A Coat of Fresh Paint (E-SP RP8/9)
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:55 pmIndy
Uno entertained the shadow dance. It was a simple affair. He would slip along the beams, as effortlessly as liquid given form. Then a countermove would be issued, and his dance partners would wash across the beams like a great, dark tide. Nothing gained, nothing lost, and surely that is all this could be: a dance, a spectacle, but ever short of any traction or hold over the other.
By all accounts, it was a stalemate. Yet Uno had found most things to always be a matter of perspective. Sliding along the beams had failed to produce any results in escape, yet that prospect had vanished the moment he’d been punched in the nose. Rather it was the sequence of the dance, not it’s outcome, that intrigued him.
He cast a wistful glance in Levi’s direction, wondering to what end he now worked. He hoped the scrappy thing had a plan. He cast a long shadowed glance at the west-end; like Levi, he surmised his enemy intended to herd him there. Yet perhaps they’d spent long enough playing with the shadows. He eyed that end a moment longer, settling at Levi in half a question as to what he intended to do next, before abruptly responding himself.
He settled on the ground only feet from where he’d been tied. Yet he did not relinquish his other form. Rather he surmised the gaunt wolf, the corners of his maw revealing the glint of teeth, and his single eye looking lowly, just beneath meeting his gaze.
"I think mice were rather nice," he said simply. Yet a hint of his voice implied a dare.
Then the dare vanished, and he merely sighed, "A human being with the very best intentions can do immeasurable harm, if he is immodest enough to wish to profit those whose spirit and will are concealed from him…"
He strode along the center of the group, his gaze looking for familiarty in the darkness, from the lightness of Gabe’s expression to the wild haired woman and her unreadable expression. Then he settled again at the gaunt wolf, yet as before, just before settling on his eyes.
"We are not friends here, tonight. You want something, I want something, and whether that is in conflict remains to be seen. Yet for that to be determined, one party must give, the other must take, and then give again or else we will all remain in the shadows".
"Shall I start, then?
I’ve known men like you. I’m not afraid to die by men like you, because I’ve already died by them once before and I never fear the same thing twice. But if you want to hurt my friend? That does scare me, and your promise to return her unharmed means little to me given the circumstances…"
Indy
Uno entertained the shadow dance. It was a simple affair. He would slip along the beams, as effortlessly as liquid given form. Then a countermove would be issued, and his dance partners would wash across the beams like a great, dark tide. Nothing gained, nothing lost, and surely that is all this could be: a dance, a spectacle, but ever short of any traction or hold over the other.
By all accounts, it was a stalemate. Yet Uno had found most things to always be a matter of perspective. Sliding along the beams had failed to produce any results in escape, yet that prospect had vanished the moment he’d been punched in the nose. Rather it was the sequence of the dance, not it’s outcome, that intrigued him.
He cast a wistful glance in Levi’s direction, wondering to what end he now worked. He hoped the scrappy thing had a plan. He cast a long shadowed glance at the west-end; like Levi, he surmised his enemy intended to herd him there. Yet perhaps they’d spent long enough playing with the shadows. He eyed that end a moment longer, settling at Levi in half a question as to what he intended to do next, before abruptly responding himself.
He settled on the ground only feet from where he’d been tied. Yet he did not relinquish his other form. Rather he surmised the gaunt wolf, the corners of his maw revealing the glint of teeth, and his single eye looking lowly, just beneath meeting his gaze.
"I think mice were rather nice," he said simply. Yet a hint of his voice implied a dare.
Then the dare vanished, and he merely sighed, "A human being with the very best intentions can do immeasurable harm, if he is immodest enough to wish to profit those whose spirit and will are concealed from him…"
He strode along the center of the group, his gaze looking for familiarty in the darkness, from the lightness of Gabe’s expression to the wild haired woman and her unreadable expression. Then he settled again at the gaunt wolf, yet as before, just before settling on his eyes.
"We are not friends here, tonight. You want something, I want something, and whether that is in conflict remains to be seen. Yet for that to be determined, one party must give, the other must take, and then give again or else we will all remain in the shadows".
"Shall I start, then?
I’ve known men like you. I’m not afraid to die by men like you, because I’ve already died by them once before and I never fear the same thing twice. But if you want to hurt my friend? That does scare me, and your promise to return her unharmed means little to me given the circumstances…"
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:55 pmMae
Uno might have lighted where he had first taken flight, but those who remained on the ground had not stayed their seat. Gabriel was seen briefly from the rafters, with his still side-wise smile, but he was gone a moment later. The woman with the wild hair might have been seen somewhere on the shelves - or was that some other wild form? At any rate, Uno was drawn into the darkness to find the gaunt wolf who now walked alone.
As Uno approached him from behind, the gaunt shadow turned with his eyes glinting. Grey against black he stood in the darkness while a single blue ray painted the crates in the background.
"Your encounter with lesser clans is of small benefit to your experience, my friend. You may know them, but you do not know the Svalnaglas!" That word - pronounced as it ought to be - came in the full power of its purpose. With that one word the whole warehouse echoed, for they all sang in one voice. It was not fear their listeners heard, but majesty; the voice of a hundred in one was no less than what every werewolf craved to hear. The perfect unison of their voices was the unison of their souls - to fight, to die, to live, and to rejoice with one another in one accord. No sound could have brought such sense of awe and bewilderment all at once. Nevertheless, the note was brief. It rose from a breath and from a breath it returned to silence.
Every figure in the shadows stood a little taller. Every man and woman seemed emboldened and almost dignified against the darkness.
The gaunt wolf lowered his chin and his shape fell away. In his place was a tall and equally gaunt man. His features were long, his fingers were long, and withal was he dressed in a long crimson cloak. The cloak was without hem but emblems were entwined throughout - circles, triangles, and unfamiliar shapes were all woven throughout the dark red fabric.
"You are not dead." The thin figure said. "Unlike those you have met, we do not leave to others our chores; had we wanted to kill you, the business would not be done over a second time."
He raised his thin hand into the air, a gesture to those seen and unseen all around them, some of whom were yet stalking Levi through the rafters.
"But astra inclinant, sed non obligant, as they say: The stars have not defined your position, rather, you have chosen it. Death I gave you at every hand, and a fool would have fought or run through the open door. You have chosen otherwise, therefore, I give you plain reason. If you do not pursue your friend, we have no reason to kill you or her."
Mae
Uno might have lighted where he had first taken flight, but those who remained on the ground had not stayed their seat. Gabriel was seen briefly from the rafters, with his still side-wise smile, but he was gone a moment later. The woman with the wild hair might have been seen somewhere on the shelves - or was that some other wild form? At any rate, Uno was drawn into the darkness to find the gaunt wolf who now walked alone.
As Uno approached him from behind, the gaunt shadow turned with his eyes glinting. Grey against black he stood in the darkness while a single blue ray painted the crates in the background.
"Your encounter with lesser clans is of small benefit to your experience, my friend. You may know them, but you do not know the Svalnaglas!" That word - pronounced as it ought to be - came in the full power of its purpose. With that one word the whole warehouse echoed, for they all sang in one voice. It was not fear their listeners heard, but majesty; the voice of a hundred in one was no less than what every werewolf craved to hear. The perfect unison of their voices was the unison of their souls - to fight, to die, to live, and to rejoice with one another in one accord. No sound could have brought such sense of awe and bewilderment all at once. Nevertheless, the note was brief. It rose from a breath and from a breath it returned to silence.
Every figure in the shadows stood a little taller. Every man and woman seemed emboldened and almost dignified against the darkness.
The gaunt wolf lowered his chin and his shape fell away. In his place was a tall and equally gaunt man. His features were long, his fingers were long, and withal was he dressed in a long crimson cloak. The cloak was without hem but emblems were entwined throughout - circles, triangles, and unfamiliar shapes were all woven throughout the dark red fabric.
"You are not dead." The thin figure said. "Unlike those you have met, we do not leave to others our chores; had we wanted to kill you, the business would not be done over a second time."
He raised his thin hand into the air, a gesture to those seen and unseen all around them, some of whom were yet stalking Levi through the rafters.
"But astra inclinant, sed non obligant, as they say: The stars have not defined your position, rather, you have chosen it. Death I gave you at every hand, and a fool would have fought or run through the open door. You have chosen otherwise, therefore, I give you plain reason. If you do not pursue your friend, we have no reason to kill you or her."
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:56 pmKaqurei
The song of the united pack had an entirely different effect on the ears of Levi than it would perhaps on a loner. It did not even appeal to him instinctually, for his wolf knew the sound of his own from that of an enemy. And, consciously, he felt sickened by the sound of so many united in evil. It reminded him of a Biblical legion his mother once told him as a child, many demons united as one who was their prisoner. Still, the Good Lord saw fit to bestow mercy and rescue on the prisoner then... perhaps He would see fit to do so now?
The teenager's mind was still racing to put together the dismal odds when he saw Uno drop to the floor and approach the grey wolf. Oh, we're just going to go talk to the guy, now? Okay. Cool. We'll run with that. Eyeing his enemies in the shadows warily, Levi set the chair down right there up on the rafter, then helped himself down to hang by his arms before dropping silent as a cat upon his feet to stand by Uno's side.
He didn't understand the words the man uttered when he changed from wolf to man, and did not follow suit. The meaning of the English he followed it with was clear, though, and Levi laid his ears back flat and grimaced.
Kaqurei
The song of the united pack had an entirely different effect on the ears of Levi than it would perhaps on a loner. It did not even appeal to him instinctually, for his wolf knew the sound of his own from that of an enemy. And, consciously, he felt sickened by the sound of so many united in evil. It reminded him of a Biblical legion his mother once told him as a child, many demons united as one who was their prisoner. Still, the Good Lord saw fit to bestow mercy and rescue on the prisoner then... perhaps He would see fit to do so now?
The teenager's mind was still racing to put together the dismal odds when he saw Uno drop to the floor and approach the grey wolf. Oh, we're just going to go talk to the guy, now? Okay. Cool. We'll run with that. Eyeing his enemies in the shadows warily, Levi set the chair down right there up on the rafter, then helped himself down to hang by his arms before dropping silent as a cat upon his feet to stand by Uno's side.
He didn't understand the words the man uttered when he changed from wolf to man, and did not follow suit. The meaning of the English he followed it with was clear, though, and Levi laid his ears back flat and grimaced.
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:56 pmIndy
His features contorted in pain to the sound of the pack. There was no scale to it, no reason. It could very well have been 20 or 1000 in that warehouse, and the result was overwhelmingly the same. Every fiber of him felt repulsed by the sound. Afraid, perhaps? He considered as the voices faded to echo. No… it was the singleness of it all, so contrary to his reason of breathing, that he was as repulsed by it as ice is to a candle flame.
His reason would not hold water here. Only the gaunt wolf’s words would matter, and for that he deflected to the side. The agony was gone, but something far more brutal took it’s place.
"Why," his tail bristled and swung to the side, and he glanced upward to the arms by the ceiling, a brief yet bewildered expression of confusion in his gaze before he looked down, "Why her? She’s done everything she’s ever done out of simple kindness".
Better reason called. It said to retreat, to lick his wounds, and to plan for another day. But better reason was distant now, an echo on a foggy day. His lips curled, his eye bright.
"Tell me why this is her reward. Why do I get to walk free, and she’s in the dark pits of who-knows-where, suffering for that simple kindness of hers. I didn’t say it was ever smart, but it’s hers, and anyone with a shred of decency left would leave it be. So tell me why".
Indy
His features contorted in pain to the sound of the pack. There was no scale to it, no reason. It could very well have been 20 or 1000 in that warehouse, and the result was overwhelmingly the same. Every fiber of him felt repulsed by the sound. Afraid, perhaps? He considered as the voices faded to echo. No… it was the singleness of it all, so contrary to his reason of breathing, that he was as repulsed by it as ice is to a candle flame.
His reason would not hold water here. Only the gaunt wolf’s words would matter, and for that he deflected to the side. The agony was gone, but something far more brutal took it’s place.
"Why," his tail bristled and swung to the side, and he glanced upward to the arms by the ceiling, a brief yet bewildered expression of confusion in his gaze before he looked down, "Why her? She’s done everything she’s ever done out of simple kindness".
Better reason called. It said to retreat, to lick his wounds, and to plan for another day. But better reason was distant now, an echo on a foggy day. His lips curled, his eye bright.
"Tell me why this is her reward. Why do I get to walk free, and she’s in the dark pits of who-knows-where, suffering for that simple kindness of hers. I didn’t say it was ever smart, but it’s hers, and anyone with a shred of decency left would leave it be. So tell me why".
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:56 pmMae
One thin brow raised.
"Why is a child carried away captive by the tide?" The gaunt man said without feeling. "Why are the streets full of men, women, and children starving in the cold? Why must a father wait helpless while his newborn babe breathes its first and last breaths in his arms?"
Even in the gloomy light his long white face could be seen, somber and grave. His grey brows made his eyes look dark and sunken.
"You are a man well acquainted with the injustices of this world, my friend, and you ask me why bad things happen to good people. You follow this woman like a loyal dog. Your heart has the tenderness of a child."
"You are a blind fool." He said grimly.
The shadows thickened around Levi and Uno.
"Do you think we do not know who she is? That she spent time with Steele, and Darius, who has long slept under the silted bank of the Monvac river? Do you suppose we do not know who you arewhen these streets are ours, and the night is ours, and the blood is ours? Yes, even your blood is ours..."
"Many a wayward loner has come into our lands. Many have taken packs of their own; none have withstood. Their blood is a taint! They would sooner dismember themselves and each other before they knew what it means to be a true pack. They have not even begun to cross over the thresholdof their own reality! They hide from mankind and cower before him. They grovel in the dark as outcasts of nature, somewhere between man and beast. They stumble blindly into lands that are not their own, and then what?"
"Then the tide comes in." He concluded his remarks to Uno in words reminiscent of the first. Then the gaunt man pointed a long white finger at Levi.
"You." He said. "I wondered, at first, why Sabres would take an interest in this matter; its not like him. Then I saw you. Your clumsy entrance and disregard for the civility that has long stood between our peoples gave you away. You trespass without the authorization of your pack! Sabres knows better than to involve his people in our house cleaning. No, you are obviously here investigating another matter ..."
The man who spoke leaned in just so, and in a curious tone he said, "I wonder, what could be in the varnished hills that interests him after all these years... Its smell is all over you."
He leaned away and the conversation drew to a close. His grim figure drew farther into the blackness.
"I advise you to return the way you came, Sabres." He said loudly. "And as for you, my friend, do not seek your companion tonight. She will find you in the morning. That is our final warning."And with that, something came down on both Uno and Levi that put the lights out for them. There was no more until they found themselves waking up on a park bench in the late hours of the night.
Mae
One thin brow raised.
"Why is a child carried away captive by the tide?" The gaunt man said without feeling. "Why are the streets full of men, women, and children starving in the cold? Why must a father wait helpless while his newborn babe breathes its first and last breaths in his arms?"
Even in the gloomy light his long white face could be seen, somber and grave. His grey brows made his eyes look dark and sunken.
"You are a man well acquainted with the injustices of this world, my friend, and you ask me why bad things happen to good people. You follow this woman like a loyal dog. Your heart has the tenderness of a child."
"You are a blind fool." He said grimly.
The shadows thickened around Levi and Uno.
"Do you think we do not know who she is? That she spent time with Steele, and Darius, who has long slept under the silted bank of the Monvac river? Do you suppose we do not know who you arewhen these streets are ours, and the night is ours, and the blood is ours? Yes, even your blood is ours..."
"Many a wayward loner has come into our lands. Many have taken packs of their own; none have withstood. Their blood is a taint! They would sooner dismember themselves and each other before they knew what it means to be a true pack. They have not even begun to cross over the thresholdof their own reality! They hide from mankind and cower before him. They grovel in the dark as outcasts of nature, somewhere between man and beast. They stumble blindly into lands that are not their own, and then what?"
"Then the tide comes in." He concluded his remarks to Uno in words reminiscent of the first. Then the gaunt man pointed a long white finger at Levi.
"You." He said. "I wondered, at first, why Sabres would take an interest in this matter; its not like him. Then I saw you. Your clumsy entrance and disregard for the civility that has long stood between our peoples gave you away. You trespass without the authorization of your pack! Sabres knows better than to involve his people in our house cleaning. No, you are obviously here investigating another matter ..."
The man who spoke leaned in just so, and in a curious tone he said, "I wonder, what could be in the varnished hills that interests him after all these years... Its smell is all over you."
He leaned away and the conversation drew to a close. His grim figure drew farther into the blackness.
"I advise you to return the way you came, Sabres." He said loudly. "And as for you, my friend, do not seek your companion tonight. She will find you in the morning. That is our final warning."
And with that, something came down on both Uno and Levi that put the lights out for them. There was no more until they found themselves waking up on a park bench in the late hours of the night.
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:57 pmKaqurei
****
Azaia furrowed his brows and looked utterly confused. He looked at Josh, then at Silas again. Then his brows shot up and his face cleared. "Oh, she hasn't told you about..." he might have muttered, but he waved the thought off before he could finish it.
He cleared his throat. "So, Bluebird, Jay, whatever... a friend of yours then. Don't worry, she'll come to no harm in my father's house. It's leaving it that we should be careful about. The Alpha gave us the impression someone in the pack territory has less than good will for her. And that's certainly not us, I assure you. We don't even know who she is."
Kaqurei
****
Azaia furrowed his brows and looked utterly confused. He looked at Josh, then at Silas again. Then his brows shot up and his face cleared. "Oh, she hasn't told you about..." he might have muttered, but he waved the thought off before he could finish it.
He cleared his throat. "So, Bluebird, Jay, whatever... a friend of yours then. Don't worry, she'll come to no harm in my father's house. It's leaving it that we should be careful about. The Alpha gave us the impression someone in the pack territory has less than good will for her. And that's certainly not us, I assure you. We don't even know who she is."
Quote from Kaqurei on January 4, 2019, 2:57 pmAddie
"Then I'll stay here. Anything happens to her, it'll have had to go through me first." Silas stated plainly. His resolution was clear, he wouldn't leave the pack territory so long as Robin was there.
And the Robin would continue to sleep, that which had eluded her for so long now held tightly to her and she would not feel release into wakefulness for many long hours to come.
Addie
"Then I'll stay here. Anything happens to her, it'll have had to go through me first." Silas stated plainly. His resolution was clear, he wouldn't leave the pack territory so long as Robin was there.
And the Robin would continue to sleep, that which had eluded her for so long now held tightly to her and she would not feel release into wakefulness for many long hours to come.
