[p] jaded anger
#1
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(867) this is dated whenever you need it dated, my love. :I <3 near the whisper beach / that one river area; tell me if you need anything changed! (and don't mind the long post, i just felt like getting into Alyssum's character. xD)

The clouds were heavily pressed against the sky, refusing to let an ounce of sunlight through. While the magpie was not in favor of leaving the courthouse, Alyssum was less precautious. "Aly be careful. Don't want more than wet feathers to happen," the bird had warned in his trilly voice, and while she listened with peace, she rolled her eyes once her back was turned. The clouds were nothing more than gray intimidators; she did not sense that the weather could get any worse. Yet, she hoped that she was not wrong. Worse come to worse, though, she could always return to the Fort if the sky were to start trembling.

Even the mare was not comfortable with the idea of leaving the stables, which was a first. Antebellum, the one who would complain in her tongue of how horrible it was being cooped up in the stall, stood firmly whenever Alyssum tried to lead her out. The woman did not try to reason with the horse as she had done with the bird, and allowed her to have her way for once, since she did not want to cause unnecessary stress for the proud creature. With game bag empty, waiting to be filled, and quiver filled with arrows, she set out from Kingsbury on her own.

She decided to head a bit more south than her usual eastward route, for a change of pace. The trees were more widely placed, and the small slopes more occurring. It felt strange to be in these neck of the woods, but other than being less familiar, she felt no different, nor did she have a reason to. She tred the floor softly, though she was lax as usual, until a strong scent waved to her. She crouched lower to the ground to get a better smell, and smiled as she rose and began to follow the rabbit trail. She drew out an arrow as the scent became stronger, and positioned the end so that it can be drawn quickly enough to shoot the fleet-footed game.

But, when she rounded a group of trees, she was quick to turn back on her heels and conceal herself behind a tree that was just rounded enough to hide her. With breath caught in her throat, she slowly crept around the trunk just enough to take a second look. What she had stumbled upon was something bigger than the rabbit she was tracking. In fact, the rabbit fell into the Fates' hands and the thing's paws. It was feline, long tail and narrowed eyes, but it was far larger than the ordinary house cat, and what it was, she did not know. This was a definate first for her.

Deciding quickly that the rabbit was lost game, already half of it gone, she slid back around to walk away quietly without disturbing the creature. But, as if luck was against her itself, she promptly stepped on something--a twig, decayed leaves, who knew--that caused the slightest of noises, and bought the cat's attention quickly. Hissing mixed with feral growls echoed from beyond the tree, and the woman herself hissed a curse at the gods. Alyssum calmly stepped away from the little safety the tree gave her, and faced the thing with bow and arrow drawn.

The cat's yellow gaze was far more than angered, as if was personally scorned by the canine before it. It advanced slowly, clearly unafraid and unimpress at what she pointed at it. But, the coywolf showed no emotion as well, though burrowed in her chest was a pounding heart. The cat did not stop, and with lips curled over teeth, knew they was no reasoning, only instinct. And her supposed instinct, or perhaps foolish pride, told her to rise to the challenge.

An arrow was loosed, and soon planted itself into the creature's foreleg. With a terrible yowl of pain, it screeched wordlessly at the woman and pounce forward unexpectantly, both paws lashing out to grip her. Alyssum backed out, but not quick enough. She howled as one set of claws made its mark upon her right arm. She dropped the bow on the impact, and it was all she could do to get away before the other paw took a swipe at her.

Once she stumbled away, she drew out the dagger she kept at her side, but awkwardly so--her right hand, the favored one, hung limp at her side as the equipped left tried to quell the blood flow. Already tan fingers were stained red, and the beast slowly approached her again, though this time with a limp. She backed away every step it took, but she knew she'd never outrun it. Bleeding, nearly weaponless, all she could think to do was to avoid his claws until what? Until she bled to death? Macbeth was not here to save her, to go get help. She was too far from the Fort to yell, and she feared to howl, as well not wanting to get someone killed because of her. Her breath quickened and eyes became wider, yet she snarled right back at the growling cat, like an animal trapped and refusing to go down without a fight.

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#2
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OOC: / +500


The sky was grey, an unusual change to the summer weather. They had received some rain recently but mostly the showers came and went, the sun peaking through fairly quickly. The grey overcast seemed to make most of Casa’s members feel lazy, with most hanging around the Fort. Jazper himself had taken to sharpening his sword under a tree close to the gates. The stables were fairly close and it didn’t go unnoticed to him when Alyssum came into view, retiriving her horse. His ears perked as he watched her, golden eyes steady and a smile on his face. She was a smaller girl but she had fight in her that even the sun king would not want to piss her off, he knew much better than that.

His concern started to grow when he heard the noises of the protesting horse and her brown hued figure left horseless. The horses normally spent their time roaming the Fort freely but even Vito ended up in the stable on grey days like today, unwilling to leave out of fear for his good looks. Curiosity over came the Knight and he resided to follow the de Fonte girl. Shifting down to his Halfling form he started off. Tracking her at a lazy pace he followed down wind. He didn’t dare get too close, and she would want her privacy but he needed something to do.

The scent of a gopher caught his attention, distracting him from his mission. With a grin he trotted over to where a fresh small hole in the ground indicated where a gopher had poked up moments before. Not really trying to catch it, but more so amuse himself, his large paws moved to dig at the ground. A sound in the distance caused his ears to twitch but his attention remained on digging until a terrible yowl, belonging to a wild cat of sorts, and a more familiar howl of pain immediately turned his head. Without another thought he pushed his feet to carry him as quickly as he could towards the scent of Alyssum.

As he drew nearer he could smell blood, the scent pushing him harder until at last he landed between the injured beast and female, his own mighty snarl completing his comrade’s. His large body crouched low to the ground, ready to spring on the cougar as soon as it dared attack. Unlike Aly, Jazper already had experience dealing with the wild cats. Golden eyes quickly noticed the creatures limp as it hissed back at him unwilling to back down. If it came down to it the cat would still be faster than the warrior, but with it’s injury he was confidant he would be able to kill it.

The cat took the opportunity, as his eyes were momentarily distracted by it’s wound, to pounce on the large canine. It’s sharp claws digging into his back. Another fierce snarl escaped him as he pushed the beast into a near by tree and scrambled to get the upper hand. His teeth found skin and began to pull desperately as it’s claws raked his back drawing blood as it tried to hold on.






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#3
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(523)

She began to wonder many things as the cat advanced. Mostly, they were about death, or whatever came after it. What would her friends and the pack think when she found her body, and that was considering if it was still in one piece. What would Macbeth and Antebellum do without her. She could not imagine life without them, and she knew they must have felt the same. Right? Would she be remembered after death, like Adelle's grandfather? Or would she be forgotten like some lost memory? All sorts of thoughts of her demise rushed through her head, and rubbed her face with a bloodied hand. She did not want to die like this. She wanted a honorable end, but the cat knew no such idea.

A huge, black-coated figure leaped out in front of her, and thought for a moment it was Death itself coming to lead her to whatever was left for her. But, when she looked closer, drops of pure sunlight, one centered in a golden splash, could be seen on the dark pelt. Though she opened her mouth, she could not call out Jazper's name, her voice lost somewhere in her throat. His large frame that was his hafling both amazed and frightened her; even on two legs, the male's size was nearly to her chest, and while highly impressed, it was intimidating. If the cat feared him, it did a pretty good job of hiding it as it hissed and growled right back at the wolf with a maw-full of teeth flashing back at it.

It seemed that Knight was distracted for a moment, and while she tried to yell something to warn him, the beast was too fast for her tongue as it leapt at the Sole. A yowling and snarling ball of enegry, Jazper managed to get themselves against a tree, but he was still getting ranked with the thing's terrible claws. She had been following the two closely, though just far away not to get hit by a flailing paw, but now with the man trapped, she did not wait to decide if he truly needed help or not. She came from behind them and roughly grabbed the cat around its stomach, and heaved.

While Alyssum was not as strong as a man, she was pretty tough for a woman. She managed to tear the cat off of his back, and hoped she did not do much damage by doing so. But, she could not focus long on if Jazper was okay. The cat began to flail violently in her hold, and when it threw back its head, landed a good blow on her face, she released it and quickly backed away, shaking her head and rubbing the spot where it attacked her.

The creature was soon on its paws again, and fierce yellow eyes on the woman. She stared right back, hands ready to tackle it again, even if her body protested; she was getting tired, and her arm was soaked with red. Though she did not dare look directly at the man, scared to see what the cat had done to his back.

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#4
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OOC: / +300



The long cat had the advantage of agility and speed over his burly strength. Pushing desperately against the tree, slamming his body against it in hopes shaking the feline from his back. His sharp canine teeth dun harder into the cat, tugging at it and causing it’s long talons to dig in deeper, drawing blood. He needed the cat off his back now or the wounds would take a very long time to heal. A final struggle and an extra set of jaws join his, their combined strength bringing the cat tumbling forward much to the midnight warrior’s relief.

Closing his golden eyes Jazper attempted to regain his balance and focus, the fast paced strikes mixed with the blood soaking into his fur making him slightly dizzy. His upper lip was permanently drawn back in an intimidating snarl, his teeth agape and ready to bite as his eyes began to focus once more. As the world around him became clearer he could see that Alyssum’s wound was bleeding out substantially and the cougar had turned on her, yowls edging on the fae.

Taking hold of the opportunity he used up a final bout of energy, launching himself with his back feet to push his body on top of the feline. Crashing to the ground his jaws began to tear, digging into hits neck and pinning the beast down with pure mass. In one final motion Jazper twisted its neck sharply, cracking the bone. As the cat fell limp in his jaws the Knight dropped its head to the ground. Golden eyes rose from the ground, his large body panting and the ferocity still clear in his eyes, his blood running hot from the battle, but as his eyes met Aly’s greens he instantly calmed.

Emotion swept over him, a wave of concern and unspoken love that he had yet to admit to himself. What would he have done if he had failed, if the cougar had gotten to the huntress before he had arrived? Pushed the thoughts from his mind and allowing his body to be driven by the new relief he rushed forward. Stopping inches away from her he wrapped a large paw around the upper half of her legs, he head pushing affectionately against her stomach. He didn’t know what to say, the sense of relief seeming to paralyze his tongue.






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#5
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(508)

While the king's presence had given her renewed energy and vigor, whatever boost he gave her was draining, and quickly. It was obvious by her slackened stance, the parts of a half-snarl that could barely form dying in her throat. The cat, eyes as sharp as her's, knew that she, the prey, was tired, spent. But, instinct told her that the cat was exhausted as well; having just hunted, and now faced with two canines, its own stamina was pressed to their limits. It must have knew that she knew that this fight could not continue any longer, and any blow could very well be their last.

But, before any step could be taken, the dark Sole jumped onto the cat, and his mark was accurate. The yowl that the cat had begun to speak was twisted into a caterwaul as the wolf gave the final jerk of his head, and the beast was silenced. The woman could only stand and watch with a distant air about her as Jazper dropped the cat, limp as a ragdoll and gone to the pits of the Underworld. But, her lack of emotions quickly changed as she met the man's eyes, and she had to hold back a choking sob.

The same thoughts from earlier coursed through her mind, though now they were more vivid now that Fate made her face the harsh reality she could have befallen, the taste of that could-have-been destiny still fresh on her tongue. Seeing the man with the warm stare chilled her to the bone. What if she had died? Her beliefs told her she would have made it to a blessed place if her life was noble and well led, and she would be able to watch the ones she cared for from there. Even in eternal bliss, can the gods be so torturous? How could she have rested peacefully if she had to watch the man that she had gotten close to go on without her?

While she thought about it for a moment, the opposite occurred to her. What if it was he who laid still on the floor and not she or the cat? Would she be able to go on without him?

She believed with a finality that she couldn't.

When he hugged her, she kneeled down slightly to hug him back. But, fatigue and her own emotions crippled her, and she soon slumped onto both knees while her arms remained wrapped around his neck. She murmured his name many times, both in relief and worry and desperation. For a moment, that was all she could have said, but she somehow managed to choke out a statement. "You could have died, Jazper, you could have died. Why were you so stupid?" Her words weren't spiteful, they were full of despair. And in a way, accusing. How could he risk himself because of her? He was her, and the pack's, alpha. What if their sun went out because of her? "Don't do that ever again," she said sternly after another sob.

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#6
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OOC: / +300


As their eyes met it was clear they were both experiencing something strange. He had saved a few wolves in his time, from pups to families to just females but there was something about her cry that had drawn pure instinctive animal to be drawn to the forefront and a heat to burn in his chest that he had only felt once before, the day that the barn collapsed on Ghita. The feelings scared him slightly, was he in love with the hybrid? They had only known each other for a season, though he looked forward to every second around her. As he embraced her she collapsed to the ground and his ears perked, even more concern bubbling up but as she spoke his name he couldn’t help but listen happily.

As his mind began to wander to getting the petite girl back to the Fort and into Hadley’s capable hand her words escaped causing him to recoil a step and his eyes to thin. Stupid? He grumbled, his pride getting the better of him for the time being, You’re the one that needed the saving, there was no way I would have died. He refused to believe he was ever in any real danger, it was two against one of course he was safe. I did it because… Cutting his words off and taking a deep breath to relax he bite his tongue, I would have done it for anyone. He decided stubbornly. After a moment he sighed and gently rubbed his cheek against the coymix’s, Come on. We need to get you fixed up. Moving to her side he prepared to help her back to her feet and act as a leaning post if need be all the way back to the Fort.







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