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 Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:45 am
‘Kaaaaaaade,’ StormCall called, then again as she followed her human. ‘Kaaaaaaade.’
Lately, it had been easier for her to grasp words, but it was a long and tiresome process, one that included extremely slow communication (including, but not limited to, halting words and short sentences in slow motion) and shifting through her human’s memories for some contextual help. As a result, she had taken to saying only his name, and occasionally her own, testing out the different tones she could come up with, and asking him what meanings they held. She knew the way she was saying his name was, as he put it, like a newborn: whining and complaining, and accentuating vulnerability yet demanding attention at the same time (in simpler terms, of course). She was confused and wanted clarification, for while Kade had tried to get her to understand that they were going to meet their Patron, their teacher, she had never met one before, and had insisted on referring to them as “parents,” because that was what they seemed to be from his descriptions. But he was adamant about it, claiming they were different things, but was unable to explain it to her in more understandable terms.
Kade slowed when he heard the familiar calling of his name, turning to pat StormCall on the head reassuringly before inquisitively prodding at her mind, wondering what she wanted. Even if meeting his Patron was important, he felt his Bonded was just as important, if not more, so he crouched close to her, stroking her fur soothingly. He was startled to feel her emotions – he had expected she was tired, or perhaps excited, but he didn’t think her mind would be so disoriented. It seemed she was trying to tell him many things, but when it seemed he was about to understand one part of it, another came and overlapped, leaving him just as confused as she was.
She wanted to let him know how she felt, that she wanted to know why they had to run so fast, why they had to suddenly leave her brother, why he seemed so worried when the day was bright, and so many other things, but she was unable to put it into words and merely sat there, uttering small little whimpers and hoarse cries as she panted lightly. She continued to try to get him to understand, but didn’t know the rush of her wordless thoughts was only getting him even more puzzled, and eventually she gave up, curling glumly around his crouched figure.
Kade was at a loss. He had never seen her this way, and he wrapped his arms around her as best as he could, trying to reach out with his mind for hers. But all he felt was a sense of gloom and the despair StormCall felt at the lack of ability to communicate was mirrored in him. But before he could settle into the anguish he felt, it occurred to him that his Patron could help (that was what Patron’s were for, right?), and he tried to convince StormCall into walking with him again, but she was determined to stay where she was, and clung to him, reluctant to leave him or vice versa. Luckily, they happened to be near the meeting place, and Kade looked around, hoping whoever his Patron was, he or she was close enough for him to call out and be noticed.
With a sudden realization, he remembered that when he had been assigned a Patron, the superior had given him a picture, but it had been left in his breast pocket and forgotten as soon as it had settled within his uniform, as Jace had been with him at the time, and the two had begun to animatedly discuss something else once the superior had left. But he knew of it now, and he retrieved it quickly, relieved to see it hadn't fallen out. He memorized the face, along with the name etched into the bottom – Anastasia Delarose – and quickly scanned the area, hoping for a flash of golden-brown hair to catch his eye.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:16 pm
Don't you dare try to rush me, this is your fault and no one else's.
The wolf merely huffed at her bonded, slowing to a trot as she began to cross the training field. The run from the city hadn't winded her much in the least but that didn't mean she felt like charging through the fort like a mad thing half possessed. The arranged meeting place wasn't far from here all things considered so why Ana was intent on rushing was beyond her. The girl was already late so it was best she arrive with all her limbs in tact anyway. The trot slowed to a walk despite the muttered curses from her bonded. There was the scent of despair coloring the wind, a scent strong enough to make her pause for a moment. The scent was coming from one central point, close to their meeting spot. Her new apprentice perhaps? She seriously hoped not.
Do you smell it Ana? The scent of despair, rides the wind. Sharp and young. I dare hope its not our apprentices.
Grumbling in annoyance at her wolf's stubbornness she nearly nudged her heels into the wolf's ribs before deciding against it. ShadowSong was a calm wolf but when pushed she used her claws and fangs as well as any of the others. And at this point in time she didn't feel like dealing with a drag through the snow to where she was supposed to be meeting this 'Kade Reed'. Hearing the question drifting through mind, she frowned and straightened on the wolf's back. Despair? Why would anyone be despairing on such a wonderful day? Well unless they were stuck babysitting the fort's resident demons but that was besides the point. Their purpose was to cause despair.
You know I don't smell anything of that sort, Shadow.
Frowning at the wolf, she shifted her weight a flash of dull brown and black among the snow covered shrubs made her draw up short. Was her apprentice's wolf not supposed to bear the same coloration or something similar? Which meant her apprentice was nearby as well. If he wasn't then she'd flay his a** alive with that lovely little whip that was hidden under her bed. That wouldn't exactly be anything hard to do. She'd threatened the Captain's hide with it and she'd be damned if she didn't and couldn't threaten a wayward apprentice with it.
Luckily for the teenager, Ana located him crouched next to his wolf. If she hadn't she would have hunted him down, after making sure the pup was alright. "Kade Reed?" she asked, vaulting off her wolf's back and landing lightly on her feet. She was in full uniform, unlike most times when she ventured into the city. Sliding into a more relaxed but still alert position, she merely shifted away from ShadowSong as the wolf went to see to her own apprentice. "Private Anastasia Delarose at your service." Her face broke into a wry smile and she slid her hands into her pockets. "Sorry about being late, I had some matters to take care of outside the fort."
Tail swaying slowly as she skirted the humans, ShadowSong instead focused on the poor pup. Lowering herself into a less threatening pose, she stepped close to the small whimpering ball and gave a slight smile. Hello there little one. Her voice was low and comforting as she gingerly tested the pup's grasp on the human's language. If the pup couldn't grasp the language then she would have to revert to something closer to the general body language of a wolf. Neither bothered her but she was curious to see just what the pup had gained from her bonded. She was thinking at the age she guessed the pup to be, she hadn't learned much if anything.
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Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:31 pm
Kade, starting to panic, paused in his search when a rider atop a wolf came into view. It was hard to see who it was with the other Bondeds in the way, but he had noticed the blondish hair shining briefly in the sun and watched the figures hopefully as they came closer, standing tentatively when he heard the rider call his name. She dismounted close to him, and her partner padded over to StormCall, who flattened her ears fearfully but gazed at the older wolf with intense curiosity all the same. He looked back at the picture, and then the rider, and was about to ask if she was his Patron (it was best to make sure, after all. He had heard of twins around the area, but had yet to actually see them and was unsure as to who they were) when she confirmed it herself in her introduction.
“Private Kade Reed,” he said, feeling a bit silly as it was evident she already knew his name, but it was the polite thing to do, and he straightened respectfully (although he wasn’t sure if that was what it seemed like, as he was a good few inches taller than her). Suddenly nervous, he wondered how he should proceed – try to shake her hand? But they were tucked in her pockets. Ask about StormCall? It didn’t seem as urgent at the moment, as her attention was fully on the older wolf now, previous feelings forgotten and replaced with excitement, and she was slowly scooting away from him towards her – so he simply did the only thing he could think of: he saluted her as he had done countless times with the Drill Sergeant, although it was a tad wobbly and he accidentally hit himself in the forehead with the force of it (he desperately hoped she hadn’t noticed, but seriously doubted that), with his attention split between his Patron and StormCall.
StormCall was certainly having a much better time than her rider was, and she stood, meaning to go and play with the older one if possible. A sort of timid shyness was what held her ears back now, not fear, and after a quick glance at Kade, she trotted towards the dark wolf. She held herself low, as her parents had taught her, and admired the older wolf’s elegance. Sure, she had seen wolves with strides so graceful it were as if they were liquid, but this wolf managed to preserve it, so she seemed refined even at the lowered, stilled pose she held.
Reaching her, StormCall licked her muzzle respectfully, and probably would have tucked her tail in, too, had it not been waving so furiously. Awed by her beautiful pelt, with its dark shades rimmed with soft whites, and her brilliant golden eyes (which she made sure not to look at directly, for that would only provoke a challenge, one she had no wish of issuing), she was hit with a sudden desire to try and impress the majestic female, and paid close attention to her words, hoping to start off by displaying what she had learned in the short time she had been with her rider.
Kade could teach, and he could do it well, but only with things he could show to others, such as how to saw properly so the blade wouldn’t bend or cause jagged lines, or harness a horse to not cause it discomfort during riding. He had known the English language as far back as he could remember, and it was something that came naturally to him, like breathing, so it was hard for him to explain. As he could define the basics of breathing (“it keeps you alive,” “it has something to do with air… you know, wind” at which point he would wave a hand, attempting to use air resistance as an example), he could explain the basics of his native language, but after that, it all went downhill. He had only gone along the alphabet and how to sound each letter, and defined some of the most commonly used words to StormCall. Sentence structure was uncharted territory, as were tenses, verbs, and so forth. But to StormCall, who had never known more of the language than what she was taught, and what few memories she had been able to comprehend (she had seen most of his memories by this point, but it was like watching a video in a language you didn’t know, where words were merely sound and, in a way, worthless), what she knew was that she had more control over the language than her brother, who had been unable to speak yet, which, in turn, meant she was advanced with her learning. (Which she was, for she had learned much in the few days she had been with her rider.)
So she took care to divide the sentence the older wolf had just sent her. “Hello” was a greeting. “There” probably referred to the fact that they had been some distance apart when she had first spoken. “Little” was a reference to her size compared to the much larger adult, and “one” meant that the dark wolf was talking to her, and her alone. Glad to have understood that much, she took another few moments to come up with a sentence of her own, and she puffed up her fur with pride as she responded, adding different tones in another attempt to impress. “Hello here big one.” With the combination of words and varying tones, she sounded exactly what she looked like: a young wolf trying out speaking for the first time.
During the short exchange between wolves, Kade scratched the back of his head sheepishly, trying to refrain from rubbing at the part of his forehead he had hit. “Honestly, I probably would have been late, too,” he said, laughing meekly before fading off. He hoped what he said would make them equal, in a sense. (If both happened to be late, then there could be no bad feelings from one to the other, right?) But what he really wanted to do was ask her about StormCall (even if she looked okay now, it was very likely her anguish would return later), but was unsure how to start, and he felt an awkward pause was about to settle on them.
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