A Fresh Start (Nola)

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

The Pub was crowded this night. Almost overflowing with the people coming in for the Hunting season here in Forks. It was a rarity seeing it this full and for once Zidane was grateful for it. His bank account had been hurting for a while, and while this wouldn't cover his rent for the month. It would at least get him back in the green for his accounts. He knew that he had money put away because of who and what he was. But he didn't like touching that blood money that he'd gained from his bastard fathers death. 

Watching as more people shuffled in and out of the pub he chuckled, His regulars were getting shunted off to the corner. And soon enough he would just let the rest of the staff take over and he would go spend some time with them. Talking to them. Seeing what they thought about the new hunting regulations that Forks City Council was trying out. He would have to avoid the woods for a few weeks but at least he would be getting plenty of raw meat to stock his freezer from all the out of towners who would be trying to settle bar tabs with it. 

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

One foot in front of the other; feet, not paws.  Hunting season was upon Forks, and therefore shoes were upon Sam.  She walked hastily to the bar in town.  You wouldn't find her at an aesthetic place, the kind that influencers flock to looking for instagram content.  She was headed to the headhouse, the hole in the wall, the rugged roll of the die.  She likes to blend in, to hide, and to howl with the crowd - not be on display as a piece of art.  Hunting season, however, brings a certain art to town, one she's had to navigate every year. 

Her combat boots hustled along the wet pavement, practically breaking for a run as the door to the pub was in sight.  As Sam finally entered, she was taken aback by all the smells that greeted her.  Scents of death, mostly bucks, some birds, and even some does.  The scent of wild hog made her nose scrunch, but it was the dog that really intrigued her.  She made her way through the crowd, shuffling sideways only for her face to meet other shoulders height.  Her five-foot five stature almost got her lost in the crowd, something she would have liked if it wasn't overly crowded.  

Sam's nose inadvertently brought her to what her brain found most intriguing in the bar.  She wriggled her way between two burley men and one thinner older gentleman in a thick coat mid conversation in order to take a seat at the bar. 

Lucky for her.  She smelled some regulars, but what she really wanted right now before anything was a drink. She took some money out for the bartender, slipping it over and onto the bar for a beer as she searched for some puppy play.  

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Zidane listened to the inane yammerings of everyone, It seemed that he was going to listen to them for the rest of the evening whether or not he actually wanted to and with the topic on hand he had to repress a grin. At least it was going to keep him off the radar of any other wolves for a while. Most packs would pack up and move when this many hunters rolled into town. It wasn't unusual for those 'unique' hunters to follow in on the heels of crowds like this and they were more of a nuisance than anything at this point. He could smell out most of those at this time though. They were the ones that smelled like silver and death. Mainly human death.


The door to bar opened again and as he glanced over at it, he didn't quite see the person entering but the smell of the damp outside blew through the bar and made his nose twitch with a sneeze before he caught himself. That was a scent he'd never noticed before. It wasn't the smell of the vamps. That was more bitter and acrid and the smells of his kind tended to be more animalistic. This smelled closer to a cross between man and dog. Almost a mingling of the two which threw him off.

Seeing the money hit the counter and then registering that there was a young woman at the bar. Somehow slipping in between two of the bigger blokes he chuckled and poured the beer. Anyone here tonight was welcome for a beer as long as they didn't cause a fight. And here was someone willing to brave the hunters. He slid the beer out in front of her and grinned. "Welcome to the Pub." he said simply as he picked up the money and put it in the register. "Let me know if you need anything else"

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

If Sam didn't know any better, she would have thought the bartender was magic with how little time elapsed between her putting money on the bar and in its place there being a pint of tap.  Her focus was snapped back to the wood workings of the pub instead of the ever moving smiles of gun-slingers as the smell of hops came closer.  Though, another scent overpowered it slightly, and made her brows furrow as the bartender welcomed her.  

Perhaps she did know better.

"Thanks.  New here actually... sort of.  I was told this was the place to be."  If fate would have it.  The Uley alpha couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.  That scent was so... earthy.  Like forest floor on a cold and rainy night, or the gritty sand meeting the shore line.  The air in the mountain peaks that is so fresh but somehow so suffocating at the time time... She swallowed a bit, reaching over for her drink and taking three big gulps before licking her top lip and cocking her eyebrow at the bartender.  "A shot of whiskey would be nice, actually."  She wasn't exactly a social butterfly, or one to be nervous, but there was something that was making the hair on her arms raise in caution tonight.  

Trying to pinpoint scents in a crowded bar seemed a bit harder than she thought.

 

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Zidane chuckled at the shocked expression on the new-comers face. He'd been doing this job long enough in different places that he would always treasure that. Most people were shocked or surprised at how quickly he would serve up a pint of tap. But he'd learned quickly that if you could manage that. Most of the time people would become repeat customers. And with how different she looked from the rest of the crowd he figured she might be local. Or at least someone who wasn't here just because of the hunting season. 

As she mentioned being new, kind of, he glanced around and poured another pint for someone else before returning his gaze to her. "Single, double or mixed?" he asked her as she asked for the whiskey. Pulling out the bottle of Jack from behind the bar and setting it down. The smell was still in the air. And for once he didn't know what it was. It was distracting as all hell and he knew that if a silver smell appeared he would have to disappear for a while. Zidane was curious as to what a small thing like this woman in front of him was doing here. But he wasn't going to stoop to asking unless she offered. 

Watching the door open and close again he sighed. The night was just going to keep going. At least his tip jar was filling nicely in the back. He figured that if he didn't get out from behind the bar soon though. He was going to have a brawl on his hands from the amount of people milling around. 

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

One of her heightened senses couldn't help but pick up a rather unsettling conversation between a group of hunters. They were heavily intoxicated and trying to one up the other on bigger and better hunting game; seven to ten point bucks, bears - big wolves. It had been been fairly recent that her people's land was sold out from under them - to vampires no less. It had run the shifters into Forks, out of the side of the forests they had prowled and been been comfortable in for generations. It was no longer protected against hunting as Native American territory.

Sam tried to keep her composure, just as she also tried to also shake off the conversation and put her focus back on something less dually blood-boiling and somehow blood draining. "Best make it a double." She said with an extremely forced smile as she cocked her head to the side, using her thumb on her left hand to crack the other finger's knuckles as she tried not to hold onto the pint glass too tightly with her right.

She thought by now that if another shifter was in the bar, they surely would have sensed her and came over by now, or at least attempted to connect in their minds eye.. but, nothing. "Is it always this... loud and smelly in here? Not that I'm complaining." She grunted. Truth be told she really wasn't complaining, she was just a little too blunt for her own good sometimes.

 

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Replacing the smaller shot glass with a larger one he quickly poured her a shot of Jack. "Here you go." he said as he put the bottle back down under the counter and started to clean up a spill that occurred nearby. "Not really. I think this is from the new hunting laws that went into effect" he said with a frown. "Can't say I approve of our forests being filled with hunters who are more likely to shoot each other then actually hunt the correct way." he said as he walked back to her. "As for smelly, It definitely smells worse than normal. Can't quite get rid of the body odor in here when you near capacity." He said pointing at the sign over the bar, which listed capacity as 45 people. "I think we are gonna have to start kicking people out soon." He grumbled, Stretching his arms lightly across his chests. 

"What brings you in today? You don't look like the hunter crowd." Motioning with a hand in the middle of his stretch to show what he meant. Almost everyone here was wearing some sort of camo or orange colored shirts and jackets. Most were overweight and almost all of them reeked. He'd been glad of the door opening and closing as much as it had. The scent of the rain outside had cleansed a lot of the smells out each time it opened but it was starting to grow even staler in the building. 

Zidane sighed as he heard the first glass break and he held up a finger. "I will be right back" he said as he grabbed the hand broom and dustpan. Moving off to clean up the broken glass that he was sure no one else had heard hit the floor. The last thing he needed was someone trying to sue the bar because they sat on glass or got knocked into it. 

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

"Bottoms up." She raised her glass and her brows before she hastily shot back the fiery liquid. She placed the empty glass down with a thud, Inhaling through her nose before licking her lips and exhaling loudly. It was when she did that, however, that she got another strong catch of fall leaves traveling in the wind, dew on farm gravel, and fresh meadow pond water giving life. It wasn't her pack, the musk she was used to. It was something fresh. She breathed it in for a moment. Whatever it was, it was close.

The small amount of warmth that filled her was fleeting. Sam let the slithering feeling of the first liquor go down her spine, but another slithering feeling accompanied it when the bartender mentioned new hunting laws. "No..No. Definitely not one of them." She side-eyed those around her, grunting slightly and bringing the cold beer to her lips to take to take a few more gulps. "You could say I'm a little..." She trailed off, thinking for a fraction of a moment. "..Displaced." She shrugged. "I guess that's the right way to put it. I'm from outside of Forks but never spent time in it, so why not check out what it has to offer?" She sighed, feeling extremely out of her element. Usually she loved nights like this - cold, rainy, dark and cloudy with the moonlight illuminating through the clouds in a mysterious fog. She couldn't enjoy it, however, and it was due to a multitude of factors. One of them being these new hunting laws she new nearly nothing about, though as alpha, it was her job to.

Sam cleared her throat, tucking a stray hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. "The laws you mentioned no doubt brought the chaos to town, but what exactly is the change if you don't mind educating me a lost dog like me?" She winked, finishing off her beer and taking out her handmade leather wallet for more cash, as is king in a bar - something she was familiar with. It was then, however, when a finger was held up and her eyes narrowed. The alpha in her wanted to growl and bark and it took real and painful physical restraint for her not to lean over the bar and bite his finger. She started to actually lean over to bite it when he walked away - and that's when she smelled it - the path of the forest floor, fresh garden soil and dewdrops on wild mushrooms. She felt her eyes widen, because it was the bartender who didn't smell human and she had almost just bitten his finger.

She adjusted herself, moving her head back and forth in attempt to crack her neck before arching her back slightly to adjust her shrimp-like posture. Now she was engaged in all her senses. "I don't think I'd mind if they killed themselves off, or if something did anyway." She cocked her eyebrow, watching him as he moved.

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Letting her take the double shot before he took the shot glass back and putting it in the dirty bin he sighed. "Displaced is a valid thing in the world today. Not sure how far outside of Forks your from but I'm the better part of four thousand miles from home." he said thinking of the small annoyance he'd left behind. He hadn't wanted the title he'd inherited and the only reason he would accept it would more then likely never occur. 

He let out what could only be described as an almost inaudible growl as she asked about the new laws. "Well, For one hunting any animal larger than a rabbit just requires a license and a gun. No more bag limits. And predators are being hunted at a premium price." he said with a sneer. "These jumped up fools think that going out into the Forests in the area are going to get them big bucks. Grizzlies in the area. Wolves. Elk, Deer, the occasional Moose." Zidane shook his head. The rune beads he'd braided into his beard clicking softly as he did. "These idiots are more likely to get killed by each other or eaten by those predators than actually take one down." he said before glancing at his watch. 

Zidane cleared the glass quickly, Watching as a patron fell over where it had been he groaned. "James! Start getting the ones who've had enough out of here. We don't need them passing out or puking on the floor" he hollored over the din to the nearest 'Bouncer' Literally just someone who would take care of calling cabs or family members to get the drunks out of the bar for Zidane. Turning back towards the woman he smiled softly. "I don't think many people would mind that to be honest. Too many tourists make for bad business. Local shops go under. Chain stores move in and everyone suffers." he said with an expression that conveyed his disgust.

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

Sam scoffed, not so much attempting to keep it under her breath.  "More like four miles for me. Well, from the forest border that is. Fifteen miles if you're counting from the coast." She closed her eyes for a moment, debating whether to keep her mouth shut - but of course that was a skill she did not spend much time perfecting. "You know, Forks was originally called Quillayute, and it belonged to my people?" She clicked her tongue against the top row of her teeth.  "Then we got pushed to the LaPush reservation.  Now we don't even have that." Que the sarcastic laughter.  She waved her hand in front of herself as if she were brushing a fly away, but it was really the thoughts she was trying to swat.

"It's a damn shame too, because we respect the life the land nurtures.  The elk, the bears... the wolves are our brothers and sisters." She felt the anger and the threat of white-hot tears swell beneath her cheeks.  "The sky is crying tonight for the people killing the children it blankets and watches over.  I can only hope their spirits return to it." Sam swallowed her emotions, picking her chin up and clearing her throat. 

"Anyway" She said loudly with a sigh.  "What pushed you from your home? I mean that's a pretty far move.  Running from something, big guy?" She cocked her left eyebrow up, smirking.  Boundaries also weren't her forte, she wanted to know everyone and everything.  This was her territory now.  

"Oh, when you're done with all the fun you're having with the puke, I'd love another round."

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

He watched her as she spoke his eyes lingering on hers as he watched emotions play out. "I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like someone decided that the land set aside for your people was worth more to the government which is how it always happens." He said looking as though he wanted to spit on the floor. "Think it's stupid to push people off their land. But here we are. Living the results of politicians who only care about making more money for themselves." 

Zidane couldn't help himself. He could feel the problem she was having. It wasn't the same as his but it was similiar. Being pushed off your land because you either had to follow someone elses rules or somehow come up with either the money or power to take back the land before it was fully raped. "Things may or may not get better. But at least most of these idiots won't be making return trips. I don't think that they are going to get the trophies that they want. Most animals will be frightened off by all the noise they are going to be making. 

He picked the bottle of jack back up and set it on the counter. Pulling another shotglass out and pouring a double for her. "That ones on me." He said before pouring himself one as well. "Lets just say Politics pushed me out of my home. Although in this case. If I went back I'd be the guy stuck running the show." he said bitterly as he thought about it. "Family drama." He added in after thought. 

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

All the emotions that came crashing to the surface seemed to trickle back down her spine as she watched the dark liquid being poured into another shot glass.  Sam tended to be a storm all in her own.  Unpredictable, beautiful, sometimes catastrophic and leaving a trail of damage.  A little smirk crept its way onto her mouth.  She looked up, big brown eyes which were previously filled with bitterness batted in thanks.  She lifted the glass to his.  "Fuck the man." Cheers to that.

Down it went, and with it she hoped her feelings towards the conversation.  Though she knew from history that alcohol rarely worked like that.  

Her ears perked up when he mentioned the animals that would be frightened off by the inexperienced hunters, though she couldn't help but think about the one's who had throw away money to spend on poaching toys.  There are animals in the forest who weren't shifters - but just like that a lightbulb went off.  A sick grin twisted into her lips as she thought about getting her tribe together, shifting in the dead of night and waiting for the hunters.  Imagining ripping their throats out to protect the very forests they were thrown from.  As long as they didn't run into any Volturi.... it should be the best plan the alpha came up with since they've been displaced.

This heightened her mood greatly.

"You know, being in charge doesn't sound too bad to me kiddo."  Still with a twisted smile on her face, she snorted.  "Sure, it's a lot of responsibility.  But I mean... if you're not man enough, I totally understand.  It's not for everyone."  She stuck her tongue out, moving her glass forward so he can take it.

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Zidane chuckled and repeated "fuck the man" before taking a shot with her. Moving off for a few moments to leave her with her thoughts he quickly made sure that everyone else was taken care of. It wouldn't do to let them think he was only interested in the only pretty woman in the bar. He would lose a lot of money that way. And bar fights had broken out over less. Filling beers and shots and making two mixed drinks, really mixed drinks for a couple of hunters, he finished his rounds before kicking out a couple of drunks. Then heading back over to where the young woman was. 

Zidane just looked at her with a flat expression. "You have no idea what kind of man I am." he said simply trying to figure out if she was just flirting with him or trying to get a reaction out of him. "My family is a bit.. fucked up for lack of a better term. Oldest son out of thirteen siblings. Various aunts and uncles and they all want me to tell them what to do. Not exactly a charming family to lead around." he said with a small growl as he thought about those aunts and uncles and their beta worship bullshit. Taking the shot glass from her he glanced around before shaking his head. "But enough about that. I take it that your not a fan of hunting like these fools. Which is good. Just means you should avoid the woods over the next few days at the minimum. Wouldn't do to have you getting that pretty face all messed up do to an idiot trying to flirt while drunk with a gun." he said with a grin.

[SAMANTHA ENOLA ULEY]

After they took their shot and cheered to the downfall of those who scorned them and took what was theirs, she watched him as he worked. She cocked her head to the side like a curious dog.

What are you and where did you come from , she thought to herself.

When he came back, she tried to avert her gaze, attempting not to seem like a wide-eyed gawker even though that is most likely what she looked like. With features like his he was probably used to it though. Then came the seriousness. If you're even man at all she thought. Sam pouted, scoffing slightly. "I was just teasing, no need to get your panties in a bunch." She rolled her eyes. "I get it, family can be a soft subject." Sam tried her best to control her facial features when he mentioned his family wanting him to reign head, but she was sure her brow raised - something' it did often. As alpha of her own pack, he was seeming to be more and more... something up her alley. And she didn't like it. "If it helps, mine basically split into two different groups. The great divide." She rolled her eyes.

"How 'boutta new beer, for shitty families? Traitors."

Even though they were traitors for protecting and joining together with a vampire clan, Sam would do anything to protect her tribe's secret. As alpha of her side of the pack at least, it was her sworn oath. It took a lot for her to get drunk anyway, and drunk or not, she wouldn't go spilling secrets. It was her job to pry the secrets from other people.

Sam batted her eyelashes obnoxiously. "So you think I'm pretty, Mr. Mysterious?"

TAG: ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH

[ZIDANE ORSON GOLGOVICH]

Zidane just chuckled. "Well, When you don't wear panties it's hard to get them twisted." He said with a wink. "And I guess we aren't exactly disimiliar." He said as he nodded. Pouring her another beer. "I can toast to shitty families. Maybe not traitors since any who might of been either died or left." Zidanes rolled his eyse at that statement and then moved to pour her a beer. Glancing at the clock over the door he nodded slightly to himself. "Might start winding it down in here. But that's only to get the drunks out." he said. "I'll keep it open for the more regular customers and locals if you want to stay behind once they are gone. Being a local and all." He said before whistling at his bouncer to start wrapping it up. It might be early but he was about at his limit on the smell of some of these people. 

Looking back at her in time to see her bat her eyelashes he snorted. "Well, It's hard not to pretty when you seem to know what you want." he said with a smile at her. "And you strike me as someone who knows exactly what she wants." Nodding his head at the thought he chuckled. "Besides you want to tell me that your not attractive and I can probably gather up a bunch of drunks to say the exact opposite." he cocked his head slightly and then sighed. "But then again, these drunks would find a deers ass attractive right now I'm betting." 

"Might need to hit the sprinklers to get the smell out of here after I shut down." he muttered softly as he glanced around.