Bramble Falls Beautiful Morning

For Jessie

It was like someone had lit a match and set the world on fire as the sun began its ascent in the sky, slowly crawling its way over the peak of the large mountain (Mount. Dire) that towered like a giant, watching all that happened below in chilling silence. As the sun began to awake the sleeping world below with its scattered rays of light through partial cloud cover that gave the once stark black of night a soft golden glow. The chirps of local birds and sounds of small critters could be heard among Relic Lore, the world greeting the new day. It was bewildering that the world wasn’t actually made of gold, the way the sunlight made everything look.

A loud yawn escaped the ivory muzzle of a sleeping beast, a cloud of warm breath bellowing out from his mouth like the smoke of a dragon, lofting upwards into chilly morning air. Stretching out his large paws before him, he clawed at the dirt beneath him, waking up his once dormant body by pulling at ever muscle within his medium sized frame that lay below his mottled pelt of grays, blacks and whites. Waking up his sleeping muscles, he finally allowed his heavy eyelids to open, revealing a pair of soft brown eyes, blurry from sleep before they finally cleared to make the world before him more crisp and precise.

With a low grunt, the brute stumbled to pull his frame up onto all fours, shaking his body with front paws spread slightly to awake his-self that much more. Small amounts of dust flung off of his thick coat, another loud yawn escaping as his black lips pulled back to expose his canine teeth followed by a shake of his head. Why did waking up in the morning have to be so hard? It felt so good to sleep and let his mind come up with such wonderful dreams of hares galore running about that kept his stomach happy and full. Actually, food wasn’t a bad idea now as on cue almost his stomach gave a small rumble of protest, begging to be given its fill. But first, water was needed to cure his morning thirst.

It was the sound of running water, well more like falling water, that hypnotized the sleepy Dimango into heading towards its source. It had been a couple days since he stumbled upon this land and he wasted no time in finding the main source of water to make camp at for the time being. On his agenda today was to first quench his thirst, find some form of food to silence his rumbling belly and then explore the local area to see what it had to offer him. From what he made out of it so far, it was well enough to sustain a large population of wolves without a doubt due to the hundreds of different scents that covered the area, some similar with the scent of a pack, but unique as well with that wolf’s individual smell.

Lazily dragging himself closer and closer to the small pool of water, he found himself pulling his lips back into a small satisfied smile. It was nice to have accommodations so close at hand, and better yet this small pool he noticed had fish that swam within it, making breakfast easier to find. If he could catch one of the rascals, that was. Dimango was a wolf build for running and evading danger, not plunging his head under the water’s surface to snap at swimming fish with hopes of making a meal. He was not a skilled fisherman, but he had built up enough skills to keep himself from looking like an entire fool. Again, with the thought of food, his stomach gave another rumble. ”Shut up.” Dimango growled under his breath at his stomach, glancing down between his front paws to glance at his verbal under belly.

Stepping closer to the water’s edge, he lowered his head, parting his jaws to allow his tongue to lap delicately at the water. It was sweet relief as the freezing and refreshing water slid down his parched throat, quickly quenching his thirst. With his fill taken care of, he lifted his head slightly to gain a better view of the water’s surface, focusing on the small body of shadows that swam farther out in the depths of the pool. Hesitantly stepping into the cold water, he pulled a face of distaste from the nips the freezing water gave this his skin, slowly wading deeper until the water came up to just below his belly. Keeping his eyes trained on the darting fish, he waited for the right moment before SPLASH, his entire head dunked under the water and jaws snapped at the fleeing fish, missing his target. Pulling his head back up, he gave a shake to free his facial fur of the water, a small huff of frustration escaping his lips.

She had woken up bright and early that morning. For once, she had been in the den, surrounded by her pack mates as she quickly glanced over them all, letting her eyes remain on her sister’s pack for a few moments before she moved. Alone time had been something she had been relishing in for the past months. She preferred to stay away from her new family, though; she still made sure to pull her fair share of work around the pack. She did not want her alpha to think that she was slacking just because she no longer wished to spend so much…quality time with them now. She might as well have been terrified of them all now…completely terrified that they too would turn against her and betray her much like Hotei had. The handsome male had left many scars on her heart and most of the time, she was sad to say that she was still stuck on him. It was one of the reasons, she always wanted out of the place she had once so happily called home.

With a smile, she gallantly stepped out of the River territory, took a deep breath and started towards the falls. The place was a sweet reminder of the first time she had met Ice and as much as she hated to admit it now, she knew she was in love with him. She did not know what kind of love she was feeling for the white snowball, but she knew it was there and most of the time, she just wanted to push all of her feelings away and never have to think about them ever again. Going towards the place where everything reminded her most of the man. It was no surprise to her…that she did not care about the decision she was making, she now found that most of the things she did, she did not care about. One wolf would affect that, and that one wolf was no longer around. There was nothing she could do about that, except to try and heal. A loud splash quickly held her attention though.

Moving quickly, her salt-and-pepper colored fur stuck out like a sore thumb. Her tail flicked behind her, and when she came upon the scene before her, she grinned in amusement at the sight before her. A male, apparently attempting to fish, stood in the waters failing from what she could see. He did not even have a partner…what kind of genius did that? Snorting, she raised her voice enough so that he could hear her, ”You obviously don’t know what you are doing! Where is your fishing partner?” She spoke bluntly and honestly. Only a fool would fish without his or her partner, and if this male was obvious trying to do so. This either meant that the wolf wasn’t a true hunter or was starving his ass off. ”Ya know,” she started again, amusement lacing her tones, ”if you stay in that water any longer, you might freeze your tail off.” Instead of posing her sentence as a question, she kept it as a simple statement, as if she were sure he would not last much longer in the water.

It was the sound of an unknown voice that caused the brute to reluctantly pull his gaze away from the darting fish and turned it towards the salt and pepper female. ”A fishing what?’ He barked back at her, his head giving an obvious tilt of confusion despite the amusement that clearly laced her tone. He had never heard nor seen a wolf fishing with a partner. On top of that he never used a ‘partner’ to help himself catch food. The idea of it just came off as odd to the young male. True, he wasn’t a skilled hunter like the ones you find in a pack, but he got by just fine with his acquired skills. He didn’t need help to fend for himself, though if he played dumb enough, he could use this situation to his advantage.

”A wolf has got to eat, though.” Dimango stated in response to her statement about freezing his tail off, had he stayed any longer in the water as he took one last gander from the female to the fish that swam around his limbs, feelings bits of drool pool in his mouth from the hunger he needed to sedate. With a defeated sigh, all a part of his little scheme, he gave a prod at the water’s surface with one of his paws before beginning to wade his way back towards shore where the female stood enjoying the amusement his fishing brought. Once back on shore he gave his body a shake to free it of water, a small smirk playing at his lips as some droplets landed on the other wolf.

Now that he was only a foot or two away from the female, he took a gander at her features. She was much smaller in size than he and clearly built for speed, much like himself despite his thick coat that made most think he was of a stronger stature. And with a quick sniff at the air he noted the extra year she had on him and the scent of a pack mixed with her own personal scent. Alas, his typical personality towards female kicked in as he let his gaze travel along the females frame and back up towards her pair of emerald green eyes. ”Should I call it a blessing from Hekate that a beautiful being such as yourself, has come to grace me with your presence?” He spoke, turning on his charm as he always did when a female was near.

He was always quick to woo the ladies and knew nearly all the tricks in the book to use. Hekate, being the goddess of the moon and wolves, he used her the most. He didn’t believe in higher powers or any form of authority, but wisdom about the gods always seemed to be a winner with the ladies.

According to the answer she received from the man and the way he spoke to her, it was obvious that he had no clue what she was talking about. This caused a small smirk to form at the corners of her mouth, before they flattened out into its original frown. It seemed as though the wolf that she thought she could have some fun with really did turn out to just be a phony, something Jessie did not appreciate what so ever. She watched him carefully as he remained in the water for a little while longer, responding to her comment, which earned him a roll of her emerald eyes. "I do hope you realize you can hunt prey on land. Especially…if you are so near water." She spoke matter-of-factly, as if anyone, even a pup, would have known this tad bit of information. She lifted her head slightly as he approached her, and out of habit, her tail instinctively swayed above her back in a dominant stature. She did not like being so close to other men that she did not know. Not any more…not since the…Hotei incident.

Shaking it from her mind, she listened to his words, anger welling up within her veins. If he was trying to flatter her, he was doing the exact opposite. Who the hell was Hekate anyways? The only wolf who was allowed to utter a word of compliment of her on their lips was Hotei or her alphas, and maybe a family member, but a mere stranger… Hah, he had some nerve! Smirking slightly, she let her icy voice float towards him, ”It depends. Others tend not to like me sometimes cause I’m too bitchy.” Her tail flicked behind her, keeping her eyes on the man in front of her and letting her canines flash out to him. He may have looked imposing, but he was nothing compared to a pack wolf. He was just a mere loner in front of her; trying to fish for food and failing. Pursing her lips once again, she stared at him. Feeling she should introduce herself, “I’m Jessie Swiftpaw.” she left out her nickname, the thing she barely used anymore. Hopefully, the man in front of her took that as his own cue to introduce himself to her.

Sorry for taking forever to reply!! (:

A heavy sigh followed by a roll of his own eyes was his response to her statement about hunting on land. "I'm not stupid, er, whatever your name is." He said with a flick of his tail, as he did often when someone rubbed his ego the wrong way. He knew very well that hunting fish wasn't the only source of food around here, but he didn't hold the desire to go on a hunt for hare or something of the sort. Fish sounded good to the brute and fish was what he was going to have rather this female continued to make fun of his for his lack of skill or not. Personally he cared not for the opinion of others unless it held some benefit to him and hers did not.

Seeing her display of dominance as he grew near her, a feeling of annoyance built up within him. God, did he hate people that asserted their power like it meant anything to him. He was not impressed whatsoever. With a yawn escaping his lips, he easily brushed off her display and lazily made his way back to the water’s edge. Both wolves held a neutral rank within these unclaimed lands and had they been within her pack's boundaries, then maybe, just maybe he would have shown a care at her display of dominance. But that wasn't the case.

Hearing her icy words and the flash of her canines, a small and hushed snicker passed his black lips, his tail giving another flick behind him. 'Well I don't blame them. You definitely fit the part.' He thought to himself as he kept his body relaxed. He's had teeth bared at him many of times from both males and females and hers failed to faze him. "Dimango Cerberus." He offered flatly in response to her introductions, having no need to give it the works he normally did when he introduced himself to a female. Normally he would be working his tail off at wooing Jessie, but as much of a player as he was, he didn't put the effort into 'bitchy' women. Yes, he liked a challenge, but females that had the attitude Jessie was displaying were on his 'not worth my time' list.

At his response to her first claim, she rolled her eyes slightly, taking in as he started to make his way back to the icy water. She did not take the man in front of her for a complete fool, but why would he do what he was doing? Fishing while the water was still freezing was more of a disadvantage than anything. It was still highly cold outside, meaning the water would be even colder than usual. The fish, already accustomed to such habitat would have no problem quickly swimming away from a wolf whose muscles instinctively tensed up from the chill; meaning it would be much harder for them to get a quick hold of their situation before the rest of the fleet would disappear into the shadows. With a small sigh, she watched him take much less interest in her. Noticing this, her tail lowered considerably, comfortable with the fact that the male had gotten a safer distance away from her.

His flat tone with his name caused her ears to twitch forward and head to tilt to the side. The name was completely foreign to her ears and in a softer tone, she asked a question, "Pardon me for asking…but, where are you from?" Her voice was much smoother now that he was away, holding much less of the tense, sharp tone she had been using before. It had gone unnoticed by her, but perhaps not by the male…that she was highly uncomfortable around him, not wanting him to touch her, compliment her, or anything. She just wanted to have a conversation. And perhaps…maybe, if things smoothed out, she would help him on his little fishing expedition.