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 Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:43 am
The den in the ground was large enough, she had dug it herself. A hollow tree was close by, as well as a willow tree she had grown fond of. She liked sleeping in it, she planned to watch over her pack at night by staying up in the tree where she could see danger coming. The danger wouldn't be able to see her hopefully, with those willow branches hanging down. Bright colors were a disadvantage at times. She was grateful for her wings, she could hunt from the sky.
She was ready to start looking for helixes instead of just howling. She should have known it wouldn't be that easy. She had to go out and find them herself most likely. She howled one last time, neck craning and voice lowering in pitch to make it go farther down the mountain into the valley below. She hoped the humans were listening, and that fear welled in their hearts. Despite their gifts she knew howling made humans nervous for some reason. Why though? It was just a way of communication. What was so scary about it? Silly humans.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 11:30 am
Verdauga was certainly unprepared for just how steep the territory would be. It reminded him of the South ever so slightly, but never had he faced the mountains. Sorpresa had to be right... Surely the others would not follow him aaaaaall the way out here, right?
The brown, peg-legged helix was practically gasping for breath and he ached from nose tip to tail tip. His skirmish with the strange red and white adolescent was fresh on his mind and he was thankful the meeting hadn't held him up too long. He made it here, to the East, more or less fully intact. He'd never be quite whole with his missing leg and eye, after all.
He plopped down on his haunches after moving deeper through the bamboo shoots and he struggled to calm his pounding heart and gasping lungs. His single blue eye seemed almost feral with fear and loathing, partially for himself, partially for his mother, and partially for the pack that wanted him dead...
And that blasted bear that had ruined everything...
But mostly it was for himself.
What had happened to dear Sorpresa? Hopefully she fared well enough. He couldn't stand to think otherwise.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:07 pm
Benita smelled fear from farther down the mountain, the wind taking it up to her nose. Alarmed to a possible threat to her territory she expanded her wings and took to the air, gliding down the mountain towards the scent.
What danger around here would scare a helix that badly? Humans were so nice that apparently most helixes trusted them. So what then? She followed her nose until she found a curious looking male. He was all brown, decorated with an assortment of things and also lacking a leg, which was replaced by a wooden one.
She circled above the bamboo, deciding anything would probably startle him she simply landed nearby, wings soon folding to fit snugly at her side. "Hail friend, what ails you? I can be of help and a source of protection if you care to allow it." She offered, displaying her status with a head and tail held high as a confident and friendly alpha female. Her rank should calm him, along with the offer of protection. She smelled various scents of other helixes on him but yet she found him alone. Was his pack killed by something horrible too? Where is his pack? Does he have one?
She approached him in a kind way, slowly since he was scared enough, sniffing his scent subtly. There was so much to learn from smells. He had the smell of a female on him, perhaps his friend since the smell wasn't too strong, like it would be were she his mate. She could smell a more powerful stench of another male helix and the scent of aggression. They'd been in a fight but why would that make him this scared? She was confused and stopped where she stood, eyes holding him in place. She was higher in rank and asking a question, he would not run, he would give her answers. At least about what he was scared of. If it was in the East she wanted to know about what kind of danger it was.
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Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:43 pm
Suddenly there was something near him. Something large and brightly colored and he could not help but to jump in alarm. He was to his paws in an instant and his lips curled back, revealing his fangs in a must dangerous and rather brutal fashion. All of this was pure instinct to protect oneself, but her calm demeanor proved taht she was not an enemy, but a possible ally.
His growling quickly subsided and his ears flattened back against his head out of sheer embarrassment. She must of not been on his trail...
Wait, of course she wouldn't of been! She was obviously an Eastern Helix because she had wings! In his terror he had overlooked that simple factor. He tucked his tail slightly, but he still shook with exhaustion and fright.
"F'give mah insolence." He apologized briefly as he turned his single blue eye to his single paw, an action out of shame.
Now that he realized that danger had subsided for the time being, he seemed much better off. He stood with a submissive posture, but he was not cowering before her. She was obviously an alpha and if she would offer him protection...
"Ah seek refuge, if..." His words faultered for a moment and he glanced towards her. What would he tell her? If she could possibly live with a monster in her midst? That would just cause her to turn on him or drive him away... But how could he survive without being at least somewhat honest.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:10 am
As expected the male startled easily, daring to bare his fangs at her. She let it slide, fear was instinctive and in some situations hard to control. She knew it wasn't anything personal. She did not know this helix, it was impossible that they had met before. She would have remembered him. He could not carry any sort of grudge towards a stranger.
As she had hoped her rank calmed him considerably though not entirely. The male looked truly ashamed of himself for his behavior. He quickly apologized and submitted to her status. She noticed he was still trembling of fright, but not because of her, reminding her further her need to know what danger frightened him so.
She noticed him falter in his sentence. Maybe he needed a little coaxing? Fear made hearts distrustful and words fall silent. Males could sometimes be embarrassed about telling what situation they had been in. No matter, she was a patient helix and felt this would be well worth the wait. Sensing that he needed time to collect himself she spoke up.
"It is just you and I here friend, relax. My offer of protection stands true. I will defend you from harm. You can tell me later what dangers brought you to me. For now though, I know a river close by where you can drink, you look like you've had a rough time." She led him to a small river she knew. Gravity and the small current pushed the water slowly down the mountain. Surrounded by tall bamboo it was a quiet sheltered place. She stood aside so that he may walk past and reach the river.
After he relaxed a little more he would then tell her what danger ails him. She would only demand to know if she absolutely had to but she didn't want to be a tyrant and abuse the powers her rank gave her. She was hoping he would tell her himself so they could start off on the right paw.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:26 am
Defend me from a whole search party? Hardly likely... That was what he thought, but he kept his words silent as he watched the Alpha female before him. She seemed kind enough, but could he really trust her? Helixes often didn't take kind to murderers...
Especially when pups were half of the victims.
His voice was lost on him as he followed Benita towards the small, slow river. His paws ached, as well as his heart, and he looked forward to rest. Once he found a spot, had his drink... Then he would tell her. He could not continue to build a facade around his true self, lest something happen here like what could happen to Sorpresa.
He was hesitant at first to pass the Alpha up, but her intentions were clear. Go. Drink. So that was what he did. He plodded slowly past her on his sore paws and dipped his head to the clear river. The water was cool and delicious, even more so than many of the muddled swamps and rivers of the South, what he was used to.
He lapped away until his thirst was slaked, then peered up at Benita.
"Verdauga... Thass' m'name. Verdauga."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:53 pm
"I am Benita." She introduced. She smelled something unnatural and stiffened. A noisy crunching sound of heavy footsteps and dead leaves was clearly audible. A human of all things struggled up the mountain. Benita was frozen like a statue and looked perfectly calm except that her eyes glared fiercely down at the two legged creature with pure hatred in her blue gaze. The human didn't notice as he approached. Slowly he reached around it and untied a package from his back. He bowed down and set the package on the ground.
He openly stared at her vibrant colors with complete kindness and trust that she did not return. Not noticing that her fierce look was hostile he bowed and turned around, leaving. She waited for the human to leave before growling at the gift. "I wish he'd stop that.." She muttered glancing at Verdauga. He might be from the East, if he was he would support the humans. He didn't smell Eastern though. "If you want lamb they have some in that paper package." She stated, rejecting the offering herself.
She didn't tell him why she acted so unkindly to the human, she was hoping that Verdauga would join her in forming a pack. He did say he sought refuge. Who in the East would ever consider staying with a human-hating murderer? She had a bad history with them and it was luck that no one knew about it. While she hated them they admired her for her vibrant colors and kept bringing her gifts. She tolerated it so that other eastern helixes would also still be getting their gifts.
She shook the thoughts away, maybe someday she'd tell her pack when she had one. Until then she changed the topic. "Alright then, what danger led your paws to me? I'm sorry to ask you now when your tired but if the danger is in the East then I need to hear about it. I just don't want to be caught unaware." She explained.
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:07 pm
Verdauga was very unused to seeing humans. Never had he seen them in the South... Or even in the Neutral, for that matter. He had heard rumors before... But never had he witnessed them. Benita's posture and eyes told him what he thought he should know about them. Danger.
Instead of accepting her offer once the two-legged beast had gone, he shook his head and turned his nose from the package. He was hungry, but that could wait for fresh game that he caught himself. He wouldn't eat some packaged meat that a two-leg brought up here.
He slowly turned his gaze back to Benita and fumbled for words as he tried to tell her what had happened.
"Nothing dangering Y'East as 'o now... Ah got a rather, eh, shady past, if y'will... Been chased t'these parts."
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Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:16 pm
Good, no danger to the territory. Shady past, huh? Ah, now there was something she could relate to! "Well, you'll be surprised to find that I also have a tainted history. For your honesty you are welcome to seek refuge here. Are you tired? I can show you to some places to sleep. I have an underground pack-size den and a hollow tree if you prefer somewhere cooler. Don't worry about space, since I don't have any pack members just yet.
Personally she was glad he hadn't taken the meat either, maybe he then agreed that helixes didn't need humans like most of the Eastern helixes seemed to think. Maybe he would understand her history after all, if she told him. He hadn't given her details about his crimes so she hadn't given him her details either.
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Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:30 pm
"Tainted, huh?" What sort of tainted? She didn't seem so bad... In fact, she seemed rather nice, too nice to have done something horrible. Then again... Didn't he seem that way to Sorpresa? He didn't think he came off as a friendly, safe Helix, but someone else sure thought he did.
"Ah'm exhausted an' Ah'd love t' sleep a spell..." His voice trailed off slightly as he weighed his options. Honesty seemed important to her and he couldn't just stay... And she had no pack yet? He felt his hopes rise slightly, only to have them start to sink again.
"An' y'd be comft'able with 'avin' a murd'rer in yer midst?" He had to do it. He had to say it, otherwise he would never be comfortable here.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 7:45 am
Benita was surprised he came right out and said it so bluntly. Shouldn't he worry about making others afraid and angry at him? She decided he was worthy enough to know, since he could relate. "Yes, I don't mind. One murderer to another." She said this with a great deal of shame. The memories it brought back were painful. "Wouldn't speak of it out loud much though if I were you, you'll have more helixes after you." She warned.
She waved her tail in the general direction of the willow tree. "I sleep up there you can choose where you want to sleep. The den or inside the hollow tree." She went over to her tree, jumped into it and relaxed on her favorite branch, pondering.
She wanted him to join her pack, someone she could relate to more than any other helix she knew. She just didn't know how to go about approaching the subject. Sure, he sought refuge but that didn't mean he'd stick around forever. She sighed and rested her head, life is so very complicated. Ah well, after sleep perhaps she would think of something...
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:30 am
He found himself puzzling, which was something rare. She had killed, too? Well, now... That was just down right odd, and what was the luck of finding someone like himself?
"Ah ain't really told no one..." His own thoughts were painful as he grew quiet. He did not know how to further the topic and he was mildly interested. Perhaps if she was like him, he could stay in the end. Or at least stay longer than usual.
"Thankee..." He moved slowly towards the shelter the Hollow Tree offered, as he had no desire to go beneath the earth, it only brought back poor memories. he didn't realize just how tired he was until he let himself go beneath the cover of the tree. He fell asleep almost immediately, placing his faith in this brightly hued Helix.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:48 pm
Benita stayed up half of the night watching over her new friend, Verdauga. She wanted to make sure his chasers didn't follow him up the mountain asking for trouble. It was also a test to see if he was trustworthy and would not try to kill her. Around midnight all was silent and peaceful so she finally allowed herself to drift to sleep, staying up in her tree.
Hours later the sun rose over the horizon, bathing the mountain in beautiful golden shades of light. The sky was pink but would soon turn back to light blue once the great orb was high enough. Morning dew clung to plants, giving the world a fresh clean smell like just after rain. Birds chirped, tweeted and generally sang morning songs to each other.
Benita's mental clock rang, rising her from sleep even though she really wanted to sleep in. Her mouth opened wide in a huge yawn then she stood up to lower her front legs in a stretch. Reversing the way she leaned she soon stretched her back legs as well. Finally she arched her back upward, unfurling her wings and flapping them a few times, tail curling.
She jumped down from her branch, already planning her day out. Today after a trip to the river to drink they could go on a morning hunt together, catch some breakfast and eat. She could show Verdauga around her territory while she also patrolled her territory's borders. Perhaps sometime then or beforehand she could ask if he wanted to join her pack. He would be the first member to join and because of that he would be fully welcomed no matter what rank.
It was just her hope that he would come to like life here after a while.
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Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:08 pm
Exhaustion beat his own internal clock and he slept in well after the sun began to peak over the mountains. It would of been a beautiful sight, had he been awake to see it...
But the worn out, one eyed adolescent continued his sleep until the sun rays that peaked into the tree warmed him into wakefulness. He yawned tiredly as he sat up and he flinched slightly, as his muscles were sore and slightly cramped. They would shake out as the day continued and he knew this, so he did not hesitate to move from the hollow tree into the day.
His heavy, pierced ears turned as he listened for Benita and he quickly found her and plodded towards her slowly.
"G'morn..."
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Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:40 am
She smiled, amused at his muffled fuzzy sleepy appearance. Cute! "Good Morning to you too. I was just about to head out to the river for a drink. Care to join me? I'll be setting for to catch some breakfast afterward if your hungry. Then whenever you like I could show you around the territory. I need to go patrol my borders anyway." She offered, shaking some morning dew out of her red colorful fur.
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