Weee. Nayru loves coyotes! XD 514.

Wahrer. Not just a Spaher any longer, although Nayru had been quite content with that rank as well. Her duties were the same now, except she wasn’t expected to report back to anyone and if so inclined she could accept others into Dahlia de mai. Conor trusted her it seemed, and her move to the east end of the pack seemed still a marvelous idea. To patrol the borders, it was exactly what she wanted to do anyway. Protect and serve Dahlia de Mai. And although informally they all had their eyes peeled, Nayru took her seriously. Rounds were made early morning, mid-day, right at dusk and now that was Wahrer and she hadn’t any Spahers to pick up the slack she included a round in the middle of the night as well. Nothing escaped her, for even when she did not find the physical beings herself, their scents always gave them away. She knew the gender and pack origins of every soul that came near her borders, and she knew how far into Dahlia de Mai they came, who greeted them and often she followed their scent out of the pack lands a way just to be sure they had truly gone. The borders were secure, there was no denying that.


It was not scent nor sight that alerted her this time, on one of her many rounds, but the sound of a female calling. The call was not for her, the fairy girl knew this, but the sound was not of wolf origins. And it came from her end of the pack land, closest edge to Inferni, so Nayru knew she was probably the closest to answer anyway. Her gait was easy and quick, her two legs long and powerful, and it seemed in no time at all she was near to the caller, and as she had half guessed, the scent of the caller was that of a coyote. Nayru did not pause or falter, although words from Larkspur caught in her head as she moved closer. He was gone though, and with him many of the biases that still floated in Dahlia de Mai, although others still held onto more private and less outspoken prejudices.


”Hello there.” Her words fell gentle and warm at the feet of the tawny coyote, although her crimson eyes were set and her face firm. Despite Nayru’s slender and small frame and her soft spoken ways she was hard and unfaltering, though not unfriendly. The ebony and ivory patched girl stood there, taking in the physical appearance of the other, mentally making another imagine of “coyote” in her head. Distantly she thought of Razekiel and wondered if the male resided still in Inferni. Probably she would never go there to find out and it didn’t seem important enough to ask. ”Could I help you with something?” They both knew the woman had called for someone else, but Nayru was Wahrer now and she imagined this is what the Wahrer did. And if she could help, she would, otherwise her presence her was just a formality.

304.

Nayru’s own smile did not falter as she came up, despite the slight disappointment her presence caused for the other. The stranger was young, polite and soft spoken, not too unlike herself, and it did not take but a matter of moments for her to confess the manner of her call, although Nayru had known it all along. Nayru was not Harlowe, that was for certain, and to make matters worse the black and white girl didn’t know where the tawny boy was either. She doubted he would answer though, his scent had been scarce lately and she hadn’t heard any word about him either. It was likely that he had followed Larkspur after the brute had been vanished, and although her assumption was likely true she did not take this as fact. Nor did she say so, because she had no wish to mislead the coyote if Harlowe had not followed Larkspur, and where Larkspur had gone Nayru didn’t even have a guess.


“I haven’t seen or heard from him in a while.” Her meldolic voice spoke in it’s normal whisper, as if everything she said held some secret. Crimson eyes scrutinized the other, taking in the pile of books in her arms and the assortment of adornments that the girl had decorated herself with. Were the books for Harlowe? Was he expecting her? Well, it was her right to ask, although her tone did not take on any authority, but remained gentle and conversational. “What do you want with him?”



Perhaps it was rude to question so bluntly, but nothing about Nayru’s manner could be called rude. She was neither submissive nor assertive, but simply a creature existing in the vicinity of another. The fairy girl waited, her head tilted slightly as if to emphasis the question that hung in the air.

378.

Ruby eyes strayed to the books clutched by the coyote. Gifts? Books. Nayru thought of the book she had given Aro. It has been something on stars and the universe. It had been nothing really, a gesture of good will between one friend and another. Yet it seemed more with this stranger and Harlowe. She seemed on edge, nervous of his arrival and when it did not come dissatisfied at his absence. Nayru could recognize the small signs of romance, even if she could not relate to them herself. She saw them between Conor and Bris, she saw them in Saluce when he spoke of Layla, but she did not seem them in herself and certainly not in relation to any male. She was at once envious of this woman and her feelings, and also sorry for her. For even if the tawny creature felt something Nayru could not, she would also probably suffer for it at some point.


Did he still live her? Larkspur certainly did not, and Nayru could only guess about Harlowe. Really she had to guess about Larkspur as well, noting only that the male’s scent had been washed from the lands and now his nephew’s was as well. He probably had gone the same way. “I don’t know.” Yet her voice held an extra note, sympathy maybe, and her gaze caught the hay colored eyes of the other and held them for longer than necessary. Breaking off eye contact, her voice was more flitting then, warmer, as if they were only talking of the weather. “His uncle moved on a while ago, I don’t know where.”


Nayru could have asked Conor, he would know both about the boy and the brute, but it hadn’t concerned her prior to now. And still didn’t really. Yet she was curious. Why had they left and to where? Larkspur hadn’t seemed like a deserter and Harlowe hadn’t seemed like much at all to her on their brief meeting. And who was this girl, looking for Harlowe and finding only Nayru in his place? “I’m Nayru. What’s your name?” The question was gentle, not a direct one but more of a suggestion, and the melodic voice of the fairy girl dropped low, almost inaudible as was her manner.

395.

Nayru smiled at the girl, Clover Lykoi, with her manners polite and unassuming. The ebony and ivory girl was aware that Clover probably didn’t intend on spending much time chit chatting at the borders with a stranger. That certainly hadn’t been why she had come, yet Nayru had little else to do just then and she lingered there, eating up the energy that Clover had brought with her. Those who came to the borders were different than those who dwelled inside the pack, and it was not just their behaviors, the tone of their voices. They were different. Something inside them was different, although the difference was not a perverse one. Their life force was simply made of blood, different experiences and Nayru could sense that. Nayru relished in it.


So rarely did she actually greet anyone at the borders, and it was even sporadic the time she got to bask in the energy of her own pack mates, the girl could go days on end with no contact at all. That was all by choice, and Nayru did not regret any of it, but she held Clover’s gaze, because if it broke off then Clover might leave and Nayru was absorbed in her just then. There was little else to gain from her by simply staring, and again Nayru’s gentle voice offered up a question. Because questions were meant to be answered and Clover probably wouldn’t leave until some answer had been given. “What is it like to live in Inferni?”


In the back of her mind a childish voice, her childish voice asked the same question. And then answer that Razekiel had given her many months ago came back. Nayru held onto this answer, ready to compare it to the new one. Did she remember the Inferni male’s answer differently than what he had really gave her? And did Razekiel see out of different eyes than Clover? More importantly, would Nayru see their home all skewed and slanted, or would she see Inferni as it really was, if she ever to ever show up on their door? That would displease many, and she had no reason to, no pretense of giving books to a boy and no formal business either. She would stay here and await information from the outside. She was patient, as was clear the way she pleasantly awaited Clover’s response.

442.

“Oh.” Clover's response was quite different than the one Razekiel had given her. He had told the child it was a dark place, but even then Nayru had never really carried that image around in her head. Surely Inferni wasn't so bad, how then could they persist in such numbers that they did? Unless all of it's inhabitants were dark. But Razekiel wasn't and Clover certainly didn't seem so. “ I suppose it would be like living anywhere else.” Why wouldn't it be? The land was no so varied. Coyotes weren't much different than wolves. There wasn't any real reason for it to be any different than Dahlia de Mai.


Yet. Yet she still felt it was. Still knew that Inferni did not equal Dahlia de Mai did not equal Aniwaya did not equal Crimson Dreams did not equal whatever other packs sprouted up around them. The differences couldn't be helped; they evolved naturally from the different individuals that made up the packs and the different leaders that shaped those packs. But they weren't differences that were glaringly obvious. They were subtle details, maybe even unimportant in the long wrong, but the energies were different. It was why some grew so fiercely loyal to one pack and not to another. Nayru knew if she really wanted to know the answer to her question she would just have to go and see for herself.


Yet that day would not come for a long time, if ever. There simply was no reason to go knocking on Inferni's door, and though she felt that relations between the two clans was slowly healing she promised Saluce and Conor she would never bring trouble to Dahlia de Mai. If her presence at Inferni could be misconstrued in anyway… she wouldn't take that chance. The girl was content, looking at Clover, recording her face and scent and knowing that Inferni would be there later to explore.


"Well it was a great pleasure meeting you Clover. If I see Harlowe I'll tell him you were looking for him. " Nayru bowed her head low, a placid smile upon her thin lips. Although she rather enjoyed the company, it was a break in from her normal solitude, she didn't want to seem rude, keeping the other longer than she wished to stay. She had taken up enough of the girl's time and had no more questions to ask, and it was doubtful she would see Harlowe but the offer was there none the less. Yet Nayru made no move to leave, it was customary to wait until the visitor left, after all, she was still the Wahrer guarding the borders.