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cake--
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakePrecariously the cinnamon-black hybrid balanced on the bridge railing, staring out at the streets and buildings that ruined her view. She had grown up next to the ocean, and the seas had watched her live and suffer, stood by idly as she laughed and cried. It was something she was used to seeing; turn around and there would be water. Here she saw concrete and a mess of twisted metal. Nothing else, and it was an oddly refreshing change. There were no thoughts of beauty or destruction in her head, of life lost or the humans' self-destructive nature; she saw a playground, a world of things she hadn't discovered yet to take her mind off the things she had discovered too young. It was pretty awesome, actually, and like some six-year-old on a sugar high she didn't know where to start.
cakeA flash of red-brown hair glinted in the sunlight as Talitha jumped from the railing and took the concrete stairs two at a time, careful of the snow and possible ice that covered them. There were broken signs and cars littering the streets, and she knew she'd find dead humans in the houses, surrounded by their material treasures. It was around here she'd found her guitar, entertaining thoughts of the before-life she wanted back so badly as she had done so. Red eyes wide and alert, standing still on the street, the hybrid girl grinned to herself as she tried to choose what caught her attention the most. Eventually deciding this was too difficult, she simply headed for the largest building, the flashiest one, the one with the old four-story high movie posters on the outside.
cakeFive minutes later, she had yelled at (and successfully frightened off) a group of rats, broken an old popcorn machine, and found her way behind the front counter to break into the cash register. Staring at the thing, the girl pressed a few buttons experimentally, and found nothing. Bending over slightly, she picked at the lock with her claw, telling herself she needed to learn how to break into stuff better. Oh well, no matter, if this didn't work in a moment, she'd easily find something else to amuse herself. There were still a bunch of rooms to explore, and she really had no idea what to expect.
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Adjusting to pack life was proving to be easier than Lannen had originally anticipated. But still, that morning when he had woken up, he had gotten the itch. The need in his bones to crawl from his den during the early hours and trek across lands beyond the borders of AniWaya. Life was relatively simple there, a definite comfort. But today, Lannen craved complexity and oddity. Although traveling long, winding roads without any direction had lost its appeal, he still liked the novelty of exploration. He found that new experiences invigorated him, distracted him when he felt his anger rise.
Today so happened to be one of those days he felt darkness creeping in the corners of his soul, aggression rising. And it had been for the silliest reason, too. Lannen had traced the scent of Dawali, the man who had greeted him and accepted him at the borders of the tribe. His first impression of the man had been a good one, and he didn't bear him any ill will. Still, the need to assert himself had risen in his chest like a terrible phoenix. It had been the reason he had left his home in Maine in the first place, that terrible aggression, the need to assert his dominance. He had no plausible reason to feel that way toward Dawali, but it couldn't be helped.
As much as he wanted to be easy going, live his life following the direction the wind whispered, Lannen could not escape the qualities of the alpha male within him. So today, he searched for distraction, trying to hide from that part of himself.
The tallest building in the city caught his attention, covered in movie posters. He had never seen anything quite like and felt that a building this big would keep him occupied for a good length of time.
It was dark when he entered, dim and so the white man squinted. In the gloom he made out a slim figure. Eyebrows raised, he realized someone had beat him to the site he wished to explore. Not that it mattered, he could share. At least with this female. "'Lo there, girl," he said in way of greeting.
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cake--
i have come curiously close to the end.
cakeIn this old place of must and dirt, Talitha didn't catch his scent as quickly as she should have. She heard him, however, and straightened up, instantly alert. All thoughts of exploration vanished so quickly that for a moment her head felt empty, then the noise returned, the roaring in her mind that kept her thoughts away from those too-dangerous places. A flood of emotion hit her like a brick wall then; fear and anticipation were the strongest of the two, fear because you never knew when it could happen again, and anticipation because she was so desperate for that chance to prove herself. When he showed himself, this only made it worse. Not only was he a man, but he was a wolf. Fuckin' wonderful -- damn things were always out to ruin her day.
cakeHowever, his words were casual and he, at least, didn't seem unfriendly. That didn't mean much in terms of the future, but for the moment she was safe. Her face was a mask, stony and intense as she watched him with her blood-red eyes. "Hello, boy," she replied in as calm a voice as she could muster. He, of course, was hardly a boy anymore, but ask her if she cared. Inwardly she was glad he hadn't come any closer. Keep your distance, she wanted to say, but different words came out instead. "Is this place yours?"
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His mouth quirked into a smile when the hybrid looked up at him and addressed him as "boy." But he assumed it was only fair - after all, he had called her girl. And a girl was what she was - with the promise of beauty and just the slightest lack of poise of an adult. She lingered on the precipice between the two, girlchild and woman. She seemed to be engaged in childish things, poking here and there in curiosity - but wouldn't that make Lannen childish too? However, the way she spoke with him, the gravity in her gaze made him think twice. He'd treat her as an adult.
He looked around the abandoned theater building. There were still bright colors, here and there among the fading machinery and tattered posters. It looked like no one had been here for a long time, aside from scavengers and rats. "Ain't mine anymore than it is anyone else's, by the looks of it," Lannen said, his eyes returning to rest on the girl. She didn't seem anymore familiar with it than he was, but he decided to err on the side of caution. He could be decent, if he tried. "Is it yours?" Two questions there - the one so obviously stated - and the second, did she want him to scram?
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cakeTalitha knew she reeked of Inferni. Though she had, for the most part, avoided her clanmembers since dragging her sorry ass back from her travels, she still lived there. She still spent the majority of each day there, playing around with her guitar and practicing her ninja-skills. Most wolves around these parts weren't too fond of the coyote clan, but she was lucky enough to avoid most of them. With the fear having subsided enough for her to hear her own thoughts again, she listened to his words. As she opened her mouth to respond, she absently played with the lock on the cash register, sharp claws scraping against the metal.
cake"If it was, I wouldn't've asked you the same thing, wolf," she replied evenly. Her voice was entirely neutral, and she knew she probably looked wary, at the least. But, as she always told herself, you couldn't hide forever. She was so damned sick of hiding. She wanted to be happy again, to the point she was desperate for it; this wasn't such a good thing, in some situations. "So what do you think it was for? This place? I bet there are some dead humans in here, if we looked hard enough," she added the last part with a brief, almost morbid grin, though the sharpness never left her red eyes. Secretly, she was glad he wasn't trying to come any closer.
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Feisty, this one. Her words were neutral but there was an edge to them. Well, that was fine. Lannen could dish it and take it really well. But he was quiet just for the space of seconds, brown eyes thoughtful on the girl's slender frame. There seemed to be something else, and an invisible message told his instincts not to push, like he usually would. The white wolf shrugged. He had never been one to ponder mysteries for over long, instead going with his gut instincts. They hadn't failed him completely.
He decided he wanted to stay, though he'd approach with caution. Talitha was strange to him. There was caution and something more in the air around her, thick like smoke. He stayed put. It was obvious she didn't want him to come any nearer. Instead, he skirted around the counter, taking care to stay on the edges. The paint and light fixtures had cracked in places and he took care to step over the sharp glass.
"I'm sure there are a lot of dead things around here," he replied evenly, fingering a tattered movie poster that had fallen over. He looked at it, before lifting it to show it to Talitha. There was a strange specimen depicted - green skinned, big eyed. It had antenna like a bug, but the body of a man. "What do you think this was supposed to be?"
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cakeAll curiosity the adventurous girl had held for the theatre had vanished now, or rather it had switched its target to the man who had found her. Her eyes followed him as he spoke, watched him as he moved: though afraid, at the same time, she was attracted to danger. This was not an uncommon thing. A lot of people were. Difference being, she wasn't quite as good as some of them at defending herself, or so her past had taught her.
cakeThe brown-eyed wolf's answer was vague; he was focused on something else. She was faintly disappointed. She liked finding dead humans, especially the ones who had been locked up in musty rooms, mummified in a way, their skin like brown paper, flaking as if it were a beehive. She found it fascinasting and funny at the same time, how they were so fragile, how she could crush their tiny skulls in her small hands. The man lifted up a piece of paper with a grotesque creature depicted on it, and Talitha leaned against the counter, elbow on top of the dusty cash register, and raised both brows. "I dunno, maybe it's an alien. Looks like an alien to me." It didn't cross her mind that he might not know what the hell an alien was. As far as she was concerned, if she knew something, everyone else in the world did too. It wasn't like she was special or anything. "But maybe not, not all aliens're supposed to look that different from humans. Superman was an alien," she added, thinking of the stacks of comic books that were scattered all over the floor of her room. "What d'you think?"
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