little lion man

@Hati

It was goodbye that she was saying. In the final throes of her mourning, having decided to move on and travel northward, Eek found herself circling the perimeter of the fog drowned woods she'd called home since the death of the last winter. One final lap before moving on to pack life. She was nervous beyond belief, with that hated uncertainty twisting her gut. She was not confident that she would be accepted, or that it would give her what she wanted. She was an optimistic girl, but not air headed. the exercise of this farewell trot would hopefully burn away the fear. She kept her mind off of what lay before her, instead focusing on appreciating the silent beauty of the land. She saw specters in the curling mist, she nodded to the roving deer. What light may have cut through the trees was drowned by dark bloated clouds, bringing to the woods an early night. But as to be expected of such an indecisive girl, at the southernmost edge of the area, where one landscape began to leak into another, eek grew tired of this ritual. Thumping her tail-less rump to the ground, she stared out of the woods and into the neighboring scenery, a slight pout on her lips. Moments passed her by, tendrils of mist wrapping themselves around her shadowed limbs. She was eased for a short time, colorless eyes drinking in these novel details, but with time it gnawed at her again; boredom. After moments of hesitation and tamping of the ground, Eek released into the air a series of staccato sounds, asking for company.

Here the mist lay thick nearly a foot above the ground that was littered with crisp brown leaves betraying the soon to come autumn. The midday sun only peaked through the dark trees in a few places leaving the rest of the woods shaded and cool. In the most hidden thickets a touch of the morning's frost still remained. This was the Spectral Woods, a new bit of the world for a stranger such as Hati to explore. His color matched that of the surrounding growth making him almost completely invisible under the cloak of fog. Had he been hungry no prey would have seen him coming like one of the ghosts that were rumored to wander through this forest.

His steps were slow and purposeful as he walked, everything about his medium sized figure suggesting confidence; he was extremely skilled in the art of concealing his true self. At this time he was merely passing through towards the more northern parts of Relic Lore. Normally on such a journey he would have loped the distance, but the mystery that hid behind these trees made him wary and more careful than usual, which perhaps is the only reason the far off sound of a female calling for company reached his forward pricked ears. He wasn't sure what to think of this; was he the only one who felt so uncomfortable in this forest?

By instinct Hati shifted to a trot and turned to reach the source of the call quickly, which was about a quarter mile back towards the edge of the Spectral Woods where he had come from. It took only a few seconds to reach the she-wolf who sat on the very edge of the woods and stared sadly at the scenery surround them. To state his presence Hati cleared his throat loudly. It was a rather sickly, wheezing noise, but would have to suit his purpose. Hoping the stranger had heard he walked towards her out into the open.

(This post was last modified: Oct 09, 2013, 12:15 AM by Hati.)

She wasn't expecting so swift a response. Though excited by the opportunity of company, her initial impulse was to feel concern. The sound he made came across as ill and she immediately took to inspecting his health. Abruptly she had swiveled around, ears forward and neck stretched out. Her introductory sampling of his scent did not yield any whiff of contagion, and so she made sure to appear friendly as she inched closer to him for a better sniff. Her nose wriggled with effort until finally, at a few feet away, she was certain that no sickness laced his breath. With joy, she threw out a grin and slapped her front paws against the ground a-rhythmically. Would this be a new friend? How she hoped so. Since leaving her last home, she had been unable to gather friends and as instinct would have it, she yearned for company to allow her to feel normalcy. Not even consistent company. Just the thought of a connection somewhere in this land would suffice. Her stance now was childish, her tail-less rump swaying. But just as she would introduce herself, his wordless introduction repeated itself in her mind and she felt compelled to ask. "Are you sick? I know some tricks to soothe a sore threat, if need be," Eek offered with an encouraging smile. She nearly wished he would say yes, as that was how selfish her impulse to coddle other creatures could be. The poor girl lacked any idea as to what truly ailed the man, nor how her prying might affect the atmosphere of their meeting.

The wolf did not seem to worry that there were some strangers out there that would cause her harm; her reaction was entirely gleeful and careless. Fortunately it was Hati who had heard her cries rather than another. He wasn't one to take advantage of a girl's ignorance of the wilderness. If only he could speak and give her some helpful advice.

With a quick return smile he trotted the rest of the distance between them and stood a few feet away, pondering how to communicate with her. Though he was no longer ashamed of his inability to speak (unlike the scars themselves) it was awkward getting over the first stages of meeting a new wolf who expected a regular conversation. Normally he might have ignored her entirely and went his way, but in this new country few loners roamed the woods and company was something to relish. So he stayed. The expression on his face was one of gentle curiosity, with ears thrust forward and jaws loosely together. His black tail didn't fail to wag, an indubitable sign of friendship no wolf could mistake.

For now he simply shook his head in answer to her question; he was not sick and had no soreness in his throat. However she looked a little bit lonely, so Hati motioned back into the forest where he had come from. Perhaps she would like to accompany him for a while, since she didn't seem to have anywhere else to go. He scented no other wolves on her fur, only herself. A loner like he was.

(This post was last modified: Oct 09, 2013, 12:16 AM by Hati.)

@Hati

Well, wasn't he the friendly one? Except, then, why didn't he speak, and how could he sound so hampered? Eek had never before met a mute, and it failed to occur to her that something made it physically impossible for this man to communicate normally. Rather, she took it as his choice. There was no offense for her to experience in making this mistake; company was company, no matter the method of conversation. But still, curiosity pressed in on her, and so she would try once more to get a few words out of him. "Well that's good then," she supposed. His posture was not that of someone needing help, and that caused a slight disappointment within her that she did not let reflect outwardly. Still she yearned to discover an ailment, to cure him and mother him. Ah well. He had given her direction, but she wasn't entirely sure what he intended. Hesitantly, she took a few steps forward, indicating her readiness to follow his lead, at least for now. Who knew, perhaps he was a tad bit unhinged like herself. "Are we going for a walk?" she asked with a grin. "If we are to be friends, you should know that my name is Eek. What's yours... ?" She supposed that if he would not vocalize his answer, she would cease to try and coax words from him.

Eek

Something about the female was off, something that Hati could not identify. Her yearning eyes flickered between relief, disappointment, and curiosity, never content, always searching for something. Perhaps the only problem was that he was not the one she had hoped would answer her call. But if that was so it was unlikely she would be so ready to accompany him, a stranger, into the woods without so much as a word spoken. The whole thing was confusing as soon as it began, but Hati wasn't one to cause discomfort so he didn't let on that he himself felt awkward.

The stranger only took a few soft steps forward and then stopped, looking at him inquisitively with pretty silver eyes and speaking, hopelessly awaiting a verbal response. No matter how many times the scenario repeated itself over it always sent a pang of annoyance through Hati both towards himself and whichever ignorant acquaintance demanded him to speak. Worse than his absent eye was his inability to say anything. How many unspoken words hammered around inside his head screaming to be made known?

Nothing could be done to make Eek understand he couldn't answer her no matter how much he wanted to. She seemed happy enough though to have his company even without speech, so he wouldn't bother and show her the scar. Most times he revealed the tiny line on his throat he only received pity. He hated pity. He was strong even though he couldn't say so, and didn't need anyone to tell him how unfortunate he was, or to wonder how it was he had acquired such a hindrance.

His displeasure showed itself in his single golden eye before he twisted back towards the forest, tail sweeping around to repeat his previous invitation. He wound between the tall, thin trees as he continued his trek north, now with a companion, had the black female followed. Eek. A strange name to roll around in one's mind but no unpleasant. It fitted oddly with her disposition.

The heavy scent of rabbit mingled heavily with blood exploded in his nostrils, the suddenness of it bringing him to a complete stop. A meal would not be unwelcome though he was not extremely hungry, and it would be proper to share a bit of meat with his new friend (who he heard walking behind him in the silence of his halt), so Hati turned sharply from the path they had taken to hunt down the source of the delicious aroma. Few steps were taken before he saw the tawny beast stretched out beneath a thorny berry bush, sides heaving with every agonized breath, blood seeping from a tear in its chest. Hati tossed a grin back to Eek and then walked forward to retrieve the wounded creature.

(This post was last modified: Oct 09, 2013, 12:16 AM by Hati.)

Nothing. Focusing on his single eye made it even more clear to see the emotions that would cloud it, the emotions he apparently could not voice. She was bothering him with her probing, and so Eek decided she would stop. However, being unable to receive a vocal response did not mean she herself needed to be silent. Eek was a paradoxical creature in that the instincts of her kin drove her to seek company, but her heart had no interest in such matters. What Eek loved best was to know that she was not alone while staying out of sight. But she had so many thoughts inside of her head, and when given an audience, at times they just poured out. Now was beginning to feel like one of those times; unfortunately for Hati. "I'm sorry, I'll stop with the questions. Though I must call you something. I hope you don't mind. Let's see..." She pondered the possibilities of what to call her new friend while trailing behind him, oblivious to where he was leading her. Eek was a treasure trove of names; she had a fascination with them, thanks to her mothering obsessions. Every creature she had adopted had been given a unique name, and she never reused one even once. "How does... 'Tyst' sound?" she inquired. It was a word she had learned in her travels, another land's way of saying 'silent.' Swiftly, she realized her error in ending her sentence upturned, asking him for a response; "Sorry. Tyst it is." She continued to trot along behind him, organizing her thoughts, words pooling on the tip of her tongue until the scent of blood entered her nostrils. The first pang to hit her was hunger, but as her eyes caught up with her lungs her heart stopped and her desires swiftly changed course. Before them lay an injured rabbit, still gangly with youth. It wasn't quite a baby, but it was close enough to strike hard across Eek's heartstrings. Only heartbeats separated time for her as everything slowed and her ears flooded with white noise. She saw his wry grin, his muscles contract, and his body act on the purpose it was built for. With a thunderous snarl, Eek acted on her own impulses. She lunged forward, putting everything she had into passing Tyst and threw herself in front of the injured hare. Aggression carved her outline jagged, tail, ears and hackles all raised as an open mouth bared its lethal weapons. Her colorless eyes shown every bit of her insanity. "How dare you attack a child," she hissed, the hush of her voice nothing but venomous. She wished to heal the poor baby, but dared not to turn back on this monster.

The moment the dark scarred brute made as if to end the young rabbit's life he was unknowingly in for the shock of his life. A wolf who cared more for the life of a prey animal more than her own hunger had not been on his list of known existing creatures, but was abruptly included as the black female's hateful silver eyes shot daggers at his and her open jaws threatened to defend the poor mouthful behind her. It was enough to normally draw a strangled chuckle from Hati but now he could only stare in stunned silence as beads of drool dripped from her gleaming fangs.

With a series of blinks—for the off chance that his mind was deceiving him—the picaro collected himself, relaxing the tension in his bunched muscles and shifting into a less potentially kinetic stance. His eye's expression was of astonishment. This black female was mentally unstable, of this he was sure, and would likely starve to death if she continued going in this fashion. It was a miracle this had not taken place already, unless the strange behavior was a recent development. Perhaps, Hati wondered, she had born pups and they had been taken or killed. It was very possible, even likely, but still did not satisfy him entirely, for now he wondered if there was anything he could do to help her out of the mess she was slave to. Rescuing an injured bunny that would have been a delicious snack? For Pete's sake, who did that?

At any rate, this could not go on. Hati was loath to abandon the black she-wolf merely for her odd ideas, especially since they could prove dangerous in the future. Wolves were not meant to care for lesser beings and somehow Eek must know this. Undoubtedly she had been spoken to before about this problem, so the inability to talk right now wasn't a problem as it wouldn't help anyway. Hati slowly shook his head and put a paw forward, eye calm and body neutral. She had to trust him now if anything was to be done.

(This post was last modified: Oct 09, 2013, 12:16 AM by Hati.)

You'll never be what is in your heart

Usually, the woods were fairly quiet. Serene even. Triell found it easier as the days went on, the leaves changed color to take on his new role. He hadn't exactly been tested. The wolves of Oak Tree Bend had managed quite a few days without turmoil, and ignorant trespasser. The dark man didn't mind much. He would prefer a rather boring fall to prepare for winter.

The blue woods, as he liked to think of them, seemed part of one world, with a gentle, soft song without interruption. Without enemies and foes waiting to pounce. Except for times, the boys found something new. Oh, did the world hear about it. Triell didn't cringe at that. He often found himself grinning, eager to see what got them excited. Happy their voices cried out, because the safer they were. His favorite was how this wonderment they had had yet to be killed. With their noses on overload, and their limbs catching up with those long paws their adventures grew. This he hoped would help heal all their hearts; the innocence of Sceral and Serach growing up with a life that wasn't tainted with death. Even with Ice's temporarily leave he was determined it wouldn't leave any scars upon them. He wasn't blind to see what it had done to Fenru and Kisla. For now Tainn would never think about the "what if Ice doesn't come back." It was a road not to be created, and so not to be traveled upon. The question was, when would Ice come home?

Today Triell was looming outside the borders of Oak Tree Bend. Checking past the lines of the pack, and possibly hoping today could be the day he saw that silver eyed wolf. A tune not of deer nor bird had caught his attention. A wolf. This wolf had not sang for any leaders, but company. Curious, and ever watchful he began his search for this unknown lady.

Triell was not as swift as the first wolf. It took him longer to find their scents on the breeze, and catch the voice. No matter how he tilted nor stretched his head he could only hear one. The idea of a mental case near his territory made him more determined to find out what was going on. He also had in mind not to be seen or heard. When the female grew distressed, what could Triell do but reveal himself?

"Hey, what's going on here?" He rumbled, detaching himself from the dying brush to see two wolves before him. He didn't notice the bunny. All he could think was, what was wrong? The uncertainty held in the arch of his tail, high above him, the stiffness in his shoulders, and the way his eyes narrowed, sweeping from one wolf to the next. He would have his answer.

(This post was last modified: Oct 15, 2013, 12:53 AM by Triell.)

are you with me through it all?

She had thought him to be kind, call it discrimination, due to the nature enforced upon him by his handicaps. How wrong she had been. There was nothing worse in Eek's mind than a creature that would harm youth; though her own trespasses against the children she attempted to care for were never viewed as this, for if Eek thought those times had been her own fault, she would surely die of guilt and misery. But what now to do with this man? It was a difficult situation; though their disadvantages, hers of size and his of sight, surely were balanced, she did not know of his experiences and training. If he'd been half-sighted his whole life, he surely would've learned to make up for it in his aggressions. Not to mention, in order to fight him she would be forced to leave the baby behind her completely without shield. The indecision froze her to the spot, the hatred and violence of her stance unchanging. Then, he began to step forward, a solemn determination in his single eye. Eek snapped her jaws at him, a sharp click that was quickly swallowed up by the hungry, dying tendrils of fog. She wanted him to leave her, to be scared off, but the bastard had an idea in his head that he did not appear all too ready to let go of. She thought of words to say, of how to perfectly compact her disgust into verbal weaponry, but before she could think of even a sentence, an unwelcome stranger barged in upon the scene. Eek swiftly adjusted her position, rear swiveling to the side so that she may square her front between the two, keeping both within her sights. A threatening growl dripped once more from her fangs, this other man immediately labeled as a threat. Eek would not be caught off guard, not when a child's life was at stake. Though maybe, she could persuade him to help her? Perhaps he had a heart, unlike her failed friend Tyst? "This monster was going to attack the child!" she appealed, hoping desperately that he would not take Tyst's side. How could she fend off two of them?