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Post by Eli Smith on Sept 9, 2012 21:08:40 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
The way she had gotten under his skin so easily was bothersome. It had been a good week since their meeting and though he had caught traces of her scent in the forest after he had made a note to fold up her clothes for her convenience, she was nowhere to be seen. Yet the image of her wolf form haunted him. Her beautiful fur, catching rays of gold in the sunlight as her muscles flexed and rippled underneath, her eyes glinting with defiance. He saw her every time he closed his eyes, and had dreamed of her three times already, so that even now as he awoke late in the day in a cold sweat and a book under the crook of his neck, she was the only thing that could hold his attention.
With a groan he sat up, stretching his aching human muscles and looking to the slightly soggy book pages that could not wash her image from him no matter how deeply he attempted to plunge himself into their fantasy stories. He threw it aside, the thing crashing against the wall and falling to the ground with a sad thump of crushed pages. He picked up a stick of cinnamon and slipped it between his lips, chewing it the only way he agreed to keep up any sort of dental hygiene. His human form needed it, but his wolf form didn’t, and if it meant simply smelling of cinnamon, so be it. Anything was better than that horrible sticky paste the humans seemed to love so much. The thought of it caused a shudder and he decided he could use with a good splash of cold water, even if it meant going by a place that she frequently could be found. Part of him, as he pulled on his pants, thought that if she should be there he would turn around and run like hell. The other part thought he was a foolish one, caught up in a female’s heat and that catch was a trap no male could escape.
He would simply have to see, he decided, and again tried to push him from his thoughts as he trotted his usual route to the river and crouched upon its bank, the cold water rushing by with almost- perfect clarity, cleaner than other water sources due to a waterfall just around the bend. He did not smile as he caught sight of his reflection in the water, his long hair falling down and away from him, his eyes cold and unforgiving. It was the face of a human, with the eyes of a strong alpha, though in his opinion the blue orbs usually found on his face were even more commanding.
Two callused hands disrupted the surface and he slashed the frigid water upon his face and over his hair, shaking his head roughly and spraying water droplets about as soon as he felt a trickle of water penetrate his ears.
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Sept 9, 2012 21:38:40 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 330
A week. She had run into the clearing bare, not wanting to antagonise the pack further by returning in wolf form. Not paying attention to the fact that her clothes had been folded, she had merely run, putting them back on as best as she could in mid run. Now, she had returned to her favourite spot, sitting there against the trunk of the tree. Except this time she wasn't in the mood for looking for wolves. If anything, it was to escape Jay's bookstore, more precisely Jay himself. Her encounter had rattled, her vision of what living as a wolf would be like seemed far different to the reality. Yet if anything, her disdain for humans had grown stronger by the day.
Her little notebook that was the closest she could bear now to writing was lying there, bleak. A few random scrawls of depressing poetry were engraved into the page, and the next few pages below that. How could she say she wanted to return to the wild, when she couldn't even handle a bit of denial from an alpha wolf. Then again she had inadvertadly picked out a pretty good one to start with, one who settled things on an individual basis. That she could appreciate. Stuffing her notebook away, she stood up and took a good look around.
Of all people, Eli, as she had come to know him from others, was perched over the river, bathing his face in it's cold goodness. Her bitterness had faded, enough for her to approach, stopping some distance away. "It didn't go too well, but I am grateful that you tried." Guessing he wouldn't appreciate the interruption too much, she crouched down to run her hand through the water. [/size][/color] |
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Post by Eli Smith on Sept 9, 2012 22:37:25 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
On the cool autumn breeze her scent was carried to his nose. Inhaling deeply, he brought up water and splashed it on the back of his neck, sure he was imagining things. Her? Here? Now? Surly it was a fantasy of his dreams once more. But no! Her voice reached his ears and cause his heart to lunge from the pit of his stomach to his throat and he nearly choked on it. Swallowing his strange feelings down, he suppressed his instincts. For once, he couldn’t trust the sensations that typically drove his body on. If he did so, he would betray his pack for a lycan, and that was something that simply could not happen. His loyalty was engraved more deeply into him than the memory of her gaze on him that day, and so he took hold on his body with complete disregard to instinct for once.
Lungs expand, retract. Blood absorb oxygen, flow. The process cleared his head little by little, and for a moment his eyes did close, unfortunately, allowing the scent of her to paint a picture in his mind. In an instant he snapped them open and stared at her, emotion quick to leave him as his eyes met a curious little human. Pathetic. This feeling that had been driving him so long, this itch he couldn’t scratch. Look at her. A mortal claiming to be a wolf! And he, a wolf trapped as a mortal, nearly duped by her little trick! Well, now the joke was on her, and it was exactly with that bravado that he expected to speak to her, tell her to leave him alone, to stay clear of the packlands, to leave his forest and never come back because he would never, ever meet with the likes of her.
“Don’t give up on him.” He blurted, hating his words near instantly as he had to look away. He stood up quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep from striking out, a growl subtle but thick in his throat. He took a wiff of her scent and glanced sheepishly up at her. “No wolf should trust a lycan.” He repeated, as if it was his own opinion and not that of the silver wolf. “Your human form corrupts you. Gives you away. You haven’t come close to proving yourself, and just following him around isn’t going to cut it.” Once he started he couldn’t stop, and the words that had built up at him for the past week flowed with a frustrated and confused passion. “Plus geeze, you’re so tense all the time, what sort of wolf do you think you are? Have some trust in your body, your strength. Feel the earth for once. Listen to the forest, what it’s trying to tell you.” He grew silent for a good while, staring at her, his eyes examining her for cracks in her armor, questioning.
“The city has made you blind and deaf like a pup.” He shook his head moving as if to walk away, but then he turned to her again, confused and enraged and happy to see her all at the same time. He pointed a finger and opened his mouth as if to continue, but gave up and ended up falling into a seated position, his hands in his hair as he stared at the wet ground.
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Sept 10, 2012 4:39:36 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 286
His words stung. She despised having to take human form, did he not see that? How could she prove herself to him when she didn't even know what she expected. Tears were welling in her eyes again, how nice. Some wolf she'd make, crying every time she got talked down hard. "I hate having to take the form that the butchers assume. But none of the others are willing to really stand up, and fight for what we really are, not what we've been grouped as. But I'd gladly lose the ability to change if it meant I didn't have to fight everything to get anywhere." Standing up again, she turned away to try and conceal her emotional state. It wouldn't do to show her weakness to anyone, especially the one she was relying on to get her back in contact with her true nature.
"Will you at least give me a direction to go in? If it's a matter of proving myself, then I need to know what's expected surely? I was taken from the forests because they assumed I was becoming too wolf-like, so I never really got filled in on how everything works." She'd probably failed right there. No matter, she was obviously going to get nowhere like that. While she didn't care about removing her clothing in front of Eli, she guessed he wouldn't be terribly excited. As her body shifted into her wolf form, she shuffled herself out of the shirt, kicking the pants off and dragging both items to a nearby hole. For once she had gone barefoot. Whether he'd assume wolf form or not didn't bother her too much, she needed to stop thinking human and start living wolf. [/size][/color] |
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Post by Eli Smith on Sept 10, 2012 19:02:27 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
He couldn’t wrap his head around his feelings, but at least her rambling was distraction enough to push them away. It seemed so long as the distraction also had to do with her, he could ignore how sick he was feeling. He still didn’t look up, though, fully afraid to. He didn’t understand why she kept trying to blame her life in the city on the other lycan. Her part in this matter had nothing to do with the whole. Whether they assumed their wolf form or human form was no business of hers, it was their choice, and they so happened to feel more human. So be it. They made their choice and would never see wrong in it. In fact, Eli would not be surprised if they saw the wolf part of them to be the monster, and again it was their own right to do so. It was not they that he blamed for being human. It was she who was being human and claiming to be wolf. That was the issue at hand, and it didn’t matter if she was doing so for some self- righteous greater cause of trying to get the others to conform to her supposed way of life. It mattered that despite her upbringing, despite that which she claimed to hold near and dear to her heart, she walked like them- talked like them- and he wasn’t surprised that the scale was tilting closer to them and farther and farther away from the forest. No, the female lycan’s problem wasn’t anything that the elimination of her human form could change. Eli himself traded bodies back and forth between mortal and wolf naturally and yet it was clear that he was wolf, not human. It didn’t matter what form a lycan’s body took on. What mattered was the heart.
Her way of thinking, so one- sided, not taking the approach to look at things through his- well the silver wolf’s- point of view. The action of one wolf, or one lycan, could affect the balance of the whole forest. Eli was aware of the harshness of his words and that they would hurt her. He also knew that what he said was true. Either his little talks with her would help her integrate herself back to the forest or it would drive her back to the city. He knew these things because the forest told him. No, he wasn’t under the impression that he was hearing voices on the wind or some nonsense like that, but it was a mere feeling in his gut, like the way all animals can sense an incoming storm. The forest was trying to tell them something- both of them- and while he couldn’t decipher the message, it was clear she was deaf to it completely. She couldn’t hear the forest anymore. Or, maybe she just wasn’t listening.
Slowly, two hazel eyes trailed towards the water surface, wanting to offer up the fact that he had only seen the silver wolf in the river before. A true statement- his own reflection as it were- but she wouldn’t think it at all helpful. So instead he just shook his head, refusing to look up until the curiosity got the better of him and he heard her struggling with something. He had to tear his eyes away, back to the ground where it was safe to look, not wishing to gaze upon her wolf form for fear the sight might confuse him more. He did not wish to change as well. He couldn’t do it again, see her hope, her longing, and crush it. And she wasn’t ready to hear any different. He wasn’t either. Now was not the time for their meeting. Not yet.
“That’s not going to help you.” He finally told her with no emotion in his tone of voice. He knew, even in her wolf form, she could understand his mortal language. “It’s not something that your body needs to do.” He rose into a crouch and crept towards her while keeping close to the ground, his hands pulling him forward, almost as if he was afraid of what he was approaching, though his face held no emotion whatsoever. He stopped next to her, his eyes still trained on the ground. “It’s not even what… what your mind needs to do.” With caution he lifted his hand, making as if to brush the dirt off with the other as his toes dug into the wet earth to steady himself. He looked to her, finally, a sort of unsure smile pulling ever so slightly at the corner of his mouth. With a steady hand he touched the center of her chest, where her heart should be, his fingers sinking into her soft fur as he caught her eyes.
“It’s what your soul needs to remember.”
Then he pulled away quickly, sitting on one knee a few feet off to give the creature her space. He dipped his head slightly to her with respect of the power he could clearly see, aware of the weakness of his human state.
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Sept 10, 2012 23:24:09 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 248
Her head lowered as he spoke further. She was lost, it was practically written all over him. She didn't know where to begin, and it seemed that she wouldn't learn any time soon. Typical, she couldn't leave her duty to the wolves as someone to fight back in ways they couldn't, but she couldn't rejoin them either. Outcast from the race she had been so desperate to protect and liberate. Her mood was too sad to react as he touched her chest softly. The silver pendant was buried deep into her fur, suddenly drawn into the spotlight by his comment. Lowering her head, she scratched at the chain until it was pulled out of her fur, hanging down from her ears which a quick jerk dislodged. Watching as it fell to the ground, she left it there as her gaze returned to the river.
It hurt so deep, that she was stuck between fighting for and becoming one of them. Twelve years of being alone, and it seemed she was destined for many more. Maybe just one of those that never had the reward of settling down. It finally occurred to her that he had his head tilted towards her. The simple irony of it confused her. If anything, she owed him the sign of respect. Getting up very carefully, she walked over until her nose could reach him. Instead, she lowered her head again, nudging her forehead against his lowered knee before stepping back, head still lowered. [/size][/color] |
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Post by Eli Smith on Sept 17, 2012 19:49:44 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
He did not lift his head until he felt something brush against the leg of his jeans. He eyed her submissive stance as she backed away from him and couldn’t help the briefest of smirks before his lips fell once more into their usual soft nothingness, void of all expression, hiding any thought or feeling which flickered through that clouded mind of his. He shook his head. “No.” He said briefly, done with his attempt at a personal monologue and knowing there were much more urgent matters at hand. She could not live as a wolf. He knew because he had tried it once and found that when he returned to his human form, the weaker half of him was not healthy. One needed to care for both sides if the wolf side were to prosper, which is why he did not simply disappear as a wolf entirely. A human mind and body needed as much nourishment as the wolf one did. He stood, looking to the forest, wondering if anyone could make her see that without having to take on the form of the silver wolf. He knew doing so would be to risk further encouragement of her attempt to live out her life in the wild. She would see his response as a challenge. So the human Eli would have to try and make her look at things in a different eye- not the eye of a lycan, nor of a human or wolf. As one who could see all and feel nothing upon first glance, then take into consideration all of his being later.
Respect comes to those who respect themselves. He wasn’t aware that she was this clueless, as to act as if he his Alpha without first looking upon her own rank. Was he above her? Yes. But only because she had made it decidedly so. If she had so chosen, they could have been equals. That had been his attempt, at least, for he could see that her strength was nearly a match for his own. Yet even as a wolf, she thought he the wiser, and acted the sniveling pup once again. He did not think his words were working, or that they were even making much sense, so instead he took to the forest, hoping maybe the wordless connection between the land and the wolves would be enough to open her up.
“Keep up.”
With a bolting speed he raced off through his trails, the intricate weaving that of one who was often traced- the goal to keep the pursuer from having an easy, straight line of attack. There were subtle pawholds amongst thick underbrush and if she did not take the time to stop and look she would be snagged on the thorn thickets and among the tangles of tree roots. Perhaps that was the lesson she first needed to learn, if she had not done so already.
He was leading her on a wild goose chase, circles and circles around the forest, avoiding pack trails as if his life depended on it and crossing lycan hunting trails often. Something familiar to get her hopes up. By the time he stopped he was but a mile from the part of the river where they met so often, a place where the crystal waters fell at a rapid pace from the upper lands to the lower ones, the waterfall a curtain of water hiding a underground cavern. It was there that he awaited her, wondering if she could track him into the cave, where he sat before a wide pool of water. He dared not touch it, the only disruptions on the surface a pattern of droplets falling from short stalactites on the ceiling, the drip- dripping a music of sorts which caused a slight smile to form on Eli’s lips.
“Welcome, to the Weeping Caverns.” He said softly when he heard her enter. “Look into the water and tell me what you see.” He backed away to the far wall and rested his back to the cold stone, his head falling back as his eyes closed. He knew the answer, but hoped she could learn that she was looking through the wrong eyes.
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Sept 18, 2012 0:58:56 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 438
The single word of disapproval broke her almost. She was so confused, trapped by her stupid biology in neither world. Everything she tried seemed to be met with disapproval. She couldn't deny her instincts, the distaste for what people had been doing for years. Surely there was some way she could become a true wolf, in mind and body. Of course not, that wasn't how the world worked. There was no pick and choose for them. Pursuing a goal that she knew quite well she would never reach. Head lowered, she slowly returned to her clothing, and the necklace.
Her head spun around as he turned and bolted off. Not knowing what to do, she hurried after him at the best speed she could pull in a moment's notice. While he had instructed her to 'keep up', he seemed very good at making it as difficult as possible. After a few trip ups, she found her rhythm again and gradually restored her lost ground. As she ran, the exhilaration of just being free to run made her feel energetic once more. It soon became apparent that she was headed quite a way from her original position by the river.
Reaching a point in which the river unleashed itself on the landscape in the form of a waterfall of mist and spray, she hesitated for a long moment. His scent ended there, the water getting in the way of her nose. No doubt he was beyond the watery wall, but she couldn't tell for sure the purpose of such a place. The idea of more tests inside the dark cavern worried her, but then at that point she didn't really care much about what happened. The silver wolf was quickly becoming more of a desire than a purpose, her goal now was at least to become what she wanted to be.
The sound of his voice echoing around the caves softly unsettled her as she stepped down. The manner in which he backed away the pool to which he had instructed her to look was no relief either. She didn't like where the situation was going, but then she didn't really have much of a choice at that point. Stepping forward, she leaned down and glared into the water. Looking back, she was unsure if she saw herself, or just the depths of the pool itself. Turning her head back to Eli, she slowly walked away from the pool, sitting down as she resumed her human form. "I don't see anything. Does this mean I've got no hope, as much as I try to fight or run, I'm stuck?" [/size][/color] |
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Post by Eli Smith on Sept 29, 2012 19:58:10 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
He grinned when she answered, but not a grin to suggest any true happiness, just sort of a wry smile that was in instinctual reaction, if anything. Nothing? Ah, well perhaps there was hope for her yet. At least she did not say ‘human’ or ‘lycan’ or ‘me.’ To do so would have suggested she saw the human side of her clear within those waters and thus she was not as wolfish as she had previously believed. But nothing? Sad, perhaps, but not so far down the rabbit hole that Alice couldn’t be brought back into reality. Alice. That reminded Eli, she had no notion of the poor lycan’s name. Perhaps it shouldn’t matter, or that it in fact didn’t. ‘What’s in a name’, after all.
“Hope.” The word caused his smile simply to a smirk then drop further after that, into its usual thin line of lips. “Maybe.” His eyes flicked open into the gloom of the cave, the musky moisture of the environment allowing him to feel like the water was sticking to his skin in an uncomfortable way and for once he was glad he wasn’t covered in a pelt of fur. He looked to her, magnetically attracted to her face, specifically her eyes. Those beautiful orbs held his attention with a vigor and cause a hesitant smile to grow onto his maw once more, for one fleeting moment, before dropping again. With a slight huff he moved over to her, sitting at her side but a good distance away so that even by mistake there was no chance of accidental physical contact.
He peered down into the placid surface of the water, able to see his rugged reflection before a drop from the ceiling disrupted the glassy surface and his image along with it. It did not matter though, the distortion of his face in the rings the drop created, for when he looked at himself, he saw the eyes of the wolf. He had read somewhere that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and he hadn’t known what that had meant until he took the advice of the pack elders and made the journey here. Looking down into the water of the Weeping Caverns, he could see the soul of a wolf, trapped in the body of a human.
An ancient soul. A forest soul.
When he looked at the lycan girl, he saw a lost soul.
“May I tell you what I see?” He questioned, looking at her once more.
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Sept 30, 2012 6:51:52 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 253
Her head raised slowly as he spoke again. The regret of leaving her clothing behind was quickly building, but she didn't have the determination left in her to resume her wolf form and conceal her body once more. It was useless in the end, she didn't have any hope in courting a real wolf. She was chasing a fantasy, something that did nothing more than distract her from the pain and bitterness of her normal life. Preparing to fight an impossible battle of morals, of rights.
She turned her attention to him once more as he asked a simple question. What he saw? The strong feeling of self betrayal was turning to anger, why would she want to know what he saw? It made no difference to her, she was a human who could look wolf, and nothing would change that in the end. "Go ahead." She looked down at the ground again, ignoring the cold that was attacking her body. A dull pain all over that was nothing compared to her anguish over identity.
Her furred formed returned once more, laid out along the ground in a depressive pose. She didn't want to say more, preventing herself from letting loose the stream of bitter words that had been building behind her teary eyes. Typical, she'd probably end up running away into the wild to die at a young age, rather than face the prospect of settling down in a human life. Too much for her to deal with for the time being. [/size][/color] |
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Post by Eli Smith on Jul 22, 2013 18:45:51 GMT -5
Under the starry skies...[/size] [/font] ..where eagles have flown... ...this place is paradise... ...It’s the place I call home.... [/blockquote]
He could smell the anger coming off of her, burning into him with her eyes and causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He dared not look away, accepting her challenge openly until she ended up dropping her head once more. He knew the answer she wanted to hear, the answer he himself knew was true, and a third answer that might, at least, inspire some spark of hope in those dark eyes of hers which looked sadly back at him. Eli watched as her mortal flesh grew the most beautiful of furs, impervious to the look of her human form, naked and exposed, while being intoxicated by the wolf form, even if all he could truly feel was anger, aggravation, and a bit of pity. It was a bitter taste on his tongue.
“Potential.” He practically spat the answer back at her, the anger rising in his belly and churning inside of him. He observed her position, the way in which she seemed to have given up completely and it only seemed to anger him more, his eyes torn from her and back to the water.
That was when he caught his own reflection in the rippled waves again and remembered that, in the end, he did share some kinship with her that he did not understand. With a sigh he crouched down to her level, resting his arms loosely on his knees and looking at her with neither passion nor pity, just the stoic beauty only found through logic. “You’ll never win him over acting like that—looking like a pup having a temper tantrum. Find him. Appeal to his better nature. It’s all the advice I can grant you.” He clenched his jaw, swallowing hard like he was swallowing down his bitter feelings and sharp comments that pushed at the temples of his mind. “That, or stay here and die for all I care.”
His stubby human nails dug into the palms of his hands as he slipped out without another word, shifting into his wolf form the moment he reached the trees and running as fast as his brilliant wolf legs could take him. He wanted to clear his head before he met with his pack, and certainly before she came by again. If she came by, that is. bryan adams lyrics
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Post by Valerie 'Thorny' Thornalh on Jul 30, 2013 4:38:53 GMT -5
status Done
wordcount 359
She lay there for a long while after he left, pondering the words that had pierced her mind. Temper tantrum? Appeal to his better nature? In her mind, she was convinced that the answer would have come naturally, had her upbringing been different. But all she could find was the empty calling of a desire beyond her reach. It hurt, all the way to her cold heart. I’ve been screwed over since the day I was born. No, earlier than that. Since my parents were born. Since our entire line was born. Perhaps to her favoured kind, such an accusation would be considered highly offensive. Family blood was important in a wolf pack. But not to the family she had been raised in.
When she stood up, her attention was drawn to the water again. Did I really see nothing? Or was that reflection... what I really saw? Such a small detail. And yet, one with the profound power to alter the next decision she had to make. The decision that determined whether she would lie down to die there, or pursue a path that could easily lead to a similar result with one wrong move. Unless... With a shake of her fur, she returned her attention to the way out. A curtain of water. Whether it was symbolic in some way or not she didn’t ponder for the answer on. She needed to avoid leaving a scent in this particular case. As she resumed her upright form, the cool of the cave caused her bare skin to tingle.
“If I really have lost contact with the forest, living in the city isn’t going to help that...” Immediately after passing through the waterfall, letting the cold water wash over her form, she ran. Admittedly, retrieving her clothing would be futile in the end, but for the moment it was a necessary hindrance to her plan. To her relief, she didn’t encounter anything else until she had reached the hole in which she had stashed the clothing. What little dirt clung to them was easily brushed off when she pulled them back on. “Time to start searching for a nature retreat.” [/size][/color] |
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