Wild Cherry Orchard In Search Of....

They'd had a successful hunt, but Sloane knew that the pack, which now numbered seven would quickly go through the prize that they had taken down. The elk would hold them for a while, but finding food was a never-ending chore. He knew that everyone would have their tasks to take care of, but as leader he felt responsible to have his paw in it all. He'd done a quick run of the borders before heading out to try his luck at hunting. Given his size, he was quite useful in taking down large game, but oft times the smaller faster prey was what challenged him... ironically for the very same reason. Oodles of strength, sadly lacking in speed.

After hours of efforts and many misses, he had three rabbits and a vole to show for it. Well, it was something to help fill a few bellies, at least. He was trying to decide whether to head back or give it another try when the wind shifted and brought a new smell to him. Unable to place it, he buried his catches and strongly marked all around it to ward of scavengers before following the light scent to an orchard. The trees were bare, but the faint scent of there perfumed offerings still lingered. He had not been to this area before and suddenly the over-sized russet male was just plain curious.

He lowered his head, snuffling around in the snow. When an almost pungent odor filled his nostrils, he began to lightly dig at the thin covering of snow with one fore paw. The scent grew stronger and as his paw dug into an icy red mess, he jerked his head back. There were small reddish black fruits scattered beneath the snow. Frozen, rotten fruit. Now that he'd gotten a good whiff of the fermented stuff, he shook his head and sneezed violently to get the smell out of his sensitive nose. Goodness! That stuff reeked! It certainly wasn't as bad as a skunk, but he found the aroma highly offensive.

Curiosity sated, Sloane stood before his patch of icy rotten fruit trying to decide whether to keep hunting or go pack to his pseudo cache and take what he had home.

Knight of Honor

Lune had been exploring. She was in a new area, after being cast from her former pack. The alpha female had given birth to new pups, and for whatever reason had decided Lune was a threat. She had attacked Lune and chased her out of the territory. So, now Lune found herself in the new place, and had set up camp not far away.

The experience had been, to say the least, quite traumatizing. Her former pack was all she had ever known. Her brothers had been allowed to stay, but not Lune. Perhaps it was because she was female, and that was all. She didn't know. Every day she missed her pack and family, and the longer she was alone the worse it was getting. She had come across a few wolves here and there, but the interactions seemed to be fleeting. The other day she had met a wolf at the edge of the wildwood where it became charred and dead. Even now, the thought of that place made her hairs stand on end. The death and decay all around her - she didn't want to think about it again.

The brown wolf was aimlessly wandering, her long legs working their way through the snow with some sort of ease. It wasn't too thick of a sheet, so she didn't need to break too much to go on her way. Even so, she did pay a good amount of attention to watching the powder crumble with each of her steps. Perhaps this is why she hadn't noticed another wolf nearby until she was nearly on top of him.

It was his sneeze that brought her to attention. Her head snapped up, and to her complete surprise there he was, just a mere ten yards away with only a few trees in between them. She gasped, her feet quickly taking her backwards in a jump as she subconsciously expelled a short "Oh!" from her muzzle.

Sloane didn't have much time to contemplate his choice. He quickly realized that he wasn't alone when a started "Oh! followed his sneeze. With a start he whipped his head around to spy another wolf about ten yards away. She seemed to be crouched down with a look of surprise on her face. Looking his way through the trees that separated them was a brown pelted, leggy fae about his age. He turned to fully face her and gave her a small smile to show that he wasn't dangerous. Well, normally. He tended to save harsher reactions for when they were truly called for.

Now that he was fully focused on her, he wondered what she was doing in this barren orchard. The only reason the he was there was to sate his curiosity on the unknown scent. Her fur carried only her own scent, so he was quick to realize that she was a loner, just as he'd been not so very long ago. Since he was away from the Thicket, he kept his stance confident, but he did his best not to look aggressive and frighten the smaller fae. Quite the challenge for a wolf his size. He shifted slightly to make their line of sight a bit more open and greeted her with his smooth, deep voice. Hello, there."

Knight of Honor

The startled female had taken a backwards leap and landed with her hind end against a tree. Feeling a bit trapped, she crouched low to the ground, hoping against hope that the large male hadn't seen her even with her loud announcement of her location. But when he turned in her direction, she knew that she'd been too loud of her own good.

Large amber eyes grew wide at his gaze, her heart beating a bit faster as the quiet moment passed by. He was very big, and very confident in his stance. She wondered if this was his territory. Had she trespassed unknowingly? Would he believe her? Would he show mercy even if he didn't?

He smiled, it confused her. The hair on her neck stood on end and prickled at the sound of his voice. She held his gaze and made sense of his words. He wasn't threatening her. No, he was just saying hello. She visibly relaxed, her tense body loosening slightly as she looked him over.

She licked her lips, preparing to speak. "Hello." she said quietly, her lips only parting enough for the word to be clear. Even though he was showing a friendly face she was still unsure of him, and still startled by coming across him to begin with.

Though she still appeared nervous, Sloane could see that she had relaxed somewhat. He knew that his size could be intimidating at the best of times and she was a much smaller female loner. As he was not protecting his borders, he wished to put her at ease and perhaps get to know her a bit better. Most loners were not looking to stay loners. Most had either been forced out of a pack or struck by tragedy to end up on their own. Very few chose the rogue life and she didn't seem the type to be content living day to day, always worrying about the next meal or potential danger.If she seemed like a good candidate, he could invite her to the Thickets to meet Nina.

When she finally got out a quiet "Hello." of her own, he wagged his tail and said, "I'm Sloane Thorben, leader of the Secret Woodlands pack, to the west of here. Are you a loner?" He'd already deduced that she was from her lack of a pack scent, but it was always a good way to start a conversation. He'd also let her know that she'd not intruded on his lands, so she would not have that concern hanging over her head. He remembered all too well the uncertainties of being a loner.

He was curious to see what she was made of. Even though recruiting another member, whether her or another wolf down the line, would mean another mouth to feed it would also mean another set of claws, eyes and fangs to strengthen the pack. So he waited patiently for her response, tail still waving in small slow motions behind him.

Knight of Honor