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 Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:16 am
 In the few short days she had spent in the Realms territory Artemis had taken her time to scour the lands. The promise of challenging prey was too much for her to pass up, but so far there had been not a single sign of anything that wasn't the boring old prey she could find just about anywhere else in Telk. Where were the elk and moose that were supposed to be here? They could have moved on but Artemis hadn't even found traces of the animals being through here recently. But tonight that thought was furthest from her mind as she slipped from her den. She had not seen Celeste since she came here and was beginning to worry about what had happened to her friend.
It wasn't like the deer to be gone for so long without first telling Artemis about it. If anything happened to Celeste there would be hell to pay. Padding swiftly across the land Artemis sniffed the air for any hints of Celeste's scent. But so far there was nothing. "Celeste!" She called out once she was a good distance away from the dens, the last thing Artemis wanted was to rouse the whole pack to look for a deer. Celeste might not appreciate an entire pack looking for her if she didn't know it wasn't some sort of hunt.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:27 am
 Hero wasn't normally what you would call a 'night owl' - he was generally pretty content to curl up in his den before it got to late and fall asleep to the sound of crickets and the night breeze. Tonight however - before he could completely drift off a voice interrupted the more usual night sounds and curious Hero slipped out of his den to investigate.
"Celeste!" The call was faint, clearly having been shouted out a goodly distance from the dens, but he had still heard it and picking up the pace he loped in the general direction of the voice...it wasn't long before he came across the trail of Artemis and slowing slightly padded up behind her. "looking for someone?" He questioned in a curious tone, eyes sweeping across the play of silver on her pelt. It was far more prominent in the moonlight and he found he rather liked it.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:45 am
The light breeze brought fourth several smells to her nose, but none of them were Celeste's. But then she caught another scent, that of a wolf and while normally that would be cause for alarm giving her missing friend, Artemis recognized this one quite easily. Turning her head she glanced back to see Hero's approaching form, the moonlight dancing off the medallion around his neck. His question nearly made her laugh, of course she was looking for someone, it's not a usual thing to have someone yelling random names in the middle of the night.
"As a matter of fact I am." She stated as he reached her. Hero was about the last wolf she had expected to see out here as he seemed to enjoy sleeping during the night like most wolves did. "I am looking for a deer." She told him while letting her eyes roam in the horizon once more before settling back onto Hero. "Her pelt is like that of the night sky. I haven't seen her in several days and I'm beginning to worry something happened to her." It didn't matter if Hero thought it weird that a wolf so devoted to hunting would worry over a deer, but she could explain that if needed. Right now she just needed to find Celeste and two pairs of eyes were better than one. "Will you help me look for her?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:53 am
A deer? well that was interesting but Hero was the accepting sort of wolf and it didn't occur to him that to question why exactly she was searching for a deer, nor what exactly she wanted from the deer - though he thought it was safe to assume she didn't want to eat the deer - else why would she be worried over it.
"Of course I'll help" He stated with a noble seeming nod, Hero was always up to help, it was almost pointless to even bother asking him if he would most of the time fore Hero pretty much never said no. "but.." He paused after a few moments "Won't she be rather hard to find in the night..if she looks like the night?" Wouldn't it make more sense to look for the deer during the day when she would stand out? But then again aside from a few hunts Hero had never really looked for deer.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:18 pm
Artemis let out a laugh at his question. He did have a good point there, but she knew Celeste like herself was a creature of the night and therefore searching for her during the day would actually prove to be the greater challenge. "She will be almost impossible to find during the day. Night time is when she is most active, helps her hide from predators."
Letting her eyes roam over the area once more Artemis spoke. "She might have gone off to spend some time with the herds in the area. Probably our best bet to look for her there." And if Artemis could remember correctly the closest herd area wasn't far from where she was now. Leading the way off towards the east her blue eyes were constantly scanning for any hint of that familiar pelt. It didn't occur to her to give Hero a better description of it, certainly he would notice it should he spot the deer.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 1:43 pm
Ah well, Hero know of several animals which slept during the day so the thought of a deer being most active at night wasn't anything to unusual. Especially if she looked as Artemis described as it would allow to hide. Which was pretty much exactly what she said next.
"I guess that makes sense..though the herds are likely to run off if they smell us. We don't usually come in...peace" He admitted in a slightly amused tone - I mean could you just imagine them walking up to a herd of deer and then trying to get across to th stampeding beasts that they weren't there to eat them...this time? Somehow he didn't think that would go over very well.
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 2:07 pm
"That is true. Though unlike the others in the herd Celeste will not run away from me." As far as she was concerned it would actually be easier if the herd scattered because then the only deer left in the area would be Celeste, unless of course she wasn't with that particular herd. "If she is not with the herds we should go to the river next, she might be there." But first, they would check the herds, as Artemis knew that every now and then her deer friend craved the company of her own kind, and Artemis had to admit so did she. Pausing she once more scented the air, trying to determine just where the herd was. The faintest of smells reached her nose, good they were down wind of them. "If we keep to this side of the herd we should be able to get a good look at them before they see us." Artemis just hoped that the silver on her pelt wouldn't give away their approach too easily. For even though Celeste was bonded to her, the deer still possessed the typical flight tendencies of her kind.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:48 am
Well that made sense he supposed and in any case he didn't think it his place to question her methods - after all she was far more a hunter then he was and she knew the deer so she should of course also know how to find her. Just made sense really.
"I think it's kind of neat you know a deer" He told her "Some of the wolves here like to watch humans but I don't know any who know a deer personally" He continued. He was somewhat curious about how she had met the deer but certainly that would come out in time. At least he hoped so - he found himself wishing for the night wolf to stay around for a while. She was different then the rest of the pack - at least she seemed to see him as more then Winner's lackluster arch rival.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:27 am
Celeste was right where Artemis had predicted her to be. When the wolfess had gone deeper into pack territory she opted to stay out closer towards the border. She had intended to to try to find her wolf friend and let her know but then Celeste ran across the herd she was currently standing with and the handsome buck who led it. And as much as Celeste enjoyed following her friend around she just couldn't say no to the company of her kind every now and then. Grazing close to the lead buck Celeste knew that eventually she would either need to break away from the herd to find Artemis or that the wolf would soon come looking for her. But for now, she was content to stay with the buck, at least until morning.
Artemis continued forward, turning towards a bank of trees that would provide some good cover for them that was not far from the herd location. Her body was kept low, ears constantly swiveling listening for any sound that may cause the herd to scatter early. Ignoring Hero's comment for the moment she pulled herself into the tree, glad that hidden here the moon could not reflect off of her silver pelt and give her away. With the herd in sight she finally spoke to Hero once more. "Celeste has been around me for a long time now." Though her eyes remained on the herd, scanned for the deer that could prove quite difficult to spot.
Eyes narrowed as she searched the herd for the tell tale signs of Celeste's pelt. The herd was certainly of a good size, and if she was here for a hunt there were several already that she could see that would be suitable prey. But she wasn't here to hunt so she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind, locking that information away for later. Then she saw her, the dark pelt with the hints of orange, green and blue, and those silver star markings. "There she is." Artemis motioned with her muzzle. When she noticed how close Celeste was standing to the buck she could help but smile, her tail wagging slightly. Now it made sense as to why her deer friend had disappeared without saying a word.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:46 am
Hero had crawled in under the tree behind Artemis, clawing his way up until he could peer out from under the branches as well, th deer herd certainly seemed to be doing well - perhaps he should suggest deer for the next pack hunt. Although - he should probably wait for Artemis' friend to not be a part of said herd before suggesting such a thing.
Following her motion he picked out the one deer in the herd who looked like a pretty nifty rendition of the night sky. "Looks like she found a friend" He whispered upon noting the buck "Maybe we ought to let her be for the night/" He suggested. There wasn't any danger to doing so and she had seen the deer was fine now. It seemed like a pity to break up the two deer right away.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:04 am
The rest of the herd might not have took notice to the two wolves hidden within the trees, but Celeste did. She had this uncanny ability to know when Artemis was around. Slowly she lifted her head, so as to not frighten the deer around her. She looked towards the bank of trees, ear flicked ever so slightly and then she lowered her head and began grazing again.
Artemis' smile grew a bit wider as she watched Celeste. She would forgive her friend for causing her such concern now that she could see the deer was safe. Glancing over at Hero she nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea. I know where she is now and that she is safe. Best to leave her be and not ruin her night." Turning she began to creep away from the herd, they may still be downwind of the herd but there was no reason to not continue to be cautious until they were a good distance away. Even the most subtle of sounds could scare the herd still.
When she felt they were a good enough distance away Artemis raised herself back to her full height. Giving her fur a soft shake she looked at Hero, bringing her paws to a stop. Well now that she didn't have to spend the night searching for Celeste she wondered what to do now. Hopefully Hero would think so something instead of wishing to turn to his den, for right now Artemis found herself just looking at him, not staring in that rude or awkward manner though, the lightning markings under his eyes seeming to have drawn her attention.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:31 am
Hero followed Artemis from the tree's he was bulkier then she was with his thick ruff of fur but he was careful to extract himself a soundlessly as possible as they left the tree and then slunk away from the herd. giving himself a slight shake to rid of any debris that might be clinging to him after crawling under the tree Hero turned about to speak with the she wolf and...found her staring at him instead.
Was she looking at him? A quick glance behind him proved she was and his ear flicked somewhat in unease. "Do I ah...have something on me or something?" Perhaps a bit of tree was twisted comically in the fur between his ears - it was longer then most so it happened from time to time and it was always embarrassing.
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:38 am
Artemis blinked a few times and then shook her head. Oh gods, she was just staring at him and now she felt like a complete fool. "Oh, no no." She tried to explain herself but she didn't think that the truth was the best option, for she had been looking at him thinking how handsome he was - besides she remembered he was interested in that female Abyss. "I was just...think about something." Way to go, she scolded herself, now he is going to ask what she was thinking about, best to just change the subject and hope he forgets about this awkward moment. "So...what now?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 9:44 am
Ah well...at least he didn't have leaves tanged into his fur making him look like some odd little forest sprite. That was a relief. He might have asked what it was she had been thinking of but Hero was a wolf easily distracted and when she asked him what they could do next he forgot entirely about his previous question.
"Well..." He hesitated - he wasn't one to spend allot of time out in the woods at night - he really had absolutely no idea what they could do. unless..well she liked the moon and such right? surely she would appreciate a good view, most females did. "There a hill not to far off that leads to a decent outlook over the lands. I bet it would be pretty to see at night with the moon so bright" He' never seen it before himself but well it seemed like it would be nice. Of course they could get there and it could be completely lame - but nothing chanced,nothing gained eh?
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Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:11 am
Artemis smiled slightly and glanced up at the sky. There wasn't a cloud to be seen and therefore it would prove to be a good night to look at the moon. And she did love the night quite a bit, so spending some time looking at the moon would certainly be welcoming. "Yes, I should like to do that." She paused for a moment, and Hero would prove to be good company. "Lead the way then." She waited for him to start walking and fell into step beside him. While she kept her head facing forward Artemis did glance at him out of the corner of her eye.
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