Iktome Plains Weary Traveler

Clock had made his way steadily north, stopping to kill anything small enough to be hunted solo. It was exhausting hunting by oneself, but he was on his own now ever since the death of his brother Onni. The two brothers had wandered together for many months after their release from a wolf rehabilitation program in the Rocky Mountains. Clock and his siblings had all been born in captivity in Finland and then shipped to North America to be rehabilitated and released into the wild. Now, at 2 years old, Clock was full grown and yet still quite juvenile looking. For one, his legs were longer than average, giving him a rather lanky appearance. For another, he was half starved, making his slight frame look even more pathetic. With a bit of muscle and steady diet of meat, Clock could look rather handsome. For now, though, he was a bit of a sorry sight.

He had travelled diligently north, although he did not know what he was in search of. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that he needed to get away! from his brother's bloodied and lifeless body. Onni had been gored by an elk he and Clock had been trying to take down. The worst was that Onni had not died right away. Clock had stayed with him, wild eyed with fright at all the blood...

No! Clock set his dark eyes determinedly and flung up the walls of his mind with such force he swore he could feel the mental action reverberating in his head. No. He was alone and tired and hungry. It would do no good to add dwelling on painful emotions to all of that. With a sharp little shake of his head, he looked straight ahead at the great swath of plains ahead of him. Lets see... assess the situation... He tilted his head up, his black nose twitching as he inhaled the smells around him. He could smell the faint tang of the salty sea water ahead and knew he was reaching the end of his running. Sitting back on his haunches, he lifted his right forepaw and chewed momentarily at a blistered paw pad. He had traveled such a great distance in the past few weeks his paws were raw and sore. Now that the blister on his right foot had popped, it was very irritating to walk on. With a sigh, he let the paw fall heavily back to the ground and settled his gaze back on the sight of the plains before him. He knew he wasn't going to be able to keep this up. He could not survive forever wandering on his own, especially not at such a grueling pace. He would eventually need to settle somewhere, and it would be wiser to do it soon - while he was still young and could provide value to a pack. He knew there were wolves in the area; he had been smelling their markings for several miles. He had never really belonged to a pack before, but he supposed that when the time came he would instinctively know what to do. For now, he could feel the ache of hunger welling up within him and he knew he would need to eat soon. He continued into the plains, sniffing hopefully for the scent of rabbits.

Welcome to Wolf! :)

Life had settled down again and Charon was happy for it. Galaxy had returned to them and the pups were growing steadily now. With her appetite, Charon was sure Galaxy'd be back healthy and tubby soon. Today he decided to explore and visit the shore again. It was on his way back that he ran into another wolf, after standing on the shores for a good hour breathing in the air and batting at the waves. Some day he'd bring the pups there, he told himself as he started making his way home across the plains.

Ears perked forward and his defensively shot into a dominant posture when he saw a stranger in the distance. He appeared to be searching for something there, as far as Charon could deduct. The freckled white male approached and when he came nearer he chuffed to announce his presence, body still dominant and a serious expression on his face as he gauged the stranger's response.

Thanks! Happy to be here :) 

Clock wandered further toward the ocean, looking for small game to hunt, but was unsuccessful. In the midday heat, it seemed that most critters had taken refuge in secure and shady areas to wait until the evening to continue their foraging of food. Giving up, Clock decided it would be best for him to rest in the shade of the group of trees that were behind him. He would try again later in the evening when more prey animals would be out. He was starting to turn when he saw the figure of another wolf heading toward him - the other's pale fur easily detectable against the lush green of the grassy plains. Clock hesitated briefly, wondering if he could slink away undetected but it appeared the other had already spotted him. He stood there with his body partly turned away and his head cocked to look over his shoulder at the other wolf, who was advancing with a strong display of dominance... although, thankfully, not outright aggression. Clock snuffled at the air, but the winds were coming from the wrong direction and he could smell nothing of the other's scent.

When the other announced his presence and stared boldly at Clock, Clock ducked his head and hunched into his shoulders a bit. His ears tucked back submissively and his bushy white tail flecked with bits of grey and black dropped, although did not tuck completely between his legs. He saw no need to be reduced to that level of pathetic submission just yet. He opened his mouth in a submissive wolfish grin, as if laughing at himself and appologizing embarrassedly for it at the same time. He knew he was on foreign territory. His dark brown eyes flicked, briefly, back toward the direction he had come and the cool, shady forest in which he head been intending to go. The quick display was meant to be a soft suggestion that he was just passing through and had no intention of hanging around.

It would be immediately apparent that Clock had been travelling a great distance. His coat was dirty and slightly matted around his neck, chest, and haunches there the fur was the thickest. He was very thin, and his long legs gave him the apprearance of being even more slight of frame. He did not, however, have the cachexic and starved looks of a canine afflicted by a serious illness. Even though he was a bit boney, one could tell that his legs were reasonably muscled. His eyes were bright and expressive; signs of a healthy animal. He wagged his tail, which he held low, back and forth a few times in brief succession indicating that he only meant to be friendly.

As he came closer, Charon was quickly met with submissive signals that pleased him. He was on neutral grounds but he was close enough to his home that he felt defensive, and his tactic was that offense was generally the best defense. It proved to ring true this time too, and his body fell to a more neutral posture; proud and confident all the same, but no longer looking like he would wrestle the other to the ground should it prove necessary. He sized the male up, who looked a little scruffy around the edges — signs of a loner — but looked like he was handling himself well enough on his own. Charon'd seen worse.

No words followed at first, but the wag of the tail and the signs of submission were enough to tell that this wolf wouldn't be of any threat, so Charon felt at ease enough. "Traveller?" he asked, although the answer was clear. But he had to say something before this got awkward.

Clock stood politely and calmly while the bigger wolf sized him up, although he was tensed to run at a moment's notice. There was no way he was going to be winning any fights in his current condition. Now that they were closer in proximity, Clock could pick up on the other's scent. He recognized it as one he had been smelling frequently in these parts. This other male was obviously close to his established territory.

"Yes," he replied to the other's question. "I have travelled a great distance under..." he hesitated a moment, thinking of his dead brother, "much hardship." He shuffled his feet a bit and looked out toward the plains. "My given name is Cluence, but everyone calls me Clock." He respectfully inclined his head at the other. "I bring no trouble, but as you can see -" That little appologetic smile again - "I am greatly in need of food. I was hoping to hunt in these plains this evening when there is a better chance to catch some prey... That is, if there is enough?" Clock looked hopefully at the other, aware that sometimes packs of wolves guarded nearby hunting grounds when food became scarce. He had not been in these parts long enough to tell the current status of the food chain. Should the other wolf refuse him access to the hunting grounds, Clock would have to go elsewhere, but he preferred not to think of that right now.

Something must've happened on his journeys considering the carefully picked words and sad expression to the dude's face. Anyway, Charon didn't ask and didn't think much more of it, having heard too many sad stories in his lifetime to care about those of others. His mind drifted off a bit and when it returned he found this Clock dude asking him if he could hunt on the plains.

Charon rolled his shoulders in a shrug and said, "Yeah, sure." He thought back to last year's famine, but so far this year had been much, much kinder to them and he was sure it'd be just another totally fine year where everything would end up good and they could stock up before winter after a flourishing summer. As it should be. "I'm Charon Ostrega, by the way. Alpha of Moonspear." He gestured over Clock's shoulder to the large mountain that rose to the south of them, piercing the sky. There was a proud smile on Charon's face as he spoke of his mountain.

It was no surprise to Clock that the other did not seem interested or concerned in either his past or his current state of being. Such was the nature of wolves and pack-mentality; you only tended to the needs of your own pack. There was no offense in it. It was just a simple fact of life for creatures who needed to survive. And anyway, Clock was glad to not have to discuss his past. It was over now, and wolves were no strangers to death amongst their peers. All wolves could relate to the loss of a pack member. Clock was certainly not unique in his losses.

Clock did not realize that he had been holding his breath until he felt himself exhale in relief when the other gave him permission to use the hunting grounds. He ducked his head gratefully and wagged his tail a little. 

"Pleased to meet you Charon Ostrega," he said politely and with a bow of his head. He was impressed to hear the other was alpha of a pack. Clock looked over his shoulder at the tall spire Charon was looking proudly upon. "That mountain is your territory?" he asked conversationally. He was no stranger to mountains, having come from the Rocky Mountains himself. There was definitely an advantage to being up high where you could see out across large swaths of land. It made hunting easier, too.

The wolf seemed glad with the permissions and Charon idly wondered why he had even said yes at all. He could've just denied access, even if he wasn't using the lands himself. Why give a random wolf something good? Well, it was already given now and Charon didn't feel like picking any fights. Whatever. Clock asked if it was his territory, the mountain, and he nodded.

"Yep. Largest mountain in the area." Only the Sunspire matched Moonspear in size and it was hard to tell which one was actually the tallest, but Charon liked to think that Moonspear was just a little bit taller. He couldn't help but wonder if Clock was looking for a pack or if he was one of those wolves who thought he could do without. He didn't look like he could do without, but whatever. It wasn't like Charon was going to offer him a home without knowing anything about him anyway; that was reserved only for friends. "Been in the area long?" he asked conversationally, though Charon didn't really care. He just wanted to stop an awkward silence from happening.

Noting the look of pride on Charon's face when he gazed upon his territory, Clock looked back at the mountain again for a few respectful moments. He did not want to create any enemies by appearing nonchalant, although his mind was largely preoccupied with thoughts of food and rest. "A fine-looking place to live," he murmured with a nod of his shaggy head. He wasn't just saying it either. He came from a whole range of mountains and was quite comfortable being in that environment. 

He shook his head at Charon's next question. "No, not long at all actually," he confessed. "I came from very far South of here and have just arrived here. There are not many wolf packs in those parts, and I don't think I would have survived if I had stayed there." And indeed, what Clock did not know was that even though the wolf species was protected in the national forests of the Rocky Mountains, if he had wondered onto a human's ranch in search of easy prey then he would have been fair game to be shot and killed. Clock had definitely been following his instinct in leaving those parts.

"Anyway," he continued quickly, sensing that Charon wasn't too eager for a lengthy conversation. Likely, he was just making sure Clock posed no threat to his pack and would prefer to go about his business. "I'm pretty tired from my travels and it doesn't look like the hunting is good right now, so I was going to rest in that grove of trees back there and pursue some small prey this evening. It was very nice to meet you Charon." He ducked his head again, politely, at the other.

Charon was easily flattered as always so the compliments to his mountain did not fall to deaf ears. He smiled proudly at the mention and nodded in silent agreement. Then he listened to Clock's story in regards to his travels. There hadn't been many packs where he had come from and he was right; a wolf wouldn't survive long without a pack. Charon nodded in agreement. "Sounds like you made the right choice to come here. A wolf shouldn't be without pack for long." Charon wondered briefly where he'd originally come from and why he had left towards the land with no packs, but before he could find a way to ask about this Clock said that he was tired and it sounded like he'd rather cut their conversation short.

Truthfully, Charon had expected Clock to ask to be accepted into his pack, but he didn't. Well, maybe he'd show up later. It wasn't like Charon liked him so much that he'd ask for him to join, either. It was funny; with Rouge he'd never seen her request to join coming, but here he thought it'd happen and it did not.

"Alright, good lucking hunting, and good luck with your travels," Charon said with a nod. He turned away then, back towards Moonspear territory where he'd been headed in the first place. Considering how long he'd need to wait to take his pups to the ocean for the first time Charon started trotting back in the direction of Moonspear, leaving Clock to his rest and his meal.