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The soft glow of nightfall had been what parted Jezebel and Gabriel as they had spent time catching up the day before, and with night came sleep, and with sleep memories of the past. This usually caused early mornings for the ashen beauty and she could be found out prowling the caverns in the north of Inferni, her lepus form slim, fur sleek and shimmering in the early morning light.
She wondered briefly if any others were early rises like herself, her ruby eyes roaming her surroundings, scenting the light, cool breeze with interest. It seemed today would be a better day then any to explore her knew home, and with this in mind she set off towards the south west of Inferni. the rocky and greenery filled terrain soon turning into sand.
The diversity of Inferni amazed her, and she paused to admire the ocean in the distance, waters choppy and gray in the early morning glow. Suddenly the snap of bone and sinew broke the silence, a few pinches of pain as Jezebel's limbs elongated, and body stretched into a curvaceous, feminine form, black hair tumbling down past her shoulders.
The shift done Jezebel let out a contented sight, and she relaxed down against a nearby log that was wedged into the sand and grass, covering her eyes with her forearm against the glare of the sun, shifting in and out of consciousness as smoke filled her mind.
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Hey there. Hope you don't mind if I throw Ryan in here. :][html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/ ... purple.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;">
She saw less and less of Valkyrie and Zana as the days passed. The two girls were getting older now, and almost all restrictions limiting their exploration had been lifted. Ryan had let her mind drift into the clouds for so long now, that she wasn’t even sure what was happening in the young girls’ lives. Hell, maybe they didn’t even play with each other any longer.
She crept out of the cave, having slept there instead of the den that was situated just beside it. Ryan had made up a bed some time ago, comprised of fabrics she had and some things she had found in the city. It wasn’t anything grand, but it kept the moisture out of her fur. It was still early, and she was surprised to find the grasses still dotted with dew. It brushed against the hem of her dress, dampening it, but she didn’t seem to notice. She made her way to one of her favorites spots – the shore – and hummed quietly to herself. She wasn’t quite sure what the tune was, but only that it somehow seemed to be connected to her memories.
"Who are you?" Her voice seemed to come harsher than she meant it to be. But after she had traveled alone all this way, she was surprised to find a face she did not recognize. She could smell Gabriel on her – recent – and knew she must be a new member. Either that or the Aquila had given her special permission to trespass. Either way, as Gabriel’s subleader, she felt as if she needed to keep better tabs on the souls in the clan. She wasn’t doing such a hot job with encountering and getting to know all of the faces.
Ryan trudged down the small embankment, trailing by the stranger’s left side so that her paws hit the sand. She had missed the sunrise, but the water was as beautiful as always. She turned her crimson gaze back onto the stranger then, offering, "I’m Ryan de le Poer."
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[html]Not at all!
The sun soon rose to warm her skin as Jezebel relaxed beneath its steady glow, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings save for the occasional flick of one of her silky ears. It wasn't long into her visions of smoke and singed fur that the rustle of cloth and the soft hush of feet against sand announced someones presence, causing Jezebel to tense against the wood. Moving her forearm from her eyes and sitting straighter, tucking one of her legs beneath herself in case she had to crouch, Jezebel clenched her fist into the sands as an abrupt question met her ears. Training from her past seemed to have taken her over in that moment, but as she turned her gaze to look upon the approaching female the knots in her shoulders slowly seemed to relax. "Jezebel," she replied, masking her uncertainty with a smile. "It is nice to meet you Ryan, you must be a relative of Gabriel?" Or at least Jezebel hoped it was blood that related these two, they did bear a certain amount of resemblance so she did not look to far into it. She then stood as if that was what she meant to do all along, propping herself against the log as she looked interestedly at the varied browns, gray and the ashen line that ran from the tip of Ryan's nose and down her spine, before meeting up with the woman's crimson eyes once more. Jezebel's smile never faltered, her fingers playing absentmindedly with the cross around her neck as she continued to talk. "Gabriel accepted me just yesterday, he spoke a bit about his family and current events but time didn't seem to be on our side." Jezebel wished they could have spoken more, well into the night perhaps, where he could have even invited her to his home... but these were hapless dreams it seemed. "I've situated myself in one of the caverns just to the east of here," Jezebel said, knowing that Ryan held one of the important ranks of the clan. "I hope that is alright."
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Ryan eyed her curiously, wondering whether or not she had any ties with the clan. It seemed that many that had wandered here were related some way or another, and she wouldn’t be surprised if this lovely woman was somehow kin. She had never heard the name before, but that didn’t mean much. Ryan still didn’t know much about her own close family, let alone those distant relatives. "My father is Gabriel’s cousin," Ryan explained, nodding. So then it seemed that Ryan’s assumptions were true – Gabriel had allowed Jezebel to be here. Whether permanently as a member or as a visitor, she did not know yet.
The ruby eyes looked back to her own crimson, and she smirked to herself. That seemed to be a trait of many of the Inferni members. She wondered if that was what intimidated those who did not understand the true nature of the clan. Were the blood red stares what had everyone’s feathers ruffled? She shrugged, as if Jezebel had been the one to ask Ryan the question aloud. So, this woman was a new member. That was nice to know. It seemed the clans ranks had been thinning out lately. With the warmer weather, Ryan was hopeful new faces would show up. "That’s perfectly fine," Ryan told her then. "My daughter and I live in one as well, along with another young girl, so we might see each other more often then the others." Ryan assumed that many lived in the mansion. At least, she seemed to run into more faces there than anywhere else within the borders. "Welcome to Inferni," Ryan thought to add, warm smile playing her features. It would be nice to have another woman around. Inferni was lacking significant estrogen.
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"My father is Gabriel’s cousin." Ah, so that explained the younger woman's small resemblances to Gabriel. Jezebel's smile widened and she pushed herself up to sit on the log, shifting from left to right a little so she would not crush her own tail, then patting the spot next to her when she had settled, inviting Ryan over if she wished to sit. "Thank-you," came Jezebel's heartfelt reply to Ryan's warm welcome, glad to know that there were kind souls here. "Well it's nice to know I'll have neighbors then," Jezebel began, looking back out towards the ocean as it rose onto the shore and then pulled itself back in. "What is your daughters, and the young girls names? If you don't mind me asking." Jezebel felt it would be good to get to know Gabriel's family more, especially since he had mentioned quite a few things about them in the time she had known him before, and now that there were more additions it only felt right to get to know them as well. Were they all good people? Did they follow God as she knew Gabriel, and herself did? Had they seen war? All these questions slowly blossomed within her mind, causing Jezebel to knit her brows together as she looked down at her hands which she had placed upon her thighs. Now wouldn't be a time for such questions though, and she willed herself to look up and smile at Ryan, ears laying back into the dark and wavy hair that tumbled past her own shoulders.
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Ryan smiled towards Jezebel, taking the seat that the woman had offered her. "Oh," Ryan started, grinning in embarrassment, "of course." Somehow she felt as if she should have said their names before. "My daughter is Valkyrie and the girl who stays with us is Zana Lykoi." She wondered whether or not to reveal the children’s relations, but figured she would do so as to avoid further questioning. After all, it would be discovered sooner or later. "Hybrid, another member here, is Valkyrie’s father. And Zana’s mother was a leader over at Phoenix Valley. I’m not really sure of her history. She’s a strange girl, but easily wins your heart over." Ryan smiled at that, feeling content here by the shore with images of her daughter dancing in her mind. She loved the soft lull of the waves crashing not far from their feet. It had always soothed her. "If you don’t mind me asking," Ryan started, looking towards the woman and noticing the necklace hung around her neck, "where did you travel from?"
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Jezebel's tail started to sway gently behind her, glad that she was making a friend in the coppery leader. Jezebel had found it hard to make friends on the road, never staying long enough anywhere to form any bonds. "Such strong, beautiful names," the ashen woman said warmly glancing over at Ryan. "I've yet to meet Hybrid and don't know about the other packs though," Jezebel admitted, looking over her surroundings again. "It will be nice to meet the others, it's been so long since I've been part of clan life." Jezebel sighed, stretching her spine during the silence that followed, looking out over the ocean and perking her ears forward to listen to the sounds of the ocean as the sun started to grow brighter in the sky and warm her dark fur. Ryan spoke again and Jezebel tilted her head over with a smile. "Not at all," Jezebel assured, looking at her feet as she pushed them into the warming sand. "I came from the South, from around California," Jezebel began, deciding to leave out the details of what happened in California, "I haven't really stayed anywhere long until now. I came in search of Gabriel, and luckily enough found him. We were good friends in our youth." She played thoughtfully with the cross around her neck. "So have you been part of Inferni long?"
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Ryan easily smiled when Jezebel commented on the girls’ names. She agreed whole heartedly, though was obviously biased when it came to Valkyrie’s. She wondered what this woman would think of the name Gabriella, the poor child Ryan had buried along the shore. "Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll meet some new faces around here sooner or later. And I guess the most important thing to know about the other packs, is to stay away from Phoenix Valley. At least, for now." But she didn’t explain further, and instead looked out over the calm ocean water. She was curious mostly about this woman’s story, and how she had ended up here in Inferni.
California was not a place that Ryan had ever heard of, nor ever been to. The farthest west she and her mother had been was Kansas, though Ryan did not know of any names. She tried to conjure up an image of this far off place, failing in being able to visualize something different then Inferni. It had become her life now, so it was hard for her to think of places otherwise. Ryan smiled when she spoke of Gabriel. It was interesting to hear they had been friends during youth. She wondered if that had been in California as well or not. "Me? Oh well. It’s not quite been a year yet. I came to Inferni in the fall, looking for my father. He used to be a leader here." She didn’t explain that he had gone off. Although Maserati had come to explain some, Ryan still didn’t understand entirely where her old man had run off to. "I really like it here."
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_____"Your right, I'm sure I will." Jezebel replied, an ear twitching as she wondered what tension there was between Inferni and Phoenix Valley. Of course she did not know really anything about the other groups in the area, and had scented wolves throughout the area and figured it was a wolf pack. Jezebel had been quite prejudice of wolves ever since she was young, and though she did not mind living close by to them, she certainly was not fond in the least of them. The ashen woman decidedly shrugged it off, and did not bother questioning it further.
_____She shifted in her seat, resting her hands against the rough wood as she leaned back, letting her legs sway in a childish fashion in front of her, and leaned her head over to look at Ryan as the young woman answered her question. "Yeah, I've only been here a couple days and I've already fallen in love with this place." Jezebel said with a smile. It had probably mostly to do with the fact that she had been reunited with Gabriel again, though she left that part out. Then a silence ensued, and a small, devilish smile light up her face. Tail swaying playfully behind her Jezebel looked over at Ryan again and jumped up to her feet.
_____"Want to go for a swim? I'm curious to know how cold the water really is." Without waiting for an answer Jezebel started heading towards the calm waters, standing just out of reach as it slowly crawled up the beach then flowed back down, until the water swelled up to wet her feat with its cool waters. It wasn't to bad, but would probably take some getting used to once she walked into deeper waters. Looking back she waited to see if Ryan would join her. [/html]
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A smile easily found her features, and Ryan watched Jezebel spring up with ease. It had been some time since Ryan had last gone swimming, but she easily remembered the experience. She had happened to come across Anselm in the water, she just having some fun, while he did precise strokes to keep his body fit. It was strange to think back to that now, since it seemed so far in the past. "Of course," Ryan replied finally, stripping off the purple dress and laying it on the log where they had been sitting.
The water was cool when it finally rolled high enough to reach them. She had made her down the shore towards Jezebel, and smiled playfully as the water crashed at their feet. "It’s not too bad," and she took a few steps forward so that the water rose higher along her calves. It would take some getting used to, that’s all.
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[html]I'm horrible. >.>
Jezebel smiled broadly when Ryan agreed, and she moved further in with the younger woman, ear flicking towards her as she echoed Jezebel's own thoughts. With Ryan's dress off Jezebel could see more of the other woman's cream and coppery tones, envious of her variety of colors, as she had always been of other coyotes with more colorful fur. Her own fur was becoming soaked as she waded in past her thighs, then dived forward, skimming just between the surface of the water and the sandy, debris filled ocean floor.A moment later Jezebel resurfaced, taking a great breath before flipping her thick, wavy hair out of her red eyes, barely touching the floor of the ocean with the tips of her toes, feeling a few soft bumps as the more bolder fish came to inspect her. "It's so nice out here," Jezebel called over to Ryan, stroking her way a little closer to the other woman before relaxing back, letting herself float along the surface. [/html]
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