The Wildwood All Time Low

He was too late. Amber eyes shot a cold glare towards the sheltering of trees in the distance. Black nostrils flared as the male snorted in annoyance as another cold shiver crawled down his spine. His back arched awkwardly and his hackles rose as he stiffened his limbs briefly before giving a rough shake of his pelt. Water sprayed the tall grass that surrounded causing a hiss to stir somewhere in their shadowy depths. Shoulders hunched forwards and his ears held flat against his head, Daedalus didn’t bother holding back the low growl that rolled like thunder in his throat. He was completely soaked with his fur clinging tightly to his chest. Along his back his hackles spiked up sharper then usual – more defined, slicked smooth by the water that was now trailing down his sides.

A dark grown adorned his handsome features the timber wolf trudged forwards; not caring for his appearance now – he just wanted to get out of the damn rain. As he strode forwards mud splattered thick upon his pelt, only adding the irritation he already felt. It was rough and itchy and would later bring hell trying to remove it. His tail curled aggressively over his spine, flicking sharply every so often to shake off the water. As a single line of water trickles down his face, Daedalus snarled and then in one swift movement his twisted around and snapped his jaws out of pure frustration. Fangs bared, the male continued to move towards the nearby woodlands – his patience growing thin with every roar of thunder. <b style="color:#8a321c">

Alejandro sat alone, barely noticing anything else around him. As the rain began to pour down, the male wolf barely noticed it. The gears of his mind were whirring as he was trying to think up of some new invention to make the catching of prey easier. And maybe.. just maybe.. if he was successful, the noise pounding in his brain day and night would halt forever? The infernal racket distracted him all the time and he figured it annoyed everyone else around him too. Well obviously if people are mad, it must be the drums pissing them off too! Everyone was like him. Of course. He never knew anything different, and just always presumed that everyone was the same as himself.

As he sat there, he felt a surge of annoyance and anger. Through that, however, he felt even a pang of.. loneliness. It had been ages since he had seen any other wolves that he could intelligently talk to. He figured that most of the people around here just didn't know what to do with themselves, so maybe he could bring them salvation? That seemed like a pretty good idea.. Maybe he could be king of the wolves or something? It was pretty obvious that he was meant to get his ends eventually, though it didn't really matter when. The higher power would decide when it was the right time... Alejandro's thoughts seemed to be answered and this "higher power" seemed to be at work when a wolf appeared from the distance, soaking wet and extremely ticked off. The male wolf in front of him didn't notice Alejandro as he seemed to speed past. As the gray and brown wolf approached him, Al opened his mouth to speak.
<b>"So it's worse for you today too?"</b> He felt sympathy for the male wolf, indeed. <i>Maybe I can befriend him and we can help each other...</i> he thought to himself.

(This post was last modified: May 20, 2011, 08:51 PM by Alejandro.)

As he stormed towards the trees, impatient and seething, a flash of grey and brown stirred out of the corner of his eyes. Nostrils flared wildly and the timber wolf swiftly spun around; fangs bared and shoulders hunched forwards as he quickly faced the stranger stalking in the shadows behind him. Beneath the misty haze of rain Daedalus’ amber eyes squinted to focus on the slender outline of a wolf. Russet ears quickly pricked forwards in suspicion as he noticed the stranger approach. His limbs stiffened as he turned back to glance hastily at the nearby shelter of the woodlands. Daedalus could easily just ignore the male and continue on his way – but, despite the rain, he felt compelled to investigate.

"So it's worse for you today too?" The stranger’s voice seemed sympathetic which helped to tame Daedalus’ nerves for a moment. Stalking in closer to finally pause a few feet away from the male, Daedalus shot a daring glance towards the dark brown eyes of the wolf – slightly confused by the question. His tail flickered curiously behind him as he lingered there silently for moment trying to decide how to answer. The only thing Daedalus’ could see bad about to day was undoubtedly the terrible weather – and so presumptions were quickly made and the timber wolf canted his chin in agreement. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Unpleasant, yes." He replied, his voice dark and throaty; feeling the effects of the chilling rain. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Must be down to bad karma." He drawled, a slight grin spreading across his raven lips as he thought back to Indru.

At the other wolf's reply, Alejandro awkwardly nodded. <b>"It gets to me a lot too, and it's recently been getting much louder than normal. I wish it would stop sometimes... So where are you headed?"</b> The male wolf was curious about the wolf in front of him; where did he come from? What was his name? What strengths did he have? They were both in the same boat, it seemed, and maybe there were more similarities between them than at first glance. <b>"First off it might be good to ... tell me your name."</b> He hoped that didn't sound too.. stalker-ish. Though he really didn't care about that, at all.

As he waited for the other wolf to reply, thoughts drifted towards his old invention. What was he making? Already, the plans were lost in the dark recesses of his mind. He probably wouldn't ever find them again anyway. It didn't really matter, since nothing ever helped...

<i>thump.. thump.. thump.. thump..</i>

Thoughts once again drifted to this territory he had discovered. This possible haven. The sanctuary that he would provide for the other lost souls. Maybe there was some good gossip around, with a good place to start. This wolf in front of him could prove useful after all...

Beneath the incessant sting of the rain against his skin, Daedalus’ body shivered. His hackles rose in irritation and fiery amber eyes squinted as he struggled to focus on the blurred figure in front of him through the heavy sheets of rain. His ears twitched anxiously as his eyes briefly rolled down the smooth contours of the male, before quickly darting back to his face with a cynical smile slowly tugging at the very corners of his mouth. Stepping back a few paces he shook his fur violently, giving it a rough dry before he confidently breezed past the male, before turning back to cant his chin in invitation – though his amber eyes undoubtedly commanded that the stranger follow. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Mind if we get out of this rain?" It wasn’t really a question; the timber wolf was simply being polite. The other male could follow and continue their conversation out of the bad weather or he could refuse and Daedalus would be on his way.

By the sound of the male’s voice, Daedalus presumed he intended to follow. Lean shoulders rolled back confidently as he moved towards the trees. "It gets to me a lot too, and it's recently been getting much louder than normal. I wish it would stop sometimes... So where are you headed?" Another shiver crawled down his spine, causing his lips to twinge in aggression. He turned back to look at the male, a flashing his fangs before running his salmon pink tongue along them smoothly. Daedalus still presumed the conversation to be about the weather – it wasn’t an uncommon subject in conversation. The other male probably just wanted some company on such a dismal day. <b style="color:#8a321c">"It sets my teeth on edge." He replied, holding back a snarl. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Those woodlands over there – shouldn’t be too far now." He extended his neck to indicate to the trees ahead.

"First off it might be good to ... tell me your name." The timber wolf turned around to look at his over one shoulder. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Daedalus." He greeted before his brows rose in question, curious to find out the stranger’s name. Black nostrils flared again as he inhaled the male’s scent confirming that he was also a loner. Daedalus was curious if he’d heard of any other packs around these parts. If so, he’d be inclined to check them out sometime. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Come across any packs yet?" He grinned, wondering how the male would react. You could never tell with loners. Some wolves, like him, loved pack life whilst others couldn’t stand the thought of such close company.

<i>OOC: Now it's gonna get interestin' ;D</i>

Alejandro noted that the wolf he was speaking to seemed to get increasingly agitated. Al really had no idea why! Maybe it gets louder the more you talk about it? Either way, the other wolf seemed to want to use the beautiful weather as an excuse to get away from him. <i>"Mind if we get out of this rain?"</i> he says simply, clearly putting Alejandro at a fork in the road. This made him feel uneasy; what if it was a trap? Either way, he didn't see the meaning of getting out of "the rain". <b>"What rain?"</b> Alejandro queried the other wolf. It <i>was</i> a gorgeous day. There was no rain falling from the sky that he could see. Next the wolf appeared to grow more aggressive as he continued to speak of the drums. <i>Maybe he just hasn't come to terms with himself yet.</i> <b>"It doesn't set my teeth on edge."</b> Alejandro replied calmly, <b>"It mostly just pisses me off."</b> Perhaps the wolf was on a secret mission? Perhaps he was an assassin? That would explain why he was trying to stay in the shadows as Alejandro himself was doing earlier that day. The male wolf could barely suppress a grin as he replied, <b>"Do you have a certain purpose in the 'woodlands over there'"?</b> Alejandro did have a right to know. These were <i>HIS</i> woodlands now.

The male wolf's gears in his mind were still turning, now faster than ever. His eyes opened wider as he thought of all the possibilities this new forest really could bring him. <b>"Good... very good."</b> he said to himself under his breath, looking at the ground. Then he returned his gaze to the wolf in front of him, like he had said nothing. <b>"Well then welcome to the forest, Daedalus."</b> Alejandro replied, talking it upon himself to welcome this wolf to the area himself. It was an important task indeed! While the other wolf continued to talk, Alejandro became increasingly confused. <i>Packs? What is this nonsense?</i> Al focused his eyes directly on the other's wolf with an intense gaze, studying his body gestures, grins, and smirks. Was he kidding? Al didn't think so. He was probably just delusional or something. He decided to go along with it, though. Maybe this could prove to be an important piece of information! <b>"No, I haven't. What... 'packs' are around here? Where do they live? Are you a part of one?"</b> Daedalus did not appear to have any different kind of scent then Al did, so he presumed he was not a part of a 'pack'. But who knew, perhaps he was.

(This post was last modified: May 22, 2011, 02:00 PM by Alejandro.)

The male seemed a little uneasy about moving out of the open space in into the shade of the woodlands. In all honestly, Daedalus didn’t care – the male could leave if he wanted to, it made no difference to the timber wolf. "What rain?" Daedalus gave a sarcastic snort before giving the male a sharp glare, making it clear that for now he was in no mood for playing games. After a few moments Daedalus began to step away and make haste in the direction of the trees. He noticed the stranger following behind as glanced back occasionally to check that he was still there. "It doesn't set my teeth on edge." Daedalus didn’t reply, nor did he look back. He simply gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. He wasn’t going to argue. "It mostly just pisses me off." At this the timber wolf did look back, his amber eyes trailing curiously down the male’s body before glancing back up to meet his eyes. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Yeah. That too." He replied in bleak humor.

"Do you have a certain purpose in the woodlands over there?" His muscles tensed slightly as his lips stiffened to hold back a snarl. Was this guy serious? His tail flicked sharply with amusement as he quickened his pace. <b style="color:#8a321c">"I’ve already told you…" He murmured, too stubborn to repeat himself again. This male was beginning to get on his nerves but Daedalus refused to lose his cool just yet, however irritating or distracting the stranger was. At last they made it into the shelter of the trees and after wandering in a few more yards to make sure he was fully covered by the thick and leafy canopy, Daedalus promptly shook his fur before sprawling out comfortably on the ground. A single glance was made towards the other male before the timber wolf began to stroke his tongue along the smooth length of his limbs to both clean them. "Well then welcome to the forest, Daedalus." Daedalus raised a brow, pausing for a moment before he asked: <b style="color:#8a321c">"You live here then?" His tone was genuinely curious.

It was proving quite difficult to remove the mud that caked his paws – but he had managed to clean up the majority of it that he splashed up onto his undersides. With a half-contented sigh Daedalus left his paws for the time being and instead positioned himself more comfortably against the base of a large tree, half inclined to remain there and sleep for the remainder of the day. "No, I haven't. What... 'packs' are around here? Where do they live? Are you a part of one?" Daedalus didn’t take long to think, for he knew very little. Swift River was the only pack he knew of so far. He’d met the Alpha Indru as well as young Borlla in the mountains. <b style="color:#8a321c">"I only know of Swift River which is a little further South from here." He replied, a little disappointed that the male had been able to give him any other information in return. <b style="color:#8a321c">"And no, for the time being, I was hoping to simply gather some more information about the packs."

Alejandro was no fool; he noticed an annoyed glare when he saw one. This clear, decisive, irritation was incentive for the male wolf to follow Daedalus... perhaps this anger could prove to be helpful? The male wolf decided to follow and find out exactly where the other wolf was going. Maybe he could get more information out of him as they went along, as well. As they walked, Alejandro remained silent and just decided to listen to what the other wolf was speaking of, while at the same time noticing the surroundings around him. Dark trees surrounded them by now, and leafy canopy blocked out any of the last sunlight. He could feel himself growing slightly nervous, though he did not understand why. At second thought, he realized this was not actually the emotion he thought it was. His heart was beating faster and his pulse was racing... this must be a form of excitement! Perhaps this is showing him that he is on the right track? Maybe it is time for him to recruit a wolf? Alejandro decided to bring up the topic later; he didn't want the other wolf to run away and have the flow of information come to a halt.

All of a sudden, the wolf on the side of him stopped walking and simply sat on the ground, proceeding to lick himself clean. Daedalus' side of the talk ended, and Alejandro took this as a sign to speak himself. <b>"You did not tell me that, only that you had business here in the forest."</b> the male replied. Perhaps he was just avoiding the question? Maybe he had something to hide! <b>"Yes, you could say that."</b> Alejandro responded mysteriously, answering the question of that he now lived here. <b>"Let's just say I'm planning on making this my temporary home for the time being..."</b> There was no need for the wolf to reveal his intentions, at least until the other wolf converted to his way of thinking. <b>"Nor am I, for now.. Although I did see some wolves on a plateau at the beginning of my travels. I watched them for a bit, but they since disappeared for now."</b>