OOC Name: Ari
Preferred method of contact: board PMs
Character Name: Laika (dropped her last name, Lockiye)
Character Age: one year, nine months
Character Gender: Female
Desired Profession Path, if any: Itse for now, will probably take up the medicine route
Regular Wolf or Luperci: Luperci (Arabian wolf {Canis lupus arabs}, possibly some coyote in her blood)
How did you hear about 'Souls?: I was zooming around Top Fifty Wolf RP sites and found this little dandy.

She didn’t think this is how things would turn out for her.
Laika was on her way, on her own, away from home and into the unknown. Her paws, raw and bloody and feeling like pins and needles, thumped tirelessly onward. Oh, Laika, Laika was now a machine, just made for walking this straight path, right this way, onward. She was honestly glad for the routine, it got her mind off of way she was on this journey in the first place.

Oh, lordy. What a trip.

She walked on spindly stick legs (passed down from her father, and her father’s mother, and onward), her ragamuffin patched bag bouncing steadily on her side. The bag itself was her brother’s; it seemed fitting that, now, it was more or less the last thing there was of him. All consumed, all broken, all gone. It was her family-pack’s way to destroy the deceased’s life, to get rid of every scrap. They just wanted to move on.
You could die from a broken heart.


The sun was setting, sending the world into a fiery, clockwork orange, making Laika’s shadows stretch across the ground like snakes. They spun and winded around the grasses and the bushes, dancing in praise of the night, their element. Laika liked the night, shallow sweetness of it, the crisp quiet. She sighed painfully.
It was nights like these where she missed her brother the most, with his smart comments and kindly looks. They sit and watch the sun set and talk about what happened in the past, what will happen in the future. Once they even stayed up the whole night to watch the sun rise. He was always her parent’s favorite, that boy.
Then, like a silver knife through her thoughts, the fence came into view. Well, she finally made it somewhere different. She had heard of this place in a few passing comments and it seemed like somewhere she’d fit in. She abruptly stopped beside a collection of rocks and laid down in a huff. She was starting to think she’d never find this place. After a week of traveling, she was deliriously happy she found this place. But now, she could rest. She’d wait until morning to announce her arrival, when she was refreshed and level-headed.
She slipped off the pack and shifted into her Optime form, cracking and stretching. She knew a few wolves who, being Vertos, hated that sound and could never get used to it, that crunching as their bones lengthened and their ligaments twisted. She couldn’t understand it, that was one of her favorite parts about shifting, other than becoming something different. She rolled her neck, letting it pop. Ah, much better. She only fleetingly shifted at all during the week, feeling much more comfortable to just stick to one inconspicuous form.
She dug through her bag, pulling out beads and hair ties and a cloth dress. She loved ornaments, really, but took most of her jewelry off during the trip to save it from falling or breaking. She pulled the cloth dress over her head, smoothing it out and checking for tears. It was one of the two outfits she brought with her, the other being a simple blouse and a pair of scuffed-up jeans. The dress came from her mother, made to grow into, with tribal patterning and a forest color scheme. Normally she wore it for important occasions, to give a good impression.
Sitting on the sun-drunk rocks still warm from the rays, she watched the light fade and the stars rise up as she braided a few feathers (all crow feathers, most of her family found them creepy but she found them fascinating) and few beads into her mane. She wasn’t a fan of cutting her mane into some sort of style, but she trimmed it up and it looked good on her, fit her fluttery eyes and wild glances.
The light was gone soon enough, and in its wake was a velvet black sky pin-pricked with white light. Laika yawned and crawled down beside her bag. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in a flash.
She had one dream, although it could’ve just been a memory.


The light seeped through her eyelids and split through the dark sleep. She rose and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. After the confusion of sleep drifted up, it felt like every hair on her body was spiked up; she was so nervous, so scared for today. She didn’t realize it yesterday, but now, with the event right up ahead, with no way to avoid it (unless if she ran away, something she’d never do), she was remarkably anxious. She gulped at the air and twirled a piece of hair between her fingers. She could do this, she could. She just had to be strong.
Once she felt a little calmer, she gathered her things and settled herself right at the border. She supposed some sort of guard patrol would be making the rounds by now, with the sun now crawling over the hills. She took a few deep breaths, cast out the negative thoughts swirling in her head (what if they turn me away what if I’m not good enough where will I go what will I do?), and lifted her mouth to howl. Her voice was always a little wobbly, not quite weak but just a little off-balanced, and it rolled through the air, loud and relatively clear. She rarely howled, really, only if it seemed like the only way to grab someone’s attention quick. After she closed her jaws and cut the noise in half, and stood, unsure. Could she sit? Or would that be rude? How long should she wait? How long would it take? She fiddled with the beads in her hair and tried to make herself look tall and strong and like someone who could help.
She hoped things would turn out alright.

picture cred: Mikael Kennedy