Wolf RPG

Her brothers had been determined to keep her safe and sound beneath the tall giants that gave Watchtower Coast its name. You don't really want to leave, London had tried to convince her, You're happy here. With us. It was true that life was blissful, and that she wanted for nothing—but the pack was large, and it was near impossible to hold a place among the respected. She did her part as healer, but Dublin was dissatisfied to be a mere underling for the rest of her life... with no chance at creating a family of her own. With her fourth birthday approaching rapidly, the clock seemed to tick loudly in her ears... the sound falling like lead onto her heart.

I can't believe you don't want more for yourselves, she responded, incredulous. Most real men would have left to spread their seed far and wide a long time ago.

They had shifted uncomfortably at that. Dublin had laughed.

That night, she left.

---

She was fighting a mental meltdown, really, and had already been approaching hysterical levels of stress when she had discovered the pack borders. It would only be a few moments before someone found her, so Dublin did her best to straighten her untamed coat in the time she had. Still, when Akhlut approached, it took all her self control to act as though she wasn't a millisecond away from having a full-blown panic attack. In fact, she almost died when he introduced himself as Alpha; filthy was not the first impression she wished to give him.

But to be fair, she was a hell of a lot cleaner than most wolves, regardless of her status as wayfarer.

Dublin told him all the right things, it seemed, and assured him that she would make herself useful as healer. I can make myself useful in other ways, too, Dublin added with a flutter of her lashes. If he picked up on her not-so-subtle ploy, he said nothing. And—either way—she soon found herself a member of Horizon Ridge. She was still a Sigma, but at least there appeared to be room for growth.

Here, she would become someone to be respected and revered. Dublin was determined.

---

Dublin was attempting to acquaint herself with the ridge. In particular, she was looking for a place to finally bathe. A shore was nearby, but the salt ruined the downy-softness of her fur and made it all wild. She shuddered at the thought, for it was impossible to live so near the sea and not occasionally get one's coat texturized by the salt water. Blu-aach. But wolves could not drink of the sea, so Dublin was certain there was a source of fresh water somewhere.

But as time continued to pass without much luck, she could feel the panic once again rising in her shoulders.

Uhhh, this post ran away from me. Character development ftw?!

The pack's latest recruit wasn't the only one with upward movement—and its ramifications on breeding privileges, in particular—on her mind. Pied presently perched on the ledge just beyond the lair she shared with Kisu, her eyes glassy as she stared out over the ocean view. As her second birthday neared and, with it, sexual maturity and her first chance at motherhood, Pied's mind was becoming consumed by instinctual impulses and intrusive thoughts, some of which largely went against her easygoing nature.

For instance, she bristled whenever Jinx crossed her mind and it wasn't because of their conflicted history. Instead, Pied suddenly felt that the other female was her hierarchical rival and a direct threat to her ability to reproduce successfully this coming season. Although Pied did not lust after Akhlut, the Alpha male, and did not view Jinx as competition in that sense, she knew Jinx could thwart her in another way. If the Epsilon continued climbing the ranks and eventually found herself in a position of leadership, she could, for instance, veto permission for Kisu and Pied to bear a litter.

This hypothetical situation made her lips wrinkle back from Pied's teeth in an uncharacteristic grimace of utmost displeasure. Rank had never mattered much to her. She was content somewhere in the middle ranks, neither too high nor too low. She didn't thirst for power, nor would she consider herself ambitious. In fact, she'd shirked an offer of leadership once before, intimidated by the level of responsibility it required. She'd always believed she'd live out her life as a sub-leader at best.

Now, practically overnight, everything had changed and Pied came to the stark realization that rank mattered. In fact, when it came to whether she would become a mother, it might even mean everything. Her eyes lost their glaze and became sharply focused as the thought crossed her mind and Pied realized that things were about to change in her world. Idly, she wondered if her hormones were already going crazy in preparation for her first heat, thereby influencing her sudden shift in perspective. In any case, the reasons didn't particularly matter.

She shifted restlessly, then climbed to her feet. She felt a jolt of fierce energy and she wanted to exercise this ardent urge of hers to prove herself as an important, dominant wolf. She thought back on her recent encounter with Kanti and she knew it would come naturally, especially considering what was at stake. She wondered what the wolves that knew her better, like Kisu, Ahklut and Jinx, would make of her sudden change in attitude. She smiled grimly at the thought of facing the Kesuk eventually. Jinx could almost surely beat her in physical combat, yet Pied would prove herself in other ways.

Something in the corner of her eye made her turn her head even as she continued descending the grade toward the beaches below. She paused mid-step to scrutinize the unfamiliar figure on the beach. The Iota felt the pale fur along her shoulders prickling and she hastily scooted down the remaining slope and trotted out onto the sands. Approaching directly, she acquired the posture befitting a highly-ranked wolf: head held rigidly upright, tail curled over her back and soapstone ears thrust forward.

Just because she was trying to prove herself didn't mean Pied intended to be pernicious about it or that her entire personality would abruptly and completely change. "Hello," she greeted accordingly, maintaining her dominant posture and inherently demanding submission from the stranger while managing to sound affable. The female bore Akhlut's scent. "I take it you're new here? I'm Pied." As she spoke, her two-toned eyes bore into the strange she-wolf, quietly admiring her soft, creamy and impeccably groomed coat and, particularly, her striking eyes.

She had begun her search for fresh water along the shoreline, simply because experience told her that most rivers emptied themselves into the ocean. However, beaches were inherently messy: sand caught in the furs between her paws, and the frozen slush that was kicked up as she walked made her ankles both wet and cold. Even if she did find a river of some sort, Dublin would face the same issue immediately after getting herself clean. She sighed a little dramatically, then turned to attempt to find a way up the ridge where she might have better luck.

Her stark blue eyes were met with a figure approaching, all stiff and walking tall. Dublin inwardly rolled her eyes, wondering if such a display of dominance was truly necessary, but instinct was powerful, and her own posture lowered subconsciously in response. That wasn't to say that the cream woman gave the other complete submission; Dublin's posture remained tall enough to portray, I may be new and less than you, but I am not nothing. Neither of their actions were particularly aggressive, but the subtle and intricate language that offered their species cues beyond that which was spoken. She was simply not the kind of wolf to piss herself at a first introduction, because introductions were everything.

"Hello, Pied," she responded smoothly, her own tone as amicable and genuine as the other's. "My name's Dublin, your newest Sigma." Although she had previously exuded confidence, the cream woman shifted slightly under the white female's gaze. Was her fur all out of place and covered in grime? Did she look like a madwoman? Dublin felt anxiety raise up in her throat, and she blurted, "Do you think you could show me the best place to take a bath?"

Although the newcomer submitted willingly, Pied read her subtler body language as clearly as if it was black ink printed on whitepaper, as was the tactic of any wild animal but particularly the wolf. She sensed the energy beneath the surface, the untamed beast within the she-wolf straining to prove itself. In time, she intuited that Dublin—as she introduced herself—would rise to the occasion and do just that. Pied didn't resent this, though she stiffened ever so slightly and mentally vowed to strive to remain in her role above Dublin and all other females, new and old alike.

Marveling again at this new psychological development and resolve within herself, Pied zoned out for half a beat. Dublin's question snapped her back to attention, however, and the yearling's lips framed into a curious "o" shape at the question, her pale brow furrowing. Her eyes flicked briefly to the vast sea at Dublin's back, then back to the female's ecru visage. She decided that, for whatever reason, the new Sigma must not consider the saltwater a good vehicle for cleanliness.

"Um... there's the Totoka River to the west. There's also a few brooks around the ridge. Which one strikes your fancy?" Pied asked in case Dublin proved to be even more finicky about the freshwater fount for her ablutions.

In mere seconds, the females had communicated their ambitions, and Dublin felt a sudden respect for the other—a feeling she sensed might be mutual, now that their subtle introduction was ended. She also sensed that there would always be competition between them, but the cream woman didn't think she would remain below the other for terribly long—Pied's features were still young and only just past the threshold of adulthood, betraying her age. Regardless of the white female's maturity, she was still quite inexperienced. Dublin, at least, had nearly four years' worth on her side.

Regardless, the cream woman's posture relaxed after their nonverbal introduction. In the larger pack dynamic, Pied was still her superior—but there was no harm in speaking as equals in more intimate situations such as this. If she saw confusion in Pied's mismatched eyes at her question, Dublin made no indication of it; her eyes were instead eager for the white yearling's answer, apparently unaware that most others might find the ocean perfectly suitable for such a task.

"If I have a choice," she grinned, "Which has the clearest water?"

I like the first one! Would it be part of the ridge's territory or outside of it? Feel free to steer us in the right direction...

When Dublin answered, Pied laughed softly, amused by her new pack mate's persnickety request. "I guess that knocks the river out of the running. It's close to the sea and the waters tend to be a bit murky and briny until you travel well inland." She made a quiet hmmm noise low in her throat. "So let's see what we can find around here. Do you think you'll be, ah, bathing frequently? It's probably better to find something here on the ridge anyway in that case..."

With Dublin's answer tucked into her ear, Pied pivoted to face the ridge line. Her eyes panned across it as she tried to think of the land's various water sources. There was a very small spring near the lair she shared with Kisu—presumably, it fed the redwood tree there in the clearing—but it definitely wouldn't suffice. She needed to find a body of water large enough to fit Dublin...

"To be honest, I've only been here a few weeks and I don't know all the local watering holes yet. I guess we're in for an adventure... if you don't mind getting a little dirty before your bath...?" Pied exchanged a glance with her lovely cream companion and started off toward the ridge, preparing to scout along its foot first before ascending into the crags if they didn't find anything down below.

Dublin took no offense to Pied's laughter, instead sharing a grin with her new pack mate. "Salt is a great volumizer," she told the white female, agreeing in her own way that bathing in the sea wasn't the worst crime against beauty a wolf could commit, "but it does absolutely nothing to condition." The ocean's water was the enemy of the soft, luxurious fur that Dublin boasted. "I like to keep clean," was all she said at the last question. It was part vanity, part practicality; as a healer, Dublin knew that wounds had the potential to react badly to the various particles typically found in a wolf's coat.

She followed Pied's gaze as the white female considered the ridge's options, and she tried not to look too disappointed when there was no easy answer. Another adventure, when all Dublin truly wanted to do was bathe and then take a long nap... but the cream woman nodded, her brown ears flicking backwards in acknowledgment of Pied's admission. "I don't suppose it can be helped," she responded with a grin, "and if the end result is a bath, it doesn't really matter how dirty we get, does it?" Deep down, however, it was taking all of Dublin's willpower not to shudder at the thought.

"Right, exactly," Pied agreed, then turned her attention from the conversation to the task at hand. She was relatively familiar with the ridge line's various offerings and she knew of a few little springs or brooks, though nothing so large to allow a wolf to adequately bathe itself. She hadn't explored much on the northeastern side of the territory, having stuck to the areas facing the open sea and the river to the west. Deciding it would be the perfect place to try first, she led Dublin in that direction, following the natural contours of the crags.

"So, where are you from?" Pied asked. "And what brought you to the ridge?" Although she walked briskly and purposefully, she glanced sideways, truly interested in the answers to her questions about Dublin's origins.

Pied's agreement was almost flippant, and her attention immediately turned away from Dublin as she began to lead the way. It seemed a cheap response in the conversation the point-colored female had attempted to provide, and the cream woman frowned slightly at that. A heartbeat later, before Pied was likely to notice, she had shaken it from her features and forced a more pleasant expression as she followed the white female with a somewhat delicate gait.

"I lived in a place called Watchtower Coast for all my life," she responded to Pied's next question, who seemed to be genuinely sincere this time as she glanced over with golden eyes. "I had no good reason to leave, I suppose," Dublin admitted, "but no good reason to stay, either." She did not elaborate, for she didn't know how without getting too personal. "Have you always lived here, on the ridge?"

Edit on 02/21: I'm going to narrate a conclusion so this can be archived... :)

As Dublin spoke, Pied wondered if the coastal territory had drawn her like it had drawn Pied herself, reminding her of her home with enough differences to keep things exciting. They shared another similarity in regards to leaving their previous homes; they'd each had no particular reason to stay. Pied was already planning to share this observation, when Dublin led right into it with her inquiry.

"No, I'm actually relatively new. I've been in the wilds for a few months but I moved around a bit before settling here," Pied explained without getting into the gory details. "I was born on a hillside but moved to my grandparents' pack by the ocean when I was nearly a year old. I didn't live there that long but it was long enough to leave a lasting impression. I love living so close to the sea."

There was still a lot of ground to cover before they swept around the ridge, so Pied kept the pulse of conversation going. "Forgive the cheesiness," she began, "but what are your hopes and dreams for life here in Horizon Ridge?"

Luckily, Dublin didn't seem to mind the corny topic and their conversation flowed easily as they continued exploring and, eventually, found a suitable location for the new recruit's bathing needs. Pied even dipped her own paws in the water, watching Dublin curiously as she scrubbed her pale pelt, and only departed when the conversation drew to a close and Dublin excused herself to go dry out her fur and finish her grooming.