Eyes the shade that matched backdrop to the stars shifted here and there as the 8 month old male scanned for any possible threats that hid themselves, even among the open landscape both ahead and behind him. Yuda hugged the relaxed river as he came close to a place where his breaths felt harder to draw inward. He noted that the thick air was caused from gushes of water that burst into the air. Briefly thinking that the liquid must be sweltering to cause such thick steam, Yuda ignored what was to his left and continued on.
Amelie's life was fine. Despite the hurting of her heart and the creases in her spirit she continued to move, she was up and about almost every day. Since Junior's sudden departure, Amelie had been frequenting the borders more often, hoping that one day she might run into her scent. She had also been more persistent in earning her first Trade as a Naturalist.
And though her heart still ached, she had avoided all contact with the greyscale male that had ripped her fragile heart to shreds. She left the plateu for endless hours in hopes to avoid crossing paths with him; she had even spent a whole day sitting by the mountain's feet just to pass time.
Today however, she had not strayed far from the Plateu. Even if being a Warden or Warrior was not on her wish-list she still enjoyed an occassional stride along the borders. After having paced around the imaginary line that separated their and from the rest of the flatlands she trotted happily to the river that rested in between her pack and where Jinx's pack once had resided.
As she approached an unfamiliar scent reached her nose. Quickly the girl pricked her ears and advanced to look for the source, until finally she got a glimpse of the dark coated boy that wandered through the land.
"Hey there!" she called to him, her tail flicking in a friendly manner.
Vision more focused peripherally to the left, Yuda scowled at himself for not noticing the dark female that lay across the river. Slowing to a stop, the black-eyed male turned his head slowly to analyze the wolf that had called out. He noted that she was of a young age, possibly around his own — although it was not feasible to tell since wolves came in a vast amount of heights and weights. How she carried herself, though, was Yuda's way of telling that she was around a year.
His voice did not call out in reply. The dark youth simply stared with the black depths which took residence in his skull. Yuda thought words were a waste, and, therefore, did not speak much, if at all. Not realizing that he was probably being impolite or bad-mannered, he continued to stand like a statue and stare at the female who lay on the other size of the flowing waters that separated them.
His eyes held the night in them, the voids of his skull held the darkness of the night sky and though at first it seemed to resemble a starless one, she noticed a little glimer on the corner. A single star in the middle of the abyss. Was that what he was as well? A lost child in the world?
Though he seemed older than what she had been when she became a lone wolf, he had still some growing to do. In a wild guess, Amelie would've said he was around his 7th or 8th month.
She waited a long minute before speaking again, apparently the boy was really shy or perhaps he just wasn't a bit interested in speaking to her. With a slow step closer to the river's side, she pricked her ears and narrowed her yellow eyes."Are you..lost?", she asked while titling her head slightly to one side.. if he was lost she'd be more than glad to keep him company until he found his way..
The boy stared blankly for a long while after she called out. He contemplated being lost, which was definitely not what he was. A directionless wanderer without a home was more fitting, he decided. Maybe somewhere within the growing wolf he was lost, but if a hint peeked from under the stone he possessed for a heart, it wouldn't be denial but a raw laughter that shook from his body.
It never occurred that the female with pale gold eyes would be attractive, nor any other femme, whether she had pure beauty plastered upon her or if they were less-fortunate. Yuda gave attraction no thought, and no though entered his mind about the look of another wolf unless the opposing wolf would be in a defensive stance or if he had scars. And, frankly, if he even thought about looks, he would think every wolf was ugly except those with vibrant and blatantly hideous scars. Scars held stories of war, war which he was bred to live and bred to survive.
Alas, a very minute shake of his head came, one that was so small that it would be missed with a simple blink. His response was final, and that's the only thing that his thoughts rested upon for a moment until it was blown away gently to be forever forgotten.
Amelie was probably the best wolf on the Plateu to understand what it meant being lost. When she had been no older than him she had already stepped --or was forced out rather-- of her childhood. Her mother had left one morning without a sound, leaving her and her two brothers stranded. It had been quite a shock to wake up and realize your whole world was gone, and that you were now responsible for yourself.
Was that what this boy felt?, she wondered as she offered a kind smile to him. To her dismay, not even her friendly gestures or bright eyes encouraged him to speak. Well, at least she knew he was not lost. It might've seemed weirds but the fact that he wasn't lost made her spirit drop a bit, she had thought of the idea of reeling him into the Plateu like Blue had done with her at the time.
But if he wasn't lost, what was he doing out alone? Maybe he too likes adventure, she told herself as she dropped her gaze momentarily at the river that flowed between them. "What's your name?", she barked with a soft voice, hoping to at least get his name out of him.
Blackened eyes shifted to her feminine mouth when she spoke. When she finished her short sentence, his eyes rested a moment more in a somewhat trance. The shape of her face and the slope of her neck dragged his attention to an unknown place.
Snapping from distractions, and not knowing what exactly they were, Yuda moved his head ever so slightly and set his pitch black eyes upon her bright colored ones. The wolf's dark frame had not moved other than the minute shifts of his head. The boy nearly began walking again, but it motivation to do so was stuck, for it hadn't gained any momentum to make the first movement to moving on in his journey (if it was a journey at all).
"Yuda," slipped from his tongue. Thinking someone else said it for a split second was what his ears told him, but he knew that this was untrue, for he had felt the small vibrations come from his neck. He believed that his voice sounded deeper from when he had last heard the sound, but Yuda could not be sure since it had been so long since he had spoken to anyone.
The shaded boy did not inquire the same from the girl across the river, but he knew that she would reply with her own name. Lightly pondering that she would not have a plain name, the thought dissolved moments later due to its waste of space within Yuda's mind.
The yearling felt the weight of his gaze upon her skin, she had an urge to shift uncomfortably but resisted it, thinking that the boy might be offended if she did. His eyes were like no other, they held a mysterious glint in the side, and because of their dark hue it was impossible to really tell apart the pupil from the iris. It looked as if his orbs had been glazed with a thin mantle of the night's sky. Yes, that was the best way she could describe it.
He had the eyes of the night.
And a hollow voice that didn't seem to match with his appereance. She offered a smile once his name was given, Yuda, it wasn't common but it had a nice ring to it. "My name is Amelie", she barked back, with the same bubbly tone that she had used the first time.
She wanted to ask questions --because that was always how she was -- but didn't because when he spoke she could feel a little uneasiness in his voice. As she laid eyes upon the Night (his new nickname), she wondered silently if he had a pack, or if he wanted one.. Even if she knew Perry wasn't bound to take in juveniles into the Plateu, she figured she seek Blue if the boy really wanted to enter.
There was no pride when she said her name, even if he had guessed that the word that branded her would not be vanilla to the world. It was concise and did not sound unpleasant to his ears, yet Yuda really did not care. A name was simply a word that labeled a wolf to be beckoned; though the watercolor male would not flinch nor startle — or even respond — if anyone would ever call it. For selective wolves in the past, an answer would come almost reluctantly from the boy — but an answer would come, even if it was just a pause in his strut or the slightest movement of his head.
And the slightest movement of his head is what Yuda gave to this Amelie. It wasn't quite half of a nod, but an acknowledgement from the male was something spectacular to be seen — even if odd to the rest of the world. He was one of serious nature, almost so serious that his actions could definitely be seen as rude, callous, cruel, or even apathetic. Blasé would be at the top of the list, and a definite.
And so, a look of almost boredom was shown in his body, his stance, and mostly in the look he gave. The darkness of his eyes held nothing, just as the lack of color.
The boy kept to himself any opinions or comments about --everything really. She suspected it would be hard to get an answer out of him, so far out of all the questions she had asked him all --but one-- were responded by body language alone. She appreciated that he at least answered but she didn't really understand why the boy kept up his mime act.
Was he afraid to speak?
The silence had settled between them since they had first laid eyes on one another, and though Yuda seemed comfortable --or rather indifferent of her presence; Amelie could not bear the silence. After clearing her throat loudly, driven by the fear that it might become dusty to the point she couldn't speak like him, she craned her elongated neck and peered into the male's obscure eyes.
"I think you're eyes are pretty", she barked, thinking that if she made him feel more at ease he might untie his tongue and speak. But it wasn't just to gain his trust, she genuinely thought there was some kind of magic hidden below the Night's eyes.
A small prick more of entertainment was gained when the tar-colored female smoothed a hitch in her throat and put effort into examining him more closely. It was near a victory that he had noticed she felt slightly uneasy, and there she was clearing her throat. This was not necessarily Yuda feeling pride, for a devilish smirk would have graced his face for a second if it had been.
Then the starry-eyed girl spewed useless words at the boy; except, they weren't so useless. Yuda had never been complimented on his eyes. His family was avoided due to them, all outcasts and antisocial loners.
His mouth parted slightly, the gears of his mind running dry in a thirst for oil.
Once the words were thrown out into the world there was no way to take them back --not because she didn't mean it--but because she just hadn't realized how stupid she must've seemed until the words were finally pronounced. Amelie also parted her lips only to stutter lamely before flicking an ear back in discomfort.
Her starry-eyes fell onto the ground, following the path of the small river that ran between them. She then scrambled enough courage to look at him again, her eyes sinking once more into the dark abyss of his orbs.
The confusing creep twisted itself upon the surprisingly warm heart of Yuda (although the warmth that existed was solely due to the heat of his body). It urged him to thank the young girl for what she'd said There was no need to revert to the past, for the juvenile already knew he had never given any wolf appreciation before; but, the cream-bellied male was both too prideful and uncomfortable to do so.
Which brought on more guilt, which defined the secret word. His dark eyes looked to her shining ones, and so came a dribble of hope that she would raise her sunflower dabbled gems once more. His body jerked forward with anticipation the moment before she raised his eyes, and the male silently scolded himself for losing control, even if only for a second.
Complete and utter silence settled between them once more, weighing down on the girl's shoulders and dragging down her tail. She was walking on the tight rope here, not knowing whether the boy didn't speak because he was simply shy or because he disliked her. A shushed sigh escaped from her lips as she flicked an ear back, waiting for an answer that would never come.
Despite the fact that she could feel his black eyes on her, she didn't flinch or even swallowed the excess of saliva building in her mouth. She was hypnotized by his eyes but intimidated by his stare.
She fought against the urge of blubbering out an apology after more second seeped painfully on her shoulders. She instead cleared her throat and coughed lightly, another subtle attempt to soften the brick wall set between them.
Black holes clung to watching the actions she performed in a mild form of curiosity. The mistress of the night sky seemed to reach into others' hearts, and her own beating organ met the emotional wavelengths of others with the passion set anywhere between a small stroke or a strict beating.
A breath was taken in a slight amount deeper, and let go of a fraction more quickly than usual. This was the classification of a sigh produced by Yuda. The black orbs roamed down the lean wolf's body, and when his eyes reached her feet, they paused to stare blankly. Many seconds later, the depths pulled across the river, and an almost inaudible "Thank you" slipped away in a voice almost as dark as the eyes of the user (not to confuse "dark" with "sinister").
Yuda did not look back, nor did he have the urge to do so. The interaction was completed, and his mind entirely wiped away the encounter. Well, almost entirely.
Though in her mind, the attempt of reviving the already dead conversation were very obvious, the CPR done by her compliment managed to save their meeting from falling into a flatline. As he looked away and breathed a thank-you, Amelie allowed her soulders to relax, as if all the built up seconds that lied on her back, and had felt like bricks moments before had transformer into light feathers that swayed with the breeze.
"You're very welcome Yuda" she answered, giving him a bright smile that even if it would not be seen, she was sure it would be felt.