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+---- Thread: The Wildwood this is the end (/showthread.php?tid=4698)
RE: this is the end - Ataneq - Jun 23, 2013
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So far he saw attributes in her that he saw in himself occasionally, the strength to simply stay solo and be solo. She didn’t feel the need to be in a pack but simply saw that she could be by herself. There were countless moments where he considered life outside of the pack with his mother, or simply just him. Could he do it? Probably, but he didn’t want to test the theory. He had it pretty well in Magnolia Glen with his mother and Lucero to keep him company. He couldn’t think of any better suitable company than those two (separately, of course).
“Mine is…” he started off trying to find the best way to describe Siku, “a fighter. She’s been there for me every step of the way and you can always expect great things from her.” Though, they had been somewhat distant as of late as he had become much more social and since Sitamat had gone elsewhere away from the Glen he was sure that had something to do with it. Although he wasn’t really sure what ‘being a bat’ meant, he was sure it was something he didn’t really need to know about. He doubted he would ever meet her mother, therefore it would just be wasted information.
Too much of a loner to approach a pack? Because being the life of a loner was easier than being a pack wolf? “Don’t hold back too long,” he mentioned, “its more dangerous alone than with company.” As his mother had always told him. The wolf was meant to run in packs as their chance of survival multiplied, but alone there were almost as vulnerable as a rabbit to other worthy predators. “Actually no, I think my mother just found Phineas and he agreed to take us.” It had been a pretty simple process but they didn’t really need anything fancy, seeing as they were supposedly going to be making a pack soon… whenever that was.
Finally they reached the brook and he parted his lips, breathing in the crisp air from the Grove. It was certainly a lot more beautiful than the scorched grounds, but he didn’t mind going through certain places to discover. “This a better view?” he said, nose pointing across the brook and into the plush land before them.
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RE: this is the end - Fiora - Jun 26, 2013
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Fiora, who had never known empathy, couldn't understand why her chest felt heavy when he spoke of his mother. Not heavy with sadness, though, that much she could recognized. It was something that made her want to smile, and she did not know why. Mine is a fighter. A dedicated and capable fighter, apparently. For whatever reason she found herself wanting to identify with that as well. Perhaps not as a mother or caretaker, but wouldn't it be cool if someone talked about her as a fighter? She filed the idea away, not consciously aware of her desire to integrate. "Your mom sounds cool," she responded. However the remark lacked in verbal maturity, she meant it genuinely.
The rust-coated yearling was surprised, though, when he provided her with some sound advice. Ataneq was certainly proving an amiable fellow, and she smiled more warmly and less crookedly as she listened. Still, she hesitated to admit that he was right, because it would put her in the wrong. Despite her first instinct she did not resent him for this fact; she liked him too much to be snappy about it. So instead she acknowledged it quietly and wondered why they'd jumped to a pack so quickly - but before she could respond they had reached the bank.
Her blue eyes were filled with a mixture of relief and wonder that propelled a sigh from her parted jaws. The grass was much greener on the other side - but literally so. "So much better," she agreed. "Let's go there," she said, taking it as en executive decision and none too cautiously plunging into the brook. The water was not too deep and her gangly legs (which she was certain she'd grow in to) made it easier to wade across. When her paws felt the gentle touch of verdant grass on the other side she practically reverberated with happiness. The gloominess over there seemed much more unbearable now that she was here.
"I just want to live somewhere with a lot of my friends," she admitted, her words making the assumption that whatever pack she ended up in would be comprised entirely of wolves she might get along with. The notion that she would have to be submissive, or work together toward some common goal with others, hadn't quite crossed her mind.
RE: this is the end - Ataneq - Jun 26, 2013
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Perhaps he could have done something to Fiora like he had with Po, convinced her nonchalantly to join Magnolia Glen. Wouldn’t that be something? Ataneq had never truly tried to recruit her, let alone anyone he came across, yet it had happened in the blink of an eye. Of course, it should not really make much of a difference because he was supposedly going to be following his mother once she found the time to make the new branch of Tartok. It was taking a while, he noted, but he wouldn’t want to rush her when things did take time. She was a cool mom, as was painfully obvious by Fiora guesstimating that, and his mother had to make sure that the timing was right and the placement.
“She is,” because she was. Simple as that. He could not argue with that seeing as he would preach about the awesome that his mother was without hesitance. For instance, she had raised four sons all by herself. Siku had trained, mentored, nurtured and protecting them thoroughly and the four owed it to her to do the same. Their father had not abandoned them or simply walked out of their lives, he had died. His death was an unknown, as the boys had only been told that their father died and Siku had left it at that. His mother’s assumption was that her sister had murdered him, but no one ever truly got an accurate answer. Either way, his mother was a true soldier.
Once they managed to reach the Grove he begun to figure out that she might never want to leave. Then again, he didn’t really see the big deal with hanging out in the burnt woods… it was just a territory that had a bad week once upon a time. When it came down to it he just assumed that she was a girl and girls didn’t like dirty things. Well, some girls didn’t like dirty things. Either way, he followed after her into the Grove as to further be in her company. His scouting didn’t have to be in a specific place just so long as he was getting himself a decent amount of intel of the territories here.
“Who have you met so far?” he asked, not really realizing that might be a hard topic to answer or that it might be too personal. I mean, he certainly didn’t have too many friends and the ones that he could list lived with him in Magnolia Glen. Ataneq had only met them because of his pack, and Eponine he had become friends with because she had joined his pack. So it was only fair that he wondered what sort of friends she had and if they had come here as a group.
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RE: this is the end - Fiora - Jun 28, 2013
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Fiora considered his question for a moment. "No one really. Just some weirdos. I don't like going up to strangers." She took a beat to consider the truth of what she'd just said. "Usually." There we go.
Her lack of socialization was the mickle fault of her own, and she knew it, but she had no intention of revealing it. She had hardly made any progressing containing the demon of self-doubt, but she was actually rather good at covering it up. Even though her self-esteem was thinner than the first ice Fiora was capable at convincing herself to just do it, to speak, to act, to question - whatever it was, she figured that was confidence. At least all the times that she had put her method to use it had worked out pretty favorably. Of course, Fiora would see it that way. In her world the spotlight shone on her indefinitely. The charge was always lead by her.
As such she knew that her lack of interaction was damaging to her attempt at building a backbone, but she refused to acknowledge the fact any further than as a shirking feeling. And she would let Ataneq know this just as much. "This territory is huge and I can smell wolf literally everywhere I go, so I'm not too worried. I'll conquer the layout and the acquaintances will come next 'cause they're around every corner, I swear." She lifted her tawny chin ever slightly higher as the words flew off her tongue, making note that she really did have to look around a little bit more as it were.
RE: this is the end - Ataneq - Jun 30, 2013
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As unusual as it was Ataneq could not help but chuckle at her correction. “Well you certainly picked the weirdest stranger of all,” he rolled his eyes and chuckled again. Fiora certainly chose a character to approach at random because he certainly wasn’t anything too special. He couldn’t offer her anything but had simply taken to her company because she had decided to tag along with him on a journey through the fire-bitten road. He was almost sure that Fiora likely could have found someone a lot more social and more awesome to talk to in the time that she had found and accompanied him, but he couldn’t really turn her away.
“This place is pretty huge,” he reiterated with a nod and as if to clarify this he looked around the area and figured it was quite likely a pack was near to the Grove. “Plenty of packs here, too, so I’m sure you won’t find any issue finding one if you eventually decide to settle.” It had just been upon happenstance that Siku and himself had found the Glen in such a short amount of time. He was thankful, because being a loner wasn’t as much fun as it was made out to be. Lots of effort to hunt together, stay together, ward of danger and keep watch in shifts. It took a lot of work for two so being in the Glen where a load of scents could deter strangers away was a definite plus for the Tartok boy.
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RE: this is the end - Fiora - Jul 02, 2013
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Fiora exhaled between barely parted lips, a noise of friendly disagreement. "You're not weird at all," she insisted with a shake of her head. In fact, he was probably the most agreeable wolf she'd ever met. Friendly, accommodating, and very safe - all things that meshed well with her brusque, pig-headed personality. Normally the yearling could find conflict with just the barest amount of scrutiny to a situation, but she had yet to complain in Ataneq's company.
She found herself nodding in agreement once more, noting that there were scents all around to back up the idea. Practically every gust of wind that came by blew the scents of loners, pack wolves and borders alike into her face. Finding them was definitely a non-issue. "Yeah, once I muster up the gall to," she agreed under her breath, immediately taken aback that the words had actually come out of her mouth. That wasn't supposed to happen!
Praying he would do anything but comment on it she racked her brain to change the subject, nearly tripping over every word as they flew out of her mouth with a tightened edge. "Yeah, geez, who knows - maybe I'll start my own pack." What? The idea in all honesty had never crossed her mind. The only pack she'd ever known was mom and dad and Laoise, and she was never gonna be a Leader there. That was Dad's pack. The Geddes family pack. Who wanted to be a freaking Leader? No fun, all responsibility. Truth be told Fiora liked having her back watched out for, because swear on the stars she couldn't do it herself.
RE: this is the end - Ataneq - Jul 02, 2013
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Him? Not weird? Ataneq would have chuckled but he didn’t want to continue to argue with the girl. She was being polite, he assumed. Being nice and telling him that he wasn’t weird and that he was a pleasure to talk to and hang out with. He knew he was made differently, then for Fiora to classify him as not being weird at all? He wondered what exactly was going on in her mind and if she was seeing what he usually felt others saw in him. Ataneq was socially awkward, normally painful silent and somewhat distant from conversation at times so it would take a lot for him to appreciate someone telling him any different.
“Eh,” he shrugged his shoulders, “just do what my mother and I had to do. Suck your pride in and mingle, you’d be surprised how good it is. But I can’t make the decision for you, making your own pack is always a big plus. Means you can run it the way you’d want it run.” Ataneq didn’t want to push her into joining a pack but if they were going to go from strangers to acquaintances to friends then he was going to look out for her health and safety. If she didn’t like him butting in and telling her what was good for her life, then so be it. He’d deal with it but he hoped that she would at least consider the option. It would be another life that he could potential save from constant wander.
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RE: this is the end - Fiora - Jul 03, 2013
( shall we wrap it up? )
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Suck your pride in and mingle. Feh. He doesn't know who he's talking to, Fiora thought. At that moment in time she imagined she would sooner part with a foreleg than she would with her powerful ego. It was that need for control over her life and her actions that made her so successful, she was sure of it. Granted it wasn't the success she really desired - it was the recognition that her youthful heart so craved - but with her plasticity she easily forgot (maybe even made herself forget) that she was ultimately lonely. Quite sadly Fiora did not even notice that her plan was backfiring on her as she pondered his words.
Fiora gave a modest shrug and sighed. "I know. I have a long way to go until I'm anywhere, anyway," she said somewhat cryptically, not exactly sure if those were the right words to use. In her head she could see what she meant - one way or another she'd have to make some changes to put her in pack life. Though, truth be told, she could see herself making this big resolve to turn it all around and then, the moment she and Ataneq parted ways, revert back to her usual stubbornness and naivety.
They'd been walking through the Grove for some time, now. She could hear water running nearby, whispering hushedly as though it were the territory's grand reveal. She wondered how much further this place went on. "Did you find much here, Ataneq?" Fiora proposed as her cool eyes ran over the foliage. What he was going to take back with him from this place, she wasn't sure. What was scouting even anyway?
RE: this is the end - Ataneq - Jul 03, 2013
sure! i'll fade this out with them walking back across the scorched woods. [dohtml]
His time here had been perfectly calming to him, showing him that even through the strangers situations he could still come out having something close to a friend. He hadn’t known Fiora before and didn’t know her very much now but he had enough information to know that she had potential. Ataneq could see that there was likely a friendship brewing, a friendship very similar to the one he had with Lucy. “No worries. Just so long as you can take care of yourself until you find somewhere to go,” he didn’t want her to get caught up in the lone wolf life. Teq knew it was nice to only have yourself to rely on and you made your own rules, but it was also a lot harder to survive on your own. He could only hope she’d make the right decision soon.
After realizing just how far along he had gone within the Grove he realized that it was a good idea to turn back now and venture back to the Glen. He needed to start his evening border patrol after a long scouting mission and hopefully he would find that all of his walking would leave him completely exhausted enough to sleep for a while longer. “I did. Thank you,” he answered as even managed to put his head to her shoulder in thanks for her random company, “you’ll have to stop by Magnolia Glen someday and tell me if you’ve settled here or if you move on. If you stay here, I’d love to keep in touch.” With that, Teq moved on and towards the Glen—completely happy that Fiora and himself had formed a close bond without setting out to do so.
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