The sky stretched on and on and on for the odd colored female. She sat at the entrance to her 'den' and just gazed upwards. It was a very pretty blue, with little bitty puffs of white on occasion. Nearly cloudless. There wasn't much wind on this day, either, which meant that the day would be a very warm, good day! Meru was tired of having to eat the rotten meat she'd found a few days ago. The puppy couldn't attempt to hunt by herself in the rain. It wasn't fun!
Stretching out in the first rays of sun in two days, she shook out her dusty coat and started off into the underbrush of the forest. It was muddy, very muddy, but she didn't mind it. It'd make finding a rabbit that much easier. It would make her easier to track, too, but she didn't think about that. She felt the mud squish between her toes and she couldn't help but wiggle them. It felt wonderful on dry, itchy foot pads like her own. Hell, Meru as a whole felt dry and itchy, not worth befriending or much else. Something about being family and packless mad her feel like less of a wolf. But how was she to know? She didn't remember her family, or if she was in a pack.
And why didn't she remember anything? It was because she was left for dead, that's why. That's what she believed, when really, she wandered away at a very, very young age. But they didn't even look for her!
Purple spotted legs moved quickly though bushes and over stumps, going to where she last saw a rabbit den. "Maybe I won't be a scavenger much longer." It wouldn't be true. Meru knew she'd bee a scavenger until she was at least a teenager. Then she'd be big enough to hunt for herself. "Rabbits? Rabbits!" She called out, as if that would help her hunt at all. She was clueless!
Neptune wondered secretly if his colorblindness was to compensate for some other hidden talent waiting to rear its head in his life? After all, a child from the beta female and the hunting trainer couldn't possibly be handicapped, could he? No, it was preposterous, inconcievable, irresponsible for Nature to have bestowed upon him such ill-advised sight, and surely it would go away as he grew older . . . Just like those tiny, almsot insignificant whispers in his head at night.
He had grown restless during the rains and had all but shot out of his parents' den once the sunshine was poking out through the clouds. It may be a gray and silver world to him, but Neptune wanted to see it all regardless even if one lump of layered monochrome was as good as the next. Some days it was easy to be optimistic; others, like today, for some reason were not. But Neptune always made sure to hide his inexplicable surliness from his family; they didn't need something else to think about besides his colorblindness and generally quiet (disquieting?) nature.
There! Yells! He perked mismatched ears up with curiosity rather than fear or suspicion and decided to investigate . . . The pup was a dark blue form amongst bright pastels, so his head stuck out like a rotten blueberry in the patch he paused in, just staring at the she-pup with a slight frown. Since when did hunting need yelling? Or maybe that was what actually attracted rabbits now . . .
Liquid blue eyes caught movement and her ears heard it not to late after. She heard the brush move and saw some kind of small, dark colored fur moving through them. There was definitely something there! Then again, the grasses were so tall, it could have been another pup, but she wouldn't know until she went to look. Te oddly colored she-wolf pup trotted towards the movement and sniffed quite a bit.
It was... a ...wolf! Oh, boy! Someone to play with. Or help her hunt, whichever she was more inclined to ask first. First thing to do was ask who he was and where he came from. He could be family! Oh, if she found her family, that would make her ecstatic! It would make her flipping year.
So, with a yelp, she broke into a ran and stopped in front of a dark blue male! It was a boy! Maybe she had a brother. She couldn't remember right now. Flicking her ears and then blinking, she backed up. Something wasn't right. He didn't smell like her, so he wasn't family. But this pup was frowning still. What had she done? "Oh, no..." she said in a whisper, no doubt he'd hear. "Did... I stumble over boundaries again? Am I in a pack?" The last time she did that, the male in charge chased her for a good half-day and wanted to kill her. She could feel it in her bones.
Her ears went back, tail went between her legs and she hung her head in submission. Clearly, she'd done this before. Many times, in fact.
The femme's behavior was peculiar to him. Who in the world would speak aloud their thoughts? Was she of ill-mind? There she went muttering to herself loud enough for him to hear, clearly scared and putting herself in the typical submissive pose his parents had shown him to use when around the alphas and other adults; it was done so stiffly, almost rebelliously, though he knew not why when the pack had been quite welcoming and he had no qualms against Haku or Macha. But these were thoughts that had nothign to do with now, so Neptune quickly brushed them away.
To her questions, he inclined his head slightly in a nod, indicating with his tail back behind him. "Draug Faroth," he added, putting a name to what was probably nameless lands to her. She smelled of earth and no-one else, which made him frown just a tad more. What was her story? How coudl she not have scented the bordermarkings or hear of them? Neptune assumed everyone knew of Draug Faroth anyway, especially loners with nothing better to do beyond eating carrion.
Draug Faroth? The hell did that mean? Blinking a bit the female pup frowned and then relaxed a little bit. She didn't get out of her submissive mode, but she got out of that particular pose. She hummed a little as she racked her brain to come up with if she'd heard an odd name like that. And the answer was a big no. She'd remember that kind of name.
"Oh," was all she could muster up for her intelligence. Those blue eyes swept over the blue pup before smiling at him a bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I was on... pack lands." Her ears drooped again and she gave a bit of a huff. Well, that ruined her fun. The rabbit dens weren't much further passed this boy. "I was just.. hunting, and I know rabbits are that way. I chased some, once." No use in lying to him; that'd get her nowhere.
Didn't know? What, she couldn't tell a rabbit scent from a wolf's? Strays, you could never guess at their intelligence; how many of them were actually capable of living on their own, he had to wonder about. For all he knew, this one could be a tad mad in the head, and so Neptune remained slightly stiff regardless of her posture, his head tilted up ever so slightly so that he might also look down his nose upon her.
"Is that all?" he asked. "Rabbits? Yelling gets you nowhere with that. They are easily scared."
They were? That was news to her. That made her smile disappear from her face and her tail to curl back between her legs before she sighed heavily. "I.... knew that," she said, trying to defend herself and her intelligence. She was smart, for having practically raised herself. "I wanted to try a different strategy is all." She nodded firmly and looked at Neptune with a pathetic look. She was a horrible liar.
"....I just.... don't have family. So I hunt for myself... I'm no good at it yet."
Pity was not the way for him, and her words only made him uncomfortable. The dark blue pup shifted slightly from paw to paw, trying to look stern. "Then get better, fast, or you die out there," he said, trying to be tough like his mother. It was only by her example that he knew not all girls were weak, but this one was looking ready to try and disprove him. "Your strategy doesn't have any planning. You're just yelling for beasts to come get you this way."
Her temper flared up at his harsh seeming words. Meru didn't mean any harm, but she expected something like this. Because she'd stepped on his borders. Flicking her tail and gritting her teeth, the sea green pup tried to reel her temper in before it got the better of her.
"OK, so I lied. I don't know the first thing about hunting. I've lived as long as I have off of vulture leftovers, or I get there before the vultures do." That was pure truth. "I eat rotting meat and grass and live in a den not to far away from your border." Anyone who could survive off of a diet like that had to be tough, right?
"Sounds disgusting," Neptune commented, making a face at the pitiful pup. So his theory was basically being proven: he was chatting with some dung-eating girl whose brains were addled by rotten meat! The best course of action of course would be to get away and let her be; he didn't want to get involved with strangers who would probably gobble him up if he let his guard down - a testament to the male's over preparation and paranoia of what lay outside his pack's boundaries.
"I'd suggest finding a new family then," he told her with a little shrug, turning as if to leave her. "Or else the vultures will get you too. Or a lynx. Or maybe a bear if you get into a cave of theirs."
So he was just going to leave? Meru could see he didn't think much of her, but that just addued fuel to the fire. Don't attack. He hasn't really offended you, verbally. She had to remind herself that she was the one who was in the wrong right now. He had home advantage. He could call adults in that would probably kill her for venturing this far.
"If I could find a family, I would," she said with a snort, glaring at him. "I've tried finding my family, that's why I'm this far! I traveled from the north down here for days and days." That was true, too. "I was hoping I could find mom and dad. I don't even remember what they smell like anymore." Pity would get her no where, but she was mainly saying that last part to herself. Maybe she would be vulture food. "No one would miss me if I was."
Oh great, did he just invoke some sort of pity party now? Neptune gave a small roll of his eyes while his back was still turned to her, then he looked over his shoulder towards the girl before speaking. "Maybe they don't want to be found. I think food's easier to find and much more important to you, right? Stop looking for ghosts and try something you can actually sink your teeth into. And quietly. You've probably scared off all the rabbits in the surrounding area."
And look, now she was glaring at him! For what, speaking pragmatically? Neptune snorted in return. "Well look, you're alive, maybe they aren't. I think someone like you needs to think about themselves just a bit more. Scavenging isn't healthy." Like strays had the option of eating much else!
"Who asked you anyway? Jerk. I don't have a choice in what I eat since I can't hunt. At least I can admit what I can't do. I bet you don't do that. Do you?" She snorted a bit and growled at him, fur bristling. Give up on chasing her parents? How could she do that? What would she have to live for then? "If I do that, I can't live for anything else, so why should I? I'm not like you. You probably have everything handed to you. Your food, water, you have a nice warm bed to curl up in aad siblings to surround you. But I don't. You have it so easy. I bet you wouldn't last a day in my life."
Her voice had been raising at a steady rate until she was screaming at him, tears dripping down her face. Stupid pack pups. They didn't know how easy their lives were. He looked down at her? There wasn't even fair.
Jeez, his mother wasn't this emotional! Guess girls were an unpredictable species after all. His ears flattened in response, glaring now. "My life is none of your business, stray!" he growled, feeling quite pleased to reaffirm his position over her. "Maybe if you stopped spilling sobstories you'd find a home, huh? Live for ghosts or die for nothing, your choice. I want nothing to do with someone who won't bother trying to make themselves some better choices in life!"
Sure, it was noble to believe that something was attainable, but there was a definite line between determined and insanity. And frankly Neptune thought she had crossed it, so he attempted one last time to issue some "friendly" advice. "If they left you, then don't bother with them, girlie. You're better off trying to make your own life."
That was it. His words cut her deep and the look that he was giving her, like she was scum or something. She charged at him, hoping to sink her teeth into his flesh. It wasn't right for him to pull rank. Thought he was so much better because he had family and a pack to fall back on. She didn't even care about the pack now. She was pissed and wanted some form of retribution for being hurt.
A small gasp escaped him, but that was all the pup could issue before he was tackled, too slow to react to the spotted, pale opponent as she charged him. It was a mess of monochrome on his eyes and she had an advantage of surprise - his was only that he was in far better health. He tussled with the she-pup between growls, blindly snapping and kicking more to get her off than to actually cause damage.
He ended up bucking her off, but that didn't stop her. The tears kept coming as she charged him again, ignoring if it was futile or not. She wanted him to know her pain. It wasn't fair! She hated him, Meru hated packs. She'd never join one from this day on.
However, before she could tackle him a second time, she tripped and went face first into the mud, letting out a ragged sobbing yell. She hated it so much! Feeling like he was right; that she should stop searching for ghosts. But who'd want her? Where did she even begin to look for a family. She laid there in the mud, defeated, not even looking at him now.
Neptune at length managed to roll back onto his paws, panting and feeling the stings of her various nips and kicks, shaking himself clean of the shock preceding the small scuffle. Ears still pinned to his head, he raised his hackles once more and gave a soft growl at the pitiful figure in the mud. Nothing he had said warranted a fight! (Well, least that was what he thought.) He felt several wet spots near his neck and for a moment thought he was bleeding, but . . . no, it wasn't dark enough to be blood. It was clearer, more . . . tear-like. Plus he didn't hurt significantly there either.
Oh, right. Tears. That might explain the sobbing sounds.
"You . . . you don't go making friends like that," he said after a small pause, still catching his breath (was he so easily tired?!). "You want help making your life better? Wolves can help that. Not always with helping look for others. Telk's too big for that."
"Who'd want me? I'm no one, not any good for anything," she said in the mud, not caring that it got in her mouth. Yes, more pity. She finally got herself up and sniffled, shaking the mudd off herpelt as best as she could. This was stupid. Feeling sorry for herself from just a few harsh words. Before she wouldn't have cared. It was the way he said the words that cut her wound open so deep.
She looked at him, covered and caked in mud and tears, sniffling a bit more and then she seemed to just give up. "Fine. .....I don't ...even know what I'd look for in a family. Or do they look for me? Would.... .....you help?"
Neptune gazed at her levelly for a moment before answering. "You'd have to go before the alphas first, see what happens. They won't turn away a pup," he told her. "Though there's a lot of use right now: seven. They'll make you work eventually. Draug Faroth is more about hunting than anything else, so if you don't shape up as a hunter, they might derank you." Well he didn't know that as fact, but it made sense, right?
She pawed at the mud on her face and felt a bit better. With help, she could be a wonderful huntress. With help, she could get healthier and live better. With help, she could forget about her famly and start over. "I'm Meru," she said at last, wanting to know his name. She'd been right about the air of power about him. He knew what he was talking about.
"Neptune." Ah, now he knew why he felt exhausted! He was talking too much. Yes, that had to be it . . . He wasn't usually talkative unless called upon, and most of his young life had been spent in the company of others were the attention was divided up; here, one-on-one, it had been too focused. Was it even possible to get tired from moving your jaws up and down so much? Huh.
"This way . . ." He hid a wince as he turned, not daring to look like her charge had given him any damage. Colorblind he might be, but Neptune knew his scents and could backtrack back home.
She followed him quickly, actually, and caught up till she was walking side by side. Funny how a fight could bring others together when it seperated most. "Neptune...." She repeated to commit it to memory.
