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in case it isn't obvious, he's at the graveyard, and it's early morning. and he's in optime form. <3
He felt that the graveyard was far more genial when barely swathed in the rays of an early morning sun; though for the most part a thick canopy prevented the dismal little piece of land from gathering any light. The dog was not one to find fear in such a place- a dead thing could do little to him- but he did respect these humans, for whatever they had done. Indeed, if they had not been of such intelligent design, they could not have paved the way for the Luperci to come into power...not that Kvæsir was a Luperci by birth or choice, however. No, his infection was the result of his promiscuity, though the woman that had given him the wayward disease had been the first one that he had truly brought his lustful heart to love. He felt his heart still give an angry twinge at the thought of her, and he snorted beneath his breath, raising a white hand to absentmindedly finger the ends of his boyish tuft of bangs. Kæ felt that they gave him a bit of character, that and his faux-hawk, standing between his hanging ears. he looked much different in this form than a wolf, possibly because the virus had not been meant to leak to his kind anyway. Alas, there was little he could do.
For the first time in weeks, Kæ had adapted to his Optime form without the usual grudging sighs that came alongside it. Sitting cross-legged, his back against an unusually large tomb and within reaching distance of a smaller one, the black and white canine's muzzle was thrust between the yellowed pages of a rather old book, eyes sharp with concentration and the honey-brown pupils flickering in their sockets as he scanned the words that he had read so many times before. It was a collection of poems, some, he guessed, older than others, for the dialect and manners of speaking would vary, as would the four-number dates that would be inscribed at the top or bottom of each page. Some of them, too, had the lines of text grouped differently. but this was not an instructional book, it was merely an anthology, and so he had no way to learn the different types. A thought interrupted his reading momentarily- there was a library on the Valley's premises, and he would have to remember to ask someone where it was.
His favorite poem, in this section of the book at least, was one by a man named Edgar Allen Poe, entitled "From Childhood's Hour". Kvæsir had read the words over and over again the past few days; since his acceptance into Phoenix Valley he had not yet achieved a rank, and so was often left bored, left exploring or reading or practicing his magic tricks and recorder, two of the things that he found a great amount of success in. There was little doubt that he was musically gifted, and after reading about something called a lyre in a poem and the beautiful noises he could make, he had made it a point to look for one- but had yet to find anything that could produce anything even close to beautiful.
The majority of this morning- though much of the morning remained- had been spent simply examining his newfound pack's territories, and it was because of this that he had stumbled across such a solitary gem. The graves were withered, the souls long gone from the dead and the time-worn bones revealing themselves as the elements eroded the earth that covered them- cowled, and mute like stones. For some it might have been a place that they dare not travel for fear of upsetting the spirits or a god- but Kæ did not fear ghosts, and Kæ paid penance to no god- he was not some arrogant bastard that felt himself to be better than something like religion, but he had had questions, questions that the one that his mother prayed to could never answer.
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Xeris had soon found that her habit of waking early became continual. She didn't know why. Her body's natural rhythm seemed to have just...changed spontaneously. And waking up early in the morning meant she had to find something or other with which to occupy herself at such a time, when others were asleep. So she had taken to wandering about the lands, much as she did when she first came to Phoenix Valley, and searching for new and interesting places that she might have passed by months ago.
The white wolfess had always tried her best to stay away from the graveyard. Somehow, even though they were dead and gone, it just felt wrong for her to be walking upon the bodies of others. It was as if she would be disturbing them. She certainly did not want to be walked upon. But after so many early mornings of exploring, she soon found that she was running out of places to go, and thus was forced to wander between the lonely tombstones on this particular morning.
Only a few times before had she stumbled upon another pack member who was awake at this time of the morning. But today, she spotted someone unfamiliar, sitting on the ground and reading. Xeris had never been taught to read. Her parents had condemned human values and preached adherence to the "natural" values of their own species. She often wondered what sorts of things humans had written about in their books, but never got the chance to find out. Setting this matter aside for the moment, she approached the unfamiliar one, being careful to step around the gravestones and places where she felt that one's body may have been residing, her white coat appearing almost appropriately ghostly against the dirt and stones. "Hello there," she spoke upon arriving a few feet from the stranger. "I haven't seen you around before."
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hello!  can i ask what form she's in?
So immersed in the eloquence of the text that was laid out before him that it was only when the woman drew close enough for his peripherals to catch her in their outmost fields that Kvæsir registered the female's gentle presence. Still, he moved slowly, finishing the verse before allowing his eyes to move up to her face, an amiable smile wrapping itself around his pink-tinged lips. " 'Morning!" he spoke cheerfully, chuckling to himself at her words. "I wouldn't fret over it if I were you," the border collie explained, uncrossing one leg to ease the tightness the muscles had gathered after being in such an awkward sitting position for so long. "I doubt anyone has seen me around before; I just joined a few days ago. I'm Kvæsir, but feel free to call me Kæ." He flashed a toothy grin at the ivory fae, using the brief moment to draw his eyes over her in a fluid motion, ending at her golden eyes. There were scars, ones that still remained knotted and pink from whatever or whoever their inflictors had been; though he enjoyed conversations, he was not of a particularly inquisitive character, mainly because the stories of others were rarely sincerely entertaining, or simply because, well, he didn't care. If he felt that presenting himself as a compassionate soul would help him in the current situation, then he would play the part flawlessly- but it wasn't needed yet, though whether or not the future would require it remained to be seen.
"It's strange to see someone out and about this early," Kæ spoke, the puzzlement in his voice meant to reveal the question behind it: why was she up so early? Not that it was much of a matter to him; he had been feeling rather lonesome in the dilapidated graveyard. More of a social being, it had been three long days of near-hell for him to walk around by himself. It seemed that the members had been few and far between; funny that he met one now in such a strange place. "If you don't mind me asking, miss," he ventured, tilting his head and glancing up at the female. "What is it exactly that you do around here? They've not given me any specific sort of duty yet, and I heard there's a library around here, but I can't find it anywhere." He had seen several cabins, and cottages, as he had roamed, but didn't want to intrude on something that he knew nothing about. He had also glimpsed verdant pastures surrounded by fencing- which could only mean one thing: livestock. And, given his breed, he had a natural pull to the animals, of which he seemed to possess an almost paranormal control over, though of course this was little more than his ability to give them a proper stare-down.
There were many occasions when he wished that the same sort of intimidation tactic would work on his peers, but, sadly, it rarely, if ever, did. His eyes, a normal chocolate brown, did not have the piercing effects that another's might, and he did not have the towering size of wolves, despite the twenty-five percent gray wolf that trickled through him. Hell, he couldn't even howl- something that he held great remorse for. Realizing with an inward jolt that he had been staring endlessly in a pointless direction, he jerked his glance back to the female, and gave her a smile, though it was one that only drew up a single side of his cheek. "Sorry, I was in my own world there for a second." Laughing softly, he set down the book and crossed his arms over his chest.
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Anya had woken up early, unable to figure out why. Thoughts were racing through her head as to why, but nothing came to a standstill. Her thoughts kept on wandering to Ty, wondering when she would see him again.
The graveyard was a common place for her to wander. It was peaceful, and one could always be sure that the neighbors would be quiet. So she was rather surprised when she heard voices floating up through the dawn's mists.
Her eyes perked, Anya proceeded forward, recognizing Xeris's voice. Anya had heard on the winds that the woman had mated with Pendzez. Anya was glad for her friend, and sad that she had missed duch an occasion. But now was the time to congratulate her friend, and meet someone new while she was at it.
Anya trotted carefully around the largest tombstone, coming upon the two conversing.
"Hey Xeris, long time no see. How are you?" Anya turned her attention to the other being. "Hi, I'm Anya. How are you?"
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I have her in optime form here
Xeris was pleased to find that this unknown man was friendly. Of course, she wouldn't expect any less from a member of Phoenix Valley, but then again she'd had some rather...unpleasant experiences with strangers in the past. She listened politely as he introduced himself and said, as she'd thought, that he just recently joined the pack. Smiling in return, she replied to his kind greetings. " It's a pleasure to meet you, Kæ. I'm Xeris." Xeris had heard some interesting names in her time at 'Souls, and always wondered about their history. This particular name sounded foreign, and she wondered where Kvæsir had come from. But that was a conversation for a different time.
" Yeah, I suppose it is a bit earlier than most people would be up and about," she said with a bit of a smile. " Waking up early is just a habit of mine, I suppose. Everything seems more peaceful in the early morning. Perhaps that's why I keep doing it." And there was a sense of peace about the Phoenix Valley territories so early in the morning--here in the graveyard, the early morning silence provided an eerie atmosphere.
He asked about what kind of things she did. Thinking over this for a moment, she paused. " Well, once you get further up in the ranks, you'll be assigned a duty," she replied. " I currently hold the position of Locum; basically, the pack's head scout of the internal borders." In thinking about it, Xeris hadn't really done too much scouting, unless her early morning walks counted. Maybe that was why her body was telling her to get up so early, she needed to get her work done. The golden-eyed wolfess smiled inwardly at this thought.
Looking over the male in front of her, she noticed that he seemed to be staring off into the distance. Xeris took this time to observe him. He clearly had more dog heritage in him than wolf, that was plain to see. She wondered what kind of life he'd had, being mostly a dog. She snapped back to attention just as Kvæsir did, and chuckled just as he did. " Heh, not a problem. I know how that feels." She hesitated for a moment, and then sat down upon the ground, being careful not to disturb the tombstones or the dirt around them. Her eyes wandered again to the book, but she decided that she'd ask about that later.
Suddenly, another voice broke the stillness. Xeris turned her head to see Anya approaching. " Ah, hello there Anya! You're right, it has been a while. I'm doing well, how about you?"
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"The pleasure's all mine, I'm sure!" Kæ chirped, smiling broadly up at her. If one could expect something from the young man, it would be an encouraging face- the way he handled himself and flitted through personalities left little room for another to find themselves ill at ease with the dog. It simply wasn't in his nature to antagonize, nor to allow someone to believe that he was anything but what they would like to see. In most senses, he was little more than a liar, but he was a liar that would make you feel comfortable with the situation, and perhaps he prided himself on that most of all. She had an agreeably pleasant name that matched her looks- her mother had done well, it seemed.
He understood where she was coming from- even he would want a bit of solitude every now and then, and he supposed that the early morning was the best time to find it. The drunkards from late nights would be too hungover to bother anyone, and the majority of the pack most likely enjoyed sleeping in. "I couldn't agree more with you, though my early morning habits are usually dictated by my activities the previous night." He was speaking strictly of alcohol, of course, though he remembered the occasional long night spent with a short-term lover- oh, those were the days. He had been forced to be more careful with his promiscuity since his Luperci infection; unlike the woman that had infected him, he didn't want to contaminate some poor woman and condemn her to a life she didn't want.
Locum? He desperately needed to learn the ranks here. Jefferson had been wonderfully vague when describing the possible outcome of duties ("you can herd them"), but he had been too worried about maintaining something of a good impression to further bother the leader with questions, especially when all it took was a bit of research to find the answer. "Jefferson spoke of needing more scouts, but in the same breath he said that not much goes around here- I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, but I must admit that I am enjoying the time to lounge."
He gave her another pleasant smile as she finally sat down- her standing had begun to make him a bit nervous- and watched her keenly, a question almost immediately forming on his tongue as he saw her eyes pass over his book. "Do you read?" He asked innocently; from what he had gathered, not all had had the fortune of befriending someone who could and was also willing to teach another to do so- personally, Kvæsir doubted he would have the patience unless he himself gained something other than the happy spirit of a do-gooder from it.
A gunmetal-gray she-wolf approached them through the murk of the morning, her Lupus form making Kvæsir yearn to be in his own. He wasn't comfortable in his Optime form, not yet, but not having fingers certainly made it a whole hell of a lot harder to thumb through the wrinkled pages of his books. He wondered, momentarily, if she was a non-Luperci or if she simply preferred the four-legged form as he did, but left it alone for the time being, choosing instead to return her greeting with a nod and an introduction of his own. "Good morning Anya! I'm fine, and yourself?" Xeris certainly did seem to know the woman that stood before them, and Kæ's flopped ears twitched to catch their voices. "I'm Kvæsir, by the way. I'm new to Phoenix Valley."
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Xeris was pleased to find that her new acquaintance was so cheerful. She wondered idly where he got his energy so early in the morning. He also seemed to understand her morning habits, though she was perplexed as to what he meant by "activities the previous night." Perhaps he was the overly promiscuous type. Xeris would have to be a little bit careful. Then Kæ brought up the ranks again; this was something that the white wolfess knew a bit more about.
"Well, I haven't spoken to Jefferson very often," she said honestly, "So I'm rather unsure about what exactly he's looking for." As far as she knew, there weren't very many distinct types of jobs for the wolves in Phoenix Valley. There was scouting and border patrol and hunting, as well as mentoring the pups, but that was really all she could think of. The next time she saw Jefferson, perhaps she'd ask him about it.
He asked if she could read, to which she of course had to answer, "No." For a moment she hesitated before explaining. "My family always wished to stay true to their wolf heritage and away from humans and the human-like culture of the Luperci. As you can see, that didn't go all that well in my case. But because of my parents' ideas, I was never taught to read." That was as much of her past as she would divulge for now.
The white female turned her attention to Anya now. She hadn't seen her friend in a while. Where had she been? Xeris hoped that everything was going well for Anya, and waited for the gray-furred wolfess to speak up.
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Oy, sorry guys. College classes are kicking my anglo saxon butt.
"I've been wandering around for herbs, listening to the winds and what stories they have to tell. And welcome to Phoenix Valley..." Anya paused over the name, stumbling over the odd pronunciation. "Hmmm....is there a nickname I could call you?" She was sorry for not being able to pronounce the male's name.
Anya noticed that Xeris smelled different, like she was happier.
"Jefferson is a quiet character, it seems to me. He's really nice, but I've been in the habit of staying out of sight. But that's just me..."
"I've been hoping to take on the task of bard in the pack. The birds tell me many things, stories of what they have seen. THey have asked me to share what knowledge I have. Got any ideas as to who i could talk to about that?"
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