Blackberry Fields Guilt by association

@Laurel

Iopah stepped out of the thicket, glanced around furtively, and went west. It was a perfect day to hunt. The summer heat was dampened by a late morning drizzle and the wind all but non-existent. Quietly she skirted west to hug the blackberry canes.

She was a law abiding creature. There were consequences to every decision, no matter how trivial. There was always a right or wrong choice. Lone wolves were judged by themselves, making whatever decision was in their best interest. Pack wolves were granted companionship, protection, and sustenance. All very important things, but they came with a cost. An alpha gave up much in granting those things and in return they asked for obedience. It was a fair trade, one that Iopah had willingly agreed to almost two years ago.

The decision to travel west was teetering on the edge of wrong. She is supposed to avoid the Black Thorn wolves, if one should find her there would be no question as to her mistake in coming here. She brushed her jaw against a heavy cane, leaving a trace of her for them to find. Before the rule had been in place she had made her opinion of them clear. Her opinion had not changed, but the way she admonished them had. She couldn't interact directly with a Black Thorn wolf, but she could leave reminders of her disapproving presence. That loophole firmly planted she shimmied further into the damp canes.

The rain acted as a glue and after only a few steps blackberry leaves are plastered onto her pale coat. She wanted to hurry up, find something to mark, then leaves. Unease prickled her coat more than the blackberry greenery. Later she can lose the evidence during a hunt.

(This post was last modified: Sep 02, 2014, 04:51 AM by Iopah.)

The encounter with another lone wolf, Abeke yesterday had certainly put Laurel in a funk- she had spend the rest of the day pondering her abilities, the way she could fit within a pack. All the scenarios she came up with were depressing- perhaps outlandish, but still very depressing. She didn't have enough practice with any one skill to be an irreplaceable pillar- fishing, yes she was good at- but did she have what it took to manage all the responsibilities of a fisher? The dark wolf scrunched up her nose at another terrifying thought- would she have what it takes to be a leader?

Ever since she had met Kato, Laurel's mind mostly revolved her thoughts around him, like a small solar system. She didn't know if it was attraction or the fact that she wanted to help his mission of creating a pack. He wasn't the only wolf she knew, but Laurel inexplicably wanted to stay close. Objectively, she had always called the future pack his- the Boughinn always assumed she was to take a subordinate role. But what if Kato decided- her fur tingled with a prospect she dare not even think. She was too- too awkward and blunt. She lacked a silver tongue and golden charm, assuring tact and mind-breaking wit. Things Laurel had often observed in her parents and her eldest brother. Never in herself. And now she was on a foolhardy mission to gain knowledge about some mystic element south of the falls.

So distracting were her thoughts, Laurel tramped through the tall grasses, keeping her head low only to match her feelings. She didn't mind the drizzle lightly decorating her coat with tiny transparent globes- it was a good thing, keeping the sun's heat away. Laurel sniffed cautiously- she wasn't entirely without brains- checking for markings or other such pack notifiers. She hoped to find Atlas out here, but she wasn't willing to cross lines in order to do it. It was then that she picked up the scent of another wolf- it was mostly mingled with the smell of blackberry leaves. It wouldn't be wise to move on without checking if someone was actually there, hiding amongst the foliage, so she called out neutrally- "Hello? Is anyone there?"

@Laurel
sorry, i think you got Iopah on a grumpy day

She'd just found the perfect location to leave a little message. A dead snag far back from the border, but certainly close enough that one of them would walk by it. She did not want to be close to the borders. It would increase the odds of running into one of them and she distinctly did not want that to happen. She'd be scot-free as long as she wasn't discovered here. Quickly she squatted to mark it. She would protest their presence here for as long as possible.

As she rose to her full height a quiet noise reached her and she froze. Her belly brushed low against the ground as she slunk out of the berry canes. She was almost there when a voice called. She cringed into a pause and her lips pulled back into a snarl. Dammit! She'd been found. Slinking away to avoid this wolf would do no good. They knew who she was and where to find her. In her agitation the neutral tone of the other had been missed. Her tail flicked up in the fine rain, she would not face this wolf cowering in submission. She had done wrong, but not by them. They deserved no respect from her. Stiffly she pushed through the canes to find Laurel.

In the quiet drizzle she regarded Laurel stoically, not shying away from meeting those gray eyes. The young woman's features were familiar to Iopah, a fellow Great Plains wolf, but she'd not seen her in this area before. Iopah's nostrils flared, head lifted proudly then tilted in concentration. Could this simply be a lone wolf with bad timing?

"You a blackberry thorn wolf?" She asked gruffly still not quite believing her good fortune. The leaves still attached to her pelt did little to reduce the imposing figure she must make. With her tail raised and the lines of her face tense, she waited.

Laurel shied away from the other wolf's grand posture. Ears lowered in respect, she kept her head low, not sure if the gruff manner might increase with neutrality. She didn't want the ire of a wolf who was obviously not in a good mood.

Thinking quickly, Laurel registered the scent upon the other wolf's coat, comparing it with other wolves she'd come across. It wasn't like the smell Atlas held at all. In conjunction with the fact that their impromptu meeting was relatively far from the borders of the pack that resided in the BlackBerry fields, Laurel came to the conclusion that this woman was from a different pack. Perhaps close to the area- and perhaps in rivalry?

Of course, that was no concern to her. Her home was a good distance away, so Laurel decided to answer truthfully her newest acquaintance's pointed question- "No. My home is near the falls at the base of the mountain- east of here." I wasn't the entire truth, but the dark female would rather be vague this time around- it would be no fault of hers if the other mistook her answer for the claim that she was part of a pack. Laurel knew she certainly didn't smell that way though.

A sudden thought caused her to inwardly panic- what if the other wolf thought to ask her why she was over here instead of over there? What tale could she tell that wouldn't involves her search for Atlas, a member of the pack this wolf was possibly against? She supposed there was the foolish quest for answers about the mysterious grove, but she had considered dropping the errand all together. It would have to do if she was caught unawares.

@Laurel

Despite her track record, Iopah rarely tried to come across as gruff. It just worked out that way. Directness was interpreted as bluntness, determination was seen as apathy. When Laurel shrank away, Iopah sighed inwardly. The girl wasn't even a Thorn wolf.

She only spared enough time to give one last glance over her shoulder. "Good," She said turning to look back at Laurel, "I'm... I'm not really supposed to be here." Her skin still prickled and she angled her muzzle to peel off the blackberry leaf. A quiet noise made her right ear jerk back sharply. She was still antsy here. "I'm Iopah."

Gesturing broadly in the direction of the orchard, she addressed Laurel again. "Do you mind if we moved this away a bit?" She didn't necessarily wait for a response, instead padding forward once the words left her mouth. She was careful to not veer too closely to Laurel, not wanting to alarm her further. Her tail was held comfortably neutral and her gold eyes flicked lightly on the younger woman. She smelled like a lone wolf, no particular scent clung to her. No wonder Iopah's display had startled her. All at once she became aware of how this would look and, not wanting to discuss why she was somewhere she shouldn't be, she spoke up again to fill the silence. "I haven't been to the Falls in some time. Is there a pack living there now?" The idea didn't bother her. It was far enough away that she felt no competition.

I'm not really supposed to be here. That statement cemented Laurel's theory of rivalry. Given her past experience with war and tensions between packs, the dark female wanted nothing to do with whatever was going on in the area. So, she kept her mind away from prying questions. Her posture relaxed a bit when Iopah introduced herself and began to walk in a neutral manner behind her. Turning to catch up, Laurel followed at an easy pace. "My name is Laurel. It's nice to make your acquaintance-"

She snapped her jaws shut in embarrassment- who was to say that Iopah found their chance meeting nice? Instead of focusing on her blunder, Laurel turned attention towards the question about the Falls:"Well, that is, not right now... I know a wolf who wants to start one soon there, and he asked me to join, so I go back and forth between traveling. I'm trying to find out about the grove south of the Falls. It has a strange atmosphere, and- and well, I wanted to find out why..." Realizing that she was rambling, Laurel pulled her focus out of the clouds and back to the ground. "I'm also trying to find out what different territories and landmarks are called- I only just arrived, compared to what other wolves must have experienced. I met another female yesterday, and I couldn't even name the field we were standing in! How silly is that?" Nooo! Stop rambling! She doesn't want to hear you ramble! Stop it! "Could you tell me anything about that grove?"

@Laurel

As the cherry trees came into sight her mind settled. It was neutral territory and somewhere she was infinitely more comfortable spending time. No one could fault her for being here.

To her surprise the other had turned with her. At ease now, her pace slowed as they stepped into the shade of the fruit trees. An ear flicked towards Laurel politely. The other woman had weathered Iopah's brisque temper well, the least Io could do was feign an interest in the conversation. The usual platitudes started: 'lovely weather we're having', 'pleased to make your acquaintance', 'hope your day is going well'. Well-meaning, empty phrases. Iopah was preparing to suffer through them. It wasn't that she disliked them, but she never used them. If she didn't mean it, she didn't say it. A benign smile was being plastered onto her jaws, ready to accept the pleasantry.

Laurel abruptly cut-off her sentence. Approvingly, Iopah looked over mid-stride with her dark eyebrows arched. She gave a true smile, the first she'd offered to Laurel. The other woman quickly moved on and Iopah's gold eyes turned back to their surroundings to listen. She brushed past the thick gnarled bark of the cherry trees and stopped at a few places to inspect a scent more thouroughly. Iopah was friends with another talkative wolf, the abundance of words did not phase her. Finally Laurel ended with a question and the creme and gray Barberi raised her head to answer.

"I've never lived near the area, so I don't know much." She shrugged, the gesture shifting the dark grey that hung over her shoulders. "The hunting is good and in over two years I've never scent a pack nearby." Iopah defined her world according to it's relevance to her. She was a hunter and she was territorial, so that was what she remembered of the area. She knew much more about this area, but Laurel had not asked that and it wasn't offered. "A new pack forming is important news, what is your friends name?" Just because the Grove was several days journey away, didn't mean the information wasn't worth anything.

Ooc: Busy weekend, Dad's 42nd B-day.

Laurel let out a small sigh- another dead end. At least Iopah was pleasant, certainly more than she expected, given the way they had come across each other's path. Her mind raced to find another connection to her mystery when Iopah asked her another question in return.

"Oh! His name is Kato Aetomis. He's really nice, though I haven't seen him for a while. I might have to join another pack if this winter's weather proves too tough." At that moment Laurel felt a little dour- she didn't want to join another pack, not when she had already made a commitment to her friend. It would feel as if she was betraying him. The cherry trees up ahead distracted her from deep thoughts that should probably been left for another moment- it would be rude to stay silent in conversation with another.

"Erm-" Laurel didn't know if this would lead her anywhere with her quest, but she decided to ask anyway. "Do you know who the oldest family is? And would you mind telling me how many packs there are, to your knowledge? I wouldn't want us to be intruding on someone else's hunting grounds." Competition led to conflict- and the young Boughinn had had quite enough of conflict.

The name was meet with a cocked head. She wasn't familiar with the last name. Though, really, she hadn't expected to recognize it. Iopah was not the most social and wolves here had had a tendency to take aliases. It was of little consequence, the real gem was the potential for a new pack in the area.

She remained silent as Laurel spoke of a pack through the winter, her black lips forming an opinionated line. That issue was too much of a rats nest of an issue for Iopah to make a comment. It was not a simple or easy decision to make. There was inherent risk in placing your trust in a randomly met alpha, as Iopah knew well. Before joining up with the Woodland wolves Iopah had served under a pair of alphas that had just up and left one night. There was another reason for Iopah's hesitation: too many wolves considered it temporary. And, judging from the wording, Iopah believed Laurel was looking for a pack to keep her fed and warm through the winter and then leave come spring. Iopah was not about to allow her pack to become a motel for vagabond wolves, so she just leaned back and said, "This past winter was brutal."

Iopah let the silence stretch a little bit and Laurel hastened to fill it. It was odd for a loner to ask after the oldest family. Not for a lone time had Iopah cared about something like that. So, she simply jumped to the next question, appreciating the logic behind it. "One in the thickets, one in the blackberry canes. In the south there is Willow Ridge and Whisper Caverns. It's good that you check first, you have more since than some.

(This post was last modified: Oct 08, 2014, 12:22 AM by Iopah.)

This past winter was brutal. Even though she registered the information Iopah gave according to her last question, Laurel's ears swung back at the other female's reply to her own mindless thoughts. Ashamed at having not thought all the implications of such a plan through, her body sagged further into a submissive pose. "I would be up front about what I intended, of course. And if they could not agree, then I would leave. I would rather starve than know I contributed to another disaster." The Boughinn said this quietly, simply admitting that she had no intentions of being a parasite.

In the slight moment of silence that followed her sentence's end, Laurel almost blamed her parents for the near blunder- the Boughinn pack had been so large, they could afford to let wolves come and go, winter through spring, as long as they worked hard. Of course that sort of pattern would seem normal to a young yearling who knew of no other pack systems- and never got the chance to find out while still in protective care of her own.

Laurel shook her head slightly to rid herself of selfish thoughts. Stay. She commanded her mind. "Thank you," Her head dipped towards Iopah in respect. "I can make good use of this within the boundaries of proper respect. Do you live with the pack in the Thicket?" Laurel hoped that question wasn't too far reaching within Iopah's privacy- she might end another encounter on a sour note. Further proving how useless she was in tact and poise.