The large grey form moved through the trees. If it were a river, the water would be parted by him, instead of him working with the flow. In this instance, the forest stayed where it was, but his presence dominated the area. Fury was used to onlookers watching him from far off, hesitant to approach.
He stuck to a straight line, and the trees thinned in front of his path. The air was still humid here, though it was wintertime. Where he had come from, it was mostly winter and no tropical areas existed. Thus, his hazel eyes scanned the area as he walked, curiosity pricking at the edge of boredom.
OOC: Returning home
A luxury she had once dismissed while a wanderer, was the fortune that came with returning home after an adventure. While leaving the borders was a privilege she held dear, she took comfort in knowing that upon the fill of her heart’s content, there would be a place to return. A den to curl within and a warm presence to indulge. She knew before the reason for her wandering, but had not afforded herself the opportunity to truly ‘miss’ what was absent of when gone.
After her visit to the Horizon, she felt that familiar wanting to return to what she knew and took a swift step to find home again. The mountains were like a guide, leading her from the thickest wood to the open plains and then the peaks. But first there would be the parting through the forest, a feat that would not be accomplished easily.
Xi’nuata was mindful of her steps, taking care of her sounds through the forest as she travelled. She did not mind the strangeness of it, only the direction she walked in the hope she would not drift too far from her intended path. Afterall, she had no desire to get lost in the heavy wood. There were scenes to speak of and a little story to tell even if it would be for her own amusement. |
His mostly golden and brown eyes trailed in front of him to a large approaching figure. Annoyance pricked the male, but he attempted to keep himself calm. Now that his mother was gone and he was a part of a pack, Fury was trying to keep his anger in check.
As the figured moved closer a bewildered but quiet "huh?" escaped from his throat. This was a strange looking wolf, with a red mane-like wrap going down her back. A "tch" came from his mouth this time, as he stubbornly decided not to move from his path. The male moved forward like a canonball, not as fast and shrewd as a bullet, but slowly and taking up a lot of space (with the possibility of causing a lot of damage).
In route, she had only caught a glimpse of grey from her peripheral. Just enough to make her aware that life beyond herself lurked in the forest, and encouraged her senses to be more mindful of this. It was not strange in the slightest, nor did it warrant her concern. Afterall the lands were open and unclaimed with a culmination of scents drifting as leaves would upon the wind. She did however stop when she caught the sound of rushed paws across the ground. Her bi-colored eyes narrowed keenly as she surveyed the heavy foliage until the figment of grey once dismissed became pronounced.
Rather than approach or in fact keep her in the path of the stranger, she deviated but a little and chose a soft woof to acknowledge his presence. Then just as easily led forward with a heavy paw to carry on.
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Fury narrowed his brow. The female seemed too passive. He may have carried a dull look upon his own face, but that was to make it seem as if he were dumb or bored. Deception. This wolf just seemed to have no personality.
"Why you woof at me, wolf?" His tone was accusatory. In passing, he had only ever kept an eye on another wolf to observe their actions, or growled in a warning; many males came to look upon his mother's beauty, even as she had aged. This wolf, however, had no reason to communicate with the wolf that was Fury.
She hummed softly when addressed, veering gradually from her path until she fell to a quiet halt. Her ears perked keenly, though she retained a stoic countenance at best.
"Is it not polite to acknowledge another, even in passing?" She inquired while bothering the length of her muzzle with a parched tongue. She hadn't believed her actions would cause another offense. It was simply her nature to address all regardless of her personal take of them.
Tilting her muzzle slightly, she turned to better face the male, admiring for a moment the collaboration of pale greys and mountain whites that made his pelt. Then kindly averted her gaze lest she bother him further.
Fury contemplated the question the female wolf posed with a certain curiosity. Acknowledge? Why would I do this?" Most of the time, wolves would avoid coming this close to him. He was large, after all. Whenever he and his mother would stop to trade with bands of wolves, he had heard whispers that he was intimidating. The word gave him no reaction or feeling, and he would continue to stare on ahead with no emotion. Puppies would watch him in awe and ask their mothers about him, both excited and fearful of the brute before them. His eyes would lazily trail down to them, and a glimmer could be found in the hazel orbs. Children gave him joy where nothing else could; but, mothers would hide their children, too fearful for their pups to even consider a gentle nature from the grey male.
To sum things up, no, he did not consider it polite to acknowledge another wolf in passing for it had never happened to him before.
"What is your name, female?" Were the words that showed themselves. Fury was slightly shocked to be inquiring of another wolf, but he wanted to see where acknowledgement would lead.
The female was silent as the male seemed to have drifted inward to think. The familiar glaze within the eyes stood as a clue, and in turn she maintained a comfortable air for him to ponder.
An ear would turn as she surveyed what was around them, joined by a quivering nose to ensure there was only the pair of them, and no other lurked. When he addressed, however, her attention return with hardly a pause, ears forward and eyes alert as indicative of her undivided attention. "Xi'nuata," she offered quietly, dipping her muzzle once more in greeting. "And you?"
Strange names were nothing new to the peppered male. He discarded it as soon as he heard her speak the words. He would recognize her if he saw her again, but names where not important to him. Simply surviving in the world was all that mattered to him now. His existence was to now protect the pack, but his focus was mostly on the Alpha Hawkeye. As he had thought before, she reminded him of his mother. She had a demanding presence, even if she didn't try.
"My name is Fury." His accent was thick, his voice a drawl. He faced the wolf, but his eyes wandered elsewhere, to the many plants and trees of the forest.
Whether he would come to recall her by name in the future did not matter to her more than one would expect. Recognition was established through the connections made with others, be them good or bad or questionable in turn. Her memory, however, would command she recall this male by his presence. The greys of his pelt and the somewhat distant look of his eyes. The disposition that foretold little beyond what he wished his words to say. Reserved, she would call him, and came to accept him as thus.
Simply, she nodded, grateful for the shared courtesy through it was not demanded. "It is a pleasure," she offered in cordial reverence. And in truth, meeting another always offered a private sort of pleasure, one cherished by the female who had dwelt too long in the isolation of her prior home. "Are you perhaps leaving the forest?" she inquired, testing the air once more before continuing. "You do not smell of it. Passing through, then?"
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A simple nod was all that Fury gave to the words of the female. It seemed too much effort to respond with words, and a nod was all that was needed in this instance.
The male had never heard before that it was a pleasure to be met. He hardly ever spoke, his mother handling all of the business that transpired between the pair and others. The wolf in front of him wasn't a threat in the least, and he boredly found that she was weak with her disposition; a friendly wolf could easily be betrayed and taken for a fool. Maybe it was just the way of the plain female before him, and maybe underneath she was wary, but Fury doubted it. He observed the way she held herself, and it was not guarded in any way. He himself always looked uninterested in things, but this was just a veneer for his observations.
As encounters went, the current lacked the certain thrilling air to make it memorable, but nonetheless it would hold its own place in her memory. Though she was met with silence, she returned the like with patience. She tilted her muzzle towards the other in kind gesture that he speak, then just as easily retracted so as not to impose. She owed him nothing more than a passing greeting, afterall.
Regardless, she asked once more to extend the invitation for companionship. "I am heading home, if you follow the path. Would you like to walk?"
Though she was quiet, the female seemed polite enough. His mother had taught him to treat females with a certain respect, and that is just what he did (it was males that were the problem to him).
He gave a single nod. "Yes, I will walk on path with you." He moved from his standing position and pulled up next to the female, turning around. "Are you part of pack?" He asked her, wondering what a she-wolf was doing by herself, though he had to admit that she was large and he figured that another wolf would not go out of their way to try to assault her.
She remained still as he approached, only minding their proximity when she could better assess the scent lightly kept on his fur. The dark wood of the Plateau came to mind. It's dark lead and disgruntled guard forever holding the impression of hostility in her mind. Her opinion rolled from her mind as quickly as it came, as she chose not to observe this male by his pack but rather regard him by his individual presence.
She smiled lightly to him then began her forward course keeping close to him but not overbearing in the instance he found her presence displeasing. "I am," her retort was soft and to the point. "...one of many that live in the Vale of the mountain. And you? Have you lived with the Plateau long?"
Fury did not know of a vale, but this forest and the plateau were the only two places that he had paid attention to so far, the latter being his new home. "You know of plateau?" Was what he asked, figuring that she might explain where the Vale was later on, or he might discover it for himself one day. What made him curious was that the female recognized the scent of his place of residence. He had only been there a few days so far, and one would only recognize the scent if they had been severely close to the plateau; this made Fury wonder if the female had caused issue for his pack. If so, he would take his leave due to loyalty. He would not interact with someone that his Alphas disliked.
"I do," she answered softly, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on the course ahead. "They are inescapable."
And what she said was true. For those that she had come to call friends that lived in the Plateau, and those she named her brethren new of the wolves as well. Their views were their own, as any would have while her own were reserved for those few mentioned, named and well known. Though she did not ponder too deeply on her personal thoughts of others, not when company was better had and deserved the attention of a clear mind.
"Have you settled in?" she continued, looking to him as she spoke but was mindful to keep her gaze on his muzzle only. "Perhaps you have a task you fulfill?"
The comment that the female before him made: "they are inescapable." He wondered if this meant the wolves of the plateau, and not the lands, and if other wolves of the plateau ventured from their home. It must be so, he thought, for many must have traveled if they ran into a random roaming wolf such as this one.
He ignored the question about him settling in. It was not her business, and he didn't have a definite answer; Fury did not feel like using many words to describe something that truly had no meaning. "I protect pack," was what that rumbled from his large chest, in answer to her latter question. And Hawkeye, he added in his thoughts. He waited a long moment before asking: "what do you do." (Which sounded more as a statement than a question due to his thick accent.)
Admittedly his replies were short in turn, but that was not to say there was no value in what was shared. That he was a protector to his pack made her smile somewhat. Little more than a faint glimmer to bring a spark of life to an otherwise neutral expression.
"I protect my pack as well," she offered in turn. "One among others, but it is my focus." She fell silent then, letting the sound of her footfalls fill the air with anything more that need be spoken. Rather than pry, she observed the flora of the forest around them, until the dominant spires receded to give way to lush plains. The direction home.
Looking to Fury, she dipped her head in gratitude for both his patience and company. "Til we meet again," she uttered to precede her depart, then turned toward the plains ahead to trot off toward home.
[Exit]
A small sphere of respect formed in his mind as the beige and rust female said that she did the same as he. A wolf willing to sacrifice their life was to be held in the highest of honor (he assumed she would fight for her pack if danger came; if not, she was a coward and filth in his eyes).
Fury took to a fast trot after the she-wolf parted, and he silently watched her climb over the cliff near his home. He wondered if her pack's lands were beyond the large shelf, and thought that maybe one day he would explore. For now, he was headed home.