cruel clutches of destiny

Vigilante Haskel · 01-02-2012, 06:37 PM

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For Finn! Set at Moonstone Lakes, dusk. 512 words.

The ruins of the tiny village surrounded him, bearing down on the dog King like stone and wood monsters. Vigilante was not entirely comfortable with the old remnants of human life, and despite the years he had spent in Cour des Miracles, even during his time as King, he could not shake the feeling of wrong that plagued him whenever he was around human relics. Back in the pack lands, it was not so terrible, as he was accustomed to the buildings there. Time had given him the ability to feel comfortable with the buildings within the Miracles territory, but he felt out of place when he found himself in other old human settlements. That would probably never change, he knew, and he accepted that. One could not teach an old dog new tricks, right?

Oh, but the dog King had learned many new tricks since he had first come to the area. He had learned to love and to be a mate and father. He had found a few that he considered friends; he had thought of Anann earlier as he passed by her pack's borders, skirting them without interest, not desiring to learn of them today. He was not feeling particularly social or diplomatic today, which was another reason for his absence from the pack that day. The former killer had learned to be a leader, depended upon by many, and he enjoyed it, mostly. These were all things he had learned since he had come to Cour des Miracles from Kaktowik; everything was so different, and so, he noticed, was he.

Being away from the territory gave him some time to think about the ways he had changed, of course, and also about the things he missed. He would not trade his family for anything. Ayita and their children meant the world to him. However true that was, though, he knew that the life of the Court was not exactly befitting to him. The throne came with stipulations. He had been forced to become a more social canine and he was faced with the concerns he had about the pack's viability at the moment. Their numbers were dwindling, and he worried that this winter might be as violent and unforgiving as the last one was. If that were to happen... He did not think that the pack would survive it. Shaking his head, he quieted that thought.

The secui dog mutt growled quietly, the rumbling hardly leaving his chest, as he stood rigidly and studied a particularly demolished old building. What had happened here? The loss of humans to the world was hardly a bad thing. From all hew knew, they were better off without them. But now, with the canines taking over what the humans had... Perhaps this destruction, the desolate state the human remnants were left in, was what laid in store for the canines. It was a sickening thought, but it was one that he found himself repeating in his mind. This is what we will come to. This is what will happen to us next.

Finn Fidh · 01-02-2012, 08:42 PM

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WC: 500+

Finn wandered through the vestiges of a bygone age with an untroubled mind and unhesitant steps. She weaved through the jumbled mess of concrete and wires and metal and rotted wood quietly, efficiently, leaving not whisper as she passed. She liked the city, it’s silent craggy face staring upward into the bleak sky, still challenging, even though it was as empty as a hollow oak. The smells that had clung to this place were dampened, muted, so Finn could snuff at the tangy strangeness of gasoline, and the murk of tar without being disgusted or overwhelmed.

She suited this place, at least in colour, blending into the stonework and snow and oily shadows cast by the meek sunlight. And, like some kind of reverse chameleon, Finn felt at home in a place she matched. It was like Anathema. The gloomy caverns brimful with gloomy darkness lent peace to her mind and serenity to most of her dreams. And though she feared tethering herself to a pack would restrict her freedom, she had quickly discovered, to her delight, that she was free to roam, and did so at her leisure. Slowly but surely Finn was mapping out the lands surrounding Anathema with her vivid, library-like brain.

She’d like to explore it all someday, take each panorama into her head so that even when she grew old and couldn’t move, or perhaps went blind like her grandmother, she’d still be able to look inside and remember sunlight on the mountain tops, or a fall day in the forest, or the winter wind spinning the waves into beautiful, crystalline structures. She could still see the channel of British Columbia with such clarity it could break your heart. Azure ocean under a red sunset, the trees green and glowing in the light, the underbrush looking almost unreal in it’s beauty. Finn missed that place, but she had seen it now, and there was still far more before her.

Climbing the rise created by a collapsed overpass, Finn stared down at the city as the winds combed through her fur. It wasn’t too cold today, and thus she was just the regular frigid that she always felt, even on the hottest of days. A low noise susurussed up towards Finn, and her singular ear stood to attention, swiveling, satellite like, as she tried to pinpoint where the growl had come from. Finn took a moment to reflect on the dangers of leaping in without looking before leaping in, skidding down the snow drift and out into the street in a flurry of slush.

This brought her eye to eye with a thickset looking dog. Finn took a deep snuff. Male, younger than her, belonging to the pack Cour de Miracles. The she-wolf logged this information away, flashing the creature a cheerful smile. “Hello there,” She chirped, “Nice day, hmm?” Finn stood, shaking off the clumps of snow in a wild twist. This only made her coat curlier, and she stared out at the dog from a bushy, mess of fur. “The name’s Finn Fidh. And how do you do, sir?”

Vigilante Haskel · 01-06-2012, 06:39 PM

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Vigi is actually older than Finn, unless you put her birth year wrong in her profile? :o Your birth year and age don't add up ^^; 311 words.

Vigilante prided himself on being able to recognize when someone was approaching, not only because of the sounds they made, but the subtle shifting of the air, the altered scent that permeated the air. He was not one to find himself being the target of a sneak attack, and rather, he was usually the one doing the sneaking, his large body capable of making as little noise as one could expect to be possible of a smaller animal. The dog King's children got decent lessons in sneaking and pouncing because of his own abilities, and overall, Vigilante knew he was skilled at recognizing when he was no longer alone.

And still, he found himself shocked when the dark creature came sliding down the street in a flurry of slush and water. For a moment, he stood there gaping at the creature as she stood and shook herself off, speaking to him enthusiastically. Even before she said her name, however, the dog King recognized her. With such a scarred exterior, it was difficult to forget her face. It was confusing, then, that she did not seem to recognize him as quickly as he had recognized her. In fact, she did not seem to recognize him at all. It had been a long time since they had seen each other, but he did not think she would forget him completely, would she?

"Finn, when did you come back? I wondered where you had gone! It's me... Vigilante. Where is your son?" he asked, pausing for a moment to tilt his head curiously at her. The now King hoped she had not come back in search of the father of her child, for the former King was long gone by now and he did not think the collie man would ever return. He did not want to have to break that news to her.

Finn Fidh · 01-06-2012, 08:28 PM

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WC: 600+

A herp a derp! Wow, how did I not notice that this entire time? O.O How didn’t notice till now!

Finn’s eyebrows rose as the wolf spoke, going so high they seemed in danger of toppling off entirely. What, what, what?! For a moment, Finn stared at the canine, mostly amazed at someone implying that it was possible for her to forget something. Also, the part about a son, too. Finn began to laugh, almost collapsing onto her side in the street. “My good sir! That is a funny joke indeed, but here are my two points of rebuttal. Firstly, I have never met you, and you can be sure of that. Secondly, I don’t have a son!” She began to laugh again, sitting back on her haunches and surveying the dog through mirthful eyes.

“That is really quite funny.” She said, “Do you just say this to anyone you come across?” She let out a gust of a sigh. “If you’re serious, though. Perhaps you met another wolf somewhat like me? I’ve heard there’s some fairly scuffed up sorts wandering these parts.” She considered the canine again. “Besides, I only just arrived here a few weeks ago. And I’ve never been to Nova Scotia before.” She remembered it quite clearly. She’d been in Quebec, then _____________ , then walking through New Brunswick, then crawling through the snows to the borders of Anathema. Exactly how it had been.

Still, there was that wriggling worm of doubt. Finn did not dream quite like other wolves, and thus unless it was a nightmare, her nighttime visions consisted of herself, wandering through a many-chambered labyrinth, examining this memory and that, sniffing a beautiful smell she had not come across in years, or remembering the first feeling of sun against young fur. This was her mind, orderly in it’s chaos, intelligible only to Finn, like Da Vinci’s coded writing. But there was something wrong.

One corridor was lost to her. Finn could see it even now, a bare patch on the tapestry of her mind. She could not tell how large it was temporally or emotionally, but the memory was lost regardless. Most of Finn’s being yearned to find that missing piece and reunite with it, assimilate it so that she might truly proclaim without falsity that she remembered everything. But a small part, a darker part of her that seemed somehow older than the rest, more weathered, more jaded said, “No, don’t, stop.” And for now, she listened. So Finn turned her eyes back to the dog named Vigilante, ready to refute any further outrageous claims he was willing to make.

There was pride tied up into this too. Finn had always believed herself irrefutable in her memory of the world, and the thought that something had gotten past her, a chink in the armour, a crack in the wall, seemed shameful. If she didn’t have her memory, what did she have? Her strength wouldn’t last forever, and she’d never been beautiful. She was quite intelligent when in the thick of her knowledge, but without it who could say how clever she’d be? It was as if all of Finn’s sense of self revolved around this one thing, like planets around a clockwork sun, and should that fall out of balance the results could be disastrous.

But what if Vigilante was right? A son. Finn tried to imagine it and failed miserably. She couldn’t see herself ever settling down to raise children. She liked them well enough when they were other’s but she was too flippy, too easily distracted. Any child of hers would likely not turn out well, of this she was sure. “I am Finn Fidh, son of Cuhlain Fidh and I have never been to Cour de Miracles. I am truly sorry, but whoever you are remembering is clearly not me.”

Vigilante Haskel · 01-15-2012, 05:16 PM

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286

The dog King frowned, dark ears twitching in an irritated fashion for half a moment. Finn did not have a face that was easy to forget, and Vigilante himself had met her even before she had joined Cour des Miracles, before she had been turned into a luperci. She had been much different then, and clearly she had suffered some sort of head injury since then. Perhaps that was why she had disappeared in the first place, though she had taken her son with her when she had left. How had she forgotten him? Not for a moment did the dog mutt think she was correct when she said he was thinking of someone else. She had very distinct features and her name was the same. Somehow, she had forgotten all the time that she had lived here. It was worrying, naturally.

"Did you get injured when you left?" he asked, his tone gentle and certainly not unkind. "You lived in the kingdom for a few months, and you left with your son, Fitzroy. The son you had with the first King, Jacquez Trouillefou," he reminded, prodding at her with the words. Maybe the scarred female just needed to be reminded of her former life here, as clearly she did not recall anything that had happened. He simply needed to find the right thing to use to remind her. That would be fairly difficult, he expected, as much had happened since she had left and his memory of the timeline was, admittedly, a bit fuzzy before he became King. She had left long before that had happened, and the members she knew would mostly be gone by now, though Haven remained of the original founding members.

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