03-29-2010, 03:27 AM
word count: 354
Cerridwyn pawed softly through the forest, touching the trees absently here and there as she passed them. She hummed to herself as she strolled, a tuneless melody but a pretty one nonetheless. She had been in the Valley for nearly two months now, and had kept to herself for the most part. She'd needed time to recuperate, to come to terms with herself and the new person she needed to become. She'd met pack members here and there, but not the whole pack yet, and she felt a little guilty about this; these people had taken her in, a sopping straggler about whom they knew nothing, and she'd barely made the effort to get to know them. So the tri-color collie mix had begun to pointedly leave her thicket every day now, no longer intent on exploring the packlands, but intent on wandering them until she stumbled upon at least one member of Phoenix Valley.
Things were so different here, and she was still adjusting. A new member of her tribe back in Bhaile would have brought every single member the moment they stepped foot onto the territory. Probably because strangers rarely came to the backwater pack; Cerridwyn could remember only one in her four years growing up there, and he had been addled, staying long enough to get a rest and some food in his belly before wandering away again. Here, however, the pack seemed less... cohesive. Oh, there was loyalty there, and they loved each other, but you could go days without seeing another packmate and no one thought anything of it.
She was still deep in her reverie when she heard splashing, laughter, and conversation up ahead. Her ears perked, and she strode purposefully forward. On the banks of the stream sat an ivory female, golden eyes trained upon a smaller snowy form playing in the water. Cerridwyn grinned at this; while she wasn't just in love with children, she did like them, and their innocent outlooks brightened her days. She approached the adult female slowly and cleared her throat. "'Ello, she said warmly. "Doin' a bit o' fishin', are we?"
Cerridwyn pawed softly through the forest, touching the trees absently here and there as she passed them. She hummed to herself as she strolled, a tuneless melody but a pretty one nonetheless. She had been in the Valley for nearly two months now, and had kept to herself for the most part. She'd needed time to recuperate, to come to terms with herself and the new person she needed to become. She'd met pack members here and there, but not the whole pack yet, and she felt a little guilty about this; these people had taken her in, a sopping straggler about whom they knew nothing, and she'd barely made the effort to get to know them. So the tri-color collie mix had begun to pointedly leave her thicket every day now, no longer intent on exploring the packlands, but intent on wandering them until she stumbled upon at least one member of Phoenix Valley.
Things were so different here, and she was still adjusting. A new member of her tribe back in Bhaile would have brought every single member the moment they stepped foot onto the territory. Probably because strangers rarely came to the backwater pack; Cerridwyn could remember only one in her four years growing up there, and he had been addled, staying long enough to get a rest and some food in his belly before wandering away again. Here, however, the pack seemed less... cohesive. Oh, there was loyalty there, and they loved each other, but you could go days without seeing another packmate and no one thought anything of it.
She was still deep in her reverie when she heard splashing, laughter, and conversation up ahead. Her ears perked, and she strode purposefully forward. On the banks of the stream sat an ivory female, golden eyes trained upon a smaller snowy form playing in the water. Cerridwyn grinned at this; while she wasn't just in love with children, she did like them, and their innocent outlooks brightened her days. She approached the adult female slowly and cleared her throat. "'Ello, she said warmly. "Doin' a bit o' fishin', are we?"