Careless Musings {Arete/Open}

[Kade]

It had been many months since Kade had allowed him self to really be aware of his surroundings. With Lisa gone and River missing he hadn't really felt the need to travel north to find a pack. Instead he had spent much of his time wandering about getting to know the continent that he now called home. Spending much of his time alone helped him heal much of what had been plaguing him form his past. He now have very few nightmares about his master and the traumatic circumstances that he had escaped. He wondered about what would have happened to him if he hadn't been in the accident that dropped him into the sea, the swim bringing him here. Whatever plans the humans had had for him they were probably less than good, considering he had attacked his master. The foolish humans had trained a killing machine, but the hand that fed him was never kind. Biting it was the best decision he had ever made. If he hadn't he would still be at the compound being used and abused as some kind of sperm donor. The men who had taken him wanted to breed an army of wolves, enough to train as attack dogs to sell. They hoped to make a huge profit off of his children and he never could have allowed that. This aimless wandering had allowed his fractured mind to heal, but for some reason his conscious was not nagging at him. He had avoided other wolves for the most part, trying to keep a low profile. Now however he seemed to be having a harder time making good time across the desert. He kept thinking about where he was and if there were any others near by. Rivers disappearance had left him feeling lonely and hurt, perhaps that she had left or gotten hurt. He was supposed to be taking care of her and she had gone missing showing just how good of a friend he was.



Kade gritted his teeth moving further and further away from the northern lands they had planned to call home. The south had been the first place he had stopped when he had first arrived here in this land and it had been kind to him. The north was nothing but a frosty wasteland by now covered in snow and ice. Kade hated the cold so when the prospect of joining a pack failed to pan out he had high tailed it the other direction. Now he was closer to what he thought of as home. Being a loner on this continent hadn't been as scary as he had imagined, but he still struggled to get by on most occasions. He was a piss poor hunter and his fighting was not much better. Most days he was simply a scavenger moving from place to place, finding whatever scraps other left behind. The food he found was better than the kibble he had been fed in captivity that was for sure. He lowered his nose to the ground searching for some trace of what had pulled him from his daze, for it certainly hadn't been food. Food never really called to him like this. Perhaps it was the breeding season that seemed to be pulling all of the females into their heat. Interactions with other loners were always more frequent during this time of year because everyone was on the search for a partner to breed with. Kade always hated the pull that the breeding season brought, pushing him closer to his animal side than he preferred.



Despite his enjoyment for ignoring the rational side of his brain it was still there and he refused to get some random femme pregnant because he couldn't control himself. No matter how far he had come or how much he had healed it didn't change the fact that he had very little control over himself. The animal in him ruled more often than he cared to admit. When he was hungry he ate, when he was tired her slept. Instinct ruled over him more than his own mind did and that was why he avoided others. He was polite and tried to be a good person when the situation called for it, but the fight between rationality and instinct was always present within him. Finally he found the scent that had pulled him from his wanderings, another wolf. It didn't surprise him that it was female since the majority of other loners he had met were femmes. Kade couldn't tell anything else about her from her scent so it was anyone's guess as to if she was a loner or pack wolf. He hoped it wasn't the latter because he hadn't met many pack wolves, but they tended to be more territorial an protective than he liked to deal with. Giving a solitary howl he called out the strange female. She would answer him if it pleased her and not if it didn't He had nothing to lose in this instance.







Arete

[Arete]

Daylight so often plagued the desert with heat and unbearable dryness, but this season was different. The desert was awake with life and teaming with different prey and many opportunities. Water had come to the sands and with it came food and survival. It was an oasis of life here, but there was no life in the eyes of the pale female that made her way carefully through the murky sands. She was hiding, stalking an unseen target that was on the opposite side of the sand bank beside her. She had been getting better at this lately. Still young and inexperienced, she had relied so much on her family to help her, but now she was alone. There was no one beside her, and her entire family had been killed. She was too young to be alone, but at least she was not old enough to go into heat like the rest of the females on the island. They would be warding off unwanted male attention for weeks, where she would not even bat an eye at a passing brute.

But she was lonely, it was plain to see in the concentrated, but tired look in her eyes. Depression had taken a hold on her and it was not about to release her any time soon. The world was a dangerous place, especially for a loner by choice. But she was born into this life, and her family had been torn from hers on multiple occasions. First her mother, who had disappeared before she had even known her. Then her sister had died, too weak and too sick to even grow up. Then her father had been killed, right in front of their eyes by Sabaoth. Now Everest had disappeared and her brother Ren was nowhere to be found. She was on her own, forever, and she struggled every moment just to breathe.

Suddenly, as she forced herself to focus on her hunt and not her pain, a howl broke out into the air. Her target lifted it's head in surprise, then fled in the opposite direction while Arete snarled her frustration. Another lost kill might not have been such a big deal when she was traveling with her brothers, but on her own, meals were few and far between. She was getting thin, and though she had finished growing, it was clear that the lack of food was impacting her greatly. Right now, though, she had no hope of recovering her prize. No, she had lost it to the fool that had screamed out to the heavens, and as she turned in the direction of the sound, her ears pinned backwards and her paws carried her towards him. "That cost me a hunt." She said, her voice youthful and snappy as ever. Her spirit had somehow survived the traumatic life she had lived, but her eyes were still dull and lifeless as she came to a stop several yards away from the dark male.

Kade

[Kade]

Kade hadn't been paying much attention to his surroundings is mind trying to revert back to t's slumber. Not thinking was much easier than trying to be active and remain that way. He was tempted to just turn away and begin his muse less trek. The temptation to meet this stranger had turned sour with nerves, turning his thoughts to the worst. Whenever he met strangers it either ended up in a fight or went great. River had been the only true example of a time when he hadn't caused trouble by seeking out company. Despite his pessimism Kade was beginning to feel the loneliness eat away at him. He knew that he couldn't go on living like this no matter how painful facing reality was. He was alone. That was as plain as he could put it even though he was just admitting it to himself. Feeling pity for himself was something that he did best, letting the nothingness overwhelm him. He took a deep breath letting the silence offer some comfort, listing for the stranger's approach. Her footsteps were steady and moving a little faster than he was prepared for. She was on him in an instant outrage clear on her face.



He hadn't expected her to be so young when he had called out. She also looked thinner than he thought she ought to be. His cool grey took her in, watching her body react to the anger, but it didn't make it to her eyes. He waited to see if she was going to attack him over her lost kill. He hadn't realized she would be hunting, he thought that she was just a wanderer like him. "I am sorry. I didn't realize that you were hunting." He had let his fog distract him instead of surveying the things that were going on around him.



He took a step back, her anger like a wave pushing him away. "I don't want any trouble. I haven't met anyone in a long time and thought the company would be nice." He couldn't blame her for being mad at him when he had cost her a meal. They were few and far between out here now that winter was approaching. "My name is Kade. I would offer to get you a kill, but I am less likely to catch one than you are." He was beginning to mumble, his nerves getting the better of him. If she didn't begin to talk to him then perhaps it would be better for him to just avoid meeting people from this point on. It was obvious that his social skills were getting him no where.







Arete

[Arete]

He seemed oblivious to everything around him, she was shocked that he even noticed her after she spoke. Sure, he had called out to her, but he had also ruined her hunt because he was not paying attention to anything. Yes, it irritated her, but she was not strong enough and did not have enough energy to pick a fight. Plus, it seemed like he was not interested in physical violence. "I am sorry. I didn't realize that you were hunting." She frowned, ears pinning back slightly. No shit, you didn't realize. She thought to herself, but for the sake of her own skin, she kept her mouth shut. She was young and inexperienced, and though she had sparred a few times with her brothers, she would stand no chance against a full grown, adult male. Especially a stranger she knew nothing about.

"I don't want any trouble. I haven't met anyone in a long time and thought the company would be nice." She frowned, but her posture relaxed significantly. Her head lifted slightly and her back half lowered to the ground in a sitting position. Company. No, they will all leave you in the end. She thought, but she decided - once again - that it was best to keep her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself. "My name is Kade. I would offer to get you a kill, but I am less likely to catch one than you are." She tilted her head slightly, on ear flopping a bit over her head as she did so. "I'm not sure if I believe that." She said, her tail resting lightly beside her as she watched him. "Maybe we would stand a better chance together? I'm Arete, by the way." She said, finally introducing herself and dipping her head in a slight bow of greeting.

She could not get close to anyone. She could not let her heart be broken any further. But it was just a hunt, right? There was nothing here and she was not going to let herself like this other wolf. She was too young to breed this season, and she had no desire to, but she was aching for company. Her brothers were gone, her parents were dead, she had no one. Even a stranger that had ruined her attempt to hunt would be better than nothing. Plus, she needed the help. She was failing miserably at keeping herself nourished, and before long she would be too weak to even try. Perhaps they could work together and bring down something that would give them both enough food for a while. She did not want to rely on a pack to keep her strength up, plus she was unsure of what she could possibly offer them. She was next to useless in her own mind, anyways.

Words: 469
Tags: Kade
Muse: low
Notes: n/a

[Kade]

The little femme before him seemed a little more feisty than he had been prepared for. He had expected some conversation or even just some companionship, but Arete seemed disinterested in both. All she cared about was that he had thwarted her hunting attempt making him the bad guy. He lacked the social skills to make this an easy interaction, so instead he did his best to divert some of her obvious dislike. "I will try my best to make it up to you. I am a pretty awful hunter, but if we work together maybe we can get something for you to eat." The desert didn't have an abundance of prey, especially at this time of year. The chances of them being able to find something now was slim. Looking around he tried to spot some sign of prey, a footprint or some droppings. Even perhaps a faint trace of a scent. Whatever Arete had been hunting before was long gone so they would have to find something else. Large prey didn't survive long here so their best chance was finding a rodent or perhaps a bird of some kind. "Is there anything you would be opposed of eating? I know choices are limited here." Kade didn't plan to eat any of what they caught, he was obviously in better shape than she was so she deserved to have it. Her coloring was very different from anything he had ever seen, brown marking running along her face. It made him curious as to where she had come from. Kade's own coloring was a mystery to him for there were plenty of other wolves that looked very similar to him. She also looked far too young to be on her own, despite the fact that he was orphaned at birth. Dropping his nose to the ground he began to move around trying to find a scent to something.



Everything was so faint here, the wind blowing the sand away making tracking tricky. Luckily it wasn't too hot a day so the prey wouldn't be underground trying to escape the heat. "Perhaps we should find some water. Maybe we will find something closer to a stream."





Arete

[Arete]

To say the creature she found herself with lacked confidence would be an immense understatement. She frowned as he spoke, watching his reaction to her words and if she did not know any better, she would have said he shrunk down into nothingness as he listened to her. "I will try my best to make it up to you. I am a pretty awful hunter, but if we work together maybe we can get something for you to eat." If she had eyebrows, she would have raised one in judgement as he spoke. But soon he was speaking again and she brushed it off slightly. "Is there anything you would be opposed of eating? I know choices are limited here." She looked over at him, shaking herself free of any dust or sand that had decided to cling to her fur. "Anything is better than nothing. It's been a while since I've had even a small meal." She said, frowning slightly and lowering her ears in mild embarrassment at the words.

She should have been better at this by now. She needed to practice more, but it did not seem she would get any decent training from this dark wolf. After all, he had told her outright that he was bad at hunting. How had he survived this long on his own? Another frown crossed her expression, but when he spoke again, she nodded slightly. "Perhaps we should find some water. Maybe we will find something closer to a stream." Her head tilted slightly as her brown eyes scanned the area around them. There were no obvious signs of life nearby, but perhaps they would have better luck closer to water. After all, this area was a dry desert and they had no hope of finding anything short of snakes or scorpions here. "Lead the way. I don't know this area very well." She said, frowning again and looking back at the dark male. Perhaps he at least knew this area a bit better, at least enough to find a decent spot to hunt. She would be a bit better than him at hunting, but hopefully he could at least play distraction while she caught something decent to eat.

Kade

[Kade]

 

Luckily for Kade he had been living in this area for some time, he and River travelled here on their search for a pack together. When he lost her he supposed he had also lost his will to find the pack they were to join together. Arete seemed a little wary of him, his underwhelming amount of confidence obviously making her uncomfortable. As much as he wished that he could be a strong pillar of manliness he was what he was. There was no changing his past or the way that it had effected him. Turning in the direction of the nearest stream he began to walk, his paws leaving very little trace in the sand. Kade was no hunter so most of his food came from scavenging from the kills of others. As disgraceful as it sounded Kade knew no other way to survive. He had been raised in captivity, fed nothing but kibble for much of his life. His time here on this continent was the only freedom that he had ever known. "I am sorry if I seem useless to you. I was never taught to hunt and needless to say I don't have anyone to teach me." The stream they were headed to was small, but it was some of the only water close by in this desert. Water was a rare blessing here so he was sure they would find something of substance at the stream bed. It was a cooler day then most had been this year and Kade wondered if that meant it was winter. The last time he had been aware was some time in the late summer. Then it had been hot and almost impossible to find a good meal here in the sands. The she-wolf said she was not picky about what she ate and that put Kade at ease. Something is better than nothing I guess. He looked back to make sure that she was still behind him. He felt bad for scaring off her last kill and he didn't want her to leave until he at least made sure that she ate. Her admission that she hadn't eaten for awhile made him feel even more guilty. Even so he supposed it wasn't entirely his fault if she was a poor huntress. "Why are you out here all alone? Perhaps if you found a companion you could help each other hunt." River had always helped him with his hunting and kept him fed. On his own he was just a bumbling idiot. Maybe if Arete found someone to call her own she would not be so hungry anymore.

Arete

OOC: Sorry for the crappy post!