Post by Pavane on Jul 12, 2012 12:05:31 GMT -5
Ahiga and Ikuna
Wind-Blown Lowlands
---
Yesterday was hardly a smooth start to a new future. If anything, Ahiga can't imagine how things could've gone much worse. Apparently, he wasn't as ready to face Ikuna as he thought he was, and Ikuna...well. The words that he spoke, as honest as they might have been, did nothing to help the situation settle. And now he's facing the fact that he is going to leave on whatever cocamaney task the new alpha set for Tala with nothing at all having been resolved. True, resolution was never in the game plan to begin with, but after speaking to Tala the other day, he's come to realize that despite how he feels or what she may say, her happiness depends on Ikuna's continued presence in her life. Thus, this leaves him with two choices. Leave with animosity souring any chances reconciliation and continue with Tala in a life in which she's only partially happy, or try to .. fix to fix things as much as they can be for her sake and carry out Ikuna's plan. There's always that unspoken third option, where the noble wolf casts off alone leaving behind everthing he loves for the sake of their happiness, but...when has he ever been known to be noble? So! It's with these thoughts that Ahiga, now alone, searches for Ute's newest leader, stalking through the lowlands with no attempt at staying hidden as he searches for the scent.
A new future, and what good is it? Still, the pack needs food. Wachiwa's pups need food, for they're starting to explore the idea of eating meat. More playing with it than eating, so far - but they're getting there, and that means the time is coming when they'll be ready to move. Where to? He doesn't know. What will life be like there? Yeah, he doesn't know that either. But they need food, and their mother needs it as well, so Ikuna is out hunting today. He stalks the grasslands, until he manages to startle a pair of hares, a rustle of the grass as they bound away and he leaps after.
What's that sound? Ahiga's ears perk up at the noise, body tensing defensively. But instead of seeing hte face of some threatening foe, Ahiga find himself face to face with a bunny, perhaps too terrified to have noticed that another predator is in the area. He too looks just as bewildered as the rabbit does, and for a split second, there's that slow motion meeting of the eyes, the expression on their faces the same. WTF? Ahiga snaps out of it quicker than the unfortunate confused prey animal, and with a quick lunge forward, the confused life ends with a squeal. There's only a brief struggle for freedom before the body goes lump in the jowls of Ahiga who now raies his head to figure out what in the world happened. Oh. Ikuna happened.
In the first moments, instincts take hold, and Ikuna responds to the hunt as he has a hundred times before. Another wolf. Let him take the one hare, and Ikuna lunges to the side and bites the other, a catch at the rump, a tug back, a shake and snap - hunt successful. Time to congratulate the hunting-partner and feast together. Only... oh. It's Ahiga. Ikuna releases the dead hare, lifting up his head to look at the other wolf.
Ahiga gazes at the other wolf, the accidental prize still in his mouth. A grunted sound escapes from his throat after a while, and he then begins to move. His pawsteps, slow as they are, carry him nearer to Ikuna. All the while his eyes stay on him, not with outright distrust, but more of a vague wariness. He pauses a handful of feet away and turns his head to one side only so that he can bring it forward with a litle more force, swinging and tossing the rabbit towards him. "Here," he says after spitting out a but of fluff that's stuck to his tongue.
Ikuna stands where he is, over the other fallen hare. He watches Ahiga as the other approaches, his tail hung low but with a tension in his muscles like... he's still poised to act. Not that he does. His gaze flicks to the flung carcass, watching it thump down against the ground, loll in a position that speaks of death. He looks back to Ahiga. "It's your catch," he says.
"Was your hunt," replies Ahiga matter of factly. "I'm leaving. I'll find somethin' out there." Out there where ever it is he may end up. Nameless lands. Unknown places. His expression remains set in one that expresses nothing, and as he watches the other wolf his eyes remain just as expressionless. Perhaps the fight is out of him. Too much anger can be a taxing thing, and for the past few days he's felt nothing but. This could be a prime time to say things that won't get twisted with emotion. "I don't like this. I don' like what's changed and how it's changed you ... and maybe how it's changed me too. We were friends." Pause. "If it was left to me, I'd turn around and never come back. What's the point? But I told you a long time ago I'd take care've Tala, and no matter what she thinks, she belongs here."
The hare isn't the important part. Ikuna looks out at the horizon as Ahiga speaks. Unknown places. Away. Home is not only gone... it may never be found again. His gaze comes back to Ahiga as the other speaks of change. His muzzle twists in and out of a frown, but he doesn't interrupt. "No. She doesn't." He turns away, staring out behind him as he speaks. "This is a mess. All of it. I don't want to be an alpha. I don't want Brutal and Grim here. I don't want her here, not... not while everything falls apart. I don't want to be here, but... I don't have a choice. You don't need me. Tala doesn't need me. Them, back there... they need me. No, they need someone better than me, but I'm all they've got. You said it yourself. Skahla didn't listen. He wasn't there enough. I... I need to be there, or there's nothing left of Ute. Maybe there isn't anyhow." Maybe Skahla did start, and Ikuna... is just finishing. "I don't know, but I have to try."
"She's already lost one brother, Ikuna. She needs you more'n you think. She always has." Ahiga's own eyes straw from those of Ikuna, turning to the expanse of grsss behind Ikuna. I heard what you want her to do, and I ain't gonna promise that I'll be there in the end. I'll go with her. I'll help her find what you want. But in the end, I dunno that I can be around all this. I don't want to have to read into everything that Grim, Brutal, or even you say. I don' want to feel like I've gotta sleep with one eye open or watch my back. How's that any different than bein' out there alone, a rogue?" A breath is exhaled as he shakes his head a little. "I'm doin' this for Tala, that's all, but I wanted you to know that I'm doin' it an' she won't be out there alone." He turns an ear at a thought. "Skahla didn' want to be alpha. You don't. Maybe that's the problem. Findin' somebody who does."
The problem is, Ahiga's right. Tala does need Ikuna, and the young wolf lowers his head at that, ears splaying in silent admission. "I... guess I sort of cheated. I don't want her to go. I don't want either of you to go. I said I wouldn't ask her to stay, but... I did, kind of. I'm sorry." He turns his head a little, glancing back at Ahiga. "I'm sorry," he repeats. "That I haven't been... the kind of wolf you want to be around." A sigh. "Maybe you should be an alpha, not me. You and Tala, together." Because aren't alphas supposed to be mated pairs? Another thing Skahla told him, and he has no idea how to manage it.
"It's better for her that she does. She'll be alright here with you." This talking thing seems to be working. Perhaps it isn't the happiest of conversations, but it is a conversation, not a one sided shouting fest of words that can't be unspoken. Ikuna's apology is met with a subtle frown, eyes holding his before his head turns. "I'm sorry that I'm the kind of wolf that you're embarrassed of," he says in return, taking a step that's meant to make him turn around, but he pauses with a lifted paw. Alpha? If his mood was better, he'd laugh. As it is, he can only manage a snorted sound that on a good day could pass as a snicker. "No good. I don't want it either. You know ... Skahla's really messed up. Why bring Grim and Brutal in and then dump it all on you?" He flicks an ear at that thought before he himself turns around. "Anyway. I'm leaving."
Ikuna's ears splay further. "I'm not embarrassed of you," he says softly. "I meant what I said. You could be an alpha. You see things I don't." Like Althaea's scent. But, Ahiga doesn't want it, so there's no out there. As for Grim and Brutal, "I'm giving them a chance. One chance. Skahla said they're guests... well, they are. Until we move. Then, it's my decision, and I'm going to make it. I know what you and Tala say, and I know what Althaea says, and I'm going to hear what they say... but then I'm going to decide. If they keep on acting like they did at the pond, in the cave... they're not coming." Ikuna nods to Ahiga's departure, turning again to better see that retreating back. "Good luck."
One chance. That's all anyone ever needs to prove themselves, but as what? Perhaps these two will be productive and loved members of the pack. The type to play and laugh with the half breed pups and share in play and kick back and relax on lazy days where all one does is be with friends and walk and be silly. Maybe. But in his mind, it's one hell of a big maybe. That Bad Feeling is back, but ... Ikuna already knows his feelings on the matter, as does Skahla. They may be willing to gamble with those wolves, but he.. would rather walk away. He glances back to Ikuna for a moment, searching his face for signs of the kid he once had youthful dreams of being beta to. Such dreams. "Yeah. Good luck," he says in return to him, sounding far more sincere about it than the snidely said remark to Skahla. He turns around again and starts off, his search now for Tala so that their journey can begin.
Wind-Blown Lowlands
---
Yesterday was hardly a smooth start to a new future. If anything, Ahiga can't imagine how things could've gone much worse. Apparently, he wasn't as ready to face Ikuna as he thought he was, and Ikuna...well. The words that he spoke, as honest as they might have been, did nothing to help the situation settle. And now he's facing the fact that he is going to leave on whatever cocamaney task the new alpha set for Tala with nothing at all having been resolved. True, resolution was never in the game plan to begin with, but after speaking to Tala the other day, he's come to realize that despite how he feels or what she may say, her happiness depends on Ikuna's continued presence in her life. Thus, this leaves him with two choices. Leave with animosity souring any chances reconciliation and continue with Tala in a life in which she's only partially happy, or try to .. fix to fix things as much as they can be for her sake and carry out Ikuna's plan. There's always that unspoken third option, where the noble wolf casts off alone leaving behind everthing he loves for the sake of their happiness, but...when has he ever been known to be noble? So! It's with these thoughts that Ahiga, now alone, searches for Ute's newest leader, stalking through the lowlands with no attempt at staying hidden as he searches for the scent.
A new future, and what good is it? Still, the pack needs food. Wachiwa's pups need food, for they're starting to explore the idea of eating meat. More playing with it than eating, so far - but they're getting there, and that means the time is coming when they'll be ready to move. Where to? He doesn't know. What will life be like there? Yeah, he doesn't know that either. But they need food, and their mother needs it as well, so Ikuna is out hunting today. He stalks the grasslands, until he manages to startle a pair of hares, a rustle of the grass as they bound away and he leaps after.
What's that sound? Ahiga's ears perk up at the noise, body tensing defensively. But instead of seeing hte face of some threatening foe, Ahiga find himself face to face with a bunny, perhaps too terrified to have noticed that another predator is in the area. He too looks just as bewildered as the rabbit does, and for a split second, there's that slow motion meeting of the eyes, the expression on their faces the same. WTF? Ahiga snaps out of it quicker than the unfortunate confused prey animal, and with a quick lunge forward, the confused life ends with a squeal. There's only a brief struggle for freedom before the body goes lump in the jowls of Ahiga who now raies his head to figure out what in the world happened. Oh. Ikuna happened.
In the first moments, instincts take hold, and Ikuna responds to the hunt as he has a hundred times before. Another wolf. Let him take the one hare, and Ikuna lunges to the side and bites the other, a catch at the rump, a tug back, a shake and snap - hunt successful. Time to congratulate the hunting-partner and feast together. Only... oh. It's Ahiga. Ikuna releases the dead hare, lifting up his head to look at the other wolf.
Ahiga gazes at the other wolf, the accidental prize still in his mouth. A grunted sound escapes from his throat after a while, and he then begins to move. His pawsteps, slow as they are, carry him nearer to Ikuna. All the while his eyes stay on him, not with outright distrust, but more of a vague wariness. He pauses a handful of feet away and turns his head to one side only so that he can bring it forward with a litle more force, swinging and tossing the rabbit towards him. "Here," he says after spitting out a but of fluff that's stuck to his tongue.
Ikuna stands where he is, over the other fallen hare. He watches Ahiga as the other approaches, his tail hung low but with a tension in his muscles like... he's still poised to act. Not that he does. His gaze flicks to the flung carcass, watching it thump down against the ground, loll in a position that speaks of death. He looks back to Ahiga. "It's your catch," he says.
"Was your hunt," replies Ahiga matter of factly. "I'm leaving. I'll find somethin' out there." Out there where ever it is he may end up. Nameless lands. Unknown places. His expression remains set in one that expresses nothing, and as he watches the other wolf his eyes remain just as expressionless. Perhaps the fight is out of him. Too much anger can be a taxing thing, and for the past few days he's felt nothing but. This could be a prime time to say things that won't get twisted with emotion. "I don't like this. I don' like what's changed and how it's changed you ... and maybe how it's changed me too. We were friends." Pause. "If it was left to me, I'd turn around and never come back. What's the point? But I told you a long time ago I'd take care've Tala, and no matter what she thinks, she belongs here."
The hare isn't the important part. Ikuna looks out at the horizon as Ahiga speaks. Unknown places. Away. Home is not only gone... it may never be found again. His gaze comes back to Ahiga as the other speaks of change. His muzzle twists in and out of a frown, but he doesn't interrupt. "No. She doesn't." He turns away, staring out behind him as he speaks. "This is a mess. All of it. I don't want to be an alpha. I don't want Brutal and Grim here. I don't want her here, not... not while everything falls apart. I don't want to be here, but... I don't have a choice. You don't need me. Tala doesn't need me. Them, back there... they need me. No, they need someone better than me, but I'm all they've got. You said it yourself. Skahla didn't listen. He wasn't there enough. I... I need to be there, or there's nothing left of Ute. Maybe there isn't anyhow." Maybe Skahla did start, and Ikuna... is just finishing. "I don't know, but I have to try."
"She's already lost one brother, Ikuna. She needs you more'n you think. She always has." Ahiga's own eyes straw from those of Ikuna, turning to the expanse of grsss behind Ikuna. I heard what you want her to do, and I ain't gonna promise that I'll be there in the end. I'll go with her. I'll help her find what you want. But in the end, I dunno that I can be around all this. I don't want to have to read into everything that Grim, Brutal, or even you say. I don' want to feel like I've gotta sleep with one eye open or watch my back. How's that any different than bein' out there alone, a rogue?" A breath is exhaled as he shakes his head a little. "I'm doin' this for Tala, that's all, but I wanted you to know that I'm doin' it an' she won't be out there alone." He turns an ear at a thought. "Skahla didn' want to be alpha. You don't. Maybe that's the problem. Findin' somebody who does."
The problem is, Ahiga's right. Tala does need Ikuna, and the young wolf lowers his head at that, ears splaying in silent admission. "I... guess I sort of cheated. I don't want her to go. I don't want either of you to go. I said I wouldn't ask her to stay, but... I did, kind of. I'm sorry." He turns his head a little, glancing back at Ahiga. "I'm sorry," he repeats. "That I haven't been... the kind of wolf you want to be around." A sigh. "Maybe you should be an alpha, not me. You and Tala, together." Because aren't alphas supposed to be mated pairs? Another thing Skahla told him, and he has no idea how to manage it.
"It's better for her that she does. She'll be alright here with you." This talking thing seems to be working. Perhaps it isn't the happiest of conversations, but it is a conversation, not a one sided shouting fest of words that can't be unspoken. Ikuna's apology is met with a subtle frown, eyes holding his before his head turns. "I'm sorry that I'm the kind of wolf that you're embarrassed of," he says in return, taking a step that's meant to make him turn around, but he pauses with a lifted paw. Alpha? If his mood was better, he'd laugh. As it is, he can only manage a snorted sound that on a good day could pass as a snicker. "No good. I don't want it either. You know ... Skahla's really messed up. Why bring Grim and Brutal in and then dump it all on you?" He flicks an ear at that thought before he himself turns around. "Anyway. I'm leaving."
Ikuna's ears splay further. "I'm not embarrassed of you," he says softly. "I meant what I said. You could be an alpha. You see things I don't." Like Althaea's scent. But, Ahiga doesn't want it, so there's no out there. As for Grim and Brutal, "I'm giving them a chance. One chance. Skahla said they're guests... well, they are. Until we move. Then, it's my decision, and I'm going to make it. I know what you and Tala say, and I know what Althaea says, and I'm going to hear what they say... but then I'm going to decide. If they keep on acting like they did at the pond, in the cave... they're not coming." Ikuna nods to Ahiga's departure, turning again to better see that retreating back. "Good luck."
One chance. That's all anyone ever needs to prove themselves, but as what? Perhaps these two will be productive and loved members of the pack. The type to play and laugh with the half breed pups and share in play and kick back and relax on lazy days where all one does is be with friends and walk and be silly. Maybe. But in his mind, it's one hell of a big maybe. That Bad Feeling is back, but ... Ikuna already knows his feelings on the matter, as does Skahla. They may be willing to gamble with those wolves, but he.. would rather walk away. He glances back to Ikuna for a moment, searching his face for signs of the kid he once had youthful dreams of being beta to. Such dreams. "Yeah. Good luck," he says in return to him, sounding far more sincere about it than the snidely said remark to Skahla. He turns around again and starts off, his search now for Tala so that their journey can begin.