[html] So it was back out to the place with the spiders. He had never learnt the name of the forest and the last face he had seen out there was a child during a thunderstorm. But this time, despite the fact that it had drizzled on him on the way out there, it wasn't raining by the time he had reached the edges of the forest. Sunset was prevalent; everything was doused in an orange glow and the cicada's and birds had started to carry on their songs for the evening. Dressed in his (un)usual garb completely with his banjo at hand, strapped and slung over his shoulder, Laurel ventured easily into the forest with a different pair of eyes.
Before he had been content with getting out of the elements, but this time he was geared up to investigate every little nook and cranny he could of the veritable labyrinth at least until it was far too dark to see and his body decided otherwise. Drawing in the smells of the forest and the muggy air, he stuck mostly to the path he had taken when he had been out in that unfortunate downpour but instead of finding that queer little cabin in the middle of nowhere, he took a different fork in the trail and meandered down it at a very leisure pace. So far, it didn't seem like it was all that different from any other forest he had ever seen, but as Laurel knew all to well, it wasn't what made up the forest, but rather who was in it at the time. [/html]
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here we go!
Maybe she wasn’t finished running, maybe she needed a few more days of constant movement to get it out of her system. It was true, she loved her new home and the wolves she called family, but that didn’t mean she needed to stay there all the time. The antsy-pantsy female was wondering what was just beyond the packs boundary, and if it was as dangerous as she imagined.
On four legs she had skirted the invisible markers that claimed her pack’s land as packlands until she gathered the courage to jump the fence and see what was beyond it. But that had been early in the day, when the sun was high, though not so bright it still had given her enough light to show her where to go.
Now the sun was leaving, and the small female’s damp fur would grow chilled and she would certainly catch a cold, if not get eaten by a bear, or terrorized by hostile renegades. Her mind wondered and suddenly she should have brought a knife, or some weapon, though she owned none and was some sort of pacifist.
But instead of panicking and running for home she set out sure that all she needed was to face the fear and get over it. With that, she set aside all weapon wielding, hostile renegade bear thoughts and focused on a monotonous task that she was good at, and would keep imaginations at bay.
For such a task as tree naming she took another form, once that brought her closer to the branches and gave her hands to feel the moist bark. Though still short her shifted form made her taller and morse apt in tree climbing, where large beast wouldn't follow. Anu chose a trail that wondered through the forest easily. Spouting names taught to her years ago, and some how still locked in her brain.
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Mm, it's been so long I've forgotten how lovely your writing is! <3
[html] Some time down the trail was when he first caught sight of yet another pretty face; petite and graceful, her silver body was hard to miss in the dappled lighting as it broke through the canopy. She matched the then patchy grey sky and at the same time, blended in with the rich greens and browns around. His olive-tinted eyes didn't leave her as he continued down the path towards her, still leisure as ever in his saunter. His hands were crammed down in the pockets of his dark pants and a thin smile only spread itself onto his muzzle when they were within a reasonable earshot of one another for speaking.
“Nice to see another face that isn't afraid of the spiders in this place,” he called out with a gentle wave of his bottle-brush tail. So far he hadn't met anyone who reacted badly to the fact that he was a full blooded coyote over a wolf, but he knew that the area around him had those that didn't care for his presence. Even more so, given that he utilized the things left by humans when it was very clear to him that she did not. “It's even better that the rain has cleared up for now, I'd have to say.” Which meant just as his feet were touching the plush ground, so were the hundreds of thousands of spiders that no doubt crawled from branch to branch above them, returning to their raindrop adorned webs. [/html]
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flattered!... & its something I never forgot about you! Hee!
Her task had become far to boring to bear. The trees of the forest, though ancient with boundless wisdom and beautiful beyond words, were not varied enough to make the game stimulating. Instead she had begun to examine the webs that danced in the setting suns raise, their glistening strings creating an entirely new canopy. Why so many?
When he spoke, she jumped but collected herself fast enough that she was able to face him calmly. He was the most interesting being she had ever set her blue eyes on, well, that she could or cared to remember.
The things he wore made him look like images she had seem in books years before, and almost brought a giggle from her throat. It did not rise to far, because as the seconds passed and as he spoke, the items that he wore grew on him, making it as if there was certainly nothing unnatural about it.
Still she looked at the coyote, for he smelled and looked like it, up and down catching his smile on the way back up and finding it contagious. Despite the creepy scene that had been laid out before her, she still wanted to smile at him.
“I m pleased the rain has decided to leave us as well.” She had been so distracted with his appearance that she had caught only his second statement fully. It took another moment to realize what he and said before.
Spiders? “Wait, how big are these things?” she looked at the trees around them, searching for the hopefully small creatures that made the fur down her back stand on end.
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Now it's my turn to be flattered. XD;
[html] Oh yes, he was quite the unnatural fellow. That had been established several times in the recent past and no doubt would be apart of his near future too. Though he was far from the only one who ran around with something, it was still a bit of a culture shock either way. Just like on occasion, he forgot that there were those who ran around without such garb on. “Oh, I dunno. Some of ‘em are big and some are small. Just depends.” Depended on what, exactly? He didn't know. “I've seen some that are about as big as a spot and others that are about the size of the palm of my hand. I don't reckon they get around so well after rainstorms though.” Then again, who really got around when there was a torrential downpour weighing them down in more than one way?
“I'm Laurel,” he offered, offering a hand out to shake hers (and also hoping she knew the gesture). “You from around these parts?” More specifically, from which pack if any? It seemed like almost everyone he had met outside of the city belonged to a pack. Those who inhabited the city or just happened to be there when he strolled through didn't have any affiliations to any old pack whatsoever. Maybe a good thing, maybe a bad thing, he hadn't really decided, considering he didn't even really call his own “pack” a pack. [/html]
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human things confuse Anu!
It was beginning to become more apparent that the werecreatures of these parts acted more human then she was used to. In a world filled with wolves and coyotes that wore clothes would she begin to feel naked in her own fur? Where they carried weapons, small but sharp as blades and large blunt as the one this yote carried would Anu fall victim to some type of random act of violence? Or more unimaginable and horrid, participate in the performance?
The questions were to much for her to think over at the moment. She had quite a bit to think about at the current time. While he spoke she listened intently, gathering the information that would hopefully help her through the forest. Spiders as large as his paw? Anu fought the urge to look down at her own paw to compare and really see how large they might get. Instead she returned his introduction.
“Anu, I’m new to Phoenix Valley”, her name and pack rolled off her tongue as she noticed that his paw was raised in between them. It was obvious that it was her paw that he sought, but was this to hold it, or for a brief touch of comradeship? Anu stretched her arm out and placed her smaller hand in his palm downward.
It was warm to the touch, and the gesture sealed Anu’s new friendship toward Laurel. Strangers went from unknown to friends in a very short interview moment in Anu’s mind. Even with all her notions of violence and hostility she was still trusting and eager to befriend anyone and everyone.
“So you will be able to bash the larger ones with your weapon, right? In case they dry off quickly.” Blue eyes moved to the tress around them, then back to his face. A smile of eager pleading filled her face, he would protect her right?
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Good thing Laurel is used to explaining! XD
[html] Handshake aside, he couldn't help but have a moment of confusion when she asked him about his weapon. But the moment thereafter, it dawned on him, and he laughed. “Weapon? This thing?” he asked to make sure, pulling the banjo around. “This isn't a weapon, but I guess you could use it for one. It's a banjo, it plays music,” and just to show her, he plucked one of the strings on the instrument with a broad smile. Definitely not the first time he had such a note made about his banjo, definitely not the last, but every time it caught him off guard. Though it wasn't to say that he had never used an instrument to bash something with, it necessarily wasn't his first time at any given time. Consider it a last resort, maybe.
“But if any giant spiders come our way, I'll stomp on it. That will stop it dead in its tracks and you won't have to worry about a thing.” And if one stomp didn't kill it, then he'd just stomp on it again until it didn't get back up. Either way, Laurel knew he would be picking legs and guts off of his feet later on down the road, but another thing cropped up in his mind; Phoenix Valley. He hadn't heard of it when others had mentioned the packs that were around. “Where's Phoenix Valley, anyway? I've only been around a couple of weeks and I don't remember anyone mentioning that pack to me before.” And absently, he added, “I lead up a little gypsy troupe in the other forest from here, called Esper Hollow.” [/html]
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more and more questions!
Only after he explained the use of the thing he carried was she able to laugh at her own mistake. Of course it was no weapon. Hw could such a thing really do and damage? It looked more fragile the anything, after one good bash it would useless for and re-bashing. Anu gave her shoulders a little shrug as he proclaimed his duty as spider stomper, easing her troubled thoughts and giving her perfect excuses to just fall beside him and walk the ever-darkening forest.
“The valley is a bit south of here, along the coast.” She was happy to give information of her home. It was a beautiful place and wanted to share it. They of course had Hel to protect it from all things bad, not that he was bad at all. “We are strong but small, I have been here only a handful of days. I used to spend most of my time traveling.” She had always traveled; as far back as she cared to remember. Where she had been? All of that seemed to be a blur now.
“A forest free of spiders I hope.” She thought it sad to have him stomping spiders day in and day out. “What is a gypsy anyways?” she had heard of a vagabond, but didn’t think of him the same way. She wanted to know if they were all coyotes too, but held her tongue not sure if it was appropriate or not.
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[html] Her description put the little pack barely north of Halifax, which sparked his interest very much. Just outside of the quaint parts of suburbia, they must have laid claim to some definite scenic area. “Well, I wouldn't say our forest is free from spiders, but it isn't crawling with them like this place is. They seem to gather here for some reason,” which now that he knew about it a bit more and in depth, he could avoid it for the most part. Not that he had been all that far north yet, anyway. “And I'm not really sure I could describe a gypsy to you or not, since I guess they vary. But we travel around a lot, never really settling in one place for very long. Free of attachments, we allow ourselves to come and home from wherever. It's nice.” And as it were, almost the perfect lifestyle for coyotes in a sense, given their general solitary behaviour.
Absently stepping on a spider as it tried to get out of the way of the walking pair, he cast his gaze out to the dimming scenery around him. “I've been one since I could run around on two feet. Just left home and never went back, spend my life travelling around with different groups. It's where I picked up how to play the banjo and how I got one. But what about you, are you from the group that came down from the mountains after that fire?” Ah yes, that topic again. He couldn't leave it alone since everyone else talked about it; it intrigued him to know that wildfires could occur so far north—everything seemed so damp in his opinion—but then again, his specialities didn't fall underneath forestry and all that jazz. [/html]
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Its kind of what she sounded like. One that just roamed, with little care of where they went and who they met. Anu was unsure if she would really call herself that completely, but she still thought it described her. She liked the idea of coming and going with no strings to bind her, but then there was little security in the notion. With her pack she knew right out how protected she, and her home was. How could you protect land you had no attachment too?
She could not recall any wildfires, though she did once live upon a mountain. Still she had been long gone before the tragedy he spoke of visited those lands. Anu had no knowledge of them, and figured he spoke of a place other then her previous long ago pack and the lands that surrounded it.
“No, not that I can remember and something as major as a wildfire, I would recall that.” She sounded flakier then she actually was, but the past was nothing to her now. She of course had yet to meet up with any real survivors. She would need a little reminding from them, and in the end she would weep for those she lost, once she finally remembered.
“I’ve been constantly moving for some time now. Its nice to have a home again.” She looked to the ground to see that the crawling spiders moved from the trail once noticing their approach. As if they knew of their brethrens death, all at the paw of Laurel. “You and your friends must know how it feels, to need a break and to reconnect. To finally bond with others again, and give yourself another chance to do all the things one can’t do alone.” She rambled slightly; catching herself opening up the pages she had been reluctant to read when alone and able for self-reflection.
Who wanted to be alone forever anyways?
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[html] “Yeah, it's something like that. Since we usually roam around in groups, it's not like we're always alone. We have one another, which of whom we rely on and look out for. Some of us are good natured enough to help others but there are those who don't. I figure packs are pretty much the same way.” Some were good and some were bad, depending on which moral compass was being used. Same thing with the kind of creatures that made them, though it seemed like one bad apple was able to spoil the bunch from time to time. And just like before, the spiders scurried well out of his sight on the path. At least they knew what would happen if they didn't.
“But for us, whenever we come to somewhere nice, we set up camp for a while and enjoy the sights, try and make friends with the locals and if we do, then we stick around for a while longer. But just as we roll in, we roll out too. I've meet a lot of faces from just about anywhere, with all sorts of little tricks and talents,” he went on, shaking a spider from his hand a moment after it jumped on. “What was the last place like where you went to? Any adventures worth telling anybody about?” Turning his smile and gaze back to her, he could only imagine some of the stories another traveller would have; he had his fair share of them as well. [/html]
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omg look at us go!
It all made much more sense now. Her social starvation did not match his for major reasons. How it would be to travel with her pack from place to place, just all wandering around always have your friends at your side. But then again, she would still need to heed to the path of the leader, and would that really be wandering? But as leader of his own, Laurel didn’t need to worry to much about where he went, hold most of the decisions himself, she guessed.
Something tickled the back of her ear, and once investigating she found a spider looking for a ride. Franticly throwing it away she tried to answer him with a calm voice. “All over, so north that the sun never rises and the sky dances with color and so south that there is no winter at all.” She kept her travels general, for her memories were suppressed and not always fond.
“There was a time met a tiger. Very regal beasts, not as hostile as the lions in this area.” She would never forget she met the well-mannered male, again just walking and roaming. Quietly she decided that if she left, she would not be alone. But In truth it was time to settle down, and maybe have a family, if she was able. She shuddered at the words, she hoped her companion would think it another spider.
"How about you? Just looking at you tells me you're one for adventure." He must have something far more interesting.
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VROOM VROOM.
[html] Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Only not, that's just fun to say. Needless to say, he wasn't nearly as well travelled as she was, but he did have a story or two worth telling. At least he liked to believe he did. “Well, none of my stories seem that interesting. I've never seen a tiger and I can't say I've been so north that the sun doesn't shine. Got caught up in a sandstorm once though, couldn't see anything in front of or behind where we all were. We had to huddle together and just kind of wait it out… damn thing blocked out the sun; stung our eyes. I think I was shaking sand out of my coat for a week or two.”
But that had just been what happened out in the desert; it was always worse when someone had gotten into the peyote, though and he had more to that story. “Once we had some fool who had gotten into a lot of peyote, when the storm kicked up, he went running away from it like he thought he could out run it. I suppose given what he was seeing, he figured he better had. Never did see him again… not really sure if he didn't run away from it all the way to the ocean.” He laughed, shaking his head at the fact that he could still picture the way the wolf had spoken when he had seen such a big wall of sand coming towards him. Monsters, he had yelled at it. [/html]
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heee..
Anu couldn’t even imagine how intense a sandstorm could truly be. She had really never been to the desert; one that stretched for more miles then a wolf could walk in a week, and where water was only a figment of your imagination. Though the south was hot, she always kept to where water was available and ample, some places even had air thick with it.
Though she did not know what peyote was, she figured it was similar to the whiskey that she had sampled some time ago. It had made her feel like she had lost her mind, as well as her self-control. In her head she pictured a coyote running from a huge dust cloud, his legs moving so quickly they blurred together. She gave a half mouthed smirk, “Stuff like that always makes for an interesting time.”
“Do you have a family that travels with you, then? Little coyotes with banjos and hats?” She smiled as her imagination ran with it, only meaning to tease him, not mock. It was all innocent enough.
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Whooo, almost too 100 posts...!
[html] He got the joke, but gave another shake of his head. “Nah, I move around too much to settle for things like that. ‘Sides, one of me is probably enough for the world and if I had kids like that they'd be carbon copies and that's a bit of a scary thought,” and he was very entertained by it, far too able to conjure up just exactly the madness that would have brewed. Children were one thing that Laurel wasn't sure if he had a distaste or a fondness for, ultimately it seemed like it depended on the child at hand. Ones that were well behaved and curious often grasped his attention in a good way, others that were just snotty and often made a mess of things got a frown instead. Typical things.
“There's some out there who travel around like that though and it makes quite a scene to see. The kids are often a bit too rowdy for their own good, usually boys. I guess I was pretty rowdy in my own little way when I was young too and I don't think we ever moved around anywhere.” A sense of nostalgia washed over him, easily reflected in his face for a fleeting moment. “But what about you, got any little spider stompers around?” She didn't strike him as being a mother, but then again, maybe she was. She certainly seemed old enough (ignoring age before beauty once again), but there was just as much of a chance she wasn't as she was. [/html]
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omg yay! Just a few more!
Even though he thoughts it would be scary, Anu stlll belived it would be amusing. Though she had not know him long, long at all actually, she could picture him holding the paw of a small pup, teaching a child to play his instrument and even to decorate their own mane of fur. But then again, Anu could imagine a lot of things.
Anu had been a good pup, while her two brothers kept her parents busy till each gave up and let them run till they burned out. She of course had been to small to go exploring with the two of them, but at least now she got to do enough of that. The idea of children had passed her mind may times, but it was her belief that she was passed the age for bearing offspring. Even though she felt and acted as young as he probably was she knew her body still held the time that had ticked by.
“On no. Never really stayed in one spot long enough to be really... productive. “ She smirked at the thought, little monsters stomping all over her neat gardens. The fact that the only official mate she only held years before had been female made it seem even more impossible. “That’s something you really can’t do alone.” It was a good thing she had chosen to settle down, she had been alone for far to long.
“Do you share you gypsy life with someone special? Or are you another man that doesn’t believe in commitment?” Now she was getting really curious, probing into all aspects of his lifestyle. Anu wasn’t always one for sticking to the most polite of conversation.
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*insert victory sounds!* Sorry about the short, I'm not as ramble-y today. ;_;
[html] Parenting was something that could have been done alone, but he could nod and attest to the fact that it was probably done best with both parents pitching in one way or another. But they had the unsettled lifestyle in common, which naturally seemed to be a perfect deter for children and for all he knew, probably potential mates. But the probing he didn't mind too much at all, given that he lived with a very open door to his own little band also reflected what kind of a person he was in general. “Just the folks that I travel with, they're special enough to share the life with,” he chuckled, his own way of confessing that he was just as free as a bird. There was no ball and chain around his ankle. “But not because I don't believe in commitment, you don't really pick up long term chicks when you move around a lot if you know what I mean.” Lucky for him, it didn't bother him any even if he had once had one or two that he wished he could have hung onto longer for whatever reason. [/html]
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congrats! Lengthy rambles r not necessary!
randomness...
She understood where he was coming from, it would be hard to find someone whiling to commit. She found it interesting that he was whiling, for the right girl of course. It all made her think, how she felt of relationships and how she had handled herself in the past. Now it started to make her head spin, trying to remember. In the end she refused to think she would ever be capable of such feelings again.
In truth Anu wanted to be tied for so hard that she wasn’t able to move and the rope bruised her skin. She wanted to be happy with someone, start a family and just enjoy each other’s company till they turned to dust. But in the part of her mind that was unraveled and working she had little idea of what she really wanted. All of those truths were locked away in the unknown of the back of her head.
Anu let the silence fill the space between them, as she scanned blue eys across the much darker forest. She stole another peak at him, hoping to examine the attire he wore. It was then that she noticed the large spider that had perched on the brim of his hat, instinctively she reach up and swatted it away. Shoulders up, fur along her spine standing on edge, she shook the large spider from her hand.
“Sorry, didn’t want it to get you.” She spoke weakly, sure that she had whacked the hell out of his ear.
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[html] It was hard to say what any of them really wanted. Wolves were entirely different from coyotes in terms of what came first on a priority chain. The things that did bind them together was the occasional want of the same things, which was why they were both apples that didn't fall far from the tree. The scant differences in appearance, fur colour, even the way they were built didn't really register in Laurel's mind. All that really did was his knowledge that they could understand one another and relate. For that reason, he didn't care whether they were dog, coyote, or wolf. But not everyone shared that view and he knew it all too well just as much as he could tell which ones did share it. In the end, they all returned to the cold ground they had been dropped on in the beginning.
Anu's hand brushing the edge of his hat drew him back into reality far too quickly, almost enough to startle him when he saw her shaking a spider from her hand hastily. “Thanks. I haven't had one jump on my face just yet and that one was probably setting up to do it,” and he really didn't know just how he would have reacted to a big furry spider clamping all eight legs around his muzzle and staring at him. Probably not too well. But now it was time for a simple change of topics. “So what's your home like? It must be pretty nice to be right next to the coast like that.” Probably offered great relief from the muggy inland air, but he figured it would be bitterly cold when winter rolled around if oceans were really anything like lakes. [/html]
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this took to long to write, I was playing kissy face with my dog, he’s so needy!
Maybe all she wanted was to be accepted, even though she had pack mates true friendship was even deeper then that. At the moment she was perfectly happy basking in Laurel’s company, even if they would not be the greatest of friends when they parted. There was a chance that they would never see each other again, Anu hoped it wouldn't happen like that. She pledged that once she knew more of her surrounds she would visit his gypsy lands, if he had not uprooted before she could get there.
Her smile widened with his gratitude, pleased that she had done the right thing, as spontaneous as it was. The coyote spoke again, asking his own question after she had asked so many. Phoenix Valley was unlike any other territory that she was able to claim her home and she was happy to brag about it.
“Well, it is right along the coast, though I haven’t been the its beach yet. But we have a long dirt road that leads right to our farm, holding large pastures with herds of cattle. They’re monstrous but beautiful in their own way. And soon there will be a large garden, once I get it planted.” Suddenly curious, she questions him once again. “What about your’s?”
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