scavenger
#1
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The snow was still terribly deep, which made traveling by horseback the only way Larkspur could go any distance. He did not often need to travel much further than the Dampwoods, to the little shack that had taken up so much of his time. Today, though, he had a need to travel south. On the horse he could cover the distance in a few hours. Halifax was not all that far from Anathema, though he had to swing wide of Phoenix Valley and this slowed his approach. While Jefferson had been friendly enough, Larkspur had no desire to deal with any wolf pack in the grip of a snowstorm. For all he knew, the damage to the more open packs would be much worse.

His face turned ugly as he thought about this, stretching his mind to Dahlia de Mai. He had warned Conor to be strong, in his own way, but he doubted that the pack would survive. Grunting at the thought the burly wolf rolled his eyes. There was no love for that pack within him. No love for any of the weak wolves that he had once known as neighbors. The mare snorted and tossed her head. Larkspur looked down at her and saw why—the snow had leveled out some in the city, and revealed some of the scrawny grass that so often sprung up in abandoned cities. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, sliding off her back. He loosened the straps to her saddle and pulled off the bridle. It was hung on the horn while she went off to forage.

The black and white wolf left her, moving through the snow-covered city easily. He was after glass. Hopefully some of it would still have survived the storm.



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#2
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Hello :] Hope you don’t mind
526




She had stayed in the house for an unbearable amount of time. After her accident, Ezra had opposed to all of her plans on venturing out, which at first only made her slightly unhappy. Most days were spent in bed or laying around the large window in their room. Their shack on the beach had suffered from the storm very little and they were short on blankets, while a trip to Halifax was always enjoyed.

It was still early when the girl left. She slipped out of bed and silently as she could and into a blue dress that was as thin as her others. The color was as pale as the ocean that morning, reflected by the gray clouds. Saphraine was waiting outside for her, clearly onto her plan of sneaking out. Ocean hued eyes glanced back nervously at the door before struggling to get on her horse. Ever clutched her broken wrist to her stomach and led the golden stallion on gently.

There was so little to say between them as they traveled through the deep snow. They had a connection that sent both their hearts racing. It seemed such a short time ago that they had taken the plunge down the slope on the morning when the snowstorm was at its worst. The thought distressed the girl furiously, and the stallion could sense her tenseness and gently tossed his head in concern.

Lately, she had Haven and Annan feeding the horses for a few days, since there was a thick ice pack between her house and the stables and she was still too injured to even open the feed bin. The unfamiliarity of not taking the usual route made both companions edgy. She directed him east towards Halifax and they sloshed in the untouched snow.

There was a soft billowing noise as hoofs surged snow away from footprints. Ever listened to the chirps of early birds and the outcry of snow sliding off the branches of trees as it slowly melted. She moved her fingers against her side to brush away the feeling of the stinging cold. Suddenly, Saphraine’s front legs broke through the snow and sunk into the under powder, making the girl shift onto his neck abruptly. The motion sent both of them reeling in panic from experience and Ever could feel the stallions muscles stiffen.

The silver girl patted him and backed up off his withers until he was safely on level ground. She was relieved to find the city in her vision when she looked back up. There was also a horse lingering by a patch of uncovered grass. Its palomino coat nearly blended with the lightness of the snow. She looked similar to Saphraine in fur color but was much heavier built.

Ever admired her while they approached, giving the mare a wide girth. Her eyes settled in the tack that lay placed beside her and instantly felt weary that someone was near. She half slipped, half stumbled painfully off her steed and stroked his bare back, still observing the area for trouble.

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#3
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Not at all! Sorry I couldn't match your length, having some issues with Lark here. ^^;

There was a dim intelligence within Larkspur, one that at moments seemed feral and uncouth, and the next was as sharp as a knife. He was a baser creature than this contemporaries, and might have been happy living as a wolf if that had been his path. Tak had chosen him to spread the word, and Misery’s disappearance confirmed this was his duty. Yet he could not write, could not read, and knew only what stories could be told from the ones passed down to him. Rituals had been watched from afar, never participated in—yet the voice of the can tah spoke to him always, and he knew he was not alone.

His horse noticed this first, turning her ears forward and snorting at the approaching stallion. She was a mare who had not been around her own kind in many months, and she still understood the needs of her species. A low whinny greeted the pair, and alerted Larkspur to strangers. He rose from inside the building, having not found his prize. Several steps took him to the door, where he found a much deeper colored horse and coyote-looking woman in the snow. There was not immediate outward hostility from him, but his face remained stony as he watched her from afar.



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#4
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Don’t let it bother you, I don’t mind.




The city was silent. Not a single bird chirped or an animal rustled in the snow dusted brush. Large stone gray bodies of the broken down buildings loomed their hard faces and exposed their open air. Doors hung by their hinges although the storm wind was long gone. Different sizes of shops were bunched crudely together and patches of snow dirtied the area.

Ever laid her uninjured hand on Saphraine’s neck. It quivered under her fingers and she could see the outline of his muscle adorned in gold. Over his back, the girl could noticed the colorless skyline gathering clouds. She sighed and watched it turn to fog in the cold winter quality. Black paw after black paw, they turned and ventured deeper into the stiff streets of the city.

After wandering for a moment, a particular path caught the girl’s eye. It was narrow and cut through the air tight space between two buildings. One was a controversy of a bookstore or a garden shop, and the other some kind of a glass boutique. Ever slipped onto the small footpath, feeling the frozen grass against her claws and the quiet click of her stallion’s hooves on the scattered stones.

As soon as they passed the short trail and were deposited on another lonely street, both companions could smell the male. Saphraine stepped in front of the female, following the scent with a protective stance. Ever was aware that someone else was here because of the mare and tack they had seen upon entering, but she supposed since the city was so large that they would not meet, not this soon anyway. The silver girl stayed close to her steed, oblivious that both their backs were turned away from the male.

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#5
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So I suck and didn't put this in my post log and it got buried. Sorry. ;-; We can keep this short if you want.

It was peculiar to him the bond that formed between these lesser beasts and wolves. Granted, he was himself doing the same with the still unnamed-mare. Subconsciously he gave her signs of command, signs with physical language as much as verbal. Unlike the stallion and his woman, though, the dominance was single-sided. She fled to him, not stood guard while he explored ruins and sought out jars suitable to hold things.

Finding this rather odd, but not entirely worthwhile, Larkspur ignored her. He resumed searching through the rubble. Large hands moved things without any concern for his own secrecy, tossing rocks and bricks aside as if they might be hiding what he was after. Not accustomed to the city, he was equally oblivious to the fact that he was looking in entirely the wrong direction. This was also a fault with his illiteracy with human words; he was going through an abandoned building that bore no value except the odds and ends he had no interest in.



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#6
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I apologize as well. >.< Short is fine, feel free to keep this low priority.




The silence was broken so suddenly and violently that the girl bared her teeth in a mixture of excitement and cautiousness. She heard an unnatural crack of stone on stone, never questioning if it was just the cause of gravity. It came from behind her and echoed through the city like the howling wind.

Ever turned; curiosity taking vengeance on her better judgment. At first she saw nothing. Nearly colorless eyes scanned the ruins of buildings timidly. But movement attracted her gaze. She saw something dark between the grayscale rocks. It shifted occasionally and was possibly oblivious to her whereabouts.

A few step closer and Ever sought of the form of an Optime wolf with shoulders moving in a minimal effort. Another stone went flying, making the silver female cringe in anticipation for the abrupt bang and follow up muted cracks. She wondered for a moment what he searched for.

Do you need any help?

The girl called from a distance, leaning to the side slightly to try to get a glimpse of the dark male’s face. She never considered how small she might have looked stretching in the airy blue dress. Saphraine had followed her over, hardly interested in the unaddressed wolf anymore. Ever remained still and obviously in a meddlesome mood.

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#7
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Thanks! Big Grin

The woman’s voice called out, breaking his meditation. Larkspur rose to his full height, a burly black wolf with patches of white across his pelt, and saw that she was a coyote. Almost instantly his body language changed, displaying hints of aggression. He was no friend of their kind, blaming the clan to the north for the disruption of his life. Orange eyes gleamed in the half-light of the building. She wanted to help? He grunted, finding this odd.

The wind turned, bringing with it her scent. She was not from Inferni. Another pack was laced through her coat, one he recognized only because of its proximity to the city. It was a mark against them to accept coyotes into a wolf pack. His frown deepened. Like it or not, he did need help—he couldn’t read and he didn’t want to waste time going through the hundreds of buildings in the small area he had designated for his search. “Yea,” he grunted, climbing out of the crumbling ruins. “I’m lookin’ for glass jars.”


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#8
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Well, Ever isn’t a coyote but tragically looks very similar to one because of her Ethiopian hereditary. :p



She nearly jumped when he rose so suddenly. Saphraine snorted quickly and threw his head up, clearly displeased by his hidden size. Ever reached out and touched his face without looking in his direction, focused on the features of the dark furred man turn abruptly hostile.

His scent was nothing familiar to her, which unnerved the girl. At first she considered a loner, the lean muscles backing up this idea, but the calming smell of moss on river rocks was absolutely absent. Ever shrunk at his gaze and planned a quick escape before he spoke up.

It was almost hard to imagine a man like so needing help to move the stone rubble. The girl stiffened when the dark wolf moved along the ruins and came slightly closer. Hints of aggression had almost disappeared but Ever was still weary.

I suppose I could assist you in your search,

The silver female chimed, ears pricking in a sign of interest.

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#9
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Even if he had wanted to hurt her, Larkspur had nothing to gain from such a thing. She was not attractive to him, for he found coyotes vile things, and she was flighty and nervous like a bird. Furthermore, now that he belonged to a pack again he was expected to obey the rules of respect that came with it. He doubted Naniko would have the intelligence to withstand a war, and had no desire to pit his children through one. These wild ideas served to discipline him, in their own way.

“Can y’read?” He asked bluntly, mouth turning into a frown at the admittance of such weakness. Larkspur was not the sort who enjoyed proving what had been told to him daily as a child. While he didn’t think of himself as stupid, he knew how cruel the world could be.


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#10
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He was no child, or young man, the girl could say easily. So even when he claimed the unfortunate fact that he could not read, Ever was not surprised. She noticed the slight frown on his maw and the crease in his face showing hints of frustration. It almost made her want to bluff to keep him in a general friendly mood.

No,

The silver female said simple, slipping over the rubble to join the large, ominous man near the search spot. The silver female said simple, slipping over the rubble to join the large, ominous man near the search spot. It had never occurred to her for very long that reading the swirly script of English would be that important. Her adopted mother knew, however, and had offered to teach her. But not until now had the thought been brought up again about learning.

But I can provide you with some extra scavenging,

Ever added in her sweet tinkling voice. She knew the man was looking for jars, but how could glass ones survive in an area like this. A hidden skeptical look flashed across her expression as black hands began prying up a small dark brick. It came loose after several tugs and the Miracles girl set it aside gently.

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#11
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After being faced with so many who were capable of higher skills—reading, writing, artistic things he did not understand—it surprised Larkspur that she was as base as he often believed himself to be. Pleased by this, his attitude changed dramatically. While he still could not shake off her coyote-like appearance (he considered her a coyote because this is what she looked like to him) the aggression and unwelcoming air became something lesser. He was hardly friendly, but now it was simply a reserved sort of behavior that came from years of dealing with a cruel world.

“I dunno where to look,” he said grumpily, turning over a larger section of stone. While he had come across glass and glass shards in areas like this, it seemed this building was void of such things. “I want to find ‘em for plants.” His limited grasp of English showed, for he did not know the proper term for the hallucinogenic plants. The kind Eris used were best dried, but he worried about their children finding them and believed jars would keep them out of the way.


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#12
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She was rewarded by her thought by finding shards of glass under a few more bricks. Each was crafted thickly and rounded in possibly a bowl like fashion. Hardly anything could have survived the falling buildings. Ever carefully pushed aside the glass and began digging away at more rubble until she reached the dirt ground. Nothing but dark shadows could be seen.

The man confirmed her own problem. Where should they look? She placed her smoky arms at her side, resting the already sore muscles. While she thought, the next thing the dark man said immediately brought forth an idea.

I saw a garden shop over there,

Ever said, turning in the bricks back where she had come. Saphraine had drifted back between the buildings to graze on the frozen grass.

If not jars, I am sure you must be able to find pots,


The silver furred girl said while bounding over the mess and back onto clear ground. She straightened her dress, fingering the soft fabric. Thankfully, the man’s shoulders had relaxed remarkably and the hints of aggression had nearly gone. His words came out short but Ever was used to hearing broken English. Her posed and prim personality was often very different from other residents. Ever had only the slightest idea of what the gold tipped man must be searching for, but she hoped she could be of the best assistance to him.

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