a fever coming on.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-01-2009, 05:53 AM

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Ohay, I herd u wanted thread? :o

    Was it already December? The silver-furred hybrid could not believe it, yet the creeping chill in the air told her winter was here, absolutely and beyond a doubt. The leaves had fallen from the trees in the forest, leaving them barren save for the coniferous types that sparsely populated their woods. The coyote sighed heavily, turning from the trees and heading for the coast. She sought solitude, and she figured she would find it on the barren edge of Inferni's territory, where few canines tended to roam. The open plains there were not particularly attractive to prey, though Kaena had seen a rabbit or too bounce quickly through the area. She was more interested in the beach anyway.

    The hybrid broke out into a run, her four-legged form eating up the distance quickly. She navigated the territory expertly, well-acquainted with its bumps and boulders. The coyote attempted to outrun her own thoughts, seeking respite from the ones that had seemed to plague her for years. The hybrid really could not believe it had only been six simple weeks since Haku had violated her. Even more confusing was her recent interactions with Viera, in which she had perpetrated some similar crimes to those that had been inflicted on her. With a shudder the hybrid came to a halt, finding herself staring at the waters of the inlet, the sand of the coast between her toes.

    It was the typical dull and dreary December day, and low-slung, dark gray clouds threatened an iminent rainstorm—perhaps even snow. The hybrid did not know if it was cold enough yet for snow to fall, and part of her longed for it. She had not experienced a truly cold winter in what seemed like years now. There was hope in winter, the faint possibility of the cold coming and bringing with it relief from the bad memories, the parts of recent life Kaena was desperately trying to forget.

    Alcohol certainly helped, but the hybrid woman knew she could not subsist on it forever. It made her stupid, and she had to hide such an abhorrent habit most of the time. The party was one of the few exceptions to this general rule, but there had been an excuse then; it was Anselm's birthday and she had reason to be messed up. Now she had to hole up in her cave, revealing only to Viera the depths of her problems. The hybrid wondered how much the tawny-furred Quintus gleaned from her nonsensical ramblings. How much had Kaena accidentally given away to the slave girl?

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Snake · 12-01-2009, 09:43 PM

Yes, thank you so very much for starting! (: And because my reading comprehension is well-destroyed after a day of school and outlining seven essays for AP Euro, I hope this is actually congruent to the start of this thread. -fail!- If it's wrong, tell me and I'll amend it.

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This most dull and dreary of days had started out as any other. Snake woke up and spent the first few hours of his consciousness in his den, doing absolutely nothing. It was a common ritual—it often took him a few hours after waking to get his mind geared for the day. Though he usually blocked them out, to reduce the noise in his head, thoughts did move and dance in those many minutes of quiet. One was what day it was—December the first. With a very strange twist in his stomach, he realized that his birthday was in five days. He didn’t really care. Age didn’t matter much for him—there was no happiness for growing up and becoming adult because he’d felt adult for as long as he could remember. In truth, Snake’s mind never seemed to mature. It had merely grown from a simple program to a much more complicated algorithm.

He decided to go to the beach today. Ironically, it was for the same reason that Kaena had. It was also the same reason he decided to keep a den in an ancient automobile in the middle of a junkyard. Solitude. Peace and quiet. Though many Inferni coyotes wanted to live in the Caves to be near everyone, Snake was much more in tune with his species than they. He wanted to be something for his clan, sure, but he liked the idea of being in a pack without really feeling like he was. He spent many of his days alone. He had met several Inferni coyotes already, but, in truth, he hadn’t formed many lasting friendships with anyone. He had been amused with Mason and had found Hezekiah a very nice person in general, but he had only met with them a few times. Contrary to what he would’ve thought months ago, the closet thing Snake had to a friend was actually found in an intrepid lone wolf. He still couldn’t figure that one out himself, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Because he hated the thought of sitting in sand—call it a mechanical instinct—he found a low rock to sit on and watch the tide roll in. Strangely enough, he caught a blur of motion from the corner of his eye. He looked and found that it was Kaena. The silvery hybrid was running at what looked at full speed in her quadruped form, racing almost to outrun the waves. Snake had been meaning to meet with the leader in a while, sure, but he did not want to impose. Whether or not she had seen him wasn’t really in his range of concern. He merely slipped down from his perch and dipped his head in respect and submission. After the two months in Inferni, he was scarcely recognizable to the skinny teenager that had showed up. He had been training hard after receiving the Hastati rank, and his musculature was evidence to that. He had wanted to give evidence to the leader that she hadn’t made a mistake in allowing him to stay there (as he knew he had been lackluster when attempting admission). Regardless, if she deigned to continue on, he wouldn’t give any chase. Snake was not one to interfere with others, especially when they seemed caught up in their own issues.

table credit goes to jacoby

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-02-2009, 12:23 AM

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Homg, I have to add Snake to Residence List, ja?! :o I had originally wanted Kae to live in an old, hollowed-out VW van in the junkyard, but I decided on a cave. XDD And damn Mel for deciding to make a new subterritory today otherwise we could have set this thread there. D: WE SHOULD TOTALLY HAVE THEM GO WANDER OVER THERE. >__>;;

    Strangely enough, the hybrid woman found she was not alone. The coyote woman had not expected to see anyone over on this far edge of the territory, but it was a welcome surprise—one of the newer members of the coyote clan, Snake. Well, let's amend that, he wasn't exactly new, but the hybrid woman hadn't seen much of his face around, nor did she know him too well. Still, Gabriel had thought it appropriate to make him their newest Hastati, an almost surefire way to insure ascension to the Hydra rank, one of their more revered positions in the clan, as that trio of canines was responsible for protecting the Aquila, quite an important job.

    It would seem Kaena was intruding on the other canine's solitude; he had already staked out a rock on which to perch, perhaps to watch the sea or watch the storm roll in or simply scout the territory—the hybrid didn't know, and it was unnerving to her to lack a connection to one of their own, though in the recent days there had been several new additions to the clan and there were several unfamiliar faces the the hybrid woman. As the silver-furred coyote approached, the tawny canine hopped down from his perch, dipping his head. The hybrid smiled faintly at this; she was not particular to gestures of submissiveness but she didn't typically shrug them off, not like with Hybrid.

    Her pace slowed considerably as she altered her path slightly to head for Snake, slowing down to a trot as she drew nearer. "Been a while," she said, her golden eye roving over the other canine's form appreciatively. Snake had filled out since he'd first arrived on coyote territory, and it was quite evident to the silver-furred hybrid. "Looks like you've settled in nicely?" she asked, always willing to be cordial to the canines of her clan even if she was withering on the inside.

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Snake · 12-02-2009, 08:38 PM

I'm so happy because the WotD today is one of my favorite words ever. And that's awesome! I couldn't have Snake live in the caves 'cause he hates enclosed areas that might collapse, so I started brainstorming and looked at the Landfill description, found something bout a car, and knew he'd live in one! It's an awesome den. And we totally should! I'll see about working it into my post in a few rounds. (:

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He noticed that the woman’s path veered towards him, and he dipped his head a little more in a nod before settling once more to his previous position. Snake’s brand of submission was not the common lupine variety—at least, not totally. It was definitely from Patriot’s system that had been implemented in New Haven, and was a distinct cross between that of a wolf pack and a military regiment. Therefore Snake did not speak unless spoken to, and looked up only at that point as well.

His eyes avoided the single golden one of the Centurion, and yet he was once again captivated by the mystery of the hybrid female. Snake had, honestly, not met too many other canids in his life, and he didn’t think he had met someone quite as old as Kaena. Age to Snake was not what it was to others—he gauged it simply in experience, not maturity, nor closeness to the end. The only thought linked to his observances was all the stories of someone who had lived for that long, and it made him feel humbled, to say the least. He, who had lived for so little of a time.

And yet, it was this appearance that seemed to contradict the words that she presented to him. Snake was not judgmental—outwardly, anyway. Very little went on the upper surface of his mind; he made sure of such, for clear thought. But there were calculations and observations working beneath that which definitely set his own prejudices. He knew someone who had lived for so long in such a cold and cruel world would not have the same mindset as that of a kindly and curious elder woman, as she might have been attempting now. His sub-consciousness found this, and it eventually bubbled up to his thoughts. Though he found himself respecting her, his trust and loyalty were a far cry away. Snake was no myrmidon—he was too self-centered. His loyalty lasted only as long as the thing he was loyal to was beneficial to him. Luckily, Inferni had proved very beneficial.

“Yes,” he responded to her first comment. It had been two months, plus a few days. Snake would’ve never thought of himself staying in some type of clan for so long, but life changed as you lived it. It was like its own entity, constantly mutating. “And yes, I have. Having a permanent den and regular food—well, it beats life on the road.” His voice, as always, had little to no inflictions within—it was a flat, gruff tone that was as unchanging as his expression. Despite the lack of opinion showing through his voice or face, he certainly liked it better here than traveling, though he still had no preference between this place and living with his parents. Perhaps he liked the solitude and independence here, but sometimes he did send a wayward thought towards his drifting folks. After a momentary pause, he reflected the question, though more as a statement, “You look to be doing well also, Kaena.” Asking useless questions had been discouraged in his youth. Thus the conversion.

table credit goes to jacoby

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-03-2009, 08:23 PM

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Myrrrmidon. :O I heard it before, but I forgot it! D: It is a cool word, though.

    Solitude was a fleeting thing for the hybrid woman as of late; her own space had been invaded by a virtual stranger. It was much the same as when Fatin had lived with her, though, much the same as when she'd bedded down with one in particular for a long period of time—perhaps Kaena was meant to be alone in her dwelling. She did not know if it was simple lack of space and feeling crowded or simply tension between herself and another; it varied in degree with each of these different instances. Near the end, Kaena and Ahren had been virtual strangers to each other, avoiding each other and the eventual admission that they were through for as long as they could. This discomfort was less palpable with Fatin; the russet female had been in recovery and sleeping quite a lot of the time, and Kaena had her alone time elsewhere, on the far edges of the coyote territory. With Vieira, it was even easier—if Kaena did not wish to see her face, the hybrid could simply send her off, command her into the alcove she called her home or send her on a meaningless errand.

    It would seem solitude was even more difficult to come by in recent times; the clan had several new additions, none of which Kaena knew very well. There was at least one canine to which the hybrid could attribute neither a name nor a face, and she found this rather curious. The scent-markings across the territory were intensely varied now, and the hybrid woman was quite happy to find her clan swelling to such numbers. Now was a time she generally preferred to blend in with the crowd. It was easier to disguise oneself in that way, though she supposed it would be difficult for her specifically to do such a thing. She didn't exactly have a typical face, and it was doubly difficult for her to fly under the radar in her current rank. Leaders were meant to be out there and vocal, seen by the rest—otherwise they simply weren't fulfilling their duties as the leadership of the clan. The silver-furred woman had been chosen by her son to walk at his side, and her responisibilities weren't going anywhere.

    "Yeah, I don't think I'll be leaving again, myself," the hybrid said, punctuating her statement with a raspy laugh as she thought of the time she'd spent away from Inferni. It was harsh living, to be certain. Curiosity showed on her scarred features as she added a question. "Where'd you settle in? Haven't seen you by the caves," she said. It was simple interest; when she'd spent some time with Cotl in the mansion she hadn't smelled Snake's scent there, either. Those were the two primary places to settle in the coyote clan; she wondered where had he taken up residence. The hybrid supposed they were getting rather crowded in the territory. His words fell on her ears and she forced a grin, shaking out her thick ruff of fur as best she could and feigning pride. "Can't complain." The ashen-furred female hadn't spoken of what was bothering her (to say the least) to those closest to her; there was nothing for her to do but play everything off and pretend it was alright, keep her face stoic and her head down. No one had to know.

    "What's run you out here today?" the coyote asked, shifting the subject to him. Snake was an intriguing canine, a far shade different than the thin teenager Kaena had first met on the clan's borders.

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Snake · 12-04-2009, 09:16 PM

I especially like the word because it's the name of one of my favorite classes in Fire Emblem. X: -nerd-

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The Landfill, being a gallimaufry of all kinds of items that most coyotes either had no interest in or disliked outright (namely, junk), was not exactly some place frequented by the other Inferni inhabitants. Actually, Snake had only met one person there, Bramble, when he had first found what was to be his den. Of course, they had parted ways only after one conversation, and he had never seen her around again. He had liked her somewhat, so it was a bit of a loss. But at least his small sense of isolation was preserved. Unlike how the wolf’s mind was hardwired, the coyote’s was different—he felt safer alone, as the wolf felt safer with numbers.

As he was not much of a smiler, he gave a small dip of his head when she mentioned that she wouldn’t be leaving the borders any time soon. He would have to agree, for the time being. Things were far too easy here (in comparison) to go about shunning it for life on the cold, uncaring road again. When it came to her asking where he had settled in, he replied almost automatically, “Yes, I couldn’t live in the caves. I have a great fear of caves and buildings—things that collapse.” He shifted slightly, as he hated revealing any weaknesses to anyone, but he thought it was okay with the Centurion of the clan. “I went to the Landfill to look around and found an old human automobile. I cleared out the seats and metal that was inside and made a den out of it. It gets the job done.” It was not really the warmest thing in the world. One of the windows was busted, and Snake had to sacrifice one of the few cloths he had found to cover it up. He needed to go to Halifax and see about getting more bedding. “And it’s quiet,” he added in an undertone after a moment.

Snake, naturally suspicious, was not so sure that she had not complaints, but it was not at all his place to go about being critical, or nosy. He gave another small nod of his head, acknowledging it. Those who posed empty faces to him would have to realize that he was a creature whose face had resembled the same emotionless slate practically since birth. Snake understood stoicism, and might as well have been a virtuoso of it. He did not suppress his emotions. He had gotten to the point where they were so unnoticeable by his mind that he appeared to have none.

As for why he was here today, he looked out to the gray, windy sea and replied, “Just felt like walking over. Where I’ve lived before, there was no ocean. I had hardly ever seen lakes.” His eyes seemed trapped, looking out to sea. It was a moment before he could return them to Kaena, and they retained some of the mistiness they had gained from looking to that vastness. “It is certainly something to behold.”

table credit goes to sie

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-07-2009, 06:40 AM

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The coyote woman recalled the previous flood of newcomers to their midst with a certain amount of hostility; she understood the need to wander, but it right pissed her off when they drifted in and out so quickly, piggybacking on Inferni's size and status until they were recovered enough to move on. The silvery hybrid wished she had a radar for that sort of thing, but unfortunately, none existed, and she certainly could not go around turning down potential members of the coyote clan simply for some notion that they were going to depart immediately upon regaining their full health. After all, she might have even thought that about Snake when he first came to Inferni's border, and if she had rejected his presence on that inner feeling alone, they would be sans one member who had turned out beyond their expectations. They were lucky to have him—though she personally did not know him well, his rank at Hastati indicated a certain amount of trust from the Aquila, as such a rank generally meant one advanced to the Hydra position once very-well-established and proven within the clan, and Kaena respected her son's opinion of others, to say the least.

He spoke, and the hybrid nodded, shrugging a coal-dusted shoulder. She did not understand such phobias, but she disliked living in human buildings for similar reasons, or so she thought. "Well, we've all got at least one thing to fear, hm?" she said almost dismissively. Such a thing didn't seem as if it would hamper him through life; it wasn't as though the canine lifestyle caused them to wander through caves and buildings very often. The latter was generally only sought when they wanted human implements or if they chose to live in such a place, as Halo and Cotl had. The silver-furred woman listened to the man's description of his home, and she tilted her head to the side, curious at his description of it. "Huh. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before. Sounds interesting," she said, nodding at his next words. She wanted to ask if she could wander by and have a look, but she was almost nervous; her scarred muzzle split into a smile at the mention of quiet. "Sounds nice," she corrected herself.

It wasn't as if Kae hated living around everyone else, but she had never been too much of a social creature, and she still grappled with some of those issues. Sometimes it made her feel rather crowded to be around so many of the others, though the vast majority of the time she certainly appreciated their presence. She had worried for Halo when she was living all alone in the huge mansion; the same fear for Snake did not cross her mind, for it was evident to Kaena that Snake could take are of himself. The other canine spoke of the ocean, and the hybrid turned a coal-furred ear, interest showing on her face. "Ever since I first saw the ocean, I've wanted to live on the water," the hybrid said, a fair amount of nostalgia showing in her scarred features. She was recalling the old beach and running up and down its length. This coast was a little different, but the same effect could be achieved by looping about the inlet, running along in the water. "Nothing quite like it," the ashen-furred coyote agreed, her own gaze drawn out to the choppy waves.

Snake · 12-08-2009, 12:17 AM

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It wouldn’t be hard thing, getting to know Snake. There wasn’t much to know, and he did not keep many secrets. One simply had to ask and he would tell. But he was always somewhat afraid that, if someone came to know the full extent of his mental condition and how alien his ways of thinking were to that of other canids, they might revile him and spread negative things about him. He did not think Kaena—or anyone he had met so far—would do this. But, of course, he had thought his mother would accept him just as well. She had just railed at the sky, asking why she couldn’t manage to have a kid that was normal.

He nodded towards her offhanded comment at his greater of fears, happy that it had been shrugged off so simply. It was irrational and fatuous, he knew, but he couldn’t shake it. The thought of remaining one more night underground or in concrete made him feel as though it would be his tomb. The memories of his prison in New Haven were too prevalent to simply ignore. That was the reason why he loved his car-den so much. It was largely open to the air without allowing in (most of) the elements. The Centurion seemed interested enough in his impromptu den, though, and he looked away in something that looked like embarrassment. At his mention of it being quite a good place to catch some solitude, she further expressed admiration for it, and he flicked an ear. “Thank you,” he ended up murmuring, though it took him a moment to realize what he was thanking her for. Perhaps he took it as a compliment. It had taken days of work to get the holes in the metal filled, and the rust scraped from the shell. The fact that it stood up to the elements now was a testament to Snake’s ingenuity.

The aging woman showed a different side of herself, Snake thought he perceived, when she spoke of the ocean. It actually reminded him of Daisuke—his lupine friend was absolutely obsessed with the vast expanse of water. Snake didn’t really get it, but he definitely thought it was something. “It is amazing,” he commented softly, his mind briefly wondering what it would be like to cross the ocean. He shied from the thought of something so massive. While looking out across the ocean, though, he could see the rest of Inferni on the other side of the bay. Something was catching his eye—a white cloud, but differently colored from the uniform gray that it rested upon. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing. “That cloud. It is the wrong color. It seems too… close to the ground.” His olive eyes, usually flat, seemed to shine slightly with curiosity, which piqued itself so rarely nowadays. He was wondering what it could be. He thought it looked kind of like steam, but where would steam be coming from? The last time he checked, Inferni was no volcano.

table credit goes to sie

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-08-2009, 08:17 AM

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Kaena's own fears had played a major part in shaping her behavior over the past few weeks. She had spent a lot of time drinking herself silly, remaining and sulking in her cave, speaking only briefly with others and sulking around. The party she had let loose—but she had an excuse that night, and she did not think her behavior was so out of hand. Then again, she could hardly remember that night and she was glad that there had not been too much of the clan present for it. Black holes in one's memory never revealed good things beneath them, and the hybrid was at once grateful and suspicious of their existence.

The other canine thanked her, and the hybrid nodded, still curious to see what a dwelling might look like. She did recall scoping out the hunk of old car there, but even then she had realized its present state was hardly inhabitable, and her own prowess with human implements was not strong enough to begin to consider revamping it. Snake must have been a talented canine indeed to be able to produce a living dwelling from such a thing. The coyote enjoyed her simple dwelling; the cave provided her with everything she needed and more. The small alcove where Vieira slept had been unused except for the rare guest; Fatin had slept in Kaena's own bed. The hybrid had her shelf for her few possessions, and just enough space to stand in her optime form. Taller canines had to crouch, but it was perfect for one of Kae's height. The tips of her ears just scraped the ceiling in most spaces.

Kaena was quite glad that Gabriel had chosen this particular expanse of land with this beach. It was quite nice; the waters were not quite as rough as on Hell's Coast, but Kaena appreciated that. It made for easier fishing, which was a primary part of her diet. Snake spoke again of the water, and the hybrid smiled tensely, unsure of where to go from there. There was a panicking moment of vacancy where her mind was free to wander and she was drawn back to thoughts of Haku. Snake interrupted in an instant, though, and the hybrid very nearly started at his voice, though her gaze snapped to where he indicated with his finger. Alarmed, the hybrid took a step toward the pluming steam, squinting to get a better view. "I don't know. Maybe it's smoke," the coyote said, alarm in her voice. She hadn't seen anything like that before, though it did look like especially pale and wispy smoke, nothing like black clouds of fire. "I think we ought to go and see," the hybrid said, pacing forward, her eye still on the oddly-colored cloud.

Snake · 12-09-2009, 12:46 AM

This is all assuming that Kaena was in Lupus form in the beginning. X: Sometimes I can't tell.

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Snake had been in Inferni when the party had occurred. Actually—and though he would never relinquish this to anyone, unless directly asked—he had seen whatever festivities from afar. But that was something that he was not cut out for. Revelry was something that was not compatible with him. His was a simple soul, drawn with blacks and whites and with very little color. No, he had deigned to go home instead and work on perfecting his den. He didn’t regret anything. He would have felt out of place anyway. Much of the coyotes here were family—an outcast, Snake mostly kept to himself.

As for his den, Snake had broad plans for it that did not stop at just making it worthy to sleep in. He planned on digging a firepit to the south of it, so that the flames would be same from the northerly winds that blew in from the ocean. He had already begun stockpiling firewood in the trunk of the car (which he had waterproofed, in order to keep rain and snow out). All he needed to do was get more bedding and matches. As it was, he had one threadbare blanket to keep between him and the harsh winter nights. He was sure that another Halifax trip was in order, but Snake was solicitous of going alone. He had nearly been beaten with a baseball bat the last time that happened.

As for the strange cloud, Snake did not think it was smoke. Smoke was usually darker than that—smoke from anything that would burn around here, anyway. When the thought of going to check it out came about, the coyote didn’t say a word as he noticed that Kaena, in Lupus, would outrun him if they tried to go and check it out. And he’d hate to be any kind of lag (as he was not swift at all in his Optime form), so he began to shift. After a little over a minute and a half (Snake, with his mind usually clear of most thought, cut the times of these changes often), he was shaking his head and working back into his quadruped form. He hadn’t used it in a couple of weeks. Felt kind of weird—like a pair of shoes one didn’t often wear.

“Yeah, let’s check it out,” he ended up saying after getting back into things. Because swimming across the bay would be insanity in such cold weather, they would have to travel across the crescent of the beach to the other side. It probably wouldn’t take too long, however—to get to the other side of Inferni’s Wastes, that was. It seemed to him as though the clouds were coming from even further north, off of the coast. There was not much to burn out there, as the forests were to the south and southeast… He gave her a swift look, his eyes seeming to say ‘Shall we?’ before beginning to trot off down the beach. He would make sure the elder coyote was with him before beginning the actual trek.

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-16-2009, 07:40 AM

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Sometimes I can't even remember for my own character. XDD

Their city was a dangerous one, to be certain. The hybrid woman had once felt that there had been mystic sort of undertones to the place, a seething sort of leftover power from when it had been the hovel of humanity. Certainly they had considered the place to be their crowning achievement, architectural advancement reaching to the bellies of the clouds. They used the wilderness as a place to escape from the grind and noise of the concrete place or as a convenient receptacle for their unwanted trash (as one need only to look to Harrow Road to find out). Their lack of reverence and respect for nature had been their downfall in the hybrid woman's mind. Still, their extinction had not rid the cities of their power; they still held that hypnotic sway on horizons all over the world, drawing creatures into their asphalt and steel world.

Now, however, the hybrid woman could hardly turn her head toward Halifax without feeling a sharp pang of fear, guilt, and sorrow all wrapped into one shoot through her heart. That was Haku's place in the hybrid woman's mind; he had stolen its mystic nature from her and turned it into rotten garbage. The coyote woman wondered if she'd ever be able to overcome that fear, though it was hardly as big of a deal now with Vieira to take the trip to the city for her. It was a loss for Kaena, more than a loss of dignity but a loss of space—even if she managed to reenter Halifax's perimeter, the hybrid would never walk near Dalhousie anymore, much less inside of it. That was absolutely out of the question.

When the coyote woman heard no response, she turned her head back, finding instead the fascinating sight of Snake shrinking to his Lupus form. The hybrid had hardly considered the distinct difference of form in regards to their travel, and she thought it a rather smart move on his part, flashing him a faint smile of approval for his good-thinking. He seemed to be slightly disoriented with the shift, and the hybrid patiently waited for him to speak, nodding and immediately taking off at a fast-paced trot after him. Snake didn't seem particularly alarmed, and there was no smell of smoke, so perhaps she'd been mistaken. Still, it was worth a look, and the coyote was glad to be spending time with a clanmember she was not so familiar with. The silver-furred hybrid increased pace to trot at the other canine's side, enjoying the feeling of running with one of her own kind more than anything.

"You've got any family here, Snake?" she asked, desiring to know more about the other canine but unsure of how to proceed. It was natural for the hybrid to latch onto family as a subject, though she only occasionally realized that these subjects were often sore ones for others—often times after the subject had been broached and it was far too late to rescind the question.

Snake · 12-16-2009, 11:12 PM

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Snake hadn’t really felt impressed with Halifax—as he would be impressed with the things that the humans left behind. He had no sentimental feelings towards the planet or nature; it simply wasn’t prominent in his mind. But New Haven had been much more grandiose, and much more intimidating. And as much as he felt incredulous of the local ruins, it was several levels safer than where he found his own origins. He would journey there again alone if he must, and he would be more cautious than he had—but he would not shirk the company of any clan-mate that wanted to go scavenging as well.

After his form had changed and he stepped forward to suggest checking out the strange clouds across the beach, Kaena seemed to regard his foresight with appreciation in her single golden eye. She waited kindly for him to get accustomed to four legs again (he knew it should feel natural, but something about shifting after so many days in his bipedal form confounded him slightly) and then they were off.

Though the weather had generally been foul since his arrival—sunny days had been botched by chilly cloud-cover and the constant threat of rain showers—it was a pretty nice day out. Though the sun was concealed behind a film of clouds, the atmosphere was neutral in temperature and the winds had mostly died down to a brisk breeze. He enjoyed the run along the parabola that was the beach of Hades Coast, and ran in silence until Kaena posed a question.

“No. Not right now, that is,” he replied. He, at first, wasn’t sure about going into depth about his parents, but he decided that there was no harm in offering the information to his leader. “My parents used to live here—not in Inferni, but in another place. I can’t remember the name… I think it had “Hollow” in it. It was their stories of this place that made me come in this direction, though.” By this time they had come around the bend in the coastline and were going west once more. Snake, thinking that he was generally leading this small adventure, kept along the coastline until they could head north to where the clouds were coming from.

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 06:13 AM

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The ashen-furred hybrid had been raised in nature. Her birthplace was a shallow den beneath a fallen long in a tiny, dying meadow; her short time with her father had been spent on the outskirts of suburbia, with warnings not to tread too closely, warnings that echoed in the hybrid's head and kept her far away from signs of humanity for a long time. Shifting was unknown to her then, and for the first two years of her life she was unaware that Luperci existed, traveling to distant lands only to be chased back again by volcanic activity and great fire burning throughout the lands, driving every living thing away. It was only after that she'd sought Bleeding Souls, only then she'd met Zulifer in his two-legged form, shocking the hell out of her. She had almost run, but sheer fascination had held the hybrid in place for him to greet her with such casual ease, a honey smile sliding across his scarred face and his burning crimson eyes. They were both young then; that had been her most age-appropriate relationship.

Kaena could not remember her parents ever using their Optime forms, though certainly Delphine must have used hers at some point to inflict the long, jagged scars over both of Kaena's eyes. Those scars required dexterous hands; they were too fine and thin to have been caused by fangs anyway. Andre had never become two-legged in Kaena's memory; he had lived and died in his four-legged form, along with her half-brother Kairo and her step-mother Sabyrne. Perhaps Sabryne could have saved herself if she had shifted to her halfling or humanoid form, for Kaena had been too young and ignorant of her own Luperci traits. She lived the first two years of her life on all fours, unaware that she possessed the ability to change her very form. It had been a different world back then; the Luperci trait was only ten years in the making and it had not penetrated every fold of canine society. Kae had never considered it, but it was possible that then, her father's side of the family had been nonnisi. It would have explained their lack of shifting, for sure.

Together the pair of canines swallowed the sands of the beach, the distance disappearing beneath their swift four-legged feet as they covered the ground between their former location and the unknown clouds of smoke. The coyote breathed in the air, still testing for signs of smoke, though by now she was rather convinced that it was not a fire. There was no alarm present here. Strange excitement brewed in Kaena; this was an adventure, and it had taken her mind from Haku, drawing her away from the darker thoughts that had infested her for the more recent weeks. Even if it was danger, she was ready for it. The same stoic fearlessness emanated from the hybrid; she did well to hide her weaknesses, masking them with a stony face and a tough attitude where necessary. No one needed to know about her personal problems, especially not ones she had brought down on her own head. For the good of Inferni, she had to keep her mouth shut and her head down, and appear strong. It was better for the group; leaders were simply not allowed to display weakness. To do so was virtually an invitation for another to usurp the position, and Kaena was quite comfortable as the clan's Centurion. In her day the position had been Praetorian, and a few more things in between, but long before that, when the clan was first founded, it had been called simply Subleader, and Kaena had served proudly beside Zarah.

The coyote woman beckoned the cold weather to come on again, though she soaked up this day, realizing it might be one of the last clear, sunny ones they might experience. The sun was quite different in the snow; it was too bright, almost blinding. Still, the coyote woman yearned for blankets of white over the earth once more, the frigid weather she had so missed during her time in the southern lands. The hybrid turned her good ear to the sound of the other canine's voice, careful to keep him on that same side, as it was also the side that her good eye was on. The right side of her face was the eyeless side, accompanied with the tattered ear and several more scars. Unlike most, the hybrid used this to her advantage, directing blows to this side where another creature might have to shy away—after all, there was nothing left to fear losing on that side of Kaena's face. The only damage that was left to do was superficial; where their fangs might seek her eye they would only find toughened, almost leathery scar tissue and the remnants of an ear, half-erect and torn jagged.

"Celestial Hollow?" the hybrid said, almost halting in her tracks. It was a faint name, back at the very edges of her mind. That was one of the packs of the old lands, and if that was the same place of which Snake spoke, there was a certain pleasure in that for Kaena. She loved history, and she devoured most things associated with the burned place where they had all once resided. "That's the only place I know of with that name, except they were dead and gone long before the fire," she added, wondering if this place was perhaps a namesake or simply carried the same surname. Hollow was, after all, a term for woods. "I'm glad your parents told you about this place anyway," she spoke once more, a grin sneaking over her features. There was no doubt in her head Snake was a valuable addition to Inferni; he was youthful and muscle-bound, with a steely-cold sort of face and a hardened gaze, years older than the body it found itself attached to. The coyote glanced at him furtively as they ran, admiring the self-assured, long stride of the other canine, almost wishing to see him in action, silently pitting him up against her more common sparring partner, Anselm, and herself, pondering the outcome of such a fangs-away, claws-in sort of match. They never tried to draw blood injuries were unavoidable. The silver-furred hybrid and Anselm had simply clashed at first, establishing the rules and saying very little about technique as a simple test to see what each other knew, and as Kaena glanced to study the coyote's gait now and again, she wondered what he could teach them.

Snake · 12-19-2009, 10:19 PM

This is a long-ass post. ._.

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It had been virtually the opposite for Snake—he might not have understood having four-legged forms if he had not been born in one. Everyone in his first home lived in their bipedal states, and it made sense when you lived in human ruins. Wolves felt at home running on all fours in forests and meadows and beaches and stuff. The concrete jungles were meant for those that imitated the cities’ first creators, and so they had been. This was largely the reason that Snake felt most comfortable in his Optime form, even after he had left the city and traveled out in the wilds. Yet he found his other forms useful, for what they were good for. He didn’t often shift and run about in them unless he was following someone else’s lead, as he had today. Time meant nothing to Snake, so he often didn’t mind the increased amount of time running it took to get from one place to another in his Optime form.

As they neared these strange, scentless clouds—as they were scentless, like water, for the air was conspicuously devoid of the scent of smoke—no feeling of adventure blossomed in Snake’s chest. No, he was far too unfeeling for frivolous things like that. He merely saw this as a mission, a dispatch that he was on with one of his commanders. He was a soldier, through and through.

The name that Kaena mentioned sent Snake into thought, trying to remember that elusive first word. He was certain that it was not celestial, though he was also sure it was something just as ethereal-sounding. “No, that wasn’t it. Something like that, though,” he replied between breaths as they grew closer to the source of their interest. “You probably wouldn’t know it. They said it didn’t last too long—only a few months.” Just like all the other places his parents stayed. They were nomadic creatures, enjoying life on the road far more than pinned down somewhere. Snake wasn’t sure whether or not he agreed. He liked Inferni so far, and he had no intention of leaving at the moment.

It did take him a second for him to realize that, in Kaena saying that she was glad that his parents had told him of this place, that she was also telling him that she was glad he was there. His gaze shifted to her sharply for a moment (though she might not have noticed, as they were honing in on their destination) before it flicked back to looking before him. He didn’t reply, but not out of rudeness or modesty. No, it was more that Snake didn’t know how to feel. He had never felt appreciated in his life, so it was something alien to him.

If ever asked, Snake would be more than willing to spar—it was pretty much what he had been raised to do. Perhaps the oddest thing about Snake and his realm of knowledge on that subject was that he did not shy from fighting in his Optime form. Patriot had taught him a very practical form of martial arts that was codenamed CQC, or close-quarters combat. His werewolf “father” had said you never know what form you’ll be caught in to defend yourself—or aggress—so you should be familiar with all of them. Any fool could run forward, claws slashing and teeth scything. Only the more cunning ones could take fists and feet in Optime form and use them to break the body down into pieces that no longer worked cohesively… which was something that Snake could do, given the chance.

He was oblivious enough to not notice Kaena checking in his direction, as she perhaps had missed his gaze. No, he was much more interested in their surroundings now. They had reached the source of the clouds, and now there was a chalky film in the air from the warm air struggling upwards. He didn’t expect it when they came across the hot springs, and he, at first, had no idea what they were.

He glanced at Kaena, wondering if she had any idea. He would not approach without her, though. It was a hidden military instinct in the back of his head that he leader always led when it came into forays into the unknown.

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-28-2009, 04:44 AM

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Weeeee, I fail!!! D: But yeah, apparently we are writing novels here. XD At some point I will probably deliver a massive-fail-short!post and ruin it all. D:

The hybrid woman could certainly appreciate her other forms, and when she'd learned she, too, possessed the ability to shift from one form to another, she had been quick to capitalize. Her Optime form granted her with opposable thumbs, the deadly and incredibly useful appendage that had certainly helped to make humanity ruler of this world, once upon a time. The Luperci were a particularly lucky species, as well, for their fast-paced evolution had meant they were deposited neatly into the fresh ruins of a dead society just twenty years after its demise. Most of the human technology was still in decent shape; it was not as if the canines of the world had to wait thousands of years for their thumbs and dexterous fingers to evolve naturally from their blunted toes. They had a vast world of human technology to make use of, and many were already on the fast track there. The hybrid woman knew nothing of Snake's origins, but she had gauged him as one generally more comfortable in his two-legged form. He wore clothes, he seemed to need adjustment to his four-legged form, he lived in a van. The hybrid was not exceptionally perceptive, but still, this seemed an obvious fact to her.

For that, the tawny coyote was the object of some degree of an emotion close to envy in the silver-furred hybrid. She understood her own dire need to learn human technology and more civilized ways of life, and fast—with a weapon she might have defended herself from Haku. Kaena was an old woman, but she was certainly still capable of learning, and with a small amount of weapons training to complement her already ferocious fighting style, she might live some long years yet. The ash-furred canine saw that as her only ticket to longevity beyond that which she already had, and more than anything in the world the hybrid wanted to live—forever, preferrably. She envied Lolita for her death, her ability to come to a complete stop in the circle of life and exist beyond everything else. When the world turned to dust and ash, Lolita might still walk among the remnants of it, alone and supreme with a hundred thousand years' knowledge locked away in her creamy-furred head.

Though Snake did seem to be a younger canine, the hybrid had detected no hint of playfulness in him. He was not a puppy, surely, but even canines of a two years had been known to romp and play, reminiscing of their younger days. There was virtually no hint of that in Snake, and it made him seem far older to the silver-furred Centurion. She did not view the Hastati as a yearling; in her perception he was a stoic, firm canine of two and a half or three, even if that mostly that contradicted his outer appearance. Even there, he appeared older, with the musculature of an older canine as well. The coyote could not recall him giving his exact age, but he spoke of his parents, perhaps leading Kaena to detect some hint of youth. There was some amount of mystery to the other canine, and the hybrid woman couldn't help but be intrigued. They were very near to the clouds now, and the hybrid began to slow her pace, listening as the wheat-colored coyote spoke.

"Didn't think so," the hybrid commented sadly. The old lands were but a memory now, fading fast even in the heads of the canines who still remembered them before the fire. "That place was many years ago," she continued. Perhaps it was older than both of his parents put together, even—the hybrid could not recall just when this place had existed. "Inferni doesn't seem to have that affliction of the packs, thankfully," the hybrid said almost disdainfully. The wolves seemed to bunch up when it was good for their ends and disband at the drop of a hat, as far as Kaena was concerned. That none of the old wolf groups had survived the trip over the mountain was a marvel and a source of immense pride for Kaena. This Inferni was the very same she'd once led herself, she knew it. It was in a different place, but it stood for the same things, the old spirit still breathing and alive in the very core of the clan. Gabriel had imported the coyotes to this land and resettled here, and he'd chosen to keep the name Inferni, picked from the smattering of Latin Kaena's father had taught her in her youth. She recalled few of them even now, but at least one burned brightly still, spat fearfully from the muzzles of wolves as if it was a curse. For that reason alone, perhaps Gabriel was Kaena's favorite son after all, though she would have never admitted such a thing aloud, and such thoughts crossed her mind when she thought of any of her children in a particular light.

As the pair of canines were practically on top of the column of steam now, the air abruptly became rather thick, the same sort of misty grey falling over the hybrid's vision, causing her to halt immediately, inhaling sharply to test the air. There was a vaguely sour smell to it, but after a moment nothing happened, so she assumed it was safe to breathe. The air here was noticably hotter here, and thicker, as if it was simply laden with moisture. It was a mystery to the silver-furred hybrid; she'd never seen anything like this before, and as she reached the edge of one of the pools and hesitated, peering at the murky water as it swirled around. The steam seemed to be rising from the pools around them, and the one-eyed canine could not see to the bottom of any of the pools. "No idea what this is," she commented to Snake, punctuating it with a raspy laugh. It was odd for the Centurion to be perplexed; she was an old canine, and she had seen much in her time. Perhaps if she had not devoted her life to violence she might be a great philosopher or a writer, something of that brainy nature. With her upbringing, however, it was difficult for Kaena to have chosen to seek anything but the blood and life of other creatures.

Snake · 12-31-2009, 10:14 PM

You do not fail! And lol, well, if that happens it would have been inevitable. X: I just hope my words don't run out before the end of the day. -suffers under mountain of replies- And this reply got even longer, it's my first 1000+ word post in... months...?

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Yes, he was definitely a little more “humanized” (to use the term) than some of the natives around here. It was not something that he used to place himself above anyone—Snake did not judge in that fashion. His original home had been a mixture of those that took aspects of the previous dominant species of Earth and those that did not, so that was not really an influence on him. No, if there was any influence, it was his parents. They had both been incredibly interested in humans and their ways—both wore far more of their clothing than he did, ate cooked food and drank alcohols and spirits brewed by the humans, read, and played instruments. While he had picked up a few of those traits (as he did wear some clothes, usually liked to cook his food, drank liquor, and could read a little), he would probably never get to the point they had. He admired the humans and their inventions, but he did not want to emulate them totally.

Ironically enough, Snake was very much an enigma to others without even wanting to be. He did not wake up every day with the intention of being mysterious to others, and he did not have secrets to hide. The simple fact that Snake was just not a conversationalist, and he usually felt that others did not want to hear his life story. If someone asked, he would tell—that was that. He was not going to go opening up for no reason. It was the same with other things; though he would do his duties to Inferni, such as hunting, patrolling, defending, and scavenging from Halifax, without being asked, other things would have to come by request. Things such as him teaching what he knew—fighting techniques that were decently unique, and the small amount of reading that he had gleaned from his parents. Something seemed to tell him that Kaena might be the same, as Daisuke was the opposite. Some were just overly helpful, which might be good for them, of course. Snake was helpful, just upon commission.

And as for age, he did not notice it. Time, neither. He felt the same mentally as he had when he was just a few months old. He had never been playful, never joking. Even Patriot had said he had been the most serious-faced kid he’d ever seen—a promising sign for a power-hungry werewolf who wanted soldiers. One could say Snake had been warped from what the leader of New Haven did to him, but they might be spinning lies. Who could say if it was how he had developed, or how he was born? He was as he was, and he didn’t have any grand plans of changing.

Snake started to doubt that the place Kaena was speaking of was anywhere near the same as what his parents had told him about. They had been here within the year—his mother had left the pack directly to go to New Haven, where he had been born, so the timeline was short. He didn’t continue asking, though. Instead he grew somewhat curious about Inferni itself—how Kaena worded her comment on the longevity of the coyote clan and the wolf packs made him guess that Inferni was older than all of them. “Could you tell me a little bit about Inferni’s past?” he asked as they continued up the beach. “I have heard bits and pieces from Hezekiah and Gabriel, but not much else than that.” Luckily he was asking just the hybrid: Kaena had been there when Inferni had been born.

When they approached where the steam vented up, Snake became more cautious of where he stepped. The smell on the air was not nearly as clear as it had been—there was a sharp, bitter edge to it now that made the fur along his spine prickle with discomfort. He continued at the same pace that Kaena did, trusting her enough that she wouldn’t lead them headlong into some deep trouble And she didn’t; nothing bad happened. They eventually reached where the roiling clouds of steam were coming from, and that was, strangely enough, a pool of water.

And not just any pool of water. There was a deep humming to it, which made him nervous—as if it had power of some kind. Sometimes it would boil in places, bubbling on the surface. There was a certain amount of radiant heat coming from it, easily distinguishable from the surrounding chilly air. Snake feared it, especially after Kaena mentioned that she had no idea what it was—if someone with her years of life experience had no knowledge of it, who would? But still, fear hadn’t stopped him from exploration before. After a few moments he judged that he was in no immediate danger, so he turned back towards a stand of trees. He approached and found a branch that had broken off. He took between his teeth, missing the use of his hands briefly before taking it towards the pool.

He was still nervous about it, but he did manage to maneuver the branch to where he could dip one end in the water while he gripped the other end in his powerful jaws. It did not burst into flame or dissolve or anything crazy like that, which got rid of several of his fears. After a moment he removed the branch, placing it on the ground. It didn’t look any different and when he placed his paw on the part that had been in the waters, it was warm to the touch. He looked to Kaena, something working behind his olive eyes, before he approached the water himself. After a moment’s hesitation, he dipped a forepaw into the spring. It was hot, yes, but not exactly to the point of scalding. The simmering water buzzed around it, and it felt pleasant after walking along the cool beach. He looked to Kaena, speaking up, “The water is… warm. Like there is a great fire beneath it.” He pulled his paw out of the hot spring, studying it. It looked fine—the water was not cursed, it was just warm.

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Kaena Lykoi · 01-03-2010, 06:41 AM

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1533 HOMG. We can wrap this up soon or keep going, totally your call. ;D I like the novel-writing, however, and I could continue it thanks to SoSu. XD And also, it might be weird for her to keep talking about history when they're screwing with the water, PM me if you want to change it. XD BTW I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A POST THIS LONG HOLY CRAP. |:

A changing world required change from its creatures, and years ago Kaena would have never bothered with human artifacts. She thought them useless and she thought creatures who used them rather fanciful human wanna-bes—now she understood their usefulness and she could not underestimate it. After all, with human advances in medicine something close to that immortality could be achieved someday. Kaena dreamed about this, and she envied Lolita for ther apparent ability to wander the earth forever. She would have given anything for that, even if it meant watching her children and her children's children die until there were none left but her, until it was as it was in the beginning, when Kaena Lykoi was the only one of her name in as many ways as imaginable. Her ancestors had all seemed to slaughter or betray each other; both her father and her mother were outcasts of their own kind, shunned from their originating groups. Strangely, her father had perpetrated actions leading to his expulsion from the Lykoi wolf pack, whereas her mother was practically an innocent. For the opposing roles they'd played in Kaena's life, this made little sense to her. Her mother was the vile thing that had tried to condemn her to death at such an early age; her father had saved her from that certain demise.

There were a scarce few that Kaena freely bestowed gifts such as information, knowledge, and education to—those were her children, mostly. Duty to Inferni required she inform the clan members of their place and hand down ranks upon their acceptance, duty required she make sure they were comfortable within Inferni and willing to perform the duties asked of them. Happier clanmembers made for better quality of work and better morale in general, and Kaena knew both of those things were quite important in the grand scheme of things. Unhappy clan-members bickered amongst themselves and squabbled for rank and the Legatus' attention, but Gabriel had done well to squash those. In considering their current regiment, the silver-furred woman had to admit she was quite pleased. There seemed to be a solid core—Gabriel, herself, Anselm, Hybrid—surrounded by a tough, smart ring of canines quite close to it—Halo, Snake, Hezekiah, Rikka, Razekiel, and Cotl—and then the outsiders, newer members to the clan who had yet to prove themselves or, like Samael, chose not to be a part of the inner clan workings.

Samael made Kaena worry and wonder quite often, but she hoped giving him an actual duty would help him work his way back into the hierarchy of the clan. Marik was likely to stay; he hadn't come all the way from Germany to be with his brother for nothing. The same could be said about Fritz, but friendship was a more tenuous connection than brotherhood, to be certain. Mason was certain to be a valuable adult in the clan once he passed his ninth month, but Kaena could not consider him with the rest of the clan—he was still a child. Although she'd only met Cassius briefly, she had high hopes for his mechanical skills. Vieira was personally useful to Kaena, but the hybrid had to admit she was less useful to the rest of the clan. All in all, a good bunch, certain to cooperate with one another. Kaena was especially pleased with their numbers, and this time it at least seemed the newcomers to the clan would not simply drift away as they had so many times before. Injury and starvation made some coyotes desperate, and these coyotes settled down with the clan for a few weeks to recuperate and then pranced along their merry way, abusing the clan for its resources and safety so they could continue their worldly wanderings without ever contributing a thing back to Inferni.

It was not a surprise to Kaena to hear the coyote's request for the past. It pleased her to realize someone might have directed him to her as the greatest source of Inferni's past. It was true, too. No one had the rich history of Inferni committed to memory quite as well as Kaena Lykoi because she had lived through most of it herself. She had been present for many of the defining moments that twisted the coyote clan this way and that, and though she might have failed as a leader, she had even been responsible for some of the events that had caused the coyote clan such longevity. She could not claim that she had been a good leader, no, but she had certainly altered the clan's history herself. Her scarred muzzle split into a smile and her mood improved just a bit more, nodding at his request. "I'd be glad to," the hybrid said, speaking the truth. She had held the Immunes rank of Veritas prior to her ascension to the Legatus rank, and she still considered it her duty, even if Rikka now held that particular job. "Someone must have mentioned Inferni was not born on this side of the mountain, hm? Shall I start there?" she said, trying something of a joke. Did Snake have a sense of humor? He hadn't shown it thus far, and though such a quality was not particularly important to Kaena, she enjoyed testing and establishing boundaries before she inappropriately crossed them as she was so apt to do.

"Back on the old beach, seven years ago this past October, I met up with one of my old friends, Yasu Zarah. We'd both lived in another coyote clan in a different place, but it was destroyed by fire," she said, deciding to add in the flare of their inspiration to the story as well. Even as she spoke, they were still investigating the springs, with the one-eyed hybrid's eyes still staring at the rolling water, angry and hissing steam at some points. The other pools seemed a bit more volatile than the one she had first approached, and as she began to consider sticking a paw into the water, Snake came up with a better idea, selecting a nearby branch to take the first hit of the potentially corrosive, potentially dangerous water. As she watched him stick it into the water, she watched, fascinated and forgetting her story for a moment to watch and see what happened to the stick. Would it explode into flame, fire creeping up the branch and onto Snake's head? She was tense and ready as she watched, golden eye trained on the point where the stick penetrated into the surface of the water. Nothing happened, and relief flooded the coyote. Whatever this was, it was not immediately dangerous. The Hastati coyote stuck his paw into the water and reported back that it was merely warm, almost hot, and Kaena looked on curiously, wrinkling her scarred muzzle. She'd still never heard of anything like this, but it did spark her memory on something else. Onus had said he did not know why the lake in the middle of Arachnea's Revenge had glittered blue in the moonlight, but he'd mentioned something else—bacteria? Was it possible those strange and invisible microorganisms lived in this water? Kaena did not know, and she certainly didn't want to find out the hard way. It was better to err on the side of caution invariably where matters of illness was concerned. From Onus's words, bacteria were not a nice thing, and if they were capable of turning water fluorescent blue, she did not want any in her stomach.

"I definitely wouldn't drink it," the hybrid warned. It might be safe for them to stick their paws in, maybe even their whole bodies, but she did not wish to discover the potential ill effects from drinking this water. "I'm glad it's not actually on fire, though," she said, shaking her head from side to side. She reached forward with her own paw and stuck it into the water, testing the temperature to see just how hot it was. It did not burn, and it was almost pleasant to the old hybrid, the constantly-moving, warm water almost like a massage to her older joints. She looked at Snake in surprise, half a smile planted on her scarred muzzle. She leaned forward as far as she could, allowing her paw to slide slowly through the water to the bottom of the spring. It grew steadily warmer as she reached the bottom, but even scraping against the rocky bottom of the pool of water it was not burning. The rocks were pretty damn hot, but Kaena could comfortably keep her paw there without terrible burning sensations. Drawing her paw out of the water, she double-checked to make sure it wasn't completely injured or anything. Even seeing no ill effects from a long exposure to the water, the hybrid wasn't about to dive in. "Zarah lead us for several months. When she disappeared, I took over the clan, but I did not remain to lead us long. Her adopted son, Arlo, took the helm, but before long, a wolf claimed his life. We almost disappeared, but Kidorah revived us," she said, pausing to allow Snake to absorb this before she continued.

Snake · 01-03-2010, 10:55 PM

OMG LOL MOST INSANELY LONG POST EVER. WAY TO GO. I am honored to have received it. X: And yeah, we can probably fade this out in a post or two. 827

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If Snake had met Lolita on more pleasant terms—as he had rather found her in the grips of insanity, to where she fell out of the tree she was in and eventually ended up attacking a curious Snake—he would probably have regarded her differently than Kaena. He was somewhat superstitious, he had inherited that from his mother, but he believed that death was when you usually separated from this world. Whatever came after that was up in the air for him… but he did know that there were things in this world not so easily explained. Actually, these warm waters that they soon discovered were one of those things. Someone could tell him that it was a vent of water warmed by flowing molten rock beneath the earth’s crust, but he might just stare. He thought it was probably much more theoretical that this was a pool that led directly down to where the Devil sat himself… or at least it was heated by witchcraft, like a bubbling cauldron. Yes, his views on religion and superstition and science were garbled and muddled into whatever seemed to make sense to him.

Regardless, Snake would never have wished for immortality. Quite frankly, he had been brainwashed at a young age to not really regard living or dying as any big deal, if one could believe that. Patriot had always wanted soldiers that would die for him without a second thought—this had been instituted in Snake early; he did not fear death. Sometimes he thought that death was simply a journey to another battlefield, where he would die again, fighting, and that that would cycle endlessly. Once a soldier, always a soldier. Once a killer, always a killer.

Truthfully Kaena and Patriot might have had a lot to talk about—they might have even been friends. Snake’s past mentor and father-figure had mostly trusted in his own flesh and blood, surrounding himself with a garrison of sons and daughters. He had tried to do that with Snake and Foxhound, which was ironic enough—they did not share any of his blood. But three of his closest henchmen were his sons and Snake’s half-brothers: Rex, Ray, and Zero. Three hybrids that Snake hoped never to meet again. They were each worse than the last.

He distracted himself from those old thoughts of his, trying to focus on the new; for he no longer lived in New Haven, and he had no plans to ever go back—he was an Inferni coyote now. Kaena seemed pleased with his interest in the history, her golden eye glittering and a smile forming on her scarred features. She did manage to figure out if he had a sense of humor or not, for he remained impassive as she jested; he didn’t catch whatever sarcasm or laughter in the comment and question. He had indeed heard that Inferni had moved across the mountains, and he simply nodded his angular head, saying, “Yes, please.” Oh, he took everything so literally!

She began to describe that she had met with an old friend from another clan (destroyed by fire, ironically enough, which would be so when the story continued) on a beach before they arrived at the springs. The history lesson would have to wait for now, because these bizarre waters were a little more attention-grabbing. After he had tested it and probably made sure that it wasn’t going to kill them outright, she warned against drinking it. A rare smile flickered across his features, and he said dryly, “Wasn’t planning to.” He didn’t intend to be rude; it was just what crossed his mind and jumped the synapse to come out his mouth. “I’m glad, too. We would have curious, sight-seeing wolves crawling out of our ears if they heard of water-on-fire up here…” He was saying this when it occurred to him that they might have that problem with water that was simply warm. He looked up sharply to his Centurion, this seeming an important observation. “Still… it is interesting enough. We may have to keep this an Inferni secret.” Unfortunately and ironically, Snake would bring his friend Daisuke here days later. Hopefully the golden wolf would keep his mouth shut.

Kaena tested the waters herself, reaching down deeper than Snake had dared to. He almost warned her not to reach too deep, fearing that devils or demons might pull her down into hell, but then he shut his mouth. He wouldn’t like to appear foolish… though he might be so if that did happen. Luckily, it didn’t. Regardless, she continued the story of Inferni, mentioning that both she and her friend disappeared from the leadership and that the next died at a wolf’s hands. Something told Snake that that wouldn’t be anywhere near the only death caused by wolves in this story. She paused, though, and he looked at her with interest in his flat olive eyes which seemed to say “Go on.”

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Kaena Lykoi · 01-05-2010, 04:18 AM

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I knooooow. XD You inspired me, though! History is Kae's bug. ;; Word Count: 1098

Kaena herself had little in the way of a belief system. Her mother Delphine certainly had not imparted any religious wisdom on her; more accurately, the "beliefs" Kaena had gleaned from the coydog was a mutual love of violence, a predisposition for bloodshed passed on from Kaena's grandfather. Her father, on the other hand, had indeed spoken of religious idols, though his were of a world many centuries old. The Roman mythology that Andre taught Kaena was just that—mythology. He had presented it to his daughter as little more than stories, never bothering to impart on her any knowledge of a spiritual world or a scientific one. Andre seemed to prefer fanciful explanations for the way things were; he told her of how one god dragged the sun across the sky, and another ruled the sea. He told her of Icarus and flying too close to the sun, of Lupa, Romulus, and Remus. These ancient tales had sufficed as Kaena's bedtime stories, traditions passed down for many generations in the Lykoi wolf pack. The silver-furred hybrid had not continued these in her own children, finding it far more useful to impart upon them the teachings of war and battle. She was not a member of that pack, and she had no use for their history.

Hers was far more securely rooted here in Inferni, surrounded by her own family. This version of the Lykoi, wolf and dog and coyote blood all mixed into one, was Kaena's very own invention, as far as she had control in deciding her own parentage. She wouldn't have chosen it any other way, however; for all her hatred of wolves, red wolves—perhaps because she herself was one—were regarded with far less hostility than their larger cousins. There were legends of red wolves being descendant of coyotes anyway, some very-far reaching hybridization of the two species, and maybe Kaena took those stories to heart. That was her justification for it, anyway. It was the both wolf and the dog that had lent the silver-furred Centurion her stature and size, and likely a fair bit of her strength, as well. The Centurion's single eye still regarded her wet leg cautiously. The only strange effect from the water so far seemed to be a rise of steam; drawing her leg from the warmth of the spring and into the cold winter air had given it just a wisp of smoke not dissimilar to that billowing up around them. "Good. I guess that's what's causing the steam, then. Warmth in the cold air?" she responded to his statement about not drinking the water. Even if the warmth was the only thing that caused it to steam and smoke, the silver-furred coyote did not think it would be safe to drink.

"Agreed. We got enough wolves disrespecting our borders without them having a reason to act like tourists," she said, rolling her eye at the thought. The moments passed and Kaena's foreleg grew cooler, now feeling just plain wet rather than warm and wet, which was less comfortable. She considered dipping her leg in again, but instead contented to settle down to her haunches, resisting the urge to lick her leg clean. She'd have to wash it off in some fresh water before she tried to clean it off, for licking herself clean would surely defeat the purpose of not drinking the water. Snake seemed to wish to hear more of the clan's history, so the hybrid straightened up, settling herself comfortably on her haunches to continue Inferni's story. "Kidorah gave us our first real ranking system—before that it was just the Leader, Subleader, and subordinates," the hybrid said. It was a little more complicated than that—they did have a position for youths, though in Kaena's memory this position had only been held by Arlo Xyl himself. "She was succeeded by Segodi, who once again changed our ranks. Segodi led Inferni during a war with the Clouded Tears pack, but I don't know the details. I have had several gaps in membership here," the hybrid admitted.

"Segodi left after a year, I think it was, and left his friend Roane in charge. I ran into him on my way back to Inferni, and after I shared with him my history in Inferni, he left me in charge," the hybrid said. The next period of time was one she held quite strong memories about, far more than the brief detail of the other Inferni leadership. "A pack had settled to the south and one of the prior leaders had conceded a little bit of our territory, so when one of Inferni's allies, Hollow Nothing, came to me with a plan for his own vengeance, we decided to team up. We drove the pack away and took our land back." There was definite pride in the coyote's tone here, but it disappeared when she spoke again. "I left in the fall, and Gabriel took over the clan from there. This year will be his third in command. When the fires burned the former lands, he was the one to lead the clan to these new lands. Thanks to Anselm's knowledge of the territory, Inferni was the only group to survive this trip."

Now the hybrid was working off of what she'd gleaned from the others since arriving here, more from hearsay than anything else. "There was a war with Dahlia de Mai, begun by Dahlia's subleader. From what I was told, he killed a mother and her child on our borders," she said, clear contempt for Haku Soul, though she was still unwilling to speak his name aloud. A particular sort of fury and agitation flickered across her face, though she regained her composure after a moment, continuing. "Phoenix Valley gave the clan trouble, mostly 'cause they couldn't get it through their heads to keep on their own land." The silver-furred coyote was not particularly sore with the valley, though she had caught two of their wolves traipsing on Inferni's demesne herself. They had seemed to learn from their mistakes, anyway—it had been many months since they'd had trouble from the Valley or Dahlia, and things were eerily quiet for the usually drama-laden coyotes. Not that Kaena minded, anyway—after her own altercation with the chocolate-furred subleader, she was not interested in stirring more drama. "That'd about bring us to present day," the hybrid said, a faint smile on her coal lips. She raised her eyebrows, a sort of nonverbal way to prompt the dusty-furred canine to ask his questions, should he have any.

Snake · 01-06-2010, 01:32 AM

Well, I'm pleased that we can both get massive posts out of these threads. XD Not that you need them—miss pretty already half-way done! X: Here's my last post. 1034

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It would perhaps take a long time to psychoanalyze Snake’s philosophies and whatever religion he had, though summarizing was possible. Despite his youth in training to become a soldier and, ultimately, a killer, he did not sanction needless killing. If someone could remove an enemy without extinguishing life, he would take that action. Perhaps what contributed to this was that once Patriot told him that if you killed many people, when you die you end up in a river where their corpses pursue you for eternity. This was a pretty insane thought, but he believed in it sometimes. In self-defense of himself and his clan, he would fight and kill, but generally not for recreation nor for passion. It was good that Snake had no passion—no crimes could come from emotions that one did not seem to possess.

Religion was pretty hazy for him. His mother had, strangely enough, had parents that were almost what was Christian. Or at least the Luperci version—they believed in salvation from the son of some almighty God who could take their sins away so they could live in heaven rather than broil in hell for eternity. Snake feared hell, so he generally tried to keep himself on a positive path… Just in case. One could never know what came after death—it was the most well-kept of all secrets.

When she mentioned that it was probably the difference in temperature that caused the steam, Snake nodded. “Yeah, I believe so. If it were spring or summer, I doubt the steam would rise like this.” At least when things warmed up again, there would not be a steamy beacon that was pointing all wandering eyes towards this spot. Things would be hidden, which would make things easier to keep anonymous to lupine eyes. Kaena agreed with what he thought about keeping away wolves with curious dispositions—for the wolves’ sakes as well as Inferni’s security. Or so Snake told himself. In truth, he simply did not want curious innocents hurt.

Eventually he settled down next to the strange pool of warm water, his tail curled around his paws to protect them from the chill as he listened to the tale of Inferni’s history that Kaena told well. She should—she had not only been there for most of it, but she had also been the lorekeeper of the pack (though Snake did not know this personally). There were many fluctuating leaders whose names Snake did not think important to commit to memory, though Inferni’s history seemed proud when it came to war and protecting their own in a world of wolves. He was very impressed that Inferni alone had survived the purifying fires of the north, and he found himself respecting both Anselm and Gabriel more for making the clan what it was. Of course he respected Kaena as well, because she seemed to lead it well and knew the background. Snake believed that history repeated itself, so it was good to know for the future. She was powerful in that realm.

He became even more attentive when she spoke of the more recent history—history that would pertain to him as he lived in Inferni and found himself amongst the ties it had with the rest of the wolf packs. A grim expression crossed his impassive face when she mentioned a leader of Dahlia de Mai killing a mother and child and leaving them for Inferni—violent death was meant for the battlefield, as Snake believed. Innocents were not meant for such things, and it made wheels of anger boil inside of him… though it was certainly not enough to affect him much externally. Phoenix Valley seemed like much less of a threat—which is what it would turn out to be—as early trespassing in the life of a pack was usually just getting situated. Clearly, Dahlia de Mai was what they would have to look out for, especially if the murderer was still amongst their ranks. From Kaena’s facial expression, he guessed that he was—and he had no idea that whom she meant was actually Haku Soul, whom he had already had a run-in with near the borders. If it were so, well. He would have an even more colorful opinion of that pack.

“So, Dahlia is largely our only enemy… We do not have any other problems,” he said, stating more than he was questioning. He was silent for a moment, wistful as he thought and pondered. Then he noticed that, when he looked at his leader, the shadows of the oncoming dusk were partially obscuring her. He had barely noticed the time tick by like that.

“Thank you very much for spending time with me, Kaena—I enjoyed learning about the pack, as well as discovering these springs,” he said honestly, though his voice was just as emotionless as ever, “But I think I should start heading back if I wish to get home before nightfall.” And he did not want to trek through the sunless Inferni lands. It got really, really cold.

So after proper farewells, he left his scarred and, truthfully, fascinating leader behind. He found himself with more respect for Inferni and those who made her up at her core, and… even some loyalty to them. He had once thought them as passing allies, nothing more. But now he felt himself attached to them as a citizen was to their country, a soldier to their commander. It was strange, especially for someone who had been nothing more than a traveling mercenary for so long. Snake would have to think. When he had come here, it was on a passing whim while trying to escape from his parents’ observance. He had thought he would leave eventually. But now he found himself with friends, allies, and enemies to contend with. Loyalties and even the faintest stirrings of emotion were binding him here. He could not leave. Not yet, anyway.

No, it seemed that Snake was in it for the long haul yet, unless something momentous happened. And something momentous was coming… though whether it alienated him from or brought him closer to Inferni was a question yet to be solved.

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