Fox's Glade I'm biting my nails

The wolfdog had wandered aimlessly into the woods. Now, though, she followed the scent trails of several different wolves, which would presumably lead her to their territory. She just needed to find a pack — pretty much any half-decent pack would do. Dianne didn't want to join one; it was something she was doing out of necessity, like taking medicine. Except this medicine would last several bitter winter months. She sighed but wouldn't complain. She could just distance herself from everyone like last time. And yet, something unspeakable happened during that brief stay—

No.

She wouldn't dwell on it any more than she already had. It was in the past, and she was moving forwards now. Silently, Dianne continued on, hoping she would come across claimed land soon.

Nunataq happened to meet her first fox during one of her outings in the Overture downs. She and the red-pelted canid had happened to tread the same path from opposite directions and met in the middle, few feet away from each other. A long moment had passed, where the fox regarded the black-massed wolf cub and the said cub was trying to decide, what kind of odd wolf she had met in her path. And then the accidental meeting had suddenly been over, because the fox had turned on her heel and left.

Ever since Nuna met them in the meadows often and observed them hunting, trying to mimic their movements later and, since she was of heavier build and lacked skills, her performance was sloppy and could not been even called a parody of the real thing. This did not deter the girl from going on and trying. Or, engaging in following the stark scent trail the foxes left behind them.

This last activity had led her to the Fox Glade and she was busy, inspecting a little pile of stinky droppings, when the sound of rustling grass and leaves, made Nunataq look up from her object of interest and catch sight of an oddly-coloured she-wolf.

Sorry if it's not much to work with. Dianne's really good at shoving others away. :'^)

Something peeking its head up a short ways away caught her eye. It was a pup with a tan body and a contrasting dark face not unlike her own. Once Dianne passed it by, she noted that it smelled of a pack, but the scent didn't match the wolves she was currently following. She didn't smell any others nearby, but Dianne honestly couldn't care less about whether it was lost or not. Her cold eyes bore into its sterling silver ones as she walked, unfaltering in her pace. She soon broke the eye contact though, not feeling threatened by such a small thing.

Oh, you just wait. :P

Reserved, cold, distant, disinterested, focused on something else. Nuna did not feel the slightest bit offended that the lanky she-wolf had spared her only one look and moved on without saying so much as a word (which would have been wasted effort) or stopping to exchange a brief greeting ritual. During that moment, when her silver eyes had met with the icy blue ones, she had felt surprised and mesmerized, because she had never seen a wolf, who possessed that kind of eye colour. She was not able to put it in words, but she felt as if the lone wolf's gaze had pierced through to her very core and had seen everything worthwhile.

The pelt bore unusual markings as well and all in all the other wolf was so extraordinary creature in the bleak world that consisted of shades of brown and grey, that Nunataq felt an inclination to follow, in order to find out more. She waited until the lone wolf had walked a long distance away, but was still visible, left her fox trail and began to stalk quietly after her. As a creature, who half of the time thought about consequences of her actions only, when they happened, it was no wonder she did not dwell on the potential danger she was walking right in.

Oh my god I love her & I love this.

She was relieved the child didn't come up and talk to her. Dianne assumed the pup went back to doing whatever she was doing before she came along. After a while, the wind shifted, and she could still smell the kid. The scent was closer than it should've been if the girl had gone her own way. Furrowing her brows, she stopped and peered over her shoulder to find the brat following her at a distance. Don't follow me, She ordered sternly. The intensity of her stare was the only indication of her slight irritation. The last thing she needed was some kid following her like... well, a lost puppy. Caring for a child would only slow her down. She didn't have the patience for them, anyway.

Nunataq was smart enough to pick up the warning tone in the loner's voice and she broke the eye contact by turning her head sideways and taking her time to watch the trees to her left. Now and then the girl would steal some quick looks in the forbidden direction, testing the waters and in order to find out, whether the she-wolf had resumed her walk again. Eventually (some 30 seconds later; inexplainably time flowed slower for Nuna, because she managed to pack action and something useful in almost every milisecond) she grew tired of the unnatural position her body was in and she decided to expand her ruse, by walking over to the said trees and beginning to thoroughly inspect the ground that was covered by the leaves. There was nothing particularly interesting, but she was very good at pretending that the opposite party had lost all of its charm.

The girl averted her eyes and didn't move any closer. Good, Dianne thought, believing her words had been heeded. She turned back around and walked off again. When she finally glanced back again, the child was occupied with something else and no longer trailing her. Satisfied with that, Dianne tried to keep her mind clear, observing her surroundings and absorbing herself in it.

After a while longer of walking, she could smell the marks indicating a border up ahead. It wasn't far off, now. She wasn't particularly excited or nervous. If they accepted her, great. If not, she'd simply move on to the next.

A-a-a-and just, when the victim thought that it had lost it's "tail", the little stalker was back on track. This time careful to keep the distance between them longer than before. Here and there Nunataq stopped to sniff at the scent or piece of hair that her object of interest had left on the trail, this way she continued to draw the wolf's portrait in her mind, one that consisted not only of lines and colours, but sound and smell as well.

In a matter of time they had drawn near borders of another pack and this Nuna told by taking notice of various well-trodden paths across the land. While still keeping tabs on her target, the girl now skipped to inspect other footprints and marks, and among the many, she caught a faint and familiar smell of her albino friend. The girl's serious face lit up for a moment, when the recognition set in, her tail wagged excitedly for a bit, as if Nuna had actually seen Arlette and not the faint ghostly imprint left by chemical molecules.

It occurred to her then, that this could be a good time to go and visit her and thus momentarily forgot, what she had been intent on doing earlier. Nuna turned on her heel, got back on the track, dashed towards and then past the harlequin lady (either accidentally hip-bumping her or almost doing it on the way) and pulled breaks on the edge of the borders. There, after some intent sniffing of the invisible wall and leaving a "like" of her own, she tipped her head back and let out a rusty howl: "AWROROOROROO!"

She suddenly heard frantic foosteps behind her. Whirling around, Dianne saw the girl sprinting right for her. The child dashed by, recklessly bumping into her when she did. Dianne came to a full stop and flattened her ears. She growled lowly as a flash of irritation hit her, but it quickly cooled to a simmer. So she was still being followed all along. Of course.

When the girl reached the border, she let out an obnoxiously grating howl, which made Dianne's ears fall flat again. She didn't want to be associated in any way with this kid when anyone showed up in case it was taken the wrong way, so she decided to hang back for now, moving back into the surrounding forest. Please don't tell them I'm here with you, Dianne pleaded inwardly.

Whoever was up there, had listened to Dianne's quiet, desperate prayers, because first 60 seconds passed, then another set and by the middle of the third, a cloud of disappointment and frustration threw shade on Nunataq's bright expression. She had given her best shot at calling her friend and no one had come. To her mind she had just given the best possible performance of repeating the girl's name, even though the likeness between this feeble attempt at verbal speech to the original was just as great as a stick-person by a person, who can't draw anything, to da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

Someone had to be blamed for it and the target of Nunataq's pent up frustration and wrath about the situation did not necessarily have to be a guilty person. No. Anyone, who happened to be the closest, would do for the tsunami that was coming. Therefore she whipped around, regarded the stranger now angrily and began to bark at her, expressing every ounce of irritation that was inside her in a manner that left no doubt - were it not for the girl's lack of proficiency in the verbal world, she would be shouting profanities at this poor stranger.

I am so sorry bb.

Several minutes passed, and no one came. Perhaps there was simply no one nearby, and it would take them longer to answer the call. However, the child didn't seem keen on waiting. She whirled around and began yapping at her angrily. What the hell? Could the girl not speak? Also, what did she do to deserve this? It wasn't her fault no one showed up when the brat wanted. Out of pent up anger and the fear that someone would come along and get the wrong idea, Dianne stormed up to the noisy child with fierceness in her eyes. Her lips pulled back like a dark curtain revealing a massacre, and a growl tumbled from her belly.

Shut up! She snapped, words riding on a sharp snarl. Dianne stood over the girl and leaned in menacingly with hackles raised. She wasn't heartless enough to hurt a child, but the girl didn't need to know that. Get out of here. NOW! Dianne ordered next. Maybe the kid couldn't speak, and maybe she couldn't even understand her words — but she made her messaege clear enough.

Why?

If Dianne had thought that shouting and playing the angry and dominant lady was going to get her anywhere, she was dead wrong. Nunataq shrank back out of surprise, but soon regained her posture, standing tall, fur along her spine bristled as well and responding to the other's behaviour with a menacing growl of her own. Being seven months old already and heading for her eight month of her life, she had already reached her adult size, therefore she was not that smaller than the stranger. What's more she had confidence in herself and was ready to stand her ground, if she felt threatened. And with no one else (read - Indra or Laurel, her voices of discipline and reason) to rein her in, the girl was like a weapon, ready to attack and fight anyone, without really sorting out, who or what it was. 

There are dogs that simply get their kicks out of brawls or fighting, and there was Nuna, who had inherited the same gene. When her anger and frustration had boiled up to a certain level, she needed just a trigger to detonate. And her first unknowing step towards that was, when she snapped her teeth inches from Dianne's muzzle.

I'm just not used to rping a character so m e a n. ;o; & Nuna keeps utterly surprising me, lmao.

The girl shrank back, and Dianne believed her orders would be heeded. Good, She thought, anger beginning to melt away. However, the child soon collected herself and bristled back at her, standing tall and letting out a growl of her own. As if that wasn't enough, the girl snapped her teeth at her face. Her face. Dianne's anger was re-ignited like a match against a matchbox, eyes filled with blue fire. She had been trying to reign herself in to prevent pissing off someone's mother, and she wouldn't attack a defenseless child.

But this kid wasn't defenseless — now she was the one being threatened, and Dianne didn't take kindly to that. Especially not from some wolf kid. But then her eyes flicked over to the border, which was just a few bounds away. What if someone came in the middle of them fighting? It'd look bad. Really bad. Getting into a pack was more important than defending her ego against some brat. If aggression didn't work, she'd just have to try something else to get her way.

Dianne sucked in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did before taking a few steps back. In the blink of an eye, her hackles flattened, the flames in her eyes were put out, and her expression turned flat again. She was not afraid, but she also wasn't angry anymore. Look, kid. I don't want any trouble. If you wanna stay, fine, just don't do anything stupid, She would say calmly, voice smooth as silk — assuming the child even let her get the words out.

This is mean? :D Nuna is as cuddly as an angry porcupine and Dianne has been dealing with her very well.

That's it?!!! Nunataq was in the mood to scream, throw heavy objects around and smash plates, but was met with the passionate reaction of a concrete wall. Where was fun in destruction, if no one was there to see it and take part in it? She grinded her teeth and growled some more at the stranger, but did not advance further, because even in her current mind-set of a drunk pub brawler the small voice of reason pushed through the red cloud of adrenaline and reminded her that just maybe attacking the lady would not be such a good plan after all. She was an adult and... what was this other thing?

But here the feeble train of rational thought was interrupted, by the verbal flood of the other. Not a single word of it sounded genuine to Nuna, who drew her ears back to indicate that she was not going to listen any further and bared her teeth in reply. Eff you! - it could mean this, if she had known the expression. And then she took a bold step forward to push the other in leaving.

Lol, u right!

The girl didn't attack — yet, anyway. However, she wasn't interested in what Dianne was saying, flattening her ears and flashing her fangs while taking a menacing step closer. Don't, Dianne said firmly, standing her ground and staring into the youngster's eyes with a determined gaze. She wasn't leaving, and she sure as hell wasn't going to submit to a kid, but fighting over this would be stupid. At this point, Dianne would only fight to defend herself. If she was going to be attacked for not moving out of the way of a kid with anger issues, then so be it; she'd feel no remorse for any damage done. Dianne needed to get into a pack, and this punk wasn't going to get in the way of that.

This attitude was more to Nunataq's liking and a sly, excited grin flashed through the hostile mask. That's right! That's, how you get in scuffles! Bring it on! Even the tip of her tail wagged just a bit, expressing her excitement for the upcoming fight. She was so drunk with adrenaline, inflated ego and self-confidence, that she failed to see the very sad outcome for her, if she really got crossed swords with this lady, who - up until now - had been surprisingly patient with all of her antics. To put it briefly - she was crazy and stupid, which is not a very good combination to win a battle.

But this epic event was postponed, because a demanding howl rose in the air, making the girl break eye contact with the she-wolf and look towards the source of sound. It was far enough not to see the caller, but it was obvious from the girl's suddenly very sullen expression that this was someone she knew and - what's more - someone of great importance. She could not ignore it, she could not beg for "five more minutes, pretty, pretty ple-a-a-a-a-a-ase?!" She rolled her eyes, groaned, shook her coat, flashed an almost apologetic look in Dianne's direction, as if saying: Sorry, let's meet and finish this another time!

Then dashed past her to the person, who had called. Good thing she could not speak - there was no way of finding out, what mischief she had been up to and get punished for it accordingly.

Last one from me! Thank you!

Thank you! This thread was a blast all the way through thanks to Nuna. I found her so unpredictable! They should definitely meet again someday.

The girl grinned of all things as if this were a play fight, but a fight with Dianne would be all business. She didn't move, waiting for the punk to dare try and attack her first, fangs tingling with the desire to to be sunk into her flesh to show just how serious she was. But then a distant howl sounded, and the girl looked in its direction. A roll of the eyes, a shake, and a groan later, she was glancing at Dianne apologetically before bounding off towards it. Ah, perhaps she wasn't lost all along, just a delinquent. Her posture relaxed as she watched the kid finally leave. That howl wasn't particularly far, Dianne noted. Please tell me she won't be my neighbor if I move in here, She pleaded to any higher being willing to listen.

Well, with that mess out of the way, she neared the border once again, thoughts shifting back to her anxieties surrounding the idea of joining a pack despite really not wanting to. It felt like she'd just gone through some kind of test just to get here, so Dianne hoped they'd let her in.