Starlight, star bright

Nathaniel King · 02-11-2012, 01:52 PM

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WC:000+
OOC: Shorter post for now :3

Twilight had fallen once more upon the lands, something that he had been waiting all day for. The yearling male lived for nightfall - he tried to make time to sit and watch the sunset every single night that he was able to. There was something about the natural beauty of it all that entranced him...he would sit and watch for hours until the sun slowly sank down beneath the horizon, streaking the heavens above with a myriad of colors. This was what he doing on this night, watching. The rust-colored canine sat upon a large boulder with his charts in hand, prepared to begin mapping his beloved constellations as soon as they would appear. Soon enough, the sun would disappear completely and allow the stars to take their rightful place.

He had moved into the mansion, a much warmer environment than the caves that he'd previously occupied. There he had a soft place to sleep, a nice fire to sit by, and others to interact with if he pleased. He'd lived in Inferni for most of his life, but he didn't know a surprising amount of members due to his independent nature and odd schedule. This was alright with him..he had his siblings. He'd meet everyone else whenever the fates decided it was to be. As the sun sank down a bit further, the shifted luperci began to draw. Amber eyes searched out the stars as they appeared, smiling as his fingers worked the charcoal carefully.

Vesper · 02-16-2012, 10:25 AM

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Sorry for the wait! /+3

Dusk had fallen upon the Waste, and the world was exchanged from the day-lighters to the night-creatures in a smooth transition of fading oranges and encroaching greys. The transition was not without its own worshippers, however, and the amount of hunters creeping through the snow-covered wilderness would be staggering to those who actually saw them coming. Many rabbits fed in the twilight hour, and there was no question as to taking time to chase them before falling asleep.

Vesper had gotten lucky again, her prize dangling from her jaws and hitting her forelegs as she trotted through the fields toward home. With the new pelt hanging over the entrance to her cavern, she could sleep undisturbed and warm in her natural den. Really, however, one home was just like another to her; while she might not sleep in a human house, she wasn’t picky when it came to snoozing in thickets or burrows or even the open ground. Life without luperci comforts had given her a tolerance.

As it was, the odd silhouette of a creature sitting on a boulder distracted her from her journey home. Large ears twitched, and she padded silently toward the large rock. Male, her nose told her, and young, smelling somewhat like the Praeses Wraith she had met not many days past. She could only assume this was another member of the same litter, then, not that she remembered their names.

The rust-colored male was holding something—paper—and scrawling across it with dark charcoal. Writing or drawing—neither of which Vesper had ever tried to do for herself. Writing especially went over her head; she got a headache looking at the damn letters in books, let alone trying to figure out what they meant for herself. Sighing, her breath hot on the growing-rigid bunny, she slipped up next to the boulder and dropped her kill.

“Not much light to write by,” the Optio said, betraying her presence if he hadn’t already caught her obvious scent. “Whatcha doing there, kid?”

The coywolf had been nosy lately, that was certain, but after her long stay outside of the Inferni territory, she was doing her best to make connections and keep tabs on everything that was going on inside. Her wandering paws and her responsibilities would call her away again in time, but for now, the least she could do was know the names of her comrades, even if they were little more than children.

Nathaniel King · 02-20-2012, 07:53 PM

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WC:000+
OOC: No worries at all <33 I tend to take a few days...I can only usually post on the weekends and Monday nights <33

His hair had grown long since his first shift, as long and rusty as his fur had been as a pup. It was something that he had not grown out of - his eyes had been a different color when he was born and they'd settled on a light amber color...but his fur had stayed the same tones. He brushed at a few curls absently as he worked, leaving smudges of charcoal along his cheeks on both sides as he fervently drew. He had no way to tie it up, so he often returned to his den at night with spots of black all over his face and muzzle from moving bits of his hair or from scratching an itch that his auburn locks had caused.

He was so involved in his work that the nearby voice startled him, his hand marking the page with a long black line. It was ruined. He had no way to erase the line and stared at it dumbly for a few moments, too surprised to do much else. Nathaniel processed the other canine's words slowly, tossing his ruined work down onto the snow before turning to look at her. It was his fault that it had gotten ruined, not hers, really...He'd been too involved with the drawing and hadn't been paying much attention. He could start again...but it would have to be done on another night.

"I match the edges of my paper with the ends of the horizon, m'lady" He offered as an explanation. "I used a human tool to cut the edges of the paper and make it round, like the night sky. Then I can mark the stars on it more easily." He looked at her for a moment, then past her at the food that she'd left laying on the ground. The male was not the best at hunting, Hybrid having passed on before he was able to teach Nathaniel much about it. This was shown in his form - tall, and thin. He put his gaze back on the female that had managed to creep up on him. "I've seen you before..but I'm not sure where." He admitted. He hadn't been to many clan meetings, especially lately.

Vesper · 02-24-2012, 10:23 PM

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+3

It wasn’t until the paper dropped to the ground that Vesper realized the consequences of her interruption. Had she been in the wilderness, a whirl of fangs might have been the answer to her stealthy approach. She winced slightly as she saw the dark scrawl across the page; regardless of how little she knew about writing or drawing, it was obviously not a mark that the male had intended to make with the charcoal.

She was surprised when the kid didn’t snap at her out of exasperation, his voice instead falling into a calm explanation of what he’d been doing. Either the ruining of his work wasn’t a big deal, or he was doing a great job at hiding his frustrations. Her ears cocked, she considered his words and the paper and the sky. “Mapping the constellations,” she murmured, a sense of recognition in her voice. “I’ll admit I’ve never thought of marking it down physically; always gone off my memory when I’ve traveled. I guess it makes it easier to remember and share with others, though.” A hint of tooth gleamed in the starlight as she looked at him, a faint smirk as apology for her interruption. She hadn’t done much navigation by the heavens lately, her paws getting more and more used to the land, but the skill remained dormant in her mind whenever she might need it.

The tawny coywolf stepped a bit closer, grabbing the rabbit’s foot and dragging it toward the rock he was settled on so she wouldn’t forget it on the ground. She snorted at his next words and answered in a brusque but humorous tone. “You’ve probably seen me moving around the borders like an automaton.” Her smirk came broader, more crooked. “Name’s Vesper, and I’m the Optio. Now—I don’t know who you are and can’t even say I’ve seen you before, but you smell like the Creed girl.”

Nathaniel King · 02-25-2012, 04:15 PM

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Vesper is a cutie. :3 Poor Nate, though XD /+000

This was one of the most beautiful times of night, something that he observed as stars' positions became more clear above him. Occasionally, a cloud would drift by overhead...but not very often. This made this night in particular quite ideal for mapping. Sometimes the heavens would fill up completely with clouds and make it impossible for him to see the luminous objects of his desire. On nights like those, he wasn't in nearly the same cheery mood that he found himself in tonight. How could one get upset at another canine when there was such a beautiful sight above? He kept staring at the sky between words with the other clan member, trying not to show disrespect but also wanting to continue viewing them for as long as he could. The stars entranced him in a way that he felt down to his core. He felt at peace whenever he looked at them.

However, he did know that he had a conversation to get to. He shot a somewhat apologetic look to the female for his entrancement, keeping his attention on her while she talked and trying not to let his eyes wander back to the heavens. He did enjoy looking at Vesper as well - she was quite a pretty lass, scars and all - but looking upon her didn't give him the same feeling. She revealed that she had knowledge of the stars as well, something that he had never expected to hear out of another canine's mouth. He often kept his work a secret, not wanting to appear weak or feeble-minded to the warrior types that he'd run into...but he hadn't kept the secret this time. And it seemed to have paid off. "I..I've never met someone who knew about them. I've read a few books...I know what they are, but not how they got there or what they really...mean, I guess. If it's fate that arranged them into certain patterns or how far away they are from here. I feel like I could reach up and touch one, you know?" He said, giving a small chuckle.

She revealed her rank to him and he shrank back slightly, ears going back and tail lowering. He ducked his head slightly as well. "I'm sorry for speaking so plainly to you, Ma'am. Ah..Yes, Ma'am...Wraith is my sister by Hybrid Holocaust. I lived with her for a long time before choosing to move out into the mansion, where it's a bit warmer. The mansion's nearer to a few good vantage points like these. So you were out on patrol when you spotted me, then? Do you live nearby?" He realized that he hadn't said his name yet and fumbled over his words for a few moments. Nathaniel didn't want to appear foolish to one of the more highly ranked canines in the clan...He hoped that he hadn't offended her by asking her where she lived, either - it really wasn't any of his business. "My name's Nathaniel. Nathaniel King. Ma'am. And you don't have to answer that last question if you don't want to...I realize now that it's kind of creepy of me to ask such a personal thing."

Vesper · 02-25-2012, 05:19 PM

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This post is sloppy but I wanted to reply to Natenate!+3

The kid’s fixation on the heavens amused her, as his vivid eyes kept flickering upwards while they were speaking. It was obvious he was struggling to keep attention divided as was polite, but the female didn’t care and only watched him with a crooked smirk when he wasn’t looking at her. She could understand being captivated by beauty, however, and even if others might call it foolish, it was a part of them. One had to stop and smell the roses when they had the opportunity. The unpolluted firmament was definitely worthy to spend all night gazing upon, however, and she wouldn’t fault the boy for appreciating something others often overlooked.

Her pale blue eyes softened slightly as he spoke about the stars, and she smirked again at his last statement, tipping her narrow muzzle up to point at one cluster of constellations. “I know how you feel,” she murmured, “especially on nights like these.” She shrugged her shoulders lightly and returned her gaze to his amber one. “I almost appreciate the mystery of the stars, though, makes them more beautiful. Knowledge is important, but if it’s not necessary, it only ruins the magic of things. Simply speculating allows everyone to come up with their theories, theories as much a part of themselves as anything else.” Her voice was uncharacteristically level and calm as she spoke; the Optio did not philosophize often, and it often surprised others when the scarred fighter paused to remark on such things.

Her almost soft demeanor shifted when he submitted, however, her eyes growing alert once more and her lips quirking sideways. Smirk quickly turned to scowl as he called her “ma’am” several times, though she waited until he was done fumbling over his words to respond to them.

“First of all,” Vesper said, her brow furrowing and her ears flattening against her angular skull, “don’t call me ma’am or miss or any stupid title like that. Yes, I have the bits, but that doesn’t make me some prissy lady.” She snorted at him, her expression lightening suddenly to reveal she was teasing him. “I’m Optio, but I consider myself equal to you. I’d like respect and to be listened to, but other than that, I might as well not outrank you.”

That lesson in etiquette out of the way, she absently played with the rabbit’s ears with a small paw and answered his questions. “I’ve heard creepier, kid—er, Nathaniel. I live in the caverns, myself; can’t stand to sleep in a human structure. To each their own, though…” She smirked lightly at him then rested her eyes on the dead prey. “I was actually just hunting, taking advantage of the twilight. Rabbits are surprisingly active around that time; there still might be some late-to-bed out there.” She regarded him with some curiosity, her question latent.

Nathaniel King · 02-25-2012, 07:04 PM

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x3 /+000

He had learned to show submission as a pup, and the lessons that had been beaten into him still held true into adulthood. He hadn't been an adult member of the clan for more than a few months, but was learning the ropes slowly. Vesper's reaction to his words seemed to confuse him for a few moments as he was unsure of how he ought to act toward her. He should treat her as an equal, she had said, but his inner workings told him otherwise. He was nothing in this clan, a Tirones. He had to prove himself and make something of himself..then he would be her equal. He said nothing of that, simply giving her a nod and allowing a short silence to fall between them.

She continued to speak, though, saying that she lived in the very place that he had moved out of to get to a warmer climate. "It's not as natural...but warmth is what matters to me now. I'm more of a nomadic fellow...once the snow's gone I'll likely sleep all over the entire territory and not hold just one sleeping place. I like to track and use the stars to guide me through Inferni." He had agreed with her sentiments about the stars but said nothing else on that count, as they'd moved onto other subjects. As he eyes continually fell upon him, he noted their color - a blue that was very different from his own amber.

Vesper gave her own reason for coming out on this night and he looked to the rabbit as she toyed with its ears. The more he looked at it, the hungrier that he remembered he was. He hadn't eaten in some time, now that he really thought about it, and his stomach grumbled uncomfortably in response to the thought. "I'm not that great of a hunter, to be honest." The young man said, crossing his arms. It was probably evident by the lack of body fat on him. "My father passed away before he could teach me very much. It's something I've always struggled with." A starving artist he was, quite literally. If his maps of the stars were what one could call "art". "You want to hunt for some more, though? That sounds really, really good. I'm pretty hungry. Lead the way, Vesper."

Vesper · 02-27-2012, 10:09 AM

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They can find the bunnies in your post, I guess; feel free to pp Vesper however much you need to. +5

Vesper had always been cocky, and as a teenager seething about the death of her mother at her father’s fangs, she’d expected that everyone look up to her as the paradigm of superiority. Being swatted and bitten and stepped on by several grouchy loners for yapping at them had quickly set her straight, however, and her morals had developed away from demanding reverence to simply expecting mutual respect. She still thought herself basically good and someone worth that respect, but she didn’t ask for what she wouldn’t give in return if someone else was the same. Lately, with the talk of slaves in the east, she had developed an almost radical view of equality. As much as she denied how worked up she was over Salsola, it showed in her response to the boy.

She listened to his explanation of the mansion then nodded. After squeezing into one of the houses in the village, she’d recognized how far a little insulation went, even though she’d still refuse to sleep under a human-built roof unless she was dying of hypothermia. “The cold bothers me too,” she admitted, “but Myrika gave me a pelt to hang over the entrance to the den. It’s not very much, but it helps a little.” Her tail wagged behind her lightly as she mentioned this, and it continued with slightly larger sweeps as the boy talked about his nomadic lifestyle. “I was like that when I first joined, though winter had only just begun. I figure that now I’m Optio, I might as well have a fixed place though, somewhere clan members can come if they need me. Then again, there’s just as much of a chance that I’d be roaming outside Inferni as staying in Grimwell.” She smirked.

The boy confessed that he wasn’t a good hunter, and she almost snorted at him until he mentioned his deceased father. Hybrid—a man Vesper had never met, one who’d apparently died just before she had officially requested to join the clan. It must have been hard, as from what she’d heard of the former Hydra, he likely wasn’t been the most affectionate of parents. There was no room for her to judge, though, and she only nodded at his explanation before he mentioned being hungry and asked her to lead the way.

The tawny coywolf laughed. “Right to the point, aren’t you?” she teased. “Give me a moment—and shift down. Four legs are always easier to hunt on, unless you’re like Ezekiel and have a magic bow.” She dipped her head to grab the rabbit, moving quickly around the boulder Nathaniel had been sitting on, and with a few quick scrapes of her paws, managed to find a place to wedge the meat. They could come back to it when they were done, or it might just fester and attract other attention; she didn’t know. It was pointless to let it lie out in the open or head to the residences to store it, however.

“All right,” Vesper quipped, stepping back out from the boulder. She wasted no time looking at him or checking to see if he even had shifted, figuring she could bother him about it later on, and simply broke out in a fast lope toward the part of the grassland where the greatest concentration of rabbits lived.

Nathaniel King · 03-18-2012, 10:46 PM

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Little does he knew, he's also a coywolf! GASP!

Nathaniel's policy in regards to his clanmates was to keep out of their way as much as he could. He wished to be unseen and unheard most of the time, left alone to his own duties and vices. He didn't expect that other canines would understand his need to map the stars or mark their locations, but Nathaniel couldn't exactly understand the way that others lived sometimes, either. Each canine had their own peculiarities. He saw the stars above as a constant, something that could be looked to for guidance and direction on any given night of the year. The night sky was always there, and yet so few canines actually used it or looked to it for help.

He nearly protested to the way that Vesper was living, wishing that she would stay in a place that was more comfortable, but kept his muzzle shut. It was no right of his to question the way another lived in the clan, so long as they were happy. He could see the benefits of living in a house and saw very few things wrong with it...but everyone was different. The boy continued to think on this after the command to shift was given. He was more comfortable in his two-legged form, but she was correct about hunting. If he was going to get any better at it, he'd need to shift and learn how to do it the old fashioned way. "I've tried a sling...shooting rocks at birds. It's worked a few times, but I don't have very good aim."

The size difference between the two of them was more evident when they shifted down into their lupus forms. Vesper seemed to be quite a bit shorter than he, both in height and length. He only knew himself to be of coyote blood, and wondered about her heritage as she stepped out from behind the boulder. He couldn't understand why a coyote would seek to mix with a wolf, but didn't see Vesper as any lesser because of her size difference. Perhaps she was just a small coyote. He pondered this as they set off in search of the hares, considering various thoughts until he came across a solid scent. "I think I've found something" He whispered, putting his russet nose down to the ground.

Vesper · 03-23-2012, 08:53 PM

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Hopefully it's cool I wrote all this; I didn't know what else to do. xD +375

Her ears flicked at mention of shooting birds with a sling, remembering the few times she’d seen a grouse or other creature brought down from the sky with a well-aimed arrow of Ezekiel’s. It was almost like magic to the skinny luperci, as if she still lived confined to four legs and couldn’t even dream of holding such a weapon in her paws. Perhaps she was being stubborn, but she didn’t think about that either. She was proud of working in her original shape, arrogant even, but that suited her just fine.

The russet coyote looked good on four legs, rather adorable even with his huge ears and his lighter and darker markings more distinct. She grinned across and up at him, not really caring for the size difference; she was used to being small. With most of the clan consisting of hybrids, it was to be expected that many would tower over her. In fact, she wasn’t sure if there was anyone smaller than her—except Zana.

She trotted after him into the night-cool grass, her ears constantly twitching and adjusting for new sounds as her senses remained on alert for some of the grazing hares. Even when she caught a whiff of scent, she allowed the boy to lead and trailed closely after him. He finally found something tangible and whispered to draw her attention to it; she nodded silently and began to stalk through the grass.

“Get down here,” Vesper ordered quietly. She patted the earth in a darkened area, where vegetation shadowed the already black night. She began to skulk around through the undergrowth, pausing when her streamlined body rustled a leaf, watching the hares respond with swiveling ears and erect bodies until they settled back down to eat. She prowled around in a crescent shape so the creatures were between her and Nate.

It only took a second for one individual to scent her from the way the wind was blowing. She burst out of hiding at that moment, snapping jaws sending hares darting in different directions, but one at least made a beeline for where Nathaniel was hopefully waiting. She let out a yap to alert him, running hard on her prey’s heels to chase it into his jaws.

Nathaniel King · 04-01-2012, 01:40 PM

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It's fine :3 end this in a few posts? I apologize again for being so slow on this. I'm just going to stick to having a few threads with him that I can actually keep up with next time ^^;

Her own form was captivating - Vesper's mixed-colored coat appeared to be many different shades depending on the lighting, and the patterns that she boasted were quite pleasing to the eye. She looked very different from his russet hues, but it was a kind of different that he liked. When she smiled at him his eyes fell to the ground, unsure of whether he should meet her gaze or not. It was a part of dominance - one did not ever meet the eyes of their leader. And even though she had told him such things weren't an issue, he could not help but fall back into the ways that had been drilled into him as a pup by Hybrid. If he'd ever met his father's eyes he had been very thoroughly punished.

They ran through the forests of Inferni together, Nathaniel occasionally falling back to sniff at a trail or two that smelled promising. He was glad that she agreed on this scent and his tail began to wag a bit as she went around to the other side. Nate could see the creatures from here and observed their behavior with a keen eye, trying to figure out what his role in this would be. Then, as suddenly as Vesper had disappeared, she re-appeared around the other side of the clearing. The hares went racing in all different directions, a large and small ones coming straight for him.

He reached forward quickly, instinct powering his movements. He snapped his head to the side to catch one hare in his jaws as another attempted to dart past. He felt something beneath his paw as he moved to try and intercept it - it'd gone right beneath his feet! He pushed his foot down harder, feeling a few bones crunch beneath his paw as he held the critter in place. The hare in his mouth screamed and the one beneath his foot struggled for air. He had the one in his mouth by its head and re-adjusted his grip on it, biting down harder to flush the life from it. "Vsssprrrr, loookkk!" He said around it, overjoyed.

Vesper · 04-08-2012, 06:36 PM

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<3

Tongue lolled from slender jaws as the coyote hybrid watched the rabbits scatter from her charge. She flopped down into the grass as soon as she saw the youth lunge for one of the critters, realizing how tired she really was. While she was capable of moving for a very long time, her long patrols coupled with her earlier hunt was tuckering her out. It had been late enough for stars to come out when she’d first approached the constellation cartographer.

Her dappled chest swelled with pride as the male snatched one of the animals in his jaws and stamped another, keeping it from fleeing. His muffled cry had her chuckling, and she rose onto all fours, trotting over to him. Her coal-tipped tail tickled his chin as she made a move for the trapped bunny, ending its life with a quick twist and snap of its neck.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten two in one go,” Vesper teased, standing back to look at him and the kills. “Well, there’s your dinner; you’ve earned it.” She remembered her own stuffed under the boulder and yawned carelessly. “Growing boys gotta eat, and I gotta go to my cave before I pass out.” She winked.

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