Ghastly Woods Can this be home?

Quatre sniffed the air gingerly. She had spotted the mountain from far away, and she had hoped to find a pack there, one that lived in the cold like her previous pack had been. She padded through a dark forest, the branches tugging at her lanky, unkempt fur. She shook herself, scattering bunches of fur from her pelt. She gazed at the fur that had fallen on the forest floor in shocked disbelief. Had her fur really gotten so thin to fall out only by being grazed with thorns? She needed to find a pack, she thought ruefully. She closed her eyes, exhaustion washing through her.

Quatre looked up at the mountain with a glimmer of hope in her exhausted eyes. She had to make it to the pack that lived around her. She could smell the scent of wolf, unfamiliar and foreign, but she hoped that she could get a place in the pack. She continued her slow path through the forest, paws plodding heavily through the dead leaves littering the ground. She knew that there was a pack near, she had smelled the scent of many foreign wolves on the wind that blew down the mountain, and she had scented stray individual scents here and there from wolves who had strayed away from the border or wolves who had joined or been turned away by the pack. She only hoped that she could finally find a pack to settle down in. She’d be happy with any position, even an Omega. She just wanted to rest from fighting. She wanted to have a gentler life, one of teaching and watching pups grow. She heaved a sigh, and forced herself to keep walking. ‘Just a little longer,’ She thought.

She soon came to the border of the pack, and she paused just outside it, not wanting to cross the border. She knew that wolf packs were very territorial, and she did not want to risk a position in the pack because she was too overzealous or confident. She sat a few fox-lengths away from the border. Then she raised her head and howled a greeting, interjected with cracks in the howl and lower tones from her damaged vocal chords, hoping that a wolf would come to greet her soon.

Addressed: anyone who could hear her howl
Mentioned: none
Muse: ehh, OK
Song: 'I Hate Everything About You'
Notes: none
Word Count: 379

(This post was last modified: May 15, 2014, 01:07 PM by Quatre.)

"A bright future does not reveal the dark past..."

With Naira busy tending to her two newborn pups, and Mapplethorpe with a growing limp in his step, Sagacity had to step up and take more responsibility at the borders. Normally, she wouldn't have minded; with the snow gone, travelling was easier and Sagacity had a penchant for journeying as a scout, anyhow. So cruising along the borders on patrol was natural and enjoyable for her, until it wasn't enough. The borders could quickly become binding for a wolf who was used to roaming much further, and Sagacity was a wolf on lean, quick legs that begged for a rocky slope and a long stretch of grassy terrain alike. She had a rangy walk that covered ground quickly despite her minute stature, and she could move like a dart silently slicing through air. She wasn't sure where it had come from, and she'd certainly never introduced herself as such, but the nickname 'the Silver Dagger' had been given to her, and she bore it with pride, though she'd be the last to admit that she actually liked having a nickname. She didn't even have a surname, which made her feel unrightfully glorified with a title like 'the Silver Dagger.'

Still, she felt quite dagger-like as she roamed along the borders- sharp and keen and begging for freedom and blood. She could not go search for her son or Aponi while Naira was with her pups and Mapplethorpe lame. She didn't necessarily intend to drag them home (though she very much wanted to), but she wanted to know where they were, if they'd settled down together or if they had joined a pack. She knew she'd shame her son by doing so, but she couldn't stand not knowing, unlike Naira who seemed to be fairly at ease with the fact that Aponi had gone off. Part of Sagacity still hadn't forgiven Naira for so easily allowing her daughter to leave; but what Sagacity didn't know, having only ever been a mother to one pup- was that you couldn't exactly stop a yearling from leaving if they wanted to do so.

She careened to a stop when she heard a scratchy howl, and she snarled to herself. It was a loner. One who didn't seem to have a decent voice. Worn by hunger and travel, she supposed, looking for a safe haven. For some reason, she was reminded of Evann, who had been thin and frail when she'd joined, and hadn't completely won Sagacity's respect yet, even though she and Karpos had been the ones to drag a nearly dead Mercy and Aponi home. Within a fortnight Karpos had chased Aponi off, and in doing so, Mercy as well. So that gave Sage no reason to pardon Evann any, either.

She headed directly toward where the call came from and picked up the scent soon enough. As soon as she could see the pallid figure in the distance, even as just a speck of silver against the dark browns and greens, she lifted her tail and the fur along her spine and neck raised to be stiff, like quills. Her ears flicked forward and she assumed an aggressive stance which would have easily been used to chase someone; her step was quick, and for a moment she thought she might simply chase this loner away, especially when she got close enough to see the female's scarred pelt. Someone as beat up as this woman surely had done wrong in her past. Not that Sagacity was in any position to judge- but she did anyway. She bared her teeth and snarled, coming to a stop just short of the female, making sure to get close enough to make a point; they weren't friendly with strangers. "You better be something damn special to demand an audience," She hissed. "I've heard 'I can hunt, patrol, guard, heal' and all that shit before. So what do you want?" She demanded, flicking her tail from one side to the other in a gesture of impatience. This female didn't look like much; she judged by her appearance and simply assumed she'd just be another, useless addition if they were to take her in to the pack. Her scrutiny was evident in her gaze which trailed along the woman's scars and finally to her face where they rested, narrowed.

Quatre sat back on her haunches as she waited for someone to come by. A light rain had started, and a chill ran through her frail body. She shivered, water collecting at the tip of her nose. She sneezed, shaking her head. Then she looked up as a female wolf came to the border, fur bristling and teeth bared, snarling in dominance. Quatre whined, tail tucking between her legs and ears falling back against her skull, lowering her head in submission.

"You better be something damn special to demand an audience," the strange wolf hissed. "I've heard 'I can hunt, patrol, guard, heal' and all that shit before. So what do you want?"

Quatre whimpered at the harsh words streaming venomously from the other wolf's mouth. She just wanted a home! She wanted somewhere she could learn how to interact with wolves again... But this wolf was harsh!

"I-I..." she stumbled over the first couple words, shrinking in on herself as her voice cracked and rasped. "I can't do any of those things..." she whispered. "I... I was.... t-taken... before m-my p-pack taught me... I-I j-just want a... h-home... p-please?" Her entire body was shaking with fear.

"I... I can f-fight," she offered weakly, unwillingly. "I... I d-don't l-like it, b-but I c-can... T-they m-made me f-fight..." she trailed off, drawn into a flashback.

~A huge, snarling, black mastiff crouched in front of her, ready to pounce and tear her apart. She darted to the side as it lunged, and leapt onto its back, clawing and biting desperately. Then she was flying across the clearing, and slammed into the shock-fence. Lightning arced over her body and she yelped in pain, scrambling away from it.~

She shook her head. She couldn't think on those things right now! She lowered her head again, and waited for the other wolf's response.

Addressed: Sagacity
Mentioned: Sagacity, Pollux (mastiff)
Muse: OK
Song: none
Notes: none
Word Count: 308

(This post was last modified: May 16, 2014, 02:50 AM by Quatre.)

She wasn't appeased by the woman's submission. The only good thing about the display was that it didn't frustrate Sagacity further. Had she not submitted at all, Sagacity would have immediately been upon her and there was no telling whether she could keep herself from killing the female. The bedraggled, scarred female shrank back and whimpered, and when she did speak her voice was full of fear. This wasn't the type of wolf they wanted in Hollowheart Keep at all- not even to amuse themselves with. She was too weak, too scarred already. Her eyes narrowed and her lips pulled back further when the female confessed that she had nothing to contribute, and she was about toe demand why she thought she even deserved a pack at all when she mentioned a them. They took her.

She would've asked who the female was talking about- probably some pack of bandits, but that it made any difference to Sagacity- when the female confessed that she could fight. Sagacity looked her up and down and laughed raucously, a bit of spittle falling from her teeth. "You? Right then," She said, and took a step back, lowering her head and flexing her shoulder muscles like a cat waiting to pounce. "Prove it. If you can beat me, then I'll let you live." She hissed. "If you can't...Well, I suppose we'll worry about that later, shall we?" She said, and readied herself should the female actually take her seriously and make an attack; she was ready for it, aching for it- and if the female didn't make a move, then she certainly would.

The pack wolf looked her up and down and laughed raucously, a bit of spittle falling from her teeth. "You? Right then," She said, and took a step back. The wolf lowered her head and flexed her muscles threateningly. "Prove it. If you can beat me, then I'll let you live." She hissed. "If you can't...Well, I suppose we'll worry about that later, shall we?" It was obvious that this wolf didn't believe her.

Quatre felt stirrings of anger beginning to rise in her core. How dare this wolf? She had no idea what Quatre had been through! How could she make judgments on her abilities or personality based on just her appearance, her submission? She let the whimpering submissive part of her fall away, though her outside demeanor stayed submissive, not wanting the other to attack before she was ready.

"Don't believe me if you wish," she replied coolly, her voice still cracking from her broken vocal chords, but no longer shaking and whimpering. "It won't change the fact that I can fight. I dislike fighting -there seems little reason for it. But, if you insist, we shall fight." As she spoke, she was eyeing the other wolf carefully, sizing her up.

She noticed that the other wolf was shorter than her, but thicker around the chest, more weight on the other, likely because of her status as a pack wolf. The other wolf was going to be quick, she knew. She would have to watch out for a clever plan or trickery by the other. Her eyes narrowed, awaiting a response, not wanting to jump ahead of herself, in case the challenge was a test.

Sage attempts to grab the fur at Quatre's shoulder and knock her sideways.

Though the scars upon the woman's pelt would've meant that she'd not only fought before, but had managed to survive, Sagacity saw them only as imperfections. She'd been hurt. She'd been bitten, scratched, torn- and someone had taken some pity on her, surely. She was larger than Sagacity, but that didn't matter to the silver dagger, who liked to use her small size to her advantage when she could. She was swift; small, but deadly. Her size had helped her hunting on numerous occasions, and like a fawn she hoped to make this stranger fall to a quick demise. And she knew that if she didn't succeed, she would have a pack of wolves she could turn on this loner. She could track her down in no time flat, sic her allies on her and kill her just out of spite.

Rather than making a move, though, her opponent waited for something to happen. Sagacity began to move, then, at a slow walk, circling her opponent with her teeth flashing. Now and again she would snap at the air between them, testing to see the other woman's nerves, if she was short-tempered and distract her. Her pace quickened, and without warning she lurched to one side and then the other before closing the short gap between them with two bounds, body held close to the ground so she would have balance and accuracy. She aimed high on the female's shoulder with the intention of grabbing the fur there and using her momentum to knock the scarred woman sideways.

(This post was last modified: May 16, 2014, 10:11 PM by Sagacity.)