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Even autumn's slow, agonizingly inexorable drag towards winter could not affect the coastline as much as it would the inner landscape. Andre, still so young and naive in the matters of the world, knew this to be true; he'd overhead some speaking about how the beach remained warm, for the most part. The young coyote was also fairly quick to discover things, and one was that the further he went into the forest and away from the beach, the chillier it became. Granted, it was a gradual shift, and something he may have hardly noticed if he wasn't paying attention, but the fact remained that it was still a change.
Change was not appreciated. The Lykoi had already experienced some, mainly with the lack of emotion one might find more befitting a creature who had seen his entire family slaughtered before his very eyes and was encountered with numbness at even the mere thought of it, but that was Andre. That was how he was becoming, how the monster inside was rearing its head, yearning to come out and play. He wanted to let it out; that was why his feet wandered, bringing him further from home and closer to the large, ominous building on the horizon.
His reaction was nonexistent when one paw lifted from the warm sand and touched the colder drawbridge, which might not have been normal, either. Hell, he was far from normal. Silently, he proceeded to walk down the long, seemingly endless bridge, his eyes on the prize; the silhouette of the prison in the distance, the place he decided he would reach before the sun went down, for absolutely no reason.
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[html] She spun through emotions uneasily, as though it was time to wear a different mask to sit on the face of stoicism. Her thoughts were both where she exceed and where she had a downfall, but in truth Corona didn't know what to think. She thought about what Gabriel had said before, about how Inferni was a land full of children and that aside from her now gone mother, he was the oldest one there. She was angry in a sense, that after all of those days and nights that her mother had told them she would never leave them and how she would never abandon Inferni, she had. The real reasons why were any one's guess. It made her angry in the sense that she did not know if she believed in the clan any more, or in herself. Or perhaps something had just snapped in her mind and she was dissolving into nothing. Like the thing she had done to the place once before. More than anything though, she wished Kerberos was there. He was the oldest child of all of them, he would have surely known what to do.
She sat at the far end of the drawbridge with her head in her hands, just trying to make sense of the things that ran loose in it. There was a never ending mixture to her emotions, sometimes anger, sometimes sadness. There was even guilt on her part—she had been after all, the eldest daughter. She had been the one who went home with Daddy instead of staying with Mommy. Yet at the same time, she did not think that guilt was the right feeling to have. It wasn't her fault, her leaving had not affected Kaena in the way that rejection came towards her. She feared it, but she had always had her mother's love. That had been made clear the very night that she had come through borders to get face to face and tell her that. And out of all of the things Corona had forgotten in the past, she remembered that night as distinctly as it had happened. But she was torn even more at the dichotomy of the world; being a hybrid, she could lay claim to wherever she pleased. While she knew Gabriel could handle Inferni, she felt horribly inclined to go to him.
Masked in both coldness and the fog that rolled off of the sea, she sighed. [/html]
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He'd already come to realize that the Lykoi family was extensive.
They were also wolf haters, as Hybrid had explained quite easily to him.
Another thing he'd come to accept was that he was pretty much fatherless. He didn't know that the coyote hybrid that had helped him slaughter a rabbit by breaking her back legs so he would have a fair chance was also his father, whom he hated without really knowing. He hated his litter mates for simply being there; he had to share with them. He had to share his home, his life, his everything, with three other children that he believed to be entirely inferior. Rachias was older than he, but it made no difference; they were all the same. Insignificant.
He hated his mother because she'd left. Oh, he did not hate her for leaving because he missed her, for that was far from the truth. Rather, he was more disgruntled that she had left because of the impact it had on his plans to take them all over. Now he had to rearrange the blueprints in his mind, if not scrap them altogether, just to make room for the adjustments that would have to be made in Gabriel's stead. These were the things he thought about on a regular basis, and for that reason, he also hated his half-brother.
He hated Hybrid. He hated Faolin. He respected them both, if only for their own individual traits, if only for their place outside of his family but still within his life. He hated everything and everyone, for that was simply how he was; unable to love, unable to care and actually mean it. These feelings would never be genuine in him. And it was also the reason why, when he saw her just standing there—he didn't even know who the hell she was—he simply snorted as if irritated and fixed her with a dark, venomous glare of his blue eyes, which revealed only blooms yet of the acidic yellow they would become.
I hate you. Said with such clarity, it may have been said to a father who beat him, or a brother who laughed at him, or a hated enemy. Not, however, to a complete stranger.
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[html] As the small hours gave one final, juddering choke and lurched itself into the high pink morning, Tamerlane rested his large hands on his trim and hollow waist and paused in step to look over the Storm territory. It stretched before him for miles, beautiful and wild, twinkling under the fierce whiteness of the early sun and disappearing from his line of sight as he turned from it and headed away. It was perhaps a tribute to the territory that he now walked away from it. It was home enough, it seemed, to be considered for a return at the end of the day. But the rangy Luperci was a traveller, and always would be even if he spent the remainder of his life standing still, and the vast lands of Bleeding Souls would become more and more known to him as the days dragged themselves by. They were his acquaintance, and his aim was to have them develop into his friend and enemy. A long-suffering partner.
The jagged grey structure that touched the sky and plunged into the clouds was visible by the evening. Tamerlane ran a dirty hand over his skull and headed towards it, grey-black eyes taking in every distant inch, and turning towards the owner of the silhouette upon the drawbridge. Nearest to him was a child. It was a coyote (at least mostly so), and male; though still at the early age when androgyny was clear in the child's earthy fur. Tamerlane's sharp gaze soon noticed the sheer coldness in the child's baby blues, and it was directed at the form of a wolf, bowed and slender like a willow forced into submission by an unyielding storm. The young wolf had cream fur that shone gold in the blood-soaked sunset, and as both strangers were in the path he took, Tamerlane said what is the name of that penitentiary? his long stride slowing as he turned a soft gaze towards both dejected creatures. |
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[html] It had been the unmistakeable voice of a youth that pulled her back out of those mixed thoughts. The way his words bit the chill in the air did not surprised Corona when she first looked at him—he was most definitely a coyote from Inferni. The rich grey and red dashed fur only caught her interest; she held firm suspicion as to who he really was by behaviour alone, but the appearance only helped to sway his heritage. He smelled like her, even. The dislike, on the other hand, was somewhat mutual. “You don't even know me, brat,” she said right back to him, eyes then moving to a figure who loomed out of the fog.
The second fellow was definitely a wolf. His obscure markings caught her eye first though, while she had seen them before, his were very ornate and unique, leaving her to think if they really had any meaning at all. He was a tall figure that was weathered enough to look like a traveller, but he was a much finer, darker gold than Corona was. She had turned out more like Ahren in more than one way, despite their different personalities.
The traveller's question, on the other hand, garnered her attention away from he and the child and to the cold face of the structure behind her. “No idea. I've never been here before. At least, I've never noticed this drawbridge here before.” This had just been the first thing that seemed like a quiet, logical place to rest and think. Rising up to her feet and standing quite shorter than the wolf, Corona redirected her attention to the assumed Lykoi. “You should go home before someone worries about you. You're too little to be out here,” even though she knew she had done the same things. Better yet, she didn't even expect him to listen, especially to her. [/html]
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So wh't? Since when did he need to know somebody to hate them? The dark intellect lying within his mind told him that hating was something that came with living; you could look at somebody who was different than you and dislike them right away for their physical qualities. You could know them only through watching them rather than getting to know them, and hate their mannerisms. There were hundreds of ways to dislike and hundreds of ways to justify it, and he chose the one that really had no explanation whatsoever within the two words. Unfortunately, it was also the most vague and least effective.
At about this time, the new arrival made itself known. Both of these beasts were in whatever form Gabriel had been in, the one he aspired so deeply to achieve before his siblings did, the form he wanted so that he could on-up them all. Now that he had time to look them over, they were both somewhat similar. Corona sported gold fur, a lighter shade, with spots where it darkened and lightened as it should. Her eyes, upon closer inspection, were flawlessly blue, almost a shade close to his own, though his would disappear given time. Tamerlane was creamy colored, though his fur may have been golden if looked at properly; he merely went with his first inspection. His eyes were an intimidating grey-black, fitting his tall, unusually graceful body quite well. The one thing that stood out the most to him was the markings; he felt almost ensorcelled by them, captivated, but it was temporary. His eyes followed the lines and curves of the dark tattoos and dyes, wondering for only a moment what kind of heinous meanings they may have.
Both of them were insignificant in his eyes—the wolf was only slightly more interesting, even though his natural smell was worse to the child—but both of them were here, now; he could ignore them both, could be on his way, but somehow the matter of adults and their ways intrigued him more than it did frighten him. If he was to be a dark spot on the Lykois, darker even than the blood they'd spilled, he needed to know as much as he could about those of his family which were equally as disastrous, and while Corona didn't seem like one, she still smelled like one.
Don' know, he responded sharply to the wolf, glaring up at the very tall beast, and then he turned to the hybrid. An' yo' can' make me do anythin', so sh't up.
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[html] Tamerlane’s life from infancy upwards had involved listening to what more erudite wolves had to say. At this age and stage, and with this experience, he was often thought of as the more knowledgeable wolf, but nevertheless, in situations like these he still paid more attention to the one he was addressing for information. In this case, it was the young female with the intelligent ocean eyes, who had pulled out from her willow-like bow to reply to him before she vocalised her thoughts regarding the small child. Attitudes aside, he agreed with both parties. One, it was unsafe for a puppy of this age to be out on his own, and two, it was not the wolf’s business. Indeed, if the slender female was to in fact pick the child up and drag him back home – possibly saving him from the numerous dangers of the wild – there was still a possibility that she would be received with derision. Tamerlane was not as protective of the small stranger as the female was; if the pup was to be hurt, it was the fault of the parents, sitters or guardians.
He glanced from the stranger to whom his previous words had been directed, down to the sprightly, furry figure that sat glaring at them with such relentlessness in his baby blues for one so young. Are you a Lykoi? he asked, expecting scorn and “what business is it of yours?” in return, but nevertheless expecting some pride if this was indeed one of the children of Inferni.
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[html] Had it not been for the towering wolf present at her side, Corona would have more than likely either attempted to kick the child into the water out of anger. Either that or she would have grabbed him and carried him back to the coast despite every bite, scream, and squirm of protest. She had little patience for ignorance and unbridled temper—which was funny considering that she had once been that way. But now wasn't the time of self-reflection and loathing, something of interest caught her ear. For the appearance of a traveller, he was aware of the Lykoi's. Which was probably fair because Kaena had been well known. Emphasis on the had been, because Corona had no idea whether to assume she was dead or alive.
But instead of masking her surprise, she played on it. A simple quirk of the eyebrow, despite there was a fierce concern that perhaps regal standing wolf had a vendetta. Her paranoia was hard to bat away; what if he tried to do something? She was torn easily at that scenario, given her dislike for the younger siblings that only further ousted she and her sibling from the chain of favourite, she also knew that her mother would never forgive her for not watching out for them. Gabriel was also the same way, though perhaps he did not fear rejection like she did. Yet as she eyed the insulting boy in front of her, she could only respond with the same question just to be sure. “Well, are you?” [/html]
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He wasn't concerned. The extent of his concern was to the stranger, though he supposed he liked Tamerlane's lack of care more than he liked Corona at all. His fixed his half-sibling, though he knew this not yet, with the kind of evil stare he might give another child that he hated in hopes of driving it away in fear, but his acknowledgment of the creamy wolf was given only in the form of a swiveling ear.
The way they both confronted him with the question, even though it was Tamerlane's alone, was only slightly unnerving. He felt more irritation than obligation for answering it, but at the same time, ignoring the pair of them wasn't the wisest thing he could do. The child's dark mind begin to click in places, remembering well what Hybrid had told him about wolves. That was what he had to label Tamerlane as; Hybrid had told him that wolves were bigger and looked stronger, but that coyotes were smarter and faster. The dark eyed male was undeniably larger, more impressive, but he wasn't entirely sure.
Still, he had a reason to hate him, even if he didn't feel like playing on it.
'F course, he responded acidly, glaring at both of them. He didn't know why it mattered to the wolf, or why the other Lykoi cared, or what they were going to do next; it didn't matter either way to him. He was a Lykoi, he was a prince, and that was all that mattered; he was more important, in his eyes.
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[html] | Silently and vaguely clocking the willowy female's interest in the answer to the question he had just asked (evident by the fact that she emphasised the question in turn herself), Tamerlane looked down at the pup and awaited an answer. The child still had a biting frostiness about his otherwise youthfully endearing eyes, and even in his infant voice. It was as if he had been dipped in salt and pepper at birth to create his lustrous coat, and then dipped in the blood of wolves to create a premature and unfounded hatred, and the sourness to his glare. It wasn't, as the Lykoi implied, obvious that he was of that family, but it had been probable, which was why Tamerlane had asked to begin with. I've heard of your family through the word of a member of my pack, Phasma Kiles. And I've met one of your own Inferni -- Faolin Mogotsi; do you know her? he asked the boy. The young female's presence was not ignored, but her inquisitiveness seemed to lie with Lykoi too, so the interest in the topic seemed to be coming from two sources.. |
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[html] Maybe his inquiry was purely that and nothing more. Corona felt some ease in thinking that, but instead was surprised of what he had already picked up on. More importantly, hearing a name or two that she had heard before also made plenty of sense too. Her attention to the younger Lykoi diverted quickly for the tall wolf. “Phasma Kiles… that name rings a bell. I think she used to be a leader of another pack around here.” Letting her gaze fall in thought to the drawbridge at their feet, Corona mulled over where she had heard of Faolin's name before too. She had been somewhat familiar with the leaders that were in charge of Inferni when she had been there, but her mother had eventually taken over the clan again. She had no idea what had become of the others. Probably dead, for all she knew. “I guess things have really changed here,” she commented, looking back to tattooed man, “how long have you been around these parts?” [/html]
>> Sorry guys. I'm grounded and I've been pretty stressed out lately.[html]
The child sat back, straightening his spine out and puffing his chest out in a sort of awkward way, though it wasn't particularly out of pride. In fact, Andre was attempting to look taller, more impressive, more responsible, because there was nothing worse to the scheming little bastard than being talked down to. Of course, neither the impressive creamy wolf, whom Andre was beginning to wonder about more and more, or the golden coyote had said anything to him that would be at all condescending, but he didn't want to give them a reason to, either. His eyes remained fixed firmly upon the steely eyes of Tamerlane, shifting only to the dark tattoos and markings in the fur, before they went back to the eyes.
Faolin's a idi't, he stated simply, eyes narrowing in a feline manner at the pair of adults. He was almost daring them to oppose him, so that he may throw his anger in their faces and stalk away, striking them unworthy of his presence. Somehow, he believed that they would feel offended by the distaste of the prince and would help him to overthrow the clan if he threw a tantrum at them, but deep in his cunning mind, he knew they would probably care less for the antics of the child who would, one day, wear the blood of wolves and coyotes alike on his toes. More wolves, though; only coyotes who stood against him.
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[html] | Tamerlane had got on with Phasma Kiles, and conversed with her after the joining process was finished and floated into nothing, and he found her to be charismatic and friendly. He was certainly the type of wolf to decide upon the traits he noticed in others, but he didn't judge them; he didn't get close to them, and he didn't generalise or assume about them. Thus, it did interest him to know that Kiles had been an Alpha elsewhere, but only slightly. She did show a precise knowledge of pack etiquette and local history, after all; it made sense to hear that she had once held a position of higher power. Not long, he replied to the sleek stranger whose interest and fluency seemed to run on the same level as his own. He was about to elaborate, but the acid-minded child proceeded to speak up before he had a chance to, slipping in his own opinion of Faolin. Yes, it made sense to Tamerlane that the wolf-hating boy would hate Faolin in turn for being so unconventional, and although he thought Faolin an unassuming young woman, he had no feelings that prevented him from looking at the coyote boy with nothing but open-minded, mild inquisitiveness. Why do you say that? he asked, leaving room for the angel-eyed little demon to argue his case. |
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[html] It had always been a known fact, that it didn't take long for strangers to become familiarized with the dangers that were very clearly present. As much as she would have enjoyed to probe into what else the gold wolf from Storm knew, and to tell him things, it was the boy that distracted her once again. Though she hardly knew Faolin—though doubted that she would even remember the girl—Corona found his attitude to be purely shameful. Inferni had a tight bond like any other pack, wolf or not, should have had. She thought of Faolin to be a fairly smart girl regardless, even being the daughter of Segodi. Though like many things, Corona knew that Segodi had never been her actual father. But all it often took, was just a name just to get in and get away with things. She didn't say anything this time, but rather watched to see what else the Lykoi would try and spit into their metaphoric eye. [/html]
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Nothing that Tamerlane said to Corona was at all important to him. Sure, they were words exchanged, and the fact that the adults were having their own private conversation might have in passing been interesting, but he was more intent on keeping the limelight to himself. Smirking darkly at the creamy male who asked him just why Faolin was branded an idiot, he turned his gaze on his half-sibling, as if daring her to shove him off the bridge or something. Not that she would ever do it; they were possibly too precious, he and his siblings, to the Land of Wuffluvers, and it would do no good to have the whole clan after one single loner.
'Cause she is, he stated in that obvious, you're a dumbass, tone. She r'lls in sand li'e a idi't. Obviously, to him, that was enough reason for someone to possibly be an, idiot .
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[html] | Tamerlane's interested, dark eyes remained on the young boy's humourlessly smiling face. You're going to miss out on a lot if you shun everything immediately. Simple logic, but no doubt some that the child would scorn; and Tamerlane didn't have a problem with that. His interest in the stories of other people was generally global, so he turned soon to the young female and asked; so tell me about you. Are you native to the area? |
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[html] When the spotlight shifted to her, she let things that had been running through her head slide out of focus. “I suppose you could say that, though I've only recently returned. I was born here and grew up here, but left when I was old enough to fend for myself.” For the most part as vague as it was, it was true. “But the pack I grew up in doesn't exist any more. I guess it fell apart or disbanded some months ago.” So much had changed, it was enough to make her head spin like a top. “Care to have a look around this place and perhaps chat a bit?” There really wasn't much point in wasting their time with the possible sibling, or so she assumed the collective thought was. [/html]
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It was about here, when the light shifted to Corona (the least significant of them, he believed) that Andrezej decided he was wasting his time. There was little point in hanging out with a coyote and, like Hybrid had said, he seemed stupider than he looked, although Andre was still quite enthralled by the dark markings winding through the light male's fur. He didn't want to waste time looking upon Tamerlane's stormy eyes or feeling jealous that he didn't have such elaborate and glance-worthy markings, though, since he already believed his mainly grey coat was much preferable to the sunny cream colour. Corona was of less interest to the boy, simply another golden dog and another sibling (though he wasn't sure) to contend with. Another being to destroy, this one with blue eyes that would be oh-so-satisfying to strike down.
Wha'ever, he said, this directed towards Tamerlane. Yo're both id'its, too. Then he turned swiftly with the grace of a murderer, though he wasn't close to the title yet, and trotted off in the direction he'd come. There was no point in going with them to the building ahead, and no point sticking around any longer in that place. It wasn't really worth his time, in his opinion, which was all that really mattered to him.
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OOC – “grace of a murderer”? xD
IC –
[html] | Although a highly unimpressive comeback such as you’re an idiot was perhaps expected of a child, Tamerlane had also seen some kind of uniqueness in him; a specific and genuine originality, albeit a negative one, that few puppies held for themselves. So it had been rather disappointing for the pup to reply with something as woefully pathetic as whatever, but it mattered little; the boy was off the scene faster than a rock could fall, and the tall Luperci turned to the female whose eyes boasted every shade of the sky’s blue. He nodded, hands on the small of his back as he gazed at the dark drawbridge over which they were about to venture. When I saw you earlier, sitting here with your head in your hands, he asked, his grey-black eyes returning to the female, what were you thinking? |
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[html] Corona was surprised that he inquired into what she had been doing just prior to their chance meeting, though it came with little wonder. She imagined she hadn't looked the best, but at least the distraught feeling that had been there was a fading memory, because it was time for excuses. “I was thinking about how much things have changed since I ventured away,” she said, picking and choosing carefully. The past was always a prickly subject, given the manner that everything had always been carried out. Dark moments, light moments. Happy times and then the ever sullen ones that followed them. “The pack I belonged to is no longer around. I had some family that lived there, but who knows where they've gone to now. I suppose you could say that it wasn't something that I expected to come back to.” Then again, part of her had questioned whether or not she would ever return, given that once she had been in France. A cleaner place, a bit more free of the mindless asylum that this place had become. [/html]
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