Nevermore Forever More [Open]

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When wolves learn to fight and bicker as the humans do, then hell will be unleashed upon the world. This was a prophecy her father used to whisper in her ear at night to get her to drift off and into a peaceful sleep. Back then, she had little knowledge of the challenges that would face her in the coming days. She wasn't able to grasp the struggles that life had - especially as a stray without a home - because her parents kept her sheltered.

The Gods will see us through, She could still hear them telling her this, when she was very young and very hungry, but prey was scarce. There was a way of working life out, in their heads. A way to ensure your own survival. But sometimes, it meant giving up and entrusting the 'powers that be' to protect you.

Yeah, She grumbled to herself inside of her head. Eyes narrowed down on the water in front of her face, as she splashed down. Her whole body fell to the earth, leaving just the front portion of herself - her face, neck, and two front limbs - to land in the watery surface. Then why couldn't you stay? She wondered, a deep sigh tickling her throat.

Amber hues sweeped their vision over to the rushing liquids that poured over the edge of the mountainous fall. She watched it surge over the edge, and run down the side to the jagged rocks underneath, jumping all around before settling into the lake that currently guided her closer into it's watery depths. I...miss you. She whimpered, letting her usual bubbly exterior escape her, and a new, foreign personality overcome her.

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Kodiac:
Kodiac yawned, big. It was a habit of his that he stretched out when he yawned, and today was no exception. He dragged himself up, muddy brown fur caked in dust. His once sharp markings where all one color, a dusty brown. Kodi made his way from the shady spot and looked in the water. The wolf he saw was not him, the wolf was missing half his face and was all one color. The wolf was missing his ear as well. That wasn't Kodiac, not on the inside. Not the way he had been for most of his life. He reached a paw into the water, and wiped the right part of his face. The part that was him. The dusty brown was stubborn, and Kodi in a sudden rage lashed out at his reflection with his paw. The water washed some dust away, and the dust was marked by wet fur that when dry would have been a light silver color. He turned away, lost his footing, and tumbled into the lake.

Kodi scrambled to his paws, breathing hard. He shook his sopping fur, and he saw it was not dusty. It was the rich brown of mud, marked by a white stripe running from the top of his head to the end of his tail where it turned into a white tail tip. It was the coat he had been born with, the coat he wanted to keep. He never wanted to be that dusty version of himself ever again. Kodi cocked his head to the side, and dipped the left side into the water. His mouth had a gaping hole where his cheek and a good chuck of lip had once been. The scar that had taken part of his face ran from the scrap of fuzz that had been his left ear to the bottom of his jaw. Even part of his eyelid was gone, giving him a creepy 'I can see you even with my eyes closed' look.

For the first time in months, Kodiac tried to have some fun. He started splashing around, and he got more and more energetic as he splashed. He didn't notice the female by the shore until he tripped over her. It sent him headfirst into the sand. When he got up thought he was laughing. "Sorry about that, didn't notice you where there." Then he realized she could see his entire face, and he turned his head so she would only be able to see the right side.

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Amber hues stared deeply into the reflection of a strong and powerful, young female wolf. Painted with browns, blacks, and white and armored in a nice, compact set of muscles, she promised that she could hold her own in a fair fight. This was the face of a fearsome adversary - someone who could mess you up without thinking twice. She was staring at a lie, however. She knew it. Her dad probably knew, back when he was still around. But the important thing was that the world didn't know this.

Her little secret. Meant to keep her safe.

She was gone from the world. The young wolf's mentality was drifting off with the slow, gentle breeze that sung it's way over the edge of the water. Before she knew it, water leaped up as if to pull her in and to drag her underneath it's watery deapths. White ears flickered, before standing at attention. The brown tail lashed out into a straight, horizontal line from her body as she jumped up.

Before she knew it, the body of another made a full, head on collision with her own. "hey!" She gasped, falling over. She rolled away, kicking with her legs and allowing their claws to lash out in different, unplanned directions. In a second's notice, she regained herself however, pulled herself collectively onto her feet.

What on earth was that? Amber hues studied the grassy earth around her, before settling on the marred face of another wolf. Her gaze softened, sympathy and concern both dancing across their expressions. "Who.." She slowly leaked the words from her mouth, carefully wording herself. "Are you?" She ignored his statement, because she already assumed that she could be largely unnoticeable when she wanted to be. "Are you ok?" Her voice raised an inch, the concern leaking through.

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Kodiac:
Kodiac lowered his silver head, brown eyes flickering with a dulling brightness. "Oh man, I am so sorry. I didn't see you there-" He cut himself off. He was groveling at a stranger. The last thing he needed was some stranger thinking they could boss him around. In response to her earlier question, he said, "My name is Kodiac, my friends call me Kodi." Then she asked another question, one he wasn't sure about himself. Physically, nope. Mentally, kind of. Kodi considered voicing this but didn't and just said, "What dose it look like?" he said, voice gruff and deep now.

Kodi sat down on the bank, his huge paws covered in sand. He looked back at the unknown she-wolf and wondered about her. To give himself some time to think he went into the water and hung out there, and contemplated his situation. He sat there for 5 minuets and finally came to a decision. He got up and waded out of the water. His huge body barely wet from his swim. "So, who are you?" Kodi asked, walking out of the water with his left to her. A nasty clawmark, clearly deep and painful even as it was healed. He had a limp, barely noticeable in his gait. Once you noticed it would be hard to miss.

 He looked right back at the she-wolf, who he thought looked a bit like his sister. Brown, like Jess and Toki. Like him. The more Kodi looked at the she-wolf, the more he thought she looked like a smaller version of him. Even though Kodi was a more solid shade of rich brown. Both wolves had a white tail tip, and her underbelly was white. He then looked at her eyes and saw Flint. His brother had had eyes so much like them.

 Kodi looked away, feeling embarrassed.  He was blushing under his fur, but you could see the blush on the left side. That made him smile for a second. One funny thing, I'm going really red. The smile was feeble, and did nothing to help him see less scary. Kodi was used to it by now though and shrugged it off out of habit. Then he lost his footing in the soft sand and toppled. He landed on his back and got the air knocked out of him. Then he burst out laughing. It was something that hadn't happened for a bit. It amused him that a large wolf like him would fall over in soft sand. 

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Strange.

That was the impression that this stranger gave her. Although called that because initially, neither would possibly know eavch other, it was truly a rare thing to find one that would fit the title. He seemed defensive, on the first interpretation. Defensive, possibly shy, and probably slightly scared as well. A singular ear flicked back, dancing snowy white up into the hot summer sun's gaze.

He humbled himself, making his frame smaller than hers for a second with the first reply. An apology, most accurately sincere in it's depths with a hint of a plea lingering somewhere in the furthest reaches of their words. She titled her head to the side, then, letting the arched ear flop over when his demeanor rapidly changed into a very defensive, almost defiant tone.

"Kodi..." She chuckled, walking over to him. He would submerge himself into the cooling, refreshing watery depths but he would not escape her so easily. So long as he didn't try to push himself away, she would use her body to brush up against him, before falling down into the water's reaches as well. Soaking wet - truly a way to cool off on a hot day. "We're not so different." Her words brushed smoothly off her lips.

She had a few battle wounds herself, but nothing as severe as his. He held the appearance of a wolf who had challenged a God and lost just as quickly. She pitied him, and also felt guilty that she pitied the poor fellow. "Let me guess..old wounds?" The words softened, hiding the viper's tips from their dialogue. No need to get ugly over such a personal topic.

"I'm Riley." She smiled, beaming her face up to try and catch his gaze. If he would meet hers, she would lock hers onto his so that they were staring deeply into each other's for a moment. Usually very unnerving, but it was the easiest way to decipher if someone was challenging you - and might hurt you - or if they were being honest and sincere with you. She needed him to know that she meant no harm. "You must be tough. And brave, to survive." She commented.

Really, he was so similar to her in this moment, it pulled out imaginations she had tucked away deep inside her mind. Stories of long ago, when she wished she were a boy instead. Instead - before she accepted herself for who she was. Truly this brown hued wolf dipped with his own white streak running down his body was a pretty good embodiment of how boy her would have probably ended up? All the more braver than her actual self in the long run...

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Kodiac:
Kodi looked down at the she wolf s she brushed his side. He was a bit startled, but it wasn't a bad thing. It had actually felt a bit nice. This wasn't something he had expected for the rest of his life, much less now. He cocked his head, watching her. He thought she was the girl version of him, just smaller. She was really pretty as well... Nhu uh, snap out of it buster, Kodiac mentally scolded himself. Why was he even thinking like that?\

Kodi jumped when she asked him about the one topic he had been expecting the entire conversation. "Fresher then that, as in I got them last winter. So not old, but not fresh either." He felt it was a over-explanation and wondered if he should shorten it. Then she said her name and he said, "Thats a nice name." without thinking. He mentally slapped himself. The she complimented him and he blushed bright red. If there where two things he was not it was tough and brave. More like thick headed. When he had been a pup he may have been brave to go out and save his sister and Iallo, butbthat ended with Flint going out to save him. Kodi had almost died. Maybe last winter he had been brave taking on the bear that had gotten to close to his family. Again that ended up with Kodi's blood on the snow.

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The brown female's face dropped for a moment. This wolf seemed a little reluctant to delve into the past, and she knew it wasn't her place to ask him. But he left the conversation on the topic at a rather awkward stopping point, where you knew just too much to really know nothing at all. Her head tilted to the side, and curiosity gnawed on her mind, trying to pull pursuasive words from their depths and urge her to leak them from her maw.

Amber hues gently brushed over the fresh yet old wounds he referred to, sympathy pulling at their corners. She felt for him - not entirely bad, just a sort of slight downward emotion she couldn't quite label. As she brushed against the other wolf, she could feel his frame, and could better sense his mood it seemed like. Not impressive? She thought so.

So maybe she was easy to impress instead? "I only have scratches." She remarked, mostly true. A few were lasting, but they all resulted in the same manner. Usually her attitude got the better of her, and other wolves misinterpreted her, but it didn't change the fact. Now she was tough, when in reality she wasn't tough at all.

"And I don't deserve any of them. Didn't earn them. Did you at least save someone important?" She allowed her curiosity to slip through the cracks.

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Kodiac:
Kodiac sat, curling his white tipped tail over his paws. His ears pinned back at the question of if he had 'at least saved someone important' He bristled, brown eyes flashing angrily. "I didn't save anyone you would have heard of. I saved my sister, who was sleeping nearby the creek. A bear came by and started lumbering in her direction." he growled, the gap in his mouth giving it a more ecohy sound. His eyes where fixed on Riley's amber ones. His growl faded as he looked down at his paws. His growl faded to a whisper, a sad whisper. "I left my family behind, I couldn't let them see me like this. I want them to remember me as I was." His voice got softer with every word.