Post by tain on Jun 4, 2008 18:08:42 GMT -5
Tain was happy. Well, she was always happy, but today even more than usual. She was out of an Alpha job, into the life of a loner or pack wolf, and she'd found out where the heck Aldgar was. Now she could find her friend Meikou, who hadn't been around any of the other packs, and maybe be a pack wolf. That would be great, actually.
Aldgar's territory was nice. Water, trees, mountains. It was a little chillier than she was used to, but that was okay..Tain would get used to the cool air, she was sure. There was lots of food, although Tain hadn't gone and caught any yet. She was still looking for Aldgar's wolves.
There weren't any in evidence, and hadn't been for the few days she'd been here. It was too bad, really. Tain had been hoping to run into some other wolves when she got past the borders. The lack of furry ears and tails was a bit suprising, since she'd been told by a passing loner that the pack was getting bigger fast. That was a good thing, because it meant they'd be interested in any wolf that came by. Even, hopefully, wolves with an infamous xenophobic father who didn't manage to become an alpha despite their best trying.
Tain hoped that daughters of Alphas weren't required to become on as well. She also hoped that Zahor the Seer was totally forgotten by all wolves and nobody would look at her and say 'Zahor.' That would be a problem, and she'd probably end up turned out on her tail. Then she'd either be a loner or really have to try with Alpha-ing.
Ehh, but none of these wolves were probably old enough to have been alive during the Dark Days. There wouldn't be a problem.
A squirrel interrupted Tain's thoughts, and she got distracted. The little thing didn't know she was sitting there by the lake, thinking to herself, and was scampering about after nuts. Tain grinned brightly and crouched down when it wasn't looking.
Squirrel, yum. It had been a while since she'd eaten.
A quick glance out the corners of her eyes showed that nobody was watching. Tain crept forward on her elbows, her eyes narrowed to slits so they didn't shine in the half-dark. The rodent scampered along, unknowing..
Tain jumped!..and found that she was too close to the lake. The squirrel ran out of the way, heading for a tree near the water. Tain bolted after it, overshot, tripped on her own paws, and landed in the water with a resounding splash.
The water turned out to be a little deep. Tain sank several inches and panicked when the water closed over her ears. She kicked, hit bottom, and came up several yards away from shore. She got a brief glimpse of trees before going under again.
This, she thought, was a new experience and a rather frightening one. At first the lake didn't look like much from under, only gray. About the time that Tain thought she could see a bit of weed, she discovered that she was going up again. This time she was rather farther away from shore, and needed to breathe.
She went down in the middle of breathing in, got a nose and mouth full of water, and panicked again. Now she was rising up, swimming for all she was worth back for where she thought the shore was.
It wasn't there, or at least it wasn't in the same place. Tain had been in a thick-wooded area, and this one was somewhat bare. Whatever, it was shore, and fortunately the water near it was shallow. Tain was walking pretty soon.
Then she stepped out into a deep pool, went under, and got in too much water. The she-wolf choked and splashed, and miraculously found herself near shore. It was the work of a minute to bring her soaked, coughing self out of the water and onto the back. Here she collapsed wearily and settled into shivering.
That had been a bad experience, and, like any wolf, Tain went to sleep. This time she had an interesting, if somewhat silly dream. It had a rabbit in it..one that had no fur. The rabbit jumped around on hot sand.
Heheh. Hot Springs. Tain knew that joke, and chuckled in her sleep.
Then everything turned a little dark, and the rabbit told her 'Might is Right. If Might is Right, then you are definitely Wrong. Think about it, Tain. You are not mighty, but you were right when you came to the ocean and were friendly. When you came to Kamari and tried to fight, you were wrong. Is it one way or the other?' Tain woke up, confused, to find that evening had fallen and she was lying in the dark.
A sniff of the air proved that..huh, another wolf? She didn't know this one. Tain was awake immediately and jumped up, wagging her tail and peering into the darkness that her eyes weren't used to yet.
"Hello? Who's here?"
Maybe it was a pack wolf. Maybe it was another loner. Maybe it was, gulp, a ghost? Tain hoped it was one of the other ones, because ghosts weren't supposed to be good things. For one thing, you could see through them, and for another, they howled and moaned and said things like 'Doooom!.'
Tain's ears and tail went flat at the the thought and she peered nervously into the woods. Come to think of it, it did smell a bit muddy here. Ghosts were supposed to be muddly-smelling, she thought.
Oh wait. It was only her. But still, she wasn't supposed to be cold, even at night. It was summer.
Her yellow eyes peered into the darkness. Tain gulped.
"Sh-show yourself?"
Aldgar's territory was nice. Water, trees, mountains. It was a little chillier than she was used to, but that was okay..Tain would get used to the cool air, she was sure. There was lots of food, although Tain hadn't gone and caught any yet. She was still looking for Aldgar's wolves.
There weren't any in evidence, and hadn't been for the few days she'd been here. It was too bad, really. Tain had been hoping to run into some other wolves when she got past the borders. The lack of furry ears and tails was a bit suprising, since she'd been told by a passing loner that the pack was getting bigger fast. That was a good thing, because it meant they'd be interested in any wolf that came by. Even, hopefully, wolves with an infamous xenophobic father who didn't manage to become an alpha despite their best trying.
Tain hoped that daughters of Alphas weren't required to become on as well. She also hoped that Zahor the Seer was totally forgotten by all wolves and nobody would look at her and say 'Zahor.' That would be a problem, and she'd probably end up turned out on her tail. Then she'd either be a loner or really have to try with Alpha-ing.
Ehh, but none of these wolves were probably old enough to have been alive during the Dark Days. There wouldn't be a problem.
A squirrel interrupted Tain's thoughts, and she got distracted. The little thing didn't know she was sitting there by the lake, thinking to herself, and was scampering about after nuts. Tain grinned brightly and crouched down when it wasn't looking.
Squirrel, yum. It had been a while since she'd eaten.
A quick glance out the corners of her eyes showed that nobody was watching. Tain crept forward on her elbows, her eyes narrowed to slits so they didn't shine in the half-dark. The rodent scampered along, unknowing..
Tain jumped!..and found that she was too close to the lake. The squirrel ran out of the way, heading for a tree near the water. Tain bolted after it, overshot, tripped on her own paws, and landed in the water with a resounding splash.
The water turned out to be a little deep. Tain sank several inches and panicked when the water closed over her ears. She kicked, hit bottom, and came up several yards away from shore. She got a brief glimpse of trees before going under again.
This, she thought, was a new experience and a rather frightening one. At first the lake didn't look like much from under, only gray. About the time that Tain thought she could see a bit of weed, she discovered that she was going up again. This time she was rather farther away from shore, and needed to breathe.
She went down in the middle of breathing in, got a nose and mouth full of water, and panicked again. Now she was rising up, swimming for all she was worth back for where she thought the shore was.
It wasn't there, or at least it wasn't in the same place. Tain had been in a thick-wooded area, and this one was somewhat bare. Whatever, it was shore, and fortunately the water near it was shallow. Tain was walking pretty soon.
Then she stepped out into a deep pool, went under, and got in too much water. The she-wolf choked and splashed, and miraculously found herself near shore. It was the work of a minute to bring her soaked, coughing self out of the water and onto the back. Here she collapsed wearily and settled into shivering.
That had been a bad experience, and, like any wolf, Tain went to sleep. This time she had an interesting, if somewhat silly dream. It had a rabbit in it..one that had no fur. The rabbit jumped around on hot sand.
Heheh. Hot Springs. Tain knew that joke, and chuckled in her sleep.
Then everything turned a little dark, and the rabbit told her 'Might is Right. If Might is Right, then you are definitely Wrong. Think about it, Tain. You are not mighty, but you were right when you came to the ocean and were friendly. When you came to Kamari and tried to fight, you were wrong. Is it one way or the other?' Tain woke up, confused, to find that evening had fallen and she was lying in the dark.
A sniff of the air proved that..huh, another wolf? She didn't know this one. Tain was awake immediately and jumped up, wagging her tail and peering into the darkness that her eyes weren't used to yet.
"Hello? Who's here?"
Maybe it was a pack wolf. Maybe it was another loner. Maybe it was, gulp, a ghost? Tain hoped it was one of the other ones, because ghosts weren't supposed to be good things. For one thing, you could see through them, and for another, they howled and moaned and said things like 'Doooom!.'
Tain's ears and tail went flat at the the thought and she peered nervously into the woods. Come to think of it, it did smell a bit muddy here. Ghosts were supposed to be muddly-smelling, she thought.
Oh wait. It was only her. But still, she wasn't supposed to be cold, even at night. It was summer.
Her yellow eyes peered into the darkness. Tain gulped.
"Sh-show yourself?"