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Word Count: 829 ;; Sorry if this is boring. :x
Traveling over the Wastes had proven to Rosario that the weather of this climate was something she was highly unaccustomed to; her instincts told her she should be in the smoldering heat of summer in Mexico, but her body betrayed her with its shivering. She had managed to overcome her discomfort and ignore the cold by keeping her limbs moving over the terrain, but it provided only temporary relief. As soon as the coyote settled into a comfortable seated position at the borders of the Inferni pack, the cold began to set in again. Without the movement of her muscles creating heat, it didn’t take long for Rosario to begin to shiver. It was only a gentle shudder, but consistent and likely noticeable. With exasperation she recalled the summers of her birthplace, where the heat never truly abated, as the sand that was set ablaze during the day kept the ground hot throughout the night. Honestly, that sort of climate was much more forgiving than this one. At least, that was her opinion.
While she was still mentally grumbling about the temperature, the wind carried the scent of another to Rosario. Her train of thought abated rather quickly and suddenly the weather didn’t seem like such a colossal concern. A stream of doubts filled her crown and clouded out the rationalities that may have existed prior. What if the one approaching was like the Luperci who had killed her brother, Roman? What if, even worse, it was like the one who had turned her simple life into one of misery? What if they decided she was unworthy and simply put an end to her? What if, what if, what if. All these fears and more, some highly insanely unrealistic, caused the coyote to doubt her choice at coming here.
Somewhere deep inside her mind, the calm of her discern wormed into the fray and began to dispel the silly fears of one so scarred and hurt in her emotional past. After all, Rosario had traveled long and hard to make it here. Where else would she go? If this went awry, her future would be truly uncertain. During her journey she had not allowed thoughts of potential failure to invade, and so the later details of such an instance were sketchy even to the femme.
Such concerns would have to be saved for later, however, because at that moment the one to answer Rosario’s call appeared out of the darkness. She immediately flattened her right aud on her head to silence the bell. The first thing she noticed was the golden orb that suddenly pierced the gloom cast by the cloudy sky, and the fact that there was only one of the glowing optics. Next was the size difference between herself and the approaching silhouette – even other members of Rosario’s family were around the same proportions as her, because that was how her subspecies was built. The one coming to greet her seemed ridiculously huge. Was it truly a coyote? When the giant came closer, Rosario got a look at the coloration, which was not typical to a coyote. Ok, so a hybrid... she could see the coyote ancestry in the lithe build of the other. The final thing, and the most startling, was the severe scarring almost anywhere she could see. It was a bit difficult for Rosario not to stare at the other in open amazement, but she managed.
However, other than sheer awe at the life this older canine must have lived, the countenance also inspired fright within the younger and smaller coyote. She leapt to her feet to enable herself to act more quickly should the need arise, and the cold depths of her pools watched every movement to glean a potential attack. When nothing seemed forthcoming other than the business like greeting, Rosario allowed her previously folded ear to straighten, and the light, cheerful jingling of the bell commenced due to the playful wind. Sudden adrenaline blocked out the cold she had been feeling, but an idle part of her mind wondered how the ancient before her seemed unphased by such a chill. Ridiculous!
Rosario dipped her head respectfully to the vastly more experienced ess before her. When she replied, her voice was soft and polite, but thickly accented as always. “I am please to meet you. This es the Inferrni, si?” After a quick pause for some sort of acknowledgement confirming her question, she continued. “My name es Rosario Duran (R’s especially heavily pronounced for her name) and I have travel here from very far south to.. how you say..” Here she paused a moment, searching for the exact word to use. “Ah! I come to rrequest entrrance in tu familia, yourr pack. Please excuse… I am no verry good with yourr language,” Rosario admitted at last. During her introduction she had slowly angled herself slightly away from the hybrid in self defense, as her wariness was never too far from the mind.