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Oh, she wasn't supposed to be here.
That much was obvious; there were wolf skulls lining their border, a clear and pungent warning of what would happen if she was caught on the wrong side of the line. No, perhaps that was naive - it probably didn't matter if they found her on either side of the line. Nobody would dispute it. That wasn't the only strike against her, either. She carried the scent of Dahlia de Mai on her fur, the pack that had started a war with Inferni. And the third strike was her fur itself - she was the daughter of Haku Soul, the man who had instigated that very war, leading the pack into battle. Her warm chocolate-brown pelt with the creamy underside, offset by wide, fearful baby-blue eyes, would be easily recognizable.
As the werewolf stood, transfixed by the gruesome display, her mind wandered back to the packlands. This place, Inferni, was intriguing. Dahlia... would anyone miss her if she was gone? They would probably assume she had run off, if Inferni didn't bother to haul her carcass back to their borders. Cercelee would care, but wouldn't notice for days, weeks, maybe a month or more? They never saw each other. Deuce would care, Coli decided. The former alpha had joined their ranks and taken Coli under her wing, letting her live with Taliesin and Willow. They would probably care if coyotes killed her. Hadn't Deuce already lost a child to coyotes?
Coli shuffled her small footpaws in the snow, rubbing her arms together from the cold. Her Optime coat was so thin... She felt frail in the winter months, exposed to the elements. She understood why some insisted on wearing human-style garments, although it was not her style. So why had she bothered to make this trek, putting herself in danger like this? She lived in perpetual fear as it was, so easily frightened by others, so terrified of the father who had beaten and raped her months ago. Her heart fluttered in her chest, and she nervously fiddled with her long mane of silky-brown hair. It was for Laurent... She had met Laurent in the old university building, and they had shared a touching conversation. Coli had never known love. The story he had told her, about his beloved Jasper, had struck a chord in her fragile soul, and she had not been able to forget the big crippled man. It did not bother her in any way that the two were both males; that seemed to her even more romantic, another hardship for them to overcome. But surely this was the greatest hardship of all? Because Laurent was a wolf, and she had caught wind of Jasper living in Inferni.
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The cold days, those filled with moisture or rain or snow, seemed to be the easiest for Jasper to get out in. If he knew anything at all, it was that coyotes were more slight and had shorter fur than most wolves did. That didn't speak much for Jasper though, who as almost as small as a coyote and had thin, plush fur that seemed to like to absorb moisture more than repel it. Even so, despite the fact that he kept himself locked in the basement of the mansion, it didn't mean that he always wanted to be inside. He liked to go out, at least now and then, and if it meant having to do so in the cold and wet, then he would.
He would have smelled her before having seen her were it not for the fact that it had been almost a year since he had lost his ability to smell. She was so quiet though, he didn't even hear her steps as she shifted and moved, and so it wasn't until he rounded the edges of the borders that bi-colored eyes fell onto her form. He was immediately nervous, curious, and he couldn't help to notice that she seemed afraid as well. Why was it that a wolf would wandered to the borders of a notorious wolf hating clan? Had she come to start trouble? Jasper doubted it, she seemed almost as afraid of everything in the world as he was, but even that would not stop his paranoia.
The young man continued a bit further, drawing himself around so that he could get a better look at her. He didn't know her, had never seen her or anyone like her, and concluded that it would be best for him to stay away. Of course, if she had come to start trouble, Jasper doubted that anyone would come to his aid anyways. "It's not safe here." Jasper said finally, leaning around one of the sparse trees that lined the Inferni borders, ears pressed back against his head. Maybe she didn't know Inferni was dangerous at all and, even though she was a stranger and he was frightened, he at least wanted to give her a chance to save herself.
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The soft-spoken voice startled her, and the lithe werewolf clapped her hands to her mouth, trying to stifle a surprised squeak as she whirled around. Her bright blue eyes were as wide as saucers as she sought the stranger who approached her. Heart hammering erratically in her narrow chest, she drew still, sizing up the small wolf lounging beneath the cover of a tree. He was her size - no, perhaps shorter - with pale, sandy-blond fur, his face partly obscured by the dark hair of his mane that feathered across one eye. Coli slowly let her claws drop to her sides, realizing that for once her life, luck had been on her side. This wolf fit the description - it had to be the man she was looking for.
"I... I know it's dangerous. I'm sorry for trespassing," she breathed, bowing her head respectfully. She had no way of knowing what rank Jasper held, or how seriously he took the rules of the packs. Either way, her instinct was to defer to his hometown authority. Her long silky hair fell forward as she bowed, hiding her anxious expression. He did not seem to be threatening her, not yet, but she always feared the unknown. Anything could happen. People snapped. Her ears fell back shyly, and she glanced up towards the lean young man, curiosity beginning to tease her. "You... Pardon my boldness, but might you be Jasper de le Poer, son of the Alpha of Chimera...? I... actually came here to find you..." A chill wind followed her statement, ruffling her thin brown fur as it stirred the loose snow on the ground. Coli tried to resist shivering, but with her nerves jangling with the acute sense of "danger", the cold was too much to resist. Her plumed tail curled about her slender hindquarters, trying to protect her from the frigid winter air.
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She seemed different than anyone else that he had met, he could tell that almost immediately. It wasn't just the way that she looked, which Jasper would admit was quite a bit different from the normal black and white wolves that seemed to roam the lands, but it was her demeanor. She was frightened, and perhaps rightfully so, but for a moment it all made Jasper comfortable in his own skin. "It's not that.." He tried to explain to her, he had never been good at speaking to others, though. "I just don't want you to get hurt or in trouble." Because, should someone else come along and find her also, Jasper knew that he couldn't protect her.
His worry for being able to keep her out of harm's way went to the back of his mind at the mention of Chimera. That pack wasn't something that Jasper had ever expected to hear about again, or at the very least, not from a complete stranger. He could remember the stories from when he was little, about how his mother and father had lived there, how they up and left with another small portion of their family. He had come after that, but even now, the young man wondered what it had been like back then. "I..I am.." His answer was hesitant and he was left suddenly unsure. Why would she be looking for him? "Did my dad send you?" Wasn't Ahren allowed to come here? He was the leader's father, after all. Unfortunately for Jasper, he wasn't yet aware that his father had passed away.
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Against the white of the snow, Jasper's sandy fur seemed pale, like a ghost. Was he really there? Coli felt a strange connection to the de le Poer man, seeing how he struggled to explain himself. He was shy like she was, wasn't he? Laurent was right. She smiled faintly, trembling in the cold of the elements. A clandestine meeting. "D-don't worry," she murmured, her crystallizing breath wreathing her muzzle. "I don't mind, not really. I wanted to meet you..." Now that she had accomplished her nigh-impossible task of finding him, she felt more at ease in the hostile territory. She had finally done something right, helped someone out; she was not completely useless after all.
She was lucky that he had not strayed too far. Laurent might even be in the abandoned shell of the university still. She could lead the two back together again. Why did it matter so much to the Dahlian wolf? She had to know that happy endings could exist. She needed to believe in love, even if she could not find it herself.
Coli cringed as Jasper reacted to the mention of his father. No, she had never met Ahren de le Poer, not that she remembered, anyway; she had no news of the former alpha, but it seemed she had accidentally gotten his hopes up. She edged nearer to the tree he leaned against, seeking protection from the fierce winter winds, and possibly other watchful eyes. She did not know how diligent Inferni's border patrols were, but she could not afford to get her new friend in trouble... that would be too cruel, after having finally found him. She touched his arm, a brief gesture, before replying. "No. I'm sorry... he wasn't the one to send me. I was sent here by Laurent Nakado... He's still looking for you."
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She was, if he had to put it in to words, fascinating. Perhaps as fascinating to him as he was to some others but in a wholly different way. He could have easily passed it off as a chill in the air or the fact that she was standing on enemy borders, but Jasper couldn't, he couldn't dismiss the feeling that he had that told him she might be the only one in the world that could understand him. He was a timid one, but not of nature, because of something that had happened long ago and now because of the overwhelming fear of losing everything he had again, which was happening right under his nose, even if he wasn't quite aware. She even wanted to meet him, apparently, and despite being someone that he had only known for a few moments, it made him happy.
When she moved in a bit closer, Jasper did so as well, an attempt to block the chilly wind and to keep her from the eyes of anyone that might be 'looking over his shoulder' so to speak. He couldn't be sure who all was aware of his presence in Inferni now, but he didn't doubt that at least a few of them had noticed his scent here and there. Soon she answered him and his ears pricked forward just a bit. If Ahren hadn't sent her, then how did she know him? His question was soon answered though, and as soon as the name slipped out of her mouth, he was stunned. His breath left him for a moment and he was certain his heart was beating so hard that it would burst out of his chest at any moment. "Laurie?" The name came out breathless and he finally took a moment to breath before speaking again. "Is he okay?" He could only assume that, wherever he was, it wasn't anywhere close by.
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Jasper edged nearer as well, the two fragile souls drawn magnetically together. Snowflakes whirled about them, settling on his mane of dark hair, on her long eyelashes, on their wet nose tips. There was some irresistible quality to this timid man, something that she could not tear her eyes away from. Was it that they shared some fundamental fear of the world around them? Or was it simply that she had never really encountered someone she could relate to so easily...
Laurie. What a sweet, tender nickname. Jasper had changed so instantly at the mention of his lover - stunned, breathless, hopeful, even afraid of what he'd find. It was clear the shy wolf still loved Laurent, which was enough to move Coli's lonely heart. The time they had spent apart must have been cruel to both of them, and she hoped the distance they faced now would not be too great for them to reunite. "He... he was hurt, Jasper. Trying to find someone to help you... He said you were sick." The memory of the big male's vivid electric-blue eyes resurfaced in her mind, the way his voice had cracked as he explained, 'My mate got sick. I had to find my sister, she's a healer...but then I got hurt. I think I got back too late...'
She hesitated for a moment, biting her lip as she remembered how he had been a shell of a man. Would he still be there, waiting, yearning for what he once had? It had been some moons ago. What if... what if it was too late, and he had given up hope? She shook her head vigorously, to clear away those negative thoughts. "Jasper, he's back, he's staying in the old abandoned city, and he still needs you. Can you... go to him?"
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