Say a little prayer for me
#1
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It was still cold out, even with the sun high in the sky and the snow pretty much gone from the grounds completely. Rain had taken up where the snow had left off and now the basement was damp as well as cold, which was what had drawn the wolf out from his shelter. It was far to cold for his slight body and his stomach had been rumbling for most of the morning anyways. He'd taken the time to clamber up the stairs, carrying the huge box along with him, simply unaware of the the blood that seeped from the now soggy corner of the box as he went along. It made a small trail, up the basement stairs, through the hallway and then the main room, straight out the front door of the mansion.



He'd taken the box only as far as the back of the mansion, where he moved back only a few feet, beneath the shelter of a few sparse low hanging trees, and built his fire pit. It was only as he moved to take the small bits of venison from that box that he realized it had gotten soggy, that the box might have given way and he might have lost his morsels of meat if he had carried it much farther. Thinking himself lucky that it didn't happen, he proceeded to place the meat inside the empty pot, which gave a great sizzle as it hit the warmth of the pan. The other pot was well on it's way, rolling the white bits of rice as it boiled. The third pot, which had been set away from the fire, contained the vegetables that would make the best meal that he had eaten in weeks. A pot of stew always made everything better, especially the cold wet days.
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#2
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YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


Outside cold, inside warm. Therefore, the girl was inside, locked up in her room, where it was warm, unlike outside during these late-winter days when the moisture in the air made it almost worse then the middle of winter, when it was just bitterly cold. On top of her bed, the girl had an assortment of mismatched blankets, and she was curled up under these, reading one of the old comic books she'd found in the city -- the Justice League of America! It was exciting, but not as much as it could have been if she hadn't been hungry. And as her stomach growled, her nose twitched, catching the scent, however faint, of something that made her hungrier.


Hoisting herself out of bed, the young woman gingerly put down the comic and grabbed one of her blankets, which she slung over her shoulders as she exited her room. She was careful to close the door behind her as she left; it was her private sanctuary and she didn't like unwelcome visitors. Padding gingerly down the dusty stairs, she breathed in and identified the smell of blood. Fresh blood. Her stomach growled again and she followed it, hungry and subconsciously curious.


When she reached the back door, she paused, not wanting to go out into the cold, but after a moments' debate she just told herself to suck it up. So she went, blanket tight around her body, and smelled something else as well, something familiar but odd at the same time. It was then that she saw him, the guy sitting there, the one with the food, cooking like he owned the damn place. Now, this wouldn't have mattered if not for the simple fact that he was a wolf, and wolves were the enemy. Narrowing her eyes, Tal stopped in her tracks and spoke, perhaps a little more roughly than intended. "Who're you and what the hell you doing in my clan?"



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#3
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After a few moments of popping and spitting, Jasper leaned over to eye the small pieces of meat. They had browned around the outside, for the most part and he reached for the stick, which happened to be curved on one side, hooking it around the handle of the pot to give it a bit of a shake. The young man waited a few more moments, making sure they were cooked to the same degree that his father would have cooked them, before taking the pot of water and vegetables, pouring it all down into the pot of meat. With that complete Jasper set the empty pot aside, waiting for the sounds that told him the water was boiling. After he let it go for a while it would be time to add the rice (he didn't like mushy rice) and soon enough his 'gourmet' meal would be done.



It was about the time that he leaned back, trying to making himself comfortable while he waited, that the unwelcome words hit him. He didn't know who it was, didn't even take a moment to turn and look, and already his ears fell back against his skull. Fear filled him immediately, he knew better than anyone that the rest of Inferni would not take to kindly to the fact that he was living there. Gabriel hadn't taken well to him and that was long before he had been invited into Inferni, he still wasn't even sure if his half brother knew that Corona had invited him to stay.



After a few deep breaths, an unsuccessful attempt to calm himself, Jasper placed both hands on the ground and began to turn himself slowly, bi-colored eyes moving across the ground until he could see the creature. They traveled up, noting the blanket, until they met the face of the woman who spoke. She looked like Gabriel. "J..Jasper de le Poer.." He told her quietly, attempting the hold back the fear that made him want to speak in a loud, jumbled mess. "I live here." It was an attempt but he doubted that just saying so would make it that easy. Who in their right mind would believe that they had just openly allowed a wolf to stay with them? No one, unless they knew it had been because of a sister who was worried for her younger sibling.
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#4
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YOU MIGHT NOT FEEL IT NOW


The girl smelled the fear coming off him, thick in the air like the spilled blood of some hapless prey animal. She found it comforting to know that he feared her, as he should, as any wolf who would like to keep his eyes in his head should. At the same time, however, she was a little disconcerted by it; Talitha was small, short, thin like her mother, surely the last thing from intimidating. Furthermore, she was wrapped in a blanket, which didn't make it easy to get into any sort of battle stance. The only thing aggressive about her was her voice; what the hell was his problem?


"Jasper," Talitha repeated, staring at him, both brows raised, "de le Poer? You live here, you say? This is a coyote clan, kid," she told him bluntly. "You are a wolf, even if you are a de le Poer. I hate being reminded, by the way, that I'm related to wolves. All this filth in my blood." She frowned as she added this last part, realising in the back of her head that she was being unnecessarily cruel. But to her, it made sense; wolves were the enemy, she'd always known that. And in a sense, her family was the enemy too. After all, it had been a member of her family who'd destroyed her childhood.


"So who told you you could stay?" There were two names she would have accepted as a sufficient answer, and she listened intently to see if he'd reply correctly. Within the folds of the blanket, her claws were extracted, her fingers flexing slightly. This was instinct, and she barely noticed.



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#5
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She was disgusted, he could tell that before she even spoke it, and Jasper's ears fell back even tighter against his head. "Sorry." It was all he could manage in his confusion, though the clear part was that he hadn't wanted to upset or, in this case, disgust anyone. "I'll leave." In this instance it seemed the only thing that would remedy the situation. He could leave and then so would her disgust. At least that way he might be able to go back in to hiding and not have to chance another run in with anyone who would dislike him.



Jasper knew that it wouldn't be that easy. She wouldn't just let him up and leave, thinking that he didn't belong there. If anything, he was certain, she would take him out of the lands in pieces. If anything, even if she did let him slip away, he knew that he couldn't just leave the fire burning. He may have been childish in his ways but he was at least smart enough to know that. At her words his eyes lifted, grazing across her face for only a second, and it was in that moment that she realized just how much she resembled his half-brother.



"Corona said I could stay. She's my sister." He answered the younger woman after a moment of hesitation, having trouble resisting the urge to look at her once more. "You're Talitha?" The question was a quiet one, if not a slightly frightened one. It was a bold thing to ask but he had already met Ezekiel, which meant the only one of his niece and nephew that he hadn't met had been her. He could remember when his father told him about them, how excited he had been at the prospect of seeing them. That had been so long ago, though.

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