Emberwood hunger

AW -- but no one from MK, please. :)

Pippin had ran – the wind had brushed his fur back, had stripped him of his insecurities and starvation, and for that moment alone as the golden wolf careened down the mountain side at a pace he had never thought to accomplish any longer Pippin could only consider one instinct: flight.
 
The fight had long left him – the realization of what he had done threatening the corners of his mind toward a darker reign. Tambourine’s lifeless body was an image burned forever in his mind – his one true regret having been not to aim for the throat of the beast who had made intent to harm Harlyn rather than her helpless son.
 
He only slowed as the Keep grew farther from him. His sides ached now with the exertion of his travels, and in prompt response, Pippin turned his head to the side and heaved up anything within his stomach.
 
His body shook – stunted in growth, he was far smaller than a youth of his age should have been. It occurred to him in that moment that he would very well die out here – did that truly matter? What was there to live for?
 
Staggering to the side, it was then the wind teased at him a scent of promise – blood. Hunger drove consideration away, and the tawny pup loped toward the scent, eager as saliva pooled in his jowls. There, fallen in a small clearing of the forest, was the carcass of a fallen deer. He did not think before processing – instead, the boys jaws fell upon the remains, tearing flesh and sating his hunger with a ferocity that had only been kindled before when seeing his mother in danger.

Hope you don't mind me joining in :>

Anita had considered going on a scouting trip, but decided to map out a few areas first. Getting some time in to explore was a bonus as well, seeing that there were new things awaiting her in every corner of the wilds. She strolled through the valley, seeking for something that would catch her eye. Not much apart from the unfamilar flora and fauna was very interesting, so she decided to keep on walking.

A smell hit her. The smell of sickness, or at least the result of it. Something had emptied the contents of its stomach, or in other words, something had just puked up its lunch. Anita wrinkled her nose, but decided to investigate. Maybe someone needed help, though her presence may not be welcomed by whomever she stumbled across.

Anita kept her body low, picking her way through the undergrowth with care and expertise. Just imagine you are hunting, is what she told herself as she slunk through the dense foliage. What she saw was a small pup, feeble and alone. Anita stayed hidden, wide eyes peering through the undergrowth as the pup crawled to satiate his hunger. Once he was well out of reach, the she-wolf followed quietly behind.

The pup was tearing into his find like it was the last deer left in the world. She wasn't even sure if he was starving -- there seemed to be driving force or ferocity that fueled his feasting. Anita broke through the undergrowth, forfeiting her secrecy.

"May I ask your name, little one?" she asked softly, hoping her presence wasn't startling.[/ooc]

He tore a chunk of meat free – the blood that dribbled upon his chin was barely noticed as his teeth worked away at his feast. The protein was richer than anything he could remember – and little did the golden youth know, that his stomach was no longer used to such delicacies.. and it was likely he would be emptying the contents of his stomach again if he continued to eat so ravenously.
 
The sound of the voice startled him completely – having been so lost within his meal, Pippin had not scented or heard the she-wolf creeping closer, and it did not take more than half a second for the boy to drop the food in his mouth and absolutely cower to the ground like a dog beaten. “I’m s-sorry,” he stammered, wondering if it was this she-wolf’s meat he had stolen now – and if he had escaped the wrath of Tavi only to be devoured by a stranger now. “I’m sorry,” he repeated again, his tone desperate as his eyes wildly darted around, looking for an escape route now – completely missing the gentle tones in which she had spoken to him.

She cocked her head to the side in wonder. He was apologizing -- but for what? There was a wild look about him, the flitting gaze of a deer caught in the headlights in his eyes. She was registered as a threat most likely, assuming he had missed her soft tone of voice. Anita sat down nonchalantly instead of taking a step forward. This pup didn't seem to be OK, and the last thing she wanted was for him to run off into further danger.

"Hey, no need to apologize," Anita smiled, hoping that her demeanor was the furthest from seeming aggressive as she could get. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Sorry," she joked as if his response was the answer to her question. "I'm Anita." The girl really wanted to know who exactly this pup was. The question tugged at her mind but she didn't want to rush into questioning again. She feared it would startle the pup, though she couldn't predict his actions for sure.

"All things aside, I'd really like to know your real name and where you are from." Damn it, so much for not pressing him. "Or....maybe just your name, if you're more comfortable with that."

Her name, her kind words, and even her crack at humor were missed – she moved to a sit, and the boy flinched at the flash of tawny fur. He cowered lower, his runt-like form quaking at the stress, and the Ostrega continued his next move, hoping she did not lash out to him or the meat. Should he simply run? Should he try to take some of the meat with him? Surely he would not eat again for days, and the luck at finding such a fallen beast would not be replicated.
 
He recognized then that she asked his name – what was it she demanded of him? If she wanted to carcass, she could have it! He was done fighting. “I’m no one,” he insisted, his throat raw from the use of his vocals that had been lost since the days of Lost Creek Hollow. It had been months since he had spoken, until the moment Harlyn had been attacked.
 
“No one.”
 
And despite everything – his fear – the need to pee himself – Pippin began to cry. It was a soft hiccup at first.. and then the tremble of his lips.. and then his body shook with the emotion.

Slight pp, pm me if needed :>

Her heart fell, there seemed no way to comfort this pup. He hadn't taken to her kind efforts and it seemed he was so fearful that he had completely missed them. But what was he so afraid of? What made him run off in the first place. Anita wondered if it would do him better to just leave, but she couldn't muster the courage to do so. She ran the thought over in her head once more, now realizing how ridiculous that sounded. There was no way she would leave a pup in the forest, alone.

A feeble voice caught her attention. I'm no one. She frowned, not knowing what to make of his response. Truly, something bad must have happened to cause the despair that laced his voice. For a pup, he seemed hollow. She hated to think of him that way, and wanted desperately to know who he was, where is mother was, or where she could take him back to.

No one.

Again, his feeble voice spoke. It sounded almost as if speaking was taxing, like one more word would make him choke. Then she heard the soft hitch in his breath, accompanied by the trembling of his lip. She knew what was coming. The small pup shook as if he were caught up in the midst of a snowstorm. Despite the thick summer heat, he was trembling as if he were freezing to death. She knew that he was on the verge of tears.

Despite how he moved away from her, the girl inched closer, offering her presence to soothe him.

She can give up or try to chase the over-imaginative little guy. Up to you! :)

He cried – the softest of whimpers that escaped him caused a shudder to course through him, and glancing up through blurry eyes, he caught sight of the she-wolf, lingering even closer still as she crept closer.  The breath all but wooshed out of him in fear, and without a pause, and now abandoning the only meal he had in.. well, he could not remember the last real meal he had, the boy ran.
 
His creamy paws stumbled as he pushed away, his golden fur sweeping back as he ran with a desperation and swiftness that only the instinct of flight could instill upon a malnourished child. He swept away, hoping to put as much distance between himself and the stranger as he could – and never once did Pippin look back.

she's going to chase him -- poor guy!

Anita couldn't place what she felt when she crept closer, causing the pup to throw up and promptly run away. Jeez, was she that scary? She never considered herself to be the type of wolf. She watched as the golden bundle of fur stumbled away and let out a sigh. Maybe if she grabbed some food, the boy would see that she was just trying to help. Anita bent down, tearing a chunk of meat from the fallen prey. Careful not to step in the vomit, Anita took up a brisk trot in pursuit of the pup.

Her paws churned the earth and stirred the leaves as she rushed to catch up with the runaway boy. Damn, why was he so fast? She squinted against the scenery whizzing by, able to make out his form. Anita caught up, running ahead before swerving in front of him, bracing herself for an impact. She held the chunk of meat in her mouth, setting it down in front of her paws. It was taking longer than expected to help this little guy out, and she surely didn't expect to be playing tag.

She was faster than him – not only was Pippin malnourished and panicked, but he was also much smaller than her, and despite the will of his mind for his paws to flee, the tawny female caught him, steering ahead and stopping right in front of him.
 
And given the full out run he had been giving, the poor boy could not put his brakes on fast enough.
 
Careening in to her, not even noticing the meat presented, the boy flew in to the girl’s side, and as such, tried to leap out of the way, catching himself awkwardly upon her and then sailing, limbs flailing through the air. There was no grace – there was a widening of his eyes as he wondered if this was finally the end, just like when Tavi’s jaws had closed upon him, and he skidded upon the ground, landing on his face, and then his stomach. He felt something pop – yelping as pain shot through his right forelimb from his ankle. Whimpering softly, the boy made to bolt again, though went down like a deck of cards the moment he put weight on it.
 
Crumpling to the ground, the golden boy curled in to himself, waiting for the woman to just finish him off as he started to sob. "L-l-l Leave me a-l-l-lone."

A loud pop resounded after the pup's impact, followed by the unmistaken yelp of pain. "Oh..shit..." Anita mumbled under her breath, bracing herself to see what had just happened. Before she could see the damage, the wolf was up again. Fortunately, as quickly as he was up, he was back down, as if someone had tripped him out from underneath his feet. She shook her head. Was he really going to keep on running from her?

The girl sighed, picking her way carefully towards the boy, who was now curled up in a protective ball. It seemed that no matter what she said, he would not listen. She was done with trying to seem nice --sugarcoating seemed not to send the message.

"I am not going to kill you or hurt you," she said firmly, putting emphasis on the "not" part. "I am here to help you, and that is it."

He hurt – he cried. The fall and rise of his chest was the only thing that kept him from reeling as he tried to steady his breath, and as the woman still continued to come closer, refusing to simply leave him alone, he cried harder. Why wouldn’t she go away? What did she even want?
 
“G-g-o awaaaaayy,” his words turned in to a wail, and Pippin hiccupped in the middle of his cry. He curled further in to himself, whimpering softly at the pain that shot through his leg. How was he going to get to Lost Creek Hollow like this? Larkspur would never come to him now, and in that moment, the boy slumped further, his crying slowly fading as Pippin finally relented to everything.

Hope you don't mind me posting here. PM me if you want it removed! :3

Palisander had been exploring the area more, and was curious to find more locations, perhaps to even find a pack. The male however didn't got that far in finding a new pack because he heard a yelp of pain. Now he was not really one to go watch someone suffer but perhaps he could help out. The help sounded like it came from a young one.

As he trotted closer it the sound of a boy crying. The male frowned and made a bit more haste. The crying was followed by a wail of words. The male rushed into the scene, stopping at the sight. A female hovering over the female and the pup crying out. Palisander puffed out his chest a bit. This female could not be its mother right? Or was it? A pup wouldn't really say that to its mother or cry like he was doing now.

"What is going on here?," he asked, mainly directed at the female. He did not approve of wolves hurting pups. He was not sure if she was or if she wanted to help a pup in distress, but what he saw now didn't really look good. Palisander wanted to step protectively over the youngster, though he refrained because he also didn't want to meet the jaws of an angry mother.

join on in! sorry for the late response @Pippin, I broke one of my wrists and sprained the other so I've been trying my best to keep up! the sprained one is healing so it's not too huge of a deal

A voice made her whip around. Whoever this was, maybe they could help. Or maybe they were hostile, something she really didn't need at the moment. The male, by the looks of it, was not hostile but seemingly suspicious of what she was doing. To be fair, she was standing over a pup with a broken leg.

"Trust me it's not what it looks like," she blurted. "I mean...I found this pup wandering around in the area. He won't tell me anything -- not who he is, where he came from, or what he's doing out here. He just keeps on crying and running. And he...well, broke his leg in a collision with...me." It wasn't the most believable explanation, but it was the truth. 

"I've been trying to tell him that I'm not going to hurt him," she said, again putting emphasis on the "not" part. The girl lowered her voice, glancing at the whimpering pup. "But he's so afraid, it's like he doesn't want to listen."

To make it worse, another joined them – Pippin heard the male voice, though did not bother to unfurl himself and look. Shaking, crying, the boy remained curled up in as tight a ball as he could – all he wanted was for these wolves to go away – to leave him alone. They were keeping him from Lost Creek Hollow, where @Larkspur would surely meet him there, as well as @Silas and their parents.. they would be happy there.
 
He heard the woman speak, but did not listen once more – inconsolable, Pippin’s mind began to shut down, his tremors ceasing little by little and his sniffles dying down. Blankly, he remained where he was – but the boy made no more noise as he quietly determined how he would try to escape from what he considered two new captors. "Going home now," he mumbled, testing the waters, seeing if they would jsut let him slip away. With that, he uncurled from himself, wincing as the burn in his forelimb doubled as he tried to push himself up, cradling his injury close to his chest. "Let me go home now."

Palisander watched how the pup curled into a ball. The female explained to him that she was only trying to help. He looked at her with a frown because what she did didn't seem to help. She clearly wasn't a mother. But he was not going to tell that to her face. "Okay," he spoke slowly, noticing that the pup had gone more quiet. "If that pup has a broken leg you can better just kill him right now. It is going to grow back crooked and he won't be able to walk or run well," he pointed out.

The pup wanted to go and Palisander looked at him skeptically. "You can, but I am not sure this female will let you," he pointed out. "That leg isn't good kid. You need to see a medic who can fix that leg of yours. You should go home to your parents. Where is your home? I or we could walk with you," he offered.

Her back was turned to the lone male, but when he spoke, she turned around, hackles raised. "No," the girl spat, amber gaze seemingly drilling through his own gaze instead of simply meeting it. "I've chased this pup for a while to help him, so am I going to just kill him?" she chuckled, shaking her head. "Probably not." However, he did make a point about the leg growing back crooked. But was it really worth killing the pup over one dysfunctional leg? Anita knew that it would be considered a major flaw, but she didn't want to pup to die and doubted the poor thing wanted that either. She cursed silently under her breath. Whoever this loner was, he talked of killing the pup like it was just a simple conclusion. So much for the pup calming down, seeing that the lone male had just discussed his death openly.

"I know you're a lone wolf and you might not get this, but look -- if I were to kill a pup of another pack, you know how much trouble that would get my pack into?" She said, a bit exasperated. She had the right to be tired -- chasing the pup around for hours without any success was not fun. Especially when this male had the audacity to show up and tell her what to do. However, as she talked, she kept her tone low and only loud enough for the older male to hear.

"You're telling him to go see a medic, but here's the thing. He's doesn't know where he's going, or he's going to die getting there if he does," she explained, trying to sound a bit less snappy. That wasn't really working. She sighed, listening as Palisander spilled the same exact questions that she had asked so many times without getting answers. If the pup were to go back to his pack -- wherever that may be, she was sure as hell going with him. She turned to the shivering boy, a look of concern in her eyes.

"I'm going to get you to a safe place. You don't have to run," she said, her experiences with this pup telling her that less was probably more.

His leg was not broken, but Pippin didn’t know that – not even the way it did not dangle in the manner of a clean break. The snap of his unused ligaments had stretched the muscle too far, and it was rest that he needed now – to not be upon it.
 
But given he wouldn’t let anyone near him, there was no way they would know this yet, either.
 
His company appeared to think mistake his panic and cowardice as stupidity. The moment the male mentioned the words ‘kill him right now,’ Pippin’s plans to remain quiet went completely out the window – for all he desired to end everything now, the moment such words could come to fruition, the youth found himself balking, and upon three limbs, the boy began loping away, his tail tucked between his legs and hoping they finally just left him alone. The agouti female would turn to speak to him, but he would be rushing away as fast as possible once more, and all words were not noted past what Pippin had taken as a threat from the strange male. He had known they wanted to harm him.
 
That’s all anyone wanted to do ever since they had left the Creek.

Palisander listened to the female and what her plans were with him now. The male was not interested in adopting the pup, frankly the pup didn't seem to be interested in anyone adopting him. She did gave an interesting point of view though. The young male quirked up his lips. "You act like I am some savage that never lived in a pack," he spoke, though that idea somewhat amused him, hence the grin on his face.

"How do you know where he is going and that will result in his death? He doesn't even want to talk to you or let you close, no wonder he is scared if you have been chasing him all morning," he pointed out, perhaps this female felt a need to breed but was not in high rank enough to have pups. He assumed that was it, so now she had to result in chasing and creeping out children so she could adopt them. Ha. Unknowingly Palisander wasn't the best either with calming the pup. His words made the pup ran off which he didn't notice at first.

When he did he was surprised the little one was such a sneak on three paws. 'Your subject just left, I'd say let him die trying to reach this place. You chased him this whole day, I don't think he is going to give in. So let him experience this by himself," he then suggested with a shrug. He want not going to take of the young boy either.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the young pup lope away on three legs. She started after him but cut herself off, staying to listen to the lone wolf's words. A mistake, obviously, seeing that he didn't have much to offer in terms of advice. "I'm not calling you a savage," she muttered, rolling her eyes. He spoke more, but she somewhat tuned him out, turning to watch the pup run off to what could possibly be his death. There was some truth in the lone wolf's words -- she couldn't predict his future.

"Fine," she grumbled, turning her back from where the pup had just made his leave. "But if I hear about a dead pup from someone, I'm not going to be happy."

Pippin was not so stupid to believe he had managed to outrun his to-be kidnappers – clearly, his tenacity had won him this round. But little did he know it was possible he ran to his death now, and as quickly as he could scramble away and seek a hiding spot, the boy would do so. He would remain tucked away in the hollow of a tree for days to come, not daring to move – only until hunger and thirst would finally drive him from there. His paw would feel better now – the damage having been a sprained muscle that required rest, but he walked with a distinguished limp as he sought out Lost Creek Hollow. Never before had the runt of the family been more determined.

Palisander looked at the female with his brows raised a bit. "Not my problem, Lady. You just made that choice yourself,"he pointed out to her, not very interested in getting the blame here. Besides it was probably less likely that he would ever run into her again. With that said Pali gave her a firm nod to wish her goodbye and then turned around into the direction of Wapun Meadow. Isley was probably around there and a far better company than this female.

He did wonder what happened to the pup eventually, if he made it or not. He wouldn't be surprised if the youngster hadn't made it. Then again, it wasn't really his responsibility.