|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 7:18 pm
 It was one of those days when the desire to feast on the flesh of his own kind had simmered down enough to where he could speak to a wolf without first attempting to nibble on them. Prion often referred to them as his off days, when his normal cannibalistic tendencies were brought to nothing more than a gentle whisper in the back of his mind. It was on days like this that he didn't mind eating deer or rabbit or whatever else wolves normally ate. This was likely as good thing as his paws were absently taking him towards the territory of a pack. Had this been a normal day Prion would had detected the scent of wolves by now, and that would have sent him into a blood thirsty frenzy that could only be sated by the flesh of his kin.
For a long time now Prion had lived on the outskirts of life, never getting to close to any packs and only picking off wanderers when the need to eat arise. It had made him a bit skinny, as he generally refused to eat anything but wolf. He couldn't say why he generally avoided packs, but perhaps a part of his brain that was unaffected by the years of torment from eating his own family and pack to survive resurfaced each and every time he came within proximity to a large group of wolves. It was the act of desperate survival so many years ago that had driven him mad and now he was too far down that road to ever recover fully. He did have his off days like today when he resembled a normal wolf at least in his mental capacity, there was nothing he could do about the eerie glow of his eyes, a curse from birth his pack had called it.
Each time he thought back on his time with his old pack the more Prion convinced himself that eating them to survive had been a good idea. They had cast him out at his birth, though he remained within their borders, just because his eyes were different. He had at one time been a normal wolf with nothing more than an unfortunate genetic trait. But when hard times fell upon them it was he who would have the last laugh, he who found the unlimited resources of food when others gave into their starvation like idiots. He has taken great pleasure in eating those who had seen him as odd and not worthy of being alive. But that had had its price as well and that price was his sanity. By the time he had eaten the last of his pack the months of feasting on his kin, including his family, had taken its toll. Not today though, today was as close to normal as he could get and he was enjoying every minute of it.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 7:32 pm
 "Did I see that tree before? Oh dear . . ." But trees all looked the same! Annabell didn't understand how a wolf could navigate the forest and was often prodding at pack members on how-to's such as this "hunting" bit. Apparently every wolf should know how to do it by her age! How odd. But Anna could never bring herself to give her own theory as to why she was so helpless, for how many wolves would actually believe her? Better to be thought the awkward black sheep than the ugly duckling after all . . . Or in this, a different species entirely!
"Okay . . . Okay, Anna, think. You got turned around before, but you can turn this all around still! Hopefully in the right direction." She flared her nostrils, an action that felt strange, and took in all the scents that hit her: an astronomical amount at that, she had to pause for a bit to think them over. "...Nope, not helping. But I'm at the border! I'll find someone's scent soon, right?"
God, she was so incompetent sometimes, even Annabell herself roiled with embarrassment. She hummed to herself to occupy the silence as she moved, sniffing about.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 7:43 pm
Prion continued his forward motion for some time before fully realizing that he was headed towards a pack. Pausing he took a moment to scent the air, yes there were a good number of wolves in this area and that thought made him salivate slightly. If it wasn't a cursed off day he would be approaching a buffet style meal, but alas today they were just wolves not a snack. Though they could potentially be should his current mental clarity wear off. It was hard to know when that would happen, sometimes it occurred gradually and other times he would go from having an idle conversation with a wolf to chewing hungrily on its limbs in the blink of an eye. Should he continue on and risk such a think happening? Well his paws seemed to have made the decision for him as he began to pad towards the wolf filled area.
He didn't get far before an odd sound reached his ears, a sound they he vaguely remembered hearing before but couldn't remember just what it was. Turning course to meet up with whatever was making that sound Prions thin limbs carried him relatively quickly towards the source. When he finally caught sight of the beast Prions paws came to a sudden stop. A singing snack...no not a snack today but a regular wolf. Bobbing his head slightly Prion congratulated himself for now remembering what that odd sound had been - singing. It had probably been a year or more since he heard any melodic sound and he felt somewhat drawn to it. Stepping forward slowly Prion made his way towards the humming wolf taking in her odd markings as he did. He always did enjoy the taste of purple wolves, and those black bone-like markings added to the temptation. No, he told himself with a shake of the head, not a snack. Tongue hung out from his mouth as he got closer to her, but he would refrain from biting her - for now at least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 7:53 pm
The humming was soothing to her. Covered up a few of the creepier sounds of the forest (she was still getting used to it at night especially), gave her something to do while doing something else, and . . .well, frankly, it just felt right to her to make music. Not astounding howls or soprano sonatas by any stretch of the imagination, but simple humming. Her paws even fell in step so that she was both rhythm and song and, with no-one watching, it wasn't as embarassi-
Wellnowait, someone was there. Annabell stopped humming and eyed the stranger curiously. Why, what on Telk were his eyes doing? Was that normal? And his tongue was just lolling out like . . . Well, like a dog! An adorable, albeit odd dog. Who wasn't a dog, she reminded herself. She offered the glowy-eyed male a welcome smile, though it was a little tentative. "Hello there, fella! Lost as I am in these woods? Just like the border up and walked off without telling me!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2010 8:00 pm
As he watched he almost bobbing walk that seemed to match her humming Prion couldn't help but feel this odd sense he hadn't felt in a while. Oh what was it called again? Peace...no...anger...most certainly not...happiness, ah yes that was it, happiness. When she came to a stop the corners of his mouth pulled up slightly to create a not quite perfect smile as his tongue continued to hang out like a giant pink flag of sorts. And his tail, well his head whipped around for a moment to see just what it was doing, why it was wagging back and forth. When did that start doing that? Turning his attention back to the wolf before him Prior nodded slightly as if he were agreeing with her, but wasn't quite sure what he was agreeing to. "Lost? No, can't be lost if I don't know where I'm headed." He admitted to her and tried to not laugh while figuring out how a border could walk off. Weren't they like big boulders, completely unmovable? Did it matter? No not really.
"You always do that?" He questioned and then after a moments pause thought it was best to explain just what he meant by that. "The singing I mean. Don't come across many that do that." Of course he left out the detail that he didn't really come across wolves all that often unless hunger took control. Though he had to admit he could use a bit of a snack right about now...but not her, not yet, his mind was still too clear to partake in kindred flesh at the moment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2010 11:36 am
Aww, lookit-it, he was wagging his tail~ Her own stubby one returned the favor of its own volition; a tail in and of itself felt off, and yet spot on for some reason at the same time. Like an arm on her butt without fingers! A very, very short fingerless arm. And no hand anyway!
"S'not really singin', mate," Annabell replied. "More like a'hummin'. But yup, I like to fill silence!" She tilted her head coquettishly. "You know, not knowing where you're headed's the same as being lost last I checked. Wanna be lost together? I'm sure with two noses we'll find something out. My pack's somewhere in these forests, they love those trees. A few of 'em look like trees even," Anna added with a small chuckle, turning to continue on her merry way. "This whole scouting thing is new to me to be honest. Not really used to these parts. You travel a lot, stranger?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2010 6:43 pm
Wait, singing and humming were two different things? Now he was confused, he always thought they were the same thing. "I...I thought singing and humming were the same." Though he also couldn't understand why she would want to fill the silence with humming or singing or whatever she considered it. In fact Prion enjoyed the silence, one of the many reasons he stayed away from other wolves...well unless he was hungry. But in general Prion liked the silence.
His ears perked forward as she mentioned her pack. She was a part of the pack he smelled earlier. Well that could complicate things if he had some sudden urge to snack on them - or her for that matter. He gave his head a shake and tried to focus on what she was saying. "There are wolves that looked like trees?" He wondered for a moment if they would also taste like trees. Trees didn't taste good, nothing green did for that matter. Well no that wasn't true, some colors were actually complimented with a little green and made them taste that much better. "You aren't good at scouting? Well...I sort of know how to scout, no good at hunting though." He admitted. Oh he could track just about anything down, but he never saw the point to chasing something down that you may or may not catch. He preferred to go for the easy kills, the ones where he would sneak into a sleeping wolfs den and and snap its neck before it would wake.
The mere thought made him start to drool and his tongue flopped out of him mouth once more, a wolfish grin slathered across his maw before he realized it. It took him a moment to snap back into reality. What has she asked him? Oh yes. He nodded his head, causing a few strings of drool to gently fling off of his tongue. "I travel a lot, go where the food goes." He didn't think it was best to mention that the food he was talking about was wolf, as so far they were getting along quite well and he needed to keep talking as long as his mind ignored any of his normal tendencies.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:58 pm
The "doggyness" seemed enhanced by the spittle, as if the image stirred vague memories just beyond reach. Like she knew someone once who did that . . . Well hopefully not human, that would just be disgusting. Not that it wouldn't be on any creature for that matter, but here it was . . . cute-ish. Like part of an ensemble. He was just hungry! So hungry that he drooled! D'awwwww.
Just as long as he didn't get spit on her, though!
Guess he also like to . . . eat trees? Or maybe he was drooling at the thought of prey, which made much more sense. You're so stupid sometimes, Annabell told herself with a chuckle. What wolf ate trees? She instantly wanted to help the little guy out - well no, he wasn't really little she told herself - but either way she didn't want to just let him stand there flinging spittle and wagging his tail all by his lonesome. "Hokay, then how's about a deal? You help me find the border to my pack again, and I'll help us both get a meal. My pack's pretty good about hunting too; maybe I could nab us a lesson!" She'd feel loads better knowing she wouldn't be the only adult learning. Heaven knew she felt stupid next to the youngsters who already could pounce and stalk and all that good stuff!
"Oh! And singing and humming aren't the same, by the way. Singing's got lalala's and words and junk. Hummin's just the music. Liiiike this." Anna hummed for him something quick. "And this is singing. Bye bye, lu lee lu lay~" The same tune, but with words.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:43 pm
Why did she keep looking at him like that? As if he were a...toy? He thought about her offer, well he could easily help her find her pack - even if he thought it was a bad idea. There was a very, very good chance that his mental clarity would far the closer he got to the pack. At the very least he could try, if only to finally redeem himself for his past actions. Chewing his lip slightly Prion was having a hard time deciding what to do.
"Uh...deal." Raising his nose to the sky Prion scented the air. He could smell many things but concentrated on the smell of wolves. Ah there was that tantalizing smell he knew so well. "This way...I think." It was sometimes hard to tell exactly where a pack once, the overwhelming scent of wolves occasionally shifted with the winds sending the tracker in the wrong way. Padding in the direction that the scent was the strongest he glanced over at the humming wolf suddenly realizing he didn't know her name. "Prion...names Prion." He introduced himself, but since he wasn't entirely used to socializing he failed to ask her name, not knowing that he should.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:58 pm
Annabell apparently was re-stuck on the humming part again, or rather "singing" now as she entwined music to her sentences. "Priiiiiiion, what an odd name you've got~! The sorta name forgotten I . . . cannot~!"
Yeah, she could carry a tune if she wanted. Lyrics, though? Eeeh . . . still working on it.
Putting her trust in this not-so-much-a-stranger now wolf, she danced after him, her pawsteps keeping a steady beat; her stub-tail was a metronome keeping tempo! "Annabell," she replied with a grin. "But you can call be Anna, or Bells, or Anna-B, or whatever you want, cutie." If she was smarter, she probably would have tried to copy his movements, the flaring of the nose, the advantage of rotating ears, the alert senses in general. Maybe then she would save herself further embarrassment in the future.
Of course, a smarter wolf would have sensed something off about Prion to begin with, even in his sane state. Such was the animal instinct Annabell had yet to grasp.
"Say, where'd you get those glowy eyes anyway?" she posed after a few minutes of walking. "Did you eat too many fireflies or somethin'?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:14 pm
Head tipped in a curious manner at her....singing? Well if she wanted to sing let her, it was helping to keep him distracted from the tingling thought in the back of his mind of all the meals he was walking towards. He had to fight off the urge to drool once more. He focused on her singing, it kept him in the now, not in the place his mind wished to be.
"Anna." He repeated her named to lock it in his memory. Don't eat Anna, he added to himself. Wait. Did she just call him cutie? Did she call everyone that or was it just him? If it was just him he didn't understand, he was far from cute, he was an abomination - that is what they had called him all his life, thanks to his eyes.
Speaking of his eyes, his mind snapped him back to reality at the question and brought his paws to a sudden halt. He could not exactly explain how he got them. But the idea of eating fireflies made him shudder slightly. Who in their right minds would want to eat those annoying blinking insects? They clearly had no nutritional value whatsoever and you would need to eat hundreds of them to keep hunger at bay. "Born with 'em." He explained with a slight shrug before walking once more, changing direction slightly as the wind shifted to bring the scent of wolves into his nostrils once more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:37 pm
"Anna's good, yup! Anna's just dandy," she affirmed, apparently chatty once she was with company. At least she had forgone the singing for a bit, mainly due to Prion's answer. Born with it? Huh . . . What sort of wolves were born with glowing eyes? She still was sure he probably ate something odd, like fireflies again or . . . or some of those glowy plants she saw. Names weren't coming to mind, but nature had all sorts of bioluminescence if you knew where to look; and obviously this guy did, even if he didn't know it! She'd probably have to ask him some more about it some time. Preferably with a full stomach.
Even thinking it initiated her stomach to follow after, softly growling its appeal for food. "Think we're close...It looks more familiar now." Annabell tilted her head this way and that, nodding slightly as formations that rang bells in her mind happened. Unless she was looking at trees so much that they all looked the same! That was also an alternate theory. But her nose didn't lie, and soon she was picking up the pace, padding right alongside Prion as she followed it. "Yeah . . . yeah, I think we're on it! Godspeed, man, scents are wonderful."
She knew of one wolf who might disagree, but to heck with it. The nose knew! Before she knew it, the omega was prancing forward excitedly, darting a look back at Prion for him to keep up. "Race ya!" she barked for no particular reason other than the thrill of running and took off, suddenly very, very sure of her path when only minutes before she was more lost than a bat in daylight. But hey, that was what happened when a somewhat capricious femme was de-located from the first place she had ever called home: even a hint that could lead her back would be something she'd cling to and, well, run with!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:50 pm
Prion shook his head a bit, Anna was a little odd - which was almost refreshing given that he too was a bit off, well more like a lot off, but that didn't matter. The light rumbled of her stomach made his ears perk forward. She had promised him a meal if he got her back to her pack but it sounded like she needed it more than him.
Taking a deep inhale Prion could indeed smell the strong scent of wolves. They were close, which was reassuring and frightening at the same time. "Scents are pretty nice." He agreed with her, though a bit halfheartedly. Scents could get him into trouble, could sent him spiraling down that road where he craved beyond anything else the flesh of another wolf. Eyes ticked to Anna as her paws seemed to bounce off the ground happily slowly picking up speed as they did so. Then she was running ahead of him.
Prion brought his paws to a stop. The words race ya echoed through his mind but he barely heard them. Instead his mind was focused on one thing and that was the slender form of that wolf running through the trees. Instantly he began to salivate, his need for flesh screaming at him to give chase even if he did hate with every fiber of his being actually hunting his meals down. This was different, this was Anna, this was his purple humming snack and he was hungry! Food! His mind screamed at him once more and without another moments hesitation Prion bust forward his paws digging into the ground as he ran after Anna, his friend, his snack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:05 pm
She could hear the thuds of his paws behind him and laughed. A good sport too! And look, he was a pretty good runner too . . . Really fast . . . Dang, man. Was she out of shape or something? She wasn't that small or anything. Maybe he was used to running because he walked so much as a traveller? Anna imagined after a while that it'd bulk someone up for sure.
Well, she wasn't going to let him catch up so quickly!
"Aaaaand this way to the meal!" she called, turning the race into a game of tag as she darted sharply to the side, nearly colliding with a tree. Curse it, but her awesome hair wasn't being so awesome if it got in her eyes so much! She tossed her head to clear her vision, tongue lolling as she curved around yet another tree, heading past the Draug Faroth border. Annabelle didn't so much smell it as she did sense it: that calming, innate knowledge that she was within safety again, amongst companions and near her den. And hopefully food too, if the hunts were successful!
"Almost there, big guy! C'mon!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:16 pm
He was catching up to her relatively quickly, his kill was in sight and then she quickly turned directions. Prion wasn't so good with turning fact and he scrambled to keep his prey in sight while navigating this turn. His paws skidded and he felt his back end slide a bit too far, spinning him around too much. Once he got his balance back the chase was on once more. "Food!" He howled as he chased her, his mind still on catching this snack and not of the friend he had made earlier.
The thick scent of wolves in the air added to his desire to eat and he put on an extra burst of speed. Her purple-grey body was getting closer now, he could almost taste her, almost. Another thing Prion wasn't that good at was biting on the run, so when he finally got close enough to her his jaw aimed at her rump. His intention was to bite her, but because of his lack of coordination he ended up nipping her in an almost playful manner. It made him angry that he missed, and anger blinded him. In fact it blinded him to the fact that there was a tree in his path until it was much to late to avoid it.
Even so Prion hit the brakes in hopes of softening the blow, and it sort of worked. Twisting his body at the last moment Prion bounced off the tree instead of slamming into it head off. But the impact was enough to jar him out of the cannibalistic thoughts he had only moments earlier. As he tumbled to a stop Prion got to his feet quickly almost embarrassed by what had happened, but thankfully back into a normal mindset. Padding on as if nothing happened he went to catch up with Anna again. "Stupid tree." He mumbled under his breath.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
