09-26-2009, 11:07 PM
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 Jantus was making his way away from the spot where he'd met the black wolf, toward where Phoenix Valley lay, but going was slow. He was not accustomed to traveling light and fast in this form; in fact, this form was terrible for travel. Not only because the four legged form was faster and more endurant, but because he also weighed far less in that form, and his proportions weren't quite the same. Honestly, he didn't understand what sense there was behind the shifting. On all fours, he was a massive wolf, and no mistake. Over two hundred pounds of muscle, and a fair deal of fat, too: he had a naturally beefy build and had difficulty keeping all of the extra weight off, especially when he ate as well as an alpha was supposed to. That build was somehow even more pronounced when he stood on two legs. Sometimes he admired the physiques of slighter wolves, but he knew that even if his body wasn't honed and chiseled, it more than made up for what it lacked in other areas. His excess bulk made his organs harder to find, and even if his muscles weren't well-defined, the curves of his arms made evident the fact that he packed a lot of power in them. Nonetheless, his big, powerful body was slow-moving, and while his reaction time wasn't so poor that he was an easy target in combat, his cross-country speed was completely unimpressive. He had to reduce his pace to a walk, and content himself with the knowledge that haste wasn't a necessity today; he had left many wolves at home to protect the Snow-Capped Pine, and they could hold the valley against their enemies even without their formidable leader. It was because of these internal gripings that Jantus failed to fully appreciate the dense forest after the first few miles, and while he failed to notice the wolf and the dear standing in front of him until he'd been in their few for several seconds already. When he finally turned his head and put them into view of his one eye, he stopped suddenly, sizing them up warily, before relaxing and meeting them with a good-natured smile. "Well, some scout I am. Even with one eye, that's embarrassing." He laughed uneasily, still unsure of why he was looking at a buck and a wolf walking side by side. The deer had caught his gaze first, but it was the wolf who he was clearly addressing. This one had scars everywhere...she reminded him of someone he'd known a while back. Somehow, though, it looked worse on her. She appeared to be missing toes, and her tail was a mess. Jantus wasn't sexist when it came to fighting, but he didn't like to see females beat up to that degree. Maybe it was because he'd been protecting the girls in his family for so long. Either way, it unsettled him a little bit, and a bit of concern touched his brow. "Geez, what pair of fangs did that to you, girl? Or could it be those were left by antlers?" He didn't think it made much sense, but she was walking alongside this deer apparently by choice; he didn't figure deers were smart enough to break a wolf's will, but his brain was trying to fill in any explanation it could. Nevertheless, his body wasn't jumping to the same conclusions his mind was. The massive werewolf did not yet reach for the steel club at his belt. There was no danger here yet. |