Some resist the future, some refuse the past

Calling my lovely @Ceres <3

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There was something about the silence tonight, something that soothed her agitated soul in a way that few things did. It had never been this bad back in Cordova, back when she had the choice to stay in her wolf form or not. And it was just that, wasn’t it? She had had the choice then, where she did not now. Perhaps that was why she was constantly on edge here, constantly irritable, and perpetually in a bad mood.

Alina did not like having her choices taken away from her. Still, the pale wraith had not found a fix for it all, and did not expect that she would. For now, the once-werewolf would have to simply grin and bear it; something she was decidedly not good at.

Quietly, she moved through the forest to the north of the Reach, mouth set in its usual frown. Hunger clawed at her belly, driving her to do something other than wander around aimlessly. She had caught scent of a rabbit warren somewhere here before and had decided to track it down again for a relatively easy meal.

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phone post because work but I could not wait!!

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Here she had a better chance of being hidden, among tree trunks and the earthy beds of creeks. A rather rich land that enraptured her at once. The scent of prey wrapped tightly around recently traveled paths.

She knew better than to let her guard down entirely, no matter the beauty around her.

She would not be snuck up on a second time. The lands may be new with each step, but she still had experience in this flesh. As a sharp pointed woman, equipped with teeth and claws.

Yet she was not the only one who could be called such.

Like the ghostly figure ahead. Short and lean, but Ceres would not judge off of just that alone.

Tentatively she drew attention to herself (if she did not have it already) with a low rumble. Tempting and warm.
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An ear flickered at the rumble, her paws drawing to a stop as her eyes rolled. Here we go, again. Another idiot who thought they were big and bad, who thought they'd throw around their weight and show her who was boss.

Breath unfurled from her nostrils as she snorted, head turning to eye the other woman with a garnet glint. There was no emotion to her expression, save for annoyance. Tail flickered in her agitation, the animals of the forest seeming to quiet around the of them.

“What.”

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Flat.

Hardly warm and welcoming but so far she knew better than to expect that from these lands. Still it put her on tentative guard. Better safe than sorry, no?

“You know these lands...?” Half-question, half-observation. Ceres needed someone to set her along a straight path in this world, even if the guiding hands did not seem like they would be gentle and kind.

She had always appreciated those who could remain rigid in trying times.

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She snorted again, this time in sour amusement. “Sure I do. We’re in hell.” Because where else would she end up except for some stupid place where she couldn’t even shift.

But still, she didn’t want to deal with the annoying questions that would follow her statement. She could hear them now: What do you mean? how’d I end up here? What did I do do wrong?

“There’s a pack to the south. Avoid it.” Because fuck you, Vengeance. She wasn’t going to recruit for your silly-ass-named pack.
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Hell.

A concept that floated loosely around her mind. More as a feeling than an actual place. Yet perhaps this endless wandering and lust for order was her own personal hell. After all, what good were any of her skills or accomplishments if she merely drifted through life? Aimless and defeated.

She refused such a fate.

Which was perhaps why she lifted her head ever so slightly with curiosity in her gaze.

“Why?”

No information besides a warning? She could not heed it mindlessly.
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Why.

If she could have rolled her eyes far enough to see the back of her skull she would have. Why why why. No one could just take advice without questioning it anymore, could they? The spectre had half a mind to just walk away and not even bother answering. It would have been par for the course with her. And yet, she knew that the rest of the Nightwalkers would not be so kind when it came to her warning to stay away. She knew what some of them were capable of.

“Because they’re a bunch of assholes,” Alina sniped, not caring that she was being rude or that she smelled like them. She was an asshole too, so did it really even matter? No.

“That reason enough for you?” Rhetorical, maybe. Or maybe not. Her paws began to move to turn her away.
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“No.”

Flat, because it was not.

“What if I am an asshole? Do you then advise I see them?”

Ceres often worked in ways that was like a twisting knife plunged deep. If someone tried to remove her too fast, it often proved worse than simply keeping her close and in.

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misc: trickster

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She groaned, rolling her eyes as she spoke, mostly to herself. “Christ, you're one of those.” And that quickly, the pale wraith sought to detach from this interaction; she turned and began to walk away, intent on searching for her meal once more.

“Enjoy your asshole meeting.” Her voice increased in volume, her intention for her voice to carry up and over her shoulder. A parting shot.

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Alina is attempting to exit but Ceres doesn't have to let her :superlaugh: <3

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Ceres, on long limbs, sought to follow at least a few steps. Mindful still to stay out of immediate snapping range — although that did not mean she was free from a lunge, should she truly push her limits.

There was a silent admiration in a woman who seemed to not want to take shit from her.

Too bad Ceres had decided she was not finished yet.

“Will I see you there at the meeting of assholes?” Asked as innocently as if she asked after the woman's wellbeing. She prepared herself for another verbal barb. Secretly she yearned for it.

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misc: trickster

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She didn’t lunge, but she wouldn’t ignore the cunt either. Alina whirled on a dime, a small log (or a very large branch) released from her teeth to yeet itself from jaws towards the other female. She would be pleased if maybe it caught her by the face, maybe even…

“Not if you have no eyes,” She would snap, crimson eyes burning with anger.
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Her eyes were spared, but the branch still hit part of its target.

A scratch against the thin flesh of her muzzle. It would not scar, perhaps, but it still stung and it still marked her with a trickle of crimson. Harm had been done if that was what the woman had meant.

“You give me a taste of their unruliness,” It was a terrible time to tease and she knew such. She took a step back. Back the steps she had just taken forward. “Perhaps I should thank you.”

Yet Ceres knew she should not press the woman any further or harder now. Lest she actually end up losing an eye.

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misc: trickster

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“Then maybe,” She snapped. “You should go the fuck away.” And yet, there was no move to chase her away. If asked, she’d say it was because she expected the girl to listen. But did she?
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No stick followed these words, nor did the woman lunge or snap at her heels.

Was this an act of kindness? Only in the way that it gave her a chance to depart without further bloodshed. So she meant to take it now with a small bow of her head and further back up.

She might come back for this one, her unruliness was not a direct deterrent for Ceres. It was only enough for her to know that if — when — she returned she must come back with a plan. Prepared.

Was it a smile she flashed before she meant to fully depart? She'd let the other woman decide, but Ceres heeded the words now in full.

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