Soft come the dragons

All welcome.

The day never truly broke, as the sun didn't so much as peek from its hiding place in the woolly gray clouds. Rain fell, soft and cool, from the gunmetal gray sky, and a soundless wind pushed it sideways in billowing curtains. On the plateau, the wind took on more strength than in the lowlands, rustling the trees—their leaves looked almost black in the dim light—and giving the otherwise gentle rain teeth that bit into the she-wolf's face as she ventured from beneath their shelter.

With eyes narrowed against the onslaught, Koontz ventured around the edge of the plateau, determined to finish her patrol despite the weather. She must mark her territory, else other wolves would surely attempt to trespass, especially considering the deer herd in residence. The yearling's stony face took on an even more serious expression at the thought of other wolves trying to lay claim on her food source. Simultaneously, she squatted and urinated, the pungent odor strong despite the rainfall.

She continued, making a full and tireless circuit of the entire plateau, then came to a stop at the southwestern edge, peering down at the hotspring below. Her whiskers quivered as her icy blue eyes searched for movement in the rain-washed valley below, yet she saw nothing. Still, she stood sentinel there, motionless except for the constant roving of her eyes as she took in her surroundings and memorized the lay of the land which was to be her home.

Eventually, she turned her head to look over one gray shoulder, though she didn't take a step. Koontz wondered where her friend and leader, Ariston, might be at this hour. She licked her chops, then finally sat. She thought also of Ray, her brother, and tried to guess what activities occupied him on this rainy morning. She hoped one or both males would join her, now that her guarding duties were complete. Perhaps the three of them could go on a hunt, tracking the blacktail deer herd that shared this very plateau with them.

Your post length obliterates mine xDDD

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"You know," broke a voice from the sentinel's left, "if you keep looking so serious you're going to give me impression that something's bothering you."

His stride never breaking upon approach, Ariston's silvery head tilted and gave his companion an amiable bump to her shoulder. "I mean with you look like this -" his expression furrowed in an exaggeration of hers "- then I start wondering if you 're trying to slip out an inconspicuous fart." He grinned despite himself and looked sideways at her.

"Is that it, my trusty Beta? Do you need to little out a little toot?"

Hey, you write however much (or little) as you want—as long as you're enjoying yourself, so am I. :D

The rush of rainfall drowned out the sound of approaching footfalls, so that Koontz jumped slightly when Ariston abruptly emerged from the treeline on her left. The familiar sound of his voice quickly relaxed her and she lowered her head and her tail in deference to the more dominant wolf. In response to the friendly bump to her shoulder, she nuzzled the underside of his chin respectfully and let her limp tail wave.

Smiling at his toilet humor—it reminded her of her mother—Koontz replied, "No, the flatulent gene skipped me, thankfully." She paused, head canting slightly. "I guess I'm just trying to take the Beta thing seriously," she said to explain her no-nonsense expression. "Guarding too," she added.

Even as she said it, Koontz realized that it sounded kind of banal. Ariston didn't seem to take himself too seriously and he was the Alpha male. The yearling's other role models—namely, aforementioned gaseous mother—hadn't let their ranks and responsibilities affect their personalities. With that said, Koontz was quiet and contemplative by nature. She exhaled through her nose, telling herself she would find the balance at the end of the day.

"Have you seen Ray?" she asked in the next beat, glancing at the Alpha's face without meeting his eyes. Perhaps he'd seen her brother wandering around the plateau. "I was hoping the three of us could hunt for some breakfast. I just finished patrolling and I'm famished." Although she was much too unassuming to seek Ariston's direct approval, she hoped he noticed and appreciated her effort. She knew they both hoped she would be able to step up as Alpha beside him one day, yet Koontz knew there was still a lot to learn.

Their dynamic had gone through a sort of metamorphosis since its humble beginnings. Koontz's submissive gesture at first surprised him until a mental calculation reminded him on where they stood to one another now; a chuff wordlessly thanked her for the memento. Sometimes alphas forgot they were alphas right? Right?

"You're being serious enough for the both of us," he commented while unknowing of her inner reflection. But upon hearing her hushed snort he guessed that she was perhaps torn between thoughts of who she was and who she wanted to be...the notion of which made him smile warmly. "You're doing great," he added in a quiet murmur.

As if expecting the fellow to be lurking nearby Ariston's head lifted and he glanced at their nearby vicinity for evidence of Koontz's brother. "Nada," he admitted shortly before a thought occurred to him. "But since it's storming I doubt he'll have gone far...the land's too foreign to us." So far it didn't seem too many wolves were nearby. Aside from the occasional vagrant they'd been left alone. But carelessness was for fools.

"Are you two sharing a den at the moment? Think he's even gotten up by this hour?"

A smile curved her lips when he acknowledged her efforts and her tail swung, brushing his flank absently. "Thanks, Ax," Koontz said sincerely. "You're doing great too. I smelled your markers all around the borders." Between the two of them—and Ray's occasional contribution—there could be no mistake that the plateau had been claimed, practically overnight.

At the mention of a den, Koontz's brow furrowed. "You know, I hadn't really thought about a den." She paused, an almost sheepish look passing over her face, though there was a note of pride in her glacial eyes. "I haven't gone to bed yet," she admitted, tipping her silvery snout. "There's too much to do. Who has time for sleep?" she quipped, wondering if Ariston would value her overachievements or if he would chastise her for not resting properly.

Swallowing, Koontz awaited his word while pretending to scan the trees for her brother. The rain made the leaves look dark and oily. A shiver suddenly stole over her and Koontz woofed lightly under her breath and gave her pelt a shake. There was no chance of drying off while standing out here in the downpour, yet the movement at least put a little bit of warmth into her weary muscles.

"I'm pretty much dehydrated now," he joked. "We snagged ourselves a pretty big hunk of land!" And how cool was that? As ill a fit he might've been as alpha - too young/immature/inexperienced/etc. - he was prepared to defend not only his pride but the ones who depended on him now because of it. While he looked fondly at his friend he couldn't help but wonder when she'd feel as though she was 'good enough' for the alpha role; a humility that Ariston had failed to acquire in life.

"Not gone to bed?!" he squawked with an exaggerated toss of his head. "I wasn't aware I needed to assign you a bedtime!" His approach was a mild sort of scolding...one that softened its blow via chummy humor. And despite her statement he snickered and thumped her side with a playful slap of his paw. "I'll have you know that I've taken one - no make that TWO - naps since we got here!" He didn't mention the massive panic attacks in between those siestas but he figured Koontz knew him well enough not to think he was a total buffoon.

Gliding past her he made no note of her shiver. He would've loved to coddle the younger female but knew by now she was rather opposed of the sexist treatment. She wanted to be tough. She was. "Let's find you two a den then," he instructed upon breaking out into a trot. "Since you're too busy to sleep!"

He neither praised nor rebuked her, instead playfully giving her a hard time. Koontz smiled at his jokes, as ever fond of his sense of humor, partly because it reminded her so much of family. "Maybe I should step up sooner rather than later, so this pack doesn't have a slacker running the ship," she joked wryly in return. Of course, she didn't mean any of that seriously. She was only a yearling and there was so much to learn before she took the crown. Besides, she sincerely doubted Ariston had actually found time to catch as many Z's as he said.

When he began to move, suggesting that they locate a suitable den for herself and Ray, Koontz hesitated a moment and said, "No, wait," and bounded to stand at his shoulder, albeit slightly behind him. "I really need some breakfast before I do anything else," she told him. "I need something to eat... and something to drink, funnily enough," she added, blinking drops of rainwater out of her eyes even as she said it.

Going to place his thread with Pitch as the day before this one <3

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"Words hurt, LB," he drawled with a counterfeit pout. 'LB' of course standing in as the abbreviated form of his new favorite nickname 'Little Beta'.

He pumped the brakes at her rebuttal and was reminded of his earlier interaction with Pitch and her successful hunt. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed from what was merely a moment of pondering. "Pitch, that young girl that joined us, snagged a meal yesterday. It was small but she shared half...I didn't eat it." Mostly because he'd been saving it for his overzealous beta. "We should hit her up for being a hunter," he mused while wheeling around toward where he'd first appeared from. "She said she's had a lot of practice."

Assigning tasks and speculating talents was a far cry from the life he'd been living just a few weeks - hell even days - earlier. But he felt confident in his decision even after it'd been given a couple of hours to mull in his head.

"This way this way," he said in a sing song voice as he ducked and wrestled his way under a gnarled shrub in order to reach the trail hidden on the other side.

Koontz stood there a moment, pondering the various possible meanings behind the random nickname, yet the mention of their first new recruit effectively distracted her. "That's great," she replied earnestly, wishing to meet Pitch as soon as possible and get used to the idea of her being a part of their group. "Why didn't you eat it?" she queried absentmindedly even as they began to walk away from the ledge and into the woods.

After watching Ariston battle with a shrub for several moments, Koontz smiled and neatly sidestepped it, joining him on the towpath beyond it. "I like that you don't always take the easy way out, Ax. I think that's a good trait for an Alpha to have," she observed in a slightly impish voice.

In the next moment, however, she grew quite serious again as she focused on the task at hand: scrounging up some breakfast. "I say we check out the herd," she suggested, looking sideways at her cohort. He was the leader, so she would leave the decision up to him. Already, she pictured a deer carcass lying at their feet, and Koontz licked her chops as saliva filled her mouth.

"Because I want to see you get fat," he countered without skipping a beat. But in all honesty he knew that despite Koontz's ingrained instinct to survive she rarely took the opportunity to properly do so; all he'd seen from her was giving 110% to everything beyond her own simple needs. Skipping meals and sleep...and what point would she relax a little? At what point would he not?

Genuine surprise flitted across his face when he noted how easily she ninjaed her way onto his 'hidden' trail. "B-but the secret tunnel..." he mentioned with a comical tilt of his head. His honest flabbergasting (a common reroute of embarrassment) was cancelled out by her praise and he lifted himself a little higher in that moment. If ever-serious Koontz complimented him then she meant it. "I'll be trying REALLY hard," he commented before turning his face away in a rare moment of shyness.

Oy he thought to himself as she stubbornly pursued the thought of hunting. It was his one true shortcoming. He knew it. She (unfortunately) knew it. He was a failure at most hunts...but he was wise enough to know that he'd never get better without practice. So without insisting more on the free meal just a half mile away he turned his head and flashed his cohort a grin.

"Your lead or mine?" he inquired to solidify his agreement on the hunting party.

Laughter bubbled on her lips. "You're so endearing," Koontz told him. Even as she said it, a thought occurred to her. He was handsome, charming, funny and, now, he held a very important title: Alpha male. Surely he would catch the eyes of other females when they joined the pack. Possibly, Pitch already had an eye on the eligible bachelor. Koontz frowned, wondering if this would mean she'd have to compete for the Alpha female rank.

Deciding not to worry about it just now, Koontz belatedly realized just why Ariston had mentioned Pitch's kill. "Oh," she blurted, "you meant I should eat Pitch's catch. Sorry, I didn't connect the dots there. I'm okay with leftovers, though I still say we check out the herd after I eat." She felt oddly guilty for not only overlooking the Alpha's suggestion of an easy meal—caught by their very first subordinate aside from Ray—but his dislike of hunting, period.

She reminded herself that the practice would be good for him regardless. So she went with it. "Let's grab those leftovers. Then I'll take the lead," she replied belatedly. "But remember: this isn't a lion pride," she joked lightly, tail swaying. "We're not going to do all the hunting for you. I'm going to make it my personal mission to whip you into prime hunting shape, in honor of Mo." Ariston knew all about her mother, of course. "I suppose Pitch can help too," she added, trying her best to ignore the slight prickling under her skin.

Totally unaware of his beta's contemplation Ariston couldn't help but laugh out loud when she next began to apologize. Of all her traits -and she had a crap ton of them- it was Koontz's blurts that he found he liked best. Being that she was naturally reserved and polite the sucker punch of honesty was a breath of fresh air. She couldn't let misunderstandings slip by; they had to be addressed right at the moment her error was noticed.

"Nah," he said with an offhanded shrug and a friendly nip at her cheek. "If I eat then I'm going to be full and really make an spectacle out of myself." Inwardly he merely wanted to make sure that if/when they failed there would be a meal for both her and Ray...the one true weakness of the hard working introvert.

"Mo's honor could kick my ass," was his final sentiment before he wheedled back and fell in step just behind Koontz in a gesture of handing her the reigns. Despite the rainwater soaking his pelt he felt largely in control of the situation...so far. "If I am trampled to death in the mud," he whispered as they both settled into predator mode, "at least tell everyone I went down looking cool. And don't tell them if I pee myself."

Especially not that.

Cue: Koo over-thinking everything.

When Ariston made a comment about his hypothetically full stomach, Koontz felt suddenly confused and then awkward. She looked at him quizzically, yet swallowed her baffled query. She had thought it was the mutual assumption that she alone would eat beforehand, after which they would hunt together. It seemed he had meant they would both help themselves to Pitch's cached meat. Now, however, he wanted to skip that altogether so that he wouldn't have to hunt on a full stomach. Koontz felt obligated to forego it as well now, which meant she would have to hunt on an empty one after all. She supposed that that was the point of the whole endeavor...

Blinking hard and feeling suddenly ill at ease over all the misapprehensions regarding whether to eat prior to hunting, Koontz tried to speak lightly as she said, "Okay, so, we're hunting. Now." It was as much question as statement, though it lacked inflection. She seemed to find her answer in either Ariston's face or behavior, which took the edge off her perplexity. More smoothly, she repeated, "We're hunting now," and smiled as if made happy by this development. She just felt relieved at hammering out the plan and impatient at all the unnecessary confusion.

To erase the remaining awkwardness, she grabbed onto his joke. "I will," she said, "and I won't," she added hastily regarding possible loss of bladder control. Feeling conversationally clumsy again, she tried to recover by agreeing, "Mo could kick anyone's butt at hunting. Don't compare yourself to her; it'll only make you feel bad about yourself." A crooked smile slashed across her gray face and she swallowed as she faced forward and continued walking in silence for the moment.

You play it well! She acts pretty much how I do on a daily basis xDD And sorry for that brief pause! I'm planning a family vacation to Florida this September and they changed their pet policy AFTER we booked @_@ Spent days trying to find out what we were going to do with the dogs (found an affordable, professionally bonded pet sitter company thank goodness).

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He could practically feel the speculation oozing from his partner's general vicinity and could only just barely suppress the sigh bubbling up in the back of his throat. I will suffocate you until your thoughts calm he thought wryly to himself. It wasn't that Koontz's anxieties irked him...it was more that he knew once her gears began to turn very little could be done to stop it. His natural instinct to openly tackle situations clashed unmercifully with her knack of internally digesting information. They made a great team because of it...but it could also make progress a tad slow when they were together. Their biggest obstacle thus far seemed to be learning their roles as the other's counterweight. He was her key to opening up. She was the anchor that kept him from overreaching.

"Yes. Jane and Tarzan go hunting now. Bring down big prize." Trying to ease her social awkwardness with humor a massive grin split his lips when she faltered at his directions. Sometimes he got as much pleasure from flustering her as he did soothing her. But the urge to laugh was quelled; the miniscule creak of a trodden branch made his ears swivel to the right. Hear that? he mentally inquired of his huntress whilst begging with his lead feet to for once NOT be a dead giveaway to their position.

No worries. I'm glad you were able to find a resolution. :)

When Ariston gently made fun of her, Koontz shot him a glare which looked convincingly severe at first, but which was soon joined by a reluctant grin. "Ass," she muttered quietly through smiling lips. Despite her mother's proclivity for swearing—or possibly because of it—Koontz didn't often curse. It felt good to do it every once in a while. And sometimes she took a smug sort of pleasure when she saw the resultant look of shock that passed over someone's face when such a filthy word dared leap from her otherwise eloquent tongue.

All thoughts, silly or otherwise, suddenly took a backseat when the pair of wolves simultaneously picked up on the sound of footfalls somewhere deeper in the forest. Her brain shut off for the time-being as her senses kicked into overdrive. Exchanging a glance with Ariston, Koontz began to creep toward the source of the sound. As she went, her slow, open gait transformed into a silent prowl. She kept low as she slunk, carefully considering the placement of each foot. Knowing Ariston, she kept shooting him glances, her pale eyes begging him to keep quiet as they hopefully closed in on their prey.

Rather than center his attention on the mysterious entity beyond them Ariston's entire focus settled on the mannerisms taken on by Koontz. It was obvious she had already fallen into prowl mode; her every movement was sensitive to the status of their prey (aside from the occasional don't you dare glances she kept sending his way). I got dis he coolly responded as a slow grin split his maw. Being thrust into the midst of a hunt always forced him into a tense, giddy state. He wanted everything to go well but was worried it would not. Then again if it did...how cool would that be?!

The air around them filled with a static-like intensity that signaled their target was getting the sense that all was not right with the world. Them not being discovered yet gave them great favor toward victory...but Ariston knew soon that an attack would be initiated to ensure their food didn't get the notion to flee. He tensed and paused lest a mistaken step ruin the opportunity; he watched his companion for further orders.

Edit on 08/18: I'm editing in a conclusion due to Ariston's removal from the game.

Miraculously, Ariston managed to avoid bungling the entire operation—so far, anyhow. Koontz shot him a quick smile, then faced forward again, now proceeding very slowly. She could not see them yet, yet she sensed the resident herd of deer in a clearing ahead of them. She could smell them and faintly hear their rustlings from here. She also felt them, in a way, as if she had a sixth and uncategorized sense akin to a heat-seeking missile. Only, in her case, she was a meat-seeking missile.

Sliding beneath shrubs like a silver shadow, Koontz froze in a crouch when her pale eyes finally spotted their silhouttes through a break in the trees. She turned her muzzle sharply, chuffing very quietly to tell Ariston, Stop! She then settled into place there behind the screen of foliage to track the herd's movements. The yearling would study them until she figured out which one was the most likely target. Although a terrible role model for it at times, March Owl had instilled in her youngest daughter—her final cub—the importance of patience in the midst of a hunt.

That patience served her well—and paid off in the end. After carefully selecting a victim and exchanging a silent cue with Ariston, the two wolves emerged from the brush. Fortune favored the leading pair, allowing them to fell the half-grown fawn they had targeted. It was all over in a moment. And it only took them another few minutes to fall upon their kill, bolt down as much meat as they could hope to hold in their belly baskets, and then flopped down in the grass nearby to digest the fruit of their labor.