The Wildwood Walk Alone

Shadowstorm listened carefully. "Ah, I see, it's not the way I was raise." She started. "I was raised to take care of myself. I was born to a family of Lone Wolves who despised packs, but it just wasn't me. I didn't understand why they hated packs so much. They called it weakness, so I ran because I knew they were wrong. Now, here I am I guess." She said, it wasn't her true history, but it's the way she felt she should have went. She now felt she shouldn't have embraced the lessons, but she should have gone against them. "Thank you, I understand now. If you two would like any help, I know it will be hard for only two wolves to haul a deer somewhere. I can help if you'd like." She had dropped the rabbit so she cold speak clearly.

Her voice was distinct, making it clear that she didn't want anything in return, that she was just wanting to help out these wolves. She found herself dumbstruck with pack life. <i>I need to choose. Do I wish to find a pack, or do I stay a lone wolf?</i> She asked herself. “So you two are of Swift River? I've smelled that particular pack scent before.” She said, keeping calm even though her eyes shown that she was at war with herself. She kept calm. <i>For now, I shall stay a lone wolf, but if the offer is given, she might consider it.</i> All she knew is that a pack was noble.

~ραяαησια ιѕ α tнєσяу, ι'м ησt ραяαησι∂, ι'м ιηѕαηє~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/JessieTable.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 15px; padding-bottom: 290px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px;">Her sister visibly relaxed once Jessie had given a polite answer to the two of them. When Cali answered the other older female’s question the gray female was obviously nodding her head along with her sister. She could have easily added some other facts onto what her sister had said, but right now, it was perfectly fine. Out of the two sister’s Jessie was easily the more violent one, and there was an unmade pact between the two sisters that Jessie would definitely be the defender. The multi-colored female knew that her sister was not a violent wolf. . .she was a large wolf, with a large heart.

With the older wolf’s offer Jessie was automatically on high alert. No way would she allow this wolf to get anywhere near Swift River territory. Her simple answer was short, “No. We are fine.” The answer she had given definitely sounded rude, but it didn’t matter at the moment. This wolf had been trying to be polite to her. . .and she had answered in utter rudeness. She felt bad about it, but her emerald eyes turned to her sister. She was the more social one, not her. It would have probably been best if she had let Cali take control of the situation.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/Calitable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 250px;padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">Cali watched as the other fae absorbed the words that she spoke, seeming to get something out of them. Perhaps a bit of the perspective that she had been seeking. After thanking her for her information, Shadowstorm offered to help them with the deer. It was a generous offer, for she seemed to want nothing in return for helping with the arduous task. Which was why Jessie's curt response caught her totally off guard. They were a part of a pack now and had to think of the safety of the pack, but it was also possible that this fae would decide to join their adopted family. The curt response had really not been called for and she gave Jessie a sharp look, before turning back to the dark woman with an apologetic one of her own.

She didn't want to totally disregard her sister's thoughts, but she felt that the situation needed a bit of smoothing over after her slightly abrasive remark. "Thank you for your kind offer. What you say is true, it is quite a task and we have far to go. Perhaps you can assist us for part of the way? Then, if you decide to visit again you will know the area to call for us." If she did decide to join a pack, then why not Swift River? At least this way, the door was open for her.

She indicated the rabbit that the other had discarded for greetings earlier. "Perhaps you would like to enjoy your meal first? Jessie and I could both do with a short rest before lugging this carcass back home. We shall both enjoy our bounty then with our family." Her words and her tone left little room for discussion. Shadowstorm would finally eat and they would work together, at least for a time. This way, no bridges were burned and perhaps a friendship would be kindled.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/ShadowstormTable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 165px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px;">

Shadowstorm nodded, she was relieved, offended, grateful and happy by both responses. Jessie, it was a relief she didn't have to help all the way with her injured leg, she was offended that a wolf could be so rude. Happy that the wolf was protecting her borders and grateful she could finally eat her rabbit. For Cali, she was happy she would be about to help, offended that she was only to help part of the way, relieved she was being kind and grateful for being able to eat. "Alright, I'll enjoy my rabbit and soon we'll head off. I understand how packs and pack wolves get about territory and lone wolves/ other pack wolves crossing the lines." She mewed, it was more diplomatic then she intended to be. Her eyes shown with kindness even with all the emotions inside of her.

Shadowstorm grabbed her rabbit and sat father away from the deer. She began to savor the bites, her first meal I a week. Things were harder with her leg now. She could barely hunt, she was more of a b**** then usual and she was more arrogant then ever. She was being nice to these two, wasn't sure why, perhaps it was her bi-polarness shining through today. It changed her life for good. She quickly finished the plump rabbit, it wasn't enough, but it would hold her. She started to clean her muzzle and paws. She would have a far way to travel if she was to help these wolves.

~ραяαησια ιѕ α tнєσяу, ι'м ησt ραяαησι∂, ι'м ιηѕαηє~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/JessieTable.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 15px; padding-bottom: 290px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px;">With her brash response she was greeted with looks from both Shadowstorm and Cali. Great. . .now she was the bad one here. Her tail lashed angrily at her sister’s comment about her helping them and a small little rest. It probably would have been a wise choice, but she would be fine. Her stamina was high. While Shadowstorm settled down to eat, she refused to say anything more. She was not allowed to. . .Cali was her second and that meant no arguing for her. Her usageaster words classified that to Jess’s mind immediately. Her body paced back and forth, her shoulder muscles flexing slightly beneath her pelt. She wasn’t the strongest out of her family, which was confusing, for her. The rest of her family were all larger than her, she hadn’t met any other wolf as small as her, putting aside pups.

As she paced her eyes fell on her white sister, her claw digging into the ground at each step she took. Soon she was in a corner, her butt planted on the ground firmly. She was acting like a pup right now and knew that she would have to calm down. It was probably just her emotions running high from missing Brenton. A large sigh erupted from her and her ears folded over in sadness. Her body then turned away from the gathered wolves as flashed of her black friend echoed in her mind. Why did she leave him? Just to find her sister. . .but she didn’t know why she felt so bad about leaving him. The warring emotions. . .probably because they had been best friends. . .yeah, that would be it. . .best friends.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/Calitable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 250px;padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">Cali saw that Shadowstorm was relieved to be eating, despite her lack of complaint. Her run in with the skeleton and then with Cali had greatly delayed the older woman's meal and she looked to be quite hungry. It couldn't be easy being a loner at her age. She was far from on her last leg, but she was likely slowing down from her prime years. Having lived on her own for a time, she could certainly appreciate the discomfort of a belly pinched by hunger. It had been rare, but there had been times that a day or two would pass between meals. You couldn't catch the prey if it wasn't there.

She gave Jessie a concerned look at her continued pacing. Something seemed to be bothering her and it was more than this meeting with a rogue wolf. Her snapping reply earlier was a bit out of character for her younger sister and she wondered what was on her mind. Perhaps they would have to have a talk later. It would likely do them both good to renew their bond of friendship as well as kinship. They had been apart for so long and had missed so much in each others lives.

As Jessie paced and Shadowstorm ate, Cali looked at the task ahead of them. This wasn't one of the largest deer in the forest, but it wasn't the smallest either. She and Jess could certainly manage, but a little help would speed things up a bit. This fae seemed nice enough and she had few real friends yet. None, if you discounted Marsh. She wasn't quite sure if she could call their relationship a friendship. It was more of a mentor-ship than anything. And he wasn't a good listener... or talker! Ice seemed to have taken a dislike to her for some reason. He always acted oddly when she was around Marsh...

She turned her mind back to the challenge at hand and nodded her snowy head unconsciously as she decided on the best course of action. She turned her emerald gaze to her sister and then to the blue eyed fae and smiled. Then she looked back to the deer with a small sigh. Time to get to it. "Jess, you and I can each take a hind leg an drag the deer. I think that the head will be easier to drag behind than grab a hold of. Shadowstorm, if you could keep the head and legs from tangling in the underbrush and roots, it would be a great help!" She looked to both of them to see if they had anything to add to the plan. Any time that she and her sister didn't have to spend stopping and freeing the beast from the shrubbery would bring them home that much sooner.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/ShadowstormTable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 165px; padding-bottom: 15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px;">

Shadowstorm finished eating and resting a bit when Cali started talking, assigning jobs. Just keeping the legs and head from getting tangled. I can do that. Thank god I don't have to drag with my leg in it's shape."Alright, I can do that." She said calmly, inside was a raging furnace. Lapses of history kept popping up in random order in her head.

Shadowstorm descends from a small, unknown line of wolves with some odder beliefs. Her father and mother always taught her to be a lone wolf, to never join a pack. They made her believe that packs were not noble. That pack members were too weak to live by themselves and that they needed other wolves who were the same as them to live. She grew up determined to not disgrace her parents who were killed by a small group of wolves, not a pack, just a small group of lone wolves she mistakenly took as a pack. She believes her brother, Shade, to be dead, but he is out there, looking for her and never ceasing the search. She often thinks of what her mother, brother, and father would do when she is in a tough situation. But she'd stopped for a weird reason.

She felt they were wrong about pack wolves. Weren't arrogant or anything. Take Cali and Jessie for example. She was suddenly at war with herself over what to do. She had to push away everything and focus on the task at hand. Getting this deer to Swift River Territory to help out Jessie and Cali.

(This post was last modified: Aug 02, 2012, 10:22 PM by Shadowstorm.)

~ραяαησια ιѕ α tнєσяу, ι'м ησt ραяαησι∂, ι'м ιηѕαηє~

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/JessieTable.png); background-position:bottom center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 15px; padding-bottom: 290px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px;">Her rump remained planted onto the ground until her sister finally spoke, and her head swung towards hers. This trek would have been so much easier if Brenton would have been here, rather than Shadowstorm. Besides, she was not in the best shape to be traveling around anyways. A small growl echoed out of her throat as she stood up and stalked towards the large deer. Her jaws then clamped down on the muscle of the hind leg before she stared to drag it, unintentionally not waiting to see if the other to were ready for the long trek.

She wasn’t sure if she was moving or not, all she knew was that her legs were. Her mind zoned out in complete silence, her eyes not paying attention to anything around her. Instead, she would imagine the soft fur of Brenton and the way they could communicate through their body language and looks they would give each other. Sometimes she thought that her and Brenton were closer than Cali and her would ever be, but she knew that wasn’t true. Their personality differences were wide when it came to the sisters though, nothing that didn’t surprise her.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v201/bluepups/Calitable.png);background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top: 250px;padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; text-align:justify;">As she gave her directions, Cali noted the acceptance in Shadowstorm's demeanor. The job was the easiest, but not to be sneezed at. It would make the far more physically demanding task of pulling the deer through the underbrush much easier on her and her sister. Also, though she hid it well, Cali had not missed the almost imperceptable favoring of her hind limb. She was half starved and injured, yet she offered to assist them. Her selflessness would not be forgotten.

Before she had time to even finish processing that thought, Jessie made her way over to the carcass, grabbed a hauch and began pulling. Despite her legs moving strongly, claws digging into the rich soil, the deer did not budge. Even her sister's fierce determination could not change the fact that a single small wolf simply could not drag a deer carcass. Even a juvenile one.

Eyes lit with affection for her younger sister, she glanced briefly at Shadowstorm, trusting that she would do her part, before taking position next to the other hind leg. Before she took it in her mouth, she asked "Would you like some help, dear sister?" Her tone was light and teasing, meant to ease her baby sister's mood. With that, she took her own hold and put her own back into the task. The carcass finally began moving, very slowly at first, but then with a bit more momentum. She glanced over at her sister and gave her a look of pride and satisfaction. They did make a good team.

Never Underestimate a Heart of Fire...

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Shadow did not resemble a teratoid in size as she pushed ahead the brambles and such to make room for Jessie and Cali. Her eyes peering around in wonder and amazement as she looked. This was so different from the cave she'd went into to eat. Her eyes filled with little sorrow as she continued to do her job. Was she ever to find a home? If only her brother could see her now. She was helping other wolves. Her mother and father would have scorned her for doing such a thing by now, but she would not care to notice. She did not make conversation due to the fact if seemed Jessie did not like her at all. She'd keep her muzzle shut.

During her silence she thought. She remembered her fight with Athena. She'd given the Poison Path leader a nice scar on her eye to remember her bye. She remembered Follko, the only male that she could stand other then her brother, who she had not seen since she left home. She didn't know he was in Relic Lore yet. She still thought it a slim chance that he was alive. She wondered if Cali and Jessie were close as sisters. She was close to her brother still, no matter where he was.

~ραяαησια ιѕ α tнєσяу, ι'м ησt ραяαησι∂, ι'м ιηѕαηє~