"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Another autumn. Zojja keeps to herself often - even with the passing of the years, she's yet to find company quite tolerable enough to stick around for very long - but this time of the year, when the summer greenery is giving way to red and golds, and the wind is beginning to find its teeth again, she is alone even moreso. Not that the wanderers of the field would necessarily like to see her alone. She is, after all, one more lone mare in a sea of mothers-to-be.
The ones that get too close, however, are very quick to discover that the autumn wind is not alone in its unexpected bite.
Zojja has had time to better toy with the unusual abilities her mother handed down to her - even more than Porrim has, she believes - and prefers to alter her physical self over assuming the form of something else entirely. Leave Porrim to her animals, the greyed mare thinks, ever haughty. There are far better lessons to be taught in becoming something nightmarish (teeth jutting from all the wrong places; wicked talons; a scorpion's tail) than in simply becoming something predatory. She recalls seeing her mother warn off a stranger, charging at them as a grizzly. It had been utterly boring. Zojja's method is far more practical.
Still... shapeshifting has its merits.
The speckled mare is drifting through the tall grasses of the meadow, just at the edge of the forest (it's quieter here, she finds - most of the meadow's amorous locals tend to congregate nearer to the lake), when she sees him - a distant, pale green-and-teal figure, jewel-bright and stark against the dulling grass and browning leaves. Zojja scarcely has time to cock her head thoughtfully - Lupei, she's not forgotten him, he's as distinctive as anything - before the stallion simply shrinks to the ground, dulling in color as he goes. In a heartbeat he's gone from the flashy stallion she's familiar with to a black wolf, darting into the trees with nary a backward glance.
A rare smile quirks the corners of Zojja's mouth. Well, isn't that interesting.
She's unassuming, as a wolf - small, pale-eyed, and tawny. She lopes after the larger wolf - the only company she's actively sought in weeks, and another shifter, at that; she could get used to this - and follows unhurriedly until Lupei notices that he is being followed and rounds on her, at which point Zojja skitters to a halt several yards away. Her mouth falls open in a panting grin as her cream coat color leeches into a lupine mimicry of the stallion's green and teal coat. Do you remember me? she wonders, still grinning as the color fades into her original taupe - albeit, this time, with the dark points of her former dun, before the grey took over. Because I remember you.
OOC; So I took a huge liberty with placing Lupei in the setting myself - if you are not happy with the above idea, pleaaase let me know and I'll write a different scenario instead!
He’s not exactly prepared for what does emerge from the cover of the forest, and even as she stalks forward on lithe, brightly-colored paws, he cannot help but ease the tension of his face and raise his bulky head. Ever the ladies man. Lupei had personally never come across another female wolf - never considered it a possibility that a natural born predator would approach him. Truly wild animals can always smell the otherness of Beqanna’s inhabitants. So he knows then, obviously, that she is not like other wolves. Her skin bleeds, just like his sisters, and his eyes widen sharply, thinking for the briefest moments that somehow Dacia had been gifted with wolf shifting, but then she changes once more and his mouth pulls taught in a wicked smile. Zojja.
He’d met the mare some time ago, when he’d been a weed of a stallion. They’d enjoyed the stimulating company of some raving madman, but Zojja had always stuck out in his mind since that day. He had buried it some time ago as a boyish tendency, some sort of inclination of manhood in him that clung to her still. But, looking at her now, he knew exactly why he’d taking a liking to the mare. His tail wags gently and the brute pads forward to bump his thick head against hers. It’s been too long. And it has. He wondered now why he never sought her out again - where she’d gone to all this time.
Doesn’t matter. She’s here now and he’s one to always live in the present so he flops down on to his side and pants softly before looking her over. “I like you in blue.” He muses, great head tilting to the side. “Suits you.” His mouth closes, ears perking while he dredges into the more curious matter of her shape. “I didn’t know you had tricks up your sleeve too …” He queries, rising on his forelegs to sit properly. “But I’m always a fan of surprises.” Lupei chortles, the sound escaping from his mouth as a low rumble. Truly, Zojja was a multi-faceted gem among the others, and Lupei was having a hard time concealing his pleasure that after all this time she still sought out his company.
Made him feel … special.
OOC: No problem at all! <3 Makes it easier on me actually, so thank you!
Lupei is not the only one wondering about the other's whereabouts for the past few years - Zojja, too, wonders why she's not seen the stallion around, although the confusion is somewhat lessened with the knowledge that he's potentially been slinking around as something less... ostentatious. Still, despite his absence he's been busy, if the familiar-looking colts and fillies bouncing around the field these past few years are anything to go by. Might have been nice to cross paths with him proper, in any case. Frankly, in the sea of proven idiots he's a sight for sore eyes (if a rather lurid one).
He bumps his broad head against hers, and the dun wolf wags her tail, sinking to her haunches as Lupei rolls languidly onto his side. Zojja's ears perk at his comment. "Mm, you think so?" The gold of her coat sort of fades into a cadet blue, although the dark points remain - ever the showoff. "Everybody else has always seemed fond of the orange. You wear the blue well, though." Truthfully, the orange is the only thing that seems to have stuck around as the extensive roaning gradually worked its way into full-fledged grey ("Huh," Porrim had said, frowning thoughtfully at her outraged daughter, "That's funny - your father was every color except grey"). She's almost sort of thankful they've only just now crossed paths - the period during which her natural coat had faded out had, frankly, been an embarrassing time for her. Lupei, on the other hand, seems as eye-catching as always.
I didn't know you had tricks up your sleeve, too... but I'm always a fan of surprises. Zojja chuckles, eyeing the black wolf interestedly as he sits upright. "I could say the same for you, you know. Guess we're both rather adept at keeping secrets - unless, of course, this is a new development. It has been a while..." Her tail sweeps the leaves underfoot as she regards the other wolf, a wry smile quirking at the corners of her mouth. "It's nice to see you about, in any case. I'd all but given up hope on finding any worthwhile company around here." Zojja scoffs. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I digress. Where've you been lurking, anyway? I've certainly seen some familiar colors gallivanting around the Meadow, but you, on the other hand... well, I think I'd remember." Another sly grin as she sinks to her belly, tail still lazily fanning the carpet of dead leaves. "Perhaps you've stumbled across some more raving strangers since we last met? I haven't - but then, after the first I rather lost my taste for lunatics."
The blue is all he’s ever known. Lupei reasons that even if he had his sister’s useless ability to change color, he probably wouldn’t use it. The melding of greens and blues across his body is something he’s rather fond of, though he wishes it wouldn’t stick to the few offspring that carry it around with them. Lestrade comes to mind here, but the wolf pushes that little splinter to the back of his thoughts for later, when he wasn’t trying to enjoy the tawny she-wolf’s company. “Don’t turn into a narcissitic primadonna on me.” He warns her playfully. “I’ve had to share my childhood with one and to say she got on my nerves was an understatement.” He recalls. Dacia had come dangerously close to receiving a mangled scar across her pretty face when she provoked Lupei - but their mother had always put a stop to his rage before he could commit the crime.
“Not a new development.” He chuckles, he’d known since the day he was born that he was a shifter. It had only been a matter of practice to work out how to control it. When he’d met Zojja the first time, he hadn’t really had a good grip on anything in his life, much less his second body. His fire manipulation though, that was something new to him, but controlling it had come as easily as killing its original wielder. Her smile excites him, and Lupei’s tail mirrors her own as she reveals her enjoyment at having been reunited.
“I am a male, after all. To deny some wayward mare her wish to raise a little rugrat would be … cruel of me, don’t you think?” He jokes, watching Zojja carefully as she slides onto her belly. “Especially when I’m so … capable.” He teases, mouth widening in a smirk as he winks a solitary blue eye at her. Of course, Lupei was well aware that Zojja was not some wayward mare, and the last thing she was searching for was a willing donor. But, if the situation ever did arise, the blue-green brute would always be more than happy to step up to the plate.
“No lunatics for me.” He replies, rising to a standing position before slinking closer to his companion. “I’ve been too busy exploring Beqanna, as you can tell.” He chuckles. His right ear quirks, head soon following to test the wind. Deer, probably. “But my bachelor days are coming to an end. I think I’ll attempt to stay in one place now, the Chamber, and see how much trouble I can stir up there.” He had other plans, obviously, but there was no need to indulge Zojja about his life. “What about you, hmm?” He questions, eyes turning back to peer down at her with intrigue. “Are you here to stay, or just passing through?”
Narcissistic primadonna? How uncharitable a description, she thinks. She only preens when there's company worth preening for, after all. (Sort of. Usually. She does indulge in a little vanity now and again.) For Lupei, though, with his teasing tone and casual bitching, Zojja merely snickers and tilts her head coyly to one side. "What happens if I do?" she taunts. "I bet my teeth are bigger than yours." They probably aren't, of course, but that doesn't mean she can't tip the odds in her favor. Not that she wants to. The she-wolf flops onto her side, regarding her black companion through half-lidded eyes. "Nice to hear that I'm not the only one with inconvenient siblings, by the by. She sounds like a fun time." This is sarcastic, of course. Zojja, herself, has recently met her younger brother (the nerve! One brother was bad enough) - blindingly bright and deaf as a stone, much to her mother's chagrin. He's uninteresting - deaf mutes do not make for terribly stimulating company. Even less so with Porrim doting on him like a young foal, despite the fact that he is, at this point, a gangly three-year-old.
So he's always been a shifter. Interesting. "Oh, likewise." Pity she's only just finding this out now - blind as he'd been, that certainly would have made things more interesting for poor Brynmor, wherever he may be. The she-wolf rolls up onto her sternum and regards Lupei with a poorly-contained grin as he admits to - ahem - fraternizing with some of the wanton mares dotting the Meadow. Capable, he says, winking at her. He is capable, and they are lonely, and wouldn't it just be a waste to let them wander bereft of company? Zojja chuckles. "Oh, I don't doubt that you are," she muses, watching intently as Lupei meanders closer to her. Her ears perk, too, as something catches his attention - he'd probably be more keen on a chase than she would, but, hey, she'd follow for lack of something to do. Then he relaxes, and the blue wolf settles back down, shaking a few stray leaves out of her ruff.
"'Exploring!'" she echoes, grinning. "Cute way of putting it, I must say. You must be well-traveled these days, hmm?" Her brows quirk interestedly when he mentions the Chamber. It suits him, she supposes, although she's heard the Valley is more wolf-friendly than its raven-heavy counterpart. "Well, now, no wonder I've not seen you around," she drawls, "And here I was expecting to spot you around the Gates somewhere. Or the Deserts, perhaps." Her tail thumps, muffled, against the forest floor, yellow eyes dancing with amusement. She finds it funny, anyway. "Oh, I think I'll probably stick around for a while - wandering begins to get tiresome, after a while. I'm sure you can agree." With a languid stretch, Zojja climbs to her feet, close enough to Lupei to reach out and brush her muzzle against his shoulder. "Who knows? Perhaps I'll come watch you 'stir up trouble.'"
“I’m willing to bet they’re not as sharp though.” He quips, watching her take a page from his book and flop onto her side. Oh Zojja. Her presence does nothing but ease the tension he feels had begun to grow between his shoulders since he’d left the Chamber. There was something so incredibly comforting about her presence. Lupei, far from any sort of definition of a gentleman, would be hard-pressed to find the company of a mare he rarely saw as relaxing, but Zojja was simply the exception to that rule. Her remark about his sister prompts a nasty smirk, and the black wolf tilts his head. “It does get better with age, if that’s any consolation to you.” He offers. “Dacia could be considered tolerable now I suppose.”
He laughs at his own joke, knowing well that his mother would disagree. Unbeknownst to him the two of them shared more in common than they knew. His dam has always coddled Dacia, and now his color-changing half sibling was making her pay the price for that with her resistance to authority and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude. When Zojja mentions that her shifting had been a lifelong gift, Lupei can’t help but raise his furry brows in surprise. Why had it taken them so long to come together again? Obviously, the two were a much better pair than he had originally anticipated. He’d never really considered pairing up with another equine for longer than was necessary, mostly because he’d quickly grown bored with anyone he’d come across.
When she teases him, he laughs in return. She understands, better than most women, that casual encounters were simply that. Casual. Hell, Lupei couldn’t even remember the names of most of the mares he’d come across, much less what they looked like. But her jabs get him thinking - what about her? Did Zojja have anyone to warm her at night? Was Lupei her casual encounter? The thought irks him, and despite himself he shakes his head visibly to chase the idea away. The player does not enjoy having the tables turned against him. “The Gates or the Deserts?” He scoffs, “Is that where you call home?” He questions. He wouldn’t care anyways. A kingdom like the Chamber demanded his loyalty only because he’d made a promise to them, it did not define him. Zojja, he felt, was the same.
Her curling stretch has him itching to feel her pressed closed to him, to mingle their coats together in a symbolic clash of color. Light and dark coming together to bring balance to his life. Zojja gives him the answer he’d been pining for from the start, and his mouth tapers backwards in a wolfish grin. So she was staying. Lupei could agree with himself that he was rather pleased with that declaration. As her nose glides against his shoulder he angles his head downward to inhale her, bright blue eyes closing so that he can memorize her distinct scent, should he ever lose her again. “Or maybe, for a change, I could follow you around and see what’s interesting enough that it keeps you hidden from Beqanna.”
ooc: sorry for the wait, wanted it to be decent and lengthy
Lupei needn't worry much about Zojja exploring quite to the extent that he has - he is the first companion she's really tolerated in a long while, and frankly, this is due largely in part to the greyed mare having sought him out herself. For Lupei, perhaps, she might keep her fangs sheathed if the situation were reversed - he is good company, after all - but she is not her mother, and she does not take kindly to being bothered. Especially if rugrats, as the green brute put it, are to factor into the mix. All the same... it is that time of year, and irksome as it can sometimes be, Zojja finds herself less offput in his presence. Score one for Lupei, she supposes. (Besides - he's a fellow shifter, and that earns him some approval by default. And he's pretty.)
"The Gates? Hardly." The she-wolf chuckles at the thought. "The Deserts even less so. I've poked around borders here and there, when I travel, but none of the kingdoms have really held my interest thus far - even the Jungle. My mother was an Amazon, once. The Sisters are more her style than mine." A pause, as a thought occurs to her. "Hmm. If anything, I'm sure she'd be telling me I shouldn't be talking to you, come to think of it." Zojja flashes him a vulpine smile before she gets to her feet. "Ah, well... much too late for that."
She stays still for a long moment when Lupei turns to her, muzzle just barely brushing his black coat, and then grins when she catches his comment. "Your Chamber friends wouldn't get annoyed?" she teases - she gets the distinct sense that he wouldn't care very much, even if they did. The smaller wolf moves at last, butting her head lightly against the point of his shoulder before pointedly twining herself around his front (she can be as wayward as the best of them, when she really puts her mind to it - and slinks just out of reach, dark-tipped tail wagging slowly. "You know," she muses, "you could probably follow me just about anywhere. Tell you what." Zojja cranes her neck to look back at him coyly. "I'll show you a thing or two, and you can show me what kind of trouble you've been stirring up at home... later, of course."
OOC; Oh pfft, don't even sweat length, bahaha. I try to follow the "write until you're finished" rule. Keeps me sane. :p Besides, your posts are always lovely!
