Stranger, Friends (Joining)

[hal]

There was a bit of frost in the air as Halliway made his descent down from the mountain top. The fresh wound of just leaving his sister behind stinging in his chest. It truly put a lump in his throat, making him want to abandon this whole idea of joining a pack just to be with her. Though, the soft nudge she had given him had been quite reassuring, she knew this was the best path for him to travel on. What would he do though? He would know longer have his siblings protection, or her strength. He would have to depend on total strangers for this. What if they didn't like him? Or worse, what if they hurt him? He could never defend himself against an entire pack of wolves. He tried to put these what if's behind him as he traveled onward, tempted to turn back but knowing it was better to move forward.

His golden eyes with their burnt orange centers glassed the expansive space before him. There were a few gaping caverns where the mountain rock twisted in on itself, where a wolf could surely get lost if he wandered through the labyrinth too long. There were tree's and assorted foliage, which appeared to be clinging for dear life on the slate face of the cliffs. Birds twittered to and fro from bush to bough, and a few mice skittered between the pebbles and sickly mountain grass.

He was accustomed to these sites. Sure, the arms of the trees were naked, the once abundant activity of the creatures had slowed, and the world seemed a lot more gray but that did not make him feel unfamiliar with this massive slice of terrain. No, he'd sniffed out all of its mysterious shadows and learned about all of it's secret's, although the further he dropped down out of the peaks of the mountains, the more and more unsettled he felt. He knew nothing of the land sprawling out before him, he knew nothing of the nature that inhabited this place. Hal was truly petrified of the things he did not yet know. He couldn't hardly begin to imagine the beasts that might lurk in seemingly harmless shadows, or perhaps here the beast's hide in the sunlight and the safety is within the dark. The thought was absolutely ridiculous, he had spent almost his entire life looking down from the ridge onto this territory. He had watched the pack from afar and pined to join in their howls. Hal had even longed to join in the rare hunts he had been lucky to watch from a distance. It was his need for his sister that kept him at bay, but something had changed in the wind this day... Something had certainly changed.

He felt it in his bones, in his muscles and tendons and sinew. He just knew.

Hal kept traveling downward. He felt the temperature start climb the further he descended. It wasn't much of an increase but icicles no longer clung to his whiskers. Although, the sparse amount of snow he encountered was still balled up in the fur between his toes, which he found entirely aggravating. He hopped sideways as he crushed a cold mat of snow beneath his paw. It sort of shocked him, skittish in a new globe. Not only was he paranoid about the dangers that lurked so close by, but also about the fact that he was clearly trespassing.

He and his sister had spent their time walking the boundaries, or lurking in places where the markers were a bit iffy. They had never once traveled deep into the heart of another wolf's territory. They wouldn't have known what to do had they been challenged. They would have without a doubt been chased off, but Hal wondered if his sister wouldn't back down to the challenge. He shook his head at the thought of his sister, Fleck, trying to take on an Alpha! An alpha with an entire pack at his flank! A little smile broke across his muzzle as he trotted onward, his sister was such a firecracker. She was afraid of nothing whereas, he was anxious about everything. He tried to put on a good show, tried to hide the uncertainty he felt about everything, but like most, his eyes were a clear window to his soul. He couldn't lie because of the truth that permeated them. They gave everything away, not that he had anything to hide, but it would be nice to have a few secrets and tell a few white lies...

He reached the bottom of the mountains as the sun was slipping below the horizon causing everything to be consumed in shadow. He had a moment of consternation as he tried to figure out whether or not to announce his presence today or tomorrow... Would they come to meet him in the night? What would be worse? Them stumbling upon me or me wrangling them out so late? Ugh... Decisions, how I hate decisions! He stood perfectly still next to a slightly banged up tree. It looked like it had seen the wrong side of a wind storm, as a few branches flopped awkwardly in the cool breeze coming down off the mountains. Their spindly fingers scraping across a few boulders that it's trunk was wedged between.

As he stood there thinking over his next move one of the loose arms bumped against his flank. He yelped in horror and jumped three feet in the air. His heart pounded in his ears as he laid crouched on the frozen dirt. His eyes squeezed shut, paws over his head, looking like a puppy who was just told the most frightening horror story in the entire world. He laid there, tried to hold still, slowly opening one eye only to see who his assailant was:

The stupid tree. His face flushed hot as a feeling of idiocy washed over him.

"You like to play games, tree?" He popped up onto his feet and boxed the swinging branch with one of his forepaws, "I'll show you, tree!"

Hal snapped his mouth shut around the broken branch and started growling playfully. Tugging sharply on the wounded arm and whipping his head back and forth. He growled more ferociously and bounced back on his hind legs. Using one of the boulders as leverage as he ruthlessly tried to pull the limb off of the tree. When, probably a much wiser wolf could have foretold happening, the branch snapped and sent Halliway tumbling end over end down a small hill.

"Hahaha!" He rolled on his back, laughing hysterically at his defeat.

He snorted, chuckling as he rolled back up onto his feet and trotted over to the roughed up foliage.

"Well, I guess we know who the toughy is now!" He smiled widely at his new found friend.

He easily jumped up onto the back of one of the boulders and then slipped up into a wide bough of the tree. He laid in the crook of one of its shoulders and rest his head on a neighboring branch. He closed his eyes for a brief moment but then they popped wide open when a thought came to him,

I really hope no one saw me get beat up by a tree...

[Toiro]

The grey-furred alpha wandered along the base of the mountain range, on the trail of a moose. It was good to know that there was still some prey living in Shyia, but the opportunities to catch larger game were becoming less frequent and they would need to have a pack hunt soon so that they could fill their bellies before the full strength of winter was upon them. Almost every day, the snowline was creeping a little further down the mountain, and it wouldn’t be long before they had their first snowstorm of the year. A small shiver travelled up his spine, even though the temperature tonight was not cold enough to penetrate his thick and fluffy fur. He hoped that they didn’t lose any members this winter – wolves seemed to go missing every year, lost in the snow. At that, his mind returned to Keyara, the former alphess of the territory who had perished in one such storm, but he was surprised to find that no guilt for her death plagued him this time. A huff of breath was expelled into the evening air as he realised that her memory was finally resting in peace because he was no longer torturing himself over her death.

Toiro was travelling at a leisurely pace, not too worried about catching up to the moose he’d been tracking. It seemed to be staying in the territory, and that was all he really cared about. After all, he couldn’t catch a full-grown moose on his own, and he didn’t want to disturb the others by calling for them, as they were likely asleep by now in the dens. He himself couldn’t go to sleep though; he had too much energy and his mind didn’t seem to want to calm down either, perhaps too full with thoughts of the beautiful white she wolf called Aludra.

The wolf turned his gaze to the trees below; he was high enough up the mountain that he could almost see the entire Xayar forest and it was a great view. It was open up here on the rocky slope, with only a few trees to shelter him from the elements, and a mild breeze swirled around him, ruffling his fur as he walked. He welcomed the cool fresh air, lifting his head a little so it could catch the fur under his chin. It was so peaceful at night, the darkness like a comforting blanket.

But then an odd noise – almost like a yelp – came from lower down the mountain. Toiro’s ears perked up and his head swivelled in the direction of the sound, entire body suddenly tense and alert. Was that a wolf? It sounded like one but he was pretty sure that all of his packmates were back at the dens. His blood ran cold as the thought crossed his mind that the cougar who had nearly killed his lead warrior could have returned. A soft low growl began to build up in the alpha's throat and the fur on his spine bristled, making him appear even larger than he was. He knew that he would stand no chance against it by himself if it was the cougar, so the reaction was out of hatred rather than a desire to fight. This was very odd behavior for Toiro, as he was definitely not an aggressive wolf, and could usually get along with anyone. But this cougar was different and it needed to pay for what it had done to his loyal packmate and friend. Castien had received such severe injuries protecting his alpha from that attack that he’d been trapped in a coma for several months, right on the verge between life and death. Toiro was so lost in his thoughts that it took him a while to realise that he could hear a voice and, although he couldn’t quite hear the words from where he was, it was most definitely a wolf and not a cougar.

It appeared that he wouldn't be getting his revenge any time soon but the alpha found that he was mostly relieved by this. However, he was almost certain that it wasn’t one of his packmates so what was a loner doing in their territory at this time of night? Surely not spying or stealing, as neither would risk being detected... The grey wolf was curious, so he turned off the trail of the moose and began making his way slowly but steadily down the mountainside.

It wasn’t long before he reached where he thought the voice had been coming from, but there was no one in sight. He was sure the wolf was around here somewhere though – his scent was still strong in the air and Toiro didn’t think he’d been moving loudly enough to scare the other away. Aha! There he was! No wonder Toiro hadn’t seen him at first.

“Is something the matter?” he asked curiously, wondering what on earth the wolf was doing up a tree. Remembering that this was a stranger on his territory, he added, “And who are you to wander upon the lands of the Airila pack unannounced?”

Well, the stranger wasn’t exactly wandering now, but he must have been in order to get this far into the territory. Unless he could jump from branch to branch like a squirrel? Now that would certainly be an interesting skill. Toiro wondered what the loner's purpose here was. Perhaps he might be interested in joining the pack? There seemed to be a lot of loners popping up in the territory recently – this was the third one he’d seen within the last few days – but not all of them had wanted to become a part of Airila, a fact which he accepted. However, the fluffy alpha loved new members, and although the pack had grown a lot since the summer when it had just been him and Castien, the pack was still quite small and a new face was always welcomed. Toiro's tail wagged a little behind him at that thought, and also to show that he wasn't going to hurt the intruder. Although, if this wolf knew anything about the packs around here he would know that Airila was not at all like the neighbouring Descai.



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[hal]

Hal was caught up inside of his head, thinking about how lonely and quiet the world seemed without his sister lying next to him. His tail gently blew in the wind as it cut through the branches surrounding him. He shifted with a sigh, trying to close his eyes and forget about the eyes that might be spying on him from either side. He tried to feel safe up in the bough of this short tree. It was maybe only five or six feet off the ground and the boulder's provided enough of a step up to reach him. He squinted his eyes shut, trying to shut out the idea's that kept rolling in front of them. His ears bolted upright as he heard the faint sound of paws. He could hear the resonance in them, could hear the jaunt of a large wolf, and he tried to hold very still.

As the large wolf, nearly two times Hal's side, broke into view, it's slate grey eyes scanned the area briefly. He appeared confused at first, but then his muzzle rose and those steely eyes landed right on him. Halliway gulped nervously and his eyes glowed like little flames up inside of the arms of the tree. Though, his coat was dark, he was easily spotted with his white underbelly and bright iris'.

The silence grew between them for a moment and then the authoritative voice of the alpha Hal had watched from a great distance boomed, chasing away the fear that blossomed inside of Hal's heart. The word's he spoke were sweet, asking about his being, compassionate about his situation but then something seemed to click behind the oyster eyes of the Airila alpha. He watched the wolf take on a more regal matter as he requested Hal to tell him of his business on these grounds. Hal's ears laid back on his head in shame, he knew he should have made himself known earlier.

He stood up on the back of the tree limb but unfortunately, the bark slipped beneath his nails and he slid off the side. He dropped to the earth with a damp thud, laying there dazed for a moment, he rolled awkwardly back onto his belly. The callous earth knocked the wind clear out of him, he rose slowly with a few shallow, swampy breaths. Hal shook the dirt out of his coat and then his haunches curled upwards, setting his rear onto the ground, he gave the alpha a defeated look and sighed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble. In fact, I was just going to camp out until the morning so that I wouldn't disturb you or your pack at such an inconvenient time. The reason I yelped is because the tree scared me, it's really been giving me a hard time today."

Halliway squinted as he said it, shaking his head back and forth ashamedly. He was seeming to have a hard time creating an outstanding first impression, well, this wolf would have no problem remembering him... And his marvelously graceful entrance. Hal tried to keep himself looking even smaller than he already was, the male in front of him was almost two times his size. He had never paid too much attention to size, it was a general rule that all wolves were larger than he but he truly noticed his near dwarfism when compared to such a magnificent creature. It was easily seen that this canine was Alpha, that no wolf should show defiance or feel the burn of forced submission. Hal quickly diverted his eyes, realizing he had been looking on him for a very long time.

He was rarely this close to another brother, another wolf, another thing the same as he. He'd only ever inspected Fleck at close range, seeing how her fur grew out over her shoulders and then spiraled in along the sides of her belly just before traveling beneath to cover her belly. He'd only seen another set of eyes, another set of whiskers, another set of wolf ears this close when he had been with her. All else was unfamiliar and strange, he was tempted to look back up at the wolf and examine him further but he knew this would have been totally awkward and uncalled for.

He saw the tail of the wolf he had watched from such a great expanse wave slightly. His heart and hopes soared at the minuscule movement. A little smile twinged the corner of his lips, and he looked up at him. Admiring him. Admiring his lifestyle and he swallowed down the lump in his throat, pushing it down into his belly so he might be able to form a sentence or two more.

"I've been wandering for quite some time, since I was just a puppy and well... I've seen your pack on a few rare occasions and a certain longing came up into my chest. I've hardly got anything to offer you, other then a burning curiosity and quick feet but I'd surely be so filled with gratitude if you'd let me stand at your flank, sir." Hal felt like he was rambling as the word's tumbled out of his mouth, his anxiety bubbling over into a quick, muddled speech, "I'm sorry, I don't know your name. I'm Halliway, but I go by Hal."

HIs tail waved thoughtfully behind him as he tried to give the alpha a most genuine smile, he wasn't at all sure what he was supposed to do or how he was supposed to approach an Alpha but he hoped he had been alright.

"Also, sorry for beating up that tree earlier."

Hal knew his last sentence was literally going to make no sense to this male... He just couldn't help it, sometimes thing's just came out of his mouth...

[Toiro]

Toiro watched the wolf in the tree, waiting for an explanation. The male stood up but then slipped off the branch he was on and landed in a heap on the ground. An odd way to get down from a tree. “Are you alright?” The alpha took a hesitant step forward, wondering if he was injured, but then the other grey rose up into a seated position – a little dirty but apparently not harmed by his fall.

The explanation finally came then, and Toiro nodded his understanding. It made sense not to disturb the pack while they were sleeping and although he still could have waited on the borders, the grey saw no reason to punish the trespasser. It just wasn’t in Toiro’s nature, especially since it was such a small mistake. He didn’t understand why some wolves were so protective over their territory – of course he wanted to keep his, but he would only chase a wolf out if they were really doing harm to his pack and this wolf definitely didn’t seem to have any ill intent towards them.

The tree had scared him, had it? Well, he supposed the darkness could make a wolf more on edge and prone to fright than he would be in the daytime and he could totally understand the feeling. In fact, a boulder had scared the alpha the other night so this wolf really shouldn’t be embarrassed.

He did seem to be a little nervous, now that Toiro came to think of it, and the large alpha hoped that he didn’t intimidate the smaller wolf. He was much larger than most grey wolves and his stormy grey eyes did little to help lessen his powerful appearance. In fact, back in his loner days he’d often been chased off by the packs he’d encountered because they saw him as a threat, whereas in truth he was a kind soft-hearted wolf who had only been in one or two real fights in his entire life. He didn’t force anyone to obey his will and his pack was certainly not one run by fear – it instead thrived because of the loyalty and friendships between the members, which made it fairly unique in the wolf world.

Toiro’s ears perked up as the stranger began to speak again, this time to explain what he was doing in Shyia. The wolf had apparently been a loner for the majority of his life, but after seeing the Airila pack he had decided that he would like to join. And then he mentioned something about beating up a tree? …Huh? The grey looked around as he tried to figure out what on earth this wolf meant, and his eyes landed on the tree Hal had been lying in. Hm… the tree did look a little injured; one of its branches appeared to have been torn off. “Well, it’s no problem, Hal. We’ve got plenty of other trees around here.” That was certainly true – the Xayar was a large forest and the loss of one branch off one tree was hardly going to hurt them. However, the fact that Hal had mentioned it suggested that he was honest, a key quality that Toiro looked for in new members. The larger grey’s tail wagged behind him. From what he had seen of this wolf so far he seemed very good-natured, if a little clumsy, and the grey was sure that he would make a great addition to the pack.

“So, back to your request... I firstly have to say that I am honoured by your words. They mean a lot to me.” It was so good to hear that his pack was admired; he was pleased with how it had come along even though they were still relatively weak compared to the other packs. Yes, he was proud of Airila; but he didn’t want Hal to feel unworthy. Every wolf had a unique set of skills that could be put to use. Every wolf’s opinion was considered and none were laughed at for being useless. Every wolf was valued here.

“If you do wish to join us, you will hold the position of subordinate, but perhaps later we might find a higher place for you amongst our ranks.” If Hal had been alone for a while he must have at least a little hunting knowledge even if he hadn’t hunted in a pack before, and he seemed like a wolf who was eager to learn. Which reminded him that Aludra had been looking for an apprentice to share her knowledge with... But that would all come later, after he had gotten to know this wolf and his abilities better.

“Oh, and my name is Toiro.”

A truly genuine smile came to his lips then, shattering his slightly colder outward appearance. He did tend to have his guard up a bit around strangers, but now that this wolf was his new packmate he felt more relaxed with showing him a little more of his true self.

“Welcome to Airila.”



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