unbecoming

@Finn

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She woke with a late start.

Yet she knew what her first order of business was that morning as she turned inland, diving through the thick trees that shielded those who did not like the coastal water. How they loomed higher than any years she had lived in any life. The promise of fresh water deeper from the salty seas.

The prey life still seemed bountiful too. Hardly enough of them to usher off grazing deer or ground-roosted birds that took shelter among the wildflowers and trees.

However through all of this she picked after the scent of fox. Quick to prowl after it like a hunter, thin legs carried her with a quickness through the foliage of the island's innards.

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Finn would be asleep underneath an outcove which was covered with a quick sharp incline of a rock, almost more like a half cave, if you could call it that. Her breaths quick and shallow, almost completely silent, maybe the only thing giving her away to anything was her scent, but nothing without a trained nose would find her.. not by smell at least..
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She had not seen this part of the island before. Stones and trees worked with one another to make outcrops of shelters, places where shelter could be made for those who wished to live inland.

It was not for her, but it was a good place.

She longed for the saltwater at her toes and the soft dip of sandy beds in her alcove with her lover.

But a fox belong in the woods, in the places it would not stand out so much. Where it could hunt and weave trees without a thought in the world. Only the wolf prowled after it, hunted it down and chased that familiar scent. With so little in these woods, it was easier to pick out among the other scents.

The warm breeze carried the scent of oak and wildflowers.

Yet still she picked out the fox among it, still she chased down and closed in on that hidden paradise.

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Are we gonna play as if they've met, if not I'll edit it just lmk?

---

For a moment, everything seemed at peace when she woke up. The air was warm and smelled of oak, the sky sunny and clear and its beams rained down and warmed her fur. That was.. until she heard something.. a sound in the distance, a crack or a snap of a loose twig maybe? Certainly not something large, but it wasn't something small.. no this was something that could certainly be a threat to her. This was when she sniffed the air, sharp inhales entering her nostrils and traveling down her throat into her lungs as they expanded. There was something familiar about that.. about that scent.. she knew it from somewhere..

Wake..

It was the stranger, the stranger she had met the other day whom had been 'claimed' as a 'pet' for the wolf, how exciting it had been for Finnegan. Yet still, she sat in silence, edging backwards into the corner where there was less light, a shadow concealing her almost completely. One that allowed her to see anything outside with ease, but nothing would see her unless they were specifically looking. No, she was far too hidden for anything to find her without paying attention to detail, the way prints were laid out on the stone where the pads of her paws had cleared the dust off.
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well...they have met so...yes? :)
misc trickster

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Would her lover like this kind of place?

No, she thought, they had already slotted a place together and for now it was perfect for just them. Why move that place?

Her thoughts wandered for only a moment as she came back on track to her task. Foxes, cunning and wily. She had expected such and yet still felt a great swell of displeasure at this one hiding from her. Wake could have easily hunted it in full like a hound, snuffed out the life of vulpine things among the island.

Yet she was not prepared to do so just yet.

Now she used her voice, in a haunting tone that weaved through the stone-clinging foliage here.

“Hiding from me?” She feigned sadness, for good measure.

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She heard the strangers voice twisting and turning through the winding trees and grasses, eventually arriving to Finn as it entered her ears, her voice as soothing as before, but there was a distinct sense of.. something.. sadness? "Sadness.. from that beast..?" She thought to herself.. Did Wake truly confide in the creature which some called sly.. maybe.. That was when she called back out to the female, "Possibly, does your heart truly long for me that much?" She questioned the stranger from the 'safety' of the shadows, regardless of the fact that it provided absolutely no protection. Her voice was taunting and playful all at the same time, trying to make it clear that the comment was empty and truly meant nothing as she knew of, and more importantly, respected @Esmerelda and Her's relationship.
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misc jester

---

The voice came back and Wake moved quicker towards it.

She did not seek to hide her presence that closed in closer and closer. Practically upon the little thing now, that dared to taunt back.

“We had an arrangement, fox.” She cooed out in return.

Her heart yearned for nothing other than her siren, not even in jest.

“Come out, come out...” Wake jumped up onto a slab of stone. She did not know that the little thing was hidden in the shadows beneath that stone.

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"We had an arrangement, fox."

The words were earsplitting as they were spoke, penetrating her mind like a blade into flesh. Yet still, there was a sense of curiosity in her mind as the wolf thudded onto the stone slab above her, choosing her next words carefully as she dared to speak once more. "And that deal was?" She spoke out in a lacking manner, pretending as though she had no idea what the figure was talking about, yearning to know what she would describe it as, the rush of adrenaline by taunting such a dangerous animal when she was only inches above her.
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misc jester

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“Did you forget so quickly?”

Her voice teetered on a knife's edge, away from the haunting sadness into something sharper.

“I have no use for forgetful things. It's a shame...I thought you were going to be more useful.” Her nails blunt against the stone she stood upon. She came down again from its top and peered into the darkness beneath it. Looking, hunting.

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“Did you forget so quickly? I have no use for forgetful things. It's a shame...I thought you were going to be more useful.”

The words, so threatening almost seemed to spook her, but no, she wasn't scared. Whether being of some physical or mental use of anything, providing a meal is just as fulfilling, no? Yet still she fought for her survival, retaliating at the females comments, "W-W-Well now now.. No reason to get all jumpy and start making conclusions yet. You never exactly specified what our 'deal' even was, only that I was of to be a service for you and possibly your lover. No harm in a little curiosity of exactly what you'd say." Finn would reply, almost begging for mercy as the figure searched the darkness. Almost out of an attempt to show that Wake could trust her, she reluctantly stepped out of the darkness, looking well fed and hydrated, much better than when they had met. The issue was.. she smelled like Esmerelda.. Not that they had even spent that much time together, but rather that her scent was just intoxicating, spreading to anything nearby and this worried Finnegan. She had seen what the female was capable of when she was hunting with her lover before and no matter how much Finnegan said she would be honored to be a meal, today was certainly not one she wanted to leave.
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misc jester

---

The fox emerged and it was for the best.

If Wake went it it would have been with teeth.

“I never mentioned my lover to you,” She drawled slowly, eyes squinted as she looked down upon the beast. “But you've met.” For there could be no other scent upon the fox that Wake would know so well.

Had Esme told her of them then? Had the fox watched them from the shadows? Perhaps, the little thing did seem cowardly with how it had hid until Wake was upon it. Maybe that was just the instinctual nature of the beast before her.

“Being of use is the deal, though. So what have you done to be of use?”

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Misc skill: Trickster

---

“I never mentioned my lover to you, But you've met.”

"Yes, we did, at a small pond. She is absolutely beautiful if I must say though, with all due respect to you and her, after all, this is your land, I'm just living on it. She knows of me and she knows you know of me." Finnegan made sure to mention whatever she thought would please the wolf, wishing nothing more than to really give to others, maybe she was a people pleaser.. or maybe she was just so used to being used and abused that it had become the nature of life in her mind.

“Being of use is the deal, though. So what have you done to be of use?”

"Well.. Nothing so far.." Finnegan had however been exploring and found an abundance of things, things that she would use later if it came to it. Perhaps keeping secrets from such a ferocious creature was a mistake, but it wouldn't be Finn's first, and hopefully wouldn't be her last. The words rolled off her tongue with ease, not even a hint of deceit in her tone of voice, after all, her kind was known for being liars, no? The place she had discovered, the waterfalls edge that led a stream, a stream full of freshwater and fish, probably the only reason she looked so well fed with flowers that she had never seen covering the ground edge to edge with colors and scents.. it was magical.. and for now, was a secret. If it came to a choice, she would certainly wait to show this place of beauty to someone she was fond of, a lover of her own. Maybe this is truly all she longed for, someone to love, someone who loved her back, someone she could get lost in.
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There was a well of great displeasure that spilled over into her entire mood.

To speak of her lover and yet have done nothing to be of use to the island, to the things they built upon the island. Wake had no want for those who could do nothing — woman or not. It was now she peeled back the inky line of her lips, how ugly she could become so quickly.

“Continue to do nothing and you will find yourself useful in death.”

There was no empty threat here, it overflowed with anger in its promise.

Perhaps this was not a healthy way to build relationships, to maintain numbers among the island, but this was her life she was building. A future for herself, for her lover. What use did a lazy, cowardly fox have?

It took great strength to not strike her down now.

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“Continue to do nothing and you will find yourself useful in death.”

"I found you a fresh water source! A-A-AND I HAVE A FOOD SOURCE!" She retaliated, stammering repeatedly as she sat there looking up to the figure, one that had become ugly and violent. She took a moment to regain control and took a deep breath before speaking again. "I have a renewable food source and I already found you a renewable water source, one fed from rain water?" Finnegan dared to continue speaking after being threatened like that, refusing to be spoken of as though she was useless, something that had no purpose. Then again.. maybe she didn't have one after all, why else would she have ended up in this new world, why would she have been taken from her family otherwise. 

"Look.. I'm sorry for lying, b-b-but you can't blame me! You.. well.. you're you, you're respected and if anyone or anything didn't respect you, they would be struck down. I don't have that gift.. that advantage.. You can't blame me for wanting to at least have a little bit of leverage!" Now Finnegan began to raise her voice, angered, scared, and sorry for everything that she was doing, but surely it would be over soon, no? She would either be killed or the stranger would spare her, there was no in between.
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Wake was not blind to her behavior, or the behavior she was given in return.

Yet it soothed the ugly beast within her to be immediately given what she had looked for. What power did the fox think it would have when faced with her in full? Had the wily beast dared to treat Esme as such too?

Still she snarled and sneered. How could she blame her? Easily. Information that benefitted all had been kept from her explicitly in a pitiful attempt for power. The blame seemed direct and clear.

“I can and I do.” Respect was earned, not bartered with lies and secrets. Not between them.

“Show me. Now.” A growling snap and snarl of her teeth. Prepared to chase off the fox if she did not begin to move quick.

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“I can and I do.”

Those words, for some reason, seemed to be what hit the hardest out of this entire confrontation. Not the death threats, not the growls, not the showing off of the female's maw, but rather a stupid sentence about being blamed. It almost crushed her, shattering what ground she had thought she gained when it came to respect, let alone a friendship between the two, maybe even just an acquaintance, now, there was clearly nothing there.

“Show me. Now.”

"I-I-I don't remember where it is, please, just give me time to find the path I took" She would stand up promptly, having been knocked back onto the ground by the female's sudden movements, attempting to scan the surrounding area as she dared turn her back on Wake in order to find her previous tracks. That was when she saw them, the damp impressions in the mud that coated the forest like floor, and suddenly, Finnegan was walking.
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She remained silent, she simmered in her anger.

Bright and brilliant was how it burned through her now. Frustrated. Somehow she felt taken advantage of through this all! Had the fox thought it would simply laze about? Eat up the resources of the wolves without work in return?

It would have been best to end it all now.

Yet she only stalked after the fox with anger in each step.

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Finnegan would hurriedly show Wake the path to the area which she had found earlier after her lover had snapped and walked away. Finally, there it was.. the sound of rushing water. Finnegan darted towards the sound, using her cone like ears to pinpoint the sound until she could finally see the source of it. There, in her gaze, was a waterfall, crystal clear that was surrounded by flowers of all colors, ones that Finn couldn't even name. The waterfall led to a river that you could see the bottom of with ease. Trout, salmon, bass, coy, sunfish, and bluegills swam around, filling the area with life. The fox would wade through the water until it became necessary for it to doggy paddle its way across the riverbed and then slipping behind the waterfall, a visible gap enticing her closer. When she walked through the rush of falling water, but this time her footing would not be lost so easily. 

She stepped through, into the cave. Her eyes lit up once more. The cave was still filled with a vibrant blue light, bioluminescent creatures thriving in the place as it forked off in two directions. She didn't dare waste time with the right path as she knew it only led deeper into the earth, instead, she darted to the left, following a relatively flat path through the caverns. It was then she would walk inside of something beautiful.. it was the giant geode filled with amethyst shards, a clear mineral deposit for the cave that seemed to be lit up by something unknown.

"Here it is. Here is what I found." Her tone was solemn and her voice soft as she almost seemed to bow her head, letting Wake have ample amounts of time to process everything.
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A soft snip of teeth at air here and there, like herding a cat it felt. Yet Wake remained close for it all. Eyed the place here and there. The insult of the fox wishing to keep all this hidden stung harder, sharper. This place could keep them fed when the saltwaters might not, would provide a cleansing place from the sea. It teemed with life and hidden places.

For all the glories she had just been shown, the scowl still settled hard across her features.

“It would not have stayed hidden long,” Her chin tilted upward slightly despite the hooded, downward gaze she cut sharply. She had given a chance to the unruly beast and she had been proven wrong it felt.

“Why do you insist on making it difficult? Your life can be bliss if you just work with us.” Her words punctuated with a sharp snip.

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Not sure exactly where I am going with all the commentary in this post, I just kind of put a bunch of stuff down because I thought it did a good job of portraying how much Finn was "snapping" in a way. Let me know if you want me to get rid of this and reply a different way!

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"Why do you insist on making it difficult? Your life can be bliss if you just work with us."

The words hit her like a truck as she promptly retaliated. "Why should I? Why should I work with you people, whom I don't even know the names of and the only reason I know yours is because your lover slipped up and referred to you as "wake". Why should I be so quick to help people who from the start treated me as some lesser being, something like a fucking untouchable? Why the FUCK should I work with you, I have no respect among you people.. I have no respect among anyone.. not even myself?" Finnegan had clearly had enough and almost seemed to snap as she spat and hissed out words at the female, no longer worried about life or death, for all she cared the wolf could make he into a new rug.

"Ya know.. sometimes you can give, and you can give, and you can give, and you can give, and you can give, and you can give, and sometimes you get nothing in return, you get nothing! You can only take so fucking much until you break and you stop trusting people." She slowly began to unravel, spiraling down what seemed to be an endless staircase as she made less and less sense the longer she spoke, in the end not even sure herself what the connection to what she was saying was to right now.

"Look.. I am sorry that I lied to you and I kept secrets, but lets not forget how quick you were to say you'd kill me if I had nothing. Who's really at fault, because I know damn well it's not just one person?"

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no no, it's a beautiful and heartbreaking post </3
this will be wake's exit (presuming finn does not follow!)

---

For all of Wake's shortcomings, she sure knew to fucking listen.

She let the fox spew its venom with its forked tongue. Maybe she deserved it (she did) and maybe the beast had an ounce of a braincell in there (she did too) — but none of that made it any easier to swallow. A fucking horse-pill crammed down her throat to choke.

What was she expected to say? Sorry? It seemed at the bottom of the list to say and the most insincere of it all. She imagined if the fox had this much to think and say, it could sniff out the insincere words that Wake might spill forth.

Why did either of them try?

Why did either of them care?

The fox could have simply fled into the woods in the middle of the night. Wake could have simply kept good on her words, on her threats. So that big question loomed above them like a terrible omen, a thundercloud come to shatter lightning over them.

Angry, insulted, maybe rightfully shoved into place by a creature a fraction her size.

A million terrible outcomes would have been easier. Instead she gave into the simplest, least destructive option, she turned and left the thing behind. Prepared to march all the way back out to the coast, to the waters that churned like her heart, her gut.

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I personally think that after everything, Finnegan wouldn't want to leave someone after that kind of thing. After all, it was pretty heavy, so I hope you don't mind me continuing and having her follow. Again, let me know if you just want to end it!!! <3

---

 

With as light and petite as Finnegan was, it was incredibly easy for her to follow the female wolf, for some random reason, almost feeling guilty about what she had said. "Wake, I'm sorry, stop it." Finnegan would call out, begging for the wolf to stop moving away, but she wouldn't stop, maybe because she had been deafened by her emotions, or maybe because she was simply ignoring Finn, either way, Finnegan would continue to follow her despite whether it was the best thing for her at the moment.

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i promise you are a-okay :D

---

Now the beast wanted to beg, wanted to seek forgiveness like Wake was a priest.

Why? So that they could tumble and toil like vipers in a pit? So that they may proceed to carry on the toxicity that they had suddenly bubbled and brewed with one another?

Wake continued her silent march, onward and outward. As if she heard nothing more than the waves, the cries of gulls. She thought of the peace she found with Esme, of the solitude they had shared and she had (perhaps stupidly) ruined with the makings of something. How easy it suddenly was to take that anger she had turned outward and now cram it inward, back upon herself.

Least destructive, did not mean no destruction.

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"I want to work together, Wake. I want to work together with you and whoever that other female wolf is, I just want to at least be given the decency to not be treated as something invaluable to you." No matter how stupid it was for her to keep going, she would push on. She wasn't one to leave someone whom she had just hurt in such a matter, despite the fact that it was probably better to let Wake get her steam out. Perhaps she would let her if this attempt did not work.
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Was that anger maybe guilt?

She hated it more than the white-hot ire of frustration. Guilt brought shame and weakness, it brought down things she had cast aside the moment she had been spit ashore.

She halted abruptly, sucked in the pungent sea air. Close enough to feel the sea breeze roll over them between the sparsening trees. That closeness to the water itself brought a small sense of ease, of peace. Which was perhaps why her voice came out flat and deadpan. Delivered only words with no flare of her emotions.

“You want to ever work together? Then leave me the fuck alone for now.”

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