Sing to the stars, they always listen though they never hear

With a heavy heart after the pack meet, Ferdie Von pelt returned to the place where he had started to make a den earlier. However rather then move to complete the task he lay down and stared at it. Making a den meant moving on, leaving the lone wolfdom behind. After this pack experience; was that truly something he wanted to do...

The brute lifted his head and scented the air there were other den close by, Haunter’s den and perhaps Fox’s den wasn’t to far, the yearling was a strict wolf, though she was alpha she wasn't exactly welcoming or warm. The others he had met were not even kind enough to offer their names, just their distaste.

Ferdie glanced at his back and noticed the wet fur, what a waste of energy... He sighed and pulled himself into a rounded posture taking to grooming himself rather then making a den. Though he was not one to procrastinate normally, the making a den was likely going to be put off again for yet another night, which meant he was going to be cold as he slept, However a full and clean pelt offered some small measure against the cold; so he wouldn’t be to hard off, he hoped...

Ferdie Von Pelt became so fully engrossed in grooming that dusk was nearer to night when he finished and he seemed surprised by this, around him lay piles of sheded coat, the change of season made grooming harder and take longer then normal.

His pelt was full and dry, not a single hair out of place, but now what? It’d be hard to dig a den now. Becoming part of the pack had done little to nothing for easing the loneliness he had sought to quell.

Ferdie glanced up at the sky, the stars making their first appearance. He turned his ears to the back of his head and opened his maw, letting forth a song like he used to do when he was a lone wolf. He sang to no one but himself and for no one but his own satisfaction. He closed his eyes and continued his song curling his tail reflexively over his toes as they got cold due to the cooling night air.

Bazi was similarly unprepared for the night, having spent the majority of the afternoon tracking down something to eat. Hunting was a much harder thing to do alone, and it wasn't until dusk fell that she finally caught an adult rabbit by surprise, snatched it by the hind leg and quickly, mercifully snapped its neck. The sense of loneliness still spooked her. Hunting - and eating - was a communal activity, filled with drama, growls, and scraps among wolves of middling rank. It was supposed to be a messy spectacle that although seemed violent, formed an important part of the pack bonding experience. Here, she had yet to learn another packmate's name, let alone share a meal. Bazi picked her catch up by the scruff of its broken neck, and tuned her ears to the sound of the river - there was a large rock waiting for her at the water's edge. At this rate, he would need a name.

The snow-white newcomer had barely travelled ten meters when a haunting melody rose suddenly into the air, passing through her like a sudden jolt of electricity. Only hunger surpassed her desperation for company, otherwise the skinny rabbit would have gone flying. Without thinking twice about what she might meet at the other end, she began to race towards the music.

The wolf she found was a large male with an unusually well groomed coat - Bazi could see the sheen of it in the light of the stars, and smiled at the memory of Lecter, whose sense of hygiene was the antithesis of this. Overjoyed at the sight of another creature, the little female dropped her quarry and sat down some few feet away, and joined her voice to Ferdie's despite not knowing the tune.

well I shall go on without Bones then. Bones can join in when ever

His eye slips open when another voice joins his song, then closes again, Slowly the song changes and the melody of voices entwines each other making for a harmonious tune. Soon Ferdie’s voice gets softer as he runs of of stamina for the song, his muzzle dipping earthward again. His eyes open to seek the face of his accomplice.

He smiled softly, not many wolves have ever joined his song, though he had sung many-a-time he had however joined in others songs, so to have this experience was warmly welcomed.

“I am Ferdie Von Pelt” He offered gently hoping this was not another one of the pack wolves that would not share their names. His stomach reminded him he had not eaten in a while but Ferdie ignored it, He would not take food from a female. The rabbits he had caught lately had gone to the alpha, so it had been his choice to be this hungry.
He smiled again to hide his thoughts “how long have you been here? He thought to ask because her scent was unfamiliar to him. His question’s were cut short by a few coughs to which he cleared his throat and waited for the femme to answer.

Ah! She might not have seen, Kat's been on holiday. :) I'll position this just before my ongoing Fox thread, timeline-wise.

Oh, to sing! There was nothing quite like threading disparate howls into a symphony, and this time was no exception. Though she didn't know the tune, Ferdie accommodated her voice into the mix and the tune evolved into something unique and new. Bazi carried the final note a good ten seconds after her co-star had stopped, to thrilled by the unexpected opportunity to sing to stop now.

"Bazi," she eventually replied, breathless and grinning. Blood pounded in her ears, and when she pushed that little carcass towards Ferdie it was not because she had hear his tummy rumble, but an unprompted desire to share. "Want a leg - or more? I've been eating my fill of fish lately, but it isn't very filling, and there are so many bones." Lecter's prescription had just about run out, and Bazi figured there was no harm in snacking on something gamey and lean. "Not long - a few days. I've been to Horizon Ridge and back in that time, and dragged that cougar corpse into the river with Bones. What about you? Were you involved in that? I can't quite believe that a cougar would attack on claimed turf, can you?" Words were bubbling out of her faster than the Creek flowed, and it was all she could manage to channel the energy into ferocious tail-wagging to give Ferdie a chance to absorb the social onslaught.

The night air got cooler still, winter had not yet loosened it's hold upon the land. Ferdie's ear perked forward his expression one of keen interest, He had not yet met a wolf who enjoyed talking as much as he did, this was a very refreshing change. The words just flowed from this young wolf, a very stark difference from the alpha of this land. He found himself slightly overwhelmed by her but that to was a welcome change.

He smiled and licked his lips, his body language betraying his words, "That is just fine Mi'dear, you enjoy that rabbit to it's fullest" turning down the offer he mightily wanted to take up on. He did not think females were weaker then males, quite the opposite actually, he valued females more then he valued himself or any other male and so he would not take the food.

"I arrived just after the defeat of that feline cur, t'was a good thing it was taken care of, should it have taken a den in or near our pack lands it would have hunted us off one by one.... I believe it though cat's are dumb they are smart about some things but they are just wholly unintelligent" Ferdie chuckled.

The wind kicked up blowing around his discarded fur, and it was thing Ferdie realized yet again, though it was to his own design that he was without a sleep to sleep Where do you plan to sleep tonight Mi'dear he inquired of her, they may have just met but they were pack members and daylight was fading very fast if she had something she might be inclined to share, she seemed like the type. It would be nice to have a warm body to sleep next too

"You're sure?" Bazi was surprised - smaller game was hard to come by in this season, and bigger prey required greater numbers. The party line seemed to be that wolves hunted in twos or threes, or fed themselves from the creek. But Ferdie was insistent - he wasn't hungry, so the little scout stripped the skin from her kill with one smooth pull and nearly swallowed it whole. Whilst she ate, the older wolf placed his his arrival into the pack some time after the cougar attack, and she reasoned that they must have arrived at similar times.

"I suppose. Or maybe it was desperate after a long winter. It was pretty rotten when we got there - so disgusting." She placed one front leg out in front and rubbed her bloody muzzle against either side of the knee, leaving a reddish-brown streak. Red meat always left very obvious traces around her mouth, and Bazi was forced to lick and lick and lick at the fur around her nose and lips whilst trying to answer Ferdie's question. "I don't know. The ground's a bit too hard to dig, still, so I've been sleeping between a couple of big trees that are growing by the river. There's a boulder, a few bushes - I guess the soil must be good in that one spot. It make a cosy little nest. I thought I'd dig down under the roots when it gets warmer." She blinked, and suddenly realized why he might be asking. "Oh! There's room for two, of course. Maybe we could dig it out together, later on?"

Ferdie Von Pelt averted his eyes as she ate and coughed twice while looking up at the stars, his breath coming out as little puffs of white haze as the temperature reached that cold point. When she began to speak again his gaze settled upon her, he had to really resist the urge to help her groom herself.

“Well I don’t really have a den made yet either I started digging,” he looked over his shoulder at the scuffed dirt he had dug and the leaves he had collected ”But you are right the ground is not very pliable” Ferdie stood and stretched, immediately his toes felt colder now exposed to the air after having been covered by his tail, not that he let that bother him.

If Ferdie took her up on the offer of a warmer place to sleep tonight he’d be obligated to help her dig it out later. She was a younger wolf, she might not have interest in denning with him long term. He didn’t want to impose though so he was torn. She might like to den with this Bones she mentioned though he had never met Bones himself and he learned long ago three was just too much in a den.

He walked in a circle and looked up at the moon, it offered some light now that the sun was gone, Ferdie a didn’t have much of a choice tonight if he wanted a good night rest.

By the river you say?” He asked absently offering her a chance to just slip away or invite him

Here is a terrible doodle of it! :) http://oi58.tinypic.com/2zpkpow.jpg

"Yes, by the river." Bazi cocked her petite head and gave him a strange look - wasn't that what she had just said? The yearling utterly oblivious to his internal struggle. She was at an age where long-term plans did not extend past next week, and most decisions were taken lightly - certainly ones that didn't seem immediately controversial. She was also at an age where offering to bunk with a male - a much older male - had nothing hidden in between the lines. "Come on, then," she urged, grasping the rabbit's discarded pelt (to line the eventual den) and setting off towards the creek with quick, sprightly steps.

Her chosen den site was mere meters from the river, on an earthen hump that rose out of the ground like the back of a sleeping hippo. I had just enough room to support two trees, whose roots entwined to form a bowl - it was a lucky find, especially when the weather started to improve and the tree crowns thickened. For now, the trunks offered protection against the wind. Bazi climbed into the lofty 'bed', and began to open up and flatten the rabbit skin for drying. "I'm collecting these," she told him, patting a paw against the pelt-covered floor of her den-in-the-making. Most of them came from rabbits, and the floor was only half covered. "Maybe we can hunt something bigger tomorrow?"

Ferdie Von Pelt followed her; his tail flipped up high over his back out of habit over anything else. He smiled to himself his heart lifting a little, she may have been young but she was still female and the spring air was hard for a male to ignore. Thought activity was not something Ferdie Von Pelt would ever actively seek out, moreover he was usually stickler for rules and therefore without the alpha's blessing he just wouldn't be able too. Bazi was safe with him, in fact as he grew fonder of her, he would feel more fatherly toward her and just want to protect her out of principal.

Thoughts of the alpha made his tail drop and he swallowed a sigh, instead he looked at the two trees, how had he not noticed this. Carefully he followed her in, his 155 pound bulk took up more then his fair share of the den. He tried to give Bazi as much room as he could. "That's very smart, Mi'dear" he spoke, calling her mi'dear with a friendly note in his voice, making sure it did not sound demeaning in the least. "I'm usually much to big to hunt deer on my own, they see me long before I want them too, but if you get close enough to flush a young one toward me then we could take it down together, I''m sure of it

Ferdie grinned this was the most normal conversation he had in weeks and it felt so nice, With a yawn Ferdie added "I'd love to share this den with you, until you kick me out" He lay his head down and looked up at Bazi waiting for her answer

Shall we fade to black after your next post? That'll take it up to 10, and then we can do a more recent one. :D Maybe a den-digging one?! I've made reference to Ferdie sharing the 'tree bowl' with her several times in other posts, but never that she had a den.

Ferdie was well over twice Bazi's size, and the two wrestled awkwardly with the limited space between the roots. They would need to schedule a den-digging day very soon, or suffer with bad backs and shared fleas (should either of them be so unfortunate). Eventually, the older wolf found a comfortable position, and his smaller roommate curled into a tight, fuzzy ball in the crescent formed by his body. His kind words and rumbling tone soothed her like a balm. He sounded like Amon - or like Amon would have, had he been 3 or 4 at the time of Bazi's conception, and not a 8.

"I'm crap at hunting deer," she admitted, nuzzling into her own tail with closed eyes. "I'm really, really good at fish, though. But they don't have good skins. Maybe I can chase it.. it's just the take-down that I'm really bad at... and sometimes I trip on my own feet." Her words were starting to blur together. "There was this one time.. with Mari.. Two just .. and deer .."

Soft snores filled the air around their little bowl.

Ferdie is a little obsessive, I hope she doesn't mind. she may be kicking him out sooner if she hates it :D
I'll retire this thread and we shall begin a digging one,

Ferdie Von Pelt "I am only good at the take down not getting them into the right position I think we could take a small deer together" He smiled at her, His ears twitched picking up the sound of her breathing leveling out into sleep.

He looked down upon her and couldn't help himself he groomed the pelt behind her ears gently hoping not to disturb her, if he didn't wake her she would wake up with every bit of her coat that was exposed to him thoroughly groomed as Ferdie lulled himself to sleep by grooming her. He had spent may lonely nights grooming himself until he had fallen asleep in the act of grooming and tonight was no different except that he had someone else to dote the attention upon

Plenty of her groomed out hair would litter the ground in the den as Ferdie didn't think of the consequences for grooming her. She'd likely wake up to him snoring away since he stayed up much later whilst grooming his way into dream land.