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 Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 11:30 am
 
Something needed to change in Novacaine's life.
He didn't know what it was. He only knew that, at the end of the day, he wasn't satisfied with his life anymore. And he didn't know how to go about changing that. He couldn't even pinpoint exactly what it was that was making him unhappy. How could you change something without even knowing what it was? The young wolf sighed and pressed forward, wandering through the trees. He had long since left Agua Azul territory, but wasn't properly sure where he had wandered off to, and didn't really care anyway.
His lynx trailed after him, a stunted little red and teal creature with a vacant sort of look in its eyes. Smirnoff had been found as a kitten by the wolf pup, and the two had grown up together -- although for much of his life, Nova had thought the little lynx was imaginary.
Novacaine was used to insanity. It ran in his bloodline, and most of his relations suffered from one thing or another. His mother heard voices. His sisters had hallucinations.
Nova...had nothing. And he was a little jealous of the fact. At the end of the day, the brightly-colored wolf wanted nothing more than to feel some magic in his life, like the kind his relations seemed to enjoy. But he didn't, and maybe that was the root of his unhappiness....
He shook himself, stopped, and peered around. Oh, great. Now he was brooding. Brooding! He didn't brood. Other wolves brooded. He...did something else. This was ridiculous.
The lynx stopped behind him, peering up at him curiously, but said nothing, and Novacaine huffed and rose back to his paws. Dammit, if he had to make magic and adventure happen in his life, then he'd do it, no matter how hard it was!
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:21 am
 Death.
Both a mysterious, and yet simple, concept. It was an end, yes; but could it also be a beginning? A beginning to what? A continuation of what was, yet in another form? Or simply, the passing of life from one individual to another. Perhaps that's all that life was, a continuous cycle of life being passed from one to the next, never ceasing, just moving from one host to another.
These musings were what passed through the head of a lone female wolf. Her form was sprawled in a relaxed manner, as if completely unconcerned with her surroundings, but her eyes were focused on the ground in front of her nose. Her head lay upon her forepaws, and she watched the earth with complete fascination. Inches from the end of her nose, a beetle lay upon its back. Having given its life to the universe, the dead husk was now being segmented and carried away by a line of steadily moving ants.
The ants were very much alive, and would continue to be so, thanks to the beetle. So, had they taken on the life the beetle once possessed? And yet, if Melka were to break the line with her paw, squishing the ants into the earth, would she take on those lives as her own? Was life only to be absorbed and passed about, as if in some game of tag?
Curious.
The dark wolf lifted a paw, hovering it over the line of ants, then continued watching, letting a smile drift over her maw as she lowered her paw slowly back to the ground beside the line. Nah, she had enough life of her own. Her attention remained on her tiny subjects of musing, and she paid little attention to her surroundings.
Even when a male wolf and his companion lynx entered the area, she didn't seem to notice.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:42 am
The lynx stopped, again, peering around the area, its nose having caught the scent of the lone female nearby. He paused, and tried to make his mouth form words, struggling with them as though choking. The lynx had always had difficulties communicating, and it made him appear a bit slow in the head -- when in truth, he really wasn't, and that doubled his frustration at his inability to communicate properly. "Other -- w-w-wolf."
Novacaine's ear twitched, and he glanced back at his lynx, confused. "No, Smirnoff, it's just me." He sighed. "Don't tell me you're seeing things now, too?" That would be unbearable, if Smirnoff could hallucinate just like Dere and Illu, and Novacaine was stuck with the real world.
The lynx half-lidded his eyes, lips curling up in a funny sort of half-snarl. "W-w-w...WOOF," he said, forcibly, and head-butted his companion's shoulder, shoving him in the other direction.
"Hey!" Nova stumbled, but in the process he caught a flash of pink-on-black, some distance away. "...Oh. I can see that, too." He ignored the agitated groan from the lynx, and padded over toward the figure as though that had been his intent all along.
As she came into view, he couldn't help but pause, looking her over critically. She wasn't a relative, he didn't think, and that was surprising. He knew all the big families that lived here, the bloodlines that had intermingled in the pack, and he certainly had never seen a wolf that looked quite like her anywhere. Maybe she was new. Maybe he'd wandered far away from wherever she came from.
He stopped, a few yards from her, and seated himself on his haunches, curling his tail about him, and fixed an unnervingly vibrant green stare upon her. He didn't say anything, but merely watched, somewhat entranced.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 6:27 am
Melka's attention at remained on the ants, though her ears twitched at the sound of voices on the wind. She felt no concern over the arrival of others, and kept her reclined pose. Only when the male wolf approached her, did she look up from the tiny line of ants to meet his green gaze with her own.
"Did you too come to dwell on the mysteries of the life stream?" She smiled enigmatically, the expression touching her eyes with a sparkle. No, she wasn't mad, at least, not in the sense that some believed. She just had a more interesting, less 'common' view on life. Why be so boring?
She crossed her paws in front of her, sending the ants skittering to shift their ever moving line to curve out and around her limbs and their new position. Almost as if remembering they were there, she blinked and looked down at them and cocked her head to the side. "Whoops."
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:46 am
"Life stream?" Novacaine asked, tilting his head. He looked from the female to the ants, then back up at her, finding himself caught up tracing the wispy pink lines up her forelimb. "...No, I don't think so. But maybe I am, now."
Smirnoff groaned, but the wolf ignored him, as he quite often did. "Wh-wh-who are y-you?" The lynx managed, with a bit of effort. He fixed the female with a cold, suspicious eye.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:57 pm
"One should not wander carelessly into the life stream, you know. There can be dire consequences for those involved," she answered with a knowing grin. Her eyes had narrowed, taking on a devious air...then she laughed, throwing her head back with mirth. "At least you're not an ant," she giggled.
Then she turned to the lynx, mischief in her eyes. "And who are YOU?" she shot back with equal suspicion. She locked eyes with the lynx, daring and unafraid of the challenge, though her maw soon split into a good-natured grin. She sat up, shifting her weight back to rest on her haunches. "Melka," she answered simply with a nod, then, "And your names?"
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:58 pm
Novacaine stared at the line of ants, losing himself for a moment in wondering what it would be like to be an ant. He imagined himself shrinking down, tiny and tinier, and crawling all over those pink-and-black paws, and for a moment he was so swept up in the idea that he completely missed what she was saying.
Then he looked up, blinking those bright eyes, and he grinned an uneasy sort of grin. "Oh, don't mind him," he said, extending a paw to push down the lynx who looked as though he was about to say something. "That's Smirnoff. He's my imaginary friend."
Despite evidence to the contrary, he seemed very sure of this. "And I'm Novacaine. You're not one of my cousins, are you?"
"Y-you're an id-did-did-didiot," Smirnoff snarled, but there was something almost fond in his eyes as he looked at his wolf companion. He looked back critically at Melka, but shrugged, apparently deciding it wasn't worth the effort of speaking to say anything to her.
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Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:09 am
Cocking her head at the introductions, Melka commented, "Doesn't seem all that imaginary to me." Then she shifted her shoulders in a sort of shrugging motion, fluffing out her fur with the gesture; she'd been lying here for quite a while and a little movement was welcome now that she was up.
As the lynx seemed all too willing to give up on speaking to her, Melka turned her attention fully towards Novacaine for the moment, again peering at him curiously with her head tilted. "I don't believe so? I mean, if I had cousins in the area, it would have been nice if someone could have told me! Only considerate and all that, you know." She looked indignant for a moment...then yawned, standing to stretch, forepaws extended before her first, then shifting forwards to stretch her back legs and shake out her fur. Now standing on all four paws and looking quite relaxed, Melka shot a question back, "Far as I know, it's just me here. Why? Have you heard something different?" If he thought her to be one of his cousins, then by what parent? And also...did that mean he had lots of cousins? She let herself get lost for a moment in the thought of being a part of a big family, one in which all the members regularly socialized and spoke with one another...what must that be like?
Might be nice.
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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:56 am
"Oh, no! I don't know," he said. If his flat monotone voice and brilliant pink fur could show a blush, he certainly would be blushing now. He looked at her with bright green eyes and became all too aware of how much his big white muzzle stood out in his face and how he had blue muttonchops and a big dumb lynx that wasn't even imaginary. Also, his paws were too big. "I hope you're not my cousin, is all," he said. "Because you're very pretty, and I don't want to think that about one of my relatives."
Smirnoff rolled his eyes. Oh, please. Just what he needed -- puppy love. If Novacaine weren't the reason Smirnoff (whose malformed jaw made killing prey exceedingly difficult) ate most nights, the lynx would have taken off into the night ages ago. And now he could see, all too clearly, the kind of incredibly unflattering situations he was about to be caught up in. It was painful to hear the kid talk...and this from Mr. Speech Impediment himself.
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:54 pm
Melka tipped her head back with a light, musical laugh, only lowering her head to shake it in a mixture of mirth and pity for the poor pup. "No need to worry there, Nova dear," she chuckled, not bothering to check if the boy would be bothered by the nickname or not. "Far as I know, I don't have any family," she continued, showing no sign of sorrow at this fact. Instead, a casual smile crossed her muzzle.
Of course, she would have had to have had some family at some point, obviously, else where would she have come from? Wolves didn't just pop out of the lifestream as far as she knew, and they had to come from other wolves. So, she couldn't have come from like...a whole colony of ants giving up their lives to create one wolf. No, that didn't make sense. It'd take more ants than that obviously.
Having wandered off track again, Melka tried to remember what they were just talking about. Something about the boy's family... Ah yes! "So, you come from a big family, I take it? Lots of other wolves? How do you keep all their names straight?" Maybe it was a strange question, but, it was an honest one. Names were never Melka's strong point, at least, not remembering other wolves' names, not when she only crossed paths with them here and there, and not many of those crossings repeated, so why bother remembering...?
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Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:24 pm
Relief washed over him that she wasn't angry at the accusation of being in his family. Then again, seeing as she didn't know his family, maybe it wouldn't have occurred to her to be upset. They were a very strange bunch -- strange enough that Novacaine was more or less normal.
He didn't flinch at all at being called "dear". In fact, she could have called him just about anything and it would have done nothing to budge that star-struck look on his face.
"It must be weird not to have a family," he said, marveling a little at the concept. "I have so many cousins I'm always meeting new ones. And...the truth is, I don't know everybody's name." He chuckled a little. Everybody in his pack, it seemed like, was either related to him, or to the old alpha Wazaam. He'd always gone through life pretty much assuming everybody was used to that sort of thing. "If you don't have a family, where did you come from?"
Smirnoff rolled over onto his side with an audible grunt. Ahh, to be young and in love. Hah. As though he himself were any older and wiser. Well, cats are just smarter, he reasoned -- and anyway, nearly everyone was smarter than the pup. The lynx began licking his forepaws.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:58 pm
Melka chuckled softly, adding, "Well, that's a relief in a way. I know I'd never be able to remember everyone's name. Hopefully no one would hold that against me. Only so much room in the head for these things, you know." She nodded in a conspiratory manner, though such things should be common knowledge, yes?
"As for where I'm from? Oh, here, there, everywhere, really," she replied flippantly, laughing as she did so. She was a wanderer, yes, but not necessarily driven to be so. There were just so many new interesting things to see that she'd be in one place when something would catch her attention in another and off she'd go.
Then again, with her odd personality quirks, it wasn't as if other wolves were eager to invite her to stick around if she'd spent any time around them at all. Most were pleased enough to see her leave.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:53 pm
"Sounds nice -- coming and going wherever you please," he said. Truthfully, there was nothing holding him back. Half of his relatives probably wouldn't even notice if he left. Some of them -- his mother included -- didn't even actually know he existed for real.
Still, he'd never quite gotten up the courage to leave home, and he was more bitter about that than he should be considering it was his own fault.
"What's the most interesting thing you've ever seen?" Novacaine was always interested in the wonders of the world, as a way to make up for his inability to see hallucinations the way some of his sisters did. He spent quite a lot of his life admiring nature because of it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:58 pm
"It is nice," she agreed out loud, missing any subtle subtext. She only knew that she enjoyed her lifestyle and had never had any inclination to change it. Find a nice place, admire its beauty, explore the wonders, then off to the next grand adventure!
"The most interesting...?" she questioned, tilting her head curiously. "Hmm..." That could take some thought. She'd seen so many things, it was hard to pick just one! "I'm not sure. I've seen babbling brooks, that sound like they're actually babbling. They have such fascinating things to say, I'm sure! If I could only understand them. Then, there are open plains, where the grasses seem to dance to music on the wind, that only they can hear. Such a shame. I would like to dance with them one day. And maybe I shall!" She laughed now, then turned her eyes back to Novacaine.
"I guess it depends on what you find the most interesting. So, what about you, Nova? What have you seen? What do you most want to see?" Whether she realized it or not, her blue-green eyes danced with life, with the subtle promise of excitement and wonder just beyond the horizon. She had no idea what a fascination she might be to the boy, limited in his own experiences by self-bindings. She only knew, she'd found a new conversationalist. One that didn't seem to be pondering the quickest way to get away from her.
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Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 12:46 am
His eyes widened as she told him of the things she had seem. His expression, as usual, was generally slack and a bit deadpan -- but his bright green eyes sparkled with excitement, and when he spoke in his usual deadpan monotone it had an undercurrent of delight. "Babbling brooks, really?"
He tried to think of something that could possibly trump that. Well. There'd been that little monkey that looked like a squirrel. Or maybe it was a squirrel that looked like a monkey. Something like that. There'd been hundreds of butterflies.
And...oh! "One time, I met these two wolves from one of our neighbor packs, and we all fell into a river and almost drowned. But we didn't die." Well, obviously. "Oh. And this other time, my cousin and I knocked a beehive out of a tree to eat the fresh honey. Except it didn't really work...the bees got really mad and chased us out into the lake. My other cousin, Fubar, he ate all the honey while we were running away."
Smirnoff snorted, rolling his eyes. These stories weren't interesting or exotic...they were just pathetic. He was being a terrible wing-man; he should try to think of something suave he could convince Novacaine to say.
Although, considering how hopeless the pink wolf was, there really wasn't much point.
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