Practice Makes Perfect [Joining]

[Vixen]

The former shaman had been wandering aimlessly through the loner lands for quite some time, mourning the loss of yet another pack that she had been a part of. It seemed that all packs she joined were destined to fall – whether beset by some great calamity, or anti-climatically disbanded out of inactivity.

What was worse was that everyone she had ever known had fallen with them; she had no idea if any of the wolves she knew were still out there somewhere, somehow surviving, or whether they had long ago passed away. In fact, today Vixen couldn’t say she knew a single soul on this massive island – the island where she had spent the full three and a half years of her life.

For the millionth time this year, Vixen ‘s life story replayed itself in her head, as her poor brain tried to figure out where she was going wrong or how she could possibly have such bad luck. Haishin had been the pack she was born into, followed by Isata, then Ryala, which had been converted into Tassos before Tassos too had fallen apart. No matter how she looked at it, there didn’t seem to be any links between these packs’ demises – the reason for their disappearance was totally incomprehensible for the young femme.

If it were her choice, she would never join another pack, to prevent the same thing from happening all over again, but the truth was there was no way she could continue to survive alone. Life as a loner was not treating her well, and offered her nothing to distract from the depressing thoughts plaguing her mind. That was why she was currently standing at the entrance to the subterranean territory of Aleru, home to the Ultoris pack. They seemed to have a good reputation in the area; though a small pack, she had heard that they were highly skilled wolves who worked as a team, both qualities which Vixen admired. And who knew? Perhaps all of the other packs’ failures had been destiny’s way of bringing her to Ultoris – the pack where she truly belonged. Vixen hoped with all her heart that that was the case, and hoped that she would not turn out to be a curse once more.

It was perhaps a selfish thought to think that she, a scrawny limp-legged runt, could somehow affect the fate of entire packs – she knew there was really nothing to her poor pack history but unhappy coincidence – and yet Vixen lingered for an eternity at the border before she eventually managed to summon up the courage to call out to the alpha. Her voice was thin and high, betraying her somewhat weakened state, but clear enough to show that she was not about to fall dead on her feet or cause an inconvenience for the alpha. Once her howl had shakily finished, Vixen settled down on her rump and nervously awaited the interview which would hopefully bring her into her last pack – a pack which would finally give her the permanent home she had been searching for.

[Severus]

Laying on the stone floor of the cave that he called home, Severus began to reflect on how much his life has changed since when he had first found himself in the lands known as Aleru.

On his way from the cave that he had hid away in for quite some time, he had unknowingly entered the lands that were claimed by the pack that was called Tassos. He had injured himself while trekking through the sandy terrain and the alpha just happened to show up. His name was Rasalas and he was merciful to Severus and allowed him to stay in his pack’s lands until he had fully healed. During that time, Severus had grown rather attached to Rasalas. The two became friends and when the day came that Severus was healed enough to leave, Rasalas was kind enough to offer him a place in his pack. Severus had declined the alpha’s offer, but he made sure to maintain the two’s friendship.

A few days later, he happened upon the lands of Aleru. When he had first arrived here, he didn’t know what to expect, but before he knew it, he had joined a pack that went by the name Ultoris and was ruled by a brute that was named Fury. Severus had kept his distance from the pack and its members for the majority of the time since he was still having anger flare ups. He often sneaked out of Aleru and went to visit Rasalas. His secret meetings with Rasalas ended up paying off since one day, Severus had saved a female from a bobcat attack and she happened to be Rasalas’s mate. The return of the female to Rasalas allowed an alliance to form between Ultoris and Tassos.

Even after being the cause of an alliance being formed, Severus still found himself avoiding his pack mates for he still felt uncomfortable around him. On top of that, he still had periodic anger flare ups and he knew that it was best to stay far away from others for their safety. However, one day, Fury had called for a pack meeting and Severus feared that this meeting was about his anger. Severus began to think that Fury had followed him to one of his meetings with Rasalas and found out about his secret. This thought made Severus not want to go to the meeting, but he forced himself to and to his relief, it was concerning the oncoming winter and lack of prey. Severus secretly swore to himself that he would soon tell Fury of his secret.

Before Severus was able to confess his secret, Fury and all of the others had disappeared as had Rasalas and his pack. This left Severus in solitude once again, something he was far too used to but he refused to live such a life again so he took over the rank as alpha, even though the pack was pretty much dead. The feeling of being abandoned caused a rise in his anger, and it all came out one day when he found an ivory femme hunting in his lands. Severus had attacked the female and was close to killing her when a flashback of the death of his parents rushed through his mind. The flashback spared the innocent femme’s life and Severus took her to outside the cave before retreating back into the cave. This incident had completely changed him and he was a new wolf. He no longer felt any traces of the anger that has plagued him for so long.

Since that day, Ultoris had gained two new members. Both were females and their names were Mikiu and Adsila. Mikiu had grabbed his attention at first site since she was the most beautiful she wolf that he had ever seen. He had been meaning to meet with her again to get to know her better, but he hadn’t gotten the chance to yet. He hoped to do so soon because she had really peaked his interest.
His thoughts were interrupted by the howl that came from outside the cave. It belonged to a female and from the sounds of it, she was seeking acceptance. Severus pushed himself up from off the ground and set off at a light trot toward the awaiting she wolf. Upon arriving to the wolf’s location, Severus give the newcomer a quick glance over. She was definitely smaller and seemed to have something wrong with one of her limbs. However, this did not matter to Severus because every wolf had a purpose. “Greetings miss, I am Severus, the alpha of Ultoris. What brings you here,” he said in a friendly tone and then shooting the stranger a smile that matched his tone.

WORDS: 788 | TAGS: Vixen

[Vixen]

The small cross bred she wolf waited patiently at the borders to the land of Aleru, glancing around to observe her surroundings in more detail as a way of passing the time while she waited for the alpha of Ultoris to arrive. The cave entrance stood not too far before her, a dark chasm in the earth waiting to swallow up those who dared to venture inside. She had never been in there herself, but rumour had it that if a wolf wanted to cross from one territory on Anikira to another undetected, this was the way to go. That had changed of course when the Ultoris pack had claimed the territory – although perhaps they still did allow visitors to pass through. She didn’t know.

The nervous girl started at the sudden appearance of the brute – even from this distance she could tell that he towered over her despite only being of average size for a male. Vixen scrambled to her feet in an effort to be polite, but unfortunately her leg buckled during the process, revealing her weakness. She winced visibly, from embarassment rather than pain, but fortunately managed to stabilise herself so that she now stood submissively facing what was hopefully her future alpha.

As expected, he asked her for her purpose of calling him, and the petite female gulped nervously as the wrds she had prepared flew straight out of her head. Just because she had joined several packs in the past didn’t make the process any less nerve-wracking. What if he didn’t like her? What if he refused her entrance into his pack? Where could she go then? “H-hi, Severus,” Vixen started. “I came here to join your pack. I uh… don’t know a lot but I’m alright with herbs and things… I was a shaman for my old pack… yeah.” The silver eyed femme trailed off awkwardly, but then realised that she hadn’t even properly introduced herself. “Oh, my name’s Vixen, by the way.”

[Severus]

Brown orbs watched as the dainty she wolf tried to situate herself into a more submissive stance. He saw that she struggled at first which caused him to feel bad for her. It was apparent to the alpha that something was wrong with one of her back legs. Seeing her struggle reminded him of when he had injured one of his limbs, so he was able to sympathize with her. He knew all too well the frustrations of not being able to do simple things such as changing one’s stance. However, the female didn’t give up and she was able to finally herself in her desired stance. Severus respected her determination of achieving said stance since not all wolves would deal with such a struggle to show respect and would just give up, or he at least he would have back when he was injured. Then again, he wasn’t that much of a respectful wolf in general back then.

The female finally spoke once she had steadied herself. She was obviously nervous for it was very evident in her tone of voice. In an attempt to make the newcomer feel more at ease, Severus went from standing up to sitting down in hopes that his more relaxed stance would make the she wolf feel more relaxed. When the female did speak, she introduced herself as Vixen and that she wished to join his pack. She also informed the alpha that the only knowledge she had was that of herbs and that she was a shaman for the previous packs that she had been in. Ultoris lacked a shaman so Vixen would be a great addition to the pack. “I wouldn’t say that you don’t know much for from what I know, herbalism is a great knowledge and requires a lot of studying. We would love to have you in our pack, Vixen. It just so happens that we don’t have a shaman, so if you would like you could be our shaman,” he replied followed by the placement of a smile on his maw.

WORDS: 344 | TAGS: Vixen