|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:42 pm
 Blithra's nose quivered scenting the air. Her snarled muzzle searched over the defrosting ground of the forest floor. The scent that she was following wasn't old, but it wasn't what you would call fresh either. Her pink eyes searched ahead of her while her nose below continuing along the trail tat twisted this way and that. If she was right it was the trail of a wolf, and one who was young. There was no other scent around to indicate that there was other present, a pup, had she finally found a pup? Her mind began the workings of caring for one who would look to her, understand her hardships and stand by her side in the rough world. Maybe they, like her had been cast out, believed to be unfit to survive. The cruelness of the thought made her let out a low snarl thinking of the family that had left her behind. The mental illness that plagued her into thinking the world around her despised her very being, had only made her life full of ghosts and nightmares that she forced upon herself without truly realizing it. But it had made a hatred grow in her dark spirit making her despise others. But pups, oh how she loved them dearly. They were trusting and so free spirited, so young, and so naive to the cruelty of the world. Many never survived if they lost their pack families, and the few who did would often search for a pack to accept them, or wander as a loner among the cold world that surrounded them.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:44 pm
 Indeed he was barely keeping alive on his own. Quiet as an owl in the night yet lumbering with the grace of a horse in mud, the pup was finding his vision blurring: how strange the twin world seemed to him, the world's balance for a succinct moment blessed with the power to fight against reality - where whatever he laid eyes on was not alone, but with a sibling as its shadow that wavered ghost-like beside it: trees, deadened bushes, the very ground itself found company in those nonsensical, lightheaded moments which left his eyes crossed. It was that fact alone that salvaged his mind from the starvation of insanity that threatened to take his large being by storm, that not everything was alone no matter how salitary it looked; perhaps double-vision was a type of sight worthy of a seer and no-one had simply taken the time to appreciate what it elucidated.
But these were the raving, disconnected thoughts of a pup who had gone several days without food, and it showed as plainly as the sunken look around his eyes, the stumbling of his unusually large paws, fur stretching around his sternum that was beginning to pattern along his ribs. Denzel sought safety in the trees as always nonetheless, the only sign of life in his vivid green eyes that darted about in rebellion of the rest of his body's sluggishness; movement of any kind forced him to pause, calculate, ponder. Yet his mind seemed frozen and too slow to react when he saw a chance to catch a bird or pounce upon a scrounging squirrel, and so the pup had more than once been forced to watch a meal get away. And now he was getting as careless as leaving his pawprints and scent behind, the former easily traceable since he leaned heavily against trees at random as he walked.
Food . . . water . . . anything . . . He couldn't have possibly been aware that he was being tailed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:36 pm
Blithra's nostrils flared and her pink eyes darted even more as the scent grew stronger, fresher, the young one couldn't be far off from her. Her white tipped ears strained for the sound of a up stumbling through the dead brush, and sure enough she could hear the faint stumbled walk of a pup ahead of her. she spend up her pace, mind racing with possibilities. Finally, this is it! A pup, a pup I may be able to call me own and teach the true ways of this world! Her mind raged on exciting her making her heart race.
Her pink eyes darted or and more, her snuffly of the fresh scent loader, her paw steps becoming less calculated and stealthy. She was desperate to find the young one that was ahead of her, she had to find them, the smell of the pup told her he was almost sickly, from his staggering path and clumsiness that was too much even for a romping pup. That's when movement truly caught her eye.
The large female with the matted furry mane rushed forward calling out. "Little one!" she called sweetly, raising her tail high in the frigid air. She hoped that her appearance would not frighten the pup away as it had many other times with others she had come across. But she had faith that this time, she would truly find what she had been looking for.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:21 pm
Like a deer paused with paranoia on its mind when it scented humans, so too did the pup freeze out of fear, his emaciated body heaving deep breaths as his head creaked over his shoulder. Was that another hallucination he was entertaining: purple wolves, was it? Not that he hadn't seen stranger things from a distance, but it was still disconcerting nonetheless . . . Denzel spied the cheery voice more than he heard it and, his legs having expected to continue forward, pushed along in a mulish fashion despite himself, and the pup suddenly found that his vision was truly turned upside down now as he tumbled over himself: a fallen branch being the catalyst besides his clumsiness. White and gray speckled tail like a furry moustache against his mouth, he huffed a short breath to blow it off, green eyes narrowed to clear his concentration upon the larger figure approaching.
Denzel broke down her figure into simpler details to process: Female. Purple with some white (tearlike?) about the eyes, ears, little of the legs and tail. Pink in the eyes? Probably sickened, though bad like own self. Strange vein-like or vine-like pattern creeping on back. Grizzly mane. He stored his image like a file under the folder named "Recent Meetings" in his mind.
For a pup that had been living on his own for quite some time, he was certainly making no move to make himself formidable in appearance. Or it was perhaps that vacancy of activity tht had kept others away from him so long, that innate ability to sense the moods of other wolves by body language alone rendered useless when it came to analyzing the starving pup, for he had not been taught properly and was in more than one ways not quite right in the head. Though he was by no means dangerous and unpredictable - quite the opposite. He was almost the equivalent of an autistic young wolf whodid not know better, a miracle on four paws to have survived for so long.
He watched the adult draw near and barely blinked, watching her every movement. She seemed elated about something, but what exactly he could not begin to wonder. Denzel began his own musings in return: was she alone like he was, perhaps forced out of a pack? Her family? But he did not speak, wishing to know more about the motives of this strangely-colored wolf before making any movements of his own.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:34 pm
Blithra heard rather than saw the pup stumble out of sight, her pink eyes widened with concern for the little one. She moved forward with caution, ears perked with interest and strained for any sense of movement she may miss with her eyes. The pup where he had fallen seemed to blend in with the deadened foliage around him so Blithra's eyes did not catch him where he lay.
She snuffled around letting out a low audible whine of concern, a small hint of frustration that was hidden within it. She had no idea that the poor thing was watching her, just inched from her, all she knew was that his scent was strong as could be. But with his ambling his scent was everywhere and in her excitement of finding a pup she was having trouble keeping her mind straight on following the scent to its source.
"Little one," she called out looking around, her tail lowering slightly and she lifted her head up and tried to get a view from above that may let her find the little pup "come on out, I mean you no harm." she spoke sweetly in hopes that the pup would trust her. For once Blithra was sincere in her words that she meant no harm, though her idea of harm compared to another's was a bit different. "Come on out, I am sure that you are hungry, I have food that I can share with you." she cooed hoping that this surely would draw the little one out from his hiding place. If he was truly hungry he would come forward, the thought of food in such harsh times would be alluring to almost any wolf.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 4:45 pm
Food? This made his ears perk. Truly a pup should not consider all words spoken by another to be considered as indelible truth, but his emaciated state left for weaker, less thought out actions than usual. And though not one to be swayed by emotion usually, the female's sweet tones and seemingly anxious movements to find him struck a chord. Was she really willing to help him?
Well, it was either food or be stamped out of existence - be it by lack of nourishment or by the fangs of this wolf. Not a very hard decision by his standards. Squirming about, Denzel eventually managed to right himself making loud rustles as his stiffened fur brushed against fallen, long dead leaves, excessively covered in snow now. He shook himself with a soft grunt, eyes lolling about to spy the splash of purple against the monochromatic colors of nature's winter coat. "F-Food . . .?" Denzel's voice was surprisingly deep for a pup, though he was soon inching out of that age as it was anyway. It would be an awkward transition, being a bit overgrown as it was, without having to deal with his failing health. He would probably grow up dilapidated in some way, shape, or form.
"Food," he repeated a bit louder, voice sounding strange to his own ears. sounding so frail in comparison to the soothing tone. He spotted the adult and attempted to amble forward slowly, pressing his paws against the cold ground with deliberate steps so as not to stumble again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 10:17 am
Blithra's pink eyes finally spotted the pup, he was larger than she had expected but the sight of him coming towards her brought out a gentleness that rarely ever escaped her. Her heart beat hard against her ribs, so long had she longed to find a pup who would not run from her in fear, but accept her even for her odd appearance.
Her tail lifted and even gave a stiff wag and the young one slowly made his way towards her. "Yes, little one. Come with me and I will give you all that you can eat. I have stored a few lovely morsels back in my den." she soothed again. The longing reflecting in her voice, the pup seemed to need her so badly and she wanted to help him. "I have a large fat hare back in the den that I am sure you would love." she crooned laying back her ears and making her own slow approach to the pup.
He looked so frail to her that she just wanted to cuddle him up next to her and warm him and feed him. One never would have guess that this wolf as estranged and deranged as she looked and acted most of time would have such a soft heart for pups. But her mind though oddly kind towards pup, still held the hatred for the world around.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 12:52 pm
"Hare," he repeated and mulled it over. What were those again? Smallish and somewhat fluffy and with big feet . . . or ears . . . or both . . . ? His mind was growing fuzzy and intangible, in and out of clarity as he drew near to the maned wolf. The vein-like markings on her back, Denzel noted with great interest, were suddenly more like roots, like a tree reaching down her flank. Trees, ah: his adopted family. And if they had bestowed upon this one their own roots, then he ought to attest to his faith in the power of nature and follow. Roots kept a tree upright, gave it food, stablized it and held it against Windy - were these qualities the same with her?
But nonetheless: Food, food at last, after such a long wait, after so many fruitless endeavors!
Now beside the strange colored adult, he peered up at her with a growling belly, like an owl with sunken eyes. He felt like a snake that should have shed its skin ages ago, and yet she was looking at him with such tenderness and love that felt so misplaced to him. Had she children, he wondered, but something different came out of his dry mouth. "Denzel. Name it is." And he pressed himself against the adult's flank, revelling in her warmth in the midst of this frigid forest; he had felt half-frozen before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 1:30 pm
Blithra whined as the little near frozen pup cuddled into her flank, so longed had she longed for such a feeling of need from a youth. She nuzzled him drawing him in closer. "Denzel.." she mulled over his name. "I am Blithra, you are safe now with me. Now come, we'll get you warmed up and fed back in my den." she murmured to him coddling him to follow her and keep close.
She dare not lose him, no, she couldn't lose him after so long! Too long she had searched and waited and dreamed of this day.
She slowly ushered the pup who felt as though he were nothing more than skin and bones beneath his pelt, back in the direction of her den that was not much more that a deep hole in the ground beneath a multitude of boulders. But the den served it's purpose of keeping in the warmth and the cold out, and providing the needed shelter. But now, oh now it could truly be called a den, shared between her and this pup. The poor dear, she would feed him well and bring him back to perfect health, yes, that's exactly what she would do, and she would teach him about the cruelties of the world, the world that had left him to die if she had not found him!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 1:56 pm
"Blithra. Blithra . . ." He would repeat this name several times more as they walked to commit it to memory, indebted forever it seemed for the care she wanted to give him. A warm home, a warm belly, a warm bed . . . But the reason why, he couldn't begin to fathom. Just the garden variety kindness to lost pups? She seemed so intent, though, it was wonderous. Denzel poked his nose into the mouth of the cave briefly, scenting it and scanning its features before padding in, nearly tripping over himself as he reclined with his back against one of the den's sides, seeming relieved to be off his paws for a moment - though his face remained stone slab smooth as ever, a large problem Denzel seemed to have. Communication through expressions was a bit of a hassle, like it took effort to controt those muscles.
"Blithra. Mom. Others?" The scent of the hare deeper in the hole forced him to move several more inches, crawling on his stomach to go nibble at the carcass.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:37 pm
Blithra entered the den which was considerably warmer than the chill temperatures outside. She settled herself down and nudged the body of a fat hare towards Denzel encouraging him to eat it. "Eat little one, eat, there is plenty more where he came from." she said with a small harsh laugh.
But her heart nearly skipped a beat when the utterance of 'mom' came from the pups mouth, of the words so foreign, yet so familiar to her. One she had begun to think she would never hear again, but for the first time possibly said to her, her calling to be a nurturer.
She herself took up a squirrel she had by shear chance gotten her paws on. There was little meat to the thing, but it tasted good and she was not that hungry as it were. The adrenaline coursing through her system at finally having found a pup for her to care for drove out all sense of hungry that could have filled her. Her mind was purely saturated with bliss.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 01, 2009 2:53 pm
She avoided his question with food, a smart move. Attention diverted completely, he devoured the hare in silence, surprising for a starving pup, as though even when aching with hunger he kept in control - almost forcibly so. Blood spattered his face, nearly blinded him even, and it was only that he could not ingest bones or the fur without choking that Denzel stopped, staggering onto his side to the floor. Even with his mind hazing with the newfound joy in his belly, however, those brilliant green eyes found Blithra and questioned her with their bright gaze.
"Others?" he asked her again, sounding each word out slowly. "Others? Dad? Brother? Sister?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 10:14 am
Blithra's heart aches an filled with disgust all at the same time. She nuzzled the pup licking away the blood around his small muzzle. Her pink eyes softened as she looked at him.
"Denzel, they left you behind. They left you to fend for yourself, you poor dear. But you have me now, I'll take care of you. Oh yes, I'll take such good care of you, Love." she crooned to him scooting herself closer to him to warm him even more. She could tell he had long wandered in the harsh cold and even though he now had a full stomach that was not enough to truly keep him warm and her thick fur would be just the thing.
"Do not worry, I will protect you from now on." she again murmured to him, lovingly attending to him as a mother would. She could not let him leave, no, he was hers, that wretched so called family of his must have left him just as hers had done to her so long ago! No she would not let the same lonely fate fall upon him as she knew befelled so many pups and one she herself had almost succumbed to.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 2:49 pm
Left behind . . . ? It would explain why no-one had been around for as long as he could remember. Denzel followed this new yarn of thought and spun it through with turtle-like speed. Why would his family leave him in the cold? Had there be something wrong with him? And if so, what? What could have driven them away to let him die alone in the woods? Were they killed themselves, dying by claw and tooth or by starvation? Had he any siblings that survived, or was he truly and really in isolation?
Even against Blithra's thick, strange-colored fur, the pup felt strangely empty. The bowl of emotions tipped ever so slightly into desolation, and the light in his eyes died somewhat as the yarn grew darker. Why bother living, then, even for this stranger? Would she miss him if he was gone? There was nothing to look forward to, no dream to expend. He was nothing before the snow and trees, before the various packs, before the strange furless ones and their weapons. A strange world with a stranger not fit to his own skin even . . .
His eyes stung. Denzel closed them, ushering his snout further into her thick fur. "You?" he murmured, wanting to get away from these black despairs that swallowed whole even his belly-full meal. "Your family?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 3:56 pm
Blithra coddled the despaired pup, "Yes, little one. I am your family now, I will take care of you. Do not worry." The oddly colored wolf curled herself around the pup licking his forehead lovingly.
"You need not worry anymore, I am here for you." she said continuing to love on the pup. The poor dear, it apparently had not occurred to him until then that he was really alone. She remembered feeling that way so long ago, and the pain that had filled her when she finally accepted the fact that she was alone and had be left for dead.
If she ever came across his family she would surely tear them apart for leaving this little one to fend for his own. The cruelties of the world sickened her, and she would save this pup, Denzel, from the dark fate that could have awaited him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
