(302)

Eris is by me!

The dark-hued woman was not particularly fond of pacing these outlands on her lonesome. It was a boring task to begin with, and lacking for company, it became even more tedious. Today, Eris had only Itzcitla to keep her company. The cat meandered around her, sometimes pacing at her side and sometimes ranging almost out of her sight. He always returned, however, and Eris was glad for his company. Though she could not converse with the cat, he was entertainment all the same, often mewling as he returned to her. She found such behavior adorable, of course, and rewarded him with a scratch on his head.

Just now, the cat paced close to her, and he seemed on edge. The hybrid watched him with curious chartreuse eyes, stopping as he puffed up with aggression. Eris, too, smelled why -- there was a stranger, two strangers. One was very young, and Eris eased Itzcitla with a quiet few words, leaning down to stroke at his shoulders. I don't think they mean to threaten, she said, softly. She did not know if the cat took her meaning or not -- though he relaxed, it might have been her tone, too.

They were close to Salsola's lands, but far enough away from the border -- this was not a threat, the sable hybrid thought. A threat would not be quite so blatant. Still, her movements toward the stranger were cautious, and she halted several good feet away, staring at the dark woman with peculiar interest. There was something Eris liked and disliked about this woman immediately, though the hybrid could not say what either was. Her chartreuse eyes drifted to the woman's companion and the thing they dragged behind them.

Bold wanderers, she addressed them, her voice sharp. Surely, you know where you tread.

(309)

Eris is by me!

The dark hybrid was uncertain, but she put forth a facade of confidence all the same, openly gazing at the pair of wolves and the carcass behind them with mild interest. When the answer was spoken, she twitched an ear, but that was all; her face retained the same passive, casually curious look. There was silver streaked across this woman, and a rusty hint to her fur. Where Eris was rounded and soft, the stranger seemed larger and harsher, though her womanly charms were as ample as The Auxiliary's own, if not more so. She was younger, too, and the dark hybrid could see the delicate seeds of beauty already sprouting in the quiet child with the splotched face.

Though jealousy panged acutely in the sable hybrid's chest, she merely nodded. She knew the call the silver-splashed woman spoke of; it would have been similar to that call her mother spoke of with Inferni and her children, she thought. The grizzled woman would not know her Eternity grandchildren, however, and Eris doubted the coyote clan would call to them -- they were too wolfish by far, and they would be rejected as any other too-wolf scum at the clan's borders. At least Inferni would provide them with that courtesy. It was more than she had gotten from them -- in her case, she'd simply remained on the outskirts of the clan, never integrating with the coyotes for her too-wolf face.

A stranger, she muttered, musing to herself. I wouldn't have guessed. Though generally able to hold her tongue quite well, whatever set her teeth on edge about this one had loosed her tongue, as well. Who sent you here? she asked, speaking with more volume this time. Their name? She was curious to know who had passed Salsola along to this woman.

(--)

Eris is by me!

One corner of the coal hybrid's mouth twitched in a faint expression of displeasure, but it did not boil madly to the surface. The dark hybrid was not one of uncontrollable rage and fire; more often than not, even her deepest anger was a beast she could harness and use to her advantage. As much as this rust-tinged woman unnerved her, the stranger could not completely shake The Auxiliary's cool.

Tsk, she tutted, just once, a single shake of her head given. If you came of your own accord, you should have given me your own name. I'll have it now, the dark woman said, ignoring the comment regarding the child. It was an extension of its mother -- outsiders received not a fraction of the warmth and motherly affection Eris reserved for her own children and the rest of Salsola, her true family.

Surely someone has told you of us, the chartreuse-eyed woman added, gesturing with one surprisingly long, spidery finger. You've brought a gift. Or am I mistaken -- is that your provision? she asked, inquiring almost politely now. There was a twinkle of joviality in her voice, though it was barbed -- a mockery of true camaraderie, of course.

Eris is by me!

There was some humility in this poltroon of an outsider, at least. Siv had that going for her, dipping her head toward the ground in the face of Salsola's mighty Auxiliary. Eris's curiosity was piqued at the mention of one of their own pack -- one who had kept their secrets well enough, Eris supposed, if Siv had not been able to glean so much as a name from this Salsolian. Whoever they were, they were in dire need of some praise directly from The Auxiliary herself. Her muzzle split into a queer grin, and she nodded, remaining silent so the coal-hued stranger might continue to plead her case. Eris was no fool, and she knew what Siv and her daughter wanted even before they had stated their cause.

There was a flicker of motion beside Eris, a whisper of touch against her ankle. Itzcitla had settled beside her, but his tail flicked from side to side, and his eyes never left the outsiders -- the younger one, in particular. Itzcitla had always been fond of Eris's own children, and the dark hybrid assumed he had a generalized fondness for children. Perhaps it had been trained into him in Eterne. The dark woman knew only a pitiful amount of her ocelot's training and origins. Metetzili had explained it once upon a time, but the coyote did not recall his speech. Her attention was quick to return to the outsider, however, and Eris's chartreuse eyes lit with interest.

What spiritual gifts were bestowed to you? Or -- did you learn them? The coyote was now intrigued, of course. That she sensed no power in Siv, that the dark woman's spirit seemed as hollow and bleak as her face meant nothing. Eris was not capable of sensing all power, after all, and her own gift of seeing the powers of others was weak, after all. Her tail flicked back and forth, faster than her ocelot's.

Eris is by me!

Itzcitla reacted curiously to the woman's daughter, issuing a soft meowing sound. Eris had never heard that noise from him before, or so she thought -- perhaps she simply hadn't been paying attention. The dark woman was quick to bend over and snatch the splotch-faced daughter, holding the small puppy in her strong arms. Eris made no move for Itzcitla, but the cat remained by her side anyway, now passive in the face of these strangers. She would protect him like a child of her own, and the dark Auxiliary often felt her ocelot understood this as if she'd spoken it aloud. She had never, but she figured she owed the cat quite a lot. He had saved her life on that journey northward, after all.

The foreign word Siv spoke was entirely unknown to Eris, who flicked an ear at its exotic sound. Though something about this silver-tipped woman still set her on edge, the dark hybrid was beginning to believe this was a case where she had best put her personal feelings aside for the good of the pack. Tlantli was no longer able to perform her duties, and the dark hybrid saw no one else within Salsola's present rankings who might aspire to hold The Crone's position. They were lacking in spirituality; Salsola could not send away power when it came knocking.

Very well. A witch, she said, uncertain just how the dark woman had pronounced the foreign word. Perhaps Salsola is held together by magic and magic alone. Your powers are not my own, nor anyone else within this clan. Tell me -- she said, her voice growing grave. Would you offer us your complete loyalty? Servitude is a requirement. The haughtiness had drained away from the dark woman's voice, and her chartreuse eyes now regarded the stranger with razor sharpness, seeking the faintest iota of doubt or hesitation in her.

Eris is by Alaine!

There was no call to take this one from the wild, to pluck her and her child up from nothing and bring them into Salsola. Eris would have been troubled by this, but she had no reason to think she should feel something. The dark woman had struck something odd in her, and perhaps that was the feeling The Auxiliary missed. It was not necessarily true that she should like every power she encountered: that she had desired and feared the power of others before did not mean every future encounter with a canine in possession of power went the same.

The hybrid took a long moment to deliberate with herself, her chartreuse eyes working over the woman and child, along with the buck. If she ran them off, they would have food enough to last them a week or maybe more, but the little one would die in winter, and her mother, too, maybe. Luck did not favor the loner, but Eris was under no obligation to assist every forlorn and lost canine seeking a home. Then again -- her Salsola was not strong enough, and who was she to scoff at power offered openly? There was nothing to mistrust in this Siv -- her words rang true, she had a daughter to protect and there was something in her that resonated within the coal-hued wolf.

When you step over this border, you are agreeing to live by our ways. Your daughter, by proxy, agrees to live by our ways. Your step forward binds the agreement, the dark woman said at long last, peering at her new charges curiously. They had but one chance to turn on their heels and walk away.