The scarred luperci had not been near Cercatori d’Arte lands since meeting the annoying girl with the annoying horse. Her opinion of the pack had not been great then, as she assumed that all of the artisans were silly wolves who danced and sang and spoke to stupid horses. After all, the members a pack tolerated reflected the pack, and compared to the cautious and hardened Inferni, everything else was folly to the arrogant Tirones.
Vesper did manage to hear that it was d’Arte that their Aquila, Ezekiel, had visited during the time that he was away. That meant that there had to be something to gain from the troupe of misfits, one whose purpose she still did not quite understand. Born non-luperci, she of course had little understanding of jewelry and painting and singing.
But that did not mean that she couldn’t recognize beauty, and while she had no appetence for artsy things, she was impressed by the Border Tree. There were different pawprints and writings and drawings on the bark and engraved into it, and trinkets hung from its high, wide branches. It seemed like a gateway, somehow, even though it was a solid object at the edge of the d’Arte borders. Her heart was tugged toward the tree unexpectedly, and awkwardly she stepped forward, placing one hand on its rough bark before her claw traced an etching there.
It was strangely ironic, really. Sky, the dangerous, slightly insane witch doctor type had taken a liking to living with a group of artists and peaceful creatures. Stranger still, she had no will or thoughts of leaving anymore. This place, Cercatori d'Arte, had become her home. She had a family; a daughter, a mate, and now two pets; Capser the goat and Fella the bobcat kitten. It was all she'd ever wanted growing up.
Hell, even her sister was around again. She couldn't have asked for a better life.
Still, there was a lot more work to be done. Her house was big enough for her family, but it was no longer big enough for her clinic. She had only one extra bedroom left and she'd already decided that it would be saved for whatever children she and Taliesin produced in the future.
Not only did she have to set up a clinic seperate from her house, but the young medic also had to arrange for a second pen to be made come spring. This time, for Fella. Fella and Casper couldn't be kept together in the future, when the young kitten grew to be an adult. Goats as small as Casper were a tempting meal for bobcats and Sky did not want her goat to end up dead.
To make sure the kitten didn't bother the poor creature, Sky had taken Fella out with her, through the snow, to the borders during her patrol. She'd left queen to wander nearby this time, giving the mare her excersize but letting her go at her own leasure. Sky wasn't ready to ride through the snow yet; she'd never done it before and still had doubts as to whether or not Queen could handle a rider in deep snow. Hopefully she'd get over it before long.
Her trip, as per usual, brought her from the flower fields to the border tree, then she'd head back to Thornbury to warm up by the fireplace in her house. However, as proven many times over in the past, Sky's plans never did go quite the way she wanted them to.
Upon reaching the tree, Fella excitedly following her through the shallow snow, Sky noticed a familiar - and yet, unfamliar - scent lingering there. A patchy female with scars and the scent of Inferni on her pelt stood at the base of the border tree, a hand tracing the markings there. Sky smirked. Apparently even the cold-hearted coyotes could find beauty in artwork.
She paused to scoop up Fella, cradling him in her arms, and then she stepped down the hill a bit to greet the woman. It's surprisingly beautiful, isn't it? Sky mused aloud, stopped near the roots of it a foot away from the girl, showing no signs of aggression. The founders of d'Arte did all of that. Probably one of the most important landmarks in d'Arte territory.
After a moment, she turned to face the girl, smiling. Name's Sky. This is Fella. She held up the kitten, who mewled in greeting. What brings you by the border?
The border markings smelled heavily of the d’Arte wolves, obviously, and so it was not the smell of the approaching female that caused Vesper to raise her head and step back away from the precious tree. No, instead her hackles rose at the stench of a bobcat, a species she had tussled with once or twice in the north, though they weren’t as much of a risk as mountain lions. Blue eyes flicked sharply beyond the decorated trunk to see a luperci woman approaching, one with pretty but somewhat scarred dog features.
A brow rose at the sight of the kitten in her arms, but she held her tongue as the d’Arte hybrid spoke of the tree. The faintest of smirks tugging at her lips, the she-yote returned her gaze to the etchings and paint. “It is quite remarkable, and it sums up the values of the pack pretty well.” She touched the carving she’d been intent on once again before stepping back, away from the tree and away from the woman, though her movement was to put a respectful distance between them rather than to flee her company.
“I’m Vesper,” the Tirones returned, though her eyes passed once, skeptically, over the young bobcat. It was obvious she didn’t quite agree with its presence, though she was doing her best not to be rude to a pack wolf so close to her borders. Besides, perhaps “Fella” did have a purpose that would surprise her if she did indeed dare to ask about him.
“I was curious about your pack. Our leader came here a few weeks ago to trade some animals, and it reminded me that I hadn’t really spoken to a serious d’Arte wolf.” She smirked then, implying that she had spoken to a not-so-serious member, but did not elaborate without prompt. “I’ve only… I’ve only recently been turned luperci, and so I’ve never quite gotten a chance to experience…art.” The word itself seemed odd on her lips. “Other than trying to whittle wood and nearly cutting all my fingers off,” she exaggerated, another grin tugging crookedly at her mouth.
Sky smiled at the girl's sum-up of the tree's message. Yes, she agreed with that. D'Arte thanks your kind words. She looked back at the girl, blue eyes shining. She took the moment it took for the girl to step back to examine the coy more closely; despite her multitude of scars, the patchy girl was actually quite pretty. The coloration was something Sky had never seen before; almost blue-gray trimming lined darker clay colored markings on a pale coat, made paler still by a white underbelly and stockings on her arms and legs. Her hair was short, unkept but it added to her overall ragtag appearance; something Sky had learned to appreciate more than the average person.
She introduced herself as Vesper and the wolfdog nodded. After an uncomfortable glance at Fella, Vesper went on to explain her reason for being there; curiousity above all else. She was a new luperci, a Verto rather than an Ortus, something Sky had never come across before, as far as she knew.
So this was what happened to a canine after being forced into being a werewolf. Sky thought for a moment that this girl seemed... neglected. Someone had obviously overlooked the girl's new abilities and the need for new teachings. Being a luperci was a far stretch from being a normal canine on four legs; once you could walk on two legs and hold things in your hands, you learned to appreciate things that would otherwise seem unimportant to the feral dwellers.
Sky adjusted Fella in her arms, who mewled in protest to the sudden jarring. Well, Vesper, I assure you art is far more than the removal of fingers. She said with a laugh, her own lips drawing into a grin. I'd also like to think of myself as serious member of d'Arte, considering I was the first ever medic. She smiled wryly at this, lifting a scarred eyebrow and leaning against the border tree.
If you'd like, you can join me on the rest of my border patrol. Afterwards, I can take you to Thornbury and show you around town. There's plenty to look at and do. And that way, I can drop Fella off at my place. She gave her a pointed look, one that said she knew about the girl's unease with the tiny bobcat. She wouldn't question it, liking the looks Fella got quite a bit; it meant her plan of making him into a little guardian for the house might actually work out as intended.
Vesper was not blind to the scrutiny the other was giving her, though she supposed she was quite a character to look at—what with her obvious hybridization, her patchwork coat riddled with scars. She looked like something that a mad scientist had fashioned from a bad-tempered quilt.
She didn’t quite think that the staring could be anything other than a detached curiosity or wariness of an odd stranger, though her own findings of the other woman were positive in the same vein. Scars were not ugly to Vesper, and while she did not worship them, they told interesting tales that often commanded respect. Her own scars were badges instead of regrets, even the ones etched out of some teenage folly; they were tokens of fights that she had survived, and that was a point. Surviving had been her only occupation as a loner.
The feline cub made a sound as it was moved, and Vesper did her best to pry her gaze from it. Like all young animals, it was cute, but she didn’t understand the concept of raising another species from a young age. She had only recently come to terms with luperci owning horses and allowing birds of prey to guide them. Each species raised its own, she thought.
Her lips quirked in a smirk as Sky joked, and her own pale-lined blue eyes softened lightly with good humor as she turned to face the mutt. She nodded in obvious respect as Sky mentioned being a medic. It had been, after all, Enkiel who had brought her into Inferni after saving her life. And healing was a better occupation than singing and prancing around on a pretty stallion. Running her fingers briefly through her cropped mane, she asked lightly, “Save any lives?” It was a random question that she didn’t really require an answer to, though she figured it was better than asking if she’d lost anyone.
The offer to join the d’Arte medic on the patrol made Vesper’s eyes widen in disbelief. She lowered her ears in confusion then averted her eyes when Sky threw her a look; she didn’t feel the need to defend her viewpoint about the strange kitten, but she didn’t feel like it needed removed from her presence, either. However, she wasn’t going to complain either way.
What she did ask, uncertainly, was: “Would your pack mind that? Letting a random coyote wander around your territory?” The word coyote carried the connotation of Inferni with it, of course. She supposed that she wouldn’t be causing trouble, exactly, by wandering around and not touching anything, but she couldn’t imagine it as something her own clan would do.
Word Count → 350 :: Thanks. I snagged Raze's code to make it, but the photo manip is mine. x3 It was hard adding in the bobcat, actually.
They never mind people touring the town. As long as a trusted member is with them, strangers can come and go all the time; we're a trading pack above all else. If no one can come into town to look at our wares, then what's the point? She explained casually, turning to whistle for Queen, who came trotting over right away.
The mare stopped beside Sky obediently and the wolfdog murmured wordless praise in low-speech, moving to set Fella comfortably in the riding bag she'd set up for him. Queen here will walk along beside us. Not to worry, she's friendly. She took the mare's reigns in her hand and walked along beside her, pausing only to wait for Vesper to catch up before keeping pace beside the girl as they travelled along the short walk past the border tree.
And to answer your earlier question, if I'd saved lives before... yes, I have. She shrugged it off, though; it was her doing her job, simple as that. My friend, Valinta... she was attacked once, a long time ago, and it left her in a coma. She slept for days without waking and I had to keep her fed and hydrated the entire time, to make sure she didn't wither away. She thought back to the girl's smiling face before Argul had rained terror down on d'Arte and fondly missed the girl; Valinta and Sky had been insepperable once. Now, she was gone.
I don't know how many times I've patched up our guardian, Shawchert. He's always coming home beaten to near death. I think I've stitched every single scar he has now. Not a far leap from the truth, really; he'd only been given a few from his time away from d'Arte.
Then again... I've also taken lives. So it's not as if I'm a hero or anything. Her tone dropped as she said it, her mind whisking her back to AniWaya, to the prisoner's cabin she'd reluctantly called 'home' for many, many weeks. What about you, Vesper? What is it you do in Inferni?
Word Count :: 527 Well, I think you did an amazing job with the whole manip. ^^
Sky explained that strangers were not uncommon on pack grounds, as d’Arte traded, and Vesper nodded quickly in understanding. While she did not have many worldly possessions of her own—if any at all, really—she understood the importance of trade to those luperci who did use weapons and wore trinkets. “Makes sense,” she said after a moment, smirking. “I guess you would also have plenty of interesting crafts people can trade for.” It was definitely a different kind of livelihood, but it wasn’t as blithe and thoughtless as she had originally assumed.
The woman’s whistle summoned a mare to them, and Vesper immediately stepped away from the horse, her posture uneasy if not actually afraid. She nodded slightly at the wolfdog’s reassurance and walked beside her as they ventured into Cercatori d’Arte territory.
Sky answered her earlier question as they walked, making chatter while they went farther past the borders. Ves tried to split her attention between listening and looking intently and curiously at the grounds, though eventually she chose the polite route and fixed her eyes on the other’s face, thoughtful.
“A coma… You must be skilled.” Vesper hadn’t actually seen another canine fall into such an unconscious state for that long, though she’d heard enough stories that didn’t turn out well. Her scarred brow arched slightly at mention of the guardian, wondering if the fellow was as messed up as she’d looked. “Sounds like a busy guy,” she muttered, though she didn’t press any more. Pack secrets were pack secrets—and even if she overcame her awkwardness around personal information, she wouldn’t quite know what to do with it. Then again, Sky had no problem bringing up Shawchert’s wounds.
The conversation took a slightly darker turn as Sky mentioned having taken lives in addition to saving them, but the look that Vesper gave her was merely thoughtful rather than judgmental. “It isn’t up to us if we’re heroes or not,” she replied with a shrug. “You were likely a hero to Valinta, in those days you kept her heart beating, and the deaths of a few others will not take that away.” Her tone was indifferent, not preachy or encouraging; it was simply a belief she held. She had saved the lives of others before, but that did not make her a hero to the majority of them—not even to Juniper, who’d only stared in shock when her abuser was shaking and crying in Vesper’s jaws.
The coywolf shook her head quickly to clear the burdensome thought from her mind then considered Sky’s question. “Not much,” she answered at first with a quick flash of teeth. “I am only a Tirones in Inferni—the starter rank for newcomers. I’m interested in fighting and scouting, though. I’ll have to decide which course I want to pursue when I get there.” She knew the neutral territories well as a former loner and had paranoia-trained senses to keep a watch on the borders, but she could also be a vicious force in battle—although getting her ass handed to her by Helotes proved that there were others even more skilled than her in the fire clan.
Thanks. I snagged Raze's code to make it, but the photo manip is mine. x3 It was hard adding in the bobcat, actually.
