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 Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:11 am
Tirin frowned and shook himself as if physically trying to chase away his thoughts. He had come out here because he wanted to find something new, something different. Not as different, it appeared, as something that broke his pack's rules, but something to explore that he hadn't already been around fifty times. Maybe Kalani would frown on that, but Tirin was-- as his naming ceremony proved-- an adult. A little wandering couldn't hurt anything.
The distant sound of a river reached his ears, but he held back and stuck to his lazy circuit parallel to the pack borders. Not much was different out here, but he had smelled a turkey that had likely passed in the last few days, and he never smelled that around the dens, and rarely when they went hunting. Maybe something would catch his eye that he could bring home to Alya to please his sister. A bright feather for their treasure collection, or a pretty stone. Something attractive to the eye.
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:20 am
 Sauda couldn't explain what had caused her to wander off this morning. She normally stuck close to the dens, close to her friends but today she just got up and followed her paws. They took her a good deal away from the places she normally went to when she went wandering - all of which were close to the safety and comfort of the dens. And besides it wasn't like she was planning on just up and leaving the pack, no not at all, she just needed to stretch out those muscles of her and take some time to think on things that had happened recently in the pack.
Her friends Tar'quin and Talas'An had pups a while back, and she loved going to visit them. Pups always melted her heart and to have ones so close to her it was comforting to her. Of course every now and then she felt a pang of jealously when her eyes fell upon those pups as she wished to have some of her own some day. But Sauda generally kept to herself so that wasn't about to happen any day soon. Of course the other pair of pups that appeared in the pack was more on her mind than anything. Ever since the Alpha - make that previous Alpha - had his pups with an unnatural female Sauda had beeen questioning some things about the pack that she never previous questioned. Lost in thought she let her paws take her where they wished, not particularly paying attention to anything around her.
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Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:08 am
Tirin looked towards the distant river sounds again. There were usually stones in rivers, weren't there? Or at least along the edges, where they may have been pushed aside by strong currents? That would be a good place to check. Then again, he was still hoping to find something bright a bit closer to home. He turned around, eyes looking to catch a glimpse of a bright bird. Birds were hard prey to capture, especially with him out in the open, but maybe they would shed one as they flew from him.
Instead of find a bird, however, Tirin caught sight of a female wolf with a dark, rather than bright, pelt. He tilted his head as he recognized her from the naming ceremony. One of the newer pack additions.
That wasn't the attractive he had been looking for. He watched the female for a moment, trying to determine if she would betray his wanderings to the Alpha, and then mentally berated himself. She was out beyond the borders as well, and he was an adult now-- oh, so barely an adult-- so why should he worry?
"Good morning," he greeted, settling into a more relaxed posture. He would continue looking for gifts for his sister in a second.
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Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:26 pm
Sauda had been deep in thought and hadn't noticed the other nearby so when he spoke to her she jumped a bit in shock before calming herself. No need to be so jumpy, she chastised herself. Eyes slowly turned to the source of the voice, and thankfully for her it was a naturally colored wolf. And a fellow pack member at that. "Hello." She replied after a few moments, quite embarrassed that she had been so easily frightened. "I'm sorry I can't remember your name. I'm Sauda." She knew him from the naming ceremony but that night had been a bit of a blur so his name was slipping her memory right now. "I wasn't leave the pack," she began to explain, somewhat worried that he may inform the alpha of her actions. "Just trying to clear my mind."
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:37 am
The thought hadn't even crossed his mind. What he was doing could also be mistaken for a move to leave the pack, although he didn't think anyone would expect that from him, since Sanctity was his home.
"I wasn't leaving the pack either," he pointed out, smiling to show he was harmless. "And it's Tirin. My name."
He looked towards the sound of water again, then contemplated asking the wolf to go with him to the river. But she had said she was clearing his mind. Usually when one wanted to clear their mind they did it alone. It would be best to let her go on her way, unless she needed to get her thoughts out verbally to put things in perspective. He knew some wolves who worked better that way.
"I've already seen all of Sanctity's lands, so I thought I would travel a bit further out." He kept his treasure hunting to himself. The chance that she would take whatever booty he found was unlikely, but there was a very high possibility she would think he was silly or strange. "I can hear the river there, but I've never been out that far. Yasuo didn't approve of us leaving the packlands." Tirin frowned very briefly at his mention of the former Alpha, and then his face smoothed out. Yasuo had taken the hits that came to him. It was still amazing to Tirin that he hadn't been driven out, although for the pups sake he approved. Then again, as he had seen so long ago, perhaps the pups growing up here would not be what was best for them... And, as someone who had been brought up to have strong faith in his pack, that bothered Tirin.
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Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:50 pm
Ah yes that was his name. "Tirin." She repeated locking his name away in her memory. It would be a bit easier to remember everyone's names if they hadn't recently done the naming ceremony and were now given a second name to go by. But that was a pack tradition so Sauda didn't say anything negative about it, just for now she would try to remember wolves given names before trying to remember their second names.
Eyes followed his as he glanced off. She too could hear the river and exploring a bit of lands outside the packs territory intrigued her. Well perhaps if she accompanied him there she would not only get the chance to see the river but also finally talk with someone from within the pack that was Tal, Tar or their pups. "If you don't mind me coming along, I wouldn't mine seeing the river." Should Tirin say no, then Sauda would take no offense to it, for perhaps he was out here to be alone.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 7:32 am
Tirin gave her a surprised, but enthused look. "I'd love the company." It would mean splitting half the spoils, but maybe he could convince her to let him have the best of what he wanted, even if she got the rest. There was no telling what lay out as far as the river. His mind was still fixated on the ideas of pretty stones, or unusual flowers (although the flowers never seemed to last long once they got back to the den).
"With two of us it might be safer anyway. Hopefully, if anyone else finds us, we can convince them together that we're just exercising a bit of curiosity." Somehow, though, Tirin doubted that "curiosity" would serve him as an excuse as well as it did when he was a pup. Adults were expected to have better control than that, but sometimes... Tirin just couldn't contain himself.
He smiled brightly at Sauda to throw off his little bit of anxiety. Why should he worry if it hadn't happened yet, right? "We should probably get there sooner than later, though. Noontime might get hot, and I'd like to get back to the dens before that."
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:17 pm
Sauda was relieved to hear that he would let her tag along. Though honestly she wouldn't have taken any offense had he said no, wolves needed their own space from time to time after all. Smiling at him she glanced in the direction of the river and then back at Tirin. "Safety in numbers." She said somewhat offhandedly. "Though I honestly don't think we would get in too much trouble if someone did find us there." At least that's what she hoped anyways.
"But yes we best get moving." Turning so she faced towards the river Sauda began to walk but made sure Tirin was coming along as well. "So how long have you been in the pack?" She asked knowing that some idle conversation would help pass the time and allow her to learn more about her pack members.
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:08 pm
Tirin's surprise was plain as she asked after his roots-- technically that was what the question pertained to anyway. He had just assumed all the new arrivals would learn the old faces as he learned the new ones. Perhaps she'd never asked one of the original pack about who belonged to what family lines; certainly he didn't have much contact with the new wolves, simply because he spent so much time with his family and at his duties.
"All my life," he replied, still seeming a bit surprised. "I'm the Betas' pup. Just me and my sister, Alya, but we were born and raised here." He glanced at her frequently, looking forward only to prevent himself from walking into or tripping over something. "It's part of why I go out beyond our borders every now and again; my mother has been out in the world, and Dad at least got to travel when searching for new members, like yourself." He inclined his head at her slightly. "Alya and I have always been here, not that that's a bad thing. From what I hear, things beyond our borders aren't so safe and orderly."
Not that things lately have been exactly orderly, he admitted to himself. The whole pack was turned upside down with the betrayal and impeachment of the last member of the old ranking regime. Tirin didn't question the punishment or if it should have happened-- Yasuo had been treated exactly as any member of the pack would be if he broke the rules-- but he did wonder if the judgment for the "crime," or how the crime itself was viewed, was a bit harsh. Those pups seemed as harmless as any of the other litters in the pack. Could fur color really change their dispositions so much?
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Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:42 pm
Now Sauda just felt utterly foolish. She should have known that Tirin had been in the pack his entire life. In fact she should by know which wolves were lifetime members and those that were new, but she blamed that on her lack of socialization. It wasn't that Sauda was anti-social, no not that at all, but she had spent her entire life up til this point as a wanderer so adjusting to pack life wasn't something that could simply be done overnight.
"It's true." She said after a bit of a pause. "The world outside of the pack isn't entirely safe. I spent most of my life wandering about out there. Funny though, I never really thought much on the dangers I faced every day until I came here and realized just how much easier pack life is. You don't have to always watch over your shoulder for unknown threats, hunting is certainly easy and when you rest at night you can truly relax."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:47 am
Tirin wagged his tail once at her assessment of the pack. It was good that she felt safe here. It was important that all the members be content, or there was always trouble.
The riverbank was under Tirin's feet before he knew it, and he paused at the edge to take in the view of the current twinkling cheerfully in the sun. Sure, there was a lake in the Sanctity lands, but this had more life to it. It was... pretty. Tirin moved forward so his front paws were in the water and peered through, trying to see if there were any fish or other water creatures there.
"Well, it can't be all bad. You did well, right?" He was still trying to stare through the water, looking for medium sized stones that weren't one of the uniform shades of gray. "And now you can rest, like we can, because we all keep each other safe instead of having to do it on our own. That's part of what the pack is for."
He finally looked up from the water and tilted his head at her. "Did you want to help me look for something? I don't mind if you still need to think, but if you wanted you could."
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:59 am
While the short trip to the river was filled with silence it didn't bother Sauda one bit. She watched him step into the water, and while Sauda wasn't a great love of water, she also didn't outright hate it. But she was curious as to why he was looking quite intently at the river. The question she was about to ask was momentarily interrupted by him speaking. "That is true, but it is not a life I would wish to return to any time soon." It was indeed very nice to be able to completely relax from time to time now that she was in the safety of a pack, and yet some of the things that had happened recently within the pack she found a bit unsettling. Though she wasn't entirely sure she wished to bring that up with Tirin as he may not feel the same way as she did about those things.
Ears perked up when Tirin spoke once more. Help him find something? "Sure, what is it that you are looking for?" She asked while taking a few steps closer to the river but still remaining out of the water for now. She would go into the water only if needed.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:07 am
His expression became uncomfortable, and he flicked his ears back once, nervously. He'd asked, he couldn't take it back, but it sounded silly to say. Oh well, when had that stopped him before?
"I'm treasure hunting." The idea of finding a better way to say that didn't even cross his mind. "Alya and I used to do it all the time, so I wanted to find something to bring back for her. I haven't seen any feathers, and birds are hard to catch, so I thought if I could find a nice stone or something in the river I could bring that back for her."
He stepped out of the river, tail wagging. "Something attractive she can decorate her new den with."
Both pups had moved out of their parent's den when they were old enough, even before their naming ceremony. Tirin had, of course, chosen a den close to his parents, but that didn't make it any less his and the emptiness didn't bother him. He was sure Alya's was likely as empty as his was, but he thought the reminders of family would help make her den easier to live in, in case she was having a harder time transitioning than he was.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:16 am
Sauda gave him a pleasant nod as he explained what he was looking for. She thought it was quite nice that he was out here looking for things for his sister. Having grown up with no siblings Sauda knew the value of close family bonds as she had been very close to her mother and father. Smiling she glanced at the river again then moved her eyes to Tirin.
"That's very thoughtful of you." She told him with a slight wag of her tail. "When Talas'An and Tar'quin came to the pack I helped them find some things to decorate their den with." The mention of her friends made her smile grow a bit wider, then she turned her attention back to the river, eyes ready to search out anything interesting. "Does you sister something more than others?" She asked, curious to see if she needed to narrow her search to certain objects or keep it at a wide spectrum of various things.
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Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 9:35 am
The two she mentioned were two of the other new adults from the ceremony, if he was remembering the right ones. The couple who had produced pups almost as soon as they had settled down and gotten the go-ahead. Tirin smiled in reply to Sauda's happiness.
"We always just collected whatever we found that we liked. It was like a game to see who could find treasure first. I guess whatever catches the eye. That'll be likely to be what she likes."
A stiff breeze rippled the water, and shifted the branches of the trees above them. His paws felt uncomfortably cold now that the fur was wet, and he quickly put them back in the river. He was going to be going back in anyway, right? Didn't matter if it was now or later.
He looked back at the river, catching his gaze on his reflection. When he looked back to Sauda his green eyes sparkled with goodwill and excitement. He always liked having others around. "What would you like if it were you?"
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