Seasons Change Swiftly as the Wind - 03.01.2010

[Seirei Hisakata]

Seirei sat on his haunches at the edge of the cliff that circled the coral bay, the golden glow of the setting sun setting the calm waters on fire beneath him, every now and then a spray moistening his deep blue fur.

He shivered slightly as the wind brought a chill with it. Autumn, it seemed, had dragged on for an eternity; so much had happened during it, both positive and terrible. He sniffed the air, it would not be long until the first frost would settle on the great plains; the glistening dew always made the place beautiful at this time of year. Seirei continued to gaze out upon the horizon, content with the fact that Tersias was back at home in the warm, taking care of their young family, who were not so little as they once were. He felt proud of how strong they had grown in the short two months that they had been alive. The resemblences in their appearance were already becoming more uncanny as their fur colour developed and their personalities blossomed.

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Hello, Seirei," said Mira, coming up from behind her friend. "How are you this fine evening?" Her coat glistened slightly in the pink glow cast by the sun, her leopard spots turning a deep magenta. Mira's icy blue eyes reflected the sun's rays from the ocean, making water patterns dance in her eyes. On her tail was the golden tailring Hiruko had given her not too long ago, and everyday she grew in anticipation of the day for when they would be finally mated.

She looked at her friend, and wondered what mated life was like. It couldn't be much different to before, except you are promised to one person. However, comparing her and Hiruko with Seirei and Tersias was pointless - the latter couple now had their own family, whilst the former hadn't even declared their official mateship yet.

[Seirei Hisakata]

Seirei turned his head round with a smile when he heard the familiar voice of his feline friend greeting him. He wondered when Hiruko and Mira were going to formally bond their love, he faintly recalled them wanting the ceremony to be in the winter, and by the quickly falling temperatures, surely it wouldn't be long now? Besides, he wanted to attend so dearly, seeming as it was an important occasion for two of the most important animals in his life, besides Tersias and his family of course.

"Hey Mira" he said happily "Fine, thanks. Just enjoying the sunset." He noticed the sun reflecting off of Mira's ring which sparked his question: "So, you guys decided on date yet?" he nodded in the direction of her tail. He thought back to when he and Tersias unified. They didn't have a ceremony as such, Seirei wasn't one for those sorts of things personally, but it was one the most important parts of his life all the same.

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Hiruko keeps insisting that it should be on my birthday," said Mira, blushing a little. "I keep telling him no, because then it would be more about me than it would about us." She paused for a moment. "I want it to be closer to the end of Winter, to be honest, however it really depends on what we both really want." She kept her eyes out to sea as she asked her own question.

"What is it like? To have children, I mean." Her momentary hesitance to ask vanished now that the words had escaped. "I see you with Tersias and your cubs, and I want to know what it is like to be a parent." She flushed furiously. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would like to be a parent myself, but I don't think Hiruko would be too thrilled if I told him before our wedding. He'd probably end up panicking about it."

[Seirei Hisakata]

Seirei smiled warmly down at his close friend. The warm pink flush under her glowing white fur proved that, however embarassed she was to ask such things, he could tell that the matter meant a great deal to her. He exhaled a great breath as he, too, turned his gaze back onto the waves.

"I guess I can't really tell you physically, you'd have to talk to Tersias about that" he joked, "But as a father. . .I don't know. . .I guess. . .it changes you. I mean, I feel different inside - proud, but in the good sense. It makes you feel like you've acheived something by bringing such good things into the world. Whenever I come home from a rough day, no matter what mood I was in beforehand, as soon as I see them, it disappears and the warmth spreads. It's a good thing." he said reassuringly to her. "Now you know Hiruko as well as I, probably even better now" he laughed "How jealous I am" he teased her with a little nudge. "But I think, once you've both expressed that feeling towards each other at the ceremony, I'm positive he would want the same thing you want now."

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

Mira smiled slightly. "Obviously I'd have to talk to Ters about the actual birthing!" She stuck out her tongue, but listened to what he had to say. "Are you sure he'll feel the same way I do? To be honest, I would have thought that this whole mess with Koatia would make him want to get rid of the wolf before even thinking about starting a family."

Mira sighed, and lay down on the ground. "I guess its just something to do with being female, wanting a family as soon as romantic unity is mentioned..."

[Seirei Hisakata]

"That's the way it's always been for Hiruko. Being our leader he sometimes has little choice but to forfill his duty. That's the kind of brave guy he is. Looking at Tersias and I ... I guess you could say that we acted selfishly, choosing to start a family in the middle of it all, but that's because I think love comes before duty. If we don't have love, then what is Hiruko fighting to protect?"

Seirei felt a snarl rising in his throat when Mira mentioned Koatia's name, but he forced it back down. That wolf was a creature of evil, he felt slightly disgusted to be of the same species as that thing. "Don't worry about him Mira. No matter what your situation is, you have your friends to cover you back. So there's no need to worry about timing."

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Talk about timing," said a gnarly voice from behind both Seirei and Mira. "Mind if I cut in?" He sent a flick of blue magic at Mira, cutting her paw and spilling red blood everywhere and making Mira yelp. The intruder sniffed the air. "Oh, how I love the smell of blood at sunset," he sighed.

"Koatia..." growled Mira.

[Seirei Hisakata]

At the sight of Koatia, Seirei immediately crouched into an instinctive defense position, placing himself between the now wounded Mira and the evil creature that stood before him so smugly. "Mira, you okay?" Seirei snarled, the skin of his muzzle pulled back against his bared teeth.

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"I'll be fine," replied Mira between licks as she tended her wound. "It's him you need to worry about."

"Worry? About me? Now why would you need to do that, my dear? I know perfectly well what I'm doing, you should have no concern over my saf-"

"I wasn't talking about your safety," growled Mira. "I'm talking about your actions."

[Seirei Hisakata]

Now Seirei was satisfied that Mira was ok, he could turn his attention onto how to deal with Koatia. He had never confronted him in battle before, so he did not know his strengths or weaknesses, although Hiruko had told him of his extremely powerful magical abilities.

"It'll soon be the scent of your own blood that you'll be enjoying" Seirei spat at him, his tail now swishing menacingly, sparks crackling from the tips.

"What?" Koatia cooed patronisingly, "Is daddy too gentle to make a move? Has your new family made you weak, dog?"

Seirei had to dig his claws into the ground to prevent himself from flinging himself at Koatia. He was so full of hate right now, but he had to control himself, he knew Hiruko would not approve of him killing instantly.

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Don't attack," whispered Mira in Seirei's ear. "I know you want to, but this is Hiruko's battle, not ours. We just happen to be caught up in it." Her wound was still bleeding, though not as profusely as before.

"Wise words from one so... indifferent," commented Koatia. "I'm not just talking about your views on fighting, oh no. I'm also talking about your looks."

Mira almost laughed. She settled on a scoff. "Why would I care on your opinions of my appearence, scar-face?"

Koatia growled slightly.

[Seirei Hisakata]

Seirei smirked at Koatia's irritation, but didn't relax his stance. What did Mira expect him to do? Just keep on talking until he just walked away? They would just let him go? Again? It wasn't in his nature to be so docile, he was a soldier, born to fight.

"Mira," Seirei murmured towards her out of the corner of his mouth. "You're going to have to think of another plan, because I don't think my instincts will let him go unscathed, not after he attacked without a second thought."

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Well what am I supposed to do? You know very well I don't like fighting!" muttered Mira. "I can't exactly..." A pause. "Oh. Yes I can."

Koatia was watching them with wary curiousity, ready to fight if need be.

Mira turned and ran towards some bushes to hide, then secretly camouflaged herself when she heard Koatia's laughter. "HA! That's all she's going to do? Run away? Haha!"

[Seirei Hisakata]

((OOC - Permission granted for Seirei to control Mira within this post))

Seirei kept his eyes focussed on Koatia as he caught onto Mira's plan, seeing her go invisible subtly in his peripheral vision. Within the bushes, Mira edged slowly closer towards Koatia, placing each paw as delicately as if stepping on fragile glass, so as not to make any sound that wold give away her position. Soon she could see Koatia's tail and his back and smiled to herself.

Suddenly she launched herself at him, still invisible, and sent him flying towards Seirei, who was just as startled as Koatia was, but soon realised what Mira had done. "Finally!" he barked, happy for a reason to fight. Hiruko couldn't complain if there was a (invisibly provoked) provocation. Seirei swirled his tail round like a bolt of lightning and slammed it into Koatia's open chest, sending him flying backward.

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

Koatia crashed into the ground as Mira reappeared.

"You Sneak!" he yelled at her, struggling to get up. Mira simply shrugged.

"I belive you should leave soon, or else your, ah, 'provocation' just then may lead Seirei to take more drastic measures to protect his land."

"Provocation? You pushed me!"

"You didn't see me, so I did nothing."

[Seirei Hisakata]

Seirei sneered at Koatia's look of outrage. "Not fair was it? To attack someone without warning. You didn't take that into account when you sliced open Mira's paw now did you? I suggest you take her advice, before I finish you." Seirei raised his tail again in readiness, sparking warningly.

Koatia glared at Seirei. How he loathed him, almost as much as Hiruko, but there would be another time to settle this score. "Very well" he snarled in response "But you havent seen the last of me!" Koatia sprinted off down the slope of the cliff, slower than usual because of the pain Seirei inflicted, but still fast enough to leave a trail of blue flames behind him.

Seirei exhaled a deep breath of relief. "You're a bit of a genious, ya know that, right?" he grinned at Mira who was walking towards him. "Hopefully that wound will keep him away for a while."

[Mira-Neiva Fadiele-Koudo]

"Just a bit," agreed Mira, winking at her wolven friend. "It should do, but until then, let us relax in the peace that the sunset brings." Together, canine and feline lay down to watch the rest of the sun sink beneath the horizon to make way for night.