Moonspear dragonsreach

@Gannet

The ghoul drew herself from out of her den with a soft sigh and looked up at the mountain that she had taken for a home. Her eyes roamed over the sharp crags and jutting stones with a fearful glimmer before she pulled away and focused her attentions elsewhere, trying to keep herself distracted from the thought that she truly had no idea what she was doing. The shadow stepped into a more open area, stretching her limbs and testing their strength against the ache that still lingered in her muscles. Lucy would never know how to let go of what had happened to her, and it had awoken within her some violent fear that gripped with claws tight around her neck.
 
The dark creature slunk across rocky scape until she fell into trees and found a small area where the sun shone through the branches to illuminate the earth beneath. The snow had been plentiful, but she knew that her dark coat was fond of picking at the rays that fell to the ground from up above. Gingerly stepping toward the sunspot, Lucy made herself comfortable and curled into a tight ball to wait and watch for others. Her ears swiveled with each passing sound. 

Gannet had been ranging, running patrols and climbing he mountain, everything focused on hunting and contributing for a change. It was wonderful. The stones of the mountain provided him a wonderful obstacle course to strengthen in and the sides were growing more abundant with small prey. He thought that, perhaps, next group hunt he may partake. It was a good feeling.

Optimistic even with Dune's disappearance weighing on his spirit, Gannet waited eagerly for Hydra's return so that he could spar and show her how much he had improved.

He spotted Lucy's dark shape as he walked from the corner of his eye, the beam of light glinting off of dark fur, and he for a moment was excited. She was back!? But no, the eyes that caught his were golden, and he turned to curiosity. Who?

He didn't approach, but chuffed a quiet greeting. Hello!

The sound of someone’s warning sounded, but the dark ghoul still jumped and held herself rigidly to the earth in an attempt to ground the wild racing in her mind. Lucy’s ears swiveled, and she moved to face him. The stub of a tail at her rear wagged some before she returned to her stiff-legged posture. The male who stood some length away was of average height and did not seem dramatically imposing. To her, he was still a great threat. Her gaze wandered to the darkness of his paws and she fixed them to that spot with a low head and limp posture. The dark girl assumed that all of the others within Charon’s pack had out ranked her. She imagined that she would remain on the tail end of their pack for quite some time.
 
“Hello,” she greeted with a feeble smile. A shiver passed her frame, but the dark ghoul did not dare to flinch from her well-calculated posture. She gritted her teeth and forced the edges of her lips to curl. For just a moment, the soft blue of her gaze wandered up to his own. Quick to correct herself, she pinned her eyes on the contrast of his paws and waited to see what he should want.

Normally Gannet was a forward and somewhat physically affectionate wolf, despite his taciturn appearance. He read a reluctance to Lucy, though, that caused him to hang back, though everything in his posture read friendly ease. Ears forward, shoulders relaxed, stance casual. He didn't submit... she hadn't moved in enough to warrant that. But he didn't pay much attention to her own treatment of him either. He knew he was still low man on the totem pole and would be for likely a long while yet. He didn't mind one bit.

"Hi. Who're you?" He asked, failing to follow up with his own introduction although it naturally would follow. The sequences of conversation still sometimes escaped him. He hadn't seen her, so either she was new, or he had missed her presence here a while somehow. "New here?" He added, curious enough to pose the question out loud.

The pale young man didn’t seem to pay much attention to how she held herself around him. After a few long moments, she finally attempted to fix her shape so that she could stand comfortably and keep a watchful eye on him. His tone was pleasant enough, and she imagined that he didn’t seem the type to be up to things, but she had been wrong before and knew that it was likely to happen again. He asked for a name, to which the ghoul batted her eyes and turned her gaze away from him.

“Er… it’s Lucy. I’m Lucy. And, I’m definitely new around here,” she responded. It was as though it couldn’t have been more obvious. The dark shadow of a girl didn’t know how she was supposed to behave in the ranks of a pack – one that had been established by the same family for so long – and she allowed it to seep into her actions and words without realizing it had happened.

Knowing better than to treat others with a cold shoulder, Lucy made an effort to appear friendly by wavering her tail, inviting him to move a little closer. The wagging of her stubbed tail still ached through her back end, so she tried her best to hold it still and remain friendly. “What’s your name?” she finally returned, knowing that conversation would have been the easiest way to get along with the Moonspear wolves.  

Lucy. It was a nice name, but held no significance to him. Maybe if he'd been around more, and paid more attention, he'd have known her. But he was from the time before, when Peregrine and Fox still lived, and Finley's children were merely cousins or friends. She had disappeared well before he had cause to remember much.

"Gannet," he responded, with an easy swing of his tail. So she was new! That was exciting! He wondered if she was a relative or simply a stranger, like Dune had been. Of course that brought to the fore thoughts of all who had left. Are you staying seemed a little odd even for him, so he went with something else. "D'you like it so far?" It was innocent enough; he wouldn't mind if she said no. It just seemed like a lot lately had decided they didn't, and it made him curious on why.

He spoke with her a while, but she seemed guarded, and he wasn't particularly wordy either. Still, he got a good vibe, and hoped perhaps at some point he could add her to the list of new friends within here. Quiet wasn't a bad thing! He should know.