Iridescent Lagoon Waterwake

OOC: Don't ask about the title - it sounded cool at the time. XD

Swimming, Vlarindara had always adored it.. so after having returned from hunting to her den to rest a spell.. the female struck out again. She'd not seen much of Shatter, except in their passing meetings in the land - but then again, isn't that what lone wolves did? Hardly met one another. The white female knew she was dirtied.. grungy and overall just simply looked terrible.. and despite her hatred over how she felt about her appearance, she did.. kind of want to clean up...Maybe then.. she could feel a little better about herself.

Before she'd left, a wide lake had been one of the last places she saw.. and that was where she headed now. Far west of her home, the trip took her the better part of three days to complete...Stopping to rest, sleep and hunt a few squirrels to tide her stomach over. The lagoon came into view, finally and she looked out over the glittering surface in silence a few moments,simply enjoying the beauty the sunlight made sparkling across the water. Quietly, the large female stepped into the liquid, wading until she was mired up to her belly before working on cleaning the grit from her fur by twisting side to side and using her teeth to tug burrs and other debris from the ivory strands.

It was rare for the male to visit the Lagoon. Ruiko enjoyed water; in fact, he had lived in a pack that had thrived off such a source, but somehow the lagoon with its swampy land had never appealed to the large male. During the summer black flies infested the land with hateful determination while in the winter it provided a sickly grey slush to cloak the territory.

However, the day found Ruiko in a more appreciative mood. The lagoon before him glistened with promise, while the lands felt far less wet than those of the marshes. The sun brightened the smooth surface with an appealing glow, despite the knowledge that winter would soon be upon them. Prowling along the edge of the incline, the large male’s bright eyes fell upon a flash of ivory in the water. Blinking as he regarded the figure, he realized the wolf was intent upon washing themselves in the massive body of water, and for a moment, Ruiko believed the she-wolf to be Jaysyek.

Loping down the slope, the tawny wolf’s pace soon slowed as the wolf came to closer view. At first he considered the female a stranger, until he caught sight of the strangely curled tail. Ushering a low snort, Ruiko Tainn prowled closer to the water’s edge, his stoical features staring quite unabashedly at the girl in the water. “Look what the tides brought in.”

OOC: awwkkwarrd...XD

She stopped mid motion of removing a burr from her flank at the sound of a gruff voice. Vlarindara froze a moment before moving, turning in the sluggish water to face this newcomer. WIth the loss of her eye - her depth perception was greatly affected -but.. she was coping. Kind of. The white female recognized him - the wolf that had claimed her before.. a wolf she'd run from. Quietly, the large female shifted in the waters, having nothing to defend this meeting of theirs - as she had the last time. "And what the winds of change have wrought.. You look...well." Tentative was her tone, her posture skittish - but she held her ground. For the moment.

Having announced his presence, the Tainn male watched the she-wolf turn slowly in the water, her eyes falling upon him though he was unable to read her thoughts. Curious to him was the scar that ran the length over her right eye and down to her snout – the tell-tale milky white of the pupil revealing that she had been blinded by the injury.

Her words stirred his ears to cup forward, his shoulders to lift in a shrug. Stoical as always, Ruiko paused for a moment before replying, and once more his words were nothing but brash. “I am always well,” he returned smoothly, as if hinting that her disappearance on him had truly affected him very little. It wasn’t as if they had been lovers. “I’d say the same for you, but it looks like you ran into some trouble on your journeys.”

(This post was last modified: Nov 24, 2011, 02:51 PM by Ruiko.)

OOC: Sooo had trouble trtying to figure out how to respond to this...xD

"Aye. A few." The white female watched him, simply remaining right where she was standing, small water dropplets falling from her ivory pelt to mingle with the liquid surrounding her once more. She was pleased - in an odd way to know that he wasn't upset about her disappearance. Good.. Maybe she could be a coward yet more.. and find a way to escape him..again.. Vlarindara couldn't lead a pack - nor did she want to. Not in this condition. "Yourself, Ruiko? What interesting adventures have you run into?" She was curious - hoping to glean some information about the lands of Relic Lore..

Her poker face was impeccable – she was unwilling to mention what happened to her eye, and Ruiko had enough gentlemanly sense to not ask. Instead, the regal male gave a dip of his muzzle, moving back a few paces from the water to give her space if she wished to come out. After all, it was a colder season to be wafting in the water for so long.

Her question sounded something purely polite, and the regal male had to contain a grin from surpassing his lips at the thought that perhaps his presence made her uncomfortable. Did she think he was going to seek her once more? That he hadn’t learned his lesson the first time with her flighty presence? “My adventures have been rather tame,” he offered with a shrug of his shoulders, not seeing the benefit of ending the conversation where it stood. “I’ve been in Swift River for a few months now to help with the puppies.”

His attempt to give her room was taken quite gratefully and the female hoisted herself from the sluggish waters.. taking a few steps away from him so she could shake herself free of excess and not drench him. Though she was self conscious about all of her physical issues - the weight loss and loss of sight.. she refused to allow them to bother her. At least.. at the moment. "Have all the packs required such assistance?" Were there other packs aside from Grizzly Hollow and Swift River? At least if she could find out how hard a time the wolves were having with things - she could glean how winter would be.

The ivory she-wolf moved from the water then, and as her paws hit the earth to pull herself from the cold lagoon, the tawny male noted how thin and malnourished she appeared. No, her time away from Relic Lore had certainly not been kind, and he doubted the life of a lone wolf was helping much. Either way though it was not his concern; she had made it very apparent that it was not when she had left months ago.

“By ‘all of the packs’ you mean the entire two that exist within Relic Lore lands?” His words were dark, yet amusement could be found in them. Was Vlarindara trying to coax information from him about Grizzly Hollow? “Not to my knowledge. Swift River hit a rough patch is all.”

Good, there were still only two packs within Relic Lore..which meant she was crossing no new pack borders with her reclamation of her den. The white female shifted nervously while watching him. At least she was learning some information from the other canid. It pleased her to know that Grizzly Hollow seemed okay.. at least a little. Though her meeting with Jaysyek and Borden told her otherwise - Vlarindara could at least.. believe things would be allright within her old pack borders. "How fare the Swift River pups..?"

The conversation was prodded along with awkward small talk – the regal wolf vaguely wondered if the ivory girl truly cared about the well-being of the River pups and was only inquiring to be polite, but he did not question it. The meeting between them was best left brief in his mind, and without adding any fuel to erupt to a fire.

“They’re well and healthy.” There was a small pause as he recalled the youths at the pack hunt. “They grow far too fast for any of our liking, but that is what seems to happen.” Moving down the light slope to the water, the Tainn male allowed the rogue her space, though his muzzle bent down to quench his thirst.