Silent Moon Plateau Dancing in police disco lights

@Desideria only for the first few rounds, then @Wren and @Takis. PM with any questions/comments!

Late-morning, Sunny, 79°F/26°C
Silent Moon Plateau, Noble has come to try and steal from you!

After her "chat" with Hexamora, there was no desire to linger by the lakeside pack any longer. Home was an obsolete idea and the prospect of a meal had been eliminated with her first failed attempt. It was time to move on. She couldn't stay to wait for Desideria... assuming the woman would even try to find her. Clearly things had changed for her and Noble wasn't sure how things stood between them now. It wasn't a very heavy heart that she carried along the mountain range. Certainly Desideria would understand why she'd left, after all, hadn't the woman been the one to teach her?

She skirted the lake, staying just close enough to glance down and catch glimpses. It was easy traveling. There were no other wolf scents to avoid and it was cool under the shade of the hardy evergreens. Clear streams ran down from the peaks above, headed for the wide lake below. Noble stopped frequently to quench her thirst and to wash the scent from her pelt. She had no way of knowing how close the next pack would be and she wanted to be ready. Eventually the lake began to fade from view and Noble put a dark nose to the ground as her pelt tried in the warmth of the pine forest. Unlike over the winter, there was no desperation to her quest now. This was not her family that she searched for (a hope since given up on). Her pace fell to an easy lope, unaware she was being followed.

Poor Noble. Poor, poor Noble. Hadn't she listened? Didn't Desideria tell her to make sure she wasn't seen…or smelt? If she'd been able to notice the faint trail of a stranger crossing the borders, well…it probably wasn't a very good sign. While their lesson had been a bit short, and there'd been no practical demonstration… The scout in training heaved a sigh as she waded out of the lake, tossing a small trout on the shore. It stared back at her accusingly with its dead eye. She was the one who let the poor, starving yearling done – Noble hadn't actually done anything wrong, only what she'd tried to explain. Hurriedly, the rogue snagged a second trout before she dispersed from Fallen Tree Cove. Her mouth strained around the pair of fish, but she felt horrible about Noble's failed attempts (even if she in no way wanted Namid stolen from – what an awful situation). Fortunately the wanderer was easy enough to track, and several hours later, she'd finally caught up with the other female. Dropping her prize gently, she lifted her head. "Wait!" she called, hoping Noble wouldn't scatter immediately. Her tail tucked beneath her belly, ears swept back as she made it evident she had no desire to herd the youngster like Namid had. "Wait. That- I don't know, Noble, Noble, it wasn't supposed to go like that. I brought you fish, yeah? I brought you two fish," she babbled nervously, anxiety reading across her face like words on a page. Please, let me make this up to you.

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

just reiterating this is still just between Noble and Desideria. The theft has not started, we will tag both SMP wolves when the party starts!

The slow, singular hush of her feet over a thick bed of evergreen needles and twigs. The quiet scratching of small birds as they removed the seeds from a million pine cones. A warm breeze stirred the points of her ears and a dark muzzle dropped to sniff at the ground. Only the humid musk of the forest met her nostrils, the neighboring pack was several miles away yet. Noble told herself over and over again it was peaceful here, not lonely. It was best not to dwell on what she didn't have (for it was such a long list), but it did make for a boring journey.

"Wait!"

The dark yearling spun like a top, toes digging into the ground as she rotated sharply. It wasn't the direction she expected company from, but that was irrelevant now. Ears flattened and tail lifted out the way before she realized it was Desideria. Her eyes flicked to the left, then right of the woman, before settling on the lone Cove wolf. The pose changed little beyond a slight lifting of her ears, Noble was still not sure this was a conversation she wanted to be having. Finally her eyes narrowed, lifting hesitantly from the offering. "I been chased before and I been hungry before." And then she stopped poignantly, letting the Barreda woman fill in the blank for herself.

She was clearly upset and, like the angsty teenager she was, Noble ignored the crux of her own distress. It was easier to hold onto bitterness than to acknowledge the earlier rejection. "Did you come all the way just to tell me that?"

At least Noble had stopped. If it was herself, well- Had she ever stopped to glance over a shoulder, make sure no one was chasing her? The small female heaved a soft sigh, reaching down to nose at one of the trout. It flopped gracelessly to its other side, cloudy eye staring up at her with empty accusations. The timber wolf's ears flopped back and she whined softly, slowly lifting her gaze back to the yearling. "It wasn't supposed to be like that," she all but whispered, taking a step back from the offering to give the loner space. "You weren't supposed to be seen! You weren't- Not from my pack, Noble." Didn't she understand how terrifying alphas were? How terrifying they could be when they were your alpha? If she didn't listen- The female shook her head, utterly defeated as she took a few more steps back and laid against the ground. It was obvious, at least, that she didn't meant to harm Noble – she came only with honest intentions (and without any of her packmates' awareness). Well…honest towards the youngling, at least. What she planned to do afterwards was nothing of that sort. Clearing her throat, the female finally raised her eyes. "I, uh- I came 'cos I felt real bad about how that when down. And thought you might be hungry…and thought I might make it up to you." And Namid too, she doesn't add, feeling that wouldn't improve her case. "Y'know. Going to raid another pack. Maybe if I show you it might go easier…?"

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

I was thinking one more post from @Desideria and then we can open it up to the others? We can either publicly discuss their game-plan in this thread, or you could pm me what Dezzy would suggest and we can make it a surprise for the SMP wolves?

Noble was just like any other teenager; she didn't like being told what she was or wasn't supposed to do. Black ears folded flat as Desideria critiqued her, glaring back obstinately. Of course she knew that! The tawny woman's instructions might have been brief, but Noble had managed to deduce that for herself, thank you very much!

She stared to inch forward, letting the admonishments fall on bony shoulders till the very end. Noble didn't understand how alpha's were. Her own mother and father had been alpha of the only pack she'd been a member of, and as a young pup at that. Her head flung up and mouth opened involuntarily. "Hows' I supposed to know that?!"

"If it mattered, you shoulda said so!" Tail flicking in agitation like a cat's, Noble stalked forward and sank her teeth into the fish to draw them back. She watched Desideria while she ate, ears flicking with obvious interest. It was true; Noble had been hungry, and clearly she did need a little help in adjusting to her new profession. Grudgingly, she accepted the apology. The girl drew a dark paw along her muzzle to clear the stray scales and stepped closer to Desideria, tail swirling appeasingly. "You know where the nearest pack is, then?" She turned to look at the horizon, squinting at the expanse of evergreen forest and the ominous slope of the mountain. Noble thought for a moment, head cocking, then looked sidelong at her partner-in-crime. "How's it work if two wolves work together to steal something?"

"I didn't know! Didn't think you were gonna come to my pack to steal, my scent is all over the boarders. I've been marking them…" the rogue trailed off miserably, eyes falling back to the ground once more. Even faced with a budding thief, she couldn't help but shrink onto herself in the face of Noble's anger. She had every right to be upset, of course – she'd been chased, humiliated, and she was still hungry! But she fell into silence all the same, a soft sigh of relief escaping her lips as the skeletal youth took the offering. She knew the swarthy lady had been famished. Only once the fallen princess finished, and spoke back up, did the Fallen Tree Cove wolf answer. Bobbing her head, she cleared her throat. "Yeah, there's another pack south of here. I met them…first pack I ran into here, in Relic Lore," she muttered, ears flattening at the terrible memory of Aesire and her hostility. Behind her, her tail twitched and whirled, and she tried to shake off the ghost. "Terrible wolves. Prolly deserve to be stolen from anyways. What we need to do, first, is get ourselves real clean…then roll in dirt, 'er somethin' else to make sure we don't smell anything like ourselves. Mud is good, 'cos then we don't look the same, either, yanno?" she hummed, settling comfortably into her element. "Then, we go together. I check borders, I'm a scout. Sneak in. I'll stand guard, you grab something to eat. Pull something out for me, I bring that back too. We run, fast as we can, to water. Then we wash the mud off, track up the rivers, cos you won't leave a trail…and I guess…I return to the Cove, you you go wherever you want. How does that sound?"

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Alrighty then! -grins- Thread is now open for Wren and Takis! Desideria will post in at her convenience and we will follow whatever posting order develops in this round. Have fun! PM with any questions!

She looked southward, a pink tongue cleaning the last trace of fish away. The fishy meal hadn't made much of a difference. It was simply a taste of what she was missing and her stomach twisted, still hollow and empty. The news was received impartially, there wasn't any past experiences to cloud the yearlings impression of this forthcoming pack. Noble glanced away from her matter-of-fact perusal of the southern forest to see Desideria's discomfort. The last bit of anger towards her fellow thief faded away. Had they been mean to her?

Noble didn't like that image. The tall girl took a step forward, ears sweeping back in sympathy. It was bad enough when things happened to her, even worse when she couldn't protect the only friend she had. She nodded quickly at the remark, settling beside the agouti to listen. Deep gold eyes fixed unseeing on the ground as the yearling committed everything to memory. She gave quiet noises of understanding at the new bits of advice. In the absence of a "socially acceptable" livelihood thievery had taken it's place and Noble was determined to master it. At Desideria's question, she gave a quick smile and rose to her feet.

They'd best get started, then.

................................................................................​.....................................................................

The plan was followed to a tee. It was late morning and the sun was caking the mud to their pelts, when they approached Silent Moon Plateau. Noble followed Desideria as the borders were checked. She said nothing, simply kept pace and watched. Her watching was not of the passive sort, even now Noble was studying and learning. Every area the older woman took extra time to examine, Noble made note of.

Finally though, an entry point was selected. With a deep breath Noble stepped over the territory line into Silent Moon Plateau's land. She moved on soft feet, nose sampling the air as she went. Speed and stealth were a balancing act, too much of either was deadly. The girl loped along quietly, intending to not give them time to notice the company. The cache was easy to find, a pungent stench in the current heat that a pup could have followed. She crept up to it, ears rotating like twin satellites. Her muzzle hovered over the larger prey animals, but eventually selected two snowshoe hares. The taste was tantalizing in her mouth as the starving girl turned to make for the borders.

(This post was last modified: Aug 18, 2015, 03:01 AM by Noble.)

@Takis
@Wren - you two ready for action? : D

An hour or so later saw Desideria and Noble both scrubbed clean, rolling among gravel and clean stream water before shaking dry. With the scent of scrub pines swallowed up and out of her pelt, the pair of females found a patch of mud and rolled there as well. Fur still damp, it clung extremely well. Des looked several shades darker now, and the thick stench of muck clung to her, masking any odor of wolf left on her guard hairs. Once satisfied with their disguises, they began. Leading Noble to the borders, she checked several sights. "There are a lot of adult wolves, here. I can smell 'em," she whispered, voice barely audible. "And there must be at least a puppy somewhere. The alpha I ran into was pregnant." It went without saying that they'd both avoid any children at any cost. Not only did the idea of harming a cub make her stomach churn, but the alphas would pursue them relentlessly if they'd harmed an heir, or something like that. It was impossible to tell if a pup belonged to an alpha just by looking at it – so they best not take any chances. Once satisfied with their intelligence gathering, she nodded for Noble to follow her into the plateau. The rogue moved with an ethereal grace, practically floating over the cold ground as she gingerly picked her way around rocks and over twigs, not leaving a sound behind her as they moved towards the cache. Thankfully, they found their prize unguarded. "Go," Des whispered urgently, turning her back to the youth. Ears swiveled like radar dishes atop her head, her head constantly pivoting from side to side. She'd not be taken by surprise. Once Noble had her mouth full, the female dove in after her, taking a third rabbit. With only a cursory shift of her paws, she covered with dirt before sprinting after her companion. They were almost there!

LuDa-Stock & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

@Takis

There was this intense desire lurking into Wren’s mind and heart to go out and explore. Maeve did it all the time, hanging out with her friend, and she never got in trouble. So, Wren decided to make the move and go out explore by him, plopping his paws right along with a lopsided grin etched onto his maw. The pup was full of energy which allowed him to move through the somewhat strange yet familiar landscape. One of these days he was going to track down his friend, his not Maeve’s (she thought she was the only one with a friend but Wren didn’t want to share his) but his friend @Tannis. There was a small bit of satisfaction in him to know he could hang out with the older wolves because he was just cool like that.

Maeve could have her secret club. The russet pup caught voices on the wind and heard them talking. “OI! What’re you doing here?” The pup accused as he ran in, a fierce puppy snarl on his muzzle as he lashed his tail. He wasn’t intimidating, a fact which he was not aware of, but he had caught an intruder. He let out the loudest howl he could, which for a puppy he did not think was very far, but hopefully it would grab the attention of one of the older wolves. He wasn’t dumb enough to think he could take on both wolves before him, that would be silly because he was a puppy, but he could be the tattle-wolf in a case that really needed it.

Swift as a Deer. Quiet as a Shadow.

Wren Destine-Caravello

Fear Cuts Deeper Than Swords.

(This post was last modified: Aug 27, 2015, 01:02 AM by Wren.)

this is the 10th post, but we'll keep going until this encounter finishes and everyone is okay with archiving it. I'm fine with @Takis appearing if Rachel wants him here.

Noble didn't need the gentle urging. She'd already started back when the quiet shifting of dirt caught her attention. Her gaze swung back around, a rabbits foot dancing at the edge of her vision, to see. Oh, the lifted eyebrow seemed to say, I understand. It was to further hide what they'd just done. Noble nodded quickly to show her acknowledgement and filed the piece of advice for later use. They moved as one, the youth just a step ahead of her mentor.

She fought the urge to run. Every part of her was buzzing with the need to get back over the borders, but she knew not to rush. Not being discovered was crucial. If they hurried, they might make a mistake. They were already moving in the right direction, they were almost there. They just had to stay quiet a little longer. She gritted her teeth, taking all her anxious energy out on the rabbits, and continued a steady lope.

Every hackle rose at the high-pitched voice. She cast a glance over and confusion made her stumble. A pup was the last thing she expected to jump out and cut them off. This was was an interesting mix of amusement and wariness, but her lips lifted just the same. He was in her way and she was bigger than he was, it was warning Wren should heed. Even before she'd come to a complete stop, Noble was surging forward again. A low growl rumbled in her chest as she dashed around the child. Once past, she looked to Desideria. She wanted to know whether she'd done the right thing, but more importantly she wanted to know her friend was still right behind her.