white on white on black
#1
Iskata had been out roaming the lands in the light snow. It didn't bother her like it probably should have, she was blind and there was nothing for her to worry over as she trudged along the border of their lands. Jefferson and DaVinci probably thought her a fool but she was finally getting back into touch with the real world and she wasn't going to stop now. She had somehow found a way to be mended without the touch of another or dream weavings of a future goal she could aspire to. She was physically broken still but mentally she'd found healing through the everyday lives of the others of her pack as she watched them spinning by with or without knowledge that she was even there. She smiled slightly at the thought as she wandered the edge of the lands quietly.

The cold of the winter didn't seem to touch her skin. One would have thought spending the winter by the heat of the fire would have made the woman soft but her pelt was just as thick as ever and the winds and snow didn't bother her none. The dull ache along her hip and down her hindleg was another story as she slowly plowed along the lands, rescenting the borders as she would have when once she was the leader. Now she was just an elder member with no duties or responsiblities. She'd grown tired of being brought food and sitting by the glowing embers of the fire. She needed to be out and about and walking the clearly marked borders were little problem for the woman, unless strangers happened upon her, but that had yet to happen.
#2
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DaVinci had told her to visit but she hadn’t given the suggestion much thought until, by chance, she had wandered near to Phoenix Valley. Given the opportunity Cercelee had once again taken to wandering. Most her free time was eaten up by Slay, what little free time she had. The white lady felt sorry for the male, having hooked up with one of Dahlia’s busiest females, but she had warned him going into this relationship the demands the pack placed on her. All the same he had agreed to it and that left him alone a lot of the time as she attended to her daily duties. Yet on this day she had been unable to find him, returning to the church after a quick border patrol and not wishing to hang around the empty home she had took off, letting her feet lead the way.


Now, so close to the territories of Phoenix Valley she recalled the visit of DaVinci, though she knew finding her had never been his intention. Just as finding Iskata along the borders hadn’t been exactly Cer’s intention. It was coincidence that just as she had been thinking about the female her figure materialized in the distance. Unhurried Cer came up, slowly, as she remembered some of DaVinci’s words. Iskata was not herself, she had lost her sight, and the white lady did not intend to startle the elder. She gave the women ample time to catch her scent before she spoke. Iskata?







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#3
The silver and gold woman had caught the scent of the leader of Dahlia de Mai but she had ignored it for a moment, hoping that the other would pass by their territories without need or want to venture closer. When the voice spoke up the elder woman could do nothing but stop in her tracks and raise her head towards the sound. She nashed her teeth slightly in irritation at first off trying to look for the woman when she knew it was a useless venture. She just sighed softly as she turned anyways towards the owner of the scent and sound as she answered. "Cercelee?"

The Whilom paused a moment before she even attempted to move closer to the other, the slight sounds of the area affording her the moment to not seem as weak as she was. She paused a few yards from the other as she asked softly. "Are things well in Dahlia de Mai?" She had reason to be concerned for the pack of white woman to didn't cling so tightly to her Sadira ties. Half the pack was her kin, but her spiteful daughter resided there and she couldn't see any reason why the ivory woman would have spoken up to Iskata in her lame duck patrolings of the lands.

She was nothing but a shell of what she once was, though she would still press on for now. Healing was a harsh dose of what there still was out there waiting and though she doubted it was much she'd still look. Maybe Cercelee was just doing the same, looking for something out there she knew existed but hadn't found yet.
#4
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Cercelee noted as the female turned her way that the eyes of the other did not fall or focus on her form, and Cercelee knew that DaVinci had not been lying to her then. That meant too that Iskata was no longer reigning over the pack, but instead it was headed by her cousin DaVinci, and Jefferson, whom she knew but not as one of her many cousins. Cercelee would not pretend to have come here on the pretenses of pack relations, there never had been a riff between Dahlia and the Valley, and it was unlike Cercelee just to come see how Phoenix Valley was fairing. Oh, Dahlia is fine. Firefly has just brought into the world our two newest members and your grandchildren.




Cer didn’t know if Iskata had heard the news or not, she didn’t know how much Firefly spoke to her mother, but she guessed very little. She doubted the elder cared much for any of the other gossip; she would spare the dirty details about Coli’s arrival and the upset it had caused between leaders and lovers alike. Although, Cercelee realized with a start, that Coli was a niece of Iskata as well, just as herself, and Iskata had always seemed interested in the Rosea’s life. Yet Cer did not even know if Iska was aware of Coli’s existence. What about you, how’s life been treating you? Cer knew the answer, but whether Iskata would be honest about it was another matter.








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#5
The words that the ivory woman with the sapphire eyes said hurt but not as much as the thought of not seeing the newest grandchildren in her life. She shifted her sightless gaze away from the leader of the neighboring pack as she smiled slightly. "I'm glad to hear, are they doing well?" She wished that she could see them but the last spat with her daughter had seemed to put their relationship over the edge and even if she iddn't agree with a damned thing her daughter did she wouldn't blame the next generation for their mother's faults.

She turned those scarred up orbs back to Cercelee as she asked, "Do you need Jefferson or Davinci?" her words were slightly bitter, once it would have been her the guests and strangers would have turned to but she wasn't the Matriarch now and there was nothing left for her to even do. Jefferson let her roam the lands and act like she was doing something inportant but she knew that he found it more than irritating to run across her out in the open with no guiding eyes or assistance. She didn't care though and he knew she could still make her way back to the cottage for the night if she decided to go back home.

She didn't care to be here if Cercelee did wish to speak to one of the two but she would stay and keep her company til the leaders arrived if she did want them.
#6
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They are well, Haku has been more receptive to being a father than any of us had imagined. And all the same Cer couldn’t shake the worry from the back of her mind. She knew first hand what type of father Haku could be, and while he had kept her fed and alive, there was little else she could credit him for. Yet he was asking for a new chance, and Cer would give all appearances of giving him one. The tender image of his carrying his dead daughter away surfaced, but she did not share that with Iskata. Cer saw little need to bring up the dead pup, pups died, and Cer assumed Iskata knew the hard truth of it and assumed the whole litter had not made it through unscathed.



Cercelee sighed at Iskata’s bitter words as the female ignored the question. No, I don’t. And Cer thought that had been clear from the beginning. She was not one for idle chit chat, especially with someone outside of her pack. Has she wanted either, she wouldn’t have wasted anytime but asked for them immediately. I came here to see you. Her words were blunt, the truth. Cer could have skipped right by the Valley’s borders, but it had been the haunting image Davinci had painted in her head that had brought her here. So, how are you? Really?







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#7
She sighed at the thought of her daughter's children and the idea lingering in the back of her mind on how Kansas probably would be expecting a litter soon enough as well, she knew his mate's wishes and wants.. and like most woman she figured the lady would put them into effect as quickly as possible. She lowered her head slightly at the thought of all these faces she'd never know, voices she would only match with scents and how she would look in the eyes of children when they were old enough to know her. "Tell the small ones I wish I could see them.." she said softly, trying to keep from faultering on her own words as she swallowed hard. There were no words for the parents because they'd shared enough in the past in their own strange ways.

She was just being foolish now though, Iskata knew that Cercelee wasn't there for one of the leaders, but she had wished that she could get past the normal run of the mill conversations that seemed to emerge when faces came out of the woodwork and discovered the whole new face of the woman they once knew. She wasn't exactly bitter about it but the same old lies and greetings grew boring and dull after a while. She sighed and turned her face back towards the packlands as Cercelee's blunt reply met her ears, a slight shadow of a smile was her show of approval before she spoke up. "Honestly? Nothing's been easy and nothing with ever be the same. I'll live though." she said softly.

She flicked her tail back and forth across the snow as she asked, "How has my brat been doing, besides bringing new children into the world." She would never ask Firefly how she'd been fairing, but the Rosea of her pack was another story. Iskata knew most of her children were brats in their own way, they'd been raised on stories of their lineage and the royalties of how their family had climbed the ranks and always become something in life. She didn't know how many of them had taken it to heart and head but she'd know that Firefly probably wouldn't let the world stop her from gaining what she wanted. Delay her yes, but not stop her in the end.
#8
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Cer bowed her head at the words, feeling sorry for the woman. Despite not accepting her own aunt as family, or if she did acknowledge the fact she did not find it to be of any importance, she could still care about the woman on another level. She was able to sympathize with the grandmother, who would miss out on so much due to the loss of one sense. It almost wasn’t fair, but Cercelee felt most everything happened for a reason and she also knew there was no point in dwelling on unfairness. I will tell them. And anything else you’d like me to... Cercelee felt she could do that much for Iskata.



Nothing’s ever been easy though, has it? Cer cocked her head, pondering her own question. Of course life had it’s ups and downs, but it seemed, at least in the moment, it was usually down. Now of course, as a up for Cer. She was high with happiness at her newly found relationship with Slay, the pack was bursting with life and she had a strong network of members she could fall back on when leader became too burdensome. It made it easy to turn a blind eye to other’s suffering and deal with the conflict that arose in her own pack.



Cercelee smiled at Iskata’s words, knowing again the woman truly cared for her family, despite her family’s feelings toward her. Just because Firefly might not wish a relationship with her mother did not mean Iskata did not deserve to know about the girl’s doings, her life. Iskata could be part of it indirectly, Cercelee wouldn’t deny her that. Oh, well she’s a brat of course. Doesn’t always get alone with the other members, but we work on that, daily.



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#9
Iskata couldn't help but smile weakly as Cercelee promised that she would tell the tiny grandsons the words of their grandmother. Iskata figured she probably could have spoken them to the small Sadira children herself but the time and effort it would have taken to make herway across the lands was too much to ask any of her packmates to help her with and she wouldn't be a burden on anyone from another pack. Iskata was a proud woman and she would be until the day she died. "Just.. tell them I'm sorry I'll never see the little princes they'll be.. but I know they'll make their pack and family proud oneday." She knew she was being a sappy old fool but she couldn't help it.

She lowered her head as she wished she wasn't leaving so much for the Rosea to leave the children of such strange and ambishious creatures. She didn't want to think what life would be like for the puppies but the question that Cercelee posed was enough of an answer to her thoughts. "Nothing ever will be easy. Life wasn't made to be." she said softly, glancing away as she thought back bittering on the paths she'd travelled, though hard most had been rewarding, and what had not.. she'd always managed to find a way.

There was little she could say as the Rosea gave her the truth of her daughter. She just shook her head and answered truthfully. "I wouldn't try and relay my greeting to the children with the brat present.. She probably wouldn't take to well to it." She sighed and shook her head. "But as long as you're working on bettering her ways I guess no one can complain." Iskata doubted that Cercelee cared how Firefly acted to those outside the pack as long as she didn't bring trouble their way, and frankly Iskata knew that to a degree she'd been the same with her packmates.. until it had taken the life of a friend. She pushed on past that sour truth as she fluffed up her thick coat. "Take care of them for me Cercelee, I'm not going to be here forever you know.."
#10
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Cercelee smiled at Iskata’s words. She was being sentimental towards the children she had never met, but it was hard not too. One would hope they would grow up to make their pack and family proud, one always wished that upon a newborn, but there was not telling what the future really held for the children. It was so weird to watch Iskata switch from wishing the boys well to lamenting the harshness of life, yet also it seemed so natural for the older woman. These were just truths of their existence. Life was hard, cruel, almost intolerable at times but they pushed on, pushed on to see the joys of life renewing it’s self. They lived for their next generation.




There was no comment for Iskata’s words on her daughter. Firefly was bound to make trouble and Cercelee would dole out the punishments as they were deemed fit. Prevention was not a method one used with Firefly. She only behaved when it suited her well enough. Cercelee smiled at Isakta, despite the fact she couldn’t see it. Maybe she could feel it, maybe. Of course you’ll be around forever, you’re like Laruku, we can’t get rid of you. Even if we tried. No one had told the Dahlian leader about Laruku.







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#11
She couldn't help but smile weakly at the words that Cercelee granted her.. but yet there was sadness there as well as dawning came to the silver and gold woman at the mention of Laruku. Her ears pinned back against her skull as she thought of the hybrid who'd once lead them both. The wash of sadness and pity for the male they could never get rid of disappeared as she asked. "Did you know he was a father?" She'd never met any of his children but one and she'd found it strange that Laruku had seem the young girl to find her in the end. She'd tried to offer the woman she'd never be able to see, nor had ever really known about a friendly extension to the family but she didn't know if the young thing would return to take hold of that offer.

Iskata's sightless eyes seemed to smile in their own way as she thought back on that day, trying to imagine just what Laruku's daughter looked like, and here now she had too more to imagine about.. "What do they look like.." she asked finally. She hadn't wanted to get involved.. but she was a grandmother, you couldn't stop the want to spoil the small little monster no matter how much you tried to ignore the calling.
#12
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Cercelee shook her head at the question. Laruku a father? It was a funny thought, and yet not at all foreign. He had been, and still was, a father figure in Cer’s mind, if she forced herself to conjure up one at all. Perhaps he was a poor pick, but worlds better than Adrastos or Haku as far as she was concerned. But for the grumpy fool to have actually procreated, it was hard to visualize. Did they look like him? Act like him? Sound like him? It was silly to wonder, because Cercelee knew it we irrelevant. Family traits were easy to come by and meant little, even less if your family meant little.



Yet she smiled at the next question. The pups, now they were important, something to think about, talk about, even with the cursed Sadira blood coursing through their veins, from both mother and father. She knew Iskata’s interest in them was not the same as her’s. She viewed them as gems of Dahlia, their future generation. Iskata thought of them as grandchildren, her own genes being preserved. Still, at least they agreed about something finally. They are sprawling, crying balls of fur. Haku’s and Firefly’s fur. Cer smiled, perhaps Iskata could feel it if not see.
They are beautiful.







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#13
When there was no reply from the other woman Iskata just assumed that she'd fallen into the habit that everyone else had and had either nodded or had shaken her head. The woman didn't press her any further though, just assuming that Cercelee hadn't since she'd never mentioned it before. Iskata had known that the ivory woman had once been under the care of the hybrid male and if Cercelee had came out half decent he couldn't be that bad of a father. Rachias had been a sweet and soft spoken girl and Iskata wished that she could find her again, if only to make certain she was fairing well. The woman hadn't heard from Laruku either and she wondered if perhaps Rachias had just returned to his side again.. she doubted she'd find out unless one or the other turned up though.

She quickly pushed her simple thoughts to the side though as Cercelee filled her in on the current gossip and chatter of the youngest Sadiras. She couldn't help but smile, she might never see them but she could be proud of the small children that were the shining stars of Dahlia de Mai and to their family. She chuckled and shook her head. "I can bet they'll be a handful when they get older!" She grinned as she sighed. "It's almost a guarantee.." With parents like that, it was almost a solid promise that they'd be into everything and mischief a plenty.

She sighed and admitted. "I bet they are.." She wanted so bad to see the little ones, to visit the distant pack and touch their soft fur and know their scent for herself but she doubted that would ever happen. She turned her eyes back to Cercelee as she asked. "When they're older.. do you think they could visit?" The blind and crippled woman didn't want to press her pack into helping her make it to the distant lands to see the children.. but if they were ever strong enough to visit them it would mean so much. She might be a prideful strong woman, but she wasn't below begging from time to time.
#14
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Iskata did not have to tell Cercelee, she had already made the assumption before the two were born. Conor and Emwe had been expected to be rambunctious and loud mouthed, but as far as puppies went they were both pretty quite. Of course they couldn’t speak and could barely crawl but perhaps they’d be the opposites of their parents. Who knew? Each child was an individual, sometimes borrowing from their parent’s for personality and looks, sometimes not.



Of course. Cercelee would bring them to visit. Partly because Iskata asked, partly because it would be a good chance to spend time with the Dahlian pups. For now though, all the talk about the children was making her long for the lands she had left only earlier that day. She had fulfilled DaVinci’s request to visit his mother, and there was little left for her to say. She was never one for catching up with relatives. Well, it was nice seeing you Iskata but I must be off. Cercelee nodded her head out of habit and turned away after Iskata’s goodbye, content with a job well done.






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