The First Step

Hadley · 02-26-2012, 12:30 AM

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OOC Feb 24

An angel was standing over him, gently stroking his cheek. Hadley smiled, moving into the hand, as the sound of metal sliding was heard in the background. Something cold touched his leg, and he looked down to see a knife slowly sliding up his body, beginning to dig into his flesh. Desperately he looked towards the angel, only to find a demon standing in it's place. Hadley opened his mouth to scream, but no sound escaped...

Hadley bolted awake, pulling himself into a tight ball. Wide eyes stared around him. He wasn't under the bed, safe from Amy's reach. He was exposed, nothing around him. Not even familiar scents were around. Worried he looked around the best he could, trying to figure out what was going on. A white female was on a bed next to him, looking very peaceful and content. Not sure what to think of her, or even what happened, Hadley thought back on yesterday. That was right. He'd left his pack and master to become free. It seemed insane to him now, but there was no going back. The only choice was to keep trudging forward. Still shaking slightly from the nightmare Hadley pulled his legs up, trying not to make too much noise.

Grace Galaxy · 02-26-2012, 10:08 PM

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Word Count: 557

Sorry for the delay. Found this finally, and then it was my birthday. Assuming this is stupid o'clock in the morning, since Grace gets up with the sun.

★ ★ ★

Light had just begun to shine through the sky-light above her sleeping area. Grace woke slowly, exhaustion still in her bones from yesterday's excitement. A soft yawn stretched her jaw, and she arched against the bed as the rest of her followed suit. Where was Taj? Why was she so tire— Oh, damn. Her turquoise eyes caught on Hadley, and a rush of memory hit her like a speeding train - not that she had seen one of those before. She rubbed her eyes and lifted herself from her bed, thinking about what she had to do today - find something to do with him, and find out who his so-called master had been. She would be diplomatic if it killed her, but she sorely hoped that it wouldn't. Negotiating with someone who would keep this boy as a slave seemed an unpleasant prospect. Still, it had to be done by someone... and five would get you ten that it would not be Hadley himself.

She remembered herself just in time. "G'morning, Hadley,""Did you sleep well?" As she spoke, she poured seed into Taj's bowl, and refilled his water from a canteen. He didn't always use these things; he could hunt, and there was plenty of water about. Nonetheless, she thought it only fair that he had access to them, just as she had access to canteens and dried meats. She needed to get dressed and get outside to feed her horses.

Speaking of getting dressed...

She glanced down and realized that she wasn't wearing anything. It wasn't that that was particularly odd; she was, after all, a wolf, and clothing was optional. Still, after last night's semi-hircine display from Hadley, she wasn't sure that wandering around without clothing was prudent. She knew how males could be, or she thought that she did, anyway. Besides, she liked her clothing. She made most of it herself, and she put a lot of time and effort into making it exactly to her tastes. Sure, she would design clothing for others, for a nominal fee (or sometimes as a favour or gift), but those were to their tastes. Her clothing was for herself.

"If you'll excuse me briefly," she said politely, and slipped into the storage room. She dressed quickly, pulling on a bright blue-green blouse and a pair of jeans. She added a matching flower to her mane, pulling her bangs to one side and clipping the flower in place. Her bracelet and necklace accented the ensemble. She was sure she looked fine, but she should find a mirror soon. It was nice to be able to look at oneself and know what others saw when they looked, and besides that, Grace liked to admire herself briefly in the morning. Vain as it may have been, it made her feel confident. She would have to find a merchant that carried mirrors, or could find one. Shame that Winter Festival was over.

She returned to the main house and smiled. "Sorry about that. How do I look?" She grinned and pulled on her coat. It was still winter, after all. "Come down with me to feed the horses?" she asked, although it seemed less of a question, and more of a suggestion. Hadley would do well to get out and experience his new-found freedom. Cowering wouldn't make it easier.

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Hadley · 02-27-2012, 04:07 AM

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OOC art will be late

Movement brought Hadley's attention over to Grace. Stretching she sat up, rubbing her eyes. It seemed she had had no trouble sleeping. Envious of her ability to rest without nightmares Hadley watched her move around. Seed and water was set aside for a reason Hadley couldn't even fathom, and he was asked if he'd slept well. Afraid that he'd woken her up with his dreams Hadley nodded, hoping that she wouldn't poke her nose in further. If he had woken her up he would do his best to dodge the punishment that would come. Hadley was sure that he hadn't screamed aloud, conditioned to not do that.

He watched Grace slip away, and slowly uncurled himself from the tight knot on the floor that he'd turned himself into. Standing he looked around the tidy room quietly. It still looked rather simple, with some of the details pressed into his mind this time instead of left to drift around. Grace stepped back wearing a pretty outfit. Good. His words were quiet, hoping it was adequate praise. Remembering that he was free Hadley shook his head. It wasn't his job to serve others all the time even more. He'd have to find his own path. He smiled at being asked to help with the horses. That was one thing he could definitely do. Yes please.

Grace Galaxy · 02-27-2012, 11:10 PM

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Word Count: 386

S'no problem, really. Something to look forward to when I got home. Wink P.S.That table is kind of hard to read. > Sad

★ ★ ★

The difference between a master and a slave, in many cases, is conditioning. Grace might have ended up more demure, had her mother had her way. It was her father's influence that had lead her down the path that she was on. She was no master - no, she had not been conditioned to see the world in such a way. The world wasn't something for her to dominate and control; it was something for her to see, to experience, to understand. An endless sandbox filled with buried treasure, and occasionally, dog poop.

Hadley, conditioned to view the world in strict hierarchy, had such a different experience than she did, even in shared moment. She wondered briefly what that would be like; she wasn't necessarily inclined to get herself enslaved just to find out, but it was a curious thought. What must the world be like to him? She would have to ask, someday, when he was healed.

Hadley hadn't woken her, and even if he had, she would have just gone back to sleep, had it been too early. Sleeping in a stable - or let alone, in her parents' home when her father had forgotten to do something he'd been asked to do - had accustommed her to a variety of sounds, and she wasn't particularly easy to irritate, unless someone was being purposefully obnoxious. As she led Hadley toward the stable, she considered the flexuous path that lay ahead for him. Decisions to be made, paths to be considered. For now, he could just be helpful, and she would try to help him figure out the rest as it happened.

When they arrived at the stable, Taj took a perch. He seemed not to like the way Grace moved when she lifted heavy things or did strenuous work. She grabbed a bag of feed for the horses and hefted it, nodding to the other bags. "Grab a bag and give some to each of the horses on the left side of the stable. I'll do the right side." Perhaps he would like a riding lesson, after they mucked the horses stalls. With two of them, tasks should be much more efficient. If he was good at it, she could potentially hire him on as an assistant, giving him security in his new freedom.

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Hadley · 02-28-2012, 12:14 AM

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OOC here. /+000

It was easy enough going to the stable, so close to it that he could see it from the doorway. Hadley contentedly followed after Grace, thinking about what he might want to do with his life. It had been so long since he'd even been allowed to think of the future, he didn't remember what he might have wanted. There were no dreams for him to pick up, no ambitions that drove him. He was empty, without a purpose, only a small amount of feeling left to keep him from being completely broken into a tool.

Realizing how close he'd been to never seeing freedom again Hadley shuddered. He was glad he had the chance to rebuild, with at least some part of him left intact enough for him to do so. He listened to Grace's instructions, and easily lifted up a bag. He opened it up and began to walk down the line, making sure to give each horse an equal amount of food. It took some time before he finished, the bag empty. He stuck it back at the start so it could be refilled, and turned to see if Grace was finished as well.

Grace Galaxy · 02-28-2012, 09:51 PM

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Word Count: 535

Dear god, kid, you're a machine.

★ ★ ★

Aspirations are slippery, curious things. They come and go as they please, long-lived or fleeting, to catch eyes and hands and hearts. Sometimes they stay a while, keep our souls warm against winter's bitter winds; others, they are gone just as soon as they had appeared, a spring breeze lost to the white cotton of clouds, stretched like thin gauze over the sky. For someone like Hadley, they were meek, shy ideas that scarcely peeked their heads out; he would find his niche, and sink into it. Grace was more amorphous, a bit dreamier than most, and wasn't too concerned with what to do with her life, in an absolute sense. She was glad for something to do right now, something to pour energy and creativity into. She cared for the horses and honed her crafting, and of course, smoked plenty of cannabis. But to commit to do only this, for the rest of her life? She could hardly justify that. No, Grace had only one aspiration, and that was herself: slippery, curious. She could not be had or kept, only enjoyed in a moment, and then gone, perhaps in the very next.

Grace finished her task quickly. She had been doing this for a week now, and for years at home. Had Grace known what one was, she might have thought that it was like riding a bicycle; however, that metaphor would have been completely lost on her. Rather, she was glad for years of having stable duty at home. When she finished, she returned the canvas sack to its place. She would refill them later on; canvas was durable, and these bags would last for some time yet. She thought one of them needed mending (although she'd lost track of where that particular bag had gotten off to, just this moment); it occurred to her vaguely that she would have to tend to that later. Right now, more important things needed doing, namely getting these blasted chores out of the way so that she could start riding. She wasn't usually impatient about chores, but she couldn't lose herself in thoughts and experiences with someone else here, and Taj had flown off, leaving her without her usual morning companion.

Grace turned to Hadley, tilting her head slightly toward the pitchforks and such, leaned against the stable wall. She really should think about building a rack for them. Stable tools a mess, that was the sort of thing that would cause endless pettifog from her mother. At least she'd learned how to organize, between the lectures. Not that she cared for it, except that it made boring, tedious work go faster, because she could find what she was looking for. That, she could go for - she would much rather be out riding than mucking stalls. She grabbed a pitchfork and turned to face Hadley, leaning on the handle. "You ever mucked a stall, Hadley?" she asked, half-expectant, half-skeptical. She honestly couldn't be sure if he had or not. On the one hand, if she expected that he hadn't, he might surprise her; if she expected that he must have, he would have no experience, just because life is funny and ironic in that way.

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Hadley · 02-28-2012, 10:06 PM

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OOC sorry XD putting up warning about speed on profiles

Hadley gently stroked a horse's nose, occasionally having it bump him softly. He was content, ready to let himself sink into this world, even if it never made him truly happy. Hadley didn't know how to find happiness, and was just fine with this feeling that filled him. Grace finished, and picked up a large fork. Hadley looked at it curiously, wondering what it could possibly be used for. He'd never seen such a large fork, it couldn't possibly be used for eating like the small ones were. Hearing the question Hadley looked up.

Sadly he had to shake his head. He didn't even know what Grace was talking about, having only dealt with horses that lived outside. He had never had to deal with the intricacy of a stable before, and the various tasks that came with it. Hesitantly Hadley stepped over, looking over the various tools. At last he managed to find another fork like hers which seemed to fit him. He pulled it out and looked over at Grace, hoping to be given instructions he could follow.

Grace Galaxy · 03-02-2012, 04:36 AM

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Word Count: 406

lol forever. Slight powerplay. Note that she's not leaving, just moving on to the next stall on her side.

ETA:Didn't get to posting this until now. Sorry for the wait.

★ ★ ★

Grace leaned her pitchfork against a stall, suppressing a sigh. "All right, let me show you, honey." She opened the stall belonging to her mare, Layla, and went inside. She beckoned Hadley to follow and watch. "All right, so mucking a stall is pretty easy," she said, hoping that he was a quick study. It wasn't that she minded showing him; just that she disliked doing tedious chores already, and if he couldn't pick it up right away, those tedious chores would drag by even slower than usual. Yet, if she hoped to be an alembic for the boy, she'd have to be patient. She led Layla out of the stall, smiling apologetically at her as she tied the lead to a post; it was unnecessary with Layla, but she wanted Hadley to see what he should do exactly. "You've got to take the horse out first," she explained. "They've been known to startle or even get injured otherwise. Their hay and water bucket, too - just set them outside the stall." She pulled Layla's hay bale out of the stall and place it beside the water bucket, which had been removed while she was speaking.

She took up her pitch-fork and used it to lift excrement from the bedding in the stall. Turning to a blank spot on the ground, she shook the damp shavings off of it, then dumped the droppings into a nearby wheelbarrow. "You want to make sure to keep the damp shavings away, so that you can scrape them up afterward." She finished with this, and tossed the shavings to the sides of the stall, checking for loose droppings. Hopefully, Hadley was paying proper attention. "Still with me? Now, hand me that shavings fork - no, the other one - yes, that one, that's a good lad. Scoop the wet shavings, like so, and then.." She looked around, then at Hadley. "Hand me that broom, would you? Okay, there we are, just sweep up, and then go and do the next one. When you finish with that one, come back to the last, lay the bed back down, and put the horse back. That means, after the first, you'll usually have two horses out of stalls." She looked at him, then nodded. "You'll be fine, kiddo. Just do your best, aye?" There was a hidden meaning in her words, a sparkle in her eye. She smiled and left him to it.

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Hadley · 03-02-2012, 11:56 AM

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OOC here. /+000

Hadley concentrated on what Grace was saying, his ears trained on her instead of in their usual low position. He was used to having only one chance to get something right, and even knowing that wasn't the case anymore old habits died hard. He would do his best to pick this up as rapidly as he could. Helping Grace with the first stall Hadley was surprised when the second stall got involved in the cleaning. Following along he let the second stall get started on, before Grace left him on his own.

He was lucky the horses were calm creatures, letting him handle them without any fuss. Hadley's movements were slower than Grace's sure quick ones, checking and double checking that he was doing it right. Hadley remembered to return the horses to the finished stalls, keeping the barn from becoming crowded with unpacked horses. Grace was moving a lot quicker, and they ended up meeting with Grace having covered far more than the slower hybrid had.

Grace Galaxy · 03-03-2012, 03:56 PM

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Word Count: 343.

Learning is a process. Grace knew that, and she fully expected that Hadley would be slower than she was. When she finished on her side, she looped around and did some of his, and they met in the middle. She grinned at him and paced down his line, checking each of the stalls to ensure that it was done correctly. He'd done well, his slow pace justified by the meticulousness of his work. She gave praise where praise was due. "Excellent! If you practice, you'll be as fast as I am in no time. Then I'll have no choice but to hire you." She wasn't sure that she needed the help, but if he stayed in AniWaya, it would give him something to do. He needed some distraction.

Stalls fully mucked, Grace sat down on a hay bale and yawned. "Well, I was going to offer to teach you to ride, but I'm thinking that food is sounding pretty appealing right now. What do you think?" Stretching briefly, she looked at herself and sighed. "You know, and I think that perhaps a bath wouldn't hurt anything, either." She looked down at her seated form and shook her head. Mucking stalls was dirty business, even if you were careful, and Grace just didn't have the time or energy to be that careful when she did this every day. She'd clean up and change clothes, and all would be well.

She stood up slowly, the gears turning as she did. Her face lit up. "Let's hunt down some rabbits. The snow will clean us off, and the rabbits will be tasty. Hmm?" She looked at him expectantly and continued. "I'll even hunt on four legs. You'll get a laugh or a dozen out of that! Don't worry, I can catch a rabbit - just not much else!" She laughed enthusiastically and jumped up. "Okay, let's go home. I've got to soak my clothes in a bucket of cold water, so they don't stain." She took off for home. Hadley would be along, she was sure.

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Hadley · 03-03-2012, 04:43 PM

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OOC here. /+000

Grace went down, checking his work. It was nerve wracking to watch, being judged for what he had done. Hadley held his breath hoping that it was satisfactory. He was greeted with praise, causing the large hybrid to blush. He hadn't thought it had been that great of a job. Shyly he ducked his head down, nodding along as she spoke. Working with the horses promised to be a satisfying work if he ended up here, always at ease around the gentle creatures.

He listened quietly as Grace made plans. Hadley was still unused to choosing his own way, but food did sound good. He nodded his head, smiling shyly as Grace decided she needed a bath as well. Hadley could probably use one, but he wasn't so sure that he could get one. Besides, the mess wasn't too bad. Hadley's ears pricked as he was told they'd hunt for rabbits on four legs. Hopefully she meant lupine, as he was absolutely forbidden from taking the killer form, secui.

Grace Galaxy · 03-05-2012, 11:13 PM

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Word Count: 340.

Grace never used secui form; the thought hadn't even occurred to her. As she stripped down - she wasn't afraid to wear most of her 'nice' clothing to work, because she could soak most stains out, and if not, then they needed to be dyed a new colour and were just trying to let her know. She liked to wear shades of blue and green much of the time, because they brought out her eyes. Particularly shades of green, and especially blue-green. To her advantage was the fact that dying her easily-stained blouses a shade of green allowed her more flexibility on how well grass-stains needed to come out, and dying her favourite work shirts cream, beige, or brown allowed more subtlety to her look, as well as less worry about getting dirt stains out. Grace knew her strengths and her weaknesses fairly intuitively, and keeping her clothing stain-free was one area that was very weak. Luckily, creatively solving that problem had shown her strengths: creativity, adaptability, and making and using dyes. Such was life.

She sat to shift, much as she would to meditate. Much of her shift consisted of her limbs shortening - she was small in her bipedal form, certainly, but even more so in her quadraped form. Shifting was fairly smooth, if not slightly time-consuming. She hoped that Hadley was already shifting, because some found it awkward to shift in front of others - Grace included - and she didn't want to have to wander around in quadraped form and wait for him. When she was fully shifted, she stood and shook herself out a little, then nudged the door open with her nose. After she slipped out, she pulled the door handle with her teeth, listening for it to click shut. Taj landed on her head briefly. "Where go?" he asked curiously. She laughed and pranced around. "Hunting! Want to come?" Taj ruffled his feathers, cawing disapproval, and flew off. Grace laughed again. "Bye, Taj!" Then she trotted back and looked around. "Hadley, you ready?"

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Hadley · 03-06-2012, 03:29 AM

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OOC here. /+000

Delicately he followed Grace out. As soon as they were in the open Hadley closed his eyes and began to concentrate on accessing the weakest of his forms, the one he used when the fear and pain grew too much. His bones melted and shifted around, fur thickening out as it bunched closer over the small space left. His spine curved, and Hadley dropped to all four, watching his fingers slowly curl up into the toes of his paws. With the shift completed Hadley shyly looked over to the now much smaller female.

With both of their shifts completed Grace shook herself out and came out the door. The bird came down, startling Hadley slightly before he relaxed again. At her question Hadley nodded, ready to start out. His hunting skills were very rusty, and his lupine form was really only used for emergencies, but he was sure under Grace's guidance everything would come back under control. She was so confidant, so sure of herself, that Hadley couldn't help but be infected with it as well.

Grace Galaxy · 03-20-2012, 01:17 AM

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I was alone, I took a ride

I didn't know what I would find there

WC: 314. Sorry for the delay. I was really sick.

Another road where maybe I

Could find another kind of mind there

A good hunter keeps a few tricks up their sleeve. Now, Grace wasn't wearing a shirt right now, but the analogy still fit. She knew that she was a poor tracker, and she had rather a fondness for rabbit. So she'd followed a rabbit home one day, stealthily, watching where he went. She'd not hunted that day, of course, but now she knew where to find them.

It would serve her well later. And it had. And now, it would again.

Grace sniffed the air briefly before taking off toward a place that she knew there was a rabbit warren. She hunted there often. Not often enough to make them move, of course. She was careful not to take too many of them, and to only hunt around their borders, so that it looked like simple coincidence. Rabbits weren't the brightest animals to tread the planet's surface, but they had decent instincts when it came to keeping themselves alive. Luckily, Grace had better instincts, and more importantly, she understood the delicate balance of nature. She must be good to others - rabbits included - if she wanted to continue to reap benefit from her existance here.

She moved quietly until she spotted a rabbit lurking under the fragile frame of a bush still dead from winter's harsh bite. Signalling to Hadley to keep quiet, she crept up to her unsuspecting prey. At the perfect moment, she lunged, jaw snapping. She bit down on... air. Falling to the ground, she heard a sick crunch. Lifting herself up, she looked. She'd crushed a rabbit; panicked and dying, it flailed. She grabbed it by the throat and shook it mercifully, ending its life, and looked at Hadley. Mumbling through a mouthful of rabbit, she nodded in the direction of the warren. "Your turn." As an after-thought, she added, "Don't scare 'em. I want 'em to stay here."

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Hadley · 03-20-2012, 01:55 AM

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OOC it's fine. hope you feel better now

Softly Hadley padded behind her, making no more noise than the wind around them, a soft hush that ruffled his fur so gently it was hardly noticeable. He sniffed the air as well, though he didn't pick up on any prey. Hadley wasn't likely to, with his sense of smell being so far damaged. Luckily he could pick up smells when they were close by, letting him figure out at least some stuff. Hadley was surprised as they came across a rabbit warren, blinking with the familiarity of the movement. Clearly Grace already knew about this place.

Lying flat to the ground he watched Grace hunt the rabbit, wincing as she took it down. It wasn't a very clean kill, the rabbit thrashing around painfully. The rabbits that had been close all leaped away, puttingi distance between them and death. Told not to scare them Hadley nodded nervously. Belly scraping the ground he edged forwards, targeting a smaller skinny rabbit. Definitely not anything someone would miss. Leaping he sank his teeth in, a tidy kill. Bringing it back he dropped the kill before Grace, looking up expectantly.

Grace Galaxy · 03-23-2012, 12:46 PM

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Word Count: 426. I think this is pretty close to being over? You can have him skin his own rabbit if you like; I tried to word it loosely.

Grace watched Hadley hunt with interest, her own rabbit still dangling from her mouth. He slipped into the ruck of rabbits easily, and was quick and clean about his kill. Unsurprising for someone of his size, perhaps, but slightly more intriguing for someone with as little confidence as the boy had. She supposed that perhaps this had been a task that he had done for his master, in which case it would be important for him to be sure of his kill, and to act swiftly and accurately. That might allow him the confidence to hunt the way he did, without compromising his perceived integrity as a slave.

Sure enough, he dropped the kill before her. She laughed softly around a mouthful of rabbit and shook her head; she was not his master, and she had no desire to be. "It's yours, Hadley," she told him gently. "Bring it, and we can skin them and eat them." They trudged back to her home, rabbits in tow, and she dropped hers on the front porch, then let herself inside and shifted back into her upright form. She dressed nimbly and rinsed her face in a basin of water; she'd gotten a bit bloody. It wasn't that she wouldn't get bloody again, eating, but more that she'd somehow gotten blood in places it didn't belong, like her forehead. She wasn't a terribly tidy girl as it was, quite absent-minded and a bit disorganized, and hunting was no exception to this trend. Still, because she knew her own weaknesses, she tried to adapt to them, too. For that reason, she did try to remember to clean up after herself.

She grabbed her skinning knife and a bucket of cold water and went out to sit on the porch. She showed Hadley how she skinned the rabbits as she did so; perhaps he would be interested to learn, if he didn't already know. She dropped the pelts in the water to soak he blood-stains out while they ate. As they sat, she said conversationally, "Have you thought about what you're going to do from here? I don't really mind... but my leaders might want to know who you are, at least." Her parents had never taken issue with new additions to the tribe, but they'd preferred to know who was on their territory, for safety's sake. Grace couldn't imagine that Ulilohi, as responsible as she seemed, was any different. Hadley would have to figure his issues out in his own time, but he needed to be considerate of others, too.

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Hadley · 03-23-2012, 09:31 PM

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OOC one more post each then?

Grace laughed at his actions, telling him that it was his. Ashamed by his thoughtless slave actions Hadley's ears drooped. He'd come to Aniwaya to become free, not to give himself over to a new master. If he wanted one he could have just stayed in Casa di Cavalieri. Sebastian was all he could have wished for in a master after all. Stooping down he picked the rabbit back up and followed the white wolf back to the house he was temporarily staying in.

Grace entered the house, probably to change. Out there Hadley shifted back into his optime form, feeling more comfortable once his weaker lupine form had been left behind. If he was vulnerable in optime form he most certainly didn't want to learn about how much he could be injured in lupine. It took some time before Grace came back out. He spent the time pacing, wondering if he should walk in, worried that she might be getting dressed or something. Eventually she came out, and he sat down with her.

Hadley watched with interest as the rabbits were skinned before the meal was ready. Taking it he neatly tucked into the raw meat. Blood on his fur was much too tempting to make his own, after all. Amy had once dumped a bucket of blood she'd gathered on him, just so she could carve along the patterns it formed. Asked what he would be doing Hadley shook his head. L-learn about building? He could use that knowledge. Otherwise, his future was a blank slate. Well, one step at a time after all.

Grace Galaxy · 05-05-2012, 10:18 PM

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I was alone, I took a ride

I didn't know what I would find there

Sorry for the delay. Real life called. Wink Short post, wrapping up.

Another road where maybe I

Could find another kind of mind there

Grace smiled at the suggestion. No one could say the boy wasn't willing to work, that much was for sure. Building was a hard job, and she thought that AniWaya might be grateful for another set of hands to help with such tasks. "That sounds like a good plan," she praised gently, softening the blow of her next words. "You really should think of speaking to the pack leader, Ulilohi, if you are planning to stay here. She is nice, don't worry. But she will probably want to know that you're here." She paused, tearing into her rabbit, and chewed thoughtfully. She had much yet to do, and while she tended to extend as much hospitality as possible to others, she was wearing a bit thin. She had planned to go to visit her family soon, and wanted to be free to do so. Besides that, it would be nice to have her home back...

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