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 Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 1:27 pm
Mu'sha looked out over the summer-lit landscape, breathing in the deep, rich scent of the season. She was happy, content, as she surveyed her new home. The tall, well-built female had worked hard all winter - hunting, organising, and generally trying to make heir new home 'fit' for habitation. At her side, as she paced along, were Jove and Elysion, both quiet, as she was, and obviously enjoying the chance to stretch their legs.
Winter had kept them mostly confined to the inner-reaches of their territory - not really a bad thing, this year, as it had allowed them time to get intimately acquainted with the area close to their dens. Now, though, the three hunters were bursting to explore the outer regions of the territory which they had come to think of as 'theirs'.
As they cantered along, Ely and Jove remarked about certain locations, numbers in herds, how fast the water ran at this place or that. The two had become fast friends - though they had not started off as such. Jove considered himself an 'uncle' of sorts to Mu'sha and thus, when she'd had a brief affair with Ely, Jove had 'dissaproved'. Why he though Ely was 'to blame' was beyond Mu'sha - it wasn't as though Ely was her first, though perhaps Jove did not know that.
She grinned inwardly, wondering what the stoic male would have thought of her various companions. They were not lovers, no, she liked the companionship, the fun, the.. intimacy, but she'd never loved them or they her. There'd always been a mutual understanding on that level - they were relationships for companionship, not for life or pups.
Pups. She wondered if the pack would last very long here without bringing in new members - she and Saturne were the only females and, as far as she knew, neither of them had a fancy for settling down with any of the males. Their original pack, Clemens Pack as they'd called themselves, had been very open about new members but, then, all of the northern tribes were relatively friendly - you had to be, to survive that harsh environment. Time spent fighting was wasted and cost each side too dearly.
Here, though, she did not know the disposition of te local wolves. She had heard they were more prone to fighting in the southern-lands more prone to all sorts of lasciviousness and idiocy. Of course, she was astute enough to recognise that this might all be hear-say and vicious rumour but most rumours had at least some grain of truth at their core - even if distorted.
She voiced her concern to the two males.
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Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 2:03 pm
Ely smiled teasingly at Mu'sha before answering. "You forget I'm a terrible Southerner" he said, his gruff voice tinged with amusement. He was usually a rather quiet wolf, not easy with words, but his intimacy in the past with Mu'sha had left him feeling comfortable in her presence - she understood him better than most and knew that his rough exterior, his usual bluntness with words was just shyness. He had been born into a pack which didn't encourage 'creativeness' just the hunt, the kill, doing as you were told. It had left him feeling stifled - his heart was full of a poetry for the world which he had not yet learned to express - even amongst his new pack which all but outright encouraged it.
"There's all types. Good and bad, as with anywhere. Probably would be good to get some new, even to help with the hunts."
He didn't comment on the idea the pack might fizzle out - he knew the pain of that, it's how his own birth-pack had ended. Alone, with noone to call his own, he had been befriended by Mu'sha and Kalain and, when they had decided to begin a new pack, he had just sort of... hung around and made himself useful.
The speckled wolf spotted a cow moose with two young, some way down, near the river's edge. He's not seen the big deer very often and knew they were very protective of their young, but it was good to know there was another source of food come winter if things got tough.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:13 pm
Jove huffed. "Well, it'd be nice to have more eyes, but that means more mouths, too..." he tapered off. The odd-eyed male was used to sorting the practicalities of a pack's daily life but he had never really been there from the 'ground up'. The Clemens pack he had come from had been strong, large, with good, known resources and a well-established territory. Here, in this new place, he was less sure of himself than he would have been at home.
"They might not be bad, but these lowlanders won't know our ways, our customs." He huffed again, eyeing Elysion. "Even this whelp is barely suitable, not for lack of me trying to teach him, spirits help me!" he added jovially, with no real animosity towards the blue and green speckled male who was now a solid friend and hunting partner. It was a valid concern, though - the pack had rather set rules of conduct and a spirituality which seemed lacking or misplaced in these lowlander wolves. It was as if some corruption had caused them to lose a part of their history, part of their wolfishness.
Still, he was no acolyte and the bigger concern was the fact he did not know how well their new territory could support any new wolves. The hunting had been good this winter, but who knew if the winter-deer and other animals would stick around now they knew they were hunted.
Concern wrinkled his brow as he paused, looking over Ely's shoulder, with a concerned look towards the she-wolf he considered as family. "Maybe we should think a bit more before we start inviting half the woods here..."
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:27 pm
"Jove, you know I didn't mean anything like that!" Mu'sha said with mock exasperation. She knew the older wolf was exaggerating for fun, but he had a hint of seriousness about him which belied an inner disquiet about the idea. Her serious nature always seemed to lessen around the big, heavily furred male, as though he shouldered some of the responsibilities that she bore. He was as good a second to her as he had been to her father.
Still, he had a point. There were only four of them here from Clemens and any sudden growth would outnumber them quickly, diluting the intracacies of their lifestyle. She, and probably Jove, imagined all sorts of horrors should their pack's heritage be infected by loose southern spiritlessness and whilst they'd never push their beliefs on others, they could not really accept them into a pack without them understand or being a part of that spirituality. Their hunts might fail, their good luck come to an end, their pack scattered.
She would not let that happen. Her expression hardened into one more stonily resolute. "We need more, but.. slowly." she said, looking at Jove. "We can't be only five forever, but I'd rather let the pack break up than lose ourselves to the wind." This was how the northern wolves thought of the loss of spirits - not held precious, untethered by belief, they and the luck and good fortune they brought would float off in the wind.
"Perhaps we can allow for anyone who wishes to stay, extend the hospitality we always had within Clemens to the other packs and even lones nearby but... only allow those with the heart for it to join us permanently." She was on unsure grounds here and, for once, wished Kalain was here to give his thoughts on the matter. Whilst she and he were not exactly on the best of terms, he was always good at forming her ideas into more realistic or possible forms.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 6:38 pm
Jove pondered the idea, ruminating on it as they continued to walk. His thick fur, the ruffle at his neck, stirred in the light summer breeze that had started up as they walked higher up the mountainside.
"It's not a bad idea, 'Sha" he conceded, using the pet name she usually disliked, but tolerated from him. "I'm sure that skinny runt back at camp would love the idea of us offering sanctuary here - at least it'd give him something to do." he added. His tone was a little biting, but not really as angry as his words - he didn't exactly get along with Kalain and, truth be told, felt a little uncomfortable in his presence. Moreso after the 'accident' - something he didn't let his thoughts dwell on, even now.
That was what had led the black-and-white male to seek 'redemption' in helping others. Maybe this would stop Kalain from wandering randomly - get him to focus on the pack like Mu'sha needs him to.
"Yes, sounds like it might be a good way to do it." he conceded, if gruffly.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 7:00 pm
Ely watched the exchange, noting the subtle undercurrents of the conversation. He still felt a little like an outsider and, whilst he was close with both Mu'sha and Jove, he felt he was a little more comfortable with their pack-mate Kalain than either had really been before coming here.
The small, androgenous male had taught him the ways of this pack, had introduced him to their world of spirits and tutored him in their customs and rituals. He had helped Ely find his spirit too. On one night, he had speculated that Ely might have become a spirit-talker rather than a hunter, had he been brought up with the Clemens - Ely couldn't imagine himself as being so spiritually inclined all of the time - whilst he had enjoyed that time spent learning the esoteric secrets of this pack, he also enjoyed the trhill of the hunt, the chase and the kill. No, he was a hunter.
"I'd like to see others here. I'd like to see this pack... our pack get stronger". He would also like to settle down, build a family, but that sort of thing was a bit too muchy to say in front of the big, stoic male and his former fling. Ely had always wanted pups, a plump, cheerful mate to call his own, a safe place to raise them. Now he had the place, he just needed to find the mate...
The group came to a halt - at the end of the trail was a pile of scree which looked like it had fallen down the mountainside. However it had gotten there, it was blocking their path - too unsteady to climb over, by the looks of it, and too steep-sided to walk past.
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Posted: Tue May 19, 2009 7:16 pm
"Spirits help me, all this way and a bloody blocked path" Jove huffed, eyeing the pile of loose rocks. "Better start back" he harrumphed. He wasn't really that bothered - the trip had been more for exercise and surveying - not to get to any destination. The view from up here was good and he was able to see across a good portion of their territory before it receded into the mists which clund to the lower reached of the river.
"It's one thing wanting new wolves, it's another finding them" he thought aloud. "I mean, if there were no wolves settled here to begin with, I'd guess there's not a lot of their type come this way."
His big, furry brow wrinkled again - a common expression of his. "I mean, we want to be slow, not fast, but we need to have more than nothing" he began to trot back the way they had come, the others following alongside. "It's not like we want to make it obvious either, we don't want to invite trouble."
Whilst Jove was a good hunter and tactitian, his skills in diplomacy and pack-building were not as strong - that's what Alpha's were for. 'Sha was young for it, though... He never doubted her will, her courage, but she hadn't had that long to learn the intricacies of that sort of thing at her father's side before she left.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:41 am
Mu'sha wasn't really bothered by the blockage of the road - they hadn't had a destination in mind, afterall. "Well" she said, thinking aloud "Kalain does like to go out, wandering, helping..." she knew Jove did not think well of this habit and, if she was honest, it irked and disconcerted her, too - he was the reason they were all here in the first place, he should be helping their efforts. Still, he had not asked them to stay, had told them to go back. Mu'sha had, in her heart, loved the idea of the challenge, of getting away from the overbearing (though not unloving) presence of her father.
"We could let him wander, tell him he should send those in need of a place to call home to us." She thought of suggesting someone to chaperone him, make sure he was safe from others and... they from him. However, with their current low numbers there was noone she would like to lose to an adventure south - no matter how short.
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 5:55 am
Jove nodded thoughtfully. "I'd be worried about letting him go alone, though" his words echoed Mu'sha's thoughts. "It's not like he's not wandered off and left a pack before" he harrumphed as he saw Mu'sha's raised eyebrows "even if it was all for a good cause!" he added, bullishly. "I can't say I don't entirely like how things have turned out but I won't forget it began with his running off on his little 'mission' to save the woods".
"We could send your sister with him" he said, after a little pause. It was something he wouldn't have considered, really, had their numbers not been so tight, but the Mu'sha's sister was not exactly a prime hunter and she was normally in the shaman's company 'learning' most of the time anyway...
He knew what Mu'sha's objections would be before she said, them, though, as they'd have been his own were they still back home. "I know she's barely past her spirit ceremony and she's not exactly the most... levelheaded but your sister needs to learn, to grow up a bit. Maybe a trip to help with Kalain's do-gooding would focus her attention, give her the experince she lacks".
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2009 6:03 am
"Or maybe she will drive Kalain insane enough that he'll come back just to have peace from her" the white wolf snorted with a grin. Her half-sister was not at all like her, but Mu'sha loved her all the same. Sati had been the baby - a little spoiled and pampered whilst Mu'sha learned how to run a pack - the youngest of a pile of girls born to her father after Mu'sha's own mother had passed on.
"Admit it, Jove, you just want her out from under your feet!" she grinned at him teasingly. Though she knew Jove would never let any harm come to Sati, he found it hard to be around her when she was in one of her overly exuberant moods.
"Still, it's not a bad idea. Perhaps if we set them a time to come back at - responsibility for her might make Kalain more conscious of his and her well-being and spending time outwith the 'safety' of the pack might help her grow some awareness".
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 9:14 pm
Jove nodded, his brow uncreasing as he subconsciously 'sorted out' one of the niggles which had been preying on his mind. "Well, that sorted, we need to figure out where we'll have the Shrine". The Shrine, to the aves, was usually an object or place which, special seeming, became the place at which they held their gathering, their rituals, where they went to ask the gods for luck and where they new the gods would be happy to 'live'.
It was never created or chosen hastily - they had a small area near the main den as a temporary shrine so that they could choose the site well - but it wou be nice to have one set up by midsummer so they could honor Sohenol, the sun, as he climbed his highest in the sky and then, when the leaves began to fade, thank Toghelac, the earth, for providing them the food of the land they often had to survive on when this years calves had grown big enough to be wary, the old weeded out and none yet sick from the deprevations of winter.
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Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 8:15 pm
Ely's ears perked at the talk of the new shrine. He's never seen a full 'Shrine' as the other wolves had called it - only the small, temporary one. He had, however, heard of the requirements for one. "There was a place that might work" he said, uncertainly - afterall, he was relatively new to their customs and ways - "I went out by myself, to the small forest near the den. There was an open spot, it had a large, old tree..." he trailed off, his usual habit of not using overly superfluous vocabulary making it sound plain and uninteresting.
"Best seen than spoken of" he used an adage his grandmother had often used. With a nod of agreement the two others followed the speckled male downwards, towards the forests' edge.
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