[m] gave birth to a funeral dirge.

[Kaena Lykoi]

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WARNING: This thread contains material exceeding the general board rating of PG-13. It may contain very strong language, drug usage, graphic violence, or graphic sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.

http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/kae_razor.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> Dalhousie University—the story included is from this page and is not included in the word count of the post.     The night was smooth, silent. The cloudless and cold sky extended up forever over the silvery hybrid, another thankfully dry, crisp autumn night for the woman to enjoy. She had been traveling since the afternoon, heading to the city. She had recently visited Onus here, and she had learned, definitively, and to her very great dismay, that Haku Soul was indeed alive and kicking. The silvery hybrid assumed this meant he was gunning for her blood now, and she took care to avoid Dahlian territory, giving it a wide berth now. No reason to tempt the fates, she told herself, hurrying past the extension of their territory almost at a run.     Kaena was afraid of him. The hybrid woman had feared little in her lifetime, and she would never admit to such weakness, but it was there, lurking in her heart and soul. He was younger than her, faster than her, stronger than her—and the coyote woman did not know if she would win against him again. Kaena moved in her Secui form, intending to shift right back to Optime upon reaching her destination. It had occurred to her recently that coyotes might have some of the same mythology wolves had surrounding them. Kaena knew the story of Lupa, the Roman she-wolf, but there were no coyotes to accompany her. Certainly, some ancient human had seen coyotes and thought to write a story about them.     So, the silver hybrid had her destination. There was a university somewhere in the city, and the hybrid thought that might be the best place to search. Such a place would have many books, though Kaena had no idea where to search for them within the library, nor any idea how to search a reference book. Her limited experience made her less than useful when it came to books, but Kaena was rather determined now, as she had a reasoning behind this sudden surge of scholarly activity. Inferni required motivation; there were a number of new coyotes which had joined their ranks, and Kaena wished for each of them to stay. To do this, she figured she might inspire them with a legend about a particularly brave coyote, something of that nature.     The coyote's nails clicked rhythmically against the asphalt as she traversed the city. With each visit she grew more confident in her knowledge of expanse, her mental map of the area growing more detailed by the moment. The hybrid's feet carried her quickly to a sign she recognized easily, a cluster of buildings pictured with "university" stamped quite clearly beneath it. She had seen them before, and naturally the first time she'd had to sound out the word, puzzling over it for a moment until she recalled its meaning. Universities were schools, schools had books, and that was where Kaena Lykoi was headed, following the signs until she found herself on the edge of the eerie campus.     Its walls and fences had been overgrown with ivy, snaking around anywhere it could possibly seek hold, and the plant life that had been tended and contained during the human's reign of the earth had grown absolutely wild, turning the campus green into an untamed jungle. The coyote smiled briefly as she trotted beneath the sign stating the university's name, some word beginning with "D" she could not hope to pronounce correctly. The hybrid's feet carried her swiftly to the door, and to her pleasant surprise she found it hanging ajar, busted open years before. Slipping inside and still in her Secui form, the coyote headed forth, meandering the carpeted halls until a sign pointed her in the direction of the library.     The hybrid's pace increased, excited at having found her quarry. Shifting even as she walked, the silver-furred hybrid entered the doors of the place, gazing around in wonder at the mass of books surrounding her. Some were on the floor, scattered about; others had certainly ransacked this area prior to Kaena's discovery of it. Still, they had not made so much as a dent in the number of books stored here. The hybrid woman peered around, marveling at the sheer number of them, dismayed as she realized it might take her several trips to find what she was looking for.     It was rather dark, but the hybrid woman had come prepared, setting her bag on one of the tables and fishing from it a thick candle and the two stones she'd found in Millstone Village, sparking the wick of the candle rather expertly. It had taken some time to get used to this method of fire-making, but it was more reliable than having to find a new lighter without all of the fluid evaporated from it. The coyote woman set the stones down and picked up the waxy candle, holding it up so she could see better, meandering over to a section to peer at the titles of some of the books, sounding them out as she went.     The hybrid woman had a little knowledge of mythology, and it was that word in particular she sought amongst the titles, ignoring all else. Her wandering through the place brought her to a smaller, enclosed section of the library, the placard above the open doorframe reading "Mythology." She grinned, knowing she was drawing rather close now. The hybrid held the candle aloft as she skimmed the spines of the books, selecting one of the thinner ones. It would be easier for her to find what she wanted that way, rather than taking one of the inches-thick ones.     The coyote settled down to the single desk, seating herself in a creaky chair. She set the candle and the book on the desk, the flickering light of it just enough to allow her to read. Without it, she would not have been able to see the words on the page. The hybrid took a breath and cracked the book open, the musty smell of it floating into her nostrils. The library was dead quiet, as it should have been, and she quickly became immersed in it, flipping through the pages with fervor. She stopped when she came to a picture of a coyote, ornately decorated with feathers not unlike Dawali's, ornate tribal decor on his forehead and muzzle. Gazing at it in wonder, the hybrid began to read the attached myth, sounding out some of the words almost childishly as she went:    A long, long time ago, people did not yet inhabit the earth. A monster walked upon the land, eating all the animals--except Coyote. Coyote was angry that his friends were gone. He climbed the tallest mountain and attached himself to the top. Coyote called upon the monster, challenging it to try to eat him. The monster sucked in the air, hoping to pull in Coyote with its powerful breath, but the ropes were too strong. The monster tried many other ways to blow Coyote off the mountain, but it was no use.    Realizing that Coyote was sly and clever, the monster thought of a new plan. It would befriend Coyote and invite him to stay in its home. Before the visit began, Coyote said that he wanted to visit his friends and asked if he could enter the monster's stomach to see them. The monster allowed this, and Coyote cut out its heart and set fire to its insides. His friends were freed.    Then Coyote decided to make a new animal. He flung pieces of the monster in the four directions; wherever the pieces landed, a new tribe of Indians emerged. He ran out of body parts before he could create a new human animal on the site where the monster had lain. He used the monster's blood, which was still on his hands, to create the Nez Percé, who would be strong and good.     The hybrid woman marveled at this story, again her eye drawn to that ornate picture of the coyote on the opposite page as the story. So this were the myths attached to them? The coyotes had created people themselves? Well, that was a damn sight better than just suckling them as Lupa had done, she thought to herself proudly, smirking. A sudden noise brought her out of her concentration, and her shining gold eye stared forth into the darkness of the rest of the library, unable to see more than a few feet outside of the open doorway of the smaller sectioned-off portion of the library, her ears pricking up to listen, immediate alert filtering through her body. What had followed her here tonight?

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