08-28-2009, 10:06 PM
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| http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_fall.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:240px; padding-left:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-bottom:10px;"> The coyote woman remained for long minutes, her thoughts drifting about. It had almost been a blessing that she had not had to face the rest of her youngest batch of children again. She would never see Andrezej again, that was certain. Rachias had come and gone, leaving Kaena with the knowledge that she had more grandchildren, but nothing else. Arkham was gone, and Kaena had no knowledge of him. Would she even recognize him if she saw him? It had been nigh two years now since she'd seen him last, and he was all grown up now, an adult, far beyond needing his mother. That was a depressing thought; though she was his mother, there was little connection between them. What would drive him to return to her, then? The coyote woman was lost in her thoughts, so lost she did not detect the approach of another. There was quiet all around, and suddenly, off to her left, a black shadow rose steadily from the bushes, gleaming crimson eyes regarding her. The hybrid's head immediately jerked to the side, her single, searing eye focusing on that scarred face. The coyote's jaw dropped, and for a long moment she could not speak. Instead, she scrambled backwards and away from the wolf, scooting along on her butt and propelling herself away from him with her arms. Her fire-gold eye was wide open, her scarred muzzle working up and down in wordless gasps. It was a ghost, it was a demon, it was Zulifer—dead six years now, and come back to haunt her. His voice rang out, and it was decidedly not Zulifer's voice. The silver canine halted, her hackles settling as her eyes focused on his face. There were scars there, and now that she knew it was not Zulifer standing in front of her, she noticed the subtle differences, though the memory of the Yfel man was fading fast and she could no longer recall exactly where each scar had been. Her breath still came quickly and heavily, evidence of the fright that had just filled her head. It took a hell of a lot to scare the Lykoi coyote like that—and seeing the image of her long-dead lover rising out of the brush for her was more than enough to strike terror into her heart. For a long moment, she simply stared at him, as if trying to ascertain if he was real or not. His words had not even registered in her head; her mind had simply failed to process them. After a minute of silence, the hybrid seemed to settle, her scarred face growing relatively calm. She brushed the confusion away, shaking it out of her skull, her eye roving over him differently now, regarding him with interest now. "I thought you were someone else," she said gruffly, knowing she would have to explain herself, glad this was someone unfamiliar to her. There was nothing to apologize for—she hadn't attacked him or screamed at him, just shrank away in fear. What else was there to do when you thought you were looking at a ghost? |