08-01-2009, 02:54 AM
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| http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/ ... tblood.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:248px; padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-bottom:10px;"> I made a mistake in my last post! The ranks I was attempting to refer to are the Immunes ranks, not the Legatus ranks. Argh.  The two coyotes continued down the stream for some time, the cool, fresh water lapping at their ankles and tugging gently toward the salty bay. They had long passed the brackish water where the inlet's tide flowed upstream slightly, and it was good to drink here. To illustrate this, Kaena paused a moment, crouching down and then plunging her muzzle earthward and lapping up mouthfuls of the water with her pink tongue. She drank a moment and continued on, limping slightly as Merilin danced around her. She wished she could move like that at this moment. She was older and her wounds were healing slower than they used to. She could feel her bones ache often, though the grizzled hybrid was lucky enough that she had never actually broken any of her bones. Old injuries still ached, though. "I'll show you the Ravine first," the coyote stated simply, nodding in response. "I had to chase a wolf from our land," she said, referring to the incident which had caused the wound and not the wound itself. There was little concern in her face for the state of the injury; it felt fine and it was healing with or without herbs or careful tending-to. Kaena had always done the same thing to heal her weary body: a long salt-water soak. The ocean cleaned the wounds and though it stung, Kaena had avoided infection for all of her scars save her missing eye. The younger coyote expressed big hopes and dreams for herself, and Kaena could only smile, again reminded of a puppy's youthful optimism. "I'm sure you will," she said softly, grinning. Inferni was a good place to grow up; she had born and raised all of her children here. The girl asked another question, but then rescinded it, remembering what the word meant. "I know almost everything about Inferni," the woman asserted. "I was one of the founding members, and I've lead the clan twice," she revealed. She had abandoned title of Aquila almost two years ago, though. It was only a dim, distant memory on the horizon to her now. The conversation turned to the woman's family, and she nodded. She saw Gabriel almost daily in passing, though they hadn't settled down to a good conversation or bonding time for a while. It was not so depressing; the grizzled hybrid realized he was quite busy with clan duties. For the past few days, he'd been suspiciously absent from view, though she'd surely smelled him on the wind. "Yes, I love my son very much," she said, the answer again cryptic. The relationship she shared with her eldest known son was rocky at times, but she had no desire to share that tiny fact of her life with Merilin just yet. It was too much information. "They do," she answered, pride and pleasure creeping into her voice as the woman was granted the ability to speak on her family, a subject she thoroughly enjoyed. "I have had many children. Only two live here now, but two of my grandchildren also live here," the hybrid woman said. "But I gave birth to and raised all of my children in Inferni. It's a good place to grow up," Kaena affirmed, slowing down as the shores became more rocky. "We ought to get up on shore," the woman said, treading carefully on the rocks. "This is the ravine. The water flows underground, and it's a sharp drop. Be careful," the coyote warned as they traveled on. The roaring sound of a waterfall was audible as they continued forward. |