a fortress of your heart

Vesper · 01-21-2012, 12:40 AM

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Um. Skip until she talks I guess. Mostly rambling. >>

SSWM Word Count → 1104

As was expected, more canines appeared on the scene, drawn together under the howling rock by the pale she-wolf that had called them there. Vesper found herself rising onto fall fours again, her restlessness growing at the same rate of the crowd, and her pale blue eyes locked onto each newcomer, assessing their apparent strengths and weaknesses and trying to figure out which ones she would want to run beside and which ones to avoid.

She had thought that Columbine would be the biggest surprise of the night—but soon Àngel, the man that she had greeted at the Infernian borders, strode out of the darkness like night personified. Once again, she carefully maintained an indifferent expression to keep from drawing attention to them. Certainly, Ezekiel would punish them fiercely if he knew about this little rendezvous against orders. Her hackles rose at the thought of this betrayal, though once again she played it off as an effect of the cold December wind.

Even after it had seemed that all who would attend had come, including the crimson-stained dark wolf that Ves had gotten bad vibes from during the first meeting, there was one more “small surprise.”

At first, the mud-splattered coywolf’s large ears were turned toward Noir as she began to outline their plan. She mentioned forming into two different groups and cautioned them on leaving the fight for those who deserved it. Vesper nodded at that, remembering the boy crying in her jaws, and knew that killing would be the last of her objectives that night—though she did want to punish those who captured slaves and forced their virus into untouched non-luperci. Even now the thought caused her to shiver with suppressed rage. Though it would be simplest for death to be avoided, she had no qualms against maiming.

A dark, matted coyote moved through the group then, and Vesper almost did not pay her any mind until the coyote spoke with Zana’s voice. Her blue eyes turned to the decorated creature, mouth drawn into a tight line. While she felt no kinship toward Columbine or Àngel, she considered the pygmy woman closer to something like a friend than a simple clan mate. It astonished her that Zana had come here, but it also gave her an odd feeling of security. She knew that the tiny spy had tricks up her sleeves and knew that it would be one more canine on their side should their Aquila catch wind of this.

Zana offered leadership, but instead of agreeing, Vesper took a seat and rolled her shoulders silently. It would be suspect if she offered praise right away; her disguised clan mate might as well be a stranger to her tonight. Instead, she waited for others to speak and agree or disagree with the plan, while she mulled over it in her own shaken mind.

A green-eyed hybrid who was apparently the group leader Terra spoke—and instantly Vesper broke into a derisive smirk. Though she had little room to talk, this girl seemed too young and naïve to be able to make such bold claims. Perhaps it was the lack of scars marring her body; while some might see that as victory, Ves knew that it was impossible for creatures to “dance with death” without taking a piece of death along with them.

A dark curly-haired dog mix spoke up then, agreeing with Terra’s sentiment about the ghost. Though he wasn’t as brash, and his large body looked like it had seen battle as well, he still seemed insanely young. As for the specter—Vesper simply forced its existence out of her mind. It was no more than another canine to her, not a glimpse of the afterlife. She could not think about the afterlife.

Lastly, an older she-wolf shuffled onto the scene—dusty-colored and blue-eyed, and looking between her and their canine catalyst anyone could see that they were related to each other. It piqued Vesper’s interest, but not near as much as the name that emerged from the relative’s lips: Tayui.

Tayui? Vesper glanced quickly at the tawny-striped woman, raising a brow and suppressing a grunt of frustration, knowing it was pointless. They were all acting in secrecy tonight to save their own skins.

When Jaden spoke, the scarred female braced herself to wince and snort at his stupid sentiments, but surprisingly what he said caused a fire of a different kind to burn within her. She glanced at him, for once letting her face show the emotion of rather pleasant surprise. Despite all of his moral bitching last time, his motivations seemed to be pure.

All Vesper knew at this point now was that she did not want to go with the “young” group. She wasn’t sure if she should participate in the debate between Jaden and Zana, both because the others hadn’t had a chance to react yet, and she didn’t want to give her support for someone she shouldn’t know. Quietly, she gathered herself and stood, tail sweeping behind her.

“Both of you are right,” she said, glancing between Zana and Jaden. Her tone was not authoritative or belittling but did command the brief attention of the others in the group. “We are here to fight for those who cannot and to free these slaves—some transformed against their will—” this point she doubted would hold the same pain for others as it did for her, but it was something to mention “and no one should go into this if they don’t have that in heart and mind.” A fair thing to mention for those who were her for violence and nothing else.

“But many of us do have lives outside of this,” Vesper went on, her voice growing firmer. “Those who don’t care about the cause shouldn’t have even turned up, but there is a difference between amoral cravens and those who simply want to go home to their packs. Don’t be foolhardy. Our main objective is freeing the slaves and getting rid of the slavers who get into our way, not to kill everyone there, and if anyone feels like dancing with death, then that is one less comrade we can count on next time. The slaves may live to be rescued another day if we fail, but we won’t.”

Then she fell silent, realizing how socially awkward she was, wondering why she’d even bothered to speak her rambling thoughts aloud. She flicked her ears then gave her head a quick shake.

“I don’t care which group I join, so long as I’m alongside those who actually know how to think and fight.”

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