Furekatsu Anjiru x Tamiko-chan
Wyatt x Kalia


Kal was terribly beaten. Not beaten physically, but definitely beaten emotionally and mentally. She had been traveling for a few days now--going on and on without stopping to eat or rest--attempting to get as far away as possible from the lands she had once called home with her mate. Since he had blown up on her like that... she hadn't thought of anything else besides running, running far away. She was afraid that he'd hunt her down, that he'd beat her.

A sharp pain in her side caused her to stop suddenly, her paws skidding and sliding a little on the wet dirt. She blinked and lifted her head slightly. She was at a stream. A quiet, peaceful stream. The sight made her sick to her stomach.

Running through the water and leaving large splashes in her wake, the female quickly moved away from the stream. She didn't know why, but everything around her reminded her of her past, both the distant and the not-so-distant. It was the reason she had been running for so long and running for such a great distance.

Stopping again due to another sharp pain in her side, Kalia lifted her head once more. This time, she was somewhere in a forest, thickly populated with trees of all sorts.

She was lost in location. All parts of her life matched one another now.

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Half way between drowning and the shore Wyatt had made a rather important decision for the first time in his life. He loved the water. Really really really loved it.

The whole gasping for breath, vision fading, stuff was a bit of a draw back. But that was just part of the experience. It was painfully obvious he couldn't swim for beans. But the youth never once realized that himself.

And he hadn't met a soul yet who was willing to crush his delight with that fact.

Rolling in the mud and kicking his hind feet in unison into the air Wyatt rubed his head until he'd satisfied an itch then twisted awkwardly to his feet. The mud dripped onto his muzzle from his flicks ears with small 'Spats'.

But he smelled someone. And he smelled saddness. Or atleast he thought it was saddness. Somehow the small teen had recieved the idea that emotions gave scents. This one called to him.

Bounding further down the stream Wyatt glanced happily about until a grey wolf appeared. Mud shed itself as best it could from his coat. Ever since venturing from his birth pack Wyatt had run into very few other wolves.

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The female's nose twitched. She may have been completely beaten and worn out, but that didn't stop her from keeping tabs on her surroundings and making sure that no one would be able to sneak up on her. A good thing, too, since she smelled someone... a male. Instantly all of her senses went on high alert.

Lifting her head, she turned about to look straight at a young male, probably not even in adulthood yet. It wasn't Catalyst, and that at least made her sigh in relief. But he was still male. At this point, she didn't trust any of them.

Her hackles rose slightly in a threatening manner as her lips were pulled back in a silent snarl. It was obvious, however, by the sadness in her eyes and the droop of her tail that she wasn't so serious. Her spirit and her soul were just withering and rotting away, leaving almost nothing left in her to fight. Nonetheless, she took pride in the fact that she was a rather strong female, and she wouldn't go down without at least some sort of struggle.

"What do you want, boy?" she rasped, her throat dry from running all day and having had nothing to drink.

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Dancing on his toes for a few moments just grinning it occured to Wyatt in one sudden instant that he was around someone who could have easily hurt him.

Just like that he dropped mid step onto the ground and rolled over onto his back. Tail waving back and forth happily the male looked up at the obviously adult female. She didn't look happy. Nope. Not happy at all.

"Hi hi! I came to say hello! What's wrong?" He asked with a little less enthusiasm so as not to sound rude. "You don't look so happy, and it's a beau-ti-ful day!"

Wiggling some he watched her upside-down with his tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth.

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Kalia's stance relaxed, the anger fading from her features. She blinked down at the male.

Yep, he was stupid.

Sighing, she lowered her head then sat down on her haunches, her legs thankful for the rest after all of that running. She may have been a strong, fit wolf, but that didn't mean she didn't give out at some point in time. She had actually lost all the strength to run a couple of hours ago, but she had pushed herself, made her jelly-feeling legs to move onward. She couldn't stop.

"Is it such a beautiful day?" she replied bitterly, though her tone was also laden with complete sadness. Her life was miserable right now, and she wasn't so keen on seeing the beauty in anything around her.

"And I'm just tired," she half-lied to him, her legs shaking. He didn't need to know all the details of her personal life. After all, he was just a boy. There was no need for her to go putting horrible thoughts into his head with her life's stories.

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Fortunately for the adolescent notes and tones seemed to easily pass him by. With a giggle in his throat he peered at her with adoring eyes. He really really really loved meeting wolves. Especially for the first time.

"Why yes it is! The birds are singing, the butterflies are dancing the jive, and the river is practically trying to hug you." He chirped. The world was beautiful in his mind. Always.

Tail thumping from side to side Wyatt closed his eyes. "Maybe you should take a nap? Or sing! The birds sing, and they're always happy. I don't know why they do. But it's always good to hear." Rolling on to his said he stretched his legs.

"Birds don't sing because they have all the answers you know. They sing because they have songs."

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Kalia rolled her eyes. This wolf really was just an air head. He kept blabbing on about birds and flowers or something of that sort. She really didn't follow any of it. Instead she let her mind drift to distant memories. Her son. Her oldest son. The son she had had before she had come to this place. Where was he? What was he doing now? Was his father--

She choked. She didn't want to think of her old mate, she shouldn't be thinking about him. He was the whole reason her life was such a mess.

Shaking her head, the gray wolfess perked her ears and focused her attention back on the young male before her. He had finished talking by now, and she figured she should say a little something to him so she didn't seem completely rude or anything.

"I just don't feel good, okay kid?" she sighed, sinking down to her belly and resting her head on her crossed paws. "I didn't exactly have a good past few days."

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But Wyatt didn't seem to notice that the adult had paid little attention to him. Instead he curled into himself and watched her curiously.

"What'd you do the past few days?" He knew what he'd done. He'd followed some butterflies. Eaten some berries. Laid down and watched the clouds as his stomach went through sumersalts. And fallen asleep where ever.

That sure did leave one aching in the morning. But that was ok. He was really 'roughing it'. Like Sawyer must have been doing.

It just wasn't as easy as he'd hoped.

"Can I follow you? I haven't found really any of my friends. And you don't look hungry. Can I can I, oh please?"

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Kalia blinked at the male. He was being a bit nosey there, asking her what she'd done for the past few weeks. Just because she had mentioned it didn't mean that he could prod further into the subject. She narrowed her eyes at him, debating whether or not she should tell him.

"I've just had some hard travels," she stated simply, clipping away the details and just leaving a vague summary of her past few days. And hey, it wasn't completely lying anyways. She had had a rough past couple of days.

When he asked her if he could follow her, she looked at him like he was crazy or had rabies or something.

"Uhm.." she hesitated, not really knowing what to say. She didn't exactly want some bird brain following her around, but then again she had no excuse not to let him. She needed a distraction, she supposed, and he sure was proving to be a good one. Maybe.. just for a little while..

"Aah, I suppose you can. Just... don't bother me too much," she sighed, looking down at the ground.

What had she gotten herself into?