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The day before she had wandered out of Twilight Vale, the trek had been hard on her, considering that she only had three good legs. However, walking, or hopping, or however it was she got around, was becoming easier by the day. Tentatively she would put weight on her hind leg, and she found that every day it hurt less and less. The bone had never been injuried, she was lucky in that respect. Had the coyote broken it, or fractured it, her healing time would be ten fold, Cercelee knew that much. And if it had been broken, well she might never be able to use it the same again. As it was, only muscle had been torn asunder, and muscle would heal, even if it seemed like it took a life time to do so. The hind leg healed quicker than her neck, which still was very limited in how much she could move it, but she was told to stretch it and use it if she could, so everyday she practice turning her head to look side to side, though she hadn’t quite achieved looking behind her. Not yet.
With her wounds healing, though it would be a few weeks yet, Cercelee knew that her allotted time was slowly ticking away. The time that she was allowed to remain in Twilight Vale. She could always asked Naniko if she could stay longer, until the war blew over or Inferni or (dear god) her pack lost to the other, but she had no idea how Conri felt about this. In fact, in all the time she had spent in the pack lands, Cercelee hadn’t really seen Naniko’s mate, and now that she was trying to make herself as invisible as possible, it wasn’t likely that she would see him either. And again, that was what she was doing, being invisible. Twilight Vale was home base, and lately Shiloh Hill, the unclaimed area outside of Twilight Vale border, was her playground. After crossing the invisible boundary that meant she was on claimed land versus neutral land Cercelee chuckled to herself. Soon enough she would have the strength to wander all the way back to Dahlia de Mai during the day and back to Twilight Vale at night... though she knew she wouldn’t do that.
Sliding down to her rump, the ivory colored female took a quick rest. She was quite please to find that she didn’t require the usual hour rest that she had in days prior when she went for a stroll. Half an hour later and she was good, and she felt good too. The aching in her wounds was lessened considerably by the sun, which beat down from the clouded sky now and then, and it was blocked by a passing cloud, Cer only had to close her eyes to remember how wonderful the warmth felt. And then she decided today would be the day to practice walking. Putting weight on her hind leg she took a few steps and them limped forward. It wasn’t so bad. And when the pain got bad in her hind leg, she took to her normal way of movement, first stepping with her front legs and then a quick hop. So changing between hopping and limping, Cercelee continued her stroll, to absorbed in her own movements to notice anything around her.
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He had been observing the pack over the hill for some time now, seeing what the wolves there did from day to day and comparing it to the pack that he had recently joined. They did very different things throughout the day. He often saw a white wolf walking through the territory, near their mansion, going into a shed and out of it...but he had yet to actually go down and ask for any names.
The wolves of Esper Hollow often spent their day hauling things around the packlands, setting up temporary dens, building fires, and hunting for game. They did not have a big house like the wolves of this territory.
Reddish eyes watched the same scenes over and over again in the peaceful pack below. He was allowed to be in this territory, as it was just outside the Twilight group, so he did not feel like he had to look out for angry pack members. Thus a sound behind him did not make him twitch. Probably just a rabbit or something, anyway.
But these sounds got louder. A rabbit would have run away when they saw him, if they saw him, but this one sounded like it was heading right toward him. He turned his gray head, peering back to the path that he had travelled up to get to the hill. Was someone there?
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The male was almost directly in front of her before she really noticed him. Cer was now going up hill, which was put more strain and stress on her injured leg and was also more challenging if she tried to hop. Consequently she was focused on herself and her eye were glued to the ground to scout out the easiest path before her, that which had the fewest rocks and the gentlest slope to the hill. By the time she did look up, the male was only a few yards away. Startled Cer stopped for a moment, and then realized that he had probably not spotted her yet, though her clumsy way of walking had probably been heard and at this point her breath, coming hard from the climb up hill, was loud and heavy as well.
"Hello?" Her musical voice rang out before she could even think of what she was doing. While Naniko had reassured her that no one would bother her in Twilight Vale, she wasn’t within their borders. With her body so banged up, she was in no position to defend herself, and if she met another that possessed that coyote’s temper she wouldn’t make it out of round two. However, she had no fear. The first few days after the attack, she might have been weary, but it had been a few weeks now, and in that time she had met so many wolves, all of whom had been kind and concerned for her. There was no real reason to think that this wolf would be ill tempered. Calling out again she realized how short of breath she was. "Hey? Who are you?" Cercelee slumped back to her haunches. If she could catch her breath she would have introduced herself, but the upward walk on three legs and calling out to the male had taken her breath away. She only needed a little rest.
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"Yeh look a little worse for wear, lass" That came out before he realized that she had asked him another question, and he quickly answered that one as well. "Zephyr. A bit new 'round these lands...jus' takin a look at the pack over this hill" He pointed his nose toward Twilight Vale. He noted that this female was also in an unshifted form, something that was not very common. At least, he did not think so. He had not met everyone, but most of the wolves he had seen were always in that big, unnatural form.
"Got ripped up pretty badly. Had some injuries like that meself once, took ages to get all the way healed. Got caught by a big ol' fishing hook we had connected ta one of our bigger boats."He was addicted to talking, really. Once he got going it was difficult for him to stop. "But ah'm sure yeh don't want ter hear mah life story, now. Mind if I ask yer name as well, ma'am?"
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If Cercelee had felt any apprehension about this stranger, she was instantly put at ease with his manner and the way he spoke. Of course, logically she realize the words one spoke really was not a proper indication of one’s character, but even when Cercelee knew the logical answer, her heart normally won out over her brain. As it was, she had been free of any anxiety when she called out to him, so instead of being put at ease, she felt strangely giddy. This male, Zephyr, like to talk, and Cercelee didn’t mind listening. She rose as he spoke and closed the gap between them, setting herself down again gently so that she did not disturb her wounded leg. "Cercelee." Her name rang like chimes as she spoke it, and the female realized how much she enjoyed to introduce herself, which was surprising considering how often she forgot to do it.
"That pack over there..." Her navy eyes darted back from where she had come, and then to the male. "is Twilight Vale. I come from there. Well, not really." It wasn’t home, but it was welcoming enough. "I’m staying there for a while. I live in Dahlia de Mai." She didn’t know if he had ever heard either of the pack names before, but it didn’t matter. He seemed like the type who would ask if he didn’t know. "Naniko, the leader there fixed up my wounds though. They still look bad, but they were worse. It was just a coyote though, nothing like a boat hook." Although Cercelee couldn’t really imagined what a boat hook looked like or how it could be so big to harm a wolf, the only boats she had seen were the ruins in her own harbor at home. At least a boat made a more interesting story than coyotes. "You have a pack?" He said he was new, yes, but he smelt of other wolves, and of coyotes too, though not of any of the packs she knew. She had heard murmurings of two new packs about, but had not met anyone who was from them or anyone who knew much about them at all.
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He did not usually call people by their own names, relaxing into his usual habits of saying "ma'am", "miss", or "lass", but her name was so beautiful! He wanted to say it over and over again. "Alright then, miss Cercelee." He did not know the pack names very well, so her next words confused him a little until he realized that she was talking about the pack to the South of him and to the North. What strange names everything here had. Back home it had been simple. Their little village had been called "Cinders" because of the large amount of darkly colored wolves that had lived there when it'd been formed.
"Oh, aye, I have a pack. Just formed ta the North of here, Esper Hollow. I'm not much for group life, really, but a wolf's gotta settle down at some point, right?" Was it strange that she lived in one pack but stayed with another? He was not sure. Perhaps things were different here. "What's your pack like?"
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Cer nodded at him. They all did have to settle down sometime. In a pack, with a mate, stick a few loners together. It didn’t really matter, as long as you weren’t alone for the rest of your life. Last time she had seen Laruku he had been alone, and he hadn’t mentioned anyone either, and yet it hadn’t made her sad. Cer knew that the male was probably lonely, but she was just as lonely with her whole pack at times, and there was no changing Laruku’s mind. Still, one had to settle down, even if they never truly found anyone who knew them through and through. Living with others just made life so much easier, less to worry about. Or if there was more to worry about, at least you had others to share it with. Share the burdens, the chores, share your kill. Share everything, wasn’t that how wolves were suppose to live?
“My pack? Ah, well Dahlia de Mai, I’d say all the members are pretty loyal. That’s mostly all we ask of newcomers, is that they are loyal to their home and their pack mates, even if they don’t all get along, which happens when you get a big pack like ours.” Dahlia was big, as far as Cercelee was concerned. Of course, it was only her second real pack, and in Clouded Tears she had never met any of the members aside from Laruku and Coli, so she didn’t know if those numbers had rivaled that of Dahlia de Mai’s. “ The lands themselves are pretty interesting. We claim the whole town of what the humans called Wolfville, and most of a town called Berwick as well. We have lots of buildings, most still standing just fine, and most the wolves claim a building to themselves to use as a den. Of course, we have a bit of woods as well, vineyards and orchards, and a harbor. There’s plenty to see and do there.” And yet, here Cer was, staying in Twilight Vale. She didn’t want to risk going home yet though. Not until she was mostly healed. Or the war was over. “And what about Esper Hollow? Where did you all settle down?” Cer knew the lands around here pretty well, chances were she had already been over the Esper Hollow lands before they had been claimed.
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It was very interesting to him to hear of her pack. Even back home they did not have such things, living in cities, villages. There was no need for loyalty beyond one's own family or neighborhood--why show loyalty to wolves that you had never met before? Sure, they were all from the same species, and most were normal wolves like a good portion of his family, but he had never felt any long lasting loyalty to any of the others in the city. Besides Devlin, perhaps. "Quite an interesting story. Is it difficult bein' a leader? I was never one myself, anywhere...don't got the body or the guts for it" He had an interesting way of phrasing things. "By that I mean...that I cannot shift, and that I wouldn't be able teh keep my cool if something bad were ta happen. All these shifted beasts 'round here...it's a wee bit concerning. There were a few back home, but not as many as here. A higher concentration 'round these parts. "Ah...the Hollow. Right now as it stands the place is just a big ol' jumble of tents and bags and things. I expect we'll get somethin' more permanent set up over time, but for now it's all we've got. We do have a little pond..or a lake, I think you'd call it. A wee bit bigger than a pond. But it gives us fish."
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Cer was surprised to hear Zephyr’s words about shifting. Not because she hadn’t run into a wolf that couldn’t shift, there were plenty of them, but simply because she had never thought about there being a big difference in shifters and non shifters. Logically, she knew the differences, especially when one saw a normal wolf next to a were. Yet she didn’t think being able to shift would matter in the ways of leading a pack. She rarely shifted, and when she did it was usually when she was alone, or with only a few other people, and she had never shifted for any reason other than to have fun in her other forms. It had never helped or hindered her leadership. "Well, it’s not so difficult. Of course, right now I feel I am failing my pack. They are in this silly war with Inferni, which I don’t wish to be a part of, and my sub leader, Haku, is in control of the pack while I heal up in Twilight Vale. I suppose the job would be harder if I had members who didn’t respect me, but for the most part they all seem willing enough to go with what I say."
Even when she was unshifted and they were, and literally looking down on her, no one had questioned her words. Now, perhaps they thought less of her, but that couldn’t be helped. She couldn’t return, didn’t want to return, until the war was over. “Do you feel uncomfortable with all the shifters? I mean, would you rather be with normal wolves? I know there are a few of them about, loners mostly, but a few in packs too. But if you wanted, you know, you could be a shifter too.” She knew that it was possible, to transfer the ability from one wolf to another, or rather the virus that granted that ability. Her father had done so for her mother, although neither of them shifted very often if she remembered correctly.
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