What really matters

Anyone welcome!

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There was something growing inside Bane's mind. It was something like a burning need to know what surrounded him. Swiftcurrent Creek had grown as one of the pack's main concerns after the battle. The ice warrior had expected them to be easy to take down, but that didn't mean they were away from other dangers. You can call it paranoia, but the silver warrior wasn't comfortable knowing that there were other packs that were even closer than Swiftcurrent Creek that he didn't know about.

It was easy taking the decision to leave the dark woods to explore the surroundings, it was his duty as Outrider after all; the hard part had been knowing that for as long as he wasn't in Blackfeather Woods his pups would be unprotected. This isn't safe from being considered paranoid either of course, the pack was the strongest and largest it had ever been, but Bane felt the need to be the only protector of the brood.

However, Bane had already crossed the Blackfeather borders once again, and he was already as far as Greatwater Lake, the place he'd chosen to spend the night as the setting sun suggested it would be better to find a good place to shelter from the cold winter night before it fell. His ghostly silhouette moved along the frozen coastal line, scanning his surroundings for any potential burrow without much success.

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It had been hunger first to rouse her -- demanding and insistent in her aching belly. The Sound's cache was fortified well, but it did not reflect upon her haggard frame -- as of late, she had felt a near neurotic compulsion to scavenge, to pilfer, to squirrel away any scrap or sustenance she came across.

And so, their cache grew -- it swelled in the manner of a bloated corpse, for it was composed of many. The brine did well to mask the scent of rot, and the cold kept the skin from turning -- and so Caiaphas, riddled by some sort of obsessive nature, replenished and replenished and replenished.

She was not far in the heart of Kinta Flatlands, though she knew not the name of it -- and with a feral intensity lacing her steps she had been stalking a pale ermine when nearby she heard the tread of another. The ermine, no less of a listener than her, was quick to tunnel in the snow -- leaving Caiaphas to search for the unwitting transgressor that had cost her another meal.

Hehehello Lauren! :D
Thanks for replying!

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The search for a place to spend the night had been all but successful. Bane had spent hours sniffing around and digging in the snow, but there was not a single hole that he deemed safe to put himself into. Maybe it had been a mistake leaving the pack in the middle of winter.

Frustration had taken over the Pale outrider, killing his adventurous mood. He was now grumpy and tired, definitely not in a state in which you would want to cross paths with him.

The fuzz on his mind didn't let him see where he was going, and it wasn't until he heard the sound of ice cracking beneath his feet that he realized he was standing far away from shore on a frail spot in the frozen lake. He looked down terrified, and then around to take a step back, but the ice cracked again, leaving the heavy northerner petrified. It had definitely been a mistake.

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np - is this set before bane becomes keith? feel free to ignore what phas did

The waif stalked hurriedly through the snow, which crunched underfoot and swift betrayed her position. Her body was low, shoulders hunched -- her head slunk to the ground in the manner of a snake.

She was quick to locate Bane, her keen eyes discerning him from the soft snow about them. What bemused her, however, was his position -- at present he stood perched over a giant slab of ice that growled beneath him. "Whoops!" She cajoled, her breath expelling in a cloud in the frigid air. With serpentine grace the wraith galloped towards the icy bank.

For a moment, it looked like she was about to assist him in any way she could -- that was, until, a shade of malice descended across her black muzzle. She grinned wickedly and placed her paws on the ice that cloaked the bank -- with a heave she leaped upright and slammed her body down, cracking the ice beneath her and causing a fissure that darted quickly and ominously out into the lake.

She then watched innocently, as if some unwitting passerby. There grew upon her muzzle a sinister smile as she witnessed the ice groan and rupture. Whoops indeed.

Yeah, it happens between the battle with SC and his departure from BFW

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If wolves could sweat, Bane would be soaked. He didn't move, yet all and each one of his muscles were tensed, he didn't dare move a hair for he knew how tricky ice could be. His eyeballs rolled around, looking instinctively for an escape route, but from where he was no path would be wise to pick.

He caught a figure in the corner of his eye. A female, safe on land while the floor beneath him seemed to be shaking underneath him. He slowly turned his head to look at her, and was already starting to build up strength to tell her to f*ck off when she decided to slam herself on the frail ice. No.. NO!NO!No!N..... the thunderous sound of ice cracking silenced the northerner, and with wide open eyes he watched as the crack stretched towards him, right where all his weight was concentrated. He leaped forward, jumped to run for his life, and he could feel the ice breaking behind him, almost beneath his paws. He raced as fast as his powerful body allowed him, almost tripping over when the spot in which he placed his frontal paws on one stride cracked open. But he made it. The last jump was long and high, and Bane landed a few meters away from the mischievous female.

"What in Sithis' name do you think you're doing!?" the arctic growled between heavy breaths. "You could've killed me there!!"

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With delight, the imp beheld the fruit of her work -- the thunderous cleave of ice, the sinister rush of water as chunks of frozen lake were pulled under in the rush. An anticipatory sneer spread across her features as she watched the male's face flush with horror as he learned of her action -- and eagerly, she awaited the current to pull him under.

But the goddesses saw fit to test her resolve that day, for the man was neither consumed by icewater nor bludgeoned by it -- in a remarkable display of agility and desperation he pulled himself narrowly to safety. Caiaphas readied herself should he prove aggressive -- though all he had to admonish her for her actions was a string of incredulous words.

Boring. She smiled primly and regarded the northern male coldly. "That was the intention." Cockily the female inspected her claws, pleased with her handiwork.

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Bane stared disconcerted at the bicolor wolfess for a moment. There was something about those yellow eyes that screamed "CRAZY!", and Bane couldn't help feeling terribly uncomfortable for the way she was looking at him. "You filthy mudblood..." Bane hissed. He could tell by her factions that she wasn't a pure wolf, and it disgusted him. Coyotes were scum, and the only thought of a wolf mating with one of them was disgusting.

Bane's patience had a very limited capacity, and in just one movement Caiaphas had managed to pelt it. His upper lip curled up, clearly demanding for the female to get away from the Arctic warrior, and he pressed forward with slow steps, claiming the space with his tail raised high. "Why don't you try with coyotes instead? You would be doing us all a favor."

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It was quite clear -- venomously clear -- that Bane was not enjoying his company. Caiaphas battered her eyelashes innocently -- ignoring the vitriol that dripped from his words. She had never been called a mudblood before.. but it took a lot more than a simple aspersion to cast the waif elsewhere.

Always one to flirt with danger, Caiaphas took a step back -- turning sideface so the entire of her svelte flank was visible to the Arctic male. Coyly she glanced along her slab-sided barrel towards the fierce warrior, her expression not unlike a coquette's. The siren flicked her tail suggestively, parting her jaws but a bit whilst a hale sigh expelled from her muzzle. "Why don't you try it with coyotes?" She offered provocatively, her elvish expression consumed by dalliance.

Sorry for the length! Homework's a bitch >(

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Although something instinctively did tingle inside him when the female so provocatively invited him do try it, he stayed firm in his statement... Which had never actually mattered until that moment.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Bane said with clear disgust on his face, "I would never get near a coyote bitch!" he spat to his left side incensed and stared with annoyance, curling his lip up to let out a rumbling growl that demanded the female's immediate departure.

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[size=x-small]Is it just me, or all my characters end up hating 'phas? xD[/size]

it's not just you. everyone ends up hating phas :p

Despite the provocative sway of her flat hips and lusterless behind, Bane remained adamant in his aggression. A shame, really -- Caiaphas considered herself a spectacular catch -- little did she know her seductive tush was hardly more appetizing than the swollen, gout-ridden decay of a bloated and drowned corpse.

But the Dark Brotherhood was into stuff like that, right?

Caiaphas wasn't going to take no for an answer, even if she had no intention of following through with her coy advances. [b]"Why not?" The sea-witch rejoined with a purl, her feral yellow gaze on his incensed muzzle. "Afraid you'll like it?"

But in reality... she probably wouldn't like it.. and she waited until the very last minute to flee.

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The dark brotherhood was into more thrilling stuff. Specially Bane. And so far, Caiaphas had hardly given the male something to be excited about. She disgusted him, he despised her. Although Coyotes had never been something to worry about, Bane had a clear conception of them, not a good one at all, and breeding with one of them was sure one of the things he abhorred the most.

"Disgusting..." Bane sentenced before finally engaging. The line had been crossed, and the last minute was getting close for the coyote bitch. With jaws wide open, the tank-like male charged to chase Caiaphas off. He knew that would be enough to scare her, she was small and weak and Bane would crush her easily.

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True to her original assessment of the bullheaded male, he was quick to rush her -- it was clear he had no patience for her contorted little games. With a shriek of delight Caiaphas waved her shapeless behind at him, waggling with a brazen carelessness only a fool could rival.

He sprung towards her with a snap and she took off, a ghoulwhite streak along the barren ground. She had no intention of dying that day -- or ever -- and with a fit of giggles she pranced idiotically about him, keeping a keen eye on his bristling frame. "You couldn't catch me if you tried. Fat and slow, you lot are. It's why we're better." She teased, maintaining a wide berth from his striking range. But she wouldn't wait for whatever riposte the cloudy male uttered. Wasting no time, the seawretch turned around and skipped impishly off to torment some other unfortunate soul.

Archiving! Thanks again for joining! :3

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Bane didn't have any intentions of killing the hybrid either, he just wanted her to leave him alone to be able to look for a place to spend the night in peace. When she took off, like the bitch she was, the arctic beast halted to a stop and chuffed in annoyance before turning around to try and forget the witch's ghoulish face.

But he couldn't and it was annoying him even more. There was no chance that he was going to sleep tonight, the image bony framed behind was stuck between his eyelids, so he decided to just go back to his family, to Blackfeather and away from the crazy world outside of it.

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