Chimera Fields I'm headed downtown

Open for anyone!

After exploring with Charon, Floki decided to go on an adventure by himself. He felt braver and more independent by the day as he strove to emulate his older brother. The day dawned crisp and bright, with a chill in the air that spoke of the change in seasons. Perfect weather for traveling, the youth thought as his sandy paws carried him quickly away from Stavanger Bay.

He and Charon had previously traveled directly south, ending up at Moonspear. But on this morning, Floki strayed to the southeast, though he eyed the mountain range from a distance. He felt confident that one of those peaks would soon be their home; Charon and Amekaze wanted to claim a location with altitude. Floki was eager to meet Amekaze and get the ball rolling, but he patiently followed Charon's lead.

Eventually, the Xi found himself in a barren wasteland. It looked as though it had been a vibrant field once before, but the ground was strewn with dead grass and upturned soil. He deduced that the storm had passed through this area and frowned. He was getting tired of seeing damaged land; luckily, Moonspear seemed to have been untouched. With a sniff, Floki began to meander slowly across the troubled plain, taking in all the sights and smells of this ugly place.

Fellway had come from the south, and had the opposite opinion of the place to Floki. The churned earth revealed all sorts of interesting things, and he had spent the morning digging out the deepest grooves in search of treasure. It could be anything - the long-dead roots of a bush, maybe some rocks, or buried bones. He hadn't found much when Floki meandered into view, and ceased his digging to peer out grim behind a large stack of freshly zig earth.

"Ohayoo! the large wolf called out, tail wagging gently behind him. It was a dry day, and the movement scattered dust in a cloud behind him. "You aren't the master of the field, are ya?" The wolf looked young - on the cusp of adulthood.

Floki heard the other wolf before he saw him. At the sound of the shout, he lifted his nose away from the dirt, hackles bristling defensively. But once his gaze fell on the owner of the voice, it become evident that the white wolf meant him no harm. Instead, he approached with a jovial tone and appearance, asking a question that Floki didn't quite understand.

"No, I'm from the beach," he replied, assuming that was what the male had been asking. He gestured over his shoulder, though the shore was nowhere to be seen. "Are you from around here?" he asked. This was his first solo interaction with a wolf outside of Stavanger Bay; when he met Wildfire, he had been with Charon, and beyond that his acquaintances had been an otter and a fox, respectively.

The young wolf bristled, dismissing the opportunity to engage in verbal sparring by answering Fellway honestly. The older male had expected as much (don't try don't get) - the males of their shared species were rarely worth the time before the age of four. It took that long to saddle instinct and urges and tame them into something resembling personality.

"Yeah?" Fellway replied, keeping his distance. "Running away, are ya? You can join me in the free life." He punctuated with a grin, answering indirectly.

Floki was lacking in the humor department; there hadn't been much to laugh about in his earliest days of development. Now, he was something of a quiet, serious wolf, though he regarded the stranger with bemusement. He found he liked the guy's casual way of speaking. He asked questions without applying much pressure, as though he didn't really anticipate a legitimate response.

"Not exactly. My pack is probably moving down here," the boy replied, gesturing with his snout towards the mountain range to the southwest. He then glanced back at the pale-coated male, squinting his eyes thoughtfully. "The free life? You don't belong to a pack?" he asked. His view of the world was limited, and the thought of someone roaming without a place to rest his head each night was somewhat baffling.

Fellway followed Floki's gesture with his eyes, landing on the mountain range where he had meet the quietly mysterious Amekaze. He did not put two and two together, and wondered what on earth was so special about that particular hunk of rock? He debated telling the boy about his findings, but was distracted by the follow-up question. "Ding-ding, correct-o," he grinned, padding a little closer before settling in the dirt. "No responsibility, no Big Boss. Try it sometime, my boy! Why're you leaving the beach, anyway? Invasion of seals? Seen that before, pushy lil' bastards."

The thought of living as a lone wolf with no outside guidance was both frightening and enticing. But before Floki could ask for more of an explanation, the stranger was pressing for more details on his pack's move.

He laughed, though he had never had a problem with the seals. He had mostly just observed them from afar. "No, our pack is just really small. So my brother suggested that we..." Here he paused, frowning as he searched his brain for the word. "Oh, that we merge with this other small pack. So we're going to claim Moonspear soon. You wanna come?" His tail waved; naively, he wanted the male to join them, even though he didn't even know his name. He was funny -- he was sure Charon would like him, too.

Moonspear. Fellway didn't know the name, but he assumed it was some sort of sharp rock. Amekaze had not shared her plans to merge, so he did not put two and two together. "Oh yeah?" he rejoined, hiking a brow halfway up his forehead. Mixing two families sounded like a recipe for disaster, but facing the winter with low numbers was not so favourable either. Fellway knew that better than most, and had hitched himself to a number of packs over the years to avoid the threat of starvation. Perhaps he would do the same this year, but the Teekon Wilds was still generous with its prey.

"That easy, is it? I just go with you and that's it?" Fellway grinned at the boy, mimicking the gentle wag of the younger wolf's tail. "No interview with the Big Boss? I might be a crazy."

The male raised a good point. Floki didn't know him from Adam. Who was to say that he wasn't crazy? But what sort of test would he have to pass to prove it? The boy frowned thoughtfully. "Well, no. You'd have to talk to my brother, Charon. He's the Big Boss," he said after a pause. This whole recruiting thing was proving to be harder than he bargained for, and he was already starting to second guess his offer.

"What will you do in winter, anyway?" he asked in the next instant, unaware that a similar thread had just crossed the white wolf's mind. This would be his first cold season, but he had heard enough from Charon and Thistle Cloud to know that it could be difficult. That was a big reason why they were merging with the Sunspire in the first place.

I'll save this thread C:

Alfie was getting tired. He'd been flying for a while now, and being daytime he was only even more tired. He finally decided to stop for a rest. He scanned the fields below him, where he saw something unexpected. Two wolves standing together. Now Alfie was tired, but not tired enough to not be interested in some new friends. He flew down into a tree close to the two wolves and called to the younger one. Hey! Hi yeah up here. She chirped cheerfully, the end of his sentence slurring into a yawn. The young melanistic barn owl ruffled out his feathers, preening them so he didn't look ridiculous. He always liked to look presentable when meeting someone new.

Thank you! :)

The loner provided another off-the-wall answer, which left Floki blinking in confusion. Perhaps sensing that the youngster was becoming uneasy, the older male went on his way, skipping off across the tall grass. Simultaneously, there was a sound from overhead, and Floki looked up. He found himself looking into the face of an owl, and watched the bird preen himself for a long moment before responding.

"Hi there," he said, gaze fixated on the avian's feathers.

Alfie was pleased that the young wolf responded to him. And also that he seemed to be impressed of his feathers. Without preening, Alfie looked awful, his feathers naturally puffed up. Looking good was always an important factor to the young owl. The older wolf left, apparently he didn't care to meet Alvorris. Oh well, the brown owl thought, turning back to the white pup and said cheerfully. Hi! I'm Alvorris, but you can call me Alfie. And you are? He had very calm and lax attitude, he wanted to please, but wasn't desperate. 

He had deemed the little wolf safe and quickly glided down to a lower branch so as to hear and see him better. Alfie was always open to making new friends, and the younger the wolf he found, they were more open minded. The last wolf he met, Sebastian, was a bit of a snob to him. Or at least that was Alfie's view of it. Perhaps the wolves from this part of Teekon were nicer than those of the Valley.

The owl was quick to introduce himself, even going so far as to move closer to Floki as though he desired conversation. Strangely enough, the boy had interacted with quite a few animals of other species; while he would always be a hunter through and through, he had a natural curiosity that led him to refrain from trying to eat every creature he came across.

"Nice to meet you, Alfie. I'm Floki," he said with a wave of his tail. "Do you live here?" he asked with a glance around. There weren't many trees in Chimera Fields, but he supposed it wouldn't be impossible for an owl to make his home here.

The young wolf seemed pretty nice, Alfie churred happily. Nice to meet you Floki. He looked down at the little pup, dark eyes scanning him lightly. He ruffled his brown spotted feathers, as Floki asked him a question. No no, I live up in the Maplewoods. I've been exploring a lot lately, you know getting out there and everything. Do you live here then? He asked in a friendly manner, cocking his head to the side slightly. Alfie enjoyed talking, he always found it fun. He hated being lonely and was always up to make new friends. The bird could be a little too clingy sometimes, always one to please but he had a great heart, one that would do anything for his friends. He hoped to make a friend out of this little white and brown wolf.

"Where's that?" Floki asked; he had never heard of the Maplewoods. He had no idea just how far that was from here, and that Alfie had traveled quite a ways to get to his current location. The boy then shook his head when the question was returned to him.

"My pack actually lives near the ocean, but we're moving soon. I think we're going to live on that mountain over there," he replied, gesturing with his snout towards Moonspear in the distance. It wasn't one hundred percent decided yet, but Floki felt confident that Charon and Amekaze would agree that it would make a good home.

Alfie rolled his eyes, preparing to explain the location of the maplewoods. It wasn't a rude eye roll or anything, more of a sympathetic one. He knew that he could be too talkative sometimes and hoped he wouldn't bore the younger wolf. He chuckled an anxious chuckle then replied, Phoenix Maplewood, well its far north of here, in the mountainy forest kind of place I guess you'd say. Its mostly maple trees, and they turn pretty orange and yellow colors in fall. That's where I was born, but I've just been out exploring lately so I haven't been there in a while.

Alfie nodded when Floki mentioned his pack. He swiveled his head around, no need to move his body, in the direction Floki had looked. He could see a peak in the distance, but just barely. His eyes were less than Floki's were, during the day that is. He turned back with a smile, Well I hope that works out for you and your herd. Do you like your herd? Alfie asked, meaning to be polite, but his ignorance to the wolf lifestyle was obvious. He just sounded kind of silly.

The owl provided a description of Phoenix Maplewood and its location. Floki looked to the north, as though he would be able to see the brightly colored leaves. Perhaps someday he would travel that far -- he was still honing his skills as an outrider, and didn't think he was quite ready to take on an excursion that large. But with someone more experienced accompanying him -- like Wildfire -- the task seemed daunting but fun.

He smiled as Alfie referred to his pack as a herd. He knew equally as little about owls -- did they live in groups, or did they prefer a solitary lifestyle? Why did they choose to live in trees? He had many questions, but he held his tongue. "Yes, I like my pack. It's small, but it's my family -- my mom and my brother, and a couple other wolves," he replied. His father and littermates were all deceased or missing, but he was thankful to have Thistle Cloud and Charon.

Alfie nodded, happy to hear that the young wolf liked his pack. It made Alfie think about his family a little. The young brown owl had never known his father, but his mother and sister were always so kind and great to him. He missed them dearly. Well I'm glad to hear that. He dipped his head, then turning to look at the mountain that Floki had mentioned. So why is your family relocating? Do you all migrate during the winter like songbirds do? He asked, ruffling his golden brown feathers. Alfie really did know nothing about wolves, but he was curious and considered the more you know the better.

Floki shook his head, though he smiled at the bird's perception. He knew that the seagulls he was familiar with would leave their oceanside home for warmer places come winter, but that was the extent of his knowledge on migration. "No, we usually try to stay put. But our pack is really small and my brother is worried that winter will be tough, so we're going to merge with another group of wolves and move to Moonspear," he explained, even though the claim on Moonspear wasn't official yet. They could very easily decide to take Nocturne Summit, instead -- after all, that had been Wildfire's suggestion.

Alfie nodded, he was glad to be learning so much about wolf nature. So they don't migrate. That must be why they have such thick fur coats.The brown owl thought eying the white wolf carefully. Well that's cool. I hope it goes well for you. The merge I mean. He chirped happily, looking up at the sky. The sun was high, urging him to sleep, sleep, sleep. The longer he sat talking, the more tired he became. Maybe it was time he went and found a roost to sleep in for the night.

He swiveled his head to look back at the tree line from where he had come. It looked so much darker in there, very inviting. Alright, this is too much. I need a rest. He decided and turned back around to face Floki. This has been a nice chat Floki, I'm glad to have met you. But I'm hella tired, so if you don't mind I'm going to go find a place to sleep. See ya later maybe? I might try and visit your Moonspear place sometime! And without waiting for a response, Alfie was gone. He flew off into the trees and found a nice place to rest. Sleep came quickly, and it sure felt good.

Exit Alfie here C:

Floki hadn't expected their conversation to last even as long as it had, so he wasn't surprised when Alfie excused himself. He smiled and nodded, watching as the bird took wing. For a moment, he was jealous of his new friend's freedom; what would it be like to travel quickly from north to south without giving it much thought? It didn't seem like the trip from Phoenix Maplewood had been very strenuous for the owl.

The silver-coated youth lingered for a few moments longer, then decided to head back towards Stavanger Bay. It had been a busy day, between his interactions with Fellway and Alfie, so he was ready to return to his home -- after all, he only had a short time left on the beach before the pack transitioned to a more mountainous region.