Iridescent Lagoon Coming of Age

<blockquote>He didn’t feel like he had changed. He felt the same within his skin. He didn’t feel any heavier, his teeth hadn’t grown longer. He might have grown a little bit? No... he’d always been tall and lanky so that wasn’t really a change.
Rhysis tipped his head a little closer to his reflection upon the calm surface. He tilted it from side to side, trying to get a look at himself from all angles trying to work out just what had changed about him.

Today was his birthday. He’d finally turned into an adult and would be able to rip the faces off those who ever called him young or a child again. He’d been mature in his mind since before his first birthday, but it hadn’t been up until today that his body and birth date would officially proclaim him as an adult. He hadn’t celebrated his first birthday, no one was interested and it was just another day. No one was going to celebrate this one with him either, other then his reflection of course.

He pulled back his lips, checking his canines were the same length once more. He stuck out his coral tongue, checking for any changes but found nothing. Nope, on the outside and on the inside he hadn’t changed a bit. He almost felt angry at the fact he looked as he had done for sometime now, that he wasn’t going to change much more from this point on until he made it to old age... if he made it to old age. He’d never really seen an aged wolf- in his home they were killed or chased out when they grew too old for use. He’d seen the occasional grey whisker or muzzle, but that was a marking of death for the wolf and they generally ran before anyone else would notice- Rhysis noticed though. Rhysis noticed everything... which is why he was certain nothing about his was different today.

<b>”Happy birthday to me...”</b> he muttered to himself.

His tail curled around his haunches and landed delicately upon his feet. From his sitting position he looked once more at his reflection before he pulled his handsome gaze away and instead looked up at the clear blue sky above him. He took a deep breath of the ice cold air and let it burn at his warm lungs. For a moment his mind was quiet, he had no thoughts and just sat there in the moment... being the man he finally was.
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(This post was last modified: Mar 04, 2012, 08:48 PM by Rhysis.)

( sorry for the wait, but! here he is. ;D )

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Finally - finally - he had some clue as to where Volkan possibly could be located. He'd managed to suppress the knowledge long enough to hunt with Naira, and actually give her the attention she deserved. Though sometimes his spirit had roared at him to just ditch it and run either north or back south to Triell, but he'd fought it down, drifted south like a lazy leaf, been run into by a loner, and then, unable to locate Triell in that exact moment, had begun to drift even further south. Ironic how when he found himself halfway across the face of Relic Lore, that he decided that he might as well go the entire way. Ironic, that it was as far away from Volkan as you could possibly come. If, indeed, she was there. Snorting, he decided that he'd spent far too much time the past weeks thinking, and too little time living. When he'd first met Indru, it had been because he'd been playing a game. Without thinking about it, he settled into the pattern of tracking, sniffing, looking, listening. Eventually he ran across the trail of a wolf, and stuck on it like a blood hound. Time passed as he moved, his mind bent to the task at hand, and for a while it felt as if the entire world held its breath as he forged his path through time. He could've gone like that forever, moving, filled with a purpose, albeit a silly one. Though, as with nearly every journey, it came to an end. A large lake spread out before his eyes, a lone black male sitting at the bank. For a short, joyous moment he mistook it for Triell, but the next moment, he knew that it wasn't; this male was perhaps the same age, but thin and wiry, lean and mean. He was bony, covered in a slick black fur, and probably a great deal taller than Ice himself. Triell was on the tall side too, but he was sturdy and thick. This guy wasn't. Fighting down disappointment, he decided to still approach. This was, after all, his prey - not as magnificent a moose as Indru, but perhaps it was worth something anyway. Quietly the large wolf slipped down to perch beside the black wolf, noticing once more the similarities between this meeting and the first meeting with Triell - a black younger wolf, sitting by a body of water, and staring into it. Distrust of the liquid was cold and hard in him, and he decided to not look at it, nor ponder the possibilities of the stranger intending to drown himself. For a moment, the thicker male stood silent, eyes somewhere on the horizon. Then, he cocked his head a little, glancing at the stranger. "Hi there," he said as way of greeting. "You seem awfully quiet and introvert." It wasn't an accusation, nor did it cross his mind that he himself spoke in a low voice burdened with thought - typical of Ice to be such a hypocrite, but less typical of him to be in a mood that could be considered an antipode to his normal behavior. Suspended somewhere halfway between curiosity and tired wariness, he watched the other male for reaction, large ears moving, awaiting a voice - or, if this was an easily provoked wolf, violence. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<blockquote>His thoughts came flooding back to him as the scent and sounds of an approaching wolf caught his attention. Upon the breeze a familiar smell tinted the air, Swift River. He’d met only one wolf with the scent, Triell. A wolf that didn’t know it but without his help Rhysis might not have survived to sit there upon the bank, on his second birthday. In a way, he was more grateful to the younger black wolf than any other creature he had met in his life. He might have felt a little guilty for tearing down the rose tinted goggles he wore in regards to his sister, Volkan, but Rhysis didn’t really do feelings and emotions.

The wolf wasn’t Triell though; it was a face he had never met before. A chunky male, though most were in comparison, slipped ever closer, without much of anything about him. He wasn’t dominant, he wasn’t overly friendly, he just was. Today was such a simple day, everything seemed to glide past, including the smooth introduction and the calmness Rhysis was feeling, despite the close proximity between the pair of them. Not one for physical contact, it was most unusual that he tolerated a stranger to travel so close, but with his current mood it seemed that he’d let anything slip by right now.

<b>”I’m wallowing in pity.”</b> he said honestly with a shrug. He glanced away from the other male, not really one for making eye contact and glanced back towards his reflection. Nope, still no changes to be found there. It was growing more and more unlikely that he was suddenly going to bulk up, his fangs weren’t getting larger and he wasn’t getting any thicker... <b>”It’s my birthday today.”</b> he then said, though it appeared he was talking more to his reflection then the other wolf. <b>”Finally made it to adulthood...”</b> and he fell silent there, took another closer look at himself before he dipped his paw into the water and shattered his reflection. <b>”I was expecting to finally look like one I guess.”</b>
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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Strange, really, how they themselves seemed nearly liquid in the flow of time, simply carried by the stream and trickling by like precious seconds, wasted. Somehow, it felt to him like they didn't truly acknowledge the other, despite the fact that they spoke - to one another? Or simply in the presence of the other? Truly, the gears of socialization was rusty in the bulky male, but as of late the entire world had taken on some sort of cold, dream-like feeling that left him awkward and frustrated. Except now, he was just awkward. A wistful sigh snaked out of his open maw, rising in the cool spring air like a cloud of nearly invisible moisture. What was he even doing here? This was as far from Copper Rock Creek as you could come, and yet here he was, victim of his own whims. A hushed, half-strangled snort broke the otherwise relative silence once Rhysis had spoken. Queer voice, though; drawling, different, where Ice had a crystal-clear pronunciation, a frosty edge to the resonating baritone. An old part of his mind stirred, complained of the way that Rhysis sounded uneducated. A chill crawled down his spine. That was not his opinion, it came from someone else - the ones that had tried to shape him into something he wasn't, the ones that had looked at him and his pale body and deemed him unworthy. "Terrific," but for all the judgment his tone carried he could've commented on the weather. What else could he say? The way the other had put it forth hadn't invited someone else's pity, and Ice had no genuine wish to pry. Sometimes he was curious enough to get his nose bitten, but the realization that he actually didn't care chilled something deep inside his core. In a silence he wasn't entirely comfortable with, Ice watched the lanky black male, uncertain of what to do. Topple him into the lake and run off? No, he breathed to himself, stilling the strange rush of panic. He couldn't take out his frustration and confusion with himself on someone else. It would be to go at least ten steps too far. Thus, he was quite relieved when the black youngster spoke again. He stared at the head that was turned away, studying the black profile and giving his head a minute shake. Water rippled out from the broken reflection, and a humorless smile drifted onto his pale face. "Looks are overrated," he said softly, drifting even closer to the water's edge. This far, but no further, he'd go. Neatly he sunk down on his haunches, bushy tail curling around his paws. Sighing deeply, he cast a quick glance at his own reflection, then dragged his gaze back to the far horizon. He felt like he should say something, but he had no idea what to say. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

Sorry for the delay on this! You have such a wonderful way with your writing it’s hard to make mine sound as interesting. xD

<blockquote><i>Looks are overrated.</i> Rhysis believed in that statement very much. He’d seen both beautiful and handsome wolves, and he’d seen hideous creatures, some so disfigured you could barely tell if they were even canine and yet none of these had an effect on him. He supposed he had just always assumed he’d turn out like his father. He wasn’t a tall wolf, but he was built to withstand a storm and more. He’d never known a wolf larger than his father and whilst there were many big wolves here in the lore, he still saw his sire as the biggest. Of course, he’d been much shorter and smaller back then. The last time he had laid his eyes on his father the man had still towered over him. Maybe now Rhysis would be taller, he was certain he would be for he had yet to meet anyone as tall as him, but he lacked the muscle that came with his line. He put that down to a birth defect. A terrible secret that was the reason behind their exile and their genes were not as pure as they should have been... it was his mothers fault why he didn’t look like the wolf he should be.

As his reflection merged back together, silence fell between the two. It wasn’t an awkward silence, it was thoughtful. The past came back to Rhysis in flashes, the face of his father, of the wolf whom he had always believed to be his mother, and then the face of his actual mother. His sister Volkan’s face appeared out of the blue, looking up at him with scared, pleading eyes and he felt a pang of anger at her expression- she was her mother’s daughter, that was for sure. With his thoughts drifting from here to there, he looked back up towards the stranger at last.

<b>”You’re a River wolf, right?”</b> he then asked with a tilted head. It was a rhetorical question, he could clearly smell the scent of the wood and water upon the strangers fur, but all the same it felt right to say it. Stating the obvious was always a good conversation starter, right? With his steel hued eyes settled upon the other, he gave him the once over. Immediately he noticed the colour of the other wolf’s eyes- grey, like his. He’d never seen another wolf with eyes quite like his and he still wasn’t sure where they came from. His sisters were a beautiful ice blue, and whilst he retained some of the colouring in little flecks across his iris, the eerie grey of his eyes overtook its presence. It was strange, to see a pair of eyes so similar to his own looking back at him, but that was were the similarities ended. Rhysis was tall, dark whilst this other was broad and light. <b>”What’s your pack like?”</b> he then asked with a curious tilt of his head.a
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Between Mass Effect and the airforce, there wasn't much time to reply.. x-x and ssh! your writing is interesting too!

you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. The silence stretched, hung like a shimmering fabric in the air just in front of his eyes as the lenses relaxed. Gaze unfocused, the world blurred, air slipping in and out of a half-open mouth, heart beating - can hear it in my ears - and blood rushing, wind teasing fur and whiskers and stroking ears, warmth, warmth from a nearby black body.. wrong one. Ice quenched a noise of frustration. Instead, he allowed his eyes to focus again on the far shore. It was quiet, peaceful even, but he couldn't relax - too close to water, too close to a stranger. Wires of tension were taut under his skin, but he gave little outward sign of it; no rigid posture, no erratic twitching. He wasn't nervous, wasn't expecting violence - he was just ready, for anything and everything. Blinking serenely as often as his eyes required it, he waited for the black wolf to make a move again - either that, or Ice himself would lift his hind end off the soggy ground and disappear the way he'd come. Walk and walk until your brains fall out, or you wear a hole in the ground large enough for you to fall into. A humorless smile curled his dark lips before he saw Rhysis' head come around. The expression settled into neutrality, pale eyes falling on the stranger. So, talk would turn to packs... He gave a grunt of acknowledgment, returning the gaze but not placing any weight in it. Pointless to challenge random strangers. Perhaps he'd get a brief satisfaction from it - heated blood, heated body, heated mind - but.. it wasn't what he wanted. Not really. Ice had never been the type to instigate a fight. Cursing in his head, he blamed it all on spring. Cursed be the season. He smothered a frustrated growl, focusing instead on this dark stranger and what he might want to know. At the question, surprise briefly fluttered across his face, but the answer came without hesitation. "Perfect." Minus swift rivers... but the pack wasn't about rivers; the pack was about Indru and Corinna, about Rihael and his siblings, about Naira and about Triell... Those were the things that made it pack, and those were the things that were perfect in their imperfection; divine. Like water, effortlessly blending with one another. A dreamy look flashed across his eyes before he regained his mind. Perhaps that wasn't the kind of answer Rhysis had wanted... but it was the one he'd got. With no shame, no guilty start at realizing his weird reply, he turned his head fully towards the black male. For half a heartbeat, there was something regal about him; something proud and fierce, elegant.. and in the next, it was just Ice, eyes cold as snow. An amused grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, trying to make them curl. "Are you going to catechize me about it now?" he teased, though his voice was still aloof, given wings and soaring somewhere far above the earth. Still.. talk of packs could easily be turned to Copper Rock Creek, and the mysterious Volkan - he still remembered Triell's pronunciation of the name. Even though no one had really told him Volkan was a female, the name sounded feminine and somehow he just.. had a feeling it was a girl. Instinct, perhaps.. or understanding of what caused the black yearling to speak the name in such a manner; understanding he did not actively understand, or maybe actively denied. He decided to wait for Rhysis to steer the conversation in some direction, glean his intentions, before broaching the subject of this mysterious Volkan. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

<blockquote><i>Perfect</i>. How could any place be perfect? This wolf had to be some sort of groupie. A fanatic of the lands or maybe just the leaders. Of course, he looked well fed, clean cut, well spoken and mannered but that should be expected of any pack. What made his so very special? Of course, Rhysis wasn’t interested in its perfection. He was more interested in its flaws, the faults of any society which might rupture its foundations. That was where the good gossip lie in wait. <b>”I have no reason to mock you for that. You should be loyal to your home.”</b> he said, not really understanding the teasing which the wolf had spoken. Rhysis didn’t really understand humour. He could make a joke, he spoke sarcastically but when it came to finding something amusing himself, he was at a complete loss. He could understand why others might laugh at it, but nothing really made him laugh. In fact, he was certain he had never laughed.

It had been a long time since he had belonged to a home of any sort, and even when he did have a place to call his own he hated it. Life had been tough, rugged, terrifying at times. Whilst he’d never heard of another pack quite like his birth pack he couldn’t shrug off the feeling that he wasn’t the one wolf to have escaped such a terrible life. Looking upon this wolf aside him, he looked so normal. So calm and friendly, a gentle giant at first appearance and whilst he couldn’t be certain, he was sure this wolf didn’t have to put on the front and work so hard just to be accepted into society, unlike Rhysis who had to mask his entire being behind a facade, just to get along in life. It wasn’t as if he wanted to make friends, have a family, do all that jazz. He was tired enough from pretending to just be normal, let alone actually having to be ordinary. No matter how effortless other wolves made it seem, Rhysis just was not cut out to be normal.

<b>”So if you’re a devoted River wolf... why are you so far from home?”</b> he then asked with a tilt of his handsome head. His steel gaze locked upon the other as he waited of the answer. Of course, pack wolves could roam all they pleased, but he had heard that the River wolves ran quite a tight ship. It seemed unusual that that male would be so far from home when he clearly displayed such pride in his pack. Shouldn’t he be at home, watching the borders like a good little minion? Rhysis said nothing, gave nothing away to betray his trail of thoughts as he simply looked at the large wolf sitting so causally aside him.
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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Ice had never believed perfection to be the smooth surface of glass, free of blemishes, free of cracks - he had never seen perfection as that fabricated ideal some seemed to strive for. There was no perfection in that, not to him. He treasured each heated row, insults flung across time and space, bouncing from heart to mouth and into the crackling air; each moment of quiet joy, of shared sadness, of warm bodies piled up close together. A seamless existence was artificial. There was no true happiness in it. Those who strove after those placid, flat reflections, a surface unbroken by anything, would perhaps call it .. strange. Imperfect. Ice scorned them and their miserable lives. He had found eudemonia in Swift River, perfection in their imperfection, purpose in the interactions, the simple dynamics of life. Even if he temporarily wanted to bash in the head of one of his pack mates, there always came a point when that desire ceased, and when everything was slotted together like a perfect puzzle, but each thing a piece of its own, an individual, a part of the whole - seams you could feel when you ran a hand over it, distinguishing each piece and yet fitting so snugly the whole was ..whole. He still didn't know what it pictured, though - likely something old and worn and comfortable. Whatever home and pack means, really. Thoughts chased themselves across his mind, a blankness in his gaze when he looked upon the rangy stranger. Mock? Had he truly invited mockery with his comment? His head tilted to the side, unreadable eyes blinking but allowing it to drop. No point probing what he couldn't understand, their differences seated perhaps too deep to overcome, even if he had wanted to. If Rhysis' first thought when confronted with teasing was mockery, let him have it his way. Ice didn't feel like whining and shoving his nose into the soil just because a young loner didn't understand. It was one thing that he had done it in front of Corinna, when words overflowed like a spring flood, but this guy? No. He could've scorned him then and there, walked away with a frown on his face, but the nagging knowledge that the priests would've approved such an action kept him rooted. Really, there was nothing wrong, except the dreamlike blur he existed in at the moment. Eyes narrowed at the question, he swung his head around to pin the stranger. Was it really his business? After a second, the thicker male snorted. "My thoughts had wings, and my feet followed," he said with a shrug. Now was as good as time as any to quiz him on Copper Rock Creek and Volkan. "I've been immersing myself in a small-scale mystery that is near unraveling. Perhaps you could help? What do you know of the Copper Rock Creek pack, and have you ever met a wolf named Volkan?" Mystery and mystery... it was a quest he'd brought down on himself when feeling guilty about nearly startling Triell - dark face, brilliant eyes, water-diluted blood dripping - into the creek.. and since, the quest had stuck. Likely Triell had found both of them by now, but Ice didn't want to leave this unfinished. He needed to... know. He couldn't know why he needed; he just.. needed. He'd given up on questioning his motives a long time ago. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul

I’m just gonna skim right past my poor reading skills and get to the nitty gritty. xD

<blockquote> It was a good enough reason. Rhysis was certain should he ever join a pack, he too would still do a lot of wandering. It just seemed to be in his nature. He was unable to stay still in any one place for too long. Even as a pup, he would often sleep in different areas of the den and when he could venture outside, he would never explore the same place twice until the seasons had changed it and there would be something new to discover. It didn’t matter how devoted to one area you might be, a wolf could not help but explore. The snort which the male had added to the comment hadn’t surprised him, he didn’t seem one to share his business so readily and Rhysis was prying. He would back off from the subject, he didn’t need another wolf on his case. Ever the nice guy, he would stick to small talk and pointless chatter until the wolf left...

That was the plan until he mentioned the Creek wolves and his sister in particular. The very mention of her name had his hackles threatening to bristle, but he kept his poise calm, his nerves subdued as he met the other directly in the eye. <b>”Volkan.”</b> he said with something dark to his words. He knew he should keep any insults to himself. He had no idea why this wolf was looking for the dirty slut and her goons, it might be for any reason at all and now was not the time to go making more enemies then he already had. Much as it pained him, he was going to have to be impartial on the subject... whilst trying to discover exactly what this was knew and what he was after.

He decided it best to keep it to himself that they were related. Triell was a River wolf, or had been the last time he bumped into him and he hadn’t taken the news about her well. This wolf might also know her and he didn’t quite know his temperament just yet. Triell had seemed far more relaxed, more accepting to hear the news and truth about his sister... this wolf didn’t seem the sort who would just sit back and listen if he ended up slagging off a good friend. <b>” She lives with the Creek wolves. One of the lead males favourites from what I’ve heard.”</b> he then shrugged and glanced away. Of course, he wanted to pry more, know what this wolf was seeking from her but he had to put his words carefully, take his time. This wolf would give nothing up by mistake it would seem. Why couldn’t be a stupid fellow? Stupid wolves were so much easier to manipulate.

<b>”What is it you want to know about her? Maybe I can help...”</b>

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you do not know who is your friend or who is your enemy until the   ICE breaks. Strange, he'd gone from Naira who told him of the pack, to this nameless stranger who definitely knew Volkan. Ice might be a moron, but he could hear it, in the faint darkness lacing the name when spoken from this maw - as if it was poison. The large River male held still, afraid to breathe lest the moment pass and feigned ignorance slip into the other's eyes.. but it didn't happen. There was a stillness as thoughts churned and he waited, waited as patiently as one waited for prey, and the moment stretched on for forever, until it felt like his lungs and heart would burst. But, the conversation proceeded, and in an enlightening direction. Ice let out the pent-up breath, absorbing the information like a dry sponge soaking up water. Strangely enough, his mind didn't snag on the part of Volkan being a favorite, but rather on what he'd said just before that. "Wait what, are you telling me the Creek has two-?" He halted midspeech, running an analytical mind over the sentence. Oh, wait, no... He snorted. "Error of interpretation. Sorry." Typical of him to interpret things in such a way... Still, that he'd caught it so early on was a sign that he was more alert than usual. Strange. "You seem to know her." It wasn't a question, it was a statement and he expected no real answer to it. Sighing, he let his gaze rove out across the water, occasionally fixing on the stranger's haggard face. He was at a disadvantage here - he knew nothing of Volkan, and could be fed all sorts of lies... but it was something he had to take. Run it by Triell - or maybe even by the girl herself - later, to sort out truth from untruth. A slight frown creased his forehead. "I just want to know who she is," he said after a moment, turning slightly to look on Rhysis. "You know, what sort of wolf she is." Setting up a dating service? No, just trying to keep a friend.. what? Out of trouble? Safe? Fat chance. Triell had known Volkan for a while, something Ice couldn't boast with. So what was it then, except curiosity? Checking up on his friend's potential future girlfriend, to make sure she's alright? He stopped thinking about it, in order to not get tangled up in the dangerous weave. You never knew which thread concealed a razor edge and cut you open if you trod unwarily. .ice aesir

let the stars above shine in your soul