Wolf RPG

Junior would never admit it out loud — she was still having trouble admitting it to herself — but she was growing bored and restless now that life had more or less settled down in the sound. Suddenly, she experienced a strong itch to get away, wander and explore. It was more than that, though. As life slowed, that gave her choices a chance to finally catch up to her. And with free time on her hands, she had plenty of time to begin feeling homesick.

Going back to the plateau was out of the question for several reasons, though. First of all, Junior couldn't bear to admit she might have made a mistake. She still didn't feel that way, necessarily. She also couldn't stand the thought of facing her father in that case, either. He might turn her away. Whatever happened, she could never go back there.

Trying not to feel dismal about this, Junior wandered away from her new home, enjoying a long walk on the beach. The air was pleasantly cool but the dreary gray sky did little to improve her mood. Hundreds of thoughts winged through her head like little birds, including ones of where she might go and what she might do if she decided life with the Nereides wasn't for her after all.

Junior suddenly spotted an island across narrow channel of seawater — the tide was currently low — and stopped, staring across at the strange atoll. Maybe I could swim over there, she mused, and claim the island for my own. Then I could become the crazy hermit island queen! She pursed her lips, large black ears drawing back as she slowly exhaled.

Manauia was having a hard time accepting the current situation. She had found Tezcacoatl, true, but was no nearer her goal than when she started. Oh how she'd love to grab the boy and shake some sense into him. Such an action would hardly help, though. Until her sisters got here she was out of ideas. Perhaps Amoxtli would be able to jog his failed memory, for apparently her own presence had not been enough.

She wondered where his false past had come from. Who had lent such lies to her Prince's mind? To create an entire life where there was none... she could think of no one who would gain anything from doing such a thing. If this was a plan to hurt her Queen, though, she would tear the still-beating heart from the chest of he or she who had concocted it. She owed her Queen everything and would stand for no insult against she or her house.

Full of these thoughts, she found her steps leading her to the beach and the raging ocean beyond. Stopping short only when the waves lapped at her toes, she gave a low growl, venting some of her anger into the surf. It was then that she noticed a youth standing nearby, eyes trained on an island a ways out. "You could attempt the swim, though the sea is a fickle creature. She does not take kindly to those who treat her might lightly." She studied the girl astutely.

Her eyes shifted sideways when she noticed a shape further down the beach, moving closer. Junior did not move, waiting as the figure took on the unmistakable characteristics of a wolf. She sensed anger in the stranger's movements, yet continued to stand there. When she she-wolf moved into speaking range, Junior opened her mouth to say something but the other wolf beat her to the punch.

Her mouth clapped shut, then reopened. "Wait," she said, a look of confusion passing over her face, "you're not one of the Nereides, are you?" The stranger had spoken of the ocean almost reverently, referring to it by the feminine pronoun and personifying it. Yet Junior didn't recognize her. The youth's eyes narrowed and, for the moment anyway, she forgot all about the island.

Manauia did not know the word that the strange girl uttered, and she did not really care what a 'Nereides' was in any event. The girl was completely mistaken in whatever had tipped her off to this fact. "I am Manauia, Amazon sister and warrior of Coatl's Rise, personal guard to Prince Tezcacoatl and a favored daughter of Queen Quetzalcoatl. Whatever it is you speak of, I have no part of, nor do I desire to."

She ceased there, lapsing into silence once more. The girl wasn't part of her objective here and therefore she had little use for small talk. Still, she would not brush her off as she would have a male. All women, even uncouth outsiders to their order, were deserving of some measure of respect until they displayed a lack of deservance.

The stranger answered rather haughtily, in Junior's opinion, spouting out a bunch of names and titles that twisted the youth's tongue even as she silently mouthed them. Coatl's Rise? Prince Tezcacotal? Queen Quetzalcoatl? Manauia, as she introduced herself, seemed rather disdainful toward her mention of the Nereides, which immediately put the youth on the defense.

"Oookay," she replied, rolling her eyes. "My bad, I guess. You mentioned Amazons, though. The Nereides are Amazons," she pointed out a bit crisply.

Manauia had dismissed the group from her mind, but she snapped back to attention when Junior spoke of them being Amazons as well. Her brow furrowed skeptically... she had heard of no sisterhoods besides their own, for they took their name from the great forests of the south.

"Are they truly? Then perhaps I was mistaken. I may want to speak with them. Where could I seek these 'Amazons' out?" Whether they were in truth of the noble Amazonian heritage or not, her Queen would wish to be notified. To have another call themselves the same was an unusual occurrence, one she had never run into thus far.

"Yes, of course," Junior replied in that same defensive tone. She hesitated, torn between showing this woman her error by marching her right over to the sound to meet Aktaiê, Psamathe, Akantha and the others, and telling her to piss off with that snotty attitude.

With a switch of her tail, Junior decided to say, "I guess I could take you to them. Are you part of a pack right now?" she added. Although she wasn't fond of this woman thus far, perhaps she could be recruited and that would, of course, score her brownie points with the Nereides.

"I am not," Manauia said, curling her lip at the thought of pledging her loyalty to one of these heathen packs. These Amazons seemed to have the highest chance of civilized company around, but they could prove also to be an affront to the word.

"But I do have... Obligations. Perhaps someday, when I have finished my current quest, I shall gain a new one." Because she would surely be telling her queen of this. If she ever got the chance, that is.

When the woman answered with a curl of her lip, Junior decided she would not be taking this hoity toity bitch anywhere near the sound, even if she insisted. As it were, she didn't appear interested. Junior huffed, biting back a sarcastic rejoinder. She would warn her brethren of this one, so if she ever turned up at their beaches, they would know to turn her away.

"Right. Bye then," Junior answered dismissively before abruptly striding toward the water and paddling across the channel of seawater to the small island. She didn't even glance backward.

Manauia watched the girl leave impartially, not at all bothered by the outburst or abrupt departure. It was exactly the sort she had expected from these other wolves, being not of her sisterhood and therefore unaccustomed to a mannerly hiding of one's stronger emotions. Aloof and cold was the way of a warrior to outsiders, for one never knew when a friend may turn enemy. It was only to sisters that Manauia freely showed herself and even then in rare times. And she was worse at holding her temper than most.

Shaking her head, she continued on away from these lands. She had a task to finish.