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IC
The castle loomed, a relic of the past that caught the dark wolf's attention as soon as he spotted it. The ocean was restless that chilly winter day, and its sounds filled Bane's ears as he approached the ancient structure. He crossed the moat on the drawbridge that had inexplicably been left down, and breathed in the scent of the dust and rotting wood that immediately assaulted him. Intriguing. This was the furthest south he had been as of yet, and he found himself thinking that he would have come here sooner if he had known this castle had been here.
Though his eight-foot-tall frame made it difficult to squeeze through the tiny doorframes, the dark wolf decided to be stubborn and refused to shift. He felt odd, being in former human settlements (no matter how old) on four legs. An intruder, rather than a scientist. Eventually, after some exploring, he found a set of crumbling stairs and took them four at a time, as carefully as possible. At the top of the stairs was a weapon rack next to a doorway; curiously, Bane lifted an old axe in his hands, finding it light and frail, the metal rusted and dented with age. It smelled of must.
The sound of seagulls shrieking caught his attention and he ducked through the doorframe, finding himself looking through the turrets out towards the endless Atlantic. Leaning on one arm on the wall, he gazed out at the angry waters and thought about the wolves who were now building and maintaining castles in the Old World, hiring help and hunting on horseback. They were exactly like the humans had been, hundreds of years ago. It was an old question, but a pressing one nonetheless: would they follow exactly the same path and destroy themselves? If they were destined to do so, Bane hoped he would be around to see it. With a fleeting grin, the dark wolf lifted the axe over his shoulder, and turned his gaze back towards the staircase.
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He'd been following the coastline as always, mesmerized by the ocean and its oh-so-wonderful beauty and awe as per normal, when his duel eyes had strayed and spotted a castle, looming over the sea and casting its disgraceful shadows over the crashing waves. Nikolai had immediately stopped, mid-step, to stare up at it at its distance, for a time wondering if he was seeing things--it had come out of nowhere, or so he thought. He'd only been in Canada a short time, and never before had he seen such a majestic structure. Briefly, he wasn't quite as disappointed in the land all of a sudden, but the feeling passed. Regardless of any castles, Canada was still boring. However, the mere sight of it sent a sudden chill to slide down his spine and shook his body in one, quick tremor of cold--rare, since the creature was never bothered by cold weather. Naturally, this intrigued him, and Nikolai was first to jump at anything intriguing. And so, that was how the duel-eyed idiot went romping up to a castle, wondering how it had gotten there.
There was a sort of aura to that building, although the Russian-born wolf was a skeptic and an atheist, hardly believing in anything supernatural whatsoever. There were no such things as ghosts, in his mind. Jogging on up to one of the open doorways, he stepped inside somewhat cautiously and glanced from side to side, tail waving back and forth. Surely, this castle would make a fine addition to one of his maps. Any creature would want to come see a castle, right? And... well, that's what maps were for. It could wait, though. "Hehllo," he called into the castle suddenly, grinning stupidly at the slight echo off the walls. He was still young, after all; barely a year in age. "I yahm not afraid ovf no ghosts," he declared, smirking a menacing simper as if daring the nonexistent spirits of the castle to attack.
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[html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/ ... blebg3.png);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:bottom">SWAYING TO THE RHYTHM
OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER
cakeAs the dark wolf made his way back down the stairs with some difficulty -- reflecting now on how bloody small these humans had been -- he heard the accented voice, echoing from somewhere nearby. The foreign man made a mention of ghosts. Ghosts? He hadn't considered that there might be ghosts here. If there were, they would be human. There was nothing a canine should fear from a human. This wasn't to say Bane believed in ghosts, however he had met people who claimed to have seen them (his father, for instance,) and therefore he gladly kept an open mind.
cakeBearing his teeth in a brief grin, the big wolf lowered the axe again, as it barely fit over his shoulder in the narrow corridor. The blade scraped noisily against the dank stone wall beside him. The noise grated on his eardrums. As it ended, he spoke, his calm baritone echoing down the ancient stairwell towards the strange man, loudly enough to be easily heard. "That's too bad, I've heard some are worth fearing." With those words, he continued his descent, nearing the bottom in several quick (if not slightly awkward) strides.
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He was used to talk about ghosts; his mother believed in them, his father never mentioned them, and one of his brothers always claimed to have one following him around. Nikolai had always been skeptical, sort of knowing they existed but refusing to acknowledge it. The knowledge of their existence was enough to make wondering about them pointless, thus terminating any actual need for fear or whatnot, but Nikolai was the type who didn't bother with things that didn't get in his way, and so he didn't bother. Fair enough.
The grating sound against the wall did startle him, somewhat, due to its impeccable timing, but only because the sound was so sudden. The wolf perked his ears and followed its echo, eyes peering up the nearby staircase as another fellow spoke--a creature of black fur, surely no ghost of any kind with that color. He did seem to have an uncomfortable presence to him, however, not to mention the axe he was hauling around and the prideful gait down the stairs. Nikolai watched him, furrowing his brow and folding his arms. "Vhat, you theenk thees is haunted house? Not ev'rybody scared." He snorted. If worse came to worse, Nikolai knew plenty on self-defense, especially when he was weaponless against a weapon. The wolf began to chuckle, however, and shook his head. "Vhat you doingk here, vaiting for spooks?"
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[html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/ ... blebg3.png);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:bottom">SWAYING TO THE RHYTHM
OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER
cakeStones and pebbles rolled awkwardly down the last few steps as Bane reached the bottom. When he did, he straightened up to his full impressive height as his blue eyes fell easily on the stranger, who was clear as day behind the dark wolf's glasses. His first impression of this young man was stubbornness, crossed arms and defiant words, a certain look in the dual-coloured eyes. This made Bane smile faintly, almost amused, his own eyes dark and thoroughly focused, as usual. The stranger's accent was very similar to the fellow Bane had met the other day on the coast; perhaps it was a coincidence, perhaps not. It was likely nothing that mattered.
cake"Not at all," came Bane's calm reply. His voice was an even baritone, steady to the point it was almost monotonous, yet there hid an undefined emotion beneath the surface. "I'm simply exploring." The smile faded, leaving his expression neutral. "Although if a spook were to show up, I certainly wouldn't ignore it," he added as he tossed the old axe back onto the stairwell, leaving it to rot. The blade was too rusted to be useful anymore.
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I'm so sorry. x.x
This stranger was a dark-furred beast, with eyes that somewhat glowed and jumped out at him. His voice was an eerie one, monotone and unmoving, lacking any sort of fluctuation whatsoever and thus masking any hidden emotions or intentions beneath the surface. They said the eyes were the key to the soul--and thus Nikolai's attention was held there, the skeptical, Russian-born brute always poised for anything coming his way. That didn't include ghosts, of course, because Nikolai didn't much care for spooks and ghouls. Did he really believe in them? Well, he tried to tell himself he didn't, but the little ghost-boy that had followed his brother Luka for a majority of their time together as children spoke otherwise. To that day, the Russian was still unsure whether or not his brother had been serious or simply going crazy. It posed a challenge, anyway, and Nikolai liked challenges.
"Vhy not?" Nikolai straightened his back a little, curious as to why ghosts and spooks would be held in regard by the stranger opposite. The axe in his hand was discarded rather recklessly and the duel-eyed wolf felt some of the muscles in his shoulders relax as a result, although he had not even been aware how tense he had been. It seemed the dark-furred creature was amused by the Russian, but Nikolai chose to disregard and ignore such reactions. The last thing he wanted was to get pissed off. "They don't egg-zeest," he muttered, flashing a slight smirk before he began to step around the stranger and allow his path and eyes to wander from place to place. "My brother said had ghost friend. I theenk he vas crazy." A light chuckle. "Vhat name? I yahm Nikolai."
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cake"They don't exist" -- such genuine certainty from such a young man. He seemed very obstinate and self-assured in his words, the lowered voice, the brief smirk. Bane tilted his head slightly, eyes clear as ever behind the old glasses the metalworker back home had fixed up for him; they were that same piercing blue, the colour that never changed, revealing the same emotion they always did. "Perhaps, to the spirits," he stated easily, remaining still as he watched the stranger, "you don't exist." Turning his head slightly, he followed the Russian wolf's eyes, glancing over the courtyard nearby and the dank stone walls that had sat here for so long. Logic told him ghosts weren't real; logic also told him that anything, really, was possible. Bane took things in stride, there was next to nothing that could shake his foundation. If the world were to end tomorrow, he would only hope he could live long enough to watch it burn.
cake"My father saw ghosts, and he was crazy," Bane added suddenly with a very brief smile. His eyes were back on the stranger. "Perhaps your brother was right, even if he was mad. My name is Bane Kiles. It's a pleasure, Nikolai. If you aren't here searching for ghosts, what are you here for?" He added the last part lightly, a mild curiosity in his eyes and his voice. Perhaps the stranger was just here to convince himself.
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