Chagrin shook himself as he exited his hidden den under the boulder in the middle of the field he called home. It had been quite some time since he had seen another wolf and it depressed him a little, talking with himself was really losing its touch and any friendly voice would do. He licked at this tanned muzzle and headed towards the trees and the small stream that ran just within the line of lush foliage. His bespecled back side swung a little back and forth and he walked his first few steps stretching out his back legs. He was starting to get a little stiff, maybe it was age, but he wasn't that old, not for a wolf a least, but he wasn't exactly a youth anymore for that matter. He scented the air as he entered the tree line, the many scents filling his nose making him grin, there was game to be caught today. But there was something else on the wind, but it was there and gone. He shook his large head and continued on his way to the stream. His gold eyes surveyed the area around him, the bird singing and the bugs making their own serenade hidden from Chagrin's watchful eyes.
Brown, orange and black. She moved through the trees, half wishing it was autumn again. At least she blended in. Not that she minded standing out, of course. It'd just be more fun if she found anyone to play a game of tag with her. Myrle still thought herself a puppy at times, or a teenager, some kind of youth. She wasn't young, but not old. She'd been wandering for about two years now and ran into so many interesting wolves and little foxes and squirrels. Each had an intersting story to tell. That's how she got her nickname, "Story Collector". As though she'd weave one great big story one day and pass down bits from everyone's own. If she did tell a story, it'd be her own. Humming to herself, she cleared the forest line as her nose caught a wiff of something fresh smelling and delicous. Water! Something she forgot to drink when she woke up this morning.
Usually, Myrle wasn't this absent minded, but she had a feeling today would bring her some kind of new story, some new friend. It made her so much more excited than she already was. Moving closer, her liquid grey eyes scanned the area and she actually walked into the shallows of the pond she found there and dipped her head to lap at it, tongue causing ripples and back splashing. Her muzzle and nose were getting wet, and it felt good. Though it was Spring, the sun was shining so bright and hard, it made her easily pant and want to just lay down in the water. Which... wasn't a bad idea, actually. So down she went onto her belly and she gave a slight yelp, It was so cold! But so good against her skin once it seeped into her fur. "Aaah..."
Chagrin heard the slight yelp and nosed his way to a little more quickly to the spring where his eyes fell on the new female laying withing the chill waters. He tilted his tanned head with the dark marking that stretched over the back of his neck and forehead. His purple scarred front paws edged forward carefully, always needed to hold some caution around a wolf one did not know. They could be friend or foe and until he knew for sure he had to be careful with himself, he didn't like trouble.
"Hello there Miss." he said arching he head foward taking in her sweet scent, she carried the scent of many places, from cold snow to foreign flowers he had never seen or smelled before. His golden eyes lighting up a little and small smile stretching over his maw. Something about he just seemed friendly and he liked it. So long it had been since he'd had a decent conversation with anyone, even so much a squirrel perched on a branch that probably wasn't even listening to him.
Those same grey eyes looked towards the male and she quickly stood up and nearly bolted, until she saw he wasn't going to attack. Myrle answered the smile with one of her sweetest ones and then gave a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry.... The water was so inviting and it's so hot today... I don't understand this heat!" Clearly her coat was a bit thicker than his own, giving her more padding against the cold and kept heat in. That's why she liked to stay near water. Wasn't her fault she forgot she wasn't at home a lot of the time. At least that's what she told herself.
Moving back to the chilled water, she laid down again and sighed, dipping her nose into it for a moment and then came out again. From the looks of her alone, it was clear she traveled a lot. She was full of dust and probably a few of those thorny little balls stuck in her tail and around her ankles. Though Myrle didn't seem to notice or mind them. This one seemed so upbeat, it lifted her spirits even more. "I'm Myrle." She spoke with a different accent than he did, she noticed, but that wasn't uncommon to her. "You live near here? I didn't mean to intrude. Just was hot and thirsty.
Chagrin gave a small start himself when the female jumped and nearly bolted. But he shook his head with a low chuckle. "Oh no, I understand. I come out here as well when the days are very warm and do the same myself." he said moving forward to get himself a drink and the female settled herself back into the water. His heavy paws entered the edge of the chilly spring lapping up the chilly water and sneezing a little. "Goodness, that's cold." he said laughing at himself. He looked up to Myrle. "It's nice to meet you Myrle, I am Chagrin. Yes, I do not live from from here, just in the field outside of the tree. How about yourself, you do not seem to be from around here."
"I hail from the mountains where it snows all the time. Up far North," she said with a little laugh at his sneeze. It was always funny to her how they thing something was 'cold'. It was the perfect temperature for this female. Stretching out further in the water, her tail thumped a bit as she listened to him. "I plan on going back home one day. When I feel I've collected all the stories I can. I get stories from everything and everyone!" She said, almost puffing out her chest in some kind of puppy pride. She loved telling her own story. "But I don't tell the other stories. They're all my kept secrets. It's a gift being trusted with a story, you know. Means whoever told you their story thinks you're a good person. And I do my best to not let them down." It was her own logic, of course. That's what she thought every time she heard a good life story or an obvious tall tale.
"Do you have a story you want to share?"
Chagrin laid down at the edge of the stream, his front paws still dipped within the water. "North, I once traveled through where it is cold, but it was for a very short time before I reached where I am now." he said licking at his paws. He listened as she told of her love to collect others stories and it made him think of his own incomplete and shattered story.
He looked back up to the she-wolf. "I have a story, but is a broken one, even I don't know my own full story. I can even properly remember my past. I can only recall small amounts of my youth, and only flickers of my puppy-hood. No more than that." he said with small huff, it was something that constantly weighed on his mind. "I long to remember my story though."
She thought on that a moment and then moved over to the tan male and bucked his chin up with her muzzle, smiling at him softly. "It'll come to you, if you don't think about it. If you think to hard, you'll bury it further. But! Don't think about it, and it'll come out when you're not expecting it. Trust me," she said with a firm nod. It was so easy for her to say these things. Her life was good, her story was whole. She knew everything about herself. But, if it gave her new friend the comfort he needed to continue on and smile, then by whatever gods were up there, that's what she'd say.
"When I can't remember something, I just forget about it and it comes to me a few days later when I'm taking a drink, or hunting. Ruins the hunt after that, but eh.. I manage." She grinned. Clearly care free and at ease with her life.
Chagrin smiled up at the female. "I believe you just may be right. I have spent so long doing almost nothing but trying to remember that maybe it is time I focus my attention in other places and it will just come to me." he said looking up into the canopy. He looked back down to the female and lifted himself to his paws. "Thank you Myrle, you have been very helpful to me and I barely know you."
He gave the female a slight playful nudge with his own muzzle. "So why don't you tell me a little of your story?" he asked his gold eyes warm and smiling.
Blinking at the nudged, she ginned and then sat down on her haunches. Tell her story? All to gladly. "My mother's name is Merideth. My father's name is Antoni. I have a sister named Alisia. We are all very close. No pack, but family. We didn't need a pack, none of the mountain wolves did. There was respect among every family and we knew boarders very well. I stayed with my family until I was just becoming an adult, two years ago. I knew there were other things out here for me, so much more for me to know and understand. I met with so many foxes and squirrels all to willing to let me hang on their every word. I met some wolves who told tall tales about living along side the humans. Clearly they hadn't ever been near them, but I didn't say that to them. There was even a pup human who wanted to come near me. But the bigger humans shot at me. Didn't bother me, I didn't want to stay in that town anyway. The hunting and rivers were to sparse.
"Basically, I'm like a traveling book waiting to be filled by passers by. Just want to know their stories. I love listening to the voices and the way others talk. So many different ways of speech though it's all the same."
Chagrin smiled sitting himself back down. "You have traveled a good ways then. Of what little I remember, I know I have a half brother named Jacobi. But I know near nothing of my younger life as I said." he mulled over everything thinking of where his first memories actually started.
"The last thing I remember is being captured by humans when I was near my adulthood, but still not quite there. The tied to me what I believe they called a fence. The twine they used was tight against my paws and I struggled a lot and it left these scars behind as my reminder." he said looking down at the still purple scars that covered his forepaws. He shivered at the thought. "I finally knawed through it and escaped, ever since I have been wandering on my own. I found a small empty den under the boulder in the field and have resided there since." he finished off, he story wasn't quite as exciting as her own, but it was his story as far as he knew.
With a smile at the shared story, she shifted and gave his nose a playful lick. Acting like a puppy playing with a friend. She played with his muzzle for a minute before chuckling and then shook her head a little bit. "That's a good story. It's not to sad.... But it's not whole. Don't worry, it'll come to you." She offered those kind words again and then laid down on her side, the sun beating down on her again. She glared up at it and let her ears flick a bit before pouting, "It's hard to come into the sun for me. I enjoy the snow and the cold and the darkness. I adore the night."
Chagrin chuckled with her playful antics, it had been a very long time since anyone had been to playful with him, or even sine he had been playful in any manner. "Yes, I believe it will in time, when I am ready to know the full story." he again had to laugh at the foreign she-wolf. "Oh you get used to it after time, but I have to agree with you, I do prefer the night. There is just something about the sight of the moon and the stars that just takes you away to a whole other world and sense of mind." he closed his eyes thinking of the beautiful view from atop his boulder when the full moon lit the field in an almost eeiry glow, the stars twinkling high about him.
"Mmm... I love looking at the stars. I saw them so clear atop my mountain. I felt I could almost touch them. It was so cold there. So wonderfully cold. It felt like a peaceful blanket You wouldn't believe it," she murmured softly,giving a happy little noise before nipping at his ear this time. She wanted to play. She really did. With a little chuckle, the she-wolf got up and 'tackled' him, more like nudging him before getting down and let her rear end stick up, tail swishing this way and that. It'd been a while since she felt like this. Felt like playing with someone as happy as she was. "Come play with me."
Chagrin gave a playful growl and snapped at her in return rolling over onto his back. He then rolled back onto his feet giving a load playful yelp, wagging his own tail. He laughed and leaped at the female and jumped back. "Come and get me then." he called dashed back a few feet away from Myrle. His eyes lit up with energy, instead of the sorrowful darkness they had held for quite some time. He needed this, a friend if only for a short while to bring back some energy and life into him.
She laughed as he fled from her, and she moved to catch up, grabbing the very tip of his tail and tugging before speeding up again and jumping over him, making sure her back feet touched his back before she landed. Myrle landed oddly and ended up rolling a couple of times, but she got back up. She never once said she was a graceful wolfess. Besides, the ground was different from the mountains. "Bet you can't catch me, Grinny!"
Chagrin laughed and took off after the female nipped at her heals playfully. "I'll get you, you just watch!" he called to her pressing his unused legs to their max to catch up with Myrle. He has not done anything like this in so long he would wear out quickly, but he wasn't going to let that stop him now. He felt good, better than he had in ages, he was laughing and playing and his heart felt light and happy. This was what he needed, someone to play with. He lunged forward stumbling a little as he did so, but at least kept himself from losing his balance completely, he was closing in on the female.
Noticing that he was closing in, the female back tracked and moved to lap at his nose as she stopped and laid down. How long would it take him to backtrack? She was already getting pretty tired; considering it as hot, she was getting over heated and playing around like a puppy. But it was such a good day! She'd made a new friend, heard a new story, and maybe found someone to stay with while she was here. Maybe someone she could talk to every once in a while. She'd have to talk to him about that.
Chagrin was caught of guard by her sudden back-tracking. He attempted to stop himself he lost footing on his back legs and skidded and nearly fell. But he picked himself back up and made his way back to Myrle. Panting, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth, he grinned as she came into his sights. "You got me." he said flopping down next to her, his ears perked forward. The adrenaline was still coursing through his system and so was the happy feeling of having a friend. "I haven't done that in a long time." he panted, but smiling.
"I haven't either! The wolves I've met.... they were to old, or something," she said with a huge sigh afterward and yawned. She wasn't sleepy, just a bit worn. Looking to Chagrin, she moved to tug on his ear again, being playful before looking to the scars on his paws and looking to her own scarless ones. Se didn't have a scar on her body because she avoided things that would leave them. Not that she thought she was beautiful, far from it, she thought she was pretty plain. Unremarkable and forgettable. Myrle avoided anything that would cause her pain. Like having a mate. She'd have to leave him to go back home. She didn't want to do that. "Mmn.. I'm glad I met you.."
Chagrin chuckled. "I only get the random passerby and none of them ever really stay long." he said sadly. He leaned over and licked at her nose after she tugged at his ear, he felt something for this female, but he wasn't sure quite what. Of the wolves he had spoken with and the mass majority of them female he had never felt like this before. He watched her look at his scars, he was slightly self-conscious about the markings, but just as she say herself as plain he thought the same for himself, but to him she was a very pretty female. Her pale eyes bright against her rich colored fur and the orange markings at her eyes and on her back along with the dark spots that scattered over her. Chagrin had never actually thought about a mate, it had never actually occurred to him. "I am glad to have met you as well Myrle.."
She chuckled softly and nodded softly before moving over to give a tentative lick to his scars, as if she could heal them that way. His scars were apart of him, and part of the story he shared. He had nothing to be scared of if he was. She wouldn't hate him if he were covered in scars. Myrle had met someone like that, and the wolf shared his story with her.
Since becoming an adult, Myrle hadn't thought about settling down or mating with anyone, but this was seeming like a good spot to stay for a while. If she had somewhere to stay. She moved over and leaned against him with another yawned and then shifted on her back, front paws folded against her chest as she looked up at the sky. Still so bright. "....Know where another den is? I could stay here for a while. Seems like a good place. We could meet more wolves. You could start collecting stories with me! What do you say, Grinny-buddy?"
He nuzzled Myrle a little and tilted his head and looked up at the bright sun that shown through the trees and back down to the female. He shook head head. "There is plenty of room in my den for, a couple of worn out wolves." he said looking back towards the direction of the field. "I have a cool den under a large boulder out in the field that I'm sure you would be quite comfortable in." he though for a few moment on the idea of the female staying with him, and even leaving his den where he had resided for so long. "You're welcome to stay with me, but yes, we could, couldn't we...I believe it sounds like fun." he said...surprising his own self.
"Oooh. Share your den? I don't want to impose or anything..." she said, thinking it over. She didn't mind sharing a den. It'd be nice to wake up to something besides a rock in her face. Myrle didn't take up a lot of space either. She pondered on this for a bit and then looked over to him, wondering wy he was upside down. Then she remembered she was on her back and chuckled. "....Sure. Ok, then. We're friends, and friends help each other, right? We can get you more friends, and I'll here more stories. Then, we'll be happy. The more friends you have, the more you'll feel complete. And, you could meet that female that's just right for you. Have her share your den and have some puppies!"
Chagrin shook his head. "No, no, it's not a problem at all. It'll be nice to have company for once, you know." he said grinning. "Yes, friends do help each other." he said thinking about a mate a now, a mate, pups...all things he had never considered before, but now that it was put into his mind he started to wonder. He wouldn't be alone anymore, and he'd had children. Puppies, he liked that, he liked that a lot. He pushed himself to his feet, "I'll take you to the den, I'm sure traveling has worn you out some." he said stretching his paws a little.
Rolling over, she hopped to her feet and shook herself off with a great shake, dust and mud coming from her fur. Myrle hadn't quite dried before they played, but once more, she didn't care. She didn't have a care in the world right now. The female shifted over towards him and stretched her own legs, listening to her ankles pop a few times and gave a sheepish grin. "That..... happens a lot."
Chagrin laughed. "You're not the only one." he said leading her towards the hidden den. It was easy to spot the boulder from the edge of the the wood, it stuck out clear as day, but to Chagrin, it was home. He wandered back to the den, smiling slightly to himself, for once he would be in there and not be alone, the thought made him feel
Following him in, Myrle felt the coolness and felt at peace almost at once. She looked around and pressed her nose to the cool walls and sighed softly. "It feels amazing in here. No wonder you don't leave very much... Agh! It feels so amazing.." That's all she could really say. She took a random spot on the floor and just flopped over, taking in the coolness.
He smiled and settled himself down near Myrle, She was right it was cool and quiet in his little den, and he didn't often leave it during the day. Once the night came though he would bring her out to see the stars, maybe they were prettier in the mountains and he was sure they were,but here in his little field, atop his boulder at night he felt so tiny compared to the world he lived in. "It is a nice little den isn't it." he said with a sigh laying his head on his paws. Compared the the heat outside, here in the den was a complete turn around. "You're welcome here as long as you like."
Chagrin mulled a playful growl back at Myrle. He wasn't all the tired, but he could lay there for quite some time just dwelling on the comfort that he for once had company. He wouldn't just look around and see an empty den around him, but rather his golden eyes would com across the pretty female next to him. He shook his head a little. "You are welcome, but I don't think I'll be getting tired of you.." he chuckled. He nudged at her head and licked at her muzzle and nose. A friend, finally, and maybe if he dared to think about it, someday maybe a more than that.
She smiled shyly at the lick to her muzzle, but didn't discourage it. This was what she missed when she left her family. The comfort of someone else. Myrle would relax again before letting her head rest against his neck and yawned a little bit. Sleepy? Maybe, but she didn't want to sleep just yet. Right now she was mulling over the fact she looked like a traveling wreck, and he didn't seem to care. Usually, Mylre wouldn't care, but today, she did. Tongue clicking after a moment, she looked up to him and then nipped at his nose, not hurting him, but it was affectionate. Her dad did that to her and her sister a lot. Myrle always laughed while he did it, and she remembered that rumbling laugh from that big wolf.
He gave a slight sneeze when Myrle nipped at his nose and stuck a paw over it and blinked at Myrle. Not as if the n** had hurt him in any way, but it had tickled his nose enough to make him sneeze. He smiled up at the female removing his paw from his nose and rolling a little to lay more on his side. He batted at Myrle a little with his front paw. Travel weathered or not she was beautiful to him. He respected all females as they were the life bringers, but something about Myrle's personality just made him smile and feel like he had a balloon swelling
She laughed at him and shook her hed, batting at his paw with her own while giving a little growl. Chagrin was handsome, no doubt about it, and Myrle was a bit flattered he'd offered his home to her. Most others would show her to a den and come back the next day to find her gone. But she had a feeling she wasn't going anywhere in the morning. Well, if only to hunt. "Hey, let's hunt tomorrow. I could go for a doe or stag... I haven't eaten anything big in a while! I usually eat field mice or hares." She thought back to her breakfast this morning; a mix of mice and little voles. Not very filling, but it stopped the pain in her stomach. "What do you say, Chagrin?" Myrle grinned down at him and then pressed their noses together before leaning up and puffing air to his face.
Chagrin gave a hearty laugh this time, so long since he'd had any sort of activity reminding him of puppy play, but it was nice, especially since he couldn't remember his own puppy-hood. The talk of hunt intrigued him, he couldn't ever remember hunting and not being alone, with Myrle they were sure to take down something particulary large. Already his mouth began to salivate at the thought of large game. "Sounds like a plan to me." he said sneezing again with the air puffed into his face. "I'm sure we can get something quite large with the two of it. I can't ever remember hunting and not doing it myself."
"I can't hunt big things myself.." Myrle said with a nod and then snorted a little. She hated not being able to hunt big game by herself. Then again, it seemed like a huge waste. She couldn't eat a whole thing by herself, no matter how hungry she was. Blinking at that thought, she shook her head a bit and then moved to lay her head down on her paws, just looking towards him, watching him carefully. "Too big, and too much."
Chagrin gave a nod. "I agree, but at time the taste of larger game is too much to bare and you feel you have to go after it." he said thinking of the few times he had gone after a doe. He'd succeeded once or twice and found himself unable to eat enough of the doe. He would save as much as he could, and leave the rest to the scavengers.
The female nodded a bit at that and then chuckled. She'd never even attempted to get a deer by herself. She was a pack hunter; only way she'd ever hunt. Myrle cleared her throat and moved to nose against his jaw again before chuckling a little. "It's a date then!" She as excited about that prospect. Hunting with her new friend. She couldn't ask for much more than that.
"I'll hold you to it." he replied laughing again. A date, interesting use of words in that sense, but all in the end he was please. The hunt he was sure would be successful and plentiful as the area was. For once he wouldn't be eating alone, only sharing a vague company with the scavengers that stalked him while he went on hunts. He didn't much like the birds, but there was little he could do and he knew it was part of the way things worked, that was life and death. But what did the birds matter this time, they wouldn't be enjoying as much of a meal they might think with Myrle by his side.
It might have been an interesting choice of words, but no taking them back now. Yawning a little more, Myrle shifted to nose against him again and then gave a happy little nuzzle. She couldn't help it. She enjoyed the contact like this, and was really thinking she could get used to it. Maybe, just maybe, she'd found something good in this wolf. What would come of the two, only time would tell. "We should really sleep if we're going to hunt, hm?"
Chagrin gave a nob. "Yes, I supposed that would be best, regain some strength after that run today." he said relaxing and heaving a large sigh and then an even larger yawn. "Sleep does sound good..." he trailed off dozing quicker than he thought he would,but maybe it was just the comfort of having another close that relaxed him he fell asleep.
Myrle laughed as she watched him fall asleep. She shifted and licked over the top of his head and then settled down again, nose to his cheek. Just like that, she'd drift off next to him pressed in just close enough to feel his warmth while they slept.
~Shaoilin Woods Guild Archive #2~
