Where the heart lies {Severus/OPEN}

[Laurel]

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The journey had been a long one, longer than she had ever thought. Her constant walking had been exhaustive, but she had nowhere to go but away from them. Being on her own was something that she had become used to after her exile. She had never blamed her pack for kicking her out, murder was a pretty serious offense so her punishment was justified. They had chosen to run her off and she was grateful that they hadn't killed her for her apparent crimes. Regret was something she supposed she should feel for killing her siblings, but it was an emotion that she couldn't find within her. One that she didn't want to. They had been outright cruel to something that she had cared about so she had felt justified killing them. There had been no rage craving for violence when she had taken their lives, but there was a sense of deep satisfaction avenging the squirrel. It had almost been a year since she had left her pack by the eastern coasts of Anikira. Laurel kept up a steady pace making her way to some place unknown. She didn't know why she travelled in this direction or what drew her here, but something called to her. It was as if her heart knew that this place would become her new home.



This land was so different from what she had ever thought to imagine. Her home had been in a thick forest of trees with so much life chittering about all the time. Even when winter came life seemed to remain abundant there. Here it was a giant cavern that seemed to run for miles beneath the surrounding lands. Laurel could smell and hear life within the caverns, but it was curious to her how anything survived underground. She figured that it would be a different kind of nature entirely. This made her wonder why it is that after travelling for so long she was content to rest here. As if her wandering heart had finally found a place it wanted to stay. It didn't make sense to her but if this was her destiny she suppose there was no way she could change it. The entrance to the underground system was grand and large enough to be considered a doorway to the underground. Despite it being a bunch of caves, it didn't have a stale smell to it. The air was fresh and cool within setting Laurel's heart at ease.



She had smelled the barrier that separated the unclaimed from the claimed and she hovered close by it. Something about this place just felt right to her, but she didn't want to ruin her chances of making this her home by trespassing. There were packs littering the entire expanse of this continent, but none of them had called to her like this one did. Tales of giants and mighty empires all rang in her ears, but all she heard was stories of tyranny and injustice. Laurel would not live in a place where the harming of innocents was considered normal. Even so she had suffered being lonely for too long. She was ready to find a place where she could make a family for herself again. This place was so unlike the place where she had grown up. The cool crisp winter air ruffled through her fur reminding her that she had been alone for far too long. Travelling she had made a reputation for herself as a defender of the weak, coming to the aid of any creature that couldn't protect themselves. Her sibling hadn't been the last creatures she had killed and she doubted it would end now that she had found a pack. Being a predator made it hard to keep up with those ideals, but Laurel always made a point of killing her prey swiftly.



Moving forward she let out a single solitary howl, calling out to the pack that resided here. The alpha would answer her soon enough and she pondered over what she was supposed to say. If there was an etiquette for joining a pack then it was something foreign to her. Being slow to speak also made the idea of convincing the alpha to accept her a tricky situation. Thinking over her words carefully, she tried to decide what it was she wanted to say to whomever it was that came to greet her. The only thing she could think to say was her name, perhaps that was all they would need to know about her. She could fight and hunt, but no amount of bragging would gain her entry to the pack. Her skill would be known if she did her job and proved herself. Either way she would be happy to have a place to call hers. She sat back on her haunches waiting for some response to her call. She figured it wouldn't be long before she got a response at she felt exhilarated to finally be here after so long. I hope this works. If my destiny has led me here than this has to be where I belong.






Words: 850
Tags: Severus

Muse:
 Good
Notes: n/a

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[Galathe]

Although some time had passed since Galathe had joined Ultoris, he had only met the uncanny lookalike Ryker and obviously the Alpha, Severus, so far. He had also met Skye but she was not of Ultoris. The Subordinate knew that Ultoris was a smaller pack, holding less wolves than most packs on Anikira, but he had still met very few of its members and would like to have known its residents better. After all, the devout male's loyalty was completely belonging to Ultoris now; that would mean that a good knowledge of the pack and its members was necessary.

As multihued paws padded along a dimly lit cavern floor, an unfamiliar howl rang through the territory. Galathe tensed, wondering if it was an intruder, but then he reasoned that any intruder would have to be stupid and therefore easy to deal with if they had howled. That had the mixed breed's curiosity perked, wondering if this was a wolf seeking to join the humble ranks of Ultoris.

Selunari Expanse was, as ever, lit up from various sources. It was winter, so the sunlight was scarce—it was something that Galathe faintly remembered facing for his first month of life, stuck with his ill family in Descai's dens, but mostly, the sun had been of rather decent intensity throughout the young wolf's life—but the glowworms lining the cavern's roof illuminated the otherwise dark cave. It was something that had intrigued Galathe since he had come to call Aleru his home but he had no time to ponder the strange luminosity of Selunari Expanse as there appeared to be a stranger waiting for someone on the edge of the territory.

Approaching the green-eyed inconnu, Galathe dipped his head in greeting and made a show of pulling himself up to his full height, expecting to tower over the other wolf as he did most wolves although the presumable loner seemed rather large themself. Inhaling the wolf's scent, the younger wolf determined that this wolf was female which shocked Galathe. The only female who was even remotely close to this stranger in size was the Seraphim Valeria who led a pack. Why was such a unique rarity wandering out in the wild without anyone to make sure that such a gift was not put to waste?

Regaining his composure, the Mackenzie Valley dominant introduced himself. "Hello, stranger. Who may you be and why are you in Ultoris' lands?" Galathe asked, meaning to not sound threatening. It was a genuine question asked so that this she-wolf's intentions were clear to the pack's lands in which she was standing. "I am Galathe, member of Ultoris, by the way."

If he had been any rank above Subordinate, the blue-eyed brute might have mentioned his rank instead of just calling himself a 'member' of Ultoris, but he was, until his rank swayed, a Subordinate. That was fine by him for now but hopefully Severus would give the male a promotion sometime soon so that he could know that his efforts to work his way up were not futile.

---

Words: 534
Tags: Laurel
Notes: Omg SO SORRY for the wait and the suckish post D= Galathe technically joined after this thread happens but since the timelines don't clash, I'll say that Galathe was already a member at this time (:
Muse: Decent

[Severus]

A single howl rang through the Selunari Expanse and turned into echoes as it traveled through the cave. The alpha was currently spending some much needed alone time by taking power nap. Severus found himself getting more and more easily tired with each week that had past, but the influx on new members had caused Severus to be a busy bee, leaving him without any time to take a nap that his body was so badly yearning for. Today though, he was able to sneak in a small nap but it was short lived as brown orbs blinked open as his auds began to twitch in the direction that the howl came from. The temptation to fall back asleep was quite strong as his body begged him to let his Beta Captain go greet whoever it was that had called out. “You have been super busy, you deserve a break,” a voice said in the back of his mind. In the end however, he ignored the voice and his body’s protest as he got up off of the cool cavern floor as he started to stretch his muscles out.

Once Severus was nice and limbered up, he set off at a trot towards where whoever the howl belonged to was waiting. As he grew closer to the Selunari Expanse, a fresh scent entered the Alpha’s nostrils. The scent belonged to Galathe who was one of the newer members. Even though Galathe only being a yearling like Severus’s daughter and son he still outsized his Alpha. The yearling had requested the rank of Warrior, but like he had told his own daughter, Severus told the brute that he would have to go through training before he could be given such a rank. The fact that Galathe’s trail was leading to where the new comer was waiting was quite odd because he hadn’t really seen or heard of the yearling bonding with any of the other members except for Ryker, but Severus was glad to see that Galathe seemed to be becoming more social now.

As soon as the Tundra brute reached the cave’s expanse, his brown orbs were greeted by the site of two large wolves, one of wolves being Galathe and the other one being a female who almost rivaled the yearling in size. It was obvious that the howl had come from the female’s maw by the way that she was sitting respectively just outside of Ultoris’s borders. While Galathe was introducing himself, Severus took the time to politely bow to the she wolf whose coat was made up of brown hues accompanied by green orbs.

“Nice to see you again, Galathe,” Severus said as he nodded in the brute’s direction before turning his attention back on the large she wolf. “Welcome to Ultoris, miss, I see that you have already met Galathe. I am Severus, the Alpha of the pack, what can I do for you,” he asked politely.

---

Words: 491
Tags: Laurel Galathe
Notes: Sorry for the wait!
Muse: Decent

[Laurel]

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[attr="class","pltxt"]The first wolf that presented himself to Laurel seemed to just be a member of Ultoris and not the alpha like she had hoped. He no doubt did not possess the authority to grant Laurel a position within the pack. That meant that she would need to wait for another to happen upon her. The large male asked her a few questions and Laurel mulled them over, trying to decide how to answer. He was a young creature obviously not having reached his full maturity. Laurel had seen enough of the world in her few years to be envious of his youthfulness. Rocket was on her back, doing his best to hide himself from the wolves that greeted their approach. Her little raccoon companion had made it obvious that he was against their joining a pack. He was skittish enough around other wolves so it was no surprise that he didn't want to live with a group of them. Not long after the wolf who had introduced himself as Galathe another came forward. This one introduced himself as the alpha of the pack. Laurel immediately bowed low to the alpha before nodding to Galathe. She rushed forward to nudge both males with her nose in an action that might make some uncomfortable.

Her action caused Rocket to hiss in alarm as he was drug closer to the two strangers. "Damn it Laurel this is a bad idea." His voice was a hoarse whisper in her ear, but she ignored his negativity. "I am Laurel." Her voice was graveled and rough as her words rumble out from deep in her chest. She supposed that she would have to answer the males questions since Severus held her fate within his paws. Just because she knew she was meant to be here didn't mean that she would be able to convince others of her beliefs. Besides Rocket's sour mood meant that he wouldn't be joining the conversation. "We came because I was led here by fate. My destiny is to join this pack, so I humbly ask admittance to Ultoris." She made sure to include Rocket in her request to become a part of their ranks. After all her little friend was a part of her life now and wherever she went he would be as well. Even if he hated the idea of becoming a part of a wolf pack, he would remain with Laurel if she decided this was the life for them. Rocket peeked over the top of Laurel's head trying to see the wolves in front of them. He coughed in a noise that she could only interpret as disgust. "If you ask me we don't belong here. We should get back to the loner life. We had a good life going for us. What is living here going to for us, short of making me hate life."

Words: 484
Tags: Galathe Severus
Muse: Decent
Notes: Sassy little coon

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[Severus]

Before Severus knew it, the large she wolf was nuzzling both he and Galathe in what seemed to be a greeting. In the Alpha’s opinion, the bow that she had given him was enough of a non-oral greeting. Though this was an unusual occurrence, Severus didn’t dare step back because he didn’t want to offend the female so instead he embraced it. As if he wasn’t already caught off guard by the she wolf’s action, he was even more caught off guard when he saw a small, black paw swat at him. A low growl rumbled from Severus’s maw in reaction to whatever had swatted him and then, he saw it. It was a small creature that was resting on the she wolf’s back. The creature was grey in color but had a black mask around its eyes, almost like how Xena did. It took Severus a couple moments to put two and two together before he realized that the creature sitting on the wolf’s back was a raccoon. “The fuck is that raccoon doing on your back,” he asked the she wolf once she had returned to her previous stance.

Before he could ask anymore inquiries on the creature that was nestled on the she wolf’s back, the wolf introduced herself to Severus as Laurel. “It’s nice to meet you, Laurel,” he replied as friendly as he could. In all honestly, the Alpha was still slightly pissed off about what the creature had done but it would be unfair for him to hold the creature’s actions against Laurel herself since it was obvious that she had no control of it.

When Laurel began to speak again, the Ultoris Alpha listened intently. She was speaking about how she was led here by fate and that she was destined to be in his pack. Severus himself had never even bothered to think about the subjects of fate and destiny but according to her, they are the reason why she was standing before him at this very moment.

“Well Laurel, I welcome you into the ranks of Ultoris. Given your physical build, I am going to give you the rank of a warrior. I hate to make this quick, but I must be off for other duties call for my attention. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to come seek me out. Since we live in a cave, it won’t be too hard to find me,” he said politely right before he left.

---

Words: 412
Tags: Laurel
Notes: Bad post is bad
Muse: x.x

[Laurel]

Laurel had no idea what had possessed the little raccoon to smack the alpha, but she could do nothing about it now. The fact that the little beast had even made the effort to touch him only showed that he was comfortable around him. When he looked at her back as if there was a ghost up there Laurel's eyes gleamed in amusement. Often times people were more curious about her companion then they were about her. Apparently predator and prey travelling together was a curious thing indeed. "He is my companion." There was no other explanation that she could give, since that was exactly what he was. Most just assumed that he was a snack she was saving for later. Rocket huffed from her back before tucking back down into her fur.



Severus assigned her the status of warrior based on her size. What he didn't know was that she knew enough fighting and strategy to do the position well. The council had made sure that she learned how to defend herself and strategize in battle since she was supposed to ascend to a leadership position. She was sure that she would do the position justice. Either way she was determined to fit in here. This was going to be her home now. Of that much she was sure. Rocket had complained about her decision to join a pack, but that didn't matter now. The decision had been made and she was driven to find a place here.



The alpha turned to go saying that he had other duties that required her attention. Laurel didn't want to keep him so she dipped her head and gave a formal goodbye. Even if she did get to know the alpha she doubted she would drop the formality. He was her alpha now and that meant that he commanded her respect. "Thank you alpha." With those last words she turned to follow him inside of the caverns. This would be her home now and she was eager to settle in.



Severus