The wind was blowing to the north. The grass was going along with the wind. Fallen leaves from the trees were being blown away. Spring was still upon the world. Actually, no one wants it to leave. However, they all know that spring is a season that just comes and goes. Pendzez walked along the path that was covered with leaves and was dusty gravel. It seemed hard, but not sore on his feet. The day was long and good walk would make it quick. Lately, he's been only doing things to make time go faster. Geez, that's lazy.
He walked further on the path until he came upon a mill, or what looked like a mill. He wasn't sure if he'd seen it before. There were still some places for him to see in the pack. If he was correct, it should be the Saunder's Mill. The wheel was still there. However, time was being less kind to it. It looked like it was going back to nature where it once came. Pendzez thought to check the place out though. He just started to approach it.
Geneva found herself out an about, enjoying the spring air. Enjoying the weather wasn't unusual, but lately she had been something of shut in. Between avoiding Jefferson and beating herself up over and over again about the incident at the border, she had had plenty on her mind. Waiting for her body to heal had aided in her plight to stay indoors, and the onslaught of rain hadn't helped matters either. But now the sun was high in the sky, gentle breezes tugging at her light colored coat as she wandered the territories of Phoenix Valley without much purpose or reason. She recalled the occasion during which she had spoken with a newcover, Vukasin, and smiled slightly. Although somewhat strange, the fellow had been very pleasant. And she had mentioned taking him on a tour of the lands when she had healed again. Since the weather was much fairer, she decided it was time to get better acquainted with the lay of the land.
Each stop was slow, ponderous, much like everything she did when she was lost within her own thoughts. Lately, Geneva had been far more cautious, far more careful. She had had another run in with the yellow-eyed beast, and had learned his name too. She didn't like to think on it - the fact he had a name. It gave him a much more relatable quality. At first she had been plagued with visions of a beast with sun colored eyes. Now he was a creature with feelings, emotions which guided him. He was obviously a confused individual, still prone to violence, still a beast...Geneva didn't want to think of that monster as someone who experienced pain. And it was strange, but she felt as though she may have put Brennt through some pain, and she felt guilty for it.
She fought to shake such thoughts from her head, instead trying to enjoy the breeze against her face. She walked, still within her lupus form, because she feared shifting until her body was completely healed. Truth be told, she was probably able to shift without pain now, but she still felt twinges of protest in her muscles in her shoulder when she moved too quickly. The wolfess sighed, shrugging it off. And then her lime green eyes caught the form of a snowy white male. She cocked her head to the side, searching her memory for when she had met him. She was certain she had met him, probably before joining Phoenix Valley. What was his name? Pendance? Pen-something... "Hello," she called out uncertainly.
Pendzez stood at the entry to the small riverside cabin. He could see some of the old human mechanisms that carried water from the wheel. Some half cut wooden pipes that carried the water from one side to the other side. There were also gears and other mechanisms that turns with the wheel outside the structure. Human designs. They are just magnificent.
He heard his name from a familiar voice. As he turned, he found a light colored female. She was familiar, however, Pendzez couldn't really figure out where. Still, meeting pack mates part of the experience of being in a pack. Pendzez replied, "Hello to you too. Geneva, right?" Pendzez knew the name, but he had to make sure if it was really Geneva, the female that he met a while back. Pendzez had met a lot of people, some who he has met again. Life was full of surprises, who knows what will happen.
Geneva's eyes flitted over the white wolf's form, certain she had met him before. Recognition touched her face as she realized that she had indeed made this male's acquaintance, quite some time ago. He was the white wolf who had greeted her at Phoenix Valley borders when she had gone to see Jefferson in the winter. She had never quite caught up with the Patriarch, but this interesting fellow definitely had a place in her memory. His eyes were colored strangely.
The Locum nodded slowly, an affirming smile spreading her features. She cantered over toward the male before taking a seat on the ground a few feet in front of him, curling her tail around her as she did. "Yes. It is nice to see you again, Pendzez," the wolfess said. She was glad when his name came to her. It bothered her when she had to chase the ghosts of words in her mind, but her memory was hardly ever faulty. His was an unique moniker, one she was not likely to forget again.
She was glad to see him again, and this time under much different circumstances. Before she had been an intruder, and outsider looking in when she had approached Phoenix Valley. Now Pendzez and she were pack mates. It put them on equal footing and created an unspoken bond that meant so much more than before. She cleared her throat. "What are you doing now?"
Pendzez had his eye on the female. It was good to see her again. It seemed like he hadn't seen her forever. This time, it was a different circumstance. It was interesting to keep someone in your memory, even though you get that feeling that you're going to see that person again. She sat some feet away from the male. Probably because that she was sort of uncertain of the male. He won't bite. "Yes, same here." He was glad.
Pendzez looked at the mill, then back to Geneva. "I was just exploring. There are still some places that I haven't been to yet." Pendzez took a breath. There were still quite a few that he hasn't been to yet. Maybe, Geneva would accompany him, if she wanted to. "Would you care to join me?" he asked politely.
Geneva smiled at the male's invitation. She didn't mind the company at all, and really wanted to get more familiar with the lands. She wasn't much of an explorer, but she loved to educate herself. The lands of Phoenix Valley were something that she wanted to be very well versed in. She nodded in agreement to his invitation and sauntered forward slowly, taking in both the white male and the strange structure of the mill at the same time. Her gaze was thoughtful as she turned questions over in her head.
"What a strange building," the Locum mused aloud. Geneva had grown up in a manmade city and she was quit enamored of human structures. However, there were still some aspects of human engineering that she wasn't familiar with at all. She considered the mill, giving it her full attention. She didn't know quite how to describe it, or guess at what purpose it must have served. She turned her quizzical gaze to the white male. "Do you know what this building was intended for?"
Pendzez smiled at the her acceptance of the invitation. Pendzez seemed glad that the female was gonna join him. It was getting a bit lonely not having someone to talk to and walk about with. Pendzez took a short bow to be a confirmation of her acceptance. They might be able to discover a new area that wasn't on the map yet, but in the packland's area. Wouldn't that be exciting.
Pendzez looked from the female to the mill. Pendzez would be happy to explain what the building was used for. Pendzez turned back the Geneva and smiled. "I reckon I can say. There were old human times before they made cities out of wood and metal. Some old human cultures back then used mills like this as a way to transport water for the crop irrigation and also to give the animals their water. The water is collected by the use of the wheel, which is then moved by some pips inside the cabin then it would be carried by some pipes going outside." He said these things using his finger to point out how the process was done. "The cabin was also used as a storage to house the crops that were harvested. They had corn, grain, wheat. They were magnificent." He took a breath to keep himself from suffocating. "Well, what do ya think?"
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The gray wolfess his for smile, impressed by the white male's analysis of the ancient human structure. It hadn't really crossed her mind. She had been so caught up the in the complexity of it all that she hadn't taken the time to consider a use such as that. She recalled a much more technologically advanced ruin she had encountered in Crimson Dreams with Ehno Marino. It had been the ruins of a jet plane, all dark glass and splintered shadows. She had read books about air travel. She had never read anything about mills. She would have to look them up. "I think that's a fair explanation. Thank you - I never would have thought of that." Lime green eyes traced the structure and the surrounding area. Her eyes came back to the male, nodding to him as a smile graced her delicate feature. "What shall we ponder next?" Geneva would follow where the white male would lead her.
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Pendzez was glad that she understood what she said. He was glad to give her a little history lesson. He just hoped that she wouldn't be upset or angry that someone who was some months younger than her gave the little lesson. The boy didn't think she would because she was appreciative and glad that the boy did. He was surprised that he gave the little history lesson himself. He was glad to be a teacher for this once. Maybe there was more things that he could show and teach to the female wolf.
The boy tried to think of any other place that the wolfess might not have know about yet. Maybe there was the Villa, or the Ranch. No, she wouldn't be that stupid to not know what a Ranch or a village was. Maybe there was a particular place that she wanted to go to, maybe. "The Three Moons Ranch house. The library there is something I wanna look at. It's about ancient Japanese history, about their beliefs and cultures." Maybe she could could come along too. Maybe to check out some other human lifestyle. "Would you be up to it? You might find out something about... stuff." He couldn't help but give a little giggle.
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Geneva smiled as Pendzaz continued to speak. He seemed to be full of information, although she knew what he spoke of this time. She nodded off in the distance, toward the ranch house. "I live there," she explained. "I spend a lot of time in the library." Geneva loved the written word, and she would spend hours reading about anything she could find. It was a habit she had picked up as a child. When she had been young and too sickly to go play with her litter mates, she would stay inside and read scraps from ancient newspapers and the odd book, scratching letters into the ground whenever she did venture outside of her home. Geneva had been born in a human city, devoid of life except for the odd predator. She gestured with a jerk of her head in that direction. "Would you like to accompany me there?" It seemed a harmless enough idea. It was obvious he enjoyed researching. She wondered about Japan. She knew that it had been a country, long ago, and that were was a specific language attributed to that region. She knew some about human culture, but hadn't spent much time pondering the culture outside of this specific continent.
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Pendzez happily accepted the females offer of escorting her there with a nod. Pendzez began to approach her to follow her to the barnyard house. He wondered more about Japan and more of it's cultures. He only knew half of the history and the whole language, but he still needed to know about it's neighboring country of Taiwan and China. What was the common relationship did the three Asian countries share? Was it the same lifestyle or culture? Or was it that they were in Asia? No there was something else to it. It was something that they shared.
Following her, he thought to check up on her progress with the pack and Jefferson. "So, how's life in Phoenix Valley for ya? Fitting in well?" He hasn't seen her in a while so who knows what has happened the whole time she was here that he doesn't know about. Maybe her and Jefferson have been getting some... alone time. It was personal, so he won't advance that far.
Geneva wrinkled her nose as she walked, lost in thought as she tried to find the words to answer him. The question was polite, and it wasn't very personal. But he was taking an interest in her time her. She let her mind play over the months she had been part of this pack. Although her time here hadn't been idyllic by any stretch of the imagination, it really did feel like home to her. She didn't know very many of her pack mates, although she had grown particularly close to Jefferson and fond of Honore and Addison. Even DaVinci, the strange silvery hybrid, was growing on her. She would have to spend more time with everyone, get to know them better.
"To tell you the truth, I have more trouble fitting into my own skin than fitting in around here," she confessed to the white wolf. ANd it was true. Her true limitations lay within herself. Uncertainty hadn't been good to her. She found that when she took charge of her life and let her fears take a back seat that she was much happier. The wolfess dwelt on that thought for several minutes, then resolved to try new things. When she had first met Pendzez in the winter, she had been a far different creature. And now today, she felt as though she had unleashed herself, had come into herself. She was still working on it, but she was getting there.
"How about yourself?" she asked, feeling a little awkward. She hardly knew this male, but he was friendly. She was determined to be polite, at the very least. He seemed like a nice fellow and she'd give him a chance.
Pendzez politely listened to the female of what she had to say. She was getting along with her pack mates, she was haveing trouble trying to get into her own skin. Wow, that's was weird. The boy thought that she would do well in the pack, but it was mainly herself that she was trying to fit into to. Pendzez didn't tease her for it. She would have to try her best to get her problems resolved.
Geneva asked him how he was doing. He was going well in the pack. He was starting to know DaVinci more and was doing well with his other pack mates. "I'm doing well. I've been getting along well with the leaders and my other pack mates." The only one that he didn't yet was Jefferson. He hardly even talked to him. Maybe he should though.
Geneva was well acquainted with both leaders of Phoenix Valley, or so she felt. She felt grateful. every time she thought of the silvery hybrid, DaVinci. She had no doubt that the male had saved her life at the borders when Brennt had attacked her. She wouldn't even be here now if it weren't for the male. She still had to find a way to thank him, but found herself tongue-tied even at the thought. A simple "thank you" seemed insufficient, but she didn't know how to relate to him otherwise. She saw the male as a protector, someone she felt a debt to.
Jefferson was a completely different matter. She felt as though she had a connection to the man, although she found herself always walking on eggshells around him. And then suddenly, she'd break through to him, and it seemed as though the truth of what lay beneath his icy exterior was almost overwhelming. Stll, she sought ht pierce his ever present armor, intent to get through to him, not matter how he tried to drive her away. She might not be the bravest being, but she was tenacious.
"I've had...an interesting time with Jeffeson in particular," the gray wolfess said honestly. Confusion, and for some reason, warmth, dwelt within her tone. The man was a conundrum, a metaphor with new meaning. She didn't know how to define him, and didn't know what drew her to him. But it was there, undeniably true. She shrugged and smiled winsomely at the white man.
Pendzez widened his eyes when he looked at Gene when she said that spent interesting time with Jefferson. An interesting time? Did the white even want to know what kind of interesting time? This was getting him curious about the two. Pendzez remembered that she was looking for Jefferson when he first met her. Did she... have feelings for the hybrid cyclops.
Pendzez had to ask what, but would that be intruding on the two's private time? Well, if it was private. she wouldn't have mentioned about it. "Really? Don't mind me asking, but how interesting?" He then moved a steps away, just in case she was to blow.
[html] Geneva looked side long at the white male. The question seemed innocent enough, but he sounded as though he had suspicions. Her brow furrowed as she considered how she should answer. She doubted that Jefferson would appreciate it if Geneva played into Pendzez's thoughts. It was hard enough to get close to the one-eyed Patriarch without giving him a reason to push her away.
She found the one-eyed male confusing enough without having to be delicate and explain herself to someone else. "I guess you could say that we're friends, of a sort," she said finally. It seemed true enough. She enjoyed talking to him and spending time with him. She found him interesting, and infuriating too. There was so much about him that she did not yet understand. There was so much she wanted to know, and so much she wanted to ask him. Still, what she had for now was sufficient.
"What is your relationship with Jefferson?" the gray female inquired as they continued at a leisurely pace. Geneva hadn't really seen how Jefferson interacted with others, and she was interested in the white man's response. [/html]
Well, since that Geneva and Jefferson had been getting close, Pendzez was starting to think that she had feelings for the one-eyed Patriarch. Pendzez thought of him, though that he was kind and on his good side in his own way, as someone who didn't like being social with other wolves. Pendzez always considered that he was just a grumpy wolf who likes not being disturbed. However, when the white wolf first met the one-eyed hybrid before he was a Patriarch, Pendzez knew that one day he would find someone. Maybe in due time, he could come to not be grumpy when he talks to others, despite he's on his good side easily.
Friends? Pendzez could see something else. However, he chose not to question her further for answer. If they want privacy, then that's what they'll get. He just wished them well. "He needs friends. Even a leader needs someone to talk to." Pendzez's ears perked up when he heard a question that he wasn't excepting. Pendzez didn't really have any relation with Jefferson, except that he was Pendzez's leader. Not just him, but also everyone in this pack. "Well, we had a good start. I hope we can be propers friends, him and I."
[html] Jefferson couldn't be the most approachable creature in the pack. Getting strangely close to him had been a constant uphill battle. The woman only knew of two others, Addison and DaVinci, who the Patriarch seemed somewhat comfortable with. Perhaps that wasn't the word for it. He seemed to tolerate most creatures at turns, but he was still a hard one to decipher. She did not know what it was about him that constantly drew her to him, but she had practically stopped trying to figure it out. Her relationship with Jefferson was a stormy, strange reality that she pondered on a daily basis, but she was no closer to getting any answers.
"He is good to Addison," the woman said compulsively. She had seen the look on Jefferson's face when Addison had been perched on a perilous stretch of stone at the Quarry. It had taken all of her strength, all of her courage to carry Addison back to safe, solid land. But the image that stood out most from that encounter was the relief on Jefferson's face and the way he had held the girl close to him. There had been no question in Geneva's mind at that time that the one-eyed brute loved the little girl. [/html]
It was true that Jefferson was not only impossible to understand, but also a strange creature. He looks like he has an interesting story about his past, but he remains silent. Not to mention he's over protective when you ask about it. When Pendzez first met him, Jeffers was just sitting near a tree while the white male was passing by. At first, he seemed ok, but started to get complex. Pendzez was having a difficult time.
He listened as Geneva explained about him being good with Addison, the pup he remembers from the pack meeting. Yeah, she had a mum, but lost her. Sounds harsh actually, to lose track of a mum. "Well, I can't blame him. He has soft spots for pups and weak wolves. Just don't act like a kiss ass. It annoys him."
[html] http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/ ... Tablep.png); background-position: bottom center; background-repeat: no-repeat; width:400px; border:1px #D8FF00 solid; font-size: 11px; line-height: 15px;"> Geneva smiled crookedly after Pendzez spoke. She had a feeling that she might know the one-eyed Patriarch better than anyone else in this pack. The man was shrouded in mystery, but it was a mystery of his own making. He had erected walls so high to keep others away from him for whatever reason. But the gray woman had seen glimpses through the cracks. She had seen glimpses of his internal workings, and for some reason or another, she couldn't stop pursuing him.
"I don't think 'soft spot' is the best way to say it," the gray woman said. She was convinced that there was something more than that. And thinking of Jefferson, she could not find anything 'soft' about him. It could be part of the facade, the hard-as-nails-get-out-of-my-face exterior. But she did not think so.
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