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_____After seeing Ayegali again, Tawodi was renewed with a sense of hope that maybe they'd be finding a permanent home there, somewhere in the rolling hills, valleys, and forests. Maybe even away from the strange concrete citadel he had seen glinting in the moonlight as he had trekked across the countryside without rest. It was barely coming up on dawn when he had found himself along another path—one that it was broad and wide like he had never seen—that he spotted something of great interest.
_____Fences didn't mean much to him at all and he slipped underneath the worn boards with a mischievous grin, knowing their added advantage for the particular creature inside. It was funny looking, but nothing he had seen before. Dusty, smelly, cud-chewing cows were just another idea of food in his head, so in the low light he was carefully working his way around them to observe them. He didn't realise just how foolish his attempt was in reality, disregarding the fact that despite he was nearly half-grown, he was still a child. One that didn't put entirely too much stock into the full entirety of what hunting an animal several times the size and weight of him meant.
_____He didn't know that they belonged to anyone, either.
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She was restless tonight, and her ribs ached so bad. She'd taken several herbal pain relievers, but none had worked as well as she'd wished. She'd been up all night writing, trying to sort out her aching heart and restless feelings. Both body and soul were restless as she slipped out the door to walk. She followed an aimless path, bent on stretching out her muscles and hopefully letting the sweet breeze wipe away the cobwebs in her mind. The sky was mostly clear today, and the slowly rising sun illuminated the few whispy clouds beautifully.
On a whim, she swung further in, towards the cows in their pen. The cows were Iskata's idea for the pack, like the boats on the shore were Deuce's idea for the pack. Protection. In the case of the cows, it was against starvation come winter. And it was a good idea, since Deuce was a lousy hunter. She was, however, a superb healer. A movement caught her attention. Someone was moving through the cows. Her bi-colored eyes narrowed.
She moved under the fence, silently stalking the stalker. Her hackles had raised. The smaller wolf looked to be maybe six months or younger, with a tawny color. The five year old woman stood up straight. The cows, used to her, lowed softly to her. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and spoke, her voice like a gunshot in the stillness. "What are you doing to my cows, boy?" Her voice crackled with authority. She was, afterall, one of the htree leaders of Phoenix valley.
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Hover over for translation. *dies*
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_____From what he could tell, none of them seemed particularly weak. None of them seemed sick or too old or too young, which was making that chance of him getting lucky drop lower and lower by the second. In fact, the time for him to make a move was being cut shorter too as someone was taking notice of him. But Tawodi didn't even see the white-haired wolf approach, but he certainly heard her when she spoke. The tawny-haired boy froze neatly in place, a mixture of surprise and fear rolled up in him so fast that he dropped his posture into submission. His gold eyes found her amongst the cattle and mentally he could have been crouching there swearing, but instead he took an entirely different route instead.
_____“Ganohalidoha,” came his shaky reply, though by now he had gotten a grip on his startled self and was already working on a way to get himself out of the mess he was in. Given that he knew the native tongue of the tribe gave him a default status of not being from the area, but he couldn't know how they'd react. Especially this woman, who bore enough tell-tale signs that she was either a fighter or simply got the short end of a stick frequently. As long as she didn't get any closer, he didn't have any plans to move until the moment was right. Then he'd find is way back to Ayegali.
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Fusce egestas diam non lacus. Praesent velit nibh, pellentesque facilisis, hendrerit id, imperdiet id, mi. Curabitur pretium placerat felis. In sollicitudin neque.
The boy dropped into a submissive pose and she studied him. His words were nonsensical to her, and she frowned. The only foreign language she understood well was Irish, and that was only because her adopted father, who was now deceased, spoke it. So did her sister, Nella, though Deuce had no clue that Nella was also gone now, killed by Conri.
The boy didn't look to be any older than her own pups, and that alone made the woman's eyes soften. "You must be hungry, boy. Can you speak my language? My name is Deuce Rhiannon, and I'd like to feed you..." Her protective stance eased into a more natural role, the mother. She was not the warrior of the pack, Hel was. Deuce was just the healer, although she was a good healer. A great healer. A healer possibly on par with Fatin's abilities.
Deuce held out a hand to the cowering boy. "Take my hand, child. Come eat. I won't harm you, I promise." Her tone was gentle and truthful. She meant wht she said. She wouldn't hurt him, he was just a child.
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*has no idea why tawodi is coming out this way, dies*
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_____Instead of bashing him over the head like he thought maybe she would, she ended up having a change of heart. Almost a one hundred eighty degree turn, for that matter. He didn't react to her words, shutting them out even more to play ignorant to the comprehension of the common tongue spoken between them and instead took a step back, as though he were truly uncertain of what it was that she was doing. As much as he wanted to level his gaze with her, he couldn't. This was a trick that went back as far as getting attention from his parents, something ingrained him to get things that he normally wouldn't get, whether it was attention or food or something else.
_____The only time that he did shift his gaze was when he saw her hand extend out towards him, at which point he reconsidered running off. If she was truly intent on giving him something to eat, why not take up that offer? Letting his gold-eyes roam a little bit further towards her, Tawodi crept a little bit closer at this point, placing each one of his four feet carefully and whining with every little step. Essentially, making himself seem like the dog that the master was calling over to reprimand, not feed. And that was exactly what he wanted her to think, he wanted her to think that he was someone's pet instead of friend.
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The boy slunk over as if the woman was going to beat hm. Deuces eyes softened further. "What has happened to make you so timid, boy?" By now, she'd decided that he was perhaps foriegn, since he didn't seem to understand her words. She spoke more for herself, and to hopefully soothe him with her soft tone. That was something that had always worked for the wolves she'd taken care of.
She reached into her pack slowly with her free hand, pulling out some dried venison. She'd taken it from a kill and smoked it so she wouldn't have to attempt to hunt on her own. She offered it to the boy slowly, wanting him to know that they were friends. She was friendly. She didn't want to hurt him. Not now that she could see he was no threat to the herd.
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_____On the inside, the childish glee in him was at the brim, daring to spill over and blow his cover entirely. But that tension played well into the apprehension he grasped again when she started to reach into a bag, leaving him to crouch even lower thinking that maybe she was going to reach in there and pull out something to beat him with. Words and tone of voice could have been tools to lie with, especially when he was doing it all with body language. But when the hand only pulled out the thing he had been after, that found apprehension abated momentarily. His ears perked, his eyes stole a glint of curiosity at what exactly she had and he hesitated when she offered it out to him.
_____Playing the part of the always obedient dog that came back no matter how many times their master took out their aggression on them, his eyes averted from her for a moment, deferring quietly before he drew in the smell of the venison carefully. Then just as careful and hesitant as ever, he gently took the piece of meat away from her, immediately backing off and bristling slightly as he paused near one of the bovine (which eyed him suspiciously), hastily pulling it apart to more manageable pieces to chew and swallow. Tawodi was quite convinced he had the “I'm a dog!” act down pat at that point.
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Hmmm. Where to from here?
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Deuce watched him. His eyes spoke of intellegance far beyond what he was showing, she was sure of it. So why did he act like some pet? Or had he been someone's pet? She pulled out anohter and lightly tossed it his way, taking a step backwards. She wanted to see what would happen next. She wanted to see how he would react to her leaving a little, no longer being an overt threat.
The cow stamped her foot, not liking the boy so near to her. She lowed soflty, moving away. Deuce glanced in her direction before returning her studious gaze to the boy. "You spoke before. I didnt understand what you said, but you spoke. What is your name, boy? Where are you from?"
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