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On most days the ranch was avoided at all costs. For one thing Jefferson lived there, and while Lysander hadn’t formally met his one and only leader, he didn’t think many of his antics with other packs would go over well with the wolf responsible for keeping peace between packs. If news of Lysander hording Dahlia de Mai puppies had ever reach Jefferson’s ears, Lysander never heard about it. The ranch was, in Lysander’s opinion, a memorial to the laziness of the pack. Lysander knew it took work to care for the animals, clean up after them, feed them, and whatever, but it also further separated them from their wild roots, though Lysander’s roots were tied to ancestors who got fed from paper bags and cans. Further back though, once upon a time, his ancestors had been wolves, and he preferred to hunt his own food, even in winter when it was not as available.
Yet today something was different. Lysander was feeling lazy, and more over, when Lysander went poking around the ranch, much to his relief, there was no sign of anyone. Slowly he made the rounds, by passing pens of cattles, sheep and pigs. They were all too large for him to eat alone, those would have required an accomplice which he didn’t have and Lysander didn’t wish to leave the evidence laying around. Although he wasn’t fully invested in the pack, it was his home and he would stay as long as they let him. He might bend the rules a bit, but he didn’t want to so obviously break them.
Turkeys. That was the answer. Lysander paused at their pen, the brainless animals ambling around pecking, digging at the ground with their feet. A turkey was a large, but doable meal. Lysander had contemplated hunting in his lupus form, but on two legs with two hands to strangle the defenseless bird it was a much less messy job. As he prepared to hop over the fence he wondered if anyone counted the animals at night, but in the end he decided it didn’t matter.
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[html] The Nuncio had returned from tending the cattle within their pen inside the barn. She found it strange to tend to animals when her basic instincts told her to chase them down and feed, but in the months she had been here, she had adjusted to the change in lifestyle. It was easier to care for the cattle and other livestock during the summer, because they were allowed to be free to roam and graze to get food. In the winter, Geneva guessed that it would be harder to care for the animals, with a lack of food in general. Geneva had only been in Phoenix Valley since the early spring, so she had not seen the Valley touched by snow.
The light gray woman walked at a comfortable pace, making her way around the different pens. She would check each of the animals sparingly before she returned to the ranch and to Jefferson. Although the weather continued to be intolerable, in her opinion, she felt the need to stretch her legs and breathe in clean air. Hopefully the sun would make an appearance within the next few days.
Geneva had no sense of smell to speak of, so she relied very much on her eyesight and her hearing to collect information. This was why she was surprised to encounter someone else near the barn. She blinked lime-green eyes before she recognized the figure. She did not know his name, but she had seen him upon occasion and knew that he was a member of Phoenix Valley. She opened her mouth to greet him, but saw that he was jumping over the fence into a pen. Cocking an eyebrow, the small-boned wolfess walked over to lean again the fence. "What are you doing?" she asked mildly. [/html]
"From what it looks like, trying to catch a quick meal." Came a voice from the pig pen. Ty stood up and leaned against the fence to view the other two wolves. The kindhearted warrior had been observing how pigs spent their day until the other two wolves showed up. He hadn't been interested in eating the creatures in the farm, as even though they were easy meat, he did enjoy the challenge of a good hunt. Of course, Ty had no clue if it was alright to be in the farm or not, but it's not like he had been doing anything dastardly, like eating the animals or stealing their food. Ty had just been observing how the animals spent their day, always curious about the world around him.
Ty chuckled as he hopped over the fence, he hadn't meant to get Lysander in trouble. In truth, he really wanted to get to know this wolf, as he seemed really nice and friendly, but had never got to talk to him. Nevertheless, he greeted Geneva with a short wave as he looked to Lysander, wondering what he was going to do now, after all, hadn't he just been caught red-handed? He gave a sheepish but incredibly friendly grin, he then sat down on the turkey side and watched as one turkey walked by him, giving it a very curious glance as he made a small attempt to follow it, acting like a innocent child again with wonder in his eyes.
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Although he hadn’t been expecting anyone he turned slowly to face the women who had interrupted him as if he knew she had been there all along. It was hard to startle the husky, it was him who normally did the startling and as such he knew all the tricks. Greeting her with a warm and hearty grin, he opened his mouth to answer but was again interrupted by another’s voice. Steel eyes turned upon the new comer and if the dog was annoyed he did not show it, instead only offered a smile as well to the male. Whatever his intentions had been they couldn’t prove anything and Lysander was a flawless actor, whatever lies he told them would come out as seamlessly as anything true he had to say.
He let no time escape him, he never needed a moment to think. If ever Lysander paused or seemed to take a moment to mull something over it was all for show, the husky was always one step ahead of the game, but now he wasted no time in answering the two pack mates who now faced him. “I was hopping the fence.” He smiled to the women then, he had seen her at pack gatherings in the past but like most of the other members of Phoenix Valley he had taken no real interest in getting to know her. Perhaps today was the day. “I just wanted to get closer. I’ve never really been around birds before. Funny creatures.” His eyes were bright, his voice interested and his body calm and collected. Indeed it was actually the truth, he hadn’t ever been around birds before but whether he took such an interest in their habits Lysander hadn’t given much thought to that.
Turning to the male he squinted, as if trying to place him. Of course, he already knew. He had been present at the last meeting, only the day or so before, and he had seemed to be a friend of Asariel. After seemingly remembering the face, he grinned holding out his hand to each one of them in turn. “My name’s Lysander, if you didn’t catch it before. Been about here for a while but I’m afraid I’ve been too busy for proper introductions. Nice to meet you two.” And it was nice to meet them, at least, Lysander thought, it wasn’t unpleasant to meet them.
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[html] Geneva swallowed a gasp before she laughed lightly. It seemed as though she was not the only one being surprised today. She had not expected Ty to be anywhere nearby. In fact, only a few moments prior she was certain that she had been alone. Her lime green eyes cut to the the younger male and she nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement, waving her fingers before she returned her attention to the husky in the turkey pen. Recognition dawned on her face as she realized that she had seen him at the pack gathering not very long ago.
The husky male, Lysander, seemed to be animated. His features lit up when he spoke. Geneva smiled at him, and did not interrupt him as he spoke. There was something that grabbed her attention when he spoke. He had a spark about him. If she had to pick a word for it, she would say that Lysander was very charismatic. She could see how this male could be larger than life when he told a story.
Geneva, on the other hand, was soft spoken and gentle. Almost everything she did never carried above a whisper. While Lysander might be the life of the party, she was the background noise, static and soft and almost incomprehensible. "They are quite strange," Geneva agreed, watching Ty once more as he observed the fowl more closely. She returned her eyes to Lysander. "What is even stranger is the fact that we keep them." She still found it strange that Phoenix Valley, filled with natural born predators, was the home to so many prey animals. Still, she had adjusted to this new way of life. "You are, of course, welcome to study them, and partake of them if you are hungry. I only ask that you do so sparingly. We depend on the livestock during winter, when food is scarce."
Geneva reached to take his proffered hand. Her touch was delicate, but there was no hesitation. Her pressed her fingers lightly into his hand before gripping it firmly and shaking it. "I am Geneva, and I have been here for a while as well. I am glad to make your acquaintance, Lysander, she said warmly and sincerely. [/html]
Ty simply chuckled as the wolf made a sudden excuse to why he was there. Ty had been here for a while, he had seen Lysander come in from the pig pen, which oddly camouflaged him, most likely because he was laying in the hey, surrounded by pigs, in both sight and scent, which is probably why Lysander missed him on his scan of the farm. But he could somewhat see that Lysander was lying, he had poked around before he hopped the fence, as if he was looking to see if anyone was around. Which brought Ty to the conclusion that he was going to take one, if he just wanted to simply 'get closer' he would have simply just jumped the fence, or was it just Ty who would do silly things like that? But instead of contesting Lysander's story, Ty simply smiled, nodded, and replied "Oh, my mistake then, I apologize for making such a rude accusation." He chuckled and then motioned to the pigs. "I've been following the barn animals all day, some of them being more confusing then the rest, like these pigs here...lazy animals, but at the same time, very intelligent, I couldn't be more baffled by them."
Ty wasn't the biggest worrier of the small stuff, and to him, he didn't really care what Lysander's motives were. He figured keeping his mouth shut about this wouldn't be betraying the pack in any way, it's not like anyone really cared about this farm other then for some free meat, and in a way, Lysander was just using it to that purpose, so as far as Ty was concerned, no real harm done. Besides, he wanted to be on Lysander's good side for a first impression. Lysander seemed like a nice guy, a great actor too, as he made quite a change from when he was going to eat the turkey then quickly changing motives once Geneva got here. He had his wits about him, his mind seemed quick, and he seemed very good at adapting to any situation. Ty liked that about him, but that didn't hold much weight since Ty liked most of the wolves he met.
Seeing the male extend his hand for a handshake, Ty stopped following the turkey and heartily clapped his hand against Lysander's and offered a firm, strong handshake. He extended a charming smile and introduced himself. "I'm Ty, it's a pleasure to meet you Lysander." He said with honest sincerity and grace. Ty loved meeting new people,so what he said was absolutely true, it was a pleasure to meet Lysander. He hoped that he'd get to know more about this male, as there were very few males in the pack at all, and having another male friend would be a very enjoyable experience, after all, Ty wasn't used to hanging out with a ton of women, and having more male friends might by good for him. At least, that was Ty's thought process
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Lysander smiled to the pair, who already seemed to know each other. They seemed to accept his story, and even if they did not he didn’t really mind. Lysander lied only because he could do it so well, and because it was more fun than truth telling. Watching people eat up his stories was a strange addiction of his, and when they didn’t fall for his lies, which happened though not as often, he could use their reactions to improve himself, to become a better actor. Had he wanted to really eat a bird, despite the permission Geneva gave him, he would have. Just as he had kept children of another pack and tormented the poor Inferni boy, he lived his life scarcely thinking of the consequences.
Yet his attention was completely given to his pack mates, the turkeys forgotten as turned fully to face Ty and Geneva. The dog found he could talk with anyone, feigning interest even if he had none but it wasn’t hard to be interested. Always watching others, analyzing them, reading them or trying to, it was a time consuming hobby but one he enjoyed. Sometimes he even took on their personas later, pretended to be them either alone or to others. In Phoenix Valley he tried to be himself, but outside of the pack lands he went by so many other names it was impossible to keep track of them.
“They are funny creatures, and sometimes I wonder why we keep them at all. I’ve always had a strong work ethic, nothing wrong with a good hunt.” Of course he saw the merit in having easy meals, but he could flip the other way and totally mean it too. DaVinci had warned him not to mess with the animals and he had never had any intention of doing so. At least he hadn’t thought of it until recently, when the idea of eating one in secret had tickled him. Now it was completely forgotten, one game traded for another. “I must admit though, I’ve been absent from the past pack hunts. I do hunt a lot on my own.”
His ever present smile was there, beaming at the two. Again he was reminded of what a recluse he was, Geneva had been in the pack as long as himself if not longer and he had no idea when Ty had arrived. “I must apologize that I’ve never met the two of ya before, I’ve been keeping busy. Building stuff, that’s what I do.” And it was true. He did love to build stuff and did so often, though so very little of it he kept for himself. “What about you two? What are your stories?” It was a friendly request to get to know them, his tail waved behind him in a rather doggish manner, and he didn’t mind. He was after all a dog.
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Ty couldn't help but chuckle at Lysander's smile, he still felt, no, knew that Lysander was lying about the turkey thing, but Ty had already let it pass. Ty was good at playing dumb, it was something he did commonly, it gave people the impression he was an idiot, but then they would divulge info that they wouldn't give to someone intelligent, and he learned so much more. Of course, his suspicious could be wrong, Ty had been used to dealing with rather shady people, and now that he was in Phoenix Valley he still sometimes carried those suspicions, but he could be wrong, and Lysander could be telling the truth, but it wasn't worth worrying about now.
Other then that, Lysander seemed liked a friendly guy, he was curious, polite, and charming, somewhat like Ty, in fact Ty could find a kindred spirit in this fellow, they were very much alike. However, Ty knew the differences, first off, he was a builder, something Ty was not. Ty's hands were meant to destroy, not to build, perhaps he could build over time, but now they were only tools of battle. He was also solitary, which would explain why they hadn't met. At least, Ty suspected he was solitary, as he apparently hunted alone, which usually means they don't like doing activities in groups. And Ty respected that, they didn't need to rely on other people to get things done, which Ty knew some wolves did need.
When the husky asked about his background, he gave a rather happy smile, nobody seemed to ask him about his past anymore, like they all knew what he had been. Running his fingers through the fur on his head, he scratched one ear as he spoke. "Well...short version, I was born here in the Valley, but then my mother swept me and my daughter away for reasons i can't remember, I left on a ship from her and became a sailor at a young age, becoming a trader all through Europe and Asia. However, that quickly changed to me becoming a trained mercenary and warrior, one of the best in the world. But after a while I left that life...for reasons I'd rather not share, and came back here...to the place I was born."
Ty then gasped, as he said all of that in one breath. He did promise the short version, but he had said the parts about the mercenary with a certain flair of pride. Ty was a specialist in combat, despite his kindhearted and carefree spirit, he was a warrior at heart, and not afraid to show it. Of course, his assorted scars and toned muscles were more then proof of that. He eyes then darted to Geneva to allow her to speak, he had kind of taken center stage and felt that he had sort of forced Geneva to shut up, which he didn't feel to good about. Ty finally let his rambling lips take a rest for now while Geneva would speak, allowing Ty to rest easy.
[html] The gray wolfess was content to fade into the background as Ty took the stage and gave his own story. The lime-eyed woman was not much of a talker, and although she did not mind attention, she did not thrive on it either. Months ago, it had much to do with her self esteem, but she had grown in confidence, especially since she had taken up residence in Phoenix Valley. Her self confidence and faith in herself had thrived as she had taken on more responsibility and opened herself up to new avenues of thought and opportunity.
Geneva had heard Ty's tale before, but she was no less interested in it. He had lived and full and rich life for someone so young. Her experiences, though quite different, did not quite measure up with his in her mind. They were two radically different individuals. Geneva did not like to stray far from home, and Ty seemed to thrive on exploration. It was true that he had returned to the place of his roots, but the gray woman was certain that one day adventure would call to him again. It had been an integral part of his development.
The woman was never so quick to divulge information about herself. She would share, but she did not often go into finer details. It did not have much to do with distrust. She was just used to keeping to herself. Geneva was a private individual and tended to keep her innermost thoughts and experiences to herself. The only ones she felt comfortable revealing herself to were Jefferson and Savina. Once, she would have included Anu on that list, but times had changed, and so had they.
"I believe that we have been here for the same amount of time, almost," Geneva said to Lysander. "As for me, I fill my time patrolling, and visiting the library as often as I can. What do you build, Lysander?" [/html]
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Lysander look as the male took up speaking, his story colorful and exciting. And while Lysander believed every word of what the male had been through, he smiled at the male’s assertion of himself. “One of the best in the world, eh?” His words were full of awe and wonder, his eyes twinkled with excitement at meeting such a rare creature and his face only showed interest, but Lysander doubted very much that the young boy lived up to his own words. A trained warrior was more controlled and calculated than this boy was, Lysander guessed. He doubted not that Ty had the physical abilities, but at such a young age it was nearly impossible to be so skill mentally to be considered one of the best in the world. He noted that he spoke before Geneva when Lysander addressed them both, though she was of high rank, he doubted much that a trained warrior would over step such a simple cultural custom, unless he was young and out of practice. It was also the young man’s boasting of being one of the best, perhaps it was just Lysander but he had always considered humility to be among warrior’s top traits.
“Lucky we are in Phoenix Valley to have someone to protect the masses, yes?” He turned to Geneva and smiled, more than anyone here surely she was invested in the well being of Phoenix Valley. At the pack meeting he had heard Jefferson’s words about her, she was the second highest wolf in the pack and Jefferson wouldn’t have put such emphasis on that if Geneva wasn’t dedicated. His words were sincere, but his private, unreadable thoughts danced on. The female on the other hand, did not give him many words to judge her on, and just in doing that he found more respect for the women. Although he had asked for their stories, he found it nice when others kept information to themselves. Not everything needed to be shared and passed around, Lysander himself, for all the words that came tumbling out of his mouth, was rather a private person.
“Well miss Geneva, I must apologize for having spent so much time living alongside you and never coming to introduce myself.” Lysander bowed, half playfully but his face was honest. He knew that this female was off limits, and even if she wasn’t he wasn’t particularly interested, but it was just his nature to charm and flirt. “I build most anything, if I can. Weapons, toys for children, buildings even. Some bigger projects give me a bit of trouble but if I enlist the help of some friends, we can usually get the job done. I even make jewelry and other small crafts. If you ever need anything,” He turned back to Ty and grinned “Either of you, just ask. And if either of you can think of anything the Valley needs, just come knocking on my door, I’m almost always home.” Except when he was out drinking, stealing, lying or fornicating, Lysander was always home.
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Ty realized how arrogant calling himself 'one of the best in the world' sounded, and he cringed inside, that was not the right thing to say. To be fair, Ty's relationship to war for most of his life was business, and in order to make a business prosper, one has to boast about his talents in his craft, and war was no exception. For Ty, humility had to be put on the backburner to be able to get good business, in order to be hired these days, you had to be either advertising as the best, or had enough other people saying you were. Ty used both, which explained why he was boasting, it was in his nature now. Nevertheless, he didn't want ysander to think of him as an arrogant jerk, after all, these were friends, not customers. Ty chuckled embarrassingly, trying to regain some humility, he was young after all, and didn't have the grasp of all aspects of a warrior yet especially humility. "Well, so I've been told...not sure I believe it, but I would one day like to live up to that."
Ty then watched as Lysander offered his services to both of them, and his eyes opened slightly in opportunity. He liked having weapons, or someone who could make them, at hand, and he assumed Lysander was good at his craft. Like Ty, who's craft was war and battle, it one specialized in a craft, chances are they were good at it. However, it also intrigued him, to see what Lysander could really do, he had just gotten his weapons and items back from his mercenary troop about two days ago, and now that Lysander was offering to make weapons, Ty wouldn't mind asking for something simple. "Well since you are offering...." Ty began slowly, trying to make sure that he wasn't trying to be overbearing about the idea, he was only suggesting it now. "I might want to ask you for something later, but anyway, what's your story? If you are comfortable with sharing that is."
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[html] "There is nothing to apologize for," Geneva said. "Meeting you in the present has been delightful." The gray wolfess was sincere. She had wanted to get in touch with her other pack mates. She felt that it was both a necessity and a privilege. If she could not know them each on a personal level, she wanted to at least know of them. As the second highest ranked member of Phoenix Valley, she wanted to make herself accessible to anyone who might need her. Jefferson was usually so busy with his duties, it was the least she could do. She would offer her help and resources whenever possible.
"I will keep your offer in mind," Geneva murmured. Her expression displayed her interest, and the fact that she was impressed. He had not only listed a skill, but had also claimed to be able to construct several different things. Geneva was not one to take claims as gospel or to entirely doubt assertions, but she was more inclined to believe this pack mate. "That sounds like a useful skill," she noted. "It must have taken much training, or practice, to hone." Geneva could only imagine the patience and trial-and-error required for making new things. She herself had never really constructed anything. Are you capable of mending things as well? I can think of a few things, bookshelves, which could use a bit of repair, when you are able."<
Ty's bright voice entered the conversation once more, asking for further details about Lysander's life. The young man shared his story so freely, and he seemed to love to hear the stories of others as well. She turned her eyes to Lysander once more, to watch for her reaction. There was no expectancy in her gaze, merely curiosity. Geneva did not often share the intimate details of her life, but she was content to listen, and share a little, piece by piece. [/html]
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Lysander smiled as they seemed to accept his offer, acknowledging that indeed his skill was a useful one. And it was. Especially in packs that utilized the old human buildings and ways, which Phoenix Valley did. There were buildings everywhere, always in need of repair, and in those buildings many items the pack found useful. And weapons, Lysander didn’t quite understand when fighting with tooth and claw had gone out of style but he could make excellent bows, dart guns and other such simple constructions. One day, if he ever had the means, he’d learn to forge metal but that was a ways off. And so he nodded to Ty and turned to Geneva, “I can fix most anything, if not on the first try than on the second to be sure.” With his skill, as lazy and worthless as he normally was, at least the leaders might think about keeping him around for something.
Lysander smiled then to Ty, wondering if the boy truly wanted to know about his past or not, but he had asked. A wealth of stories for such an occasion were stored in his brain, some true and some false and he wasn’t sure which to tell at times and so Lysander wasn’t sure if when he opened his mouth his words would be sincere or not. “Well, I was born a ways away. In a huge pack, nearly a hundred of us all grouped together. Of course we had much more land than any of the packs around here, but our numbers were strong, half dogs and half wolves and then of course mixes of both.” His steel eyes twinkled to see how Ty and Geneva reacted. “You’ve never seen so many dogs in your life, at least I guess so. When I came here and still, too many people stare at my coat and face like they’ve never seen one of my kind before and I guess in these parts you don’t get many dogs. Well other than the large number o’ us I guess there wasn’t much interesting. I have three brothers, a mum and pop and that’s about all really. Happy childhood and all that.” Lysander smiled, no sob story, no big adventure, he didn’t care for all that, life didn’t always have to be interesting.
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Ty listened to Lysander's story with patience and interest, not all stories had to be dramatic tales of battle or tragidy after all. In fact, it was nice to hear a non-violent, peaceful, regular guy story, and a small contented smirk appeared on Ty's face when Lysander finished telling it. Nodding, he said "That's quite a tale my friend, I don't think I've ever seen more than fifty wolves in one place." It was a lie, but a little white lie, Ty simply did not want to detract from Lysander's story or downplay it. "And I thought you might have a bit of dog in you, I'm part sheepdog, but it's a really little part, so nobody really notices it as much unless they really try to look." He said as he shook his rather fluffy, shaggy coat. "To most people's eyes, I'm just a really furry pure wolf, nothing more." He chuckled lightly. "It must be interesting to have lots of people ask...would it be wrong of me to suspect you are part huskey?"
He didn't want to offend Lysander with that, but he felt it did look that way. Of course, Ty wasn't very judgmental of people because of what they were, dog, wolf, or coyote, it didn't honestly matter. But to some people, it mattered heavily, which worried poor Ty. He heard of something along the lines of this that humans suffered, and he wasn't interested in offending the fellow packmate. But some people were offended easily, and Ty understood that, he didn't suspect Lysander was one of those people though, and if he was, what could Ty do about it now besides apologize? It's not like he was attacking Lysander.
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Of course, Geneva was interested in what Lysander had to say in answer to Ty's questions. His steely eyes seemed to spark as he looked at his audience. The man reminded her of some sort of performer. For a moment, Geneva wryly imagined that Lysander was very much like a spider caught up in his own web. She did not have much to go on and had only met him now, but there seemed to be a great amount of energy he put into his words, and an intensity hidden in the undercurrent of his gestures. Geneva let it go, and let her thoughts melt away as Lysander continued to speak. She had all the time in the world to muse and mull over her thoughts at another time. For now, she would stay within the moment and learn whatever there was to know here. Lysander seemed open enough about sharing. He did not look nervous. Geneva spoke up after a moment. "I've never lived in a group that large," she noted. It wasn't hard to envision those sorts of numbers, but she had yet to experience such a thing.
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Lysander smiled at the younger male. Quite the tale. It wasn’t a tale or a story although he had told it as one. It had simply been the whole truth and nothing but the truth, a rarity when Lysander spoke but occasionally he was capable of it. “Not wolves… I’m sure you’ve seen that many wolves, why add these packs up and you have more than that many wolves… Dogs.” Lysander smiled, not thinking Ty had understood him completely and then with Ty’s next question Lysander let a hearty laugh escape, guessing that the younger male hadn’t seen much in the ways of dogs. “Part husky? Are you kidding? I’m all dog. I don’t have a drop of wolf in me…”
His eyes turned to Geneva then, wondering if she too had mistaken his heritage. It happened, when others weren’t accustomed to his kind. There were few dogs in these parts, and his arctic roots did give him some wolfish features, but he was dog through and through. To anyone who knew dogs, it was clear and obvious; his mother had been all husky, his father a mesh of husky, malamute and other breeds, but never wolf. Their father hadn’t even bred with wolves, although Lysander guessed that he and his brothers might have accidently put an end to that tradition.
Yet he did not mind. The physical differences, his broad face and over sized ears just gave him charm in a place where, to him anyway, so many looked too similar. Dogs came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, wolves, they were different but never too different. He smiled though, good natured about it all. Turning back to the previous conversation, and to Geneva, he titled his head, contemplating for the first time what it meant to live in a pack so small. “How do you defend yourselves with such small numbers?” Lysander had never seen war, only heard about it, but the deaths of war added up quickly back home, here they could never spare those kinds of numbers. War, then, must happen rarely, and if it did, never seriously.
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"Oh! My apologies then, It's a fairly rare sight to find a full blooded anything these days, I'm afraid." Ty said with a small chuckle, although now he could see that the dog had a certain body and facial type of a dog, not a wolf, of course husky was pretty hard to distinguish without a bit of scrutiny, and Ty was never one for really looking at a canine's background anyhow. Ty had seen full blooded dogs before, but not many, only the bigger breeds survived anyhow. Poodles, Maltese, little dogs had all but died out when the humans did, but there were a few breeds that survived, miraculously. Ty felt embarrassed he hadn't seen it at first the way Lysander had put it so bluntly, but he decided he wasn't the best guesser of that sort of thing anyhow and shrugged it off.
when asked about how they defend the pack, Ty actually had a pretty good idea about that answer. He had been a scout and a boarder warden, and was well aware of the dangers. "You mean from the other packs around here? They aren't much bigger then our own." Ty said matter-of-factly. "And many of them aren't vicious or threatening at all, except for Inferni, but I don't honestly think they will wage any sort of full-scale attack on us, as it wouldn't be worth the bloodshed it would cause. Of course it doesn't hurt to be careful around them." He sat down thinking more on the matter, there were other threats, such as a puma or grizzly bear, but they really couldn't be avoided like the other packs could. "The biggest threat would be something along the lines of more human wolves coming in from the sea, or a bigger pack trying to move in from the mainland. In that case, we don't have a defense, unless we ban with the other packs."
He knew he had again spoken before Geneva, but this time he knew he had more information about war, battle, and tactics then the leader did. She would not mind him speaking about this one, of course, she hadn't minded him speaking at all.
Geneva shot a sidelong glance at the hybrid boy. DaVinci's son had certainly experienced battle. Those experiences had shaped his childhood and had ingrained certain habits upon his psyche. No matter how carefree and laid back the boy seemed to be, there had to be something more, something deeper lying beneath that sunny exterior. She had never seen Ty in times of provocation, and so she had never seen that part of him. She did not know what it would be like to experience Ty reacting in anger, or what made him angry. But she knew that since he had experienced violence, there must be some sort of trigger beneath his calm.
The gray wolfess herself had experienced very little physical violence. She was not well versed in terms of doing battle. Her first brush with violence and attack had been here in the Valley. A stranger, a lone wolf named Brennt, had attacked her at the borders. She could still not escape the image of his glowing coin bright eyes or the feeling of his phantom fangs in her shoulder and side. Upon thinking of him, she felt a dull pressure along the pearly lines of scar tissue tracing those areas.
She spoke sharply after Ty made a moment about Inferni, a tone she seldom used. "You are quick to judge," Geneva said. "What you said has some value and is true. Our numbers are more or less equal to the numbers of the surrounding groups; however, to make an overgeneralization is to underestimate and assume things. It breeds ignorance, and ignorance closes doors to other avenues of action." The woman sighed. "I would recommend gathering more knowledge and information, empirical evidence, before making such a judgement."
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I’ll end this here, sorry for dragging it out so long guys, thanks for your patience!
Lysander smiled as Ty studied his face closer and came to the conclusion that indeed, he was dog and not wolf. If pleased him to have been overlooked, although it also pleased him when others singled him out for his differences. Lysander could play either part, part of the pack or the odd one out, it didn’t matter. Whatever role came his way he would play it, and play it well more often than not, and however the others treated him he could find fun in it.
Large ears swiveled from Ty to Geneva as they spoke of Inferni, and Lysander mentally made a note to go visit the clan at some point. Although there seemed to be tension from that pack, he was sure he could find something fun there. And if they didn’t want him around he could always use the pretense that he was looking for Zana, the strange little girl he had crafted the pea shooter for. Titled his large husky head at the leader as she finished her speech, he bowed his head, his facial features expressing discomfort at the sterner tones she used. “Well my friends, thank you kindly for speakin’ with me, it’s been grand learning all about you two but I think it’s best if I take my leave now.” Lysander dipped his head once more in departure and turn, leaving the two to themselves.
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