Quote the Raven, "Never--Nevermore"

[Aeolus, you are attacked by a murder of crows]

Aeo had been faithfully patrolling the borders, as was expected from him, but yet part of his mind couldn't leave the female that he had met on the mountains, Narcissa. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but he couldn't help but think of her grey and auburn colored fur. She was far away though, across the mountains from him, in a pack called Willow Ridge. Perhaps he could consider taking a small break sometime to go visit her, most likely after winter came and went. With winter fast approaching, it was time for him to take a focus in saving up the caches so that Adsila and Karpos would not starve through their first winter. With that, he raised his muzzle and scented around. A lone crow.... or so he thought.

A lone crow approaching the territory of which I belong? What an easy piece of prey... He thought to himself as he prepped to launch for the kill. His eye narrowed slightly as he bound forward and took out the crow... killing it apparently brought out a scent of blood for other crows to smell. Suddenly a grouping of crows, a murder of crows attacked him pecking at his fur. There was at least 4 or 5, he supposed that they were mad for him killing one of their own. But instinct told him to fight back, he tried all he could to get them to leave him alone, running in random patterns at his fastest speeds to try to confuse or daze them, swiping at them, biting them. Nothing seemed to work. He hoped a packmate like @Silver or @Ace would find him and maybe help him. Maybe this @Capella that he had heard about...

This. Place. Was. A. GOLDMINE.

For the omnivorous wolf, the fen was a heaven. It was a buffet of herbs and plants which normally acted as supplements for her diet. She used her teeth to grasp the near-dried stalks of wild onions to carefully pull them out of the ground, and then, after making sure that it wasn't a poisonous wild onion lookalike, she chowed down. She'd have to remember this place- it was a smorgasbord. Of course, it wouldn't be of much use much longer, as the ground would freeze soon and all the onions which hadn't already been dug up and eaten would rot in the ground. She couldn't even store them anywhere for the winter- they didn't keep very well and made an awful stench inside the cache in which they were kept. They were the sort of thing that when you found them, you ate them. All of them. Thus, Penny had no issues with digging up nearly all the wild onions she could find in that area and stuff her belly full of them.

She was just finishing up a particularly crunchy onion when she heard the call of crows- lots of them. Her ears perked and she licked her lips- the kind of cry she heard was an indignant one, meaning that the birds were likely trying to defend a meal from another predator. It was too late in the year for them to be defending chicks, so she decided that they must've been harassing some predator- but not one as big as a wolf, surely. Thus, it might be worth her while to investigate, chase them away from whatever they were attacking/protecting and find herself a meal of meat.

So it came as a surprise to see the black birds swooping and diving at another wolf. On the ground, not far away, she saw a pile of ruffled black feathers- a dead crow. So the crows hadn't been protecting a meal, they were attacking the wolf, possibly, because he'd killed one of their own. He ran in zig-zags, trying to escape their sharp beaks and clutching talons. Penny snorted and ruffled up her fur a bit, trying to appear bigger, and decided that if the crows were going to gang up, the wolves should too. With an indignant snarl, she bounded forward and added herself to the fray- weaving and dodging to avoid stinging pecks, but leaping into the air and snapping as well- crows ought to know better than to pick on a predator!

"speech"

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So they dug your graveAnd the masquerade

Aeolus Argyris

Will come calling outAt the mess you've made

Aeo was surprised when the black and silver fae did reach him to scare off the pieces of prey. He was almost torn, there was her being almost on Pitch Pine Trail territory, but also there happened to be her helping out and potentially saving his life. It wasn't like the crows could kill him, but it saved him a lot of energy with her being there. He took down one of them, killing it to save it as prey for the caches. Then another one flew away and the last one settled down on a branch, watching him with a grim looking gaze. He turned to the female in an uncaring fashion, well, that was in an uncaring way towards the evil crow that still dared show its beak.

"Many thanks there miss, I'm Aeolus of Pitch Pine Trail, the pack that controls this vast territory." He said, informing her of the territory in a more discreet way. He did hope that she would take the sense to back off a bit from where she was and make him a bit more relaxed. "You're quite the fighter, eh?" He said with a little bit of ease in his tone, trying to make casual conversation was definitely not his strong suite. He tended to be more of a silent guardian who obeyed and listened, but did not speak.... well that was unless he had something to say. When he had something to say, the world would listen or they would pay.

Penny winced as one of the crows managed to jag her quite well with its beak, just between her shoulderblades. She whipped around, leapt and snapped but the bird had already made quick its getaway, lifting above her and cawing out in what sounded like raucous laughter. Over her sore shoulder she caught a glimpse of the male who'd leapt up, catching and instantly killing one of the black birds- to which she let out a whoop of victory and encouragement. She continued to leap into the air, using her light weight and springlike legs to give her a decent amount of height, but she was unsuccessful- the remaining few birds seemed to consider two wolves less of an ideal opponent, and took off after having seen another of their own killed by the male. She stood, fur still bristled, and uttered a satisfied chuff as she watched them fly away. One remained, and had a grim look about it. Penny eyed it and squinted her gaze right back at it, but couldn't manage the same look of contempt.

As soon as the male spoke, she relaxed- but only for a moment, until he mentioned the name of his pack and the fact that she was encroaching upon his territory. Her ears flew forward for a second almost in disbelief but a second later she scuttled backwards, glancing left and right, flattening her ears and lowering her head apologetically. He hadn't said it in an unkind way, but she got the hint- this wasn't where she was meant to be. "Sorrysorrysorrysorry!" She said, and chuffed a half-laugh. "I just kinda saw you an' came on the tear, didn't really think, y'know?" She said, tilting her head to the side. He seemed like the kind who would understand- he hadn't immediately taken to chasing her as soon as he'd finished with the crows, after all.

"Fighter? Me? Naaaaah, I'm not much of a fighter. Like to heckle birds, though," She said with a lopsided smile. She was still slightly tense- having been alerted to their whereabouts and the fact that his pack was nearby- but since he'd engaged her in conversation, she took it to mean that as long as she behaved, she wouldn't get her tail handed to her. "You, though," She said, and nodded toward the two dead birds. "You done pretty good!" She said, and smiled. "I'm Penny."

(This post was last modified: Nov 01, 2013, 11:08 PM by Penny.)

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So they dug your graveAnd the masquerade

Aeolus Argyris

Will come calling outAt the mess you've made

Aeo had held a small smile to his muzzle, his eyes calm and rather enthusiastic. When she said she was no fighter, he didn't believe her; however when she said she just enjoyed to heckle birds, now that he could believe. He let a small smile on his muzzle and gave her a completely honest look. "Nonsense, any wolf that could chase and beat birds like that, they got true fightin' spirit in them. It's nice to meet you Miss Penny.... and say, I'd have to talk to the alphas, but we could use a wolf like you in our ranks. That is if you'd be interested." He told her, and he had analysed the situation with much detail. He thought she could handle the trail and all the drama that came with it.

If she could handle birds like that, she was sure be be good as a hunter or guardian, and from experience, Aeo knew the pack needed more faes. The sun was about mid in the sky and it was sunny. He was savoring the sun as much as he could for winter was on the rise. He gave a small chuckle. "Not to mention winters can be harsh here, and you'd best settle down in a pack if only for the winter if you wish to remain completely healthy." It was just a friendly suggestion to help his cause. He wanted this fae in the pack because she reminded him, even if they had only just met, of him when he was out and about as a younger wolf. The only difference was he had taken on wolves instead of birds.

He seemed pretty friendly, and she was able to relax when he didn't bother going on any more about how she was too close to the pack's boundaries. Perhaps he should have been more harsh about such things- Penny was an inexperienced as they came, given that she'd grown up in a pack that was about 98% family and thus she hadn't had to learn the hard way how to behave and not how to behave. All the same, kindness worked on her like a charm, and though she felt relaxed she told herself not to do the same thing again- not out of fear, but out of respect for wolves like Aeolus, who had a knightly way about them.

She smiled bashfully when he insisted that she was a fighter, and she shrugged one angular shoulder, still smiling in a flattered but ashamed way. "Thankya, Aeolus, sir," She said. She looked up, though, quite surprised when he mentioned his alphas- not because he intended to tell them about her near-blunder, but because he saw worth in her. Her ears perked and tail lifted to wave to and fro, but she reminded herself that she was in the presence of what seemed like a wolf who had some authority, even if he wasn't an alpha. "That'd be kinda cool," She said with a nod.

He went on to explain about the winter and she considered making a silly remark- did he not think she could survive on her own? But she was smart enough to know that a tough winter would be more than a match for her, even with her amount of gumption. "I was kinda thinkin' of joining a pack. Don't wanna rush into anythin', y'know, but...Maybe I can take a raincheck and meet your alphas sometime?" She asked. As she still did not believe she was a fighter but wanted to seem worthwhile anyway, she quickly added: "OH- and I'm a medic. Dunno if y'all need one but...If you do, that's somethin' I could be handy fer," she said with a lopsided smile.

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So they dug your graveAnd the masquerade

Aeolus Argyris

Will come calling outAt the mess you've made

Aeo was normally a good listener, and it was no exception here when he tore apart and analysed what the female had said, this Penny, she had a lot of potential in his mind, especially when she said she was a healer. They had just lost their healer to another pack, but he had left of free with the blessings of Ace, so Aeo wasn't too made... but he was still pretty mad. His eyes had a soft fire to them, he didn't mind if she did take a rain check, but he really hoped that she would return. "Of course I wouldn't mind miss, though if you don't mind, I never quite caught a name from ya? After all we were to busy fighting off those blasted buzzards." He told her, hoping to get a name that he could tell Ace.

If he could bring this girl to the Trail eventually, if she did join, it was a medic. A medic was almost necessary if a pack wished to ward off sickness, especially with the pups. The thought of having more mouths to feed when winter came had definitely popped up into his mind, but surely they could find some way to make sure everyone had their fill. They had pleasures that were simple and they included survival. That was enough said, but perhaps survival was a difficult thing to muster up. Only time could tell, but as far as Aeo could tell, they wouldn't mind having this mouth to feed. She just seemed to see it as it was and roll with it. Easy going and not dependent too much on others.

Well, this as turning out to be a much better near-trespass than she'd thought it would be! She liked Aeolus, right off the bat- he was patient, spoke with a lot of thought and treated her kindly. If the other members of the pack were like him, then she was sure she could come to love them all- so long as they would put up with an oddball like her. He didn't seem to be strange, weird or odd at all- but Penny didn't need to be surrounded by others like her in order to feel at home. As long as they accepted her for who she was and treated her nicely, she didn't really care now normal they were or weren't.

"Oh!" She said, realizing she might not have given her name. She thought she had, but then again, most things went through Penny's brain rather quickly. 'Brain like sieve,' she'd been told- though she'd never been able to figure out what a sieve was. "Pennyroyal Baskervlle, sir," She said with a nod of her head. "But I usually just go by Penny." She said with a smile. "My brothers actually used to call me 'Pigpen,' just...Y'know, 'Pen' short for 'Penny,' and 'Pigpen' just because they were boys. I'm pretty clean, most of the time," She said, and cast a hasty glance over herself to make sure that she didn't look too wild or unkempt. "Yer pack's Pitch Pine Trail? Is it actually a trail? And are there pitchy pines?" She asked, curious about how the pack got its name.

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Aeolus flashed a small smile when the girl introduced herself as Penny, Pigpen or Pennyroyal. His fur was slicked back, and his head tilted a little bit to the side. "Its really nice to meet you Penny! The Trail is in the middle of a marsh like area, more like a fen if there's a difference. A ton of Pitch Pine Trees are there and its called Pitch Pine Trail because of the kind of pines there. I dun't know where the Trail part came from, I guess its like a trail towards the den?" He offered up to the girl who was actually quite kind and friendly, a perfect fit for the Trail. Silver and Ace would take her, he had no doubt, but he had been concerned lately that there were little members.

Aeolus looked up at the sky, realizing that he was talking the sunset away he dipped his head to her. "Its been really nice to meet you and thanks for helping me, but I have to go and talk to one of the alphas. So if ya don't mind, I'm going to scoot out of here. I hope to see you soon!" He said sadly, he wanted to continue to talk to her, and he started off towards the den. He wanted to talk to Ace and Silver about gaining the pack role of Guardian. If he did, he would devote 90% of his time to guarding the pack and another 10% to keeping the caches full. Even if he did get a role, he still had a duty to help where it was needed.

Table Credit

(This post was last modified: Dec 20, 2013, 12:01 AM by Aeolus.)

Dispite having made the blunder of trespassing, Aeolus seemed incredibly charitable toward her- perhaps it was because she'd proved herself to be a good crow-chaser and had broken one of a pack's hardest laws in order to help him, or perhaps because she'd insisted that she was useful in some sort of way and made herself available as a possible asset for the pack. If they took her in, in the future, they'd be gaining someone with an extended knowledge of herbs, illnesses and diseases, and perhaps Aeolus was thinking with the pack's best interests in mind when he'd decided to be friendly rather than to chase her off.

Penny, however, suspected it was just because he was a total sweetheart.

"Huh. Cool. Sounds sticky!" She said, with a small wrinkle of her nose, when Aeolus described the reason behind the pack's name. She knew how tough it could be to get pine sap out of fur, and when needles got stuck in it too, it could make an especially tough mess of one's hairdo. She was satisfied with his explanation, though, and was a bit disappointed to hear that he had business to attend to- still, she smiled and stood up, nodding her head quickly and thankfully to him. "Same to you! Hope to see you around?" She said, with a hopeful question, before she gave the polite guardian of the pack a friendly wink, turned on her heel and trotted off into the wilderness. She mouthed his name to herself as she went, committing it to memory, so she could find her way back, and spend time with him again.

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