Wolf RPG

The eerie shadows of the Phantom Hollow were deepening as night began to settle in, and each step Mitanni made continued to grow more nervous than the last. She'd been here days already, but she was still finding it hard to adjust to the spookiness of the place. It was getting to the point that relaxing enough to rest was hard, and that, she knew, was going to take its toll sooner rather than later.

If it wasn't already having an effect now. She felt jittery as she walked through the woods, sticking close to the area where their meetings were called but not close enough to draw attention. The rest of the pack was likely nearby, either curled up in their respective dens or out on a nightly patrol. She didn't feel good enough for either.

She sighed, feeling ridiculous for allowing herself to be so spooked by a forest, but there was only so much she could do. Prolonging the inevitable moment when she would bed down and fight off creepy thoughts of the woods, Mitanni paced to keep herself busy.

Esteban was having a restless night, like most nights had been since he came. The Hollow felt almost restrained compared to the sunny, open desert. There were less stars to be seen, but at least he could see most of the ones that reminded him of home. He wasn't homesick in the slightest, in fact, this was all part of the adventure. Well, he might miss the open and free feeling. 

He eventually came out of his den wide awake after tossing and turning various times. He was far too tense to fall asleep and feel safe in this place. Esteban walked steadily on a course to the borders to make himself useful, if he didn't find anyone else as creeped out as he was. 

Stumbling upon a moving shadow, he became very wary of his surroundings, as if he wasn't enough already. He hoped it was just a packmate. Why were they all dark-furred? "Hola?" he said in a lower tone. "Es someone there?" 

Mitanni jumped--the jitters she felt were too strong to allow any other reaction. Her heart leaped into a frantic race inside of her chest as she bit back the accompanying yelp and turned swiftly to face the soft voice that called out to her. Amber eyes spotted the individual immediately, and though she didn't know his name yet she did recognize him at least. He was the only wolf not darkly colored within their pack; he was hard to miss.

"Sorry," she apologized breathlessly, turning completely to face him and coughing to clear her throat, "I wasn't expecting to see anyone." Or to be so worked up by nerves that she'd jump at the slightest sound. This was a pack mate, at least, and the jumpy little female could take comfort from that, so long as he was willing to endure her company.

"I don't think we've properly met yet," she observed, inching closer as if to avoid the shadows of the night around them. "I'm Mitanni Anath."

The shadow jumped, startling him into taking a step or two back. The wolf did turn out to be a wolf; that he was relieved of. A small, pretty looking female at that. Glowing amber eyes met his shining golden ones. 

The smaller one spoke, revealing her name: Mitanni. He smiled kindly at her, deciding to hold off of his fantastic charm. This didn't seem to be the time or place. She inched closer to him as he watched above, being significantly larger than her. "Esteban, I spare you the rest of mi name." he said with with his thick accent, mixed languages, and a low chuckle. His name was very tedious to list off. 

"Mitanni no sleep either?" he said with a concerned and empathetic look.

The lighter colored male smiled, his demeanor and appearance friendly. That was a relief. Mitanni had been afraid for possibly all of two seconds that her pacing may have drawn him out of whatever hiding spot he'd been resting in, but he looked to be in too good of a mood for that. Maybe he was a night owl and enjoyed this time of day best.

He introduced himself and each word he spoke was colored by a unique accent, one that she hadn't gotten the chance to hear before. Her ears perked with open, apparent interest, and though the question of where his dialect came from was right there on the tip of her tongue she held it back. Not yet, she decided. She didn't want to seem rude by blatantly pointing it out.

The petite brown wolf smiled, curious also about what he meant by sparing his name, but she let it slide. He questioned why she was out and about, and managed to cut right to the heart of her unrest. Mitanni's shoulders rolled and she fidgeted a little in place, her ears almost folding back in embarrassment. "Yeah, I...I can't sleep," she admitted, shaking her head slightly as she turned her head to take in the haunted looking forest. "Still adjusting to the woods. And all the shadows." She'd complain about the noises too but...the absence of them was just as scary.

The small mottled brown and black female seemed scared and jittery, which made him want to do something to ease her nerves. "Si, the Hollow is mucho creepy place." he said, glancing around. Personally, he liked the canyon better. 

He gestured to her to follow him to his favorite stargazing spot he found a few nights previous. "Come, I show you something," he said, smiling excitedly. The forest was much less haunting when you had someone to break the silence with. 

They finally came to a spot a little ways away from the den sites, an area more open than the rest, save the meeting area. There were a few fallen trees decorating the area, which was all the more inviting to Esteban. There was a little indent he made in the ground for watching the stars, to which he invited Mitanni in to watch the stars. "I do this when I no sleep, I watch stars." he said with a grin. Esteban proceeded to flop down on his back and look up at Mitanni with an idiotic grin. "Join mi?" 

Mitanni was surprised to learn that Esteban held sentiments toward their pack's territory similar to her own, and her head tilted just a little to the right. "Very creepy," she agreed, feeling relieved and validated. She wasn't the only one spooked now, and that meant her jittery response was normal. It made her feel a lot better.

The pale wolf suddenly grinned, inviting her to come along with him somewhere, and Mitanni hesitated. Why not, she thought, since it was obvious she wasn't going to be getting any sleep anytime soon. Besides, it sure beat being alone.

Her mind made up, she followed after him as he led her away toward another clearing, similar to the one in which they held their meetings, and smiled just faintly when he mentioned stargazing. That definitely sounded better than hiding within a den and hoping whatever spooky things were in the forest stayed away. She needed no further encouragement and stepped over to lay down on her back beside him.

She watched the stars above, the view surprisingly clear in this section of the Phantom Hollow, and smiled in earnest. "This is much better than wandering around hoping for sleep," she remarked happily, grateful to Esteban for inviting her here. Mitanni tilted her head, angling a sidelong glance his way, and asked, "Do you do this often?"

Esteban was glad when the girl consented to join him, and instantly felt a little warmer when she laid next to him. He gave a small smile and only nodded when she made her first comment. At the question, he matched the sidelong glance and answered, "Since we come here." His deep, accented voice sounded almost troubled. He shook the feeling of the forest and focused on the stars and the pretty girl next to him.

He smiled again and raised one of his forepaws to the shining night sky. "See that one? Tres stars in a row?" he said, happy to share his knowledge with another.

Her amber eyes met his as he looked her way, and the lithe little wolf was surprised to hear that he hadn't done this before. She wondered a little how he had known about the spot, and where the idea had come from, but as she tilted her head back to stare up into the night sky she thought she knew. Being out in the open like this, even with the stars for light, was still too creepy in this forest.

It was, however, enjoyable with company. Mitanni continued to smile contentedly, at last feeling relaxed and at ease, and followed Esteban's paw as he raised it to point out a trio of stars. Only she didn't understand the word he used for it, and felt her curiosity growing too much to ignore further.

She tried to repeat Spanish the word once and stumbled over it, mispronouncing it and struggling to comprehend what exactly he'd said. "What was that? How did you say it?" Mitanni asked as she turned her head to look his way again. Hopefully he was okay with the question. She really was curious to a fault.

He saw her momentary surprise and immediately corrected himself. "No, no, since pack come here," he said with a low chuckle. He really needed to work on his english. He thought he had been at least alright before he made the trek up here, but really it was far below average. He could understand fine, just not put it in his own words. 

It was far more comforting to have Mitanni beside him to brave the shadows. He laughed as she tried to speak Spanish. "Good try. Tres. It means three in Spanish," he said, smiling at her. He was finally at ease with the forest with someone to laugh it off with.

Ah. So it wasn't just now then that Esteban had started using this locale to fight off the shadows. Mitanni nodded her head understandingly, but still thought him brave for it. She didn't think she would have been able to sit here alone and watch the stars without someone with her.

He laughed, but it wasn't belittling, and he was nice enough to compliment her attempt at speaking his language. Patiently he repeated himself, explaining the word he meant and the language it stepped from. "Spanish," Mitanni repeated, finally getting the curious accent that his voice carried. It went naturally with the curious word he'd spoken. She repeated the word again, "Tres," with more success, though she still couldn't say it quite as exotically as Esteban could.

She'd never given much thought to other languages, or that there might be different words for things that she already had a definite name for. Now that she was faced with it, however, she realized very quickly she liked learning new things. "What else can you say in Spanish?" she asked. Did the language have a different name for everything?

She tried again, which coaxed a low rumble of laughter and a nod from Esteban. He had never heard his language attempted in any other accent than where he came from. It was very amusing to him, and he liked that this girl showed interest in it. 

"Most everything, chicka" he said with a smile. He thought up a deal. If she could help him with his english, than he would teach her spanish. It would be adorable with little bi-lingual pups running around. "Would you have me teach you?" he asked, glancing at her sideways.

Mitanni didn't show any irritation or self-consciousness as Esteban laughed. She supposed she probably did sound amusing to him, who knew the Spanish language much better than she did. But she had learned something through trying to say it, and that made it all worth it.

Her amber eyes practically came alight as he mentioned the language covering many more words than the one he had explained to her, and the mottled black and brown female had to stop herself from asking for as many of those words as she could think of. There were too many possibilities, too many words for her really to consider which to ask about first, and so she fell silent, looking skyward as she gave it some thought.

The question he posed surprised her. Teach her? As in she actually learn the language rather than just a few words from it? That was more than she'd bargained for, but Mitanni couldn't deny that the thought excited her. "Sure," she agreed, her lips curving into a smile. Forgetting the stars, forgetting her unease in the forest, she rolled slightly onto her side to better face him. "How will you teach me?"

He noticed that the stars almost faded from mind as she rolled to talk better. He did the same, thinking about how to phrase his answer. "Well, I teach you simple words first. Tree. Arbol." he said thoughtfully while gesturing to the trees around them. It would be basic, but it would work all the same. Plus, he'd learn better english by asking for that phrase or word while translating for her. It brought a smile to his face as he briefly imagined a situation like that. He looked at her eagerly with a grin on his face, tail waging behind him slightly.

Esteban had her full attention, and she was happy to see him roll more upright to give her his attention too. A glutton for knowledge, Mitanni was immensely excited about learning a possible new language, and the possibility of being better able to communicate with one of her pack mates was an added bonus. Did anyone else know Esteban's language too? She made a mental note to find out later.

She had far too much to focus on now to let herself get distracted, and as her first lesson began she set all other thought from her mind to learn her first word. "Arbol," she repeated, again without the exotic accent that the gold-eyed male spoke with. No, that wasn't right. Mitanni tried again, "Arbol," attempting to mimic his exact pronunciation, accent and all, but though she got close it didn't come nearly as easily to her as it apparently did to him. "It sounds better when you say it," the petite wolf admitted through a mocking smirk, and prepared herself for whatever more words he wished to teach her.

Esteban was greatly amused by her eagerness and will to learn his first language. He gave a deep, rumbling laugh when she tried to mimic his accent. "Well, close enough." he said, gazing around for other objects to teach her. The perfect object sprang into mind - stars. He looked up with a broad smile on his face. "Stars, estrellas. And moon - luna. Some of my favorite words." he said with appreciation and a magical fascination in his eyes.

Mitanni was quickly realizing she didn't have a knack for speaking as Esteban did. No matter her attempts at recreating the same pronunciation that he made, it didn't turn out the same, and though it was disappointing she didn't let it get to her. At least she was still managing to say the words right.

She smirked again as he commented on her most recent attempt, able to find the humor in her failure, and watched him closely as he sought something else to teach her. Following his eyes, the little female tipped her head back to look upward into the night sky and listened with the flick of an ear as he named them in his tongue. "Estrellas," Mitanni murmured softly, and shifting her amber gaze she added, "luna." Such strange words. She couldn't help wondering who had thought of them.

Reflecting on his comment, the mottled wolf realized, "I don't think I have any favorite words." She'd definitely have to give that some thought later. And maybe see if she could get Esteban to teach them to her in Spanish once she had them. "So if the moon and stars have Spanish names, does the sun too?" Mitanni asked.

Esteban nodded. "Sol." he said simply, deeply. He couldn't help but stare appreciatively at the lithe and pretty form he had so easily spoken to and gotten to spend time with by simply sharing an interest, or rather, a scarce fear of the silent, reaching shadows of the forest. Looking back at the sky, he rested his head on his paws and had to wonder about his friends back in the New Mexican desert, and how they had painted a completely different picture of the female gender than what he had encountered so far. But hey, now that he knew actual wolves, it showed how ignorant those guys actually were and how he had to nearly re-learn everything he now found to be false stereotypes. 

How he had become such a hopeless romantic was lost on him. He glanced at the dark form, tendrils of moonlight embracing her so readily and stars choreographing a dance in the liquid amber of her eyes. He smiled, a simple smile that only he knew the meaning behind.

"Sol." It was so simple, so easy to pronounce, that she was sure she'd forget it by morning. She hoped that Esteban's patience and willingness to teach her would stick, at least long enough for her to pick up on some of it, but there was no telling. At any rate, she intended to take advantage of it for as long as she could.

Thinking about the new words she'd learned--estrellas, luna, sol,--Mitanni eased back onto the grasses again and gazed upward, repeating the words below her breath as she looked at both the moon and stars. There wasn't a sun out, but she repeated that one too to test out everything that she'd learned. What should I ask to learn next..?

As she thought, she yawned. With her mind distracted from her uneasiness in the woods, she felt calmer, more relaxed, and that made it easier for a restful state to creep in. "What about night?" Mitanni asked, her amber eyes half-lidded as she thought up new words.

Esteban watched with admiring eyes as she mouthed the foreign words to the sky and became steadily more comfortable with the nighttime forest. He too laid back and stared into infinity. She asked about night - he would give her night and day to make it easier. "Night, noche, and day, manana." he said. With heavy lidded eyes and contentedness, out of habit he said to the stars, "Buenas noches." 

More words, new words, were given to her, spoken so eloquently and beautifully through Esteban's natural accent that she stayed silent and let their sound linger even when he fell quiet. Noche and manana. Mitanni smiled as she heard them, glad to have the name for day as well as the night that she'd asked for. She would've asked for it next anyway.

She tried the words for herself, murmuring, "Noche, manana," below her breath, and mentally went down the list once more. Arbol, estrellas, luna, sol, noche, manana. It sounded like a good list for a beginning lesson, particularly given the time, but she was so interested in learning that Mitanni continued to consider what else to ask about.

Until she yawned again. Realizing that she was growing sleepy, surprised even that she was, the mottled black and brown female chuckled quietly. "I'm going to end up falling asleep here if I don't get back to my den," she admitted sheepishly, though the thought didn't entirely appeal to her and it likely showed. Dragging her feet, she didn't leave but stayed where she was, prolonging the inevitable as she stargazed.

Thankfully, she showed the same sleepiness he felt and was spared the so called embarrassment of falling asleep in that special hollow in the ground. He shot a glance over at her when she was yawning, spurring a thought of 'omg her yawn is so adorable'. 

It was bound to happen sooner or later, so he picked his massive fluffy paws up and dragged himself up along with her. "You mind if I walk you to your den?" he asked with a sleepy tinge to his voice.

Her comment appeared to cement the end to their stargazing. After she spoke, Esteban got to his feet, and Mitanni turned her head to sleepily look his way, not yet moving though clearly she needed to. His kind offer drew about a small smile, and finally giving in the mottled wolf rolled to her side and dragged herself to her feet.

She shook her coat slightly, ridding it of whatever might have worked its way in while she lay down, and as she returned her attention to the Spanish wolf answered, "I'd like that." At least this way she'd have less of a chance to spook herself along the way.

Assuming he didn't know where her den was, Mitanni quietly began to lead the way, moving slowly enough that they could both keep an easy pace together.