Wolf RPG

"¡Ole! I hail from Me-hee-co," the bony she-wolf announced to no one at all as she stood at the pinnacle of the blackened rise. Her white toes dug into the ashen soil underfoot, staining a sooty hue as her voice tapered off into silence and she squinted at her surroundings. Smash's scent trail had led her here to this strangely crispy place, yet she saw no sign of her older sister. Dragyn huffed, paced back and forth a moment, then began to climb downhill to see if Smash's trail led elsewhere.

On her way down, a bird winged overhead. She barely glanced at it before declaring, "Cardinalis cardinalis, also known as a redbird or common cardinal." Soon, she reached the foot of the hill and squinted again, sniffing the air. When she found nothing of note there, she dropped her head and began skimming her nose along, muttering things like, "Hemlock, of the Apiaceae family. Most likely Conium maculatum," or "Prunus virginiana, more commonly known as the bitter-berry or western chokecherry," as she rambled along.

Following Reek's brief adventure north where he found the coywolf, Ditty, he returned to his temporary shelter in the Dawnlark Plains. He passed through the territory he intended to claim once more, but did not linger within for long. Once back on the plain, he planned to wait for Tavi to return so they could begin to claim the grotto together, but eventually Reek grew restless. Pulling himself from his temporary den, Reek set out to wander toward his original claim— Redtail Rise.

Returning to the Rise initially set a sinking feeling in Reeks gut. So many memories of himself and Saena together - mostly happy - lingered in the very terrain he traversed. He did not allow himself to dwell on these painful memories for long, as Reek was soon distracted by a cacophony on noise coming from higher up on the Rise. His attention was particularly piqued by the technical name for hemlock, a common poison.

Reek's brow quirked and he set off toward the direction of the noise, stopping himself just as he saw the other wolf. There he settled to his haunches and waited for her to notice him watching.

She continued to catalog the details of her surroundings, including a mindless, "Canis lupus irremotus." Dragyn stopped short, squinting at the lanky black wolf that had materialized in her path. "No," she evidently disagreed with her initial assessment, head shaking, "canis lupus occidentalis." Her mismatched eyes then blinked hard as her autopilot setting disengaged and she realized she was staring at a real, live wolf. And, unfortunately, it wasn't her sister.

"Hola," Dragyn said, slinking closer, her mannerisms reminiscent of a curious owl as she poked her nose in his direction, sniffing here, snuffing there. "Good day, ugly wolf," Dragyn greeted tonelessly. "I am Drag." Without preamble, she folded her bony frame into a seated position perhaps three feet from him and stared unblinkingly at his homely face, head canted ever so slightly to the left.

She noticed. Eyes locking with Reek's form, more categorical words flopped absently from the stranger's mouth. Reek raised a brow in confusion. Was she some sort of walking catalogue? Either way, Reek wrongly assumed that she must have been some sort of genius to be able to pull all of these classifications by memory. While Reek could do the same when it came to plants... He was significantly lacking in other areas of expertise. Perhaps having a genius around could be a good thing, especially if he needed a second opinion when it came to plant identification.

"Good day— uh, you"" he quickly shot back dumbly, brow spiking further with her assertion that he was ugly. Of course, he knew he was, nor did he care, but the matter-of-fact tonality caught Reek by surprise. "Reek," he introduced with a friendly nod after her own introduction. Her name was a strange one, but Reek was no stranger to the weird. "Are you a healer?" he asked, hoping to gleam some insight from the girl.

"Dra-ag," she repeated her name for him, somehow enunciating it so it had two syllables rather than one. "Good day, Reek," Dragyn amended when provided a name. If she knew reek was a synonym for stench, she made absolutely no indication of it. Her lips pressed together at his subsequent question as her head cocked in the opposite direction, large ears twitching. She fell silent for several thoughtful beats.

Finally, her mouth opened again and Drag replied slowly, "I do not think so," her tone indicating that she wasn't quite sure. "What is a healer? Are you a healer?"

Dra-ag was certainly a strange wolf; at least, she struck Reek as so. The way she walked the line between utter genius and insipid vapidity was nearly jarring. Reek didn't know what quite to think and soon found himself - in his confusion - repeating her name, complete with syllable split down the middle. "Dra-aaaag," he repeated, making sure to add extra stress at the split.

Her own confusion was evident in the way she pursed her lips. Apparently, she was no healer, nor did even know what a healer did. "A healer is someone who works with plants— heals the sick..." Reek shrugged. "Fixes the broken." It was quite ironic in Reek's mind how as a healer, he had broken far more than he had fixed; most notably his family. "I'm a healer. I assumed you were too since I heard you spout the classification for Hemlock." Even if Dra-aaaag didn't know the uses to specific plants, perhaps she could still be of use.

She listened carefully as Reek defined a healer, then promptly shook her head. "No, I am not a healer," Drag declared, feeling much more certain. He identified as one, though, and explained the misapprehension. The yearling stared at him blankly when he used the word classification. She had no idea what that meant, though of course she recognized the term hemlock.

Dragyn glanced over one peaky shoulder as if to pinpoint the location of the hemlock she had passed. "Hemlock is a highly poisonous perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the carrot family*," the she-wolf droned, then turned back to face Reek. "Do not eat it. You will die."

By her own admission, she was no healer. Reek's initial assumption, however, that Drag only knew the proper names of animals and plants was quickly proven wrong as she began to ramble about hemlock as if she had engaged in some sort of brilliant autopilot. Deep inside that seemingly thick head of hers was a fount of information readily available to be extracted; Reek was sure of it. If she was not a healer now, he felt she could be molded into one... A damn good one at that. If not, she could always gather herbs.

He had to have her among his ranks.

Reek's jaw hung agape as her monotoned/disconnected explanation came to an end. "Brilliant," he managed to mutter almost breathlessly. He needed to test to see if this was simply an isolated incident. If she could do this for nearly all plants, Reek would be hard pressed to let her go without extending her an offer for a home. "Do you do this with all plants? Articum lappa, what sort of plant is it and what does it do?" A bewildered smile began to creep across Reek's lips.

Her lips twitched slightly when Reek called her brilliant, a decidedly Who, me? look passing over Drag's face. She looked down at her white toes, quietly pleased, then looked up again just as immediately when he decided to test her knowledge.

"Arctium lappa," she repeated in that same breezy monotone, "is also called a greater burdock or burr for short." Her tone changed ever so slightly, eyes becoming a bit brighter and more animated—e.g., less robotic—as she added a personal anecdote: "Mother calls them beggar's buttons." Drag snorted, clearly amused at some memory or other.

Abruptly, those two-toned eyes narrowed as Dragyn peered around herself. "There are no Arctium lappa here," she said, almost in reproof. Just as suddenly, she recollected Reek's second question. "It grows," she answered simply, with a blink. What kind of question was that, anyway?

"Holy shit," he murmered, shaking his head in disbelief. Dra-aaaag was right yet again; all the information provided coming right down to it's technical tee. He had seen enough to finally decide on how to proceed. Whatever it was that made that strange - yet wonderfully brilliant - brain work was a mystery to Reek, but after seeing what it could do, Reek needed to have her in his pack.

"Look," he began after exhaling a short breath. "I'm starting a pack just east of here in the Larksong Grotto. I'd love to have someone with your talents around." She would be more than useful when it came to establishing herb caches throughout the territory. If it were solely up to Reek, he wouldn't let the opportunity slip though his paws. "Iffin you're looking for a home around here, I might be able to help you out."

Drag's nose wrinkled at the epithet, though she made no response otherwise. Her head tilted when Reek began talking in an eager tone, mentioning a pack he intended to start somewhere nearby. Although the word talents made her smile that bashful smile again, she shook her head nearly the instant he finished.

"No," she declined the offer simply. "I am not." She almost mentioned that she didn't need his help, then Dragyn recalled what she was looking for and, after a brief pause, she decided Reek might be able to assist her after all. "I am looking for a Smash. She is my sister. I followed her scent here. But I cannot locate her."

Before Reek could reply to that, Dragyn added, "There is a Pituophis catenifer one yard behind you, to your left. While gopher snakes resemble rattlesnaks, they are nonvenomous." She paused, head tilting ever so slightly. "But they may be aggressive." In other words, Reek might want to move, if he didn't feel like getting bitten today.

Initially, Reek felt the pangs of dissapointment to hear that this curious wolf wouldn't be joining him at the Grotto. The decision was left completely up to her, Reek would not insist further. His attention, however, shifted focus at the mention of Smash's name. His eyes widened with surprise. Sister? The smiling mask he wore dropped, revealing a genuine smile at the mention of one of his best friends. One who's image of the raggedy wolf hadn't yet been marred.

He opened his mouth to speak; to interject, I know her!, but was quickly cut off with the meantion of a snake within close range. Reek turned his head back, and there it was— slowly slithering right in his direction. He feared few things; being alone, folks who say guesstimating instead of guess or estimate (fucking pick one), but highest on Reek's list of fears were snakes. Pupils dilating with a flash of fear, Reek skittered to the side, allowing the snake wide enough birth to pass.

Turning his head back to Dragyn and still feeling a nervous energy, Reek sputtered, "I know your sister! She came to visit me a while back! You might have missed her though— I, uh, I think she's heading back to wherever you all are from soon." She said she'd howl her goodbyes and Reek had yet to hear them, so Smash must have still been around somewhere.

Reek's quick skittering caused a bubble of laughter to form in Drag's chest and pop from her mouth. Her mismatched eyes then shifted to the snake, which slithered through the grass and disappeared, presumably down into one of its namesake gopher holes. The she-wolf licked her chops absently at the thought of gophers—Of the family Geomyidae, she thought—and then turned her sharp snout back toward her new acquaintance.

It took her by surprise, hearing that Smash had been here and quite possibly left already. She might have been a walking, talking encyclopedia when it came to plants and animals, yet Dragyn really couldn't track nor navigate worth a damn. She frowned thoughtfully, considering this information and her own next steps. She had hoped to catch up to Smash and travel with her a little bit, especially since Drag had never left Shiprock before.

"Oh," Drag said, then added, "This is Redtail Rise?" Smash had mentioned her ultimate destination and it wasn't like Dragyn to forget a name. She looked skeptically at the nearby rise, then back to Reek. "Wait, you are Reek?" she asked dumbly, only now realizing his name was familiar too. "You are Smash's friend?" she recollected from a conversation with her sister, nodding her head as if agreeing with herself.

Reek was hard-pressed to not keep a single eye trained on the snake as it slithered away and out of sight into a gopher hole, hopefully to never be seen again. Those slithery buggers had no place in Reek's life, and seeing that they had taken residence in his old home was enough to make him not want to reclaim the Rise... that, and the charred mess the lay on the western end. He breathed a sigh of relief, now knowing the legless pest was now gone.

His gaze fell back on Dra-aaaag. "The very same," he said, motioning around to the land that was once his. "This was once my home... It was also Smash's." Albeit, her stay had been brief, but Reek would always consider Smash to be a part of his family, no matter what had stolen her away.

"I trust she's only told you good things about me?" he shot back, cracking a wise smile.

When Reek called this place his former home, Dragyn glanced at it skeptically again. Before she could think of remarking on it, he wanted to know whether or not Smash had said good things about him. The yearling met this question with a blink, her gaze becoming vague as she reached back into her mind to replay the memories as if they were video feeds in storage somewhere in there.

"Yes," she concluded, snapping back into focus and unwittingly mirroring Reek's little grin. "She said you are ugly outside but beautiful inside," Drag reported, unaware that Smash might not want her to repeat something like that to the wolf in question. As far as she figured, it was a compliment. "She was correct." Drag's ability to comprehend proper social etiquette was a bit lacking, although Reek had likely already picked up on that by now.

Without really giving the other wolf a chance to reply to that, Drag said, "I should follow Smash back to Shiprock." She squinted at a spot past Reek's shoulder as she said it, as if trying to process something. In fact, it was just now occurring to her that she might have other options, something which she had not previously considered.

Reek snorted, allowing a thin, yet somewhat sad smile to play across his features. Her repetition was exactly something Smash would have said... In fact, Reek could imagine it coming from her voice in place of her sister's. Even though he had seen her recently, Reek already missed Smash. It was rare a wolf walked into another's life and made such an impact, but Reek always figured Smash was special— at least, special to him.

He laughed. "Right she is," he concurred. Reek wasn't one to get hung up on social tact. Typically, he walked the line of the offensive, so it was no skin off his back to hear it.

With her focus turning away, Reek could see the other was ready to get on her way. He would not keep her. "When you see your sister again, tell her I've moved— uh, again." More than likely, all this moving would probably confuse his goofy friend. Hell, it knocked Reek out of balance too. "— Oh, and that I said hi!"

She had never left Shiprock, had never wanted to leave her birth pack. Then Smash had gone away and Dragyn had sorely missed her beloved older sister. When Smash had returned months later, heavy with pups, Drag had welcomed her back with her own brand of deep if understated enthusiasm, just as she had welcomed the litter her sister had subsequently birthed. In fact, Drag had grown so attached that when Smash left again—despite promising to return shortly—she hadn't been able to help herself. She had tiptoed in her older sibling's footsteps.

Now she had lost that trail and she found herself in a strange land, albeit full of familiar organisms. Although Drag was a poor hunter and had never really fended for herself, she suddenly wondered if Smash (and the rest of their family) would mind very much if she stayed here a bit longer. She just wanted to have a look around the place, see what was so wondrous that it had drawn Smash's attention not once but twice. Then she would retrace their footsteps back to the dry scrub lands of New Mexico.

"Okay," she replied simply to Reek's request, betraying nothing of her thoughts or intentions. Her tone was slightly distracted, as was her expression. "Adios, Reek," Drag said, moving off to trail around the foot of Redtail Rise, thrilled by the simultaneous strangeness and familiarity of this stretch of wilderness, as well as her own cunning.

With Dra-aaag the wolffish encyclopedia's intention to leave clear, Reek would not keep her for long. He stepped aside, and with a parting nod, he wished his new aquiantance a silent farewell and good luck. Slipping away, she decended the Rise and was soon out of sight. The smile that this meeting had brought him slowly began to fade as he was left alone with the corners of his mouth now turning into a sorrowful frown.

Reek did not leave the Rise. He lingered around, but his search for new recruits stopped as he felt himself begin to break.