A Different Kind of Game
#1
[html]

Current Objective:Waiting to discuss things. ---
Form:Lupine----
Mood: Calm-----

There were a few things that one had t be comfortable with when they did what he did. One of those was losing friends. People were all too emotional. They didn’t like the idea that their friends might always be out for themselves. Thy didn’t like the possibility of being listed as a tool, as a pawn in some game. And well X’ies could never help doing what he did. From a young age the training he received, and his genetics played out their role in shaping him into what he was. Would he take it back though just to become normal? Just to belong to this little secret crowd? To join the ignorant masses was not his goal, his task was to move those masses. Things had changed in these few years, mostly his appearance. Back when they had been young he had been sleeker, his fur had always been course, rough but never unkempt like this.


Of course, it was all a rouse, underneath his personality held all the regality that one would expect from one of his family. Waiting on his childhood ‘friend’ to follow he began to think of just what it was that had brought him here, he was here to indeed find his own truth about just what she was doing. But then what? An amusing thought followed. Hat if he joined her? No, he doubted that would be an acceptable idea. The other male clearly disliked him, but then that was down to himself. Couldn’t really help it though, X’y knew his words well, and this new comer, this stranger had yet to be tested. To Jaden of course HE was the stranger. But twas not the way the Lambda saw it. He sat there, thinking of times in the past, musing over what had come ad what was going to be.


For this meeting he had thought about moving into his other form to match the female and the other male. But he disliked the idea of it, as strange as it sounded to say he much preferred this form, despite the clear lack of opposable thumbs hindering the ability to pick and use items. Using those items was not of his concern, he was what he was, and under the dirt he was the…wolf in “Lamb”das clothing. A wolf he was, and a wolf he would be. One sought no interest in trying to replicate the form of other species. Though this meeting he thought required truth if it was going to fully come from both of them, he wondered just what that meant.


Would he have to cast all deceptions aside in order to get a truth? Perhaps that was the case. So with that in mind X’ies moved into the lake, only for a moment placing his head under the water. When he emerged he was quite wet, dripping to the bone. Although it wasn’t something that was unfixable. First of all he shook himself to take care the majority of his wetness. Then laid down on a nearby bolder in a manner akin to a lizard. Fixing his coat to make it appear as it should have normally. Regality returned. Although, still somewhat damp. It was uncomfortable. Not the dampness, but the lack of disguise. Still that oo much like its removal could be fixed through time. For now there was nothing for him to do but await the arrival of the curious one.

[/html]
#2
[html]
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... forget.png); background-color:#090905; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 350px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

ooc:

  • Setting: Early Evening
  • Location: Adlarto'K (Lake)
  • Form: Secui


  • Apprehension weighted her steps the distance was applied between herself and the mountain. But then the measure of distance would change between herself and the barbed tongue messenger slowing her steps further to a crawl. By her own volition she had engaged this private discussion and while regret was hardly experienced and had yet to do so during this time, she embraced the second thought that perhaps this was not the better of her previous ideas. Better she dismiss the Nomad than let him try and lure her home. She did not want to know his true reason for seeking her own... or rather she feared what the truth would be. Questions of an unseen peril crossed her mind. Fears that once laid dormant in the recesses of her mind came forth demanding to be recognized.

    But she could not, would not ask if the unthinkable had befallen her family. The thought was enough to turn her blood cold and still her steps just before the sandy banks of the lake. She had trudged on in silence following the scent of her fellow Nomad til it ended at the water and he was gone. Her eyes had gone blind in the midst of her thoughts, rendering her inattentive to the hastened grooming he had undertaken until he surfaced from the tranquil body, startling her from her dense thoughts. She spared him little more than a glance as he sorted his unruly presence. There was perhaps a time in their youth when she would have offered to assist him and dubbed the act as what one friend would do for another. But such a time had passed, and though she had known him somewhat well in their younger months... she could not claim to know him at all know. Just what the Lambda crafted him to be.

    Yet the teachings of the Exultare were not lost on her. Words would forever be the forte of the Lambda while gesture was the choice language of her distinguished family. Pure, open and honest, with little need to guard their intentions with deceit. The open books of the Nomads should any be able to pry apart their fortified bindings and see what fine pages resided inside. But he had caught her in a moment where the pages were already revealed and rather than close the book, she left it open to be read. What reason did she have to hide her disease?



    408 words.



    <style>
    .ooctable, .oocinfo {
    background-image:none;
    padding:10px;
    line-height:12px;
    margin:5px auto; width:85%;
    background-color:#6d8673;
    border:1px solid #090905;
    font-size:10px;
    color:#090905;
    border-radius:2px;
    border-style: dashed;
    -moz-border-radius:2px;
    -webkit-border-radius:2px; }

    .oocinfo {
    font-size:10px;
    width:250px;
    margin:5px; }
    </style>[/html]
    #3
    [html]

    Current Objective:Talking ---
    Form:Lupine----
    Mood: Calm-----

    She Would eventually arrive at the spot. His eyes drifted over her, none to say that she wasn’t too happy with him. The little joy that had been in her eyes when she had first greeted him were now long gone. In that there was a kind of despair. He had seen those eyes all too often, it was the eyes of the betrayed. Those who had trusted him to be something that he was no, a friend, an ally. But then, this is what he was, and there was nothing that could change that. Acceptance, or rejection. There was no middle ground in this game. He stayed as hee was lying like a lizard upon the bolder looking at her approach. “ Anger, but caused by what? My words upon your friend?”. He tilted his head in a curious manner.


    It was a question that beheld more questions, the first of all being was it the words that caused the anger, or was it who they were directed at. And was it a friend or? So many meanings packed into so few words. The manipulations of the Lambda intertwined into one fine art work of discourse. ” So I suppose I should explain myself then to you first of all, it would only be right… Ever since we were pups I always found you curious, and when you left that sparked a little interest of my own….I had ideas, I had thoughts I had feelings that needed to be explored….when your brother wished to find you, I thought that it would be my chance to see the world, and indeed. It was….I learned many things on my travels…most of which has served me well…”. It was, a partial confession, not complete. But not inaccurate either.


    “ Then once again the name crosses my tongue, my ears…and here I find myself coming to seek you out….I do not apologies for what I said to….your ‘ friend’ he is untested….I needed to discern who he was below the surface…and I think I got a glimpse..”

    [/html]
    #4
    [html]
    http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... forget.png); background-color:#090905; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 350px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

    ooc:

    She stood silent as he began to read through her pages, selecting what posed an interest and sought to inquire while her tongue was still willing. But even when she was able, she had nothing to say to him yet, not when she was set on understanding his true intentions. With little effort other than a tell in her eyes on her part, he divulged what she could only assume as the truth.

    Her brother wanted to find her, and he had taken the opportunity in effect setting aside his duties to the collective to satisfy his own curiosity. How could she look to him disapprovingly when it was no different than how she had left? Only the circumstances were different, yet the end result remained the same. And now her brother still walked these lands...still searching for her. An encounter she dreaded above all else.

    "I suppose it would be selfish to assume that I would be the only one to leave," at last she found her voice, albeit in a soft, whispered tone. "Yet of all of the Exultare, I would not have thought X'yro would find a reason to seek me out. I know he wanted to take my destined role more than any..." They could go on to assume the initial motivations for relinquishing his watch over the coveted throne, or perhaps the Lambda already knew. But she was not interested in knowing that now. More so her interests lied in knowing where she and her childhood companion stood from here. It was odd that he would go out of his way to find her just by word of her name...

    "For one reason or another, you have found me, X'ies. Certainly it was to appease your insatiable curiosity." Smoothly, she turned her gaze to the lake. "And now that you see I am alive and have beaten X'yro to his goal... what will you do now? Linger to 'test' the rest of my Family?"




    329 words.



    [/html]
    #5
    [html]

    Current Objective:Talking ---
    Form:Lupine----
    Mood: Calm-----

    It was amusing off her not to know her brothers true intentions. Or at least the intentions that he ha expected from him. X’ies could see that bubbling ambition and had used it to his own advantage to effectively disappear, the other had much ambition and wasn’t willing to wait on a crippled companion, so he had used that to escape the watchful eyes of the collective. Of course he wasn’t going to tell her that much just yet. “ He had his reasons I am sure”. Said X’ies, hinting to her that he had already expected the motivation behind the search. But she posed to him a good question, now that he had found her, setting out her own lands separately from the collective. Just what wwas he going to do. She made an interesting note though that he could not help but examine. She claimed that these new wolves were her family. The indeed take aside a new rule of social interest. She had forgone friendship and had entered the realm of kinship. Was this due to such close knit ties or due to some other indulgent relationship?


    ” I have yet to decide, you play a dangerous game entering into this world…your dim witted friend noted that you were claiming lands with him, does this make you two mates?...I cannot say for sure….however I am quite certain I know of his intent on that matter….you….a little harder to read curious one…you defend like you were…you react like you were but then you use the word family to describe the rest…so am I just seeing the pack mothers instinctive protection?....heh….”


    It was entertaining to him this dance of thoughts, but it had brought him to the side of his point. She was moving into this game with from what he could see very little preparation. The Lambda existed for a reason among the Nomads. They helped settle disputes over territory. Diplomats. ” How many of you are well versed in diplomacy?...how many of you do you think could use words to avoid bloodshed?....from what I’ve seen thus far…the birth of your pack is likely to be baptized in blood, be it your own…or someone elses…”. He stood and jumped off the bolder, landing perfectly. Walking without his limp, ” So, perhaps I shall stick around only to ensure an old friend does not see herself dead before her first litter….there is a reason the Lambda are as they are….it is required for survival…” He grew close to her at this stage, in her current form she was much larger than he was, however he showed no fear, no hesitation just stark confidence.


    ”Of course, I do not force myself upon you, if you wish me to depart your lands. I will do so”


    [/html]
    #6
    [html]
    http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... forget.png); background-color:#090905; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 350px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

    ooc:

    Replies to his barrage came without her needing to say a word. His questions were met with a language better suited to a beast that was made to use her strength than words. And restraint was dutifully exercised to keep her formidable maw from sealing around his own to silence him. Such anger alone would have been enough to quiet any other... but so used to this were the Lambda family that these death glares and forced restraints were but earned trophies they received in acknowledgement of their skill. Regardless of whom they harmed in the process.

    "...we do not choose mates for ourselves... nor are we allowed to have our own families..." her ears fell against her autumn crown as he approached, her sullen gaze not missing the lack of strain in his step. "We are kept from experiencing many things that our kind are meant to share..." she continued on, standing firmly against his confident stature to defend her found beliefs. "There is a simplicity found in having a family for ourselves without the fear that they will be taken and made part of another-" Too few words than all she had hoped to say, stopped dead before she could attempt to continue on. Fanciful. That was how she sounded. Her words mentally replayed themselves and she could only sigh disheartened. "Nevermind."

    A moment passed for her to recollect her thoughts, setting aside the emotional tirade for now. "We are not diplomatic... nor are we as versed as you. But we are strong, physically and in our drive to prosper. But..." her ears then perked up again as her eyes turned from the placid lake to become fixed upon her dark companion. "...if you are offering to lend your expertise, then perhaps you should dull the edge of your tongue before it becomes the cause of our 'baptism of blood'."



    312 words.



    [/html]
    #7
    [html]

    Current Objective:Talking ---
    Form:Lupine----
    Mood: Calm-----

    How interesting. It would seem she wanted to attack him, just what had made her change thusly? In their youth he remembered the vibrant playing, even then his tongue had been sharp. But she had never shown this amount of aggression against him. He suspected that what she had learned out there in the world had changed her, forged her into something different. She acted kind but beyond that kindness there was something cold. Something just as bitter as he was. Perhaps, even more so. “ Ah, so all it takes in this family for blood to be shed is a sharp tongue? Perhaps you are more in need of my help than I thought”. He had hooked her with his bait. He knew she needed a person with sharp wit and words on their side . And with that bait he was now reeling her in, X’ies began to circle her. He’d plant thoughts into her mind.


    “ Heaven forbid you ever make an unpopular decision…just how long I wonder….till that knife finds its way into your back?”


    How many times had she tasted the bitter sting of betrayal in her life? If it was even once then no doubt his words would have their effect, she herself had just admitted that her pack were fighters, not thinkers. She trusted them now, but then how many people in her life had she trusted just for them to turn on her in the end? He stopped, stared out into the lake. He’d use what he could tell of her words, fear of abandonment was clear. Trust. Protectiveness. ” So many knives, they all work in many ways…abandonment…fear….reliability…love…Just how many of those knives do you see already prepped?...abandonement appears to be a favourite...you fear it....the male clearly fears it....perhaps its something you all share...unified by a fear of being left alone...but then who is to say once they find something else they will have any use for you?...Then again....perhaps you are all just useful backups for that inevitable fall”. His words were clear, knife of abandonment, those who would leave her alone, she already made it quite clear in her previous sentences this was a big fear. Fear itself, how any would stay in the case of great adversity? Reliability, and love…just how many of them were reliable enough to say that they loved her before any other?


    ” I will keep my tongue dull, silent…and I’ll watch…measure, test…as you require…though the day will come when you need my tongue as sharp as it was….pray that the knife of abandonment you wield X’y, hasn’t cut it short…”

    [/html]
    #8
    [html]
    http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/ ... forget.png); background-color:#090905; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: top; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right:0px; padding-top: 350px; border-radius:15px; -moz-border-radius:15px; -webkit-border-radius:15px; border-bottom-left-radius:15px; border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px; -moz-border-bottom-left-radius:15px; -webkit-border-top-right-radius:15px;">

    ooc:

    It would take more than a word to bring forth the bloodshed of her brethren, but how the darker part of her mind favored just enough ill placed word from the Lambda’s mouth to invoke a bloodletting of a different kind. He knew well the power of his own words and he withheld none of it against her. But the onslaught was endured, braced by the memory of how they had been as children, innocent without a care. Sneaking away from their destined paths to steal precious time and make it their own. It was solely that resurfaced memory that kept her mouth closed and paws firmly planted as he dragged the sharply craft blade across her soul.

    What did he know of knives? It was doubtfully any had gotten close to the brute to betray, let alone graze him with anything close to it. What did he know of the fear of abandonment? The pain that came with its finality… What did he know of love and its vicious sting when it was not strong enough to prevail over all? These words of his, though painful on more than just the surface, were but assumptions…possibilities, rather than truth. What she had suffered before did not mean it would happen again. She had to trust that to not be crippled by his words… She had to believe that these trespasses would not transpire again.

    Yet, she could not readily turn her eyes to him again and instead let them fall to the calm depths of the lake. “X’ies…” her voice was terribly soft, nearly lost to the lap of the water against the bank. “…I will say this only once to you as clearly as I can make it. As a Nomad…and as one whom I called my friend, I will extend this warning to you. We are not on our native lands any longer, nor are we governed by the structure of our forebears. And thus… if you wish to ‘generously’ provide your aid and continue to find peace when you rest…do well to keep your skills in check. A word from our brethren that you have forcibly placed another in disease… I will be sure to show you the discipline that only an Exultare can exact. …but I have faith the ancestors will not let the circumstances come to that…”




    392 words.



    [/html]
    #9
    [html]

    Current Objective:None. ---
    Form:Lupus----
    Mood: unamused-----

    OOC:

    It seemed that these words did little on the surface to make her doubt herself. Rather it seemed that she just simply got more angry with him as time passed. Although he found this somewhat amusing. Following her little speech of bringing the foot down upon him should anyone be displeased with him. X'ies merely shook his head and padded off back towards the ock with what could only be described as a look of disappointment painted on his face. In truth, his thoughts concerning this were...worrying to say the least. If he was to be accepted into this pack it was going to be as a second class citizen. Immedietly recieving punishment if he so much as spoke out of turn. What then if someone was to do the same to him? No mention of punishment.


    He just simply nodded. Silence was now going to be his weapon, he'd watch and wait. Not speaking a word. And collect his thoughts. As much as this pained him to do, it would unfortunatly be neccisary. He would not speak to anyone within the pack aloud. Of course this was simply to move X'y along the idea of guilt, placing her into the idea that she had taken a childhood friend and placed him as an outcast. The proverbial knife of abandonment. These subtle manipulations, costs and advantages. With that, he simply stopped paying attention to the female. Giving her the confirmation she required. That was all that was needed .


    "At least for now"


    [/html]


    Forum Jump: