[AW] Deal with the devil

Esmeralda Collins · 18 June 2014, 05:24 PM

The teal-eyed subleader had noticed Micah wasn't around when she had stopped seeing his face around the pack, but she thought nothing of it at first. After all, pack members came and went as they pleased. It wasn't as if they were tied here or had to be around every day. In fact, she had thought it was kind of nice. Both so she wouldn't have to see him and because it was good for him to get out of the pack's lands sometimes for himself. Perhaps he would become less jittery if he had a chance to be exposed to more parts of the world or maybe he would make friends out there. Plus, he had an adoptive daughter living in Cour des Miracles; maybe Micah had gone there.

Yet she had gone to the festival at the Court and not noticed him. Had come home and he still wasn't around. That was when she had started to ask questions and no one she had asked seemed to know anything about their missing Lykoi. It set her fur on edge, made her skin prickle uncomfortably. The last wolf that had died and swung from the Border Tree had been a Lykoi, too. Was there a trend happening? Had someone killed Micah too? If they had, it hadn't been the same wolf. That red-eyed bugger clearly had a flair for the dramatic. Stealing a pack member away into the night without a word didn't sound like his style.

So it was that today Esme was on a fact-finding mission. Had anyone seen him leave, had he told anyone where he was going? She was going to start with her patrollers and range out from there. She walked the borders to see who was out today, bearing only her knives because she was fastest with her most familiar weapon. Although Micah might think she hated him, he was still a pack member and his disappearance still mattered to her.

Jace Wolfe · 2 July 2014, 11:32 PM

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Jace Wolfebrazen devil

Her fur bristled as he stood before her, ears drew back to show her displeasure with him and the white male shrank before her. He was so much larger and yet he buckled before her as though she were a giant and she was, just a giant of will and strength rather than largeness. "This will not happen again, if it does be assured that I WILL find out and I will punish you. You may be an adult, you may have your own children but you are still beholden to me, understand?" He nodded, too shamed to speak, he knew that she was right and what he had done was something wrong. "You know that I do not care of the happenings just be sure to keep it under control! Your sister almost gave her life, do NOT be so selfish next time. To lose a sister is a great tragedy, one that would destroy you, in the way that you are." Her eyes were filled with pain at the mention of the loss of a sister, she had lost her twin and it had broken her. She was forever more only half of a whole and had been since Elsie's death.

Honrin left her, left the house and the arctic woman too left her house, wanting to escape how suffocating her home had suddenly become following the discussion with Honrin. She had faith that her son would not repeat his mistake ever again, the threat of her punishment was enough to dissuade him from that.

The female was brisk in her step as she walked through Thornberry, not encouraging any interaction with those that she saw out and about. She smelled Esmeralda around and she too Jace sought to avoid, slipping into the forests next to the garden and disappearing off to her private practicing ground. It was a simple small clearing, not exactly hidden but yet not too easy to find either, Jace knew the way of course and it gave her no trouble to locate. Feeling taut and stressed out the woman sat cross legged and closed her eyes breathing in and out deeply as she sought to cast off her problems. Once she was feeling more relaxed she felt as though she could healthily let off her frustrations and pulled out her knives, sinking into her work as she launched them at the targets she had arranged, deadly in her speed and accuracy.

((ooc: your thread looked lonely!))

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Esmeralda Collins · 3 July 2014, 05:38 PM

Thanks for joining! <3

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Normally, she was respectful of the needs of others when it came to whether or not they were interested in spending time with others socially. Today she caught sight of Jace just as the other female was disappearing into the nearby woods and it was probably a clear warning that the other female wasn't looking for company. After all, if the Wolfe matriarch wanted to spend time with other wolves she probably would have stayed in Thornbury. Esme was looking for answers, though, and she thought that the other warrior was a wolf likely to have some. At the very least, Jace might be a good wolf to get asking the same questions.

So it was that the subleader trailed her subordinate, a few minutes behind the other female so that she arrived as Jace started to throw her knives. Esmeralda paused to watch, not wanting to interrupt the throwing or to bring the ire of the Wolfe female toward her. Once the knives were depleted and all sunk into targets, she would finish her approach. "Nice shots." she remarked, nodding at the knives. "Do you have a moment?" after she asked her questions, Esme could always leave. Especially if Jace showed hostility toward the Collins wolf's presence.

Jace Wolfe · 14 July 2014, 11:53 PM

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Jace Wolfebrazen devil

As far as Jace was concerned there were none who were above her and the idea of her being subordinate to anybody was an idea that would make her laugh if expressed. She was her own Alpha even in this pack where her skills and wisdom were not appreciated and ignored. She huffed and eyed the targets, flicking another weapon and watching it sail and hit home. Of course she knew she was followed, how could she not? It was not like Esmerelda made an effort to disguise her approach. Only the flick on an ear gave the awaiting Collin's girl any notice and she otherwise ignored the youth until she had finished her rounds of throwing.

Moving forwards she pulled the knives from their resting places and slid each into its place upon her holster, acknowledging the compliment with a nod and raise of her eyebrow. The last time they had met up alone it had been a fairly tense encounter with neither female giving any quarter. But Jace was always one to recognize talent in an individual when it was shown. Ashen paws folded across her scarred chest. As before she showed neither open resentment nor did she appear happy to see the subleader, she simply was. "About what?".

((ooc: no problem :D)

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Esmeralda Collins · 15 July 2014, 11:35 AM

Jace was... unique. She didn't seem to bend nor bow to the hierarchy, but she also didn't outright challenge them. It worked to say she always just was. The Wolfe matriarch had a lot of children and a mate in the pack, too. Her legacy was thick in the pack; she was as much a part of the pack as Esme, a part of its life's blood that kept the heart pumping. The Collins female had never mistreated the Wolfe female, though, and had always tried to give her what was due her. There was no need to have tension every time they met and so Esme did not. She hoped the same would happen with her counterpart.

The compliment was briskly acknowledged, but Esmeralda had expected nothing else from Jace. Everything tended to be brief, brisk, to the point. That was Jace's way. "Have you seen Micah around lately? Or heard anything about him deciding to leave us?" the subleader asked. It was a long shot, she figured, since she didn't think the warrior had been close to Micah. Then again, she wasn't close to Micah so she really didn't know much about his personal relationships.

Jace Wolfe · 26 July 2014, 06:46 PM

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Out of character goes here!

Ears pricked up in interest at the mention of their cowardly Lykoi resident. Although he was no longer a resident of Cercatori at all now she understood. Bi colored eyes focused upon Esme with keen awareness. The Collin's daughter had never really irritated her, not like so many in the pack had done. She was the type that Jace would find that she could in fact relate to much of the time. She held the same mindset and the same warrior spirit inside of her. She was so sick of the wolves around her letting her down and it was hard for her to restore her faith back into them again. Although she couldn't say that Esmeralda was part of that group she wasn't past watching each person for what she was certain would happen.

True it was that Jace hadn't interacted much with the black coward since the incident with Lowry and the cage. But that didn't mean she had stopped paying attention to him. She watched everyone even as she consciously tried to separate herself from them. She was wary and watchful of all around her. "As far as I know, he left. I was curious like you, as to his disappearance, his trail took me all the way up north. I stopped though when I reached level with Inferni. Unless he is simply visiting a relative or a friend for a largely extended period of time. But I am overly doubtful as to his return." Her lips thinned, she believed that people did deserve to have a chance to prove themselves in the heat of the moment, Micah had crumbled utterly, bringing him much contempt from Jace. The female snorted with derision. "Not that his absence harms us. It's one less person I have to worry will manage to injure or kill himself in some asinine way."

Esmeralda Collins · 29 July 2014, 09:50 AM

Apparently Jace had caught on to the Lykoi male's disappearance sooner than Esmeralda, because she had been early enough to follow a scent trail. Now it would be cold and gone, there was no point in even trying. Inferni, her fur prickled at the word. A coyote group. Of course, Micah was a coyote-wolf mix, so he would be accepted there. Besides that, the name of Lykoi would make him accepted there. With his timid nature, though, she would not have expected him to end up in a pack that had skulls on the borders. She wondered what had driven him away from them.

"Interesting. Not where I would have expected a canine like Micah to end up, but I suppose they accepted him for his blood and not his nature." because from what she knew and had heard of Inferni, they were even less likely than the Artisans to like someone with a weak nature like Micah's. Although that was mostly her opinion, not her mother's or other Artisans that were more in tune with the artistic part of the pack. A part she had never connected with the way that she might have if she tried. She had to snort at what the other female said about wolves killing themselves in asinine ways. "I've been trying to train some of the artists to defend themselves, but it's a bit of an uphill battle. Micah didn't even want to learn from me because I was unkind to him. I suppose the coyotes will teach him."

Jace Wolfe · 7 August 2014, 05:05 PM

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This post was written kicking and screaming, no idea why x3

Ears pulled forwards when Esme spoke, maybe she had misunderstood Jace or maybe Jace just simply hadn't been clear enough. "His scent carried on past Inferni, and I was unwilling to follow him further, but who knows maybe he turned back and sought their acceptance, although I'd think they were more likely to eat him." Jace pulled a face, her nose wrinkling up. She had had run ins with the coyote's before when she had been part of Phoenix Valley and Ichika. As a whole, from the last time she remembered, they were not a clan to be trusted although she did now understand it held new leaders. She had no bias against those who were coyote or partly coyote, it was the clan of Inferni she held no liking for.

She rolled her eyes in sympathetic agreement, training the artists was a challenge in itself. Drawing them away from their painting and drawings was a feat that they should receive reward for, never mind getting them to actually retain some aspect of defense. Her voice was even sympathetic, "Tell me about it. He turned a corner and nearly bumped into me and just about wet himself. " She shook her head disdainfully, she had met many cowards and weak people in her life and yet none of them stood out to her quite as much as the shivering stuttering Micah. "If they don't eject him for being a coward."

Esmeralda Collins · 15 August 2014, 10:30 AM

The teal-eyed subleader nodded in understanding when Jace clarified. Why would Micah even head out that way? Perhaps he was going up there to see members of the Inferni clan that were related to him. Apparently they would not know unless someone went ot actually speak with him. As someone who was not close to him in the slightest - quite the opposite - Esme was not going to be that wolf. She doubted her current company would be either. "If the rumors are true, his skull could end up on a pike. Not my problem if he abandons our pack, though." she said with a shrug. It might seem callous, but she was not in the mood to worry about deserters. Especially when she didn't particularly care for them anyway.

She snorted at Jace's depiction of her run-in with Micah. "Sounds like pretty much every time I saw him. Our pack of old might have been the right place for him, before all of the recent happenings. Now he was more liability than anything." that was her opinion and one she spoke to Jace because she felt they had a mutual understanding about this. They were warriors first, artists second. "Even the craven can find homes, especially if their nature doesn't show true at first. Someone gives shelter to them or they wouldn't keep breeding."

Jace Wolfe · 27 August 2014, 11:55 AM

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She surprised herself that this conversation had not yet started to grate on her nerve. Maybe because it was such a close knit feeling for them, their positions were a direct reflection on their none tolerance for bullshit, especially from the canines they were designated to protect. Jace was of the firm belief that everyone should be able to protect themselves. Whether they be a battle hardened warrior or a naive artistic merchant. She understood there were some who were ignorant of how to proceed but eagerly leaped upon the chance when it was offered, no for her it was those who refused to learn that she looked down upon. "I offered to train him and he refused." She shrugged, she had been harsh with him but then she was harsh with everyone. The world was cruel and merciless in who it decided to destroy and the only way to keep yourself alive was to be tougher than your opponent, or use your skill to escape.

She nodded, understanding much in that one sentence. Cercatori was not the pack she had joined several years ago, it had changed, it had flowed into a new niche, and adapted to be the strongest it could. Of all the packs she had been in it was now the closest she could get to her birth pack. Where her constant training was not looked upon as strange or sinister. It simply was, to keep your talent you had to continue to make it grow. Yet Esme's next words struck a particular chord, and she took on an almost forlorn look, "Even the courageous can birth cowards. It is those who pretend to be brave that we must look out for, they act as though they are reliable and yet when you need them the most they fail you." All that mattered was that the wolf that Jace was talking about was dead, she had taken his life herself. When she had been the only pack wolf left surrounded by her dying and dead pack mates. She had shredded him to pieces.

Esmeralda Collins · 27 August 2014, 04:30 PM

She snorted in derision for the Lykoi as Jace said she had also offered to train the mixbreed. "His loss." she said. Her wrinkled nose betrayed her scorn for the male who had up and left their pack. If he returned for whatever reason, he would certainly not find her welcoming him back with open arms. Though her mother would likely override her and permit him to rejoin. Esme would have to make a point to express her own feelings about his abandonment to Skye.

The subleader listened with interest to the older female's remarks about cowardice and bravery. "Too bad that good genetics isn't a guarantee of bravery. Part of why I am not sure I could ever have kids. If I end up with a craven child, I'm not sure what I would do." she would try to force courage on them, she thought. Cowardice was not something she could or would tolerate in her bloodline. Though she didn't think she would cull them, either. She might drive them crazy with the situations she forced them into handling.

"How are your children doing, anyway?" the ones that remained. Perhaps it was a sensitive question, but she hadn't looked in on the Wolfes lately so she was curious. Maybe it would have been better to just leave, but the teal-eyed subleader was taking advantage of Jace's good humor for now.

Jace Wolfe · 7 September 2014, 01:24 PM

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She surmised that this must have been the longest conversation that the two of them had had since Esmerelda was a child and Jace had been more open and less solitary. She had closed off over the years, put off by the task of teaching the artistic fools that sometimes languished within the pack. A whiny bunch of shits, Jace was not all together too much inspired of the arts but she could craft things. Valuable, necessary, practical things. Weapons and hunting equipment. She shifted her stance, leaning weight from one leg to the other, shifting her balance.

"Good blood helps. So does a strong upbringing." There was a moment of direct staring, she was confident that any children of Esmerelda would be brought up right, there was nothing she loathed more than idle laziness. The moment passed and Jace turned her head to observe a bird fluttering overhead of the pair. Maybe she was truly racist towards all these wolves and dogs and whatever else they were, they did not carry Denahlii blood, therefore she didn't hold out much hope for most any of them. None of them were of worth really.

"But do not mistake cowardice for tactfulness. Sometimes it makes more sense to retreat and come back to fight another day than to throw yourself hopelessly into death." There was extremely rarely a fight that Jace could say she had retreated from, because she had not yet met a foe down south that she had felt could best her. Not even Shurui, and even then she had done the smart thing and called for back up. Esmerelda had been very young then, that or not yet born, Jace could no longer remember. It was not the death that she feared but leaving her family alone, and unprotected. She would tear apart everything to keep her family safe, no enemy would stand between them and her and live to tell of it. Was Jace justified in being so overconfident? Perhaps not but she never underestimated her enemy, she never also overestimated her own strength and endurance.

"My children are fine." The answer was short, but neither sharp or clipped. There would be none to find out from her Honrin's secret. They were free to do as they pleased as long as they did not bring shame to her. And even then she would always love them. She did not consider incest to be shameful but the production of a child from it, her birthpack would have allowed it but she would not. "And my grandson? It has been a while since I saw him last."

Esmeralda Collins · 17 September 2014, 10:57 AM

Esme didn't think there was a real shift in their relationship that complemented their increased time chatting today. It was happenstance and perhaps a bit of their moods for the day. Life had a way of getting wolves together at the right time and in the right situation so that they would discuss things. That was the case today between her and Jace. Tomorrow, it might not be that way. In fact, it probably wouldn't be. Jace wasn't particularly chatty and Esmeralda had always respected that. Part of her appreciated that they were talking, though; it let her get more into the mind of her subordinate.

She bobbed her head in understanding as the older female spoke on her experience with child rearing. "I would expect my children to meet both of those requirements." not that she had any immediate plans to have any children, but it was reassuring to think she could mold them into warriors. Bold, strong creatures that were not craven like Micah Lykoi. The pack was better off without more of that sort in the world, as far as she was concerned. Not that she wished him death, but she certainly wouldn't want to be mother to a wolf such as Micah.

The next words were wise, but things she already knew. It wasn't as if she herself would beat herself against a wall trying to win. She understood the art of tact, though she rarely used it. Blunt was more her way. Sometimes she played a role that required more finesse, though, and that was when she acted that way. "Ah, we could probably use more wolves with tact. As long as they do not use tact as a disguise for their cowardice." retreating was all well and good, as long as it was truly warranted in the situation. Too many fled because they were afraid. Fear was the mind killer, and she liked her mind good and alive.

Her tail swayed lightly in pleasure to hear that Jace's children were faring well. Esme was not close with any of them, so she rarely heard news of the group except in generalities. When she asked of her grandson, the Collins subleader shrugged her shoulders laxly. "Azazel? He is off exploring the world. Last we heard from him, he was doing well. I hope his wanderlust will soon end and he will come home. I miss that rugrat." she replied.

Jace Wolfe · 22 September 2014, 01:27 PM

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Shall we end this in the next few posts? I'm always up for more Esme/Jace threads though just trying to cut down on older threads so I can start new ones :)

They was an understanding between them and throughout the entirety of the pack despite her own family of course Esme was probably the one that she identified most with. They shared much of the same mindset and opinions about things, although they never did spend much time together. Jace preferred it that way, she was far too volatile herself and she was sure that Esme had other duties to attend to. She resisted the urge to snigger and instead allowed a simple half smile to linger upon her muzzle. It had an almost sarcastic twist to it, "Normally I am not one much for tact myself. But it is useful at times." Jace thought way too literally to bother immersing herself in the subtle political games, she had no patience for it and preferred to spend her energy usefully. Maybe to some that would make her dim or unintelligent but frankly she didn't give a shit what anyone else thought of her.

Maybe it was her over protectiveness that rebelled against her grandson running about in the world so young but he was a young adult now. She couldn't dictate his life to him anymore. To her he was still just a baby and really she wished all of her children would stay young forever, it would make life that much easier for her,"Me too, Esmeralda" There was the tightness to the matriarch's face, the sad simple longing for her loved ones to be near. The hard Denahlii mother was still that, just a mother.

Esmeralda Collins · 24 September 2014, 11:24 AM

For sure! One more from you or you can archive it here? :)

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Esme knew that the conversation was coming to a natural close, as natural as the opening that had brought it about for them. She grinned in response to her fellow warrior, a sense of kinship lingering casually between them at the inner thoughts they surely shared. "For most things, a time and place." she replied. She would have said all things, but the truth was there were some things for which there was no place. Such as cowardice. There was never a place for that, as they had just recently finished discussing.

Her tail twitched lightly from one side to the other. "He'll be grown and home before we know it. Hopefully not with some tots following alongside, but he is a bit young for that." and she really hoped Azazel would not be gone from Cercatori d'Arte long enough to become fertile.

The words seemed to really conclude what needed to be said. "I'm due for a patrol." she remarked. "Until next time." Esme bobbed her head in farewell and headed toward the borders. Her curiosity was mostly sated and at least she felt she had learned as much as she could about the disappearance of Micah Lykoi.

Jace Wolfe · 7 October 2014, 12:31 PM

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~Fin~

She was almost somewhat appreciative of Esme's words, they always did return or if not then they didn't really go too far. Samson had found a home within Casa which was close enough to visit on a regular basis and Lily was still lingering around the Serena Reserve with the rest of her wayward children for now. It was upsetting to have them gone when she was used to them being with her but they needed to grow and to learn about life and who better to learn survival from than the survival master herself.

She pulled a face as Esme spoke of Azazel having children, it hadn't been but yesterday when he was a mewling newborn in her arms. She hoped the boy would come back and settle down before ending up with children, a strong stable family was a good basis for raising pups. They needed security and the strength of the pack.

"I'll be taking the night patrol this day and the next, so if you want to tell Ovidu to cover the mornings, you can do." Jace often took the night shifts, so she could spend the days either practicing or making weapons. She watched as Esme strode away and then turned back to her throwing knives, again launching them towards their targets.

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