[html] Geneva  dated to tomorrow.
She was getting used to seeing the white all around, the higher parts of their mountain home being covered with the stuff. Naniko blended in well with it, which would benefit her for hunting. She was a little thin from her travels to 'Souls, and was looking forward to being able to put a little more weight on. She was a large female, and looked lanky and long-boned at this weight.
The only place that appeared to have a little bit of fat was her belly area, where she had carried scorpius a few months earlier. Her son was under the watchful eyes of the rest of the pack as she traversed the border area, marking places where she felt her scent wasn't quite strong enough. A wolf would have to be stupid to pass such obvious scent markers.
She yawned, rubbing at her hair with one mitten-ed hand. She spent much of her time out at the border these days, waiting to see if any prospective members or interested wolves might come by. She would be receptive to family and friends, but wary of any others at this time. Naniko had accepted Larkspur into the pack, but who knew what other loners were out in this area.
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Table by Jenny. LOVE YOU JIMJAMZ!
Geneva Stockholm did not spend much of her time outside of Phoenix Valley. However, her reasons for staying landlocked within those territories were dwindling. Although her son would still need her guidance, he was an intelligent creature. And he had already ascended the adult ranks. Geneva could not justify creeping around, like a ghost attached to his shadow. If her boy needed her, he would seek her out. It was the best she could do for him now, because it would be a great disservice to him and an insult to her faith in him if she kept at arm's length with him anymore. The Pundit decided to leave Phoenix Valley without telling anyone. She was not beholden to anyone in those terms. And she would return within her own time. Jefferson would have the borders secured, and upon her return, she would also complete a quick sweep of the territories belonging to their pack. For now, the woman craved some time apart from the place she dearly thought of as home. Geneva had heard rumors of a new pack, and so Geneva decided to approach them and a learn more about them, if possible. She thought that it would be best to at least learn of their borders, so that she could advise other Phoenix Valley members to steer clear of claimed territory. As she approached, she ran her fingers through her short hair. Her mane had always been short, but at this time it was now falling into her eyes more often than not, a light gray veil of hair that matched the rest of her coat. The petite woman was dressed in a woolen, long sleeved dress. She had finally gotten used to human clothing, relics of time gone past, but she could not bring herself to don leggings, as she felt that they restricted her motions. However, wearing such things also aided in keeping her warm during the winter. Despite the fact that she had been living within a pack for almost two years, Geneva was still unable to fill her thin, fragile frame with any other muscle or body fat to stave off cold. She was not emaciated, but she would always been seen as delicate. Geneva continued cresting the length of the territory, sharp lime green eyes searching for signs of marking territory. In the distance, she saw a white outline. Cocking her brow, realizing she may have found someone, she continued forward, keeping her distance respectful, until realization dawned on her. "...Nani? Nani!"
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[html] WOWOWOWOOOO
She didn't know what she was expecting to find out here. She wanted to make sure that the pack was safe from danger and wanted to ward off any wolves who meant Anathema harm. The wind blew over the mountain, sending little bits of snow back into her face as she walked. She was just clearing some of it out of her eyes when she heard a familiar voice, and her head snapped up.
"Geneva?" It was said with disbelief at first. Why would the silver woman have wandered away from her pack like this? Had she come out seeking Naniko, knowing that she was here? She ran down the side of the hill toward the silver wolf, tripping once or twice on her way down. "What? Is it really you?"
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Table by Jenny. LOVE YOU JIMJAMZ!
The Phoenix Valley Pundit did not know if she should dare to believe her eyes. This Naniko was different than the one she remembered. The last time Geneva had seen her best friend, Naniko had recently given birth to her litter, which included Rio, Lucia, Harlowe, and Caprica. Time had passed since then, and those children were grown and had decided their own paths in life. She hoped that they were well, but she had not been able to look in on them. It had been so long since she had seen that litter. "Yes, it is me," Geneva said, approaching Naniko without a thought to pack protocol. As she laid eyes on the woman, she noted the differences in her physique. Where she had once been very muscular, she seemed more sinewy. Had the time they spent apart been hard on her? So much had happened since she had seen her best friend. "I have a son, Pripyat!" Geneva blurted suddenly, the words welling up in her throat and launching themselves into the cold air between the two of them. More subdued, she bit her bottom lip and spoke once more. "Are you staying? Are you well?"
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Eheheh <333 YOU TOO. I ALSO LOVE GENEVA AND NANI
She was relieved to see that Geneva was well. Something had obviously happened to the female, but that wasn't what was important to her or a hot item for her to want to talk about. Nani looked different as well, and Geneva wasn't questioning that. She did have a bit of pudge on her belly from her most recent pregnancy with Scorpius, but that would go away with time and exercise. It was already less of a bulge than it had been before.
"I have Harlowe with me and my newest son, Scorpius. And my sister Selene and her son and daughter, Juju and Demi. I managed to find them! I left wondering who I'd come across, but I didn't think I would find any family out there. Harlowe met up with me in Halcyon on my way back in." She couldn't believe that Geneva had a son as well; she had felt that the silver woman would make a fantastic mother! "What's Pripyat like? Scorpius is a little prince...I'm teaching him manners and other important things. He's pretty young still."
She wanted to talk more, of course, and didn't mind at all that Geneva had come farther into the border. She motioned for her friend to walk alongside her toward the caves. There was only a very thin layer of woods between their home and the edge of the territory, and they would be to the caves quickly. "I formed a pack, a new group called Anathema...with my family and friends. It's a group for wolves who were banished or exiled...though anyone is welcomed. We live in Halcyon, underground. How is the Valley doing, Geneva?"
Table by Jenny! [/html]
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Table by Jenny. As do I! !
Naniko had news to share that was equally heartwarming and exciting. Geneva could only half listen, still in shock that her dearest friend had returned. Although she no longer made Phoenix Valley her home, that did not mean that she was unwelcome there. And it seemed that Naniko shared the same sentiments, as she ushered Geneva into her pack’s newly claimed territory without the blink of an eyelash. They would not stand on border protocol and procedure; there was too much between the two women. Naniko was someone she loved and trusted almost more than anyone. For that reason, it did not even dawn on the gray scale lady to ask why she had not returned to the Valley pack. Naniko had had her own reasons, and that was enough for Geneva. Following Naniko, she stuck close to the woman’s side. Their shoulders touched with each step they took, and Geneva was unwilling to be the first to break contact. That small physical contact was enough to convince her that this was truly happening, and so the shock began to wear off. She found her voice when they entered the mouth of the cave. ”Pripyat has not been silent since he learned to speak, and he is so remarkably perceptive and patient. I never thought that Jefferson and me would bring such a child into the world. I think he’s brilliant, but I might be biased.” Geneva laughed weakly. To her, Pripyat outshone every single star in the sky. He was the most remarkable thing about her life. She glanced around this new pack territory. She had never dreamed of taking refuge below ground. But it was fitting and clever, the gray wolfess thought. Who would think to look for a pack of wolves in this sort of environment? This was a good, strategic move on Naniko’s part because her new home would be easy to defend. ”I like the sound of Scorpious. Perhaps one day we will meet each other’s children.” Geneva had been obsessed with keeping Pripyat out of harm’s way for as long as possible, and she couldn’t wait to meet Scorpious when her friend’s son was old enough. Geneva would gladly make the trip to see the D’Angelos again.
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WC 373
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wc: 1009
Her mind had been completely blown by this situation. She wanted to run into the territory and introduce Geneva to every pack member that she could, to make sure that they knew that she was a trusted friend of hers and to always allow her into the territory...but that would take too much time. Perhaps they would smell Geneva's scent around the territory and catch on, or perhaps she could announce it at their pack meeting. Naniko had been thinking that she ought to have a pack meeting pretty soon to announce a few other things anyway. Because of one of the new Zepars she'd gotten the idea to create an entirely new rank tier based around being a craftsman and making things with your hands.
"Scorpius is quiet at times and talkative at other times. I'm trying to do well by him and teach him about the world despite how young he is. He's trying to get back into my good graces right now, still, I believe, after disobeying and leaving the pack's lands without telling me. I had to chase him down...and I wasn't too happy about it. He's doing better about letting me know where he goes, now." She had followed her son's trail after he had not returned home and had discovered him inside of the other pack’s territory. He had gone as far as Dahlia de Mai! She couldn't believe that her little boy had been stupid enough to leave their newly founded pack and run off to a group of wolves that she didn't even know. Last she knew, Dahlia had been led by an evil wolf.
It hadn’t been good of her to cross into the other pack’s territory, but she hadn’t known what had become of Scorpius that day and had felt that her actions were justified. Naniko hadn’t known whether her pup had gone there of his own free will or if he had been lured there or even kidnapped when she had first began to follow him. The wolves that he had been with, a young adult and another pup, had explained the situation to her and though she had been angry she’d accepted it and had taken young Scorpius home with her.
Naniko wondered how Jefferson was taking to being a father to Pripyat. She assumed that he was the father, anyway, having thought that Geneva and him were mates. ”How’s Jefferson taking being a Dad? And it’s good to hear that he’s that type of pup—he’s well behaved, then?” She did like well behaved puppies. ”I’ll have to meet him sometime when I come to visit you in the Valley next.” She hoped that she would still be welcomed there despite her having left the pack, and gave the silver wolf a hopeful look as they entered the caves.
”I thought of living here when my sister and I stumbled across these two big tunnels. We explored them a bit before deciding to settle down here. This way we own below the ground and also the mountain top. I’m hoping that it will work to our advantage to have the burned territory to the North…and the mountain to the North West. If there’s ever some big fight, it’ll be difficult for others to attack the pack.” She smiled. ”Not only that, but if they did get inside I doubt they’d be able to find any of us. Selene and I are thinking of ways to defend our tunnels a little better…booby traps and such.” Naniko was proud of her sister’s ideas for the pack; Selene had been a little unsure of her place in Anathema at first, and the green eyed wolf was glad to see that she seemed to be fitting in a little more now.
”Here’s the main cave. The halls that branch off from these house the wolves, and then there are storage rooms and play-areas for the pups scattered throughout. My own den is this one here to the left, closest to the entrance. I wanted it to be there in case of any threat or call from the border, so I might hear it.” Currently, their borders were quite close to the entrance of the caves. She was hoping to claim land to the south and north of the mountains to give them a little more of a buffer between their border and the heart of their territory. ”Has much changed with the packs in the surrounding area? I haven’t branched out much yet to see if anything’s new.” She said.
The pair entered the caves and Naniko led her toward the center, where a large fire was burning. There was a ventilation hole in the ceiling of the expansive cavern, and the smoke from the fire wisped up toward it, escaping into the outside air. The fire lit the main cavern well, but also gave the entire area a smoky smell. She probably smelled like smoke, herself, from the amount of time she spent sitting near their main heat and cooking source. Some of the dens had their own little cracks and holes that could be used for ventilation if the wolves wanted a fire, as well. She had a rank tier devoted to keeping up the fires and to finding and creating ways to ventilate the dens and hallways so that they could all stay warm and have fires if they wanted them.
”My den has a bed in it, can you believe that?” It was one of the things that she was quite proud of about her new home. She had done all that she could to make it feel like a real living place. It had been hard work dragging the bed frame, headboard and footboard back from the mattress shop that she had found in the city, and even more work pulling the mattress through the woods using her cart. She warmed her hands at the fire as she spoke, pointing to the opening to her den, a large hole in the wall to their left.
Table by Jenny! [/html]
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Naniko welcomed Geneva into her home with such ease and trust, it seemed as though the white female had never left Nova Scotia in the first place. How strange it seemed to think that she had spent so much time apart from Naniko. The D’Angelo woman had almost always been a constant in her life here. First, she had been the center of her new stronghold and sanctuary while escaping from the pain of her old life, as the Commander of Crimson Dreams. Then after Geneva had departed the ranks of the Crimson Dreams pack, Naniko’s friendship had followed her. Despite the fact that the white wolfess had been absent from Geneva’s life for quite some time, she still could not imagine her life without her white furred friend. They had missed much of each other’s lives within the last half year, but now they had all the time in the world to make up for it, and Geneva intended to make the most of what they had been given. It was truly a gift to have Naniko back in her life.
The lime eyed wolfess kept her eyes peeled, absorbing everything that Naniko had to point out to her. It was nothing less than shocking to see Naniko and Selene’s ingenuity at work. Never in her life had Geneva imagined that it would be possible to house an entire pack comfortably below the ground. She understood the merits of going to ground in order to hideout, but only temporarily. The permanent residence that Naniko and her pack had concocted was nothing short of unexpected and mindboggling. Truly, Anathema would be one of the best guarded packs; this network of tunnels was a veritable fortress against any who would seek to destroy those who resided within these catacombs.
Her thoughts returned to Jefferson, his scarred visage swimming within her vision as her eyes adjusted to the low light setting of Naniko’s home. ”He has been a good father, once I gave him the chance to be one,” Geneva admitted ruefully. ”We became estranged after I was grievously injured. I fell many stories from the Quarry, and without Dawali Amara and Ember, I may have died. I don’t remember much, but I do know that I miscarried most of the litter that day.” This was not Geneva’s favorite memory to pull up, but it felt right disclosing this information to her best friend. She had not really had anyone to talk to about the intimate details. She had tried speaking about it with Jefferson, but they always ended up fighting, and she felt judged. With Naniko, she knew that she could express herself freely.
”Pripyat was born in June, but I avoided Jefferson and did not tell him about Pripyat for several weeks. Jefferson actually found Pripyat before I could tell him, and even then he did not believe that he was Pripyat’s father.” Geneva’s tone was bitter now. Although she still felt she had to prove herself to her mate, it still stung to recall his ire. She felt it now as though it were fresh. Geneva sighed, then finished this tangent, ”Jefferson has looked out for Pripyat, provided for him and protected him. He has been affectionate toward him and tried to build a relationship; that is all I could really ask of him.”
Things between Jefferson and Geneva were still in flux. They knew that they loved one another, but it would take time to rebuild trust. The dynamic of their relationship was still undefined at times. She felt that he held most of the power, although he probably felt the opposite way. She wanted so much to regain his approval. It felt childish at times to seek his attention and approval the way a lowly wolf might, but she felt compelled to act that way. Another shadow that hovered over their relationship was the way Jefferson refused to accept that she still loved her mate, Jordan, who had been dead these last two years. She did not understand why he would be jealous of him; he had been a constant fixture in her childhood, and she had loved him with all her might. But that did not change the fact that she loved Jefferson just as honestly and strongly as she had Jordan, if not more.
”I want you to meet Pripyat. And you will always, always be welcome in Phoenix Valley, if I have anything to say about it.” She remembered that Jefferson and Naniko had not gotten along very well; however, they were two of the most important creatures in her life, aside from her child, and she knew that they could put their differences aside for her sake. And as a subleader now, Geneva had authority to declare Naniko a friend of the pack. She could come and go as she pleased as far as Geneva was concerned.
”AniWaya and Phoenix Valley share an alliance,” Geneva informed the Angela of Anathema, giving her as much information as she could provide. ”Haku has fallen, and now a new alpha resides in his place. I am not certain who – I have not left Phoenix Valley very much since Pripyat was born. Just now am I venturing out, but I do hear things. Things with Inferni have been quiet as far as I know. There are many children in Crimson Dreams now, although I do not know who has given birth recently. And there have been at least two new packs, aside from your own, that have formed throughout the territory. As far as I know, they are peaceful, because I have not heard anything else from them – there is a pack of hybrids, and a pack of lovers of the arts.” Geneva was not a wealth of information, but she hoped that she was able to keep Naniko abreast of anything really important. She knew how crucial information could be to a pack leader, especially since Naniko had been gone for so long.
Geneva turned her lime green gaze all around Naniko’s private quarters. She had expected the underground network of caverns to be cold, but this place was actually quite homey. Aside from the bed, it was rather Spartan compared to what the gray scale lady was used to, but these surroundings suited her white furred friend well. Suddenly, she swung around and wrapped her arms around her best friend. She did not care that it was not proper decorum between two pack leaders. All that mattered to Geneva was that Naniko was alive and well, and here to stay. ”I am so happy that you are back!”
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She didn’t know why Savina and Anu hadn’t kept up with Geneva when she had left the pack. Naniko had no problem with finding the gray furred woman in her new home and keeping her friendship up with her. She was a real friend to her and considered Geneva to be the same…perhaps the other wolves hadn’t felt the same and perhaps that was why it had dropped off when the Valley wolf had left the Crimson pack. Had they considered Geneva’s departure to be a betrayal? Oh, well.
Naniko had not thought to ask her friend about what had happened to her, the obvious injuries that she had received, but Geneva explained it to her readily enough. Perhaps it was their close bond that allowed for her to be so candid with Naniko, wishing to inform her of things that had happened in her past. ”I’m sorry. I’m glad Pripyat made it and that you’re OK too” Maybe OK wasn’t the right word for it; would she ever be OK after something like that?
She felt anger rise up in her for the fact that Jefferson had not believed that Pripyat was his child at first. Geneva had hidden the boy and they had been fighting, but even so…why would he think that Geneva had any reason to lie about something that serious? This made her frown and look to Geneva for a reaction, unsure of what she should say for a moment. ”Well that seems like a dick move on his part…until he decided to man up. I’m glad he’s doing well with it now”
The news about the packs in the surrounding area was very useful for her to hear, and she listened intently. Hmm. So there were more new packs other than just her own. Naniko wasn’t sure what that meant for Anathema…perhaps more alliances, or more threats or competition for resources. Fantastic. She guessed that she couldn’t control what other packs did, but didn’t understand a pack devoted to the “arts”. What did that mean? She would have to go there and find out.
It pleased her that she would be welcomed in the Valley pack. Perhaps they could form some kind of an alliance with them as well and share their various resources. She wondered how the herds there were doing, whether the sheep and other farm animals had grown in numbers. She gave her a deep nod of thanks in response to her words before taking in her next ones, offering a smile. ”Meeeee too. We should visit each other often. For no reason, sometimes. Or to bring a present or meat…or just for a nice talk, to get something off our minds.” She accepted the hug and held onto Geneva as well, releasing her after a few moments. The two friends would have a good time catching up on everything that they had missed out on and she expected that she would see her silver-furred friend much more often now that they knew of each other once more.
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