New days, new faces

Kaena Lykoi · 01-03-2010, 09:39 AM

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It is okay! <3 Word Count: 811

It was especially important to socialize puppies to the world and the many dangers and wonders to it. Keep them too close and they grew up to be frightened, neurotic individuals who yelped and jumped at every slightly strange noise. Let them run too far and they killed themselves before their first birthday or got hunted down by a wolf—even faced with this very nice AniWayan diplomat, Kaena could not chase such thoughts from her head. After all, both Ikatha and Baneesh had been killed just yards outside of Inferni's territory by stray lone wolves with nothing better to do than perpetuate the hatred that had existed between coyotes and wolves for many centuries and many generations before Inferni had even been a twinkle in Zarah and Kaena's eyes.

It was difficult for Mason to relate to the rest of the clan, Kaena was sure. Snake was perhaps the closest in age to the Tirones Minor, but even then the Hastati did not exhibit many puppyish qualities. A more playful canine of his rank might have snuck off to the Occasus Promontorium to frolick and play with the clan's youngest member, but Snake did not seem to have an ounce of playfulness in him. He was all seriousness and stoic faces, and while Kaena certainly appreciated that most of the time, this was one instance where she might have preferred some playfulness in him for the benefit of another clan member. Then again, it would have been just as easy for Kaena to take Mason somewhere nice and play with him for several hours, but then she ran the risk of the rest of the clan seeing her rolling around like a puppy. Such a thing was unfit for a coyote of both her age and rank, and Kaena was not particularly inclied to play in the first place.

His offer was unexpected, and though it surprised the hybrid, she couldn't help but feel warmed by it. It seemed these two did share a lot—including a very genuine love and concern for puppies. Such a thing was not rare among canines, certainly, but it was one more thing Kaena could add to her tally of similarities between herself and Dawali, one more connection to bridge the gap. "Thanks for the offer," she said, truly thankful for it. "I'll probably end up carrying him on the way back, but it'd be worth it to get him some friends his own age," the coyote said. She didn't know when her own duty would allow her to take the youngest member of Inferni to AniWaya for a playdate, but if it was at all possible, the hybrid would make an effort to get out there.

"We'd be running in circles, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. No progress," the coyote laughed, shaking her head as she envisioned such a world. It was close to humanity; they had not learned from their actions and now they paid for it, rotting to bones and replenishing the fertilizing layer of earth. At least they had bequeathed their technology onto another race to replace them, though the canines would have to be certain to get a better grasp on humanity's history. There was no reason to pick up right where the humans had left off, slowly destroying the planet by chipping away at her defenses and natural processes, altering the ecosystems where it suited them. Sure, it would have been nice for the wolves to overpopulate deer, rabbit, or other prey animals, but such actions had a myriad of unforeseen consequences. The slightest tip of the scale could send things careening wildly out of control, and canines too could find themselves on the list of "extinct" right alongside humanity.

The scarred muzzle of the coyote split into a grin, and she laughed. It was true; neither of them were spring chickens. Age brought wisdom, however, and the hybrid woman felt they'd covered quite a lot of familiar ground in this. Perhaps Inferni could not hope to drag AniWaya into their troubles a direct sort of ally, but it was good that they did not have to worry about aggression from the pack. Then again, there was such distance between their territories it only made sense for them to be at least neutral toward each other—to Kaena, AniWaya was like Storm had been, simply too far to consider troubling or to worry about receiving trouble from. "Getting on in years, huh? It does get tough for our age bracket," the hybrid said, teasing just a little. Even she had a few years to go before she began overtly showing signs of deterioration; Luperci could live as old as fifteen or sixteen without beginning to experience serious problems relevant to age. It was just another one of the perks of their viral mutation, she supposed.

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