Wolves in the City of Ice (Kaniel)

[Sashi]

Timestamp: 51st of Fall, 511 AV Sashi's pack didn't understand, but they had picked up on their Alpha's melancholy, and were all trying to comfort her. Her alpha nuzzled her lovingly and even the beta who Sashi hated with a passion was being nice to her. Sashi was leaving, though the pack didn't know that, and she had no idea how long she would be gone or if she would ever come back. Sashi had to leave, though, and she knew if she stayed it would eat away at her. The previous day Sashi had seen something that had not left her mind for even an instant. A wolf had turned into a man, right in front of her. Sashi knew of only one other wolf that could do that, and that wolf was herself. Sashi could hardly remember the last time she had been a human. Not since.. not since.. the Blue Man. She had been a wolf ever since, and had nearly forgotten all about her other half. All that changed when she saw the wolf shift, and Sashi yearned to find out more about him and hopefully more about herself. He had been with a human, and could become a human, which meant he probably lived in the big ice den where all the humans and their polar bears lived. Sashi and her pack had always avoided the place for fear of both, but if the wolf was living among the humans then Sashi had no choice. She would have to visit the human's den. Or... City. Yes, Sashi remembered, humans called their dens cities. It was the hardest thing to do for her to part with her pack, leaving under the pretense that she was going to hunt a rabbit, but once Sashi was finally alone and on her own she started to feel better. Excitement overcame sorrow as she made her way north across the snow. Sashi knew it had been too long to pick up the trail, but she still kept alert for his scent. It wasn't long before the Icewall Gates came into view, the entrance to the human den. Sashi paused, staring ahead at the opening. There were men at the gate, and polar bears, but they were not stopping anyone. Sashi's instincts told her to run away, to never enter the human city, to stay away from the polar bears, but she was a wolf on a mission and knew she had to go in. The guards did take note of her when she approached, but one of them muttered to the other and she passed by safely. "That's that kelvic who's always with Rhoda. Don't worry, he's harmless," they whispered though Sashi had no idea what a kelvic or Rhoda was. Sashi came to a halt just through the gates. The place was huge, and humans were going to and fro all over the place! There were large structures made of ice and things she didn't recognize. It was all very overwhelming, and there were so many scents that Sashi had no idea how she could possibly find a lone wolf-human-thing amidst it all. The solution? Sashi simply started walking and hoped she would get lucky. OOCI'll put up a pretty title pic later. We're sitting at Best Buy trying to solve this phone thing right now.

[Kaniel]

Rhonda had originally come to Avanthal on a vacation, not knowing that she would end up saying there for years. The room she had rented in the Warrens had gradually become home. Though she had come with barely anything in way of possessions, the rooms that were now hers were comfortably furnished. The shelves on the walls held an assortment of books and various trinkets that the old woman had gathered over the years. They weren't rich quarters. They were merely comfortable.

Having been taken on as her protector, Kaniel had grown to think of this place as his home, as much of a home as he'd ever had, anyway. His clients changed every couple of years, forcing the wolf to up and leave in search of more work.

With no where else to go, Kaniel found himself pelting through the snowy streets of Avanthal towards the Warrens. Mindless fury at his failure as well as being run off by the strange pack and it's Alpha female, Kaniel had put everything he had into his retreat, his claws digging little rivets into the ice that coated the ground as he fought to keep his breakneck speed. The muscles in his legs burned, but he wouldn't allow himself to slow.

Only when he reached the Warren's entrance, skidding to an abrupt halt lest he go slamming into the side of the building, did Kaniel allow himself to catch his breath. It was only then that he realized he had kept up a constant growl for the entirey of his run, his hackles still raised, though the skin was stiff and the fur was crusted with snow. Some must have fallen on him during his flight.

Shaking himself before padding wearily into the building, Kaniel glanced around and took a sniff; the coast was clear. Night had fallen at least a bell ago, the Warren's residence all snug in their rooms by now. No longer worried about startling the humans, Kaniel shifted into his secondary from. As soon as the fur gave way to skin, goose pimples peppered the man's naked flesh.

Not very tolerant of the cold in this form, the weary man trudged up the steps to the room he shared with Rhonda. The door was unlocked and the fire grate was cold. The air hung heavy and chilly around the room, almost mocking him for his failure. There was no life here, not for him any longer, and he knew he couldn't stay.

Unwilling to enter into the room he had shared with Rhonda, him at the foot of the bed in his true from while she slept like humans do, to retrieve his clothes, Kaniel shifted back into the shaggy beast that he was, found a dark corner next to the empty fireplace and curled up for sleep. With his tail over his nose for warmth, he hardly felt the chill of the night.

In the morning he would have to find someplace to go. To start over... again.

[Sashi]

With her nose to the ground, Sashi wandered the cold avenues of the icy city. There were so many different scents in the vast place she knew the chances of finding the one she was looking for were slim, but she had to try. There were many things to distract her, however, and try as she might she could not focus completely on what she was doing. While all the humans milling about were distressing enough, it was the polar bears that bothered her the most. Sashi had know before she came that they lived in the city, but seeing them up close was something else altogether. In the wild, even with the support of her pack, Sashi would never have dared to go near one of the large beasts, yet in this city they walked freely and no one was afraid. Once again the wolf ignored her instinct to run and pressed forward. She could smell other animals in the city, horses and dogs, cats and oxen, birds and even wolves, but none of them carried the scent she was looking for. Even so, Sashi was curious and made her way to the u shaped market that was full of animals. The place was called the Menagerie, not that the name would have meant anything to her. This was a strange place, and though Sashi didn't know or care about any of the animals personally, something about seeing them penned and caged as they were bothered the kelvic. Especially when she saw one of the wolves in a large cage just through the door of one of the buildings. What were these humans doing with all these creatures? What was the purpose of the cages, and why were some humans leaving with animals? It wasn't the first confusing thing Sashi would see that day, and it wouldn't be the last. The city was filled with all manner of curious things that Sashi didn't understand, but as the sun began to sink in the sky she still hadn't found the one thing she had been looking for. The elusive man-wolf was well hidden, possibly in one of the strange dens the humans retreated to for warmth, and there were just too many scents for Sashi to track down just one. Sashi realized that she needed to find shelter herself before the darkness fell. Night in the north was bitter cold, worse than the day since there was no sun, and usually Sashi would retreat to her den and curl up among the warm bodies of her pack. There would be no pack for her that night, no warm place to sleep. Sashi settled for a spot behind a building which was partially shielded from the wind and snow. Before she curled up for sleep she pointed her nose to the sky and let out a long, mournful howl. Perhaps the wolf-man-thing would answer, or maybe her pack was within range and she would have the comfort of knowing they were nearby from their answer. Really Sashi was just howling to howl, and it didn't end till a passing Vantha glanced over at her and shouted, "Would you cut that out, people are trying to sleep!" Sashi did stop, though it took her a few seconds to sort out the meaning of the words. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to her. It was just one more reminder of the alien situation she had put herself in.

[Kaniel]

How late it was when the howl awoke him, Kaniel didn't know. One moment, his nose had been buried deep in the warmth of his tail, paws twitching as he chased rabbits in his sleep, while the next had him on his feet, hackles up and teeth bared. A low, rumbling growl issued from the very depths of his chest. He knew that howl.

She'd helped kill his bondmate.

Wolfish Instinct kicked in first; his human skin was awkward and gangly, feet too big and legs too slow. Preferring his natural form above the alternative, Kaniel had little time to develop his human instincts. A man would perhaps guard his house, sit and wait for an attacker to defend against, avoid a fight where he could.

The Canine wanted the intruder out of his city all together. Unaware that Sashi could think like he, reason like a human, the fact that she had come looking for him after seeing his shape change never occurred to Kaniel. Instead, it was seen as a threat, an aggressive maneuver on her part to not only take his pack from him, but his territory as well.

Sleep was driven off by anger, the residule fear from the earlier encounter causing the hair along his back to stand on end. Still snarling, Kaniel slunk through out of the house and into the sharp chill of the night. With his frame held low, paws stepping lightly on the frost-crusted snow that covered the ground, the shaggy wolf put his nose down and sniffed.

When Rhonda had been killed, the scent of the she-wolf had been tainted by the rest of her pack and the overwhelming smell of fear eminating from the old woman; her death had done nothing to clear the air. However, the she-wolf had participated in the final kill. Rhonda's smell would be on her along with the small of blood and death. Once he knew what he was looking for, the trail was easy. The She-wolf had entered the city from the same place as he, following the main road into Avanthal.

Silent as he skukled along, Kaniel stopped dead in his tracks after only a few short chimes of searching. To his left was a building, all the lights out and shrouding the surrounding area in darkness. The She-wolf was behind that building.

Unable to stop himself, Kaniel charged into the small alley that lead to Sashi's hiding spot, the same deep growl echoing around the close confines. Snow sprayed from beneath his paws as he dug in, propelling himself around the corner and onto the sleeping wolf.

It was only a matter of seconds before he had her pinned, lips curled back over his teeth, his blue eyes shining with a cold feriocity.

Go. Away. Or die.

[Sashi]

It was cold, and it was lonely, sleeping without her pack. She recalled earlier in the year when one of the males of her pack set out on his own in hopes of forming a pack of his own. How hard it must have been for him, being alone like that. Did he even find a new pack, or was he still alone? The wolf shivered beneath her fur and curled up tighter, burying her nose beneath her tail so it wouldn't freeze. She doubted she would actually sleep that night, not well anyway, even if Kaniel hadn't showed up. But he did. It was not something Sashi had expected to happen. Maybe an answer to the howl, yes, but for him to actually hunt her down? In an ideal situation it would have been perfect, because then she wouldn't have had to continue her blind search in the morning, but it wasn't an ideal situation. She heard him before he reached her. Perhaps it was the cold, or perhaps she was just really tired, but the threat didn't register until it was too late. Suddenly a wolf appeared around the corner. Sashi was just jumping to her feet when he hit her. They tousled for a second or two before he had her pinned, the advantage of surprise allowing him to easily best her. Sashi's instinctual reaction would have been to try to get away, to try to fight back, to try to tear out his throat for daring to threaten her. She was the alpha female of her pack! She was in charge, not some lone wolf who lived with humans and was little better than a dog. But.. she wasn't with her pack anymore. She wasn't the alpha of anything anymore, and she herself was now sleeping in a human city. Plus, she needed him alive. But how to get him to stop? Wolves didn't exactly have a complex vocabulary, their words were simple. How could she show him that she wasn't an enemy when she knew herself that if their situations were opposite, she wouldn't have even given him the chance to run. He at least gave her an out, but it wasn't an acceptable one. Sashi did the one thing she could think of, though it was something she hadn't done in over a year. When the cloud of smoke burst out of her with all its glittering lights she felt her human body come into place, the ice cold snow biting into her bare back. She didn't have time to ponder over the differences between her wolf body and her human, to notice the fact that her human body was larger and now fully developed unlike when she had been with the akalak. She only had time to scream. "Wait! I am like you!"

[Kaniel]

To tear her throat out was really the only option.

The lingering echo of the death threat continued to rumble around the big wolfs chest, a few rivulets of saliva trickling over his lip to dangle from his muzzle as his teeth stayed bared. It really would be the easiest, to end it now while she was on her back, submissive to him (though not willingly) and with nothing she could do about it.

The human side of him was the only thing that gave pause; the wound, a hole, it's edges still puckered and fresh, left behind by Rhonda's death still stung. It marred his senses, this greif of a shredded bonding, bringing forth gouts of anger and sadness mixed with sharp stabs of a loneliness that was all too familiar. Had he stayed a wolf, his true self wouldn't have been confused by these useless human emotions. But it was too late. The bond, the promise, between he and the old woman was forfeit; but not in the proper way, not by mutual choice. Another growl rumbled, deeper this time, carrying more weight to the sound than just simple anger now. The human side had won over, somewhat, allowing an unnatural thought process to mar this simple situation.

Lowering his head, Kaniel snapped at the fur of the she-wolfs exposed throat, managing to grab a tuft of fur between his teeth. A satisfying yelp accompanied the action, and the growl sounded again as pale blue, all-to-human eyes flashed their satisfaction.

It will be quick. A mercy that you did not allow my bondmate. Kaniel rumbled down at the female, a rough translation from the actual canine's dialect.

Teeth flashed and Kaniel ducked his head, jaws parting to welcome the soft jugular tissue. It happened too fast for him to process what happened, his brain and sense overloaded with his human emotions and his reaction therefore slowed. One moment, there was fur beneath his paws and the next, pale, shivering, weak flesh.

"Wait! I'm like you!"

The human cry caused Kaniel to whirl around on instinct, yet another growl ripping from his throat as he faced the way he came, towards the street. Had a human followed him here? Were they insane to intercede between two clearly ferocious animals?

It was a moment or two before what the voice had said hit him. Whirling again, he found Sashi in human form, cowering on the ground by his feet.

What is this! came out as a harsh bark as the wolf lunged forward, front paws slamming the woman's shoulders back to the ground before she could do more than scuttle a few feet away. It didn't make sense! She was like him, and he hadn't known. Never mind that it had been years since he had come into contact with another...whatever he was.

His true instinct took over as his brain worked furiously to catch up. Kaniel's lips peeled back once more, his muzzle lowering to hover over the even more tender flesh of the naked woman beneath him. Should she move, blood would spray. Every nerve in his body told him to lunge, bite, attack the unknown, the invader of his home, this alien being.

Intellect won over. Still snarling, Kaniel stalked to the other side of the alley, where he sat on the cold ground. His angry gaze found Sashi's own, the warning to stay put clear in every line of his body, in the mad gleam of his eye.

Once he was sure that she would stay where she was, Kaniel shifted to his more vulnerable form. Naked, crouched and human, with the snarl transferring into a sneer, his eyes never left Sashi's.

"What do you want." Every word was clipped, bitten off at the end by his tension. The muscles of his neck and back were stiff as though he still held himself ready to pounce; even in their alternate forms, the man would trump the woman. "What is the meaning of this. Who are you. GO AWAY!"

The emotions shifted rapidly from anger, to a wary curiosity, and back to angry again. Even as the final words left his mouth, Kaniel was lunging back across the space he had put between them.

[Sashi]

It had been a gamble, shifting to reveal her weaker form, but the gamble had been won. Kaniel did not try to kill her, or at least not right away. In fact, after some surprise and confusion, the large male backed away, putting the width of the alley between them. When he shift Sashi's eyes looked on in wonder. Up until this point she had not been entirely sure that she believed what she had seen, but here he did it again. Where once was a large shaggy wolf there stood a naked, human man. He began to shout at her and Sashi cringed at the sound. She wasn't used to humans and their yelling, and her mind raced to recall the meaning of the words he said. Sashi could speak the human language, but she only knew the basics, and it had been some time since she last used it. Luckily Kaniel did not use big words, and his meaning was quite apparent. Who was she, what was she? Sashi wondered the same things about him, but she didn't know how to answer his question. When he lunged at her again she let out noise that was something between a yelp and a snarl and dove to the side, the cold snow biting into her flesh causing her to immediately regret the action. Her mind raced to answer his questions before he got a chance to attack her again. His first she didn't quite understand, but she did her best, taking it quite literally. "The meaning is that I am a human and a wolf like you!" Sashi backed away, the alpha in her begging her to shift back to wolf form and attack him while he was weak, but she wanted to talk, not fight. "I am Sashi. I will not go away!"

[Kaniel]

"No, stop talking." The anger was irrational at this point, but Kaniel couldn't help it. This wolf had killed his bondmate, severing the tie between them before either was ready and leaving a gaping hole in is soul. At that moment, the anger filled the wound and it felt good. Very good.

With his lips peeled back to his teeth, everything about his human face as feral as if he were still in his real form, Kaniel pinned Sashi to the ground, his hands on her cold shoulders, his knees on her thighs; a forced sign of submission. Dull, useless human teeth snapped at the flesh of Sashi's throat. "Why did you attack us? We posed no threat. We were not hunting."

It was true. Kaniel had no territory outside of Avanthal's walls, and though he might have crossed an invisible boundary he wasn't taking anything that wasn't his. "A wolf who kills a human is weak. Pathetic." The words were spat, teeth still bared now inches from the woman's nose. "I don't know what you are doing here or why you followed me but you need to leave."

Kaniel released the woman's shoulders, raising onto his two awkward legs and stepping back a pace. "Or I will kill you."

[Sashi]

To any who might have been passing by, it would have been a startling scene. A naked man was snarling and assaulting a naked woman, one's mind might easily bring up the thought of a rape. It was no rape, but rather a clash of two alphas fighting for dominance. Kaniel was winning, but Sashi was not trying hard. She was in his territory, she had abandoned her pack, and she knew nothing of the new world around her. She needed Kaniel if she was to stay, and she was going to stay because she wanted answers. Oh, but his words. She didn't know the meaning of pathetic, but she understood weak. Sashi was not weak. She had never been weak. Her lips curled int a snarl and she kicked him away even as he was rising then rolled onto her belly, ignoring the biting cold of the snow, and pushed herself to her feet. "I am not weak!" Sashi's eyes were fierce, and she was fighting the urge to shift and tear his throat out while he was still vulnerable. She didn't do it though, she wanted him alive. "There is no prey in the forest. You came to the forest. You came to my territory. You brought the human, you killed her." Sashi's voice was practically a growl as she continued. "You are weak! You den with the humans. You are just a dog!"