[html] Sorry if it's a little blech. I'm tired and getting ready for work and posting all at the same time. D;
He'd spotted the coyote just outside the borders of Twilight Vale, roaming around almost as if he was looking for something, investing perhaps. Whatever the case, the first thing that the young hybrid had picked up was the fact that the faint stench of Inferni lingered with him, something that immediately brought and kept his attention. He had heard the call of the coyote leader that night, a mocking sort to warning to all wolves that Inferni had indeed pulled through, and he had been on edge ever since. They had taken Syemv back in the old lands, his childhood home, and Conri wasn't about to let them get the better of Twilight Vale.
He kept himself a good distance away from the coyote as he started away from the lands, following him because he was unsure. It could have been the distance between them that made the scent of the coyote clan so small, made him wonder whether or not it was just a coincidence, which was why Conri felt the need to follow him. After some time of walking it was apparent when the coyote was heading, Inferni. The young leader hung back a bit, waiting around just to give the other male a bit of time to get out of range, before he finally made the small trip between his current position and the Inferni borders. Needless to say, Conri wasn't all that happy and was now almost completely convinced that the coyotes had been planning something.
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indent Gabriel had just come from meeting with his cousin and a newcomer, Oxford, and explaining the situation they were currently in. He had intended to finish up his patrol now that the rain had finally stopped. That was, unfortunately, what gave the stranger away. It was an unfamiliar scent, but one that he knew belonged to a pack. Next there was the sight—a reddish toned male near the borders. Too close for comfort. Lifting his head and letting his body language speak for him, Gabriel rounded on the stranger. His whole appearance was about intimidation, made more so by the fact he was not still; pacing, circling, waiting. “What are you doing here?”
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[html] His only intentions were to linger for a few moments more, perhaps he could get a tally on the members, though the scents were far and wide and would take some time to sort out. Unfortunately for Conri, he wouldn't have that chance. It didn't take very long for him to catch sight of the male, much larger than himself, but even so, the young leader stood his ground. He stood as tall as possible, just outside the borders of the Inferni lands, and eyed the approaching male. He had to be the leader. Conri knew that Kaena was long gone and that someone from her family had likely taken over, but he hadn't been expecting a creature that looked less like a coyote than Conri did a wolf.
"What are your coyotes doing near my pack borders?" He asked then, a stern sort of strength in his voice, no matter the danger that the situation presented. "We've respected your boundaries only to find your members slinking around our lands." He'd always told them to stay away from Inferni, as far away as he could, but his hopes that it would keep the coyotes away were now diminished.
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indent Gabriel advanced, circling the stranger. So, this three-legged brat was running a pack? That was interesting. Especially considering who he was—the hybrid recognized that before anything else. This was the boy who had killed Hollow. The half-brother of the boy who had led his younger sister away from them, off into the wilderness. Gabriel resented that bitterly. He missed Ahemait more then any of the others. “I doubt he was in your lands,” Gabriel stated firmly, knowing how his cousin worked. Pulling his lips back, Gabriel grinned viciously, off-white teeth gleaming. “Go home, boy. You don’t want to lose another leg, eh?”
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[html] "I'm sure that if it was a member of my pack near your borders, you'd treat them as if they'd just walked right in." He said, cold and calm in a way that Conri hadn't quite ever been before. Quite honestly, Conri didn't believe they would care if a wolf was over their borders or not, they'd be treated in just the same fashion. "I would appreciate the same respect for our pack that we give to Inferni, if you've got enough honor to do so." Certainly he didn't actually expect the larger creature give a damn what he said, especially with the way that he said it. It was now quite obvious that Inferni, while he'd heard they only wanted to be left alone, was full of hypocrites. He wasn't about the let them push his pack around. "I've already lost more than I can get back to your clan, a leg would be nothing." He almost spat, and it was true, because he blamed them for the loss of his mother, Syemv, and even, in a way, the loss of his father.
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indent Gabriel snorted, lowering his head. It did not matter to him how self-righteous this young man believed himself to be. It did not matter that a long time ago Gabriel had been friends with his father, and met his brother. Nothing mattered except for the fact that there was a fine line they were walking. Soon now, he would cross it. Soon now, he would make sure that his point was made. “Don’t talk to me about honor. You people have none,” he sneered, the medallion and cross dangling around his neck. Honor belonged to men. There was no room for honor in a land like this. “Take your ideals and go home.”
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[html] In his mind, Conri thought that he understood how the coyotes work. Martyrs, all of them, or at least they tried to be. He'd been told before that they only wanted to be left alone, perhaps it was Laruku who had told him that, he couldn't quite remember, but Conri did know that they no longer wanted to play by their own rules. He had spent a good part of his life hating them, despising everything that they stood for and all of the actions that they had taken. Conri practically scoffed at the larger male as he spoke, giving his head a slow shake. "I'll go home when you agree to keep your members away from my pack." He spoke firmly, the particular subject being something that Conri would not budge on.
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indent He had given him two warnings. Inferni was at war, and still he had given the stranger time to leave. Instead he chose to remain, a tow-headed young man going to war. The hybrid was relaxed, biding his time. Another arrogant statement. Gabriel laughed in Conri’s face, eyes cold and dangerous—Lykoi eyes, as if Kaena lived within him. In a way, she did. He was very much his mother’s son. “My war was not with you,” he stated clearly, moving along the three-legged male’s side. Then, as soon as he reached the stranger’s flank, he struck out like a viper.
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[html] Jade eyes moved along with the other male as he moved, only leaving him for the brief amounts of time that he disappeared behind him, soon finding him on the other side. It was that small length of time that would end up getting the young leader in a world of trouble, he just didn't quite know it. The words struck him quickly, a very faint warning, but Conri didn't have time to question or act on those words. The young hybrid was already making an attempt to step forward when the larger male struck, but Conri was slow on his feet, leaving his right flank open to the attack. A strained mixture of both a yelp and growl left him as teeth connected to flesh near the upper part of his leg, taking him somewhat by surprised. He almost lost his footing, almost stumbled, but was able to recover himself, twisting his body around, sliding the single front leg over the ground in attempt to keep his balance. Jaws snapped wildly, his front half turned slightly toward the larger male, but it was obvious that he couldn't reach to retaliate, so instead he kicked his leg, harsh and wild, only aiming to make the other male release him.
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indent Gabriel would have pulled him down, got him on his side and ripped his guts out had he but more time. The reddish-crème male began to struggle, and his leg flew up, catching Gabriel in his throat. Letting go almost instantly, he began to cough, hacking as he stepped back to try and breathe. The recovery time was short, and he lowered his head and growled deeply, not trusting himself to talk. Moving again, Gabriel threw his shoulder towards the younger male’s obvious weak point—his exposed chest, and area where a fourth leg used to be.
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[html] Conri had succeeded in getting the other male to release him but he knew he only had a brief moment. He could either run and get away with his life or stay and fight. The constant doubts about whether or not he could protect his family, protect Naniko, came running back to his mind in that moment. Stubborn and illogical, two things very much not Conri, he decided to stay and fight, no matter that he knew he would definitely lose. Conri took the time that the other male recovered to turn himself more toward him, limping slightly on his back leg already. In a flash the other male was up again, coming at him, and the young hybrid braced himself as good as he possibly could. The strength of the much larger male was something that Conri couldn't stand up against though, and as soon as that shoulder connected he was on the ground. As he hit he pulled is legs in toward himself, making easier for him to roll, which he did almost as soon as he stopped skidding, rolling back toward his enemy. Jaws parted then, lifting his head from the ground and snapping out at the leg nearest to him.
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indent Gabriel succeeded in getting his opponent on the ground, but it did not reach his intended result. Instead, the younger man came rolling back at him, lifting his head like a startled snake. The teeth missed as Gabriel reared back on his hind legs, bringing his paws down towards the other’s torso again. He would crush his body before his spirit, if that was what it took. They need not, in truth, have come to this, but such is the ways of tow-headed boys, even though they were both generals in their own right.
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[html] Rolling could have proved a good technique were it not for the fact that the force from the first one had died away, leaving it quite a task for him to find enough footing to go at it again. Conri withdrew his head just as the larger male reared up, scrambling to find some kind of footing, which proved to be a futile thing. Just as the legs of the larger male were coming down at him he curled up, tucking his head in and bringing his legs close to his body to try and tighten himself up to make the impact less harsh. He came down with force, smacking right in to the younger male's rib cage. Conri let out a rather loud yelp, squirming and whining under the weight of the other male in an attempt to free himself.
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indent Oh God, that noise. It sunk into his skull and made him mad. That noise sounded like pain and death come too soon, like the sound of war and the sound of weakness. A manic and ragged sort of laughter escaped his chest, a doggish sound that could have been a snarl, a growl, a bark. He was laughing as he struck the stranger, moving his hind legs to brace himself for another such attack. He wanted to crack ribs and hear that noise again, hear that terrible whimper, that plea, everything his mother had ever taught him to hunger for.
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[html] It felt as if the breath had simply been pressed out of him and he strained to get it back, gasping quietly and whining beneath the weight. The weight was removed from him soon after, but Conri knew that it simply wasn't over. Edging himself over finally, Conri stretched his single front leg out in front of him, trashing the ground with his rear legs. He didn't get far scooting like that though, and soon enough the weight was on him again, but this time the paws came down on his back, right at the base. The younger male yelped again, whined, and continued to thrash his paws against the ground, despite the feeling that his back might break right in half.
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indent It was like poison, like an aphrodisiac, like devil-grass and liquor and sex, like true love and absolute hatred. Gabriel laughed, reveling in the pain, laughed because he had not intended to be this way, laughed because it was all too easy. This stranger didn’t mean a damn thing to him; he would be one less wolf, one less threat. He was Stygian, leading his sister away, and Gabriel hated him for that. He was protecting worthless lives, and Gabriel hated him for that. He was overestimating his words, and Gabriel hated him for that. He had to die for all these reasons. Even now, the hybrid was laughing, watching the young man try and crawl away once more. This time, Gabriel walked with deliberate speed and sunk his teeth in a death-grip around the red furred wolf’s tail, intent on dragging him back.
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[html] His pride was crushed, though it was not something that Conri really thought he would keep intact anyways. He knew going in to it that he would come out far from a winner, even dead, perhaps. Now though, the younger male was only focused on getting away. The weight was removed once again and Conri fully intended to get while the other male was preparing to do it again, scrambling forward. That hadn't been the plan at all though, and the hybrid was unaware until the point that the Inferni leader grabbed hold of his tail. He tried to ignore the pressure, the pain that seared through him. His legs finally stopped and, instead, braced themselves, bringing his rear end to rise long enough for him to kick out at the face of the other male, head turned over his shoulder as he did so.
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indent Gabriel didn’t register what the body language was until too late. He looked up, startled, and was met by one strong blow to the face. He yowled, shutting his eyes and shaking his head wildly. It felt as if the man had caught his eye, and that concerned him more then anything yet. Staggering, Gabriel tried to open his eye, saw spots, and shut them both again. Haphazard steps took him back, and he dropped his head to try and rub his face with his wrist.
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[html] Luckily for Conri, he had managed to make contact. Not even waiting around to see the damage, his leg went back to the ground and he was off, scrambling forward and away from the larger male despite the pain that shot so eagerly through his body. Even though the adrenaline and the will to get away was there fueling him, he was still slowed due to the missing leg and the damage already done to his body. The other male would catch him with little doubt, which meant he needed to find a place to hide.
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indent Eventually, Gabriel managed to get his eye open. It was not damaged badly, though he could feel it throbbing painfully. A deep and terrible growl broke from his chest and he shot off after the stranger. He was going to kill him, and he was going to hang him on display for the world. Twilight Vale was not a part of his war, but Gabriel would not question taking the battle to them if it came to it. The scent led him along and Gabriel thundered through the forest, knowing full well he would gain on the wounded, three-legged wolf.
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