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------Anselm squinted across the borders, although he dared not step inside. Under normal circumstances, no heed would be given to the freshly marked boundaries, so long as nobody could be found nearby. Wolf territories could be rather large, and it was unrealistic to expect somebody to be on his ass all of the time. Choosing to move across the boundary constituted more of a head game than a physical threat, and he could usually pick any situation apart to decide what was safe or appropriate. Right now, it was time to play the role of an observer with polite curiosity. "Polite" meant that he would have to behave, and even act slightly out of character. Fortunately for him, Anselm de le Poer was not above manipulation or deceit.
------The wolfish hybrid lowered his head and posture accordingly and deliberately softened his gaze, which was usually cold and calculating. There would be no funny business here today (so far as anybody else could tell). Hell, why not even announce himself? He didn't want to strike anybody as some weirdo stalking around the borders. A light and curious howl sounded briefly from the male, and he stayed in one spot. His ears pricked forward with interest and his red eyes carefully (but casually) scanned the forest for signs of movement. Now what could these wolves be up to, hm?
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There was a lot to do in the new packlands. The house was needing some work, having been abandoned to the elements, and she'd been laboring on it for the better part of the morning. Sirius and Apollo weren't any trouble, sleeping in the small bassinete next to her while she had worked. Whenever they woke up the leader would put them into the carrying-pouch that was attached to her front. She'd spent some time making it, tearing apart the old bookbag and resewing it into something more useful.
Now she was heading away from the house on a walk, the younger ones back at home, in Deuce's den. The older female was raising the pair, her grandchildren, alongside her own two children. Naniko enjoyed their company during the day, returning the pups around eating-time.
She heard the howl at the borders and changed her direction, going towards it. The voice wasn't one that she realized, but that was fine...there were all sorts of wolves that had already been living in these lands. She wouldn't know all of them. She was still waiting to hear Kansas, hoping that the young male had surivived the blaze.
The white Andromeda approached, coming out of the treeline. Most of her burns were healed, with only the worst still a light pink color. Hopefully she wouldn't look too weak. "Hello there" She called when she was a few yards away. This one didn't look too threatening, but she'd learned at a young age that looks could be decieving. "You've reached Twilight Vale. Do you have business here?"
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------Anselm was fast to spot general weakness and injury in anybody. His eyes locked onto the burns, but lingered there only briefly. This wolf had definitely come from the land of the fire--and it seemed like she was at least a little worse for the wear. Putting on a sympathetic face, he lowered his posture further. Before he could say anything, she had already offered him the name of her pack: Twilight Vale. Making a mental note of this, he tucked it away into the back of his mind. The facts so far: Twilight Vale, due south-east, south of Halifax. (Why he had chose to come so far away from home was beyond him... technically this pack ought to be the least of concerns.)
------"Hello, miss. It's good to see you managed to escape the flames before they did too much damage," he observed. "How did your other members fare?" He inhaled here, wondering exactly how many there were in the pack. There were at least several distinguishable scents here, but who knew how many were further inland where he could not easily reach. "I'm just a local, and I was curious about my new neighbours, I suppose." Spoken perfectly innocently, he intended to wheedle out all of the information that he could get. The time was right for this--before too long, everybody might recognise him or come to realise that he was running with Inferni.
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Conri was often wandering the border, making their boundary smell stronger to ward away outsiders, and he could be there at a call. Naniko was large, even for a werewolf, and she could protect herself if she really had to...but she didn't want to fight. She was more of a healer than a fighter. It didn't seem like she would have to worry about anything, though, because he wasn't making any moves toward her. In fact, he was acting like quite the gentleman.
"Yes, and thank you. This pack is made of those who lived through the blaze...survivors. Some have burns, but other than that we're all doing pretty well" Lucifer had just taught her a new fishing technique, in fact, one that would help feed the pack if their supply of larger prey ever got low.
"How is your pack doing? Or...maybe you're a lone wolf?" She couldn't tell from his smell. His scent was a mixture of many different places.
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------Other than some minor damage, they seemed to be no worse for the wear. He nodded his head pleasantly, although on the inside he was only considering the situation. That everyone was okay was important. It meant they were not as vulnerable as the coyotes might have originally guessed--not that he thought Inferni was intending to go mauling random packs. So far as he knew, their principle concern was disrespectful trespassers. "That's good," he said.
------And then it came. A question involving his pack. No hesitation was given, and he responded simply "I've lived alone here for a few months now. I heard about the fire through the grapevine." Partial truths were his speciality. Although he knew all the signs of a liar (and therefore what to avoid himself), he found it best to relay these hazy facts. It was easy to make them sound genuine. He really had lived in the area alone for at least a good two or three months... that he had met Gabriel in the past week was irrelevant.
------Now it was time to mix things up a bit. He decided to toss in some generic questions, just in case his wondering about Twilight Vale alone might sound suspicious. "Do you know what caused the fire? I find it odd that such a massive blaze would occur in the spring, when the ground is not even very dry. It also seems to me like a lot of folks got separated... did you have any problems sticking with your original pack?"
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Naniko was quick to trust--it was one of her weak points. She'd been taken advantage of before when she had given people the benifit of the doubt, but each time she took the same steps over again anyway. She felt like it would be okay to tell anyone who asked anything they wanted to know about Twilight Vale. It wasn't like it was a secret, really, and they'd find out eventually anyway. Besides. If he was a loner, he could someday decide to join up with a pack. And maybe he'd consider Twilight Vale. Perhaps he was looking for information so that he could make the best decision.
It seemed that he was indeed a loner. Their pack was eight strong, a higher number compared to the other groups...but they could always use more. They had four hungry pups to feed, and they couldn't just bring them fish, (fish being the easiest thing to catch).
"Oh! I just realized..I never caught your name. I'm Naniko D'angelo--I lead this pack with my mate, Conri." How rude of her. That was the most important thing of all! "And I'm not too sure what caused it. I don't think it matters much...since everything's over. Just that all the lands are gone. I did meet up with a few members of my pack, like my mate and one of my friends, Anka. Also my adopted sister's mother and her mate. Two new wolves came, but I'd never heard of them before. Have you met many others from the fire?"
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------His tendency was to trust others as far as he could throw them--while he was a quadruped and they were in shifted form, that is. Needless to say, he didn't trust anybody fully. Sure, others could be trusted to do certain things for him, but based on their character and instinct alone? Nay. Other than in rare cases (as in a mother's defence of a child), he assumed everyone's first instinct to be to cover their own ass. It was to ensure their own personal survival. It was bred into them by their nature--only the fit survive to pass on their genes. Did anybody wish to accept defeat and fall out of the gene pool? It certainly didn't seem that way. In this sense, even the passionate female defending her pups could be pegged to the same board--it was just ensuring her genes' survival, and nothing more. It had to be noted that Anselm's views on life, the universe, and everything were exceedingly depressing and nihilistic in nature.
------For now, he trusted this female's words. This was only because she had no need or reason to hide things from him or to chase him away. If she knew of his loyalties or his true nature, she would almost certainly be less cooperative, whether he put on this act of decency or not. As she offered her title and that of her mate, he nodded and promptly committed the names to memory. Naniko, surname D'Angelo; large Arctic female, leader of Twilight Vale in the south east. Mated to Conri, details unknown. "Joule," he stated simply, suggesting that it was his name. It flowed easily and naturally off of the tongue--he had chosen it long ago as an "alter ego" of sorts. That was the name he used when he was being nice but he didn't really want to be known. It had a gentler sound to it--he thought it sounded less commanding than his true name (which nobody had to know, anyway).
------She continued to talk on, and he made mental notes of names and numbers. Naniko, one. Conri, two. Anka, three. Two more... five. Two more, again... seven! Well, that was quite a count; their numbers rivalled Inferni's. "Only a handful, so far. You're the first I really got to talk to, though, everybody else seems rather shaken up or busy trying to get organised." More partial truths. "Also a couple of kids... they seemed pretty lost, but I think their father caught up with them." At the end of this one he watched her carefully, wondering if the mention of children might be enough to get her talking about some of theirs in Twilight Vale. Just too keep an accurate count, of course.
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She did have reason to not trust coyotes. Naniko could still remember the days of the famous "war", when the coyotes had driven a pack of wolves off of their land near the coast. Aremys. One of her fathers had been a leader in that disbanded pack. She could remember visiting him when she was young, when Aremys had moved to the lands right next to Clouded Tears.
Right now she was comfortable with exploring the land they'd claimed and greeting visitors. When he spoke of meeting people along the way, she nodded. "I heard that there are several other packs around the area. My friend Pilot came to visit, and he said that he'd started one with one of his friends." She looked up when he mentioned the children, nodding. "We only have our own...the ones Deuce, Lucifer, and I carried here. It's horrible that some are still out there. I'll have to look for them later on."
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------Anselm was excited and pleased to hear that she had some information about the other packs settling in the area. It was best to get as much information as possible from a voluntary source, just in case there weren't any later. Perhaps this would be the only wolf he'd need to talk to directly--the other packs he could just do a little snooping around the borders. He still wished to conduct a thorough search, but as this discussion puttered along, future trickery was seeming less and less critical. In a sense, he already had his ass covered when it came to reporting to Gabriel... anything more after this, he thought, ought to just be the icing on the cake. So for now, he was just going to milk it for all it was worth.
------"This area has plenty of resources," he assured her. "There ought to be plenty to support all of your friends from before--I would think. Do you know how many packs have formed or regrouped?" As for the children, he nodded. Kids were most definitely not his speciality. Those that were disciplined were fine, he guessed, so long as he didn't have to deal with the dirty work of cleaning up after them or keeping them fed. The bratty ones he was quick to put in their place, however--he didn't tolerate disrespect from adults very well, much less some spoiled kids. He was only as forceful as need be, though--the instinct to preserve their species as a whole was still strong. Also, sometimes... sometimes the kids were a ray of light in the darkness of their society. Some weren't tainted yet or conditioned to unconditionally hate one species over another. Unfortunately, he could only be as open minded as others let him.
------As for Naniko, for instance, he found her agreeable enough and would not deliberately go out of his way to hurt her or her pack, even with the new-found knowledge he was acquiring. As far as he was concerned, this was a defensive measure. Believe it or not, life had trained him to be the wary victim, not the cold-hearted assailant. "Yeah, I'll keep an eye out as well. Perhaps if any seem truly lost, I'll send them your way. You guys could probably take care of them better than I could." And for once, there was absolute truth in what he said.
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[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Maybe they could see some random animal and hunt it. o_o and then we could end the thread?
To her, Anselm looked like a wolf more than a coyote. He didn't smell like Inferni, or any place, for that matter...so she wasn't inclined to distrust him based on his appearance. Right now, in fact, she felt quite comfortable around him. She was on her own lands, which added to her growing feeling of security. If she saw him in the future, even if he was a member of Inferni, she might still talk to him. Maybe he'd be the exception to the rule that not all coyotes were as bad as she thought.
"Hmmm. I'd say...two? Pilot said that there was another one, but he didn't know much about it." She hadn't really wondered about where Inferni had gone, whether it had regrouped. She assumed that the group would be licking its wounds for a while, from the fire, and wouldn't be causing too much trouble even if they had formed a new community here.
"Heh, thanks. If you see anyone along the way that's hurt, too, feel free to send them here. One of my pack members carried some of my herbs here for me. They were in my backpack, but we ended up using the pack to carry the four little ones." Naniko nodded.
"Care to go for a walk? I feel a little antsy if I sit still for a while"
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> Sure :o -Tosses in lame computer nerd jokes to make up for the delay?- >>;
------Two. Two? That wasn't a big number... it paled in comparison to even the scant number of toes found on his paw! He wasn't quite sure how to go about eating this byte of information. Such a low number could really mean any of a number of things. One: everybody was scrambling about, utterly disorganised. Two: the packs had stayed organised better than he had originally thought... perhaps the members had banded together to form two super-packs. But no, Naniko's pack didn't seem that immense, so this was unlikely. Three: not everybody had migrated to his home after all, and some of the others had gone off somewhere else. Four: the packs simply hadn't had enough time to reform yet. Some combination of one and four seemed most plausible, and he wasn't about to go counting his chickens before they hatched. Others would crop up in due time--he was almost sure of it.
------"Ah, I'd imagine healers would be a rather invaluable resource right now, all things considered." Typically such thoughts would have gone on solely in his own head, but right now, he was striving to seem sociable. He wanted to keep the conversation going, but it seemed like things were finally petering out. Sooner or later he'd have exhausted this resource, but he kept his ears open. Slight details were not overlooked. The healers. The number four. Very good, very good...... a walk? It was as though the suggestion to move had clicked him back into reality, as he had temporarily become absorbed in his own thoughts. "Sure, it's no problem," he said. She was the leader here, after all. Instinctively he knew this, and logically he embraced it as well. He was on his best behaviour, and as such, pretty much anything she said went. He rose and looked at her expectantly, unsure of what destination she might have in mind. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he'd even get a little look inside their borders. Knowing the land was one of the best and simplest ways to gain an advantage in any situation. [/html]
[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> I think you're doing an awesome job of keeping this thread interesting--the way you explain what's going on in his head n'stuff 
She hadn't really expected that he would refuse to walk with her, and she was already starting off when he agreed and rose with her. She began with a slow trot, so that she could continue to speak while she walked. "I'm getting a little hungry--and I was thinking that we might be able to find something out here. Bigger animals come in, heading toward the lake." He was right about healers being invaluable. She was glad that Deuce was here as well--the female knew a lot about herbs. Naniko had been using her knowledge of herbs on both wolves and creatures of the forest for around a year, and in her last pack she had been an apothecary. She hoped to be able to continue her herb-working here, once she got some more of the plants. "There" She pointed to a shape off in the distance, heading into the trees. "Deer. Lots of them. You up for a hunt? We could tag team it"
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> Aw, thanks. :] Sorry about the wait. ><
------With genuine curiosity and interest at the forefront of his mind, he examined the territory with rapt attention. He made note of what appeared to be key pathways and routes (canine and otherwise), significant landmarks, and whatever else captured his eye. The suggestion to hunt snapped him out of focus and for an instant he stared blankly at her--it seemed an unusual request. To him, it made little sense to be granted access to the claimed land to begin with, much less to use their resources at all. He nodded dumbly and complacently--Hey, whatever you want, lady.
------He switched gears immediately, although he decided it wouldn't matter too much if he was distracted on this hunt. If he focused less on taking the animal down, he could take more mental notes about not only the land in general, but also this female's hunting technique. While taking down a fleeing prey animal was certainly different than fighting another wolf, it would be silly to think you could assume nothing about another's ability from the way they handled themselves on the prowl. Despite typically being an expert hunter, it was also for this reason that he didn't care if he looked a little sloppier than usual. The less anybody truly knew about him, the better. It would make them more likely to let their guard down in the future, and the slightest opportunity was all that he needed.
------At any rate, he was playing follower here, not leader. Not used to having others orchestrate hunts for him, he simply watched her for cues on what to do next and where to go. Whatever signal she gave, he would probably understand it. His stomach growled at the thought of food--and the pangs of hunger certainly distracted him from the slight pangs of guilt he experienced in the back of his mind. In some ways, this was simply not right at all. [/html]
[html] http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/p ... ized-1.jpg); background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> Haha, this is fun Naniko just thinks he'd make a good friend >> and he's like--using her x3 <3! Don't worry about the wait; I've got like. x_x three psychology papers that will be due in the next week, and two more tests in the last 16 days of school we have. So I may be late later on  And feel free to play Naniko jumping out with him to chase it, if you want.
They were on the border, so she felt relatively safe. These were her lands, and she was getting to know them pretty well. Well enough to hunt, anyway. Naniko was completely open to making new friends, even ones that acted a little bit odd. Everyone would be a little shaken after the fire, and she assumed that some of what he said was a result of the flames. He needed information, just the same as she had when she had come here. "Alright, then." She started off toward the deer at a normal pace, approaching the group from the rear. Anselm was alive and didn't look starved...so she figured that he knew enough about hunting to know that you weren't supposed to speak when you were within hearing range of the deer. Naniko motioned toward one of the animals with a nod of her head, a straggler that was following along behind the more healthy deer. They wouldn't even need to chase it toward one of the wolves--all they needed to do was chase it down. It was weak enough that it wouldn't be able to run very far. It looked like it had a broken leg. She crouched down as they came closer to it, preparing to spring out.
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> Eek, papers. :x -Glad she never has to write those in physics.- XD;
------Ah, it was always nice when somebody or something else did the hard work for you, especially when it came to hunting. What had injured this deer? Did another wolf barely clip it at the end of a prolonged chase, hurting it but not having enough energy left to follow through? Or did gravity alone, a loose pebble, or some slippery moss grant them this favour? Either way, he was quick to single out the straggler, and he knew that she had seen it, too. Target acquired--probability of success rated as high.
------Keeping his golden body low to the earth, Anselm kept near her and slightly off to the side. Just when they were within a reasonable distance from the herd, some damned squirrel in the treetops must have spotted them, for it began making quite a commotion. Then, be it dumb luck or some sort of secret "prey coalition against predators" (PCAP??), one of the does sounded an alarm call. The whole mass of ungulates catapulted into some sort of panicked frenzy, and Anselm knew it was now or never.
------Rising quickly to his feet, his ears fell back as he went into a full sprint toward the injured deer, and somewhere beside him Naniko did the same. Already it was falling behind the rest of the herd, which was by now stampeding through the woods away from the hungry wolves' fangs. They were fine--their comrade would not be so lucky. Reaching his head out to latch on, he braced himself and gave a forceful yank on the deer's healthy hind leg. It bellowed in agony as he clamped down hard--it was just flat out done, now. It struggled against his weight, but with one leg broken and the other now mangled and dislocated, it couldn't even kick out at him. Here he simply waited for her to go for the throat and officially take the kill for herself. [/html]
[html]  Like I said xD; Sorry for being so late! End this soon?So beautifully wrong
She started toward the deer at the same time as him, keeping slightly behind as he surged forward. He looked like he knew what to do, and before she realized it he had the deer's leg in his mouth and it was on the ground. It hadn't been a long chase, not as long as some of the chases that she had been on before, but it'd still made her a little tired; she panted as she came to a halt beside him and the fallen animal. He was waiting for her, and she came around to its front end, holding its head down with one large paw. No chance for escape. She went for the windpipe, crushing it between her teeth, waiting for it to stop struggling. It was over in a few minutes and she released it, the head rolling back onto the grass. "Nice catch" She commented. He'd been really fast, catching its leg like that.
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>>>>>The ivory lady came to his side, rounded about to the doe's front, and mercifully killed the animal. He nodded to her compliment and stepped off to the side. Quick deaths were a trademark of his, and he was glad he didn't have to watch the deer suffer--no matter how screwed up in the head he got, he honestly believed when he fought someone it was for good reason, and he would never be known as a torturer or rapist.
>>>>>Easing into a laying position a few metres off, he allowed his tongue to loll out in a pant. He was content to wait his turn--maybe, if he was lucky, she'd even leave some of the organs after taking the prized liver for herself. Even if she didn't, he would be content with the flesh and bones--he licked his lips at the thought of cracking into some of the delicious marrow. Maybe even after he was full, he could scamper off with a femur for later. For a scoundrel, he would feast like a king.
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