+- Wolf RPG (https://wolf-rpg.com)
+-- Forum: In Character: Roleplaying (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Archives (https://wolf-rpg.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11)
+--- Thread: Dragoncrest Cliffs Say it's here where our pieces fall in place (/showthread.php?tid=31122)
Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Ephraim - December 02, 2018
Several of their number had left, if the whispers around the pack were to be believed. He didn't really know who Wildfire or Sequoia were and, aside from the impact it had on his pack mates, Ephraim couldn't care less about them. He did know Kiwi, though, and was surprised and a little angry to hear that she had left them. He remembered his first days in Drageda and how the cocoa pup had stood with Thuringwethil, scoffing and telling him he was saying their words wrong. In hindsight she reminded him of the commander so much that he had believed she would be the one to follow in her footsteps, but now she was natrona. Just a wolf unfit to be Dragedakru, for all her resemblance to Heda.
He couldn't wrap his head around her decision and spent his frustration rounding the borders and re-familiarizing himself with them. Bat, it seemed, had gone as well. He'd genuinely liked the long-eared girl, but he supposed he would need to put her aside as well. They were gone. Drawing in a long breath, Ephraim crested a hill where the trees were thinner and looked out across the river to the east of their claim. There was a lot to do now that he was back. Now he was Skayona, not Goufa, and it wouldn't do to seem inexperienced or irrelevant in their ranks.
So he pressed on along the borders, heading down the other side of the hill and pausing here and there to touch up the pack's markings while trying to banish his thoughts.
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Dacio - December 03, 2018
When the silver Gona picked up on fresh markers along the edge of Drageda's territory, he chose to follow the trail. Keen to kill two birds with one stone, he pressed his flanks firmly to each tree and rock he passed by, further supporting the pack's claim. Dacio wasn't even sure whose patrol he intended to catch up to, but the scent was distinctly male and he felt it safe to assume it belonged to one of Heda's companions.
Dacio had been so young when the war party took their leave that he barely remembered the wolves who'd gone. Both he and Ephraim had grown considerably since then, out of the awkward frames of babes and into physiques of handsome young adults. The coywolf was unrecognisable at first sight, but there was something in the unusual pattern of his coat that sparked a sense of familiarity as he drew nearer.
"Hei," he announced a gentle greeting with his approach from behind as not to surprise his comrade, and offered a friendly sway of his charcoal tail. "Mind if I join you?"
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Ephraim - December 06, 2018
He wasn't expecting anyone to come up behind him and was still deep in his thoughts, so in spite of Dacio's soft voice, Ephraim jumped. Lashing his tail to dispel his nervous agitation, he spun around to confront his stalker and came face-to-face with the grey youth from Heda's welcoming party. His exposure to Portia and Dio's cubs prior to leaving with Heda was limited, so even if they had met before, Ephraim couldn't really remember Dacio. He could tell that the boy was younger than he, leading him to mistakenly guess that Dacio was a Goufa still learning the ropes.
"Hei," he returned, angling his head and turning sidelong to invite Dacio along with him. He led the way along the borders for a few seconds in silence, sniffing gingerly at the ground as he went, then asked over his shoulder, "training for Gona?" He had no inkling that Dacio was, in fact, his equal. Every member of Dragedakru that he was aware of was either his age or older, and the core wolves of Trigeda had been older as well, so he incorrectly believed that a younger juvenile couldn't have earned their place already.
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Dacio - December 15, 2018
Noting that he'd startled the coywolf despite his best attempt not to, Dacio hung back slightly until he was gestured closer. The young Gona quickened his stride then, stepping alongside his buttermilk comrade to offer a knowing smile in response to his question. "Already there," he said, "just this week."
Dacio held immense pride in the title, and had quietly enjoyed that he'd outdone both of his litter-mates by earning his surname before them. He always refrained from flaunting his accomplishments around them though, as it was easy to see that both Sequoia and Opalia were appropriately sour about being left behind. He felt some guilt in his selfish thoughts, however, now that the former had chose to leave, and hoped he wasn't the cause of that.
"I'm Dacio," he added, and paused to allow his companion time to provide his own name if he chose to. "You came back with Heda?"
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Ephraim - December 16, 2018
Oh. The kid was young but obviously motivated if he'd already achieved the Gona title, though it made Ephraim feel a pang of something unwelcome that he hadn't officially become Skayona until he was seven months old. Did that mean the rest of the Goufa that had remained in Drageda were all ranked already, too? He shouldn't feel jealous about it, it was only good for the pack that their youth were driven and capable, but Ephraim did, perhaps because they were all purebloods who were larger than him and all born here as well. He'd felt that earning his title would make them take him more seriously and realized now that that might not mean anything.
Congrats,he said with a smile, doing his best not to betray any of his inner thoughts in his voice. He broke from Dacio's side momentarily to brush his shoulder against a tree, leaving a tuft of fur behind. Satisfied, he returned and answered the younger wolf's question with a bright,
Sha. Went with Heda for training. It was...he paused, then flicked an ear and said,
hard.He didn't mention that he'd needed the extra training because he wasn't technically a Drageda-born wolf and had come to them without a clue about their lifestyle. He preferred to omit that particular detail, as if pretending he wasn't originally an outsider would make it true. A Drageda-born warrior might have had an easier time of the training he'd received in Trigeda, but... then again, it was in the middle of a war, so maybe he was selling himself short.
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Dacio - January 05, 2019
Whatever inner turmoil the other youth might've faced following the realisation that a peer had stepped from Goufa to Gona, Dacio remained blissfully unaware. He didn't care for competativeness; he was simply glad to share the company of someone his own age and maybe make a new friend. "Thanks," the silver cub responded with a gentle sweep of his dark tail.
Talk of training with Heda intrigued him, and Dacio pricked his velvet ears forward. His own training had primarily been beneath Blixen's watch, which he had no complaint about, but he was curious to know what sort of teacher their leader might be. He didn't wonder if Ephraim might need more coaching than a Drageda-born pup (mostly because he assumed that was what he was), instead he figured this kid must've been something special if he'd been personally selected! "Totally not jealous," Dacio joked with a playful grin, "she's pretty bad-ass."
RE: Say it's here where our pieces fall in place - Ephraim - January 06, 2019
Dacio was joking, but nevertheless, his words made Ephraim's stomach swoop uncomfortably. Would any of his peers be jealous that he'd gone with Heda to war? He would be quick to assure anyone who asked that rather than being fun or glorious, the trip and subsequent training had been grueling. The hours were long, the knocks were hard, and the sounds of wolves wounded or dying in the night still haunted his dreams even now. Aside from the pride of being one of Heda's seconds, there wasn't much about it that Ephraim wouldn't have traded away for training in Drageda instead.
But, he reminded himself, it was just a joke here. Smoothing away his nerves, he cracked a shy smile and said,
she's something else. So are the others,by which he meant Bobby and Vercingetorix, but also the other warriors of Trigeda.
She was fighting,he explained,
we were trained by someone else.Stopping momentarily to touch up the borders with a spot or two of urine, Ephraim sought Dacio's gaze and asked,
what did we miss?