Nothing like Manual labor
#1
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Set in Arachnea's Revenge, couple of miles north of Dahlian borders

The massive male trotted along outside of Dahlian borders, this time his twin blades did not hang to either side of him, the dagger though was still nestled on a calf in case he needed to do some up close and personal blood work. No instead of swords he carried an axe, more specifically an axe for cutting down trees. On an earlier patrol he had noticed a dangerous section of fallen trees that any unsuspecting wolf could walk across and find themselves tumbling down into a mass of twisted wood and briars, along with the cold water underneath. Normally such an action by him was quite rare since it hampered travel along the Dahlian borders, made it easier for him to track certain wolves that strayed close but when thinking about it, he couldn’t just leave it for a pack mate of his to become trapped in.


Really he should have asked one of the young males in the pack to come along and help him. Could have been a good exercise for them, as well as teaching them their roles in the pack as well. Without willing wolves to take care of Dahlia it would fade back into the grips of nature or under the strife of some bloody struggle. Saluce wouldn’t let that happen. As with most of the deeds he did he did not need some form of thanks or mention of it he just did his duty, glad to make the pack lands a better place.


Now though his eyes studied the problem in front of him. The grey behemoth was as strong as an ox, his heavily muscled frame was enough evidence of that but he wondered if he had bit off more than he could chew as he studied the tangled mess. With a shrug of his shoulders his body when to work, first starting off by clearing his way around the tangled bridge to get a better look at the problem. The tree trunk was rotten, the bridge had to go, and he’d have to create another easy passage for travelers to traverse the small river in the winter. But first he had to demo the old bridge. His axe went to work chopping along the trunk. Long arms swung with impressive might as little chunks flew off in every direction, even into his eyes which stopped him momentarily as he cleared his vision. The plan was to cut the trunk into more manageable sections to move off before finding another tree to fell across the river.




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#2
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table © Noelle
ooc: thanks for starting!


After a week of confusion, the boy had emerged from the cruel woods with his sanity intact. It had taken a long time for the rush of primal and horrible urges to wear off, and in addition to plenty fluctuations of utter mindlessness and the deepest soul searching, Caillen seemed to have rebuilt some of the inner islands that he required to function normally. Islands where the swirling, churning waters of his emotions could not reach him.


He'd needed this basic balance before he could risk coming out into 'civilization' again. The argument with his mother and foster sister had stripped him of it, leaving only the raw bleeding flesh of his mentality - A dangerous thing, in a brute so large as he. When one was devoid of identity, they were also devoid of basic restraint, and with the high levels of rage that had pooled in his system for so long, Caillen had literally been a bomb waiting to go off.


He walked now with a peculiar aimlessness. He knew where he was headed - Up near Inferni lands, where a black jackal waited for word of him. The path he walked was near to a territory, as occasionally he would stumble across a commonly used route that smelt of these other luperci. But for the most part, Caillen wandered with only his fragile thoughts to keep him company.


It was such a time, when from nowhere he heard a peculiar sound. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! Curious by nature, the gentle giant headed towards it, his sky blue eyes light with wariness. He emerged on the side of a small, babbling river, only to find a heavily-muscled male wielding a sharp-looking axe.


His first instinct was to flee. You don't generally tend to mess with heavily-muscled males wielding sharp axes. But he hadn't seen another individual for over a week now, and the young male was lonely. He approached carefully. "H-Hello? Hello there?" The boy's voice was rusty from lack of use, but he cleared his throat and stood at a respectful distance. Although he was taller than the dark stranger, Caillen could see from the other's motions that he was clearly more muscular. If he chose to react aggressively, the slate youth would have no choice but to flee.

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#3
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It seemed today wasn’t destined for him to be left alone, part of the reason he had decided to leave the two younger males back home was he needed to just be free of everything for a bit. The loss of his children still weighed heavily on the males mind and so far Layla and he hadn’t exactly gotten back to normal, well whatever normal was after a still birth. But his ears perked up on his head, it wasn’t a coincidence that he didn’t hear the stranger approach with the noise he was making. The axe was steadied for a moment before he rested it against his shoulder, which was an obvious sign to the stranger that he was armed. Out in no man’s land he relied on his imposing figure to scare off any would be wrong doers or to determine someone’s intent. This boy though spoke softly clearly perplexing the behemoth as he looked across at him.



Blue eyes narrowed across the distance, nose testing the air wondering who he was. He didn’t smell like Dominick or any other strangers he had met outside of Dahlia so his head cocked to the side as he thought on how to address this new development. So far he didn’t seem aggressive and so took his axe and swung it one good time into the fallen tree, the strike itself slid inches deep cementing the axe for the time being into the trunk. Free of the axe he brushed off his paws before waving over to him.

“Bonjour Stranger, What brings you out this way?”he asked simply enough, unsure of if this stranger would understand his French greeting. So far everyone he had addressed such a way returned his greeting with a puzzled look before he’d either have to explain in some damn boring way or ignore it and move on. His legs carried him to the stranger, since he wasn’t on pack land it was a meeting of equals and thus he wouldn’t act as if he was intruding.



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#4
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table © Noelle
ooc:



The grey male had clearly seen him. Caillen watched as the other took a final swing to embed the axe in the fallen tree - That was a good sign, because it probably meant that he didn't intend on hacking the slate wolfdog up with it. Still anxious, because the male clearly outranked him in body muscle and age, the youth remained still at his dignified distance, showing his submissive but wary nature by allowing the other to approach him first. Once that had happened, and a greeting had been called, Caillen allowed himself to take a few more steps forward so as to be able to converse with the other without raising his voice.


The male offered a familiar French greeting. Caillen himself did not speak the elegant language, but his foster sister did, and he'd heard the words enough to recognize the stranger's 'hello'. Smiling hesitantly, the boy cleared his throat before replying. "And hello tae you, Mister!" His voice held that strange Gaelic accent so uncommon in this region, but it was friendly, if not still cautious. His ability to trust blindly in the kindness of strangers had been destroyed for a long while now.


"Just heading through on my way up tae other territories." Aware that he was not currently on pack lands (else surely the other male would have chased him off), Caillen held out his hand for a friendly handshake. "My name is Caillen Winters. Can I ask which pack you come from?" He could smell the presence of other wolves on the males fur, identifying him as a pack animal, but the scent was unlike any he had come across before.

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#5
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yar!

Still slightly cautious eyes watched the younger wolf come toward him. Each of them seemed to be wary of the other which usually meant a good thing. Saluce nodded to his greeting finding the accent reminding him a bit of some of the wolves that had traveled through England. Eyes studied the youth, noticing his appearance and the complete lack of marks or anything else hinting at a hard life. The warrior could tell much just by looking at him, he had an easy life. This boy wasn’t a warrior, looked as though he’d never been in a fight either, and some part of him felt pity to see a relatively weak young male In front of him. With that body he had a lot of potential, could become a protector and provider with such a build but he hadn’t used any of his physical gifts… at least from the scene Saluce looked at.



Still though he was level headed enough to be cautious, and Saluce wasn’t in a bad enough mood to be dismissive so he humored him a bit as his question was asked. The behemoth very rarely answered a question as soon as it was asked; he’d make people wait for the answer, usually revealed more of their character. Blue orbs continued studying him before he smiled and cocked his head to the side and motioned at what he was working on.


“I’d love to chat but I’m a bit busy, if you’d like to help your welcome to. The log is rotten, and a danger to anyone using it as a bridge, Taking it down, then I’ll find another tree to fell as a bridge.” As with all things that Saluce ever did with younger male’s it was always a test. This one seemed like he needed to learn a lesson, needed something from him and manual labor always did the trick. As he walked back to the log he finally answered his question over his shoulder to the youth.


“It’s Saluce and I’m from Dahlia” he said before waiting to see if he took his offer.


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#6
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table © Noelle
ooc: slow reply ;;



He could feel the other male appraising him with those cool blue eyes. Caillen didn't like the feeling of being inspected, as if the older stranger was looking for some terrible flaw in him that he didn't know about yet. Whatever it was, it seemed he must have passed some test and failed some test, for although the grey-pelted brute did not speak harshly to him, he turned away without answering the question.


Caillen's outstretched hand hovered uselessly in the air for a moment, before he hastily dropped it to his side, feeling foolish.


As the older male spoke, the youth's floppy and erect ear pricked forward eagerly. It was refreshing to hear a voice that wasn't his own. Two weeks of solitude had been more than enough for a social creature such as he; the loneliness was quickly becoming unbearable. The brute's brisk reply had the boy momentarily stunned that he'd been so openly rejected whilst giving the opportunity to help simultaneously. Whatever sort of mind tricks this fellow was playing were clearly working. The slate wolfdog stepped forward.


"Yes, I would... I'll be happy tae help. Yes." He said to the male's retreating back, feeling slightly unshaken by this peculiar situation. However, it was somewhat reassuring to be spoken to so bluntly. Caillen had suffered from enough word-games to last him a lifetime. Ears flicked forward again to hear the male's name and pack, given casually over one shoulder as though he'd been intending to answer the youth's question all along. Saluce, from Dahlia. As with all he had met, the peculiarly colored wolfdog committed the male's name and scent to memory, before stepping up quickly to walk with the other. To show his respect for the age boundary between them, Caillen kept his head slightly lowered - The two males were pretty much equal in height, so it wasn't difficult to keep his head lower, as it usually was for the gentle giant. "What would you hae me do, Mister Saluce? I dinnae have an axe..."

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#7
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As the boy approached his eyes still appraised his behavior. It would have been fitting if they both came from the same pack as a superior and a submissive but out in the wilderness the boy didn’t have to act in such a fashion. It was humbling but he just smiled a bit and shook his head as a heavily muscled arm pulled the axe from the tree trunk. Oh but Saluce had an axe and he figured if the boy could learn to swing it and work with it, maybe he’d find out something about himself in the process.


“Now. To swing an axe is an artform. It takes your whole body to do so, but the hardest part is mental. Having confidence in yourself is the key.” Saluce properly showed him how to hold it then demonstrated the swinging motion before taking a massive swing himself into the tree trunk with wood chips flying. He was obviously creating a V shape into the trunk with different angles to cut into it. Just chopping blindly wouldn’t get him anywhere.


“Follow the V I’ve already started, alternating from one angle to the other. Start slow until your confidence builds. This tree is rotten so don’t pay much attention to how pretty it is. Once you’ve chopped off this section we will haul it off together.” It was simple enough. He’d be close by to watch and help if the youth was having troubles.


Saluce walked off to continue hauling off limbs and other trash from the site.


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#8
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table © Noelle
SoSuWriMo: 247



The older male seemed perplexed by his respectfulness. This confused Caillen, but he supposed that the older male brushing off his niceties was far preferable to him getting angry and chasing the tall youth away. The slate wolfdog craved company, even if he had to pay for it with some tough physical work. Learning a new skill made him feel useful and calm again.


He nodded obligingly as Saluce spoke, intently taken mental notes of the wood-chopping strategy. It looked simple enough; Caillen was relatively sure he'd be able to manage it, no trouble at all. However, when the older male handed him the axe, the boy was temporarily startled. The object was very heavy, and really quite difficult to wield. A slight frown crossed the youth's face, but he didn't dare complain. Light blue eyes lifted again to the older male as he spoke some more. Nodding to show he understood, Caillen watched as Saluce turned away and resigned himself to the task ahead.


His first swing was centered, but quite simply, did nothing at all. His frown increased. Saluce had made it look so easy! Again he tried, and again and again, each time swinging a little harder, getting a little angrier, until he almost snarled with frustration. Surprisingly, his mind instantly darted back to his mother, and Sylvie. The anger balled a hot fist in his chest. "Why won't... It... Work?!" He shouted, frustrated, and let the axe bite deep into the rotting wood.

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#9
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Ears twitched as he listened to the youth behind him. Eyes did not have to see to know how he was doing, each axe swing brought along the sound of failure and the chorus of grunts, then growls only helped to reinforce everything he had heard. Finally it seemed Caillen had already quit, his voice rang out in defeat, and Saluce could only wonder if the youth knew defeat more then he knew success. The behemoth let him sit there for a moment as he continued clearing the bank of wood and brush. Almost waiting to see if he’d again resume trying to learn how to wield that axe, but no such sounds greeted his ears as he turned back toward the youth.


Eyes inspected the mess that had become of the log, off centered hits, miss hits, and the clumsiness with which he struck the log. A strong hand grabbed the axe in an almost vile fashion as blues burned at the youth for a moment. Something was bugging this boy beyond his failure at swinging an axe, and he figured he was going to have to learn to think clearer.


“Stop thinking emotionally, focus on the task, see in your mind where you are going to hit and make your body do it. Quit letting your frustration get to you.” Were his simple instructions to the youth as he inspected the axe for any damage. Satisfied that he hadn’t broken the axe he handed it back to him. Eyes stern with authority.


“Now stop trying and do it” apparently he couldn’t refer to him as a man, he’d have to refer to him as a boy, since he didn’t have the maturity to be considered grown up.


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#10
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table © Noelle
SoSuWriMo: 305



He had stopped for a while, glaring at the axe as though it were the offending member of this party. He had too much resentment, still festering away inside of him, to think about the task clearly. Perhaps he would give up, and just run off before Saluce noticed. The thought revolted the youth - Of the many things he claimed to be, a quitter was not one of them, and he would rather had hit himself with the flat side of the axe than commit such a cowardly act. Still, the anger burned away in his chest, fueled by the frustrated failure.


Caillen was used to failing, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it. It seemed to be all he was capable of, at the moment. The slate wolfdog would have given anything for just one win at something.


Before he could react, the axe had been snatched up by a firm hand. The older male stared hard at him a moment, and Caillen stewed in his poor mood, feeling all the worse for having made a mess of Saluce's neat work. His head hung slightly in shame, but he did not speak.


He nodded mutely when the older male spoke, gaze lowered respectfully as he took back the tool. Its weight was beginning to become familiar to his calloused palms. Shooting a final uncertain glance at the grey male, his lingering was quickly cut short by the curt command. Swallowing hastily, Caillen re-focused on the task, thinking about the older man's advice as he lined up the swing. Then, crack! A neat, perfect hit. Sky-blue eyes blinked in surprise, as he hefted the axe back out, and attempted another one. Crack, crack, crack! A smile grew over the youth's maw. He was doing it! Blue eyes flitted to the older male, seeking approval.

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#11
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feel free to have him finish off the log ><

Saluce watched him as his hands rested on his hips. He could only guess as to what had brought this young male out into the wilderness. Eyes looking over him knowing he wasn’t exactly suited to be roaming around by himself, as if he were soft. But within all men was the capacity to be great, one didn’t just have to be a big brute, good with a sword or axe, but the meaning was the same. Caillen needed to learn it seemed how to be a man. Men didn’t quit, they may fail but never quit and when he handed the axe back to him and he tried again, he couldn’t consider that there was hope still left for him.


Then as he watched he seemed to have absorbed some of the information he had given him. Success often brought the self worth to continue and continue the young man did, and as Saluce watched, each axe swing was more successful then the last. Eyes meet the other blues and he simply nodded in acceptance of his small success.


“Never let self doubt, seep into your head. It only corrupts and clouds your vision from what you are truly capable of” he offered him before he returned to his side. Eyes looking over his handiwork before making a judgment as to how many more swings it would take before the tree would be ready to break apart making it easier for them to carry.


“So why are you out here all by yourself Caillen?” he asked out of the blue, seemingly like he had wanted to ask it all along, but there was a purpose to it all. With each lesson learned, that lesson needed to be applied to past decisions, and maybe he could use his recent success as a metaphor, at least if there was something troubling him.


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#12
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table © Noelle
SoSuWriMo: 382



There was something so wise about the other male, although he didn't look particularly old. Caillen figured that it was a sort of wisdom that sprang from the self-assurance he so desired; Saluce seemed pretty grounded in who he was. The boy respected that greatly, for it was a rare thing to come by these days, and he had been brought up with a shifting and unstable sense of self-worth. But he could see now the value in perseverance, and that brought a strange sense of calm to his previously frustrated mind.


He nodded to the man's words, accepting them for the truth the bared. He would carry these words with him for a long time, mulling them over when times got tough again. "Yes, sir." He replied respectfully, before taking up the axe and continuing on with the job.


Saluce was watching him still, but now that he had broken through his failures, each axe-swing hit correctly. He was not quite as good at it as the grey male, as he lacked the experience. But each swing brought him a little closer to the final goal, and so the boy continued. When his new-found guide asked a question, the tall wolfdog took a short break, finding that he was panting slightly from the continuous effort. He wiped the back of one hand across his brow before answering. "I... I did something, something bad." He frowned, clearly troubled by the memory of yelling at his mother and Sylvie. "It felt right tae me at the time - I was just so angry, it seemed like I had no other options. But now, I'm dinnae know anymore." Startled with his own blatant honesty, Caillen gazed quietly at Saluce a moment. For some reason, he found that he had no desire to lie to the male.


Hefting the axe back over his shoulder, he continued to speak between strokes. "I think that I-" CRACK! "-have hurt the ones I love-" CRACK! "-and now I am afraid-" CRACK! "-that I cannae make it right again." With a mighty splintering sound, the log finally broke clean through. Pleased with his accomplishment, but nervous that he had spoken too much, Caillen's sky-blue gaze returned to Saluce, and he held out the axe to be taken from him.


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#13
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Blue eyes just watched and listened to the young male. If there was one thing the dark gray male had experience with was fucking up. All he could do was continue onward and hope he could work out some sort of life that meant something for himself. And now he was close to ending a mistake he had made. That would be tough for even him but it needed to be done. Saluce as always let the other person finish speaking before he would chime in with anything.


The axe swing that finally broke through the log ended his explanation. Well lack thereof, he understood enough though from what he shared that something had happened between him and his mother. Emotions running wild where a bad thing in most every case and even he was a sinner in that area as much as he was.


“Anger gets the better of us; it’s a disease at times. Can’t take it back either. Best thing you can do is apologize. Part of growing up is owning up to your mistakes. We’ve all made them” he spoke quite easily as he looked around for a place to have him carry this log too. Knowing he’d probably be better off at the lighter end he motioned for him to set the axe down and down to the other end. It wasn’t a slight against the young males honor or his build, just an honest assessment of the help he currently had.


“let’s move it off to the side, into the creek, will create a nice little pool for fishing later” He pointed to where he wanted to carry it off to and took up his stance to wait for him. It would be heavy and wouldn’t be easy to move. Eyes looked over at him waiting for him to announce his compliance and he would give his end a great lift with his well toned body.


“Jussst lift with your legs, we will…. Worrrk it over slowly” he said in stressed gasps holding he could hold his end of the bargin.


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