[html]This post is a bit sucky. D:
i welcome the sun, the clouds and rain
Warren was frustrated.
The rain, which had been a constant over the past few days, had finally let up, though the lull was nothing more than a calm between yet another storm. Dark clouds still queued above the earth, grumbling faintly like a beast in slumber. The weather was generally gross, the ground soggy and the air thick with humidity, but Warren was quite hungry and in need of a meal. His supplies had run out just the day before, as he had eaten all the jerky he had prepared himself, so there was no option but to hunt. And hunting was the source of his frustration.
He had never been an adept hunter. For most of his life he had lacked the will to hunt for himself and therefore not become skilled in the art of lone hunting. The toll that starvation had taken on his body still lingered as well; he was considerably under his natural weight and very much far from his potential. With all that was against him, he knew he needed to try. Picking up the relatively fresh scent of a hare sometime earlier in the day, he had followed it all the way to the edge of the dense forest, where it grew stronger. He slipped quietly over the sodden earth, in his excitement shifting from Lupus to Secui as he moved. As he emerged from a tangle of old deciduous trees and into a small meadow, the scent trail gave way to the form of the young hare grazing obliviously at the far end. Warren crouched, feeling anxious and with the sense that he was about to make a fool of himself.
Both prey and predator took off at exactly the same moment, bursting wildly back into the forest. The hare zigzagged through the trees with uncanny speed, executing turns seemingly in mid-air, but Warren kept up. The pair kept up their dance through the trees for several minutes, waltzing like leaves tossed by the wind. And then the hare made a fatal mistake; it turned sharply to circle around a wide oak and double back the way they had come, intending to confuse and shake Warren off its tail. It was unsuccessful. Completely convinced that he was making the wrong decision, Warren came around the tree from the opposite direction and, to his surprise, face to face with the hare. With a swift nip to its neck, the hare was dead and in the lanky wolf's jaws. Warren laughed in surprise and triumph, the sound muffled against the soft fur in his mouth.
What the flint canine failed to realize was that his chase had taken him very close to the borders of an unfamiliar pack. The sky rumbled loudly, and the first few drops of the storm began to fall.
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hi!
Four paws walked silently through the undergrowth. Black nose to the ground, giving the wolf’s brain all the information that she needed. There had been many changes in the last few days, so many that Anu felt the need to run away. Just for a moment, or a few. Some time to run, to let her head clear. She did not doubt the decision that the two in command had made, but it wasn’t an easy choice. And Anu stood beside Savina, no matter what happened. The midnight female, their new Commander, had not been prepared to take the lead, but she was certainly capable.
There was something that didn’t belong, something that Anu was sure needed to be investigated. Blue eyes looked upwards at the dark sky. What a day to find someone stalking through their territory. Storms had been so frequent that Anu had wanted to take the first moments of a rain-less day and enjoy it. If she had any sense she would turn around and let who ever wanted to pass through, for she figured that was what they must be doing. Anu had found a few wolves doing just that recently, and she found herself becoming more lenient.
She slowed as the stranger’s, a male, scent grew more powerful. But there was something that caught her nose, and drove her to press on with a controlled haste. Blood lingered in the air, slight yet present. Anu found him, a grey hybrid that bore more height then he did width. Anu felt a growl rise in her chest, but kept it at bay. Revealing herself from the landscape, Anu watched him with a heavy look on her features. It was time to be more curious and cautious then aggressive or assertive. Though, the female remain silent and wondered if he knew enough to explain himself.
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[html]  Short, cause I gotta get going to the lake!
i welcome the sun, the clouds and rain
Warren set the hare down gently and watched as its tawny body slowly stopped jerking and twitching. Licking some of the blood from his lips, he contemplated his options. He could eat the whole thing now or take it back to the shack and cook it, saving more for later. Both had their benefits, but he decided, with a quick glance up at the darkening sky, to make a meal of the small hare now. He didn't see much appeal in bringing home a soggy hare.
Just as he was about to rip open the small animal, however, a figure came slowly into the clearing, and so did the scent of claimed territory. In fact, Warren immediately noticed the scent all around him. He lifted his eyebrows in surprise. How could he have been so careless as to wander so close to pack lands? Mentally chiding himself, Warren reclined his dark ears and lowered his head in a bow to the likewise blue-eyed female. She didn't look particularly threatening and she was quite a bit smaller than he was, but Warren still put himself on guard. People got crazy when their borders were threatened. He knew from experience.
Without giving an outward sign of his wariness, the gray wolf smiled politely at the woman. "I seem to have intruded very close to your borders, miss," he said softly, his deep voice laced with an eclectic North American accent.
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short is perfectly fine!
As he had options, so did she. It would be a quick call to announce his intrusion to the rest of her pack, and that he had hunted on their lands. It was a certainly not something that any pack wolf would allow, prey being a main reason for a pack’s formation. The female had been made to think heavily on all those reasons wolves came together, pups, territory, prey.
Her second was to let him explain, as his posture did immediately. There was a small bit of submission, enough that Anu could hold onto it and hold back her territorial rage. Things hadn’t been perfect, as they once had, for the past month or so. It made her jumpy, agitated and worried. All those things could bring another side out of the peaceful fey.
His words saved him, and Anu suddenly forgot that she was strung so very tight. “Seems that you’ve crossed right over it.” Anu spoke with a light tone. What was a hare to them? It could be so much worse. I hope its not to hunt.” Again her tone was friendly though her words were one of warning. Perhaps the hare resided beyond Crimson Dreams, and she was sure he could talk himself out of this trouble.
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i welcome the sun, the clouds and rain
This situation had the potential to turn into something very ugly. Warren, for example, could end up saying something very stupid or offensive with the intention of being apologetic and kind. The misunderstanding could then lead to the small female becoming angry and calling for more of her pack to either drive him off the land or hunt him in turn. There were a few things he could do to prevent this. Namely, he could simply run away right then and there. It would save the trouble of getting into a misunderstanding, but it would probably also earn him the name as a vagabond and a prey stealer. No, he thought, he might as well attempt to explain himself. Then, at least, he could say that he tried.
"Then I must apologize," he said with another incline of his sharp-featured head. "I had no intention of doing so. You see, I had been tracking this hare from deep inside the forest back there, and finally caught up to him here. I probably would have caught him sooner had I been a better hunter." Warren offered a small smile, hoping the humor would lessen the tenseness of the situation. He truly did regret the possibility that he had just cost a pack their prey, however small the prey might be. He could also sense the woman's stress; it was palpable in the air. The tall gray wolf suddenly felt quite selfish.
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i like Warren.... xD
With those words the male redeemed himself. Anu could appreciate a humble word, and a calm explanation. She had been too overrun with those that felt that it was there right to walk upon their lands with no question. There had even been one hybrid that attacked those who asked him his reason for being here. But this male Anu could tolerate, and even happily so.
Anu had figured that something like that might have happened, and it was only her nature to believe him. She could see the honesty in others, and trusted that instinct. To show that she no longer saw him as a threat the woman sat, her tail coming to hug her side, to fall at her toes. “We all have those that get away,” A soft smile graced her face and Anu felt a genuine understanding. When she had been young she had hunted deer on another’s lands. They had been generous to her, letting her leave with her life.
“and I can understand you reluctance to let him go.” Blue eyes looked at the large male, but found nothing intimidating about him and sat with confidence. “You belong to no one?” He didn’t smell of any pack, making the need to keep his kill much more important.
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[html]Yay! I like Anu, too. Oh, and sorry for the wait!
i welcome the sun, the clouds and rain
It was a common issue in the life of a loner, offending various packs and clans by sheer misunderstanding or accident. Most packs were highly wary of loners, and often refused to listen to explanations. However, Warren's anxiety faded with the woman's smile. The hybrid smiled in return, letting his tail wave faintly behind him. Ignoring the dead hare for the moment, he sat also, reveling in the calmed atmosphere. Since he had no living friend or relative, the woman's seeming kindness delighted him immensely, though he gave no outward appearance of this other than his vague smile. This serene expression drifted away as soon as it had come, though, at the woman's question.
"No," he answered, his face neither angry nor sad. His expression was simply distant, almost hollow, as he repeated her question. "I belong to no one." And nor would he ever. Warren would not allow himself to be used again. He did not have anything against those who banded together for a common goal or purpose, but he knew that it was not for him.
The hybrid was quiet for a few fleeting moments as his thoughts tried to shift to the dark and shadowy places of his memory. But he brushed them away with a sigh and allowed his gentle smile to tweak the corners of his lips once more.
"My name is Warren," he told her.
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And so she was right, he had no home. A lone wolf was half dead, in her mind. There was no other reason for existence then to belong with a pack and live that life. Dead did not always mean decaying, but dead in another sense. Anu had been gone, alone and a wanderer, and while she was a lone wolf she had lost many things. They had died and left her. It wasn’t until she sought the comfort and the community of the pack that they were reborn. It did not mean he was less, but she could not help but feel he was lost.
Blue eyes looked into his as he spoke his name, and the woman responded with a calm and smooth tone. “Anu.” She let her name fill the air, sure that he would remember it as she would his. The female was fair with names and for a reason unknown she liked his. It sounded human, unlike that of many she had known. She was certain that no human had been called her name, Celtic and the name of a goddess. No human could take the name of one they worshiped.
“This is Crimson Dreams land.” she spoke as a warning as well as pure information. A packwolf had that right, unlike a loner Anu could own this land and do what she please while on it. And because it came naturally she smiled and questioned him with a friendly voice. “Are you only passing through? Or do you have business here in ‘Souls?”
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i welcome the sun, the clouds and rain
Warren was indeed lost. His soul had been beaten and ravaged, his mind subjected to the same torture. He had seen too much death and evil to withstand it. Now it resided in him, growing like weeds from the awful memories that kept intruding his thoughts and dreams more frequently as the long days of summer dragged on. Undetected, the darkness was taking shape, becoming something unable to be contained or controlled. It's trigger was the world around it's carrier, and he had just found himself in the heart of chaos and despair. Therefore, Warren had no hope of overcoming the thing that was lying dormant in his heart and mind. Yes, he was lost. But he did not yet know it.
So, obliviously, the gray hybrid nodded when the woman gave her name. "Pleasure to meet you," he said easily, giving a thump of his tail to validate the statement. He glanced beyond her when she named the territory: Crimson Dreams. It was a strangely resonant and regal sounding name, but Warren was still wary. He was far too paranoid for his own good.
"You could say I have business here," said the loner, smiling slightly. "I'm hoping to settle down in this area. I found a shack in the forest just north of here, and I'm in the process of fixing it up." He really hadn't got much done, honestly, but he had plans at least.
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The dead hare Warren had slaughtered sat between them. Anu fought to forget that it sat there, leaving it for the loner. The prey that lived within their borders was plentiful and larger then the loners rabbit. Anu would be happy to let the male have it, even if it went against every instinct. She had once held a certain place for loners, or any stranger at her border and it was not a happy one. But their problems had turned inward, and Anu could no longer place so much energy on the scrutiny of passer byres. Warren was nice, or at least her first impression was such.
The woman listened to his plans, a rough sketch of what he had in mind for his future. It was rough indeed. It didn’t sound like he had family that he searched for, as many did. The family lines in the land of ‘Souls were long and more intertwined then a ball of yarn. The woman was glad to be of a different decent and from far away, for fear of courting a cousin was a very real threat for many. At least did not hint to her that he was looking for anyone, just a place to stay. And it seemed like nothing more. “Then you will be our neighbor.” She commented with a light voice, wondering if he would be chasing prey into her backyard often. But a friendship between another strong male would not hurt her pack and Anu would allow it. “We have a carpenter, Ehno. Befriend him, and he might be willing to help with the work.” Her eyes went to the hare, a perfect sort of peace offering for such a need.
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