Surprises around every corner {Avariella}

[Kade]

Kade was glad to be home here in the deserts of the south. It was warmer here despite the clutches of winter closing in around them. The breeding season would begin soo and it made Kade itch to find a place to hide out. He had no wish to breed young this season or any until he had found someone to raise them with. His parents hadn't ben there to raise him when he was a pup and he had ended up in hell on earth. He would ever allow his own children to end up with such a terrible fate. Not if he could help it. He took a deep breath of the spicy air that seemed to abound in the south. Everything about it screamed of home, the only home that he had made for himself since his birth. He sought only to find an appropriate place for him to establish himself and then enjoy what little sanity he had left. He knew that there wasn't much else for him to do here. He had thought about joining a pack and being a part of something bigger than himself, but the motivation to go and call out to an alpha never came. He thought about continuing on to the most southern part of this continent, but he knew that there was a behemoth pack the further south you wandered. He had kept out of trouble here. With the breeding season however there would be an increase in wolves out and about trying to find a partner to get frisky with. Kade hated the season that forced more instinct upon him, his mind constantly fighting the instinct that he held in a very loose check within him.

Moving around he wondered just how long he had been travelling. The days had blended together until he didn't remember the majority of them. He had been living on auto pilot for so many months especially after the disappearance of River. She had been his only comfort on this island and now she was gone. He shook his head trying to rid himself of the lingering sadness. Perhaps that was the reason that he had spent so long trying not to think or feel. Remaining immune to the pain was the only option he felt was best. He had healed much over the long months and it had helped him deal with his past trauma's. He was no longer haunted by his past and he was determined to not look back. Today was a new day and he was not going to return to that dark place. He had encountered a new smell as he had crossed the desert, drawing out of his lifelessness. He had been lonely these last months and the prospect of seeking out a new person to at least talk with was very appealing. Grumbling low to himself he trotted off in search of the source of the new smell he had found. He was never one for wanting to meet new people  on a whim, but it had been far to long since he had even uttered a word. Since he had any kind of social interaction. The only thoughts he had had were those of survival. It was driving him a special king of mad being alone.

Avariella

[Avariella]

Avariella had been wandering alone for some time now, but that was really how she liked it. She was afraid of other wolves, so she had never been a huge fan of meeting new wolves and having interactions with them. In fact, since coming to this island, where it seemed the humans were nowhere to be found, she had only met one wolf. Kenai. It had been during a storm that they had run into each other, taking shelter in the same cave together. And it was because of the storm that Ava found herself trying to trust the male. After all, she hated storms much more than she disliked other wolves, so the storm had driven her to practically dive under the male with fear. However, his stories of storms seemed to calm her nerves... Even if it was only for a moment while the storm settled a little. But after the storm, they had parted ways. Ava had headed southwest and into the lands of Acerbus. There, she had briefly run into a giant wolf named Lilith. A terrifying encounter for the young female, but it hadn't lasted long.

And so she found herself in the unclaimed land of the Ocassus. She figured it was probably the safest place for her for now until the land was claimed. Besides that, she quite liked the warmth that the desert always seemed to have in the air. She never seemed to get truly cold here except for if she couldn't find a warm place to hide from the cool night air once the sun sank behind the earth. There was a river, too, at the edge of the lands that provided safe drinking water and a great source of fish... If only Ava had learned how to catch them. She sighed, though, resting in the shade of a large rock by the large volcano in these lands. She had heard whispers of a time when the volcano had been active, but it had apparently bee dormant for many years now. It was then, as she inhaled after her sigh, that she caught his scent. A male was approaching, but she wasn't sure why, so she quickly shifted around so that her rear end was against the rock, waiting for the other wolf to show up, already starting to shake slightly from fear. It was too late to run, she just hoped he was nice.

[Kade]

As Kade made his way towards the new smell he found that what he had been seeking this whole time was cowering from his approach. It was apparent that the female was terrified of strangers, her body visibly shaking on the ground. From the looks of her she wasn't that much smaller than Kade so she could have easily outrun him or even tried to fight him off. Defeating him in a fight would have been easy enough since he had no skill at it. A part of him told him to keep his space and let her work out her fear, or even walk away. Something else within him wanted to reach out to the female and help her. He had no intentions of hurting her so Kade saw no reason for her to fear him. Taking his steps slowly her made his way over to her side, his dark muzzle reaching down to nudge her shaking frame. More than anything he wanted to make sure that she was ok, for a long time his own emotional distress had been left to fester. Helping her overcome her own fear would perhaps help him heal the lingering fear he felt around more dominant females. He had worked past the majority of his issues, but sometimes he couldn't help but snap when he felt forced into something. "Are you alright? I promise I won't hurt you." He had been abused and hurt enough by others that the thought of hurting someone else sickened him. It might also explain why he was such a crappy hunter. Kade tried to catch her gaze, wanting to make eye contact with her, to show her that he wasn't a threat. She looked so different from any of the other wolves he had met which naturally made him curious about her. "My name is Kade. Who are you?"

Avariella

[Avariella]

Avariella's reasons for not trusting any strangers would be reason enough for any wolf to fear strangers like she did. Any sane wolf, anyway. There were, of course, always going to be exceptions that included crazed wolves that felt no fear and saw no danger, but Ava was a sane wolf for the most part. She just didn't trust anyone around her. Even Kenai, who she had come to trust at least in the moment of the storm, if she saw him now, she would be terrified of him at first. Because wolves change. Truly, Ava almost wondered if she would be more afraid and paranoid of the wolves she trusted than of strangers. However, she was fairly certain that she wouldn't be able to truly trust another wolf like she had. She had trusted her previous pack with her life, and they betrayed her in the worst possible way. She supposed that it was her fault, though, for not seeing all the signs of resentment and jealousy plastered on their faces. Ava had known that with the power of heiress and lead huntress, there would come much responsibility, but what she hadn't expected was for her entire hunting party to turn her into the one being hunted. She escaped with a few teeth and claw marks and ran. She tried to make it back to her father, but they cut her off and ran her over the edge of a cliff, down into the roaring waters below. All because of jealousy and greed.

Ava could still, even now, see all of their faces looking over the edge of the cliff as she was pulled down the river. It was that image, haunting her mind, that made her so fearful of the approaching stranger and any strangers that she encountered. She didn't know which one would finally be the end of her. As the male's footsteps came into earshot, Avariella started shaking a little more, knowing that it was definitely too late to run now. And so, she tucked herself farther back against the rock, almost trying to hide, but knowing there was no use. The other wolf came into sight, and the first thing that the young female noticed was that he wasn't much bigger than she was. He was probably a little less skinny than she, but she wasn't entirely sure how scrawny she actually looked. For all she knew, she could have looked just a little on the thin side (which she did), and she just felt hungry and weak because she hadn't eaten a good meal in several days. She watched as the other wolf approached her, watching his feet until he got just a couple paces away. She then ducked her head slightly, laid her ears back, and averted her gaze, trying not to appear like a threat. She doubted that any wolf would take her shaking frame to be a threat, but she was just so terrified about being attacked again.

As the male reached his muzzle out, Ava tensed greatly, just knowing that teeth would hit her flesh, spilling crimson blood on the sands of the desert. And when he touched her with his dark muzzle, she about came out of her skin. She flinched away from him, expecting teeth, but she only felt a gentle nudge. She didn't know what to think. Why was this stranger nuzzling her? She thought for sure he should be trying to kill her -after all, in her mind everyone was out to hurt her- so why hadn't he bitten her? His voice floated to her ears, still laid flat upon her head. "Wh-why should I t-trust you?" she asked, still not looking up to the other wolf. She was intimidated by him, even if he was telling the truth and wasn't going to hurt her. The presence of any wolf so close to her intimidated her. It was then that he gave his name, and she quickly glanced over at him. Kade. The name of the wolf who would end her life. Because surely that was the only reason why he was here. Why else would he have come to her? "A-Avariella. B-but Ava is okay t-too, she always stuttered when she was afraid, and it usually got better as a conversation went on, as she slowly started to trust -as much as she could- the other wolf. But for now, her voice was stuck as a stutter. She just hoped the male was able to understand her and didn't get angry with her for stuttering.

[Kade]

Kade sat there pondering over the females words, thinking about why she should trust him. He was a total stranger to her and despite him wanting to help there really wasn't anything he could do to prove to her that he wasn't a bad guy. It would take time for her to be able to trust him because she literally knew nothing more than his name. He supposed he would just have to give her time to believe him, but he hated the idea of her cowering away in fear. He knew what it was like to be terrified of someone, to have them hold power over him. He hated to feel that loss of control over his own life. "If you can't trust me then at least look at me. I gave my word that I would not hurt you and it still stands." When she finally gave her name it gave Kade a chance to relax a little bit She must believe him even just a little if she was willing to give him her name. Her stuttering voice was weak making it obvious that this fear was something that was deeply rooted within her. He was very close to her, which he guessed wasn't going to help ease any of her terror, but he refused to move away. He was going to stand right beside her until she was able to realize that he meant her no harm. "Ava what a beautiful name. Will you look at me? I promise I am not a monster." He had been called so many names before, but none of them as menacing as that. If anything he had been called things like: Idiot, coward, impotent, useless, and even mongrel. His previous life had left him with too many emotional scars, and he could see similar scars on this female. If anything he simply wanted to do what he could to help her heal some of the fear she had. It was all he could do honestly.

Avariella

[Avariella]

Avariella could hardly breathe. The wolf's presence was suffocating her, and she only wished that he would leave or end her before long. She didn't want to have to deal with this anymore. It was a terrible feeling to not be able to trust anyone, but when you had a past like hers, it was hard to find the will to want to trust anyone. She couldn't. It had almost killed her once, and she wasn't going to let that happen again. Then again, lying down while another wolf pondered how he was going to kill her was probably not the best option either. Either way, she figured she would end up dying... If not now, then later when the male thought that he had her trust. But no one would ever have her trust again... At least not completely. At times, she wished that she could find a male that would love and protect her despite knowing that she may never completely trust him. She wanted a family... She wanted a mate and pups, but she also knew that that wasn't going to happen, and so she just kept on living life as a loner, cowering in fear of all the strangers that came near her. Like this male... Honestly, she hoped that he would just leave, but only because she was convinced that he was going to kill her. If he stuck around, it probably meant he just didn't know how he wanted to do it yet.

As Kade spoke again, Ava pinned her ears. No. She didn't want to look at him. He just wanted her to see the face of her murderer before he killed her. She had heard about these kinds, ad she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her seeing his face before she died. Then again, maybe it would help to speed things along a little quicker. Reluctantly, the wolf slowly lifted her gaze to look up at the other male. What she saw actually surprised her. He looked genuinely kind, but there was something else there... Like... he knew what she was feeling. Of course, that could have just been Ava's mind trying to find good in the male. And so, she looked away, not wanting to let herself find reason to trust him, especially if it was all in her head. "P-Please, sir... I d-don't want to d-die yet..." she said softly, whimpering a little. He wasn't backing away, and that worried her. Very slowly, the female stood, head ducked low and tail jammed between her legs. Her joints had been getting stiff and she needed to stretch them. She just hoped the male wouldn't attack because she got up.

[Kade]

The words that had left her mouth almost moments ago made him mad enough to kill. She expected him to kill her, as if he was some reaper come to collect her soul. It was unthinkable to him that she was so afraid of a total stranger. He understood being a little reluctant to meet a new person, but what he saw in her eyes was something akin to terror. No matter how long he stood there waiting for her to realize that he meant her no harm it didn't change her fear. Something awful must of happened to her to cause such uproar. Kade could understand that because the abuse he had suffered while under the control of the humans. He had ben beaten countless times not only from humans, but from the females he had been housed with. The constant abuse had caused him to grow up bitter and angry at almost everyone that he met. His first few days on Anikira he had been terrified of of any female he had ever met. Even now he had the hardest time keeping his instincts in check. Growing up the rational part of his brain had never been in control. It was like he flew on auto pilot relying on instinct alone to keep him alive. Perhaps it was the fact that it was the breeding season that pt her so on edge. Many of the females he had lived with in captivity had always changed behaviorally when they had gone through the heat.







Kade sighed when she got up moving a little away from him. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't seem to put her at ease. The longer he stayed the more nervous she seemed to get. "Why would I kill you. Do I really look that scary." He knew that his dark pelt and grey eyes could be a little intimidating, but surely she had seen a black wolf before. They weren't that uncommon here. "I told you that I wasn't going to hurt you. I am not a liar." He backed off from her a little bit wondering if he should just leave. His determination to help her was melting fast because he could do nothing if she was too afraid to even stand near him. He had made sure to keep his eyes soft and his tone gentle, but it made no difference. His efforts to soothe her fear meant nothing if he couldn't actually get her to calm down. Perhaps it would just be better if he left her to her fear, even though it was a very miserable existence. "I am sorry to have bothered you so much." Kade took a few steps back his brow furrowing in an effort to understand her. It seemed obvious that he was of no help, but the thought of leaving her here all alone and afraid made him a little sick to his stomach.



Avariella

[Avariella]

In all honesty, Avariella hadn't given much thought to the season that it was. Sure, her body was definitely telling her that she should be trying to attract this male instead of run away from him, but her mind couldn't escape the fact that she was absolutely terrified of him. Maybe in a different time... A different place. But she didn't want anything to do with him at the moment. But... He did seem nice enough. He promised that he wasn't going to hurt her, but promises were easy to break. Her pack promised to forever stay loyal to her, but that promise had been broken in the blink of an eye. There was nothing to keep someone from breaking a promise. Promises were just words. Actions had to be taken before those words meant anything. And even then, there was the possibility that the actions were all a lie as well. As the female stood, she stretched slightly. She had gotten a little sore from lying there so long, especially since she had been tense and trembling since the male came over to her. She moved a little away from him, relaxing slightly when he wasn't standing so close. He was larger than she, and that intimidated her... Though really any wolf intimidated her.

As the male spoke, Ava's closer ear flicked towards him, listening to his words. It was a good question. Why would he want to kill her? What had she done to him? Nothing really, but she hadn't done anything to her pack. “Why would my pack want to kill me?” She asked back, glancing over at him. She didn't expect him to answer the question, and really it wasn't a question that was meant to be answered. She just wanted to let him know that, if he was truly genuine, he was not the reason that she was afraid. He spoke again, and she tilted her head slightly. Not a liar? Well... Her pack hadn't been either, she supposed. But they had still tried to kill her. “Why should I believe that?” She asked simply. She wasn't be harsh... In truth, she just wanted to know why she should trust him. She almost wanted to trust him, but she needed a reason... Something that would perhaps set him apart from all the other, more evil wolves in the world. As he spoke once more and started backing away, Ava pinned her ears slightly. “You didn't... Bother me... I just... It's hard to trust after someone tries to kill you...” She said softly, head lowered. On one hand, she wanted him to just leave her so she could be alone again... But on the other hand, she was tired of being alone and afraid. She wanted to trust again... She just couldn't bring herself to.

[Kade]

Kade didn't really know how to answer the female's question. He had never been a part of a pack so he couldn't fathom the motivation they could have had for attacking Avariella. Being born in captivity he knew little to nothing about the bond between pack mates. All he knew was the relationship between man and mongrel. "I don't know why your pack tried to kill you. I have never had someone try to kill me. Death would have been a mercy." His mind snapped back to the time he spent at the compound. His training had been intensive, pushing him to his limits. Perhaps that was why he relied so heavily on his instincts. He could of been so much more damaged if he hadn't protected his consciousness. Beating after beating had left him very angry and almost savage. The other wolves he interacted with only aided his abusers, making him lash out and become the animal they wanted to mold him into. If only they had tried to kill him. Perhaps he would have willingly taken the release from his hell. Even now it didn't take much to push him out of his comfort zone. Kade had worked so hard in recent months to be better, especially for the wolf he had thought was going to be his forever. Now all he had was a memory of her to keep him on track. If he wanted to make friends and be accepted into a pack than he had to be a nicer person. He couldn't be on edge all the time.



It was as if his words fell upon deaf ears. She simply wasn't ready to accept the fact that not everyone in the world would try to kill her. "Is that what you fear most? Dying?" Kade didn't fear death, to him it was just another part of life. Whether he died of old age or he died at the hands of another, it made no difference. Life was cruel enough as it was, death surely couldn't be that bad. "I cannot help you trust me for there is no way for me to prove myself. Only time will show you that my intentions are not sinister." Kade didn't know if he had time to spend waiting for her to relax and realize he was no killer. Perhaps it would be better to just move on and try to find a pack to call his own. As of now he had resurfaced from his auto-pilot, his mind in control rather than his ever present instincts. That meant he could be rational. "If someone tries to kill you doesn't it make more sense to run or fight back. Cowering only makes it easier for them to cause harm." He had learned that lesson the hard way. No instead he had resorted to lashing out at anyone who tried to do anything to him.

Avariella

[Avariella]

Ava wanted to trust someone again. She liked the feeling that came with trust... But if she couldn't ever trust again, she at least wanted a companion. Being alone all the time allowed your thoughts to roam, and Avariella's thoughts never roamed about good things. In fact, she had lost a lot of sleep in worrying over small things. But putting trust in the wrong person could end in death. Then again, she was beginning to wonder if death was the worst thing possible at this point. After all, she was living alone, practically starving to death, and afraid of everything that moved. What point was there in even living anymore if that was the life you had to live? Avariella had become so caught up in all of her woos that she had lost all thought of what another wolf might be going through. This male, for example... She assumed he was awful and horrible, and yet he could have had a more terrible past than her own, and was just now working up the courage to talk to someone. And here she was, almost rejecting him. At once, she had upset herself. How had she become so self-absorbed that she had lost the sympathy for others that she had once had? She had once desired to help others, but in all her time on the island, she had only wanted to help herself. Perhaps, she thought, there are wolves like that here too... Wolves like I used to be. Her eyes drifted up to the male beside her.

"I don't think the fear is dying... But dying by the hand of someone you trust. It is more the feeling of being betrayed that I fear. For when you trust someone with your life, and they try to kill you, you feel as though you are a complete fool for ever trusting them..."She explained, looking out over the land. She needed to find a way to trust someone again. Even if she didn't trust, but she found a companion that she could talk to... That, she was sure, would be enough to keep her going for at least a while longer. She flicked her ears towards the male as she spoke some more, not replying to his first comment, but tilting her head at his second. "I've never been the best of fighters, and many times running does no good either. I'm not terribly fast, and if they catch me after I've run, I'm certain that the pain will be much greater." she replied, glancing over at him before lowering her ears slightly. "Forgive me if the subject is sensitive, but... You claim death would have been a mercy... Why is that?"

[Kade]

It was possible that he would feel the same as Avariella if he had ever been betrayed, but he had never trusted anyone enough to feel that betrayal. The humans who had raised him in the beginning had been the only creatures he had loved, other than River. They had sold him into his slavery causing whatever feelings he had felt for them to melt away. He couldn't blame them for his misfortune because if he had only done what he was bade none of it would have happened. Obedience would have secured a much better life for him. One where he served his master, taking the lives of others and making him as many babies as he could. That life would have been a simple one where he lost his spirit, it breaking down before his very eyes. Instead he had picked the route that had led to endless torture, his spirit had remained at the price of his sanity. When he had been a pup his mind was so innocent, everything in his life was good, and yet here he was alive despite everything. He hadn't fought so much just to end up dying at the hands of his tormentors. "I have only ever trusted one and now she is gone. I didn't trust her because I wanted to, but because I had no one else. Even now I have no one I can call my friend or even my family." Trust was a tricky thing, something that he didn't quite grasp yet. He wanted to be able to find a pack and put his trust in the alpha, but he had never really trusted anyone. River had been his and he had held affection for her, but if she had asked him to put his life in her hands, he had no idea if he really would.



Her question about his past made him wish that he had kept his mouth shut. She didn't need the burden of knowing the horrors that resided in his past and he didn't need to experience them by telling her. He sat down trying to maintain what little control he had left. Memories of his time before Anikira flooded him mind and he tried his best not to sink down into the fake reality they created for him. It was as clear a the scene in front of him, his master sitting in his chair. He had been tall with dark hair and even darker eyes. Powerful and strong he used his will to take control of others. Those who worked for him feared him, the other wolves her had owned were terrified of the consequences of defying him. Countless trainers had been sent in to turn Kade into a killing machine. His master had thought he was too gentle for a wild wolf. He had tried to beat some kind of aggression into him. It had worked eventually, Kade began to shy away from his handlers, beginning to draw on his savage instincts for survival. "I grew up in a place very different than this. Metal and concrete were my home and I wasn't allowed the same freedom as I have here. My master wanted me to be a killer, some savage beast that would attack on command. So in order to form me into such a beast I was beaten daily. My bones broken and my body bruised over and over again until I could barely stand. That was my entire life until I finally broke. My mind shattered and all that was left was a shell of instinct that felt nothing and thought nothing. I attacked my master when he decided I wasn't good enough anymore. That's how I ended up here." He took another deep breath trying to keep himself grounded. Everything was still so fresh in his mind as if it had just happened. He had been on this continent almost a year and yet he could still recount every detail of his captivity.



"I would have given anything for death to take me then. To have someone put me out of my misery. Instead life was cruel and I was forced to carry on. Forced to remain a slave to those who wanted to break me down into something I never could be. I am useless. I never learned to fight or to hunt. All I have ever achieved is my escape. When death comes for me I will greet her with kindness because how could she ever be as cruel as the life I have been forced to live."

Avariella

[Avariella]

Avariella knew that she probably shouldn't have asked the stranger about his past. What business of hers was it anyway? She didn't need to know his past, and it was probably better that he didn't describe it. But that the same time, if his past was as awful as she thought it might be, then it might help her realize that what happened to her was only a minor incident compared to some of the things that could have happened to her. In fact, she really got quite lucky because the humans who saved her could have bee terribly mean to her. But they saved her life. She should have been forever grateful, and she supposed that she was. But as she listened to the male's story, she pinned her ears and wondered if the humans she had come across had only saved her because they were planning on doing some of the same things as with this male. She had only been with them while she rehabilitated, and then she was put on a boat and shipped away. Fortunately, she was shipwrecked, so she never found out where they were going to take her. The young female bowed her head softly as she thought through his words, frowning. He had gone through a lot, and she felt selfish and a little guilty that she had been so afraid of him.

"I'm sorry that you went through something as terrible as that... My background... Well it pales in comparison to what you have gone through. I feel awful for being so selfish and assuming that you were going to hurt me..." She sighed softly and looked up at him. "If... You would like a friend... I... Well I'm going no place in particular. Where are you headed? I could... Tag along... If you'd like. Keep you company, you know... But only if you want." She was slightly nervous in asking the male if he would like her company, but more because she was afraid of rejection. She had, in such a short time, become comfortable around him, and she was starting to think that finding a friend would not be such a bad thing. "I could teach you to hunt... And fight. I was the best hunter in my pack... I'm not so good now because I haven't eaten in a while, but I could still teach you..." She said softly, slowly looking up at him to see his reaction to her offer.

[Kade]

In the midst of him sharing his past this female had gotten the notion in her head that she was supposed to be ashamed of her actions. As if she had done something wrong by showing fear. The things that had happened in Kade's past in no way diminished what had happened in Avariella's past. Whatever he had endured could not be compared to the things that she had dealt with. Her admission of feeling bad for assuming the worst in him fell upon deaf ears. "I use to be suspicious of every wolf I met when I first got here. I even got into a fight because I was so afraid of those who tried to help me. It will take time for you to recover, but never feel bad for the way you feel. I am sure whatever happened to you was horrible in it's own way." Kade would brook no argument from her for he knew that she was feeling badly for her behavior. He wouldn't allow her to belittle the horrors that she had suffered. He took a slow step and then another until he was once again closer to her. He sat down next to her before allowing his muzzle to nuzzle her neck. He doubted she was ready for the contact or the invasion of her space, but he was all for pushing the limits today. If she was going to be his friend than she was going to have to get used to his quirks eventually. He had no notion of social interactions or even manners. He did what he wanted and left the consequences in the air.



Her offer the be his companion and to travel with him made him flash her a small grin. The last time he had decided to keep a female friend with him it had been the best decision of his entire life. River had hunted for him and he had done his best to keep the two of them safe. She had disappeared on him one day, but this was a chance at a new friend. He would do a better job of making sure that Avariella was kept safe. "I would like a new friend very much. As for the hunting I will try to learn, but you aren't my first teacher." River had tried to teach him to hunt, but he had no patience for it. She had hoped his larger size would be able to catch more prey for them, yet his attempts to catch prey always ended up with a near miss. A disaster was a more accurate description. His instincts always pushed him to the chase before it was time. Patience it seemed was not a learned virtue. "I have no set destination and would like very much for you to stay with me." His mind was already turning his attitudes towards her. He was so desperate for someone to trust. Mine! That dark voice in the back of his head snarled out loud and clear. She was his new friend and that made her his....right?





Avariella

[Avariella]

The thought of once again travelling with someone, a friend perhaps, excited Avariella as much as it terrified her. To once again trust someone with protecting her and keeping her safe... To put her life in someone else's hands again... It was a big step for her to take. She had thought that trust would never come to her again, but she supposed that trust was somewhat necessary for survival. To have someone to rely on... To have someone to help hunt and fend off enemies... It definitely increased the young females chances of living longer... Unless, of course, that wolf tried to kill her... Just like her old pack had. A small sigh escaped the female as she ran through her thoughts. She couldn't decide if she wanted a companion or not, but she focused her attention back to the male as he spoke to her in response to her apology. "For me, the pack that I was born into and destined to lead turned against me and tried to kill me. I was rescued by the humans... And then I washed up on this island... To make a long story short," she said in reply, glancing over at him. In comparison, her story was much less traumatizing, and if he could get over what happened to him, surely she could get over what had happened to her.

Avariella noticed movement coming from the male, and she tensed slightly. He was slow, but he took a few steps towards her and sat down. She didn't move, but she stayed tense, unable to fully relax with him yet. She barely knew him, after all. She tried to force relaxation upon herself, knowing that if this friendship was ever going to work, she would need to trust him. She had to let go of her fear and just trust him. It was starting to work, but then he pressed his muzzle into her neck to nuzzle her. She had never felt such a thing from anyone besides her parents, and it made her incredibly nervous. She tensed once more, and she wanted to snap at him, but she forced herself not to. She was definitely not ready for him to come into contact with her like that. It was something that, if he accepted her offer, though, she would need to get used to. If they were to roam together, they would most definitely be walking close and perhaps even sleeping close. She had to trust him. She had to let him be who he was and she had to be okay with contact from him.

Avariella watched as he turned a grin upon her when she offered to be a new friend for him. For a moment, she wondered what had become of his old friend... Why was she no longer around? Had he... killed her? But she immediately shoved those thoughts from her mind, knowing that she couldn't think such terrible thoughts about him if they were going to now be travelling together. The female laughed softly at his reply to her teaching him to hunt. "Well if you're not able to be taught, then I will hunt for us... We may be a little hungry for a while, though... Until I can get some strength back," she explained, trying to relax again. She would, eventually, learn that she could trust this male... It would definitely take time, but she would get there. She would be able to sit close to him and feel no fear. Ava gave a small nod when he stated that there was no set destination in his mind. That was good, she supposed, for she wasn't looking to join a pack any time soon. She wanted to wait until she felt as though she could trust this male with her life before she put herself within many wolves that she didn't know or trust. At least if she could trust Kade and they joined a pack together, she could rely on him to keep her safe. This would, she believed, end well. And if it didn't, she supposed that dying wasn't so bad.

[Kade]

Kade didn't know what to say when she revealed a part of her past to him. He didn't understand why her pack trying to kill her was so horrifying, but then again he didn't know anything about pack dynamics in the first place. He had been raised but humans so the only thing he knew how to be was a mongrel. When he moved towards her she tensed away from him. Making it obvious the she didn't want any contact with him. Kade didn't really care right now, if she was going to travel with him she would need to realize that he wasn't going to hurt her. "I know I am pushing my boundaries here, but you have to get used to me if we are going to travel together. There also has to be some mutual trust." He took a deep breath, drawing in her scent. She smelled good, too good for her own sake. He vaguely remembered that it was still breeding season, yet that wasn't were his mind went. What his body wanted and what his mind wanted were too different things. Even from an early age he knew that he would never make pups if he wasn't able to raise and love each of them.

He rumbled deep in his chest, trying to remember what he had been about to say. He tried to convince himself that he didn't notice how pretty she was, but he did like the way she looked. Kade wanted her to stay with him, wanted her to fill the loneliness he had tried to ignore since River had left. "I promise I will make a good companion, I will try to learn to hunt and fight. I will keep you safe." For some reason he needed her to accept him. He knew he was an odd wolf and that his instincts usually got him into trouble. Something deep inside of him needed her to want him, want to be his friend.

Avariella