Quinn was gone. She had to accept that fact. He had abandoned her, just like so many others had. She was so sure that he had been separated from her on purpose and that he was hiding so that she would never find him. How could he do that to her after all that she had done for him? How many years had she spent keeping him out of trouble, despite all she had gone through?


It had taken the gray and white female some time to find the lake - not that she had been looking for it. In order to get to wherever she was going she had to cross the mountains. For some time she had worried that she would die from thirst in the middle of nowhere, but then she had scented water on the wind, which was blowing straight into her face. She follow the wind and it took her to a vast lake spread out before her.


Hawke was sunning herself on a large flat rock at the side of the lake. Her fur was completely dry, though she had recently taken a bath in the lake to clear away the dirt from her fur. Now it glistened in the sunshine. However, pangs of loneliness were ruining her mood. Not only was she lonely from being abandoned, but she had begun to wonder if she would ever find the one - someone to spend her whole life with. Who would want to spend a lifetime with her? She was so wrong.


Slowly she stood, walked to the edge of the rock overlooking the water, and lifted her head to the clear skies. Her song rang out over the lake, smooth and melodic and filled with loneliness. It was beautiful and sad at the same time.

Why was she always alone?

Valiant was making his way back down the mountain, as he looked behind him he wondered what ever had posessed him to scale its heights. He was sore, tired and thirsty. He had heard there was a lake around he somewhere. He just had to find it.

The wind carried the scent of water mingled with... something... He shook his head. His dry spell was driving him crazy, the women here had too much sense, not at all like the wolves he was used to chasing. As if singing to his soul, a lonley feminine howl floated across the landscape and he picked up his step. Perhaps the only reason he wasn't having any luck was all in his attitude. He had been feeling off since that crazy black wolf was attacked by the cougar.

As he neared the lake he tilted his mocha tinted muzzle and joined her song. Moving ever closer during short breaks, she was around here somewhere... There...

Not far into her song she heard another voice join hers. As she finished the first verse, filled with loneliness, and began the second she filled it with notes of curiosity and questioning. Her silvery voice filled the very sky, tangling with his and rising up to the clouds, spreading across the land for miles around. The few birds around the lake had fallen silent. She liked to imagine that it was in awe of her voice, but in the back of her mind she knew it was because they saw her as a predator and sought to hide.


Who are you? her song asked. Where are you? At last her song slowly faded away, the last few notes still echoing even after she had fallen silent. Sunlight glanced off of the white in her fur, just as it did with the snow that still remained around the lake. The stone she stood on, however, way dull and gray, with now white snow to decorate it. The lake rippled softly as a slight breeze danced across it's surface, marring the reflections of the stoic pine trees standing along the shores.


Hawke slowly turned around to face the trees. "Is there anyone out there?" she asked with her smooth, musical voice. It was a medium-level voice; a mezzo-soprano, which was not quite high and not quite low. There was a smokey quality to it - perhaps on purpose, since she knew that her duet partner was male.

He watched the pale wolf spin on her boulder, looking to the trees behind her. He allowed a small smirk to cross his handsom face as he stalked forward. He had to force his predator instincts down. She looked so sweet and innocent up there, it would be so easy to tackle her down...

"Hi..." he said quietly, hoping not to startle her... well, maybe just a little. He plastered his best smile across his face. "Your voice is so beautiful...but you sounded so sad...?" He was slowly warming up. She had amazingly long legs and delicate features, he might just throw himself off the mountain if he messed this one up.

Hawke had one thought go through her mind when she saw the male.


Wow.


The wolf standing before her was large - large in a very, very good way. She always did like the boys that were bigger than her. But it wasn't his size that had butterflies in her stomach. It was that fur. His beautiful, luxurious fur. It was silver, fading into white on his belly, and darker on the top. She hadn't met such a handsome boy in a long time. He could even give Quinn - her handsome, useless brother - a run for his money.


"Hey," she said in greeting, suddenly overtaken by shyness. He was so beautiful. She was nothing compared to him and he would never like her. But if he did...oh god, that would be amazing. She wanted to touch that fur of his, to see if it felt as wonderful as it looked.


"It's nothing special..." she said, referring to her voice. Of course, she liked it, but she didn't believe anyone else did. Part of her wanted attention, though, and so she was quick to run herself down in front of others sometimes. "Well, I've been feeling lonely lately," she said sadly, looking down. "Wouldn't you be sad if you were lonely?"

He supposed he could relate to that. He had been feeling a little lonely himself lately. He shook himself from top to tail in an attempt to dislodge some of the debris that had been building up in his coat. Now with this vision of a she-wolf in front of him he was suddenly self-concious, aware his coat was littered with twigs and dirt, where hers was shining and fresh.

He had snorted in disbelief when she said her voice was nothing special and bounded much more gracefully than his bulky size should allow, up onto the boulder beside her, unintentionally coming nose to nose. His ears flicked back in mock embarassment and he drew back as far as the flat topped boulder would allow. "Uuh sorry... he said with a small grin, settling himself comfortably on his haunches to observe the lake from her vantage point. Maybe the climb was worth it after all...

She was startled when he leaped onto the rock and was suddenly right there in front of her, nose to nose. She could have sworn her heart stopped for a moment as she was caught in between surprise, fear, and pleasure. Her ears pulled back and her eyes widened for a moment, more from shock than from anything else. Honestly, his fur was prettier up close. Now the question was whether or not he was the kind of wolf that she could get along with.


"Quite alright," she said shyly, her smooth voice quiet, almost as if she were shy. In some sense she was; she worried about the impression that she was giving this male. She was worried that he wouldn't like her; that he would want to leave her, just like all of the others had. There was uncertainty in her dark yellow eyes as she watched him back up to the edge of the stone. Would he like her if he stayed? Maybe it was better to drive this one away.


No. She had to try to be brave this time. Hawke was strong. She knew she was. She lowered her haunches to the ground and knew that she had to stick this out, for better or for worse. The male might turn out to be a nice guy. "You got a name?" she asked with a sweet smile, hoping to gain some more attention.

What sort of question was that, of course he had a name. A cheeky smile crossed his mocha tinted males face and he debated whether or not to tease her a little. He decided against it. "Valiant..."[/i] He replied simply. {b}"...and you are...?" he asked smoothly.

The wind ruffled her pale coat and he could have sworn his hear almost skipped a beat. She was a fine specimen of a wolf and his thoughts began to wander to how he could best use her to suit his purpose. She truely was beautiful but she seemed so intent on putting herself down he didn't dare to mention it, it wasn't so much in the things she said as it was in the flicker of doubt in her eyes, the way she held herself when he got close. Easy... he thought to himself with a smile. Far too easy...

He shifted closer to her flank until their sides were almost touching. Her scent washed over him and stirred something deep inside. It was so hard for him to stay in place but he had to take it slow until he had her sussed out. He couldn't stuff this one up too.

"That's a lovely name," she commented, repeating it in her head. "Nice and strong, just like you." She was clearly referring to his body type and not his personality, since she didn't know a thing about his personality. That fact was a bit daunting, but she could deal with it for now. There was a niggling fear in the back of her mind, however. What if I get to know him and then he abandons me? I don't want to be abandoned again...


Despite that fear, she continued forward, unable to stop herself. She needed companionship; she was a wolf, after all. "Hawke Ismira," she responded confidently, giving him her full name. "So what's a wolf like you doing all alone?" she asked. Surely such a seemingly nice wolf would have friends or something. Why was he all alone?


Hawke willed herself to remain in place when he shifted closer even though there was the sudden urge to move away. Maybe she didn't know much about who he was, but she was attracted to him. There was no point in throwing that away over the fear of being abandoned - or so she tried to tell herself. For a moment she was overpowered by his scent as it washed over her. She couldn't get over the color of his fur - similar to her own - and it looked nice and fluffy. She wanted to touch it to see what it felt like. In fact, there was an overpowering urge to touch his fur - not because she thought he was so handsome but simply because she wanted to know if it was soft or not.


Hawke shifted her weight discreetly, as if she was shifting her paws because her legs were bothering her or something. Almost so lightly that it wasn't noticeable, she shifted just enough to allow her fur to brush against his before she shifted back into place and finished adjusting her paws. She shivered a little. This was certainly turning out to be an interesting day.

She was good at stoking his ego, that was for sure. When she had called him strong he had subconciously puffed up, pushing his chest out a little in pride. He smirked when she asked him why he was alone. The truth was he loved to be alone. No shackles, no responsibility, all the ladies he could coerce into a good time.

He looked down at his paws in mock abashedness, preparing his best dreamy-lover eyes. Slowly swinging his head towards her as he spoke, flicking his eyes back to his paws in feigned embarassment he smoothly said "I guess I'm still looking for the one to spend my life with..."

Inside he was howling with laughter but it was a well rehersed routine and it hadn't failed him yet. He felt her brush against him and shiver, things couldn't be going better if he'd planned it. "Are you cold?" he asked forcing genuine concern into his tone. Admittedly the mountains were colder than the land below and he leaned against her side with a smile, "Two are always warmer than one!" he said enjoying the feel of her fur mingling and mashing with his.

She smelled delicious.