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 Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 11:41 pm
It was nearly midday; the sun -should- have been just past halfway through the sky. Except the sun had long since been covered by dark, forboding thunderhead clouds. Lighting flashed in the distance, and the heavy smell of rain flooded the wolf's nostrils.
Rain was falling by the time Devvyl stepped through the boundary to the free territory, small drops at first, then steadily growing larger and more at a sideways slant. The layer of guard hair formed a shield against the rain, repelling water and protecting the red wolf from the elements, but it didn't help his outward appearance much -- he still resembled a rather massive drowned red dog.
Simply because of the fact that he had nothing else to do, he wandered through the free lands for a while before coming upon his old den, he one he'd expanded out of an abandoned tunnel under the roots of a tree. It was occupied again; the female's scent clung to the place, as did bits of her grey fur. He left it with hardly even a sniff; the place held many memories he would rather not dwell upon. The female needed the den more than he did.
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Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 11:54 pm
With rain brought back memories, tragic recalls of the past and horrifying events one would rather not relive. For many, that was the case. For Sashta... not so much.
The only thing it made her recall was that it had caused her favorite son to fall into a ditch, so said the reliable source China Blue. It didn't make her face any otherwise forgotten memory, it just pissed her off.
Nearly slipping for the eigth time, she grunted. "Damn rain," the former alpha complained to herself, half-sliding along. If the other wolf hadn't been a bright color like red, she may not have seen him with the rain getting worse and the land becoming more blurry.
"Hello?"
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 12:10 am
Devvyl's own foot-pads had become mud-encrusted a long time ago; it was annoying, but he'd gotten used to it. That, and it wasn't something he was really paying that much attention to.
His ears pricked, and through the trees there was another wolf, a black and white female. Odd that he hadn't scented her, but then, it was harder to find and recognize scents in rain.
"Hello," he responded, somewhat numbly. He carried himself like a lone... so strange, and different than what he was used to. He was used to carrying his head and tail high, as alpha alongside Selia...
But he wasn't thinking of Selia any longer.
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 5:41 pm
Sashta had already adjusted to the rank shift. Really, she'd never carried herself very alpha-like. Sure, she made her rank apparent, but never to the extent some did. Epesically not ones like Reicher or Phantom.
"Get out of the rain?" she offered, trying to be friendly. There was a cave not too far off.
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Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 7:20 pm
He gave it half a moment's thought and nodded. "Thank you," he replied, showing a smile and approaching closer, waiting for her to lead. "I'm Devvyl."
He couldn't shake the strange feeling he had, walking through these woods. Enough time had passed since the last time he'd visited for three or four generations of pups to grow to adulthood. Not long in terms of human years, of course, but for a wolf... well, it was a very different story.
He was glad of this female's apparent hospitality; not many wolves would be this friendly upon meeting.
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Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 12:16 pm
Devvyl.
Interesting. It was the first name she'd heard in a long, long while that Ran had never once said to her. In fact, she hadn't heard about him from anyone, and wandering around as of late, she'd come to many names.
"Sashta," she provided, blinking away the rain in her eyes and heading off to the east. It was a shorter walk than one would expect. Sashta moved to the left of the cave and shook the water off her fur, snorting.
As if she needed another reason to hate the rain.
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Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 3:09 pm
Interestingly enough, Devvyl's thoughts were similar to the black and white female's, with some differences.
He had been so secluded in his own pack that he would have been very surprised if Sashta was a name he'd heard before. As it was, he barely knew where any of the wolves he did know were. Feanaro, the b*****d, had taken Kahlaria and presumeably built his own pack in the mountains. His sons and daughters had left the pack as soon as they were old enough to go out on their own. He'd heard that he had grandchildren now, but the rumor wasn't confirmed. Even his beta female Elphaba, the seer Isaac, and his packmate and friend Soul -- he'd lost touch with them, too.
They arrived at the aforementioned cave in little time and the trip was even less eventful. Devvyl's mud-caked claws tapped a cadence on the stone floor, and he shook himself briskly at the entrance to remove as much of the rainwater as he could from his pelt as Sashta did the same.
"Thank you, again", he offered. It was hopelessly redundant, but it was also conversation. This Sashta didn't seem to be too wordy on her own.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:15 pm
The female chuckled slightly and stretched out on the cold rocky floor. "You don't need to say it so many times," she told him in a lightly amused voice. Sometimes, silence was better than repeating yourself. But she was aware some didn't like it. They needed noise. If this wolf was like that or just overly-polite, she didn't know.
"I've been wandering out here a while and I've never seen you," she commented absently.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 8:17 pm
He smiled, also amused -- and just slightly embarassed, he realized. "Well. There aren't many who would show a strange wolf to shelter on the first meeting.
"I just arrived here... from my packlands." His answer to the unspoken question was hesitant, chosing his words carefully. "I lived here, when I was young. But everyone I used to know has moved on, I'm afraid."
He lay down on the stone floor of the cave, going to work on his paws and combing out the clumps of mud and debris still clinging between his toes with his front teeth. But his eyes were on her, admiring her black and white patterning, noting her stance and posture. They told him things about her -- like her confidant walk to the cave. She knew her way around the place. She had the walk of a lone; the walk of one who knows the woods like the back of their paw and doesn't have anyone to follow, or to lead.
Given time, he too would have that walk.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:21 pm
"Ahh." Wolves with a story like that always proved to be quite interesting. Nothing like a former pack wolf as company, be it that they were born in one or entered one then left it later. "I can understand that," she sympathized thoughtfully. "Wasn't too long ago I left mine, actually."
How long HAD it been? She couldn't really remember. Many days and nights now. "The change is even more awkward at first if you were the alpha," Sashta said, almost as much to herself as to him.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:41 pm
Devvyl jerked. Just slightly, but enough to easily notice. Sashta might as well have slapped him in the face.
"I... was the alpha," he answered, a little too casually.
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Posted: Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:45 pm
I...was the alpha.
Was the alpha.
Alpha.
Aw, s**t. Sashta could've found a rock to pound her head into just then. Jerking her head toward him, she examined the dominantly-red wolf anxiously. How could she have not figured that out?
"Oh, I'm... sorry," the female attempted, frowning. "It gets much easier, I assure you. I was the alpha as well, but I do just fine these days. In fact, better than when I was alone before."
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:01 am
He flashed her a smile. "It's all right. Small world, mm? Good to know I'm not the only one." He had been about to say "thank you" again but stopped himself in time.
Yes, it'd get easier. It'd take time, he knew, but he would eventually be better.
Somehow, he wasn't suprised to learn that Sashta shared a similar past. He was mildly curious about what had happened, but it wasn't a topic he wanted turned on him. That hardly seemed fair, so he kept quiet.
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:07 am
"Not that small," Sashta said, sounding thankful. If it was, she'd have run into Reicher by now. Or one of the children she didn't want to see. Phantom, Voodoo. The list went on and on.
"I can't really remember how it happened it exactly," Sashta rambled as if she'd read his mind. "Maybe I wasn't in the right mind. I do remember saying I was going, and him not caring, however. It's hard to go back to place after that."
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 12:16 am
Devvyl readily agreed. The last wolf he wanted to run into right now was Selia, for he assumed she'd left as well. Or Feanaro. He didn't want to think about the comments he'd get from Feanaro if he met him now.
Of course, if he met Feanaro now, one of them wouldn't walk away. Selia had been the only wolf keeping them from each others' throats, and now she was no longer in the picture.
"Ours was similar," he answered. "It just... wasn't working. Though," he added as an afterthought, "I don't believe you weren't in the right mind. If you hadn't been, you wouldn't be happy now.. you'd be regretting it."
He sincerely hoped he wouldn't live out the rest of his days regretting what had happened between him and Selia.
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