The Caves.


    The late afternoon sun was hot as the coyote stirred, having fallen to sleep at some point close to dawn. She didn't know if it was before or after the sun had risen; she had gone underground and laid to rest in Gabriel's cave when it was still mostly dark out, but it had taken her some time to fall asleep, naturally. Molochai had returned in the dead of night—Kaena had been awake, though she'd been attempting sleep at some point before that. It hadn't worked out so well, so she'd gone to the coast to think—often times it was just ideas lurking about in her head which needed to be turned over a few times. The soothing noise of the ocean helped her think, and it was there that her lost son found her—they'd spoken at length with each other, and it was not until the early morning that they'd decided to rest. There was always time.



    The coyote meandered out of Gabriel's cave, finding the hub of Inferni activity empty. The others were either already inside or off elsewhere. Something in her craved company, and she found herself disappointed that there was no one here. She wondered where Gabriel was, having grown accustomed to his presence since spending a few nights sleeping in his cave. She had taken to sleeping on the coast, not wanting to be too imposing—but she really had yet to pick a home for herself, and she frowned, peering around at the caves. A few coyotes had decided to decorate the exterior of their homes, but others left no outer indication that a cave was claimed. As Kaena meandered around from cave opening to cave opening, she had to stick her head in some of them—only to find the smell was slightly damp, meaning the amount of water in the cave made it uninhabitable, or smelling strongly of one or two coyotes, meaning it was claimed.



    She recognized most of those she smelled, though there were a few absent smells. Naturally, some coyotes would be averse to living in such a crowded place. They were not social creatures by nature, and it was impressive such a clan had survived this long. Kaena knew this was partially her doing—her liasons with wolves had produced many hybrid children, and they suffered the same dilemma as she did. Kaena felt the need to be a part of a group, yet she often felt intimidated and crowded by the others in the clan, through no fault of their own. Kaena was mostly coyote; she wondered how the whole-blooded coyotes fared? Surely, there were widely varied personalities among them—just as there were wolves who preferred lives as loners, there were coyotes who preferred group life.



    The coyote halted in front of a cave, sticking her head inside and peering around with that single, searing eye. It was dark, naturally—but like most predators, Kaena had very good night vision, and as it adjusted to deal with the dimness, the grayscale canine saw the caves interior. There was one larger room, with what appeared to be a room off to the side. It was pretty small, and Kaena suspected no more than one canine would be comfortable in it at a time. She mulled over this for a moment, thinking sorely of Fatin, and passed the cave by—there would be something slightly more suitable, she figured. If not, there were always other options. As the sun sank below the horizon, casting Inferni's lands into shadow, the Lykoi woman made her way back to the beginning of the caves, back towards Gabriel's. She'd found a few more uninhabited caves, though one or two had old coyote smell—the hybrid would have to check with Gabriel before she attempted to take any of them as her own.

Sorry this took so long to respond. :< Also, I’m not quite sure how the cave system works.. I hope how I wrote it makes sense and isn’t TOO far off. ><



Diavo had done little exploring since her arrival. She was familiar with the cave where she was inducted into Inferni, but had not explored the vast system that the caves actually made up. It seemed there was a lot to learn about her new home, specifically how large the territory was, and who all was living here. Her only two encounters had been friendly- a petite young golden male named Enigma, and a larger, respected Gabriel. She knew these two could not be the only inhabitants- their fur reeked of countless interactions, and so did the cave. The scents of all the different individuals was a perfume that made her dizzy.


She took three tiny steps outside of the cave, pausing to tilt her head upwards, hoping to catch a drift of someone near-by. She was eager to make friends, but wary if her presence was actually tolerated on these new lands. As she inhaled, a fat drop of rain landed squarely on her forehead. Furrowing her tiny cinnamon brow, she grumbled and crept back inside the cave. Feeling rather frustrated at the wet conditions, she glanced around the cavernous room, noting nothing exciting for her amusement. Then a scent hit her from deeper within. Cautiously stepping towards the back of the cave, she recognized the scent to be that of life. Her clever dark nose led her to hole in the back of the cave, covered by an illusion made from the jutting rocks around it. Peering into the hole, her nose lit up with smells.


There was an inner system to the caves, leading to more and more, and even more importantly, these other caves where residences to very real and very recent visitors. Sniffing wildly, her pupils enlarged to accommodate the low light that prevailed underground. There appeared to be no one within her immediate range, but with some exploring, she was curious if she could find a resident.

No problem at all. :] Truth be told, I only have a vague idea myself. xD-



    The hybrid was glad Inferni had these caves. There were several of them, and they were far more complicated underneath the ground than they appeared. There were several small, secretive tunnels that connected several of the larger systems, which were hopelessly complicated to anyone who couldn't see well in the dark and didn't know their way around already. If it was ever absolutely necessary, the hybrid canine was certain they could retreat into the furthest depths of the cave system and hide out until whatever threat passed. It would be easy to defend themselves there; with just two coyotes they could block off enemies from entering a central sort of room with just one doorway. It was the funneling system; regardless of how many attacked them, they could stand there all day and dispatch them, two at a time, resting their coyotes as needed.



    The coyote heard noises, and turned her head, peering into the dimly lit underground with one searing gold-yellow eye. She inhaled, but the still, stale air of the caves offered only the faintest breeze of fresh air from the entrance. There was an unfamiliar coyote in the air, though Kae would never be able to pinpoint her location. She headed toward the entrance, weaving and meandering her way through the cave system until she came to the main vein through it, heading steadily toward the exit until the young coyote came into her view. They were headed right for each other, and Kaena lifted her tail, peering forward to look at the young coyote before her. She was very young, and she seemed to be mostly coyote—though until her features totally developed, one could never be absolutely certain.



    The grizzled woman halted, nodding her head toward the young one. "Hey there," she said, friendliness creeping into her tone. She had never been fond of children until she had her own, but mother's love knew no bounds, and it overflowed from her progeny and made her more fond in general of children. Even so, it hadn't stopped her from hurting ones who didn't know the ways of the world before, and even killing one in the throes of war. Despite that, this young Inferni coyote had nothing to worry about—she smelled strongly of Gabriel and Enigma, and Kaena wagged the sable tip of her friendly tail.



    As she looked over the young coyote, Kaena realized she was very, very young—at least seven months younger than a year, if not more. She had the typical gold and gray fur of a coyote, hinted with swaths of brown and paler gold, almost tan coloration on her underside. The young coyote seemed rather thin and in poor shape, as if a good, hot meal and a few weeks of rest would make her blossom—she appeared even younger than her three months of age. The grizzled canine peered over at the youth, wondering what she'd already been through in her short life. Kaena had experienced quite a bit of trauma and pain from almost the very start of her life, interspersed with brief periods of tranquility which always seemed to end violently. Whenever she found happiness, there was always someone there to take it away from her.

No worries. :3


    The hybrid's approach seemed to scare the living hell out of the youth, and Kaena was immediately sorry she hadn't announced her approach sooner. She didn't know this young one, and the child was obviously scared out of her wits. The hybrid woman grimaced, and folded her ears back in apology. The ancient hybrid realized to a strange young puppy she was probably quite a sight, emerging from the depths of the cave—and had Kaena been in more of a humorous mood, she might have laughed aloud. But for the moment she was only sorry she'd startled the pup, and vaguely curious about this young one. She appeared to be almost completely coyote, with brilliant golden eyes not too dissimilar from her own, once upon a time



    The youth began to speak, shuttering and shaking. The young one seemed to be showing a lot of submission, and Kaena almost corrected her on it—no need to bow heavy on formality here, especially toward her. Inferni had always prided itself on being far more lax than wolf packs, and Kaena herself was particularly derisive toward wolfish submission. But she had already scared the girl out of her skin, so she figured she would withhold her correction until they knew each other a little better. She grinned again, her tail cricked up in a friendly manner. The scarred hybrid was trying her best to appear placid and courteous, since she already felt bad about scaring the little one. "Sorry," she said, wandering a little closer to the young coyote, trying to get a better look at her. She didn't seem familiar like any of her other relatives, but there was always that possibility—the coyote hybrid didn't know for sure, and anyone who ended up in Inferni might be distantly related to her or her progeny.



    "I'm Kaena Lykoi," she said, smiling again, though the knotted, hard tissue on the more scarred side of her face made the expression half-cocked, comical and frightening at once. Still, there was nothing for Diavo to fear from the Inferni elder—Kaena was hardly one to be vicious to coyote children on her own packlands. She wasn't that crazy, stupid, or suicidal—not anymore, at least. "You are?" she asked, guessing that the youth was a rather new member. Whether she'd been born into the clan or accepted, Kaena couldn't tell—though there was only a faint smell of Inferni on her. This was plausible if she'd just come from the den, and spent the early months of her life exclusively with her mother and siblings—but Kaena only picked up the faintest smell of Gabriel from the girl's fur. Had one so young actually joined the hard way? Kae was rather curious.



    "You've met my son, Gabriel?" she asked, casually enough. The hybrid used a rather adult tone of voice with the girl. She didn't believe in speaking to children slowly or loudly unless they needed help understanding. The grizzled hybrid rather preferred to treat the young as if they were miniature adults, partially capable of making adult decisions and still in need of guidance. It was an approach that had worked well with most of her children—they had grown up with a sense of independence and a distinct knowledge that their mother was there if they needed them.

She likes the kidlets! XD



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    It was difficult for the ashen hybrid to dislike puppies. She had so many of her own, and experience had taught her that no matter what you instilled in a child, their existence was fleeting and fragile. Ikatha and Baneesh still weighed heavily on her mind; perhaps if she had kept a closer eye they would not be dead. She was lucky to have recovered Gabriel, Molochai—any of her children. The hybrid coyote's yellow-toothed grin did not fade, only broadened as Diavo stumbled over her name. It was a difficult one to pronounce, but the youth had gotten it right. The words were ancient. Her first name meant a scar, specifically one from burning, and thoguh she hardly liked to broadcast it, the meaning of her surname was "wolf." Anyone with a rudimentary understanding of language would make the connection between the prefix lycan- and the word lykoi.



    The hybrid laughed a rumbling, gravelly laugh at the notion of her being frightened. It was not completely beyond her, but it was a strange, foreign emotion to the hybrid woman most of the time. "No, but I was worried that maybe I scared you badly," she said, quite relieved that she hadn't. It would have been a poor first impression indeed if Kaena sent the poor youth scrambling for the opposite border of Inferni. She spoke a lot, as youths are wont to do, but Kaena listened eagerly, picking up what she could from the child. Their minds were always bright and optimistic, and the matron canine enjoyed listening to children speak. They often had strangely brilliant ideas, and their optimism was infectious. "Nice to meet you," she said with another of her smiles. It took the girl a moment to remember Kaena had even asked a question, but the Lykoi was patient and did not pry at the Tirones Minor.



    "Thank you," she said, enamored by the compliment. Truth be told, Gabriel had done a lot of raising himself, but Kaena had given him a foundation, and there was still that bond between the two of them. "I have many children, and some of them even have children. My family is really big," the hybrid informed the girl, pride creeping into her tone. She seemed disturbed about her lack of friendship, and Kae shook her head, a reassuring look crossing her features.



    "I'm sure if you stay here for good, you'll make lots of friends. Inferni is a good place to grow up. Almost all of my children grew up here," the hybrid woman added, though some of her children had been raised elsewhere and some of them had wandered while they were still young, they all had a few months' start in Inferni, long enough for them all to remember the land of their birth and the coyotes who had lived there. The location was different, but they were not so far from the former territories that someone seeking Inferni would not find its cousin, spawned here by her very son, resurrected from the ashes of the great fire like a phoenix.