dog days are over

[Deleted]

Life in Anikira was vastly different than what he originally thought it was like. For one thing, the place was huge! There was so much more to the island than he'd known. Then again, he'd never ventured further than the creek that had lain just a few feet from the small den he and his mother had called home. It was only her death - her murder - that has caused him to leave that place. He had surrounded his snowy white body, now drenched with blood, with flowers and shiny pebbles, placing one last kiss on her cheek and howling his sorrow to the sky before leaving her behind. He couldn't bare to continuing living in a place where his mother had died, especially in such a brutal why, plus he was scared that her killer, whoever it was, would come back and try to kill him as well. Vengeance was still so young, barely over a year old, and no way did he want to die yet. He still considered life to be beautiful, despite his mother's death and his recent meeting with the first wolf he had ever met (besides his mother, of course).

Kade was... a troubled soul. That was the only way Ven could describe him. He seemed sad and angry at the world, saying that life wasn't always worth living or something along those lines. At first, Kade's words had confused him but he had started to understand, at least a little bit. There was still so much he had to learn. But now he had to move on and continue to explore, perhaps find a home. Then again, would anyplace ever feel like home without his beloved mother? He seriously doubted it. But he would try. Chapel had always told him to keep trying, not matter how many times he failed, because the next time could be the time he got it right! That was how she had taught him to hunt and to fish. He may be young, just a year old, but he was a fantastic hunter... so long as he didn't go after anything too strong for his young body to handle. He mostly stuck to small game, though, like fish and rodents, because his mother had been too weak to help him hunt most of the time. But he had always been able to provide for her. And now... now he just had himself to provide for.

ooc: Kiara

[Kiara]

She had told Thanatos that she would not wander off anymore and yet here she was, skirting unseen through overgrowth and darting from tree to tree. Where she was going, she didn’t know but it had been far too long since her last adventure and her mind was craving a change of scenery. The dark black of her puppy coat was slowly turning into the magnificent red of an adult maned wolf and as she got older, she craved the knowledge that only exploring more parts of the land around her would bring. She knew it was dangerous but like always, she was not focused on the consequences but instead on the present fun she was having.

She could tell by the scenery that she had traveled well out of the dessert and by the rising temperature that she was headed south and out of the west. More trees were beginning to appear along with greener grass and more living foliage. What was once an inch or two of snow had melted and completely disappeared and where there were once clouds, there was nothing but the burning sun. These were the times the young wolf lived for more than anything else.

She had gotten just about as far south as she was willing to travel when an odd scent hit her nose that made her pause and tilt her head. It was a male wolf but that wasn’t what she found interesting. From his scent, or at least what she could make out, he was a young wolf and by young, she could tell he was no more than a few months older than her, a lot less than six months for sure. He was the first pup she had seen since losing her family and she was immediately drawn to follow the scent. Unsure of rather the male was aggressive or not, she moved cautiously even though her mind screamed play. Once she had gotten close enough to where his scent was strong but he was still out of sight she stopped and called out softly, “hello?” She hoped he would show himself and that he wasn’t mean but she tried not to get her hopes up just in case.

[Deleted]

The year old pup was starting to get nervous. It had been awhile, not too long, since his mother had passed away but he still wasn't used to being by himself. Back when she was alive, when he was alone down by the creek near their den, he had always known that she was only a howl away, could get to him within minutes at most, and that, at night, he could always go back to her and curl up against her side to listen to stories before falling asleep. Now, though. Now he had nothing. No one. He wondered if he maybe should have asked Kade if he could stay with him but quickly shook his head, disagreeing with himself. No, the older wolf was too frightening, too unstable. It had startled the snowy lupine when he saw Kade go through his... episode, growling and whining at unsee things, and Ven just didn't have the confidence nor the courage to stay with a wolf that was that, he hated to say it, strange. Plus Kade seemed like the type that could get violent and Vengeance really did not like violence. After all, it was violence that had taken his mother from him. He had always hoped that she would have a peaceful death and that he would be there at her side to comfort her as she took her last breath... but that was not so.

“hello?” The soft voice startled him and he paused in his motion, looking around but not seeing anyone but when he scented the air he caught the scent of another wolf. A young wolf. A pup younger than himself. Curious and concerned, the lupine turned his eyes toward the direction of the voice and responded uncertainly, "Uh, hi?" He blinked a few times, sitting down, unsure of himself. "I'm Vengeance but you can call me Ven. Where are you?" And why are you alone? He didn't want to ask that last part, though, because what if the pup was an orphan like himself? He didn't want to be the one to open up those wounds knowing how badly they could hurt.

ooc: that is a gorgeous table!

[Kiara]

Since she had become an orphan, the purple eyed maned wolf had yet to meet another wolf her age. She missed having other pups around, specifically her siblings, to play with and curl up with. While adults were comforting to be around because they had the ability to protect you, the young wolf had long since decided they weren’t half as fun or exciting as other puppies. The only exception she had to that was Thanatos. He knew how to be a responsible adult but he could also let go and play with her the way another pup would and it made her smile from ear to ear.

As she waited for the wolf whose scent she had caught to respond or show itself, her tail wagged eagerly and nervously. The idea of finally finding someone her age was beyond amazing and she was extremely excited. Each second she waited felt like several minutes and each minute felt like an endless abyss of torturous hours. It took every ounce of her being not to go find the wolf herself but she didn’t want to invade in it’s space and make it mad at her before they even had a chance to meet and play.

When she finally spotted the male approaching, her tail wagged even faster as her ears perked up again. Judging by his looks, he was no more than maybe five months older than herself, so while he was technically older, he was still very much her age, confirming her earlier suspicions. “Hiya Ven, I’m Kiara,” She replied to his greeting with one of her own, her voice laced in friendliness and warm tones. “Are you all by yourself?” She asked without a second thought as she didn’t smell any more wolves around the area besides the two of them. She hoped the question wouldn’t offend him for any reason but if it did, she wouldn’t mind telling him of her past to try and make him feel better.

[Deleted]

When he sensed no movement from the other pup, Vengeance whined softly, his ears twitching as he strained to listen for any sort of noises. But there was nothing though... which kind of sounded like a little tail wagging and rustling leaves and grass... maybe they were just too shy to come see him? That's it, I'll go see who they are! he thought to himself, getting to his paws again, shaking out his snowy pelt before padding forward, tail wagging slightly. He was nervous, especially after the way his previous meeting with another wolf had gone, but this lupine sounded nicer. Not that Kade had been mean, exactly, just... grumpy. Yeah, that was the word he wanted to use. And he had also seemed kind of sad but Vengeance hadn't had a chance to talk to him about it. Kade had left without much of an explanation. Well, really no explanation, to be honest, but Ven had just stood there and watched him, frowning in confusion. Meeting strangers was turning out to be more difficult than he ever could have imagined.

“Hiya Ven, I’m Kiara,” He blinked, stopping his movements and looking down, his face breaking out into a grin as he spotted the much smaller pup. "Hi!" he responded, sitting back down. “Are you all by yourself?” His smile faded slightly and he sighed softly, looking away from the pup, brown eyes staring off into the distance. "Yeah, I'm by myself now. What about you..?" he questioned carefully, still looking away. There were no other wolves around him but when he was her age, his mother had allowed him to play by the creek outside their den by himself so perhaps this pup's mother was within hearing range, even if he couldn't scent her? He liked to think that was so. It made him feel not as sad. He hated to think there were other orphans out there that were even younger than he was.

ooc: sorry for the lack of quality.

[Kiara]

Kiara held still, not moving any closer to where she assumed the pup was to avoid scaring it off. Since it was a male pup, she doubted she would scare him off but you never knew what one wolf or another would be afraid of. However, as she heard his whine, she couldn’t help but whine in response, not able to stifle it before it escaped. Her tail continued to wag with excitement as she waited, wanting him to come out and play with her. Her ears perked as she heard the sound of him approaching before she actually saw him. She could smell the scent of nervous and fear and it made her frown though she quickly smiled again, not letting him catch onto the fact she knew how he felt. His emotions were his own and she didn’t need to know unless he wanted to share them with her. She waited as patiently as she could for him to show himself and when he finally did, she had to stop herself from barking with excitement. A huge smile settled upon her muzzle as her ears remained perked and her neon purple eyes danced with delight.

The young she wolf introduced herself excitedly, trying hard to remain calm. She enjoyed the sound of his name as it was unique and seemed to fit him, not to mention it was fun to say. She barked excitedly as he finally grinned and responded with an elated hi. She watched as he sat down, happy that so far, everything was going the way she wanted it to. Her ears pinned slightly as he smile started to disappear after she asked her question and she instantly wanted to take it back. She sighed softly when he gave her the answer she was afraid to hear. He too was an orphan much like herself and she hated that idea. “I too am alone, unfortunately,” she answered his question, trying to stay positive through the tense conversation.