She Sells Sea Shells
#1
[html]
all welcome! ^^ she's directly on the beach.

The female had decided to take her children out of the territory again for the first time since Ethereal Eclipse, when they had lost Nathaniel. She still felt gut-wrenching grief for her son, and guilt; Bangle still hadn't returned, and her hopes that he would were diminishing every day. For now, all she could do was wait, and take care of her pups and her pack.

She had to get away, however - from reassuring members to taking care of the animals to tending the garden to trading and reestablishing pack relations, Skye was exhausted, and wanted to take a short trip to the beach with her children. The pups played in the sand, kicking it at each other and running in and out of the shallow surf that floated in and out of the shore. She was keeping a keen eye on them, like a hawk - she wasn't too far away, either, sitting right on the sand with them.

The beach always held a peaceful aura for her, made her feel much better. The salty, briny scent and the gentle sound of the waves lapping against the shore always comforted her and made her feel a bit better; calmed her down. She loved the ocean and she loved the sea.

It was a bit like her, in a way; didn't like to be restrained. Was calm most of the time, but could erupt suddenly, roaring and crashing its water against the sandy shore, letting out its wrath to whomever was nearby. Today was not that day, however, she reflected as she saw her pups playing in the gentle water.

She wondered idly what it would be like to be out on that water - to sail on the ocean blue to new and exciting places, like humans had in the books that she'd read. She wondered if it was possible anymore. She didn't think for very long, however, because her mind continued to go to the thought of her missing son. She sighed, and the albatross above her cried out as well; she loved the sea, the sea was beautiful. But the sea could be terrible, too, and the sea could be sad.

<style type="text/css">
.freebjuly13 b {font-weight:bold; color:#e9f2f9; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #7f96b6;}
.freebjuly13 p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.freebjuly13 {margin:0 auto; width:415px; background-color:#81acc1; background-image:url(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/ ... july13.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #2d586d; padding: 150px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#2d586d; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #;letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
300+

[/html]
#2
[html]

Hope you don't mind? Smile Also, you got my 100th post. Big Grin


Cold, uncaring eyes fell across the beach. She had always hated beaches, but that feeling had grown over time. It was on a beach that she had first made love to Snake, that they had declared their relationship – though at first, it had been secret. It was that reason that made her question why she had come here at all, but then again, part of her wondered if this was in fact the beach. Was it this beach that she had met the destroyer of her heart? She couldn’t remember… Or maybe she just didn’t want to.



Feeling the granules under her feet, Lucia wanted to cringe. It always managed to get into places, seek its way into the crevices of the body. It was like sandpaper against her skin, and it clung to her pelt like parasites. She hated it. Walking along, she watched the tide – the soft rolling waves going back and forth, never really getting anywhere. The same motion over and over. It must be boring being a wave. Why Lucia thought these things, she didn’t know. Her mind had sprung a will of its own nowadays, and that was fine. Paranoid, insecure… it was nice to not have to worry about keeping her mind in check as well. Maybe that was the root of her lunacy, or maybe it was just plain laziness. Either way, it was simple, and simple was all that was wanted.



Thoughts came and went, rolled into her mind and out again much like the tide. It seemed like hours that she stood there staring, but it was merely seconds. Time seemed to slow down nowadays, everything seemed pointless, worthless – undeserving. She hated everything, everyone… She was broken glass, just waiting to be glued back together. Yet, even when glued, the cracks would never truly disappear. It was all an illusion.



It was then that the sound of playfulness and joyfulness came into the ears of the black female. Gaze darting over the horizon, she caught glimpse of a few small shadows. Pups. Looking further along, she saw the watchful eye of a motherly figure. Sighing, Lucia had a moment of weakness. What if her and Snake had bore children? Would she be here now? Where would he be? Oh, the possibilities. That thought got quickly thrown from her mind.



Carrying on her pace, Lucia hoped that the mother would not stop to talk to her, but from a glance, Lucia pegged this woman as the talking type. A happy person who seemed to have a problem – it was written all over her face. Lucia didn’t care. She just wanted to be left alone. But that wouldn’t happen. It never did. So, she walked and waited. Eventually there would be talking, so Lucia waited. Waiting to be seen, waited for the inevitable.


<style type="text/css">
.lt b {font-weight:bold; color:#91ba5a; letter-spacing:1px; }
.lt .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color: #a99393;}
.lt p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.lt {margin:0px auto; width:450px; background-color:#2c3033; background-image:url(http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae20 ... /table.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #000000; padding: 350px 0px 0px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:10px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style> [/html]
#3
[html]
yay! i dont mind at all Big Grin and congrats!

The female was concentrating on her beautiful pups, their laughter and smiles touching her heart and making her feel calm. It didn't erase the grief she felt for Nathaniel - her lost son - but it did help ease it, at least some. There was still hope of finding him, but each day that her mate didn't return was another day that her son was farther away from her. So she watched her pups and the ocean and waited.

Unexpectedly, one of her pups turned around to face her and yelped happily, looking at something beyond her. She wanted to look, but was afraid to turn her back on her pups for even a second, so she gathered them close to her, hugging them, and then turned around. What her pups were looking at and had seen was a woman - she was gray, her fur ruffled and generally out of sorts, as was her short, dark gray hair. Her eyes were a brilliant green, matching an odd tattoo on her shoulder that sported a symbol Skye didn't know the meaning of. She had a long scar that ran down the middle of her left eye, giving her a war-like appearance, although she didn't seem hostile; just melancholy. Sad.

Before she could stop her, Erzulie, her white little pup, wriggled out of her hands and dashed over to the woman. She looked up at her, eyes wide and excited. "Hi!" the two month old puppy said, her white tail wagging and her faintly cream-splotched fur standing on end. Skye rushed over to her pup, picking her up and holding her against her with her brother, Robert, the other cream-colored pup that sported a brown mask and a deep red back. She stood and looked at the woman.

"Sorry if they bothered you," she said. She just noticed now that the woman had just been standing there, as if waiting - she seemed sad and lost, and Skye felt a bit of sympathy; she felt lost as well, lost without one of her pups and without her mate. "They're so difficult to control now that they're growing up!" Erzulie wriggled in protest, and Robert simply giggled.

<style type="text/css">
.freebjuly13 b {font-weight:bold; color:#e9f2f9; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #7f96b6;}
.freebjuly13 p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.freebjuly13 {margin:0 auto; width:415px; background-color:#81acc1; background-image:url(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/ ... july13.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #2d586d; padding: 150px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#2d586d; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #;letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
300+

[/html]
#4
[html]

How should things go with this, you think?


It didn’t take long for Lucia to get noticed. Strangely, or perhaps simply just not predicted by the obsidian female, it was not the mother who spoke first. It was the bouncing snowball, who seemed like it had been on speed since birth that made the first move. A high-pitched, irritating ‘hi!’ rocketed through Lucia’s ears, she almost cringed with disgust. Though, deep beneath the exterior, Lucia could feel the remainders of her heart melting. She could feel the jealousy within her. Part of her always wanted a family, but due to Snake and his vanishing act, that dream was even further away now.


It didn’t take long for the small fur-ball’s mother to make an appearance. Lucia watched in silence as she picked her up. She studied the family for a moment. Her malachite eyes slid over the snowball first, then across the male pup who Lucia couldn’t decide what he reminded her of, and finally drew over the mother. She could see something deep in her eyes, something that reminded Lucia of herself. What is was, however, Lucia could not place a finger on it. It was a mystery, though in reality, it was probably the sense of loss, heartache or the myriad of other things Lucia was in denial about.


After minutes of silence, Lucia thought it best to say something. She wanted to be cruel and spiteful, she wanted to air her jealousy to the world, but she didn’t. Her anxiety was too strong for that, she had not drunk enough to be confident. “It’s no bother.” Lucia’s eyes fell to the floor as she spoke; eye contact was not a strong point. “Well they’ll grow up one day, so it’ll get easier surely.” It was at that moment in time, when the words rolled off her tongue that Lucia wanted to add the words ‘poor little buggers’ to her sentence. Growing up wasn’t how children imagined it; it wasn’t all fun and happiness. It was painful, horrible… unfair. She almost pitied them. They had all the bad things in the world to come, and they couldn’t even see it. Innocence was a cruel, cruel thing.


Giving a quick glance over the small creatures again, their giggle grating against Lucia’s skull, the ebony female spoke one more time. She didn’t really have too much to say, but curiosity had gotten the better of her. She was hesitant at first, almost shy. She was dependant on her alcohol, but had not yet devoured enough of it to stop caring completely. She would though, eventually. By the evening, her soul would be dead again.


“What’s it like… being a mother and all? Is it as amazing as they all say?”


[/html]
#5
[html]
sorry for the delay! and whatever way you want is fine xD maybe they could start talking about pups and stuff :O

Skye hugged her pups close to her so they wouldn't squirm away, something that they were already attempting as their bodies wriggled in their mother's tight grasp. She looked at the woman, who had some inexplicable emotion within her eyes, and who stayed silent for several minutes; each passing moment made Skye a little bit uncomfortable, wondering if Erzulie had bothered this woman that much that she had grown angry, or if this woman was simply mute. Her suspicions were disproved, however, as the gray female spoke and said that it wasn't a problem, and that Skye's pups would grow up soon enough.

"That's true," Skye said slightly sadly, glancing at her children - no matter how annoying and bothersome they may be, they were so precious to her at this stage, and she wished they could stay pups forever; she knew that this was not the way of the world, however, and that all things must grow up - and when her pups did, she knew that she'd be proud of them no matter what they grew up to be or who they grew to become. In this, she found the answer to the other's question.

"It's a lot of work and trouble," she said softly, seeing that this woman had a sense of longing about her, like she had wanted pups. "It brings a lot of joy, but it can bring sadness, too..." She trailed off, her mind going to Nathaniel without her meaning to, and she found that this time, she coudn't tear it away. Images of her son flooded her mind, and she gave a small sigh - he was gone. She had to accept that.... but she knew that he could be out there somewhere, and that knowledge gave her hope.. and fear.

"I'm Skye Collins," she said suddenly, surprising even herself. She nodded to each of her pups in turn, first the white one and then the other - "And these are Erzulie and Robert."

<style type="text/css">
.freebjuly13 b {font-weight:bold; color:#e9f2f9; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #7f96b6;}
.freebjuly13 p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.freebjuly13 {margin:0 auto; width:415px; background-color:#81acc1; background-image:url(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/ ... july13.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #2d586d; padding: 150px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#2d586d; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #;letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
300+
[/html]
#6
[html]

Sorry for the wait... Sad Sounds good to me. Perhaps they could discuss their losses also. Lucia has a tendancy to bring Snake into her conversations at the moment...


Lucia nodded quietly, taking in the words of the lighter-furred female. She stared at each of the small pups, wondering in her mind what her pups could have been like. Would they have barked happily at the strangers? Would they have been under her watchful eye? Could she have handled it? She sighed quietly, bringing her gaze back to the mother. There was sadness in her eyes. Lucia had seen it before, many times. It was the same look that crossed her face whenever Snake came into her mind. She opened her mouth, tempted to ask, but she stopped herself. She knew how much pain it caused her, how much she couldn’t talk about it… she wouldn’t ask. She stayed silent.



‘I’m Skye Collins…’
The words met Lucia’s dark ears with a hint of surprise. Lucia had not expected such a kind welcome. She did not feel deserving of such things. Watching as the mother introduced her children, Lucia tried to smile as best she could. It was weak, but at least she had tried. “Lucia…” she replied quietly, her voice empty of emotion. “Lucia Cabriel.” She paused, looking over the family one more time. “It’s nice to meet you all…”



Silence rolled in for a moment. She wondered what to say next. Lucia wasn’t used to this, didn’t understand how to socialise anymore. Everything she used to be, used to know, it was gone. He had stolen that, just like he had stolen her heart. Staring blankly at the sand beneath her feet, Lucia could feel the twinge of loneliness trickle down her spine. Her fur twitched, almost standing on ends. “So…” Lucia finally spoke, trying to rid her mind of his lightly furred face, and those eyes that caused her knees to weaken. “Where do you come from? You belong to a pack or anything?” She bit her lip. She used to belong to someone, to something. Inferni entered her mind, it burned her veins. The anger she felt about the whole thing made her blood boil, she fought with herself. It was not the time to display such things.



“I used to belong somewhere…”
She sighed, eyes still on the ground. She wanted it to swallow her, wanted to fall into some twisted abyss of hell. Anything but this… “Inferni…” She muttered spite in her voice. “I wasn’t truly a member… but I paid my dues.”

[/html]
#7
[html]
no problem, and that sounds good! skye's been itching to talk to someone outside her pack too

The woman's name came to Skye's ears as a sort of surprise - she had known a Lucia in the past; quite the antisocial girl, she had mostly stayed in the back or away from others, playing her guitar. She had helped the founding of Cercatori d'Arte, although had disappeared soon after; Skye didn't know where she went or why, but it seemed that that particular Lucia wasn't coming back. This girl, however, was different from her in all but name, and the woman dipped her head when she introduced herself.

At Lucia's question, she nodded. "I'm from Cercatori d'Arte, a pack a little to the south from here," she said. "But I came here to escape my packmates for a little while." It was true - she didn't feel like putting on a facade at the moment to her pack members, those of which didn't know the truth about little Nathaniel. She wanted to escape, yes, but only for a little while, just so that she could escape the incriminating eyes of other people; this person was different, somehow. She seemed to share the same sort of sadness.

Lucia spoke, and Skye looked up to the woman, not noticing that her eyes had fallen to the sandy ground. She was surprised that she said she had once been in Inferni - the woman looked like she was completely wolf, without a trace of coyote in her. She realized that Inferni must have put her in something like an omega status since she wasn't a coyote - but she wondered why she had chosen to be in that pack in the first place when there were so many other, wolf friendly packs around.

"What happened?" she asked softly, surprised at herself for posing the question. Hoping that the woman wouldn't take offense, she waited curiously for the answer.

<style type="text/css">
.freebjuly13 b {font-weight:bold; color:#e9f2f9; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #7f96b6;}
.freebjuly13 p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px;}
.freebjuly13 {margin:0 auto; width:415px; background-color:#81acc1; background-image:url(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v121/ ... july13.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #2d586d; padding: 150px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#2d586d; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #;letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13px; text-align:justify;}
</style>
300+
[/html]
#8
[html]

Sorry for the epic wait! Sad Had some problems I had to resolve.


Lucia allowed herself to smile. She wanted her companion to know she was listening, but it did feel strange. The way her lips pulled themselves across her face, the way it seemed to shift her entire look. It didn’t feel right, or normal, thus it didn’t last long. Lucia quickly spoke as to avoid awkwardness. She never was one for the light heartedness in life.



“Cercatori d’Arte?”
She repeated; her voice slightly raspy. The amount of smoking she had done in the recent weeks, it was no surprise. Coughing slightly, trying to clear her throat, Lucia continued. There was little improvement on her voice. “It rings a bell, but I can’t say I recall ever being there or hearing much about it. What’s it like? What’s the story?” She paused, toying with the idea of prying into Skye’s history a little. She decided she may as well. The worst that could happen would be that the subject would get changed or she would walk off – both of these, the dark female could live with. She didn’t know this woman well enough to care too much, even if she did seem like good conversation. Lucia had too small of a heart for that anymore.



“Why are you escaping your pack?”
The sadness had crept back into her companions eyes. Lucia winced underneath her skin, knowing the look all too well in her own reflection. She had to ask. “Why are you so sad?”



Silence seemed to cloud the two for a minute, but Skye’s voice shattered it as quickly as it came about. The question caught Lucia off guard. She had almost forgotten that she had mentioned Inferni. Her mind had now begun pondering on what skeletons hid in her acquaintance’s closet. Looking back up at the woman, Lucia frowned. Part of her didn’t want to answer, but considering the questions she had just asked, it seemed like the polite thing to do. How did she expect to get answers if she didn’t even give them herself?



Sighing, she shook her head sadly and dropped her gaze over across the ocean. Staring emptily, Lucia spoke, though her mind seemed elsewhere. She was trying not to think too hard, trying not to see his face. “Fell for a handsome coyote named Snake… joined Inferni to be closer with him after we declared our relationship public… took a load of abuse for being a wolf in their ranks… and then, BAM! He disappears in the night. Leaves me, leaves Inferni… gone, vanished without a word. So I left, travelled for a bit, and now I’m back… and I’m going to get my life back. You can be sure of that!” Her tone was drowning in her bitterness, but beneath that was the soft whispering of abandonment. She felt alone, and for the most part, now more than ever, she was.


<style type="text/css">
.lt b {font-weight:bold; color:#91ba5a; letter-spacing:1px; }
.lt .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color: #a99393;}
.lt p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.lt {margin:0px auto; width:450px; background-color:#2c3033; background-image:url(http://i972.photobucket.com/albums/ae20 ... /table.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #000000; padding: 350px 0px 0px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:10px; color:#000000; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style> [/html]


Forum Jump: