Wolf RPG

A narrow pass separated Mount Apikuni from the rest of the range. Bazi hadn’t realized until she made it her to scale the mountain, circling slowly round as if following a string of Christmas lights to the top. She had expected a link to the Sunspire Mountains to the west, but there was only a sheer drop and a distant strip of green. Bazi had journeyed a little over halfway up - a day’s work - when the sight of it caught her attention, and she decided to stop for a rest at the cliff's edge.

It had rained recently, and she refreshed herself from a shallow puddle of cold water. It was overcast and dark today, and the air was thick with the promise of further showers. At least it keeps things green, she thought, looking around for somewhere to shelter. The mountain was full of little nooks and crannies to hide a wolf - or something else. One day, the Creek population might overflow here. Outriders could live here in shifts to keep watch on the west, and the rest of the pack could be summoned by howl to trap intruders in the pass if need be.. Swift Pass, Bazi tried. It didn’t sound menacing enough. Death’s Pass? Too dramatic. Trapper’s Pass. That had a certain ring to it.

drip drip drip

Cold water droplets rolled down the adult wolf's chin and into the puddle he had just used to quench his thirst. He exhaled, and small cloud of mist escaped from his lips, it was a cold day. Damp and heavy, not exactly Galileo's favorite.

He casually looked at the sky, something he was used to do several times a day, above him nothing but a grey mantle of clouds. Shame, no interesting clouds to watch as the afternoon rolled in.

Suddenly he caught a scent. A fragance that was somehow familiar to him...He inhaled deeply, tasting the sweetness of such odor. He remembered it.. but couldn't place where from..

Not much further up the mountain, that same spiraling gust of wind stroked Bazi's nose. She wheeled around, scanning the path behind her for any trace of the wolf whose scent tickled her nostrils. She recognized it immediately.

"Galileo?" the yearling called into the heavy air. The clouds responded before any wolf could by dropping several fat, heavy tears onto her head. Bazi's ears fell flat. The clouds were swollen with an impending downpour, and they wouldn't be able to hold it in much longer.

He parted his lips to taste the heavy air surrounding him, his memory running to the day he met the owner of such godly fragance. He remembered now, in his mind the picture of a faint ghost next to a lake palpitated, becoming clearer by the second.

Suddenly, the very familiar voice called his name, "Galileo?" He pricked his ears and followed the sound along with the scent, and just as he stepped into her view he felt a clunk on his head, a cloud's teardrop fell on the top of his head.

The male squinted and shook the drop off his head, "Bazi!" he greeted the female with another of his courteous bows, "How are you?" he barked softly, his tail curling over his back.

Oh, that bow. Bazi couldn't help herself - she fluttered her eyelashes prettily at the mottled male, inclining her own dainty head in greeting. She was becoming more aware of men lately - big, strong, sturdy men in particular. It was as if her surreal encounter with Tiarnán had triggered some sleeping instinct.

"You never came," she scolded pleasantly, approaching the lone wolf without caution this time - they had met before and nobody had died then, and they were far beyond Swiftcurrent borders this time. "Do you really want to live alone your whole life? Are bears that great?" The uncertain patter of occasional splashes became a cold drizzle, and within seconds their thick pelts were misty with tiny, shining droplets. "What have you been doing?"

Fiery brown eyes met her glassy frosted gaze. The pepper coated male had not expected to come across Bazi's path so soon. But if destiny - or whatever it had been- had caused then to run into each other once more it had to be for a good reason.

He sniffled as a cold water droplet lander on his nose, and lashed his tongue over it as another one reached the same spot. "You never came,", she demander in a playful demeanor as she came closer, Galileo wagged his tail in greeting and took a step forward.

"We never set dates" he barked casually, never changing his friendly tone, then she joked about bears and the male couldn't help but laugh, "Not really, they're pretty rude to be honest.. sometimes they confuse me for a chew toy!" he joked too.

He felt at ease with her, something about her made him feel calm, knowing she was a friend, even if he had spoke to her just once before. "Same old, been here and there," he shrugged, "I've met another wolf, she mentioned another pack, and yours too" he mentioned recalling the day he had met Lunar.

"We're wolves!" she protested mirthfully, "Owls set dates!"

It was raining in earnest now, and Bazi beckoned for Galileo to join her in a spot where the mountain seemed to have collapsed on itself; two vast columns of rock leaned against each other like a giant's playing cards, creating a pitched roof over a shallow cave - less than a meter deep and barely deserving of the name. Fire had charred the mountain not long ago, and there was precious little else to shield them.

"Which wolf was that?" Bazi asked, pressing herself against the mountain wall to avoid the spray. It was always windy up here, and the narrow ledge above would not keep them completely dry. "A Swiftcurrent wolf?"

For a split second Galileo wondered how wonderful it would be to be an owl, soaring through the sky,being tickled by the clouds as he got closer to his love. The stars.
Then the image of a winged wolf seemed outright ridiculous so he couldn't help but chuckle.

Then he too noticed as more heavy water drops splatted against him, so he followed Bazi, hoping to get out of the rain soon. As they took cover, Galileo shook his coat vigorously throwing water all around him. Finally with a last flick of his tail he settled down and glanced at the pearly female.

"No," he answered picturing Lunar's face in his mind, "Im certain, she had a distinctive smell, nothing like yours" he mused smiling in between the words.

"She was named after the celestial body that guards the night" he commented, "Lunar." he said at last, throwing the word into the air hoping to get some reaction out of Bazi for it.

Bazi's heart fluttered briefly in her chest, and she scooted over to make room for Galileo's considerably larger form. He smelled of wet fur, grass, and man - a scent she recognized as distinct from merely 'wolf' or 'animal' now, and had swiftly come to love.

Unlike Tiarnán, who lacked any grasp on the common tongue, Galileo was a gallant flirt. The young girl smiled wryly at his veiled compliment - or what she assumed was a compliment. It wasn't until after her short and strange encounter with the Celtic wolf in Ravensblood Forest that Bazi had really noticed gender. Since then, it was as if someone had turned on the lights, revealing a new and interesting social world to navigate and master. She began to question every interaction with Ferdie, even Jace, dissecting words and actions as if they were holding on to some secret - but they were family, and Galileo was not.

But Bazi's ponderous gaze turned grim when Lunar was mentioned. "She's a bit soft in the head," she told him. "As is that other Silvertip Mountain wolf - Majesty, or whatever his name is. I don't see why they would come all the way across the mountain for no reason - I went to the forest to look for one of our own, not to 'hang about'." The youth's blue eyes narrowed, and she fixed Galileo with an intent stare. "You aren't friends, are you?"

The brown and black female's name rolled off his tongue with hesitation, when he had spoken to her she had been quite uncomfortable when the name of Bazi's pack was mentioned. And now that Galileo spoke to Bazi he verified his theory.

For some reason the two females: Lunar and Bazi did not get along. Whether it was a feud between themselves or if it involved bloodlines or packs, he ignored it. After all it was none of his business and he was fine with that.

Still Bazi's next words gave away some of her thoughts on the subject. Ah, so it did go further. The white she-wolf mentioned another name. Majesty. Quite odd. Galileo thought about what she had said, coming all the way across a mountain for simple fun. Sounded a bit like Galileo's lifestyle.

Then Bazi threw another question in the air, a question that placed Galileo in the hot seat at the middle of the spotlight. He didn't quite know if there was a correct answer to that. He had an affinity for the white lady, and feared that now their friendship- if you will - would fall into pieces if he messed up on his answer.

He swallowed slowly thinking about his encounter with the other female. Nothing out of the ordinary, a bit of joking, fantasizing about the splendors of the sky and the usual inquiry of the other's whereabouts. To Galileo it seemed like a normal encounter.

"No," he said at last, "Just aqcuaintances" he explained blankly.

"Just acquaintances."

Bazi's face relaxed back into a smile.

"Sorry," she said, turning to gaze into the torrent - it was raining hard now, and it was difficult to distinguish clouds from falling water. "That might have been a bit exaggerated. She was loitering around Duck Lake, and that is not a logical place for a Silvertip wolf to be without good reason. It's too close to the Creek, and my pack-mates were not happy. We're very diligent when it comes to our borders."

It was nothing personal - the two females had gotten along fine (even if Bazi was blatantly using Lunar for information) until Tuwawi took umbrage with her presence. It was the dark wolf's dramatic departure that influenced Bazi's dislike for her now, and she wrinkled her nose at the memory. "'I thought you were different' she told me when she skulked off. If different means siding with a stranger's wishes over your family's, I should hope not."

That was enough sharing. Bazi shifted weight from one paw to the other, bristling in the cold breeze. They were seated no more than a foot apart, but the youth dared not close that gap - not yet. Her new attitude towards men told her that it might mean something to instigate physical contact. "Who else do you know around here?" she asked instead - a work question as well as a personal one.

Galileo studied her face as she spoke, explaining why she had shown displeasure when he had referred to Lunar. His eyes surveyed her face, running from the top of her head down to her cheeks, stopping to glance at the dark circles she wore under her beautiful sky coloured orbs.

I thought you were different, she mimicked Lunar, as she kept explaining her pack's ideals and thoughts about siding with stranger. The word tingled on the tip of his tongue, burning like acid.

It was then when he realized he did not like the term.
Stranger. the word ringed in his ears, he knew perfectly that she had not aimed the word at him, but it could apply to him as easily as it could to the other she-wolf.

He contemplated the small space that lied between them, he could tell that Bazi also felt at ease with him. "Who else?" He repeated thinking about the previous weeks. "Hmm, there was another wolf with Lunar" he recalled, "Sky?" he asked waiting to see if the name ringed a bell in Bazi's mind.

Sky ran up from behind panting."I saw a moose and I got really distracted."She panted more her heart was racing. She actually saw a moose then a deer and since she was starving she tried to get them and then she just ate a fish after trying to catch the moose and deer. She just stood there panting.

Then as if he had summoned her presence, Sky, the female Galileo was telling Bazi about appeared from behind, her tail flicking behind her and her tongue lolling oit of her mouth as she recovered her breath. Galileo smiled at the newly arrived female and greeted her since he felt they needed no introduction.

"Sky, what a coincidence" he barked wagging his tail back slightly. Suddenly he felt a bit out of place, even if Bazi and Sky had adressed Galileo with kindness before, he felt he should leave them to keep doing whatever they were up to before he came into the scene.

With a respectful bow to both females, he took a step back, "If you'll excuse me," he said taking yet another step back. Then he met his eyes with Bazi's and smirked, "See you later Bazi" he woofed soflty before turning and taking off away from the other females. As he trotted he called over his shoulder, "Take care both of you".

Bazi had completely forgotten that Sky had tailed her up the mountain. The newcomer had kept her distance, and neither wolf had seen much of the other for the duration of the trip. She opened her mouth to greet the enthusiastic, strangely marked girl, but Galileo interrupted.

"Bye?" Bazi replied, a little confused by his sudden departure and quietly mystified by the secretive grin he flashed her before disappearing into the rain. Still no decision. She watched in silence until a corner obscured him from view, and only then invited Sky to shelter herself from the rain. "Sky - get out of the rain, come here and sit with me," she instructed. She wasn't in much of a talking mood, and had it in her mind to wait out the worst of the torrent before continuing up toward the top of the peak.