Secluded Spring Time to come home

    Time had seemed never ending. Life, alone in the darkness and quiet of the forests beyond were nothing short of solitude. Withdrawing himself from his loved ones he just could not bear the sudden and bizarre death of his parents. And in this misfortune event he had time to think, of how precious and just how quick it could be taken away. That is what drew him to the edges of the ghastly forest this year. So close to his siblings, to his family. Finally he had realized how important it was to be with them again, and fading away in the wood as a lone wolf wasn't something he could no longer fathom.

    Grey ears perked forward, bits of dry skin hung here and there from scattered now scaring pink lines that scratched and scathed his skin. Life as a lone wolf was tough of him, he was constantly being harassed and chased away from territories he wandered too close to. His delicate nostrils filtered in the air trying to scent for any pack borders - scats or urine markers, nothing. A relief rode out on an exhale as the rather large wolf blinked his weary eyes. Distinctive scents came, of wolves of packs and of general life in the area. But it seemed all so new to him. Hesitantly searching to the left then to the right, his grey form suddenly emerged from his hiding his thirst drawing him to the water. Stopping just at the bank, his toes sunk into the moist brown sands. And again his eyes searched around him. Dipping his head he lapped up the water greedily, the ripples rolling outward farther and farther interrupting the glass surface that reflected the skies above.

    It was quiet. A cricket rubbed its legs here, a frog croaked on a lily pad there. Eager to sing their last songs before the break and quick transition of spring to the hotter days of summer. Kenai could feel it already, his jaws parted with soft wet pants as he padded along the bank of the springs. The water was cold, fresh and felt great on his hot pads. Licking his muzzle eagerly he wanted nothing more than to rest at the moment, he had a big day ahead of him tomorrow. For tomorrow, he planned on finding swift river, and his brother Indru. Remembering his offering of a home, a new place for he and his other siblings Kenai felt it time to rejoin his kin once more and his instinctive nature drove his desire for the pack bond once again. His heart, however ached with anxiety, would they accept him back so easily? Another gentle sigh escaped his large chest as he quickly laid in the dry grasses just a few steps beyond the springs.

<blockquote><ul><span style='font-size:7pt;line-height:100%'>hi! :3</li></ul></span>

Quiet frankly, she had no idea what brought her here to the shore of this quaint spring. She had woken up this morning with an itch in her feet, a burning in her legs to wander and roam. It wasn't often that she would admit it to herself, but she felt out of place. Most of her life had been spent as a nomad, and as much as she loved being around other wolves, being a <i>part</i> of something, there was a side of the aging wolf that felt out of place. She didn't feel like she belonged anywhere in particular, and after awhile, staying in the same place for so long made her anxious. She had joined Swift River for a number of reasons, but many of those reasons seemed strange in light of her sixth birthday. She had hoped to find someone, start a family, escape her loneliness. But as she stared down into her the mirror-like surface of the water, she was struck with just how <i>old</i> she looked. Nothing about her would entice a dapper young lad. Her eyes were dull and commonplace, and her mottled, ragged fur was nothing to write home about. At her age, she even doubted she could <i>have</i> puppies. And as for loneliness, well, there were wolves everywhere.

For example, there was one just across the pond, dipping down to lap at the water. Ozera, as usual, had been much too engrossed in her silly daydreams and thoughts to have noticed him before. Something about him seemed indistinctly familiar, which piqued her interest. The Tainn family, after all, seemed to all resemble one another. But no matter how familiar he seemed, Ozera could not put a name to the face. <i>Perhaps I don't know him...</i> Which was, of course, very likely. Not wanting to be caught staring, she ducked her head down quickly, accidentally plunging her nose much farther into the drink than she had intended. Frigid water flooded her nostrils, and her head shot back up as she snorted and coughed unceremoniously.

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    As his lids fell heavy, beginning to blanket over his golden eyes the sweet songs of the forest caressing him to sleep did he suddenly jolt up, his forelegs sprawled out ready to lift him up and flight away if necessary. His back legs tucked underneath him and his ears and eyes now forward, open and alert. It was his recent life experiences that made him so quick to scare. The snorting continued for a moment and the male finally rose to his feet catching sight of the source.

    Just across the spring stood a female, and his heart beat a little faster. Maybe it was time to go. His eyes longed toward the forest in which he had came from. A small whimper emerged from his throat. He couldn't not now, he had to stay he promised himself - he needed to find his family again. Life as a lone wolf had made him this way, he hadn't had the best experiences with other wolves and it did comfort him that this one was a female. It seemed they tolerated him and the way he was a lot longer than males did.

    Slowly, his tail swept back and forth in its odd tucked position between his bent back legs. "...Hi" The word finally came to and out, and it felt strange to use his voice again it cracked slightly on his tongue. How long had it been? Eager - he watched her.

(This post was last modified: May 01, 2011, 11:24 PM by Kenai.)

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Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the male balked. He was the very picture of a scaredy-cat, and it puzzled her. She looked down at herself, trying to see what about her was so threatening. Seeing him crouched across the water, poised for flight, made her heart ache. What made him do that? Fear of harm was such a foreign concept to Ozera that she could not recognize it on such a young face. Faintly, his whimper floated across the water, and to hear such anxiety made her cringe, but at the same time, it made her all the more curious. Idle interest had given way to a very keen urge to know what was making this wolf tick. But she couldn't just ask him upfront, though, could she? That would be rather rude.

Oh. She was staring again. Awkwardly, she recovered some semblance of composure, coughing a few more times. “<b>You didn't see that, did you?</b>” she called awkwardly, her voice ringing about the little clearing surrounding the lake. His tail was moving in some vague manner between his legs, and his voice cracked with disuse. Ozera tried to ignore how uncomfortable he made her feel. <i>Is he an omega or something?</i>
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    Nervously he stood, his eyes flickered from her form to the woods still undecided until her voice cracked the silence that was between them. His attention regained, his eyes studied her. She seemed peaceful, older perhaps even friendly as she offered a small gesture of hope that he had perhaps not seen her silly accident from earlier and in fact he had not. "I - uh, no. No I didn't." He shook his head his words simply truthful. This was almost, nice. Connection between himself and another of his species. His earlier desire to run and hide was now relinquished. His tail picked up speed a bit, still hoovering between his haunches and he moved slowly around the side of the lake. Just enough to get a clearer view of the female, and to remove himself from the brush.

    However upon his better view of her, he could sense some sort of disquiet and unease. Perhaps he was coming too close? Why would such a submissive stance and behavior make someone so uncomfortable? And then again, maybe he was over assessing the situation, perhaps - she was hurt."But are you alright? It sounded like it may have burned a bit?" His voice was finally smooth once more, his words gentle and as kind as he could ever manage. His tone was a male deep, but it held a more silky fluid flow than the rough raspy harshness that some possessed.

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He spoke with a stammer, hesitantly stating he had not seen her shove her nose underwater, which was probably for the best. That was not to say she would have been embarrassed, though. Ozera had long since learned that her self esteem was made of stronger stuff. She did, however, believe in the importance of first impressions —even if she rarely made a good one. This wolf, on the other hand, seemed more concerned with avoiding interactions on the fear of pain or death... or at least, that was how it had seemed. <i>He's still here, isn't he?</i> Despite his flighty and subordinate posture, he <i>was</i> still standing before her, and it almost looked as if his tail rose a notch or two in the air. Perhaps he wasn't so strange. she had, after all, manifested out of thin air, almost. While Ozera probably wouldn't have chosen to react in the manner this strange fellow had, it was... sort of understandable.

The curious lad even spoke further, which surprised Ozera slightly. Maybe she had been jumping to conclusions. Venturing a gentle smile, Ozera wondered at his politeness, and was suddenly reminded of little Triell. That gentleman. Indru and Ruiko, too, although perhaps to lesser extents, seemed posses this gallant quality. Was it some inherent Tainn trait? Her smile deepened as she offered a response, "<b>Oh, don't worry about me, I'm fine. My nose was thirsty.</b>" Maybe it was unseemly to laugh at her own jokes so often, but she did anyway, thinking it would lighten the mood. "<b>Sorry if I scared you, I know my looks aren't anything to write home about,</b>" the disheveled wolf amended with laughter.
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This was nice. He thought happily to himself, a grin even dared to emerge upon his face and he strolled even a bit closer. Better view shown her features to be slightly aged, but that wasn't nothing uncommon. Her coat was various shades of brown nothing amazingly different and again he felt comfort in that small common thing between them. His ears perked up at the very sound of her voice and he snorted out possibly the most ridiculous giggle that could come from a wolf. Calming himself he looked away sheepishly, rather embarrassed but he found it quite funny even more so than the raccoon he had ran up a tree a few days back, it's head had gotten stuck momentarily as it tried its hardest to wriggle into a cavity in the tree.

Becoming completely comfortable, Kenai felt a rush of eagerness to socialize with this elder female. This transition was just what he needed to gain his confidence back, or what little that was. <b>"Don't be silly, I think you are lovely. It's just...<i>I</i> haven't exactly been around another wolf in awhile..and the ones I did happen to come across usually chased me away from their territory."</b> Which was nothing he blamed or found fault with it was just the natural order of things. He shifted his weight nervously at the thought of pack wolves, and could scent others on her coat now that he had come closer. His eyes danced wearily around. <b>"I- didn't smell any markers, I hope i'm not intruding?"</b> His back legs shuffled beneath him as he anxiously rose up worried he had yet again crossed into terrain that was not free.

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With every passing second the atmosphere lightened and relaxed, and gradually, the stranger began to come closer. He even laughed at her stupid joke, and oddly, his giggle was even sillier than her joke, which in turn made her laugh again. Not <i>at</i> him, really, just with him. Ozera would never truly laugh <i>at</i>, why, that would nearly kill her inside. At any rate, though, he seemed complacent, willing to stay and talk.

When he called her lovely, she would have liked to blush or smile, but she was rather taken aback —though she didn't show it. No one had ever called her lovely before. That's not to say that she had ever believed she was ugly or completely lacked self-esteem. She had always seen herself as average and ordinary —maybe a little old— and had never really bothered herself with something as so irrelevant to everyday life as how she looked. But to hear it from someone else was new... almost intoxicating. Abruptly, she shook herself free of those thoughts. <i>Ozera, you've been around on this earth for quite awhile, now is not the time to give in to vanity.</i> And thus, her only response to his compliment was a sweet smile and a careless shrug, since he continued to talk and she didn't intend to interrupt him.

Hadn't been around another wolf? A wave of empathy gushed up from her heart, nearly knocking her off of her feet. Hadn't she been in this poor fellows place only months ago? But she had never run into other wolves, let alone been <i>chased</i> away. Her heart ached at the thought of being chased away from her own kind, to be condemned to loneliness. Ozera's loneliness, after all, had been a choice, a life style. To be chased away continually was something else entirely. He may have written it off in his head as the "natural order" of things, but such a thought would have horrified Ozera if she could have read his mind. Spending most of her life alone, away from civilization, she knew little of this "natural order," and overall condemned violence. She could hardly believe there wolves out there who would have chased him off. But what was she supposed to say? "Sorry?" Like that would make up for anything, change anything. Ozera didn't even know a damn thing about this poor soul, not even his name. A sorry, no matter how heartfelt, was probably meaningless.

His question about intrusion brought her back from her reverie. "<b>Oh, what?</b>" She looked about her, taking in her surroundings, the pond and the afternoon shade, the emptiness of it all. "<b>Heavens no, you're not intruding! I don't think anyone lives here but the squirrels and deer! Most of the packs are much farther south.</b>" Quite a bit farther, considering it had taken her quite some time to get here from Swift River. "<b>I've never been here before. Just decided I would go exploring, eh?</b>" For good measure, she through in a brilliant smile and a hearty wave of her tail.
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His heart raced a bit as the kind she wolf remained in his presence. He was excited - she was giving him attention and it was nice attention, she also was being quite friendly. Her tail about tipped him over the edge and he wanted to desperately run over to her in a playful gallop but knew better than to scare her away so soon. Instead he returned her kind gestures with a bit faster wag of his own tail, but it soon died down as he began to relax, hearing there are no packs around these parts. She mentioned exploring and Kenai let the corner of his lips curl down in a displeased frown. <b>"Oh its not so safe to leave the territory on your own. Wouldn't you want to be with your kin and packmates instead? That is what I would rather. Actually - I am searching for them now."</b> He announced happily, in his heart it was all that he could want and wish for. But in his mind it was still lingering with doubts and fear. Why did he have to be so fearful and doubtful? It was something he was not proud of and it only dragged his confidence lower. It was one of few reasons why he was such a submissive and passionate wolf.

His head turned south and his golden eyes searched aimlessly. It was disappointing to hear that he had still a ways to travel. And even more to hear that there were packs. Although it did give him slight hope that one of those would be where his kin lived, he feared to travel so close. Pack wolves didn't seem to take kindly to lone wolves and they especially didn't take kind to him.

As he spoke with wolfish growls and whines, Kenai barked out excitedly, <b>"M-maybe you know where they are!"</b> Why it hadn't dawned on him earlier was just a show of how simple Kenai could be at times. <b>"Theres Indru! He looks like me a bit, umm, maybe shorter its been awhile since I seen him. Well you know he could very well look completely different now..."</b> It wasn't unusual for some wolves to take on different colors even if just the slightest after their winter coats come or left. Kenai tended to be a bit darker when his long winter hairs came in and then the lightened up considerably during spring and summer, once his winter coat had been rubbed off.

(This post was last modified: May 09, 2011, 12:48 PM by Kenai.)

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For some reason, his vehement response to her exploring took her by surprise. But it shouldn't have. His reaction was that of a wolf, a <i>pack</i> wolf who was loyal to the very bone. This fellow didn't seem to have any wanderlust in him, any particular brave characteristic, for all the world he seemed the perfect pack wolf. But Ozera wasn't honestly afraid of anything —except heights, which she did not expect to encounter on her adventures anymore— and her feet itched too often. It was hard to stay put, hard to form a connection with these wolves she was living with. Sure, she liked Indru, and adored his brother Triell.... but what was really <i>keeping</i> her there now? She just didn't know anymore, and she didn't see any point in responding to his question, since it was unlikely that they would see eye to eye. Besides, it was probably rhetorical. At any rate, none of this was important at the time being, because when he mentioned that he was in fact looking for a pack, her curiosity was piqued. He made it sound as if he knew what he was looking for, which was interesting. "<b>Oh really?</b>" <i>Does he know anyone here?</i> Perhaps she could be of some help. The notion made her tail wave vaguely behind her as a light smile curled her lips subtly.

A sudden gush of information bubbled from his mouth, so excited and jumbled that Ozera had a hard time making sense of it. However, there was a name that snagged on her ears as it flew past, a name that she recognized instantly. <i>Indru</i>? Her eyes flickered up and down his figure once again as it occurred to her that there had been a reason he had looked familiar, after all. "<b>Are you a Tainn then?</b>" she replied after a pause, blinking as she tried to digest all of this information. She knew little of the history of Relic Lore, and little of the events surrounding the Tainn family, except that some of them had been killed in a wildfire. That did not, however, explain why this particular brother, who seemed so unlikely to travel, was so far from his family. Her confusion only slightly delayed her smile, though, which returned to her face with a renewed vigor, "<b>You're in good luck, because I know exactly where Indru is. I live with him!</b>"
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