and in your head there are no sunsets left
#1
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cakeSet on the 17th plz?

i'm just a boat on the ocean
cakeBane's birthday had passed without incident, and he barely gave it any thought. Such things were petty and inconsequential, most particularily when there were bigger things to focus on. The dark wolf knew barely anyone here anyhow, and yet he didn't feel alone. He felt calm, he felt awake. It was early evening and the trees loomed like skeletons over him, the sun setting in the distance. Bane loved winter: it was nostalgia to him, and that was something he rarely felt. His addiction kept these emotions chained and hidden away.

cakeEarlier in the day he had gathered the medical supplies he thought he might need from the city. He had also temporarily moved into a home in Halifax, one in the heart of the concrete mess where he could find whatever he wanted. In the spring he would build a home for himself somewhere, a place his eight-foot-tall frame would easily fit. In the meantime the human house would do. Bane's current wanderings were for nothing but curiosity, and thought his mind was on Inferni and his last days as the Court's doctor, he kept to his current path along the northeastern edge of Halifax. Nature was tearing the place apart. Revenge for years of abuse.

cakeThe old wolf senses captured the borders of the pack as he neared it. It smelled of DaVinci and he eyed the territory to the north as he walked parallel to the scent markings, lost somewhere in his head.


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#2
Iskata had been in a bitter mood the past few days, not because of her own choice in demoting herself from the ranks of the pack council but because of the truths that seemed to come with losing one's whole world. She'd paced back and forth in the cottage, barely touching down on her broken hindleg as she could hear Skylar's soft whines of concern for the actions of her grandmother. Instead of settle down to make the child feel better the Whilom had shuffled to the front door and pulled the door open, forcing the young DaVinci lookalike to have to follow her into the wintery air.

The silver and gold woman should have stayed within the confinements of her home, let the stitches heal together her wounds and gain strength but it was almost like she had a death wish, that she didn't want to get better. It was drawing near for Deuce to remove the stitches, her skin having healed as well as it was going to, the brilliant red welts across her pelt telling tales that seemed to raise questions everywhere she went. She knew there was nothing that could have been done for her leg and she didn't even try and care. She still had three that would get her where she could go, though slower and not so steady. The woman gritted her teeth together as she ambled down the red dirt trail towards the borders. She could hear Skylar's soft grumbles but she chose to ignore them. She didn't ask for the guardian and she sure wasn't going to be easy on the child for appointing herself to such a position.

The scarred face and unseeing eyes turned towards the long trek beside the salty ponds that lay at their borders. She could feel Skylar ease along the side where the water's edge fell as she moved into the general routine she'd once known so well. The scent of another pricked at her senses as she growled softly, still awkward about not knowing who or what was near when it was apparent by scent, but not sight. She paused as she raised her head and called out. "Hello..." the winds whistling softly, making her feel as though ghosts were lurking in the darkness that was now her life.
#3
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OoC
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IC

Silence didn't last long -- it never did when you wanted it. Bane felt no irritation when the strangers entered the instinct's range. It wasn't his right. These borders were clearly marked, and his ancestor's own instincts made this important to him. Where he had come from, they marked borders in different ways -- with the corpses of their prisoners of war. It served as a nice warning to the slave-halflings who wore the dead wolves' fur as armour, their skulls as helms. The dark wolf tilted his head as he focused his eyes on the territory called Phoenix Valley. It wasn't Mr Nasphrite who was ambling towards him.


When the silvery female appeared, another at her side, Bane found himself curious, as per usual. He had stopped moving and stood still, watching. She spoke, and he felt something was off. Something he couldn't put his finger on. The instinct was never very precise. "Hello," was his amiable response. "I apologise if I'm interrupting anything, ma'am, I'm just passing by."

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#4
Skylar took her tail off the base of her grandmother's back as the strange male spoke. She nodded her head to the male but let Iskata had word, she had been the matriarch and these were more her packlands than Skylar's. Her beige eyes seemed to sparkle and smile as she curled her tail around her paws and steal glances at both the figures before her, not knowing the male but rather curious as to why he was wondering the edge of their lands and yet just the same she was more concerned for her grandmother, not wanting to leave her with this male who's scent smelled like none of those she knew from the territories.

The silver and gold lady flicked her ears back a moment at the scent and sound of the voice when he spoke. His response seemed friendly enough but she couldn't see what was right before her and a voice wasn't enough to rely on. She knew that Skylar was resting close by and she hoped the other was watching the stranger but it really didn't matter in the end she guessed. She was already dead in most aspects, barely a shadow of what she once was. "No, we're just out for a walk.." she said as she shook her head. She almost had said they were enjoying the sights but that would have been bitter and sarcastic words on her half. Instead she tilted her head along the border of the lands and asked. "Care to join us stranger?" She would learn his name if he wished to give it, if not like everything that occurred in her life that was lived day by day, it would really matter that much.

She turned her sightless eyes towards Skylar as she introduced themselves. "This is my granddaughter Skylar Nasphrite, and I'm Iskata Sadira.. you've found Phoenix Valley, if you were wondering." she said with a slight smirk. Such a strong force the pack presented with a cripple and a half grown child roaming the borders.
#5
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OoC
Sorry for the wait, Christmas and work has kept me busy.

IC

There was something in the air here that made the black wolf keep his guard up; something that he knew well enough, something that he had lived with for so long before coming here. This was nothing new to him: not even in sleep did he truly relax, as the truths of the lessons he had learned in life were too real to allow vulnerability. It wasn't that he felt threatened, but as he stood there looking at the young lady and the woman who was likely blind, he thought about the numerous patients he had had over the years. Some had lived to die another day. Some hadn't.


"If you'd like the company, ma'am." As ever, Bane was cordial and curious, and so he stayed. He betrayed very little emotion, a typical act for him. Sometimes he wondered if he had anything to betray. The woman introduced herself and her granddaughter, and Bane nodded to the girl, and then the woman as well, pointless as it might be. "I've actually met a man from Phoenix Valley, named DaVinci Nasphrite... I assume there is some relation here," he added with a smile as he slowly ambled forward, towards the two. "I'm Bane Kiles, it's a pleasure to meet you both."

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#6
"Company, new and old is always welcome.." she admitted. The woman's life had changed quite a bit lately and she was trying to find some sort of happiness to cling to. Something to live for. She wouldn't admit that she enjoyed the gossip and the news of the outside world that she no longer belonged to. The stories and images that came from the visitors were what she lived for.. but even that wasn't enough to the woman who'd had so much just yesterday and in the blink of an eye it had all disappeared.

She smiled softly at the male as his voice graced her ears, one of the few things about her that still worked, granted they were tattered and torn just like the rest of the woman. She lowered her head slightly as he admitted that he'd met one of her children and yet before she could even open her maw to explain the relation he dropped a bomb on her heart. Bane, the long lost child of Phasma who they'd mourned over and had believed him dead. She'd never learned the fates of her friends two other child and she'd never been there who her friend needed her most but this blast from the past brought more than just stories.. he was ghosts and memories as well.

Her sightless eyes turned away a moment before out of habit returned to gaze at the child who was no kid anymore. You're Phasma's boy.." she said softly.
#7
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OoC

IC

Her words failed to surprise him. It only made sense: if DaVinci Nasphrite had known his sister Willow, then a woman who was likely related to him in some sense would know Bane's mother. It was odd, in fact, that he hadn't recognised her name immediately, but as she gazed at him with that scarred face, he distinctly recalled his father having spoken of Iskata Sadira once or twice, perhaps more. There had been points when the child had simply stopped listening; everything he had heard, though, he had absorbed. In some cases, this had been too much.


Bane nodded. Again, a pointless gesture, but difficult to stop. "I am," was his easy reply. There really was no regret or emotion in his voice at all. He spoke as easily as he ever had, his tone a gentle baritone, reflecting only mild curiosity for the relationship this woman had had with his mother. "You knew her?"

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#8
The silver and gold woman nodded her head slightly at the words that the male made, her sightless eyes lowered as she admitted it all. "You and Tsunami were swept out to sea.." He knew that of course, why was she repeating things he already knew. She swollowed the memories as she tried to continue on with their stroll, feeling the soft touch of Skylar next to her as she turned towards the voice of Bane. "Your mother was one of my best friends.." she said softly, one of the sure regrets she would ever admit to was the fact that she'd never been there when Phasma needed her. Iskata had always been off saving the day, making things right and generally keeping busy and watching over her family. So carried away with her blood family she'd forgotten the special bond between the few woman she'd known so closely.

She slowed as she said softly. "She died before the fires.." her face turned away as she stumbled over the next words. "I should have been with her.." Phasma had always been there for her and Iskata had tried to do right by the dark hued woman.. yet she'd never been good enough to her friends, she'd never given them the devotion and loyalty they needed when they needed it most. She'd carried the guilt along forever and yet she knew she'd never be free of the burden because unlike her, they were all gone now. No one to forgive her, not even ghosts on the winds.
#9
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OoC

IC

The dark wolf watched the emotion change in his mother's friend's face, and as he watched this, he remained still as a rock or a fallen tree trunk, or some inanimate object that seemed to transcend time. This he had expected, when he had been told to return to his place of birth, the place he drew his first breaths. In foreign places around the world, Bane was a stranger, an unfamiliar face; to people here, he was the ghost of a long-ago past, perhaps the last living link to a thing they most likely had no wish to dwell on. He felt no remorse over forcing people down their own private memory lane. This wasn't his purpose here, that wasn't his path. He listened because it would be rude to turn away.


His mother was dead, his father likely was as well. This was of no consequence to him.


"Regret," he began, and rather than raising his voice to be heard, instead he lowered it, letting it carry on the wind, "will have your soul one day, Miss Sadira." Bane had regrets. Bane had made mistakes. Some had been with people. Some had been personal. "There are things many of us should have done." These things were in the past now, and if there was one thing he knew, it was that they were better left there, chained, buried and forgotten. Left alone for time to ravage, while the living found a way to move on.

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#10
The gentle motion of their movements seemed to play along with the changes taking place in her mind, the fading memories of her past taking over the fading faces she knew so well. She shook her head sadly as she tried to push them from creating visions that she knew were not real, not that it mattered, there were no real visions for her anymore. Her ears flattened against her skull as that thought did happen to flush the rest from her mind, the harsh truths of reality were a powerful poison.

When the voice of Bane seemed to carry on the winds she released the muscles that pinned her ears back as she sighed. She knew that he was speaking the truth but when it seemed that everyone you ever knew was beginning to disappear from your world in more ways than one, you tended to climg to weak moments more than the strength of truths. She turned her face to the male as she smiled, "My soul's long since been claimed.." she shook her head at the thought. She didn't want to think of what might have claimed her soul but she doubted regret would be the one to win that battle.

Clearing her throat as she tried to find a new beginning for a whole new conversation she asked, "How did you survive the sea?" She couldn't even remember how she'd survived the harsh wonders of the woman but she had.. perhaps Bane's story was more interesting.
#11
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cakeThe lady's words didn't affect the man on an emotional level. They did, however, make him curious, more than he had been before. The scars, the sightless eyes, the melancholic view on life; where had she found these things? Words his father had spoken when Bane had not yet even begun to near adulthood began to filter back to him. This wasn't what he had expected. He hadn't expected Laruku (who had killed his brother) to be that bitter, brooding man, he hadn't thought Iskata Sadira would be this mangled, saddened creature before him. Time took its toll, he supposed. Time would destroy everything, one day.

cake"I was too young to remember personally," was his honest reply. "My father told me we were picked up by a passing ship en route to South America. They dropped us off there. I spent a large portion of my childhood following the North Star." It had been a lonely youth, but not a tragic one. A lack of social contact may have made the man what he was today. "I decided not to return, until now. I hear my father came back before me, briefly." At six months old, the child had decided there were better paths to follow, and so, without a word, he had left Tsunami behind. That night in the summer of 2007 marked the last time he had seen his father. He regretted none of it.

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#12
Iskata had been many things in her lifetime, the current state was just one she would have to move through to get along further down the line. Though she hadn't found the path she was to follow to get there she would eventually. Always with the pain and sorrow came the helping hand to lead her out of darkness and onto the next step. The guiding tail of her granddaughter disappeared for a moment as she began to realize that they were on their way along the old red road that lead further into the packlands, the scents of the farm and her own home were lingering on the breeze as she began to relax around the lost soul beside her who never seemed to be lost in the first place.

When his voice rang up she should have realized how stupid her question had been but he didn't make a big deal of it. He spoke of Tsunami and the places they'd been after the storm had taken them offshore. She listened silently as she steadily paced her way down the road. When he'd mentioned that her grey friend had returned to the lands at one point she shook her head sadly. "It would have been nice to have seen him again.." she said wistfully, yet she knew he'd already past from the lands, she would have found him by now or heard from him in someway if he was still here. "What was it like, your journey?" she asked suddenly. She'd given up her travels long ago but she still loved to hear of distant lands and strange far off places.
#13
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SWAYING TO THE RHYTHM
OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER


cakeBane had been lost, once upon a time. He had been an angry child, a wild young man with a darkness in his mind and his heart. He had fed his addiction and taunted the heavens, and reaped the consequences for it all, ending up in chains for his mistakes. Or for his actions, perhaps; even now, he liked to think he had done it all for a reason, a greater purpose. He was different now, he had found some redemption from that life, he had found his purpose. And he had gained self-control. These were the only ways in which he really had changed; that darkness was still there, that taint on his soul, but he kept it on a short leash now. He had learned to hide it. Appearances were everything, and appearances were deceiving.

cakeHer words made the man smile briefly. It was amusing, really, that this woman wouldn't have minded seeing his father again. She was the only one he had met, so far, who cared. "Long and arduous," Bane responded to the lady, glancing down at her and her granddaughter as he walked. It was getting later. Midnight in this part of the world didn't last as long as he was used to, during the winter. "We walked for months, only stopping to hunt and to sleep. He told me stories of Nova Scotia and of the people here. Getting back was the only thing he ever considered important." His own son certainly hadn't been much of an issue in the matter. Bane had always felt that Tsunami only wanted to bring him home to please Phasma. Typical of him, he had failed. "So one night, I left him." And both then and now, it had been exactly that simple. Pausing for a moment, he glanced towards the darkening sky. "Have you ever been away from here, Miss Sadira?"

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#14
Iskata had been many things, she'd been a princess, a packmate, a loner, a lover, mate, mother, wanderer and a leader. How she'd managed so much and still was alive was beyond her. Though her spirit had been broken and rehealed many times this last time it seemed all the pieces that had been broken before were harder to piece together than times before. She flicked her ears back as she thought of all the things she'd done in her life and the places she'd been, wondering just how Tsunami had taken to his life before disappearing again, he'd been one of the few that she'd always enjoyed just relaxing and speaking with. It was saddening to think that all she knew had disappeared into the darkness and she would never know if they'd return or were gone forever.

When the dark hued male spoke she couldn't help but chuckle at his words. She shook her head as he spoke of Tsunami's want to get back so much and of everyone and the world he'd come from. "And yet he disappeared so quickly again once he made it here.." she said softly, in wonder of why. Had there been no one here for him when he'd returned, had Laruku changed so much, was Phasma already gone.. she herself had been long absent in the time he'd returned and she wished for once that she hadn't gone after her children.. but she couldn't change that now. She just shook her head in disappointment at the words he'd spoken.

She almost stumbled in a hole hidden by the snow as Skylar stopped and leapt back to her side to examine the elder Sadira. Iskata just nosed her away and bared her teeth slightly to show that she was alive, just irritated with the fact that she knew she wouldn't have done that if she'd been whole. She frowned with determination as she picked herself up again and moved on, ignoring what she'd just done as she answered his question. "Yes, but never so far. I've wandered to the coastal cities before.. where everyone lives in the homes and they take the ships out to sea like the humans once did... I've never went much farther than that... though once I wished to.." Now there was no way she could. She'd never be able to see all the wonders that the world said were out there, she was just locked away in the dark country of her mind.
#15
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cakeThe man listened but didn't elaborate on her words. It sounded almost as if she were looking for an explanation, but Bane had never pretended to understand his father. What he had learned from the older man wasn't even something he had been directly taught, but the dark wolf knew with the certainty of Fate herself that you couldn't save anyone, not truly, not even yourself. Try and you'll end up lost and forgotten, like his father had. The world would continue to turn, and it was best to simply accept it. Everyone had their path.

cakeThe lady stumbled and Bane, two-legged and significantly taller, felt the gentleman's urge to reach down and help her. The girl tagging along did so instead, and he didn't miss Iskata's irritation. This he graciously let pass as he looked up at the sky. It was almost dark now, the sliver of light on the horizon dimming with each passing second. "Miss Sadira, if there's one thing I've learned during my travels," he stated in a quiet voice, "it's that no place in the world is truly a unique place. Everywhere is, at its core, essentially the same as everywhere else." With that, he smiled thinly, still looking at the sky. "You aren't missing much."

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#16
The woman's path had come to two dark roads and she was puttering on empty as to which road to take. She would balk at the crossway until someone gave her a push and yet while everyone was ready to help her along herway no one was willing to give her the final push she needed. The woman was a coward, she knew she had to take that first step and yet she'd wallow in her misery and despair, growing depressed and hateful instead of doing what was needed. She'd wait though, til she ran out of time or until someone came along strong enough to make her will burn strong once more.

Iskata had no way of telling time anymore once the sun had set, and even then all she knew was that there was warmth on her back, even then the sun wasn't always a guarantee to the woman. While the two companions still stayed with her it seemed that the words Bane was to give were more than just passing conversation. She stopped and flicked her ears towards his voice as she frowned slightly. "But there's always someplace you've never been.. some sight you've never seen.." she paused suddenly, realizing what she'd said before sighing. "You're right. I'm NOT missing much." There was nothing to miss now with no eyes to see it all. She'd just have to remain a dreamer with an imaginary world whirling around in her silver and gold head while the rest lived in the real time of here and now.

She turned her nose towards the male asking suddenly. "So what made you return?" If he'd abandoned his father along the trail but yet he'd still returned.. she wondered why.
#17
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cakeShit, sorry I took so long, I didn't see that you had replied. :x


cakeThe darkness didn't bother Bane. Hide the moon, and he would hide as well, black against black in the cold of winter. It shrouded the world and made everything feel safer, closer; he had never been afraid of the darkness. If anything, as a child, he had feared the light instead. In the light, the entire world was visible, including the parts the boy's fragile eggshell mind hadn't wanted to see. It had never broken him. He felt as if this was different for Iskata. As he walked with her, he found his thoughts lingering on Laruku. They were alike. Blind, and both seemed as if they had given up. The cinnamon hybrid had been much worse off, but they both had that aura, that ambience they brought with them. It made something tingle in the back of Bane's mind.

cakeHer words brought smile to his face, and it was almost a sad smile. The dark wolf lived in a bubble; he encased himself with apathy and looked at everything with as much logic as possible. His curiosity kept him searching, and it was really all that kept him alive. He didn't care much. "There's a lot to see, even without your eyes," he stated simply. The dying jackal had been blind. The dying jackal hadn't known that Bane had been a wolf when he had woken that night, feverish, and grabbed his arm, the words spilling forth like the blood from his throat. Blind, yet he had seen much. The lady's next question lingered in the air as Bane rolled the reasons around in his head. It was a moment before he spoke. "I was told to return to my birthplace," he replied, "by someone who believed I would find what I'm looking for here. There was nothing left for me, where I came from."

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#18
Iskata knew nothing of light or dark anymore, there was just the nothing that she was surrounded by. An echo of a world she once knew and now she wondered just what was out there in the nothing she resided within. She thought slightly on the idea of if she could ever find her way out of the strange place she was stuck but she didn't believe so, she was blind and wouldn't be able to see the world anymore, but perhaps she would be able to belong again atleast. Over time perhaps her pack would forget the pain and the sorrow of what happened to her and the events of her downward spiral.. but for now she would just have to wait.

She ducked her head slightly when the male spoke of things to be seen without the eyes. She wasn't for certain what he meant but she was a stubborn bitch with a one track mind and that mind wasn't open to new ways if thinking so soon after the accident. She tilted her head to the side and asked. "Do you say that from experience, or just trying to make me feel better?" She wouldn't admit that a spark of hope at the words he'd said had come into being but she knew the likelyhood of it was was short lived. She flicked her ears as she thought about it again and was quiet as he spoke of why he'd come.

The silver and gold wolf walked softly on the path she knew so well as she listened. He didn't seem to care for his father but yet he'd come all along. She lifted her nose to the winds, the scent of the beach, the hickory wood burning on the fire in the cottage, cattle in the barn.. all things she knew,the place she belonged, her home. She was quiet a moment longer before asking. "What are you looking for?" Everyone roamed and wandered for their own reasons, she had no real clue what his passion that drove him on had been or even what his past had consisted of except the path he spoke of currently.

She turned her face towards the dark hued male, she heard Skylar moving away towards the cottage, she knew they were close enough that she could find her own way home and that if anything Skylar would probably keep herself awake until her grandmother returned, but the act touched the elder woman who sometimes felt like she was being babied. "Have you come any closer to find it.." she asked as her head moved to follow the sounds of her grandchild making her way towards the cottage. She could almost hear the nails of the young girl clicking on the porch even from this distance. After a moment she looked without seeing the male by her side as she waited.
#19
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cakeExperience? Bane had never been blinded in a literal sense, but he knew those who had been who had continued to live, perhaps because they were less tied down to material things than Iskata Sadira seemed to be. She seemed bitter, and he felt it radiating off her. Experience was a moot point here. "I say that out of truth." An honest reply: he meant what he said. If she listened and followed those senses that still worked, she would find her reasons. If she opened the eyes she still had, she'd know what her reasons were. They all had their reasons.

cakeAs for what he was looking for, that subject was a little more difficult to broach. Not simply because there were things he would rather keep to himself, but because he frequently wondered that question himself. A million times he had written it down, a million excuses and reasons he had come up with, a million pages he had burned in the fire. All his life, Bane hadn't had a purpose. Now he was marooned in a place that felt alien to him, chasing ghosts to explain the past. "Peace of mind." The dark wolf told the blind lady, staring quietly straight ahead into the darkness. He spoke quietly, giving her about as truthful a reply as possible. When she asked her next question, he smiled and looked down at her, his eyes and his head a thousand miles away. "Sometimes I doubt any of us will come any closer to what we're looking for, Miss Sadira."

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#20
She just smiled in her own world of darkness and nodded silently to his answer. Perhaps honesty was what she needed. Jefferson had given her a good dose of honesty blunt and truthful even though she hadn't taken it in like she should of she still knew it was there and had been given to her. Now if the rest of the world would just do the same perhaps she'd find her way back to her feet again and the whole of it all wouldn't seem so bad. Somewhere deep inside though she knew that she would forever dwell on how the accident had played out, how the man had almost got his wish and yet she'd been ironically lucky enough to live.. though she'd wished she'd just died. Flicking her ears back she laid out the truth for the other. "I had wished that I'd died that day. Do you think that's wrong?" She was unsure why she even shared the truth with him, perhaps because he'd been truthful to her.. but she hadn't spoken that honest bit to anyone but the ebony male who she couldn't even see before her.

When he spoke of finding peace of mind and the search for the what one never seemed to be able to find she just shook her head, knowing in some way he was correct and yet wishing that he wasn't. She wondered if she had passed on if she would have found what she'd been looking for in the everlasting peace of death but she doubted that. One ear twitched as she thought on that before laughing softly. "Do we even know what it is we crave so desperately.." she asked. She wasn't forcertain she knew what it was she'd been chasing this long. Perhaps she'd found it long ago and had never realized it, that would have been a laugh.


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