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 Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:58 pm
 Youko shook herself off once more, ridding her fur of excess water. The torrential downpour had stopped just as suddenly as it had started, and with just as little warning. Well, at least it was over, now, and the sun was shining again, having banished the clouds. She could go back to enjoying her day. Or rather, she could return to her solitude. The moss-green wolf heaved a sigh and settled on her rump. It was not that she particularly minded solitude. According to Uncle, it was far better to be alone than surrounded by others, anyway. But at the same time, she liked being around others. Helping them. Being useful. One must admit: it is rather difficult to be useful when one is alone.
Her ears drooped despondently, but then perked up again. Her senses as alert as ever, she had picked up some noise that indicated she was not the only wolf in the forest. The rain might have washed away most of the scents, but that did very little to hinder her. Rising to her feet, she set off in search of this other wolf, hoping that it would be friendly and that she would not have to kill it. After all, if she had to kill it, she would be all alone again.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 2:33 am
 Ransom had been wandering for quite awhile. She'd say she was lost, but being lost generally entailed having some destination in mind, and Ransom had none: she was a drifter, wandering wherever her paws decided to take her any given day. She hadn't specifically chosen the life. More like she woke up one morning, set off on an adventure, and had never bothered to return home.
She doubted her mother would notice her missing.
Occasionally she did get a pang for her brother, but it would fade quickly enough. It's not like he was dead, after all. She could go back and visit at any time. Although she had only a nebulous idea of where they were now.
But none of that mattered, really. What mattered was enjoying life while she was young and had a chance to live it. Ransom was very much a believer in the "seize the day" mentality, and in living life to its fullest. Life was beautiful, as was everything in it...even the parts that others found disgusting or awful, Ransom appreciated.
Like this rainstorm, for example. As the rains fell down she stood in the open and breathed in the clean air, felt the cold droplets soak down into her fur -- and, now that the sun was out, she relished the feeling of it along her wet fur, and the brightness of the sky, and the way the air smelled fresh and new. Renewal. That's what it was all about. The circle of life, and all that jazz.
The philosophy of it didn't matter to her, really. What mattered was the fact: things were beautiful, things had a purpose, and even things without purposes had a right to exist for their own sake.
Shaking herself, her splotched fur standing up in haphazard spikes all over her frame, the young wolf shifted her course and made her way through the woods, oblivious to the presence of another. She had been living on her own for a little while now, but certainly not long enough for her senses to be fully honed.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:10 am
Compared to Youko’s trained stealth, the other wolf was making a royal ruckus, so it was a simple matter for her to locate the younger female. Oh! And there she was, now. What a lovely, mottled coat she had. And such a pretty bone pattern, too. Of course, Youko would never admit to liking pretty things aloud. How embarrassing that would be. Uncle would be ashamed to know that she enjoyed such frivolities. But that was a matter for another time. Right now, she had to decide how to deal with the wolf before her.
Normally, she was rather shy when meeting strangers, but she found it difficult to be afraid of meeting someone that was so obviously younger than her. Rather than hoping that the stranger was happy to see her, Youko simply hoped that she did not startle the younger wolf. Well, best not wait any longer.
“Hello,” she said quietly, stepping out of the bushes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 10:27 am
Ransom stopped, realizing she was not alone at roughly the exact same time as the other figure spoke. Her tail wagged. "Oh, hello," she said back, looking her over thoughtfully. She was so bright! How could something this bright have snuck up on her? Well, it didn't matter. A grin spread over her maw. "I didn't hear you. You must practice a lot, at being sneaky."
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 3:17 pm
Oh, good. She had not startled the younger female. That would have been a terrible first introduction. Ah. But then she spoke. Youko blinked and cocked her head. Practice at being sneaky?
“I suppose that is one way of putting it,” she agreed with a slight tail-wag of her own. Of a certainty, Youko had had a lot of practice in such arts. Uncle would have had her hide if she had failed to learn them properly, and she had wanted to please him, regardless. He was all the family she had left, after all.
“I am Youko,” she said, shooing her thoughts away. “Who might you be? Do you live nearby?” It was doubtful, as she had yet to come across any territories nearby. Of course, this was her first time in the area, so she supposed it was possible. Besides, it was only polite to ask.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:03 pm
"My name is Ransom," she said, with a little smile -- she knew her name was kind of weird. But it wasn't as weird as "Fishbone", which her father had been called, or so she had heard. So she'd take Ransom just fine. "And, I was just about to ask you the same. I...don't really live anywhere, actually."
This didn't strike her as particularly strange, since she had never grown up in a pack.
"Do YOU?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:24 pm
“No. Nowhere.” In fact, she never had. Her parents had wandered and after they disappeared and her uncle took her in, that aspect of her life never changed. Due to her uncle’s profession, and now hers, Youko had never had a place to call home. This did not sadden her. It was the only life she had ever known. Still…
“Are you not a little young to be wandering alone?” Oh, dear. Was that a rude thing to ask? She hoped not, for she could not stand for anyone to be angry with her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:44 pm
"Maybe," she admitted. The thought had crossed her mind. But Ransom wasn't afraid of very much. Whether that was careless or brave, she didn't know -- she just knew it was the truth. "But before it was just my mom and my brother, so it doesn't really make any difference."
That made perfectly good sense to her, anyway.
"How about you? How come you're alone?" This green wolf fascinated her -- one, because she seemed interested in Ransom, which in itself was both flattering and odd...and two, because she seemed a bit nervous, as though second-guessing everything she said, and Ransom had a hard time telling if she was lying about or just very nervous. She couldn't imagine why any wolf would be nervous talking to her.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:58 pm
She admitted she might be too young? How rare. Honesty was such a lovely thing and though she always wanted to believe the best of everyone, Youko knew better. Her uncle had tutored her well in the way of the world.
“My parents disappeared when I was very young,” she confessed, though she rarely thought about them anymore. After all, they were but distant memories and her uncle meant the world to her.
“Uncle is gone, too,” she added without being specific. She knew what he was really up to, but it was not meant to be common knowledge and he would not like her spreading it around. Best be vague.
“So, I am left to my own devices.” Would it be rude to ask? After all, she was not volunteering too much information, either. But…perhaps it could not hurt to ask, anyway? “Is your family still alive?”
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 2:19 am
"As far as I know," she said, but looked a little nervous about it. "I never met my dad, so I can't really say. But my mom and brother were alive when I left, anyway, and I think they'll be okay..."
She sure hoped they were. It was never her intention to hurt her family when she left.
"That's the only family I've got, anyway. I think. What happened to yours?"
Odd, really, how completely fascinated they seemed to be in each other. Than again, Ransom guessed that drifters didn't tend to make a lot of friends. She was plenty eager to make conversation while she had the chance.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:06 pm
Nervous? What had made her so suddenly nervous? Part of Youko, the part that her uncle had molded so perfectly into an agent of his profession, wanted to know why she was so nervous. Guilt? Uncertainty? Concern? Another part of her, the polite part, the part that disliked arguments, just wanted to let the issue lie. That was the part that won out. She had no reason to press and it would be rude to do so, after all. So, to answer her question.
“My parents disappeared when I was very young,” she said. “I do not know what happened to them. I lived with my uncle after that, but we went our separate ways a while ago. So, I am alone.” She shrugged. It was the way it was. Now, she was simply wandering. Helping random strangers. Meeting other wolves. Searching for purpose. Or perhaps for nothing at all. She simply was.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:58 pm
"We've got a lot in common, then," she said, with a friendly smile. She suspected that both of them were not saying a lot of things. She tried to figure out how to breach that topic. That was the hard part about being a drifter -- it was hard, sometimes, to navigate interpersonal relations.
"Why did you leave your uncle?" She asked, finally, and hoped that wasn't a horribly rude question.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:22 am
“So it would seem,” she agreed, seeing the similarities herself. Oh, but then she just had to go and ask that of all things. Her expression did not waver, she made certain of that, but inside, she was full of nervous turmoil. She did not like to lie, but she knew that Uncle would not want others to know exactly what he was doing. Certainly, she wanted to be friends, but Youko would never do anything that might harm her uncle. He was all she really had. Perhaps a little compromise?
“He had some business that he needed to take care of himself,” she said, honestly enough, though far from detailed. “I imagine we will meet again. But what about you? Why did you leave your mother and brother?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:18 pm
"Business?" She pressed, tilting her head. That was strange. What sort of business could a wolf possibly have to go on? She figured he must be a very important wolf. Pack alpha, maybe. But that hardly made any sense with him being Youko's only family.
What a mystery!
"I...well, I don't know why I thought to leave, honestly. I bet my brother will leave too, one day. Mom...I don't think she really ever wanted us around."
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Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 11:56 pm
Choosing to ignore the probe, though it might be rude, Youko instead focused on the other wolf’s life. She had known her parents for so short a time, that other peoples’ families fascinated her. Of course, she loved her uncle dearly and would never wish him out of her life, not even to have her parents back, but there was still a part of her that wondered. What would a real family be like? What would it have been like if her parents had not disappeared? Why had they disappeared in the first place? Was it her?
That last thought rarely crossed her mind, but it was still there. She could not banish it. Had they not wanted her there, just like Ransom’s mother?
“What do you mean, she did not want you around?” Could something like that really be true? Even if it was, why would the younger wolf willingly give up her family?
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