Grizzly Hollow my head is an animal

Open to packmates.

August 31st, 2015 - 11AM
Patchy Rain Showers, light.
60°F

Words had stumbled about and now she found herself within the confines of a pack borders without the worry of being yelled at or chased off. It made the yearling almost feel safe, and even a bit terrified of what was to come. The last time she had been within sanctioned borders was when she returned home to find her parents dead and her family in mourning and she wasn’t entirely sure she could handle it if something else like that happened. It put her on edge, even if the edginess didn’t reflect how she behaved but simply what went on within the inner depths of her mind. She would gulp as the russet girl rose from the first good night’s sleep she had in a while to see the sun almost to its throne in the sky.

She cursed inwardly, not meaning to stay asleep for that long though she didn’t necessarily regret it. She woke herself up fully, stretching out on her front paws as her butt flew into the air for a second or two, a grin on her yearling face as she broke into a run. It was the same wake-up routine every day. Stretch out for a second or two and then race to a specific point in back against the win, despite the wind winning the race every single time. She decided she’d make a run to the borders and back to the small den she had been resting, and then she’d meet a few of her packmates… maybe. She pushed herself to her limits when it came to speed, running as fast as she could before skidding to a halt, literally skidding, when she reached the familiar scent line.

Her tongue was lolled as she let mirth dance across her face into a familiar lopsided grin before she returned for her run back, pushing her speed as her grin held, determination present in the yearling’s eyes. Her morning routine wasn't the most normal thing, but it was probably the most normal thing about the aloof girl.

He'd asked to follow his mother out that morning, wanting a change of his usual stay-at-home routine. It was good to see more of the pack's territory, to branch out, and even though he knew he didn't really need parental guidance it made Tomen feel better. His mother had been a little quiet lately, or maybe she had been for a while but he hadn't really noticed. He so loved the look on her face whenever she saw him, loved that he could make her laugh and smile with so little effort. He didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress.

In an effort to prove that he could be independent, though, he'd wanted to make his own way back after a while, figuring that his mother would need to do important, leader-y adult stuff. An equal part of keeping her happy was also not getting in her way and being a nuisance. Cheerily he had skipped back through the forest, taking his time to make sure he was really familiar with the territory. Once he was bigger, he'd be able to do important adult stuff too, after all, and he'd need to know their land super well. It was on this casual stroll back that he happened to walk exactly into the path of a very fast oncoming object...

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

<3 @Tomen - Haiiiii, English translations can be found by hovering over the Finnish words.

There was a light chuckle, a familiar tune in the form of a hum as she moved gracefully over roots and dead leaves crunched under her paws. There was some form of secrecy and discretion required with scouting and diplomacy, but most of the time you wanted to hear a wolf coming, particularly when it came to approaching enemy packs therefore she didn’t care much for the soft noise. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. It was comforting, familiar, and because of it she nearly zoned out, stopping just in time to skid to a halt in front of a dark pelted pup that was walking about, seemingly exploring. “Herranjumala, I am so sorry little one, I didn’t see you.” She apologized quickly, realizing she had stopped a whole foot before him at most.

The tawny girl instantly set her slate eyes to examine the child, to ensure she had not hurt him in any way. She assumed pack traditions, based on the rules she had learned, made this child the prince to the pack, and hopefully a friend for her. She saw it this way, she could make friends within the pack and get to know everyone a bit better, and that included the child before her. “Hei, I’m Katariina but you can call me Kat… or Morgan.” She said, adding in her name to her secret name in case he wanted to call her by her alias instead. It still felt weird, calling Kat a secret name along with her birth name of Katariina.

She let a grin glide across her maw as she looked at him, hoping that she had not overwhelmed him. Her concern for the child and his safety and more importantly, the injury she could have caused him took over her instincts. Therefore, she missed the scent of the deer off in the distance, and presumably would not find the scent until she was assured by him that he was safe.

(This post was last modified: Oct 05, 2015, 10:37 AM by Katariina.)

The rapid sound of paws on the ground - snapping twigs, crunching plant debris, the rhythmic thud - came to him too late, and it was only the runner's own reflexes which prevented a crash. Tomen cried out in surprise as she appeared, as though out of nowhere, falling back onto his rump in some clumsy attempt to move out of the way. Eyes wide, the boy stared at her, hearing her outpouring of apology but taking a few seconds to really register them.

He didn't recognise her at all, which would have sent alarm bells ringing if she hadn't smelled kinda like the pack. Besides she wasn't sorry for trespassing, only nearly bulldozing him. When she introduced herself, it was with two very different names, and that sealed the deal; she had to be one of them, for everybody seemed to have two names around here. Everyone except him, of course. "You're new," he said, a truly keen observation. He picked his rump off the ground and stood before her, studying her like she had been him, for looking like a heap on the ground was not nearly dignified enough for a leader's son. Now that he had determined that she was pack, too, he felt far more at ease; if his parents trusted her, then he did too. "I'm Tomen. Which is your real name? I don't get a secret name, I dunno why. Is something chasing you?"

There was little conformation, so Katariina took his blunt statement about her being new as a sign that she could relax. She relaxed her muscles which had been tensed from worry, her eyes calmed as she let out a small huff of relief. He introduced himself, Tomen, the name sounded familiar though she couldn’t tell if it was because of the little pup, or just something that had jumped into her memories from her past. She let a small grin on her face. “I think your parents want you to pick your name when you join the adult ranks.” She suggested, hoping her understanding of the monikers was the correct one for the child’s sake. “No one’s chasing me; I’m a scout so I’m just training by running as fast as I can for as far as I can.” She would go on to explain.

The coal coated youngling asked for her real name and she let her smile grow a little bit. “My real name is Katariina Aliisa Toumela. Though… most people call me Kat since it’s a bit of a mouthful.” She loved her name, and her moniker, the both of them felt right though it was still strange to refer to herself by a name that wasn’t originating in the familiar mother tongue she spoke. “What brings you out here, young prince?” She would ask, her words a cooing as her tail gently started to rap against the ground in a constant beat like a metronome. She liked reading people and figuring out who they were, and she had to say she quite liked the young Tomen Lyall.

He had deflected her question in a way, not answering if he had been okay, but his general relaxed posture and the fact he was talking to her proved he was alright.

(This post was last modified: Oct 05, 2015, 10:38 AM by Katariina.)

How come she knew more about the secret name thing than he did, and she was brand new? Pouting a little in his consternation, Tomen was nevertheless easily distracted from the unfairness of it as she continued to speak. She was just training, she explained, by running so fast. What on earth could she ever need to go that fast for though? Maybe catching tasty things to eat, but she had said for scouting, not hunting. Being such a reclusive child, the duties of a scout were not something that Tomen had any real reason to be familiar with. It sounded like fun, though.

Her real name was Kat, it turned out, the boy much preferring the shortened version of her name. "I was going back home," he chirped, happy to be able to answer an easy question. "The den-home." This was all home, after all - perhaps it was good to be specific. Kat was warm and pretty and he found that he liked her company quite a lot. His parents had made a good choice. "I went out with mom but I was gonna go nap. But maybe I'll stay out here a bit longer." Glancing at his legs, then at the red woman's, he shifted a little uncomfortably on his paws. "Could I come running with you? I know I'm littler than you, but I promise to keep up."

Her tail thumped softly against the ground, a constant beat that rang through her head like one, two, three, four over and over again. She had a grin on her face, one that was not easy to fake, not that she had to because she generally was happy, meeting new wolves and the likes. Tomen explained that he was going back home, which had confused her for a second before he carried that he meant the den that he stayed in with presumably his mother and his father.  Then he went on to tell that he had gone out with his mum and had decided to take a nap, but then added that he might stay out a bit longer, which she thought might be because of her influence.

This made her eyes light up, a certain mirth dancing across her face when he asked if he could come running with her, claiming he could keep up. She didn’t know for sure if he could match her speed and she assumed that he couldn’t, but she would humor him. “I don’t see why not, as long as you can keep up, @Tomen.” She agreed happily, willing to slow herself down if it meant keeping in a constant rhythm with him. “Why don’t we race to the borders and then back to the den?” She would go on to suggest, planning out a route. If anything, she was probably going to wear him down so he did settle down for a nice nap when they had finished.

(This post was last modified: Oct 04, 2015, 09:39 PM by Katariina. Edit Reason: Adding tag )

She looked pretty happy, so either Kat really liked running or he wasn't doing a bad job at the whole meet'n'greet thing. He felt a surge of confidence, his pleasure at her good mood evident on his face, and thought that maybe, if it was this easy to get people to like you, he should make an effort to get to know the rest of them - proper-like. He was happy at his family's private den, and keeping to himself, but he was really getting too old for that.

He beamed as she told him that he could join her, though now he had to worry about actually making good on that promise! He wasn't a tiny child anymore, and he was in the period of growing fast, but her legs were definitely longer than his. She was probably an expert at it, too, while going fast had never been high on his list of priorities. Maybe that would change. "Uhhhh," he stammered, caught off-balance by her suggestion of a race. There was no way he was gonna win that, but besides, he hadn't wanted to race - he just wanted an excuse to run with her. "Do you know where my den is? It's not the one everyone else sleeps in... it's the one where I was born. Um, um, maybe we should just go and I'll show you where. You could meet my friend!" As an only child, Tomen's sense of competitiveness had never really developed, and neither had his drive to win. Much more exciting was the prospect of sharing with Kat the things close to him, and the running she liked so much. She could teach him to run as fast as her, that would be awesome.

Kat was a very curious wolf, and it was because of this that she took a particular interest in the young prince standing before her. She thought carefully over his words and somewhat understood what he was actually saying – not the words but the meaning behind it. “Alright, why don’t we run together to the border and back to the main den, and from there, you can lead the way to your birth den?” She offered with a soft smile, her eyes glimmering with a certain hope out there. She was confident, and that might be one of the better things about her, apart from her general aloofness and the fact she often times was victim to alexithymia, focusing more on the expressing emotions properly part of the condition.

It sounded like a good idea and not too intensive on either of them to her, though she would let Tomen be the judge of that. “How do you like it here?” She would ask a curious look in her eyes. She had the fullest intention to talk to him about his life and what he liked to do and didn’t like to do while they ran – she was a social creature at heart and she didn’t see it ending any time soon.

(This post was last modified: Oct 07, 2015, 12:45 PM by Katariina.)