03-06-2011, 08:32 AM
Whew, it'll be a few hours before I reply again. Sorry. D: I just have to sleep.
Moonglow was surprised at his offer to sleep even just on the edges of his land. It was best not to let a newcomer become too comfortable, if they had nothing to offer the pack. She had intended to retreat further into neural territory before her inevitable collapse. It was always safer to sleep, even a short distance, in known pack lands if one had permission. There were fewer large predators. Another quick glance revealed his more relaxed stance, Moonglow lifted her head slightly in response but otherwise did not move from her submissive position.
"Thank you for the offer, Alpha Conor. I will intrude as little as possible." His next question caught her off guard. What was she searching for? Nothing. She had no direction, no overreaching goal. "I-" she paused not quite sure what to say. "I am searching for rest and food, that is all." Even her 'hunting' was more a search for carrion. Fresh meat was so rare as to be nonexistent lately. Her last meal had been the carcass of an old buck. It had been all but picked clean and half frozen.
No direction or goal. The thought sunk deep into her mind. It was true. Only a niggling sense of duty gave her a goal even so short term as 'find food'. There were days when she wanted to do nothing but curl up and watch her body quietly starve around her. There would be no one to mourn her, she would become nothing but another body to scavenge. The thought of her mother and siblings forgotten so soon always forced her up again, though. She would live and give their memory what significance she could.
Moonshadow would be ashamed of the sorry state she was in. Her sister had always been the strong one, the brave one. Not her, never her. Their little pack had been her entire world. To have them taken away was like having the earth ripped from beneath her, the sky torn asunder and the sun extinguished. There was always a sense of darkness now, so all encompassing that it sometimes felt as if there had never been anything but the darkness. Then she remembered the light and her mourning began afresh.
Moonglow was surprised at his offer to sleep even just on the edges of his land. It was best not to let a newcomer become too comfortable, if they had nothing to offer the pack. She had intended to retreat further into neural territory before her inevitable collapse. It was always safer to sleep, even a short distance, in known pack lands if one had permission. There were fewer large predators. Another quick glance revealed his more relaxed stance, Moonglow lifted her head slightly in response but otherwise did not move from her submissive position.
"Thank you for the offer, Alpha Conor. I will intrude as little as possible." His next question caught her off guard. What was she searching for? Nothing. She had no direction, no overreaching goal. "I-" she paused not quite sure what to say. "I am searching for rest and food, that is all." Even her 'hunting' was more a search for carrion. Fresh meat was so rare as to be nonexistent lately. Her last meal had been the carcass of an old buck. It had been all but picked clean and half frozen.
No direction or goal. The thought sunk deep into her mind. It was true. Only a niggling sense of duty gave her a goal even so short term as 'find food'. There were days when she wanted to do nothing but curl up and watch her body quietly starve around her. There would be no one to mourn her, she would become nothing but another body to scavenge. The thought of her mother and siblings forgotten so soon always forced her up again, though. She would live and give their memory what significance she could.
Moonshadow would be ashamed of the sorry state she was in. Her sister had always been the strong one, the brave one. Not her, never her. Their little pack had been her entire world. To have them taken away was like having the earth ripped from beneath her, the sky torn asunder and the sun extinguished. There was always a sense of darkness now, so all encompassing that it sometimes felt as if there had never been anything but the darkness. Then she remembered the light and her mourning began afresh.