A figure dark as the night sat alone in the middle of the tall grass that covered the extense field known as the Kintla Flatlands, its head pointing upwards to the empty sky above her head.
Amelie blinked slowly, caught in the midst of thought and reflection. She was in a weird place of her life right now, struggling between the feelings that puberty brought along. Not yet an adult but not a puppy anymore. Caught in the middle of a complex labyrinth that seemed to be filled with dead ends and narrow spaces.
A particular thought troubled the young girl's mind. Boys.
Of course the only interaction Amelie had ever had with these individuals was when she lived with her brothers, who truthfully made her life a living hell..
But know these filthy, annoying creatures seemed to be different. Something about their mere presence made the teen lose the ability to talk with eloquence and squirm awkwardly when they looked at her..
She groaned and threw her head back, looking again at the sky that was suddenly tainted by a million bright dots, like a chandelier shining over the flatlands.
Beric had left the newly claimed lands of Wheeling Gull Isle to go in search of his family. He wasn't leaving Majesty's pack by any means, but he was still yearning to find his lost family, and something told him they were still in the area. He had traveled all day, but hadn't come across a single wolf. Odd, he thought to himself. He continued on, though, knowing he would have to find some life at some point.
Beric stopped suddenly, "life's" scent reaching his nose. It was another wolf. His gaze scanned the area, but the darkened night gave a good cover to the other wolf, until he caught movement. He could the top of a muzzle, and wondered just how small the wolf was, not even thinking it was a juvenile. He chuffed softly to give himself away, if the wolf hadn't already found out he was here. He hadn't been trying to be quiet. Hello? he called out.
For a second it seemed all the little dots above her head decided to come together and put up a little act just for her. Like a well-syncronized choreography, the shiny stars blinked, as if they were sending a message to the young girl using morse code.
Amelie, not all boys are bad, they murmured, tinkling softly over the veil of black that covered the sky.
The charcoal girl was just about to throw herself to the ground, and lay there until the soil decided to absorb her somehow so she wouldn't have to face the strange feelings broiling inside her stomach ever again. But before she could flail like a little child, a deep voice called out to her direction.
She inmediately bounced to her paws and with her tail curled over her back and her ears pricked she called out to the voice, "Who's there?" she barked, her voice high-pitched and anxious.
A young female's voice rose above the chirping sounds around them, inquiring as to who was here. He could ask the same, he supposed. Instead, however, he simply answered her question. I'm Beric, from Wheeling Gull Isle, he replied. Curiosity getting the better of him, he asked, And you are? His voice was soft, inquisitive.
his neck stretched, his gaze trying to catch a better glimpse of her. You can come out of that tall grass, if you want, he said. He'd like to know who exactly it was he was speaking with. She sounded young, but it was difficult to tell without actually seeing her.
Beric, did sound nice though..so Amelie took his offer and crawled out the tall grass slowly, her bright yellow eyes meeting his. She was first intimidated by his size, he was quite larger than Blue Willow herself. She narrowed her little eyes as she examined his rippling muscles underneath his coat. He had the force but he was not hostile towards the girl, which made her feel a little more at ease in front of him.
With her tail wagging she took a tiny step forward, deciding not to show her trust completely, "Hello Beric" she replied with a smile, "I am Amelie, from the Blacktail Deer Plateu..."
Her dark form came out from between the tall blades of glass, and his suspicion was correct: she was young. And obviously leery of him. He sat back on his haunches, wrapping his tail around his legs. It nice to meet you, Amelie, he responded. He wondered if she had any family or pack members around. Surely, they would not have let her go anywhere alone. Then again, wolves her age were apt to go places on their own, without anyone's permission. I haven't heard of your pack before. Could you tell me a bit about it? Like, are your parents going to try and rip me apart if they see me with you?
His gaze roamed the area as they spoke, almost waiting for other wolves to show up, looking for this juvenile. He turned his attention back to her. So, what are you doing out here all alone? he questioned. She had been hiding in the tall grass, but was she hiding from someone in specific?
But the wolf made questions she had no answer to. What could she say about her pack without revealing too much? Shoud she mention the pups or would that put them in danger? She did not think Beric was the kind of guy to injure pups, but one could never be too sure. Should she mention the sudden tension between the Alpha pair? No of course not.. Then what besides that they were a striving pack living on a plateu -as it's name states it- couls she say?
"Umm.." she stuttered as she tried to come up with something meaningful to say, "We're striving, we have a great leader and a bright future ahead" she barked, thinking about the great wolves the pups would grow up to be.
Then he struck her with another question that left her dumbfounded. What was she up to and why was she alone? Yeah, there was no way she could say she had gone for a walk as the night fell over the flatlands just because she was having boy troubles. Again she struggled to find an answer.
"Well..I was enjoying the stars.. and.." she bit her tongue not to go on but she couldn't hold it in, "just thinking y'know?" she gushed while flicking her tail, "It's just that.." she blabbered on, "There's this guy and then..ugh" she cut herself off before she did something incredibly stupid like tell this stranger her lifestory and act like he was her shrink.
The young female seemed to contemplate whether or not she should answer his question about her pack. Or maybe she was trying to think of what to say. She probably hadn't had much interaction with strangers, and if instinct was telling her correctly, it was to not say too much. He nodded, That's good to hear, he responded. I've actually been going around to the packs, asking if they've seen my family. Have you meet or heard of anyone named Barristan, Julooke, or Verrine? They would probably be traveling together. At least, he hoped they were still together. They'd be much easier to find, that's for sure.
She seemed to settle down and relax. She admitted she had been enjoying the stars- something he could relate to. He often looked to the dark skies for guidance on his journey. She seemed to have her own reasons, as well. His ears perked a little when she mentioned problems with a guy. But, she seemed to rethink telling Beric what was wrong. You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to, but maybe some fresh ears would help? He was more than willing to drop the subject if she liked, though.
As embarrasing as it was to gush over her feeling to a complete stranger Amelie forced herself not to flinch, she struggled to keep her paws from shuffling and betraying her discomfort, all she could hope for was that the male didn't make fun of her nervousness.
She was torn between the decision of trusting the guy or not. He had proved to be nice so far, and chances were he'd probably forget in the morning so what was the harm in letting her feeling out? The troubled teen took a deep breath before meeting her eyes to his again.
"Well.." she began shyly, "There was this guy.. and well he is like the typical trouble maker that walks around like he owns the place and just doesn't care." she explained, the image of Rayder popping into her head, "And my foster mom doesn't like him at all, so it's just pretty confusing y'know?" she blurted out, hoping her new friend understood her dilema
He held back a sigh. It seemed no one had seen his family. He was beginning to think maybe they weren't here at all. He gave her a gentle smile, I'd appreciate it, he replied. Who knew, maybe she would run across them before he did.
Hmm, he thought. She was having some guy trouble, along with some Mom trouble. Does he seem to care about you? he asked gently. The way the young wolf treated her could be a good indication on whether Mom was right, or just maybe being over-protective, not that he would ever say that to the Mom's face. He'd likely get his own ripped off. But, he might still be able to give her a little advice on what she should do.
The girl flashed him a bright smile accompanied with a soft wag of her tail. It seemed her shyness was forgotten for a moment when the male showed such gentleness towards her. He was actually the first outsider she met since she had joined the Plateu, and it was going pretty well to be honest. Even if the conversation had taken a weird turn she still enjoyed his company.
"I dunno" she answered with a whine, if she could just figure out those sort of things as easily, life would be a whole lot better. It should be simple etiquette to clarify that sort of things, a simple "hey, yeah so I think I like-like you" would be great. That way there wouldn't be any misunderstandings that could end up hurting either one of the involved parties.
But sadly things weren't that simple, and Amelie would have to get used to it. "Anyways.." she barked quickly, killing the previous topic completely, "Where did you say you're from again?" she inquired, wanting to know more about the world outside the confinement of the Plateu
He returned her smile, though his expression changed as he thought about her answer. She was sure if the boy cared about her. Does he... go out of his way to see you? Or has he shown in another way that he likes you, even as a friend? he asked. If so, I think you should try to build on that. If not though, he added. Maybe you should find someone who does. It probably wasn't the answer she was looking for, but he didn't want to give her any false hope since he had no idea who the boy was or how he was acting.
She changed the subject, and he was happy to go with it. Wheeling Gull Isle, he responded. It's an island just off the Sequoia Coast. It's pretty nice, and has a big forest in the middle of it that protects against the afternoon sun, and the beaches are full of little creatures scurrying around. Other than the prey issue, he liked the place.
A single thought crossed the teen's mind when he kept trying to figure out where her nonexistent relationship with this boy was: he was truly persistent. She had tried to kill the topic as she realized the asnwers to all those questions was a big fat no. Still Big-heart Beric was still prodding at the subject, which really was just as useful as poking a rock with a stick.
Amelie had decided she wouldn't say another word about her stupid crush, anyways she was beginning to feel tired. perhaps curling next to Blue's side would make her feel better.
Beric finally agreed to drop the whole Dr.Love role and tell her a little more where he came from. The fact that his pack dwelled on an island really surprised the young girl. She had seen the sea from a far but had never thought of getting in. "Oh, is it too far from here?" she asked quickly though she didn't wait long enough to answer. An owl's shriek broke from a tree behind them, and Amelie took this as a sign that it was time to leave.
Like cinderella after hearing the clock chime at midnight Amelie had to scurry back into her castle before mother noticed she was gone. "Pleasure to meet you Beric from Wheeling Gulf Isle!" she yapped in a hurry while taking of into the heart of the plateu once more.
The previous topic was dropped, and the young girl asked if his home was very far. He went to answer, but the girl was distracted by the hooting of an owl. His ear twitched, but his attention was on the girl as she quickly departed, not leaving him any time to say his own goodbye. Nice to meet you, too, he said to himself, sullenly.
He sighed, standing, and turned towards home. There was no longer anything interesting here.