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 Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:34 pm
 It was a delicate process now, bathing. She had to make sure no-one was watching, no-one had followed, that not even Kerai had been around as he usually was to see her . . . well, naked. That's how Gabrielle was seeing it now, being "naked" without her hood and mask. Once she was sure not so much as a squirrel was spying on her, she would slip them both off and dip into the river, quickly doing her work. And even when she was sure she was alone, the female would dart looks about, ever careful to keep her scarred left side towards the innermost and least viewed position. Even as the cold water ran over it, she could still feel the stings. The shame.
It was an apt metaphor, the mask and hood, she realized as she donned them back with well-practiced motions. Keep to the shadows. Hide behind a facade. What had led her to become one of them despite her previous goal to . . . to what exactly? Perhaps become a soul amongst them that was not as tainted? That had gone terribly wrong, Gabrielle thought with a wry grin that didn't reach her eyes. But what to do now? Kerai was asleep, and as a Lady she was not able to do anything until the alphas gave her a mission . . . And she was not yet hungry enough for a solo hunt.
I should visit the other members more, she thought as she stood. Since the incident, she had gone into hiding whereupon she had come across her trinkets; now, it might be best to reacquaint herself with the other Reign members. Especially the pups. Were they even still pups? Haemon's litter for instance had grown so fast . . .
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:16 pm
 Verdigris wasn't sure just what to do, exactly.
He felt as though his mind was being torn in two directions. On one paw, he wanted ever so much to be like his siblings, his parents. He wanted to be normal. Or at least as normal as one could be within the Reign of Terror pack. He had never been exposed to anything else, thus the smallest son of Savhir and Ulfhildr knew no differently.
On the other paw, he was the runt of the litter and, though he tried hard not to show it, he possessed a sensitive and creative mind, an artist's soul. He wanted to build something wonderful, yet in this atmosphere, his creativity was being stifled and was on the verge of being destroyed.
The adolescent with the single white leg was certain he was on his own, his pale gaze had been intense as he scoured his surroundings for any sign of life. He did not wish to be seen and it was hard to escape the pack and his siblings completely at times.
But he was sure he had no followers and he thought he might be out of the way enough to not be stumbled upon. He sat near the banks, unaware that another was not too far away, and stuck his forepaw in the dampened earth, using his claws to create a rather nonsensical design.
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 1:37 pm
Unfortunately for Verdigris, Gabrielle had been trained by Damon in the art of spying, and it had equipped her with two special skills; an ability to be sensitive to all stimuli within the senses' range and the capability to be deathly quiet on her feet despite her trinkets. As such, when she heard pawsteps and caught whiff of a scent (both somewhat distant at first, but they came close), it did not take her long to put a face in her mind's eye: mind, it was a face and nothing more. Names with such large litters being born close to each other were liable to get mixed up, but at least she knew whose loins this one came from. Following after the sound and scent, she stopped a safe distance away and noticed that the youth was plopped upon the river bank, seemingly doing nothing.
This one was . . . Ah, his name escaped her, but she remembered that he was one of the youngest in the pack as far as litters went. But what was he . . . ? She had to tilt her head a little before she could see that the male was tracing something in the dirt. Huh. Bored as hell maybe? "Designing a new plan?" she asked, breaking the silence after a few moments of watching.
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Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:31 pm
Gabrielle was, indeed, skilled in the arts in which Damon trained her. The young and rather inexperienced adolescent didn't hear or feel the silent and swift approach of his older, mask clad packmate, one he did not know well at all. He even ventured so far as to hum quietly to himself as his claws traced familiar, yet strange patterns that he had sketched in the banks before, yet he always covered them before he left.
His silver eyes widened and his small frame stiffened as a voice broke the silence that he was currently relishing as he sketched contently. His dark pelt bristled and he was immediately on his paws, turning to face the mask clad Gabrielle. As he did so, he purposely ran his hind paw through his drawings, thoroughly embarrassed and worried by what she might have seen.
He didn't want to be marked as lazy or worthless to the pack and here, a Lady, had seen him.
"Uhm, I'ah, I was just, yeah, practicing designs-er-plans."
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:52 am
She was remembering his face now from the meeting, a rather small fellow who looked uncomfortable being there. Name, though, it escaped her . . . "Plans for what?" she asked, peeking at the smeared design and making no sense of it. She only then considered that her wraith-like silence in coming and appearance might be making him a little skittish, and though she was in no way thinking of taking either her ask or hood off, she did offer him a little smile. "Forgive me if I startled you; I forget my manners. Training has made me instinctively nosy. My name is Gabrielle, young one. Did I interrupt an artist to be?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:33 pm
She seemed different, somehow. He couldn't quite place it and he felt like he should continue to guard himself, but he really had no answer for her. He hadn't been planning anything, of course, as he had little experience in battle, save for fighting amongst his siblings. Escape had entered his mind, but he knew better than to even remotely consider it, if he valued his own hide. The smile she offered from beneath her hood was somewhat reassuring, despite the ominous thing she wore over her head.
Different.
At least from the way his mother and father were. And his siblings, for that matter.
"It's alright, I should have been paying more attention, anyways. It isn't your fault." He lifted one paw and peered down at the the ruined, meaningless marks. There wasn't really any hiding it, not at all. He was, more or less, at the Lady's mercy if she decided she didn't like it.
"I guess so, it's just something I like to do, ma'am."
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:43 pm
"Ma'm." Wasn't it only yesterday she was an adolescent? A thinish, somewhat small girl with girlish thoughts and girlish dreams? Hidden scars about her face burned at the memories.
"Drawing, you mean?" Gabrielle asked, glancing at the seemingly meaningly scribbles. "Not many here call themselves artists in that sense. Con-artists maybe, with the talent of the sleight of paw. But certainly not picture-creators." she tilted her head slightly at the dark male, curious. He was a son of that sheep-pelted femme and the oddly patterned male she had never talked to, and thus had no way of knowing if this was attributed to one of them. Given what the pack attracted, she doubted it. How strange . . .
"What is your name? I don't believe I've caught it yet." Gabby was feeling that mark of a Lady abut her still, that stiffness of conversation mixed with formality despite her smile. Maybe it was just from wearing the mask and hood, like the protection wasn't enough . . . "If you don't mind, I'd like to know about your family. Yours is one of the few I've neglected to socialize with."
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Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2010 8:29 pm
"Yeah, er, yes ma'am, drawing." He kept his head lowered out of respect, but his bright, silver eyes dared to glance towards her, to trace over the strange, colorful mask and hood that adorned her features. Frightening, yet unique, and all together intriguing. He simply couldn't help himself as he admired the handiwork and he wondered just where she, or the pack for that matter, could acquire such things.
"Oh! Err, I'm sorry, please forgive me. My name is Verdigris. My mother is Ulfhildr and my father is Savhir. They're warriors and pretty tough ones." If only I had inherited their size, maybe I could hold my own a bit better in training. Of course, he wasn't that bad. He certainly wasn't anything better, but he at least wasn't slave worthy, thank the sun and the moon.
"I've got five siblings. They all hold promise, really, as far as following in our parents' pawsteps." He bobbed his head, his tail shifting slightly in a wag. He, himself, not quite as much, but he kept this little tidbit to himself. His smaller than average size and taste for picture-making probably spoke enough of that, anyways.
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Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:48 am
Some recognition lit up her eyes. Aah, Ulfhildr and Savhir. She had never met with either of the two personally, but she knew of them . . . somewhat, in the father's case. The mother she'd heard had a connection to the blood shaman in some respect, possibly kin - a grandmother judging by her age if so. And Gabrielle did recall that there had been a small insurgence of children from the pairs' union, one of which she knew was a rather intense female that had had a spat with some of the female beta's children. Otherwise, though, the six had been nothing much to her until she had met this Verdigris, and the odd comparison between them was not lost on her - nor his wording.
"You say they hold promise, but you do not include yourself in that group," Gabrielle observed. "Why is that?" Small size and a hobby for drawing lines in the ground weren't necessarily actions that negated warrior blood. After all, their own queen was a rather petite femme, yet she held a high position and was highly respected.
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