Scream through dreams that cut your voice off
#1
[html]<style type="text/css">.hybrid-table02 {border: 1px solid #000; background-image: url(http://i42.tinypic.com/2dif428.png); background-position: center top; background-repeat: no-repeat; width: 500px; background-color: #000;margin:0 auto}
.hybrid-table02 .wrap {padding: 235px 8px 8px; color: #fff; font-family: arial; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.3em; text-align: justify;}
.hybrid-table02 b {color:#DFFAFF}
</style>

Hybrid Holocaust was a bored, bored man. He spent his days wandering around the clanlands, ever vigilant for the wolves that rarely came. He had long since accepted that Inferni was now a motley crew of hybrids and barely-coyores, most dumb, some downright stupid. He didn’t much care for what Inferni had become, but as long as Gabriel was still the leader, he had no reason to leave. He had never liked the clan all that much for most of his life, and he and Gabriel had always been very clear about where his loyalties lay. They had a mutually beneficial relationship that kept Hybrid within the confines of the territory away from the many wolves he would have loved to torment.


But now without any wars or border skirmishes to satisfy his desire for blood, Hybrid was growing increasingly agitated. As a warrior, he had one purpose in life, and for Hybrid, it was very clear: fight. He did not know what to do with his time now that he had no one to fight; not even within the clan. He sparred with Halo, but there was an agreement that they would not hurt one another and he understood that harming a fellow warrior was not in Gabriel’s best interest – and therefore not in Hybrid’s best interest, either.


He sighed and scratched his ear with his hind leg as he stared out at the melting snow and engorged river. There was bit of grass showing beneath the snow, but otherwise, The Waste was a barren, barely-living land.

[/html]
#2
[html]

After returning with his father from the land in the south, Ezekiel had spent most of his time avoiding his sister. He did not wish to see her yet, and usually fled north with the horse. Viggo was responding well to his non-verbal commands, and Ezekiel had forgone the halter that Alaine had kept on the stallion. There was more than enough chestnut mane to hold onto, and his legs worked well enough. The pair traveled further and further in their patrols, exploring the northwest boundaries and beyond.

Today he had forgone this practice in order to train in other ways. Now that he had been reestablished into the Hydra, he sought to improve skills left too long dormant. He had asked his father about the others as they had returned to the Waste, and though the second name was unfamiliar, the first he knew. Tracking his uncle had not been hard—the man’s scent was very unique and followed a repetitious pattern in its patrols. Four-legged, in his lupus form, the coyote soon found his intended target.

Downwind, he took a moment to study the red-pelted man. Hybrid’s form would give him the advantage in this matter, and so he shifted to meet it. Ezekiel’s secui form stood tall and well-muscled, but he recognized the inherit flaw in this plan; he was unused to combat in such a form. Regardless, his mind was made up. Without warning, the Hydra bore down on his uncle. He sought to surprise him and bowl him over in one charge.

<style>
#zeke-text {font-family:georgia; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing:0px; word-spacing:2px; text-align: left; margin:0px 25px 0px;
background-image:url(); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:bottom center; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px; }
#zeke-text .ooc {font-style:italic; font-family:arial; font-size:11px;}
#zeke-text .divider {border-bottom:1px dotted #000000; margin:5px auto; width:50%;}
#zeke-text .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
#zeke-text p {text-indent: 25px; margin:0px; padding:0px 5px;}
#zeke-text b {letter-spacing:1px; font-family:georgia; font-size:12px; letter-spacing:-.05em;}
</style>
[/html]
#3
[html]

He didn't spot the figure of a coyote barrelling toward him until it was too late. One moment Hybrid had been sitting by himself enjoying the deathly boring landscape and scenery and the next he was suddenly thrown through the air by a golden blur. Hybrid didn't bother trying to avoid it given how late he responded, so he tried instead to accept the push, roll, and recover a safe distance away.


It wasn't so much that it was a huge push that a surprising one. Hybrid froze for a few seconds mid-air, but responded quickly enough so that he wouldn't (he hoped) sustain any lasting damage from the fall. He pulled himself into a small ball and rolled with the impact, flipping back over his feet a few times before he was able to slow his movements and stand up. When he did, he was rather dizzy, but tried not to show it. Even as he began to stand, he felt an angry roar rip through his chest and immediately bared his fangs once he pulled his head up.


"What the fuck was that?" he demanded in a rush. He didn't want to waste any breath asking questions when he could be chowing down on his opponent.


[/html]
#4
[html]

One shoulder struck with all of the inertia of the young coyote’s rush. He rebounded from the force, his feet dancing over still-cold earth to bring him back several inches. Ezekiel’s head lowered as his uncle rolled back onto his feet. The display of aggression from the older man brought a warped snarl-grin onto the scarred Hydra’s face. Did his uncle even remember him? If he didn’t, he certainly would after this.

“Shut up and fight,” Ezekiel demanded. He lowered his body and rushed forward again, ears flat against his skull, lips pulled away from his teeth in a grimace. Someone needed to understand his frustration, and he’d take it out on his uncle if that was what was needed. The Hydra feigned right and then snapped at the thick scruff of neck-fur that protected the jugular. There would be no need for death here, but Ezekiel wanted blood. He wanted to feel again.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#5
[html]

Hybrid, like any other coyote, did not take well to sudden attacks. As soon as he made his demand, the young coyote replied with a smart-ass comment and attacked again! Hybrid had been prepared for it, but he had not expected it to be so blunt. Well, his words at least. Or, fucking, something! All of the other coyotes in Inferni were such goddamned chatterboxes that he had half-expected this one to be like the others.


As soon as the coyote rounded around him, he began snapping at his neck. Once Hybrid saw him dart towards him, he lowered himself in turn and whirled his body around to meet the other canine. As the coyote moved to bite him, Hybrid tried to snake even lower and push forward with his entire body, snapping in the coyote's face and trying to bite down on his neck. Hybrid didn't bother with subtle tactics: he just moved closer and closer with a fierce speed and force. Although this coyote was a little larger than him in his Secui form, Hybrid was hoping that his younger age meant he was less experienced and wouldn't know how to handle an enemy that just charged right at him.

[/html]
#6
[html]

There had been a time when Ezekiel would not have so blindly rushed into battle. He had been taught better. Cwmfen would not have stood for such an unruly apprentice, but he did not live in her world. Ezekiel lived with coyotes, with warriors who had to behave in such a way because the world was cruel. Wolves killed coyotes. If he did not harness the savage within his blood he would never be able to face the cousin-species that he knew flowed in his own blood. It would always be a part of him; Ezekiel would always have the capability to become a monster.

His uncle’s movement came quickly, familiar only because of its brutality. Ezekiel snarled and jerked his face away from the snapping teeth, twisting his own body. It was meant to guide the bulky Secui away, but unused to his own body, this tactic did not work as well as he had hoped. Teeth hit the side of his face, grazing fur with saliva, only to snap again and grip onto the loose skin and thick fur around his neck. Furiously, the Hydra rolled his body to try and bring the red-pelted monster to the ground with him.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#7
[html]

Unrestrained anger ripped through Hybrid’s body as he fought off the attack. He didn’t know who the fuck this little snot thought he was – or who he was for that matter – but Hybrid didn’t fucking appreciate knowing some kid thought it was acceptable to suddenly attack fellow clanmates. Hybrid would like to have Gabriel throw this brat out for insolence, or at the least, humiliate him in some form.

With this anger fueling his thirst for blood and the adrenaline coursing through his body, Hybrid felt no need to hold back or back down. As Hybrid moved forward, he felt the other coyote’s breath hot against his cheeks as he snapped at him and replied by snapping back. The other coyote twisted and turned, but Hybrid still managed to scrape the other male’s maw with his teeth and then latch on to the skin on his neck. In turn, Hybrid felt the other coyote sink his teeth in to his cheek, drawing blood. Hybrid screeched, but refused to let go even when the bite went deeper. With this tenuous hold, Hybrid surged forward as the other coyote moved forward, too. Hybrid tried to duck lower to avoid collision, but anticipated they would just end up smacking right into each other. With that in mind, he tried to snap and grab more flesh, but found himself being pushed back. He reared up on his back legs and tried to use his forelegs to attack the other coyote as he felt himself loose his balance as he was pushed back and forced down. Hybrid twisted and squirmed in an attempt to keep his footing, but still wobbled uncertainly.



[/html]
#8
[html]

Each blow fell and was met and Ezekiel lost himself in the dance. His body moved instinctively, but he thought about each move and recognized the flaws within them. Front paws collided with Ezekiel’s bony head, a blow that staggered him and sent him tumbling as their fall landed. He hit the ground and realized he had been had, and frustrated, scrambled up and away. With the distance separating them, the scarred hybrid bared his teeth in an almost mocking manner.

“Haven’t lost your touch, uncle,” Ezekiel called out, body losing its aggressive posture as he slid onto his haunches. The Secui form did not suit him, and more readily echoed the reflection of his father within its build. His eyes were bright, filled with the pent-up violence that he had not been able to display. Even from that short scuffle, he realized that Hybrid was not the type of man he needed to meet in battle. He didn’t understand.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#9
[html]

Somehow, despite Hybrid's unsteady height on only has back legs, he managed to send the other coyote tumbling. His hit connected with enough force to send the other male tumbling and flying through the air for a few seconds before he hit the ground with a loud thunk. Hybrid quickly fell to all four legs and pulled his neck in, ready for whatever other kinds of bullshit this little snot thought he would bring up. He didn't know who the hell this kid thought he was just attacking all out of nowhere and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't trust this kid at all. He was a snake.


When the coyote spoke, Hybrid immediately realized why he didn't like him. His insolence was astounding, but that wasn't the worst of it: he was Faolin's son. Hybrid snarled in reply and took a second to actually respond.


"Ezekiel," he snarled. "Well you've grown up into a right little shit, haven't you?" He didn't like being randomly attacked by clanmates; it just didn't sit well with him. "You always greet your fellow clanmates that way or are you just deft?" He still couldn't believe it and he still couldn't understand it, so he conveyed his anger in the only other way he knew how: words. If he couldn't hurt this little kid with his teeth and claws, then he'd have to try another way.

[/html]
#10
[html]

If he had been trying to kill his uncle, Ezekiel believed he could have. Hybrid was experienced, but no experience could counter an arrow to the skull. This bulky and unfamiliar form had stumped him and this frustrated the coyote—but not as much as the fact that Hybrid had failed to recognize the reasoning behind it. A frown crossed Ezekiel’s face, turning his eyes dark. There was a faint response to the snarl in the form of raised hackles and the corner of one tooth; uncle or not, Ezekiel would not back down from a fight.

Yet rather than bristle and snap and snarl, the golden-bronze boy laughed. “I have before,” he answered, thinking of the wolfish boy who hadn’t understood him either. “Besides, I wasn’t trying to hurt you,” he went on, chiding the older male. “You’re the best of the Secui fighters, and I don’t use this form. If I fight you, I’ll learn. It’s simple.” Another condescending jab, suggesting that perhaps his uncle was the deft one in the pair.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#11
[html]

When Ezekiel delivered his response, Hybrid understood: he was in fact just stupid. He decided to iterate this point.

"So you are just deft then," he replied crossly. "Don't you think of anyone that I'd be able to fucking understand that the best?" he demanded fiercely. He understood even in his nephew's words that he somehow was looking down on him for being surprised and annoyed. Of course he was! Hybrid did not enjoy being unceremoniously attacked, without provocation, by fellow coyotes whether or not they were fucking related. That wasn't even the point. That didn't matter. But there was more to it than that. Ezekiel wanted to learn and of course Hybrid would encourage that, but this wasn't the way of going about it and this was not the way to try an exert one's dominance.


"Don't you fucking think for a second I wouldn't understand. I do. But you should always fight to kill, always know how to. Even if we're fucking sparring, always think how to kill otherwise you're useless. But don't just fucking show up out of fucking nowhere and attack someone. I didn't even fucking know who you were — or that you were here. Fuck." He paused and then grinned wildly. "I could have killed you. I've done worse for less." He hadn't known it was Ezekiel. The boy was lucky that he had eventually figured it out. But if they hadn't had that pause, Hybrid was certain he would have continued driving the boy forward until one was dead. He wondered if the boy understood that yet or if he was just still young and stupid.


[/html]
#12
[html]

Frustrated, Ezekiel furrowed his brow and his ears turned back. There was ugly aggression within his body, turned on as suddenly as any hair-trigger. He was not entirely capable of controlling himself, and this showed presently. No, his uncle didn’t understand, not even after his ranting about going for the kill. Yet the lesson was there and the younger male knew it was true. If he was to fight, he would need to fight to kill. This was the lesson he had learnt from the wolverine, though it had been so long forgotten in the time that he had spent traveling home and living without worries.

“Sorry,” he muttered, aggravation apparent in his body. It had been stupid to attack the warrior, but he had expected him to recognize the challenge and enjoy the fight. When he had not, it had only proven that there were so few who might understand. Suddenly and sharply, the ache for Cwmfen was unbearable.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#13
[html]

Hybrid didn't like the look this boy was giving him. All he got in response was a sorry and that didn't quite cut it for him. He didn't what what the hell was wrong with this kid, wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but knew enough that it bugged him. He had a creeping, tingling sensation on edges of his skin that made his fur stand on edge. His hackles were still raised even though he'd pushed himself apart from the boy minutes ago. He didn't trust him and so he didn't relax his stance.

There was something wrong with him.


"What?" he demanded harshly. He took a single step closer to the boy. His single word revealed a single tooth in a cross between a sneer and some other confused expression. "What the fuck is it?" he sneered this time. He didn't know if the snot was sorry or not. He just didn't like him. Before, it had been because he'd just attacked him. Of course that would fucking piss him right off. But now, just a single word had cemented this dislike. What the fuck was he expecting?

[/html]
#14
[html]

Something was wrong with Ezekiel, but he lacked the ability to communicate it with his uncle. His body had not responded as the boy had hoped. Anger boiled through his heart, turning his face dark. When it jerked up to glare at the older man, he resembled his wicked father far more than he would have liked. “You don’t get it,” Ezekiel growled lowly, his dark-tipped hackles rising in a subconscious response to the threat his body read. Yet the boy did not move beyond this, for even if an attack would come, he would welcome it. Anything to break the monotony.

“I needed to fight someone,” he tried to explain. “I haven’t been in any combat since I came here. Closest I got was Talitha throwing books at me,” the coyote added sourly, his ears fanning back. His sister’s reaction still baffled him, which was why he hadn’t sought her out. A plastic smile found its way onto his face, one that lacked humor but showed he found something funny about the situation. “Is your side of our family crazy too, or is that just my dad’s?”

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#15
504
[html]

Hybrid's first — and most natural reaction — was to recoil and snarl. It was easy for others to get a rise out of him, though, he never would have acknowledge it if he had realized it. He understood that anger guided his every movement and had embraced it. He knew what made him fight and he understood why it worked for him. He had so long since acknowledged this as an integral part of who he was that he forgot about it sometimes, such as this. He felt annoyed, but perhaps not as annoyed as his body language would show. He didn't know what to think or say in response; he had never been good at witty comebacks. He did know that he did not like the boy's tone or what he thought of Hybrid. Hybrid did not like being looked down upon despite his age, loyalty, or rank. It never seemed to fucking mean anything to anyone. Hybrid knew who he was and what he needed to do, but no one else had his sureness.


Until now. Hybrid watched and listened as the boy spoke and elaborated. He tasted bile in his mouth. He didn't know if this boy was being straight with him or if he was just another idiot shit. Hybrid wanted to find out, but he'd been betrayed enough to know that the only ones he could really trust were himself and Gabriel. Possibly Kaena. But he still didn't like it. Of course Hybrid had reacted the way he did: he had needed to decide if he was fighting to kill when he didn't fucking know who was attacking him. He'd made a split decision. He hadn't seen the boy in years. What the fuck did he expect?


Ezekiel questioned his family's sanity. Hybrid laughed. He didn't fucking know. He knew he had tried to murder Faolin after she had murdered Venomous. He knew he had made it abundantly clear to Faolin when she had her puppies that if they came anywhere near him, he would be less-than-pleasant, in the days before he had known Gabriel. He knew his family was a group of liars and degenerates and he knew Ezekiel would one day be just as bad as the rest of them.


"I hadn't seen you in years. I fucking thought you were — I don't fucking know," he snarled. "I wanted to kill you, but I didn't fucking do it. Something holding me back, boy," he added. He forcefully punctuated his last word his last word as he took a step forward. "Don't worry, kitten. I'm not mad, but my family certainly is." He sneered. Maybe that would bring some consolation. "If you want to fucking fight me again, fucking tell me next time. If you're not a little shit, maybe I will. Don't just expect anything or fucking think you can ambush me after being absent from Inferni for years and expect something in return." He sneered again. He didn't know what the fuck he was trying to say.

[/html]
#16
[html]

It was not out of disrespect that Ezekiel spoke so, but merely frustration. His uncle was skilled, of this he had no doubt, but he lacked the depth that the boy had come to expect. Fighting him was like fighting the wolverine—it was ferocious and hostile but lacked meaning in its combat. He doubted that he would ever find someone capable of understanding what it was he sought, for so many of the old beliefs he had been taught vanished in the wilderness. Even here, the world was full of pretenders.

Silently, Ezekiel watched as his uncle spat and snarled. The boy’s eyes remained raptor-like, his ears high as he listened and tried to make sense of the babble. It occurred to him that the Hydra was not all right, despite his argument of sanity, and this brought a peculiar smile to his face. How appropriate, to find that the only living connection to the Massacre bloodline was a crazed coyote. “Fair enough,” he offered, pulling his head back. “You want me to go now?”

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#17
[html]

Hybrid snarled when Ezekiel agreed with him. Or, at least, seemed to pretend so. Hybrid didn’t fucking like it, but he didn’t like what he was feeling right now, either. There was something wrong and he suspected it was with him. He did not like knowing he was the problem, but now that he had acknowledged it, he figured he would soon accept it. It was wrong to deny basic truths about oneself, especially if these truths would hold one back and prohibit their development. Hybrid didn’t want to stagnate and die. He wanted to live forever and bring death to his enemies. He couldn’t do that if he decayed and failed to understand who he was.

He had always understood who he was and his place in the world. His life was certain and his ways were just.

He didn’t like how Ezekiel made him question that. He didn’t like how Ezekiel questioned him.

“No,” Hybrid replied quickly. He frowned. What the fuck did he want? “I didn’t kill you,” he stated. He shook his head and then tried to explain: “when I choose to kill something or someone, I do. But something stopped me. There must be something wrong with me.” He didn’t know what it could be or why he was telling this little snot this information. He didn’t like him, but if we was going to figure out why he had not tried to murder the boy for attacking him, he would be forever confused about himself and that could not happen.


[/html]
#18
[html]

False pretense had gotten Ezekiel through several situations without harm. He was clever, in this way, but he was also cruel. Stupidity irritated him. Egomania irritated him. So he played games with these types, pushing them along until the time came to crash their paper boat into the sea. Sometimes, though, it was easier to poke holes into paper than it was to rip the whole thing down. The smile faltered, only a little, as he tried to grasp what it was his uncle spoke of. It made little sense. This was why his first assumption, that the coyote was stupid, rose back up with each passing moment.

He had chosen not to kill, even when he had been attacked. Was that weakness? “You weren’t sure you wanted to kill me,” he tested, unwilling to admit he had read the confusion in Hybrid’s attack. “So you doubt yourself. I don’t always fight to kill,” Ezekiel went on quickly, as if unwilling to guess more on what the fight had told him. “Sometimes I just fight to fight.”

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]
#19
319.
[html]

Hybrid did not like this guesswork. He did not know if Ezekiel was trying to assist him or if he had some other thought entirely. There were too many possibilities for Hybrid and he didn’t like it. His life was certain and just and that was how it had been for a long time. He had grown habitual, believing these things, and now this child had disrupted it. It did not sit well with him.

Hybrid narrowed his eyes as the boy spoke, wondering what the other coyote could be thinking. Hybrid did not know if he was one to say one thing and then think another. He just didn’t know him at all. He didn’t like this, either: the boy had come and gone so many times and now he was here disrupting things. It set Hybrid on edge.


But in the end, Ezekiel was right in some way: Hybrid had indeed been uncertain whether he wanted to kill the boy. He had hesitated, wondering why a coyote had attacked him on Inferni land. His natural biases prevented him from truly fighting. He fought to kill. He occasionally fought to improve. But he had to make a very conscious distinction between the two lest he bring death to a clanmate.


He recognized what Ezekiel was saying, but didn’t know how to reply. Sure, he fought for the sake of fighting, but he suspected they had different meanings of the word – or they just understood things differently.


This boy was not his father.


Hybrid was silent. He regarded the boy with a calculating eye, but said nothing. He knew he never had to say anything to Gabriel, but this boy was different. But he still did not know what to say.

In this loss of words, he chose to remain silent. He supposed Ezekiel could choose his own course. Hybrid just didn’t know what the child expected of him.



[/html]
#20
[html]

In many ways, Hybrid was right.

Ezekiel was not Gabriel, and Ezekiel was not the person he appeared to be. His charming, counterfeit smile did not meet his hawkish eyes. His body reflected a man who had spent years fighting, and not simply fighting to kill, or for a war, or even for a reason. The thrill of battle was enough. Tasting blood on his tongue, feeling a fist or a claw strike his body, this was why he fought. Very few spoke that secret tongue, and further yet understood its true meaning.

So his uncle’s silence did not perturb the scarred coyote, who studied him with those predator’s eyes and bird’s patience. He was not like his father because his father had known war as it applied to others. His father had fought with a purpose, with a plan. His father had drawn a very clear moral line for himself.

Ezekiel hid his true nature behind smiling masks, for he found this to be almost infallible. Yet Hybrid recognize this untruth and did not wish to befriend him. The boy did not blame his uncle. He was nothing like Gabriel, nothing like this red-eyed madman. He smiled, though it did not meet his eyes, and rose to his feet in one graceful motion. “I’ll be sure to warn you next time,” he said smoothly, turning the lumbering body of his Secui form to head back the way he had come.

<style type="text/css">
.zekelion b {font-weight:bold; color:#000000; letter-spacing:1px; }
.zekelion .ooc { font-style:italic; padding:0px; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:11px;}
.zekelion .wc {text-transform: uppercase; font-weight:bold;}
.zekelion p {text-indent:25px; padding:5px 10px; margin:0px;}
.zekelion {margin:0px auto; width:420px; background-color:none; background-image:url(http://bloodandfire.sleepyglow.net/publ ... kelion.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:none; padding: 0px 0px 150px 0px; font-family: georgia, sans-serif; font-size:12px; color:#111111; line-height:16px; letter-spacing:.5px; text-align:justify;}
</style>[/html]


Forum Jump: