Word Count → 326 :: I suck at starting posts. ; ; Tell me if you'd like anything changed.~

The cloak that adorned the woman felt soft to the touch, and though it felt strange to have something covering her body, it was comfortable enough, especially when the hood provided shade from the sun. She had decided to wear it that day, despite the fact that some clouds drifted across a sea of blue, just for convenience’s sake. If she was going to wander through the unclaimed Bay, where nary a tree could be found, she would need clear sight in order to catch anything out of the ordinary, and the disturbance of the sun was not going to be at her expense.

So, she set out that morning, her crudely made bag that was constructed with leather hanging at her side. It was filled with that day’s lunch, as well as the various pelts of the creatures her traps snared. She did not know if she would run into anyone that was willing to trade with her, but it was better to be prepared, she decided, especially when she could insert a word of good tidings on the behalf of Inferni. She did not know how many or whom the Boreas had preached to, but Sparrow knew it was better to have another canine that saw the clan for the better than for the worse, though she still was not too keen on meeting another wolf.

Exploring some of the northwestern territory was Sparrow’s goal that day. Though she would rather stalk around Inferni’s borders, only her eyes touching the outside lands, it would help the clan if she knew what laid beyond it herself. There was not much to see; though the shoreline was pretty, it was rather empty on this side of the land, much unlike that of the eastern woods. While she paid some awareness to the bare plains before her, she found herself tying some pieces of long grass together to busy herself, her feet moving mechanically over the earth.

Word Count → 412 :: ooc here

With the wind blowing gently against her face, and the fact that she had her guard down, she did not notice that she was near another being before one spoke. She was half-surprised, her heart jumping up to her throat and gaze whipping to the one who called her. But, as soon as her fear register, it went; she did not expect to be alone among these open lands, and the man that was accompanied by a smaller one and a bird looked friendly enough. At least, they did not sneak upon her and attacked when she was not paying attention, and that spoke a few words within it.

His accent was odd, reminding her of a group of canines she met before, but it was different than them—their words sounded off the tongue so strangely, but again this one was unique to her ears. Moreover, his words made no sense at first, and wondered if he was talking to someone else. No, you’re the only one out here, she reminded herself spitefully, but a friendly mask stayed on her face despite her self-demotion. “Ah… Greetings,” she called back, hoping that the two words meant some sort of salutation, since it only made sense in this situation, and raised a small, tanned hand to return his wave.

As he approached her, she flipped her hood down, to make her less suspicious; at all times, she was thinking of Inferni, and how she could be representing it. “Market…? I don’t believe there are any of those here,” she said softly, slightly confused by his words. She remembered the ghost of talks about some festival were canines brought items, or something like that, but apparently they were long gone before she stepped into these lands, since there had not been recent talk of it, and wondered if the male had come after hearing such things, and came too late.

“We—the packs, I mean—we all trade with each other, if you mean that. Though I’m not heading for a pack in particular, I do have some things…” For a moment, she was silent, not knowing if he was interested in her pelts for trade, but continued a short second later, “My name is Sparrow, sir.” Despite giving her name, she did not feel any less awkward towards the male, the usual when meeting someone new, and added, to be a bit more helpful though she was not too demanding, “What’s your name?”

Word Count → 705 :: Spar is too trusting, lol. xD

Zeitgeist’s words did not make any more sense than they had before, but she did try her best to understand what he was saying. More often than not these days, her upbringing seemed to be pitted against her, and saw that she needed to get with the modern times and terms in order to socially function. Thankfully, Inferni was not as human-dependent as some of the packs, and did not feel the immediate need to conform into this strange lifestyle, though she was slowly creeping into every day. The reading was her baby steps, and now learning how to use weapons and horses made her wonder if she will ever remain what some would call “feral”.

She smiled, being a bit crooked with its half-heartedness, when she thought about apologizing ahead of time if she lacked the moral of a conversation; she was more of a listener than a talker, and he spoke of the want of discussion. But, she remained quiet, hoping to not ward him because of voicing her low level of self-esteem. His words were grabbing at her attention, too, as she began to understand them better, wishing to hear more about himself and to not chase him off.

“As far as I know, there are a couple of packs around here… There’s one south of here—my clan, Inferni—another more west from this point, and one north, you might’ve passed it by without noticing it. There are even more the more south you go, but I’m not sure how many, and no one has told me much about them, though I do know there is a pack that mainly revolves around trading. Though we don’t have… markets, we have enough packs around to supply most of our needs and some of our wants.” Sparrow hoped this was a satisfaction enough. She could have elaborated, but wanted to keep her statements short and to the point; if he was curious about the packs and expressed further interest, she would be glad to oblige.

She felt a bit uncomfortable as the dog-man gently licked her hand, but allowed the motion to occur; she did not wish to offend him, but still did not like to be touched nonetheless. He spoke in strange words again, but decided against asking what he meant, and listened to the rest of the words, which held better clarity. She glanced at the smaller male and the bird as Zeitgeist mentioned them, and wondered why the both of them remained quiet. She would have thought that Guillotine would have spoken for himself, and ever since learning that the Infernian ravens could voice a few choice words of the predator language, assumed that birds now held the knowledge to speak, which accounted for Ptolemy. But, both remained silent, which did not bother Sparrow all that much, being the more calm soul herself.

“No, I’m afraid I haven’t… I lived, um, out of the ways, I guess you say. More northeast than here, so I don’t know much of the area.” She did not want to outright admit that heard no such things before, so hid it behind the fact that she was new, which was the half-truth, at least. She smiled meekly as he apologized for no reason, but took it in case he would take offense of she had not. “I may not seem much now, but I got a couple of pelts… You said you were not of this land, right? If you have not heard, these lands are colder that some, even during the fall it can get harsh. If caught unprepared, you would be going through a tough winter.” She opened her bag and slid out her finest rabbit fur, its coloration so beautiful that she would say even caught her unmaterialistic eye. “I’ve heard that pelts are the best way to keep comfortable during the dark months, and I got a few more on me. Are you perhaps interested?” She had tried her best to sound suave and to make her items more attractive by pulling out the best, but she was not sure if it would work against Zeitgeist, whom seemed to be a master at trading and bartering from what he said.

Word Count → 625 :: occ here

“The purpose?” Sparrow did not think much about exactly why the packs were here. “Well… Some people seek power, I guess, though some of them don’t… I guess like-minded canines just tend to gather into one place.” Or, in some cases, the same species; she knew Inferni did not take kindly to wolves, but welcomed coyotes of all the likes, it was almost like a sanctuary for them in a land of wolves. “To be in a pack, well, you have fellowship, people to rely on… And, a purpose for yourself, I guess. Like, you have a duty to protect your own, and provide for them. It’s a good thing to do.” Of course, this was her opinion, and she did not know if Zeitgeist was a man for many, or just for himself, having only just met.

“W-well… Um, I don’t know. We all just mind our own business and usual try to keep to ourselves, besides to trade, I guess. No one seems too interested to make a market when there are their people to take care of. Or maybe no one wants one person to hold that much sway in things. It’s complicated,” she murmured, still thoroughly confused as to why he was still stuck on the idea of a market. But, the more he pointed it out, the more it made sense: why didn’t they have a market? The question did not stick long in her head, though, since she did not hold as much affinity for collecting items she thought were not essential for her survival or personal comfort.

When he said there was not enough to make use of anything with one pelt, she wanted to point out that she had more. But, before she could speak, he began to her cloak, which she found strange. Sparrow also felt uncomfortable by the action, but she did not want to make it seem like she was, so she kept her gaze on the dog’s, their emotion unchanging. She listened to his musings, finding them practical. But, she at first thought they were only just thoughts, until he became clear that he wanted her to make such a thing. It was not like she was not capable, just merely surprised he was asking her, which made her feel happy; no one ever asked anything from her, and it was a good thing to find someone needing something from you. “W-well… It may take me two months, getting the pelts and then making them, but I can do it,” she said softly, her excitement barely shown.

“The bird… I’m not quite sure.” She never heard of birds minding the weather, but then again, she never saw a bird like Ptolemy. “I could try, maybe… Like, a, um, a vest?” she guessed, trying to think of the correct name for the clothing. She thought it had to be something that did not restrict his wings, and thought of something like that. “It would not hurt to make one, just in case... When I am done, we can meet up back here—when the moon is just like it is tonight after two, full cycles. I will be finished by then.” She was quiet for a moment, unsure what she could get in return for her services. She was not a woman of many needs, and instead tried to think of what Inferni needed. “What can you offer for me in exchange for this…?” She asked hesitantly, showing that she was a bit wary; Zeitgeist had spoken how he made off with the best deals. She wanted to show that she would try her best not to be unfairly traded with without directly hinting it. While she lacked market etiquette, she had common sense.

Word Count → 553 :: ooc here

She became rattled at the many questions that the man shot at her, and found that she was unable to keep up with most of them. His questions made no sense as to why ask about them—if they did not have a market, they didn’t have a market, and Sparrow found it simple as that. She did not overanalyze like Zeitgeist had, mostly because she did not care much for what he yearned for. “I cannot answer that,” she murmured honestly, finding her gaze flickering to the ground for a moment only to return back up, “We… I don’t know. I did not come from a place like that, nothing like that at all. I wasn’t even born in a pack. My family was alone.” Sparrow curtly cut off, not knowing if she wanted to get any more personal with the dog. With a small sigh, she continued, “Look, if you want a market, why not make one? Maybe others would like the idea and come along.”

Again, she did not understand his need, her empathy going so far. He was from a whole other world, and only a few words that had reached their complete understanding could be given by the mottled woman. She did understand his want, the need for something, but nothing beyond that.
For a moment, a smile played on delicate lips. “Do you underestimate my abilities? I may not be the finest crafter around, but I make sure I do my best—the cloaks would be as if they were for my personal use. But… if you feel uncertain, I shall make them in five months’ time. I may even find finer furs, if you are willing to wait that long if you fancy apparel.” She was not considering looks when she first thought out the clothing, practicality being the priority. But if he wanted more working time, she could be a bit more creative with the project, and by the sounds of where he came from, may appreciate that.

She watched as he gestured to his own article of clothing, and nodded carefully. “Yes… Something like that was in my mind.” She wondered for a moment how she would create such a thing without a model to make sure it fit. But, she noticed as she glanced at the bird that he was about the same size as her sister’s bird, and smiled a bit crookedly at the thought of fitting Stark, though as a latter thought she decided that any of Inferni crows could work. Maybe she could tempt them with the meat that the furs would provide, she thought, and mentally nodded when she decided upon that matter.

Sparrow frowned a bit, though not from sadness, just from thought, as she wondered over what she could get in return. By the sounds of it, anything within reason could be granted—“whatever your heart should be content itself with”—and found that all the choices were daunting. But, she did not want her answer to be long awaited on, so she thought hard, and after about thirty seconds, spoke. “If it is possible… I wish for you to bring me a bicycle.” She assumed that the man knew what she was talking about, so waited patiently to see if he would agree with her terms.

Word Count → 633 :: ooc here

She felt a little bad when she realized that she was being a little snappish, and it was obvious she felt guilty as she frowned as the thought came to her. There was probably an excuse to explain her shortcomings—perhaps she was still tensed about the Boreas, nervous that the man would think lowly of her if she was to reveal her less than modern upbringing, unwilling to talk about things she barely had a grasp on. But, she was not the one to make up for her actions with words when they were already dealt, knowing they could only mean so much in the long run. “Seriously though,” she said, her tone shifting back to a more friendly sound, even encouraging, “I don’t think anyone would stop you if you tried to make a market yourself… I know others who would enjoy that. You can recreate such a place for others to embrace and remember the feeling as well.”

She nodded when he spoke of information about the packs, willing to share whatever she knew about the claimed territories that cluttered Nova Scotia with the traveling Zeitgeist. Others knew more than her, practically seeing some of the packs form before their eyes subsequent to their joining of the lands, but Sparrow herself knew the basics, and was eager to learn more as well. But, for now, she had to settle what she knew and tell the man about them. First, though, she wanted to get the trade settled with.

She smiled a bit at the words he spoke, but again felt a little bad that he seemed to be taking her words directly to heart. “I was trying to be funny, I guess—I didn’t mean to act like I was offended… Sorry,” the woman apologized, her gaze glancing at the ground for a moment only to return to Zeitgeist’s. She had to remind herself that she was not yet a master of speech, and whenever she tried to be clever, it may as well have been a blunder, and instilled that thought in her mind for her to remember for further conversations. “But, I guess there are other things I would enjoy,” she mused, trying to think of activities that would’ve been hindered if she decided on the original time set. Not many came to mind, but she kept that in herself, if it made the male feel better about the extended time.

“And, yes, the best condition there is… It won’t be of much use to me at the present, but, it could come in handy to me some day,” she agreed, thinking about some of the ways it would help her. If she couldn’t think of anything to do with it by the time it came to her… Well, some canines enjoyed baubles and oddities, and it wouldn’t be hard to trade with a thing such as that. May the months in between would allow her to think of important items needed for Inferni, and a bicycle could allow her to get such things.

She clasped her hands together in finality, and added, “Well, if that’s all there is, I wouldn’t mind just simply chatting with you, like in the markets? We could talk about the packs.” The woman began to settle herself on the ground, her legs crossing each other Indian-style, and placed her bag on her lap, the long grass reaching up to her shoulders. “I have some meat, if you guys want some—it’s fresh, caught just last night, roasted waterfowl.” She packed a rather large meal for her size, thinking she would be traveling all day and wouldn’t return back to her den until the next morning, but with company, there was enough to comfortable share with all, even the boy and the bird.

Word Count → 727 :: ooc here

“Well, maybe when you get enough things, you’ll be able to do it. You never know, it may be a great thing to create.” Whatever the man would do, she hoped that he would be happy, or at least be satisfied with what he could do or find. The idea of a market was as farfetched as ever, but, she held no doubt of its possibility; she once snorted at the idea of a pack of canines living underground, in the mountains, but it was obviously true when she had met such one wolf that scented of earthy musk and the smoke of fires that lit dark passageways into the mountain. If realistic enough, she believed anything in these lands could happen, if one had enough moral and necessities to perform it.

Sparrow became awkwardly silent as Zeitgeist directly inquired about her enjoyments, and even further so as he continued. “W-well, honestly, I don’t. Sure, I scout my clan’s borders, but that only takes up few hours of my day… I don’t even hunt—I have traps that do such for me.” She did not mention her lack of hunting finesse, and continued, “I guess that’s why I’m out here, just looking for something to do.” She wished she was more involved in with Inferni, but now that the Boreas were quiet, she wanted to give everyone space, since they were still burdened by dark thoughts and remaining anger. “But, I’m glad to have something to work on, it’ll give me something to do instead of wandering around.”

“I’m afraid not,” Sparrow answered regrettably, again not enjoying that she was coming up short. But, a thought occurred to her, and she quickly left her sit, parting and searching through the grass. After about thirty seconds of silent looking, she sighed in relief as she found what she looked for. “Have you ever tried bilberries before?” she asked, bending over to pick a few of them for the group to try, walking back over to them with a handful of the blue berries. “It’s not wine and sweetbread… but these are sweet. And, they seem to be a bit juicy, so they could work, too?” If the man had his hand out, she gave him the berries, a slight smile on her face, thinking about early memories of her mother showing them to her before. She did not know if the dog ate plants, but she hoped he would not reject them, she herself finding them a good treat when coming across them, though she never sought them out daily.

“As far as I know, there’s about four packs that’s very close to us, though one of them is up the mountains, a bit far away. The one that’s farthest north is the wolf pack, New Dawn… I think they only like wolves, though.” She had to grimace a bit as she remembered their slight distaste for coyotes, but she did not dwell on it as she handed out the pieces of meat she had proportioned while talking to the men. “Then there’s the mountain pack, Anathema; they’re pretty welcoming to everyone, but… they just have a weird vibe about them. Then there’s my clan, Inferni, though I don’t think you’ll be welcomed there—only coyotes may join.” Sparrow then frowned further, and sighed at the next information she was sharing.

“And there’s Salsola, the pack that’s closest west. Inferni and they are on good terms but… I heard some bad things about them. They take in slaves, canines that are not Luperci as their servants and making them undergo the transformation themselves.” Her tone was bitter, and it was obvious to see that the last part struck her the most emotional. “I mean, even their leader is strange. I saw him a couple of weeks ago, and he just looks so… smug, proud. Like, even if you never met him before, he was better than you just by default, you know?” She never spoke to the man, and she highly doubt she would ever, but just by his usual suave demeanor she was warded off by him. She huffed at her ranting, and became a little meek. “Eh… sorry for that. It’s just that, no one likes to talk about it. Anyway, I heard about a dog pack farther south, maybe that could be to your fancy?”

Word Count → 616 :: ooc here

She was a little taken aback by the man’s questions about her traps, since no one had ever asked about them until then. It was either they never took up interest in her talk about them, or finding them useless when they could just go out and track, shoot, or claw at their prey instead of messing around with ropes and debris. “W-well, I wouldn’t say you acquire the trap itself, but more or less like acquiring the skills to make them. And, as for their success, they usually catch living things. Sometimes they snare by themselves, but most of the time they will catch rodents and the occasional bird.” She had not made a trap in the past few days, the thanks given to her budding archery skills. But, she added nonetheless, “I could show you a few, but we’d have to go somewhere more wooded, with plants and the sort. It’d be hard to make anything out here.”

Sparrow smiled as he nibbled on the berries, though her smile did not remain long on her face as she talked about Salsola. In honesty, not many, if not all, Inferni coyotes liked the thistle kingdom, but they were on good terms from common enemies. It was an odd alliance, but the woman guessed it was better than having tension on both sides of the territory, so to speak.

She frowned even further as Zeitgeist softly commented about the slaves, and tried not to take his words to heart. As she curled her legs up to her chest, she murmured, “I guess they would be no good at all… It’s just, they are not asked if they want to serve. They are just taken, forced to become Luperci, and then labeled as cattle.” She thought that he would agree with her, seeing how he had Guillotine. But, he saw the slavery through different eyes, ones that Sparrow found cold. She did not want to talk about the subject even further, not wanting her opinion of the dog to dwindle over… things that were out of her hands, sadly enough, she thought spitefully to herself.

Again, she was lost for words as Zeitgeist pointed out another reason that could be justiciable. Still, she found the thorn king’s persona hardly respectable, but this was coming from a woman who dealt with such beings before and had a bad history with them. “It would be nice if he would act a bit more honorable though,” she commented, sighing through her nose and resting her chin on her knees. “Anyway, I heard that he came from the mountains, Anathema. But, that was just before he formed Salsola, and though he was born here in Nova Scotia, wasn’t always in that pack. I heard that he came from someplace else, from over the big water.” It did not bother her to share this information, finding it otherwise unimportant.

“I actually don’t know anything much about that pack—it’s more south than I would ever usually travel, being filled with wolves and nary a coyote at times. Some people call it the Court, though, so you could ask some other person about it by that name if you want to know more about it.” She paused, thinking over her words. “I’m from Inferni, the clan that only lets coyotes join. I guess you can say we’re wary of those of are not in the pack itself, but, some of us are willing to have a friendly chat with those not of ‘yote blood instead of turning the other nose. We just had a recent… disagreement with some wolves. Even though it’s all settled, I wouldn’t recommend straying too close to our borders.”

Word Count → 551 :: she ~finally~ mentions Sirius's name. xD pm me if you don't want her, too, and i'll easily edit it out.

“The lessons would be quick—most of it is easy, using the things around you for one’s own benefit. I’ll be willing to share some rope with you if you lack it; it’ll help catch better prey,” she murmured, thinking over the few knots that the group of foreigners had taught her a couple of months ago that were at the heart of the simple traps. The skill was hardly complicated, she being a feral woman that never heard of such mechanisms and yet was able to perform them with finesse. Sparrow doubted that he would have much trouble whenever she would teach Zeitgeist, perhaps being exposed to such before.

She guessed she had become too biased to tell the man about Salsola without tarnishing their title with their less than appealing aspects. She just thought that anything that took away one’s freedoms and choices… It was awful, and should be taken out from the world as soon as possible. Sparrow assumed that the man was unable or just refused to look through the eyes of the slaves themselves, and couldn’t emphasize their situation, and did not wish to speak further of it. As for the forced transformation, she did not want to dabble into that talk at all with the man, the subject too sensitive and Zeitgeist not the person to discuss such things with. Most Luperci wouldn’t understand, anyway, being born with the virus; they couldn’t phantom the fear of the first transformation when no one prepared them for it, almost being like a waking nightmare that only ended when the deed was done.

“I… don’t know. I guess I meant that he would gain respect in a more kindly way, one that would be more respectable instead of some thinking lesser of him. I just don’t agree with his methods on how he acts.” She listened to his talk about the people of his place, and frowned even further. “If you ever make a market, I hope no one will become like that. This land isn’t tolerable enough to have another snake like that, much less a whole village like Sirius.” At least, she and her clan would not stand such attitude from an outsider that did not have power behind them, in her opinion. That was perhaps the only reason why anyone could stand the Boss: he was a king, with deadly venom that seeped into his subjects that were as loyal as they could get.

Sparrow was quiet for a moment, but admitted, “I wouldn’t know about you, specifically; I never saw any dog skulls on our borders or talk about them. But, better safe than sorry, since I can’t speak for individuals; some take coyote pride to supremacy.” Such extremists were the Boreas wolves as well, and she again had to wonder if coyote fanatics had a change of heart, though she did not know any herself. She had distasted wolves herself for personal reasons, but never went as far as to label all as bad people, or at least attempted to. Still, she felt the need to defend her clan. “It’s odd to think that some should be enslaved because they weren’t born with something,” she countered, not even realizing she was bringing the subject back up. “But, people are entitled to their opinions.”

Word Count → 589 :: ooc here

“Honestly, there isn’t anything else I want. Consider it a gift between two friends.” Sparrow saw Zeitgeist as a good acquaintance, at least, since they had made a successful trade and shared a meal, and giving their relationship such a label might make it stronger between the two. While she did not want to interfere with canines outside of Inferni, the man had stated to be a good trader, and thought that perhaps after their first trade, they could instigate more whenever he needed her service again, whatever it may have been for. Having an acquaintance with such skills and means that could acquire resources, it was one that should be kept close.

The woman thought about his question for a bit. Being a wanderer, never staying in one place for too long, and by herself, she never needed to catch anything more than a quick meal that would get her through the day. Because of that, she never attempted to trap anything bigger than a large rodent or bird, but was certain that it was possible. “I think I may know a way to catch something big. I would believe the rope I have is thick enough to hold anything without breaking, but you’d probably have to be careful—whatever prey you catch may still be alive, and a trapped animal is the most dangerous thing you can tangle with when hunting.” She should know, having been kicked, sliced, and bit by so many creatures that knew that their time was up.

She regarded the man once more as he spoke of his riches, but did not understand what he meant. She underestimated his meaning of wealth, and imagined one being wealthy as having much territory and a leading a pack. For instance, her Aquila and Sirius were wealthy men, leaders of their packs and owning rich lands that they had control over. Baubles and gold were worth nothing to the woman, nothing that glitters and shines would help you live another day unless it caught prey for you. Why be rich when you were dead, right? As she thought the frivolous thing over, she was caught by surprise when Z seemed to be more interested in the Boss. “Yeah, I said Sirius… I guess he could be considered beautiful, and he does have brown fur.” The man was a looker, but he fawned over his own being too much for her to even fancy his appearance. “He is a Revlis man—wait, don’t tell me… you actually know him?” For a moment, she was being to doubt if she should have told him her thoughts about the dark man, but managed to hide her concern.

Again, Zeitgeist proved another point. Some of the slaves Salsola kept could have only been those punished, but she favored the rumors, nonetheless. She turned her head to the man when he spoke his concern, and was taken aback. “Of course, no! Inferni doesn’t make everyone believe that anyone whom isn’t a coyote shouldn’t be talked to; more or less, we’re free to do what we want with anyone we want as long as it doesn’t get the clan in trouble. I don’t see why they would turn against me if I trade with a dog, since they trade with the other wolf packs and are at rather neutral with them. They just don’t like anyone sneaking around our borders or attacking our members—more likely than not, it’s mainly the wolf’s fault for the fight if it’s on our own land.”