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![[Image: anderungtablebelltower.png]](http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j98/Swiftclaw_Flamewing/anderungtablebelltower.png) |
I Speak this, I
dream this, and I 'think'
this.
You "said this"
ooc; Sry that it's so short >_>
ic;
Meer wandered through the snow, back near the dens. Like her name, her mind was brewing like an angry sea. One idea crashed into another, a tiny life-boat of hope was being pushed under the surface by dark wings. She was socializing with the pack more, getting to know them. However, she still was missing one important character. Alpha. She hadn’t met the leader yet, probably because she was avoiding it. As it has been mentioned, she wasn’t trusting of males. Except, perhaps, Pilot. Anderung sighed, and hoped that this would soon change. She really didn’t like being alone. Amber ears perked up as she came near the dens. As she walked through them, she nodded to any other wolves that were currently there. She blinked her violet eyes at the red setting sun. It looked like a drop of blood in this light. The red wolf stopped as she reached a den that she hoped was the alpha’s. Anderung swallowed her fear as she called out. ”Hello? Alpha, sir?”
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">No problem, no pressure.
A few gulps of fresh air were all Phoenix could take before being forced to retreat back into the warmth of the den shared collectively by the entire pack. As antsy as he was to return to his usual routine, he knew he was not yet fully recovered from his illness and chose not to tempt fate once again. He was lucky to be alive after losing so much blood and then shocking his system even further with a sudden dip in the near-frozen water. But, considering that a member of his pack was still alive and safe, it had all been worth it.
That wasn’t to say he had come out of the experience without any personal gain of his own. Awakening to so many concerned faces surrounding him helped Phoenix to realize just how loved and needed he was. Though he knew he had a large family that each loved him, in the past he had downplayed his own value. Also, the memories that emerged during time sleeping—a near-death experience, perhaps where his life actually had played out before his eyes—finally allowed him to see just how far he’d come in life. The brunneous wolf had started out with absolutely nothing and now he was the leader of a pack and the patriarch of a wonderful family. That was something. He had awoken from a stupor in more ways than one.
The alpha had just gotten comfortable once again in his own little niche of the pack den when he heard a timid voice call out to him. Of course, this must have been the new wolf he’d heard about. Pilot had managed the pack well while he was sick, and Phoenix was proud of his son-in-law and brother. “Right here,” Phoenix said, trying to sound as friendly as possible despite the strain of his illness enhancing the already grainy texture of his voice. “C’mon closer, I won’t bite. You’ll hafta forgive me for not getting’ up, I still ain’t at full strength. You’re… Anderung? Am I right?” He was still unused to being called “sir,” though now he could gain a sense of amusement from the irony of seeing wolves treating him with the same formality he’d treated the previous alpha. Still, he didn’t want the members of his pack—his extended family—to be in fear of him. | [/html]
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”Yes, Sir. Anderung Meer, at your services, Sir.” The amber wolf gave a slow nod as she moved closer to the wolf that was in the den. He was a decent sized brown male with some of the most brilliant green eyes Meer had ever seen. As she moved closer, she couldn’t help but glance at them every few seconds. Even though the voice inside her was screaming not to look at his eyes, she couldn’t help looking at the vivid emerald pools. The red wolf stopped a few paces away, dark ears flicking nervously. ”I am sorry that you are not yet recovered from your, err. Umm. What exactly happened, Sir?” The she-wolf looked down and shuffled her feet awkwardly. Meer had only heard that the alpha had been not well. Her violet eyes went distant as she began thinking. ’He sorta has a strange way of speaking, doesn’t he?’ Anderung was intrigued by the alpha’s strange accent. Of course, to him, she probably sounded like she had a strange accent.
"x-x I didn't realize it was all one big cave, sorry! o-o;;; Ah well. These are getting short-ish, sorry I give you absolutly nothing to go off of. o-o;;;."
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">You’re doing fine.
Etiquette and respect were fine but there was such a thing as overdoing it. Phoenix didn’t lead a dictatorship; Storm was more like an extended family and nobody was better than the other despite having a tiered rank system. Phoenix as the alpha needed to be given due respect but he didn’t require formality, especially from someone who was already an accepted member. “Well, Anderung, my first order as yoru alpha is t’stop actin’ like you’re afraid a’me. I won’t bite… unless you start trouble, but you don’t look like th’ type t’start trouble,” he said with a bit of a chuckle. He didn’t have so much an accent as a crude manner of speech, the side effect of having nobody to talk to but himself when he was a child. At first he’d hated his unrefined linguistic skills since they thought they made him sound stupid. But old habits were hard to break, and he knew it was the merit of the words he spoke that mattered, not the way they were spoken.
His green eyes focused right onto the female a moment, wondering if she was this high-strung around everybody or it was just him. He knew he was intimidating-looking but tried not to act that way amongst members of his pack. “Cougar attacked one of th’ pups,” he answered her query. “It cut me up pretty good an’ I hadda throw us both into th’ river t’ get it offa me. Th’ loss of blood an’ cold water made me sick… my daughter said it was called ‘pneumonia’ or somethin’ like that.” he sounded almost proud as he spoke. True, he had almost died, but he had managed to save Selene’s in the process. He would do the same for any member of his pack—including Anderung. | [/html]
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I Speak this, I
dream this, and I 'think'
this.
You "said this"
ooc; Yay ^^ Slightly longer. Getting a feel for it, at last.
ic;
Anderung suddenly noticed the growing darkness and glanced outside. She was right, and the sun was sinking farther down below the horizon. The she-wolf turned back to Phoenix. Both of her ears flicked back as he spoke to her, violet eyes looking down after he had finished for a moment. Then, she flicked her eyes back up, a small amount of fire burning in them. ”I am not afraid of you, Sir!” Anderung stated rather loudly. Realizing what she had done, she lowered both ears and tucked tail slightly, looking away. ”It’s just, I’m not very trusting, Sir, of male-beasts. When I was young… my father…” Meer looked slightly deflated as she tried to bite back tears that were coming forth as she recalled the past. She didn’t quiet feel comfortable telling everyone her troubles, not yet. They might pity her and she didn’t want to be a trouble to anyone.
Meer lifted her head as the alpha spoke again, her eyes becoming wide. ”A cougar, Sir? I’ve heard stories about cougars! Great terrible beasts that they are, all muscle and sinew, big claws and teeth, could easily kill a young wolf. You must be very strong to attack one, Sir!” Anderung felt a bit more comfortable with this tale. Just imagine; a cougar! Huge cats that had terrible yellow eyes. Meer shuddered as she thought about the image she had in her mind, even though she had never seen a live one. Anderung studied Phoenix’s face. ”You have brilliant eyes, Sir.” The she-wolf stated quiet suddenly. If she had been a human she would have clapped her hands over her mouth. She looked rather embarrassed and put back her ears.
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">Not bad. You might wanna skip a line between paragraphs, like I’m doing. When you don’t indent skipping a line makes posts read more smoothly.
“Male-beasts”? Phoenix felt slightly offended by that, although perhaps were she had come from males really were monsters. He grew more attentive as she began to speak, but when her voice trailed off his imagination filled in the patches. He could understand not wanting to talk about an unpleasant past to someone just met, even if his own parents had been nothing but good to him… at least up until the point where they left and never came back. “Hey,” he said, trying to be comforting, “You don’t hafta worry ‘bout that here. If any male lays a hand on you he’ll hafta answer to me… understand?” But to allow him to protect her, she would have to learn to trust him.
His oldest daughter had gone through a similar experience, and it tore Phoenix up that he couldn’t have protected her from that. Granted, he had gotten the culprit exiled from his own pack, but that had done little good in the end. He still kept a watchful ear on the winds, though. Supposedly he’d reformed, but the alpha of Storm didn’t totally buy it. If Lucifer ever harmed another female like he harmed Dierdre then Phoenix would do more than get him kicked out of his home next time.
Wolves were more difficult to deal with, and in some ways the prospect of dealing with difficult and indifferent alphas such as the one ruling Jaded Shadows seemed more unpleasant than fighting cougars. At least a cougar was much more predictable: they were all teeth and claws, but they weren’t as crafty as a corrupt alpha. He shrugged at her compliment. “I killed a couple b’fore, or at least helped hunt ‘em down. I still can’t kill a full-sized one all on my own. That’s why I knocked him into th’ river, ended th’ fight right then an’ there.” Too bad the cougar was still out there and posing a threat to wolves. Phoenix wished he could have killed it, but he at least hoped it would be smart enough to not come around here again.
Now it was Phoenix’s turn to be nervous, thanks to Anderung’s last comment. He couldn’t tell if she was making an idle compliment or hinting at something more lubricious. This was not the first time someone said something about his eyes. Truthfully he never really thought about the way he looked. The last time a female complimented them, she had been coming on to him. But Phoenix had a mate, now, and even if she was away he would remain faithful to her until she returned. “Uh… thank you. I got ‘em from my father… I should probably give ‘em back to him someday, but I been havin’ too much fun with ‘em,” he joked, trying to relieve the sudden tension with a bit of humor. But he didn’t make jokes often and was a little out of practice. | [/html]
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Anderung smiled at Phoenix. He really was a soft-hearted wolf, or at least he appeared to be. For the moment. Something about him still reminded Meer of her father though. But then, maybe all males would. She bowed her head slightly to the alpha at his statement. ”Thank-you, Sir.” She flicked her tail tip, a force of habit. She turned her eyes to the cave entrance, recalling her old pack. Recalling her family and her brother. ’I suppose,’ she thought hopefully. ’I suppose that I can think of Phoenix like an older brother, maybe.’ Anderung suddenly realized that she didn’t know how old Phoenix was. He didn’t seem elderly, like her old alpha, who had been there for many seasons. Yet, he did seem aged somehow, maybe it was the responsibility. Or maybe he had children? Meer knew from some of her friends that having pups always aged a wolf some. But her friends had been mostly she-wolves, maybe it wasn’t the same with males.
Anderung didn’t have any pups, and after her relationship with her father, she didn’t know if she would ever trust a male enough to. Meer did like pups, though. Their playful care-free nature made her happy, how they were so innocent. In actuality, she really did want to have pups, though if this was just instinct or an actual desire to spawn pups she didn’t know.
He eyes became wide at Phoenix’s words. ”You must have many loyal and strong pack-mates to hunt and kill many cougars, Sir. My pack once chased off a bear that had killed a she-wolf’s litter, but they couldn’t kill the bear. I don’t recall any stories about my pack killing cougars, only stories to warn pups not to stray into the woods.” Anderung shrugged, still in awe of this story of cougars. She felt some sort of glow that she was in such a powerful pack. A pack that could defeat cougars. ’Not only beat them, but they go and hunt them down.’
Anderung put her ears back slightly, though she smiled at Phoenix’s joke. ”I’m sorry, Sir. That statement was out of place, and if your mate was around she might bite off both of my ears.” Anderung really didn’t know if Phoenix had a mate, but she was assuming that all alphas did. She looked around. ”Sir, where is Mrs. Phoenix? Er, if there is a Mrs. that is, Sir.”
"I just kinda kept going on this one O-o And I put spaces 8D The table makes my post look longer. lol"
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">I like tables that do that.
It was thanks to his gentile and sociable nature that Phoenix was indeed a father, and (though he wasn’t aware of it yet) soon to be a grandfather. Dierdre, though not his by blood, called him dad because he had taken care of her as a youngster. And as time went on, she merely became the first to do so. Now Phoenix had quite a large brood, and only half of them he had actually sired himself. But Phoenix considered all of Storm his extended family, and he fought to protect them all without discrimination. Selene was in no way related to him and yet he had almost died to save her life.
“Enough o’ that ‘sir’ business,” he said finally. “Y’made your point, but from now on you can jus’ call me ‘Phoenix’ like everybody else.” Family members didn’t speak to each other with such formality. And that was just what Storm was, a family. Loyalty and strength had nothing to do with it. When one of them was threatened the pack would unite to protect that member. Phoenix and the previous alpha had gone out of their way to kill a cougar only once… and that was right after it had attacked one of their pups, leaving her with a broken leg. “Cougar’s ain’t as big as bears, but they’re a lot faster an’ nastier. But we leave ‘em alone unless they attack us first. We ain’t a violent pack. There’s a sayin’ I heard once… ‘Live an’ let live.’ That’s pretty much th’ rule we live by here.”
The alpha’s jovial mood was dimmed slightly at the mention of his mate. He did have one, who he loved more than life itself. She was his better half, and he felt incomplete with her gone. At first, he had thought he couldn’t lead the pack with her gone, but he had since grown and become stronger. But he missed her no less. “She pro’lly would,” he answered, hiding his melancholy. “One of our pups went missin’ a few months back. She left to try to find her.” He had every bit of faith that she would return to him someday. His Iskata was just as loyal to him as he was to her. He just hoped it would be soon. But Iskata was also stubborn, and it would be a long time before she gave up on their daughter. | [/html]
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I Speak this, I
dream this, and I 'think'
this.
You "said this"
ic
Meer looked slightly surprised, and had a slightly flashback to Pilot. This was definitely a strange pack, or at least, strange in comparison to her birth pack. She twitched her nose and bit her lip, looking down at the floor as he spoke to her, ears flattening slightly. Anderung shuffled her paws as she spoke to Phoenix, though not looking at him. ”Well si-, umm I mean, Phoenix, I guess old habits are hard to break. I was the daughter of a hunting pair, not the alphas, so everyone was above me in rank. Nobody allowed me to call them by their first names. Little wonder I don’t remember any of them.”
She tried to hide her eyes from the alpha, feeling awkward again, just like she had when Pilot asked her to stop being so submissive. All these wolves just kept asking her to do things that were against everything she had been taught, so she was a bit intimidated. Again, old habits were hard to break, she was just so used to everyone being a sir or ma’am that it was strange to call others by their first name, especially when they all had much more rank than she had.
Meer nodded thoughtfully at the alpha’s statement. He was right, you didn’t need to kill everything that set foot in your borders, or anywhere near your borders. If you did, you were no better than Men. Anderung began to chew her lower lip again, something she tended to do while thinking. If she had hands, she would probably twirl her hair as well. Her ears pricked as he answered her question about his mate. So he did have one. Anderung couldn’t think of anything to say to that. ”Oh.. Meer felt kind of ashamed for asking, and lowered her eyes. She had never known that sort of relationship, unconditional love and caring. It just wasn’t the kind of thing that she was exposed to in her old pack. She hadn’t even had a crush on anyone. Maybe that would change in Storm. ’Doubt it.’
"Sorry if I gave you absolutely nothing v-v. "
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">It was obviously going to take a while before Anderung grew accustomed to the way things worked around here. There were those who preferred the stability of a regimental existence, and there were those who had it forced on them. It seemed the female was of the latter, but here in Storm everyone was much more easygoing. They couldn’t force Anderung to loosen up, so at this point Phoenix decided to stop trying. “Well, I ain’t gonna force you t’ do what y’don’t wanna. You jus’ do whatever makes you feel most comfortable.” Phoenix did not rule Storm with an iron grip. It was his job to make sure everyone got along, worked together, and stayed safe. Aside from that, the members of Storm were free to live their own lives however they wanted.
Funnily enough, Anderung began to remind Phoenix of himself when he’d first come to Storm. Their origins were radically different, but like her he had tried to overcompensate with formality and professionalism around the other members of the pack. He had been the least likely wolf to ever become an alpha, and look where he was today. In time, he hoped the female would also start a new life of her own in Storm, as many had done before. And who knew? Perhaps this female might even become his daughter-in-law someday. His son Moon was reaching that age, and Phoenix had already noticed a change in his son’s mannerisms and scent. The idea of his son finding a girl tickled him somewhat, especially when he thought back on the deathly shy boy Moon used to be.
“Tell me a bit more ‘bout yourself,” he requested, sitting back to get more comfortable as he regarded the newest member of the pack. Her story didn’t sound like one filled with flowers and rainbow ponies, but as alpha Phoenix felt it his duty to know as much as he could about everyone in his family so he could best help them. “D’you have any hobbies? Skills? Have y’made any new friends in Storm yet?” | [/html]
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I Speak this, I
dream this, and I 'think'
this.
You "said this"
ic
The sun had gone down. Only a faint red glow was left peeking over the tree tops. Anderung flattened her ears. She wasn’t used to not being told what to do. But then again, she had been making all of her own choices when she had run away from her birth pack. Of course, in the time she was a rogue she had been in what felt like a dream, not knowing night from day, reality from her imagination, everything had been a big blur until she had awoken to find these strange lands.
Meer nodded slowly at Phoenix, but said nothing. She opened her mouth once as if to speak, but nothing came out as Anderung realized she didn’t have a way to respond to that. The female licked her lips.
Her ears pricked as he spoke. ”Myself, Sir?” Anderung cocked her head slightly. She paused, thinking. Was anything interesting about her? Anderung felt something dark down in her gut. It had been there since just after her mother died, and it had only grown. She was still thinking when he popped the next question and her eyes were distant as she answered almost automatically. ”I don’t really have any hobbies. My brother told me that I was a pretty good tracker, and now that I think about it my pack always did rely on me to find food during pack hunts. Deirdre has been a friend to me, as has Pilot. I really haven’t met anyone else yet, Sir.” Meer shuffled her feet. Should she tell him? Somehow, it felt right to tell her alpha, after she had kept it inside for so long.
Anderung raised her violet eyes and looked at the mocha male. ”Sir, once I remember being taught that the best way to defeat demons was the face them. I feel like I must face one of mine now. It has been bottled up inside of me for a long time now and it has only grown into this dark feeling down in my stomach. As I have already told you, my parents were a hunting pair in my old pack. Well, one day my mother was killed by an elk. My father was seriously affected by it, and he began abusing me. At first he would just bite or strike me, and he would yell about how useless and stupid and ugly I was. And then he-“
She choked up, a few tears running from her eyes. She regained her breath before continuing, trying to keep her voice from cracking. ”I couldn’t tell anybody, not my alpha, not my ‘friends’, my father was really popular in my pack. I feared that they would believe him and not me, and he had treated to kill me if I breathed a word about it anyway. Well, one day I couldn’t take it anymore, and I bite back. I ran away from my old pack, and that’s how I ended up here. I’m sorry to trouble you with this, but, I just had to let someone know. I’m tired of feeling like nobody cares about me, and maybe they don’t, but thank-you for listening. That’s really all I have ever wanted.” Anderung sat down. The she-wolf had stopped crying, but her face still had dark tear marks. She sniffed and lowered her gaze.
"It is official. Anderung IS me. >_> Sorry this went on a bit long."
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">That’s fine. But I won’t be able to match the length tonight.
A shine of pride flashed through Phoenix’s emerald-green eyes at the mention of his daughter and son-in-law. He was glad to see his adopted daughter finally coming out of her shell and making friends within the pack. She had trust issues, even though Phoenix had done all that he could to stifle them and encourage her. Pilot had grown into a capable wolf mostly on his own, but Phoenix still saw him as a little brother figure. And now that the two were amated pair… he has glad for the both of them, a budding couple flourishing under his protective care. Should Anderung ever find someone in Storm, Phoenix would try to look after her as well.
Phoenix found it odd how wolves seemed to automatically trust him just because he was alpha. That was not to say he was not truthworthy, quite the contrary… but before he’d had to work to earn other wolves’ trust (not that difficult, considering his character). Now many put it on his lap on their first meeting. He needed to be trusted by the wolves underneath him, but he didn’t expect them to go spilling their guts either. He listened to her story patiently, intently taking in every word. Perhaps she just needed to vent to someone, which required him to pay all the more attention to her.
When it seemed like she was done Phoenix remained unmoving, unsure what to do. He never knew how to comfort a grieving adult. Puppies were easy, since their problems were more easily overcome. But Anderung had trauma that only she could overcome on her own—though the alpha would still try to help her in any way possible, as soon as he figured out how. “I care about you,” he finally stated quietly. It was not his style to offer flat, meaningless words of condolence, since they rarely offered comfort anyway. “You’re a member of my pack now, so that makes you important to me. Thank you for trustin’ me with this… I can’t promise that nothin’ bad will ever happen t’you again, but I can promise that I’ll do everythin’ in my power t’ protect you, as will any other member of Storm. If anyone ever lays a paw or fang on you, you fight back… or come t’ me. Okay?” | [/html]
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I Speak this, I
dream this, and I 'think'
this.
You "said this"
ic
Anderung looked up at Phoenix, relief spreading across her face. She sniffed and bowed her head. ”Thank-you, Sir.” Meer did feel a bit better now that she had told someone. She might have told Deirdre, or another friend, but she really didn’t feel that close to anyone yet. She looked around the den. Her black nose twitched as she thought about these things. ”Thank-you for listening, Sir, and I was wondering where I could sleep. I am rather tired, Sir.” She shuffled her feet slightly.
Anderung was thinking about something. She had never really had a close relationship with any male, so now she was rather starved for male companionship. This was what happened to females that didn’t have good or attentive fathers. She was always trying to fill that empty hole with some other male. However, Anderung was also deathly afraid of males after what her father HAD done, so she had conflicting emotions going on inside her, threatening to tear her existence apart. However, now that she had spoken with Phoenix, maybe she could trust a male again. Oh, she would still be cautious, that would take much longer to root out, but she still needed that companionship.
"Trying to finish this thread ^^;;"
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[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... efinal.png);background-repeat: no-repeat; padding-bottom:140px; background-position: bottom center;">That’ll work. You don’t have to reply to this one if you don’t want to.
Males, females, Phoenix had a number of friends amongst both genders. For the most part he could overlook the difference, although those of his own gender were easier to get along with. Having a mate removed any possibility of a sexual relationship with other females, which eased up things a bit. He loved Iskata and would never cheat on her. But having one more friend, there was nothing wrong with that. Phoenix didn’t know what the future had in store for himself and Anderung or how close they could become but as long as she remained a member of his pack he would try to look out for her.
At her question, Phoenix began to rise. He hadn’t used his muscles in weeks, so the going was slow, but eventually (and with a little grunting that sounded embarrassingly like an old man’s) he was on all fours once again. It would take some time before he got his strength back but it would never happen at all unless he moved as much as he could, so he took any excuse. “C’mon,” he said. “I’ll show you Dierdre an’ Pilot’s old spot. They moved back to their own den for some private time, so I don’t think they’d mind.”
He was somewhat disappointed that the pack wasn’t sleeping together any more like the first few nights, but with the danger caused by the avalanche now passed, soon the whole pack would be going back to their old routine. But Phoenix was enjoying his time in the pack den, so he was reluctant to go back to his own home. On the wall across from them were written the names of everyone who had been present the say Phoenix had established this cave as the pack den. He’d had a burst of optimism that day, considering they had all survived a tragedy and come out stronger for it.Grabbing one of the blankets from the pile, he laid it down and motioned for Anderung to make herself comfortable. “There’s somethin’ you should know about th’ wolves here in Storm,” he told her. “We’re all survivors. We have a tendency t’ survive tragedy, an’ even come out stronger from it. I’m sure you’ll do jus’ fine here, Anderung. Goodnight.” | [/html]
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