A Small Gift [Toiro, Airila]

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The female's swift gait could hardly be heard over the tide washing in and out upon the sandy shore. It would be midday soon, and the femme had decided that it would be the day that she requested to join a group of other wolves. Nervousness had swollen to her brim, and her tail whipped slowly behind her. 'What if they absolutely despise me, then I shall look a fool,' despite the melancholic thoughts floating within herself, the femme knew that she could take a scientific approach to this whole pack joining thing. Tightly grasped in her jaws was a bundle of plants from the southern tip of the island. The femme gathered herbs on her travels, depending on what the stars for told the future would be. It did not aid her nervousness that last night the sky was most completely clouded over. Upon reaching the center most point of the beach the femme stopped. She stood a safe distance from the water, but permitted herself to be completely out in the open.

The femme set the bundle down upon the sands and nuzzled it open for only a moment. The three she was most concerned about were still laying rather perfectly and undamaged. 'Thankfully my slight wrap for them worked well, I hope they find these to be acceptable offerings of my abilities and skill,' Aludra smiled and tilted her head to the side as a gentle breeze rolled off the water. Her green orbs swept across the beach before settling out over the water, it was absolutely serene and beautiful here. The femme couldn't help but think about this being her home, it was perhaps the most beautiful place she had seen. 'This would be quite a place to raise whelps, to educate others on the benefits of herbs and the stars. To learn about the world around us...' Her thoughts were trailing in and out for several minutes before the femme turned her cranium back towards the cavern. A shy sigh escaped her lips and she nuzzled the bundle tightly back together, taking great care not to crush the kelp and quepna together. The ika pija, although rather common was included in the bundle as well.

The femme hoped that they would welcome her, yet the fear was still swelling deep in her heart. Aludra had taken great care to pick the best of these three plants and keep them well preserved on her journey up north. The south was rather unpleasant during the day time, and she was thankful to be back where the weather was much cooler. This land was far too perfect for the female to want to be anywhere else, but her exotic gift that could help out the preexisting pack members had been well thought out on her part. And secretly, Aludra was slightly excited to offer out the gift. Within her soul, the femme loved to see other creature's smile when they receive a gift or knowledge that they are pleased about, and it was her greatest honor to give that happiness to them. Tilting her head back slowly, the femme emitted a rather song-like howl announcing her presence upon the land.

Upon finishing, her green optics almost instantly darted across the terrain. She felt exhilarated now, knowing that perhaps it was finally time for her to gain a home again. Not to be cocky, but Aludra truly believed that she could help others. With her high intelligence and knowledge of the Earth, she wanted nothing more than to see those around her living happy and knowledge filled lives. Knowledge provided safety. When one knew about war tactics or medicine or fighting, they were far more likely to survive than the barbarians. Unfortunately for Aludra, she knew about nearly everything except fighting. Hunting in itself was highly difficult for the femme. She was by no means weak, and upon watching her walk and play one would believe she was almost dancing. There was a certain elegance the femme had, yet she was hardly able to catch a hare for her own meal. Defending herself? Now that was damn near impossible.

The femme shivered in anticipation as her eyes were cast low to the ground. Her head was dipped low between her shoulder blades in a position of typical submission, while her tail flickered low between her hindquarters. The femme was scared, that was certain; yet, within that tail wag was her glimmer of hope for the future.

[Toiro]

The alpha of Airila was stretched out on a large flat rock, with his head between his paws. The gentle midday sun warmed his pelt, but the air was nice and cool, not like the hot stuffy weather further down south. This territory was his home, and he didn’t think he could ever live anywhere else. It was perfect as far as he was concerned; it was decently sized but not too hard to patrol, the temperature was just right, a variety of prey lived in the mountains and in the forest, there was fresh water right next to their den site, and caverns to shelter from storms, there were great sunbathing rocks and even a nice sandy beach. Yes, he loved Shyia.

Toiro lay on the rock in the silence, staring off into the trees but not really seeing them. His mind was blank; he didn’t want to think about anything, especially not the vulnerability of his pack. The depression that had filled his thoughts with dark helplessness after Nikia’s death was beginning to creep back in, which was the last thing he needed at a time like this.

A soft howl caught the grey wolf’s ears and he slowly raised his head. Not many loners were polite enough to announce their presence on the land nowadays, so the gesture was greatly appreciated. Not that there were many loners around anyway – at least not as many as when he’d first been washed up on the shore of the small continent.

The howl seemed also to be a request to come, and although it hadn’t explicitly stated that, he found himself getting to his paws and stretching his limbs in preparation for the trip to beach. It had been a bit quiet around here lately, and he was a little lonely. Castien was stuck inside the dens with his injury and Toiro didn’t want to disrupt his rest. Even if the loner only wanted safe passage through their lands perhaps the exercise would at least get him in a better mood.

The grey wolf leapt down from the large rock, landing with a soft thump on the forest floor. As soon as his hind legs touched the ground, he sprang forwards at a run, narrowly dodging trees as he made his way through the forest and towards the beach. He found himself enjoying the feel of his powerful muscles working and the exhilaration of making sure he didn’t hit anything. He did brush a bit too close to the trunk of a tree once, and hit his shoulder on a strangely angled branch, but he was soon at the edge of the trees, where he slowed down to get his panting under control before he went to meet the stranger. Toiro lifted his head to see a white female sitting on the shore, thankfully a fair distance away from the sea.

As he approached the stranger he noticed that she seemed to be slightly nervous, perhaps because of his size. Now that he was fully grown he was quite large; larger than most wolves, at least. He didn’t want to look intimidating, as it had caused a few problems in the past, but he could not change his size or his steely grey eyes.

“Greetings” He inclined his head and offered her a small smile. “My name is Toiro, and I’m the alpha of the Airila pack”

After that, he found himself at a loss for words. He’d always been shy around wolves he didn’t know, but this was slightly different. It wasn’t that she was beautiful, exactly – although she most definitely wasn’t bad looking – despite her submissive posture she still held a certain grace and elegance which he admired in a she wolf.

He noticed that there was a small bundle on the ground before her. Were those herbs? He didn’t recognise them – let alone know what they did – the only experience he’d ever had with herbs being a few weeks ago when the Isata shaman had treated his shoulder wound.

“What are those?” He realised that he’d just admitted his ignorance, which was probably not wise for an alpha to do because if someone knew he was completely ignorant about herbs, they could try to poison him. But even though he’d heard of sneaky wolves like that he doubted that the wolf before him was one of them.


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The femme was patiently awaiting the arrival of another creature, and much to her pleasure it was not long before she heard the sound of stepping. Aludra resisted an urge to smile, for the excitement and nervousness were getting the best of her. Her vibrant green orbs glanced in the direction from which the footsteps came, and luckily she was able to hide her surprise at the large brute who began walking towards her. It was not that he was an unattractive brute, in fact quite the opposite, his size was just slightly intimidating to her. Aludra was not used to being around others so much larger than herself, yet the femme knew well enough not to judge the brute on his large size. The femme nodded her head in greetings to the brute as he approached her, showing both her respect and a slightly submissive stance.

"Greetings my lord," the femme spoke softly to the brute. The femme took in the full figure of the brute before her, and she rather enjoyed his grey optics. True, he was intimidating with his great size, yet his smile said everything she needed to know for the time being. The smile was rather welcoming, and significantly relaxed her. "I am honored to meet you. I am called Aludra." Her auds flickered again as the brute continued speaking, inquiring about her gift. Nothing excited Aludra more, it was an opportunity to educate, to teach him something that perhaps he knew not before. A tickle ran throughout Aludra's body, it was excitement that she had not had in awhile. 'Perhaps he will indeed see what I can do for him and his pack. I would love to be of use to them.' The femme was not lazy, and she greatly believed in doing her part in order to aid those around her.

"I brought these as a gift to you, Toiro. I believe they would aid you and your pack," she bowed her head slightly and nuzzled the gift closer to him. "These three herbs are found primarily in the South, I was uncertain how often you and your pack had access to them," her voice was gentle and aired that she was confident in her knowledge of these plants. There was not a single doubt in the femme's mind that she had perhaps brought something dangerous to the Airila pack. In fact, after seeing the large brute she believed that perhaps this pack would be able to offer her protection. Especially since she was unable to truly defend herself. She nuzzled the kelp from the bundle and turned her green optics to hold against the brute's steely grey ones for only a moment. The femme did have a fondness for grey eyes, with a soft smile and giggle she averted her eyes sharply from his and back towards the ground. If possible the femme would have had a royal blush across her face. Her mind drew a momentary blank, and the femme nearly forgot what she was doing. 'It is rather unlike you to get so distracted, especially in a time of importance such as this, get it together...' the femme quickly snapped herself back into showing the brute what was within the bundle.

"This," the femme nuzzled forward a dried brown plant that appeared to be several feet long but was folded upon itself to make it easier to transport, "is kelp, it grows underwater. When eaten this aids with swelling and additionally can help clear up respiratory or throat infections." A soft smile began to cross the femme's face, she was getting back into the rhythm of showing the brute what she had brought as an offering. No longer did she feel so insecure and shy, Aludra just could not bring herself to glance directly at the brute for long. Being in the presence of such a large, handsome Alpha was making her more flustered inside than she normally was. Using her paw the femme next pushed forward a rather dried and grassy looking plant, "This one is quepna, the roots aid with blood clotting and can also be used to aid with pain. The final plant I have brought is ika pija, it is a fine plant to feed to the whelps. It truly helps strengthen their immune systems."

Aludra shifted slightly uneasily after she finished speaking, a soft smile lay pleasantly across her maw. Her tail began flipping back and forth, showing the female's happiness. "It is a pleasure to be in your presence Toiro," the smile upon her features grew for a moment, "your land is absolutely flawless." She shifted her cranium for a better view of the beach, once again admiring the gorgeous scenery that surrounded herself. But a moment later she shifted back towards the brute before her, showing him that he had her full attention.

[Toiro]

He was a little surprised when she called him ‘my lord’ just because he couldn’t remember anyone ever being so respectful to him. His old pack had brought him up to be polite and noble, but on Anikira he hadn’t found so many wolves like that. Not that they were rude or anything, although there were some who were.

When he’d been a loner his size had made him a target for tough wolves wanting to prove their strength, and he’d often been run off pack lands for fear that he was dangerous. Sure, he could defend himself pretty well in a fight, but he definitely was not aggressive. Anyway, he was pleased that she had relaxed a little – perhaps it had just been the fact that she was on an unknown pack’s land and she didn’t know whether he was going to chase her out. In any case, he didn’t want to frighten her.

Aludra… It was a nice name, one he’d never heard before. It kind of reminded him of the snow, soft and white.

A true smile spread on his face as she explained why she had brought the herbs. “Thank you, Aludra. That’s very kind of you and the gift is greatly appreciated.” The words were spoken with a deep sincerity, and he hoped it showed his gratitude.

His eyes met hers and he was distracted a bit by her pretty green eyes, which he could see held intelligence. Then she laughed, seemingly embarassed, and turned back to her herbs. He could feel heat under his pelt, and was glad that she would not be able to notice it. He was the alpha; what was he doing getting flustered by a loner, even if she was beautiful?

He listened as she talked about the herbs she had brought, although he didn’t know whether he would remember all that information. The pack he’d been in as a pup had never had a shaman, and anyway, his ambition had been to be a hunter. He’d never wanted to become an alpha, and hadn’t even thought it possible, but now he knew he would never give his pack up.

The dried herbs looked rather unappetising, but he knew to trust a healer when they said something would help. And a plant that grew underwater? He’d never heard of such a thing, although he supposed reeds sort of grew in the water. Anyway, it was obvious that this wolf knew a lot about herbs and had a great passion for them. She seemed excited to be able to teach him, and he caught himself thinking that she’d be a good mother.

“We don’t have any pups in the pack, unfortunately. But maybe they’ll come in useful some day”
He was pretty sure that Keyara had wanted a family, but they had never actually tried. He wondered how Kastiel and Spirit were doing. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had their own little family. From the qualities she described the herbs would probably be useful in the future, as long as someone knew how to use them.

As she commented on the land another smile came to his face. “Thank you. I love it here. It’s so beautiful…” Even the sea didn’t seem so bad today, though he still wasn’t tempted to get in the water.

“Are you… Are you looking for a home here? I would love it if…” Toiro trailed off and started again “Our shaman position is open if you would like a place in the pack.” He didn’t know what was wrong with him; he would never have had a problem saying the same thing to a male wolf. But he did find himself wanting to get to know this shy she wolf, and he didn’t want to scare her by seeming too forward. He didn’t want to be awkward either, or she’d think he was a poor alpha. Even though he knew that many of the packs had the same problem, it didn’t help that his was only made up of two wolves at the moment.


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[atrb=background,http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/6300/alumid.png] Despite her proper mannerisms, the white femme could not help but find the large brute before her attractive. He seemed like one who could truly protect himself, a mate, and his entire pack. It was something that Aludra had not seen before, especially not over on this foreign land. Truth be told the land was no longer foreign to her, but the female had not been born here. She had been born somewhere across the sea and had ended washing up along the southern shores somewhere; at least the femme presumed it to be south because of the desert. Aludra herself was quite the opposite of the fighter, yet she found her vast array of knowledge and insights to be rather helpful. She could calculate war tactics pretty well, but if one through her onto the battle lines then they were most surely making quite the mistake. The female continued on with her shy smile, and held her gaze closely aimed at the ground below. Her paws had certainly became extremely interesting over the last several moments. Her head lowered between a shoulders in a combination between a nod and a bow as the brute spoke, "I am honored to be upon your lands, the gift is to show my gratitude. You need not thank me for that." For a slight moment after she spoke her green orbs averted up towards the brute again, catching his eyes for only a moment. Despite the femme's attempt at resistance, she could not stifle the quiet giggles that had nervously escaped her maw. Quickly, Aludra bit her tongue and turned her head away from the brute; it was a feeble way to try and stifle the warmth that was arising in her cheeks. She sensed his appreciation, and it did mean something to her; yet the femme could not help but say what she did. The Alpha need not thank her for only doing what was respectful and right. 'Is respect so rare upon these lands?' the female cocked her head to the side for a moment as she permitted the thought to roll around her skull. She sensed that the Alpha perhaps did not know much of these Southern plants, and the femme felt proud of herself. Now this brute knew more about the land that he lived upon, that would surely aid in future survival. Aludra was unable to shake the smile from her face. The female did have a strong pack mentality, although at times she did feel bad that her fighting skills were sub-par, but she had never imagined that her first attempt to join a pack would go this well. The Alpha brute was flawlessly handsome, the land was gorgeous, the Alpha was so kind, perhaps she could educate the others; yet her mind kept falling back to the Alpha before her. 'Stop that Aludra, silly girl! You can be certain that he has a mate!' The thought stung between her auds; yet the female most certainly knew the thought was true. How could he not have a mate? 'And who am I to think I could be good enough for him.' The femme bit her tongue once again, trying to keep any of these thoughts from slipping past her mouth. "No pups?" The female tried to disguise the slight shock in her voice, she had expected this Toiro would have a family. Or at least a mate, "Well I am certain I can preserve these for such a special occasion." Her tail wagged slightly behind her, the female was pleased that Toiro believed he could find good use for the gift that she had presented him. It honored her more than he could ever realize. She let out another giggle, this one a little less reserved than her previous one, "I never thought I would see a land quite as beautiful as this one. It is astounding," she allowed her green optics to take another loving gaze across the terrain. This felt like a safe haven to her already, and she had hardly been here for more than a handful of minutes. Her ears quivered as she detected the brute speaking again, yet as the words registered into her brain the femme was astounded. Her tail began wagging excitedly and the glimmer that shone in her eyes as she looked back at the brute again was that of sheer excitement. "I would be honored, my lord," the female bowed yet again to the brute in front of her. Her whole demeanor was that of pure joy. The female was unable to remember a single time in her life that something had made her feel so happy as this. Not only did he offer her a home, but a shaman position as well! 'Maybe dreams do come true! I certainly never imagined something like this would happen, alas! I should have listened to the sky. It has yet to lie to me,' the femme cast a loving glance upwards again. A breeze ruffled through her pelt, causing the white color to wave around her slender frame. For a moment Aludra felt as if she was in heaven, it was a rather celestial feeling. "Lord Toiro, I would be honored to be the shaman and aid in caring for your pack. If you know anyone who wishes to learn anything, I am most certainly willing to educate as well. I am so very blessed to be allowed to join you and your pack," the femme's voice sounded slightly higher pitch do the smile that was still plastered against her face. The flames were still burning behind her face, she was so thankful that he was unable to see the flush that her skin probably held.