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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 29, 2015 23:29:09 GMT -5
Green eyes blink awake as a distant roar meets slate-gray ears; Vanitas's head lifts from his front paws, instantly alert. He's halfway to a stand by the time he recognizes the noise - Perjury's power, as if it could be anything else. His posture loses some of its tension as the sound goes on, the roar coming to a crescendo, then winding its way down. He's heard the sound before, albeit not recently, and he knows its meaning - intruders, or potential recruits.
He debates going after her as he dips out of his den, paws meeting frosted needles and cold dirt. Perjury had always been fond of impressive displays of her power, that he knew, and there was no reason to assume she was in any immediate danger. She alone was more formidable than, possibly, the rest of the pack combined. There had been no intruders as of late either, no disturbances that he would count as out of the ordinary. Something niggles at the back of his mind, though, and he hops up onto the toppled redwood that makes one wall of his west-facing den. His head and ears swivel toward the sound of the disturbance. If there is truly anything to worry about, surely Perjury will give him some sort of notice.
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Post by Cascade on Mar 30, 2015 12:18:04 GMT -5
As the rumblings died down, the forest returned to its natural state of pristine silence. Overhead, some of the branches rustled with shifting snow, but all else was calm. Minutes passed before Perjury emerged from the trees, trailing no one behind her. Malice had gone his own way after seeing her demonstrate her power, but he had accepted her offer. The Frigid Plague had gained another member, someone who Perjury was sure would make a valuable addition.
Looking ahead, the alphess spied her second-in-command, just where she expected he would be. It would seem that the demonstration had roused him from sleep, or at least caught his attention. Was he worried for her? Surely not, but perhaps wary. "I'll have you know that no one's tongue had to be torn out this time," she called out to Vanitas to break the silence, "It was someone I met, in fact. At the top of the mountain." She came to a stop in front of him, relaxing the formality of her posture a bit. It was only the two of them, after all.
"A newcomer to the valley by the name of Malice. He knew nothing of the Power, so I of course offered him a demonstration. I invited him to join our ranks and he accepted."
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 30, 2015 12:49:29 GMT -5
Perjury's appearance through the trees is a welcome one, and Vanitas' posture loses some of its rigidity as she makes her way closer. The redwood is abandoned in short order, and he approaches her neutrally, offering a brief nod of welcome. He listens dutifully as she recounts the meeting, seeming pleased - in his own way - at the news of a new recruit.
"Good. I'd have been disappointed if it had been anything less." He huffs a cloud of steam into the chilly air; his tone isn't outwardly joking, but he cracks the barest hint of an amused grin. "It seems as though all we ever see nowadays are oblivious yearlings wandering in from the grasslands."
He settles onto his haunches, brittle leaves crackling under his weight as he lowers himself. "And what did Malice think of your Power? I can only imagine what it might look like to a wolf unaccustomed to such displays, let alone one from beyond the Valley's borders." His grin widens - though he's glad for the addition to their pack, others' reactions to Perjury's magic never cease to amuse him.
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Post by Cascade on Mar 30, 2015 18:41:47 GMT -5
"You don't have to remind me," Perjury responded in a cordial tone, "Young fools are the only ones venturing across our borders, meanwhile I go out for a stroll and come across a perfectly good recruit. One could easily wonder if the Power is having a laugh at our expense." She cleared a patch of ground of frost and snow to lay upon the soft dirt underneath, remembering a time when such a thing was a considerable feat. Her power had grown so great since that time that this action did not even disturb the unconscious rhythm of her breathing. The alphess cleared another spot, perfectly sized for Vanitas, and invited him to sit with her. "It was the first magical thing he'd ever seen," she said in response to his question about Malice, "I made an impression. He won't be forgetting that anytime soon." She looked over to her beta and cracked a sly smile, "And then I sent him to explore the forest of love, because even I am not entirely missing a sense of fun."
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 30, 2015 19:09:00 GMT -5
"I'm sure he won't." Vanitas nods his agreement, gladly moving to the area Perjury had cleared - the smell of damp peat is a welcome one, and he settles once more onto less frigid ground as he listens. He glances to the western border, visible from their place of repose, until she speaks again - a short, rumbling laugh escapes him at her words. He catches her devious look and returns it with a similarly brief one.
"Really. And he went after you scared him that badly? The poor thing." He pauses, thinking, and stretches further along the newly-exposed ground, lowering himself onto it; soft dirt is hard to come by in the winter, even in his den, though he knows far better than to complain to Perjury about that. Better to enjoy it while he can. "And what happens when he encounters those lovesick pups who call that forest home? I can only hope he won't run himself right out of the Valley."
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Post by Cascade on Mar 30, 2015 19:46:17 GMT -5
"Power forbid anyone calls that forest home," Perjury replied with a not-too-subtle hint of disdain for lovesick pups who traipsed around in the bodies of adults, "But he will come back; this is the safest place in the valley he knows. Everything else is a vast, magical void of unknowable danger." Perjury herself could not imagine a world without magic. It was just as natural and obvious to her as the air she breathed. It was almost as though there were wolves who had lived their entire lives without legs or ears.
"And what about yourself, Vanitas?" She asked with perceptible cheekiness for a wolf usually as formal as she was, "Have you ever gone out to that pink forest and tried your luck at finding the evil lady of your sweetest dreams?"
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 30, 2015 20:39:58 GMT -5
Vanitas has to very quickly cover up his derision at Perjury's suggestion; he knows it's in jest, sure, but the thought of actually visiting that accursed forest almost makes bile rise in his throat just thinking about it. The forest itself had never put him off in and of itself - the oddly-colored trees were merely a rather colorful manifestation of the Power that preserved the land. No, what put him off were its inhabitants. He'd rather take on a bull moose in rut than spend more than five minutes in the accursed place.
Still, Perjury had been merely joking, and he gives her a look before drawling out an answer. "Oh yes. Just the other day, in fact. Her name is Lilac." He holds back another chuckle, voice dripping with sarcasm. "She's from Eternal Snowfall. We're planning to run away together, didn't you know?"
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Post by Cascade on Mar 30, 2015 20:56:25 GMT -5
Perjury laughed heartily, her small frame shaking at the thought. "If only you should be so lucky." she said, wiping a tear from her eye, "I would soon be awaiting the birth of your pups, Virtue and Chastity. They would take all their good genes from their mother, of course." The alphess stifled her laugh to a chuckle for the sake of her dignity. "We shouldn't joke. Malice could be out there seducing the Eternal Snowfall heiress away from her life of dainty goodness at this very moment."
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 30, 2015 22:07:00 GMT -5
"If only." He gives one last 'hm' of subdued amusement, watching Perjury as she comes down from her mirth as well. "Though I'm not sure I could ever suffer a wolf from Eternal Snowfall, even after a change of heart." He breathes a quiet sigh, eyes flicking to the border once more; the treeline is just barely visible from where they sit, the meager sunlight of the day fading against the pristine snow.
He speaks up again after a comfortable silence. "In all seriousness - what about you, alphess? I pray I am not out of line in asking, but you've never seemed one to share your leadership." He looks back to her, expression and tone neutral.
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Post by Cascade on Mar 31, 2015 11:59:50 GMT -5
She nodded in agreement, nestling herself deeper into the earthen bed she had made. Soon the daylight would be gone, and the valley would be awash in darkness. The cold did not agree with Perjury, but the dark was something she did not mind. A memory surfaced of her childhood, laying at the mouth of her den with her family and watching the sun slowly disappear. As the brilliant reds of the sunset gave way to the darkness of the night, she felt a peaceful satisfaction, but the trembling form next to her disagreed. Perjury scooted closer to the larger pup and laid her head across her back. "It's alright," she had whispered, quietly so that her father wouldn't hear, "I've got you."
Vanitas broke her reverie with his question, and Perjury had to pause a moment just to remember where she was. On the edge of her vision, she could see her den neatly nestled beneath the roots of a redwood. How long had it been that it now seemed so small? "I have not spared much thought for it." The alphess answered truthfully, "It is an undeniable necessity that I one day have pups, or else the line of succession will be broken. But, for so long there have always been bigger and more immediate concerns. Now that things are quiet, perhaps I should spend some time considering it."
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 31, 2015 20:02:16 GMT -5
"Perhaps." He nodded his agreement, looking away from her once more. "I cannot say I envy your position." He paused, slate-gray ears flicking as he considered that for a moment. "Though I suppose with my newfound rank it may be expected of me as well." In all honesty, he'd never truly considered it. Younglings had never appealed to him; to rowdy and attention-seeking for his liking. No, Vanitas had never even begun to consider children, nor the changes that his standing amongst Frigid Plague would make in regards to that decision. Perhaps he had gotten in over his head.
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Post by Cascade on Mar 31, 2015 20:24:46 GMT -5
"I can easily say that I envy your position. I promise, you don't have to worry about a thing." It was true. Treason's mother and father had been fine betas, and Treason herself was very qualified for the position except for lacking the necessary quality of evil. But Vanitas did not come from Treason's family, and Perjury did not think it was necessary for there to be a hereditary line of betas. Although, if Vanitas wished to have pups and raise them accordingly, she would certainly not object. "Then again, we may all have to lie back and think of Frigid Plague if we don't wish to be outnumbered by the Dark Donoma through their sheer quantity of offspring. Although, I haven't heard a whisper of them in quite some time, and haven't wanted to risk sparking Ilana's ire by spying on their territory." Perjury's brow furrowed, it was not just Dark Donoma who had grown quiet, but many of the valley's packs. She considered herself to be a wolf who made special effort to be "in the know" as it were, but the status of many packs were unknown to her.
She shook the thought away, not wanting to get too distracted from the topic at hand. It was an important one, after all, although not one with which she was overly comfortable. "I can tell you one thing, my eventual mate will not be found by prancing through the forest of love."
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Post by Gyllbane on Mar 31, 2015 21:35:38 GMT -5
Now there was a name he hadn't heard in awhile. His head tilted toward Perjury as she mentioned Dark Donoma - he shared a somewhat similar disdain for the quickly-rising pack as he did for the do-gooders in Eternal Snowfall. As far as Vanitas was concerned, Ilana and her extended family made a poor name for all of them, and he had to suppress a huff of annoyance at it.
"They breed like rats." He flicks an ear in her direction. "But I haven't seen hide nor hair of them recently, either." He's happy to let that branch of the conversation fade as Perjury does.
"I'd be concerned for your mental wellbeing if you did." He chuffs. "Those addled pups aren't fit to lead themselves around, much less an entire pack."
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Post by Cascade on Apr 1, 2015 0:08:38 GMT -5
Breeding like rats...what an appropriate analogy. If there was one thing Perjury prided herself on, it was her sanity, something very badly missing in the upper echelons of the Dark Donoma. "No news might be good news, here. Assuming they are truly gone, I suppose my mental wellbeing is the next logical thing to fall into question," she laughed, "We'll just have to wait and see. I seem to become luckier when I stop trying so hard, so maybe I should just sit back for once and let things fall into place."
The sun finally vanished over the horizon, and Perjury watched Vanitas' face turn to shadow as the red illumination of the sun crept down his body and disappeared. Perjury looked up to the darkening sky. Although it was still too early to see the stars, she knew where all the constellations belonged. "You'll lead them well, my love," a memory of a voice whispered to her through the twilight, "History will not forget you."
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Post by Gyllbane on Apr 1, 2015 1:09:03 GMT -5
Vanitas offered another slight grin, the corners of his mouth turning upward briefly. "Perhaps you should. Hunting down a suitable mate wouldn't seem like you."
He'd be content to sit there as the last of the shadows fell; soon, though, the cold late-winter air nips through even his thick winter coat. He suppressed a shiver, then lifted himself to a sit, looking back in Perjury's direction. "We should rest. Hopefully that recruit's found his way back onto the territory by morning. May I recommend a border patrol assignment?"
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