Post by Pavane on Jul 16, 2010 0:34:34 GMT -5
Setting:
Storyteller's Butte - Mid Summer (RL day 8)
Characters:
Shag - Male Wolf
Lexus - Male Wolf
Alaqua - Female Wolf
Niyt - Female Wolf Pup
Afra - Male Wolf Pup
--------------------------------------------
Shag is maintaining his vigil as always, but has been more active about it as of late. He's been stalking the borders of their lands, more attentive and critical of every strange scent and sight than usual. He seems to be doing it more out of a sense of urgency and anxiety more than anything, and comes back still distracted and worrisome. His tail hangs low, and he's sincerely looking forward to coming back to the comfort of his family after a long day of stalking around in the desert.
Some of her father's restlessness seems to have affected Niyt, as well. Perhaps just picking up on his cues, or perhaps she's sensing some of the same things that he does. Either way - the young wolf may not be patrolling, but she's been pausing in her play to lift her nose to the wind, to perk her ears at odd sounds. Right now, she's sitting on a small tumble of rocks, looking out over the desert like a miniature guard for the pack.
Lexus is also playing watchwolf for the pack but so far today he's been doing so from on top of one of the rocks, lying there, watching the desert outside and letting his mind wander. It's wandered so much that he's completely forgotten to keep an extra eye on wandering pups and has barely moved in the last hour past the odd flick of an ear and then his eyes trailing onto the sight of something coming. He watches Shag for a few minutes before finally his thoughts return enough to produce a squint. Hmm, it's wolf shaped, a deep sniff of the wind and he just about picks up on Shag's scent. He still watches the Beta though, the only clear beast in a desert catches the eye.
"I can't stand another night.. stand another niiiight...without yoooou. Since you've been away, everything don't seem like the way it used to be..between you and me, becaus I'm missing your love, love, love.." Croons Alaqua's beautiful voice as it rumbles across the wind in her usual soulful manner. As she is settled against the trunk of a large tree, her eyes are half lidded, fine tuning a song that she used to sing quite a bit of time ago with a friend of hers. Sadly, this song is meant to be a duet, and it's not the same without her partner. "..love...love...love." She trills out, before craning her head about to peer off in the distance as she catches sight of Shag's form, tail wagging slowly behind her.
Shag approaches Niyt in silence, making a beeline for his daughter. He seems cheered by the way she's keeping watch over the land, which quickens his pace until he's looming over the rocks she's situated on. He lowers his head and nuzzles her between the ears, dropping down behind her, holding her between his forelegs. "Do you see anything, sweetheart?" he asks endearingly, but even he takes a moment to take one last look around before settling in, sphinx-like.
Singing's just one of the sounds that Niyt expects. Mom's always got something, and it's nice to listen to. Especially when it's too hot to be running around. She wags her tail as dad approaches, lifting her head up to lick at the side of his muzzle in happy greeting. She pauses a moment at his question, then replies, "Lotsa shadows. They keep movin'... makes it hard to see far."
Lexus raises a brow and finally moves to look round as Alaqua's started singing. A small look upwards and he settles down to rest his head on his paws, trying to remember where his mind had wandered to in hopes of going back there again...So long ago, so far away and now he's been brought back to reality it's hard to ignore the others. His ear has turned towards Shag and Niyt without him even noticing.
Afra's sleeping form stirs in a pawing at the air from where he's led on his side, starting off in a small motion that grows keener after a few seconds and ultimately leaves him to snap up out of whatever dream he was having in rolling upright sharply and glancing about with a sleepy blinking as he gets his bearings.
Singing. His lovely mate's voice, singing of course. That is one of the things that really makes him smile. He frowns again, however, when Niyt mentions shadows. "The shadows are what we're going to be looking for," he rumbles. He notices his son stirring to wakefulness nearby and gives a light ruff to get his attention. He hasn't seen Lexus just yet, since he seems to be trying to stay out of the way anyway.
Niyt tilts her head to the side, curious. "How come?" she asks, then adds after a moment, rather matter of factly, "'Sides... Don't gotta -look-, s'always there." To her, after all, they have been; the strange spirit-darkness that's come on the land during these past few seasons has been the only world that she's known.
Though he takes a moment to actually get his wits about him, Afra certainly manages a swish or two of his tail at hearing a ruff in his direction. He doesn't need to be awake to push himself to his feet and start to meander over! Still, his ears prick up in listening in on the conversation and he can't help but to cant his head a touch to one side.
"Because they could be dangerous. Don't try to go near them when you see them," Shag warns his daughter, and then turns back to Afra. He raises his ears again and waits for him to get closer, giving him another quiet noise to encourage him to come over. "The shadows are not our friend, Niyt. Only talk to me. Not them."
Niyt listens to the warning, and nods - though it seems like that's more acknowlegement than agreement - she's got her brow wrinkled up and her head tilted a little to the side as she continues to think about that. She looks over to her brother, and gives him a wag and a little whuff of greeting, and then turns her attention back to dad. "How do you know?" she asks. Ahh, puppy curiosity. Only... it's about something that might get her into real trouble, this time.
Afra is quick to wag his tail all the more and give his own wuff to sister and father, shortly followed by a content little whine as he wanders over and goes to bump his head up against the outside of Shag's forelimb since Niyt has the space between them. ".. Shadows?", he asks though in paying more attention now that he's mostly awake.
Shag looks down at his daughter. That she's mentioning shadows is something already very worrisome, but he can't deny what it could mean. He looks straight down at her and his eyes are level, unblinking. "They tried to hurt me," he says very simply. "And I don't want them to even *try* to hurt you. The best way to do that is to not. Speak. To them," he says firmly. Not until he has a better grasp on what's going on, at least. He turns to Afra and reaches out a paw to ruffle the fur between his ears. "Don't worry about them," Shag says. "As long as they aren't moving, you don't have to worry."
Well, that's definitely something she can understand. She nods her head more firmly - anything that tries to hurt her dad must be bad, and that's that. "Okay. I won't!" She's likely still curious, of course, but at least she seems to understand the danger. She nuzzles at Shag's leg, smiling, and then looks over to her brother as he speaks and is spoken to.
Afra squints his eyes in listening and gives a nod of understanding when, in truth, he doesn't quite. "Momma said to tell you if I dream..", he adds in an off-topic sort of way as his head tips to the side under the ruffling bestowed upon it. "I dream of squirrels again..", he adds in further way of explanation for his 'dream chase' that stirred him from his slumber.
"Squirrels? That's a fun thing to dream of," Shag says, almost proud. He must have been chasing them in his sleep. "One day we'll visit the woods, and there'll be plenty of squirrels around, hmm? Would you like to see that?" He knows they have yet to see anything resembling trees, yet. It would be fun if not for the danger of... things lurking behind the shadows.
Niyt grins, listening. "Did you catch any? In the dream?" she asks Afra. After all, she's never caught anything when she's dreaming... though she doesn't seem to end up chasing small animals in them as often as her brother does. Hers are... subtler, generally.
"I dunno.. I woke up..", Afra laments regarding actually managing to catch the squirrel. "Mom said my dreams might come true..", he adds though the prospect of it actually happens makes his tail wag all the more cheerily at the thought, "I dreamed the future!"
Shag's eyes widen suddenly when he hears the word 'future.' He blinks a few times and breathes a few more, suddenly wrapping his large paw around Afra's back and pulling him in closer to him and Niyt, all but cradling them both. He's still bigger enough than them to do it! "The future?" he asks quietly. "Well. That's a real heavy subject to dream about, son. Why don't you tell me what you saw in the future?"
Niyt oohs at the prospect of chasing things in the future - and after all, if Afra's doing it, that means she'll probably get to do it too! She's taken by surprise at Shag's reaction, though, erping as her brother is tugged in beside her, the two fuzzy pups right against each other and held by dad. She looks up at him, and back to her brother. "How do you know it's future, anyway?"
Afra inevitably wags all the more in being pulled over next to Niyt, not that he's really stopped wagging anyway. "I didn't.. It wasn't the future until dad said we were gonna go chase squirrels.. And he only said that because I said I saw a squirrel in my dream so it might not have been the future so maybe I didn't.. only now it is..", he explains, gradually getting slower in trying to keep the train of thought going.
"Ahh. That you did, son, that you did," Shag says, laughing with understanding. He bends his head and licks the top of his son's brow. "That's right, squirrels are in your future, Afra. We'll see them sooner or later." He looks down to Niyt. "The future is what happens. Unfortunately there's no definite way to know. Some creatures? They claim they just... know. It's confusing for everyone. But I do know that /our/ future is a good one, because I'm going to give it to you both."
Oh, the tangled web of thoughts and causation! Niyt vaguely follows what her brother's saying, though, and she nods. "How soon is it?" she asks, with a little wiggle of impatience. "When do we see woods? And squirrels?" Dad will have the answer to that, right? He's the one who knows things. And a good future sure sounds like squirrels to chase to her!
"Soon," Shag promises Niyt. "Soon. I promise. Once I go there and make sure it's safe, okay? When I know there's nothing there that can hurt you." He smiles and gives her a nuzzle. "Instead, there'll just be things you can chase around all day long." He knows the desert is their home, but honestly he misses the forest as much as she might like to see it. But he knows that it is safer here. Much safer.
Niyt nods to her dad. "Okay," she says, smiling. He'll make things turn out right, she's sure of it. And she'll have grand adventures, chasing things and playing games. While he makes sure she's safe, because that's what dads do. For now, she leans against him comfortably, thinking on all the strange things she might find. All the half-heard stories and what they turn into in a pup's imagination.
"It's much greener in the forest," Shag says, trying to give her a good picture of what she can expect. "Trees are tall, and squirrels go all the way up to the top! Some almost as high as the butte. So we have to be extra sneaky to catch squirrels, or anything else that scurries fast. But when you get bigger, you'll want to eat bigger things. There are lots of big animals in the forest, some even bigger than I am. So you see, that's why I have to make sure it's a good place to go first. There are even other wolves besides us." He sighs and wraps his paws around his kids a little tighter. "I hope they're friendly."
Storyteller's Butte - Mid Summer (RL day 8)
Characters:
Shag - Male Wolf
Lexus - Male Wolf
Alaqua - Female Wolf
Niyt - Female Wolf Pup
Afra - Male Wolf Pup
--------------------------------------------
Shag is maintaining his vigil as always, but has been more active about it as of late. He's been stalking the borders of their lands, more attentive and critical of every strange scent and sight than usual. He seems to be doing it more out of a sense of urgency and anxiety more than anything, and comes back still distracted and worrisome. His tail hangs low, and he's sincerely looking forward to coming back to the comfort of his family after a long day of stalking around in the desert.
Some of her father's restlessness seems to have affected Niyt, as well. Perhaps just picking up on his cues, or perhaps she's sensing some of the same things that he does. Either way - the young wolf may not be patrolling, but she's been pausing in her play to lift her nose to the wind, to perk her ears at odd sounds. Right now, she's sitting on a small tumble of rocks, looking out over the desert like a miniature guard for the pack.
Lexus is also playing watchwolf for the pack but so far today he's been doing so from on top of one of the rocks, lying there, watching the desert outside and letting his mind wander. It's wandered so much that he's completely forgotten to keep an extra eye on wandering pups and has barely moved in the last hour past the odd flick of an ear and then his eyes trailing onto the sight of something coming. He watches Shag for a few minutes before finally his thoughts return enough to produce a squint. Hmm, it's wolf shaped, a deep sniff of the wind and he just about picks up on Shag's scent. He still watches the Beta though, the only clear beast in a desert catches the eye.
"I can't stand another night.. stand another niiiight...without yoooou. Since you've been away, everything don't seem like the way it used to be..between you and me, becaus I'm missing your love, love, love.." Croons Alaqua's beautiful voice as it rumbles across the wind in her usual soulful manner. As she is settled against the trunk of a large tree, her eyes are half lidded, fine tuning a song that she used to sing quite a bit of time ago with a friend of hers. Sadly, this song is meant to be a duet, and it's not the same without her partner. "..love...love...love." She trills out, before craning her head about to peer off in the distance as she catches sight of Shag's form, tail wagging slowly behind her.
Shag approaches Niyt in silence, making a beeline for his daughter. He seems cheered by the way she's keeping watch over the land, which quickens his pace until he's looming over the rocks she's situated on. He lowers his head and nuzzles her between the ears, dropping down behind her, holding her between his forelegs. "Do you see anything, sweetheart?" he asks endearingly, but even he takes a moment to take one last look around before settling in, sphinx-like.
Singing's just one of the sounds that Niyt expects. Mom's always got something, and it's nice to listen to. Especially when it's too hot to be running around. She wags her tail as dad approaches, lifting her head up to lick at the side of his muzzle in happy greeting. She pauses a moment at his question, then replies, "Lotsa shadows. They keep movin'... makes it hard to see far."
Lexus raises a brow and finally moves to look round as Alaqua's started singing. A small look upwards and he settles down to rest his head on his paws, trying to remember where his mind had wandered to in hopes of going back there again...So long ago, so far away and now he's been brought back to reality it's hard to ignore the others. His ear has turned towards Shag and Niyt without him even noticing.
Afra's sleeping form stirs in a pawing at the air from where he's led on his side, starting off in a small motion that grows keener after a few seconds and ultimately leaves him to snap up out of whatever dream he was having in rolling upright sharply and glancing about with a sleepy blinking as he gets his bearings.
Singing. His lovely mate's voice, singing of course. That is one of the things that really makes him smile. He frowns again, however, when Niyt mentions shadows. "The shadows are what we're going to be looking for," he rumbles. He notices his son stirring to wakefulness nearby and gives a light ruff to get his attention. He hasn't seen Lexus just yet, since he seems to be trying to stay out of the way anyway.
Niyt tilts her head to the side, curious. "How come?" she asks, then adds after a moment, rather matter of factly, "'Sides... Don't gotta -look-, s'always there." To her, after all, they have been; the strange spirit-darkness that's come on the land during these past few seasons has been the only world that she's known.
Though he takes a moment to actually get his wits about him, Afra certainly manages a swish or two of his tail at hearing a ruff in his direction. He doesn't need to be awake to push himself to his feet and start to meander over! Still, his ears prick up in listening in on the conversation and he can't help but to cant his head a touch to one side.
"Because they could be dangerous. Don't try to go near them when you see them," Shag warns his daughter, and then turns back to Afra. He raises his ears again and waits for him to get closer, giving him another quiet noise to encourage him to come over. "The shadows are not our friend, Niyt. Only talk to me. Not them."
Niyt listens to the warning, and nods - though it seems like that's more acknowlegement than agreement - she's got her brow wrinkled up and her head tilted a little to the side as she continues to think about that. She looks over to her brother, and gives him a wag and a little whuff of greeting, and then turns her attention back to dad. "How do you know?" she asks. Ahh, puppy curiosity. Only... it's about something that might get her into real trouble, this time.
Afra is quick to wag his tail all the more and give his own wuff to sister and father, shortly followed by a content little whine as he wanders over and goes to bump his head up against the outside of Shag's forelimb since Niyt has the space between them. ".. Shadows?", he asks though in paying more attention now that he's mostly awake.
Shag looks down at his daughter. That she's mentioning shadows is something already very worrisome, but he can't deny what it could mean. He looks straight down at her and his eyes are level, unblinking. "They tried to hurt me," he says very simply. "And I don't want them to even *try* to hurt you. The best way to do that is to not. Speak. To them," he says firmly. Not until he has a better grasp on what's going on, at least. He turns to Afra and reaches out a paw to ruffle the fur between his ears. "Don't worry about them," Shag says. "As long as they aren't moving, you don't have to worry."
Well, that's definitely something she can understand. She nods her head more firmly - anything that tries to hurt her dad must be bad, and that's that. "Okay. I won't!" She's likely still curious, of course, but at least she seems to understand the danger. She nuzzles at Shag's leg, smiling, and then looks over to her brother as he speaks and is spoken to.
Afra squints his eyes in listening and gives a nod of understanding when, in truth, he doesn't quite. "Momma said to tell you if I dream..", he adds in an off-topic sort of way as his head tips to the side under the ruffling bestowed upon it. "I dream of squirrels again..", he adds in further way of explanation for his 'dream chase' that stirred him from his slumber.
"Squirrels? That's a fun thing to dream of," Shag says, almost proud. He must have been chasing them in his sleep. "One day we'll visit the woods, and there'll be plenty of squirrels around, hmm? Would you like to see that?" He knows they have yet to see anything resembling trees, yet. It would be fun if not for the danger of... things lurking behind the shadows.
Niyt grins, listening. "Did you catch any? In the dream?" she asks Afra. After all, she's never caught anything when she's dreaming... though she doesn't seem to end up chasing small animals in them as often as her brother does. Hers are... subtler, generally.
"I dunno.. I woke up..", Afra laments regarding actually managing to catch the squirrel. "Mom said my dreams might come true..", he adds though the prospect of it actually happens makes his tail wag all the more cheerily at the thought, "I dreamed the future!"
Shag's eyes widen suddenly when he hears the word 'future.' He blinks a few times and breathes a few more, suddenly wrapping his large paw around Afra's back and pulling him in closer to him and Niyt, all but cradling them both. He's still bigger enough than them to do it! "The future?" he asks quietly. "Well. That's a real heavy subject to dream about, son. Why don't you tell me what you saw in the future?"
Niyt oohs at the prospect of chasing things in the future - and after all, if Afra's doing it, that means she'll probably get to do it too! She's taken by surprise at Shag's reaction, though, erping as her brother is tugged in beside her, the two fuzzy pups right against each other and held by dad. She looks up at him, and back to her brother. "How do you know it's future, anyway?"
Afra inevitably wags all the more in being pulled over next to Niyt, not that he's really stopped wagging anyway. "I didn't.. It wasn't the future until dad said we were gonna go chase squirrels.. And he only said that because I said I saw a squirrel in my dream so it might not have been the future so maybe I didn't.. only now it is..", he explains, gradually getting slower in trying to keep the train of thought going.
"Ahh. That you did, son, that you did," Shag says, laughing with understanding. He bends his head and licks the top of his son's brow. "That's right, squirrels are in your future, Afra. We'll see them sooner or later." He looks down to Niyt. "The future is what happens. Unfortunately there's no definite way to know. Some creatures? They claim they just... know. It's confusing for everyone. But I do know that /our/ future is a good one, because I'm going to give it to you both."
Oh, the tangled web of thoughts and causation! Niyt vaguely follows what her brother's saying, though, and she nods. "How soon is it?" she asks, with a little wiggle of impatience. "When do we see woods? And squirrels?" Dad will have the answer to that, right? He's the one who knows things. And a good future sure sounds like squirrels to chase to her!
"Soon," Shag promises Niyt. "Soon. I promise. Once I go there and make sure it's safe, okay? When I know there's nothing there that can hurt you." He smiles and gives her a nuzzle. "Instead, there'll just be things you can chase around all day long." He knows the desert is their home, but honestly he misses the forest as much as she might like to see it. But he knows that it is safer here. Much safer.
Niyt nods to her dad. "Okay," she says, smiling. He'll make things turn out right, she's sure of it. And she'll have grand adventures, chasing things and playing games. While he makes sure she's safe, because that's what dads do. For now, she leans against him comfortably, thinking on all the strange things she might find. All the half-heard stories and what they turn into in a pup's imagination.
"It's much greener in the forest," Shag says, trying to give her a good picture of what she can expect. "Trees are tall, and squirrels go all the way up to the top! Some almost as high as the butte. So we have to be extra sneaky to catch squirrels, or anything else that scurries fast. But when you get bigger, you'll want to eat bigger things. There are lots of big animals in the forest, some even bigger than I am. So you see, that's why I have to make sure it's a good place to go first. There are even other wolves besides us." He sighs and wraps his paws around his kids a little tighter. "I hope they're friendly."