It appeared as though the storm had faded in an area they now considered to be next door. He'd seen spiders... spiders everywhere and every one of them appeared to be frantically reconstructing their webs. If he'd had any greater fear of spiders, it might have bothered him, but like all bugs, he gave them their space and they gave them his. It was a mutual agreement to co-exist. Plus... they helped keep away the pesky things like flies so kudos for their efforts.
Traveling onward, he followed the storm path around a nearby pack. Their lands were clearly marked and he made mental note to either say hello some day in the future or ignore them all together. He wasn't sure yet, but now he knew they existed.
He pressed on and encountered an area that was totally in ruins. The trees were everywhere. Corpses were still rotting and decomposing. He'd thought the worst of it was over but the bloated bodies and the stench of heat made things all the worse. Flies were everywhere. He flicked his ears and tail to avoid the worst of them, but it didn't seem to help. Still, he was determined to see the extent of the damage and ensure none of it reached his new home.
The wound on his head was closed entirely now, the red rawness of it sealed by an ugly scab that itched mercilessly. Luke would bite his lip as he fought the urge to rub his crown on a tree, knowing enough that tearing off the scab and opening the wound would do nothing but harm. So he would endure the itching. His leg, too, and the rest of his body was no longer as tender, and his limp had softened in severity. He could feel the stiffness in his muscles slackening, and did not realize until now how much he had been compensating in his movements for the pain that the tree had brought upon him.
He followed the path of tornado after leaving Saena, hoping it had spared the home Harlyn had picked out for them. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that it had, though of course there was some damage from the reckless winds. It was the moor to the south that had taken the brunt of storm's wrath. Each step he took was slow, deliberate, with the terrain so badly distorted by debris and torn ground. Flies made a nuisance of themselves, especially drawn to his head which only caused further itching and irritating.
He was about to leave, to do an about face and take the straightest path out of this damp battlefield, when a fiery coat caught the corner of his eye. It seemed familiar, but it was not until he drew nearer that he could put a name to the figure: Kerosene. He barked a greeting, as he continued to pick his way toward his acquaintance.
The flies were relentless. He knew they were not for him but for the corpses that littered this place. He'd seen the bodies. He'd seen the decaying flesh and the maggots that infested them. No doubt the flies that crawled from their cavities were moving on to fresher things to help speed up this circle of life. Their job was to aid in decay. Kero only wished they'd aid faster.
He turned his nose away, trying to cloud the scent of rotting things from his mind when a bark echoed through the air. Distracted, he'd not noticed the approach of a stranger. His ears turned. His face soon followed as he spied a stranger he'd met when he'd only first begun his adventure in these wilds. The blue one. Well. White and blue.
"Luke!" he greeted, altering his course in the direction of the wolf. "Crazy weather we've been having. Good to see you made it out alive." He neared the wolf and dipped his head in greeting. They'd only met the one time, but so many things had changed since then. Speaking of. "That pack of yours make it?" The one he'd said was forming. It'd been a while. Surely they'd come together by now.
They met somewhere in the middle of their two locations, and Luke mirrored the man's greeting with a dip of his own head. "I know, eh!" he agreed with an enthusiastic nod. What other word could there be for it? The skies had been cracked by lightning and released a torrent of rain amid a cacophony of thunder, the wind damn near blew the fur and feathers off any animal around, and the tornado itself - that thing devoured all in its path. Crazy was a fitting word indeed.
The red wolf remembered their conversation, how long ago it seemed now. "Not yet, but just about! Got a spot picked out and everything," Luke gestured with his muzzle toward the forest in the distance. "That there timber got a nice river and some falls in it. Beautiful spot. So any day now we'll be moving in. What about you?" His gaze rested attentively on Kero's face. "Find yourself a home?"
A quick look over this wolf let Kero know he'd survived the worst of it. The scab on Luke's head was somewhat concerning, but if that was the only visible damage, the white wolf didn't seem too worse for wear. He didn't speak on it. No doubt they all wanted to forget the insanity of that night. Wild winds. Panic. Evacuations. Fires. Rain. Orange skies. Everything. Why, even he was doing his best to push the memories behind him and move on to whatever mysteries their future might hold.
It was something of a surprise to learn this wolf's pack had not yet formed. It was perhaps in Kero's best interest that he had settled somewhere with a little more solidarity, however the location Luke spoke of seemed something like a dream. "It sounds amazing," he commented, pleased to learn this wolf would soon have a home to call his own. "Also sounds like we might be neighbors."
A wag lifted in his tail as he grinned. It was nice to know there were friendly faces close by. "Storm took out our previous home so we've relocated this way. Moved in to the mountains back that way." He tipped his head in the appropriate direction. It couldn't hurt to let a little word of mouth inform the rest of the world nearby territories were off limits.
"What the heck did you do to keep yourself busy since we last met? Wander the whole wilds?"
Luke nodded enthusiastically. Their soon to be home was amazing. It was plucked straight out of the dreams the druid had spoken of, a sheltered forest with a captivating water feature that held enough fish such that the blue-nosed wolf himself would not be able to catch them all. It was certainly worth the wait and the inner struggle he had gone through the past several months.
"Neighbors?" Luke grinned. He was pleased to hear this, and was attentive as Kero spoke of their relocation to the mountains behind them. "That's great!" he chirped. It was not an empty sentiment either, and his tail sped up in his wag to show it.
He asked how Luke had kept himself busy. "Well actually," he laughed, mirth brightening his features. "I did exactly that. Trust me though, I was going stir crazy near the end. I almost considered settling down elsewhere, and I had promised myself I would if nothing had come of this pack before winter. I would sooner live with squirrels than spend another winter alone." He winked, for when they had met, squirrels had been making a nuisance of themselves. Terrible, noisy roommates no doubt they would make.
"Yeah!" he said. Luke's enthusiasm was rubbing off and a light wag lifted within Kero's tail. "It feels really good to be all settled in before the winter really rolls in." And good knowing his pups would be born well before it got too cold to help them survive. At least now they still had time to dig out the necessary dens and stockpile everything they'd need to get them through the winter. No doubt, Luke felt some relief in knowing he'd have a home before life as a loner became too hard without one. He'd seen many a good wolf get lost that way.
A grin touched his maw. There was a small part of him that remembered the days when he could roam without a worry in the world. Here and now, he had quite a number of things anchoring him down, but at least those things meant he wouldn't get swept away or lost in a storm. Packs were good for that sort of thing. If he'd been in Luke's paws, Kero wasn't sure he'd have been able to hold out. Probably would have caved a lot sooner and joined a pack. Oh wait. He had. Whoops.
"Oh no!" he piped up quickly at the mention of squirrels. "Better a loner than with those nut jobs." Seriously. Those pesky little tree rodents had it out for him. He wouldn't wish them on anyone in the world. But... since they were on the topic of traveling. "What do you know about this area? Any fun places to explore? Anything I should know about?"
"You're probably right," Luke chuckled, as the topic moved from the subject of irksome rodents to their new neighborhood. The blue-nosed wolf hummed as he considered Kero's question, but unfortunately, he did not have much to offer. "I am afraid I do not know much at all," he frowned. "I spent most of my time in the flatlands and wildnerness, waiting for my alpha-to-be to call for me. It was only the last little while that I started exploring further out. I was restless and bored."
His trips through the area had been brief, and he had only crossed a couple of the territories that made up the whole. He recalled the wetlands he had met Ovaltine in, but there was nothing noteworthy about them. However, that just meant that before them both was an entirely new place to check out. This thought brought another grin back to Luke's face. "Guess we got some exploring to do!" His tail swished. Truly, the white wolf loved to explore. Near the end of his tenure in pack-limbo he could care less to do it, but now he was game again and looked forward to scouting his new home.
"Is there anything you think I should know about?"
Haha. Good. They were in agreement that living with the squirrels was not the best option for any wolf, but Kero had to admit he was a little disappointed Luke didn't have anything fun to report. "What? No interesting characters? No fun little locations?" Surely the wolf had to have seen something before getting to terribly bored. Roaming as a lone wolf had its perks, but when the boredom rolled in, it was definitely time to explore other options. That's when the exploring happened. That's when things tended to get interesting.
All the same, Kero laughed. "Guess so!"
He rolled back through his adventures from forever ago. Had he explored anything interesting? "Hey. I'm trying to remember... Marshes nearby right? More swampy areas?" Perhaps Luke could help him out by completing his mental map. He'd first come to these wilds from roughly that direction and had circled back around that direction before back tracking over here... then crossing there... Hmm... Perhaps he needed to rethink this...
"There's a nice cave back round that side of those mountains," he recalled, remembering his time in Blue Spring Caves. "Nice cool water in there." He pressed onward through his recollection and ended up back at those marshes. "And if the mashes are nearby... careful in those. That mud really tries to suck you in." And under.
Luke shook his head with a soft chuckle. He truly did not know of any notably fun locations within the area, and he had not met many of the local residents. If asked to recall whom he had met in the southern parts, he would have struggled even then to pin a specific wolf as more interesting than the other. Lasher, perhaps. Their relationship had taken off like a wildfire, it began with a spark and now pushed forward with abandon. But the blue-nosed wolf was not inclined to speak of his earthen lover, especially since he remembered how Kero reacted when he was a little too comfortable showing off his not-blue balls.
"There are a couple of marshes to the northwest," he confirmed. "Before you reach them you'll pass by my new home and then there's a meadow and a lake. Full of ducks, that lake." Kero shared with him them about a cave on the backside of the mountains, and Luke nodded appreciably. He made a note to go there sometime, for the promise of cool water was all it took to pique the white wolf's interest. "Good frog hunting in the marshes, but you're right about the mud." He had once seen an elk trapped in the kind of mud his friend warned him of. It did not end well for the ungulate.
The marshes were northwest. He made note of that and checked it against their current location. Alright. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly coming together and he was feeling a little better about where which place was oriented to the next place. He'd need to do a full sweep of the area if he wished to be fully confident about it, but given his present situation with a pregnant and ready to pop mate back at home, he'd have to save his adventures for some time in the distant future.
"Mm," he murmured, the warm sound escaping him as Luke went on about his new home, the meadows and the ducks. "Ducks?" he questioned, curious as to quite how many there were. "Does it make for easy duck hunting?" Of course, now his interest was piqued. It'd been a while since he'd enjoyed the flavor of duck.
His appetite was quickly spoiled by the mention of frogs. He wrinkled his nose. That was one animal he'd never had any desire to chase. "Do you go frog hunting often?" he dared to ask. From Luke's enthusiasm, he seemed to have a taste for those beasties so long as it didn't land him, or anyone else in the mud. "Sans mud, of course."
Luke also liked the taste of duck, but duck was not an easily hunted bird. They were fast, exceptionally wary creatures, and while he could swim better than most, even he could not catch them before they took flight from the water surface. Luke shook his head at Kero's question. "Not right now," he said. "But, in the spring, when they are nesting in the grass on the shore, you can sometimes sneak up on them. Bonus: their eggs are just as good as they are!" Even stalking the ducks on land required patience and sure, quiet steps.
Their topic shifted to frogs. The blue-nosed wolf caught the wrinkle on his friend's nose, and smiled with amusement. His was a tongue that could appreciate many tastes, and Kero was not the first wolf he met that did not like frogs. "I rather like the taste of frogs," he admitted with a soft chuckle. "They are more of a snack though. I catch them all the time but never enough to make a meal. What about you?" He tilted his head. "Got a favorite food?"
His ears lifted at the mention of eggs. Now that was something he'd never actually considered snatching before. The animal? Sure. The baby, unborn animal? Not something he'd have thought of as an option until Luke mentioned it. "Yeah? Taste like chicken?" Or duck... since that was the actual animal, but who was really splitting hairs here?
Okay. Maybe he was. Kero wasn't the least bit convinced that frog was the right way to go about things, but hey, a snack was a snack. He'd been a lone wolf long enough to know that you took what you could get and made it work until the next meal. "More power to you, Luke. I don't think I could stomach those." Even if he caught one, he wasn't sure he had the stomach to try.
He preferred other things. "Pheasant, actually." Now that he thought about it, he did have a slight preference for the more gamey birds. "Turkey if I'm feeling risky. Those suckers have wicked talons." He'd been jabbed a time or two before eventually giving up on them. Other times he'd been successful. Once he got through all the feathers? Totally worth it. "Eat one of those by yourself? You'll be stuffed for weeks."
From one bird to another their conversation went, as Kero informed him that pheasant was his preferred food, or perhaps turkey. Luke had eaten a few of them, and bobbed his head in agreement of their flavor and of the challenge proposed by the latter's talons. Pheasant had talons as well, but they were more apt to fly and did not possess the same heft as a jake turkey. Indeed, such a bird kept a wolf going for a while. He could almost feel the saliva pool in his mouth as he thought of all the meat. The blue-nosed wolf was hard pressed to think of a food he did not like, but there was one food he could not deny as his favorite.
"Fish." he announced, grinning at Kero. "My favorite food is fish," he hummed, remembering all the trout, salmon, catfish, minnows, perch, suckers and sunfish he had ever eaten, among others. "I can't get enough of them. Do you fish?"
He did have a love for game birds of all kind. Not only were they delicious, but there was a part of him that really enjoyed stealing their feathers afterwards. The long ones. Why, he recalled a moment a few months ago when he'd brought Tonravik pheasant and tickled her nose with one of their long plumes. She hadn't particularly enjoyed it. Or, at least he thought she hadn't, but it was always hard to tell with her. She wasn't the most expressive of wolves unless she was growling.
The conversation drifted to fish. Kero snorted. Of course it would be fish. The one prey animal Kero hadn't quite learned how to get his teeth around. He laughed, somewhat nervously as Luke asked about them. "I am a terrible fisher. Never really figured it out." Which meant, he didn't eat them often. "I'm sure there's a trick to it, I just never learned what that trick is. Those things are slippery."
But man... all this talk of food was really making him hungry. As if on cue, his stomach growled. His ears drooped, somewhat sullen as an uncomfortable kind of embarrassment flitted through him. "And... I think that means it's time for food. You hungry for something? Between the two of us, I'm sure we could snag a decent snack of some kind to tide us over for a bit."
Fishing was its own art. The most skilled of hunters did not always make good fishers. It required its own skill set and a generous amount of patience. But the reverse was also true, that those talented at fishing did not necessarily have the same prowess for hunting. The blue-nosed wolf was a masterful fisher, but he could not, would not, claim the same mastery over land-prey as he did those in the water. He was a respectable hunter, however.
"I can show you how I do it sometime," he offered. Kero's stomach growled then, and Luke's ears lifted as an amused grin came upon his face. His stomach did not rumble, but he felt the heat of hunger himself. The offer to hunt with his friend was not one he wished to turn down. "Let's do it!" he said. "You can lead." He stood at the ready, waiting for the red male.
He'd attempted fishing a number of times to no avail. On his own, he was hopeless, but when Luke volunteered to show him how it was done, Kero's ears perked up. "I'd like that," he said. "Thanks." Not many wolves had the patience to show how that sort of thing was done. Fishing required a great deal of patience and precisions. Not many wolves were capable of putting in the time to show how that was done.
Here and now, it seemed the fishing lessons would be a future thing. If Kero was going to lead this hunt, they'd be chasing after ground prey. He was far more skilled and successful with those things. Now? It was only a matter of what they wished to eat.
Kero turned, lifting his nose to the air so he might taste it to see if anything worth while was around. In this wreckage? Maybe not so much, but it was worth a shot. Maybe they'd get lucky. "Are you hungry for anything in particular?"
Luke nodded, his expressive tail conveying his excitement at the prospect of teaching Kero a few fishing tricks. The blue-nosed wolf not only had the patience to fish, but he also had the patience to teach, and his social nature took a lot of pleasure in sharing both his craft and his passion. He would look forward to it, for today was not the day. Today, Kero would lead them in a hunt of land-dwelling edibles.
The white wolf lifted his nose to do the same as the red wolf did. When asked if he was hungry for anything in particular, he answered cheekily. "Frog." He composed a serious expression for all of two seconds before it cracked into another grin. "Kidding, of course." He hummed as he considered their options. "I'm not picky, how about the first thing we see that we can take?" Simple enough.
Okay! Fishing date for later. Now it was all about catching something on land which was something he was far better at. But first? They might have better luck if they moved out of this wreckage and back into the treeline. He caught Luke's gaze and tipped his head towards the trees in the distance. It seemed like a better place to start than a place that still stunk of death and decay.
Paws lifted, traversing to the location in the distance. Frog? Frog! A look of horror crossed his face at Luke's suggestion only to fade when he realized the wolf was kidding. The first thing they could find? "Sounds good to me." No sense in being picky when his grumbling stomach was sure to give away all element of surprise.
A scent crossed through his muzzle. "How do you feel about opossum?" he asked. Those suckers had a habit for playing dead when threatened. If a wolf could get past their natural dead-smelling glands that came with "playing possum" they were decent eating. Hard to stomach, but filling.
The blue-nosed wolf had eaten many critters, from those cloaked in feathers, to the ones dressed in scales and fur, and even some of the ones that fit into none of those categories; but the one his friend named was not among that list, which caused him to stop and consider. He lifted his nose, taking in the scent that Kero had identified. "Opossum," he murmured, then he turned his head and grinned broadly as his tail kicked into an enthusiastic rhythm. "Oh yes lets! I've never tried opossum!"
He had scarcely even seen the nocturnal creatures, but their reputation of playing dead, along with the idiom inspired by them, was not unknown to him. He secretly hoped that if they found one, it put on its very best display of being dead just for the white wolf's entertainment. He lifted a paw, eager to follow his fiery friend in this hunt.
Haha. Awesome. They were going to go track down an opossum. They had to be somewhere around here. Those things seemed to be like rodents of the swamp. Okay. They were. And since the day had faded into evening, chances were now good that they'd be a little more active than usual.
"I'm just gonna warn ya," he said. "When those things play dead, they're some kind of rancid." The smell was enough to make any wolf wish his nose weren't so keen. And they were vicious... until the whole playing dead thing kicked in. If a wolf could get past that? It was an easy kill. Just kind of nasty.
He lifted his nose. With all the wreckage it was a little difficult to tell what scents existed and what scents were blown in with the storm. Nevertheless, he tracked to the best of his ability and drew them into an area that was a little more wooded. "Smell anything yet?" he asked, curious. Hopefully they'd encounter something soon.
"Compared to a skunk?" he tilted his head. Skunks were about the most foul creature he could think of, so he was curious to know where an opossum laid on the scale of zero to skunk. Hopefully, he would have a chance to see, no smell, for himself. He had tasted skunk, and while he did not prefer it for the aroma that wreathed his nose when he ate it, it did not bother him and he suspected it would be the same for opossum. Either way, the blue-nosed wolf was eager to try something new.
His friend inquired about scents about the same time Luke had his nose thrust to the trunk of a tree. "I think..." He sniffed louder as he circled the tree. "One climbed this tree..." he tilted his head back, peering into the branches, but he did not see any creatures lingering in them. Not that they could scale the tree even if there was. He shifted his mouth as he turned his gaze back to Kero. "You?" His experience with tracking opossums... needed work.
Kero wrinkled his nose. Thinking on it, he wasn't quite sure which was worse. Skunks were some kind of rancid. Opossums? "They rank right up there with them," he confirmed. Their survival mechanism wasn't fooling around. When they played dead, they played dead, complete with a full fledged fainting for hours at a time as they faked rigor and woke up later only to crawl off. Those creatures were foul with their theatrics. At least with skunks? Those a wolf knew well to stay away from their back end.
Where Kero was looking, he'd overlooked the scent of one. Luke was lucky enough to find something foul. The red wolf padded over to sniff the tree. Sure enough, that was the scent of opossum. Kind of like skunk, but with a twist of something uniquely them. "Nah. That's one alright." He stepped back, gazing into the branches as he peered upwards. They wouldn't be able to get a 'possum that was tree-bound, but chances were it'd scaled the trees and touched back down to the ground somewhere.
A rustle in the leaves sounded like a good opportunity. He nudged Luke's shoulder and pointed with his nose towards the sound. With a quick nod of his head, Kero stalked it from the ground. If they could stay quiet and out of sight, they might be able to keep undercover until it grew brave enough to scavenge the earth again.
His ears flicked to the same rustle that captured Kero's attention, and his posture slipped into a readied crouch as the red wolf nudged his shoulder and gestured toward it. The predator was on alert now, his silver eyes focused sharply ahead as the hunting party crept forward. For once, his ever-moving tail was still, though he felt the electric tingle of excitement as they watched the opossum move among the branches. It was oblivious to them, not even the wind betrayed their scent.
Minutes passed, though time seemed to have come to a stand still. Then, the moment the wolves were hoping for. The marsupial's claws made audible scratching sounds as it descended the trunk of the next tree over from the one it had been spotted in. Luke felt the tension come into his muscles, prepared to move, but what the next best move he was not sure. Should he circle it? If they leaped out at it, would it play dead for them or scurry back to the tree? These were the questions of inexperience.
His head did not turn, but his gaze shifted to Kero. He was leading this hunt, and the white wolf would take his cue from the one who had hunted these before.
Kero sank into a crouch and slithered along the earth as he neared the rustling in the leaves, but was careful not to get too close. They needed to observe the opossum and wait for it to come down to look for food or a den. Scaring it would only keep the beast up in the trees longer which would have been counterproductive. It would simply be something of a waiting game until they could proceed to capture it the way they hoped.
The scratching of claws along a tree trunk was a good sign. Kero pressed his ears forward, listening more intently as he turned his gaze to get a visual. The opossum moved, walking along the ground as though there wasn't a worry in the world. Perfect. Just a little further...
Luke looked to him in question. Kero crouched lower as if to suggest the wolf wait just a little bit longer. He was doing much the same. A few more feet and the opossum would be in an area between trees where it would be unable to run. Ready... and...
He sprang, rushing the opossum. True to it's nature, the creature froze as if stuck in rigor. He slowed to a halt as he neared it. The body was starting to stink. He took a step back, turning his nose downward to distract himself with the natural scents of the earth. The opossum fell over, frozen where it was with its jaws slightly parted, its tail curled, and its feet stiff. For all sakes and purposes, it looked dead, but just from watching it, Kero knew it was still alive and well.
"Come check this out," Kero called back. The fainting spell would last for a while longer yet and it hadn't put up any kind of a fight. It reeked something foul, but if a wolf could stomach its natural defenses, this opossum would be an easy meal.