Thicket of Secrets Dead Ends.

<blockquote>Each day was becoming more tedious. Each new wolf he met had no useful information for him on the location of his siblings and in truth, he was bored. Still young in years and spirit, Rhysis found waiting a challenge. Yes, he was patient as all evil geniuses should be, but he felt like his cause was going no where. He had so much that he wanted to achieve here, a new start for himself, comrades in arms and the strength of a dark blooded pack behind him… but he had none of those things. He had been stripped of them upon his exile from his homelands and he was growing impatient with nothing moving forward.

With a short snarl to himself, he had decided to take out some of his pent up rage upon a leafless branch which hang by his face as he lay, black upon white snow. He’d been dozing on and off all morning thanks to a full stomach after a successful hunt with Valtyr and now he was growing frustrated again. He was tired of having to be this false wolf, being nice to everyone was tiresome and it was getting him no where. Everyone around here was tedious work and it appeared they were all such goody-two-shoes it made him sick to his stomach. Did no one want to enjoy life a little anymore?! The problem was he was young and impatient- not the best combination. Were he older and stronger, he could allow himself to take more actions but for now he had to bide his time. Build alliances; grow up big and strong like his father and then things would be forced into place.

Gah! But waiting was so boring, especially when you spent most of your time alone. He was still a wolf after all and although he was used to solitude it didn’t mean he welcomed it. He was torn between himself, torn between what he really wanted and where he was going. Though his childhood had never been great, at least he had company and was never alone, never bored, never left in his own company for too long. Since his exile he had no one but himself for comfort and even that was beginning to bother him.

The stick had to die. It was a pointless exercise but short of scouting down more wolves who were full of useless information, what else was there for an evil genius to do around these parts? Sure, he could chase down that ridiculous female Rebecca but he felt like stealing her den had been enough for now.

<i>Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. Die stick. Die.</i></blockquote>

Rhysis wants someone who knows Volkan and Ranger? 8D bwahahaha

Edit; it occurs to me that this might make it awkward with your thread with Triell... Sorry, I didn't realise you had that one!

<blockquote>In complete contrast, Kinis was in heaven. The day for separation from Swift River had come and ever since Ruiko's very first cry, the boy had been on a high. Suddenly, everything was important, exciting and urgent; the challenge he had been craving for so long was upon him, and now it was do or die, and he could not afford to fail. The four of them were in it together, and where he had once been a spare part, he was now a vital cog in the Copper Rock machine, and he relished every moment of it.

Much time was spent exploring the Spring that was their new home, but, as they had predicted, prey wasn't exactly abundant, and Kinis had taken to travelling further than the borders in order to fill caches which were suddenly empty and starving, a sudden change from the healthy ones of Indru and Corinna. The importance of every minute of his time was etched into everything he did. His ventures were now efficient and tightly organised, no longer wandering or aimless. A keen focus replaced previous weakness to distraction. He was a wolf on a mission every moment of every day, and it was clear just how much he adored it.

<font style='margin-left:20px;'>The sound of crunching - but not bone-crunching, something else - caught his attention for a moment. The day had not been entirely fruitless so far, but he had not found anything worth taking back to the den. At least he would not be a hungry mouth to feed this evening, however. Curiosity piqued, Kinis almost turned from the sound save for the possibility of a scavenge; if he was wrong and the sound was of bones, then perhaps he could either shoo away the owner, or coerce a bite for himself? Then again, it might have been a wolf, in which case he was curious to see who was hunting all the way out here. Stealthily he traipsed through the thicket towards the sound, but too soon alighted upon one of his own kind.

Abandoning his attempts to hide, Kinis glanced over the dark, unknown male and adopted a neutral smile, just in case his intrusion would warrant displeasure. Given the time of year and the competition it brought. - bute ah, it was not bones after all. Faintly disappointed, the young wolf sought to offer the male another smile, this one apologetic. <b>"Heh, sorry, I was hoping you'd be something I could chase off... and had something worth chasing off for."</b> Harassing the local population below oneself in the food chain for nothing more than a branch wouldn't exactly be worth anyone's time.</font></blockquote>

(This post was last modified: Jan 08, 2012, 11:49 PM by Kinis.)

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<i>at least... that's where I'm supposed to be...</i></center>

OOC: Not a problem. I’m trying to keep the timelines separate as much as possible. Serves me right for having so many threads! xD

<blockquote>So, he had a splinter in his gum and this really didn’t help to lift his mood. The stick was proving no challenge at all, so his stress levels were still pretty high. He was so tense at that moment that he hadn’t even heard the approach of another. Honestly, he had no idea what was wrong with him, it seemed every wolf he bumped into caught him doing something strange or just caught him off guard. It was really unbecoming of him. Scolding himself mentally, his pale grey eyes fell upon the russet male who had approached as it from no where.

He took a moment to analyse the other, as always his mind had to know as much as it could before it allowed him to do much else. He was a similar age to Rhysis, smaller in build but healthier looking as he was still a little ‘ribby’ under his onyx fur. His scent was one he hadn’t encountered before, but it wasn’t his alone- a pack wolf it would seem but not one he had met before. That meant there were two packs in the area; interesting information to be used later on no doubt and he stored it away.

Within the blink of an eye his mind chewed up all it could see before it allowed his body to do the rest. Rhysis dropped the remains of the stick at his paws and sat up quickly, almost alarmed. Yes he had been caught off guard, but he made the move more dramatic then it had actually been, trying to give off the illusion he was completely shocked by his discovery. Enter ‘Mr. Nice Guy’. His rage would have to be re-bottled for later. And just like that, his guise was ready.

“Aha. I’m sorry about that. Nothing here but me and what’s left of that stick.” He glanced down for a brief moment and eyed the remains at his paws. <i>Stupid stick</i> he thought whilst his tongue brushed the roof of his mouth- yup, that splinter was in there good. Still, he had no time to dwell on that right now. It was time to jump into his usual routine, business as usual as he tried to find out more information about this fellow… and how much he knew which might benefit him of course.

“Names Rhysis…” He said with his strong southern accent. He lightly tipped his maw to the ground in a greeting whilst he allowed his tail to flicker just slightly at the tip.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Was he really getting himself into this? He only had himself to blame for any conversation which ensued, considering that he had started all of it. At least it did look to be conversation which loomed, though, and not conflict - which, he supposed, his casual comment had been intended to dissuade. So, in the end, all was well.

His tail gave a friendly wag as the other wolf, similar in age to himself, he guessed, sat up and replied, with just the appropriate amount of awkwardness. Being caught munching on twigs did that to you. Again Kinis smiled, eager to maintain cordial relations, and inclined his head in turn.

<b>"Kinis,"</b> he said lightly, treading forwards a short way to better find a flat spot to sit down too. He gestured to the ruined stick with an amicable smirk. <b>"Please don't say that's the best pickings out here, or I've wasted a trip."</b></blockquote>

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<i>at least... that's where I'm supposed to be...</i></center>

<blockquote>Ah good. He was the friendly sort and willing to talk, and on the plus side he seemed to have good manners too- a pet peeve of his, Rhysis hated poor manners.

He glanced down again to the stick in question and chuckled to himself. “At this point I’ve seen more sticks then food area here and this one just happened to look the most delicious out of the lot.” He jested with a smirk before continuing. “To be honest I’ve not seen anything larger then a hare run through here.” He took a moment to glance at the other’s weight; he supposed he wasn’t really in need of a big meal, the other male had much more meat on his bones then Rhysis did… lucky fella. Still, his recent meal of a deer, felled alongside another male had been most fortunate, a few trips back and forth had put a bit of weight on him at last and he was feeling much fitter… despite the splinter in his tongue.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” He asked with a tilt of his head.</blockquote>

Okay, so I've left this a horrific length of time, I'm sorry. Shall we wrap up, at least? If you'd like points for it, then I don't mind carrying on a few more rounds, otherwise I don't object to concluding early.

<blockquote>He laughed at the joking retort, glad to find some amiable, easy company. It suited his high spirits, after all. <b>"I'd have gone for the hare, personally! But to each his own."</b> He smirked good-humouredly, ears pricking forward at the question.

<b>"No, not really. Just hunting and scouting - like every other day, really. I heard you crunching that and wondered what it was."</b> Idly he scratched at his ear, then cast a glance about the place, noting how quiet it was. He also did not miss the general poor state of the other, but hey, such was the burden of living alone. <b>"Do you live here? I've always liked this thicket. Thin pickings, though."</b> He glanced at the stick and grinned again.</blockquote>

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<i>at least... that's where I'm supposed to be...</i></center>

We’re only a few posts off, two more posts each I believe for those points? It’s up to you, I’m not fussed either way. Feel free to wrap it if you'd rather to that, else I'm here for a while if you want to quickly wrap it up! :)

<blockquote>He smirked and nodded. A hare would have been a better meal but well, the stick had been annoying him. A case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, the younger male before him seemed in good spirits and found amusement in the situation, which Rhysis supposed there was. It was pretty strange to come across a wolf snacking on a stick. He could have said something to point out Rhysis’ stupidity, but he seemed to find humour in it.

When he asked if he lived here, Rhysis shook his head. <b>”Nah, not here. I’ve holed myself up in the Wildwood. Quite a trek from here I guess but I like to wander.”</b> he said with a shrug. With another tentative sniff of the air, he noted the scent of the wolf mixed with that of the earth. Triell had a similar scent, a scent of his own but something more and he guessed that this chap before him was another pack wolf. Not the same pack though, the scents were vastly different, but the tell tale mixture of wolf, earth and something unique was such a give away. <b>”Where do you live? I’ve only met a River wolf so I’m clueless as to what your pack is called.”</b>
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