One pack to another

Liliana Utina · 08-04-2010, 09:01 PM

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WC: 630 (5 Points) OOC: if I did anything wrong at all just let me know I can change it etc.

The creaking of the wagons on the road was a sure sign that she was getting somewhere. She’d been asked many days before that they were in need of female cows, and that Phoenix valley would be willing to trade for them, so she found a herd of horses, in which was easier found now that she knew where one was after getting Grace, she’d collected a few horses. Three very fine very gentle horses, they weren’t meant for hard outdoor work but for one, who was a rather big fellow, she had him gelded before walking off on the adventure to the new packlands. Liliana wasn’t sure why Dawali picked her but soon she had learned she was the only one that was taking care of the packs animals. Even the cow… well he was a bull, but with female’s they were sure to breed. She also took along the wagon full of extra hay from the season, even with the extra horses they had on their hands they had harvested what seemed an endless amount of hay. She had not been the one to actually harvest it though. But she was the one transporting it now, she had put the gelding to work right away. The horse was a strong built young fellow… about five years old, he was a speckled grey and was once one fierce animal… but he seemed to calm down when she gelded the poor thing. She knew it had to be done sometimes, and the challenge of owning a male horse was either to deal with his infuriating challenges or show him who was boss. She doubted that the valley pack wanted to deal with a raging wild horse. she had broke the horses, but hadn’t trained them, none of them had any bridle training at all, except to wear along the road to their new home. They were just more comfortable with wolves. That was all she could do on such short notice. The journey was slow with the gelding pulling the cart and the horses tied to one another alongside the cart, and Liliana on her own mare, moving the small herd to its destination. She was not familiar with Phoenix Valley, but she knew that Aniwaya and them were rather friendly, and Lili was ever so excited to meet them, at least a leader that was willing to trade. Dawali assured her that they would trade with her, the three horses and the hay. The other two were mares, they seemed mild mannered to Liliana, and they both were beautiful, to her eyes all horses were beautiful, but one was just a pure grey color, it was hard to tell ,but it did have white spots just small and very few which was rare in a horse like this. The other was a bay horse with a long stripe running down it’s nose from the top of her eyes. She even had a few white socks on her front feet. She wished she could keep them, but knew better than to do so. She was told they needed the cows. What for she wasn’t sure yet. She was still learning not to go hunting the bull.

She’d found her way to the edge of Phoenix Valley’s packlands and stopped, she now knew better than to walk straight in. She looked around, but of course there wasn’t a welcome party or anything she didn’t know if they were expecting her or not. Taking a deep breath, holding tight to the reigns of the work horse she howled a call to a leader, from Aniwaya. She hoped there would be an answer or she’d probably come for nothing, and the journey hadn’t been as easy as she told herself it would be.

Jefferson Soul · 08-09-2010, 10:43 PM

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I completely forgot you made this. Sorry sorry sorry!

The sound perked at his ears, and in no time Jefferson made haste. As always he walked two-legged for the sake of speed and convenience—moving on three legs with limp in tow was often seen of him, yet even the Patriarch hardly knew why he bothered traveling in such a crippled form—and thus his arm rested contentedly across his chest, wrapped in its sling. Perhaps it would rain, he decided; the aching of his arm seemed to resemble the pain that rain later ensued. The sense only made him feel older, as he was not as young as he used to be. Six years, leading a pack, one-eyed and one-armed—and that was how he appeared to her, the stranger in his midst, looking clueless at the borders.

He twisted his scars; it was quite a sight he came upon, a wagon of horses and horses and a face he could not recognize as hard as he tried. She smelled of the allianced nature clan, however, and the cyclops's guard immediately settled to its normal, reclined state. "You're AniWayan," he said, hardly bothering to let her introduce herself. "I assume you come on Dawali's orders, although what those orders are, I haven't the slightest." Green eye wandered past her, looking at wagon of hay and multitude of mares. Strange; last time AniWaya had wanted to trade wares, Dawali himself had been the guest.

The cyclops turned his glowing eye to her again, habitual scowl heavying his features. "I'm Jefferson, I lead here. What is it exactly you're up to?"

Liliana Utina · 08-11-2010, 03:03 PM

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WC: 341(2 Points) OOC: No worries ^^

At the sight of the tattered wolf, Liliana either felt fear or respect… or was it a mix of both? She had to decide it was both. She saw that he’d only one eye, and he was using a crutch, cane? Well, whatever it was, some part of him must have been hurting probably his leg. As he addressed her, she found herself almost speechless. What was she supposed to say to him? She swallowed hard. She gave the wolf a shaky smile.

Yes, Dawali has sent me here, to… to see if we could trade. We are looking for uh cows…but if you dn’t have any you want to … trade, we can still barter.

She said, she didn’t mean to be so blunt but once she started talking she figured she’d get everything out. She could see he was a businessman, and more important a wolf who needed to know what was going on right away. She wasn’t very good with other wolves, she was better with the animals, and she hoped he’d ignore her scared speech. Her accent did not hide the fear in her voice. It was mostly of the talking to another that scared her. She was not a very socialized wolf.

M-my name is Liliana Vess, I… I’m the um… animal caretaker.

She said, she’d almost said trainer, but she wasn’t that high up in the ranks… not yet, even though she had the ability to, she had to prove herself. Hopefully this trade with animals would help them see she was an aptitude with the animals, even if she wasn’t very good with other wolves. She wasn’t sure if she missed anything and if she did hoped it wasn’t important at all. Dawali had entrusted her with this task, since he was busy with summer preparations. Or was that winter? She didn’t know, but she was here and hopefully things would go well enough.

Jefferson Soul · 08-11-2010, 11:32 PM

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He stared, an action possibly more intimidating than he meant, as she stammered and shook her way through timid words. Jefferson was bluntly accustomed to surprised reactions to his monstrous appearance, but all-out shock and fear was quite a bit more rare. Surely she knew Phoenix Valley and AniWaya were contentedly allianced and friendly with one another? She was in no danger being there—in actuality, she was safer on Phoenix Valley borders than in the wilderness outside, despite being a foreigner—but Jefferson considered that perhaps it was a task Dawali had sent her on for this purpose exactly. Was she always so timid, so shaky in her actions and confrontations? The Patriarch did realize that he was perfectly intimidating enough to teach a timid, spineless underling a bit about confrontation—at this, smirked his scars to himself without realizing or explaining to her his thoughts.

"Breathe, Lily, you're in no danger here," he said, brushing past her casually to greet the accompanying mares. Scarred fingers touched at their noses and necks—they were young, he realized, and possibly untrained—but the horses were in fine condition and the ranch had the space for more. "You take good care of these horses, ma'am, they're in fine condition."

Turning, a hand still on the shoulder of a mare, he turned his single electric eye to her once more. "What in the world would you want to trade for these guys?"

Liliana Utina · 08-12-2010, 08:50 PM

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WC: 346 (2 Points) OOC: blah, next post will be a bit better promise

‘He’s laughing at my shyness’ Lili thought as she stared at the wolf wide eyes, if she were white originally she was sure he could see the color rise in her whole face… not just her cheeks, not of nager but in embarrassment, he did reassure her that she wasn’t going to get hurt, it was a relief but it didn’t make her any less shy. But at his praise though she couldn’t help but lift herself up higher with pride. She knew how to take care of the horses, but praise was something she rarely got and from the likes of this guy she doubted he sang a whole lot of praises all over.

Thank you sir, I find the more comfortable a horse is, the more willing it will be.

She froze when he looked at her once more, not sure if he’d heard her request the first time, but she wouldn’t remind him that she’d said anything.

Dawali is hoping for a few female cows if you could spare any.

She said, her voice shaking slightly again. She had to remind herself that he was being civil, and they were allied together, he wouldn’t try to hurt her, or let anything hurt her. A hope that ran across her mind the whole way here. She hadn’t heard anything bad about the valley wolves but she was scared of new environments. She knew Dawali had sent her because she was an animal type of wolf, and she had a good eye for them, but deep down she thought there was some other purpose… what though she had no clue right now she was trying to survive a friendly conversation. She knew she would loosen up, hopefully sooner than later though. She tried smiling, letting the leader of Phoenix Valley know she was trying very hard not to quake at the sight of him, and that she wasn’t scared… well she was a little, but she was more intimidated than anything else. Hopefully he’d understand. So far he seemed like a reasonable wolf.

Jefferson Soul · 09-03-2010, 12:27 PM

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Despite his attempts to ease her anxiety, the AniWayan woman still quaked in his presence. Surely she knew Phoenix Valley and AniWaya were allianced and on very friendly terms; he was a monster in appearance and in his past, but even Jefferson knew that a horrid creature like Maluki could not run a peaceful place like Phoenix Valley. Jefferson was not so far gone, even if his scars and glare bid otherwise. He was no harm to her, not in the least. The compliment he gave was earnest and reflected well on her, though she withdrew slightly at the kind words. What was it that brought this girl to be so timid? His eyes flashed; surely Dawali had sent her on this mission on purpose. There could be no other reason. He and the Kalona had a quiet, mutual understanding—Dawali had mostly likely known Jefferson to pick up on Liliana's nervous cues quickly, and wordlessly given the Patriarch the task of toughening her up, at least a little. The cyclops supposed he did owe the AniWayan leader that much—he had aided Geneva in her darkest hour, after all, on a moment's notice.

"Cows, right," he replied, nodding his head. It'd slipped his mind—unsurprisingly, considering how much analytical processing buzzed through his mind as the female continued to act so peculiarly. "We've got enough to spare, if you'll promise to take as good care of them as you do these mares." He turned on his heel, making no invitation for her to follow but walking away nonetheless. The ranch and barn was a short distance, and the few minutes of extra conversation with the timid AniWayan was what he needed anyway.

Jefferson rolled his shoulders, turning his gaze up to the cloudless sky. "My cows won't be too fond of moving. They'll give you trouble on the way back. To be honest, sugarpie, I'm not sure you know how to handle a bunch of pissy, moody bitches." The Patriarch turned his instigating gaze over his shoulder, green eye flashing. "They'll walk all over you."

Liliana Utina · 09-04-2010, 10:19 AM

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WC: 398 (2 Points)

She could see he was being quite calm, which did ease her own thoughts, but she was probably more intimidated with Jefferson than she was with Dawali, she had little doubt that the leaders were much more than she could ever be, and she wasn’t sure why but she felt like filth when she was near a leader of a pack, but she was trying to keep her own cool. His comment made her nod.

I will take care of them myself, they’ll be very happy in our pasture and we have plenty of stalls for them to sleep.

She said, knowing she’d be able to do this with ease, there was help and she tended to spend her time in the stables as well. She hesitated as he moved away to the inside of the of Phoenix Valley. Liliana took a deep breath and pulled on the large horse’s reins. She was feeling quite like she was still trespassing, but when he talked that dissipated… unless he talked to himself as well, but his words were directed to Liliana, and she bristled a little. He knew nothing of how she handled the animals, first he said she did well with the mares, who were still rather wild themselves, and he said that she couldn’t handle a bunch of cows? She bit her lip and waited for her anger to cool down. It wouldn’t be good to challenge a wolf by yelling at him… especially a leader.

I’ve had plenty of training to handle not just Horses. I can handle goats, chickens and cows as well. I am sure I can successfully get them to Aniwaya in one piece.

She said, her voice had less quavering in it, but still showed some fear for the wolf. She was afraid of the wolf but she was not afraid of a cow. She’d learned early that cows… they needed slightly rougher treatment than horses. Cows had thick hides so it made Liliana feel almost like she was beating one to get it moving when she first tried, the cow looked at her when she tried to make it move and she watched as her mother gave the cow a good whack with a stick. She told Lili they needed harder handling. That was a god lesson she’d learned. She never let a cow get the best of her again.

Jefferson Soul · 09-07-2010, 04:57 PM

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His eye focused forward when she responded, his attention to her proven only by a single tattered ear perked backward at her. Jefferson found the notion of training for barn animal care rather curious, if not plain strange—he supposed he had forwarded tips and skills to Adonia and Domonick when they queried about caring for the barn folk, but they were not so much "trained" as they were simply "informed." The two would surely learn on their own the little ups and downs each animal had personality-wise; Liliana, on the other hand, was being handed a number of feisty cows she had never handled nor seen before. Perhaps she did not understand the difficulty of the task.

"You think?" his eye flashed at her, his tone almost innocent in sound. Jefferson simply shrugged his shoulders and scoffed aloud, the brute an easy instigator. They rounded on the ranch; the cows grazed contentedly in the pasture, groaning their displeasure at seeing him instantaneously. He took care of them but damn, those bitches were stubborn. Jefferson shook his head—"Welp, they're in a mood today,"—and swiped the reins of the horses from the AniWayan's fingers.

His scars smiled at her darkly, eye glowing. How would she handle this? "Okay, sunflower, prove it. These ain't goats or chickens, I'll tell you that now. Hope you limbered up before you got here." His words were vague, but the cyclops was rather knowing of the useless cows in their pasture—they were entirely harmless but stubborn as a whole. When it came to strangers they were unmoving in general, but she had a way with the horses accompanying her. He did not doubt her abilities, no, but he was waiting to see whether she would stand up to the real task: Him.

Liliana Utina · 09-08-2010, 09:43 PM

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WC: 593 OOC: hopefully this is ok!

His words rang through her head. It seemed he’d put words in her mouth or changed them a little, she did not remember saying she thought. She was sure perhaps, but thought? She couldn’t think when it had something to do with an animal, especially ones as stubborn as cows. Once they got into the pasture where the cows were happily feasting, she knew she had some work ahead of her. But when the attitude with legs took the reins of the horses she had a gut wrenching feeling he thought she would fail at moving them. She whistled loud and hard, it wasn’t to get the attention of the cows, they didn’t seem perturbed by the whistle one bit, she was in fact calling her own horse, who had what she needed to help make the cows senses into walking and not mooing and eating their cud.

How many may I take back with me?

She asked stubbornly, the challenge he set forth to her brought a slight spark to her. She was in no way challenging his authority, but she was quite a proud wolf when it came to her own training. Grace, her own horse, came galloping to them. Liliana had been glad the horse was good enough to stay back a little ways, she was fully tacked with a borrowed saddle, saddle bags and bridle. The chestnut mare looked so odd like this, but she seemed to care very little since Liliana rarely did this to the horse. She’d only had the horse behind so that she wouldn’t be mistaken as a horse that was a part of the herd she was trading. She had prepared for this, knowing if she got cows it was possible that she’d have to be a little hard. She pulled out a stick, that had been wittled down enough that no branches or bumps were visible, that way when she herded the cows they would feel just a stick and nothing more, she would leave no bruises but she’d tell all the cows she needed that she was head of the heard and they should follow her directions. She wouldn’t hit them hard, just a quick tap, as a reminder to keep walking. She even had some rope with her, which was also a helping tool. She was a prepared wolf. If that didn’t work, she’d just change and bite at their hackles and herd the sheep… that was part of her ancestry, she knew how to do it that way, but she preferred not being exceptionally rough, it was a last resort, but through the trip, she knew there would be a time where she would have to change and nip at the cows so she could chase them down a huge area, through a forest and into the stables. It wasn’t a delightful thought, so she preyed staying a Luperci was more of the option. She wasn’t trying to show off to him though. She was doing what he said, although the cocky look on his scared face did make her want to slap the look off his face, but she knew he was goading her. Something she was use to. she would be the wolf that her mother taught her to be. Calm, patient, and stubborn herself. She’d make sure he would eat the words that came out of his mouth, although, she’d never say it out loud due to her thoughts that it would turn into a possible bloodbath, and it would be her blood he’d be bathing in.

Jefferson Soul · 09-20-2010, 07:16 PM

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Pride lingered in her once shy voice. He made every effort not to smirk, not to praise her sudden backbone, but he did not. The cyclops maintained the stiffness of his features, the hardness of his gaze and scowl unmoving. Little by little he whittled at her shell, making grim encouragements for her to prove him wrong. The brute leaned against the fence and waited. Her horse arrived as he considered her question; Jefferson simply gazed his green eye at her and muttered, "Even trade. Take what you came with."

How long had it been since he'd been given such a task? Sure, the brute was a father again—it was his job to raise the boy in a proper manner, teach him the ropes—but how long had it been that someone had assigned to him the task of straightening out someone with his gruff demeanor? There were few like he, the Patriarch knew, that possessed both the necessary wisdom to function as something useful while still hardly giving a shit about the world outside his head. But Jefferson was analyst, and so he had been so all along. Liliana had started to blossom. It would take effort, perhaps more time with the Patriarch if she was ever sent again by Dawali, but perhaps she could overcome this shyness yet. "Well, let's see it," he barked, rushing her with the swipe of his scarred fingers. Goodness, it was fun to be rude on purpose.

Liliana Utina · 09-23-2010, 05:22 AM

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WC:335 (2 Points) OOC: alright one last post and we can end it, Big Grin

She got into the saddle of the horse in one stride and moved the mare to the her, wordless, she wasn’t sure if she liked the male at all, and wondered how anyone could live with such a domineering male. He was making her feel better and better about living in AniWaya, where, even though Dawali was rough, he was one of the kindest wolves she’d met. She turned her mind on the task at hand knowing, that would be her final idle thought or she’d lose the herd in seconds, she nickered at the horse, and tapped a cow in front of her, she seemed unperterbed but a harder smack let the cow know Lili meant business, it took a while to pick the other two, but soon she had them all rounded up. The job was not easy and she never expected it to be, and before she would make her way back down a slow path to AniWaya, she turned, as rude as he’d been, she still had a respect for the male as he was the leader, and politics required kind words from her mouth, she gave him a sweet smile, not one that was saying, I told you I can do it, but one of thanks.

AniWaya thanks you for the gracious trade, and we hope to do more in the future, and I thank you too.

For what she didn’t know but she wouldn’t elaborate on it. The three cows were once again munching away on the grass but she wanted to make sure he was ok with her taking what she’d picked out, they were fairly well bred and young, young enough to travel. They were in no hurry to start out on this long journey but once she got the male’s answer she’d be off with them at a long slow and probably overbearing journey she hoped to never make with another cow alone again, but she could do it, she’d just bring someone else next time…

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