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 Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 7:47 pm
Amaury didn’t understand wolves who didn’t merely avoid humans, but had no interest in them entirely. Sure, humans were to wolves what wolves were to, say, mice, and that was probably reason enough to avoid them. But they were so fascinating, especially with their things. Amaury could understand that they didn’t have dens, so they made huts, and that they didn’t have fur, so they made clothes, and that they didn’t have sharp teeth and claws, so they made weapons—but what about all those other things that they had, silly things that they wore or used with no apparent real reason? Jewelry fascinated her especially. That was why she wore her bracelet. She thought she had it figured out—humans didn’t seem to have any special distinguishing markings, so they made their own. Amazing.
Then she discovered the foreigners, and things changed forever. Their markings were not made of merely bone or wood, but shiny material that glinted in the light. And they often threw it out, as if it were worth nothing! That was why, as the sun set, Amaury crouched at the edge of the forest, her golden eyes locked on the junk pile that lay at the edge of the human settlement. Something glinted there—a copper teapot, actually—and she thought it would be great fun to steal it. In fact, she couldn’t leave it alone. So she waited until darkness fell—because humans couldn’t see in the dark, so they had to make their own light, and they didn’t bother to make light to come to the junk pile—and then she would steal the teapot, and maybe a few little things that caught her eye. Her muscles were tense as though she were hunting, and in a way, she was.
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Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 7:52 pm
Abital was one of those wolves who had no interest in humans. It was instead their pretty little things that caught her eye, entangling her fascination like a vine on an iron fence, or a rope around a steer’s neck. Glimmering jewels, shinning silver, all of it was glorious to the teen who hardly saw much of the human world. In fact, this was one of those few times she had been out of the Gomorrah pack lands and maybe the second time those golden orbs of hers ever lay on the two-legged creatures. However her interest with the humans ran only that far. Abital cared not how they lived, or what they used, or what made them so powerful, and just about all of her fascination with them only ran as far as to how they made their shiny objects. This was something she couldn't comprehend, after all, how do you gain something so brilliant out of nothing, or find one spectacular stone out of a million pebbles?
All the same, it wasn't her curiosity that drove her to the brink of their encampment.
It was also then that new scent wafted her direction from below, closer to the edge of the woods. It was a she-wolf, alone, and only slightly distant form the humans causing the navy teen to question her existence there and what were her motives for gaining so much ground on the man creatures. Maybe she was one of those dare devils who lived on the edge, or perhaps she was tame and timidly sought their warm flame, or maybe...she cut herself off there knowing full well it was best to find out the facts before jumping to conclusions. But was it smart for the young wolf to approach the stranger? Would she be jeopardizing her chance to snatch something precious? That seemed hardly a threat and slowly she padded toward the dark female with head low and caution burning in her eyes.
"You're awfully close to the humans," she spoke, addressing her without awkward formalities she was ignorant to recite.
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Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 4:02 pm
Amaury turned her golden eyes on the newcomer, a bit surprised with her approach. It wasn't the lack of formalities--goodness knows the world could do without those once in awhile--but her abrupt approach. The brown wolf rarely went up to another in such a manner--guarded but still conversational. Usually, she tried for confident but aloof, after first watching the other long enough to assess if they were an obvious threat. Still, the other wolf was young, and perhaps somewhat ignorant of exactly how cruel some of her own kind could be.
"If you mean 'close' as in 'nearby'," Amaury answered, "you would be correct. If you mean 'close' as in 'friendly,' not so much. Human are not to be trifled with." Her eyes went back to the junk pile before her; she had relaxed a little while speaking to the young wolf, just enough to show her full height, which wasn't very impressive. "It is their trifles that interest me." She hoped the teen wouldn't do anything foolish that would give her position away; that teapot looked awfully fun to bang around for a bit.
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:54 pm
The reaction seemed reasonable. She was being inspected just as the navy tinted youth observed the auburn. Abital was forward, but that did not mean she was ignorant to her position in society as a teenager and naturally of less strength than an adult. Regardless, it was in her nature to approach with a graceful suspicion rather than a cowardly bow and timid submission. Not to anyone but her alpha. Those ears flicked as the female spoke catching the she-wolf's attention. This stranger was clearly intelligent...but this was not what interested Abital...it was instead her mention of the human's precious objects that immediately established a connection.
Her eyes focused intently.
"So you were also brought here by their alluring objects?" she smirked briefly, "Interesting. It seems we share an interest one in the same." Sitting back on her haunches some feet away from Amaury, she glanced ahead looking to the pile with sparkling amusement. It glimmered, shimmered, sparkling with dull glory from a distance. She understood the brown female's reason for being so dangerously close.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 10:40 am
Amaury's face split into a wolf-grin. "Then you must come along."
Elongating her body, she began to sneak toward the junk pile, moving slowly but confident that she wouldn't be caught. The only danger here were the haphazardly-strewn sharp objects; bits of broken glass and metal that would not only cut but invariably get stuck and infected, like a porcupine quill.
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:36 pm
The she-wolf watched with curious yet cautious gold eyes as the sleek older female stood and beckoned her to join in her hunting. It seemed an interesting proposition, one that had never before been given to Abital, so naturally she paused unsure of saying complying. After a second of thought she took a step forward, lowering her own body without crouching down. "Splendid," she murmured finally, accepting the thrill of the hunt.
Abital stuck a few feet behind the other female, allowing her to go forward in caution. If this was a trap it wouldn't be the youth to fall into it first and besides, if anything were to come from behind she would be able to alert Amaury of the attack.
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:53 pm
Amaury reached the end of the garbage pile, which was not fenced in like much of the human settlement one. A potpourri of scents reached her nose: rotting vegetables and meat, wet dirt, rust, and wool. She tugged on what was a torn (and probably outgrown) child’s dress before leaving it and moving on to her teapot. Nosing carefully at the tarnished and bent metal, she pressed her nose against the lid and found, to her delight, that it could open. It didn’t seal probably, and with pressure, she could force it upward, when, instead of falling off, it would fall back on its hinge. Sticking her snout into the pot, she inhaled scent of the remains of a pot of tea. In fact, the dregs were still inside. Her tail swishing back and forth behind her, she crouched her front end and held the pot on its side with one paw while trying to lick out the remains of the bitter liquid. She was so content, she failed to notice if the younger wolf had even followed her or not.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:43 pm
Abital, coming up behind Amaury, was also assaulted by the myriad of scents, causing her to pause before fully coming into contact with the items. Those eyes of hers narrowed. The smell of the humans was as thick and suffocating as though a rag had been placed over her muzzle. Finally the she-wolf shook her head, focusing her mind instead on the glorious treasures before her, and moved to search through the pile with a waving tail.
Her own muzzle was buried in the treasures, searching through fabric, decaying vegetables, and other useless things to the wolf who sought something of much more value...something shinny. The clank of the tea pot alerted the pup to Amaury's find, causing her to life up and inspect. Were words an intelligent move so close to the human settlement? Whispering she started, "Good find, what is it?" Not understanding its purpose, her head cocked like that of a young pup’s who didn't understand something of the world around her.
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Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 9:35 pm
"I think," Amaury said, lifting her head out of the pot and licking her chops, "it's something they put food in?" She didn't whisper; humans had poor hearing. The only thing that they needed to worry about were the dogs, and if the racket they would make would give them sufficient notice that the humans were coming--plenty of time to run away. Sitting back on her haunches, she continued, "They make things to put food in, so they don't have to bury it."
She was always amazed when she entered the human junk pile, how many smells the humans could make. While different meats certainly had distinct tastes and wolves did have personal favorites, that was nothing compared to all the delicious things the humans invented.
Pushing the teapot aside with a soft jingle, she pawed through a pile of rough, waxy paper. She had found the jackpot--apparently a metalsmith had set up shop recently, and within were the small, hardened excesses that were useless for remelting. They looked like frozen dew, in dirty shades of copper and silver.
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:05 pm
Abital listened to the older she-wolf while she searched through the pile on her own, hearing the words with slight interest. Unlike Amaury, she did not hold the same respect or interest with humans but all the same, to understand why they made such enamoring objects was intriguing. Stepping outside a few bits of ragged cloth, and sniffed through the quilt. "Interesting," she murmured her reply, still keeping quiet. Sure the humans had poor hearing, but that didn't mean their hounds did.
A smirk spread across her maw as she pulled up a string, connected to it various hooks of different sizes, smelling of old fish and blood. She would have licked at the objects had they not been sharp, but knowing what they consisted of she finally put it down, not wishing to injure herself.
Lifting her tail, something caught her eye forcing her to look over to Amaury and her discovery. "Ooo," she muttered and trotted toward her, "Good find," said the greedy adolescent.
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Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 10:04 pm
Amaury nods in agreement. "Very pretty." She crouches, bringing her nose down to the bits of silver. "But not very useful..."
She started as a dog barked with fifteen feet of them. This was not a typical, crazy, for-the-heck-of-it tame dog bark; it was a warning cry. Without thinking, she scooped up the treasure into her mouth and bolted for the trees, slipping a little bit on refuse on the way. Behind her, the dog continued, and she could hear a man shout. Her paws pounded the ground in a steady tattoo, and she knew how to run. Within a minute, the noise of the town had faded; in the darkness of the trees, she knew she was safe. No human would come searching for a scavenger here. Panting through her teeth to keep her prize safe, she turned to scan the area she had just come from, wondering if the small female had stayed, or followed, or scattered in another direction.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:53 pm
Abital, having heard the dog a second before had been staring at the creature with a snarl on her maw. Instead of bolting like the other wolf, she stayed still, foolishly perhaps, and defended her find, not about to leave with nothing. A snarl ripped through her throat, rivaling the bark of the dog causing it to give a little whimper before it heard reinforcements behind. The sound of the human was the very thing that got the navy creature to perk up turning on her heals to bolt for the woods after the other she-wolf.
The dog gave chase baying and snapping at her heals having had the advantage of distance before Abital started running. Whirling around, the wolf not laden down with any souvenirs grabbed hold of the creature's front leg, snapping swiftly and cutting in deep. Before the dog had the chance to return the favor it let out a harsh yelp giving Abital the time to turn and bolt forward once more, leaving the dog and human in the dust as she hid within the confines of the dark woods.
Panting was not an option, not when enemies were about capable of hearing her heavy breathing. Instead her pace slowed to a light sneaking pad, moving fluidly without sound following after the only target she knew the direction. It was rare for Abi to care about other wolves and normally would have turned to head back into her own pack lands, but for now she was curious as to what Amaury had been able to gather and wanted to see if she had fared with the dog. She followed her scent until the dark femme came into view.
"What did you salvage?" a smirk followed.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:03 pm
Amaury spat the stones onto the dirt, an awkward task. "It's too bad..." she said quietly. "Nothing to do with them but bury them, I suppose."
She lifted her snout slightly, sniffing the air. She could smell the blood from the other wolf's mouth. "Did you fight the dog?" she asked. She had heard the snarls and whines during her flight. She thought it a foolish move; but, then again, when forced between fight or flight, she most often chose flight. Being small, female, and alone, it was a lesson she had learned a long time ago. This wolf, trapped between puppy- and adulthood and smelling like a pack, probably hadn't learned the same lessons. All for the better, Amaury thought; she did not wish her life on anyone. It was far easier in a pack, without fear.
It was odd; she did not even know the other wolf's name. Now seemed a foolish time to ask, though. After all, they'd already been treasure-hunting together, and it seemed they soon would part. This wolf had a family to return to, and Amaury... well, Amaury could not follow.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:16 am
"A fight?" she murmured, thinking about the situation having not thought much about it at the time and now with a chance to reflect she presumed a fight hadn't occurred at all despite the blood that resided on her lips. She quickly licked that away. "I bit the mongrel as it came at me, but that was the extent of our scuffle." She had listened to the she wolf and watched the stones fall into the dirt just a moment before. It was a shame to lose the only prize garnered, but some things could not be helped.
"Hmm...well, that was a waste. I suppose I shouldn't suggest going back in order to find other things?" it was a foolish thought but one she felt like saying all the same. Her paws shifted, feeling uncomfortable without having been able to gather anything from their hunt and always felt a little disappointed when her treasure hunting came up empty.
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Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:31 pm
"That's lucky," Amaury said absently. "Dogs will fight hard if their master is close enough behind them... I don't know if it's fear or loyalty."
She sighed, recovered from her sprint. "No... that would be foolish. The humans will stay up for awhile, now, and their pups and dogs will stay up later. I wouldn't return for at least a week. Humans get... upset, when wolves hang around and attack their dogs." The last bit of information was most likely unneccessary; she probably sounded condescending. "Oh, well," she said, and her tail began to swish a bit. "At least it was a good hunt, wasn't it?"
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