Welcome to Gaia! ::

Her jet-black pelt glistened with the gentle innocence of morning dew. Her amber eyes were bulbous with the buzz of waking so early. She lifted her head in a keen yawn, throwing back her jaws and gasping for air. She craned her neck into a stretch that roused her more than she'd expected. Her paws clicked with the sound of bones clacking together. A thousand thoughts wizzed through her head; most of them questions. Why can't waking up be ask easy as falling asleep? But she was awake now, and not much could get her to sleep again any time soon.
She padded drowsily through the crunchy leaf litter of the forest, regardless of the brittle, crisp noises she was making. The foliage of the forest barricaded her from the wind, and so the close, dense atmosphere of the forest made her drip with moisture. She trotted between the saplings and shrubs that made up the forest, a deep rumble echoing through her stomach. There wasn't not much to eat in this area of the forest, and so she'd have to venture beyond her comfort zone to achieve a full belly.

"Huh?" Iarni said, or rather, muffled. It was another puppy-grunt, curious and confused. But Riyora was swift to give the cub a hard nudge, and the youngster squiggled underneath her legs. The older wolf nodded her acknowledgement. "Zev," she murmured, smiling. "I apologise for all the trouble I caused you. I'm just not accustomed to meeting new wolves, you could say! You're the first stranger since... since..." Frowning, she shook her head with clenched eyelids. Then she opened them again. "Anyway... what'll happen to us now? You're letting us live, but where... do we go now?"

Riyora's slightly worried gaze persisted, but the cub-sister was switching her deep stare from one wolf to the other. Her diamond gave a final little twinkle, before ebbing low to its normal, unspectacular state. It was simply a little transparent rock on her forehead again, shining with the rainwater which had dulled its previous gleam.

Riyora sagged her shoulders, overcome with relief. "Thank you so much," she said, stooping to carry Iarni, but paused. Doubt squirmed momentarily in her mind, like a reviving worm. Who knew whether this wolf could be trusted? Was this going to be a trap? But why on earth so? What's worth trapping, between myself and Iarni? A pair of hungry, packless wolves, one late adolescent, one cub. They were hardly a threat towards a grown pack, both in age and in physical state. In fact, Riyora wondered... They might welcome new blood into the troop...

Her anxious, hopeful contemplating lasted mere moments before she grasped the flabby hide of Iarni's soft flesh. The cub seemed to melt slightly into a hanging form, and ceased moving once in the air. Riyora flicked an ear in expectation to Zev, then fell into a respectful, albeit careful, step behind the young white alpha.

OOC: Don't worry m'deary. I have days like that, too.

Weeks of travel through unpredictable lands had taught Riyora to be incredibly vigilant, primarily of enemy wolves. And now... she was finally in the presence of a very young alpha, who, by her reckoning, was a formidable individual. She felt like a prisoner being tugged back to its jail, with her head hanging low from the weight of her heart. Only this time, her neck was aching from having to carry Iarni for so long, and so frequently.

Because of the sudden rainfall, every scent had become masked behind a chilly, watery barrier. Riyora could only smell the intense, woody dampness of the trees close by. No scent markers, no other wolves, not even prey. The rain and the moisture concealed every scent-based giveaway she could use to become accustomed to this strange new place. The air felt cold on her whiskers, especially on her fur, since it was sodden through. This suppression of her senses, her lack of ability to define and analyze her surroundings, made her feel tremendously uneasy. She was trekking deeper and deeper into a territory she had never set paw into. Riyora could do nothing but trust this... Zev. Whoever she was...

In her mouth, Iarni remained silent. Her tail and back legs were tucked up so she was almost a ball, but despite the best efforts of Diamond wolves, her feet soon became wet from the brushing of soaked ferns and small shrubs.

OOC: FFFFFF- I just wrote up an entire post... and silly laptop refreshed... Naos I have to do it again. scream

Riyora stood facing the water, bewildered. She had been expecting an instant route to the den, not a detour. A tour of the grounds was not what Iarni needed. The cub trembled and shivered from the cold in her jaws, and Riyora gently lowered the youngster to the ground. She passed a broad, caressing tongue over her sister's wet fur, restoring the lost warmth. The cub peered out over the water, where Zev's white face, streaming with water, stuck out of it like a seal. Then she dove back down again, cascading rings that rapidly broadened across the shimmering lake, bouncing white light that broke through dark clouds swiftly floating Northwards.

Riyora glared out towards where the white wolf had once been. Such a bizarre animal... Unlike anyone I have ever met before... Iarni seemed just as miserable as Riyora felt. Her eyes had lost their bouncy excitement and were now dull and uninterested. She was cold and tired and hungry and needed a comforting den, not a swim.

"I don't want to be here," she mumbled to Riyora unhappily. Her diamond was no longer shining. "I wanna go home..."

"Home's gone. We have to stay here," was her low, apprehensive reply.

Rioyra frowned in surprise and peered wretchedly at the glossy bodies. She had never eaten a fish before, and she did not know how to come about it. Iarni, ever inquisitive, gave it a tentative sniff, before backing away unappeased to lean against Riyora's leg. The older wolf lowered her head, and slowly encased the fish's head in her mouth, much like Zev had done. She dropped and gathered it again awkwardly a few times, before finally standing. Iarni backed away, staring at her sister with new fascination and interest.

With one paw holding the fish down, Riyora got a small grip on the flesh, and tugged. The glossy, filmy skin peeled away with no professionalism until it became a rather tattered mess, bloody and pink. With great difficulty she tried to gather the reedy, twiglike bones in her mouth and spit them back out into a neat pile, but they were greasy and slippery, so her tactic failed, and instead tossed them about. Now she became irritated, and began to work more aggressively at the corpse, until she was tearing both bones and flesh out and scattering it around her. Delighted, Iarni snuffled up delicate scraps whilst Riyora got to work on making a meal of the trout. She managed a few bites, the innards and the guts as well as the lean, pink muscle, but it was not particularly satisfying.

Maddened, Riyora paced towards one trout, and, holding its head, swallowed the animal whole just like Zev had done. She gasped and swallowed intensely to try and work the smooth meal down, and after some strenuous shaking of her head and neck, the fish slipped down. Riyora then stood, amazed. She'd eaten her first fish.

Riyora turned to face Zev, prickled. She felt criticised. "I've never eaten one before," she stated a little too matter-of-factly. "Back by the Mountain, we hunted great grazers, not the measly prey of bald eagles and otters. Well, I didn't, anyway." She turned and gazed wistfully into the forestry beyond, thinking hard about the life she had been taken away from. What had happened to her beloved old Mountain? She hoped dearly that other wolves had not invaded in the original pack's absence. A sudden idea occurred to Riyora, and she turned quickly to face Zev and share her revelation, but changed her mind with suspicion. This white wolf was not yet to be trusted...

"Never mind that, however," she said, and began working away at the first fish in order to feed Iarni, who was lapping at the water with a new thirst. "I'm sure that whatever you have to offer us back at your Den will be sufficient..."

* * *

At the same time as the rest taken by the traversing trio, a male wolf called Kaytar had already singled out his prey. A fawn, with lean but already sturdy legs, nervously ducking its head every now and then to both graze and keep sentry. From his shelter in the trees overlooking the exquisite Green Plain - his favourite hunting grounds - he watched how the rest of the deer herd fed, oblivious to his presence. He wasn't going to pounce out at them, like some cougar - he was too far away, and his claws would not aid him in clinging on. As a loning hunter, he could not take down an adult. Deer were far too fast and swift. But, a young fawn... If he could seperate it from the rest of its family, scatter them, spread panic...

Contemplating further, Kaytar lowered into a crouch, and glared outwards with piercing, greedy yellow eyes. He would manage this on his own.

OOC: Don't worry about going to help him and stoof. c: I'm just toying about, really.

Riyora passed Zev a worn expression behind her back, and turned to scoop up Iarni once again. But the cub squirmed in protest, ducking away, and the older wolf cocked her head in quizzical confusion. "Iarni, we're going now," she stated.

Iarni shook her head. "Don't carry me," she squeaked with a slight impatience. Her eyes were reproachful, and tired. "I want to try walking for once."

"You won't manage to keep up," Riyora said. But, at seeing her sister's disheartened sagging of her tail, added, "But you can try for a while. There's no rush, yet try to be quick."

The cub's tail whipped a few times in grateful appreciation, and took a few concentrated steps forward. Very soon, she'd slipped into an easygoing pace, not nearly as elegant as she had been in the ferns, but with an optimistic bounce that lightened Riyora's burdened mood. She followed closely, secretly glad that she no longer had to carry her sister. She turned at the sound of cawing, and spotted three magpies already making edgy, flighty approaches towards the fish remains. The older she-wolf shook her head in disdain at the scavengers, and continued onwards. "How far is your den?" she called to Zev far in front.

* * *

The deer suddenly burst into motion, their wide-eared faces staring right at Kaytar. He froze, tense - but realized with alarm that they weren't looking at him. Far behind, in the direction of the Den, came a cry. A surprisingly powerful howl, with the high pitch of a youngster... But, seemed too deep at the same time...

Faolan? That baby was crying for his mother, was he?

With a dark smile, Kaytar noted how the fawn and its mother were a little further than usual from the rest of the pack, still peering worryingly into the forest. His chance had arrived...