OOC: Casa trio arriving at CdA for trade trip / +300+
The traveling trio had left mid afternoon on the previous day, stopping to set up camp early on in the evening and to hunt, a task that had resulted in a couple rabbits that Jazper had readily skinned and cooked slowly over a fire, cutting the meat up into equal pieces. As they moved further from Casa the reassuring must of old houses, salt water and horses was lost to the scent of prey, other predators and the forest. In the gap between Casa and the Artisans there seemed to be very little travel, as loners seemed to prefer the more abundant prey in the common center of the southern packs, prey which was in little danger of being chased by a pack member.
They had slept on furs around the fire, chatting in the night, Sebastian and himself acquainting themselves with Biff before falling asleep, while their horse companion wandered near by. In the early morning the leader had woken his pack mates, put out the fire and attached Vito to the cart once more. The journey was very short from their campsite, the scent of the Artisans wafting into their noses before the sun was centered in the sky. As the neared the boarders the alpha raised his head in a call, announcing their arrival and bidding the leader to greet them.
Pulling on the reins the stallion stopped just short of the boarders allowing the Sole to step out of the cart, glad to stretch out his legs. The cart was certainly a nice was to travel but he was sure Vito was starting to tier of being attached to the cart and the wolf was happy to be on his own two feet again. Looking out at the pack lands he began to prep Sebastian and Biff, “Once inside the pack we’ll help pack everything up for the trade trip and get Vito settled in for his stay before heading out.“ Turning to the two smaller males that accompanied him he spoke a playful warning, a smirk on his face “You two kids best be on your best behavior." His golden eyes lay on the red coated male he had spent so much time with, "Especially you. Use your charm for good, not evil." Although the warning was funny itself, the alpha's voice was even this time his Scottish accent leaning towards a more serious tone as he hoped Sebastian would behave for the sake of his and the packs image.
It had been a quiet trip. Relatively, anyway. No bandits, no savage wild animals, no debilitating accidents, no strange phenomenons, no fighting between the trio. The most interesting thing that had happened had been Sebastian managing to shoot an unsuspecting bunny in the eye. That had been a nice achievement, to be sure. They had spent most of their time talking- Jazper and Biff up front with Sebastian curled up in a pile of furs for most of the way.
Sebastian raised his head from the bear pelt he had encased himself within as Jazper howled, letting out a loud yawn before he rested his head on the seat where Jazzy had been sitting, his cheek against the wood as he gazed attentively at the Scottish teddy bear of a wolf. Slowly, his disentangled himself from the fur and ambled to Jazzy's side as the giant spoke, his steps unusually slow and ponderous for such an acrobatic individual. He was tired.
Sebastian snickered at Jazper's last words. Evil indeed. "Of course, Jazzy," he smirked as he stepped to Jazper's side and nudged the black male's leg with his hip. "You can trust me. Besides, I'm very adult." Sebastian sniffed, playfully disparaging. "Just because we're short. I think you only took us because you like feeling tall." Sebastian thumped his tail against Jazper's leg, apparently indignant.
The trip had been short in comparison to others which Biff had been on, but very much different than all the rest, too. He had seen horses before, and had met a few along his path that knew how to ride and tame them, but the coyote, himself, had never had the pleasant opportunity of actually using one. Though he was not the rider, Biff enjoyed the usefulness of the horse as it pulled the cart behind it steadily through the land.
The small coyote, the smallest of the trio of travelers, had spent the majority of the trip tucked into a nook beside the sole up front whilst the other member, Sebastian, had actually spent the trip snoozing in the back. Biff was jealous, naturally, because he could easily fit into the spot that Sebastian had claimed and snooze all day, too, but the guy had managed to call dibs on it before he had the chance to do so. Not that it mattered all very too much, Biff slept nonetheless up front when he was not locking in conversation with the pack leader.
The fellow was kind enough, but boy was he a large one; large enough to take up most of the room on the front of the wagon. The coyote could not help but feel dwarfed by him, and an instinctual desire to jump off the wagon and flee into the nearest wood line to turn and watch from a distance tugged at him every time the two made eye contact. Biff could not stare the fellow in the face, and when he did by accident he would very quickly divert his eyes elsewhere. There was no reason to fear the guy except for his size, but Biff could not help what came so naturally to him – after all, it came down to survival. The fellow was a large wolf, and he was the leader of a pack for a reason. Undoubtedly he could fight, and he could kill – Biff would be no match for Jazper even if the guy was missing an arm.
A howl went out, loud and sharp, and Biff shook from his moment of daydreaming. For the last hour or so he hadn't said very much and had managed to begin to drowse off. The call from Jazper shook him to his bones and his ears perked up in high alert. The cart slowed to a stop, and then rocked as the large sole dismounted. Looking on still in surprised, the coyote finally pulled his drowsed senses together and scrambled off on the same side that Jazper had, fumbling to the ground but still somehow managing to land on his feet.
Once there, and once Sebastian had removed his own self from the comfortable knoll he had constructed from furs and crates, the Sole began to explain what the game plan was going to be. Biff nodded, thinking that was the sort of response the leader desired, but as usual Sebastian toyed. It was interesting to see the daring in the guy, and the coyote could not help but wonder how it was the fellow had ever developed that sense of daring. Sebastian was not very much larger than Biff, and was still a good deal smaller than Jazper, so where did he find the gall to be so comfortable around the brute? Perhaps Biff just did not understand, yet, what organized civilization was like.
Still, all Biff did was smile at the small fellow's jokes and nod to Jazper quietly.
He wasn't a leader, but he knew the howl that rang out. His older brother, Jaz, had called out from the borders. The D'Arte scholar knew he couldn't let it pass without answering. He barked Myrddin's name sharply, gesturing to the boy with his head in the direction of the border. "Boy, today you meet your uncle Jaz." He grinned impishly, his eyes brightening at the thought.
Myrddin followed his father, excited and eager at the prospect of meeting his dads big brother. His poppa had spoken often of his brothers and his sisters, and even though it made him miss his siblings, he was eager to meet his poppa's family. He knew Poppa thought of D'Arte as family, no matter who felt what towards him.
The duo soon arrived, and they paused to admire the sight that awaited. Myrddin was struck at the sight of the warrior male, the towering black male who was clearly the alpha. Tal was struck by the sight of his brother, and by the looks of the red hued male. (Tal was, after all, an admitted bi-sexual who appreciated beauty in both the male and female form.)
Tal strode forward, his ear perked forward, his tail wagging eagerly. "Jaz! Haven't seen you in ages!" Myrddin stayed close by his father, watching everyone shyly.
Hotaru had been in the middle of apologizing to Fawkes for what seemed like the millionth time. He sat upon the nest they had created, a golden egg tucked carefully beneath his body. Fawkes had been against getting the egg in the first place and hated the fact that he had to sit on it. Hotaru had apologized to him over and over again, swearing that the chick wouldn't replace him and feeding him the best cuts of meat she could get. Even so, Fawkes was irritable and unreasonable. Hotaru whined at him, begging him not to hate her. Her large, dexterous paw reached out slowly and caressed the birds feathers. His beak gently nipped at her fingers and he spoke in his avian language. Hotaru smirked, despite his actions; Fawkes still claimed that he had not forgiven her. She shook her head and smiled.
They pair of hunters had made up, somewhat, and Hotaru turned her focus to food. She had gone out hunting for Fawkes, but it was time to feed herself. The blind female took a few minuted to shift into her halfling form before she took off. Although she could hunt fine with Fawkes to aid her, hunting by herself was a little more tricky. Hotaru wisely decided to stick close to Thornbury and hunt in the forest she knew best. With the aid of her secui form, she would at least be able to get a rabbit or something.
A call rang out through the pack lands, asking for the leader. Red ears twitched and swiveled as Hotaru stopped to listen. Skye had told her that another pack was coming to start a trading trip with them in the name of peace. Hotaru, to her great surprise and honor, had been asked to join the Caravan. Her mind swirled as she wondered if the caller was in fact from the pack that Skye had talked about.
The Tessitore di Sogno decided that, rather be safe than sorry, she would see whom it was that had called. Hotaru made her way along familiar paths, through the woods and to the boarders of Cercatori d'Arte. The scent of a foreign pack filled her nose as well as Taliesin's and Myrddin's scents. Hotaru approached cautiously and just in time to hear her fellow pack mate greet one of the strangers. The blind female woofed to announce her presence. Her stance was confident, but neither dominant nor submissive.
/ +300+
