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The dirt and grass tore up from beneath her paws and she dug frantically at the earth. The tulips and lilies, early bloomers of the season, had already been unearthed but Cercelee fancied that no one cared. No one in particular had taken up the big Wolfville home and the garden had been mostly over grown. Still flowers here and there sprung up, fighting for survival amongst the weeds, providing bountiful pockets of color in the overwhelming green garden. Now the corpses of such flower lay scattered here and there in Cercelee’s wake, a trail of dead foliage followed her.
Conor and Emwe. Rip, tear, dig. Haku. Rip, tear, dig. Avarice and Catharsis. Rip, tear, dig. Firefly and Svara. Rip, rip, shred. Large and small holes dotted the once tranquil lawn and Cercelee surveyed her “work”. Shaking herself out she paused, as if to consider if the endeavor was worth continuing. Slay, Roulette, Catalyst, Palindrome… Rip, rip, rip. Her two front paws dug at the earth and every so often she dove at the lawn and came up with a mouthful of turf, shaking it furiously from side to side like a dead rabbit.
The longer this continued the more light hearted she grew. At first it had been frantic, destructive and angry. Now it was still destructive but she bounced about the yard, tail waving, rather than tore through it. Now and then when she spotted a flower she nipped the head off of it, tossing it into the air by flinging back her head. Cercelee wasn’t aware of how she looked, covered in dirt and more black than white currently. Nor did she care. No one was around to see her anyway.
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The tiny young lady knew her way from Inferni to Phoenix Valley and back, but when she took the time to alter her trail and explore she pretty much ended up lost, and like many of her adventures before the miniature optime had no clue how she was going to get back to Ryan's den this time. She knew by the scent of this place she'd been here before, though it had been a day that she hadn't wanted to remember and had locked most of the tragic event from her mind. She had yet to tell Ryan or Gabriel about what had happened to her and how she'd come to shift into the more adult form. She wasn't proud of the fact that she'd been able to shift nor the fact that she was now stuck in the form, having no clue how to escape back to her more solid appearance.
She'd been trapped in the strange body for over a month now but she was growing use to it. She'd even learned to climb trees and her short compact size made it so easy, as long as the branches weren't too high she could manage to scale the trees quite quickly. Today though she had kept to the ground, the small leather pouch around her neck, the weight of the items beating against her chest as she scurried from bush to bush, hiding from the strange sounds and frantic actions that were coming from the garden. She was trying to sneak across the open ground and to the last bush before she could escape to the world beyond the murky monster she'd glimpsed from between the clustered branches of her hideaway. She saw the beast turn away and knew it was her chance.
Darting out into the open lands she tried as quickly as she could to scoot quickly into the last bit of cover but she didn't see one of the holes that the wolf had been digging and her little hindleg got caught in it, sending the awkward young girl sprawling out in the weeds. She let out a positively pathetic wail of fear as she tried to gather herself up again to flee before she could be caught but her paw had got caught under a stubborn root in the hole and as much as she tugged at it she couldn't free herself. Her eyes grew wide as she glanced towards the wolf that had been terrorizing the lands.
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Thread-bombing~! Sorry if I've intruded, let me know if I should leave...
Colibri cupped her hands around the delicate bloom of a daffodil, its bright yellow petals vibrant against the muted tones of the earth surrounding it. A tiny smile played on her muzzle as she carefully scooped up the loam around its stem, neatly picking up the entire plant. There! Now she could carry it home as she had transported some of the other flowers, and make a tidy flower garden outside of the house. With Willow gone, Deuce could use some cheering up. And without the curious pup nosing around, Coli didn't have to worry as much about whether or not the plants were pup-safe... She doubted Conor and Emwe would be allowed to visit her there, so they'd be safe as well. Sighing, she rose fluidly to her feet, silky mane tumbling down her back. She still hadn't worked up the courage to visit Crimson Dreams...
It was then that she caught a curious scent, one very familiar to her. Someone was here from Inferni... someone small. Surprised, but pleasantly so, the werewolf padded along the stumbling trail left by her little friend from the beach. Zana hadn't come looking for her, had she? Unlikely, but Coli felt a rare flutter of playfulness, hoping to startle the coyote child with her presence. She was so focused on following the footprints, she missed the other scent entirely. Her head popped through the bushes into the clearing at about the same time Zana wailed in fright, and her wide blue eyes took in a strange scene.
"Zana! It is you! What are you doing in Dah... Cer...celee..." Her voice trailed off guiltily as she bit her lip, dropping the daffodil to the ground. She had been doing a mighty fine job of avoiding her once-best friend; she had arrived in the dead of winter, and already the seasons had progressed to mid-spring. A million excuses flooded to her lips; I've been busy, I was too nervous, I didn't want to disturb your family, I didn't think you wanted to talk to me anymore. None of them were fair. She could have easily approached her snowy-white friend during one of their pack meetings, but instead clung to Deuce like a small child. And what was Cercelee doing here, anyway? Didn't she have a mate to dote on, puppies to raise? Why was she out here by herself, destroying the lawn like a frustrated dog on a chain? So many flowers, strewn about and wasted... Swallowing nervously, she wiped her now-sweaty palms against her sides, and emerged fully from the natural cover. "H-how are you...?" she whispered, staring at her feet.
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Thud and wail. It was the noise that snapped Cercelee back into the real world and she turned to see a small figure, certainly not of Dahlian origin, sprawled out on the ground, apparently caught in one of Cercelee’s own holes. A wave of guilt flooded the female as she realized that was she was doing really was destructive and then it felt as if a stone dropped in her stomach. Colibri Haki was by the girl’s side and Cercelee slowly crept towards them. The girl, her cousins, her friend, noticed her and Cercelee smiled weakly. Coli, Coli, Coli. She had to fight the urge to attack the helpless lawn right at that moment. Not only would she look even more like a lunatic, it would really make the situation awkward.
“I’m well, how are you?” Her body posture was normal, friendly, her voice warm and flowing… a stark contrast to her physical appearance of dirt and grass clinging to her coat, almost unrecognizable as the Rosea or as Cercelee. Navy eyes moved down to the figure at her feet, the little girl, shifted and sprawled and Cercelee smiled at her warmly too. “Do you need some help?” Coli would be of more use, having hands currently while Cercelee had only four paws, but she offered.
Her eyes flitted back to Coli and internally she was at a lost. Anxious and awkward were only two of the words that could describe this meeting. They hadn’t much talked since Coli had come home, not since Cercelee had assaulted Haku for his sins against his daughter. She had never even told Coli that she had avenged her in such a manner. Perhaps it was because Cer needed to pretend what had happened between her Lilium and her best friend had never happened. Perhaps it was because she didn’t know how to deal with it. Avoidance was best and Cercelee would avoid the topic of why they weren’t speaking like they should as long as she could. Thankfully they had a nice little distraction. She turned to the girl who smelt heavily of Inferni and bowed her head. “I’m Cercelee, who might you be?”
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Zana had not expected to be bombarded with strangers but here she was and they seemed to appear from all around her. Her eyes grew wide as she heard someone say her name, wiping her head around she caught sight of Colibri and gave a cry as she reached out towards the lady who had visited her on the beach so long ago. "HELP!" She wailed, she was a little too old to be demanding to be picked up but she needed saved and Colibri was the one she knew, plus she didn't look crazy like the white wolf did.
She stood there with her arms upraised as Colibri suddenly seemed to forget all about Zana and actually turned to talk to the monster who'd been setting all the Zana sized traps across the ground. She slowly dropped her arms down as tears came to her eyes, thinking that the stranger was going to eat her now and Colibri was going to let her. Sniffling to herself she watched as the wolf came closer towards her, her own hindleg still stuck wedged under the root as she was forced to stay.
When the blue eyed stranger began to talk to her Zana leaned towards Colibri, trying to show the other woman that she didn't like her none to well at this moment as she gave another tug on her leg and finally sadly admitted. "Yeah.." She really didn't want to accept the help of the lady who'd trapped her in the first place but it looked like she had no choice of Colibri wasn't going to pick her up!
She watched with distrust as the two spoke above her, the conversation required no words from her right now but she still wanted to make certain she wasn't missing out on anything, like if the crazy lady was about to make her into dinner or a delicate desert. She flicked her ears back as she eyed one and then the other, finally her thistle eyes moving back to the white woman as she graced her with a name. Wringing and worrying at her hands she spoke softly, still not wanting to really have to talk to the wolf. "I'm Zana.." she said before asking quickly. "You're not gonna eat me are you?" it was better to get the question out of the way really early in the conversation. She really was tired of all the stupid wolves trying to eat her.
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Coli felt an odd twisting in her gut, an uncomfortable guilty pressure as she avoided Cercelee's deep blue eyes. Down on all fours, as muddy and messy as she was, it reminded her strongly of their puppy days, how they used to be around each other. Coli couldn't bear the reminder of how much she had changed, how weak and pathetic time had rendered her, and decided instead of trying to stammer out another answer, she would focus on her little friend from Inferni.
"Hush, Zana, it's okay," she murmured, kneeling beside the felled pup. "It's a surprise to see you shifted! Congratulations! Have you tried out your slingshot yet?" She smiled shyly as her delicate hands scooped away the earth near the tree root, attempting to free her trapped footpaw. She remembered distinctly how vehemently Zana did not want to be touched, and even though in her desperation she had reached out her tiny hands, Coli thought it might be better to help her out this way instead. "You know wolves don't eat coyotes. Who gave you that idea?" she continued innocently, oblivious to the startling number of dangerous encounters Zana had survived.
The shy wolf settled back to a sitting position on the grass, resting her chin on her knees as she surveyed the destruction of the lawn. Finally curious enough, her sky-blue gaze flitted nervously back to her Rosea. "What's... going on, Cer... celee? Is everything okay?" Her head tilted slightly to one side, silken mane tumbling over her narrow shoulders. She patted the grass beside her, inviting Zana to come sit as well. She was grateful for the company - even a scared child was more comfort than facing her friend alone. After their embarrassing reunion, she hadn't the heart to try and reclaim the confident persona of her youth. She just wasn't the same person anymore, and it was a big disappointment to everyone, especially herself.
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“Of course I wouldn’t eat you Zana. No one in Dahlia eats other canines.” Cercelee was taken aback by the suggestion of cannibalism. The subject was taboo, a grave sin no matter what beliefs one might subscribe too, and why would this child have such an idea in her head? Even more concerning was Coli’s cool reaction to the girl’s inquiry and it struck Cercelee then that the two knew each other, perhaps even well. Navy eyes floated from one face to the other and the two year old wolf was suddenly very much reminded how far removed her and Coli were from one another.
Their lives, which had once been so intermingled and connected, were now worlds apart. Always in her heart she had thought of Coli as her friend, best friend, and she had believed the girl would return to her. Cercelee had waited, waited, waited and while she waited she had lived her life. Dahlia de Mai had sprung up, Slay had entered her life and so many others had filled voids that Coli had left. Never once did she stop to think that while she was living her life, she was growing further apart from her friend. And now Coli was back and there was suddenly a gap that Cercelee didn’t know how to close.
Once upon a time Cercelee would not have hesitated. All her worries and concerns, every tiny trouble Cercelee felt, would have come rushing out at the bidding of her friend. Now she regarded Coli and debated on how much to tell her. The troubles of Haku, the troubles caused by Haku, were a scary subject to unleash, and Coli would know that Cercelee was not the type to bend beneath the weight of silly matters. Coli didn’t know Slay, and didn’t really know the children either. Not like she should. What was there to say. “Nothing is wrong.” A deliberate, and obvious lie.
Again her eyes floated to Zana and back to Coli and Cercelee settled herself down on her haunches, her tail wrapped nonchalantly about her feet. Speaking to Coli, as much as she wanted to, seemed strange and foreign to her. She wanted to know her friend again, but had no idea how to start. Titling her head to coyote child, she smiled softly, her voice curious and light. “How do you know Coli?” She looked back to her friend, her cousin, a stranger.
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Zana had no clue what in the world was going on between the two adults but she didn't think she cared for the mud smeared monster who had been destroying the beautiful world just moments ago. While she clung to Coli she whined and tried to hide her head as the chocolate and cream lady began to free her captured foot. She glanced fearfully at the white wolf as she sniffled. "I didn't wanna change, the monster made me.." Though the monster wasn't the same as the one who'd burned her tail they were all still monsters the same.
When Colibri freed her foot and chided her for having such silly notions in her head about wolves eating coyotes she pulled on the lady's fur and shook her head, staring up at her in disbelieve as she squealed. "They do too! The big brown one with blue eyes tried to and the yellow eyed monster did as well!" She was beginning to shake thinking of the monsters of her past as she began to wring her hands around the little leather pouch as she nervously glanced over to Cercelee. "She still might eat me.." she whispered loudly.
In almost no time the white lady had pushed away that idea as she tried to defend herself and the whole pack. Zana narrowed her eyes in doubt and tried to hide from the white wolf as she muttered. "How you knows, you're not everybody!" Really, she kept things from Ryan and let Ryan assume that she knew everything, it made perfect sense to her than others might do the exact same thing, but Zana's things she hid weren't horrible like trying to eat a poor little girl just for fun.
Suddenly it seemed that the attention was all on her as the important lady seemed to decide that she wanted to know more about the child. Zana pushed herself away from Colibri and glance around, looking to see if there was a way to escape incase the one called Cercelee decided to keep her here. She picked at the piece of leather holding her pouch shut as she replied. "She showed me how to make the mean old birds go away. She found flowers and leaves and berries and showed me." she glanced back to Colibri, hoping that she wasn't getting the other in trouble as she spoke.
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WC: 500+
Cercelee looked her straight in the eyes and lied. It stung, knowing that her weak advances had been so instantly rejected. It was one of the most integral differences between them, despite how close they used to be - Coli could hide nothing from her face, and Cer could hide everything. Cer could paint a picture of concentrated innocence, blanking her face and guarding every emotion that might be roiling inside. Coupled with her snowy-white fur, it made her seem cold sometimes, especially right now. But Coli could never quite master the art of acting, and her expressive blue eyes always betrayed everything she felt. Like right now. They welled up with hurt, before she quickly averted them, nodding silently in agreement with her best friend's fib. If... she didn't want to talk about it... there was nothing she could do about it. Zana's tiny hands clung to her fur, and the sensitive girl gave her a tiny smile, wishing she had someone to cling to in return.
As the coyote-hybrid chattered fearfully about the beasts who had terrified her, one description in particular caught her ear. "B-blue eyed...?" Coli stammered, obediently meeting Zana's urgent thistle-purple gaze before glancing meaningfully to Cercelee. They both knew, now, that Haku was not himself, or that the odd, distant self he had shown them in their childhood had not been the real "him". Perhaps her paranoia was jumping to conclusions, as it often did, but she knew how her sire felt about coyotes. Poor Zana, despite being an innocent child, would honestly be in danger from their pack's second-in-charge. Cannibalism, while it instantly turned her stomach to imagine, was sadly not something she would put past him. At least Cer didn't have to be so closely related to the man! Now every time she heard a Haku rumor, she was left wondering whether it was something she would do when she inevitably lost her sanity...
The mud-daubed Rosea settled onto her haunches, putting them all on the same level. Turning her attention to the trespasser from Inferni, like a good leader would. And yet, rather than asking the edgy youth about her home or her family, as Coli had foolishly done when they first met, Cercelee instead probed her about their unlikely friendship. The chocolate-furred werewolf swallowed nervously, her chin resting on her knees. She had not openly explained to Cer what hobby she had relied on, to get her through her year of solitude. She had told Firefly and Svara, at the borders, but the catty females hadn't repeated much that day before they were chased off. And friends like Rath and Sankor only knew that she gardened, not her esoteric knowledge. "J-just some natural remedies," she amended, hoping that her cousin wouldn't pry further, but knowing that her stammer might lead to the opposite. She liked poison. It kept her calm, knowing that her home had a moat of natural defenses, that even though she was thin and brittle and weak, she was not helpless. She let a small, reassuring smile play on her muzzle, directed towards the ribbon-tailed coyote. Nobody was in trouble. She hoped.
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Cercelee watched as the girl recited the information, the big bad wolves that ate little girls. Cercelee shook her head, they weren’t of Dahlia origin, she was sure of it. Coli’s concern was not lost on Cercelee, she knew who the girl thought of: Haku. Even if Haku had scared Zana, or threatened her, he would not really eat the Inferni girl. Cercelee knew that. Haku was not so stupid as to cause conflict with Inferni, knowing that his own Rosea would hand him off to Gabriel. Zana questioned how she knew, and Cercelee looked at the little girl, and then to Coli. “Because if any of them did, I’d eat them myself.”
Of course she wouldn’t really eat them. But if anyone from Dahlia ate another’s child, well it was unlikely they’d live to see another day and certainly not within the Dahlia borders. The words were as much for Colibri as they had been for Zana. Perhaps even more. It was nearly impossible to make Coli feel safe in the pack that harbored her father and own personal demon, but Cercelee had to try. She owed it to Haku as much as she did Coli, and it tore her apart, the two loyalties that conflicted so greatly.
Cercelee smiled at Coli, glad that the conversation was off herself and the desecrated lawn. Hopefully it was away from Haku too, whose name had never actually been spoken. “Plants, eh? Coli didn’t tell me she was into plants.” Actually her and Coli hadn’t told each other much about the past year and a half that they had been apart, and they were still apart despite being right next to each other. “What kind of plants get rid of little birds Zana?” Or did she not want to know?
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Zana's little lip pouted out as he scowled, her eyes turning from Colibri to Cercelee as she tried to figure out what to believe. Finally when Cercelee spoke and stated that the wolves of her pack wouldn't eat her Zana looked back to Colibri and asked, "They won't eat me Colibri?" She wasn't certain if she should trust the white woman before her, she after all had destroyed the whole garden before them. She frowned as her lavender eyes turned back to Cercelee and she sat there silent for a moment studying the lady.
When she turned the conversation onto the poisons and plants that Colibri had taught her about she turned her eyes from Colibri to Cercelee again and as Colibri gave a muttered reply about little things. Zana didn't want to get Colibri in trouble if she wasn't suppose to be teaching her about the plants but they were only plants.. what kind of trouble could they cause.
She opened her mouth a moment then closed it before she shuffled and glanced down at her little hands. "She taught me about black oak.. it makes animals sick.." She had learned of other plants by trial and error with the animals around Inferni but she didn't think that the while woman needed to know that, instead she peered up at the lady and frowned, realizing that in a hazy memory she thought she knew her from somewhere.
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