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 Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:11 am
Shalise and the others had settled into Aves well in the past weeks, coming to be contributing members to the pack and making acquaintances with no few of their fellows. In all that time, however, Shalise hadn’t let her real friendship with Kevarian waver. The two got along splendidly, and Shal felt a companionship with him she’d never had with any other wolf, male or female.
A smile pulled at her face as they came to the end of their peaceful amble to the shrine and back.
“We’ll meet up later then?” She asked, just to be sure. “At the meeting area?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:14 am
Kevarian smiled in reply and nodded. “Meeting area when the sun hits that peak there.” It was the only way to distinguish exactly when to meet someone aside from the very general “sunset, sunrise, noontime” markers anyone could distinguish. The predawn light was all that lit their way, but it would be shortly after sunrise that the sun would hit that peak. It was as good a time as any. They would be able to make an easy run down to the stream and take their time following it until it was no longer in the boundaries of the pack.
“I’ll see you then.”
She smiled and nodded, heading off with an almost silent padding of her feet. He paused and watched her go before he, feeling as light as he usually did with her, headed back to his den to take a quick nap before their meeting.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:15 am
Shalise trotted up to her shared den with the smile still lingering about her mouth. Jaq was dozing when she came in, but the other female quickly jerked her head up when she heard Shal’s paws on the stone floor of their den. Mentally, Shal shook her head sadly. Jaq was so jumpy. It made her debilitating shyness seem more like skittishness.
“It’s just me,” she soothed, and saw the tension leave Jaq’s body if not her face. “Good morning.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:17 am
Shalise’s arrival wasn’t a positive sign for Jaq. As usual, she was glad it was Shalise arriving and not a stranger, but today meeting with Shalise was to be as feared as a male walking uninvited into the den. What Jaqueline had learned was likely to be a blow to Shalise and it was one that Jaq didn’t want to deliver. So while her body relaxed instinctively, her face still reflected her nerves.
She didn’t know. Jaq knew she didn’t know. But what would happen when Jaqueline told her? Would she be angry? Upset? Would Shalise think Jaq was lying?
For a moment, the fear of hurting her friend or, worse, losing the one wolf she really felt comfortable with here stilled her tongue and made her reconsider if what she was about to do was wise.
“Hi,” she greeted belatedly, realizing she hadn’t said it yet. Her ears immediately went back at her foolishness.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:18 am
The pause hadn’t seemed odd to Shalise until Jaq actually replied. It made her realize that for a simple “hello” that reply had taken a little too long to come. She really looked at Jaq now, studying the uneasy expression on her denmate’s face.
“What’s wrong?” She asked carefully, concern in her soft voice. “Did someone come to bother you?”
Usually Jaq would be more shaken up if someone had bothered her, but she was behaving oddly. Something was up; Shalise was no fool.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:25 am
Jaq almost winced, and it was a tribute to her slowly getting control of herself that she didn’t. She had to approach this topic carefully.
“No, no one bothered me. I’m all right.” She paused. “How’s Kevarian? You two are still… spending time together?” She asked “casually,” trying not to make the question sound accusing or suspicious in any way.
Or maybe she was just skirting the issue for as long as possible. She really didn't want to hurt Shalise. If it wasn't so important, she would have just kept the news to herself. Still, of the three northern wolves, Shalise was the one who needed to know the most-- and would be the most affected by it when the truth came.
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:30 am
It was an odd segue, but Shal felt her spirits rise at the thought of her plans with Kevarian later. She laughed quietly as she lay down near the entrance to their den so she could converse more comfortably.
“He’s fine. We’re going to meet up again later, actually. We wanted to walk the border of the pack. Follow that river until it feeds out beyond our lands.”
Whatever it was, Shalise didn’t think Jaq’s nervous behavior was warranted. It couldn’t be that bad. “You’re changing the subject. What is on your mind?”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:33 am
It came to it, then. Spirits, of course Shalise would pursue the issue. She was probably worried about Jaq or thought Jaq was overreacting. This time, though, it wasn’t Jaq who was in trouble. Well, no one was in trouble, per say, but it wasn’t Jaq being affected, except through association. However, the rest of the pack knew. It wasn’t fair that Shalise was the only one who didn’t.
Jaq steeled herself for whatever confrontation was to come. Somehow, knowing Shalise was about to be hurt, Jaq’s nerves and shyness melted away into simple concern. Her yellow eyes were full of that concern when she lifted them to clash with Shalise’s.
“I think you need to know something. Something we weren’t told when we arrived.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 01, 2011 8:42 am
Shalise felt the smile fall from her face and her laughter was forgotten. That sounded ominous. Jaq didn’t usually do ominous. It must be serious, then. What would Aves have not mentioned to them? It seemed unlikely they would hold back secrets, unless they really didn’t trust the girls, and Shalise had seen no signs of Mu’sha or the others in the pack being anything but completely open with them.
“What is it?” Shal asked softly. She wasn’t usually one for long-winded talking anyway. Her question summed up everything she needed to know before she could formulate a reply to this… crisis Jaq had uncovered.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:22 am
"Kevarian." Jaq looked down, feeling the strain of this conversation. "Kevarian doesn't have his spirit animal. He failed the adulthood ceremony."
Jaq glanced up from where her head was hung. As members of Clemens, both she and Shalise understood what that meant, and it would be a blow to Shalise in particular, considering how much time she spent with Kevarian. Jaq hated hurting her, but it wasn't fair for her not to know what she was getting into.
"I'm sorry," Jaq said, almost too softly for Shalise to hear.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:24 am
Shalise just looked at Jaq for a moment, clearly not processing what she was saying.
He didn't find his spirit animal? There was a moment of blank drifting, as if in a wind-filled void. ... Oh.
Suddenly, the full impact of that revelation hit her and she felt the bottom of her stomach drop out. But he seemed fine. Now that she knew, several things she'd questioned before made sense. The cautious way he interacted with the other guards when they changed shift, the way he avoided spiritual conversations despite his father being Kalain. Shalise had thought it was just father-son troubles.
Shalise sank into a laying position, staring off into the middle distance and let her mind wander, not necessarily to things involving Kevarian, but just wander. Jaqueline didn't seem to want to interrupt, and Shalise was vaguely aware that although the shy wolf was watching her, she was making no effort to distract Shalise. At least she could count on Jaq to understand the importance of letting her handle this in her own way.
As a ray of sunlight glanced across the back of the cave, Shalise became aware she'd been sitting there for some time. She turned her head to look out the entrance of their den. It was dawn.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:28 am
"I'm sorry, I really thought you needed to know." Jaqueline apologized again, when she saw Shalise had come back around.
She'd wanted to give her friend time to adjust a bit before she said anything. It was obvious that Shalise hadn't been expecting that, and really, Jaq wasn't surprised. It was unlikely Kevarian had told her and the one time Jaq had met him she hadn't known either. If someone hadn't mentioned it in her presence, she likely wouldn't have known at all.
Kevarian was closer to Shalise and that black-spotted white male than anyone else in the pack, as far as Jaq had been able to tell. He spent a lot of his time now with Shalise. Could Jaq have just let them have their time? What if Shalise had wanted.. well, a closer relationship with him? Would he have told her then, after keeping it a secret from her for so long? It was just... honest to tell her.
That didn't make Jaq feel any better about putting that look on Shalise's face.
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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 9:37 am
She shook her head against the apologies and got to her feet. It felt too much like something horrible had been done to her when Jaq apologized.
Well. Has it?
"I have to go. I'm meeting with him soon." She said over the sound of the other thoughts in her mind. She was glad when Jaqueline just let her go in silence without trying to apologize again. She was aware of where she was going, but her mind was in such turmoil that she couldn't think of why she was going there beyond that she couldn't be late for her meeting with Var.
He wasn't there when she arrived, so she couldn't have realized it was dawn too late. Her eyes scanned for him, but her thoughts were confused. He didn't have a spirit animal. He wasn't... well, he was, as some would call it, slow. Kevarian, though? Slow?
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:27 am
Var had hardly been able to sleep, but he'd managed a very, very brief nap once he'd had a little time to settle his mind-- and then had gotten up as the sun hit the peak, so he wouldn't be late. Oh well. He could always sleep later, but he didn't want to keep Shalise waiting. He came within sight of the meeting area and he grinned broadly when he saw her. His footsteps picked up into a small trot so he would reach her faster.
"You beat me here," he teased, footsteps slowing as he got close to her.
He stopped entirely when he realized she wasn't answering him and just looked at her, the humor in his face falling away. She wasn't smiling. She looked upset, in a way she hadn't when they had parted earlier. Something had happened between the end of their walk and dawn, but it was only a few hours. Had she received bad news from home? Var hadn't heard about any messengers coming in. What is it Jaqueline?
"What happened?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:38 am
It didn't take long for him to arrive and in a considerably good humor. Shalise felt more empty when she saw how happy he was; she couldn't even muster a smile to counter his grin. All she could think about was Var being without a companion. No spirit animal. She didn't even realize, not really, that she was staring, until she saw the smile go off of his face and he asked her a question point blank.
"Nothing," she replied automatically. "Nothing's wrong."
Shouldn't she have been able to tell? Shouldn't there be something... off about him, if he didn't have a spirit animal? Maybe Jaq had been mistaken, but... no, she wasn't the type to say something unless she had some kind of confirmation for it. She wouldn't risk telling a lie, even accidentally, because it might mean someone getting angry at her later. It was hard enough for her to speak to others, let alone give them bad news. Her yellow eyes and searched his, looking for some sign that she may have missed before. She didn't realize she was staring without saying a word, her face betraying her unease and telling him plainly that she knew. She knew.
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