The Newcomer [Joining and Open]

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She padded along the territory line of Airila her nose twitching from smelling the Alpha's scent markers. Her ears were perked in anxiety as she strained to hear another wolf coming her way.

Her paws dug into the ground hard leaving paw prints as she walked. Her fur was tan but black tipped each strand of fur and some silver was speckled across her fur like pepper on snow.

Her tail was bushy and was wagging fast, her excitement of finding a pack couldn't be contained within her. She wanted to howl but she decided to wait a few more moments.

A rabbit laid untouched on the ground from hunting on her way there and she decided that she would save it to give to the Alpha if he accepted her into his pack. It was the least she could do since she would just be starting out in the pack.

Swimming across the ocean from Africa had energized her more than she knew. Hearing the stories of it from other wolves in Africa had excited her to no end. It was perfect for her. The weather was just like she was used to here and the smell of the air was like a drug to her.

She couldn't get enough of it. Each breath she took in she couldn't sit down. She paced back and forth along the borderline.

She then sat down and took in a deep breath and lifted her muzzle up towards the sky and let out her excitement and to alert the pack that she was there through a long howl. She howled for a few minutes before letting it die down into nothing.

She lowered her head and looked on into the trees, her ears up and alert for any sounds. Her light blue eyes shone brightly in the moonlight as she looked.

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[atrb=background,http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6300/alumid.png] The icy breeze excited Aludra, it reminded her that despite growing another year older that she still was young. Her entire life was still sprouting before her. Nothing was holding her back, 'except my poor conversational skills.' Gracefully the femme swung her figure around as she meandered through the mountains. A few loose flowers had been scattered across the edges, before the slate became too steep and frozen. They had no genuine medical purpose, like most of what the Arctic femme collected, but they were quite beautiful. Aludra could not help that she was drawn to nature's beauty, it had only been the two of them for quite an expanse of time. 'I wonder if Toiro would like these,' the thought brought a rapid flush to the female's features. Somehow it was still undecided within her mind if she was simply being foolish. There had always been a fear of disapproval lingering in the depths of her mind. The sun glittered above the snowy ground, causing everything to nearly glow. The femme was partially included in such a feat. Her ivory pelt held a few loose snowflakes within it. Emerald orbs smiled at the day star, she was pleased that it was so visible today. The cloud cover was extremely minimal, which meant that chances of more precipitation were slim. The female did not mind facing the rain and sleet; yet, the days with a clear sky were always her favorite. It permitted the femme to see what was above the planet that all the creatures lived upon. The femme gained insight from what the stars told her, even the lone sun had a story to share with the world. Some just had the gift of listening more than others, Aludra had always been a good listener. Much more so than a conversationalist. Her pace slowed for a mere moment as the song caught her auds, 'Do I respond with my own?' The female was hesitant to do so. Despite what others found to be a beautiful calling, the ivory female despised the crooning noise that escaped her muzzle when she howled. Somehow the noise that erupted from her face never sounded quite as divine to her own ears as it did to everyone else's. 'Differing opinions,' the female shrugged the concept off slightly and decided to give a slight trot in the direction of where the other's song came from. She was not the alpha of these lands, far from it, but Toiro had granted her with special permission. In the back of her mind, the femme wished that she would stumble across Toiro soon. Her heart yearned for him despite what she attempted to convince herself of. Vibrant green eyes jolted about the mountain side, hoping that she stumble across the newcomer before they wandered away. Aludra was not exactly known to be the fastest of the Airila wolves, in fact she did not think that any of them had ever even seen her run for more than a few seconds. 'Cherie did for a moment,' the femme smiled fondly as the silhouette of the foreigner grew upon the horizon. Her tail began wiggling with nervous excitement, who knew what new stories meeting this wolf would possess. Perhaps she would be able to accept a canine into Airila that would truly help the pack out, the thought made more butterflies whip around her stomach. Her efforts to get rid of the winged bugs was futile, every thought of Toiro set them stirring once more. Her head lowered in salutations to the female that had caused, but her green eyes held tightly to them. The female could not bare to expose herself to attack once more, she had made several small errors that had frightened her quite enough. Aludra's dainty figure did not hold a stance of dominance and authority, rather it seemed rather normal. Her head was not set too high between her shoulders, and her tail wiggled in a comfortable place. She was no one important, or so she believed. There were many wolves that could be considered more valuable to the pack than herself, as long as no one was hurt. Her intelligence would be her highest talent. "Greetings stranger," words came out alongside a musical voice. The female's words nearly danced themselves into the air around the two canines. "You have summoned those from Airila?" her question was inquiring the female to explain herself, to state why she was within Shyia. Aludra was still not phenomenal at greeting strangers and knowing what to say regarding them joining the pack. All the female knew was to trust her inner opinion, because it had yet to fail her.

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Tala waited patiently as she took in her surroundings, wondering if she could find a place to stay if no one answered to her call. Her tail swept over the snow lightly, throwing up loose snowflakes into the air. She wondered when it would snow again for she loved snow just as much as telling stories to pups.

Her ears perked as she heard faint pawsteps coming closer and getting a little louder as they came closer to her. Her light blue eyes lit up with excitement but she kept her guard up in case she would be attacked. She relaxed her shoulders to show whatever wolf that was coming to investigate, that she meant no harm. Mentally she prepared herself in case someone attacked her.

Her ears swiveled this way and that to pin point exactly which direction the wolf was coming from and as she did she turned her head to look that way also. She lifted her head a bit as an ivory pelt came into her view.

As the wolf came closer she bowed her head in greeting. She watched the wolf, taking in her relaxed posture but also having her guard up. Tala gave a friendly smile to the wolf and her mind went into hyperdrive of what this pack did with newcomers.

She had heard about one of the packs being a little too hostile to newcomers for her liking but by the looks of the wolf before her it didn't really seem like she was the mean type. She looked quite friendly actually so Tala mentally shut out any sarcasm that might try and sneak its way into the conversation so that she didn't put a bad impression on the wolf.

"Hi. My name's Tala and I would like to join your pack. I come from the East." she said in a bell-like voice. She wondered if it mattered if she had said that she was from the east or if she hadn't said it then if it was important to even say.

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[atrb=background,http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6300/alumid.png] Aludra could not help but be slightly weary of newcomers, after all they could cause quite a decent amount of destruction to a pack. Especially to herself, the arctic femme knew that she was intelligent - yet would never be a good fighter. Her clumsy coordination sometimes made running quite the event, defending herself would be impossible. Auds stood straight upon her skull, waiting a potential ambush. Her arrival upon Anikira had taught the shaman many things, the most important one right now was not to instantly trust another. Emerald orbs studied this female carefully, curious about her. Did all of the wolves come from across the sea? Was this creature a native? Despite being weary, the shaman could not help but feel slightly curious about the new wolf. She always did, a part of her wanted to know everything about anything. It was a pro and con to the femme's personality. There were times that she would become so distracted and wander away from the pack to learn about a new plant, certainly they had noticed her temporary absences before. The ivory femme shifted her frame lightly, listening patiently to what the foreigner was saying. 'She wishes to join?' Aludra was pleased that Airila was gaining interest to others. Recently there had been many new wolves that wished to find a home within the lands of Shyia and make their mark among the ranks of Airila. A graceful smile placed tasks upon her muzzle, permitting white teeth to gleam for a moment. The shaman simply could not disguise her inner peace and happiness; however, acceptance into the pack would not come immediately for this newcomer. She needed to know what the other could provide for Airila, why they were worthy of staying here. It was not that Aludra did not wish to accept everyone, it was simply matter of usefulness. If a bunch of lazy wolves were accepted it could certainly be their downfall. All of the others would have to work eve harder to make survival possible. Some were naturally born with skills, others worked every day to perfect their talent - regardless all who attempted could prove useful in some way. Small or large, help was useful. She had spent her entire life struggling due to her lack of fighting skills; yet, the female still made herself useful. The arctic had been driven by her own desires to learn about the world surrounding them, originally she never realized how useful it would be to her. That she could save lives, like Castien's. Now she was a vital member to their society in Shyia. For the first time, Aludra felt needed and wanted by those around her. The feeling was unfamiliar but more than welcome. For the first time within her existence, she felt as if this was home - a place that she belonged in. The only thing that would make her life better would be the ability to sort out her emotions. Was it right of her to feel this way? Was she being foolish? The white femme was stumped, but now was not the time to worry herself about these issues. 'The east?' Aludra was relieved that this newcomer had not been from the west, that would most certainly cause shivers to freeze her again. The memories of Descai were still strong within her mind, she did not wish to ever relive such an experience. It most certainly would be the death of her. With a light sigh the shaman forced the negativity away from her mind. "What skills do you possess that would aid Airila?" her question was spoke in a gentle inquiring mannerism. Aludra had yet to master the art of acting in an authoritative way.

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Her eyes lit up to the smile that had come to the female's face. She loved making people smile even if it was something so small that she had said or did. Her ears perked at her question. She had many talents that could be useful to any pack.

Her hunting and tracking was beyond helpful. Any pack could use some good trackers or hunters or even both. She knew the way of plants and how to use them, that could be useful too. But she only knew the more basic ones. She knew what to use for burns and deep wounds but not really anything else besides what to eat for a stomachache. But these two might be common to this pack. She thought of other things that she could do.

She could climb trees, very good for being a lookout. She could pup sit if needed. She did love pups. She was an excellent fighter too. From her travels, fighting came in handy.

"I can do just about anything. Although my knowledge in herbs is really just the basic kinds of things, like burns and stomachaches and woudns. I can hunt, fight, climb trees. I'm also an excellent tracker. I'm really good with pups too. I'm also a pretty quick learner." she said naming off a few things. She could do pretty much anything if she was taught how to do it.

She could always watch the border. Her eyes were pretty good for spotting small things. Her observance skills were pretty nice too.

"I can swim pretty well too if that is needed for anything. I can do a little bit of everything. If a murder happens, I could figure out who did it. I can also make plans for just about anything. Moving lands, getting out of a tight spot, attacking another pack, although I heard this pack is pretty peaceful when I was asking around Africa. Fun place, besides the Komodo Dragons. Now those things are evil little things. Tricksters." She said with a slight wrinkle of her nose as she mentioned the Komodo Dragons, her memories of them always ending in them giving her some kind of riddle or bet.

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[atrb=background,http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6300/alumid.png] Aludra's auds remained perked upon her crania, eagerly awaiting the next words that this female was going to speak. It was a pleasant surprise to meet another cheery female, even if Tala could not compete with Cherie. Her most darling friend could bring a smile to a dead hare's mouth. Somehow, that skill had passed beyond Aludra and she remained on the silent side. Truthfully the huntress and shaman were quite opposites; yet, they complimented each other very nicely. The Arctic's mind wandered to thoughts of her friend, how was she doing? It had been a while since she had stumbled across the female for an extended period of time, 'she must be wearing herself down with all of that hunting.' Aludra was becoming increasingly worried about the lack of hunters within the pack. She was of little use, Castien was still recovering, and Toiro and Huxelyi were doing constant border patrols. She shifted herself back towards the dens for a moment, a longing emerald gaze sent behind her towards her family. Hopefully they were all were doing alright, she missed them even when away for only a moment. It seemed that Tala knew quite a bit about almost everything, most canines only had a specialty or knew bits of many fields. The Arctic bobbed her head slightly as the other femme spewed words from her face, 'perhaps she is simply making herself look good. Does she think we are so cruel that we wouldn't accept her unless she exaggerates her skills?' It saddened the shaman that she slightly believed that the newcomer was lying to her, Aludra was not the best in social situations - but she was no moron. One canine could not be totally flawless, they had to have something they lacked; however, this Tala character seemed to have nothing that she couldn't do. Even when it came to conversing the foreign female was skilled at it, something didn't quite settle within Aludra's normally trusting belly. 'I must protect my pack,' the thought rang true within her mind. She could not accept one that exaggerated her capabilities, what else would they lie about? Although the wolves within Airila meant nothing to Tala, they were everything to the Arctic shaman. Toiro, Cherie, all of the others - they had her heart and she was going to protect them as best she could. A sudden word flooded her mind, flashing red before her vibrant green orbs, 'Descai.' Even now, almost a month later, the ice still froze her blood at the thought of that pack. She had been foolish to wander over there in an attempt to gather, it had been so unwise. Especially since she had not told the others that she was leaving Shyia, it would have been so easy for those wolves to waste her. 'Toiro would never know where I went,' even though the shaman didn't know if the brute felt the same towards her, she could assume he would be worried with his shaman's disappearance. The flashbacks hit the female like a rock to the head, her eyelids fluttered shut as they struggled to shield her from the fear. Truthfully, she had been lucky and the encounter had been significantly smoother than what it could have been; however, within her innocent eyes - those wolves were horrifying. Especially the one with no words, Aludra had helped her and then failed her in the end. She had failed at her job as a shaman by taking that canine back to the haunted forest that condemned those wolves. Certainly something had to be off with the innermost energy of Acerbus for such demonic canines to dwell there. The shaman shuddered, 'something needs to be done.' Turning her attention, with once more open, eyes back to the newcomer - Aludra braved herself to speak. Fear inflicted into her voice, she turned her head towards the mountains, "What lies over there?" Her voice was spiced with curiosity, as if the female did not know the answer to the question herself. Ivory pelt whipped around her lithe figure as she took a few steps away from Tala, her mind dragging her poor body around. There were so many things to inquire about with this female, to test and prove. If something was real, then it could be proved. A slight whine escaped her mouth as she prepped herself to ask Tala another question. "Climb trees? I-I am afraid I haven't heard of that happening before. Co-could you show me?" A tremor was evident within her words, confusion settling deep within her brain matter. Disbelief swarmed her, how could wolves climb trees - weren't they far too clumsy and stiff compared to felines. Silence settled over the Arctic once more, as she waited patiently for the femme to answer. Her ears still gave the other canine attention; yet, her mind was drifting about. Thoughts of Toiro were playing delightfully throughout it, she hoped that soon his company would be with her again. Nothing quite made the femme smile like that brute did. 'This is such a strange thing,' her feelings for Toiro could no longer use such a term as 'crush,' by now they were so much more than that. If only she had the strength to tell him.

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She thought for a second, wondering about what really had been there for her. There wasn't really anything for her really but there were some interesting things there. Like the humans, they sang songs of nature and they were interesting to stay with while she was there.

Her thoughts then flew to if she coming off as too perfect. She did tend to do that a lot. Her biggest weakness was big cats. They scared the life out of here. A scar that was mostly hidden by her thick fur had been given to her in a life or death situation with a mountain lion. That encounter had scarred her for life both mentally and literally. She had had to learn a lot from her travels and before she hadn't known how to escape a hard place and a pack of wolves but the idea to wit her self out of both had come to her on the fly.

Although her love, Raven, had probably helped her with that she wondered if he had just taught her everything without her knowing really. She smiled at the thought of him. Thinking of him always made her smile. He always encouraged her to find a mate that could walk in person with her but she longed the day when she could join him wherever he was. He didn't really have a word for it besides the spirit world since the others animals and wolves he said that he lived with called it that.

She turned her attention back to the female.

"We'll some very interesting humans live there. They really respect nature and its animals. I was looking for a pack to join but I didn't really like the weather. Blistering heat isn't really good for a thick coat. I was asking around for any other lands that had packs and some had come from here or had heard of it so I decided to check it out. she explained as her tail swished over the ground lightly, kicking up a little dirt into the air.

When she asked to show how she climbed trees she wondered if that wasn't common for wolves. I wonder if it was just Rain pack that climbed trees she wondered mentally.

" Sure! I'd be happy to!" she said as she went over to the nearest tree and looked up at the lowest branch. She backed away from tree a couple of feet and then ran towards it at full speed before launching herself at the tree and using the momentum from connecting her paws with the tree's surface and jumped up to the low branch, catching herself with her forepaws and scratching with her back paws to get up onto it. She then made her way a few branches up the tree in the same matter unless the branch was low enough for her to just step onto it. She stayed away from branches that wouldn't hold her and stayed close to the base of the branches. She peered down at female from where she was perched.

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[atrb=background,http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6300/alumid.png] This canine was royally confusing the Arctic shaman. How could she have so many skills. 'I don't understand how the stars can align in such a way,' a slight whimper peeked from her maw. Quite concerned about all of this, Tala seemed to know everything. 'Humans? What are those,' even still the explanation that the foreign wolf gave was vague. These far away creatures sounded insane, almost like a fairy tale. Aludra was not fond of discovering things that she knew nothing about, especially something so large. It left a sour after taste in her mouth, made her legs tremble slightly in an attempt to gain strength within her mind once more. Auds quivered slightly, pleased to detect new words from the strange wolf. Perhaps more insight on this weird situation would become evident. For now, the ivory female was certainly baffled. Her head bobbed slowly, emerald orbs studying the other femme as if she was not quite sure what to make of her story. It sounded quite fictitious, but who was she to say. Aludra had not traveled the world, nearly plummeted to her death and then awoke upon Anikira. 'And then Toiro allowed me to join Airila, to become a part of his family,' features distanced themselves as the Alpha played into her mind. The simple truth was revealed, she cared for him greatly - more than he could care for her. After all, he was the Alpha and she just the mere medic. She would care for others, and that was about it. Even if she knew that her skills were important, they could certainly not catch the heart of a brute such as him. 'Don't drown Tala out,' a slight jump and her attention settled upon the other female once more. "What are humans?" She could not hold the thought within her mind any longer, even if the other was halfway up the tree by the time the shaman had spoken. The idea of such creatures were absolutely raping her brain. Shouldn't she have heard of an animal like these? Tala spoke of humans as if everyone knew about them, Aludra refused to believe she was the only oblivious one. There had to be others who did not know of this species. 'I can't possibly be alone in this confusion, can I?' Another whimper caught the still air surrounding them. Perhaps this creature was from a different land, one far away and undiscovered. 'Maybe she was some lucky survivor,' her mind reeled, making her nearly sick to her stomach. How was she to deal with such a feat? Emerald orbs played among the branches within the trees, observing the canine hop up the branches. Her balance and coordination was indeed impressive, Aludra would not have been able to manage such a thing. She had just recently managed to gain coordination while running, that was why she was a shaman. Her skills were within her mind, while others needed to rely upon their body. 'Maybe I am at an advantage,' for a moment she held felt a pang of jealousy at some of the others. She still was undecided upon what to think of this Tala creature, she said she had came from the warmth - Xisyn? The Occasus? A shiver etched away at her body. "Where did you come from that was so warm?" Komodo dragons were something she had heard of before, but they did not live upon Africa which was the nearest continent that she knew of. That and they were vicious creatures, frightfully patient and fast runners. Her studies upon them were more based upon here say, and elder had seen them once before upon his travels. 'He taught me quite a bit,' Aludra was positive that the stars were caring from him now that his body had passed.

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[atrb=background,http://cdn.garcya.us/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/cool-background_010.jpg,true] She mentally smacked herself for her stupidity as her last words about Komodo Dragons came back to her, and realized she had referenced them wrongly. Komodo Dragons were in Komodo. Her mind quickly recovered itself from her brain fart. Africa had had the lions and the giant ass snakes and the alligators, making it almost impossible to drink with a feeling of safety. " Excuse my brainfart. Komodo Dragons are in Komodo. Now the alligators and crocodile's were the tricky things to spot. Never very safe to drink water other then from very small puddles." she explained, bowing her head slightly in apology. She chuckled lightly to brush it off better. Her brain had been a little scattered lately when usually it was very straight forward and organized. She made a mental note to reorganize her mind later whenever she got sometime to herself. She made her way back down to the ground and landed with a light thud. "Of course climbing trees always comes in handy with crocidile's." she said as she finished that part of the conversation so that she could focus on the questions that the she-wolf had given to her. " Oh I thought you were aware of humans, " she said as she thought about how to describe humans. " Well humans are creature's that walk only on there hind legs and have fore legs like monkeys that they can pick up things and some other stuff with them instead of using their mouths like we usually do. " she explained as she sat down, wrapping her tail around her paws. She liked being informative although she had kinda always assumed everyone knew about humans. But oh well, she would be happy to explain to anyone who wanted to know, what they were. She laughed quietly to herself as she though about how to answer her second question. She was from pretty cold climate. She came from Canada and had made her way around the world, starting in Canada and making her way down to the U.S. and continued from there. Personally she preferred the more cooler climates. " Oh I'm not originally from anywhere really warm. I started off in a country called Canada and I've made my way around the world from there. It's been quite fun but I feel that I need to settle down and maybe even raise a family. " she explained as she smiled. Thoughts of raising a family had always been at the front of her mind. Word Count: 410 words Muse: Pretty good. Testing out table Notes: - OOC from Staff: Tala still cannot know that Aludra was thinking about the Komodo Dragons. They have not been mentioned in a couple posts by Tala. While you may know this bit of information, Tala does not and it seems very out of place that she randomly references them again merely because Aludra thought about it. OOC from me: worded it incorrectly fixed it