OOC: Alainey Laaaaaine! <3
WC: 955
Hues of glowing violet opened and closed as their owner shifted upon a long, soft bed in the corner of the room. A sigh resounded from the 6 month old fae as she shuffled about, all four limbs scrapping with the ghostly pale linens surrounding her, until she settled into a heap, staring at the aged ceiling above her. Snuffling and grumbles resounded from the other side of the creaking room as her counterpart rolled over, his sleep undisturbed. Being the wee hours of the morning, it was not unusual for the young dreamer to abandon insomnia in favor of his fantastical sub-conscious. Our poor Sylvie, however, was having little luck in staying asleep long.
Amethyst gems strayed from the ceiling to the bed of her best friend, and then to the nearby window, the dark wooden pane in need of repair. From within the darkness of the Chien Hotel, twinkling stars could be seen brightly, clearly, each one shining upon the next, willing each other to glow warmly upon any who might venture out at this hour. They comforted her, soothed her into a relaxed state, and yet made her feel lonely and sad at the same time. She had a wonderful life now, here at Cour Des Miracles... and yet, something seemed to be missing. A smiling, glowing thing that could do nothing but make her happy. A warmth that would never leave, no matter what had happened... hiding her face in her makeshift nest, the lonely pup wondered what might give her that feeling... she could not be hugged without feeling confused, could not be picked up without lashing out and hurting someone- she couldn't even bear to be praised. Beneath that happy-go-lucky exterior was a tormented soul searching for some sort of savior.
Again, sleepy eyes drifted to Caillen's motionless form. He gave her far more strength than he could possibly know... lilac orbs shifted in the direction of Alaine's room. And Miss Alaine gave her so much more than just care... and yet, something still would not soften for the determined darling. Perhaps the fangs of her parents had been felt just one too many times... or maybe too many forms of praise and adoration accompanied torture and pain... no matter what, the early part of her childhood would scar the sweet girl's mind for the rest of her life. Once more a sigh left the young girl, eyes settling again upon the stars outside the window. Maybe, just maybe, she could find her shining star. Something (or someone) that would shine upon her and allow her to shine back. Deep chocolate lids grew heavier and heavier with each thought until she was lost to the "if only's"... or perhaps a dream.
It was suddenly summer- the bone-chilling winds and howling banshees that tore fervently through the hotel this time of the year were lost to blindingly green trees and warm ocean waters, fields of flowers and grasses waving about in a gently caressing breeze. Eyes of fresh-squeezed wine drunk in the scenery with glee as lilac-chocolate fur swirled about them, thick plume waving as a testament of grander things. Lupine body sent the collie powering forward through the grasses of the paddock she had found, leaping, laughing, singing her joy at being out and running. And then, the sun dimmed as a shadow passed across the young whelp. Stopping short, cream maw sought to point at the source of the shadow, sending the formerly giddy smile it had held into the abysses of terror.
A creature of monstrous proportions stood before her, glistening fangs dripping of venom and blood, deep caramel and chocolate coat shining red in the glory of the sun, electric blue eyes sparking dangerously. Wheeling, the pup took off, running, running, her fear and actions translating into the late February reality she resided in. Writhing as if in pain, the girl flailed at her sheets as her dream sent her falling into a massacre. The entire herd of cattle was desecrated- torn limb from limb, steaming entrails spilling out upon the emerald grasses, and as she dodged their lifeless bodies, terrified, crying, the herd of sheep followed. Her pride, her goal in life- nothing more than bits of gashed wool and piles of carcasses, bleating despite their obvious deaths. The monster came closer, closer...
Still running, the high energy border collie shea was suddenly off her bed and clearing the staircase, mauve gems lost behind dark lids as Sylvie sleep-ran down into the lobby of the hotel and right out the door, surely startling any who might be awake, if not waking them anyway, with her heavy sliding landings upon each flat surface she came to. Out into the field she ran, tripping over a fallen log just outside the iron gates surrounding the building. In her dream, she tripped over a bleating body, a favorite ewe she often watched on her sneaked outings... as she recovered, the caramel wolf was standing over her, fangs wide in a malicious grin, the terrible wolf-monster laughed at her cowering form until finally, that jaw opened to swallow her up-
Screaming, Sylvie flung herself out of the way and back into reality, where she collided sidelong into a tree. Tears streamed down her face as the lilac and white girl curled up into a ball at the roots of her now guardian tree. This was the third time that night she had that dream, but the first time it sent her outside. Cold, afraid, and hurt, the all but extinguished star-child limped back towards the only scent she could recognize in her condition- Caillen's. Her partner in crime would be her trail back if no one else should appear.
The Name's Sylvie Ciel. Who be you? Run run run, Chase that little sheepy-pie! and now I chase those cattle, snapping at their heels as they run by.
ooc: ach, poor widdle Sylvie! D:
The night was calm and long, stretching behind his eyelids in the wake of a most wonderful vision. The dreamer was as his namesake, lost to a world where the magical and the beautiful formed an idealistic brilliance that shattered all horrors, all day-dwelling terrors and memories. Like a common sublunary lover, the young boy embraced his artistic visions; Though abstract, they were his soul, his being.
Caillen loved sleep, for in it, there were no hurts.
If only the same could be said for his companion and current heart-throb, Sylvie Ciel. True, the boy had bonded with the fastness of permanent glue to the sweet little girl, but much alike his soon-to-be-romancing ways, Caillen had also quite the crush on his unwitting best friend. Had he known her current state of distress, the young boy would have made grander attempt to pull himself from his own sweet yonder to traipse back into the shadows of her world, take her by the hand and lead her to what little light he could find. That was the way of their relationship; Caillen in the clouds, and darling Sylvie with her feet always planted firmly in the mud.
It wasn't really a fair turn-out, but somehow, it worked for the two youngsters. They were seemingly inseparable, each centering the other. Yet the young girl had her secrets, and sometimes (when she thought he wasn't paying attention), Caillen would watch as her deep violet eyes would simmer with secrets and stir with pain. There were, in all likeness, close to the shadows that drew around those of his Mama, Sylvie's foster-parent, and Cai despised them with the entire force of his romantic's heart.
Her frantic thrashings were what finally brought him to consciousness, the fitful murmurs and desperate whimpers bringing the slate wolfdog's wandering soul back into his mortal entity. Blinking drowsily, his head lifted towards Sylvie with an unceremonious grunt, only to be knocked aside as her form hurtled from the low bed. Immediately the dreamer's eyes, so light a blue that they seemed to shine in the white of his gaze, were wide and aware, and his over-sized paws were scrabbling clumsily to follow her own.
" Sylvie?"
The call was a rough whisper. Alaine had been out late last evening, curing one of the pack's other pups for a terrible fever. He didn't know when she'd returned home, but her bedroom door was firmly closed and the silence within it resembled that of a tomb. Shooting a final longing glance in way of his mother, the young boy bounded out after the receding sounds of Sylvie's midnight flight.
When the cold night air hit his face, the pup reeled back, sucking in a deep lungful that brought stars to his eyes. Winter, though not in rage, was still enough to shock him into stilling for a moment; Unfortunately, that pause was just enough time to lose her slender form into the blackness of night. Desperate, the boy's silvery-blue eyes grazed the strange shadows, his little compact body pacing left and right on the balcony, right and left. There was a soft growl forming in his throat, his one floppy ear making a valiant attempt to remain as erect and wolven as it's twin. Suppressed instincts stirred within him, the boy's wolfish side springing to life as his more manicured pedigree shrunk back with fear. There were all sorts of dangers out in the darkness, all sorts of horrible things that could DO horrible things to a little lost girl, wandering all alone.
His nose twitched, and on an inhale, brought the sweet girly scent that was Sylvie straight into his waiting lungs. The dreamer waited only an instant more, before plunging into the darkness after her scent.
" Sylvie?!"
Speak think walk
Table © James, courtesy of Hannah
OOC: ;3 She's just going through that night-terrors stage... sort of.
WC: 467
Fingers of ice ran their way over the short-furred child as those gloriously vibrant thistle petal orbs were wilted, dark, and dying. The light in her eyes had all but vanished as she continued to follow the familiar scent of her best friend. Tears welled up in the corners of heavy lids, trailing down softly rounded cheekbones and falling, shimmering, glowing, onto the inky, hard ground beneath snow feather paws. As she walked, the moon above her reflected all her inner turmoil- she was incomplete, terrified, and weak- a mere shadow of her previously bouyant, bouncy, happy self. Oh, how she hated feeling weak... that emotion of helplessness, pinning down any strength or joy one might have beneath a massive weight of fear, of inability, of weakness...
And yet, here she was, being anything but weak. She was obviously injured from her mad unguided dash out of the hotel, and still she walked back. She definitely was scared... but what fear was she showing now? It was merely a terrible nightmare... a figment of her imagination conjuring up something from the twisted, terrible parts of her sub-conscious, where all the worst memories she had were locked up tightly. The poor girl was a wonder herself, still striving to live, to breathe, to become something better despite all the hardships she had faced through her young life.
Barely cresting six months old, and already she had been abused, neglected, abandoned, thrust into the sea with little hope of survival... and given a new life. A second chance on a nearly lost cause. And yet the poor pup hadn't realized that yet. She was a fighter, an intelligent female bent on having a bright, happy future to give her past some glow... but right now, the tired young luperci she-dog was concentrating on returning back to her bed without injuring herself more, tail low and head lower.
But then, her darker ear raised itself to a chilled wind, flicking at a distant call. Again, it sounded, this time causing her white ear to rise. Depressed, barely glowing star raised her head to see a familiar form bounding towards her, glinting with concern and calling for her attention. Caillen...?
Shock registered on her teary face as the male became clearer in the darkness, shining his own light upon her shadowed existence, almost instantly lightening her mood and her pain. What a strange effect he always seemed to have on her... even though he looked very worried and determined to be of assistance, Sylvie couldn't help but offer his serious look a lopsided cheery smile.
"Caillen... Que faites-vous ici? You should be in bed..." Her half-hearted joke was not funny, certainly, but at least it proved one thing- she was still stubborn as ever.
The Name's Sylvie Ciel. Who be you? Run run run, Chase that little sheepy-pie! and now I chase those cattle, snapping at their heels as they run by.
ooc: :[
There wasn't much left for him to do but wander, the moon livid on his speckled slate, ivory and tan pelt, giving the young boy an eery glow about his bumbling form. Regardless of the large feet nature had gifted him, Caillen was surprisingly stealthy, the darkness shrouding him in it's suppressing silence, giving way only to swallow the haunting concern in his voice. In the back of his mind, the wolfdog began to assess just what had happened; Now that he was fully awake, the situation seemed even more absurd and alarming than it had before. Sylvie has simply dashed from the bed, like the devil himself was on her heels.
In spite of his nature, or mayhap because of it, Caillen knew better than most what being hunted felt like.
His voice sounded stronger than he felt as it wavered out into the darkness, nose dipping to the ground mid-trot to reassure him of the scent trail. She'd gone this way, and rather quickly; If he lifted his head to the still air, he could still sense the aura of fear that had shrouded her, tainting the path with it's poison. What had she been running from? Why had she fled from him?
It was probably pure luck that found him in her range of sight, and when the young girl's voice lilted towards him, Cai almost stumbled over his own feet as the heart in his chest leaped for joy, the air in his lungs sobbing out in a sigh of relief. Immediately, the 5 and a half month old broke into an eager run, skidding to a stop just before his companion.
It was her eyes that stopped him short, clenched an icy fist around his still-beating heart. He had seen those eyes every day of his life for the past month and a bit, but now, right now, he truly saw them. Maybe it was because they were so different from her usually buoyant bubbly purple, or maybe it was because the deep desperation in them reminded him strongly of the scent of death, and the way despair sometimes stole souls from their bodies. Or maybe it was just because she was lying when she tried to force them to smile, and all they did was remain sorrowful.
" ... S-s-sylvie?"
The bright stars in his eyes glowed down at her, because even though their ages were very close, Caillen was inches taller than her. His voice sounded hollow, like he'd just seen a ghost, a wisp of a future that should not be in the dreamer's sacred world. Sylvie was happy, and that was what made the sun rise in the morning, and what made his daily meat taste as good as it did. The world revolved around Sylvie's happiness, because she was as close to him as any other youth would ever be. Because of this, he did not understand the maturity she often presented, the way her eyes could be years older than her body, the way that she could summon such authority and make him feel years her junior.
He sensed now a shift in the balance of their ever-teetering relationship. She needed him more than ever, and he wasn't quite sure that he could step up to the plate. What if he failed her, just like he'd failed his mother? What if he couldn't fight away the monsters she saw in her dreams?
He took a deep breath, and stepped closer, his eyes two orbs of sunny sky in the midst of this dark night.
" Come on, lets go h-h-home."
She would talk when she wanted to, and not a moment before. What was mature enough in him noted the stubbornness in her, and knew that prying would only make it worse. Sylvie Ciel would spill her secrets only when she was ready, and Caillen was determined that when that happened, he would be the one to mop up her tears.
Speak think walk
Table © James, courtesy of Hannah
OOC: <3
WC: 786
It certainly was luck that brought the two pups together again- in her current state, Sylvie would have wandered for hours without ever seeing another soul, let alone successfully returning to the Hotel. Even following his scent, marked by various trees and older trails from Alaine's lessons for the two youngsters, her fear clouded conscious would have made things only harder to decipher. Though she was raised in the Bayous of Florida in this manner, it was never quite like this.
As he skidded to a stop before her, the old-minded child was slightly saddened by Caillen's apparent shock at her state of mind... or perhaps the state of her stars. Those glinting lights that nearly always illuminated those glorious indigo gems were hidden behind barriers stronger than those around her heart. His voice hooked over her name, indicating his worry, his concern.
His concern.
Few canids ever showed concern for her as a whelp. Even now, this seemed to be a foreign move to Sylvie- for she cocked her head at him in confusion- he was worried about her? What for? Worry was never something her parents had or showed, for that matter, though she partook in the strange emotion quite commonly. And yet, though she knew not what he was trying to commune with those glorious eyes of his, as he looked at her, those sunny, amytal gems glowing with the stars she once had, warmed something in her. Something lost beneath all the abusive training she had survived for the first 3 months of her life, frozen in the ice encasing her soul. Some shard of her heart as a newborn, glowing with glee unknown to the young dog now...
Something happily... dreaming.
A faint smile crossed solemn maw as the moment passed. The things he could stir in her... he was far closer to her heart than any youth or adult alike could ever get. She knew that. But she did not know whether or not he could make it all the way into the frozen halls of her crystalline core, let alone avoid breaking something... the girl's fragile soul had fragmented multiple times in her short life, and yet, here with Caillen, Alaine, Ruri... the pieces were cementing back into place. Perhaps, after the first year of her life had come and gone, she would be complete again, functioning 'normally', as a yearling should.
But for now, as Caillen took up his shield of valor in an attempt to protect the young damsel, things would progress slowly, carefully. As if treading on glass, little cream paws started to follow her shining knight.
"Alright mon cher ami... let's go home."
Like stars lighting in succession as night covers the world with it's glorious canvas, the glimmers in Sylvie's eyes returned one by one as they continued back to the Hotel. Each moment spent with the object of her childish affections lifted one more barrier from a shrouded heart... it would not be long before the stubborn she-collie would open up to Caillen about what had happened. He was her most trusted friend, the naivete to her knowledgeable, the head in the clouds to her feet on the ground...
He completed her in more ways than one her age would ever realize, no matter her moments of wisdom far beyond her age... but with her experiences in affection, the poor girl might never understand exactly what he would mean when he spoke of love. In writs of poetry, the young male could spin a tale beyond one's most wild imagination, calling forth dragons and demons, glorious knights in glimmering armor, beautiful princesses with long tresses and castles fit for a king with a mere accent of his voice.
He was a born story-teller; Sylvie could listen to hours and hours of Caillen's endeavors without ever feeling a need to take a break, growing bored, or even hearing the same thing twice. Dreams had never been something of her style before the lilac and white pelted babe had met Caillen- all she had ever known was work, work... punishments and successes went hand in hand, while praise and fondness sat in the darkness of shadow and greed, and warmth was always shrouded in frigid mists. And yet, he had was the key to showing her what it was like to be a kid.
Lost in thought once again, the ever vigilant girl watched the markings on her counterpart's back twist and morph into stars slipping into a swirling galaxy of twinkling lights, glowing and dimming in rapid successions. Interested by this development, the tired girl almost began to sleep-walk behind her protector, the limp in her forepaw diminishing as the pain subsided. Perhaps now would be a good time...
"Caillen... would you tell me a story, before we go back to bed?" She whispered shyly, almost embarrassed to be asking such a thing. But hopefully, a story would fend off any terrible nightmares she might have again that evening.
The Name's Sylvie Ciel. Who be you? Run run run, Chase that little sheepy-pie! and now I chase those cattle, snapping at their heels as they run by.
Table © Titmouse, Freebie
ooc: N'aww, she's so adorable CX <3
P.S: Look at my sexy Cai avatar. How in the blazers did that get there? X3
Perhaps it was her weariness, but the fact that Sylvie did little but agree in her solemn, soft voice did more to perturb the young wolfdog than any argument or tears could have brooked. For all his young years, even Caillen knew the healing power of tears - The melting of ice around the heart, that could then flow freely form the stars in one's eyes and return to the sweet womb of the earth. But he had never seen Sylvie shed a single drop, not even when she was frightened, not even when lightning slashed at the sky or when those terrors grasped her in sleep. It was as if she'd nothing to cry with, as if that ice had grown so condensed it could not melt.
But, bit by bit, the warmth of his persona would hopefully begin to chill that barren fortress. Maybe, one day, her healing weeping would come.
For now, they padded in relative silence. The wolfdog was painfully aware of how slow his companion moved, the way her breath shuddered in and out of her lungs, the way her dejected tail remained low to her hind legs. But the grasp of fear had loosened his heart, for her eyes were no longer the hollow space where life had been, no longer sucked dry of what little light they dared shine. He drew hope about them like his Mama's coat, and her presence alone was enough to keep the chilly night air at bay.
They walked for a fair while, and Caillen began to fear that in the smog of darkness he had lost his way; But up ahead, the long fingers of a skeletal tree grasped futilely at the glittering heavens, and the boy instantly recognized the Chien Hotel as it grew from the night. Shadows clung to the old hotel stubbornly, but the moon gilded it's rotting wood in a faint silvery light, and he couldn't ever recall thinking of anyplace he'd rather be.
It was just after this realization that Sylvie spoke, her soft voice a'tremble with weariness, her thick lashes giving butterfly kisses to the lilac girl's cheeks. Raising his brows in an animated fashion, Caillen observed her a moment, before nodding daftly. He loved stories. Stories were the blood of a dreamer, and they were a constant stream through his head; Prose after prose, excitement abound, all with a thick lavish of romance and thrill. There was not a day when a new one did not twirl, unbidden, into his mind. There were few days where, long after Alaine had put them to sleep, the two pups would not regale themselves in secretive whispers of the adventures of Caillen's muse. When he had first began his story-telling, Sylvie had been confused, confounded by the idea of a reality beyond the planes of her own eyelids. But the twist of a good plot was addictive, and Caillen knew that each time his voice grew deep in the pitch of a story-teller's trance and oddly devoid of the stutter that haunted it else-wise, the stars in her eyes would shine just that little bit brighter.
So, still inching their way at a painfully slow place up towards the hotel, Caillen merrily obliged her.
" Once upon a time, in a land far from this one..." And his voice rose and swelled in the darkness, fighting with the valor of a knight the monsters that clung to her mind, "... And the prince mounted his valiant steed, and charged straight at the beast!..." His eyes, brilliant iridescent blue, sparkled with the joy of having the story play out before them, brought to life by the twists of his words, " 'Hark ye, fair maiden!' he cried up to the beautiful princess, 'Take this rose, and become my beloved!'"
And before long, the pair stood at the foot of the balcony stairs, the hallway a dark warmth, the soft sighs as the old building shifted it's roots doing much to applaud the end of his tale.
" .. He helped her up onto his horse and they rode away into the sunset, and lived happily ever after."
Silence fell about them, and he turned back to the little girl, the glaze of clouds receding from his vision till he was just Caillen again, not some godly narrator, not some nimble weaver of the thread of life. Just Caillen, with his too-big paws and his one floppy ear and his great big goofy smile.
" T-t-the end."
Speak think walk
Table © James, courtesy of Hannah
OOC: Why thankies! And gosh, Cai's such a romantiiiic! <3<3
Yeah.... how did that get there, I wonder? ;P
WC: 800
With the Chien hotel in sight despite their slow movements, Caillen smiled his goofy smile at the tiring girl he had spent half of his short life with, and, rather excitedly, obliged her request with a simple nod and the opening line "Once upon a time,".
As the story began, amethyst gems clouded and swirled with clairvoyance, watching as shadowed forms of the characters played out their tale to Caillen's words. Each inflection, every call, shout, or glorious herald of triumph that left his lips translated into a wonderful sight for the young girl. Chills shot up her spine from the sound of his voice as the knight fought a terrifying beast, stirring an inspiration in her as the handsome gentleman then wooed his beloved princess from below her tall tower. Sylvie watched everything, drunk it all in, as if it actually was occurring right before her eyes. Oh the wonders of the imagination! What little experience she had with it seemed to not matter as long as Caillen was the one weaving the story she was to follow.
At the reaching of the knight's declaration of love, silence fell, and Sylvie watched the ghost-like scene play out before them, the lady and lord riding off into a glorious sunset before they vanished from sight, replaced by the walls and spiraling stairs of the Chien Hotel. Sylvie looked over to her counterpart in earnest, as if expecting something else to be added to the story... but instead, came the closing sentence of all grand tales- the end. His stutter had returned to him, but Caillen had beautifully put on a magnificent play of words that she would not forget.
"C'était belle, Caillen..." She breathed, whispering her enjoyment upon silent whims and dancing stars. She pondered the whimsical child before her, momentarily awed by the transformation from life-spinner to ordinary hybrid, and wondered if she should ask for another story as she set her forepaw upon the staircase. Perhaps once they got up to their room, she would ask him for another tale of intrigue and mystery... but then, she realized, she had a story to tell him. Taking a deep breath, the young girl offered her hybrid crush a sheepish sort of smile.
"Now, it is my turn. Once upon a summer's eve, a young pup traveled out to the paddocks of her terra..." As she recounted her dream, she climbed the stairs with a purpose, looking back at Caillen as they continued to each split in the stairs, stopping on the balconies. "As she ran from the terrifying monster, she came upon..."
As things came into better perspective for her, Sylvie began to realize the dream itself was nothing more than a story, where she could not truly be injured... a comforting thought as she came upon the final part of her scary tale. "She looked up from where she had fallen only to stare eye to eye with the flaming beast, his dripping fangs a testament to..." And just as she reached the part where things seemed like the end, she said simply, "But... I woke up before..."
She looked down at her paws for a moment as they paused once more before the door to their bedroom, sorting out her thoughts before looking back to her shimmering knight. Resolve strengthened, she continued once again, until a slight smile creased the corners of her soft mouth. Within a pause, the lilac and white child nodded in turn to the slate and grey wolfdog beside her, memory sidling over meeting back up with her best friend in her dark hour.
"Finally... I came upon you." Stars glinted brightly in her glowing violet orbs now, calling out to their sapphire counterparts with glints and bursts of enjoyment. mind at ease, body weary, the adorable little lilac and white shea playfully, yet softly, bumped her nose against Caillen's, and then turned back to the room before her, completing her story with nothing more than "The end."
Smiling softly, the girl padded back into their room and hopped back up onto her bed again, walking circles in the nest of blankets she had half tossed off the bed in her mad rush to get out. Grasping a few with her teeth, the young puppy yanked and pulled and grumbled them back onto the bed again, before plopping down onto her stomach, watching the denim and white hybrid with those deep, lovely eyes.
"Mmm... would you tell me another story... pleaseeee?" She whimpered, chin upon one paw while the rest of her was sprawled out in her pile of blankets. "I have a question I am hoping they will eventually answer..." A bright, genuine smile spread across her sleepy form as she snuggled into the soft, feathery bed she almost completely took up.
Speak. Think. Walk.
Table © Titmouse, Freebie
ooc: 8]
To her compliment, the young slate hybrid beamed proudly, puffing out his downy white chest and fixing Sylvie with a heart-melting smile. He looked comically amusing once more, with those large ears, one erect and the other flopping over clownishly. The big grin didn't help. But his sweet blue eyes twinkled merrily down at her as the collie-girl surveyed him a moment in silence, meeting her glittering lavender gaze unhesitatingly.
If she had found what she was looking for in that quick assessment of her companion, Sylvie did not say. Instead, she turned and entered the crumbling old building, and Caillen followed obediently. Her following words surprised him, and that one upstanding ear pricked towards her eagerly as the young girl spoke. In all their time together, Sylvie had never attempted storytelling, and the boy felt an ominous, serious nature descend upon him, as if what she was telling him now was gravely important unlike the lilting tales of his own creation. The slate wolfdog listened silently, his paws padding softly behind hers as they ascended the stairs, as they slunk to the bedroom doorway. There she stopped and Caillen nearly bumped right into her in the darkness, his soft blue eyes still avid on her lilac form as the girl turned to look at him, the silence a heavy weight. Her story was paused, right at the crucial moment of delivery, where the nightmare was real and the ending tangible.
Her eyes were little portals, and for the briefest moment he could look right into them, right into the darkness that clung secretively to her mind, it's horrible face that of an unloving mother and an uncaring father.
But then she was just Sylvie again, with a soft little smile, and that twinkle of happiness as she delivered the punchline. The little girl deftly stepped forwards to bump her soft brown nose against his shiny ebony one, before turning back to trot into the room. For a good long moment Caillen stood on the other side of the threshold, his eyes wide, his soul strumming tight with that feeling of impending doom that his mother often suffered from. But it confused him; He didn't understand the way and icy fist had clenched about his heart, the way his sixth sense tingled as if someone had strolled over his grave.
When awareness came, he shook briskly, and let the cold foreboding slid back into subconscious memory. By now, Sylvie had curled up onto her little nest of bedsheets. The young wolfdog boy turned to his own low cot and bounced up onto it with an awkward, wolfish grace that he'd yet to grow into. Their two little beds were parallel to each other in the smallest room of the hotel, so when Caillen flopped down into his own scratchy-warm blankets, he looked straight across at the collie girl, separated only by enough room for another bed between them. He sleepy question made the now wide-awake boy smile, and that smile helped to sooth away the final prickles of unease.
" Alright, b-but you have to be real quiet. If mama knew we were a-a-aw-awa... Not asleep, she'd be mighty cross."
He let silence descend over them, the dramatic nature of the storyteller filling his head with images. If Caillen had been able to write, somebody would have told him he had what was commonly known as Dyslexia, but because he couldn't, it just seemed that the boy had a particular talent for envisioning things.
" Once upon a time, there was a little girl," His voice was low and mellifluous, a soft lullaby of sounds, " Who came in a strange boat from far, far across the seas. She was found by a native lady, who raised the girl like her own blood..."
The boy's tale flowed out into the silence, and images leaped to life like flames kindled by warm breath.
"... One day, the girl was in a field, where a terrible monster was fabled to live," Though familiar, his story came smoothly, the child's bright-blue eyes glowing with trance-like luminosity as he continued, " And as the monster bared down upon her, the girl, who was very brave and very smart, did not run. She turned to the beast, and shouted, 'I am not afraid of you, you disgusting monster!'" His voice rose, but remained subtly low, so as not to wake the young mother sleeping in the opposite room, " The battle raged on, but the girl was quick and clever, and she remembered her days on the strange little boat and she remembered the love of her bond-mother... and grabbing at his clawed face, the beast was so shocked that it knew fear, and turned from the girl to run back into the darkness... and the mother said, 'You are a hero! you will be princess of our people, for ridding us of that monster!'... and the girl lived happily ever after."
There was a thick moment of silence as the light dwindled in Caillen's eyes, and he blinked absently, rubbing them with one ivory paw.
" The end. Are you s-s-still awake?"
Speak think walk
Table © James, courtesy of Hannah