Sunspire Mountains that young love is the purest of them all

@Knew and @Gwen

Noor stepped carefully around each bend of the mountain's range, being particularly careful around the edges. The ice showed no signs of giving anytime soon, which she supposed was good for the moment, as a slip up would mean death for the older woman. Inshallah, she whispered to herself in reference to a previous prayer for shelter. It seemed that since Noor had arrived in the Wilds, there had been nothing but cold and hunger. She looked around, scanning the scene for a carcass, though her luck seemed to have run out. She was older and couldn't afford to waste energy on a chase, not that she would've succeeded in these conditions anyway. Feeling defeated, Noor plopped down on her haunches and tried to catch her breath.

Gwen was with Knew, padding across the snow-topped land. It was sad to see the land so frozen, but it filled the ivory wolfess with determination. They would survive, her and Knew. They would survive along with any other wolves that they could recruit to the pack.

She let out a breath, forming a little cloud of frosty air, as she spotted a stranger in the not-too-far distance. Gwen let out a small bark of greeting, hoping silently that the other wolf was friendly. Knew and Gwen needed members, recruits, to help them form the pack and it seemed necessary that they find them soon.

It was official, Knew and Gwen were to travel together as lone wolves. That was his goal all along, to be along side her, but their plans exceeded his expectations, they were to have a pack together. Something he still held the delusion that he never lost, the poor dog continued to believe he was the king of his past pack that abandoned him for his lack of size. No, he still thought they were his family, but he would leave them any day to work with the ivory wolfess next to him. Even though no leave would be necessary.

He also lacked the knowledge that he was, in fact, dying. Knew was a malnourished wolf in a frigid hell that was only stirring up death. He had no idea how lucky he was to find his Pidgeon, he would likely be lying dead, covering by feet of snow in a icey grave. His thoughts never wandered to this though, he was a rather optimistic tramp, and only thought of the potential of their future. 

Suddenly, another polar pelted wolf was before them. He seemed to run into snow painted wolves a lot, maybe just because it was winter, he didn't know. The tramp let out an upbeat chuff towards the woman, noticing her seemingly tired self.

Noor heard the first bark, but wrote it off as her old ears playing tricks on her. She heard the chuff, however, and lifted her head, now sure that she wasn't alone. Hallo? she called out in heavily accented English. Noor turned her head and saw the pair, a male and a female, and immediately rose back onto all fours. Her ears were flat and her tail was low, as she was a submissive woman, not quite cut out for dominance in any situation. How can help you? she asked, wishing that someone in the Wilds would speak her native tongue so that she could stop embarrassing herself.

Gwen's pelt lightly brushed against Knew's own as she waited for the pale woman to notice them. She was aware that the pair would have to stop for food very soon, but they also needed members and Gwen planned to hunt straight after meeting this stranger.

The other wolfess turned and greeted them, but kept her posture submissive and it slightly confused Gwen. They were all lone wolves here, right? Not for much longer, but still. The soon-to-be emperess nodded her head and returned the greeting with a friendly wag of her tail. "Hello,"

She paused to let Knew greet if he wished to, then added, "I am Gwen, this is Knew... May I ask your name?" The ivory wolfess wanted to get straight to the point, but she was polite regardless and would only ask about the possibility of joining once the three wolves had gotten to know each other a little, if that even happened.

How can I help you? What a strange thing for a lone wolf to ask, yes it was a once common question asked by Knew's subjects when he was a Prince, and it didn't seem entirely strange simply because he still believed himself King of the world. But still, odd it was. The submission was also not something entirely different given to him, though out of context to be submitting to this scrawny, mangy little wolf was queer.

Knew was bluntly honest to her question. "You could catch me a hare, I'm real hungry." He didn't think it peculiar to answer, she did ask after all.  He listened as Gwen said his name for him, and her second question, his gaze fell back upon to submitting female, curious about her name.

Gwen spoke first, asking Noor her name; I am Noor Shahd. Shay-had. Then came Knew's voice, asking of her a favor. A hare? Cannot catch hare in ice. Besides, even if she wanted to fetch the young man a meal, she served one man and one man only: Diya al Din, her lost beloved. Still, she remained locked in her submissive position, waiting for the male to either excuse her and allow her to adjust herself, or for him to leave the scene so she could lavish in the woman's company at a more comfortable angle. As it seemed neither would happen anytime soon, she simply waited for one of the other's to speak. What else can do?

Gweb's brow raised slightly at Knew's answer, but Gwen only shifted on her paws and turned her head to glance at him. "I can try and hunt something in a bit," she offered, then turning back to Noor. "Pleasure to meet you, Noor." The wolfess hesitated, then decided to ask what they had approached her for in the first place. "Are you... Are you looking for a pack?" She asked, then slowly added "You see, me and Knew are planning to start one... we were wondering if you wished to join us?" There was politeness in her voice as Gwen was still a fairly shy wolf, and being in the company of a stranger was not the most pleasant feeling; however, she would do it for the pack and maybe the pair would have a chance at recruiting their first member. "The weather's harsh - a pack would be the safest option, I think." She stated, hoping she hadn't said all of that like she was pleading.

Knew was a little ruffled at her answer, why ask if she could do anything, but when given a task deny it. It didn't matter, Gwen offered to hunt for him, which he was greatful for. He would not be dismissing her stance anytime soon, he wasn't even aware he should. Submission was a common thing, and he was told to stay dominant against any wolf underneath him. Which he thought was most everyone...except Gwen of course. He would also be less righteous once actually knowing this Noor. If Pige dismissed her though, he wouldn't mind. "You wanna join us, chap?" Nicknames were a often used by the dog, and anyone who spoke to him would likely get one. Some more special than others.

Their invitation was surely unexpected, though Noor would never deny another chance at the life she'd thrown away. My goodness, yes. I've been wandering alone for ages, it seems. Noor laughed for a moment, but seeing the confusion on both Gwen and Knew's faces, she realized that they lacked a common tongue. I will join, yes. No apology was uttered, as she'd been taught not to apologize from the time she was a child, but she did allow her head to hang in a moment of humiliation.

Confusion at the language she didn't understand was replaced with relief. They had their first member, there was no turning back now. "Wonderful, you're our first member, then." There was no need for dominance. Not yet, anyway. They were not an official pack but perhaps soon they would be and it filled Gwen with pride. She gave a happy glance to Knew and then back to Noor. "We are heading to our soon-to-be pack territory, but it would be good to do a spot of hunting along the way, I think," she said, hearing her own stomach growl. She tilted her head to glance at Knew to see if he approved. "Once we've eaten we can continue on our way?"

Knew was surprised at their sudden progress, but he stomach growled in attempt to distract him from the new member. "Great then! Happy to have ya, Snow." There it was, Noor official nickname for Noor, and although it wasn't well thought out or especially different, it was a sign friendliness. The mention of hunting was delightful, and he glanced at Gwen before licking his chops. "Shall we eat?" He suggested, tail starting to wag.

Are we gonna archive this thread and start another, or is everything going to happen here? ^_^

Noor smiled at each, now slightly more composed. She slowly lifted her ears from where they lay, and her tail hung low in a steady wag. I cannot hunt well, but I will try. Noor then looked to Knew in slight confusion. Why did he call her that? Did she slip up and say the wrong thing, giving him the wrong name accidentally? She furrowed her brow and cocked her head, though dismissed the slip up as nothing more but a simple mistake. I am glad to travel wiss you, Knew and Gwen. The foreign names sounded strange on her tongue — No and Ven — but to her, she sounded fine.

Yeah, might as well archive this one and start another thread. I'll do the thread in the morning, unless either of you want to start it a little closer to the Bypass?

Gwen nodded at both wolves and began to walk, gesturing with her tail for them to follow. She'd have to get used to being a leader - Knew had experience already, didn't he?

She gave a smile to the new member and listened to her accent with awe. It was a strangely beautiful accent and Gwen didn't find it odd in the slightest.

Knew could at least understand the woman before him, and didn't really care about her accent. In fact he didn't notice it at first, but it slowly became obvious to him as she continued to talk (he's a little slow). As Gwen began walking, he was quick to join her side. "You too, Snow." He repeated, hopefully sooner or later she'd understand he gave her his own name. It was rare he ever called someone their own. 

I'll go ahead and start a thread a little closer to the Bypass, a quick thread would be nice, trying to speed this up before the blizzard...heh