Lost Lake A Promise Kept

His journey south after seeing Des had not been what he had hoped at all and he had not found what he was looking for.  In fact he was still trying to get the mud off of his pelt from the swamp that he had run across.  He was still uncertain as to where he was going to end up in the future but what he did know was that with his travels leading him north once more he was going to follow through with a promise that he had made to a friend.  Kajika had never been one to break his promises and he did not plan to start now especially to someone that he felt more close to than his own family.  That was why he had taken the path that had led him from the lake he had seen Des last back to the lake.  It had been a nice place to spend time with her the last time they met that he wanted to meet her there again. When he reached the lake he paused to take a long drink of the cool water.  As he drank he noticed the glimmering of the fish that had been there previously. He looked up to the sun which had shone bright that day before turning his gaze upon the forest.  Kajika was a little worried that she might not be as happy to see him as he was her, that the time she had spent with her new pack might have changed her.  Still he knew that he had to put those worries aside if he was going to keep his promise.  It was that thought he held in his mind as he lifted his nose in the air and with a loud call for Des.  He hoped that she would hear his summons and come.

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No longer a vagabond, Desideria found herself with little to do. Early in the morning, she'd taken a trek to Fallen Tree Cove's borders, walking the line with sharp eyes. There was nothing mysterious or concerning at all, and when she'd returned, she found a nice place for a nap in the morning rays. Now, it was a fair bit warmer – but it was not the heat that had woken her. There'd been a call, back at the borders she'd been inspecting earlier. However, it was no stranger. It was Kajika! Scrambling to her feet, the female gave her dusky pelt a quick shake before loping away from the main den. He was back at the lakeshores, that wily fisherman. When she bounded out of the scarce pine forest back towards the water, her ears were forward and her tail wagging behind her as if she could propel herself more quickly, splashing through the shallows as she made her way to her friend. Greeting the dark male with several gravelly chuffs, she barely managed to put on the brakes without slamming into his large bulk. Even still, she showered them both with the lake before rubbing her shoulder against his, tongue darting out to brush against his muzzle. "You're back!" she crowed, eyes bright as she pulled away to have a look at her hunting companion. "You came back! I thought maybe you'd take a liking to the south – stay down there, or something. I'm happy to see-- Ugh, Kajika, you stink," she chuckled, finally noticing the swamp mud that clung to his dark fur. She wrinkled her muzzle. "You need a bath. What did you get into down there, anyways? You stayed away from that nasty alpha, I hope."

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Standing there by the lake waiting for Des after he had called her he suddenly became even more self-conscious of the mud caked in his fur.  Not to mention anxious about the greeting he would get when she did arrive.  Then the thought that someone else besides her might have heard the call and he would end up in a confrontation with none of her pack mates.  Kajika thought it was safe to say that he was a bundle of nerves to see his friend.  That was until he saw her familiar figure coming toward him through the shallows of the lake.  He did notice that she was coming at him rather quickly and he wasn’t sure that she would stop before she reached him so he braced himself just in case she didn’t stop. Her greeting made all of his doubts about her changing disappear and he returned her greeting by brushing his muzzle against her cheek.  He didn’t want her to get dirty with the mud that was on his pelt.   “I am,” he stated quietly.  He was relieved to see her after being in The Fen.  It was a dark place that he didn’t know how any living creature could survive there but he knew that some did.  He laughed with her when she brought up the fact that he did smell rather badly.  “I made you a promise didn’t I?” he said when she commented about him coming back.  “I couldn’t stay there, it’s not a place that I could live and I am happy to see you.”  He lowered his head slightly as he saw the wrinkle of her muzzle, “I know it’s The Fen,” told her, “It’s so muddy there.  I did stay away from her just like I said I would.”  Then he brushed his muzzle against hers once more, “I did miss you,” he whispered to her.

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"The Fen, huh? Think that's somewhere I'll avoid. Grew up in a desert, you know? It was so dry – I really liked it." She rolled her shoulder in a single shrug. Here, in the forest of Relic Lore, there was no such thing. It wasn't so bad – the lake, as it turned out, was not a poor choice for a home. Never again would she den beside a river, but the lake did not seem as vulnerable to the same ebbs and flows of a rushing source of water. And speaking of the cool body of water… Desideria reached out, nipping at her companion's ear playfully. Gently, she gave a brief tug before she released, darting out into the sandy shallows. Beneath her feet, the minnows scattered for the protection of the small plants and pebbles. Whirling, she gave her friend a bark and tossed her head. "C'mon, you need to clean off. It's not that chilly, anymore." Lifting one paw, she splashed at the surface, tail wriggling furiously behind her. Desideria's delight was obvious, and even the smell of thick, swampy mud couldn't deter her from spending time with her favorite wolf in the forest. "I'm glad you stayed away from her. Dangerous business. And-- I'm glad you didn't stay south, either." Selfish, maybe, but she'd much rather her friend where she could find him, and somewhere she'd be willing to travel. And he was much more a friend than anyone she'd met so far. "You know, living near a lake is pretty nice… All the fish you can eat~"

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Kajika nodded, “Yes, it’s not a very nice place to be not any place that a wolf should live,” he stated.  She had also said that she had grown up in a desert which he found interesting, “I didn’t know that about you, was it hard for you to be here after being there?” He asked curiously.  It must have been a big change to go from somewhere that was so dry to Relic Lore which had a lot more trees and water.  For him Relic Lore wasn’t much of a change from his old home though there were more places that he found desirable to live.  One of those places being the area in which they currently were, he was glad that Des had such a nice place to call her home. Suddenly she had grabbed his ear and tugged on it but before he could react she had dashed out into the lake and was now standing in the shallows beckoning him to join her.  She was right about him needing to clean off, the smell of the swamp was starting to get to him after having it on his pelt the last few days.  “Hey, that’s not fair,” he called to her in mock upset, “But I won’t disagree about my needing to clean off though.  I think the smell has actually gotten worse.”  Especially after having traveled in the sun for so long. He smiled as she splashed the water with her paw and wagging her tail.  He liked seeing her as happy as she seemed.  Then he answered her invitation by charging out to meet her in the shallows splashing water up all around them when he finally reached her, “I’m glad I stayed away from her too, I can’t really do dangerous just now.” He did not think running into a pack with a leader like Des had described would be in his best interest.  “Me too” he added in response to her saying she was glad that he hadn’t stayed south.  As she spoke about the lake he wished that he could tell her that he would stay with her and join the pack that she was in but he still had not found what he was looking for. “I know and I expect with so many fish you have been practicing what you learned?”

~Table by Ace

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Dancing into the spray of water, the female trotted in place as she was joined. Tail fanning behind her, she brushed into her companion once before ducking her nose down, making a small wave with her shout. Surfacing again, she clicked her jaws before responding. "I have been! I caught a trout for the alpha the other day, would you believe it? Not a very big fish, not like yours, but it was a nice little trout. I think she liked it." Namid wasn't in the condition to go hunting for herself (and really, Des thought that gave the mother no room to be picky), but it seemed she had enjoyed the catch all the same. Of course, it had also taken the woman hours to make a successful catch, but she didn't feel the need to tack on that detail. Now that Kajika had joined her in the water, the timber wolf pushed further into the lake. The silt felt soft beneath the pads of her feet as she waded into the water, halting only when it was belly deep. Glancing over her shoulder, she waited for the dark wolf to join her before speaking again. Her tail swished across the surface of the water, creating small ripples as she waited. "What did you find, down in the Fen?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Obviously, not what he wanted, but it was good to know, should she ever find herself down in such a way. "Did you find the other packs down there?"

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Kajika hoped that this dip in the lake would work to wash off the mud and smell from his coat.  The splashing he had done on his way into to join Des in the shallows had done exactly what he had wanted and gotten them both wet however Des took it a little further by dancing in the spray.  He thought that it was about time that they had a little fun, as a lone wolf he didn’t have much time for fun so this was a nice change.  He was glad that what fun he was having was with her.  “Good, I do believe it.  It doesn’t matter if it was as big as mine or not as long as you caught one.  You’ll be able to catch ones as big as the one I caught in no time.”  All she had to do was practice and since she lived by the lake she could practice all of the time.  “I hope she did but she probably understands that it can be difficult to catch fish.” As Des waded deeper into the water Kajika followed, the water felt nice as it saturated his pelt.  He thought for sure that this would have to get him clean again.  She had stopped when she was belly deep in the water but Kajika had gone just a little farther till he was belly deep as well which also caused his tail to float out behind him.  She spoke again once they were in a deeper part of the lake, she wanted to know about the Fen.  “Well it’s very dark there and lots of mud and a swamp.  It was also very quiet there and I didn’t run into many wolves.  Just one actually and he didn’t seem very friendly,” he explained to her and she wanted to know if he had run into any other packs, Kajika shook his head.  “No, just that one wolf.  I might have come back this way before I found them but I decided that I didn’t want to live there.”  He wanted to live where there was sun and dry land that he could sunbath in when he didn’t have any duties that needed to be attended. p>

~Table by Ace

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Larger than her, the other wolf waded out further to the same effect. After a moment of thought, she followed suit. Near up to her chest, the female began to paddle, enjoying the gentle flow of water around her body. She only tread for a few moments, circling around Kajika before returning to the more shallow water. Once her paws landed, she glanced over. "Dark and wet. Sounds awful," she agreed, bobbing her head. As much as she enjoyed hot and dry, it was the light that Desideria liked the most. Living in constant fog and darkness sounded like a waking hell – she did not blame him for his desire to leave, even if he hadn't found all the packs that called Southern Eden home. Her tail swished behind her again, and this time she floated closer to her friend, brushing up against his side. It was nice, to spend time, and have no real agenda on their paws. "Where do you go from here?" she asked, brushing her wet muzzle against his. "What are you looking for?" It had been on her mind for a while – since he had mentioned looking for something when he'd set his paws southward in the first place. If it was family, Dezzy felt he'd probably have brought it up by now. After all, he'd had plenty of opportunity. She'd mentioned her own missing siblings more than once. There was the possibility of a lost love, but she thought Kajika looked a bit young (and a bit too happy) to be carrying a broken heart along with him. What else a wolf could seek, she wasn't sure. He was fed and watered – why did he keep wandering?

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A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Kajika knew that he would have to eventually get his whole body wet in order to get all of the mud off but for now he was rather content standing in the belly deep water talking with Des.  After going south he wasn’t in a very big hurry to continue his journey.  He watched her as she swam around him, “It was,” he agreed about The Fen being awful, “It wasn’t the sort of place where you could really stay positive.”  If fact Kajika had gotten to the point that he had to leave because the atmosphere of the place had not helped him with his already diminishing mood.  He wasn’t sure that that feeling would change even if he lived with a pack there. “North, I suppose to Turtleback lake then maybe the lowlands,” he said when she asked where he was going to go from the lake after their visit. Though he wasn’t exactly sure why he was heading there any longer besides the fact that he wanted to spend some time at the lake.  Maybe sometime spent there would help him to think things through.  Then she brushed her muzzle against his, he returned the gesture with a lick on her cheek.  “A pack where I feel like I belong,” he told her when she asked what he was looking for, “I suppose one where I feel like I belong and can do some good.” Kajika moved out the to the deeper water to get his pelt fully wet in hopes that would clean the dirt off of it before swimming back to where she was in the shallower water. The truth was that when he was with Des he felt like he was already home but had to be sure.  He didn’t want to make a decision on impulse and it be the wrong one especially for her sake.  To join her pack without seeing what all of his options were only to have to leave the pack and her would be wrong and it would hurt her and he couldn’t do that to his friend as much as he wanted to stay with her and be there for her like she was for him even if she didn’t realize it.  He felt that another trip north and he would be able to make his decision about what to do. “Do you like your new pack?” He asked wanting to make sure that she was happy.p>

~Table by Ace

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