Positively Negative

[Neela Garcia]

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I seem to have rambled a bit, I blame barely getting any sleep >.> Neela is in Optime form.

Neela padded happily through the woods that made up a generous portion of Casa's territory, a fish hanging from her mouth and fingers working away busily at coiling the fishing wire she held into a tight loop. Neela had spent the morning fishing in the river that ran through the fort, the collie had settled herself into a spot a few miles upstream that, while comfortable, was rather unfruitful; she had come away from the morning with only a single fish, though it was quite a large one. It smelled nice as well with a taste to match, both qualities filling her senses as she walked.

Rather than eating the fish when she got it Neela had taken to wandering the territory, keeping the fish in her mouth and enjoying the scent and smell of the food rather than wolfing it down in one go. Recently the collie had been feeling very restless and had taken to wandering around much more than she normally did. The reason for this sudden change in behaviour was something that Neela had acquired not long ago, specifically the new life growing inside her.

Neela however was completely ignorant of her own pregnancy at this point, not having noticed the signs so far. The restlessness and heavy taste for fish were just strengthening of things she already liked and between her poor sense of smell and tendency to ignore her own scent, fishing from a boat at sea didn’t lend itself to a pleasant scent most of the time, she plain hadn’t noticed the telltale smell that would mark her as pregnant to others. The slight bulge to her stomach had been noted but only as a side effect of the large amount of fish she had been eating lately, filed away in Neela's mind with a note to do some more exercise.

She was just preparing to head back home and actually eat her catch when somehow her nose managed to pick up the scent of another, one she didn’t recognise. Neela's immediate reaction of hostility was pushed aside when she realised that the unfamiliar scent was overlaid with Casa's own, an odd mix of metal, fresh earth and the musty smell characteristic of the courthouse, marking its owner as a new addition to the cavaliers. Curious, Neela changed her course to meet with the strangers'.

A tug in her hands told Neela that her line was coiled and the collie tucked it into the belt that was her only piece of clothing as she walked, her eyes being drawn somewhat distastefully to the new adornment to her belt as she did so. The belt looked mostly the same as it always did; numerous loops and hooks in various states of occupation fighting for space with three large pouches and four sheaths - two holding the serrated utility knives she used and two holding the foot-long boarding knives she had taken to carrying after she had been attacked not too long ago, both resting around the small of her back with the handles just visible past her side. The new addition was the fluorite that her new position dictated she carry, sparkling in its position as a buckle decoration.

Neela had done what she could with the gem, rounding it out and etching a tower overlaid with two swords onto it but she could do nothing about the garish purple colour. Still the meaning associated with the token, her acceptance into the brotherhood and acknowledgement as an accomplished warrior, was worth her distaste over the colour.

A flash of scent told Neela that she had come across her target and she jerked her head up, embarrassed to have been caught wandering about staring at her own belt, the fish in her mouth having drooped into an almost gormless position. Coughing gently Neela dropped the fish down from her mouth, catching it deftly by the tail as she looked up at the stranger.

The others dominant posture gave Neela pause, though only briefly; while Neela didn’t think much for using rank to boss somebody around she was aware that a dominant posture could constitute a challenge or aggression. Still Neela wasn't one to get offended by something as simple as how somebody had held their body when they weren't even aware of her so she simply smiled, Amber eyes warm as they drifted over the newcomers' dark pelt. She was similarly proportioned to Neela but had more of a wolfish look about her, short dark fur and pointed ears against Neela's own long, soft red coat and folded ears but finding someone her own height was unusual enough in this pack to render them somewhat similar despite the differences.

After a moment Neela spoke, her voice purposely low and pleasant, though there was nothing manufactured about the friendliness it also bore, "Are you alright? You seem…" Neela trailed off as she tried to think of an appropriate word, "…tense." she finished, for that was the best word Neela could think of to describe the younger female.

Word Count :: +842