Blackberry Fields On a Mission...

Hollow crouched silent in the brush Intensely scanning the fields with all of his senses before him. Then from almost out of nowhere a female wolf scent drifted to him. careful so as not to disturb the brush he was hiding in his ears swiveled towards the sound of her soft whine, then his head, then his body. However Sloane had heard and seen the she wolf as well his hackles raised slightly and he seemed to calm himself and presented her with a simple question, "Is there something I can help you with?" Sloane remained calm, and Hollow would not fly off the handle either, merely stand there silent and waiting. However strange it was for a wolf to stroll up to two whom were so clearly stalking Hollow did have to admit there was probably good reason for it.

Hollow's lips had drawn back very slightly, just enough to show the tips of his fangs. However with Sloane standing between him and the golden girl he listened intently to what would be said. Should this girl decide that Sloane and Hollow were just a pair of pack wolves she wanted to knock around since they were so far from home, she would be very mistaken. He made no sound behind Sloane rather his eyes were fixed on the paws he could see under Sloane's large form, he would watch those paws and wait for words to be spoken, hoping they would be friendly and the paws wouldn't attempt to make a swift movement toward his leader. If she attacked his leader he would fight if not he only hoped she was friendly and did not ruin their scouting.for the pack. However as the thought crossed his mind, he had been constantly scenting and listening, he caught the very faintest trace of.... could that be elk?
However Hollow kept his jaws closed and merely waited to see what would be said if the scent moved closer he would tell Sloane.

(This post was last modified: Jan 20, 2013, 06:47 PM by Hollow.)

Azariah held her breath, hoping that the pair wouldn't be aggressive. She wasn't sure what had drawn her across the fields to the pair. Now that she was closer, she could smell the very faint scent of pack on them, although the smaller male was farther away. She couldn't see him well, since the russet male shifted to block her view of him. His first reaction had made her heart skip a beat and she was glad that she wasn't faint of heart. He seemed to relax after a few moments and she breathed a small sigh of relief.

He beckoned her forward and obediently she closed half of the distance between them. Now that she was closer and truly saw that size of the russet male, she swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. He was huge! If he hadn't calmed his initial reaction, she would never have dared approach. Then he simply asked her if he could help her and all of her anxiety washed away. He wouldn't hurt her, but she still didn't know why she'd felt compelled to approach the pair of males.

When she lifted her sea blue eyes to meet those of the older male, she felt a small wave of disorientation and saw a flash of emerald eyes, before his bright amber gaze came clear, looking at her questioningly. She mentally shook her head, thrown by the memory of her dream. She gave him a small smile and answered as best she could, since she wasn't really sure herself. "I know that this is going to sound...odd, but I felt compelled to come here." Even to her own ears it sounded strange, but she knew that she'd been meant to meet one or both of these wolves

Suddenly feeling self conscious, Azariah felt the need to add something a little more normal and useful."I-I'm sorry. I should introduce myself. My name is Azariah Phoenix, healer in training. Well, I was in training. I saw the two of you and you looked to be hunting or scouting. I saw a small herd of elk, five that I could make out clearly a bit southeast of here. They do me no good on my own for obvious reasons." She shrugged her slim shoulders, knowing her slight form was less than impressive in hunting large game. Three wolves, even with one so large as the one before her, were not likely to take down one of the large beasts either, but perhaps they could make use of the information.

Maybe that was why she was here, to help them find the elk, As soon as the thought crossed her mind, another view of emerald eyes flashed before her and she furrowed her brows. What did her dream wolf have to do with these two? Did they know her? She wasn't sure how to ask without sounding crazy so she held her tongue for the moment. She also wondered at her introduction. She didn't normally announce herself as a healer, even one in training, but the words had simply flowed out of her mouth, without thought. Strange...

(This post was last modified: Jan 21, 2013, 10:56 AM by Azariah.)

Destiny leads and I follow...for I am Destiny's Child

Sloane wasn't sure what to make of her. She was obviously young, close to Hollow's age maybe and she behaved with respect, but she had a strange confidence about her for one so young in a potentially deadly encounter. He had no intention of harming her unless she did something stupid, but she couldn't know that for sure. When she started speaking his brows furrowed for she was right, it did sound odd to be compelled to do something like approach two strangers, alone and relatively defenseless.

Then she introduced herself as Azariah Phoenix, an exotic sounding name, at least to his ears. When she told of a small herd of elk, his intense gaze finally left her, swiveling in the direction that she had indicated. Dismissing her for a few seconds, he concentrated his senses and sure enough, the very vaguest of elk scent reached them. He thought that he could make out some 'lumps' in the distance that might have been them, but they were just far enough away for a hint of doubt. Then one of the forms move a bit and he nodded his head, satisfied that she'd been telling the truth and that they'd accomplished their mission.

He turned his head back towards her and gave her a curious look, Once more she had a slight look of disorientation or possibly confusion on her face. She looked as if she wanted to say something more, but silence greeted his intent gaze. She was an odd little thing, but she'd helped them somewhat. It was very likely that they would have soon detected them on there own, but she had saved them a bit of time, perhaps. "Thank you, Azariah. I'm Sloane Thorben, leader of the Secret Woodlands pack and this is Hollow, a valued pack mate." He stepped aside just a bit to allow the two yearlings a better line of sight of each other. By doing so, he gave Hollow the opportunity to move closer if he chose to and make his own assessment of Azariah, but the leader never let his guard down completely. He would keep the boy safe.

Suddenly, her introduction popped back into her mind. A healer in training, eh? Perhaps Nina would like to at least meet this unusual girl. He didn't have to take her to the den, just near the area. Then Nina could make the call and decide whether she might want this young golden fae to join the pack... if the girl even had a mind to, that was. She didn't appear to have pack scent on her, so maybe she would. "Our hunt must wait for the rest of the pack. Do you wish to travel with us, Azariah? Perhaps meet some more of the pack?" The invitation was two fold. One, merely to accompany them for a while and two, to possibly join the pack. He was the leader and as such he wouldn't make a habit of inviting strangers into their home... not without the intent for them to become part of the family. For now, if she chose to accompany them, he would merely bring her close and call Nina and the others out to them.

Knight of Honor

Hollow listened calmly as this Azariah Phoenix spoke, steadily wanting more and more to tell Sloane what he had scented until she did it for him at least she's somewhat helpful Hollow thought. Sloane's head turned towards the scent and Hollow could see just past his large form, the elk that looked as if they could be ants. But the strangest part of her little speech was that she felt compelled? to come here and speak to two males, one huge one and the other that was big enough to blur the line between two sizes. Strange, Hollow thought, he was beginning to think that maybe this wolf was here for a reason. After all who was he to judge he had met Nina on the very thickets he now called home and he had the same strange confidence she had. He remembered well the sudden tug towards her, the feeling that he could trust her and his eagerness to accept her offer to join the new pack.

When Sloane responded to the young girl he introduced himself, and Hollow and as the words left his muzzle he stepped to one side allowing space for Hollow to make his own entrance. The black wolf stepped up next to his leader, knowing full well they were not in the thickets and thereby rank truly only counted for him and Sloane he raised his head higher than the girl (which truthfully was to get a better view of her) yet he kept it lower than Sloane's and did the same with his tail. Although Hollow would have had to be tortured to admit it at that moment, she was very pretty to his eyes and he was almost shocked at the sight of her. Golden and white fur, and pretty sea blue eyes, had he been stricken a moment longer he may have made a fool of himself however the Thorben next to him spoke again Hollow merely dipped his head and hoped that it had gone unnoticed.

Sloane however nearly snapped him out of it when he offered for her to travel with them and meet more of the pack. Hollow had a guess he meant Nina, it was a simple fact that Nina was a healer maybe Sloane had thought they could share things and that it could benefit the pack. Either that or they would invite her into the pack. Though he wasn't normally fond of strangers, especially because he now had a pack to protect he couldn't say no to his leader. He was older and wiser plus Hollow didn't think that Azariah was much of a threat. He wordlessly nodded to Sloane and awaited orders while simultaneously trying to ignore the strange prickling in his paws that was making it exceedingly hard to concentrate, while his eyes kept flickering shyly to the young golden girl in front of him. Hollow began to silently wish they would leave soon so that he would stop feeling so weird, he was just hungry, it had to be that.

The large rust colored male had introduced himself as Sloane Thorben, leader of the Secret Woodlands pack. Azariah flushed brightly at her presumption. It had never occurred to her that this might be a pack leader. Although, her posture was acceptable and this wolf was not her pack leader she found herself dipping her head a bit farther at his words. She smiled at his thanks though and when he moved to the side to present his pack mate, she looked up and her breath caught just a bit.

The other male had extricated himself from the brush and moved up by his leader. His was considerably larger than her, well muscled, even in the leanness of youth, his coat was a rich black and his eyes a startling blue. One seemed to have a hint of green and she found herself wanting to go closer to get a better look and maybe lose herself in them. When he lifted his head above hers and gave her a strange look, she suddenly felt pretty. A blush of heat formed beneath her golden fur. It was odd, for she never thought of herself in such terms. She was smart, responsible, dependable, but never pretty.

When the older male spoke again, she came out of her thoughts and and answered him with one last shy look at Hollow. He had invited her to travel with them and maybe meet more of the pack. That definitely pointed to a possibility of joining the pack, if the leadess was amenable to her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, if that was part of her elusive destiny or not. But spending a bit more time with them couldn't hurt, could it? Trying hard not to look at the other yearling as she answered she replied, "I'm glad that I could help and, yes... I would love to travel with you both for a while." She said nothing about the pack, for she would merely play it by ear, so to speak.

Destiny leads and I follow...for I am Destiny's Child

The entire encounter, was strange, to say the least, but Sloane felt good about meeting the young golden fae. Seeing the glances that passed between her and Hollow, he figured that he wasn't the only one. He'd have to keep an eye on the pair if she stuck around and make sure that all of the pack was aware of the consequences of breeding, for as he well knew spring was right around the corner. But he could not begrudge them a bit of innocent flirtation, if that was what it was. With a secret wink at Hollow, just to tease him a bit he nodded at Azariah and decided that it was time to head back to the Thicket with all of the morning's news.

"Let's get going then!' he said in his usual deep voice and turned to lead the way, letting the two youngsters trail behind. He kept a brisk pace, but not so fast that they couldn't talk if they chose to. Perhaps Hollow would be able to find out more about this unusual young fae. Either way, he was glad to be headed home and more than excited for the upcoming hunt. The sun had finally risen above the tree line and the warmth felt good in the chill of the winter morning. It didn't take long for his muscles to warm up from the steady pace that he had set and he knew that they'd be home soon.

Knight of Honor

OOC:I think the post mirrors his fuzzy brain lol.

Hollow looked up and saw Sloane wink, he felt very odd, and secretly hoped they would hunt soon so he could take his mind off of this weird feeling. He was sure he was just stricken by her appearance being his life had been so hard he doubted anything would ever come of himself and the pretty wolf he now shared space with. if she were to join the pack he couldn't say he would be very disappointed. Sloane turned and began to lead the way leaving space behind so that he may speak to the wolf but he couldn't muster any words just a very odd look was worn upon his face.

"Hi" was the only thing that left his muzzle, Hollow was very, very confused and flustered. knowing he was surely too young to father any pups or even seriously consider leading a pack at least for another year he was just content so share the crisp winter air with her. Stricken as he was, gorgonized by the girl he just silently moved beside her keeping about a foot's distance between them. He was to respectful to get too close merely hope she would say something, maybe conversation would take his mind of the funny feeling making his brain fuzzy. It was all he could do not to wander away from the path being so stunned.

The one thing Hollow never had expected to feel in his life was that lightning bolt that hit him down his spine. It was an interesting happy sort of bliss just at being around such a pretty wolf. Now he was just hoping he would get along with her well enough so he did not have to admire from afar.

Sloane seemed pleased with her and called for them to head out, leading the way. That left her in the company of the young male, Hollow, and she was secretly pleased, although confused at the same time. Due to all of her childhood illnesses and then being the ward of the Master Healer, Solarra, Azariah had spent little time with other wolves. Especially young handsome ones. That thought made her blush again and she was grateful for her thick winter coat to hide her embarrassment. She glances over to him when he offered a simple 'Hi' to her. With a shy smile and gentle sway of her golden tail she answered in a soft voice, "Hello" She felt comfortable with him trotting beside her and was content just to move with the young male across the winter wonderland.

Given her sheltered upbringing and the fact that the only wolf that she'd ever formed any attachment to was likely in the Afterworld, Azariah was at a loss as to what else to say. She wanted to ask about him, what his youth had been like... his family. She'd never really had a family. Hers had wanted to leave her for dead when she became ill over and over. Survival of the fittest and all. But Solarra had stepped in and asked to take in the sickly pup. She'd been given permission and had nursed the golden girl through many more illnesses before finally using an herb that she had brought from wherever her homeland was. It had saved the yearling, but had nearly killed her in the process. She had survived and had remained healthy ever since, but there had been side effects. Ones that she had never thought about until this moment. With an almost silent whine, she pushed those thoughts to the far reaches of her mind. They didn't matter now and likely they never would.

She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even realized how far they had come. Before she knew it, Sloane called a stop and said something to Hollow that she couldn't make out. Her brows furrowed slightly as she wondered what would happen now.

Destiny leads and I follow...for I am Destiny's Child

The traveling felt good and Sloane felt revitalized, despite the distance traveled that morning. He and Hollow had spent some time together and although they hadn't talked much after leaving the Thicket, he felt a bit closer to his young pack mate. His father had always felt that a good relationship with the pack was far more important for leading than ruling by fear. Respect was needed and always given, but for desire rather than fear. That was the type of leader that he wanted to be, here with Nina's pack and later with his own pack.

He glanced back at the two silent forms trailing behind him and grinned to himself. His plan for them talking and Hollow learning more about the girl had failed miserably, but it really wasn't that important. They would simply have to use the direct approach.The miles disappeared rapidly and they were soon nearing the borders of the Thickets. He came to a stop, knowing the young wolves would follow suit. After a few moment's thought, he beckoned Hollow to his side.

Putting on his new mantel of leadership, he said, "I must speak with Nina first, but I shall call for the pack shortly, so that we may depart rapidly. Go to the den and see if you can alert any of the others. Wait there for the call though." He didn't really expect much of a response, just obedience. He wished to discuss Azariah with Nina first, without the curios eyes and ears of the rest of the pack.

(You can fade to black after your post and we'll archive!)

(This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2013, 10:30 PM by Sloane.)

Knight of Honor

They walked a while, Hollow lost in thoughts of golden fur and sea blue eyes, it was driving him crazy that he couldn't think of words, but just as he finally began to form them they began to slow, he knew they were nearing home and likely wouldn't be hanging around the border. The young black wolf sighed inwardly and wondered at the looks that had crossed Azaraiah's face, however he kept his question to himself as Sloane spoke. "I must speak with Nina first, but I shall call for the pack shortly, so that we may depart rapidly. Go to the den and see if you can alert any of the others. Wait there for the call though." Hollow nodded and responded, "Yes Sloane" and raced away into the thickets.

The whole way to the pack he could swear there were blue eyes peering at him from every bush and tree, secretly he thought he would never see her again, and hoped he was wrong. however being as he was on orders to alert the others to the hunt he continued his steady pace, not slowing nor speeding up but steady movement. It wasn't until he came upon the pack's gathering space did he let himself feel the disappointment of not being back where he just was.
{Fade out}