Ghastly Woods young wolf

they call him the young wolf

FENRU TAINN

they say he can't be killed

March 12th; Late morning; Light snow; 10° F/-12° C

Restless after patrolling his first half of the day, Fenru Tainn stalked out from under the tree of Sacred Grove and into the thick of the sudden snowstorm that had descended from the west. It was nice for a change, to feel the slight chill of the breeze on his face and nip at his nostrils, but after about an hour the youth sought refuge in the place where he had met a strange young woman amidst a graveyard of bones. Aiyana had once followed him here and he hoped that she would not do so again; after all, with her developing nocturnal habits, he expected that she was curled up somewhere safe still sound asleep. And, if that was the case, she had no need for him to watch over her. Keeping up with his determined, steady stride, he easily made his way under the crooked trees.

The sun barely filtered down into the meadows and valleys and the ambient light of the new day did little to illuminate the woods. The further he wandered, the darker it became until the trunks of the trees became a medium, ominous shade of gray wherever he looked. All it had taken to lead him back to the place where he had discovered the hundreds of abandoned caches was a quick sniff of his nose. Rotting flesh and decaying corpses, unfortunately, had been scents he had memorized since he was a cub, and it took only a few minutes before he found himself in the company of dead, tangled weeds and several small excavation sites. Catching his breath, he eyed the trees ahead of him, only minding the ground every so often when one of his forepaws sunk into the ground deeper than he had anticipated.

The air was still here aside from the infrequent trill of a passing songbird, but the chilled atmosphere did not unnerve him in the slightest as it had before. Underneath his weight a bone cracked and he peered down to find a broken canid skull, its lower mandible now separate from it completely. His muzzle wrinkled as he half-sneered at it. If any luck was to be had at all, he would revel in the realization that Angier Lyall the traitor now laid dead beside the kills that were meant to feed his family. As it was, he flicked the frozen skull well away from its body with a swipe of his paw, and continued onward to find something to eat.

swift river

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Too much tension and too many hormones were swirling around that mountaintop. It was enough for Rais to start feeling cooped up and a little stir crazy himself, and he really didn't care to involve himself in whatever drama the leading pair were up to. Feeling the need to stretch his legs, he had moved down the foothills and into the valley's forests. This had been the "Scrooge's" home last time Rais accidentally stumbled into the dark wood, but now that he lived with Tenzin up at the Pass, he was actually less likely to run into the sourpuss in what used to be the man's old haunt.

Emboldened by the thought of not having to see Tenzin's ugly mug, Rais moved bravely though the oppressive grey trees that had frightened him once before. Eventually he caught wind of the scent of death, a veritable treasure-trove which sang to the scavenger's nostrils. His jowls watered at the promise of victuals, and he moved at a quicker pace towards the odor.

The mottled wolf slowed to a creep when the stench was almost overwhelming, cautious of the possibility of other beasts seeking an easy meal as well. Quietly he stepped around the bits and pieces of things long passed from this world, eyes flicking over every inch for even a single morsel of something edible. A tendril of a much more lively scent passed over his nostrils and he froze still, paw poised carefully in midstep. Looking across the clearing -- or as much one could call a clearing in such a dense forest -- he spotted black and tan shape through the spirals of snow. He resisted flinching as the wolf seemed to kick something out of the way with a noisy clatter. Certainly odd, and Rais wondered if the wolf was looking for something to eat, himself.

Rais didn't want to be interrupted from his foraging if the male proved to be territorial. Deciding it would be best to try going unnoticed, he crouched low as slowly as he could and started to carefully edge around the clearing. His eyes flicked between the wolf and the ground, hoping to find something worthwhile before getting caught.

they call him the young wolf

FENRU TAINN

they say he can't be killed

Picking along the shallow mock graves and half-buried treasures, Fenru was able to unearth a small mouse, which he hurriedly swallowed without even thinking to chew it properly. It wasn't due to him not having manners, but rather instinct telling him that he had found it and, therefore, it was his... Might as well consume it before anyone managed to show up and take it from him. Craning his neck downward in search of any other morsel to tide him over before he decided to hunt for his family, the yearling inspected every other hollow until he found something much better than the rodent he had scarfed down.

The presence of another would have immediately caught his attention if it weren't for the aged odors of dried sinew and long forgotten bones, and the aged, frostbitten rabbit at his feet. It wasn't until the youth paid attention to a subtle movement out of the corner of his eye that his head shot up and his fiery eyes scanned the area. The wind whistled through the trees and past his ears but when it died down he could have sworn he heard something nearby. He bent down to clutch the hare in his jowls and when he returned his gaze back to the forest he was able to pick out the small figure of a wolf against the tree trunks. He could have easily missed him; the brute's pelt was almost exactly the same shade of gray as the forest itself.

He waited to see if the other canine would acknowledge him, his stance simply neutral aside from the lofty position of his head and ears. His nose twitched but he could not properly pick up the male's scent above the reek. Ever so slowly, he strode forward to and reclined onto his stomach between the roots of a dead tree, cradling his spoils between his forelimbs. Once he had settled he began to peel the leporid's pelt from its body, half-ignoring the other man while he continually spat to remove the rabbit fur from his lips, tongue, and mouth.

swift river

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(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2013, 03:42 AM by Fenru.)

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ooc: oh man sorry for the wait!

Rais skulked around the clearing, attention ever switching between the fetid spoils and the other wolf who perused them, yet oblivious to Rais' presence. All sorts of bony bits and scraps of fur were scattered around, but nothing particularly enticing caught Rais' eye. It was a bit difficult to pay attention though to either task, with his attention drawn between searching and keeping watch on the other wolf.

A warm wash of jealousy pulsed through him at seeing the frozen old rabbit the wolf scooped up from the ground. Rais bright orange eyes, the only thing that really stood out from his drab grey body in the similarly drab forest, were fixed greedily on the dead bundle of fur. That could have been his, if only he'd found it first. Rais held still when the wolf looked up at him, Rais' stare switching from the hare to the wolf who's jaws now held it. Secretly, Rais hoped the wolf would become angered and attack him, forcing him to drop the hare so he could snatch it, but the fellow did no such thing. Instead the male casually strode forward, to recline and begin pulling apart his meal.

Rais forced himself not to stare at the little meaty scrap that he wanted so badly. If Rais truly had courtesy in mind, he would have left the wolf to enjoy his breakfast in peace. However, manners served Rais better as a tool than anything else, and it was the facade of being polite that got him places more so than actually being polite. He ducked his head, ears tilted curiously forward as his tail started up a friendly sway behind him. He took a few cautious steps towards the reclining wolf, coming out of the cover of the trees he had been sneaking behind. "Good morning!" He cheerfully greeted, with a goofy, snaggletoothed grin plastered on his face.

they call him the young wolf

FENRU TAINN

they say he can't be killed

The large man noted how easily the smaller male vanished between the trees, and for some time Fenru had considered himself a fool to think that he would be left alone. The rabbit's ribcage easily crumbled between his teeth, the aged sinew a perfect texture against the roughness of his tongue. A crunching sound more or less echoed through the makeshift graveyard and, soon after, an amiable, "Good morning!" when the stranger drew closer to him and his snack. Fenru stifled the growl that was building his windpipe. Brilliant amber eyes met the other pair of like-colored irises and the Tainn's brows rose upward before touching in suspicion.

His muscles visibly tensed and the fur along the back of his neck bristled, the feeling of pine needles embedding themselves at the base of his skull making him a hair too edgy. "Hi," he stiffly extended, the word dropping from his tongue as though it could have easily manifested and fallen somewhere among the bits of rabbit corpse. The genial greeting had been one thing, but the sight of the other's grin brushed him the wrong way. No wolf in a right state of mind would come ambling over when a large youth, such as Fenru, was enjoying a meal (well, not unless they were certain he would give it up or share it). What Fen assumed next was that the fellow youth quite the nerves to say 'hello' in the first place. The Tainn stared daggers back at his contemporary, immediately picking up a whiff of the wind-scoured stone and mountain side that clung to the man's pelt. He apparently wasn't from here.

The burning need to defend what was his flared up within him. As far as Fen was concerned there were more than enough caches and abandoned graves for the both of them to comb through, and if this rogue was thinking that Fenru would abandon his meal, oh boy, he just might be sorely mistaken. He had found the rabbit and he intended to keep and finish it before returning to the confines of the Grove. A growl thundered from his chest - so much for keeping his cool - and the River wolf stood up to his full height, taking a step over his meager meal. His full, sable-tipped tail rose in a proud arch above his rump.

The goofy smile didn't seem so cheerful to him anymore (maybe something more along the lines of "cheeky")... and Fenru flashed his set of teeth in return, the top and sides of his muzzle wrinkling briefly.

"What do you want?"

swift river

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It was clear to Rais that his pleasant platitude hadn't well received by the hungry wolf. A dry greeting had been returned, but aside from that all body language spoke to Rais that he would be better off clearing out... But the angered display, the grumbling growl and small show of fangs, were a challenge of a different sort to Rais. In his mind, a puzzle rather than a fight. Sure, it would be easy enough, and safe enough to go digging about and find something of his own, but there was a game to be had in trying to wrest away the belongings of another. Obtaining sustenance was no longer a life or death situation as it had been in his loner days, and he could afford to take some risks for the sake of entertainment.

A toothy snarl of a question was unleashed in his direction, and without missing a beat Rais' face fell into a dejected frown, with black ears folded alongside his head. "Oh... Well, I just wanted to say hello." Perhaps if he was so insufferably annoying, the man would have no choice but to chase him off, and then would be Rais' chance to claim his prize. He took a few steps closer, a decision only a fool, or at least a seeming fool, would make when in the direction of a snarling, irritable wolf. His head twisted side to side as if to get a better view of the scrap of fur nestled between the wolf's paws, although the rabbit was plainly visible without such motions. "What'cha got there? Can I see?" He asked, voice full of childish, or perhaps even idiotic innocence. He came to a stop a couple lengths away from the wolf, carefully placing himself close enough that the stranger could lunge at him, but far enough that such a thing would remove him from his hare.

they call him the young wolf

FENRU TAINN

they say he can't be killed

"Oh... Well, I just wanted to say hello," the other youth replied, apparently put off by Fen being quite the killjoy. Fenru snorted, not at all amused. Perhaps if he wasn't so bent on enjoying his early lunch, he would have been equally friendly. Wary that his newfound company was drawing closer, he slowly sat back down, his large frame forming some sort of cage around the bits of rabbit he had stopped eating.

In all practical sense, he should have kept devouring his find, gotten rid of it so that all that was left was the sticky, blood-soaked pelt and a few larger bones. Instead, he was leery of how interested this gray-pelted rogue had become. A few tilts of ashen head had the Tainn glaring in a matter of moments. "Can I see?" he asked, the boyish tone reminding Fenru of his younger days despite the both of them being close in age by the looks of it. "No," he woofed, sounding much like the cub who had insistently told @Kisla that she could not play with the treasured scrap of boar hide he had picked from their first pack hunt.

"Get yer own." His bloodied lips pursed, a juvenile scowl intensifying the mask-like features on his face. He carefully craned his neck down to take one of the stringy organs into his teeth, his eyes not daring to leave his nosy spectator. In an ungentlemanly fashion, the innards he tried to slurp up fell from his mouth, "I found it first."

swift river

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T_T Sorry that took so long! If you'd like, Rais can run off after this and we can finish off with 10? Your choice, of course.

Rais blinked quickly, looking off-put by the intensity of Fenru's angry display. "Oh, no! It's all yours of course! I was just wondering what it was," Rais took a few skittered paces backwards, tail tucking up to his skinny underside and black ears flattening against his head. He appeared truly sorry for a moment.

If Rais wasn't as persistent as he was, it would have been a good moment for him to slip back off into the shelter of the forest and pretend it never happened. However, that would require admitting defeat to this little game. The harder the worthless little scrap of meat was to obtain, the more value it gained, and the more Rais wanted to have it just for the sake of having it.

The narrowing of his orange eyes was the only indication he gave before lunging forwards. His grey paws slid just over the snow and his round head ducked low, trying to quickly snatch the morsel out from the sharp teeth that guarded it.

Darn that speed advantage, lolz. 120 vs. 80.

they call him the young wolf

FENRU TAINN

they say he can't be killed

The lanky brute was just wondering what Fenru had managed to snatch up. That was all... The River boy let loose another snarl to verbally sound out to the other yearling that he was not kidding around when he had suggested that he get his own rabbit; and, it was with pride that he watched Rais shuffled backwards. What Fenru had failed to pick up on was what exactly the narrowing of his opponent's own fiery eyes meant until it happened in a blur that lasted a good part of two or three seconds. It had just dawned on him when he acknowledged the empty space beneath his chest where his hare skeleton - a skull, spine, part of a pelt, and one ear - had once been. That blatant runt just took what was left his scrap of a meal!

Fenru had just managed to blink once when he realized what had happened. The gray and silver yearling, once he had already withdrawn from Fenru's immediate and most personal space, had already bested him. It should have been apparent right off the bat that something or someone that small was clearly no match for him but the Tainn had failed to see it through his presently selfish demeanor. Where speed was drastically called for, bulk and strength encumbered him instead. All Fenru could have done and respectively did was snap back at him with a sharp and condemning wail of "H-HEY! THAT'S MINE!"

swift river

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Rais' needley white teeth sunk into the brittle skin of the hare with a satisfying crunch, his eyes clamped shut to protect them, as he expected the original owner of this scrap to make a move to grab onto his face. The larger male certainly had a good enough angle to get a hold on his neck, but angles meant nothing where Rais had the advantage of speed. With a firm shove he thrust his dove-grey paws into the snow beneath the chest of the wolf, one solid push ricocheting his narrow frame out and away. There was a split second where Rais caught the shocked masked features, before the thief whirled around, a smirk hidden behind the stolen hare that draped from his jaws.

A few bounds carried him fast out of reach, before his bony legs switched into the frantic cant of a sprint. Adrenalin had his heart thumping hard against the walls of his chest, and he nearly felt like laughing from the exhilaration of what he'd just gotten away with. He'd quickly covered a fair amount of distance between him and the male before tiring, switching to a brisk bouncy trot that would carry him and his prize back to the pass, one ear turned back in case the wolf cared to chase after.