dilemma. [open]

[athens]

The strong but ratty looking frame of a young timber wolf sat over the corpse of a fawn. He had brought it down not long ago, preying on the weak in his battered state. The sweet, succulent flesh of larger game had done a fine job of fattening him just a little. How long had it been since he'd had a true meal?

It had been only a week since Athens had washed up on the shores of Anikira. He had been half-drowned, battered, and bruised. Hunting had been difficult and for the last few days he was making it by via scavenging and catching small game. The diet of rancid meat was off-putting and his body craved something better. Now that he was finally able to be back on his feet and somewhat limber, he had decided to try a true hunt. His efforts had been rewarded.

Now that he was full, however, Athens faced a different dilemma. He had not traveled far from where he'd first washed up on shore. I'queyer was the limit of his knowledge of this unfamiliar land. Heading east would bring him to pack territory, as would heading north. The west smelled free of any dominant scents but it involved crossing a river. Not yet willing to plunge head first into a body of water again, traveling west was out of the question.

Surrounded by pack lands and water, the young male found himself at a crossroads. So long as he stayed in I'queyer it seemed he was free to do as he pleased. It was a rather lonely existence, however, one he had yet to truly enjoy. He had not caught scent of any of his traveling companions and he missed his family dearly. Ath also didn't like feeling confined to one place. This land was new to him, full of untamed wilds and exciting adventure. He wanted to explore!

Athens tilted his head back and let out a long, hopeful howl. It was a summoning call, pleading for someone to come and join him. If he was lucky, one of his old pack mates would hear it and come running to rejoin him. He still held hope that they were alive, perhaps washed up on some other part of the island. It didn't have to be his friends that showed up though. Anyone was welcome to join him, really. What he wanted most was some company. Maybe then he could figure out a plan for trekking into pack territory.

[migina]

Well, two things were certain in the mind of the grey wolf female as she padded softly along. First, she was not too keen on going for a swim for some time. Second, it appeared that this new continent would be her home now, seeing as she was of no inclination to swim back. Truth be told, she nearly drowned, she'd become so exhausted. She'd reached the shore just in time. She hadn't intended to leave the continent of Kriptora, but sometimes that's what happens when you up and decide to see how far and how long you could swim. You might wind up too far away to turn back, instead forced to try to make it to the nearest shore available.

Perhaps it was for the best, though. There were plenty of sad or otherwise painful memories back on Kriptora. Being separated from the pack scout she was with when they were asked to seek out new land with more food for the pack, the cause of said separation being a tornado that tore through the land they were planning to recommend the Yellow Sun Pack move to. Then during that separation, there was the encounter with the unsavory male who force-bred her. Casper, the scout that she was with and had been separated from, stumbled upon the scene just as the brute was finishing his deed, and killed him, fearing he may go further than simply forcing a breeding upon Migina. Then there was the slow trek home, slow because of Casper's injuries from the battle with Migina's attacker. And of course, the attack resulted in her pregnancy, but because food was so scarce the two pups were sickly and never lived to open their eyes. And within a few months, most of the pack died and the remainder of the pack dispersed.

Yes, too many sad and painful memories. Migina decided that it was time to make a new life for herself, in a new land, and even though she had not planned the trans-continental travel, perhaps this was just what she needed.

Exploring this new land, she came upon a vast grassland. The air that hit her nostrils was fresh and inviting, the flowers of spring making the air especially nice to breathe. It was clear that this would be a good hunting spot, as lots of wildlife lived here. Though not the largest wolf, Migina thought that perhaps she could pick off a smaller, perhaps weaker animal, maybe a fawn. She'd managed to get back back to a healthy weight back on Kriptora, but she knew she'd have to eat soon, especially after that epic swim.

However, thoughts of hunting were interrupted. Her ears pricked attentively as a howl traveled through the air. Her head swiveled to look over her shoulder toward the sound of the howl.

Another wolf, she thought. I wouldn't mind some company, though I do hope this stranger is friendly. Considering the attack she'd endured, Migina tended to be weary of strangers. Still, the idea of companionship appealed to her, and the howl did sound inviting, so she loped off in the direction. of the howl.

What she came upon was a male who looked as if he had recently been through some things. She came to a stop a couple yards in front of him. Her yellow-brown eyes narrowed a bit and her ears drew back slightly in suspicion, not knowing whether or not this wolf's motives were good. She wasn't scared, per se, but she certainly would not trust this stranger unless and until he showed himself worthy of being trusted. Not wanting suspicion to be the only thing, or even the primary thing, coming across, she gave him a kind, warm smile and her feathery tail gave a slow, gentle wag.

"Hello," she said. "I presume you are the one who howled?"

[athens]

The problem with waiting was that it always felt longer than it actually. Add in the fact that Athens wasn't a very patient male and after ten minutes of silence he was pacing. He had never been the type to sit idly by, not unless being forced to plan. The young male was a doer, not a thinker. He craved to be active, engaged, anything but sitting here like a dead duck waiting.

What if... what if his howl had just brought on more trouble than it should have? He had been friendly about his call for a companion, but he didn't know much about what live in these lands. What if some cruel, infernal beast sprang from no where, silent and deadly and ready to make a meal out of him? Instantly Athens was on high alert, having realized his carelessness. Ears strained harder, eyes searched father, nose tested for anything unusual (which was difficult since most of the smells in this place were foreign to him)... There! The rustle of approaching footsteps, the slowly approaching scent of another.

Stepping protectively over what remained of his kill, Athens flattened his ears and lifted his tail high. Dominance, possession, all of it was displayed clearly in his posture as he prepared himself for the worst. And then the silent creature finally dared to show herself, appearing without giving a warning and offering a smile that calmed him. His muscles relaxed, his tail dropped to a less threatening position, and he returned the small wag. As he stepped away from the prey he started to walk a slow circle around the strange female, examining her form. He wasn't being perverse; his own body probably still looked like scraggly sea vomit. Instead his warrior's mind was calculating, assessing the threat level, and determining whether or not this female would make a suitable travel companion.

When he was again in front of her and next to his deer, he sat down, head tilted to one side, watching. She seemed to be in too much a state of disarray to be any real damage. Like him she still held lingering traces of the sea on her fur and her body looked like it hadn't seen a good meal in days. When finally he spoke a warm smile spread across his lips, hope held in his voice. "I was. I'm hoping to find a travel companion before I venture into the pack territories. Are you hungry?" He nudged the fawn's carcass slightly, offering it up as a sign of no ill will.

[migina]

Migina quickly wondered if she had made a mistake in coming. The male quickly took a dominant stance and stood protectively over the carcass of a fawn. She wondered why he had invited others to come by when he had a kill to protect. That would seem to be asking for a confrontation, though of course she had no intentions of challenging him for his meal.

Her smile did seem to calm him a bit, as he relaxed and returned the wag. But then, he began to circle her. He may not have been being perverse, but she did not yet know that. Back on her home continent, when she encountered the wolf who violated her in a way no male should violate a female, he had circled her. She followed the male with her head as far as her head would go, wishing that a wolf could turn its head all the way around in situations like these. When he was approaching behind her, she sat down. She tucked her rear as far under her as possible. If he was intending to gain access to certain anatomical regions, she would do her best to see that that did not happen. When her head could no longer turn to one side, she turned it to the other to follow the strange wolf as he came back to stand in front of her.

Looking at the male before her, she guessed that he couldn't do too much damage. He did seem kind of scraggly. Then again, if he brought down a fawn he could probably have his way with a female wolf if that was his desire.

She allowed her tense muscles to relax as he sat down in front of her and cocked his head to the side. She realized that she was probably overreacting in her concern, but she quite understandably did not want to repeat previous experiences. He smiled as he spoke, confirming that he was the one who howled, and offered her a meal from his fawn. She thought for a moment before responding.

"I gather you're pretty new here?" she asked. "I just got here myself. We could probably both use a travel companion, but I'm not sure if you want someone who doesn't really know anything about this continent with you." To the offer of his fawn: "Perhaps a little bit. But are you sure you don't want it? You do look as if you could use it."

She sat there for a moment, a bit more relaxed than she had been. She couldn't say that this stranger completely had her trust yet, as it did take her a bit to warm up to someone, but she was feeling a bit more at ease. It then occurred occurred to her that she had kind of forgotten her manners, having yet in this conversation to introduce herself.

"By the way, my name is Migina."

[athens]

This female's behavior was strange. She seemed nervous though was doing a decent job of not letting it show. Briefly he wondered what had happened to her, provided something had happened and her quirks had a logical root. Wolves, when alone, were timid by nature. It kept them alive when faced by a group of enemies. The only one here was Athens though and he was nothing if not noble. He had no intentions of hurting the young female.

Lifting a hind paw to his ear he gave a brief scratch. The sun and salt water had dried out his skin and left him with an annoying itch. A shake of his head fluffed out his fur and he settled back down comfortably. "Washed up a week ago, I think. I've been counting the moons." He shook his head as if to rid it of the puzzling thoughts. "Go on, eat. I've looked worse while being fed better. Besides. There's strength in numbers. If the alphas around here are a bunch of unforgiving ninnies at least with two of us we'll be able to catch some decent meals. I've never been much of a hunter."

Though it was a more embarrassing admission, Athens let out a chuckle. He was good at laughing at himself especially when the statement was true. When it came to hunting, most of his impressive catches were rather lucky. He was heavy with his footfalls and unintentionally scared prey easily. Back home, when it was time to specialize the growing pups, he was trained to be a keen warrior. Without a hunting partner or a pack to take him in, he knew his odds as a loner were going to be slim.

"It's a pleasure, Migina," he spoke with a smile and a light bow. Then he nuzzled the carcass towards her again in an attempt at building friendship. "I'm Athens. His tail wagged again, hoping to further calm her down. From what he'd seen he was unsure if this female would make a decent travel partner. Like him, however, she currently had no one to turn to and he really did believe in strength in numbers.

[migina]

Migina was beginning to warm up a bit to this male. Had he intentions to harm her, she reasoned, he likely would have made those intentions known by this point. He stated that he had washed up about a week ago.

"Yesterday for me," she said. Did she really want to tell him just how she got here? That she hadn't exactly washed up, but came rather due to lack of common sense on her part? It was a tad bit embarrassing. But she decided to do it. "Though I didn't exactly wash up. Yesterday morning, I was wandering along. I'd been a loner since my pack mostly died off from famine and the rest of us split up. Anyway, I was a little bored yesterday morning, and I guess had a bit of a lapse in common sense thankfully not typical of me. I decided to go for a swim, not only that but see how far I could swim before having to turn back. One small problem. By the time that I was getting tired and decided to turn back, I could not see my land. But I saw this one on the horizon and knew I at least had a chance to make it here. Quite exhausted by the time I got to shore. I think I'd have gone under had it taken just a few more minutes. But I managed to pull myself up on shore, and then I slept for a while."

Just as her new acquaintance had chuckled at himself, she found herself doing the same for herself. Then she continued.

"I've concluded it's probably for the best, though. Some not so fond memories back home. When the famine hit my pack's land about a year ago, my brothers and I were sent out with the pack scouts to look for land with better food supply. Each of us was assigned a scout and we went in three directions, due to meet back home in two days time. Well we found a land with good food supply, but just as we were about to head back home a tornado ripped through and separated me from my assigned scout. Looked for him for a while, but then started towards home. I was interrupted by meeting a male who was unsavory to say the least. He decided to force his...um...affections upon me, to put it kindly. I don't know if he would have killed me after, or what he would have done. Thankfully, as he was finishing having his way with me, Casper, my assigned scout, found us and killed the brute. We took the slow journey back home. Since the land we found was now ravaged by tornado, and my brothers and their scouts didn't find suitable lands, we stayed put. Plus Casper wasn't so fit to travel after the battle. Famine got slightly better, but not much, and I became pregnant from my encounter. Had two pups, but my milk supply wasn't so good. They were both sickly, neither made it to even where their eyes opened." Migina hung her head for a moment, the grief evident in her eyes. Her pups may have been conceived by rape, but they were still her pups and she loved them. "Well the food situation got worse again. Finally most of the pack died off, and the four of us remaining set out on our own to hopefully find better lives. Perhaps my lapse in judgement in taking that swim was just what I needed. Not that I make it a habit to run away from unhappy memories, but perhaps it just worked out for the best."

She realized that she'd just spilled pretty much her whole adult history to this male, including the violation she'd endured. She must have been warming up to the male faster than she even realized, for that to happen. She did realize that she was quite hungry, so when he insisted she go ahead and eat, she gave him a thankful smile and took her fill. She made sure to not do so in a ravenous manner; even though she was quite hungry, she wanted to show respect by not simply scarfing the whole thing down, so she took her time, and made sure there was still some left on the carcass. She then looked up and gave him another appreciative smile.

"Thanks, Athens," she said. "Nice to meet you, too."

[athens]

Athen's head was swimming. Twice he'd tried to make a comment only to have the female continue to flood him with words. Her history, her entire history. Was it common for other wolves to spill their entire life stories in places like this? Or was it a result of the trauma she had been through? Either way she seemed to really need someone willing to listen. Thus, that's what he did. He listened.

With empathetic, sad eyes the timber male absorbed to her tale of woe. It was heartbreaking really, the things this young female had been through. He felt for her really. He too knew the pains of near starvation, the struggles that came with living in a territory with sparse resources. Her homeland was not unlike his own in that sense. In fact, the very reason he had come to Anikira was to search for a new and prosperous land, someplace where his pack would thrive. The problem was that the journey had been long and hard and, should he manage to make it home again he was afraid that he would be too late.

"You have my sorrows, m'lady. While I don't know many of your pains, you have my empathy. I came with two others. We were a scouting party, sent to find this land in hopes that the rumors of its existence were true. Like you, my homeland has little food or water left. We hoped to maybe move the pack here. I'm not so sure it's possible anymore. I lost my companions during the swim and it took us much longer to get here than we'd thought. If I return home... I'm afraid there might be nothing left of my brother and my friends." He took a breath, willing to share no more than that. Hopefully it would set them on even ground. Home was not something he was comfortable talking about right now.

Backing away from the deer, he let Migina have some space while she ate. Her story still resonated in his ears. It made him wary. Now, to Athens, this female was like glass. He did not want to hurt her worse than she already had been. He also could not leave her here, on her own, and force her to survive with no help. It was not in his nature to abandon a damsel in distress. Easily his mind was made up. As she smiled and thanked him, he returned the gesture with a grin. "So, what do ya say? Travel companions? I'm hoping to find a pack that will take me in."

[migina]

Migina listened to the sympathetic male's history. Which was, much shorter than her own, and that was fine. She was kind of surprised she had spilled so many details of her history. It sounded as if his own homeland was like her own. Perhaps this was just a bad time in many places when food and water was concerned. Migina felt sorry for the fact that Athens and his companions had been separated during their swim. While she had wished those left of her pack had stayed together, at least they had decided to disperse and try to find better lives separately. Athens, on the other paw, had taken the swim here with friends, having been separated in the ocean, and it was unlikely they could move the pack here. She gave him a sad smile.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "Losing ones pack, ones family, is hard. I know."

She smiled at his invitation to be travel companions. He did seem like one who could be trusted. And this was a good thing. Traveling with someone was probably a wiser idea than traveling alone.

"Sure," she said. "Do you have a plan? I assume we'll go to the borders, right? If the packs around here are anything like my pack, which was a pretty kind pack, be vastly preferred it when loners seeking to join us came to the border and waited to be invited in, rather than having random wolves just traipse on in, ya know?"

Migina realized that this probably went without saying. Even the kindest of wolves were by instinct territorial. Even if they would forgive a loner crossing the border into the land, they would certainly much prefer the pack boundaries be respected pending permission to venture in. She assumed Athens' pack was probably pretty similar in that regard. Then another thought came to her.

"Are we to wait for those with you? Or do you think you would have connected by now had they made it?"

[athens]

The male's lips turned up in a half smile as his shoulders shrugged. The loneliness was hard, yes, but he didn't like dwelling on the negative. Athens preferred to take an optimistic approach to life. As he'd volunteered to head the scouting party, he'd been prepared to face the losses. Now he tried not to let it eat away at him, instead focusing on the prospects of a new life in a new land. The land of Anikira was plentiful; there was bound to be something here that could make him feel like he belonged.

Plans? Athens had a plan alright. It wasn't very high tech but it would hopefully do the trick. "I was thinking of heading north, towards the center of the lands. From what I've gathered, most of the packs are north of here. If no one is willing to take us in, we'll just keep searching till we find someone that is." Her description of good manners had the brute chuckling. Briefly his tail wagged as he grinned at her again. "It's good to know I'll be traveling with someone who actually has manners."

As she mentioned waiting for the others, however, his happy expression dropped. The sparkle in his eyes was replaced with sheer determination as he turned away from her to survey the lands. No long was he laughing, tail having stilled to hang behind him. As hard as he tried to hide it, Athens did miss his travel companions. He held onto hope, though. "I haven't come across either of them in the week I've been here." Yes, he'd been searching. "If they managed to make it... they probably washed up on a different shore. We'll probably run into them eventually." Hopefully... He was not yet willing to declare his friends dead. "Shall we set out now?"