so put me on a highway and show me a sign.
#1
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Arachnea's Revenge - Sugarwoods. For Talitha. :] This got a little long... it won't be as much next time. XD;


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

The allure of the city was great and it beckoned to her incessantly, constantly poking and prodding at her subconscious until she surrendered and moved further south. Already she'd found Ryan and alerted Corona to her presence--she was still supposed to talk to Gabriel, though, and her word to her father kept her lingering within Inferni's general vicinity. So far the day had proven uneventful--wondering through forests of the same kinds of trees became dull after awhile, especially in the colder months when everything seemed so still and lifeless.
Finally, Maserati resolved to hunt. Her belly was grumbling at her anyway and having something to do would keep her from jumping the gun and heading down to Halifax before she got a chance to take care of her little mission. As usual in the winter, stealth was not an option. The dark coated girl stuck out like a sore thumb on the snow covered earth and there was no vegetation to provide cover. Still, she kept her head low as she stalked around; ears were pressed forward, alert.
Ahead she noticed the trees thinning, and all of a sudden she spotted a small lake in the distance. Cocking her head to one side at the sound of something up ahead, she felt her heart leap in her chest once she realised the culprits' identities: geese! Tiptoeing along, she spotted a lone pair guarding their nest on the shore. This was a time for strategy. Although most wolves wouldn't consider a raccoon a very good hunting partner, Maserati would beg to disagree. On her signal, Charger moved around to flank them and rushed at them. The geese, figuring that the raccoon was simply trying to steal one of their eggs, did not fly away as they might were a wolf running at them. They honked loudly (it was such an unappealing sound to the girl) and flapped their wings, snapping at Charger who barely dodged their blows.
As soon as their attention was focused on her companion, Maserati accelerated forward with remarkable speed. This was where she would always shine. By the time the geese realised what was going on, Maz was in the air poised to strike. She clamped down on the male goose's wing as her momentum carried them along then downward. His free wing flapped wildly and she placed one paw on the disabled wing before shifting her mouth with lightning speed to his neck. His mate, apparently discouraged by the sudden appearance of a large predator, had taken off--this allowed Charger to run in and snatch one of the eggs as his prize. Maz beamed at her masked partner as the body of the male goose lay crumpled at her feet. She would eat well today; there was enough food here for two full meals, especially with the other couple of eggs as side dishes.
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#2
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Sorry for the slow. I suck. D:

YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


Talitha liked to run; it kept her body busy and, by proxy, her mind. And quite the fast runner she was. She was built for it, long and lean like a coyote with an overly poofy tail that trailed her like someone had stapled a pillow to her ass. Mostly, when running, the girl kept to Inferni's beaches; Inferni was her safe haven in this world, the one place where she could never really be hurt, but like a lot of people out there, the allure of the unknown was too much to resist. The Sugarwoods -- the place that was full of spiders -- was close enough for her to retain that sense of security while still exercising her freedom.


Between the trees were a trail of pawprints, pounded into the snow behind her as she flew through the woods. In her head, she was being chased by a massive spider, and a hungry one at that. A monster spider with super-fast reflexes and -- laser-eyes. Yeah, laser eyes that could burn right through a tree! Not that she was running from it, of course, she was just guiding it to the right place to kill it. She was, after all, a super hero. The doglike hybrid had a wild imagination, one she fed every day with the comic books she collected. A grin spread across her face as she dove over a rock, landing solidly on the snowy ground as she suddenly swerved to the side, averted her path. Couldn't let the monster get too close.


A sudden honking noise caught the girl off-guard and she slowed to a stop, allowing her spider fantasies to fade away temporarily as she caught her breath. Oh well, she'd been getting tired anyway. Keeping up a steady lope, she spotted a break in the trees ahead and trotted to the edge, peering out at a great lake and a black-furred stranger near the shore, standing over a big dead bird. It was a wolf. Wolves, of course, were bad news, but with this one being female, Tal wasn't quite as worried as she would've been otherwise. She paused when within speaking range, blood-red eyes taking in the vivid markings on the wolf's dark fur, and the critter with the egg nearby. What the? "Why not just eat the raccoon...?" Tal asked bluntly, not in an unfriendly manner, however. Really, it just seemed like common sense to her.



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#3
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:o It's all good. I wasn't sure if you'd seen it since it wasn't in your post log. xD;


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

Maserati's ears pricked up at the sound of a female's voice, and she quickly turned to glance in the stranger's direction. For several very long moments, Maserati was overwhelmingly confused. The scent this woman carried was of Inferni. That was all fine and well, except for the fact that she almost completely matched the description of Gabriel that Anselm had given her. For a fleeting moment she had thought it was Gabriel, but the sex obviously didn't match, nor the age, nor the eyes.
Thus, the appearance of the stranger was much more surprising to the dark coated girl than her actual words. A lot of folks peered wonderingly at the raccoon she kept as a pet; only if they bothered to ask did she bother to explain. She was patient about it, but sometimes it was fun to let them wonder. Well now, Oi don't think that would be very noice, considerin' 'e's the one who helped me catch this, she laughed in response, nudging the goose. 'n anyway, Oi don't normally eat friends. 'is name's Charger. She'd grown up with the raccoon, who was a daughter of his father's pet raccoon Murphey. She would spare Talitha her life story. She was much more interested in this girl than herself, as it were.
'n Oi'm Maserati O'Clavin, or de le Poer; take your pick. It's noice to meet yeh! If yeh promise not to eat Charger, Oi'll share half of this goose with yeh! she winked, tail swaying lightly behind her. Say, yeh wouldn't know a Gabriel, maybe? she inquired politely, head tipped to one side. She just had to know!
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#4
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Nah, I was just being lazy. XD

YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


Talitha, more observant than she (or others) may have given her credit for, saw the black-and-red wolf's confusion at her sudden appearance. However, she didn't register it as anything but surprise at having been interrupted. Her eyes moved back to the raccoon as the woman began to speak, and the doglike coyote's ears pricked forward, brows raised at the accent. Some foreigner who kept a raccoon as a pet. Man, you really saw all kinds around here. The girl couldn't resist a grin as she introduced the critter; Charger? Somehow, she found this extremely amusing.


The black-and-red-wolf-with-the-accent introduced herself (thankfully, as Talitha would have had trouble keeping that straight,) and her surname (the second one, that was,) caught her attention with much more efficiency than even the Charger-sidekick had yet. The grin faded slowly into an expression of suspicion and curiosity. A de le Poer? So this foreign wolf with the weird markings was related to her; either that, or this was a huge coincidence. Tal didn't like to think she was related to wolves. It was in her blood, but she preferred to pretend it wasn't. Entirely ignoring the comment about sharing the raccoon, or the goose, rather, and not eating Charger, she replied. "Yeah, Gabriel's my dad. Where'd you and your sidekick come from?"


She was suspicious, but this wasn't anything new. She'd known since birth that wolves were bad news, and that there were people out there who would gladly have her dead, her and her family. This belief had been solidified during the war. And all of a sudden, here was a wolf, claiming to have the same surname as her father, who wanted to share a kill with her. The paranoia would probably never go away entirely, but this wasn't always a bad thing; it would likely serve her well in the future.



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#5
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--


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

Her offer had (at least temporarily) been ignored and Talitha's mild suspicion was matched by her own. Giving a subtle, silent command to Charger, she directed him to retreat a hair. Any time someone refused to acknowledge the boundary regarding the raccoon, she automatically took it as a threat on his life. Maserati wasn't terribly concerned that this girl would attack her companion when there was already enough food to fill both their bellies before them, but she wasn't really one to take unnecessary risks. Unfortunately, it was safer to default to this assumption. She'd been with the raccoon since birth and the thought of him simply becoming someone's under-appreciated lunch was too much to bear.

Still, she would do her best to remain optimistic. The doggish girl's demeanour didn't suggest outright malice, although it was clear she wasn't very comfortable. Maz honestly had no idea why this might be--although her guess was it was probably a relatively common reaction to "you know a lot about me, but I don't know much about you." (Personally, she'd be slightly flattered if some stranger found it worthwhile to keep random information about her or her life tucked away in their memory bank! But then, she'd grown up in a much less dangerous environment.) She had hoped that her title alone would suffice, but perhaps not. Ah! she exclaimed. Very good. Oi've been lookin' for 'im. Oi've got a message from one of the former leaders 'n Gabriel's cousin, Anselm. Hopefully the name would register. Oi suppose that makes us cousins of some sort, too, since Anselm's my father she said, her nose crinkled somewhat. She wasn't very good with keeping track of that kind of stuff.
So where had she come from? Troika Outpost, she replied smoothly, although she doubted anyone around here might have heard of it. It's south 'a here 'n further inland. The small community was simply that; it wasn't a very traditional pack and the laws weren't so rigid. It basically was headed by Gale, Ross, and Bran--they discussed and made decisions together and nobody was considered higher ranked than the other two. Other regular members got a say in the really big stuff, too, and there were no intermediate ranks. Drifters were welcome to come and go as they pleased and the entire atmosphere was very laid back. Although their membership base primarily consisted of wolves, they saw all kinds: one of their more recent additions was a chipper dingo.
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#6
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YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


The raccoon was now only a vague movement in her peripheral vision, and she ignored him as best as she could, focusing on the black wolf with the funny red swirls on her side. There was no intent there to injure anyone, or try to; Tal had a big mouth and a confident attitude, but nothing all that substantial to back it up. She was small, coyote-like, all she had on her side was the fighting spirit she’d probably inherited from one side of the family or another. Ears pricked forward, she listened intently as the wolf explained herself. At the mention of Anselm, Tal relaxed slightly, even if only out of curiosity.


”Okay,” she replied idly, blinking at the wolf. Of course there were wolves in the family, she had it in her blood. Even so, she called herself a coyote, and she did so with pride. It made sense, though, that this one looked wolfish; Anselm had been mostly indistinguishable from a wolf, and he’d even had the size to prove it. ”Well, in that case, you could probably find my dad on the borders if you waited long enough. Not a lot of us are all that fond of wolves,” she added as a vague afterthought, though surely this lady had picked up on that by now. She then mentioned where she was from, and Tal shifted slightly as she shrugged half-heartedly. ”I’ve never heard of it, but I’ve never gone very far from this place.” During her travels, she had chased the North Star and missed her family with each step she took. ”So where’d Anselm go anyway?” She was curious. One day there, next day gone. Typical of most wanderers, but not of the second-in-command, surely.



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#7
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-Spasms.- I'm so freaking glad class is over. @_@ Sorry about the wait. D:


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

In sharp contrast with Anselm's powerful and muscular form, Maserati was petite and dainty, much like her mother. She possessed about the same strength as the next wolf--enough to take down small game un-shifted and perhaps the smallest of deer in halfling form. She'd certainly never gone after anything with teeth and claws that might fight back--and she intended to keep it that way. Her true strength lie in her speed; she'd never had difficulty outpacing any wolf, coyote, or dog. Even fleet-footed hares had limited success escaping from the girl. For this reason, she wasn't particularly concerned about her lack of prowess as a fighter. Whenever anything fishy came up, she could simply run away and Charger could escape to the trees. It was a simple formula but it worked. To top it off, there was the issue of mind over matter. It simply wasn't in her nature to attack another canine; she could easily be the definition of "non-confrontational." Whether Tal realised it or not, she was perfectly safe.
For now, she simply nodded as Talitha confirmed the borders as a prime location for finding Gabriel. At the mention of not taking kindly to wolves she frowned slightly, puzzled. Oi'm.. sorry to hear that? she blinked, genuine confusion creeping into her voice. So far as she was aware, she'd done nothing offensive during her stay. Corona hadn't ripped her apart at the borders, at least... that had to be a good sign, right? Then again, other than being on the smaller side, neither Corona nor Talitha looked particularly coyote-like. Poor Maserati--her open-minded upbringing rendered her effectively blind to the red, flashing neon signs: We Hate You, Get the Fuck Out. The skulls had registered, yes, but she'd interpreted them as warnings to any trespasser, not just those of her particular species.
Eager to move on to less depressing or uncomfortable subjects, she smiled and nodded as she remembered the Outpost. Yeh; 's just a small group of foreigners, mostly. Nothin' worthy of makin' the news. They mostly just did their own thing; they were isolated enough to avoid stepping on any neighbouring packs' toes and they certainly didn't go looking for trouble. It was a nice, country-esque retreat. As for Anselm, eh.. well, at three years old 'e seemed to realise that when yeh go fuckin' around, sometimes yeh wind up with kids, she said with a soft snort. At first this had annoyed her, but as time went on she came to appreciate the humour in it more and more. When 'e found out 'bout Ryan he decided to see who else he'd managed to spawn. Oi think 'e 's going to come back once he's satisfied with.. whatever 'e finds, whenever that may be. That part still didn't make a whole lot of sense to her, frankly.
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#8
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I'm slow, sorry! >>;

YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


Maserati's ignorance on the wolf-coyote conflict didn't escape Talitha. It did, however, confuse her slightly. In her mind, this was a thing that went on everywhere, something that circled the globe, and there was evidence here -- from this strange red-marked wolf -- that it might not actually be that way. Instead of thinking too hard on the issue, the girl merely shrugged her shoulders again (an odd thing to try to do, when on four legs) and let it pass. Hey, if Maz didn't know how things worked around here, then she'd figure it out quickly the hard way if she said the wrong thing to the right person. Despite it all, she seemed nice enough, for a wolf anyway, so Tal hoped nothing did go wrong.



Of course, if she brought news of Anselm (who was her father), as she said she did, then it would be less of an issue altogether. Tilting her head a little, the doggish hybrid listened with interest as Maz explained Anselm's vanishing act. At the mention of fucking, her ears flickered a little but her mind stayed on track. To her, it seemed unreal that people actually sought out sex, and because she didn't understand, she didn't think about it much. It wasn't something she consciously had interest in. Anselm, apparently, had been different.


"Ryan huh? I didn't know about that." She had never met Ryan in person, but that didn't mean she wouldn't. She'd keep these things in mind for the future. "Anyway, that's pretty interesting," and there was no sarcasm in her voice as she said this, "I always kind of wondered where he went. He did something nice for me once." It was vague, but Tal had a tendency to speak before thinking. "I hope he comes back one day. What about you, you just passing through to let Inferni know about him?"



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#9
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Anselm seemed to possess a lot of natural tension, and unless this energy was dissipated somehow he would snap. Fortunately for the rest of the world, her father had found several outlets for just such a release: sex was but one of them. When no willing females were available, he exercised with borderline obsession. Occasionally, only when he felt very secure, he would turn to foreign substances that dizzied the mind and soothed the soul. Rarely would the public see him in such a state; Maz had seem him like that once, but she knew it had nothing to do with her. Instead, she recognised Boomer's influence in enticing the golden male to let it go and relax. She still wasn't entirely sure about the extent of their history together.
Either way, Maserati was pleasantly surprised when Tal mentioned Anselm helping her; she hadn't been the first. Savina had mentioned something similar. Considering Anselm's devotion to Gabriel, perhaps it wasn't so surprising that he would help his daughter... but it still spoke better of his character. Ahh, glad to hear, she said, genuinely pleased for Talitha's sake, although her tone was still slightly troubled. Oi must say, 's been interestin' learning 'bout his history here. Oi really didn't get to know him that well, he basically sent me on my way here... She trailed off, frowning, then shrugged. Oi guess there's just more to 'im than first impressions would imply, she resolved.
Either way, 'e don't seem the sort to make promises 'e doesn't intend to keep. Oi'm sure he'll turn up sooner 'r later, she offered. As for m'self, Oi might stick 'round awhile longer... down south in the city Oi heard 'bout, at least. Oi'd never left home before this trip, so to me 's something of a vacation, though Oi do intend to go back eventually. Oi think if nothin' else Oi want to stick around 'til 'e gets back... mostly since Oi told Ryan Oi'd offer a hand with Valkyrie if she needs it. Although the dark girl's opinion of Anselm was gradually being moulded into something more positive, this trip had always been for the sake of the relatives he'd carelessly left behind... and now that she knew Ryan had birthed a daughter in Anselm's absence, she felt all the more obliged to stick around and help. They were family, after all.
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#10
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YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


More observant than even she gave herself credit for, the girl noted Maserati's vague discomfort when speaking of her father, who apparently hadn't stopped and given her time to get to get to know him. Sure, it made sense, it was easy for the men: knock up some girl, then take off. Not that the women weren't at fault here, or anything. Should've known better. Unless they were forced. Anselm didn't strike her as the type; though she had never known him as well as she could have, she had always seen him as a child would see a leader, as a stoic figure representing what was right in the world. She wondered how many other kids he had out there.


She nodded as the red-striped wolf finished. "This is a pretty nice place, I guess, as far as places go. The city is always interesting to explore. You kind of make me wonder how much family I have that I don't know about." The last part the hybrid added as her mind lingered on the thought; belatedly, she wondered if she really even cared. Nah, probably not. "Also, your dinner's probably gonna rot soon if you don't eat it," the girl added with a grin, glancing down at the bird the dark wolf had ambushed with the help of her sidekick. Which, she supposed, sort of made sense: maybe keeping raccoons was no different than keeping crows.



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