It was about time he caught the scent of wolf. Somewhere. Anywhere. He'd been traveling for a few days now with no trace of anything. Actually, if he was honest with himself, he'd lost track of time and wandered without rhyme or reason for what felt like a small eternity. He wasn't sure if that was because he was severely impatient or because he had, actually, been wandering these wilderness for way too fucking long. Either way. He'd caught scent of wolf not too long ago. Meant he was headed in the right direction.
The newfound knowledge of like kind made him lazy. The scent of wolf turned into the scent of water and he decided the rest of his afternoon was best spent lounging in the shallows working the perpetual numbness out of his paws. He turned his course, picking his way through the undergrowth as he drew nearer and nearer towards the trickling of a creek that would no doubt turn into some kind of river the further he followed it up stream. Things were looking up.
Golden eyes caught sight of the creek. He padded towards it, his paws slowing as he drew nearer. Water concealed things, he knew. It over powered other scents and hid trails of anything that might pass through. It was also a natural draw for a little bit of everything. Hmm... With lifted ears, he proceeded as planned and marched into the trickling shallows of the creek. Ahh. Icy cold. It felt marvelous on his paws. He stood, lingering for a while longer. It wasn't until he felt the coast was clear that he settled in the water, and lay down in the coolness of the shallow creek.
Deciding to take make a break from her daily routine, the girl followed the water from inside her territory, to the Otter Creek. It had been a long hike, but it hadn't bother her. Besides, it took her months to get here. It wasn't such a challenge to walk along the water.
She started to think of her mate Grimnir. She remembered how he told her that no other male would dare touch her while he was around. That would be hard considering most of her Pack was filled with them. Many of the Pack was disappearing and it made her worry a bit.
The thoughts went away as she caught a scent of another wolf nearby. Curious as always she followed it to see a male swimming along the shallows of the water. Lucky for him she wasn't in the mood to attack today. Otherwise the dark star could have sneak attacked him. "Hello there," she called from above him.
Not swimming. Laying. Kero rolled over onto his side and lay within the water, letting it trickle through his fur. At first, the chill had been enough for him to flinch and bristle against the cold, but after a while, he'd forced himself to relax enough that it was quite enjoyable. And handy. All he had to do was open his mouth a bit and let his tongue flick at the water he was laying in. It made for some awkward drinking, but he managed it, and continued to lay there, dozing in the afternoon sun.
He almost didn't hear her approach, then he decided he didn't care. For all he knew, he looked like some sort of injured cripple with little to no life left to live. Dead and dying? Maybe. Except he'd snagged a rabbit earlier, by some kind of miracle and he was doing alright now. If anything, he was just exhausted and the water was helping out with that.
She called out to him. Kerosene flicked his golden pools in her direction, turning an ear her way. With a sigh, he realized she was a little out of sight. He lifted his head from the ground, lifting onto one shoulder as he glanced her way. Black female. Lean. Light eyes. Typical.
"Can't just leave a wolf to die?" he drolled, dropping his head back into the water. He pressed his eyes closed and shifted a bit. Settling into the indent his body was carving into the damp earth.
Can't just leave a wolf to die?
A smirk curved over her maw. She walked down towards the waters edge, looking at the lump of fur. It did look as if he was dying in the water. Or drowning himself. Eyes narrowed as she half growled, "I can be quick to kill you, if that's what you want." Though her teeth were craved for blood, she held back. She wasn't in a hurry to fight in the water. Besides, the male looked all frail and unwilling. It would be like torturing. But she loved torture.
"I am Lusa," she introduced, "crafty and devilish warrior of the Blackfeather Woods." She sat down in the water, sending ripples splashing up her legs. "And who might you be?"
Was this chick serious? He sat up and looked at her, unamused and somewhat bewildered by her response. Did wolves in this part have some sort of bloodlust-y cannibalistic tendencies he'd missed the warning sign for somewhere? Either way, she was way too close and a little on the crazy side. Kerosene sat up and lowered himself into a downward dog kind of stretch as he slunk through the shallows and took a few paces away for himself. Why? So he could shake and not spray all over her. Then again, she might like that.
He shook out his fur and turned in the water, glancing back at her as she introduced herself as some undead devil warrior of pure evil from a fluffy sounding pack of black feathers. He was so scared. Feathers. Feather warriors. Oh help. He was so loosing sleep tonight.
And then she asked a question.
"Unimpressed," he answered, staring at her as if she'd grown a third eye in the center of her forehead. He was a little dumbfounded, but he'd deal. "Do you always start with that intro? Or just like to be the grim reaper for those who look dead and dying?"
Her ears flattened as some droplets splashed onto her face. Was that some kind of challenge? She took it as one. His words sent a flame of anger through her, though she showed no emotion through her face. "I'll just pretend you never spoken." She jumped closer to him, a slight smirk on her face. Maybe she could scare him off, though that was unlikely. "Let me ask again- who are you?" Her patience was slowly running out. Soon she would have to take his blood.
A wolven brow lifted upon his head as she dismissed his words. Okay then. It appeared as though neither one of them would be getting their questions answered. Fine fine. He's had been rhetorical, but they still counted for something.
She stepped towards him. Kero lifted his head, glancing at her curiously. This couldn't be for real. Unless she was possessed. Demon possessed? Maybe. She thought she was a "crafty and devilish warrior". Okay. He could play this game too.
"I am Spence. A soulless ginger seeking fresh water and a nap."
She couldn't help but laugh slightly at the ginger male. "So you sleep in the water? You might drown you know." That would be a funny scene, she silently added to herself. Why did she find someone's death funny? Was it just the fun of it? Well it's just how she was born to act like.
"I do." He nodded, shaking his head in the affirmative. "Where I come from all wolves sleep in the water and we all float gently down the stream only to wake up wherever the water sends us." Such bullshit. Such, such bullshit. But he ran with it. "We are naturally buoyant and will wither away if we go without water for long."
He could come from the same planet as her. Ohhh yes. He had this. "We never drown." Nope. Never. And definitely not in shallow creeks that didn't come higher than his ankles. Seriously. He was taller than this shit. "Is there deeper water? I'd sleep so much better in that."
She shook her head in disagreement. "Can't believe that. Crappy story." Did he think she was some kind of idiot? A crazed grin formed onto her face. "Where I come from we were trained at a very young age to kill with no mercy." The words came out in a very serious way. "I left only to join yet another ruthless Pack."
But the second part was a lie. She didn't leave she was stolen. If it wasn't for those weird furless animals, she would have never came to the Teekon Wilds. She half cursed them, half thanked them. If it wasn't for them she wouldn't have come to the Wilds. Never had found her dark home. And certainly never meet her lover.
She chuckled. "If I showed you, I doubt you'd sleep there. Probably just walk away right after. Or be stupid enough to drown."
"What!? How dare you insult my heritage." His sarcasm was dripping. Literally falling out of his mouth with every word. She didn't believe him. Okay. Well. He didn't actually believe her either, but she seemed adamant, which meant she was probably insane. He was gonna go with insane, leave it at that, and hope she'd eventually wander away so he could continue with his nap.
She was talking. Again. He stared back at her, waiting for her to finish before he replied. "You joined a pack of feathers." Case and point. "Just because they're black, doesn't make them cool."
And just because she talked about killing things didn't make her dark or evil, or whatever it was she thought about herself. "I was raised to not kill strangers upon meeting them unless they were walking into pack territory... which this isn't." So her laughing and crazy just made her seem more and more deranged. "So... you gonna show me that lake or not. I'm serious about the withering thing."
His sarcastic voice made her smile and shake her head, but the next thing he said made it disappear. How dare he insult such a strong and noble Pack?! The girl looked down at him with a snarl, "It's not about feathers you idiot! Maybe you should come over sometime so you can know what it's truly all about." If he did come, she would guarantee that the mere sight of the darkened woods would spook him at least a tiny bit.
She narrowed her eyes at the male. "Are you sure about that?"
"Then why would you name yourself after feathers? Why not call yourselves 'Demon Spawn Boogeyman Fear Us'?" One, plus one, was not equalling two here. Maybe he wasn't the one who was crazy in this scenario, but whatever any of this was, she seemed to take her home very seriously. Too seriously? The jury was out. And no... She wasn't really convincing him to come and see what it was all about. He wasn't too keen on joining a group of bloodthirsty, vampire wolf, weirdos.
He took a step upstream and then stopped. Glancing towards her, he watched the crafty and devilish warrior wolf for a moment. She was convinced... or perhaps brainwashed. Interesting...
"Sure about what? The lake. Yeah. Where is it?"
"It's because all the birds are constantly at war. Though you probably won't take that seriously." It seemed that the wolf didn't believe a word she was saying. Let him think that. Then the blood will be sweeter.
He asked about the lake once again. Thee girl had to contain a smile. Part of the river led into her territory. "Over there is were the water is deepest. Also plenty of places to rest." The girl laughed internally at her own words. Maybe the male could be stupid enough to come with her.
Birds at war. Right. Okay. Who'd want to live in a place where all the birds were chattering and making noise and fighting each other all the time? This was rattling his brain and not making any sense at all. All he could think of was to bail out and fast. Alright.
"Well, I know this has been fun and all, but I think I hear my people calling. I'm just gonna float down stream and hope I find the place." He bowed out, dipping his head all politely and shizz because it seemed like the best way to appease her unscathed by more of her strangeness.
"See ya, 'round." He walked away and left.