Post by Pavane on Oct 10, 2011 15:55:09 GMT -5
Ikuna has been sleeping a lot, since he got back. He just kind of gets tired easily, and naps late. It's mid-morning now, and he's still asleep, in the shade of a boulder. Not in a cave. Caves mean bad dreams. Grass underneath him, and solid stone against him. Even so, sometimes the bad dreams don't go away entirely. He squirms in his sleep, breath starting to quicken.
Tala has not went far from her brother's side, even now she is hunkered down close to where he is half dozing herself. A ear twitchs to her brother and she lifts her head as she watches him a moment before leaning over to nuzzle and lick against his shoulder a few times. She feels bad that she can't do anything to stop his dreams.. They happen often after all and she is left unsure what to do about it other then comfort him.
Ikuna shifts, whining again. Tala's nosing of him isn't enough to make the dreams go away, exactly... but it is enough to wake him up. He opens his eyes, body tensing... and then takes a deep breath as he realizes where he is. Safe. He's safe. He nuzzles over at his sister's shoulder, breathing in her scent and then letting it out in a sigh.
Tala tail sways a few times and thumps agains the ground once his awake. "Hey.. You was dreaming again." She offers while watching Ikuna and nosing him back. "You want to talk about it?"
Much like Tala, Ahiga has been on Ikuna duty ever since he came back. But, he's also given himself another task to help out: hunting! He's gotten pretty good at catching small woodland creatures, and he returns from an outing with a fat looking mouse dangling from his jaw. Ikuna's been looking kinda ... scrawny and needs some beefing up! His ears perk forward as he arrives from the crabapple's direction, hearing voices ahead.
Ikuna takes in another deep breath, and then lets it out again, before actually lifting up his head. "Yeah. I was," he says, and sighs. "I'm glad you're here." He nuzzles at his sister's cheek. He catches a glimpse of something moving, and his body stiffens for a moment before he recognizes Ahiga and relaxes again, his tail wagging gently.
Tala smiles a bit, her tail swaying and bounces against her brother's side a few times. "I'm glad I'm here for you too." She offers before glancing over to Ahiga and smiles seeing him. "Hey, he caught you a mouse. His gotten really good at getting 'em."
Ahiga waggles his tail the nearer he gets to his two pals, slowing as he closes in on them. He lowers his head to deposit the morsel of a meal on the grass, nosing it towards the other male. "Yup, I am pretty good at it, huh?" he says with a grin to them both. "If I could get like...ten've 'em at the same time, we'd never be hungry." He snickers and plops his hindquarters down. "We aren't even gonna need them traps we were gonna make."
Ikuna smiles back, only a little shaky. When he's awake, it's all okay. He's home, with his friends, and it's all good. He nods to Ahiga, and lowers his head to sniff at that mouse. "Yeah," he says. "You can show me how, later?" He hasn't had a chance to learn any of that, not trapped in a hole. He frowns just a little at the mention of traps, but nods. "Yeah. We'll be mighty hunters..." he says, then tries to hide his unhappiness by taking a bite of the offered mouse.
Tala smiles and nods. "Well.. maybe we can figure out a way to trap ten of 'em or something.." Well it is an idea after all. She looks to Ikuna and is glad that he is eatting at least, she won't push the matter on asking about his dreams right now.
"Yeah sure," replies Ahiga with a nod. "I'll teach ya all my skills, 'n me and you will be the best hunters in the pack. Oh, and you too Tala," he adds with a grin to the young female, lifting his chin a little. "I haven't seen Asku, but he's back now too, right? He'll probably take us out to go huntin' together an' the whole pack's do somethin' special for us when we bring back a big buck." Leave it to Ahiga to ignore the obvious elephant in the room and press on to more glorious thoughts! "What do ya think they'll do?"
Ikuna is just glad it's not fish. He eats up the mouse, one bite at a time, and then lifts up his head again and nods. "Yeah, Asku's back. We can all go together. That'd be fun." At Ahiga's dreams of glory and honor, he laughs. Yeah, this is what he missed. This is so what he missed. He tries to think of what fits in, his tail wagging gently. "Well, they'll all have a bite. And say... it's the best they've ever had."
Tala grins at this, her tail swaying about and she wruffs out a moment. "Ya.. We're get the biggest buck around and the whole pack will howl about it from now now." "Maybe even be in one of Chewy's stories.." That would be amusing, the three pups that took down the buck all on there own..
Ahiga eyes Ikuna, eyes narrowing in thought. "...That's it?" he says with a snort. "I mean, that's ok I guess, but this is gonna be a /big deal/ y'know?" His eyes flit to Tala and he nods. "Yeah, the biggest buck! So they've gotta do more than jus' say it's the best. If they howl, it's gotta be the longest, loudest howl ever. And..." his tail begins to wag as his thoughts begin to run a bit wilder. "And they'll need to make a /song/ about the hunt, not jus' a story. An' the antlers? We'll save'm, and put them right by the den so everybody can remember the buck an' how great us three are!"
Okay, so maybe Ikuna's imagination is a litle rusty. He grins a bit at Tala's suggestion, and at Ahiga's reply... though at the mention of antlers, he frowns. He remembers the bleached deer-skull in the mountains. The one the wolverine seemed to... pray to, almost, as she went to sacrifice him. To kill him. That one is gone, crushed by the falling tree, but to bring it back... "No. Not the antlers. We'll chew them apart. Or drown them. Or bury them." His voice is sharp, urgent, and he's not smiling anymore.
Tala is about to agree with Ahiga but pauses as she looks to Ikuna watching him. "Alright.. We dont have to keep it." She offers while leaning close to nose at his cheek. "We're do what ever you want Ikuna.. Promise."
Ahiga's ears flit back quickly at the sudden change of tone, and his wagging tail slows until it stops completely. "Ok ok...no antlers," he says, relenting quickly and watching the other youngster with a sort of wary look. His head gently begins to turn to one side. "Hey...are you alright? It's... ok now cuz you're back an'...things are good now. Right?"
Ikuna takes a deep breath. Yeah. Things are good now. They really are. He just... he has a hard time remembering that. That he's okay now. "Yeah," he says, his voice slowly gaining strength. "Things are good. And... we'll catch that deer. We will." He nuzzles at Tala, then Ahiga. "Together."
Tala wruffs out softly and nods while she shifts and nuzzles against her brother's neck, which she grooms at a few times. "Ya.. We're all togehter just have to keep remmbering that." She offers with a soft tone. This is something that she also has to keep remding herself as well.
Phew. Ok, crisis averted! Ahiga is going to have to become accustomed to weaning Ikuna back to "normal", and Tala too for that matter. Dang that stupid bird and .. badger or bobcat or whatever those animals were! How is it possible to have his friend back, yet not quite have him back? The nudge received is returned with a grin and headbutt. "And still a song though. Can't be /that/ hard to make one up."
Ikuna nods to Tala, and returns Ahiga's grin only slightly more weakly. "Yeah, we gotta have a song. One everyone can sing. It... it'll be so epic, it takes ten days to sing all of it." Yeah, that sounds about right. Because they're together again, for really truly, and so... they can have fun together. That's what his friends are for.
Tala nods and then glances to Ahiga at the talk about a song and hums softly while pondering this. "I wonder what we sing about.." She glances to Ikuna and grins. "Ten days to sing it all?" A slight giggle escapes her at the thought.
Ahiga bobs his head up and down a few times in agreement. That's more like it! "Ten days, yup. It'll be somethin' they talk about til forever. Every wolf is gonna know us three. We'll be as famous as Alpha 'n Omega, almost." He smirks before flopping onto his stomach and unceremoniously rolling on his back, splaying his paws in relaxed comfort. "So now that you're back, Ikuna, I gotta fill ya in on stuff. There's another one like us around now. Sort of. I don' remember if ya met him already, but I know he wants to be /Taalaaa's/ best friend forever," he says in a teasing sing-songy voice, snicker included.
Ikuna smiles, and his tail starts to wag again as he nods his agreement with his buddies. Ahiga's comment about Alpha and Omega makes him think for a moment. Alpha doesn't just mean the story guy, it means... the leader of a pack. His brother is alpha now, of this pack, but... what might happen, when he and his friends finish growing up? He starts to ponder on that, then is distracted by Ahiga's continuing to gossip time! "Huh? You mean Anoki?" he asks, a bit confused. That's the only other wolf pup he's ever heard of besides the three of them, after all!
Tala blinks while peers over at Ahiga, seems she already forgot the story bit. "Wait.. Who wants to be my best friend for ever?" She questions with a curious tone and lifts her head to eye her friend, looking VERY confused..
Gasp. "I forgot about Anoki! I hope he can come back here sometime cuz he's not half as weird as this other one." Ahiga rolls back over on his stomach now, smirking knowingly at Tala. "Oh I told ya before, remember? How every time you go to sleep he's always tryin' to snuuug all close to ya cuz he wants to make sure /you're ok/ and not /loonely/." He rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. "The weirdo. Um..his name's....Aereo...or somethin'. He came with that old wolf." He glances to Ikuna. "He says he's in the pack too."
Ikuna nods acknowledgement about Anoki. Yeah, he'd like to see the other pup again too. But who is this other guy? Ikuna tilts his head in perplexity, glancing from Ahiga to his sister and then back again. Not that he doesn't approve of his friends having friends, but... "I never heard of him." His face wrinkles up as he tries to think. Who could this guy be? "He's in the pack? But..." This is weird. This is double-plus weird. This is... wait. Hold on just a minute. "Was he with another wolf? Black an' white, an' not /really/ old, just... like, as old as Chewy is?"
Tala makes a slight face at this, her forepaw lifting to scratch at her cheek a few times. "Oh him.. I haven't seen him in a while. But ya his sorta strange.." She pauses. "I dono.. I feel sorta bad for him, like his trying to hard you know?" A glance is sent to Ahiga. "He snuggled close to me when I'm asleep?" Ok that is totally wrong. She doesn't know him! A ear twitches to Ikuna and she shrugs slightly. "The wolf he was with was really old.. older then ma and dad even."
"Chewy's brother!" Ahiga says, remembering the odd feeling that seemed to resonate among the more familiar pack wolves when Mori and the Old One and the Weird Pup were around. "Chewy's brother was there with'm, yup. And that Old Wolf was sayin' things that made Asku mad. An' me too." Though for the life of him, Ahiga can't remember what those anger inspiring things were. To Tala, he smirks and nods. "Yeah, but don't worry, /I/ made him move away."
Ikuna frowns slightly at Tala's expression. He approves of his friends having friends, but this doesn't sound like a case for friends. This might even be a case for Avenging Brother, or at least A Talk. Tala might be right, though. The kid might be trying, and just... be really bad at it. Fortunately, Ahiga has taken care of things for now. Still, he should figure out what's going on here. When Tala says the other wolf was just old, he nods. Okay, so maybe it's not that. In that case, he just has no idea at all... wait. No, Ahiga recognizes that description. "He's Chewy's /brother/?" Ikuna didn't know that! Oh, man, that just makes things weird. He shakes his head. "Ok. Well... when I was really little, I remember... dad was yelling at that guy. I didn't know many words then, but... I 'member he was saying something about pups."
Tala looks crosseyed a few moments, a half snuffle escaping her infact. "Well.. I know dad was not happy at all with Chewy's brother, and this kid was friends with him.." She offers with a soft tone and licks across her nose. "I dono why dad was made at him.. But ya it was bout pups or something like that."
"Uh-huh," Ahiga confirms to Ikuna. "Chewy says she loves her brother, but..." he trails off to look at Tala, then nods in agreement. "/Somethin'/ happened, I dunno what. But somethin' happened that wasn't too good. That Aereo kid said that the Old One was his dad, and his dad is part of the pack so that means he is too. I dunno how fun it'd be to have a dad /that/ old. I mean, I bet he can barely run or do anything fun." Possibly why the poor kid was trying so hard to be one of the gang.
Ikuna hmms, and nods. "Yeah," he says, though he frowns. There's still something that seems wrong about that, though. He can't quite figure it out, but.. maybe he'll ask one of the adults. One of the good adults, Asku or Chewy. It's so nice to have /this/ be the problems he has to worry about, though. Now, if he can just stop having nightmares about the old problems... "Chewy loves her brother, but she's mad at him too. Like she's mad at Asku sometimes, but... way way more." He nods again at Ahiga's comment about the old dad and the pup. "It's not his fault he's weird, probably. Maybe we can help him."
"Maybe that was the bad thing?.. I mean not to have a pup, or a dad that old.. But that he is old and was pups or something.." Tala offers after a moment. "An no.. I don't think its his fault his weird.. You think we could?" She questions and peers at her brother.
Help him? Ahiga makes a snorted noise through his nose. "Yeah, that's what that one girl wolf said. Anoki's sister, the one who can't see nothin'. She said somethin' about...being nice or...helpful or...somethin'." One can tell that lesson truly stuck with this youngster. "But /trust/ me, he don't make it too easy to be nice. I tried bein' nice and he /still/ got on my nerves." Bright eyes glance between his two pals, and a portion of his edge softens a bit. "But, I guess if you two wanna, maybe I could try again."
"We don't hafta be best friends with him or anything," says Ikuna. He nuzzles at the two of them. They're his best friends, just like Chewy and Asku are the best grownup wolves. "Or... even be nice, exactly. But... I figure he _is_ in our pack. So even if he's the omega, we got a 'sponsibility to him. We gotta make sure he turns out okay."
Tala nod slightly and peers over at Ahiga. "Ikuna is right.. We should at least try to be nice to him.. An see what happens you know?" She questions after a moment before letting her head settle to the ground as a slight yawn escapes her. "We're have to try and find 'em though cause his not been a round much really.. At least not that I know.
Oookay, so what Ikuna says does make sense. "I guess if ya put it like that," he relents, with a nod, finding it pretty easy to take Ikuna's suggestion and follow his direction. "You're right. We can't let him grow up to be the Weird Wolf of the pack, cuz then everyone'll think we're all like that." And if there's one thing Ahiga doesn't want is for his adoptive pack to get a bad reputation! Tala's yawn, as slight as it was, is addictive, and his mouth opens wide to do the same before he flops his head down. "We can look around for'm tomorrow. But not too much. Him 'n his dad or whoever wasn't even livin' here on the lands, he said. He's probably back wherever their den is."
Ikuna nods. "We ought to patrol anyway," he says. That's one of the things the grownups do all the time, right? So it's something they should be doing too, along with hunting and stuff. "So we can look for him then, if he's still around." If he isn't, well... then he's not really being part of the pack anyway, now is he? So Ikuna doesn't have to worry about him.
Tala ear twitches and her eyes have already closed, seems someone is getting a nap it before any hunting or patroling is done. "We can patrol later.. an hunt later too." She offers while snuggling closer to her brother and tucks her head down under a paw slightly before falling asleep.
Ah, patroling. That ought to be fun! Ahiga nods in agreement. Maybe they might find that kid's home and figure out what he's all about. That'd make a grand adventure....but on the other hand, possibly adventures should be put on hold for the time being considering the circumstances. "Dude. Your sister falls asleep quick," he comments, sounding amused as he pokes a paw against Tala's side to test and see if she really is asleep. And she is!
Ikuna lowers his head to nuzzle between his sister's ears lightly. "Yeah," he says. "I think she was awake most of the night. I was... kinda having bad dreams." He frowns a little. Not at admitting his weakness - he's not worried about his friends knowing that - but because he has it. He doesn't want to still be scared, now that the bad things are gone. And he's not... mostly. When he's awake.
Ahiga frowns a little at that. "You were makin' some noises yeah... but it wasn't too bad," he tacks on, trying to sound encouraging. Blinking away the slight tingling feeling of his own eyes, he offers his bud a grin. "Hey, I'll stay up with ya if you don' wanna go back to sleep. Mouse huntin' wasn't /that/ tough that I'm tired now. I can ...uh...I can't tell you stories like Wachiwa, but I not not fall asleep."
Ikuna returns the grin, and nods. That's what friends are for. Helping each other out. "What else happened while I was gone?" he asks curiously. It may not be great storytelling epics, but... he really does want to know what went on with his friends, his pack, while he was away. It's a good thing to think about, after all the bad things.
"Uhh...The biggest thing was that old wolf, the kid, 'n Chewy's brother comin' here. Oh!" Ahiga's ears perk as he remembers something else. "An' there was another wolf, a male. I dunno why he was here an' I haven't seen him in a long time, but I don't like him. I remember /his/ name. It's Helaku, an' he has a big mouth. He tried tellin' us what to do and how we should be, an' it made Asku mad. But he's been gone since everybody left to go look for you, an' he ain't been back." He trails off, thinking. Since Ikuna's been gone, things have been sad and stressful, and he's sure saying that isn't going to make Ikuna feel any better.
Ikuna nods. He's not sure about those three, but he'll figure it out. He stretches a bit, and lays down against the sleeping Tala. He's not gonna sleep, nope, but... he's just going to relax a bit with her. At the mention of yet another wolf, he tilts his head curiously. Man, all the crazies seem to have come out when he left! He never should have gone. Not that he meant to, but... he shoulda been here for his friends. He frowns, and nods. "Maybe Skahla told him to go away?" he suggests. It's the sort of thing Skahla would do, but... any wolf that was arguing with a pack he visited doesn't seem the sort to listen to an absent alpha. "He didn't come up the mountain, that's for sure."
"Maybe," replies Ahiga, but he doesn't sound too convinced. He hasn't seen Skahla in some time, though he's sure the alpha male hias been around somewhere. "I think Asku prolly scared him off. He can be pretty mean when he wants," he says, sounding rather proud of the Beta male. Or at least he sees him as the Beta. "Wherever he is, I hope he stays there. The only new one I liked was Anoki, but he was....he was kinda.. like you when he got here," he admits gently, as if just now seeing the similarities. "He didn't talk about where he was a whole lot 'n was always by his sister. He could barely get up n' walk around for too long either."
Yeah, it might have been Asku. He's pretty tough too. Ikuna grins, and nods. At the mention of Anoki, he frowns slightly, but nods. "He was like that on the way home, too," he says. Yeah. Kinda like Ikuna. And he was really tired, too... so they didn't talk much. "We should go see him, sometime. When... we're both more rested. Chewy or Asku can take us. I don't think it's that far, they were with us lots of the way."
"Ooh, they talked about that," Ahiga says as he rests his cheek down against one paw. "I remember hearin' them ay that our pack 'n that pack should see each other more. It'd be cool to go there 'n see what the other pack looks like 'n what cool stuff they have on their lands. It's not borin' here or nothin', but still I'd like to go somewhere else to visit, 'specially if there are others like Anoki t play with. I bet he's loads've fun when he's not all...skinny 'n weak 'n stuff."
"It would," agrees Ikuna. People are definitely way more fun when not skinny and weak. Ikuna is working hard to not be skinny and weak again! It's being rather slow for his taste, though. Stupid body, not healing instantly. Stupid mind, not doing the same. "We'll do that. After we patrol, an' hunt, an' make sure our pack is okay. That comes first."
Tala has not went far from her brother's side, even now she is hunkered down close to where he is half dozing herself. A ear twitchs to her brother and she lifts her head as she watches him a moment before leaning over to nuzzle and lick against his shoulder a few times. She feels bad that she can't do anything to stop his dreams.. They happen often after all and she is left unsure what to do about it other then comfort him.
Ikuna shifts, whining again. Tala's nosing of him isn't enough to make the dreams go away, exactly... but it is enough to wake him up. He opens his eyes, body tensing... and then takes a deep breath as he realizes where he is. Safe. He's safe. He nuzzles over at his sister's shoulder, breathing in her scent and then letting it out in a sigh.
Tala tail sways a few times and thumps agains the ground once his awake. "Hey.. You was dreaming again." She offers while watching Ikuna and nosing him back. "You want to talk about it?"
Much like Tala, Ahiga has been on Ikuna duty ever since he came back. But, he's also given himself another task to help out: hunting! He's gotten pretty good at catching small woodland creatures, and he returns from an outing with a fat looking mouse dangling from his jaw. Ikuna's been looking kinda ... scrawny and needs some beefing up! His ears perk forward as he arrives from the crabapple's direction, hearing voices ahead.
Ikuna takes in another deep breath, and then lets it out again, before actually lifting up his head. "Yeah. I was," he says, and sighs. "I'm glad you're here." He nuzzles at his sister's cheek. He catches a glimpse of something moving, and his body stiffens for a moment before he recognizes Ahiga and relaxes again, his tail wagging gently.
Tala smiles a bit, her tail swaying and bounces against her brother's side a few times. "I'm glad I'm here for you too." She offers before glancing over to Ahiga and smiles seeing him. "Hey, he caught you a mouse. His gotten really good at getting 'em."
Ahiga waggles his tail the nearer he gets to his two pals, slowing as he closes in on them. He lowers his head to deposit the morsel of a meal on the grass, nosing it towards the other male. "Yup, I am pretty good at it, huh?" he says with a grin to them both. "If I could get like...ten've 'em at the same time, we'd never be hungry." He snickers and plops his hindquarters down. "We aren't even gonna need them traps we were gonna make."
Ikuna smiles back, only a little shaky. When he's awake, it's all okay. He's home, with his friends, and it's all good. He nods to Ahiga, and lowers his head to sniff at that mouse. "Yeah," he says. "You can show me how, later?" He hasn't had a chance to learn any of that, not trapped in a hole. He frowns just a little at the mention of traps, but nods. "Yeah. We'll be mighty hunters..." he says, then tries to hide his unhappiness by taking a bite of the offered mouse.
Tala smiles and nods. "Well.. maybe we can figure out a way to trap ten of 'em or something.." Well it is an idea after all. She looks to Ikuna and is glad that he is eatting at least, she won't push the matter on asking about his dreams right now.
"Yeah sure," replies Ahiga with a nod. "I'll teach ya all my skills, 'n me and you will be the best hunters in the pack. Oh, and you too Tala," he adds with a grin to the young female, lifting his chin a little. "I haven't seen Asku, but he's back now too, right? He'll probably take us out to go huntin' together an' the whole pack's do somethin' special for us when we bring back a big buck." Leave it to Ahiga to ignore the obvious elephant in the room and press on to more glorious thoughts! "What do ya think they'll do?"
Ikuna is just glad it's not fish. He eats up the mouse, one bite at a time, and then lifts up his head again and nods. "Yeah, Asku's back. We can all go together. That'd be fun." At Ahiga's dreams of glory and honor, he laughs. Yeah, this is what he missed. This is so what he missed. He tries to think of what fits in, his tail wagging gently. "Well, they'll all have a bite. And say... it's the best they've ever had."
Tala grins at this, her tail swaying about and she wruffs out a moment. "Ya.. We're get the biggest buck around and the whole pack will howl about it from now now." "Maybe even be in one of Chewy's stories.." That would be amusing, the three pups that took down the buck all on there own..
Ahiga eyes Ikuna, eyes narrowing in thought. "...That's it?" he says with a snort. "I mean, that's ok I guess, but this is gonna be a /big deal/ y'know?" His eyes flit to Tala and he nods. "Yeah, the biggest buck! So they've gotta do more than jus' say it's the best. If they howl, it's gotta be the longest, loudest howl ever. And..." his tail begins to wag as his thoughts begin to run a bit wilder. "And they'll need to make a /song/ about the hunt, not jus' a story. An' the antlers? We'll save'm, and put them right by the den so everybody can remember the buck an' how great us three are!"
Okay, so maybe Ikuna's imagination is a litle rusty. He grins a bit at Tala's suggestion, and at Ahiga's reply... though at the mention of antlers, he frowns. He remembers the bleached deer-skull in the mountains. The one the wolverine seemed to... pray to, almost, as she went to sacrifice him. To kill him. That one is gone, crushed by the falling tree, but to bring it back... "No. Not the antlers. We'll chew them apart. Or drown them. Or bury them." His voice is sharp, urgent, and he's not smiling anymore.
Tala is about to agree with Ahiga but pauses as she looks to Ikuna watching him. "Alright.. We dont have to keep it." She offers while leaning close to nose at his cheek. "We're do what ever you want Ikuna.. Promise."
Ahiga's ears flit back quickly at the sudden change of tone, and his wagging tail slows until it stops completely. "Ok ok...no antlers," he says, relenting quickly and watching the other youngster with a sort of wary look. His head gently begins to turn to one side. "Hey...are you alright? It's... ok now cuz you're back an'...things are good now. Right?"
Ikuna takes a deep breath. Yeah. Things are good now. They really are. He just... he has a hard time remembering that. That he's okay now. "Yeah," he says, his voice slowly gaining strength. "Things are good. And... we'll catch that deer. We will." He nuzzles at Tala, then Ahiga. "Together."
Tala wruffs out softly and nods while she shifts and nuzzles against her brother's neck, which she grooms at a few times. "Ya.. We're all togehter just have to keep remmbering that." She offers with a soft tone. This is something that she also has to keep remding herself as well.
Phew. Ok, crisis averted! Ahiga is going to have to become accustomed to weaning Ikuna back to "normal", and Tala too for that matter. Dang that stupid bird and .. badger or bobcat or whatever those animals were! How is it possible to have his friend back, yet not quite have him back? The nudge received is returned with a grin and headbutt. "And still a song though. Can't be /that/ hard to make one up."
Ikuna nods to Tala, and returns Ahiga's grin only slightly more weakly. "Yeah, we gotta have a song. One everyone can sing. It... it'll be so epic, it takes ten days to sing all of it." Yeah, that sounds about right. Because they're together again, for really truly, and so... they can have fun together. That's what his friends are for.
Tala nods and then glances to Ahiga at the talk about a song and hums softly while pondering this. "I wonder what we sing about.." She glances to Ikuna and grins. "Ten days to sing it all?" A slight giggle escapes her at the thought.
Ahiga bobs his head up and down a few times in agreement. That's more like it! "Ten days, yup. It'll be somethin' they talk about til forever. Every wolf is gonna know us three. We'll be as famous as Alpha 'n Omega, almost." He smirks before flopping onto his stomach and unceremoniously rolling on his back, splaying his paws in relaxed comfort. "So now that you're back, Ikuna, I gotta fill ya in on stuff. There's another one like us around now. Sort of. I don' remember if ya met him already, but I know he wants to be /Taalaaa's/ best friend forever," he says in a teasing sing-songy voice, snicker included.
Ikuna smiles, and his tail starts to wag again as he nods his agreement with his buddies. Ahiga's comment about Alpha and Omega makes him think for a moment. Alpha doesn't just mean the story guy, it means... the leader of a pack. His brother is alpha now, of this pack, but... what might happen, when he and his friends finish growing up? He starts to ponder on that, then is distracted by Ahiga's continuing to gossip time! "Huh? You mean Anoki?" he asks, a bit confused. That's the only other wolf pup he's ever heard of besides the three of them, after all!
Tala blinks while peers over at Ahiga, seems she already forgot the story bit. "Wait.. Who wants to be my best friend for ever?" She questions with a curious tone and lifts her head to eye her friend, looking VERY confused..
Gasp. "I forgot about Anoki! I hope he can come back here sometime cuz he's not half as weird as this other one." Ahiga rolls back over on his stomach now, smirking knowingly at Tala. "Oh I told ya before, remember? How every time you go to sleep he's always tryin' to snuuug all close to ya cuz he wants to make sure /you're ok/ and not /loonely/." He rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. "The weirdo. Um..his name's....Aereo...or somethin'. He came with that old wolf." He glances to Ikuna. "He says he's in the pack too."
Ikuna nods acknowledgement about Anoki. Yeah, he'd like to see the other pup again too. But who is this other guy? Ikuna tilts his head in perplexity, glancing from Ahiga to his sister and then back again. Not that he doesn't approve of his friends having friends, but... "I never heard of him." His face wrinkles up as he tries to think. Who could this guy be? "He's in the pack? But..." This is weird. This is double-plus weird. This is... wait. Hold on just a minute. "Was he with another wolf? Black an' white, an' not /really/ old, just... like, as old as Chewy is?"
Tala makes a slight face at this, her forepaw lifting to scratch at her cheek a few times. "Oh him.. I haven't seen him in a while. But ya his sorta strange.." She pauses. "I dono.. I feel sorta bad for him, like his trying to hard you know?" A glance is sent to Ahiga. "He snuggled close to me when I'm asleep?" Ok that is totally wrong. She doesn't know him! A ear twitches to Ikuna and she shrugs slightly. "The wolf he was with was really old.. older then ma and dad even."
"Chewy's brother!" Ahiga says, remembering the odd feeling that seemed to resonate among the more familiar pack wolves when Mori and the Old One and the Weird Pup were around. "Chewy's brother was there with'm, yup. And that Old Wolf was sayin' things that made Asku mad. An' me too." Though for the life of him, Ahiga can't remember what those anger inspiring things were. To Tala, he smirks and nods. "Yeah, but don't worry, /I/ made him move away."
Ikuna frowns slightly at Tala's expression. He approves of his friends having friends, but this doesn't sound like a case for friends. This might even be a case for Avenging Brother, or at least A Talk. Tala might be right, though. The kid might be trying, and just... be really bad at it. Fortunately, Ahiga has taken care of things for now. Still, he should figure out what's going on here. When Tala says the other wolf was just old, he nods. Okay, so maybe it's not that. In that case, he just has no idea at all... wait. No, Ahiga recognizes that description. "He's Chewy's /brother/?" Ikuna didn't know that! Oh, man, that just makes things weird. He shakes his head. "Ok. Well... when I was really little, I remember... dad was yelling at that guy. I didn't know many words then, but... I 'member he was saying something about pups."
Tala looks crosseyed a few moments, a half snuffle escaping her infact. "Well.. I know dad was not happy at all with Chewy's brother, and this kid was friends with him.." She offers with a soft tone and licks across her nose. "I dono why dad was made at him.. But ya it was bout pups or something like that."
"Uh-huh," Ahiga confirms to Ikuna. "Chewy says she loves her brother, but..." he trails off to look at Tala, then nods in agreement. "/Somethin'/ happened, I dunno what. But somethin' happened that wasn't too good. That Aereo kid said that the Old One was his dad, and his dad is part of the pack so that means he is too. I dunno how fun it'd be to have a dad /that/ old. I mean, I bet he can barely run or do anything fun." Possibly why the poor kid was trying so hard to be one of the gang.
Ikuna hmms, and nods. "Yeah," he says, though he frowns. There's still something that seems wrong about that, though. He can't quite figure it out, but.. maybe he'll ask one of the adults. One of the good adults, Asku or Chewy. It's so nice to have /this/ be the problems he has to worry about, though. Now, if he can just stop having nightmares about the old problems... "Chewy loves her brother, but she's mad at him too. Like she's mad at Asku sometimes, but... way way more." He nods again at Ahiga's comment about the old dad and the pup. "It's not his fault he's weird, probably. Maybe we can help him."
"Maybe that was the bad thing?.. I mean not to have a pup, or a dad that old.. But that he is old and was pups or something.." Tala offers after a moment. "An no.. I don't think its his fault his weird.. You think we could?" She questions and peers at her brother.
Help him? Ahiga makes a snorted noise through his nose. "Yeah, that's what that one girl wolf said. Anoki's sister, the one who can't see nothin'. She said somethin' about...being nice or...helpful or...somethin'." One can tell that lesson truly stuck with this youngster. "But /trust/ me, he don't make it too easy to be nice. I tried bein' nice and he /still/ got on my nerves." Bright eyes glance between his two pals, and a portion of his edge softens a bit. "But, I guess if you two wanna, maybe I could try again."
"We don't hafta be best friends with him or anything," says Ikuna. He nuzzles at the two of them. They're his best friends, just like Chewy and Asku are the best grownup wolves. "Or... even be nice, exactly. But... I figure he _is_ in our pack. So even if he's the omega, we got a 'sponsibility to him. We gotta make sure he turns out okay."
Tala nod slightly and peers over at Ahiga. "Ikuna is right.. We should at least try to be nice to him.. An see what happens you know?" She questions after a moment before letting her head settle to the ground as a slight yawn escapes her. "We're have to try and find 'em though cause his not been a round much really.. At least not that I know.
Oookay, so what Ikuna says does make sense. "I guess if ya put it like that," he relents, with a nod, finding it pretty easy to take Ikuna's suggestion and follow his direction. "You're right. We can't let him grow up to be the Weird Wolf of the pack, cuz then everyone'll think we're all like that." And if there's one thing Ahiga doesn't want is for his adoptive pack to get a bad reputation! Tala's yawn, as slight as it was, is addictive, and his mouth opens wide to do the same before he flops his head down. "We can look around for'm tomorrow. But not too much. Him 'n his dad or whoever wasn't even livin' here on the lands, he said. He's probably back wherever their den is."
Ikuna nods. "We ought to patrol anyway," he says. That's one of the things the grownups do all the time, right? So it's something they should be doing too, along with hunting and stuff. "So we can look for him then, if he's still around." If he isn't, well... then he's not really being part of the pack anyway, now is he? So Ikuna doesn't have to worry about him.
Tala ear twitches and her eyes have already closed, seems someone is getting a nap it before any hunting or patroling is done. "We can patrol later.. an hunt later too." She offers while snuggling closer to her brother and tucks her head down under a paw slightly before falling asleep.
Ah, patroling. That ought to be fun! Ahiga nods in agreement. Maybe they might find that kid's home and figure out what he's all about. That'd make a grand adventure....but on the other hand, possibly adventures should be put on hold for the time being considering the circumstances. "Dude. Your sister falls asleep quick," he comments, sounding amused as he pokes a paw against Tala's side to test and see if she really is asleep. And she is!
Ikuna lowers his head to nuzzle between his sister's ears lightly. "Yeah," he says. "I think she was awake most of the night. I was... kinda having bad dreams." He frowns a little. Not at admitting his weakness - he's not worried about his friends knowing that - but because he has it. He doesn't want to still be scared, now that the bad things are gone. And he's not... mostly. When he's awake.
Ahiga frowns a little at that. "You were makin' some noises yeah... but it wasn't too bad," he tacks on, trying to sound encouraging. Blinking away the slight tingling feeling of his own eyes, he offers his bud a grin. "Hey, I'll stay up with ya if you don' wanna go back to sleep. Mouse huntin' wasn't /that/ tough that I'm tired now. I can ...uh...I can't tell you stories like Wachiwa, but I not not fall asleep."
Ikuna returns the grin, and nods. That's what friends are for. Helping each other out. "What else happened while I was gone?" he asks curiously. It may not be great storytelling epics, but... he really does want to know what went on with his friends, his pack, while he was away. It's a good thing to think about, after all the bad things.
"Uhh...The biggest thing was that old wolf, the kid, 'n Chewy's brother comin' here. Oh!" Ahiga's ears perk as he remembers something else. "An' there was another wolf, a male. I dunno why he was here an' I haven't seen him in a long time, but I don't like him. I remember /his/ name. It's Helaku, an' he has a big mouth. He tried tellin' us what to do and how we should be, an' it made Asku mad. But he's been gone since everybody left to go look for you, an' he ain't been back." He trails off, thinking. Since Ikuna's been gone, things have been sad and stressful, and he's sure saying that isn't going to make Ikuna feel any better.
Ikuna nods. He's not sure about those three, but he'll figure it out. He stretches a bit, and lays down against the sleeping Tala. He's not gonna sleep, nope, but... he's just going to relax a bit with her. At the mention of yet another wolf, he tilts his head curiously. Man, all the crazies seem to have come out when he left! He never should have gone. Not that he meant to, but... he shoulda been here for his friends. He frowns, and nods. "Maybe Skahla told him to go away?" he suggests. It's the sort of thing Skahla would do, but... any wolf that was arguing with a pack he visited doesn't seem the sort to listen to an absent alpha. "He didn't come up the mountain, that's for sure."
"Maybe," replies Ahiga, but he doesn't sound too convinced. He hasn't seen Skahla in some time, though he's sure the alpha male hias been around somewhere. "I think Asku prolly scared him off. He can be pretty mean when he wants," he says, sounding rather proud of the Beta male. Or at least he sees him as the Beta. "Wherever he is, I hope he stays there. The only new one I liked was Anoki, but he was....he was kinda.. like you when he got here," he admits gently, as if just now seeing the similarities. "He didn't talk about where he was a whole lot 'n was always by his sister. He could barely get up n' walk around for too long either."
Yeah, it might have been Asku. He's pretty tough too. Ikuna grins, and nods. At the mention of Anoki, he frowns slightly, but nods. "He was like that on the way home, too," he says. Yeah. Kinda like Ikuna. And he was really tired, too... so they didn't talk much. "We should go see him, sometime. When... we're both more rested. Chewy or Asku can take us. I don't think it's that far, they were with us lots of the way."
"Ooh, they talked about that," Ahiga says as he rests his cheek down against one paw. "I remember hearin' them ay that our pack 'n that pack should see each other more. It'd be cool to go there 'n see what the other pack looks like 'n what cool stuff they have on their lands. It's not borin' here or nothin', but still I'd like to go somewhere else to visit, 'specially if there are others like Anoki t play with. I bet he's loads've fun when he's not all...skinny 'n weak 'n stuff."
"It would," agrees Ikuna. People are definitely way more fun when not skinny and weak. Ikuna is working hard to not be skinny and weak again! It's being rather slow for his taste, though. Stupid body, not healing instantly. Stupid mind, not doing the same. "We'll do that. After we patrol, an' hunt, an' make sure our pack is okay. That comes first."