Anselm! Figured she could be wandering around in the general vicinity of his garage. 300+

It had been quite a long time since the Commander had ventured into the old city of Halifax. It really wasn't her ideal retreat, she much preferred natural sites and landmarks to this concrete jungle, but she had thought that getting out of her element might do her some good. Her mood was on the mend, but any little thing could send her spiraling back down into that pitch blackness that had consumed her heart for the past moon or so. Arms were crossed over her chest as she carefully picked her way through the debris littered streets. This place would be much more pleasant if it didn't look like such a war-zone, she thought. There was something slightly haunting about the place, all the dead and dusty stores and homes and buildings. It was hard to believe that this place had ever been bustling and filled with life, so long it had been in disrepair.



Today the sun was shining though, which gave the city a slightly less creepy look. Her favorite sightings were where trees and other plants had pushed up through the concrete to reclaim what had once belonged to nature. The juxtaposition of the natural and unnatural world was quite the image and the Italian fey found it intriguing. She stopped in front of a fairly good-sized tree, looking it up and down. She moved close and placed her hand on the bark, almost able to feel the pulse of life. It was funny. The humans had thought that they would be ever-enduring and that the world would never forget them and all they had built. Yet here, slowly, the city was being overrun by what had been there first. Luperci were probably the only creatures that truly remembered the humans, and now that was only by what had been left behind. They had thought they held the world in their hands, and it had been taken from them so quickly.

Awesome van table totally makes up for it ;D 300+

As she stood by the tree the wind blew her wavy mane out behind her, for a few seconds making it look like a rolling onyx sea. Slowly she was starting to gain back some of the weight she had lost over the past two months, but she was still looking underfed. With the safe arrival of her sister's pups and the return of her brother though, her appetite had come back as well. It was a good thing too, because the already slender femme would need the weight to keep her healthy throughout the winter. She was a creature of the Mediterranean and she doubted she would ever fully acclimate to the frigid Canadian winters. Soon it would be time for her to pull out her scarf and coat that she had found here in the city last winter. Savina wasn't much one for wearing clothes, but she was willing to take any extra insulation she could get in the colder months.



Caught up in her thoughts and the scene of the tree before her she was oblivious to the fact that anyone else was around. That wasn't really good, especially in a place like this she should have been more alert. Part of it could have been that she had, until recently, been constantly wound up so tight that now she didn't have the energy to be so vigilant. Whatever it was, she was lucky that the person who found her was a good friend. At her name her vision came back into focus and she turned around, a smile illuminating her face as she saw who it was. "Anselm!" she called cheerily and walked over to meet him. Her smile faltered though when she noticed the injury on his leg. "Are you alright? What happened?" She looked over him more critically now and with a concerned eye.

b'awww XD 300+

Savina hated to see anyone she cared about hurt and instantly felt an anger towards whoever had had the nerve to hurt them. Though Anselm's demeanor didn't change in the slightest and it seemed that aside from the scrape on his leg that he was just fine. That was a relief, though his words were shocking to the (usually) nonviolent femme. She couldn't help the widening of her eyes at his comments. "Oh my gods...well, I'm glad you're alright. That sounds like it was a pretty serious fight. I'm glad you had someone to help you," at least she assumed someone had considering he could only credit himself with two kills. The Dreamer also assumed that whoever they had been they had been asking for it. Unlike some, Anselm wasn't the type to take a life just for the hell of it. "That reminds me, one of my members said you saved her a bit ago. Thank you for that, truly." When Princess had told her of that it had warmed the woman deeply to know that he had looked out for one of her wolves. She was still ignorant as to what he had saved the girl from, however.



At his question of her own well being her face darkened a little and the weariness seeped back into her bones. "It's been a rough couple of months," she sighed, seeing no use in trying to sugarcoat it. "You remember last time I told you how our ex-Commander had been an addict and my daughter had been hurt? Well, it turned out that my brother not only slept with her after this, but got her pregnant as well." The bitterness could not be kept from her voice when talking about the situation, it still cut right to the heart of her. "He was gone for two months, in Phoenix Valley where she's living now. I wasn't sure if he was going to come back. He did, the other night, and we're patching things up, but it's been rough. We've always been so close and for him to do that with her..." Her gaze diverted off to the side, still having trouble dealing with the betrayal.



"If that hadn't been enough, right after he left my sister found out she was pregnant. She lost her fist litter in a miscarriage and we were both worried that it would happen again. I thought I might lose both my siblings. The pups were born though, and they're healthy, thank the gods." Savina offered her friend a weary smile, trying not to get drug under by all her problems once again. "I hope your life has been better than mine lately. How are Ryan and Valkyrie?" The woman had no idea that her last query would dig up demons for the golden clan member.

Damn, this is long o_o; 500+

"Princess is doing well. She's a sweet girl, just didn't get the start in life she deserved to." It was a story that seemed to occur more often than it should. It seemed that she had been treated much better than Ares, her brother, had, but Savina had a hard time believing that Tokyo had been anything close to a good mother to her daughter either. There was something severely wrong with that woman and the Commander was more than happy to take in the mistreated youths and give them a good home. Crimson Dreams was the perfect place for the Chance siblings, considering before they even joined Tokyo had been banned from coming near the pack's borders.



It was a difficult thing for the woman to cope with and she doubted that it would ever change. With time the emotional wounds would fade but they'd never be gone completely. She had trusted her brother the most and he had hurt her in one of the worst ways possible. He hadn't meant to, she knew, but that couldn't change the fact of what had happened. Anselm's words were meant to help and she understood them, but Ehno being friends with Naniko hadn't been the problem (though she would have just preferred for him to stay away from the woman compeletely). "I wasn't asking him to be her enemy, but he went beyond simply being a helping friend as well. That is what is so painful." If he had simply been there to help her out of her addiction Savina wouldn't have had a problem. It was only when Ehno had crossed the line of physical intimacy that things had become so messed up. "I never would have expected him to not help her with the pups, they're his children too. It's hard though. I'm afraid I might never really get to know my nieces and nephew." Her brother wanted her to know them, but Savina knew that if Naniko had a choice she would keep the pups away from her.



The sable fey's head cocked to the side in surprise. "You know my sister?" This was certainly news to her. Not that she cared, she was just surprised that one of her best friends and her sister had met and she was only finding out about it now. "But, yeah, she's fine, and the pups too.
She had a boy and girl." Savina wondered when and where Anselm had met her sister. Surely she hadn't gone all the way up to Inferni. Perhaps here in the city then? She was incredibly curious about this but she kept her questions silent. She didn't want to be nosy and it really wasn't any of her business; Ghita was her sibling not her child.



The Marino's heart dropped at the news of Ryan and Valkyrie. "I'm sorry...I had no idea..." She really hadn't had a clue that Ryan wasn't around anymore. It had been a long while since she had seen her, but that was unfortunately the norm for them considering Savina didn't want to risk going near the coyote clan. Anselm's daughter had been a very dear friend of her's and know that she had left and she hadn't known made her incredibly sad. Ears folded against her head and tail drooped as she looked at the ground. It would be a lie if she said she wasn't a little hurt by the fact that she hadn't gotten to say goodbye. "Yeah...hopefully they'll come back sometime." She tried to keep the sorrow out of her voice in a lame attempt from bringing the mood even lower.



At Anselm's offer she nodded her head. "That sounds nice, thank you," she said finding a smile somewhere deep inside of her. It seemed that her goal of avoiding a dip back into a dark mood had been a failure so far, and that was a disappointment. Maybe another change of scenery would help.

@&#&$Anselm nodded, pleased to hear that Princess was managing to hold up. She'd struck him as an adventurous youth, though perhaps a bit reckless if not a little naive. This was hardly an insult, however... as far as he was concerned, it was fairly standard teenage behaviour. The environment he'd grown up in weeded out the naive well before they reached six months of age, but the reckless that survived were usually rewarded. They were the bold risk takers that held no qualms doing what needed to be done for the pack's continued survival. Things seemed to operate at least somewhat differently around here--children weren't habitually targeted as a war tactic, at least, but this fact barely made the lands any less dangerous. He figured if Princess kept to Crimson Dreams she would be fine, however, and he sincerely hoped she'd found a woman to confide in regarding her... well, "feminine problems."
@&#&$"Hn, I'm sure it's no consolation, but he probably wasn't thinking with the right head, if you catch my drift. I doubt he was trying to hurt you or even aware of the possibility." Although there were always exceptions, Anselm largely felt others should be judged for their intentions... or in this case, the lack thereof. Perhaps his attitude toward sex was a little too liberal for him to truthfully empathise. He hadn't marched in and bit Hybrid's head off, after all, when he found out the sick man had impregnated his own daughter. It was a base, carnal delight and he couldn't particularly fault anyone for indulging where he would have most certainly done the same. "Anyway, I'm sure you have more power over the situation than you realise. Sometimes we have to let go of the past if we want to move forward, yes?" He didn't doubt if Savina came around her brother and Naniko would let her visit the children. He also felt if she truly cared about her family (as he understood her to do), she would be able to work around her own differences for the sake of the puppies.

@&#&$He fished for the key which was buried and camouflaged in his thick golden mane to open the door. Stepping inside, the thick spice of marijuana rushed to greet him. It was impossible not to notice, though he wasn't entirely certain if the Marino woman would even recognise the source as anything special. It could have easily been any other herb, perhaps, though why one would hoard something inconsequential in such quantity was inexplicable and suspicious. "I'm glad to hear Ghita's well, though. She found me here maybe two moons ago, now." Huh; she must've gotten pregnant very shortly after their meeting. Oh well. "What are their names? I'll have to stop by and see the whole crew sometime," he said with a grin. "Anyway, mi casa es su casa," he purred before crashing onto one end of the couch. He'd leave it up to her as to whether she preferred to join him on the opposite end or to take up the bean bag chair--both were good choices, in his opinion.

My word count for this post is exactly 420, lawls XD

Her face soured a little at her friend's next words, but only because she knew them to be true. She just didn't like thinking of her brother giving in so readily to such urges for someone she didn't even think he loved. Maybe he loved the D'Angelo woman in a way, but not in a true way. Not in the way that she loved Kansas and he loved her. "I know he wasn't trying to hurt me it's just...ugh," she snorted in exasperation. "He should have known better. Our father abandoned us because he and our mother weren't mates when she got pregnant. He knows firsthand, just like I do, what can happen with unplanned pups." Maybe her views about sex were a bit old fashioned, but she had good reasons for thinking the way she did. She knew what it was like to be unwanted by a parent and never had wanted her own children, or any children, to have to go through that as well. "I'm more than willing to put the past behind us for the sake of the pups, but I don't know if she is. I think she'd be perfectly content if I weren't a part of their lives at all." Savina would never like the female again, but she could put aside their differences when it came down to kids. She wasn't holding her breath though on expecting the other to do the same.



Savina followed Anselm into his building and the scent that struck her was interesting and she had no clue what it was. It was unpleasant, just different. Though his questions about her sister made her forget her own for the moment. "I see. Aro Marino and Sophia Knight. That'd be wonderful! You still have to meet my kids too, you know," she teased. Though she didn't know if she would be able to call them kids for much longer. They had grown up so fast, faster than she had thought possible. She had watched pups grow up before, but with your own it seemed to move at an even faster pace.



As he plopped down onto the couch she looked around curiously for a moment before walking over to sit next to him, though of course allowing an appropriate amount of distance between them. "Very generous of you," she said to him, smiling. "What's the smell in here? I've never smelled anything quite like it before." Since it was so prominent she figured that he must know what it was.

300+

Savina was just as willing to let the topic of her brother and the D'Angelo slip away. No matter how many different views she got on the matter it wouldn't change the way she felt about things. It just brought her mood down to that darker place and that was exactly what she had come out here to avoid and run away from. Really she just needed a vacation, even if it were only for an afternoon. "It does, too fast if you ask me, at least most of the time." It seemed the bad things lingered longer than was necessary while the good things flew by and you could miss them in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it seemed like the world was out to get you. "Yeah, I know. It's hard to find the chance to get away. Afraid it'd be a little dangerous for me to come see you at Inferni." Anselm may be her friend, but Hybrid most certainly was not. "Are you having problems with Dahlia again?" She hoped not, another war wasn't what anybody needed.



The woman sensed his hesitance and for the life of her she couldn't imagine why. Most likely because she was still mostly ignorant on the topic of drugs and having forgotten that Anselm had such knowledge. He clearly wasn't an addict though, not like Naniko had been. This was probably why it didn't occur to her that what she was smelling was one of those mind-altering substances. She couldn't help but be intrigued though as he said it could be what the doctor ordered. If it would take her mind of her problems then she would listen with open ears.



The Dreamer watched as her friend retrieved a container and opened it, handing a strange looking plant out to her. She took it and sniffed it; yes, that was definitely the smell that permeated the garage. Marijuana? She didn't know what the was, but from his tone she could take a guess. Somewhat nervously she looked back at the plant as a raging argument took place inside her. This was clearly a natural substance, unlike that powder that her former Commander had been using. Still, it was a drug. If she took some, would that make her a hypocrite? What if the pack found out? Or even worse, what if her daughter found out? Savina swallowed, looking back to her friend. "It's not addictive, like that powder, is it?" If it were then she would drop it and never think of it again. But if not...

500+

Savina nodded at Anselm's confirmation that Inferni was no safe place for her. She didn't really need the warning. After what had happened between her and Hybrid she knew that going anywhere near the coyote clan could be a death wish for her. Even her rank as a pack leader wouldn't protect her from such a psychopath. The woman had far too much to lose to risk such a venture. "Yes, I know. I know there's at least one there who would attack me on sight, even if I weren't near the borders." She could remember next to nothing about what had happened, but anyone who would keep a high-ranking wolf hostage and break them as Pilot had been broken had to have some screws loose. No, near the clan was not a place she would go.



A curious expression crossed her face at the mention of a demon in Dahlia's ranks. She knew all of the leaders of that pack and she had not had problems with any of them. Admittedly, she had only met Haku Soul the one time and it had not been on pleasant business, but that had been the fault of one of her members, not his'. "Who do you mean?" She trusted Anselm's judgment and if he was calling someone a demon he was very serious about it. If there was some shadowed threat that she was unaware of then she wanted to know what it was. There had been various conflicts between the members of Dahlia and Crimson Dreams, but they had mostly been personal conflicts. Still, if there were a reason to be more cautious then she wanted to know about it.



His laughter surprised her, but it seemed it was a good surprise. If she had been holding something that was just as bad if not worse than the powder that had caused so much trouble then she would have felt sick over it. It seemed that this substance was much different though. The clear thing was that it was natural, while there had been nothing natural about that white powder. She listened with interest as Anselm explained what it did and how it was different from the other drug she was aware of. This "weed" really didn't sound bad at all, in fact she was very interested to try it. If her life hadn't been so stressful lately she wouldn't have been half as intrigued, but right now it sounded wonderful. Still, she was hesitant though, fearing of breaking the trust with her family and pack.



Emeralds turned back to him at his offer. Yes, yes maybe if she saw it and how it affected him she'd feel better about it. "Yes, I think that would help." Still, there was something else that needed to be said before either one of them got started on this. "If I do this, you can't tell anyone. I don't want anyone in Crimson Dreams finding out, even if it is harmless. This is just between you and me, okay?" If he promised to keep this secret then she would trust him to keep that promise without any further questions.

        Anselm couldn't help but grind his teeth together slightly at her confession. His eyes darkened and his lip twitched viciously as his hackles raised--she hadn't seen him like this before. "Who?" he pressed, the short word poison on his tongue. Lined up already were the usual suspects; so help him god if it was Samael. The tattooed man already had a short fuse with the spindly coyote after learning of what transgressed during the war. Hybrid. Far from surprised, he considered the demented man damn lucky Savina was a patient and level-headed woman. Anselm had every intention of a frank discussion with Gabriel; the Caelum was technically powerless, but that didn't mean he held no sway.
        "I think Gabriel will be less than thrilled to hear that ass clown is being so short-sighted." The words were expelled in an aggravated huff, and for once the subject of Haku would make him relatively calmer. It was one thing to rage against external forces beyond his control--having to deal with the domestic sickness that plagued their clan was enough to turn his stomach. "On the surface Hybrid might not be much different than Haku, but that shit-head wolf is more dangerous because he holds authority over the pack. He's also not above turning on his own mate," he said, knowing the latter first hand as a fact. "Went so far as to keep her from her own children." It was disgusting.
        "So you've never heard how the whole Dahila war got started then, I take it?" It was more rhetorical, and he continued quickly. "Haku's sister trespasses on our land. Not sure if you've ever been anywhere near it, but the borders are pretty hard to miss. She gets attacked by one of our coyotes, causing her to miscarriage. Haku marches on over and ripped this poor woman to shreds. He didn't just kill her; he mutilated her. Guts everywhere. He hung her puppy up, too. They had nothing to do with anything. He scattered these stupid little flowers everywhere, too--I swear just to mock us."
        To him this was old news, but time had done little to ease the level of disgust he felt for Dahlia's Lilium. "I lament that those were not the only innocents to fall; when Gabe and I stumbled upon that mess, we flew over there. There were two males, one holding those same flowers, I..." he trailed off, frowning. At the time it had seemed right, and who knew? Those able-bodied wolves may have pulled the sway in Dahlia's favour during that one final battle. "Anyway, he took Gabriel's daughter as a hostage. She was only a year old. Then he lead a march against us on our own land; we claimed our own hostage, but I did my best to make sure she was well fed, watered.. had stuff to do, y'know?"
        A sigh. "Eventually we had an exchange and a cease-fire was called. I don't think that the alpha wanted anything to do with it; it was all Haku. I even have a couple of friends from Dahlia, eh? It's not them, it's just him." Anselm was positive that the vile man had a crime record miles long--he didn't think that turning on one's own mate and the slaughter of innocents was an isolated thing. In the future he would come to learn more of Haku's dastardly deeds, though he scarcely thought that he needed more evidence to back up his point. To him it was clear as day. The others could rip on Inferni all they wanted--yes, they harboured sickos like Hybrid and Samael--but at least they were kept as subordinates, answerable to their own dumb choices.
        By the end of this sordid tale, he supposed he needed a hit just as much as she did. It was maddening that they couldn't just go over and rip Haku off of his broken throne of blood and bone. Why anyone pledged loyalty to him was stupefying--Anselm would sail away from Inferni and never look back the day a madman was put in charge. Though nobody in his family was the epitome of stability, at least they were not allowed to turn on their own without lethal repercussions. Needless to say, when she consented to his little plan to "open her mind" to the drug, he didn't need to be told twice. He promptly took a pinch of the dried material and stuffed it into a large bowl piece.
        Fishing a lighter out from a cushion of the couch, he struck the flame and waved it around the right half of the bowl. Even by his standards the hit was huge, and as he tossed the lighter aside and removed his finger from the carb so he could inhale quickly, it was all he could do to keep from lapsing into a violent coughing fit. He held it in like a champ, though--he didn't want to scare her off. He slowly exhaled a long stream of smoke, blowing it up and off to the side. The scent alone was calming, and the magnitude of the rapid dose was enough to ensure that the effects were instantaneous. Towards the end he grew overzealous, causing him to cough slightly under his breath. A quick sip from a nearby water bottle (usually reserved for filling the bong) was enough to alleviate the burn in his throat.
        He sunk backwards into the couch, eyes closing briefly. By the time he opened them again, any tension was gone. He waved his hand in casual dismissal of her concerns. "Hey, who would I tell anyway?" he asked lightly. "I don't make a habit of discussing others' personal lives with random folks." For the first time in what seemed like hours, a grin. Anselm thrived on gossip, perhaps, but where it did not concern politics or his own desires, he couldn't be pressed to care. Smoking was so natural to him anyway and he hardly viewed this as some scandalous act; he was just hanging out with a friend.

EPIC POST! SoSuWriMo 1,157

She could sense Anselm tense at the mention of there being a member of his clan that would attack her without a second thought and she almost wished she hadn’t said anything at all. What had happened between her and Hybrid was not something she was proud of. At the time it had seemed like the only thing to do, but looking back she had been damn lucky that she hadn’t been killed or started some massive conflict between Crimson Dreams and Inferni. It was true, something had needed to be done. The abduction of a high ranking wolf was no small matter, but she should have gone to the clan’s leader instead of setting out on the trail for revenge and blood.



It helped somewhat that her friend did not seem surprised at whom it was that would go after her. It seemed the coyote was as mad as she suspected. Still, she felt she needed to share the whole situation with him. It wasn’t that she was wanting to let Hybrid off the hook, not in the least, but she felt that she was somewhat to blame as well. “There’s more to it though Anselm. I’m not proud of this, but remember my anger problem? Well it manifested again…with Hybrid.” She bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t get mad at her. “You see our Brigadier General had gone missing, Pilot Haddon. He showed back up, but he wasn’t the wolf I knew anymore. He had been held hostage by Hybrid and he had…done things to him.” Even recounting it now, almost a year later, made her sick. “I got him to tell me who had done it to him and I just lost it. I went out looking for him and when I found him, I blacked out. The next thing I remember was coming to in the middle of a forest bleeding and weak. Turns out my friend Apollo found us when we were fighting and distracted Hybrid so I could get away. If he hadn’t I don’t think I would have survived.”



Savina looked down at her hands, ashamed once again of her past actions. It had been a foolhardy thing to do and she had paid for it. After a few moments of strained silence she looked to Anselm. “It was a stupid thing to do, I know it. I just thought I should let you know the whole story. Hybrid’s a madman, but I’m not completely innocent in this either.” It was hard for her to tell him this because she didn’t want him to lose respect for her. Still, it was more important to be honest and open with him than to try and save face.



When he said the name Haku, referring to the demon he had mentioned before, a chill ran down her spine. Knowing that a male that was apparently so evil had been so close to her when she had been pregnant frightened her. True, he had been there on pack business, but this new revelation made her rethink the entire encounter in a different and scary light. The news about what he had done to his mate made a hot rage burn in her heart. “Firefly…she’s my sister-in-law. I’ve never actually met her but, the poor woman. What kind of monster separates a mother and child?” It was a rhetorical question as the answer was right there, but still it was unbelievable. No wonder Conor was the way he was.



The Dreamer shook her head. She knew very little detail about the war, only that there had been one and Cercelee had sought sanctuary in Twilight Vale’s borders while she recovered from an attack. As the whole gruesome story was laid out for her it took all she had to sit there and listen to it quietly and without her stomach rebelling against her. It was horrible. Horrors that she had never imagined taking place in the lands that she roamed and called home. It made her fear not only for the safety of her pack, but for the safety of those she called friends in Dahlia. Did they know of his deeds? And if they did, how could they follow him with good conscience? How could Cercelee allow him to lead as he did? It made no sense to her. No sense at all.



After a few moments she collected her thoughts. “I had no idea…that it was so bad. No idea what he was.” She swallowed. “Cercelee didn’t want anything to do with it. The majority of the war she was in Twilight Vale recovering from an attack. She told me she never wanted a war.” A shudder ran through her. “That frightens me…having someone like that so close to my lands. Not to mention the friends that I have that live there. Dear gods…” There were no words to explain what she was feeling right now. The utter disgust for what had happened mixed with the fear and apprehension that the same male was still in a position of power and located so close to her own pack. This knowledge was an awful burden, but she wouldn’t wish to stay ignorant. She needed to know if she were to protect the wolves that she was sworn to.



When things turned back to the little experiment she was considering on trying she could only watch with half-concentration, the previous topics of conversation swirling in her mind. Savina was still interested, it was just hard to focus on something that seemed so trivial compared to the things that the two friends had just been talking about. Emerald orbs watched as he stuffed herb into some contraption and then held a flame to it (she had never seen a lighter before and gave a surprised yip as the flame sprouted from seemingly nowhere). Then he inhaled it and held it in his lungs for a few long moments before he breathed smoke out like a dragon would breathe fire. It was quite the thing to watch and she knew she hadn’t caught it all to do it herself without assistance.



Anselm reclined back onto the couch and looked incredibly relaxed, but every trace of the male she knew was still there. Her grin turned sheepish as he said there was no one for him to even tell. Savina hadn’t though he would go around blabbing about it, but it was just something she had needed to say. “I know, it was just…something I needed to say.” He grinned, and all her apprehensions about trying this out seemed to vanish. He looked so happy and content and she wanted to feel that too. “Okay, so…how do I do this exactly? I watched you but I’m still a little confused.” The thing he was using to smoke with was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Not to mention she had just never smoked anything before period.

@&#&$Anselm had thought little of her "problem" from the first day they met; she'd always struck him as such a collected, kind woman. He couldn't help but feel any situation that merited such an extreme response from the typically docile Italian was justified. While he couldn't really guess the significance of "Brigadier General" relative to anything else (all the other packs' ranking systems confused him), it certainly sounded impressive. "To take any wolf hostage during a time of peace is outrageously stupid, period," he asserted--the notion of him getting mad at her was just ridiculous. "When did all of this happen?" he wondered; it had to have been during his absence, right? He would've noticed if such madness were taking place under his nose, wouldn't he?
@&#&$Needless to say, when he found out just how close of a call it had been he was more worried than anything. A soft whine rose in his throat, and he couldn't help but lean over and nudge her gently with his snout. "That all sounds needlessly fucked up," he concluded with a rough sigh as he sat back in his seat. He was really curious about what Hybrid had done to change her comrade so--but since she hadn't confessed this already, he assumed she did not want to talk about it. Though these dour, dire topics scarcely brought butterflies to his stomach or caused his heart to well with joy, he was glad that they were getting everything out in the open. Anselm liked to know what all of the members of his clan were doing and he knew most of them wouldn't bother to report incidents like these. Politics and drama aside, he thought it said something for their friendship.

@&#&$He was somewhat surprised to hear that she knew of Firefly, but he simply nodded in confirmation as the name was spoken. That they were related (vaguely) through her mate was also intriguing; he wondered if it was weird that he didn't know who this man was (other than one lucky devil). Anselm wasn't usually nosy when it came to other people's personal lives, but as he grew closer to the Marinos he couldn't help but wonder about the other wolves in their lives. What was Ghita's mate like? What about Savina's children? He really would have to go out of his way to visit some day, even if such an excursion was a little inefficient for his tastes.
@&#&$On Haku he only offered a solemn nod. This whole conversation got him wondering how many people didn't know about the demon Dahlia harboured. Maybe if everyone was more aware, they'd finally band together and insist something be done about it. Then again, what right did they have to tell Cercelee how to run her own pack? It was preposterous; they were all sovereign entities with their own rules and rights. Surely if anyone came into Inferni and told Gabriel to give one of his members the boot, he'd look at them as if they were barking mad. This made it no less frustrating, however--couldn't they all see? Were they blind to it? Did they just not care? Or did they know... but they were too afraid to do anything? That was an unsettling thought.
@&#&$His ears had twitched in surprise at the small yip she let out, though he supposed lighters were fairly magical to the uninitiated. The little outburst seemed to pass, however, but he couldn't help but shoot her a quizzical look. As the effects of the drug took greater hold over his mind, he exhaled slowly and waved his hand. "Yeah; no worries," he reassured her. He didn't want her to be too stressed out before her first hit (supposing that were even possible, given what they'd just discussed)--the drug could cause anxiety in some cases, but he had never had that issue. He at least hoped she felt safe and secure in the garage and in his company--if anything came up, he'd probably defend her with more heart than a good chunk of his psychotic clan-mates.

@&#&$"Okay, try playing with the lighter first. The trick is to flick your thumb quickly over the flint," he said, indicating it with a nail, "then depress the fuel switch as you do. I can always hold it for you if you want, too." Here he handed her the lighter before going on to explain the anatomy of the bowl. "You see this hole here? You plug it up with your finger and pull until you fill the chamber with smoke. Don't suck too hard, though, or you'll get a mouth full of ash," he said, nose crinkling to show that it was one of those "yucky" indesirable things. "To start, I'd advise taking a smaller hit... you can always take more later, and if you go too big you might wind up coughing a lot. The trick is to inhale fresh air on top of the smoke once you've inhaled. It needs to get deep in your lungs to work--holding it in your mouth won't do much." That about covered it, or so he thought--a curious glance as he handed it over: questions?

SoSuWriMo 1,016

It relieved her greatly to hear him say what he did. It had seemed to her at the time an action simply asking for trouble. It was bad enough to keep anyone against their will, but it was an especially heinous act when said person was the subleader of one of the packs. Crimson Dreams had never had any qualms with Inferni and so for one of their members to do that had been beyond her level of patience. It was rather amazing that the whole thing hadn’t blown up into some huge conflict. When had it all happened? It took some recollection on her part to pinpoint exactly when it had been. “Well…I saw him at the beginning of December, and he had been missing for about a month.” Why she hadn’t gone looking for him before then was a mystery to her. Though admittedly she didn’t know if searching would have done any good, considering he had been held deep in the clan’s territory. No one else might have known what was happening, and if they did they could’ve have been just as mad as Hybrid.



His whine and nudge brought a small smile to her face and in reciprocated affection she leaned over to give his cheek a quick lick. “It was.” It had been a trying time for her considering it had forced her demons out into the open and she had caused her loved ones a large amount of worry. The good from it though is that she had met Lubomir and he had given her the tools to help control that force inside of her. Still, if she could’ve gone back and made her think more rationally in those key moments she probably would have. It would have saved her a lot of headaches and some scars. Her charcoal fur had eventually grown over the disfigured flesh but she knew they were there and it was a constant reminder of what could have happened. She was glad that Anselm knew now though. She had worried about the subject coming up before and how he would react to it, but now it was out and their relationship was better and not worse for it. She wasn’t a secretive wolf for the most part and was glad that there was one less skeleton in her closet.



As unsettling as the revelation about Haku Soul was, Savina didn’t see any way to fix the problem. No one such as that should have a position of power, but what could they do? The only option she saw was to have all the other packs band together and go after him, but that was unlikely at best. Such an endeavor would be nearly impossible to organize, much less keep together. She supposed all they could really do was to do their best to keep their respective homes and members safe from his claws and hope that soon he would be taken off his throne. Though if Cercelee had given it to him in the first place it was hard to say if she would ever force him to give it up. It all made her wary and she would be looking at the pack to her north with a different gaze from now until the brown male was no longer a factor.



She felt a little embarrassed at her unintended reaction and could feel her cheeks blush beneath their midnight cover. At Anselm’s curious look she shook her head. “Sorry, never seen one of those before, it just surprised me.” Suddenly she felt very much the country girl that she was at heart. To a traditional wolf mind fire was a threat as great as any and was to be avoided at all costs. How frivolously it was thrown around here still surprised her and she treated the force of nature with a cool caution. Seeing it sprout magically from the small contraption had made her instincts flare up, but that had passed as quickly as the flame that had been conjured had. She knew there was nothing to worry about. Not here and not with him. Savina trusted the de le Poer more than anyone else outside of her pack and probably even more than some of the wolves within her home.



As the lighter was handed to her she looked at it curiously, sniffing the surface. What an odd little thing. She wondered where the fire came from and how it was made. She understood how it was sparked with wood and rocks, but this was something completely different. It took a few tries before she actually got the small flame to jump back to life and while more used to it than the first time it still surprised her a bit and she let go of the thing she was supposed to hold down on. When she got it to work again though she moved her attention to the thing she was supposed to smoke out of. It was a lot to take in, but she thought she got the majority of it. “Okay, here goes.” She plugged the hole and held the flame to where the herb was and carefully breathed in through the allotted place. When she got a good amount of it she felt breathed in she tried to grab some fresh air and then held her breath.



The woman wasn’t able to hold it for long as she felt the burn and coughed out what she had just taken in. Who had thought this up anyway? With one hand on her chest the other waved the smoke away from her face as she coughed it out. After the fit finally passed she breathed in deeply and fell back against the couch. At first she didn’t notice anything, but then she could feel a slight haziness wrap around her and her shoulders relaxed. “That’s a bit more difficult than I imagined,” she said with a small laugh. “How long does it take to feel it?” She was feeling something, but she wasn’t sure if that was all there was.

@&#&$It seemed as if this had all happened shortly after he left, a fact he found none too surprising. Anselm's efforts were largely focused on Inferni's perimeter, but he still got around on the inside, too. It was in his nature to keep up-to-date on the happenings around him. As much as he liked to think he'd pick up on something so atrocious happening right in his neighbourhood, he had to admit that Hybrid had a knack for disappearing. He found the Hydra's scent along the borders during his patrols, but the demented man was elusive and Anselm rarely saw him in person outside of pack functions. It wasn't as if he minded of course; the coyote was so high strung it was contagious, made worse for the Caelum who greatly preferred to keep his ass intact and his "love stick" on reserve for the ladies only.
@&#&$It would have been unfortunate indeed if those incidents had spurred on a lasting feud between their two packs; those things seemed to take on a life of their own that was nigh impossible to extinguish once started. Some of them seemed to get off on war and conflict but he could not imagine why. Inferni was truly lucky that the storm blew over with the Phoenix Valley wolves before either side sustained casualties--he liked to think that the simmering water had cooled to the point where it could be considered a fresh start; the second take, perhaps. It wasn't like their tensions with Dahlia that forever bubbled beneath the surface, constantly threatening to return as a roaring boil that would overflow the top of the pan. Things would have to be this way so long as Haku was in power.
@&#&$As far as the Dreamers, however, he hoped his friend would seek him out if there were any problems in the future. He was no longer a leader but he still had strong connections to both Kaena and her son. He also knew Gabriel was politically sensitive enough to know that even one enemy group was one too many--furthermore, the Aquila had no patience for traitors; he was quick to lay down the law when Inferni's safety was at stake. Anselm knew nobody in their right mind would ever ally with the coyotes, but he hoped the less objectionable of them could seek refuge in Savina or Jacquez's packs if their noses were really bent to the grindstone. Hopefully it would never come to that--if only he knew what his cousin was capable of, he might fear for the entire region's well-being supposing Inferni were ever backed into a corner. Gabriel had set entire worlds aflame already and all repeat crimes seemed less dire as the perpetrator grew desensitised--could the 'Souls wolves survive such a catastrophe again?
@&#&$At least on these smaller scales fire could be used for something good. The little yip she'd sounded was actually rather endearing; he simply offered a dismissive shrug and a small wave of his tail to show that all was well and good. Fortunately in life, most things did not spontaneously ignite and burst into flames, so to be surprised over a little plastic thing doing just that seemed extremely legitimate. On the surface lighters were mighty unimpressive; he wouldn't have thought twice about passing them by until an older teen in his birth pack showed him all the fun tricks they could be used for. Asher had been one hell of a character back in the day--he'd taught Anselm most of what he knew of drugs, alcohol, gambling, and fire. It was a shame the dusky grey adolescent had been one of those "live fast and die young" types, destined to remain a rebellious youth forever. He was taken by their rivals when Anselm just passed the ten month mark of age, and the Caelum had to wonder if Asher had even been conscious of it at the time.
@&#&$He watched as she took her first hit, ears falling back at the (perhaps inevitable) string of coughs. He grabbed her the last container of water he'd collected from a spring in the nearby reserve--it usually helped. "Hmm, strangely it's one of those things where the more you do it, the faster it kicks in," he said, although he supposed this spoke well for the drug, too. It wasn't one of those things the body built up a rapid tolerance to; it didn't require more and more each time to get the same buzz. "For your first time, I'd say if you don't feel much in fifteen minutes to take another hit. It can take a little but you don't want to overdo it." He'd seen that happen enough times to know. The others became overzealous and wound up biting off more than they could chew. Most of the time they'd just pass out for a nap before anything too insane happened, but he could tell by their widened eyes they weren't at all okay with being "stuck" to the ground they sat upon.
@&#&$"At any rate, if you want anything at all just let me know," he offered. He would need to restock on water sooner or later anyway; he liked having it on hand for the bongs. "It can make you sort of thirsty but there's a spring less than five minutes away and I can go fetch more water if we need it... or if you want to go for a walk or something just say the word." Everyone was different--some liked to get up and move around while high but others preferred to laze around and do absolutely nothing at all. Anselm fell somewhere in the middle of those two groups, and what he chose to do varied with his mood and how much had to get done. He found walking around the borders very enjoyable while under the influence, but if he smoked too much he was more inclined to hole up in his den for a couple hours instead.

Yay shortening the post some XD SoSuWriMo 523

She imagined that the thing with Pilot and Hybrid had probably taken place about the same time that Anselm had taken off from the lands. It was a little odd that she had heard of the male’s departure from Ryan and now she had heard of her departure from him. They were family, so it made sense for them to know, but it was a bit of a funny turn of events; their roles had been switched around. Since he knew nothing of it, it appeared that Anselm had nothing more to say on the subject and Savina was perfectly happy to leave the unpleasant topic behind. It wasn’t something she liked to revisit but she had felt it was important to tell him and she could tell that he had appreciated her honesty. He may have been a bit more blunt than she, but they were both canines that preferred to be open than to be secretive and beating around the bush. Such games grew tiresome and after a while increasingly harder to keep up. Even if she ever had been that way she simply did not have the energy for it now.



Appreciatively she grabbed the proffered bottle and took a drink of it and could feel the burn in her chest soothe to a degree. “Thanks,” she said with a smile. Three months ago if someone had asked her if she would ever do what she was doing now she would have answered with a confident “no”, but clearly that would have been wrong. Savina was glad no one had asked such a thing so she didn’t have to eat her words now. Still, three months ago she wouldn’t have guessed that her brother had gotten the woman that had caused them all so many problems pregnant and her sister would have also gotten pregnant on a similar one night whim. If it hadn’t been for the stress that she had had to endure lately then she very well might not be partaking of the herb, but now she would try anything that wouldn’t harm her in the long run.



The woman sat there, listening to her friend’s words and the sound of her calm breathing, really feeling the way that her chest rose and fell. The sounds and feelings began to magnify though not startlingly so. It was a gradual thing and it seemed to give her a greater appreciation of what was going on around her. Emerald eyes roamed the garage and took in every little detail, finding it all much more fascinating than it had moments before. “I…think I’m starting to feel it,” she said, the smile on her face growing goofy. Man, she hadn’t felt this relaxed in nice in what seemed like a lifetime. “No, I think I just want to sit around here. That’ll be nice.” Her head rolled to look at Anselm, the goofy grin growing bigger. “You’re such a good friend Anselm. I’m glad we’re friends.” He had helped her out in so many rough patches. She would never be able to thank him enough for everything he had done for her.

@&#&$It would be laughable to claim the drug made him any smarter, but any statement that his abstract or creative thinking got a jump start would hold a grain of truth. Anselm's thoughts always sort of jumped around from subject to subject, but under the influence of this particular drug they were slightly more tangential, less completely random. Here he pondered how regrettable it was that so many of the bottles he'd found were sized at two litres or less, and as he watched the last drops of sparkling, clear liquid disappear down her throat, an idea struck him out of the blue. His mind went back to months ago--nay, over a year--when he'd played cat and mouse with a nameless wolf in an old office building. This had been long before he held any ambitions to integrate with "modern" life, using tools and keeping a garage and so forth. At the end of one dark corridor was a water cooler, an upright structure with a massive inverted jug on top.
@&#&$Such a thing would weigh on the order of a small wolf when filled to capacity, but he'd picked up on the concept of a "wheel" long ago and even had a couple old dollies stashed out back from his previous exploits. Obviously the cooler would not cool with no electricity to power it, but the actual dispense mechanism was gravity fed and valve controlled--he would have his own water dispenser! It would be so much easier to refill it every month or so, rather than having to gather up all the bottles and take them down to the stream every third visit to the garage. He was so overjoyed by this "discovery" that he found himself beaming like a madman, almost forgetting that he still had company. That was, of course, until Savina rolled her head over to look at him with a Cheshire grin of her own.

@&#&$Here he could not help but bust out laughing; she looked completely ridiculous (in the least offensive way possible, of course). "Oh, I'm glad too!" he exclaimed through the crazed laughter that bordered on hyperventilation. All of this from a friend's smile and a damn water jug. "You have no idea how awesome of an idea you just gave me," he managed once he caught his breath, oblivious to the fact she might be confused over such a statement. She hadn't done anything, really, but take a drink of water. Maybe it wasn't quite on par with the level of depth behind her own sentiment, but maybe that was the beauty of it.