a single cell on the serpent's tongue

Eris Eternity · 01-15-2011, 05:15 AM

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Word Count :: 1133 You can totally skip the first ~~three~~ four paragraphs. Nothing happens. 8D

Inferni had once held freedom for her -- this was true enough. No one gave a shit enough about her to bother her; even when she had a friendly conversation, she could not help but feel utterly isolated from the coyotes that filled the clan. They were all Lykoi, all molded in her mother's image, and though generations spanned between the old scarred woman and some of her progeny, there was more love within Kaena for all the others than her own daughter. Eris did not need anyone to tell her this; she could infer it herself quite easily. The children had not even been enough for Eris to seal a place within Inferni -- the prospect of added grandchildren, more blood to sustain the family and clan, had not been a large enough bargaining chip for Eris to purchase love and tenderness. They had been enough to get information, though, and this was the only thing the coal-shaded woman truly desired from her mother, anyway. Her lack of home in Inferni had been years in the making, and something so insignificant as having children would not heal wounds that deep.

She was not bound by blood to anyone in Anathema, and yet the coal-shaded woman felt more at home here than she had in all the months with the coyotes. Maybe it was the children, maybe it was Larkspur -- in any case, Eris did not care. It was the closest she had been to content in longer than she could remember, and she was downright eager to enjoy this entirely unfamiliar feeling for as long as she possibly could. The territory was yet unfamiliar to the woman outside of her caves; she had barely a week to explore the territory and familiarize herself with its boundaries and intricacies prior to going underground. Still, she knew enough to know they had expanded, and this brought her a faint twinge of pride. It was not a think she would have felt within the confines of Inferni -- no expansion of coyote territory would have made her feel anything, if she even noticed at all. Too much of her time while in the ranks of the clan had been spent outside the borders. She had spent nearly a month lurking to the very southern edge of their known world, enjoying the spray and fog of the real ocean rather than the bay.

She had learned the territories beyond her former home better than she knew her former home, it seemed -- now, though it had hardly been two months since she had first departed from the skull-lined Inferni borders, she did not think she would have been able to navigate around the territory. Some parts were, of course, clearer than others -- she could not recall the western half of the territory, while the eastern forest was far more familiar to her. The sable-shaded woman did not miss a single aspect of her former home, not even her comfortable room. Maybe she would have liked a window in the dark cave where she now lived for light and air, but beyond that, she did not care. In every aspect, Anathema was an improvement over Inferni. That she would find such comfortability in a place where she shared no blood.

The sable-shaded woman had stopped running, and she walked slowly, meandering through this part of the territory with curiosity on her dark face. The caves had been filled with the scent of unfamiliar, new wolves. There was one familiar scent among them, though Eris did not know the name to go with it. Beyond Tayui and Nyx, she had not had time to meet her other clanmates. It would not seem Larkspur took much time out of his schedule to meet and greet Anathema, either -- or at least, if he did, he did not speak of it. Maybe such trivialities were beyond discussion; this the sable-shaded canine did not mind. She did not need every intricate detail of his life, nor should he require hers. A strange scent entered her nose; there was not much wind in the air and so it was only faintly she smelled Ouija, and something else. Whatever else following him on the wind was far more exotic, a scent the sable-shaded woman did not catch often unless it was already faded by hours.

The hybrid saw her companion ahead of her in the distance, streaked with color as usual. There were darker shades of red streaked across his chest this time, and as Eris drew closer she realized it was not color that had split the pale white of his chest but wounds instead. Faint concern flashed on the woman's face, and she padded closer, the small creatures moving at his side coming into view. Surprise manifested on her face instead, and she looked at Ouija with questions in her chartreuse-colored eyes. The compliment was taken with a muted smile and a coy tilt of her head, and she halted as he did, peering curiously at the bundle in his hands and the two cubs nearby. Their eyes were as bright and inquisitive as her own, staring back at her with a practiced calm that would only grow fiercer as they aged. The male fell to his knees and presented her first with a piece of jerky, which she bent forward to take with her teeth, however gently. He next produced a bundle, which she stepped forward to take, bringing it to clutch it close for a moment while she reached out to touch his chin. “Stand,” she urged him, finding the gesture sweet but ultimately unnecessary, and potentially suspicious, should another member of her pack lay eyes on it.

Eris held the bundle back out, running her hands over the smooth and thick pelt of the animal. It was the same as the children, but older -- their mother. She did not have to guess at this; the children were young enough to be unable to survive without their mother, of course. Ouija had found her or killed her, one or the other -- from the scars on his chest, she inferred the latter. “You went to great lengths to get this for me,” she said, delighted with the gift. She had not even yet unraveled it and discovered the other prizes buried in the thick fur. Eris peered toward the young felines, inspecting for their reaction at her handling their presumed mother's pelt. Her own ocelot was not built for this weather, but Itzcitla was certainly enjoying the caves -- there were plenty of bats, mice, and other small creatures to keep him sated, and he too brought presents and gifts back to Eris and her children, doubly insuring that she would never be hungry living here.

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