something happening somewhere
#1
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For Helotes. The Great Village, ?? August. Will edit date for myself later.


Cassandra could not tell if Eira remembered her. The mare did not protest when she pat her nose, snorting appreciatively, but she had always been an even-tempered animal. The young colt sharing her stall regarded the albino hybrid with much more suspicion, at first hiding behind his mother, then coming boldly forward to try and catch her fingers between his teeth. She withdrew in plenty of time and spared the foal a soft chuckle. Eira seemed to shake her head in apology for her son's behaviour, and Cassandra moved on, holding back her smile.


She was glad that the roan mare was still alive, but it was another piece of quiet nostalgia she did not want to dwell on. Limping discreetly, she made her way to the horse corral where Soir was eating heartily from a stack of baled hay. The palomino had had the blood washed from her and Cassandra was pleased to see that the saddle sores were healing quickly. The pallid woman stopped near the animal's head and leaned lightly against the fence, but the mare paid her no mind, apparently very content to continue her meal.


The early evening sky was thick with clouds; they did not look to carry rain, but the albino wished they would. Another downpour would take away some of the summer heat, and she was already eager for autumn. Cassandra shifted to adjust a cloak that was not there and was reminded again of her injuries, her present stupidness, and general discomfort. Sighing quietly, she watched her horse eat and imagined herself riding away.

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#2
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Word Count → 468 OOC


The snake tongue that was Inferni’s rumor-mill was hissing again in his ear. This time it was of injured outsiders, demon white witches entangling Myrika in their clutches. Preposterous, silly things that Helotes knew better for. But there was always a seed of truth in even the most egregious gossip, and so the Lykoi male had made up an excuse to travel to the great Village; he would visit his grandmother, and, perhaps even Halo.

The dark male had prepared Yegua for riding, taking his time with doing so, even putting a riding blanket over her. She asked him in her own way why he was doing this, as he always had ridden bareback, and he had informed her that it was time for her to start learning to use the saddle. Instead of complaining like he might have expected, she silently agreed with him, and Potra in the stable beside her whinnied out a little giggle. Helotes gave her a look and she quieted; his horses were something else.

But there would be no saddle today, just the blanket, and Helotes had mounted her and ridden out just as the sun was beginning to set. The ride to the Great Village was pleasant, and one that he did not take nearly as often as he should. The last time had been weeks ago, when he had presented his children to Kaena; the great-grandmother many times over had approved on them, and even joked about how much tiny Basilio looked like her. Helotes was glad she had noticed that; he was proud of his son’s coat; it just screamed Lykoi.

Scents of fires and coyotes and horses wafted up to him as he came towards the village; it was a pleasant and homey smell that brought a soft smile to his face. There were several horses grazing in the larger sheep corral, the sheep obviously stabled somewhere; he recognized Eira and her foal, but there was a horse he didn’t recognize, and nearby, a white figure. Yegua let out a whinny of greeting to her brethren, and Helotes might have done the same just to see their reactions, but he was fixated on the white woman. He dismounted his horse when they were close, and she immediately when to the side of the corral to get as close to the others as possible. Eira and her foal came over and there were sniffing exchanged, and Helotes could hear them muttering softly to each other.

He walked over to the fence-line as well and draped his muscular arms over the top post, looking at the woman. She was injured, but beside that was quite becoming; an ivory goddess, and there was something familiar about her, Hola, senorita. He said softly, a semblance of a grin coming to his face.



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#3
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She listened to the hoofbeats for minutes, dreading their arrival. Myrika had taken Cahal when she'd departed earlier that afternoon, but they had gone in the opposite direction, and she did not have to turn to look at the vague silhouette on the darkening horizon to know that it was not her sister. In time, a large white mare bearing a dark coyote rider approached the corral. At this new arrival, Soir lifted her head and watched as Eira and her child greeted them; the palomino did not move though, and after a while, returned to her hay.


Cassandra, meanwhile, continued to stare forward a while even as the stranger started towards her. The pallid woman would have liked to avoid her sister's clanmates during her time there, but she would not ask for such priviledges. And so it was only inevitable. She glanced sideways at the male as he settled on the fence beside her, pale eyes narrow and wary, though she was careful to mask any overt signs of distaste and mistrust. Even before she noticed the star branded on his shoulder, she knew it was a Lykoi. He reminded her of the old woman, and of Myrika, too, though more distantly.


Though she assumed it was a greeting of sorts, his words meant nothing to her. "Que voulez-vous?" she responded automatically, the barest hint of irritation leaking through her smooth, slurred words. She disliked being reminded of the many things she did not understand; it was only natural that she respond in words she could only hoped baffled him in turn. Though she was acutely aware, too, that her French remained accented and disjointed at times, clear signs that she had not been born speaking the words. She would kill him if he knew them better than she.

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#4
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Word Count → 263 OOC


Everything about the woman screamed poison as soon as she looked at him, but a sugared poison hidden beneath a lovely visage; she spoke in French to his Spanish, and though he was not as versed in the European language as he wished, he did now some of it, and he knew exactly what she had said. But no matter how slightly acidic her words had been , Helotes smiled all the more, Ah, bonjour mona mi! Qu'est-ce ... faites-vous la nuit? Ok now he was lost, he really needed to brush up on his French, especially if he was going to try and become linguist for the clan. Helotes chuckled slightly and waved a hand in an apologetic fashion, Sorry, do you speak English? My name is Helotes Lykoi. He smiled in a gentleman like fashion, trying to break the tension in the air.

Yegua muttered something that caught his attention but he only turned an ear to her; she was apparently slightly offended that the other horse had not come over to greet her; like own like horse it appeared; maybe Helotes would have to sweet talk the strangers mare instead of the stranger.

Looking back to the white and irritated beauty, Helotes asked, You have not been here long. Come to heal up I see? Many seem to find Inferni a good place to do so. He was making a specific reference to the circumstances in which Vesper had first arrived, but many others too had sought refuge in Inferni’s borders. It was difficult to turn an injured individual away.



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#5
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His smile, which seemed to widen unnaturally when he spoke to display some prowess in her second language, reminded her rather suddenly of Jerome. His words, too, choppier than her own, but comprehensible all the same, made her think of the grey-gold wolf, who had not had a talent for the language, even though he had grown up around immersed in it. She pulled her ears back a moment, but dismissed the memories hurriedly and frowned.


"Si je dis que je n'aime pas, pourriez-vous partir?" Under different circumstances, even knowing it was an Infernian and a Lykoi, she would have probably been far more polite. It was already uncharacteristic of her to speak in such a direct manner, but the more she said, the less she cared. "Cassandra Asylum." She gave her name like a throwaway phrase, knowing that it meant little. Her father played no important role in Inferni history, and her sister had their mother's name.


"I will not stay long," the pallid woman said, sparing the male another sideways glance, but still not turning to him. "It is only until my shoulder heals." She imagined her ankle would recover at a similar pace, but if she could ride, it mattered less, and if she could leave sooner, then she would.

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#6
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Word Count → 265 Sorry bout the wait here Kiri >.<


Helotes made an effort to ignore the sarcastic and unfriendly remark the woman had spoken, and instead focused on the positive; here the two of them were, two beautiful canines in their prime, surrounded by horses; yes… that was a positive. She gave him her name, though begrudgingly; what an interesting surname she possessed; Asylum; it sounded familiar, but he could not place why he felt that way. She said that she was not staying long, only until her shoulder was right and he nodded knowingly; he wondered if she had spoken with Kaena; most likely since the old-fart resided here.

Turning to look away, as if something else was interesting him more, his smile remaining, Pity you could not stay longer, I’m sure you would be welcomed here. My children would find you enchanting; they have only ever seen one other white canine. He was referring to Max, but Cassandra’s pale complexion was of a different nature than Max’s, he was sure Azucena and Basilio would be able to do nothing more than stare at her.

Trying to make small talk was difficult, especially when he could tell the woman did not want him around; but he was a determined male, not easily driven off; he turned to look at her horse, Your steed seems to have the same pleasant disposition as you do. My mare finds it quite distasteful. He grinned anew then, finding the situation between the horses hilariously entertaining; how interesting it was that the equine beasts could have just the same twists and turns in relationships that the coyotes did.



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#7
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If pretending had not been her way of life for as long as it had, she would have curled her lip at the suggestion that some might find her enchanting. For what it was worth, Cassandra did not really dislike the way she looked; she could see in herself many faults, but her appearance and condition was something she had been born with, and so it was one of the few things she could not fault herself for. But she hated when others called attention to it. Even disguised as flatter, it was almost certainly negative attention, and children had as much capacity for cruelty as adults.


But she maintained her disinterested frown and kept her teeth hidden behind her pink lips. "I imagine if I wasn't welcome to stay, I wouldn't be allowed to be here at all, even temporarily," she said, ignoring the remark about her coat completely. "But pack life is not for me." Among other things, other reasons.


Pale red eyes shifted slightly to refocus on the palomino, who was still chewing away at her hay. The mare had given the new company a few sideways glances, but remained otherwise preoccupied with her food. "I have not had her long," Cassandra said, shrugging. "She does seem more at ease around other horses, but being around them is enough. Not very curious, but she's old. I imagine she's just tired most of the time."


The albino woman had had a few encounters with those that boasted the ability to speak the language of the horses, but while she found the idea entertaining, she had little interest in verifying it or learning herself. Perhaps it was arrogance to some extent, but with Lady, at least, she knew they had understood each other perfectly well without a verbal connection, and sometimes she missed the dappled grey mare more than anything else.

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#8
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Word Count → 262 I apologize for my crappy response time, at least this isn't an important thread XD


Helotes listened as the cold woman spoke; she was so logical, so unemotional, so much the opposite of he that he suddenly became extremely aware of it. But it was not uncomfortable, just different; in a way she almost reminded him of his father, minus the crazy. She made it clear that pack life was not for her and he nodded in understanding; he knew that the clan was a special place full of unique coyotes, usually they did not band together like this, in one place, for so long; he could understand her hesitation.

As for the mare, Cassandra admitted she had not had the mare for very long, but that she was just old and quiet. He shot Yegua a look, but she chose to ignore him, though he could sense the embarrassment rolling off her. He shook his head, I apologize for my mare, sometimes she can been as blunt and ill advised as her master. This did cause Yegua to look up for a moment and mutter before returning to the grass.

Helotes lifted himself over the fence, May I commune with the old woman? He asked politely, though his grin never left his face. He might be able to get more information out of the horse about the woman then from the woman herself; how interesting.

As he walked slowly towards the old mare, he asked, So, I assume you’ve met Kaena, my grandmother? That’s actually why I came here, to visit her, but you’ve so thoroughly distracted me. He could not help but chuckle at himself.



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#9
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"If your mare offends, then it is to mine that the apology should be given," she said with an almost-smile. Whatever words or vague meanings that might have been communicated between the dark coyote and his horse were beyond her. Cassandra could guess at what their general body language and occasional head toss might mean, but it was a speculative thing that she did not care enough to confirm one way or another. She supposed Helote would have been more than happy to offer translations -- and he still might, without her prompting -- but she would not ask.


She nodded and shrugged with her good shoulder in the same turn. Distantly, she realized that if the coyote could speak to horses, then the palomino could have much to reveal about theft and blood and murder. The pallid woman watched the mare, who, while still eating, had both her ears perked forward; surely she knew they were talking about her. Even without understanding their canine words, the other horses would have suggested as much, probably.


"I saw Kaena, briefly," Cassandra said, pale red eyes still watching Soir. "It was not a proper meeting." She did not know whether Myrika had sent the old woman away for the duration of her visit, or whether Kaena had chosen to avoid them on her own, but she had not seen the aged matriarch since the day she'd arrived. Truthfully, she did not know whether she wanted to see her grandmother again. She had been perfectly content with Kaena Lykoi remaining just a name in a story. "She hasn't been around lately that I've seen.


"How many grandchildren does she have, do you know?"

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#10
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Word Count → 288 OOC


A large dish like ear remain turned to the albino female as he neared the horse, listening to what she was saying. Once he was beside the hold creature, he put a hand on her neck and looked into her brown eyes with his own umber ones. She was tired, but content, he could tell and he muttered a polite equine greeting to her, of which she responded by just turning an ear at him and pausing for a moment in her chewing; it was most likely this horse had not come across a canine who could stumble around in her language, even he had only met one other.

Helotes did not want to flood the horse with information, so instead he crouched low to the ground to be in line with the mare’s face and turned instead to Cassandra to answer her question about Kaena, Beats me. At this point I have to assume that everyone with the last name Lykoi or de le Poer that I meet is my cousin somehow. He smirked then; the fact that he was related to so many of the canines in Inferni was both comforting and infuriating; it sure made finding a bunk buddy that more difficult. But, if I had to make an estimated guess, I’d have to say she has about a hundred grandchildren. He laughed heartily then, scaring the old girl just a bit, and he muttered an apology to her.

Looking up again at Cassandra, he raised an eyebrow and smirked with a jester like quality, You’re probably related to her as well you know, it seems our bloodline cannot be escaped. Even a lot of the wolves in the area are tied to Kaena somehow.


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