Wolf RPG

The country Orkan had been traveling through hadn't done much to improve his already bleak mood, it was all dead bugs and a greater number of devoured plants and it was unbelievably depressing. The midnight wolf slowly made his way over a rise, panting heavily and struggling for balance on shaking legs, and his sense of smell was assaulted by the most horrid of smells. It was like a combination of putrefying corpses and putrefying plant matter, Orkan couldn't remember any time he had ever smelled anything so terrible and then he remembered that time.

Orkan's head dropped under the pounding rays of sun as another wave of nausea passed through his body. Standing in nearly the same stench as that night almost undid poor Orkan's mind, flashes of memory passed through his mind. Orkan retched once, growled deeply in his chest, shook his head and forced himself to continue. The rise he had come over leveled out into a stinking and rotting fen several miles long which had been the source of the stench but it was in even worse condition than a fen normally was. The bugs that had littered the ground the last several miles (whom Orkan assumed had devoured all the plant life) had eaten nearly everything in this area as well, what Orkan thought had once been reeds were eaten down to the ground and looked like odd bones sticking out the rapidly drying mud. Orkan was steeling himself for the emotionally draining journey of skirting the edges of the fen when his right forepaw sank nearly to his elbow joint, releasing a clowd of trapped feotid swamp gas directly into Orkan's muzzle. Orkan couldn't take it, he vomited.

Breathing heavily, trying to gain control of the aftershocks clenching his core muscles Orkan thought, "I'm going to die, all that work running away and I'm going to die right here on the edge of a swamp. At least I'm as far as I can get away from home.". Orkan grimaced, stood and ran his tongue around his bitter mouth, "I need something to drink.". Orkan drug his exhausted body to the edge of the closest pool he could see and dropped his muzzle into the water, it was mostly sediment and probably would've passed as mud any other day but it did clean the bitter taste of bile from Orkan's mouth. Orkan eased onto his side, lapped up some mud-water and promptly fell asleep, his body giving into the exhaustion of traveling and limited food sources.

This place is vile.

Qamar had sped away from the mountains for a little change of scenery, traveling south and east, in a direction she had not gone before. She thought perhaps she could find some prey in the valley, but to no avail--better to stick to fish, she supposed. She ran and ran until she found herself in this dreadful swamp, smelling of fetid and sickly things. Qamar had her muscles bunched to race back to the Sunspire when she saw a thin black form collapsed beside one of the pools.

Both intrigued and concerned, the silver female padded lightly towards the. . .body, thing, whatever it was. . .gritting her teeth in distaste as her paws sank into the dirty mud. As she got closer, she realized it was another wolf, and quickened her pace, her instincts telling her to check if it was in distress. It was a thin, dark-furred male, his bony side heaving with weariness and with exhaustion. He had fallen asleep--just how deep that sleep was, Qamar was about to find out.

"Hey," she said insistently, prodding her muzzle into the wolf's side. She was not about to watch this loner die, not on her watch. The least she could do was lead him to some place less disgusting, and good for prey--ha! she laughed internally, as if there's such a place during this famine. "Hey, you, are you all right?" Qamar knew she was probably coming off annoying right now, but she cared little about that.

Orkan had only just fallen asleep when he started relive the nightmare he had just left only now he was the one being held down, the rain moistening his muzzle and exposed stomach, the lightning causing occasional blindness. Orkan began whining pitifully and trying to squirm to freedom when a dark shape loomed above him and smiled wickedly, "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" it yelled over the rising storm to the gathered wolves.  A flash of lightning nearer the horizon, and not within Orkan's view of the sky, revealed the looming shadow to be Orkan's father a split second before he began tearing into Orkan's side. Orkan thrashed, trying to avoid his father's tearing teeth and claws when he suddenly woke and once again found himself on the edge of the swamp, only there was a wolf prodding his side with its muzzle.

Orkan, still gripped in the fear of nightmare, whined, bolted onto all fours and backpedaled into the pool he had been drinking from. "Hey! What're you doing?!" Orkan growled, his courage quickly returning with his ability to stand, "I was attempting to rest a little and maybe replenish myself with a little water, if this is your packs land I'll move along.". Orkan was still trembling from fear, but as he realized that he'd fallen asleep and that the other wolf hadn't done anything to harm him he realized he'd been in the wrong. Orkan breathed deeply through a mud covered muzzle and looked at the other wolf who had woken him. It was a silvery gray female, slender with deep green eyes and white along her paws, muzzle, tail-tip, legs and belly she was made even more slender by what appeared to be a lack in nutrition. "Maybe she's a loner like I am?", thought Orkan, "Great, someone who could help me in this new land and I yell at her even before properly knowing her.". Orkan quickly assumed a submissive stance, tail held slightly between his hind legs and ears flat against his head, "I beg your pardon, I was only sleeping and had a nightmare when you startled me, allow me to introduce myself. My name's Orkan what's yours?".

The rapidity with which the lone wolf emerged from sleep alarmed Qamar herself, and she took a few steps back as he lunged to his feet, gray eyes flashing. It took her a few moments to regain her composure and good humor, and she did so while hearing him out, patiently waiting for him to finish speaking before she responded.

"No, this is not my pack's land," she said, mouth curved in a friendly smile. She cocked her head slightly to the northwest. "We live in that direction. I was down here looking for prey when I saw you on the ground."

The newcomer was slim and lanky, with long legs and fur black as night. He was wary, and rightfully so--you never knew whether the wolf you'd meet in Teekon would be friend or foe. Yet she dipped her head in acknowledgement of his small apology and went on to do the same.

"I'm sorry for startling you. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. My name is Qamar. Nice to meet you."

He was clearly alone here. She wondered whether he wished to remain that way, or sought entry into a pack. If the latter, perhaps he could earn an audience with Asterr, if he had something to bring to the table.

Orkan sat on his haunches, greatly relieved that Qamar had accepted his apology and that he hadn't infringed on any packs land in turn forcing him to run away again. Orkan drank occasionally as Qamar mentioned where she was from, that she was in a pack and that she apologized for startling him. Orkan smiled, "Pleased to meet you as well Qamar, I am very glad that you found me and not something else.". When Qamar had mentioned prey Orkan's stomach growled terribly, Orkan glanced to the side sheepishly ears flat, "I must have an entire pack in my stomach with the noise it's making. You wouldn't happen to know where we could get a bite to eat? Everything here looks dead," Orkan looked around disgustedly, "and it is probably the worst place I've been in awhile.".

Orkan stood in anticipation of following Qamar to a hidden cache or better hunting grounds, the dark male turned and smiled again at the silver female, "On the way you could tell me all about your pack and this area, I think I might stick around for awhile and it'd be nice to have an insiders knowledge.".

Qamar didn't know if she was glad or not to hear that Orkan was sticking around. On the one hand, it would be good to bring him back to the Lair as a recruit. But on the other. . .times were tough. She wouldn't ask any wolf to stick it out here while the prey was still scarce. Nevertheless, if he planned to stay, she might as well show him around.

"Do you know how to fish?" she asked him. "There's a lake to the north of here that I'd like to scope out. It looked much nicer than this. . .place." Qamar sniffed distastefully as she lifted a paw and shook it gingerly, grimacing as smelly flecks of mud scattered into the bog below.

She turned and looked over her shoulder at Orkan with a smile. "I'll tell you all about my pack when we're there. All you have to do is follow me." Her tail flicked at that, and she began to trot slowly off, ears pricked for following footfalls behind her.

 

Orkan brightened noticeably at Qamar's willingness to show him around and show him food sources in this obviously scarce time. Orkan stood, tail wagging slightly at the new companionship after months of solitude, and sniffed around where Qamar had been sitting getting her smell-shape firmly placed in his mind then shook the muzzle and forepaws. "I've fished before but I'm certainly not the greatest," Orkan said, "there's definitely room for improvement. It's good to hear that not everywhere looks like this.".

Orkan gratefully began following Qamar, he was having difficulty hiding the smile of joy on his face, his mood was already greatly recovered from when he first arrived and he was looking forward to learning more of the area.