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 Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:43 pm
The she wolf strode confidently back into the grassy area. It really was nice there, devoid of trees save for a giant one off on the other side of the lake. The lake itself faltered at one point into a river or stream that snaked lazily back into the surrounding foliage, and she wondered briefly where it led. Maybe they would follow it and find out. She liked to think that maybe it led to the sea, the same river she had dared cross as a pup.
Coming to the large rock that jutted out over the lake, she called softly for Johnny, holding the sing-song note long enough to be sure he heard her. As she sat waiting, she shut her eyes, letting the present breeze ruffle her fur and spray water at her from the body that panned out before her. If she could have stayed here forever, she would have easily been able to live with the decision.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:44 pm
He saw her sitting there before she called him. She was hard to miss, as she was the first pale wolf he had seen in forever. Besides himself, of course, but he really didn’t look at himself much. He had thought, upon waking, that meeting Hannah in the storm had been a dream… but now the realization that it had happened was upon him and he smiled and let his tail sway in a gentle wag.
The male crept up behind her as she called for him, and silently took a seat beside her, giving a gentle wuff. He hoped she would stay and get to know him. He really was a nice guy, if a bit strange… and even if he had come out of nowhere, didn’t everyone seem to do that these days? “Ah missed yeee, Ah did.” He smiled wider, imitating Rochir’s strange accent, and playfully nipped her ear.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:45 pm
If wolves could blush…
Hannah went from being slightly jumpy at his sudden arrival so close, to completely flattered. He moved fast, but it was an endearing quality in him. Other males had only succeeded in irritating her and chasing her away. Truthfully, she had missed him too. It had only been out of necessity and… closure that she had gone to see Nitika.
The mimicked accent made the pale female giggle. He seemed just as playful as she loved to be. “You really missed me?” She prodded, leaning over and nudging him towards the water. She smiled deviously as he moved closer to falling off the edge of the rock they sat on.
“Well… I ran all the way back here for you.” She admitted, still shoving him towards the edge. Shove, shove… just a bit more! She thought it was awfully devious to dump him in the water, but she was in the mood to play and get more foreboding subjects off her mind.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:46 pm
“Yes, I did.” He spoke solemnly. He missed a lot of wolves, mostly his family, and mostly all well known to him… but Hannah was a stranger yet. He had missed her all the same. There had been a tugging at his heart all the while she had been away, as if they had known each other forever…
His thoughts were interrupted by an involuntary scooting motion. He caught on as it continued, but made no move to secure his position atop the rock. If she would push him in… he would go, but not without a fight.
“All the way back for me… “ he repeated those words, and hoped them to hold truth. He would have, by now, run to the ends of all he knew for her.
Soon he felt the absence of support beneath his rear, and at the last moment threw his forepaws up around Hannah’s neck. As he fell back, he dragged her with him and with gleaming, laughing eyes the two wolves fell headlong into the lake below. Whooping and laughing, the big male surfaced, dragging his friend up with him for air.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:47 pm
The pale femme was getting all starry-eyed now. “I think I-“ Her words were interrupted as he sprung at her, front limbs flailing around her neck. Now the both of them were falling… she hadn’t expected her plan to go awry like this! She was falling, in more ways than one.
They hit the water with a loud splash, and she gasped as the refreshing coolness of the lake hit her with an almost overwhelming prickle. The weather was still not warm enough to completely go swimming like this. It would have been better to ease into the water, she thought.
She felt herself being dragged up, and the sound of laughing invaded her ears as she broke the surface of the water. Johnny looked as happy as she felt, and she put her own paws around his neck and licked his muzzle affectionately, hoping the gesture would be taken the right way.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:48 pm
He was aware he had interrupted something his beauty was saying, but it didn’t matter right now. She would repeat it if it were important, later. Right now he was having too much fun, and hoped she was too. Before he could splash around any more, he found arms around his own neck, and a kiss on his nose. Now it was his turn to blush.
“I, I… I…” Oh what the hell. He nuzzled her and washed his tongue over one of her ears, returning the affection. He wasn’t opposed at all to the way they were hitting things off, and wanted it to go on forever. His tail swooshed and cut through the water aimlessly as he paddled around the lake. He didn’t know he knew how to swim! This was fun!
Finally he crawled out onto the grassy bank to let the sun warm him and dry him off. This was a great place to just relax, and he’d have to mark its position in his brain very carefully. “What were you saying before?” he asked, remembering again that she had started to speak before they went tumbling.
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Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:49 pm
Hannah was overjoyed at the reaction her kiss sparked, and his return was wonderful. She found it suddenly odd being this close to a male that wasn’t one of her brothers… that was how it had been all her life, anyway. It was refreshing, and sparked feelings inside her that she had never felt before.
She watched as he swam around, almost as though he had never been in water before. She certainly had… living by rivers and the sea, it was impossible that she had never swam. The pale femme was almost curious enough to ask, but now didn’t seem like the right moment.
As she followed him out of the water, she gave herself a good shake, flinging water everywhere. She regarded his question as she slid to her belly and came to a soft flop on the ground. What had she been saying? That she thought she… the memory faded there. Thought she what? Should get back home? Was falling in love? What should she say?
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:30 pm
Johnny watched as she followed him out of the water, and laughed softly as she shook drops of it onto him and the surrounding earth. He still awaited her response, but there was no rush. He could wait forever, if that’s how long it took her to remember.
The big male rolled around haphazardly in an attempt to dry off. He was getting hungry now, and made a mental note to ask her if she knew the area well enough to take the two of them hunting later. When his back was finally dry, Johnny rolled onto his belly and repeated the process, puffing up and snaking forward through the grass, dragging his chin and the rest of his undercarriage through the soft foliage.
He realized suddenly that Hannah had paused, and he watched her carefully now. She looked lost in her thoughts, and almost seemed confused. The pale wolf lay there, maw agape as she stood with much the same expression for what seemed like forever. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore, and he let a whine escape his throat, hoping to snap Hannah back to reality.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:43 pm
A soft noise caused the femme to shake off her questioning thoughts and return to normal. She finished shaking off and lay herself neatly in the grass beside Johnny, not bothering to go to great lengths to dry herself off, knowing that the sun would do a good enough job for her.
“Are you alright?” she took a minute to look him over, questioning him with worry in her voice. As he noticed she was alright, he seemed to relax, causing her to relax as well. The pale femme moved closer, wriggling with glee until her muzzle was right under his chin.
She nudged against him playfully before responding to his question and finishing her previous sentence finally. “I like you a lot.” She spoke with a twinkle in her eye. She was pretty sure he liked her a lot too. He seemed genuinely interested in her, and didn’t seem to have anywhere to go in a hurry.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:25 pm
Johnny took up wriggling again as Hannah normalized and lay down close to him. He really had been worried for a moment there, but now all seemed to be fine and he could be happy again… for the most part.
For the few moments he had been so worried about Hannah’s odd state, Johnny had been stuck in the past, and now worried anew about Adenru and his clan. It had made his attention whip back to the whole reason he had finally found the courage and strength to make his escape – Xieros. His sister was still out there somewhere, and here he was, in the midst of courting a gorgeous female.
It was hard for him now, wondering what he should do. He almost missed Hannah’s question. “I… “ he got up suddenly, narrowly missing the female’s playful nudge. “I don’t know. I came here to find her-“ He stopped short, interrupted by the pale female’s confession. His brows furrowed as he looked in the opposite direction, eyes locked on the treeline. He should have asked Hannah and Rochir about Xieros first thing.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 4:32 pm
The female’s ears went back, suddenly startled by Johnny’s swift retreat. She found herself again wanting to ask if he was alright. The look in his face set her on edge. It was a haunting feeling that she didn’t like at all.
It was hard to tell, past the fact that it was really creepy, what Johnny was thinking about. “Johnny?” she woofed his name quietly as she watched him. When he turned his head to look the other way, the motion was so subtle it was almost as if he hadn’t moved at all.
He came to find… her? Hannah had never been one to jump to conclusions about anything in her life, but the fleeting sentence caused a small knot to form in her throat. “Came to find who?” she asked, only loud enough for him to hear. Armed with his mention of another female, she kept her distance for now, not wanting him to feel awkward about anything.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:23 pm
It was difficult to keep the short, nearly silent whine from escaping his maw, and Johnny’s tail and head drooped as it escaped, floating on the wind before disappearing. Daylight was fleeting as it had got later, and now the calm body of water reflected soft shades from the on setting dusk.
His ears twitched, just barely hearing his name. He had almost forgotten that he was with Hannah, and that made him feel even worse. Turning to look at her, he realized that already his own moods had a heavy effect on the female.
“I’m not ok.”
He whimpered again, remembering his sister running to freedom… and his re-capture. He was free now, and for all the time he had spent vowing to himself that he would find his beloved sibling, he could now only think of the female in front of him.
“My sister.” He clarified, finally. “She’s out here somewhere, she has to be. I have to find her.” All he’d ever wanted was to reunite with Xieros. Now he had a new want, concerning Hannah, but he would never give up looking for his baby sister.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:17 pm
The sudden sadness that Johnny displayed was weighing heavily on Hannah’s heart. It hurt to see him feeling these things, and she could only imagine what was going on in his head.
She moved closer at his declaration, and it was apparent that he was being truthful. He really didn’t look ok, and now she could easily see how beaten up he was. Johnny was a big male, but his fur was thin in places, his whiskers drooped, and he was covered in scars. It made him look weak, and she wondered briefly if he was sick, or just in mental anguish.
Hannah loosened up as he mentioned that the female in question was his sister, and not a mate. She really had doubted that he would act like this towards her when he already had a female for himself. She also remembered how she had felt, with her own sister missing. It had been horrible, and finding her had been even more worrisome than having her “lost”.
“My family and I will help you find her.” She knew in her heart that this was true. It had been a long while since she and Xieros had helped Loki take the new litter back to the den, and Hannah’s new siblings would be teens by now. There would be plenty of wolves to help search, and it would be good for Xieros to make a new friend. As she spoke, she hoped that Johnny and his sister had had a better relationship than she and Nitika had lived with.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 6:52 pm
Johnny still crouched low, and he still felt pathetic, but the promise of help lifted his spirits. He wondered how big a family Hannah actually had, and if they were actually all still together. “Are they far? Will they really put a stop to their lives to help a stranger?” He had no qualms about voicing his questions aloud.
At least leaving here, he would still be by Hannah’s side, and hopefully her family would be open to the idea of him. He didn’t think he could take a family of xenophobes right now. He just wanted to be with Hannah, and find his sister. He was certain the two females would get along just fine.
Xieros had been a pup when they had parted ways, and he was older, but not by a long time. She had to be older, even entering adulthood by now. He regretted it, separating with her and missing her growing up. He always wanted to be with her and care for her, and now he didn’t even know where to start looking.
“We should go, as soon as possible.” It would be getting dark soon, and he hoped to catch Hannah’s family awake and ready to at least start planning search groups.
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Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:07 pm
“They aren’t too far, no.” A small smile graced the female’s features, as she realized that she might get to follow this river out of here and see if it really was the river from her puphood. “And they would go to any lengths to help anyone.” Hannah remembered the stray pup Xieros again. Loki had been trusting enough to have the wolf, just a pup herself, help with moving a brand new litter. And Hannah knew her mother accepted Xieros into their pack before even seeing her. It was just the way Loki was.
Finally close enough to touch him again, Hannah gave Johnny a reassuring nuzzle, and leaned up against him momentarily. They had been lounging around all day, and it would feel good to run for a while, especially since they would be running to family. Hannah missed her mother and siblings, though she had not stayed long enough to really get to know the youngest members of her family.
Taking a few steps in the direction of home, the pale female looked back over her shoulder. She took in the clearing, and hoped that she could revisit it one day. “Let’s go.” She smiled and gave a short tail wag, before flitting off into the bushes surrounding them. As they ran together, she wondered if Johnny would be interested in joining her family, and staying with her pack. Of course his sister would be welcome too. Everyone was welcome if they had the right attitude about it all.
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