the same bad dream.
#1
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Word Count:: 550 1-3 Inferni people for thread prompt 2, “Recently, some very funky noises have been going on in the D'Neville Mansion's presently uninhabited first floor west wing. Maybe a family of raccoons or squirrels took over one of the rooms--they'd probably make a pretty easy snack, and it'd be a good idea to get them out of the mansion.”


The sable-shaded woman had been especially privy to the strange noises going on in the lower part of the D'Nevile mansion these last few weeks. The first two weeks since she'd been back had been quiet, but in the most recent weeks and especially the last few days, there had been an almost constant din from the downstairs wing of the mansion. The coal-colored woman did not know if anyone lived in this part of the house. Eris hardly knew her own neighbors—not that she made it a point to avoid them, it was simply that she did not seek them out. The only other canine she'd met who lived in these parts thus far was Cotl, and that had been purely by accident. They had happened to be in the same place at the same time, and that was how they'd met.


Last night, the Equites had hardly even been able to sleep, there was such a great racket from the downstairs wing, just below her door. The sable shaded hybrid had endured this long enough, and determined, she thrust her head out of the window, which she had of course removed the tattered screen from. She let out a long and low coyote yip, the kind she had always used to call Itzcitla to her side. She leaned back from the large window and turned back around, going for the small knife she had procured from the kitchen. It was not as good as a real knife, but it was still quite sharp, and it would work for her purposes. A soft thud made her turn around, and the cat stood on her dresser, having climbed through the trees and into the window. Such a thing was easy for a feline of Itzcitla's stature and experience; he was used to the jungles and forests of Eterne.


“You're going to help me sleep at night, baby,” the sable-shaded woman purred, and the cat mewled softly in return, the quiet sound he generally only made around her. “Good boy,” she complimented, and she opened her door, waving the cat inside. He leapt from the dresser and crept inside, his yellow-green eyes growing wide in the dimness. Most of the windows were open, but of course there was no electricity, and thus the shadows on the inside of the mansion were quite long. The sable woman made her way down the stairs with the cat following just behind her. Itzcitla was rather at home here; he had already figured out how he could get in and out of the house, and it had nothing to do with the western wing where they were headed.


Meandering through the mansion, the pair finally came to the west wing, opening the large double doors. The coal-hued woman closed these heavy things behind her, and then looked down the long hallway. Most of the doors were closed, but near the end of the hallway, they were wide open. The heavy stench of raccoon was on the air, and the sable-shaded woman snorted, brandishing her knife. Itzcitla prowled ahead of her, well-aware of his task. They were quiet now, likely sleeping—both canine and feline would easily be able to track the creatures by scent, but it was Itzcitla's job to flush them out first.

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#2
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Oiling up the gears and brushing the rust off. Hope I didn't ramble too much. =) WC 600+


It was only the next rational step if Sepirah hoped to engrain herself within the Clan’s structure and gain strength from the assemblage of practiced Luperci that amassed within Inferni’s ranks. She had been brought here by fate – by a divine hand, and by a plan she was certain she had crafted herself before she took this body although could not remember – and she knew how to identify her blessings. Not a safer place could her young body be than Inferni, with a family matriarch who welcomed the propagation of her blood and welcomed Sepirah wholly into her world, even if her existence had been a surprise to the woman. Not only that, but Sepirah had warned her brothers of the weakness it would place in them to separate, yet separate they had. Now, one by one, it seemed her littermates were popping back up in Inferni, reuniting by the force of something more than what Sepirah would call coincidence. A smug, self-satisfied smile painted her dark muzzle.

The last few weeks after her arrival in the clan lands had been spent growing accustomed to the territories they claimed. If she were to continue to rear her companion successfully in this place that was so unlike his natural habitat, she needed to know where to gather the right foods, the right material for care and bedding, to keep the viper alive. She also understood the importance of knowing her surroundings. Her exploration of Inferni was like a large spiral, circling the borders and then making slow searches deeper into the lands until she had a good idea of this place she had come to live, sniffing out all the best hunting grounds, making note of clan dens and structures, finding routes of escape in an emergency, and, still being a mortal of this world and subject to the whims of this body, of course a few nice spots to play or relax.


Now it was time to become acquainted with her clan, and the best place she thought to start was the D’Neville Mansion. She glanced around her as she stood on the porch, ears pert and eyes searching for anyone. There was a cornucopia of scents on the threshold of the members that passed here so frequently. Had she known many of them, she probably would have been able to identify some of them, but for now it was a mixture of predominantly coyote scents. Relaxed, she noticed the latch was not engaged, so she poked the door with her snout and it swung free and welcomed her entrance.


The moment she stepped into the foyer of the shadowed mansion interior she caught the scent that certainly wasn’t coyote, or even canid at all. Her ears dropped back, and she lowered into a half-crouch as she followed her nose, her viper companion slithering along at her paws. It may not be the best of ideas to sneak through the shadows of a clan’s home at night, but the scent riled the predator instinct within her, and it also felt like something had invaded her clan’s home. As she followed the strength of the scent to the west wing, she also noted two other fresh scents that had recently crossed this way; one was to be expected, and she suspected an Inferni clan member, the other was feline, which confused her.


She nosed at the door, and got a strong scent from the hands that had recently shut them. There was a familiarity about the makeup of the scent, as though it was vaguely related to her, and this peaked her interest even more. Pressing her weight into the door, she quickly discovered that, to her dismay, these were latched properly, and she would not get past them without changing. She preferred her quadruped form to her Optime, and wasn’t a fan of changing on a new moon. But it would be her only choice, unless there was another path, or whoever had just come by heard the rattling of the door as she pressed on it and returned to inspect.



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#3
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Word Count:: 342 DO I WIN FOR UNIBROW REFERENCE? Also, I think maybe Sepirah is the first Lykoi Eris has actually liked. .___. Btw hope powerplaying Sepi walking in was okay. Tongue


Eris was not so interested in her blood. She could care less about the Lykois—she simply wanted the information her mother held, and then she could be on her way to... wherever. Well, maybe she wouldn't move on so quickly, not until another homeland made itself apparent—after all, she could not fend for herself. She needed a place to elevate her and treat her like the princess she used to be—otherwise what was the point? The silver-shaded hybrid tried to shove these thoughts away and focus at the task at hand; the moment this happened, a distinctive rattle behind her caught her attention, and nearly made her jump out of her skin. Itzcitla turned and peered at her from several feet away, almost seeming to quirk an eyebrow at his mistress's strange behavior. She frowned sternly at him, perhaps reflecting her second eldest brother's confluence of the eyebrows for a moment, and turned back toward the door, opening it up just a crack, sticking her face to that. One chartreuse-colored eye sized up the small canine standing outside of the door and the snake next to her, widening at this second revelation. The hybrid allowed the door to swing open, motioning the other canine inside. There was something strange about this one—even Eris could plainly see they were related to one another. But there was something more than that lurking behind the younger female's golden-yellow eyes. “I don't think anybody lives in this part of the mansion, and maybe some little critters moved in,” the hybrid explained, closing the door behind the smaller canine. “I'm Eris, that's Itzcitla,” she said, pointing to the cat as she introduced him. He had turned all his attention on the newcomers, more specifically the snake. Eris shot him a deadly look at the cat relaxed approximately one notch, still eying the animal with a gleam in his eye. They were from the land where rattlesnakes and other poisonous snakes were commonplace, and so of course, the feline was wary of Sepirah's companion.

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#4
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WC 500+


Just as she was about to resign herself to shifting so she could pass the doorway, a soft click resonated through the empty hall as Eris cracked the door and peered through. She looked up at the woman and immediately her suspicions about the scent had been confirmed; this was the person who crossed here just a moment before herself, and they were related. She caught the same revelation in Eris’s eyes, too, and wondered for a brief second what clued the woman in. Of course, she assumed it was the most prominent feature that Sepirah had which physically linked her directly to the Lykoi matriarch – the blaze of red fur on her nose.


Sepirah also took a second to identify the wonderful unity there was within a clan that eased its members. Had they met like this in the wilderness, they might have had to go through a ceremonious face-off before establishing each other as some tentative form of ‘friend.’


She didn’t hesitate, and when Eris motioned she slipped through the doorway with the viper slithering at her side. She glanced at the feline nearby, and when she noticed its wary gaze upon her own companion, she positioned herself between the two. It would not do for any of them, the life of the two pets, or whatever relationship might bud between Eris and Sepirah, to have the two go at it. She looked up at the smoke-pelted woman and nodded.


“I am Sepirah, and he is unnamed,” she motioned to the reptile. By the way she spoke the word, with emphasis, she had a very good reason for leaving her companion without a name – and it accompanied why she did not offer Eris all three of her names.


She turned her eyes back to the cat and noticed it cow under Eris’s glare, for which she was thankful. The animal was obedient enough to not cause them all undue mischief. . . though her companion, too, was now wary of the feline. She chuckled lightly before turning back to Eris. “He is the most obedient companion I have ever known, he will not attack without provocation or the order to do so. And I would not have him attack any of my clan, or their pets.”


She dropped her muzzle to the floor and sniffed rapidly, turning her attention back to the creatures that stirred their interest in the first place. Nodding to Eris, she agreed, “Some sort of vermin, for sure, but I’m unfamiliar with all that live in these lands yet. Shall we?” A hearty and satisfied grin pressed onto her muzzle, her young white fangs gleaning in the moonlight, as she turned and stalked silently towards the room Eris had been about to inspect.


“Your teeth are too happy, I would not want your venom wasted. Wait here,” the over-the-shoulder comment was clearly directed at her companion, who was content to watch the cat for now, but she spared the glimpse to also check for Eris’s pursuit.



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#5
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The sable-shaded canine peered at the similarly-colored youth, truly curious as to this one—she had not known any of her siblings or extended family to possess the same coat coloration she did; melanistic traits seemed absent from her particular family. The dark woman closed the door behind the other canine, turning to catch her name. Sepirah did not offer the companion's name it would seem he did not possess one.


The sable woman smiled as the other canine described her companion. “I can say the same for Itzcitla,” the canine said, placing one hand on her hip. There was no petulance or annoyance in this gesture; the sable-shaded woman genuinely liked this canine and the creeping, tingling sense of the magic that Sepirah contained—even if Eris was too dense to truly perceive it yet, it was there and it spoke to her unconscious mind in whispers. “Me either. Where did you live before here? I am from the south, in the desert,” the smokey-colored canine said, speaking of Eterne. She was not usually curious of others' backstories; the sable-shaded woman was generally interested in herself and herself alone.


The sable-shaded woman followed along behind the other woman, content to allow Sepirah to take the lead if she so wished to have it. Eris was not particularly inclined to hunt anything, but the lack of sleep and the noise was driving her up a wall. She was quite happy to have someone who might actually know what they were doing here. When they reached the door, the sable-shaded woman stepped forward to utilize her opposable thumbs, which Sepirah did not have at the moment. Rather than opening the door immediately, she instead left her hand on the handle, turning back to peer at the oddly assembled trio of hybrid, snake, and cat standing behind her.


Table thanks to Vieira!
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