Lie Down [open]

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Annushka lay near her den. There was the feeling that she was completely useless. But, then again, she didn’t really join the pack to be a member. More, she was an observer. However, as the days marched by, she felt that she had some desire to be a part of it. More of a part of it. All she had done so far was quietly pretend that she was a dumb mute, and the mere fact that she did nothing to get to know these other wolves made what she was voluntary.

Annushka sighed as she heaved unto her feet. Her large nose quivered at the scent of blood in the jungle. There was always a death in the air, but that was because there was always danger around them. There were plants that surpassed a wolf’s lethality with their own. There were prey that made the hunt a matter of life and death. There were predators that lurked so dangerously close that they could breathe down your nape before you realized their presence. Her murky sight could barely make out the shapes in front of her. They were nothing but smoke playing with shadows. Plants were the same as prey and prey were the same as predators.

Her stiff legged stance was remedied by a lengthy stretch. Her slate gray body interspersed with flashes of rainbow as the sunlight dappled her. She was in the den area and it was comforting despite the fact she didn’t plead any allegiance to her own pack. Perhaps. Perhaps she would like a better rank. It would make life easier… and less boring. She stood straight and wagged her small tail. Her large round ears pricked forward and then lay back in a neutral way. Annushka had started for the jungle in hopes of perhaps getting some friends. But then, she stopped. Her ears were pressed against her head. Her eyes, despite their sightlessness, still held her emotions as clear as can be. She had pondered her situation and felt that she might as well give up. It seemed to be a problem with no way in.

But I can’t speak until I know them. I can’t know them until I speak to them.

She stopped and then reclaimed the spot she had been lying in. The ground was still warm. Her head lowered so that her chin rested on the ground. It was cool. But that was because this hopelessness was new. She never expected to be depressed when she decided to go with the flow and just join this pack for the sheer fun of it.

[sparta]

Sparta had just joined the Mafia, and now he was largely bored. There were not too many members as of yet, something that he guess could be rejoiced, because he didn't take well to the idiocy of other wolves. But then again, few wolves meant that the strength of the pack was low, as other, large packs could take them down. But Sparta sure as hell wouldn't go without one hell of a fight.

Yes, but then there was the current problem. He was LARGELY bored. What to do? Hunt? Eh, he wasn't too hungry, and he suspected with the meals those two had eaten earlier, they weren't that hungry. So what then? He could go find a lone, unsuspecting, hapless wolf in the jungle and make sport out of it's hide. But then again, he still had the pelt of the Lyxxus draped over his back, and the Yagi was getting tired of carrying it around. So now what?

The large male came upon the commons and looked around. It smelled strongly of the few wolves that lived there, but other then that was almost empty. He almost sighed in relief when the female from before was spotted, laying on the ground. Sparta thought she looked like she'd just settled down. Eh, k. Question time for the female. He still didn't know she couldn't speak. He padded up to her.

"Excuse me, is there a place where I'm supposed to sleep? An unused rock? A den for er, Thugs?" He still wasn't entirely happy with his new title. "Or do we just snooze wherever our asses land?" He was being unusually polite. Sparta was no idiot. Even if he wasn't exactly social, he knew that he was part of a pack now, and at least had to respect the other members a little.

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Annushka raised her eyes to communicate that she noticed him, but kept her chin on the ground. She let out a rolling sigh because the exhale of air through her nose was basically one of the few sounds she could make by her own body. Her laid back ears flickered forward at the male Yagi in interest because she sort of expected him to speak. Hearing words always made her envious. And hearing questions directly addressed to her was like dangling a piece of carcass in front of a starving wolf. A want she couldn’t have.

She was amused by his awkwardness at least. Perhaps this could be some mental stimulation out of a week of blanks. Annushka rose to her feet, communicating in the only way that she could at the moment—with her body. She gestured a ‘follow me’ by shrugging her right shoulder. Her scarred eyes could hardly make out his shape. She could see that he had horns at least from the protrusions in his smoke-lined silhouette. So a Yagi then. She figured that that one larger den would suit him.

Her gait was odd because her legs were of uneven heights. Her forelimbs were much longer than her hind limbs. It gave her a dogged gait, but a very energy efficient trot. Her awkward strides carried her from her place of rest to the mouth of a den. She leaned forward and bumped her nose around the edge of the opening to confirm that it was indeed the den that she felt was the one she intended him to have. She offered a smile.

There. A den. Nothing special. Just a place to rest. I suppose then. A den is like a grave.

[sparta]

Sparta watched in a silence as she pulled herself up off the ground and walked over to a larger looking den. He followed her, and noticed with slight interest as she walked unevenly. Of course, it was because of her legs. The front ones looked longer to him. Huh, weird. But he really didn't care. He was living in a pack of freaks already, he himself included. Flynn was... Flynn. Enough said, the little creepy cleaner. Sparta didn't doubt he could be dangerous though, if he was in the Mafia. Sylvester was also cannibalistic, if he could judge from that half-eaten wolf carcass he'd drug along. But then again, Flynn was too. And now he met this female. Of course, he didn't deny that he was also a weird one. Sparta knew very well it wasn't normal to go around slaughtering wolves that got in his way. But eh, who cares. Was the right way, by his logic.

She touched the den with her nose and then turned his way, smiling. There was something about her eyes. They almost looked... clouded. Sparta wondered if it was just the light that was tricking him. Shaking it off, he stepped forward and grunted. "Thanks..." It was then that it dawned on the Yagi. He didn't know her name. Flynn had never said it. He'd just said "That female." Sparta shook the pelt off his back and pushed it into the den. He'd straighten it out into a nice carpet later. "Uh, Flynn never told me your name. So... what is it?" Being polite wasn't exactly what Sparta was used to. If it was normal times it would've been "You, female. Your name, now." or he wouldn't even have bothered with her name, just saying "Thanks, fool." Yes, it seemed pack life would have to be different then a life of a loner, when he actually had to respect someone. And he had a sneaking suspicion that this female was higher ranking then him. Oh well, that would apparently change with time, according to Sylvester and Flynn.

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

His movements were detected as nothing more than swift shadows. His body, she could only see as a blurred silhouette. She knew as much about him as he knew about her. Almost nothing. They met only once before, and perhaps caught snatches of scent or sound of each other, but not a real introduction ever. Not a real face to face introduction like this. However, he still wanted her name. And his want of it dangled the fact that she couldn’t speak teasingly out in the open.

She tried to communicate her frustration and she snorted loudly, not having the ability to growl. The mute female stopped while she tossed her head, but then, she quieted. She let her inability be known. Annushka raised her eyes to him, sightless, but still emotional. They glittered with a soft melancholy before she subjected herself to showing him how unable she was. Quietly, she attempted to speak to him.

“Huuuhhhr.”

It came out as a weak exhale of barely-there noise. She lowered herself in pathetic pain. Her throat burned with her attempt to speak, as if the wounds remembered the first day they were formed. She tried, over and over, to reach his mind and finally speak.

“Annushka. Annushka. Annushka.”

She repeated her name over and over in her mind, and wanted him to hear it just so she could stop trying in a path where she could never succeed. He was kind, but she wasn’t ready to let herself into him. To hear his thoughts. To have him hear hers. It was a mutual trust. And so, between them, there was only silence.

Annushka was tired and she lowered her tail. She wasn’t going to remain his higher for much longer. Soon. She would be of the lowest rank if she couldn’t open up and begin to trust the other wolves of her own pack. However, if that happened, she could simply leave the pack.

She was here on a whim, was she not?

[adrian]

He watched as a flurry of reactions hit the female. She looked at him... he still noticed something in her eyes... it was almost starting to dawn on him. What's wrong with them? He tilted his head only slightly, and she attempted to make... some sort of noise. Sparta thought it sounded like a puff of air... but? Could she... could she not speak? He nodded in sudden understanding, trying to pull off an annoyed face, when he was really quite shocked. It was then that it also dawned on him. The way she'd walked to the den and touched it... the way she was looking at him right now... she was blind. It made sense, now that he thought about it, and he mentally kicked himself. Idiot.

But then, something long and distant came to him. It was like when you sometimes thought of a certain sound, creature or thing so hard that you imagined being able to hear it, but only faintly. Annushka. Sparta blinked his blue eyes and looked at her, almost feeling foolish. But he had to know. "It... wouldn't happen to be... Annushka, would it?" He was mentally screaming at himself that he was a total moron. Of course it wasn't Annushka! How would he accidentally guess her name, and such one he'd never even heard before! But then again... there was still a trickle of doubt. What if it was, and I hadn't asked? Then he would never have known, and then if he'd ever found out he would've called himself a moron for not asking sooner. But still, this? Was he out of his mind?

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Her head was still lowered and her weaknesses exposed. Somehow, she felt naked to his scrutiny, his realization felt like hailstones upon her fur. She could see his shadowy form with the head tilting enough for her to detect. He was thinking. No. He knew. He knew now that she was blind and mute. Instead of feeling pressure from this, she felt relief.

Still, there was the fact that there was no way they could communicate. However, he should be more open to the alternative methods—not just words and body language. She grew a bit more confident, for she had raised her small tail and pricked her large, round ears, and, as if her growing self-worth had an effect in it, he took a guess at her name.

It seemed that he did hear her somehow. Perhaps he was listening. Annushka gave a vigorous nod. Yes, that is my name! Perhaps the pack life wouldn’t be too bad. But, then again, he didn’t seem to attribute the guess to her. Perhaps he still thinks that he found the name by chance. Anya blindly stared toward him, but even she could see that this was a start.

[sparta]

Sparta was surprised beyond all reason. It was Annushka! There was a complete look of unadulterated shock on his face. He'd actually guessed right? Heh, and Sparta despised guessing games. Weird. He sorta liked her vigorous nod. She looked nicer when she was, er, sorta happy. Sparta spoke again.

"So, Annushka. Pretty name?" He was sooo not good at this "nice" thing. Sparta was so dazed that he couldn't really bring himself to be his usually pugnacious, haughty self. Usually he would've grunted and walked away, but he was feeling a bit awkward by his sudden successful guess. Regaining some of his higher air, he looked at her critically. "So you can't speak? Eh, can't be that bad. At least you won't annoy the hell outa me." It was true. Sparta didn't usually like the sound of other wolves talking unless he could gain from it.

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Annushka stretched her mouth into a smile before letting it fade away. It didn’t matter how she smiled, the scars always made it seem insincere somehow as if it were impossible to smile after so many years of abuse. She sighed in sharp exhale before letting her sightless eyes communicate that she didn’t care what he thought of her condition. His opinion was wrong and she wanted to annoy him desperately. To be without a voice was heart-wrenchingly difficult.

Especially because she used to speak with words that were hot as fire and witty and true to her nature. Now, she was beaten down due to inability. She wanted to talk back to the wolf. She wanted him to hear what she really thought of his arrogance, but then, she settled down and realized that she was overthinking the situation. With calm resolve, she swallowed her anger and let her mind whisper with placidity. The calm rushed her words out and had the effect of amplifying them, much like a wave. This wave swept from her mind to his.

“To have no say is hell to say the least.”

A bitter tone tempered her thought-voice, but her intentions were pure. She did not want to cause trouble. Perhaps befriending this half-rude, half-nice wolf would benefit her. Perhaps it would be healthy to her sanity to have one that could somehow communicate with her… and perhaps one day, be open enough mentally to accept her words as if she spoke them instead of thought them.

[sparta]

Sparta watched as she tried to smile. It looked insincere, but he supposed it would be the best he got out of this female. He shrugged, practically not caring. Sitting himself down and making himself comfortable as she lay. He looked at her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

The Yagi made another attempt at conversation. "So... " He looked her over, wondering what, exactly, made her dangerous or useful enough to be in the Mafia. "You're good at fighting, right? I mean, you'd have to be, considering where we are." He looked around himself, trying to include the Mafia Territory in it's entirety.

He wondered how she could hunt, if she was blind. He wouldn't put it past Sylvester and Flynn to not care what happened to her if she didn't hunt... but on the other hand, if she was useful and starved, that wouldn't be a good thing either. So... how?

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Her ears pricked at his voice as her blind eyes communicated that fiery spirit she was born with. Her scars were because of the fact that she had never backed down when she was a young, foolish slave. And the disabilities that the gray hybrid acquired from her disobedience had somehow forced her into the stance of the subordinate, the quiet sufferer who merely took her burden without protest. Sparta was challenging her, not in an evil way, but in a sort of banter that forced her onto her feet and take a stand because he dared her to.

Annushka stood up. Her stance was off-balance looking. Because of her hybridization, she was a tall wolf with a sloping back that ended in smaller rear legs. Despite the appearance, it made her sturdy on her feet, tireless in her motion, but rather slow in her ambulation. Her comical ears had rounded to locate Sparta by his exhalation of breath and she triangulated his position by that. She nodded. Her comfort made her thought-words stronger.

“It’s been awhile; but I am a fighter to the core.”

She refused to give up. She refused to allow her soiled beauty, her muteness, her blindness to dictate the wolf she should be. Any other in her same predicament could have refused. In fact, she was close to that same abyss that she had scoffed at all those times before. Her depression was alleviated merely by Sparta’s presence now. Her hope had lifted her spirit—even if she refused to believe it. It was hope that saved her.

She lowered her fore-half to the ground in the classic initiation of play. All play looked like fights between adult wolves. Nothing more than healthy sparring. The she-wolf again gave that crooked, broken smirk of hers. Her crooked, short tail wagged slowly; she was unsure.

And then, with a flash of her old self, she charged ahead, hoping, praying that she didn’t lose everything just yet.

[sparta]

Sparta watched as many things happened. She seemed to become... more firey. She stood up and lowered her front, an open challenge of a fight... or at least a play-fight. He was surprised, however, when she charged at him. He blinked and half rolled, half dived out of the way just in time. Seriously?! She was fast.

The Yagi was visibly impressed as he turned on her, a vaguely impressive snarl on his face. He never lost a fight. He sure as hell wouldn't lose one now. He dove at her with the brunt of his horns, trying to bowl her over without actually impaling her. After that, he lunged in to bite her leg- which would hurt, considering his sabers.

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Annushka was hardly the fighter she used to be when she was a sighted wolf. She had, however, become comfortable with her blindness enough to understand distance and reaction times and was slightly able to hunt. She was still at a major disadvantage. She had leapt at the empty air because Sparta dodged out of the way, and his dodge had caused her to land on her face. It was painful, but more painful was her embarrassment.

The female wolf was about to get back up when Sparta bowled her over such that she lay belly up. Vulnerable, exposed, and still, quite in the dark about what was going on, she somehow remained focused. Her legs were flailing as she was trying to find something solid that would tell her where everything was. She needed context before she could place herself in the arena again. Her hindfoot caught the side of his face as he lunged in for a bite and she kicked out. It merely pushed him backward, hardly hurting him at all. The blunt claws left nothing more than momentary pain across his cheek.

Though it did almost no damage against Sparta, that measly, poor kick had provided her with the information to get back on her feet. Annushka jumped back away from Sparta. Her ears were scanning the area. Her nose breathed in heavily to sift through the scents. This was her very best and she knew she was going to lose this fun, little match. A fighter at heart, she wasn’t going down without at least giving him a bit of trouble.

“Funny how loss of sight can lead to a significant loss of fighting skill, right?”

She handled the sparring sloppily. Because the charging forward didn’t work, she decided that, being blind, the best she could do was counter. And even that, she knew wouldn’t end greatly. She needed to relearn how to fight. All that she learned was when her technique had the sight figured into the equation. She needed help to learn how to battle blind.

[sparta]

Sparta jumped backwards as she kicked him. He scowled softly as she got up and turned on him, growling. Was she waiting for him to make the next move? So be it, her loss. With a momentary lightbulb of intelligence, he kicked a rock in the other direction, watching as it thumped on the grass and dirt. It did sound enough like fast footsteps. Hopefully it would confuse her on to where his whereabouts were.

He lunged forward then, attempting to through her feet out from under her and then moved to pin her down, lunging for her throat. He wasn't going to bite hard enough to kill her... just to hold her still. If he could get a hold.

[Annushka Аня]

you say it best
WHEN YOU SAY NOTHING AT ALL
А н у ш к а
*** & ***

Annushka’s ears flickered to the sounds of the rocks. She turned her body toward them, and she left her body completely vulnerable to Sparta’s attack. She was a poor fighter, definitely. But once upon a time, she used to be much better. It was for that reason she was blinded. And then, her voice was taken. The ability to fight well and speak against her masters was not the sort of talents that were considered good for a slave to have.

Her foggy, orangey eyes tried to find Sparta’s shadow shape, but everything looked the same in the dingy light of the jungle. Suddenly her nose and ears found Sparta—coming right at her at full speed. He crashed into her; this forced her legs to buckle and she fell hard on her side. The tall female gave a grunt of pain as her shoulder took the brunt of her fall. Like a damsel in distress, she stared innocent, doe-eyed at her attacker, as if to try to coax only a pearl of gentleness from him.

But to no avail. He immediately pinned her down and made a grab at her throat.

Painful. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. The only sound she could make was a tired, soft, “Hrrrnnghhh.” His bite was firm around her throat, which was a sensitive area due to the extensive injuries from years ago. She struggled under him. Kicking at him repeatedly, she tried so hard to get away from the pain. “Hurhhhhh.” Her thoughts became self-preserving. They sounded like a rush of wind in her head, each piece turned into the other until her thoughts felt like a hum that wanted out.

“Gotta get free. No more pain. Gotta get free. Please Spirit, lemme go, gotta get freed. Damn it. How do I get out of this one. Got it, no got it.”

Her legs worked like pistons, trying to force Sparta off of her. She was no longer a fighter. She could never be a fighter. She could see that now.