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 Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:25 pm
 The open stretch of beach before her was pleasantly devoid of any wolves at the moment, and Calandra was happy for the silence. Warm sand, the sound of the surf... it was good to be home, even if she was currently on a distant border sweep of The Outrider's territory. Every now and again Phib would send a few wolves out just to check and make sure that the free space past The Outriders' borders was quiet and that there were no new packs planning to move in without them knowing or wolves trying to start trouble. Usually nothing came of it, and the case was about the same today.
Calandra turned her feet towards the forest, footfalls gentle even when they hit the dirt and then the forest floor. The loudest her steps got was the crack of a twig hidden by the leaves, or the soft 'shushing' of the leaves themselves as her paws picked their way over last fall's offering. Things with The Outriders had been quiet lately, and although Cali didn't regret the ease of living she usually had here it was still odd sometimes when she thought of the hardships she'd had living on her own for so many years. It seemed almost too easy, too gracious a gift for her in the aftermath of the murders of her family, her Friend, and the other village members. Someone seemed to be shining down favor on her, as if giving her a consolation gift in exchange for what she'd been made to suffer through.
Through her thoughts a sound caught Cali's attention and she stopped dead, immediately turning her head in that direction as her ears twitched for a repeat of the noise. Her wandering thoughts were already strangers to her now that they had been shoved aside by her recall to her duty. She wasn't able to pinpoint exactly where the sound had come from, only a general direction, but she didn't see anyone else around her either. Just on the off chance she was imagining it or the sound was made by something friendly, Calandra relaxed enough not to appear hostile, although she kept her muscles ready to bolt, just in case the noise-maker was.
"Hello?" She called, startling a distant chipmunk into turning her way. Too small for what she'd heard, she thought, so it couldn't have been something that simple. "Hello?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 9:00 am
He had been out walking - something he'd taken to a lot more since last season and, though he had scented the female, had decided he would keep going. It wasn't that he didn't like company, he had just been content, today, to take a wander out past the pack boundaries and see something different - he felt like he had worn a rut in the pathway he usually patrolled around the Glen pack's land. Most of the youngsters were otherwise pre-occupied today, too, so no hunting lessons he had to be back for...
Ouranos also wasn't the type to get into fights or posturing over territories or packs, so 'strangers' were always something he was rather wary of unless his alpha was there to do the necessary social 'negotiations'.
A large crunch, though, had marked his stepping across a rotten log which gave way beneath his chunky frame. He wasn't the type to be rude, so when he heard the nearby stranger call out - he hadn't realised quite how close she was! - he felt rather ashamed that he had obviously startled her. He moved forward through the loose brush towards the noise, noticing a splash of ochre-red and white.
"Er.... hello...sorry if I startled you" he said, sheepishly.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:22 pm
The appearance of the large wolf was a start to Calandra, but at least it proved there had been a reason for her to react cautiously to the sound. The initial appearance of such a large wolf made her want to step backwards, but his hesitant apology kept Cali from sounding an alarm. Besides, they weren't technically on Outriders land yet, so there was no need for her to alert anyone else unless the male became violent or crossed on to pack land.
"That's all right," Calandra responded. She was clearly far more slight than this male, even being average for a female, but a long time as a loner and her position as a pack hunter had built up good reflexes, muscle, and agility. No, she couldn't take him in a head-on fight, but she could probably escape or hold her own until help arrived. Unless he was faster than he looked.
She glanced at the folded ear-- unusual, she'd never seen a wolf like that-- and then met his eyes instead of trying to decide how she should react next. Teal, like hers, only his seemed to lean towards the blue end of the spectrum, while hers tended towards green. Or maybe that was just because of the difference in color of their coats.
"What business do you have with the Outriders?" Calandra asked, deciding to take the diplomatic approach. The kindness in her voice sounded a little odd when paired with such a firm request. All right, so they technically weren't on Outriders land yet, but that didn't mean he knew that. If she wanted any backing at all, she'd have to bend the truth a little. This wasn't a random encounter between two lones in the woods; if it were, the Calandra from back then would have run or talked her way around him long before now.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 8:44 am
"The Outriders?" Ouranos' face hunched up in consternation, head tilting so that his ear flip-flopped uncertainly - it was a pose he often, unconsciously, adopted when unsure or thinking about something.
What he as thinking was 'did I really go that far?'. Mentally retracing his steps, he was sure he hadn't passed by any territory markers or the like - he knew that The Outrider's territory was close but unless they'd expanded recently... Maybe they had, though - he rather hoped he hadn't accidentally wandered onto foreign territory, as it were. What he knew of The Outriders was only positive in regards to relations with his own pack - he didn't much keep an eye on pack politics, though, especially not recently. Maybe he had missed something...
He wasn't, therefore, entirely sure how to reply to the female. He could say what he was thinking, but he supposed he'd look a bit silly for not knowing and he didn't want to represent his own pack badly.
"I don't really have any business with The Outriders" he said, honestly and went for what seemed like it would be the 'polite' addition "do you..er have any with The Glen? I mean.. Glen Abhainn". He was used to calling his pack by the short, colloquial version, most of the pack did but it didn't seem right in front of a stranger.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 10:12 am
Calandra blinked and her stance relaxed. Glen Abhainn? She'd heard that pack mentioned in passing many times during conversations in the pack, and she'd been given to understand they were at least neighbors on friendly terms with The Outriders, if not allies.
"Oh, ah, no, not that I know of. I'm sorry to put you on the spot like that," she apologized, showing a bit of consternation herself. "It's rather a standard response when lones show up on our territory." She felt into silence, hoping she hadn't offended him. Phib would give that look if she'd behaved improperly to a friend of the pack, and Calandra hadn't been back long enough from her journey to have stopped worrying about making a mistake. She'd hate to feel like a loner in her own pack.
Calandra sat, to show she wasn't about to go running and screaming her head off for the nearest packmate, as well as to show just a bit of submissiveness. That was sometimes what could save you. She didn't feel threatened by this male though, and the odd floppy ear caught her attention again as he tilted his head. Either he was very good at hiding his true nature, or he was actually that harmless.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:54 am
Oura mimicked her movements, dropping onto his own rump, too. He really was a harmless wolf and would, if he was left to himself, back down from anyone who was aggressive toward him - he just didn't have the confidence his bulk might have given any other wolf.
He shrugged a little to show he wasn't offended by her questioning - now that they had gotten past what he thought of as that terrible 'who the hell are you?' moment you got when meeting new wolves, things were looking brighter. He, half unconsciously, took the chance to see her now - actually take note of her as an individual - she was a good bit slighter than he was, but that wasn't unusual, and her pelt was an orangey red... or maybe a reddish orange? Something like a light foxy colour, he supposed.
He then realised why her appearance had piqued his interest - her white markings, and the straight bands of colour which encircled her lower front legs - it had been a long time since he had seen a wolf with anything other than soft, blended pelts - what Caliope, his alpha female, called 'natural'. She didn't much like non -natural wolves, she distrusted them, though he had no idea why. It was a refreshing change, to see someone with such relatively strong markings and he warmed to her a little from that fact alone.
"I can understand why you'd be wary, we've not been short on trouble ourselves with wolves who turn up in our territory" he said, a troubled look coming over his otherwise placid features for a moment. He didn't like to dwell on that time, though.
Now he was here, talking, he had lost the urge to move on - it was a long time since he'd met anyone new, a long time since he and Zag were travelling and, whilst he had always been wary, he had also always liked to stop for a chat once Zag had made the introductions. He was a bit older now, though, maybe a bit more mature... he could do his own introductions right?
"I'm Ouranos... Oura" he said, a little uncertainly, but with a small smile and nervous wag of the tail.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:02 pm
It was a bit of a surprise when Oura sat, but Cali immediately appreciated the friendly gesture. It was rare for her to meet outside wolves, and for some reason she'd never actually had contact with the Glen Abhainn pack. Oura was the perfect spokesperson for them. The sheepish, almost confused way he approached the situation was... kind of charming, in a cute way. The soft pelt, bright eyes, and one floppy ear didn't hurt either. In light of the ease the conversation seemed to be taking, the female forgot to take into account her first reaction to Ouranos's size.
Speaking of soft pelts, his entire pelt was fairly light in color. Calandra was surprised, and a little disappointed in herself, that she hadn't noticed him sooner. Oh well, there was no help for it now, and it wasn't as if he was attacking the pack or even crossing into their territory.
Calandra smiled and wagged her own tail gently in response. "I'm Calandra. And I am sorry if I seemed a little brusque with you. I haven't met anyone from Glen Abhainn-- er, The Glen?" She seemed a little confused as to how she should address it, and her muzzle wrinkled cutely in a physical sign of that confusion. "Yet."
Absently she noted that being in a pack had been good for her. Her confidence was much stronger than it would have been prior to Phib taking her in, and her trust of-- or at least comfort with-- males seemed to have increased as well, or she probably wouldn't have so readily sat down with him so close to her. Close. Oh. The pack border issue.
An embarrassed look came over her face, but she bit her tongue. She really should tell him, but she didn't really want to risk losing the conversation, in case it turned out to be a good one. She would tell him before he left, though, so that he didn't worry about it the next time he came through.
"So, how far off is Glen Abhainn?" Calandra blurted suddenly, even though the only thing she was covering was her own thoughts. It felt like her face was going to burn off if she got any more embarrassed. What was wrong with her? She wasn't acting at all like a mature, responsible adult. What a way to represent her pack.
Unconsciously, she straightened her posture a little, and smiled sheepishly, half at herself. "Not too far, I take it?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 3:51 pm
"You didn't seem brusque, just concerned for your pack" he smiled warmly, adding: "The Glen or just Glen Pack is fine: our territory's name is Glen Abhainn and we just call ourselves after that but that's a bit of a mouthful for normal use"
"Glen Abhainn is really a sort of forested canyon valley, you might actually have come near to it and not noticed - it's long and thin, and rather easy to pass by up on the top of the canyon walls without actually seeing anything much because of the trees. The entrance to it is rather thin, too, just as wide as the river and a little shore on each side. It's about..." he squinted a little, looking back over his shoulder "maybe a mile and a half or so inland from here and a little north".
When his eyes came back to hers they were warm with enthusiasm. He probably shouldn't be telling another wolf the details of his home but he was proud of it and, once he had decided a wolf was not a foe, they were a friend. It might have been a little simple, but deep inside Oura wanted to like everyone - it was just experience which had taught him to be wary at first.
As such, Oura didn't notice any of Cala's embarrassment or, if he had twigged, would likely have shrugged it off as a little shyness. However, now that he wasn't so worried about making an idiot in front of some special envoy from another pack, he asked the question he'd held back earlier. "It's been a long while since I came this far south but I didn't know this was Outrider territory now? I had been going to wander by the big water, uhm ocean, but I thought that I could skirt around your lands this way to get to it".
Oura hadn't actually learned the word 'ocean' until he had settled into the Glen - Cali had told him it was what the huge sky-wide mass of salty water was called. He had always utterly loved water and the fact the ocean would chase you back and forth if you went close to it had delighted him for hours. He remembered those simple days with a little sadness, now - it almost felt like another lifetime since then.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:39 pm
The description of Oura's home was beautiful, if a little confusing as Calandra tried to envision it from several different angles. It was no wonder she hadn't seen it yet. On her way back she had tried to avoid the canyon as much as possible, since it would make the journey more difficult. Still, Oura was clearly fond of his home and his pride in it made Calandra want to go and visit it, if only to see the beautiful river running through the narrow entrance to Oura's home.
When he brought up the pack boundaries, Calandra's embarrassment swamped her. She ducked her head, putting a paw over the back of her head briefly. Oh that was just dandy-doodle. Clearly she wasn't going to be putting off the incriminating bit until the end. And it just served her right for trying, too. Inwardly, she shook her head at herself. That would teach her to be over-eager to stretch facts in the future.
"Actually," she said meekly, her voice softening so much further that it was almost impossible to hear her, "I may have been a bit overzealous with that." She dropped her paw and peeked up at him with her head still lowered. "You aren't quite to Outriders territory yet. When I walk the border I tend to go out a little further than our limits, so that I have advanced warning if something is coming. If you want to get to the ocean, this way is fine."
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:36 pm
Oura grinned delightedly - the fact he hadn't accidentally wandered onto someone else's territory or that he wouldn't, in future, have to go a lot further north to get to the beach, was what he had been worried about. "Well, I'm glad I didn't walk right into your lands unintentionally".
The fact that it had arisen from a small 'misunderstanding' or smudging of the truth completely bypassed him, such was his relief.
"Do you often patrol around the edges?" he asked her "or do you just like to walk?" - he himself often did both, though it was more for wanting to get out and do something, to stretch his legs and get some air, than any necessary duty. "And do you like the ocean, too?" he added, his tail sweeping the ground and his moving to tilt just slightly in the other direction.
A barrage of questions, but he couldn't help himself. It really had been too long and, really, talking to someone who hadn't been there whilst he had been feeling... upset felt refreshingly different: a blank slate. Lets not think too hard on that, though, something inside said, and wrapped those unhappy moments into the small place he'd set aside for them.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:02 pm
"I usually serve as a hunter for the pack or help watching the pups when we have them, but every now and again someone is unable to walk the border or Phib needs someone to take a watch. Then I step in. I don't mind, since it gives me a chance to get out of my den and still have a purpose."
Calandra lifted her head again, feeling a little more like herself now that the mess up was out in the open and seemingly forgiven. She didn't mind the sudden list of questions, as she'd heard pups more talkative than him during her sparse pawful of shifts in the nursery.
"I've grown to appreciate the ocean," Calandra admitted. "Where I came from we were far enough inland that I had never seen it. Not until I came to the Outriders, anyway." She smiled and turned her head back the way she had come. "Now it smells like home. I think I'd miss it if I had to leave my pack and live inland somewhere."
Calandra's face turned thoughtful for a moment as she slipped into her own thoughts. The Outriders was her pack now, her home. The thought of having to leave them was disturbing, even though her recent soujourn back "home" had left her still wondering if anything could have survived, even without any proof any of her family was alive. All signs pointed to them being wiped out, but somewhere in her Cali refused to believe that they were all dead and demanded that she search until she found them or concerete proof that they had died.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 5:46 am
"Usually I'm more teacher than true hunter - I work with our youngest to train them for the bigger pack hunts, or, well, I suppose I don't at the moment since they're all rather past that age" his sheepish grin returned. "I enjoy patrolling, getting outside and stretching my legs, too" he continued, a little hastily to cover up his slight embarrassment "I'm not often needed to but I do it anyway".
Ouranos had always loved pups - he was possibly one of the most mothering males in the region - from simply watching, to playing with and teaching, he endeavoured to make sure they were safe and well taken care of.
"We also came from a good distance off - my cousin Zagreus and I... and I completely agree - the sea really does seem like a part of the world here - sometimes I even see it in my dreams" his tail was thudding lightly but enthusiastically as he spoke of the ocean. Although the scent of salt wasn't strong in the Glen, as soon as you topped the lip of the step walls, or stepped past the narrow neck it flooded the air with a rich, dense, saltiness. From the top of the cliff faces you could actually see the sea - a silvery sliver near the horizon.
"If you wanted we could... walk that way?" he suggested, shyly, hoping she'd not take that as a sign he wanted to go - simply an invitation to carry on their conversation whilst heading for the beach. "Unless of course you're too busy patrolling" he added. The big, bluff wolf never could hide his emotions well - his face showed his puppy-ish eagerness and hope.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:07 am
"All of our pups are older now as well. It seems like it will be a long time before our pack gets new litters," Calandra agreed, sounding rather unhappy about it. She was by no means crazy for pups, but she didn't mind watching the nursery, and she had found that she didn't mind the thought of having pups of her own so much.
She stood and shook her head. "I can walk back towards the beach. As long as no other wolves head this way, there is no reason to continue this far out." She began walking towards the beach, keeping easy pace beside him. His size wasn't as intimidating as she thought it would be, although how much of that was because of his personality, Calandra wasn't sure. "I wouldn't want you to miss out on seeing the water. It's such a nice, breezy day."
It would be nice to get back to the warm sand, and she had been going a bit far outside her path anyway. Another would should be along soon to take over the part of the boundary she had missed. In the meantime, Calandra wanted to enjoy the day, especially now that she had a new acquaintance to spend it with. In a way, he was beginning to remind her a bit of a pup himself, all eagerness about what they talked about and very little to no ill-will. Cali seemed to find the males like that, but she hoped it wouldn't always be a passing discovery.
"How often do your patrols take you to the shore?" She asked, connecting his love of the ocean with the patrols he said he chose to do.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 7:02 pm
A long time before there are more pups? he wondered about that to himself and it struck him, suddenly, that the Glen pack might not see any more pups for a while either - Cali's last litter had taken a lot out of her, as had Erin's - Persephone had been somewhat traumatised because of hers, due to circumstance and the rest were all barely grown themselves.
Yes.. it would likely be quite some time before the Glen saw another litter and that gave him a brief pang deep inside - what would he do with no new generation to teach,and spoil? No puppies barking, pulling on tails; no indulgent smiles as each learned something new for the first time...
He managed a small smile towards Cala, though, as he didn't want to think too much about the future when he had company and the promise of the beach.
"I don't come this way that often" he admitted, to answer her query. "Usually I just climb up and around the canyon, or maybe follow the river to the neck of it. There's no real reason to come all the way out here unless I want to go to the ocean".
He had, since his mate had gone, felt less like doing the joyful things in life - just getting out there an leaping though the water, through life... Now, though, that weight was slowly being lifted from him - his lighter moods were returning.
"Of course, that's not to say I couldn't come here more... I forgot how much even the thought of it gave my stomach butterflies" he grinned, now, his pace increasing beside the she-wolf.
A sudden question struck him: "have you ever eaten a sea-fish?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 10, 2009 6:34 am
A sea-fish? Calandra thought, staring at Ouranos. She'd lived here for a while, but that was something she'd never considered doing, and the pack rarely fished, except if it was a wolf for his or her particular family.
"No, I haven't," she confessed. "Usually we hunt deer or smaller animals. I've only rarely had fish, and that was what I could catch in rivers when I was..." She paused, then powered on with a different ending, "Before I joined The Outriders."
Because of the strong pack mentality in wolves, sometimes the mention of someone being a lone wolf made wolves uncomfortable. Ouranos had mentioned he and his cousin had been packless before The Glen, but they still had each other. Calandra wasn't ashamed of her time as a lone wolf-- after thinking on it a good long time, she realized that made her stronger, more capable of taking care of herself without an Alpha to direct her-- but she truly hated confrontation and would just as soon avoid mentioning anything that poked questions at her past. At least this soon after meeting someone.
"I think it's just impractical," she continued, "For a wolf to fish in the ocean. There's so much space, it must be harder to catch a fish when they can take off deeper than you can follow before you even have a chance to bite."
The trees thinned out and the ground beneath their feet had a little more give as the soil began to mix with sand. When the first rays of unblocked sun hit her fur, Calandra briefly turned her face up to the sky, letting the warmth chase off the chill from the shade of the forest.
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