Spooks was once again, covered in a layer of mud and leaves. He had arrived at Bramble Falls perhaps an hour early and had gleefully splashed into the pool of water to relieve him from the heat of the summer day. But the attraction of the water soon wore off in about ten minutes. The monochrome male had spent the next ten minutes swimming languidly and attempting to get as close as possible to the thundering falls until he got bored, climbed on shore, and preceded to roll vigorously on the ground, hence his current state.

From far away he might as well have been considered a large, oddly shaped brown rock with various pieces of foliage stuck on for good show. Being a loner sucked. Even the title sounded so incredibly lonely. How depressing. Grumbling due to the boredom Spooks flopped down on his side by the edge of the water, a frown plastered onto his face. Even though being in a pack meant that there were rules to follow (not that Spooks gave them much heed anyways), being with others was much more exciting than being by himself.

Being so close to his pack's home the Falls were a frequent haunt of Indru, especially as he found the beating of the water as it fell on the rocks a relaxing noise, one to distract his thoughts at least. It did not take him long to arrive, fresh faced from a lounging in his cool den within the borders of his pack and he had the simple intention of bathing in the cool waters before he went on a evening patrol around the Swift River he called home. This activity however did not faction in the presence of another already being there, or at least he presumed, as a fresh scent was thick around the waters and he glanced around the falls with scepticism, expecting the worst. If Indru had been a loner, or even perhaps a wolf not so familiar with these lands, he may have missed the abnormal rock that had not been there earlier.

Confident he had now identified the missing wolf Indru approached closer, his bright eyes not leaving the figure, and as he neared him he could begin to make out a wolf more clearly. I think you need a bath. Indru suggested, wrinkling his nose at the male, his once bristled fur flattened slightly, the closer distance allowing him to identify the wolf as a yearling, his junior. Not that much of a threat then, especially as Indru was so large. These lone wolf's he were coming across were getting weirder and weirder and he decided it would be wise to skip his own bathing for now and keep his fiery eyes trained on this wolf, just incase he turned out to be the weirdest.

[dohtml]
The mild roar of the falls masked the stranger's approach, coupled with the fact that Spooks was pretty careless and didn't really pay attention to his surroundings. At the voice that sounded behind him he jumped up in surprise and whirled around. The sight that greeted him was a tawny, bright-eyed male that happened to be quite large in size and several years his senior. He made a mental note not to antagonize this guy. In Spooks' opinion, older wolves tended be grumpy and so serious all the time.

"I guess so," he drawled, then flopped into the water in an undignified manner and splashed around carelessly, the dirt running off him in brown rivulets. Once he was satisfied that he had met the minim requirements to be presentable he climbed out onto shore some distance from the stranger and shook himself. Once Spooks was no longer dripping but still damp, charcoal fur sticking out wildly in different directions he approached the strange male and blinked in surprise at the vaguely familiar scent. "Who are you? You smell a bit familiar."[/dohtml]

Surprised at the young wolf's confidence he watched him flop and then proceed to swim around in the water, the dirt and leaves running of him. Indru made a mental note to not enter the water himself until the dirt had settled as he would like to come out cleaner than when he went in ideally. When this strange wolf exited the water Indru stepped back, expecting the violent shake the boy performed to rid his fur off lose droplets of water, a move that saved him a small shower.

Remaining silent the whole time Indru just watched the boy, his fur bristling ever so slightly as he approached without warning and then proceeded to demand who he was. Eyes narrowing, a small snort breaking his once silent façade, the Tainn continued to stare at him for a moment, allowing the silence to drag to show his displeasure before answering: Indru. As to why he smelt familiar Indru had no idea, though after a little thought he did not put it past one of his many siblings crossing this wolf's path at one moment or another. And who are you then boy? He questioned back, sniffing fairly obviously at the air as he drew in his scent, certain there was no familiar trace upon him other than the locations he had been that Indru knew like the back of his hand.

[dohtml]In a rare spell of being able to read the atmosphere, Spooks concluded that the stranger appeared to be annoyed judging from his silence. He didn't appear very happy either. What a grump. After a while, the orange-eyed male finally responded with his name, but soon after demanded his own name. Spooks bristled a bit at the patronizing connotation of being called 'boy.' Briefly he debated on telling Indru that it was none of his business, but then Spooks remembered that Indru was rather bigger than he was and thus ranked on his mental list of possibly dangerous.

Not to mention that he had no other insight on Indru's personality other than the fact that this stranger had a sour attitude as if he had been sucking on lemons for most of his life or something. Of course this was just exaggeration, but Spooks always did like to embellish the truth a bit. Deciding to take Borlla's advice of leaving out his original number name, he proclaimed energetically, "I'm Spooks!"[/dohtml]

It had not gone unnoticed that the wolf was small, for a male and for his age, a runt of the litter perhaps, yet he did not seem to have the personality of a low wolf, just the build. His name was peculiar, the boy seemed to small and excitable for Indru to ever vision him as 'spooky', but he pushed it aside, it was unimportant. Besides, perhaps it was an alias he adopted to help make himself appear more frightening. You met a member of my pack then? Indru asked, his tone less acerbic than before, but his body still not as tense as it would be for a friendly conversation, but he would not write the other off yet.

The wolf's circumstance confused Indru, he was a yearling, which alone was a bad time to be without a pack in Indru's eyes as without a pack's guidance he felt they would not pick up as useful skills as quickly, but he seemed to have a lower maturity than most as well. How long have you been without a pack? He inquired simply, imagining his own yearling siblings out alone and with what they knew and how they acted so far being a less than positive thought, was causing almost concern for this male before him now, not that he would show it to him.

[dohtml]
Despite being his relatively cheerful, upbeat self, Spooks still eyed his companion warily, just in case he was a psycho and decided to attack. Although this foolish suspicion was slowly fading away as time transpired. Spooks acknowledged Indru's statement-question with a bob of the head as he decided to sit down, head raised attentively. "Yeah. What was her name a-, oh yeah, it was Borlla!" Although the small puppy had kind of annoyed him at first - she did take his shelter spot first after all, she wasn't too bad to be around.


The next question caught Spooks off guard. Blinking in his surprise, he tilted his head to the side as he considered the question. How long had it been again? He wasn't very good with keeping track of time or remembering things to begin with. "Umm, I guess a few months or so? I don't really remember," he responded, voice a bit unsure as he attempted to backtrack the events that had occured, but soon gave up with a soft huff of air. A few months sounded right, he supposed.[/dohtml]

The females of the Swift River did seem enterprising, meeting everyone here there and everywhere without the markings of a pack — not the safest of wolves to be around, either. Briefly Indru considered whether small words were needed, brotherly protection reining for a moment, but he thought it through logically like most things, and really, what did he expect? Unless he were to lock them in the pack den (a truly appealing thought) they were bound to meet the more frequent lone wolves. Borlla is my sister. Indru explained to Spooks, unsure whether he had noticed the similarity in there scents as far as to connect them as siblings. He was a Leader now, but not for a long enough time to have fathered the pack's pups.

The young male had been without pack for a fairly long time for a yearling, Indru felt, and he did not seem the most.. clued up of them. That is a long time to be alone for a wolf your age. Most yearlings were learning how to hunt and fight among other skills at that age, using he pack's safety and security to give them full focus on learning. Are you going to try join another pack? If the reply was no, it was going to be something Indru would encourage, if the wolf wished to make it to a healthy age anyway.

[dohtml]
"Oh." Borlla was his sister? That explained the familiarity in scent. Spooks scrutinized Indru once more. They didn't really look similar though, with different eye colors and different fur as well. But then again Borlla was still a puppy and it wasn't uncommon for fur coloring to change with maturity. Their gap in age did take him by surprise though. If Spooks didn't know any better he would have concluded that Indru was her father. Spooks was slightly glad that most of his siblings that he knew to were close in age. That way it was harder for one of them to boss everyone else around and it was more fun anyways.


White ears twitched idly at the tawny wolf's next statement. "Is it?" he queried, a bit perplexed. He had miraculously managed to get along okay so far, although it was true that he went hungry often due to his rather frequent failures to catch prey due to his hyper inability to stay still. Usually he managed with small prey as sustenance though. Spooks fidgeted a bit at Indru's question. "Maybe? It gets kind of lonely by myself sometimes." For a short moment his expression was slightly forlorn. "But I can take care of myself anyways!" he insisted stubbornly.[/dohtml]

The boy seemed shocked at this, and Indru smiled lightly. I have a lot of siblings, many litters. He explained further. Indru had been raised like most packs — led by a strong leader who held his position in the pack and therefore went on to help the pack grow and it's future continue by having a litter of pups each year with his mate. It is very common for siblings to span ages, Borlla has siblings her own age, and ones my age. Really, she had the best of both worlds, her older siblings for protection and her younger ones for playing and learning,

This wolf did not seem aware of many pack customs, and Indru shook his head, remaining quiet when the boy went to speak again. He frowned slightly at the lone wolf's wrongly confident words. It is lonely, a pack is much more fun, with the safety you have, the closeness with your pack mates and of course the bonus of larger kills and more food to eat. That was without the chance to learn from the many experienced wolves a pack usually held and the opportunity to explore with a home to go to at the end of the day. You may manage for now, but for how much longer?