feathery wings
#1
She didn't know what had woken her so early in the morning though she hadn't even attempted to find herself back to sleep. Instead she'd taken the time to walk the borders alone, the silence in the cold chilly dawn was just what she needed for once. The girl was tired of hearing the same old words from every passing yearling with stars dazing their eyes. The poetic words and woeful being were enough to make her sick. She'd never been good at the sweet and sappy version of love, perhaps she still craved it from time to time but she would never show it, atleast not to the swarm of raging hormones that was her generation. Somehow she'd erased childish games and fun from her life in the harsh actions of another against her will, she'd yet to recover those items.

Pausing along the edge of the graveyard her ebony tipped ears flickered to a fro as she padded on silent paws through the frosty world. A cold front had come through, washing the cold rain into something more serious, the first snow of the season. She stared at the gravestones as flake by flake began to swirl around her. The sharp bite of winter was in each glittery drop of snow as they nipped at her nose before settled on the world in a light dusting. It wasn't a full blown storm but the soft touch to the world caused her to close her emerald eyes and just stand there all alone.. waiting for something to just happen.
#2
[html]




She went here and there, then here some more, then there for a while...Ember never really stayed in one place for too long. The female had tried pack after pack after pack, and nothing ever turned out the way that she always hoped it would. At each pack, at each borderline, she'd made a wish, a wish that things might work out and that she would find happiness within the pack's borders. But each time her wishes were dashed.

She felt like a dead leaf, just a dead piece of nothing that was blown from place to place by the wind. She'd thought that she was attached to Storm and that she wouldn't move over the mountain, and then she had learned to love Labrynth Glen and Shadowed Sun. Dahlia de Mai still held a few bitter memories for her, but now they felt more like bad dreams...not real. Ember was losing perception; she didn't know what from her past was real and what was something that she had dreamed up any more.

She didn't know what she'd expected to find here at the borders of her old pack this time...but she didn't have it in her to fight any more. It seemed so useless now. The once strong, vivacious female had withered down from her past form, becoming leaner and disspirited. She had no constants in her life, not any more. Khaden and the life that they had shared together was gone now. Had she dreamed him up, too?


[/html]
#3
Firefly had caught the scent in the crisp autumn air as she made her rounds. She really didn't want to see the ebony female who had caused her to lose stance in the Rosea's eyes. She never had a chance to even try and explain her half of what had happened, Cercelee had long since taken the side of Ember, and perhaps on the default of attacking her own packmember the leader was right, but the reasons for their argument had nothing to do with ranks or packs or even over a boy.. She shook her head, trying to clear the scent from her mind but because the girl was really there the motion did nothing to help.

The girl who's coat was like the fire in the treetops of an autumn morn' stepped out into the field from the cover of the woods, the figure before her was only a haunting of the girl she once knew. The two shared one thing in common besides their blood, emerald eyes that could have been twins were there before her as she settled down on her haunches. Firefly didn't hate her sibling, infact she'd always been at ends on why Ember had acted so off towards her since she'd returned from afar, but over time being baffled hadn't been enough and Ember had just become a burr in her side, and she obviously the same to her sibling. Now, she wasn't sure what to think of the girl that looked like the world had used her as a doormat.

Firefly's voice called out firmly to the dark pelted Phoenix child, "Once we were told a story of a girl named Ember.. are you trying to become her in everyway?" She wasn't trying to be cruel, but it seemed that her sibling was cursed to follow the same path that belonged to her namesake. She just shook her head silently and sighed. She wasn't normally the one who showed a warm caring heart but she had a feeling the pathedic form before her was going to demand just that to get back that fiery spirit she once possessed.
#4
[html]




"I don't remember that story any more" So far, things looked like they were going okay. No attacking, no really harsh words. Maybe this was something that she needed to do, to go back to everything that had gone wrong in her life and try and repair it. She didn't have to actually succeed...knowing that she had just tried would make her feel better. That was what she was hoping, anyway. Maybe she had come here because she had known unconciously that Firefly would be hanging around.

Some days she had felt really stupid for having relied on Phoenix so much when she was younger. When he had left a part of her had left with him--the kinder, innocent part. Some of it had appeared to come back...but now it looked like it was gone for good. Ember still had his name, and she would keep it, but that was all that it was any more. Just a name.

She came closer, a little bit farther into Dahlia de Mai's territory, and sat down. If Firefly would talk to her, then she would definitely listen. "Tell me it again?"



[/html]
#5
Firefly watched her sibling with mild interest, she knew the girl was of no worries to the pack, that there was little she could or even would do to attempt to even try. At the words that she spoke Firefly's ears flicked back in disbelieve. The dark hued littermate had always been the one who'd been so absorbed with the stories their father told while Iskata had looked on with mild amusement. Iskata's stories had always been more along the lines of fairytales, except the lands in the stories were real and so were the folk. Some had happy endings, some did not. Moreso their father's were happy, except the one about how Ember got her name. "You lie.." she said softly to the girl before her as she shifted from paw to paw, the snow settling on her silky pelt as she went on anyways.

"Ember was not only beautiful on the outside but she harbored such a fire on the inside that even when there seemed to be nothing but ash there was still the glowing warmth below that would blossom into something amazing if given the chance.." She turned her emerald eyes back towards her sister as she spoke softly. "Over time the woman seemed to fall away, to hide from the world.. and with time it seemed the world forgot about her.. until it was too late." She narrowed her eyes at the sibling before her. "You really want to fade away and let that fire die? Just because someone hurt you doesn't mean your life's over." She shook her head slowly, not really knowing what to do with the girl anymore. She'd once been just like Firefly, filled with a fierce spirit that the would couldn't tame... she wasn't so certain if the flame still flickered beneith the ashes though.
#6
[html]




"Nothing about me is beautiful. You're the beautiful one" People had always told her how pretty Firefly was. And she agreed-Firefly definitely had the looks. It had just been one more thing to add onto their little feud back then, the fact that her sister always got what she wanted by using her looks. Ember had finally managed to settle down, after all that time, and now she was alone again. She wished that she had something like that, like Firefly had--something that would give her a little more attention from the guys.

She listened to the familiar story with interest. For those few moments, she hadn't been able to remember the words to the tale, but now that Firefly was speaking them she could almost hear him again, Phoenix, saying them to her. She was so confused about Phoenix...about whether he was alive, dead, missing...and about his character. He had been her world...but then there had been other wolves who had absolutely hated him. What had he done? "No one hurt me. I'm fine. Can I come inside?"

She stood up again. She did want to come in, to rest, if possible. She felt so tired. "It's good for sisters to be together...right?"



[/html]
#7
Firefly grinned at her sister as she spoke up, always the one to obsess over the appearances and simple things. Shaking her head slightly, not realizing just how much she probably looked and sounded like their mother for the moment she spoke firmly. "If the boys just want something to look at they're not worth it in the end." She'd already had her fill of boys that drooled over her looks and tried to flatter her with words. She had a short fuse to begin with and after a while all those words just ran together and sounded the same to her. Firefly shook her head again as she went on. "You know there's more than outer beauty, and if you weren't being so pigheaded you'd know you're beautiful anyways. Don't compare the sheen of a raven's feather to the hues of an autumn day, both are beautiful in their own rights."

Firefly had never favored her father in anything but those emerald orbs, and she'd left after her brother with no care to what troubles it might bring, the words she'd learned after she'd left had hurt her, that her own father would believe that DaVinci would kidnap her.. but she'd known he'd never trusted the silvery hybrid. When Ember went on with her retort on how she was fine Firefly laughed softly. She narrowed her eyes at Ember as she grinned and moved out of Ember's way. "You've always been a horrible liar Ember, don't make a habit of it.." she said with a sigh.

Shaking the snowflakes from her pelt she paused a moment and stared into those identical emerald eyes as she said softly. "Yeah. Who else is going to protect you from brothers.." She teased. Tilting her head to the side, towards the gardener's home in the vineyards she'd claimed as her den she stated simply. "Come on.."
#8
[html]




She was interested in finding out what Firefly had been doing all this time. Her sister was still living here, that much hadn't changed, but how were things going with Dahlia de Mai in general? It felt like ages since Ember had actually lived here, and she felt like she had missed out on a lot. She didn't have any interest in moving back in, but she was satisfied to roam the territory with Firefly and see what all had changed.

"That's what I thought, too...but some boys just don't care at all. Even for girls without outstanding coats. My mate left a few weeks ago, and I haven't seen him since. He hasn't been through here, has he? Khaden Aatte?" He'd been someone that she had really thought she would settle down with. "And how have you been? I mean...if I found someone, you had to have found someone too."



[/html]
#9
They moved slowly towards the vineyards as the snow whirled around them, the biting cold trying to work itsway into their pelts as both girls seemed to have a million thoughts rolling in their heads. Firefly hadn't seen her sibling since the day she'd run for what she believed was her life, and at the time she could have cared less where the girl had gone, but now she was rather curious. She was silent of course instead of asking, just letting the cold flakes take over the world around them as the soft patter of their paws and the breath in the air spoke wonders.

When Ember finally took the notion to speak again Firefly's eyes turned to gaze into the twin orbs of her sibling as she spoke. She didn't have much to say on the notion of male fancy but she smiled weakly and shook her head at the question asked. "No, I haven't seen him since a few weeks after you'd left here.. and that was the only time I'd ever seen him." Firefly's eyes moved off the woman as she stared across the vineyards, a sigh fluttered from her breast as she tried to answer the second half. "I'm not sure if you could say I've found someone... I don't know what we are, it's something all right." she said bitterly. Haku and her relationship was all touch and go, but it was true.. it was passion and yet destruction rolled into one. It was something.
#10
[html]




"That's good, at least. Even if you don't know exactly what it is--it's better than having no one, right?" In some cases, maybe. Ember didn't really have a lot to base her judgements on, experience-wise...so maybe she was wrong. She didn't know. Ember was just talking, trying to fill up the space that had, for so long, been empty.

"I've been staying in Esper Hollow. But I heard that they're closing down the pack...I guess everyone's leaving. So I'll roam around again for a bit. Hunting might be rough, but other than that I kind of like living alone." It made sense for her to be alone. Life kept making it that way for her--taking everyone away. The packs, Phoenix, Khaden. So maybe she was just meant to be by herself. "You live here? In this...."She wasn't sure what the word was.



[/html]
#11
Firefly just quirked a brow at her sibling for a moment and was silent. She really didn't think that Ember wanted the finer details of her personal life and she wasn't exactly offering them right now. She just gave a small simple smile as she nodded, more to herself than her sibling as they finally stood before the small cottage that one time the gardener of the vineyards had lived in, now Firefly's parttime home.

While Ember spoke of where she'd been Firefly raised her eyes off the building for a moment and back to her sister. She asked quietly, "Why don't you just come back? Winter's coming.." She knew that Cercelee would be thrilled to see the ebony girl again, and though Firefly herself wasn't sure how she'd feel with the truth of it all she'd rather not see any of her family roughing it in the coming season. Her eyes flicked back to the house as she went on. "Or you could stay with mother, atleast for the winter.." They both knew full and well that Iskata would have taken in any of her children without so much as a second thought and perhaps Ember would be safe there.. Firefly couldn't be sure that even existed in Dahlia de Mai.

He might might have been a million miles away but she still found it easy to laugh at the simplicity of her sister as she tried to find the right placement for the place Firefly had chosen. "Yeah.. you'd have expected something a little more savage?" Truthfully Firefly didn't visit the cottage too often in the summer or fall months but with the nip of winter she knew the warmth of the fire and a nice place to curl up would be worth the expense of being almost human.
#12
[html]




"I didn't even know that this was here, that's all. It's really pretty." She thought about what Firefly was saying. She did have a few options...she didn't have to commit to a pack, just stay and visit for a little while. But...no, that was stupid. She wasn't planning on being around this spring anyway. If Hybrid came through, then she wouldn't have to worry about a place to stay at all.

"Could I stay here...for a little while? Just a few days? I could hunt--or fish for you. I just think that I could be useful...and it'd be good for me to be useful, you know?" Just for a teensy, little while. She was surprised that they were even able to talk, to be around each other...but now that she wasn't thinking those hostile thoughts any more it seemed so much easier. "We could stock up for the winter."



[/html]
#13
Firefly smiled as Ember admitted she hadn't even known the place had existed, that in itself had been part of the reason Firefly had been attracted to the small cottage, hidden amongst the vineyards and gardens it was a secret in the middle of their whole world. "When you have a lot of time on your hands and things on your mind.. you tend to find the hidden secrets." She said softly, the words were a little bitter, but they were the truth. The way the pack had deminished so much had caused enough problems, but the female herself was tired of feeling lonely.. even Haku had become scarce once more.. which really didn't surprise her.. and it seemed she was growing numb to his waves of attention though she wouldn't admit it just yet.

She flicked her eyes back to Ember as she asked if she could stay there with her. Firefly would have allowed her but after a moment she shook her head. "We'd have to ask Cercelee or Haku.. things have.. changed." With the disappearances of the disbanding packs, the uneasy peace between Inferni and Dahlia de Mai and their own dwindling numbers the pack had started to board up for the winter and unlike before not just anyone was welcome anymore. Firefly was sure that the icy ivory woman would allow her sibling back into the pack but she wouldn't make promises she couldn't live up to.
#14
[html]




She hadn't seen either of her cousins in a really long time. The last time she had talked to Cercelee had been directly after she'd tried to commit suicide. Khaden had come in and helped her, had taken her to Crimson Dreams to heal. But where was he now? She didn't even know if he was dead or alive. "I don't want to stay here permanently. I don't know if I want to stay anywhere permanently any more. I just wanted to visit with you, is all."



[/html]
#15
Firefly nodded to the words her sibling spoke. She could understand, the two of them together for too long tended to result in one or the other being rubbed the wrong way. She raised her eyes to the sky above before moving to the porch and opening the cottage door for her sister. "I talk to one of them in the morning.." She tilted her head towards the warm room within. "com'mon.." She said with an impatient sigh. She knew her sister was just being stubborn but in her own way she could understand.
#16
[html]




She hadn't really been inside for a while, and had forgotten what it was like. It was actually kind of nice to be shielded from the wind and the elements. But she wouldn't live inside a house if she could help it; other than clothing, human things kind of freaked her out a little bit. The structures, anyway. She had been reading about the humans again, re-learning how to read, and had seen some of the strange things that they did inside their homes. She'd seen pictures of them with dead wolves, too--so she knew that they were a predator of the wolves'. But so far the humans hadn't come back to claim these houses and mansions and castles...so maybe it was okay to live inside them.

"It's pretty big" She said. She was used to the small, cramped dens that she'd often dug out for herself. In the winter time it was almost impossible to get a decently-sized hole in the ground, what with the earth being frozen and all.



[/html]
#17
Firefly watched the sibling before her as she smiled softly. She could tell her sister was uncomfortable in the place Firefly called home when she wasn't called to the chambers of the Lilium. Her fingers traced the mantle above the fireplace where the coals still burned softly. Tossing two logs upon the ashes she watched as sparkles flew into the air before settling down again, the coals suddenly bursting into flames as they worked along the length of the wood. The heat suddenly seemed to double as she wondered just why some shied so from the world of the nearly extinct humans.

Brushing away bits of bark from her palms she shrugged as she stretched across one of the loveseats, like a leopard she lounged there, her prowling eyes amused by the discomfort of her blood. "It works well enough.." she said as she pulled one of the many throws off the back of the couch and picked at the soft fabric, her eyes studying the girl before her, wondering but not asking the question her eyes spoke so loudly, why did you return.. It was like the angry child she'd once been greeted with had disappeared and now some shell was standing before her. She wasn't certain she'd liked the child she'd known, but anything was probably better than this ghost of a thing.
#18
[html]
I didn't really mention Ember feeling uncomfortable here >>; At least not outwardly.



Truthfully, she didn't know how to act around Firefly. She didn't want to be too hasty and ask for more personal details; her sibling might not want to answer her questions. What was something that they could talk about? Ember didn't really want to talk about herself, and she'd already asked a lot...she wasn't sure. The silence was driving her nuts, though, so she knew she would speak sooner or later, maybe without even meaning to.

But Firefly broke the quiet first. "Yeah." She agreed. Ember would have to go back to Tayui to tell her where she was staying at, but then she would probably return for a few more days like she had said. She stood before the fire for a while, letting it warm her dark fur, turning around so that the heat would reach her back as well. "I've got to head out tonight, though. I might come back while it's still dark or I might be by in the morning. Where do you think you'd be?"


[/html]
#19
-my brain doesn't work sometimes when I write replies.. blame it on writing so many at once.-

Firefly sat there snug in her wrappings as she waited for Ember to settle in somehow. She knew that new places were strange and awkward the first time one stepped foot inside but she figured with time that the girl would adapt. Firefly had lived in the old castle across the sea when the clan had adopted her into their home, it had been a strange new adventure and in time it had begun to feel like home, the cold damp stone walls, cool in the summer and warm in the winter with the large blazing hearths. Her home here was nothing compared to the castle but it was enough.

She watched quietly as the girl began to warm herself before the fireplace a soft smile upon her lips as she herself was beginning to feel the fire's effects. Though while the fire merely warmed the woman before the mantle the lady lounging on the couch was close to sleep this moment.

Ember's voice peeked her ears as she opened one eye and watched the girl as she explained her intentions and asked of Firefly's plans herself. A jaw cracking yawn showed her brilliant fangs and pink tongue as she shook her head. "I should be here, unless Haku needs me." She didn't make the comment sound anymore than the leader might need her to patrol again rather than the truth of what Haku normally called on the bronze hued woman for.


Forum Jump: