach in sparkles of green, blue, and white. A spectrum of these lights reflected onto larger rocks lining the water, insisting, in some manner, that it was a beautiful place.
Hades Beach was Valkyrie's favourite haunt, as everybody in the territory knew well, despite its rough sand, its pebbly, hard-to-walk-on surface, and the way the water sucked hard back into the ocean like a threat. She knew full well a kid could get lost in those waves, pulled inexorably toward a fate they could not fight, but it had never deterred her as an infant. Her mother had taken her here frequently, and here she frequently returned.
Growing up was not without its prices. Valkyrie had never forgot the day she had come to know that Hybrid Holocaust was her father, but she had never spent any time with the man, and the thought had failed to cross her mind of late. She was a teen now, developing fully — where had these breasts come from anyway? — and her mind was, predictably, elsewhere.
She threw her arms out to the sides as she hopped onto one of several medium-sized rocks, balancing precariously on slim, feminine toes as she cupped one hand over her eyes and stared out at the horizon. Her dress — a simple coral halter, no design, with little flare at the midway point of her thighs — was adorned with a thin brown belt drawn carefully about her slim waist, the silver buckle catching and shining the light across the sand.
She didn't realise quite how alike this inverted peninsula she was. If it had a personality, it would surely be crafted after her by delicate fingers.
The girl sat down heavily on the sand, her black braid swinging and hitting her back a little. Someday, she would get it all taken off, styled nicely, and keep it that way… But for now she braided it, although it was yet short, to keep it back out of her sandy-coloured face.
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[Mason Alexandre Hesiod]

Mason Hesiod was adjustinmg well to clan life. He had taken to it like a fish to water. Truth be told, he was sick of wandering around without a purpose and he was glad to call someplace home. It had been of paramount imporatnace to the young boy. The coyote hybrid was a social creature and did not like to spend time alone. Although he did not mind spending short amounts of time to himself, he did not yet grasp the concept of solitude. He could not imagine that there could be any glory in spending time alone.

When he saw the lithe form of a woman on the shore, he did not hesitate to approach her. Mason certainly understood the principle of avoiding a creature that could be a potential threat, but he could smell the scent of Inferi on this individual. He had taken care to roll himself on the ground and rub against walls where he had seen Kaena Lyoke leaning, so that his sandy colored coat would pick up the scent faster. He had been trying to do so discreetly, but it was painfully obvious in the way that Mason ghosted the scarred woman's footsteps that he was trying to be just like her. Despite the shortness of his legs, he had even attempted to widen his gait in order to walk only in her pawprints when she left a trail in the sand.

The yellow-eyed boy had yet to see anyone in their two-legged luperci form. He wasn't surprised by her form, as he knew through foggy memories that he too would someday assume that form, but he was in awe and slightly envious of her ability to shift. She must be able to do so many wonderful, useful things! Mason came up to her, hopping slightly over rougher patches of gritty ground before he called out to her. "Wait! Don't go so fast. What you doing?"

[Valkyrie de le Poer]

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The tiny voice, at first, seemed to come from the crevices of her mind. She had surely imagined it; there were no youth in the clan as far as she was aware. A frown crinkled the edges of her eyes and smudged her brown into a wrinkled blemish as she stared out to her, remaining completely still, before an unforeseen curiosity turned her head around.
There, bouncing toward her, was a little coyote pup, not even old enough shift, with brilliant yellow eyes.
Valkyrie's comically massive ears came up and twitched once as she watched him, slowly turning herself about on the sand so she sat cross-legged facing him with her dressed crumpled up around her hips to hide anything indecent, and she smiled warmly. Oh, you're so cute! she told him, reaching out her arms as if she would like to gather him into her arms and keep him as a pet.
Which, sadly, she might very well have considered if she was not a coyote herself.
What's your name, sweetie? she asked him then, ears falling back against her dark hair and her gamboge eyes fixed upon him adoringly.
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[Mason Alexandre Hesiod]

Mason paused when the girl whirled around and sat down on the ground opposite of him. He blinked coin-colored eyes as she spoke to him and held out her arms. The young boy wasn't exactly certain what to do at this point. He was grateful that the first time he'd be meeting someone from in Inferni outside of Gabriel and Kaena that they would be on the same level, so to speak. At least it was easy to look into this girl's face. Being so young, Mason was still smaller and shorter than he wanted to be. And the fact that this female stranger was shifted meant that now she towered over him. He decided that he was glad she was here and that she didn't seem that bad.

The young boy could not decide whether or not being cute was a good thing, but she seemed happy and welcoming enough when she said it. Slightly baffled by her exuberance, and fighting his natural instinct to return that energy ten fold, Mason pretended that his legs were rigid trees with their roots in the ground in order to keep still. "Umm, hi girl. I'm Mason. Who's you?" he said, swallowing the puppyish quality in his voice and trying to lower his tone so he sounded a bit more like Gabriel. He wanted to make a good impression on the girl.

The happiness that lit her face turned out to be his undoing. Forgetting that he was trying to act mature and to impress those around him, his body began to wiggle and shake with the energy he had tried so hard to hide. Mason clambered over to her, paws kicking up gritty, rocky sand as he moved. "What were you doing? Was it fun?"