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 Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 6:23 pm
 The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Youko was feeling...a little uneasy. This was not at all a common occurrence for her, since she preferred to avoid any deep introspection and very little could frighten her. Of course, fear an unease were completely different beasts.
It was her Uncle, if she were being honest. He had been gone so long, she was beginning to worry that something might have happened to him. But no. Surely not. Nothing could happen to her Uncle. He was the one who had taught her everything she knew. He could not be defeated.
No. She was being completely ridiculous. It was Just Youko. She was just getting a little lonely, being on her own so long. It was just wearing on her. Surely that must be it..right?
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:05 pm
 Border patrol? More like boring patrol.
It wasn't strictly checking the boundary, as Tomkin had ceased to exist as a tight knit pack, but this was the name of the task Raz was doing. Giving it a name made him feel like he was still contributing to something, even if that something was no longer a reality. He had grown up with so many wolves that to think of himself as an individual was . . . disconcerting.
So it wasn't "wandering around". It was "border patrol". Er, "boring patrol".
Raz made no effort to mask his presence as he padded along, feeling particularly lazy this day. He was hitting the outskirts now, and depending on the weather he would either continue out and beyond or he would simply return to his den and nap - if only to get away from his new predicament for a few hours.
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Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:30 pm
As she padded along, the moss-green female gradually became aware of a boundary. An old boundary, though, it seemed somehow weakened. It was still clearly traveled, patrolled, but more of the scents were faded than fresh. The quiet part of her wondered whether the pack still resided here, or whether it was just a few wolves. It wanted to know if anything dangerous resided within the territory.
The rest of her simply wondered if there was anyone nice there, or if they needed help. Well. There was only one way to find out. Or rather, there was only one proper way to find out. So, she sorted out the most recent scent – quite fresh – and followed it to whomever it may lead.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:15 am
Having slowed down somewhere in the middle of the patrol, Raz more and more had the sense that something was amiss. Not as obvious as the "you need to find a new den, slacker" thought that his conscience kept nagging him with. No, it was the same inexplicable feeling of being watched, only there was no-one in the immediate vicinity - and these notions came only when the wind shifted, bringing different scents to tease him with.
Hmm. Maybe he was getting paranoid. Damn it, Dover.
Still, the only way to know if he was really becoming suspicious would be to put said suspicion to rest. And Raz could wait out in this cold for quite a while in no small part due to his double layered coat. An experiment then.
Finding the closest tree, Raz raked his claws into it, leaving both a visible and a scent mark. He then retraced his steps backwards to avoid leaving extra tracks and dove into hiding not far away from it, where trees and dry brush still clung to life. While his pelt was not suited to blend into the snow, if he crouched as still as death, perhaps he would be glazed over as merely a patch of mixed dirt and snow.
His mind told him it was stupid to host a stake out based on paranoid assumptions, but really what else was he going to do that day? Who knew, maybe some prey would be lucky enough to pass by as well.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:31 pm
Youko's ears perked up with interest when she saw the mark on the tree. Fresh. Very fresh. The quiet part of her knew that it was also far too obvious. A ploy? A trap? The moss-green female sunk a little deeper into the quiet, dangerous part of herself, ready should someone choose to attack.
Sharp blue eyes scanned the area, suspicious, alert. A low growl wanted to rumble out of her throat, but she kept it silent. Silence, after all, was key.
The scent on the ground might be a little confused, but the scent in the air was not. Whoever it was, they were near. Weighing her options, Youko decided to give them one chance. After that, she would kill them.
"Come out."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:42 pm
In hindsight he probably should have chosen a place further from the actual spot she was in. Damn, he was getting lazy.
But hmm, to answer or not . . . He observed the female for a moment: she was on the alert, cautious; displaying some aggression, tensed; voice at odds and calm.
Hrrm. Probably not a good idea to aggravate further, he wasn't looking to start a fight. At the least he got his answer: not paranoid!
"Easy," he said, poking his head through the brush and wearing it like a mane, clear blue eyes dancing with mirth, oddly enough. "Old habit. Used to piss off a friend of mine when she tried to follow me."
Apparently his new situation had redefined "friend" and allowed "complete stranger" to be an addendum.
"She wore the same look too, funny enough. Guess my humor's off-color."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 2:55 pm
Upon the cheerful appearance of the stranger, Youko relaxed and wagged her tail slightly, the quiet part fading into the background. Surely he could not be so bad. He was just having fun. Of course, she did not know much about humor. Uncle did not approve of jokes. Maybe the stranger was just being cautious, like her.
"Hello,"she said shyly, eyes downcast. "I did not mean to intrude. Do you live here?"
She did so hope that he would not send her away. A friendly little chat would do wonders for her, especially with someone as nice as he seemed to be.
"Ah!" she exclaimed, looking at him. "My name is Youko." It would not do to forget her manners.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:18 pm
Truth be told, Raz was a little taken aback at how her mood shifted. Then again, it was a natural reaction after all when one entered what one thought to be a trap. He brushed the event off with his own smile, content to pretend to have "all natural" hair for the moment. "Kinda. It's complicated, don't worry about it. Name's Cipher," he offered back. "And I gotta ask if you know that there's humans about in these parts. Gotta be more careful nowadays - heard they like to hunt things in these woods, and they're too dumb to understand what we're saying."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:36 pm
"It is a pleasure," she said, pleased that he did not seem to mind her presence. It would be sad to leave so soon. However, she frowned as he continued.
Humans? Uncle had spoken of them once or twice. He said they were dangerous. He said they could be dangerous even for wolves like them, and if Uncle was cautious of them, then they could not be good. The moss-colored female would treat them with care. Perhaps she should not linger in the area, after all.
"I have never seen them before," she admitted. "Do they come here often?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:40 pm
"Not so much nowadays, luckily," Raz answered. "My whole family's been mixed up with them before - got my dad and older sister muzzled, for one; can't say I want the same treatment. Messed my mom up too, I think."
He stretched his lower half and yawned, still managing to stay in place as king-mane of the dead bush. "Heard there used to be a pack around here anyway, though. Guess they weren't afraid of some dumb furless intruders," he commented with a grin and shrug. "Who knew, maybe they had a few skulls . . ."
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 3:53 pm
Youko's ears flattened, taken aback at the deeds of these humans. Had they no decency? Such a thing was cruel. Perhaps she should take care of them...
Ah, but no. Uncle had warned her to stay away from humans as best she was able. She would not disobey him.
Oh? A pack? She eyed the male once again, not seeming to be the least fazed by his antics, though most might question a wolf who stuck his head out of a bush during a casual conversation.
"This pack, they fought the humans?" Perhaps Uncle was not entirely knowledgeable about them, if he did not realize wolves could fight them and win. Ah, but then again, he had said that there used to be a pack. Perhaps the humans killed them.
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Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2012 11:17 pm
"Not so much fight, no, I don't think any packs really go out of there way to bother those animals. But they knew their territory was getting encroached upon, and they've taken defensive measures before." Which consisted of hiding away until the humans lost interest, but that was more boring in comparison to his version. "Called themselves assassins for a reason, though. I heard they could kill a wolf plain as day in the middle of the day, without letting him so much as yelp for help."
Raz hadn't actually seen this, but he inferred it from the behavior of his superiors when they spoke of past missions - and those were rare times indeed.
"No morals, no mistakes: I think that was their catch phrase. The best ones you'd never see coming even if the wind blew their scent in your face. They were like shadows that went in and came out, and they'd only let you see them if you were about to die - and that was if they made a slip up."
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 2:44 pm
Well. Forget about the humans, this pack sounded much more interesting. They sounded like Uncle’s kind of people…her kind of people. Perhaps even more skilled than her, if what he said about scents was true. Or perhaps not. Whimsical though she may be, Youko knew better than to believe everything she heard. Still, it was enough to fascinate her.
“This pack, does it still exist? Or are some of its members still around?” If they were, she would very much like to meet them. She was not entirely certain what she would do if she did meet them, but it still seemed like something she should do nonetheless.
A thought occurred to her and she took a closer look at the silly male before her. Was he part of that pack?
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 4:26 pm
Raz gave her a sly smile. "Oh yeah, they're around. I'm part of the pack actually, head of the assassins in the shadows of your nightmares. Slaughtered a traitor in someone's pack once; he paid me with enough fish to last me a week. You're lucky I just decided to toy with you, mortal~" He apparently took the refuge in audacity path: so obvious it couldn't be true. It was harder to outright lie since it meant having to keep track of fabricated stories. "No, but really I'm not sure if they're still around. I just heard the stories in my old pack about what they did in the past; grew up on it actually. Some pups got den stories of faraway lands and heroic deeds; I got to hear about how this one assassin infiltrated boundaries and used birds to communicate information across big stretches of land."
Well, it wasn't like all of that was a lie.
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Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 5:32 pm
Youko cocked her head at his attempt at humor. Was he mocking himself or was he simply playing? She was not very good at distinguishing the difference, nor was she entirely certain whether he actually was part of that pack or not. Did it still exist? Perhaps the pack had declined until all that was left were stories of its former glory? Still, the word “assassin” called to her. She knew of less than a paw-full, including herself and Uncle. To meet another…it was almost more than she could resist.
Ah, but he said he did not even know if there were any still around. Or, if he did, he was not telling. Youko was not good with untruths. Easier to kill them all than sort out the lies.
“You would not make a very good head assassin,” she pointed out, her strict training and Uncle’s no-nonsense attitude toward the shadowy arts overriding her natural shyness and politeness. “Your trap was far too obvious.”
Youko was not really sure how much to reveal to the stranger, however nice he might seem. She opted for nothing extra. After all, something said could not be unsaid, but that which remained unsaid could later be said.
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