(M) An Incredible Discovery

Element · 08-06-2010, 06:49 PM

[html]

WARNING This thread contains a few instances of strong language, starting with the 4th post. Reader discretion is advised.

[/html]

[html]

Element stood in awe at the absolutely enormous building that shadowed the very sun. Vines and various mosses covered the entire concrete structure, so that it looked more like a greenhouse than what was supposed to be a library. Library. That was the word that intrigued Element so much; he had been wandering around Halifax for a while, but only now did he find the building with the faint but still visible slip of paper on the window saying, "Library". Element had read enough to know what a library was, and now as he looked at the simply huge building, he wondered what amasses of human knowledge and tales lay inside.

Only one way to find out.

He found a small crack in the building and, without another thought, slipped inside. At first his eyes had to dilate considerably to amend for the temporary darkness, but as he slipped out of the crack and into the library, his eyes widened even more.

Books.

Beautiful, glorious, astounding, amazing, astonishing, incredible books. They were stacked along shelves, resting open on tables, sitting, dog-eared, on chairs. A lot of them looked like they'd been recently leafed through, and Element wondered if the canines in this place already knew of this beautiful and wonderful collection of gathered knowledge.

He walked along the aisles, looking up at each and every beautiful bookshelf - each seemed to reach the ceiling. He would need help to reach the ones on the top, he thought. A Luperci would be able to reach those. He eventually came across a large, floor to ceiling window; behind it were several desks that Element guessed must have been used for learning. He turned back towards the masses of shelves and books and breathed in deeply; the scent of old, yellowing paper reached inside his nose, and he knew.

He knew he was home.

Jefferson Soul · 08-09-2010, 10:56 PM

[html]

Okay, I am here!

He had known there to be a library in the university for a long time, but it had been just as long since he had found the time to relax with a book. It seemed like winters ago he had been woken from his rocking chair in front of the fire, the book in his scarred fingers toppled to the floor. Geneva revealed to him then that she kept a journal and commonly made entries on the enigma that was her new pack leader, not long after she had transferred from Crimson Dreams. He'd found it intriguing, and yet the brute couldn't remember if he had revealed to her his ineptitude at reading and writing. The activity came to him easier than it should, leading the brute to believe he had been capable before the knock to the head that erased his memory and reset his reading capabilities to zero. Perhaps he could have asked for the olive-eyed girl for assistance, especially now that they were again on speaking and loving terms, but the cyclops found himself straying far from Phoenix Valley instead, and through the university's tattered doors he wandered.

Maluki had been fond of exploration, he had been told. Jefferson was no different, though age and deathly sights of blood and murder had highly dampened the excitement he should have been feeling, that which Maluki would surely have been relishing (before he lost his sanity, of course). The building reeked of age and mold, the floorboards creaking beneath his every step; it was as if simply willing it might make the floors collapse, and yet the cyclops wandered on, the scent of dust stinging his nose. Books were his intention, a cover that looked interesting enough to choke his way through the text, one word at a time, sounding out syllables aloud only when he was ensured complete privacy. His good arm pushed at a door and at last the library lay before his eyes. The brute stared, utterly overwhelmed by the multitude of texts, before he sauntered through the door.

A second scent—though unsurprisingly shrouded out by wafts of aged paper—caught his senses as his green eye fell upon what appeared to be a small, black cat amongst the books. He paused mid-step, staring at it (his instincts flaring, but there was no need to chase a small animal that would surely outrun him in such cluttered space), before simply continuing on, his eye gazing over the books. It was rare to find a feline, but surely the thing would be as useless conversationally to him as the average prey rabbit.

Element · 08-10-2010, 09:16 AM

[html]

Yay! And absquatulate? Where do they get these words? XD

Element's emerald eyes wandered across the many books, gazing at the beauty that was before him. Never before had he seen so many! He'd seen the occasional page on the floor in the forest, barely readable, and once in a blue moon he would find the remnants of what obviously was a book. But these...these seemed in a much better condition. They were all covered in a delicate plastic slip, as to protect them from the elements. The ebony feline snorted at the thought; no binding in the world would protect those books from this Element. He rose, first standing, wobbly, on his hind legs, then resting his forepaws on a low shelf as to balance himself. He glanced at the titles of the books and found one that lit a lightbulb in his mind; the Lord of the Rings.

Where had he heard that before? No matter. He batted at the book several times, and each bat failed to loosen the book from its resting place. Frustrated, he used his other paw and tried to bat at it, but nothing came of the futile attempt. Finally, he tucked his paw underneath the large book and slid it out. It landed on its binding and flopped open on the floor. Element quickly withdrew his paws from the shelf and stood on his four paws again, using one to open the book to the first page.

"The Lord of the Rings," he said, reading the title out loud in wonder. "By J. R. R. Tolkien." Those words seemed so familiar, somehow, but he failed to remember where they had come from. Had he read something like this before?

A noise snapped him out of his reverie. Looking up sharply, he saw that a Luperci was walking along the shelves. He must have been there for several minutes, Element realized, but he, in his interest, had failed to see him. The wolf was littered in scars; around his middle, on his arms, on his head. Everywhere. He seemed to have only one good arm, as the other simply hung limply. He also seemed to have just one eye; the other was closed, a V shaped scar covering it. Questions filled Element's mind; this Luperci obviously had been in many fights. Whether or not he started them was another matter. Element inched away, taking his book with him; if this Luperci was hostile, he could always absquatulate.

Jefferson Soul · 08-10-2010, 09:26 PM

[html]

XD Also, just so you know, Jefferson's bad arm is held in a sling. It is pretty limp in there, though. :3

The clouds of dust he kicked up from the floorboards tickled and itched at his nose, but the aggravating feeling was dispersed only through incessant snorting and sniffling of the male. His scarred fingertips brushed and bumped over the spine of books on the shelves as he moved along slowly, the dust sticking to his fingertips and leaving long, clean lines on the texts already passed. His green eye searched the spines, steps pausing only to pull out a few sparse books with mildly interesting covers. He struggled through fancier fonts that named the titles as if reading another language altogether, and if he found the title too difficult to read, the book was just as readily stuffed back into the shelf.

It was at this point a loose floorboard tripped him, and the brute went stumbling forward—"Fuck!"—into another, free-standing shelf. With the force of his weight it unbalanced, tipping on creaking boards; Jefferson quickly seized one of its shelves with both arms and steadied it, only to withdraw hissing and holding his arm. These days it seemed to take less and less exertion of the muscles in his bad arm to set it aflame with pain, something Jefferson could attribute only to his age. He swore a long line of curses beneath his breath, frowned something terrible, and kicked at a book on the floor out of pure frustration. It went spiraling into an opposite wall and erupted into a cloud of dust, the cover easily breaking off from the pages and exploding into a heap of papers that sank to the floor. With a searing eye, the Patriarch held his arm and glared daggers at the innocent book, finding the need to blame it for all that happened in such a short time.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?