a time to heal.

[goose]

[atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,false][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true][atrb=background,http://i38.tinypic.com/ix8dtx.jpg,true] The trip from the base of the Tia'delis to the warmer lands of the Occasus had been made with great difficulty. A light shower had soaked the old male for most of the trip, rain plastering his short grey fur against his fragile body. If it hadn't been noticeable before, the dampening of his coat made his emaciated ribs more apparent. On top of that, his normally crooked gait was now greatly hindered by a severe, painful limp. Phantom had done quite a number on his leg, snapping the femur clean in two. Chances were Goose shouldn't have been walking on it at all yet, but he needed to get from the free lands to the safety of a pack in order to heal. Hissing in pain as the ground gave way to much softer sand, the old male finally halted. He could smell the faint borders of the Zahir pack; safety was just on the other side of this sand. Tilting his head back slightly, the Grey let out a croaky howl, hoping his voice would carry. "Pack of Zahir, if it'd be no trouble I request a safe place to rest for a while. I'm an injured, old male by the name of Goose and I fear more days on my own will surely be the death of me." A raspy chuckle accompanied his words. Goose wasn't exactly afraid of death; he just didn't want to die in a manner he deemed pathetic. He remained standing a little longer, catching his breath as he let hazy vision survey his surroundings. From what he could tell, he was facing a vast expanse of sandy nothingness. His tired mind couldn't recall how far the desert stretched or which part of it he'd entered. He'd been too preoccupied with getting to safety and his unreliable sight was a poor guide to begin with. After several long minutes he managed to sit himself down, whimpering slightly as the aches of arthritis in ancient joints mingled with the shooting pain of his broken limb. He tried to smile, distracting his mind with nothing but positives. It was hard though, with blood still seeping from the fairly new wound and every fiber of his being begging for numbness. Closing his eyes, the old male settled himself in, ears twitching towards any faint sounds as he prepared to sit there and wait.

[dura]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] [atrb=background,http://i45.tinypic.com/33emvjt.png,true] Ever since he had left the dens Dura had been avoiding other wolf contact, both physically and verbally, because he had sunk into a stage of depression. The pack had already twisted his mind from a young age and he had never learned how to break loose of that and be a wolf and now the young red was just a little over two years old and barely knew the pack he had been living with since he had arrived in this hell. Sand blended with the sky day after day until today when his eyes opened and his mind seemed clear for the first time in weeks. A small bounce was in his step and Dura held his young head proudly, but his tail still dragged in the dirt. At least he wasn't holding it under his gut like so many times before though. As the young wolf just headed off to somewhere, a howl broke into his thoughts. Vee couldn't hear and it would be even harder for the rest of the pack to hear this howl as it wasn't well carried at all. All he had to do was angle a little to the right and he wouldn't even have to worry about seeing the other wolf. However it was time to interact with others, one could not remain a loner when part of a pack. A groan left his throat before turning his back on what he had been doing just a mere three hours before. A lone wolf was sitting in the sand, his coat was not that of a desert breed, but then again who around here was normal. Those kinds of thoughts brought a chuckle to his throat, no one here was even close to normal, they were a pack of messed up misfits. Only the heir had a chance, but he was the heir to the land and so he couldn't grow up like a normal wolf should and so he wouldn't be normal. The young wolf moved in closer to the older adult, the scent of blood in the air even from a distance. Dura wasn't totally sure what to do once he got closer to the other male, but it did make him think. The only female of the pack was not really here by choice, she had a ghost who had brought her into the pack and pretty much kept her locked to these lands. Everyone else...they were all males and this stranger... A puff of air left his nostrils as the male slowed his limbs to a standstill. "I highly doubt the Alpha will turn you away in your state of distress." Now he shut up because he had no idea what else to say, ears flicked forward and back, mentally fidgeting as he wished he knew what the hell he was doing.

[shadow]

Large paws much too big for the small legs that supported them treaded through the endless sea of sand as the Ethiopian brute named Kaoru wandered The Sands of Rodorr. The Sands of Rodorr sure were a beautiful place. To Kaoru they were at lest. Licking his maw, the Ethiopian allowed his tongue to loll out from the side of his mouth as his deep brown orbs gazed over the horizon. Sand, sand and even more sand as far as the eye could see. He took a deep breath and relished himself in the smell of the desert. God he loved this place. Ever since the war Zahir had become a relatively quite and peaceful place.

Every since the war, the Ethiopian brute found he had changed somewhat. He was a little harder around the edges, and who could blame him? After what he’d seen and the blood that stained the lands, the lingering smell of death and the sound of hushed grieving over the loss of a loved one. A shiver ran down his spine making his fur stand on end. Shaking those morbid thoughts and memories away, Kaoru continued to travel through the endless sea of sand.

Kaoru’s time was spent outside of the dens most of the time. He did nothing but wander around the lands he was proud to call his home. Being the pack’s Lead Warrior he took it upon himself to make sure everything was up to par in The Oaccsus. He made sure the borders were well guarded; no suspicious intruders would enter their lands without them very well knowing about it.

Then, as if on queue, a howl lingered across the sands and caught the attention of Zahir’s oldest member. Perking his large ears up, he listened to the distant howl. Determining where the howl had come from, Kaoru figured it was not far from his current location. He should be able to meet the brute in no less than five or ten minutes if he hurried. Shifting his head slightly to the right (the direction in which the howl had come from) he changed his course of direction and headed east.

Like he’d predicted it took good few minutes before the brute even spotted the old brute, along with someone else near him, someone he soon recognized as Dura, one of their own. A small smile played on Kaoru’s maw as he trotted up to the pair, his brown eyes looked to Dura first before falling onto the old gray and injured brute. To put it quite frank, the old brute looked like crap. Wet fur plastered to his sickly looking frame, blood gushed out of newly opened wounds and pretty bad ones at that. Kaoru’s brows furrowed, he pitied the poor brute and took sympathy on him. He saw no reasons for anyone in the pack to object to him staying here to rest for a while.

Licking his lips, Kaoru finally spoke. “You must be Goose, my name is Kaoru and I see you have already met Dura.” His eyes flickered to Dura and a small smile tugged on his lips before he looked back at Goose and continued speaking. “We are both members of Zahir and I believe I can speak for everyone in the pack when I say you are more than welcomed to stay here until your wounds are all healed up.” He gave a small light chuckle before speaking again, though his voice was laced with a bit more concern than before. “Though... Our pack does not have a Shaman to speed up the healing process I’m afraid…” He trailed off with a small frown. It was really troublesome, it only Avani hadn’t went missing, and she was not only their alphess but their Shaman at the same time. A heavy sigh left the brutes lips. Troublesome indeed…