Wolf RPG

Her turquoise eyes had taken in the view of the sea with a longing ache that went straight to her very core. How long had it been since she had felt the sand beneath her paws, heard the cry of the gulls as they swooped through the oceans waves? Turning her gaze away now to settle it upon the landscape before her, Lethe settled her curved hind to the ground, awaiting a respectful distance from the pack borders. It had been awhile since she had felt this pull – since before the birth of her daughter, as Sos and Atka guided her to the tribal pack that her daughter now resided. It had been hard to leave her, but she knew she had to, and after Lethe had explained with patience her daughter’s duty to the spiritual world, she had departed from the woods that had encased her and broken free to the open world once more.

The scent of the Ridge pack lingered thickly through the air, and as the sun cast down upon the winter grounds, Lethe knew she was destined to be here. Atka had demanded it, and with patience that she had only grown in to over the past year, the golden she-wolf awaited for an inhabitant to find her so that she could gain access and fulfill her duties as she once had before. As a healer, and dedicated follower to her beliefs.

OOC: I'll play with you til Sophie can pop Akhlut in here 'cause dramas~!

IC: In recent days, she had begun the arduous training to make her into a Warrior, but as it turned out, there were few opportunities to spar amongst the Horizon Ridge wolves. Pied and Kisu were too involved with one another — although Jinx suspected a spar with Pied would turn into a dominance match, and she did not wish to turn Kisu against herself simply for acting the part of superior wolf — and Akhlut was elusive as ever. Some of the other wolves, such as Pump, had seemed too lackadaisical to engage her in such archaic sport. So Jinx had taken to wandering the borders, acting more like a Warden than a Warrior, in hopes that one day a loner would get too close and she could sink her teeth into his hind.

Today was not that day. There was a loner, and Jinx did approach with aggression and warning in her stance as though she were not to be trifled with, but as she grew nearer, she grew warier. There was something about that coat, the ivory underlay and the overlay the colour and variation of toasted marshmallows, that stopped her from proceeding. She drew short of Lethe, frowning as though lost in deep thought... But she had been too young to remember much of her, other than that she was familiar.

"I know you," she half-stated, half-questioned, wondering if perhaps it was her mind playing tricks on her. This female reminded her of Shearwater Bay, but she could scarcely remember anybody that hadn't been family from there... Evidently, she had left at some point before Jinx had, but... But then who was she...?

Lethe was not to be disappointed in the length of time the residents located her – or, at least one. In truth, she was pleased at this outcome.. it meant she was not about to join a pack that showed little self duty or upkeep. As the ivory silhouette crept even closer, the stance of dominance and mistrust grew even clearer to the honeyed wolf who in turn, would lower her lissome figure closer to the loam of the ground, her eyes about to revert to the female’s paws. At least, until sudden awareness overcame her. Her bright eyes would fall upon sooty toes, and familiarity overwhelmed her as much as a slap to the face would.

Slowly, her gaze would creep up, and while she stole a glance to the other, it was not openly staring – her eyes would flutter from Jinx’ crown to her cheek, before then falling upon her shoulder. She was the last wolf she would have thought to leave the Bay, and yet here they stood, a world apart from what they had once called home, and yet thrust in to each other’s paths once more.

Sos had a sense of humor, it seemed.

The girl did not fully recognize her, and Lethe would shift her weight in turn, the feline grace she maintained barely revealing her own uncertainty of the situation as it unfolded. “You are a long way from home, Mambo” she purred, a small smile just barely pressing to her tainted lips. If Jinx was here, what then was the outcome of Shearwater Bay? Lethe could not allow herself to consider the option that it was no more – that Koios and Nanuq’s legacy had not shattered beneath the paws of two inexperienced cubs.

<style type="text/css">q {font:13px Georgia; color:#9E0853; font-weight:bold;}</style>Her frown maintained its distrust as the other female's eyes combed her body. Though Lethe did not issue a direct challenge with the snag and lock of gazes, Jinx nonetheless felt her throat itch with an irate growl. She held the advantage here. It was not beneath her to force another wolf down, even if they were otherwise behaving correctly... Jinx even went so far as to take one step toward the tawny fem, only for the words to bring her to a cold and abrupt halt.

That voice... She remembered. That voice had belonged to one of the wolves who had refused to submit to Kaskae and herself, and had resultantly taken their leave of Shearwater Bay and, as far as Jinx was concerned, Sos and Atka.

As are you, she returned, now that familiarity warmed her blood, but it was not the warming of camaraderie. Lethe had dealt a grievous insult to Jinx and her sister in leaving, enough that temptation briefly overrode sense as Jinx toyed with the idea of forcibly removing the other wolf's presence. But it wouldn't do... It was not advantageous to allow simple rivalry to stand between her and the upper echelons of Akhlut's ranks.

Kaskae holds it, she revealed with a smug curl of her lips that suggested that they had won. As I remember, you would have none of it. You would be awed to see the pack now. Truth be told, she wished she was still there as well, far from these Kesuk-Nereides and their bastard faith, far from Hawkeye and her false claims, and far from Pied, especially. Far from her own failure in Bon Dye, though it couldn't be said that Jinx thought she had failed. Rather, she was still of the mind that the wolves had failed her. Shearwater Bay's glory had been returned by the girls and their return to expression of their faith, particularly when Tartok and Wintersun had left the region.

Now, what do you want? she wondered, tone silky as she padded forward to crowd Lethe's space. She maintained a neutral expression, however; it was a test of tolerance, nothing more. Why should I abide a wolf such as you, that challenges a pack's rightful rulers? Lethe had not issued a direct challenge, mind... But her departure, her refusal to submit, had been challenge enough.

Had Lethe been staring directly at the face of her 'welcomer,' she could have noted the malicious grin that curled upon her company's slender muzzle. As it stood, she missed it -- but there was still the crackle of tension within the air, and the tawny she-wolf had to bite back a smile at how pettily the situation unfolded. Once upon a time, in her younger years just as the girl before her, Lethe would have simpered a venomous response. As it stood now, while she held no true desire to join the pack before her for any other reasoning then she was seeking a home and therefore was not going to flop belly up like a gutted fish to the she-wolf before her -- she also held no quarrel with her either.

"I am glad to hear this," she replied, honestly enough, though lack of conviction truly shone through. Lethe would suck on the toes of no one. "But why are you here, then?" It was nothing more than a simple inquisition -- if Shearwater Bay had risen higher than Lethe's expectations before beneath the reign of Nanuq and Koios, why had the girl traveled so far from home? Perhaps Kaskae had swiped the leadership from her completely?

"I left the Bay because I would not bow to two cubs at the mere age of 6 months. I hold no ill will towards you, Jinx, nor Shearwater Bay." Her tone was modest enough, though the honeyed female lifted her shoulders in a gentle shrug -- it mattered little to her if the ivory wench before her was ready to throw a hissy fit because Lethe had chosen a different path.

In turn, she was crowded then, and while she remained in a submissive manner as any intelligent rogue would so close to the borders of another's land, she did not sink lower. The question came out harshly -- reiterating that Jinx indeed was bitter towards Lethe's departure from Shearwater Bay. The honeyed she-wolf could appreciate that, in a sense, disloyalty was not something she would take lightly either.

She was about to answer with her desire to speak with the pack's Alpha, and yet a voice in her mind hushed her. 'There are other plansss for you. Turn to the east. It was a curious thing, and the she-wolf pursed her lips slightly, taking a pace back now as she lifted herself to a neutral stance. "I was simply here to hold council with the Alpha of these lands -- but I believe I will turn a new direction."

OOC: I'm trying to play Jinx "realistically" so if Lethe wants to retaliate or anything it's your call! If you want me to change anything, just send me a PM! I took this opportunity to play with Jinx's liar liar attitude. :D

IC: Sos has plans for me, she answered simply. It was not her desire to speak any longer of Bon Dye; never again would she introduce the Shearwater faith to heathen wolves so far from Echo Cove or the Bay itself. She had made that mistake, and it had cost her her position as Alpha, and the respect of her wolves. Jinx had been a fool to believe they would understand. Lethe would understand, but nevertheless, she revealed nothing else, desiring to bury it deep in her mind where nobody could ever goad her with it again.

But this did nothing to quell Jinx's petty attitude. Lethe mentioned she had no ill will, and Jinx bit back a snicker. My sister and I were the Warchief's heirs, or have you forgotten Nanuq, too? She snorted, pressing her ears further forward so they angled just above her brows, their backs straining. In refusing to follow usss, you displayed your... "Lack" of ill will. Jinx thought it was obvious: Lethe had left them one wolf short, in essence had robbed them of some strength and some spirit. She had taken a small piece of Shearwater Bay, so in the Kesuk's opinion (arrogant as it was), it was full of ill will.

I am Alpha of these lands, the Gamma lied expertly, seizing now the opportunity to fake it. She was nothing more than the wolf who followed Akhlut, but there was no way to tell that... Jinx's odour was as strong on the border's as Pied's, Kisu's, and the Alpha's own. Her lips curled back and her stance rose as Lethe straightened herself into neutrality; even though she wasn't really the Alpha, she felt offended by the lack of respect on her pack's borders. Begone! she commanded with a snap of her jaws when the other wolf rose, and with a flurry of motion she rammed her body forward to crowd Lethe and force her either down into submission, or away from the pack's edge.

Closed in response to her own leave -- which of course, was not seen as an abandonment to her pack -- such a title was only given to Lethe within this situation, the tawny herbalist shrugged her lithe shoulders. Given the faith and importance the she-wolf before her held -- by blood alone, rather than her abilities, the rogue was not one to argue this point.

The mention of Nanuq's name drew Lethe's attention however, and grazing her eyes sharply up to the other's features, she noted the strain of posture -- the anger that flourished from the woman's very words. "Your mother and father both were very important to me," she simply stated -- just because they were heirs had not meant they were ready to lead. In truth, her words were understated -- Lethe would have died for Koios.. the swarthy male's death left a sharp absence in her chest, though she spoke none of this. She couldn't recall if Jinx even held the chance at meeting the great Houngan.

The slither of his whispered words slipped form her mind at that point when his daughter straightened then -- claiming her rule over the lands whose borders Lethe now stood upon. The ivory she-wolf had seemingly grown tired of the conversation, and bristling as the femme snapped her jaws to her, rushing her, the honeyed wolf felt her lips curl back in distaste, a snarl threatening to bubble past her lips as her eyes seized the chance to snap toward the she-wolf's face.

There was a hiss then, and it stopped her cold for a half second as it coiled along her mind. "Leave the Mambo," it leered, the threat of any disobedience evident in the sudden chill that swept over her. Turning her shoulder forward and tucking her nape down then, in case her opponent chose to strike, Lethe loped away from the borders then, her features unreadable. "As you wish," she finally emitted, knowing a surge of bitterness had crept within her vocals despite her attempt to remain aloof. Without another word the herbalist began to trail away from the shores, thoughtful as to what Sos' plans were for the pale ruler of the coast that would draw her from the Bay and her true home.

There was a tense moment where Lethe coiled in retaliation and Jinx prepared to strike out with the fury and speed of a viper, but it was diffused suddenly, much to the younger's frustration. She watched sternly as Lethe turned about with muttered compliance and began to walk away... And true to her creepy nature, she followed. She stalked, feline and persistent, until Lethe was quite surely away from Horizon Ridge, and then stalked some more... And all the while, the herbalist continued on, heeding a voice which Jinx was not privy too.

When at last she allowed the woman to leave in peace and abandoned her hunt, the wolf returned to Horizon Ridge and settled herself upon the sands in precisely the location she had intercepted Lethe in. Laying there partially on her side, she remained vigilant for hours, alert in the event the buttery female saw fit to try returning, which she did not.