Set in the Garden of Eden half an hour before sunset.
[html] [/html]Since the fight with the wolf, Wraith had taken to practicing with a bow and arrow. She’d managed to find one after the sacking of the camp: she’d returned to see if she could find anything if they’d left behind (this was a lie) but had instead found strange scents and an empty camp (the real reason she’d ventured forth was to scout out the area). Finding the bow and arrow had been mere happenstance. Since it had been purely out of luck that she’d retrieved a weapon from one of the fallen Boreas wolves, it only bore her one arrow. She wasn’t one to tempt fate, so she took what she could and returned to Inferni. Today, she was practicing again: she experimented with the so-called Mongolian draw and the three-fingered draw. She still thought she liked the three-fingered draw, but wanted desperately to learn how to ride a horse, so she was determined to learn the other one just in case she could use it one day.
She let the arrow loose and watched, with a small frown, when it missed her target and landed somewhere in the tall grasses. There weren’t many trees in Eden, so that meant that her target was easier to spot, since there wasn’t much to distract her. The downside was that the grass was so tall that retrieving the arrow could take some work.
She huffed loudly and then set out to find her arrow, wherever it might be.[html] [/html]
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Another patrol had just been completed, Sparrow sighing with relief that she had found nothing out of the norm. Despite her visit to the south, and the time that had passed—nearly a month had gone and went since the disbandment of the Boreas camp—the woman was still on edge, and it was obvious from her apparel. The usual bow and quiver of arrows rested across her back, to be returned to the Mansion from which she borrowed them from later that night before she retired, and her newly traded dagger. The latter was a new weapon to her, and she had yet to sheath it out of his scabbard besides to admire its sharp blade, never for self-defense yet because of her lack of knowledge as to how to handle it. One day she would have to seek one of the warriors of the clan to see if they knew how to wield a knife, and perhaps try to get some lessons from them.
She decided to cross through Eden on her way to D’Neville, finding that now summer was upon them, it was a beautiful sight to see. Not as glorious as the spring, but until the seasons cycled themselves, she had to deal with what she saw now, which was not any less wonderful to look at. With the sun setting, she had taken her hood off, and it was probably because of her unrestricted hearing did she detect that she was not alone in the Garden.
Rather pouty, loud breaths was faintly heard by Sparrow, and she glanced to see a coyote searching the ground. The mottled hybrid wondered if she should have kept her distance and minded to her own business, but, she was curious about what the woman was doing, and would not mind helping a fellow clan mate if she was able to. Quietly though obviously, she approached the younger female, and spoke softly, ”Greetings… Are you in need of any assistance?” She noted the bow in her hands, and her lack of arrows, but did not connect the two facts together and waited to see if the golden coyote wanted help.
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[html] [/html]Wraith shot her right arm out and then whipped it to the right to push back the tall grasses impeding her view. She repeated the motion with her left arm, quick as always, and was met with disappointment each time. Wherever her arrow had landed, she couldn’t seem to find it. She grasped a handful of grasses and accidentally ripped them out of the ground as she tried to push them away. She glanced at her handful of grass and then absentmindedly tossed them to her right. At that moment, the wind picked up and blew them back into her face. She tried to wave them away, but one sailed right toward her eyes and she turned to avoid getting a blade of grass in her eye. Instead, she ended up with one in her mouth. She turned to her left and then spat it out.
It was then that she heard another coyote call out to her. She hadn’t been expecting anyone else, so it surprised her, but she tried not to show it. She laughed once when she realized that the other woman had used the word ‘greetings.’ That sounded weird. Who talked like that? But she was quick to pipe down when the lady offered her help. She needed all the help she could get.
“Sure,” she replied. “I’m looking for my arrow. I only have one and it’s disappeared around here somewhere,” she explained. As she spoke, she lifted her right arm and held it in front of her and then drew it to the right of her body to indicate the surrounding area. [html] [/html]
[html] (336)On her way over to the girl, she noticed her having some difficulty with something, but it was not until she ventured closer did she see that it was with the grass she was having hardships with. The untamed wild grew long and thick since the human’s demise, and even the animals could not crop the sea of grass that now claimed the Garden along with the numerous flowers. Whatever the golden coyote was searching for, it would probably remain lost; Sparrow made the assumption that if it was not plants or anything else that was part of the grassy waves that she was seeking, it was to end in failure. But, probability and her urge to help spoke against reason as she approached the other.
The woman smiled a bit as the coyote nearly got grass in her eye, but with quick to whip the smirk off of her face before she let herself known. She blinked in confusion at the other’s laughter, not sure what she found funny, but forced a small smile upon her face, just to humor the female, and did not ask what she was giggling at. Sparrow’s face returned to be neutral and calm when the girl went silent, if not curiously friendly.
“Okay,” she replied simply, and began to part the grass after a few forward steps. She did not mention the arrows she had herself; maybe this arrow was special to her, and did not want to use the communal ones that the clan kept in the Mansion. After a couple of moments of silence, she spoke up again, “My name is Sparrow, miss. What’s your’s?” She thought a bit of conversation would keep things from becoming awkward between the two; she had experienced more than one silence that was not intended to provoke thought since joining Inferni. Luckily, though, she had been reaping her talking skills, her ability to make small talk becoming better for one that was not raised for conversation for half of her life. [/html]
[html] [/html]Wraith was glad that the lady agreed to help. Even more, she was glad that she had done it without protest. Wraith was ever-conscious that she was quite young to hold an important rank in the clan; and from the lady’s scent, she determined that she was the higher-ranked of the two. Even though she knew she would always have a place in the clan—her father made that abundantly clear—she still worried so much. She figured that one day, she would feel more secure of her place, but until then, she had to prove to everyone that she was more than just some kid, just some child of some dead warrior, and just some child of some traitor to the clan.
She crouched down to sweep the ground with her hands, with her fingers splayed and her arms reaching in front of her. She paused when the lady gave her her name. She straightened up and turned to the lady, who seemed to be a bit closer now as she tried to find the lost arrow.
“Nice to meet you,” she replied automatically. “I’m Wraith Creed. I’m a scout here,” she explained, but then realized that it didn’t explain much. “But I’m learning how to use a bow and arrow from Ithiel.” She hoped that her secondary explanation would remedy any potential confusion. [html] [/html]
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She figured that her company was a bit young, but it did not lower her standard respect that she gives for everyone. As far as she was concerned, she’d rather avoid a disagreement if it all it took was to be a little docile. Even if she was at a higher standard that the girl—and by her scent, it showed that it was not the case—she wouldn’t have acted like so. She wasn’t a dominant person to begin with, and was keen to show submission if she was to displease anyone, whether they were below her or not; she recalled her stuttering words when she had met Zana, whom was perhaps the intimidating coyote in the clan at first glance. But, she was beginning to understand that she had a place in Inferni, but nonetheless felt the need to give respect when it was due, especially when she was meeting a clan mate.
She did not pause as the girl straighten up, but kept a perked, large ear in her direction to show that she was listening to her while she search through the grass. “It’s good to meet you, too, miss Wraith. I’m a scout as well, and I’m learning archery from Max, one of the Hydras.” It seemed that everyone was either an archer themselves or was apprenticing in the skill, and it seemed by the end of the season the whole clan would be able to shoot arrows from the stands in the Nod. “I met Ithiel before; how is he? I haven’t seen him for a few weeks now.” Sparrow did not believe that he was not well or the like, but it felt nice to ask how his wellbeing was after overthrowing the Boreas wolves, remembering the wounds he had from an earlier attack and how he was coping now that it was done.
Thinking the arrow might be close, she continued to part a certain patch of tall grass, quiet for another moment before speaking up again. “I think Vesper mentioned about you before—not directly, I mean. My sister commented that the Vigiles were very talented at their job… Do you have any family here yourself?” She had never heard of a Creed, only of Lykois and de le Poers, and wondered if the girl was here by herself, which she found a bit sad if it was true; she had her sister, which was probably the only person she could talk to without the worry of fumbling her words, and wouldn’t know what to do if she didn’t have her. [/html]
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[html] [/html]When Sparrow said that she was a scout, too, Wraith crooned a quiet, “cool!” in response. She didn’t know that Max knew how to use a bow and arrow, so she wondered if he would be interested in helping her out. She didn’t want to bother Ithiel too much since she knew that he was very busy. Plus, since Max was closer to her in age, she thought that it might be fun to practice with him and maybe even get to know him better. She liked him even if he was a bit quiet and didn’t say much.
“Ithiel? Still the same. Kinda prudeish, but he’s nice enough,” she replied with a mischievous giggle. Now that she was older, she knew what these words could mean and imply—and what she felt about other coyotes, too. She wasn’t sure how she would know who she liked, and even though she knew she could talk to Valkyrie about anything, she didn’t want to sound stupid. How could she know if she liked boys or girls, when her father was male and liked men, too? She didn’t really understand how she could know since she hadn’t thought about anyone in a mushy kind of way. Maybe she’d dwell on it another time.
When Sparrow pushed back a bit of grass, Wraith suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be looking for her arrow, too. She took a few skipped steps and glanced around. Still, nothing.
“Oh, Vesper, yeah—she’s nice! I’m a Vigiles, so—” she began, but paused and blushed. That must mean that Vesper thought she was good at her job! “Yeah, my brother Nathaniel is a scout too. He’s a Praeses. And my sister Lucilla is here too—Lucilla Key. And my half-sister is a hunter too, but I don’t think she’s been feeling well, so she’s been a Tirones for a bit. Her name’s Valkyrie de le Poer. My daddy used to be a member here for most of his life. His name’s Hybrid Holocaust. Umm, my mom was a member here too, Aeron Ganesa. They were both warrior’s. My dad died a few months ago and my mom joined Anathema. And then Ezekiel’s my cousin, too, and his sister Talitha is my cousin. Umm, Zekie and Tali are my dad’s sister’s kids. And Tali had some puppies when she was here too. They were cute! I dunno where they went though. But umm, yeah, I guess I have a lot of family here. I think Val, since her name’s de le Poer, is maybe related to Ithiel an’ Aemon, but I dunno how.” She shrugged. Things were complicated. [html] [/html]
[html] (449) typing this from Stage so sorry for grammar mistakes!
She thought about Max momentarily when she had spoke about him. The white beast that was a young man had terrified the woman when she had first met him, and it was not until they got into the archery lessons that she finally began to calm down. She discovered despite his monstrous looks--long teeth and ragged fur adding to that air with his tall height--he was gentle, and found no reason to fear him after their first teaching. She discovered later on that he was the adopted son of the Aquila himself, and realized the reason why he was a brilliant shot despite his age; he had learned probably from the best archer in Inferni, and thought that perhaps one day he would become as great as their leader if he remained under his wing.
The lightly laughed along with the Creed girl at her words. "That sounds about right," she agreed, "Sometimes I wonder if he has ever laughed since he was a puppy." Sparrow had saw him smile before, but she knew they could have been forced; laughter was harder to fake. He was nice, yes, but the man was dry and quiet, and while she liked those qualities, she enjoyed having a laugh and usually was not used to not being the only silent one.
She grinned as Wraith seemed dumbfounded for a moment when she realized what she had said, glad to pleasantly stun the girl. But, it was her turn for her to be shocked as she started to state names and jobs. While she was able to kept up perfectly fine, she could not help but feel a bit impressive at her lineage. "I think Vesper mentioned Nathaniel before, being a fellow Praeses myself... I never met a Lullica, though." Sparrow frowned a little when she mentioned her parents, one of the names sounding familiar; she knew of an Aeron that was high in rank, but she never heard of Hybrid before. She continued to name off canine that she did not know, and finally commented,"I can't imagine having a big family like that... It had always been just me, Vesper, and Winter." She would never consider the man that was her father as anything, including the spawn that he made with that Luperci woman; it would always just be the three of them in her world.
She shifted a patch of grasses, and made a sound of delight. But, it was quickly taken back with a "nevermind" as she pulled out a stick which she thought was an arrow. "Have you ever thought about bringing more than one arrow?" she asked Wraith a bit teasingly as she tossed the twig aside.[/html]
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[html] [/html]Waith giggled impishly when Sparrow wondered whether Ithiel had ever laughed. She was about to agree with her when she remembered that they had enjoyed making fun of that dumb coyote, Col, together. Wraith couldn’t remember if he’d laughed, but she was pretty sure he had. Even if he hadn’t, they’d had fun, so that was all that mattered to Wraith.
She perked up when Sparrow mentioned her brother. The arrow completely forgotten, she grinned widely at her acquaintance. Nate was so smart! She really did love her brother and was very proud of him. Even though Sparrow hadn’t met Lucilla yet, it didn’t bother her; her sister did her own thing and had her own friends. She was proud of all her siblings--Lucilla, Nate, and Valkyrie--so she was just happy to mention them at any moment. She wondered if Lucilla and Sparrow would get along. Sparrow seemed nice enough, so she didn’t think it would be impossible.
When Sparrow explained that she had always had a small family, Wraith nodded as her mouth formed a small ‘o.’ She wasn’t sure why, but the way Sparrow said it made her feel sad. Sparrow didn’t think she sounded very sad, but Wraith thought that only having one parent--her mother or her father? She wasn’t sure--would be a very sad thing indeed. Wraith had had both parental figures, if at different times in her life. Though, maybe Vesper was to Sparrow what Valkyrie was to Wraith: the real mother.
Wraith didn’t say anything in response since she didn’t know what to say. Instead, she let that little bit of the conversation slide. She giggled when Sparrow asked her whether she had ever considered bringing another arrow. Certainly! But she didn’t have any more.
“I would if I had more,” she explained, grinning. “I found this when I uh--went out scouting,” she recalled. She didn’t want to say that she’d gone looking for Boreas. She knew that others didn’t like it when she did dumb and dangerous things like that. “There weren’t any others and I guess having more would make it faster. Why, are there more somewhere that I could--borrow?”[html] [/html]
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As she shuffled through the grass, continuing the search for the missing arrow despite Wraith's pause, she could not help but notice the slightly disheartened look upon her face. She took the silence as a chance to think over why the young woman would feel a bit upset about her family. In honesty, she was glad not to have many known kin around here, since she could easily imagine the pressure that would be placed on her to uphold the lineage's name. But, she certainly did not want to carry on the Moineau's name in any case. That title was dead to her, and wished it could be cleanse from her blood, yet she knew no matter how many times it would be shed, she would always be a part of Marcel.
Sparrow guessed if things were different, if her father was a loyal warrior instead of a dirty traitor and did not leave a bad impression on her, she could be a bit envious for Wraith's large and honorable family. But, she was proud of Vesper, in her opinion worth more than cousins and other unknown relatives, and wouldn't have it any other way.
She listened patiently as she heard her explanation for her lack of arrows. The mottled female frowned a little as she mentioned finding it some place while scouting, and remarked, "I hope it wasn't being used by someone before you. But, if it was, their lost, I suppose." Little did she know that the owner was probably dead with most of the Boreas, but was happily oblivious to that, and was comfortable with giving mild concern.
She smiled again as her mind went back to the arrows, and stated, "There's a large supply at the mansion, where they keep the leathers and pelts. Though, I don't think anyone would appreciate if we lost more arrows out here..." The woman paused in her talking for a moment to shoulder off her quiver, which carried seven feathered arrows. "So we'll keep close eyes on theses, right?"
She handed Wraith a few, and took off her own bow while she held an arrow in a free hand. "Why don't you show me what Ithiel has been showing you? Maybe we can cure that aim of your's." For a moment, she had seemed serious, but a moment later she meekly smiled; again, she was attempting to be humorous, and hoped that she did not take her words to heart. [/html]
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[html] [/html]Wraith shrugged when Sparrow remarked upon the bow and arrow’s potential ownership. She didn’t really care after all; even if someone had been using it, they were probably dead now thanks to Inferni, so they didn’t have any use for it. Even if they weren’t, they hadn’t secured their goods very well, so she didn’t feel too bad. Besides, stealing from a loner didn’t really seem like much of a crime. The lands outside of the clan’s borders were lawless.
She perked up when Sparrow pointed out that there was a collection in the mansion. She hadn’t known that! Though, she only went to the mansion during the meetings, so she hadn’t really been inside since hanging out with Carrion and Ithiel on the roof. She thought human houses were weird and didn’t really want to go inside.
When Sparrow said that she might lose them, Wraith leapt to action to protest. “Hey!” she replied in an accusatory tone. She stuck out her tongue after she realized that Sparrow wasn’t done talking. She smirked when Sparrow handed her a new arrow and then nodded. She didn’t want to lose Sparrow’s arrows if she was nice enough to lend them to her. She stuck out her tongue again in response when Sparrow said that she might cure her aim.
“A medic, now, are we?” she asked, grinning. With that, she took a few steps away from Sparrow. She scanned for a tree at an appropriate distance and then turned so that she could plant her feet in the ground. She paused to string the arrow, making sure to point it at the ground, and then raised it and drew back on the string with one quick movement. She lined up her target, a squat tree, and then let the arrow loose. It bounced off the edge of the tree, but didn’t embed itself in the bark, and Wraith saw it fall just to the right of the tree. Darn![html] [/html]
[html] (382) OOC: In short, Aly is a bad person for making Tammi wait.
The only reason she entered the mansion daily was to gather a bow and a few arrows to patrol with. But, even if she would visit it less often if it was not for that, she would still have interest in it. Sparrow was a bit curious about the humans, maybe because of her lack of interaction with their culture because of her feral upbringing, and going to D'Neville every other day was enjoyable for her. And, when she was not going on patrols or sewing Zeitgeist's cloaks, she liked to sneak into the libary in the late hours and do a bit of reading; though she was still working on those skills, she was improving fast, and had started to read more advanced level books than children ones.
She smirked when Wraith interrupted her for a moment, but continued to speak after that pause as she went to stick her tongue out at her. Even when she had weakly smiled, it soon morphed to a confident one when the girl had again stuck out her tongue. "If you keep doing that, you'll going to lick something unpleasant," she warned humorous, obvious that her warning was not to be taken seriously. It was all in good fun.
"Emma did teach him a few things..." She allowed her words to trail off for a moment as Wraith positioned herself, and fired an arrow. It hit the tree, but Sparrow guessed at a wrong angle, for it fell to the ground, though this time they knew were that arrow went. "...but, I do not know this is treatable." Again, she was far from spiteful, but she thought it was funny and would cheer up the Creed girl if she felt disheartened by the shot.
Careful not to shot anything important, she set an arrow into the string, and pulled the bow upwards and pulled back. She looked straight at the tree, and as if Max's words were echoing in her, dug her toes into the soil like roots burying into the earth, and she became as steady as a tree. With an exhale of breath, the arrow flew from her finger tips, and stuck into the right side of the tree Wraith was aiming at, somewhat near the center of it but obviously off. [/html]
[html] [/html]Right after she saw the arrow disappear, Wraith wondered if she should go get it. Should she fire off all of the arrows they had and then go looking for Sparrow’s arrows? Of course, that was if Sparrow would let her. Wraith shouted again in protest when Sparrow said that it might not be treatable, but she was grinning widely as she wasn’t really upset.
She watched, silent, as Sparrow moved to shoot her own arrow. Unlike Wraith, she was able to hit the target. She also seemed to stop for a longer amount of time before letting the arrow loose. Wraith wondered if she was setting up and then firing too quickly: maybe that was why she kept missing.
“I just need more practice then,” she replied, eyeing Sparrow’s quiver. Watching Sparrow had helped her see how someone else worked and it was interesting to see that their grips were slightly different, too. But Sparrow seemed to take her time whereas Wraith was more impatient and just wanted to practice as much as absolutely possible. Maybe if Sparrow would give her another arrow, she could critique her form and offer some help so that she wouldn’t suck as badly![html] [/html]
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