Hush Meadow Heaven hath an opening

@Cessair here you go!

Thoughts are like burning stars and ideas

Whisper Caverns

They flood and stretch the universe

The wind whipped across the area, a gentle drizzle sprinkling the pale pelted canine from above which chilled her to the bone. The temperature seemed to already be sinking these past few weeks, going from in the warm 70’s down to the 50’s as an average. It was a sign that fall was coming and following that would be winter, when everything was covered in a thick blanket of snow and the prey was so scarce you would question its existence. Those months were horrible no matter where you were, even in her original home land the winters had been barren of prey and their reservation natives had had hard times finding things that could keep them going.

A sigh escaped her jaws as she moved, giving her pelt a shake to fluff it up and pride a bit more insulation against the buffeting winds. She was out doing a border patrol, refreshing any scent markers that needed to be refreshed and making sure there weren’t any intruders on their lands. She stayed as close to their borders as possible, but was still slightly outside of them. This gave her no right to attack anyone and she knew that, but she was still close enough to have the right to ward off any suspicious activity. So far, she’d found nothing the scents of her packmates and some prey which she found to be a good thing. Figuring she’d been moving enough for the moment, she paused to take a breather and maybe even catch some prey if it could be found.

Despite her resolve to stop her aimless wandering, Cessair couldn't help but enjoy herself somewhat. The perpetual motion of her legs powered a small flame of warmth in her core, protecting her from the growing chill. As soon as she stopped, that flame would die and her sole defense against the uncaring weather would fall upon her light, not-yet-transitioned summer coat. The tawny-furred wanderer dreaded the winter that seemed to be already threatening to arrive. Winter and the famine it inevitably brought were especially hard on loners like herself, and though the bounty of the warmer months always restored her somewhat, she was keenly aware that her health had always been spiraling downward. Considering her current condition, Cessair was certain she would not survive another winter on her own.

With her mind stuck in that foggy pit of an uncertain future, Cessair had hardly noticed the growing scent of a pack boundary through the drizzle. It wasn't until she was only a few paces from what smelled to be the pack's border that she managed to stop herself. Though she needed to find herself a pack, the ever-cautious female was not so brash as to march into a pack territory to find some wolf to talk to. Since no wolf appeared at this part of the border, Cessair turned and walked back the way she came to put some distance between herself and the border, then swerved to continue parallel to it. Hopefully, she would stumble across a friendly wolf on patrol soon.

Several minutes of trotting through the wind passed before Cessair found what she was looking for. She followed the scent of the wolf back toward the pack border, and emerged from the underbrush to find a silver-coated female pausing just outside the pack territory. Cessair took note that she looked healthy and carried the scent of other wolves on her fur -- this was certainly a pack wolf. With cautious steps and tail wagging low, Cessair approached the female, stopping within sight but a good distance from the pack border, and offered her introduction. “Hello. My name is Cessair.” She felt awkward and out of place for approaching a pack wolf who may be hostile and was almost certainly busy, but she plunged on. "I am a lone wolf and I'm thinking about joining a pack." With little idea how to better explain herself and confidence waning, Cessair dropped her tail still lower and awaited a response.

(This post was last modified: Aug 18, 2014, 07:01 PM by Cessair.)

I love your table! It's so pretty!

Thoughts are like burning stars and ideas

Whisper Caverns

They flood and stretch the universe

The silver second-in-command, which was a very strange title she was still trying to come to terms with, had been trying to determine what she was going to do as a course of action. It had more or less been decided already that she would be doing a little hunting toward the end of her patrol, as they seemed to have an ever growing amount of mouths to feed and she wanted her new family to be well feed as often as possible. It was only left to be decided where she would go to make this excursion, for she knew that different areas of the huge meadow that threaded to swallow the section of the mountain whole provided different prey. Would she feel like rabbit that day, or perhaps even quail?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the scent of another wolf, a wolf not of Whisper Caverns, coming closer to her. Already she wanted to bow herself as she was used to doing in the presence of other wolves, but now that she had acquired her new position she knew she shouldn’t be doing that. Instead, she raised herself higher, her posture straightening and her tail curling. She didn’t have the air of a leader, but it was quite obvious that she wasn’t a measly subordinate anymore. The position made her feel…strange to say the least. Namid had never been hugely confident, but she was getting there bit by bit. After a moment the she-wolf of pale coloring somewhat like her own, but with an earthier appearance showed up. She was only slightly shorter than Namid, who was already on the shorter side of a medium sized wolf, and it automatically came to the Star Dancers attention that the lone girl went to a submissive stance. It made her shift in discomfort at the situation, a small frown curling onto her maw. Assessing the situation, she easily deemed it unthreatening and then proceeded to handle it.

“Hello, Cessair. I am Namid Macieo, second-in-command and teacher of Whisper Caverns. Please, you need not look so low in front of me. I will not bite,” She introduced, giving a wink and a warm smile that was obviously from a she-wolf of kind nature. Namid didn’t want to scare Cessair, as she knew that being a lone wolf was scary enough at times. At the moment, her focuses grew on getting the timid looking woman to join their ranks and into safety. “I believe you have come to the right place if you are thinking of joining a pack. I myself was like you not long ago, and I knew not of being in a pack to make matters worse. However Miss. Narimé and Sir. Ash took me in anyways and have been very kind. We are all very friendly here, do not you worry. Do you have any questions, perhaps?” She inquired, tilting her cranium at the side. Her mismatched gaze held only interest and a gentle nature, hoping to persuade the woman to join her.

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

Namid's friendly words calmed Cessair down somewhat. Still, she straightened herself to a more neutral position slowly, conscious that "second-in-command" was a high up position and that she herself was the equivalent of a lowest wolf. Or a leader. Without a pack to dictate her life, she was in charge of herself and had the exclusive privilege of making decisions. A loner's life certainly had some benefits, but Cessair quickly pushed the thought from her mind. She needed a pack, without question. So for now, she would consider herself not a leader, but a lowest.

Cessair kept her tail swishing as a continued gesture of friendliness and to drum up what extra warmth she could. Months of hunger led to relatively low health, so even this late-summer chill was enough to make her uncomfortable. Doing her best to ignore the subtle ache of cold, Cessair swiveled her ears forward and listened intently to her new acquaintance's speech. Namid's confidence in the friendliness of her pack was encouraging, and the names she had listed as the leaders of Whisper Caverns, Miss. Narimé and Sir. Ash, sounded like very caring and noble wolves. Perhaps it was the titles that gave that impression. Regardless, Cessair had only heard little of the pack so far, but she was already minded to approve of it.

Because she had never been a member of a pack before, Cessair had little idea what to ask about Whisper Caverns. She wanted to know everything! Or, more specifically, whether she would fit in and be happy there. Of course, Namid could hardly be expected to make such a prediction at this point, so Cessair decided on a more general question. “Well, I've never been in a pack before, so I guess...What would I be expected to do? If I were already a member, I mean. What would my role be?”

Thoughts are like burning stars and ideas

Whisper Caverns

They flood and stretch the universe

It seemed that the smaller woman was appeased, at least slightly, by her friendly gesture. This pleased Namid, knowing that she was already more at ease. Namid was not a threatening or mean wolf by any means, she hardly had a sour bone in her body. She felt bad when she hunted down animals, thinking that they had families of their own, too. However, she knew that if she didn’t eat them then she would starve to death, and if it meant her life over the smaller mammal’s then they were going down. Needless to say, she was a sweetheart.

It was also obvious that she was still slightly wary, and that was made understandable when she admitted she had never been a part of a pack before. Namid herself understood this on a personal level, being raised on a Cheyenne reservation where things were quite different from pack life. She was still getting the grip of things herself, but the basics she definitely knew. She considered the correct wording that would be needed in the situation, the wording that would be best to not scare off the possible new member. While none of the jobs were hard, if she were to throw them all out at once it could be quite unnerving to one so inexperienced. The pale woman knew this because she’d felt that way herself when explained all the various ranks and duties. Instead, she would stick to the basics that would be a near everyday thing for the woman and that were the least complex of them.

“I do believe that being in a pack sounds scarier than it actually is. While you are expected to do things, they are most likely tasks you do even now. You would start as a subordinate most likely, so you would be expected to do some hunting for the pack and go on patrols to make sure that no other wolves have trespassed onto our territory. Much of it just becomes habit in a short while, and once you get the hang of it you may have the choice of being a Scout, a Guardian, a Teacher, or a Healer. I do hope I am not over-loading you with all of this. I promise, it is not that bad.” She rambled, finishing with a slightly apologetic but reassuring grin. Everything she had said was true from her experience, but in the end everything was up to Cessair. She seemed like a wonderful wolf, and very much like Namid herself. The pale woman could tell that she would be an excellent addition to their ranks if she chose to be.

I kind of got carried away and wrote a lot. Whoops!

The patchy drizzle mercifully abated, if only for a few minutes, allowing Cessair to focus on the detailed answer Namid offered in response to her query. The list of pack wolf responsibilities began to overwhelm her somewhat. Though Cessair believed Namid when she asserted that the pack duties would grow into habit -- the silver-coated lady was so amiable that she seemed incapable of intentional deceit -- the anticipated implications of such a drastic change in lifestyle excited a dull fear in the back of Cessair's mind. Once she joined a pack, she must transform into a new creature. Part of her found this thought exhilarating, and the other part found it terrifying. She would reconcile herself to the idea in time.

Which brought up another concern: the travel-worn woman often took to wandering to clear her mind and make decisions. Would she still be able to explore the forest or saunter along a riverbank when she was not busy fulfilling her duties? Just how much time would be her own? Cessair knew she would be willing to sacrifice most of her leisure time in the service of a pack, but to give up wandering forever seemed too much.

The idea of helping provide for the pack by hunting was also daunting. For most of her life, Cessair needed to care for none but herself, so her hunting ability lay almost exclusively in small prey. She had occasionally been able to temporarily hunt with other wolves in order to take down larger prey, so she was not wholly inexperienced, but she would certainly need a lot of practice. Until she learned to hunt effectively in collaboration with others, her inability would surely cause her shame and possibly reproach. Even so, learning to hunt was a necessary evil, and no matter where she ended up, Cessair knew she must still endure the trouble.

The speed through which all of these elaborate considerations passed through Cessair's mind would have left her bewildered if she were not already so concerned with the issue at hand. Her very claws seemed to tingle with eagerness to acquire purpose, direction, security. To acquire a family. No more would she need to rely on herself for comfort or guidance. A rush of excitement for the future swept across her wearied self. But first she needed to know more. She had already learned about a pack called Cut Rock River, and the loner Kato's plan to start a pack of his own. Before Cessair could find peace, she must first make a decision.

“I have a few more questions, if you can spare more of your time for me. First, Would I be permitted to wander a little if all of my duties for the time have been fulfilled?”

Thoughts are like burning stars and ideas

Whisper Caverns

They flood and stretch the universe

To her displeasure, it did seem that she had slightly overwhelmed the woman. She had hoped that she wouldn’t but it would be slightly inevitable. There was a lot to say, which made it seem like it was harder than what it really was. However, it did seem that Cessair was taking it in strides which was quite impressive. Now more than ever she believed that she would make an excellent addition in their ranks. Conversation with her so far was pleasant and she seemed rather intelligent and thought things out, which showed with her questioning. It was good that she was doing such a thing, it was something that Namid herself hadn’t done when she’d joined Whisper Caverns. While she’d gotten lucky that they had been kind, she might not have been so in a different setting.

Her smile brightened to the questions, almost timid in asking but still determined for an answer. Namid loved answering questions of all kinds, especially if she knew the subject well. A gentle shake of her head showed she wasn’t bothering her, “It is fine, it is wise of you to ask such questions. It shows you are a smart woman, which is more than some wolves. You and I are much the same, I was a wanderer as well and still am. Nature seems to call all of the time to me, which means I do quite a bit of traveling. Yes, you would be allowed to wander where you please as long as it is within a decent distance from the pack camp.” She replied kindly.

"It shows you are a smart woman, which is more than some wolves." Cessair dipped her head and smiled in response to the compliment. Even though Namid seemed younger than herself, the three-year old could tell in the way that her acquaintance spoke and in the glint of wisdom in her heterochromic eyes that she had a formidable mind herself. The very fact that Namid surpressed her wandering spirit and joined a pack as soon as she apparently did was enough to prove that. Cessair felt honored to have earned such praise from such an obviously intelligent wolf.

The end of Namid's speech brought two kinds of happiness to the weary traveler. She was glad first because the answer to her query was favorable, and she would still be permitted to wander if her paws felt the itch to move. Discovering what seemed to be a kindred spirit brought the second joy. That Namid was a former-loner still afflicted by wanderlust convinced Cessair that they must indeed be "much the same."

“Thank you. I'm very glad to hear that occasional wandering is permitted. Now, just one more question. Before I came here, I met another wolf who told me of his pack. I wanted to make sure that I was making a good choice and so sought more options and information before accepting his offer. To aid me in my decision, could you perhaps tell me what about Whisper Caverns distinguishes it from other local packs?" In fear that her question portrayed her as self-entitled, Cessair stumbled on. "My question seems a little presumptuous, I think. I understand that acceptance into a pack is a gift and that I shouldn't be interrogating or testing my benefactors, if so they turn out to be, but I'm afraid I need to ask this question anyway in order to make an informed decision.”

Thoughts are like burning stars and ideas

Whisper Caverns

They flood and stretch the universe

Namid, in truth, was rather impressed and curious by the woman’s bountiful questions. It seemed her motives were much more thought out than that of her own when she’d joined Whisper Caverns. She’d jumped right in with the assumption that, if it were good enough for Rook it was good enough for her. Cessair was more careful, which, in retrospect, was a very good thing to do. Any reasonable wolf would try and get to know what they would be getting themselves into before joining a place they could quite possibly be in the rest of their life. For a brief moment, the Star Dancer doubted her own decision. But, she had not regretted it yet and she truly had already grown to like most of the wolves there. It was in that she found an answer to the older woman’s question.

“Whisper Caverns is welcoming more than other packs that I have seen or heard of. When they bring you in, they make you their own and instantly you feel at home. They do not care how different you may seem, or what past you may have. Only that you are willing to let them in as they do to you.” She replied. It almost seemed repetitive, she knew, but honestly it was what she felt was the right answer. This was her home now, and she would refer to it with the best respect that she could, and hope that Cessair could see it through the same lenses she did.