Nomads Pass The Pursuit of Happiness

A White Stag has appeared.

If you think sunshine brings you happiness,

• NAIRA AQUILA •

then you haven't danced in the rain.

The White Stag has a message for you. Hunters of old pursued the miraculous stag, not because they expected to kill it, but because it led them in the joy of the chase to new and fresh adventures, and so to capture happiness...

The lower end of the Pass was in bloom. Peacefully Naira wound her way between the trees, breathing in the woodland scents deeply. While it would have been more comfortable to live at this end of the valley, it was more prone to flooding than the rocky shelves on which she had chosen to settle, but it was still nice to know that at least part of her kingdom encompassed grass and trees.

There was a rustling in the underbrush and the tawny leader froze, golden eyes scanning the breaks between the trunks to try and spot what sort of creature had managed to sneak up on her. This time of year it could be anything, from a raccoon to a bear, but the last thing she expected to see was a bright flash of white. Her breath caught in her chest for a moment as she took in the sight before her, the large stag, peacefully grazing while something shiny and colourful hung from the end of one of his impressive antlers.

Unsure if she was dreaming or if the stag was real, she drew back far enough so as not to startle the beast with her call. Tilting back her muzzle she sung to her pack-mates and children, a gathering song. Whether they would hunt the stag or simply confirm that she was not going insane was yet to be determined, but a gathering was long past due, and so she waited.

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Prowling amongst the rocks of the Pass, Chulyin searched for his sister. Since he arrived, he'd been weary of keeping her company, knowing that Mapplethrope had been displeased with him. But that was behind him now. He'd given his oath to the advisor, and Naira knew well enough that her brother would do nothing to betray her, so it was now he took the opportunity, after checking the borders, to find her. The land, though seemingly mountains on one end, was likened to a forest on the other. He hadn't frequented the trees much, more interested in getting his paws more used to the rocks, which he had done quite well at this point. It was only now that he skirted carefully around the den site, not bothering to poke his nose within the darkness for he was certain she wouldn't be found there, and made his way towards the wood.

He'd only cleared the rocks when he heard her call from within the trees. Pausing for a moment, the man let his ears rise up. It was a call for the pack, and he would answer. Tipping his own muzzle back, Chulyin let out his own cry to answer hers. He would be there soon. The man broke into a considerable lope. For some, it would probably be considered slow, but with his own considerable mass, it was as fast as he could carry himself. He'd never really been built for speed. The shadows of the trees soon engulfed him, and he slowed, his nose moving away, searching for her scent and following the trail it left. As her scent became stronger, he caught the scent of prey as well, and slowed considerably, lowering himself to hide along the brush.

Her lighter pelt soon came into view and he came back to a standing position, slowly coming up beside her. <b style="color:#a51919">"Naira." He greeted her, though made no contact as he had the last time. There was a small smile on his face, though it twitched uncertainly as his eyes came upon the prey he had smelled. It was a deer looking creature, but white, and atop its points rested a strange shiny point, mottled with colors. <b style="color:#a51919">"It must be diseased." He commented, the smile now gone from his face. Sniffing almost audibly, he caught no trace of disease in the air. But perhaps it was just eluding him. <b style="color:#a51919">

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention

Now that the children were older, they didn't need to be minded every minute of their life, so it did not surprise Sagacity to see her young son away from the den, entertaining himself by chasing bugs once more. It seemed as though he was growing more and more into this hunter phase with each and every day, and she was pleased to see him embracing his instincts. To chase, to kill- he needed these desires badly if he would have any chance of survival. She joined him but they'd only just begun to track slightly larger prey when Naira's call sounded- and to the delight of the silvery black boy, he was encouraged to come.

She tested her son's speed and strength by purposefully running a bit too fast for him, just slow enough that she could remain within eyesight, but still act as a target for him, something to lead him onward and challenge him. Not wanting to tire him she eventually slowed and allowed him to win the race by streaking past her- but a nip to the tip of his tail stopped him in his tracks.The play was over- having been called to a hunt, they'd make the last leg of the journey as quietly and carefully as possible, so as not to frighten the prey away.

She spotted Naira before Mercy did, and followed her gaze toward the prey which could not be mistaken even in the darkest of nights. ts coat was a flawless, pearly white, and she found it incredibly hard to believe such a thing had survived so long with its affliction. Silently, she sidled alongside her queen, still not entirely sure what to make of the sight before them, or the thing that dangled from one of its antlers. Her ears flicked back and forth and she looked from Naira to the dark male beside her; was she absolutely sure they could eat such a thing? Sage had never heard tell of one before in her life.

Avatars by Arla!

He felt as though he were a waif in his own pack he had failed Naira in his mission and thus had not been rewarded with any good kind of position. Crowe was bitter now, and angry, silently brooding over his life in his head. From the moment he had been shunned from his birth pack, he had fallen from grace as a prince and now was a nobody. But still he heard the call of Naira and heeded it as he should, the light of his maniacal insanity was now gone, to be replaced with a dull yellow shade. His fur unkempt and his head down. It had been the reckoning for all of the lives he had risked and the ones he had taken in his bid for power and blood.

Silently he made his way forward on silent paws, remarkable for his size. Due to his travel around the mountain. But still he moved until he saw three forms, one was obviously his leader, the other two were unknown, one female, the other male. Now growl nor snarl was to be found upon the white wolf's facade. Instead he lowered himself and trained his eyes on Naira's paws. Maybe eventually she would let him approach without bared fangs but he waited for the sound now. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted the stag and his head immediately shot up, drawing his broad shoulders with it. "What the hell?." He breathed the words, there had been lore of these in his home land but Crowe had never hoped to see one. "Is that what I think it is or has my mind finally left me for good?"

"Maaa-aaaa!" Cried the boy as his mother took off without him, and after hustling himself into a run he found quickly that she wasn't going to show him any mercy. As excited as he was, though, to have been invited to come for a hunt- and already he envisioned himself actually taking part- he didn't complain and sped up as much as he could to catch up to the silver heels of Sagacity as she raced on ahead of him. To the boy, his mother possessed unnatural speed, something which he hoped one day he too would possess. And much to his delight, he found himself eventually gaining on her and he put on an extra bout of speed when he neared her ankles and shot past her.

The sharp tweak of the hair at the tip of his tail caused him to push on the brakes, slowing dramatically and bumping into his mother's forelimbs as he did so, looking up at her questioningly. He opened his mouth to ask why she'd pulled him back just as he was winning, but he saw and recognized the look on her face. It was the look she got whenever she was teaching him how to hunt and he understood at once- they weren't playing anymore, they had to be serious. He wasn't quite clever enough to know they did this because they were coming closer to Naira and the deer, but he accepted his mother's decision and moved along with her, as silent as a ghost.

He trailed a bit behind her, making sure to watch her every step and so he too could trace her steps, avoiding anything that might make sound. As small as he was, it was considerably harder for him to step in each and every pawprint of his mother's, but he also had the advantage of being tiny and therefore the grass which stroked her sides did not necessarily touch his and thus the child succeeded at being silent while still not quite having the skills to do so.

His features lit up when he saw Naira, but the presence of the strangers made him a bit shy. He quietly moved to his mother's side even though normally, he would have made a fuss over the queen first. In this situation, though, he knew he had to be on his best behavior and, in other words, act as though he didn't exist so he didn't spoil the hunt. Looking up at the two males present, who both seemed almost unnaturally impressive to the boy who'd grown up without a father, he wished to be one of them- strong, fit, ready to take action. And so, he sank down into a hunter's crouch, and looked ahead at the prey through gaps in the foliage. To Mercy, this wasn't anything too new- he hadn't seen enough prey animals to know this was something unnatural, but the thing hanging from the deer's antlers was definitely something of interest to the boy, who, under a very soft breath, barely muttered one word.

"Shiiiiinyyyy."

Aponi Aquila Aponi didn't like to be alone, she liked having someone with her at all times to keep her entertained, or else she soon grew bored and this led to one thing; trouble. Nova not being immediately available had sent the heiress searching for Mercy, who in her books was more exciting anyways, he was less likely to rat her out if she broke any of Ma's rules. Thus the girl had been happily trotting along the stone passages her nose low as she followed the smell of the boy, until she realized he was with her mother. Rolling her pale blue eyes the girl snorted, Momma's boy she taunted silently, still she carried on, reasoning that she could tempt him away to play even if he was with his mom. The silvery girl skidded to a sudden halt at the sound of her mother's howl, it seemed she was invited to a hunt, and the memory of the fawn her mother had brought her weeks before was fresh in her mind. The food had tasted so much better while it was still warm and fresh, not dragged home and buried into a cache to dug up later. Of course the girl knew very little of the cache, when she was hungry if she complained enough someone would go fetch food for her from its supplies. Still the thought of being invited to a hunt with all the grownups was much more exciting than following Mercy and his mom around all day. Turning on a dime Aponi raced towards where her mom had called from, her paws a steady rhythm against the stone, the girl had quickly grown out of her awkward lanky stage while her sister seemed frozen in it. Being further behind the mother-son duo Aponi arrived a few minutes after them, out of breath from running the whole time, a mistake if she was going to do any good in the hunt as she had wasted all that energy. Panting the princess shoved her way to the front of the crowd, wanting to get the best vantage point to see whatever they were all staring at. Silver brow furrowed as she stared at the thing, so different it looked from the fawn, but she remained silent, not wanting anyone to know that she didn't know what it was. After all, her mother was raising no fool.

We'll do it all, everything, on our own

Mapplethorpe

We don't need anything or anyone

In having sent Taima to finish the latter part of his territory run, Mapplethorpe heeded the call of his Queen. He took up an enthusiastic lope and upon arriving onto the scene, he noticed that the wolves gathered around Naira were observing something in the distance. His brow furrowed but ultimately relaxed to their normal positions below his forehead as he realized just what they were all staring gawking at. He slowly stepped past the two cubs and genially walked past Chulyin by just rubbing the fur along his shoulders with his before coming up beside the Nomads Pass Leader.

Albinism was something he was actually familiar with despite only being acquainted with it on three former occasions: once when some crazed raccoon was caught stealing from one of the pack's caches, twice when a strange ghost-like bird with red eyes sent his grandmother into a panic when the pack Advisors tried convincing her that its presence was actually a good thing, and thirdly when his youngest sister dropped a live, frantic field mouse on his side to wake him up in the most startling of manners. Now this...

His gaze went to each of the adults assembled, watching them before turning back to the curious visitor. What he hadn't realized upon first impression was that something shiny was perched atop its head. He had mistaken it to really be apart of the creature's antler but on a second glance he noticed it was much too angular and too colorful to be considered a natural part of it. "It's a sign," he murmured quietly, tearing his gaze away to steal a glance towards Naira's face. "An omen... announcing the good things that are to come."

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