[html] and let's go down to the water
Memories of the fire remained branded upon the backsides of his eyelids, that when he closed his eyes the flames licked up around him. Not nightmares, no, but reminders that weren't entirely welcome in their stay.
He had never informed them that they were allowed to be there, had never signed a consent form saying, "let the fire remain for me." No. He had wanted nothing to do with the ugly raging beast, though he held nothing but admiration for it.
Fire was not a canine's friend, controlled or not.
But oh, the rage of that blaze had been incomparable. He had felt it, had wanted it, yearned for that kind of power.
The power to kill vast numbers without doing anything but existing. The power to drive a whole group of packs from their homeland, to uproot them and move them elsewhere, simply by being in that place. He giggled madly at the thought even as he stepped over a sharp rock to avoid puncturing his foot.
Andre wasn't supposed to be in that place, he knew; it smelled of Gabriel and Faolin, which meant Inferni had come here. That was all there was to it. He wasn't on their territory yet, but his blatant disregard for it was quite obvious in his flat yellow gaze. Perhaps he would daringly shift his way across that dotted line in the sand where his family hoped to rebuild what they had, see what punishment they exacted.
For he was but a traitor, was that not true?
A traitor who would be their end someday. Another bout of mad cackles wracked the boy as he shook his head and turned, shorts swaying gently around his powerful legs, and walked away from Inferni's borders, back in the direction of the sharp beach he had already been on, toward the water that was so low from there.
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... This got a bit long. I'd been wanting to have a thread between these two, regardless.
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He sat, partially hidden by the harsh and rocky landscape of the area, while watching the waves lap at the jagged shoreline. Ari didn't know how he felt. He felt mostly empty, but that was simply how he always felt. His mother had joked, once, that he hadn't been born with a complete soul. He felt as though she might have been true. If that was true, she might have been true of the other thing — how he had supposedly been cursed at birth. He knew that, in the realism of the world, the wildfires had nothing to do with him, but it still managed to make him feel guilty. There was always that sliver of a chance, and that sliver was worming its way into his mind in the guise of guilt. So, to avoid it, he simply voided his entire mind and let himself simply contemplate the waves and the ocean.
Seeing as how Nikolaos was having a fine time wandering around these new lands, and how his other friends were out looking around as well, Ari found himself wanting to be sedentary for a while. He was not a wanderer, and he was not a leader. He was duly a follower and a remainder. He would meet up with one of his friends or family at some time and see what would go on then but, for now, he found it contenting to sit here on this God-forsaken beach and dream of the beautiful beaches that he had once sat on in Bleeding Souls. Of course, that was before the smell of something foreign crowded his nostrils.
His ear perked, and he heard the harsh sounds of laughter. Who could be so mirthful at a time like this? Peeking over his narrow shoulder with a clear, blue eye, he spied a creature that, while much like a wolf, certainly wasn't one. Its features were narrower, its frame more wiry, and yet it seemed to have a feral gait that made him think one thing — coyote. Hot blood ran to his head as he remembered the talk of a coyote trying to attack Legacy, a girl who had meant nothing but good will towards him in his times of need earlier. His hands clenched involuntarily, and very much out of character. Ari had always thought himself to be a pacifist, but here he was, seconds away from dashing out and attacking the coyote for simply being.
If there were two neurons in his brain separating him from running out and swinging a punch, he only jumped one. Rolling to his feet, and making sure he didn't step on any of the sharp rocks underfoot, he turned sideways and looked at the coyote from afar. This kind of confrontation would end one of two ways — the coyote approaching, or the coyote leaving. Either way, Ari had his own actions planned out accordingly.
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[ooc] and as you're falling down
 No problem with the length, it was a good post. This, in turn, is long.
[bic] could i hear you scream?
He kept on walking, ignoring the gentle movement of his shorts against his legs. He had forgotten his knife in Bleeding Souls; he had just thought about that then, really, and it was irritating. Even now, his eyes could only narrow somewhat at the thought of the plain blade being left to the blaze that had rocked the world. He closed his eyes, conjuring the image of it up, but after a few moments light bursts obstructed his view of it. Of course; he would be stuck thinking about the fire and how bright it had been on the horizon when he had fled for months. Andrezej had never made use of fire before, and seeing such a large blaze would secure that he never would touch it.
Fire was the demon, fire was unnatural. At least, something so massively destructive and destructively massive could only be a demon, and for that reason it was alike him. He wanted nothing to do with anything that was similar to he, for he himself could only be he, and anything like he was to be hated for trying to be him. At least, that was the kind of mentality he'd been born with. In reality, the fire did not scare him so much as mock him.
Why anyone would want to draw upon themselves something that was so mocking and taunting, he would never know. It was not a softening of his character by any means, his ability to be civil and reasonable. It was simply the seizing of advantage and the wisdom that came with growing older. If nobody would associate with an obvious psychopath, then he would have to become less obvious to gain the support of those who would. He couldn't bring all of Inferni down himself, after all, and if he could only take on Gabriel himself, well, the rest of the clan would rise to bring Andre down later.
His eyes lifted in time to see the wolf roll to his feet, and he couldn't help but to giggle sharply at such movement. He wasn't a finicky fellow, but he did tend to observe things and look deeper into them. Such a movement could not have been brought about by simply thought, nor by the movements of any of their surroundings. That left only him to generate Ari's motion, and so he came to the conclusion that the wolf was uncomfortable with his presence. That, by his standards, was completely fine. It was even welcomed.
Jumpy bastard, aren't you? he cooed, tail swaying mockingly behind him even as his sly grin unfolded with a marginal tilt of his head.
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[html] Sorry for the delay. D: And this won't compare to my previous posts, sadly.
Ari's blue eyes leaped in surprise when the coyote giggled — a somewhat deranged sound that he remembered his mother making in her times of utter cruelty, and yet another reason that Ari added to his list on his automatic dislike of the other creature. Being like his mother always was a bad thing, as his mother was, to him, the closest thing he had ever met to the devil. He tried his hardest not to clench his jaw at the soft words of the coyote — whispered like the songs of the sirens — but couldn't help his hands from balling into fierce fists. Ari struggled for words, as he had never really been a very vocal person. Eventually he just settled his icy gaze levelly on the coyote and returned the volley in a tone that matched his gaze, Arrogant bastard, aren't you?
Ari still believed he had nothing to lose. Sure, he had made friends and found family somewhat loyal to him, but he still thought himself a nobody and, worse, a blight. He might very well be cursed, and perhaps getting rid of himself would be a good thing for those connected to him. Therefore he had little fear of taunting the coyote, even though fear gnawed at the edges of his mind. He froze them, however, and continued to act and believe that he was tougher than he knew himself to be.
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Andre's lip curled back over his teeth as the other's hands balled, but his remained perfectly hung at his side. His fingers didn't even twitch in response, though his lips spoke perfectly for the hands that were so well controlled. They lifted, twisted, sneered, and when the wolf spoke, they contorted viciously into a deep snarl. It wasn't a warning, now, it was anger. He might've been just as quick to fight in his Luperci form, but never having fought in his Optime form did not deter him. His feet hit the ground faster than he even though about doing it and his fist was cocked, was flying, for Ari on the dot.
There was no doubt that it was all haste. Andre was not the best fighter in the world, although all the experience would slowly add up, and haste was his god. He moved quickly and fell back quickly, never thinking for too long on what he had to do next. His motions were often choppy and, one could argue, incomplete, but they worked to confuse his opponent. Such haste was bred both of bloodlust and accumulated hate, hate that didn't originate from any source his own mind. His mind, and Hybrid's teachings so long ago, for even though the bastard had beat the shit out of him, he was still loyal to hating wolves.
And that showed in how quick he attacked.
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Finally, the table works!
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Ari rarely fought, or thought of fighting. In no way was he a pacifist — he was simply too subordinate to stand up to anyone. Most of the time, anyway. The sight of this coyote and his attitude set Ari's blood boiling, and that was an occurrence that wasn't to be written off as common. No, Ari hadn't felt this angry since he thought his mother had killed his older brother for sparing Ari's own life. Using that experience to fuel the flames of his anger, his blue eyes studied his opponent as he rushed forward. The coyote's drawn fist was an obvious sign that he was to punch Ari, but the wolf's reactions were too dulled by the surreal nature of it all. The punch connected solidly with his jaw, and sent the scrawny lupine boy stumbling sideways a few steps.
He rebounded, however, acting purely on instinct. He had never been taught self-defense, and had rarely thought of acting on such a thing, so he simply let his body direct as his fight instinct allowed. The surface beneath their feet was as safe as fighting on shards of broken glass, but Ari didn't notice that now. He dodged away from most of the coyote's weaving blows, and maneuvered to where the ones he took weren't as hard as the first blow. He was clearly on the defensive, waiting to see if the coyote would tire. It seemed not, though, after a long minute of dodging and grinding his teeth through the jarring pain of the other's fists.
Finally, Ari decided to stop with the charade. Using a lack of tact that only someone who had never really fought could, he simply stopped backpedaling and rushed headlong at the coyote. Though Ari was much slighter than his opponent, he hoped that a firm shoulder and the inertia of his attack would send the other toppling over. Ari, on the other hand, tried to dodge out of the way as quickly as possible. His fists were up, though mostly anyone could tell he was unexperienced.
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