09-17-2009, 08:02 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;"> Aww, thanks! XD She's perfectly nice, sometimes anyway. ;D Fearsomeness of appearance came with its perks. Kaena had many scars, so generally, intelligent creatures who had never fought a battle in their life would leave her well enough alone, since it was fairly obvious from her marred visage that she had been on the surviving end of many battles and could best most by virtue of experience alone. Still, there was always a lack of intelligence to count on—Kaena had long learned that common sense was mislabeled, as it was not quite so prevalent. There would always be another idiot teenager to fling him or herself at Kaena's feet and lock fangs with her, of that she was certain. Soon enough, though, age would overtake experience, and when she lost her physical prowess and became old and decrepit, she would not be so cocky when it came to engaging others in battle. The hybrid looked him over, scrutinizing him carefully with her single searing eye. She had already learned a lot from his appearance alone; he was not skin and bones so he must be freshly abandoned (or very good at surviving) and either was a positive note. They would not have to nurse this one back to full health as they had with some of their other, more recent additions to Inferni. The younger coyote did not appear to know what to make of her; whether it was her four-legged stance, the myriad of scars cris-crossing her body, or something else, she did not know. But he didn't holler, and there was no disgust on his face as he looked over her. Kae didn't particularly appreciate pity, but it was better than being called ugly or worse, an ugly princess. For now, she really did fit that title—she was not attracted except to a scant few, and she was the "princess" of Inferni as its second-in-command. But only one canine had ever called her that, the mutt DaVinci, the hybrid who had abandoned his coyote heritage and went to live among the wolves. The tawny coyote spoke at long last, offering a compliment which caught the woman by surprise. It warmed her, though, and it showed in her smile, degraded and twisted as it was by the knotty scar tissue on her face. "Thank you," she responded. Normally, she would launch into a tirade about the wolf who'd stolen it from her, but there was business to attend to here, and anyway the younger coyote was introducing himself now. Gatsby. The name sounded vaguely familiar, though Kaena was not an educated creature and she certainly had not read any Fitzgerald, nor Hemingway, nor any of the greats. Her world was in the physical realm, pleasure and pain—and though she was not stupid, neither was she versed in literature. She was lucky she could even read at her slow, choppy pace, still sounding words out like a small child. She cocked her head to the side, wondering what would possess a parent to abandon their child. At least they had not dumped him completely alone, far away from his own kind—here he had a fighting chance. "I'm Kaena Lykoi, and this is Inferni. We are a clan of coyotes and hybrids," she said, introducing herself and the clan to the younger creature. "I have responsibilities here, so I can't help you find your parents... but if you would like, you may stay with us for a while and see if they come back," the coyote offered. It was the best she could do for him, and even if Inferni was not family, it could grow on him. |