WARNING: product contains trace amounts of lead.
#1
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Dampwoods--Musquodoboit Valley. Private for Lubomir. (:


----------faster, faster.. the lights are turnin' red

Perhaps the decorative skulls had gotten to her more than she'd like to admit. Following Savina's instructions, she'd found her way back to Inferni relatively easily within two days. While this was her goal and things should have been fine and dandy, she couldn't help but be a little put off by what was basically the antithesis of a welcome mat. What the hell kind of folks had her biological father run with?? Although Maserati was relatively tiny and had several coyote-like mannerisms, it was true that she would never understand the extent of discrimination and natural prejudice that existed between the two groups. She found herself desperately craving Anselm's perspective (or rationalisation, whichever) on this, but alas--he was hundreds of miles away.
Once she'd decided to back down from her task for the day, she decided it was best to stay in the same general area. If she wondered too far, she might not consider the option of going back too seriously... and for whatever damned reason, she felt some sort of obligation to deliver Anselm's messages. It wasn't because they were related (he certainly seemed to feel no sense of obligation toward her, so why should she put in all the effort if it weren't to be reciprocated?), but more along the lines of she wasn't the sort to back away from her promises. This was a favour to a stranger, essentially--and Gale had seemed to think it important that she do this. Fine.
She watched absently as Charger charged ahead of her; his waddling gait was always somewhat comical to the girl. All of a sudden he jumped onto some platform--what was this? Her eyes widened as she saw the entire scene before her for the first time. A tractor! Excited, she trotted over quickly, but she was soon met by disappointment. It was rusted, one of the wheels was completely missing, and it looked like it had made its last run years ago. A look of disappointment crept across her face, but interest returned as she spotted a large building not far off in the distance. Intrigued, she began to walk closer, gradually shifting as she went. By the time that she reached the door, she could stand on two legs. Opening it up, she stepped inside to be greeted by the wafting scent of musky sawdust.
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#2
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OOC: Yes, hello, hi, watch my fail! 300+



Lubomir was crazy. Of all the things he could be doing (talking to Mew, asking Cercelee if she required any help, tending the library), here he was again, trekking. Trekking! He knew he was being foolish, childish, downright crazy to go this close to Inferni so quickly, so soon, so determined. Not that he wanted anything to do with the place. Not now that he was, as Cercelee had put it, the role model for Dahlia. He wasn't about to just go in and start another war. Word had reached him that Firefly had had her pups. His own head would be on a steak if any harm came to them. It wasn't for a fight he'd come. He wanted tools.


After he'd left Corona so many weeks before, he had stumbled upon what looked like an old farm. It hadn't crossed his mind to try and open up the library at that point and indeed he hadn't thought much outside of recovery. But now that the building was coming up nicely, he realised he needed tools. The grey male was not entirely sure how much Dahlia could offer him and in an afternoon of deep thought it had occurred to him to check the old farm. Finding the place had been half the challenge, with wrong turns now and again. Finally, the sight of the rusted tractor greeted him and he sighed with relief. It wasn't until he was close enough that the smell rose to meet him and Lubomir blinked in confusion. Someone else was here, it seemed. Hm. He paused for a moment to shift, although his Optime form was much less used than his regular one. Still, if he found anything, it would be easier to carry in two paws rather than his mouth.


The Lierre stepped inside carefully, trying not to make a lot of noise. The building was obviously in heavy disuse, if the smell was anything to judge by. He stopped a little way off the entrance and waited. Was the other wolf friend or foe? Well, only one way to find out. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

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#3
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----------faster, faster.. the lights are turnin' red

Once her eyes had adjusted to the light, she had stepped further inside. The sight that greeted her was exciting--dead machines fixed with gears twice her size, a plethora of lumber... for Maserati, this was like hitting a gold mine. Eagerly she ascended some stairs to the catwalks. Charger scampered on ahead of her, leaping nimbly from one banister to the next, apparently as intrigued by the strange place as she was. She spotted an office of sorts in the distance and gradually made her way towards it.
Trying the handle, she was disappointed to find that it was locked. Drat! There appeared to be no other entrances, but there was a small window on the door. Taking off her satchel, she opened it up and unceremoniously dumped the contents into a small pile at the door. Placing her elbow inside, she inhaled deeply and thrust it forward on the exhale. The glass shattered just as she heard a strange male voice sounding from the direction from which she came. Her ears fell back, and for a moment, she wasn't even sure if she'd heard anything at all, or if her mind was playing tricks on her.
Crouching down low, she shook the glass shards off of her bag and hastily replaced its original contents. Standing up, ears pressed forward, she squinted in the direction of the door. Uuuuh.... 'ello?! she called quickly, wincing somewhat as her accented voice echoed off of the dusty walls. Charger, who'd been elsewhere, now reappeared by her side, head tipped curiously to the left. Maz's eyes drifted to the window--there was now enough room for her to snake her hand through to open the door, but she wasn't sure if she ought to corner herself in the office just yet. If someone else really was there and they were hostile, she'd need an escape route!
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#4
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OOC: Has some fail



Lubomir kept coughing all the way inside. It was so dark he had to pause a few seconds to let his eyes adjust. The smell of stranger was stronger here, perhaps because the wind couldn't disspell it so quickly. A female, though she carried no particular pack scent. That eased his mind somewhat, as the last thing he wanted to run into there was Inferni. Why they would even raid a farm was beyond him, but there were a few things here that could potentially be used as weapons. Would there be another war? He doubted it. So far, nothing of note had happened between the two packs and there was no reason to believe otherwise.

The sound of smashed glass set him on edge and he tensed slightly, ready to run if need be. It wasn't exactly the bravest course of action, but it would have to do. The voice that called back to him was female, definitely, and slightly foreign. He couldn't quite place it and now was probably not the time to try, either. "I mean no harm. Please come out." His own voice shook and he tried not to curse too loudly. This was really not going to be good, was it?

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#5
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----------faster, faster.. the lights are turnin' red

Maz clicked her teeth together once; the sound would barely be audible from any distance, but Charger recognised the command at once. Lowering to a crouch enabled him to clamber up on her back, where he perched roughly on some combination of her shoulder and her satchel. She now tiptoed forward on all fours, inching her way closer and closer to her mysterious company. Surely this wasn't the popular joint where all the singles went to party--what on earth was anybody else doing here? Her ears pricked forward as she realised they may very well be doing exactly what she was doing; i.e. not a whole lot, just looking around for random junk.
Ducking behind a random piece of equipment, she put her hands on the ledge of it and slowly raised her head to peek over the side. Charger did the same from her shoulder; it probably looked fairly comical to the male below, seeing two curious faces looking down at him excitedly and with rapt attention. As the wolf spoke she relaxed somewhat; hopefully nobody would be lying about their intentions and it was in her nature to take his word for it (until proven otherwise, of course). As such, she raised slowly to her full height (which was still rather meagre) and offered a tentative wave in his direction.
Yeh gave me quoite a startle, mate! Oi wasn't expectin' anyone else to be 'round. She grinned sheepishly as she manoeuvred around the equipment and closer to the stairs that lead to the catwalks. Here she leaned over the railing to get a better look; yikes! He was huge. Even from here, she could tell he would tower over her by well over a foot. Oi'm Maserati, she offered. Jerking a thumb to the raccoon perched on her shoulder, she grinned. 'n this is Charger. Who're you? 'n.. what's good? she asked, still somewhat embarrassed over her initial insecurity. Whoever this was, maybe they'd be able to team up and explore the old mill together! She wasn't entirely sure that he needed to use the 'buddy system' but she might at least feel better for it.
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#6
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Lubomir walked further inside, trying to see exactly who was in here. A ghost? He quickly dismissed that stupid idea. What in the world would a ghost be doing here, of all places? Would it even have a scent to speak of? Of course not. But this female (for her scent belied her gender) seemed alive enough, if his nose was anything to go by. A noise startled him and he looked up to see two faces peering down at him. A grin broke across his face and he found himself unable to contain his laughter. Well, wasn't she a sight for sore eyes. Indeed, he had been half-afraid of ending up having to beseech her to let him leave but it seemed that there was no need for this. He waved back enthusiastically and made his way towards her.

The things that registered with him first and foremost was that she did not seem like a threat and that she was decidedly younger than him. Lubomir would never pick a fight (Haku did not count, as the Lilium had had it coming), especially when his life was not in danger. She spoke with an accent he'd never heard before in the Old Country or in Europe. Cocking his head slightly to the side, he replied, "I wasn't expecting anyone else here myself." His Polish accent was still noticeable, though not as think as when he'd first arrived here. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking up. Hell, she was small. Not a puppy, definitely not, but if this was her size now, would she grow much more? He himself was not very tall, but he looked like he'd be quite big compared to her. Lubomir didn't know whether to feel amused or embarrassed, so he offered a smile and his name. "Name's Lubomir. Glad to meet you and Charger, young lady. I'm a wolf from Dahlia de Mai. You could call me their unofficial librarian." Yeah, how encouraging that was. "I came here to look for a good, sturdy axe. What about you?" He wondered, briefly, if she belonged to any pack. There was no smell clinging to her, but perhaps she'd just joined. Still, she seemed nice enough. And he could use some help exploring this place.

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#7
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----------faster, faster.. the lights are turnin' red

Given the choice to fight or flee, Maserati would always choose the latter. Obviously they all had to kill out of necessity, but she found it rather barbaric to resort to violence when it came to dealing with others of her own kind. She didn't usually have anything to worry about, though; being friendly (and quite forward about it) the petite girl had few enemies (none that she knew of). This suited her well; she was clearly built for speed and agility over strength, at any rate. Sometimes this made it slightly unbelievable that she was Anselm's daughter--she was so much more like Gale in body and spirit. Perhaps nurture had won this one... or she'd simply inherited more from her biological mother than she'd ever get a chance to realise.
Regardless, she felt a smile creeping its way to her face as the tall man laughed and introduced himself. Well met, Lubomir. She was so busy trying to remember his name that the garbled title of his pack all but completely escaped her--all she really got out of it was a "de" in the middle, kind of like her father's surname. She doubted it was related. Other than Inferni and Savina's pack, she was relatively clueless about the general set-up on the peninsula. Oi'm from the southwest; Troika Outpost. A shrug; she had her dobuts that anyone around here knew or cared about the tiny community over yonder.
One ear flicked at the mention of the axe; her tone was light and curious as she spoke next. 'n what use does a librarian 'ave for an axe, if yeh don't mind me askin'? She wasn't accusing him of anything; she had a handful of "weapons" (she considered them tools) in her satchel herself. The contents of her bag were generally on a need to know basis, and as far as she was concerned nobody really needed to know. Still, the slight disconnect confused her; surely he wasn't going to be chopping apart the books! Oi suppose Oi'm just lookin' for tools 'n such, too... Found an office upstairs 'n just broke into it when yeh got here. Care to check it out? She wasn't sure if there would be an axe there, but there might be something else interesting.
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#8
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OOC: Fail D: I'm sorry!



The more time he spent around her, the more at ease he felt. She clearly wished him no harm and for once, Lubomir could feel safe within a coyote's presence. Perhaps it was the lack of Inferni scent which got to him. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't seem like a great threat to him. Indeed, she freely gave information about her pack of origin, for all that it meant nothing to the grey male. He had never heard of this Troika Outpost, but he assumed that it was a small pack. Anything big with coyotes would surely have attracted Inferni's attention by now. "I cannot say I have heard of your pack, miss Maserati. Much to my shame, for I have done some travelling of my own." True, after Skoll's death, he hadn't exactly been the most cheerful of wolves. He had hidden away in himself, avoiding contact with other packs. For all he knew, he had come so close to hers he could smell the food, but still he had avoided it, his instincts telling him that he would be a threat. His mind had been a maze, a dark web of things he wanted to shy away from. And from that bleak darkness a new wolf had risen, a new Lubomir.

Her question made him smile. This would be fun. "The library I'm taking care of is not in the best of states. I need an axe to cut down trees and make new shelves for the books. I found one in my pack lands, but it won't hurt to have another." He gave an eloquent shrug. Truth be told, the pack lands were more and more stifling as time went on, so now and again he needed a reprise. This was one such time. The library was a lot of work and for all that he enjoyed it, a search for a new axe gave him plenty of time to clear his head. "Sure thing, I'd love to see what's in the office." And just like that he was bounding up the stairs, taking them two at a time, until he stood next to the female. He smiled reassuringly. "You looking for anything in particular?" Lubomir might not find a suitable axe, but he could help her in her quest.

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#9
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-Fails even worse!!- =( Just so you know, though, Maz is only like 10% coyote. ^^ She's mostly wolf, just on the tinier side. (: Slight powerplay, let me know if you want it changed :o


----------faster, faster.. the lights are turnin' red

She shook her head dismissively. 's no matter! Can't say Oi've heard of any of the packs 'round here m'self, other than the one Oi was told to deliver some messages to, she admitted. Hell, she was barely aware of the packs neighbouring the Outpost. There were two or three but they were separated by at least a dozen miles and interactions between the groups were pretty rare. Presumably Gale (or Bran or Ross or all three) had gone to meet with the leaders of those neighbouring packs at some point, but if they had, she hadn't heard much about it. They were all really out in the sticks and had enough self-contained resources such that any conflicts were extremely unlikely. Up until this point in her life, she'd never really seen a need to venture much past her own pack's borders. Why should she bother? There was plenty of food and water, not to mention good company and plenty of projects to work on. Perhaps the same sights had gotten a little old, though, as she'd been willing enough to embark on her journey here.
Ah, so yeh are a carpenter too? she inquired with polite curiosity. The 'too' may have just as easily referred to himself also being a librarian or to her own woodworking skills. Her birth pack had been big on skilled trade; she herself had quite a bit of experience working with various hand tools and crafting useful structures and furniture out of disjointed planks and scattered nails. It was a beautiful process, she thought--to turn chaos into order, to craft something of use from rubbish. Still, it wasn't her favourite: there wasn't enough challenge in it. She'd always been much more interested in her uncle's mechanical projects, as these were more complicated (and therefore rewarding upon completion). The humans had indeed followed a certain kind of logic in their creations and it was rather delightful to dissect them and harness their true power and capability.
Her tail swung slightly as he joined her and she turned and began to walk lightly in the direction of the office. Charger took to the railing once more, keeping pace with the two wolves as they moved. Not much 'n particular, mate, just anything useful or interesting, she replied with a light shrug. Once she reached the door, she carefully manoeuvred her hand through the hole in the glass and the lock clicked open on the other side. Extracting her hand from the jagged opening, she now depressed the handle and the door inched opened with little protest (other than a soft creak from so many years of no use). With a quick wink to Lubomir, she thrust open the door completely and stepped inside, blinking as it was dimmer still within the confined room. Fishing around in her bag, she quickly located a flashlight--the sort with a built in generator and no need for batteries. Oh, how delighted she'd been when she'd found that one! Shaking it several times, she clicked it on and a soft white light illuminated one corner of the room.
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