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 Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:35 pm
 Deirdre pushed through some low shrubbery, a deep frown set on her face. Her ears flickered occasionally and the sound of fluttering wings could be heard nearby. They belonged to a raven, one that had taken to following Deirdre around sometimes. She always knew it was the same one, for it had a shock of white on its beak and neck, along with a missing claw, and wasn’t shy about invading her personal space. It often hopped close, as it was doing now, and it seemed to like to rest on her flank before flying off again, doing whatever it was that ravens did.
It stank of carrion, and she would have eaten it if she had been hungry, despite the smell. But it seemed to know when she wasn’t, for it never came close when she was in need of a meal, instead sticking to the branches high above and following her to pick at whatever she left behind after she had made a kill, or lead her to some carrion it couldn’t open by itself. And that was the extent of their relationship.
Deirdre ignored it for the time being, along with the harsh caws it made, and wove through the bare trees and the little vegetation that had survived so far that winter. The dim sun dappled her pelt, but provided no real warmth, and she bristled her fur for a moment, shaking quickly to warm herself up before padding up to a large rock and draping herself over it lazily.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:56 am
"Nuisance."
A scrawny, small kerl shifted himself through what had survived that harsh winter. He was cold and food had been hard to come by. His poor vision didn't help too much with that, either. His nose was reliable, but he had difficulty in seeing just what it was he was hunting, which was never a good thing.
The creature he happened to be insulting was lurking high above and had been tailing him for some time. He was just about fed up with, finding the beat of it's wings and the "raak-kraak-kraak-kraak" of it's call highly obnoxious. He wished it would leave him, and sometimes it did, but it always seemed to come back.
Either that or he was a magnet for the spotted nutcrackers as a species. He was pretty sure it was the same one, but he had little to no proof and they generally looked alike in his mind.
It, or she, rather, had grown silent. Or, well, silent with the exception of the flap of wings now and again. Maybe she understood his annoyance? He wasn't sure, but he was thankful for the peace that came in place of the bird calls.
He padded along, through the thick snow, ready to find shelter. He hoped he wasn't trespassing on the territory of a pack. That was something he didn't quite feel like dealing with, at the moment. Finding food was far more important.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 2:05 pm
Deirdre closed her eyes, trying to settle into sleep, but even so, she could hear the raven landing and hopping about. It pecked at the ground mockingly for a few moments, in an imitation of the much smaller, seed-eating birds, before flying up to her flank, where it proceeded to preen its feathers. But it hadn’t gotten very far when it snapped its head up, glaring at some hidden thing in the distance with its beady eyes. Uttering a harsh croak, it flew into the safety of a branch above, where it resumed cleaning itself.
Irritated by the bird’s calls, but fully aware of the meanings it held, she roused herself enough to open her eyes, peering sideways to see what had disturbed the raven and, in turn, her nap. Not long after, the sounds of a different bird could be heard, and the scent of another Varg, a male one, came with it. Huffing with annoyance, she debated on whether to make herself more noticeable or not. If he desired company, it would work against her, but should he want the opposite, it would work in her favor, wouldn’t it?
But she knew nothing about the Varg, save for his gender, and she decided the risk was too great. Settling down again, she closed her eyes and hoped that he would pass right on by, or in the chance that he came across her, moved on, as it seemed she was asleep.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 7:36 pm
She had stopped following, so it seemed.
His hears pivoted as the sudden absence of wing flutters and, for a brief moment, he was alarmed for some reason. She'd been following with such diligence earlier. What would make her halt so abruptly?
The nutcracker hung back, beady eyes flashing as a new Varg came into sight. She had seen the slightly larger bird, but paid little mind to him. He was not what her focus was on. Instead, she wished for food. Something better than pine nuts, which had been her sole diet as of late. She was a rather young bird and her first cache had run out. She had forgotten where her second had been buried.
It was her luck to follow a wolf that could hardly hunt...
She lit quietly in the boughs of an aging pine, watching warily.
Patchouli continued to move, his sensitive nose picking up the scent of another Varg. Female, by the smell of it. The first thought to wash over him was fear. But hers was the only one, no other Varg seemed to be in the area...
Kerl, then?
He plodded in that same direction, tail lifting like a banner as the dark wolf came into view. Or rather, her outline. Had his vision been keener, he would of been able to tell she was sleeping. Or mock sleeping. Instead, he had no idea.
"Hello?"
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:30 pm
Deirdre heard the male approach, and figured he had caught her scent, just as she had caught his. Because of it, she figured he was the social type – most Varg were, seeing as they were naturally pack-oriented – and so she was glad she had decided to pretend to be asleep. But that seemed to mean nothing to the male as he said a greeting, coming close enough for her to see him clearly if her eyes had been open.
She wondered if he didn’t understand the concept of sleep, or if he held his nose so high in the air that he expected any slumbering creature to awaken as soon as he had graced them with his words. Or perhaps he needed help, or was desperately lonely. Well, if that was the case, it wasn’t her problem.
Despite her active thoughts, her physical features didn’t change, her only movement the soft rise and fall of her body. She continued to ignore him, in hopes that it would dissuade him and convince him to leave her be.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:34 pm
He seemed confused for a moment.
It was a Varg there, right? He wasn't talking to a rock or something? Ah, pity if he appeared to be talking to himself. Still, he seemed determined to keep from feeling crazy. If he heard another voice, that would prove it wasn't all in his head, right? Or rather, that the scent wasn't in his head. If his sense of smell was going, he could lick a successful life goodbye.
"Hello?" He called out again, a little more loudly this time.
"Anyone?"
Goodness, didn't he feel a fool. He took a curious pawstep forward.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:55 pm
Deirdre was good at ignoring others. Heavens knew she ignored the blasted raven that followed her more times than she could count. But she was only good at muting the sounds around her. Her sense of smell remained, as did her sense of taste, hearing, and touch and, unwilling to have the male come any closer, she finally opened an eye and glared at him, hoping the action and her unsually dark sclera would surprise and frighten him enough to make him still. But it was she who was surprised, for she noticed he had a dark sclera like her own, but his eyes were a dull, broze shade, unlike her bright silver, and his pelt a dirty brown, light when compared to her own dark pelt. It seemed their physical similarities were just their sclera.
She stretched, and sat slowly before looking down at him with a wary gaze, her tail hanging freely off the edge of the rock. Rank mattered little to her, for it had been a long time since she had settled a paw into pack lands, but she hoped her obviously dominant posture and hard stare would intimidate him, as a sort of punishment for coming close to her.
"Hello," she finally replied, once she felt she had stared at him enough, her voice cold and contempt.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:14 pm
The fuzzy outline moved! He wasn't a complete, blind fool after all, right?
At least he hoped so. It was a long time before the other spoke and he felt as though claws were raking across him. The other must have been staring. Must have. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it. It was a most uncomfortable sensation.
And her voice was so cold.
He knew immediately that she was peeved at him. Was he in the wrong to speak? Still, he couldn't keep his now mid-range tail from wagging slightly at the fact that he wasn't losing his sense of smell and there was another Varg to speak with. Oh, happy day! Or at least kind of happy. She must have been the reason the spotted nutcracker failed to follow him further.
"Goodness, I knew I couldn't of been losing my mind. I knew I smelled another Varg, Kerl correct? In the area." He let out a sigh and his ears flicked forward, but he remained still, where he was. With any luck, she wouldn't be hostile.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:40 pm
Deirdre could only stare, stunned. “No,” she said, her voice so heavy with sarcasm it might as well have been dripping with it. “Don’t you see the tracks of my pack-mates about your paws, or smell the borders of the territory? And look! There goes one of them – I believe her name was Frank – howling out now. Perhaps you really are losing that mind of yours, and your senses, too,” she ended dryly, laying down, but still looking down on him, as the rock she was on added to her height.
Now, it seemed she was closer to him, even though none of them had moved from their general positions. It was just that the male was now closer to her eye level, and she could see him better, and she thought it strange that he would press his ears forward in a dominant way when his tail was so low. But then she noticed a certain dullness in his eyes, and it occurred to her that this male was blind. Not fully, as his gaze was on her, instead of wandering about as the eyes of a normal blind Varg’s did, but his sight was far from perfect. Slightly amused, she flopped a paw in front of his face, wondering how bad his vision was.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 9:48 pm
If it weren't for the dripping sarcasm, she might of actually had him fooled a bit. He certainly seemed a bit befuddled and slightly alarmed when she mentioned tracks, but that faded as quickly as it had come, as he knew she spoke falsely from her voice and the scents he could detect.
Still, it was hard to miss the put out expression that stole over his face and maw.
"Well, you certainly are a cheerful little bird, aren't you?" He chuckled, though there was hardly any humor in his voice, just more sarcasm. He pulled back slightly as a shape came before his face. Though he couldn't see much more than color, or rather, darkness as her pelt was so deeply hued that it appeared to be as dark as night, itself, he could only assume what she had done.
His lips curved into a bit of a scowl.
"Now, what was that for?" Did she notice? Yeah. She probably noticed. In fact, she must have to make such a move. A nauseating taste filled his maw at the thought of his weakness, but he tried to bite it back.
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Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:15 pm
Deirdre brought back her paw and started scratching at an ear, the amusement gone from her face, replaced with the look of boredom she usually held. She lowered her head until it touched her paws, and her tail curled around her flank, resting lightly on her hind legs. She shrugged in response to the male’s question, her eyes scanning the bare trees and pines behind him. Just as her line of sight alighted on a small bird watching them from a pine, she remembered the male was blind (while the fact might have made others excessively aware of the male’s disability, it was only strange and very uncommon to her, and a bit of information that would be easily forgotten), and probably wouldn’t have noticed her shrug, although it was hard to tell. Still, she figured it would be best to leave it that way. If he seemed confused, she could always clarify.
Her attention returned to the bird, and she wondered if it was a foreign thing, migrating for the pines, or if it had been here all along, like the ravens. She rarely paid much attention to birds as she once used to, save for the ravens who, with their awkward, strutting gait, oftentimes gathered as she ate, and picked off whatever kill she had left behind, leaving her no choice but to notice them. Other birds left for the winter, to some warmer place most likely, or fled as soon as she came close, to the secrecy of the trees.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:40 pm
He settled on his haunches, slightly confused by her sudden silence. His tail curled about his haunches and he tilted his head to one side, before turning to see just where she was looking. Though he could not make out more than the shadow of the thick trees he had come from, he had a sneaking suspicion something of interest must have been there.
"What is it?"
The nutcracker tilted her head, turning a beady eye towards the pair. The bird was related to the Raven and this particular one was roughly the same size, though her species could often be larger. She dipped an unconcerned beak to her plumage and preened a few stray feathers as she waited for something or another to happen. But what? Even she wasn't too sure.
A kill would be nice. She was hungry, after all. Dumb blindish wolf was taking too long.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:00 pm
Deirdre gave a vague grunt in reply to the male’s inquiry. She snorted when the bird started to preen itself before scanning the rest of the trees, almost absent-mindedly. Without turning back to the brown male, she asked, “What are you doing here?” although her tone made it obvious that her real question was more along the lines of ‘Why must you bother me?’
The raven, although similar to the nutcracker in the sense that he used wolves mainly for food, regarded Deirdre differently. Yes, there was some scorn – those of her species were prone to snap out at the likes of him, and occasionally eat them – but a grudging respect, too. She, out of what he thought was uncommon intelligence of her kind (or stupidity, depending on the way you looked at it), paid heed to his calls (although whether she chose to do anything about it was another matter entirely), while most disregarded them unless it suited their own needs. As a result, he had taken to helping her out in his own, small ways.
But only when he felt like it, of course.
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Posted: Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:47 am
"Just passing through, really~ If you wish it, I can get out of your fur. The bird is here, isn't it? I was not sure if it was still following me." He spoke softly and backed a few pawsteps away, hopefully out of reaching distance, as she sounded annoyed and he did not wish to press things further. It would probably be best if he left shortly, instead of tempting fate any more than he already was. He generally avoided strangers, anyways, and he mentally chided himself, as he probably should have avoided her, as well.
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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 5:30 pm
Deirdre didn't mind the growing distance between them and, under normal circumstances, would have left him be (maybe after an exasperated huff, if only to persuade him away faster). But something he had said roused her curiosity, and she couldn't help but to ask, "A bird follows you?" in a tone that was still harsh but less annoyed than what it had been before. Still, the only sign of curiosity had been the fact that she had asked it as a question, not as a statement, which, to others, could imply that she cared little whether her question was replied to or not.
Her eyes flickered towards her raven, who was still busy going about cleaning his feathers, then once more to the nutcracker, and she wondered if that was the bird the male was speaking of. She had never heard of a seeing-eye bird, and a ridiculing smile formed on her lips at the very idea.
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