When you thought you'd seen it all..
#1
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Haephastus Amir

March 19th, 2004

Luperci

75% Red Wolf, 25% Coyote

Male

Disheveled Saint (AIM)



The rain hadn't stopped for days, or so it seemed, the sun hiding behind thick clouds of fluffy gray, leaving only the faint chill of the water droplets to touch his pelt. He was soaked from head to toe, fur of various colors matted and stuck down against his body, dripping along with the rain even as he moved. Unable to see the sun and only taking notice of the faint bit of light that it brought with it, Haephastus could only assume that it was some time early in the morning, though not quite early enough that it would have been particularly light out, even if the clouds weren't shrouding the sun's arrival. Despite that, and the fact that he had only a few hours of sleep the previous night, the man kept on moving.



He had traveled far from home now, far enough that he might never see any of his acquaintances for the rest of his life, which meant that he had finally traveled long enough for it to be safe for him to start over. He had only been on this new continent for a few months, traveling here and there and learning whatever he was able to in the meantime. This place, compared to what he had seen in his travels, seemed far more primitive than many. There were no bustling cities, no fires and great wars, and it brought the hybrid man just a bit of comfort, even if it wasn't something that he was used to.



Blue eyes studied the terrain around him, though the milky white eye could hardly see, and he took in what he could. There was a border near by, off through the thick of the forest, much like the many that he had passed already. Some had strange scents, such as the thick smell of the sea and one even smelled more of coyote than it had of wolf. This one, though, seem more normal than most, never mind the fact that the rain was pouring hard and seemingly altered what he could tell. On two legs, as was the norm for Haephastus, the strange male turned into the thick of the trees, both shielding himself from the torrents of rain and making his way to his destination.



Upon his arrival he noticed nothing astounding. The scent was what it would be for a simple pack and as far as his eyes could see, there were only trees. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't yet accustom to the ways of the people in this area, only able to go off of what he had learned in his travels. Keeping his scarred back from the eyes of whomever might greet him, Haephastus braced his bandaged, two fingered, hand against a nearby tree, lifted his head, and let out a low howl.


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#2
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The small-boned Senex had risen from an uneasy sleep before the sun had risen behind its customary sheet of clouds. The sounds of raindrops splattering on the roof of the Three Moons Ranch only seemed to beat out a rhythm that added to her frustration with the current weather conditions. Geneva usually had all the patience in the world, but a night of tangled dreams left her wanting for the comfort of a man she knew better than to seek out. Since DaVinci had suddenly vanished, there had been a lot more for the Geneva to do. She undertook all of these added duties gladly, but she worried - as she always did - about Jefferson.

He had seemed almost light-hearted at the pack meeting a few weeks ago, but she knew that the Patriarch must feel the weight of DaVinci's absence. The entire pack did. Still, the woman would continue to rise to the challenge. DaVinci had always been there for all of Phoenix Valley's members, and the gray woman would follow in his footsteps. He had touched her life in such a significant way. She could do no less.

A low howl rose above the sound of drumming raindrops, and the Senex moved swiftly through the trees to locate the sound. It was early in the morning - too early for her pack mates to be out and about and calling for attention. The voice was not one she recognized. As she moved through the brush, she wondered who would be up and about at such an hour. Finally, she found what she believed to be the source of the peculiar sound. A male with a coat of many colors leaned against a tree. Her eyes were drawn to his hand where it rested against the tree trunk, before she lifted lime green eyes to take in his face. The short, slight woman spoke gently, although she was not without caution. "What do you seek, stranger?"
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#3
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Beyond anything in the world, Haephastus had patience. The hour was early, he was almost certain, despite the fact that his eyes could not seek out the sun for assurance. He wouldn't have been surprised to be left waiting, standing there beneath the trees to keep shelter from the rain. It would be his own fault, certainly, for who was he to expect someone to answer a call that held no urgency, especially at such an hour of the morning. He had not known his own kind to be nocturnal and, though it was not strange for those in Jerusalem to be wide awake at such a time, this place was also not at war. Then again the aging hybrid had learned many a thing in his travels, things that he might not have known otherwise.



Somewhat to his surprise, it didn't take long for the sound of steps to reach his tired ears. Blue eyes shifted across the terrain, past trees and brush, until the creature finally emerged and stepped in to his sight. A woman. Haephastus waited until she drew closer, removing his bandaged hand from the tree, curling the only two fingers he had up against his palm, and bowed to her even before she was able to speak. "I apologize, Miss, for summoning you so early and in such weather." He stated, for he was not without manners. The words felt foreign on his tongue but, despite that, he tried to speak clearly and careful, to assure that his accent would not make it impossible for her to understand him.



"My name is Haephastus Amir and I have come seeking a home." He told her immediately, for her was not the type to beat around the bush, especially when it meant keeping a lady out in the rain. "I come from a place called Jerusalem, far across the ocean, and I have traveled for months seeking a place that brings me comfort." One that brings a new life. He quieted then, eyes downcast and body still bowed forward, even if only the slightest, awaiting the words of the woman who had been kind enough to answer his call.


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#4
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Her first impression of Haephastus was that he was weary, and that weariness wasn't just bone deep. It was soul deep. There was something about the way he carried himself and his hushed tones that she recognized. She remembered feeling the same way, when it seemed she could have walked the length of the world and not escape her troubles. When she had left Crimson Dreams, she hadn't had any particular destination in mind. She had only been looking for peace. And somehow, her trembling footsteps had led her here, of all places, and she had created a life for herself, forged from the ashes of her broken heart.

"Haephastus, my name is Geneva, and I am the Senex of this pack," she said, introducing herself. She paused to contemplate his accent. She had never heard anyone speak with an accent like his before, although the woman was not very well traveled. She had been born on this continent and had lived south of here in her youth. Now she could not imagine leaving Nova Scotia for any reason. She had too much here that she held dear. These lands gave her meaning and housed those she cared about. Leaving simply wasn't an option for her.

The small-boned woman offered him a small smile, although there was warmth in her features. She did not see reason to be cautious of this male; he did not seem to present a threat. "Please follow me to where we can continue this conversation somewhere where we can be free of the elements," she suggested. She motioned with her hands and directed him toward the Ranch. The embers of a fire from the previous evening were still glowing dully in the fireplace, and she thought that they would provide them with at least some warmth.

She walked at a brisk pace, conscious of the fact that the male looked worn, tired, and cold. She held the door open for him and motioned him inside. Their surroundings were simple and humble. There was a rocking chair by the fire and another chair opposite of it. The embers created a dull orange light and emanated just a small bit of warmth, but it was better than nothing. She took the rocking chair and motioned for the male to be seated and to rest. "I would like to ask you a few questions, Haephastus. If you were granted permission to stay here, how long would you intend to stay? And do you seek to become part of this pack, or only to claim sanctuary within these lands?"
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#5
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She was cautious, just as he might expect anyone to be of a stranger, but even still it left a sickly feeling in the pit of his stomach. Haephastus knew all to well that life was not roses and sunshine, that there existed no place in the world that hadn't seen some kind of horror or sorrow, no matter how much he might have wished such a place existed. Had there been an altercation recently? Something that made her wary of simple passersby or, in his case, those who sought a to start a new life? It was paranoia, perhaps, that left him wondering if he could be as blind as to not see some hidden war that might be happening. He had to force himself to be aware that it was simply paranoia. Not everything could be as bad as he was expecting.



"Geneva." He tested the name quietly, courteous with his words and careful of how he spoke. At her next words and the motion of her hand, which he barely caught out of the corner of his eye, the hybrid gave a faint nod of his head, quietly moving his feet beneath him to follow. He stayed somewhat behind her but still close enough that she might be able to see him, not wishing to make her uneasy by being directly out of sight. As they traveled the hybrid man took his time to examine the area, the shroud of trees that seemed to make up a simple forest, only to be surprised at the sight of their destination. An actual structure, an old human building until one that he had ever seen. They were not as primitive as he had thought.



Patient and polite, as always, Haephastus waited for her to either enter or to make some indication that he should enter, which came quickly as she opened the door. "Thank you." His voice was quiet, appreciative of the fact that she would remove a complete stranger from harsh weather, to invite him in from the cold into her very own sanctuary. The last remnants of the fire was warm on his skin, even as far away from it as he seemed to be and as minuscule as the glow was. He basked in the feeling, soaking it up as he approached the chair to seat himself, moving awkwardly to keep the scars on his back hidden from her eyes. A remnant of the past that he wanted to forget that would never go away.



Finally seated, his failing eyes moved to watch her a moment before turning again, lingering on the glowing bits of wood that still lay in the fireplace. "I seek peace." He told her honestly, frowning at himself. "A place that might live out the rest of my life, where my skills, though few, might be of some aid." A place that my past may not find and haunt me. "My loyalty knows no bounds." He tried to assure her, though his tired body and mind made him sound almost flat. "I just haven't found a place to give my loyalty to yet." For there was nothing left of his old home to give loyalty. Not a soul had survived, so far as he knew.


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"This is a place of peace," the Senex told the weary hybrid. She kept her lime green eyes carefully on his face, watching his expressions as he spoke. She could only imagine the tales this traveler had to tell. He seemed withdrawn, and almost seemed to flinch at every sound she made. She could tell that he did not find her offensive, but his apprehension hinted at a deeper meaning to the way he moved and spoke. Geneva would wonder, but would not ask for this man's tale today. She sensed that there was a core of pain deep within him.

The Senex felt compelled to tell him more, for he had come a long way, and she did not want him to settle without knowing the whole truth. "We have had some tension with a neighboring pack, over unrequited love between two of our respective subleaders, but the aggression has since died down," she explained. "We keep mostly to ourselves, and try to support one another in the ways that we can." There had been little conflict, but she had never heard of anyone coming to blows. Raised voices were not things that she feared or considered a threat.

"I believe that you would have a place here, at least to rest a while, but the final decision does not belong to me," the gray woman said. She rose from the rocking chair and turned toward the heat of the hearth before she turned to look at him again. "Please stay here, and I will get our leader," Geneva said, walking down the hall to retrieve Jefferson and await his judgement.
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#7
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With DaVinci's sudden departure, the responsibilities that the ex-Savant had been charged with were abruptly returned to the unsuspecting Patriarch. One-armed and one-eyed, the brute took up the slack without audible complaint; however, making conversation with the hybrid had been difficult as of late. He was not in the stormiest of moods nor was he more grim than usual, but it seemed the sudden leave of his subleader and close companion had left Jefferson hardly sociable as a result. His rounds and responsibilities doubled, the cyclops was exhausted and retreated back into the deepest confines of the ranch whenever possible, often bringing a book but falling asleep before any reading could be attempted. He'd finished walking the borders an hour or two before and promptly returned to the centralized ranch house he called his home. The rocking chair he usually occupied was too open and accessible; instead, the hybrid hid in one of the bedrooms, where one had to make an effort to find him.


He'd slept a while, but drifted back to consciousness when a downpour had started. Hair still mussed and tangled, the one-armed idiot had staggered from the bed to the window to watch the rain and plan out the remainder of the day despite the grogginess and slight headache. Jefferson wasn't surprised, however, when Geneva quietly appeared. It was then that he noticed an unfamiliar scent carrying through the house (drowned out in the stench of rain, of course). Had Jefferson known her any less he might have suspected something of the gray-furred Praeas, but instead his green eye turned to her without the slightest hint of anxiety. "You brought someone here?" The brute mumbled before she could speak. "Has a weird smell to him." He turned back to the window.

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#8
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Her words comforted the quiet man, a gleam of hope for peace that he had never known in his life. She continued on though, and Haephastus listened quietly, hands folded into his lap, hiding away the hand that only bore two fingers. Of course there was tension, there always seemed to be, but this had been spawned due to love. It was something that the tired man's mind simply couldn't grasp. How could the love between two individuals spawn aggression? What sort of horrors had they committed in the name of their love, if any at all? He had heard such a story only once in his life before, from a book that his mother had read to him and his brother in their youth. It had not been the fault of the lovers but, rather, the blindness of their two families. In the end, no one won.



"Thank you, Miss Geneva." He told her quietly, nodding his head with respect as she moved to take her leave. While out of the room Haephastus took the few private moments that he had to better prepare himself. He scooted himself up in the chair, sitting in a more proper fashion, and used the bandaged, two-fingered hand to smooth down his damp fur. Then, dropping his hands back to his lap, he waited.


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#9
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Jefferson appeared slightly disgruntled, still groggy from sleeping. She couldn't hide the small smile that came to her fact at his comment. As he turned to look out the window and ponder the endless downpour of rain, Geneva reached up to gently smooth her fingers through his tangled hair and sweep it out of his face. It was a tender, private gesture - one of the scant few that they had shared since the weeks that had stretched between their last truly private meeting.

With DaVinci's departure, there had been precious little time for them to see each other, except for in passing from across the borders or the hallways as either of them came or went. But this did not bother Geneva. She knew that there was much to be done, and wanted to ease the extra burden on the Patriarch in any way possible. And she was secure and content in the knowledge of the way he felt, and did not doubt him. She did not need constant demonstrations to know what was true within his heart.

She dropped her hands to her sides and addressed his remarks. "His name is Haephastus," she reported to him, also looking out the window into the rain. "I found him at the borders. He seems tired, he came a long way," she said. She turned her lime green gaze to regard the one-eyed Patriarch. "He's down the hall by the fire right now. I think we should offer him a place to stay, but I wanted you to talk to him first."

Geneva hadn't asked him very many questions. She had only assessed his character at the borders, reading his body language and trying to read between the lines of his words. She thought that she had a good judge of character, but it was ultimately up to Jefferson as the leader to decide. She could only offer her own assessment before presenting Haephastus to Jefferson.
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#10
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Jefferson could easily respect Geneva's judge of character and the like. She seemed unfazed and perfectly comfortable with whatever stranger she had led out of the rain -- it was how Jefferson knew her to be, always calm and collected even when under pressure. However, he'd seen her when the pressure was thick by his own fault and even then she had maintained some sort of backbone he didn't expect. He would have recognized fear or hesitation in her eyes if such things had been there; she would have made them obvious to him without any words of trepidation in the least. However, by the cool touch of her hand and the casual way she carried herself, it seemed nothing was out of the ordinary. "I walked the borders earlier... glad you caught him." He smirked and raised his good arm to ruffle the hair on the top of her head in some sort of lazy, boyish display of affection before brushing past and striding comfortably down the hall knowing she would be right behind him.


"Haephastus, huh," the cyclops pronounced carefully as the stranger's form fell into view... occupying his rocking chair, no less. There was a quick, snide glance at Geneva before he stepped closer and moved to straighten the still damp, cloth sling over his shoulder that contained his scarred and defeated arm. "Kind of an exotic name. I'm guessing you're not from around here. I'm Jefferson. I tell people what to do." He stupidly scratched at an itch on his head. "Geneva seems to like you, but we have different tastes. If you're gonna stay here, you'll have to pull your weight somehow." Skills, traits, whatever. Foreigners were always a bit more interesting in talents, after all.

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A gruff voice spoke his name, far different than the quiet melody that Geneva's had offered his ears. The hybrid man couldn't see him right away, not until the moment that he came to the doorway, and Haephastus offered only a substantial bow of his head and quiet speech. "Sir." For he didn't know the strangers name, only that he was the leader of this place, of which he couldn't yet put a name to as well. The sight of the man was perhaps more surprising than having been lead to a house. This was a man who had seen anything but peace, unless he was simply prone to horrible accidents, but Haephastus doubted that completely.



Polite as always, and very much understanding in the ways of respect, the hybrid dropped his eyes away from one-eyed man, though he dare not look completely away to somehow imply disrespect. "Jerusalem." He said finally, allowing the silence after the words of the stranger, speaking only when it seemed proper. "From across the ocean, deep in the desert lands." But he supposed the leading male gave little care to know exactly where he had come from, only showing him his willingness to share what he could, or at least what he was comfortable to share, openly with the strangers. If they were to consider bringing him into their own home they would certainly be expecting him to offer answers willingly.



"Food." He said finally, after a brief moment of silence. He lifted his bandaged left arm, revealing the hand with two bandaged fingers, to openly show that the other three were missing. "I am able to hunt large prey quickly and alone." He explained carefully, continuing after a short pause. "With the use of weapons, should I be permitted to use them here." It was hard for him to explain the things that he could do, not because he was useless, but because his skills had been used for vastly different things in his own home. "And patrol, should you need aid in doing so." He nodded his head then, content with his own words. "Art also, but I suppose that is not a practical skill." He admitted, then waited.


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Geneva smiled at his display of affection, and brushed her hair back into place as she padded after him down the hall, as close and quiet as his own shadow. The woman was content to stand in the Patriarch's shadow, so that she could be close if he had need of her. After the duo made it down the hall, she smiled wryly as Jefferson noticed that Haephastus was seated in the rocking chair the Patriarch usually claimed as his own. She hadn't even thought of that, as her mind had been on getting herself and the stranger out of the cold.

Jefferson cut right to the chase, something that she liked about him. Although he could come off as abrupt, she knew that the Patriarch's intention was to gather as much information as possible in order to take an immediate and effective course of action. She and Jefferson might have danced around one another in their earlier conversations, but she liked that Jefferson did not usually beat around the bush. He had a brash honesty that was both endearing and infuriating.

The Senex listened as Haephastus answered Jefferson's inquiries. She nodded her head silently, deciding to leave any real judgements to Jefferson. Although she knew that the man took her opinions into consideration, it was ultimately his own decision about what to do. However, when Haephastus mentioned artistic ability and his doubt that it would be notable, she did chime in. "I read and write, and I know the stories of the constellations. Artistic ability could also be an asset, somewhere down the road," she said softly.
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#13
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True, seasoned hunters were few and far between, especially those looking for acceptance into Phoenix Valley. Most joiners mumbled something about tracking skills, but none had yet to mention a talent in weaponry. Needless to say, the one-eyed brute was impressed, as made vaguely evident by his raised brows and still silence. Paired with the stranger's knowledge in the ways of demonstrating respect and the collected way he maintained himself, Haephastus struck the Patriarch as someone potentially more mature than the majority of his members. It was something the pack was overall lacking, as Phoenix Valley was composed of younger creatures whimsical with love and friendship rather than the duties and hazards of the real world. Of course, there was little Jefferson could do about that without scaring them away.


"You seem trustworthy," he nodded. "Phoenix Valley is a small pack. We have many youngsters; I leave it to you to teach them a thing or two about hunting should you get the chance. Your weapons are fine, as long as you keep constant watch over them. Extra eyes around the borders are also appreciated." The brute smiled something genuine, though even the most legitimate of his smiles were still stained with scars. "There's cabins scattered around the territory. Make yourself at home." That said, the brute rolled his shoulders and turned back to the hallway, business done quickly as he preferred it to be. "Start a fire in here if you plan on waiting out the rain. I'm going back to bed."

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#14
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