The Wildwood All Things Change, but Some Things Stay The Same.

Her footsteps echoed against the trees around her as she made her way to the one place she knew she could find rest and a drink before making the trip up to the Mountain of Dire where Angier was. The white form moved slowly, as quietly as she could to avoid notice by any being including other wolves. Her head was low, tail simply lying limp between her legs, ears falling where they wished. The den she had found upon arriving in Relic Lore was just over the next hill, through the trees and tucked in against the mountains... if no one else had claimed it...that was.

Before too long, the semi-circle of clearing came into view as her form parted from the trees surrounding the clearing to enter into the open area. At first, she stopped and lowered her head to smell the grass around the cave entrance - trying to discern if anyone else was using it. So far, she couldn't smell anything new.. Long legs carefully brought her closer to the cave and finally inside the warmth of it. While there was grass, and it was warmer out than it had been.. the heat was a relief to both her body and her wounds. A sigh escaped her as her tail finally disappeared as she explored the well-known recesses of her old home to ensure there was no other occupant to contend with.

It was hard for her to be inside the shadowed enclosure...as farthest in the back where no wind nor rain took the scents away - a faint smell caught her nose... Raigo's scent. A soft whine echoed throught the cave as she lowered her head to the spot where he had lain once, inhaling the smell of her brother. How long had he been gone? To her.. it almost seemed the cave was flash frozen in time - and he could come bounding in with some trouble or another on his heels...She stayed staring at what she might assume had once been his bed while she'd been away for what felt like hours - her mind painting fanciful pictures of their time together. A noise behind her made her turn, hoping to see Raigo...

Not finding either Raigo nor an occupant of the cave, the she-wolf emerged and walked over to the small pool of mountain-fed water and lowered her head to drink. She wouldn't bathe in the waters, it would only taint them with it having nowhere to go. In the absence of the two wolves who'd made a home of it..the smooth rock the water gathered in had been overtaken by the pool. Thanks to the runoff from the melting snow and the rains of spring.. the water made a small two-tier 'falls' as it filtered off the rock and gathered near the base of the formation in another pool. All told..it was a rather pretty sight to see.

She smiled softly, her tail shifting back and forth as she simply enjoyed the view before once more sating her thirst and then moving back towards the den where she went inside and curled up quietly. It was no coincidence that she chose to curl up in the very back of the cave, or that her nose was resting right over where Raigo's scent was the strongest. Having chosen to avoid 'remarking' her territory, she hoped other wolves would discredit her passing scent as just that - passing through and do the same. The rock flooring of the cave was uncomfortably hard to her thinned form - but after a bit of squirming, she found a suitable spot to rest and closed her eyes. Finally, she could get some sleep.. and forget what had happened to her - for a time.

Raigo had broken his promise to Borden, and despite everything else going on, he felt terrible about it. All Borden had asked was that the dark creme youth inform his leader where he was going if he was going to leave the territory borders again. Which made sense, given that Rai had only recently returned, after having left his family for so long. But he had gone into panic mode when the white giant had not turned up. Coal black nose had gone digging under every rock, every tree stump, every dark hole, but his sister's scent had eluded him completely. There were traces of it, sure - she had been far too loyal of a member for her scent to not be there. But the freshness of it, that was missing. Raigo held deep respect, and love, for his two leaders, who had so kindly helped to take him in when they had all first met, but he knew for certain that he loved Vlar, and without her, the Hollow just seemed empty. Nevermind that there was some....creature named Kiche lounging about, constantly muttering about heathens. Whatever those were.

So the youth had left Grizzly Hollow, again. But this time, he made careful note of where he was going. Every so often, he stopped and after looking around rather sheepishly, lifted his leg and urinated on the nearest tree. It wasn't a "I claim this land and all who are in it" type of piss, but rather a "I don't want to get lost again" kind. There was a distinct difference. Of course, leave the territory had created whole new problems of, where was he to look? Relic Lore was a huge place, one that would take many days to traverse, and many more if Valr was also moving about. So Raigo had narrowed down his options by deciding that he would start with The Wildwood, where he and Vlar had first found a home to live when they had reached this place.

The journey went by rather uneventful, besides a few strange looks from forest animals regarding his frequent urination. Each step he took, he breathed in, willing his nose to scent the familiar face. But each time he came up empty, and as he broke through the trees and saw the mountain cave, he longed to see the white beast there. Surely if she had nowhere else to go, this is where she would be? Trudging forward, he went first to the pond, noting with some dismay the scent of his sister. But there was nothing distinguishing about it, nothing to indicate that it was particularly new. Lowering his head to the water, pink tongue lapped up the liquid, and he whined as it stung his throat. Golden eyes looked at the den, and he sighed. What was the point. Throwing back his head, youthful voice rang out. No words, just his manly man cry for the sister he loved with all his heart.

test italics

A call jerked her awake from her troubled sleep, the white female looking and blinking around in confusion. At first, she couldn't place the call and almost went back to sleep before something in the tone rung a bell. Raigo? No ...there was no way - he was gone.. Vlarindara pulled herself to her feet nonetheless and moved slowly towards the mouth of the cave. She moved cautiously, not to mention stiffly as she sought to inspect the source of the sound, but also trying to remain hidden and unnoticed. First her nose stuck out of the darkness of the den, then a blinking amber eye as she inspected the wolf.

There was something vaguely familiar about him.. but she couldn't place it..He looked a lot like Raigo - sounded like him.. but.. how could.. Oh.. screw it. She forced herself to step out of the rocky home they'd used when first arriving in Relic Lore, her head lowered and ears flat against her neck. A soft whine filtered from her muzzle as she watched him, her matted tail tucked between her legs. For all intensive purposes, it looked like the she-wolf had had a rough go of things, what with the mud, mats and other things sticking to her coat - burrs and the occasional black tick that could be seen on her legs when she walked. Not to mention the two wounds that seemed to almost glare out of her white coat.

Had she been able to blush from embarrassment, she would have, but instead, the wolf simply stood as if waiting for a blow to fall, looking almost scared of the yearling sharing the semi-circle space with her. Despite focusing her attention on his form - she said nothing, simply waiting to see if it really was Raigo and if he would recognize her - or if he to would try to chase her away for unknown reasons... She knew her front legs were shaking slightly with both nerves and fatigue - that she was thin.. but most of all, her heart was hammering in her chest - both out of fear and hope. She hoped it was Raigo, but was also afraid it was her adopted brother - if he saw her like this...

Raigo's youthful voice filled the surrounding skies. He wasn't calling his sister, persay, but merely howling out of his desire to express his loneliness without her. He had been young...extremely young...when they had met and she had taken him in, more as a son than as a brother, and while he could manage on his own now, he didn't want to. Even if he never saw her again, he would be restless until he knew what had become of her. So as he quieted down and looked back down at the pool, he was startled to hear movement to the side of him. Jerking his head in the direction of the noise, he watched as the shadows moved within the cave. Fur instinctively bristled, and he took a defensive step backwards. Ears flattened against his skull, and he waited, poised and ready to run if whatever emerged was a foe.

What did emerge was something completely different.

It was a monster. A white, giant monster. Mud and grime covered the wolf's coat, highlighted by a nasty scar that ran down her face and across her muzzle. She came forward in a posture that spoke volumes. No confidence. Anticipation. Fear. She might have been the resident here, but Raigo was the dominant wolf in charge. It was the eyes though. Bringing his own to meet her gold eyes, he stared at them for only a moment. And then something clicked. He knew then that he was looking at Vlarindara, the object of his search.

Things changed then in that moment, rather rapidly. Charging forward, a smile broke out on the youth's face. Skidding to a stop just as he reached her to avoid toppling her to the ground, he "whuffed", tail wagging excitedly. "VLAR!!!!" For the moment, that was all that could be said as he hopped forward, pink tongue flicking out of his mouth as he attempted to lick her cheek.

test italics

His reaction came swiftly, causing the white female to tense and instinctively almost jerk away..but she managed to quell the reaction by the time he'd gotten close enough to lick her cheek. Slowly, the ears that had been pinned back against her neck shifted forwards, pointing at him in silence a few moments. "It's good to see you, Raigo.." There was obvious warmth in her tone - joy that he was alive and well.. but it was more soft spoken than she might have been had circumstances been different. Vlarindara lifted her head tentatively before moving to quietly repeat the greeting, but instead of licking his cheek, her tongue snaked out to touch his jaw. She wasn't stupid - she could smell the scents of Grizzly Hollow on his pelt which naturally meant he had become higher ranking than she.. belonging to a pack.

Her tail swayed just slightly between her legs as she turned away from him and moved to the pool of water, her heart soaring at knowing he was alive and well. While her heart may have been light enough to take flight, she knew that any undue stress on her body like running about or trying to jump on him would possibly cause her yet more injury...Not so much in the sense of getting further injured - though too much might reopen the wounds. It was more that she was worried that exuberance would take the energy her body needed to fight off the last dregs of infection from the swamp water getting into the bite on her neck.

Lifting her head from the waters, she turned back to him, a smile touching her muzzle -tail wagging a little harder than it had before. "You're doing well...I'm glad to know you found your way back.." She hadn't known he was lost - but to her.. he'd always been lost. even had his absence been a choice he'd made. The white female shifted and tucked her haunches beneath her before she lowered herself to the ground so she could get settled and give her aching paws a rest. "Does Borden know you've returned..?" Of all the wolves - she hoped Borden would understand Raigo's plight and take him back into the pack. While she might have been run off... there was no reason for Raigo to be. Granted, the reasoning of her mind were still faintly clouded by fever - making her less.. clearheaded. Emotions and Instinct ran rampant instead of reasoning.

Her reaction wasn't what he was expecting, to say the least. She didn't return his blatant joy, and there was no leap in his direction, a tackle, or any other overt signs of affection. His tongue made contact with her cheek, but his own cheek went unlicked. Instead, she licked his chin, and the youth's ears flattened against his head in confusion. What was she doing? A faint whine came from his muzzle, and his eyes narrowed as she moved away from him. Taking a hesitant step backward, Raigo took a fresh look at his sister. He noted her dirtiness, her grime covered body. But more importantly, he looked at the wounds. Heart went out to her, and he followed her dutifully to the water's edge, standing close to her as she drank. Her wagging tail and her smile made him feel better, and he nudged her behind her ear with his nose. Returning the grin, he smiled at her. "Yeah, I got caught up in a chase. Sort of, um, followed it a bit to far. Didn't even kill the thing." Figures that he would get lost for two months, and not even have the privilege of being able to boast of his hunting ability. Instead, he simply came off as being a foolish yearling, which he was. "Yeah...I'm sorry. I kinda just...failed." Shuffling his paws, Raigo scooted backward, giving Vlar a "I'm innocent" smile.

The white giant took a seat, and Raigo moved to do the same, relaxing backwards and breathing in deeply. But he grew suddenly anxious and then stood back up. Closing the distance between the two, he smiled sympathetically at her. Reaching out with his muzzle, pink tongue once again emerged, but this time to caress the scar that was beginning to form on her muzzle. He went for the dirt, doing everything he could to clear the wound and the area around it. After a minute or two, he stopped and pulled back. She had asked him a question, but it spurred many of his own. "Yeah, he welcomed me back no problem. But he couldn't tell me were. He was worried about you. And...um...I can see why." Breathing in deeply, he went for it. "What happened?" She couldn't deny him an answer, could she? She loved him, that was the ultimate truth of Raigo's world, and love implied trust, and trust replied on honesty. She would tell him the truth, because that is what she did.

test italics

Vlarindara chuckled at his smile and the oh-so-Raigo reasonings for being lost. "Well, I think you've grown quite well..Afterall..while out on your own, you wouldn't have been able to look quite so good if you hadn't been able to hunt." She smiled, amber eyes passing over his form - noting the shape and shine of his coat. "You've done well for yourself, Raigo...I'm proud of you." The approach of the yearling made her stop moving, her tail stop wagging from where it had begun when she had noticed how well he'd done on his own.

The white female closed her eyes and let her ears fall back over her neck as he got closer to her face, ashamed of the injuries she'd received - but not moving to stop him. As he cleaned the wound, the ex second stayed still and did her best not to whine as his tongue scraped the rough edges of the bite mark. When he finished and pulled away to ask his question, amber eyes shifted slightly and looked up at him as she lowered her head quietly. "I don't see how Borden or Jaysyek could be worried for me...I all but gave up my position as their Second when I got sick.."

She sighed, shifting her ears so they rested flat outwards on either side of her face. "It's.. a long story, Raigo.. are you sure you want to hear it? I'd much rather hear of your exploits and adventures. Knowing you, you got into all kinds of trouble.." The white female chuckled, half hoping that he'd accept her offer and retell his tale - so she could avoid telling him of her own embarrassments.. but she'd tell him if he asked.. She couldn't lie to Raigo.. or deny him.

Raigo's smile grew exponentially as she commented on his growth and how good he was looking, especially given his situation. He was a little on the scrawny side yet, but that was more due to his inability to capture large prey on his own. Now that he was back in Grizzly Hollow, and Jaysyek had puppies to feed, he was sure that pack hunts would be fast in coming. He certainly hoped so. He wanted to show off his hunting skills, and now that he had admitted to both Borden and Vlar that he had beefed it and gotten lost because he had let his excitement carry him away, Raigo wanted the chance to show them that he had matured enough to not let that happen again. "Thanks, sis," he grinned at her, tail wagging wildly behind him, kicking up a small dust storm at his rear. Some things would never change.

His cleaning of her wounds went fine, but something had triggered her again - the happiness that had come to her face from seeing him disappeared, and Raigo felt his own attitude shift. What was the matter with her? Obviously her wounds were causing her more pain than he had originally thought, and his gold eyes narrowed as he began to search for a bump on her head, maybe something that had knocked the sense loose. He wasn't sure what part of her brain that stuff was kept in, but obviously it had taken a beating. "What are you talking about? Of course they're worried. They had no idea where you went," he told her anxiously, worry crossing his face. Looking down at his oversized paws, he grimaced. "I was so confused when I got back and you weren't there...and then Borden said he hadn't seen you in a while...I got scared..."

Shuffling backwards on his bum, the youth lowered himself to the ground so he was laying at her paws looking up at her. She chuckled, asking him to instead tell of his adventures, but he shook his head solidly from side to side. "I will, right after you tell me what happened. Was it a guy? Do I need to beat him up?" The youth's voice was filled with a heated anger at the imaginary enemy, but the passion behind it was real. He loved his adopted sister as if they shared flesh and blood, and woe to anybody who dared to hurt her.

test italics

Well, she'd tried.. Vlarindara sighed and lowered herself to the ground before resting her head on her paws, rather ashamed of what had happened. "Beat him up? No... you don't have to beat him up.. it was entirely..within his.. rights to do what he did." The white female shifted, her tongue passing over her lips in thought. "There...was a scuffle with Kiche - he had caused trouble with one of the wolves seeking entrance into Grizzly Hollow. Jaysyek found him - and ended up chasing him back to pack lands.. Where he chose to cower inside the den...Well seeing as she was pregnant - Elettra and I went in to drag him out.. and I chose to attempt to subdue his jaws - to keep Elettra from getting injured.."

A sigh escaped the white wolfs muzzle as she lifted her head then tilted her chin skyward as if howling - the half healed jagged bite wound over the base of her neck exposed to Raigos' view.. before she lowered it again. "Well, he got in something of a lucky shot before racing from the den.. where Jaysyek and Elettra chose to take care of him. I left after the altercation to go see if I could find the female that Kiche had run off to apologize to her.. I also didn't want anyone to see what he'd done - or that I was injured.. so I stayed on the outskirts of Grizzly Hollow.. continuing to do my duties, but waiting for my wound to heal enough not to be noticeable. I...explored in the swamp one evening - and became mired in what I was taught was flash-sand."

The flash-sand was definitely a more Raigo thing to do than something she would do - but she didn't mind explaining it.. after all..he'd understand it, right? "Obviously..I made it out with my life - but the waters of the marsh... with the sand got into my neck and made me sick... I wasn't able to return to Grizzly Hollow for a few weeks while I healed.. But.. when I did.. I called for them - to see if I was permitted back in the pack lands after abandoning my post for so long. Kiche Came out and did what I would expect of any pack member - he chased away the invading wolf who was a threat to the puppies." There was...oddly enough pride in her tone for the rather.. odd male.

"Regardless.. I tried to show that I meant no harm - but he attacked me further.. causing the wound to my nose. It was then.. that I thought that... by not answering my call - Borden and Jaysyek didn't wish to see me.. and had labeled me an outcast of the pack - due to my abandonment of my post as Second. What else was I to do? So.. I did what I've done for years - I ran. As I said.. I don't see how Borden or Jaysyek could have missed me...I could understand why they did what they did..But I'm glad they accepted you back, Raigo." Her tail thumped against the dirt animatedly, her expression softening as she watched the yearling. "I know you'll do well by them and their pups.."

Raigo simply couldn't let his older sister off that easy. She was beaten to a pulp, a far cry from the gorgeous and magnificent beast that he knew to be her true self. What he was looking at now was a mere shadow of the true she-wolf he knew her to be. So while she might have protested against his request, he stared her down evenly until she began to speak. Though as he listened to her, he found himself growing agitated, the avoirdupois that had fallen onto his shoulders since he had first seen her only growing larger. Kiche. They hadn't come into much contact with each other, but already Raigo found himself having a dislike towards the tawny colored brute. He was rude, and he didn't seem to understand some of the most basic of principles. Like now, listening, he couldn't believe his ears. For two reasons: one, that Vlar would give Kiche authority over her and two, that she would take Kiche's word as the final one rather than Borden or Jayse's.

Even her mention of the flash-sand didn't do more than bring a rugged smile to his face. That was something he would do - get caught up in whatever it was he was doing and throw caution to the wind. Only unlike his sister, Raigo would more than likely perish in the deadly sand, unable to figure his way out without assistance. Shaking his head in disbelief, he took a deep breath, giving a half-snort as she commented about how he would do right by his leaders and their newborns. Her wagging tail was a lie, because she had no reason to be happy right now, except for seeing him, and given what he was about to say to her, she might be happy no longer.

"Vlar..." he began, taking a deep breath. "You're one of the smartest wolves I know. But holy cow you did something stupid, and I'm not talking about the flash sand." Pause for a toothy grin. "Kiche is...broken. Why in the world would you ever think that he was given a right to run you off? Borden and Jayse probably didn't answer because you didn't give them enough time, or they were probably tending to their puppies and couldn't get out there before Kiche did. And if you hurt Kiche, which I'm sure you did when you were teaching him a lesson, then obviously he's got a motive to run you out himself, regardless if that's what the leaders want. I mean, come on. Who are you going to believe? Kiche or me? And I say that Borden and Jayse are worried about you and want you home." Because, let's be reasonable, without Vlar, Grizzly Hollow was only a shell of what it was supposed to be, and Raigo would then have his own loyalties torn.

(This post was last modified: May 30, 2011, 02:04 PM by Raigo.)

test italics