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cakeMind if this is set on the 16th?
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakeAlong the beach the girl ran, four-legged, small and stealthy and barely visible from a distance. The water lapped at her paws, as if it were trying to reach her, trying to coax her to join it. Talitha knew better. Rarely did she come to the beach, except to run. It was an exercise, more a mental one than a physical one, though it served both purposes. It had been here that Andre had died, and on a beach like it that he had found her in the first place. In most of Inferni, the red-eyed girl felt perfectly safe. Here, it was different. It was why she came here; she was tired of being afraid.
cakeHer pace was steady, and her eyes were clear, but typical of her, her mind was clouded. Like the sky, with few breaks in between to see through. Most of the time the girl was lost in her own world, that mostly unappealing place in her head, where the darkness reigned and the spiders crawled on the walls. It was no different then. She fought it. She came here to find the memories, and she ran to escape them, and sometimes she was successful. That day, not quite so. Perhaps it was the solitude. Not speaking to anyone for so long -- not having a real conversation with a person who truly cared for you -- it was enough to drive anyone up the fuckin' wall.
cakeNearing the place she had started, the girl skidded to an abrupt halt, kicking the sand and leaving a blatant trail. Suddenly, she no longer felt like running. Breathing heavily, she cast a brief glance towards the afternoon sun as she stretched her legs. "Need to go faster," the young woman muttered to herself. Then she sighed heavily and sat, knowing this was unlikely to help. Placebo effect, maybe? She had to believe it. She would've just liked to forget. Yeah, what a joke.
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-don't mind-
Zana had been watching from a small patch of reeds as the other female seemed to explode up and down the beach, her fast gait bringing her closer and closer to the small spot where Zana lay hidden. She was growing nervous as she watched the long legged lady at her insane exercises. The mind of the small girl had no idea what exactly was going on from the inside out, she could just see that the whole of the beach was being churned into a warzone and she the poor little refugee in the reeds was almost out of luck. A slight whimper escaped her lips as she watched the paws kicking up sand like the devil was on their heels.
Suddenly it all came to a screeching hault as a wave of sand came casting to the edge of her reed hideout. She crouched down lower, her lavender eyes wide as she caught the breathy words of the other Lykoi girl. She couldn't help the wail that escaped her lips as she exclaimed. "No go faster. Nooos!" If she went any faster then Zana was going to lose her nest of reeds and that would just be awful. She sniffled from her hiding place and tried to blend in with the sands and reedy nest once again. Why had she even spoke up..
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cakeEdit: Lol wrong account. :| -does not like this account linking thing-
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakePerhaps too accustomed to being alone, Talitha hadn't bothered to scout the area. She had simply assumed nobody else was around. Good enough for her, good enough for the rest of the damn world. Anywhere else in the universe and she would've been as twitchy as a squirrel on speed, but this was Inferni, why the hell should she be careful? This was why, when the child's banshee-wail broke the quiet the young lady was so used to, Tal jumped like she'd been prodded with a hot iron.
cake"Christ, kid!" Tal blurted out as soon as she caught sight of the child. Almost immediately after this registered, the world came into focus, a million things flooding into her head at once. The old ways came back to her, the vigilance and the wariness she had adopted while away, security systems wired into her brain to keep herself alive. She wasn't afraid, her senses were simply awake now. Moving forward, the hybrid with the dog's colouring peered over the reeds at the lavender-eyed child, leaning forward on her long coyote legs. "The hell're you doing in there?" She asked, her voice a mixture of disbelief and curiosity. This was someone she didn't recognise. Good thing it was just a kid. If it had been an adult, Tal might've bitten off their ears by now.
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-I've gotten lucky with it for the most part.. my only issue is my computer likes to fail from time to time and I never know if it posted my replies or not. x.x -
Zana had not been born a coward, the monster had made her one in a few fleeting seconds when her life had hung between death and the living. She was graced with life but she lived a shattered little existance inside her head where faces and names, places and morals were all bashed and beaten, rolled together and remolded into the strangest of things. The coward crouched down lower as the voice of the girl exclaimed so louded from above. She couldn't help but wimper again so pathedically as she lifted those orbs just a few notches to see if she was still alive or if she was about to be made supper. For some reason she always thought there was a chance she was next up for dinner, being so small and round probably had everything to do with it, but she could never be so certain.
When the lady seemed to be looming overhead, her shadow falling into the reedbed Zana lifted her little nose as said softly. "I is hiding." She had been hiding from the mad lady who now towered above her with more authority than the poor little one would ever have. Anyone who stood taller than Zana was in charge, her hardwiring had enforced that over and over again and here was another perfect example.
Blinking up at the woman Zana asked softly. "Yous notta monstwer are yous?" She had no clue of the monster that had ruined the older Lykoi's mental stablity but Zana had to be certain that she wasn't dealing with another one. She had barely escaped from the first, to be thrust into the open jaws of another would be the end of the girl.
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cakeLOL I DID IT AGAIN. MOTHERFUCKER. >|
cakei am totally just logging out next time.
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakeIt was only when the small lavender-eyed child replied that Talitha noticed she might have been scared. Slightly awkwardly, the young woman moved away a step or two, as her alarm slowly faded into bewilderment. Hiding? Why would some little kid be hiding in the reeds, and from her, no less? Had she really been this much of a hermit, that the clanmembers -- as this child obviously was, given her scent and hybrid blood -- didn't even know who she was anymore? This brought a frown to her face as she stared at the kid, ears flattened back on her head. Speaking of which, who did this girl belong to, anyway?
cake"No," she replied sharply, abruptly, a little surprised with Zana's question. Talitha knew monsters, and she knew them all too well. Her childhood, which would have been happy otherwise, had been ruined by such people -- such filth, perhaps, was more appropriate. If there was one thing she had taken away from all of that, it was that she knew she wasn't a monster. "No," she repeated, softer this time, reminding herself not to react so strongly. The girl looked afraid, and Talitha felt it was her fault. What had she done wrong? Unfortunately, she'd never been that great with kids. "Of course I'm not a monster, kid. There're no monsters in Inferni. Why are you hiding? And, uh, who are you, anyway?"
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Zana watched the other with an unsure look plastered across her face. The long legged lady before her made her nervous, but she didn't seem to be ready to start rampaging across the sands once more just yet. Her ears flicked back slightly, unsure if the woman was staring at her like she'd done something wrong, she'd seen that look before with other adults but she'd never stopped to ask why they kept looking at her like that. She was a puppy after all and her mind did flit back and forth from thought to thought.
When the woman's sharp reply came the girl ducked down lower again and flinched. She couldn't help the little whine that crept from her throat as she stared down at her paws, the older lady making her feel like she really was in trouble now with her sharp tongue and the questions she threw at her. Here was another though that promised there were no monsters in Inferni. She glanced up to the relative as she whispered softly. "No monstwers?" She just had to be sure.
Her chest heaved as she tried to take a deep breath that seemed to be drawn in like a shudder before she turned those soft lavender orbs to the lady again, trying to find answers. "You was killing swands.. hads to hides.." She didn't like admitting that she was afraid of the lady but Zana had ran from the monster with a cover story about finding her father.. and yet here she was all caught up in doing just that now as she honestly answered the stranger. "I is S'ana Lie-chu" she said softly, shyly as she threw the question back. "Who's yous?"
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cake--
i have come curiously close to the end.
cake"No monsters," Tal repeated the girl's words, making a distinct effort to soften her voice as she spoke. She didn't want Zana to be afraid of her. And she knew it was true, too, what she said; there had been a monster in Inferni once, then he had been kicked out, and then Talitha had watched him die. She still remembered the blood, and the way it smelled, and the way it covered her father's face. This didn't frighten her. If anything, it made her more loyal to the clan. Killing for someone -- now that was devotion, that was love.
cakeThe little lavender-eyed puppy's next words made Tal chuckle, and the grin lingered on her face as she responded. "You can't kill the sand, kid, it's not alive like you an' me are. I just felt like running, is all." Big surprise, running was really all she did these days. She was really getting tired of it. She missed her family. She missed her life. These thoughts vanished as soon as the puppy continued. "Zana Lykoi? Woah, hold up!" What the hell? Who had kids while she'd been busy with her head stuck in the sand? "You don't... I mean, your father isn't... no, that's not possible." Her rambling words came to an abrupt halt as she realised that this child was likely too young to be Andre's. Besides, who the hell would give their kid their rapist's surname? Then again, said the doubt in her mind, if Andre had died in late August and this kid was three months old... "Who are your parents, girly?" These words were more gentle, but the glaring curiosity in her eyes was unmistakeable.
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She stared up at the woman with a slight pout to her lips as she tried to confirm that there were no monsters. She was the third or forth clanmember who had told her that but she still wanted confirmation from each and every soul she met along the way. Sooner or later she'd find the monster in the clan but for now she was safe. Her little round eyes blinked, long eye lashes touched her cheeks a moment as she hoped that every one of them was right. Monsters were bad news.
The laughter that seemed to assult her ears made her scowl at the lady who was now laughing. She shook her head and whined. "Yous could has killed me.." she said softly and seriously. She pawed at the sands that the woman had said couldn't be killed but they seemed to be pretty beaten up and battlescarred. She looked back up to the woman suddenly though when the young lady's voice had told her to stop. Her ears flicked back in confusion as she wondered what she did wrong. Another slight whine broke fron her throat as once more the woman went on.
She was slightly afraid to answer the lady but she'd seen the way she'd tore up the sands, and that had been with her paws alone. She didn't want to find out what she could do with her teeth. "Don't knows da.. and no go back to monstwers.." she said firmly as she glared up at the woman. She couldn't and she wouldn't make her return to the monster. The stubborn little girl stared up at this crimson eyed sandrunner and just waited.
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cake--
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakeMonsters were bad news, and that was why the dread settled there in her stomach, bringing a frown to her face as she watched the sensitive little girl in front of her. Thoughts of Andre weren't ones she liked to entertain often; in fact, she almost wished she'd never told anyone what he'd done to her and just killed him herself. That would have redeemed her, it would have kept her from going fucking crazy before she was even a year old. No, maybe that wasn't true -- if anything, she felt more sane, really. Either way, it sucked, to put it lightly. She lacked the vocabulary (and the will to learn a bigger one) to bother phrasing it any better. And when the girl replied, nothing she said made it any better.
cake"Okay," Tal replied, looking down at this little mystery before her, telling herself it couldn't be Andre, and even if it was, he was dead, dead like the sand she had just killed, so it didn't matter. Though few would have guessed, Talitha knew how to direct her thoughts. She had more willpower than she would have been given credit for. It was a necessity to keep those thoughts locked away, so she could live a proper life without diving headfirst off a bridge, or something stupid like that. So she did it then, pushed that away and focused again on the child and her obvious fear.
cake"That's alright, you don't need to go back to any monsters, okay, girly?" Who the fuck were the monsters? But if she had mentioned her father, then the monster, then her mother must have been the monster, right? It was weird. This whole thing smelled funny. "We'll look out for you. Inferni's one big family, if you're a Lykoi you're probably related to a lot of us here. We'll take care of ya. Do you have a place to stay?"
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Zana just sat there watching this strange woman before her, she seemed to be just as distracted as Zana was yet the small child made no comment, she didn't understand just yet what distraction was and what the little shows of emotion that played across Tal's face meant. She might have actually been worried if she understood all the worries and fears of the adults but she didn't and it was better now for her that she didn't. The weird Lykoi child just smiled up at the stranger who was no longer strange to her as she finally seemed to take notice of Zana once more.
With the assurance from Tal that she didn't have to leave and that no one would take her back to the monster the small hairless beribboned tail of the hybrid pounded on the sand, if Tal hadn't killed it first it was dead now as the lilac ribbons scattered the small grains further away from the little girl. She grinned up at the girl that looked just like Gabriel as she laughed at finding so many family members, though they didn't seem to be anywhere close by, no one had come to say hello yet. "I has to stays with Zweke and Gabbs.." she lowered her head slightly as she sighed. "Sobbe don't wike me though.." she said sadly. The one small figure that everyone seemed to think she might get along with since she was closest to age wanted nothing to do with her and tried to get rid of her at all times.
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cakeFor the first time in a while, Tal made a note in her mind to actually go visit someone to find out what was up with this kid. Young children didn't just suddenly show up without parents, but the girl seemed like she was doing fine without her parents -- then, if she didn't know her dad and her mother was a monster, perhaps she was better off here. For a moment, Tal felt pity for the child; she had lived through her own personal hell (and was still surviving it) but at least she'd had two parents and a brother who loved her. The traditional nuclear family. At least until war had torn them apart.
cake"Zeke and Gabe, huh? That's awesome. Zeke's my brother and Gabriel is my dad." She smiled as she said this; she loved her family, it was just that sometimes (usually) she was a little ashamed to see them. Tal knew they probably thought she was weak, and she didn't want anyone to see her that way. In some small way, she was glad her mother wasn't around, and if she ever came back (unlikely, a voice in her head told her,) Tal would impress her with how strong she had become, and how much she had changed. She had ambition, the girl, just no way or idea of how to harness it. "Who's that last one you mentioned? And why wouldn't they like you?" Tal added with mild curiosity. She had a feeling she knew who it was, she just wanted confirmation.
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Zana's lilac eyes stopped to study the lady before her, she had no clue what was running through the woman's head but she could see the little shifts and changes taking place on her face as she thought. "Is that why you looks wike Gab? she asked quietly. Her little head titled to the side as she studied the face that seemed so much like Gabriel's and yet in it's own way so different. She had yet to really realize that often children took traits or appearances from their parents when they were born but it was beginning to work it's way into the mechanics of the small mind as little things were clicking into place. Her words might not make her seem to quick but the girl's mind worked like clockwork when things actually began to fall into place.. like a clock though it needed to be wound up before it could start it's familiar patterns of tick-tock-ticking away.
She was soon distracted from her little pattern making as Tal asked about the last name she'd spoken of. Her ears flicked back in discomfort as she thought of Siobhan again and how she clearly hadn't like the little Lykoi child taking up space in the den with the rest of her family. She shook her head and glanced down to her paws as she spoke. "The fluffy white one no wikes me.." She pawed at the sands as she sighed. "I didn't do anythings, honest!" she whined as she tried to keep from overexciting herself. Zeke had just brought her back to the den and introduced them and it had seemed right from the start that the crimson eyed cottontail had it in for her. Poor Zana, so young and already suffering from acts of jealousy.
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cake"Yep," Tal grinned briefly in reply, glancing down at her fur. She was thin and small like a coyote, but coloured like a german shepherd; these two things, though conflicting, worked on her, somehow. Talitha, even if she didn't know it, was adaptable and could probably make anything work, if she had just a little more confidence. Unfortunately that had been stolen from her at a young age. It set her back and she knew it, but getting on your feet again was imperative. She was strong. Or maybe just pigheaded. Yeah, that was probably more likely -- she might look like her dad, but she wasn't much like him in any other regard, this being something the girl was painfully aware of.
cakeThe fluffy white one: as Tal deciphered Zana's slurred puppy-speech, an image came to her mind of that furry little white coyote wandering about, the one she'd mistaken for some kind of northern fox the first time she'd seen her from the window of her bedroom. "I believe ya, girly," Tal told the mystery-puppy with a slight frown. That fluffy white fox-thing had come back with Zeke; maybe she was jealous. Girls could be like that. In fact, in some small way, deep in her heart, Tal was a little jealous of them; they were still living with her father. Her father. She knew she could've gone back, though, and for that reason she refused to show she felt this way. "Some people are just like that, and there's nothin' you can even do about it. But my dad and Zekie must really like you, if they're lettin' you stay. Hey," she added suddenly, the ADD kicking in, "where'd you get those ribbons on your tail? They're pretty."
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Zana was slightly jealous of Tal as she admitted that she did look like her father. The small puppy wondered if she looked like her father but she knew she wouldn't find out until they found her father. The small Lykoi girl wished that they could find him already and she'd be able to get to know the male that was suppose to be such a foundation in a a young girl's life. Perhaps it was a good thing she didn't know her father, if anyone actually realized who she belonged to they'd probably refrain from bringing up the male for her own wellbeing. Life was strange for the small hybrid but it would only grow stranger the older she got.
Zana flicked her eyes back to Tal as she began to speak again, a weak smile on her lips at the lady said she believed that she hadn't done anything to deserved the ill-will of the other clanmate. Her tiny tail begain to thump happily at knowing that she would have to try and explain everything when she didn't even know where she'd gone wrong. The explaination that the older woman gave her made Zana relax as she told her that sometimes that was just the way things are. The hybrid child wondered why things were like that sometimes but she was distracted by the change in conversation by Gabriel's daughter.
She curled a paw around her tail and the ribbons that wrapped their way to and fro along the middle where the skin was bare. She flicked her ears back as she spoke. "Dabi put them there.." She pawed at the little puff of fur that still stubbornly clung to the tip of her tail as she continued. "says pwetty girls needs pwetty bows.." She wasn't for certain if he was telling the truth but she had liked the ribbons and bows. "I wike the color.." she admitted shyly as she asked. "Do you has wibbons?"
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YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW
Of course, the name the kid mentioned only raised more questions, and Tal tilted her head slightly as if she were curious. It wasn't just a reaction: she was curious, but she could swallow it for now. She half-smiled, half-grinned at the pretty girl comment. Whoever had had the girl before obviously cared for her in some small way, even if there had been a monster lurking about. All unpleasant thoughts of monsters shoved aside, Tal replied.
"I like the colour too. You're lucky, I don't have any for my tail. Maybe I should get some. Hey, girly, you and me, we should go to the city sometime an' find some more pretty bows and ribbons, that'd be fun, wouldn't it? How about it?" Her grin remained on her face as she said this. Tal wasn't really the type for bows and ribbons, but they were cute on this kid. If only it were spring, they could find her some pretty flowers too.
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Zana had become overwhelmed for a moment at the thoughts of those she had left behind, not realizing them that when she'd left that there was a chance she wouldn't see the two males who had actually cared for her. She whined softly at the thought and yet within moments Tal had her distracted again with a smile and pleasant ideas and thoughts. Zana's eyes that had been quickly filling with tears threatening to brim over were suddenly shining and excited at the suggestion that the older girl had suggested.
She ducked her head bashfully as she said softly. "You's don't need wibbons.. you pwetty nuffs." and she meant it, Zana was small and awkward, tiny and scarred up. She was use to seeing scars and wounds but seeing someone who's marks didn't show on the outside to her was something new and a little bit amazing in her eyes. She really didn't have any concept of beauty and all it's glories yet, but in time she would learn. Zana lifted her face up to the other girl as she asked. "You promise?" She really would like some new pretty bows and ribbons, she'd seen how her tail looked without them and she wasn't sure she like the idea of keeping the pretty colored ribbons off the bared flesh. So little and she was already growing self concious about her abnormalties.
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Wrap this one up? :]
YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW
"Oh," Tal replied, surprised, blinking down at the little girl. She hadn't expected to be complimented. She rarely ever got complimented. This naturally led her to assume that nobody really thought she was pretty or anything; why would they? She was nothing special, just another faceless kid who'd been systematically dragged down and torn apart by life's cruel hands. Talitha knew nobody would ever be able to love her because of that, but that was fine, she was tough and she could deal with it. Now there was a compliment she would've taken easier; tough, fine, but pretty? "Thanks, girly," she added after a moment with a quick grin, not quite sure how else to respond. "You're not bad-lookin' yourself, you know. And of course I promise, it'll be fun."
Pawing at the sand, Tal glanced quickly in the direction of the mansion, then back at the little girl. She had cooled off rapidly since her sprinting, and the winter wind was beginning to cut through her thin coyote-fur. "It's getting cold out here, wanna go inside? I'll make a fire for us, it'll warm us up." She wouldn't feel comfortable leaving this mystery-child here in the cold, especially on her own.
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Zana smiled happily as her ribbons snapped and fluttered as she wagged her tail at the promise that Tal had granted her. She ducked her head down when the woman had thanked her and she softly shook her head. "I jus widdle, everyones thinks widdle ones are cute!" She'd learned one thing atleast, puppies were cute and everyone seemed to want to coo and cuddle on them. She shook her head at the idea and stuck her tongue out with a sour look on her maw at that idea. "yous welcomes though.." she said suddenly as the funny look was wiped off her face with a shy smile as she listened to Tal speaking up again.
At the notion of getting warmer and out of the winds the small girl squeaked excitedly again and nodded agreement. At the mention of the fire though she flicked her ears back and whispered. "Okay.. but nots a big fire.." she cautioned as she got up and began to follow Zeke's sister towards the large mansion, her tail wagging happily as the ribbons fluttered behind her.
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end! :]
YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW
Tal grinned as Zana mentioned the cute-puppy factor; smart, to have picked up on that. It was probably hard not to notice, though. It made the hybrid girl wonder if anyone had fawned over her when she had been a child; more than likely, but Talitha didn’t remember much of her childhood. Late August and everything before, she had blocked from her memory as best as she could.
”It won’t be big,” she answered, peering down at the child with a smile as she padded off towards the house. Vaguely she wondered why Zana didn’t want a big fire, like most kids probably would, but it was likely just another mystery she’d have to deal with. She barely noticed at the time, as she walked with the child alongside her, but Zana was growing on her; she liked the girl, and wouldn’t mind having her hanging around Inferni. It was always good to have family around, as long as they weren’t murderous psychopaths like some Lykois here and there had been.
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