Blacktail Deer Plateau Once Upon a Time I Sighed

Bluewillow lifted her head from her paws and looked around, getting used to her surroundings. She was new here and she was still standing on the outside looking in. She wrinkled her nose as she stretched her large mouth opening in a huge yawn, her tongue lolling out. Her dark blue black fur took on a shine as the sun caressed it gently. She stood on still limpid limbs and looked around trying to decide what to do with herself today.

She brushed her tail across the ground to clean her small sleeping space and then began to look around wondering if today she should familiarize herself with the herbs and plants around her.

When Peregrine spotted the she-wolf, he thought to himself, She looks like a less attractive version of Hawkeye and smirked coldly. He sniffed the air, pondering whether to make an approach. He eventually decided it was important for him, as a sub-leader, to get to know the subordinate wolves and, of course, show them their place in the scheme of things.

Head and tail held high so there was no question of his dominance, Peregrine glided closer to the strange female. "Morning," he said coolly, his dusky eyes noting the dew glistening in her dark fur. "I'm Peregrine, Gamma. Who might you be?" he wondered aloud, looking into her face to make certain she didn't make eye contact.

ooc: it has been awhile so i may make some mistakes and i apologize in advance. :)

Blue Willow heard the slow tread of paw steps quietly stepping towards her. She turned her head slightly to get a glimpse of who she was looking at and realizing from his posture that this one was of high rank she lowered her head, kept her eyes down low, lowered her body more and tucked her tail down. She knew the submissive position well, often having to take on its position everytime her parents would approach a new territory to share their gifts.

Her green eyes were downcast and she spoke quietly but loudly enough that the other could here her. "Morning Sir. I'm Blue Willow Sir a new member." She waited silently for his reply.

You're doing just fine! :)

When she acknowledged his superior stance and sank down into a submissive crouch, Peregrine rumbled approvingly. She might have physically lowered herself, yet in his eyes, she rose up a few notches. His tail waved, though he knew she couldn't see it, and the Gamma stepped forward to nip lightly at the bridge of her muzzle.

"Call me Perry," he instructed her, strongly disliking the formality of sir. "I hope you don't mind being put to good use," he continued without missing a beat. "I'm going to work on filling some caches. You're coming with me." It was clearly a command, not a request.

Setting into motion, Peregrine waited for her to trot alongside him before turning to ask her, "What brought you here, Blue Willow?"

ooc: Thanks it's been awhile lol :)

Blue Willow heard the low rumble of approval and had to admit she was proud of herself for doing something on her own and doing it correctly. She had always had her parents and now she was very much in charge of herself. She licked the underside of his chin as was required and then smiled kindly.

Blue Willow tilted her ear slightly as he spoke and tried out the name he had spoken, "Perry." She tested it out and found it much more to her liking than sir, but she had been raised with manners and the like so it was pure habit to say sir and mam when meeting some of higher rank. She dipped her head again "No I do not mind being put to work. I may need some instruction if you wish to take down bigger game, as my family and I always went after smaller game."

She straightened slightly but made sure to keep herself lower than her superior and with a small tail wag followed in his footsteps. She listened as he spoke and then began to speak herself. "I have traveled all my life and I am footsore and weary of it. So I took the leave of my parents and set out to find a place that could become permanent home for me and this area I like very much."

He did not respond to her comment about game, as he wouldn't know their quarry until an opportunity presented itself. Peregrine would be more than happy to instruct her, though, as part of his endeavor to become the pack's Gamekeeper. It would benefit them both, not to mention the pack as a whole.

"What do you like about it?" he asked conversationally even as he lifted his nose into the air and sniffed. There was a lot to like about the Teekon Wilds and the plateau, specifically, but he wondered what caught Blue Willow's attention specifically.

"Can I call you Blue? Or Willow? Or BW?" he asked randomly. "Or are you like my mother—you'll bitchslap anyone who calls you by anything but pre-approved nicknames?" Peregrine smirked.

ooc: Oh i remember March Owl loved her!

Blue Willow followed along behind him, sniffing as he talked to her, listening and looking for any game. She tilted one ear as she thought a little hard about his questions there had been a lot to like about the area. She had noticed the two lochs as she had been traveling and she had smelled much game. Of course she had always loved mountains and forests, forest where she was sure to find some herbs and plants to study and use.

She smiled as she came to her decision. "Truthfully I like it all. Though my favorite part was the sense of peace and solitude I found within the craggy walls and the forest as well. I am a herbalist, well I dabble in it and they fascinate me, so I am always looking to study plant life."

When he had spoken crudely her green eyes had grown large, her parents would have seriously harmed her if she had spoken like that. It did not bother her though it surprised her. She smiled and said quietly, "Willow or Blue is fine, I must admit i am not too fond of BW. Your mother sounds like she was very unique." That was all she could think to say after that small admission.

:D

She mentioned her interest in herb lore, which made Peregrine slow down, pause and look at her with interest. "My parents knew a bit about herbs and whatnot, though neither would've claimed to be an excellent medic. I never learned much about it myself. Maybe you can teach me. And I'll teach you how to hunt big game."

He continued walking, always sifting through scents and keeping an eye and ear out for any sign of prey. When Blue Willow remarked about his mother, Peregrine guffawed loudly. "Mo was one of a kind, that's for damn sure," he said. "What about your folks? What were—are?—they like?"

Blue Willow allowed herself a small chuff of gentle mirth at his comment about herbs and whatnot. "Whatnot is probably a good word for some of the plant life you come across." She tilted her head thinking about his offer. She then dipped her head once. "Of course I am always learning as is anyone who studies the herbs and plants. Some will tell you that they are excellent medics, but we are always learning so they are not right though they may think they are. I like this idea, I will have to of course familiarize myself with the plants around her first, before i can comfortably teach you. I would want you to be safe as I would like to be when learning. I would appreciate the lessons."

Blue Willow was again surprised at his use of words, but she was getting used to it and to be honest it made her smile a bit. He was certainly very much his own individual that was for certain and it sounded as if he learned that at the foot paws of his mother. She smiled softly at his question of her parents, both of whom she loved very much. "My mother and father are very sweet. They make their life traveling and telling stories and healing others. It was always just the three of us. I had two brothers that were older than I, but they left long before I was even born. My mother had a very gentle singing voice and my father used to tell me the stars danced for her. My father he was a bit more gruff I suppose had been a warrior in his much younger days. They were much older when I was born, and he refused to speak about his past. He however wore the scars very well. How my mother swayed him from the dark side I used to wonder often. They were never still they would stay in one pack for a night or two share the meals and dens and in exchange my parents would tell stories or heal those who were hurt or teach their healing secrets."

She gave him rather an earful. Peregrine found it so distracting that he gestured to her—without interrupting her—to slow down and stop. He then sat and motioned for her to follow. They wouldn't be able to listen for prey if they were conversing this much. While he would prefer to be on the game trail, he actually found Blue Willow interesting and wanted to give her his full attention. Besides, he'd asked.

"Sounds like you've led an interesting life. I can't imagine being nomadic," he admitted, his expression slightly distasteful. "I grew up in my parents' pack and would've lived there until my dying day if my older brother hadn't run me out. He's a bag of dicks," he remarked sardonically, then shifted back to Blue Willow's story. "I guess I can figure out why you've never hunted much big game, if it was just the three of you. How were able to leave them?" he wondered. Peregrine couldn't imagine leaving one's birth pack voluntarily, though he knew many wolves did it.

She smiled sheepishly as he motioned for her to slow down and stop. She knew very well that sometimes her mouth went in high gear and then did not stop. She also realized much to late that their game was probably long gone, because she had become long winded. She felt a bit embarassed, but she was glad that he was listening to her, it had been sometime since she had spoken to another in a friendly manner.

Blue Willow shook her head, "Nomadic had it's moments but for the most part it was not ideal and I did not like it." Her ears slid back at his admission of being kicked out of his pack by his brother and she was outraged on his behalf. "yes he was well what you said, a bag of some sort. she was a bit shy about repeated the rest of the phrase, but she continued on. "Why would he do that? That was not very nice especially to one that you were raised with, my brothers I have met them and they were nothing but wonderful, how can one be so mean to their family. She was confused she could never imagine being mean to her brothers or her parents.

She whined quietly at the thought of her parents. She hadn't wanted to leave them, but she was becoming unrestful and did not like the constant moving and she wanted her own chance at happiness and family. She was tired of scrounging for food from other packs, she wanted to be part of something larger. "It was very hard very hard indeed and I still miss them. I hope someday our paths may cross again, but if not I will not be dismayed as we parted on good terms. I was tired of the constant moving and the constant well to put it bluntly begging of food from other packs in exchange for our stories or our herbs. I do not know how many times I went to sleep hungry, because a pack did not want us in their area and ran us out. I felt the need to be part of something bigger, and I wanted to earn my food not beg for it."

Although he no longer felt unfathomably angry at the mere mention of Tyrannus, the long fur at the nape of Peregrine's neck bristled when she asked him about his brother's actions. "He thought of me as a threat to his throne," he said. "I wasn't the only one, either; he kicked out both of my male litter mates as well. I'm sure they weren't the only ones..." He shook his head, his swarthy ears sliding backward. He would never be able to fathom the change that had taken place in Tyrannus, turning him into a beastly, feral tyrant who ran out his brothers unprovoked.

Blue Willow went on to explain how she handled the departure from her parents. Peregrine exhaled through his nose and nodded to acknowledge her. "Sounds like you want to settle down," he observed. "I hope you like pack life. I think it'll serve you well, as long as you serve it well," the Gamma added sagely.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said in the next beat, then forged ahead with permission. "Does it bother you, knowing you probably won't ever see them again? My dad died right before Tyrannus ran me out. It was rough. What eats me up at night is that I might never see Mo—my mother—again before she dies. I also miss my sister, Osprey, and I have a hard time with the idea that I may never see her again, either," he admitted. He wondered why he was telling Blue Willow this, then decided that there was something inviting about her sweet, talkative personality.

Blue Willow snorted quietly and said, "Some wolves are just so blatantly greedy. HE should be ashamed of himself for running you out of your home. I am sure you were no threat and he should have realized that being that you would brothers." She nodded affirmatively, yes the other should be ashamed, blood was thicker than most things and in the end all you really have is family. His brother would realize that when his end came and he would surely regret it.

Blue Willow flicked her ears once and twice and nodded. "Yes I do want to settle down I want my own family if it is in the stars for me. I hope that it will suit me well. I will try my hardest to make sure I do what is best for the pack when I need too."

Blue Willow thought hard about his question and nodded her head. "Yes it does bother me I suppose, though I know if I don't see them again that they know i loved them just like I know they loved me. It will not make the grief any lesser if I find out later that they have died whether i saw them or not it will still hurt. Our loved one's never really leave us you know they live on in our hearts and our actions and i have noticed many times that they live on in our own offspring, from the pups I have taken care of or seen.

He listened to her answer attentively, letting her finish before speaking up thoughtfully. "I guess it's different if you make the choice for yourself. I didn't get to say goodbye to Mo, nor Osprey, and I can't exactly go back and visit them. I had no control over the situation, no time to prepare myself. I never even saw it coming..." Peregrine sighed.

"Well," he said after a moment, "I don't consider him family any longer. My real brothers—the ones Tyrannus also ran out—live here with me. Atticus and Crete. I'm sure you'll meet them at some point. Crete can't talk, though I don't imagine that'll be a problem; you can talk and he can listen." The Gamma winked to punctuate his quip, hoping Blue Willow understood the inference without being offended by it. She did talk a lot.

"We should get back to it." He rose back to his feet and began to walk again. He was tempted to keep making conversation but he had a feeling it would sidetrack them again, so he remained mum, focusing his attention on scouting for prey.

Blue Willow nodded her head and said quietly, "Yes that may very well be the difference. She tilted her head kindly as she listened to him.

She thought about his answer she probably wouldn't have thought of his brother as family either if she had been him. To be chased away by your brother that was just very sad and it made her frown in contemplation. She smiled at his small quip and dipped her head. "yes that I do.

She saw that he stood and she followed and nodded in agreement she would follow him and she would keep her mouth shut.

Blue Willow could be as quiet as she could be talkative. Together, the two wolves proceeded silently through the wintry woods, Peregrine pausing intermittently to sniff the air or the ground. He kept his eye out for tracks on the snowy forest floor or for other signs of ungulates: piles of droppings, bark rubbed off trees, half-eaten leaves on the shrubs...

He eventually found something, though a little smaller than he would've liked. "Look," he whispered to his companion, stopping to indicate some delicate paw prints in the snow. They were barely noticeable and when he bent forward, he found them scentless. "It passed this way a while ago now. Let's follow them, though, and see if they don't lead us somewhere..."

Blue Willow did not deny to anyone that she loved to converse with others. However, she also knew when to be quiet and how to be quiet. She was a meditative sort even at times, especially when her parents were healing. It did not bode well to ask questions while in the middle of healing, but rather to wait and file your questions away in the back of your mind until the end.

She watched Peregrine closely studying what he was doing, so she could become better herself. Her father always told her it is good to observe everything even if you think you know everything, someday someone may teach you something you did not know about something you thought you knew everything about. As a pup that had confused her, but not anymore.

She would sniff after he did and she would look at what he did, learning as she went. She titled her head as he sniffed at the paw prints and she herself did not smell anything. She followed behind him wondering what would be on the end of their hunting journey. Her soft spoken, "Okay lead on. was all she allowed to slide past her lips.

"Whatever it is," Peregrine said as they began to weave after the trail of paw prints, "it's small. It should be right up your alley." His dark eyes flicked sideways to see how Blue Willow felt about this, then he concentrated on the nearly indiscernible tracks leading through the forest.

Finally, he detected a scent. Not long after, he arrived at what appeared to be a burrow. He thrust his swarthy muzzle in the small doorway and huffed. "Mink," he announced when he withdrew. "There must be another entrance somewhere. Let's look for it. Then I have a strategy in mind, unless you'd like to propose one first?"

She nodded in affirmation, he was right it was something small and it would be fine and easy for her to catch. She had always been able to catch the quickest of the small things. She continued to follow him, watching the tracks herself, but allowing him to lead he was the superior and he was also the one leading this small hunt.

She sniffed at the den, Mink she had heard of them, but she had never caught one. She listened for a small sound anything, but heard nothing and then she backed up and looked around then nodded. "No i do not propose anything first time catching mink."

Although her admission surprised him, Peregrine moved on without comment. "Okay. Well, let's locate the other entrance. When we've done that, I'm going to ask you to dig and make lots of noise to scare the mink toward the other entrance... where I'll be waiting to ambush it." His tail swayed and he looked at her face to make sure she understood.

The Gamma's head then dropped and he began to sniff along the cold forest floor, searching for any sign of the burrow's second entrance/exit.

Blue Willow knew how to hunt, she had just never hunted mink or large animals. Her father had tried to explain the way to hunt them by word of mouth, but it wasn't the same as learning by example. She titled her head as Peregrine told her what to do and she nodded once and then slowly stalked around to the hole and hunkered down ready to dig but not making a noise yet. "Okay I will wait for you signal then. She offered him a smile and then waited.

Blue Willow watched him look for the other entrance hoping he would find it.

He'd actually meant for both of them to search, yet when Blue Willow hunkered down in preparation, he shrugged and decided it didn't make a difference. Thoroughly, he combed his nose over the ground, mostly sniffing but also using his whiskers to "feel" the forest floor, testing for the softness or empty space that would indicate another hole in the ground.

It took him about ten minutes but he finally found it. Trotting back to Blue Willow, Peregrine said, "All right. Count to thirty, then start digging and making as much noise as you can." With his instructions reissued, the Gamma swung away and loped back to his position, angling himself just out of view of the entryway so the mink wouldn't spot him and retreat.

Blue Willow realized that she may have mistaken his orders and she felt a little bad for not helping him find the other entrance.

Blue Willow waited for 10 minutes and then with a growl she dug at the hole and made some small yipping noises to make the mink go to the other end. She hoped she was doing it correctly. She was trying not to destroy the ground and the hill too much, she was making some loud noises though she wondered if the mink had been caught yet. Her mind wondered to a time her and her father had done almost the same thing to a rabbit den, they had eaten well that night.

Peregrine counted silently in his head, then braced himself. When he heard Blue Willow's noises in the near distance, his attention focused solely upon the burrow's entrance. His nose quivered, his ears twitched and he had to bite back a whine of eagerness when he picked up some scurrying within. Someone was home and that somebody was most definitely panicking about the intruder at the door.

Muscles coiling, Peregrine hovered much like a bird of prey, swooping down and crushing the mink with his forepaws even as it fled from the tunnel. It was much too small an animal to aim for the jugular; instead, he simply severed its spinal cord with a precise bite. Peregrine then plucked up the limp body and carried it over to Blue Willow.

Dropping the carcass momentarily, he said, "I'll show you where the nearest cache is. We'll stash this, then I'm gonna give you some homework while I go do some other stuff." He paused, making sure she was paying attention. "I want you to partner up with someone else and do what we did, only reverse the roles so you get do the killing. Once you've mastered minks, we'll move onto actual large game. Sound like a deal? Oh, and then you can teach me some stuff about herbs if you want."

He led her to a nearby stockpile buried at the foot of a tree. He dug up the top layer of soil and debris, deposited this latest kill, then reburied everything and marked the spot by lifting his legs and urinating on the roots. Turning, he faced Blue Willow again, hoping he'd taught her something useful.

"Well, I'm off. I'll catch you later, Willow," he said simply before nodding to the subordinate female and loping away into the trees to take care of various other tasks.

Blue Willow listened calmly and before she could even reply he was off. She allowed a small smile of mirth to lay about her mouth. Now she just needed to find someone to partner up with. It made her infinitely nervous the feeling of shyness creeping up on her spine. She had never really had a ton of social interaction, but she was going to do her best. She wondered who was all in the pack, she had smelled at least two other scents of wolves that smelled like the Gamma, but she had yet to meet them. They must be the brothers he spoke of, what were their names ah yes Atticus and Crete. If she was remembering correctly Crete was mute. There were others too she would have to meet. She looked down made a mental note of the cache and loped off to explore her new home.