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At first, he heard nothing. The wind did not bring the stranger’s voice his way, and drew the smoke from Gabriel—signaling to him that the stranger had the advantage of scent. Of course, this was his home, and he would not give way no matter what creatures roamed in the dark. Straining his ears to hear something over the wind, he was soon answered by a masculine voice he did not recognize. Moving softly in the dark, Gabriel came down the steps and began to make his way past the old garden, slowing as he drew closer.
In the starlight, his yellow-gold eyes glowed hellishly. “Then why are you sneaking around in the dead of the night?” He half asked, half accused. There was a vicious undertone in his words, a distinct sense of distrust. [/html]
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sorry for the wait.
The eyes, the voice: both nearly sent his mind spiraling from calmly calculating to fight-or-flight. The two-year-old swallowed; his voice felt trapped, stuck between his heart and his tongue. Endymion stepped back quite a bit more as the figure advanced. Reason sat on his shoulder, shaking its head and tut-tut-ing at his silly late-night bravado. Suddenly the coast seemed even darker than before, and the house a temple of foreboding. Endymion's posture remained the same, however. He stood with his back straight, his shoulders squared to the oncoming stranger, fists held at his sides.
"I want-t-t-t-t-ted-d-d–" The young wolf broke off, expelling a sharp breath of exasperation. The stutter had come to haunt him, with horrible timing at that. Instead of fear, he then felt frustration and shame in front of the yellow-eyed stranger. His pale green gaze darted away to the sand and foliage beneath the other's feet. Sullenly, pathetically, he finished his sentence. "I w-w-wanted to s-s-see the hous-s-s-se." How humiliating.
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[html] Taking a drag on the cigarette, Gabriel shifted his feet and dug into the ground under him. The stranger had moved back, but his positioning did not change, and had not spoken. It was a wolf; that he could tell from the outline. It was too dark in the tree line for him to make up any definite features. The hybrid was about to speak again when the wolf did; stuttering badly as he did so. Gabriel’s ears went up and he resisted the urge to cock his head—this was a peculiar thing to hear. He had never know anyone who had such a disorder.
But this wasn’t the time to study oddities in the animal kingdom. “You can see it just fine from outside of our borders,” he said coldly. [/html]
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sorry for the wait.
His cream-colored muzzle wrinkled against the foul smell of smoke. It was maddening, and fueled the flames of his extreme humiliation. The cold reply did nothing to calm him, either. Endymion stood before the hybrid, arms held stiffly at his sides, pale eyes still aimed at the ground. He looked like a child being scolded, though he and the Aquila were nearly the same age, give or take a few months. The hybrid was more massive, and could rip the Russo into several tiny pieces if he wanted to (but the w0lf knew he probably wanted to). Yet Endymion was feeling deep chagrin, and did not want to let himself be bullied. Even if it did cause him to get smacked around.
"I am, ain't I?" he asked the Aquila, glancing up into his golden eyes briefly.
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[html] A vicious hook pulled his lips back, revealing teeth just starting to yellow from tobacco and age. He was still very young, of course, but there were days Gabriel doubted this information. “Don’t give me lip,” he nearly growled. “One call and I’d have this place down on you. We don’t take kindly to people like you around here.” People like you? My he sounded superior. Of course, Gabriel’s heritage was mixed—this could be told from a passing glance. Still, he had a visage to uphold, regardless of whether or not some poor boy wanted to see a childhood 127.0.0.1. [/html]
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With a sigh that was much more like a groan, the Shadows dog squeezed his eyes shut, bringing a clawed hand up to his face. Endymion pinched the bridge between his eyes. "Look," he said, retreating slowly to where he was a fair distance away from the invisible border, but still within earshot of the yellow-eyed stranger. Defending himself against the hard-headed hybrid was not something he wanted to do. "I just wanted to see the house. Yeah, at this ungodly hour, too. I apologize if I got too close or whatever. I wasn't going to come in, I'm not that stupid." Endymion reopened his pale eyes, and shrugged, gazing past Gabriel at the dim outline in the distance.
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indent Snorting smoke from his nose, Gabriel flicked an ear. “Unfortunately, the last bunch of people wandering our borders this late weren’t here for sightseeing.” Whatever he came off as, Gabriel had his reasons. Nothing he did was without cause, or without drive. One hand rose and pushed a thick chunk of dark-streaked hair from his face. The other hand flicked ash from the tip of his cigarette, which rose back to his mouth before he posed another question: “Why do you want to see it so badly anyway?”
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The russet w0lf nodded, glancing at the smoking c0y0te as he spoke. He understood his wariness, and respected it. Even if he didn't act like he did. To defend oneself was instinct, as was the "lip" he gave the Aquila, which was certainly not his nature. The question following Gabriel's initial statement caught Endymion off guard. Despite how he asked it, the question was almost civil, and in contrast to his hostility. The w0lf's jade gaze drifted back to the outline of his counterpart, straining to pierce the dark of night concealing him. After a few moments he shrugged, rubbing the back of his head out of habit. "My dad used to live there. Helped build it, I guess. His name was Thorn Russo," said the two-year-old, rattling off details the other most likely would not care to hear.
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indent The names of Syemv were useless to one of the men who had helped destroy it. Gabriel had never been too concerned with history, as it did not affect him today. He sucked down the last of the tobacco, and then flicked it away, towards the sand. He turned back to his companion, shifting his feet as numbness sunk in. The name, however, sparked his interest. “So you’re related to Rurik,” he half asked, half stated.
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Endymion watched the cigarette butt sail through the air, and flop noiselessly on the sand. He knew about the war, and considered the possibility that Thorn had been a casualty of it. However, the two-year-old doubted the idea. There was nothing that tied the pirate to Bleeding Souls, save Syemv, and maybe Fat1n. But neither seemed very important when he left. Endymion fixed his gaze again on the c0y0te, confused by his question. Rurik? The w0lf's brow deepened for a moment or two, before realization set in. "Oh, Rurik," said he, nodding his head once. "Yeah, he was my uncle." Was, is? He didn't know who was dead or alive.
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indent Had he known what Thorn looked like, Gabriel could have answered that question. All he knew was that he had killed one white w.olf, and fought with another timber coated fellow. The stranger he was speaking with gave him more information—something that was helpful in identification. “He and I were good friends,” Gabriel said, not sure why he was explaining this. It was curious how the former leader of Syemv and the current leader of the Land of Wuffluvers had hit it off so well. But then again, it was all the power of drugs and alcohol.
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this was fun. end soon?
Endymion stared at the ground placidly, already over the principle shock and fear from the Aquila's appearance. He had known about Rurik, but never met him. Normally a fact such as that would bother the two-year-old quite a bit. However, he had a feeling that he wasn't missing out. "I didn't really know him," he said, leaving out the details. Didn't know what he looked like, where he was. The w0lf didn't really care. Sighing, he put his hands on his hips. "I'm Endymion," he offered nonchalantly, figuring he owed the c0y0te something for causing him trouble, however miniscule. He didn't expected a name in return.
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You can post again if you'd like and I say we're done?
indent “Go home,” Gabriel said after a moment of silence. With that, he turned around and began to make his way back towards the house. Once inside, he sat in the large armchair by the window, waiting. If the male remained, or tried to come closer, he would hunt him down like a dog. Doubting this, Gabriel leaned back and stared ahead blankly, eyes going cloudy as he lost himself in thought.
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that's cool, thanks!
Smiling wryly, the wolf watched the other's form receeding into the darkness, toward the house. Endymion stood there for a moment more, taking in slow lungfuls of salty air. Then he turned, obeying the Aquila's will, and stalked along the coast toward Ashen Mountain. It would be a while before he returned. And when he did, the russet wolf did not plan for the visit to be under similar conditions.
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