Secluded Spring quick to anger and quick to speak

<blockquote><span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'><ul>Trying to get a thread in every territory. Don't worry, he's just at the borders.</li></ul></span>

Tentatively, his nose prodded the air. Abruptly, he leaped back as if he had been stung by a bee. The scents that hung in the air were disconcerting and foreign. It was as if the trees and undergrowth sagged under the weight of this strong, cloying stench that Kiche could not name. Even though he was not worldly enough to know that these were borders, he stopped all the same. It was as if the stop-sign was inside him, etched deep into his bones. Having only ever lived in Grizzly Hollow and had little experience with other packs, he often blind, deaf, and dumb to territory markers. (It wasn't a practice <i>he</i> partook in, anyway. He pissed where he pleased.) The Saint of the Hollow knew only vaguely where the borders of his own pack were, not that he had much cause to worry or think about them.

But this. This was <i>weird</i>. He didn't like it.

Desperate for something familiar, Kiche buried his nose into the thick of his dun and ginger shoulder fur. He had never had any cause to smell himself before, and was surprised to discover that he could smell <i>home</i>. Breathing deeply, he let himself be soothed by the familiar Hollow smells. The new-born wolf almost didn't want to tear himself away from this little piece of home he carried with him unawares... but he had to know. He had to know why this place smelled so damn <i>bad</i>, so unlike the Hollow or any other place he had been. All he could discern in the air was the very distinct smell of wolves. Lots of them. Frowning, Kiche paced along this invisible line, unwilling to wander too close.

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Ohai! XD Just a quick one before I race off to work!

<blockquote>It was increasingly common to find strange scents dangerously close to the border and it was putting the golden second on edge. At this time of year everyone was a little emotional, and he had every desire to protect the females of his pack, while keeping himself as far away from all of them as possible. He liked his hide intact, and they were even more prone to mood-swings right now.

An unfamiliar scent wafted towards him and his hackles stood on end. There was a strange male at the borders, nothing too new there... What really had him upset was that this wolf smelled of pack. Which pack, he would need to get closer to discern. What met his eyes had him puzzled. The stranger was staring at the borders as if they were on fire and quickly turned to bury his nose in his shoulder, inhaling deeply.

Brow furrowed in confusion his hackles settled. Although the male was larger than he, he didn't look like a fighter and although looks could be deceiving, the second decided to take a somewhat relaxed stance as he moved forward and into the line of sight of the stranger. <b>"Are you alright there?"</b> he questioned, puzzlement clear in his voice.</blockquote>

lulz :P it appears I have a thread with every one of your characters once I enter that Val thread. I should win an award.

The ginger male paced along the invisible barrier expectantly, as if he were waiting for something to happen. Once or twice he even reached out with his nose to see if there was a force field that would throw him back with a flash of electricity. (It happened on the black box, didn’t it? Why couldn’t it happen here?) But nothing happened. The saint had to admit that he was ever so slightly disappointed. He tucked his nose back into his shoulder. There had to be more to this wall of stench than just… just its smell. Slowly, even if all his instincts railed against it, he was beginning to grow the courage to cross the border –just a little, just to see what would happen if he stood on the other side.But before he could even think to remove bulbous nose from the safety of Grizzly Hollow’s remnants on his coat a heathen manifested out of the bracken and foliage. As if he were a five year old caught with his hand in a cookie jar, Kiche leaped to his feet and dove behind the safety of a tree. It appeared it he would never learn that trees were horrible hiding places. “Are you alright there?”The question caught him off-guard. Introspectively, Kiche searched himself, and found no cause to be anything besides alright. He… he hadn’t done anything wrong… So why was he acting like he had? Feeling foolish, the Hollow wolf peered around the curve of the whorled, callous-textured tree, gazing back at the heathen who had appeared out of nowhere. The savage what pale, dipped in honey, and he stood on the other side. The saint’s flame and amber eyes widened in awe and confusion, and he stepped out from behind the tree. “I’m fine,” he said softly, taking another step forward. Lifting his muzzle up, he breathed in the air but retracted his nose immediately, his face wrinkled in mild disgust, “But you don’t seem alright. If you don’t mind me saying… you stink.” Who needs manners?

(This post was last modified: Jul 28, 2014, 10:16 PM by Datura.)

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<blockquote><i>'You stink...'</i> Puzzlement was clearly painted on his face as he breathed deeply. What was wrong with this guy? He smelled just fine. <b>"You find my pack scent offensive?"</b> he asked with a small smile at the other wolf's obvious discomfort. He smelled like pack too, but not one he was familiar with immediately, and then it smacked him full in the face. Grizzly Hollow. Was this some sort of exchange? Was he supposed to teach this wolf to use his nose as repayment for the lesson he took with Elettra?

Stalking past the clearly defined borders and into neutral territory he sat a short distance from the bewildered stranger. {b}"That smell, is Copper Rock Creek borders. I am Kanosak... and you are?" He left the question hanging to allow the peculiar male a chance to take it all in. Surely someone had taught him how to use his nose at some point...</blockquote>

couldn't pass this up ._.
<blockquote>The scent of a stranger at the borders was like blood in the water. Like a shark, Volkan altered her course accordingly, nose testing the air for more details: <i>males. Kanosak.</i> The other scent on the air was hard to discern, but she could tell at least that it was Grizzly Hollow... what did they want here? Maybe they'd sent a wolf just to check out the pack lands? Or had something happened— had a Hollow wolf come to tell them something? Trepidation made her steps light as she approached, soon arriving close enough to where she could see Kanosak through the trees. <i>Aeylen would hate it if she knew I was here—</i> she thought to herself, but... Rhysis wasn't anywhere around here, right? She'd be able to smell him if he was...

Who it actually was was a surprise altogether. Volkan struggled to recall the odd name this wolf had given her all those months ago as she stepped out of the trees, silver-blue eyes scanning his face. The sight of him stirred something inside her that made her stifle a growl, but given Kanosak's presence, and the fact that the guy seemed to be behaving himself for now, Volk moved to the Second's side. She issued him a small nod, though her gaze was trained on the other wolf, whose name clicked in her head as soon as she came to a halt.

"Sebastian, right?" she blurted, conveniently able to offer an answer to Kano's question. The memory of their past encounter would've made a younger Volkan Aquila bristle, but somehow it only made a wry grin cross her face now. So the dude had up and joined Grizzly Hollow, now? Had he somehow learned not to randomly freak out at strangers? Brows lifted in what could've been a facial shrug, she looked sideways at Kano, silently planting herself next to him as backup, just in case. This was... well, certainly interesting.</blockquote>

(This post was last modified: Mar 19, 2012, 06:55 PM by Volkan.)

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<blockquote><ul><span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'>OH LOL. I cannot find the words to express how hard I laughed when I saw you posted, Chels. xD This will be so much fun.</li></ul></span>

After having spent a year wandering and grieving in this vast realm, it was startling how little he knew of wolf culture. <i>Wolf</i>. Even their own name for themselves sounded <i>strange</i> to him, although he was not unaccustomed to hearing it —more often than not, he ignored it. Still, after all this time the saint never stumbled across another pack. Most of his acquaintances were other wolves from the Hollow or loners. Sure, he might have encountered a handful of wolves from other packs, but he had been so convinced that his life was at stake that he had never dared to ask where they were from, let alone <i>smell them.</i> He didn't know of Swift River, and he hadn't heard of Midnight Plateau when it had still been around. Thus a year had passed, and Kiche was discovering just how little he really knew about this place that the... <i>wolves</i> called Relic Lore.

So when the rank-smelling male said the word <i>pack-scent</i>, Kiche blinked stupidly, surprised. Kiche had just learned the word <i>pack</i> recently, from that foreigner who had tried to teach him to hunt. Pack was another word for cult —the <i>heathen</i> word for cult. That there was another cult living near by caught him off guard, and at first he didn't understand. The red and dun male sat with a slack jaw, staring at this stranger from... another pack, unable to grasp the ramifications of any of this. Even if the saint lived in the Hollow, he had no <i>real</i> understanding of what it meant to belong to a pack. The golden heathen came closer, and Kiche watched him warily, drawing his bottle-brush tail over his paws. <i>Copper Rock Creek —what a weird name</i>. There was no Creek that he could see.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, however, another voice filled the gap with a different name, not his name. As edgy as he'd always been, Kiche suddenly leaped to his feet, taking several steps back, his head whipping towards the newcomer. Before he could correct her, though, a recognition sprang out of the depths of his memory. It was an old memory and it came with old feelings. She was dirty, she was a devil-worshipper, she had tried to cast <i>spells</i> on him, and had refused to stop until he had provided her with a name. But she hadn't stopped. Fear flashed in his firebrand eyes as the red saint gawked at this <i>savage</i>, unsure what to do. That moment of hesitation kept him tethered to reality, however. His fear didn't have the chance to run away with him —not this time. In that moment there was the awe of recognition that ripped him apart inside as he swayed back and forth between confusion and realization.

This black barbarian that he had met before, she did not seem to match up with the reality he was building around him. She was just a ghost that had haunted someone he had once been... but did she haunt him now? None of the heathens he had met —<i>really</i> met— had ever... actually {i}practiced{i} devil magic. Perhaps.... Shaking his head as if his unwanted thoughts were like a plague of bees, Kiche struggled to come to grips with a reality that made more sense than the two realities that he straddled now. All he had to offer was a shrug. "<b>Yeah,</b>" he said softly, gazing at the strange, dark wolf, "<b>I guess I am.</b>" Why, what did it matter if she thought his name was Sebastian? Everyone else called him Kiche when his real name was Fatman, and he considered this to be more or less the same thing. "<b>You're not... </b>" Suddenly he dropped his eyes to the ground, afraid to feel the uncomfortable prickle that crept up the nape of his neck whenever he made eye contact, "<b>You don't... do voodoo in... this Copper Rock Creek... do you?</b>" Skeptical eyes darted towards Kanosak, whom he didn't know... and could be very capable of voodoo for all he knew.

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*Now I have David Bowie stuck in my head. <a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViftZTfRSt8' target='_blank'>This one… Ahh Nostalgia!</a>

<blockquote>He was almost relieved when nakloV arrived to diffuse some of the awkward tension he was feeling towards this strange wolf. Her increase in border patrol and other duties hadn't gone unnoticed by the golden second and he wondered for just how long she would be willing to remain a subordinate. But that wasn't his main concern now. His main concern was to figure out what this strange wolf from the Hollow was doing so close to his borders unannounced.

<i>Sebastian?</i> there was something about his reaction that didn't ring true to the second but the ginger man seemed harmless enough. <i>Voodoo?</i> <b>"What is this voodoo you speak of?"</b> he questioned the stranger clearly confused. A sideways glance to nakloV to see if she had any idea what it was he was referring to? Perhaps something to do with a previous encounter. He could imagine the girl getting into all sorts of mischief when left to her own devices and a small smile formed on his lips.

He pitied any man that fell for her and knew it wouldn't be much longer before he would need to keep as close of an eye on her as he had needed to do with his sisters at the same age. While he had no doubt she could fight any male off, some were more persistent than others and he would make sure he was there to send them on their way when the time came. She was a spitfire and while he didn't want to get burned, he didn't want her getting into trouble she couldn't get out of alone either.

Turning his full attention back to the shifty wolf in front of him he quirked an eyebrow, waiting for a response from either of them in explanation. The wolf didn't seem a threat now, but he ought to know in a few months time it would be less than wise to come so close to another packs borders.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Sebastian's reaction— it was <i>priceless</i>. Volkan could barely contain her laughter, squeaking by with only a hint of amusement on her face as she stifled a giggle. Kano's sidelong, imploring glances didn't help, but she maintained her best poker face, channeling the outburst through a quick swish of her feathered tail. But the ginger-colored Sebastian's utter confusion soon gained a tinge of worry, and Volk's pale eyes narrowed on him as he tentatively voiced his question. Of course, he asked about voodoo, a term with which she was somehow familiar: he was referencing the "magic" she'd "performed" at their last meeting, right? The smoky wolf finally returned her Second's glance with small reassuring smile, aware that there was a solid reason for his confusion, silently promising him that she'd explain everything later. Her attention crossed back to Sebastian, his bewilderment somehow endearing him to her, surprisingly, after all this time.

"Nope, we're just regular old wolves, although our pack's kinda new," she told him simply, echoing the way she'd tried (and failed) to convince him of a similar truth so many months ago. He hardly seemed like the wolf she'd attempted to tear to shreds back then, and Volkan felt an uncharacteristic pang of guilt at seeing him so understandably lost. Maybe he'd changed since then. That was to say, maybe he was no longer insane. Or maybe his insanity, as she perceived it, had been a result of her actively pretending to cast "spells" on him... yeah, that could be it. Her gaze seemed to search for that same delirium in his eyes that had made him cower in fear that day, though she wasn't sure she could find it now.

Testing the waters, she decided to make some sort of amends, a look at Kanosak suggesting that he do the same. "I don't think we, uh, properly met," she said after a moment, at the same time uncomfortable with the awkwardness of this encounter and curious as to where it might lead. "I'm Volkan." Somehow it felt, in a very odd way, like she was dealing with someone younger than her, some sort of timid pup. Her voice had taken on a gentle tone, marked faintly by her own curiosity and trepidation. Briefly as she waited for Kano to follow suit with an introduction, she noted Sebastian's scent as it drifted through the cool air toward her... it wasn't what she remembered. Had he managed to join a pack? The idea of that seemed unusual to her given his apparent fear of what seemed to be everything canine, but... well, maybe he'd changed, right?</blockquote>

(This post was last modified: Apr 02, 2012, 03:28 PM by Volkan.)

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OOC: there was no way i could pass this up

Kashi was just about to eat the rabbit that he had caught unawares of its den. Prepared to carry his kill off to somewhere quiet he stopped mid step as he smelled an unfamiliar wolf scent near the border. The air also brought the scent of Kano and Volkan. Determined to find the reason behind this intrusion he changed his direction towards the border. Upon Cresting the rise he saw the wolf behind the unfamiliar scents. He could tell they were talking of something but the words such as VooDoo made no sense to him.

He dropped the bloody kill at his feet as he approached them with a show of quick submission to his pack mates. "Who is this Kano?" He had no idea who this wolf was but he definitely had the scent of many others. The large tawny male made him feel uncomfortable, what was he doing so close to their borders? Was he the threat the that Ruiko's mate had mentioned? Uneasily he looked the larger wolf in his eyes before licking his muzzle clean from the blood of the kill he was carrying.

ooc sorry its a bit sort ive been out of posts for awhile trying to get in the swing of things again.

(This post was last modified: Apr 05, 2012, 07:35 PM by Kashikoi.)

With death comes life and with life comes hope.

<blockquote><ul><i>You remind me of the babe~</i> And as tempted as I am to ramble and give this post the treatment it deserves, I am just so done with taking forever to write something.</li></ul>
This Kanosak fellow didn't appear to know what voodoo was, although that wasn't very surprising. Almost none of the wolves he had met had ever admitted to knowing what voodoo was. It was hard to discern what was ignorance and what was lies, though, when one wanted so desperately to find an excuse to build a barrier between himself and these heathens, to find a reason to hate them as Kiche did. Although he was on the cusp of realizing just how much of his reality had been of his own creation, he was not quite there. Teetering on the edge, the saint swayed back and forth between wondering if this stranger was a liar or if he was just crazy.

And the witch's attempt to explain only made things far more confusing. She used the phrase "regular old wolves" dismissively, as if it were an explanation for everything. Except that was Kiche had been struggling to understand all along: what did being a "<i>regular old wolf</i>" actually <i>mean</i>?! Exasperation and a lack of understanding flared in his eyes as the caught the sunlight. This wasn't a real answer. It didn't make these wolves any easier to understand. That their pack was new seemed rather irrelevant to him, but on some level he realized it was probably meant as a conversational piece. Kiche wasn't interested in their pack so much as he was interested in their <i>culture</i>. And there they sat, bottomless resources of knowledge. Even with all his misgivings about the possibilities of voodoo, he could not deny himself the opportunity to <i>learn</i> something now that his mind had been broken open. <i>Volkan,</i> he told himself, filing the information away somewhere in the mess that was his memory.

It appeared that any attempt he made to speak was always promptly interrupted. This time, the saint did not recognize the savage that suddenly appeared. It was rail thin and young, with a smear of blood and uncertainty on its face. And he smelled just as bad as the other two, Kiche noted with a grunt of thinly veiled disgust. Not knowing what to do about this new arrival, the saint chose to ignore him —the youngster hadn't spoken to him anyway. Briefly, he considered Kanosak a second time, wondering if perhaps he <i>was</i> truly ignorant of voodoo, and supposed that meant an answer was necessary, "<b>You know, devil-worship. Magic. Dark, evil stuff.... Glamour and deceit that corrupts the soul.</b>" That was probably the first attempt Kiche had ever made to answer the question he had been asked most often.
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(This post was last modified: Apr 09, 2012, 11:17 PM by Kiche.)

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