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Ember
Four paws followed four hoofs. His stride great and long as he attempted to keep up with the faster beast. Long pink tongue fell from his jaw as he panted in the summer heat. Not even the drizzle that fell could cast the humid spell from the air. But they were both becoming used to it, and it wouldn’t stop them from playing their game. Hybrid and horse ran together in silence, chasing each other as they gained strength to pull ahead in a sprint. Lumière did not like to loose, and her stamina was far greater then the small coy mix. He gave in, slowing and walking at a lazy trot. He barked at her, yet she only slowed enough to turn her head in mocking. He smiled wickedly at her, and took to the chase.
The sun was setting happily, tired from its day of blazing behind a heavyset cloud cover. The shadows filled his surroundings, but Heath noticed little. The dark accented mare led him through a barrier that Heath hardly second-guessed. He had not been here before, so the landscape was new and a mystery. Still he gave no hesitation in following his light that led the way. He found her, enjoying the open fields and moving slowly in search of water. He shook his head, lying in the claimed land to rest. Once his breath was caught the male changed so that two legs could be used and hand utilized.
He and the mare made their way though the territory, now understanding that it was indeed packlands. In the past Heath would not have a second thought about creeping into another’s lands, but now he wore the scent of his own pack. He represented Cour des Miracles, and he said he would cause no problems, but Heath knew this scent. It was the scent of a friend, and he was welcome here. Lumière was leading him anyways, and he was not one to not follow her.
The tawny and black hued male walked slowly beside the mare, his light colored paw placed on her neck. They traveled deep enough into the lands that he found structures beginning to sprout from the landscape. The dark of night had just about settled, and the male turned to begin the game of follow the leader out of the territory. It was not polite to be intruding, especially at night. The mare would not follow, having found something much more delightful. " Lumière, nous devons partir. “ He spoke with a hushed voice, but as he moved around a tree he was met with a face of another horse. Looking around he saw that this one was not the only horse roaming what he thought was a village. The male put his hand softly on the horse, speaking in a hushed tone. " Je doute que vous apparteniez ici."
Gold eyes searched, finding a rope coiled and hung on a nail beside of the buildings. He untied it, and looked back at the horse that stared at his face. "Repos."he spoke soothingly to the strange beast.
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She often wandered around at night now that she had lived in Aniwaya for a while. She knew her way around the territory, and wasn't afraid of being attacked here in her own lands. Ember had been training with sword and spear anyway, so if such an attack did occur she was well prepared. In the past she had battled with Hybrid Halocaust and lost twice, but now she wondered if she just might win with these new weapons and her new outlook on life. Back then, in those fights, her movements had been slow and untrained...but now she went through her training exercises without a single flaw.
She was walking toward the barns tonight to give Bayard a late-night visit. She had noticed that he was paying more attention to one of the mares in the group of horses, and wondered if she might be pregnant. She was a wilder one, not as tame as her lovely Bayard...so Ember would have to work hard to be allowed to get near her and check on her. She would give the mare special food if she was pregnant.
The wolf spotted movement in the clearing near the village and turned her head sharply, emerald eyes narrowed. She often let their horses wander around the village at night, grazing as they pleased in the lower temperatures, and had thought that they would be safe. They were inside Aniwaya, after all. But had someone come to take one of them? Not on her watch. She turned, four paws taking her toward the source. "Stop, horse thief!"
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xD
Two golden eyes looked at the long face that stood before him. The horse acted as if there was nothing suspicious about a herd wandering among the houses of wolves. Heath found many different kinds of trouble in the idea. The rope was held with a loose paw, and Heath let it swing beside him. The beast looked tamed enough, and took to Heath placing the rope around his neck with not resistance. He had done this with Lumière, and she had taken to it like a fish to water. But Heath never pushed or pulled her anywhere, she seemed happy just to follow him.
When a voice rang in his ears Heath was comforted by the sound. Maybe someone would know where these beasts belonged, if they belonged anywhere. But the words registered in his mind and they did not fit with his idea. Instead they screamed of a thief. Heath looked to and fro, before realizing that he was a stranger with a rope tied to an owned horse. He found the maker of the call, and saw a fey with dark fur and bright green eyes.
He spoke, “No, no you have it wrong. I wasn’t going to steal them.” before he could recognize who she truly was, and Heath fought to clear his name. He was no thief, and his voice held a sharp tone. Couldn’t she see all he wanted was to gather them up?
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Her night patrol had been a good idea after all--look what she had found! She bared her teeth at the foreign male as his scent reached her nose. How dare anyone come this far into their territory without permission! And the rope around Bayard's neck really topped things off. Out of all the ones he could have taken he was going to run off with her horse? It wasn't that the other horses weren't important as well...they were. But Bayard was hers. She spoke quietly to the horse at first, asking him to try and run in the language of the lower beasts. She would catch up with him later.
She crossed her arms, still glaring. He wasn't going to get out of it now by lying, it was no use. "Stop lying." She demanded. "It's obvious from your actions--a rope around an Aniwayan horse's neck?" She examined him in the darkness, as well as she could. There was something familiar about him, but his scent was so far off from what she remembered that she didn't recognize him.
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Dam Lumière, the male cursed with a certain flavor of bitterness and love in his heart. She was the reason he had come so far into the lands and the reason he had traveled in this direction anyways. Why he followed her, Heath didn’t know but he would think twice the next time. That was if he was able to leave, with his head attached to his body. The look in the female’s eyes made him wonder if that was a possibility, giving him her teeth as if he truly wanted the horse that he had roped. She spoke to the beast as Heath did Lumière at times, and when she addressed him Heath moved quickly to take the rope from the horse’s neck.
He words brought an anger of the male, it blinded him and made him want to take her horse in spite. But he kept the rope in his hand and spoke. “A liar? Is that what you are calling me?” The roam mare strode up behind him, her head extending over his shoulder. If she meant to protect him it was only from his own anger. It got him in more trouble then anyone liked, and he didn’t want to strain relations between their packs. “I only hoped to lead the beast back to where he might belong.” He spoke with a harsher tone then he had intended.
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Ember peered at him through the darkness, trying to figure out the wolf's identity. "Who are you, anyway? Who sent you into Aniwaya?" It was probably better to question him and find out information first before she made any final decisions...things that she did could effect Aniwaya as a whole, not just her and this wolf. If he was from some pack that might retaliate against her for what she might do to him...
They had a prison for these reasons, though--she could keep him there until he cooled down and let him out in the morning after he'd thought about things for a while. She could gather a few packmembers to help her see him off, so that he wouldn't turn on her. Bayard shook his head once the rope was off of him, refusing her order to go back to the stable. He eyed the mare that stood over Heath's shoulder, whinnying lightly to her, beckoning. Join him! Come and run through Aniwaya with someone who could keep up.
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The blue roan made Heath think, but not clearly enough to wonder what he would say to one in his own lands with a rope around her neck. Still, he was able to know that he had met this one before. ”Heath.” he said with spite in his voice, she had every right to question him, but to think he had been sent by another? Heath could only blame the mare that he stood in front of, because there was no other factor bringing him to these packlands. The male spoke only his name in introduction, leaving his pack name off his title. The male wasn’t used to saying it, being a loner so long had gotten him used to his new “name”.
He remembered, the day outside the library. The midnight fey with her sword and her books. He had thought her cute for carrying the blade around, and now he looked for it as her waist. The horse’s call distracted him, but the mare only answered him with a hard stare. Refusing to leave her coy-wolf in his moment of need. Heath did not find her so heroic, nor did he push her nose aside. “No one sent me,” The male said, with a sort of surprise. He had no intent here, so there had been no one to send him. “Ember.” Finishing with her name, for he was sure that she knew him now and did not want her to think she had the upper hand.
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At the realization of who the other wolf was her eyes widened and she took a step back. She wasn't ashamed of how she had acted, speaking in defense of the tribe, but she felt like there was less to fear now that she knew his identity. That maybe he hadn't been taking her horse after all. "I didn't know it was you" She said, frowning. "I was acting in defense of my tribe--that's all. I'm sure you'd do the same. I didn't know that you had a horse, either..." Did that mean that he had finally settled somewhere?
"But I guess...well, I'm sorry for talkin' to you like that. But I do feel like it was justified a little...it's real late at night, Heath. What were you doing all the way out here?" She asked.
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He hadn’t known that it was her, or he would have spoken the words to free himself from the angers of the woman. Since the fight with the Dreamer witch, his pact with Lumière and the joining of the Cour des Miracles group the male had wanted to stay away from trouble. He vowed that no fights would be fought and no battles waged. Nothing like what he had once been. He wished he had never come here, wished that this had never happened and feared that his pack would find out. Then he would loose their trust and they would throw him to the curb. He would loose the trust of Ruri, and nothing seemed more important. “I would, for Cour des Miracles.” He spoke, his voice still as hard as ever.
He wanted to say that Lumière had led him there, but would sound foolish. “Lost, I fear.” It was a white lie, and would hurt a soul. He placed his light colored paw on the horses nose as he thought of her. She did not move, and no looked at the green eyes woman instead of her stallion. “I was not trying to steal your herd, nor make trouble.” That was true, and he gave a silent promise that the rest would be truth and nothing else. Tone softened, and his gold eyes looked to her as he thought about how he might react a the thought of loosing his roan, she had been placid compared.
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"I see that now." She said. But still, him coming here at this time of night...being caught with a rope around one of their horses' necks? She knew him, yes, but what if it had been another wolf that had come across him instead of her? Ember shook her head. "Don't come around these parts at this time of night, ok? These aren't the best of times...you could get hurt"
She did consider him a friend, even if this all had happened. "I want to keep you as a friend--other Aniwayans might not be as gracious as I am. You should probably head back."
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“We’ll go.” He said. His tone unmoving and still cold. It was late and only right for him to check the stables, or at least be there before daybreak. He had made a silent promise, and he would stick to it. Once on a path it took a lot for the male to be moved from it. This was now his road, and he would walk until nothing smaller then a mountain stood it his way.
A hand rested on the mare's nose, a silent command, or more like a plea. She understood, and moved with out question. Coy-wolf and horse turned, leaving the dark pelted woman, her village dwelling horses and packlands without a second glance.
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