It was cloudy and gloomy out on this mid-spring afternoon. The sun barely peaked through a form of shadowy clouds hefty with the rains of spring time. The dreary atmosphere left Ayvo in a rather solitary mood. In all honesty he didn’t mind being alone. Being unaccompanied had its advantages: Figuring out conversation topics wasn’t necessary, politeness wasn’t required, and above all playing out the petty rank dominance was completely out of the picture.
The pastel pelted male chose to lie down upon the neatly pact dirt near his makeshift den. Fidgeting with some bones he gnawed on them softly to pass the time. His home was a simple hole in a dead tree coated in rabbit skin. It was soft and soon it would be compete after he gained more pelts of unsuspecting prey. A nice black tail deer would go nicely in his room. Maybe a little tattered keep out sign hanging from a thick branch upon the deceased tree. He would be the picture perfect cloistered teenager. His parents would be proud.
As par normal for the black coated healer, Blue Willow was loping through the pack lands. She had done her duties with diligence and quickly today. The rain leaving a lot to be desired. She did not mind it so much, it was the dreary melancholy feel of it that always bothered her. Thunderstorms they were loud and bright she considered them a dance, but the rain softly falling, it was tears.
It had been a day or two since she had soon the young male she had accepted at the borders Ayvo she believed his name was. She wondered how he was getting on. As she loped through the pack lands, just as if her mind had willed it, a teasing of a scent tickled her nostrils and she froze to take a deep smell. It was the one she had just thought of, summoned it seemed from her very thoughts.
Shifting directions she followed the scent to it's source and found the youth alone and chewing on bones. Good day to you Ayvo. She spoke softly. She studied him, he was quite anti social and she wasn't sure if that was good or not. She hoped to fix that at least today anyway.
Peregrine had good days and bad days. Today was the latter. He'd hoped to finally get another chance at some alone time with Hawkeye, yet it just didn't seem like it was in the cards. Frustrated and even a bit angry, he left the den site to work out his negative energy via a patrol. After he finished, he set out to scout for prey rather than return home. The thunderous sky suited his mood perfectly.
Each passing day that he and his mate didn't get a chance to be alone, he felt further from her. By now, the thread between them had stretched so thin and become so frayed that he was certain it would snap. Any day now. Only, Peregrine knew he held the scissors. It was up to him to decide whether or not to make that final cut. What would he mean if he did, if he told her it was over? What would become of their family?
The sound of voices startled him out of a deep fugue. His dusky eyes lifted to see Blue Willow (she was a sight for sore eyes) and a new wolf he didn't know. He was tempted to turn and resume hunting, yet he couldn't pass up the opportunity to get to know a new pack mate. Biting back a sigh, he approached the two, not much bothering with any dominance displays today.
"Hey, Willow," he said, touching his nose to his Beta's cheek before turning his attention upon the young, pale stranger. "I'm Peregrine, the Alpha male," he said, then waited for an introduction.
The male wasn’t always obvious to scents and more so his surroundings. As it turned out the pack’s healer, Willow, snuck up on him. She was down wind of him and her greeting startled the young wolf. Quickly jumping from his position on the packed earth he sprang to his feet. Jolting himself around to face the female he let out a sigh. Soon after Ayvo displayed his feat of pure fear and gracefulness another wolf wandered by the pair. The alpha, Peregrine, who was a burly ebony wolf greeted both the beta and Ayvo with a husky voice. ”Oh its you Willow. Good day to you to. You just startled me. And uh Pea-green? Its nice to meet you too. I am Ayvo, I'm new here. Not to insult your intelligence, I just wanted to make sure you knew.” the male spoke in a tired voice.
Blue Willow, the healer, was a kind wolf. From what the youngster had learned from her is that she almost always showed kindness. Ayvo had no ill feelings towards her and chose to show her the same kindness that she had shown him from day one. The alpha Ayvo had never met before, he was a curious creature. He smelt mainly of pups, and a stale scent stained his pelt. Maybe if they had met many moons before the scent would be overwhelming but now it was old. It was the scent of a female, maybe the male’s mate. Ayvo was curious on why the pups smelt so strong but the female’s scent was so faint. He didn’t have the courage to ask the intimidating alpha.
Blue Willow wagged her tail and returned the gesture to her friend and alpha. He had been sad lately and though she did not know 100 percent for sure know what it was she could guess. And she was willing to bet it had something to do with his mate who she actually hadn't talked to really since before the pups were born and she was actually all that far along. She knew the femme was busy and tired, but she wondered at her absence among the pack lands. Even a female with pups could wonder once they got older and the pups were old enough to go on small excursions. Hello Peregrine. she decided to use his given name rather than his nickname since they were in front of a lower ranked wolf and she didn't know how Perry handled that aspect.
Blue Willow chuckled softly at Ayvo's reaction and spoke quietly, I am sorry Ayvo I did not mean to scare you. Peregrine I accepted Ayvo a few days ago. I think he would be a good candidate for you to train for gamekeeper as he is fleet of foot, he had also been training for Warden in his former pack before they disbanded and scattered to the four winds. She would let Peregrine take it from here. He would probably want to get to know the young male that stood before them. She hoped he got the green light from Peregrine as he had been the first she had officially allowed into the pack and she did not want to disappoint her friend.
Never in his life had Peregrine come across an adult wolf who had trouble with his name. It reminded him of his pups. "Call me Perry," he invited, his eyes sharpening as he took a closer look at the male. Why did he look and sound so exhausted? It wasn't exactly the best first impression.
Glancing sideways at Blue Willow, Peregrine looked to Ayvo once more. "Oh, yeah? Well, welcome. Where did you come from?" he asked conversationally, even if his heart and mind weren't in it much today.
The stress that came along with losing a pack you had been apart of for a few months was hard on a wolf. He traveled some ways to get to the Plateau and that journey in itself for any wolf was tiring. Sure the pale wolf was young and strong but a journey up the side of a mountain was difficult.
Ayvo was a honest wolf. He chose to tell Perry the truth about where he was once from. With a dip of his head the youngster replied. "I was born in the north, I traveled to a place called the Northstar Vale. The pack disbanded after I worked at becoming respected, and now I am here." Ayvo replied in a voice that showed submission towards Pea-green.
Blue Willow could have told Perry and even Ayvo that he would need a few days to just rest, but she hadn't. Hadn't even thought about it truth be told and that bothered her as she studied him. She was usually so quick to tell when something was off, granted he hadn't seemed very tired the day she had taken him into their bosom of the pack land. But then again if she thought about it, he was probably working on pure adrenaline at that time. And after an adrenaline rush there was always a crash.
She shifted her weight and sat down on her haunches listening, but not commenting. She had nothing to add, she already knew all this, it was Perry who didn't. He would ask his questions and determine the youth's worth and that would be that.
If Peregrine had heard the pack's name before, he didn't remember it now. It didn't trigger any familiarity and he didn't even realize it was a local pack. He did detect a note of bitterness in Ayvo's voice but he didn't comment on it.
"If you work hard here, you'll become respected," the Alpha assured him, "especially if you decide to pursue the Gamekeeper trade. It's kind of my pet trade," he said with a faint twitch of his lips.
Blue Willow had stepped aside upon his arrival and he turned to her now. "Did I interrupt you two? I can be on my way. I just wanted to say hi and talk to the newbie for a sec." He tipped his black head.
The youngster had yet to decided what trade he would go for. In the vale he was going for warden but the more the pastel wolf thought about it the less he wanted to do it. Speaking to other wolves was something he did only when he deemed it necessary. Warden wouldn't be a fit trade for him. He was fast, and could hunt well. Gamekeeper would be a great profession for him.
Ayvo listened intently to what the male was saying. He acknowledged his comment with a nod of his head. The young wolf would work hard to become respected. Once he we sure about what trade he wanted he would work towards that with devotion.
The pale wolf stayed silent as Perry addressed Blue Willow. He didn't mind the male's presence but if he had other important things to attend to then he shouldn't be stopped by Blue and Ayvo.
Blue smiled at Peregrine's light lip twitch. The male was amusing to her on a daily basis. She tilted her head at his question but shook her head. No you weren't interrupting anything I had just gotten here too. She studied the male before her he would make a good gamekeeper that was true. They also needed more healers she was the only one. Though it was not for all.
You will make a good gamekeeper. And Peregrine is a good teacher for that. However, I do want to point out I also could use someone to train for healer like me. But you take your time really make sure you want the trades you want.
Blue Willow made a valid point and Peregrine nodded and said, "She's right, as Willow often is," and favored the Beta female with a small smile. He focused on Ayvo again. "While I'd love for you to become a Gamekeeper—or a Healer, for that matters, especially with young ones running all over the place—you're of course welcome to pursue whatever you like. You'll be most valuable to the pack doing something you like, something you're good at."
And though the two of them insisted he wasn't interrupting, Peregrine wasn't in the right head space for small talk, so he decided he would be on his way after all. "I'll definitely want to catch up with you later, Ayvo, and get to know you a bit better. But I'd better get some stuff done before the weather turns really bad." And he didn't say it but he thought, And you look like you could use a long nap.
"See you both later," Peregrine said, waving his tail at both subordinates before plodding away into the woods.
Ayvo dipped his head in acceptance for the alpha male's statement. He wasn't exceptionally good at anything in all reality. Although he was still young. He had time to wane his skills in anything he so desired. If he wanted to be a healer all he needed to do was speak to Willow and he had no doubt the female would help him. Being a healer was not his calling. He more so would go for something more physical.
The pastel pelted male nodded his head as the male spoke his departing words and left. The young male turned to Willow. "What other trades are there?" Ayvo inquired to the ebony female
She returned the smile to Peregrine and she watched him turn away. Warming at his kind words. She was proud of herself and the things she had accomplished and to have an alpha give her such high praise well it was an accomplishment in her eyes.
Blue Willow listened to the question and then spoke Well besides Healer and gamekeeper. There is warden responsible for the borders, warrior responsible for protecting the pack, chronicler is in charge of the history and stories, Counselor in charge of keeping the peace, caretaker for the pups, naturalist studies the weather nad the like and an outrider is basically a scout. She nodded she wondered which of these would he pick 3 or would he only pick 1. She was always interested in what others found interesting. Realizing that she had much to do she bowed her head and spoke quickly those are the trades. I'll let you to think on them. I have some herbs to gather I apologize but I must get to it. Have a good day.
With those words she made a swift retreat to gather herbs and border patrol.