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I appear to be on a bit of a spree today, I shouldn't be it's 4am... but hey ho! I am even more sorry for the sheer length of this one, it seems the later it gets the more wordy I become XD
WC: 1117
The sable female watched the pair interact, in response to her saying what good friends they appeared to be Null spoke very affectionately of the male. This seemed to thrill him and he licked her ear affectionately, Soran smiled, this was something that she knew well, she was one for licking ears affectionately. It was a habit she had picked up long ago when she had first become a mother, licking her red boy behind the ears when she greeted him, she would still do it now if he were around, though as a grown male with grandchildren of his own she was sure that he would be mortified by the very prospect of it. But then again many of the grown wolves that she had somehow adopted over the years, the children that she had claimed rather than birthed did not mind this as greeting, in fact Zalen was the Alpha of their pack and was still willing to accept this sign of affection from his adoptive mother, no matter how old or highly ranking he was. For a moment the thought of her adoptive daughter, Blind, flitted across the ebony lady's memory, she winced slightly as she thought of her, it was true that she had killed the bear that she believed to be Blind's murderer, but she had never been able to bury her sweet daughter's body... somehow she felt that meant that Blind's death was, in one way or another, not properly avenged. Still that was not a topic for this moment in time. Giving herself a little mental shake she looked back to the pair, smiling at them, they would make good mates, for a moment she wondered if they realised this, or if they were in the dark about their own feelings and compatibility like so many that she had met before.
The conversation then turned back to the subject of living as wolves had done before the virus had spread and given them a choice in what they did and how they lived. Null seemed sure that she would not have survived living as a wolf the way that Soran had, perhaps she was right, though somehow the sable female felt that the smaller girl would find herself more than capable of hunting without needing hands to do so, she seemed sweet and friendly, but also like she might have a streak of cunning running through her; and Soran knew that if one could not survive by brute strength and speed that cunning was just as good, if not a better asset to have.
"I never really had a choice about learning to hunt myself, I was alone from a very young age, well myself and one other, he was about the same age as me though, he was not able to shift and I had no idea that I was able to, unlike many I have met there was no random shifting when you get to the correct age for me, I was two before I learned of this form." Soran replied, pausing to gesture down at her lithe Optime form, "so for me it was either hunt or die, it's surprising what you can do when it's your only option." Soran finished, surprised that she had revealed so much of a dark past to almost relative strangers, she was normally better at keeping her cards closer to her chest than this. The male then spoke, saying that he would probably manage to live as the New Dawners do, but that he could not imagine doing certain tasks, like fishing without tools. He then added that he would not want to leave Null, calling her by a sweet pet name that made Soran smile again, oh how perfect this pair would be for one another if they just realised it. She nodded in agreement, musing over the idea of fishing without any tools.
"I am actually unsure how one would fish without tools, in all honesty I don't think I have ever seen it done, I imagine you just... well pounce on the fish, but I can't imagine that being at all easy. Hmm... I will have to find out how the others do it, I myself prefer rabbit to fish and we seem to have an abundant enough supply that I have no need to fish in the pack lands." Soran replied, her face filled with thoughtfulness now as she wondered how fishing would be done without tools.
The girl then spoke again, saying that Rurik was a good fisher and that she was a fair trapper, that made sense, she had already said that she did not hunt in the traditional way. It seemed that they were doing just fine for themselves on their own. Soran listened as she spoke of Casa di Cavelieri once again and nodded, they seemed to have a fair knowledge of the area.
"I see... do you not hunt in the usual way at all then? I am impressed that trapping animals keeps you both well fed, neither of you seem to be malnourished." Soran replied, smiling again, hoping that they realised that she had not meant that they were overfed or fat, just that they both seemed appropriately fit and healthy.
"Yes, the fort seems to keep the pack safe, were they welcoming to you? How did you manage to get there? Or were you in the area at the time?" The sable female asked, just simply out of curiousity, also she hoped that Jazper had been welcoming to these wanderers, they seemed pleasant enough from this conversation. Null then said that she had not seen anyone matching Deuce's description and Soran's heart sank just a little, she had to learn that simply asking if someone had seen her on the off chance that they had not to allow her heart to be buoyed by the idea of seeing her again, it was going to take more than simply asking a few people to find her mate it seemed. Rurik confirmed that they had not seen her with a little shake of his head, though the pair offered to mention it to their wandering friends when they saw them. Soran smiled with gratitude, before letting out a heavy sigh.
"I must apologise for my obvious disappointment, it is just... she's my mate you see, she went missing before the hurricane hit and it seems that she has vanished into thin air, no-one seems to have seen her for such a long time. I was worried before but now I must admit I am really very concerned." Soran explained, rubbing a dark hand across her eyes, she just missed Deuce so very much.
