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 Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:49 pm
Sashta could still remember the day she gazed upon her offspring for the first time. To be honest, all four of them were a mistake, but Ran was the only one even now she regret. That day, in that cave, she'd have never of thought the runt (who was smaller than normal ones, even) would've made it this far. When she realized she lacked not only size but smarts, she was careful not to get too attached. Surely she'd wonder off and starve, she'd thought.
She was no Seer, but her prediction had been half correct. Ran did in fact 'wonder'. She 'wonder'ed a lot. And, it never failed, she always went looking for her. Why? Even she wasn't sure. Maybe she did have some motherly instinct? It was hard to care for something so...useless. Thus far, Ran had contributed absolutely nothing except annoyances.
Not like Ahnius. He was a good boy, that one. He took after the smarter of the two parents (or so Sashta thought) appearence-wise, and perhaps because of that was blessed with brains his sister hadn't gotten. He was her favorite, and she'd admit it. That was why she always chose to drag him out on searches for his lesser sibling.
This time, even Sashta was surprised how far the scent was taking them. Already, they were a great distance from the pack. "Assuming you're not thinking this is going to end quickly?" She sure as hell wasn't...
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:58 pm
Ahnius trailed faithfully behind Sashta, snaking around the tree trunks and undergrowth with great lumbering strides. While not exactly the largest of the litter (Volgin could probably squish any one of them, to be frank...), his father's genes had apparently carried far enough to make the young wolf impressive in size, even in adolesence. He wasn't complaining -- well, over the occassional mishap that came of being long-strided and big-boned, anyway. Ahnius was completely willing to complain about the task now at hand, and he employeed the willingness diligently from a few strides behind his mother.
"--Why are we even bothering?" He went on, probably continuing on some previously stated thought. "She always comes back. At least she's probably not dragging strays back this time, or falling into rivers." --They'd crossed the only river Ahnius actually knew of an hour or so ago. He wondered, briefly if there were any rivers farther. If there were, Ran would probably find it and fall in. Bother. Huffing, the black and white male slinked along, ears twitched backward in noted irritation.
Then again, Ran did seem to be exploring farther out than she ever had before. Maybe her silly 'butterflies' were taking her somewhere. Ahnius mused, absently, that maybe they'd lead her off a cliff, and he'd never have to go wandering after his sister again. Granted, he immediately felt a bit bad about the thought. Just a little bit, though. He supposed Ran couldn't help being a halfwit.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:16 pm
"Now, Ahnius," Sashta slowly said. "Those strays are your packmates now, don't talk about them that way." She certainly didn't like all of them (though to be fair she barely knew the majority), but they kept Reicher busy so things were well. "Besides, your mother was a 'stray' at one time, you know. Most wolves are--unless they're lucky enough to be born into a pack like you were."
"This place looks familiar," she said suddenly. While she'd been preaching to her son, she'd also been viewing the area keenly for any sign of trouble. It wasn't so much Ran she was worried about. If something out here could kill THEM, she'd already be dead anyway.
The pack lands had faded into the freelands, and those had faded into...this. It was a flat, muddy land that lacked trees and almost any plant life at all. Scratch that. Almost any life at all. Even the sky was vacant, no birds flew above them. "Odd..."
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:23 pm
Ahnius muttered something under his breath, probably nothing exactly kind. Despite Sashta's excellent influence, Ahnius seemed to have picked up a habit of being a whiner, --or at least bitter. Whatever. Any irritable thoughts were somewhat disturbed by Sashta's sudden shift in tone, however. Ahnius hesitated, head and ears coming up as he shot his mother a quick glance, only then going on to study the lands they found themselves in. After a long moment of consideration...
"What a hell hole." The place was quite possibly less fortunate looking than the mountainside they lived on now. Ash, he noted absently, was suddenly decidedly better than...whatever this was. Absently, Ahnius glanced back over his shoulder toward the edge of the trees, tail flicking sourly. "Are you sure she came out here?" he asked, glancing back toward Sashta, and then again out across the flat lands. Ran must have been farther than he'd thought -- they'd be able to see her wandering around out there if she'd been reasonably close. There weren't exactly many bushes for his sister to be hiding behind...
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:36 pm
"Completely positive." At least positive enough to make it sound like she was completely positive. Fairly uncertain was more like it. Indeed, if Ran had been close they'd be able to see her. Stepping forward, she suddenly drew back and looked disgusted. "Watch where you step," she warned, her front leg now entirely covered in mud. Grass was a luxury here.
"Her scent is gone." Great. As if the situation wasn't bad enough. The scenery around them qualified for a level beyond 'gloomy', and the reason they were here to begin with was annoying. All things considered, the alpha didn't look as upset as she probably should've.
This place was familiar. Too familiar to just brush off. "Go look over that way, Ahnius."
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:42 pm
Ahnius grimaced, eyeing the muddy ground darkly. "Alright," he muttered, casting Sashta a last glance before moving off in the indicated direction. Damned Ran. First running off and now going about losing her scent. She definately wasn't making it easy. Ahnius carefully picked his way through the mud hole, doing his best to not get too filthy. The effort wasn't doing much. He still managed to get his legs plastered in mud not a few yards from Sashta. Further damnation.
"Ran, you moron," he muttered under his breath. She was probably chasing her imaginary butterflies again. Maybe she was stuck in a mudhole. Or a tar pit. Maybe she'd been eaten by something. Bah.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:52 pm
"Be careful," the mother wolf added quickly. After she was positive he wasn't going to fall in some giant pit hidden by the mud, she too turned in the opposite direction and headed off that way.
With Sashta gone, the world around Ahnius was silent... for a short while. "You there," a voice said suddenly. Somehow, it managed to sound both close and far away at the same time. The speaker remained invisible. "What do you think you are doing here? Thissss land no longer belongssss to your kind."
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:04 pm
Ahnius' attention snapped sharply from brooding and complaining at the mud and the lack of trees and -- "What the hell was that?" He snapped, hackles standing on end, lips pulling back to bear his teeth threatening at...whatever...had spoken. Standing stiff, but readily, his head swung this way and that in search of the owner of the voice. "Where are you?" He demanded sharply, pacing in a quick circle in an attempt to find the hiding thing that had spoken. Nothing.
Damn that Ran; if he got swallowed up by some mug monster, he'd personally come back to haunt her.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:14 pm
"The quessstion ssshould be who are you." For a time, the speaker went silent. Finally, "You look like ssssomeone I sssaw here long ago." Something suddenly coiled around one of the youths front legs. A...snake? Yes, definately a snake. A nicely-sized brown one that hopefully wasn't poisonous. He didn't seem to have any intention of biting the wolf anyway. "Why are you here? Are you sssearching for the firssst?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:22 pm
Ahnius had the sudden inclination to bite, snap, howl and tear at the snake all at once. It was an instinct, he noted in retrospect, that was definately better suporessed -- especially because it seemed that the snake had an intention of giving him information about Ran. The sooner he could get out of this mud-hole, the better.
Nonetheless, it took Ahnius a few moments to calm down. It wasn't, after all, everyday a snake came about and went winding itself about ones legs, and the proceed to talk. Slowly, the young wolf's hackles smoothed and he settled, craning his head at an awkward angle to peer at the brown snake.
"I'm looking for my half-brained sister," Ahnius noted warily at the snake coiled around his foreleg. "You've seen her?" Here's to hoping, he supposed...
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:33 pm
"Perhapsss," he answered. "I have sssseen but two wolvesss here in many a year, and but one wasss female." No need to speak of the other, as a male wouldn't be adressed as 'sister'. "You were born of one from here, yesss, I'm ssssure of it now."
"Thessse landsss were once filled with onesss like you. Ssssome of my kind learned to ssspeak with them--a few, sssuch assss myself, more than otherssss." The creatures tounge flickered out, his creepy eyes peering up at Ahnius's own as he slithered further up his leg. "Your ssssister is perhaps low on intelligence, but there issss ssssomething ssspecial about her you yoursssself do not have."
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 3:43 pm
Ahnius' eyes narrowed on the snake, head cocking slightly farther. Absently, he kicked out lightly with one back leg: perhaps a unconscious squirming that the snake's winding induced in the young male. Born of someone from these lands? Probably Reicher. He could see Reicher from this place; it certainly fit in with the alpha's real estate choices of the present. Ahnius fidgetted, ears flicking uncertainly back and forth. --But two wolves, and one a male? There was something wrong there. Unless Ran was galavanting off with some male that they didn't know about... Ahnius quickly smoothed the hackles that had threatened to raise. It wasn't important. He didn't think Ran even knew about things like "that."
"What do you mean, 'something special?" He muttered. The only thing 'special' about Ran was her hallucinations, and her ability to get herself dumped into rivers, and various other trouble. Ahnius, personally, didn't think that constituted as a good thing. "--Whatever; it doesn't matter. Where'd she go?"
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Posted: Tue Oct 25, 2005 3:47 pm
"You're sssso impatient, boy, perhapssss that issss why you yourself do not have it. Your mother wasss a patient one, I remember her well." It was fair to assume he was Sashta's offspring. You could tell by just looking at him. What an impatient youth, the creature thought bitterly. Interesting children the wolves from here had gone on to bare, though, he'd admit.
"Sssshe went north, over there. Be careful, son of the Sassshta." Without further hesitation, the being slithered his way back to the ground and vanished into a hole the mud had surprisingly enough not caved in on.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:12 pm
Ahnius blinked sharply, straightening a touch. Sashta had come from this hell hole? Well, that was surprising -- and made him regret the choice words he'd used the describe the place around his mother. The young wolf grimaced inwardly. Oh well; couldn't change it now; besides, he had more to worry about than hurting what little there was of his mother's ego, such as who the hell Ran was running around with. North. Fantastic. North went a long ways. --But, it was better than nothing.
"Thanks," he muttered, watching the snake uncoil itself from around his leg and slither off. For a moment, Ahnius remained there, smelling the air uncertainly. The smell of mud and grime was too strong just yet, overlaying scents he might have otherwise picked up. However, maybe if we followed the snake's direction he'd pick up his sister's scent and be able to follow it. Meh, it was at least some sort of plan. Ears flicking forward, Ahnius lumbered forward through the thick mud, heading North.
It didn't take nearly as long as he'd thought to find Ran's scent mingling with the earth and smell of old rain. No smell of another wolf, though. Maybe the snake had been seeing things.
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:23 pm
(Due to my coming off hiatus just as Pukio's going on, the quest will be completed via Kochi Tenshi and myself soon. XD;; )
Indeed, there was nothing. Not so much as the sound of the wind drifted around them. Even in the mud, in such silence footsteps would echo. Such would belong to the mother wolf Sashta, who by time she would reach her son would look very distressed. "I think she may be another way, but the mud is too deep for you. I'll have to get Volgin."
Now, it didn't make much sense when you thought about it. Sure, Volgin was big. The biggest of the four siblings, and almost as large as Sashta now. The confusing part was Ran. Being the runt, how could she make it through mud her brother couldn't?
Perhaps Sashta was thinking the worst of what had happened to her daughter, and just looking for an excuse. "Let's go back," she said. "Hopefully, your sister and I can find her..."
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