tear it out of these open pages

[Ehno Marino]

[html]

Toliy-face! 503



Ehno had satisfied those fatherly worries by stopping by Phoenix Valley for a few days to check in on his little ones. It had brightened his mood considerably to find that his children were all still so happy and healthy. The threat of the nearby Dahlia-Inferni war still bothered him greatly, and he knew that this would be one of many trips he would be making to the Valley pack lands until he could be assured that the conflict was over. On the bright side, he could look at it as if it was another excuse to allow him to make the trip to see the four puppies, but he wished the excuse could be a more pleasant one. He loved to be able to go out there to visit them and Naniko, but he did not like that he would be worrying about their safety quite often. Regardless, spending some time with his little family had allowed some of those worrisome thoughts to fade away. Spending time with the pups always brightened his day. They were growing up so quickly and each time he went to visit him they seemed much bigger than the last.



The man had said his goodbyes and began his departure from the Valley lands that afternoon. He shouldered his small travelling bag, heavy with his usual trinkets and small amount of supplies, and took to the now-incredibly familiar path back to Crimson Dreams. A short journey through the lands would bring him to the city of Halifax and once he got through there it would be a straight shot out to his own pack lands. Usually the male would make a few stops along his path through the concrete jungle, but he would be making no such stops this time. As intriguing as the city was to the adventurous carpenter, he knew that dithering about for long right now would do him no good. These were turbulent times and he could not afford to keep his pack waiting or worrying for him. There would be much for him to do when he returned to the land of Dreamers.



The Italian man adapted a brisk pace as he travelled along through the woods. The slightly worn path was familiar to him and he hardly seemed to pay attention as he ventured forward. The temperatures were still quite cold, a thing to be expected with the land so deep in winter’s grasp. The trees were covered with a light dusting of snow, the product of the brief snowfall from the day before. The clouds above were a light gray in hue, plump with even more snow. It seemed that they would be getting more snow during the coming night, but for now the air was clear and crisp with winter’s breath. Ehno examined the scenery with amber eyes as he traveled, a content smile on his features. It was so serene out here that he could forget for just a moment that blood was being shed only miles away.

[/html]

[Anatoliy Russo]

[html]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v368/ ... ytable.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat;">

819
sorry I took so long ><; Also do you mind if we backdate it a few days? I don't really want to assume things about having met his family here 8D;;


Even though he were a year old, the young Russo did not feel as though he were inexperienced because of his age. He was big, reaching up to the taller Russians back home, at eight foot one in his optime form. Even in his lupine body he was big and bulky, thanks to the genes his father had given him so freely. Though he was tall in height, he was far more narrow in width, despite being blessed with wide shoulders. Anatoliy was not fat, but he was muscled because of his family's needs. He was built to be a deep sea fisherman, but his skills did not lie there. Oh, Anatoliy could do it if asked, but he felt that even with his larger build, he was not suited to be out on a salty boat pulling in crusty, wet lengths of netting with the dregs of the ocean mixing with the food of the sea they hunted. Sometimes, he felt awkward at his own size, aware at how he towered over so many females in his clan, though most men were around his height or in a relatively close proximity to it so that it would not be odd to talk down to them. But then again, the Russo did not mind his women being smaller than him. More cuddly that way. Anatoliy had heard some things from his family - most of it, admittedly, was not to his face - that his parents were promiscuous. Questioning it, he asked his mother but she did not admit a thing to him. Well, all he needed to know was that he himself was more dedicated than whatever accusations were given about his mother and father.


Anatoliy was driven to go hunt for a meal for himself. There was food in the city, sure, but nothing compared to the wild game of the woods. Sometimes, back in Russia, some of the men and women would go on a hunt outside of the village for fun and actual meat. There were domesticated animals but there was something about killing wild beasts to feed the family. Then they had caught several rabbits and a deer, but the majority of it was all gone that evening. Now, the Russo wanted to taste the free range meat that would satisfy his craving for something substantial to feed a bear of a young man. He wandered around the forest outside of Halifax, careful to stay in a distance of it where he could get back easily. Seeing as it was January, there was not too much to be found aside from the regular animals that did not hibernate. He certainly did not see a deer to kill, nor could he alone. He was big, but not that big, or stupid. Even in his heftier middle form, Anatoliy could not take down something that big with ease. What he did catch though, was enough to satisfy the growls in his belly.


A fire had been started in a clearing, in a small pit that had been dug out and lined with large stones. In a make-shift rotisserie spit, the man had roasted two rabbits, skinny as they were, over the flames and smoke. Every now and then, the earthen-hued male would rotate the dead creatures over the flame and then return to cleaning the third rabbit of it's fur and skin. Those roasting over the fire were almost done, having turned brown and were slowly getting darker the longer they stayed over the heat. However, the scent of them cooking was only meat thrown lazily to cook instead of properly marinated or rubbed with spice. There had been no herbs to use in the woods, for everything was dead now. Resting on having only a scented type of wood to burn beneath the food, the Russo simply sighed, missing the stores of dried herbs back home. They made things like this more delicious, even if they had no need to eat them cooked. It was eaten for good taste, not only for filling hungering bellies.


Somewhere, something cracked, and the Russian twisted his head in the source. A figure moved in the distance, though there did not seem to be a slinking motion to the way it moved. Whoever it was did not seem to be in the mood to attack the Russian crouching over his kill. Beside, they would have a hard time attacking him and taking him down. Gentle giant he might be, but passive he was not in times of fighting. Crying out in his oddly tenor voice to the stranger, Anatoliy greeted whoever it was with an accented English call, "Haillo?" The Russo wondered how they would converse should the stranger approach. The amount of the native language the young man knew was limited, but hopefully it would be enough to get his point across with pantomime included in the mix.

[/html]