if you go down to the woods today [Chaika]

[Lynker]

Lynker padded silently through the Zaor Forest, hazel eyes darting from shadow to shadow as he cautiously slunk between the giant looming trees. The small black wolf still wasn’t comfortable here, despite this being the territory of Zakur, the pack that he had reluctantly been persuaded to join by Nashira. His den in the deep hollow underneath the large tree stump in Nyspoli’s Pool had been his home for the past three years, and always would be. He could never imagine moving from there, even though he should be sleeping in the Usklhon Caverns along with the rest of his pack.

His pack… it felt strange to think of them as such, a collection of strange wolves he didn’t even know the names of. Their scents, of course, he knew well by now, but whenever anyone ever wandered near his territory down by the pool, he always seemed to be conveniently absent, disappearing into the shadows as if he never existed. As a result, he had not come across another of his own kind since he had met Nashira after the great pack that was Amar had dissolved.

At that time, the runty outsider had in fact been quietly pleased at the downfall of the Amar pack, as it meant that he would finally be able to live alone again. Somehow, however, he’d managed to convince the daughter of Hadrian not only to take over the pack after Kiddo’s absence, but to drag him back into the confusing business of pack politics with her. So far, he’d been doing well to avoid that side of being in a pack, so it hadn’t made too much of a difference to his life, he supposed. The black-furred arctic could continue to live his life in peace with- What was that?

A sudden noise in the shadows off to Lynker’s right made him bristle in alarm as he spun to face whoever was approaching, his heart leaping into a strong quick rhythm in preparation for battle. But soon he saw that there had been no cause for worry; a dainty russet-furred creature emerged from the bushes, and smile broke out on the arctic wolf’s maw as he recognised his friend, Rustle. The fox in turn came to halt in his surprise, an incredulous expression on his normally composed face. “Sir Lynker? Why, I never would have expected to see you out here, sir! I was certain that my nose must have been deceiving me when I first caught your scent. Whatever are you doing so far from Nyspoli’s Pool?”

Lynker shrugged lightly in response to the fox’s question. “I guess I just wanted to explore. This is technically my territory too, so I should know it well in case any intruders appear.” Despite the bear-like wolf’s aversion to social situations with others of his species, he took his duty as a warrior for Zakur seriously. Already, he had learned the paths of the Kinath mountain range, the outer limits of the territory (now that the pack had withdrawn from Tiayr), and although he still wasn’t completely comfortable with navigating the dangerous icy slopes he made the effort to patrol along the borders at least once a week.

“Well, sir, it is good to see you.” The fox dipped his head out of habit, then titled his head to the side as he regarded Lynker with his intelligent brown eyes. Rustle had grown much more confident around Lynker and his other companions in the time since they had first met, and now it seemed as if he had always been a part of their little group. However, despite Lynker’s repeated assurances that they were friends so he didn’t have to call him ‘sir’, the fox had never been able to drop the title and continued to retain his stiff and formal demeanor. Lynker was used to it by now though, so he turned, motioning for the smaller creature to follow him. “If you’d like to come with me, I’m actually heading for that little glade near the bottom of the mountains. I think there are a bunch of bushes with those nice berries so I was going to see if I could get some before winter.”

The fox and the wolf walked side by side through the gloomy forest, Lynker a little more relaxed now that his friend was with him, though he still cast glances over his shoulder now and again, and regularly scented the air. It could never hurt to be too cautious in an unfamiliar area, and the male’s alertness to his surroundings this time would undoubtedly make him more certain about being able to find his way when he next passed through this part of the forest.

Finally, the pair reached the clearing they'd been looking for, and Lynker was delighted to find that there were still a few berries clinging to the bushes he remembered. With his grumbling belly urging him to not waste any more time, the small wolf loped over and began to carefully extract the berries from their tricky positions within the tangle of plants, slipping them into his mouth with small grunts of contentment. Rustle worked beside him, using his more nimble paws to reach into the tighter spots which Lynker couldn’t get to. Although the small berries would not satisfy his aching hunger, they were a delicious snack and would hopefully allow him to last long enough to catch a more substantial meal later.



.

[Deleted]

Chaika crouched behind a small boulder, his muscled already tensed and prepared to leap at any moment. He had been stalking a small, feeble fawn through the Oriens for almost an hour now. Fidgety and dazed, the young deer had obviously been separated from her mother within the time span of the last two days or so. It was quite rare that the Timber brute felt any form of sympathy for his prey, - it was the circle of life for wolves to feed off of the smaller animals on the continent - but this frail, nervous creature managed to put a small ache in his heart. The average canine would look at the young doe and see a mere bundle of easy meat, but Chaika saw a scared, lost daughter who had a worried mother somewhere, searching for her too. Unconsciously, the male had been debating whether or not to strike the small creature every time he was in position to do so, but quite conveniently, the fawn had decided to search a new section of the forest before the brute's mind could make a decision. But, now, Chaika had no choice but to kill the innocent girl and carry the meat up to the dens for another Zakur member to enjoy because the unsuspecting fawn had grown tired from all of her searching and fallen asleep on a small bed of leaves on the other side of the boulder.

To prevent himself from thinking twice about his actions, the Timber male leaped around the corner and landed on the minuscule, sleeping figure. He heard the satisfying crack of the fawn's neck breaking, and he smiled, glad that he could make her death as quick and painless as possible. Gently, he lifted the deer from the ground with his jaws, and headed for the Kinath. Truthfully, he could have used the energy from the meat considering that the last meal Chaika had eaten was yesterday. But, his duty was to feed his pack, not himself, and he honestly couldn't bear to consume the small deer. She had somehow reminded him that he would also have children of his own soon. The last thing the brute would want is for his offspring to go through the traumatic experience of getting lost. He and Annabelle, his beloved femme, had mated a few months earlier, and although the experience itself was incredible, the male was certain that no puppies were on their way just yet because the breeding had taken place out of season. Hopefully the pair would try again this winter, though, because he did want to raise a family with the gorgeous Arctic female this year.

Suddenly, the scent of a fellow packmate entered his nostrils. He shifted direction, so he could cross paths with the other wolf and hopefully have a pleasant conversation. It had been a while since he had the opportunity to relax and just talk with anyone - minus Annabelle, of course. When a small black wolf and a bush came into view, Chaika did a double take. Was that Zakur's warrior, Lynker? The brute had heard of him, but never had the chance to meet him quite yet. Someone had told the male that the black brute usually stayed near Nyspoli's Pool and rarely ventured from the area. When he got closer to his packmate, he noticed that he was eating berries that were growing on the tangled bush, and there was a small, red colored fox beside him. Odd, but not impossible, Chaika supposed. He approached the pair of berry-eating canids and placed the fawn on the ground before smiling at them. "Hello, Lynker -- and who might you be, sir?" he said in a friendly and respectful voice. He didn't want to offend the warrior or the small fox that stood next to him. Even though they weren't the same species, Chaika guessed that he should treat him as an equal. The Eastern Timber Wolf sat down, his tail swaying back and forth cheerfully as he awaited a response.

words :: 682
tags :: Lynker
muse :: mehh
notes :: I hope this doesn't suck too much lol <3

[Lynker]

Lynker and Rustle continued to pick berries off the tree together for a while longer, soon settling into a steady rhythm as they hunted their prey. It was harder than it looked to get the berries from the bushes to one’s mouth without dropping them on the leafy forest floor, but Lynker’s long sharp claws came in handy and they didn’t have too much trouble collecting berries from even the trickier spots.

But that didn’t stop the wolf’s mouth from watering as the scent of deer drifted into his nares. Although he loved berries, the taste of fresh meat was always satisfying and the smell elicited another grumble of hunger from his nearly empty belly. The smell seemed very close though… strangely close. He paused briefly in his berry-gathering to look around to see why, and with a jolt noticed that a wolf he recognised as the pack’s sole hunter, Chaika, had appeared at the edge of the little glade carrying the body of a small brown fawn. Lynker watched as the male approached, placing his catch on the ground and greeting the two canines politely.

“Hello Chaika,” Lynker replied warily, but with no hostility in his tone. He was confused as to why Chaika would be here; surely the male wouldn’t have sought him out on purpose? He supposed it was most likely an accidental meeting – like his meeting with Rustle earlier in the day – nothing more to it. There was no reason why he should be suspicious every time a wolf approached. Besides, he had nothing against this friendly looking member of Zakur and there was no point in making enemies within his own pack.

His fox friend certainly approved of the strange wolf. Rustle’s brown eyes sparkled in delight at being addressed directly, although he managed to retain his composure and give a dignified reply, bowing his head to the wolf as he did so. “My name is Rustle, sir, companion to Sir Lynker, Sir Curse, Lady Astra, and Lady Ria Asariel Azuri. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” The small rust coloured fox happily settled himself into a comfortable seated position, and it was obvious to the black arctic that he intended to stay and chat with the new wolf.

Still wincing a little at the fox’s over-informative and enthusiastic greeting, Lynker turned his attention back to Chaika. “Yes... I see the hunting’s going good?” Lynker enquired of the larger male. He still wasn’t a hundred percent comfortable with talking to wolves, as he had little idea of what they liked or disliked talking about, but he figured that since this one was a hunter it would be safe to ask him how the prey was running. Besides, the scent of the deer had invaded his brain, and he couldn’t keep his mind off what it would be like to taste fresh warm meat again. Perhaps he would ask Astra to join him on a hunt later on in the day; the gyrfalcon was very useful at spotting prey from up above, which gave him the advantage he needed to make a successful kill.



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