Stone, moonlight, rust. (Jay)

[sorcerer]

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[atrb=background,http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/Tiaron/colemdl2.jpg] Sometimes, Cole felt like he was supposed to be doing something. Like he was wandering through life, missing an important and mandatory piece of himself. This had been more common when he was younger, until he'd killed that wolf and finally realized that..well, yes. He was missing the part that screamed 'this is bad idea!' and 'you're a fucking bastard!'. A...conscience, it was called? The wolf hadn't paid much attention. He padded the night halls of the local castle, comparing and contrasting to the ones he'd known, and contemplating fate. The castle wasn't so bad, he thought, definitely a bit less militant and more home-like than in Russia. Then again, his alphas had been more interested in housing a giant pack of mercenaries in defensible location than they had stained-glass windows and tapestries. Some of the latter were in good condition, still. Cole studied one for a bit, making out the forms of a human and some kind of horned horse animal in the near pitch-black. He moved on, looking for a room where the moon shone though a window. This he found, several doors down the from the Tapestry. A large terrace really, open to the sky. Cole smiled and sniffed the warm air, uncautiously padding out into the open. The wind was blowing pleasantly, and he could hear the ocean somewhere in the far distance. A much nicer castle than what he was used to. He scratched his side against the stonework, staring up at the half-moon. It was bright as day out here, and there was a good view of the ruined city on the horizon, with the ocean and the plains nearer. The wolf paused from enjoying the view, tilting a tattered ear back. Claws on the stone, it sounded like. Cole, as usual, couldn't bring himself to care. Not many animals out here were willing to mess with a wolf..even a skinny, maniac individual with a limp. Some kind of social pariah or something. He turned his head anyway, to see who was attempting to sneak up behind him..

[Jay]

Aleut was bored out of her mind. A year had passed since her last major encounter with any other creature. And she was bored. She growled, as much as she liked her solitude, she would go insane if she stayed away from other animals much longer. She yawned, she'd been on her way to the city for the past few hours, and was exhausted, after having no luck hunting for a few days. She looked around, and spotting the castle through the trees, quickly set off at a trot towards it.

When she arrived at the entrance, she wanted nothing more than to just collapse to the ground in a heap, but, of course, that wasn't smart and her brain would not allow her to think otherwise. She growled and began making her way deeper into the building, looking for a suitable room to sleep in. Her claws sounded on the stone floor, giving away her prescence, but she couldn't bring herself to give a shit. Her mind was drifting off, possibly a side effect of hunger and dehydration, and thinking about her encounters since the death of the human race. Unfortunatly, this took her mind off the possible dangers that could be lurking in each room, and when she ran into an open door, she jumped in surprise and cursed loudly. She shook her head, clearing out the fuzzynes and continueing down the hall before turning off into one room, only to come face to back with a dark shape. She growled.
"Damnit, and I thought I might get a little peace and quiet in this place." She snarled, half-heartedly, she was to tired to be a real bitch about it. Her tail was drooped but not tucked. She looked the male over.
"Why did I have to pick this to be the room I went to." She muttered, not noticing the fact that her legs quiverred ever so slightly with exhaustion, hours of travel on an empty stomach was no a smart idea for her.

[sorcerer]

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[atrb=background,http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/Tiaron/colemdl2.jpg] Cole never even tensed up. The other dog, a bright white creature in the darkness, seemed both upset to see him and somewhat irritable to begin with. The voice was female, and so was the scent. He cast a more careful eye over..her. A wolfish-looking female, almost, he though, white in color, tall, beautiful. Cole always did like white wolves. He grinned a bit, vaguely remembering the fuck-up mess that was Fala, and returned his attention to the dog. She muttered something grouchy, which he didn't quite catch. The wolf relaxed, assuming that she was not any kind of threat to him, and stepped into the moonlight, studying her carefully. She blazed in his vision like the moon. "'...the moon hung moveless in the night. And this it was that Beren heard, And this he saw, without a word, enchanted dumb, yet filled with fire of such a wonder and desire that all his mortal mind was dim... ...her magic bound and fettered him..." Yes, Cole had been able to read, at one point. Long ago. He supposed he couldn't recall it now, although his grasp of the old Nordic tounge from his puphood was still good, and he remembered Russian very well..but reading, well, that wasn't exactly a talent required for a wolf of his talents. His memory was excellent, though, and a poem found in an aged book left over from the humans was still as clear in his mind as ever. He stepped around, staring at the white dog, fascinated. She was a creature of moonlight, sent by the gods to torment him. White, where he was black, beautiful contrasting what..well, he was far from good-looking these days. Once, maybe. Now he looked exactly like he was. A murderous beast who'd seen too much of the dark side of life. But there it was. "'...and faint he leaned against a tree. Forwandered, wayworn, gaunt was he, his body sick and heart gone cold, grey in his hair, his youth turned old; for those that tread that lonely way a price of woe and anguish pay..." He smiled, bitterly, and stared at her. She pierced the night like a white flame.

OOC: The Lay of Leithian, Canto III, lines 542-556; The History of Middle Earth vol. 3; The Lays of Beleriand - Tolkien again. Read the whole thing here. Do it. Do it now.

[Jay]

Aleut stood, her exhastion clouding her mind, as she looked over this strange wolf. His coat was black, completely contrasting to her own white one, something she took from her own father. This wolf seemed a bit, off, and grinned slightly at nothing, perhaps a memory? Aleut herself had probably come off as a very moddy bitch, but yet this male relaxed before her, stepping into the moonlight, seeming to study her appearence. He took a moment before speaking.
"'...the moon hung moveless in the night.
And this it was that Beren heard,
And this he saw, without a word,
enchanted dumb, yet filled with fire
of such a wonder and desire
that all his mortal mind was dim...
...her magic bound and fettered him..."
Her eyes widened, she remembered her human male reciting something similar to his female. It was something kind. He stepped around her, seeming to stare, she followed him with her eyes in fascination, he was probably handsome before the world became cruel to him, she felt a slight stab of pity for him in her heart, something she rarely felt for others nowadays. She listened as he continued to speak.
"'...and faint he leaned against a tree.
Forwandered, wayworn, gaunt was he,
his body sick and heart gone cold,
grey in his hair, his youth turned old;
for those that tread that lonely way
a price of woe and anguish pay..."
She listened in reverence as he completed his recitation, then met his gaze with her own golden amber eyes.
"That was quite lovely, sir." She felt some sort of respect towards this wolf, though god or gods only know why. "May I ask your name?" Her bad mood had somehow vanished in the suddenly peaceful and awe filled atmosphere.

[sorcerer]

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[atrb=background,http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/2858/colebg.jpg] "Speech!" He smiled darkly, thoughts shifting from calm to predatory and back, tensing before he relaxed again. No, it wouldn't do to go insane here. There was, Cole thought, a certain formula to meetings like this. Exchange names, talk about the weather, smile, leave. Most of his were of this variety, except for the event with the cat and the silly dog from Tempest, of course. Everyone was too guarded here, unwilling to overextend themselves and get hurt. Not like in the old country, where everyone was a comrade if they weren't an enemy, and Cole had fought a wolf in the morning and staggered around drunk with the same animal that night. Time to throw in a variable, see what this female did... "Cole,"

[/b] he said quietly, trying to concentrate on the white dog, rather than the moon, or the wind that was picking up. A storm coming, later in the night, likely. Cole liked to avoid storms; they made him..unbearable. He shifted position slightly, on edge. "Forginsson, late of the Svardrkveldi. Now of Tempest Pack."[/b]

Really, it was odd how many fake names he had. Cole Forginsson, of course, was a very old false name from back in the day. Then there was Kveld, borrowed from his old pack's name. He should have..ought to have..told her to call him Peregrin, and avoided anyone knowing who he was. She might be from Lexis, or even a Scavenger, or, honestly, who knew where any of these loners really came from? It would be just like some of his old 'Komrades' to send a pretty white dog to settle their scores. The ones he'd left alive, anyway.
"And yours?"
His eyes searched hers, waiting for a lie to pop up in them. Fight or flee; he considered the ramifications of both, and decided to fight. If she wasn't who she said she was, and if the name Cole Forginsson (or that of Peregrin the Butcher) was known more widely in these lands than he assumed..
In that case, there was little reason to assume she was a good enough fighter to beat someone who fought on pure violent instinct. Not to mention years of experience. He rather hoped not, though; she was quite attractive and Cole had already shared a few stanzas of his favorite tale with her..
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OOC: Plz to admire Cole's sexy new table that Robyn made. Kthnx.

1

[Jay]

Aleut's head tilted to the side as she eyed the black male, watching as his control over himself seemed to fluctuate, his body tensing then relaxing again, curious to know what had happened to cause this lapse is control. Then he spoke.
"Cole, Forginsson, late of the Svardrkveldi. Now of Tempest Pack." She tilted her head to the side, her eyes having been focused on him, and knew there was something he hadn't told her, something he was hiding, but of course, he would have something to hide, just like almost anyone in Hexasol.
"A pleasure to meet you Cole." Her voice was soft, and her gaze remained focused on his.
"And yours?" His question had her smiking.
"Aleut, ex human pet, now a wandering loner." She replied honestly. The wind outside was picking up, a storm would be coming through soon, and this room would get colder and the weather would come through the widow. She looked him over once more, life must have been cruel to him at some point, he was scarred, and from the way that he had held himself when she had entered, he may not be completely mentally stable, though, of course, who was nowadays? She stood, pricking her ears foreword, and looked at him, golden amber eyes mettign his own.
“There are places deeper in the castle that would be far from the approaching storm if you would prefer to take this conversation elsewhere.” She spoke calmly, and smirked, eyeing him in a playful manner.

[sorcerer]

And why, he wondered to himself, would an ex human pet named Aleut have any interest in him? The little smirk on her face more or less cleared up any suspicions he had of her motives. She didn't want to kill him. Besides, Cole was fairly certain he'd given ample opportunity for someone to jump him in the dark, not a half hour ago, as he strolled nonchalantly through the black halls in the castle.
"Oh no." He smiled back, studying her eyes thoughtfully for a moment. Burning. The black wolf glanced away again. "The stone and darkness is no place for a spirit of fire."
Fire.
He looked back, thinking he caught a glimpse of white wolf in her stead, but it was only a dog when he looked harder. She reminded him of Fala, so very much. White fur, and burning eyes, and that beguiling smile. Light, where he was dark. Honest, faithful.
A liar, a faithless cheat, a traitor.
But even so, if this was Fala, he reminded himself, she would have known him already. And would never have fallen again for Beren and Luthien.
Lighting flickered overhead.
"Besides, it's rather dark in the hall, and then I would never be able to look at you."

This was rather like a night he'd lived through, long ago, Cole remembered. The beginning of the end, when Fala had stood in a stone hall and (was it something he said? so long ago..) turned, and scarred his face.
"You remind me of someone I once knew," the wolf noted pragmatically.
But then the demons had come on him, when he was young and barely understood them, and he'd forced his will on hers.
"She was beautiful, too."
He probably looked far away. And he was. Far away, another time.
And not a month later, Fala leaped from the castle tower, and took his child with her.

Thunder growled. Cole blinked slightly, breaking the spell, and studied the white dog for a moment. So very much like his white wolf, was this Aleut. A ghost, returned to haunt him. So be it.
Reap what you sow.
He steadied his thoughts, like a drunk man reaching for support.
"A human..pet, hm? What were they like?" He made an effort to concentrate on this..apparition. "Tell me. For all their war and gods and castles, what killed them?"
The question he'd never answered. He wanted to know.
He wanted to hear her voice.

[Jay]

"Oh no," she tilted her head at his comment. "The stone and darkness is no place for a spirit of fire." He had met her eyes, and turned away. She felt her ears burn with a blush, she was not used to being complimented. A flicker of lightning outside had her head snapping aside, staring out the window, brow furrowed. But Cole, the male wolf before her, caught her attention once more within a few words.
"Besides, it's rather dark in the hall, and then I would never be able to look at you." Her ears were burning even worse now, had it not been for her fur, she would be turning pink with embarrasment, as it was, her tail wagged and ears twitched in a way that most likely revealed her embarrassment. She sat, practically on her tail in an effort to hide her pleasure with the convorsation, as he spoke again.
"You remind me of someone I once knew... She was beautiful, too." He looked away. She forgot her embarrassment and took a few steps closer at the look on his face, he was far away, yes, but he was not in a happy place. A crack of thunder inrupted his thoughts, and he refocussed on her.
"A human..pet, hm? What were they like?" He spoke again. "Tell me. For all their war and gods and castles, what killed them?" She laid back her ears, looking down as she sat again, not minding that she was even closer to him than in the first place.
"For all their war, it was not that that killed them... it was sickness, a diesease that wiped out everyone, at the least everyone here in Hexasol. My owners and their pup included." She murmured the last part, head turign to stare out the window, remebering the human pup that had been almost like her own pup for so long.
"They were a good race, all in all, with a few that just... didn't seem to fit that picture. I believe the term one of my owners used for war is-was" she caught herself fast. " 'when the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.' " She turned to him.
"What of you? What was your life outside Hexasol like?"

[sorcerer]

'When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.'
He thought about it for a moment, turning over half-forgotten images in his head. Burning poppies, slaughtered herds, stolen cubs. The dead, dying, maimed. Constant illness. Starving in winter and summer.
She asked her own questions. The wolf smiled slightly and wondered what the truth might do. She might leave, knowing exactly what it was he'd done outside of this city.
No. Cole was tired of lying, fake names, hiding himself in old alleyways and ruined castles. He studied the white dog for another minute, and settled back against the stone behind himself.
"I was a mercenary, Aleut." The smile spread bitterly across his face, exposing broken teeth. "I fought everyone and everything. First for myself, then for my pack, and finally I reached the top."
Funny how easy it was.
"The thing about the top is..once you're there, a single wrong step sends you straight to hell." He shrugged, smile fading, feverish eyes staring at the dog. "And here I've been, for years."
Until now. This was a worse kind of hell, he thought. Watching, and not knowing if she'd walk away from him (crazed as he was, with a bitter doom on him), or stay behind (pity for the fallen.) And wondering which he'd regret more (the latter could be so much worse, for both of them.)
He stared at her again, thinking of Fala, considering what the chances had to be. This meeting, on this night, in this godforsaken place. As if planned.
But Cole wouldn't let himself consider what might happen, if he just let it. Enough lives had been ruined by his doings.

A shaky step took his weight off the wall behind him, claws scraping. He looked back at the dog named Aleut, wavering.
He'd meant to walk away, go back to his familiar purgatory and let her live a life without his involvement. It was his fault, for looking her in the eyes again as he went. Burning, a dying fire. He could no more walk past than he could leap from the tower now (and he was an instant, a second, from doing just that.)
The moment passed, and he sat down again, his will failing again. Sighed, looked up at her, smiled as reassuringy as possible.
"Her name was Fala," he noted offhandedly. "The one I mentioned. You look just like her."

[Jay]

Aleut sat, watching Cole with a fascination she hadn’t felt for quite a while; he was studying her for a moment, as if trying to decide how to answer her questions. He settled back, then spoke.
"I was a mercenary, Aleut." A bitter smile exposed his broken teeth. "I fought everyone and everything. First for myself, then for my pack, and finally I reached the top. The thing about the top is... once you're there; a single wrong step sends you straight to hell." He shrugged and his smiled disappeared, he seemed to stare at Aleut, who met his gaze. "And here I've been, for years." She watched him warily, wondering how he would react to having said all this to her, she worried for him. She stood, examining the wolf before her. Three years ago she would never have imagined this meeting happening, and yet, as if planned by their creators themselves, here they were black and white, wild and tame, insane and balanced, a decent dog and one of dubious morals. She sighed, and spoke just as he took a step, her voice so low she wasn’t sure he would hear.
“I fear this hell is one we may never escape.” She murmured. He stopped, having been walking away. A moment passed, the two of them frozen, as if time itself had stopped, the only assurance it hadn’t was the fact that the wind still howled outside. Then he sighed, and spoke, smiling.
"Her name was Fala, the one I mentioned. You look just like her." That broke her determination to stay as distanced from him as she could. She stood and padded over, nudging his neck with her muzzle.
“It seems you have been through more than most in your life. I am sorry that you lost this Fala.” She murmured softly, meeting his gaze with her own amber one.

[sorcerer]

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[atrb=background,http://i39.tinypic.com/34pxl51.png] He twitched slightly at her touch, thinking about the storm coming and the wind picking up. It was getting colder out, the breeze cutting through his too-dark fur and cooling him down a bit. Not enough to feel like his northlands, the high mountains and thick snow and the endless pine forest, but it was better than nothing. "Storm's coming," he managed to mumble out. Once, he'd run through storms like these same as sunny days. His brothers around, beta's guard, the white fur of his mate, when he'd had one, blazing at his side. Long time ago. Long ago, in the mountains and the poppy fields. "I didn't lose her. I killed her." His eyes shifted restlessly back to the dog Aleut, his words carrying a tone of warning. He might kill her, too, if she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It had happened before. His temper had been the downfall of his marriage, his brothers, the Svardr..all of it. Cole looked at the dark lands over the edge of the castle tower, thoughtfully. It would rain soon. "I did things I should never have. She hated me then. She jumped off my castle's walls." Her body had been unrecognizable at the bottom of them. "I never loved her until she was already dead." The rain started to fall, heavily. Cole sat in the wet, ignoring it, a faint smile on his lips. "It's raining a bit. Shall we go in, my lady?" His small room barely had space for two of them, but it would serve for now. It was dry, at least, and he'd left some straw and things in there to turn it into almost a proper den. "My castle is yours." He stood, heading for the door leading into the blackness. She might run off now, or follow him..or just stay there, who knew? He half expected to turn and see her leap over, a white blur falling the in the darkness. Fala. Aleut. Was there a difference?

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[Jay]

As soon as she'd touched him he'd twitched. She felt a frown tug at her muzzle as he muttered about the storm coming towards them. She watched him stand there, then he spoke again, eyes flickering back to her.
"I didn't lose her. I killed her." She stood, slient, meeting his gaze, and realized a warning when she heard it. He was telling her the same could happen to her, no question he had an upper hand in a fight, being bigger and stronger. But there was something more, Aleut doubted that he had murdered her in a fit of rage. Then he explained.
"I did things I should never have. She hated me then. She jumped off my castle's walls... I never loved her until she was already dead." The rain had started to fall heavily, soaking into Aleut's pelt, washing away bits of the mud and dirt that had stained her moon-white coat over the time that she had spent roaming about the forests of the countryside. She stood on the damp floor, feeling a distinct empathy towards this wolf, who had lost so much in his life, and been through so much.
"It's raining a bit. Shall we go in, my lady?" He asked this with a faint smile, sitting in the damp without much of a care.
"My castle is yours." With that he stood and started walking out. Aleut followed out the door, pausing for a moment to look down the hallway towards the exit, debating whether or not to leave. Instead she turned and walked after the darkly colored wolf, wondering just how crazy she must be to follow a wolf she knew barely anything about.