Oak Tree Bend Oak Tree Bend Pack Thread

Freshly accepted into the ranks of Oak Tree Bend, Spieden had spent the latter part of her afternoon exploring the territory she was now free to walk through. Free. It was a different type of freedom than she had been used to, allowed to wander as she pleased through the well marked borders. She even deemed to occasionally leave behind some of her own scent. She had been putting off returning to the den for the night, unsure of how she would get along with the others or where she was supposed to sleep. Her old pack had made her sleep in the mud on the riverbank, which surely couldn't be the case here among wolves more civilized. As she neared the den, the sound of the creek tickled her ears and she could see the namesake oak taking up the center of a clearing. Like a bird with its wings outstretched the old tree reached its tall branches up into the star studded blanket of the sky, which she paused briefly to appreciate with a small smile.

Her eyes fell on the rocky slope at the edge of the clearing, which she gingerly walked towards. Soft, snoozing sounds emerged from the dark den dug beneath. Spieden paused at its entrance, unsure if she should enter. She hadn't met anyone but the leader yet, and while they had brushed their own scent across her fur, she figured it wouldn't turn out well for someone to wake up next to a virtual stranger in their den. Spieden turned from the den and walked back towards the great oak, where she curled up cradled between its thick roots. It wouldn't kill her to spend one more night alone.

He had looked everywhere for @Triell but here. The den. At first, Oliver had been hesitant to approach the center of pack territory, not willing to intrude on space that wasn't his. But after looking and looking for Triell, and not managing to find him anywhere, the small male was willing to compromise with his morals. Just a tiny bit. Walking up to the site, he didn't dare move past it's entrance. No, he stayed a respectful distance away.

Once he was comfortable with his position, Oliver sat down to rest- at least for a little while. There was still work to do- if he wasn't searching for Triell, he was searching for medicines- if he wasn't searching for medicines, he was filling pack caches- if he wasn't doing that, then.....well, it was safe to say he was at least doing something. Never let it be said that Oliver Carmond was lazy.

Looking around, Oliver was disappointed to see that Triell wasn't directly in sight. At his wit's end, he considered just calling for him. But, his mind argued, am I allowed to do that? Or would it just make everyone mad at me?

Do it! Galley would say. There's no quicker way to call a wolf but howl! Who cares how much noise you make?!

Eventually, he just decided to wait here for a little while- give his leader at least a good hour before he started belting out names. Triell was bound to come to the den site eventually. Maybe... I need to talk to somebody about pack etiquette....

Far past the stage of worry, Triell was starting to grieve. Nayeli and Ruiko. It wasn't even winter. What a failure he was. When had he ever been fit to lead? He should be out looking harder. There was a lot of doubt like a black cloud, eating again at his soul. Were they the same place as Ice, and Naira? Out of his reach, beyond his ability to find unless he would leave his children?

Miserable, he had sought comfort. The only place he could think of was the den, where it was still lined with Nayeli's scent. He gave himself some time to simply be in it, letting his sorrow ache from his heart, to his nose, and toes trying to will himself to sleep, imagine them coming home.

He wasn't sure what outside grabbed was his attention. Eyes fluttered open, and he pushed himself from his stomach. Black nose twitched, noticing @Oliver's scent. It was not like him to hang around here. Suffocating a sigh, Triell grunted, making his way to the bright light. Much he wanted to say something, he didn't, he stood there, trying to let his eyes adjust. Vaguely seeing his pack mate.

The very wolf he was looking for emerged from the den, a black shadow- eyes weary with grief and lingering sleep. Oliver jumped at his sudden appearance, not expecting him to be there the whole time. Thank my lucky stars that I didn't howl for him...

"Triell, sir." the small man's tail waved happily behind him, excited to relay his findings, to make true a hope. He had to do this right. "I've expanded my store with many various medicines, including some from the mountain. While on my expedition, I came across another wolf- her name is Andromache-" Oliver had to remind himself to calm down as his words became rushed. He needs to understand you! "She is a part of a pack, on the mountain, lead by a woman named Athena. I hope I'm not to forward in my request, Triell, sir- but I was wondering if perhaps it might be best to initiate an alliance with them."

Oliver had to step down on his tail to maintain some semblance of professionalism. He had to present his case with calm nerves and rationale. Not acting like a puppy about to pee himself with excitement. But he was excited. Amid all this sadness, he could perhaps provide his leader with a little bit of hope.

Somewhere in his foggy mind it dawned on him he should have made a bit more of an effort to announce his presence. It was a bit too late, and did not seem to matter as Oliver began to share some interesting news.

Luckily, the rapidness and upbeat to the subordinate's voice was enough to capture Triell's attention, holding him to the present. It took the leader's mind to grasp the whole concept Oliver was getting out. Medicine. Lady named Andromache. Those were clear. New pack on the mountain lead by Athena, made a faint scowl cast over his vibrant eyes. It wasn't that he didn't like Athena, but he figured her good as dead. Would she really want to be allies?

"Well that's good," he managed to pull word for word from his lips. He was staring hard at naked branch in the distant, letting himself go over some memories. Rather not wanting to give Oliver a heart attack, he forced his expression blank. (Though these days it took less effort than usual). "But does this Athena know what pack she'll be allying with? Or is this just an idea to see if both parities are in agreement of a neutral arrangement?" With the winter hunt it didn't seem all bad to be on good terms if another pack was going to be over here. Would it work?

(This post was last modified: Nov 11, 2014, 03:33 AM by Triell.)

Triell wasn't awake yet- that made Oliver doubt his decision to right away blurt everything out to him. The scowl that formed at the mention of Athena's name deflated him a bit. Would this not work out after all?

Oliver didn't know what to think when Triell assumed a neutral face, commenting on his find. In response, his tail stopped it's happy dance. "Roma- Andromache, I mean, will be seeing to Athena's notice, sir. It isn't completely arranged- I think it'd be best, to just set up a meeting perhaps." Parities? Surely he meant parties. Perhaps it wasn't the best time to talk to him about this. Oliver wasn't even sure the dark leader had eyes focused on him. Turning to follow Triell's gaze, the small wolf noticed the branch that was apparently the true object of Triell's attentions.

Blinking, he faced his leader again. "Triell, sir, perhaps I can come again later? Will you be here later, sir?"

Shutting his eyes, there was nothing but a gentle wind, and Oliver's breathing accompanied by his own to tamper with his ears. But he felt like there was much more consuming him, pulling him in different pieces. If he fell apart, who would put him back together again?

The Tainn made better point to look into Oliver's brown eyes. He hadn't even realized he had mispoken. But seemed to grasp what Oliver, soon to be medic, was telling him. How, his undivided attention would be best. This really wasn't as bad as Triell could imagine it to be. He hadn't said Rhysis. There was worse.

"No, I'm sorry Oliver. There's just a lot on my mind," he muttered, flattening his ears, suppressing the memory. That Triell wasn't exactly here. "It's just if this is the same Athena I know, I'm not sure how it will all turn out. We weren't exactly the best of friends nor enemies. More of a erm... mixed history. But considering how last winter was, and way we are with the Glen I guess it won't hurt if this..Roma sets up a meeting." The Tainn offered a brief smile, more certain that was all to be done. He was curious. "Is it this side of the mountain to be sure?"

Oliver's cream colored eyebrows raised when Triell dismissed a later discussion, even though he was obviously distracted with his own inner thoughts. But it was good- no, almost- good news to hear that he and Athena were on rather...neutral sounding terms.

"Andromache had come down to this side to hunt for pack caches, sir. If their pack isn't settled directly on this side of the mountains, it's safe to say it's at least a little closer." This was starting to get awkward for the introverted wolf, having purposely avoided asking too many questions for Roma's sake. For the sake of pleasant conversation with a wolf he should trust with his life, Oliver blurted out a rather cliché small talk starter- "The weather's getting colder, isn't it?"

If Galley were here, he'd get so many clobbers upside the head, his maw would never utter the word weather again.

Oliver's done. All Triell needs to do is give him some directions so he doesn't make a bigger fool of himself.

"Very well," he rumbled, trying not to think of this as another disaster. No wolf had ever intmidated him, and Athena would likely be building a pack from scratch. What would she expect in return if they were allies? Would it be worth it? The news of Magnolia's Glen move had yet to reach him, but as of now he didn't mind the idea that the Bend wolves had the upper hand over here.

"Yes, and it's not a very good sign so I'm glad you decided to join." Triell gave him a genuine smile, but with a sway of his tail, roughly shook out his coat. "I have some things I better get done." He nodded his head in a silent good bye, drifting away to only be more alone with his thoughts.

Triell out

After Spieden dropped Phyrrus off at the den, the whole situation become extremely awkward. Not knowing where she was allowed to go, Phyrrus stepped with caution. Her eyes closed in on the den. It was much larger than anything she had stayed in. The dirt inside was packed down and lightly sprinkled with snowflakes, the den had not been used for a while. With a slight frown, Phyrrus turned around and admired the large oak that draped over the rocky den site. It looked sad and hopeless, much like the rest of the scene. Below her, paw prints riddled the snow. Between each print, there were dark scrapes were a possibly upset wolf lumbered along dragging their feet. Phyrrus looked around with a empathetic sigh, there was so much history and feeling carved into the frozen den. She ignored the emotion that was injecting her thoughts and decided to familiarize scent. Oak Tree smelled like river water and surprisingly pine trees despite its title. She then went around, tracing along the opening with her long muzzle close to the ground.Night had fallen on the den. Phyrrus' shadow was cast on the snow by the bright moon. Her eyelids had become quite heavy but the adrenaline of being in a new place kept her awake. Phy wondered when she was going to meet the rest of the members and what they would be like. Her thoughts raced a mile a minute until they were interrupted by the audible crunch of snow. Her eyes frantically searched the woods as she rose from sitting position. She kept silent and left her tail limp to appear untenable.

(This post was last modified: Jan 11, 2015, 05:30 PM by Phyrrus.)