Backdated to July 3rd. Set in Whisper Beach. Tayui is in her lupus form. WC: 310.

[/html]She had followed the highway north from Halifax and continued along even as it curved west. After passing through some other areas, she decided to head north and take a break to rest by the beach. Even though she had never considered herself a romantic, both in the popular term as it related to love, or as the rebellion against Classical ideals and the throwback to medieval thought. She had read a few books which went through the many stages and eras of human history, and while she had admired the few pictures of romantic art, they hadn’t struck her as particularly interesting. She enjoyed reading about the human enlightenment and the ideas which had been borne from this period, but could appreciate the juxtaposition of scientific revelations and the church’s attempts to push it aside. The interactions fascinated her and she liked how humans had identified periods in history. It helped her understand how things changed, and she tried to do the same for her life now.

Now, it was simply the present and she had no category for that. It wasn’t until a period had very decisively ended that she liked to think back and give it a category. But she could remember her time in Bleeding Souls in Jaded Shadows, the period of unrest as she moved over the mountain, and the other smaller periods that followed.

Every life was a history unto itself. Tayui smiled as she thought about this. She didn’t want to guess why she felt more content now than she had in months, so she didn’t try. She just wanted to sit and enjoy the sunset.

She exhaled slowly as she watched the last slivers of light disappear and the world descended into twilight. With no clouds in the sky, the fading light cast a beautiful glow on the western lands of ‘Souls.[html]

No problemo hombre.

Tayui was abruptly shaken out of her own personal reverie by the yip of another canine. She stood up and quickly whirled around to face the other wolf, expecting a hostile stranger, but was pleasantly surprised to see a friendly old face.

Anu! she shouted. Her voice carried across the wind easily, for she was so excited to see someone. She had long since abandoned the idea of re-uniting with anyone from Jaded Shadows or Shadowed Sun in the way she’d dreamt. Her reunion with Sirius had been icy cold at best and full of disappointment. If she was going to be honest, they had both changed; but she didn’t like knowing she wasn’t the only one. This had always been her pain, her problems, and her changes. Never had she thought others would change, too, over time.

She just hoped Anu had not changed, either.

How are you? she exclaimed. She tried to put on her best grin, but found it faltered a bit. She couldn’t keep up the pretense as much as she would have liked, but for an old face, maybe she could try. She knew Sirius was different, but she could only hope Anu wasn’t too.

Once pleasantries were exchanged, Tayui hoped Anu would be comfortable enough with her to swap stories. Certainly, she had told Sirius she had joined Salsola to destroy herself and the fact remained. But out here, she wasn't trying to become anything or be anyone. She could be who she was without the suffocating reminder of the pack. She knew the pack valued secrecy and privacy, but that had only made her misery grow worse.

So, when Anu asked how she was doing, Tayui could not find an answer. She shrugged in reply, unsure how to express her melancholy state of mind without actually saying anything. She wanted to say she wasn't fine, that she was rather distressed but nonetheless content to watch the sun set; and that she had felt tired as of late. There was no way she could pile all of that on to Anu, whom she had not seen for more than three years.

I'm doing well, she replied. But I think this sunset is just the pick me up I needed, she replied. To this she added, with a cheeky smirk: and you too, of course. What have you been up to since Twilight Vale? She could smell the scent of another pack, Crimson Dreams, on Anu. Although she had heard of the pack, she didn't know it well enough. Besides, she'd rather dwell in the past for just a little bit longer if she could.

Tayui nodded quietly and quickly and response as Anu spoke in an attempt to absorb as much information as she could. She was eager to know more about her old friend and escape these torrid woes that plagued her so. She wanted to forget even more a moment of what her life had become. She would return to it soon enough, but if she could just enjoy this moment, suspended in time, she would feel much happier. If she could enjoy this moment while accepting all the others that precipitated it, she would be even happier.

Maybe not happy, since she hadn’t been happy in months; but maybe being just content would satisfy her for the time being.

Wow, she breathed. Three winters. She had been in AniWaya for two and now this winter would be her first without a true allegiance. She’d joined Anathema, then Salsola, and now she was barely a member at all. She just didn’t care anymore. She had lost her Shadowed devotion.

I lived in AniWaya for two years. My children were born there, too. I moved back to the mountains about a year ago and then joined another pack. I’m in Salsola now, a pack far to the north, past Inferni. But I still miss Jaded Shadows, she admitted. What are your sons names? she asked, hoping to change the conversation.

WC: 331

The names were strong, just like Anu’s own. Tayui could still recall when she had been just Tayui and nothing else. Then she had been Tayui L’leh, and now, Tayui Aston. But as she’d told Eris, these names meant nothing if you didn’t believe them yourself and if they didn’t represent who you truly were. She thought these earthy names, two of which she recognized as trees and one of which she was fairly certain would be too, reflected Anu as a mother. The names one chose reflected their parents’ convictions, often, and what they would like to see their children become. Perhaps. She wasn’t sure how much she believed that, but there had to be some truth in it. There had to be some nostalgia, too, of good times and lost memories. If she could name a child Mordulin or Fatin without seeming too self-absorbed or self-righteous about it, she would.

Anu redirected the conversation back to Salsola, and Tayui tried not to instinctively respond with an annoyed frown. She hadn’t done a very good job of deflecting the conversation, apparently, since she would have rather not spoken about Salsola. But if she didn’t, it would seem like she had something to hide and she didn’t want Anu to know that.

Anu’s second comment, however, was so laughably incorrect that she decided it would be best not to address it at all. If only.

Yes, she replied quietly in vague reference to Anu’s question. It’s a few months old. It’s founded by a curious pair: Eris, the daughter of Salvaged Eternity and Kaena Lykoi and Sirius Revlis, the son of Dierdre Rhiannon. She wasn’t sure if this was the time to warn Anu to stay away or just pretend everything was fine. She would leave it be and hope to god that she didn't have to come out and say everything she was trying to hide. She was just so tired and it was getting so hard to pretend.

Tayui had not expected Anu would know Kaena. Somehow, it seemed out of place for the still-content former Shadows member. And really, that was what this meeting felt like: as if she were catching up with an old friend and an old packmate -- but only, if only it were only that. So, because this did not match up with her fantasy of a reunion with a long-lost friend, it surprised her and she showed it. Curiosity coloured her features, but she didn’t want to pry too much. She didn’t want to tell Anu why she knew Kaena, and if she asked Anu, she expected Anu would ask the same.

Of course, that did not prepare her for Anu’s next question.

Yes, she replied without a thought and unflinchingly. All the time. She bowed her head very slightly to offer a grateful nod of thanks. She then added: I would be honoured. My son, Claudius, still lives in AniWaya from what I know. My other son Attila used to live in Anathema, on Halcyon Mountain with me, but he’s left again. I’m not too sure about Ocèane, so...

Another half-finished sentence full of half-finished sentiments.