So be it

Location: Ravensblood forest

Pump hadn't wandered far from Horizon Ridge, since she had been accepted in the ranks. Even though traveling was interesting, it was also a very tiring activity and for someone, who stuck to the rule - never to waste more energy than neccessary - a far better alternative was to stay in one place and rest. She did not feel a need or an urge to go far, but today was different, because she was hungrier than usual and there hadn't been anything to satisfy her hunger within the territory.

Ravensblood forest was the nearest place for such an activity and it wasn't totally unfamiliar to her, because she had met Pied here a little earlier during the week. After few hours of wandering around, occasional tracking and leaving some scent marks, she finally found something worth picking up and examining closer - an old antler, which was half-burried in the snow. With a little digging, she managed to uncover it and pulled it out. No meat, unfortunatelly, but longlasting at least.

She settled down, put it between her paws and began to gnaw it.

Kisu lazily walked through the snow. It wasn't that he didn't mind the stuff, but that he preferred it not to exist. It made his paws cold and damp, and he wondered why he ventured in the opposite direction of the warm den of Horizon Ridge.

He felt restless without Pied, was the answer. She was an adventurous spirit, and he had had enough adventure for multiple lifetimes. He wanted to just settle into his new life with Pied, and produce a little, but his mind raced and focused on nothing at the same time without Pied by his side.

So he roamed to the large forest, with the tall sequoias that he was in awe of. He passed the rainforest-like plants that gave away to the weight of the snow that continued to cover the floor every few days. He shook out his coat trying to fight off the cold that inched its way inward, but it was no use.

He sighed. And then he spotted a black female gnawing on an antler in a lazy fashion. His mouth parted, partially in hunger and partially in shock of the look of this wolf. She was... different. "Oi!" he called out while walking toward her. "Mind sharing?" He smiled as he stopped about fifteen feet out from her, so he could give her the space she needed.

ooc: SIGH. edited because I forgot to close a bracket

Antler was one great thing - while you gnawed it, you did not have to think about hunger and Pump was so busy and focused on her "job" that she didn't notice the other wolf arrive (a fatal mistake under different circumstances) until he spoke out loud. That made her freeze in mid-chew, look up and eye the stranger distrustfully.

It was a big one, may be the biggest one she had ever seen, and this made her wary. He was older - not only his looks indicated that, but also the manner he stood and talked. He was undoubtedly strong and fast. Faster than Pump anyway. Her chances in a combat? Zero to one.

But he did not look that dangerous yet, therefore Pump did not run and had no intention of letting go of her precious piece of bone. Therefore she pulled it closer to her chest, looked the other briefly in the eye and said: "Nope. This one is mine."

Kisu chuckled at her protective nature. "Well, that's too bad, then. I am Kisu of Horizon Ridge. You smell of the ocean... are you a part of the pack as well?"

He inspected her fur, and it was very fluffy, almost like feathers. Her ears were odd; floppy and rounded. She looked as if she were mixed with something but wasn't exactly sure what. The grey wolf shifted his weight to walk forward a few feet and then rest on his haunches.

"Too bad, indeed..." Pump agreed and began chewing the bone, while keeping her gaze fixed at the big wolf in front of her. He was not afraid of her, not even wary - that much she could tell by the confident manner he inspected her. She froze and drew her ears back, while he did that, feeling uncomfortable. There was a quiet growl building up in her chest, but it never reached an audible level, because the other wolf withdrew quickly enough and settled down nearby.

"Horizon ridge? Yup, that's the name of the pack I am in - keep forgetting the name," Pump said. "But that does not mean that I am going to share this with you," she added, sounding a lot like a little child, who does not want anyone to play with her favorite doll.

A rumble of laughter escaped his chest. "That is fine, you don't have to worry; I am not much of a bone chewer anyway." He found it somewhat silly that she would forget the name of her own pack, but shrugged it off as her maybe being a slightly air-headed wolf.

"Do you mind disclosing your name? And what made you join the pack?" Kisu was trying to calm his mind and fill the emptiness with words from another. Maybe this conversation would distract him for a bit.

"Excellent!" Pump said with the first genuine smile in her expression, since meeting this fellow few minutes ago. She would never admit it, but there wouldn't be the same joy and easiness in chewing, while having an audience, which could - in the darkest corners of their mind - possibly be thinking about stealing this piece of treasure from her. Now she could chew without a single thing to worry about.

"Disclose? What a funny word," she commented and with a knack managed to snap off a piece of antler. She spat it out, gave a curious look at it and then returned to the conversation. "Pump," she gave her shorter version of the name, because the full one was "mouthful". "And why do lone wolves in the middle of winter join packs?" she asked, because the answer was so obvious that the question sounded a bit silly.

It had been a while since this feeling, but Kisu felt a momentary bout of self-consciousness in being called out on his choice of word use. His father had been a very formal wolf, a general and a warrior, and, therefore, Kisu had taken after him in his speech. He had always thought himself almost eloquent in the way of words, but now it just made him feel old and grey.

He nodded at her response as to why she had joined the pack of Horizon Ridge. "I, too, have joined for this reason. I was going to join Blacktail Deer Plateau to stay by Pied's side, but the howl of Akhlut reached me and I made a moment's decision." He paused to take a breath. "It has all worked out, though, for my mate has joined my side."

Pump was a pretty simple being to the core, one would even call her shallow, even though sometimes she had her "deep and bright" moments. Therefore it did not occur to her that her comment could have made the other wolf feel uncomfortable. She did not notice it either, being so busy and impolite to continue on chewing her antler, while Kisu spoke.

She lifted her head and perked her ears up, while processing the information. He had said quite a lot, which was a bit complicated and many of the details could have been left out. For the sake of clarity. She got the idea that Pied was this guy's mate, but the rest of it? "If you are mates, why don't you make a pack of your own?" she asked and returned to chewing her piece of antler. "I mean... if you will have kids and stuff - wouldn't that be a reasonable thing to do?"

Kisu hesitated. She had a point, and the discussion between him and Pied over creating their own pack had been brief, but a serious option. Should he voice this? He shrugged; the female before him didn't seem like a blabber mouth and was a little dense from what he had witnessed. Unless she really, really liked bones.

"Yes," he responded. "We have discussed the possibility, but our loyalties will lie with Akhlut for now." He kept it short. There was not much to discuss, but if the female were to ask him specific questions he would continue on.

"And does he agree?" Pump asked and left the antler she had been chewing under one of her fore-feet. The conversation was getting interesting and she was done with chewing for a while. "The kids stuff and everything else?" because that was the sole purpose of being a mate to someone - you wanted to reproduce - otherwise there was no point.

"In my old pack all kids that were not born to the leaders, were killed," she explained the matter. "... or, if they were lucky, cast out with their parents." Not very lucky, because that usually happened, when there weren't enough resources - there were no survivors and the parents usually returned after a while.

"Akhlut, being a young and strong male, will certainly want to continue and strengthen his bloodline..." she left the sentence unfinished, but added in her mind "... and not care for those, that weren't his own brood".

ooc: SO SORRY I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU REPLIED

Kisu nodded. "I would assume he agrees, but he has not given us formal permission yet. We are rising in the ranks quickly, so it is possible that Pied or myself will become high-ranking members before it is time to bear a litter. And no one will touch my pups, I will see to that." He growled and spoke through teeth.

"If he does not accept that we will bear a litter, then we will lay our loyalties elsewhere. You would do the same if you felt your life was being limited, yes?" Kisu hoped that this strange wolf hybrid would not blab to Akhlut what they were discussing and he also hoped that she was on his side.

ooc: I replied late too, so I figured it was only fair that you took your time. :)

The subject was not comfortable to the wolf and Pump felt, how the level of frustration grew and was a bit smug that she had done this. Of course, the wolf-dog was smart enough not to show it, masking her true emotions with a focused and interested gaze. "That is not for me to decide - my loyalties lie with Akhlut and I will agree and do, what he thinks is right in a such situation, if that ever comes up to an open discussion," she smiled and turned her muzzle away as a sign that she did not wish to continue this topic. This could easily lead to a fight, where she would definitely loose and mutual wounded feelings. Plus, she was below him in the ranks and it wasn't very wise to challenge the superiors. For now.

"I guess you are right, but I can't imagine, in what way can I be limited," she said thoughtfully. "I have never wanted cubs of my own, you see... so that has never been a problem for me."

She turned from him, and he knew he said too much. It was obvious she did not want to continue the discussion, but at least Kisu knew that his mate understood, and Hawkeye seemed to have the ability to understand as well. She had let her Delta leave and come stay with him, anyway. He owed her a debt.

The colorful head nodded. "I see," Kisu started. "I have never known thoughts of not wanting a family of my own. Do you plan to find a mate at any point?" He wondered what male would want such an odd woman for a mate, but then again, some might find him odd as well so he shrugged it off.

"A mate?" Pump's voice sounded incredulous. "Geez, no, not in hundred years. She shook her head and laughed the matter off as though it was a good joke. "What's the point?" she asked him. "I mean, I don't like children much - they annoy me - and I don't want to be a leader. Too much of a responsibility," she explained. Better let some other fool, who was better at this, deal with that. And she would obey him and be loyal as long as the leader figure didn't become too hard to live with.

ooc: sorry for the delay!

Not wanting children? This was such a foreign idea to Kisu. "Well, I suppose that even if you don't want children that maybe a life companion would be nice. Someone to talk to and trust."

Even if they could not have children, Kisu would be plenty happy with just Pied in his life. Having someone there in an intimate way was something he longed for all the time that he was a lone wolf. He was lucky that his suggestion of being mates worked, though he doubted that it would have worked with anyone else besides the unique Pied.

Pump did not quite share the same views about companionship of other wolves. She hadn't formed any sincere or genuine attachments in her birth pack, she preferred to work and scavenge for food alone and joined a group hunting only out of a dire necessity. Had she not been born in the wild, but in an urban area, she would probably have chosen her dog ancestors way of life - living near people and scavenging in the dumps. No pack or close relationship there were needed.

"I am fine with my own company," she concluded and got up to her feet. She had been lying down for quite a while and felt that it was the best time to return to the Ridge. The wolf-dog stretched and shook her coat, then eyed the antler before her thoughtfully, trying to decide, whether she should bring it back or not. "But that's the way I am and you are the way you are," Pump was not very good at expressing smart things with the right words, but then again she wanted to make sure that just because her peers about family, children, mateship etc. were different and did not work for her, didn't mean that she felt any less respect for those, who did and were happy with their choices.

ooc: sorry for late reply!

"This is very true. I have never thought of a wolf living a different life than the one I lead. I will be sure to keep my pups from bothering you when they are born." Kisu winked at Pump, humor touching his voice with the last sentence he spoke.

"And I will be sure you grab any antlers or hooves for you if I spot them laying around. Those can be your children." He smiled at the black hybrid, and found her apparent confusion on whether or not she should take the item she was chewing on amusing.

ooc: let's finish the thread. It is kind of old.

"Sure you will," Pump offered a crooked grin, but added in her mind - or I will make sure of it. She was determined to be away from the kids as far as possible, when the time came. She and little children simply wasn't a very good combination.

"Thank you, I can take care of myself," she brushed off his offer. Being independent was very important for Pump. She did not accept any help, unless there was no other choice. And even then it made her feel bad and weak. Two feelings she hated to experience.

"I will return home," Pump told him and picked up the antler. Better take it now, then regret not taking it later. Kisu was free to do anything he wanted - either go with her or do his own business.

Kisu made a face as he watched the wolf hybrid leave. He hadn't liked her tone of voice. She was abrupt and rude; all he did was offer to find things for her. He was not one to dislike many wolves, but this was definitely one; the rusted grey wolf had tried several times to lighten the mood, but Pump was definitely a downer. He would be sure to keep his pups away from her, for he did not trust her.

Journeying back to the den, goldenrod eyes focused on the ground as he tried to figure out what the deal was with Pump and thought about puppies with his mate.