Cedarwood Forest Nostalgia

Intended to be a fast-paced thread to help get me back into the swing of things <3 Halloween RE: You have found a pool of water filled to the brim with fish!

The fall weather was starting to grow frigid but it would not make the sable boy run for cover in the confines of a warm den with his packmates. He was sure they were all out doing their duty as well! The wind nipped and bit at his nose. He sighed as he remembered the fall of last year. The season had not been particularly good for him after he lost his father, Shade, to a nasty wound and a bloodline foe. Life was a climb and he felt like he would get to the top when he needed to. A small smile formed on his muzzle as he looked at the beautiful change of leaves. It was so nice to see. He had not seen such things back in the fen because the trees didn't have the right form of leaves.

He pressed through the crunchy leaves towards a small pool by the river that he knew about. He was sure that the other river wolves knew of it too. He thought about calling for his Aunt @Naia or perhaps his Uncle @Lachesis to see if they wanted to come fishing with him but he wasn't entirely sure that they were free enough to do it. They were both busy. He was pretty sure his aunt was in the territory between missions but he didn't know. Gosh, he hadn't seen his Auntie Naia in a while. They had never really gotten the opportunity to get close because of craziness. He arrived at the pool and his jaw dropped to spot it filled with fish. TONS OF FISH! The pool was cut off so they were all his for the taking. Perhaps he should call for them after all. He howled for any of his packmates willing to help fish and then for his aunt and uncle. He liked talking with family.

Hyperaware whenever Karpos was near the den (which wasn’t all that often), the young man's scent on the wind had just set Karina’s excellent nose twitching. She followed the River yearling's scent—he always smelled just a little different, as if he had just come back from some excellent adventure—stalking slowly, carefully.. The idea was to find him and watch without him knowing she was there. She didn’t know what she would do if she had to actually speak words to the swarthy youth. She would probably puke, to be honest—his presence alone was enough to make her tummy do flip flops. As she neared the River she smelled him nearby, freezing when she caught sight of his dark pelt against the river rocks. She stepped cautiously closer, eyes trained on the young man as he peered into a pool at his feet. Karina had been taught to stalk prey by her parents.. but this was entirely different.

Karina stopped again when she saw him look up—had he heard her?—but no, he only lifted his head to howl for their family. The pup’s ears flicked to attention, and after a moment she heard a distant reply from Naia, answering that she was outside the territory and unable to join Karpos. That was a shame… Karpos was so often alone, Karina had assumed he preferred it that way. This was the first time she could recall him ever actually asking for company. Without being entirely in control of her feet, the Baranski princess moved forward, silently drawing up beside the young man. ”Hi,” she finally squeaked out, training her soft blue eyes on the circling fish. Her face was hot—thank the gods wolves couldn’t blush—and she flicked a paw into the water in order to seem nonchalant. Water splashed onto her and Karpos as the fish darted away. She hadn’t even been close to catching one, which was likely because she had never been taught to do this.

@Karina

There was an eerie silence as his call ended until he heard the distant calls from his Aunt Naia. She couldn’t come and it was then and only then that he realized there was another wolf about. A young Karina made her presence known with a squeaky ‘hi’ and he gave her a small smile. She flicked her paw into the water and he fought back a chuckle. It was quite clear that she didn’t know anything about fishing as the fishes started to swim away as fast as they could. Oh what he would give to be her age again. It had been a year ago, almost to the day, which he had started running off on explorations of freedom to discover the unknown.

It was a year and a month ago that he lost his father. The loss had started his need for adventure because he needed to get away from the places that reminded him of Shade Slayer. Things were better now. He would often remind himself that he was stronger than he often liked to believe. If he tried to, he could control himself and his emotions and nothing would ever change that. He liked to believe that at least. He took a calming breathe as he finally spoke. “Hello young Karina. Do you want to learn how to fish?” His tone would be overly formal as he was around the heiress of Cut Rock River. She was going to grow to be a powerful woman and he definitely didn’t want to be on her bad side. He’d also have to answer to Maksim.

@Karpos did not return her greeting verbally, but instead graced her with a small, mysterious smile that made her heart beat faster. He was so cool. Why hadn’t Karina thought of using the silent smile? That would have been way cooler than ”hi”. Her maw dropped open in shock and embarrassment when her sad attempt at fishing splashed them both, but Karpos remained nonchalant—he even chuckled a little bit, to which Karina responded with a timid smile. Yes, it was funny wasn’t it? Look at them laughing together like friends! She giggled as she shook the water off her face. She should have known the older wolf wouldn’t be mad about a little water... he was too cool for that. Besides, River wolves were made for water!

His voice sounded somewhat stiff when he finally spoke—probably because he used his voice so infrequently. Or perhaps he was nervous too? Karina didn’t know anything about love or crushes.. but she figured the fluttery feeling in her tummy was something the other person should feel too, if he reciprocated her feelings. The pup’s ears turned down for an instant when he used the word “young,” a definite sign that he saw her as a pup and not a really a girl. ”I’m five moons..” she protested, her words trailing off as she made eye contact with the swarthy male and forgot how to speak once more. Five moons was probably nothing to him.. he was nearly grown! The princess sat up a little straighter, straining to make herself seem as tall as Karpos. His words registered, and she leapt to her feet in excitement. ”Yes!” she shouted, and the several bolder fish that had returned to the pond darted away in response to her volume. ”Yes, please.” Karina whispered, looking sheepish.

She seemed so nervous and insecure which really confused Karpos. There was something going on aroupnd the River or something because he could feel it. He could sense it but he had no idea as to why she was being so shy. He had always seemed to remember her as stubborn for some reason. He honestly had no idea why he saw her like that… until she protests about being called young. “I said just the same thing about… hmmn, that’ll be 12 moons ago now. Of course, I was going through a lot just then. That’s a story for another time though. Just be thankful I’m not calling you old, Karina.” He joked with another small chuckle as she turned back to her shy self. She was quite mysterious indeed and he was growing a bit nervous to be around her. She agreed to his offer to learn how to fish and he found that he was quite proud of himself for it.

The swarthy yearling hovered over the water as he watched the fish swim around. He was careful to not let his shadow fall across the water as his father had taught him at an early age. He then used his paw to scoop a fish just as it swam by and while the rest scattered, the fish he scooped was flopping on the ground. He quickly ended its life with his teeth and he set it down between them. “The way my father taught me to fish, because there are multiple ways to fish, is to hover over the water but not let your shadow touch it. If the fish see darkness they will dart away. Then as one swims by, you scoop it towards you in order to get it out of the water.” He explained the methodology with a small grin. “Why don’t you try now?” He offered as he stepped away from the pool.

Karina’s eyes widened as Karpos talked; she was hanging on his every word. He was twelve moons older than her? Twelve moons weren’t so many! They were closer in age than she thought... why, she had passed five moons without even hardly realizing it. She would pass five more in a heartbeat, and then them two of them could… they could... do what exactly? Karina wasn’t sure what wolves in love did, she just knew that the being in love—like mama and daddy—was important for grown-ups and she wanted it desperately for herself. She blinked her large blue eyes in confusion when Karpos mentioned his own puppyhood. He hadn’t always been with Cut Rock River? Karina had never thought about it, but now she was realizing that all of her extended family in Cut Rock River must have come from other places. They were children in other places before they were here! Imagine that! Karina couldn’t fathom ever wanting to leave her family in Cut Rock River, and she was curious what had led Karpos to leave his own birthpack.. but he dismissed that story quickly, saying it was for another time. Disappointment crossed Karina’s face briefly but vanished as he teased her about being old. She wasn’t sure what Karpos was getting at, but she giggled anyway. She liked the way he said her name.

The pup yipped with surprise and delight as Karpos flipped a flopping fish onto the ground in front of her. She ran up close to smell it but then backed away just as quickly when it gave a violent lurch toward her. She barked at she retreated, tail tucked but face still alight with excitement and delight. Karpos gave it a swift death, and Karina approached to investigate it once more when it was laying still. He gave her instructions, but to be honest it was hard to pay attention when all Karina could think about was what an impressive killing machine Karpos was. She hadn’t ever seen anything killed before, and it was a little unsettling to be sitting here next to a dead still fish that moments ago had been an alive flopping one. He encouraged her to try her paw at it, and the pup approached the pool with a dubious expression. She stared into the pool for a moment, watching the fish return and swim in delightful little circles. ”I.. I don’t think I can kill one.” She admitted, ears flattening in shame as she turned to her teacher. What good was a wolf who couldn’t kill? ”If I catch one, can we just throw it back?” Death was still a mysterious concept for Karina, who imagined it was sort of like sitting motionless for a long time in the dark. She would hate to bring such torture on a creature that clearly loved swimming in circles.

When Karina spoke her mind about killing another creature and how uncomfortable he felt, he envied her. He wished that he still held onto the innocence that she had. No, he never had that chance. He lost that chance when his mother left. He had a second chance when Ana stepped in but alas that last hope had been shattered when his father returned covered in his own blood. Karpos’ mind had been too young to comprehend what had happened to his father other than the fact that his father had been murdered by his former alpha. Karpos still refused to forgive Elettra for what she had done, just like he would never forgive Silver for saying that his father deserved the fate that he had received.

He would nod his head in agreement with Karina. “If you do not wish to kill the fish then of course we can put it back in the water. But one day, you will join in pack hunts and you may be asked to kill an animal and that is a time you must because without the food that the other creatures of this forest provide for us, we would die.” He explained as he set his fish on the other side of him. The swarthy young squire would look to the young damsel with an encouraging look on his face. He wanted to see if her attempt this time would result in the both of them being soaked from head to toe in water or not.

Part of him had the meaningless fear that Maksim would mind that Karpos was teaching Karina how to fish but that was silly. Maksim would not be mad for his daughter learning an important skill. Right? He hoped so. His chocolate brown eyes fell to the water when he saw the fishes start to swim back, slowly but surely, after they thought the threat of two wolves was gone. “You’ll only have a small window of opportunity to catch them. Once they know you are there, they will swim away so you have to be fast when your paw hits the water.” His voice would be hushed like a whisper when he instructed the young Baranski cub. Part of him wished to be her age again. She was without worry when that was all he thought about anymore. He was young, yes, but he definitely did not feel that way. If anything, he felt older than his father had been. He was such a CRAPEHANGER.

(This post was last modified: Nov 02, 2014, 08:59 PM by Karpos.)

Karina lowered her gaze in shame at Karpos’s lecture. She was glad she wouldn’t have to kill a poor fish of course, but his words implied that her pacifism would be challenged again in a later lesson.. and again and again for the rest of her life. Did everyone start out like her, reluctant to steal a life? Karina didn’t think so... Orren was so greedy he would steal anything, and she couldn’t see Aleksei shrinking from his duty. Karpos talked about pack hunts, and Karina thought of the massive carcasses her family always brought home, with racks of horns seemingly too heavy for their bodies and giant, glassy eyes clouded over with death. The girl had never seen one alive, but she imagined they were magnificent, giant eyes rolling in their heads and antlers held high to catch the sunlight. Could anything be more beautiful? Was it worth robbing the world of a creature bursting with such vitality? The young pup had never experienced starvation, or a hunger level that was worse than simply being a nuisance, so she was having trouble imagining it was worth killing over.

Karpos gave her some final instruction as she edged up to the pool, and when he fell silent her anxiety really started to boil. She was expected to do something now. What would he think of her if she failed? It was already bad enough that he had to lecture her about killing things, and now he was going to see her embarrass herself. Why had she thought this was a good idea? She looked back at the dark male with an uneasy gaze. He was so tall and strong.. he had probably never failed at anything in his life. Karina breathed in deeply as she trained her eyes back on the pool, her head moving in slow circles as she tracked the fish. She leaned out over the pool, worried at first that the fish would see her shadow but then realizing that she was so hopelessly short that her shadow would hardly be an issue. The pup leaned out further, emboldened by how tiny a shadow she cast over the water. They would never see her coming! She put a paw out, but her limb was so short that she had to lean further. The fish were still a too far. She inched a little farther, and then gasped as she felt her paws slip on the bank. A short yelp was all she was able to emit before she disappeared into the pool with a splash.

Karpos would watch the young Baranski pup with interest as he tried to determine how she would do. She was a very shy one, and the only girl of the litter. He was completely oblivious to the affection she seemed to hold for him. She was a pup and granted he was little more than a yearling, it was weird to think of a pup liking an older wolf. He remembered his obsession Aponi but she had been his age. He just figured that wolves loved people who were their own age, not an older wolf. He was pretty sure Maksim and Kisla were the same age. His parents had been the same age. Spectre hadn’t been the same age as his father, but he had been so sure that his father was just trying to fill the void left by his mother that he latched onto the young femme.

The girl would make her fishing attempt and without another word, she would fall in an instinct kicked in. Protect the pups. He quickly raided the pool, pulling the young girl out of the freezing water by the scruff and setting her down on the ground. The colder weather wouldn’t be in her favor, he presumed. He should get her to Lachesis to get looked over in case she was to catch a cold or something. “Karina? Are you all right? We should get you to Lachesis…” He was rambling off out of worry. Maksim would kill him if anything happened to the pups he was protecting but not before the guilt would eat away at him. He was a guardian and he had to protect her and her brothers. He had to fight so much more than just wolves on the border to do it.

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health