It's the struggle that shapes us [joining]

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Icy sheets of rain drizzled from the heavens, catching the black timber wolf by surprise. She yelped and quickly picked up her pace, ducking her head and flattening her ears as she bolted for cover. The Kinath mountain range was tough to navigate even at the best of times, and it wasn't long before she was forced to slow down again, or risk losing her grip on the freezing rock. It's just a bit of rain, she chided herself. You've known worse. Unhappily, Elasha resigned herself to continuing on at a slower pace, carefully placing each paw as she navigated the icy path. She was descending, having made her way into Amar territory from the plains of I'queyer. The peaks were behind her, but now she was moving downwards, and her body was oddly contorted as she endeavored to keep her balance. Hindquarters rose high above her shoulders, forelegs were stiffly propped, and her back paws danced to keep her from sliding down on her rump. And now it was raining, the wind driving sheets of it into her face where it invaded her ears, dripped into her mouth, stung her eyes, and drenched her coat. Elasha was built for a multitude of climates, but the cold was worming its way into her bones. Panting with the effort, she made her way to the base of the incline, then turned to traverse the mountain horizontally, relieved that at least she could move normally again, even if the wind and rain were still making her miserable.

She hadn't been in Anikira long, but it was enough to know that the wolf community was a thriving one. She didn't remember much of the sea journey here, only that it was not an experience she wanted to repeat. Coming to the island had been entirely an accident, brought about by a badly timed swim and a relentless ocean current. She'd struggled against the pull of the water for several hours, sure that she was going to drown. Then she blacked out, and she must have left the current at some point, because when she awoke, she was floating several hundred yards away from a sandy beach. After dragging herself onto shore and shaking the water from her inky coat, she set out to explore this strange new world. Several times she'd scented other wolves in the area, but she didn't yet feel comfortable enough to approach. Now, as she braved the mountains in the middle of a rainstorm, she was beginning to wonder why she'd picked this day to enter the territory of another pack. It probably would have suited her better to stay in I'queyer, where at least she didn't have to worry about falling to her death. Grimacing, Elasha looked ahead and saw that the narrow path sloped sharply downwards again. Urged on by the wind at her back, she carefully slid her forepaws down the incline, clenching her paws so that her curving claws gave her traction on the icy rock. Her body followed, stiff with tension, every movement under careful control. But a particularly strong gust of wind caught her off balance, and at the same moment, one of her forepaws slipped on the ice. With a cry of terror, Elasha began to slide downwards uncontrollably, her legs splaying and paws scrabbling for some form of purchase on the mountain trail. Her teeth snapped instinctively, striving for a branch or something she could use to halt herself, but there was nothing. There was no time for her to contemplate death. Everything happened in the space of a second, and time seemed to have accelerated so that there was not even a chance for her to think.

At the bottom of the slope was a sharp turn to the right. The mountain wall curved, forming a ninety-degree angle, the path turning in sympathy with it. Elasha hit the wall side-on with a dull thud, the impact knocking all the remaining wind from her lungs. She crumpled to the ground, her ribs searing with agony. The world seemed to be spinning now that she'd come to a stop, and it was several moments before she could struggle to her feet and make an inventory of herself. Her body was bruised and sore, but nothing seemed broken. Gingerly she took a step, and then another, feeling relieved when she realized she could still move about. She was badly winded and had some trouble breathing, but she would recover from that after her outraged diaphragm began working properly once more. Elasha continued forward slowly, nearly crawling. There was a sheltered outcrop about fifty yards away that she might rest in, if she could make it safely there. After covering the distance, Elasha dragged herself under the roof of rock, wet and dripping, but relieved that she was out of the worst of the wind and rain. Quietly she lay down, settling herself with her head on her paws, body curled up to fit inside the hollow hole in the mountain's face.

It was not her intention to sneak into Amar territory. She wanted to herself known eventually; indeed, she'd hoped to meet someone today. But the rain was still bucketing down, and the path truly was too treacherous to attempt for the moment. Her little mishap just proved that, and the adrenaline would take a long time to leave her system. It might be a better idea to stay here for the next day or two, at least until the rain died down. Of course, she would have to contend with the mountain being even more slippery as a result of the accumulation of more frozen water, but that was a risk she would have to take.

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[atrb=background,http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/GreenEyedMonster101/Anikira/Requests/KidMid.png?t=1344230995] More rain. It wasn't even warm nice rain. It was cold and icy rain. Kiddo liked the cold but the rain? Not so much. Kiddo sighed to himself as he once again made his way back to the mountains. It seemed like he had been spending a lot of time there. Between his few and far in between naps and meeting new members here quite frequently, he hadn't had much time to do anything else. As he began the ascension up the mountain, his paws slipped slightly. Damn mountain. Kiddo thought to himself. As well as the mountain worked for cover and it was difficult to find unless one knew where it was which was excellent it was also a bitch to climb in the rain. Kiddo had thought that the rain would be over now with it being this far into the winter. He would have sword that it would be snow and ice instead of slippery rocks. He didn't know which would be worse though. Ice or water? He guessed that water would be better than ice because at least one could see it but still, the mountain was not nice to climb in any conditions that were less than perfect. A scent came into Kiddo's nose. It was one that he didn't recognize but it was female for sure. A female on the mountain? Weird. Kiddo decided to follow the scent to see who it was instead of ignoring it and having a possible security threat. When he arrived to the place that the scent was the strongest, he found a young black female resting in one of the caves in the mountain. She was lucky she hadn't gotten herself into the dens of the pack. She would have been dead if she had. Wake up. He commanded her. Who are you and why are you in my cave? He asked her. His voice wasn't impressed but he wasn't as pissed off as he normally would have been. He wasn't sure what was going on with him. Was he getting soft? No. He couldn't be. His pack needed a strong leader. He would have to slap some sense into himself later. ((sorry for the wait on this))

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The black wolf stirred in her sleep, paws twitching and eyes roaming beneath her closed lids. A soft growl emanated from raised lips that bared her teeth for a second or two. Elasha had not meant to doze off, but her mind and body were exhausted after the long journey and harrowing trip down the mountain, and it had not taken long for unconsciousness to claim her. As a result, she woke with a surprised jerk when another wolf's voice issued from above her. Had she truly fallen asleep? She didn't even remember closing her eyes. Blinking as she tried to orient herself, she glanced up at the bigger canine, a little bit slow to comprehend what he had just said. As one thought started to connect to another, and the fog of sleep began to dissipate from her mind, she realized that he was questioning her, and he didn't sound friendly at all. Unimpressed, bored, maybe a little bit irritated, but at least there was no aggression in his tone. She took heart from that, the fact that while he obviously had a dominant position around here, he was not ready to attack her for being in his home. Not yet.

Elasha pulled herself slowly into a sitting position, inhaling sharply as her bruised muscles made themselves known. She thumped her dark tail against the stone, wagging it a few times in an attempt to be friendly to the other wolf. This was the pack that she hoped to join, and if the wolf she was speaking with had the power to accept her, then she wanted to make a good impression. She'd already started on the wrong foot by being caught napping. "I am Elasha," she responded. "I'm here because I wanted to join a pack, but I didn't get far before this bad weather caught up with me, so I thought I would wait it out in this cave. I can leave if you wish?" A miserable glance was sent outside as she finished speaking, and she found herself fervently hoping that the grey-coated wolf wouldn't send her away. The rain was still bucketing down, being shuffled horizontally in great sheets by the wind, and she shuddered to think about exposing herself to the elements once more, not now that she had found a shelter that was at least dry. Her coat was still quite drenched, so she couldn't have been here long before the other wolf had found her. It was cold, but she could handle it. After her blistering trek down the coastline of Africa, she could definitely appreciate the less-than-warm temperatures here.

She allowed her dun-colored eyes to drift respectfully towards the floor, bowing her sculpted head slightly as she awaited his reply. But she couldn't prevent herself from flicking a glance his way, momentarily, to get a better look at him. There was an air of confidence about him that suggested he could be the Alpha here, but then, she had originally assumed that he was a member of the pack who happened to have laid claim to this cave. It had been so long since she'd had to ponder pack hierarchies, and there was a part of her that was reluctant to join a pack and relinquish the freedom she'd enjoyed for so long. But she was tired of being on her own. She was tired of having places to go and humans to hide from, all with the knowledge that there was no one to watch out for her if she somehow could not go on. Loneliness was an all-too-familiar companion for her these days, and she missed the company of her own kind. And this was the pack she wanted to join. Sure she hadn't been everywhere in Anikira, and she didn't know much about the other packs. She didn't know much about this one either, but she was eager to learn, and find a place in what she hoped she could consider her new family.

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[atrb=background,http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/GreenEyedMonster101/Anikira/Requests/KidMid.png?t=1344230995] The wolf sleeping in front of him awoke with a jolt and slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. She wagged or..thumped rather her tail on the stone cold ground they were both standing on. He assumed it to be an attempt to be friendly. Her friendly attempt still didn't make him any less pleased. He wanted to know where all of these loners were coming from. She introduced herself as Elasha. It was an odd name for sure. It must have been a family name or something. He couldn't imagine looking at a baby girl and saying "Elasha." That wasn't really his business though and it wasn't important that he knew why she was named the way she was. The issue at hand was more important. She said she wished to join here and that because of the bad weather, she took refuge here. It was understandable he guessed but that didn't make this any less of a security threat. She glanced down miserably at the ground. She was either telling him the truth or a very good actress. Either could be useful he guessed. He glanced out the cave entrance for a second and the rain was still pouring it's buckets over the land. It's nasty out there, Kiddo thought to himself. He didn't really want to go out there again and try to make it to the real den before he had to so he guessed he would see what use the female could do for him. What do you have to offer my pack? He asked her in a confident tone. As the alpha he could chose who entered and who did not and as his pack was growing, the more secure they got. However, this would mean more mouths to feed so she had better be useful. The more members joined, the more pieces had to be divided up for everyone. He was willing to listen to her as her story seemed to have checked out but that didn't give her a pass into the pack. She still had to offer some kind of skill that would benefit them all. He saw it as a give and take. He would provide shelter and a place to live and a family for them all to enjoy and the members had to give their talents and abilities to make the pack a success. He was learning that he couldn't do everything on his own, he needed wolves helping him to make this the best pack Anikira had ever seen and the only wolves he could look to were his pack members. So, they had better be looking for the same goal.

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If Elasha had any doubt about whom she was speaking with, the stranger's next sentence erased it. "What do you have to offer my pack?" His pack. Of course, he was the Alpha. Elasha felt a little bit slow for not recognizing this earlier, but it'd been a long time since she'd lived in a pack. Knowing his rank made little difference to the way she would treat him, but she was glad to know that she was speaking with someone who had the final word around here. The timber wolf drifted another glance his way, curious to hear if he had anything else to say for himself. She had asked him if he wished her to depart from the cave, but it seemed as if he had chosen to ignore that, preferring instead to move on with the initiation routine. He also seemed similarly unaffected by her friendly tail wag, not that she had placed much importance on the action anyway. It had merely been a gesture to show that she was pleased with his company and intended no harm. Either way, despite being baffled and somewhat hurt by his dismissive manner, she was glad that he at least was willing to listen to her and ask questions. He could just as easily drive her away or attack her for trespassing. His manner was nothing personal to her, Elasha decided. Maybe he'd just seen too many loners recently, or perhaps he had come upon her at a bad time. Some wolves were like that, anyway, always choosing to get right to the point rather than dancing around the topic with idle chatter.

She pondered his direct question for a moment or two, feeling that it deserved a little bit of thought. What could she do? She hadn't considered that she would be interviewed like this, but it did make sense. Everyone in a pack had a part to play, for the good of the team. What could she offer that would be of use? "I can hunt," she said, proud of that fact. She had been born in a wildlife park, where she and her family had been fed dead meat, and it was only after she'd escaped the clutches of humans that she'd managed to teach herself how to catch prey. Her learning period had been tough, and there were times when she was sure she was going to die of starvation, but there was nothing like the motivation of an empty stomach to teach you to learn fast. "I have a little bit of knowledge about some plants used for healing, but not much. Most of what I know is self-taught, learned from experimentation." A hesitation, then she added, "As far as fighting goes, I haven't done a lot of that. But I'm a quick learner and very team-oriented. Whatever your pack needs, I'll volunteer to do." Lifting her head, the shadowy timber wolf met the Alpha's gaze, eager for a response.

Hopefully there would be something that she could do to aid Amar. She was very happy to hunt, but she'd never actually hunted for anyone else except herself before. She was used to catching rodents, small birds, maybe the occasional injured or sick deer. Once she had found a hibernating bear, and killed it in its sleep. The meat fed her for several days, and when the leftovers finally spoiled, there had still been enough to feed her for a week longer. Elasha had also never participated on a pack hunt before, and she understood that working as a team to bring down prey was quite different to the individual style she was used to. Still, if the Alpha of this pack was willing to allow her a chance, she was eager to contribute to the best of her ability.