Just a Visit

@Steel based the next day after this

6/04/2013 Mid-Day

deep into that darkness peering,

Inali

i long stood there, wondering, fearing...

It had been a long day. Inali had woken up at the crack of dawn that morning, and she couldn't go back to sleep for some reason. So, she had decided to make it worthwhile by doing some serious thinking. She had gotten the herbs for Narimé yesterday, so she was glad her alpha's sickness would be cured soon, and it was one less thing to worry about. It seemed like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders because of it.

For some unknown reason, a picture of a large, burly, black-silver wolf popped into her head. Huffing quietly in surprise, she wondered why an image of Steel was in her head. It didnt take long for her to find the answer. The rust-hued she-wolf actually missed the big grumper. They had only briefly met up once, and that wasnt by will, but she still missed the man.

So, that very morning, at the crack of dawn, she decided to go pay Steel a much needed visit.

Taking some time to remember how she had stumbled upon his lands and then had headed back home to the Willows, she rounded up that in total, she had been gone for four days time. Oh, but she couldn't stay away from the pack that long! So, she thought of a plan. If she left now, and ran all the way, with no breaks, she could maybe reach him by the time mid-day came by. Then, visiting for a bit, and taking some rest, she could leave for home and probably be back by midnight.

That is how Inali reached this very point. After marking the borders to make sure that the pack knew she was only out, she had left. The sun still had not even started to peak through the skies.

Almost there. she thought with a small smile. Lifting her muzzle to the air, while her paws pounded forwards against the rough terrain, she could smell various scents. Among those were many unknown, but she could smell the pack borders, and most importantly, Steel's strong scent.

Finally reaching the edge of the borders, the young wolf slowed down to a casual walk. Taking a breath of the air, she walked into a small cluster of trees, right on the edge of the pack's borders, not close to crossing it though. She decided she would take a much needed nap until Steel found her. Well, she hoped it would be Steel that found her. If it wasnt, she was going to be screwed.

Getting ready for her nap, she felt the exhaustion of her trip finally course though her. A trip that would usually take 2 days time, she had done in about 10 hours. Even with the minuscule breaks she had taken, along with the help of her conditioned body, the trip had definitely taken its toll. She was exhausted.

Laying down on the ground, the cluster of trees around her shielding her from the sun, she closed her eyes and soon was asleep, looking like this.

(This post was last modified: Jun 29, 2013, 08:47 PM by Inali.)

The stoic black and white wolf was doing his rounds, the tough pads of his paws moving through the leaves, grass and underbrush with a distinct lack of grace. Power and ferocity marked the burly man. He was not streamlined and he did not move with silence. His style of being was more that of a bulldozer, just pushing through, heedless of what lay before him. All before him did indeed know of his approach, but that just saved him some work for most creatures simply scurried to safety before he arrived. It mattered not to him. His only concern was the safety of his pack, ensured by the security of the borders. His borders.

A snarl erupted from his snowy muzzle as he caught scent of intruders close to the border. Not a wolf this time, vermin coyotes. His hackles raised and his eyes turned a stormy midnight blue with his fury. Coyotes were a nuisance at the best of times. With Athena having young, they were demons for him to rid the earth of, taking up precious resources and threatening the well-being of Athena's whelps. The scent was not fresh, so he picked a direction and hoped to catch up to the vile creatures. What he found instead was a small makeshift burrow. Sniffing thoroughly he realized that there were coyote pups within its confines. Setting his jaw, he proceeded to dig out the burrow to get to the pups inside. They were too close to Athena and they would grow up to be trouble.

Once he made the opening big enough, he wormed his way inside and dispatched the two pups with a firm snap of his powerful jaws. Then he turned around in the small confines to make his way back out. It didn't take him long to realize his mistake. While he'd been inside the cramped den, the parents had returned and now he was cornered by the distraught and angry pair. The back half of his body was still snuggly within the confines of the dug out burrow and his front end faced the snarling fangs of two attacking coyotes. His own vicious snarl erupted, mixing with their higher pitched growls and snarls and making quite a ruckus. He tried to lunge forward, but they had left him little room to maneuver as they took turns lunging at him and snapping sharp canines just breaths away from him from different sides.

Flecks of the pups blood dotted his muzzle, seeming to stir the parents into an even greater frenzy. The burly wolf saw red and was furious with himself for allowing this to happen. Hind sight was always 20/20, but right now he had to figure out how to get out of this mess!

Excuse Inali's language, she's a bit pissedxD

Inali's ears unconsciously pricked upwards and forwards as they took in the ruckus a bit a ways from her. Blissfully unaware, Inali continued to sleep. It didnt take long for the ruckus of growls, yips, yelps, and snarls to get louder and Inali had no choice but to wake up because of the unknown ruckus going on around her.

Blinking her eyes open slowly, Inali adjusted to her surroundings, and her ears pricked forwards, zoning in on the coyotes and Steel's noise. Standing up slowly, Inali looked up at the sky. It maybe had been an hour since she had fallen asleep, stating that fact on the light and direction of the sun. Shaking out her tired, achy limbs, Inali growled irritably as she smelt a familiar scent. It was freaking coyotes that woke her up. The damn vermin, Inali cursed mentally.

Still a bit on the sleepy side, Inali walked out of the small cluster of trees. She just wanted to go to sleep, but obviously the coyotes (and Steel, though still unknown to her that he is part of the ruckus that woke her up) were thinking 'I dont think so.'

As she jogged forwards, still out of the packs borders, to stretch her limbs, Steel's fresh scent almost knocked her off her feet. Lifting her muzzle to the air, the scent of Steel and the coyotes were mixed?

Ah, hell no, Inali thought angrily. The petite woman broke into a run, following the scent of Steel. Quickly nearing the small burrow were she thought Steel was at, she could now acutely hear the vicious snarls of both the coyotes and Steel. Circling the burrow and giving it a wide birth so neither of the species could smell her, Inali reached the end of the burrow. She was directly right behind it.

Taking a couple of steps back in preparation, Inali once again broke into a run. Jumping onto the small den, she gained her balance quickly on top of the burrow. One front paw was placed on Steel's (stupid) head. Gaining leverage, Inali could feel her hackles rising and her icy blue eyes flashing with barely, restrained fury.

Jumping off the burrow, Inali's body arched and her fangs gleamed as she pounced onto the female coyote. Inali was small, but she sure as hell could fight. Burying her fangs deeply into the coyotes neck, Inali used the strength that the adrenaline gave her to flip both females. The coyote on the bottom, and Inali on top, pinning her. She wanted to tear this bitch's eyes out!

Inali's fangs once again dug into the females neck, but with surprising strength, the weakened coyote flipped them over. They rolled for a bit, and the coyote managed to come out on top, victorious.

But not for long.

The angry, grieving ( though Inali didnt know that yet), weakened, female bit into Inali's left shoulder. That hurt, Inali thought. Letting out a sharp, pained whine, Inali momentarily lost her concentration. In a flash, the coyote's paws were quickly coming down towards her face. "Not the face, you little bitch!," Inali screamed, the anger clear in her voice.

Ducking out of the female's grasp, the weakened Inali flipped them over. One last time.

Her jaws enclosed around her neck, and with a firm grip, she twisted. Snap! The coyote was dead.

Rolling off the bleeding corpse, Inali panted, trying to regain her breath. She coughed, and tried to move her shoulder to see how bad the wound was. Inali winced slightly. It wasn't a deep bite, mostly superficial. She'd be able to live through it, although probably it would ache for a couple of days. She didn't really know, she wasn't a Healer in any way. She'd have Simaea check it out when she got home.

In the midst of her thinking, she unfortunately didnt take notice of the male coyote headed her way. So much for always being on alert.

(This post was last modified: Jul 12, 2013, 12:28 PM by Inali.)

With cold realization, Steel came to the conclusion that this encounter was likely to end badly for him. He was pinned down with no real way to escape the sharp fangs of the enraged parents other than to retreat into the burrow like a coward. Not likely. There was truly nothing that her feared. Even the possibility that he might die today didn't bring fear to his heart. It was simply a cold hard fact of life. He'd made a mistake and he'd pay for it. Just like the pups had paid for their parents leaving them unattended.

He was slowly worming his back legs beneath him in an attempt to inch forward and gain some measure of freedom from the death trap when he was attacked from above! Claws dug into the broad expanse of his forehead, a weight, slight though it was, pushing his head down and enraging him before it disappeared and the mystery form appeared before him in the petite form of a small fae... and a familiar one at that. Inali? Could she really be here in all her fighting glory? For a moment his white muzzle hung in shock before he tore his attention away from Inali and the mother coyote, writhing in battle. The male's attention had been diverted to the new adversary as well and it appeared in his desperation to save what was left of his family, he'd forgotten about Steel.

That was his fatal mistake. As the male coyote cried out his agony at the death of his mate and lunged at the exhausted Inali, Steel saw it in a haze of red anger, tinged with the unfamiliar feeling of fear, hefinally freed himself and barreled into the smaller form of the brown male with a terrifying snarl, intending to tear his throat out. As it turned out his fangs were extraneous. His very size and momentum had broken the coyote's back and he crumbled in a lifeless heap at the black and white wolf's feet.

Panting as the adrenaline slowly ebbed away, Steel looked again at Inali, noting the bleeding on her shoulder. Confusion rocked the burly male as unfamiliar emotions rolled over him. She'd come to his rescue. Not out of duty or even loyalty really. They'd only met once, after all. Yet, she'd risked her life for him. The stoic wolf simply did not know how to process this information.

Without a word, he approached her and began to gently cleanse her wound.

Inali could barely hear the sounds of Steel and the male coyote over the loud pounding in her ears. It wasn't because of her shoulder, though that was causing her some pain, it was because she was so tired. She knew she needed to sleep, she had pushed her body too far. A trip that would usually be made in two days, she had done in 10 hours. And now with the coyote...

Against her will, her eyelids started to droop. A small lick on her wounded shoulder quickly woke her up from her state, as she had winced harshly. She opened her eyes and relaxed as she saw Steel hovering over her, gently cleaning her wound. Breathing out a tired sigh, she voiced, "Steel..." Her tone was coated with relief. Not for herself, but for him. He was okay.

Turning her head to the left, she softly nudged his muzzle with her own, trying to push him away. Rolling onto her stomach, the young fae struggled to get up, fighting the exhaustion of her body and the pain from her wound.

Once again she was on all four limbs, and her crystal gaze ran over Steel's body, seeing if he had any major wounds. Thankfully, he didn't have any, and her gaze swept up toward his stormy eyes. They were swirling with emotions that she couldn't even begin to decipher. She was supposed to be angry with him, she was supposed to be yelling at him for scaring her half to death..and for waking her up. But she couldn't do neither. Her crystal eyes were flashing with different emotions. Anger, pain, fear, relief. She was just all over the place.

She could feel her body shutting down, and Inali forced her limbs to walk over to Steels side. Turning so they were side by side, muzzle to muzzle, she leaned her body heavily on his. She didn't know if he could sense her exhaustion, but now she was feeling it all over. She had leaned her wounded left shoulder onto his side, and she hoped he didn't mind. Even though the wound wasn't terribly bad, she needed to somehow stop the blood loss.

Inali's limbs shook heavily, and her body crumpled slightly, making her lean more onto Steel for support. "What do you think of those coyotes? Nasty little vermin, weren't they?," she breathed out. Chuckling wearily at her poor attempt at humor in this situation, she wondered what they were going to do now.

(This post was last modified: Jul 18, 2013, 05:52 PM by Inali.)

Steel felt the unfamiliar emotions calming slightly as he realized the petite female was all right. She really did look exhausted though. More than the short scuffle with the angry mother coyote should have made her. She seemed to be trying to make light of it, making a small quip about the coyotes being nasty vermin. That they were, but he couldn't help but feel responsible for her having to get into the fight in the first place. He wasn't sure what he'd have done differently, as they had needed termination being so close to the pack's den and it's valuable pups. They were the lifeblood of the pack. Even in his inexperience in packs, he knew their value, especially as Athena's children.


He gave a noncommittal grunt along with a nod of his head, agreeing silently with her. He looked her over again, but didn't see any obvious damage. His stormy blue eyes locked on her and he asked, "Are you all right? Did she harm you?" As usual his voice was deep and almost gravelly sounding as he inquired after her well being. It felt strange to truly worry about the welfare of someone other than himself. He couldn't help a glare at the still form of the female coyote for causing her any possible harm.

"Are you all right? Did she harm you?"

The young girl twisted her head, and tilted it upwards so that she could see his face clearly. His voice had surprised her, since she had heard it only once before. And that was practically only one word. This time, he spoke two whole sentences.

She didn't realize why it was such a big deal to her, but it was. His voice was rough, and low in tone. Gruff, gravelly. So, why did she find it strangely appealing?

A small smile curved upon her maws and she answered the only way she knew how with him. Teasingly. "Besides the wound on my shoulder, she didn't cause too much damage. I'm fine Steel, there's no need to worry about lil 'ole me." Her voice wasn't as breathy as before. It came out as normally as it always did, smooth and confident.

But unfortunately, her meager act of strength didn't hold out for too long. Her legs crumpled beneath her, not able to sustain her light weight any longer.

She plopped onto the ground, in a sort of human belly-flop. Her legs and arms were splayed out ungracefully, and she slowly proceeded to tuck them into her. She looked like a curled up wolf getting ready to sleep. Except, that's not what she wanted.

Glancing up at Steel, her head wobbled slightly. (This girl really needed some sleep.) "I guess I'm not as fine as I thought, huh?," her voice coming out as breathy as before. Uncurling one paw, she waved it in the air, in Steel's direction. "Lay down Steel, I want you down here with me." That would've probably never slipped out of her maw if she was in her right mind. But, she wasn't.

She was tired, and Steel was warm and strong. Two things that she wanted at the moment. Bringing her paw down, and tucking it back into her body, she lowered her head onto her paws. She waited for Steel to join her on the ground, naively thinking that he would join her because she said that she wanted him to. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. But, as her new found friend (at least on her terms) he would do it, right?

(This post was last modified: Aug 08, 2013, 03:36 PM by Inali.)

Steel was at a loss once more. Inali was apparently not harmed, at least not badly, but for some unknown reason she was exhausted beyond measure. After a bit of bravado the small fae simply collapsed and his heart leaped into his throat. His reaction to it startled him even more than the fall itself had. He was unaccustomed to feeling emotion. His jaded mother had beaten all of it out of him. Or so he thought. Something about this fae got to him. She had put a chink in his impenetrable armor somehow. What was it about her that made him actually feel.

When she beckoned him to her side, curling up on the ground before him a genuine look of panic crossed his face. He hadn't lain with any wolf since he'd curled up with his sister as a small pup. Even that had not been allowed by Giselle once they'd been weaned. She'd seen it as weakness and she wouldn't tolerated weakness. The stoic young man that she'd created had soaked up her lessons on being self sufficient and scorning the need for others. He'd lived by that motto for so long. Until Athena, he'd never even considered being anything other than a loner. Yet, even in the pack, his pack he was a loner, keeping to himself.

As he gazed down at Inali, his confusion faded slightly and a nearly bemused expression filled his stormy eyes. Before he realized it, he took one step towards her, then another. Now he could feel the waves of warmth radiating off of her. Feeling awkward and unsure, he found himself giving in to the wants of this enigmatic female and laying down next to her curled up form. Their fur nearly touched in places and he could feel the proximity of her delicate form. He lay his head down on his own paws, his large form circling her own protectively, yet not daring to touch her soft fur.

Argh, I just love Steel<3

Inali was oblivious to the thoughts going around Steel's head. She wasnt some mind reader, and the young woman was too busy trying not to fall asleep. Her body was aching for it, but the stubborn woman was rejecting her body's needs with every fiber in her body. Her mother always said her stubbornness would one day bring her trouble.

She guessed that her mother was right. She was practically at deaths door when she first encountered Steel. She was stubborn and was having too much fun teasing the large man, whose continued warnings of impending trouble and ultimate death had fallen upon deaf ears.

It was a good thing that over the time that she had left Steel, and now, she had learned to curb her stubbornness. At least for the most part. A weary chuckle escaped her maws, but was quickly swallowed as her blue orbs landed on Steel. Her eyes only reached to his limbs, so she only saw him take a step towards her. And then another. Her eyes never left his figure as he continued to head towards her.

His body lowered near hers, and curved around her. A soft smile graced her maw as she felt their furs barely grazing each other. She did not hesitate at all as her slender form nudged closer to his large brawny one. Taking a breath of Steel's scent, the young woman had no qualms about their proximity. She knew she was safe with him.

Inali had moved close enough to Steel that they were enclosed in a warm embrace that she had formed, their fur meshing together. Her head lay softly on his silver-black fur. 'Cuddling' wasnt the exact word she felt was their position. They were just laying together. She felt warm and safe with his body curving around her own, and that's all that mattered at the moment.

"Thank you," she spoke softly, so softly that she didnt even know if he had heard her. By their first meeting, she had known that Steel wasnt a very...open person. She knew, even in her loopy state, that it had cost him to lay with her.

With a satisfied sigh, she let her body succumb to its needs. Her eyes fluttered shut, and within seconds, she was asleep.

{Exit Inali into dreamland}

(This post was last modified: Sep 01, 2013, 01:03 PM by Inali.)

How strange it felt to share a space with another. He hadn't done so since very early puphood and that had been with his tiny sister Jade. This fae was small too, almost as small as Jade, but she was not his sister. He honestly didn't know what she was to him, but she had touched him somehow. She'd found a chink in his cold steely armor and wormed her way inside his defenses. Had any other wolf made the request that she just had he wouldn't have bothered with words. The best they might have hoped for was a snarl of derision. Yet, here he was with her small form framed by his large one. She had simply asked and he had done it. Why? He had no idea.

When she shifted, bringing their forms closer together, he nearly bolted. But after a moment, he relaxed a bit and when she lay her head down, resting on him a feeling that he couldn't begin to describe overcame him. He decided that it was an emotion that he didn't dare explore with her so close. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he lay his own head over her dainty shoulders protectively. He relaxed a bit, laying with her while she slept, but his eyes and ears stayed alert. He would let nothing happen to his, his, his...friend? He would die first.

(This post was last modified: Sep 30, 2013, 11:51 PM by Steel.)