taking flight
#1
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OOC: ©table code and image to jacoby: backdated to before Haku's dethroning?
Word count: 723. Worth 7 points


The woman and child were fleeing Dahlia de Mai.


True to Haku's word, Hanna had not risen above the rank of Solum her entire stay in the pack, regardless of what she did. She feared each day that he would snap and some harm would befall her young daughter, or even one of the other pups. Desi's well-being concerned her far more than any of her niece's children's did, not from lack of care, but because they were closer family. The thing that saddened Hanna is that such a thing would matter at all. And King's wellbeing was none of her concern; even as a fellow mother, Hanna knew nothing of the family, knew not that King was yet another family member to add to the roster, and therefore left the care of the child to his mother unless she was directly requested to do otherwise.


As the war had been waged, Hanna remained reclusive, either staying with Conor and Alexey or in Mew's old house, and occasionally even shutting herself and Désirée into the hospital rooms. She felt bad; there was not much to keep a younger child entertained, but as much as she could, Hanna wished not to encounter the Rosen. She had not been able to leave - not quite, not if there were some way Mew might be alive - but as the days warmed by whatever fraction, the medic's resolve had grown. Mew was dead. After spending more than a week in the chill, however equipped wolves were to deal with that, and with the damage to her head, Hanna could not justify any reason she could be alive, not with the healer's intuition she had.


The final straw was the fire to Haku's home. She had not been directly involved; she had remained behind so that the children would have a caretaker in case any awoke. But the fact that danger had knocked so closely to home struck a foul chord in her mind. So she had begun making contingency plans. Hanna had not even warned her great-nephews of what she was planning, too afraid that they would come to some harm for knowing something about her departure. Instead, she darkened the white patches of Galilahi's coat, staining them with a combination of mud and ash, wrapped anything and everything that might make noise in gauze or fabric strips torn from the blankets in the hospital, and fled once the night had darkened.


Desi had been concealed in her sling. She was technically too big for it now, but her silvery blue and white coat would stand out like a sore thumb when Hanna preferred to move stealthily. The little girl had complained initially, and did so again as Hanna moved Gali into a trot past the border of Dahlia de Mai into Arachnea's Revenge. She had hoped to conceal her movements initially by going toward Inferni rather than away. On horseback, it would be difficult to detect Desi's scent though a cursory inspection of Hanna's haunts would reveal her to be with her mother. Hopefully by that time, though, the pair would have backtracked, veering near to Phoenix Valley, then home free to AniWaya. Perhaps they would even spend some time investigating past AniWaya, to keep harm from coming to the village. Hanna had wondered what might be past there, this seemed a fine time to find out.


Mommy... the three month old began for what seemed the millionth time with a touch of a whine. Wheh aw we goin'? Home, dear one. We're going back to where we came from. We're just taking a longer way to get there. Shhh, must be quiet, Lovey. She only hoped the longer way did not end in more trouble. After all, the pair were headed directly toward Inferni, the clan with which Dahlia de Mai was in conflict. However, perhaps she could convince whoever she encountered that, despite the scent of the flower pack on her fur, she was not a part of the war. If that did not work.. perhaps she could bargain for her life, and that of her daughter. Maybe Inferni was in need of another medic? It certainly would beat death. Still, she could but hope that if she encountered a coyote, it would be one with which she was already acquainted.

Speak, think, act
Desi talks, Desi thinks


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#2
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487


The war drums were thundering on at fever pitch, pounding on through the weeks. The silver-furred woman should have been weary of them by now, but the thirst for blood within her had not yet been quenched. Her vengeance had not been obtained yet, and she would not rest until it did, even if that did mean destroying everything within Dahlia. They harbored a monster, and though she had enjoyed Lolita's company and there might even be a few other innocent souls within their rosters, they still held Haku above them, and they still stood in the silver-furred Centurion's path. It was him or Inferni—one of them would give way and be destroyed.


The borders were a source of near-constant worry for the silver-furred woman, and whatever time she did not spend asleep she spent patrolling them endlessly, marching back and forth across them and around the territory, even now that they had shifted northwards. Certainly the redrawing of the clan had come to light to the other packs already; the coyotes had been singing and screaming their calls for vengeance for the past several nights. The hybrid walked the ash-strewn portion of the borders, outside and beyond their territory, with special care. The River Styx, which was really little more than a stream, now made up that border in its entirety—and hopefully that line of water would give Inferni some protection against intruders.


The silver-furred coyote was more toward the east of the coyote clan's land, in the Dampwoods, when she detected a familiar scent, though it was overlaid with another familiar scent that was most definitely not welcome. The scent scent drew her hackles up, and the ashen coyote's path changed, her gait quickening into a coyote's trot, seeking the bearer of this scent immediately. Why did Susquehanna smell of Dahlia? She knew Haku's violence did not care whether it was Dahlian or not who he harmed; family was of no matter to the chocolate-furred man, either. She had seen the aftermath of the fire and that Dahlian wolf, already fatally injured and dying by the time the coyotes even got there.


Up ahead, the familiar form of the woman and her horse came into view, murky and obscured by the night's shadows. The ash-colored coyote called out sharply, issuing a short, high-pitched coyote sound rather than identifying herself by voice yet—she leapt forward quickly, still agitated but not willing to throw herself at Hanna or her horse. “Dahlian? I thought you were better than that,” she said, circling around in front of the horse. She gave the large animal a wide berth, well-aware of what its hooves could do, and hoped that Hanna had good control over the equine. “I hope you aren't acting on Haku's orders coming this close to Inferni. Our friendship might be in trouble,” the silver-furred coyote said, her single scarred eye narrowed at the dark-furred woman.


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#3
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OOC: ©table code and image to jacoby: backdated to before Haku's dethroning?
Word count: 339. Worth 2 points


Hanna pulled Galilahi to a halt when she heard the coyote's cry. The equine's eyes rolled wildly; she was familiar with the sound in and of itself, what animal would not be living in the world they were, but to have it come forth on an unusual night in unfamiliar territory was almost more than the painted horse could take. She reared once, Hanna clinging to her back, hands roped in her mane, before standing still, ears flicking to and fro. Thus she was slightly more prepared for Kaena's appearance, and Hanna was able to keep her from spooking, between patting the silken neck and speaking soothing words to her in Low Speech. The horse relaxed, though her ears never showed perfect calm, and Hanna dismounted, letting the horse back off to a comfortable place.


Kaena had addressed her, and Hanna answered now. My reasons for being a part of Dahlia had nothing to do with Inferni or the war. I was there to apprentice my great-nephew, Conor, and then later to care for my niece, Mew, who was shot. As she has disappeared and the danger level has risen, both as product of the war and the weird turn we spoke of before in Haku, I decided it was time to leave. There is more than my own life to worry about now. At this, Désirée's head rose from the sling across Hanna's chest to pipe knowingly, I am Deh-zi-ray. We goin' home! Momma said so. The little merle head bobbed up and down.


As the pup had been seen now, Hanna plucked the girl from her sling and held her out to show Kaena with a bit of a shrug. This is my daughter, Désirée. One night... Jacquez from Cour des Miracles... She shrugged a bit more elaborately, as if to say, I couldn't help it, the man is quite the flirt. She's the main cause for my... shall we call it running away or just a tactical retreat? Anyway, Haku doesn't know.

Speak, think, act
Desi talks, Desi thinks


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#4
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This post sucks. :|


Of course, Kaena was angry—though she knew Susquehanna was related to Haku Soul, the silver-furred hybrid had thought the woman was before him in blood, meaning there was no taint to her soul. Now, she was considering the possibility that perhaps she had been lied to, perhaps... what? Haku had sent Hanna to pick up the silver-furred Centurion and transport her home? Conspiracy theories raced wildly through the woman's head but none of them made any sense, none of them were even close to plausible. The silver-furred Centurion was then forced to wait, her single golden eye searing as she stared down the woman on horseback. For a woman of her age, the hybrid was certainly crazy; what young wolf would stand before an equine that easily dominated its weight by a thousand pounds or more? Kaena was not afraid, though, perhaps because she knew in her heart Hanna would cause no harm.


The hybrid watched the woman dismount from the horse, the larger animal backing away to what it perceived to be a safe distance. The coyote woman had not yet detected the presence of the smaller canine wrapped in the bundle, but as Hanna spoke and there were slight movements from the sling, the coyote guessed what was concealed there, her sable ears perking. The anger slowly drained from her face, replaced with the look of exhaustion that had seemed to take hold over her since those many months ago in the university. The coyote woman had not been back there, and she did not think she would like to go there again. As it was, she had only seen Halifax once since the incident, and that was with a posse of three other coyotes. “I'm sorry,” she said, rather simply, her sable-furred ears pinned back against her head to emphasize the gesture.


“You're smart to leave Dahlia,” the hybrid added simply, her yellow-golden eye focused on the youngster as she spoke. There was a faint smile from the coyote woman, but no verbal response to the child's speech. The revelation of the youth's father raised the coyote's brow, and she peered sharply at the younger canine, trying to find some evidence of the child's father there. The shadow of night made it difficult, but the coyote nodded to Hanna's words. “Yeah, he's a charmer, all-right,” the woman said, though this was said with a hint of darkness—the hybrid had felt no stirring of sexual desire within herself whatsoever since the incident, and the many months of loneliness were bearing down on her. She could not afford to let anyone close, not even Fatin. She would be hurt again. “Smarter still for the life of your child. Dahlia will fall if Haku doesn't,” the coyote commented, still visibly riled from the smell of Dahlia on the dark-furred woman's fur.



Word Count: 473
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#5
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OOC: ©table code and image to jacoby: la
Word count: 353. Worth 2 points


A small smile stole across the charcoal woman's face as Kaena relaxed. Her apology was met with a larger one, and a semi-verbal reassurance that Hanna was not offended, followed by more words that were relatively useless. 'Sokay. I would have been more upset had you not said something. I'm just glad it was you I met, and not one of your clan mates. You, I thought, would be more inclined to listen to me while the others... Her ears splayed away from each other; she did not know the rest of Inferni well enough to know what they would have done had they found her, smelling as she did.


The woman's brains nearly rattled as she nodded emphatically at her friend's words. She knew very well that nothing good would probably come of the situation in Dahlia de Mai, and was relatively sure that no one there would stand up for what was right. She would have herself, had she thought she might come out of it, but had she not, had she somehow fallen, there would be no saving Desi. Haku would have ripped her apart, and anyone who stood in his way. Hanna was nearly certain of that. She just could not risk it.


She made a little derisive noise in the back of her throat. Apparently not as smart as all that if I stayed this long. But yes, that was my way of thinking too. It is only a matter of time before Haku does something so vile that the others of Dahlia finally revolt, but as Solum, I could not chance paying the price for what the others might try and fail to do. Inexplicably casting her gaze to the earth, Hanna placed Desi back down into her sling, then picked up some of the earth and scrubbed it into her arms and legs, then swung the sling to her back to press slightly wet earth to her front, as well. She was not sure why she had not tried to deaden the scent of the pack before, but now it occurred to her to do so.

Speak, think, act
Desi talks, Desi thinks


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#6
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383


In Character

It was not enough that the pack had rejected them—that merely insured their survival, and perhaps also a round three for their conflicts. As Kaena saw it, they were doomed to fight—proximity had caused tension with the Valley pack, it did the same with Dahlia de Mai. Cour des Miracles, Aniwaya, and Crimson Dreams were low on the list, because their wolves seemed to understand and respect borders. Kaena had felt the same way about Jaded Shadows for most of its existence, too—the Shadows wolves generally respected the coyote borders and left their cousins alone, just as Inferni liked it. Salvaged was their beta, true enough, but the hybrid's conflict with him had always remained personal. Salvaged had never desired to watch the world burn as Haku did, and so the packs had remained on relatively neutral terms, despite the mountain pack harboring such a demon.


“Of course,” the hybrid responded, though she knew that allegiance with Dahlia would have meant Susquehanna was an enemy, regardless of their personal relationship. The only thing that kept the silver-furred hybrid from attacking was her trust in Hanna—she knew the woman was an Aniwayan before, and she liked that pack—Dawali in particular, followed closely by Hanna. Though she did not know the exact relationship between the dark-furred woman and Haku Soul, the coyote trusted that the scarred wolf would not betray her trust. “I don't know that even I could protect you from them,” the hybrid said, shaking her silver-furred head. “But if you want to keep moving, I will walk with you,” the coyote proposed. This was a doubly useful maneuver—perhaps the sable-furred woman would release information about Dahlia, whether purposefully or not.


The silvery coyote shrugged. “I'm glad you're not among them anymore, is all. I would prefer not to think of you as an enemy.” The pair of wolves were not close, no—but this was a woman who remembered the old lands, this was a woman who had saved Kaena, transporting her from the beach after that awful night to the safety of Inferni. The hybrid did not want to think of the dark-furred woman as an enemy—Hanna had done a lot for Kaena, even if she did not know the whole depth of it.



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