Post by Pavane on May 21, 2012 20:16:43 GMT -5
Niyt - female wolf
Anoki - male wolf
---Two-River Fork---
The birds are calling, the sky is clear and blue, and the delicate flowers of early spring are slowly being overrun with the more riotous blooms of summer. Through this mid-spring day wanders Niyt, tracing her way along the course of the river while murmuring a quiet song to herself; no words, just an old tune.
Ears back, eyes watching the river. Normally, the water soothes to watch it, but today for some reason, a storm boils under the fur of the normally peaceful and quiet Anoki, standing at the water's edge, and watching the fish. After a moment's pause, he pounces into the water, snapping sharply, and comes back out quickly with a greyling in his jaws; but he does not eat; instead growling at it annoyedly, and after crunching it once to stop the endless flapping, he tosses it to the grass nearby, and resumes watching; one ear twitching toward the soft sounds of his sister, to whom he turns as she walks along, yellow eyes first hopeful, then harsh.. then neutral. Oh.
Niyt's song goes quiet, and she pads closer in careful-pawed silence. Her brother; the warmth of his presence, ruffled by unaccustomed anger. Her approach is slow, but not hesitant - despite that growl, she steps up to beside Anoki, and even directs a soft nosing for his shoulder before sitting back and curling her tail against her side. "There are clouds over the moon."
The nuzzle is not shied away from, but the red-starred wolf growls again softly, staring into the river again. Her words cause him the grumble, and then he murmurs softly, "I can't find Jatya anywhere, and I'm worried. .. No, I guess.. I'm angry. Coinin didn't seem to approve of.. my feelings for her... What if he chased her off? What if someone else in the pack chased her off? She's my friend! She's the only real friend I have around here unless I go prancing off toward the Ute lands. Why aren't I allowed to be her friend?" he frowns.
Niyt tilts her head, listening, and nods a little. "Both at once, I'd say." Funny how worry and anger can come together, fighting each other for prominence and feeding each other at the same time. "She's gone, hmm?" Niyt closes her eyes for a long moment, considering. "She's a quiet one. Snow flurries in the wind." Those eyes are opened again, with a slight frown on her muzzle. "It may be Coinin did." She's had her disagreements with the stranger-wolf who turned beta, after all. "Or it may be he didn't." Niyt smiles. "Find her first, before you start blaming anyone. She may be dog, but you are the happier for her." And that, so far as Niyt is concerned, is all there is to the matter of whether Jatya should be allowed to stay. Simple!
It's all Anoki needs on the matter, really; she's his friend, so she should be allowed to stay. They may not be the same species, but for goodness sakes, wasn't it Rockfall who was chasing after coyotes? He ummfs softly, and then murmurs, "I've been looking. I stopped to fish.. I'm not hungry.. but maybe if I catch enough, she'll smell them and come back." He frowns, and sighs. "I know I shouldn't hunt unless I'm going to eat, but ... But if she comes back, she can eat'em, right? So they won't go to waste." He sighs. And then sulkingly looks at his paws. "... She's my friend.. I should be allowed to have friends.. And I like her alot.. That's not wrong is it?"
"If she doesn't come, take the fish to Lexus and Rayen," suggests Niyt. "Rayen's very close to having her pups... and I think Lexus is too anxious waiting with her to want to go hunt." She smiles fondly for her great-uncle... who, really, she can't imagine having an issue. He was the first she told about her thing with Zuphi, and all he ever worried for was making sure she'd be happy! Sure, Jatya's a dog and not a wolf... but Zuphi of the tattered ears and scarred face was certainly no sweet boy next door. Besides, new parents are always happy for food! Speaking of that... the thought of young Kizhikoni brings a smile for itself and a flick of her ear upstream as though she could hear the news if only she listened enough, and then her thoughts return to her younger brother with a sigh. "Of course you should have friends." She leans over, nosing him again. "She is a spirit, like any other; in this life, she is a dog, and you a wolf. They are not so different, those shapes. Four legs; clever noses and ears; sharp teeth. Not everyone can recognize that. They smell what is dog in her scent, not what is canine nor what is Jatya. Both too specific, and not specific enough." Niyt smiles a little. "In a way, she is closer to being our family than Coinin; for what she lacks in breed, she has in your heart."
A wince at that, and Anoki looks over to Niyt, "Jeeze, yeah, I forgot about the Old Man and his old lady," he says, sheepishly, "I should take them fish first, then go hutning for Jatya; moms need all kinds of food to keep their puppies full," he says, softly, before he frowns. "... Has anyone seen Maka yet..? I haven't seen her in forever.. You think maybe the Winter got her or something..? Or maybe she an' Uncle Tariro ran off to have their pups alone away from the pack or something, since he's gettin' on innis years an' stuff too.." He frowns, and huffs a sigh, sitting down thoughtfully, leaning slightly aside to scratch at an ear with a hind foot.
Oh, what news comes from upstream. That ear of Niyt's flickers again, and she shakes her head slowly. "No. Maka's gone." The fast-footed wolf, fled. There's a soft sigh, and the grey wolf lifts up her head to the sky and absent moon. "Tariro... is lost," she says after a moment. "He's at a den up that way, with a daughter." And yet she still calls him lost, for all that she knows exactly where to find him - after all, he doesn't know where to find himself!
Ears lay back, and at the directions given, Anoki looks in them. ".. Maka is gone." He says, frowning. Heavily, this weighs; gone can mean many things, though, he remembers this. He has seen naught of a spirit around, so he decided for the moment to decide she's just run away. Probably scared of the idea of puppies, or of family, or something. For new mothers, a lot can be scary, he supposes. For new puppies, he knows. But that his uncle is both found and 'lost' is confusing. He frowns. "... He's sick, then..? And with .. a puppy by someone else..? Or did Maka give him a puppy and run away..?"
"The pup doesn't smell like Maka," says Niyt. "Though... I haven't met the mother, yet." A slight frown at that, and a sigh. "Uncle Tariro... Well. He's lost himself, and forgotten us. Forgotten... nearly everything, since before I was born." She shakes her head slowly. "He's a different wolf now. He might as well be one of the old Viridian wolves, finally wandered down off the mountain to find us. Perhaps if he could talk to Lexus, it would help, but..." Lexus is down here, with his mate; Tariro is far off and away, with his pup. A difficult thing to manage. "The pup seems sweet. A girl; named Kizhikoni." One bright spot.
"... A girl huh? .. huh. ... Huh." Anoki hmms softly. Doesn't smell like Maka... and no sign of the mother? Well, perhaps she's just.. hiding from new wolves she's never met or something. "... I hope she doesn't get the tick fever like our mum did," he murmurs softly, staring into the water again. "I guess I should meet them some time," he murmurs softly, before he frowns. "... I guess.. I've been.. very distracted with Jatya, I haven't even seen what's up with my family, huh. I guess that makes me a bad packmember."
"You are still only a little moon," says Niyt. "Your orbit wobbles; it strays farther until it falls back again and circles in. Perhaps it will take you away, to make your own pack." An entire pack of wolf-dogs; wouldn't that be a thing? "If not, it will draw you back here. You circle to your family again." She smiles softly. "If you have not seen them, neither have they seen you. Or have you hidden yourself away, and broken your trail so they cannot follow?"
Quietly, Anoki admits: "... there's a waterfall... We found a cave behind it, and have been staying there for a while, during the winter. She likes it there because the rest of the pack scare her.. and I... have.. been trying to get over my fear of closed spaces. It's worked, sort of, you know? I'm not that scared of them anymore.. as long as somone I trust is nearby. But when the snow melted I started to insist we go out to more places. When we got seperated she may have headed there, I suppose I should go there to see, huh. Stupid me, I should have looked there first. Niyt, how are you so wise?"
Niyt smiles softly, and nods. Better memories do a great deal to make bad ones tolerable! And if Jatya is responsible for that, well - it is another good she has done for Niyt's brother, and another reason for her to be welcome in this pack. Hopefully her own fear can be eased by Anoki, as he eased hers. As her brother calls Niyt wise, she laughs. "It is not my light, little moon. I only helped to blow the clouds away."
"Well, I always did think you full of hot air," Teases Niyt's brother, as he half stands, and turns to nuzzle back at her, finally returning the motion of greeting. He nuzzles at her face; then slightly makes a playful grab for one of her ears with his mouth, only meaning to tug playfully, not in injury. Just a motion of familiar levity. He smiles, then says, softly, "You've done so much for me, Niyt.. I wish I could do something for you. I wish I could make your eyes better."
Niyt laughs at the teasing, tilting her head as Anoki snags her ear and bumping her nose in at his chestfluff while he grr-tugs. It's still a little strange, how he's tall enough that she can do that without crouching down. Her full-grown little brother. "Oh, Anoki. You're always doing things for me." How few are the wolves that she can laugh around, these days? How few the wolves she can sing with? "My eyes are the least important thing."
"Well, yeah, I guess," He says, letting go the ear, and resting his chin on her temples as she noses his chest, "You've got used to not havin'em, huh. I dunno if I could get used to that, but maybe I could eventually." He sighs. "Man, life just.. goes, fast pace, alla time. I usta have to stand on my tippy-toes just to nip your chin, and now I'm almost bigger'n you. think I'll ever be as big as dad was? Hope I won't be as fluffy, man. Guy was like those sheep things in the mountains.."
Niyt nuzzles in softly, an affectionate lean. "I've had as long to get used to it as you've been alive," she says with a lopsided smile. Longer, really; for the blindness came slowly, through her whole adolescence. It's a great deal of time for getting used to things. "I don't think you will be. Mom wasn't anything near so fluffy... and besides, I think growing up on the mountain had something to do with it. Maybe someone left dad in a snowdrift when he was a pup, and that's why he got so fluffy."
Anoki gives a bellow of a laugh. "Oh man, could you see dad in a snow drift? Nuthin' but eyes and a nose and all that snow." he beams! Lifting his head to let her go, and laughing amusedly, shaking his head. He looks again the direction she'd gestures for Tariro's new location, then murmurs, "Maybe I should go see Uncle Tariro and this squirt of his. Maybe a pup'd take my mind off Jatya bein' missin', or somethin'. Or I could head down to the waterfall, and see if she's there." He considers thoughtfully. "... If he don't remember us.. you think that means Coinin'll have to take over the pack?"
Niyt giggles at the thought of a vanished Shag, and nods. Anoki's licked before she leans back, and she smiles. "You should say hello, sooner or later," she agrees. "As for Jatya... well, you've been showing her life in the woods, haven't you? So... she's likely doing okay, wherever she is. I'll keep an ear out for her, too..." A smile, and then it fades a little at the question of pack succession. "I suppose so."
"Probably want you and your boy for his Betas, then," Anoki teases, before he chuckles. "You two will make good betas, I'm sure," he says, before he mms softly. "I'm sure she's okay, but I still want to find her, you know?" He mms. And sighs. "Yeah, I'll go visit, let the old fogey know I'm still alive and that he's got a newphew who's worried," he chuckles softly. And then sighs, looking skyward. "... I guess not knowing who you are is better than not knowing if you're alive or dead.."
"Oh, no, that'll be Lexus' pups," says Niyt at the mention of the betas. Her tone is teasing, but for the truth of it - how is a blind wolf to be beta? It's a wonder she manages as well as she does, and the abilities that let her do so are as likely to be frightening as inspiring to others. At Anoki's concern over Jatya, she nods. "Of course," is all she says. The mentions of Tariro's loss make her sigh a little. "It's almost similar, in a way. Spirits forget after death. His... has just started early." Oh, and there's a thing; for their uncle... is also getting oooold.
Ears droop slightly, and Anoki bobs his head. "... I hope he'll at least stick around to see this new cousin of ours become an adult," he mms, then stands, and stretches out his forepaws slightly, arching a little about the back, before he sighs. "Where did Lexus and Rayen hole up? I'll take them this fish, see if they want me to do any more hunting for them. I'm sure I could wrassle up a couple of rabbits for them."
"Not too far from here," says Niyt, and tells her brother the way to Lex and Rayen's den. She nods as he suggests hunting more for them - and who knows, perhaps they'll have seen Jatya. It's a long shot, but... most things are possible. "I'll keep an eye for your Jatya," she adds, and gives herself a little side-to-side shake.
A nod, and a flip of tail as Anoki turns. "Thank you, Niyt. And I'll keep an eye out for that Zuphi of yours," he teases, before picking up the fish and trotting off for the direction she said Lexus and Rayen were in.
Anoki - male wolf
---Two-River Fork---
The birds are calling, the sky is clear and blue, and the delicate flowers of early spring are slowly being overrun with the more riotous blooms of summer. Through this mid-spring day wanders Niyt, tracing her way along the course of the river while murmuring a quiet song to herself; no words, just an old tune.
Ears back, eyes watching the river. Normally, the water soothes to watch it, but today for some reason, a storm boils under the fur of the normally peaceful and quiet Anoki, standing at the water's edge, and watching the fish. After a moment's pause, he pounces into the water, snapping sharply, and comes back out quickly with a greyling in his jaws; but he does not eat; instead growling at it annoyedly, and after crunching it once to stop the endless flapping, he tosses it to the grass nearby, and resumes watching; one ear twitching toward the soft sounds of his sister, to whom he turns as she walks along, yellow eyes first hopeful, then harsh.. then neutral. Oh.
Niyt's song goes quiet, and she pads closer in careful-pawed silence. Her brother; the warmth of his presence, ruffled by unaccustomed anger. Her approach is slow, but not hesitant - despite that growl, she steps up to beside Anoki, and even directs a soft nosing for his shoulder before sitting back and curling her tail against her side. "There are clouds over the moon."
The nuzzle is not shied away from, but the red-starred wolf growls again softly, staring into the river again. Her words cause him the grumble, and then he murmurs softly, "I can't find Jatya anywhere, and I'm worried. .. No, I guess.. I'm angry. Coinin didn't seem to approve of.. my feelings for her... What if he chased her off? What if someone else in the pack chased her off? She's my friend! She's the only real friend I have around here unless I go prancing off toward the Ute lands. Why aren't I allowed to be her friend?" he frowns.
Niyt tilts her head, listening, and nods a little. "Both at once, I'd say." Funny how worry and anger can come together, fighting each other for prominence and feeding each other at the same time. "She's gone, hmm?" Niyt closes her eyes for a long moment, considering. "She's a quiet one. Snow flurries in the wind." Those eyes are opened again, with a slight frown on her muzzle. "It may be Coinin did." She's had her disagreements with the stranger-wolf who turned beta, after all. "Or it may be he didn't." Niyt smiles. "Find her first, before you start blaming anyone. She may be dog, but you are the happier for her." And that, so far as Niyt is concerned, is all there is to the matter of whether Jatya should be allowed to stay. Simple!
It's all Anoki needs on the matter, really; she's his friend, so she should be allowed to stay. They may not be the same species, but for goodness sakes, wasn't it Rockfall who was chasing after coyotes? He ummfs softly, and then murmurs, "I've been looking. I stopped to fish.. I'm not hungry.. but maybe if I catch enough, she'll smell them and come back." He frowns, and sighs. "I know I shouldn't hunt unless I'm going to eat, but ... But if she comes back, she can eat'em, right? So they won't go to waste." He sighs. And then sulkingly looks at his paws. "... She's my friend.. I should be allowed to have friends.. And I like her alot.. That's not wrong is it?"
"If she doesn't come, take the fish to Lexus and Rayen," suggests Niyt. "Rayen's very close to having her pups... and I think Lexus is too anxious waiting with her to want to go hunt." She smiles fondly for her great-uncle... who, really, she can't imagine having an issue. He was the first she told about her thing with Zuphi, and all he ever worried for was making sure she'd be happy! Sure, Jatya's a dog and not a wolf... but Zuphi of the tattered ears and scarred face was certainly no sweet boy next door. Besides, new parents are always happy for food! Speaking of that... the thought of young Kizhikoni brings a smile for itself and a flick of her ear upstream as though she could hear the news if only she listened enough, and then her thoughts return to her younger brother with a sigh. "Of course you should have friends." She leans over, nosing him again. "She is a spirit, like any other; in this life, she is a dog, and you a wolf. They are not so different, those shapes. Four legs; clever noses and ears; sharp teeth. Not everyone can recognize that. They smell what is dog in her scent, not what is canine nor what is Jatya. Both too specific, and not specific enough." Niyt smiles a little. "In a way, she is closer to being our family than Coinin; for what she lacks in breed, she has in your heart."
A wince at that, and Anoki looks over to Niyt, "Jeeze, yeah, I forgot about the Old Man and his old lady," he says, sheepishly, "I should take them fish first, then go hutning for Jatya; moms need all kinds of food to keep their puppies full," he says, softly, before he frowns. "... Has anyone seen Maka yet..? I haven't seen her in forever.. You think maybe the Winter got her or something..? Or maybe she an' Uncle Tariro ran off to have their pups alone away from the pack or something, since he's gettin' on innis years an' stuff too.." He frowns, and huffs a sigh, sitting down thoughtfully, leaning slightly aside to scratch at an ear with a hind foot.
Oh, what news comes from upstream. That ear of Niyt's flickers again, and she shakes her head slowly. "No. Maka's gone." The fast-footed wolf, fled. There's a soft sigh, and the grey wolf lifts up her head to the sky and absent moon. "Tariro... is lost," she says after a moment. "He's at a den up that way, with a daughter." And yet she still calls him lost, for all that she knows exactly where to find him - after all, he doesn't know where to find himself!
Ears lay back, and at the directions given, Anoki looks in them. ".. Maka is gone." He says, frowning. Heavily, this weighs; gone can mean many things, though, he remembers this. He has seen naught of a spirit around, so he decided for the moment to decide she's just run away. Probably scared of the idea of puppies, or of family, or something. For new mothers, a lot can be scary, he supposes. For new puppies, he knows. But that his uncle is both found and 'lost' is confusing. He frowns. "... He's sick, then..? And with .. a puppy by someone else..? Or did Maka give him a puppy and run away..?"
"The pup doesn't smell like Maka," says Niyt. "Though... I haven't met the mother, yet." A slight frown at that, and a sigh. "Uncle Tariro... Well. He's lost himself, and forgotten us. Forgotten... nearly everything, since before I was born." She shakes her head slowly. "He's a different wolf now. He might as well be one of the old Viridian wolves, finally wandered down off the mountain to find us. Perhaps if he could talk to Lexus, it would help, but..." Lexus is down here, with his mate; Tariro is far off and away, with his pup. A difficult thing to manage. "The pup seems sweet. A girl; named Kizhikoni." One bright spot.
"... A girl huh? .. huh. ... Huh." Anoki hmms softly. Doesn't smell like Maka... and no sign of the mother? Well, perhaps she's just.. hiding from new wolves she's never met or something. "... I hope she doesn't get the tick fever like our mum did," he murmurs softly, staring into the water again. "I guess I should meet them some time," he murmurs softly, before he frowns. "... I guess.. I've been.. very distracted with Jatya, I haven't even seen what's up with my family, huh. I guess that makes me a bad packmember."
"You are still only a little moon," says Niyt. "Your orbit wobbles; it strays farther until it falls back again and circles in. Perhaps it will take you away, to make your own pack." An entire pack of wolf-dogs; wouldn't that be a thing? "If not, it will draw you back here. You circle to your family again." She smiles softly. "If you have not seen them, neither have they seen you. Or have you hidden yourself away, and broken your trail so they cannot follow?"
Quietly, Anoki admits: "... there's a waterfall... We found a cave behind it, and have been staying there for a while, during the winter. She likes it there because the rest of the pack scare her.. and I... have.. been trying to get over my fear of closed spaces. It's worked, sort of, you know? I'm not that scared of them anymore.. as long as somone I trust is nearby. But when the snow melted I started to insist we go out to more places. When we got seperated she may have headed there, I suppose I should go there to see, huh. Stupid me, I should have looked there first. Niyt, how are you so wise?"
Niyt smiles softly, and nods. Better memories do a great deal to make bad ones tolerable! And if Jatya is responsible for that, well - it is another good she has done for Niyt's brother, and another reason for her to be welcome in this pack. Hopefully her own fear can be eased by Anoki, as he eased hers. As her brother calls Niyt wise, she laughs. "It is not my light, little moon. I only helped to blow the clouds away."
"Well, I always did think you full of hot air," Teases Niyt's brother, as he half stands, and turns to nuzzle back at her, finally returning the motion of greeting. He nuzzles at her face; then slightly makes a playful grab for one of her ears with his mouth, only meaning to tug playfully, not in injury. Just a motion of familiar levity. He smiles, then says, softly, "You've done so much for me, Niyt.. I wish I could do something for you. I wish I could make your eyes better."
Niyt laughs at the teasing, tilting her head as Anoki snags her ear and bumping her nose in at his chestfluff while he grr-tugs. It's still a little strange, how he's tall enough that she can do that without crouching down. Her full-grown little brother. "Oh, Anoki. You're always doing things for me." How few are the wolves that she can laugh around, these days? How few the wolves she can sing with? "My eyes are the least important thing."
"Well, yeah, I guess," He says, letting go the ear, and resting his chin on her temples as she noses his chest, "You've got used to not havin'em, huh. I dunno if I could get used to that, but maybe I could eventually." He sighs. "Man, life just.. goes, fast pace, alla time. I usta have to stand on my tippy-toes just to nip your chin, and now I'm almost bigger'n you. think I'll ever be as big as dad was? Hope I won't be as fluffy, man. Guy was like those sheep things in the mountains.."
Niyt nuzzles in softly, an affectionate lean. "I've had as long to get used to it as you've been alive," she says with a lopsided smile. Longer, really; for the blindness came slowly, through her whole adolescence. It's a great deal of time for getting used to things. "I don't think you will be. Mom wasn't anything near so fluffy... and besides, I think growing up on the mountain had something to do with it. Maybe someone left dad in a snowdrift when he was a pup, and that's why he got so fluffy."
Anoki gives a bellow of a laugh. "Oh man, could you see dad in a snow drift? Nuthin' but eyes and a nose and all that snow." he beams! Lifting his head to let her go, and laughing amusedly, shaking his head. He looks again the direction she'd gestures for Tariro's new location, then murmurs, "Maybe I should go see Uncle Tariro and this squirt of his. Maybe a pup'd take my mind off Jatya bein' missin', or somethin'. Or I could head down to the waterfall, and see if she's there." He considers thoughtfully. "... If he don't remember us.. you think that means Coinin'll have to take over the pack?"
Niyt giggles at the thought of a vanished Shag, and nods. Anoki's licked before she leans back, and she smiles. "You should say hello, sooner or later," she agrees. "As for Jatya... well, you've been showing her life in the woods, haven't you? So... she's likely doing okay, wherever she is. I'll keep an ear out for her, too..." A smile, and then it fades a little at the question of pack succession. "I suppose so."
"Probably want you and your boy for his Betas, then," Anoki teases, before he chuckles. "You two will make good betas, I'm sure," he says, before he mms softly. "I'm sure she's okay, but I still want to find her, you know?" He mms. And sighs. "Yeah, I'll go visit, let the old fogey know I'm still alive and that he's got a newphew who's worried," he chuckles softly. And then sighs, looking skyward. "... I guess not knowing who you are is better than not knowing if you're alive or dead.."
"Oh, no, that'll be Lexus' pups," says Niyt at the mention of the betas. Her tone is teasing, but for the truth of it - how is a blind wolf to be beta? It's a wonder she manages as well as she does, and the abilities that let her do so are as likely to be frightening as inspiring to others. At Anoki's concern over Jatya, she nods. "Of course," is all she says. The mentions of Tariro's loss make her sigh a little. "It's almost similar, in a way. Spirits forget after death. His... has just started early." Oh, and there's a thing; for their uncle... is also getting oooold.
Ears droop slightly, and Anoki bobs his head. "... I hope he'll at least stick around to see this new cousin of ours become an adult," he mms, then stands, and stretches out his forepaws slightly, arching a little about the back, before he sighs. "Where did Lexus and Rayen hole up? I'll take them this fish, see if they want me to do any more hunting for them. I'm sure I could wrassle up a couple of rabbits for them."
"Not too far from here," says Niyt, and tells her brother the way to Lex and Rayen's den. She nods as he suggests hunting more for them - and who knows, perhaps they'll have seen Jatya. It's a long shot, but... most things are possible. "I'll keep an eye for your Jatya," she adds, and gives herself a little side-to-side shake.
A nod, and a flip of tail as Anoki turns. "Thank you, Niyt. And I'll keep an eye out for that Zuphi of yours," he teases, before picking up the fish and trotting off for the direction she said Lexus and Rayen were in.