|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:02 pm
 Crickets chirped in unison and a gentle breeze flowed through to rustle the grass, the leaves on the trees. Darkness had fallen and the woods were now dim and shadowed, most creatures had gone to sleep by this hour and this was when the nocturnal species came out to play. It was a quiet night, but a peaceful one. Stars littered the bright night sky and the moon lit the way for late twilight travelers. Most would have commented on the beauty of the moon, the perfect temperature for nighttime adventures or the quiet sounds of harmless beasties shuffling in the underbrush. Most would have agreed the night was beautiful, most but not all.
Ashaelia was horrified. Being a wandering soul always looking for new places to visit, Asha had made her way to the Ha'Pah, or so she thought. Usually her sense of direction was quite good, she'd been wandering since her adolescent days and had a great memory for directions. This time however, directions hadn't helped her any, and she had a feeling the old bird that had so kindly given them... didn't quite know the way himself. Now being lost wasn't so bad really, eventually you'd find your way somewhere and then you weren't exactly lost and Asha kept telling herself this. That is until the sun went down, that's when she started to lose a bit of her self composure. Well really she was freaking out inside, but deep breathing, slow walking and wide eyes kept her contained... just barely.
The little femme wolf had a case of the heebie jeebies. Every time the wind rustled some leaves or something ran out in front of her as she walked her heart nearly dropped out of her chest. She was creeping along now, her tail pinned between her legs, ears back, eyes shifting to and fro as fast as she could possibly scan ahead of her. "I'm going to die in here," Asha whispered ever so quietly to herself in Agaphene, the language she most commonly used. Almost as soon as the words escaped her lips a branch behind her snapped almost three feet away and... that was it.
She was off.
Asha was small for a wolf of her age, less than average height with a very lean body that didn't do much to add to her bulk. But she wasn't malnourished or sickly looking, quite the opposite for her pale cream and white fur shone quite brightly in the moonlight, but she was definitely more on the scrawny side. This often worked to her advantage, because if there was one thing Asha was truly good at it was running, her speed was like lightning though her stamina was only average at best. She could outrun most wolves, or other animals, fairly easily and that was just what she was doing.
When you were in doubt, run away. Danger? Run! Hunting? Run! It would only make sense that when you were lost you would do the same. And so, she did.
Weaving in and out of trees as fast as she possibly could, the fightened femme ran and ran. Whatever was behind her wasn't going to get her now! She only hoped that what lie ahead wasn't even worse...
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:22 pm
 Balios wasn't precisely afraid of the dark.
Not really. It wasn't the dark, anyway, that unnerved him so much as the realization of how very solitary it was. He was accustomed to moving about in a big group -- brothers, cousins, packmates. From the time of his birth, the dappled wolf had always been surrounded with other wolves, and while the idea of breaking away from them for a while had sounded enticing, the reality of it was a little unnerving.
It wasn't too late in his journey to turn back and run home, but it was probably too late in the evening to consider it, one way or the other. It was about time to stop and make camp somewhere, and that was the task that was currently flummoxing him. Should he dig a den? Sleep out in the open? Try to find some cover?
The fact that he hadn't thought any of this through before this moment struck him with sudden, burning embarrassment.
Even the disaster had failed at fitting him with many survival skills. Other wolves had been scattered, but his pack and its warrior-sisters had remained surprisingly calm and collected throughout the whole ordeal. There had been many of them, traveling as a pack, with wolves holding to their ranks and everybody doing their jobs. He had done his part, but his part hadn't been that big on the whole.
And so at the precise moment when Ashaelia was streaking like a dart through the darkness, Balios was standing perfectly still in the trajectory of her path, staring at the ground with utmost concentration as he tried to make up his mind.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:28 pm
Asha dodged one tree, then another, she weaved in and out of some bushes, avoiding a bunch of thorns. Branches were slapping her and things were latching on to her underbelly as well as her legs and some of her behind, her tail was probably a mess but she didn't care, she just kept on running. Whatever was behind her could still be there, and if it caught her she was in trouble! Especially, here, where was here even? Oh she hated being lost.
Having quick eyes wasn't always enough, nor was scanning ahead, trees you see, they didn't move. The exact place they were ten seconds ago, they were still there when you reached that spot, wolves were a different story. What did you do when you saw a wolf (that hadn't been there ten seconds ago) standing between two trees and no possible way to swerve around them? ...
You crashed into them.
Oh she'd tried to stop, digging her heels into the soft earth hadn't helped much nor had it slowed her down. Her quiet squeal of "Lookout!" in Agaphene probably hadn't been much assistance either. It was just simply too late, she hadn't seen the stranger quickly enough and now she was in a head-on collision with him. Even though she didn't weigh very much, it probably wouldn't have mattered, the force with which she hit him was enough to knock the breath out of anyone. She certainly knocked the breath out of herself.
There was one positive that came out of this entire experience! Once Asha had sorted herself out she found she was no longer afraid, just incredibly, extraordinarily embarrassed. Words wouldn't come out, all she could do was stare while trying to ignore her entire aching body.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:39 pm
Balios was not a particularly small wolf. In fact, he was rather thick-muscled, bulky like his father, and at Asha's velocity most likely resembled a tree trunk more than anything.
The patchy fellow had no time to react. He had merely a moment to try and register her word -- what had she just said? -- before impact, and then, boom, she was bouncing off and he was staggering backward, barely able to keep to his paws.
It took a moment to sort himself out, his flank heaving as he sucked in some air to lungs that had been rather forcefully emptied a moment ago. When he recovered, he turned dark eyes toward the female and said, with utter sincerity, "I'm so sorry! Are you all right?"
Because Balios was precisely the type of guy to apologize for someone else smashing into him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 9:54 pm
Telkish was a strange language, yet it was so common throughout the land that Asha had taken the time to learn it. Still, her pronunciation of some of the words was rough, for when she'd been with her family they'd only spoken the one language. They'd been pretty isolated, keeping to themselves, and Asha had always assumed that her father and mother had run off to be together because they never spoke of any other family. She'd loved her family dearly though, and hadn't minded that it was small, and that they'd been so close.
That said, when she spoke it probably sounded rough, or maybe child-like, "M-m-me? What about you? Are you alright? Oh dear I'm so terribly sorry, I didn't mean to, I was running and I was tryi-... I was running......" she wasn't quite ready to admit that she'd been afraid. It was a weakness, fearing the dark, and you weren't supposed to show weakness to strangers.
Did her body ever hurt! Every part of her felt like she'd crashed into a mountain, a huge one made of rocks with little to no grass! She didn't think she broken anything... but to make sure Asha stood up and shook herself out. Ow, that was a bad idea. After sitting tenderly back down the little female gave her left shoulder a little lick, if anything hurt, her shoulder hurt the most. The tenderness was also a weakness, so she tried to hide it and act normal, unfortunately she was failing miserably...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 10:10 pm
His ears cocked forward. What was that accent? It intrigued him with its foreignness, but that was pushed aside as the more obvious concerns took his attention. "You're hurt," he said, with a pang of guilt. Now that his lungs were back to being filled with air, he was none the worse for wear, though perhaps a little bruised. "...You were in an awfully big hurry," he added, glancing past her and along the path she'd come. "Is there something the matter? Is someone after you?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:56 pm
Asha had never been good at lying, it didn't come naturally to her and often led to awkward pauses in her sentences as she tried to think logically about something that didn't actually happen. Sometimes this turned her brain into a giant knot and she had an extremely hard time unraveling it. Now was one such time, she was hurt yes, but how did she tactfully lie about it and make sense? Lies were so difficult, she didn't understand how anyone easily made things up, but being a bit naive and optimistic Asha rarely found liars out regardless.
A few seconds passed, awkward, silent, before she finally shook her head. "Nope!" ... in all that time that was all she'd come up with. Surely her new friend knew better than that.
That covered all of his questions though, didn't it?
Admitting she was hopelessly and inescapably lost didn't seem like a good action plan. It also didn't seem to be a good idea to mention that she'd been scared of of her wits only two minutes before. Thinking about previously being scared almost had her shaking again. Asha's ears pinned back and she stared curiously around the area, nothing had really changed she was still lost... in the dark... oh it was ever so dark...
The wind rattled a bush directly behind Asha and with a little squeal she jumped ten feet in the air, and proceeded to quickly place herself behind the other wolf. He would protect her, he seemed big and brave! Whatever was out there was still behind her and ready to get her! So much for not showing weakness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 7:25 pm
His mind whirled. There were several things happening here: One, this female seemed very much alone, and very frightened. Two, there was apparently some sort of language barrier between them.
Not at all sure what was happening, but with no desire whatsoever to walk away from someone clearly in need, he drew himself to his full height as she darted behind him. "Hey, it's all right...we're safe here," he said, comfortingly, but his ears, eyes and nose were suddenly on high alert.
He wasn't exactly angling for a fight, but he'd give one to anybody who came his way!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 8:08 pm
Asha closed her eyes and hunkered down, counting silently to herself... 1... 2... 3... 4... ---- ...10... Slowly she opened her eyes, and they quickly adjusted to the darkness. Nothing had happened, nothing jumped out of the bushes, teeth gnashing and there were no more strange noises. Okay, so once again she'd made a fool of herself over absolutely nothing, what a night this had been. The brave new friend she'd met seemed to be standing his ground, ready to protect her even when she'd tried to bowl him over. Admirable really, perhaps he deserved the truth, she'd already shown weakness anyways and he didn't seem all that scary.
Gingerly hauling herself to her feet (she still ached all over) the little cream-colored wolf scanned the area and sat down beside her brave new friend. She wasn't quite ready to turn her back to that bush again just yet... but on the other hand talking to her savior's butt might have been a tad bit rude.
"I'm lost, I'm terribly lost. I took directions from a crow, but I'm not entirely sure he knew the exact directions, or I could have taken a wrong turn somewhere..." she finally admitted, with her terrible Telkish. "I uhm... I do-don't like the dark, you see..." she then continued at a whisper, "I don't usually travel in it." Asha then exclaimed, "I don't usually run into wolves either! I'm terribly sorry, once again, that was awfully clumsy of me.."
A sigh of relief escaped the young wolf's lips. At least she'd gotten that squared away, lying and pretending were just too tough for her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 11:08 pm
While the female calmed herself, Balios took this moment to stare around at the woods, baring his teeth at whatever invisible, nameless foe might dare to approach. When he was quote satisfied that nothing terrible was coming his way, he realized that she was talking, and he twisted his ears back toward her and. His snarl faded to a soft smile as she talked.
"Want to know a secret?" he said. "I don't know where I am, either, and I'm a little scared too. I'm used to being surrounded by packmates and relatives. I was actually just trying to decide if I should stop and find shelter for the night when we, erm, collided."
His eyes washed over her with burning curiosity, but he tried his best to contain it for now. He'd discovered that wolves did not take too kindly to being scrutinized like aliens, no matter how good his intentions. "I'm Balios, by the way."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:57 pm
Well! At least she wasn't alone, being lost alone seemed that much worse even though it didn't change the fact that she was still lost. In fact being lost together just seemed better, though, at the end of the day it didn't really take her anywhere. She'd found a friend though, that was certainly a bonus. Asha hated to be alone, yet that was how she spent the vast majority of her time... didn't make much sense really.
"Ashaelia," she announced in Agaphene, not quite knowing how to pronounce her name in Telkish. She'd never heard it before, so she didn't know what it sounded like. Trying again, she offered her nickname, this time in Telk, "Asha, most call me Asha. I'm very pleased to meet you, Balios, especially because... being alone can be scary," she whispered the last confession.
Finding shelter sounded like a good plan, a place to stay the night. It sounded, safe, warm and far less dark. Green eyes flicked to the wooded area around her, it was silent now, no crickets or wind to make noise. That made it even more eerie. Asha shuddered, did she really want to venture further into the darkness to find shelter? Right here was fine, wasn't it?
No, not really. Here or there, both options sounded terrible.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 10:40 pm
Ashaelia. That was a beautiful name. It rolled off the tongue nicely. But, he had to admit, Asha was a lot shorter.
Not like Balios was exactly the briefest of names.
Picking up on her hesitation, he nodded, sensing that perhaps she was facing the same conundrum as he was. "Before you got here," he said, "I was trying to decide if it would be better to keep walking and look for shelter, or try to dig up a quick den. Truth be told, I don't think either sounds that appealing, do you?"
His nose wrinkled.
"Given the options, I think we might be better off walking. I don't think my shoulder is up to digging, and I bet yours isn't either after crashing into Balios Mountain." A little hesitation, to see if she thought his joke was funny. He wouldn't mind if it fell flat. That was hardly a new experience for him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:21 pm
Suddenly feeling afraid again, Asha gulped, head into the darkness? At least the area they currently occupied was lit by moonlight, not much light but enough. She took a glance over at her friend, trying to be subtle about her eying him up, for many took it the wrong way. He was strong, sturdy looking, and her aching body told her there were definitely bricks muscles beneath the mass. They'd be safe enough, wouldn't they? It didn't matter, staying here was no longer an option.
Pressing in close to Balios without really realizing what she was doing, she huddled up against him "bravely". Onward they went.
Unfortunately Asha was too absorbed in the current predicament to even catch his joke so she didn't comment on it at all. Instead, she let out a long breath and tried to figure out which direction they'd be heading in. Asha was a follower, not a leader, and she knew this, she didn't want to lead and hoped he took it upon himself to do the honors.
Realizing suddenly that she hadn't spoken in awhile, her ears drooped and tail sagged, goodness she was rude! "Sorry, I-I... well, let's go find somewhere to stay the night, I'm ready," she sighed halfheartedly. This was the last time she was ever taking directions from a crow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 3:28 am
Another would might very well have seized upon what appeared to be a golden opportunity.
Here was a lovely little female, timidly pressed against his body, asking to spend the night together. It was the perfect set-up.
But for Balios, the idea of taking advantage of her didn't even cross his mind. He had grown up surrounded almost entirely by males -- brothers, male cousins, unrelated refugees from his pack's ally -- but every female he knew was strong and independent. Frequently terrifying. And almost certainly related to him. All of which had left him few opportunities to even think about females in any other way.
And so as he led the way, feeling Asha's lean body pressed up against his, his initial thought was that of the noble protector: Here was someone alone and afraid. He needed to help her, because it was the right thing to do, and because he too was a little bit afraid.
It wasn't until they had been walking for a time that her words swirled around into his head and clicked into place, and his thought process thudded and jolted as though it were a heavily loaded wagon being drawn over a deep pothole.
Let's go find somewhere to stay the night. I'm ready.
!!!
Whoa. Did that mean...was she...but...wait....!!!
Gulping, feeling a sudden jolt of nerves that had nothing to do with the darkness, he struggled vainly to think of something suave to say.
Fortunately for them both, he was saved the embarrassment of thinking up a pick-up line by a bit of good fortune. After a bit of walking, they had come upon a small structure of branches and stone fortifying the entrance of a rather large den. Balios craned his neck forward to give it a sniff and caught the faintest, stalest whiff of bear smell. It seemed abandoned -- which made sense, it was too early in the season for bears to start hibernating.
He glanced over at Ashaelia. "...What do you think?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 2:03 pm
Asha followed along silently, pressed into Balios' side, still not truly realizing what she was doing. To her it was instinctive, cuddle up to the nearest warm body and take solace in their strength. Of course thus far the only male in her life had been her father so it hadn't seemed out of place at all. Here she didn't even realize there were things like boundaries, personal space or lines you didn't cross, once again it was just her borrowing someone else's strength.
As they walked, the small femme's green eyes flicked to and fro, big tree there, big dark enclosed area over there... was that a pair of eyes? She gasped and turned away, then slowly peeked over again... nothing there. Okay now she was just imagining things.
By the time they reached the den, Asha was thoroughly freaked out, and without giving it much thought (the scent of the bear was definitely stale) she lunged into the den at the speed of lightning and swiftly curled up in the back corner. "Perfect," she squeaked.
Asha had never shared a den with anyone before, well, aside from her parents, and often they hadn't had a den to sleep in, wandering souls that they were. This only meant she didn't know what to expect or how to react. It didn't concern her much, her only thought was that now she was hidden, safe and that made her heave a big sigh of relief. The den was quite comfortable actually, and was the perfect spot to spend the night. Her companion had done well in his search, for she certainly hadn't been any help in the matter. "Wimp," she whispered to herself in Agaphene.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
