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Eyes of sea foam grey traced the sandy beach the pulled away from the shack that he had called home for over a year now. Ever since Spencer left, things had gotten a lot quieter, though not to say less enjoyable. He often raided the library now, finding more things to fill his head. History of the humans fascinated him, and he had even taken the time to learn another one of their many languages. German. A peculiar language, though he found similarities to the English that many of the books were written in.
He had filled the shelves inside with books, and had even improvised to make himself more room to store them. Of course, it wasn’t very neat. Tidiness, however, wasn’t something Jenkai was particularly concerned with. What he was curious about was the unfamiliar scent on the wind. He swore he could smell the distant perfume of burning wood, but couldn’t pin point where it was coming from. Whatever it was, it lingered on Jenkai’s curiosity.
He stepped down the front steps, letting the fabric door fall gently back to cover the beach house's contents. With the sun emerging from the clouds, the days got warmer. Thoughts of summer filled his head – he couldn’t wait until the days grew hot and the water beckoned hot bodies.
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[html] Steps were quiet as she crossed the sand, often veering toward the waters so that it would wash up and across her feet as she went. The sun had come out now, the day warmer than usual, but despite that the waters of the ocean were still chilly. They felt good rushing across tired feet, making the chocolate swirled lady forget that she'd been traveling for ages. The whole plan had been to return to Bleeding Souls, to simply pass through these lands on her way to find her family, but things had not turned out as such. They were burning to the ground, everything from her childhood, and it seemed that her simple trek through this area was suddenly turning more and more permanent.
Luckily, she'd found her grandmother shortly after discovering her old home was burning, but she had also come to discover that her mother had died some time ago. Hymn hadn't been entirely sure how to take that news right then and there, so she had gone wandering, down to the shores. In a way she was sad, but what it because she hadn't used the span of her life to stick around and get to know her mother? Was it because she'd felt like she'd been an awful daughter and suddenly couldn't mourn the passing of her? Whatever it was, Hymn wasn't fond of the feeling.
The girl spotted the shack as she continued on her way, not taking much more notice than that, at least, not until she saw someone come out. Unsure, her steps slowed and she drew her hands in closer to her legs in an attempt to seem as non-threatening as possible. Who knew what the wolves here were like?
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With the sun reflecting off the water, Jenkai raised a hand to shield his eyes from the burning orange sun rise. He yawned slightly, before letting his eyes trail the shores. When they came across Hymn, he hesitated. When was the last time he had seen another were along these shores? Since Spencer? It had to have been. He blinked a few times, before letting his cupped hand drop away from his eyes. Like a mirage, he half expected to watch her disappear as he let his hand fall to his side. But no, she still remained there – her silhouette outlined by the rising sun.
He took a few steps down from the shack so that his toes reached the sand. Unlike hot summer days, it wasn’t scorching from the sun. Instead he could feel the hidden moisture cooling his skin and curl up his legs. He didn’t know whether to approach or not, but he was curious where she had come from. "Good morning", he decided with, and waited to see if she might talk with him.
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[html] Hymn felt, in a way, that she knew the dangers of strangers more than many other people might. She'd heard the story of her conception. Her fath-- Fineas, had told her that day. Hymn, unlike her mother, did not strive to find the good in all people. Even now she didn't understand why her mother could still find good in people after all of the things that she had gone through in her life. It was for that reasons that the young woman was cautious suddenly, slow and easing her way along. No, she didn't simply assume all other to be bad individuals, but she wasn't going to give them the chance to show her that they were. Bright green eyes danced across the water as she went, though she could still see the form of the stranger out of the corner of her eyes, which eased back toward his form every moment that he made a movement.
Finally he moved down to the sand and she cast her gaze fully toward him, only to be greeted with words. Friendly words, at the very least, that caused the chocolate colored female to slow. "Good Morning." She returned his words, following with a polite smile as she finally came to a stop. "Not very often you find a house, or a shack, on the beach." She motioned with her hand, looking at what she presumed to be his home. Syemv was a house on a beach, one that she still missed every day.
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He was pleased. At least for the moment. He only hoped that she might decide to stick around for a conversation before she headed on her way. The sentence she attached to her greeting made him believe she would. He turned his gaze back towards his home, before shrugging his shoulders and looking back to Hymn. "I’ve been here for over a year, so I guess I’ve gotten used to it." Maybe her comment meant that she wasn’t from around here, but he had already assumed that considering he hadn’t seen her before.
Going on that, he decided to ask, "Not from around here?" He was curious if she knew anything about the burning smell he swore lingered on the air. But he’d let that question come up later. For now he was content with just being able to have a legitimate conversation. He had settled for reading dialogue in his books for the past year, and qualified that as conversing.
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[html] He'd been there for a while, which she supposed was a good thing. Maybe she'd learn a thing or two about the area before she wandered back to find her grandmother. Aside from that, it also meant that he hadn't had to go through the fire. "I used to live in a large house on the beach when I was a little girl." She commented, a slightly pained smile following. Those days were supposed to have been the best days of her life but, instead, she'd used them to run around in some frantic search for her adoptive 'father' instead of simply living her life. Sometimes she could still remember the look of horror in her mother's eyes as she watched over her. Even now, she didn't understand it was because she had the eyes of her rapist father.
"Not from this exact area, no." She turned some then, pointing off toward the mountain that separated these lands from what was once Bleeding Souls. "I lived in the lands just beyond that mountain when I was younger but I went off on my own for a while. I was coming through here to return home but when I reached the top of the mountain the whole place was on fire." She didn't know what started it or who all had made it out, just that she'd watched her childhood home burn to the ground. "The house on the beach was there but I'm certain that's gone now."
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His suspicions were confirmed. No need to ask if she too knew of that faint burnt smell. There was a fire just over the mountains. Curious. He was glad it hadn’t been able to spread here as well. If his own home burned to the ground, the only place to return to would be with his parents. That was where he suspected Spencer had gone to, but he couldn’t be positive. Either way, that would always remain his last resort.
"A fire you say? Hmm. That’s unfortunate. I though I could smell smoke on the air for the past few days now. I suppose a few unluckys didn’t make it out." His sea foam gaze lingered on the distant mountains colored a pastel blue due to the amount of space between here and there. He tried to imagine what it would look like to see the burning lands from such a high vantage point – beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.
"Ohh, your family," he suddenly remembered. "Do you know if they escaped in time?" A knot formed in his stomach at the thought. It would be a horrible passing, that was for sure.
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[html] "I could smell it on my way through but I didn't ever think that it was our lands." She said, frowning slightly at the thought. The sight from atop the mountain that night had indeed been terrifying. Her heart had dropped into the pits of her stomach as soon as she had seen the smoke and as soon as she'd made it to the mountain's top all she could do was stare. A beautiful sight indeed, made horrifying by the fact that the people she loved could have been stuck in the flames. "It had been so long since I've been home that I wasn't sure who all was still around or not, but I've crossed paths with others who came from there. Seems like just about everyone headed this way." Which could have been a good and a bad thing all in one.
"My family.." She started, quieting for a moment before continuing. "My mother and siblings passed long before the fire, but I found my grandmother and few other distantly related family members when I came down off of the mountain." It was a blessing, she supposed, that she still had at least a bit of family to return to. "The Coyotes from back home have gathered east of here." She commented, perhaps driving the conversation away from talk of her family. "You should watch out for them, they've never been very liking toward wolves." A warning, she supposed, because she'd heard the call from one of them the previous day.
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Jenkai was rather surprised at how quickly those from the burning lands had advanced over the mountain to encompass the area around here. Sure, he usually didn’t travel too far away from Halifax and the peninsula, but he was well aware that few wolves lived this side of Halcyon. And now, there was not only other weres, but a clan of coyotes as well?
The topic of her family seemed to cause a bit of discomfort, so he figured he’d avoid discussing it any further. Instead he zeroed in on this coyote clan. "Coyotes, aye? Well, I suppose I’ll be alright as long as they decide to leave the city and this shore alone. Have they always been like that – disliking of wolves I mean?" He couldn’t see why they had a reason to hold such a grudge.
"Oh, forgive me. I've forgotten to introduce myself." He offered a thin smile, before motioning a hand towards his own chest. "The name is Jenkai Miles."
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[html] "Been like that for as long as I can remember." Though she didn't recall a whole lot about them from when she was younger. "Changes up now and then, I suppose. Sometimes they're just sort of there and leave everyone alone as long as they get left alone. Other times they're wild and sudden." This was, of course, coming from a young woman who wasn't entirely sure of the complete story. "I went back home to visit a while back, my Mother was an Alpha in the lands, and I returned to find that her pack no longer lived in the same area. The Coyotes attacked one day, forcing them out of their lands, and claimed them as their own." That was how they'd lost the beach and the house along with it.
The mention of his name brought a very faint smile to her lips, if only for the slight resemblance in their last names. "Hymn Kiles." It was starting to come out smoother, though she still wasn't quite used to introducing herself with her mother's last name. "Everything I've seen of this place so far has been fairly quiet. Not many wolves live around here?" She couldn't for the life of her understand why, the place was vast and beautiful.
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The coyotes seemed like a group to avoid, and Jenkai made mental note of that. He wouldn’t tangle with them unless it was completely necessary. He was almost positive he wouldn’t have trouble keeping his distance from them, however. "Yes, it’s been along time since I’ve seen other wolves around here. There have been a few to pass by every once in awhile, but not many. It’s always been fairly quite until late."
A cool breeze passed and Jenkai could hear the familiar flap of the cloth door hanging from the small shack behind them. The sky was painted in light pastels, clear of any clouds for now, but sure to gain a few as the day progressed. The air smelled unusual to him – another reminder of the changes that were taking place around here.
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