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 Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:47 pm
Pink pawpads fidgited against the dirt outside the den's entrance, and she looked to the shadowed trees that stretched out before the den and extended into a good portion of the packlands. Without looking back again, Eva trotted out of the warmth and safety of the den and into the shadows. Even in the dark her sight was clear, and her feet instinctively took her to the shore. The moon, half-full, glittered on the ocean as gentle waves shifted its reflection, and Eva was enthralled by the sight so much that she paused briefly to take it in.
Once she'd come back to her thoughts, Eva lazily wandered along the low ridge above the shoreline, heading for the edge of the packlands. Although usually the fear of other wolves would have been a concern for a female out alone at night. However, Eva's pack was so far south that they received few strange visitors anywhere near them and she never really worried about that. It was rare to run into someone from their own pack, or even Ouranos, let alone some wolf from outside of her "family" area.
As she passed back into the shadows of the trees and deeper into the woods, she reflected-- very briefly-- on the time she and Indeygo had thought a section of these woods were haunted. A grin crossed her mouth and she sighed loudly, letting out whatever small bit of tension might have been left in her. The night was clear, comfortable, and it felt good to be deep in Outer Edge of the territory on her own. For some reason the night had calmed her enough that her usual excited energy was low and she felt... older. More like the adult she would be in a season or two. The adult that would go out and find her siblings.
The grin by now had vanished, and she blankly contemplated the trees as she passed them. It wasn't a pleasant memory, her siblings, but she knew she had to take Indeygo and find them. She wasn't quite old enough that Mom would let her go, but she was close... So close. Soon she would bring it up with Indeygo, and then with Mom, and then the siblings would be able to set out and see if any of their blood family had survived.
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:08 am
His bright white pelt, spotted with black, was unusual amongst the Glen Pack - whose pelts ran the gamut of natural tones. There were some black, some white, even some spotted - but the combination, in him, had produced a rather garish pelt which stood out like a sore thumb. Calliope, their alpha, had always been aloof from him - though he knew that she had tried to be accepting of him in deference to her mate being a relation to his mother. Still, to know as a pup how odd others viewed you? It had 'coloured' his perception of the world.
His mother had told him that 'out there' there were wolves with pelages the colour of the rainbow, but he had figured she was just trying to make him feel better... until his eyes had come to rest upon the blue and white dappled female.
His gasp of surprise was audible.
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Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:06 am
It was unusual for Eva to see other wolves, and almost unheard of to see wolves outside of the Outriders. Aside from Oura, in fact, Eva hadn't ever met a wolf outside of the Outriders once Cali had rescued her. The male staring at her startled her almost as badly as she seemed to have startled him. She took in his pelt-- and the fact that he was definitely a stranger-- with a single look before she faced him fully. There was something about his face, his markings, that made him look sad. Or maybe he really was sad and his pelt was a reflection of that. Stranger things certainly must have happened. Somewhere. She was still careful-- Mom would be mad if she wasn't-- but she wasn't scared of him as some young females might be of strange males they found in the woods alone.
"Hi there." She tilted her head to imply her curiousity. "Do you have business with the Outriders?"
Far behind her somewhere Eva heard a wave wash high up on the shore and her ear briefly flicked towards it, though she otherwise showed no interest.
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Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:05 am
"You're... you're blue!" he sputtered, his thoughts passing through his mouth before his brain caught up. It was like something from a dream - like reality but subtly changed in a fundamental detail. As his mind tried to reign his tongue in, he managed to process the question she had asked him.
"Outriders? No... I was just" just what? Nothing. Just walking, moving on. "Just passing through" he ended lamely. His attempts to be circumspect failed. He ogled, blinked, looked to the side. He stole another glance at her blueness.
I wonder if there are others like her? If there's a blue wolf then maybe there's a red, or even green, haha! - that'd make hunting a lot easier. In spring and summer, at least. He'd figured he would have to travel a lot further to find those who might accept him - perhaps the chance was closer to home than he expected.
His paws shifted, with unease as he slowly realised he probably ought not just to explain his presence here so casually. What if there were a pack of blue wolves hereabouts which didn't like trespassers? He'd been too insulated, in the Glen, with so few others coming by... He looked around, uneasily, ears flattening a little.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 3:14 pm
Eva's face switched through numerous amusing variations of startlement, offense, and humorous confusion before she settled on a vaguely confused, wrinkle-muzzled look as she tried to decide if this was a harmless loony or actually a dangerous one.
"You haven't seen many bright wolves, have you? Are you from Glen Abhainn?" It would make sense, if he were local, but he didn't know who the Outriders were either apparently, or maybe he was just confused, thrown off by her appearance.
Eva glanced down at her pelt briefly, trying to understand what she looked like to him and failing. Of course she was blue. Lots of wolves had funny colors, didn't they? She eyed his pelt next. Normal colors, yeah, but the patterning was kind of like hers. Similar. What was the big deal?
She thought she saw his ears tip back in the night and she glanced quickly behind her to be sure no one had snuck up on her while she'd been distracted. There was nothing there.
"Are you all right? Are you expecting some company?" She really, really hoped not. One wolf she could outrun, but two might be able to pin her down. That would be unpleasant. She tried to approximate how long it would take her to get safely within distance of the dens without appearing to let her mind wander.
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Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 5:52 pm
"No... no I really haven't" he admitted "and yes, I'm from Glen Abhainn" he tried to regain a smidgeon of composure. How would he have liked it if she'd walked into his land and shouted 'oh my goodness, you have spots!' at him. Ugh.
"I'm sorry, I'm" he sighed "an idiot, apparently" still a little wary, he at least tried to act like the proper wolf he'd been brought up to be. "I'm Ovid, formerly of the Glen and I'm here alone, except from you" his face took on a slightly hunted look again "I mean... I assume so. I mean, I don't mean to suggest that I want to be alone with you here... I mean... I mean..." he stammered out, tongue over teeth in an attempt to explain himself. His mind really was all over the place and it showed. He knew and felt he was 'different' and all his life he'd had the subtle feeling that having an odd coat was so bad, and he hated that his first instinct, his first thought on seeing some wolf more unusual than himself was a slight tinge of disgust, distrust or dislike.
His head drooped a little ways, trying to reconcile ingrained behaviour with his own more open mind. "What I mean is, I'm sorry if I've disturbed you".
There. Not so hard, was it?
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Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:05 am
Eva tilted her head at him again, and a smile came to her face. Oh. This wasn't so difficult after all. He was a bit like Indeygo, all clumsiness and uncertainty with social interaction. She could easily handle that, although probably with less of the bossing she usually did with her brother. Being out of his element, out of his homeland, probably wasn't exactly comfortable either, nor helping the situation at all. However, a neighbor was a neighbor, even if he was a weird neighbor.
"You aren't disturbing me. I'm just... patrolling the borders." Not exactly a lie, since she was doing something of a circuitous route of the pack's edge. "You said formerly," she realized suddenly, doing some blurting of her own. She did have issues saying what was on her mind sometimes. A lot of the time. "Why did you say formerly of the Glen?"
Looking at his pelt, Eva couldn't understand why. She knew that Ouranos's pack didn't like odd colors, but this Ovid's pelt looked fine to her in the dark: white and black, that wasn't really odd. He did look like a sad creature, though, and she wasn't sure how much of that was from the dark fur under his eyes. Maybe most of it... maybe not very much at all.
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Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 12:01 pm
Eva had pretty much hit the nail on the head, when it came to how Ovid interacted with the world, though he would have been surprised to be so easily understood. The other side of being looked at differently to the rest of the pack was a sense of uniqueness which was slowly eroding away in the face of so much blue...
He wasn't sure he wanted to go into the reasons behind him leaving the Glen Pack right now and they really were his own issues. Plus, how would a blue wolf understand what he was odd? "Oh... I just felt like it wasn't, you know, the place for me any more?" his eyes looked to one side as he spoke. Ovid was a terrible liar...
"You seem to know a lot about the Glen... have you been there?" he wondered aloud, almost barking a soft laugh at the thought of Calliope seeing this bright blue female in her subdued land.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 8:25 am
"Well, our packs are allies... It's not that surprising I know about you. Besides, Mama's friends with Ouranos, and he's in the Glen. He took us hunting once or twice with him." She smiled brightly. Her uneasiness had gone with her evaluation of his character. "I've never visited your lands though."
The subject of his leaving was dropped. A stranger's business wasn't her concern, and it was private. How would she like him sticking his nose into her den? Not very much at all.
"It should be fun to see the rest of the world. Are you going to travel, or just seek out another pack?" She turned and started heading back towards the ocean even before she finished speaking. Someplace a bit more open would be nice, and although her eyesight was, naturally, wonderful, a better look at him in the moonlight couldn't hurt either.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 12:57 pm
"Oh..." he hadn't really known that - noone had told him and he'd never spent enough time around the main den to overhear much. He'd always assumed the Glen Pack was adrift from the rest of Telk. The mention of Ouranos, that gentle, sad, giant brought a small smile back to the young male, though. It was a surprise to him that Ouranos had ventured out into the world, though, nevermind gone hunting elsewhere.
"Ouranos taught me to hunt... he taught us all" his tone was soft, reminiscent. "All the young wolves of the Glen pack that is - he was one of the few who didn't look at me funny". Ovid's eyes dropped to the ground, then came back to to Eva's at her next words.
Truth be told he didn't know. He had set out with nothing but a vague sense that he had to get away. Of course he had assured his mother that he knew what he was doing, but he had just wanted to reassure her. Travelling in itself felt like a good idea at the time, but after a few nights travelling on his own he wasn't entirely sure he was cut out for it.
"I..." he paused, his tongue stumbling on the half-truths which had placated his mother's heart. As the blue pelted girl moved off, he followed behind her. "I really don't know" it came out with a sigh. It felt good to say it, and at least someone he barely knew couldn't judge him for it. "You've thought about it?" he asked, wondering if she had thought on it, given she had said it would be 'fun'.
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Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 3:05 pm
Eva nodded, and flicked her ears at some noise in the underbrush. "I'm leaving the pack as soon as I'm old enough." Sooner than I'm saying. "My brother and I are. Mama promised us when we were little."
She didn't expand on why-- her own secret business, like Ovid's reasons for leaving-- but kept up an easy pace until she saw the shore again. This would be easier, and a faster run back home, too. She wasn't sure how long she had until Indeygo or Mama woke up and found her gone; hopefully not until she got back. The treeline broke near the beach, and she turned her head back to get her first look at him.
"I'm Evadne, by the way." Her lack of introduction had finally been noticed. She wagged her tail once, and then trotted closer to the beach. Her feet paused before the dirt had fully turned into sand and she turned her nose to the sudden breeze. "I don't understand why anyone would look at you funny. You look normal to me." She took a few steps backwards from him and inspected him openly, checking for extra limbs or missing ones or something. "You don't even have any bright colors to your fur. I can't imagine your pack would like me at all." Her words were highlighted by an uncaring smile. "I think that's why Mom never took us to visit Ouranos. Whenever we saw him it was on our lands, or close to it at least."
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Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 3:09 pm
So she was leaving home too? It was a shame, just as he'd met her she was going to be heading off. He wondered why she'd wanted to move since she was little. He'd known... he'd felt different since a young age but he hadn't even thought of moving until he was well on his way to adulthood - when he realised he had the power and the ability to strike out on his own.
He started a little as they came out onto the beach, eyes wide. He had always been able to hear the ocean and, on a clear day, could see a glimmer of it from atop the high cliffs which surrounded the Glen but he'd never seen it up close. It was beautiful. He was so distracted that he didn't notice her looking back, and it took a moment for her words to reach through to him.
Evadne? it seemed very different to the names of those in his pack, but that was to be expected. He liked the name, simply for it's perceived difference. That, in her estimation, he seemed normal was something which brought a tiny smile to the morose male's lips. It seemed he was finding the acceptance he was looking for a lot faster than he could have hoped.
"Well, I'd have liked you. Nng I mean... you know what I mean. I don't want to be like them. I'm not like them." The curse of young male's everywhere - foot-in-mouth disease. "I kinda wish I'd come with Ouranos out on one of his border patrols." Ovid's eyes were still on the ocean, watching flickering white tips crashing down onto the sandy beach. "If I'd known he came here..." but he hadn't and it wasn't something he could change now.
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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 7:43 am
"If you're leaving your pack, you're obviously not like them. I still don't see anything odd about you." She looked him over again, sitting down as she did so. "But if they don't like you, they probably wouldn't like Mom either." She laughed and looked back at the ocean. "She's not odd-colored, but it must have something to do with markings, and they wouldn't like hers. I just thought Ouranos meant colors."
"So you don't like me now?" It was a reference to his "would have liked you" comment, but she wasn't that put off. Obviously that wasn't what he meant, but she wanted to needle him a little, to see how far his good-nature went. If his pack had treated him differently for some reason, though, he was probably pretty tame.
"Would coming here with Ouranos have made you like me? You're kind of confusing you know." The way the waves washed up on shore was a comforting background to the conversation. Eva didn't know how she'd do living away from the ocean after she had gotten so used to it. Still, as long as there was forest to hunt in, she'd be happy.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:44 am
He figured she was probably right about that. He wasn't like them, he'd never be or have been like them. He wouldn't be. He tried to explain why he'd seemed to odd, to them, though. "Well, my mother is brown with a dappled back, like my own. A little like yours too I guess - softer spots - but my father is white with... some small unusual markings. Because they were small he was tolerated but when I was born the fact that I had black spots on white fur? It just... stood out I guess".
He'd never really, truly, understood it himself. Afterall, how was it his fault which colour of coat he had. He could feel a tinge of the anger he'd held inside building up, but he choked it back down. He was gone now, that was in the past. When his gaze returned to Eva, his expression was more apathetic which, with his facial markings, made him look somewhat morose.
"I think you seem cool" he said, trying not to let his mouth get him into bother again. The reminder of his troubles had calmed him a little, and made him forget he was talking to a girl. "If I'd come here with Ouranos, I'd have porbably left home sooner. I'd have known I wasn't that odd I might not have felt so... alone y'know? I had heard there were wolves with all sorts of coloured pelts out there, I mean why hate something which doesn't exist, right? But... I'd never really seen one, I never understood. Like you keep saying - to you I don't look odd and to me, that's the most wonderful thing. Out here I feel almost... normal. Which, in a way, I hate because it seems like I'm seeing everyone else as 'odd' but I... I dunno" his smile was now self-deprecating. "I wish I could explain it better but there's so much kinda going on in my head at the moment".
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 8:59 am
"I understand, I think," she assured him. "I think Indie and I were just lucky Mom found us, instead of other people. If it had been someone from your pack, or a pack like it, then we might have been left for dead, hm? Or it could have been a cannibal lone and we would have been eaten."
The morbid thoughts didn't really seem to bother her. In fact, they took her into a bit of deep thought that she found fascinating. Things could have gone much worse for them, although who knew if that was how it turned out for their siblings. If the others had been eaten, or had died and then been eaten by scavengers, or their bodies burnt up, it would be impossible to find them. The longer they waited...
Eva blinked and refocused on Ovid, not even considering she had just been staring blankly at him for several moments. "Leaving Glen was definitely best for you. Whether or not you find another pack right away, I know there are packs out there where you'll blend right in and probably be more on the 'normal' end of the scale. There are more bright wolves out there than you'd expect, and a lot of wolves who are mixes of bright and natural." She smiled and rolled over, not concerned with Ovid's possible aggressiveness anymore. He was harmless, so she might as well treat him that way. "Or at least from what I've seen in the Outriders, and from my old pack, that's how it is. I'll see it myself someday soon, but not before you probably."
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