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 Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:11 am
 Fayina Tao sniffed lightly at the air, she was a ball of peach fur, curled at the base of one of the many snow-covered trees in the woods. Slowly she uncurled, limbs stretching out, eyes shutting tight as a yawn cracked her jaws. Morning. After her stretching she rose, senting the air again. One ear flickered to the left, a minute later a small branch snapped. She tensed, hackes rising and lip curling to show slightly yellow, but very sharp, teeth.
"Who comes this way?" her voice was dull today, perhaps because she'd just woken up. But as she stared on nothing happened, no one came. She couldn't smell friend nor foe, so it was just a noise.
Huffing she began to trot away from her tree, eyes flicking to the sky. It was going to snow soon, if the clouds held true. The bitter cold of this land, she did not like it. She went back to looking where she was going, tall as most males and in good health, nothing looked wrong with her.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:55 am
 Elias Escamilla - A rolling stone gathers no moss.
The calm before the storm was beginning to grow restless, and the skies were threatening to unleash their silent killer. Amber eyes raised in frustration as a breeze ruffled through the male's thick neck fur. You are a cruel creature... he thought as his eyes shifted from one cumulonimbus formation to another, noting that the blue had all but been swallowed up completely in the grey masses. His eyes halted on a particular cloud. The sun broke through in certain spots, and he swore he saw Anya's figure painted there in the sky. A small sigh caused his chest to rise and fall, a cloud of vapor escaping his nostrils. He hadn't seen her in a long while. He wouldn't admit it openly, but he missed his sister.
Sure, after the fight they'd gone their separate ways, but he had never really held it against her. She was always welcome to come see him again, no matter how much she seemed to hate him. He knew somewhere inside she was just trying to cover up the fact that she'd been tricked. Damnit, Anya... just forgive yourself... The clouds shifted, a new and menacing formation replacing that of the slender figure of his sister. Maybe she just hadn't come back yet because she thought he was still angry with her? He was never really angry in the first place; though it did seem like he was. He was just defending himself against her reckless attacks. And look what good that had done them! Vivid images of the bloodied little sister he lost flashed through his mind's eye. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, trying to clear hid mind of that thought. Luckily, he didn't have to try terribly hard.
The wind which was always so cruel against his body had helped him now. A scent floated to his nostrils, wafted by the breeze. A female, and nearby. His eyes opened as he rose to his feet, all senses on high alert. His eyes scanned the already snowy terrain, searching for the figure. He may have looked old and forlorn, but he was barely 3 years of age and his eyesight was still sharp. Damn insomniac He muttered to himself in his head, feeling slightly drowsy though he forced himself to stay focussed. In a short amount of time, his eyes landed upon a cream colored female heading his way. But she hadn't seen him yet, as he had the higher, more wooded ground. A small smirk passed his lips, but he couldn't place exactly why it haunted him. Females just amused him. In the scheme of things, even though he was as large as his breed would allow, he was small in comparison to most other males. However, what he lacked in size he made up for in attitude, and now he'd showcase his talent. Shaking the snow from his tail, he called out to her in a gruff voice once she was within earshot. "Hey, you there!"
Well, it wasn't exactly friendly sounding, but it was the best he could muster. He was rather... well.. awkward and jerk-like at times. It wasn't his fault, it was just what the second two years of his life had done to him. Sometimes he wondered where that charming young man had gone off to. Oh, wait... he died the moment his father did. Oh, well. At times he still held the customary Escamilla charm... now just wasn't one of those times.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 2:11 pm
As she was moving swiftly forward she swore she heard another's voice. Hey, you. Her right ear flicked in the direction of Elias, her eyes remained watching ahead. "Geh?" The soft reply was ment for herself, not for him. Her tail curled slightly, wrapping around her hind leg. Finally she veered from her path, heading closer to where the voice had been. She stopped only after a few feet, eyes scanning for the lone soul.
"Yes, I'm there. Well, here. Right now nothing is there." She glanced to where she'd been when he'd called for her. "Well, if in fact you mean me when you say you, otherwise it's not a very attractive name. Who would want to be named Euw anyhow?" Her mouth clicked shut, normally she limited herself to a few words. Her voice had moved smoothly from the waking-grogginess to a cheerful, friendly tone, a tone that didn't seem to match her lifeless eyes or still body.
Her eyes, that so neatly matched her fur, scanned over him. It was the only part of her that seemed to move, her breathing was even light enough that it didn't stir her sides too much. He was smaller than normal, she thought. It was hard to tell, for he was on higher grounds. She seemed to zone out a little, as her eyes flickered back and forth over his fur. Red-browns mixed with cream and white, darker brown; she liked looking at fur.
She gave her head a hard shake, blinking and establishing eye contact with the male. Dangerous. The thought lingered in the back of her mind, knowing any could be a threat to her life.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 5:04 pm
His eyes focussed in on her elegant form, and again he saw Anya. But it was only for a breif shining moment. Then, the female twisted her tail and turned toward him. As she headed in his direction, he stepped out from the brush that might obscure her view of his body. The first thing he noticed about the monochromatic wolf was how her eyes instantly went to his body, examining him closely. She was looking for some sort of flaw, no doubt. A laugh that only he in his mind could hear escaped his mental muzzle, but there was no outward indication of it. Sometimes you could say he was a bit insane, but only sometimes. And seldom in public. His ears pinned forward with interest, swivelling to full forwardness, which was always amusing to see: the flesh of his ears practically touching. But though this did give him a curious air, his expression was far from curious. Curiosity killed the cat, he always said, so why express it? He listened then, her voice escaping her in a bit of a ramble. Another inward laugh escaped the muted box of his mind, but again he did not know why. Something simply amused the poor old chap, he surmised.
Ah yes, her ramblings told him much about her already. He sensed a sort of uncomfortableness hidden beneath her dull body; which captivated his male mind. She really was all one color, her eyes being no exception. A salmon-cream color. In any other circumstance, he would have absently nodded his head in approval, but he refrained in this instance. The only thing that moved in her tall yet slender frame was her eyes, and it was duley noted. Of course, she was most likely still groggy. Even if she had been moving fairly quickly only moments before, it was early for anyone who had the peace of mind to sleep, and it was evident in her stance. Well, maybe not to most, but to him it was. He'd learned in his three years of existance how to read a wolf; but more importantly how to do it correctly the first time.
And then she shook her head, and he cocked his head to the side ever so slightly, again his breeds characteristics making him out to be curious. But only a fool for a wolf would think he was actually curious. He just had that air about him constantly, shrouded in the enigma of his own being. Not even he knew himself sometimes. In any other case, this abrupt eye contact would have been taken as a threat. He was always on the defensive side, but because this was a female and he held the upper ground, he saw no threat. That and the fact that it was still early morning. Her mind would be slow. That and it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of him to attack her. Instead, he simply kept his stance in check: his tail hung dormant for the most part, the end twitching idly about his hocks. His gaze held hers steady, noting how her eyes were only a shade darker than his own. Overall, he was relaxed, but not too relaxed. He took a moment or two, mulling over her words and her strange movements before he decided on the choiciest words.
"What is this place? Or do you know?" Yes, he was blunt. Normally he wasn't, actually. Hmmph. He found this annoying about himself. He always seemed to meet people at the oddest times and under the strangest circumstances. Like right now. He'd been tracking down his sister and somehow ended up here, wherever here was. Perhaps this female, whom he had decided not a real threat and also smaller than him beneath her coat, would be so kind as to tell him. Or, perhaps if she did not know, he would simply find out and maybe... just maybe... he'd finally find someone to keep good company with after all that time of wandering, gathering no moss along the journey.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 6:29 pm
Tao watched him, still standing rigidly still. One ear swiveled a bit to the side, perhaps catching faint sounds in the surrounding woodland, and perhaps not. It was odd, watching another watching them. Though wolves did it all the time.. At least, she did. Her eyes wanted to strain back to the nice mixtures of color on his fur, rarely did she see wolves in the past. And lately she'd been getting more chances. It was no fun staring into something that could reflect your image if you saw the same.. bland color over and over again. At least she didn't have some horrid, eye-blinding, color combination in her fur, like some wolves.
She smirked, to herself, wondering why her mind was wandering so. "This place.." She looked around slowly. "Is a woodland. You can tell from all the trees.. the few shrubs." She foccused back on his face, but this time her eyes did not meet his, they lingered on his ears. Her voice was still that friendly, cheerful tone but it had a serious quality about it; her answer had not been a joke, though many could and would take it as so. "I beleive our brethren call it.." Her eyes narrowed, thinking hard. "Tak. Or.. Tels." Telk? Ah, Telk is right... "Something of that sound." She moved foward, slowly, watching his ears again. She wondered if he was searching for something dear? Or maybe trying to find some place lost to his memory.
Memory? Lost.. Something pricked at her brain, but she didn't like that feeling. That struggle. She stopped moving forward again, head tilting to mimic his own cocked head, though he'd performed this action quite a few moments before.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 8:54 am
His eyes now being so devoutly locked on hers, they could no longer take sweeping glances to inspect her form as they previously had. It was okay, though. He had already made a satisfactory judgement about her. But why she stood so stiffly still baffled him a bit. Was he a scary creature? Did he make her fur stand on end? He saw no real reason for alarm, but he would not inquire as to exactly why it was that she stood the way she stood. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps later... much later. But, for now, he would contented with mirroring her intentions in his eyes, hiding what was behind that charade.
He had always thought himself to be a rather ruggedly built, intriguingly colored wolf. Perhaps this is why she looked at him in such a way, studying his fur pattern so thoroughly before meeting eyes with his. Perhaps she had seen something she liked in the patterns and colors strewn upon his warm-paletted pelt. He was generally a modest wolf, but something about that careful inspection and approval made him puff a bit with pride, adding more confidance to his stance somehow, but it was a very subtle difference.
He listened quite intently; having always been a very good listener. Hmmm, Tak? no.. Tels? No.... Telk. I've heard that one before. A well travelled wolf such as himself could easily retain names of places he'd been and heard of, and Telk was the place was aiming for. What a coincidence, that he was there. In these woods... Small sparks of thought occupied him in a silence that was unexpected of him, even by himself. During htis period of silence, his eyes seemed to dull out of focus, as they often did when thought protruded his conversations. Her head was tilted to the side now too... was she indeed curious of him somehow? His eyes came back into focus quickly, giving her form a quick sweep to see if anything else had changed. Nope.
"Telk... I have been looking for this place..." His voice changed, still plainly masculine and singularly his own, but the gruffness that had been so demanding had washed away, his true self starting to show through the rough exterior. This is where Anya was headed, he was sure of it. And, perhpas now he would be able to find her at long last. My sister... his expression lightened a bit, dark lips curling back ever so slightly in the faintest of smiles. He felt a new excitement; a new fire rising up within him, pushing the cold of winter from his body. Yes, she must be here! He must have finally caught up with her. And, in the meantime, he knew Anya would intend to stay here, so it was safe for Elias to make friends. What joy. A very unexpected present, indeed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:13 am
Her tail flicked and suddenly she sat, it'd been the biggest motion out of her thus far. Her sitting was simular to her standing, still and no fidgeting. Not even squirming to find a comfortable position. Her tail wrapped around her, curling against her haunches and paws tightly.
Something changed in him, his manner perhaps. Had it been before or after she'd been watching his fur? Her ear flicked slightly, and her head turned toward some of the thicker trees. She disliked the small forest critters, they could go about so easily.. almost like phantoms, in a way. One minute you could hear them.. and the next minute nothing was there. The only trace of their existance was the noise they'd made. Well, there might or might not be tracks if she went looking through those trees.
Her head swung back to face him, maw parting slightly. It looked as if she was about to speak, but she did not, she just sat there and watched him another moment. Looking for here.. Why would anyone look in this place? It was lonely, in this area at least. "So you've found the place.. but you still must search?" She questioned, wondering if he'd even make sense of it. Perhaps she was asking what he was searching for, but it was too hard to tell. She wondered why any wolves searched for things at all. If they stayed in one place long enough.. wasn't it possible that what they're searching for will lose it's way and come back?
He seemed to be very happy about finding Telk. She wondered where he'd come from before these lands. And yourself? The thought flickered away before she had a chance to answer it. Waiting for his answer she looked back to the sky, one eye shutting as a raindrop splashed onto the bridge of her nose. "It starts." She stated the obvious, wondering if he'd felt any drops of rain yet.
Strange, it could have been snow. She liked rain better than snowflakes, especially when there was snow covering the earth. She liked the way each fat, shiney drop sunk into the cold, white-looking crystals that all stuck together.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 10:52 am
He was a bit startled on the inside that this cream colored wolf had moved at all. Previously, she had been stiff as if rigor mortis had taken over her body, and then suddenly she sat. An interesting gesture, indeed. This indicated that she would want to talk for more time than he originally expected. His first motive in talking to her was simply to find out if she knew this place and if she had met with Anya somewhere in these lands before. However, now with this gesture of sitting in the snow, tail curled around her paws, he knew it would be a lengthy, and possibly soul-digging conversation. Her eyes seemed to be freer now that she had sat, so obviously she no longer considered him a threat. He considered this for a moment, as her mind seemed to indulge in a stray thought before snapping back to him.
Her words startled him. She had a strange way of speaking; always seeming to state the obvious. Yet here, in this questions, she dug deeper than the surface, and at first he was hesitant on how to answer. He let her words sink in, slowly easing his once again stiff joints into a bend, sitting his rump in the cold snow. Back to square one. His tail did also curl in, but at mid-haunch he let it slide away from him rather than into him. If he had curled it in, it would have sheilded his left leg, and most likely covered his ankle's scar. Scars were a part of the past, and he bore his past there for all to see. After contemplating for what seemed like an eternity to him though it was only a matter of seconds to her, he replied to her.
"Yes, m'afraid so." He silently cursed himself, sensing a bit of his lazy drawl coming through in his voice, but he figured it didn't really matter to her, just to him. "S'important I find what I lost... means a lot to me." He left it vague, playing the same sort of game with her. He knew that beyond her simple question there was more, but he didn't touch on it. He'd let her mull over the words of his own answer instead. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by her voice again. He glanced up, watching as a drop of rain trickled down his muzzle. Yes, indeed. It did start, but he was expecting snow. No matter, he thought. If it was too warm for snow, then let it rain. "So it does." He replied quietly, talking more to himself than to her. Peculiar, yes, but then again... nothing these days was quite as it seemed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:09 am
She glanced back to him, ears tilted forward so she could listen to his words properly. Her gaze followed as he sat, her eyes flicking over his tail, and then back to what it did not cover; his paws. For an instant a frown rested on her lips, but it was wisked away with her words. "...marred it." She mumbled, to herself. She saw the scar as an imperfection to his lovely fur, something that broke the perfect blend of colors. It did not even come to her to ask what the scar was about, who it came from, etc.
Her gaze flicked to her own legs, trailing down to her paws. Scars. Marks of the past? Yes.. many describe them so. Of the ones that are not visable? She wondered if it was even possible to have some kind of hidden scar, hidden deep inside yourself so that no one would ever see that particular mark of your past, and sometimes you, yourself, even forgot it was there.
"Well all things lost are important, otherwise one would not give it such an important title.. yes?" Why call something lost if it wasn't important? Only things dear to you should be called lost. Places, thoughts.. other wolves.. memories? But she wondered which type of thing it was that this male had lost, and why it ment a lot to him. She could always guess, and see if he reacted to anything she said.. but that might turn out bad, so best to stay quiet.
She wondered if people called things lost.. simply because they were always found. Well, she assumed they were found. Because.. if you forgot something while it was lost.. it wouldn't be lost anymore, would it? It would be found, in some odd sense. She seemed to ignore the rain after her first discovery of it, as it pelted down on the two forms.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:29 am
His eyes followed hers down to his ankle bone, ears rotating to catch her small mutterance. He studied it for a moment, then nodded in silence. But where she saw imperfection he saw just the opposite. If events never scarred the skin as it scarred the soul, people would call you daft. He could tell by her expression that she found it troubling somehow, but he just saw it simply as it was. A mistake; a reminder of the past. A reminder of what had been lost, and why. It never troubled him that the skin showed through where the thin, short fur of his leg had never fully grown back. Anya was the lucky one, he thought. She was scarred, yes, but her chest bore thick fur like his own, and that was the only scar on her body he knew of. He hadn't heard of the fight with Sunne where he left a scar identical to his across the bridge of her nose.
If he knew, he would have been furious.
Of course, many of his scars were invisible. The visible ones were just physical reminders. The puncture wound in his ear had healed, but again the fur had been short there and simply never grown back. The memory attached to it would never go away, even if he had never recieved that scar as a child. Similarly, he would never forget the fight between himself and his sister, even if his leg had remained unmarred, the skin unbroken or miraculously unscarred from the assault. All scars ran deeper than skin, of course. That was why scars were not tropheys, nor marks of shame. They were simply there, like the past. You can't change either, so why be ashamed of it?
"I suppose." He muttered softly, in response to her question. His head hung a bit beneath the burden of the rain rolling down his pelt. Being a particularly furry wolf, rain weighed him down if it got down into his under layer of fur. But he wouldn't complain of it. He never had much to complain about. He wondered if he would even ask this wolf if she'd seen Anya... it probably wasn't even worth it if she hadn't known the name of the lands. If she couldn't remember that, how could she possibly remember seeing a white wolf with darker ears and a cream cape? He shook his head a bit, wishing she had just appeared before him. Then he realized, he didn't catch this female's name. "m'Elias, by the way... "
Ah yes, names... formalities... but he had never been one to forget a name, or fail to put a name with a face. His mind was just sharp like that after his years of wandering. He was excellent at holding a grudge, and thus this skill came in handy. And yet something almost made him frown, beyond this thought. Anya was still lost, but was she looking for him? Maybe she wasn't really lost at all... maybe she didn't want to be found. No, that couldn't be it. She had to be looking for him too. They were incomplete apart... they needed to be together. A small sigh escaped him as he wrinkled his wolven nose a bit at the thought, not even sure why he did. Just something he picked up somewhere, he assumed. Oh, well. Not relevant now, the expression had passed, and he was once again staring off into space, searching for the answers to it all.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:46 am
Her own fur was beginning to stick to her, but it did not seem to weigh down her posture or any of that. She glanced toward the forst out of the corner of her eye, wondering if it'd be better to be under some of those trees. In they end it never really mattered, did it? Why get out of the wet when one already was wet? Except for the fact that if she stayed in the cold rain long enough sickness was a possibility. But she was a foreigner to the world of sickness, not once in her life had she been mildly sick even.
m'Elias, her ears quivered at the words, and she stared at him blankly. What was being elias? Some word she did not yet know? Name. Ah, right.. those odd 'tags' that let others 'know' you. She wondered why names were needed in life? Personality.. looks.. actions.. that was how one could tell another, not because of a name. Was that not true? Sometimes she wished she'd known her birth name. Birth name? ..Fayina Tao is Tao's name. Her eyes seemed to gloss over as she thought about it, wondering why she thought she'd had a different name before. Her name had always been Fayina Tao. "Elias." She said, out loud so that she could hear herself pronounce it. Her eyes were still a little glazed as she recited her own. "I have been given the name Fayina Tao, shorten it how you wish for it is only in out nature to shorten." Her head slowly tilted as she continued to stare at nothing. It was a rather creepy action, for she was looking right in Elias' direction.. just not at him.
If by chance she'd ever bump into him again she'd never remember his name, she was not good with names. She could remember how one spoke.. or their fur patterns. She could remember eye colors and odd marks.. she just had trouble with the names. She blinked, coming out of her small trance. "Fayina Tao." She repeated herself, watching him.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 7:55 am
The rain never really bothered Elias, it was merely an inconvenience if it sunk deep enough. It didn't really bring his mood down, though his head was bowed slightly under the water's constant caress. It was just instinct, he supposed. He couldn't help but to drop his head a bit in thought. Thoughts of things lone gone by always seemed to haunt him. Sure, it was the past, and he had moved on, but he still couldn't stop the thoughts from coming sometimes. Old plot lines, such as his monomania with the black wolf sometimes seemed to rewind and replay in his memory, and he couldn't stop them. Well, Tao could stop them. as she spoke again, he came back to reality.
The reaction she held to his name seemed strange. Perhaps she wasn't good with names? That was a possibility. Certainly, names weren't a necessity, as some wolves thought. It was just a friendly gesture on his part, feeling like maybe she deserved to know his tag even if she never used it again. Apparently it mustn't have been the brightest idea. He listened as she offered him her name, and a slight smile came to his lips as he nodded, silent at first, playing the name over and over again in his head. "S'a pleasure, Tao." He said, a small smirk played across his lips as he spoke, but it was only because of her previous comment. It was in our nature to shorten things, wasn't it? He had not seen it before, but she appeared to be a very strange, yet insightful female. Possibly moreso than any other he'd met.
He noted how she seemed to look just over his shoulder rather than at him, as if lost in some sort of perpetual thought pattern. Perhaps like his own, which often allowed his eyes to dim slightly out of focus in a similar fashion. She seemed almost unsure of her name, and as she seemed to come out of the thoughtless trance, she uttered her name again, as if proving it's validity. He chuckled softly, a motion he seldom offered to anyone, and gave another nod of his head. Then, he decided to switch gears.
"I don't suppose you've seen an eggshell female with grey ears and a dark 'cape' pattern across her back? Goes by the name Anya?" He let his words flow smoothly, not letting on that he was actually intently searching for this wolf, and that she was in fact his sister. He made it as an off-handed comment. He was good at covering up his true intentions after having to for so long. He watched her, trying not to look too intent upon her answer. Maybe she had word of Anya's well being... but most likely she didn't.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:37 am
And further more, why were wolves always saying things like.. it was nice to meet you, or a pleasure? Just from an exchange of names.. she thought that things like those should be said as fair-wells, rather than an actual goodbye. Because what if meeting another hadn't been a pleasure at all, why hold up the formalidy of saying it had been a pleasure? Because if it was a bad meeting both wolves would very well know so... Well, supposing one of the two (or more, even) wasn't completely dense. And then you'd both know 'it was a pleasure' wasn't a pleasure at all.
She thought it was alright, though, because they'd talked a tiny bit before the trival matter of names came up. She straightened her tilted head, tongue lolling from her mouth as she panted a little. For some reason all of the thought was tiring her. "Yes it's nice to meet you.." She had to pause even now to gather his name. "Elias." Her ears quicered at the chuckle, and a smile danced across her lips for an instant, then disappeared to the unknown again.
She listened to the discription of the strange, not hearing the name at all, and thought about all of the wolves she'd seen or encountered. Eggshell white. "It'd be very hard to spot her in the snow." She stated, as if this was a valid point. "Her colors seem so plain.. yet a good combination. She sounds pretty." She was talking to herself, for the most part.
What did this stranger mean to the other? Anything, eggshell could even be a stranger to the male as well. She could be a relative, a lover.. a friend. It could have even been an enemy, one he wanted to hunt down. It didn't matter right now, though. "Tao has never seen or met this wolf, I am sorry. Is this your precious thing?" Her head tilted, she didn't think she was being nosey at all. Just curious. It might not be, seeing as he didn't look all that interested in her answer.
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