Sex: FemalePenny couldn't wait much longer to join a pack- but the medic could neither pressure her travel-mate to speak to the wolves of Cut Rock River on her behalf nor could she predict the weather that would stall them. But when she heard Aeolus' call in the distance, having spoken himself to the wolves of the pack, she picked herself up and followed her sense of smell in the direction of the pack with hopes of being permitted to join as well.The only other pack she'd known about was Pitch Pine Trail- but it had since disbanded. Now, having traveled with Aeolus in search of this other pack, in which lived her friend Lachesis, Penny anticipated the life of a pack wolf again, and hoped that they would accept her as a pack member and, perhaps, a medic as well. Though it was winter, she could still treat wounds and diagnose illnesses, and in the spring when new life returned to the Lore, she would set about making herb caches, the same as her father had. She'd even been taught how to plant herbs in one area- digging them up from their scattered environments and burying their roots in one area so as to have access to a plethora of herbs without having to travel. Her father had been an extraordinary medic- and she felt confident, as she made her way toward the pack's borders, that she could make herself useful as a medic and botanist.
The snow drifted down lazily onto her silver-speckled back as she waited, and she offered a small, polite howl- one which was low and quiet, hoping that someone would be in the area to hear it, rather than raising her voice to alert the whole pack. She wasn't a diva. Right now, she knew she had to be as humble as possible, and it wasn't something she did very well, not without being excitable and clumsy.
The black River wolf rarely ceased in his patrols of the pack borders, and therefore he was well aware of nearly every event that took place so close to home. Strangers abounded, attracted to the new settlement and seeking a refuge from the bitter season, but there were also those whose scent only came so close before its trail vanished, betraying their return to wherever they had come from. These were always a slight bother to Hati, but since Maksim's scent always mingled with theirs he never sought answers to the riddles. Their leader knew what he was doing, and for this Hati was content.
He was in the process of tracking down a snowshoe hare's fresh trail, his heart set on a warm meal rather than the frozen meat from the caches, when a gentle howl caught his attention. It was a note he had never heard before, and immediately the River subordinate knew that it was another wolf seeking entrance to the pack. Though the decision to abandon his chase was difficult, in no time he bounded towards the source of the call making no sound. It took little more than a minute to reach where he believed the woman to have howled from and her scent hit him suddenly, confirming the location. Hati's one golden eye roved the area, searching for the outsider. Her pelt that matched his own stood out against the bright snow drifts making her easy to spot.With the black female in his sights, Hati turned to face her full on with his head and tail raised to display the total dominance he had over this stranger, his eye burning with expectation and mistrust. As always, he remained silent, giving plenty of room for the loner to speak her piece.
Unable to help herself, she stood up, tail waving from side to side quickly, and grinned broadly at him. She flattened her ears to show her respect and licked her lips as she lowered her head and bent her legs to appease him, but she was unable to keep herself from grinning as she looked him over, and uttered a short, joyful chuff of a bark, even though the stranger looked quite austere and strict. "Well howdy!" She said, dropping herself to the ground when she felt his gaze fasten upon her. She avoided eye contact, but couldn't keep the smile from her eyes. "Name's Pennyroyal Baskerville, M. D. Dunno what 'M. D' stands for, but my ol' man said to say it since I'm a medic. Herbalist and botanist, at yer service. Lookin' to join this here pack- I got friends, Aeolus who woulda just joined, and Boo- er, Lachesis. Or Nineteen. Dunno which he actually goes by here...cute guy, white fur, pear-coloured eyes....?" She asked, hoping the stranger would know who she was talking about. Penny spoke rapidly and without pause, though she waited just a moment, before she felt the impulse to explain why she couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. "Boy, d'you ever look like me fadder- one eye and all! 'Cept younger. My dad's an old man now. You related to any DeMontes, by any chance?" She asked.
If he had to define the dark female in one word, it would be friendly. Her body language, though satisfactorily submissive, was bursting with excitement and the need to simply talk and be happy. Her mouth was bubbling with nonsense, but Hati didn't really mind. Though his expression of total seriousness never wavered, he secretly enjoyed the way Pennyroyal overflowed with words. It was something he would never know.
There were a few words that Hati recognized in the woman's barrage, mostly her mention of Aeolus and Lachesis, both of whom he knew of, though her personal description of the latter did not exactly fit his own. As he listened to her bubble over he wondered how Maksim would react to her initial speech—would he find it disrespectful, or let her obnoxiousness slide as she portrayed obvious and, Hati believed, genuine interest in becoming one of the River wolves. His eye took on a distant fog during the short pause Penny made, but snapped back to attention once she continued. Once she stopped all he could do was stare for a moment before a humorous, idiotic grin spread across his face and he shook his head, no. Demontes was an entirely foreign name to him...though for a moment he wished it were true. If someone from his old life could come, and just whisper his name, his true name, so that he could be called by it again. Pain and regret flickered in his eye for a moment then, and the smile vanished. Maksim or Astra needed to arrive...and soon.
Taras' wish for Maksim to arrive soon would not go unheard. In fact, he had been listening to the woman from behind the tall cedar trees. His brow raised slightly at her cheery demeanour, her happy-go-lucky attitude causing him to stiffen for a moment. Such behaviour from strangers twisted his gut for some reason. Pennyroyal Baskerville—quite it the name. It certainly had a rather noble feel to it. Another medic at the border, it seemed, and a friend of Aeolus and Lachesis—had she just called him “Boo”? She rambled on to the one-eyed River wolf and the leader's head titled. Was he related to the DeMontes? Perhaps he'd get a whiff of the ebony wolf's true name. Unfortunately the male, who seemed rather amused at this entire situation, shook his head. His wolfish grin was quickly wiped away, however, and this is where Maksim Baranski decided to make himself known.
He stepped forwards, tail erect and his gaze trained on the woman. Her eyes were a deep emerald green, a dark coat with a sprinkling of silver all over. She was a lot like Lachesis: spindly and all leg. No wonder she knew him. “Lachesis is indeed a member of this pack. Cut Rock River would be the name of this territory.” He halted, drawing up next to Taras. “If I heard correctly, you wish to join the ranks.” With a quick sniff, he took in what he could about the woman. Pehaps he would have gained more information on the wolves she had interacted with as a loner if the sudden scent of flora smacked him. It wasn't an unpleasant one, but it was certainly strange to find a wolf with such a strong odour. Had she been rolling around in the undergrowth or something? Perhaps she was that dedicated to her chosen profession of sorts. In truth, the agouti brute found her more than a little bit odd. “Maksim Baranski, leader of the River. This is Taras, a trusted friend,” he gestured towards the one-eyed subordinate. “I ask of you, what can you offer me that no other wolf can? Winter is a difficult season, after all, and I cannot simply welcome any wolf who wanders to my borders into my home.”
we are shining in the rising sun, as we are floating in the blue
And as quickly as that, Penny cut herself off mid-babble when another wolf came out of her blind spot (which, given that she was distracted, was pretty much everywhere within a wolf's normal range of vision excluding the spot of ground not far from Hati's feet where Penny's gaze had remained focused) and joined them. The grin had disappeared from Hati's face just prior to this, so Penny actually took this as a cue that this guy, this new one, was important. She flicked her ears back against her scalp (they'd flicked forward as she'd been rambling) and clamped her mouth shut, but her tail continued to wave from side to side behind her, making a fan-like path in the snow.
Maksim spoke and Penny had the good sense to keep her trap shut, though more than once she nearly interjected and interrupted him. Fortunately, he didn't leave too many places for her to do so, so she was able to control her runaway mouth. Her interest had been piqued at more than one time- when he mentioned Lachesis' name and again when he acknowledged that yes, she wanted to join the pack. When 'her turn' came, she gave him a dip of her muzzle which was already only a few inches off the ground. "Well howdy-doo," She said, with practiced ease at making familiar words actually sound respectful. "Nice t'meetcha. Yup, I'd like to join this here pack, and yep, I can offer somethin' I bet you ain't got! Yeah, most packs got a medic, sure, whatevvvvv. But I'm a herbalist and a botanist- yehhh, so plants're sorta kinda scarcer right now, but I know what roots I can dig up and use, I'm a walking en...psychic...pedia er whatever...Of herbs an' their whereabouts and uses. BUT what makes me real special is that I'm an omnivore." She said, having decided that 'omnomnomnivore' was too childish to use when introducing herself to a pack leader. "Don't gotta worry nearly so much 'bout me emptying your caches an' whatnot. BUT I can hunt okay enough- both Lachesis an' I caught a rabbit when we went tag-team hunting together, just ask him!" She said. She nodded and smiled hopefully, falling silent suddenly, having come to the decision that that was probably enough.
Look Out!
There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by a bear nearby. +10 Health
A sour taste had built up in the silent wolf's mouth as his eye remained fixed on the overly-talkative stranger. At first Pennyroyal's senseless rambling he found refreshing, but the woman was beginning to get pushy, prodding him with her words from every direction. Hati was careful to hide his emotions and simply stared with a steel expression. When the Baskerville female eventually tried to shut herself up (and failed) by asking Hati for his name, an awkward moment was avoided as a large agouti male of great strength and powerful stature stepped from the shadows, waving his tail like a banner of leadership.
As Maksim Baranski drew up beside Hati's smaller figure, the subordinate assumed a more submissive posture by lowering his head and tail slightly, as well as flicking an ear in his alpha's direction as thanks. He did not wish to seem sulky, but Pennyroyal's words had greatly dampened his spirits and there was no stopping the indifferent, even dark look that shown in his single eye. He studied her carefully, just as he was sure the larger wolf beside him did, coming to personal conclusions about her usefulness to the pack. They already had a well abled medic whose skills Hati had recently encountered for himself. They did not need greater numbers to hunt large prey, for no herds could be found anyway.
As Maksim introduced himself as well as Hati, the latter could not help but feel some pride at his superior's statement and it showed in his eye, though his posture did not waver. Pennyroyal began a second rant, this time about herself and her own abilities. When she mentioned her skill at procuring plants needed for medicinal practices even in this death-like season, he couldn't help but wonder if she would indeed be of great use to the pack. However her comment regarding her diet had him narrowing his eye indifferently; she was not the only wolf who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of sweet berries, though he wondered what it was exactly that she planned on happily digesting when none were growing. Tree bark?
Maksim had barely closed his mouth before the girl before him offered a dip of her head. And then she was off, starting with a chipper little “howdy-doo”. The way she spoke was certainly … different. The only word the River leader could think of to describe it was zippy. He tried to withhold judgement, though his suspicions were flaring up something fierce. He just didn't do well with such cheerful dispositions on first meetings. The Baranski did his best to focus on what she was saying, picking out key points and weighing up the pros and cons. She was a botanist, able to dig up roots and what not even in this hideous kind of weather. She knew where herbs were which meant that, hopefully, the pack's supply wouldn't ever be empty for long. The thing Pennyroyal claimed to be special was that she was an omnivore, as if no other wolf ate berries and the likes when pickings were slim. She spoke of Lachesis again, mentioning that the combined efforts of the two of them had snagged a rabbit. Penny was certainly an oddity, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The only problem so far was that she talked. A lot. Maybe because she was nervous?
The River leader cleared his throat, glancing to a rather unimpressed Taras. He offered his subordinate a gentle nudge—lets give her a chance—before returning his gaze to the green eyed girl. “Considering the current state of things, I'll accept you into Cut Rock River. We'll need to stock up on as much as we can before the worst of this winter hits.” Making his way forwards, the agouti wolf brush up against Pennyroyal, transferring the scent of the pack to her coat. “Welcome to the pack.” He offered a small smile to the girl, stepping back from her. “No doubt you'll want to find Lachesis. His den is in the center of the territory. I'll show you the way.” With his piece said and the deed done, the agouti leader turned and began to make his way further into his territory.
we are shining in the rising sun, as we are floating in the blue