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 Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:02 pm
Truthkeeper was continuing on her rounds to see how the newest pack members were settling in. If she recalled correctly there were just three more for her to speak with, and one of them was Risktaker. She'd been present at the Howl when he and the others had been welcomed in and given their pack names so she knew who she was looking for. His scent happened to be the one that she picked up now, as well, so she made a casual beeline for him, smiling and greeting members as she passed them by. Finally she recognized the brown and gray pelt.
"Risktaker?" She called to hopefully get him to pause. The moon wasn't quite in the sky fully yet, but the dark was settling in. She weaved quickly through the trees then and came to a stop beside him.
The handsome wild dog was restless. He was glad to have found this new home, and marveled in their ways and the life they had so expertly crafted in this harsh environment, their home one of the most beautiful that he had ever seen with his well traveled eyes. And yet, he could not help but find himself needing more. Adventure, experiences: life. He had seen something more than interesting, with such a magnetic allure he could think of nothing else. Yet when he might see it, her, again, he was unsure. Wandering listlessly, he nodded at his new pack mates and sniffed at the air, as if it might present him with something soothing.
And then he heard her voice, and almost laughed out loud at the expert timing. Stifling himself, he tried to look as cool and nonchalant as he knew how, sitting abruptly, with his ears perked forward, but not too expectantly, and his chest high, without too much arrogance. With so much effort going in to his efforts to look casual, he had to wonder if it was working, or if he just looked goofy.
“Hello there!” he called, his baritone not wavering as he offered her a welcoming grin. He bowed, with a manner of boyish teasing in an otherwise sincere motion, and looked up at her with keen, interrogative eyes, “to what do I owe the honor?”
Truthkeeper smiled and slowed to a stop before him. If her own relaxed nature was any indication he was doing just fine appearing casual himself. Her ears swiveled forward gently to listen to him clearly. She continued smiling kindly as she spoke.
"Well... honor might be a little strong a choice of words, but I've come to see if you had any questions about anything you've been told about the pack so far, and to explain things." Including showing him the full in's and out's of their territory.
Risktaker looked thoughtful for a moment, looking at her for a long, silent time before his eyes shifted to the trees around them, then up to the sky. He smiled at the stars, settled so perfectly in their purplish canopy, and then looked back at his company with a strange, almost mischievous expression. Intelligent eyes glistening, he stood and tilted his head at her.
“Honor has a lot of different forms, I think,” he grinned, “and your company, you yourself, either draw it, or exude it. It’s hard to tell which. All I know is it’s there, and I feel it, and am honored vicariously.” His voice was light, though his words held some weight, and he moved closer to her without any hesitance.
“Now that you ask, I was thinking a lot about this ‘Way’ I’ve heard so much about. The Way. Is it… the only Way? Or have you ever wondered about the Ways of the world outside this pack? It’s just an adjustment, I guess, because I’ve seen other creatures, with their own ways.” He smiled at her, head still tilted, eyes still curiously odd.
As his eyes wandered to the sky she moved beside him until they were in her line of vision as well, thinking quickly over his words as he spoke them, a reply ready by the time he finished his thoughts.
"Then I'm glad to share my company, and the pleasure and privledge is mine."
Impish, dancing gray eyes found him again, leaving the sight of the stars to do so.
"It is the only way that the pack has ever known, but it's what has kept us alive and strong for years." Though she did enjoy hearing tales from the rogues that joined their ranks, not many had anything exciting to tell, driven from their homes for various reasons or traveling from simple need rather than any desire to. If Risktaker was different she would love to hear what he had to say, and maybe how he came to receive that name.
He grinned at her, nodding at her. He was amused by her sharpness, and her willingness to play with his rather strange comments. Truthfully, he had barely been following his own logic as far as that honor speech was concerned, but it hardly seemed to matter. He listened quietly, impassive moment before smiling wryly.
“I guess that makes sense. When you find something that works, you stick with it. But I guess I’m just used to other ways. Lots of different ones, all intersecting to teach you new things. Exciting things. Sometimes dangerous, but never boring. And some of them were wrong, but the ones that were right… well, I didn’t grow into the debonair wild dog you see before you by letting someone else lead my life.”
He grinned turning his face toward her and noting how close she had actually gotten. He took a moment to examine her, his eyes soft, before, continuing, “I’m not saying your way is bad. I mean, it’s not. It has a lot to teach, a lot that I’ve never known before, but…” he looked thoughtfully distant, “there’s so much out there, it might be hard for me to abandon all that. But what am I babbling about? I’m sorry. I know this pack is right for me.”
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Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:23 pm
"Oh, The Way is much too vast to try to put into words. It's not simply a belief or one set way of life, it -is- life." She smiled, clearly taken by the true belief of the lifestyle that she spoke of. "We've been fortunate to have a full generation of good fortune, it's the first time we've seen the rains in some time now, and so much new blood has come to the pack. I suppose that the only way to really understand all that The Way is is to experience it for yourself. To live life only in the 'Now', not to question or dwell in the past with regret... Some day I'd like to see what's out there for myself as well, but my duty is here, until then, until someone else is able to teach the newcomers our ways and to offer guidance to those of us that seek it."
Despite the length of her reply she showed not a single ounce of trepidation in her voice, it was just her thoughts as they came to her. Finally she introduced herself, aware that he might not know who she was yet.
"I'm Truthkeeper."
Risktaker listened, his grinned broadening. He loved conviction in creatures, and this was more than that. It was devotion, and it was infectious. He nodded his head a number of times, more than he should have. Times did seem to be good, and he was glad to have joined the pack when such prosperity was heading its way. He wanted to live in the now, to experience the Way, and to, shamelessly, show her something new, in him, that she could be so taken with. Of course, that was just the blind thought of a wild dog struck by the intensity of his new home, his new pack, and these beautiful new faces.
Or maybe, he thought with a grin, it was more than that.
“You certainly speak highly of it, so it must be an amazing way of life. I always believed in something similar, from what I’ve heard so far. To live for today. Except, when I was wandering out there, that today was always in a new place. Always learning from new people, or gaining some new experience. It was wild and unpredictable, and I couldn’t take anything for granted.” He looked distant, his eyes full of memories. He had cultured a deep and resonating love of life, and he couldn’t keep it out of his voice as he spoke.
“I’m sure you know, since you said hi already, but…” he said, looking at her directly now, “I’m Risktaker.”
"You have an understanding of our ways then, most do even if they don't realize it, but you know better than most what cannot be simply said." She smiled a bit wider, glad to have an understanding in this one, and finding herself drawn further and further in the more they spoke of ideals. His eyes, a complete contrast o hers, lively gold like the sun at high noon, blazing bright, but soft enough to look into. His natural coloring with just a small splash of silver as if he'd been dancing under the moonlight since birth. Most fascinating and encompassing, though, was the knowledge, the tales he offered, and his passion for it. They seemed very well matched, and briefly she entertained, for the first time, the idea that perhaps she had found her recognized other, her soul's brother.
"Risktaker... perhaps... there's much that you could teach me, as well as I you. You're the last one I needed to speak with today, would you care to share over a hunt?"
Risktaker smiled, wagging his tail. He nodded, moving around her to stop at her side. Really, he had just wanted to take a better look at her, and had to come up with a good reason for it. Of course, he wasn’t too subtle, and he slid up next to her with a soft look in his eyes. Feeling strange, though perfectly content with it, he tilted his head at her and smiled.
“I would very much enjoy that, I think,” he said with a nod. He drew a deep, long breath before taking a step forward, “I’m not sure what I could teach you, though. I have a feeling you already know a lot of it, though you have only seen it within this pack. But I’d be happy to share some stories with you, and, if you wouldn’t mind, I would love to hear more about your pack, and you ideas.”
He wasn’t even hungry, and yet he was more than thrilled with the idea of a hunt. He had a sneaky feeling, however, that it was because of his company, and not his stomach.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Her own smile suggested more than it held to anyone watching them, and as they left in the direction of the hunting grounds for the pack her thoughts slowed to focus soley on the Now just as they had been speaking of before. She was hungry herself, so it wouldn't go to waste, they were not a pack that believed in leaving meat to be wasted when it could be helped. A small game of desert hare would certainly suffice, she was sure, and maybe she'd find more "game" than she'd set out to this day.
Risktaker followed her dutifully, though he remained close out of private inclination rather than anything more profound or chivalrous. He liked when they walked together, he noticed, because their paws seemed to meet the earth at the same time. Not synchronized in anyway, different paws moving at different times, yet they seemed to be moving at the same beat. It might have happened with many others, but he had never been so aware of it as he was in that moment.
He would have been content to walk with her the whole day, in silence or in speech, but he knew something would call her away. So he hunted with her, and found himself happy to share a snack with her. He even managed to catch the first rabbit, which he playfully presented to her in an elaborate, though honest despite its theatricality, way. And they spoke. He shared with her everything he could, more than his words would allow, and learned from her every movement.
It was not a day he would soon forget, and he could only hope there would be more like it soon.
END
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