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 Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:50 pm
 Aduial was feeling a bit out of sorts. Her paw hurt, for one. She'd recently suffered a thorn to it, and while at the time she thought Cern and Athena had made entirely too big of a deal out of it, now she was regretting not having gone to her parents with it immediately.
Now that she was alone, curled up outside the den, staring at her paw, she couldn't help but wish the others hadn't left her so soon. The pawpad had swollen up and it was burning something fierce now. They'd gotten the thorn itself out -- smart thinking -- but it still stung. Clearly, whatever she'd stepped on had been poisonous.
Great. And now there was no one around to help her.
Tears sprang to the pup's eyes as she coddled her forepaw and she shivered a little, getting herself much more worked up about all this the more she thought about it until it was impossible to tell what was pain, what was poison, and what was just full-on panic.
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Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:46 pm
Cuccu was the only male out of the litter, he did not believe in a line of succession; a position within Draug, small or large, held responsibilities and had to be worked for, that much he was aware of. However being the only male from the alpha pairs litter seem to demand a little more responsibility than that of say the beta females and hunting trainer, both senior roles within the pack, offspring. He took the responsibility with ease though, he seemed to have his fathers natural flare for commanding respect, not arrogance simply a calming reassuring presence. He aspired to his father, unlike his mother who as much as he adored her at times could sometimes be a little too impulsive though she always seemed to pull everything off, he seemed to hold a more sound judgement and a calming controlling presence which wasn't over bearing, he understood the importance of each pack member and displayed a great amount of respect for each of them in turn.
Cuccu, much like his father was a quite character, however this was not through shyness or any other such quality, more than he seemed to paused to think every split second or so, to relish life and to breath. At presence he was doing just that, taking stock of his lesson with Cocidius, the hunting captain was a reserved and quite wolf however he spoke with passion when talking about the land and the creature which inhabited it, he taught respect and from that he promised much would follow. He was due to meet with Triton later that day for another lesson, who always seemed exhausted with his work, there were many to teach at present however the large blue wolf was always happy to see another eager student.
Cuccu closed his eyes, inhaled and took in the scents about him, he opened his eyes and focused his mind on a single thought, his sister Aduial was nearby. He turned and calmly strode in the direction he had smelt her from, the scent grew and then his eyes confirmed his original indicating sense. He closed his eyes slowly and gave and ever so slight incline of his chin as a respectful greeting to his sister and then opened his eyes and focused on her clearly. A small frown formed upon his brow and his voice came softly cooing, 'What ailes you sister, you look unwell.'
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Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:56 pm
Ah! Cuccu! If ever there were one wolf she wanted to see right now, it was her brother. She looked up with dark, soulful eyes and a slightly trembling lip, her ears folding back to her skull. It took everything in her to maintain the composure she usually tried to keep at all times. "...N-nothing, really," she said, and then she lost her reserve.
"....I stepped on a thorn and it's gone but it still hurts," she blurted out, and held out her forepaw for him to see, the slightly swollen pad and the slightly pinkish tinge that the inflamed flesh was taking. It wasn't anything serious, of course, but it was quite enough for a delicate little pup such as herself to make quite a fuss about.
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 8:20 am
Cuccu moved forward, casting his eyes into the den behind her but he knew from the absence of scents, other that lingering older scents that all the other members of his family where out at presence. His mother was trained in healing, the original pack mother had taught her whilst she herself was a pup, their mother now had the responsibility as Reaction had left the pack lands a long time ago now. It would have been an advantage to have her about to sooth Aduial however at the back of his mind he knew that probably wasn't true though he was aware Macha loved them all, she was a little more tough on them all, she'd of simply laughed and told Aduial to get on with it, that the swelling would go down in a day or two.
Cuccu knew Aduial was sweet and feminine, a simple thorn in the paw was something she was likely to make a fuss over for all she desired was a little love and attention. Cuccu's concerned frown remained though a little more for pretence now, he walked over to her and lay down in front of her as close as possible without touching her then craned his head at and angle where he could see the main pad of her paw. He noted the slight swelling and pinkish tinge to the flesh but even he knew it was fine. He looked back up at her then and smiled softly and in a gentle voice he reassured her, 'My dear Addy, it's a little swollen that much it true and it'll be a little tender to walk on for a few hours but it'll be fine. I promise.'
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 9:43 am
Her lip trembled. She was ashamed of herself for acting this way -- after all, hadn't she just been telling the others how silly this was? -- but once the little pinpricks of worry began to stab into her heart she had an impossible time shaking them.
"But it hurts," she whined, and folded her ears back, and gritted her teeth. This was ridiculous. This was not fitting behavior for a princess. Cuccu was right, everything would be fine and then she'd feel terribly silly for making such a fuss about it.
So why was her heart thumping so fast?
A whimper caught in her throat and she edged faster, nuzzling into her brother's side for protection. Cuccu would keep her safe, wouldn't he? He always would! She trembled now, a little, being so worked-up that she could hardly stand, but she managed to contain her whimpers before they broke into full-on bawling.
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 11:36 am
'Oh Addy.' he berated gently, 'I'll look after you and don't you worry. If it's not gone down in the hour I'll go and find Mum so she can make a balm for it, how's that?' Perhaps the idea of having Mother look at her would put so much fear into her, she'd forget about it but then again it could also make her worry more, who knew? Thus to try and comfort her he accepted her cuddle and shimmed up alongside her, bowing his head protectively over her neck and nuzzling her cheek. He wriggled his head and tickled the top of her ear with the feathers which were bound to his own in a decorative manner, much like his mothers but less elaborate.
In attempt to take her mind of things, besides the fond cuddles and playful tickling he tried distracting her mind with a different line of conversation than her days activities. 'So, have you been spending much time with Cocidius? I find him terribly interesting, have you had the chance to meet Aisling yet?'
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 11:52 am
Oh, well...that would help, yes. If this didn't go away in an hour then surely Mother would solve it. One way or another things would be resolved soon. The thought calmed her almost instantly, and though the sting in her paw was insistent and her toes tingled, her heart didn't beat quite so fast.
She couldn't help but giggle a bit as Cuccu's feathers rustled against her. She ducked her head, trying to get away. She'd always been somewhat jealous of the adornments her siblings had -- had always wondered why she had never gotten any.
"No," she said, in response to his question. "Not really. But I think I've made friends with Cernunnos. He was telling me all about birds when I stepped on that thorn."
Her tail thumped a little. Though she had never expected to be interested in birds, Cern made them sound so fascinating!
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Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 2:45 pm
'No?' He asked slightly puzzled, they should all be spending time with Triton and Cocidius training for hunting and the importance of caring for the packs territory including the land and other animals which they shared it with however he knew Cocidius often went of to tend to his duty for days at a time, the Hunting Captain was rather elusive he had to admit. The name Cernunnos rang a bell for him though, he was Cocidius' only son, yeah that's right. He didn't know the male very well at all but it was nice to know Addy was making an effort to get to know the other pups, he should of made time for such things so focused on studies and walking with his father he forgot the importance of play.
'He's Cocidius' son right? I suppose that's why he knows so much. What sort of things did he tell you about then?'
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2011 1:36 am
"He knows all sorts of things," she said, growing somewhat distracted from her prior panic as they touched on a subject that suddenly interested her. "He was telling me about robins, I think. And about bird song."
Then she looked somewhat sheepish, because it occurred to her -- as it had to Cuccu -- that she should probably be spending her time training rather than birdwatching. Truth be told, she hadn't quite hit her stride when it came to hunting; she was so small, and so uneasy about getting dirty, and so easily tired by hard labor. It wasn't precisely that she was spoiled, only that she was ill-suited to physical pursuits, and she had yet to find her niche in the pack because of it. She was really quite self-conscious about that.
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Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2011 11:59 am
He smiled as she almost chirped her response, not knowing whether to poke fun at her for seeming so in awe of Cern's knowledge or the delight in having learnt about something, almost like their mother when she learnt something new she got terribly excited. However a look crossed her eyes that indicated her thoughts had turned to something else, she looked somewhat sheepish, slumping her shoulders slightly. He nodded softly as he read his sister, 'There is still plenty of time for training Addy, enjoy being a pup plus learning about bird calls is a terribly useful thing.' He searched her eyes for understanding but she seemed to expect him to continue, 'Well certain birds migrate depending on the season so it is often a good indicator of the season change, the birds have a built in knowledge of this as they need to get to their migratory lands before the seasons change to give them chance to do what they do there, whether it's bunkering down for the winter or starting to breed and nest over the spring.' He paused to let her take this in before adding, 'plus they need to time laying their eyes correctly so they give enough time for the chicks to grow and strengthen themselves before they to have to make the journey. Can you see why it's important now?'
He smiled at her trying to encourage her in what she had taken an interest in, every bit of knowledge could often be put to some sort of use. He himself envied Addy a little, he had an old head on young shoulders and often found it hard to let go and simply play about like any other pup. He was wise enough to know this was an important part of bonding with others but he was so serious a lot of the time he found being 'silly' really didn't suit him and he wasn't comfortable with it. Their father had laughed at him once when he had declared he needed to train, learn and take everything in so he could live up to him but Haku had simply smiled that age old smile that told him not to rush things.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:51 am
She tilted her head, soaking in this bit of knowledge. Cuccu's presence was comforting, more like being around an adult than another pup her age. How was it that he was so knowledgeable and wise?
She nodded in response to his question. Of course -- it was always important to know what the seasons were doing so you weren't caught unawares with no prey and no shelter. Not that Aduial was old enough to have experienced such a change in seasons, but at least she understood the idea well enough.
"Did you learn all that from Cocidius?" She asked, when he was finished. "You must be very busy. I hardly ever see you, lately."
She didn't sound bothered by this -- more in awe.
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