Wolf RPG

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Larus had once again departed the standing stones for the chance to explore, and soon enough he discovered that the area was not as alien as he initially thought. The mountains looked different from this perspective - but the more he roamed, the closer he got to the familiar valley which had served as his temporary stomping grounds; that had been months ago but, as he came along the natural path leading deeper through bear country, he caught the scent of multiple wolves.

An image of a white wolf flashed in his mind as he recalled Xan, but there were more scents here now. None of them were particularly relevant or recognizable, but he paused in his journey to investigate each of the markings; some were curious, so he bowed and rolled upon them, gathering them so that he could take them back to Easthollow. Larus was curious of these neighbors and would be sure to ask Valette (or someone else available) why such a thing had been permitted.

Once the scents were collected, he was up on his feet and roaming again. Larus traced his way along the natural boundary formed by the markings. This time he would not breach them as he had before - meeting Xan had been a fluke because the pale man had been alone, but now he had a myriad of wolves to support him and make his claim bolder. The Sveijarn was not about to trespass, but he did not wish to leave yet. Curiosity would likely get the better of him.



Though Indra was on the healing side, she still wasn't doing entirely well. Laurel was worried still and therefore she wanted to keep a close eye on the borders. Luckily the natural elevation around Bearclaw Valley helped keep them safe. She moved to the entrance of the Valley to check on the borders, where in the distance she saw a figure wandering around there, seemingly just loitering.

Laurel suppressed the urge to just shout 'hey, you!' and started making her way to the border. Ears were perked forward, head and tail raised a little in an alertness she couldn't hide. "Hiya," she called out somewhat shyly towards him as she got close to the borders, and as she approached further it was with bated breath that she waited to find out if he were friend or foe.

It wasn't the pale man that came to find him, but the opposite: a tawny coated girl. At first he almost missed her as she blend in well with the shadows, but she made herself known boldly, and carried herself in a way that made him rethink his presence. It seemed as if the man he'd encountered before had succeeded in forming himself a family. Larus couldn't help the small flare of seasonal jealousy that arose in his chest although it faded swiftly.

She watched him and crept closer, and with her greeting he whisked his tail as a friendly gesture and tried to look less intimidating. He wasn't sure if his size was what made her nervous or just his presence, but he hoped to alleviate that. Hello, he called out, I don't mean to intrude. Do you live here?



Tension left her body as he made himself known, calling out a 'hello' back at her and asking if she lived here. Laurel's tail fell into a more neutral position and she breathed out once in relief that she wasn't going to need to fight today. "Yeah," Laurel said with a soft smile. "Sorry 'bout that, my sister got hurt recently so I've been on edge trying to keep the borders safe." He would understand that, right? He probably had siblings, too; there was nothing quite like the bond between siblings, at least as far as Laurel was concerned.

"I'm Laurel." She smiled somewhat shyly as she waited for him to introduce himself in turn.

Attacked? That's awful, he assumed that's what she meant and his disappointment was genuine despite not knowing her sister, or her family. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Easthollow's borders in the future just in case, and to bring it up to Valette as long as he didn't forget.

When she introduced herself he nodded at first and then, taken by surprise by the similarity to his own name, couldn't help but smile. Funny - my name is Larus, the man bowed his head properly after he said this but a moment later, continued: I come from Easthollow. And I've been here before — in your territory, before it was your territory. Do you live with a strong looking pale fellow?



Laurel nodded to confirm that her sister had indeed been attacked. She didn't share any further details, because really she didn't want to talk about it too much, but grinned as Larus introduced himself, equally amused by the similarity in their names. She'd never met anyone with a name remotely like hers.

"That is funny," she agreed with a smile. It was easy to slip into the mask of happy-go-lucky dumb Laurel in his company, since he seemed nice enough. Another wolf from Easthollow, like that other dude she'd met before. Bearclaw Valley seemed to have an abundance of girls but it looked like there were plenty of boys in Easthollow. "Yeah," said Laurel in response to his question. "Xan is his name. He's the Alpha."

Xan. Had the white-furred man introduced himself before? Larus couldn't remember. He'd had a bad attitude, but it wasn't unwarranted since Larus had been caught loitering within the valley. At that time Xan had been alone though. Maybe he'd mellowed out since forming his little pack?

Larus did not want to overstay his welcome here, even if his company was pleasant this time around. If what Laurel said was true and her sister had been attacked, that was some important information to relay back to Easthollow; Larus wasn't going to let anything bad happen to his new family — or his new friend who lived so close. Sorry, uh, he blurted as he broke a moment of uneven silence, Can you tell me anything about what happened? With your sister I mean. Anything about the attacker I can relay back to Valette — um, my alpha.

If there was something Larus could do to keep everyone safe, he would do it. He had half a mind to inquire about forming a roaming band between the two packs - a faction of warriors perhaps - to seek and destroy the assailant. This was a foolish notion though, something he thought of on the spot that wasn't entirely appropriate.



There was a moment of silence that was broken by Larus after snapping from his thoughts. Laurel tilted her head with a soft, understanding smile that silently relayed 'no need to be sorry'. Then he went on to ask about what'd happened and who had done it. Laurel hadn't forgotten the description Indra'd given of the wolf, but hesitated a moment because did she really know Larus well enough to trust him?

After a couple of seconds of decision-making Laurel decided to tell him, hoping that he'd be trustworthy enough. "He was black with white patches and orange eyes. I dunno what happened, just that he tore off her tail." Laurel frowned sympathetically, as she couldn't imagine her life without her tail. She wasn't a very beautiful wolf perhaps, but at least she had her tail.

Black and white, okay. Orange eyes - that was pretty common, but it wasn't like there were a whole lot of wolves carrying around extra tails in these parts. The idea that someone was that vile made the pit of Larus' belly feel a bit weird; he was suddenly struck with a churning nausea and it could've easily shown on his face - he wasn't exactly a social butterfly and had never learned to hide his feelings all that well. He did frown though, once Laurel's synopsis of the perpetrator had completed.

That's — I can't believe someone would do that. His tone was sympathetic with a twinge of revulsion. After swallowing a lump in his throat Larus added, I'll make sure to let my pack know. We'll keep an eye out - I hope your sister recovers. He didn't know what exactly had transpired but then again, neither did Laurel by her own admission. But an event like that would carry with it a lifelong scar the likes of which Larus would never fathom. All of his own scars were mental and emotional, but a trauma such as the one described was something entirely new to the young man.
It made sense that he'd be revulsed; Laurel herself couldn't quite believe anyone would do such a disturbing thing. She wished that she could go after the perpetrator but she also needed to keep Bearclaw Valley safe and take care of Indra while she healed, so right now she just couldn't.

"Thanks Larus," said Laurel and she assumed that also meant that he was going to leave now so she could get back to keeping her eye on Bearclaw Valley's restricted borders. She kind of liked they were so small, but it also irked her that someone might just sneak up through the side of it. Xan said it wasn't possible, but what did he really know?

He dipped his head with a smile, small though it was, and began to depart. He did pause though before he got too far and turned his head to regard her plainly - taking one last look so that he didn't forget her face. They were neighbors so Larus assumed he would be seeing her around. After a second he said, It was nice to meet you, and then turned towards Easthollow, and made his departure.
At first it looked like Larus would just leave without another word, but then he turned 'round midway through departure to cast another glance at her and say that it was nice to meet you. Laurel smiled widely and offered, "You too." Then watched as he left. She didn't really think she'd see much of him again, considering they weren't even in the same pack, and forgot his name pretty quickly.

She lingered 'round the borders for a bit longer before eventually turning back into Bearclaw Valley territory and making her way towards Indra to see how her sister was doing.