[html] | http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_columbus.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> Millstone Village.
Kaena was roaming again; it felt good to stretch her legs. Since she'd come to Inferni, she had seen her strength slowly increase. The process was slower than before; anytime she had returned to a lifestyle of relative stability within bordered territory with a variety of clanmates to help support her and support in return, Kaena flourished. It was the social side of her, locked away in that wolfish part of her brain she hardly spoke of. The wolf brain truly enjoyed being in a clan environment, and to shut it up, Kaena was happy to oblige. Living in Inferni was worth far more than simply achieving peace as a hybrid, however—Inferni and Lykoi were practically synonymous, and the clan had felt more powerful, more complete—since the living founder's return.
The grizzled hybrid was not so far from home; she was about three quarters down the beach of Drifter Bay, picking her way through the rocks. She felt relatively safe here—there were no packs up this way, and a wolf who wore the badge of another group or even a loner canine would have to cut through the Mountain territory to get to this particular part of the territories. Inferni claimed the Waste and the plainsland separating this northern portion of the territory from the rest of the world, and Kaena was glad for it. They were not really Inferni's claim, but she felt relative safety here. Still, her senses had not dulled any, and she was on high alert for any sounds of approach as she meandered down the coastline, intent on exploring further than she had before. She knew only about a quarter of Drifter Bay and most of the waste, and little of the mountain. It would do her well to take a jog around the northlands, and scope them out better.
Thick gray clouds permeated the sky above her, and the occasional distant rumble of thunder warned the Veritas that a storm was well on its way. Rain had never bothered her any, but she did not wish to be trapped out in a storm of great magnitude so far from home. Kaena climbed up a rocky face, and took a rather high perch, scanning the skies for a moment. She lifted her tapered muzzle to the heavens, that charcoal nose quivering. She could smell the rain, but until she saw lightning and heard thunder, she would not know how far away the storm was. She waited a few moments, the waves pounding against the beach, whipped into a fury by the storm heading over the bay. Her single golden eye could just barely see the black swirling on the horizon, though after a moment she saw a clear flash of lightning. Several long minutes passed before the thunder rumbled into her ears, so she figured she had quite some time before the storm actually hit.
Besides, she was too far to turn back now—a better hope would be to happen across some kind of makeshift shelter and wait it out, though if the storms were anything like they had been as of late, she might end up waiting quite a few days before the most brutal part of the rains passed. The coyote continued on, avoiding roaming too close to the waves. The bay water was angry today, and she did not wish to be swept off her feet and have to swim for her life, naturally. The coyote came to a patchy, scruffy looking forest, and without hesitation, she plunged in. The trees would provide better cover from the coming rains. After a moment of struggling through the underbrush, the coyote came to a dirt path, overgrown but obviously once very-well used. It was wide enough to have once accommodated a car, though there was severe overgrowth stretching at least three feet into each side of the road. There were ruts on each side, as well, though they were far narrower than anything that could have been created by a car. Kaena was rather intrigued; even though years had passed since a human vehicle might have used them, they were still quite deep. Muddy water stagnated in each rut at the bottom.
The grizzled hybrid continued on, following this path until she came to an odd sort of village. Even for post-apocalyptic remnants, they seemed rustic. She wandered closer to the low stone wall surrounding the village, interested as to what kind of a world she'd stumbled on—there was a small, wooden sign with letters hand-carved into it on the side of the entrance to the wall, reading "Millstone Village." She studied it for only a second before she continued, heading for the closest building. It was small—really more of a shed than anything else. There was a single window of thick-handmade glass, facing out toward the entrance, and a small table with just two chairs. The door no longer closed properly, and there was some evidence of the elements on the inside of the building. Old leaves piled into the corners, though the fresh air had made the building smell far better than most of the musty ruins Kaena had come across.
The hybrid settled down into the chair, studying the relics before her. There was a candle, and two small stones laid out next to it. She picked them up, interested, and tried to figure out why a human would put keep two seemingly useless stones. She put them back down, and as she did, a spark flew up from between them. Their use realized by the hybrid, she picked them up and struck them together next to the candle, which eagerly flew up in flame. Grinning to herself, she watched the tiny flame flare up and dance in front of her. The storm was just overhead now, rumbling and growling. The skies had grown dark, even for mid-afternoon, and Kaena was glad she had her tiny flame as she gazed out the tiny cottage's window into the stormy skies, wondering if this was what it was like fifty years ago, standing here and keeping guard rain or shine.
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1181, and honestly this is probably the longest post I've ever written. XD;
Sofia had walked west for a long time. Four weeks and three days, to be exact. She hadn't taken the most direct path, nor traveled at the quickest speed. She took her time, studying the lands as she had gone by. Everything looked.. different. It was amazing how crisp and intense things as simple as colors were, when viewed with an appreciative instead of casual eye. Sunsets and beautiful sky lines. All of it. It was the last time she would see any of the places. She wasn't going back. She was heading to the birthplace of her father to die. There was an odd symmetry to it; there was a poetic ring to the whole idea, and that something that had always appealed to her.
Beyond that, she wasn't sure what she was looking for. Father had given her directions, and she had followed them. She recognized the river first; Yawrah, winding its way through burnt lands that were ever so slowly beginning the process of new life. All the scents were old, but she had found Jaded Shadows, eying the remnants of the home that had briefly been hers. He had made one request as she left; he wanted Sofia to leave a flower in his own personal graveyard, in the lands that had once held Storm.
And so she had. Four simple gravestones loomed, and she had spent an entire day there, just looking, and thinking. Three were unknown to her: a grandmother, Tempest Tide, and two never-met aunts, Maeve and Aeila, dead before they were even half as old as their niece. The fourth was her mother. Lily. A dim, warm figure of love and happiness and youth, a presence and a feeling more than a face. God, she had been so young. A month? Two? She didn't remember, not really.
It would be nice to make a friend, if only to have someone to take her dead body back there, to rest beside her ancestors (of heart if not of blood). She had climbed inside her father's nearby den, breathing in the scent of Calypso, missing him terribly. It had broken her heart, daddy's girl as she was, to abandon him like that. But it would have heart him worse, if he had known the truth. That his baby girl, that the only thing in his life that still mattered, was dying. He would have found some way to blame himself, he always blamed himself. So she left him half a week after she had found out, after she had discovered her prognosis.
The wolf who had examined her had been an family friend - Sofia trusted his word to be accurate. Of course, the old doctor had human medical books, and had walked Sofi through the process he had undertaken, showing her why he had drawn the conclusion she had. The four pages, ripped out of the medical book with his consent (he couldn't very well deny a dying girl such a simple request!) were tucked into the pocket of her green dress-shirt. That shirt, the papers, a bag dangling from her shoulders, and some comfortable black slacks were all she had brought with her.
So far, the paper's predictions were right, although it didn't take a psychic to guess that what had started as a simple, occasional pain in the bones of her front legs would intensify, progressing to the dull ache as the cancer gnawed away at the inside of her bones. It was still bearable, for now. Another reason she had to leave, fast - while she could still travel at a pace that was brisk enough to eat away the ground. Sofia had done most of her traveling in natural wolf form, but the thumb and fingers of shifted form was safer when picking her way through the sometimes precarious path she had taken through the mountain.
The lands had been clearly abandoned, there was really no point in staying there. So she traveled west, following the direction the majority of the scents had headed. Why not? She wasn't going back, couldn't go back, only direction to go from here was forward.
The rain had been pretty frequent lately, and her bare feet and the bottom of her slacks were speckled with caked, dried mud. It wasn't too wet right now, but the clouds promised to remedy that situation quite shortly. Heading away from the frightening shore, a forest loomed and she padded towards it, realizing only after entering that the scrawny, scattered trees did not actually thicken in density as she progressed deeper. She'd have to find someplace else to hide out from the storm, and the appearance of the one above was that it'd be strong enough to definitely warrant finding a roof.
A surprisingly fresh scent (given the frequency of scent-fading rain) seemed to be of the same idea. With the slightest hesitancy, desire to find someplace with a solid roof overtook the awkward avoidance of others that she'd been clinging to on her travels thus far. The scent led to a road, and from there to a village. There was a sign, but her green eyes slipped over it. She didn't care enough to spend the time it took her to puzzle out what it said - she wasn't a very good reader. She could do it, with enough time to burn and sometimes a person there to correct her mistakes, but she really hated it. As much as she loved stories, actual books were frustrating to her, and a mild dyslexia took her outside the realm of Calypso's teaching abilities.
The scent ended at a door, and Sofia hesitated again. She didn't really have to go in, here. There were plenty of other buildings around this old, empty town. Plenty of choices for shelter, now that she had been led here. Her green eyes slid along the thick, fogged-at-the-edges glass pane. There was definitely someone in there, although it was hard to make out details through the old, old glass. Whoever she was, she might have seen Sofi by now. It would be awkward to walk away, after having paused at the doorstep for so long. So she slipped inside, giving up hope of escaping the impending social interaction. Which, now that the coming storm was safely averted, was highest on her list of immediate worries.
The stranger was seated at the table, a small flame burning a candle before her. The intruder paused, evaluating the situation, considering the scent. The other female was smaller than her in build. Definitely older than Sofi's scant year and a half, although she couldn't really tell by how much. Her coloring, too.. It all caused her mind to flit back to old studies, to faded pictures in old books as Calypso had explained to her the truth of her parentage. "Are you a coyote?" She said softly, emerald eyes wide in the dimming light as dark clouds outside billowed over the few fractions of a sun that still valiantly worked to shine. The young girl's carefully cultivated manners were momentarily forgotten in the new excitement of the moment.
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The coyote woman's eyes wandered about her tiny outpost. Other than the table and chair, there was virtually no other furniture—obviously, there was no bed or other sleeping spot, since this place seemed to have been intended as a sort of guard house. Sleeping and guarding were two completely opposed tasks. There was a second chair, apparently intended if anyone thought to visit the lonely town guardian. There was a very small dresser of sorts in the very furthest corner from her, though it was bare of any odds and ends such as this table, which was had the two stones and the candle sitting atop it. There were two very simple pieces of human artwork, and they both appeared to have been stitched into a canvas. One showed a horse and buggy on a road, and the other showed a sunset, though the lines on the second were wild and jagged, as if it had been created by a child.
The flame danced in front of her eyes, flickering as the wind crept through the decrepit little guard house. There were several tiny cracks in the walls which the distinctly moist smell of fresh rain as the first fat droplets of rain spattered against the roof. The Lykoi woman peered out of the window, rather surprised to see a canine making her way toward the shed. Kaena's view into the outside world was somewhat better than the view inside, though Kaena couldn't really make out any details about the wolf just yet. She bristled, realizing the creature was likely seeking shelter from the rain as she was, but Kaena was alarmed by the fact that the other canid was making her way toward the outpost.
Immediately suspicious and never trusting, the Lykoi woman wondered why the stranger wanted to share space—surely there were other places to crash for the duration of the storm which weren't occupied by a vicious coyote? But perhaps the rain had obscured her scent, or the wolf was otherwise unaware of Kaena's presence? But she stood outside of the shack for a very long moment, leading the Veritas to believe that the girl was simply steeling her nerves to enter. Curiosity had now overtaken the hybrid canine; surely the other canine realized Kae's presence, otherwise she wouldn't have stood there staring at a damn door so long. Not with the storm growing darker and more malevolent by the second; the rain had already begun to drum softly against the roof, though it was not falling hard just yet. Brilliance flashed through the room as lighting struck, and almost immediately after it faded the thunder rumbled signaling the storm was just overhead now.
At long last, the wolf opened the door. The lack of a knock hadn't surprised Kae, nor had it particularly annoyed her—it wasn't as if this was her shack, after all. The decrepit appearance the whole village had pretty much marked it as an open territory, and after all, who else but the world's largest hermit would want to live all the way out here? It was secluded, that was for damn sure. As the younger creature entered, Kaena took her in, stiffening slightly, just in case the wolf was crazy or stupid enough to attack. She had brilliant jade green eyes, and the other hybrid had a soft, quiet voice, though there was a vibrant excitement lacing her voice as she asked Kaena a question. "Yeah. I'm no pureblood, though," she said. There was an edgy indifference to her voice, but no outright hostility. The woman before her did not smell like a pack; it seemed she had chosen the life of a wanderer. This relaxed Kae somewhat; it was infinitely preferable that this loner had found her instead of a pack wolf.
The rain began to come down harder outside, the sky releasing its downpour on the world. Remarkably, there seemed to only be three places where the roof leaked—over each of the far corners. The table and chairs were expertly positioned beneath the sole dry corner of the house. As the Veritas peered as her new companion, the hybrid realized she was not a full-blooded wolf. Her wolf percentage was rather high, but there was that undeniable muddling of her features that gave her away. She was passable for a pureblood to the untrained eye, but Kaena had lived a long time and seen many hybrids in her time. "Neither are you, eh?" she added, her voice distinctly different. It had lost that coldness, though Kae still regarded her with a wary golden eye. The flame flickered a bit, casting the room in deeper shadows for a moment before flaring full again.
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tyy. it was very fun to write, which is why i'm cheating and replying to this thread instead of one of the other ones i should, haha. 698 words.
Sofia was a bit damp from her hesitation on the doorstep, and that fact combined with her scruffy summer coat caused the chilled room to be just below the threshold of a comfortable temperature. She wandered closer to the table, eying the other, empty chair, not sure if it would be too forward to sit down or not. If the coyote was just going to tell her to leave, it would be awkward to settle herself at all. But the other person didn't say anything like that, just answered the spoken question.
So, she wasn't all coyote, which made her similar and thus an even more fascinating canine to encounter. Appearance-wise, the stranger definitely seemed to have less wolf blood than Sofi running through her veins, but it was still really cool. She seemed sort of wary and cold in tone, but not entirely off-putting. So maybe it would be okay for the young girl to stay, wait out the storm, if she didn't bother her too much. But she couldn't really be sure.
Her eyes flitted down to the back of the chair before her, her gray furred fingers running lightly over the top of the chair-back, brushing over the coarse wood. It looked like it was roughly hewn from one of the local species of trees, maybe birch. It was simple, far less complicated in design than most of the well-sanded and elegant wood chairs from back where she had left her father. Three simple bars held up the back, and it was all very.. angular. Nothing to provide any comfort for the sitter, it was completely utilitarian. It was a chair, and it served its function well.
Sofia's eyes flitted back up when the other spoke again, asking her own question. She was actually pretty surprised at it - she hadn't ever been called on her heritage, and had only spoken of it really in-depth with her father. To be fair, she had expressed probably an unusual amount of excitement at the idea of meeting a coyote - maybe that had lead, in part, to the other's conclusion? "Nope." She shook her head, making the word redundant. "My dad was mostly coyote. I never met him, or any coyote, though." It was weird to call the unknown figure in her past her dad - the image conjured by the word was most definitely Calypso, and he had most definitely earned that name. But it was easier, in a conversation with a stranger, to simplify the situation.
The rain drummed hard against the roof, and she glanced around to the few places where the roof was leaking. Again, that was an odd concept - to have roof leaks just left unchecked, when every building she knew was so carefully kept in states of good repair, because it was so much easier to do so than to build from scratch.
The flickering of the flame didn't bother Sofi too much; as long as it was still lit, she could still see pretty well, and that was fine. When lightning flashed again, and thunder grumbled loudly, persistently afterward, the young girl jumped, startled, then whimpered very softly in a barely audible pitch, looking for all the world like a terrified puppy. It was easy enough to ignore the thunder earlier, when she was so focused on finding a safe place from the storm, but now that that was accomplished... Well, it was a lot darker, too. Thunder-storms were awful, but she'd just sort of had to suck it up and deal now that she was out on her own. She didn't even have a blanket to reduce the size of the world to the warm darkness beneath it, let alone the strong arms of her father to hold her and keep her safe.
Finally, she settled herself in the chair, glancing at the other, unperturbed hybrid, casually trying to figure out if she had noticed her embarrassing squeak of fright. She wasn't a pup anymore, she had no excuse for that sort of thing. She crossed her arms, rubbing her forearms to both impart some warmth into them and to comfort herself. "I'm Sofia, by the way." Her voice only trembled a little.
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The hybrid woman did not know what to make of the mostly-wolf creature before her. She did not smell distinctly of anything other than herself, and open wilderness. There were vaguely familiar scents on her, things and places Kaena had passed by but not bothered to memorize. Members of a group always carried an indistinct mask of scent, composed of the multitude of their companions and a little bit of their homeland. This wolf-hybrid was surely lacking that scent of belonging; the mottled canid before her was surely a wanderer as Kaena herself had been a month and a half ago.
Verdant eyes studied the chair, and Kaena was not so courteous as to offer a chair, though it wasn't as if the Lykoi woman had claimed the cabin and held rights to its innards. If Kaena hadn't at least sort of desired company of any kind, she would have met the woman at the door with her fangs bared, and summarily dismissed her. There was loneliness somewhere in her soul, and perhaps that was why she allowed the woman to at least state her case before she chased her off—if at all, now. She was an unarmed loner, and at least partially coyote. Kaena's suspicions were confirmed, though the black eyebrow over her good eye lifted in surprise at the second part of what the younger woman divulged.
A strange sort of smile crossed the ancient, scarred muzzle, and there was an almost imperceptible nod of her head, an acknowledgment, an acceptance. There was no grudge in it; Kaena realized the woman had probably lived her entire life as a wolf proclaiming herself to be one—but she hadn't outright rejected the coyote in her, had she? After all, she wandered the earth as coyotes did, severing whatever wolf bonds that had formerly held her. Her presence here meant she had probably passed by the packs, at the very least least smelled one of them. But here she was, free of any clinging pack scent; that meant something.
"Now you have," she said, that smirking sort of grin not fading from her mouth. As the storm raged, the younger woman shivered, and made a strange, puppyish noise. Kaena's gaze hadn't wavered from Sofia since she had entered, still regarding her with that deep gold eye, though now the grin had faded, and she looked at Sofia differently. She was still pretty young, and she simply seemed... out of place. There was something still very childish and gentle in her, and at once it awakened Kaena's motherly instinct and a deep sense of disdain. Both rose strongly, and for a long moment Kaena didn't know whether to laugh at her or comfort her.
Before Kae could do either, Sofia sat down. The grizzled woman did not so much as twitch, though her gaze finally broke from the woman's. She trusted enough that Sofia was not the sort of creature to pull anything insane or stupid. Her attention was drawn to the window behind the candle, framing it neatly in Kaena's one-eyed vision. The thick, handmade glass blurred the external world, though every few minutes another jagged bolt of lightning raced across the sky, illuminating the world for brief instants and the details became clearer. Kaena could see a low, oddly shaped building that appeared to be a stable, since it attached to a corral. She reclined back into the chair slightly, her single eye refocusing on Sofia, taking her in again now that she was closer. Despite her youth, there was something heavy in her face, a sort of gravity Kaena could not identify. "Kaena Lykoi," she replied, tipping her head ever so slightly.
The grizzled hybrid watched youth shiver, and again that maternal instinct flooded her, and she had to beat it back from her consciousness, carefully keeping her features relatively neutral. It was generally difficult to discern emotion from Kaena's face anyhow; the multitude of scars crossing her face twisted many of her expressions. "What do you think, now that you've met one?" the Lykoi woman asked suddenly, her gaze returning to the candle. There was something barbed buried somewhere deep in her tone. Kaena identified as a coyote and wouldn't tolerate anything else other than "hybrid." Even that was a push in the wrong direction—admitting her mixed blood was one thing, discussing it was another. Though Sofia had readily shared her origins, Kaena was unwilling to do the same.
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gah, i have finally earned the right (in my head) to write a reply to this thread! XD. i blame you in part for it's odd fun, 'cause you made the setting all interesting and stuffs. 724 words
The other hybrid introduced herself as Kaena Lykoi. It was a name that could have been familiar, had her dad, when in the lands east of here, ever stopped wallowing in self-pity long enough to take note of the political happenings of the packs around him. And of course, had he thought that stories of the coyotes were suitable for the ears of his baby girl. Which was very possibly not the case. Yeah, she was almost two - would be, in a couple of months. But Cally hadn't wanted to let go - to let her grow up, and it showed now with her continued minuscule flinches (although after that first one, she at least hadn't been whimpering!) at the thunder that growled and roared outside and above and everywhere.
Sitting closer, now, Sofia could pick out the scars on Kaena's face from the natural coloration of her fur. No one from back home had had that many scars - not even those in charge of protecting the land (admittedly, they were not often called to perform such a service). What was it like, living in a coyote pack? Did they fight more over ranks, or stuff? Or had Kaena just had a tougher life than most? There was a sort of wiry strength that emanated from the older female that was both intimidating and fascinating. Sofia sort of got the impression that, should the coyote choose to, Kaena could totally beat the crap out of her. It made her cautious, even though by this point the other hybrid was acting very pleasant, very nice.
Sofia didn't even consider the technical inaccuracy of the question that was spoken. Yeah, they were both hybrids, but Kaena was coyote like Sofi was wolf. The mixed blood merely gave them a chance to choose, presented them with a choice as to how they wished to live their lives. Of course, it was an easier choice for some rather than others, depending on exactly how muddied the features of one ancestor over another became. Kaena's scent held the edge of what might have been a pack. If there were such a thing, a group of coyotes on this land.. Maybe it would be a cool thing to investigate. At some point, ideally before she could no longer walk, a temporary home would be nice. A den she could die in, safe inside the borders of somewhere or another. Because when it got that bad - even a casual tussle, a pounce from a puppy, could cause her bones to fracture. And they wouldn't heal, anymore.
"I'm not too sure, it's hard to figure out a canine in only a few minutes." Sofi answered with a calm reasonableness that sharply contrasted her irrational terror of the weather. "You're not.. as scary, or as mean, though, as a lot of wolves I've known have claimed." Maybe it was the wolf blood in Kaena, tempering her natural cruel coyote personality. Although honestly, Sofia doubted it. It was too easy to be superstitious, too easy to build up the creatures you don't know to a laughable level of unreality.
A question, burning in the back of her mind, that she had always intended to ask the first coyote she met, slipped up her throat and into her mouth, spoken into the chilly air: "Do.. Er, what do coyotes think happens, after you die?" Sofia had asked a couple of her friends, back home, and even convinced one to help her do a cursory bit of research through some old human books to figure out what they had thought. Neither of the wolves she had spoken with really knew; they had told her to ask some of the older members of the pack, had said that they might have some ideas on the subject. But she was afraid the question would seem out of place for Calypso's cheerful little girl, and that they would tell her father and he would somehow figure out her dark secret.
As far as humans went - heaven and hell was an interesting idea, although she couldn't help but fear that the latter was a place more suited for girls who kept secrets from their fathers. A fair number of articles her friend had read to her, though, had scoffed at the idea, claiming instead that... once dead, there was nothing.
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[html] http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_disorder.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> D'aww. Thanks. <3 Well, now it's Sofia's prodding into death that has got Kae interested.
Surely there were nasty bones in the coyote's body, but just as certainly, there were good ones. There was no particular pattern or order to Kaena's life; she varied wildly between the soft, caring Lykoi matron and the vicious, malevolent being of rumor and legend. Both were equally true, and both were equally combative within her, among other things. It seemed Kaena was a creature of schisms; there were many massive, irreparable conflicts within her. Wolf and coyote, mother and killer, saint and demon. The grizzled woman had long learned to ignore both and live in the moment.
Each of the jagged marks crossing the silvery woman's body had meaning and story behind it, some more complicated than others. The torn mark across her shoulder was from her eldest son, the wolfish child of Zulifer Yfel who perhaps still roamed the earth. He was nearly an old man himself now at six years old, and the grizzled canine again wondered how she of all creatures might have survived so long. It was impossible, improbable—why would she, destructive and malicious above all else, survive longer than more virtuous, even-tempered canines? It was nonsensical.
The wanderer's answer pleased the Veritas in an unexpected way. It showed tolerance in the younger woman, a virtue Kaena did not often have the patience for. There was open-mindedness in the statement, and that forced-neutral look on her face faded into something akin to comfort. Her solo eye regarded the younger canine for a moment, and she listened and grinned, knowing even through her current friendliness that things between herself and the mottled gray loner before her could be quite different just given a tweak of the circumstance. Those teeth showed again, and she spoke, a ring of authenticity in her voice. "Good answer." It was a real compliment, a nod to the mixed breed and her open-mindedness
The young woman's next words brought a quiet laugh from the woman, and she wondered how the hybrid did not find her frightening. Perhaps she was one of the rare few who also viewed her scars as they were intended: the marks of warfare and survival. Or, that perspective's lesser companion, the view that scars were visual aids to some combative or heartbreaking tale. There was always the possibility that Sofia brought something else entirely; that is, the ability to look beyond the scars and marks of the past to the creature beneath. "We're not so bad, but I wouldn't recommend crossing us," the hybrid said. It was surely not a warning; her relaxed posture and her quiet voice were completely non-threatening. "But that makes us like everyone else," the hybrid asserted quickly. For sure, no living thing liked to be screwed with, and defensiveness was just that, a mechanism intended for survival.
The woman's next words surprised the coyote, and they brought an unprecedented stillness to her features as she gazed toward the scenery, that fiery eye growing dim as she looked to the clouded window. She had heard many theories and many things, but she had no definitive answer for Sofia. Thankfully, that was not what the hybrid wanted. Her voice was smaller and more hesitant than she would have liked, revealing more vulnerability and insecurity about her rising age than Kaena had ever previously admitted. "Some of us think you can be reborn, maybe in your own children or their children, or someone else's children entirely," she said, shrugging a shoulder to show it was not a core belief of her own. Reincarnation made little sense to the grizzled hybrid; she did not understand, then, why she could not recall the past lives of her own.
A contemplative sigh escaped the elder woman's mouth, her eye seeking the dripping corners of the room, the candle's flame, anything but that peculiar jade gaze. Finally, her damaged eye and her whole one fell on Sofia again, and she was speaking from her own heart. "I think we live on in others, in their blood and memory. Some of us disappear, and others remain as ghosts," she said, thinking of Ahren and Lillith again with that same tingle of envy in her spine. Would she be so lucky? The veteran coyote wondered who she would choose to haunt, if so. Would it be one of her children? "I don't know for sure." There was the faintest hint of fear across her scarred features, buried beneath the enforced calm. She would never in a million years admitted to Sofia that she was afraid of dying, though the younger hybrid might have guessed on her own by now.
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oye, finally i get time to reply~ <3. 683 words
Maybe the coyote before her had managed to live as long as she had because of those scars. Because in order to survive in this world, you had to fight, even-tempered virtue just didn't cut it these days. Sofia was going to make it to two. She was pretty confident that she'd be able to survive the two months or so between now and her birthday. Three, though, was basically out of the question. Her current best estimate was January or so. Around the new year would be nice, very poetic, it would make a very lovely story. If she was lucky, she might get a few more months; if not, a few less. More than one more September? Not going to happen.
Kaena complimented Sofi's answer, but she didn't think it was anything she really deserved. She just found it really hard to hold any grudges or cling to any prejudices she'd been taught. What was the point? It was never pleasant, no matter how it turned out - fighting, avoidance, awkwardness, whatever. Sofia didn't have the time to waste with that sort of triviality, not any more, and even before the full weight of mortality descended upon her shoulders she had been remarkably easy to get along with.
Her own father had been pretty scarred. Physically in abundance, plus his crippled back leg. And mentally, even more so. It was something she sort of believed that one picked up inevitably with age. Even if you didn't fight, sometimes it was unavoidable, and some of Daddy's scars had been caused by sources other than the teeth of a fellow canine. Sofia nodded at the comment about not crossing coyotes, and then her amendment to include everyone in that statement. Of course, of course.
But then Kaena answered her question, and Sofia's ears perked up as she focused intently on what she was saying, determined not to let so much as a syllable slip by unprocessed. She missed the vulnerability and insecurity in the older female's tone, so wrapped up was she in her own. Huh, being reborn. That was.. interesting. Sofia supposed all memories must be lost in the process, if it were true, 'cause she certainly didn't remember any previous lives. It was a nice idea, and it would be cool to think that this wasn't really all.. gone, once she was. That she would still be able to hunt and explore and play, even if through an entirely different body. Sofi couldn't help but be a bit skeptical, though, especially after Kaena shrugged her disbelief of the thought.
Blood and memory. It made some sort of sense, but all of these theories sort of did. Sofi wasn't sure she liked this idea more than the last, though.. The only memory, the only canine that had ever really known her had been her father, and as disturbing as it was to acknowledge that he wasn't immortal, he was getting sort of old himself. No one else from back home would likely remember for very long. Maybe the old doctor, when he flipped through his books and remembered the missing pages and the girl that suffered by them. And blood.. well, she didn't have children. Never would, either. In the other direction, her mother was dead, and her father never knew her. Memories without blood, blood without memories. Sofia couldn't believe that either was strong enough to bring her back, to tether her soul as a ghost.
"I'm afraid of dying." Sofi said simply. She had picked up slightly on a hint of fear in Kaena's voice and face, and wondered if it could really be true. If this.. warrior, this coyote, who wasn't even bothered by the thunder and the lightning.. (A boom, and yet another flinch from the girl). So she spoke her own heart on the matter. Even if Kaena didn't really want to admit to such a thing (Sofi knew enough that fear was shameful to be embarrassed, but didn't care enough to keep quiet on the subject), well, maybe she could comfort herself in the process of comforting the silly young girl.
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[html] | http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/ ... tblood.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:248px; padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-bottom:10px;"> Concern for her own fate was a new thought for Kaena Lykoi. In her youthful years, she had been outright reckless when it came to her own life. She hadn't cared if she died at any moment; there was nothing to tether her to this world. Her ancestral family was dead, as far as she knew, and what little hadn't been then would certainly be dead by now. Kaena herself was almost a decade of age—Vasilik and Sibylla were surely dead, as were her paternal grandparents. Anyone she had known of before coming here was almost certainly gone, passed into other dimensions of existence or otherwise departed from their home territory, scattered across the earth.
But she had offspring here, even grandchildren—a long, strong line of children and grandchildren carry on her name and the surname she had brought to this land. The Lykois were in no danger of dying out—her son, Gabriel, carried the torch brightly at the head of Inferni, and there were still others. They scattered as her ancestral family had, flung to the wind and spreading out over the land. Maybe there were Lykois she wasn't even aware of—maybe here, maybe somewhere else. Maybe some of them were raised in captivity, forever wondering why they were never truly happy with pack life. Or even still, maybe some of them were happy with their situation. The hybrid did not know, and such thoughts often haunted her in the lonely still of night.
The young woman spoke, and at first the hybrid woman almost snorted, sneered—what could a creature so young and spry as this one have to fear in death and dying? There was a strange solemn note to her voice, one that had caused Kaena to hesitate before speaking too rashly, and her golden eye again roved over the mottled woman's face. There was definite fear there, something which told Kaena that it was not the usual realization of mortality—this woman before her here would face something soon, whether it was rebellion of her own body or illness or an enemy, and she knew it was going to kill her. The woman's sable ears folded back, and her single searing eye did not leave Sofia's face.
For a long minute, the scarred hybrid was quiet, though her face was not blank. It twisted and her brows furrowed with thought, churning over this revelation. She felt similarly, but it was generally beyond Kaena to open up so widely, especially to one she'd just met. But they were all the way out here in the middle of nowhere, she was alone—what harm could come of this? "So am I," she finally said, shaking her grizzled head, that golden eye finally forced away from the younger canine, focusing on the damp and dusty corners of the cabin. "But you can't run from death for too long. Better to turn and face him than to die a coward," she said. It was not the most comforting thing that had ever passed from Kaena's mouth, but there was a strength and harshness behind her words which gave them validity. "We can't live forever," the woman added softly, then. |
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Kaena gave Sofi a long, hard look, and the younger girl more than half-expected her to laugh. It was silly, if you didn't know the circumstances. Completely and utterly preposterous. What right did Sofia have, to fear death as not much more than a child? But maybe Sofia's tone had demonstrated enough resignation, enough.. inevitability to give her pause, because the coyote did not laugh at her. She wasn't really sure if she was glad or not. Yeah, being laughed at was sort of embarrassing, but she had been ready for it, ready to force a smile on her face and maybe let the laughter pave way to more cheerful topics. A bridge, a segue from this horror. Instead, she almost felt like.. well, she didn't really know. Like Kaena knew? That didn't make any sense to her. Sofia bore no apparent physical signs of illness. Not yet, and probably not even once the cancer progressed. At the point when she couldn't walk it would be easy enough to tell something was wrong simply by the fact that she.. wasn't ever leaving a den, but unless she broke fragile bones with carelessness a casual glance still wouldn't be revealing.
Sofia extended one arm partway across the table, casually picking up one of the rocks that had been lying near the candle. She felt fidgety, uncomfortable facing the penetrating stare of the older female. How had she figured it out? Would other people be able to tell, as readily? Maybe Sofi overestimated her ability to keep this a secret. If so, it had seriously been a good idea to leave Calypso. He would have found out so shortly! It probably didn't help that Sofi herself had turned the conversation to subjects of mortality. She studied the rock she now held, feeling the roughness against her fingers as she turned it, examined it. It was much easier to avoid intimidating eye contact with something else to fix on, to pretend to be paying attention to.
She found an unintended bitter humor in Kaena's particular turn of phrase, and halfway wanted to smile at the irony. But no, that would be way too morbid. It was just, well, the idea of running from death compounded with the fact that Sofi's death would come not long after she could literally no longer run. Poor girl, forced into bravery, her ability to flee from death or anything stripped completely away!
And then the comfort she had been hoping for was spoken, but fell flat. Can't live forever. "Why not?" She asked sullenly to the rock in her hands, petulantly and childishly demanding an answer to a question that didn't have one. "Or at least.. why not just a little longer." Sofia clenched her fist around the rock, and glanced up slightly, just enough to look at her companion. "It's not even fair! I never even got to do anything! I haven't even had my first kiss!" Which was, of course, a serious serious matter to an adolescent with mortality looming.
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[html] | http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_disorder.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> Death was a strange concept. The coyote woman had reveled in death in her younger years, dancing with him under the moonlight, all the while tempting him to come and take her. She had been reckless, she had been stupid—she had practically begged him to come and take her, relieving her from the chaos that was her mind. Young Kaena's black knight had never arrived, however, and as the Lykoi woman aged, she had not so much learned to control the disorder in her head as she had learned to cope with it. There was no changing her; the damage was long done. Now, she looked at death with fear in that solitary eye, revulsion and terror replacing her carelessness.
Parts of Kaena Lykoi certainly did wish to live forever. The hybrid woman was an arrogant, proud thing, and she thought of her own passing as a tragedy to the world. Oh, to grow ancient and witness countless generations of bloodthirsty Lykoi spilling from Inferni's loins—what a sight she would be, one-eyed and blind, almost white after a hundred years on the earth. The younger woman's explosion had certainly come as a surprise to the hybrid woman, but she could only wearily smile again, that same tired thing lighting on her charcoal lips. "If we didn't die, canines a thousand years old would still run with us, but where would we run?" It was a simple answer, the best one she could find. In Kaena's mind, there was no comfort when it came to this subject—mortality was a difficult issue to face, at best. Sometimes, it was the logical, obvious conclusion that gave the most comfort, anyway.
She sighed heavily, though it surely was not one of boredom. The hybrid did not know exactly what the young woman's plight was, but there was a certainty and heaviness to her, the simple way she'd inquired about such a heavy subject and her outburst now—this had assured Kaena, the girl would face her enemy soon. Her tone had again shifted, replaced with that almost motherly comfort. "I am almost ten years old, and I should have died with all of my sisters, weeks after we were born. I think death has been chasing me ever since, but he hasn't caught up yet," the hybrid spoke. Her own story wasn't a comfort, no—it was merely a long, brutal tale that only served to outline the cruelty of the world—but it did seem as though the coyote woman should have died long ago, several times over.
There was another smile on her scarred features, and Kaena's head turned, that blazing golden eye focused intensely on Sofia for a moment. "You might end up with longer than you thought you'd get." She was evidence enough of this; there were numerous times the silvery canine had wandered too close to that line, courting her oldest friend openly, daring him to reach out and touch her with a single, bony finger—and now here was this woman before her, doomed to a life of brevity. Pity was an unknown emotion in the silvery hybrid, and that was not what she felt as she gazed at Sofia, but there was something vaguely similar, a rare moment of empathy for the silvery woman. |
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like i promised, super fail suck and super fail short X_X
Canines a thousand years old would still be alive, true. But why was death and birth necessary in the first place? Couldn't everything just.. exist? True, that wouldn't work for like deer or animals that were food. And so much of the social structures were about respecting elders, about raising children the right way.. What was the point of it all? It seemed like things would just work so much better if everyone was able to live as long as they wanted. She was still too attached to the idea of life, clinging too desperately to the fact that death was unfair, to be able to take any of the flaws seriously in this perfect world she imagined.
"It doesn't have to be everyone." Sofi persisted sullenly. "Just like me, and you, too, maybe. And the people I care about." Kaena's story was no more or less than Sofi expected. Ten years was so old though! She thought she was younger. The ten year old wolves she had known back at home had all seemed so much more.. removed, from Sofi's life. So much older and so much less.. wild? Ferocious? Than this coyote before her. She seemed younger than ten in terms of attitude, but the experience that hung heavily on Kaena seemed about right for a coyote of that age.
Yes, it was true, she might end up with longer than she thought. The estimate of six months was just that - an estimate. An average. She could live a few more than that, maybe. Could live a few less, if the disease picked up its pace and hit her hard. "Yeah, maybe." Paused, then she shrugged. Kaena had already figured out the gist of it, and she had shared her story, so why not share a bit about herself? "Depends how fast the cancer spreads."
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The coyote woman was not a particularly philosophical creature. She did not often wonder why things happened; she was a canine of coping and reaction more than anything else. Kaena had not wasted years of her life wondering why Salvaged had taken Zulifer's life. She assumed it was simple jealousy, but beyond that she hadn't cared enough to investigate into the mystery of his mind. All that mattered was that he had wronged her, and for that the coyote woman had made absolutely certain he had paid in full, with added interest for the long, long time his debt had been outstanding. Then again, that hadn't worked out so well, had it? Eris had been far more trouble than she was worth; she had cost Kaena nearly everything.
The hybrid woman was rattled from her thoughts by a rumble of thunder, and she was whisked back to the dark, cool cabin with this dying stranger. The candle flickered as wind crept through the cracks in the wall. Surely, at one point in time, the honest, simple humans who had dwelled inside of these buildings had made sure those chinks were filled, and at one time this building had been as warm and airtight as brick. Still, those Amish people, their lifestyle had done no more to save them from the virus that massacred the rest of humanity. They died and burned just the same as the others. The younger canine's voice caught her attention, and Kae smiled at the words, finding them a strange comfort—why should she care what Sofia thought of her? Still, it was very nice to think she was in someone's good graces.
"It sure would be nice," the coyote murmured, commiserating with the younger woman. Both of them were nearing the twilight of their lives, and the curtains would soon draw to a close for both of them. Sofia spoke again, and Kaena winced at the words—cancer. So it was not an enemy she was fighting, but her own body and flesh. The hybrid woman understood little of disease and medicine, but she was not so dense she did not recognize a death sentence when one was handed out. She frowned. "I'm sure you've already seen a healer," the coyote quietly ventured.
"Maybe another can help you," she added, thinking of Fatin. They were near to the city—there were hospitals and ancient medical devices there the hybrid woman couldn't begin to even identify, much less use. But there were far smarter canines than Kaena Lykoi, and certainly one with a proficiency for reading and a working knowledge of medicine could figure things out further than she could. In the end, perhaps it was too late for Sofia—then the only thing to do was enjoy what was left. Still, with the knowledge He was coming for her—Kaena was certain Sofia wouldn't waste a minute left of her life. There was only so much time for everyone, she supposed, but maybe it would be nice to have a countdown, a clock by which to tell the time—that way, the midnight hour would not blindside her.
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Sofia didn't want to hope, again. It was too hard. Despair was too crushing when it slammed into you again, too hard to readjust to. It was easier to just stay numb to it, than to dip in and out. "Maybe." Sofi replied doubtfully, not wanting to seem rude, because Kaena sounded like she was just trying to help. But she didn't believe, couldn't actually bring herself to believe there was any real chance to be saved. "I saw a doctor back home, he figured out what it was and gave me some pages from his book." Her hand fluttered down, resting on the pants pocket that held them, feeling them crinkle beneath the fabric. "The symptoms match so far, and there's not really much I can do to stop em." Sofia didn't go into the specifics, the conversation was already uncomfortable enough. The ghastly image of herself, all limbs amputated, rose to her mind when she mentioned the lack of preventative measures.
Sofi shivered again, and this time not at the lightning and thunder outside. The rain, though, did seem to be less violent than it initially was. Was the storm passing already? How long had it been, anyway? Sure, pauses frequented this conversation, but Sofi didn't think they had been talking that long regardless.
Desperately wanting to shift the topic to something else, Sofia grabbed the first unrelated question that sprang to mind. It would have been mortifying to ask under normal circumstances, but here in this cold, drafty little building, with the rain and thunder crashing all around, with the words already spoken so boldly and blatantly on both sides.. She sort of felt like it was more okay, here, to talk about the things you never ever talked about in real life, in average social situations.
"How'd you lose your eye?" Sofi hoped all the same that it would be obvious, at least, that she didn't mean to offend, that she just wanted to be distracted, that she didn't want to dwell overlong on the subject that she couldn't ever erase completely from her mind. Even when happy, there was the shadow in the back of her skull. True, sometimes it further brightened the day, to think that she was spending her time well, but it didn't change the fact that it was affecting her, always always influencing every thought and feeling of every sort. She pleaded, with her green eyes, for the older female to let that topic rest, to carry conversation forward, even if it eventually ended up elsewhere than Kaena's injuries. The point wasn't the destination of the conversation, it was just to leave this thing behind.
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[html]  | I powerplay a little, hope it's OK?
mall-caps;">In Character
The silvery hybrid listened to the storm outside. The thunder hadn't rumbled in some time, and it sounded as if the rain was decreasing. It was already dark outside, so the hybrid could see no difference in the driving rain. It did feel as though the earth had ceased to rage around them, and after a moment her scarred head turned back to her companion, listening with polite attentiveness. Her eye followed the woman's hand to her pocket, cocking her head to the side. She was not sure if she wished to read those papers. For one thing, she probably wouldn't understand them, and for another she was not absolutely certain she wanted to know what horrible ways one's body could choose to revolt.
The silver coyote frowned, nodding slowly. "It must be hard for you," she said softly, shaking her head. On an impulse, the hybrid reached out and seized the younger canine's shoulder in a firm but painless grip, perhaps trying to channel her own strength into the silver woman. "Be as strong as you can," the hybrid added, her voice somewhat taut. She felt for this young woman and her death sentence, a burning desire to help, to do something. She was too young for this fate; it felt more fitting for an old, scarred thing like herself. The silver canine's hand dropped from the younger hybrid's shoulder, and it was Kaena's turn to feel awkward, her sun-yellow eye turning to the floors, the walls, anything but Sofi's olive-colored gaze.
The younger canid shivered, and the hybrid finally looked back toward her, surprised at the question. She remembered quite well; Kryptic had come rather close to removing both of her eyes. The scar to the side of her remaining good eye was also thanks to that wolf, also—there was less than an inch between that thick scar and her sun-colored eye. "A wolf stole it from me. I don't even remember why we were fighting, it was so long ago." The silvery woman sounded almost light and airy as she explained this to Sofi. It was surely true; Kaena couldn't recall anything beyond Kryptic's face and the searing pain of his canine tooth penetrating her right eyeball. "And this one, too, is thanks to that wolf," she said, indicating the scar to the side of her good eye. "I suppose I should be blind," she ventured, still marveling at how she had not lost her other eye.
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yap, is fine . 338 words
Kaena grabbed her shoulder, and Sofi shivered. At the cold, or the intensity of the moment? She didn't even know. She missed her father, suddenly, painfully. He was mostly the only person that would ever touch her. Even as a puppy, she hadn't ever romped or played with anyone but him. Well, and her siblings and mother, but they were long dead and faint smudges of memory compared to the vivid brightness of her adored father. Kaena looked away when releasing her shoulder, after, which gave Sofi a chance to compose herself. Was she going to cry? She couldn't even tell. She felt numb, and cold, and suddenly overwhelmingly tired. She didn't say anything in response, but she solemnly met the other's gaze, feeling somehow that she didn't really need words to convey her thanks. It was such a sticky subject; it was so nice to have someone understand, but sympathy crawled under one's skin. It was a terrible thing to have someone pity you.
A wolf took her eye. It gave Sofi goosebumps. Did coyotes and wolves fight, here? She hoped not, she had no intentions to get into such battles. But the prejudices ran deep in so many that she had met. She could pass for a wolf almost all the time, but was that even what she wanted? So much of what she saw painted them as the aggressor. Of course, she didn't know the details of Kaena's story. Yeah, a wolf took her eye, but maybe she had attacked him first. Or ate his babies, or something? Wasn't that was coyotes were supposed to do? There were all sorts of dark myths, but honestly, they all sounded similarly ridiculous. Her encounter with Kaena now only seemed to confirm to Sofi that so much of the racial tension was completely unfounded.
She had come close to blindness. That would be a strange way to live life. Sofia's sight was her primary means of enjoying the various new places she was traveling. "Were all your scars from wolves?"
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[html] | http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/kae_razor.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> The hybrid woman was glad that her sudden affront had not startled the younger canine, and Kaena offered her a genuine smile, liking Sofi more with each passing moment. She was good-hearted and she did not deserve her fate, though Kaena would not go so far as to say they ought to switch place. The silvery hybrid intended on fully living every moment the fates granted her to the fullest, and she knew it was probably not that much longer. They were remarkably similar in that matter; both of their clocks had begun the final countdown.
Kaena was always eager to dicuss her scars, finding them an interesting subject. Sofi did not appear to have any scar-stories to swap of her own, but Kaena supposed this was a good thing, figuring the lighter-colored canine had experienced enough hardship in her lifetime. "No," the coyote, shaking her head. A spidery hand lighted on her own shoulder, and traced the thick, long markings there. They crossed over her back, almost touching the very tips of her chaos star. "My son gave me this one," the hybrid said.
Truth be told, a wolf could be held accountable for that one, too. It was Salvaged Eternity's fault for corrupting him, though Kaena supposed it was in fact Jaded Shadows which had rescued the young child from death. After all, Kae was the one to leave him there on the borders, hoping—albeit stupidly—they would not recognize the wolfish boy for a hybrid and a child of Inferni. That had gone as sourly wrong as possible, since Salvaged had turned the coyote woman's abandonment of her children completely against her.
"My mother gave me these," she said, that same hand indicating the single scar extending over each of her eyes. "They are to remind me whose child I am, forever," the coyote said almost lightly, repeating the mantra about those scars that had existed for her whole life. Her mother had whispered it on giving them to Kaena and her siblings, though they were all certainly dead.
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maybe end this one? <3. 319 words
The idea of a child turning against parent like that made Sofi very uneasy. She was learning a lot of new things about how canines in the real world actually acted, and it was such a.. different place, than the little sheltered home she had spent the rest of her life living in. What could possess someone to do such a thing to their very parent? She wanted so badly to avoid hurting Calypso, to be a kind and caring daughter that she had forcibly removed herself from his company. But.. to be fair, she had other parents too. Her mother, Lily, was a gentle, warm glowy-thing from the first month or so of life. And her father of blood, a villain of Calypso's past, an unknown form of darkness that ended up providing to her a new option for life. Ended up providing her with this door to her other heritage that was now cracking slightly open, that had probably assisted in this connection with Kaena.
And the older hybrid's own parents had marked her, albeit somewhat more visibly now that Sofia knew who had cause those eye-scars. Were her son's scars marks of love, too? Was it a family thing, a sort of heirloom to pass on and pass up and connect them all forever? Was it even a coyote custom? The questions sounded too stupid to ask, so she didn't. Instead, she noticed with a start that the rain outside had all been stopped. When had that happened? It didn't seem like they had been talking here for that long, but it was entirely possible she had just lost track of time. For all that various individual awkward moments had seemed to stretch out into infinity, every encounter looked at in a general sense had started rushing by with alarming speed once Sofi realized that her time left was so limited. "Sounds like the storm has stopped."
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[html] http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/kae_razor.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> Sounds like a plan. <3 We has shiny new thread to play with. DD
The coyote woman had always hated her mother, and it was no different thinking of Delphine now. It was almost fated that Kaena would fail time and time again as a mother, abandoning her young children in pursuit of a blasphemous, terrible youth who should never have existed in the first place. It was Delphine's fault, then, though Kaena knew her own choices played the most vital part in the rearing of her own children. She could have chosen to stay. She could have kept Kerberos and Maeryn close, sticking out the empty, hollowed feeling she had upon Zulifer's murder for the good of her children, but it seemed that Kaena Lykoi was not so strong a creature as that. Miserable and doomed to failure, the only children she had that had turned out right were half-raised by someone else; Gabriel and his ilk had Ahren to thank for half of their stable foundation, and Samael and his lot had their elder brother Molochai to look up to.
The younger canine spoke, and the silvery hybrid smiled, peering out of the blurred windows to dark skies. The clouds still threatened, but perhaps they had released the majority of their precipitation already, and the hybrid could walk home in relative dryness. "I think I'll head home, then," the coyote said, standing and heading for the door. She was not one for prolonged social encounters, and the hybrid felt they'd spent sufficient time together now; they knew different, secret parts of each other now. That strange bond linked them along with their muddled heritages, and the hybrid could not help but turn back from the doorframe, hesitantly looking to the silvery woman. "You know where Inferni is? You can come find me if you want," the hybrid said awkwardly, rolling a leaden-furred shoulder and offering a quick smile before she walked out the door, pacing comfortably in the direction of Inferni, shooting glances back toward the small guard-house where Sofia still sat. |
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