Hidden Tree of wild rumpuses past

i am no prince, no rebel nor man of flair,

i am Fenru Tainn

Swift River's bloodline, protector & heir

Having been corrected, Fenru gave Belun a nod of appreciation, enlightened and astonished all the same. Vernost'. Loyalty. Doo-u-veh-ra... Dôvera. Trust. "We..." Fenru patiently and plainly answered, singling out the pronoun with a somewhat lengthy pause to emphasize that he intended to keep the man's company for some time. "...are going to meet a pack." One of his large ears swung back while the other kept forward, rendering his facial expression into a quite rascally smirk. "If you're looking to join a pack, you'll have to go through their Leader... first."

His tail swung about behind him in a way that conveyed he was more than willing to further extend his geniality and the prospect of a life lived out as a River wolf. His pace continued in a consistent tread, his practiced strides obvious by how evenly and rhythmically all four of his paws fell and lifted in sync. Belun's second apology reached his ears and Fenru just shook his head. "Don't worry," he smiled. "You're fine. Okay. Good. We're talking, aren't we? So, we're good. You're good."

For the first time in what seemed like months his smile actually touched his eyes and he beamed at the wolf at his side. "If there's something you don't understand, I can explain if need be, so don't you worry." His gaze flickered to the unmarked path ahead of him before returning to Belun's face, still smiling as wide as a Cheshire cat. "If they aren't too busy, you'll meet my mother or the new leader. Or both, but they're nice... usually. We could use some extra help." He turned his eyes and head forward again as they approached a sizable assemblage of long grass, still brown and yellow from the winter season.

Fenru stuck a forepaw out and parted the thing blades before stepping through them, not bothering to look behind him as he was sure his first-ever recruit could easily follow. The trek through the grass wasn't a long one but the boy had had months to officially consider this course of action it as a recurrent ritual every time he headed out towards Hidden Tree. Before his yearling days, he had actually gone through two month-long phase, opting to move from one makeshift shelter - fallen logs, the shadows of large boulders, the nooks between the Grove trees' roots, etc. - to another, afraid something terrible would happen to him if he did not hide. Once they were clear of the dead foliage, he led Belun through a spacious field. After some time, the distant wall of clustered gnarled tree trunks, once small and easy on the eyes, rose up taller and grander than they were several footsteps ago. Gone were the charred and blackened birch trees, and in their place older, wider, and sturdier beech, aspen, and sycamore trees towered over the pair.

"Still okay?" the youth asked. "Do we need to stop? Rest? I can only imagine how far you've come to reach the Wildwood back there."

you cannot break me, i thrive regardless

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

A pack! The excitement that welled in his heart was almost enough to make him jump for joy. Belun knew that there had to be healthy wolf packs in the area, the scents were unmistakable. He had already met two wolves, and if there were two wolves anywhere, there was certainly a pack. Not only that, but Belun didn't think he'd ever even heard of a yearling of Fenru's age being out on his own. Still, Belun had been alone at a year and a half, so he guessed it was close enough. Belun wondered what Fenru's pack was like, if they would have pups in the spring and who his parents were. The very idea of meeting so many new people made him happy, and a bit nervous. He didn't think there were many people who would like Belun's company since he was foreign and didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. He was afraid that the leaders of the pack would reject him on his initial appearance alone; after all, he was thin, and didn't have the strength or the bulk of Fenru, who was half his age.

"A peck!" was the only thing he could summon from his mouth. His tail wiggled and waggled and he had a bit of a bounce in his light step as he followed alongside his young counterpart. The generosity of the boy made him feel a sort of glee. Fenru was quickly becoming a friend, which, in all honesty, was not a difficult thing to accomplish when it came to the generally light-hearted Belun. The boy reassured him that his speech was fine, or at least good enough, to which Belun issued a warm smile back to him.

"Yes, I ahsk eef I do not know, ees good," he said, butterflies brewing in his stomach. "You muh-ther? I am liek-eeng thees thaht we are doeeng. I wahnt meet her," Belun grinned. It had been so long since he had properly socialized or met anyone new that the very prospect of anything of the sort was very exciting to him. He was raised to believe that family was everything, so meeting Fenru's mother was a very good thing to do in his eyes.

Belun followed the boy through a great span of tall grass, barely able to see anything in front of them as they parted it with their bodies. He followed the tan butt of his friend until they emerged from the grasses into a great expanse of fields. A small group of deer saw them heading their way and they leaped away hurriedly, afraid that the wolves were out hunting. A series of song birds sounded their calls and cries from a spread of lively forest that draped over them. Fenru asked him if he needed to stop, although he didn't understand the second sentence. "Nie," he said, and shook his head. He had been traveling longer and farther for months, and though he hadn't stopped much at all since he'd been in the Wildwoods, he wasn't prepared to do so until he met this pack the boy spoke of. His paws were raw and calloused, but Belun had stopped noticing that months ago.

He followed the boy into the great forest, and inhaled the scent of dirt and wood, a warmth coming to him.

i am no prince, no rebel nor man of flair,

i am Fenru Tainn

Swift River's bloodline, protector & heir

"Nie." Belun didn't even have to say anything more before Fenru advanced into the trees that signalled the start of Sacred Grove. With the afternoon sun still well above the skyline, he was confident they would at least reach the banks of the River by sundown and, with any more luck, he and Belun would be greeted at the edge of the pack's territory. When the sun had become covered by a cloud, the Tainn glanced upward, a sense of security returning to him as he acknowledged the crooked boughs above him. The sky, he could deal with, but only certain amount, too much of it (especially if a storm was on its way) and Fenru felt vulnerable and defenseless against the elements.

Onward and southward he went, gazing back every now and then to cultivate and encourage Belun's optimism. Every so often he stopped to check on an unexpected marker - a low-hanging branch with an abruptly angled end, a sizable rock at the base of singled out fir - then continued on his way. To anyone who knew Fenru, watched him grow up and mature into a youth worthy of his family name, knew that the yearling was doing what was customary: relying on personal landmarks to navigate his way back home on one of several memorized routes. To anyone else these sudden and brief pauses seemed like the boy had a strange tic or the beginnings of obsessive-compulsive habits.

"Shouldn't be too long now," he disclosed, his path gently arching around to the right. "When we get to the River, then I will call for her and we will wait." He smiled broadly as he walked, waiting, expecting and anticipating Belun to fill the next bit of possible silence between them with more spells of zeal and aspirations. If he was already this prepared to meet Corinna, then Fenru seriously hoped she or Ice would see Belun's potential, just as he had practically right off the bat.

you cannot break me, i thrive regardless

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

The winter made the trees appear a bit dead, even in the afternoon light. The sun was quickly becoming tainted by a soft pink and orange dancing delicately across the horizon. Soon it would be evening, the temperature would drop, and there might or might not be shelter for Belun. The landscape was beautiful despite the lack of foliage on the deciduous breeds of tree. There were few winter birds that had stayed in for the winter or had returned in the hopes of an early spring, but that made the atmosphere less annoying and more quiet. There was a silent majesty to the chilly wilds, their great trees wrapping their roots about the long-dead leaves and stones lining the ground. Ferns tickled at him from the undergrowth as they swept past, moving through the forest the way they were built to: at a steady lope.

Once in a while Fenru would stop just ahead of him and Belun would pull ahead by accident, sometimes having to stop to wait for the male. It looked almost like he was sniffing for new scents and a nice place to pee, but he never did. Usually he would stop for hardly a second before he kept going again, and this made Belun wonder if the boy had an itch between his toes that he couldn't quite scratch or was hearing a sound that he could never catch at the right time. However, there was no weirdness that could dampen the brown wolf's spirits now.

"Shouldn't be too long now," said Fenru, and Belun nodded even though he didn't understand a lick of it.
"When we get to the River, then I will call for her and we will wait." That he got pretty easily. They were heading toward a river, and when they got there, they would wait. The river must have been the border to his pack territory. Belun's tail waved around in the air as they moved onward. "I ahm wahnteeng her to liek me. I theenk I ahm may-bee vehry skee-nee. Or may-bee my tahlk not good. May-bee I ahm hav-eeng a ..eh... itch on foot make her theenk I hav-eeng bugs," he worried, and worried. It was in his nature to see himself as lower than other people, even though he knew well that other people made mistakes and were terrible all the time. He still saw himself as below average in almost everything, and it made him both modest and very anxious.

Shall we wrap this up and I'll tag ya for a thread within the Swift River territory boards? <3

i am no prince, no rebel nor man of flair,

i am Fenru Tainn

Swift River's bloodline, protector & heir

The more the duo conversed, the easier Belun's accent became on Fenru's ears; and, what would have made him stop and think to replay in his head what his age-mate had just said minutes ago came to him as clear as the Lost Lake on a cloudless summer day. "Oh, we'll find out soon enough," he said, taking another brief glance back across his shoulder. "Just... be yourself. Be... you." He gave a light chuckle, "I'm sure she won't mind you being skinny; if you join us, we'll feed ya. And, if you had bugs... honestly, I probably wouldn't have bothered with ya. You're fine... With the River all around here and the creeks and such, bugs wouldn't last a good bath anyway."

Fenru stopped for a split second to cast sharp gaze at a nearby tree then revised his path to a more southern direction. "It's okay if your talk isn't good," he ensured him. "My Uncle Marsh... he doesn't talk at all. Not one word." The yearling shook his head and stopped in his tracks, his flame orange eyes attempting to meet Belun's green irises, "Don't worry, Belun. If my mother or my pack wanted to eat someone like you, I wouldn't let you meet them. Besides, we're not too wild or savage, like every other band around these parts."

His plume-like tail, once slightly curved at his heels, lifted and began to wag. He tilted his head to one side and raised a brow as he gave his friend a confident grin. All too soon a feeling of closeness he hadn't felt since he and Rihael were cubs sprung up within him from the darkest corners of his being. He feigned an exasperated sigh then shook his head again, the large, ivory-lined ears atop his skull still wobbling to and fro until he stopped and took a deep breath.

"Dooo-veh-rah?"

you cannot break me, i thrive regardless

template made by GINNYSAURUS. of RPG-D.

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

Yar! Might want to set it for the same day.

The more Belun spoke to Fenru, the more he grew accustomed to the new language. He had a heavy accent, but he was following along much more smoothly. Perhaps this was because Fenru was being more careful with the words he chose, intentionally picking the verbs and nouns that were easy to pick out and understand. "Be you," said Fenru, and Belun frowned a bit. What if she didn't think he was likeable? What if he had to tell her about his family history, and she took his uncle's side instead of Belun's? What if his coat color reminded her of someone she used to hate, the way that his mother had been distrustful of white wolves? Belun did not fully comprehend everything that Fenru reassured him with, but he could certainly tell that he was being reassuring. "Yes, I do thees and may-bee she liek me."

The brown wolf followed alongside the yearling, changing direction without even noticing. The boy mentioned that he had an uncle who did not speak, and Belun wondered if he really meant that he never spoke ever. Belun had never met anyone who couldn't talk before, and thought that perhaps the uncle might have had his tongue cut off, or had his throat punctured once. Those were the only two scenarios he could think of that would cause such a handicap, and he winced at the thought of them.

It was probably a good thing that Belun didn't understand the last bit that was said about the other packs in the area. Belun had a tendency to take things more literally than he should have, and might have assumed the other wolves in the area to be cannibals. The scents in the atmosphere had become much more potent since they had changed direction, and Fenru stopped then to sound out a message to a wolf who must have been his mother. Belun stopped too and began to pant, and whine, anxious for the arrival of someone new.

(This post was last modified: Mar 06, 2013, 04:16 PM by Belun.)