Eye of the Storm

The rain continued to fall from the sky. Having made it through the boggy lands of the Cladstine Brook before the banks burst he found himself by yet another dangerously overloaded waterway. Honestly, was there no higher ground to be found around here? Without thinking he glanced to the mountain in the distance. The place he used to call his home. Used to, because he had not been there in so long. He had very little doubt that the pack would fall with his vanishing act. Naira would lead them and though it pained him to admit it, even to his own mind, she’d have done a good job of it too. He had no reason to think that the pack would have fallen into disarray, after all, with the affair he had been having with Sagacity, the pack scout at the time, he had kept to himself and the pack borders rather than involving himself in the community. Heck, even his son Datura didn’t know he was his father and they had spent weeks together then just ignoring one another. Adonis knew the truth now, and Rhysis believed that the young boy had made his way back home after all this time. The boy was depressing but he was his son, a clever boy, so there was little doubt that the boy had become lost upon the way and had delivered the message of what had happened, that they had been ambushed and he and Valiant had been taken prisioner to a pack of wolves, crazed with rabies and blaming Rhysis for it. Yeah, load of crazies that they were. And yet… no rescue mission had come to find him. No sights or smells of his loyal pack had some to his aid which left him with two conclusions – that Adonis had not made it home or that they had not wanted to see him rescued. In truth it stung to think that they would abandon him to a fate worse then death but he would most likely have done the same. The loss of one life made more sense then the loss of an entire pack… but it still scorned like a bitch and he would one day make his way back there to find out just what the hell had happened to his rescue team.

Back in the here and now, the lanky wolf looked worse then he ever had in his life. Half starved and running only on sheer willpower and adrenaline after making his escape but three days ago, he had managed to find his way back into the lands of lore. The current weather however was making life more and more difficult and being the smart wolf he was, he knew he would not have much time left fending for himself. He was weak, sick with a fever, ravenous to the point of madness and torn and bruised in places he didn’t even know he had. He hadn’t feel in such bad shape since he was a puppy and he had dared to question his father’s madness. What was it with all the crazy wolves in his life? Bitches be crazy. Father’s be crazy and even friggin’ strangers be friggin’ crazy.
The water levels of the bog land began to ebb away as he finally found himself on slightly higher ground. Though the rain was thick, he could make out the expanse of a flat, meadow like area surrounded by tall, tall trees. A perfect place to take cover in the storm though he held very little hope of finding himself a meal. With what energy he could muster, he took a step towards the pack borders, unbeknown to him that another pack lived here. With the heavy rain over the last few days and being so damn hungry his nose had neglected to tell him he walked on claimed soil. Oblivious to the threat, he continued across the meadow, out in the open. A sitting duck.

Sorry for the long wait Tyrant! :c
@Rhysis

Winter was fast approaching, -with it came freezing frosts and cold nights- and that meant most lone wolves would attempt to get into a pack before the cruel cold truly set in. That was why he had patrolled the borders more frequently, especially since there was a prince and princess in the pack. He would do anything to keep the lifeline of the Slayers and Pitch Pine Trail alive. They had no mother, and their father was dead. All they had left was the members of their pack.

Padding at a slow, leisurely pace, The Pitch Pine Leader marked the borderline every twenty feet or so, to make sure that any lone wolves that came across the border, there would be no way of them not noticing that a pack lived in the area. He didn’t want them in his territory, and if they were, they had better have a good reason for it. But since the past few days consisted of nothing but rain, the scent markers were fainter than he’d like them to be.

The cold chilled him to the bone, but he kept moving forward. He always completed a border patrol, and never returned until he was satisfied that it was finished properly. It was his duty to serve the pack, protect and look after each member as if they were family, which they all were. They all welcomed wolves that joined and were expected to treat them with kindness and respect. But his pack mates never failed him.

At the faint scent of a strange wolf his dark grey ears perked up as he lifted his muzzle, searching the damp air for the trail. A slight wind blew through the fen, supposedly bringing the taint of another wolf with it. The wolf could be miles away, or right on the border, but there had been no howl. Unwilling to possibly let a stranger intrude on his territory, Ace loped towards where he hoped the wolf was.

He soon came upon a large, black and silver male. The stranger was tall and long rather than wide and muscular. His tail was thick and fluffy, and the black and silver coat seemed well kept, but scars and badly healed flesh wounds were easily seen. It seemed that the stranger had been in a fight recently, or always stirred up trouble. If it was the latter, then the Pitch Pine Leader would have no interest in letting him join, as trouble makers did not do well in his pack.

As his silver eyes finished scanning over the male (of what he could see as the stranger’s face was half-turned away from him) Ace noticed that the male was on the border and still walking, right into his territory. His lips pulled back to reveal sharp canines as his hackles raised and tail curled fully over his creamy back. The Pitch Pine Leader punished all those who crossed his borders without permission, but if the stranger had a very good reason as to why he was walking right over the border, then he would let it slide, but only once, and grudgingly.

Ace padded up to the stranger, stopping multiple paces away, and stared at the dark wolf with hard eyes for a few moments before letting out a low growl, to show that he was angered by the stranger intruding. “Explain to me why you are on MY borders, verging on crossing into MY territory without MY packs permission.” The Pitch Pine Leader put emphasis on every ‘my’ he spoke, to show that if the stranger should decide to turn on him, he would be in trouble. Considering the state the stranger was in, it wasn’t likely that a fight or scuffle would ensue, but it was always good to have a back-up plan.

635 Words

If I could have you in my heart, I
would protect you forever

Sorry, crappy post is crappy! Trying to spit this out before the baby wakes up again so this is super rushed. >_>

The bitter cold wind ruffled the fur of his nape. His coat was already beginning its winter transformation. His somewhat long fur seemed already more dense, preparing itself to shield his warm skin against even the harshest weather. With the sudden change in the season though, winter coming that little earlier one year after another, he wasn't quite weather proofed yet and the cold hit him deep to the core.
His eyes were narrowed, shielding his vision from the bullets of icy rain which took aim at his glassy orbs, burning each time one managed to slip past his lids. The onslaught was evil and had yet to actually let up. So blinded was he walking against the torrent that he did not see the lead male until they were almost on top of each other.

Rhysis was a very smart wolf. Yeah, mostly he was an asshole but he was a clever one at that. In his current condition he wouldn't last long against a well fed, large male like this one. At that moment he didn't know if the wolf was a loner like he, but he made his roots clear when he spoke. Now was not the time to rip out his tongue, like he might have had he been spoken to like that upon the mountain. No, now was the time to grovel and cower. Take what he needed, shelter, food, perhaps even women (my, how Valiant had gotten under his skin!) until he was back to his former self. He'd most likely leave then without a remorseful glance... but this other male would not know of his plan. No, instead he would see a rather tattered, hungry looking soul who would for the time being, be humble and in need.

"Forgive me, friend... The storm has disorientated me." he begun, the rich tones of his southern accent sounded a little rusty, as though he had not spoken for some time. "Were I not in such poor condition I would not have dreamt to cross your borders unannounced, such a rooky mistake... I'm afraid however, that I am a little worse for wear... as you can see." he added with a flick of his head, gesturing the the recent tears across the bottom of his legs and a flick of a very torn ear.

He allowed a moment of silence to pass; a much needed moment to grit his teeth and lower himself to the ground in a submissive pose. If only @Naira could see him now- how her God had fallen. Or worse, @Sagacity - he could never appear weak to her, he had a macho image to uphold there. Still... Rhysis was a survivor and he would do whatever it took to make it through another day. The wolf before him was a pack wolf, most likely the leader with how he flaunted the word my over and over again. No doubt he lead a group of simpletons if they needed to be reminded so many times of just who was in charge. Without a trace of the snigger he felt he needed to release, he remained with his belly to the floor, tail between his legs and what remained of his ears lowered with eyes down. From the outside he was nothing but a hungry, battered stranger.

"Forgive my boldness but might I inquire as to whether you're seeking new members for your pack? I may not look much now but in my old pack I was a guardian. I could offer my services to you in exchange for a good meal and somewhere to stay?" he then asked, though ensured to keep his eyes averted just in case this wolf could see into his dark soul like so many others before him seemed to.

Karpos Slayer
i'm gonna give all my secrets away...

<3 Hope you all don't mind?

Slowly but surely, Karpos had returned from his fit of rage and his running away. He had run into Lachesis and Anastasia, both of whom had broken his spirit for adventure. Then he met Aponi, a girl kinda like him, except for she had two parents, and he had none anymore. He heard voiced and he knew then that he couldn't just sneak in. One of the voices was his Uncle Ace. Karpos was looking a bit thin, after all he had been gone for a weak and while he had hunted, it was only enough to get him back to Pitch Pine Trail. He was lucky enough to know how to take down small prey. His eyes were almost narrowed when he saw a black colored wolf talking to his uncle. He held himself tall, but not nearly as tall as Uncle Ace.

He attempted to creep around them, though he was out in the open so he knew that it wouldn't work. After all, his Uncle Ace could probably smell him, he was barely farther down the borders. Maybe a hundred feet from the two as he had crept along the outsides. He then looped back around and went up like he had come from the territory. "Who is this Uncle Ace?" He asked, his head tilted to the side. His tail had dropped below Ace's. After all he had been picking up fast on the formalities of pack life and the dominance system. He was analyzing the stranger, it was then that the young Slayer realized he was growing up.