X’yrin nodded, and Vesper wagged her tail once in relief that she hadn’t gotten the title wrong. It was interesting to think of a clan of warriors, rather than a lineage whose occupations greatly varied. She wondered what tasks she might have carried out in such a group. The warriors conveyed the image of bulky wolves clashing with other ferals over protection, rather than a solitary hybrid fighting with someone over an argument. The warriors sounded like a group standing shoulder-to-shoulder, not a single girl who fought for herself.
The red woman explained that the Nomads traveled for survival, which made Vesper’s coyote-large ears prick with interest. Her eyes watched the gesture that the female created, claws almost clasped. She said that they would travel, letting the lands recover from their visits. The image of tread-down grass and worn paths came to mind, as well as the ginger advance of prey animals chased away the prior hunting seasons.
Vesper lifted her paw to her head again, the best she could, to show that she understood—adding an almost-smile that suggested approval. Their ancestors stuck to their birth lands and packs, but young ones dispersed to give the territory a break and to find new lands. The caribou would migrate across the arctic with the packs anxiously following their movement. It was a system that didn’t exist as much for the Nova Scotia packs that Vesper had heard of, but in the end, it made sense to her. It was another way to live, one that was respectful to the land, especially if they had no way of tending it like some of the advanced luperci.
“Does it get…tiring, travelling so often?”the coywolf asked before she realized that the other female had outstretched her paw. She let the question trail off, listening instead to the one presented to her.
Why did the loner travel? She wasn’t the same as the nomadic pack X’yrin spoke of, but it also wasn’t the normal dispersal of a young adult with the goal of joining a new pack.
“I am suited to walking alone,” Vesper said first, not wanting to go into the details of her family’s demise. She figured she would have left Winter and Sparrow before too long, even if their father hadn’t come back to deal his damage. “I may find a family as I walk, but I do not have a set purpose. I am simply traveling until I find something I want to be a part of. Maybe I will travel forever.” She shrugged slightly, not wanting to think too deeply about it. She liked settling down whenever she had the option, but she liked to walk new lands as well. She didn’t want to take it for granted that she would find a new home.
She simply didn’t care either way.
Image courtesy of henrikj@Flickr; table by the Mentors!
<style> .K22911_v1 .ooc {font-size:10px; font-style:italic;} .K22911_v1 p {padding:0px 15px 5px 15px; margin:0px; text-indent:25px;} .K22911_v1 b {font-family:verdana; color:#26292e; margin:5px; font-size:10px; font-weight:bold; letter-spacing:1px;} .K22911_v1 {background-color:#94938f; font-family: verdana, serif; font-size:12px; color:#606165; line-height:16px; width:500px; text-align:justify; background-image:url(http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb29 ... Vesper.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding:284px 0px 10px 0px; border:1px solid #FFFFFF; border-radius:8px; } .K22911_v1-border {width:502px; border:1px solid #000000; margin:0 auto; border-radius:8px;} p.template-credit {text-indent:0px; text-align:center; font-size:10px; font-style:italic; width:425px; text-align:center; margin:0px auto;}</style>