Sacred Grove wake up to the sun

@Cernan Hope this is okie!

He had to make himself scarce for the day. After speaking with @Morganna and her frustrations within Willow Ridge, Wraith wasn't sure he could be as respectful as he should to his other Alpha and his second. Habit had the dark male making tracks to the North. Whenever he ventured, his paws usually started carrying him back in that direction as if they ached to feel the old familiar northern mountains again.

Crossing over several deer trails on his way, Wraith passed them by with little interest. For a while, his meandering path shared that of a doe that had been through the trail recently until she veered off to the east in search of whatever it was held interest for deer while he continued north. The black wolf made his way across the frozen creek, careful - this time - to test his weight so as not to fall through the ice again.

Above, heavy fat flakes of snow began to fall steadily. As quickly as spring was coming upon them, he would have expected the weather to start warming up some, but it was still as touchy as ever. Not that he minded! In truth, the thick-furred male dreaded when summer would come upon them. His dark coat made it a challenge to escape the heat sometimes.

His stride slowed as Wraith's interest in exploring flagged. A nap, perhaps, would serve his soured mood best. Finding himself a snow-covered boulder, the large wolf settled on top and willed his mind to quiet enough for sleep. It was short-lived, interrupted by the sound of another approaching. With head lifted and ears alert, Wraith's amber eyes scoured the dense trees for sign of another and gave a low woof to warn the stranger that he was there.

OOC: Perfect! The fuzzball is a little angsty today, but no less a dork!  

He was not in the best of spirits. Aleister had disappeared again, leaving Papa in a sorry state and mother worrying more than usual. Cernan was almost irritated with the other boy. He had to have wandered off again, but whether or not he was lost or hurt was anyone's guess. The chubby pup could hardly be actively angry with him when he thought about it, but he sure was upset about what was happening to the rest of the family. Neha wandered off all the time, why couldn't Al come home too? Nothing was the same and Cernan hated it. 

The timid boy was almost never found this far from home, but under the combined reasons of attempting to find Al, go hunting a little on his own, and get away from the depression that had taken root at the lake, he found himself descending the mountain and taking a day trip into the woods below. He was as twitchy and nervous as ever in the seemingly peaceful woods; fully expecting a bear or a boar to come charging from behind the next ridge. He wasn't even with Neha this time, and the lack of companionship made the prince even more anxious. Still, his patrol with Nate a few days ago had served to embolden the adolescent some; perhaps just enough to tip him over the mountain's edge and land him here in unfamiliar territory. 

When he wasn't fearing for his life he was trying to track something; anything that he could sink his teeth into really. The youth was still pretty poor as a hunter, but every once and a while he succeeded in killing a rabbit or other little rodent. This trip had been complete failure, and it didn't make him feel any better about his life at the moment. Idle thoughts were filled with worry and anger and confusion; things very unlike the tawny child. He'd closed off a little bit to even @Neha in the last few days. He wanted things back to normal. He was not so foolish as to not realize that the pack had been loosing members, and that was a bad thing. What good had even really happened lately?   

He was mired with these feelings when the sudden woof ripped him back to reality. Cernan's lowered head shot up and he stared; finding the form of a stranger somewhere off in the trees. That he was resting upon a rock, or had likely already seen him hardly mattered. The boy dove away, skittering most ungracefully and certainly not stealthily behind the largest tree-trunk he could find in a blast of snow. The youngest Vuesain child's tail hid between his legs and he cowered; deafened by his own startled heartbeat. That was the last thing he needed; to be caught out on his own by a random wolf. After a frantic moment a single yellow eye drifted out from cover; peering through the woods to see if the dark one was coming to kill him or not.  

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

Amusement lifted the corners of Wraith's mouth. He'd expected a full grown adult and found himself pleasantly surprised to see the form of a pup diving for cover. Lazily, the black wolf stood and stretched, yawning widely before shaking the snow from his pelt and hopping down from the rock. He sat politely and called out to the youngling.

"Don't worry, pup. I won't hurt you." To add more weight to his rumbling voice, the brute thumped his tail against the ground in welcome. Wraith laughed when the little one peered out at him fearfully. "Come on out. I promise you're safe with me."

Must be something in the water here, he mused. It was close to this place that he'd come across @Sahalie as well. Of course, the circumstances had been much different. At that time, the youth had been surrounded by coyotes and ready to be shredded into until Wraith chased them off. This was a far more relaxed setting and much more suitable for young adventurers to meet a kind stranger. At the very least, the black wolf imagined those coyotes wouldn't come within a howl's length of this grove for months to come after the beating they'd taken.

"You aren't lost, are you?" he asked, hoping to encourage the pup out of his hiding spot with the question. Wraith beamed with the memory of Sahalie's reaction to that question. She'd taken quick offense, hadn't she? Offense or not, a reaction would be welcome.

His ears caught no approaching footsteps, no growls or any other such aggressive gestures. For a moment he hoped that maybe the stranger wouldn't be able to find him, but the voice confirmed that that would not be the case. Even if the words were friendly, Cernan's heart still jumped. He pinned his ears down flat at the laughter, and his face grew hot. He saw the man's glowing eyes staring right at him, and jerked back behind the tree again. Then the older wolf made some promise of safety, but Cernan sort of wanted to just stay behind the tree and maybe melt into it, maybe stay here forever and become a tree so he wouldn't have to deal with the laughing stranger and how stupid he had to look hiding like a baby. 

The lake prince sat back there, at least until the question found his ears. Lost? Despite his embarrassment and nerves,  the chubby kid's face snuck out from behind the ragged bark once more. "N-no." He stuttered, trying to get up the guts to say more. "My pack's not far from here," he added for good measure; trying to sound confident in the blatant, quivering lie. Fallen Tree Cove was a day's trek up the mountains. If this man wanted to chew him up into little tiny pieces and leave him for the crows no one would be able to save the boy in time. 

But this man didn't need to know any of that. Slowly, the tawny adolescent emerged; finally submitting to the fact that there was no use in hiding back there any more. He held his head level with his spine; ears flat out to the sides with indignation. Why did this guy have to see him? Why did he have to be so absent minded and clumsy anyway? Wide golden eyes drifted up the rock to look at the foreigner in periphery. Cernan took another couple of tentative steps, but kept his distance. He wanted to have running room. His lips parted and sort of hung there as if he wanted to say something, but the actual words took real effort to say. "Who are you?" He asked in a lower but louder tone; genuinely curious and yet still trying to sound bold. It was not working.  

Wraith lifted a brow at the pup's quivering voice. As he'd been here often enough before, the brute knew the closest pack to this place was his own. Perhaps the youth lived over the mountain as Sahalie had. Regardless, he didn't smell like part of her pack. "You don't say?" he rumbled, biting back his amused laughter to spare the poor boy any more embarrassment. He knew a lie when he smelled one, but didn't call the young one out on it. Wraith knew his large frame was intimidating, especially to young ones exploring on their own.

At the curious, but hesitant question, the black wolf smiled warmly. "I'm Wraith of Willow Ridge." Interesting. And when had he become Wraith of Willow Ridge rather than Wraith of the North? Settling down further in the snow, Wraith stretched out his legs to help the pup feel more at ease. There was no point in frightening him half to death. That seemed more up @Skoll's alley.

"It's mighty brave of you to be out exploring in this place by yourself," he complimented. "But be on your guard, pup. Not every stranger is a gentle one. There have been coyote attacks out this way before and they seem to have a liking for pups. What's your name, little one?" Though, the pup wasn't all that little. Quite a pudgy one! It only made Wraith all the more affectionate as he'd been a bit of a porker himself as a youth. It was running up and down the mountains every day that changed his pudge to muscle. No doubt this one would fill out similarly.

Cernan heard the amusement in the man's voice, and worried for a moment. Whether the stranger had called his bluff inside or not, he pressed the issue no further, and so the prince kept his mouth shut. The smile he was offered in response to his not-so-confident question was accompanied with a name, and a pack. He couldn't say he recognized either, but at least having some sort of label for the dark man was nice. Wraith was less scary than 'stranger.' The Cove child watched this Wraith sink down into the snow once more, still unwilling to speak up. 

He thought maybe the awkward silence was going to stick around for a bit, but instead the man started talking again. Cernan's ears fell back, away from his words. He wasn't exploring. No, he was doing much more important things than that. However, he was well aware that not all random wolves were friendly, and he wasn't entirely certain this one could be trusted just yet. The warning to 'stay on his guard' renewed the boy's embarrassment, his brows and eyes falling with irritation. He knew he messed up in not noticing Wraith long before he was in speaking distance; he'd already berated himself for that. 

However, the mention of puppy-eating coyotes erased the indignity and replaced it with fear. He sort of wanted to turn around right now and run all the way up the mountain again, but he at least stayed long enough to hear the man out. Was he supposed to give this man his name? It would get even more uncomfortable if he didn't, and maybe only his first would do. "Cernan," the boy blurted cautiously, his introduction free of the usual respectful nod. Getting that first word out seemed to embolden his frightened mouth. "And I'm not exploring, I'm looking for my brother." Maybe Wraith had seen him? "He's uh, darker than me with yellow and blue eyes?" Aleister was certainly a distinctive looking kid. The pup stared up at his tense company; a tiny glimmer of hope behind those goldenrod pools. 

Cernan. As it wasn't a word he was familiar with, Wraith had to assume it was the boy's name. And yet another similarity to Sahalie. She also had been in search of her brother, refusing to admit to exploring the territories east of her homelands. Is this what pups concerned themselves with nowadays? Just how far did younglings travel from their pack alone? Disapproval stirred in his belly; he'd not let his pups - if ever he had them - wander so far without a stern talking to and a nip to the muzzle to remember it by. Of course, he could be a bit overprotective with pups.

Luckily for Cernan, it extended to all pups, not just those in close association with him.

Though sad to disappoint, Wraith shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't seen him. But I'll help you look," he offered with a kind smile. "Doesn't sit right to let you go wandering off on your own. Besides, can't hurt to have another wolf around if we find your brother in trouble, hm?"

Slowly, so as not to startle the youth, Wraith stood and stretched out his front legs, back, and then rear legs before straightening. "Where do you think he has gone?"

OOC: Feel free to PP Cernan following after Wraith, albeit cautiously. c; 

The glimmer in his sight faded quickly; as soon as the man began to shake his head. Cernan looked away again, ears deflating a little. “...I'll help you look.” They jumped back up. Wraith was smiling, and all of his words did seem to make sense. Still, the boy was unsure. He kept quiet, mulling over the proposition and too nervous to really reject it. Then, the big black wolf rose to full height. Cernan's tawny tail crept back toward his hocks in reflex, but the rest of him at least was stable. He was so big... bigger than Cernan though not a crazy amount. It didn't take much to frighten the kid though. Wraith was still muscle where he was soft skin and chub. He was looking his new acquaintance over when the man directed a question his way. 

Where did he think Al went? The Vuesain's youngest seemed to vacate the scene; eyes trailing off to the side as he pondered it. "I don't know..." He started. Little hints of exasperation were creeping into his tone. "He wandered off once before and got in trouble with another pack." Al had been lucky to escape with his life. They could have attacked him for such a trespass. That group had been on the mountain though, and as of late their territory was rather... vacant. This man was from some, 'Willow Ridge.' Although, he hadn't been able to catch Wraith's scent just yet. That was probably something he ought to do sooner rather than later. Was Willow Ridge maybe the name of the wolves that had chased his family off during a hunt a little while ago? He hoped not.

"None of his trails lead anywhere," Cernan added with some discouragement. He had been trying, they all had. 

"Ah, so he is a trouble maker then, hm?" Wraith asked wryly, amber eyes twinkling with amusement. Hopefully, this wasn't another situation where a young one had gone missing, never to be found. Or worse, to be found like Isolde. Pushing the thought away, he shook his head and smiled again. "Not like you though."

The large wolf angled his head, signaling the yearling to follow. They walked on in silence until Wraith turned towards the boy and waited for him to catch up. "You know...you really should be more careful. Hiding like that when you've already been caught is a surefire way to get your hide beaten." As the yearling seemed a meek fellow for his size, Wraith hoped only to give him the courage matching his stature.

"Next time, even if you don't feel brave enough, you can bluff your way out of trouble. You look strong enough for it." Wraith grinned as he took in Cernan's pudgy belly. "You've got growing left on you, but your tall and that can go a long way with intimidating another wolf who's older than you," he said conversationally. The brute came to a stop to demonstrate.

"You just look 'em straight on. Lift up your chin a bit, square your paws, and hold your tail up as high as you've seen your Alpha." Wraith did as he explained, amber eyes going hard as he glared ahead at his imaginary foe with ears rammed forward and tail lifted. Even without teeth showing, he struck an imposing figure. The illusion fell away as he turned to the boy again, the gentle smile returned to his expression. "Go on, give it a shot. Show me," he encouraged.

Teaching Post 1

(This post was last modified: Apr 19, 2016, 10:34 PM by Wraith. Edit Reason: Teaching Post 1 )