Wolf RPG

Returning to the mountain had become something Jinx dreaded. It wasn't a fault with her pack nor the mountain itself, but rather, her preference for the new territory they had discovered. She was eager to move them here now, but she still had to explore the island at the lake's centre before she made her decision. She suspected that the island would house a mystery of its own, but so far, she hadn't found an opportunity to explore it.

Now, she tilted back her head and howled from atop one of the ring's small mountains, hoping her lilting voice would reach Neverwinter and find Cara. The yearling was ambitious, and Jinx wanted to give her every opportunity to prove herself, but she wanted to do it in such a way that it benefited the pack as well. Inviting Cara to explore Ouroboros Spine with her might be a good way to determine the yearling's goals.

A shudder made it's way across Cara's lithe body, making her shoulder's tremble and a tiny gasp escape from her mouth and cold water droplets rolled off her muzzle.

Today she had been trailing along the edge of the Whitefish River, the fine thread of rushing water that separated them from the plateu wolves. She'd begun inspecting that side of the borders, casually stopping to make sure all traces of Erika were stale. She really didn't want to come across her scent in this place, so awfully close to the territory. But if she did she'd be obliged to chase the bitch out -not that she minded.

As the inspection showed nothing to be alarmed about, the female took a break to quench her thirst in the cool river. As she drank she saw little silver silhouettes moving underneath the surface and decided to try her luck and fish. She had a thing for fish, especially salmon, though she had not had an aquatic meal for a long time. She then lunged into the water and at that same instant a piercing howl directed to her cut through the air, she jerked her head away, her snout missing the creature by a few inches, she'd have time to eat later.

With her coat still soaked she made her way towards her alpha, arriving promptly to the destination. The yearling dipped her nose and gave a tiny wag of her tail that sent water drops splashing everywhere. "Hello, Jinx" she greeted the white queen.

Cara was prompt, which was a great quality in Jinx's mind. She valued strength and stamina above all things, but punctuality was still a favoured quality in a wolf. It was no wonder that the yearling was quickly gaining respect from her pack mates and leaders alike, although Lecter was a harder nut to crack than Jinx was. She smiled as the pale female approached with fur raised in wet points, relaxing her own stance as if to say, “hierarchy won't matter today”.

Hierarchy always mattered to Jinx, but she was in a pleasant mood. Her preparations to move to Ouroboros Spine were nearly complete, so there was nothing to sour her days except the occasional thought of the mutineers. Even they had begun to fade from her mind. “Come with me,” she said brightly, turning to lead the way should Cara agree to follow and brushing past a fir tree in the process. “There is an island I want to explore.”

The lake wasn't all that far away. She'd intentionally chosen a howling point that was close to it, so that the females wouldn't need to travel a vast distance before reaching the water. The gleam and sparkle of the lake glinted through the trees as she made her way down, and eventually the forest opened up onto a verdant stretch of short grass that served as the floodplain for the myriad rivers and the lake itself. She followed the edge of one of these rivers to the lake, whose edge was murky with silt. A short swim away was the island, standing tall against the pine green backdrop.

Without hesitation, the Alpha plunged into the cool lake water, paddling for the island and not stopping to see whether Cara had indeed followed her or not.

The yearling felt all the muscles in her body relax as the pack's Alpha smiled at her, she returned the smile, she had to admit the first few days Cara had been accepted into the ranks she had been wary of the snow coated female, she seemed to be extremely headstrong and impatient, just like Cara, which had made the yearling wonder if they would get along or if the strory between her and her sisters would repeat itself.

But as days went by, Cara had a revelation, she had found a new goal: to escalate the pack's ranks. She had discovered the benefits of pack life and slowly but surely her days as a loner began to fade behind her. The yearling, appreciated the luxury of having a home and a stable source of food and protection now that she was in a pack -even if the last one had been put at doubt after the betrayal of one of her packmates.

When the white female asked her to follow, Cara bounded after her reluctanctly, bumping agaisnt the alpha's shoulder while she passed. "An island?" she asked, instantly thinking of the sea. But no it could't be considering they were going in the opposite direction of the shore.

But before Cara could ask anything else they came upon a huge lake that surrounded an island, the yearling stopped and admired the scenery with awe before following Jinx into the water.

Was there any doubt in Jinx's mind that Cara would rise to stand among the pack's upper echelon? None at all. But the Alpha's mind was far from Cara's position, for her eyes were greedily combing the island they swam toward. They made good time, and she felt a reluctance to leave the cool lake when she finally pulled herself ashore.

The island was much like the rest of the area: covered in deep pine forest with only an overstory and an understory. The understory here seemed thicker, however, and more cumbersome somehow. The female gestured for the yearling to lead the way, glad for an opportunity to see what Cara was all about when given a chance to shine. The exploration would be done in the Epsilon's name rather than Jinx's own. Perhaps it would give Cara something to talk about to her other pack mates if they discovered something incredible here.

The simple fact that Jinx had specially chosen her to explore the island would give the pale girl enough to talk about once she got back to the pack. If the other members of the mountain pack thought Cara was a snob, now they'd be convinced! As they swam side by side, Cara couldn't help but to kick her hind legs furiously underwater, often passing Jinx but always slowing down again so they'd go together.

Finally they reached the precious island, and when the moment came to start the expedition, the yearling could hardly contain her enthusiasm, she glanced sideways at the snow pelted queen, waiting for her to give the tiniest movement that would set her off. And Jinx, maybe infected with her eagerness allowed her to lead.

A quick nod was all she managed to give before trotting ahead, her nose close to the ground and her ears swiveling on her cranium like radars. She weaved carefully through the trees, her pawsteps light and quick.

The brawny Kesuk fell in behind Cara, keeping her nose up and sniffing delicately at the air rather than the ground as they walked. The cloud-like yearling was taking care of that, and Jinx trusted she would report any unusual or new scents on the island's pristine floor. She was interested mostly to see what would make the island differ from the surrounding forest, if anything at all.

“You are doing well in the ranks,” Jinx observed, keen to break the silence of their walk. The Alpha female's opinion of her wolves affected their ranks, but only in as much as she would interfere with dominance attempts against those in her favour. Those of the pack earned their places through sheer determination, and Cara was rising quickly. “Do you aspire to anything in particular?”

This time Cara had her eyes wide open while investigating the island's flooring, she did not want to repeat the expirience she had had while hunting with Kaname.. And though she had not yet seen any sign of prey, aside from a tiny mouse scurring through a hole in a log when they had first gotten off the shore, she kept her ears alert.

Suddenly the female noted that as they got deeper into the island's core, more and more animals made an appereance. There were several birds shuffuling among the branches of the trees and she could sense the scent of other prey animals, wild hogs for instance --one of Cara's favorites. The island was proving to be an excellent place after all.

As excellent as Cara's impression on Jinx was it seemed. The female wagged her tail and took a moment to glance over her shoulder to answer, "Thank you" she replied with a dip of her coal black nose. "Gamma" she answered slowly, she had her eyes on Kaname's position for now, but who knew perhaps her ambition would drive her to persue greater things later on.

Cara's answers were satisfactory, at least in a way. There didn't seem to be anything extraordinary about the yearling's answer—Jinx had expected her to wish to go even higher than just Gamma, but then, she expected that of all wolves—but, nevertheless, she accepted it with a subtle nod. No doubt if the pale female kept working at it, she would find herself at the top of the ranks in no time, with none to lord over her but the leaders of the pack themselves.

Jinx herself had once aspired to be a Gamma, and then a Mambo, but always beneath the care and guidance of her mother, the Warchief. Things had happened differently, and despite Nanuq's reasons for leaving, her daughter could never forgive her for it. She could not understand it, although she was driven by the same desires.

“Perhaps you should consider overthrowing him,” she offered casually as she glimped a nutcracker flying overhead. She knew little about Kaname's past, and chocked his enigmatic air up to intimidation rather than any true skill. She had no doubt that in a spar, they might find themselves evenly matched.

A malicious smile twisted the yearling's lips as she glanced back to look at her beloved Alpha, it was true she had grown to love and respect the snow coated female. She was fierce and didn't let anyone fuck her over;that was something the young pale girl aspired to learn from her.

Her suggestion received a thoughtful hum and a quick flick of her tail, she couldn't deny she hadn't thought about it. Recently she had been sizing him up and watching him closely, even if she felt a deep respect for him her desire to have his rank was probably greater.

"Perhaps I should.." She barked, still smiling. She would definitely sleep on it, and decide what was the best way to get to him. Whether it was by brute force or by cunning tricks she would get his spot. As Cara pledged to herself to work towards her target, they entered a clearing, where the lighting was dim, a nice place for the wolves to lounge and just relax. "This place is perfect" she barked scanning the surroundings.

A thin smile carved the Alpha's snout at Cara's response. The yearling was enthusiastic, that was for sure, though in a refreshingly mature way. She remember having that same sort of enthusiasm once for all things: for voodoo, for headhunting, and for leading rituals. Those days were long behind her, but Jinx pined for them sometimes, and was reminded of them by the ambitious young female she accompanied.

They emerged into a gloomy but soothing clearing, and Cara commented almost immediately. Jinx smiled as she brushed past the Delta, only to tumble into the grass and sprawl out lazily. It was something the Alpha female rarely got to do. Wiggling her back against the ground and feeling an itch satisfied, the Kesuk turned her gaze back to Cara and asked, “what would you like to call it?” Specifically, the island.

After allowing Cara time to answer, the female stood again, shook herself, and aimed a friendly nip at the other female's cheek. “Come, let us head back. We will inform the others of what you have found.”

Cara curled her tail over Jinx's side as she brushed past her and affecionate gesture towards her queen. Then as she went ahead and plummeted to the ground the yearling gave a happy yap followed by laughter. She was glad to see Jinx had another side to her a more playful and careless side. She followed her example and dropped into a spynx position her tail thumping against the soil.

"Hmm.. " she pondered while looking around, "Haven/The Ouroboros " she declared with the fire or pride burning in her orbs. She couldn't wait to hear her response, but she was more exited to see the face of her packmates when she told them what she had seen --a thought Jinx stole out of her mouth.

"Lets" she barked simply while spinning around to leave the island, but not before butting the bridge of her nose against Jinx's shoulder in gratitude.

The Alpha female mulled over the name as they began the trek back to the mountain, and at last declared, “I love it.” The mountain range certainly suited the name, for it so resembled the snake that ate its own tail, and it stood for all that they believed in: continuity of the pack, infinitely.