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........for Merit :]
stay here, lie with me here
........The Concrete Jungle sprawled out before Beppe as he approached, and with each step he took the buildings seemed to grow taller, looming over him like skeletons of mechanical giants. At home, there were intricate castles and the houses were carved out of stone, not poured into moulds. Despite the strange climate and environment, this difference struck the European boy the most. He had never seen a skyscraper before, and it was especially odd to set his eyes on such a dilapidated one.
........Being careful not to step on any of the broken glass that littered the streets while also keeping his eyes on the giants above him, Beppe wound his way through the town. He dipped through narrow alleyways, running his hands along the rough walls, and found a strange fascination with the places where one couldn't even see the sky. He couldn't imagine what the place would be like with people in it, or what it would look like at night, lit up. It was a sad sort of thing; he might have liked to see that. The limited history that this land had was buried under so much rubble and dirt.
........He had almost lost himself among the alleyways and the scummy roads, and didn't become fully conscious again until he turned the corner onto a wide road. Red lanterns hung from lamposts along each side, and the architecture had changed dramatically. The boy felt as if he had transitioned from black and white to the Technicolor era.
........Beppe had stopped in his tracks, and only after a moment started walking again. After the most obvious things started to sink in, the more subtle ones did, like the soft trickling of water in the distance. "Mamma mia," he whispered to himself, eyes jumping from side to side. The eerieness of the place was almost palpable, and the boy was conscious of the need to walk very quietly. Amber eyes struggling to take everything in, Beppe began to make his way towards the sound of water.
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It was far from often that a puppy felt big, towering, or noticeable, especially in comparison to others. Everyone seemed to be so big, so grown-up, and a hill that went unnoticed by one, tended to be a mountain. He was old enough to not be so small and insignificant feeling, but when he walked through the Concrete Jungle, it was as though he was walking into the past. The walls of buildings, crumbling frames with broken windows and collapsed roofs, seemed to loom over him ominously in the shadows. His height, which had much improved over the past few months, seemed to be nothing.
The streets were littered with remnants of the once great structures, and various other objects that he did not know the name of, yet. Wood, stone and glass poked at and crunched beneath his over-sized paws as he moved, and he would occasionally flinch as something dug into the paws. A particularly sharp piece of glass stabbed into the pad of the appendage, and he raised it to his violet-hued eyes. Rather than frown, pout, or whine - whatever it was that most kids would - he just looked at it indifferently, before gripping the glass between his front teeth. With a smooth, fluid pull, the small piece of glass was freed from him, and he spat it to the side.
He had been about to move on, when the sound of something reached his ears. Well, someone. He looked around anxiously, before jogging off into the general direction. To his surprise, however, he came face to face with an even darker area, where things were obviously not right (but, then, what was right in that place?). There was the soft, repetitive dripping of water, along with the skittering of rodents in the shadows, and the male frowned. Would he have to go through that in order to see who else was there?
Maybe. With a sigh, he quickly darted through, emerging on the opposing side. Hello.
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[html]  And the sun will set for you
It was strange to Beppe that, while the rest of the city had degraded so far past its purpose, the fountain bubbling in front of him continued to thrust water into the air. He came close enough to see the stone fish lining the circumference of the fountain, and as he continued to approach he caught an orange glimmer beneath the grimy surface of the water. The boy's amber eyes narrowed as he moved even closer, laying his hands down on the ledge and leaning over.
In the moment that he realized the pool was crowded with bright orange, fat fish, a voice spoke out to him. Though he had been surprised, a sense of constraint caused him to turn slowly to look at the other. "Hello.." At a loss of words, Beppe was silent for a moment before saying, "There are fish in this." There were a couple questions that were in his head; what did the fish eat, and could the wolves eat them? It seemed like some divine force would be opposed to the consumption of these unlikely creatures, because it must be working hard to keep them there in the first place.
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Fish. There were fish in the water...
And for some reason, that simple fact - as insignificant, and positively normal as it way - excited the boy. He grinned, before trotting over to the liquid. Really? he asked, before shoving his nose into the fountain. Colours danced before his violet eyes; the various metallics of fish. Oranges, golds, silvers, blues, even the occasional green, caught the light and shimmered. Carefully retracting his muzzle from the water, he rose a paw, and it stayed suspended for a few moments, before it was in the water with a flash.
But he missed, and pouted as his paw came back empty, and the fish scattered. Ah, well, he'd just have to try again, right? So, who're you?
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And the sun will set for you
The fact that someone else was here as well made the deep rooted feeling of unrest that nestled deep inside Beppe's bones calm itself a little. The guilt of trespassing was shared between them now, or perhaps even voided because the foreign wolf could hazard a guess that it wasn't actually trouble to be here. The souls of humans would not be able to do a thing to him, and though he felt like they definitely could he tried to surpess that apprehension. At least he would be spared half their wrath.
Before Beppe had gathered the words to reply, the other was at the water's edge and looking in. The younger wolf was being hasty, and he had half a mind to warn him though there was no basis for it other than his agitation. Slightly shocked after the pup had taken a shot at the water, as this was something that would certainly upset the balance of things, the charcoal wolf hesitated a moment before replying, "I am called Beppe.. and you?" Despite his attempts to bury his quivering superstition it managed to stay, and he watched the puppy with a wary eye.
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He was not a creature without compassion. Of course not; if some animal was hurt, he felt bad; if someone had a harsh past, he saddened for them. He did not, however, feel bad for things such as prey. Fish, especially, he felt nothing for; they were more mindless and dull than any other. Sharks, perhaps, could be interesting, intelligent, but he had never met one; he'd never know for sure.
Because of that, he was looked at the dark male questioningly when he seemed so surprised. It was just a fish. I'm Merit Acidic.
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[html] [/html]Beppe's gaze shied away from the look that the other was giving him, shuffling a little in his place and trying to hide his sheepish expression. The boy wouldn't have been able to explain why these fish were sacred, only that they were. Surely, hiding in these red lanterns or within the weathered face of the statues, were gods, watching the two young wolves with heavy hands. Once they had made their judgement, those gods would work in their mysterious ways and craft a net so heavy that Merit and his yellow-bellied new acquaintance Beppe would be unable to slip beneath it.
"Pleased to meet you," the boy said weakly from behind a rather forced smile. Trying to get away from the image of some lamentable creature, he said, "I have heard story that these big yellow fish come from heaven themselves, and that one of them has been given a black pearl from the demon.. Vito, and if the fish dies then the pearl will be given back to Vito and he will be strong again. The pearl is his soul, and if the pearl is free he is." Beppe had let his eyes rest on a lantern in the distance throughout his entire story and only now he let his eyes rest meekly on the other. Being scared of a demon was better than being scared of fish, right?
After a moment, the blood that was rushing through Beppe's body was almost overwhelming. His little story, a last ditch effort to make himself feel less like a squirming little girl, had likely made it even worse. Feeling more awkward than he had in his entire life, the boy smiled faintly and said, "I have to go now, nice to meet you." He turned, trying not to be too obvious, and walked away much quicker than he arrived.[html] [/html]
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The story that the other male gave was... something that Merit found hard to believe. He understood what he was saying, and why he should be wary of killing those pretty fish, but the story itself was just odd. Didn't everything die, sometime, though? And didn't that mean that Vito would be strong again, anyway? Time passed, things died and were born, even in fish. The only things that might have lived forever were stars and planets and, maybe, plants.
But that doesn't sound righ — before he could finish his sentence, the male began to leave. Oh. Okay, bye, Beppe.
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