A Pool of Peace (Mother Charis)

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From the sunlight shining above the thick canopy of the trees, several rays broke through small holes and danced upon any surface it could touch. The tree bark, the rocks, the moss, and the numerous leafy plants that sprouted up continuously with each step Spirit took with her paws, which held small traces of a pretty rustic, reddish brown color. The young female was generally an inky black in color, just as the night sky with no moon or stars would, but like the normal night sky held a silver river, trailing from her chin to her underbelly. To others, she would more than likely appear as a menacing wolf, one who would kill anything on a whim. However, it was easy to look past, as her warm golden orbs portrayed she usually meant no harm to the living things around her. Although, she was much like a wild rose: beautiful and sweet, but willing to draw blood with her thorns in defense.

She trekked slowly through the delicately gorgeous forest, soaking in not only the sun's rays that dappled her pelt, but the utter beauty and serenity of the forest she was dwelling in. It was not her home, but she certainly wished it were, for she absolutely loved it. It was East of her home, in Shiya territory where her pack, Airila, had made their domain. It was relatively easy and quick to reach and stumble upon, so she assumed she would have a fast look at things around here and then head back to Kastiel and Torio and Haze and Valmai. The thought of her packmates made her smile, wanting to call them to this lovely place, though she refrained from doing so, as she did not want to disturb the others whilst they were occupied with their daily duties. Especially Torio and Kastiel, being the Alpha and the beta of the pack was hard enough on them. Spirit would not be one to heavy the burden further than they already had.

A break in the trees ahead of her redirected the femme's attention from the scenery, where she spotted something of interest. Not only was it the bright sunlight she immediately noticed upon emerging from the forest, but it was the large pool of water that a sandy beach and the trees' roots cradled. She didn't stop for but a moment as she moved closer to it, flicking her gaze over the tree roots as she did, seeing how many years of erosion had taken the soil from around them and left them revealed to the harsh elements of Anikira. They would make good shelter for a wolf her size and for smaller prey, as well as provide some food or medicinal value to someone who would know of such things. Spirit happened to be a fighter and not a healer, having only the smallest amount of knowledge when it came to plants and injuries.

She seized her movements upon approaching the edge of the miniature lake and gazed across the surface. It was still, unmoving, giving itself the appearance of a hard surface that could be walked on, though she knew better than to try. Her previous experience in Lerelm with Kastiel proved to her that just because something appeared like it could hold the weight of another solid object did not mean that it could. The memory of the beta's words startling her and causing her to fall into the underground water source allowed a smile to creep upon her maw, revealing her bright white teeth to nothing around her. She loved her pack and respected them, especially Kastiel. He had met her and promised her a place in the pack, which proved to be true when she gained the opportunity to meet the alpha, Torio. Though Kastiel's welcome upon the first moments of their meeting were not warm, Torio's were, and Kastiel had warmed up to her. She did not doubt he treasured their friendship, just as she did.

Spirit lowered her head to gaze at herself closer in the mirror like surface, almost as if trying to hold her twins gaze. Though she did not have a twin, nor siblings for that matter, the pool made it appear as though she did. At the thought of such ridicule, she felt a small laugh emanate from her throat, her breath hitting the water softly. The touch caused a rippled effect to begin, the circular archways stretching and embracing the pool gently. One by one, the ripples dissipated, seeming to simply vanish into thin air. She raised her head once more to watch as the pool swallowed the ripples slowly, as if it were ingesting something precious or well needed. The sunlight gave her eyes a glittering effect, almost as though they were truly made of gold, and her smile appeared to represent the sun itself, showing itself brightly and happily.




Word Count: 830 words!
Tagged: Mother Charis

[charis]

OOC - Funny story... Okay so I got done with my other posts earlier than I expected and I created a thread for you and I figured I'd send it to you before you'd make a thread. I'm not mad or anything, I'm actually happy I've gotten another thread done, it's an open thread now Charis seems like a big creeper in this thread 0.0

The silent she-wolf lied with her packs folded neatly in front of her watching the other wolf from about 20 feet behind her atop a large, flat rock. She licked her rows of keen-tipped ivories as she examined the canine's actions and remembering how much this wolf reminded her of herself when she was younger, before the incident happened. Over the years she had kept her same submissive, motherly energy but always keeping her distance from other wolves. She didn't think anything would really happen today. Just another long, tiring day of watching others live happy lives while her's went down the drain.

Today, though, she felt compelled to interact with someone. It had been quite some time when she had even met eyes with another wolf. The though gnawed at her and irritated her. She needed someone to care for, desperately. As she saw the wolf chuckle to herself in a lovely tone, she couldn't help but say, "What's so funny, dearie?" the female choked in an old, withering voice. "What's a pretty like you doing out here without somebody watchin' you...? You're so pretty..." she said dryly. She sounded as if she perhaps needed something to moisten her throat. The black-coated wolf hoped she could make a friend today but her actions had been a little too strange and suspicious to expect something like that. She slowly got up, her aching limbs increasing each day in pain.

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Utterly unaware of the other's presence, Spirit was wrapped up and completely occupied with the pool before her. It gave her a feeling of serenity and peace, one of safety. It was almost as if she was wrapped up by her mother, nestled safely in her warm, soft fur that provided as a place to sleep as well as a place to play. She remembered that as a young pup, she would often soil her mother's pelt with anything she was able to come across in her family's den where they slept and played. Most times, it had been just her and her mother, as her father had been the alpha and did not typically like to be around. He was there when he could be, but more or less it was just the mother-daughter combination sitting in the comfy cave until Spirit had been old enough to wander about outside. When it had come to that point in her life, her mother could only get her back into the den when she had worn herself to sleep outside of it.

When the female in her company voiced herself, Spirit's first and immediate reaction came to her. After being alone for a year before meeting Kastiel, it was a habit she had picked up on, for being on one's own was not a time to drop your guard and leave an opening for other's to dive through. Such things would get one killed, and the gentle hearted warrior knew that. Her body whirled itself around and her legs spread in a defensive stance, tail sticking straight into the air. Her fur prickled and bristled until she appeared larger than she actually was, and her lip slowly curled back over her gums, showing her snowy white teeth in a snarl. No sound left her throat, as if her body had made the subconscious decision to not disturb the silence that now floated around them, drifting in the atmosphere that hung ever so persistently around the planet.

However, upon seeing the old female, her aggressive stance was dismissed by her own emotions. She didn't recognize her scent nor did it belong to that of a pack, so the old wolf must have been a loner. Spirit lifted her head and relaxed her stature, facing the femme with curiosity, but with caution as well. As harmless as she might have looked, the young warrior knew better than to simply trust a stranger. It was not only instinct that caused her to be as cautious as she was, but also the old girl's words. They had startled her, yes, and there was something else there as well. She was...strange, to say the least, and creepy almost. Immediately, Spirit wished Kastiel or someone had come with her, had accidentally strayed from the territory alongside her. Though she was not a pup and could definitely protect herself, she still wanted one of her packmates with her. For the moment, she would need to deal with things on her own.

Hesitant, she allowed herself to answer the query, "I was simply laughing at a thought in my head." She distinctly remembered why she had laughed, for she had thought the glass like surface of the water had given her another image of herself, almost like it had given her a twin of her own. The idea of such things was ridiculous and that was her reason for laughing at herself, causing the rippled effect on the water, watching it go away, and then having this stranger appear out of nowhere. To Spirit, as strange as the idea was, it had seemed the old femme had materialized on the flat stone within the moments she had not been aware of her presence. However, she discouraged her own idea, for there was no way it could happen, and she admitted to herself that she had let her guard down for an instant.

Spirit watched her warily as she stood, waiting for something to happen, anticipating her moves. For the moment, all she did was stand and it seemed to cause her pain. It gave the younger female the impression that she was old and had suffered quite a few injuries in her lifetime. Her mind drifted back to her words, lingering on them and running them through her head several times to make sure there was no falseness hiding behind them. Finding none, she decided it was safe to answer and attempt to befriend the old female. Perhaps she needed a home, and Spirit might offer it once she talked to her enough. "I do not need someone to watch me. I am capable of protecting myself when I am alone." As true as that was, she did wish for her pack's company at the moment. "I belong to a pack who does not live far from here. I am a warrior for them. I fight and defend them."



Word count: 847 words!
Tagged: Mother Charis

[charis]

OOC - Nice posts man I finished my joining form for Wonder Why, yay!

The elderly woman was used to being shoved around and beaten up. Nobody respected her at all. She was always yelled at, scorned, hated and disrespected of course. She was a little surprised when the female before her sulfur-colored eyes wasn't reacting too rudely right now. Possibly this would be her first friend in ages. She would like that. Somebody to rely on, somebody to care for, and somebody to express her thoughts and feelings freely with.

The female felt a strange feeling of deja-vu watching this young canine. She seemed so sly and yet sweet. The feeling created a long pause before she decided to speak up later. She remembered when she was like this. When she had Inferno. Before all of the worry and stress tore them apart so suddenly. Small memories or her mother and father began to float around in her mind. It had been years since she had last been able to recall them. She remembered how well her parents got along. How loving they had been... She would have been like that with him if she didn't have such goofy genes. Her face scrunched up into a bothered expression as she looked down at her broad front paws.

She wondered what it was like to be young. It had been so long when she hadn't had these gross gray hairs, aching joints and terrible eyesight, hearing and sense of smell. It would be so nice to be young and not old and useless like she was now. Her back arched a bit into an uncomfortable position as she looked up into the female's eyes with a small smile, her jowls too droopy to rise up higher.

She licked her teeth and lips once more, getting rid of the taste of the small rabbit carcass she found lying around earlier, her senses not being even good enough anymore to catch simple prey like rodents. She wheezed a small, dry cough before replying, "Oh... I see now... They say laughter is the best medicine..." quoting an old quote she had learned when she still could laugh without bad thoughts and memories stopping her.

Her tail began to wag slightly at the female's next statement, still with the same small, calming smile she had had most of the time the two were conversing. "Okay sweetie... Oh, a pack? I've never been in one of those before... They don't need someone like me to slow them down..." her voice trailed off toward the end, not wanting to throw a little pity party with the female or to rub off the wrong way. Her tail wagging slowed as it lowered a bit into a relaxed state.

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Spirit was slightly confused, how could laughter be a medicine? Most times, the young female laughed because she was voiding embarrassment from others, just has she had done with Kastiel in the cave with the underground water, and with him and Haze as they left said cave. Most times, her laughter came out as painful, no matter how cheerful she tried to be. In all truth, the young girl was completely depressed, but only acted happy to make sure others were happy. Her happiness had not come to her in years and she had a feeling it would not be coming back for a very, very long time from now. She did not believe she would ever find love from any wolf, even though the males in her pack could tolerate her, she knew she would grow and die alone with no pups to carry on her bloodline. The very thought saddened her, but she pushed it aside and focused on the wolf before her.

She listened to the old wolf speak and she was ever so slightly surprised when she spoke of never being in a pack, how she would only be a burden and slow them down. Confused, Spirit looked to the water for a moment, thinking. No wolf was useless or a burden to a pack, not even those who were subordinates or pups. They were cared for when they could not aide the pack, they were made useful with the help of others. She was a warrior in her pack and she made sure she would be such for everyone. She would fight to the end and put her life in the line in an instant for any of her pack members, even if it meant she would lose her life in the process of protecting them. They were everything to her, and she loved each and every one of them with her entire being. She might have been childish, but she was tactical and she cared.

"You would not be a burden to anyone. It doesn't matter what rank a wolf holds in a pack, each of them are useful for something." She told her, a small growl in her voice. She was determined to convince her otherwise, as it was important to keep a steady track of thinking. She believed she was a burden to others when Spirit knew she could do something to help the pack, even if it meant just being an elder and sitting around the camp. Elders could tell the pups stories, warn them about things they went through. If she knew anything of herbs, she could be the healer of the pack, which was important as well. She could help fix what a wolf had broken, not just physically. It was apparent the female had the kind of personality that would draw others in and calm them, fix emotional problems. Spirit was hell bent on making sure she believed she was useful.

[charis]

Charis couldn't help but feel quite motivated and inspired to try harder than she was now hearing what the female said. Perhaps she wasn't as useless as she thought. Then again, there were those darker thoughts she carried. She was nearly blind, almost could literally not smell, she had stiff limbs and the wolf could not even bear children anymore, both physically and mentally. The dark-coated canine wondered what pack life would be like as she stared blankly at Spirit.

Mother though that maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all, living with other canines. It would probably help her a lot in many ways. The elder felt a surge of excitement rush throughout her body. There would be other wolves she could talk to and guide. Better yet, there could be pups also! Charis wondered if she should ask this wolf where her pack was, she seemed to be rather interested in it.

"That's nice to think... I hope you don't mind me asking, but... Where is your pack located?" she asked calmly, hoping that even though she knew nothing of herbs, couldn't hunt and couldn't even defend, that she would somehow be of some use to this group of wolves.

The elder stretched slightly as she lowered her haunches very slowly to the ground into a sitting position. She heaved a small sigh as her hindquarters reached the cool dew-drop coated grass. Her eyes sparkled in anticipation as she examined Spirit's actions, waiting eagerly for a reply that could possibly change her life.