without a care
#1
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Nobody had explained the complex creature that was a crab. Then again, he couldn't expect all of life's secret knowledge to just be given to him; that was the same as taking unnecessary shortcuts, and he didn't need any of it. He could easily succeed in life by himself. Therefore, his simple steps in the sand led him onward, towards the small, red creature that seemed to be making a life for itself in the grains, minding its own business. Andre was not one to allow such petty things to life, and he immediately believed the concept was the same as with the rabbit; secure it and snap it.

Of course, this landed him with a rather nasty pinch to the paw, and very nearly another to the nose, leaving the coyote pup to meander through the water of the ocean that broke onto the shore, muttering childish curses to himself, with the red crab flailing on its back not too far behind. His foul mood he wore like a dark cloud over his head, and so help any of the poor fools that he met up with.

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#2
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Loneliness was not a feeling he was used to. Indeed, he was used to there being so many people around that he was just smothered with attention and needed to get away. Maybe it had started after his mother had disappeared or maybe he just hadn't noticed until then that sometimes people weren't there when he thought they would or should be. He had taken up on Gabriel's offer and moved into a room in the house across the beach; it was strange and different and he hadn't decided yet if he preferred it to the soft, organic hole in the ground that had been his home for the first few months of his life. There were a thousands of intriguing things to discover and prod in the wooden structure, but it wasn't the same.



Rachias seemed to have wandered off somewhere because he couldn't find her. He never knew where Eris was and was starting to think that she had run off with Kaena; he honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his other sister and didn't know if he would have liked her company or not. But he knew for sure that he didn't want to find or spend any time at all with his brother; being alone wasn't so bad if the other grey pup was the alternative. Unfortunately, it was that brother he saw walking along the coast towards him and though he didn't really care how it would look if he had just veered off his path to avoid him, that didn't end up happening.



Hello, he said simply, and waited for Andre to take it as a curse.
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#3
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His foul mood, even though he might have argued that he hated his family with more fiery passion than had ever been known, lifted only slightly when Arkham came along. This was not due to any kind of brotherly love for him, but a sort of satisfaction in knowing that the other Lykoi would even approach him; this meant that he still had his connections, and that meant he could use them to his advantage. For the moment, however, the grey-furred boy merely sat down heavily in the sand when he'd drawn close enough to Arkham and smiled in his dark, manic way.

Do yo' kn'w anythin' 'bou' wolves? If Arkham didn't, he was going to get a crash course from Andrezej, who remembered most of Hybrid's words with an unnatural sense of clarity. If he did, then Andre would be demanding quite unreasonably to be led to them, so that he may rip them apart. His eyes remained fixed on his greyscale brother, and for a moment, he mused on the eyes. Arkham's were still flawlessly blue, and his own had developed tiny blooms of yellow. They would stop changing so quickly soon, he knew, but until they did he was made to believe that his brother had some deformity. The intensity of his stare on the other Lykoi, however, was for a purpose; he truly believed he'd be able to draw the latter answer out of the boy if he stared at him in as menacing a way as possible.

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#4
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Of course he could only wonder as to things were the way they were; he had come to know enough that he realized that not everything had an answer. Why his mother had left was one of them, and why his brother was the way he was was another. And there were some things that he wanted to ask but would probably never actually do it; why? Maybe he was afraid of a reaction and maybe he was afraid of the answer; what he didn't know couldn't hurt him just yet, anyway. Besides, the specifics probably weren't clear to anyone and in the meantime, he could wonder why exactly Andre hadn't decided to bite his head off just for looking in his direction.



Sure, he replied warily, sitting down also and turning to the ocean, which had a beauty that was infinitely preferable to the other pup's stare. They're just like us, more or less. The few he had met had given no reason to think otherwise either; they had been reasonable, kind, and cooperative, had done nothing to harm him, and thus had done nothing to make him think they were anything sinister. Phasma had clarified that especially and no one else had told him otherwise. His mother's words, whatever they had been, had already begun to fade in his mind and he could only doubt them anyway because after all, if his father could live amongst them without trouble, then how bad could they really be?


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#5
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He was the opposite. While he was a sensible boy, for the most part, he had a heavy dose of the dark bloodlust that followed the Lykois in their curse, and the insanity that was his father's. Whether Laruku could live with the wolves or not was of little concern to him. He simply went with what he'd been told by his mother and by Hybrid; wolves were the enemy. Coyotes among wolves were acceptable, for they still shared their blood, and hybrids were the best allies. They had the size and strength of a wolf with the speed and cunning of a coyote, and little did he know that deep inside, he too was a hybrid. He too would grow to an impressive size, and would be just as strong as they, but hungry for their blood and their flesh. He would develop, as he already was, into a menace.

No, he responded, sneering in his brother's direction for his general lack of knowledge. They 're th' en'mies. He paused here, waiting to let the silence stretch on, before continuing with the relaxed state of one who'd told this to others countless times, though that was not true. The cloud that hung over him was ominous, dark, and angry; it roiled and it writhed with the anger and insanity of his family and of his blood.

They 're stupi' an' they 're s'pos'ta taste li'e shit. He grinned wickedly, tail thrashing, as the words of Hybrid came back to him.

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#6
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Arkham had no idea madness ran in the blood of his family on both sides. No one had ever told him and he would never really suspect. Certainly he thought his brother strange, but he could not know that this behavior extended far beyond simple personality. He just figured people were different; whether there was a disease in their veins didn't matter that much. The lighter of the two was sensible in a different and more questioning manner. Maybe that was a peculiarity in itself, his tendancy to question just about everything. Even if Hybrid had relayed to him everything that had been told to Andre, it was unlikely that Arkham would be so quick to drink every word of it. He had to see for himself.



And so he scoffed, twitching his tail in slight annoyance at his brother's conclusions. Have y'ver even met a wolf? he wondered aloud. Enemies? Gabriel had exhibited caution, but he had no reason to think that a stray coyote on the borders would not have been treated in a similar fashion except that perhaps a stray coyote would have been considered for acceptance. Arkham made a face at the very suggestion at tasting one of them, They prob'ly taste like us -- what, y'gonna go 'round eatin' people? That was just creepy. Other people weren't for eating. They can't be all bad if dad 'wants t'live with them 'stead of us.

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#7
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The fact that his older half-brother did not hate the wolves like his mother supposedly had, and like Hybrid did, was of little significance to him. He did not like Gabriel, and he did not trust him, nor did he trust Arkham all that much. He didn't really trust anybody but himself, and it would likely always be like that. Friends were for pansies, those who believed they truly did need the lives of others to hold on to their sanity. He had no desire to rely on others, and his will to be independent was much stronger than when it was first examined. Perhaps he was obsessed with it; that would be determined in time.

His brother seemed to have no qualms with the wolves, which thoroughly disgusted the slightly older coyote. He frowned at the other grey boy, waiting for some explanation for the wolf-loving ways, justifying it by bringing their father into the picture. In his opinion, the hybrid was a waste of space. If he must live amongst the wolves and if he preferred it to the life Inferni had to offer them, that was his problem; Andre had no use for Laruku.

Yes, I w'll, he answered in all seriousness to the question of eating people. Why not? They ate rabbits and stuff, didn't they? And dad's no' worth our time. He's a weaklin' li'e the wolves. They were the superior creatures. Inferni would have them all, eventually, on their knees.

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#8
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It was circular and hypocritical to hold everyone in contempt but take the words of some over the words of others all the same. It was picking and chosing but still mindless following. His brother had failed to answer his question -- had he met any wolves yet? But really, did Andre treat coyotes any better? Arkham felt sorry for any poor bastard that would cross his littermates path if this was already how he treated those in his family and clan. It was probably secondary that they were wolves at all. It was just an excuse. He couldn't know it, but didn't these sorts of people always like their self-righteous justification? Their drunken self-declared superiority.



The lighter brother could not hide his disgust but still couldn't bring himself to take the other completely seriously. Other people were not like prey animals. They just weren't and it was wrong. No one needed to tell him that for him to know. If e's not worth our time 'n he's like t'wolves, then why're the wolves worth our time? Why go out of your way to cross paths with something you apparently hated? So just leave them alone and they won't bother you.

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#9
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To him, it was a simple and yet very complex wheel. He would not harm coyotes who did not harm him, and by harm, he meant got in his way. Of course, all of his litter mates were already there, stopping him at every turn just to annoy him or to try to tell him off. The fact was that Andre had met a wolf, and the wolf had been almost as stupid and annoying as his brother was, asking him questions like he was some kind of criminal. Of course, he wasn't, not yet. Innocent childhood still lingered in those eyes of him, already so hard and so cold. Abandonment would not be too bad, he decided; he didn't care if they all got up and left him. He didn't need them.

Unfortunately, the number of Lykois in Inferni greatly outnumbered the likelihood that they would all leave. Kaena already had, but he didn't give a rat's ass about her, anyways. She had simply kept him alive until he was old enough to eat meat, and Laruku had helped him to catch a rabbit, and so he believed he was almighty. Compared to Arkham, he was like the king of the world or something.

They ain', the child explained, a cold edge to his tone that clearly said, who said they were? The child huffed at his brother, eyes wild with the dislike, and then flipped his tail almost dismissively. Bu' if they c'me 'ere, I'll eat 'em. Either that, or he'd torture them, like Hybrid had told him. Keep 'em alive as long as possible, and then let them crawl back home to whimper of the might of Inferni.

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#10
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It frustrated him that he could do nothing to change or "fix" his brother. He didn't and would probably never know why they had turned out so different and why there seemed to be so much contempt and hatred in the other when very little of it seemed to existed within himself. He wanted his relationship with Andre to be more like the one he maintained with Rachias because it was just so much more pleasant that way and he hated listening to all of the nonsense ideas that were coming to light at the moment. He didn't understand, but he wasn't sure he really wanted to either.



Y'said they taste like shit, so why bother? Arkham stood up and started walking again, unhappy with sitting still all of a sudden. Dun'chu have anythin' better ta do? The sand cold and damp and his footprints were very distinct against the brownish yellow but they were far enough from the water that they would stay there for at least a few hours.

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#11
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Like what? came the muttered sarcastic reply, the sadist child rolling his eyes as he stood to accompany his brother. Sadly, Arkham seemed less compliant with the idea of wolves being the enemy, but it was fine; one day, he would prove him wrong. Hybrid would prove him wrong. the Land of Wuffluvers would prove him wrong. Whatever happened, there would come a time when the brother would realize it, and he would return to Andre with pleas for forgiveness. It would probably be a nice time to grin in that maniacal way and claim that he was no brother of his; that would be in the future, though, and it wasn't the time for it presently.

Whatever, he mumbled darkly, turning. I'm leavin', you're borin'. With that, the child started off in some other direction, randomly chosen simply to lead him away from the brother whom he wanted little to do with at the moment.

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