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 Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:36 pm
 Gliding almost silently through the woods, Bryna's thoughts were strangely idle in the early morning light. Most nighttime predators had long since gone to rest, and Bryna herself was about ready to find a comfortable location and drop. She hadn't seen a wolf for days, nor heard one for miles, and her mind had taken the chance to remove itself from its usual strategic or aloof fare to just lie quiet and allow Bryna the chance to drift through her surroundings with her systems all running on low.
Enough time had passed that Bryna had come to terms with her pack's fate, and yet left her strong resolve to find them in place. Just because she'd had no luck yet didn't mean she wouldn't. Even if another year passed, she always had the option of returning to her sister's new pack and settling there, or finding another option. Founding a pack of her own-- unlikely, even though she could probably manage it-- or finding one she preferred and settling down with a chance of becoming a Beta again.
The distant sounds of birds rooting through the leaves for their breakfast caught Bryna's ear, and she turned her icy eyes in that direction although she kept up her pace. Birds were mostly feathers, unless it was a good-sized turkey, and what Bryna wanted more than food right now was sleep. She could always hunt tonight, when she was more rested. She lowered her nose to the ground, trying to tell if any other wolves had been by recently, or if there was a bear den anywhere about. She'd hate to find a cave or den, only to realize it was still occupied.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:06 pm
 Wandering through the wood the male Arctic looked like a ghost drifting through the brush, his scarred muzzle pointed towards the ground. How in the hell could he have lost her?! Asha had slipped out beneath his paws again, and he had no idea how the female kept doing it to him. It was starting to wear on his nerves. She kept rambling on that he mate was still alive that she had to find him. Yet he had been the one to find her and feed her and give her strength again when she had almost given up on her life and this was how she thanked him. If that damn mate of hers was really alive then he would have come looking for her by now.
But a scent that was female flared up, it wasn't Asharadine though. Might as well check it out. Maybe this female had spotted his somewhere along the way and could point him in the right direction. Ronin sped up his pace following the female scent until up ahead he could see the gray female. "Evening!" he called out, amber eyes taking in the female.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 2:49 pm
Bryna whipped her head around and her body went with it. As a Beta, she would face any approaching her head on and with a direct gaze. She was submissive to very few, and from what she could tell this one looked to be a Gamma. Not one of hers, but Bryna wasn't exactly surprised. For one of the few members of her pack remaining to find her was an irony she figured would be a bit too much for the wide world.
"Hello," she responded. It was almost dawn, after all, so she wasn't sure she could really answer him with a similar sentiment. Hello pretty much covered everything. She waited a few moments to see if he would speak again. If she hadn't been so tired, she probably would have gone right on to what she wanted to know, but she figured that betraying her intentions to a strange wolf was probably not the best idea when she wasn't at her full strength or concentration. Her body still managed to hold itself in a manner befitting a Beta, however, even if she was having a bit of trouble mustering her usual attitude.
"Have I encroached on pack lands?" She asked after the odd lapse of speech: not long enough that Ronin could have spoken again, but long enough to be noticable. "I didn't smell or see any markers for it." Bryna's tone suggested she had no reason to apologize, nor did she offer so much as a semblance of one.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:15 pm
Ronin immediately noticed the stature of a high wolf and cursed himself. As much as he had the attitude of a beta or higher that was not what he was. But either way, that wasn't the matter at hand for the moment. Out of pure manners he bowed his head in hello.
He shook his head though at her question. "No, at least not that I am aware of myself. I'm a wanderer looking for my Mate." he sighed. "She is like myself, but she has some two-legger 'jewelry' on her. Might you have seen her?" he questioned, praying the female knew. If not he was still in for a search, but something about the fem piqued his interest.
"If I may, what is a high ranking female such as yourself doing out here alone like this?" he asked tilting his head, eyes transfixed. He often seemed too cocky for his own good and too many times quarreled with the wrong wolves, hence his scars, he prayed he wasn't going to earn himself another, but in a way it was another prize to show off.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:50 pm
Bryna felt her hackles bristle slightly when he mentioned her being out alone, but she forced herself to relax. It didn't seem like he meant anything... suggestive by it, and Bryna was fairly certain that if she had to she could fight and at least manage to outrun him if she couldn't flat out win. Since the start of her journey she'd become very good at avoiding fights or winning them if they had to be fought.
"Travelling," she replied shortly. She didn't feel the need to explain herself further. Once wolves found that her pack had been scattered they tended to lose the proper amount of respect for her and treated her like any other lone wolf. Bryna had quickly disspelled the habit of telling people that bit of her story, if only to avoid the fights it caused.
She looked the male over, her eyes noting each scar she could see, as well as the interesting black marking on his left shoulder. He'd seen his fair share of fights, and since he was still standing he'd apparently come out pretty well from them. "I'm sorry to say I haven't seen another wolf for weeks, so I can't help you with your mate. I will, of course, keep an eye out for her and let her know you're worried and looking, however."
She almost left it at that, but he seemed genuinely concerned about his mate. That meant Bryna had an obligation to assist him, at least for a while. The prospect of helping someone who needed it flared Bryna's desire for justice and "right" to life, chasing away some of the fatigue she felt from travelling all night.
"If you'd like an extra pair of eyes, I can accompany you while you look for her," the silver wolf offered.
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Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:53 pm
Ronin nodded at the acceptable excuse that she was traveling. He could tell there was more too it but it was rude to question her about it. It was not his place, nor his business to ask for what reason, it was hers and hers alone just as his business was his.
The male cursed under his breath, where in the hell had she gone? He couldn't figure out why Asha kept up this disappearing act like she did and every time is made him more angry with her for it. But the female still pined for the one she called 'Raco' if that wolf was still alive he thought it best he stayed away, Asha was his now.
"Well thank you anyways." he nodded in his thanks and was about to head off his own way when she offered her assistant. He turned back ears perked and tail raised. On any other occasion he would have turned down the help, but right now he could really use it.
"Please!" he pleaded, anything at all as long as he found her. "In return, I'll hunt something down for you, something big. You have my word, even if we do not find Asharadine." he said bowing his head.
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Posted: Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:26 am
A tribute in return? That wasn't a bad exchange, but Bryna wasn't one to sit back and let someone else do the work.
"I don't expect you to have to do it on your own, but the assistance in the hunt for a larger animal would be a welcome change." She paused for a moment, then carefully corrected, "Exchange."
She moved up to his side, ghostly silent and looking the part in the strengthening glow under the trees: a wraith of the past about to fade with the oncoming sun. Too bad there wasn't any fog; that would have made the scene perfect. Bryna glanced in the direction of the rising sun before looking back to the male. It was ridiculous not to have something to call him.
"I'm Bryna," she introduced as she began heading in the direction they had been going originally. "So we're searching for your mate, Asharadine. Has she been kidnapped?" Anger flared in her eyes. She couldn't stand wolves who acted so disreputably. Kidnappers, murderers, thieves without a cause. Liars. Evading an answer was one thing, but outright lying was another. Bryna had found she skirted that line more now that she travelled, but never, never would she cross it.
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Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:40 am
The white male nodded his head. "Fair enough then, I am sure we could get ourselves a decent sized buck." he said.
He moved forward scenting again. "Her scent is quite strange, almost like pungent scented smokes like the two-leggers burn, with the smell of fresh rain." he said remembering the scent more than ever at the serious thought of it. It mesmerized him really, that smell.
"I am Ronin." he answered back. but he shook his head at the question of kidnapping. "No, at least I do not believe so. She has had the habit of wandering far away from me when I hunt. She lost her original mate in a fire, I found her and we have been by each others side since, but she seems to believe that her old mate is still alive." he sighed shaking his head. It annoyed him more than anything really. He wish Asha would just realize that he was gone and she belonged to him now.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:19 am
"Are you so sure he isn't?" Bryna asked, lowering her nose to the ground for any signs of the strange scent Ronin had described. All she smelled was forest, but she decided she'd keep this course for a bit before deciding to try a different direction with him.
"How far have you already come from the last trace of her scent?" That would be a good place to start. Keep the conversation to him and his lost mate, and hopefully find her sooner rather than later. Bryna enjoyed the company of other wolves, of course, but she was getting an odd vibe from the strange way Ronin was explaining his relationship with his mate. It sounded less to Bryna like Asharadine was Ronin's mate, as much as she was a ward looking for her lost love. However, Bryna was not one to judge, and she really had little scope on the situation. If he wanted to find his mate, she would assist him until the female was found or until it seemed pointless to continue looking.
Bryna turned her head, ears picking up the least little sounds of anyone or anything living close by other than the birds littering the trees and the ground as they searched for breakfast and sang greetings to the new morning.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:39 pm
Ronin scoffed, he couldn't help himself. "If he were alive he would have found her by now." he said wit a faint snarl creeping over his maw. If he was still alive he sure as hell wasn't going to let him take Asha back.
"I last caught scent of her near the river in the valley. We were traveling through there. I followed her scent up to the forest edge and it disappeared somehow." he said. It confused him, how the hell could her scent have just suddenly vanished like that? It shouldn't have been possible.
"We have been traveling through this area for a little while now. We don't stay in one place for long too often. But the hunting was good so we decided to settle for a small while." he nodded and shrugged to himself, nose still to the ground. Nothing. There was just absolutely nothing, he raised his nose to the air scenting and still the same result. Wolves didn't just vanish, it was impossible. Ronin believed to much that the only things plausible were the things that he could touch, see and feel with tooth and claw.
The bird song rang through the white wolf's ears. He enjoyed it normally, but for the time being it feel on deaf ears with him, there was little to enjoy in the sweet sound.
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:41 pm
"It's a big forest to search for any single wolf," Bryna replied honestly, pausing to sniff at an old scent on a tree. No, definitely not fresh enough. "Especially if you're always moving around. Your Asaharadine most likely feels that this moving around is either preventing her mate from finding her or is to help her find new places to look for him."
The concept of moving constantly drew Bryna's attention as well, and she turned her eyes his way. "Do you enjoy moving about, or would you prefer to settle with her in a pack? I imagine no pack would turn away another couple to fill out their ranks."
She stopped and turned her nose to the wind as it came by, half-listening to Ronin's reply. She smelled a brief whiff of deer, but she had bigger things on her plate at the moment.
"Perhaps we're looking in the wrong direction, or even if the scent was wiped out somehow we would have picked it up already. I would suggest going back the way we came and trying a different direction to find her. That will probably yield better results."
Bryna readjusted to the command position well, though she probably shouldn't still take to it so readily. Some habits were hard to get rid of, especially when they were hardwired into your personality.
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:05 am
Ronin almost scoffed at the idea of that so called mate of Asharadine's finding her, or nonetheless her finding him. "Yes, I will agree, but she has done this before and I found her." he shrugged. His amber eyes squinted in disdain, not of course for the female with him, but rather at other things.
"No, I do not particularly enjoy it. I have hopes of pack of my own rather than joining one." he said lifting his tail, he thought he caught a whiff of the white femme but it was nothing more than his imagination.
The male resigned to turn and follow the female, she was right, they would have picked up at least some hint of Asha by now. "Yes, I believe you may be right. If we do not find her by Moon rise I will hunt with you and find her myself. I need not impose on you too long." he sighed. Asha must have wandered farther than usual this time. It was annoying, but there was little he cold do about the females constant need to move and never stay still.
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Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:55 pm
Bryna nodded at the timeframe he gave her, believing that would be sufficient. "Then that leaves us a day to find her trail. That should be more than enough time, unless she's found a way to mask her scent that wolves haven't come across before."
Wanting to make a pack of his own was an admirable goal, although Bryna thought his chances of making one would most likely increase if he found a mate who was not, apparently, prone to wandering off. Still, perhaps his mate would settle down once she came to terms with her love being dead. It was never easy, trying to come to terms with the loss of loved ones, but once she had it was possible she could be the type of wolf to support her new mate-- if she ever decided she wanted to keep him as her mate.
Bryna lowered her nose to the leaves again before sniffing at tree as they passed by. "If you lead, we can run to reach the place you lost her scent more quickly and cover more ground overall." If Asharadine had gone farther than either of them though, then it would be more time consuming for them and every minute would count. In any case, Bryna sincerely hoped she was doing the right thing by helping Ronin. Part of her almost wanted not to find the female, just so she could avoid the issue if Asharadine would have preferred to keep wandering. Still, she had said she would do this and she wouldn't break a promise because of possibilities. He needed her help, and she had offered it. That was that.
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 6:29 am
He thought for a moment. "I don't know any way a wolf could do that. If they can I'd sure like to know how they do it. Come in handy while hunt." he gave a half-hearted laugh.
He'd tried to talk Asha into beginning a pack, but whenever he tried she would have none of it and ignore him and snap that she had no plans and wished to return to her brothers. He'd heard a lot of talk about them, but some good they did if they had split up to search out meaning to their lives and then planning to somehow run into each other again. A fat chance in hell, that's what that was. They weren't even her full blooded brothers! They were half-siblings, only connected by their fathers habit of philandering.
Ronin nodded to the female and took off scenting himself back to the riverside where he had left Asha and where he scent just stopped. The river could be heard just passed the tree line before the trees almost completely dropped off to expose the river, the water wasn't too swift and was easy enough to cross. "This is where I lost her." he panted, his thick coat didn't hold him well in the lower climates and the warmer weather to well. But he hoped with time his body would adjust to the difference and no longer produce such a thick coat in the summer by the next season.
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Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2009 9:59 am
Bryna stared at the river for a moment, then moved forward and carefully lowered her nose to the ground, getting her first whiff of Asha's scent so she would at least know what to look for. The whole time, her eyes stayed on the river and the opposite bank, looking for signs of a wolf passing by.
"Are you certain she has not crossed the river, or used the river to walk either way before she crossed?" Bryna offered. She'd been taught similar tactics as a pup. You couldn't be followed if the other wolf didn't know how far down or up river you had gone. "If she walked in the river for any length, her scent may have reappeared down or up stream once she left the water and began walking in the woods again."
Bryna turned her head to bite briefly and delicately at an itch on her side, then she shook herself slightly and moved closer to the water, looking for the faint traces of paw prints in the mud of the shallows. It was probable any signs had long since vanished, but even a slight indentation might confirm her theory and at least give them a place to start looking. As it was, they would have to split up to each side of the river. It didn't look like a difficult crossing here, and if they did they could scour the banks more quickly, going in one direction first, then the other if they found no signs of her. It was the only thing that made sense for her sudden disappearance, unless a particularly large eagle had swept down in the open air over the river and carried her off. Bryna almost laughed at the though, but managed to tamp down her amusement, thankful that looking at the water hid her smile from Ronin. She didn't want him thinking that she was laughing at him, not when his temper was so uncertain.
There were no pawprints, which Bryna had figured would be the case. The water did its work well and quickly. "We could each take one side of the river and head in one direction," she suggested, checking the sun and finding it was still before midday. "If one of us finds something the river isn't so wide that we couldn't alert the other, and if we find nothing we can try in the other direction."
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