|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:03 am
 Dusk was approaching, which meant that Artemis was in her comfort zone. Ever since she was a pup she had always favored the night. Her mother had even been convinced that it was just a phase that she would grow out of - but that proved to be wrong as each night Artemis spent more and more time away from the dens, slowly changing her routine so that she mostly slept during the day and was awake at night.
She crept forward slowly, the scent of many wolves was in this area so she knew she was near some pack territory, although what pack it was she didn't know. Celeste wasn't here at the moment, but the doe had likely gone off to graze before the sun completely set. Artemis cared deeply for her deer companion and if she didn't return soon she would go looking for her. Couldn't have the wolves in this pack making a meal out of her friend. The soft babbling of water reached her ears. A drink would be nice, Artemis thought as she adjusted her course. Perhaps she would find Celeste there.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:13 am
 Ever since the day some time ago - when Hero had helped Abyss find shells in the lake and gained the surly wolfs favor with a turtle shell Hero had spent some time trying to repeat this feat. It never seemed to work out in quite the same fashion however - no matter how many shells he plied her with, how many interesting baubles he unearthed in the river bed...the watery wolf remained aloof.
Hero didn't understand, she liked shells - he'd seen her searching for them on several occasions by herself and he knew she kept a nice pile of them in her den. He also knew his turtle shell was not among them. Hero could only assume that the large shell had been such a find that he hadn't been able to repeat it - beginners luck, and that she must keep it someplace special so it wouldn't get broken.
But he was determined to try and outdo that first shell - someday, if he spent enough time here - he would find the shell of all shells! The king shell! the one shell to rule them all and Abyss would swoon at his feet and tell him how amazing he truly was. Or at least...that was the dream Hero was occupying himself with as he waded in the water this evening.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:22 am
The trees in this area were not overly dense, they would provide her with good enough cover to move through. But the question that pulled at her mind more than anything was what kind of prey was in this area. Artemis was looking for a challenge, as she had grown bored with all the small easy game she had been finding lately. Perhaps this place, so far from her normal hunting grounds, would prove to have the perfect catch for her. The fact that she was near or in a pack territory was now the furthest thing from her mind as she scented the air, moving closed to the river.
Another wolf. She paused for a moment considering, well she could use a drink and honestly was willing to take the chance right now. So padding forward she reached the treeline, spotting the river just ahead. Stepping out from the trees she watched curiously as a male wadded his way into the water. Now what was he doing? Coming to a stop she decided to watch him for a moment, as he was doing some strange things.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:33 am
completely unaware that he had an audience now Hero's brow was furrowed in concentration as he waded about the river. "Have to move carefully" He reminded himself outloud - even if this did make him sound a bit to much like Pumpkin for his own good "don't want to stir up th bottom to much" He continued as he took careful steps forward.
Ah-ha! What was that? shining just to the left of his paw? Something glimmered at the bottom of the fairly clear water like a beckoning jewel and Hero was bound and determined to get it. Plunging his head into the water he worked his jaws carefully until he managed to get a good - but delicate - grip on the think before pulling his head up. Oh gods!...He noticed to late that the shiney bauble was indeed a shell, but a shell with an animal still attached and yelping in surprise Hero jumped about the water flinging his head from side to side as the irate crawdaddy clung with one pincher to his upper lip.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 11:42 am
When the male plunged his head under the water Artemis perked up. Very curious. Taking a few steps forward in order to get a better look the blue wolfess watched as the other pulled his head out of the water a few moments later holding something in his mouth. She didn't have time to see what it was before he let out that yelp. This got her curiosity going even more and she padded closer to the river until she could clearly see the crawdaddy hanging off of the other wolfs lip.
"You do realize there are other ways to kill yourself." She remarked offhandedly as she came to a stop near the edge of the river. "Though I do believe most of them are more painful than this." But all seriousness aside she couldn't help but smile just a bit at the sight in front of her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:05 pm
Hero wasn't surprised that a strange wolf had come along to see him make a fool of himself, wasn't that the way it always seemed to go? What did surprise him was the fact that it wasn't Winner. Not that a pretty female was any better he lamented as he made his way dismally to the shore, craw daddy still hanging resolutely to his lip.
Ear's flattened in embarrassment he used a paw to pry the offending creature off with a sharp whine at the pinch. He restrained the urge to kick the blasted creature into the water before turning to look at the female who had spoke. "I wasn't trying to kill myself..." He explained with a slight sigh. " I was...looking for shells" He continued with a glance back at the water and a flip of his head to throw the wet remnants o his unruly hair up and out of his eyes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:16 pm
Artemis tried had not to snicker as he pulled the craw daddy from his lip. It was a bit of a pathetic and yet att he same time hilarious display. Her eyes moved to the water, watching the creature crawl away from the wolf and then back at him. "Looking for shells?" She questioned curiously. What good were shells to a wolf. True some contained creatures in them, much like the one that had clamped onto his lip, but other than that they were pretty useless things. Maybe he ate the creatures contained in them. "What do you do with the shells? Eat the creatures inside?" It seemed like an odd thing to do, especially for a wolf who was within pack territory, but perhaps this wolf preferred food other than deer - which would actually be a good thing should Celeste come around now.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:30 pm
"Eat!..what?...no!" Hero responded in an appalled tone as he looked back at the escaping crawdaddy - eat the likes of that thing? He shuddered at the mere thought. Of course he suppose it was a viable question from someone who didn't know Abyss. "I was collecting them for someone" He told her honestly "She thinks their pretty" He continued, completely unaware that telling one pretty girl you were looking for something for a different pretty girl wasn't generally considered a smart thing to do.
Unless you weren't interested in pretty girl number two - which Hero couldn't really say truthfully as he took note of the others dark blue hide and swirls of cloudy silver.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 4:03 pm
So he didn't eat them, Artemis found oddly relieved at that news for surely the creatures couldn't taste all that well. Of course if a fine looking male like him fed himself on such tiny creatures alone she would have been a bit impressed, and yet at the same time turned off by the idea. Any slight amusement she had towards this was suddenly gone when he mentioned finding shells for a female. That could mean only one thing, as only taken males would ever work at such an odd job to provide things for a female. "Well...I hope you have a successful shell hunt. I am merely passing through the area." Her eyes flicked to the river for a moment and then back to the male. "Was just here to get a drink."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 10:12 am
Hero wasn't sure what had caused her sudden change of temper, once second she had seemed somewhat amused by him - which while not a great sort of impression to leave was certainly better then the indifferent manner she was affecting now. Not that that was anything new...and looked down at the now mud swirled water after all his leaping and thrashing about he got a desolate look on his face.
"I doubt so now" He told her "The water is all muddy...and no doubt she'll yell at me for that too, if she notices" He finally admitted with a sigh "I honestly don't know why I bother, Abyss barely gives me the time of day" And there he went baring his soul to some stranger like a lovesick puppy. And not just any stranger but a new and pretty female one at that - by the moons he must be making a fool of himself and hastening to make up for his dismal display of manners he tried to introduce himself. "I'm Hero...don't know where my manners went..."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 10:58 am
The picture was coming clearer now, he was collecting shells for a female that had clearly caught his eye but from what he had said didn't seem to care for him. Interesting. Abyss was an odd name for a wolf, but then as he introduced himself she also thought that Hero was an odd name as well. Wasn't Hero more of a title than name anyways? She wasn't really what to say about his situation, did he expect her to give him some womanly advice on how to get this Abyss' attention? Well if he was he was barking up the wrong tree so to speak. Eyes ticked to the water once more, the spot was a bit too muddy to drink from but further upstream was still clear.
"Artemis." She finally said as her attention turned back to Hero. "What kind of hunting you got up here?" It was an odd question sure, but it would help get the conversation steered away from this other female as well as give her some insight into whether this long journey had been worth while or not.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 11:41 am
"That's a pretty name" Hero told her kindly - though it was far different then any of the names in his pack, but then she wasn't from his pack so why on Telk should he expect her name to sound like it was? That had been a silly concept. In any case he was more then willing to drop the shell hunting subject since he was pretty sure it might bother her, though he still wasn't sure exactly why. Females...
"Hunting?" Hero's brow furrowed slightly in thought as he considered this question for a few moments "Well there's Deer...maybe some...elk? moose?..pigs..ducks..geese.." He started to ramble out a list of the game he had either seen or hunted before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 11:58 am
Ignoring the comment about her name being pretty Artemis was more concerned about him answering her question. After all most males thought her name was pretty, as well as every other female name out there. When he finally did provide her with the answer she was looking for Artemis was a bit disappointing. Most of those creatures were found throughout Telk so they would not prove all that challenging - well except for moose and elk, those were challenging. "Elk and moose huh?" She seemed to perk up at those words. While not the most overly challenging prey she could come across it might be worth while to stick around here for a day or two so she could try her luck. "Do you know where they are most often found? She questioned him, and while she did enjoy the thrill of tracking an animal down it couldn't hurt to narrow your search area just a bit - especially when in a packs territory to which one did not belong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 12:13 pm
"Well..no" He had to tell her in a bit of a disappointed tone - because she had seemed to perk up at the thought of those creatures and here he was telling her he had no idea where to find them. She probably thought he was some sort of liar and had only included them in an attempt to impress her. This was far from the truth of course - Hero did want to impress her but he would never lie to do so, that would be highly dishonorable. Then he'd be no better then Winner, moon forbid!
Thinking quickly he hurried on "The truth of it is we don't hunt them much - they are far to big for one wolf or even a pair, but I bet my alpha's will know where to find them.." He offered, perking up at what seemed to be a solution to this problem.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:36 am
Artemis was to say the least quite a bit disappointed that he didn't know where she could find those creatures. But she didn't hold it against him, perhaps the packs territory was quite large and therefore they didn't always have the ability to keep track of the animals that roamed it. Her brow quirked when he mentioned that the pack didn't hunt them. "Perhaps if you worked hard enough at it you would be surprised what one or two wolves can accomplish with such large prey." She told him as she remembered some of her previous hunts. They had been challenging for sure, taking on a creature that would normally require two or more wolves but then that was part of the thrill of the hunt wasn't it? "If your alpha's can tell me where to find said prey then I would be more than grateful."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
