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For Melisande
Naniko hadn't been here for a while, to this territory. This was where she'd been born, or so Physe had told her...and this was the place that her mother and father had left her, her sister had left her, and her adopted father had died. It seemed strange that she wasn't living here, in this place that held so much of her history...but she'd moved to somewhere better. Naniko was a social wolf; she wouldn't have been able to survive without anyone to talk to. That was probably what had kept her in Clouded Tears, even after Iskata, Magdalena, and Davinci had left her. The fear of being alone.
This sparse territory didn't have a lot to offer her sight except for familiarity...she knew where everything was, here. She knew that Physe had left a large amount of alcohol hidden beneath the floorboards in the halfway built cabin, she knew that there was a pack of matches and tinder in the cabinet beneath the basin in the kitchen there.
The girl sighed, her tail hanging lifelessly, brushing the ground behind her as she walked. She would grab a few bottles and take them back with her to Clouded Tears. Maybe she'd see someone interesting on the way back.
Melisande hadn't done enough wandering since she'd been home, it was almost as though she was afraid to leave Clouded Tears alone again, even for a moment. So much had changed since she'd been gone, now she didn't want to miss a moment. But she forced herself out, from time to time, to enjoy life in the rest of the world. She was strolling through the lands, thinking that things were incredibly boring this far out, when she heard a rustle in the little shabby looking cabin she was passing.
Melisande tiptoed carefully around the side of the building, and peered through what might have once been considered a doorway. She let her breath out, seeing that it was just another wolf, not to mention someone of her own pack. She gave a friendly little bow and a wag of her tail. "Hello there, I thought you might be a bear or something with all the noise you were making... what are you doing with the floor?" She didn't mean to be so blunt, but Melisande tended to blurt things out when she was surprised.
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Ah haha--we should have some guy wolfiez join this >_> and be all...DRINKING PARTY!!
It wasn't as if she were stealing the stuff, since the owner of it had died...but she still felt a little guilty about it. Maybe someone else had wanted some. There was a very large store of it, though, one big enough for the entire pack. Three or four bottles of it wouldn't be missed. It was cold enough that the drink would be nice and chilly-she could have some once she got back to the den.
She had been thinking about moving out of the den beneath the willow tree, her old den, but wasn't sure where else she could go. She wanted to be closer to the rest of the pack, so that she might see them more often, in passing. But she really did like her den. She loved the way that the roots of the willow made a hollow, one that was disguised by the ever swaying branches of the tree itself. If the roots grew at all she didn't notice it. Either that, or they grew around her area. Maybe all of the herb-mixing had affected the tree and made it want to stay away from her?
She grasped a left behind crowbar, pulling up the first floorboard. There was a few empty boxes here...she must have picked the wrong board. Naniko went over to the rug, picking it up and moving it. Ah! Yes, this was the right place, for sure. She pulled up another floorboard....and yes, there was the stash. Suddenly, though, she was disturbed. Caught unaware, she dropped the crowbar, jumping up. "What?" Was her first response. She hadn't processed everything yet. Someone was here, someone from her pack--and they'd seen what she was doing.
"Oh--I'm taking up the floorboard to see what's underneath" She explained, after a few moments of silence. "This was my father's house--he left some..drinks beneath the floorboards, drinks he brought back from the city" The green eyed wolf put the floorboard aside, then turned back around. "Sorry for not introducing myself--I'm Naniko. You live in Clouded Tears as well, don't you?"
Melisande jumped a little as the other wolfess dropped her crowbar, startled. Then she took a deep breath. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you," she said, wondering what sort of drinks a fellow could possibly have. She'd only ever heard of alcohol, strangely enough, and it didn't come to mind now. For an intelligent lady, she could be extremely innocent, especially when it came to things that had to do with humans. She had lost her interest in human things as she grew up, although she still thought their languages could be interesting.
"Yes, I live in Clouded Tears too. I'm Melisande Sadira." She could have just said her name, as it was obvious enough that the home of all Sadiras was the home she had just announced so proudly. She couldn't help but note that although there weren't quite as many Sadira's as there had once been, there was still a racist amount of white wolves residing in the area, and this one was no exception. She gave a little bow, sure that she'd probably at least breifly met this femme before. Either way, they couldn't recall each other. "Its nice to meet you."
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She didn't know everyone in the Sadira family, but was familiar with a few of them. Iskata had been the one to take her in when she'd been hurt before...had halfway raised her. She even used the word "halfway" lightly; Iskata had been very absent during her puppyhood, and had left a half-grown Naniko to raise her adopted sibling alone.
She put the bottles down on the floor, putting the floorboard back. "It's okay. I just wasn't paying attention" She grinned sheepishly. "I come from the D'angelo family. Not too many of us running around any more. I was raised in Clouded Tears...by someone that's left the lands again. Iskata."
Melisande smiled, peering over at the floorboard, wondering what she could possibly be looking for under there. Maybe she had lost something? Either way, it most likely wasn't her business. She contemplated coming back later and seeing, just to soothe her own curiosity, but of course the small white wolfess knew she wouldn't actually do that. Instead, she wagged her tail sociably.
She remembered her conversation with Phoenix when he had come for a visit to Clouded Tears. He seemed like an exceptionally nice fellow, to her, but she was well aware that there were many diputes between packs that she just didn't know about, so Melisande didn't mention it. Instead she shrugged a little. "Last I heard she was in Storm with her young pups and her mate." She wondered if Iskata had disappeared, or left there as well, and hoped not. For the sake of her children, friends, and her mate.
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"I talked with Phoenix's daughter Dierdre...she said that Iskata had left, a little while ago. But I'm not sure why. She has a habit of leaving...she raised me for a while, and had two pups-Magdalena and Davinci-, and then Davinci and Magdalena dissapeared. She went to find them, and brought back little Davinci, but then she left again just a bit afterwards. I was left with him, only a young one myself. I nearly starved that winter, despite what Laruku was doing to help us. After that my friend Conri came and helped us out."
"I saw her a few months later, all the way down in Inferni...but she wasn't herself. She tried to attack me. I shifted and tried to defend myself, but ended up having to run away. I didn't see her after that...just heard about her. I heard that she had a new family in Storm, that she had "recovered". But now she's gone again, I suppose. Davinci left, too, to look for his sister."
Naniko stopped for a minute after the explanation. Hopefully it hadn't been too much information at once. "If she comes back and I hear about it, I'll tell you. Today I just came out here to the moaning woods to see if there was anything left of the supply...I guess I can let you in on it. Physe left some alchohol here, beneath the floorboards" She grinned, gesturing toward the cabin.
It took a moment for the whole story to sink in. The wolfess came and went, she lost her mind occasionally, and left those she had once loved and formed attachments with in the dust, only to do the same over again. She remembered Iskata as Melisande had once known her. The femme had made her a necklace before, hadn't she? She still had it somewhere. That was a long time ago. Phoenix had made their family sound so secure and happy, like she loved being with her pups, and wouldn't leave them for the world. Melisande didn't know what to think of that.
But, being an eternally forgiving and understanding person, she couldn't quite bring herself to take a side against Iskata without hearing the other side. But then, Naniko wasn't asking for that. Truly, she sounded more worried than anything else, although there was a sort of bitterness there too. "I'm sure she has her reasons for doing things the way she does..." She couldn't find any other words to say, any other comforts. She nodded at the thought of alcohol. "Mmm, alcohol? I've never had any, to tell you the truth." She laughed a little, thinking of how nieve that made her sound.
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What should they do now? :o
She understood what had gone on only because she had been there, living it. It was a difficult thing to explain to someone, to have them hear your side of the story, but was glad that Melisande was accepting it. It would have been harder for the D'angelo wolf if the Sadira hadn't believed her about what had happened; Naniko was no liar. She hadn't been raised under the best conditions, that was true, and she'd had to form a lot of her own moral standings. But she always tried to be as truthful as possible.
Naniko didn't expect Melisande to take any side; Iskata was her family, and she...she wasn't. She was just a bystander that he stepped into the family ring for a couple of months...and then left it again. "Really? Wow. It's really good. At least, I think so. It can burn your mouth sometimes, depending on what kind you get...but this stuff's a bit milder. I like it mixed in with other stuff. You can take some home too, if you want--I doubt I can carry this much" She gestured toward the bottles at her feet.
Have some drinks? Unless you want to end it here? Uh, let me know before I reply lol.
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