Dulled gray and black coated the sky, patched with the occasional lighter patches of off-white and silver. Lightning illuminated the sky every few moments, flashing behind the clouds and lighting up the whole earth for mere seconds before disappearing again, dashing the world into the storm's darkness. It had not yet started to rain, and the coyote waited, her gold-yellow eye turned skyward, focusing on the stormy sky. She was seated in her Secui form, the daintiness of her posture belying the strength of her muscles and the darkness of her heart. Both forepaws were tucked between her rear paws, her pale throat tilted to the sky with wonder.



    Nigh a decade wandering the earth had not lessened the reverence and power of nature in the silvery canid. Kaena still marveled at the strength the earth held in her grasp; there was something in the great mother that the fragile, temporary hybrid could never aspire to equal, much less surpass. It might have been the hundred thousandth storm Kaena's glimmering aureate eye had viewed, but it was no less spectacular than the very first. The bruise-colored sky clearly forebode rain, but for the moment the world was dry. The smell on the wind was thick and moist, but amongst the heavy dampness of the impending storm, Kaena sought an unfamiliar scent.



    Brilliant scarlet flashed in the Lykoi matron's mind as realization hit her and an alarm screamed in her thoughts. There was familiarity accompanying the dominant scent on the wind; it was the muddled, communal scent of Phoenix Valley that sent her to her clawed feet immediately. Her hackles stood on end and already those fatal canines contrasted off-white with her coal-colored lips. She did not know the individual, but the old coyote had clearly recognized the badge the wolf wore, and it was one certainly unwelcome within Inferni's land.



    The canine stood, her long limbs rippling beneath the dusty gray fur as she stretched, moving swiftly from the mansion's porch she had chosen to watch the storm roll in. There was no longer time for such pleasantries for the hybrid woman. There would be other storms to watch. The halfling bounded from the porch, her feet carrying her with the pointed trot of a coyote, that pace quickened by the sensed urgency of the situation. This was the second time she had caught one of them on their lands, and this time she was not so foolish as to mistake their scent for something else. Skylar had gotten off lucky; if Kaena had known of Phoenix Valley how her coyotes regarded them, her fangs would have been far swifter than her mouth.



    There was no forgiveness in her heart this time, and her yellow-gold eye seared through the shadowy darkness brought on by the impending storm, seeking the source of that wolf stink on the air. The forest seemed familiar as the hybrid woman glided through it, keeping herself low to the ground and moving like liquid. She had known these territories for the better part of two months, and they were a familiar haunt for her by now. For certain, the silvery canine held the home advantage. The pallid canine came into view before her, a ghost-white figure in the relative dark of the woods. Rage showed in her golden eye, and those writhing lips pulled back further to expose those gleaming canines. She stopped, several feet in front of the pale wolf, the throaty growl resonating from within her relaying volumes more than any spoken word could: not welcome.

Aaah, I forgot how fun it is to write for pissed Kaena. :p I'm sorry, and I swear next round I will not write a long post. :| I usually don't during fights anyways!


    There was clear anger in the scarred canine's features. The russet splash across her muzzle writhed with anger, those coal lips pulled back to expose those fatal teeth. Xeris seemed innocuous enough, but Kaena would not be fooled. Gabriel had made it crystal clear how things were between Phoenix Valley and Inferni, and that scent radiating from her was clear enough. Inferni had clear enough visual and olfactory borders; they hadn't hung gleaming white skulls from the trees and posted them at sticks just for the aesthetic value. The wolf spoke, which was something of a surprise to Kaena. Though her words were surely not malicious, the coyote still advanced on stiff legs, closing the distance between them slowly.



    A glimmering fire-yellow eye sized up the other female, noting they were roughly the same size. Whatever size advantage her pure blood had granted her was gone, and they were roughly equals in that manner. Xeris might have had an inch and five pounds on Kaena, but it was hardly enough of a difference to translate into a serious handicap for the elder coyote, should her aggression escalate. Kaena surely had years on the pallid Valley wolf, which was both advantageous and a hindrance; while she surely had the blessing of experience, her advanced age had slowed her down some. Still, it was not enough to completely cancel that one thing Kaena held above all else—her simple familiarity with combat. These were instant truths to the Veritas as that solo eye roved the ghost-wolf's body just once.



    Immediately that snarl widened at the woman's words, the growl again resonating from her throat. She was supposed to believe that? Skylar had fed almost the same lines, and her story had constantly shifted from the very moment Kaena had begun her interrogation. It hadn't made sense then, and now that she'd churned the matter over again in her head, it really didn't make sense. Skylar was roughly the same age as Jael, but he might have edged her out by several months. Why would Colibri have taken another coyote lover so soon after being raped by a coyote? There was no proof either way, but the coyote felt in her bones that Skylar had been lying. This wolf's presence on Inferni land and the pack smell she had inflamed the Veritas's suspicions even more.



    Her raspy voice issued forth like a hiss, seething rage only halfway masked as she spat her words out. "I'm supposed to believe that," she said, now beginning to walk in a half-circle around the white wolf. The serrated ridge of sable fur along her spine stood on end, that burning eye regarding the similarly hued gaze of the wolf. Everything in Kaena's pacing and her body screamed aggression; the wolf's continued presence here agitated her, and the attempt to talk her way out of this had made the coyote even angrier. Why didn't they ever just run? "Like you don't know you're walking on Inferni's soil." The possessive words rolled from her mouth so easily, emphasizing the word "Inferni" above anything else, dropping it like an explosion into the sentence which faded into another growl.



    Without warning, the sky opened up, sheets of rain almost immediately beginning to pour from the sky. The coyote remained, unfazed by the sudden squall. The fervor in her heart matched the weather perfectly, and goaded her to fury. She moved suddenly in a flash of white-hot lightning that streaked across the sky and illuminated everything, her brilliantly white target glowing as if painted with neon. Her teeth snapped closed inches next to the wolf's head in a dire warning to the female. If Kaena had intended to strike then, she would have, surely; there was still some chance for Xeris to run, though surely the devil herself would snap at her heels all the way out of Inferni.

    Adrenaline sang through the coyote's veins and she felt more alive and awake than ever before, the fight searing through her limbs to her extremeties and making it feel as though she were dancing across the ground inches above it, moving with such speed that the whole rest of the world seemed to slow to a drag around her. The wolf began to shift, her body bulking up and rippling with muscle. There was no evident fear in the Lykoi's body or her features, just that endless anger.



    The pearly-furred woman darted for her legs, and Kaena's jaws immediately arced downward, aiming to deliver a toothy strike to her skull even as she felt fangs clinch on the meaty part of her right foreleg. She struck like a snake, doing her best to ignore the pain even as blood bubbled up from the wound. It wasn't as if it was unfamiliar to the Lykoi woman; it seemed her life consisted of hurt alone. The wet air was tinged with that coppery scent of blood, and the Lykoi woman took a few fast steps back, licking her lips as that single golden-yellow eye studied the wound Xeris had inflicted. It was shallow, but she had drawn first blood, and that drove the Veritas to frenzy.



    She charged again, her body low and her head kept down, exposing just the top of her head and those thickly-furred shoulders to the white wolf as she swept low, presenting the right shoulder in a brutish attempt to sweep the wolf off of her feet. There was another sharp growl issuing from her writhing lips as she charged, echoing forth even through the noise of the storm. The fight had reawakened something ancient in the Lykoi woman, though she surely was not aiming to kill this wolf. Trespasser or not, it did nothing to stir unnecessary conflict between their packs with an unneeded death, and Xeris would be allowed to run away from this place today.

    Her charge brought a jarring strike to the coyote's shoulder, jamming her up with both of the wolf's claws. They sliced through her flesh neatly, searing pain rippling up and down her shoulder. The pain was enough to draw her back, panting heavily and glowering at the wolf woman as she righted herself, climbing to her feet. That snarl writhed across her lips, her wicked canines glittering even in the dull light. The wounds across her shoulder were deep, blood winding down her whole leg. The pain bit into her as she took a step forward, favoring her other leg now.



    Even so, the Secui hardly flinched as she stepped forward, the rain beginning to wash the blood from her shoulder. She was lucky for her fur; if it weren't for the thick, protective coat across her neck and shoulders, the wound would have been debilitating. Even now, she was sure it would scar, though that thought only thrilled her. More war wounds to display proudly to the world. A pink tongue slipped out of her drawn lips, roving over her muzzle. There was less rage on her features now, muted by the pain radiating outward from the wound on her shoulder.



    There was no warning as she swept forward again, charging for the woman. She took care this time to dart in to her at an angle, doing her best to avoid those sharp claws and fangs. She had been stupid to underestimate the willpower of a creature to survive when it believed its life to be endangered; they fought far harder if they believed they were about to die. It was true that Kaena was a murderous madwoman, given to bloodshed and violence as others are meant for holiness and goodwill. Her teeth bared, aiming to rake the woman along her ribs even as her big paw swept underneath the woman, those jagged claws aiming to swipe her legs out from under her again. Put her in the ground, a sinister voice whispered into her ear even as thunder drowned out her frenzied growling. Even so, she did not intend to kill Xeris. There was no blind rage obscuring the political consequences of such an act; even Kaena was not so crazy as to incite warfare without a crown on her head.

    Venom flowed from her mouth as the woman growled again, deep and spiked with the faintest note of distress as throbbing hurt poured from the wound in her shoulder. Moving hurt a lot more than standing still, but the Lykoi did her best, charging at the woman. Her teeth hit home and she tasted blood, that salty and familiar taste coating her tongue and muzzle. She saw red dashed across the pearly white coat now, and she whirled with the wolf, slowed by the wound marring her right shoulder. Xeris was already connecting with her hindquarters, those deadly claws of her Secui form slicing into the woman's hindquarters. It was a glancing blow, just shy of her spine and shallow.



    Kaena turned immediately on the wolf, her deadly fangs striking at the woman's foreleg like a snake. Her canines arced downward, driven to taste the precious life's fluid of the creature again. She would keep spilling it until the woman ran or there was none left to take from her, just a drained and empty thing on the borders. She had ceased to care about the political ramifications of the situation, and she would drive this woman away no matter what form she left in, a battered and bruised physical body or a spiritual embodiment. Still, her wounds had given Kaena pause, and she quickly pedaled backwards a few steps, distancing herself from the wolf for a few moments to regroup.



    The wound across her shoulder had mostly ceased to bleed, though the deep crimson slashes showed plainly through her silvery coat, turning pink and raw as the rain continually washed away the trickles of blood. Her hindquarters stung, and the pain emanating from the first wound was enough to distract her from the second wound. That snarl only grew wider, the thunderous growl turning into almost a bellow as she held her ground, her ears flat against her skull and that razor ridge of shadow along her shoulders and spine stuck up completely on end. She had never stopped moving completely, pacing back and forth in front of Xeris in that same aggressive crescent, keeping a good distance away and waiting for any sign of attack. The coyote would tire soon, and it would do best to save her energy now and wait for the wolf to attack. Xeris was younger and inexperienced, and there would surely be a tell. There always was, some slight twitch or the tiniest widening of the pupil that gave an attacking creature away. She held back, that golden-yellow eye never leaving the similarly hued gaze of the invader.

Ending it here works for me. :]] You could reply once more with her actual escape, but I think this should do it!



    The Lykoi matron was no stranger to pain. She had received wounds more painful than the one criss-crossing her right shoulder, namely when Kryptic Makoi had popped out her eye. The woman remembered that pain all too familiarly, the tooth sinking into her skull and obliterating the vision in that eye for weeks. It had started to return at first, and she'd been able to see light and shadow, and even dim, fuzzy shapes. But then that had disappeared, the remnants of her eye becoming cloudy and sightless until it finally dried up into the knotted scar tissue it was today, pinkish brown and completely sightless. That had been one of the worst physical agonies she'd suffered, and compared to her eye rotting out of her skull, this wound was a mere pinprick.



    The coyote hadn't felt the snap of the wolf's bone, but she watched coldly as the woman looked around wildly. The coyote held back, though her snarl did not fade. The wolf's eyes lit on the edge of the forest, and Kaena's single eye followed her gaze for a moment. Retreat seemed imminent, and Kaena waited, content to see what the wolf's next move was. Another charge would bring the Veritas's fangs down on her swiftly enough, but it didn't seem that was the case. Xeris made a break for the woods, and she was headed out of Inferni's territory. The grizzled canine followed several feet behind, limping after the pearly canine but allowing her to gain a large lead. Kae only intended to follow her to the borders and watch her until she disappeared, making sure she was gone for good from the territory.