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It was raining. Hemming's coat was filled with water, and he felt as if he weighed three times more than usual. He had a tiny umbrella on his head, though, a small bird that didn't seem to be at all disturbed by the rain. It rolled off her oily feathers and landed softly on Hemming's brow before dribbling down into his eyes, causing him to blink frequently and forcefully. Dagrun, the bird, was quiet but obviously awake, her fidgety talons making little indentations in the little patch of dry fur. The wolf was quiet as well, wandering with no direction in mind. It had not rained much since he had arrived in AniWaya, the storm that had occurred while he was on his Journey his first big one, but for the last little while it seemed as if the heavens were pouring down upon the lands. Soon, everything would be such a wonderful green. For the first time, Hemming would see the AniWaya fields in full force.
The wolf seemed to have become almost completely lost, the land around him looking so different shrouded in rain than when the sky was clear. Moisture seemed to keep most of the scents down as well, flushing them with the very pleasant smell of atmosphere. All noises were drowned out by the steady pounding of the rain on the ground, and Hemming almost felt as if he was without any sense at all. He was lacking any sense of direction, and though it was a little bit frightening, the feeling was also liberating. Exploration always made him feel elated, and he had been plopped into uncharted territory without a compass. The rain added to the sense of adventure, and the wetness of the world was welcome after the heavy heat that had been pressed against the earth in the last few weeks.
In the distance, obscured by a screen of water, shadows of houses were forming, a darker gray than the sky behind them. There was a strange structure close by, though, which seemed to be a wooden frame with a few sides that were filled in by glass panes. Hemming squinted a little, more rainwater falling down his eyelashes onto his cheeks, and tried to make out what exactly it could be. Perhaps it was some strange human structure that was either never finished or had started to fall apart. The wooden frame seemed rather solid though, unworn by the decade or so of time that had passed since the humans had disappeared. Hemming approached it slowly, the rain still obfuscating its strange form, in an attempt to figure out what exactly it was.
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Rain, it was quite the enjoyable weather condition, or so thought the shaggy Dahlian brute. With his tools hanging from his belt and several long planks of wood held over his shoulder, the ruddy hued male looked like quite the interesting individual. His unruly hair, thankfully still held in a ponytail by an old piece of twine he had found, was not as kinky as usual thanks to how soaked it was with the falling sky water. One would think that a male with such thick, shaggy fur would disdain the rain as an inconvenience. It was true that it did always take awhile for him to dry off, but he looked forward to going home and starting a fire in the small fireplace within his home and lying down in front of it in his four legged form. However, that would have to wait until later. For now he was on an errand. He could not make any progress on Colibri's greenhouse today, but he could at least drop off some wood. He could stack it on Coli's porch, beneath the shelter of the roof. He hoped she wouldn't mind. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't seen her the entire time he had been constructing her greenhouse. For the first few days it hadn't bothered him as he figured she had likely gone somewhere else to avoid the noise associated with construction, but when he had not seen her for even longer after that he had begun to worry. Where had the shy female gone? The gooseberry green eyed werewolf couldn't help but wonder. As the towering, muscular male crested the small hill that stood before Colibri's house, his gooseberry hued gaze fell upon another individual inspecting his construction site. That seemed to be a perfectly logical thing to do, after all a greenhouse was not something one would see everyday in these lands. What seemed strange to the ruddy hued male was the bird sitting contentedly atop the male's head. What bond did this werewolf possess with that bird that would make it trust him enough to sit atop his head comfortably? This Rath could not figure out. Normally the timid male would not have called out to a stranger, but the fact that this male seemed so interested with his work made an ounce of pride well up within him. "Hallo!" his tenor voice boomed as he waved his free right arm in greeting and he made his way down the hill, his left arm still wrapped tightly around the heavy, long planks of wood that rested on his shoulder. Hopefully Rath would not startle this stranger. After all, conversing with someone new would be an enjoyable experience on this gray day.
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Hemming stopped his tentative advance when he was a meter or so away from the strange structure. Letting his eyes trace along the panes of glass and the wooden beams, he wondered what it could possibly be. He took a few steps sideways to get a look from another perspective, and concluded that it didn't seem to be something the humans had left behind; though many of the pieces seemed to be old and must have been constructed by the humans, they were of varying wear and tear, no matter how subtly. The heavy rain and the lack of any familiar landmarks or smells made the moment, and indeed the partly finished structure before him, seem rather surreal to the gray wolf. It was certainly well constructed, but by whom? He peered for a few moments more, some of which Dagrun popped an eye open for, wondering why they had stopped.
The rain seemed to create a curtain around the wolf and the little bird, forming an enclosed world that consisted only of the odd structure, the two creatures, and a lot of water. Mostly for this reason, Hemming jumped a little as a voice rolled through the rain and into his little world. It was certainly a friendly voice, though, and he looked up quickly, a small smile on his face. A wide grin grew when he saw that the approaching wolf had planks of wood across his shoulder, and was likely the builder. Perhaps he would be so kind as to explain the purpose of his project.
Lifting his hand in the air to wave, he called back, "Hi!" Gesturing to the structure with a slight nod of his chin, he added, "Is this yours?" Hemming's smile remained on his face and he stood relaxed, as if the rain water was soaking into his muscles and smoothing them. The strong wolf seemed to be quite comfortable carrying the long pieces of wood, and already Hemming was feeling that it was quite natural he should be doing so.
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ooc: short post, I was in a hurry. Sorry ^^'
When the male returned his greeting, albeit after a small jump of surprise, Rath smiled once more as he neared the house where he would stack his wood. His white-tufted ears perked at the male's question, although he did not answer until he had placed the wood under the sheltering roof of Colibri's porch. "It's mine, sort of. I'm building it for a friend," he replied, walking from the porch to his construction site where the male was standing. As he walked up to the budding greenhouse, his scrutinizing, gooseberry green gaze focused on the structure, critiquing his work thus far. All in all he was satisfied with what he had accomplished with the walls. They glass fit snuggly into the supporting wooden frame. Now all that was left to do was construct the multi-windowed roof. The building itself was not going to be too large, albeit about ten feet long by eight feet wide and approximately 11 feet high, with a rather tall doorway as well. The last detail was more for his convenience. If Coli ever needed him to come do some repairs on the structure, he would need to get in without too much difficulty. Upon reaching a spot adjacent to the male, Rath turned and smiled at him warmly, his soaked, shaggy coat giving him a rather amusing appearance. "My name's Henratha Gyrkin, by the way. So, what do you think of it?" he asked, turning once again from the strange male to the unfinished greenhouse. He personally felt very satisfied with what he had done so far. For his first greenhouse, it was turning out well.
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No worries! x)
The smaller wolf continued to stare at the greenhouse as the planks of wood were put somewhere where they would be protected from the rain or whatever else might damage them. The way the joints were formed and how the glass windows were set into the frame was interesting, and the craftsmanship was truly lovely. Hemming had made a treehouse of sorts, where he had lived for year or so before coming to AniWaya, and though it was sturdy it was nowhere near as clean cut and easy on the eyes as this one. Rather, it was cobbled together from a few scraps from human cities, put together in a way that the wolf found logical rather than using techniques that were tried and tested. He was somewhat proud of his work, as it had never collapsed and killed him, but compared to the skill of the builder of this odd but lovely structure he felt as imprecise as a seagull dropping shells upon the rocks to dash them open.
Hemming nodded when the other responded, still eyeing the strange structure. Perhaps it was just like a house, but instead of only having a few windows here and there the entire thing was made out of them. It would be nice to sleep in on nights that, for one reason or another, would prevent one from staying outside, but when one still wanted to see the sky.
At the other's introduction, the AniWaya wolf turned his eyes to the other and nodded briefly,
"My name's Hemming. Nice to meet you, Henratha." For half a second he pondered over words to describe what exactly he was thinking.
"I think it looks wonderful, and very well put together. But... what is it for?" A sheepish smile sneaked across his maw as he continued to look at the builder. The bird on top of his head popped both her eyes open and looked at the structure briefly before lifting her beady eyes to the gray sky. Hemming had almost forgotten she was there.
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The shaggy luperci smiled friendily when Hemming introduced himself, "Good to meet you, Hemming. Oh, and you can call me Rath if you want," he replied, his tenor voice ringing with a friendly, warm tone. The socially inexperienced wolf had thought it best to mention his nickname. Most of the people he knew, although that did not consist of too many individuals, knew his nickname and often chose to use it. It was simply easier to say and remember. At least, that was what he had concluded. When the focus of the conversation again turned to the unfinished greenhouse, the reddish brown carpenter turned his gooseberry green gaze to look upon the structure. While it wasn't complete as of yet, Rath felt a sense of accomplishment when looking at the wooden and glass building. For his first greenhouse, it was very sturdy, well shaped, and with very few imperfections. This could be attributed to the many hours Rath had spent making sure each and every pane of glass fit perfectly with each and every wooden beam or plank. He had been incredibly meticulous to prevent the ultimate failure of the construction. The male's head shook, his wet pony-tail whipping from side to side, as he suddenly realized that he had been day-dreaming yet again. Hemming had asked about the purpose of the building and Rath had probably left him waiting for at least a minute, although in reality it was just a few seconds. "It's a greenhouse. When its finished my friend will be able to grow plants inside it even when the weather outside is cold and inhospitable to growth. It's a house for an indoor garden, I guess. To be honest, its the first one I've ever built," he chuckled, his lips curving in an amused grin. One thing was for certain, this greenhouse was unique. Rath had had no reference point save for the few times he had seen the old metal and glass greenhouses left behind by the humans. The blueprints, of sorts, for the structure were all in his head, derived simply from a period of intense brainstorming. He had constructed and deconstructed several buildings in his head before arriving on the final design. He wasn't sure why his brain worked that way, although he could attribute his knowledge of carpentry to his father. The towering male was simply very analytical.
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It was likely the rain would keep many inside their houses or dens today, but despite the excess water the weather was quite lovely. The warmth of summer remained as a faint ghost, obscured by the coolness of the rain but there nonetheless. Hemming found it quite a wonderful balance, and was quite pleased to be out and about. It was fortunate that Rath didn't mind the rain either, or Hemming might have stood in front of the strange structure for who knows how long trying to figure out what it was. He was always happy to meet someone knew, as well, and the carpenter seemed to have a very friendly demeanour. Hemming smiled and nodded when Henratha gave him his nickname, and filed that away in his mind.
In the few seconds before Rath explained his work, Hemming's amber eyes drifted back to the panes of glass. He wondered where the glass might have been collected from; as far as the scrawny wolf knew, it took a lot of power and heat to actually make it. Would the wolves one day have the manufacturing power to become independent from using the things the humans had made? This carpenter was part way there, as Hemming was sure that he could make a house if he really wanted to, but there was still wood that needed to be cut and nails that had to be cast. The humans had had thousands of years, though, and the wolves were just beginning.
As the other spoke of what he was making, an elated feeling burgeoned in Hemming's chest. He felt like exclaiming an 'oh!', the purpose of the structure so now clear and so evident, but withheld it, only a wide grin betraying his pleasure. "That is so clever!" he declared, not removing his eyes from the greenhouse, when Rath had finished speaking. He was surprised to hear that it was the first one that he had made; it looked extraordinarily professional. "I am mightily impressed. It doesn't look like it's a first try." A wide grin still pulled across his lips, he moved his gaze back to the carpenter.
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300+
Rath smiled and nodded to Hemming's exclamation. It was a pretty clever idea on the human's part to build glass buildings so that their gardens wouldn't go dormant during winter. Rath scratched his head bashfully when Hemming complimented his work. It hadn't been easy. He had gone to great lengths to make sure that the structure was sturdy enough to support itself, including the roof he had to finish. "It may not look like a first try from a distance, but up close you'd probably notice my mistakes. It took me a long time to develop a construction plan that was sturdy enough." he replied, shaking his head slightly. In perfect honesty, as much as he loved carpentry, he would be glad when this particular project was over. It had tested him to the limits of his patience and abilities, making him realize that he had a long way to go if he was to ever be as good as his father before him."Alright...now that I've answered your questions Hemming, I have a question of my own. Who is this fascinating little creature sitting atop your head? I have never seen a bird that was trusting enough to get that close to someone," the inquisitive male questioned, his gooseberry hued gaze examining Dagrun from a comfortable distance. He adored the smaller creatures of the world, although he could not speak low speak or interact with them in any way other than from a distance. His tail wagged absentmindedly behind him as he continued to study the small bird, his imagination conjuring up possible reasons as to why the bird was sitting on Hemming's head. Each one of his proposed reasons seemed as unlikely as the next, which further puzzled the thoughtful brute. Hopefully Hemming would be able to enlighten him, and satiate his curiosity.
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Hemming had trouble detecting any of the mistakes that Rath alluded to, but it was raining and it wasn't like the gray male was inspecting it carefully. He didn't doubt the other's honesty, and respected that he saw these mistakes. The artist was always his own fiercest critic, and for good reason. It was, after all, the only way progress could be made. Despite the acceptance of a few small errors, as far as prototypes generally went Hemming found this one was relatively flawless. He smiled and nodded at the other's statement, imagining that it would be difficult to develop a plan that would support the heavy glass effectively.
Now that the questioning was turned to him, he finally pulled his eyes from the greenhouse and moved them to the carpenter. Since he had started walking around with the little bird on his head he had received a couple of questions, and he always found it difficult to answer them. He still wasn't completely certain how to explain what a Spirit Guide was, and when meeting those that were not members of AniWaya the need for explanation was often inevitable. His face split into a grin and he introduced her, "This is Dagrun." The other had raised a good point about her trust of him, and Hemming didn't know how to comment except to, perhaps, say that she wasn't exactly a bird. The logistics of this still boggled him, and thinking about it just made him more confused. There were a lot of questions he had yet to ask her.
"She's my Spirit Guide, the soul of an animal that - somehow - manifests itself physically. They are quite common among the wolves in AniWaya," he said, by way of introduction to the topic, feeling he had not exactly answered all of Rath's concerns. "I guess she is more spirit than bird; she has lived enough years to know that I would not, and indeed could not, hurt her." As usual, an explanation like this usually raised more questions than it answered. Spirit Guides were immortal, unable to be killed, and wise enough to judge the character of the wolf they chose.
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The ruddy and white-flecked male was surprised, but also intrigued by Hemming's answer to his question. A spirit guide? A physical manifestation of an animals soul? Was that even possible? Well obviously it was otherwise Dagrun would not be here sitting atop the gray male's head. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dagrun," the male responded, nodding his head to the small bird in a gesture of greeting. If she acknowledged him he would smile, but if not then he would simply return his attention to Hemming, which he found he did anyway. "You say that these spirit guides are common in Aniwaya? I must go visit that place sometime. They sound absolutely fascinating. How long have you...known Dagrun?" the male inquired, glad that he had corrected himself. He had been about to ask how long Hemming had had Dagrun, but that might imply that he though Hemming owned Dagrun and he might risk offending the immortal spirit bird. If Dagrun was indeed an immortal she would doubtless have knowledge of several forms of retaliation for such offenses and though she was slight of form Rath did not wish to bring about her immortal anger. At this moment, Rath found himself briefly distracted by the rain. He had not noticed how soaked his shaggy fur was until now, and he could only imagine what he must have looked like with all of that messy fur hanging down from his body in thick wet strings. His first priority after this conversation would have to be getting dry. He could head straight home, light a fire in his fireplace and spend the entire evening camped out in front of it, occasionally turning over to heat dry his fur. If there was one thing he did not like it was sleeping with soaked fur. However, that problem would have to be remedied later, much later. At the moment, Rath was enthralled by his conversation with Hemming.
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Dagrun's black eyes moved to the wolf before her, and she cheeped gently when he finished speaking. If it weren't for the rain, she might have ruffled her wings in greeting as she normally did. For now, though, the oily coating of her feathers was a seal that was not going to be broken to say hello. Hemming smiled at her chirp, pleased that she was turning out to be quite friendly. It hadn't been too long since they had met, but the wolf found that the connection between them grew faster than it might with fellow mortal. Then again, they were together day and night, which would speed the bonding process.
It was said that the Spirit Guides select the wolf, appearing when he has gone on his Journey, and the idea always brought up questions in the AniWayan. How had Dagrun selected him? And what, exactly, was the relationship between wolf and Guide? Hemming always wondered if there was some supernatural aspect to it, some magic connection between them. The little bird could imprint thoughts in his head, it seemed, but they were mere impressions of whatever she was thinking, obscured in translation. Would this ability grow with time, or was it to be forever limited to this? There was an infinite number of questions that Hemming could ask, and an infinite number that would never be answered. Being someone who tended to think rationally and scientifically, this concept baffled him completely.
Hemming hadn't met a lot of the other Spirit Guides, but she knew that they were there. He could think of a few that were birds, and found that interesting. There were also the strangest of creatures, though, like Catherine's Saw, a black mamba native to the plains of Africa. There were, apparently, no bounds to the possibility of where the creatures were from. Fleetingly, the scrawny wolf wondered if it was possible for a soul to manifest itself as something that was extinct. It would give insight as to how some ancient things looked. Then again, if Dagrun's soul (was Dagrun the soul, or just the thing the soul turned itself into?) was so old, perhaps she had some insight as well. All of these things would have to be investigated, and would come with time. The two had, after all, only known each other for a short while.
"They are quite fascinating," Hemming agreed, "You should come visit some time. It's a beautiful place, even without the Spirit Guides." He grinned, thinking about the fields of corn and wild grasses, the river that ran through, and the series of springs. He was fortunate that he had found AniWaya. It, and the lands that surrounded it, were burgeoning with beauty, filled to the brim with golden light and, on days such as this, blanketed by rainfall. Dagrun had found him not in AniWaya, but a day's travel to the south, when the wolf had set out on his Journey. It seemed like forever ago, but the sun said otherwise. "I've known her for... almost two weeks," he replied, half expecting to hear Dagrun correcting him. Contrary to his expectations, he little bird seemed quite happy to sit quietly as Hemming spoke to someone else, despite being a chatty little thing when the two were alone.
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ooc: Sorry for the long delay. I finally got some sort of reply out though. Now we can archive this and I can get my clean slate going for Rath. Thanks for your patience Sace ^_^
The tall male nodded thoughtfully as Hemming encouraged him to pay a visit to the lands of Aniwaya. They did sound quite pleasant. However, for a social recluse like Rath, such excursions from the Dahlia de Mai lands were rare. Perhps he would make an exception one of these days. "The way you talk about your home it sounds like you love it a lot," he acknowledged, his tenor voice quiet, but admiring. Being loyal to one's pack was always an admirable trait. The ruddy hued luperci was surprised to hear that Hemming had only known Dagrun for about two weeks. That seemed like such a short time for the bird to become familiar with him. As he thought this, however, Rath quickly remembered that Dagrun wasn't just a bird. If she was Hemming's spirit guide then they must have shared some sort of bond from the beginning which only grew stronger the more time they spent together. That made the relationship between Dagrun and Hemming far more understandable to the analytical mind of the carpenter. His white ears perked in surprise as a clap of thunder echoed directly above them. The shaggy brute turned once again to look upon the Aniwayan, smiling in an almost nervous manner,"As much as I think you and I could talk for many more hours, it seems nature has decided to intervene. Those clouds are starting to throw lightning, and I don't know about you Hemming, but I think it would be unwise to linger in the rain," he chuckled. "Thank you for the conversation and the information about spirit guides. It'll give me something to think about for awhile. I hope we'll run into each other again sometime, but until then...Farewell," With that Rath was already walking up the hill away from Colibri's house and his construction site, his strong right arm raised in a parting wave. He did hope to see Hemming again one day, and he hated to leave so suddenly. But if there was one thing Rath wouldn't do, it was standing outside in a thunderstorm.
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I'm going to reply just 'cause I think Hemming would  Thanks for the thread! <3
Before living in AniWaya, Hemming had never felt as if he had been part of a family. Despite the different bloodlines that made up the tribe, Hemming already felt a very strong attachment to the wolves he had befriended, and even a surprising softness for the ones he had only seen at tribe gatherings. The lands were beautiful and the village had a sort of magic mystery to it. At last, Hemming had a place he didn't feel lonely to call home. A faint smile came to his lips as Henratha pointed out his fondness for the place, and the scrawny male nodded bashfully.
Despite knowing the little Willow Flycatcher for only a couple of weeks the bond seemed as if it had been slowly forming over an entire lifetime. Hemming could barely imagine his life without the little patch of warmth upon the top of his head. It was a very odd thing, a connection that the wolf would never be able to understand or explain to his own satisfaction. Spirit Guides were a mystery beyond those that he had read in books, and as he considered himself a wolf of reason the very idea baffled him even more. He would have to resign himself to not knowing, a thing that was not often necessary. Perhaps with time he would learn more from Dawali and his other tribesmates about the ways of the tribe and the mysteries it contained.
A storm seemed to be picking up, clouds darkening above the drizzle, and Hemming flattened his ears momentarially as thunder crashed above them. The AniWayan would have to agree with the larger wolf, reluctant though he might do so, and he gave a sideways smile as the other spoke. He chuckled as well, and replied, "Thank you, as well, and I hope we meet again too. Best of luck with the completion of this fascinating structure." The wolf grinned widely and turned his own way. Though perhaps unwise, he would take the long way home through the thunder and the rain, perhaps with a song in his chest as he went. It was in a great thunderstorm that he had met Dagrun, and it seemed fitting that he reflect on that day as he made his way across the watery land.
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