Aslan was bored with Inferni. He wanted to do some exploring! He let Aylar & Guzel know where he was going and he took off. He put a halter and lead on his horse and let her walk with him. She needed exersice too! He still hadn't picked out a name for her but he was thinking of one. She walked next to him happily, picking her feet up and keeping her ears erect. Her head was held high and she bent her neck. Aslan smiled at her, she was gorgeous! He had been using his Optime form a lot since he first started shifting. It seemed more useful to him. He and Aylar had just recently cooked a giant feast for Sara, Guzel and her pups and themselves. Aslan made borek and baklava all by himself! He was so happy with himself. Even though he had never cooked it before he had watched his mother do it thousands of times. He had learned easily and now he knew how to cook lots of things.
Aslan had started off on his little journey at high noon. By now the sun was setting. He had made good progress, traveling far without even knowing it. His thoughts had consumed him. The mare that was trailing behind him stopped and whinnied. Aslan guessed she was tired. He unclipped the lead from her halter, letting her wander free. Him and the mare had bonded easily in the time that she had belonged to him and Aslan trusted her not to run off. He sat down in a field and watched as the mare walked around, grazing on patch of grass to patch of grass. He smiled, "Blackie, Storm... What should your name be?" He grinned, lost in thought again on what to name his gorgeous mare.
5+
She was the hunter, the fighter, the protector. She was everything and yet nothing at all as she stalked along, she was the pack's first defense against trespassers and intruders; those who wished to hurt and prey on those weaker than themselves but the pack was stronger than any individual and it was thing strength that fueled her and imbibed her muscles with a fierce strength that was backed up by her Arctic ancestry and her sheer will to survive. At the same time she was love and friendship; the one who was always there and willing to talk and listen, the mother and the healer who spoke words of wisdom to those who were lost in their thoughts.
She had been tracking the deer herd for most of the day, biding her time and waiting for the exact right moment to stroke , it had to be perfect of everything would go wrong and she would possibly get injured. The herd knew she was following them and it showed in their tense body posture and nervous snorts and also in the way they kept shoving the weak and old and injured to the outside whilst keeping the young and healthy in the safety of the middle where the barrier of legs would protect them. To these deer she was the one the pruned their genetic lines and sheared off the weak links so that the strong could prosper.
The hunter woman stayed silent and prowling and then suddenly launched herself forwards with astonishing speed and grace. The deer all bolted instantly, running scared from her quick and nimble form as she chased after them. She had chosen her intended long ago, an older male who didn't look like he would live to see the end of summer never mind next year but even though he was limping he managed to keep up with the rear end of the herd, fear fueling his flight. But it was inevitable that eventually he would tire and he began falling behind and was soon within her reach.
She was almost out of energy herself, realising that she should have chased them on four feet instead of her two legged form but there was no time for what if's now. She launched herself at him just at the herd burst into a clearing ahead of them. She hit the buck and her knife swung forwards to embed itself in his neck. They rolled into the clearing over each other as the male fell, the rest of the herd had already made it to the other side and had disappeared into the forest. The old timer kicked feebly a few times before dieing quickly. It was only after he had died and she stood up to catch her breath did she realise that she was not alone in the clearing, a male was sat close by with a lack horse, she stepped backwards over her kill protectively and looked at him suspiciously for he smelt strongly of Inferni,
"Hello... can I help you?"
Aslan was just dozing lightly when he felt some vibrations in the ground. He popped his eyes open and saw a herd of deer running towards the clearing. He whistled to his horse and she came trotting over. He held onto her halter and pet her gently. He giggled, he could feel her tense muscles, clearly she wanted to run with them. As much as Aslan trusted the mare he knew that letting her go running off with deer probably wasn't a great idea. "Shh, girl just stay here... We can go running later." He smiled as his horse nuzzled him.
His attention was drawn to another deer, lagging behind and a wolf that was chasing him. He watched as the woman made her move, killing the deer somewhat easily. She stood over her kill protectively and adressed him. He smiled at her, impressive! He hoped to be able to hunt like that one day. "Oh no, I was just enjoying the day.. You are a really good hunter! I hope to be that good when I'm older.. I really have never been on a hunt before.. Anne always told me it was too dangerous... I haven't even talked to Aylar or Guzel about it... Maybe Sarajevo would come with me.. Or I could learn so that when the pups grow up I can teach them!" He giggled then looked up, reazling he had been rambling.
"Errr, sorry about that." He laughed, "I am Aslan Kurtis, adopted son of Io Berlin." He spoke his title proudly, he loved his Aylar. He laughed again and gestured to his horse, "And this... this is my horse.. I haven't thought of a name for her yet... I just got her from a trader that my other mother Aeron, I call her Guzel, took me to see so that I could get a goat and some pastachios so that I could cook my family Borek and Baklava.. Those are Turkish dishes.. They are quite popular where I'm from, of course I have never really been there... I was born in Turkey but my pack was attacked by lions the night I was born and my blood mother saved my life and we took a boat here.... She died when we reached Inferni.. but I don't really remember any of that.. Then Aylar, errr Io took me in!"
He blushed under his fur.. "Sorry, I tend to ramble on whenever I meet new people." He giggled, feeling foolish for giving his whole history to a wolfess that probably didn't really even care.. "By now you probably forgot my name." He laughed and looked up at her with a smile. "Where are you from?"
3+
Jace simply stared as the smaller male suddenly let forth a rambling tirade of words at her, her mismatched eyes flicking back and forth between the male and his horse. Even the horse seemed to roll her eyes and look at Jace with a 'oh good god' expression on her face. The female blinked in surprise as the words just kept coming and coming, it was never ending. Finally he seemed to be getting himself under control before he launched into a second burst of verbal spew. She was understanding what he was saying but it just went on and on... seriously, had no one taught this pup to take breaths between sentences? She had pretty much no other reaction than the incredulous staring until he had finished.
Finally! He had stopped talking and she could get a word in, he seemed embarrassed by his nonsensical rambling but she smiled anyway and nodded at his apology and explanation of why he had just pretty much explained his life to her and replied shortly, "No worries, it happens to all of us." She smiled more at his laughter and humor,
"I remember, Aslan Kurtis of Inferni. Did you know that Aslan means Lion?" His humor managed to put her in good spirits despite her first annoyance with him,
"I am Jace, technically I am from the Arctic but I live in Phoenix Valley at the moment." The woman turned from him and grabbed her newly killed old buck by his magnificent antlers and proceeded to drag his carcass single handedly the several tens of meters towards the Infernian and his horse. The woman then began to search around for small twigs and kindling she could use to start a fire,
"What say you young pup to helping me start a fire and cook this deer I killed, you can tell me more about your life if you so wish." Jace found herself offering, she had decided to trust this male on a whim and hoped he lived up to her expectations, her only run in with Inferni so far had been less than civil.
Aslan could see that Jace was slightly annoyed with him, that only made him blush even more. He took a deep breath, trying to recover from his rambling. He smiled and nodded his head, "Yes I do. My mother named me Aslan because we were attacked by lions the night of my birth. My first language is Turkish. Lion in Turkish is 'aslan.' But of course you probably know that since you just asked me if I knew what it meant." He grinned and cocked his head. Now with the deer gone his mare was calm again. He let go of his hold on her and shooed her away gently.
He nodded his head, "Where is the Arctic?" He questioned her, "Hmm.. I have heard of Pheonix Valley." He smiled, waiting to see if she would answer his question or choose to ignore it. Either way he didn't care, as long as he had some company. He was looking down at the ground when her next question came to him. His head popped up and he smiled, "Sure, I would love to help!" He followed her act and began to look for things that could be used as firewood.
"Well, there isn't much more to tell.. Just recently my uncle offered for me to come live with him for a while in a pack him and another woman are forming.. My mother wasn't too happy about it, but I am only staying for a few months so that he can teach me some things.. I really don't know what kind of things he will teach me though.." He cocked his head, "But the worse thing, I don't really think my mother cares that I am leaving.. She didn't seem to object to it at all, though she was angry with me.." He stopped his search for a minute, his eyes welling up for a second as he thought about her pretty much yelling at him. "I sure will miss her while I am gone.. And her mate, my other mother, just had pups. I want to be there to help raise them, but I need to learn more so I can help more.. right?"
5+
Graceful but genetically weakened ears rotated fluidly, listening to the young Inferni pup as he answered her question as her eyes appraised her kill. Even with both of them they would never strip this carcass of all its nourishment in one meal, maybe if they came back several times over a few days but in the meanwhile there would be no way to keep it safe from scavengers. With a soft tut of her tongue she resigned to leaving it where it lay and eating what they could. The animals they shared the forest with could have the remains they left over. Shaking her mane she snorted and turned again to the growing male. How could she explain the arctic to him? Hmm..
"Try and imagine the coldest day you've ever felt here in 'Souls and about triple its chill, add onto that four or five foot of snow and ice. Winds that blow so hard they sweep people from their feet and would topple trees if any grew up that far north. Icy cold rivers and lakes that freeze over dangerously and then crack and break when you're not expecting it, plunging you into its freezing dark depths. That is the Arctic, and it's where I am from." She nodded, that would do a good enough job for the time being, if he needed further explanation then she would have to think of some other way to describe it.
Now that he had slowed down and wasn't talking a hundred miles a second his voice wasn't annoying to her, she nodded in all the right places, hmm'ed when she should and shrugged her shoulders at the appropriate times, she considered his question while she gathered up tinder and stones before turning to the mixed breed child,
"I cannot tell you what is right or wrong on your path, only you can know that. But I do know what it's like to love a child so much you never want them to leave." The woman's eyes filled with pain and sorrow, and her voice tightened up considerably. "And the idea of you willingly wanting to leave is maybe why she was so angry and at the same time trying to cut herself off from you emotionally so it's not as painful for her when you do go. My own children, bless their souls, didn't survive their birth so I'll never have to experience this with them." If only Jace had been able to detach herself from hers emotionally like this Io seemed to be doing, then maybe she wouldn't have suffered like she had done and damaged herself so. Maybe then Roran wouldn't have left.
She frowned as she went back to collecting the sticks and dumping them on the pile that was growing larger all the time. Her doggish form was still affected by her premature birth, skinny and anemic looking the she wolf was, even more so than she used to. Regardless what or how much she ate, no weight would stick to her form.
|
