Word Count :: 348 POOP <3 \:

The sable coyote had not shifted from her Optime form in some time now. It would be the form she delivered her children in, as she had before. She preferred this dexterous form to her four-legged one if she were to be stuck permanently in any of them, and so it was that she made her way south, still active in these early weeks of pregnancy. She would remain so until just about a week before the children were born, as last time. It would do neither Eris nor her children any good to become sedentary with pregnancy.

The familiar Dampwoods were a preferred space for the hybrid woman, who found their appropriate name and climate rather suitable. It wasn't quite so pretty as her beloved Salsola, but these woods had sentimental value for her. She had sought their solace many times while living in Inferni and Anathema both, and they were familiar to her. Halifax was further to the south and east, she knew, but the city did not interest her today. Instead, she was content to remain in the wilderness, meandering as she clutched her stick.

There was no particular purpose to her walk, but as Reclutadore hopeful, the sable-hued woman did wish to adhere to her duties. She was good at seducing others to Salsola's midst, it would seem, and it was a task she undertook gratefully. As a strange scent caught her coal-hued nose, the woman lifted her head, pausing her walk for a moment. This was a stranger, bearing a strange pack's scent. She did not immediately recognize it, but it intrigued her, and so Eris followed this scent, meandering through the woods. In a few moments, a dainty and chubby Secui form loomed ahead.

The Auxiliary regarded with girl curiously, noting the shade of her fur and that pack scent she could not yet place. “Hello,” she called, nearly calling the other canine "little one" or some other diminutive. The hybrid smiled faintly at the impulse, motherly instincts already calling from some deep place within her.

The sable woman was not sure what she would find of use here in the Dampwoods for their feast tonight, but she was determined to try nonetheless, figuring there would be some recognizable plant or even a kill to be happened upon. Instead, she had come upon this blue-eyed, brown stranger, a little girl. The sight of her sent a chill down the sable woman's spine, and she tilted her head to the side just a bit, chartreuse eyes studying the child with a half-slanted smile upon her face.

I don't know him, no. I feel I should know you, though, the woman admitted warmly, straightening up though still inspecting the girl. Eris Eternity, she introduced herself. Why is it you're after this Viking? the woman inquired, stopping a distance from the younger woman. It was of no consequence to her why the stranger Viking was sought by this stranger, and Eris did not intend to intimidate, but she was honestly curious about the girl herself. She had seen that color, those eyes before. She did not know where, though, and it was intriguing to look upon the tawny youth and ponder that mystery.

LOOK AT ME BEING GOOD TO MY SHAW. <3

The sable woman nodded in agreement. She did not think she'd ever met this earthen-hued canine before, either -- at least, not in this life. Then again, the girl had a lovely sort of youth to her, and Eris did not think she was old enough to have been fathered by Haku himself. This was a green soul, newly planted and newly sprouted. She did not think his shadow lurked here, but perhaps a piece of it, still.

The woman listened as the younger wolf introduced herself in turn, and spoke of an axe. Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll find him, the woman said, shifting her weight and resting one hand on her back. Do you know which pack he's from? she inquired, still willing to point the blue-eyed girl in the right direction. His blood deserved that, if she was indeed his blood. And if not -- there was nothing wrong with helping. Hell, it might even gain her a favor from Eclipse later.

But Soulstorm, you say? she mused. Where did you come by such a name? she asked, playing the part of the innocently interested party readily enough. Many were eager to speak of their heritage; she was no exception. My name comes from my father. I never knew him, she added, thinking her truth might prompt the girl into giving her own. Though Eris knew the world at large was far more trusting than Salsola's culture, wariness was not altogether absent from the creatures outside of her pack.

(317) bawahaha. i return your suck with suck

She was pretty, and would have been even if the coyote woman did not think Haku's blood lurked somewhere in her lineage. Looking at her, Eris could only feel a pang of jealousy strike her somewhere in the gut. She had been denied his seed. Perhaps the shade in him had deemed her unworthy of carrying his blood to the next generation; the sable-hued wolf could only guess. The reason did not matter to her so much, however -- the simple fact that she had been denied was enough to weigh on her heart, especially in this moment.

The Auxiliary could only nod and offer a consoling smile toward the younger canine. She did not know Viking, though perhaps she ought to have -- she had spent enough time in Anathema. Her children had kept her from socializing heavily, however, and she had ostracized herself in the later weeks of her stay. Perhaps they had passed one another twenty or thirty times in those underground tunnels. In any case, the sable woman did not know his name and Eclipse did not carry his scent, so she was useless in the matter. Sorry, she interjected as the tawny-hued woman spoke of her parents' disappearances, her ears flicking downward to add weight to the apology.

When the girl inquired as to whether her name was humorous or not, the half-breed smiled in response, a chuckle bubbling from her grinning muzzle. No, dear girl! It's a lovely name, she said, wholly meaning the compliment. I knew a wolf with the Soul name once, she said. In truth, she would have known two men named Soul, had she bothered to collect Conor's name. Both were dead, however, and the sable woman weighed whether to share her knowledge of at least the elder Soul wolf's death with Eclipse, deciding to gauge her reaction before she did so.

She nodded, though she was not so certain she agreed with Eclipse's statement. For all the times she wished she'd had a mother and father, she did not think she was particularly well-adjusted these days. Certainly, she could have been better off. She might have been, even -- she could not necessarily say the same for Eclipse, but one thing she was certain of were her own children. They would grow up with parents, both parents -- she and Larkspur would never leave them.

The tawny woman's curiosity seemed to double at the mention of another Soul -- her question cut the air and the hybrid tilted her head, shaking it a moment later. If she had known the name of the man she had pulled apart on the Anatheman border, it was doubtful she would have told Eclipse his fate anyway -- to do so certainly might have incurred negative consequences for her.

Haku was his name, I'm afraid. I don't know what relation he bears to this Conor, she said, truthfully. He was, however, a great man. If it's his blood in you -- and it does look to be -- you should be proud, the hybrid said, a reptilian smile playing across her coal-hued muzzle. These words were truth -- if nothing else, Eris found the dead man admirable. Even in death, he was something to revere.

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His power was clearly strong enough to transcend such petty barriers as death and mortal life. She wondered if she would see that shadow again, in his whole and true form. Even Haku had been little more than a mask for the shade that lurked within him. She had seen a reflection of it, however faint and blurry, in Itachi. This had surprised her; the she-wolf had not know the man's blood had crossed into her mother's family before.

The younger woman spoke, and Eris rolled her shoulders in a jovial shrug. She had her idea; Eclipse had her own. It was of no consequence to Eris Eternity whether this Soulstorm girl was actually descendant of Haku Soul; in any case, the hybrid woman could see clearly enough, little of the taint that had thickened his blood and hurried him to his explosive end had manifested in this pale, pretty daughter -- if, indeed, she was daughter, and not grand-daughter or even great-grand-daughter. The sable woman's smile hadn't dimmed, and her response was courteous enough. One may never really know, she said, though it was not dismissive.

The girl's next question did intrigue Eris, and the hybrid thought a moment on it, tilting her head slowly to one side as she did so, ending up with her neck half-way cricked. Righting herself, she grinned more broadly, now openly speaking in riddle. There was something inside him, girlie. Something great and big and... dare I say, god-like? she said, chuckling. Maybe just a piece of a god, Eris added, musing on this very possible idea. No god's blood ran in her veins, but that she herself was not something did not negate its possibility in the rest of the wide world. It was a wonder she hadn't considered it before.