OOC Note

Silence.

In the pre-dawn light an unremarkable brown wolf slinks through the early morning fog. Even now she expects them to come after her. Even with @Vespertio’s scent on her fur. You can see it in the slump of her shoulders and the tuck of her tail, plain face sweetened by the ears folded down to her neck. Skin and bones already broken, belly dragging in the snow with nobody in sight, a polymathy of punishment etched into her very soul.

The trees crowd around her eerily, leaves dancing to an invisible breeze bringing the evergreens alive with ghostly whispers, the rustle of a bird overhead makes her flinch, too large head swinging over stick thin shoulders, eyes wide, expecting death to descend on her at any moment. It is an ingrained loyalty that forces her down from the mountain in search of scraps to drag home for her new master. Still to weak to hunt she will do all she can to make him happy.

Security assured her black nose falls to push through the snow for any sign or scent that might lead her to buried treasures. She snorts to clear the ice from her snout and begins to scrape away the snow, a prize in her sight. More feathers than flesh she scoops up the frozen sparrow, careful not to crush it in her jaws. This was not for her, it was for him. A small fire already lighting in her chest at the thought of being able to present it to her new master.

@Vali

As the voice reached out to caress her ears she fell to the floor, legs splayed to her front, chin tipped to the side almost offering the stranger her throat while the tip of her pink tongue poked between her clenched teeth. Her eyes squeezed tightly shut dared to open a peek and her heart stopped. The wolf before her may not look (nor smell, nor sound) anything like Rhysis to anyone in their right mind (his build, his eyes, his drawl), but sanity and sense had fled the girl long ago. M-m-master! her mind screamed while her throat whined, the tip of her tail tickling her stomach as she tried to inch forward.

Every fibre of her body sang like the beaten dog she was. Only he had ever looked at her with care in his voice, even if it never quite reached his eyes. Only he had known. The next noise to leave her mouth was a barking cough, followed by more whines of supplication, the sort of song an anxious puppy sung to appease its parents, and still she crawled forward with her belly in the snow, her starved and frozen sparrow all but forgotten behind her.

As she finally drew close enough her nose strained to reach his toes, a wrist, anything she would be able to lavish her devotion on. As always she would expect the harsh bite of teeth, weight pressing on the back of her neck, a vice like grip around her snout… But she didn’t care. He had come back for her, just like she always knew he would.

@Vali

The voice continued to caress her ears, soothing her desperate whines down to anxious coos. The gentle touch to her crown sent a familiar shiver though the girl, the gentle nibbles strengthening her sense of security enough that she managed to bring herself up into a slouched seat, her teeth reaching out to gentle comb the chest of this strange males chest. Of course in her mind she had known the male for years, but reality and fantasy often seemed one and the same to the poor broken wretch, her desperation for belonging and a lifetime of abuse had driven her insane.

“Fine now.” She parroted back under her breath, her voice hoarse from disuse but still carrying a gentle musical tone. “Haine fine now.” she reaffirmed, clearly child like in the development of her speech. Her forehead gently leaned into the dark male as she took in his scent, allowing it to fill her completely. Yes, master had found her and now she would be alright, even her cursed companion had nothing to say on the matter. She had been quiet for a while now. Maybe she had lost her when she finally decided to ascend the heights?

Turning her head first one way, and then the other, it was difficult to see the mountain through the web of trees, a small break in the canopy afforded her a view of the side of Dire Mountain. Reporting to her master had always been difficult for the girl, her body language rarely enough but she knew her tasking and she wanted to make him proud. “Home. Two.” she told the wolf before her, still convinced he was the saviour that stole her away from her birth pack. “Home.” she muttered again with a small nod. She had found a pack, a small pack, up there. She had found a pack for him.

@Vali

The sound of her name on his lips causes a satisfied sigh to leave her chest. To her way of thinking she couldn’t possibly be wrong about this wolf being Master if he knew her name, never mind she had just provided it to him. Small facts like that easily slipped past her simple mind.

Simple concepts she could grasp. Her last clear instructions were to find a small home, a vulnerable home, and to wait, to be loyal and not bring herself under suspicion and to make herself valuable. Valuable was not a state she had ever seen herself as possessing but she guessed with the absence of other females in the pack she was ‘important’ to a degree. She just hoped she was making him proud.

Now he knew she could allow herself a momentary wave of her tail against her belly and a bump of her nose against his pale chin. She didn’t expect him to follow her now, she never thought to question his orders to her in the past and knew she wasn’t nearly clever enough to comprehend the intricacies of his plans, all she could hope is that one day he would come, and that was far more likely if he knew she had found him a pack, their pack.

To think her father had only ever called her useless.

@Vali

Listening very carefully was something she was very good at and for the first time her ears turned forward, even if her eyes stayed trained on the snow between their paws. His directions were clear and she allowed her ears to fold back down against her neck with another simple sigh. It was easier to nod her understanding than to try and find words to convey her compliance. Her nose tipped up once again to brush against the underside of his chin, her tongue daring to snake out and lick at the corner of his mouth, a promise that she would wait obediently as he requested.

 

Finally peeling herself away she slunk back towards her abandoned sparrow. Picking it up gently between her jaws and turning to look over her shoulder with a small wave of her tail. She had waited this long and she would wait as long as it took. He had no reason to fear she would knowingly betray him.

She felt recharged and rejuvenated. Despite her hollow sides and brittle fur she felt warm and filled with purpose. She had a place to go, and he knew that he could find her there. She would do all in her power to achieve a few simple words of praise. It would be a long walk back to the Lost Lake but it would pass in no time at all. The brown wolf was already walking on air.