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 Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:10 pm
 Hunting. An important part of pack life and relations. Bonds between siblings and pack-mates, lovers and friends strengthened through the rush of adrenaline and the take down of the prey. He was not too young as to not appreciate the taste of a warm blood, the iron-smell that drove him wild as it dribbled down his chin as he ate. And he did. Once near death with emaciation and fleas and all other amounts of awful things, Brook was now rounding out a bit. He was still tiny, his growth stunted by the rough time on his own, and when he moved his back legs had a somewhat prominent limps. But dingy brown fur had grown over scars and been replaced by a smooth, sleeker coat the colour of pure sap.
Brook was the only member of the Sanctity Pack that hadn't participated in a patrol, or a hunting-party. Partly he was never considered because he was too anxious around others to interact, much less ask for a spot or volunteer. Second because he was the only pup. And it was lonely. Not that he wasn't used to it. But this was a special kind of lonely, like taking a bite of the sweetest meat and then having it stolen away, or it losing taste. They were around, and sometimes would offer a slight smile or encouraging greeting. But there was no-one his age, and skulking about made him feel worse than useless.
"I'll just find something for them...I can help. I can be efficient."
The pup's voice was raspy from lack of use, and it ashamed him slightly to even speak. But it would get stronger, one of the older members had assured him. Talking could get easier. Just....talk to yourself. Going on what he knew from adults to always be true, Brook followed with a pitiful sort of determination. But alone he even found himself uninteresting, and had quite the time thinking of something to say. Even to himself.
"The pack border....Tree. Tree. Bush..." He coughed to clear his throat, a slight hesitation at the Sanctity scent markings. But he would work on himself and he would go out and he would hunt and they would be proud. Like parents are proud. "Cerridwen will be proud with me. She loves me and she will love me more." At this the male spoke with a bit of lovestruck quality, a cautious smile twitching the sides of his mouth as he moved around the forest. He wasn't certain how to find food, but determination was sure to get him halfway if not more.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 8:51 pm
She skipped over a tiny stream of water, then paused, and decided to take a drink. She smacked her lips at the fresh, cold taste, then shook herself vigorously, feeling frisky and refreshed.
Just as she began to continue her exploration, she heard the unmistakable sound of a small animal scurrying through the underbrush. Her ears pricked, and she immediately bent her nose to the ground. A lizard!
With a small "Wuff" of excitement, she began tracking her prey. She tensed as the lizard fell silent, then began slowly stalking toward it when she heard the tiny claws begin scrabbling again. It sounded like it was digging for insects, so if she caught it she might get two snacks instead of the one.
It couldn't be much further now. But as she pushed her head through the leaves, she was startled by a new sound. It sounded like...a voice. Immediately wary, she forget the lizard, and instead turned her attention to the direction of the voice.
As she crept closer, she distinctly heard the voice mutter something about trees and bushes. It was a male, but it was hard to tell his age from the husky sound of his voice.
She tilted her head, listening harder. When the male mentioned someone called Cerridwen, he sounded distinctly younger, and she hesitated. Perhaps it would be alright to approach him. She had never met anyone outside of her pack before, and Malexxi had discouraged her from straying too far from their territory.
This male didn't sound dangerous though. If anything he sounded rather unsure of himself. She stood and paced restlessly, trying to decide what to do.
Finally reaching a decision, she called out "Who's there?" in her soft, mellow voice. She didn't want to burst out of the trees and possibly provoke him into attacking her, so she figured this was probably the safest approach.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:09 pm
Sucking in his breath with an intense effort the pup had crossed out of pack lands, and for a moment he felt fear seize him. He had been in their care only a few months, but already it had seemed.......home was the wrong word entirely. But safe. And now leaving it to wander and try his hand at catching something worth being proud of? It was insane. But Cerridwen was with him. The goddess saw all. Though his view of the sky was obscured by trees' canopies soaring miles above his head he was comforted slightly knowing that she could still watch over him. In the middle of the day it was too bright to see her pale form amongst the clouds and sun anyhow.
The pack's religious symbol had a major effect on him since he had come. Brook was comforted by knowledge of her omnipresence, her unfaltering love and ability to know what would happen. Though still learning the ceremonial chants that others knew by heart he worshiped her still, his 'mother'. "She wouldn't..." Mind me leaving, would she? Would she still see me? Hear me? A panicked thought crossed his head, and though tiny paws had taken him a ways away from the Sanctity lands he had the instinct to bolt into her sure embrace. But it was foolish! "No. . . She sees everywhere. Everything. She wouldn't be made if I left for her sake?" The question was trailing off when the tawny pup heard a call not far from him.
Dropping to his stomach out of surprise alone, turquoise eyes darted about the area. The voice was soft, almost enough so he had to strain to hear it. But the words were not lost on him. Who's there? Should he answer? Should he run back? He'd met another wolf only once outside the pack-lands before, a long time ago shortly after he had staggered away from his family. Oh god his family. He was wounded and in shock, and the encounter was not good to say the least. Ears laced tight against his skull the pup weighted his options. His nose told him it was nowhere near the same as it had been before. The scent was young, fresh, sweet almost on the breeze. He didn't understand a healthy puppy smell.
"I...." He began to croak out, giving another pleading glance up through the trees for her to protect him. "I am. I'm here."
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:27 pm
Vera felt distinctly less frightened as the faltering reply came back to her. It sounded like he was scared of her, which was sort of amusing, and she doubted he would be dangerous. She didn't typically seek out the company of others, but she still had the curiosity to go along with her youth, and she was very interested that a pup who was so easily frightened would be out by himself.
She walked slowly toward the sound of his voice, still cautious, but for a different reason now. She didn't want to frighten him, and she felt inexplicable guilt for having surprised him to begin with. She herself was not easily startled by things, and neither were any of her siblings. He must be very strange indeed, she thought to herself.
When she heard him begin mumbling to himself again, her opinion of his strangeness was further confirmed. He reminds me of mother, she thought sadly, remembering the few times she had seen Malady. This pup sounded caught up in his fears and superstitions, just like her mother. Vera didn't truly think of Malady as her mother, since her older sister Malexxi was far more involved in her life, but she still felt a sadness when she thought of the old, paranoid female.
When she finally reached him, she was a little surprised. He looked almost as bad as he sounded. Not that he was ugly, but he looked haunted, underfed, and poorly groomed. She understood why he had sounded so scared, now. He didn't look brave enough to defend himself from a squirrel, let alone another wolf.
Tilting her head, she addressed him with all the well-meaning bluntness of her age.
"You look awful. Are you okay?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 9:42 pm
If he were a little older or a little younger, the male would've cared about his appearance, about his shriveled, uncertain posture in the face of such...of such....
Another pup? The scent and soft voice would've confirmed it for any other wolf, but it had just made him feel caught, like he was in trouble. But unlike any kind of pup trouble, one that warranted a nipped ear or scolding. Adult trouble, that had kept him shy and far too knowledgeable. It might have well been an alien watching out from the trees to meet him. In some respects it was. Despite his more-than-healthy hesitation Brook's eyes opened wide at the mere sight of her. The pup momentarily forgot his fear, though kept his uncomfortable crouched position, and just....stared.
Vera sported colours from birth that in his lifetime he had never seen, much less known the names for. A set of wriggling black spots moved like a river across her side, suspended on pure white and bordered by a blue that would rival the hue of the sky itself. "You look..." Brook was simply gobsmacked, and a little terrified. Was he alright? Fear was just an expression, malnourishment a temporary state[usually]. But she walked about like she didn't know what she looked like.
The pup was embarrassed by his scars, tried to hide his limp as much as possible. In times of fear, yes, they took a back seat. Either this female was completely secure in herself -which he doubted was possible, from his own experiences- or she did not know what was happening. Both of his parents, Goddess rest their souls had been as neutral brown as the dirt beneath his paws, though varying shades. His siblings as well. There was no lick of colour through his entire bloodline, and none in the pack either. Colours like that just didn't happen in his experiences.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:04 pm
"Huh?"
Vera smiled a little at the pup's apparent speechlessness. "It's okay, you know, I won't bite you," she said encouragingly. Clearly he was even more nervous than she had supposed. She wondered if she had offended him somehow. Sometimes she said things that made adults laugh, and other pups become annoyed. The complexities of conversation were a bit too much at times. She only ever said exactly what she was thinking, and she wasn't sure why that was wrong.
"Are you okay?" she repeated, somewhat perplexed at his silent staring. "You know, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here all alone," she said seriously to the older pup, "You seem like you don't know your way around very well."
She felt some sympathy for him. While she was perfectly fine with traipsing the wilderness by herself, despite Malexxi's admonishments, this pup looked lost, in more ways than one. She wondered if all pups outside her pack were this timid. If so, she certainly didn't understand what Malexxi was making all the fuss about.
Noticing how cautiously he was holding his weight, she tilted her head again. "Is your leg hurt?"
She moved closer to the other pup, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He seemed stiff as a board, but otherwise fine.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:20 pm
While the female opposite him -he had recognized it from a female by both her tone or voice and scent- had all the things in the world to say, Brook kept silent. His apparent slip up of a question made him even more shy of the situation, and he certainly wouldn't repeat it if he could help it. Though he still was quite curious, and enthralled of the strange female. Moving about like she almost owned the place, so relaxed in the forest. Was he just a failure? He'd had no other support system when he was forced to wander and hide in the unclaimed lands, no parents or pack to move along home to, but as far as the pup knew, neither did she.
As she came closer the male pulled back, scooting himself up and landing on his rump in an abrupt and awkward sit. He did look back. He knew it. And though his leg normally didn't hurt, just sort of stumbled when he ran, just her mentioning it made him wince.
Cerridwen The pup prayed silently, keeping his eyes trained on the female. Even though he was older than she, the healthier pup was his size, if not bigger. Give me strength. And don't let me catch that! "What's wrong with you?" Brook blurted suddenly, ears still pulled back with uncertainty.
"And why are you talking to me?" Though by many it could've been taken as highly offensive, it was simple childish curiosity that made him ask it. New situations and things made him uncomfortable and anxious. Once he learned what those things were, logic would imply that he wouldn't be uncomfortable or anxious any longer. It was a good thought, and enough sense for him to try it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 10:41 pm
Vera was taken aback by his sudden outburst. Observing his clumsy attempt to pull back, she felt a little guilty for being so forward. She had scared him even worse than before, now. Seeking to remedy the situation, she sat as well, coming no closer. His questions had struck a nerve, though.
"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling a little self conscious herself, now. "Is there something wrong with me?" she said shyly, ears just barely flattened in embarrassment. She knew that her siblings, Ryland and Molly thought that she was odd. She was usually quiet around them, and rarely joined in their games. Sisky understood how she felt, but he was always gone, somewhere on his own. And while Malexxi was always kind and patient, Vera knew that nobody in her pack really understood why she was the way she was. Sometimes she felt shadows of self doubt, and feared she would become like her parents, lost in her own thoughts and oblivious to the joys of life. Usually, exploring by herself helped her to forget those fears, but now it all came flooding back.
"I-I I'm sorry," she said quietly, bowing her head. "I'm not really good at making friends, I think. You were here all alone, and I was just curious. I didn't mean to make you upset."
She wagged her tail once in apology, avoiding his eyes for the first time. Pretending sudden fascination with a beetle that was slowly making its way across the dirt, she waited in silence, lost in her thoughts.
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 9:47 am
Still a bit taken aback, Brook cocked his head at the female. Did she just not notice? The colours were beautiful but terrifyingly alien to him. Wolves didn't look like that! Flowers did! And even now not so much, because it was dead winter, but flowers happened all the same. And she looked too much like a person to be a flower. The concept was getting him quite a bit more confused and uncomfortable than he would have preferred to be.
"You...You're..." He rasped softly. Not only were the words hard coming, but the skinny pup was not entirely certain on what he should say. "You look like a flower." It wasn't a compliment [though flowers were nice to look at and smell, attributes he thought the puppy shared] but just a simple fact. And while she stuttered an apology he just stared, in the way that boys do because they just don't believe in feelings.
Surprising him he could understand, the thought already gone from his mind of whatever minor offense he took because of it. His brows furrowed lightly he looked at Vera, turquoise eyes blinking. He wasn't daft by nature, or at least, he didn't suppose he was, though he wasn't this talkative either. But the pup just couldn't wrap his head about it.
There was only one explanation. Maybe she was a flower.
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Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:23 pm
Vera blinked in confusion. "I look like a flower?" Of all the answers she had expected, this one hadn't been it. This pup was by far the strangest wolf she had ever met, though she had to admit that the list of wolves she knew was rather short. Perhaps comments like these were considered normal by other packs. She supposed she should try to reply in kind.
"You look like a...." She furrowed her brow in concentration. He looked like a wolf, but obviously that wasn't the kind of response he was expecting. What did he look like, other than an wolf?
Hopefully, Vera glanced around, trying to find some appropriate substitution. All she saw were trees without leaves, dead bushes and plants, rocks, and....
"You look like dirt!" she declared proudly, standing and wagging her tail excitedly. He didn't really look like dirt, he looked like a wolf, but with his earth-like colors, she supposed this was the correct thing to call him. She hoped now he would be pleased.
Perhaps this would be the appropriate time to tell him her name. Though maybe wolves from other packs preferred to call each other by these made-up names. She was starting to feel rueful about just how complicated this had become. Conversing with strangers was even harder work than trying to explain to her sister why she didn't want to play the romantic rescue game. Molly always made Vera be the boy, anyway.
Vera sighed, and decided to put off the problem with names, for now. This was complicated enough already.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:20 pm
As the female repeated his statement the male gave a quick jostle of his head to denote a nod. Precisely what he meant. Flowers were vibrant and colourful, moreso than the sky or the trees or anything else. Water, perhaps. When the light would catch Lake Tegid at mid-day, when the sun was highest. But even then she was almost the wrong colour.
For a pup who used very few, if even no words, he became very disgruntled for the fact he could not think of the appropriate one. It wasn't as though he could just think up a word for her. It wouldn't be right. His biological family had never respected made-up words, even as they were puppies. 'Mea-dow, Brook. We live in a meadow. Not a grass. Grasses are small.' His mother's light and calm tone as she corrected him, the comforting, clean smell she always had when she rubbed up against him. The sun was so bright there, and the male felt a throbbing hurt for a home that could no longer be.
Her exclamation brought him jarringly back into reality, and he gave her a look that questioned her mental development. Did she think there was something wrong with him? Had she not understood what he was asking? Brook was sure she wasn't blind, and was able to brush off what he saw as an offensive remark. Quickly he shook his head at her, face contorted in a look of confusion and frustration.
"You're not a flower." That is why you're wrong, he thought. Sanctity was not a pack of highly diverse wolves, and in his time he had not only never seen a wolf with an unnatural pelt. He had never seen such a fundamentally wrong creature.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 6:36 pm
Finally, he was making sense. Vera nodded in agreement. "I am not a flower, I'm a wolf. My name is Vera." She could tell he was just as frustrated as she was with their apparent difficulty communicating. Perhaps he thought she was just as strange as she thought he was!
"You are a wolf also. What's your name?" she inquired politely, very curious as to what his response would be. This was almost like a game, albeit a far different one than she had ever heard of. But at least they had set straight the basic facts about each other. That was a good sign.
Despite their awkward beginning, Vera was already warming up to the strange wolf. He wasn't loud and annoying like her siblings, and he seemed intelligent; just confused. She felt like a great adventurer, having traveled her way through the forest to find him. Perhaps she could bring him back and show him off to her eldest sister. Malexxi would certainly see how useful Vera's exploring was if she brought back this fascinating stranger.
She was quite certain that nobody else in her pack had ever met a pup like this one before, otherwise they surely would have told stories about it. She could imagine it now, gathered together with her siblings and some of the big ones, teaching them about foreign packs and their strange ways. Even Ryland and Molly would sit quietly for a story like that!
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Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 11:32 pm
"Brook."
The name was almost blurted, and it gave the pup a queer turn of the lip afterward. Words did not come as easy to him, some letters especially, and with this new, strange person -Vera, had had just recently learned- a confusion set on by a stutter or difficulty would do nothing to ease sensibilities between them. "I'm...Brook." He was a wolf. And she was a wolf, despite her blinding differences next to him. Though it still remained a heavy curiousity weighing down on the small male, it was a slight comfort to understand exactly what she was.
From there on however the male was unsure of how to further the conversation, if it was to happen at all. Kalani's daughter Alya had practically -if not fully- led him by the paw and prompted him what to say, what to play. That had been fine with him. But here he was as silent as a mouse, abashed under the impression that he didn't really know how to function, a skill at one point he was sure he had. It was like memory-loss, or coming into a second life, a skill that seemed so simple to you before now insanely difficult, a word just out of reach, a skill no longer able to be performed. In the safety of the pack-lands he was beginning to warm, enough so apparently that he found the foolish bravery to venture out.
But the silence unnerved him more than the thought of sounding stupid at the moment, it brought things out of the woods that he would rather stay much further away. So he drew breath and tried. "What is a Vera?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 12:46 am
Vera grinned, and barked happily. She wasn't laughing AT him, but she was rather pleased by the question.
"I don't know what a Vera is," she said enthusiastically, nearly prancing in her happiness. "I asked Malexxi once, and she couldn't answer either. I think it's a made-up word, since Malexxi didn't know." Malexxi, being her oldest sibling, and the closest to a mother figure that Vera had, knew just about everything. If she didn't know this, then it was clearly an unsolvable mystery.
Vera was impressed by Brook. He had surprised her with such an interesting query. He must have dozens of other fascinating questions and ideas that they could talk about. But she must remember to pace herself. He still seemed nervous, and she wanted very much to put him at ease.
"I like your name," she said, circling around once and sitting down again. "Though you're not very talkative for a brook, are you?" She hoped he would see the joke, and not take offense. Sometimes other wolves just didn't understand Vera's sense of humor, so she had to be careful.
"I mean- when I'm exploring, the brooks always sound like they're chattering away to me," she suddenly blurted out, realizing that this particular wolf was probably not the best one to practice her humor on. "It's not bad to be quiet though. I usually am, around my family."
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Posted: Sat Feb 06, 2010 1:02 am
Names without meanings made little more sense than pelts that looked like flowers to the sheltered pup. What parent would make their own child something that didn't exist? They may as well named it 'garble-garb' or 'fwishwoodle'. He wrinkled his nose a bit at the information, his head tilted still to denote his curiousity over his sense of distaste at the idea.
Once more he thought of his own parent's disapproval of the action, and his gaze went solemn for a moment. Thankfully strange-named Vera had picked up where the beta's daughter had left off with leading the conversation. Though she was right in her assumption. He indeed did not understand that joke. He was Brook. Was there a personality that everyone that was 'a Brook' had to conform to? Where did she find this out? Maybe the same place they could figure what a Vera was! The pup was still to small to figure a natural brook from a stream, stream from river. Lake Tegid, though no water came into it from any source, never ran empty, a feat he had not understood but envied greatly.
Blinking, the pup didn't realize how she was trying to assure him. It made no sense to him personally that someone would be shy around their family, and though it panged his chest to think about it, if he was around his own right now he wouldn't stop talking. To just keep jabbering away at a complete or near stranger was dangerous. He was more like a bird, clamming up in case of possible trouble and only relaxing when back at the nest. He wondered though, if birds kept silent too when their nests got destroyed. He wondered if they were sad.
"H-How do you know...They're not chattering to someone else?" Brook inquired, taking her use of the words 'to me' in the quite literal sense. And if they did, did this explain why she was so odd? Because she could talk to water?
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