Wolf RPG

OOC: This is Bazi's joining thread.

Despite the sedative, Bazi was acutely aware of being alone. Her brain had yet to establish an active connection to her legs and it was a feat of endurance not to pass out, but the awareness of being very, very far from home sat in her belly like glacier splinters - angrily sharp, and impossible to deny. The sky was dark, and she was alone.

The closer to full consciousness she got, the quicker her heart fluttered. Soon, the immense stress of the situation had forced the lithe, bright-white yearling onto her feet, wobbling like a drunk baby. Babies shouldn't be drunk. It's illegal. She inhaled sharply, steeled herself against the rising panic, and exhaled like an engine struggling to get going.

There's water nearby. The thought crystallized very suddenly from an arctic hailstorm of other, less cohesive brain activity, most of which was just screaming. Bazi lurched towards the sound. If I can reach water, I-. Well - what? Bazi took another steadying breath. It was something to do until the next good idea came along and broke the solitude.

Finally feeling more refreshed and more like herself, Fox had decided she would attempt to do border patrol today. She still groaned occasionally as she walked, but the yearling had a sense of health that had not been there the day prior. Lecter's magic had worked well, and she stubbornly accepted that he might actually be useful to the pack. She still couldn't stand the sight (or smell) of him, and she would likely stay away from him as much as possible. It was nice to know there was somebody around who could expedite their healing process, though. Perhaps he could pass that knowledge on to somebody else, since Clarice seemed to have disappeared entirely.

An hour or so into her patrol, Fox caught the bright sight of a stumbling wolf just outside the border. She looked to be wobbling from side to side, and Fox sniffed the air for signs of blood or sickness. Neither were present, and so the yearling quickened her pace and trotted forth, careful not to jostle her injuries too much. When she was between the creek and the stranger, she woofed and let her tail sway from one side to the other.

“You okay?” she asked. Maybe the poor thing was just having one of those days.

OOC: Makes sense to me! I thought 'baby deer', but drunk baby seemed more fitting. The heels and alcohol kind of look.

With her nose still out of commission, Bazi was lucky not to have strayed across any borders - when her senses were intact, borders were like 10 feet of barbed wire. She was as likely to break such a fundamental law of the land - every land - as a Scandinavian person is to cross the road when the red man is showing. It just doesn't happen.

But her sense of smell wasn't quite there yet, and when Fox came into view without a scent sentry to warn Bazi of impending company, she assumed the very worst. Trespassing. Punishment. Both negative, one painful, but - but. At the very least, punishment meant company, and structure, and a natural order of things that she knew how to deal with. Despite the unfamiliarity of absolutely everything else, that thought was soothing, and a fractionally calmer Bazi dropped respectfully to the ground, ears flat and eyes on her paws. "Y-yes. Yes. Just dazed. I think I was.. I think I was dropped here." She chanced a glance at the greeting wolf's knee. It was tiny, and brown - the first fact was irrelevant (Bazi knew better than most that instant death came in small packages), and the second only confused her. She had never seen a naturally brown knee before. And it was warm here - warmer than what she was used to. Little by little, her thoughts organized themselves into neat rows, and waited. "I'm sorry, if.. I trespassed."

OOC: Skip me as needed, just exploring angryface Jinx!

Jinx was doing rounds of the border, distracting herself from the empty reality of her lost litter and the need to assert herself as Beta, when she came upon the yearling. She was on high alert, her hackles lifted and her nose flared for any sign of a cougar's scent. Although she never would attack a cougar except in self-defense, she wanted to alert the pack if another came near them.

What she found instead was a stark white girl, stumbling erratically on the borders. Pushed to judgement by her own situation and the recent pack stress, she approached swiftly with hackles fully bristled. The young girl gave off all the illusions of sickness, and Jinx was entirely unwilling to allow her any nearer until she was able to assess the extent of the sickness.

Fox was already on the scene, but Jinx stood by, much less accomodating of the youth. She bristled and growled, her ears laid back, warning the girl against any action toward her leader.

“What do you mean dropped here?” Fox asked. The words did not make sense to her. She was equally curious as to why the other girl would not know whether or not she had trespassed. It set off alarm bells in the leader's brain, and with the swift appearance of Jinx, she was reminded that she had appointed the Kesuk as her Beta. Not that she had forgotten, exactly, it just hadn't been at the forefront of her mind. Jinx's presence was welcomed, of course, and Fox made no move to adjust the Beta's stance. Whether they knew it or not, the duo was playing good-cop, bad-cop. Never in a million years did Fox think that she would be playing the good half of that trope.

Fox's attention remained on the girl laying at her feet, curious to see what her answer would be and where this meeting would go. The girl was wary of allowing yet another unhealthy wolf into their ranks when they already had so many to tend to. If, however, this one could somehow help them in some manner, Fox was willing to be more lenient.

It didn't make much sense to Bazi, either, but it was the only analogy she could think of that fit. "Or carried," she added quickly, "I remember being hit over the head -" Truthfully, she vaguely remembered a pinch and then nothing, but didn't think it would be appropriate to try to explain, "- and I- I- I woke up here." She was scared now, and struggling not to get teary. These wolves weren't unreasonable, but they weren't welcoming her with open arms, either - the white knees that joined the first pair were even growling. Bazi couldn't remember the last time she'd been on the receiving end of hostility - she was the wolf equivalent of the perfect Libra on better days, and never put a foot wrong.

Whatever was clouding her mind was starting to wear off. It was time to change tactics. "I promise, that is all I know. I'm not sick, I w-won't cause trouble," she told them, figuring that Jelly Leg Syndrome wasn't recognized as a sign of good health here either. "I'm a good scout," she added, hopefully. It wasn't a job she particularly wanted to do alone, but despite recent performances Bazi was quick on her feet - and an unbeaten champion at hide and seek, if speed wasn't enough. "And nobody's usually scared when they see me coming."

The girl seemed confused, perhaps lost, and although Fox was not a pitying creature to outsiders, she could not help but feel that the other girl should be given a chance to prove herself. She reiterated that she was not sick and that she had some skills that might be useful to the pack. Fox was still fairly certain that Peregrine did not know about the change in leadership, but she figured at this point sending somebody there was useless. Perhaps she would call on him herself one of these days, or they would pass one another in a nearby neutral territory.

Fox was not the only decision-maker anymore, though, and she cast a quick glance to Jinx, silently asking for her opinion. "What is your name?" Fox asked, turning her attention back to the confused drunk baby. Perhaps the poor thing would not even be able to recall that bit of information.

Jinx heard Bazi's explanation with half-cocked ears, for she was hardly interested in how the female came to be there. She wanted to know why she was in such a sorry state of dizziness, and why she stumbled like a fawn fresh from the womb. She wanted to know what ailment the young bitch brought to their home, that she could devise some technique for banishing it before it could infect her pack mates. Most importantly, Jinx wanted to be certain the sick yearling wouldn't draw unwanted attention to their borders.

Bazi's explanation was therefore inadequate in addressing Jinx's concerns. Only Fox's apparent worry stayed the mambo's tongue, but it was only a matter of time before the rougher woman involved herself. That time came when Bazi suggested she was a good scout and not scary. The first was much too vague for Jinx's taste, being a woman who thought anyone with legs could be an adequate Outrider, and the second was counterproductive. Why should they want a wolf who did not make outsiders think twice about confronting them?

She came from a very different background, of course, and that altered her views in significant ways. "I am a good scout," she rumbled, interjecting where perhaps she wasn't wanted. "Our Alpha is a good scout, and our Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and all our teens. We all have legs, we are all good scouts." As harsh as it seemed, Jinx wasn't as judgmental as she came off, and had no intent of chasing Bazi off... But there was no need to let the yearling know that.

She loomed nearer, challenging the yearling to impress her when she said, "We don't need good scouts. We need exceptional scouts. Are you exceptional, girl? Why should we take you, when we can all be good scouts?"

She was the rougher leader, it seemed, uncaring what the girl's name was and even what her past was, what trials she had faced. She only cared what the girl could bring to Swiftcurrent, if anything... And if she wanted to be an Outrider, she had to have a more convincing argument, at least for the Beta's vote (even though Jinx wouldn't turn her away anyway, and had no weight when Fox was there, it felt good to emphasize the pack's no bullshit attitude).

Fear rang the bell, tried the door knob, and huffed impatiently. Bazi swallowed. She knew the rules - until she meant something to the pack, the greeters looked on her with utilitarian eyes. Jinx was more blatant about it, but Fox thought it to. Why did I tell them I'm non-threatening? Bazi thought angrily. Her intention had been to make it sound like a strength; better to send a sweet girl than a grisly behemoth to do delicate peacekeeping work. Wars had been started over less than a threatening stance, or an insolent word.

But that opportunity was gone now. "My name is Bazi," she told Fox, grateful for the feigned interest. The submissive stance was starting to make her legs cramp. "Alphas have to be exceptional aphas and teens are just teens. I will be an exceptional scout. I will do the worst routes - the mountains, the ice, in the dark, the unreachable places. I'm fast, and meticulous, and I know how to represent a pack." The words didn't taste right, but they were theoretically true - she had practiced it all. The lay of the land at home had made scouting a top priority; packs formed and re-formed regularly and the very ground changed with the seasons. You either taught your young to be a good diplomats and careful scouts, or they died. But Bazi was only 1, still green, and the experience wasn't there yet. She would have to fake that part until it became true.

She glanced up at their faces, but it was too quick to gauge a reaction. "Give me a chance to prove it."

Jinx had a good point. The majority of the creek wolves were fit and healthy, meaning that they could do most of the tasks as things presently stood. Fox knew that every wolf needed a pack, and a part of her wondered what her response would have been if she had been in Bazi's shoes in that moment. The yearling probably would have back-talked and been chased off long before they got this far into the process. For whatever reason, Fox hadn't done that to Lethe, and now here she was with her leader hat on. Bazi explained that she was willing to put herself in danger for the good of the pack (in so many words), and after a brief pause, Fox decided that was all she needed to hear.

"You can start by seeking out Lecter, our..." calling him a "medic" didn't feel quite right, but Fox wasn't quite sure what to call him if not that. "...healer. You'll find him by the smell of old blood. He's always covered in the stuff. I want to make sure whatever you have is going to go away. And that you're not going to spread it around." Fox was still not convinced that Bazi was not carrying some contagion that was going to be the end of them all. "Once you're cleared, consider yourself part of the creek. Then you can start proving yourself."

Bazi's answer came in riddles, at least to the unintelligent Kesuk, who felt her lips pulled into a grimace of misunderstanding. However, the Beta had nothing more to add. Bazi would prove her word was true, or she would suffer the dishonour of lying to the Alpha and find herself thrown out. The former was a better outcome, and to that end, she could only hope the yearling wasn't playing them for fools.

Fox made clear Bazi would need to be cleared by Lecter. Deciding that was enough for her, the Beta fixed the yearling with a scrutinizing stare, then broke away, content to let the yearling seek the shaman in peace and finding no further interest in the exchange. She would seek the girl later, put her through her paces and determine her real worth, in time.

OOC: Finishing this. :) Thanks!

I passed. Bazi barely managed to conceal her relief - and amazement. Nothing she could tell Fox or Jinx would convince them beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would be an asset to the pack; really, any wolf with good health and willingness to show submission stood a chance - and then they could turn out to be murderers, or liars, or psychopaths. Fear blossomed anew in her belly. The realities of swearing allegiance to a band of strangers began to pick at her, like a niggling cough. She wondered why the medic smelled of old blood, but decided not to pursue that avenue of thought in case there was a perfectly logical explanation.

"I will," she promised, watching the stern beta depart. "I'll go now." And with that, shuffled awkwardly past Fox and into the darkness, alone.

With no objections from Jinx (at least no verbal ones), Bazi slinked into the creek. Satisfied that they had added another to their ranks, Fox continued on her way. She was curious to see what the coming months would bring, and she was optimistic about this season. The yearling hoped that things would improve mood-wise, but that was not something she could force. That had been made apparent by her failure to rally her comrades on the first day of spring.

But what was life without failure? Fox had learned from it, and she was convinced it would only add to her experience. It was true that the creek seemed to be brimming with youth, but Fox did not see this as a disadvantage. They were adaptable, not set in their ways like an older group might be. And at this age, they were more able to meld with their fellows and form long-lasting bonds.

Once her round was complete, Fox headed back to her den, now shared with Haunter, for a long rest.