[dnd!] birds of a feather - Printable Version +- 'Souls IPB Archive (November 2007–October 2012) (https://soulsrpg.com/ipb) +-- Forum: Dead IC (https://soulsrpg.com/ipb/forumdisplay.php?fid=110) +--- Forum: Dead Topics (https://soulsrpg.com/ipb/forumdisplay.php?fid=21) +--- Thread: [dnd!] birds of a feather (/showthread.php?tid=28535) |
- Alyssum de Fonte - 06-09-2012 [html] lol cheesey title. and kinda left this post open, so Vesper can come across/find her in any way you see fit. Word Count → 458 Despite Alyssum’s rejection, Antebellum was dead set on at least following her when she set out of Casa di Cavalieri that day if her friend chose not to ride her. The woman wanted the horse to stay in the stables or at least in the territory, since she’d do more hindering than helping her, but knowing that the mare would not listen to reason, just sighed and allowed it. She had decided that morning that she would visit the Dampwoods, more precisely near Inferni’s territory. She would not call it spying—she was going to make sure she would not get too close to be considered stalking the borders, personally knowing how the coyotes took to people sneaking about their perimeter, and more or less trying to see if she could catch somebody that she could talk to. While things have been relatively calm, she was beginning to worry and wonder over the most silliest of things, but they were bothering her so much that she wanted answers. The only reason she held off was because her fear of meeting someone that knew her. The de Fonte knew that she left without explaining, better yet without a word, and could only blame the shame she felt when she was basically bested by that wolf who trespassed on the borders. They did not know that she left with the intention of coming back as a better fighter, and she doubted that she would ever return to them after all this time. While Alyssum knew she was barely a thought to Inferni, if she met someone she knew, they would surely remember how she left them. She thought of Halo, and shuttered at the thought of crossing her; if the woman was angered when she had tried to avoid her in the Mansion that day so long ago, she could only dream of what she would do if she caught a former member that disappeared without a trace. But, she had come to the conclusion that she needed answers, and told Macbeth to report back to her when he spotted a coyote that was outside of their territory. It was a short journey north until she could scent the clan nearby, and began to wander around the forest, simply walking around with her horse following a few yards behind. She heard the magpie swoop down once more, and paused as he nestled onto her shoulder to tell her the same thing. “See nothing but wolves on sticks. Dead as ever.” Alyssum sighed and decided to take a break from walking, and sat down under a tree, while Antebellum took this as a chance to eat a few yards away. This seemed like it was going to be a long day. Code by the Mentors; photo courtesy to Olli38 <style>.alyalyssum-2 { background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/TbDAT.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#ab977f; width:500px; margin:0px auto; text-align: left; padding:10px 0px 215px 0px; color:#50473c; font-family:georgia, serif; font-size:12px; line-height:18px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; outline:1px solid #000000;} .alyalyssum-2 b {color:#e4cbad; } .alyalyssum-2 b.m {color:#575a75; } .alyalyssum-2 p { text-indent:40px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; } .alyalyssum-2 p.ooc { font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; } .alyalyssum-2 .name { font-size:45px; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; text-align:right; margin:0px 45px 15px 0px; color:#FFFFFF; text-shadow:#000000 2px 2px 1px; } p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;} .alyalyssum-2 .wordcount {color:#50473c; letter-spacing:0px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; border-top:1px dotted #50473c; text-align:right; padding:0px 5px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:0px 15px 15px 15px;} p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;} </style>[/html] - Vesper - 06-10-2012 [html] 539 Vesper was glad to be returning home. Despite having the paws of a wanderer, her heart belonged to Inferni as much as it did to the rest of the world—and even her wandering paws had grown weary. It was quite a journey from the isthmus, especially after angling back through the mountains once more to hunt a goat at Stark’s behest. She hung there for a while, wolfing down most of the kill and sharing it with the raven, almost wondering if she would see Cerberus again.
She’d pushed that hope and dread away, reminiscing on everything that had changed since she came through Halcyon for the first time, and at last the raven scolded her into traveling once more (even though he’d been the one adamant that she stop and eat). Her stomach comfortably full and her gait a consistent but ground-eating lope, she headed through the Dampwoods and stopped by a creek to drink.
When she sat down afterward, licking drops from her whiskers, and glanced almost nervously out into the woodlands, Stark quorked gently from his perch above. “Stark scouting way back,” he assured her, and she smiled at him. In spite of herself, she was still paranoid about the Boreas wolves returning, no matter how drastically they’d been wiped out in that final battle. She turned over a paw and licked at the scar on the pad where she’d grasped the woman commander’s sword.
A caw announced his return, its edge letting her know that he’d found something. She hopped to all fours, pricking her ear as he alighted on the ground before her. “Coywolf, not of clan,” he reported, and ruffled his dark feathers. “And horse and ugly pied crow, kraa!”
Vesper nodded at him, watching him fly up again and making her way in that direction. Perhaps she was too trusting of her own species, but most coyote hybrids that lingered by Inferni had the intention of joining, or at least held a warm interest in the clan that made him nonthreatening. She knew her comrades were only a call away if this meeting went bad, even so. This lent her confidence, and she walked with her usual swaggering but open and calm demeanor until she saw the coywolf.
Her tail flickered behind her faintly; she liked what she saw, although the scent that struck her was that of a different pack—the Cavaliers, she assumed. Blue eyes roamed over the other’s wolfy but feminine figure for just a few more seconds before she stepped out into the open, standing with her tail out and ears pricked.
“Hello,” Vesper began, but Stark fluttered down onto her shoulders and threw her slightly off balance. She flattened her ear at his weight, as he puffed out his feathers slightly and croaked a greeting at the magpie. She didn’t understand the speech, but his tone was rather too wry to be friendly. She shrugged her shoulders violently, and he landed gently on the forest floor with an amused glance her way.
“What are you doing close to Inferni?” the Centurion managed to continue, ignoring her winged partner. Her tone wasn’t accusing but simply curious; the grey-brown hybrid wasn’t close enough to warrant suspicion or anything. <style type="text/css"> .vesrcai b {font-weight:bold; color:#9da3ae; text-shadow:#05070c 1px 1px 2px;} .vesrcai b.npc {font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;} .vesrcai p {padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:0px;} .vesrcai {margin:0px auto; width:520px; background-color:#202230; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/vxduN.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #171924; padding:260px 0px 5px 0px; font-family:georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#8c9195; line-height:16px; text-align:justify; border-radius:10px;} .vesrcai .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px; text-align:center;} </style>[/html] - Alyssum de Fonte - 06-12-2012 [html] macbeth is like, "what's your prob, bro? |:<" Word Count → 400 As she thought about her times in Inferni, she had begun to doze off. Alyssum underestimated the forest around her; while she was normally more on edge and aware of her surroundings, these woods were so familiar to her that she felt no need to feel threated in the territory she knew so well. But, when she heard the approach of another she was soon revived as if she had not let her guard down in the first place, though she remained seated as to not to set off her company or her companions. When she noticed that the female was mostly coyote in appearance, her lack of two legs adding with this inspection, and the scent that spoke of the clan in the Waste, she realized that she was of Inferni. She also detected that she was of high standings within the clan, though she found it hard to tell what rank she could have been, her memory muddled of the odd names she had a hard time remembering. “Hey, there,” she greeted respectfully nonetheless with a nod of her head, and was about to add more, though the sudden appearance of another bird cut her off. Though she was surprised at first, she was only shocked by his sudden appearance, and did not find his presence odd. He spoke a word to Macbeth, and had to frown as she detected its less than favorable tone, but she shrugged it off since she knew it was not any of her business. The magpie, remaining on the woman’s shoulder, stared at the crow as if he was offended, and finally chirped back a response, his smooth voice a bit tested. Pretending that there wasn’t any tension between the two birds, Alyssum smiled to show that she at least was friendly, and answered, “I was waiting to see if I could met a member and just talk, though its about nothing important. My name is Alyssum; I used to live around here, and I was just wondering how things were going.” She decided not to mention her past membership, or at least until later, unsure how the coywolf would take it even though she never met her before. Macbeth meanwhile was looking at the dark crow, as if he was staring him down. Again, she ignored it, though she found it odd that the usually gentleman-like bird was acting like that. Code by the Mentors; photo courtesy to Olli38 <style>.alyalyssum-2 { background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/TbDAT.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:bottom center; background-color:#ab977f; width:500px; margin:0px auto; text-align: left; padding:10px 0px 215px 0px; color:#50473c; font-family:georgia, serif; font-size:12px; line-height:18px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; outline:1px solid #000000;} .alyalyssum-2 b {color:#e4cbad; } .alyalyssum-2 b.m {color:#575a75; } .alyalyssum-2 p { text-indent:40px; padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; } .alyalyssum-2 p.ooc { font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; } .alyalyssum-2 .name { font-size:45px; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; text-transform:uppercase; text-align:right; margin:0px 45px 15px 0px; color:#FFFFFF; text-shadow:#000000 2px 2px 1px; } p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;} .alyalyssum-2 .wordcount {color:#50473c; letter-spacing:0px; font-size:11px; font-weight:bold; border-top:1px dotted #50473c; text-align:right; padding:0px 5px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:0px 15px 15px 15px;} p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;} </style>[/html] - Vesper - 06-18-2012 [html] 314 The coppery hybrid greeted her with a casual reply and incline of the head, but she became distracted by the corvines soon afterward. It was the first time that Vesper had seen her volant partner interact with a bird other than a fellow Infernian raven, and she was almost amused until she saw the change in the strangers. She threw a warning glance at Stark, who she hadn’t anticipated needing to rein in at any time in their life; usually he was the one to admonish her. He caught her look and folded his shaggy black wings tightly, bobbing his head in an almost luperci gesture to the other, admitting equality with the magpie.
The stranger spoke up with a smile, and Vesper latched onto the chance at canine conversation, pricking her ear and nodding. Her expression grew interested as she mentioned living in the area before, but she tried to hide the curiosity bordering on excitement. Obviously she’d chosen a pack already, even if it was strange she wanted to seek out an Infernian for unimportant conversation.
“I’m Vesper,” the Centurion replied, her tail wagging limply behind her. “And Stark’s the raven.” She added this information with another glance at him, but he only quorked and peered at the magpie. “I’m free for conversation,” she finished, grinning slightly and sitting down. “Things are going fine now, although you missed a war these last couple of months.” She felt removed enough from the battles to be able to sound casual if not especially upbeat; her wounds had healed, and the clan was strong enough to move on. Her paranoia aside, of course, although she’d always been paranoid.
Stark was silent for a few moments, and then he croaked at the stranger unexpectedly. “Stark thinking Alyssum looking familiar,” he said idly, his beady eyes focused on her even as he preened his dull chest feathers. <style type="text/css"> .vesrcai b {font-weight:bold; color:#9da3ae; text-shadow:#05070c 1px 1px 2px;} .vesrcai b.npc {font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;} .vesrcai p {padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:0px;} .vesrcai {margin:0px auto; width:520px; background-color:#202230; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/vxduN.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #171924; padding:260px 0px 5px 0px; font-family:georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#8c9195; line-height:16px; text-align:justify; border-radius:10px;} .vesrcai .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px; text-align:center;} </style>[/html] - Alyssum de Fonte - 06-22-2012 [html] [/html] - Vesper - 07-04-2012 [html] 306 The warble from the coywolf caught Vesper off guard, causing her eyes to widen and her ear to flicker forward with keen interest. She caught herself the next moment, but Stark had noticed and looked somewhat smug as he offered a very polite-sounding answer to the stranger. Feeling awkward, the scarred woman cleared her throat and looked at the other. “You know low speech?” she asked, somewhat reluctant about admitting she didn’t, but she knew her winged partner would want this. Macbeth took over introductions on their end, naming himself and the horse, and Alyssum settled down on the earth. It was a casual beginning to the conversation, but once the war was mentioned, the coppery-colored stranger looked shaken; she immediately started spouting questions, causing Vesper to frown. “Recent,” the coywolf said awkwardly, “during the first half of spring.” Her good ear fell back against her skull as she connected the names to the individuals, although she was only half successful. “Gabriel and Kesho weren’t around since I joined last fall. Gabriel’s son took over as Aquila, er, leader. I don’t know about Kesho, though; I haven’t heard of him.” Her brow furrowed, but at least the last name was one she was confident about. “Kaena is fine, though, completely unharmed.” Silence brewed after she finished, and her blue eyes flickered not-so-subtly over the other’s face for some clue as to why she was asking this. She was unfamiliar with luperci changing packs, even if there had been examples in the past, and her mind wasn’t firing on all creative cylinders today. She almost itched to see Stark eyeing the woman, but after the magpie offered an explanation and Alyssum backed him up, the raven looked away.
“Maybe,” Stark croaked tersely, closing his eyes with a little nod, and was broodingly silent on that point afterward. <style type="text/css"> .vesrcai b {font-weight:bold; color:#9da3ae; text-shadow:#05070c 1px 1px 2px;} .vesrcai b.npc {font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;} .vesrcai p {padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:0px;} .vesrcai {margin:0px auto; width:520px; background-color:#202230; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/vxduN.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #171924; padding:260px 0px 5px 0px; font-family:georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#8c9195; line-height:16px; text-align:justify; border-radius:10px;} .vesrcai .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px; text-align:center;} </style>[/html] - Alyssum de Fonte - 07-10-2012 [html] (375)[/html] - Vesper - 07-17-2012 [html] I SO SLOW :C Vesper nodded a little as the other hybrid explained what she knew of low speech. The thought that there was anyone who could talk to every other creature’s language almost frightened her with its strangeness, but she knew that Helotes had learned to communicate with his horse and—obviously—that birds could be spoken to, too. She remained silent on this point, however, trying to figure out the least awkward way (for her, at least) to bring up the fact that she wanted to learn how to talk to her own bird. It might make her seem petty to not have picked up on it before, considering how close she and Stark were. The names of her clan mates spoken by this woman unnerved the Centurion a bit, and she flattened her ear. Her expression betrayed nothing until Alyssum asked about casualties, at which point her brows pinched together. “Not on our side,” she answered, her tone detached. The thing that had eluded her clicked, but she was quiet, scanning the other’s face with idle flickers of her blue eyes. The change of subject didn’t faze her, either. “I’d love it if you could,” Vesper said, but she didn’t smile. She stood languidly, but her voice and expression were direct: “First, though, I’d like to know—why do you care?”
It was obvious what she was talking about. She would not waste breath on explanation. She stared, and waited. <style type="text/css"> .vesrcai b {font-weight:bold; color:#9da3ae; text-shadow:#05070c 1px 1px 2px;} .vesrcai b.npc {font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;} .vesrcai p {padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:0px;} .vesrcai {margin:0px auto; width:520px; background-color:#202230; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/vxduN.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #171924; padding:260px 0px 5px 0px; font-family:georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#8c9195; line-height:16px; text-align:justify; border-radius:10px;} .vesrcai .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px; text-align:center;} </style>[/html] - Alyssum de Fonte - 07-30-2012 [html] (471) funny, cause I WAS SLOWERER. |: and oh god i'm just laughing while i type this. dramatic alyssum is dramatic.[/html] - Vesper - 07-31-2012 [html] 568
For one who had lived on her own for so long, Vesper was surprisingly passionate on the subject of loyalty.
She assumed that her hatred and fear toward betrayal had started even before she’d joined the clan. When Marcel had come to whisk the cubs away, when Winter had died at his jaws, she had believed that her sister betrayed her, had not had any loyalty for the family that raised her and instead slinked cowed after this murdering stranger. Hindsight told her that she had betrayed her sister by not fighting harder, not chasing after her, but at the time it’d brewed and brewed until all she could do was fight the world to relieve the anger.
She had not been loyal to anyone but herself, and when she’d joined the ragged coyote gang, there had been no loyalty either. Oliver had inspired fear and disdain and apathy rather than loyalty, and when the time came for Ves to destroy the tyrant, her young lover had betrayed her—had turned away, shaken her head meekly when Vesper asked her to run with her.
And then—Inferni, her new home, which she poured all of her fear of betrayal into and worked harder than other outsiders. She’d risen quickly in the ranks as a result, and she was no longer afraid of betraying her clan; she instead sought to brand other traitors with her teeth.
Blue eyes stared into those of a more turquoise hue when the façade was dropped and Alyssum laughed weakly. She was expressionless, but for a tiny twitch of her mouth when the hybrid began by begging forgiveness. She explained herself then requested that Ves not hate her, which made the scarred coywolf smile—a cruel, fanged smile.
How could she hate this woman? She didn’t even know her. But, at the same time, she found herself consciously pushing down the part of her that did hate Alyssum for the betrayal. It wasn’t the same kind of hate that lent her strength to chase down and kill foes, however, but rather the helpless hatred she felt when Sparrow and Juniper turned away from her. It was the hatred of hot tears when someone left their home, dulled down only because she hadn’t known Alyssum personally.
“You would have been welcomed back,” Vesper said after a moment, her lips relaxing and no longer at odds with her calm posture. She spoke in the past tense knowing that the woman was of a new pack now, and she didn’t think that the woman would want to abandon a home twice; at least, Ves wouldn’t have.
She forced herself to take a deep breath. “Even Lykois leave,” she admitted, hoping that Alyssum remembered the significance of that family name. “As far as I know, most of them come home in the end—but many are still out there.
“I shouldn’t judge you,” the woman added suddenly, which was enough to admit that she was judging her. “At least you did us no true betrayal, at least no more than to your friends. It’s probably best that there’s someone on the outside who understands us, who can speak good for our clan in their own pack.”
She fell silent, and realized that they’d fallen way off the topic of birds, which made her smirk: probably a refreshing expression, because it was ironic and amused and softened her eyes. <style type="text/css"> .vesrcai b {font-weight:bold; color:#9da3ae; text-shadow:#05070c 1px 1px 2px;} .vesrcai b.npc {font-weight:normal; font-style:italic;} .vesrcai p {padding:5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:0px;} .vesrcai {margin:0px auto; width:520px; background-color:#202230; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/vxduN.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #171924; padding:260px 0px 5px 0px; font-family:georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#8c9195; line-height:16px; text-align:justify; border-radius:10px;} .vesrcai .ooc {font-style:italic; font-size:11px; text-align:center;} </style>[/html] - Alyssum de Fonte - 08-24-2012 [html] (437) meh I mega suck. Feel free to wrap this thread up soon cause I am as literate as a drunk monkey.[/html] |