I'd like her to expand on one of the relationships she already has, so this one is for
@Steady,
@Valette,
@Grayday,
@Keoni, or
@Amber. I guess it's first come, first served, haha.
The first morning's stop was the river. Belle looked longingly at the large bodies running along with the slowing current and thought about which one she would rather have first. Before licking her chops and plunging down for the catch, she was sure to consider her options, but alas, the pangs in her abdomen chose for her.
Day had been hunting on his own for the first time since getting back home. Already, he'd put a fat vole and a rabbit into the cache nearest to Steady's den - he wanted the alpha to know that he would do better, that he still cared for his first family the same as he always had. So the first fruits of his labor went to the cache, even though his gut churrned when he thought of how hard the journey had been on his mate.
Now, he hunted for Amber. Valette's words were still burning in his ears - I will do my best to provide meals for you - and it made Day sick to his stomach to think of the added pressure he'd put on the rest of his family. True, he hadn't expected a mother and three pups to show up right after his split-second decision, but still. Still.
He didn't want to see anyone suffer. He'd die before he let anyone else.
So when the newbie swam into being at the edge of his vision - and hunting fish, no less - Day trotted forward with very little trepidation. Amber didn't like her, but he wanted to see how this whole 'fishing' thing was done. Besides, he'd been dilligent in carrying out Deirdre's orders, and it seemed to be paying off. He could see better now in the gloom than ever before, and if things kept going this way, he'd soon be able to see fish in the water as well. He'd been keeping this information under wraps, just in case progression stopped or even turned around, but that didn't seem too likely anymore.
A success! Belle lifted her head quickly from the running stream and dropped the catch down beside her then used a foreleg to hold it on the ground. It writhed in pain from the effects of suffocation for Belle hadn't yet killed it -- she liked watching them suffer. It reinforced the power she wielded. Her fun was cut short by the familiar scent of Grayday drifting between her nostrils.
Grayday
, she greeted, after bending down and severing the catch's head from its body. She nudged the corpse forward to see if he was interested, for in truth, she'd since lost her appetite. Good morning.
Day made no comment on her cruel treatment of the fish. He was no stranger to playing with his food, and it hardly registered to him that the fish was still alive until she bent to tear off its head. A bit of a hidden temper that now lurked inside the male tried to flare as she offered him the meal. Day was quick to quash it, but it was beginning to worry him that it was there at all. He'd never been one to get angry so easily, and it was not a pleasant feeling.
"You should eat it yourself," he said, unusually solemn as he struggled to keep the ire out of his tone. Why did everyone think he was useless? "Winter is coming, after all."
He'd wanted to ask her to teach him to fish, but now he felt too silly to request help when he'd already turned down her meal. Maybe Amber would be able to help him - she was the only one who didn't seem to doubt him, lately.
Had she been able to read his thoughts, Belle might've squashed whatever preconceived doubts of her integrity then and there. But alas, she couldn't, so she chose to speak on the frustration that arose with his rejection. I know that winter is coming. It's why I offered you the catch. I'll be busy gathering herbs to keep up my cache. I offered you the fish to give thanks for the meals you supply over the winter in advance. But if you don't want it then you don't have to speak twice.
With the end of her snarky response, Belle bent down and tore into the flesh of the limp body.
I was only trying to be kind.
This was the source of her frustration with social laws -- no one ever seemed to properly accept her reaches. Then again, she was blind to exactly how reserved (and rude) she appeared.
Day stared at the woman for a moment, frustrated by his own inablility to speak rightly by the wolves that were closest to him. His mouth had already gotten him into trouble with both Adeline and Steady, and now he was causing strife with Mirabelle. Peachy.
Again, a monster he'd never known began to rise up in him - too tame to want to cause any physical damage, but wishing to hurt the other wolf's feelings as his own had been hurt. Day grappled with it for a moment before biting out a response. "Well you ain't so easy, either," he said - as close as he'd ever come to snapping at someone, and probably the meanest words he'd spoken since he was bickering with his siblings in his mother's den.
Immediately, he felt bad for speaking harshly. Mirabelle hadn't done anything wrong; she was just trying to be nice and Day had come and rubbed her the wrong way.
"Look, I - I'm just not in a position to take favors, y'know?" he said with a sigh, averting his eyes as he admitted this truth. "I owe Steady more than that - I owe you more than that." Because she was pack, and what he did affected all of them.
As she finished tearing at the fish (being a lone wolf had taught Belle many things, one being that you had to eat as much as you could as fast as you could) Belle looked up to match Day's eyes. Actually, you don't owe me anything.
She sighed and threw what was left of the carcass back into the stream.
That's how this works, Grayday. I haven't met you a day before joining this pack, nor have you known me. Therefore, no matter the obligations you feel exist, there is no debt between us.
Belle's tone was neutral, not threatening, but stern in the sense that she was confident in her diction. She saw him as an equal (or as close to an equal as anyone would ever be in Belle's eyes), not a victim of imaginary debts.
Day's brows drew together as she refuted his words, and a frown deepened on his face as she went on to explain her thoughts on the matter. He, too, considered the other wolf to be his equal, but that had little to do with his convictions on the matter. She was pack, even if she didn't act like it. Even if her words hinted at her not even wanting to be - at least to Day's ears.
"That might be true if we were two loners and not wolves commited to a pack," said Day, suspicious now of her commitment to the pack on a whole, and to the wolves that belonged to it. They didn't have time for those who would use them - especially since Day felt he was doing a pretty good job of that on his own.
The thought brought a sense of conviction to the male. He was beginning to think he would never be able to like Mirabelle, but her personal beliefs alone were not enough to make Grayday want her ejected from the pack, even if that was a choice he'd been able to make. She'd done nothing to wrong him, and as long as she never brought harm to his family, Day saw no reason for them to get on each other's bad sides.
"But... if that's what you believe, I won't argue," he ammended, suppressing a huff of frustration. Would it be rude to turn and bail? He'd approached her, after all.
Seeing the male's discontent made Belle adjust her stature. Though she wouldn't necessarily adjust what she'd said (there wasn't really a reason to since she'd meant every part of it) perhaps she would elaborate. I think you misunderstood. I understand that as wolves working toward a similar goal -- the well-being of our pack -- we have certain duties and I guess in your case, you see them more as debts to be paid.
Belle looked at Day, her eyes carefully scanning the brute to see if he was following along.
What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that what you see as a debt, I see as just another responsibility I have to take on. I don't plan on hunting or foraging because I owe any of you anything, but more so because I made a commitment to take care of all of you at the border, as each of us did.
If Grayday still wanted to leave after she'd elaborated, Belle wouldn't mind. Even though she wanted to find a family here in the circle, a few business arrangements would be just as dandy.
Though the woman's words did a lot to calm Day's nerves, he still felt he owed them all for their charity. He felt his situation was a little different than most - and maybe Mirabelle just didn't know the specifics and maybe that wouldn't make a difference - but Day felt he'd put them all in jeopardy by impregnating Amber and then bringing her here invited or not. It was a gift to have been allowed to stay at all, and tenfold to be allowed to bring his family along with him - taking anything else seemed like betrayal.
But he didn't elaborate on this. Mirabelle seemed convinced of hersef and Day now understood where she was coming from. The male found himself in agreement with much of what she said.
"I guess I did misunderstand," he agreed, a wry smile crossing his mottled features. "Pardon my poor disposition. I'm a little leery of strangers, I guess." But she wasn't a stranger anymore. She was pack. "It's been harder to adjust, lately, on account of the recent goings-on."
Belle mimicked the male's smile the best she could, and for the rest she compensated with an open ear. I understand. I'm not an open book either, believe it or not.
Though she was joking, her face held a stoic expression of neutrality. What's been happening, then. You don't have to tell me anything, if you don't want to.
Of course, they'd already established that Day didn't owe her a debt, thus he was in no way obligated to speak on anything he didn't want to.
Long wait, short post, haha. Sorry!
Day settled himself, lowering his hindquarters to the chilly ground. Where do I begin, he thought, wondering when he'd become so nervous. It was the kids, he knew, but it was more than that.
"We just moved here," he told her, looking around the territory. "We lived up on a Mountain for a long time - Addie was born there. Family died there." Not his family, but he'd felt the same sorrow at leaving as anyone else. "And along the way... we lost two of our own. Our beta, Ezekiel, and Steady's mate, Niita. No one knows what happened to them, but everyone thinks the worst. It's hard not to - they were both so dedicated to the pack."
It was still on his mind. He missed those two, even if he hadn't had much to do with Niita.
"And then we got here, and things seemed like they were okay - seemed good. But a woman named Eden - she came just before you - she showed up at the borders. We took her in and she turned around and..." Previously, the topic hadn't really bothered him. Day wasn't adverse to this sort of talk, but considering his own actions, he felt it best to leave the morality of that situation up to ambiguity. "Well, she disrespected Steady," he sighed, skipping over the tale of her heat and foray into the wilds. "And made herself an enemy of us. And then, right on the tail of that, Althaia was murdered on the borders - beheaded. One of her little ones was stolen right under our noses."
That hurt, too. Everything seemed painful, lately.
"I s'pose... we all just want to settle down again," he said quietly, forgetting Mirabelle for a moment. "We want our family back, but if we can't have that, we want to keep what we have as safe as we can."
It seemed that Belle had joined the right pack -- for every issue she had, they had another. She listened to Day's words, taking in the pain behind them, and yet she remained expressionless, as such was her trademark. I can appreciate a man with goals, but I can respect a man with incentive. Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, but I plan on being here for a while. Perhaps there's time to make up for losses.
She flashed him a quick smile, genuine though short-lived, and stood to shake the rest from her thick coat. It was obvious that he wasn't exactly her biggest fan, but Belle wasn't keen on living somewhere she wasn't wanted. Not again.
It was a pleasure speaking to you. I'd like another one of these talks, should we cross paths again.
She struted away with a light brush against his shoulder, but she kept it friendly as she exited into the treeline. Maybe he didn't like her now, but she had plans and she wouldn't let a bit of discontent get in her way.
Day watched the woman go, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at her. There seemed to be nothing resolved between the two of them, but he was willing to live with the uneasy stalemate for as long as it took her to get off her high horse. He had a feeling that it would be a while.