http://digital-bonsai.com/katew/rp/kae/kae_fall.jpg); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:240px; padding-left:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-bottom:10px;"> Halcyon Mountain. Clipped, short steps brought the silver canine to the base of the mountain. It had been five weeks since she'd encountered Haku, and though she was still not completely healed on that pesky neck wound, she was no longer in pain. It showed; her body moved anxiously, almost desperately. For some time she'd been keeping to the coyote's territory, staying close to home. It felt like fearful behavior, though when she did take off from Inferni she had headed toward the mountain instead of the forest. It was still too soon to wander that way, not with Dahlian borders stretching so close to the city. That was a place to avoid—in the heat of the moment she might not have been apprehensive, but there was some lurking cold in her heart, the tiniest ball of terror that had seated itself in the silver hybrid's chest. The ashen coyote had danced too close to death this time, and she had plenty to lose now. It wasn't like when she was young and alone, the only one of her kind with no one to care about but herself. Though Kaena disliked traveling in her two-legged form, though lately she had been resigned to it, since walking on two legs disguised and relieved the limp in her foreleg. She had not shifted in several days now, and she hoped by the time she walked on four paws again there would be no limp. Even so, the Veritas was older now, and her body was more likely to suffer permanent damage, even from a slighter wounds. Still, the coyote did not feel it. She was a Luperci—they tended to live longer than their Nonnisi counterparts by several years, and Kaena knew in her bones if she cared for herself she might survive the better half of another decade. Maybe. The grizzled coyote stepped lightly, tilting her head back into the breeze. There was nothing interesting to be read on the wind or heard in the air, so she put her head down and carried on. It was only late afternoon, and the hybrid woman was quite pleased with the overcast day. It was a drastic change from the storms, and one she rather appreciated. The coyote woman paused on a rocky bluff, stalking to its edge and peering down into the forest, her single searing eye surveying the territory surrounding her. It was a quaint, enjoyable view; the slope before her was steep enough to provide her with a distant view of the waste, yet not so dangerously sharp an incline that it was dizzying to perch upon. The silver canid sighed heavily, breathing in the sweltering August air into her lungs. It was biting and heavy, and she could feel the humidity in the air dampening her coat slightly. She settled to her haunches, her ashen tail wrapping around her hips and settling beside her thigh. Her mind drifted, and she contemplated Inferni. It had been easy to return, and Gabriel had accepted her, crawling and piteous, back into the clan's arms. The warm gray canine had grown accustomed to the beat easily, that endless circle around the territory, the weight of the clan pulling at her shoulders. It was a welcome return on both accounts, it seemed, for Kaena felt more mentally settled than she had in a long time. Perhaps with age, she would not decline into dementia but arise from it? One could never tell. |
the fragile kingdom fall.
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08-28-2009, 06:05 AM
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08-28-2009, 09:03 PM
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A large paw came down into the ground in front of him and Adonis dug up a handful of dirt angrily, tossing it aside a moment later. He had left Avarice back at their little den and once again was out and about searching for food. He had travelled from the coast up to the Phoenix Valley's pack borders, encountered a fiesty and grumpy female, and then continued through endless greenery and an overly damp forest to where he found the mountains. What sort of wildlife would he find all the way out here? Flicking an ear backwards Adonis had started his ascention up the mountainside. Standing once more with a grumble, he swatted a branch from his view the brute continued his push through the greenery. Mumbling irritations to himself Adonis grasped a tree branch and ripped it from its trunk. A growl erupted forth as he cursed the bloody forestry and vegetation. The shores were much clearer and cooler, up here it was humid and sticky. Tossing thick tresses of hair back over his shoulder Adonis' footing slipped momentarily and he went down on one knee with a growl.
Snorting with outright frustration he wandered all the way to the top and sniffed about in search of these mountain goats that would provide a nice meal for the evening. A scent was caught, but it was not that of a wild animal, but rather a luperci like himself. Remembering how the last individual he had run into acted like he wasn't about to put up with any more bullshit so he decided to take a peek then move on. Striding easily towards the female he paused just behind the brush to her left side. Ruby visionaries peered forwards to notice the missing eye, well now that was strange. Grunting Adonis pushed himself up to his full height once more and with a flick of his tail padded out of the brush. "This is a strange place for you to relax." He commented rather off-handedly.
08-28-2009, 10:06 PM
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08-30-2009, 05:12 PM
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Pushing the brush back behind him Adonis grunted as he looked up to see the coyote female stumbling back and away. A brow quirked in question as he strode forwards and halted again, frowning slightly with frustration as the female gasped silent words and continued to stare him in what seemed to be fear? Then she shook herself from it, clearing outlining her reasoning behind such strange actions. Opening a large paw he plucked a few of the blueberries he had found from the palm of his hand, popping them in his mouth. "There is no one else like me," Deep vocals purred and he chuckled deeply while casting a devilish grin towards Kaena. Ruby visionaries scanned the coyote over again; he was interested to know what had caused all these scars to riddle her face. This female did not seem physically the type to engage in any form of violence, especially a fight. The missing eye was interesting as well, he had yet to meet someone other than this female whom was missing such a vital organ. "But do tell me about this look-alike." He inquired a moment later then gave the female another look over. "And how it is you came to loose such an important item." The male inquired, motioning to her missing eye.
While awaiting her response Adonis decided to take it upon himself to take a seat. Finding a large boulder buldging from the ground he easily settled himself upon it, casting his attention once more to the female. Was she going to get up off the ground? Perhaps dust herself off? Mentally grunting to himself he made note of the other female he had encountered. Were all the females in this land such, bitches? Avarice was a good girl, she did as she was told and obeyed directions quite well. Visionaries drifted off over the cliff a moment later and a small smirk of approval tugged at the corners of his mouth while he momentarily thought about the firey-hued female back home.
08-31-2009, 05:09 AM
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09-01-2009, 08:49 PM
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Resettling a moment later by shuffling his rear upon the rock the charcoal brute turned his attention towards Kaena again with mild interest. Yawning slightly he leaned back upon large paws and listened, and watched through half-closed eyes. As she mentioned 'him' and that Adonis had no need in prying his interest perked slightly. Sitting upright he looked upon the female with greater interest now. Did he remind her of a past lover? Or perhaps mate? Maybe even one who had walked away from her.. Grinning deviantly Adonis disregarded her comment about the brat whom stole her eye. Slipping from the rock anxiously Adonis padded over to the female, crouching in front of her with a sneer-like grin. "But I would love to hear about him.." The male purred and observed the missing eye once more with an upclose and personal view. He chuckled lightly and tilted his own head up as if expecting her to do the same.
"Perhaps it was not a brat who stole your eye, Hoss." Adonis paused and chuckled as he pivoted on his large hand and toes to seat himself next to her. Grinning he leaned closer till their guardhairs were bristling against one another. "In fact I'm sure it was no youth who stole that eyeball of your's, otherwise you wouldn't be as marred and single-eyed as you are." Picking soil from beneath a talon Adonis flicked it from himself and the female and the corners of his lips turned upright in an engaging grin. "Plus you don't look like the frail, brittle little female either, Hoss." He crooned and plucked a pice of grass from beside his leg, snapping it in half and observing the fluids within it. "No youth would be able to snatch your eye either, such a task could only be managed by one your size or larger." The male paused again, "Perhaps it was him that stole your eye?"
09-02-2009, 05:49 AM
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v515/ ... enaban.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Table thanks to Erin!The hybrid woman did not know what to make of this wolf. She was not afraid of him, but certainly, she had reason to be wary. The scars on his face told stories of war and violence, just as certainly as her own did. Even so, if she were not already injured, this would hardly have bothered her. Kaena did not often give pause to think things through; she was a reactionary, volatile creature. In her age, she had grown more logical, but that did not make her immune to the emotions she had been governed by the first nine years of her life, not by a long shot. She could barely contain the snarl that writhed across her features as he pressed at Zulifer's memory, but she said nothing, fearing her voice would devolve into a meaningless growl. The coyote did not so much as flinch as he crept forward, close enough to reach out and touch. Her face had frozen, that wrinkled half-snarl still showing across her features, though her sable ears swept forward to listen to his purring voice. His words and the sound of his voice were almost soothing, something like a compliment flowing from his mouth. The coyote sized him up again, her single golden eye flowing over his body and noting his strength and size. She could not engage him and hope to win beyond blind luck. She knew that, and though every fiber of her being itched for her to raise her paw and smack him across the face, claws splayed open to add a few more marks to his pretty face, she could not. The silver coyote did not think she would encounter violence from his end; he seemed more simply curious than anything else. She could deal with that, so long as she derailed his train of thought. Speaking of Zulifer was still painful; in truth, his saga had not ended until only recently for the coyote, the night she'd finally defeated Salvaged Eternity and tore his heart out. She could still recall the hard muscular tissue between her teeth, blood oozing from its center as she ground her jaws down on it. "He would never have hurt me," she said crossly, knowing it to be the truth. As much of a monster as he'd been, Zulifer had never uttered a cruel word to the hybrid canine. Perhaps it was his death which had kept him so immortal and perfect in their mind; they had not had the time to deteriorate as all relationships eventually seemed to. Kaena could only shake her head, thinking back to the wolf who'd taken her eye. He hadn't been much of a wolf, at that—maybe an alpha somewhere, but that had never mattered to Kaena, not after she'd abandoned the wolf life. "I was young once, too," the coyote stated, rather simply—she had not always had the experience, the memories, the pain. It had come from somewhere. Once, she had been young and reckless, and stupid, too. "I've been one-eyed most of my long life," she said, defending the old wound. She had not had the pleasure of using both of her eyes for more than a year of her life.
09-07-2009, 04:20 PM
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Lowering his head just so that his attention could be eye-level to the female Adonis grinned as she scowled. Her frustration with him only furthered his interest as to why she refused to speak upon the male. Cocking his head ever so slightly and craning his back in a curious manner Adonis plucked a piece of grass from the female's fur on her leg. "Hm.." Deep vocals purred and he flicked the grass from his claws. "Would never have hurt you.. meaning he's, deceased." Long, pointed bat-like ears rolled forwards in interest and the male grinned with a volatile sneer. As she shook her head Adonis raised a brow, observing and trying to discern her movements. His semi-confused and interested expression dissipated into a flirtatious smirk as he chuckled and extended a thick, long finger beneath her chin, "Oh my dearest Hoss, you are not old." The male teased and flicked his claw lightly against the underside of her chin. "I'm sure you have some life left in you." Adonis crooned then settled his paw down onto the other side of her feet. Shifting his weight onto that paw he leaned over her feet.
He wasn't interested in her story about her eye, he was much more interested in what she had to say about this male. "You seem to have a great pride in this male.. perhaps you were lovers at some point?" Adonis crooned, throwing a suggested idea out to see how the female would react. "Or perhaps he left you for another female?" The tip of his tail gently swayed and flicked against the soft ground in thought. Family was the next shot.
09-09-2009, 06:52 AM
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09-22-2009, 01:14 PM
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The malicious grin that had plastered itself upon the male's features slowly disappeared as his large paw was drawn back from her features. Brows furrowed slightly and eyes narrowed as the mood shiftly drastically. Her original fighter's aura had been diminished down to a moody, emotional one where the female did not even wish to make prolonged eye contact with him. An ear flicked and Adonis shuffled to plop himself back onto his rear with a light grunt. Visionaries settled on the female again as she hinted at her past sexual experience with the male, then his death. Adonis had been through a variety of deaths, none of them other than his mother had ever really bothered him. He had yet to experience real love so to speak. Shuffling to sit with his legs crossed Adonis grunted and gently lapped his tail against his left thigh. "But I am not him." He commented absently then crossed his arms over broad chest with a huff. "I am someone else. I'm quite sure you can see that." The male crooned and allowed himself to fall back upon his hands comfortably, cracking his thick neck in the process with a relieved sigh. "Its been six years- I'm more than sure that's been a long enough time of grievance."
His words were cold, withholding any sort of reveal towards his own personal experience. "I'm sure if you two were so damn close then he wouldn't be pleased to see you moping around after him." Snorting with a toss of his head the seemingly anxious male pushed himself to rise then shook grass from his pelt. "You seem to be a fighter, which, I can only assume could be apart of the reason you two were 'lovers'.. Which again would mean he wouldn't be pleased to see his 'fighter' miserable and down." He was actually quite surprised at his own words of 'wisdom'. Adonis had never been one to consider himself intelligent by any means. Perhaps slightly witty, but that was as good as he saw it. Turning ruby visionaries towards the drop off of the cliff he watched it momentarily in thought. The scent of a deer far off was wafted up to his leathery nares as the canine grunted, snorting the smell outwards and turning back to face Kaena again with an expectant look on his features.
09-25-2009, 02:58 AM
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