Post by Therdde on Jan 25, 2010 17:32:07 GMT -5
Characters:
Skelaghe - Female Wolf
Kezu - Male Wolf
- Hilltop Vista -
They were not so far away that their voices did not carry into the den. Skelaghe doesn't know what was said, but she knows who was speaking, and she knows that her presence is desired. One of the three is waiting just outside the den, and the fact that the wolf is waiting outside allows her to guess who it is. As such, when she finally does leave the resting children, she has given herself time to prepare herself for an encounter that may be unpleasant. She does not smile, but upon spotting the wolf she suspected was outside, she says, politely, "Good day, Kezu."
It was Kezu who was outside, yes, sitting, waiting patiently, nodding his head gently to Skelaghe... seeming to take a moment to consider... before instead, bowing that head lower. "Good Day, Skelaghe." He looks back up at her at that, taking a deep breath, as if in considering what next he should do... before he makes as if to step forward, once more rethinking, and settling down, laying before the Alpha. "... Skelaghe, did I apologize for my words towards you? Regarding the world, and your emotions?"
Skelaghe does not lie down when Kezu does, simply for the fact that she has been lying down for the past hours. She does sit, though, and though she watches Kezu, she does not stare. It is a moment before she responds, as she thinks back to their last conversation. If Kezu apologized, Skelaghe does not remember it. "You explained. Perhaps where you came from, it is the same thing." Her tone is not judgmental, but Kezu seems to be big on pointing out that he is not used to things the way they are done here. If he meant to apologize, perhaps it was her fault for not recognizing his explanations as such.
Kezu flicks his ears gently... sighing as he closes his eyes and rolls his shoulders gently. "... I am sorry, Skelaghe." He says, flat out, looking up at the Alpha with something of remorse. "... I respect you as... A leader... and... well..." He smiles weakly at that, crossing his paws over one another. "If you explain to me what Ute... is... and what the Ute Alpha stands for, not in just words, but their deeds of past and honors... maybe I can... accept the word Alpha as different here... And instead of just saying it, I can mean it... I want to learn, Skelaghe."
Again, Skelaghe takes a moment to respond. It is not her goal to upset Kezu further. It never was, even though she was not willing to ignore Kezu saying things that, even if he didn't realize it, were hurtful. That is why she considers her words carefully before saying anything. "You're forgiven, Kezu. Of course you are. I knew it was not your intention to hurt me... but it helps, a great deal, to know that you regret having hurt me, whether you meant to or not." Skelaghe looks away from Kezu for just a moment before adding, "I am happy to be your leader and a friend, Kezu. However, if you still want to learn, I will gladly tell you of the wolves who I knew as alpha, and the many reasons they had my love and respect."
Those words seem to take a great weight off the wolf's shoulders, as if he were Atlas and Herakles had just come to hold the world for a short while, he taking a deep breath as he allows himself to smile, closing his eyes gently. "Thank you, Skelaghe... Thank you... But... I DO still want to learn. More than just what Alpha is... what is Ute? What is... the bob and sway of the land... why is this world not full of rape, murder, strife, and agony, where you have to claw for every meal, where you have to fight each other, just to keep waking up in the morning?" His eyes open at that, sighing. "Where mates are not won through fang and claw, but through words and actions? Where the Alphas do not use and abuse the ones they lead?"
Skelaghe does not spend a great deal of time talking about her own story. There are so many more that are infinitely more entertaining or inspiring. She does not hesitate now, though, as it seems to be a good way to start this conversation. "I was not born to Ute myself, though I may as well have been, as young as I was when I first came to them. I could barely walk when I first let my wanderlust get to me, and get me into trouble, many times over. I was probably not much older than my pups are now when I found myself hopelessly lost. As it turns out, songbirds have much better senses of direction than wolf pups do. It mattered little to me, though. I think I would have happily starved, so long as upon taking my last breath, I saw something new." Is there a point to all of this? Sure there is, but Skelaghe takes her time in getting to it. She did, after all, say she was going to explain what she saw in the wolves she knew as alpha. How better to explain than to tell the story of when she first met them?
Kezu settles himself upon his stomach, laying his head upon his forepaws as listens. And listens intently he does. He wished to learn, and thus, no interruptions were to be coming from him.
The longer she talks, the less attention Skelaghe really pays to Kezu. Whether she often discusses it or not, Skelaghe's past was a happy one, and it is not unpleasant to her, reliving these memories. "It might have been that I could have stumbled into any other pack and been turned away, lest I take food from their own pups. But not Ute. It was Takoda, my mate's predecessor, who I first found. Or, rather, who first found me. He led me straight to his mate, Aquene, after whom my oldest daughter was named, and their pups. Perhaps it could have been any other pack, and even if I had been welcomed, I would only have left again, but these wolves... I had never met, never seen, anyone like them."
Kezu flicks his ears as he listens, his bad eye showing slight signs of a pupil... but he listens all the same, his focus intense...
"In my first few weeks in their pack, I did not go a single day without hearing or seeing or doing something new. Mostly, though, it was hearing. There was an old wolfess there who told stories about animals I had never seen and places I had never been, and she would talk all day long and on through the night, if we let her. She always seemed to have something new she could say, so she never had to repeat herself. Aquene was the nicest wolfess I ever could have met, and Takoda would have sacrificed himself for anyone, so long as they never raised a paw against another, but this wolfess was the reason I stayed. The reason I got to know the alphas. I wanted so much to be like her, and the exact things that allowed her to develop what she was led to me staying there with them. They saw what each wolf needed, as individuals, and let them develop that by guiding, but never controlling, them."
The words flow through the air, keeping Kezu's attention upon the Alphaess, his ears perk at ready for more, as he sates his thirst for a brighter history.
"By the time I tired of merely listening to stories, I had learned enough to be able to find my way back when I wandered too far. When the skies seemed particularly overcast or the wind blew particularly cold, Aquene would sometimes insist that I take someone with me. I'm not sure how she did it, but she always seemed to know when there would be danger lurking just outside where she and her mate could protect us. I spent years trying to learn to listen to the messages the spirits give us as well as she does, and I still cannot compare. Even when the skies were dark and the air cold, though, she did not try to keep me there against my will. And when her children and I had grown, and she had another litter, the old wolfess who had kept me occupied on many a dreary day had passed, so Aquene begged that I should be the one to pass on all of the things I had experienced, either from the previous storyteller or in my own travels, to her children, and I was only too happy to repay all of the kindnesses she had shown me by doing so."
Kezu seems to grow a bit cold when mention of spirits comes, but he says nothing, shrugging off the chill in his demeanor and smiling, nodding, urging Skelaghe to continue, soaking up all her words like a sponge.
Skelaghe has finished telling how she came to know the Ute pack. How the alphas protected them from outside dangers while continuing to accept those, like herself, who were lost. This all makes them very noble wolves. But none of it explains the differences in the pack today and the Ute of old, or how they came to be here, or even, truly, why Skelaghe views none higher than her previous alphas. "They were the kindest and wisest wolves I'd ever met, but they were not infallible. When disease struck our lands, they did their best to hold everyone together. They sent the strongest, healthiest wolf they had, their beta, Helaku, to search for a cure to the disease that had taken over half our pack. And when the disease started to result in madness, Takoda threw himself in the lake to remove himself as a threat to the pack, rather than allow the disease to lead him to attacking those he had spent so long trying to protect." Much like Helaku recently left their lands to spare them all.
A slow roll of shoulders... Kezu beginning to stand... and stretch out his limbs, taking a fair time to work the pent up tension in his limbs from listening... before sitting before Skelaghe, finally speaking out as she finishes her current story. "... And now? What does Ute stand for... what do we strive for? What is our purpose?"
"This is my seventh summer, and I still don't know my purpose. Whatever it is, I like to believe that I'm fulfilling it as well as I can, but no minute that I've ever applied to wondering what my purpose is has ever been a productive minute." Skelaghe can name any number of things that she would like to believe she is accomplishing, but she does not pretend to know what all she is actually meant to accomplish. "I intend to do nothing more than what Ute has always done. Provide a safe place for those who need it most. Protect those who are least capable of protecting themselves. And trust that I will be guided to where I need to be, when I need to be there."
A soft gleam comes to Kezu's eyes... he looking upwards, skywards... narrowing his eyes as he whispers. "Protect and safeguard, mmm...? For those who..." He frees himself to smile softly... standing, and bowing his head. "From what you've told me, Skelaghe... I would certainly say... You ARE a Ute Alpha... And I have full confidence that you won't be content with me saying it, and continue to strive further..." He seems to actually be smiling for the first time, not a warm greeting, not a facade... but from inside. One can almost see the shadows lessening their hold upon the wolf. "... It's time for me to change myself, for the better, I believe." A nod... "Or... maybe just let my true self out? Who knows..." And a wink.
Skelaghe stands when Kezu does, and after the large male speaks, Skelaghe moves forward to run her head against his lightly. "Thank you, Kezu. And I hope I can help you to find the happiness you lacked, in the past." Skelaghe has her own demons, yes. And they'll always been there. That's not where she intends to let it end, though.
Kezu smiles once more at that... nosing gently against Skelaghe's jawline, rumbling in his throat. "I look forward to... As it is... Becoming Ute. For now..." And he puffs out his chest, grinning. "I think I need to lose some weight. What do you say?" A chuckle, as he looks off into the distance. "Say... do you know if there are any... of those small animals that eat wood are nearby? I have a plan..."
"The winter will be here soon enouh, and like I've told Wyanet and Hahtalekin, there is no better time to lose weight than winter, whether you want to lose it or not." Skelaghe answers the easier question first, then adds, "I've known lots of animals that eat wood. All of them very small. You'd probably have an easier time looking to the south, where there are more trees."
Kezu mmmms and nods his head, chuckling. "Winter... Snow, yes? Haht and I will have to teach the pack how to hunt in the white land. It's all about how you look at things, to sum it up I suppose." He peeks torwards the South. "To the South... I... Will do that." He smiles at that, before pushing close and giving Skelaghe a very affectionate lick across her shoulder. "Stay safe." He beams, before taking off for the South, in quite the energetic pace.
Skelaghe - Female Wolf
Kezu - Male Wolf
- Hilltop Vista -
They were not so far away that their voices did not carry into the den. Skelaghe doesn't know what was said, but she knows who was speaking, and she knows that her presence is desired. One of the three is waiting just outside the den, and the fact that the wolf is waiting outside allows her to guess who it is. As such, when she finally does leave the resting children, she has given herself time to prepare herself for an encounter that may be unpleasant. She does not smile, but upon spotting the wolf she suspected was outside, she says, politely, "Good day, Kezu."
It was Kezu who was outside, yes, sitting, waiting patiently, nodding his head gently to Skelaghe... seeming to take a moment to consider... before instead, bowing that head lower. "Good Day, Skelaghe." He looks back up at her at that, taking a deep breath, as if in considering what next he should do... before he makes as if to step forward, once more rethinking, and settling down, laying before the Alpha. "... Skelaghe, did I apologize for my words towards you? Regarding the world, and your emotions?"
Skelaghe does not lie down when Kezu does, simply for the fact that she has been lying down for the past hours. She does sit, though, and though she watches Kezu, she does not stare. It is a moment before she responds, as she thinks back to their last conversation. If Kezu apologized, Skelaghe does not remember it. "You explained. Perhaps where you came from, it is the same thing." Her tone is not judgmental, but Kezu seems to be big on pointing out that he is not used to things the way they are done here. If he meant to apologize, perhaps it was her fault for not recognizing his explanations as such.
Kezu flicks his ears gently... sighing as he closes his eyes and rolls his shoulders gently. "... I am sorry, Skelaghe." He says, flat out, looking up at the Alpha with something of remorse. "... I respect you as... A leader... and... well..." He smiles weakly at that, crossing his paws over one another. "If you explain to me what Ute... is... and what the Ute Alpha stands for, not in just words, but their deeds of past and honors... maybe I can... accept the word Alpha as different here... And instead of just saying it, I can mean it... I want to learn, Skelaghe."
Again, Skelaghe takes a moment to respond. It is not her goal to upset Kezu further. It never was, even though she was not willing to ignore Kezu saying things that, even if he didn't realize it, were hurtful. That is why she considers her words carefully before saying anything. "You're forgiven, Kezu. Of course you are. I knew it was not your intention to hurt me... but it helps, a great deal, to know that you regret having hurt me, whether you meant to or not." Skelaghe looks away from Kezu for just a moment before adding, "I am happy to be your leader and a friend, Kezu. However, if you still want to learn, I will gladly tell you of the wolves who I knew as alpha, and the many reasons they had my love and respect."
Those words seem to take a great weight off the wolf's shoulders, as if he were Atlas and Herakles had just come to hold the world for a short while, he taking a deep breath as he allows himself to smile, closing his eyes gently. "Thank you, Skelaghe... Thank you... But... I DO still want to learn. More than just what Alpha is... what is Ute? What is... the bob and sway of the land... why is this world not full of rape, murder, strife, and agony, where you have to claw for every meal, where you have to fight each other, just to keep waking up in the morning?" His eyes open at that, sighing. "Where mates are not won through fang and claw, but through words and actions? Where the Alphas do not use and abuse the ones they lead?"
Skelaghe does not spend a great deal of time talking about her own story. There are so many more that are infinitely more entertaining or inspiring. She does not hesitate now, though, as it seems to be a good way to start this conversation. "I was not born to Ute myself, though I may as well have been, as young as I was when I first came to them. I could barely walk when I first let my wanderlust get to me, and get me into trouble, many times over. I was probably not much older than my pups are now when I found myself hopelessly lost. As it turns out, songbirds have much better senses of direction than wolf pups do. It mattered little to me, though. I think I would have happily starved, so long as upon taking my last breath, I saw something new." Is there a point to all of this? Sure there is, but Skelaghe takes her time in getting to it. She did, after all, say she was going to explain what she saw in the wolves she knew as alpha. How better to explain than to tell the story of when she first met them?
Kezu settles himself upon his stomach, laying his head upon his forepaws as listens. And listens intently he does. He wished to learn, and thus, no interruptions were to be coming from him.
The longer she talks, the less attention Skelaghe really pays to Kezu. Whether she often discusses it or not, Skelaghe's past was a happy one, and it is not unpleasant to her, reliving these memories. "It might have been that I could have stumbled into any other pack and been turned away, lest I take food from their own pups. But not Ute. It was Takoda, my mate's predecessor, who I first found. Or, rather, who first found me. He led me straight to his mate, Aquene, after whom my oldest daughter was named, and their pups. Perhaps it could have been any other pack, and even if I had been welcomed, I would only have left again, but these wolves... I had never met, never seen, anyone like them."
Kezu flicks his ears as he listens, his bad eye showing slight signs of a pupil... but he listens all the same, his focus intense...
"In my first few weeks in their pack, I did not go a single day without hearing or seeing or doing something new. Mostly, though, it was hearing. There was an old wolfess there who told stories about animals I had never seen and places I had never been, and she would talk all day long and on through the night, if we let her. She always seemed to have something new she could say, so she never had to repeat herself. Aquene was the nicest wolfess I ever could have met, and Takoda would have sacrificed himself for anyone, so long as they never raised a paw against another, but this wolfess was the reason I stayed. The reason I got to know the alphas. I wanted so much to be like her, and the exact things that allowed her to develop what she was led to me staying there with them. They saw what each wolf needed, as individuals, and let them develop that by guiding, but never controlling, them."
The words flow through the air, keeping Kezu's attention upon the Alphaess, his ears perk at ready for more, as he sates his thirst for a brighter history.
"By the time I tired of merely listening to stories, I had learned enough to be able to find my way back when I wandered too far. When the skies seemed particularly overcast or the wind blew particularly cold, Aquene would sometimes insist that I take someone with me. I'm not sure how she did it, but she always seemed to know when there would be danger lurking just outside where she and her mate could protect us. I spent years trying to learn to listen to the messages the spirits give us as well as she does, and I still cannot compare. Even when the skies were dark and the air cold, though, she did not try to keep me there against my will. And when her children and I had grown, and she had another litter, the old wolfess who had kept me occupied on many a dreary day had passed, so Aquene begged that I should be the one to pass on all of the things I had experienced, either from the previous storyteller or in my own travels, to her children, and I was only too happy to repay all of the kindnesses she had shown me by doing so."
Kezu seems to grow a bit cold when mention of spirits comes, but he says nothing, shrugging off the chill in his demeanor and smiling, nodding, urging Skelaghe to continue, soaking up all her words like a sponge.
Skelaghe has finished telling how she came to know the Ute pack. How the alphas protected them from outside dangers while continuing to accept those, like herself, who were lost. This all makes them very noble wolves. But none of it explains the differences in the pack today and the Ute of old, or how they came to be here, or even, truly, why Skelaghe views none higher than her previous alphas. "They were the kindest and wisest wolves I'd ever met, but they were not infallible. When disease struck our lands, they did their best to hold everyone together. They sent the strongest, healthiest wolf they had, their beta, Helaku, to search for a cure to the disease that had taken over half our pack. And when the disease started to result in madness, Takoda threw himself in the lake to remove himself as a threat to the pack, rather than allow the disease to lead him to attacking those he had spent so long trying to protect." Much like Helaku recently left their lands to spare them all.
A slow roll of shoulders... Kezu beginning to stand... and stretch out his limbs, taking a fair time to work the pent up tension in his limbs from listening... before sitting before Skelaghe, finally speaking out as she finishes her current story. "... And now? What does Ute stand for... what do we strive for? What is our purpose?"
"This is my seventh summer, and I still don't know my purpose. Whatever it is, I like to believe that I'm fulfilling it as well as I can, but no minute that I've ever applied to wondering what my purpose is has ever been a productive minute." Skelaghe can name any number of things that she would like to believe she is accomplishing, but she does not pretend to know what all she is actually meant to accomplish. "I intend to do nothing more than what Ute has always done. Provide a safe place for those who need it most. Protect those who are least capable of protecting themselves. And trust that I will be guided to where I need to be, when I need to be there."
A soft gleam comes to Kezu's eyes... he looking upwards, skywards... narrowing his eyes as he whispers. "Protect and safeguard, mmm...? For those who..." He frees himself to smile softly... standing, and bowing his head. "From what you've told me, Skelaghe... I would certainly say... You ARE a Ute Alpha... And I have full confidence that you won't be content with me saying it, and continue to strive further..." He seems to actually be smiling for the first time, not a warm greeting, not a facade... but from inside. One can almost see the shadows lessening their hold upon the wolf. "... It's time for me to change myself, for the better, I believe." A nod... "Or... maybe just let my true self out? Who knows..." And a wink.
Skelaghe stands when Kezu does, and after the large male speaks, Skelaghe moves forward to run her head against his lightly. "Thank you, Kezu. And I hope I can help you to find the happiness you lacked, in the past." Skelaghe has her own demons, yes. And they'll always been there. That's not where she intends to let it end, though.
Kezu smiles once more at that... nosing gently against Skelaghe's jawline, rumbling in his throat. "I look forward to... As it is... Becoming Ute. For now..." And he puffs out his chest, grinning. "I think I need to lose some weight. What do you say?" A chuckle, as he looks off into the distance. "Say... do you know if there are any... of those small animals that eat wood are nearby? I have a plan..."
"The winter will be here soon enouh, and like I've told Wyanet and Hahtalekin, there is no better time to lose weight than winter, whether you want to lose it or not." Skelaghe answers the easier question first, then adds, "I've known lots of animals that eat wood. All of them very small. You'd probably have an easier time looking to the south, where there are more trees."
Kezu mmmms and nods his head, chuckling. "Winter... Snow, yes? Haht and I will have to teach the pack how to hunt in the white land. It's all about how you look at things, to sum it up I suppose." He peeks torwards the South. "To the South... I... Will do that." He smiles at that, before pushing close and giving Skelaghe a very affectionate lick across her shoulder. "Stay safe." He beams, before taking off for the South, in quite the energetic pace.