Gaellis; Look to the North [Open to ALL wolves]

[iscourge]

Ellis;;

Pale eyes watched the sky through the branches of the tree. He was more than certain he could climb up there, though it would take him some time... These trees reminded him of the swamps he and his brothers would play in, of the low-hanging willows the would use to dive head-first into the murky water, bouncing off the muzzles of crocodiles and Alligators, ticking off the other various critters. It gave him a certain happiness, to be doing something reckless again.

He clawed his way up the lowest branches, and continued to ascend, like a raccoon of some sorts. He had plenty of practice, and was the fastest tree-climber in his old pack. He probably was in this mish-mash he called a family. Moonrunner was using him for some greater purpose, that much he was sure of. And as for stealing that little Cougar away? Her pack didn't even follow him. Maybe it was for the best he got her out of there. (He believed it to be so, anyway. It made things easier to bear anyway.)

He continued climbing until he was almost positive the branches couldn't support his weight, and even then he continued climbing, to the very tip-top. His yellow head peeked out over the needles, nose first, to examine everything around him. From here, he could see everything- the Targe forest, South Thumb, and even biscuit basin. A gentle sigh passed through him, one he didn't even realize escaped him.

Then, beyond the horizon, the magnificent sky began to change colors, from a mysterious black, darker than Moonrunner's coat, to a Navy blue like the marks that would soon begin to appear on his ears, to a vibrant pink, then orange and finally red around the rim of the flaming sphere. He never understood why the sun ever had to set. The colors made his world come alive below his paws. He steadied himself, placing his rear on a series of intertwined branches.

He watched the sun continue it's ascent, and once it completely cleared the mountains in the distance, he let forth a passionate, blazing howl that could be heard all across the valley; not just in the four pack's homes, but even further, he was sure, to his homeland.

Ears flat against his skull, he lowered his muzzle. He didn't mean to be THAT loud. He was sure he just woke half the valley; he just wanted to tell a certain wolf he missed her...

Of course, his sister would never hear him from that far away... But someone else did.

[reeddragon]

Kaine was up early this morning, but not because of the howl. She had been up since before dawn, her dreams refusing to give her the full rest she needed. Howling filled her mind as she recalled the dreams, the same howling that haunted her when she first set out from her birth pack to seek her destiny elsewhere. It belonged to her two puphood friends - now the alpha pair of the pack - and called for her to return to them. She couldn't do that. She had been hurt too much by them to occupy their territory. Besides, Yellowstone was her home, now. The odd, decaying human-crafted structure was her den, and the wolves she had just met were her pack. Honestly, they felt more like pack than the wolves she once knew by this point.

Sleep would not be coming to her at this point, and she had a long day ahead of her, so Kaine decided to go ahead and get a good start on the day's tasks. As quietly as she could, she rose from her spot in one of the cabin's corners and padded through the door and across the grass to the territory border. There, she refreshed the scent markers and set off to find food, relying on her enhanced sight as much as her sense of smell.

Before long, she spotted a burrow near a young tree, and the size of the burrow as well as the scent trail leading toward it told her that it was currently occupied by a rabbit. Keeping as quiet as she could manage, she crept toward the burrow, gliding slowly across the grass to the mound of freshly disturbed dirt before her and willing herself to keep her movements slow and precise until she reached the burrow.

Then she did reach it, and her front paws flew into action, enlarging the burrow until she could poke her nose inside and grab the rabbit between her jaws. The rabbit, surprised out of its slumber, thrashed around in distress, but only of a moment. One chomp of Kaine's mighty jaws and the creature grew still, never to move again.

It was at that point when she heard the howl. A real one, outside the realm of her dreams. Not only that she thought she recognized the voice as belonging to one of her new pack mates. Well...she couldn't quite ignore that. Still clamping her kill in her jaws, she headed toward the source of the sound, her senses on the alert for danger just in case it should present itself. It was then that she noticed that the sun had come up. The day had officially begun, and Moonrunner would no doubt have some task or other lined up for the pack soon. There was plenty that needed done just to survive out here, and they had a pup to look after.

At least the day's not off to a terrible start... she grumbled mentally. Just a crummy one...well, I'll sleep good tonight...ugh...

The howl led her to a tree, and it took her a moment to realize why she couldn't see any other wolves around and why the scent trail stopped at the tree itself. Blaming her moment of stupidity on sheer tiredness and the fact that wolves didn't normally climb trees, she stared up through the branches, barely spotting the male between the wood and the sparse amount of leaves that remained on the tree at this time of year.

Kaine lowered herself onto her stomach at the base of the tree and - finally - dug into her meal. There was no way she was fitting her large wings between those branches. No way they'd even support her weight as well as his. If her pack mate needed her, he'd come down and say so. In the meantime, she was hungry, and the fuel would also help her keep awake for the next several hours...or so she hoped.

[iscourge]

The scent of a crimson liquid drew him from the strange stupor, and with a quick, downward glance, he grinned. Someone had returned. But wolves weren't adapt to climbing trees at all- especially not tall pines. Carefully, he edged his way down, ears pushed flat against his head, and attempted to slink down the trunk like some sort of overgrown snake.

But wolves can't climb down trees for the same reason as cats- their curved claws make it easier to climb up than down. Only... Cats could land on their feet. Gaellis couldn't. Carefully, carefully... A paw placed there, bite onto this branch here... It was almost exactly like climbing the trees in his swampy homeland, only these boughs were unyielding.

Eventually, only a few feet off the ground, (and after making a ruckus from climbing down,) he rested on the lowest hanging branch, and lay upon the thick bark. "Kaine." he murmured in his strange, accented tongue, and crossed his paws lightly. "'Ope I didn' wake you." he added, resting his slim muzzle on slimmer paws.

His gaze lowered to the meal in her paws. Good- she was up before he made a racket then. Maybe that meant half the valley didn't hear his haunting howl...

[reeddragon]

Kaine continued to eat her rabbit, her eyes on her meal while her ears were listening for the wolf in the tree. At first it was quiet, but the then the other wolf climbed down the tree, making quite a bit of noise in the process. She ignored the sounds as best she could - they were nothing to be concerned about unless they turned into pained yelps or an outright crash - and continued eating until the noise ended and she heard her voice, spoken in an off accent.

Ah...Ellis. She should have guessed. Their other pack mates - at least the ones she's talked to so far - seemed too...dignified to be caught up in a tree. Ellis was still young and playful. Of course he would do such a thing. He remained in the tree, on one of the lowest branches. She didn't understand why. The ground was far more comfortable, she imaged.

"I've been awake," she answered the other wolf after a moment, where she had ripped off and consumed one of the rabbit's ears. "Wouldn't be surprised if the others woke up due to that noise. "What happened?"

Before the male could answer, she noticed another wolf approach. Yep, the noise had indeed roused at least one wolf from her sleep.

[Shanto]

Now in a normal pup's world the call would have meant sleep a little longer while mum goes to get us some food, but to Cougar it was whole other story. When she was even younger than now life was a mad dash for existence. Being the smallest pup in the little she would have to stand up for herself- it was a everyday fight just not to become invisible to her own mother. Gaellis had ripped her away from the good and the bad.

The small she-pup would remember that day, as it still was burned freshly in her brain. But Cougar had already started adjusting to her new life and now she was almost debating to thank the skinny male. If she had stayed, she might not have made it past the alphas harsh inspection or maybe starved to death before that. The pack had many pups but only the strongest were allowed to live. She had heard stories about it from the older teenagers. The most disturbing odds were the year before them. Out of twenty two pups- only four lived. Maybe she should thank Gaellis for picking the weakest pup instead of the strongest.

Here in North it was totally different though, Cougar liked being the only pup. She was taught well and had already learned a tad bit of hunting skills from her new pack mates and Moonrunner. The she-pup could eat her fill without being worried about getting in trouble or starving and had the attention of most of the adults. She ran playfully to the call from the cabin a grin on her face as Gaellis and Kaine came into view. The smile then disappeared as she sat down under the tree which her enemy- and savior was perched in.

[iscourge]

His ears fell back against his head. "It was an accident." he murmured, watching as Jaeger emerged from the trees. "Got a flea? Anyway, as ai was sayin' to Kaine, I was jus' thinkin' about things back South, and got a lilbit homesick. I didn' think my howl was that loud."

His ears pricked up. "Hey, you hear tiny feet?" He finally descended from the last branch, shaking pine needle debree free from his coat. "Sounds like lil Cougar is up." His muzzle rose, and he quietly trotted to the young she-wolf, licking the top of her head gently. "I know Kaine already went huntin' today, but you guys feel like bringin' something back for everyone else?"

((Utterly horrid post. Things have been hectic.))