Post by avani on Apr 21, 2009 14:53:10 GMT -5
She had left Vee behind to rest. The poor creature would wake up with not a one at his side, but her scent lingered in the sands. He wouldn't understand why she had gone without telling him goodbye, but she'd be back within a day or two. She just hoped he wouldn't be angry, though she couldn't tell him why she'd left.
Along the growing horizon, a small Ethiopian female made a silhouette against the sands of the beach. Mountains were rapidly approaching, their ominous peaks daring the sun to come any higher. Light clouds were in the air, but they laid a dark burden upon the mixed sands, both dirty and pure. Small drizzling rains were occasional, but the femme didn't mind. Her copper coat was rather resistant to water, and most of the wet had spilled off her sides. Plus, she had just crossed the Aughgar river, which left her legs and stomach soaked for the time being.
The weather was rather nice, though. It was a rather nice change of pace from her regular ninety-degree weather in The Occassus. It was a pleasant seventy degrees here, and the small trickling rain was warm as well. Admittedly, she was a bit chilly, but she kept her warmth and confidence for the mountains ahead. She would have to cross just a small, low portion of them from the beach to cross into Xinelil's territory, and she knew the small journey could potentially be dangerous for her, but yet the female still left her mate behind. Avani shook out her coat once as she reached the base of the Kinath, the steady rise a bit of a rocky expanse into the forest beyond. Avani knew that for her voice to carry into the lands, however, she would have to cross these mountains.
She had left Vee behind for a few reasons. One, she needed a bit of time to think on her own. She wasn't so used to all the affection and complete and utter familiarity that came with friendship, let alone mating. The experience had been overwhelming, and it was laying it's effects on her esteem. They were rather good effects, admittedly, but they were hitting Avani like a brick wall. Two, she was just realizing that she would, most likely, become a mother.
A crying sensation entered Avani's stomach and throat for the millionth time since she had begun her struggled journey. As she walked, visions of small pups running around her legs and licking at her jaw brought a smile to her face, but also an extreme weight in her heart. She was but three years old, almost four if she counted the moons right, and a mother-in-waiting. A mother who would have to raise her pups in a way that could prepare them for life, make them outgoing and compassionate, good fighters and good defenders alike, good teachers but great listeners, not to mention everything else a mother had to take care of. Then, to add even more stress on top of just being a mother, she was also the alphess of Zahir. She would have to deal with her children as well as her packmates.
Admittedly, she had Vee to help her. It wasn't like Avani was going to lead or raise their pups on her own. But she truly feared for them. The image of her mother's face when she realized her pup had been born deceased, and the sobbing howls that still echoed inside her cranium. Avani didn't know grief. She didn't know emotional pain. Her mother did, but she died from it. And, really, Avani wasn't ready to die.
As she thought, she walked up the rocky slope, stepping carefully and placing her paws on exactly the correct place so that the stones would not slip from under her legs. Small patches of grass threatened to turn into a forest through the cracks in the surface, and tiny pools of water collected inside the crevasses. Avani leaned down to a particularly large one, lapping up some of the cool water with her tongue. With a lick to her lips, she glanced to her rear, watching as the beach disappeared behind her. Trudging onward again, the little female made her way down the other side of the rocky slope, easing herself down into the marshy forest below.
Clearing her throat, Avani howled, a crystallized flowing pattern that cut through the forest and clear to the mountains and beyond. It conveyed her message perfectly; Alpha Xinelil, this is Avani, the new alphess of Zahir. I am at the forest border, and request permission to rest in your land. When time allows, I must speak with you. The smooth noise was a soothing one, very calm and bright while her body felt so tired and worn.
Oh, how could she raise pups like this? Traveling about, she could not take them with her. Or, even worse, she might not be able to travel. Avani suppressed a whine and laid to her feet, ears pricked as she awaited the Alpha's response.