The World in Shades of Gray [Roka]

[Deleted]

Lietus trod gently across the tall grass that flowed over the hills. His gray fur seemingly endlessly ruffled by the unceasing breeze. The world around him stood muted in the sun as wisps of clouds flitted across the face of the bright day light. There was hardly any shade outside of the far distant forests. The day bleached the colors in Lietus' eyes from the world around him. The world stood calm in his eyes bleached of the intense colors of the grass and sky. Instead it stood in stark contrast to him. A world of black and white. The grays of the world blended the world together tieing his stark silent reality to the place he currently walk.

He had several days ago woken on the beach of this strange land. It was unlike the world he had known of his home cove. Here there was life. Here there were plants and creatures he had never before lay eyes on. Here was a world he had no idea how to thrive in let alone how to approach it. He felt the eternal blankness that was his thought slightly waver as he thought on the reality of his and the changes it was going through in the new world.

Instead of continuing the thoughts he pacified his mind. Returning it to the blankness. It was neither peace nor conflict. It was neither happy nor sad. Just an existence in which he breathed and moved. The terrain which surrounded him changed nothing except the method in which he used to survive. He continued his pace as he moved up and on top of a hill he found himself looking down onto a river that wound among the hills gently.

As he gazed upon the ribbon of water easing along he was reminded of his homelands where he had lived his life. Ever alone and feeling nothing about it. After all he had only ever known one other wolf. His mothers passing was so long ago he barely remembered what had happened. He barely knew anything beyond survival and his name. At least what he believed was his name. He had never had a chance to ask what his mother had meant by the word she had whispered as she had passed.

He began to walk slowly down the hills towards the water its gray flowing nature making him acknowledge his thirst. As he finally stepped foot down next to the water he lowered his head and began to drink. The cold flowed down his throat and satiated his need for it. He brought his head back up and looked around to the world around him. As unassuming as ever and colorless. This world of shades of gray seemed to flow around him never ceasing.
Words: 463
Tags: @roka
Muse: Exists
Notes: n/a

| Made by Rita |

[Roka]

Just as he saw the world in a colorless view, Roka found that after she was hurt the world became even more bright. The colors became vivid and crisp despite her only having one eye to see it with. As she walked along the hills of this northern territory she found herself surrounded by the awe and grace of it. She had grown to maturity in a land filled with brown and white all year round. This land was covered in green grasses and clear blue skies, even crisp white snow. All of the colors blended around her so perfectly. She didn't know if it was because she had lived a life so separate from color for the majority for her life or if it was because she no longer had the use of her left eye. Whatever reason it was she was grateful for the difference. Seeing life in this new shade of colorful made her thankful that the leopard hadn't been successful in taking her life. It had been a hard life before her attack, but to think that the attack itself had made a change to her life for the better was satisfying. That something which should have crippled her was doing some good in her life.

Beneath her feet the grass was soft and sweet, the frozen blades crunching beneath her feet as the last of winter faded away. It was slowly receding as spring approached to take it's place. Although Roka hated the warmth that came along with the new season, but she enjoyed the increase in prey. A particular favorite of hers came about every spring time. With the blooming of the flowers also came the birthing of young, rabbit pups to be more precise. They were a favorite of hers that made the warmth a little more bearable. Even now it was getting warm enough to make her sweat under her thicker coat even with the breeze blowing. It could only keep her cool for so long, until the beating sun reached it's peak. Her ears pricked at the sound of water trickling gently, probably a stream nearby. She headed in the direction of the gentle sounds, her mouth dry with thirst. She never seemed to notice the need for water until she was close enough to head it's flow. As she got closer to the source of the soothing sound a scent tickled it's was across her nose. Yet another strangers roaming about these strange lands. It seemed that the scent and the sound were coming from the same place and that there would be no avoiding her next meeting.

She lifted her head trying to spot any trace of the stranger, but caught nothing. It wasn't until she had reached the crest of the hills and was looking down at the newcomer. Male. Just my luck. She hadn't met another female of her kind since she had met with Xion and that female was a black mark on the species to be sure. Roka chuckled darkly at the thought of what would have happened if it had come to blows between them. The demented female had thought that she was going to waltz right in, attack her and steal a taste of her blood, and then leave no questions asked. The entire idea had been perverse and Roka was glad to be rid of her. He was similar in color to Roka if not a little lighter than she was. He was taller than her, but his tallness seemed to have stretched the rest of him out. The few extra inches he had on her were lost by the fact that she had more weight than he did. Roka continued to look on as the stranger lapped up the water, her thirst mysteriously gone in his presence. Her body began to tense, uncomfortable being so close to a strange wolf. Despite her weight advantage, it wasn't enough to make a real difference if things came to blows. She rumbled deep in her chest wanting to give him some indication that he wasn't alone. She knew that the one thing worse than meeting a stranger was being surprised by one. She would put herself out there so that she wouldn't be accused of sneaking about, nefariously lingering in the shadows.

@lietus

[Deleted]

Letus stood watching out over the river as it moved endlessly in front of him. The gray whorls and spirals entranced him to a degree. He only ever showed the barest bit of interest in the world around him. The ever bleached out colors mattered little to him outside of showing him water, prey, and a place to rest his head. As he mused silently over bleakness which surrounded him he became aware of another presence.

To be fair the presence made itself known to him less then him noticing. He heard a deep rough noise from behind him and turned equally enough. It took several moments for his brain to begin to piece together what it was looking at. Standing a bit of a distance from him was a wolf. A creature like himself though different in as many ways. He had only ever seen one of his kind once before. Beyond seeing himself in the reflections of water he had little understanding of his own species.

The wolf that stood before him made him have to widen his understanding of the shared species. The wolf stood a bit shorter than he himself did. He also seemed to be longer than the wolf was if one cared to measure muzzle to tail. However where his frame was slight and seemed stretched the others frame was filled out more. The wolves fur shared the same coloring as his did though the others left eye seemed marred. Scars ran down the side of the wolfs face and the eye seemed to be faded. The other eye is what drew more of his attention.

As soon as he looked at the other eye the world shifted slightly. It took him a moment to realized what it was. The eye that looked at him was brown. More so vibrantly so. The shift it had caused in his perception was the return of color to his world. For some reason the sight of the wolfs eye had made re aware of the presence of color in the world. The grass was once more green much as the sky was once more blue. It actually bothered him slightly in the depths of his mind. Small ripples moved across his normally calm mind in response to the slight emotions. The presence of color made him adjust the perception of the wolf in front of him.

Once he had calmed his mind back down he observed the other colors that were present subtly in the others fur. The slightly discoloration of the scars themselves. The presence of the brown still in the scarred eye. The tint of the world on the others silver fur. In subtle ways it brought the creature he was looking at more into his reality instead of bleeding into the background. He turned his body slowly towards the creature watching curiously at the others reaction. He had no understanding of what the sound meant. He didnt know anything of speech or the way that others of his kind interacted. So the best he could do was watch and wonder.

Words: 516
Tags: @roka
Muse: I'm getting better!
Notes:

| Made by Rita |

[Roka]

This wolf was a watcher as well, like so many others that she had come across in these strange lands. It seemed that she wasn't the only loner that liked to stand and watch those strangers around her. His stare was different though. Where most wolves would look at a stranger as a way to size them up, he looked at her as if she was a specimen. Something that he needed to study in order to get a better understanding of. As if I was the first wolf that he has ever seen. Her brows furrowed as she thought over the possibility. How had this wolf not ever seen another of their kind before. The idea of such a thing was borderline ludicrous.

The possibility became more and more of a reality as she watched the way he moved and reacted to her. She moved with him keeping him within her eyesight. Many thought that her blindness was a weakness that could be exploited. That they could take advantage of that which made her less than whole. She had learned to move with others, to maneuver them so that they stayed within her line of sight at all times. She had other senses that she could have learned to rely on, but there was no sharpening in them. She had enough sight to be able to see the world around her so she adapted. Became better than she ha been before her accident, if that's what she was going to call it. Accident, incident, they all meant the same thing. They all lead to the same end.

With every step that he made she would make a counter step that kept him where she wanted him. He seemed confused by the sound that she had made, as if it was foreign to him. Surely he has rumbled himself a few times. It is a natural noise to make. She rumbled again as if to emphasis her point. She had heard plenty of wolves rumble before, mostly her own family members. Her ears flicked towards him, testing the air for any indication that he knew how to make any kind of noise at all. She took a step closer to him, curious about what his reaction would be. If he didn't know anything about wolf social life then she wanted to see his reaction. Would he freeze where he was, or would he run from her. Better yet would he try to attack her. She felt her lips turn up in a grin at the thought of him picking a fight. It had been a long time since she had been in a tussle and she longed for the release of energy.

Yet a small part of her was unwilling to do something so risky. The last time she had engaged in a 'tussle' she had almost lost her life. She blinked at him before taking another step forward. "Hello." She tested the word like she was unsure of it herself. Hoping that he would understand the small greeting. She wouldn't know how to reach him if he didn't at least know the language. The phrase 'actions speak louder than words' was a crock of shit in her opinions. She could convey so much through words, where as actions can only convey the feelings that someone was willing to perceive.

@lietus

[Deleted]

Lietus watched the other as he moved. The eyes of the other wolf never left him. They kept them in their perspective no matter what motion he made. This confused him slightly. The emotion caused the waves of his usually calm mind to ripple a little harder. The feeling it gave him struck him a bit oddly. It was a rare thing that caused him to do so much thinking consciously. Lietus functioned on an almost instinctual level a vast majority of the time. Admittedly he had instincts that his species had given him through his birth, however with no interaction of any sort most of them had faded so far into the back of his mind that they never truly arose outside of the need for things like water, food, and sleep.

However here he was being presented with several startling things that were causing his long dormant conscious mind to wake and have to function. This was a discomforting feeling for him. As the other wolf shifted to keep him in their sight Lietus began to wonder what was causing the reaction in the other wolf. Was there something here he was missing. Did the other one also not know what to do when in the presence of another of their shared species. The other wolf then repeated the low rumbling noise.

Lietus' head cocked to the side as he listened to the noise. Somewhere inside of him understood vaguely what the noise was meant to convey but he could not remember it. He shifted the thoughts away again as he took a closer look at the other wolf. The scars treading across their eye seemed deep and old. These were obviously not fresh wounds. However what he wondered was if the film covered eye behind the scars could see the world normally. Was it a faded image due to the film? Maybe it was crystal clear through the eye and it only seemed as if they were blind.

Blinking away the thoughts again Lietus straightened his head back out watching the other wolf calmly and impassively. As he watched they seemed to be affected by his lack of response. He had no idea where to even begin to respond so he kept his silence. As he watched the other one they took a step forward and his reaction never changed. He quietly observed the other one with no real reaction outside of bland curiosity. As the other wolf took another step forward their scent came across him. He could pick out different individual scents lining it outside of the base scent which was the wolf. Female. The word can unconsciously to him. It was a she much like his mother had been. The same as him but also different.

As he thought on this she took another step closer to him. He canted his head to the left gently again watching her his gaze unwavering. She was a curiosity to him in so many ways. Then she made another noise. This one seemed less instinctual noise and more conscious noise. He still had no way to understand what the noise meant. He had only ever heard one word of any sort and as far as he knew it was the word that had been what his mother had called him before she passed. It was the only thing he knew as a name of any sort. However he had never spoken before in his life. She must want to communicate something but he was beyond understanding what it could be.

Words: 593
Tags: @roka
Muse: I think i will go for a walk now
Notes: n/a

| Made by Rita |

[Roka]

Roka waited for what seemed like an eternity for some indication that he had heard, or even understood her words. None came. He just stood there watching her with those cool grey eyes. She would have expected to see curiosity or even uncertainty in the depths of those haunting eyes. Instead all she got was his stare as he watched her movements. She would give anything for a spark of recognition. That something that she was doing registered with him, whether instinctual or conceptual. Instead he just stared on as if she was a confounding creature that was rare and not understood. She had never met someone so primal and rudimentary that they couldn't even speak with others of their kind.

His watching was almost cold and calculative, yet at the same time it seemed to hold an utter lack of interest in her actions or words. The only reaction that she got was a tilting of his head, as if he didn't realize what she was doing. Roka huffed rolling her eyes at the male. She had no idea how she was supposed to communicate if he didn't speak or even move. Perhaps if he made a gesture she might be able to work with. She could only see two reasons for his behavior, one being that he was a dull creature, being born with some mental issue. The other that he was simply ignorant. She had heard of other languages before, she herself knowing a dialect from her homeland. Perhaps he didn't know the common language and was only familiar to his own families language.

Her tail began to swish in rapid strokes as her irritation began to grow. Her rumble turned to a growl in her throat and she looked him over one more time. "If this is some kind of sick joke I am going to kick your ass whelp." She didn't like the idea that she was being toyed with. He would pay sorely if he was trying to pull one over. He hadn't even responded to her greeting. She didn't know a single person who didn't at least know how to say hello, or at least what it meant. She was tense her shoulders stiff and her fur bristled. She didn't like this male, nor did she like the way that he just stood there, making no effort to talk.

"God damn it! Would you say something? Anything? Do you even know your own name?" Her aggravation of this whole situation was mounting rapidly. She didn't even know what she was supposed to do in this kind of situation. Was she supposed to walk away and ignore the male? Was she supposed to stay until he opened up? She was drawing a total blank as to what her next course of action should be. "I am sorry. I can't help you if you won't talk to me." She doubted that walking away would solve anything because he would probably follow her. As if to test her theory she stepped backwards, watching to see what he would do if she created more distance between them.

@lietus

[Deleted]

Lietus watched the female as she seemed to be put off from his reactions. It was hard to place why he knew but something about her reactions seemed to express to some instinct of his that his lack of reactions were causing her issue. He knew the feeling of being unsettled. The whole situation he was currently in was not comfortable for him. He hadn't had to think this much in his life. The world he had lived in up till now had been a silent existence. He had never met one of his own kind outside of his mother till now.

As he watched the female huff out a sigh her eyes making a circle in her head his eyes were drawn back to the scars that ran across one of her eyes. He wondered what could have caused the damage to her face. Actually as he thought about it, he wondered about a lot of things. More so than before he had been stumbled upon by this female. So many more thoughts than what he was used to having. As he tail began to pick up speed the slowly awakening instincts told him that was a motion to mean irritation. As his mind reported these facts to him the low noise she had been making deepened and became louder.

He listened to her voice as she made more sounds at him. They definitely had a purpose to them and yet he could not understand what they meant. He only knew one word and he had a vague idea of that that word referred to. He believed it was the closest idea to a name he knew of. The female's voice continued to raise and grow increasingly more irritated. His eyes focused on her as she spoke. He tried to read into what she was talking about. The words were lost on him though. He had never really heard anyone speak before.

The silence in the past had been so much easier. So much more simpler but he could not help but be curious of what this female was trying to tell him. Suddenly she stepped backwards. On instinct Lietus took a step forward to match her motion backwards. He had to find a way to somehow to communicate to her. He only knew one word and he had never really spoken before in his life. There had never been a use or point to it. However if he had any hope of learning more about his species he was going to have to push forward. The headache itself was already settling in. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

This was more emotion and sentience than he had ever shown in his life. He slowly began to growl clearing his throat. The growl was not one of anger or irritation. Instead it was pained growl of one making vocal cords work for the first time in his life. He looked up and tried to impress on the female how much this not only hurt but how trapped in his own mind he was right now. As the growl raised through the notes he twitched and shuddered. It was a disquieting feeling to say the least. Finally he put the only word to his lips that he knew “Liiiiiieeeeeeeetttttuuuuuussssssss” the word was drawn out and rough. He coughed a bit as he finished. He sighed afterwards and looked up to her. Hopefully this would make some sort of impact on her.

Words: 585
Tags: Roka
Muse: Its a thing i have
Notes: n/a

| Made by Rita |

[Roka]

Roka

Roka became more and more perplexed by his behavior as time went on. He didn't seem to know anything about how wolves talked or even acted. Every move or word she spoke seemed to fall on deaf ears. She had been about to give up and turn the other way when he had mirrored her action by stepping closer. It seemed apparent that despite his inability to talk he was trying to communicate something with her. Roka was a curious creature so she wanted to know what this beast had to say, but her patience was only so thick. She watched on as the wolf began to growl, but the pitch was off. A silent whine seemed to accompany the growl, like whatever he was trying to get out was painful.

It seemed as if he was trying to clear his throat and by the time the deed was done only one word came out. It was an odd word, one that she had never heard before, but perhaps it was his name. If not he was probably one of those that spoke a different language. She tested the word on her tongue trying to see how well it sounded coming from her mouth. "Lietus is it? I am Roka." She figured that if it wasn't his name then there was no apparent hope for ever getting through to him. Whatever language it was she wouldn't know it. She let out another huff before sitting down. It seemed that this was going to take longer than she expected.

If he didn't know anything other than what she was showing him now, then it was apparent that she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. As much as she hated social interaction she considered herself a good wolf. The kind of person that wouldn't leave another of her species to remain alone and confused. She wanted to help him as much as she could, but she couldn't guarantee that her temper wouldn't get in the way. As it was she was teetering on a very precocious edge. "Is your name the only word that you know?"

It wasn't like he was going to answer her, but she couldn't help asking. Her actions and her words were the only things she knew how to communicate. "Lietus." She said his name again to see if she could solicit any kind of response from that. A part of her hoped that he would show some kind of recognition to his name. One more piece closer to solving the puzzle that was him.

@lietus

[Deleted]

Lietus felt like he had eaten sand after speaking. The unused parts of his throat were sore from the speech. It had been one word and it still hurt. If this is the price one payed to speak to another then Lietus could not find a justified reason to continue doing it. However from the others reactions maybe it was not supposed to hurt like that. Maybe like an unused muscle it just needed to be used to get to the point where it became numb to it. Either way after he spoke it took several moments of swallowing and clearing his throat before the discomfort subsided. As he concentrated on the female he realized she was speaking again.

He heard his name followed by more speech he did not understand. However an emphasis on the last word brought his attention to it. It let the word settle in his mind. The way she spoke it made him believe she was returning his offering of his own name. The peace of his mind was broken by this point and he made no efforts to restore it. If there was a female like this here he had to imagine there were others as well. Otherwise why would the female use speech for communications?

Either way she was speaking to him again. This time the lilt and look on her face made him think that maybe she was asking something. Questioning him though about what he could not begin to fathom. She had sat down by this time. He watched her curious if the motion was somehow part of the question. With no context to what she was saying her simply mimicked her. He rested back on his haunches and watched her carefully. She was an interesting creature in so many ways. At the same time she gave off an air of irritated acceptance. He was not sure what he had done to bother her so very much.

Suddenly she spoke his name again. At his name his ears rotated forward and he concentrated on her again. She had spoken his name for some reason. Time enough to experiment with the word he believed to be her name. He cleared his throat several times before looking up to her and saying softly “Roka?” He matched her lilt at the end of what he believed to be a question. After all he had no idea if he had spoken it the correct way. That it was even her name was a guess at best for Lietus. After all she was speaking in a language he had never heard before. His mother had only spoken one word and prey generally did not take the time to speak when hunted. He waited to see how she would react to him speaking her name in return.

Words: 470
Tags: @rohka
Muse: Doing good son...... doing good
Notes:

| Made by Rita |

[Roka]

She finally got a response that wasn't confusion. He responded to that strange word making it clear that it was his name. If he didn't know how to speak than how could he possibly know his name. It was a mystery to her. His ears perked up every time that she said the name so she guessed that it belonged to him. If his mother hadn't taught him how to speak then how had she managed to name the brute. It was a puzzle for sure. One that she was determined to solve. She took another moment to look him over making sure to take in as many details as she could. His silence put her on edge so she had rushed into speaking her first line of defense. Now that it was clear that he was no threat to her it gave her time to relax a little and do what she did best. Watch.

He wasn't like anything that she had ever seen before. Like a newborn pup clear of all experience and instinct. Rock waiting to be worn down and formed by waters current. He didn't react the way she would expect an adult wolf to. He didn't growl or snarl, his fur staid in place and he didn't watch her with anything more than curiosity. I fact that seemed to be the only thing displayed in his deep grey eyes. There was no fear or anger, joy or despair. Nothing. Is this what this wolf truly had. Was he nothing more than a blank slate waiting for her to leave her foot print. Was she the beginning of a chain reaction that would result in this wolf gaining something more than this grey area that he called life.

Her relief was overwhelming as she heard him say her name. Whether it was understanding or just plain mimicry it didn't matter to her. Progress was progress plain and simple. She gave a little sigh as her suspicions were confirmed. It seemed as if he had no idea how to communicate with others of his kind, but she was willing to figure it out. Even if she had to sit here and physically beat it into him she would make him understand. She wondered what she should do next. She had made more progress than she had expected and it seemed to spur her efforts on. She wanted more from him. Despite the obvious pain that talking caused him, Roka planned to be merciless until she got him to a place where she was content to leave him. He followed her lead and sat down across from her showing that he obviously knew nothing else to do but copy her movements. She tilted her head towards him seeing what reaction he would give.

She wondered if he knew more than his name and like her he had just left it unused for long enough that it disappeared. It was unlikely, but a small part of her did wonder how he had made it to adulthood being so sheltered, so untainted by this world. "Wolf." Speaking didn't seem to get through to him, but what else did she have. He wasn't familiar with body language so it seemed like the only thing she could do was continue on her course and hope that it made some small difference. She rumbled at him again wondering if his reactions were the key to getting at him. Despite her new found curiosity she was still pissed that she was caught in such a position. If he had been a pup she might have just killed him instead of wasting her time. Roka however had a thing for survivors. He had made it this far on his own and that was something that she respected.

@lietus