Ready or Not [Sabaoth]

[Far]

Ebony paws churned at the dark grey sea with purpose, propelling the large female towards shore. It had been hours since she left her home for what looked like open ocean, but this femme was no helpless pup. Her cunning mind had kept her alive, for she had known to pace herself as she made her great journey. The tide was on her side, and she had to merely paddle along in order to make headway across the large, churning sea. She did not fight the waves, but let them carry her in a gentle rocking as she rose and fell with the swells. Her eyes were damp with the salty spray of the ocean, and the vile taste in her mouth was stronger that she could have ever imagined, but not once did she look back since setting out.

Like the ocean that surrounded her, the sky above was a solid expanse of grey, with no signs of breaking to let the sun through. The air above the waves was heavy, as if burdened with thoughts of future rainfall. The ocean itself was as foretelling as the heavens, and a steady breeze had stirred up decent sized waves. By now, midday had surely passed, but she couldn’t see past the thick layer of cloud to gage the time of day accurately. She would be arriving well before sundown, however. Perfect. Her arrival to this new land was one that would mark the beginning of a new era—a time of purging.

Then, the land was suddenly looming above her. Dark brown cliffs rose from the center of the sea itself, creating a large half-moon cove in the land. The opening to the more sheltered body of water was being buffed by the sea. She could see the spray of the salt water flying up each flank of the island, creating a dull roar in her already ringing ears. So close to her destination, the soaked female pushed her paws through the water with a newfound vigor. Her muscles burned in protest, already spent from the long stretch they had endured, but she paid no heed. She didn’t slow until the rock and sand was in reach and she was able to scramble up onto the shore.

She had arrived.

Her cold gaze surveyed the area with calculated precision. The beach stretched around her for only a dozen meters or so, as the rest of the shoreline was taken up by a great structure; it was half buried in the sand, and would have been indistinguishable from the land if not for the great mast and strange fixtures that were protruding in the air. The entire formation had an open, gaping belly, like a whale carcass that had been split open and pillaged on the sand. Except this strange object was made almost entirely of wood and looked like it had been fusing to the land for the past decade. As she padded up to it to investigate further, the scent of crustaceans and rotting wood invaded her senses. This was not a natural landmark. No, this had been put here long ago by something foreign.

When she placed a wet paw against the side of one wooden flank, she could see the sand and pebbles that had embedded themselves into her pads and the surrounding fur of her ankles. Bending down to lick them clean, her mouth was full of the bitter taste of salt. Even after hours at sea, she could not seem to get used to the taste of it. The sensory overload of both the salt water and the wood of the large beast before her almost masked the scent of something else in the area, a scent so subtle that any other wolf would have surely overlooked it.

But Far did not overlook. She was the overlooker.

Coolly, the mottled-colored femme paused in her grooming to speak. ”You can come out now,” she practically purred, eyes lifting slightly to look over the crest of the wooden shape in front of her. Blood red orbs stood out against her grey-streaked muzzle, the sight startling and unnatural. I won’t bite… Not yet, anyway.

---

Count | 702
Tags | Sabaoth
Muse | Excellent
Notes | Here she comes, ready or not. >:)

[Sabaoth]

The sun was, as always, relentless. It shed light on everything on Vor’asa, casting shadows across the earth. Despite this, Sabaoth had adapted to the heat, learning how to stay cool and take advantage of the sweltering sun. The day found the General stretched out at the top of a rolling dune, large body partially hidden by the swaying stalks of seagrass. At the base of the dune, and several paces down the shore, was the jutting edges of the wooden monstrosity that Sabaoth had puzzled over many times. At long last the sun was beginning to descend above him, slowly but surely. When night fell it would be much cooler…but there was some time before he would be granted the blessed relief that the darkness offered.

Yawning, he stretched and re-positioned his gargantuan body to warm the other side of his pelt. His eyes were half-lidded as he peered out between the stalks, gazing at the ocean a moment longer before he allowed them to close. His ears remained perked high atop his cranium, for Vor’asa was crawling with the young who had finally reached their adult sizes, and after a certain devious nephew had snuck up on the General to spar with him very recently, Sabaoth would not let his guard down – no matter how pleasing it would have been to nap away the day’s heat. It was the most peace he would get; soon the elder prodigies would be returning to Ina’mos, and the second wave of young pups would make the swim to start the cycle anew.

Somewhere beneath him, the odd squelching of paws against sand reached him. His bright eyes snapped open, ears swiveling atop his head. For a moment, he did not move. Then, with a sigh so great that it made his chest heave, Sabaoth rolled onto his stomach. Not a single soul had disturbed him when he had waited and wished for trainees to appear several suns ago, but now, just as he was contemplating his brief peace...now someone had decided to entertain themselves with Sabaoth’s company. Pushing to his feet, the brute shook spare flecks of dirt from his pelt and then bounded down the dune, sand spraying around his legs as he descended. There was no sign of whoever had made the noise, and yet he knew he had not imagined it. Wary now, he crept towards the sprawling wooden figure, his steps slow and cautious as the sand warmed his paws. One of them preparing to ambush me, perhaps, he thought, but a moment later a scent reached him as he drew level with the structure. It was feminine and foreign, smothered by the smell of salt; someone who had just emerged from the ocean, then, and certainly a stranger. A moment later her voice sounded from the other side of the ship, smooth as silk.

”You can come out now.”

A quiet chuckle slipped from Sabaoth lips, and in one bound he’d leapt atop the lowest point of the ship’s hull, one of the few pieces remaining. The wood groaned with protest beneath his bulk as his icy gaze slid downwards to rest upon the she-wolf who stood below. She was a mottled mixture of dark colors, and while she was small compared to him, she was considerably larger than the majority of the femmes in Kairos. When his gaze slid to meet hers he paused for the span of a breath, momentarily startled by the blood red orbs that pierced him. Careful to keep his expression smooth and blank, Sabaoth leaped down to the sand before her in one massive leap, straightening to stare down at the she-wolf. She was the second female with remarkable eyes that he’d stumbled upon lately in Vor’asa, but it was glaring obviously that she was different from the silver-eyed, diminutive Odara who Sabaoth had immediately wished to possess. There was something shining in this stranger’s eyes that made it clear she was no damsel in distress.

”So eager to meet me?” He asked dryly, his head tilted just a fraction as he addressed her. ”I am Sabaoth, General of Kairos, whose territory you stand upon. What is your name, and where have you come from?”

TAG: Far
WORDS: 705
NOTES: and it begins >D

[Far]

The large brute leapt into her field of vision almost before the words had left her maw. Beneath his paws, the sodden wood of the wreckage groaned in protest, bowing under his weight before being still. It held as he craned his neck towards her. Bright blue orbs flashed, and she met the bold gaze without a hint of fear. She was never fearful, even to brutes that easily surpassed her in size. Impressed by his entrance, Far lifted her head, eyes quickly giving him a once-over. This hellish brute is harsh on the eyes, she thought as her eyes trailed over the long pink gouges that crisscrossed over the stranger’s muzzle and front legs. Each mark was a battle scar, and battle scars excited her. As he bounded off the wreckage and landed in front of her with a spray of sand, Far could feel a tingling in her paws. This brute seemed to embody everything she had come to this land for. Now that they were on the same level, she could see that he practically towered over her. Muscles rippled across his flanks, and each of his paws landed with purpose. Could she have gotten this lucky on her first moments in this new land?

He spoke to her in a deep rumble that ripped through the air between them and resonated in her bones. All the while, his face remained passive. Eyes watched her carefully, devoid of all emotion. Likewise, Far kept her emotions from playing across her face. She was not a wolf who let her guard down and gave too much away. Despite her shaking limbs, she held herself proudly before the brute and spoke. “More eager than you probably think.” Her cool tone was laced with a hint of playfulness, and she let a hint of a smile curl her maw. ”It’s nice to meet you, Sabaoth. I am called Far,” she said, her name leaving her throat like a dangerous insect. Saying her name always felt like letting something loose, like a piece of her was crawling away. ”Where I come from hardly matters, don’t you think?” She let the challenge hang in the air between them. She had no reason to make this brute angry, but she felt as if he would take her banter well. And if she was lucky… well just maybe she would find what she had come from earlier than she had expected.

”You say your pack is called Kairos,” she stated. Kairos. It sounded like a strong name. ”Is this pack full of strong wolves such as yourself?” Her red eyes bore into the brute’s lighter orbs, her question hanging stagnantly between them. She let the connotations of her question stand as they were. She had no reason to explain herself to this Sabaoth.

---

Count | 473
Tags | Sabaoth
Muse | Decent
Notes | I finally posted. I feel like it’s been forever

[Sabaoth]

“More eager than you probably think.”

While her tone was sportive, and indeed Sabaoth allowed a brief chuckle to rumble forth from deep within his chest at the sound of it, the brute saw something much harder in her crimson eyes. He did not respond immediately, and rightfully so; a moment later she was speaking again, offering her name just as he’d offered his own. Far. It was a unique moniker, short but to the point, and one that Sabaoth could not say he’d ever heard before. He nodded swiftly to show that he’d heard her, but still he did not speaking, instead waiting until the remainder of her answer in response to his previous question was voiced.

”Where I come from hardly matters, don’t you think?” She met his gaze steadily as she offered this, and Sabaoth’s ivory-kissed brows darted upwards. He easily could have snapped at her for the careless words – except nothing she said was careless, he suspected, but rather deliberate, which suggested that she was far more gutsy than he’d originally guessed. ”I suppose not,” he allowed after a long moment spent staring her down, relenting with the realization that she was no meek creature to practically vomit every answer he demanded of her. He could have easily overpowered her, of course, and he was certain that she knew such…but that was exactly why she was so very intriguing. Even with a monster standing before her, her courage never faltered.

She spoke of Kairos then, inquiring after their strength, and Sabaoth did not bother to hide the savage grin that spread across his features in response. ”To say yes would be an understatement,” he said, no hint of arrogance in his tone. There was only an absolute frankness that left little room for negotiation, and that spoke volumes for the General’s certainty. ”It is dubbed, quite accurately, the land of the giants. My brother, the Emperor Goliath, rules, and he is perhaps even more fearsome than I am, if you will take my word for it…but considerably prettier.” There was a sharp edged humor that lingered after his words; he could feel his scars stretching slightly from the result of his grin. He’d deliberated used Goliath’s proper title of Emperor because it suggested, quite obviously, that Kairos was an empire. Truly it was, for Goliath ruled over three territories now, the implication of this speaking for itself. ”Kairos is always welcoming those who are fierce enough to seek the power that we offer. It is not place for the weak.” He let his gaze linger upon her again, where it eventually came to rest upon her cold gaze, adding, ”And I think that you would fit in quite nicely, Far.”

TAG: Far
WORDS: 454

[Far]

He held himself calm and still as they exchanged words. His features remained almost expressionless, and betrayed nothing to her. Only his eyes seemed to glow with any sort of emotion, and his brows moved with her words. She grinned devilishly, glad to elicit some sort of response from him. She was not to be reckoned with. He would know that soon. The world would know that.

The General spoke in an even tone as he spoke of his pack. The name still rang in her mind, and her tail flicked once as she drank up the haggard brute’s words. Her eyes practically sparkled and she took a step forward, barely able to contain the energy that had suddenly surged in her limbs. The salt from the sea still clung to her dark fur, but she was no longer tired from fighting the waves. The discovery of this pack was too exciting to leave her fatigued, and yet she still remained calm in the presence of the General. Her mask was complete, a layer of cool collection. But there was no harm in showing him a fraction of her eagerness. He was an ambassador after all. She could read it in the way he held himself. In the way he addressed her.

Goliath.

The name shook her to her very bone. Her mottled black audits leaned forward slightly as the name left the General’s maw. As she looked over Sabaoth’s frame — his towering haunches and thick muscles — she could hardly imagine a more impressive specimen. But if this brute had a brother… an emperor at that, who knew what this pack was really capable of. Sabaoth grinned at his own wit, and Far mirrored him, the corners of her muzzle curling up in a smile.

They are perfect for my mission.

It seemed as if her decision was made before the last sentence even left Sabaoth’s throat. She raised her head so she was looking up at him. The fur around her neck, nearly completely dry now, bristled, making her seem ticker. ”I have come seeking just the sort of power Kairos has to offer,” she said boldly. ”I would like to be taken to your Emperor.”

---

Count | 371
Tags | Sabaoth
Muse | Decent
Notes | Sorry that this is kind of sucky.

[Sabaoth]

”I have come seeking just the sort of power Kairos has to offer. I would like to be taken to your Emperor.”

He could see the eagerness, the sheer zeal, in the upwards tilt of her muzzle. He could hear it in her voice, could almost smell it upon her, and although he did not reaction besides a twitching of his lips, he was pleased. She was, it seemed, exactly the type of femme that Kairos would welcome with open arms, and Sabaoth gestured to the distance shore with a broad sweep of his muzzle. ”Come.”

He said nothing more as he moved around her, navigating around the ship and off along the coast. It was amusing to glance back and see the difference in the sizing of their paw prints in the sand, although he allowed himself to do this only once. From then on his gaze never wavered as they moved, the silence settling comfortably around the two. Throughout their trek he did not see any of the young initiates participating in the agoge, and for this he was glad; she would meet them eventually, of course, but it was simpler to take her to their destination without the young ones hounding their steps.

At last they came to a halt, Sabaoth gesturing towards the stretch of ocean before them. ”I cannot leave Vor’asa yet, but I trust that you will be able to find Ina’mos on your own. It is a straight swim from here.” His gaze flickered across her still damp pelt, knowing that she would not like to take to the water once more, but also knowing that she would go regardless. ”You may stay here on Vor’asa for as long as you need to rest and prepare, or you can leave now. It is entirely up to you.” He turned from her then, taking a few steps before calling over his shoulder to her. ”When you touch land, ask for Goliath. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to meet you.”

For once, there was no trace of sarcasm or scorn in the General’s voice as he walked away.

TAG: Far
WORDS: 353
Notes: I figured this was a good place to end it so Far can get going with Kairos stuff <3