[html]  | |  | Phoenix Valley. It had been the name that her father spoke, the place that held the last bit of her family that she might ever be able to know. It hadn't taken her long to find the place after having asked around a bit and wandering even a bit more than asking. What Rachias hadn't expected was the slight hesitant feeling that filled her as she walked closer and closer to the borders. Why did she have to be nervous? Perhaps it was something from the past, the feelings that she had felt when she was younger, knowing that her father hadn't wanted her there in the first place. All of that had changed though, hadn't it? Sometimes she wasn't even convinced that it had.
As she approached, taking what seemed like baby steps, she assured that she was presentable. Both hands started up at her hair, brushing it through layers of chocolate and cream, straightening it out until she finally felt comfortable with the way it laid. From there, she ran her hands down her body, flattening out her fur. By the time she was finished she had managed to make it to the very edges of the borders, where she stood in silence for a few moments. There were no scents that lingered that seemed familiar to her, nothing that triggered anything in the back of her mind. Was there other family here that she didn't know about? Were they all friendly? Who would find her there?
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--sorry if this sucks.. my mind is so out of it right now..--
The hybrid child had never been gifted with the surname Sadira, nor would he ever know or lay claim to the surname of his father. He'd been patroling the borders, Zana snuggled up tight in the carrier that had been made for her litter so long ago. It was hard for the male to believe that two seasons ago he had just been a child off on adventures and laying claim to the world.. now he was a father twice over and playing mother to a half sibling that he wasn't even for certain who the father was yet it was obvious that he was no wolf. DaVinci had never asked his mother just who the father had been but he doubted that she would reveal that to him, she had never mentioned it before so it was probably nothing that she figured anyone needed to know.
His mind had been wandering towards Ryan lately, his children having moved on to find chores and responsiblities in the pack while he took care of Zana and assisted with the everyday workings of their world. Traveling along the edge of their lands he caught the scent of another, his head snapping up as he caught sight of the woman a distance away. His fingers that had been brushing the top of Zana's forehead quickly moved to draw the flap over the top of the keeper as he cautiously moved to meet the strange.
He had never seen the woman before but that wasn't a surprise to him, he hardly knew many in the lands since his return and quite a few that he had known had disappeared off to live or die maybe he'd never know which but it wouldn't matter either. "Hello, can I help you?" He asked, figuring that she was here to find someone or find a home.. he couldn't think of any other reason that someone would come to these lands unless it was something he should actually be worrying about. He could think of others in the pack who might worry at finging the lady at the edge of their lands, she was like him, like Ryan.. another hybrid lost in the sea of wolves. He'd come to realize that they weren't as uncommon as he once thought they were.. but he still doubted the world would come to accept them so quickly. He wasn't certain if his own pack had accepted him or just the choice of their leader.
[html] | | | A sick feeling had long since settled inside of her stomach, throwing it for loops as she stood in waiting. She hadn't even thought of a single thing to say if she finally did manage to meet this relative of hers. "Hello, my dad says we're related." It just really didn't seem right at all, but there was very little else she could come up with to explain the whole situation. None of it even made sense to her really, not even how they were related exactly, just that they were somehow. She kept those thoughts in the front of her mind even as the sound of steps could be heard near and, though she was somewhat distracted, she would never allowed herself to be ambushed. Not again.
It didn't seem as if things would go that way though, for soon enough to approaching creature was in her line of sight, carrying a carefully wrapped bundle along with him. He seemed vaguely familiar, a sight that tugged in the back of her mind, but it wasn't until he spoke up that it all came back to her. "You.." She said quietly, but there was no tone of accusation there, rather a hint of surprise. "You were with my father that day.." She couldn't quite recall his name or even what all had happened after her father's rampage, but she didn't recall any sort of ill feeling toward him.
"I came here looking for someone called Iskata, he said I could find her in Phoenix Valley." She knew it wasn't much of an explanation though. "I don't have very much family left now, and my father says that I am related to her." Aside from that, she could offer very little information.
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DaVinci hadn't even stopped to realize that the woman before him was the same that had almost bashed him up for upsetting Laruku so. His life had changed so much in the past months that the past seemed even more distant than ever. When he actually took a good look at the girl as she spoke up he realized a little late who she was, or atleast that he'd met her before. He wrapped his arms around the bundle where Zana lay sleeping as he admitted quietly. "Yeah.. I just.. I'd never seen him look so helpless before." DaVinci had seen the male display quite a few different emotions.. or atleast quite a few differnt reactions from him or varities of who may have been the parasite in the host.. but he'd never seen the male so broken down.. and somehow he had thought it had been his fault.. but life had moved on even past that moment in time too.
She didn't seem to concerned about the past though and he figured if she could put it past her he wasn't going to bring it all to the surface again to be examined. It was over, said and done. Instead though she asked about another touchy subject and before he could stop himself his ears pressed flat against his skull as he shook his head. "I can take you to her.. but I don't know if that's best." DaVinci knew he should ask Jefferson or Deuce before admitting anyone into the lands, but he had never been one to follow the rules when they didn't make sense. The distant relative before him wanted to see Iskata, he could grant her that much, but he wasn't sure if it was going to do the girl a kindness or cruelity with the state the elder was in.
DaVinci gestured with his arm for her to join him as he shuffled Zana in his arms, the abrupt move waking the welp as a yap of protesting grumbles filled the space. Arranging the pack to where the small pup could peer out he found himself apologizing again."Sorry.. meet Zana, she's a handful.." Introducing the small one he left out a few important facts. He hadn't come outright and announced that he was another of those long lost relatives she seemed to be searching for but he was playing host for the time, not here to gab about all the gossip and social life, they could do that later if she so pleased. Now, he had work to do, his life getting a little too serious without Ryan to balance out the day to day.
Walking down the red dirt road that seemed to run through the lands he spoke softly, filling her in on what he'd spoken so gravely about earlier. "Mother.. was in an accident.." Frank and to the point. Did he forget to mention to her earlier that he was Iskata's son, well, now she knew atleast. "I've been taking care of Zana since she can't.. because she couldn't or she wouldn't, he was afraid to find out. The once Matriarch of the lands just seemed to spend her days moping about the lands and gazing into fires she couldn't see. "She's healing but it's not pretty.." His mother looked like a damn monster out of some human story, stitched up from head to toe, crippled, blind and zombie like in actions and mental capablities too sometimes. He knew she was somewhere inside there but everything she said or did seemed like an echo of who she once was.
[html] | | | "Me either." She answered him quietly, bright blue eyes falling to stare down at the ground once. It wasn't the truth though, was it? Her father had seemed helpless ever since the other side of him had gone away but she wouldn't have it any other way. He'd never been as helpless as he had been when he was ill though, when it seemed like even those that were supposed to be close to her wanted nothing more than to terrorize a sick old man. Maybe once, a very long time ago, when he had to tell his young daughter that he had never wanted children, that he didn't know how to be a father but wanted to try, was the only other time he had been that helpless.
His next words brought her attention back around, brought confusion to her eyes, and she frowned for a brief moment. The very last thing that she had wanted was to come at a bad time. Of course, she had already started off with a lie. Iskata wasn't the last bit of family that she had to cling to, the lands were crawling with blood relatives. Inferni held the key to her family, but was a family that you would rather disown really family at all? She was about to speak but was instead motioned toward the older male, whose name she was still slightly unsure of. "Zana.." She said quietly, testing the name and smiling at the small child that seemed to peer right out at her. The last time she had seen children so small was when Talitha and Ezekiel had been younger.
"Mother.. was in an accident.." She felt her heart drop then, a sudden look of confusion taking her. He'd been there that day with her father and she had scolded him and treated him much like a child, only to find that he was a relative. "I'm sorry." She said quietly, not even sure if he would understand that she was referring to both his mother and the way that she had acted that day. "If you think I should come back another time, if that might be better, I can do that." Yet she continued to follow him, if he really thought it wouldn't be best for her to see the woman now he wouldn't be taking her there, right? "I don't want to cause a problem, I just wanted to meet her."
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He was quiet a moment as she admitted the same feelings he'd had towards Laruku's state. He felt ashamed that the last time he'd seen the male he'd lashed out with heart and soul and all he'd been granted with in return was burns from the coldness that the blind hybrid seemed to hold onto. He knew he'd scared his own children with the sudden change from his normal mood and temper to the sudden outburst of anger and rage.. at a ghost from his past. Maybe it hasn't even really been Laruku that he'd been so angry at but just himself... he wouldn't admit it if it was true but knowing was enough.
He'd cleared his throat slightly to move past the awkward moment of silence that had filled the void between them. So strange that here before him was another relative, one closer to him any anyother in certain ways and yet the farthest in truth of blood. While Zana seemed to be better at breaking the moment DaVinci smiled down at his tiny half sibling as her dusky rose orbs seemed to take in the whole world before the oversided ears, bright eyes and cold nose returned to the warmth of her carrier. He shook his head at the carefree pup who knew nothing of the sorrows that surrounded her in the real world as he began to walk beside the other.
"I.. never caught your name.." he said. "I'm DaVinci.." His words were hesitated as he tried to get a feel for them. He wasn't certain how it felt to find out that there were indeed more relatives to be had across the lands. Though he'd met most or all in passing he'd never moved close enough to anyof them except Firefly and Magdalena.. the later had disappeared into the mists again while Firefly was unreachable in her darkness and anger. The closest relative was one he hadn't even known he was related to when they'd slowly begun to warm up to eachother.. in their strange bantering ways. Now here was another at the doorstep and he was surprised to find he wasn't sure now he felt to be in the middle of the large clan anymore.
They'd almost drawn to the cabin, the whitewashed fence traveling along beside them as she spoke up, not wanting to be a bother or a burden on them. He shook his head as he sighed softly. "No, maybe meeting a new soul will do her some good.. she'd changed a lot since.." He didn't go on, instead the sentence was broken by a firm sigh as though he were trying to hold back his temper once more. Finally he finished the words though. "Since.. she came to realize she's never going to be who she was before."
Stepping up upon the steps of the cottage, the warmth of the house already felt at his fingertips as he turned his stormy orbs back to the other as though asking if she was ready.
[html] | | | Having come to realize that they were related only moments before, Rachias soon began to wonder about Iskata. It had always been obvious to her that her father was not pure blooded wolf, she was a mishmash of things because both sides of her family were so mixed up in blood, but what about Iskata? It was obvious to her that her current traveling companion was at least some part coyote and that blood had to have started somewhere. She pondered this quietly for a few moments, considering the very few things that she knew, until finally deciding on an answer. Iskata couldn't be coyote, or at least not completely, because she'd ever only heard of Phoenix Valley being referred to as a Wolf Pack.
"Rachias." She answered him quietly, ears perked up at the sound of his voice and her own, almost relieved that he had found words to break the silence. "Rachias Tears." She said again, repeating her name more fully, though lacking completion. There was no real reason to say it, at least not to him, but the young woman was just testing it herself. It had taken her some time to realize what her full name stood for. Her father had never referred to himself as Tears de Ame. It wasn't a part of her mother's family, which only left the side of her father that she hadn't seen in so long. There was no need to confuse anyone else, it wasn't exactly and explanation that she felt comfortable giving.
Rachias nodded her head in understanding at his words and she had indeed prepared herself for the worst. Even if Iskata was missing half her flesh and chewed to bits, the young woman was ready, because looking a certain way didn't make her any less family than she was. "That's not always a bad thing." She commented quietly, a tone of seriousness in her voice. Certainly she didn't begin to pretend to know anything about Iskata and the way that she was before, she didn't understand the situation and couldn't pass judgment, but her words were meant to give the pained young man a bit of hope, perhaps. She had been on a bad road and knew what it was like to change.
Once they reached the cottage she stepped on to the stairs behind him, glancing once at the door and then back to DaVinci, giving a brief nod of her head. She was ready to meet the family that she had never known.
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DaVinci hadn't really thought about that fact that his mother was so different than he, than Rachias, Laruku, Jefferson, his children. Over time it seemed that the image of his mother had faded and been replaced with the quality of who she was. Once his world had been so wrapped up in caring about what people saw when they saw him that he didn't stop to remember that the real ones looked deeper than what was on the skin. Though the male was still touchy on his mixed heritage he was beginning to open up a little more each day. It seemed that his world had come to a standstill though with a twist he had never expected in the form of his family.
When she'd offered him her name he smiled, finally having a name to fit the face that had nearly came to take him out over a moon ago, and yet now they were family of sorts. Perhaps it was a good thing that the lady had intimidated him some when she'd berated him so forcefully that day. He'd probably deserved every word she'd thrown at him and then some but he wouldn't be the one to admit it. His stormy orbs turned to her as he tested the name. "Rachias Tears.." he said softly. "DaVinci. DaVinci Nasphrite.." he came to realize then that he'd never actually heard Laruku's surname before. The man had once told him that the name DaVinci carried was his mother's surname, DaVinci's grandfather's. He'd always thought that Laruku's name had been the same as his, he'd never asked Iskata, never asked Laruku anything about the past, about the name and relation.. perhaps he had. He shook his head as he admitted. "You should be the one carrying on the name, not me.." There was no bitterness in his voice as he made the observation but it was made just the same.
The turn back towards the seriousness of what lay behind the door suddenly didn't seem as big as it had been for the pack. Rachias' words brought that to light as he turned to gaze at her, his words bitter as he warned her lightly. "Don't let the rest of the pack catch you saying that.." DaVinci's mind was still fresh on the pack meeting that had brought so much raw emotion from the members of his family and friends. DaVinci hadn't cried but had he tried to speak, to plead with the woman who was his mother and their Matriarch he probably wouldn't have been about to stop the tears. He rubbed his arm briskly as he tried to remember the reality of what he was stepping into again. So many times he tried to forget it.. but everytime the truth came back so forcefully.
The silvery blue hybrid didn't even bother to knock before opening the door and inviting the other hybrid woman into the warm and cozy cottage. He had forgotten that Skylar had self appointed herself as the guardian over her grandmother and when the near mirror image of himself leapt to her feet and stared at the woman who was with him DaVinci nodded to her, watching his daughter begin to relax as she climbed back up onto the recliner she'd been resting in. "Rachias, this is Skylar, my daughter.. and Iskata, Phoenix Valley's Matriarch." He didn't even think as the words slipped out that she nolonger recognized herself as their leader.
DaVinci cleared his throat, "Mother, someone's here to see you.." he said softly, stepping to the side as he allowed Rachias to see the woman who lay resting across the bricks before the fireplace, her silver and gold fur alight with the hues of the flames that danced before her sightless eyes.
The Wilhom of Phoenix Valley had felt the bitter cold blast of the wintery air as the front door was openned then closed to her home. The sudden clammer from Skylar told her that there was someone there who didn't belong and yet the woman never turned away from the flames to try and identify just who had intruded into the cottage. It didn't take long for her to find out though as she caught the sound of DaVinci introducing the woman to Skylar and presenting herself as well.
She lowered her head to her paws again as she sharply. "I'm not their Matriarch, it's just Iskata." Her ears twitched to the side as she caught the movement of the small group, the name he'd spoken only a teasing draw now as she realized that she would never see this daughter that her cousin had sired. Just like she'd never witness her newly born daughter climb the mountains that were waiting for her. IT was a wicked way to go, with bitterness and pain etched across your heart and soul but there was nothing else for the woman. She would take what she could get.. but the misery was more than apparent in every move she made.
Iskata turned her head slightly, the full effect of the damage done to her face coming into the full light as she smiled weakly. "Rachias.." she said softly, the pain lingering in her voice as those sightless eyes seemed to study what she couldn't see. She wished she could, to try and find some connection between Laruku and the stranger that had just been thrust into their mists.
[html] | | | As mature as she might have tried to seem, Rachias still had a bit of child left inside her, and as they moved up the steps and toward the door of the cottage, that childishness seemed to kick in. The words spoken seemed to be nothing more than a monotone blur of sounds and each movement made seemed like slow motion. She only regarded his words with a careful flick of her ear, eyes wide and heart suddenly thumping as the door was pushed open. The young woman didn't understand why she seemed so nervous suddenly, though the way things were made to sound, she just might be walking in to something horrible.
Upon entering she was greeted with a faint flash of color and before she could even focus her eyes on what it might be, the girl was there in front of her. Confusion gripped her for a moment but DaVinci's words cleared that up quickly and she smile and nodded at the girl, who seemed to calm and retreat from the entrance. Once the girl was back on the recliner Rachias stepped forward just a bit, moving inside just enough so that the door could be closed to keep the cold out.
It was from there that her eyes scanned the room, resting on the form of the woman who lay in front of the flickering flames. She wasn't sure what to say or do, even though she had thought about it for so long on her way to the lands. It was all just gone suddenly. The woman corrected her son, a sad sort of voice, and Rachias still said nothing. It was when her name was spoken and the woman turned toward her that all the nervousness fell quickly away. Rachias smiled a soft smile, just as she had done with her father, even though she knew he couldn't see it, and she stepped forward a bit more. "Hello.." The words came softly, and she cleared her throat a moment. "My father said I could find you here." And that was really all she had to offer.
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-DaVinci gonna fade into the background for a bit now..-
There was not much the woman had come to accept about her new condition but she'd decided that she wasn't going to fight the ingrained nature of turning towards another or even just staring at them, even when she knew there was nothing she'd ever see. The silver and gold woman waited, not knowing if the girl would shy away from what she'd become or if she'd take in the sight before her calmly. Something inside of her tried to taunt her and convince her that every soul shied away, the thought inforced with the fact that she couldn't really see their reactions to what she'd become. Her ears strained to catch the sound of the other and soon enough she was granted with the soft sound of steps and the voice of the girl who was family. Once she might have been obsessed with knowing everything about this distant relative but now she was just a voice in the darkness it seemed.
She flicked her tattered ears back a second as Rachias mentioned Laruku. Iskata almost didn't believe that the tattered and scarred up male had spoke of his distand cousin. A sad smile appeared on her maw as she asked. "Did he really? I'd have never figured..." The silver and gold lady had always had a passion with keeping her family close and connected.. and yet she had tried time and time again to get Laruku to accept their disjointed family and yet she'd failed over and over again. Somehow it seemed wrong that his daughter was sitting here in her cottage.
"What do you look like.." She asked. Iskata felt strange in even moving on to the question and yet it was all she could do. Either speak with the child and have nothing but a voice floating in her head or ask and try and imagine a face with the soft melody that met her ears. The once Matriarch of the pack smile slightly again as she felt the warmth of the fire upon her pelt, knowing that the cottage was probably crowded now with the collection of family. She tilted her head towards the two others and said softly. "There's no enemies in here. Skylar. DaVinci." The woman never had dismissed her packmates or family before but she didn't know how Rachias felt about crowds and she was so tired of being nursed.
[html] | | | In the few quiet moments between the two, Rachias continued to inch her way forward, until finally she came to the very edges of the fire place. There was only a brief moment of hesitation there before she finally lowered herself, perching herself on the edges of the bricks that the older woman rested on, placing her hands in her lap as she situated herself. "He did." She answered quietly, choosing to keep silence about the fact that her father never really did think of anyone as family. She may have never even known about Iskata if she hadn't asked him. "He said that I could find you and maybe some of your children here." Two of which she had already had the pleasure of meeting.
The woman's next question took Rachias by surprise, not because she was asked, but because she had never been asked to describe herself before. She'd only ever bothered to look at herself in a mirror once or twice, so she wasn't sure how to answer. "I don't look anything like my mother." Could she even really remember what her mother had looked like? Did Iskata even know who her mother was? "I'm darker than my father, rich brown, but I have creamy colored spots on the edges of my ears and the back of my neck." Was she doing well? She wanted to include every detail that she possibly could. "My hair is long and wavy, brown and creamy white also." She explained, still smiling her careful smile. "And bright blue eyes, lighter than DaVinci's." Blue like yours, she could have said, but had kept the words to herself. She could barely see the blue of the woman's eyes behind the white that had taken them.
"I don't really look more like one or the other. Coyote or wolf, I mean." She seemed the perfect mixture of both, like a medium sized wolf that happened to be a might bit more slender than a wolf should be. Feeling somewhat pleased with the description that she had given the older woman, Rachias grew quiet for a moment, finally speaking up when she thought it might be appropriate. "Do I have any other family?" It was a quiet question, one that she thought Iskata could answer better than her father could have.
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Iskata was more than surprised at the reassurance of the girl that Laruku had spoken of her. She flicked her ears back slightly before relaxing and settling down again as the woman spoke. She smiled slightly as she nodded at the girl's words. "I invited your father to join us once.." a wistful half smile stayed upon her lips as she shook her head regretfully. "I tried to check in on him from time to time.. but I wasn't very good at it.. and it wasn't like we were that close." She had wished differently at one point but it didn't seem to matter now.
Resting her head on her paws she stared distantly at the nothing in the flames as she moved on. "Quite a bit of the family lives here. DaVinci and Magdalena, though I haven't seen Mags for a while. DaVinci's children Tyrone and Skylar.. and my newest child Zana. Jefferson as well, though he's not one of my children, but my nephew." She smiled at the girl though she didn't know if she was even watching her anymore or if she even really cared that much. The silver and gold lady's own inner voice argued that she was being foolish in thinking that the girl didn't care, she'd come here to meet them hadn't she?
She was silent a moment as she waited for the answer to the strange question she had thrown to the girl. When she was greeted with the discription of the child who sat perched beside her she couldn't help but wish that she could actually see the young woman. She knew that describing oneself didn't do justice to seeing the real thing. Iskata had no clue who the child's mother was and she really didn't care. She might have known the woman or she may not have(DaVinci sure knew her quite well) but now all that was left was the child in the room. She tilted her head to the side as she said softly. "I wish I could see you.. I bet you made your father proud.." how strange to say father and mean Laruku but it didn't matter. She knew that the girl had to be beautiful but there was little else she could say along those lines, just let her mind try and picture the child she would never see.. another like Zana who would grow up without her ever seeing what they grew into.
Iskata glanced at her paws as she was slightly glad to hear that Rachias hadn't followed in the pawprints of Laruku, DaVinci and Zana, leaning more towards their coyote heritage. She doubted that Laruku had faced much pain for his halfblood heritage but she had spent too much time worrying about her own broad and the hatreds of the worlds. When the woman asked about other family Iskata's weak smile returned as she admitted the truth. "Where would you begin.. there's family in Dahlia de Mai and Crimson Dreams.. a few are loners as well I think. " she flicked her tail up and down as she thought about it. "Cercelee, Haku, Mew and Firefly live in Dahlia de Mai.. my son Kansas and adopted daughter Naniko and her children reside in Crimson Dreams. Ember, my other daughter roams the lands alone I believe.." she shook her head, wishing that she wouldn't do such things.. that she'd settle down.
Iskata asked suddenly. "You live alone? What about your brother?" Iskata only knew that Laruku had one son still alive and the other had been a justifiable murder. She only knew names, and that wasn't much. She really wished that she had learned of the children earlier.. or that she'd been more curious to seek them out before her accident but life didn't turn out thatway. Now she would just have to imagine everything and learn second hand, even at the hands of the children.. for without sight everything seemed secondhand.
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