Heartleaf Creek Dirty Paws

<blockquote>Relief tangled with bitter cold as two large paws dipped beneath the creeks shiny surface, gracefully navigating the rocks beneath the murky water as the tall male ventured further in. Stepping lightly from the bank he allowed his back paws to follow and move into the depths until the water reached a few inches below his belly. Despite the cold, his paws were burning from the endless roaming he seemed to do of late. It was a slow and tedious process, getting to know a new area, new scents, sights and sounds were a lot to take in, especially when one had to pay extra special attention to details, and even more so when ones mind was so analytical it even tried to remember the colour of a certain flower and it’s exact location just in case it might come in handy in the future.

Yes, being an evil genius was tiresome work and he had allowed himself a few minutes to bathe his aching paws before he would continue his surveillance. After all, he wasn’t even fully an adult yet, sure he was out of afternoon naps (not that he was allowed many of those anyway) but that didn’t mean he didn’t need a rest every so often.

His pink tongue snaked out from his jaws and began to lap at the cool water. It hit the back of his throat and he could feel it slide down into his rumbling cavern of a belly. Gah, he needed to eat again already?! Living off small prey was starting to take its toll now that he was getting bigger. He had to get some serious meat onto his lanky bones if he was to carry out his reason for even being here.
Seems he hadn’t been quite as prepared as he had thought- finding “allies” wasn’t proving to be as simple as he had hoped.

<i>Lap, lap, lap</i>.</blockquote>

moonlight on my floor shining through the roof they got the city surrounded as if i needed proof After having only gotten the opportunity to explore her surroundings and familiarize herself with parts of the land again, Murder had slowly made her way back into the northern part of the forest, where she had once come across a young female at a beaver dam. She was away from the dam now, away from where the small creatures chewed on their wood and created beautiful architecture. The air smelled nice here, fresh and clean, the gurgling of the running water added to the scenery and seemed to make it complete. The Mountain of Dire loomed above her, putting her almost on nerve, remembering small bits of when she had once gotten caught in a pack meeting. It amazed her how young and clueless she had been, though it had not been that long ago at all. She was already changed, and wanted to be as independent as possible, despite the aching in her heart that longed to be with someone. She denied that part of herself and kept it down in her heart, punishing it for existing. She was no weakling that relied on others to survive. The smell of another wafted towards her, and caught her like a deer in headlights. She had smelled plenty of wolf-scents along her way through the land, but she had not come across one yet, perhaps due to trying to avoid them. It seemed as if it was inevitable to avoid the creature, though. His scent was strong, young, healthy. He could put up a fight if he didn't want her near. Murder would most certainly fight just as hard to keep her pride, though she hoped it would not come to that degree. She wouldn't mind a spar to get her back on her toes, for she hadn't had to fight for quite a long time. The chance hadn't come up. Perhaps, if this male was not violent, he wouldn't mind a quick play-fight to get them acquainted with one another. Learning about one's fighting style was certainly a way of getting to know someone. Thus, the pros outweighed the cons and Murder trekked onward, eager to see who her potential foe was. When she spied the beast, her thoughts immediately went to looking for weak points. He was large, larger than she, and would be difficult to take down. Hopes of sparring disappeared, perhaps he would be up for it but she was beginning to grow wary of her assumptions. She halted herself twenty feet away from him, placing her haunches on the ground and curling her tail around her legs. After a few moments of silence and the lack of an attack from her companion, she bent her head slowly to the water, taking a couple small laps of the crystalline liquid to soothe her throat, which had not needed words in a decent amount of time. She would prefer it if everyone she met was as mute as she wanted to be, but it was not the case in most circumstances and she would just have to suffer with letting her voice ring out into the world once more. "Speech" i forgot my fear feel it's on the rise buried by all of the pieces falling from the sky

<blockquote>The water had been so close to his nose that he had missed the scent of another. A female had quietly slipped closer and were it not for him taking a moment to breath he would have missed her altogether. As his nose rose from the water, her scent assaulted him and his head snapped upright. His handsome face spun in her direction and he set his metallic gaze upon her. He didn’t say anything, nor did she. It seemed they were at a bit of a stale mate. It was clear she was curious about him, else she wouldn’t have ventured so close- it wasn’t like she hadn’t smelt him, it was on a very rare occasion a wolf could accidently bump into someone.

Perplexed, he turned on the slimy rocks and lumbered back to the bank where he pulled himself from the cold water in a fluid motion. He didn’t bother to dry his fur; it was only his legs which were wet. There, he turned to face her full on and took in her form.

She wasn’t very big, but then again compared to his towering height not much was. Her fur was a clash of autumn colours and were he a “normal” wolf he may have found her quite pretty. Alas, he wasn’t normal… love and other such feelings were dead to him; in fact, they had never even been alive. With such a disturbed and cruel childhood it was no wonder he was incapable of affection.

He remained silent as he looked at her, but slowly lowered to his haunches as well. His own thick tail lay straight behind him whilst he picked up his head to full height. Ears twitched, his senses more alert now that he knew he had let his guard down but for a moment- a mistake he couldn’t afford to make.

“Hi.” And unlike the times before, he didn’t offer a smile. Just a simple word- she didn’t seem the type who would appreciate small talk, else she would have already said something, right?</blockquote>

moonlight on my floor shining through the roof they got the city surrounded as if i needed proof It was interesting to survey others when they were not particularly aware of another being in their presence, and while it may have been a bit strange to be watching someone while they didn't know she was there, Murder found it amusing. She would watch the way someone would move, or talk, or how their body language when they were communicating with another would give away simple things like rank, association, and attitude towards the other creature. She had spent enough time watching animals to be able to know these things, and it was stuff like this that made someone like her a good spy. She had trained long and hard to become like her father, it was arduous work but in the end she had passed the training and had made her father proud, and it had filled her heart with joy and happiness. For once in her life she had made someone proud, and as her father was difficult to impress, that made it even better. As she sat along the creek watching the young male, he turned and caught her looking. He approached her, and her guard shot up, for her previous thoughts of a potential battle stuck in her mind. She readied herself to move or fight, when he stopped, and said a simple, Hi. He seemed friendly enough, and it calmed her, but he was still large enough to give her a good lashing. She sat, watching him, then twitched her tail. "Hello. You look lonely," She stated something simple, trying to engage the conversation and get to know him a bit. Would he fall for the bait? "I'm Murder." His speculation about the name would hopefully keep him intrigued. "Speech" i forgot my fear feel it's on the rise buried by all of the pieces falling from the sky

<blockquote><i>Murder.</i>

He blinked a moment, taken back by the name. <i>Murder.</i> It didn’t suit her, she looked too delicate, too tiny and with that thought his guards rose- perhaps she too was trying to play him as he had been most recently. No one named their daughter such a dark name… unless it was ironic? He hated himself at that moment, it had thrown him and his chaotic yet brilliant mind was at a loss- he couldn’t work out where to steer this next. It was a strange feeling, normally he knew who to turn into, what to say, how to act but from those few words he was at a loss and didn’t know how to precede with her and he didn’t know who to be or how she would react. Gah!

He became frustrated with himself; a frown creased his handsome yet scared mug as he looked at her more closely. “Murder? Well that’s a strange name.” Was all he could say. It was said with politeness of course, he knew better then to let his frustration show due to his confusion. It wasn’t because he was afraid of her, in fact he was pretty sure he could squash her like a bug, he wasn’t angry or upset because he couldn’t work out, he was just generally confused and that didn’t happen to him often. His mind was analytical, it could work out where a falling acorn would land before it even dropped from the tree, which branches it would hit, how many and which side the acorn would land on- it would take into account the wind speed and direction, the density of the acorn and the branches it would hit and yet he couldn’t for the life of him work out why such a delicate wolf would have such a name.

He shook his head, knocking the thought from his mind. There was no point dwelling on it, best to move on and play his usual tactics; time to learn… always time to learn. “I’m Rhysis. I’m new to the area… if you couldn’t already tell, aha.” He added a small smile to the end and just like that, he was back in character; Rhysis, the friendly guy from a small family, with a perfect yet humble mother, he'd never commit <span class='word'>solecism</span>, he had good manners and as sweet as he could be. God he hated that guy.

“I’m actually here trying to find some family members- we all got split up during a pack turf war and I’ve not seen them since. I don’t suppose you know of them? My sister is Volkan and the other is Ranger? Ranger is older then me however…”</blockquote>

moonlight on my floor shining through the roof they got the city surrounded as if i needed proof There was something about the way that this male, Rhysis, looked at her that made her smile. He was obviously confused as to why she carried such a heavy name for being such a small creature. He had no idea what she had done in the past, whether or not she deserved the name, if it was even related to anything of the nature that it was to be defined by. She was amused by his reaction, and while it may have angered her with others, she did not really mind with this male. He seemed fit, a good fighter, large and finding it easy to topple others to the ground. She had met several wolves like this, and whether this one was a gentle giant or a beast set to crumple everything in his path, she would have to wait to find out. He seemed friendly enough, whether it was a guise or simply him, she could not tell for now. But for the moment, she would settle to read his movements, the little details of the twitch of his ear, the handsome brow that rested above his eyes. He was obviously younger than she, though he acted well enough like an adult. He could carry himself like one, with his figure it would be easy. She began to categorize into the gentle giant section, but she had to wait before she completely placed him there. If he did not belong in the box, she would not put him in it. "I suppose," A pause, for her to breathe in the river-scented air tinged with the cologne of the male. "Names tell a lot about a wolf, they are not an easy thing to fit upon a figure," She was remaining aloof, a little out in the open, wondering whether or not he would make a move that would end up with her needing to fight for herself. He could easily take advantage of her at any moment, and while it didn't necessarily frighten her, it did put her on edge. It showed in her body language, she was slightly tense, her ears on alert, her eyes watching him, glancing away every once in a while but always returning to check on him. She wondered if he were intelligent enough to catch the small nuances. He was trying to make do with being friendly. She lifted a brow slightly to it, her pretty face shifting to allowed the muscle to contract and raise. A few moments later she released it, a small grin remaining on her face. If he wanted to make do with friendly, then she would have to make do with friendly, though where that would get them she did not know. Being friendly with another always led to strange feelings of attachment, or more time spent around one another, and that was something that Murder wasn't entirely fond of. It would have to do for now, though. "I can't say I have seen either of them, I apologize. If I see one of them I will tell them I have seen you," She doubted that she would actually come across one of his sisters, but she never knew. This land was large but it was not very hard to stumble across another wolf, perhaps he would come across them before she. "Where do you come from?" "Speech" i forgot my fear feel it's on the rise buried by all of the pieces falling from the sky

<blockquote>She liked to be cryptic it seemed; though what she said was little she had meaning behind it. She didn’t seem as ‘simple’ as the other females he’d bumped into recently and that was refreshing indeed. However, that didn’t change the fact he was after only one thing from her- intel, information on anything and everything which might prove useful in hunting down his sisters and creating his future pack, putting himself back onto his rightful path to be a king… something his father had denied him and eventually, with his pack behind him he would make his father pay.

Sure, you could say he was a little sour about the whole thing… he could have forgotten his past, moved on and been happen but he had been damaged too early in his life. He knew nothing else, of nothing better then revenge, hurt, blood and pain. It boiled in his veins, it was every breath he took and he would never be satisfied… no matter what he accomplished.

“So how many have you slaughtered, Murder, to have earned your name?” He assumed it was a nickname, finding it most odd that her parents would give her such a name just for popping into the world. His logical thinking mind hadn’t considered anything other then the literal meaning to it, but he was expecting to be surprised by her response.

It seemed he had run into another dead end in regards to his sisters. They were remaining aloof and he had begun to question whether they were really here or not… He knew Volkan had been spotted, but it was months ago now and she may have left the area. Perhaps he needed to start tracking down pack wolves… those with more connections.
He gave a quick sniff of the air to confirm, she too was a loner like he and probably another dead end. It was frustrating. He had to start travelling further afield to find out more about them.
Still, she had offered to spread his name around and that was something he could do without. They didn’t need alerting to his presence. “Oh, no don’t trouble yourself. I’m sure I’ll bump into them soon enough and I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. I can’t wait to see their faces when we eventually meet again.” Which was completely and utterly true, he wanted to surprise them, see the terror in his litter mates eyes as he strolled into her sights. Resisting a gleeful shudder, he continued. “Far from here… It’s not something I like to think of.” He added quietly, before lifting his head to her again. His position was relaxed, perhaps even weary after so much travelling. He needed sleep soon, that was for sure but he couldn’t rest until he had something solid to go off. His mind was consumed with his mission and he knew he be nothing but restless until he felt like he had made some progress. “And you? Do you have no pack of your own?” This could be useful information… with a name and reputation of <i>Murder</i> she could be a potential candidate for his future pack… He had more then enough time to think about it, for he was to be most selective in its members, but that didn’t mean he had to wait to start thinking about it.

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