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Pant. Pant.

Vitus' lanky body had certainly gotten a work out from chasing down that rabbit, and in the end it had gotten away. He never did seem to master the act of hunting, and with the state he was in...Well it would have been surprising that he hadn't taken his last breath. Matted golden and black fur, almost complete loss of smell, slowly decressing hearing...There were so many things going wrong with the male that it was really hard to believe.

With a sigh he sat down upon his haunches, his frazzled black tiped tail swaying slowly behind him. Lifting a hind paw, he scratched at the back of one of his ears, his emerald eyes shutting for just a moment, before opening once more to scan over the area.

Always hungry. Always searching.

It seemed that Vitus was always looking for something, be it food or simply something to keep him occupied. And returning to that leaky cave simply didn't help with his heath much. With a grunt, he stood back up, slowly trotting off into the bushes.

Calliope trawled through the vegetation quietly, her body lowered, her glances furtive. Anyone watching might think she was hunting perhaps, or maybe a lowly omega not wishing to be sighted but no. Calliope was hiding from 'them'.

She had decided, eventually, to leave her small clearing and head in the vague direction Zagreus and Ouranos had gone, hoping she might catch up to the males. She had wanted the company and normalacy which she now realised she had missed greatly.

Their scent was old now though, these lands too full of other wolves and other scents too. She was silent now because she didn't want to meet another idiot colourful wolf.

Her vigilance high, it wasn't long before she smelled the male. She tensed trying to catch sight of him.

His pace was slow as he pushed his way though the bushes, his claws tapping gently against the dirt ground beneath him. He wasn't sure as to where he was going, infact he wasn't sure why he was going in this pirticular direction.

His blackened ears flicked back, pressing against the back of his skull as they usually did when he was out and about. Vitus had always found that it was easier to hear that way, though it didn't help him much, it did allow him to hear more what was going on above him, the birds in their trees, shuffling about in their tiny nests. It was rather calming, well calming when he wasn't straved.

The male paused in his steps, almost as if something had willed him to do so. He glanced around, nothing was in sight. Perhaps he was just parrinoid. Taking a deep breath, he gave his head a shake, he didn't need to loose his mind now, with all the other senses of his that he seemed to be loosing.

As he came into view she breathed a small sigh of relief. He was black and tan perhaps slightly unusual in patterning but not pink or orange or.. geh. Calliope rose out of her hiding place slowly, her eyes fixing on the male. Perhaps he could be of some use - he might have seen the other males?

She barked a greeting towards him as she strode forward, all vestiges of her earlier manner thrown off, her tail raisd high and her neck fur fluffed up. She was no pushover and wanted this male to know it. Intimidation wasn't a bad tactic as long as they didn't call your bluff. The male didn't seem in great shape anyway - skinny and with matted fur. He might be quite a pushover.

"You..have you seen any others near here recently? A dark male and a pale one?" she enquired, allowing a smidgen of softness into her voice to show that she was 'willing to let this poor specimen of a wolf pass her by unharmed if they answered correctly'.


A bark.

Wait a bark? Vitus' ear quickly shot up, his emerald eyes scaning about the area, soon, fixing themselves on a brown coloured female. A rather intimidating female at that. His tail stilled, slowly tucking itself between the male's legs. He didn't want a trouble, and especially not a fight.

"Uthurs?" he repeated, tilting his head to the side. He hadn't seen another wolf for quite some time, and with his...Conditions of sorts he had been finiding it hard enough to track down food, let alone sense any wolves passing by.

"Turriblu surry...I huven't suun anyune." he gave a nod, his ears lowering back against his skull. He had never met a female as intimidating as this one.

Slowly Calliope took in what he had said, trying to figure out if his speech was slurred by impediment or accent. Finally understanding she gave a curt nod, a little dissapointed that her search hadn't been made easier.

Her silver eyes gazed over the male once again as she began to figure out what she might do now. He seemed... worn, yes, that was it. Not overly old or maimed or ugly just... worn. She had never seen a wolf who looked so weary except her old grandfather who had been grey about the muzzle already by the time she was born.

His submissiveness pleased her and bolstered her confidence a little. She had been skulking too long amongst these strange wolves and had begun to become weary herself.

She walked past the male, staring, evaluating. He was hardly even worth her having gotten so riled about, really.. Hmph.

'Neira paced back and forward in front of the den entrance impatiently, her eyes flicking back and forth between the dark hole and the summer landscape. She was a little angry at the cub's reticent behavior, the little voice at the back of her head whispering once again that it would almost have been best if the little brightly coloured runt had perished along with her siblings.

The black and grey she-wolf barked roughly as a black and orange head popped out of the roughly-dug den. "Get a move on!" she ordered the little female. She was ready to be gone from here - a young male was hanging around nearby and she wanted away from him and all that he signified.

Almost all of Maia's life, up until this point, had been concerned with moving between a succession of dens, avoiding her mothers irritated nips and barks and generally trying to stay very quiet and do as she was told. The young pup was barely of an age to be walking around out of the den by herself and her mother harrying her was not making her especially keen on the idea. She could tell there was an undercurrent of fear in her mother's tone which worried her more than the unadulterated anger she was used to.

The young mother walked a few paces and looked back expectantly, holding back the temptation to walk off. Something, deep down, would not let her abandon the little ball of fur even if her bright coat was a constant reminder of that male, that time and the effects thereof. A mothers instinct... or something like that. She growled, half to herself, and added this 'inconvenience' to the pile of greivances she currently had.

By now Maia had come out of the den, quickly scurrying over to her mother, tail between her legs. She walked half underneath 'Neira as they left the fourth densite of her young life. Before she had been carried but now she was old enough to walk by herself. Her small legs wobbled as she tried to keep up with the ground devouring pace her mother had set.

~o~

The morning light was warm but neither 'Neira nor Maia were comfortable. No den. Safe as they had been, finding or creating them had exhausted 'Neira. The pup was old enough now to survive in the open air, 'Neira reasoned, and it would be easier to move around if they didn't have to spend the better part of a day searching for a suitable place.

The pup, searching for comfort, snuggled up against the older female's warm, grey belly. 'Neira could be unkind but she was, after all, still Maia's mother and had kept her safe thus far.

The temperature lowered, the air grown dry and crisp, and the foliage on the trees started to change from their mellow summer greens to burning yellows and oranges. The undergrowth of grass began to become stale and the bark on the trees was turning duller by the day. Usually the sky was overcast a dreary gray, but on this particular evening the clouds had split and the sun shown, as it retreated for the night, casting the lands in a hot glow.

Anya was a wolf of loyalty, and she hardly found herself wandering outside of Phib’s, her alpha’s, territory. Yet today she had chased a rabbit too far and now the young female found herself on a hill over looking a valley, the sweet and salty scents of the ocean only but lingering as they rose from her milky pelt. Her frame was fragile, her delicate figure showing as clumps of fur began to fall from her skin only to reveal a paler, thicker batch of fur growing from underneath. Her white body contrasted against the fall trees, and she couldn’t wait for the earth to be cast in a white wonderland, easing her hunting. But tonight, it seemed, she would go hungry, her mind and stomach not fill with much at the moment.

Ouranos had taken to wandering further each day, especially after meeting the enigmatic grey. He paced through the undergowth, enjoying the feel of his paw pads on the cool leaves that plastered the floor. He had never come quite so far as this before but was curious of the ocean he'd been told about: a body of water that stretched as far as one could see.

Leaves fell around him, glinting yellow, red, orange, like so many sunbeams tumbling to the ground. He opened his maw to catch one, curious as a pup. A large jagged-shaped leaf clasped in his mouth the fawn wolf looked a little foolish but Oura wasn't bothered about such notions. A flash of white caught his eye - so stark in the autumnal glow.

He called out a cheerful "hallooo" as soon as he seen this wolf, dropping the leaf from his mouth. Sniffing the air he caught her scent - female, he ascertained, and with a similar scent to the grey he had met before. Perhaps they were kin? He trotted towards her.

Anya had been caught off guard and she heard the friendly calling before even a scent was detested. A numb tingling rose up her spine as the fur on her back lifted in alarm. The porcelain she-wolf’s face turned to face the fawn color stranger, his pelt apparent just as hers were. This stranger was a definite male, her size large and his muzzle boxy. Although his appearance was intimidating, especially to a small wolf like herself, his friendly gaze spoke words of comfort. They were on neutral territory, after all…or so she hoped.

Her fur flattened once again as the tawny wolf moved towards her. Anya reached out her nose in a casual greeting, known to all of her kind, noticing the male’s lame ear as it flopped against his face. “Hello,” she said, returning the greeting in an equally friendly manner, “I fear I am lost…are these your lands?”

Ouranos was delighted that the other was friendly too and returned her greeting with a shuffling wag of his shaggy tail. As he got closer he realised that the she-wolf was a little smaller than himself. He was used to this - he was a little over-sized even for a male wolf though much of it was his fur which was perhaps a little thicker now that winter was coming on. The thought made him scratch at his flank absentmindedly - the last of his summer fur was still stuck amongst his new winter coat and it itched.

"My lands?" he replied, somewhat nonplussed. "Not at all, no.. they are noones from what I can tell. At least... many different wolves of different families seem to be here" he answered as best he could. "You smell like another I've met, though... your lands must be near here for me to have come across more than one of you!".


“I hail from the South-East,” she began “By the ocean. I live with Phib and Amelie and am their tactical advisor.” The petite she-wolf could help but tip her chin proudly. The Outriders were a magnifisigant pack with many members, and from what she heard, was quite an accomplishment. “The are many of us,” Anya continued, “In the pack, I mean, and we all seems to share the scent of the ocean.” Anya took a seat, her fragile legs tucked neatly beneath her and the chill air had already begun to make them stiff.

“My name is Anya, by the way,” she added to her short recounts of her territory, “and where do you come from, sandy wolf?” she said and grinned.

He listened as the small wolf spoke. Her rank sounded serious though not familiar to him. What was clear was that she found a great deal of pride in her family and friends, her pack. Ouranos understood that kind of feeling completely - he felt the same way of the small pack he now belonged to - of the one he used to belong to...

"Amélie?" his ears perked up at the name. "I met Amélie a little while back!" he enthused. "She's nice, kind. She told me about the sea that's why I wanted to go this way and maybe see it..." his head fell to one side, his look slightly impish with the one ear folded over limply.

Sandy wolf, she had called him. He liked that! Sand was always near water. "Anya." he repeated, thinking it sounded a lot like Amélie. "I'm Oura" as usual the fluffy male gave his nickname "and I guess I come from a little north of here... the sun was high when I left" he said, trying to give her an idea of the distance.

His curiosity piqued, he inquired further. "You said your pack was close and it's near the sea like Amélie said... does that mean I'm not far from the water?". His tail swished happily at the thought.

The white female dipped her head in embarassement, “Accutally, I wandered out of the territory while chasing a rabbit…and I’m not so sure of the way back. I usually don’t travel out of the packlands, you see. But I’m sure if we wander we can find our way back.” Anya rose her muzzle and sniffed the air, scenting the sweet and aromatic scent of the ocean that had blended with her fur. She tried to seek out that same scent in the air, but only found the hearty smells of the fall and dried wood. A bit puzzled, she turned he head to look onto the valley below. She had never been down there, and so she assumed, if she were to go the opposite was she would eventually find her pack.

“Let’s go this way,” she suggested.

Ouranos complied, happy to follow the female and in some way hoping he could help her especially since she seemed lost. He didn't know this territory or have any better idea of how to find their way to her packlands but nonetheless he felt a protective urge - much like the one which usually swayed him when he was in the company of pups. Perhaps it was because she was little - or maybe just that she was lost.

He lifted his own nose, sure that he could taste the slightest tinge of salt in the air in the way they were heading amongst the other scents. He always seemed to have a sensitivity to the scent of water - probably why he liked water so much.

His tail lifted up, waving to and fro happily as they walked. As they moved into the valley the forest cover became a little thicker, the falling leaves a pretty autumnal snowfall. "Did you catch the rabbit?" he queried, wondering what had become of her quarry.

A lone figure slowly wandered through the thick forest in the dead of the night. His blue and orange coat glowed in the little moonlight that managed to get through the thick branches. He gazed around the area with his violet-hued eyes as he tried to weave his way out of the forest. For two long weeks he had wandered there, unable to find his way back to his father's alpha's packlands. How long had it been since he had seen his father last? Too long, his mind told Mavis. Shaking off the fear of never seeing his father again, he let his fur brush up against a low hanging branch.

On the inside, his inner demon, Dämon, was busy cursing at Mavis for getting lost yet again. 'You could have followed one of those loners out,' scowled the other half of Mavis. Sighing, the placid wolf shook his head slightly. 'Brother's friend would have just scowled us for following him. Besides, that loner was scared of you. I don't think he would like having us around him longer than a few moments,' protests Mavis. Dämon growled at him, but remained silent. The inner demon knew Mavis was right, but he didn't want the wolf to know that.

Mavis stopped in his tracks, causing Dämon to yell a string of curses at the placid wolf. 'Why have we stopped?!' yelled the demon. 'Hush!' demanded Mavis. Dämon started to say something, but stopped when he felt himself being pushed to the farthest region of Mavis' mind. 'Alrigh!' he growled at Mavis. Slowly, the placid wolf released the innder demon and gazed around the area with alert eyes. Dämon slowly crept forward and joined Mavis.


Maia had slunk out of the packlands early in the night, just after the sun had set, via the complicated route which kept their home hidden from others. She had been feeling cooped up, that she was imprisoned in that one place while the older ones went off to hunt or whatever it was they did. She had been planning this small escape for a while now - waiting for a night when noone was around so she could slip away quietly.

It wasn't that she had been told not to leave the camp but her mother did not like her not being to hand when she was called. The small, orange coloured female was getting tired of being at her mothers beck and call... even if it was for 'her own good' as her mother kept telling her.

She was trying to be stealthy, exaggerating every step in order to be silent, holding her breath, looking warily from side to side. The world her mother had described to her was full of dangers and treachery.

Unfortunately she was none to good at sneaking around... SNAP A branch snapped under her foot and she yipped in surprise.


Mavis and Dämon both pricked their ears up at the snap they had just heard. 'What the...' Dämon started to say, but he got cut off when Mavis started to head towards the location of the noise. The inner demon growled at the placid wolf, but held his tongue. He didn't want another incident to happen like the one a few weeks ago with Kiros and Xan.

Creeping behind a tree, Mavis peeked his head around it to see a orange female wolf. He canted his head to one side as he gazed at the femme with his violet eyes, uncertain of what to think of the other wolf. Dämon slowly crept forward and gazed at the other wolf through Mavis' eyes. 'Curious of the opposite gender, I see,' taunted Dämon. Mavis shook his head slightly. 'No. I'm just wondering if we have stumbled into another alpha's packlands,' he commented to the inner demon. Dämon snorted, but said nothing. Sighing, Mavis took a few steps away from the tree to let himself be seen by the femme.


Inept as she was at stalking, she could see and smell just fine. Quickly getting over her surprise she whirled to face the other youngster who had appeared from behind a tree - so close by she really should have been able to see the blue pup. Her hackles instantly rose as she sniffed the air, finding what was an unusual scent to her - male! One of the worst dangers her mother had told her of. Evil, selfish, killers who'd take advantage of any female they came across. She wasn't exactly sure what 'take advantage of' meant but it sure sounded terrible the way her mother said it.

She was frightened and somewhat angry that this male had... had.. crept up on her... obviously meaning to attack her! Her ears were trained forward, her body crouched as though ready to pounce "Who are you? Why are you following me!?" she barked in what she had hoped to be a threatening manner but which ended up more like a squeak.

It didn't come into her mind that the other could have just been out as she was, wandering the woods.



Mavis canted his head to one side, confused at the femme's anger towards him. Had he frightened her that much? Lowering his head and tail down slightly to show her that he wasn't a threat, he mentally pushed back Dämon, indicating that he didn't want any interruptions. Frowning, the inner demon did what Mavis wished and crept back to his little corner in the wolf's mind. With Dämon taken care of, Mavis turned his attention back to the femme. He had seen female wolves before, but only as adults. This younger one scared him slightly. 'Is she a loner like my brother?' he asked himself curiously.

Taking a few steps towards the femme, he tucked his tail between his legs and lowered his had a tad bit more. "Mavis," he said to the femme in a shy voice. "My name is Mavis. And I didn't follow you. I was just...curious to see who would be wandering out in the middle of the night." He scratched the ground with one of his paws, causing a small indent to form in the hard ground. He pinned his ears back against his skull. He knew this was an indication that winter was fast approaching and that he would have to run fast and far to get back to his packlands before snow arrived. Turning his attention to the femme, he waited for her reaction to his reply to her questions.



Maia was slightly confused by the male's submissive behavior. It went against what she'd been told about all males since her birth. She wondered if this male was pretending to be meek so he could 'take advantage of her'. She wouldn't let whatever that was happen! Still on her guard she stalked closer to the young male, trying to puff up her small stature by holding her tail up, raising her head. It was all instinctual - she didn't know why she was doing it but it made her feel better about being around this male.

"Mavis" she repeated. His name? Who cared what his name was.. "I don't believe you. Why were you hiding just then if you weren't following me?" the fact that she, too, had been hiding didn't much occur to Maia. "And why do you want to know who'd be out at this time of night?! You probably want to take advantage!" She spoke fast, with false bravado, absoloutely sure she was right as a lot of young ones are.

Her red eyes glinted in the soft moonlight as she looked over Mavis, not sure what to do now.


Mavis quivered slightly at the tone of voice the femme had. Dämon growled at mavis for being a coward. He wanted to come out and show the female a thing or two, but he knew that would break Mavis' little confidence the placid wolf had for the inner demon. Dämon didn't want that to happen. He was quite comfortable living in the wolf's body. Slowly, Dämon crept out from his corner and gazed at Mavis curiously. 'This wolf has obviously been tainted by one of her parents. Teaching her that males are always angered. That is harsh,' commented the demon bitterly. Mavis nodded slightly at the demon's comment and agreed silently with him. He wished there was some way to show her that he wasn't a thread to her.

Slowly, he backed up a few steps and gazed at Maia curiously. "Because...I didn't know if it was the loner that I met earlier last week," he told her in a soft voice. "The loner scared me, so I fled him. I didn't know if he was following me, so I had to find out." It was a lie, but a little white lie. Sighing, he sat down on his haunches, tail still between his legs. "Take...advantage?" he asked curiously. Canting his head to one side, he hunched over slightly and stared at the ground. "Why would I do that? You are...defenseless. My father told me that it wasn't wise to attack a defenseless wolf.


Despite herself she was curious. She "The loner?" she wondered who that was. She and her mother had been loners for a while she guessed but not for a while. Were there many who were alone like they had been? It had been a pretty rough existance... She felt slightly sorry for 'the loner' whomever they may be.

"Why would they want to follow you?" she said, somewhat callously, though not intentionally so. As the other young wolf sat down Maia let down her guard a tad, letting her tail fall as she peered at him. She wondered if his pack were around here, maybe close by. The thought worried her a little but she was sure that she wasn't too far from her own home where it was safe. She could run if need be.

"I don't know why you'd do that.." she replied as he spoke again. "And I'm NOT defenseless!" she growled a bit, irritated that he couldn't see that she was obviously a strong warrior she-wolf! "You're the defenseless one." she added, with less sting in her voice. To her it did seem that he was weaker than herself. It seemed odd that this should be so... especially when she had been told to be so wary of males.


Mavis shrugged slightly at the femme's question. He had no idea why Kiros would follow him, but to Mavis the loner seemed like the type of wolf who would do that. Besides, Kiros was the caretaker of Beere-Augen, Mavis's brother. Maybe, if the loner was following him, it was out of respect to his brother? He canted his head to one side and continued to gaze at the ground.

Pricking his ears up at the femme's sudden outburst about his comment about her being defenseless, he winced slightly, raising a paw in the air for a few brief moments. It was then that he raised his gaze up to see the femme again, her stance that of dominace. "I am that and often mistaken as a shadow on the ground. I think that is why my father never pays much attention to me," he muttered under his breath. 'I could never be the way Father wants me to be,' he thought to himself bitterly. 'No, but Father and Mother both love you and Brother all the same,' whispered Dämon kindly. 'If that is so, then why did Mother abandon Brother to live with the Loner?' 'That I do not know, replied the demon in the same kind voice. Sighing, Mavis slid down on the ground and rested his head on his forepaws.


Maia was filled with consternation. This young male was challenging all her preconceptions of what males were like. His dejected look as he lay down tugged at her and, despite her anger moments ago, she felt sorry for him.

She took a hesitant step forward, then another, shuffling until she was a little closer to Mavis. She thumped her rear end down, sitting a foot or so away from him, looking away in the other direction as if slightly embarrassed. "I never had a father" she said, trying to sound nonchalant. She had never considered what it would be like to have one... she had assumed that no wolves had fathers.

Then again, if this young wolf had a bad father didn't that confirm that they were bad? Maybe it was just father wolves that were bad? She wondered if having children made males go evil...

Breaking from her reverie she flicked red eyes towards Mavis again. "Probably good not to have one. They're all bad.."


Mavis flicked one of his ears when he heard that she didn't have a father. He thumped his tail slightly against his legs and sighed loudly. "I never knew my mother," he murmered to her, still a little depressed. He often wondered what it would be like to have both parents, yet here was a wolf sitting in front of him who had no father at all.

He gazed up at her curiously and slowly raised one ear from against his skull. "Fathers...are bad?" he asked her curiously. He had never known Flit to being bad, but he wasn't a very good father at the same time. Phib wasn't evil, either, but he wasn't really a second father for the growing wolf. Shaking his head, he frowned slightly. "Why do you say that all fathers are bad? Did your mother...have a bad experience with males?"

Maia paused and then decided to share her thoughts with the blue-ish male. "Well, my mother told me males are bad, evil, mad.. but you're not.. and, well, since mother says my father was a bad male and you say your father doesn't look after you... I think that must mean wolves become bad when they become fathers?"

She pondered his second question. "My mother said my father 'took advantage of her' and that was why she was told to leave home. We nearly starved... I dunno what taking advantage is but it must be really bad... I guess that's why she doesn't like them and told me to watch out for them." now that she said it to someone else ... it did sound a little odd, especially when confronted with a real, live male. It also felt good to be talking to another her own age - something she really hadn't done before.

"What happened to your mother?" she asked, wondering what it would have been like for her not to have had her mother.



Mavis shrugged slightly. "maybe..." He paused for a few seconds before continuing on with his statement. "Maybe not all wolves are bad. Maybe just those who were treated badly when they were pups." He canted his head and stared at her for a few seconds before pricking up his other ear.

He nodded his head slightly, half understanding what the femme was talking about. He knew what it was like to have a parent leave at a young age. His mother had left with his brother a few months after he had been born. Since then he had been with his father and with their alpha's packs near the ocean.

"My mother...she abandoned both me and Father, taking Brother with her, yet in the end she abandoned Brother to a loner to take care of him. I don't understand why Mother would do such a thing. I thought...i thought she loved me and Father."


"Oh.." she wasn't sure what to think of that. Why would anyone treat a pup badly? Certainly her mother, despite giving her into trouble quite often, had looked after Maia well. Having not known any other pups she didn't know what other pups might be treated like. She was, in fact, beginning to realise how little she knew.

As he told her of his mother, his brother, she began to get a little angry - not at him but at this mother who had left him. "Why would she do that?" she said, irritated. That a female could be bad, could abandon Mavis and make him as sad as he was now... Her whole world had turned upside down and Maia wanted desperately to turn it back. "Maybe your father made her go away?" she supposed, now lying down in front of him, mimicking his pose in mirror image.



Mavis shook his head. He knew his father had nothing to do with his mother's disappearance. Only Brother knew, yet Brother was with the Loner. Dämon shuddered slightly as Mavis thought about Kiros and he mentally bit the placid wolf. 'No, we can't go there. Mother will come back eventually. If you wait long enough she will come back,' Dämon told Mavis sharply. Sighing, the adolescent wolf nodded his head somberly.

He gazed down at the ground and sighed loudly. "No, Father had nothing to do with it. Mother left on her own. I wish Mother could have taken me instead of Brother. Father says I am much like her. In what way I am related to her in, he wouldn't say to me," he told her somberly. Only Dämon knew the true reason how Mavis was related to his mother, yet the inner demon wasn't going to tell the pup.


Maia wasn't sure what to say. She sat quietly for a moment, looking at the other. She percieved a turmoil within him, in his eyes perhaps or something in the way he seemed to glaze over for a few seconds at times.

"Maybe she had a good reason to?" she eventually said, lamely. "I'm sure she must have..." she trailed off, continuing to observe the other adolescent in front of her. His other comment puzzled her. If she was his mother she was his mother, what could he mean by being related to her in some other way? She voiced his question to him in her usual manner: bluntly "What do you mean, related? If she's your mother she's your mother.. what else?" he head tilted a little to one side, ears pricked up questioningly.



Mavis shrugged at the femme's question. "I don't know. father says I have her coat color, but then again he did say something about me having the same personality as her. Maybe that is it. He didn't really want to take anymore other than that when I ask him how I am like Mother," he told her in a soft voice.

'That's because Father holds a secret.' 'What kind of secret?' Dämon sighed and didn't respond to Mavis' question, leaving the adolescent completely puzzled. Shaking his head, he flopped over on one side and noticed the femme staring at him. Shrugging off the odd feeling he was getting by the stare he was recieving, he closed his violet-hued eyes slightly.


She nodded, thinking that made sense. Her mother sometimes alluded to things like that too - that she shared her coat colour with her father. Never her personality, though, that would have been an insult.

The orange and black adolescent was silent, still staring at him as he looked away. He was odd, not evil or violent that she could see and was even a litle weak seeming. She didn't think he could do anything to her...

"So what are you going to do now? Try to follow the loner again?" she asked. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to move, considering he had been following someone.


He shook his head slightly. "No. The loner scared..me." He sighed, happy that he had caught himself before he had said Dämon's name aloud. Pulling his tail out from between his legs, he rested it on the ground and pinned his ears back against his skull.

He gazed up at the femme and lifted his head slightly. 'Do you and your mother have a pack?" he asked her curiously. He often wondered if Mother had a pack to belong to, but Father had cleared that up a long time ago. Slowly, he rolled over onto his stomach and waited for the femme to respond to his question, ignoring the inner demon inside him.


"Oh.. well, I didn't see another around when I was walking about." she said, hoping that would help. Being scared was not a nice feeling. "We do have a pack, yeah." she said, not offering any more information. As much as she no longer feared the male, she knew better than to reveal where their hidden home was.

"Do you have a pack?" she asked in kind, wondering if he did and if so, if it was near here. It seemed odd to think that others might be so close... she had always thought of their packlands as within it's own safe space near no others. She had never walked this far before, though so she had no clue what number of wolves the nearby forests held.



Mavis nodded his head slightly, relieved that the loner was in this immediate area. His fear of Kiros had been lifted...for now. He didn't want to see the loner again, for Dämon's sake. The inner demon, and Mavis, was very close to dying due to Dämon's little mishap. Mavis knew he would have to live with Dämon's attitude in order to stay alive.

He canted his head to one side and gazed at Maia curiously as she asked if he had a pack. He nodded his head briefly and gazed in the direction he thought the ocean was in. "Yes. Father joined his friend's pack when I was a mere pup, though the alpha lets us wander wherever we feel like it. Father never leaves the packlands, but I have on several occasions. I don't like being confined to one place for too long."


It was strange, she thought, how in many ways their lives mirrored each others. They had both lost a parent, had both joined another's pack when they were pups and both, unlike their parents, seemed to like roaming from that place.

"I feel the same... my mother and I travelled a lot as soon as I could walk and now it just doesn't feel right not to move from one place to another. It's like an itch. You have to scratch it by going outside but this is the first time I've been able to get away.." she said, pouring out her thoughts. She had no conception that the other had more than just himself inside but from what he had shown her the female was beginning to feel a strange kinship with the other adolescent.

The orange and black female rolled over onto her back, oddly at ease now, but still staring searchingly at Mavis.



He nodded his head, agreeing with her. He never felt another wolf click like the way she did. It was almost like they were meant to meet and become friends. All he hoped was that his other side didn't try to ruin their friendship, like he did with his father.

Smiling slightly at the femme, he yawned slightly and thumped his tail against the ground. He was lost for words for once and it felt odd being in only silence. When he was younger he could handle it, but now that he was nearing adulthood, silence was something he couldn't handle. Dämon always had something to say to him, but now the wolf's other side was as silent as the darkness. To break the silence, he closed his eyes slightly and lifted his maw in the air to breath in the crisp, Autumn air. "Smells like rain. Winter might come early this year," he commented in a soft tone of voice.


Maia was content for the first time in her life. It was as though she had been missing his friendship all this time. Her tail shuffed softly against the ground as it moved lightly back and forth beside her, causing her to wiggle a little on her back.

Having been born when the snows had gone and never having been through more than one turn of the seasons she wasn't familiar with winter. Deep inside her, though, instinct warned her body of the coming cold and she simply nodded. "Rain.. yeah.." she filled her lungs with a deep breath, cold tickling the back of her throat. She was also speaking quietly now, the gruffness gone from her.

The moon had moved quite far whilst they had talked. She looked at it now, or rather where it's light filtered through the dense trees in silvery shafts. Regretfully, she knew she should return soon otherwise she'd be missed and most likely would get into trouble. "Can you stay out all the time?" she asked, envying the though of that kind of freedom.



Mavis nodded his head slightly, dreading what would come after the rain once the temperature started to fall. He hated the winter time, despite it being very short near the ocean. It froze everything arouud him, including the trees. He noticed that Maia had glanced up at the moon and he looked up at it, too. Sighing, he knew he would have to leave soon, too, in order to get back on the trail leading to his pack lands.

He didn't want to leave the forest too soon, though. He wanted to see more of his new friend and hoped that she might travel with him to his packlands someday. He glanced at her curiously when she asked if he could stay out all the time and he nodded his head. "Yes. My packland is far away, on the other side of the mountain, near the ocean," he told her in a calm, steady voice. "My Father might be worrying about me because I have been gone a long time, but this is to find Brother. I want Brother to come back with me to our pack and hopefully find Mother on the way."


"Far away?" she was dismayed. This was the furthest she had ever been and it was far from here? It seemed as though she was doomed to lose the first friend she had ever made. She understood that he had to go back, though, you couldn't leave your packlands... not unless you were thrown out that was what she had been taught.

"My packlands are near here.." she said, softly. "My mother would be angry if she knew I'd gone even this far." she sighed a little, rolling onto her belly and then to her feet. "You're looking for your brother here too? Perhaps... if you tell me what he looks like then, if I see him, I could tell him you are looking for him and your mother?" she said, hoping in some way to keep connected to the young male.




Mavis nodded her head at the femme's question. "Indeed, far away. The farthest you can go without wading into the ocean." He sighed and closed his eyes, afraid that he would have to leave before the snow on the mountains close off the path leading towards his packlands. If that happened, he would have to wait until the snow thawed a month after winter ended in order to go back to his packlands.

He heard her next words barely and he opened his eyes slowly to see that she was already on her feet. "You will look too?" he asked her curiously. Smiling, he got to his feet, too, and wagged his tail happily. "Thank you," he said, bowing his head slightly before speaking again. "Brother looks a little like me, only he has blue markings instead of orange and has no pink throat. Mother should look almost like him, too," he told her in a chipper voice.


She was half pacing, knowing she'd have to go soon if she wasn't to get into trouble. "Yes, I'll look for them, too." she nodded, glad that Mavis seemed a little happier now. She wondered if Mavis' brother was anything like him. Maybe he'd be another friend if she did find him?

"I.. have to go it's getting early.. My mother will be back from hunting soon and if she finds me gone I'll be in trouble." she sighed unhappily, wishing she could stay here with Mavis.


he nodded his head slightly. "Alright. If you ever need to talk, just look for me. I might stay in this area for a while since this is the area where I ran into the loner taking care of my brother." He flicked his tail slightly and, with a slight flick on an ear, he started to trot away from the femme to let her wander back to her pack.


Regretfully, Maia turned and headed back home, looking over her shoulder periodically at the male who dissapeared into the thick forest cover. Her head felt heavy as she trudged back, not even bothering to try and be stealthy. Many questions were floating through her mind as she digested all that had gone on.

She'd try to come here again! Maybe the next time everyone was gone, yes, she'd try.