06-01-2012, 03:56 PM
Karril was vaguely aware of an incessant chatter going on behind him. This had been going on for days, since they had first started skirting the borders of some alpha territories, and he had finally learned to tune it out. It had been hard at first, her high voice going on and on about submissive poses, protocol, ears, scents and so on, asking a thousand questions pointless questions, lecturing him with the self-righteous authority of someone who definitely knows exactly how everything works. He had argued against joining a pack, but she had won him over. He thought back to how she had convinced him -- it had had something to do with having friends, and some other thing that he couldn't remember but didn't sound important. He reflected that perhaps it wasn't so much her arguments that had convinced him, but rather the number of times they had been inflicted upon him. Not for the first time, he wished he was traveling with a large sack of rocks. It would certainly have been easier.
Suddenly he stopped. He was tired of all this wandering, and constantly moving on made no sense. Skirting around the territories wasn't going to get them invited. He noticed with some satisfaction that his half-sister briefly stopped talking, but it did not take her long to recover, firing off another barge of questions and instructing him on what to do. He sighed and turned.
"Ara, can I-- no, wait-- listen-- look can you just stop talking for five seconds? Thank you. I just wanted to ask, what do you think of this one?" he said, gesturing to a territory whose border they had just gotten to. "Look, see that lake in the distance? And those little huts over there? Doesn't it look nice?" He knew it was a weak sell, but figured Baharak was probably as tired as he was, and the place looked pleasant enough.
Suddenly he stopped. He was tired of all this wandering, and constantly moving on made no sense. Skirting around the territories wasn't going to get them invited. He noticed with some satisfaction that his half-sister briefly stopped talking, but it did not take her long to recover, firing off another barge of questions and instructing him on what to do. He sighed and turned.
"Ara, can I-- no, wait-- listen-- look can you just stop talking for five seconds? Thank you. I just wanted to ask, what do you think of this one?" he said, gesturing to a territory whose border they had just gotten to. "Look, see that lake in the distance? And those little huts over there? Doesn't it look nice?" He knew it was a weak sell, but figured Baharak was probably as tired as he was, and the place looked pleasant enough.