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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 0:34:14 GMT -8
Ice-blue eyes flashed about the lands of the North, paws gently treading through a patch of snow here and there. His muzzle was up, gaze flickering this way and that- clearly not searching for prey. Loud echoes surrounded the wolf, almost as if he were wanting to be found.
Partly, he did. A certain female caught his eyes a few weeks ago, and yet again, here he was, wandering in search of her. She was in his pack, dangit, why was she so hard to find!? His tail bristled out, slight frustration rising within him. Everyone in the pack seemed to have a specific job, be it hunting, spying, or... Or even scouting. Jaelyn, Cougar, Moonrunner, Swithun... Kaine...
Oh, Kaine...
He felt the fur on the back of his neck rise as he thought about her, her magnificent navy fur, her perfect scarlet eyes that seemed to bore into his very soul... He shivered, and halted, taking a seat upon a small bank of snow.
She didn't seem to notice him much, but then again, he didn't say anything too useful, or anything to really grab her attention. His ears fell somewhat- maybe she didn't even know he really existed? No, of course she did! They were pack-mates after all!
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 1:10:10 GMT -8
The she-wolf in question left the den early that morning, as soon as the sun had risen, and spent her hours since stalking prey. Now she was headed back toward the den, two freshly-killed rabbits dangling by their ears from her jaws. Hunting by herself meant that rabbit was the main thing on the menu, but that was fine by her. Even though she'd spent a few moons with the pack now, she wasn't sure she could trust everyone in a pack hunt...or even anyone...
...except herself.
She knew she shouldn't feel that way about pack, but she had known from the beginning that this was no normal pack. There was a stolen pup, and more than a couple wolves Kaine was sure were sociopaths. Pack was pack, though. Perhaps in time she could be more trusting to the whole group, but for now...until the natural pack bonds formed, she was better off watching her back. She wouldn't be surprised if any of the adult wolves turned on her.
Well, there was one other she thought she might trust, though she wasn't sure. He had never done anything bad by her, never seemed shifty or bloodthirsty like the other wolves in the pack, never gave her the feeling that he'd try to rip out her throat if she gave him the chance. He seemed loyal, kind, and sincere, and she wanted to trust him, but...well...there was a reason he had ended up in this motley group instead of any of the other packs roaming the lands. It raised questions she dared not answer.
She could hear one of her packmates somewhere up ahead. As she approached, her nose told her it was Ellis - the very wolf she had just been thinking about. The one that she would trust if she had to trust anyone. The one that actually seemed sincerely interested in the pack as a whole rather than his own agendas.
What was he doing out here, and why wasn't he being more quiet? He'd scare off all the prey, at this rate.
In absolutely no hurry to return to the den, she changed her course, following the scent and eventually seeing Ellis sitting in the snow. Her pace quickened to a trot and slowed to a stop once she was less than a tail-length in front of him.
Kaine dropped her catch and regarded the male wolf for a moment. "You look lost."
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 1:17:35 GMT -8
The voice of an angel called out to him, and after a moment, he glanced up. "Oh, hey Kaine." he murmured in his strange accent. "Naw, I'm not lost. Just thinkin'." His tail wagged slightly as he watched her, his muzzle bowing somewhat. She'd been busy, he noticed, pouncing around in the snow.
He always thought it looked funny, a wolf wandering in the snow. They had to change their entire paw movements- especially him and his thin frame. "What'chu doin' out here?" he inquired, a paw nudging one of the hares, flipping it over. A nice bite rested against its neck. She'd done a good job.
The scent of blood near made him drool, and his stomach roar. He had neglected to hunt for himself, and his ears pressed back, sure Kaine had heard the embarassing noises erupting from his body. "Come with me for a few. I gotta catch somethin' before I starve to death." he murmured, almost trying to make it into a joke.
He was careful, passing the fae, making sure his tail trailed playfully along her body, careful not to catch it in any of her spikes. "Maybe a bear or somethin' left a snack out for me."
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 1:43:23 GMT -8
"It's easier to get lost in thought than it is to get lost in the forest," she responded when he stated that he'd been thinking. For her, at least, it wasn't too hard to find her way back if she'd wandered into familiar territory. With her wings and enhanced sight, it was a simple matter of flying until she recognized something. She did tend to dwell on things, making it easy for thoughts to invade her consciousness and push away all awareness of her surroundings at any given time. It was annoying at best and dangerous at worst. She was getting better, she thought. She was no longer bitter over the two wolves she had once called her friends. They were welcome to each other and the leadership of their pack. She had her own destiny, and it seemed to involve this pack of misfits for whatever reason.
She tilted her head to the side when he asked what she was doing out here. "Hunting. Food's more important now than ever, after that winter. We need to build up our strength again." he watched as he examined the kills, pleased when he seemed impressed. Odd...why should she feel good about this wolf approving of her skill?
"If you're that close to starving to death, then I've failed as a hunter and pack mate," she joked back. She thought of offering one of the rabbits, but catching something else would be better because there'd be more food to bring back. She wanted to make sure everyone got at least a few bites to eat. If they couldn't fill their bellies, they at least needed something to restore their energy enough to hunt on their own or hold out until she could find more meat.
His tail trailed along her body as he passed, and she nipped at it in mock annoyance - making sure her fangs touched fur but not flesh. "One moment." She dug a hole in front of her, her long claws shoving earth, snow, and rock aside until it was big enough to store her kills. Once they were safely buried, she stepped up beside the male. "All right, I'm ready, and I should hope no bear has intruded on our territory, though if the winter has weakened it sufficiently, it would feed the pack for some time."
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 1:53:01 GMT -8
He cringed at the thought of eating bear. "Where I come from, we don' eat other predators." he explained, gently booping her nose with the tip of his tail. "It's kinda like a taboo." He laughed, circling around the hole she dug, gently patting the Earth down. "We respect 'em, don' wanna start no wars or nothin." His lips stretched in a slight smile, and he nodded in the direction of the wind. "Let's go that way. We could smell somethin' for miles."
And indeed, 'somethin'' made itself pretty obvious after a while. Ellis halted in the snow, his muzzle raised to sniff. A tiny doe in the last throes of life stood, shivering in the cold, patches of her fur gone from her skin-and-bones body. Pressing close to the ground, Ellis cast a glance to Kaine, sure the two of them, (or even he alone, if he wanted to impress her) could take the lone creature down.
It was strange, he noted... She was completely alone, not a single other living being around, no massive bucks, no tiny fawns... Just her.
He cocked his ears forward, head leaning down slightly as he nodded towards her. "You ready?" he whispered, and almost instantly, took off for the doe, wanting to at least cripple her before she got a good head-start.
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 2:08:16 GMT -8
"Really?" She had never heard of such a thing as taboo food. Taboo mates, yes, and even friendships, but... "Where I came from, you eat whatever you can take down because you might starve otherwise. Granted, bear was considered only rarely..." She let that line of conversation drop and followed Ellis, focusing her mind on the hunt.
Eventually, they came across a doe. A tiny doe, but that didn't matter. At least it was bigger than the rabbits she managed to catch earlier. But something bothered her. Deer stayed in herds, and this one was all alone. Either the winter had killed its friends, or some disease had...or he rest of the herd decided she was a weak link and threw her out. Herds weren't quite as forgiving as packs, in that sense.
"Looks like the wind would finish her," she remarked quietly as she studied the doe. When Ellis charged, she tensed, waiting a moment before springing after the doe. She looked like an easy kill that either of them would be able to pull off on their own, but Kaine knew better than to underestimate any prey. They had to be careful or they could still be injured.
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 2:22:44 GMT -8
The doe barely had time to look up when Ellis' teeth crunched down on her leg. Down she went, an almost thankful look in her eyes as Ellis slaughtered her neck, the warm blood covering his face. "I think she was really sick." he mumbled, licking his chops, her blood steaming on his face. "Lookit how hot she was. Infection? Maybe we shouldn' eat it." he added, nudging her with a paw.
She was already in the throes of death when they arrived, and he had just put her out of her misery. A sigh, and his icy gaze began to wander the forest. Usually, herds kept the weak links to keep the wolves at bay- you didn't have to be the fastest runner, you just had to be faster than the slowest link. At a second sniff, her blood smelled almost stale, but edible none-the-less.
"Whatchu thinkin', Kaine?" Gently, his head tilted to a side, and he began to prod at their kill, searching for any sign of an infected wound or anything of the like. No worms, no parasites, nothing aside from the jagged gash on her neck reflected anything useful to the pair. "Maybe we should leave 'er here and catch some scavengers or somethin.'"
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 2:37:09 GMT -8
Kaine slowed, stopping near the now-dead doe. She might have been disappointed at her lack of involvement if she hadn't killed already today.
Ellis seemed to think along the same lines as her about the doe possibly being diseased. She looked from the other wolf to the doe and gave her wound a good sniff. "Hmm..." She shook her head. "When it doubt, it's probably best to leave it be...unless times are desperate, and - as far as I'm concerned - they're not. Leaving it here and waiting on a scavenger to come by would be a safer option, and we do have the rabbits if we get hungry. Since we're after bigger prey, the pack can deal if I don't take those back."
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 2:44:05 GMT -8
He nodded to her, internally praising her intelligence. Of course she was intelligent! She was Kaine, after all! "let's go wait then." he said, picking her up and roughly shaking her around, casting her scent to the air. "You know how to use those?" he inquired, nodding to her wings as he began to walk away to a nearby pine, quickly scaling it with ease.
It was a talent he picked up as a pup, climbing. He was the best in his old pack, though... No one knew why. Crouching in a branch a few feet off the ground, he crossed his paws, and began to wait, biding his time in the company of the beautiful female.
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 3:08:13 GMT -8
Kaine stood back and watched as Ellis cast the doe's scent around in an attempt to draw out the scavengers. Once he was done, she walked with him to a pine.
"Of course I do!" she responded when he asked if she knew how to use her wings. Surely he'd seen her in the air before..or not. She didn't exactly hang around in one area for two long. Too much to get done, too little time to do everything in. That was survival in a small pack with enemies, however. Part of her thrived in the struggle. It made her feel strong to face adversity and remain alive, even if it was more comfortable and all-around easier to live peacefully in a large, supportive pack.
As he climbed, she flew up, landing on a nearby branch and digging her claws in. The air was comfortable for her. Trees were not.
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 3:29:12 GMT -8
"Well I'm jus' makin sure! Have you ever seen Moonrunner actually use those raven-feathers she got on her back?" he questioned, almost laughing at her expression. "I didn' think so. I never seen her use 'em anyway." He laughed, folding his paws below him with ease. "Kaine, you can take this branch if you'd like... It's bigger than that puny thing." His muzzle pointed to the slim branch she rested on. Easily, he scooted over, dragging himself forward by his claws, though turning to face her at the same time.
He really was decent in the trees....
Again, his muzzle turned toward their prey- there probably wouldn't be anything around for a while, since it was fresh, but he could still hope some hungry creature would slink along and try to eat. He himself wouldn't eat it, but maybe Kaine would, and he could take her rabbits...
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 4:02:35 GMT -8
Kaine blinked when Ellis asked if she'd ever seen Moonrunner fly. Come to think of it, she hadn't...were the alphess's wings inadequate, or did she just prefer the ground? Or maybe she went flying when no one else was around. Then again, there was that eye...one needed to see to be safe in the air.
He offered her a spot on the branch he occupied, and she stepped - somewhat awkwardly - onto it, digging in her claws once all four feet were in position. Her wings were tucked tight against her back to protect the leathery membranes from the branches overhead.
She looked around, hoping to be able to see something approach. No takers so far, but it was to be expected. She turned her attention to her companion, though her gaze darted back to the kill every now and again. "And now we play the waiting game..."
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Post by iscourge on May 29, 2012 4:13:31 GMT -8
"Yeah, but waitin' ain't half bad if you got some good conversation." he explained with a wink, snuggling close to her, pressing close for warmth. "I'll start off with the first question- how'd you get so good at catching hares?" he inquired, head tilting curiously to the side. He himself was better against heftier targets, not the small, lithe rabbits.
He yawned, curling tighter beside Kaine, dark muzzle peeking out. "Or how'd you end up in this pack? I don' think I know much about you, miss Kaine." he added thoughtfully, his icy gaze watching her form, her movements, taking it all in. It was nice, being close to someone like this without worrying if you were going to offend them to the point of no return... Not anything like being beside Moonrunner, for sure.
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Post by reeddragon on May 29, 2012 4:49:32 GMT -8
"True." She settled in as best she could and forced herself to sit still. The bark of the branch bugged her. She had no idea why. She could sit on fallen logs and roots just fine. It didn't matter, though. As soon as a scavenger appeared, she'd be out of the tree and back onto solid ground, with room to spread her wings and wag her tail.
She shrugged when he asked how she got good at catching hares. "When a wolf is on her own, she has to make do with smaller prey. When she has to make do with smaller prey, she has to hunt more often...I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I've had a lot of practice. As for entering this pack...I just happened to run into Moonrunner and some other wolves, and - for some reason - she decided to let me stay. We may be a pack of misfits, but we are still a pack, and it seemed preferable to continuing to be by myself." she blinked at him. "What about you? Can't say I know much about you, either."
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Post by iscourge on Jun 3, 2012 17:10:27 GMT -8
He gave her a toothy smile. "Well, my life story ain't that exciting." he murmured, though carried on. "My pack needed new blood, bad. All of us were related, and not in a good way, so I left. Couldn' have been more than jus' a pup, neither." His gaze flickered over the sickly kill, stomach rumbling. "So I started up North, and I guess I drifted West. Way west. I wanted freedom, adventure, excitement! Instead, what I got was a promise from the Alphess. Join, and be safe, or be left to wander at the mercy of other packs."
His gaze fell with disapointment. "She tol' me they all hated outsiders, an' I'd be killed on the spot if any others saw me. So, I hid." He huffed quietly, giving her a side-long glance. "But I like you, an' I like Cougar. She's the little sister I ain't never had. So I guess it was all worth it in the end."
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