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Backdated to September 17th so it makes sense in my timeline. Anyway, decided to show Ves some human stuff and freak her out. <3
Vesper had never seen a car before.
She cocked her head as she stood in front of the faded red sedan, as if viewing it from a slightly different angle might unlock its secrets. She had been traveling a little off course the past few days, traveling slightly south of Arachnea’s Revenge rather than her normal route. She’d been surprised to find paved but cracked roads and signs of human civilization, so she’d followed the new sights. While she’d come across run-down houses since entering the ’Souls area, she hadn’t seen a complete suburb and city before, and so this was a treat.
Quickly, the coywolf looked over her shoulder, past the run-down building to the trees that had begun to encroach upon the city. It was an almost anxious glance, as if she were seeking reassurance from the natural world when encountering with this new…thing.
What the hell is it even for? She knew houses were for shelter, and she’s surmised that the roads were the humans’ way of making easier paths, but she hadn’t made the connection with vehicles. Perhaps it was because she thought that, if canines walked on their own, humans could too.
She gave her head a shake and came closer, nudging the front bumper of the sedan. It didn’t give despite its wheels, which made her frown and push against it with the flat of her head, harder. There was a creak but no movement. She withdrew and padded around to the side, sniffing the tire and pricking her ears when she thought she could smell cat—but the scent was old, and she was too interested in the car to go chasing after a meal.
The female lifted her pale blue eyes—and they widened. The window of the car had been rolled down when the time of humans had frozen. She took a few steps back, judged the distance, then made a leap at the small space. Her compact body slipped through the window easily, and she fell into the driver’s seat. Some rodent had been in here and chewed frantically at everything, so there were only scraps of leather everywhere, but she didn’t mind.
This might to be a nice place for shelter, Vesper decided, glancing at the back seat and figuring she’d be able to sprawl out comfortably there. A content smirk rested on her lips until she saw movement through the windshield—a cat or something was running across the road. Ears pricked, she propped her forepaws up on the steering wheel to get a better look.
HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONKKKK—
An undignified screech left the coywolf as she recoiled, falling against the back of the seat and sprawling in a rather humanlike position, her eyes wide and her ears ringing.
She decided she didn’t like cars.
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Word count 324:: Ok I actually had time to do it now. HIIII!!!
Zalen had decided that today he would make his way down to Halifax. This is how he had been filling his time as of late, waiting for something to happen, anything! After having run in Noir who had offered him a chance to make a name for himself, life had been a waiting game and the only way from keeping from going stir crazy was gallivanting around the hume ghost city and collecting interesting trinkets. Today was a clear, cool day, perfect for travel, and he had just left the southernmost border of his territory in Arachnea’s Revenge and breaking through the trees he saw in the distance a coywolf and a car. Zalen immediately paused, staying within the shadows of the tree line, still hidden and safe. He once again felt that poison feeling in his chest that bubbled up every time he saw a coyote, usually even worse when it was a hybrid. For a moment he thought about turning and going back to his den to seethe but instead he was caught up in what this coywolf was doing. It looked confused, as it looked back over its shoulders towards him. Instinctively he moved a little farther back into the brush but he doubted it had seen him as it turned back to inspect the car. Zalen’s keen olive eyes watched as the coyote moved about the car, eventually jumping into the interior and sounding the horn. The piercing sound even made Zalen jump, and he watched with a snicker as the coywolf fell into the back seat. How funny. Suddenly his hatred seemed to ebb and before he could even think twice he was trotting forward to investigate further. It was completely against his nature to interact with someone of this species, but today was different. He wasn’t sure but from a distance the coyote looked pretty pathetic and beat up and Zalen decided today was a day of mercy.
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Hi! <33
The coywolf waited until her heartbeat had slowed down before shaking her head and staring at the steering wheel. Had she been a more naïve wolf, she might have tested out the horn a few more times. However interesting testing the sound might have been, she knew it would be dangerous to call even more attention to herself. Anyone looking for blood could have headed her way. She was also sure to have scared off any prey—like that cat—who lived in this godforsaken area.
Vesper let out a loud sigh, feeling like an idiot, which was an extremely rare concept for her. She knew that she could take care of herself extremely well, as she had been for the past several seasons, but she also knew that she was clueless in environments like this. The place she had come from hadn’t had major human settlements like Nova Scotia; she wasn’t used to the crowded buildings and vehicles littered around the place.
Deciding she’d have to continue her investigation more carefully, she turned then squeezed back out the window, landing neatly on the pavement. It was at that moment, however, that she smelled another canine—wolf, male, luperci. She glanced over to see that he was making his way toward her.
An intense fight-or-flight response kicked up in the hybrid, and she remained still for a few tense seconds, her blue eyes finding his apple-green ones. She chose neither option in the end, taking one step back so that her hip was against the car. Despite this retreat of a few inches, her head was lifted and all four legs neatly underneath her. She didn’t look like she’d run away, but neither did she bounce up to him like a stupid yearling might have.
“Hello,” Vesper said, her voice cool and her eyes curious.
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Word count 280:: Forgive Zalen's racism XD
Just as Zalen’s dark form made its way to the rear bumper of the car the coywolf decided to squeeze back out of the window and land on the pavement before him. He now could see that it was a young female, scarred but healthy. In the moment they stared at each other and she backed up he felt a sudden urge to kill her, but this extreme blood lust was so unorthodox to him that he pushed it immediately from his mind. He may not like her kind, but he wouldn’t stoop so low as to murder outright, like they had done to his mother… All these emotions and thoughts did not make it to the surface of his face and he looked at her with stoic features as she said hello. He stood there for a moment, somewhat awkwardly; was he really going to interact amicably with a coyote? Today must be topsy-turvy day. The strangeness of it all made his reply come out in a soft whisper, “Hi. He cleared his throat and offhandedly sniffed the bumper of the car, just too try and ignore how awkward he felt. Smelled like a cat. He looked back up at her, he wondered how she had gotten all those scars. Probably from her own kind no doubt, they weren’t like wolves; between the rapine and murder they did there probably wasn't much kindness for each other and none at all for others. At least… he believed this was the way it must be. At time he realized that despite his prejudice for them, because of what they had done to him, he didn’t know much about coyotes at all…
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Haha. It's okay; I like Zalen. *pets my dirty hybrid*
It occurred to Vesper for a brief, ridiculous moment that this black wolf looked like her father. It was ridiculous because the similarities stopped after his species and coat color; her father was taller (or at least gave the illusion of tallness with a narrow, lanky body) and malnourished. He’d had amber eyes, and his coat had been free from decoration, like the crimson star marking on this stranger’s face or the feathers tangled in his mane.
The thought passed as soon as it’d come, to her relief. She didn’t want to be stuck in the past when she should be focused on the present. It didn’t seem like the stranger meant any harm, but he didn’t seem altogether friendly, either. His voice was barely audible as he returned the greeting.
The coywolf could feel a small smirk quirking her lips as the wolf sniffed at the car bumper as she had. She found herself amused rather than scornful, and she pulled her hip slightly away from the vehicle, which had been somewhat of an anchoring touch.
“I like your feathers,” Vesper stated, her light blue eyes drifting to the pair. “Red-tailed hawk, right? How did you get them?”
She was simply trying to make conversation, but she was also curious; she’d been toying with the idea of decoration herself. Of course, it would be nearly impossible without a luperci “friend” to give her piercings or tattoos or anything of the sort, and she doubted she would be that close to one.
She had the urge to laugh at herself for a moment; instead her smirk deepened slightly as she teased herself. You don’t give a damn how you look, and yet you want to spruce yourself up, Ves?
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Word count 308:: I like Vesper. She’s interesting. I might draw her. Oh BTW Zalen is in lupus form, like usual.
She seemed to look at him with a sense of familiarity and he wondered why. He definitely did not recall meeting her before. In fact, he had only met two other coywolves since coming to Nova Scotia, both female; one had chased him off Inferni lands and the other had given him medical aid. He had been rude to that one, sometimes he even felt ashamed for his behavior, but he doubted he would ever see her again so what did it matter? He was brought back to the present when she spoke again, asking about his feathers. For a moment he was confused but then he realized that he did indeed have the two feathers tied to his mane today. Sometimes he would forget, he had only been wearing them for a months’ time now, and not every day, he was careful to preserve them to keep the color. “They were given to me… by uh… by my great grandmother.” Not completely true, but close enough. No need going into the personal details of his spiritual experiences. But just as he spoke a bit of a breeze picked up, a cold breeze, and he knew she was watching. He shuddered slightly. Shaking the chill out of his black coat he circled around the coywolf female, trying not to seem menacing, thought there was a slight stiffness to his step. He moved to the front of the car and lifted his front paws up onto the bumper to get a little better look of the interior. “Humes. What silly creatures. Instead of riding horses like some Luperci do, they made these strange contraptions to move about. Now they sit here in testament to their destruction.” There he went being poetic again, it seemed to be becoming part of his nature to speak in prose. But it suited him.
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[html] Aww, thanks. <3 You don't have to. And I figured he was in lupus form. xD The black male seemed confused for a moment, as if he didn’t understand her question, but something seemed to click and he answered. The story of a gift from his great-grandmother was a disappointing one; the silly girl buried deep inside Vesper had been hoping for a battle with a hawk, not some sentimental hand-me-down. She thought of Tobias, the companion of that Cour des Miracles wolf she’d met a while ago. She’d definitely enjoy having someone rip the feathers off that one.
Perhaps she was bitter because she didn’t have a heritage? She didn’t know any of her grandparents, let alone those beyond that. Hell, she knew her father only by the feel of his teeth in her skin and the croon of his voice. The only family she’d known was her mother and sister, and even then not well.
But Vesper prided herself in that. She was alone, but not lonely. She could take care of herself.
She’d be the one to tear off an eagle’s feathers rather than receive them as a present.
The dark wolf walked around her, somewhat stiff-legged, and she picked up her tense posture again though she wasn’t that worried. If he’d wanted to attack her, he would have done so already. They were simply going through the usual canine ritual of rigid caution, each not quite sure of the other’s intentions. She was used to that.
The male spoke of “humes” and mentioned the car had been used as a mode of transportation. Now, even the idea of riding horses seemed ridiculous, and the coywolf’s large ears stood up in surprise. She shook her head, curling her lip slightly at the sedan.
“We were given paws for a reason.” She leaned over and gave the car one last sniff, as if its scent would have changed in the last five minutes. “No wonder the pathetic creatures died out, if they couldn’t live without their machines. You have to give it to them, though; they were good at crafting.” Her characteristic smirk lightened her face for a moment. “Especially good at crafting noisy things.” A little joke, a little humility, lasting only a moment.
“It’s like another world here,” Vesper mused to herself, lifting her head and looking at the buildings rising around them. Even deeper into the city, where nature had not encroached but for weeds sticking out of cracked concrete, it would be even more alien. “I was born in the country up north. It was amazing to see even an old fence.” She took a seat on the pavement. “Though you luperci fashion your own interesting things, too.” <style type="text/css"> .vespstalk b {font-weight:bold; color:#ab4a19; letter-spacing:1px;} .vespstalk t {font-style:italic; color:#ab4a19; letter-spacing:1px;} .vespstalk .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:5px 10px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;} .vespstalk p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;} .vespstalk {margin:0px auto; width:475px; background-color:#f1f3f2; background-image:url( http://i55.tinypic.com/6fnz0w.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #000000; padding: 10px 0px 200px 0px; font-family: garamond, sans-serif; font-size:15px; color:#b4b5b4; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;} </style>[/html]
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Word count 338:: Zalen calls humans 'humes'. I haven't decided why yet XD
His mind wandered for a bit, staring at this rusted out shell. He wondered what the humes had really been like, what it had been like to live in their world as mindless creatures without souls. How strange that must have been, and how interesting that the world had so quickly changed to make his species the dominant one. He couldn’t help but look at her, somewhat shocked, as she spoke for her statement mirrored his feelings exactly. Why need horses when you had swift paws to run at nearly the same speed? He knew some kept the equines as companions, but he had seen some use them solely for travel. How lazy and against the nature of their being. Zalen returned his front paws to the ground, “Yes, I agree. We are not humes, we are wolves first. Some seem to be forgetting that fact…” She went on to talk about the hume’s folly, which he himself contemplated at times. He chuckled softly at her joke and for a moment forgot completely that she had coyote blood in her. He wondered what her name was and watched as she looked deeper into the darkness of the hume city. Halifax; what strange mysteries that place held. It was copacetic to know that nearby the safety of the forest lingered even when one was stepping over twisted metal and debris within the city. Many Luperci had taken up dwelling in the skeletal remains of that place, but Zalen could never be one of them. His den was quaint, small, rustic and perfect. His ear twitched as the coywolf spoke again he looked at her coolly, “Yes, some are able to craft just as the humes once did, it is impressive. However, some of us prefer a simpler life, one similar to that which our ancestors enjoyed before the fall of man.” He sat down softly on the broken concrete and looked at the city. How strange the juxtaposition between it and the green behind him. “My name is Zalen.”
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[html] The male’s green eyes darted to her at her remark, and he agreed. She blinked once, slowly, and a friendlier rendition of a smirk showed a glimpse of tooth. All she had been hearing lately was about the superiority of the luperci, and while he might not have gone as far as to say the original four-legged form was more important, the fact that he’d even be in it told her a lot. It was an extremely pleasant surprise to find someone who understood that anything luperci was above and beyond what canines had originally been created or evolved as.
“You’re different,” Vesper said aloud, satisfaction lightly coating her tone.
The atmosphere lightened more as soft laughter bubbled from his dark jaws. She met his gaze when he glanced her way once more, and she nodded slightly as he mentioned some lived a simpler life.
“I respect those who have the skill to use new resources. If you’re born luperci, go ahead and take advantage of it once in a while. However, it seems like some are just fighting against what they once were.” There was little bitterness in her voice, only cold resignation. “They call canines like me ‘beasts’ because I’m not able to stand upright and hold a knife. At best, they’ll say that I’m being ‘wasteful’ for not choosing to change.”
Really, she wondered how close she was to the “ancestors” of coyotes and wolves before the humans’ apocalypse. She didn’t claim purity like some non-luperci might; she had been born with one form and didn’t think she needed to change. At the same time, she adopted recent views and found luperci interesting, even if she didn’t long to be like them. She looked down at her paws for a few moments.
It was then that the male introduced himself as Zalen, and she nodded, lifting her eyes again. “Vesper.”
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((Hey, hope you don't mind me joining in! Just getting some IC practice and this seemed like a neat thread  word count: 311))
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Blind sniffed around numbly, her senses overloaded by all of the strange square dens and steel things on wheels that surrounded her. This was beyond anything she had ever imagined; she had no idea how to react other than to revert to her animalistic instincts and explore, sniffing and tasting everything along the way. She didn’t realize how bad of an idea that was, however, until her excitement led her to gobble up a mound of dirt by mistake – her mouth STILL tasted of soil.
Coming nose-to-stone with a much taller square den, Blind stretched her neck as far as she could in order to see where the structure ended. Stretching a bit too far, she toppled onto her back and stared dumbly at the sky. ‘Maybe…I should lie here for a bit,’ she thought, her head spinning.
Suddenly her ears perked at the sound of voices nearby. Rolling onto her feet, Blind inched forward until she saw a tall dark figure and a smaller, mottle-furred figure. Moving closer still, Blind’s head tilted suspiciously to one side as she noticed the bright-colored feathers in the dark one’s fur. ‘That’s interesting,’ she thought. Her attention then shifted to the smaller one, its scar-riddled body tugging a familiar sadness from the
crevices of her pounding heart.
Mindlessly slinking closer and closer to the two, her tail lifted anxiously when she noticed that they were canines like her. ‘Maybe they’re friendly?’ she naïvely wondered.
Not noticing a stray sheet of metal lying nearby, Blind’s lame leg bumped against it and sent it clattering to the ground. Her fur prickled as she froze to the spot, her eyes widening in fear. As her tail tucked instinctively between her legs, anxiety simultaneously filled her chest at the thought of finding out just how friendly (or not so friendly) these two were sooner than she had hoped.
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Word count 253:: Welcome Blind o.O So just so we're all clear, posting order is Vesper, Blind then me.
She seemed encouraged by his words and when she spoke of Luperci prejudice to unchanged wolves he was astonished. How could a Luperci feel “pure” compared to an uninfected wolf? It was in fact Luperci who were impure having been infected by something not of their race. Wolves who forewent this strange change should consider themselves lucky. The closer Luperci came to being hume, the more likely they were to suffer the same fate. Zalen couldn’t help put shake his head at her words. After the pause she introduced herself as Vesper, but Zalen was caught up in movement in the distance. Closer towards the city, not even a hundred yards away from Vesper and himself appeared another wolf, and an extremely clumsy one at that. He nearly winced as she caused a peace of hume metal to ring out harshly in the clear air. Such behavior was so contradictory to his own nature that he was nearly dumbfounded by it. He wasn’t sure what to do, he had never interacted with two full grown wolves at the same time. Though Nova Scotia had plenty of canine residents, he never seemed to run into a group of them, only individuals. He shifted his weight slightly, “Looks like we have a visitor.” He watched the new female wolf with keen eyes. She seemed to have a limp or deformity of sorts, he wasn’t sure as she was still too far away. Interesting. Two physically marred females and he, a male wolf in his prime.
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[html] Hey there. :3 The dark wolf shook his head as she told him of the luperci prejudice, as if in disbelief and pity. Vesper was glad that at least one wasn’t gawking at her for staying how she was. It gave her some hope for the canines of ’Souls in general. She might be able to get along with those who used two legs as long as they understood that four wasn’t a bad number.
A loud clatter rang out along the street, and the coywolf immediately bristled, ears lowering, as she jumped back. She slowly let her posture relax when she saw another dark wolf—this one a female, by the scent wafting in their direction—standing ahead. The stranger immediately tucked her tail, seeming unsure of what to do.
“Looks like we have a visitor,” Zalen said, but he didn’t bother to move from his spot as he looked over at the newcomer.
Vesper snorted, not having any other comment to make, but after a few moments she walked toward the dark female. Another sniff told her that this was a non-luperci like her. Still, the fact didn’t make her any friendlier outwardly; she stopped a couple of yards away and looked her over, her face impassive—though her ears did stand forward in interest when she noticed that the girl’s eyes were of different colors: cold blue and bright yellow.
Pretty eyes—not sure about the rest of her. Something seemed a bit “off” about her build, but the loner couldn’t quite put her paw on it.
“Who are you?” Vesper asked, not quite sure what else to do in this situation other than perhaps ignore her. She was curious to know what a young wolf was doing out here. The coywolf was young herself, just a month shy of two years old, but she was otherwise completely matured. Age was just a number, but not everyone was like her. <style type="text/css"> .vespstalk b {font-weight:bold; color:#ab4a19; letter-spacing:1px;} .vespstalk t {font-style:italic; color:#ab4a19; letter-spacing:1px;} .vespstalk .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:5px 10px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;} .vespstalk p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;} .vespstalk {margin:0px auto; width:475px; background-color:#f1f3f2; background-image:url( http://i55.tinypic.com/6fnz0w.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #000000; padding: 10px 0px 200px 0px; font-family: garamond, sans-serif; font-size:15px; color:#7d7e7d; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;} </style>[/html]
((Thanks! WC: 247))
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Blind shifted her weight in response to her annoying pain – her shorter leg was always arguing with her offset hip – and swallowed hard. The blood drained from her face as the two canines turned to face her, the anticipation of their reactions bouncing around in her chest. It didn’t help that the loud noise had spooked her too, whether or not there were two strangers nearby.
When the dark one spoke, her surprise at his masculine voice struck her to her core. She had never come into contact with a male before, and all she knew of them were the slanderous things her mother used to say in spite of her father, whom she had no memory of. But the scarred one, the one who was now approaching her, made her nervous and yet comforted at the same time: nervous at the thought of her potential attack, and comforted by the presence of a female. This would be a moment Blind wouldn’t soon forget…if she lived to recall it at all.
“S-sorry,” Blind stammered. She then cleared her throat before continuing in attempt to dissipate her nerves: “I didn’t mean to make such a racquet. I was just passing through…the name’s Blind. Do you both live here?”
Blind then grew nervous again, wondering if she was trespassing on their territory. The young she-wolf dipped her head a little, unsure of whether or not she should submit. She thought it best to flatten her ears, just in case.
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Word count 316:: OOC.
Zalen watched Vesper carefully as she reacted to the presence of the newcomer. She tensed and bristled slightly before calming, something he might have done normally if it were a large coyote that would have shown up on the scene. But he was in absolutely no danger here and therefore, besides the slight annoyance of having been interrupted so harshly by her appearance, was cool as a cucumber. However Vesper was confident enough to be the first to step forward, boldly almost, to ask the stranger who she was. The midnight brown female with mismatched eyes seemed somewhat afraid of both him and Vesper and her body language was very submissive, something which caused Zalen’s own movements to reflect that of the dominant one; ears erect, tail slightly raised. He swished his tail from side to side rhythmically as she spoke her name, Blind, strange but keeping with the normality of the wolves he had so far met in Nova Scotia. It was obvious that she had stumbled upon them completely by accident, most likely the unnatural and obscure surroundings of Halifax had thrown off her senses. There was indeed something wrong with her leg now that she was somewhat closer to them, it look mismatched, shorter than the others. What terrible genetic luck for the dark wolfess. She asked them if they lived here and Zalen took a moment before answering, “I do not. My territory lies in the forest north of here.” One of his ears subconsciously turned in that direction, but hearing nothing quickly returned to the front, all senses focused on Blind. “You seem lost.” Which was true, she did seem lost, somewhat disoriented in fact. He hadn’t offered to help, as he normally would have when meeting another wolf, but the stiffness of manners he had acquired due to Vesper being what she was lingered on in his interaction with Blind.
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[html] The dusty-black female stammered out an apology, and her pathetic demeanor brought two conflicting stabs of emotion to the coywolf. On one paw, she wanted to bowl this girl over and knock some sense into her, draw out some strength with her teeth, spit at the dependence. At the same time, however, the oddest feeling of protectiveness washed over her. She appreciated the strong and looked down on the weak, but at the same time, she’d made an effort to protect those who needed protecting.
“You deserve someone who’d look out for you,” Vesper remembered telling Juniper what seemed like ages ago. “Someone to pick you up when you’ve fallen. Someone to run alongside you when you can run. You deserve no less than me.”
But that had been a different situation, back when she and Juniper had been no more than girls themselves, and in the end Juniper had betrayed her trust. As memories flickered behind her eyes, she shook her head slowly.
The she-wolf had introduced herself as Blind—an odd name, one that made the coywolf instinctively glance back to those brilliant two-toned eyes—then asked if they lived in the area.
Vesper snorted, first at the idea that she’d live with someone—especially a male luperci. She looked over her shoulder, listening as Zalen said he lived in the forest. “I don’t live anywhere,” the coywolf added, throwing her two cents in without prompting. She didn’t feel comfortable enough in the alien—or human—world of the city to sleep here.
The male pointed out that Blind seemed lost, and absently Vesper nodded her narrow muzzle in agreement.
“Are you new to the area?” she asked, deciding that it wouldn’t kill her to be a little helpful. “I was born north of Nova Scotia myself.” The tidbit wasn’t especially useful, but it’d show Blind that she wasn’t alone, if she did indeed come from beyond the land.
In the pause she allowed Blind to answer, she looked over her shoulder at Zalen once more, wondering how he was taking all this.
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Blind noticed the two canines paying attention to her eyes and she smiled a little in spite of herself. Her mother had always prided herself over her daughter’s eyes, mainly because they resembled nothing of her father and everything of her individual self. She had told Blind how every creature would come from miles around just to see her eyes, but the young wolf always dismissed it as a display of her mother’s strange ego; she didn’t think she was THAT special. In Blind’s opinion, everyone had a unique quality that made them, well, unique.
Watching the two carefully, Blind listened as they told her about their homes, a bit of interest sparking toward the coywolf when she mentioned she had none, just like her. “I am new here, and perhaps a bit lost, yes,” Blind said. “I was also born north of here, but I couldn’t tell you much else beyond that because my mother kept a lot of my past a secret. My situation used to be that I wandered to find a new home, but since my mother’s passing, I’ve come to wander to gain some answers.”
At this point, Blind wondered what the two might be thinking of her. At any hint of discomfort from them, she would leave immediately. The last thing she wanted to do was over-stay her welcome.
Blind lifted her head a little, straightening her back legs in a tiny stretch. The male intimidated her – of this there was no doubt – but of them both she wanted to know more. Why was the female so badly injured? Why did the male tie feathers in his mane? What were they both doing in such a strange place as this, and what were all of these square-shaped dens and metal contraptions? The young wolf sat back on her haunches, thinking to herself. Then another question formed in her mind, one that she thought might be more appropriate to ask:
“I heard a noise earlier, almost like an angry elk,” she said. “Did you hear it too?”
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Word count 258:: Sorry bout the wait on this guys.
So not lost, just new here, just as he had been when he had arrived more than two months ago. He had also been somewhat lost then, trespassing on Inferni lands and nearly getting into a fight with a coyote there. How long ago that seemed to him now. It had been in the heat of summer, the high heat, the unbearable dog days. But now, autumn was upon them, the leaves began their yearly change, it was the third time he had experienced it and yet it was no more familiar to him now as it had been when he was a pup. Zalen only half was listening to the discussion between the two females, his olive eyes drifted off again towards the forest. The air was beginning to change, like there was a storm on the way and he figured he should be soon be getting back to his den. For some reason he no longer felt like socializing anymore but it would be rude to just walk off. With an inward sigh he turned back to the Blind when she asked of the earlier car horn. “It was a car horn, a car being that hunk of metal over there,” he motioned towards the red rusted automobile behind them, “humes would use them for transportation, but I’m not sure what the horn was for other than to make a horrendous noise.” He suddenly sat and went to scratch behind his ear with his back paw, something he did regularly even if it was too itchy.
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[html] It's fine. <3 Do we have any other ideas for this thread, though? Or should we start wrapping up? Blind confirmed that she was new, which explained her confusion and wandering about. She went on to explain that she’d been looking for some answers after her mother died, and Vesper’s brow pinched together slightly at that. The girl didn’t look like someone whose past would be hiding dark secrets, but she couldn’t know. Had there been any circumstances portending that her own past had depths she hadn’t known about, she didn’t think she would have cared to figure them out. The hybrid was oddly comfortable with her past, with few regrets, and she didn’t want another layer of darkness to cope with.
“What kind of answers are you looking for?” Vesper asked, her tone light. She definitely wouldn’t push the she-wolf to answer any questions she wasn’t comfortable answering, and it didn’t matter to the coywolf what she learned. She liked to be in the know, but she didn’t manipulate others with their secrets like some.
The younger female sat down then wondered aloud about a noise “like an angry elk” she had heard earlier. Confusion hazed Vesper’s features before it registered to her what she was talking about, and she ducked her head slightly with embarrassment. Once again, anger at her carelessness bubbled up, but she’d been rather lucky with the company she’d run into.
Zalen spoke up again; he’d been sitting quietly in the background for a while, but now he explained the noise had come from the car horn. Then his rear sank down, and he drew his hind paw up to scratch at his ear.
The coywolf had been nodding at his explanation, but now she scooted away from him. “Please tell me you don’t have fleas,” she growled at him, but her expression was open and completely teasing. There were probably some in her own pelt, due to living a wild lifestyle, but until they decided to have a party on her skin, they didn’t bother her much.
“You did miss an interesting conversation about these cars, though,” Vesper remarked to Blind, but her playfulness dropped, and she looked again between the two black wolves. It wasn’t every day she spoke to more than one at a time. She wasn’t often bothered by groups, having lived in a band of coyotes herself for a while, but she was definitely out of practice when it came to handling conversations two-on-one.
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Welcome back! I hope I didn't distract from any ideas by bringing Blind in o_O
Blind watched the dark male, noticing that his mind seemed to be elsewhere, perhaps back home. She didn't want to keep him, especially if he had better things to do. Suddenly she felt sheepish for her intrusion. But the coywolf seemed interested in her appearance, and this eased Blind's worry a bit.
Cars, humes...what strange world had she stumbled upon? Looking around, Blind tried to make sense of what the two canines were referring to, but it all seemed so foreign to her. However, she had traveled for the majority of her life, so she wasn't too terribly surprised at her rocky adaptation.
Watching the coywolf tease the young male, a soft chuckle escaped her lips. She didn't know what it was like to tease and play since her siblings were taken from her at such a young age, too young to remember in fact. Friends were as close as she would get to that kind of interaction, and she didn't have those either. Secretly, or maybe not-so-secretly, Blind hoped that somewhere out there she might find a friend who was willing to put up with her silly ways.
When the coywolf asked Blind what she was looking for, she lifted her head a little and puffed out her chest with the determination of a wolf on a mission. I'm looking for my father, she said. My mother never told me the full story, but something happened when I was born that made her hate him, and that resulted in our move. I intend to find out what happened and where he might be. If I could just talk to him...
Blind looked away as she trailed off, imagining everything she might talk to him about. Not only did she want to know if he was even still alive, she wanted to ask him what happened, why her mother never talked about him, and why he wasn't a part of her life anymore, too. Blind often thought that maybe she wouldn't be such a coward if she'd had a father to toughen her up a bit.
Realizing that she had spaced out, Blind shook her head clear and looked back up at the canines. Chuckling nervously, she rose to her feet and motioned a sort of mock-salute with her forepaw. Well I won't take up much more of your time, Blind said with a faint smile. It was nice to meet you both. Do either of you know where a girl could get a drink of water around here?
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Word count 222:: Gonna have Zalen leave on this one, cuz he’s an r-tard. Thanks for the thread guys XD
He had now completely lost interest as the two girls talked. Even when Vesper jokingly teased him about his fleas he hardly responded, but did drop his leg. “No, no fleas, just itchy I guess.” He lazily listened as Blind told of her search for her father. Interesting, Zalen never thought to look for his father, and his mother had never talked about him much except to say he was no good, and Zalen had always taken her word for it. But maybe it would be interesting to meet the one who sired him one day, see why his mother thought so poorly of him. Zalen barely even noticed the silence until Blind spoke again, she seemed to prophesies his leaving by insinuating her own and Zalen stood back to his feet, “There is a lake not too far from my den, however it is a good walk north of here, perhaps Vesper will know of somewhere closer.” He stood there for a moment, awkwardly, wondering what to say next, but then just turned and started walking towards the forest, “I’m going there now. Err… it was nice meeting you Vesper, and you too Blind, but it’s time I head home.” And believing that was sufficient enough of a goodbye Zalen turned his back on the too and trotted into the woods.
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