The shifting seasons were a balm on her joints. Shar-Kali accepted that she was an ageing wolf, but she preferred to ignore the physical symptoms. Arthritis had yet to fully catch up with her, and she liked to think - gazing at her own reflection in still water - that she was still the beauty that had departed for greener pastures nearly half a decade ago, starting afresh with a handsome mate and a belly full of children. Time had refined her features, but she was still as queenly as she had been back then - if not more. There was a certain silly fluffiness to youth that she no longer possessed, and thank the stars for that.
It was bright today, and Shar-Kali lounged by the lake she had stumbled across a few days prior. It offered plenty of food, and in the absence of a hunting partner, she had chosen to settle on its banks until she had decided on her next move. East, or west - these were her options. With any luck, a scout from the Plateau or its towering neighbour would happen upon her soon.
Although his last meeting with Peregrine had dampened his spirits some, it was not customary for Luke to stay down too long. He collected himself and while humming a perky song resumed a contented trek, nearing upon another lake. The blue-nosed wolf lived for the moment, and although he was concerned for his two companions and wondered the outcome of Peregrine's visit with Osprey, he was optimistic. At this immediate time there was nothing amiss and so he acted accordingly. It was a manner that many did not possess or understand and that some wished they had, the ability to not allow the potential of darkness to darken a beautiful day. When there was nothing you could do it would not help you to mope about it.
Luke would visit Peregrine soon, but for now his thoughts shifted to a white figure reclined near the lake. As typical of him, the Bluenose did not hesitate to approach with his tail wagging and a smile on his face. "Hey there!" he chirped as he neared. "Mind if I join you?" Luke did not wait for an answer, he walked up and settled to his stomach.
Shar-Kali was not exactly chirpy, but she shared Luke's belief that one's spirit ought not to be down for long. Self-pity was a bigger blocker to success than anything nature could physically fling at you - apart from perhaps a broken leg. She turned her clever eyes on the unidentified male as she slid down next to her. He was a handsome fellow, dressed in white as she was, with playful silver eyes and an unusual nose. "You're a friendly one," she commented gently, drawing his scent into her nostrils. "And blue. That's unusual."
"I never met a grouch who looked like he was having much fun," he mused, for that was the long and short of it. Luke was friendly and chipper because it was more fun than going around with a storm cloud above your head or brushing off folks and never socially extending yourself. Part of that had been learned and part of it was a natural inclination he had been born with, much like his blue points that had caught this female's attention. "Oh you noticed that?" he chuckled, raising a paw and giving his nose a playful tap. "Well you'll never forget my face at least." He gave her a wink. "Name's Luke. What's yours?"
A
grouch. Shar-Kali smiled ruefully at that. Subordinates had called her that many a time - and worse. In exchange, she had kept them alive through impossible winters and food shortages that would have killed them several times over. If anyone had earned the privilege of being grouchy, it was her.
"Perhaps they've had their fun in life," she mused, squinting at his face as her daughter so often did at her borders. His tongue was blue, too.
"Hello, Luke. I'm Shar-Kali. Where does this blue come from, exactly?" In all her long life, Shar-Kali had never seen anything like it.
EDIT.
"No one should ever give up having fun," Luke commented. Though he did not fault wolves who had their reasons for being one way or the other, he would always be there to encourage them to have fun and live life to its fullest. They did not have to be as perennially chipper as him to embrace each day. "Shar-Kali? That's a unique name," he grinned. "As for my unique color it was just something I was born with. Runs in the family," he shared. Not all his family members had blue points, and those who did more often that not had just one or the other, perhaps two, but not all three like he did. "What brings you 'round these parts?"
A defect, then - although Shar-Kali could not imagine it caused him much harm, poor conversation starters aside. Having served its purpose, the subject was left to gather dust. "Is it?" Shar-Kali wondered aloud. She did not know the origins of her name, or care - her own children had all been named after words she fancied the sound of, or two syllables that seemed to work well together. She met his question without changing her expression, pondered lying about her origins, but couldn't see the point. "I wandered down from the North. It took me a full year. This is the first place I have come across with any potential - I am quite picky in my old age. And you?" Shar-Kali cocked her head to one side. Handsome lad like that - you'd think someone would have snapped him up by now.
"It is to me," he smiled. Luke had not come across many "exotic" sounding names such as hers. He liked it though, as he tended to like all manner of different things. While she spoke he listened attentively, gentle gaze upon her face. "I traveled from the north too," he shared. Why he had traveled so far south, exactly, was just on a whim. Following the waterways and letting the wind blow him otherwise. "I'm probably not as picky as you," he laughed, his free-spirit not lending itself to be particular too much, "but I do like to stay around the water. I haven't found my place here. I think I will, there is a lot of potential as you say, but that's as far as I've gotten. I could end up starting my own pack for all I know right now," he laughed at himself. How silly he must sound to some, to not have a definitive plan in mind.
Shar-Kali's inner bitch scoffed, but outwardly she smiled. 'For all I know'? Perhaps in this playpen of a world, with its mild winters and bountiful summers, happy-go-lucky chappies like this one stood a chance. It irked her somewhat that the founding of dynasties was no longer a preserve of the talented and strong - or perhaps she was just getting old, and remembering the past the way old souls did: as a harsher, better place, where a cold day really was cold.
"And neither of these two packs have piqued your interest?" she asked, looking between the distant Plateau and its mountain neighbour.
Luke's gaze followed hers, touching upon the distant plateau where several of his newest friends lived, and the mountain range just down the way. He shook his head. "I know a few wolves in the plateau pack," he commented. "I'm just not drawn to heights. I like the lowlands like where we are, close to the lakes and rivers, and I prefer the warmer air." Though Luke had arctic blood in him he did favor more temperate climates, perhaps by extension of his passion for water which did not include it's solid state, ice. "What about you? Are you thinking about joining up with them?"
No heights, no ice - Shar-Kali's favourite two things in the world. Had she stumbled across a bleached, slightly stunted giraffe, or a wolf? Shar-Kali did not think this exact thing, of course, for she hadn't the slightest clue what a giraffe was - or bleach, for that matter. She felt the generation gap widen. But he was sweet, and interesting, so it didn't particularly matter if the true North of her youth would have aborted him a long time ago. "I'm not sure. Still investigating," she shared with a devious wink. "But you could hurry things along for me. Are they worth my time, or should I move on?"
Luke was a bit perplexed by her question and canted his head, giving her an arched brow look. "Worth your time?" he echoed. Luke knew nothing of the plateau pack other than a few of its members had been nothing but pleasant to speak with and one of them was developing into a dear a friend. He had also met its former Alpha in Peregrine. But if asked, the blue-nosed wolf could not describe to anyone how the pack operated or if it was suitable in one way or the other. "What would be worth your time?" he queried further, beginning to suspect that unlike him this girl had a plan, an ambition, something specific she was looking for. "All I know is that the few pack members I spoke with were good wolves."
Shar-Kali likewise tipped her head, unsure what he meant by so unspecific a word as 'good'. His lack of a pack suitability checklist did not surprise her - Luke seemed to live life by the seat of his pants, and though it was not to Shar-Kali's liking, he seemed to have done well enough for himself so far. "Numbers," she clarified, "Pups, hunting grounds, relationships with neighbours, health problems - inbreeding." That was a big one. "That sort of thing. I'm an old woman now, Luke - I might only have one more shot at this." She smiled the same rueful smile. "I don't think my heart could take the disappointment of a poor choice."
"I should be on my way," he followed up. "Best of luck in your search!" he wagged his tail with a smile and made his exit."Ohhh," Luke drawled as he gave a thoughtful nod. Though he understood better now what the she-wolf was looking for he still had no useful information to give her. He knew that Osprey had pups on the way, but that was not something he was willing to divulge to anyone seeing as it was not such a joyous thing (coincidentally, that alone may be enough to turn this girl off that pack if he shared it with her). As for the rest, he could not even guess. "I am sorry, I really do not know. I haven't been in this area long myself and no one has talked to me about the specifics of the packs here." Except perhaps the Caldera. That pack he knew was headed by Peregrine and his mate, whom just had pups. The pack seemed like a stable family unit. But "Maybe you should just ask them if you're interested in living up there," was his suggestion. "I would. If I needed to know those things I'd straight out ask at the borders. Then go somewhere else if I did not like the answer." Luke gave a shrug, looking at her with a sort of helpless expression.
"I should be on my way," he followed up. "Best of luck in your search!" he wagged his tail with a smile and made his exit.