Sacred Grove Getting to Know Swift River...

Cali was a bit surprised when the male still refused to answer her simple question. Strange. What was wrong with sharing a name? It was so basic. Ironically, his continued silence had the opposite effect than he may have intended. She found herself relaxing around him. Much of the pent up tension left her shoulders and she too sat down to wait, curling her snowy tail about her feet. She glanced at him, quirking her eyebrow, <b>"Surely, you have a name?"</b> There was a lightness in her voice that had not been there before, almost a teasing tone.

Unsure of how he would react to her repeating her question, she looked away innocently and studied the area around the den intensely, looking into the woods, gazing at the spring flowers, anywhere but at him. She hoped the leadess would be here soon as she was unsure of what to do when your companion wouldn't speak. She didn't want to lay down and seem as if the appearance of the Leadess was unimportant, so she sat tall and proud and waited with the silent wolf.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

<blockquote>He wasn't going to get off lightly, it seemed. Her soft question assaulted his ears again, and his steel gaze turned back to hers, quiet, bordering on cold. With grimness, he noted that she seemed markedly more relaxed than before. Enjoying his silence, was she? He held back the growl in his throat, if only because it solved nothing... though it would mean that she would stop trying to talk to him at all...

<i>Name.</i> At least he had a safe bet as to what she was asking for. Again his tongue curled in his mouth, in uncomfortable shapes which made him want to bite something. It had been so long since he last tried. Such a blissful period. But...

<b>"Mmmhhh,"</b> he hummed softly, so softly, as if testing his voice in non-growly, howly or otherwise bestial ways. But he tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, as if he had not made the sound, or perhaps... it was just a normal growl. Yeah. For a moment, his jaw parted slightly, and his tongue pushed at his teeth, then contracted, and twisted, tormented. Could he do it?

No. With a quiet but audible snap, his jaws came together again. He did not know where to look, and in the end, never pealed his gaze from her face. Agitated, his ears pulled back and his muzzle wrinkled, his lip lifting slightly. He did not enjoy being made a fool.

Even if Corinna had not been pregnant, <i>this</i> was why he hated strangers.</blockquote>

Gone Tomorrow

Without Marsh's howl, Corinna would not have bothered lifting her head from her paws. Pregnancy had made her sleepy, and in the early afternoon, all she wanted to do was nap. The brood in her stomach sapped her energy, and while this was her second go-around with pregnancy, there was something about this one that was more difficult than the first. But she would not ignore her Second's summons without good cause, and unfortunately, her exhaustion was not a worthy on her in her eyes. Forcing herself up, she spared a second to stretch each of her limbs in turn, finally bending into a bow to release the strain on her back. Rising up, Corinna left her cozy patch of grass and headed in the direction the howl.

The trees seemed to part around her as she walked, and it was without much effort that the lead female found herself at the pack's newly constructed pack den. Climbing over a gnarled root, the green-eyed wolf took in Marsh and the white coat of the stranger. Immediately, her guard went up, tail and head lifting dominantly. She spared only a second to close the distance between herself and Marsh, nudging his cheek in greeting before turning her attention to the stranger. "Who are you?" She smelled of Indru, which meant she was pack, but that didn't necessarily make her friend. It was only comical, how as soon as the lead male of the pack returned, the pack was swarmed upon by lone females trying to make a home. While she had been lacking in female companionship ever since Naira had left, Cori did not feel wanting of it, and as she looked at the white wolf, she did so without any inkling of warmth.

Cali saw his great effort and winced inwardly at his attempt. He tried to pretend that he hadn't tried and she felt badly for pushing him. Some instinct told her that sympathy would not be well received, so she showed none. She simply held his hard gaze for a few moments and then looked away as if the episode had never happened. She would ask another. In the meantime, she would wait with him in the silence that he preferred.

A movement caught her eye and she saw a squirrel on the ground, several feet from a nearby tree. Perfect. A distraction from the awkward moment. As the squirrel chattered and played with a nut of some kind, she rose to her feet then crouched low, her body tensed for the attack. In a heartbeat, she leaped forward and pounced on the creature with her snowy paws. With a quick snap of her jaws, she silenced it and lifted in in her mouth. Then she returned to her sitting position as if the interlude hadn't happened either, after laying the small prize at her feet. She glanced at him and then looked forward once more. <b>"For the Leadess,"</b> She said simply.

Then she appeared. A beautiful female in the fulness of pregnancy emerged from the trees in all of her glory. Cali tucked her head down and lay her ears back in submission, her tail tickling her belly. Nothing was more dangerous than a female protecting her young, even if they were unborn as of yet. She licked the air before her to show submission to the indignant female. Then she cleared her throat and spoke softly, <b>"I'm Cali Swiftpaw. I have been accepted by Indru and now beg your pardon to enter your pack"</b> Her words clearly showed that she required the leadess' permission to fully become a member. There had never been any doubt of that in her mind. Crouching low, she nudged the freshly killed squirrel towards the leadess. <b>"A gift for you, leadess."</b> Then she waited for her judgement.

(This post was last modified: May 01, 2012, 11:21 PM by Cali.)

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

Marsh can be skipped unless he's addressed/something important happens; he'll just be standing by Cori :)

<blockquote>To his relief, she did not press the point. But did that mean that she understood, or that she pitied him? Damn it, he hated strangers so much, particularly being alone with them and the mood was supposed to be <i>amiable</i>. Warily he watched her, glad as her attention turned towards a nearby squirrel. He did not expect her to be able to hunt a thing so effortlessly, but clearly her talents were greater than he thought; with a moderately impressed dip of the head, he acknowledged her sentiment, thinking that, perhaps, she would at least prove useful to the pack if she stuck around.

Her true test arrived, then. Marsh automatically rose to his feet, his tail wagging once, and he accepted the greeting with a quiet whine, momentarily ducking his head beneath her own. From there, he took his place beside her, quite clearly assuming the role of guardian. His steel gaze turned upon the white woman, his judgement from here unimportant; the only person who had to be satisfied was Corinna. Marsh's opinion was entirely likely to change depending upon her approval... or lack of it.</blockquote>

Gone Tomorrow

Green eyes watched the scene before her fairly unimpressed. She saved her smile for Marsh, and him alone. Simply put, she was incredibly tired of these newcomers. Their numbers had not been lacking, not really, and she had no desire to bring her young up in a pack of strangers. But if Indru saw fit to accept all the vagabonds of Relic Lore, she would not stop him. It seemed this one too, had come prepared with some kind of gift. Apparently it was something Indru mentioned at the borders, her pregnancy, because the last girl had also saw fit to hunt something for the leader. But the dead squirrel held no appeal to the River leader, and as it was pushed forward, she ignored it. Cutting the girl off, she spoke up, taking a step forward. "My name is Corinna. Not "Leaderess." She had given a certain reprimand to Ice when they had first met, he has insisted on calling her "Lady". It was unnecessary, the dominant air that Corinna wielded was indication enough of her power within the pack.

Having stepped forward over the crouched white wolf, Cori lowered her head in order to grab the other wolf's muzzle. Taking it between her own, she bit down; not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough that her point of "I'm the boss here" was clearly made. Withdrawing to stand next to Marsh once more, she stared down at the other female. "Has Marsh shown you around?"

The multicolored female smiled for the male, but showed little emotion for herself, other than displeasure. This female was not happy to see her at all. Cali felt her angst and was unsure if she had done something wrong in offering the squirrel, which was duly ignored, or if it was something more. As the leadess approached her to grab Cali's white muzzle firmly in her deadly jaws, the white wolf held herself perfectly still for the clear message. Corinna was boss. Cali could live with that. She had no aspirations to lead anyone and just wanted to be a useful member of a pack once more.

She sat up slightly as Corinna moved back to stand by the male wolf. <i>Marsh</i>. At least now she had a name to put with the silent scarred male. She gave him a brief glance and a tiny smile, then looked back to the leadess. <b>"Not as of yet, Le...Corinna. He has shown me from the border to meet you here. I would love to learn more of the land, if that is your wish."</b> Although she had straightened her posture somewhat, she was careful to keep her head lower than Corinna's.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. It just wouldn't do for him to not know his pack. And so, when Marsh's howl - a sound he now knew he'd recognize anywhere - for Corinna split the air, the large Guardian rolled to his feet. He'd been lying in some hidden nook, being lazy in a patch of warm sunlight, but now he had something to do. Yawning, fur tousled, he began to pad the short distance from his spot of comfort and to the den, where the call had seemed to originate. Already he could smell the wolves - Marsh, of course, and the stranger. A female, though with a touch of Indru on her. Corinna, dominant, pregnant. A thin smile was on his face as he wondered what slip of a girl they'd got home this time, and if she was worth the trouble of feeding. Naira's actions more than a month ago were still raw in his mind, and it had quite clearly birthed a distrust in him - pack females apart from Corinna were not to be trusted. In fact, any female interested in Swift River instantly gained his disapproval, just because the blow Naira had dealt them had hurt insanely. Before showing up he stopped to give himself a shake, trying to get his fur in place. He had to look at least a bit presentable when coming in front of Corinna and Marsh! Once he was satisfied he didn't look like someone had dragged him from a good afternoon's rest he climbed over some gnarled roots and fallen branches, and managed to appear without accidents. He caught the trailing words of Corinna, and the girl's response, and it caused his face to crinkle into a frown. "I'd be concerned if you had no wish to learn of the land," he said as greeting, padding up with his head and tail low to first give Corinna's chin a lick, before giving Marsh much the same honors - though, perhaps, his eyes lingered on his scarred face a moment longer, before he slunk around the russet wolf, brushing slightly against his side, before pacing up to the white girl. She was, miraculously, nothing spectacular. Far from as tall and thick as Bear, nor as small as Athena - he tried not to think of her - but rather, just.. normal. White, green eyes. And, Ice figured, if he went about trying to dominate the female Second, he had to dominate every female below Corinna. Unaware that she'd been muzzle-grabbed twice already in the span of some ten or twenty minutes, he leaned down to clasp it in his jaws briefly, if she didn't resist. Then he stepped back, silent, and perched on the other side of Cori, wondering what was about to happen. Somehow he guessed Corinna would share his sentiments on her wording. Perhaps one to take things a bit too literally, Ice interpreted her statement as that she wanted to learn only if Cori wished it... .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Cali's head shot up for the briefest of moments at the words that seemed to come out of nowhere at first. Then she saw a great pale wolf approach Corinna and Marsh, giving them both a familiar lick of greeting. Her head went back down immediately and she submitted to his muzzle grab as she had to the others, but she felt a bit indignant at his tone. Once he released her, she looked at him directly, her green eyes flaring for a second. She would submit to the higher ranks, but she would not be trampled or misunderstood.

With the slightest trace of indignity, Cali said, <b>"Of course I would love to see all of the territory."</b> She then toned down her voice. <b>"It merely occurred to me that Corinna might not like me going to far so soon. I am quite anxious to see everything and meet everyone."</b> Her meekness had taken a back seat for a moment at being misunderstood. She had a mind of her own, she merely wanted to be sure to please the leadess, especially at this crucial point in time. She glanced at Corinna apologetically for her slight outburst, her green eyes filled with worry at what the leadess might have to say now.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

Gone Tomorrow

Ice's arrival and the female's subsequent outburst caused a sharp growl to rise out of the leader's throat. What the hell? Why in the world did Indru insist on accepting the most dimwitted of wolves. Corinna's tail rose an inch higher, black lips pulled back to show lethal teeth. "Your attitude isn't needed," she snapped, posture and words clearly indicating that this girl had no standing in this pack, especially not in the company of herself, Marsh, and Ice. As for the girl's words themselves, Corinna had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She did not want Cali's company, and it honestly hardly mattered to the leader where the girl wandered. Corinna only became concerned when the possibility that she might not return arose, but even then, only a moment's worth of anger would be given.

"Go." It was a command, not a request. "Go explore your new home. Perhaps Marsh or Ice would agree to accompany you." The snarls had ceased and the leader's posture had become not quite as overbearing. But she would wait until Cali departed, though whether she left on her own or with Ice or Marsh made no difference. It was a suggestion, nothing more. They were full within their rights to turn down Cali's request, should she ask it, and their leader wouldn't bat an eye at it.