Jolene Keeton wandered aimlessly through Fremont Park after finding the Tur lines and following them here. It was nice to be in civilization again after a long time spent in the desert trying to find herself. She spent her time in the park people watching and even talking with a few. One man she met asked her about the dark stains on her hands and when she told him she worked as a mechanic they spent the next half an hour talking about cars but her true intention wasn't to make new friends. She was eager to meet another Uratha, perhaps to even join one of their packs, but there was a shadow of fear cast over her mission. She knew that new wolves attempting to enter a pack in the wild could be chased back into the desert, alone and wounded.
The wind that cut through the trees was sharp and fresh with the scent of coming rain. Branches rattled and quaked as a low keening drifted through the air, the lamenting tone floating like a grave pall. The tender sense of grief pressed down from above to settle like a mantle over Long Fang’s shoulders. His eyes tracked the ground as he walked, his shoulders moving in an unconscious shrug. He felt the weight of old pain begin to surface and he paused, breathing deeply.
People moved throughout the park, briskly walking here and there in the slight chill, yet a sense of content relaxation swam in their wake, cutting through the mist of mourning which he felt. His mood lifted as something caught his attention and he let his breath ease out. He felt a small ember smolder inside his breast as he shouldered aside his melancholy. This wasn’t a time to mope around, even if though there wasn’t anything to be done. It was a time for introspection but not to wallow within oneself. He started singing softly, dispersing the mantle from him as he walked onward. He had found what he was looking for.
"Who wants to separate
The world we know from our beliefs
And who sees only black and white
Distinguish loss from sacrifice
Some day we may come to peace
With the world within ourselves
And I will await you
Until I close my eyes
When your time has come
You know you'll be lonely once again
And the final winter comes to us all
Life is treacherous
But you're not the only who must pretend
We're a second in time
We're the last in the line
Of the prey that walks the earth
Good and evil combined"
Song
Memento
Song
Mori, by Kamelot
Joseph kept singing as he approached from down wind, alerting the other Uratha to his presence. He walks with a casual yet ground eating stride, his eyes fixed upon the path and his ears to his surroundings. He caught the scent of the female Uratha coming from around a young woman standing over by a bench and he stops singing as he approaches, his eyes fixed upon her.
Jolene's gaze snapped away from watching the people in the park suddenly and looked from left to right curiously before her eyes finally fell upon the approaching Uratha. Her scent was thick with motor oil, enough to turn the nose of one unaccustomed to it and certainly he could sense her unease as she backed away slowly and cornered her self against a railing of one of the small bridges around the park. She almost felt a nervous whine try to escape her human nasal passages but she locked her throat, refusing to show weakness at such an important time. Her mind raced, she had no idea what the proper greeting would be, or if speaking at all was accepted, she would just have to learn on the fly and hope for the best.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" She asked with as dignified a voice as she could muster when Joseph was within conversation range. She longed to fold her ears back to show the approaching stranger that she was aware of and respecting his strength and dominance but in this form she lacked such expression. Instead her eyebrows creased together showing only vague concern for her situation.
Joseph cocked an eyebrow as the woman backed away and put something at her back to guard from an attack from behind. He noticed tension in her posture and thought he saw one ear twitch. He had definitely found one of the People but he began to wonder if he had found an Anshega. Eyes narrowing slightly, Long Fang felt the corners of his mouth twitch as he fought to keep the the snarl off his lips. He slowly settled his weight onto his heels, posture now relaxed and unaggressive, and moved to follow the wolf. He couldn’t tell if she was Anshega or Uratha as the motor oil threw off his already pitiful sense of smell. Had he been in Urhan he knew he wouldn’t have had a problem.
After regarding her for a moment he gives a light smile. “It is a good weather…Joseph Cliffe,” he says, stepping forward to extend a hand. (If Jolene goes to take it, he grips her forearm. instead of her hand, in a warriors handshake.)
Jolene reaches out to shake his hand and when he grabs her arm she blinks at it with a confused expression.
is this how all the others shake hands...?
She visibly relaxes when he states his name, to her it meant that he wasn't here to harm her.
"I'm Jo...Jo Keeton. Although, I guess you're Jo to, huh?" She gives an awkward chuckle. "It's short for Jolene."
Her eyes switch from his face to the hand he had offered to her previously. "Oh, um, sorry about that," she said when she noticed some of her grease had transferred to him. She hands him a soft blue cloth from her back pocket. "I found a couple jobs on the way into town, really needed the extra cash, y'know? I haven't really had a chance to clean up yet," she explains quickly with a touch of embarrassment in her tone. "I'm a mechanic..." She shrugs indicating that she felt like it was an unremarkable thing to break the ice with.
Joseph looks down at the oil on his leather jacket and after a moment shrugs, taking the cloth. The oil would doubtlessly leave a stain but after considering how well worn the jacket was already he dismissed it as he swept the oil away. He hands Jo the rag back and stills, eyes dropping to the ground before he looks up again. There likely isn’t anything beyond what is apparent here but there are many things which this could truly be. I’ll watch her. The more there is behind this the more there is to work with…
“Don’t worry about it,” he replies mildly as she takes the rag back. “I worked in a garage for a time so I’m no stranger to oil stains…or being short on cash,” he says with a grin. He walks onto the bridge, glancing at Jolene to indicate she should follow and stops in the middle of the bridge. The sound of rushing water is quiet yet it is easy to imagine it interfering with any eavesdropping. “Just got into town, eh? Where are you coming from?” Long Fang speaks softly, his voice carrying to Jolene’s ears but not much farther. He leans casually back against the bridge’s railing, studying her.
Jolene follows him and looks down at the tiny stream trickling under the park's bridge. She speaks to him after a long moment of contemplation, her voice is obviously pained, "Texas... I don't want to talk about it, if that's alright." Still watching the water she speaks in low tones to keep passers by from eavesdropping,"I can promise that I mean no one in the territory harm. I just want to work in the city instead of taking odd jobs where ever I can find them. "
A lone man walks towards the two wolves talking on the bridge. Apparently lost in his own thoughts he is oblivious to the world at large. A small open notepad taps on his thigh as he walks. Any shift of the wind will bring the familiar smell of a fellow wolf as he gets closer.
With a glance at Jolene, Joseph nods and leans farther backwards into the railing, his eyes boring aimlessly into the tree line. I knew there was something in the air…or maybe I am attracting it; like attracts like. This is no day for lament or farewell, however, this is a say of beginnings…
“In time,” Long Fang says, the First Tongue coming out harshly under his breath. Turning back to Jolene he stands upright and suddenly cocks his head, ever so slightly to one side, as he regards something over her shoulder. He speaks to her yet his attention seems fixed at whatever is behind her, his eyes staring intently. “If you wish to look for an area to settle than there is someone you have to meet. From there you can see about getting more than just territory and a job…Although he might have another offer,” he finishes lightly, inclining his head in the direction of his gaze.
“Hail,” he greets the approaching Uratha, the First coming from him quietly, yet confidently.
Jolene gives Joe a strange sideways glance, she hadn't ever heard the First Tongue spoken by human mouths, it sounded flat and odd. She was soon distracted from his manner of speaking by the scent of the other wolf walking in their direction. Her gaze turns to follow Joe's. It was unexpected to see that another had taken interest in her and she was still in one piece. These two were the first she'd seen that hadn't tried to kill her, having been chased out of a few territories before finding this one.
perhaps I finally found it...
"Greetings," she tries to form the word in First Tongue her self but finds her human mouth lacking, the word sounded slurred to the others. She shows her shame by lowering her head with a disgruntled sigh. "I take it you know each other?" She asks, this time forgoing the First Tongue.
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