i learned the voices died with me

any - set outside the borders. 'Phas is nosy.

It was under the full rise of flooding moonlight that Caiaphas emerged from an unknown tunnel, her silver fur snuffed with blackened dirt and grime. She blinked somewhat surprised to find herself so very far from the shore -- and as she tested the crisp night wind she detected nary a hint of the salt borne on its wings.

Somewhat perplexed, she thought for a moment to return back to the cavernous depths. But something about the tangled forest she was in enticed her, and pulling forth from the sludge like a reanimated wretch, Caiaphas set herself to the countryside. There was a clear border and she flanked its path, daring not to tread within unknown territory. She trailed the wide swath of briar and thicket for some time, her eyes wide as she drank in her surroundings with greedy interest.

She focused on preparing herself for winter. The dark priestess ate more than usual, bulking up for herself and the pups inside of her that she would nurture, for once. Meldresi was finishing one such meal; the thick haunch of a deer, accompanied by its liver, by her borders, when she saw a form stalking past the thickets that protected one of her borders. It wasn't just skirting past her land on its way to another destination, no, it was looking in.

Setting the remaining meat aside, Meldresi rose, stalking forward to get a closer look at the lurking beast. A wolf, a hybrid of coyote and wolf blood. Wondering if this female had interests in joining (though she might just be more curious of her woods), Meldresi revealed herself, tail held high, gazing at the coywolf curiously. "May I ask why you are lurking around here in such a manner?"

The small wraith had not been expecting company -- not so swiftly -- and as the voice of another pierced the shrouded darkness Caiaphas' flat limbs retracted and she bowed her body, a low hiss parting her blackened gums in surprise.

Turning about, Caiaphas saw the thing -- a dark apparition far too beautiful to be structured by corporeal means. As if to lend to the orphic nature the female boasted, there were various dyes plastered to her black coat. Caiaphas' gaze trailed their progress across her svelte body unabashedly, and she turned to look at the exquisite woman with faint disparagement. "I came by tunnel. Where am I?"

While not much in the way of excuses, it was certainly an explanation -- and the nakedness of her tone implied fully she, for once, was not lying.

Came by tunnel? Meldresi raised an eyebrow. Were there other tunnels around her besides the system underneath her forest? The priestess breathed in the female's scent. Salt. Saltwater to be precise, a shore wolf. And a strong scent of other females, a pack. The coywolf's packmates would not be much of a problem, for the shore was too far away for them to ever raid her...unless they used these tunnels.

"This is Blackfeather Woods. I am its alpha, Meldresi." She added her name as a greeting to the hybrid. "Did those tunnels lead all the way from the shore?" She said, curiosity lacing her voice, subtly dropping that she was aware of the female's home.

The svelte alpha was quick to expose she was much craftier than her looks foretold -- and slyly, Caiaphas regarded her as she inquired of the shore. Caiaphas had made no move to conceal the scent of brine on her pelt -- and she offered only the blandest of smiles and a naked sort of shrug that suggested she was either unimpressed or unphased by the female's deductive ability.

"Well, Meldresi, one can't tell for certain. There are tunnels to every walk of life." She rebuked airily -- this time a lie -- her head tilted back towards the dark chasm in which she had crawled from. She had gone through many tunnels, and had forded several woods and streams -- there was no direct road from here to the shore. She had certainly spent a great amount of the travel underground, but if the alpha believed a tunnel spanned the length from the shore to where they stood, would she have received the Sound's presence as graciously? "What a curious name, Meldresi. What is it from?"

She made a mental note to have one of her subordinates explore the tunnel someday, just to make sure that no pack lay directly at the end of the dark chasm. And, if they did, that they kept good relations with whoever was at the other side. Blackfeather did not need wolves attacking them in the middle of the night using similar tactics to their own.

"It is Daedric. Mel- is the root word for fire, -dresi means blue, dark blue to be precise.. I'm named after my eyes." 'Twas no lie this time. While Daedric, like Latin for most people, was a dead language, her people used it for names and rituals. It was a strange tongue; she heard it being described as demonic at times, but she always thought it had a lovely lilt to it. "Since we're on the topic of names, what is yours and where does it come from?"

Meldresi's explanation of the root of her name evinced a look of fascination from the coywolf -- and brazenly, Caiaphas dropped to her narrow haunches with both triangular ears culled forwards in interest. Caiaphas had no knowledge of Daedric -- was it similar to Celtic? Was it the tongue of some heathen cult, an aberration of some long lost culture in which only the survivors knew of? There was a bevy of questions that pressed rampant in her mind, though she sharply reined her tongue.

The painted wolf reversed the topic back to Caiaphas, which she did not outwardly approve of -- and eager to revert back to this Daedric subject, Caiaphas rushed to humor her. "It's Caiaphas - and I suspect it's Greek for something like extremely smart, winsome, or even incredibly attractive." The cheekiness in her tone was unchecked, and she looked at Meldresi once over again, her chin jutted in thoughtfulness. "Say, what is the Daedric? Is it a language of your family?" Little did Caiaphas know that the dark shewolf practiced a religion darker than the very pelt she bore -- and had this been knowledge Caiaphas was aware of, she would have been doubly fascinated by the peculiar witch.

She was extremely astute, and manipulative, this coywolf. She was always trying to steer the conversation to suit her needs. Meldresi noted the attempts but complied with them regardless. The priestess was not giving up any secrets of her pack, just some knowledge of her religion. The dark woman ignored the cheekiness for the moment, and sated the female's curiosity. "It is an old language, nearly as dead as Latin." She thought back to her vocabulary of Daedric words, which numbered over 100, but not as large as her vocabulary of other languages. "Only a few can speak it fluently; I myself only know a few words and the alphabet."

Meldresi admitted to knowing only a scant few words from the language she called 'Daedric' -- of which she had likened to Latin. Caiaphas was not necessarily well versed in Latin either, and it may have showed by the faint tinge of consternation in her expression. She knew only rumors of latin wolves in the Wilds -- and having never met one, had no notion of their culture or prowess.

"I see." She said at length, though she did not see at all. Her brow furrowed as a thought came to her -- if Meldresi knew only a little of this language, who was it that had named her? Someone must have had a great grasp of such an ancient tongue if they had fashioned from it a name -- was that someone still alive? "How come you don't know much, if your name is Daedric? I know the language of my name." Her tone was slightly accusatory -- and she finished her sentence with a light scoff of disbelief.

"Those who raised me told me the meaning of my name. I was not formally taught." Part of Meldresi regretted that she did not earn this coywolf's loyalty a long time ago. What a member she would make! The priestess shifted, feeling the children inside her stirring slightly. Their birth was coming soon, no wonder they were so anxious. "They deemed it unnecessary for me to fluently speak Daedric and instead taught me other languages."

Though Capahias made a point; she really should have learned the full language, instead of only learning the words for rituals. Maybe if any of those who still spoke the language were still alive, she could make them teach her. But for now, she knew enough. Enough to name her children, enough to bless them properly. Perhaps she could teach them what she knew and urge them to find others who spoke Daedric.

Caiaphas viewed Meldresi's formal lack of education on the subject of her birth-name as a great tragedy -- and for the briefest of moments, felt something akin to sympathy for this painted woman. The world had a strange way of spinning the lives of its occupants -- and many fell subject to its ironies and coincidences.

"That is a shame. I would have liked to know it." She said flatly, brushing off that it was truly a shame for Meldresi, not her -- as it was, Caiaphas stood to lose nothing with the dying of Meldresi's heritage. "Is your pack big, Meldresi?" She suddenly asked, delivering the dark witch a solemn gaze. They were not so close, Ankyra and Blackfeather Wood, that they would compete this winter -- but Caiaphas had to be sure.

"As do I," she sighed, sensing the sympathy that Caiaphas emitted. It was her one regret she had before leaving her birthplace, but alas, it had been over 3 years now. Far too long. "We are not large, but have been doing well. What of yours?" She was curious to know what pack she belonged to, for she had little knowledge of the sea.

i hope you don't mind if we wrap this up - it was an awesome thread!

The shrewd coywolf observed the female as she spoke, noting the brief flash of wistfulness that seemed to permeate her dark countenance; but like a fickle whimsy, it was gone in moments. She disclosed that the pack she ruled was not large, and this revelation somewhat soothed Caiaphas. Blackfeather was far enough away that in the winter months, a trek would likely not be feasible -- and given the migration of prey, she could surmise that in the event of famine wolves would be driven inland rather to the sea.

She supposed it wouldn't hurt to share a little with Meldresi, though she was careful not to expose her pack entirely to the stranger. "We grow daily." She admitted, pride ringing her voice. "And we grow strong. Soon the entire coast will know of our claim." While Ankyra was not the largest pack in the Wilds, it came close -- Caiaphas felt the numbers were just enough to support a vital pack life without threat of starvation or lack of resources. "But I must tend to them now. Aeternum vale, Meldresi." With a brief bow of her head she would turn then and abruptly slink into the tunnel, disappearing entirely from view as she made her way back to the Sound.