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The hybrid woman was curious to know more of what Rikka had experienced in her lifetime away from home, but Kaena was eager to get deeper into the coyote territory first. They were nearly at the caves now; the hybrid could hear the call of the shore and see the rocky beginnings of Inferni's central hub. It was a a disappointment the caves were not further away from the ocean. Some of them were uninhabitable thanks to their low elevation and proximity to the water, but Kaena was happier close to the water anyway. She was glad Gabriel had not selected landlocked territory for Inferni to inhabit.
Rikka's words were rather heartwarming to the silver-furred Centurion, who glanced in happy surprise in her daughter's direction, smiling at the younger hybrid. "Of course. I'm too glad you remember where you came from," the hybrid said. She did not think Rikka (or any of them, really) were capable of forgetting entirely, but it was easy to push pieces of the past out of your head, easier still to bury them entirely.
The hybrid nodded in agreement. She had found Aquilaship pleasurable yet taxing. The knowledge that she held the life of the clan in her hand was at once empowering and terrifying. "Gabriel handles it well," she commented. "I like where I'm at, too," the hybrid added with a smirk. It was appropriate, after all, that Kaena Lykoi would end up exactly where she started in Inferni.
The tawny-furred hybrid spoke once more, revealing a part of Rikka and Gabriel's history she was relatively unaware of. The hybrid frowned and glanced toward her golden-eyed daughter, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. As far as Kaena knew, Rikka and Gabriel had always gotten along just fine; it was Samael and Gabriel who had problems when they were both younger. "He's changed quite a bit from who he was in youth, I think," the coyote said.
"Just Mason, he's our youngest. Lucky boy to have survived so long on his own—he came to us when he was three months old, I think. Was on his own almost a month," the hybrid explained, shaking her head. It was a marvel the child had made it in the open wilderness on his own. "How about you?" the hybrid asked, eager to figure out if she had any new grandchildren running around.
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It was true, while she had often felt alienated from her family at times, family had always been important to her. Where you came from was important, even if it taught you things that you didn't particularly agree with, it still formed you. If Rikka hadn't been born to this family she would not be who she was, and she liked who she was. "I couldn't forget. I wouldn't want to, even the stuff that wasn't so great." For not all of it had been great, but none of it had bee horrible. That could have been another reason that her mother was such a hard woman for her to understand. The woman had never experienced anything that had really traumatized her, nothing that she wanted to forget with all her being. Unbeknownst to her, Kaena had suffered many such events.
Rikka had never been an ambitious individual either, so that was likely another reason that leadership held no appeal to her. She honestly didn't want the responsibility and she had no cravings for power. All she wanted was a good life and to be surrounded with the people who mattered most to her and loved her. "He must, for everything to still be intact." It wouldn't be easy to keep any group together, but keeping Inferni together seemed like it would be a gargantuan undertaking. "That's good. It's important to be content with where you're at." If you weren't happy with where you were nothing else seemed to work quite right either. At least that was the conclusion she had come to in her life.
She saw the inquisitive look her mother gave her at her comment on her relationship with her brother and suddenly she felt like a child again. This attributed to the fact that if she revealed the incident in mind that she would be "telling" and be berated for such an action. "It was a long time ago, when he returned," she tried to speak as dismissively as she could. Rikka had a feeling that she hadn't been the only one for Gabriel to take his anger out on back in those days. "That's good to hear. Hopefully he's a bit more happy." He hadn't been back then. No matter what had transpired between them she did hope that her brother was more at peace now.
"Oh dear, the poor thing. It's a good thing he made it here." It was amazing that any pup could make it on their own for so long at such a young age. When asked about if she had any offspring she shook her head slowly. "No, no kids for me. It's kind of surprising really, there's been plenty of opportunities for it," she said with a note of sadness at the end. The fey hadn't exactly been trying for kids, but it would have been a nice surprise. She had been quite...active in the commune and yet she had never conceived. Honestly she was a little worried that she couldn't.
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For her mother's abuse, Kaena could not help but be thankful in a way—if it was not for Delphine, Kaena would not have her coyote blood. Delphine had imparted that gift to the Lykoi woman, and for that alone she was grateful. For all the hurt the woman had imparted to Kaena, there was that single, shining gift that made it worthwhile. Without Delphine, Kaena would have been a wolf. Or maybe she wouldn't have existed at all? The hybrid rarely philosophized about such things.
The silver-furred woman again offered a small smile to her daughter. "Sure did, with the fire and moving over the mountains," the hybrid said. Gabriel had continued Inferni here on this side of the mountain; he could have just as easily walked away or let everything scatter to the wind. He could have even kept the coyotes banded together under a different banner, but he had chosen to carry on Inferni's name and Inferni's legacy. That meant a hell of a lot to Kaena, and she felt almost indebted to her son for it, though she was certainly aware he had his reasons beyond what his mother would have wanted.
Rikka didn't seem to want to delve into the details of what they might have considered a past life, and Kaena understood that. Old memories could be quite painful to dredge up, as she was perfectly aware. Being here with Rikka helped distract her from what had happened with Haku, the dark city and all of its bloodied memories there. The hybrid had always found the place fascinating, and now she was deathly afraid of it. Things changed—she could understand that, too. Gabe still didn't trust Samael; that hadn't changed. Other things had, though, and Kaena was confident Rikka would find a friend in her brother now.
There was a slight edge of disappointment in Kaena as she heard Rikka did not have grandchildren, but it was quickly forgotten as she then supposed it was a good thing the answer was no—had the answer been yes, they would be faraway or dead grandchildren, neither of which Kaena particularly wanted to hear about. "No worries. Maybe you'll catch a good one here," the hybrid said sincerely. To any other but her child she might have said this bitterly and sarcastically, but she genuinely meant it when speaking to Rikka. They were coming up on the caves now, and the hybrid paused a minute, stopping to gaze at the blue line of water extending inward to the coyote land. She was so glad for the coast. "Couple of us live around here—Gabriel, Anselm, and I think Hybrid, too," the silvery canine offered. "If you want, we can go take a peek at a few of them and see if you find something you like."
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[html] lmao XD oh, would my word counts for this thread count for the game? If so I need to start adding those >.> 300+
Rikka knew very little about the fire and the events leading to settling in this land on the other side of the mountains, but she knew it must have been quite the task to get everyone over here together safely. Gabriel must have been strong and brave to accomplish such a task, especially since many people had probably been frightened or even panicked. She'd never been through a fire, but she could imagine it was a horrific thing to go through. The one that they had fled from had devoured all of the old lands. She couldn't help but wonder how such an immense fire had started. Had there been a drought or something that had made the land more susceptible to such an event? It was probably a question that no one had the answer to and so she did not bother to ask Kaena. She hadn't been here at the time either.
There wasn't any reason to go into the details of that time Gabriel had yelled at her and called her names. They had still been kids then and it sounded like he had changed a lot in the time she had been away. It was best to push the old memories aside and open her mind to the possibilities of what her brother was now. He was the leader of the clan now, and so obviously there would be things that they would not agree upon, but maybe they could find that common ground beyond the blood they shared and be more friendly with one another. The de le Poer wanted her relations with her family to be better, wanted them to improve and grow stronger. That was the reason she had come back.
The smile came back to her face at her mother's response. "Maybe I will. I would like kids." Her tongue kept quiet on her fears of bareness, not wanting to dampen the mood. It could be a subject that she could discuss with her at another time. Thankfully they arrived at their destination and it provided a welcome change of subject. Looking out she could already see the beauty of the area. "Yeah, that'd be great! Are there any open caves close to your's?" Being close to her mother was a priority at the moment and so finding a den near her's would be ideal to the returning daughter. "Oh, and is there a city or something around here? I have a few things, but I don't have any blankets or anything like that to keep warm." Winter would soon be approaching and Rikka wasn't prepared for it.
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http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x242 ... table1.png); background-color:#000000; background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; text-align:justify;"> Whee. Yeah, I don't see why not. :]
The coyote held family in the highest regard, and the return of her daughter marked one more of the fragmented pieces falling back into place. Some would never fit again; Vitium and Kerberos were unlikely to return to Inferni in their lives. The former would die for it, and the latter had only known Inferni for a few short months of his life. Kaena regretted her relationship with her eldest son more than anything. He was almost an old man now, but he was the only living remnant of Zulifer Yfel persisting in the world, so far as Kaena knew. He was her flesh and blood, and though she'd left him at Jaded Shadows with the best of intentions, the hybrid knew her child would never forgive her for it. Abandonment was abandonment, regardless of why you did it.
The hybrid grinned and shrugged a shoulder. "Grandchildren would be lovely," the hybrid said, just a hint of excitement in her voice. They had arrived at the caves, however, and it was time to inspect possible places Rikka might live. The hybrid considered her question with a tilt of a silvery head, considering. The one just next door flooded too often to be inhabitable, but there were a myriad of different caves to choose from around here. "The closest floods a bit too often, but there are others close by? I'll show you my cave so you'll know where to find me, and we'll start from there?" the coyote suggested, figuring it was a good enough plan.
At the mention of the city, a strange discomfort passed through the coyote, and for just an instant her face went rigid. As quickly as the moment arrived it flew away, and the hybrid shrugged. "Yeah. Head southwest from here, hard to miss it. I have to stick close to home for a while, otherwise I'd go with," the hybrid said, feigning interest in returning to the city. She had no desire to be there with the possibility of Haku and the very real memory of him lurking in that concrete and steel ruin.
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Rikka had always hoped to be a mother one day. For a while she hadn't been ready for such a huge commitment, but now she really felt that she was at the time in her life where she wanted it. She had started feeling that way about a month into her stay within the commune and it hadn't waned at all since. The woman wasn't even necessarily looking for a mate, in fact she almost liked not being tied down to one person. She wasn't against the idea, but it wasn't something she needed. She had had multiple partners in The Haight and yet she had never gotten pregnant. Hopefully she would find more chances around here. She didn't want to believe that she could be infertile, but it was a very real fear that lay in the back of her mind.
It didn't bother her that the cave right next to her mother's wouldn't work. She just wanted to be close by, she didn't need to be right next door. Actually, being that close could turn awkward easily. A little distance would be good. "That sounds like a perfect plan. So what are the caves like? Are they very large?" The hybrid had seen a lot of caves in her travels and knew that they could be huge or so small that she could barely fit into them. Rikka didn't need anything too large, but a good amount of space would be nice. She liked to stretch out and in case she did have kids it would be nice if she could stake out a cave that would be big enough for herself and future youngsters.
It was lightning quick, but she noticed the fleeting change in her mother and it made her curious. What had that been about? It certainly wasn't fear, was it? Kaena Lykoi wasn't really afraid of anything, at least not in her daughter's mind. Still, there had definitely been something that had made the older hybrid uneasy and while Rikka wanted to ask her about it she knew not to. If she wanted to talk about then she would have and asking her about whatever it was would most likely only annoy her. It was better to just let it be, but she did store it in her memory for later contemplation. "Alright. I probably won't head down there too soon, but I will need to before it gets too cold." Without some sort of insulation a cave could get pretty frigid.
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[html] | http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/kae_razor.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> The silver-furred coyote shrugged a shoulder. There was no real way to classify all of the caves; it was a simple way of life and the hybrid enjoyed it immensely. She'd slept on the ground or beneath a tree for most of her life, and she was more comfortable within a dank cave rather than the mansion, though she could hardly look down on Halo for choosing to live in such a place. To each his own, the coyote figured, at least where family was concerned. The coyote had realized the value of family, and she was hard-pressed to push any of them away except for those that had committed the most atrocious acts.
"Some of 'em are pretty big, but usually those are the ones that flood out. Couple are large enough for family space, though. I got one of the smaller ones, myself." The hybrid meandered forward toward her cave, picking up the pace to a trot as she navigated through the rocky outcroppings here and there expertly. The hybrid was certainly no stranger to this area. "Usually you'll find somebody hanging around here," she offered, indicating the general area. Of course—the greatest concentration of the population was found in this area, so it was only natural they'd all stick around this part of their territory.
The coyote was nervous at the mention of the city; she wasn't absolutely comfortable with Rikka going alone, either. "You should take Anselm with you. He knows the city pretty good, so I gather," the coyote offered. It was true; few could claim knowledge of the territory such as Anselm possessed. He had known this area long before Inferni and the wolves had settled into it. The coyote often wondered what that had been like—maybe he'd been sleeping during the fire, and he'd awoken to a territory congested with migrant canines. It was a humorous picture in her head.
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[html] out next thread will not be so happy o__o; also PM'ing you what Onus' letter says 500+
Rikka had always preferred living in a natural area instead of the buildings and houses the humans had left behind. Perhaps that was why she hadn't stayed long in Europe, it just really hadn't suited her. There were good things the humans had done, but in the hybrid's mind the bad they had done greatly outnumbered the good. Wars, prejudice, genocide, bombs, the rape of the natural world. There were things of the humans she enjoyed however, though whole hippie way of life was something she had taken to heart and she did enjoy their musical instruments and candles and incense, so she couldn't completely dismiss the once dominant race. Still, she couldn't help but think the world would have been a much better place without them and what had happened to them had been their own fault.
"Yeah? Hmmm, don't know what I should pick out. It'd be nice to find one with room for pups if I ever have any, but at the same time I don't want to take up more space than I need." It wouldn't really be fair for her to take one of the bigger caves when she really didn't need the space. Maybe no one would care, but Rikka didn't want to seem greedy in any way. She lived a life of simplicity and minimalism, never taking more than she needed or was her fair share. Whenever she hunted she always made sure to only take down sick or old animals, never going after young ones even if they were the easier catch. The femme wouldn't stop a life that had barely begun.
She was a little surprised at her mothers suggestion of taking one of the clan members with her to the city. Having someone with her that knew the area would be helpful of course, she just found it a little odd, especially considering her mother's strange reaction to the mention of the city in the first place. "I'll ask him, sure, but I don't want to be a bother." Rikka could easily explore the place on her own, why did Kaena think she "should" take someone with her. Was the city dangerous in some way? If it were though, why wouldn't she just warn her about it? They were questions that would nag at her, but she knew she would get no answers to them, not today at least.
"Oh! I almost forgot..." She pulled up the flap of her sack and rummaged through it, looking for the letter that had been given to her. Once she had it she held it out to her mother. "On my way back I ran into a couple who had two pups with them, they asked where I was heading and I told them and the man wanted me to take word with me. He wanted you to see that and I think one or two others." They had been a pair like she had never seen before, the man completely garbed with his eyes covered and the woman covered in strange blue markings. They had been awfully pleasant though.
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The silver-furred hybrid had no problem with pressuring her children to give her grandchildren, like most parents. She wanted to see her bloodline flourish, and the only way to do that would be to see her own children reproduce. Kaena was the only child of her parents, and though her family tree might have extended exponentially in either direction to the side of her, it was the Lykoi woman alone who carried the torch of the hybrid Lykoi, her very own breed of canine. Had her sisters survived Delphine's ravagings, things might be different.
Kae nodded at her daughter's words, appreciating the sentiment. It was a good way to think; if canines were greedy like the humans they would end up in exactly the same state as the previous dominant race—extinct. They had to keep to their former traditions: cull the weak, kill the sick, and hunt only what is needed to survive. "You could take a little one for now. I'm sure nobody would protest a soon-to-be mother expanding her space later on," the hybrid said with a quiet laugh, hope filling her pale-furred chest.
The hybrid grinned. She wasn't absolutely certain of the relationship between Anselm and her de le Poer children, but he was a sort of cousin to them—first cousin once removed, whatever the hell that meant. Anselm's child, Ryan, would be Rikka and Gabriel's second cousins, and her daughter, Valkyrie, would be their second cousin once removed. The coyote wasn't sure what being removed meant, nor did she know the exact terms for these relations. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind. He's kinda a cousin of yours, linked to your grandfather Damian," the hybrid said. She had known generations of de le Poers, it would seem.
The tawny-furred girl's next words surprised the woman, and she took the note wordlessly, her single golden eye reading it as quickly as she could. The signature near the bottom hold her most of what she needed to know; Onus had left 'Souls. A sigh of relief crept out of the hybrid's lungs. "From one of my friends. I'd suppose his kids were in a fair amount of danger in their birth pack, Dahlia de Mai, so he's flown the coup. S'good for him, probably bad for the rest of us. You'll want to stay the hell away from Dahlia, though." the coyote said, her voice taking on a rather severe tone, the shine in her yellow-gold eye showing absolute seriousness. With one less subleader, the Dahlian pack seemed even more frightening to the silver-furred hybrid.
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As much as she wanted kids, one thing did make her nervous; the idea of raising them in the clan. Of course she would have to see how and if things were different now than they had been in her youth, but she knew that they would not be completely different. The woman didn't want any potential children indoctrinated into the ways of hate and violence, and considering where they would grow up that could be difficult. It would be something she would need to seriously think on. She continued to smile though, not letting on to her inner conflict. "That sounds like a good idea." If she took too much space now she wouldn't know what to do with it, and considering the fertility of her womb was in question taking a larger one now wouldn't make sense. If she wasn't able to have kids it wouldn't make any sense.
"I see. I haven't met many of my cousins. He's mostly wolf too, then?" Rikka figured it was a valid assumption considering the majority of her wolf blood had come from the de le Poer side of the family. It seemed to her that Inferni wasn't so much a coyote clan as it was a clan of hybrids. That only made their position seem more ridiculous to her. If they were all so mixed who gave a damn? Of course she knew better than to voice such opinions out loud, it would only cause a ruckus. She would just need to keep such thoughts inside and spout them out when she was alone or with someone she could comfortably talk it over with.
Rikka hadn't read the note, it would have been rude since it wasn't for her eyes, so she watched her mother curiously as her single eye looked over the paper. She was surprised to hear that someone's family had been so endangered that they had felt the need to flee the entire area. It was quite foreboding. "Why? What's up with them?" It wasn't that she didn't trust Kaena's warning, she had just never been the type to take anything at face value. That was why she had had such a constant struggle coming to terms with her identity, her family, the clan and how they all fit together (or if they even did at all). Besides, if there was something dangerous around she wanted to know what she needed to be looking out for.
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[html] | http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/epidemic.gif); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:fixed; padding-top:226px; padding-left:25px; padding-right:25px; padding-bottom:10px;"> The silver-furred hybrid nodded at Rikka's assumption; the coyote woman herself was mystified by Anselm's coyote heritage. She knew Damian was wholly wolf, and so should have been his siblings. It was not the de le Poer side of his heritage that had lent Anselm his coyote blood, and it was a question Kaena had pondered at some point or another prior to this moment. She smiled, and spoke. "Yeah, he looks it, too. Don't matter to me." Anselm had chosen to live as a coyote, just as Kaena had—his wolf side might as well not have existed, for all Kaena cared for it.
The coyote had mentioned Dahlia de Mai, and though she refused to speak of Haku anymore, the silver-furred woman knew Rikka needed a warning. The tawny-furred hybrid was more likely to greet a Dahlian wolf with a smile than the suspicion they deserved, and Kaena did not want anything even remotely like what had happened to her befalling her lovely daughter. "Couple of bad eggs, I suppose. The whole lot of them aren't damned, but it's safer to stay away. Trust me," the hybrid said, hoping the discomfort passing over her face did not betray too much.
Thankfully, they had come upon an entrance to one of the caves, and it happened to be one of the two Kaena has been stuck between choosing. It was quite near to her own, separated by a few rocky outcroppings. Both shared a view of the coast, and the hybrid turned to her daughter, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "This one's a tad bigger than mine. Almost picked this one out instead," the hybrid said with a smile, less forced than the previous. The silver-furred coyote was excited with the prospect of her family drawing so close together again.
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It seemed very diplomatic of Kaena to be so overlooking of Anselm's wolf heritage. Though when she thought about it, chances were that the man had joined the clan sometime before Kaena's return, and so she had met him on terms of being a clan member. In that light, it wasn't so hard to believe that the woman would be so kind. Chances are that if she had met him outside the clan and he hadn't been a member she wouldn't have been so fond of him. Rikka shrugged it off though, there was no changing Kaena Lykoi and her feelings towards wolves on the whole. As long as their relationship stayed on the good side of things she would overlook her dam's faults.
Rikka watched her mother curiously, waiting for the reason that this wolf pack was to be steered clear of. She could sense a similar feeling on this topic that she had felt from the woman concerning the city. Something was clearly bothering her, and yet at the same time she could see that she was doing all in her power to keep it secret. This only heightened Rikka's questions and she wanted to try and talk to Kaena about whatever it was. It wasn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside. Still she knew that she wouldn't get anything out of her today, but she stored this all away for a future conversation. "Okay, I'll make sure to be careful."
Then there were back to the matter of housing and as they reached a cave front the woman peered in and then back out to the view the place would offer. It seemed like it would be more than suitable, and the view was very nice. "This looks really nice, I think it would be just perfect," she said smiling and looking at her mother. Part of her still couldn't believe how smoothly this was going, but she was happy.
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[html] | http://sleepyglow.net/rp/kae/kae_razor.jpg); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat;"> This seems like a good spot to end this one. ^^
It was all her damn fault that Haku Soul had happened to her anyway. She'd asked for it by wandering past his borders, flaunting her scent—the berth she'd given Dahlia de Mai in passing their perimeter that night had not been enough, clearly. She had gone alone and she hadn't asked anyone to come with her; it would have been safer and smarter that way, and so Kaena had no one to turn to but herself for her current problems. Rikka seemed to take the warning to heart, though, and for this Kaena was glad. She did not want her family hurt any more by Haku Soul; no doubt he had it out for the Lykois now thanks to Kaena. The hybrid woman had enticed his vengeance upon her whole bloodline in her head; the coyote woman could hardly even stomach the fact that Haku was related to some of her children—Enigma and Halo and Jael were his half-siblings, or so she'd learned. The silver-furred woman could just vaguely recall their mother, a white-furred and young canine on the old coast.
The silver-furred hybrid watched as the tawny hybrid inspected the dwelling. Kaena had vieied its interior and she knew it did not flood out, though all of their underground dwellings did have that possibility with extreme rains. Even through their supremely wet fall season, however, the hybrid's cave had not flooded, and this one did not appear to be even the slightest bit damp. Kae smiled, happy that her daughter had chosen a location so close to her own—neighbors were always good, even better when they were family. "I'm glad we'll be close, Rikka." The hybrid's voice wavered; she was too happy to see the pieces of her family coming back together. "You know where I am if you need anything in settling in," the coyote woman said, stepping forward quickly to rub her cheek against the side of Rikka's neck, whining her affection softly before turning back toward her own home.
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If only Rikka knew what was really troubling her mother. If she had she would have beat it into Kaena's mind that it wasn't her fault, what had happened to her. Nothing like that was ever the victim's fault. Even though she had never experienced anything that even came close to what the older hybrid had endured, she knew that the person who had suffered was never to blame. The only one who carried the blame was the sick creep who had done that to them. Even being a pacifist as she was, she knew the world would be much better off if all the rapists were gone. Some of the other females in the commune had gone through that kind of thing before they had come to The Haight and Rikka had talked to them about it; comforting them and learning from them.
Yup, this cave would be just great. Rikka was already imagining how she could arrange things and what kinds of things she wanted to find in the city to bring in and add. Maybe she could find some materials for tye-dying, help bring some color to the place. That'd be really good. Her mother's voice brought her out of her planning though and she smiled at her. "Yeah, I am too. It'll be nice, after all this time." The de le Poer femme really had a good feeling about coming back this time. This time she might actually be happy, she might actually be able to make it work. Rikka nuzzled against Kaena as well, feeling warmth flood her form. "Sounds good, thanks mom." She couldn't wait to start this new chapter.
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