With a flick of a Dime.

Liam had just been accepted the day before and was done touring the place with Hollow. He now prowled the boarders marking them before anyone would get the chance to. He was sure that he was first up, the sun was still rising and he had not crossed a single other wolf.

Walk a few steps, lift leg, pee, walk a few steps, lift leg, pee was the continuous start of his morning. After maybe a hour or so of marking the boarders over and over he was satisfied with the job and lifted his maw echoing a howl in warning to any loners. *This is Secret Woodlands Territory, all loners who wish not to join stay away or face our wrath.* The howl was done in a fierce tone, a very clear warning. This was what he was taught to do after marking by his older brother Dane Rose, a more muscular wolf then Liam.

Looking around himself he checked for any newly awoken pack mates but with no arrival sighed. He padded towards camp hungrily wondering if anyone was awake there and if some one would want to hunt with him. His tail swayed back and forth behind him in a relaxed manner. His strides were slow, even, and short as he travled forth into the thickets.

Liam stood in camp scanning for another wolf from his pack whether be new to him or be his alpha Koda or maybe even the kind Hollow. His tail was wagging and ears pulled back submissively showing he knew his place to any who'd come across him. Little did he know there was one wolf below him in the ranks.

(This post was last modified: Jun 05, 2013, 01:07 AM by Liam.)

It was a regular day, a run through the borders which appeared to have already been marked, Liam's scent lay thick across it. Hollow merely reinforced it, for once he had a very short morning run. It had been a long time since he could rest, so for a while his black head lay upon his paws in the middle of the fields. For moments or hours, Hollow lay in silence, wishing he could see Azariah, waiting for her. If I have to, I will wait for you forever Azariah, I love you. His heart broke and he stood, shook his head and set off towards the trees. Sadness made every single step a labor, and his eyes were weighted down with visions of his past, a den with a gold furred she wolf.

With a sigh he crossed the scent markers and continued his trek back home. Halfway to his small den, Hollow picked up a scent, it was Liam, The dark male had not gone to tell the other how much he appreciated the assistance with the border, so what better time? Hollow followed the scent trail until eventually he came upon the male. Liam had made his way back to the dens, which pleased Hollow, the more wolves near Nina the better, the pups would be out soon, and if one got away, or Nina needed something Hollow did not want to be the one rushing from the border to help. "Liam! Good to see you, are you settling in well? I noticed your scent across the borders, thank you, I've had no help with borders for months now, it's a relief to be able to relax."

Liam had flopped down on the rough terrain and flattened his paws with his large head. His eyes were drooping lazily when the familiar voice of Hallow came. Lifting his head he grinned listening, " You welcome, it's no problemo. It's good to see you too, I'm settling in just fine but I am hungry. Maybe me and you could hunt? We could probably bring back a small deer for everyone.His deep voice smoothly flowed out over each and every syllable. Standing he wagged his tail while dipping his head respectfully.

Oh man did he hope Hallow would say yes, he was just itching to stretch his legs in a useful manner. Also he did have the compulsive need to impress others and make them proud of himself. He didn't know why but he simply embraced it for others seemed to like it.

Liam seemed pretty well pleased with Hollow's praise and that was good. His laid back attitude was enough to make Hollow grin, with everything that had been happening it would seem that simple happiness had faded from the male's life. With Liam's offer to hunt, it seemed as good a time as any to bring some spark back, though first there would be one bit of business to attend to, Nina had made a request and Hollow must be sure to carry it out. He had to set up a patrol schedule so that he may get some rest, and since Koda would patrol whenever he decided to patrol, Ecco and Azariah had seemingly gone missing Liam's help would be all the more necessary. Even so hopefully he could enlist Iopah to help in between her hunting, maybe out of prime hunting hours, so she could take a midday, that would leave Hollow and Liam to take the morning and evening patrols. Of course Hollow would probably patrol right behind them regardless only now he could take a nap or get some hunting done while they were out.

"I don't see why not! But first I need to assign you to a border patrol as up until very recently Koda and I have been the only two able to patrol and Iopah has been busy keeping the cache full for Nina and Ashanti. I am going to ask Iopah to do the midday patrol, so that leaves dusk and dawn to us, is there any particular one you'd like to take? Also when you have time and aren't hunting or otherwise engaged, I'd like you to help with the shorter patrols throughout the day, of course this will only be until we gain more members for the pack." His stance was that of the second and his words, diplomatic and kind, he had never had any kind of authority before and he hoped he was doing okay. The thought of more members however brought to mind the odd yearling called Nineteen he had met in the blackberry fields, and how he hoped he would return with his friend to add to the ranks of the pack even further. Hollow's gaze grew thoughtful as he waited for Liam's answer

Liam listened with a wagging tail to all his words before thinking hard. * Responsibilities, hmmm* He knew he was a early bird so he quickly made his decision, " Morning should work best for me, if it does for you. I'll be glad to help out with anything else I can, I'll defiantly help with each patrol when able." He said in his deep voice knowing he would, being the type who liked to help. The sound of a twig braking soon got his attention and he turned his head to see a squirrel rushing up a tree. He snorted at it and muttered, " Clumsy creatures, seems like if they really wished to live they'd be more careful." His voice held a amused tone dancing in it. Looking back at Hallow he gave him a big friendly grin.

(Ugh, I struggle with making my post long.)

The dark male prepared himself, ready as he was ever going to be to essentially give an order, even though it felt strange he was sure to speak in a friendly tone, yet stern enough to communicate to Liam that he absolutely could not skip out on his patrol. "Good, you can start tomorrow." His head nodded as if it was a certainty. In fact he was relieved, the extra time he would save in the morning would allow for a midnight run, which had been very hard to accomplish before, and usually never completed for Hollow would wake up under a tree in the morning not having realized he had even fallen asleep.

Liam's head twisted around at the breaking branch, and the squirrel which Hollow had observed out of the corner of his eye, and dismissed moments before it made it's getaway. A comment from Liam about the squirrels lack of agility, and Hollow smiled before giving a huff of laughter. The light of youth began to shine in the woodlands second's eyes. "Well then Liam what do you say we go and catch something a little, bigger than a squirrel?" A mischievous wag of his tail and Hollow turned in a circle signaling Liam to come along, maybe they could find something fun to take down. After all Hollow and Sloane had taken down a doe, how hard could this be?

(I think I need to add the ambitious trait to his personality, along with workaholic, lol.)

The leggy red wolf observed how serious he had seemed to look before his next set of words. The tone was still friendly and Liam liked that about this male, it was obvious he wasn't one to let power go to his head. "Tomorrow? Perfect, I can't wait." He said sarcastically in a joking tone though he really did love to work. He felt good about having a place in the pack but had a bit of a need to earn a specif job. For now he would be happy helping with the borders and anything needed for but the desire would increase till unbearable

He smiled a bit bigger at his huff of laughter, enjoying the fact he was funny to others. Looking at the dark furred yearling he could see his eyes light up as he spoke. A chuckle left his lips before he answered with a "Hmmm, sounds good to me." His voice held a joy in it and he could already fill a bit of adrenaline building up. With a wag of his tail Hollow turned leading him off and Liam fallowed excited. *I wonder if we will be able to take down a buck, or maybe a very large doe?* He thought questioningly in his mind walking beside the younger wolf.

I threw some hot sauce on their lives XD

Hollow merely smiled at Liam's response and set off on the hunt, searching for whatever they could find. Nose to the ground and ears pricked forwards he searched. Through the thickets they went all the while Hollow keeping one ear twisted slightly towards Liam waiting for any signal that he had found something, hopefully something big. It was a long while before Hollow came across the fresh trail of a fox, protective instincts kicked in and veered along the path. Though food sounded better the fox just had to go first. Oh well, I guess it can't always be easy.

Hollow followed the trail until he came in sight of the animal, when suddenly without warning it bolted straight towards the borders and away from Secret Woodlands territory. The young male's ears pricked and his head raised, that was peculiar, he'd never seen a fox do that before. When out of the ferns tumble two small bear cubs. Little Grizzlies, his head raised a little further before he heard the great crunch of the mother lumbering through the territory. "Shit." he breathed the word. Hollow backed away as slowly as he could before hearing a branch snap as he stepped on it. Oh no. The mother turned as the cubs stopped moving and the bear spotted him.

"LIAM RUN!." Hollow howled the command and turned on his own length leaping through the thickets heading for the territory's edge. As they ran Hollow could not look back, he just hoped upon hope that Liam was still with him, a great howl pierced the air as he ran, "SECRET WOODLANDS, THERE IS A GRIZZLY BEAR WHEREVER YOU ARE STAY PUT!." Terror began to flood his limbs as he knew the mother would chase them away, sadly her cubs would follow and they were mere yards away from the borders. Changing a look over he shoulder he saw nothing but a blur of green and heard the bear still crashing through the forest behind them. This was no longer an easy hunt.

(This post was last modified: Jun 04, 2013, 12:54 PM by Hollow.)

(I don't even know if this is realistic but here.....)

Taking in the smells of his home so many scents rushed up his black nostrils, bark, soil, insects, his other pack mates, Hollow's over powering sent just ahead of him, and so much more. Yet no prey seemed near by, why was everything so still? What could be just around the river bend, metaphorically speaking? Only one could find out. His paw steps were heavy as he walked slowly, concentrating hard. Seeping through the trees towering above he could feel little of the sun warmth, but it was there right? Just as somewhere, in this area, there was prey. The quickening sound of his hunting partners paws caught his ears as they swiveled forward to listen. It was only a mere minute before he took off in pursuit after the shady black fellow with blue eyes in which he called Hollow. His strides lengthened propelling him farther between each step as she sped down the sent trail, fox, stinky, disrespectful, four legged creatures who got into every thing they could. He felt the emotion of hate and anger swirling with in his heart before being pumped into his blood stream, driving him on with pure adrenalin and determination.

Red fur prickled up as the younger darker furred male came to a stop and a growl that was interrupted before it even left his vocal cords when it ran. *It ran.....But why?* He was given only a short lasting moment to ponder when it came to him, *Danger*. "Hollow, something is not right ar-" He spoke in a low whisper his voice drifting towards the other wolf before being cut off by his shock. A cub, no, two cubs stood before them and where a baby is, the mother is near, it was a fact. Snap! His head turned at the sound of the twig breaking stealing his chance to even glance at the fully grown mother bear.

"LIAM RUN!" His voice filled his ears but the red furred timber X Mackenzie valley wolf stood frozen stiff. All his teachings washed into his mind over powering it, "Son, you never run from a bear, not in till you have to. Lock eyes with the animal and stare. It may take hours but the bear should return to it's business or lunged. Only then do you move from the animal. Whether in a dash for your life or simply leaving it alone." His fathers words echoed in his skull and powered him to his next actions, "Confuse the bear, son, and it will not no what to do. He took off towards{i} her the wolf's hackles raised, teeth bared, and tail flagged sky high. For a split second it stopped and stared at him as if thinking *What the fuck are you doing wolf?* Before it rose up on it's hind legs and sent a blood curdling roar through the air. She lashed out at him while her cubs tumbled away, he was still out of her reach though. Veering off to the side he took off for the borders emitting a strange howl, one surely the wolves of Relic Lore were not used to, a fake cry that resembled a poorly toned zither. It sounded as if something had been brutally rammed into something or worse...bit, no, shredded by teeth. With this he gave off a fake stumble acting like something got him. Maybe the bear would think he pulled a muscle or had a previous wound still healing? The bear took the bait coming forth to him ready to kill. Liam broke into a full speed wasting no time at all as he dashed through the thickets swiftly...

Out of the borders he ran, he was going to lead this bear as far from his home as he could, if and only if, she fallowed. The sound behind him reassured the wolf he was not alone but yet now he was the prey itself in the shape of a predator being hunted by a bigger predator. His jaws opened releasing his tongue as it lolled out, his muscles began to burn with every movement. But he kept going. He knew he could simply just turn around using a trick to loose the giant and go back right now if he wanted but he kept going. And going. The landscape setting began to melt away into a more open view and spacious room. Where was he? Who knew, other then a wolf he had been in Relic Lore longer. A sudden pull in his body and he could tell he needed to stop this now. The temptation to look back tried to lure him in, fooling him into death. {i}"Little brother you never look back or defeat is surely on you." The voice of his sister called out to him from the past and his neck straightened looking straight ahead. *Liam, turn, turn now or run till you can't no more.* He told himself as his senses seemed to fully find him in the chaos and the words of the past faded from him. Veering sharply around he did something he had not even expected himself to do. He circled it. Once, twice, three times, four, five, six, seven, on and on getting wider with each go around before he left. He didn't know if it would confuse the animal but his action was over now and he could not turn the hands of time back.

*Run, run, run* The word repeated off in his head as he powered forth darting back to the borders. That was when it hit him at full force, like a smack in the face, exhaustion cried out and took over his body. Panting harder then before he was forced into a slow lope, then a speed walk, a walk, a really slow walk, a even slower walk, then he stood. His fur was soaked down by sweat, how much had he ran? And how much will he? He didn't know. There was so much he didn't know, dangerous thrilling things and important boring things. Looking forward his will to survive kicked in and he began walking as quickly as his over heated body would allow.

It took a moment, maybe ten, fifteen minutes, but he picked back up on a steady lope. He could hear the angry roar sounding off somewhere but with his pounding head ache, a ringing in his ears, and his vision turning red he could not tell how close nor how far. That was when he collapsed in the brambles that intertwined the pack, he was not safe...his fur would stick out like a sore thumb if the bear so chose to come back fallowing his scent. *What...wh....what....have.....I....I...done?* Was his last thought before the red vanished in to black and his world was gone. Dreams then flooded into his brain, well nightmares.

(This post was last modified: Jun 04, 2013, 10:51 PM by Liam.)

The dark males ear swiveled back as he heard the unearthly cry. Four paws planted themselves hard in the dirt and he skidded to a halt. Hollow turned and listened. A distance a way he watched Liam break cover and the bear follow. Oh no, Hollow you know, you know what you have to do. Another Howl escaped the males throat, as he made a wide arc around towards the back of the bear, Howling at random intervals and darting back to release more cries. It was an attempt to trick the bear into thinking they were many when it was only he and Liam. It was working, at first the bear seemed to want to retreat from the area until Hollow caught a glimpse of Liam in a headfirst dive towards the ground.

It was a split second decision,the bear turned towards the newest member of the pack and Hollow turned towards the bear. I am going to die, I am dead, I am dead. the only thought in his his head brought a strange peace to him. The pack would be safe, So what if he was shredded? Surely Liam could take his place and would hopefully do a good job, it was then that a fire lit within his bones. An image of Azariah, Don't give up on me Hollow. His heart skipped a beat just an instant before he came upon the cubs. Clearing his mind of everything in that split second, the dark male barreled directly into to both cubs. Both cubs, which let out terrified wails.

It was then that the mother turned on him and snarled viciously. Here we go! Hollow stopped in his tracks once more and stood tall, proud and defiant. He snarled in the face of the bear's fury and stood his ground until the bear lumbered after him. Hollow danced around the angry bear, and nipped and howled at it. This game continued on and on until Hollow grew tired. They had moved nearly all the way to the wild cherry orchard, it was time to end this before he too succumbed to the exhaustion. Hollow spun and faced the bear once more and snarled, then a howl, and he leaped. A massive clawed paw came up as Hollow leaped, it connected to his underbelly driving the breath from his body and sending him further into the air.

The ground met him with no remorse and only made his chest burn more and his body ache. The dark wolf rose and began to stumble blindly away, hoping the bear would not give chase once more. Hollow had no idea how far he'd gone, he just walked, further and further, exhaustion, ache and pain nagging at his bones until he eventually cam back to where Liam lay unconscious. Hollow made no attempt to wake up the other male he merely sat, head bent panting, waiting. Every now and then he would bend over as if he were about to be sick before becoming stone again.

(This post was last modified: Jun 04, 2013, 11:01 PM by Hollow.)