(Figured i should finally get rah out of nsv to play with the other kids ;) )
The sun had risen on a crisp morning; the air was still cool with late winter, but warmth crept into his den in the form of golden morning rays. He had been sharing his den with the equally large and sizeable Xi'nuata, requiring of him to dig into the walls of the den - it was fairly roomy now, dug out beneath a tree growing amongst the rocks of the mountain side. She had gone to meet with the male of Swiftcurrent Creek that aided in her learning of combat, leaving the beast without his light for the day. Enough of the warrior faction ran with the Vale now that he could leave its borders without worry of intrusion, and though he did not explicitly trust them with its safety, he posed this as a test.
Raheerah had found a slow trickling spring born from somewhere higher within the mountains. The oily beast followed, and it led him down away from the spine to where the land began to fall flat again. His movements choppy, each stride seemed intended to be made the second before; he was by no means graceful as he made his way from the foothills into the woodlands, following along the edge of the stream. Eventually, he found himself coming to a halt to partake in the sweet taste of the mountain spring. The beast loomed over its edge, dipping his head to take in mouthfuls of the creek water.
Satiating his thirst, Raheerah resumed his posture, lingering at the edge of the creek. His jaws hung open, exposing the scarred pink gums that nestled yellow fangs. He breathed slowly, each inhale a rumble, a hiss; Raheerah sunk to his haunches and guarded this little creek, reveling in his solitude.
It was one of those days, when Osprey's mind was bubbling with new ideas. She had got up in the morning, been able to catch a hare and for some reason this little victory had made all the difference. She was excited, giddy and unable to contain the energy that flowed in her. The best way to rid of it was to do something, go somewhere, make an important discovery. The best way to achieve it was to leave the lands behind and go into the unknown.
The young wolf had been out walking for some time, while her mind traveled the realms of imagination. She came up with new stories, characters and games and felt oh - so impatient to share these with Blue Willow and her siblings. They would be excited to - that was sure. Water! She stopped in her tracks, trying to locate the source and, once she did that, followed the shortest path there.
And what a surprise awaited her there - a wolf she had never seen before. His face was scarred so badly, as if it had been mauled by a dragon. He could well be that tough and rough hero, who was distant to others, made friends with no one and yet had a brave heart and a little soft side too. Now that was a character she had to make acquaintance with - it would probably be once in a lifetime experience.
"Hey! You ain't from around here, are you?" she called over to him, while keeping a safe distance from him. Just in case.
As he sat, with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging above his chest, the beast let his mind wander. His single molten eye remained locked on the gentle flowing creek, but his thoughts drifted back to the Vale, to the faces of his packmates, to Lham. He hoped that she was fairing well enough without his presence. The oily beast had been tentative of leaving the borders, with his Goddess weighing heavy on his mind, and then his light; his warriors had proven fairly proficient in defending the borders, but how would they do without his constant instruction? Of course the dragon failed to wander too far - should they call, he would be able to hear at least an echo in the skies and charge to their aid.
For now, the skies were silent.
He sucked in a breath, only to hear the sound of footfall in the snow. Out of the corner of his eye he looked, but she very quickly spoke out, chipper and so unwitting. Raheerah had not been expecting company, especially that of a plateau wolf. His gaze locked on her, and sloely he turned to hold her within his entire sights. His lips still drew back in a doggish pant and he slowly analyzed her before his words came, equally as paced in calculated meter. "Foorrr whaat reeaason dooees thiiis oonne beliiieeeeve such a thiing?" His voice was reserved, unsettlingly so.
Still it carried the undertones of amusement. It was not good natured as the amusement he held with Xi'nuata; rather, it was foreboding, unnerving. He refused to lose her from his sights, locking that one burning eye on the form of the stranger that dared to tread so near him.
That guy has one eye! How awesome! That was the first thought that crossed Osprey's mind, when the beast turned his head in her direction and locked his eyes with hers. He did look scary and formidable but in a very attractive way. Because now she really felt that she had met the dark wizard/demon wolf of the adventure stories. She could easily imagine horns appearing on his forehead and along his spine, as well as living fire all around him. The next story she was going to event - this guy will definitely be in it.
His voice was also a matter to talk and think about. "Your scary talk is really good," she complimented him, but did not near him, deciding to stick, where she already was. She sat down and looked at him. "Well... you look totally extraordinary. You must be from an extraordinary pack too," she guessed, trying to imagine, what could his family look like.
(because this didnt take FOREVER... im so sorry)
For whatever reason, his response served only to amuse her further. Raheerah was caught somewhere between annoyance and amusement himself - eventually, though, the dreary nature of the beast won out and the only emotion spawned from the woman's reaction was irritation. As peculiar as her enthusiasm may have been, Raheerah was in no mood to be rendered a mere concept. "Iiiff yoouu kneeww the naaturree of thiiss braanding. Yoou woould noott bee so quiick too admiiirre." He hissed, his head turned still to look over the smaller female. If the extraordinary pack she spoke of was the Vale, then Raheerah would need to correct her in that, too; there was nothing particularly interesting about the wolves that resided in the valley, at least, not so that he would attempt to convince her to see them.
His lips suddenly cracked into another wicked grin as he rose to his paws. His voice remained as a remnant of the tone he adopted prior, existing as a dull hum trailing from his final word. It picked back up again as he fixed her within his singular gaze. "Orr perhaaps it iiss becaause youu seek a braandinng of yoour oowwwn." Raheerah rumbled and maneuvered his body towards her in a single, snake-like step, a morbidly curious approach that would mimic the nature of his observation. Was that why she spoke his appearance so fondly? Did she seek to look like him? Well, he could easily make that happen.
ooc: nah, it didn't at all. :D
Osprey was still very dazzled by the wolf's appearance and mannerisms - he was a perfect villain in every single aspect. Scary looking, with a lot of scars, fancy talk and a dangerous aura. She wasn't very keen on the horror or thriller genre, but now she could imagine all the gruesome acts this particular character would be capable of doing. She would even go so far to give him the magical abilities of a warlock. He would know, what to do with them.
"You are probably right," she agreed, not really getting the idea behind the words in the first sentence. It could be the old truth of not judging people because of their looks, but then again - she was not judging. She was stunned, amazed and... not so much anymore, when he got to his feet and took a bold step in her direction. Her instincts warned her to be careful that instant. She got to her feet, blinked and turned her head away from him, sending calming signals that she meant no harm and didn't want to have a conflict.
"No thank you - I am fine," she told him in a calm manner.
He expected the smaller female hadn't been intending on getting into any trouble today. She didn't seem like the type to antagonize - in fact, she seemed more childish and naive than anything. It was logical for him not to blame her for her curiosity, but he did anyways. So when she shied away from him, he only stepped closer, arching his neck slightly as if to get a better look at her. The beast wrinkled his nose as he looked her over. "Yoooou originaate froom the Plateaauu." He pointed out lowly. There was some distaste on his tongue as he spoke of the Plateau, but otherwise his body language remained neutral. "Dooo teell mee hooww youur leeader fares. Hawwkeeyyyeee, yess?"
Raheerah wasn't typically so chatty. In fact, he actually didn't care at all how Hawkeye was. He would be content if she were dead as a result of her own devices, but the beast had really only met her once, and it wasn't really fair of him to judge. But at the same time, it hadn't been fair of her to judge them, either; to turn them from their borders claiming their hierarchy had no room for the weary travelers. He held a grudge against the foolish woman from that day, if only because her actions had been a slight against his Lham. She was lucky that her rejection had not caused Lham to waste away in the wilderness, lest Raheerah hunt her down and tear her apart.
"Aha," Osprey agreed, feeling a bit surprised by the fact that this stranger knew their pack at all. He didn't seem to come from around here - she knew that there was a pack North to the plateu, but these wolves smelled differently. He was not one of them. When he mentioned Hawkeye, she concluded that this was not the ragged wolf's first encounter here. That he had a history, which she was not aware of.
"As good as always," her reply was short and didn't tell much anything. She felt that the other had no particular interest in her leader, therefore why should her answers be straight-forward and clear? Being a pack wolf meant to have a bit of secrecy too, didn't it. "And you are from?"
The dragon had to keep himself from uttering a dismayed snort at her answer. He had hoped that something had become of the foolish woman, but it seemed her overflowing hierarchy was keeping her in good health. He remained silent, that single eye retaining its glimmer of mild amusement. He eyed her as though she were merely a form of entertainment for him - if she was to overstep her boundaries into his solitude, then he would put her to use. "Mmmyyy hoome is iin the moountaains." The beast answered nonchalantly, glancing away to point his muzzle towards the towering spires that sliced through the North. She needn't know anything of the Vale - if she wasn't aware of the pack by his scent, then Raheerah didn't feel it necessary to elaborate.
"But. I suuggest that suuch a sssliight thiing as yoourseeelf shooould avoiid themmm. Theere aare monsteerrrs thaat roaam theeir shaadooowws." He added, again as nonchalant as ever, and looked back at her. His goal wasn't necessarily to drive her away; rather, he hoped to instill some curiosity in her, if only in part with his sick and twisted desires. A hunger to lure her from the safety of her pack and pick her apart, play games, whatever he could do to satisfy the lust for violence that inevitably pumped through his veins. His gaze remained unmoving from her, holding firm an unnerving stare despite the vague amusement in his expression.
ooc: since this thread is pretty old, I hope you won't mind that I will fade it out.
"Then you must have made quite a trip to come so far," Osprey concluded for lack of nothing better to say. As much as she was infatuated by all of the great qualities of a classical story villain this wolf possessed, she couldn't ignore the fact that there was a part of her that was afraid of him and urged her to stop blabbering and get away as fast as possible.
"Really?" she let out a little nervous laugh, when he mentioned monsters that roamed the mountains. For the sake of safety she took a step back and wondered, whether he was not one of them. Suddenly she heard a long summoning howl coming from the plateu and felt very much relieved. She finally had an excuse to leave the place. "As much as I would love to continue our lovely conversation - I have to run. Alpha's word is a rule after all," she gave him a quick and polite smile and ran off.
It seemed his ultimate goal had been accomplished. He had sufficiently unsettled her, enough so that at the summoning of her Alpha, she dismissed herself almost immediately. Even before that, he could tell; in the nervous laughter that pursued her words and the silence that had overcome her after moments. He watched as she moved away, snorting quietly to himself. The encounter was something of an interesting one, but in the end, useless. He was alone again, and that was the way he preferred it; the beast returned to the edge of the stream and reclined to his stomach once more, satisfied.
exit Raheerah