For Ezekiel. Nat wanted to post with Helotes as well.

Phoenixes were said to be born from the ashes after their deaths. They would fly gloriously and burn gloriously, and they would rise anew. And, cliché as it was, Vesper found herself relating to that firebird. In more ways than one, she had experienced her rebirth—from independent loner to possible pack wolf, from four-legged beast to luperci lifestyle. She didn’t think that she would ever make a complete change until her mortal death, but she and her perspective on life were different enough to consider the metaphor.

Sitting on the porch of the guest house, the coywolf looked out at the gardens and the distance where the stream would curve around. She had not asked for this, not any of it. Perhaps indirectly, by being so goddamn proud and by crawling to this clan instead of dying in the dirt, but she hadn’t dreamed of it when she was young. She would adapt, in time, but right now her mind was focused on the change in scenery rather than her body. Her body, she could escape, as she sat now in the lupus form she was born in.

This scenery she could escape, too, but she didn’t want to.

Inferni had grown on her in the past week or so. She had spoken to a few of its members, interactions both good and bad but all informative, and she had reached the decision she’d struggled with for several days. She didn’t believe she needed the clan, but she wanted to be part of it—never one to cast of her independence but not one to overlook the benefits of comrades, either. She wanted to learn to fight like them, wanted to have companions to hunt and chat with when twilight fell. She wanted guaranteed safety when winter came, but she wanted to help those she slept alongside to stay warm and fed. Her wolf blood, ironically, was pulling her toward the coyote clan and all that it offered.

She’d heard that the Aquila was returning from a visit to another pack, or something along those lines, and she knew that speaking with him about her wish would be the best course of action to take. She couldn’t wait for him to come to her, the loner sheltered in the clan lands, without looking like someone without initiative or confidence. If she was going to make this work, she would have to prove her worth to herself as well as him.

Vesper would adapt to these changes. She would rise from her ashes, and she would dance in them.

She swore his scent was imprinted in her nostrils now. She’d smelled him a few times around the clan territory, as was only fitting because he was a member, but each time her hair had stood on end. Now that he was in sight, however, Vesper managed to recall her grudging respect and met his bronze gaze evenly. As if he wasn’t one of the few canines to actual frighten her.

He was neutral enough, greeting her in a somewhat terse tone that she copied: “Hello, Helotes.” She’d gathered his name from an innocent conversation with another clan member, hoping not to draw attention to the fact that he’d caused many of the scars she bore on her muzzle. They were indistinct compared to the newest ones, however, scabbed ridges through her fur. At least they didn’t reopen every time she shifted; that would have made it even harder to test out her new forms.

The she-yote let out a sigh and looked him over—his dusty grey fur and the more than six-foot slant of body against the tree. Once again she took note of his scars, ones that she had fleetingly noticed when he visited her before her attention had been destroyed by his intimidation. She wouldn’t ask about them, though; he might have beat up another loner for all she knew.

“Do you know anything of where your Aquila might be today?” Vesper asked him in a too-casual tone, though her mouth shaped the strange term for leader oddly comfortably for her short time in the clan. She wasn’t sure if she wanted Helotes around right now, but she also knew that he would do whatever the hell he wanted regardless, so long as she was alone. Her ears lowered slightly, and she took a seat on the porch.

The male’s ears pricked at her question, and with a stretch he informed her that he did not know. His question, paired with that grin, irritated her but not to the extent that it might have. Her motives would become obvious soon enough, if they hadn’t already, so she didn’t feel the need for an answer. She only lowered her ears and started to glance off in another direction when the scent of a dominant canine made her turn back.

Ezekiel looked very coyote, even if his scent was slightly more mingled than that—something that seemed to be a trend in Inferni, and a trend that she did not mind a single bit. He was also muscular, however, and wolf instincts deep within her urged her to defer to him. Her independent personality was at odds with this, but a quick once-over showed signs that he would be worthy of her respect. After all, she liked the clan enough, and its Aquila should be liked by association if nothing else. She dipped her head.

He mentioned making friends, and while Vesper snorted and cut a glare at Helotes, her lips quirked with good humor. That smirk faded slightly with his mention of “spunk,” however, and she tried to keep her fur from bristling. How she hated that infernal word coming from his stupid mouth.

Ves shook her head. “So long as I’ve proved my mettle somehow.” She returned her blue gaze to the leader’s amber one, reminded of her reason for standing out here today. How did one go about this kind of thing? She was consciously aware of Helotes’ presence.

At last, she settled on: “Aquila, may I speak with you?” Hopefully the Inferni term would hint at her intentions, if the fact that she was still here had somehow managed to fly over Ezekiel’s head. She wondered if he would ask Helotes to leave or if the coyote would still linger around; either she could deal with, though she preferred the former.

After her request, Ezekiel looked to the dusky coyote and dismissed him. Oddly enough, Helotes went without complaint, though she supposed it was because of the leader’s authority rather than any desire to stop bugging her. She watched him leave with mixed feelings.

Once her eyes returned to the bronze Aquila, she tilted her head at his cigarette and the smoke blown from his muzzle. She wondered if it was like the marijuana that the hippie coyote had reeked of in the Dampwoods, but it wasn’t her place to ask and certainly not request any; she wanted to be lucid for this meeting and still wasn’t a fan of substances.

Vesper nodded once when he told her to call him by his name; it was a lot easier for her pride not to be spitting titles, regardless of if he deserved it. She did try to hide her gratitude by quickly offering her own name: “I’m Vesper, if Enkiel hasn’t already told you.” She at least assumed that the Resarcio would inform his leader about a random loner on clan territory.

“I’m healing well,” the tawny coywolf said, taking a seat on the porch. She wondered if she should shift to match his form then decided she’d do as she pleased on that front. She might have sat before him as a non-luperci, if she hadn’t spilled enough blood from the mongrel girl. “Enkiel knows what he’s doing.” She paused. “You all seem to know what you’re doing around here. It’s refreshing.”

She might have gone on to badmouth the other packs she’d seen and heard of around Nova Scotia, but most of it didn’t need to be said aloud, and she wanted to make her request as concise as possible, saving her breath to answer any questions he would have.

“I would like to join Inferni.”

Yesssss! <3 And you do not ever suck. You can archive this if you want, unless Zeke has anything else to add. :3 Otherwise, I don't mind ending it here! / 424

Ezekiel smirked at her request, and Vesper flicked her tail behind her—not quite a wag, but a show of her amusement nonetheless. At least he didn’t think her to be a freeloader; she’d done her best to eat little and to bring food to other clan members or at least in their vicinity, if she wasn’t feeling particularly up for meet and greets.

He spoke of her scars, and her ears perked up. Her tattered appearance brought on several different emotions in others—revulsion, pity, fear—but respect was rare enough that it sent her heart spiraling upward. She nodded quickly as he spoke of loyalty and readiness to fight, knowing that it was the least she could do. The Aquila didn’t ask for very much, it seemed, but that suited her well. She would not completely change her life, but she would serve the clan in what ways she could.

“I am willing to bleed for Inferni,” Vesper stated, before adding with a smirk, “What’s a little more blood?” The comment was lighthearted, but her blue eyes were serious. She might even die for the clan depending on her time here. Not now, not with her survivor’s will, but long ago she had been willing to die for someone. She could gain that feeling again in time.

The mention of the virus and the number she’d done in the medic’s room made her ears lower and expression harden, but she blinked and almost smiled at the unexpected remark afterward. “Thank you,” she said, the words hesitant. She wasn’t quite sure what she was thanking him for—not looking down on her heritage, maybe? It was a lame statement, but she didn’t pursue it. She wasn’t here to grovel, even if she owed a debt. “I am not unwilling to learn to fight in optime too, if I can find a teacher,” she went on. She knew she’d always favor the shape she was born in, but she was not about to throw away an additional advantage if she could work it to her favor.

“I truly believe this is the place for me,” Vesper said. It was an immature remark—or at least it had sounded that way coming from other wolves. Those wolves would wander into the first pack grounds they found and claim sudden love for the members—but no. She did actually feel like she fit in here, in this clan of coyotes and fighters, of fire and blood.

In Inferni.

Helotes would get a kick out of this.