Blackberry Fields Dawn's embrace

<span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'>(This happens before the events of <a href='http://relic-lore.net/index.php?showtopic=2940' target='_blank'>I…I just can't</a>)</span>

<font style='margin-left:20px;'>T</font>he sun rose steadily on the territory of Copper Rock Creek. Destin had watched it occur from the Blackberry Fields, looking towards the mountain in the distance. It was often that he had done this once he was able, since he recovered of course. It was during this time that he pondered the mountain itself, wondering if any wolf packs lived up there or had. Never had he seen a wolf on its peak or following the path around the mountain- but then again, he hadn't been here for long. If he ever met another wolf that knew more of the lands perhaps he could ask them. He found himself woefully ignorant on the topic and decided to put it into the back of his mind like everything else he didn't understand. Yawning, he moved slightly to adjust himself. His claws scratched the rock beneath him as he did so. Destin looked down and amused himself by using his claws to scratch over its surface and leave significant marks. Satisfied, he jumped lightly off the rock and looked around, forgetting about the sunrise entirely.
<font style='margin-left:20px;'>T</font>his place was familiar to him, he had visited throughout various parts of his recovery. He recalled being informed of the berries here by someone, though he couldn't quite remember who. Though Destin had never joined Copper Rock Creek formally because of his injury, he considered this place his home for as long as he could stay. Destin hadn't seen Ruiko recently and had never thought to ask the leader about joining. He stayed nearby though. Come to think of it, Destin hadn't seen much of anyone. He was close enough to the territory to feel safe and so his anxiety did not worry him. Summer was winding down now and he began to notice the cold chill in the mornings and even frost on the ground occasionally. Autumn was coming, and it was one of his favorite seasons ever since he was a pup. The leaves changing was fascinating to him even though he could not understand it, and just decided that the trees themselves chose what colors they wanted to be.
<font style='margin-left:20px;'>R</font>ight now, though, the only plant that interested him were the bushes scattered across the meadow. He found the berries particularly tasty and came from Copper Rock Creek territory just for this purpose, to find some ripe berries and snack on them. His mouth watering already, Destin wandered up to one plant in particular and stuck his nose in the bush, breathing the berries scent deeply. Recoiling sharply, he jumped backwards and whipped his head back and forth. It seemed the bushes were not as inviting as he had thought, defending themselves with the thorns that resided there. Laying down amongst the tall grasses, he used his paw and rubbed it downwards toward his nose in an attempt to get rid of the painful brutes.

(This post was last modified: Sep 16, 2012, 07:40 PM by Destin.)

It was morning, a cool one that was a harbinger of autumn and, later, winter. Ranon didn't particularly care which season it was, because he'd like the weather no matter what it was. A warm sun in a clear sky--or darkness and a blizzard. He liked clear skies, rain, clouds, snow, hail, and any other form of participation. Unless it started raining blood, but he found that to be quite unlikely. He hadn't been in the Blackberry Fields before, and it was in no way hard to see where they'd gotten their name. He wasn't particularly fond of berries--or anything that wasn't meat--but he could still appreciate them and made a point of trying one. It had taken some dexterity, but he'd manages to avoid the thorns and snatch one into his muzzle. It was as he was chewing it that he saw a large wolf, no older than himself, rubbing a paw over his nose to try and remove some of the bush's thorns.

Keeping himself low to the ground, Ranon began to stalk over near to the brown wolf. The grass in the fields was tall and it hid him well as the arctic wolf slowly padded over to the cluster his canine friend had been attacked by. Ranon probably would have been more stealthy, however, if his fur wasn't pure white to blend in with snow and tundra. He was fairly sure the other wolf spotted him at one point, but continued to sneak anyways. It wouldn't be a difficult task to justify his caution. Lone wolves who didn't know caution weren't lone wolves, they were dead wolves.

Along with the smell of ripe blackberries, the scent of the wolf drifted along on the lazy breeze. Waves formed in the grass, the blackberry bushes rustled, and Ranon could tell the wolf he was stalking towards was not a pack member. As he got closer and closer, the arctic wolf could see more and more traits of the other wolf. He was a timber, with light brown fur and creme, and some darker brown spots. He also had a large fluffy tail, although maybe not as frizzed as Ranon's.

Finally, he came close enough, and stood up tall, trotting over to the timber wolf. <b>"Hello,"</b> he said with a friendly smile.

<font style='margin-left:20px;'>H</font>e looked down cross-eyed at his muzzle towards his nose and attempted to use his large paws in order to loosen the thorns and get rid of their uncomfortable embrace. Preoccupied with his current issue, the male wolf only heard his own struggles in the tall grasses and nothing else. It was a huge surprise to him when he heard the sound of a voice with the source somewhere above him. Startled, he yelped and rolled away instinctively, ending up with his belly to the sky. Taking a moment to realize he was upside down, he made no movement to right himself and instead looked towards the stranger who had frightened him so. A large male, pure white wolf. He had never seen such a coat before, one without any markings. From his position he especially noticed a scar down the wolf's left back leg. It seemed quite similar to his own and this is what caught Destin's attention. Judging from his size (though Destin was definitely not an expert, especially not upside down), it appeared he and this stranger were <span class='word'>coetaneous</span> which piqued his interest further. He now finally rolled back over into a laying position, looking down at his muzzle and noticing with glee that the thorns were no longer attached to his face.

<font style='margin-left:20px;'>T</font>urning his attention back towards the stranger, he replied, <b>"Hello, sir."</b> Destin was not one afraid of wolves and was happy to have a short chat, especially if it was someone he'd never met before. Taking a moment to sniff the air, Destin noticed the wolf seemed to have no alliance he could recognize. Well, he only had experience with Copper Rock Creek, so the wolf definitely was not from around here. <b>"What brings you 'round these parts, sir?"</b>

(This post was last modified: Sep 16, 2012, 08:59 PM by Destin.)

Though Ranon had hardly been the most stealthy and quiet in approaching the brown wolf, the male seemed too preoccupied pulling the thorns out of his muzzle to notice his advance. And when his suffering friend finally realized he'd said anything, he rolled off and at first the arctic wolf was worried for a moment but then he just looked over at him while still showing his stomach. Was he...being submissive? No, that wouldn't make any sense. He'd just been surprised. Finally, the male rolled back over and Ranon noticed at the same time he did that the thorns were out. Shame, he'd wanted to offer some help.

<i>"Hello, sir. What brings you 'round these parts, sir?"</i>

Ranon cocked his head, narrowing his eyes in confusion, and one ear went down while the other stayed up. He had never been called 'sir' before, or even heard the word, but it certainly didn't sound like an insult so he shrugged it off. This wolf seemed friendly enough, unlike those other two he'd met not so far from here...

<b>"I'm just wandering around,"</b> said Ranon. <b>"My name is Ranon, not 'sir.' And what's yours, brown wolf?"</b>

The wolf looked at him in what seemed like a form of confusion. Destin tried to think back to what he'd said so far, it wasn't much, only a measly two sentences just asking for his name. Did he not have a name or not know what a name was? The McBain thought the wolf's behavior a bit strange but decided to not mention it. His attention span wavered and Destin began to look behind the wolf instead of at him, at the surrounding area. He noticed another bush, possibly the one he had just stuck his nose in though the male couldn't quite remember. Standing up from his laying position, Desty walked past the wolf and went straight towards the bush again. He heard everything the wolf said, but it wasn't quite registering in his mind until the male stranger asked him for his own name. <b>"Ronan, you say? Nice to meet you Ronan, sir."</b> not quite realizing that he had pronounced the name differently than had been enunciated in the first place. <b>"Wandering doesn't sound like much fun, have you found anyone interesting yet?"</b> As he approached the leafy bush, a blackberry towards the outside of the bush appeared to have little protection. He reached out and opened his jaws slightly, pulling the berry gradually from the bush, slower than he really needed to. Most of the time he wasn't a fast learner, but he was in cases where there was pain involved. Successfully detaching the berry from its branch, he bit down and was pleased with its juiciness as it exploded into his mouth.

Turning back towards the male wolf, he made an extreme effort to completely crush the berry to bits in his mouth before swallowing. Mum always said to not talk with your mouth full! <b>"I'm Destin McBain, Ronan, sir."</b> before giving the wolf a grin. <b>"Nice t' meet you, Ronan, sir!"</b>

The brown-furred wolf in from of Ranon stood and walked past him, going right towards the blackberry bush, presumably to try and get a blackberry.

<i>"Ronan, you say? Nice to meet you Ronan, sir. Wandering doesn't sound like much fun, have you found anyone interesting yet?"</i>

Ranon felt a pang of annoyance as the brown wolf mispronounced his name, probably because he'd barely been paying attention to him. But the timber wolf seemed to not notice, and slowly pulled a blackberry from the bush. He was glad to see the wolf succeed and enjoy the sweet berry. Then he was surprised when the wolf suddenly turned back towards him and bit down roughly on the berry.

<i>"I'm Destin McBain, Ronan, sir. Nice t' meet you, Ronan, sir!"</i>

The arctic wolf forgot to say it was nice to meet him, too, because he was too focused on how 'Destin McBain'--a strange name--had mispronounced his name. The wolf didn't seem to be too smart, but all that Ranon cared about was if he was nice. Intelligence was really overrated sometimes. The wind blew gently, the bush rustling as the arctic wolf's auburn eyes stared at Destin.

<b>"Again, my name isn't 'Ronan Sir,' it's Ranon. Just Ranon. And no, my first name isn't 'just,' my full name is Ranon."</b>

<b>"Okay..."</b> Destin replied slowly, noticing that the wolf did not answer his question or return the base pleasantries he had spoken. <b>"Apologies, Ranon......s-...."</b> He stopped himself quickly before he said the 'sir' that Ranon seemed so opposed to. Turning back towards the bush, he spotted another berry and took things just as slow, grabbing it and pulling it with his teeth and then completely free, chewing it thoughtfully. Turning back towards the large male wolf, he said, <b>"You never answered my question.. Met any interesting wolves so far?"</b> Destin enjoyed being told stories of other peoples travels, and he was an avid listener. He didn't have many of his own, so he used others for entertainment. The male wolf realized how lonely he was then- for he did not really have a family or a comrade to call his own. He was by himself recently, day in and day out, and it was quite dreadful. Perhaps this male had some kind of suggestion for him, for it seemed that Copper Rock Creek wasn't very much interested in a slowly-healing wolf. If he could find Ruiko... perhaps he might just ask.