look to the western sky

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 08:28 PM

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As Kaena spoke, Vieira listened and she realized she had forgotten about the small building blocks she had been given. Her head turned to glance across the cave and notice the small box sitting by the wall where her room was. Part of her wanted to get up and move them into her room, but she remained seated instead. Her position was here, on the bed, and she was not told to get up. "Thank you," she said quietly and her tail thumped beside her once to show her appreciation. She resisted the urge to grip her tail to silence it but it had fallen still easily.

Her gaze turned away from the small box and she imagined what she would make. She knew nothing of buildings but she was looking forward to testing them out and seeing what she could make. Her mind had a childlike glee inside, an anticipation she could not wait to fill that she should have outgrown. Without a childhood, however, she could not place where such things went and how to contain them when presented.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 09:06 PM

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The tawny canine did not make a move to reach for the candle and it took Kaena a moment to realize why. Kae realized they were closer to her, situated practically behind her own shaggy silver head. The hybrid half-grinned at this, turning her head away from the Quintus to disguise this show of emotion as she reached for one of them. They were all roughly the same size, though their shapes were varied—some were thin and long, some were fat and short. The coyote's silvery fingers danced over them for a minute, considering which one to select for Vieira.

She picked up a pale yellow thing, perhaps once a brilliant lemony color, now faded to an almost-white. The fresh wick stuck up from it, and as the hybrid turned back she plucked at it slightly, making sure it was still stiff and good to light. Turning back toward Viei, she stretched out her hand to the other canine and offered it to her, golden eye locked onto the other canine's face, watching for her reaction, always testing her, gauging her, prodding at her to see where she was stretched thin and where she would give in. The hybrid had found no points of strength in the smaller canine thus far, but that did not mean they did not exist.

"Tell me more about where you came from," the hybrid woman said, desiring to know more of Astaroth's strange world. Maybe it would help her to better understand the smaller coyote sitting just to the side of her.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 09:21 PM

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Vieira focused on the movements of the woman and when the candle was presented, her hands formed a bowl in front of her and she cradled the item carefully, pulling it close to her. It rested in her lap with her hands where her golden eyes watched it, her fingers sliding over the smooth edges and she smiled but it was not too long that Kaena asked of her former location and her hands continued to rub the sides of the candle, picking up a nervous habit because she had something in her hands.

"I do not know anything about where I was born... but Eterne...." she trailed off, unsure of what Kaena wanted. Her question was vague and she was not entirely sure of the location herself, having been kept stowed away with little contact to others. "It is a lot warmer there. I have never felt cold like this," she commented as her hand lightly touched the wick. She was not really paying attention to what she was doing, her hands were simply moving. "Which I guess is good when I was stuck outside," she said, lightly covering the workings of Eris but she left it at that. "I don't know a lot of what it was like with the others... I was kept away most of the time."

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 10:12 PM

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The silver-furred hybrid was fascinated by the place where Astaroth had come from. What would have possessed a creature like him to move through life as he did? The hybrid woman did not understand what might have motivated the sable-furred man to act in the way that he did, fathering children only to leave the mother to spawn them and raise them, returning only after they were far too old to be taken themselves, stealing another daughter of Kaena's despite an utter lack of blood connection between Astaroth and Eris.

She listened to Vieira speak of warmth, her russet muzzle wrinkling as she considered the woman's words. The smaller canine did not profess to know too much knowledge of their social structure, which was disappointing to Kae—then again, Vieira would be exposed to an entirely different rung of the social ladder than Astaroth or his siblings, would she not? Slaves weren't exactly in the same social sphere as their masters, to say the least. "You did not have your own place to stay, other than outside?" the hybrid asked, curious at this. She wondered what it would be like to be completely separate from everyone else. "Did others know... what you are?" she asked, again hesitant to refer to Vieira as any concrete term.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 10:20 PM

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The woman did not know what the other was bringing up tender memories but Vieira did her best to focus on them, to be clear and keep her pain to a minimum. She was forced to recall where she slept and at times, it was what she wanted to put behind. The slave did not know it was wrong to sleep in the same bad as your father, her morals had never formed, and she never questioned why her relation to the man was a secret. "Astaroth had a small... building or room behind where he stayed but I did not often sleep there. I slept in his bed more than the quarters," she began, knowing she had spoken of Eris' abuse instead of those but perhaps these answers needed to come before she was asked. "Sivaro kept me in his bed, too, I did not have my own room," she said. It was wherever he disposed her, usually, and most of the time it was after sex and in his bed.

"Eris kept me outside most of the time. I had no where else; she didn't really want me," she admitted but was not sure if it was something she should have said. Vieira was supposed to be a gift to the elder woman, not some discarded item, repackaged for something else. "If I were not outside, I was with someone she gave me to for a while," she added and knew she was vague, she only prayed she did not have to elaborate on this particular meaning, passed around as various sorts: maid, cook, whore. "Others knew what I am. It is not uncommon there and usually we are marked," she said quietly and lifted her hand to lightly touch her septum. Many were marked by this item, others had tattoos, and sometimes they even went unnoticed.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 10:49 PM

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The coyote could not help but be curious about the place where Vieira had lived. The hybrid woman found it fascinating to some extent, for she'd never actually encountered a slave-keeping culture, though she was no fool and she had heard of such things before. She thought perhaps that had something to do with Vieira, that learning Eterne's culture might grand to Kaena some insight as to why things were the way they were. The other canine spoke of Astaroth and Sivaro, and how both had kept her in bed with them at times. Kaena thought about this, but she could not determine which was worse—having to return to that same bed night after night, or being locked outside in the cold. The hybrid couldn't figure that out. "Do you miss any of them?" the silvery hybrid asked, tilting her head to the side, wondering if that was possible for someone like Vieira.

The tawny-furred canine continued speaking, informing the hybrid woman more of Eris and how the sable-furred hybrid had treated the Quintus during her time in Inferni. The hybrid's interest was clearly piqued at this, and for a long moment, the hybrid did not speak, considering where to say next, how to best learn what she wanted to know. Better to ask directly, the hybrid supposed, and she breathed in and exhaled in a short sigh, glancing furtively toward Viei for a moment. "What is she like?" The coyote did not know how much of Eris's own history had been shared with the smaller canine.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:04 PM

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"No, ma'am," she said carefully. It was not something she could lie about or even tiptoe around answering. She was not sure how the woman in front of her knew her father and she doubted she knew Sivaro. Her mind did not even linger on trying to find an answer that would get her out of saying yes or no and she found it safest to tell the truth. Vieira had no clue what she would do if either of them were still alive or after being with Kaena, what she would do if she were forced back to Eris. She heard her pleading in her mind from a few days ago, begging not to be sent back and for a punishment instead. Vieira had not wanted to be punished at all but she did not want to return.

The next question Vieira felt a burden. Part of her felt she needed to describe Eris in every possible detail because it was Kaena's daughter, because the mother seemed to know very little. Vieira did not even know much about her other than a handful. "I do not know much, miss... I just know she did not care for me," she began and felt a pain start in her eyes and her ears fell back against her head in thought. She did not know if her two former owners were better with their attention to detail on her or Eris with her lack of proper care. "She was very dominating, very... high up, I guess. And unclear," she said and stared hard at the candle.

"She would punish me without telling me what I had done wrong," she went on to explain and gripped the wax as she thought about her past. "I cannot correct myself if I do not know what I did wrong," she added and blinked back the tears of frustration.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:21 PM

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Kaena wondered if Viei would ever miss her. The hybrid did not hold any delusions about living forever, and she was certain at some point the smaller coyote would leave. Either that, or Kaena would die first. She didn't think she'd like to send the younger canine away; Vieira had already proven herself quite useful, and now, beyond that, there was the creepy-crawly sensation of affection stirring within the hybrid, confused desires to mother and fuck and utterly dominate Vieira twisting through the silver hybrid's brain at all times. The silver-furred woman did not know what she wanted to do with the other coyote, not at all.

The silvery hybrid's attention was rapt as the other spoke of Eris. The coyote tried to imagine her daughter all grown up, an adult woman with Salvaged Eternity's burning green eye. Her family was immense, larger than Kaena's and mostly unknown—who could say how many children Salvaged Eternity had sired over the years? The coyote woman was not special for whelping his child, but perhaps in creating Eris with his genes and her own she had created some kind of monster. What Vieira had described sounded vaguely like Salvaged, and she tilted her head as she turned to the other canine, smiling faintly, though it was an odd sort of smile—it conveyed sorrow rather than joy. "Maybe she simply enjoyed punishing you for the hell of it," the hybrid said, her voice sounding rather gruff at this.

"Maybe you didn't do anything wrong at all," the hybrid woman suggested, sounding vaguely sympathetic toward Vieira. It was probably well within Eris's demeanor to be nasty without provocation; she had inherited that from both sides of her family.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:29 PM

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Vieira had considered this option before, that she had simply never done anything wrong. She was always on her best behavior and did everything she possibly could in order to please the woman. Eris had punished and hurt her anyway for whatever reason, whether for what she did or because the woman was cruel. Her golden eyes were downcast, having nothing to say for the time being. She had no other information about the woman unless she was directly asked but nothing freely came to her mind in the meantime.

She drew a long breath and slipped her hands around the candle, noticing the creases she caused from rubbing it nervously, twisting against the wax. Her hands felt weird from getting the material on her and she opened her hand, palm up, and stared as she fought off the memories and Sivaro's laughter.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:35 PM

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The other canine remained quiet for several long moments, and Kaena herself was caught in contemplation. Her youngest daughter was a mystery; she did not understand the sable-furred girl's actions any better than she did Vitium's. It was nonsensical to her, to betray one's blood and then send back to Inferni some precious resource, whether it was three beautiful children or a small, underfed slavegirl. They abandoned home for faraway places, only they found it fit to still love their mother and family in some strange way, sending off gifts of live canines to the coyote clan to strengthen it. Kaena could have laughed.

The hybrid leaned forward, tucking her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on one of them, appearing quite serene and thoughtful for the moment. Her yellowed eyes flicked over to Vieira, still holding onto the candle tightly. "Did Eris ever speak of me?" The hybrid was most curious to know what her sable-furred daughter thought of her. Certainly Kaena was not revered by the dark-furred coyote. Otherwise, Eris would never have left her mother in the first place.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:41 PM

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Vieira could not imagine why Kaena would want to know so much about Eris but she was on a different side of the spectrum. The motherly aspect did not cross her mind because she did not even consider the children she had birthed sometime ago. She did not imagine what they would be like if they had survived and she knew it was for the best they had not. "Not to me," she murmured and relaxed her hands, not wanting to shred the candle and lose its life. "Sometimes I overheard her talking about things but I did my best not to listen... I am sorry I do not have more information, miss Kaena," she said and swallowed hard, worried this information would not quench the other's knowledge and that it might do more damage than good to the both of them.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:51 PM

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The ash-furred canine rolled one of her shoulders in a shrug to the other canine, shaking her silvery head just a little bit, that same faded, sad smile plastered on her scarred muzzle, just barely tugging her coal lips upward. Eris would remain a mystery, perhaps for the rest of her life—Kaena certainly would not travel to Eterne to find her, not unless by some tragic twist of fate she was thrown out of Inferni or it was otherwise dissolved. Even then, Kaena would more than likely seek the wolf half of her family out before going all the goddamn way to Mexico. Even the Malai Ratree were infinitely closer.

"I am her mother, and I don't know a damn thing about her," the coyote said gruffly, though this was more of a lamentation than anything else. "Up until you showed up I didn't want to know anything about her," the hybrid confessed, shaking her head slightly, appearing rather disheartened with the whole thing. It wasn't as if she'd expected some giant heart-to-heart to reveal everything about her daughter, but she was still grasping at straws, without a single concrete thing to believe about Eris Lykoi.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-18-2009, 11:55 PM

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The slave did not know what to do about this. She wanted to keep Kaena happy. She needed to keep her happy in order to keep herself content. If Kaena was not happy, surely she was not. It just did not work that way. Her goal to please was cut short, unfortunately, while the elder spoke and she closed her eyes in thought, trying to put things together for a moment. Her hands slipped away from the candle after she set it down, resting on her knees. "I am sorry," she said quietly, apologizing. It was the only thing she knew to do. Kaena seemed frustrated, or hurt, and it was because she did not know enough. Should she have listened in on Eris? It was knowledge that did not belong to her and it was the smartest thing to do at the time, to not listen, and now Kaena needed more.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 12:07 AM

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The coyote woman had not thought of Eris as one of her beloved children for too long. Walking away from her dying mother was betrayal, treachery, traitorous action in the same line as Vitium had once committed. It was perhaps worse, since Kaena had not been dying and bleeding out in a patchy little meadow with Vitium; she had been in no danger of dying when Vitium had betrayed Inferni and all of his heritage. When Eris left, she must have thought she was condemning her mother to death. Or had she? Obviously Eris must have known Kae survived still, else she would not have sent Vieira... unless the sable-furred girl was simply sending Viei off in the hope that Kaena had survived somehow, ridding herself of the slavegirl who had grown tiresome?

The coyote didn't know, and thinking about it too much made her skull ache. The other canine spoke and there was a faint smile again, her sable ears folding back into her head. She wondered how much of the past she ought to share with Vieira; knowledge was a dangerous tool in the wrong hands, and what had happened with Eris tread on dangerous territory, as it was so close to what had happened with Astaroth, too. "Thank you," the hybrid said, thinking perhaps Vieira's apology was genuine for her and not intended as an actual apology for not knowing the answers Kaena sought. "She didn't really talk to you, huh? Not like this, anyway," the hybrid said, indicating their present conversation.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 12:11 AM

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Vieira's own head was starting to hurt. She was having a hard time weeding out the voices of Sivaro and the occasional Astaroth in order to focus and she found herself growing weary. Though she made no outward signs of this, having much practice in holding herself awake and active for long periods of time. "No, ma'am," she said quietly but made no other move in the conversation. Of all her owners, Kaena was at least the nicest. She had her moments, she had experienced, but she had a solid roof over her head, she was fed often, and was even in conversation. Though, the conversation was weird to her because of how socially awkward she was but she never denied it, but she was never able to place whether or not she liked conversation or if she liked keeping to herself in her own little world.

"No one ever really talked to me," she went on to add after a moment's thought. Astaroth and Sivaro simply ordered her around. There was very little conversation. An occasional lecture or two, instructions, vile words... anything that would ultimately hurt her. Her eyes closed at the thought and reopened slowly, only to focus on the candle again.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 12:40 AM

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The hybrid woman hesitated as the other canine spoke, turning her golden eye to look at her sidelong, studying her as if she was behind glass, behind bars—an animal in a zoo. The coyote couldn't help her fascination with the other coyote; there were unseen connections here between her own family and this coyote's, even if Vieira did not consider her family actually... family, strange as that sounded to the hybrid woman. She supposed she could understand it; Astaroth would have kept her hidden from the rest of the world if he had taken her to bed, keeping their blood relationship a secret to continue their sexual one.

"Would you rather I not speak to you, like they did?" the hybrid pressed. She wanted the metallic-furred canine to be comfortable, and if silence between the two of them was the best method, Kae supposed she could oblige, at least for a little while. She wondered if Vieira was capable of offering conversation or a subject of her own volition, without an explicit question asked, considering the smaller coyote's presence on the bed, half-wishing to pry open her head and steal her perspective, at least for a minute or two.

Thanks to Akumu for the table!
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Vieira Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 12:47 AM

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Vieira was not ready for this questions. Her inner conflict had only begun to fight this battle and she had to stop them early in order to answer. "It is okay," she said rather quickly and her gaze lifted slightly only to find the feet of Kaena instead of the candle. "It is different," she said and did not break her expression, a continued frowned pressed on her features. It was different in many ways. Not every word from Kaena's mouth was directly hurtful and were not used to break her down. The questions she did ask hurt but only because they caused memories to form in her head or a voice she did not want. Vieira could not stop the other from talking to her, should not imagine putting an end to something the other wanted, and she realized she answered the question without a direct answer but it was in order to make sure the other was happy.

Kaena Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 03:15 AM

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The silver-furred hybrid listened to the other canine's response, twisting a coal-furred ear to listen. The answer wasn't exact, but Kaena wasn't certain she could ever receive a truly straight answer from the other canine, especially not if Vieira thought there was a possibility she was delivering the "wrong" answer. The hybrid frowned at this; to these open-ended questions there was no wrong answer. The silvery canine wanted her perspective, whether or not Kaena agreed with it. The answer was ambivalent, leaning neither toward good or bad—Kae considered this for a minute and decided it could very well be worse.

"What would you have us speak about?" the hybrid asked, dragging a different sort of question into play. There was no yes or no answer to this one, and it required that Vieira offered something of herself—at least, Kae thought so. There was always the possibility she simply proposed to speak about whatever Kaena wanted, but the silver-furred hybrid was not seeking that answer. It was obvious her most interesting subjects caused some level of discomfort for the tawny Quintus, so the ash-furred canine perhaps sought to trade—for persistently poking at subjects which caused pain to Vieira, Kaena would entertain her thoughts, provided there was anything the other canine wished to express. The hybrid wondered if the ability to speak freely had ever been granted to the other coyote, and an unsettling feeling of sadness washed over Kaena.

Vieira Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 08:44 AM

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The woman never had any perspective or opinions and simply let things be around her. While this conversation (which was more or less just questioningly) was stressful and Vieira felt the woman was asking for so much against things she could not handle. She could tell her around the bush answers were not really helping the woman but she could not shake the avoidance of pain as much as she possibly could. Had she been with any of her former owners, she would have been punished my now for any multitude of reasons and she only felt it was a matter of time before the other woman fell into those habits.

"Uhm..." she breathed and could not come up with an answer. Her mind could not produce a topic and she almost said the easiest answer she could think of: whatever you wanna talk about. Her jaw tightened and she did her best for the moment to pretend to think of something. Unfortunately, her mind was blank and her thoughts were at a standstill. Vieira became frustrated with herself, a little worried about being sent away (that would just mean she was bad and Kaena was upset). She needed to stick this out. She lifted a hand for everything to pause and she slipped away from the bed.

Her head turned back in order to make sure it was okay for her to walk off and when nothing happened, she reached her small box of legos and bent to pick them up. Swiftly, the woman returned as if nothing happened and she turned back into an Indian-style of setting where she carefully shook the contents out. Only fifteen or twenty fell from the box, the rest inside, and she scooted a couple toward the woman. Her own hands returned to two or three where she tested them, trying to instruct her (when she had not a clue herself) and found the snapped on top of each other. Pleased, she put a smile on her face, and held it up as an example if Kaena should follow suit.

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Kaena Lykoi · 12-19-2009, 06:28 PM

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The cloud-furred hybrid watched as the other contemplated a subject, and Kaena thought she could almost see the gears in Vieira's head spin as they tried to process this conversation. Maybe it was the first time anyone had ever honestly inquired as to Vieira's thought processes; the silver-furred hybrid was not a particularly social or vocal creature, but she could not imagine an existence where she was not allowed to speak her mind. Kaena was an independent sort of creature, headstrong to a severe fault, and she did what she wanted, when she wanted, deity help whoever got in her way.

The ashen coyote did not react as the other canine stood and slipped away for a moment, returning with an unidentified box. Kae assumed it contained whatever it was that Viei had procured for herself from the city, but as to specifics, the hybrid had no idea. She watched with interest as the smaller-framed canine climbed back up to the bedding area, shaking out a few pieces which clattered in a rather hollow fashion as they tumbled against the rock. The gray hybrid tilted her head to the side at the sight of the brightly colored little pieces, watching as Vieira selected a few for herself, studying the other canine as she seemed to be figuring them out. "Toys?" the hybrid asked, confusion briefly flashing over her face, though there was no derision there.

Steel-colored fingers reached out and gingerly picked up two of the pieces, drawing them closer to her scarred face to study them with interest. She copied Vieira's actions and clicked the pieces together, ending up with something vaguely t-shaped, though it was asymmetrical. The ashen Centurion wrinkled her nose and held it up to Vieira questioningly, wondering if that was right. These were just as new to Kaena, and their purpose was a mystery, though it had certainly sparked her interest to piece them together.

Table thanks to Erin!

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