OOC: Thought this post was going to be shorter than it is XD Sorry <33 You're a great writer and give me a lot to respond to ^^
They had a few things in common, like their pelt and the fact that both of them were riddled with scars...but they also seemed very different from one another in a few key ways. He was a wanderer, she a pack wolf. She couldn't imagine not being settled down in one area or another - the protection that a pack could give was great. Naniko actually enjoyed interacting with the members and finding out more about them and their stories...what had brought them to Anathema and what they were currently trying to do with their lives. She felt more at one with the pack when she spoke to members on a regular basis. She wanted to give them what they wanted and needed, and talking to them was the only way to figure those things out. She had not been without a pack for a year or so, and never for more than a month or so at a time. Naniko didn't often think about what life had been like as a wanderer, how difficult it'd been or how unsafe she had felt during that time.
There was something about Shandom that she liked, despite their differences. He seemed friendly, but not overly so. She found those types to be somewhat annoying - the kind of canines who would pretend things to become closer to a leader or who would act a certain way or agree with her just because of her status. He seemed to be able to take her jokes and respond to them in stride, something she appreciated and found rather amusing. "Hope I'm not hurting your pride too much - I've gotten into similar places before." She commented after his laugh, hoping to show that her jests came with no ill intent.
He spoke next of her son. She looked at him sharply until he mentioned that he had not seen the male around. At that comment her ears drooped slightly - she'd been hoping to hear some news of him. Perhaps she would have to swallow her pride and go down to the pack eventually to find out what was going on with him. Or she could ask Soran the next time that she saw her mother-figure. His words about trying out pack life made her wonder, and she looked back at him, thinking. "Do you think you could ever settle into pack life? I can't imagine myself without my pack...they're great. I think that everyone has a niche somewhere, they just need to discover it. Many packs are too controlling of their members. I take a more hands-off approach." She said. "But I understand that pack life isn't for everyone. It's just hard to wrap my head around."
She listened as he continued to speak, noting that he knew somebody from her pack. Unless Alaki had been the one to accept them it was likely that she knew the canine as well, and she took care to listen closely for the name of said canine. Caprica. Naniko grinned at that. She was glad that her girl was taking the time to go out into the world and meet others. She'd come back to the pack and Nani was glad to have her back...but she was proud that her daughter was branching out from the pack, as well. "I know her pretty well. She is my daughter, after all, so I ought to." She realized then that she hadn't given her last name. "I'm Naniko D'Angleo. Sorry...I didn't give you my full name, before. I've had a few litters over the years..many of my children have moved on, but Caprica and her sister returned to me in Anathema."
His ideas about shifting and what form seemed more natural were correct, as far as Naniko was concerned. Shifting was quite unnatural. But at the same time, for her it was so very useful. She couldn't imagine living life on four legs and not being able to do all the things that she wanted to, any longer. Her own experience with shifting hadn't gone very well...but it hadn't tarnished her love for the form. "I was forced to shift to defend myself just before I became an adult. I used that form to climb up into a tree after crossing a river...and my scent was lost." She didn't mention that it was her own mother that had done the chasing, nor that she likely would have been killed if she hadn't been able to get into her other form. "I do enjoy shifting back to my four-legged form sometimes, though. Just for the fun of it." She understood that he didn't have any family in the area, but didn't feel this way or that about it. He didn't seem overly upset about it. "At one point in my life I was the only D'Angelo in the lands. But as you know, my family's numbers have grown since."
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