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 Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:16 pm
The first thing the pair noticed about the strange land was the smell. Where they came from the world smelled like death, the lands scarred by drought and fires and a strange illness brought down by the creatures who were unfortunate enough to come into contact with humans. Here it smelled fresh and clean, the air carrying the scents of distant packs nearby. They couldn't remember a time when they found a place so plentiful and full of life. Despite the long journey that lay behind them they pressed on eagerly, wanting to absorb as much of the forest as they could.
That morning was bright and clear. A rabbit, scared from the brush and caught in Laera's jaws before it leaped for the safety of it's den, served as breakfast. They lay in the grass, gnawing on the last of the bones.
"Do you think we can find a home here, Laera?" Gaspard asked softly, looking at his sister with expecting eyes. He had complete faith in his sister's ability to find safety.
"Maybe, if you behave." The female, a much sturdier, healthier looking wolf, stood up and batted at Gaspard's ears. She felt responsible for him, her poor sensitive brother. She looked about the clearing. Where to now? There didn't seem to be many packs nearby at least, telling her it was pretty safe to travel. And she was sure the two of them, even considering her brother's state, could deal with a troublesome loner.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 2:32 pm
 And speaking of loners, there was a particular brown hued one simply lounging out beneath the sheltering branches of a pine, back nestled against both the trunk of some of its overgrown roots, head rested over crossed paws. It was harder to catch him on first sight than normal, Dover having purposefully hidden his scent as possible before making a stop, covering himself with some snow by rolling about until enough of the chilly fluff was caught in his wiry fur; sure, he hated the cold, but a loner's gotta do what a loner's gotta do. And he had been out of practice, it seemed, for it was Dover who was awakened by hushed voices and not the other way around. Still as a carcass he carefully flitted one yellow eye open to gaze about the area, then slowly the other joined it, sliding like miniature glass balls within the most strained of limits his eyes could hold; it was unfortunate that he had forgotten to fall asleep with his eyes open again, otherwise this wouldn't have been necessary.
It was like he recieved a shot of pure color to the pupils: two brightly colored wolves were conversing just at the beginning of the clearing where he and his tree were just behind the outline of the forest about it - in other words, the more shadowed and sheltered part just before hitting the flat area. Dover's lip curled slightly at the small shot of pain; he would never get used to catching eyes on these wild-looking colors. He could appreciate them on the girl at least, but the meek one beside her . . . neh. It was all just some strange disease he wasn't a part of and, frankly, he didn't care if he ever did get thrown into that weird little gene pool. Least he was normal enough by wolf standards.
Like a boulder shifting he slowly lumbered to his paws, feeling no sense of threat from the pair, though he kept behind the trees first. If he was to be awakened before noontide, he might as well pull a bit of karma on the innocent adults.
"My, so pretty!
Are the purple ones lost?" His baritone of a voice rang clearly across the clearing.
"Mind you, so am I
With everything covered in frost
It is quite easy to tire
And exhaust."
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:05 pm
If it hadn't been for the slight shift of shadow in the trees, warning her of some animals presence she would have jumped right out of her skin at the sound of Dover's voice. Her brother wasn't so lucky. With a little startled whine he scurried behind her and peeked his green muzzle out from behind her purple fluff.
Unlike them, he was perfectly coloured for hiding in the snowy mess of brown that was the forest in winter. Laera wasn't used to seeing other wolves, especially with duller fur tones. Her pack had consisted of wolves the colour of the rainbow, each one brighter than the last. It was only natural for Laera and Gaspard to have inherited colourful fur.
And such a strange way he talked. Laera was still wrapping her mind around it when Gaspard decided to speak. "L-lost? N-no, we're travelers from a distant land..."
With that Gaspard fell silent again, leaving Laera to continue. "Yes, we've come from lands far away from here in search for a new home. The packs are all dispersing now that the land is so depleted..." She shook her head, making her earring swing and sparkle. "Are you in a pack, sir?" She finished quickly, looking at him as expectantly as Gaspard had looked at her moments before.
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Posted: Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:33 pm
Hmph. Like puppies to the kennel. He began to crunch pale russet paws into the muddled snow towards them, making no effort to hide himself further as he shrugged off the snow that continued to hitch a ride upon his fur. Several steps into the clearing, he made a subtle show of his build by taking the time to yawn and stretch before them, casual, almost lazy in his movements as he eventually straightened and eyed them with an invisible brow raised with the dulled suspicion and curiosity an owl with a full stomach has as it watches meek mice scurry beneath it in flight. It was clear Dover was not one to be messed with, and sadly with a strange sense of humor not many could catch up on. As it was, he seemed more disgruntled than irritated with the two, though the bulky wolf still had to narrow his eyes when he looked at them. Damn colors. Damn morning light.
"No, I haven't a pack
I enjoy life alone
Thus I wander about Telk
Like a fallen leaf blown." He paused again, sensing a crick or knot developing; he must have slept wrong. Dover grumbled, stretching his neck out this way and that until a satisfying pop was heard.
"How distant have you come?
Most are hospitable here
Though at the same time
He's smart to fear." Saying "he", Dover indicated the meek male behind her. With as flat of an affect as the brown wolf had, it was hard to tell whether he was merely stating, hiding a smug grin, or showing some concern; of course the lattermost wasn't about to happen anytime soon, but how were the two to know that?
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 8:39 am
As Dover made his entrance, Laera's expression flicked through stages of disapproval. It didn't take a genius to see that, as casual as he was moving, the whole point of his motions were to show his physique. Despite herself Laera raised her tail ever so slightly, just enough to say that she wasn't going to let her and her brother get pushed around. And why was he squinting like that? It wasn't that sunny outside.
"T-telk? Is that where we are?" Gaspard stuttered behind her. He had noticed his sister's sudden tensing and he had cringed away even further, though he couldn't tell what exactly was going on. And of course he feared. He feared just about everything in these strange woods, no matter how nice it looked or smelled. He wouldn't feel safe again until they had a home they called their own.
The violet female glanced back at Gaspard. Through his words, as elegant as they sounded, Dover didn't give any hint of what he was thinking. Laera spoke again, but this time her voice was wary. "Quite a ways. No wolves live there now, as long as they are able enough to leave." Then she paused, contemplating her next question. "What is there to fear? Of course there are dangers in every wood."
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Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 1:17 pm
Gutteral guffaws followed. Ah, he heard things whilst padding these lands, many different whispers, different scents of sorts to catch on and identify, tidbits to chew over. There was something in the air that told him sweet nothings of what was to come: the wind was such a cheating lover.
"Of course there are dangers in every wood," she had said. Ah, his supple body shook with the mirth, chuckles sliding into snickers of the naivety of these travelers. What was it like to be born under the rainbow of no-nothing?
"Stay close and together
Because to you I'll inform
Today is nice weather, yet
Tonight may bring a storm." And as though by saying those very words it were to be true, Dover glanced up at the mild blue skies with suspicion.
"Though why ruin the day?
I've a job to preform," he added as an after thought, and yawned deeply.
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:58 am
The siblings did not join in with Dover's laughter. Laera gave him a puzzled look, tilting her head to one side ever so slightly. Gaspard gave a nervous giggle at first but quickly fell silent. Were all the wolves in this wood like this? Speaking in rhymes and chuckling with no obvious reason? This really wasn't getting them anywhere.
As soon as the words "stay close together" were uttered Gaspard drew so close to Laera's side that he was leaning on her. He stared up at the skies, expecting a lightning bolt to come down and hit them right then and there.
"There's a storm coming?" Laera asked quizzically, looking sympathetically at Gaspard for a moment. "Hmph, I see nor scent clouds. And what 'job' would a loner like you have to preform? No pack duties, obviously." The femme's voice was still wary, but the more Gaspard cowered the more of an edge it developed.
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Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 3:40 pm
"Oh, don't look so forlorn." He added to his previous rhyme, proud of his little quip as he watched the quivering mass of green whimper. It was nice to see comradeship was not dying when wolves like himself weren't out to practice manners. Well, all right, he did have his own style of mannerisms, but it was more mercurial than most. Not out to eat pups for one, but not so paternal as to ignore the urge to squish one under paw at the same time if it created silence. Sometimes instinctual and incapable of thought - other times as rational as any intellect. But Dover's humor, well . . .
"My job is not much
Just a simple old hunt
For my job as a mercenary
Just to put it blunt," the adult replied, swinging his head slowly off to the side. Yes. Good enough direction as any. Dover began to lumber there at his own casual pace, eager to disappear into the trees and into solitude once more.
"Ooooh, my life's bare," his deep voice rang clearly, distinctly in mourning.
"Without the rush of seeking
Wandering so much, so long
But exactly to where?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:31 pm
For siblings, Laera and Gaspard were very close. As pups they had always played together because the decaying pack rarely had youngsters, and the ones that were born usually caught the sickness and died before they were old enough to leave the den. They were no sure why they survived in such a bleak situation. Luck, or was it some kind of immunity? Even in adulthood they were bound together by their memories, happy to be alive and away from that place. Their bond couldn't be any more obvious in the way they stood there together.
"A hunt? For what? Can you tell us what kind of prey can be found here?" Laera asked, taking the chance to find out more about the forest. She watched him lumber casually, her eyes trailing along slowly. The last part of his rhyme confused her and she had to think about it for a moment. What did he mean? Did he regret his wandering life, or was there some other part of it that was left unfulfilled? She took a quick guess. "And if you are tired of wandering, why don't you settle down somewhere?"
Throughout her questioning Gaspard's eyes flicked between them, the earthly wolf's casualness almost as unnerving as his warning. He was starting to regret leaving the safety of his homeland. But where Laera went, he went too.
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:36 pm
Where these two so slow? Dover would have figured that the very mention of "mercenary" would have made the pair skedaddle without another word and leave him to his peace. The rhyme meter that drove him had been off balance, off-beat ever since he fell into the destitution of a poor wolf without his life's purpose being fulfilled - indeed, Dover only thought of himself as being truly capable to the call of a hired killer. And now, having to deal with foreigners when he was nearing - if not in - the darker bowels of his depression, the burly wolf found himself incapable of finding a characteristic, poetic stanza to wile them more.
How very sad. He shook his head and rumbled with frustration, self-deprectiation for allowing himself to have fallen so far.
"The hell do you think you hunt?" Dover snapped, pausing to look over his shoulder at them with a discontented scowl. "Rabbits, squirrels, fish, lynx, deer - name it and it's probably here!" . . . Well perhaps not all of his inspiration was gone after all. But his speech felt broken, untamed without a meter to follow by. "Not tired of wandering either! I'm looking for someone to contract me into killing, searching, spying - anything but this mundane lil' life of just living!" the earthen adult spat bitterly, and he turned forward to stride into the trees once more. Fish. He needed something to smother, something slippery to attempt to escape his paws, onyl to be met with a crushing blow, the terribly pleasant sensation of being a dealer of death to one who had never had a chance - at least then Dover felt in control.
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:46 am
The pair were more than a little taken aback by Dover's outburst. they stumbled backwards, Laera barely stopping her brother from running for the hills by stepping on his tail. A second later he tugged it away and lay still. Fur stood up on end along her back, partly from fear, partly from the anger her instincts of self-preservation stirred in her.
"Well sorry I asked! Can't one be curious about new, unfamiliar places?" Laera yelled after him, not moving to follow him. "So you live to kill for others? How sad, how sad." She sat back down, shaking her head. "You're completely dependent on your work, I see. You're a killing tool for someone else's benefit, and when you don't have work, you're lost. How unfulfilling of a life."
Gaspard couldn't believe she was still talking to Dover after what just happened. And not just talking but trying to analyze him somehow? It screamed trouble to him and he willed his sister to stop and walk away, but she didn't budge.
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Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:57 pm
The growls of his stomach came simlutaneously with the forboding, deep one that resounded from the back of his throat. An ambitious, reckless thought: why not show them why he lived by that job only, hmm? Why not give them a piece of his strange mind? But Dover shrugged these notions, however tempting, off his shoulders. The river wound not far at all from their position, and so he did not have to walk far before he found himself instead wading. Dover issued a deep sigh, almost a rumble as he allowed himself to cool off.
It wasn't professional at all to have gone and outburst like that, he knew. Oh, how he hated sometimes for having a conscience, the mercenary thought as Laera's words echoed to him, jabbing at his ego mercilessly. That wasn't new to him. He'd had plenty of stabs from his brothers, many disappointed looks from his parents at what he had become - he'd taken it stoically; another random female wasn't going to break him now. Pale yellow eyes concentrated upon the river as he allowed himself to relax, eventually watching several small guppies trailing closer. Once they were betwixt his paws he struck, deftly knocking them out of the water with one fell swoop of a massive paw and a loud splash.
It was a silent battle. The prey flopped and thrashed impressively, with which Dover took the chance to practice his accuracy. Quickly he pinned the smallest of the three beneath a paw, crushing it; the second he took several tries to nab its tail underclaw, its slippery scales proving difficult to clutch at; and the third was the hardest of all, him being in a locked position with the other two fish protesting below half of his allowed limbs, and it was truly a hilarious sight to see him flail with impeccable balance at the darned thing using only one forepaw and backpaw. It slid away from his grasp, of course, but the guppy barely went so far as a foot away before it gaped its last and lie still.
"Damn. Rusty."
He could still hear Laera's voice as he picked up his catch, attempting to control his salivating as he nipped each fish into his mouth. ". . . killing tool for someone else's benefit . . ." Ah, how Dover rolled his eyes as he retraced his exact steps, not creating a new path but instead using the same he had taken to reach the river; old habits died hard, and one never knew if one was being followed. Best to eliminate any traces when possible of yourself, especially in the line of work he committed himself to. Upon returning to the glen, he espied the two having barely moved but several pawsteps away from their original position, understandibly with some fur stiffened at his earlier shouts. Heh, and here he was coming with food anyway. Weird how kindness came and went with him.
"'Eeuh." Dover dropped the fish with a plop, bits of saliva dripping as he licked his lips and separated the trio of guppies with a paw lazily, pushing them towards the oddly colored siblings with one forceful flick of his paw. He then lowered his head and began to tear out the flesh of his own, small morsel - the crushed one, he noted with surprise. Huh. More unconscious courtesy. Really was getting soft.
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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 3:22 pm
"No, Laera, DON'T!" Gaspard scurried and stood in front of his sister, blocking her way. Judging by the look in her eye and the tightening of her lips, she was in one of her moods. Which usually meant trouble for Gaspard. "Please, just let him go!" he pleaded, even though his words usually had no effect.
The femme got up and pushed by him like he wasn't even there. That was so, so.... well, she didn't know, but Dover had made her angry. Where she was raised, life was something precious because it was so scarce and easily extinguished. All lives, wolf and prey, plant and animal, were valued. They weren't against taking lives, for they needed to hunt for food, but they were taught to respect it. As far as she was concerned Dover was not only wasting his life, but disrespecting it as well.
But Laera didn't have the chance to go far. Just like that Dover returned with three little guppies in his mouth. He placed them down and pushed two fish towards them. A peace offering? The fish were small, but the rabbit they had earlier would only take them so far... After a moment, Laera walked over and tore into the fish like it was the most natural thing in the world. Gaspard followed more cautiously, snatching up the fish and scurrying away to lie behind his sister.
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 9:56 am
The male only grunted as she drew only near enough to snatch away the fish, feeling her simmering anger like a not-so-subtle heat radiating off her. Good. Maybe it'd make her meal not so clammy. It took next to nothing for Dover to finish, but he often didn't need a lot to keep him going; thoug his thick build didn't suggest light meals. He spat out the bones. "Don't get much luck these days like that. Some more generous. Others, not so much." He licked his muzzle, lifting his head as he sat down to look at the siblings; not even a thanks. But he shouldn't have expected as much. "Differs. Why leave your homes?" Dover asked, the lack of rhymes putting him in a spot where all that came out were choppsed sentences.
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Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 9:17 am
Laera's ability to hold grudges was legendary to Gaspard. Once you were in her bad books, it was hard to get back out. Laera seemed like she was calming down as she ate the little fish slowly, meticulously, as if she was being careful not to eat even the smallest bone. But Gaspard knew that she would be holding her feelings inside. He ate his fish much more quickly, his nervous eyes continuing to flick between the two.
Then Dover spoke again. From his words and the tone of his voice, Gaspard guessed that he was looking for some acknowledgment. He knew that Laera would not say anything too polite, so Gaspard spoke up. "T-thanks for the fish," he said just loud enough for Dover to hear, wagging his tail a little, his expression apologetic.
"So it's your turn to question?" Laera finally finished, sitting back up as well, her cool expression quite the opposite from what she felt about Dover. "The land could not support us anymore. Too much famine, too much disease. You starve, you die, or you leave." From behind her, still lying by his fish bones, Gaspard nodded.
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