+7. Awesomesexy table by James <3. Though Libri tried to steal the creditz!
Ahem. Anyways, this all welcome. It's morphing time! xD; Forward dated to December 13th (thanks Rave).

The lithe steps of the young female carried her in exploration around Dahlia de Mai, the home she knew she belonged in. It did her heart good to reunite with her family once again, though she had yet to see a few more familiar faces about. Now, as she trotted through the path in the Overgrowth sunrise, she did no mind the snow and the frost that was gathering around her feet. Shiloh, too, left her mark behind with the footprints she left. This was the female's first winter, and though she wasn't one to romp, she loved the cold blanket that engulfed the scenery around her. It camouflaged her rather well, perfect for hide and seek, she thought.

But there was no one around to play that with her. And besides, she was too grown up for games now. Being nearly 9 months old, Shiloh and her siblings were almost full grown. Almost. Though she was sure there was still a bit of puppish personality within her brothers, the young female got it in her head that she could not act like that. It was unladylike, and without any real motherly guidance to learn from, the white wolf taught herself that this must be the way she had to act.

Her head was up high, and Shiloh found that she was even whistling a tune into the cold breeze that whipped through her body. She shivered, but it didn't stop her from humming, though Shi was momentarily distracted and tripped over a large tree limb that had broken off long before, covered completely by snow. The female squealed as she tried to regain her footing mid-fall, but instead she dived to the ground head-first, stirring up all kinds of loose dirt and grass that immediately clung to her snowy pelt.

"Guh.." It was the only sound she could utter at that moment, quickly jumping to all fours. She felt her heart racing in her chest, and suddenly she turned to see the mess that was now staining her back, dirtying her beautiful coat. The young female shook it off, but her level of distress had reached its peak. A stirring began inside her, one she couldn't put a paw on, and her sudden anger at being dirty was replaced by one of shock. Shiloh gasped as a sudden bone popped, and she looked down to see one of her front toes begin to elongate. Her cerulean eyes widened, and suddenly her other feet followed suit. She could do nothing but utter a squeak, but was silenced when she felt her muzzle stretch outwards. Shi closed her eyes, unable to comprehend exactly what was going on. The young female distinctly felt the hair on the back of her neck raising.. quite literally! Her hair stretched out in cream-colored waves, hanging down behind her ears and sides of her head.

Shiloh wasn't sure what she was feeling, for her eyes were still squeezed shut. It wasn't.. pain exactly. Things were popping and shifting inside her body, and her mind was running, sifting through questions that were never asked. Her father hadn't really told her what to do; just whatever came naturally, he would say. To concentrate on what had to be done, and it'll get done. Shiloh dared open one eye, and turned around to see her forelegs raise up and her bones elongate to compensate, the last of her transformation. Now, instead of being on her four legs, Shi was know on her hands and knees in the icy grass.

She let out a breath that was being held, unsure if there was more to it or not. Her breath misted before her, and suddenly the young female was shaking from head to toe. Did she just.. was she.. in Optime form? She swallowed a large gulp of air, and dared to sit back on her rump. Her young legs stretched out before her, and she stared at them, wiggling her toes. This was different, but exhilarating. It was as if she was experiencing the world through a whole new set of eyes. Shiloh moved her hands to her lap, curling and uncurling them, trying to understand this strange, but very welcome change.

Voron clung to the tree, feeling utterly foolish. She has thought to give tree climbing a try, something her brother had been brilliant at. Apparently, it didn't run in families. The black wolf was in Optime form, which was a rare occurance for her. Her coat was thick and full, and normally clean. Now, however, there were bits of bark stuck in it. The she-wolf was clinging to a tree branch some ten feet off the ground. Going up was the easy part; down was a bit more tricky. She eyed the ground warily, as if blaming it for being so far away. Her heart fluttered as the wind tugged as her fur and she dug her claws even deeper into the branch. She knew that there was only one thing to do... Closing her eyes and letting out a whimper of fear, Voron jumped.

She landed in a heap on the ground. With shaky legs, she rose to her two feet. She took a couple of deep breaths then gave the offending tree branch a derisive glance. From the ground it didn't look quite so high. Embarassment rippled across her face as she realized what a fool she must have looked. She had just raised a black forepaw to the tree trunk when a commotion caught her attention. She paused, turned, then glanced back at the tree, saying, "I'll be back," before headding off to investigate.

When she came to the source of the noise, she stared in mild concern. A pale young wolf was sitting on the ground. Not strange in itself of course, but this wolf was in Optime form and seemed almost afraid to move. Voron crouched down and extended a paw. "Are you alright?" she asked, her brown eyes gentle an comforting.

^^ +5

The young white and cream female did not want to move, she was slowly understanding that she could now shift. Just like her brothers, and the rest of her family. She was, perhaps, the last to do so.. but there she was, lying in the frosty grass, with the ability to walk on two legs. "Woah.." She mused to herself, her cerulean eyes scanning all about her body. What ran through her mind at that moment was not fear, but excitement.. just imagine what she could do on two legs where she couldn't on four! And those clothes - those strange garments humans put on their own bodies - she'd have to obtain her own!

That reminded her now, in her Optime form, that she was naked! Letting out a small gasp, she looked back down at herself, but luckily for her, the fur on her body grew out longer during the wintertime, covering the more... private parts of her white form. Shi let out a sigh of relief, and let a hand snake up and leaned it against her forehead. Even the structure of her face felt different, but she was never really able to touch it before. Then her fingers found her silky hair, something completely new to her, and she turned her eyes to meet it. It was beautiful, long, and though it was foreign, she rather liked it.

Shiloh let go of her hair quickly, and let out a gasp of surprise at the sudden appearance of the black female. The young female's blue eyes stared at the hand that had been offered to help her up. "I.. well, I don't know." She grasped the other female's hand and hoisted herself up, for the first time feeling much, much taller on two feet. Shi stumbled forward for a second, more taken by surprise than anything. Strangely, these new legs felt comfortable, though she had yet to run or even walk in them, she just knew it would feel natural.

Looking at the female, she forgot about herself for just a moment and smiled. "Thank you," she said, dusting herself off and spending a bit more time doing so than another wolf might. She could not keep her sparkling eyes off of herself, almost wondering what she should do now. "I'm.. I just.. shifted." Even the word sounded foreign on her tongue. The whole ordeal was incredulous, and though she didn't want to quite yet, she was wondering how to shift back down. Did she have to do the same thing? Get stressed out? Get.. and she shivered just then.. dirty? Shi hated to think about that. Shaking her head, she let one hand graze through her silky cream locks, glancing back at the female. "I'm Shiloh." The young wolf, now able to call herself a Luperci, studied the other before her. Shiloh scented her pack's smell on her, which indicated she had to have been from Dahlia as well. The white female was rather happy no one had seen her trip and fall, or shift for that matter. It was a rather embarrassing, though life-changing, moment for her.

As the the young white wolf rose, Voron smiled. She remembered her first time shifting, and knew what an exhilarating experience it could be. Voron had had her first shift before her brother, and had spent many happy weeks lording it over him. To her, having paws that were able to grasp stuff had been the best part. She had tortured her family with her constant (and very accurate) throwing of snowballs. If only the good times could have lasted longer before everything went to hell. Voron's eyes darkened a little as she realized that she had never seen her brother in Optime form - and never would.

While the pup dusted herself off, Voron looked around, pricking her ears up as she glanced at the ground. All of a sudden, a small grey and white shape lept halfway up her leg, it's tiny pink paws gripping her thick fur as it scampered up her body. Finally coming to rest on Voron's shoulder, the little creature huddled against her neck. She could hear it's heart beating swiftly, and raised a paw to stroke it.

"Hush, Moon," she whispered to the rat as she petted it gently.

The black wolf looked up as Shiloh introduced herself. "Hi Shiloh. I'm Voron.,"
she said. "I'm new to the pack, if you're wondering why you haven't seen me before." She grinned somewhat foolishly, feeling like a bumbling idiot around the younger but very mature wolf.

3 points. Sorry, Shi is prissy xD. I actually think rats are kinda cute.

The wind picked up slightly, and it seemed Jack Frost himself was blowing it against the pair, ruffling their fur in a decent gale. When it settled to a mere wisp, Shiloh shivered, and rubbed her arms momentarily. Her tail flicked behind her when she looked down at her legs. She really did feel taller, even though Shi hadn't reached her full growth yet. The female wasn't going to get much taller, or much bigger, as she imagined her brothers would. "This is.. kind of neat!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement, as she turned her muzzle up to face the black female, beaming.

But her smile quickly disappeared, and her entire face was replaced by disgust at the sight she saw. A beady-eyed, long-tail rat scurried up on its little paws along the black female's body. What was worse, the black wolf began to pet it, and Shi distinctly remembered her calling it a name. Shiloh squealed, disgust laced in her voice, taking a massive step back and pointing a white finger at the creature. "Augh! It's a filthy rat!" Shi always found the beady things as disgusting scavengers that lived in the shadows. What was worse, they were almost always filthy.

The young female felt she had to do something, and nearly didn't catch the black female's name and her being new to Dahlia. Shiloh was too transfixed on getting rid of the ugly rodent. She scanned the area for a stick of some sort, and found a decent sized one sticking out of the snow. Quickly she ran over to it, knelt down to pick it up, and swung her entire body around, her ears still pinned back behind her head with a grotesque dread. "Stand back, Voron. I'll get it!" The young female said, hoisting the stick above her own head, ready to strike.

xD I have a rat as a pet. She's addicted to jellybeans and is a
little chubby lol.

Voron's whole countenance changed immediatly. She cupped the rat in one clawed hand and pulled her lips up in a snarl. Her hackles rose, making her seem much larger than she was. Her normally gentle brown eyes flashed and for a split second it seemed as if a rabid beast was peering out of them. While not a wolf to pick fights, the black female had long felt driven to protect the weak and helpless. This didn't usually hinder her on hunts, but when she had found the half-drowned rat a few days ago, she just couldn't bring herself to kill it. So she had rescued it and nursed the poor creature back to life. Now it seemed to have bonded with her. Voron was surprised to find she enjoyed the rat's company. She could use a friend, and, well, rats tasted nasty anyways.

Glaring daggers at the newly shifted pup, Voron spoke through bared teeth.

"Put that stick down right this instant. Moon is my friend."

She wouldn't actually hurt Shiloh, if it came down to it. Voron had never enjoyed fighting, though she was pretty good at it if she needed to. And though she was new to the pack, she already felt a certain amount of loyalty and gratitude to it's members. But this little rat was the first true friend she'd had in a long while, and she'd be devistated to see it hurt.

+3. Aw, how cute! It's got a little jelly belly then? :3

The white female, too, found her lips pulled back in a small smirk. She wasn't putting down the female, though, just the rat that clung to her shoulder. Her own cerulean eyes flashed with confusion as Voron covered it, protecting it from harm. Who in their right mind would protect one of those creatures? Of course, Shi only killed what was needed to for survival.. that, and rats. They gave her the heebie jeebies just looking at them. Another tingle crawled up the female's now-elongated spine, hearing that this.. thing.. was the black wolf's pet.

"Friend?" She stressed the word, the young white female obviously not able to comprehend why anyone would keep a rat for a pet. She kept her arms raised with the stick, but made no motion to swing it. Her throat closed itself and she stopped growling, but she still kept her sneer. "How can rats ever be pets?" She asked, both with a voice that hinted with disgust, but also of a strange curiosity.

Shiloh wasn't a violent female, but she would try her damndest to fight for her life, as well as her family; those she loved. But this female that stood before her, warning her, was a part of Shiloh's pack, too. And even if there were problems between them, the young female knew violence was far from the answer. Those in Inferni, however, might have thought differently, but luckily she did not care for their train of thought. Besides, it might make her look bad in the eyes of her family, and that is far from what she wanted. She wanted their approval, their love, as well as all other Dahlians. Slowly, she did lower her arms, but she did not put down the stick. Her tail flicked behind her with agitation, obviously confused by this female's strange ways.

Haha yeah. she also enjoys stealing food from right under my dog's nose.
Voron relaxed slightly, seeing that Shiloh was no longer posed to attack. She knew that it was probably not normal for a wolf to have a rat as a pet, and she realized that she herself would have been amused to see a wolf carrying one of the rodents around if she didn't know what her father had taught. For the thousandth time she silently cursed herself for not paying more attention to the lessons she had recieved earlier in life. Books had seemed so boring back then.

"My father said that they're actually very smart," she said, watching the other wolf's cerulean eyes for any sign that she was about to freak out again. "He had many old books, he was a sort of scholar at my old pack. He used to read all sorts of things to me. My father actually said that humans thought rats were almost as smart as dogs!" Voron laughed, obviously not believing that. She had a fondness for one rat; that didn't mean that she held them all in high esteem.

While she spoke, the rat was sitting in her now open palm, it's teeny pink nose twitching as it's eyes watched the white wolf. It was still a young rat, so it's head and ears appeared slightly too large for it's body, making it rather cute. It's grey and white pelt was clean due to the vigorous cleaning that the rat partook in several times a day. It definitely didn't look like one of those large black rats which were notoriously nasty.

"She's not dirty at all. And I think she's still
a youngster - probably not much older than you in rat years." The black wolf relaxed even further; now that the heat of the moment had passed she found the cerulean-eyed wolf's reaction amusing.

+5. Sorry for the lateness! And I feel like I should keep apologizing for Shi's snooty behavior XD. She's pretty much my opposite.

"My father said that they're actually very smart," was the first thing that the young white female heard. Her white lips pulled up in disgust, with a hint of her pearly whites showing, not believing she heard that rats were intelligent in any way. Shi closed her eyes for a moment, though, as Voron continued to speak. She mentally told herself to calm down, that this was another member of her pack, and in a sense part of her family. Shiloh knew better than to get on anyone's bad side in Dahlia, it could have easily meant banishment, which she and her siblings were supposedly used to, due to their history. There was no time to make mistakes, no. In fact, to Shi, everything in her life had to be perfect, and everything she did - perfect.

"My father actually said that humans thought rats were almost as smart as dogs!" Shiloh's cerulean eyes opened, and a flash of irritation was evident as she stared at the black female. She lowered the large stick just then, and a sick feeling of dread washed over her body. Shi felt as if she was compared to a rat just then, though it wasn't meant to be taken as such. Shi never had a violent streak, she almost wished she could just whack that rat out of Voron's hands and end its life because of that statement. Closing her eyes again, she sighed and took another deep breath, letting the crisp air refresh her body, trying to replace it with the disgust that still lingered. Shiloh tossed the stick aside, letting it thump! onto a small, fresh blanket of snow a few feet away from her.

Looking back at the black female again and her... her pet, she saw its beady eyes staring back at her. Her muzzle was closed now, her mouth was nearly a straight line. Shi wasn't sure what to feel or how to say at that moment, as those eyes as small as a pebble blinked at her, and that nose with those long whiskers twitched every few seconds. Still, she could not see how anyone thought of those things as cute, they were vermin to her. As far as the young female was concerned, rats went one way and she would gladly go the other.

She lifted a paw to brush away a strand of her from her sight. "Well, just.. don't let that thing get anywhere near me," she tried to say nicely, but still the disgust lingered somewhere in her flighty voice. It wasn't acceptance of that thing, it was merely a neutral response, and her finding her manners again. "Anyways," she said, taking one step towards the black female. It was a move that was made to be friendly, from one pack member to another, but it was that rat in the black female's paws that kept her from coming any closer. "Voron. That's quite an interesting name. How'd you find Dahlia?" Shi had to do something to ease the tension that she knew was in the air, simply lingering between the two females that stood there in the snow that very afternoon.

No worries on her personality. I don't take it personal. I am sorry that it took so long for me to reply.
As the white wolf threw down the stick, Voron felt the tension flow out of her body. She placed the rat on her shoulder and let it hide by her neck. It seemed to understand that it had to be inconspicuous. In fact, it seemed to understand alot of stuff. She had the sneaking suspicion that although she didn't know any low speech, Moon could understand high speech perfectly. Voron had never really thought much about the animals she hunted. But now she realized that all of them - the rabbits and deer and even mice - had their own way of living and customs. The were probably every bit as intelligent as wolves. Voron wondered if for every rabbit she had killed there was a family that mourned them. The black wolf considered this for a second, searching inside herself for sone guilt. She found none. Wolves have to eat. she thought.

Shiloh had asked her how she found Daliah de Mai. Voron didn't really like talking about her past, but a direct question like that was unavoidable. Plus, she could start after the bad stuff had happened.
"I come from near the other coast, to the west. It took me six months to travel from there to here. I had no idea that there were packs here, but by some strange sort of luck I ended up in the perfect place. It is... Amazing to be part of a pack again." Voron spoke softly and simpily, hoping the other wouldn't ask why she had left her first pack. "Have you lived here your whole life?" the black wolf asked. Maybe this white female would be able to tell her about the pack. Voron knew virtually nothing about most of her pack mates, and a friend who knew eveyone could be very valuable.