Peony was bored. Again. And again, she wandered. She couldn't drop her muzzle to the ground and find another wolf, so instead, she silently glided over the ground. Humming a quiet tune along the way the lady had a sort of skip in her step. There was no particular reason, she was simply a joyous person in general. Her goals today being straightforward; find somebody (or be found by somebody), talk to that someone, become best friends and be happy. All of which were in favor of curing her boredom of the slow passing days.
Inna stalked her prey, moving as so not to make a sound. She was so focused on the rabbit that she didn't notice the scent of a wandering wolf. Just as she was about to pounce, what looked to be a fox startled the rabbit away. "Hey!" Inna barked, before regretting it. It wasn't a fox, it was the wolf who looked like one. Inna had seen her from a distance, but had never spoken to her packmate. "I'm sorry, you startled me- and my prey. Couldn't you smell us?" Inna questoned. "Oh, I'm Inna by the way."
Peony hadn't necessarily been paying much attention when she walked, it was more of mindless wandering. Her brain was off in la-la land whilst her body just went wherever it felt like. And it seemed, her body had wanted to wander in the middle of a wolf's hunting session. "Oh I-I'm sorry!" the girl stuttered, apologetic. "I didn't mean too!" she assured the upset woman.
Couldn't you smell us? "Oh, I umm... I can't smell. At all..." Usually, she was more open to talking, but she often got squeaky when somebody got mad at her. The grey woman in front of her had introduced herself, which easily slid Peony back into her bubbly mood. "I'm Peony!" a smile spread across her muzzle like butter and her tail shifted from one side to the other slow, then faster, then even faster. "Whatcha doing?" she inquired, forgetting about why the woman had begun speaking to her in the first place; her clumsiness.
"Oh, that makes sense. I've heard some wolves can't smell." Inna wondered what she would do if she couldn't smell. She wouldn't be able to differentiate herbs and plants, track prey, or stay away from enemy territory. "I'm not doing much, just watching the world go by." Inna looked at her paws, not knowing what else to say. She was not a good conversationalist, and usually just stayed out of them. "So... are you excited to return to the old territory? I've never been there, have you?" Those were normal questions, right?
I've heard some wolves can't smell. Woah! Peony had never thought she could be so popular, the thought bringing another wave of constant motion from her tail. The woman looked nervous as she continued speaking, that was something Peony would have to fix. "Nope! Never been! But it sounds like fun!" the lady responded, trying to make the other feel more comfortable.
"Hey, wanna do something fun! And well... not boring?" she inquired. Maybe if Peony and Inna did something fun together, the woman wouldn't be so introverted around her. She tried glancing around for something to do but had found nothing. Absolutely nothing. Zilch! Zero! Nada! Can you believe that! There was nothing to do!
Inna was a little overwhelmed by Peony's energy, but tried to push her fears aside. What to do, what to do... "We could play chase? Or hunt together? Or hide and seek? Maybe slide on the ice?" Inna suggested the options with an unsure tone. What do wolves like to do? Something tells me Peony won't enjoy sitting still and listening to songbirds like I usually do.
Peony had liked to do all of Inna's suggestions actually, and it probably showed. But the thing Peony wanted most of all was just the two of them to both enjoy it, and the woman did not sound like she liked any of those. She was just merely naming choices to appease Peony, which was not all right may I add. And with this thought she shook her head; "No no. We should do something you like too! It's no fun if only one of us enjoys it!" the russet girl explained.
"But we just met, and I'm not sure what you like to do! So c'mon! What should we both do that wouldn't be boring to either of us?" Peony sat with the most authority she could manage, trying to get the woman to explain to her what she wanted to do. That of which, seemed to be proving itself to be challenging. But it was nothing Peony couldn't handle.
What do I want to do? I want to run away. Why did I join a pack? I should have stayed a loner. Dying would surely be easier than this.
"I- I honestly don't know."
This wolf was hardly older than a pup, right? Pups were always causing trouble... and Inna was a bit bored, too. "How about we cause a little bit of mischief? We sneak up on another wolf, and then..."
Inna bent down, spun around and kicked a bunch of snow in Peony's direction. "We start a snow fight!"
Peony listened to the woman's stuttered answer, her hesitation was obvious. But it was also clear that she was trying to think of something to do, so Peony allowed her concentration to thrive. The only sound the girl made would be the quiet thwump... thwump... thwump... of her tail on the cold and bitter Earth. A steady rhythmic record, replaying itself over and over.
Inna mentioned mischief, and Peony was already all for it. It'd been a while since she'd had a bit of real action in her life, it was a nice change. She glanced behind her to see if anybody could hear their deviating plan and she turned back to find a face full of snow! "Hey!" the youngling shouted through the flakey snow. Sending a wave of cold shredded ice back in her newfound friend's direction as she giggled and then shook the snow from her pelage.
"I'm in!" Excited now, the lady shot up like a rocket and went to meet her companion a few feet ahead of her. "Who should we start with? I haven't met many of the other wolves... but it's okay!" the lady reasoned. Inna seemed to be enjoying it too considering she had already begun with Peony as the target. Anything the wolf had to say, she would be all ears.
"I've only met Soleil and Ira, but maybe this will be a good way to meet some new wolves. Let's sneak around until we find someone." Inna tried to hide her nervousness, and found it wasn't that difficult. She was enjoying Peony's presence, and was excited to meet some packmates. Inna melted into the background, stepping carefully so she wouldn't snap any twigs. Now if only some wolf would pop into view...
Maybe this will be a good time to meet some new wolves. New wolves? That was something that got Peony's attention. Two wolves in one day? This had to be a dream! Inna turned around and stalked off and Peony began to trail her. At this point in her life, Peony had become a master of padding without disturbing the quiet solitude around her and was thankful to find that Inna did too.
Though she wasn't much surprised as the skill had deemed itself necessary in the wild. She stalked silently, if you didn't know what you were looking for, you wouldn't see the two tricksters on their way to mischief. Both of them could easily blend into the surroundings and shadows, creeping along practically invisible.
You rang? ;)
Lo and behold, the tangerine-coated wolf had gone and nicked some kind of shrew from a cache and now pranced happily through the snow with it aloft; oblivious to the pair of wolves slinking in the frozen weeds, eyes closed, utterly blissful. His tail-tip flicked to the beat of his swagger, the appendage held high like a triumphant flag.
The shrew wouldn't be enough for a full meal but it would be a nice snack to start off his day. Yes, that's right,
start off. He'd just woken up from a toasty nap beneath one of the rare spindly-armed trees that scattered the plains; when he'd woken he had been buried, but he had been warm, filling that tiny cavern where his body roosted with his heat until his hunger (and need to piss) pulled him to his feet.
But yes, here he was - practically
frolicing - while humming a jaunty little tune to himself.
Inna easily spotted the orange-pelted wolf prancing through the snow. She glanced at Peony before gently approaching. Trusting her new companion was following, she stalked the man. Now only yards away, Inna flicked her tail as a signal and charged. She barked with delight as she frantically kicked up snow in the victim's direction.
ask and you shall receive ;)
The man had just returned from scouting the outside of the temporary territory and met a quite lovely wolf. But the man didn't think about it much, he had more important things to attend to. The titan padded in the heaps of the snow but it didn't bother him, he was quite used to it, the muscular man trotted like an Arabian horse till the snow leveled to an even plain. As he was making his way back to the heart of the territory, something caught his nose's attention. Connor stopped in his tracks and looked to where his nose was telling him with his ears forward with curiosity, the man sniffed for a few seconds before finally deciding to deviate from his path and follow the scent.
It didn't take very long for him to get there for he had made it just in time for a smaller wolf to spring to her paws and crash back to the ground and send a wave of snow flying to another pack member. The cinnamon man stood at a distance with his lips parting his jaws slightly as his emerald eyes blinked at what he just saw. But he knew that she meant well so a smile peeled on his lips as he began to chuckle at the poor man's predicament.
Following Inna's lead, the youngling padded into action, letting her companion take the first turn before quickly dashing around the orange wolf and tossing flakes onto the other side. The snow now encasing the man as a joyous giggle escaped the lady. She turned her head to make sure that if the other ran after her she would have plenty of room to run only to see a witness laughing at the two trouble-makers and single victim.
"What? You want some too!" she shouted with glee. Peony ran over to the chocolatey large male and turned, using her paws to blast snow unto the man (unless of course, he managed to get away). The result looking much like a car had driven through a large puddle at very high speeds, a wave of bitter cold flying towards the victim.
They came at him in a whirlwind of motion: first a lithe grey-cast little thing, springing forth and tossing snow in a wave across his shoulders. He did not see this coming and when he felt the first touch of cold, his eyes flew wide. So did his jaws, and when parted the shrew he had been so happily touting came free. It fell by the wayside and was swiftly buried beneath a second wave, this time from the opposite side.
Soon enough Dingo was encased in snow, but he tried to fight back in his surprise. He ducked his head and turned his body in a crescent, to no avail. The grass, slick with ice and now fresh powder, slipped out from under him and Dingo went down hard, curling his legs to his belly in the manner of a cockroach flipped on its back.
Inna was instantly hit with regret after her actions. What if these wolves don't find it funny? What if they hate me from now on? Is it too late to run away? She backed away from the chaos of flying snow and glanced nervously at Peony, wishing she had never confronted her about the rabbit in the first place.
It seems his jester nature caught the attention of one of the trouble makers for in his bundle of laughing, one of the girls had called him out in a playful way and began charging at him. Now, he could have easily dodged this with a swift step to the side since she looked like an out of control car ready for a sping out but the titan decided to amuse her by staying put. As she came closer, Connor gave her a pretend shocked expression with his emerald eyes bugging out as the girl came charging forth and sprayed him with a wave of snow. But this attack really didn't phase him that much for he stood his ground, but his beautiful russet fur was covered in snow.
The man blinked his great big emerald eyes for a few moments then swiftly shook his head that was covered in snow and sprayed it everywhere. Once he re-entered his head, he focused his gaze on the smaller woman as he peeled back a playful evil smirk. "This means war," he drew back in a playful growl, and with no hesitation, he swung back his large right front paw, and he rocketed it back down to the patch of snow and sent the white flakes at her like a tsunami.
The cinnamon man seemed to enjoy her game and called it war. Peony turned to get away from the wave of snow sent her way but was drenched in flakes anyway, an amused (quite childish) laugh escaped the russet lady. She shook off all the snow she could, some still clinging to her fur as she tried to throw some back at Connor with a flick of her paw. Turning to run back to Inna she saw the orange wolf flipped over, his meal currently buried in snow, and a frightful friend.
Running faster she dug up the shrew Dingo had dropped and took it to the edge of the forest and put a stick next to it before burying it in more snow, keeping it safe from the frozen mess that was the game and any predators that may plan to steal it. Peony walked up to Inna and brushed against her side "Don't worry he doesn't mind" she said playfully as she nodded to Connor before running back into the so-called 'war'. Once again trying to cover the man in snow as she called back "You're on!"
Dingo kicked a few times and rolled to his paws, most of the snow collected across his belly from the girls' continued antics. He shot them a harsh look that quickly dissolved when he realized it was all done in jest; they were busy romping with a red-coated boy for the most part, which gave Dingo ample time to suss out where his shrew had landed. It wasn't anywhere around him; he shuffled through the snow with his rear-end up, shovelling, until he saw one of the girls toss a stick - and with a trailing gaze he saw it land near his shrew, which was promptly swallowed by snow.
HEY! Get off that!
He shouted as he reared up again, charging towards the pile of fresh powder which covered his prize. How was he supposed to impress the damn Count, or accomplish his tasks, if these kids were getting in his way? As he careened near, the girl who had buried his prize had already dashed after the red wolf, earning a sneer from Dingo as he redirected his attention to the mound and began to pick away at it with his paws.
No, no, no. I knew this was a bad idea. This orange wolf is furious. What should I do? I don't know what to do! Peony will know what to do. Let her handle this wolf. I will just sit here and watch.
Inna dodged a flurry of snow sent her way, and for a split second her worries melted away. But only for a second.