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 Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:09 am
 RP: Artsywolven, Nerpin, Werewolf
In which a pair of wolves enter the wood...
The sun was only beginning to set when a cold wind from the north blew. It signaled a deepening of the autumn months, and perhaps a small token of what would be to come. As it blew, some dusty and forlorn leaves flickered about in the wind, a couple of them tearing at their ridged seems and becoming crunchy undergrowth for the forest belly. Along with the wind, blew in two weary travelers.
For a moment it didn't seem if anyone had arrived at all by the narrow border between Telk and the Outside. There was still the frigid gap in the air and the wispy wind, but nothing yet had changed to alert small passing creatures that wolves had once again entered the wood. But then, all at once, a dark black shadow slipped from beneath brightly colored orange foliage, and into Telk.
He was a large, inky wolf, with sharp green eyes and a graying forehead. He wasn't yet old, but he was a wolf with the tired eyes of those who are middle aged, and a few pinkish scars ambled across the section of his muzzle. He walked out alone, stepping forth with a kind of kingly arrogance, before sinking down and carefully surveying his current surroundings. Nothing yet- and he took another step.
His hips pulled from the prongy branches, and his tongue carefully lolled from his throat. He was a careful figure, although his eyes did not reflect much fear. For a second his brow crinkled and his lips pulled back as if in a snarl, carefully tasting the air, before with a snort, he decided this land was suitable. At once, his tail flanked upwards and he carefully did a circular patrol about the small clearing, a pair of lime green eyes flickering about in the fading light.
As he went about his careful survey, another creature dipped from the same bush the first had come from. She went slower then he, first coming out half way- then suddenly ducking back- then sinking out a little further, and back a little. It continued until she too was out, and the moment she did fully birth herself from the bush, she pressed her body to the ground like a fawn.
Back at the careful overview, the black wolf made another snort, shifted, and looked over where the second crouched. He trotted back to the lump of silver grey fur, and stuck his nose down beneath the grass, towards where her head lay.
"I don't like it." He muttered almost in a whisper.
"What?" The grey one asked, her head popping up and devoidant blue eyes gazing through the black wolf, and past into some other realm.
"Here." The black wolf snorted, and he sat, twitching his jaw and looking about with a displeased look.
Unable to see his funny expression, the female didn't comment on it. Carefully she rose, keeping herself pressed to his body, as if she needed it to stand. He didn't move, and didn't move to be affectionate, keeping his eyes on the tree line.
The blue eyed one carefully swung her muzzle around, blinking dead eyes into the darkness. "I don't see anything wrong with it." She added, perhaps with a little bit of sarcasm.
He shot her a look. Which she couldn't see, and he remembered, so instead, bit her on the ear. "Don't be funny. I don't like it."
"You don't like anything, Phib." The pale wolf said again, and cautiously took another step into the surroundings. She did so blindly, and the black wolf carefully watched her steps.
"Well. I always have reasons." The old king muttered.
"What's this one?" She asked softly, turning her head as if she could see him.
"I don't like the color orange." He retorted sarcastically.
"Well, I like it just fine." She tilted her head upwards to the sky. "The sky is pretty." The young creature mused, shifting her tail slowly as she strained to 'look' at it. For a moment, she paused, and glanced into the distance.
There were many wolves in this wood. Perhaps that was what made Phib unsettled...
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As luck would have it - be it bad or good - Sybertsu happened to have been strolling the beautiful forest herself - her own set of ailing, withering eyes wished to see what could have been her last fall. She was born with weakened eyes, and knew she would not be allowed to see her own last days. Whenever they came.
Waltzing softly - she attempted to snap as little twigs as possible, or crunch less footfalls of leaves - fore she was one of stealth and had live a lonesome life in the forest. Company would be enjoyable - she would not detest - for silence was almost deafening for her.
Lifting her head, she attempted to smell out what may have been around her - only to smell whatever downwinds took to her.
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Twigs were snapped and brush was wrecklessly disturbed while the ivory she-wolf stumbled her way along. As usual not a care in the world had taken into play, and it showed. With careless, noisy and obnoxious steps Winter stepped along, taking no precautions to keeping stealth in mind. Despite this, she really couldn't have cared less as her main purpose around here was to have fun, which is what she did.
However those sharp, cerulean eyes of hers did manage to scan the area while she rambled forward, keeping a wary watch over the terrain surrounding her. Hopefully she'd manage to notice anything that tread her way-- but this was never exactly a guarentee with her, being the rather aloft female she was. Along with the unsteady movement of her eyes, that nose of hers also kept an idea of who was out and about with her somewhere in the forest. Actually, everytime she /did/ smell something new as far as scents go, her direction immediatly was changed in order to lead her to wherever it had originated. Having an unusual love for chatting and company, Winter couldn't help but follow any random wolf she met.
After quite a bit of time of toddling around the forest floor, the snowy white she wolf -did- manage to find a few. Two, actually. Sitting smack dab in the middle of no where.. what a perfect moment to practice those new stalking skills she'd aquired from the teachings of her newfound friend, Zede. She'd put them to work.. and she'd have something for a conversation starter later when she went off to find the male again.
Taking a moment to lower herself towards the ground, Winters eyes glued themselves, or rather, focused, on those two.. black.. and grey.. siblings? Lovers..? She'd go for the grey.. the black, whom she assumed was male, didn't look like fun to try and pounce.. Hm. With a quick motion forward, the sheila started in the unsuspecting pairs direction. One or two steps were all she needed before a light sprint begun.. within another few steps, a rather large, long leap was taken towards the grey female. "Hiiiiya!" She grinned ear to ear in her attempt to tackle the she-wolf. Of course it was only a playful gesture; her rather unique way of saying 'hello'.
"Hey, you two look new around here! Are you? C'mon, tell me, tell me! Maybe I could give you a tour or something! Oooh it'll be so much fun! There's the lake and the mountains and the large boulders next to the lake, which by the way you should never climb on because well they're really high and you can get really stuck up there.. haha.. and then there's the forest but you're standing in it and there's nothing but trees, booooooring..!"
Yes. An almost immediate verbal attack of babble was sent in the two wolves directions, which gave them little to no time to even respond to a word she had said. She couldn't help it; she was a chatter. However this attention didn't last long, as another scent joined the threesome. "Hm.. hold that thought," She stated blankly, taking another moment to glance about the surroundings. Oh! Another one! "Hey there! Come over here!" She invited, spotting yet another wolf prowling about only a small distance away. However with her luck, perhaps this female had already heard the commotion and started in this direction to begin with! This would make her job easier, considering that she wouldn't have to go and round her up to join the rest of the small 'group'.
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Ryoku stood quietly with her face towards this new land, keeping herself quietly content. She had a small smile fixated on her lips, even though she could not see what it was she smiled at. She'd always been a gentle creature, a great contrast to the big black shadow, and moving her scarred head carefully about she almost gave the illusion that she truly could see past the darkness and into the brightly colored fall leaves which occasionally danced down from the treetop.
But the sudden arrival of the snow white wolf caught both off guard. The grey, being the first in proximity to the creature, and the target of her greeting, slightly jumped as the other female half pounced over her. For a moment the grey leapt backwards in a funny dance, spinning and turning around to "face" the other. She stood blinking with her dead eyes, her ears flattened against her head. But as soon as the rambling voice of the other wolf started to flutter across her brow, she relaxed, and returned her soft smile. "Hello there." She said gently, her head tilting to the side in hopes to distract attention from the scars across her eyes.
If the silver had had a good reaction to the other wolf's arrival, the other wolf had the exact opposite. He had been starring off in the distance and at the setting sun, when all of a sudden he noticed that another wolf was half leaping upon Ryoku. What the *hell* was going on? He hadn't been here that long to make enemies- or perhaps he wasn't as far away from home as he thought-!
He moved quickly to fix this situation. Perhaps this idiot of a female hadn't seen him. He cleared the distance between the three in a matter of seconds, his fur standing up in spikes and his lips peeled back and a slow snarl. No sound echoed from his throat though, for he did not fight with females, and instead, shoved himself rudely between the two women, locking his eyes upon the other creature. He found them to be blue, which he was a sucker for, but he ignored that. With a jostling step, he pushed himself forward in effort to push the other female backward. "And who are you, little She?" He spat harshly, his tail curling upwards.
Ryoku stood still for a moment, carefully deciding on what to do in the situation. They couldn't go making enemies in this new place. Or else they'd have to go- again! And her feet were tired, and they were still numb from being burned... Carefully, she pushed against Phib- mostly because she couldn't see exactly which part of him was the head, curled around him to wedge herself (rather awkwardly) between both wolves, and snort. "Enough of this- stop being a bully." She jabbed her nose in the sore spot of his chest, and with a snarl, he took a step back, leaving her still centimeters from either wolf, but at least not sandwiched between them. Shyly, she panted, slightly shaking as she couldn't see what was going on, and worried that her interaction would only anger Phib, or this strange female.
Phib growled, and wavered. He was rather cross for being nudged like that, the old scar slightly burning at his ribs. He stamped his foot and snorted, sitting down and glowering at the female- and another! Was this some pack? No...he doubted it. His eyes focused again on Ryoku, and carefully, he composed himself. He had to be diplomatic. Although he was not pleased with this intrusion. Were all wolves here so rude?
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Tsu thought she had heard something, so turning back momentarily, she perked ears high 'pon her head, listening to whatever it was, snapping sticks and crackling everything as it went. It sounded large, but nowadays everything did - this foest was littered with large things - that is - when your the size of a just barely matured adult. With blurred vision, she waited for whatever would come, but instead it shifted position.
From her right a flurry of sound, barking, movement and - what appeared to be - three slightly surprised wolves to her left. Padding closer, she attempted to see what or who they were - pretending like she'd know who they were, but only to meet eye to eye (not quite) with strangers.
One was even inviting her over. Timidly, she slowly crept her way towards them - showing her submissiveness to them - it had saved her arse before, and she was none the wiser as to if they were a pack or not. There was a number of them, and only one of her - near blind and miniture.
What could possibly go wrong. With a timid voice, she simply said "Greetings to you all."
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Almost as soon as she'd said her hello and exchanged her greeting with the grey female, Winter was rather roughly shoved backwards, not exactly being one to like having been.. snarled at..? Was he.. actually..? But.. she didn't do anything..? Yes. These were newcomers.. why must they all be so darn protective. Adding another, though small, step backwards, only allowing more distance to sit between the group. Taken aback by this odd behavior (to her, at any rate), the snowy white female only stood, dumbstruck at this whole situation. Perhaps they were siblings..? It would certainly explain why the male was so snippy at the situation..
At least one of them seemed nice, which of course was the female. Males always made things complicated and difficult.. However she decided to play nice with these two, not that she had the ability to /not/ play nice.. "Uhm.. sorry.. I.. uhm.. Winter, I'm Winter.. uhm.. could you maybe uhm.. stop that..?" She questioned, tilting her head into a cocked position, those eyes of hers staring directly towards Phib. Hopefully her request would be aknowledged to some extent. Paws shifted uncomfortably while she stood, eyeing the black male warily. He didn't seem friendly.
After determining this, Winters gaze was redirected towards Ryoku and again a questioning glance was sent. "I'm hoping I haven't interrupted anything.. sorry to have startled you..? ..Is he always like that.." She added bluntly to the end of her comment, nodding her head in reference towards Phib. However not having the time to wait for an answer, her head quickly snapped to her right, only to find the sheila she'd seen minutes ago moving towards them. "Oh, hello!" She called, showing a brief, yet broad, grin before once again directing her attention back to the grey female, waiting intently for a reply.
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'Calm down.' He thought offhandedly to himself. This had certainly gotten off to a bad start! He couldn't contain himself now. He was fine for meeting people and being nice-nice, but he was having a bit of an ego tantrum at being insulted with such a burst greeting! For a moment, he shut his eyes, and pivoted his ears. Just females. Let Ryoku deal with them. Unfortunately, as an omega, he couldn't trust her to deal with much of anything. In fact, even with their attempt at conversation the small wolf was simply smiling dumbly at them and nodding as if she didn't even speak their language. She feared speaking to them without his permission, and otherwise, she had always been shy.
He shook his head and felt his shoulders fall. His own pads of his feet were aching, but he didn't dare turn them over to lick at the pads. He didn't like showing injury in front of strangers, and he hoped Ryoku would do the same. He had noticed her shifting her equally wounded feet, but she'd seemed to be taking good not to nurse at them yet. If only she hadn't bopped him one in his chest-!
With a slow snort, he swung his ears forward like blades, and glanced at the two females, this time, with a softer expression. That is to say, as soft as a garden stone is to a jagged rock.
"You aren't interrupting anything." He responded to the question addressed to the silver wolf, who didn't even take notice to him having done so. "And I am always. Like that." He slidingly remarked, his voice cutting in at the throat.
Ryoku carefully docked the side of her ear shyly, and smiled politely- but did not say anything. She wasn't used to being addressed directly. She did hear the other wolf coming from the side, and she gently nodded her head in the direction of the other wolf.
Phib took notice of her too, and angled his head forward. He had been right in his assumption that these woods were crawling with wolves...but why? Why here? The only thing he could tell about it was that everything was a most blatant shade of orange. Most things in his country turned red. What foolery.
He cleared his throat again, and stood, his large body slightly curling as he did. He was tired from all this walking and unsettling beasts. He took a stance a little bit more beside the grey, standing a head taller then her even though the other wolf was seated. "And you?" He questioned this other wolf, his pale green eyes flicking to the other. He'd forgotten the other one's name already, as he'd been angry when she'd spoken it. What was it again?
Ryoku "glanced" up at him, but she look the wrong way so he slight poked her with his snout. She looked the right way, and he found himself looking into her familiar, but dead eyes. They were still a pale blue... the other wolf had been named Winter, hadn't she? Yes, that was right. As if Ryoku noticed, she smiled, and turned her head back.
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Tsu was almost wondering if the deafening silence would have been more suitable at this time than the emotional stock that seemed to be flowing through the air at this time. Tsu was beat, having walked such a far ways - being brought back to reality had made her notice this, as she took to laying down in the leaf piles, like a black blotch in orange.
Looking towards the blinded femme, the dead blue eyes pierced through her temporarily as she was 'looked at' during her silent welcoming from the two. Her own weak blue eyes looked down temporarily, only to hear everything around her.
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"Y..you mean you always snarl at everyone..? Or that you're just angry all the time.. Which isn't a bad thing! But.. yea.." Winter rambled, trying to recover from what could have been easily taken in as an insult. "I mean.. yea.." Great.. lost for words again. One minute she had too many things to say and then the next she had too little. What perfect timing.
However this was brushed almost directly off her shoulder, and hopefully these two, Ryoku and Phib, would do the same. "So.. who're you two..? I havn't seen you around before," She began, making a rather blunt attempt at keeping her rambling to a minimum. Most strangers thought it odd, she assumed. With some luck she'd at least get off to a decent foot with this pair and have more company to run around with.. otherwise she'd be off on her own again. Silence, in this case, was most definately not golden.
While waiting for this question to be answered, by either the black or the grey, Winter couldn't help but take notice of those eyes.. pale blue eyes.. she'd heard rumors that if someones eyes looked almost without a pupil then they must be blind.. was this true..? She dare not ask or question about it, however she continued to stare, thinking silently to herself in the back of her mind. Just where were these two from, anyway..? They looked rather beat up.. scars..blind eyes.. not many around here had those sorts of traits without having some sort of violent past-life, she'd learned. However this too was brushed past her, eyes once again landing upon the third female of the group, who hadn't really answered anyones comments or stated her name.. while everyone else had. "I'm sorry.. if you don't mind my asking, who are you..? I'm Winter," She repeated, unsure of if this female had even heard her name or the question to begin with when Phib had asked.
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Tsu was trying to memorize the patterns of every leaf - or so she was telling herself - when she heard the younger femme's calling to her. Stiffly looking up - expecting to see nothing, she looked over and saw the blurry white patch against the orange leaves, and identified it as the voice's owner. Upon hearing her question, Tsu smiled softly and shook her head. "Forgive me, I did not hear you at first." She started, no one could tell if she was lying or not - not even herself.
"My name is Sybertsu Kintex. But you may call me Tsu, or Syb if you wish - a pleasure to meet you, Winter." She answered the question daintily - finally giving herself a mental note like name for the white shewolf who stood infront of her weakened sight. Swivelling her head, she turned to examine the two others - the large brute and the dainty, and essentially blinded femme - as these were the three first wolves she had met in a long time - since she lost track and contact of the one whom she held dear in her mind until she had lost him and his scent for good - she figured.
Shaking her head again, she gave an inquiring glance to the brute - knowing that the femme would not be able to see the query. She felt slightly shameful for not truely knowing how to act when it came to introducing herself - as she's lived such a quiet life alone.
Maybe it was time for a change.
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Ryoku flattened her ears as there was a call for her name, and she kept quiet, although she continued to kindly smile in an amiable fashion. She didn't seem to take much notice of her tired condition, although she felt the muscles in her shoulders ache.
Phib slightly twitched, the end of his ear quivering at the bizarre speech of the other female. She didn't seem to know how to hold her tongue, but then again, Ryoku had once been like that. And she still was...on occasion... but ever since her eyes...she hadn't spoken all too much. Not even to him. He wondered if she was angry that... He snorted, and furrowed his brow. Then again, he was the leader. Why should she talk?
"Winter?" He reiterated, making sure he hadn't heard incorrectly. He hadn't forgiven her, but he'd try being a little more amiable. The orange was starting to grow on him. He didn't like to share his name. Not because he felt he needed to hide his identity... but there'd been a time when everyone knew his name. It seemed so strange and foreign to not be known in this country. "My name is Phib." He said with a nod, and he motioned to the silver. "And Ryoku." He wondered if he should have tagged her as his mate. This was a new place, he wasn't leading a pack, and there wasn't any need not to. But it was too late now, so he dismissed it. She didn't seem to notice, in any case.
Phib swung his head towards the other female, which hadn't given her name until questioned again. Perhaps these fellows were lones. That'd explain some of it at least. He gave her a slight nod of his head, trying to decide between the alternating versions of the lengthy name. Interesting people these were.
For a moment there didn't seem to be anyone saying anything, and Phib swished his tail in silent frustration. Ryoku meanwhile looked upwards to the darkening sky, and continued smiling. He wished she didn't smile so much.
"We're travelers." He explained, deciding to use a nicer term then 'we're in exile. How are you doing?' "From the north. Very far away." He added, not sure how far south they'd traveled so far. He'd planned to go as far southeast as he could and reach the ocean, which he'd heard was nice. Ryoku had talked about the ocean a lot, she'd seen it once before...or maybe never at all. But he wanted to take here there. Now that there was nothing holding him back, he didn't see any reason why not to.
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"Pleasure," Winter stated, using a single word to describe her appreciation for meeting these three before continueing. "Traveling, hm? Vacation..? Or just.. looking for some place to go..? Well.. I suppose south is nice. It's warm. Well.. a little warmer, anyway.. I've only been there once or twice when I was younger. Nice little pack settled along the ocean front. It's a shame that it's quite a hike from around here.. otherwise I'd probably run off to visit," She began, not even immediatly stopping herself. Babble. She so loved to babble. It passed the time and made for things to talk about. "North is all right.. little colder.. Here's good, though. Decent weather for this time of the year.. hopefully the winter won't get too.. white." She grimmaced at this- the reason she was now all on her own. How she dreaded that time of the year coming around again. Inwardly she was hoping to travel back down to meet Hige and stay maybe on the outskirts boardering his packland, since she hadn't seen any snow once so ever on her journey to the seaside pack. Yes, perhaps she could move down there for the winter.
"Anyway," She moved on, pushing by her occasional rambles. "How come you came all the way down here..? Didn't you like it where you were..? I mean.. why leave your home just to come here? It's really nothing special. Lots of trees and clouds.. nothing out of the ordinary," Winter commented, quirking a brow while she took a seat, fighting against the urge to begin running around like a part lunatic. She had the tendencey to get fidgety when she had nothing to do but just talk, which explained the constant motion of her forepaws while they shifted uneasily back and forth.
"Oh, by the way, it's nice meeting you, Tsu," She tacked on, hoping that she hadn't made the impression that she was more into talking to 'open' wolves, instead of to sit alone in silence.
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A soft smile creased across the muzzle of the black femme as she heard the words from the equally dark brute infront of her, nodding softly as she heard his words coming forth. Looking away momentarily, so she could rest her straining eyes, she quietly murmured something, then livened her voice directing them to the three of them.
"Travellers you say..." she started softly, it was more of a dreamfilled sorrowful beginning, but none the less, she continued on. "I guess I could be called a traveller. I've recently decided this self-serving lone life isn't what I want. I think I need a friend - or atleast to put a mark on this world whilst I can still see it." The end of the sentance was more of a pitiful fall from grace than anything, but still, she kept looking in the far away neverworld. "I come from far away myself. Farr away where I had holed myself up for too long. I'm not sure where I'll go. Just somewhere."
Her long inkly tail slowly shuffled it's way across the ground, showing that she was pleased with her semi-self reasoning. Blue dimmed eyes returned to the group within silence, as she listened to Winter's babbling - like a brooke - she mentally captured. It was almost nice to hear the rambling - it meant she had met something besides a tree.
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Phib flicked his ear, and relaxed his face. "Well, I do not vacation near winter." He spoke, for the first time reflecting a kind of strange accent. It wasn't as much of an accent as it was a tone...as if he was used to speaking, and he'd been trained to speak in a certain manner. He kept his words very articulate, and with a certain kind of drawling rumble to his brutish character. For a moment, he realized that the wolf's name was Winter, and he's just said he didn't vacation near winter. That was awkward. He'd not thought about the double meanings, he'd not often had to deal with them. He'd watch out for that punning in the future.
With the darkness descending, he slowly faded into the night. And while although he faded, the pale silver wolf seemed to soak in the moonlight, glowing slightly in the dark. Perhaps it was just her white breast that made it look like she glowed. The other white wolf seemed to do the same. Strange wolves. In his country, most wolves looked like him- black with green eyes.
"Not leisure travel." He remarked, and as he did, he felt weariness in his paws. "There's nothing left up north. Nothing worth staying for. No food, no water. Just snow and fire." He continued, but he did it in a haphazard fashion as if he wasn't entirely too interested in the subject.
Ryoku looked back down from 'looking', and perked her ears upwards and regarded Winter and Tsu. "How is it here?" She spoke finally, and her voice was strangely childish.
Phib crinkled his muzzle. He still didn't have much interest in staying here. But perhaps if the woods were warmer it'd be worth spending the winter here. He glanced towards Tsu and the other, and tilted his head awkwardly. Everything about this place was strange and awkward.
"I'm no lone." He spoke, almost bitterly. "But I've traveled enough to be considered a traveler, yes. We're going somewhere. But I havnt found that yet. I'll let you know when we get there."
"Someplace new." Ryoku added, smiling. Phib didnt like her chiming in on his thoughts and he slightly swatted her with his tail. She continued smiling.
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:25 am
RP: Angmar, Artsywolven, Werewolf
In which Phib makes friendly and looses friendly...
Mortekai, having previously transfixed on a bug which had decided to take up residence on his paw, swivled an ear to the unmistakeable sound of something large hitting the water. After a halfhearted debate with himself, he shook the insect from his paw and rose, heading, in no particular hurry towards the sound.
Hesitantly he peeked through the brush observing the soaking wolf basking near the waters edge with growing interest, "Hulloa?" he greeted with a grin, golden eyes bright with curiosity as he emerged fully from the weeds to observe from a reasonable distance. "Feel good?" he asked gently, casting a sideways glance towards the water.
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Applying several shakes to her coat, Winter was rather transfixed in getting the majority of the water off the fine grains of hair lining her figure. Considering that it wasn't exactly the warmest out and the water wasn't.. terribly nice temperatured either, it didn't exactly make for a comfortable dip. Despite this, however, this particular female had always been somewhat fond of the lakeside and the water trapped inside, which often times led her to taking a momentary swim when alone.
Stopping nearly instantly in the middle of the fourth shake of her fur, the sheila's head perked, an ear swiveling in the direction of the males voice. "Hm? Feel.. good..? Oh! Uhm, yea.. refreshing," She began, quirking her head as it turned to the side, enabling the wolf to come into her sight range. "Y'should try it sometime.. although I suggest maybe when it warms up.. not exactly the ideal swimming water.." She added, shaking her head rather quickly. "I didn't uhm.. wake you up or anything, did I..?" She asked offhandedly, not positive as to what exactly Mortekai had appeared for.
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With the afternoon light carefully casting it's hazy glow over the world, a large and lean black wolf carefully found himself following the bland smell of water. It'd been a day or so since first setting foot into these woods, and already it seemed like he was getting tangled in the briars- how did that always happen? He supposed it was because underneath all of his well constructed layers of single-mindedness, he was a sucker. Particularly for her, because now she was already in the process of digging out a small hole for herself to hide in. The idea of staying in any one place was inexorably vexing to him, so with a flick of the tail he'd decided to take a stroll. He didn't like leaving her alone for too long. Whenever he was gone, was when she made trouble. But in her mindset, and in his own, sometimes it was best for a little bit of alone time. That way he wouldn't let his temper say something he'd regret later. Ryoku could carry a mean grudge when she wanted to.
The sound of splashing caught his attention in the distance, shaking him from his thoughts and making him rise his head in confusion. Anything with such a loud noise was worth investigating, and for once, he felt a bit of an uplifting feeling. He liked when he had to solve things. It kept his mind busy. With a lope, Phib picked up his pace, breeching out over the bank side tree line a few moments later. Just as he did, a small white female was crawling ashore, sending globs of water out into all directions. From the side of the trees, seemed to be another brute, and the white female began to speak to it. He snorted and took aback for a moment, his mind suddenly putting to work again as he tried to figure out what sort of lunacy was this.
'I know this wolf.' His mind flickered, and he adjusted his position in the trees so he was not so vacant, and instead, sitting upon an old fallen log. Oh, yes. The crazy one. He flicked his ears and glanced at her. There was another wolf someplace, although he couldn't quite see it. He kept his stance ridged, just in case anyone had some mis-notion about his stature. But with all the craziness that had been going on the past few days, he wasn't surprised he'd find himself running into the she again. He gave an exhausted sigh. Why did females have to confuse him so?
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He blinked curiously as he concidered her last statement, but shook his head in disagreement, "Noh... Nothin' terribly exciting was interrupted." he replied absently, taking a few steps towards her. "Actually 'was the weather t'brought me. Wasn't entirely sure what'd be fall'n into the water at this time of year." he confessed, again inspecting the water with a scrutinizing gaze, "Had to see'f it was somethin' more excitin' than watching grass grow." he added with an absent grin, "But on the note of interruptions, didn't cause yeh too much of a disturbance I hope?" he raised his snout to the wind as he spoke, catching scent of another arrival, but made no further comment.
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"I see," was really all of a comment Winter could conjure for the moment. "Yes," She continued after a moment of deciding on what to reply with. "It is a bit cold for this time of the year.. hence why it's only refreshing," Winter added, releasing a rather deep sigh. "But no, no interruptions here. Actually I probably would've just jumped right back in. Pointless, really. But there's really nothing better to do around here if you're alone," The she stated blankly, watching with those cerulean eyes of hers as Mortekai took several steps in her direction.
Had it not been for Phib, the she wolf probably would have said something further, of course only babble, as usually she had nothing of much importance to say. In most cases she spoke only to keep the conversation going. However this was stalled as the familiar scent was caught, and a momentary, fleeting glance was sent in the ebony males direction, searching the underbrush for a shadow-like figure whom she had met only the previous day. "Hm.." She began slowly, staring blankly in his direction. "Thought I saw something.. thought it was someone I met.. yesterday.." She stated, cocking her head once more. "Phib.. I thought it was.."
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Phib's ears swung forward, catching his name on the white creature's tongue. Perhaps she wasn't a fool then, she'd caught his name when he supposed he hadn't made it known to be remembered. He didn't say anything for a moment, as he angled his head and looked across the narrow bank towards where the other male stood, perhaps brought to the water by the splashing female. Then, he slowly dripped off the log, his tail curving in a slight upside-down 'c' as he approached them. He was thirsty, but he did not make an effort to reach the water's edge- yet. His paws could do with a soaking too. The blisters were gone now, but they still were tender.
He supposed he might be intruding on something. So he stopped for a moment to shift his tail, and decided that what was done was done. He had a habit of doing it anyways. He saunter up, although keeping a fair distance, going towards where the mud was so he could at least allow his feet to sink carefully into the dirty water. It was icy cool, even without shifting ebbs, but it did fine for him.
But it'd be rude to simply ignore them, and being a wolf doctored in a certain form of social etiquette, he'd develop a headache trying to ignore them rather then addressing. So with a sly gesture and the slight pivot of himself to look a bit catty, he quietly rumbled; "Thought?" He spoke, remembering briefly the quick words he had picked up as he entered the break in the trees. He had known it was meant as a side, but he wasn't the type to simply allow a hello. "I thought I had met you, although perhaps I am mistaken if you do not remember the occasion." He said with the same sliding manner, although it carried no hint of hostility, or even much aggravation. As soon as he spoke, he found himself flicking a pale green eye towards the shifting water. He was grievously thirsty, but his pride had a habit of intruding on simple matters. It was a bad fault.
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Ears instinctively honed in on Phib as he paced towards the waters edge, Mortekai's gaze however lingered on Winter briefly, attempting to ascertain her oppinion of the dark male, then flickered to wolf in question. "It's often diff'cult to put a name to a face so soon after meetin' them." he offered, ignoring the fact that the comment wasn't directed at him, "And even moreso to retain it." he added, deciding agianst moving agian for the time being, as he couldn't yet tell what this Phib was planning on doing. And why aggrivate a potention aquaintance? Especially when one knows none to run to for sanctuary.
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"Hm. I thought I saw someone there," Winter stated in a bluntlike fashion as the inky black figure of Phib slowly moved out into the open. "You know you can just walk straight up to us rather than hide. I prefer that over just watching and feeling as if someone's plotting to do something," She managed to say, a brow quirking meanwhile as she spoke. "We don't bite, honest," She added, combining the arched brow with a toothy grin. "And.. yes. Phib. Not terribly complicated.. considering I met you yesterday and you're the only one I've met recently," She continued, settling back momentarily upon her haunches. Winter didn't really have intentions on returning a favor on being extremely nice, as well.. Phib hadn't made much of an effort yesterday either. So, her attention was again directed to Mortekai. "I don't believe I caught your name..? My name's Winter," She offered her name openly, unlike those rare occasions where she'd keep it to herself.
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The black wolf quietly adjusted his position, keeping his vision locked upon the pair. The other wolf he did not know had spoken to him, and he took a second deciding on whether or not to answer him. He wasn't sure if he gathered the revelency, as he was rather familiar with the young Winter's name. He remembered it because it was a strange name, foreign to his ears. "I'd hope to be remembered soon after meeting, rather then years passed." His voice rumbled, ears pivoting at arches in front of his broad skull. He slightly taken aback that Winter thought he was slinking around and hiding. He hid the fact that it angered him, so instead, he decided to take a drink of water. It was icy, and a bit more unpleasant then he wished, for now he did not trust to have his back turned on these wolves.
He swallowed no more then two small gulps before sliding his tongue against his muzzle, small droplets of water clinging to his jet black whiskers. "Hiding? My dear, if I wanted to hide from you, I wouldn't have cared to come out at all." He roughly spoke, his eyes growing a bit cold, and he fashioned himself to moving a bit to the left, where there was less mud and more soft stone for him to rest his feet upon. With a swing of the head, he turned his face from these wolves, and blinked wearily against the water's reflections. This river was draining his energy, and he did not appreciate it.
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"Then why didn't you come out right away..? I'm sure you could tell from yesterday that I'm harmless.." Winter smirked, almost toying with the idea in the back of her head if whether or not she should stick her tongue out at this male, or keep it inside her mouth. On most occasions, she was nice to the wolves who played nice with her from the first meeting.
Phib hadn't played nice at all.. So why play nice back..?
Still though, Winter felt almost obligated to be somewhat lady-like. "Right.. so what're you doing around here, anyway..? And where's the one who was with you yesterday.. Ryoki? Or Ryoku..? Maybe I'm mixing up the name.." She continued to speak, squinting her eyes as she strained to remember. It was a wonder that she'd managed to keep this males name stored in her head while the females name hadn't remaind. Perhaps it was because either one, he was a male, two, he'd caught her attention by not playing along with her hello, or three, just stuck out in her mind more.
Either which way, Winter couldn't remember. "She was.. blind, wasn't she..? I thought you'd be with her 24/7," the female questioned, again quirking a brow in Phibs direction before shaking her head. Almost instantly she'd risen from her sitting position and had begun to walk. with slow, yet unhesitant steps, in the ebony males direction. She'd test to see his patience, yes. Perhaps it would be fun to annoy someone for a change.. rather then have the actually follow along with her flirtacious playing. Casting a sideways glance towards the wolf, Winter's pace was automatically quickened, which allowed to advance and close the gap between them at a fair amount of time. She'd see how he'd react before she actually did anything.
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Phib rose his head from staring peculiarly at the water, and furrowed his brow. His ears swayed slightly as he thought carefully to himself, but overall, did not seem particularly amused- or interested, in the female's remarks. She was right; she was not a threat to him. Which meant he could spare himself her conversation when he pleased, but the coolness of the rocks felt too soft against his raw paws. In truth; he didn't remember being hesitant about coming out at all. Perhaps he was walking slow, and this momentarily irked him more then the female.
"Ah, hiding." He spoke, his ears shifting forwards at an angle. "If you are no threat to me, why hide? I suppose you'd know as good as I." His brow winced slightly as he spoke, his head feeling a bit addled. He was still thirsty, but now he did not care to dip his head down to the cold waters.
Her next comment sent a slow spark of anger through him. How dare she talk about her. He twitched his muzzle slightly, and gave her a slow glance. "What I do with her is none of your concern." He spoke slowly, his jaw slightly pulling together as he spoke. He had no patience for this talk. She was no friend of Ryoku's, and he would not approve of such conversation. He'd long had enough of other wolves's opinion of the strange she-wolf, and he'd not be lured into talking about her without her around. Perhaps she would think he had abandoned her somewhere- or maybe that was what she was getting at.
"And as far as for why I am here-" he added, sliding a glance to the blue eyed she, "I am here to get some water."
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"Mortekai..." He returned, bowing his head respectivly as he introduced himself. But other than that he decided to remain silent, as his previous comment had obviously not contributed to the conversation in any productive way. Instead he silently observed the two of them interact. And as she approached Phib, he remained neutrally still. The female, now known as Winter, seemed almost suprisingly outspoken towards the more decidedly edgy male. Not that it was a bad thing, it was rather amusing to observe her interacting with him almost antagonisticly, made even moreso by the fact that he was attempting to keep himself unperturbed by it.
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As Mortekai responded, Winter's head turned, and her steps stopped momentarily in order to enable her to turn and glance back in the males direction. A nod of her head was given before she answered, "It's a pleasure meeting you," and to this, one of her infamous grins was sent towards him, however it didn't last very long before her attention was once again directed towards the ebony male.
A quiet, unnoticable frown was carried across her muzzle while Phib commented and struck down the rest of her own previous ones. As for the majority of them, she ignored. Or did her best to, at any rate. Why did he have to be such a.. such a grump? He was a grump yesterday, he was a grump now. Maybe he'd evetnually lighten up.
However these thoughts were quickly pushed aside as he began to talk against her asking about Ryoku. She hadn't said ANYTHING to offend, and she hadn't meant to. This newcomer was.. argh. But if he thought he could talk like that to her.. he had another thing coming. Especially when he was the one who was new, not she. She could tell her questioning upset him, and she was almost determined to find out why.
Opening her mouth to speak out against him, it almost as quickly shut. Hm.. how could she talk about it.. Oh! "Look, I'm sorry.. I didn't mean any offence or anything. I was just curious, I liked talking.. or seeing her, yesterday and all I wondered was where she was off to," She stated, recovering and rather quickly dispersing the annoyance that had gathered in her mind. All the while her steps had not ceased, which had led her almost directly up to the male, or at least one or two steps away from him. "So. Came for some water. Right," She repeated, casting a quizzical glance. There wasn't a river far from here, and he could've just as easily, if not easier, gone to that one instead. Again the thought was pushed from her mind. "Y'know.. you'd be actually nice to hang around with if you lightened up a little," She added offhandedly. Perhaps her being straight forward would convince him to at least have a little less of a grumpy attitude towards her.
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Phib shifted, his face staring stonily at the water, and at the stones down below it. She had settled down beside him now, and was continuing to pick at him. He had no reason to 'lighten up'- he was always pretty much like this. But she didn't know that, and it slightly amused him to think of there being any other way he was. Although vaguely, in the back of his mind, he knew better.
But his anger at her questions was abated by her apology. He knew she probably didn't mean it, but he liked to hear it anyways just to calm his nerves. He was very critical about how he spoke, and a half-hearted pride disallowed him from taking anything he said back. His face relaxed slightly, although he was still thirsty. The brute was a rather stubborn creature. And now he felt bad, damn women. He didn't like when they figured him out. Ryoku was meticulously good at such quasi-apologies to make him feel guilty.
He still didn't like to give away where she was. He didn't know these wolves, even though this Winter appeared harmless. He wasn't sure about the other one, but he feared a woman's cunning more then men on occasion. "She's elsewhere." He settled on, looking across the water. "Digging a hole for herself. It'll take all day, so I went for a walk." It was the truth anyways.
Slightly, his muzzle twitched, and he lowered his head down to the water to lap at it slowly. "Sometimes it's best to put distance in order to stay together." He added, swallowing a mouthful of water.
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:29 am
RP: Werewolf, Tweek
In which the wolves meet a blacker wolf then Phib and Ryoku learns to dance...
It was mid-afternoon, and even though the sky was vaguely warning of some colder weather drooping in from the north, it was still rather temperate. Temperate enough, at least, to be caught hanging outside. Having spent most of the day looking ominous and guarding a singular radius of about five hundred feet around the small bush they'd accommodated as a rendezvous point (Not that one was particularly needed. Ryoku couldn't have found it if she tried-!) But he was a person of the most scrupulous variety, and he kept his small bubble of personal zone almost immaculate of anything that might agitate him for more then a few moments.
Unfortunately, all this guarding against nothing, had kept his eyes off what he had originally been guarding in the first place. He didn't know what went on in her head, that she felt she could simply meander about, blinder then blind, and expect to wind up in exactly the same place that she'd started from. He hadn't been gone for more then a few moments, before realizing she had skipped off someplace new.
Phib circled his careful area for a moment. She had been known to hide too- just to see if he went looking for her. She found it all rather amusing, but it drove him crazy. The older wolf gave a huffing sigh, and cantered off in a quick lope, following the direction that she had vanished into. It didn't take more then a minute of this stepping pace to completely remove himself from his small little barrier line.
He found her a minute later. She could never get too far, so that was to be thankful. She was digging at something, and as he approached her, she gave a little hop and danced in one direction, before spinning carefully in circles. He watched her silly antics for a moment, and twitched his ears.
"Ryoku- what on earth-"
"I'm dancing, can't you see?" She spoke in a soft manner, the kind of way he could never really understand. She took a step back, and shifted her tail, 'looking' off into the distance.
He shook his head, and rose. "I don't have time for games."
"I always have time for games." She said softly again, and quietly, flopped onto the grass, and stretched.
He took a few steps forward, and glanced downwards through the reeds. "I've noticed." He mumbled, with an angry expression on his face. It didn't matter, since she couldn't see it, and she gently batted him on the nose.
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A muscled black male, small in all dimensions but by no means scrawny, made his way through the autumn wood. The air was getting colder, crisper, and most trees had lost the majority of their spangled leaves, which now littered the ground. They were an annoyance to predators and prey alike, announcing the slightest movement with a loud crackle of excitement. However, the raven wolf had always had a knack for a quiet gait. Ever since his puphood he had surprised or even involuntarily scared other wolves with his eerily silent entrances and light paw-steps. Even with the ground coated with leaves, Yero's innately discreet stride allowed him to make almost no noise at all. A faint rustle here and there, but otherwise? Silent as a summer breeze.
Alert indigo tipped ears tilted up in interest at the sound of voices. Whenever the black wolf wandered into the freelands he was bound to run in with some loner or another. He liked to introduce himself to them, to keep tabs on them, or at least to be aware if they posed any threat to the family that he so cared for.
He arrived just in time to see a pretty silver she-wolf bat at a larger black male's nose playfully. Yero smiled slightly, a spark of warmth lighting his crimson eyes as his thoughts drifted to his two daughters. He cocked an ear at the male's slight rebuke, and interrupted the two gently. "Sorry to interrupt." He wuffed politely in his basso murmur. "I haven't seen you two around before. Are you new in these parts?" Seeing a scar on the female's face and noting the slightly vacant look in her blue eyes, he figured she must be blind. He was surprised, but his deadpan showed no hint of his emotion.
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Phib's head rose, the large arch of his neck curving upwards as he took notice of the equally black wolf just a few feet away. He curled his tail and twisted his brow, not liking to be so quickly come upon. However, he did realize he was in freelands, and he kept a reserved amount of animosity weaseled away until he figured out exactly who this creature was.
Carefully, he stepped across Ryoku, who peeped her head up from the grass. Although Phib approached the other black wolf, Ryoku appeared to make the first connection, smiling softly at the nothingness in which she assumed the voice had come, rising to her feet, and sitting. She didn't want to move any closer, for not only would it greatly agitate Phib, but she'd hate to trip over something in front of this stranger. He had a nice voice. She felt she was a good judge of character based on voices.
Phib on the other hand, wasn't so easily swayed. Although unlike Ryoku, he did have sight to judge up this fellow. He found himself to be slightly larger, which put him at slight ease, although he generally did not like strange males when they were so unprotected. He curved the ends of his ears and sat in a rather regal manner, curving his neck forwards so his pale green eyes could get a better look at this other creature. He was a bit surprised to see such a black wolf down this far South, for whatever reason that might have been. Even he wasn't as black as this inky creature.
"Well, my friend." He spoke slowly, his voice carrying the strange sort of accent it typically held, and a mixture of stiff formal speech he often used. "That would depend on who you are-" His ear swayed. "But you haven't seen us, I don't recall." He'd probably would have recalled.
"Hello-" Ryoku said gently from behind, her ears flattening and her tail swishing. She couldn't see exactly who she was addressing, but as mentioned, she took partialities based on voice.
Phib glanced towards Ryoku with the roll of a green eye, and furrowed his brow. She was breaking his concentration at being miserable. He looked back, and twitched his muzzle. It wasn't an aggressive gesture, more of his funny way of thinking to himself. In an ominous manner. "I am Phib- from the Northern lands." He spoke. It depressed him slightly that it was unlikely any wolf would have heard of him in these parts. He regarded Ryoku. "And my mate, Ryoku."
"Hi--" She cooed again, and did another soft wagging of her tail. She didn't dare move though, because she was still gauging the situation. She might have appeared rather dumb, but there was quite a bit fluttering through that head of hers.
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Yero met Phib's intense green gaze as the other quickly dominated the conversation, letting Yero know of some innate power he must have. The feathered wolf dipped his muzzle in a formal greeting, but kept eye contact, a move which he hoped signaled that he wanted no trouble, but did not yet feel that he was on uneven ground. The other appeared to be older, and was probably more experienced at many views of life, but Yero had grown up in this land, and felt that the knowledge of the way things went down in the freelands gave him a feeling of security.
He felt a tiny itch at the back of his throat as Phib arched his neck slightly in a patriarchal motion. To be faced with a slightly socially agressive male was a challenge for Yero, and he willed himself to stay in his naturally mellow state, pushing that one stinging memory from so long ago back where it belonged.
Any apprehension flitted from his form when the female gave her pathetically sweet greeting, and Yero found his tail echoing her wag, though he knew she could not see the gesture. If this black fellow was saddled with such a ward then how cruel could he really be?
Yero listened attentively as Phib spoke. He was slightly disgruntled by the other's tone, but he knew better than to try to demean a male's image, especially in front of a female; he knew a thing or two about pride. He also knew that you could never be too careful. He'd learned that the hard way. The female's innocence was disarming, but he'd still have to be careful.
"My name is Yero." He said respectfully. "These are my--homelands" There was the slightest pause. But were they? Yes, they were. Yero had had a family before he had come to the woods, but he prefered not to think of that, and rather to dwell on his adopted mother Selia, and the times spent with Whinn on the riverbank when the two had been young. "It is good to meet you Phib." He bobbed his head in a nod. "I have not met many from the North." But those I have met have certainly been free spirits. Like you seem to be.
"Hello Ryoku," His voice softened at her second greeting and he smiled a bit.
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:34 am
RP: Ary Keeyara, Werewolf
In which Phib is confused...
As the day continued, the sky finally broke down and gave way to snow. Although it had fallen quickly only an hour before, it now drizzled down in a slow haphazard manner, adding only more snow to the already glistening white forest. The tall trees held up what grips of snow they could amongst their bare branches, although the weight of some of the drifts was causing the wood to sound with the soft 'slooop'ing of snow falling from the treetops.
Despite this noise, it was remarkably quiet. Whereupon, a small crunching noise echoed somewhere amongst the all white, and from the side of a lone birch tree pooled the large inky form of a long black wolf. The snow fluttered across his face as he took a moment to carefully observe his surroundings. Some of the flakes catching haphazardly against his small whiskers, and even more, against the cape of black fur at his back.
The large wolf, now healed for the most part from the wear and tear of life on the road, was beginning to feel more at home in this strange land. He knew his way around a ten mile radius rather well, and day by day he was venturing a little further to familiarize himself with the landscape. Occasionally, his mate accompanied him on such walks, although for this time she had opted to stay at 'home' in order to keep her feet warm. They were still tender from the burns, even though his had healed fully only the week before.
Winter was doing good for him, despite the chill. His coat had filled in, covering up any of his small scars and nicks. Even the deep one in his chest was for the most part invisible, and the increased coat size made him look even larger then he normally did. He hated feeling at ease, but for now, he was finding himself in a shambled sense of normalcy that he hadn't felt in a year.
He snorted, passing carefully by a partially iced bush. A plume of warm smoke coughed from his nostrils, and flaring them slightly, he peered about to view the occupancy of the area he was entering. It seemed for the most part quiet, and with a slow and dignified turn of the head, he padded through the ankle deep snow.
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A soft breeze stroked him from the side, catching up strange smells of the forest's belly bellow. Phib rose his head, letting the breeze pass him. It freed up some of the small chilly snowflakes, although helped to chill his nose some as he carefully read the wind. This wood was silent, but the wind quickly told him he was not a lone being amongst all the white.
He regarded the scene with a slow slide of his pale green eyes, remarking silently to himself on how far he estimated the temperature would drop tonight. For now it seemed innocent though, and he couldn't help but enjoy it for at least the moment. He had come from the north, and this was his kind of weather. Not bitterly cold yet, but cold enough to cover the ground with flurries.
The black wolf pulled himself to a steady trot, his tail bobbing in a curved arc as he strolled, none to shamed to be an obvious burn upon the surface of all the white. His large paws kicked up some crunchy snow in it's wake, although for the most part the webbing between his toes kept him comfortably ontop of the drifts.
A sudden flicker passed across his eyes, and he pulled himself to a slow. The black wolf paused, his long neck arching forwards as he trained his eyes towards the area a shadow had crossed. Sure enough, just in the distance there was a faint ghost of a white wolf, strolling along. For a moment he hung silently, having acquainted himself somewhat with such another pale creature- but upon a soft breeze, he found this fellow to be decidablely male.
The older wolf snorted, another plume of mist pursing about his blockish snout. He was a young creature, unless he be a small wolf. Phib's eyes narrowed in thought. But young ones did not do much to trouble him, so he decided to knock the jaded creature out of his thoughts with a low howl. It was only a seconds worth, and more of a 'woof' then anything. He paused, and swung his ears forward, and peered forward at the lone creature.
'Hrm'. The old beast swayed, the end of his tail arching carefully.
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Hearing the short, clipped howl Kiba stopped. His leg muscles grew tense in the position in which they had become frozen. His ears twisted to the side slightly as he turned his neck. He stared out through the snow with a strightingly bright gaze until he saw a dark form not far off. White dotted upon a faded, unclear black in the distance. Another wolf, it seemed. The wind swirled about with the snow, drifting the scent of the other to him. An old male, was it? He saw the male had stopped moving just as he had-and he waited to see if he would make in action, simply staring back through the white with a gaze of gold.
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Phib curved, the side of his neck slowly hilting to the side as the other creature in the distance attempted to stare him down. His brow cocked slowly, and with a shift of his head, he swung his head around to face the snow ladened path just to the north of him. Snow was fluttering about and disjointing his black and white vision, and carefully, he took another slop step within the snow. He was pondering to himself exactly how much he particularly cared about the young wolf's presence. His muscles shifted beneath his thick winter coat, and decided rather fleetingly, that he would see what this creature was doing roaming the woods. It was in his nature to know most everyone, as he was and always would be, a most biting kind of political figure.
He arched his path, and slowly moved up the slope. He didn't like to appear heading towards the fellow, so he curved and placed himself just ten feet in front of him. He pulled to a stop, his tail flushing upwards and to the side, mostly to shake off some snow that had fallen from his back after the slight change of altitude. Although he was a middle aged creature, he had not lacked any sort of youthful nimbleness as he crossed the trek. It felt good to have his paws not sting him, and he felt particularly fulfilled and a bit on the arrogant side as he trotted a few more feet towards the white creature.
This wolf seemed to blend within the snow, and he couldn't help but remember the first time he had met an old friend of his. Although she had been so fleeting in those days... He shook off the nostalgic feeling, and arched his brow as he approached the other. "Hello there." His voice uttered from his chest, thick against the silent snowfall. He moved himself so he faced sideways, his head turned towards him. "...An interesting day you pick to walk, youngling." Somewhere in the distance, there was another 'sllooop' of falling snow. Phib's ears arched forward with the nose, and reflectively, angled his head to the left without leaving his pale eyes from the near invisible wolf.
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"This day is no different then the others, besides the change of weather," the white wolf replied, his voice almost completely muffled by the wind it was so soft and sleak. He did not seem the least bit intimitated by the older male, but his posture did not suggest a challenge either. He was simply there, confident enough in himself, but not forcing his self-assurance on the world.
He barely wondered why the male chose to come and speak with him. A pack leader, perhaps, but that didn't seem reason to the youth, for he was simply passing through. No other reasons would directly come to mind, however, but he left himself open to other possibilities.
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"Hrm." Phib remarked, his eyes flecking upwards to the falling snow. Small flakes were twisting down as haphazardly as they had been a scant fifteen minutes ago, and one or two grazed past his muzzle before melting against his black coat. "Perhaps- If all your days are the same." He decided to purse to the side, bobbing slightly in his walk. He turned his snout down to the snow, and took in a soft snort to figure out what creature had passed through. He did all this in a manner of distraction, as still, he was watching this white figure.
"And if all your days are the same, my friend." He spoke, rising his head and looking over at him. "That's unfortunate." The end of his tail kinked back upwards, and he trotted a semi-circle around the white wolf. "Pale wolves-" He echoed, feeling the weight of his tongue in his mouth. "Not too many this far south. And yet I keep running into them." His tail shifted slowly. "My name is Phib, although I do not suppose it will mean much to you." He spoke sternly, but he was a bit more aloof about his exodus. Now it was a kind of a game, rather then a strike to his pride. These wolves would never know who he was, but, perhaps that was for the best. For the first time in his considerable life, he was not the great wolf he had once been, and he wasn't even Hrothmund's son. What a testament to his father's memory, the old fool.
He took another slow circling motion around the adolescent, his ears swaying. He normally wasn't too talkative, but he was mildly intrigued by the bizarrely fatal attitude which dwelled upon this creature. "And you, child? Does the complacency have a name? "
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Kiba ignored Phib's first comment about his days, for this wolf knew nothing of them. His days were, in a sense, the same. Filled with that longing for something unseen and unfelt. But he had learned his his puppyhood that others did not understand his feelings and therefore he could not explain it to them. It was simply a waste of breath and effort on his part.
"I am not a child," came his simple, cool reply. Perhaps he was one in comparison to this male, but he wasn't a pup any longer. Names did, in a sense, mean little to him, since they were but sounds passed from one wolf to the next, but he freely gave his own, "I am called Kiba."
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He quirked a small smirk, nodding his head. "Of course." He humored, a bit pleased that teens where still ever so much offended by being confused with children. Ah, Thallen... He snorted, and interrupted the thought. He'd not have himself thinking about his own children.
"Called Kiba?" Phib questioned, stopping his circular motioning to sit down. His long body curved to the side in an oddly unlupine posture. "And what does 'Kiba' call himself?" He questioned, his steady eyes looking the younger wolf over. He didn't seem filled with the kind of adolescent arrogance and necessity most creatures his age were, although he couldn't be sure yet. He didn't seem to be lacking of the angst, but that was to be decided.
Phib swung his ears forward. "Or perhaps- Kiba doesn't know." He offered, shifting his head to the side. For a moment, his face lost a little bit of the amusment, and looked sternly forward, his sharp eyes peering across the frozen land to where the white wolf stood.
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"If I do not talk to myself, why would I have a need of calling myself?" Kiba responded steadily, watching as the male continued to move around. Was he truly that restless? He wasn't unnerved by this wolf's sense of motion, simply feeling a tad bit of curiousity that soon vanished. What did it have to do with him? Kiba was content just standing there and watching for the moment.
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The black wolf shifted, his neck pushing upwards slowly. He was contemplating to himself the oddly fatal nature of this creature. Phib shifted the end of his tail, wondering briefly to himself on his own temperament as a child. He supposed he was rather hollow, and every bit as arrogant as he had ever been as an adult. But there was something...lacking in this wolf. "Oh?" He questioned slowly. "Such a stranger, that you don't even address yourself in thought?" The long creature stood again, shaking a haphazard drift of snow. His ear docked. "A lonely head, I'd imagine."
"So a nameless wolf called Kiba strolls today as on every other day; Save, the snow." He mused. "Heading anywhere in particular?" The male questioned, although he did not expect a straight answer. That was fine- he was rather amused by this blank creature. He couldn't help but pull a slow, albeit slightly unnerving grin upon his snout. Ryoku would have a field day with this one. He could already hear her soft voice in his head. She'd probably walk right up to the young one, and start right in with her babbling. 'Yes? You don't talk to yourself? I talk- sometimes. To myself, it's an interesting head, yes.' She had an peculiar way of speaking, half of which he privately believed she did intentionally.
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Kiba could sense the other wolf's amusement. One who saught amusement on another's behalf was rather...well, an ill-favored practice in his eyes. He found this wolf to be very strange, like the one who had believed in ghosts. She had critized him for not being respectful of spirits and not believing in them...this wolf scoffed his lack of talking to himself. Such strange wolves, they were. Sometimes he felt lucky that he hadn't met so many. "I am looking for something," was the only response he gave to the last question, the only one he felt important enough to answer.
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"I see." He echoed softly, his brow carefully bunching together. "An actual something, or something metaphorical?" He quipped, although from the stone tone of the other male, he imagined that it was the latter. "Although I suppose, everyone is looking for something."
He turned his head across the white plain, and looked out towards where the horizon blurred with the snowy clouds. Although he did truly believe that everyone was looking for something, he felt, for once, that he was not searching for something. And yet he was still out looking for it. That was a bit ironic. What more did he need?
"You're a young wolf to be looking for things so dispatched." He remarked, looking at the snow-filled sky. "I wouldn't fool yourself too much though." He added slowly, sliding a green eye towards him. "There hardly ever is what you're looking for. Just some shadows and ideals." He nodded his head. He couldn't see the sun, but it looked as though it was trying to pull from all the clouds and bathe the snow in fading light.
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"Maybe so, but I have nothing to loose and therefor nothing to stop me from looking," Kiba said simply, his golden eyes watching the male before flickering toward the landscape. His paws shifted and he moved his body around, walking through the snow. He stopped when he was a little bit closer to Phib, but slightly at an angel facing the the trees very far off in the distance, "What about you? What are you doing out here?" The remark wasn't meant to be sharp or rude, it just was....it just existed, with very little emotion to speak of within his tone.
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"Oh-" Phib swayed, his eyes still a bit distracted by the clouds. "You'd be surprised by how much you can loose. And the more you live, the more you've got of it." He turned his head back around, the corner of his snout angling in a slow grin. On him, it was a bit manicle looking, even if at the moment he felt almost amiable, which was not something he was often.
The dark creature rose back to his feet, the pads of his feet quickly plucking at the snow as he moved a half circle from the wolf called Kiba, and moved forwards to look at a tree with a particularly packed bunch of snow about it's branches. It shook softly, and suddenly, the snow piled down in a slow puff of mist and ice. The black wolf snorted carefully, some of the small ice particles clinging to the ends of his full coat.
"If there was much to tell, I would say." He commented. "But I'm not out doing much more then surveying. I like to know the land I am on. I go for about another mile, and return home." He nodded carefully, his eyes focused on something abstract and far away. "I come from the North- these lands here are all foreign to me." He said stonily, but with a slight dip of his snout. "But they're really not all too different, these woods here. It's just a matter of learning to read them again. "
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:05 am
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:04 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 4:31 pm
RP: Noyama/Werewolf
In which some wolves head out for some snow fun...
Almost overnight the woods seemed to have been pelted by a frosty snowfall. It left the terrain covered in about a foot of snow, and still it continued to fall in small careless flakes from the cloudy sky. It would be the start of a hard winter, particularly for the pair of wolves who had taken to denning off the Southside of the large river which cut Telk in two.
Although winter was undeniably making it's presence known, the harshness was yet to come, and for now, winter was serving as a much needed change of scenery for the pair. Or at least- change of scenery for one of them.
The pale silver wolf stared just as well as any blind wolf could down into the bubbling waters of the river. A thin layer of ice- thin enough that it merely bobbed about and floated on the surface, was brushing against the end of her nose. Logic told her, that in another step, she would be dangerously near falling in. She wished more then anything at that moment to be able to see the water and the ice, so she made as much compensation as she could by flicking at it with her tongue.
"Don't do that," rumbled an undeniably male voice from in the distance. The pale wolf didn't seem to mind, but she did raise her head somewhat.
"Do what?" Ryoku peeped, "I'm not of doing anything."
"That- stop poking it with your nose. You're going to fall in," the male's voice continued. It strained slightly at the end of it, as the large black wolf hoisted himself upon a snowy log. It was close enough to the bank that it had caused the water around it to freeze about three feet into the water, and carefully, he crossed it. As his weight pushed upon the portions above water, he could hear the ice slowly crackle beneath him.
Ryoku's ears pivoted and she flicked her tongue against her dripping nose. "I'll not fall in- You just make sure you don't fall in."
"Fall in?" The black wolf asked, nosing around some of the snow to make room for his paws. "I'm not even by the water." As he spoke, he glanced cautiously by the drifting waters, and peered into his reflection beneath the thin layer of ice. A pair of pale green eyes glanced back up at him, and he furrowed his expression in contemplation.
"You're a horrible liar, yes." Ryoku shook her head, and took a few very careful steps backwards. Once she was sure she was not near the water anymore, she flopped onto her back, and started to rub herself into the snow drift.
"I'd be a liar if I was near the water- which I'm not." He responded, and reached the end of the log. Cautiously, he lowered his head, and poked the ice with the end of his paw. It was an oddly juvenile behavior for him to express, but with no one but Ryoku around, he didn't seem to mind. Even the weight of his paw was enough to crack the ice, and it pushed in a tiny round hole.
"Maybe I should come over there then?" Ryoku snorted at the snow, and froze herself in a half snow covered position.
"Perhaps not-" Phib said, withdrawing his now wet paw.
"I was thinking so." Ryoku giggled, and bit some of the snow with her mouth.
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Ran and her siblings had been born in a not very welcoming cave. Sashta had told Reicher to keep going, and by time the four of them were born she was otherwise alone. Naturally, one would need some recovery time. In this time, she'd always told stories.
It was argueable Ran listened more than the other three. She enjoyed the tales Mama told about things: other wolves, other places, but, mainly, snow. Snow and ice. It had sounded so pretty, seemed so great, but...
It was cold. "Ran doesn't like it out here," the shaman complained. The butterflies flickering randomly about ignored her. She hadn't wanted to come out here. In fact, she'd originally refused. She wished she could just talk to the wind or trees or something.
But, no, she got stuck with these butterflies. They were bossy. Her refusal had been countered with them multiplying and smacking into her until she gave in and agreed (which wasn't long at all, really). Considering she was the only one who could see them, it was likely she was the only who could feel them, too.
"Did someone fall in the ice?" she questioned, but no answer was provided. Only a few paces from there, her eyes spotted blotched of black and white. As she drew closer, one of the figures in particular seemed familiar.
"Ryoku!"
------------------------------------
As Phib continued to peer down at the paper-thin ice flows, Ryoku made her own snow fun by rolling about in the flurries. One could say she was attempting to make snow angles- only these strange things she made in the snow looked neither angelic, nor very wolf like either. If anything, they looked somewhat like a tiny crater.
Occasionally as she tussled about, small plumes of snow rushed up and clung to her face, and she'd sit upright and pant, gaining up some more energy for the next silly escapade. But just as she was about to consider going back to poke the ice (perhaps she could bite off a piece!), a sudden voice from the all the black called her name.
Ryoku stood up, small clumps of snow shaking down from her pale silver frame. Her eyes stayed in their still and dead position, but her muzzle swung about to allow her ears a better extension to figure out where the voice had come from. Although she could recognize the voice at first, having heard it from afar not too long ago, she was confirmed further by the smell of the young female she had recently become acquainted with. At once she was hopping about, although not daring to go too far off into the woods, or too far back, as she was not quite sure what portions of this land were lake, and what portions were indeed solid land. The last thing she wanted was to have Phib fish her out of the river again...
"Ran!" She squeaked in excitement, and bobbed about with a wagging tail.
As Ryoku continued her childish greeting, Phib turned his head towards the approaching wolf. He hadn't known Ryoku knew anyone in these woods, and at once, he was finding this most vexing. He turned on the log- but was quickly thrown from his thoughts as it broke free from the ice, and twisted. With a groan, he fixed his position with a twitch of his ear, and hopped back onto the bank-side. Distracted, he shook his back foot, and gave a disgusted snort.
But now a bit closer to Ryoku and this 'Ran', he found himself stopping his angry march to see what was about, and simply sat. It'd been a while, he realized, since anyone had ever paid Ryoku a visit. It wasn't like she had any friends- save him, and he didn't suppose he counted. Even back home... She was just too trusting of a creature. And that worried him greatly.
He paced briefly, and finally sat on the snow in a collapsed lump. He'd listen anyways, he certainly didn't want harm to come to her. But perhaps for once he'd not stick his nose into her affairs.
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Ran probably should've put two and two together. She'd been told of Phib, after all. While she harbored some 'magical' abilities now, her intelligence still hadn't developed to the point of being strong enough to work things like that out--even if they should seem obvious.
Had she realized it, she'd likely have been amused. Black and white just like Mama and Papa.
At least she appeared smart enough to not run through snow and ice. Oho, no sir! She'd learned her lesson the first six times, thankyouverymuch. Even so, she ended up literally sliding to a stop just beside her friend. "It's cold."
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Ryoku thrushed her tail about, and now that Ran was in front of her, gave way to near ceremonial 'excited omega' greeting. After this was settled and she felt Ran was well greeted, she began to haphazardly pull some of the snow which had wedged between her toes in her running.
"It is being very cold." Ryoku panted, and flicked her tongue carefully at her paw before setting it down. It made the pale foot colder upon placing it down, but it was nice to not have the ice wedges chilling her small toes. Seriously, she added; "I hope this snow doesn't mean winter will be harsh." She nodded her head reflectively.
Her white ears curved upwards, remembering something that another wolf had expressed to her over the matters of winter. She rose to her feet, and looked to the ice floated water. "Have you been through Winter before, Ran?" She asked, her head tilting to the side. It was hard to say how old the young wolves were in this region. "It's my second." She responded, even though she was three, for the first winter she had spent weaseled away to keep herself from getting sick. "But Phib's of having many." She grinned.
Phib snorted from the snow, and ignored the jab at his age.
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"Yes," Ran answered, a bit distressed. It had just been about the cold before, but now that she thought about it, could she make it without Mama and the rest? A bit harshly, she leered at a random butterfly then shook her head. They didn't do a thing but be bossy. They couldn't feed her, and she couldn't eat them. She'd tried it. "It's pretty, at least, it can make up for being cold almost."
Flicking her black tail, she looked the way of the not-so-unknown stranger and nodded a greeting. Mama always said be polite. Even if he didn't seem all that friendly so far... "Ran is glad to me you," she said honestly. "Ryoku said good things."
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Ryoku sighed fondly, and sat beside ran, "looking" out over where she imagined the water to be. "I always loved winter. I love spring too, but- winter makes everything different, yes? And I like the snow, when it's not between my toes." She lifted up a paw for dramatic effect of the phlight of her feet. Perhaps it was because her genetics had not originated from the northern lands, but it always seemed to get irritably cold around her toes. Phib had such big feet, but the snow didn't seem to bother him.
At that moment with all the talk of toes, Phib had gone to cleaning his own. In truth- they weren't cold, although he did like to keep them as free of the icy water as possible. If he got them too wet, the fur was prone to freezing together in a most uncomfortable manner. He felt himself being addressed, and with a stern expression, rose his head and gazed over at the dark grey female standing besides Ryoku. His ear slowly pivoted, before finally nodding his head politely. "Hello, Ran." He rumbled, and for a moment, he lost his steady expression and did look generally pleased in being greeted.
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Well, they weren't so much like Mama and Papa other than by colorcode. Mama was more forceful than Ryoku had proved to be, and Phib wasn't crazy like Papa was, which all and all was a good thing.
Ran appeared pleased with herself for making the rougher of the pairs expression change, if only for a short time. Even so, her interest lied more with Ryoku than Phib. "Ran doesn't know the seasons," she admitted to her. "Just that it's cold or it's not. Ran hasn't been here long enough for all the seasons either, Ran thinks." One thing was for sure, she wasn't looking this one very much.
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Phib gave what would be as much of a smile as he usually showed, and dipped his head back to work on his feet. He was rather pleased to see that Ran was a nice girl. From what he'd seen of the wolves in this wood so far, they had all been rather nutty. Perhaps there were a few decent ones after all.
Likewise, Ryoku was much more distracted with Ran then paying attention to Phib. After all, she could do that all the time anyways. Her face lightened up with talk of seasons, and she gently sat as close to the water as memory would allow her to. It was in fact, a little bit further then what 'by the river' could be allowed, but she dared not go any closer. "Well, Winter is of meaning the one when it gets very cold, and causes the sky to rain white." Ryoku nodded with consideration, trying to figure out how to summarize the other seasons.
"Of course, in spring there are flowers and more pretty butterflies-" She had heard Ran mention butterflies once, but of course, was totally unawares to the small fluttering creatures which eerily graced through the snow besides Ran. "-And everyone falls in love." She chuckled with a wag of her tail.
"In summer, everyone is of being cranky again, and it's hot all the time. But there's the most food during summer." Her head squinted in thought. "And...the last one is when all the forest shrivels up in orange, but I don't really get when that one stops and winter is of starting. They may be the same thing. Sometimes."
Carefully, she furrowed her brow in thought. The look on her face was oddly comical for the jovial omega, almost too thoughtful. In the end, she simply shook her head back and forth, and snorted as a piece of snow drifted on top of her nose. "Winter..." She sighed. "Winter can be making for hungry bellies too." She didn't like that part of winter.
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Looking nothing below amazed, not that it counted for much when it was caused by one who was blind, Ran listened just as closely to the seasons summaries as she would've one of Sashta's stories way back when. Ryoku was probably almost smarter than Mama! Maybe as smart. Though, she wouldn't dare say more, because... it was her Mama.
A lot of the things confused her, but she didn't prod further about it. Love? Grumpy just because it was hot? Didn't make any sense to her. The one didn't sound all that appealing, even if Ryoku obviously enjoyed it. The last thing she wanted to see was more butterflies.
"Ah, yes," Ran agreed, suddenly aware of her own hunger. Maybe she could find something dead already? Frozen would work too, depending. "Ran has to go."
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Although Ryoku would be oblivious to the female's intent interest, the silence had at least told her she was listening. Her tail continued to carefully thrush as she finished talking about the seasons, which left her already buzzing for spring and all the other ones to come once more full circle.
Her ears suddenly perked upwards, looking towards where Ran's voice came from. She was sorry to 'see' Ran go, but with their second meeting she did not doubt that she would see the young wolf again. Smiling softly, she went about her silly omega goodbye sorrows, wagging her tail appealingly and followed Ran a few feet up the snow drift until she reached where she assumed the young female had originated from. Ryoku grinned, and nodded her head. "Take care Ran- I hope I shall be of seeing you again."
From the river bank, Phib had risen, and was slowly shaking off the snow from his inky black pelt. It was time he started thinking about his own belly as well, and he'd need to lead Ryoku back home before he went off looking for food. Noting that Ran was leaving, he gave a polite 'woof', and went about kicking some snow off the nape of his neck.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:30 pm
RP: Lethrossen/Werewolf
In which Phib meets a stranger...
Kamali yawned, he was moving through the woods in a pace that could rival that of sap from trees. His minty fur would fit in once snow fell, well it might. It blended nicely with spring, but he was sure it wouldn't stand too much out from the snow.
He was excited about snow, he loved it so. His breath misted infront of his nostrils, golden eyes flicking about. He knew the feild was coming up soon, he loved feilds.
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After spending the majority of the day reclining and partaking of general foolhardiness with Ryoku, the large ink black wolf decided it was time to go about finding the pair a meal for the afternoon. There probably should have been some time set aside for reflection on how lucky the pair was that one of them was able to hunt well enough for both of them, and having done so for the greater portion of these past two years. But if Phib was anything, it was not humble, and he did not take in account the matters which life had blessed him with. For him, it was another day, which he took in with a mixture of bitterness and relief.
Still the chill in the air, but it kept him for the most part light footed. With the trees all but stripped of their leaves, the forest looked eerie in the pre-winter scarring. Pivoting his ear slowly, he stepped forth from a trail he typically took following prey, and leaned off more to the side this day. An older wolf, he knew well not to put too much strain on a herd, or else they might be convinced to move southward premature. He'd much rather keep the small deer and elk around for as long as they remained. It made for good food for the pair.
But as he continued this quick step, the large wolf became momentarily distracted upon entering a slightly frosted field. Mist flared from his nose, as he carefully viewed the vacant surroundings. He leaned forward upon himself, his muscles pulling slightly as he craned his head above the grasses. There were others within these woods today, and this sent a mixture of agitation and curiosity through the long creature.
'What vagabond roams today?' he thought slowly, his ear carefully docking as it listened. For the most part, he was large enough to see over the grasses. A flicker crossed his eye, and he happened to glance at a pale green shadow yawning, and gracing towards the field.
He didn't seem to be moving at a fast pace, so Phib took the time to slip more obviously out of the grasses, until he stood at the head of the field. He kept his pale green eyes focused on the slow creature, although he did not seem too blatantly concerned on the other wolf's presence. He did not, however, make any efforts to appear particularly thrilled either.
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Kamali's eyes glittered with slight amusement as a mouse shot out infront of him, dodging and frittering, prehaps into the path. His step bacame a bit more springy, dare i say a bit quicker, as he began to follow after it into the feild. But it was much faster than his leisurely pace and was out of sight.
Nostrils flared, twitched, and he looked about slowly. He was a lanky wolf, nowhere near threatening. He was thing and almost frail looking, but tall. His head tilted as he spotted the other wolf, much darker and he thought he might be older. "Greetings." He called, a wolfish grin splitting his muzzle. He was friendly toward strangers, which was sometimes a good thing and sometimes not.
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The greetings flicked off the black wolf's ears with a slight pivot of them, and he regarded the younger male with a steady glance. Perhaps even after a year of living as nomads, he still had difficulties accepting the fact that there would be strange wolves as long as that life continued. But although he was many unpleasant things, rude, was not one of them. He was ever the politician among wolves if there was one, and he was a creature who knew that the more words shared between one another, the better for him it was.
"Hello there." He rumbled, and slowly padded up towards the pale green wolf. His lapse of step caused more by the urge to not make it appear he was particularly vicious or remotely interested in that sort of confrontation. The other male didn't seem that sort anyways, so there was little reason to be laying anything on too thick.
He sat with a thump, his back curving slightly as he did. His ears shifted, and presently, he addressed the male again- "An interesting sort of day to be chasing mice." He noted. "I am Phib."
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Kamali didnt realize his behavior was off, seeing as this was how he'd acted his whole life.. well, not true, he was shy as a pup and even a teen. His tail flicked a few times back and forth, besides slightly curling against his leg. He cautiously scented the air, to learn this and that about the male, before sitting down as well.
"Oh.." He coughed. "No, I wasn't chasing the little fellow.. i'd just.. we.." He trailed off and offered a sheepish grin. "Anyways, you can call me Kamali. Though mostly others shorten it.. Phib.. that's a pretty short name, so i suppose i'd be pointless to try and shorten it.
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The black wolf shifted, continuing his careful look-over the pale green creature. No, he didn't seem to be much harm at all. In recourse, he allowed himself a slight chuckle over the antics of the wolf at the mouse, assuming that there was a story behind this, and perhaps it would be best left for some other day. "I see, I see."
"Kamali?" He spoke, his voice a little more curt then he'd meant it to be. He shook his head carefully. "I don't see any reason to shorten the name, it is a fine name." Although he did agree- not much could be made from the name 'Phib'. Maybe Ph, but he didn't suppose that was much of a name. At least, he certainly hoped not.
"From around here, I'd imagine?" He questioned, remembering that he did like to keep a private note on how many of these wolves in this woods were foreigners like himself.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:54 am
RP: Dbz2004/Werewolf
In which things get stranger...
Flit sighed as he glanced around the wastelands he had wandered into. Since his encounter with Meeko, his spirits had been raised dramastically. he pinned his ears back slightly as he heard the call of a lone wolf from somewhere far away. he sniffed slightly at the air, trying to get the scent of a wolf he could possible become friends with. He caught no scent at all. Shaking his coat free of the frost that collected on it, he continued to walk onward towards nowhere.
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The sound of the lone wolf's howling caught the fringes of a large black ear. Slowly, it pivoted around as a large creature listened. Although his heart rose and fell with the sounds of the lone's howling, he did not respond. Instead, he simply crinkled his nose with a disdained expression, snorted, and flanked his tail upwards as he trotted slowly across the snow covered landscape.
It'd stopped snowing for the moment, allowing for much quicker travel then previously. The long wolf remained alert, for now that the snow had dissipated, it'd be only a matter of time before some vagabond cared to stray by on this morning. Presently- he was deeply engaged in the idea of bringing some food back for Ryoku, who had been looking a bit chilled. He didn't like that in her, as she had always been a sickly creature even before the loss of her eyes.
Phib paused, his ears suddenly hiking upwards on his head, alerting him to a sound in the distance. He rose his head, the muscles in his neck slightly flinching in the movement, reminding him to sleep in a more comfortable position in the future. Ignoring them, the black creature flicked the end of his tongue against the black ink spot of his nose, the taste of water flushing across the midsection of the pink stipe. Someone was indeed about- and it was not that lone howling creature.
Slowly, he padded across a small thicket of bare saplings, his long legs sinking just slightly into the snowed in landscape. He had a clear view of the blank snow land, which must have been just at the very edges of this massive forest's boarders. Seeing no one at first, he rose his head with a precarious expression, and let the wind toy with the fur around his neck before deciding what to do from there. Looking remarkably stern, he slowly pooled out from the tree line, his head slowly swaying as he surveyed.
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Hearing something nearby, Flit pinned his ears back and bared his teeth slightly. He hadn't been hostile towards any other wolf before, but today was different. This region of the plains had gotten him spooked slightly. He shook his coat again as he glanced around at the forest in the near distance. He narrowed his eyes as the trees started to call out to him. Shaking his head, he refused to go anywhere near the trees. Seeing a river, he decided that the river was more inviting than the forest. As he started for the river he saw a black form searching for something, or someone, at the edge of the forest. He stopped in his tracks and started to growl low in his throat at the black wolf.
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The wolf turned, suddenly catching the sound of a low growl from somewhere to his left. Sharply, he turned his head, and at once his tail flanked upwards and he went about trotting towards this distraught creature. He stopped about ten feet away, ears remaining stonily still upon his skull. He wasn't in much mood for such foolhardy vagabonds, not when he had more important matters to be concerned about. But despite this creature's blatant aggression towards him, and Phib's typical domineer, he did not charge the beast. He certainly implied that he could- and quite possibly would, but did not quiver even an utterance of a growl from his throat. He remained silent, bristling slightly at the hackles, and pressing his whiskers outwards in a soundless gesture of 'why don't we rethink this transgression?'
Being a being of the most scrutiny, he noted the pale creature's ears were pinned against his head- which was his most implication to not engage the creature. He wasn't particularly sure- or interested- in what this wolf had in his own matters, but it didn't seem like he was calling him out. Not yet.
But that didn't mean he couldn't play along with this. "Do you call me out, wolf?" he spat, his voice cutting harshly in his throat. "What a peculiar creature you are- to what of my many offenses do I owe this?" He said with a smirk. Still- he did not rumble, or give more reason or interest into confrontation.
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hearing the lone wolf's questions, Flit immediately stopped growling. A few moments later, he mentally began to beat himself up for doing that. Shaking his head he pulled his lips over his teeth and slowly approached Phib. "I am sorry for my actions. I thought...you were someone else," he said to Phib in an apologetic voice. He slowly raised his ears and caught the sound of a lone deer bounding away from the two wolves. He glanced around the wasteland as he got nearer and nearer towards the lone wolf. He stopped about 100 yards away from Phib and looked at the black wold curiously. "I am just a wolf with no clan or family to be with. My markings mean nothing, except that they are that of a hummingbird. My father must have been like this, though I have no clue since both my mother and father haven't been in my life since I was born." He twitched an ear slightly as he shook off frost that was still on his coat.
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Phib snorted, venting a bit of the agitation caused by being riled up. But for the most part, he didn't look too displeased in the sudden drop of conflict. It was just wasted effort, and he'd not be bringing himself down to the level of a lone to be biting and scrapping like some sort of vagrant. Carefully, he kinked his tail, and crossed some of the distance between them.
"I see." The black wolf uttered as the humming bird creature apologized. His ear carefully shifted as he mulled over his own rampant thoughts, before reminding himself that the wolf was still speaking. "An interesting wolf you must have suckled milk from, be she invisible." He uttered, taking a sidestep and walking carefully around the wolf. Mostly, to get a better look at the creature he had seen from a distance. Feeling satisfied with himself, he sat, his tail carefully flexed behind him. He didn't understand what his markings would have to hint about his nature, but he took it reflexively. The only reason he was who he was simply due to his look-alike nature to his father- he certainly could not dismiss the other wolf's concern on his coloration simply because he could find no answer for it. "You'll find many wolves like yourself." Phib spoke, noting well that there seemed to be a lot of lone creatures in these woods. For a moment, his mind flickered back to his mate, sleeping perhaps or off getting lost, and he felt an urgency to return home. But he kept himself grounded, his ears cocking with a vague interest as to what this lone had to say.
"And who- may I ask, do I resemble?" He happened to question, the idea suddenly striking him.
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Flit canted his head at Phib's question. He pinned his ears back for a few brief moments before perking them back up again. He pondered at the question for a few moments before replying. "You look like someone who has had it rough with life, but keeps on going on no matter what. You look on the bright side of things when everything around you is falling apart. You are a loner who thinks that friends might become a hinderance to you." He pinned his ears back as he began to discribe things that were almost like him. He crouched down against the ground as he began to think to himself that he might have a better time at life if he became a lone wolf.
Sighing, he looked up at the black wolf as he noticed his scars on his muzzle. A little curious at the scars, he held back his questions that he wanted to ask Phib. Instead he slowly raised his body up from the ground and took several steps towards the big black wolf.
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Phib chuckled, his eyebrow raising. "An interesting assumption." He thought to himself, for a moment, just to validate that that was in fact not, him. "I'm afraid, my friend," he spoke, his head looking downwards as the younger wolf started to sink. "That you'll find that description not too much of myself. I have not had a hard life- for my own standards, whether or not that might measure up to other wolves, I do not know. I do not look for the brightness in the world- I leave that to my mate, whom calls me a cynic. And I am not- nor ever will be, a lone wolf." He spoke with a certain amount of forceful pride in himself. He'd not go from king to commoner.
He wondered slowly to himself, if this creature had been speaking metaphorically about himself. He softened his expression in slight sympathy if this was true, although to the untrained eye it didn't seem like much had crossed past his face. His pale green eyes followed the wolf as he moved towards him. "Do those features describe yourself?" His stern voice echoed, although as it rumbled he attempted to not make it sound all too curt.
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Flit stopped in his tracks and stared at Phib with a hint of confusion in his eyes. The wolf's question shocked him slightly. why would he be asking me this question? does he see the lone wolf in me?he thought to himself. He gently swayed his tail a few times before speaking his answer to Phib. "Some of them do and some of them don't. What is it to you?" he replied tp Phib with a hint of bitterness to his voice. He stomped one of his forepaws on the ground, not out of anger, but out of frustration.
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"It means nothing to me." He spoke truthfully, keeping his stance stonily still as the other creature vented his frustration. Phib's nose crinkled slowly, as if to reinforce his apathy towards the manner. "I know only myself- and since I do not find those traits applicable, I find myself wondering where they come from-" he motioned to blue wolf's noggin. "I find I need no answer, if you are greatly concerned with the matter. If I am wrong- then dispute me."
Although hinted before- Phib was a wolf of an exceeding political nature. He did not take body language lightly, and had a habit of quickly dominating conversation. Six years had taught him well check the double meanings behind what people said- and even more, what they didn't say. If only they didn't have to run through the filter of his head- which was so often engrossed in itself, he would have been even better at perceiving people then he was. Perhaps indeed- the great tragedy of his life.
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Flit shook his head when Phib said 'dispute me.' He tucked his head down slightly as he stared down at the ground. he sighed as he began to beat himself up slightly. He had said too much and that made him angry at himself. He had no intention in talking that much, but he did anyway. He turned his head away slightly as he muttered a quick "i hate disputes" to the black wolf. His ears pinned back against his skull, but not out of anger. It was out of fear. He feared that he had told too much to this wolf that he hardly knew. Shaking his head, he slowly began to walk away from the black wolf, his tail slightly tucked between his legs.
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Phib watched the other creature leave with a certain amount of renewed curiosity. What had caused that reaction? Surely, in his own egotistical mind he did find that he was a rather intimidating individual- but he had been behaving himself. Even Ryoku couldn't have disputed that if she'd seen-...well, so she wouldn't have been able to actually 'see' it, but he was sure she'd be just as confused.
"I imply for you to correct me- not argue or fight me." He rumbled behind the retreating wolf. "If I am wrong." He continued, and rose onto his hips, the corners of his shoulders pulling together as he rose. "There is nothing wrong with what you said." He continued, although he made no movements to follow. "Whatever you are concerned with- it isn't worth being fretful about."
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Flit stopped in his tracks as he heard the black wolf's words. he shook his head slightly, but then remembered that he wasn't facing the other wolf. Slowly he turned around to face the wolf, his tail still slightly tucked between his legs. he shook his head again, this time at the wolf and he took a deep breath before talking. "no fight or dispute. I am not like that. I hate arguing over stuff." he nodded at the wolf's other words, but that still made him upset at himself. The wolf was right, he thought to himself. There was no reason to fret over the stuff he had said a few moments ago. He closed his bright blue eyes for a few moments before opening them and looking at Phib. "thank you for your kind words," he said to Phib in a soft voice.
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Accepting thank-yous were perhaps an even more awkward manner for him then giving words of hope. He shifted his ear and carefully sunk his muzzle in acknowledgement, taking the other wolf's thank-you to heart. Not that he believed he had said anything worthy of it, but it made him feel slightly more sympathetic to the lone population in general. He supposed he was a bit bitter towards them.
"Never particularly good to argue, when you do not have any particular reason to." He rumbled, and idly shook a small clump frosty snow from the sensitive in-betweens of his toes.
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Flit nodded, agreeing with Phib's words. Arguing over something silly or nothing at all was a waste of time and energy. it had taken Flit only once to learn this. He shook his coat slightly when he felt more frost starting to form on it. He wrinkled his nose as he put a forepaw in his mouth to remove the ice that had collected between his toes. After a few moments, he began to wander back towards Phib. "Brr...I wonder how long this winter will last," he muttered under his breath, causing his breath to fog up slightly.
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Phib glanced off to the horizon, where the morning sun was still casting a more pink glow then fiery orange. A lone bird was crossing the girth of the sky, but for the most part all the birds had moved even further south for this winter's season. Gruffly, Phib took in an intake of breath, allowing the mist from his nostrils to swirl around and cling to the ends of his whiskers.
"It'll last still some time." He rumbled, the end of his tail thumping once in thought. In the northern reaches, it would stay winter for atleast another five months. But he felt here it would not quite be as gripping. Maybe only another two, or three. Then he'd have to decide once and for all what was to be done about his living situation. He couldn't keep Ryoku on the move all the time.
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Flit glanced at Phib for a few seconds before looking behind him at the sunrise. he smiled slightly as he turned his body around to see it better. he always loved sunrise, whether or not it was winter. Something about sunrises made him feel calm and collective. He sat down on his haunches at he began to lick off the frost that had collected on his forelegs. He took a deep breath in and smelled another wolf scent. He looked back at Phib as he canted his head to one side. "umm...do you mind if i ask you a question?" he asked Phib both curiously and shyly.
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The black wolf shifted his shoulders, and angled his pale green eyes upon the form of the other wolf. What sort of question did he have to answer? He wasn't sure, but intrigued persuaded him into responding. "What is your question?" He rumbled, but found himself rising to his feet. He didn't move anywhere, but he looked with interest across this very edge of the woods. Something stirred, but he did not know what. He'd have to extricate himself quickly soon, so he could reunite back up with Ryoku shortly.
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Flit noticed the black wolf's eagerness to get moving again so he decided to quickly ask his question before the other wolf got irritated at him. "I noticed another wolf's scent in the air. is that your mate's scent?" he was curious about that, nothing more and nothing less. he didn't picture Phib with a mate. He pictured the black wolf as being a loner and keeping to himself most of the time.
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Phib flicked his ear, wondering perplexedly why Ryoku's scent upon him was assumed to be the scent of his mate. Perhaps wolves in these woods were of a different nature- regardless of the fact that it was true or not. "I cannot say what you smell." He spoke simply, the end of his tail shifting. "But my mate is about. She sleeps, or at least, I hope she sleeps." He uttered, and walked a slight semi-circle. Keeping tabs on his younger female was always such a matter. But there was a part of him, somewhere, that simply loved just to worry about her.
"She has traveled down with me." He continued, as if by traveling he'd only meant a few days journey. In fact, it'd been well over a year now since he'd left his pack in the care of Zaiden, and left with Ryoku and daresay- Ryukkii somewhere far behind on their heels. He was pleased she followed, for whatever good it was. Less trouble for his old land. He had not scented the wounded female in some time though, and perhaps fate had been kind and caused the troubled wolf her well called for death.
Vaguely, he was perplexed as to what concern it was to this creature to know whether or not the other wolf's scent upon him was that of his mates or some other wolf. His eyes squinted in thought, and carefully he shifted his jaw.
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Flit nodded, a little happy with Phib's reply. "I see," was all Flit said to the black wolf. He stared at Phib for a few more moments before turning his attention to the sunrise again. He canted his head to one side, curious as to why he didn't have a female companion. he sighed, then remembering why. Shaking slightly due to the cold, he crouched down low to the ground, the unfamiliar wolf's scent still lingering in his nose. he shook his head slightly, trying to make the scent disappear, but it wouldn't go away. Frowning and wrinkling his nose, he stuck it on the ground, hoping that the soil might take away the scent of the wolf.
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Rather perplexed, Phib watched as the pale blue wolf began to push his nose into the snow and earth. He couldn't imagine the damnedest what it was for, and it brought him back to his feet to trot a careful circle around him. No, this was indeed a very perplexing behavior for any sort of creature to be expressing. But with a snort, he decided he'd not be, ignoring the most horrible pun, sticking his nose into such business. With the wolf's mentioning of his beloved, he realized with a final sweep of acknowledgement, that it was indeed time to be moving on. The sun was already up, and he had not caught some breakfast for the pair.
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Posted: Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:57 am
RP: Phib/Leigh (Part 1)
In which some nice words are exchanged...
Sunset, and the world was glowing a dull orange color before finally slipping into the darkness of night. It was almost deathly quiet amongst the woods, and the small flecks of snow which slowly slid down from the sky did nothing but poke fun at the sun which tried burningly to free itself from Winter's overcast skies. Somewhere in the depths of the forest, there was the faint howling of lonely wolves.
He listened to them quietly, lying strewn in front of the once frozen lake. The ice had never been strong in the first place, but now the sun had all but broken it up, and the tiny paper thin ice flows slowly bobbed about as the river took its course. They would perhaps reform sometime in the night, but for now, they bended to the sun's warmth.
Lit in the sun, the wolf's inky black coat seemed to be flecked with a hazy glow as the sun refracted off the brindle creature's thick coat. He was a large wolf, although at the moment watching the sun go down, he was feeling rather small. His ears pivoted slowly, finally resting against his head, his eyes half closed as he rested. It'd be time to return home soon to make sure Ryoku was still safe in the rendezvous' point. He yawned carefully, the muscles in his neck stretching irritably in the movement. As the yawn came to a conclusion, a small plume of hot mist slipped from his throat, and slowly circled about his whiskers and fading into the pre-night air.
Phib shifted, adjusting his view of the scenery so he could more appropriately judge his surroundings. He felt something stirring in the woods this night, and it was keeping him restless.
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Leigh sauntered into the falling night, his irridescent coat catching the last reddening rays of the sun and reflecting them with an unusually strong glimmer. He paused at the bank of a lake and bent down to drink. Manuvering his muzzle out away from the thin ringing of ice that he knew would stick to his tongue, he lapped up the icy liquid, feeling the chill spread down through his throat.
The silver wolf craned his neck, shaking the beads of uncomfortably cold water from his muzzle. In the process he caught sight of a shadow hued with a dark orange glow. Curious, he sidled over, only to discover a muscled black male. Anxiety welled up in Leigh, this wolf could hurt him if he wanted to, but the emotion paled next to his sense of annoying mischief.
"Hiding in with the shadows?" He said from a reasonable distance of a couple yards with an acidly dry tone. "It must be nice to blend in." In another situation the conversation might even be friendly, but there was a distinctive hint of taunting in the fox-colored wolf's voice. He couldn't resist the idea of trouble.
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The sliding voice of the other male rolled sharply across the black wolf's tapered ears. For a moment, he kept himself in the same position he was, thinking sternly to himself about whether or not he cared to deal with this lout. But he certainly did not tolerate heckling- and with a quirk of a smile against the corner of his mouth, he turned his head towards the brute which had first uttered the words.
Another breath of air brought another circling of hot mist from him. Winter was not unused to him however, and even with the fluttering of snowflakes across the lakeside, he had no problem keeping his eyes upon the silver male. With a cold eye, he carefully sized him up, and decided with a bubbling sense of amusement that although the younger wolf appeared to be looking for some trouble, he didn't strike him as a vagabond. Not yet at least- he'd have to hear more of this strange wolf.
"Oh?" The black wolf spoke, rising to his feet and shaking off some of the snow. He held his position, for although he had no problem with an exchange of words, he wasn't particularly set on fighting any fool hearted rouges off this night. He hiked his tail upwards, and leaned his weight upon his left shoulder. "It must be nice to have such a mouth." Phib's brow quirked, and abruptly he sat, for no reason other then to take a bit of the biting retort out of his statement.
"You seem rather far away-" he called, his head shifting to the side. "Just ice and snow, my friend." His voice rumbled, and another rather quirked smile.
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"It keeps me alive." Leigh answered ironically to the other's first quip about his mouth. True, his jaws had brought down many a herd beast, but they had also gotten him into a great deal of trouble in conversations.
At Phib's next comment, the silvery male lingered where he was for a moment, a hesitant look of unease passing though his pale gray eyes that probably wouldn't be recognized in the dark. Unwilling to back in the face of a challenge, he ambled closer to the inky male. One of Leigh's paramount faults was his unusually tilted fight-or-flee mechanism. It was almost unthinkable for him to choose the latter, at least at first. As it was, the black wolf didn't seem to have any murderous intentions at the moment, so the fox colored male's form retained it's sinuous ease. He lingered a couple feet away from the other, nipping at the fur at his shoulder in a purposeful display of nonchalance.
"Ice and snow." He echoed as the flakes whirled about the two, his tone slightly snide, but not malicious. "And why are you laying about on such a cold night?"
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The black wolf made a somewhat amused noise, somewhere between a 'hrm' and a chuckle, as the younger male slowly crossed the snow to where he stood. He made no movement to meet him midway, nor make any particular movements to charge him for coming within close proximities of the wolf. He did however shift his stance once the other began to nit-pick at the fur on his shoulder. It was a peculiar way of being nonchalant, but the message was not lost on Phib. He'd been too political minded during his life to miss that. "So it does." He reflected, shifting his neck to a slight angle. "Fleas?"
The quip about it being cold struck a bit of amusement in the partially snow covered wolf. It was indeed cold, but it wasn't anywhere near being bitter or anything remotely like his prior home. Winters in those lands rendered the woods and animals nothing but skeletons- here, there seemed to be some life. "This is Southern climate for me." He retorted slowly, with a sliding tone.
For a moment, Phib paused, and squinted his eyes. Sunset now, was for the most part over. Already was darkness beginning to swallow the snow covered woods.
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Leigh narrowed his icy eyes at the black wolf's brusque response to his tendings. "Snow." He retorted curtly. It wasn't a full truth, but it did pay to comb excessive moisture from the coat on a winter's eve. One sensation Leigh was not all too fond of was his coat bristling with frozen flecks of ice crystals. However, the downpour of the snowflakes at this moment hardly merited those measures.
A cloud of almost childlike resentment passed over the male as the thickcoated other stole his thunder. Hadn't he been just about to use the line about his harsh homeland? "Where are you from?" He demanded officiously, though his tone was tinged with genuine curiosity. "The western wastelands are the only ones for miles." The sinouous male arched his neck slightly, tendons moving slowly under the heavy pelt of fur.
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Although inwardly, Phib was a bit sympathetic to the thought of one's coat icing up, he did nothing more on that subject but a slight patronizing, "I see." His own coat was rather well tuned to the winter effects, and his guard hairs kept the snow floating just above his coat. Only the flecks which burned at the corner of his eyes or nose caused him problems. Ryoku on the other hand, was always getting herself snow frosted this time of year. It made for rather miserable sessions of "chase the mate" as she attempted to thwart his would be grooming attempts. More often then not, it would end up with her smacking into something, and him spending the rest of the time apologizing.
Phib nodded at the mention of the wastelands. He had indeed crossed through there on his way down. One of the reasons they'd taken this stop in the woods known as Telk was to recuperate from the harsh terrain. It was just him that did the hunting in their little two wolf group- and the idea of spending winter on the road did not take well to him. "Very far." He spoke slowly, his ears shifting forwards. "I have walked northwest for more then a year now." Phib considered for a moment saying more, but wasn't particularly interested in disputing his entire life's story. "There's far more land then what lies to the West." He remarked, blinking a small fleck of snow out of his eye.
So this creature was a vagabond then. He thought the words with a sort of arrogant tone which would, had he spoken it, given rise to the idea that he did not in fact consider himself any kind of lone wolf, be it vagabond or straggler.
His ears swayed, pondering privately to himself on the gravity of how far he truly was from home. He doubted he'd ever see any of his children again at that rate, nor any of his siblings or the few wolves which had been friends. It was so terribly disjointed that he decided not to think much more of it. "It is a good land- for a few months." He decided, not particularly wanting to condemn his homeland forever as a wasteland of comparison to the Western straits. "Then it falls into shadow." The black wolf remarked, implying the time shift night overtook in the far northern reaches.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 4:45 pm
Werewolf/Noyama
In which the plot thickens, and Phib meets a phantom...
His footsteps fell heavily upon the compact snow, forcing the webbed paws against the rough snow as he carefully trudged across the bleeringly white landscape. He liked to move with a certain amount of silence, but with the snow so hard and shifting that the small 'crunch-crunch' of paws against the ice curtain was inevitable. Despite this, he moved with a certain amount of arrogance that implied that he was attempting to ignore his lupine urges to conceal his movements.
Snow was flecking down from the sky once again, and Phib was starting to settle back in the apathy of winter. It was no longer much fun anymore- if it had ever been, but it had been nice to watch Ryoku frolic around for the few days before everything started to ice. Now she lay mostly in a frequent stasis of hibernation, coming out for a few hours a day to eat and romp about, before slinking back into their makeshift den beneath the rooted tree. It made for less worries for Phib at least, who found that with his mate secure beneath the large old tree, he could wander farther about Telk. He liked to keep himself as much in the 'know' about his surroundings as possible- and of course, he liked to be domineering, and certainly was not one to be cast off as a shadow.
With the swirling white upon all the trees and bushes however, he did look something very much like a shadow. A thick cape of white snow rested on top of his guard hairs, and it made him appear as though he was half formed- some strange creature with a sloped back and ears blending into the white.
He snorted, and shifted his large paws, the muscles in his shoulders pulling forward as he stretched his bones. He dared not call them 'his old bones' yet, but he was starting to feel them getting there. He took another breath, a hot plume of mist sliding from his throat as he slipped his head against the ice to smell. A wind of ice slipped up his nostrils, fluttering the images of a thousand different, seemingly meaningless things into vision. His mind honed in more carefully on a group of elk who had stopped fifteen minutes before to rut against the tree, before scampering off. He decided they were too healthy for him to take interest in, but he followed off in their direction just in case the opportunity presented itself.
It was silent, and he felt something thrumming in the depths of the woods. As he moved, the large black wolf kept his eyes about, flicking about the white landscape with a pale green eye.
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Phantom couldn't really recall a time he'd bothered to slink silently through a forest--or, anywhere really. Surely, this would scare off any potential game such as deer and rabbits, but such never mattered to one such as him. His loyalty currently lied only within that of his friend Voodoo, and even the fact they weren't just using each other to gain for themselves was argueable.
His colors, like many, didn't exactly blend in (aside from that one leg), but he'd have it no other way. His appearence was what had given him his name, and he rather liked both. It was so amusing to watch those wolves Voodoo manipulated and eventually destroyed (so he could eat them later, disgustingly enough) before they died. The last sight they would see was him, the ghostly wolf many believed just that. A ghost, here to take them away for being so foolish.
'So you're death,' one had said once, and that had amused him more than anything before.
On a rare occassion, he would wander away from his 'partner in crime' to attempt hunting what a wolf would normally eat. While Voodoo was fine and good bringing the downfall of other wolves, he'd this far let Phantom himself take care of...eating them.
Red eyes, alert, glanced almost catiously around. He expected Sashta and those little lackeys of hers to be out and about, since as far as he knew they hadn't managed to locate that damned runt of a wolf. He found none of them, but another. Another male, and one alone. An odd sight these days, it just wasn't safe for most.
"Hm..."
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The wind blew as a breath against his black char coat as he kept his steady pace in the slump. The snow was hardest here, almost near ice, but he appreciated the steadiness of the path. It did not change much, and he almost had to wonder if he was walking over a frosted stream rather then murdering snow. He inhaled slowly, filling his sloped chest with chilled air, and let it flutter out once more, pausing for a moment to observe his surroundings.
He felt something, something like a p***k on the ear. It only happened once, but he could tell the bones in his ears were fluttering in attempt to pick up some unknown noise. Phib took a step forward, moving one large paw forward. Some snow cut across the bridge of his scarred nose, and he let a flash of pink deal with them. The added moisture from his tongue caused his nose to prickle with the cold, and taking in another steady breath, he noticed the phantom like wolf peering over at him through a pair of ruddy red eyes.
The black moved forwards, adjusting his position and shifting the weight upon his right shoulder. So clouded were these woods of the vagabond that he often did not know how to approach them- should he have cared. From the way this one was looking, he appeared to demand some sort of attention. But Phib found somewhere within the depths of his throat, that he did not care to stop much for idle speech.
He leaned to the side to get a better look at the male, and flicked his tail upwards as he continued his pace about the snow drift. His large paws were sinking more into the snow now as he continued, perhaps this batch only newly fallen. 'What creature roams these woods?' His mind drawled slowly in his stern manner of observing people without appearing interested. He paused once more, his neck craning upwards, and body long against his snowy shadow.
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Briefly, he only watched.
"You walk like one of arrogance," Phantom spoke. As it usually did, no matter how threatening he acted or look, his tone remained nothing more or less than amused. He wondered if Sashta's significant other strolled about that way, having heard all the talk of him thinking himself a higher power compared to the others.
Some wolves were, he reasoned. Obviously, when it came down to him and Voodoo, he'd be the last one standing (at least he thought so). From experience, most wolves carrying themselves in a way like that ruled over at least one other, even it if was minorly. "There's no need for such rudeness, is there?"
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The black wolf swayed, the end of his tail slowly flicking as he registered the creature before him with a steady eye. "I move with how I move, friend." He rumbled slowly, taking a sidestep to the left to half circle around and face the creature. "Whether be it arrogance or not, is a matter of semantics."
Truthfully, he decided there was perhaps some truth to a degree of truth to his rudeness. He was never one for much concern of social tact- unless it benefited him. He was a politician of sorts, but he'd not drag himself lower then need be. The knots in his brain shifted, and he moved once more, and sat, his snow thickened tail loosing some of the powder from it's gathers. "I seem to have said much to imply rudeness." He said with a slow pull at the ends of his lips. "Have you done something to usher rudeness forth from me, Wolf?"
His nose crinkled, but he was idly amused that at least this vagabond was not a bore. There were perhaps too many wolves with empty heads, and he had much to poke around- even though in truthfulness, he was a most benevolent wolf when it came down to it. "Regardless-" he spoke, dismissing whatever he had previously said as if it had suddenly lost interest to him. "I am Phib." He rumbled, his voice carrying the strange mixture of accent and sharp vocals as it always did- even when addressed to his mate. He did not like to issue his name first in a gathering- but perhaps he had been rude. He'd sacrifice his name as reconpence, but nothing more. It was not a name known to these woods, and he doubted it would carry any interest in the other pale male. He seemed much more clever then some of these wolves he had come to meet- he would not share much more then that.
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"Ah," was all he said at first. "You must forgive me, these lands have not treated me nicely recently. I'm a bit... Mm, jumpy, I suppose." It was fairly recently he'd been beaten by Sashta and knocked down a few pegs, then broke any partnership with Voodoo (which had since been repaired, but was a horrid experience none the less). Thus, there was truth in that, though the next words were lying through his teeth. Something he was surprisingly good at.
"Phib, is it? Pleasure, my name is Reicher. There's someone I'm looking for, maybe you could assist me? It's two someones, actually. The first is my daughter. You see, she's not very bright in the head. Small, mostly grey and black thing. She speaks of butterflies and other unseen things.
Secondly, there's a female of purple who bares some red. She's done many horrible things to my pack, and I'd like to have a word with her about it." Have dinner was more like it, but he kept that part to himself.
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Phib said nothing for a long moment, feeling something flick across his consciousness in the form of a tiny red flag. Something was sliding and oily about this wolf's speech, but he could not place it correctly- after all, he did not know who Reicher really was. He could only sense something was off, but he knew not from where, which made him considerably displeased. He was not lost upon political slander, but he did not know this wolf, and it was even harder to place his ways. Only a few things he had to work off of, and all were intangibles- but luckily, he found that none of the spoken names meant much to him.
'Ah, that's it.' Phib suddenly concluded the start of his thoughts. He was a father himself, and he felt slightly uneasy about a wolf who would address their child as being 'not bright in the head.' It brought to mind flashes of Ryoku strolling about in the snow in that facade she so often used, and perhaps he felt more offended on her behalf then this creature...
The sudden pondering over his mate brought him to wonder if this wolf was speaking of...what was her name? Ren? Ran? Rann? Ran sounded more like it. He'd seen nothing to suggest she was 'not right in the head' but he had noticed the eerier butterflies flickering around her. He'd meant to mention something to Ryoku about that until he realized that it wasn't like she'd of seen them.
But there was something else, and here was Phib's fatal flaw- he also liked the sudden drop of 'Reicher's' sly talk and going into a more submissive tone. So he could have listened to the red flag and questioned his truthfulness- but he did not, because he was pacified by "Reicher"'s more appeasing behavior. Luckily though, he was still tight lipped, for any information he might give about Ran would drag his mate into it. And he'd not want to even speak of her name in the company of those he did not know. "I'm afraid, Reicher-" He spoke, "I do not know either. Your daughter may sound familiar to me, as I have seen such a wolf as she- but I do not particularly know where, or anything to lead you in a direction." He shifted his jaw. "As for the second wolf- I have never seen." Which was the truth. He was curious though. Was this Ran some sort of trouble maker? And this purple wolf?
"Strange for a father not to keep hold of his children." He spoke, although inwardly a small voice told him to shut up about that. At least Reicher's children hadn't ended up dead. "Are they troublemakers?" He questioned, trying to better grasp who these strange names were.
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"Oh, my yes!" he answered with no hesitation. leaving little room to accuse of him of speaking a lie. "She's a horrible little monster, I'm afraid. I know, how awful of a father to speak of his own daughter in such a way, but it's shameful to declare her of my own bloodline." It was probably for the best Voodoo wasn't present. While he would have loved to give him another chance to see such a mastermind as himself at work, Phantom didn't really trust him not to laugh or grin or what not and blow his cover.
"She's sneaky about it, plays dumb and things, but truthfully she only wishes harm to others. Particularly other females, she's always been jealous of her sister. That purple and red friend of hers only makes things worse! They're partners in crime, those two!" Lielielie. It was doubtful Ria knew Ran, but perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone.
"Admittedly," Phantom continued, sounding regretful. "It's hard to keep track of something you don't really want to find should it get lost, but Sashta loves all of them, so even such a wretched youth must be located. If only for her sake..." If he knew Ran, she'd probably brought Sashta up at least once, which made this all the more believeable. My, what fun.
-----------------
It was true- the fact that Reicher had responded so quickly did not leave much implications of a lie. And therefore, he'd have to listen to it for what it was worth- although Phib was still a man of a most scrutinable suspicion, and did carefully weigh what he was hearing. It didn't help that Ryoku was such a horrible judge of character, loving everyone and distrusting no one, that he did have to question her choice of friends. He would speak of this to her later. The name of Sashta flicked across his ear with some amount of familiarity... he snorted and crinkled his nose.
'Interesting.' He thought, thinking to himself. Something itching at his mind told him to question this wolf- and yet at the same time he was so easily played to when others were not trying to knock his own ego. He was a bit agitated he did not know these woods better. It was hard to pick a choice- but unfortunately, Phib was also a bit of a chauvinist, and did have the tendency to favor male opinion over female's.
He frowned, deciding to go along with it, for truly he had no reason to think otherwise. Save for Ryoku's connection to Ran, which was the only thing which kept him wary. "She did not seem so troubled when I saw her. Is her imbalance a recurrent thing? Or only on occasion?" He rumbled, the end of his tail switching. "Although I will admit, I was not paying attention." Damnit to hell. Last time he would do that. "Jealousy is a hard thing." He spoke knowledgably, the flickering image of a paler wolf fluttering across his minds eye. "I am sure though I have not seen this 'Ria.'" Perhaps it was Ria who was the trouble maker- and maybe Ran was truly idled minded, and simply didn't know any better. Certainly, Ryoku would be easily dismayed by that... "I am troubled that Ran would cause her father problems. Children do not respect much nowadays." He added.
---------------
"Ah, friend, how much I agree. The youth have so little respect for those wiser than themselves. They think they know everything, and can fool anyone." He made damn sure those last words stuck out, but at the same time was careful to not make them too noticeablely suspicious. This one seemed to be another ego-centric. Phantom was thankful he wasn't that way, and was truly, really as great as he thought (*coughloser* XD).
"Surely, one was sensible as yourself must not have been paying attention, otherwise I have no doubt you'd have picked up on it. As I said, Ran pretends to gain the trust of others. Who would suspect one like her?" To be honest, if Ran really was an evil mastermind at work, HE wouldn't suspect her either. If only it were true, the Shaman could do away with the plague on the world that was Phantom (and maybe Voodoo).
Ah, if only he knew what Reicher looked like! Unfortunately, 'black and white' wasn't enough information. However... "There's one more," he whispered, glancing around as if the one he spoke of may jump out and attack at any time. "She's the most dangerous of all. She attacks on sight without warning, she's a cannibal. Black and white beast, with markings mostly on her front legs and face. I barely managed to escape her myself, you see."
Lowering his head, he shifted his ears to display a scar that Sashta had indeed given him, but not at all in the way Phantom was suggesting. "In any case, I assure you none of the three are at all innocent, or unknowingly harming others. Perhaps being played as pawns by each other, but they're well aware of the damages, still. For your sake, heed that warning. Most commonly, they're seen seperately, but together they're the most dangerous thing to walk these lands, I have no doubt."
-----------------
Phib shifted his shoulders. There was flattery- and then there was over flattery. He was being played to about something, that he was sure of. But he'd be damned if he knew why! Was Ran in some sort of trouble? Or was the trick just to make fun of his lack of wood knowledge? Or was this even a trick? He had a hard time pinpointing this wolf. One thing was for sure, he was going to be much more strict when allowing Ryoku to just romp off and make potentially psychotic friends. They seemed like the only kind of friends she ever made!
"It takes a certain kind of woman to inflict a wound like that." Rumbled Phib, who personally, did not fight females even when attacked by them. Unless said wolves were Ryukkii- and well, everything was an exception to her. And in fact, until Phantom had spoke about being black and white, he'd been all but sure he was talking of the same wolf he thought of. To think! More crazy females in the world like that damned female. But Ryukkii was clever- not strong. And he had a hard time believing a female was capable of overpowering a seemingly healthy male- unless she was protecting something. Perhaps this was due mostly to his chauvinism, but he did tend to elevate women above fighting for maleish reasons. He made a reflective noise as he looked at the wound on Reicher's head. "Hrm." He shifted his tale. "Some woman indeed. You don't see bites like that except when they fight one another- or they are protecting something." He added, drawling the last part to hint that he was perhaps not so bought into this story as before.
"But such is the insane." He spoke, quickly covering that up. Perhaps there was more information to be learned here, even if it was not entirely accurate. This was important- this tension, between this Reicher and Ran, and this Ria, and... the cannibal? "You are correct. I did not notice Ran as cruel- but I suppose anyone can be tricked. Strange women in these woods." He reflected truthfully.
------------------
If it were up to Phantom, every female on Earth would drop dead and none would live ever again. Sure, they'd all die out, but since he was already born, it didn't matter to him. Perhaps he'd been too suspicious--no, he realized now he had been, and to an extent this other was smart. Smarter than Ria, who he'd played so easily, as well as many others to this point.
Even so, his act didn't at all wavier. "I believe you underestimate the opposite gender, friend," Phantom said positively. Really, he did disagree to an extent. There were females he knew, if only a few, who would mindlessly maul and attack him with nothing to protect. "That's ignorance, and I believe many of them would find it disrespectful." Sashta would, as despite being an enemy he knew her all to well. He doubted Reicher had gone on any male power rants, less he be knocked down the same way he was.
"If my words are untrusted by the uninformed, so be it. However, I have told you all I know, and the words I speak are your choice to believe or not. Any wolf--male, female, young or old, in no case is to be placed below another as a risk. Those who can not kill themselves can often convince others to do it for them, and that is why there are three of them."
Voodoo was a great example. He was puny, couldn't fight for anything (proof being that squal with Rasine), and aside from state-of-mind was in all ways an omega. In light of that, he'd gotten more wolves killed than Phantom could remember, without ever killing a single one himself, as far as he knew.
"Take care," the ghostly being finished, turning. Only then did he feel free to grin. His words were not completely believed, but there could be more done to fix that, eventually...
And so, the wolf departed, leaving a hopefully semi-convinced Phib behind.
----------------
Phib chuckled, the end of his tail shifting. Women were a matter of interest to him, as he'd had many of them, much like his father before him. Truthfully, his opinion of woman couldn't be so terribly forced upon himself- his father certainly had not set a good example. To say he valued them less however, was untrue. He believed them uncapable in the ways males were capable, but that did not mean they were lesser. They were cunning, and they were beautiful- and none fooled him so easily as a woman did. There were those that were strong and brave, and he respected them- but never would he send them off to fight, because he believed better for them. One could even pull out of him the fact that his current, and love, Ryoku was a highly submissive female. She did listen to what he told her to do. But any fool could tell she could use him without even offending his ego. That sort of power was something greater then strength.
"Underestimate? Hardly. I simply consider females to be different then my own. I have never been so beaten as I have been by a woman. No man holds that title. But there are different ways one can be beat, and I have yet to meet a female that could outpower me. Fool me, seduce me- but not out strength. That is all I mean. Women are dangerous in their ways."
The notion that others convince others to do their bidding did strike him, as it was how that parasitic creature made her life. He bristled inwardly at the thought of her. He did not really even consider her female- she was something else. Something dead, something that was a hollow of nothing and moving joints with a smile of bone.
But now this wolf was turning, and with his turning Phib felt a sort of personal victory. Something was up- yes, but he wasn't sure, nor was he sure he would involve himself further. He wished only to see to Ryoku's safety...perhaps he would care about Ran if he could make certain that she was not crazy as implied. It did seem possible though. Not many wolves traveled with a butterfly horde.
"Goodbye then, wolf." His voice rumbled, and he rose, not giving much further of an implication of staying. He felt the need to speak with his mate, should she be awake, and inquire to her what she knew of 'Ran' and 'Ria' and this pale ghost of a wolf named Riecher...
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 5:06 pm
One winter.
The snow fell in small flakes across the blue tinted night sky. They fell down in their own paths, not caring much about where their fellow snowflakes fell, spiraling down towards the ground below. It was unusually dark, with the moon absent from the sky and the atmosphere choked with snow laden clouds. The bitter cold had already settled in for winter's finally grasp upon the skeleton woods, holding it tightly in it's chilly fingers and smothering out much hope for an early spring.
He sat silently upon the ridge of a rock. It crossed up about the girth of this particular land like a ridged spine, and with the haunting snow slowly attempting to drown the world in white, he couldn't help but reflect on what a dismal and dark place his beautiful home became in winter. The whole of it concaved like a dead carcass, the long and frost chafed trees stretching out like fingers to grab at the sky. It was no wonder that Man stayed far from this land, when the snow finally came to rest in the forest's heart.
Phib's ear pivoted slowly. It had grown bushy with his winter coat, and softly collected snow between their boughs. The nape of his neck, too, collected the thick powder, but the snow did not sink down beneath his guard hairs to agitate the thick plume of fur which kept him so dutifully warm during the frosty winters.
No matter if Man did not come to this land- it was his land. At least this portion of the torso was- for there was one more pack to the northern lands which occupied an even more dismal swatch of land. It would only be in spring that this land would become profitable and necessary once more. But South Pack was used to waiting. They'd been waiting on their land for the past thirty years, and countless generations.
He heard a sound behind him, and carefully, the large black brute turned his head behind him. No one yet showed, but the sound of soft footsteps enlightened his ears as the creature drew closer. Scent already betrayed her, and he did nothing to stop her approach.
The narrow and brown she-wolf came without recourse, silently gracing the snow with a kind of arrogance that Phib had come to associate with masculinity. But she was a creature that so often defied such gender roles, and standing there in the snow she seemed almost as intimidating as any male could be. She had the wild eyes of a wolf that would never quite be tamed, deep yellow pits ringed with black which stared forward with the blunt attitude only a wolf could surmise. It was remarkable he managed to keep her as a beta. She'd have made a good mate for him, in some other life. If only they weren't so much of the same.
"Jenna." He acknowledged, his voice rumbling from somewhere deep within his chest.
She padded slowly up, the end of her tail carefully swaying as she blatantly curled it upwards in front of the alpha. He didn't take much notice of it, as her behavior was well known to him. She was a good beta. And when he'd leave his pack, some year in the future, she would follow as a great alpha.
"Brooding over something?" She asked, sitting down beside him and looking over the near haunted landscape. She crinkled her nose. "I always forget how...horrible this place becomes."
Phib nodded his head, and stared out into the distance. "The coldest spot of hell." He remarked softly, and licked the end of his nose to remove a wayward snowflake. "Where is your worse half?"
"Zaiden?" Jenna questioned, as if she implied having more then one worse halfs. Which wasn't unheard of- Zaiden and Jenna went through more matings and breakups then he'd known among wolves. But they loved one another, even if their love occasionally sent them to other wolves to recuperate the contact. "I thought he'd already spoken with you today."
Phib snorted carefully, and stared forward. "He came, but I can't say I listened much." Zaiden was prone to long elaborate stories about nothing. He was a good friend, and nephew, to the great black- but there was only so much love could strain upon his ears.
"He went with some of the younglings to look for food, sir." Phib winced slightly. She only started the 'sir' particulars when she was preparing to ready him for bad news. He grimaced.
"So what is it?" He rumbled.
"What is what?" Jenna spoke, rose, and took a few steps to the edge of the rock. She leaned forward, and let the slight wind lick at her neck.
He groaned softly, and stood, stretching slowly. "I know the routine. It's but a moment until you drop the bad news."
"Oh?" Jenna quirked, but did not try to dissuade Phib's ponderings.
"You don't start the "sir" thing unless something is up." Phib concluded.
Jenna swooned, and brushed up against him, leaning her weight on his larger shoulders. "Now why would I do that, Sir?" She sing songed, and he gave her a n** on the snout, which she returned with a shove. He shook his head, and Jenna trotted off a few feet, her tail wagging and thick brown fur billowing in the breathless wind.
"I'm afraid we'll be loosing a lot of younglings this year, Phib. Zaiden's off with them to sort out the ones we want and the ones we don't- but we're going to loose a lot. We mated too early this year. Too many pups so old for winter."
Phib furrowed his brow. Was she implying that some of his children were considering leaving? It wasn't uncommon for younglings to leave. But not this time of year. Never in winter. "Do they not have sense?"
"They suckled none out of me- that's for sure." Jenna snorted. "One of them- Akadda, he'll be joining up with your sister. But all the others we loose to nomads. Thallen's already been seduced by some pretty face in the woods. Her name is Fiona, or so I hear."
Phib snorted, but tried to hide the fact that the news was a bit of a cold stab. Thallen was his favored sons- out of all of them. He wanted him more then any to stay the year. He needed him. "Why- Why does he not bring her here? He already knows he was set for higher rankings here."
Jenna shook her head. "I don't know. Too much of your blood maybe. Not so much of his mother's."
Phib blinked, trying to remember the face of the woman that had been Thallen's mother. Unlike most wolves, Phib had never kept himself to one mate. He never too to raising children either- but Thallen had been the exception. One day his mother had been suckling him, the next day- she vanished off into shadows. Such was the life of a wolf.
Phib bristled slightly, and sulked. "He should stay."
Jenna let out a foggy sigh, and wagged her tail. "We don't need this generation anyways. Damn younglings, thinking they're clever. Next year, we'll mate smarter children."
She stuck out her chest. "Hell, I'll make smarter children."
Phib chuckled, but he had lost the lackluster. "Have you told this to Zaiden?"
"Who said Zaiden would be the father?" Jenna sighed with a grin, and shook her bushy tail, gently smacking the end of Phib's muzzle with it. She turned, perhaps feeling back, and gave him a gentle lick on the cheek. "I just, wanted you to be prepared- that's all."
"Why do I need to be prepared?" Phib muttered bitterly.
"I know you liked Thallen." Jenna said softly, and took a few steps back. "Well, I will find Zaiden now. I'll tell him I've already saved my children for you or Zansfar, yes?"
Phib sighed and shook his head. Her humor was lost on him for today, but she smiled all the same. "I'm sure things will change Phib." She spoke. "Yes. Next year- things will be better..."
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:59 am
Werewolf/Lesotho
In which Phib has a brief encounter...
The snow continued throughout the night it seemed, but by morning it had relaxed somewhat in its fallings. The snow was about three feet higher now, but no longer was vision obscured by the tiny floating particles. In fact, everything seemed a most shockingly clear, and the blue-orange sky was vacant of clouds or other imperfections. Still- it was cold, but things were a bit warmer then before. Much more pleasant then last night at least, the large black wolf snorted, his fur finally clear of its snow ladened cape. Snow still clung all the way up to his elbows, but for the most part he had returned back to being the ink blot upon the snow, and he was pleased.
It wasn't often that he was out and about in the morning time. Typically he was nocturnal, and he would go to sleep sometime before the sun rose and awake at around noontime to find himself and Ryoku some food. He had not yet expressed his concerns over his mate's choice of friends yet, but he felt that it would be coming sometime shortly, and perhaps that was what kept him awake.
The male snorted, taking a careful look over his surroundings. Spriggy trees clung to life, and somewhere in the distance a doe was pulling bark off a tree. She must have seen him there, but perhaps hunger had caused her to be a bit less cautious- or perhaps she sensed that he wasn't particularly hungry nor interested in chasing down a healthy, albeit hungry, doe. He gave her less heed then he did the snow, pausing only once to give her a cold glance from pale green eyes.
He felt oddly sturdy this morning, and he was not particularly sure why. If anything, the middle-aged wolf thought, he should start waning in these seasons. Perhaps it was the lack of snow fall, or god forbid, he was actually in a good mood. He trotted about with a snort, not really following any particular trail, his winter plumed tail curled upwards as he strolled. It was a good morning so far. The cynical part of his mind wondered exactly how long that would last. Until he had his talk with Ryoku he supposed, and she started him on the silent treatment.
Phib decided, with a snort, that he'd better enjoy the morning while he had the chance then.
-------------------------
Out into the world... was that finally what she was about to experience? More of this 'away-from-home' and 'on-my-own'. It was new and exciting to her, spending so much time away from the grove by the river that she called home with her mother, father, brother and sister. She'd spent the snowy night shielded by a thick den of branches, and once she'd emerged, she felt rejuvinated. Standing atop the fresh layer of snow, her webbed toes supporting her, she took in a deep breath. Exhaling, a wolfish grin spread across her ebony muzzle. Another new day of freedom. And, perhaps, her search for something new and different would finally be fruitful.
She shook and stretched, her young muscles feeling springy and ready for a nice run. She'd been taught by her mother to fish, and thus hadn't been hungry either, or else the doe which was very near her would have interested her. But no, as she strolled slowly atop the snow, they simply shared a moment of a nod, understanding that neither meant the other harm. Her misty eyes scanned the horizonline, looking for anything... a sign of life. That was when she spotted another dark blemish atop the snow. She squinted. He was large, like her brother... and all black like her father. A small smirk played across her lips. Let's see what's up...
Stretching her toes, she picked up a jog, moving toward him with keen interest. Her tail swung loose about her hocks and her head was up, ears forward and alert. Through the mask, her eyes were both shrouded and piercing; making her out to be an enigma of sorts. Who was this large wolf? She'd soon find out. Once she was within earshot, she called out to him in a friendly gesture. "Hello, there!"
--------------------------
Phib turned, the corner of his ear carefully docking as he shifted his large paws in the snow. They were not sinking so badly as before, now that the snow was hardening. Footsteps were much more muffled now, but he did not need to listen to them to know someone was approaching. Once more confronted by strange wolves of this wood, but he took a much more relaxed approach when such an encounter was female. Young, scent told him, and he did not make his usual movements to feign a cynical disinterest.
He was always surprised how young wolves did not seem to fear much. He supposed he'd been much like that too as a child. She did not seem to take much more then a second to decide to come greet the large and strange, scarred-male. He rumbled softly in a kind of weird laugh of his, and sat.
Her hello flecked across his ears, and he pivoted them forward. "Hello there." He spoke, turning his head to the side to see the young creature more correctly about the trees. She seemed to have pale splotches about her eyes, and the pale orbs did stand out against the pale rings. Interesting wolves in these wood indeed.
"And who might you be?" He questioned, his brow furrowing with thought. His voice was a bit rough, and still carrying a most serious expression- but he didn't seem displeased by being greeted.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:46 pm
Ryoku/Jaxom
In which Ryoku is totally useless...
Ryoku was beginning to remember why she never spent much time outside during winter. Snow had continued throughout the day, swirling down with an eerie prettiness which at the same time was miserably chilling her bones. She shifted, the coldness of the rock not abating from her own body heat, although it had melted most of the snow covering the once snowy boulder. A small leafless branch was knocking carefully against the rock, irritating her ears with a soft scraping noise.
She snorted carefully, and sighed, a small plume of misty breath slipping from her muzzle. It was really a lovely day, despite the cold. The sky was overshadowed a bit by the drifting snow clouds, but there were still long and deep veins of pure blue sky which struck across the horizon in a tangle. A cardinal sat solemnly on the branch of a barkless tree, hungry and depressed- but his bright red plumage shown out against the white landscape in brilliant contrast. Something was beautiful about it all, but all these things were lost to her blind eyes.
She supposed she should be under better cover. They had been nesting underneath that old tree for almost two months now, and it provided at least one of them at any given time with some cover from bad weather. But she was in the middle of giving him the silent treatment, and there was no reason to break it just because she was cold. Almost on cue, she shivered, and crossed her paws with a childish sigh. She was horrible at keeping grudges, she supposed.
The female lifted her pale grey head, suddenly flecking her ears upwards. The cardinal took to the air, and she was given the first alerting to its presence, although in her mind's eye she saw a shadow take flight rather then the small and beautiful bird. She was momentarily lost in thinking about it, and at once, she even forgot that she was upset about anything. Her tail shifted cautiously, and with a smile- she sneezed.
'Not good of me to be of outside.' She thought to herself, and pressed her head back down.
-----------------------
The brunt of winter cold spell seemed to dispell through the woods, snow churning round about in a flurry as the chilling breeze sent a surge of chills running down ones back. Strangely, Jaxom found the Woods to be just as ruthless as the mountains and it seemed that there was no place for a stray to inhabit but, nevertheless, he'd press onwards in search of a decent hideaway.
He padded softly through the snow, his head peering in every direction as he sought the slightest shealter or anything decent. "There isn't anywhere to hide," he muttered as his emerald orbs scanned round about for a sign of life.
As he pressed onwards, something caught hold of his attention. A scent, foreign but somewhat of a relief, wafted in the air. There was hope that at least he could finally have contact with another of his kind but it could only be his imagination. With ears perked up in an alert manner and tail wagging behind him, Jaxom tilted his head curiously as a figure could be seen just ahead.
A female, he silently remarked. Perhaps she can help me or at least tell me where I am.
Keeping a safe distance as he knew not what to expect, the young adolescent let a smile creep upon his orange maw as he slowly approached the female.
"Excuse me, ah, Miss. Can you tell me if there is any safehavens from the snow around here?"
--------------------
The pale wolf shifted, the ends of her fur slightly twitching as something itched her back. She did her best to ignore it though, as pulling at itchy things frequently left her fur looking ratty. And it was hard enough to attempt to keep a shambled look of appearance, considering. Her ears carefully pivoted as she listened to the sounds of the woods, zoning out perplexingly on the quite noises of wood creaking underneath winter's frigid fingers. There was a soft thumping sound of an animal moving across the snow, but she did not register it until the noise raise to the point where she was in the direct vicinity of the approaching creature. Her head raised daintily, her wide peculiar eyes gazing forward with a bizarre mixture of pitiful bemusement and calmness. At first, she'd hoped it to be Phib- she was getting lonely for him after having had a brief bickering over her apparent inability to tell good people from bad people. It wouldn't have bothered her so much except that he had the propensity for always being right. Not that she'd take what he'd cautioned her on to heart, regardless. She just couldn't believe in evil people. Even after so much.
A voice somewhere in the darkness brought her back, and she turned her head where she believed the sound came from, flattening her ears and cautiously ducking her tail in slight embarrassment if she was wrong. She had a habit of being wrong. But despite this, a smile stroked across her face, and she tilted her head softly to the side.
A place to avoid the snow? The female shook her head unfortunately, and gave a careful laugh from somewhere within her tiny frame. "No- I am sorry, I am not of knowing where to seek the shelter for you." Her voice softly uttered against the quiet. It was a grammatical nightmare- but her tone of voice never seemed to make it too awkward. At least after a while of hearing it.
She lifted her grey snout to the wind, and puffed the ends of her tiny, near translucent whiskers. 'There must be someplace.' She thought. She knew where their den was, but as much as she wanted to offer that up, she knew it would be best to spare the strange voice the occasion of both sitting in a narrow slump only large enough for a tiny wolf such as her, and having to deal with a very angry Phib. She couldn't help but laugh. Wouldn't that just kill him after that argument! Oh- it'd be too much like her though, so she stilled herself. It'd only make him upset.
"I-" She attempted to think, and furrowed her brow. So much darkness, and her mind only remembered numbers and painful smacks against trees. There were three trees to her right- and the stone... but... Perhaps under this rock? She lowered her head, and poked at the rock. She chuckled meekly. "I'm...of thinking this rock does not have a hole...I am sorry- I do not know. I don't know anything...like that." She smiled. Hopefully this wouldn't end in another conversation about how blatantly blind she was. Her tail wagged in apology. Not to mention- her complete lack of survival skills to boot.
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Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:26 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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