03-01-2008, 03:45 PM
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   Anderung seemed pleasant enough. She was well-mannered, the same as he, with "sir" and "miss" flying at one another, they both might have seemed rather stiff. Never the less, the conversation kept moving. He was a rather large individual, but his construction was tall, rather than thick and stout. Still, despite her pleasant disposition and manners, it was clear that she was bothered by his appearance. It was common enough, having the look of a lean and mean fighting machine certainly helped him in his job, but could be a serious impediment in casual social interaction. "Just trying to remember the old routine," he said, looking around the familiar landscape. He had missed the beautiful Storm landscape, though he had since heard of the avalanche that had claimed a portion of it. He had found his old den, and placed his things there, both the bag holding his weapons and his bow. It was strange to think of himself as a practiced hand with human weapons...he was an expert at unarmed combat, but had since become proficient with the human axe and knife, as well. He was still a novice with the bow, he hadn't hit anything that hadn't come pitifully close to him yet, but it helped to have his ambush strike occur so quickly that it could not be dodged. He was better fed now, and soon he would even be healthy again. Since Gabriel's strike to his belly, his efficacy on four legs had been reduced. It was this very reason why Skoll actually had little chance of outrunning the female, or nearly any other wolf, for that matter. He could sprint after prey well enough to feed himself with great effort and pain--it was probably his need to hunt that had prevented the wound from healing completely--but he could not sustain the sprint for long. "I was the guardian of this place for two years or so before I had a falling out with the last leader. I watched from the hill over there; it's high enough to see for a few miles along the Storm border in each direction, and to see trouble coming from a long way off; the perfect place for a defense outpost, though Storm never did have many enemies. I was probably useless most of the time, but there were a few times when I earned my meat." He smiled, tilting his head toward the hill where he had lived. The den he'd dug out wasn't big enough for a wolf to live their comfortably, mostly it was just a cache for the various objects he had accumulated in his seven years of life. He had discarded the least vital of those objects when he'd left, and now was happy to reclaim some of them. A few books that he still couldn't properly read, as well as a few carvings that he didn't really have room for in his travels. He wasn't good at carving yet, but he had made marked improvement since Gale had first instructed him on the basics. "What made you decide to join Storm? If you don't mind me asking, that is." He knew he was fierce in appearance, so he would continue speaking as cordially as he might in hopes that she would feel less ill-at-ease around him. ~The lyrics are from the best song ever written. |