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She hadn’t thought that it would take her so long to reach this stupid pack. If she’d known, she probably wouldn’t have wasted the effort. Addison had forgotten that snow would hinder her and the longer she had walked, the more tired she had become of walking through it. She had thought of trying to knit some kind of a shoe or snow boot to keep her feet warmer (she almost always had cold hands and feet, even in the summer,) but she hadn’t been able to figure it out yet. She had made her mittens, hat, and scarf, though, which she wore on this day. They weren’t flashy or anything, a dull gray in coloration. She’d taken and carded wool from both a black sheep and a white sheep and had mixed them together and had come up with a somewhat black, somewhat white scarf. The color didn’t matter much to her; she was a simple girl when it came to material possessions, preferring to live rustically in the farming Valley pack.
It had gotten colder as the day wore on, the sun beginning to sink a little in the sky. Addison hoped that the canines of the Anathema pack would be welcoming to her, at least somewhat...that they would listen to her questions and give her the answers that she sought. She would be willing to travel back to the Valley during the night if she knew for sure that Grace was safe and that nothing horrible had happened to her. She had visions of the girl being brainwashed by Halo, the same coyote that she had discovered with Pripyat when her little brother had wandered too close to Inferni. Halo was also the coyote that had given her the scars across her muzzle and the pock-marks on her hands; complete pieces of her skin had been ripped out, leaving small holes in the skin that felt different from the area around them. Hopefully Grace was safe and sound in this pack.
As the sun set it began to cast a different sort of light over the territory. The rays hit the snow at just the right angle, shining off of the pieces, creating tiny glares and glimmers as she passed by. She would stop and stare at a particular spot only to see the same dull white as before. The glittering seemed to be happening out of the corner of her eye in certain places that the light hit just right. The cinnamon-tinged wolf smiled at the mystery of nature; she didn't wonder why the snow glittered at times, simply accepting the fact that it did and observing the pretty spectacle out of the corner of her eye as she went. It was getting a little later in the evening, and soon she wouldn't be able to see the glimmering at all.
She was a short luperci but her shadow stretched out before her as she walked. She observed the lengthening process and wondered about her own height; she was at the lowest measurements for height and was quite small when she was in her lupus form. She primarily stuck to her optime form for this reason. Addi didn’t have a Napoleon complex by any means, but would have preferred to have been born just a tad taller than what she was. She didn’t enjoy others looking down at her because of their height difference and that was often what happened. Maybe if she did manage to make herself some boots she could put some kind of a heel on them or a support so that she could gain those few inches back. But no..that would likely make them too difficult to run in or hunt in. Maybe they could just be for social events.
Her height was one of the few things that the usually bold girl was insecure about, the other being her odd eye coloration. She hadn’t met many others with eyes as peculiar as hers and when she did she often attempted to befriend whoever it was. It was rare to see…and she enjoyed being around those who shared the same characteristic as she did. As a child she had been teased about it and made fun of by a few other wolves, so it was a slightly sensitive subject to her. She would feel more normal if she was a more socially acceptable height and had eyes that were the same color instead of the blue and gold ones that she had. Designing her own custom boots was the first step to solving at least one of those problems.
The girl was coming up with new ideas for clothing, shoes, and accessories each day, though it wasn’t a fact that she would share with most. She kept to herself most of the time and didn’t interact with many, not even members of her pack, if she could help it. She preferred solitude to company most days, especially when she got into one of her creative moods. Last time she’d painted her cabin…this time she had gone crazy in her sketch book, drawing sweater after sweater, boot after boot, bag after bag. She needed to go to the city for more materials, as well, she realized. She jotted it down as a note in her memory; if things didn’t go well in Anathema and she was sent home, she could be in Halifax by tomorrow.
She was nearing the border area, she could tell. The scents were getting stronger and stronger, reaching a point. She stopped there, clearing her throat and letting out a low howl to announce her presence to anyone in the general area. She could smell Grace. Addison had heard that her sister had settled nearby and had moved to a completely different pack, and she couldn’t understand why. She had brought the orange pup to ‘Souls to get her away from their neglectful mother Dierdre, and the girl had turned around and betrayed her. See if she’d ever help her out again. She’d been heartbroken when her little sister hadn’t come home to her and the girl hadn’t even had the decency to leave a note or let her know that she was taking off before she had left. It had reinforced Addison’s notion that she never, ever wanted to have pups and that blood relatives of her mother Dierdre were all back-stabbing assholes. Sirius was the only one that she’d come across that was halfway decent.
Addison clapped her mittened hands together to try and warm them up, shivering slightly. As she had gone Northward she had realized that the snow was getting deeper but she hadn’t wanted to turn around and waste the trip and had trudged on. Now that she wasn’t fighting to take steps through knee-deep snow and wasn’t creating as much heat, she felt much colder. She hoped that by announcing her presence she would be viewed as less threatening; she wasn’t trying to be sneaky here, she was only trying to figure out why her sister had come to join this pack rather than stay with her in Phoenix Valley with her family. She couldn’t let it go, after having searched for Grace D’Angelo for over a month. She would get her answer, one way or another.
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SSWM: 384.
Fiachra was patrolling the borders. Not because it was her duty, but simply because she had nothing better to do with her time right now. She had set up a small make-shift distillery in her room, and the fire was making it far too warm in there. She would have to go back and check on the progress of her now-cooling alcohol soon, but for now, she sat by the borders with a book and flipped idly through it, having read it far too many times. Okay, so this wasn't exactly patrolling, but hey, she had gotten up and paced a few times! It was something to do, at least, while she waited for the Golden Fairy to finish. She hoped to take a guest in sometime soon, perhaps Naniko again, and she would need alcohol for the occasion. Then again... Naniko had sorely overdone it last time they had drank together, and had fucked herself up decently, and shattered a glass bottle besides. Perhaps she would dilute it next time. Then again.. she had, surely, enjoyed caring for her snow white queen. Not that she would ever wish harm upon her for the sake of caring for her, but nonetheless...
Her mind was preoccupied with distilling and Naniko and medical technique when an unfamiliar scent met her nose, followed by the sound of a call from a little way off. She raises her eyes from her book slowly, a glint of something dangerous in her eyes. Someone dared come near her pack's territory? Aw, hell no. She stood up, slipping her book into the bag on the ground while the girl was still far enough away to not see her, and wrapped her rosary around her wrist, holding the large, sharpened crucifix in her hand, should she need to defend herself. She stepped directly in front of the girl and glared, lightning in her icy, blue eyes. She did not take well to intruders, and this one didn't look like a joiner - they were from Phoenix Valley, like Pripyat had been, by the scent. "Foreigner. Why have you come to this place?" Her eyes stayed glued, jaw tightened, and she kept her weapon at her side, but it was a sure threat - 'come closer, invade my home, see what happens.'
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She was trying not to show that she was super pissed about Grace’s disappearance, but that was hard for her to do. As she sat there at the border and became more familiar with the scents she could pick Grace’s out. Now that she realized who it was that had made that particular scent she couldn’t believe she’d missed it. She raged silently against a few of the things in her immediate area, slashing at a tree with her knife and pulling up a few odd tufts of grass from the ground. It was dead and came up easily in her hands, and she threw it back down on the ground. She didn’t need this pack’s scent all over her hands when she went back to the Valley. Addison rolled around in the snow a little to try and cure her boredom and rage as the scent of her sister became more clear to her, wiping her hands off in the snow as well.
Addison didn’t know what she thought of the stranger that approached her. She was normally quite friendly to those she didn’t know, not wanting to make any new enemies, but what was the big deal? She wanted to know what had happened to Grace, if her sister had been lured there or taken there, or what. She stood up from her rolling about, yawning and scratching behind her ears a little. ”Not even an introduction? Geez. Why am I here? Let’s start with names, and then we can get into the whole…conversation part of it.”She said, crossing her arms. ”It’s not like I came in, you don’t have to be so huffy at me.”
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SSWM: 212.
Fiachra took the girl in, her eyes still narrowed dangerously. She didn't have a good feeling about this, for some reason. She had always been a little overly defensive, and she knew that well and fine, but she didn't feel like it was out of place this time. She relaxed her arm a little, content that this girl at least didn't have intentions of attacking her, and looked her over slowly. Her words were calm, perhaps even a little disrespectful in how casual she was, but she was right about one thing - she had not trespassed. Fiachra was mildly disappointed. She'd like to wipe the smugness out of this girl, and maybe some after that too.
Instead, she wrapped the rosary around her wrist a few times and let the bladed crucifix hang by her hand, and extended her non-weaponed hand to the girl in stiff greeting. "I'm not huffy, girl. I'm defending my borders, as anyone who knows what it is to be in a pack would do." Her words were edged; clearly, she implied that, by deeming her 'huffy,' this girl did not know how to be part of a pack. She continued. "As you wish. I'm Fiachra. Who are you, and what business have you with Anathema?"
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She liked to see what kind of a reaction she could elicit out of others. She didn’t mind awkward situations much and didn’t often care about what others thought of her. Addison wasn’t usually so outright rude to a stranger, but today was Fiachra’s day apparently. She had never had to worry about much of anything besides doing basic pack duties; her father was the leader of her pack and as long as she kept out of the way and kept doing her job she was fulfilling her pack duties. She did occasionally find other wolves at the border, but she wasn’t all huffy at them or cold. Sometimes they were joiners, after all. With that kind of attitude one would scare all the joiners away!
”Defend your borders from one small, unarmed wolf.” She repeated, slightly mocking. ”Good luck with that; I’m pretty scary looking, as you can see.” Fiachra then introduced herself, which surprised Addison. She hadn’t been expecting a name and information, and she listened carefully. The Anathema pack. So this was the name of the pack that her sister had run off to join. She had to be around here somewhere…and hopefully she hadn’t ruined her chance to find out. If she had, she could probably come back another day and try and speak with a different member to learn more.
”Addison.” She said in return, yawning. ”My sister ran off to join some new pack that had formed...at least, that’s what I heard. Grace D’Angelo. She’s only about halfway grown…still a pup. I can’t imagine why she’d leave our Valley pack for a place like this, but to each his own I guess. You haven’t seen her around, have you?” Maybe Grace had joined a different pack…she’d heard that there were a few new ones around.
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Sorry for the wait.
The mocking tone was not appreciated. She glared irritably, waiting for information from the female wolf. Her eyes were alight with frustration as she got the information she so desired; ah, a heroine, come to save her poor, lost sister. A laugh caught in the back of her throat and the resulting sound was higher, colder than expected. Her eyes were narrowed as she watched the other female - Addison, she'd said. Seeking Grace D'Angelo? So far as Fiachra could tell, Grace would be related to Naniko somehow, although she couldn't imagine how. That meant Addison would also be related to Nani. Fiachra held her ground but didn't advance again; the last thing she needed was her snow white queen in a fuss about her injuring a family member. She might have fucked her pack leader, but she sure as hell wasn't about to piss her off nonetheless. She didn't believe herself to be special enough to escape the wrath of an irritated Naniko. Nobody was that special.
Instead, she answered slowly, thoughtfully, her words carefully cut up before spoken. "I do believe Grace is here, yes," she replied, her voice curt but not unfriendly. She understood looking after family; she would do the same for her own sister. It was clear that Addison was older than her sister, as she had described the girl as a pup, which Addison herself clearly was not. She thought the name was familiar; a newcomer, no doubt. "I can't be certain, but if you'd like to come in and find her, have a chat..." She paused; should she be inviting strange wolves into Anathema territory? She sized Addison up; the girl was right, she was unarmed and looked harmless enough. "...You're welcome to do so." Fiachra finished, standing aside to show her willingness to let the girl pass.
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She wasn't really sure if the pack leader knew who she was or even that she existed. Cerulean was a cousin of Naniko's if she was thinking right...Addi wasn't sure. The tales that her alabaster father had told her as a pup had long since left her memory. She wasn't too sure about anything that he or Dierdre had told her in the past any longer.
”Well at least I know she's safe. I'd like to throttle the little brat for making me worry..." She paused. ”But I'm not gonna actually do that, of course." Addison accepted the invitation easily, stepping into the lands without worry now that she had been given the OK. ”Where we goin' first, lady? I don't know these lands."
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