08-16-2009, 04:34 AM
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The monochrome canine observed again as his features shifted, the anger swiftly replaced by something else far more vulnerable. She wanted to move for him then and reach her fingers out to touch him and comfort him in that instant, though she had neither the form nor the room to do so. Her still-wet sable ears pricked forward to catch the sound of his voice, lower and softer now that the fury had swiftly deflated from the tawny hybrid's features. Kaena understood the folly Talitha chased better than most would have—after all, it was not so long ago she had abandoned her larger family, her youngest children in quest of a girl who had only turned her back when the grizzled hybrid had needed her. If nothing else, it was a brutal reminder to the lesson Kaena had learned when she was still very young, and a new corollary to accompany it: in the end, all she had was herself. No one could be trusted entirely—even those she held dearest to her. They were all given to falter, and the grizzled hybrid knew that in spite of her devotion to the Lykoi family she had founded here, she was no exception to this.
Her features showed remorse for having asked the question so bluntly, but the grizzled woman knew no other way. She was not given to tiptoe around many subjects, and she was generally not inclined to speaking at length about much of anything. But here, speech welled from her, low and purposeful. The cloudy hybrid knew better than anyone that there was no mantra she might repeat to absolve him of responsibility, nor any phrase she could utter to dilute his pain, but here was distress in one of her own, and the silvery canine was compelled to try to improve his mood. "All of us have wandered at one point or another, I think. Your sister was crafted from the same flesh and blood as you. She's strong," the coyote offered, inclining her head just a millimeter toward the straw-colored hybrid. "I don't think she is dead, either. If both of us think so, she is alive," the coyote said, the last part stated almost matter-of-factly. The grizzled canine needn't have met Talitha to know she was a strong creature. It was a rare display of faith from the gray hybrid; she did not believe in much, but there was strong faith in her family.
Table by James [/html]
The monochrome canine observed again as his features shifted, the anger swiftly replaced by something else far more vulnerable. She wanted to move for him then and reach her fingers out to touch him and comfort him in that instant, though she had neither the form nor the room to do so. Her still-wet sable ears pricked forward to catch the sound of his voice, lower and softer now that the fury had swiftly deflated from the tawny hybrid's features. Kaena understood the folly Talitha chased better than most would have—after all, it was not so long ago she had abandoned her larger family, her youngest children in quest of a girl who had only turned her back when the grizzled hybrid had needed her. If nothing else, it was a brutal reminder to the lesson Kaena had learned when she was still very young, and a new corollary to accompany it: in the end, all she had was herself. No one could be trusted entirely—even those she held dearest to her. They were all given to falter, and the grizzled hybrid knew that in spite of her devotion to the Lykoi family she had founded here, she was no exception to this.
Her features showed remorse for having asked the question so bluntly, but the grizzled woman knew no other way. She was not given to tiptoe around many subjects, and she was generally not inclined to speaking at length about much of anything. But here, speech welled from her, low and purposeful. The cloudy hybrid knew better than anyone that there was no mantra she might repeat to absolve him of responsibility, nor any phrase she could utter to dilute his pain, but here was distress in one of her own, and the silvery canine was compelled to try to improve his mood. "All of us have wandered at one point or another, I think. Your sister was crafted from the same flesh and blood as you. She's strong," the coyote offered, inclining her head just a millimeter toward the straw-colored hybrid. "I don't think she is dead, either. If both of us think so, she is alive," the coyote said, the last part stated almost matter-of-factly. The grizzled canine needn't have met Talitha to know she was a strong creature. It was a rare display of faith from the gray hybrid; she did not believe in much, but there was strong faith in her family.