interlude

Sirius Revlis · 12-23-2011, 02:09 AM

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unnecessarily huge post :/ -> 5+

As it was, Sirius was approaching the location of the woman before her ringing cry pierced the crisp air. He had been prowling in the Northernmost plains beyond their territory, near to the base of Halcyon. The mountain had been exhaling cold breath down on Salsola for some time now, and already its peaks were capped with telltale white. Often, the monarch's serpentine gaze could see the ominous curls of bruising clouds, looming on the other side of its breach.

A millennia of instinct warned him, deep in his bones, that the winter would break soon - A rupture of the heavens that would send a deep chill and a blanket of white to cover his land.

But the promise of snow was held with baited breath, and had yet to curse the land below. Regardless, Sirius would face the weather as he always had - With impassive control, with the cold acceptance best befitting his arrogant nature. His people, the Family, were strong; A long winter would not break them.

However, the mountains were not what had caught his attention and sent it to linger beyond the borders - It was the fresh scent of a stranger that had done such a thing. The Hunter had found him with pitiful ease. The boy was little more than an adolescent, hardly old enough to make such a journey from his home and hearth alone. But his belongings were foreign, and spoke of a home beyond Nova Scotia, somewhere out near the more exotic areas of New Brunswick.

It had taken him little time to frighten the boy into submission, and claim all that he had. The bounty was sparse, and somewhat disappointing; A few saddlebags with various miscellaneous items, pouches of salted strips of deer, a small bundle of cakes made from crushed grain, lard, and a dried fish his taste buds couldn't name. There were no weapons to be had, none but a small and primitive dagger that had Sirius' black lips twitching in dismay. Perhaps the most valuable thing the boy had was his steed, but on closer inspection it, too, was hardly worth his time.

The mare was old - Not swaybacked, but not a youthful beast by any stretch of the imagination. Her teeth were worn and her sides lacking the rounded gloss of good and regular feeding. Her mane and tail were long and snarled, the grey-toned hair of her tail stained brown with dirt where it dragged along the ground. Her hooves were in good shape, suggesting some good heritage, but she was slow to respond to his irritable tuggings and motions.

The boy relinquished these goods graciously, well aware that the unfamiliar man simmered with a peculiar and venomous danger. Perhaps he feared death at the Revlis man's wicked claws - More likely slavery. But such a pitiful wealth had dulled the Hunter's fire, and after tossing a single pouch of food at the boy and chasing him a few paces until he got the idea and fled, Sirius relinquished the chase. He had no current need of slaves, and didn't want to dispense the man-power in training the boy to be subservient.

His first stop was the Ruins, to drop off the foreigner's belonging in his own chamber, to sort through later incase a treasure had been overlooked. Then, growling at his misfortune, Sirius gathered up the leather strap that had been tied about the nag's neck as a lead rope, and was on his way to the barn when the woman's call hearkened to tall coyote ears.

A thoughtful frown shadowed his face, even as listless feet became more attentive, and the tall dark man lifted his pace. It was not with obedience that Sirius hastened to the woman's call, rather curiosity. Her voice was still strange and unfamiliar, although he knew her to be a member of the pack. Something about its timbre rang with a strange power that drew his interest to a predatory sharpness.

The mare seemed to resent his shifting moods, and it took some effort to goad her into following his fresher speed. It surprised him that the beast was unafraid of him - None of his snarling or baring of teeth reduced her to obedience, as it did Luna. Instead, the grizzled, wizened mare just gazed back at him - The King of thorns got the distinct impression that she was as unimpressed with him as he had been her.

They finally burst from the brush and into the open clearing, a pocket of dry and stripped land that hid the barn neatly from the view of any wayward or careless eyes. However, it was with distinct surprise that Sirius took in the sight before him, and from habit born of previous surprises, his free hand moved to loiter instantly of the hilt of the dagger strapped to his upper thigh. It was the woman - The strange, dark foreign woman whose voice had lured him - And she stood beside a strange green beast that smelt like Luna.

It took less than a second for his brain to understand - Less than a second between his hand hovering above the dagger and then dropping back to calm nonchalance at his side. The woman had cloaked Luna in some smooth, supple green material, that by its dull sheen was cured leather. Skill had rendered the leather into malleable material for the creation of the bizarre garment that cloaked his silver mare's haunches and head. Detailed flourishes added a brace of extra color to the leather, gilding it gold, a rusty orange, and a pleasantly deep blue in places. The pattern was familiar to him, and it took the King another moment to place it as the hues that decorated his symbolic companion, Noble the peacock.

His gaze slid over the mare, registering all these details in productive silence before shifting to the woman. Pupils dilated on her, stretching the venomous mass of acidic olive about them. It was not many who braved to touch what belonged to the King - Only Larkspur and his daughter had permission to do much of anything with the beautiful horse that he had claimed as his own. What was more, Chairo di Luna did not often allow the affections of others, of those unfamiliar to her. But she stood in docile compliance beside the dark woman who he now appraised.

She was indeed a splendid specimen, different from any he had seen. Her charcoal and frosted fur was clothed in an exotic lavender garment, and her head and throat glittered with gems of a similar hue. He had never before been close enough to survey her with such intensity, and took a long moment to do so now, well aware that his stature allowed him the presence to do what others, lesser ranked members, would consider rude amongst themselves. His attention was to be taken as a blessing; His approval, much less his attraction to her, was to be taken as more than that.

Having made his presence obvious, the brooding man nodded once, a silent permission for her to explain why it was she had called for her King.

Sirius Revlis

Hail the Conqueror Worm

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