Above the chattering fronds of shivering tree limbs a crow cawed loud and bawdy - a pleating and racuous trill that caused Caiaphas to pause and look skyward. Half-blind to the suffering daylight, she squinted upwards and her pupils shrank. A shadow flitted overhead and melted into the bleary grey of the sky -- the youth rolled her shoulders and nonchalantly resumed her trot towards the edge of the forest. The tree line, razor thin before the jagged bluffs, sported sparse vegetation and she was in plain sight for every creature to see. Incidentally, the rest of the strand was empty save for her and the bird, who was now swallowed by rolling clouds and ocean mist. She imagined, as a new recruit, that there was some sort of task she was expected to do. But as a resolute deliquint, she surmised marking territories and protecting cache (and other familial pack duties) was not necessarily the deportment of a fiendish rogue such as herself -- and thus, below her concern. With a lazy flicker of her insolent yellow eyes, the useless urchin slid to the sand and made herself promptly at home. |
but my petals have fallen.
The girl did not linger for long, regardless of her promises. The white woman was foolish for trusting the opportunistic child, who was eager enough to wander.
Bayou would return in time, for her word was her bond - even if it was made under false claims. For now she did what she had always done; skittering from shadow to shadow, her legs slick and dark.
There was no fear in the manner with which she ran. The stench of pack was not solid upon her gaunt self; instead, a stroke of genius (and luck) had granted the vagrant a musky fox burrow. The struggle to emerge from the stinking earth was enough to imbibe her body with the strong perfume of the pest - further hiding her from the harm of her own kind.
How foolish she was, for pressing beyond the scent of urine. How jovial the girl's fluttering heart felt, as she stole away in shadow.
Caiaphas grunted into the cold sand, her cheek pressed against the earth and a singular eye half-closed and lifted to the sky as she rolled in the granular earth. The wind, biting her spine with the clarity of a hag's touch, caused her to pause and lift her sand-crusted face from the dirt with vague interest. Her damp nose, clouded now with filth, exhaled and inhaled the scent of brine, saltwater.. and for a minute, possibly fox? She shifted onto her elbows, her expression sour as she looked along the desolate shore for the culprit. It wasn't hard to spot her either, the coalblack shadow that streaked along the enormity of the strand - though Caiaphas noted most dubiously that it was not a fox that had assaulted her sensitive nostrils with its odor. She begrudgingly rose to all fours, shaking the detritus from her hide with a haggard sigh. With lofty steps she trotted forwards, aiming to intercept the pitch animal that carried the scent of another species entirely on her pelt. Glowering, her lithe legs carried her swiftly towards her newest interest - and the impish look that swallowed her features was ugly and entirely without remorse. |
but my petals have fallen.
Patches of strong, sharp urine told her all she needed - that this land was harbouring wolves; and wolves always needed to eat.
Bayou reached with her paws, grasping at the dry and craggy earth, stumbling over the terrain which was familiar, but wholly new. She did not pick up the scent of another because her own scent, the odious mixture of vulpes and old blood, was so daunting.
The stranger emerged in her peripheral. A shifting mass of stone and darkness, tracking alongside Bayou's meagre silhouette. Her jaws parted but not to speak, not even to call out - but to allow the light to catch upon her yellow molars, that she exuberantly exposed.
A threat? Maybe. The girl knew she was not an intimidating beast. It was more of a sneer, which she shared in her continued invasion of these otherlands.
In minutes she could find a cache; that was all she was after. A hint, a tell, something that she could keep in mind for a second pass when a guard was not so present.
She stalked the angular creature with a look of intensity, her expression resolute and unyielding in its grimness. The crow from earlier remained entirely forgotten -- no, this vagrant rag was much more interesting. Caiaphas slowed down and studied the wastrel closely, her stride diminishing greatly with each step until at length she was at a halt as she witnessed this creature dig. She could venture several guesses to the female's intentions, but like Bayou, Caiaphas' coat was not yet infiltrated with the pack's own -- and curiously, she was not wont to challenge the female directly. Opting for a more innocuous approach, the black-masked female spoke -- her words pressed with innocence and guile alike. "You new to the pack too?" The question was without mirth or disparagement - and to any observer it would appear that Caiaphas believed this female to be a packmate, freshly indoctrinated into Horizon Ridge's illustrious fold. |
but my petals have fallen.
Bayou's parted lips twitched, much in the manner of an expectant cat. Chittering in silence, with a subtle and dull clicking caused by her teeth as they connected then repulsed; her lower jaw hinged, undecided if it should set itself to a close or remain open and ready to bite.
She was not so foolish to believe the stranger's query, but she would be amiable. Time was needed if she was to find any sort of treasure. The crow-faced girl turned her putrid eyes upon the stranger, and gave a sweeping nod, which settled her nerves - her head once again close to the soil.
"Oui, oui, fresh blood indeed,"
Vague, but enough of a response to count. A thick accent wrapped about the syllables, showing how truly alien the girl was from the lands. Bait, perhaps, or simply something unavoidable. Bayou kept an ear trained upon the stranger but returned to her scuffling antics. Eager, always, to find a prize.
Her beaked face plunged in to a fresh mound of dirt and toppled it, but found nothing, and was forced to move on - delving deeper.
Caiaphas leaned forwards, perched much the way a vulture crow-hopped before a carcass -- her beady eyes focused delightfully on the female before her. She watched as the stranger's head disappeared between the earth and then reappeared, bobbing from the soil like a sow upturning fresh black dirt for truffles. Her posture slackened as the female spoke - as if relaxing upon hearing her admission. But a gleeful titter destroyed any image of piousness Caiaphas could have retained -- and with a insidious smirk she rose to all fours. The female's vague answer was just what Caiaphas had hoped for - the pithy sense of manipulative accomplishment caused her heart to tremor in woeful delight. "What was the alpha's name?" She inquired coyly, drawing closer to the female until she was within kiss or kill distance -- her eyes level with the liquid yellow of Bayou's and her wicked muzzle readied for any retaliation shot her way. |
but my petals have fallen.
And the stranger, still lurking, was coming too close. The spider refused to budge in some moments but would move with scattered steps towards the shadows, to put distance between her nimble noodle of a body and the black-faced girl. Couldn't be trusted, she thought with a clench of her teeth.
Bayou's face descended once more, this time towards a packed layer of dirt. She did not plunge deep, but instead chicken-scratched at the surface, pawing at the cold ground until it was loose enough so that her face could crane in close. Her lips parted, tongue tasting dirt as she went in for the steal, in time to hear the stranger's question.
When Bayou emerged this time her mouth held the plump figure of a cold body; a small furred thing, or feathered, it all tasted the same. The lifeless sack of meat and bone sagged against her tongue, halting any attempt to respond - and just in time, as the spider had no lie prepared.
Her eyes narrowed in to slits, which were oddly mirthful as they watched the slinking guard. Bayou crunched the body between her teeth, feeling some of the flesh give, while the majority of it was frozen and shot chills through her fangs. Ah well, it was worth it. It was time to leave now.
Without response the creature began to weave through the trees, this time picking up a bit of speed as her body doubled back towards the borders; she tried to be inconspicuous, as if she were patrolling, or taking the meal to someone of import; but Bayou knew she was found out. Perhaps she had known it all along, but it did not matter - the spider had found a morsel for her belly, and all was well.
Caiaphas crowed in victory as the stranger remained silent; and as soon as Bayou's head dropped to secure the scraggly remnants of some putrid carcass, Caiaphas made her bold move. She was close enough to the female where the time-frame would be fairly imminent -- and in an effort to frustrate the attempts of the intruder Caiaphas lunged forwards, rounding her shoulder in a leading flourish in the attempts to ram the female in the flank -- hopefully taking her by surprise and dislodging the carcass held between her teeth. Thankfully, Caiaphas assumed Bayou's teeth were occupied between clutching the newfound prize -- and she did not expect an immediate retaliation. Whether or not her blow was successful was something else entirely. Caiaphas would waste no time whether she hit Bayou or not -- and with a throaty gurgle she threw back her head in a piercing howl (one that betrayed she was not of pure wolf descent) to alert her pack-mates to the intruder's iniquity. The shrieking howl was short and succinct -- and swiftly she dropped her head and launched into a headlong gallop. She would try her best to overtake her opponent, sending fleeting snaps of her vicious teeth in the female's directions in the hopes to drive Bayou closer into the heart of Horizon Ridge. |
but my petals have fallen.
The baying was enough to cause her a spark of insecurity. She floundered, with a brief flash of yellow-eyed doubt cast towards the oncoming girl.
They connected. The spider gripping tight, holding in a breath of putrid air which begged for escape. Whatever the plump body had been in life, it was little more than a soggy mouthful of half-rotten meat; something that the pack had probably forgotten about, or left without a care.
It tasted sweet and sour against her tongue, peppered by the growing frustration that welled within the girl, alongside the ache of her body, from the hit. This skirmish was not something that Bayou was prepared for - her knack for escape was prized above all other skills. Flight before fight. Always.
The girl chased, and the youth did not relent; charging through the forest with her eyes trained upon the stranger, and not upon her path. She managed to put a length of space between their bodies when the stranger gave way to howl - calling for reinforcements, when all she had to deal with was a hungry girl? Minables
The vitriol in Caiaphas' gaze was unmistakable; two bitter yellow rings of glowering contempt that traced her new adversary's every move. Caiaphas, as fleet as she was, likely could not overtake this gaunt shadow. Bayou could probably outpace her in a matter of minutes. Caiaphas' stamina was appallingly nonexistent -- and soon she would have to relent from her excursions. But for now, her breath came in pale rags and her legs seemed to move as rapidly as the blood coursing through her. Gritting her teeth, she dropped her muzzle and spurned herself forwards with every fiber of her frame towards the black ghoul. With one final spiteful move she launched herself upwards once her hind legs hit the ground - using her prolific momentum to her advantage. If she was as quick as she hoped, she would have possibly been able to close the gap between them enough that she would be head to head with her opponent -- and if this was the case, she would swing her ugly muzzle sideways like a bludgeon in the hopes of forcing Bayou to drop the scant remnants clutched between her teeth. |
but my petals have fallen.
Bayou was better, she was faster and stronger than this pack-bound fool.
Her body was lined with thin cords of muscle tissue, well taught in the manner of a fleeting crook; she wove a skittering path around the trees in her pursuit of freedom, and barely felt a thing. Palpitations of the wraith's heart sent adrenaline-filled blood through her body; she could taste it behind the rotten meat flavor of her treasure.
And then, with a sudden blow from the weak guard, the spider's fangs snapped shut in a violent crack of action. Bayou had been holding firm to the morsel of tissue and the sudden loss of it, the sudden rebuke by the stranger, had forced her jaws shut like a trap.
It stung, and the girl let out a hiss of frustration through the gaps of her yellowed grimace. No prize. There would be nothing to show for her efforts!
The girl yowled and tried to turn around, but was faced with the snapping and bludgeoning of the guard. There was no way to retrieve what was lost - she Bayou gave in. The spider did not always get the fly - but she would be back.
This had only been a test after all, and the dark girl knew where to look if she wanted to try again. Her long limbs began to ache, finally, as she forced herself to dig deep and pull her gaunt self away from the territory, unaware if her pursuer was on her tail.
But once the strange speaking outsider fled out of the territory Caiaphas' heavy pursuing stopped: she had no intention of expending energy she scarcely had and already she felt her will beginning to expire.
Pulling off she slowed to a halt and threw back her insidiously thin muzzle and a throaty, victorious crow of a howl shot forth in scornful rebuke: piss off she thought sourly to herself -- and for the rest of the night she would dedicate herself to bitterly reinforcing the borders with her malodorous piss.