07-15-2009, 09:31 PM
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http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_rain.gif); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:bottom center; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; text-align:justify;"> The coyote heard truth in his words, knowing murder was the only reason she'd ever originally come back here—the intent to drive her fist into Salvaged's chest and draw out his beating heart, to carve his flesh into strips with her teeth and claws. That had been her only motivation in returning here after first departing; Zarah was gone, Inferni was led by a stranger, and Kerberos had long chosen the life of a wolf. Or perhaps he was forced into it—it was, after all, Kaena who abandoned him on the borders of the Shadows pack, knowing full well the youth would potentially be found by Salvaged and killed.
At least Kaena had left it to chance instead of outright murdering Kerberos, and in some twisted part of the Eternity wolf's brain he had decided it was better to keep and foster the child of Kaena Lykoi rather than kill it. At least Kae had given him a fighting chance—if Salvaged hadn't been the first to stumble on Kerberos, chances were good the youth would survive. She had counted on the love for youth and children that was practically universal between all creatures; indeed, even if a full-blooded, abandoned wolf puppy showed up on Inferni's borders, Kaena did not think she could so easily dispatch him to the netherworlds. Especially not now, not after she'd already experienced the joy that was raising and cultivating a family.
His question provoked thought, though she hadn't responded to his other words. Her thoughts were stormy, flying around inside of her skull and bouncing off of its bony walls at a million miles per minute, whizzing past her ears and behind her eyes. "Yes," was all she allowed at first, stretching the silence between them for a few minutes, though there was obvious intention of adding to her one-worded answer. The Lykoi woman was just trying to find the words; they were difficult to pluck from the mess of thoughts and emotions competing for attention in her head. After a minute, she found them, lurking in some obscure corner of her head. They still seemed inadequate, though she knew no other way to say what she wanted.
"I've tried it before, and it's good, but..." Then there was another sigh, and she was speaking from the experience of loss now. She had lived peacefully—there had been a form of peace in what Zulifer had offered her. They had been vicious and violent, roaming the eastern seaboard's territories and killing like a virus what and where they wanted, and surely if they had remained together to raise children the little Lykoi and Yfel family would have been far worse. "You have to take it all in so fast, 'cause it goes away again before you know it," she said, unsure if her words were accurate or concise enough to convey what she really wanted to say. Again, there was always that someone or something, watching and waiting for the opportunity to rob the creatures of the world of their happy, golden ending. It had happened too many countless times to the Lykoi hybrid.
At least Kaena had left it to chance instead of outright murdering Kerberos, and in some twisted part of the Eternity wolf's brain he had decided it was better to keep and foster the child of Kaena Lykoi rather than kill it. At least Kae had given him a fighting chance—if Salvaged hadn't been the first to stumble on Kerberos, chances were good the youth would survive. She had counted on the love for youth and children that was practically universal between all creatures; indeed, even if a full-blooded, abandoned wolf puppy showed up on Inferni's borders, Kaena did not think she could so easily dispatch him to the netherworlds. Especially not now, not after she'd already experienced the joy that was raising and cultivating a family.
His question provoked thought, though she hadn't responded to his other words. Her thoughts were stormy, flying around inside of her skull and bouncing off of its bony walls at a million miles per minute, whizzing past her ears and behind her eyes. "Yes," was all she allowed at first, stretching the silence between them for a few minutes, though there was obvious intention of adding to her one-worded answer. The Lykoi woman was just trying to find the words; they were difficult to pluck from the mess of thoughts and emotions competing for attention in her head. After a minute, she found them, lurking in some obscure corner of her head. They still seemed inadequate, though she knew no other way to say what she wanted.
"I've tried it before, and it's good, but..." Then there was another sigh, and she was speaking from the experience of loss now. She had lived peacefully—there had been a form of peace in what Zulifer had offered her. They had been vicious and violent, roaming the eastern seaboard's territories and killing like a virus what and where they wanted, and surely if they had remained together to raise children the little Lykoi and Yfel family would have been far worse. "You have to take it all in so fast, 'cause it goes away again before you know it," she said, unsure if her words were accurate or concise enough to convey what she really wanted to say. Again, there was always that someone or something, watching and waiting for the opportunity to rob the creatures of the world of their happy, golden ending. It had happened too many countless times to the Lykoi hybrid.