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 Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:13 pm
 Yet again, a little black and white puppy romped by her lonesome through the edges of the South Seasides territory. She had gone a different way this time, away from her new den, away from the safety of Lindir and Toby and Thayne and the others. It wasn't that she wanted to get away from them - oh no far from it! The black and white pup had never felt so . . .
so . . .
so safe than when she was nearby.
In fact, the past couple days had done wonders on the pale eyed puppies personality. She'd never slept so good in all her months of life! Without realizing it, Xieros was beginning to trust this new family. These wolves were different then the ones she had met before . . . thus far, they had kept their promises. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't have to be afraid.
The pleasant thought disappeared as soon as it came. Her mind adrift over the many changes in her life, something seemed to draw Xieros' curiousity to the world around her. She didn't want to leave the packlands - Adenru, she remembered, was still out there - but so long as she stayed, there was very little Adenru could do.
What was it Thayne had told her? That wolf-eaters were run out? Abom-abam-abomidableable? Whatever the word was, Xieros understood clearly that those sorts were unwelcome. Lindir and the brute Toby and Thayne would be there for her if she needed . . .
And for once, for a brief moment, Xieros found a sense of peace.
The wheels of her mistrusting mind worked slowly, and she made sure to stick close to packlands. The only problem was, yet again, she passed over one territory and straight in to another.
Sure, the scents of Thayne were weak, and new scents had already reached her nose . . .
But Xieros thought little of it. She was too busy, lost within the maze of her own imagination and mind, to realize she'd crossed outside of South Seaside, and was dancing on the borders of the Outriders.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:09 pm
Time passed too quickly evidently, Noir still couldn't see, well, see fully. Her eyes seemed to be constantly tired, though as she had grown, so did her strength and will to be able to see her mother and father, she could see them, well, the outlines of them however they were vague. But it was still, something, she wondered when she should tell them she had regained some sight, surely they would be happy.
Then maybe her father could give her a real job within the pack! Yes, because without sight when she was a pup, and a teen, it was hard for her to wander and not bump into anything.
Not that she didn't bump into things further, she did, but not as hard now.
Wriggling her tail low behind her she was on the borders of the packlands now, where the seaside pcaklands were close. She heard stories of the pack, how her father knew the alpha...or was that a dream? She couldn't quite remember, but she didn't believe the seaside pack was harmful, she hadn't gotten any warnings to not wander too close.
Her almost blind eyes led her around in circles, her large body of her adult stage was still so tiny, even a teen female could easily tower over her.
But that was alright, everything was seeming to be alright.
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Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:23 pm
With one wolf blinded through sight, Xieros was blinded by her imagination. As she walked, her mind drifted over the events of the last few days, and what great luck she'd had meeting Lindir. It was almost as if everything had been planned - to go from such a horrible place with Adenru, to be given a second chance with Thayne . . .
Inwardly, deep down, Xieros was pleased. It did her heart and spirits good to be able to find a place where she didn't have to worry about being eaten or maimed. Thayne had promised her that very day that she would never be devoured and any who came looking to eat another would be run out.
It had been a long time since Xieros didn't have to worry.
But as it was, if she wasn't terrified of her new family, she'd be terrified of something else. Pushing her way through the under brush, she walked straight for Noir. As had happened with Lindir and Toby, only too late did she see the black one, and by then it was too late to run away.
Stopping dead in her tracks, Xieros held her breath as she investigated the new wolf. Uh-oh. . . . her black fur reminded her of Thayne and Toby, but this new female was no wolf Xieros knew. Ears going bak against her head, tail dropping and preparing to curl underneath her, Xieros couldn't tell if this was a stranger or a pack wolf she'd yet to meet.
Ducking closer to the ground, the little puppy gave a small whine in the back of her throat, preparing herself to run back to Thayne. Mistyk, her first and only 'friend', was a strange one. Would this one be just as strange?
This time, Xieros remembered, she wouldn't stay and chatter if she felt uncomfortable. This time she'd run.
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:00 pm
Noir was walking in a circle again, then heard a low whine, her ears flickered forward and her head thumped against the side of a tree gently, but still made a noise loud enough to hear. "Someone there, who's there?" she crouched down low, tail curled behind her, ears folding back, she couldn't tell where they were, but someone was here.
She did hear them after all.
She peered around helplessly for it was hard to have a mass of dark shadows and blocks be molded into a shape, was it a deer, a bear? Oh no, what if it was a wolf and she wandered too far! She whined with that thought, and sunk to the ground and put her paws over her head defensively as if awaiting a beating upon her brow.
Sometimes she wished life, seeing life wasn't this hard.
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Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:39 pm
As Xieros watched the black femme, the little black and white girl was quick to realize something wasn't quite right. Perhaps it was the fact that Noir was so tiny - she didn't hold that gangly appearance of Mistyk or Lindir, but looked compact. She fit in to her paws, and had to be an adult - but was soooo small! Much smaller than Thayne, and even smaller than Toby!
What was she?
As she watched Noir, certain of a beating or snarling, Xieros was plum shocked when the other female rolled to the ground. Two paws were placed over her head, and a pathetic whine reached the striped ones ears . . .
Wait a minute - what was going on? Who was the adult here and why was Noir looking so afraid??
Puppish curiousity got the better of her, and she lifted her own head. Two pale gray eyes peered at the ebony female, the wheels of her mind working, working, working as she tried to figure out what would come of this. Did she run away while Noir's defenses were down? Did she approach? Did she stare?
Ears still flat against her head, Xieros didn't dare approach. It could always be a trick, and things weren't ever as they seemed. This one, even for a wolf so small, still had sharp fangs and snaggy claws. One bite and Xieros could easily lose a limb.
Noir won this battle, on size and age and smarts alone. So something wasn't adding up, and Xieros couldn't understand the missing piece. "Are you afraid o' me?" She asked softly, tilting her head in the most puppylike of mannerisms.
Noir couldn't be afraid of little Xieros~! She was nothing in comparison to the wolfess. So what was the fear. . .?
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2007 5:53 am
A voice.
She wiggled her tail and raised her head, her blue orbs looking around frantically. Somewhat of a darker pupil could be seen now, she had so such thing when she was younger, or at least thats what she was told when she was a pup. she wondered if her mother had pupils at all, or had none like she had none before.
Searching frantically still with her eyes they fell upon a little black mass, it moved, altered and morphed, she figured thats where the voice was coming from. But it was so small, a pup? Why would a pup be alone?
"I can't see very well...can only make out shapes...not too familiar with this side...are you alright? So tiny a black little thing, are you alright?" Noir would always put others before herself, even if she couldn't help others very much.
"I am Noir, black, can mostly only see things black too...who is the voice?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2007 9:00 pm
Xieros stared at the trembling black wolf before her. The pup didn't understand this new one, couldn't understand WHY she was so small and WHY she couldn't see. She had eyes, didn't she? So why were things only black. . . ? Was she sick? Was she diseased? Or perhaps she was tricking little Xieros. . . ? It was possible - there were such things as lies and deception. Noir couldn't be trusted.
"I'm all right," the puppy quipped softly, ears still pricked forward. Her body began to relax and the pale eyed puppy stared. There was something funny about Noir. It wasn't just the way she moved, it was the way she stared out at the world. Her expressions weren't clear and she avoided any and all eye contact. It was hard to read this Noir. . .
Xieros wasn't sure she liked that.
Still, the little female put two-and-two together. Maybe she really WAS hard of sight. Rising from her own submissive behavior, the petite femme trotted a little closer. She reached her neck out, sniffing madly at the black wolfs scent, attempting to read any and all information given. Her scent was not at all like that of Thayne and Lindir. She smelled of different wolves, of different environments and things.
"I'm Xieros," she finally responded, tail wagging a bit behind her. One of her paws reached forward in an attempt to carefully paw at the wolf. "You're very small, you know," she told Noir, as if the female didn't know such a thing. "How come you can't see?"
This was the first blind wolf she'd met, and Xieros wanted to know everything she could about her. The pup was careful to keep a distance between them, but just because she herself didn't like to be touched, it didn't mean at all that she suffered qualms about touching another.
Was this blindness contagious, like the plague of her packlands?
Maybe she shouldn't touch.
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 11:46 am
"Xieros," Noir said with a smile upon her maw, she settled herself upon the earth below her and made herself a bit more comfortable, and craned her neck upwards, ears perked forwards, little Xieros's (least she believed Xieros was little, because of the small lump she could see the outline of) voice was so cute, so young, she wished she could see her better.
"I am glad you are alright Xieros," she said with another nod, and a wag of her tail behind her that brushed through some fallen leaves. "Me small? Yes, I guess I am, though sometimes I can't tell really, I am big in my mind, though everything else mostly blends together and seems to tower over me..."
Noir wasn't particularly sure why she couldn't see, others could evidently, she wished she could see better, she wanted to see her mom and dad, not just shadows, would be so nice to see her parents eyes in her own. "I think it might just be because of my parents...something passed on maybe? Or maybe I was just meant to be this way,"
Yes, she could see the world in ways others couldn't.
"How about you little Xieros? What are you doing out here today? Wandering? I like to wander too."
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Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 8:11 pm
Gray eyes stared up at Noir, caution lurking near the edges of the expression. This wolf, though small of frame and hard of sight, was still a potential threat. She didn't smell of Thayne or South Seaside, and could be quite the tricksy wolf. Xieros didn't wnat to get too comfortable around Noir - she was still a stranger and might very well want to eat her.
That's right . . . .
Thank about it. Small or not, she could still easily snatch her up in her jaws and shake the last of life out of her. Instinct told her to treat lightly around her and not let Thayne's gentle words and promises go to her head. This stranger wasn't Thayne, and didn't even belong to the pack or packlands - that meant they might be wolf eaters too.
Overactive imagination began to put pieces together one by one. What if this blind one lured in the prey and then turned on them the moment their guard was down! Or what if she talked kindly (just like she was doing now) only to let others sneak upon Xieros and snap her up!
Oh dear. . .
Ears flicking about her head, trying to hone in on wolves that weren't there, Xieros quickly glanced behind her. She didn't SEE any wolves, but that didn't meant they weren't there. One step, then two, and the little puppy retreated away from Noir.
Imagination running full force, Xieros did miss most of what Noir explained. Call the puppy easily distracted. . .
"I - uh - I wasn't wandering," she lied, "I was just traveling on my own because . . because. . . because I can take care of myself, you know." A chest puffed out with pride, "My pack lets me do it all the time," she lied.
Noir didn't have to know that she'd only JUST met Thayne and Lindir a few days previous. Noir didn't have to know that she'd never been formally introduced to the packs Alpha, or anyone else beside the small beta's family. No, the stranger didn't need to know of her fears and Adenru and the wolf eaters that hunted her [at least in her mind]. . .
She was tough.
Or so little Xieros wanted to pretend and get Noir to believe.
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Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 3:47 pm
"Traveling? That must be nice, I wish I could do that too, more freely of course, my friend Rage, she comes with me sometimes when I want to go to the water for a drink. Rage is nice," Noir said with a nod and a wag of her tail. Rage was one of those wolfess' you had to be around and get to know, see what she was for who she was, not what others labeled her as. Noir had funny ways of explaining things to herself, and understanding them. But she did, and she was happy.
"Is your pack near here? They must all be nice, protective too, I bet they have watchful eyes on you all the time, Xieros is young and is very special to teh world," she nodded. Yes, great things awaited young pups, though not many things had waited for her as Noir had grown, yet, she did regain some sight, so that was a great thing. Perhaps the rest of her sight would wait for her too.
Noir tilted her head, heard paw steps, slow, going away? She flattened her ears against her head a bit, "Does Xeiros not like Noir? Am I scary?" she flattened her ears down more to make herself look 'less menacing.' "Too big?" she slumped to the ground, pressed her belly against the earth, curled her tail around herself.
Why did she have such a hard time making friends?
"I am sorry if I am not..."right"..."
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Posted: Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:44 pm
Xieros listened to what Noir had to say, slowly retreating. Her fear and uncertainty caused her to be cautious and wary, even though Noir was blind and small, she still had sharp teeth and claws. She was still a stranger, still had tricks and shadows, still had -
Her thoughts were broken as Noir's words began to penetrate her mind. Special? Protective? Ha. Though Thayne had been ever sweet to her, Xieros didn't believe he went out of his way to keep an eye on her. He wouldn't eat her, and kept her fed, but the wolf with the strange accent and his family couldn't think of her as anything special. "I may be young," she whispered, but gave a soft snort in response. "But they're . . . " What was the little beta family? They weren't her family, and they WERE only temporary. . . but . . .
For a second time, Noir's words pierced her thoughts. Shaking her head, the pale eyed one studied the female before her. Too big? Scary? Not like her? Where did Noir get the impression Xieros didn't like her~! Oh no.
White ears were pushed back against her skull, her tail curled underneath her own body, and she dropped herself to the ground. Mimicking the femme before her, Xieros gave a desperate whine in her throat. Reaching a paw out, the female didn't understand where Noir was getting this!
It wasn't that she didn't like the black one, it was just that she didn't know Noir, or trust her intentions. Now it seemed the female was cowering away from her~! Xieros didn't want anyone cowering like that, especially based upon her actions and body language.
Whining a second time, Xieros looked up at the black one. "Oh no," she whispered, shaking her head fervantly. "You're right - you really are!" She swiftly tried to reassure the femme. "I just - you just - I mean . . ." What did she say to Noir? How did she explain her own fear and inhibitions?
" . . . I'm sorry."
And the little pup genuinely was.
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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:42 am
Noir listened to Xieros offer a whine and her chest ached, she was making a child, a pup sad and or scared. What had she become in these past few moments? A beast? Oh no, what would her mom and dad think of her if they knew that others were scared of her and she couldn't make friends. "Its alright, Noir understands, Noir cannot see, and is not like you, so it makes Noir different, scary and strange..."
She spoke in third person sometimes when she got sad or upset or nervous.
"Do not be sorry little Xieros, I am sorry, I just wish I could see you, and be normal too...it is my fault, my fault..."
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:31 am
Xieros felt a strange tug in her own chest, a pull at her heart. She'd never witnessed a wolf so . . . so helpless and apologetic before! Part of the petite femme wondered if it could be an elaborate hoax, one that would end with Xieros falling for the trick and soon becoming a meal for one of the other wolves lurking nearby. . . .
No.
Her over-active and paranoid mindset was pushed to the side. Why was Noir blaming herself? Why was she so sad and afraid of Xieros? The little pup understood that Noir, with being as small as she was, could still take on Xieros. The little pup was small and had weak jaws and just as weak claws. She pretended to be strong only because she understood that she was but a runt. . .
Small boned, small in size, and easily taken advantage of.
Weak of mind and weak of heart.
Tail tucked, she trotted forward a few paces, and offered another desperate whine. Slowly, a thought began to enter Xieros' brain. It was a radical thought, a foreign idea, but it caused her to stop dead in her tracks.
What if Noir wasn't like Adenru at all, but like Thayne and Lindir?
What if not every wolf she met was out to eat her, but were kind like Thayne and Lindir?
Could it be possible? Could it be true?
Well. . . . even if Noir did turn in to an evil one, what did it matter, right? Xieros reminded herself that even if she were devoured and eaten, what was the point of being scared? Thayne would let her down someday, as would Toby and Lindir. So shouldn't she take Noir at her word and let the inevitable happen?
It all made such perfect sense now.
She shouldn't be so afraid of death. It's what stopped her parents from hurting, hadn't it? It's what saved her brother who'd ran with her too, hadn't it? All her litter mates she never knew. All the wolves Adenru beat and destroyed. . .
So what if she became the prey of Noir, or Thayne, or Mistyk or some other stranger lurking in the woods.
Ears drawn back, and tail still tucked, the little female decided she might as well try to make Noir feel better. "You might not see," she whispered, slowly edging close to the blind female. She stood so close all Xieros had to do was stretch out her neck to touch Noir nose-to-nose. "But I'm weak too." Oh, how it hurt to admit it, and yet, it was ever so refreshing. "It's not . . . it's not you that scares me," she also admitted meekly.
It was her phobia of being eaten.
Lying down, not daring to touch Noir, two pale eyes stared up at the just as scared wolf before her.
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:47 am
Noir tilted her head somewhat at hearing Xieros' whine, why did she make the child so sad? She wanted to be a wolfess that others liked and would smile at, even if she could not see their smiles, she wanted them to be there, not frowns or whines, but smiles and happiness. "Not Noir that scares you?" she asked somewhat surprised, so she wasn't too big and too scary to Xieros?
"Whatever scares Xieros, Noir might be afraid of it too, while Xieros is here, Noir will protect Xieros from anything that scares her as best as Noir can," she said with a nod. She was scared herself, nervous. Noir actually wasn't quite sure which way it was back to home, why hadn't she brought a friend with her? Perhaps if she called for someone, they would come.
But who to call?
Would that scare Xieros?
Noir scooted forward a bit, blinked helplessly in trying to place Xieros, but she saw something, something small and to the ground, and Noir scooted herself slowly so she made a 'u' around the form, believing it was Xieros, hoping it was, and not a rock. "I was stay with Xieros if you are scared..."
She would protect Xieros if she needed to as well.
She would try.
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Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:08 pm
Xieros stiffened a bit as Noir scooted closer. No, no, her renewed jadedness reassured. Something told Xieros that she could always retreat and run, or she could just accept what was happening and not worry about it. Life never went as planned or hoped. . .
Expect the unexpected - prepare for disappointment and hurt.
Lowering her head to her paws, the pup felt Noir's body close to hers and mentally prepared for what might come. It wasn't until she felt a lack of teeth against her skin, heard no snarl that finally Noir's words soaked through her thick skull.
Protect? Protect her? Hadn't Thayne said something similar? Hadn't he promised to care for her and guarentee that he wouldn't devour her in the middle of the night? Hadn't she accepted his promise, his oath? Was that what this female was saying? That instead of eating her, she'd . . .protect . . . her?
No. Way.
Was this reality? A third wolf, one who couldn't see, who was ever so tiny and frail - was this really happening again? Xieros' memory flickered back to thoughts of her parents. Her first two weeks of life had been good. She remembered the warmth of her mother and father, her siblings; she remembered feeling no fear, and being close.
But then she remembered them dying, them coughing and wheezing and growing bony and frail - she remembered feeling sick herself, and waking up every morning only to find that one or two more in her litter would never wake up again.
Life had been good, up until that point.
And then came Adenru. . .
And then, after her choice, Thayne.
And now Noir.
But Thayn and Noir were good, were gentle, weren't mean. Adults though they very well were, they had both made promises to protect. Whether or not they went through with them, Xieros couldn't say, but it was the fact that they went so far to reassure her and truly pretend to care.
She'd go along with it, even if it were just an act.
No, this black femme wasn't going to hurt her. And Xieros, for the first time since leaving her den, felt relaxed. Slowly, slowly, the puppy rolled to her side, leaning aginst Noir and reaching up a paw to softly touch her neck and muzzle.
"You're . . . nicer then Adenru," she stated matter-of-factly. "If you protect me, then I won't be scared of you." She didn't add her doubts of the matter, her suspicion that Noir would not keep up her end of hte bargain.
But what would it matter if she didn't?
Xieros expected it. Therefor she wouldn't be upset.
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