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 Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:49 pm
Macha stood there staring down at a patch of what could only be described as weeds with a characteristic frown of concentration and bemusement upon her forehead. Reaction had set her a task of find this particular plant she needed to heal a small wound on another wolf, something minor to prevent infection and all though the plant was relatively common and grew in large amounts though Macha was new to this. Determined to return to Reaction with the correct plant she stood over the patch of weeds and hunted.
It hadn’t been long since the female had taken her in but right away she had set Macha multiple tasks to keep her busy, or as Reaction put it ‘out of trouble.’ Though she still found time to visit HanGeng for her hunting training, she was slowly starting to feel a strange fondness for the dragon marked wolf though she was still naïve to the male/female attraction issue, Reaction attempted to explain to her when she had failed to understand why she shouldn’t be sleeping in HanGeng’s den now she was bordering upon adolescence.
Absorbed in what she was doing her mind was nearly totally focused upon what she was doing, though as HanGeng kept telling her she should always keep a small part of her consciousness free from the task at hand, which allowed her to guard herself from another possible attack. That tiny part of consciousness nearly got lost in hunting for the herb when it picked up the distant sound of crunching leaves. Immediately Macha’s ears flickered and hungered for another signal and her herb hunting was temporally put on hold.
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 1:40 pm
 He woke up with a headache, and that was a first. Adam was not one prone to dehydration even when away from Kalama, having always made it to water to replenish himself. No, it wasn't an issue of being thirsty that thudded his skull so, but what then . . . ? Was it on account of the memories somehow? Lately his sleep had been driven not by strange visions of green and black and gleaming fangs, but of black and red-oranges and yellows, and bright, ever bright blue . . . Thus Adam stumbled about in hopes of finding something to eat, be it meat or plant - well, not that he knew very much about medicinal herbs, that was more of Feather's and Stiff's forte, maybe Wispy's as well. Something, though, to fill his eager stomach! Perhaps that would take away the pain.
Stiff . . . Zion. Was that who he saw so often nowadays in his dreams? Why, though? And why was there so all-consuming blackness with him, why such gradient blues? He stumbled through the forest without much attention to where his paws went, moaning softly as he tried to shake off the headache. Something to do with that Tree-Dweller? Oy . . . The wolf had said it would not be an easy journey. Still. Owwy.
In the murkiness of grays he spotted without warning a beacon of blue - blues, rather, pressed upon such a dark figure that it might have been a flesh-and-blood shadow. It faintly resembled some of the colros from hsi dream, and for a moment Adam thought to mumble his brother's name. Of course, nothing came out, nor did the figure move, but by some innate sense the pup knew that this one was not harmful. He smelled others as well, none quit as close. A pack? Perhaps he could get some assistance. So Adam decided to head over to the figure, letting his paws crash upon leaves to signal his approach, feeling rather light-headed nad hpoing this was a good decision.
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:40 pm
Macha lost all concentration where the herbs were regarded and instead focused on the wolf approaching her. She turned about, her back to the pack of weeds she had just been staring into and focused on the vegetation which had previously been behind her, though it was late autumn now and any thick vegetation to be had was bracken and brambles. So it wasn't long after she scented the other wolf that he came into view.
She blinked once, twice and then a final time. His coat blended so well into the autumnal colours that Macha almost struggled to differentiate him from their surroundings but it wasn't that which gave her reason to pause but the array of markings upon his coat. She shook her head in fascination and as was normal for her she bounded towards the other confidently. She stopped some paces away and stared at him with endless black eyes, he stood little taller than herself and was of a similar age, a confused frown played upon her brow and she blurted out, 'I didn't know their were other pups within the pack, who are you?' She stared at him and remembering herself she puffed her chest out slightly and declared, 'I am Macha.' There, now it was his turn.
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 3:41 pm
Um . . . girlie? I'm not in the pack. I don't even smell like you! Adam thought to himself with a simple, quiet snort. By the looks of her, this Macha was either confident in herself or very silly for announcing her name to a stranger she had met for but several seconds. If hter was anything he had learned from his mama, it was not to tell strangers your name. But then again, this was coming from the same mama that called magic "a pagan's sinful way" and who had denied him love for so long because she believed he would die soon. So much for faith! She'd probably not like to hear what he had gone through so far.
But a girl with a little spunk! This was a first. It was also a first to see such bright colors against such a dark background - the closest he had seen thus-far would be watching the full moon against a cloudless sky. So perhaps he would entertain his curiosities for a time, see where this little meeting would lead him.
Though not in much control of the growing power within him, Adam was finding a curious way to use it. Rather than fully announce the mind-speech he so loosely grasped by howling senselessly in a wolf's mind, he manipulated the mind-voice for his own devices and matched it to go along with the pace of his mouth's movements, giving him the illusion of normally talking. What was unfortunate at this stage was that the novice seer could only parrot back in voices he had heard already - none of which matched his age. Thus, when he "spoke", it was with Macha's very voice and dialect. "Macha? I am not of any pack and never have been. Who lives here?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 3:34 pm
Macha stared at the male, her eyes widening as he seemed to speak to her in her own voice. She shook her head and stared at him, the frown upon her forehead deepening causing her eyes to narrow now. Then she actually heard what he had said, 'Yes, I am Macha. You did not tell me your name, isn't that, well, sort of normal when meeting someone?' Macha tilted her head to one side and gazed rather bewildered at the strange male.
She thought it rather rude he did not give his name but what confused her the most was the fact he wasn't a member of the pack yet at the same time hadn't released he'd crossed the packs boarders, which Haku and others within the pack marked regularly. Was he stupid or something? 'Who lives here? Well your in the pack lands of Draug Faroth, did you not pass a scent marker?'
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Posted: Wed Dec 02, 2009 2:59 pm
That would explain the scent, yeah . . . He remembered vaguely now having come across a couple of distinct smells back perhaps a few minutes of walking before. But then, Adam had been wrapped up in musings over the strange dreams and the (then) dull headache growing more painful as time passed; the smell had been at most a curious detail at the back of his mind. "Mother always told me to be careful of strangers," he replied in the mind-voice's Macha-tone, "and not to just give out my name to anyone who asks it. Maybe if you're nicer, I'll give it to you. Friends always know my name."
Curiously, he could smell something on the she-pup that reminded him of Home. no, no, wait - the home part was just him intermingling memories with similar scents; yes, this Macha smelled of herbs, but not of flowers like Feather and Wispy. "Are you looking for something?" he asked, the incongruence of a girl's voice seeming to slip from his mouth almost comical. "I smell plants on you. I have a very good nose if you're having trouble."
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:18 am
Macha shook her head again, she swore he was answering her in her own voice. Was he mimicking her, why? She frowned at him and it deepened as she began to break down his words and absorbed them, 'Strangers? Well your the stranger here, this is my pack's territory, did she not teach you to respect such things?' Her frown deepened, she did not really approve of what he had said, 'If you're nicer'? How had she not been? With his second line of subject matter though her eyes widened and she almost dropped her mouth open with surprise, she had nearly forgotten the herb Reaction has sent her out to look for.
'Well,hmm, yes I was in fact but I'm not quite sure what is was called now. She said it was used in a poultice to help prevent infection, long narrow spear like leaves, dark green and a silvery sort of sheen to them...' She was staring about her while saying this, as if she was trying to find one to point it out to her newly formed acquaintance when she flicked her head violently back to stare at him she blurted out rather quickly, stumbling over every word, 'I don't need help, I'll find it, yes, I'll find it.' She frowned again and her eyes began to wonder, looked at the thick blanket of growth about them and she mumbled to herself, though loud enough to be audible by another, 'But you can look for it too, I guess, a game, yes, a game. You find it first and you well, you can ask something of me and if I find it.' Her voice raised slightly in tone and she carried on, 'you can tell me your name.'
She flicked her eyes back to him and in her usual sound level she announced abruptly, 'Do you want to play a game?' Her eyes sparkled hopefully.
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Posted: Sun Dec 06, 2009 4:42 pm
What a silly thing to make a game out of! "Of course I want to play," he answered immediately, because the opportunity was scarce and he was bored as it was. Headaches, weird dreams of color, Kalama wandering off . . . Yeah, a game sounded very, very nice right about now. If nothing else, the look in her eye suggested that the girl wasn't all about being spunky, and the ever-curious pup enjoyed to learn about other wolves from his quiet perch inside himself. Of course, right now it wasn't very quiet at all; for a mute, he could be somewhat out-spoken. And for your information, my mother didn't like packs. We didn't need one and I grew up just fine. I saw one from a far once, though - lots of bright color." Sort of like the bright blues on her . . . and then his head gave a great throb and he swayed for a moment with a soft moan. Pull it together, boy!
"Oy. Stupid headache. Anyway. Game it is! What are we looking for?" Adam knew full well he could use his newfound power to try and cheat his way through, but he grew up on stronger morals than that. Better to do first impressions the right way - besides, he was a little afraid of letting others know he had been to the tree-dweller's den. This mind-tone mimicry could be passed off as a talent, but scanning a wolf's mind? Who's to say they didn't know or feel it anyway? He didn't need the conversation to turn an awkward direction so early into the meeting.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:08 am
Macha beamed at him, he'd help her find this herb Reaction had asked for, hopefully that would make her job easier. She wondered then if Reaction would be mad at her for getting help or amused at her use of initiative, never mind to late now, she thought to herself. Excitably she informed the strangely patterned wolf, 'She, Reaction that is the pack mother, said it was to be used in a poultice to help prevent infection, long narrow spear like leaves, dark green and with a silvery sort of sheen to them.' She smiled at the male her eyes sparkling before announcing, 'Ready... GO!'
With that Macha turned so quickly from the male to where she had been looking previously that she almost lost her balanced and nose dived into the clump of weeds before regaining her balance once again. Coughing slightly a focused frown formed upon her brow and her stare pierced though the top layer of grow to try and look underneath, thinking perhaps the darker leafs in fact liked the shade.
Now Macha, still being young and also very characteristically of her, her mind began to wonder and suddenly she took note of what the male had said before agreeing to the the game. As she had a tenancy to do, Macha worked backwards in a conversation, most words sinking in later than desired and while she still continued her search she spoke over her shoulder addressing the her competitor. 'Where is your mother now?' The question wasn't really meant to be answered being of a rhetorical nature as she added, 'Both my parents where lone wolves and they are dead now, I watched as the crows ate their eyes.' She said it in a rather matter of fact way. 'Haku, he's the alpha, told me packs are like big family's and there is much love in a pack and much more knowledge to be gained.'
She did not say anything more on the subject simply returning her attentions back to searching for the required leaf.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 3:17 pm
Of course, as soon as she said go he felt no need to consider any more questions. The boy was a one-track mind unlike his companion, which was both a positive and negative trait - in this case, it allowed him to ignore certain things - like questions about his mother or the comments about packs - without seeming too rude; he still couldn't tell the difference between rhetorical questions (which he didn't get why they were asked in the first place) and actual ones. While Macha went off and dug her nose into weeds, Adam closed his eyes and sought back memories of the times when several of his siblings would come over and play "Guess That Plant" with him. He of course couldn't see very well (at all?) at the time, but if only he could remember their properties . . . The thing was, Feather and Stiff and Swirly usually just brought regular types of flowers, not actual herbs.
Long, narrow spear-like leaves. Dark green with a silvery sheen. "Comfrey?" he asked as confidently as he could, squinting one eye open to see her busy looking away. "Burdock? Chervil? One of those dandylion things?" If he could just get a pinpoint on the image, if he knew the scent to match it, it would come to him immediately; then it'd be an easy road to victory from there if he just followed his nose! "And, um . . . sorry about your parents," Adam added quickly, hating the mention of death and the tone she used to state it. Such dark matters were sensitive issues for him.
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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:46 am
Macha only partly heard what her competitor had said, her ears clouded by the soft swooshing noise as she pushed her nose about in the undergrowth, sniffing rapidly. 'Comfrey?' She said out loud and then mumbled away to herself under her breath, 'Oh no, no, Comfrey, well that's used for, well...erm...' She stopped her search and lifted her head, her eyes flashing of into the distance not looking upon anything physical when it came to her, turning to her competitor, 'Comfrey's used for healing bones.' She shook her head, silly boy she thought and nose down she carried on sniffing.
A moment later and at the back of her mind it clicked, trying to think of all the uses for the herbs he had listed she came across the name of the one they were hunting together. She stopped and looked over to him, beaming 'Sage!' Nose down she fervently sort out her quarry, now more interested in beating the male than pleasing Reaction.
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:52 pm
Sage! He could picture it clearly now, the blue-purple petals bursting quietly from gray leaves, the slightly peppery taste that accentuated fresh kill - what a discovery it had been the day Feather decided to coat the rabbit with some of the crushed herb! The memory overrode Macha's correction as he wandered off, following the scent refound in his nose: memory or reality? He couldn't tell at first, though the sounds of Macha shifting the leaves about were not that far, but within seconds his little mind went on the one-way track towards the plant.
Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff . . . sniff, sniff, sniffaaaaaaaAAAACHUUU! Too much dirt up the nose. Yet . . . He dug a bit and saw a few roots. More plants. Adam continued forward eagerly, shifting through various green plants, his strange eyesight lending him aid in the competition in that he was not as distracted by the towering trees, the reletively few insects about, or other fauna that happened ot be in the vicinity. Nope, only vague semblances of gray-green, monotone brown, and . . . there! A hint of purple and blue among other splashes of color! He hastened forward, already tasting the plant.
"Found!" Adam called triumphantly as his nose touched upon the dellicate plant, quite pleased with himself rather than smug. For a moment, he had actually thought he would fail his siblings' teachings!
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 11:15 am
Macha searched fervently for the sage, she had smelt it before when Reaction had put examples of a lot of common herbs in front of her and lectured her about them but the scent was absent from her nostrils right now though this did not discourage her from carrying on with the hunt. She heard distantly the sound of ruffle undergrowth as the male seemed to come closer to her and after a few moments she heard him call out. So infused with the hunt though and her high level of concentration on the matter what the male had called out took a while to sink in but it wasn't long before it did.
Macha stopped dead in her tracks and raised her head up very slowly, her shoulders slightly bunched, she looked like a pup about to be told off by an elder. She peered over her shoulder and looked over at the male. She awaited a little gloating from him but when it didn't come she took a deep breath, straighten up and slowly made her way over to him.
As she reached him, she looked down at his paws and sure enough there was sage, growing abundantly. She raised her head and looked him straight in the eye and she was surprised at herself when her voice came out very mature, no hint of sulking at all 'Well done.' She smiled then and nodded her head slightly. She had taken a bit of a dislike to the male when he hadn't given his name, she thought it very rude but she forgot that now as she released he'd helped her with her work. 'You better pluck a few leaves off and then I can introduce you to Reaction, if you'd like that of course?'
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Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2010 2:24 pm
Hah, I did it! I diiiiiiiiiid it! Macha was wrong in that he indeed did gloat, but to himself - probably because he wasn't used to being able to do so at all. Mostly his older brothers did that after some big catch they did with Mother, which of course Adam wouldn't hear the end of sometimes. Zion was better about it than the other two, he remembered, and again he took pause and pondered the dream of blues and blacks. Had that been a sign? If so, he couldn't read it! Stupid cryptic messages. Why couldn't anything be straightforward? At least his headache was starting to go away . . .
When Macha praised him, Adam puffed his chest out with pride and grinned. 'That was fun, Macha! I don't play hide-and-seek with plants as much as I used to, so thanks!' Gratitude for playing an old game? Yeeup. Adam was simplistic in that he could get great pleasure from even the smallest of things. 'So, now we can be friends, right? Call me Adam.' As instructed, he dipped his head forward, using his nose as an indicator of where the leaves would probably be, and inched his teeth about a small group of leaves to pull off. 'So, where's this Reaction wolf?' he asked, forgetting that with his mouth full he should not be able to "talk" as clearly as he had been. 'Is she nice? I hope so.'
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Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 1:05 pm
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