Blackberry Fields The Way to Where You Are

Watery sunlight peaked out behind a ragged, grey cloud, adding no warmth to the still earth below. Trees stood stark and naked, casting shadows onto the barren ground. A sparkling canvas of white stretched as far as the eye could see, running over the leaf mold under the grey trees and even over the brown, dead grass. An open meadow rolled away from the refuge of the trees- a welcome break from the unending stretch of deciduous forest. Few sounds interrupted the silence- a crow flapping somewhat awkwardly over the trees and the dry rattle of branches scraping against each other- but then the thudding of panicked hooves on icy ground broke the still air.

A small group of does, wild eyed, ran full-out through the meadow. Erde raced behind them, snapping at the heels of a haggard looking doe. The doe was gasping and lathered in sweat; he had been chasing the herd for a while. They swerved left, and he changed his position accordingly, large paws alternately reaching and propelling him forward. The deer were tiring, he could tell. They no longer bounded forward with the same energy as before, but they were no less frantic. The doe he was following stumbled and made an alarmed grunt. It was time to stop harassing them. The male broke to a trot, then a walk, and finally halted, paws squeaking on the thin crust of snow. His jaws dropped in a grin, pink tongue lolling between his pearly canines. Yellow eyes watched the retreating deer with satisfaction.

<b>"Well, that broke up the monotony."</b> His bushy tail wagged back and forth. <b>"I wonder why no one's come to scold me for intruding on pack territory? I didn't smell any pack markers though....."</b> He lowered his head and sniffed the ground uncertainly. <i>Where to go now?</i> Chasing deer was hard work, and now his paws ached from cold and his empty belly was a nuisance. <i>I'll go look for a stream, shall I? There could be fish still alive.</i> He licked his lips as his stomach growled.

<b>"But where is there water?"</b> He whined quietly and lifted his nose to the wind, sifting through the scents for a body of water.

(This post was last modified: Jan 16, 2012, 10:02 PM by Erde.)

(Wow... you're <i>really</i> good. *Envious of your skills*)

Awani trotted in to Blackberry Fields and sat to stare in awe at a hunting wolf. He had been chasing that herd of deer for a long time; she could tell because he was practically shiny with all the sweat in his fur. She watched him expertly worry the herd and single out a young deer. As she watched him chase and seperate the doe from the herd, she silently cheered him on. He was <i>good</i>. Better than herself, and, not to brag, but she was really good too. But this wolf... he was-- suddenly the wolf screeched to a halt and watched the herd escape. Awani was dumbfounded. She couldn't help herself, she ran up to the wolf and burst out, 'Why'd you let it go like that? You could have caught it! Even a <i>pup</i> could've caught a doe that close! What did you do that for?!' She clamped her mouth shut as fast as it had opened. Lately, her mouth had had a mind of its own. *Bad mouth!* she thought. Now this wolf was gonna think she was a total stalker, spying on him and watching him hunt. And she had even had the nerve to critisize what he did. Maybe letting his prey go was part of his hunting strategy or something. But she doubted that. As she got a closer look at the young male, she felt her mouth drop open a bit. Stupid mouth again. But <i>man</i>, this wolf was <i><b><u>GORGEOUS</u></b></i>!!! Up close like this, she could see each and every refined muscle on his perfectly sleek body. His beautiful fur practically glowed in the sunlight. *Although, that might be sweat...* she thought. Still, this one was cute. She wondered if he was available... Finally, Awani shut her mouth and stopped drooling over the wolf. She stopped staring at him and looked up in to his face to see if he had noticed she had been totally gawking at him for like the past 20 seconds when she saw his eyes. Deep, kindhearted, glimmering pools of-- *Stop it.* she scolded herself quickly, *Before you fall in love with the poor guy.* At another glance, she suddenly became very shy and shifted her gaze down to her toes. *Too late...* She coughed and tried to start up a converstation, to come up with an explanation as to why she had just been completely creepy and spy-ish, but the words wouldn't come out. It was like a knot had been tied in her stomach and a big hunk of puppylove had been shoved down her throat. Can't swallow it, but it's too precious to spit out. She realized too late that she had been holding her breath this whole time and randomly started wheezing and gasping for breath. Finally she choked out a quiet, 'Hi...'. Then proceded to mentally smack herself with her tail. How dorky. She sighed in dissappointment. *So much for a good first impression...*

(This post was last modified: Jan 17, 2012, 06:33 AM by Awani.)

You can only see clearly with the heart... What matters most is invisible to the eye.
~The Little Prince

(You're not bad yourself. *blushes at praise*)

A chill breeze brushed his face, ruffling the fur on his cheeks and bringing the scents of the meadow to his nose. He closed his golden eyes in delight, inhaling deeply. Snow, coldly sterile, and the sharper stab of ice underlaying it. Pine from a few of the trees farther in the forest, the warm smell of a rabbit... He wrinkled his nose suddenly in disgust. <i>Badger. What a rank smell.</i> Erde sneezed, trying to get the overpowering scent out of his nose, and then raised his muzzle for another try. Was that....a wolf? The breeze that had been gentle before was now stronger, and blowing in the wrong direction. Giving up on his nose, he cocked his head and <b>listened</b>. A faint pattering followed by squeaks of melting snow sounded behind him. It was also growing louder by the second. Slightly alarmed, he spun on his haunches- only to come muzzle to muzzle with a pair of liquid brown eyes.

Erde huffed and pinned his ears in surprise, yellow eyed widening. His warm breath blew frosty air into the female's face as she ranted at him, rustling her tri-toned pelt. What was she so angry about?
<i>Is this her territory?</i> The stray thought brought discomfort...Just to be sure, he inhaled her warm scent.<i>Damp, leaf mold....and maybe something spicy?</i> She smelled of wood and leaf. He certainly hadn't smelt any of her markers in the area, and better yet, she smelled like a lone wolf. He allowed himself to relax; ears falling forward, muscles relaxing, and as a final note, he dipped his head in greeting.

<b>"Well now...I could have caught her, but what's the fun in that?"</b> The male cocked his head. <b>"A juicy doe like that would have been wasted just on my scruffy self anyway."</b> His eyes glimmered breifly with amusement. It vanished when he noticed the female in front of him acting strangely. Had he said the wrong thing? Maybe he had offended her. He wagged his tail at her and whined. <i>Such a pretty little thing...I hope I didn't screw up...again!</i>

<b>"I'm sorry. Did I say something to offend you? If that was your doe, I can help you catch it."</b> He started when she gasped out a greeting, canines flashing in the weak sunlight. Her too-thin sides heaved briefly. <b>Hey...don't hurt yourself now!"</b> His eyes gazed at her in concern.

(OOC: If it seems like he isn'tattracted to Awani, don't misunderstand: He <b>loves</b> girls. He's just a little oblivious!)

(This post was last modified: Jan 18, 2012, 02:19 AM by Erde.)

Embarrassed, Awani got even more flustered. 'Um, no, Im fine.' She said. He had noticed her acting weird! Argh, she was so dumb around attractive males. She smiled, and tried to change the conversation. 'Really, it's nothing. And no, that wasn't, um, "my" deer. But wow, you are really good at hunting. Where did you learn that style? Your so... so graceful.' She gazed dreamily at him. Slipping in to a daydream, she imagined him teaching her his hunting style to her, them running side by side as a team to hunt down a deer again, them sharing the meal... Snapping out of it, she looked at him for an answer. She really did want to know, aside from him being totally cute. She wanted to learn to hunt like that. It was almost like... if she learned how to hunt like that, she would be more connected to her mom, who she remembered faintly as an elegant, graceful hunter. She really missed her parents sometimes. Even though she had only known them for a short time, way back. Still...

(This post was last modified: Jan 29, 2012, 04:39 AM by Awani.)

You can only see clearly with the heart... What matters most is invisible to the eye.
~The Little Prince