Otter Creek Break the cycle.

Preferably a non-DB wolf for Kendra's development. :)

Kendra was usually exploring the tunnels if she wasn't around her twin brother or father. The web of tunnels underground Black Feather Woods and Dark Brother territory was quite extensive. As of now the girl was following a new path, following an underground river upstream. The girl was curious where it would end seeing she had not been in this tunnel before. She felt safe inside the tunnels, her coat matching with the darkness. The first thing she realized as she neared the end of the tunnel was that there was a lot of light. She was so used to underground and the dark heart of the territory that her pale colored eyes didn't do well with light. She was almost tempted to turn around, figuring this exit/entrance was close to the borders but her curiosity won, along with her interest for plants.

The five month old stepped forward, squinting her eyes a bit as she came from the exit. A soft whine escaped her before retreating back into the shadows of the entrance. She was mesmerized by what she was seeing. The dark veil of the woods she lived in was not present here? She pushed herself forward, unknowingly using a secret entrance into Mephala's web. The girl stayed in the shadows, away from the shining sun. She sniffed the air before waking further. Was this a part of their territory too? She couldn't smell her father as strongly, or the rest of the pack. She was still close but the scents were old. Kendra stiffened. She was probably outside of her pack lands, by a branch off from Otter Creek.

*hopes she fits the criteria* :)

Good god he was hungry. I mean, that was a typical state of being for Whittier, but still. It didn't ever get more comfortable. And not once when his belly was full and happy did he think to himself that he would have rejected having another bite were one available, so really this would seem to be the norm for him. But it wasn't. This was hunger deeper than ever he'd felt. The scraps here and there he'd managed along the way seemed like feasts in his memory, and he wanted so badly to have even the tiniest morsel of one of those scraps right now.

That's when he spotted her. She was small. Obviously young. Not likely a partner any other wolf would have put all of their hopes upon. But, Whit was beyond caring, smack dab in the middle of taking-what-he-could-get.

"Hey!" Whit called as he came upon the dark girl, "Hunt with me. Please. Unless you have food already?" He paused, part of him knowing it was too much of a long shot considering wolves didn't exactly have pockets, but.. how cool would it be.

OMG yes, perfect.

Kendra stepped forward cautiously, lapping some of the water of the stream. Her head snapped up when she heard heavy footfalls. Her pale eyes instantly locked onto the male that was approaching her. Kendra raised her hackles she saw the male. He was young like her, but probably big enough to be considered an adult. She flickered her tail, not to be confused with a wag, because that was definitely not it. The tip of her tail dyed blood-red with the dye she made for the Dark Brotherhood.

Kendra watched over the male that told her to hunt with him. Her eyes looked over him with serious judgement. He looked well nourished enough to not have to hunt for like a month. The thing was, Kendra 'disliked' hunting, she would specialize herself in other things, while her pack fed her in return for that help. It was not the killing but the running. Compared to her long legged brother she was like a slow turtle. Maybe these two pups had something in common after all. "Why are you asking for food from a stranger? What are you? Some kind of homeless?," she questioned.

For the female it was very strange to see wolves without a home,or even think about that fact. She had only know a pack life, and she was most definitely not keen enough to leave her dark forest unless on accident. What clearly happened today. Kendra raised her muzzle and then sat down. Her pale eyes on him, squinting suspiciously. "You could at least introduce yourself to me," she pointed out.

Whittier slowed to a stop when he noticed the wary posture the girl shifted into in response to his approach. He canted his head in confusion, though there was really nothing odd about it. He was far too used to living with his own family in a community that was always happy to see him (though he was not always as thrilled). Caution was something he'd have to learn. Or, to be more accurate: Caution was something he needed to remember he had already learned. God damn skunks..

Frowning, he listened to her admonish him. He felt a pang at her comment about him being homeless, but he buried it because that's what tough guys do. The rest was mostly lost on him as he thoughtfully noted how like his sister she was, prattling on about manners and some stupid things when they could be trying to eat something.

"Well obviously I'm asking because I'm hungry," he stated in a tone that hinted not so subtly at his annoyance, "And my name is Whit. Now will you hunt with me? I saw some scratching around in the snow back there, I think there's turkeys or something around."

Kendra was unsure what to think of this male. He was quite strange to her. No one would really talk to her on that tone. Instead of being pissed about it she found it rather refreshing. They all treated her like some princess here while she was just Kendra. However, Just Kendra was not very keen on going to hunt with him. She was not even sure why she would help him in the first place he was not part of her pack. Add to the fact that she would have to go out into more of the daylight which would irritate her eyes.

"This dark coat will be seen instantly. I am afraid I am not of use to you with hunting," she started her muzzled a bit raised into the air. Her bushy tail flickered again, still curious about this other wolf. Frankly the girl had never even heard of the word 'turkeys' and had no clue what kind of animals they were. She figured they were animals seeing that this male wanted to eat them. She was not going to make a fool of herself. However maybe she could teach this one someone else. "But I might be able to give you other food that doesn't need to be hunted," he pointed out to him.

One question arose into her mind though. And she was not going to keep her mouth shut when she asked about this. "If you can't hunt yourself and know about other types of food you don't need to hunt for then why are you all alone? That is not logical at all. Do you want to die?," she questioned.

Whit felt his irritation grow as the girl made up excuses for why she couldn't hunt with him. There was some truth in her statement though, or so he began to think. She was too young to be helpful anyway. He gave a shrug and was prepared to wave her off when she was speaking again, and turning Whit's head with her words.

"Other food's cool too..." he commented, brows piqued with interest. But instead of then providing said food that needs not be hunted, she was questioning him again, and Whit's hungry mind was slowing.

"Uh.. No, I'd prefer not dying," he answered slowly, "I'm alone because I'm looking for someone. My sister ran off by herself and I'm trying to find her. AND I can hunt for myself, it's just.. not as easy as hunting with someone else."

Kendra watched the male turn. Her pale eyes on the male with a certain interest. This male was very food driven she noticed. After she had spoken he had even turned his head around. Kendra quicked up her lips lightly before dropping them again. It felt like a bit of a victory. The girl realized that she was not totally antisocial and absorbed with her plants.

She had used blueberries and lavender for her purple dye and she knew where to find them inside of the territory but outside. She looked around with an attentive eye. The young female then started to head off into a direction without saying a word, just a glance. She was quite peculiar at times. Kendra kept her eyes squinted lightly as she nosed around the riverbank to then turn towards the bushes. She tried to catch this fruity smell and it didn't take long for her to find some blueberries. She grabbed a branch with her teeth and tipped her head, branch snapping like a rabbit's neck. She placed it by her feet on the ground. "Blueberry."

The girl said nothing in response, and Whittier began to grow uncomfortable under her curious stare. Why wasn't she saying anything? Was there something on his face? Was he standing weird? Whit fidgeted slightly, trying to stand more normal than he was and finding he wasn't quite sure how to do it. Were his legs too far apart? Was his paw angled too far to the right? Maybe it was the direction he was facing. Maybe he should be pointing more to the side, more casual. That's it! He was standing too tensely, he needed to slump a little...

Meanwhile, the female turned and left. It took Whit a moment to realize she had begun to move. He watched her then as she departed, a tad bit bewildered since she hadn't actually said anything. He felt compelled to follow her and took a few steps as if to do so, but stopped when he thought that maybe she was actually just leaving. He debated then whether or not he too should leave, but stayed because of the marginal chance that maybe she would be back with a dead deer.

And she was! Well, not deer, but something. She dropped the branch at her own paws and stated a single word rather matter-of-factly and Whittier once again was left uncertain of what to do. "Um... sweet," Whit replied uncertainly, quirking a single brow and canting his head. Was that the right answer? Did he win the prize? Can he eat now?

Kendra watched the young male look totally confused, in her eyes, when she placed the branch before him. She had not reacted when he told about his quest mainly because she couldn't do anything about it. She could however give him food. The girl with the lighter dots on her brow looked at him directly. "You can eat it," she spoke, like the male needed her permission. Somehow she kind of liked to be in charge like that. She sat down before him, her bushy tail flickering just slightly. Usually she kept her cool. She was mostly excited about plants or when she learned something new. Her brother Pietro made her pretty happy too.

"Your sister is not here in my pack," she then spoke though her tone did not sound very interested. She would know because she often watched new recruits to help her father. And she would know when there was a female of her age running around. Kendra also was not willing to help out this male searching for her seeing she disliked to leave Dark Brotherhood grounds. Though, she had to admit that this was not so bad. Still she was very attached to her pack and had no need to go outside these dark lands. "You should watch where you are going, you are close to my pack's lands and my father will hurt you if you are too close." Kendra was not very phased by this seeing she grew up with the rotten bodies that littered their border. She had even seen the carcass of her own mother as macabre that sounded, yet for another wolf it might be very unsettling.

His patience paid off. It was for him! He shot her a smile before darting over and snatching it iver to himself. He slumled diwn onto his belly with the branch between his forepaws. He was so ready to eat. Although.. he didn't exactly know which part was the blueberry. He should have known, what with the berry thing. He wasn't dumb. He knew what berries were. But, as he gave a shrug and snapped up the whole branch in his mouth - leaves, stem, berries and all - we'll blame it on super hunger addling his brains.

As he chomped on the meal she'd providec, he gave her a glance when her voice cut through the quiet. She spoke of his sister, which was probably the lnly topic of conversation she could have brought up that would have distracted him from his crunchy, kind of not great tasting lunch. His ears fell slightly at her announcement and he fumbled disappointedly with the stick that protruded from his mouth. He hadn't expected to be so lucky as to come across Allure the first place he looked, but still.. that would have been super nice.

Whit's eyes slipped back up towards the young girl as she spoke again and his brows raised in surprise. Her father would hurt her? Was he really that close? He took another chomp out of the blueberry branch, scrunching his face uncomfortably as he fought to chew the woody stems. His eyes wandered thoughtfully into the darkened wood at their flank, glancing back at her after a moment, his expression curious. "Why do you guys live in a place like that?"

Kendra watched in horror at the male's eating habits. He seemed to eat it all, not just the berries, no. He was going for parts of the branch too. This male was seriously keen on food. Kendra would never eat a branch. Such a curious thing for Kendra to see, someone so different from her. The young female was kind of disgusted. "You only eat the berries, you know?," she pointed out to him. Her pale eyes judged him hard. How could he even like that? The male had stopped eating after she had told him about her father and about her sister. This resulted in a question from his side. She was not sure what he meant by that.

Kendra liked the place she lived in, she didn't understand what was wrong with it seeing that there was judgement in his tone. "Are other places different then?," she questioned and then turned her head a bit. She wouldn't know seeing that this was the first time out of the territory, which was quite different indeed. But maybe other packs had dark lands too? She wasn't sure now. "I like the dark. My coat blends in well and I feel safe. This is way to light for me, I am often underground," she shrugged like it was nothing. Mostly in her mother's cave working on mixing herbs and hoping it had some effect.

Whittier was licking splinters out of his teeth when the girl informed him he was eating his lunch wrong. He paused, staring at her. Blood rushed to his cheeks as humility swept over him, but he was determined not to lose face. His brain flailed about frantically to find something to say or do that would make he seem cool before finally he gave a casual grin and shrugged. "I don't like to waste," Whit assured her, tearing another strip off of his branch and beginning the arduous task of chewing. Truth be told, he didn't even know what he meant by that statement. But as long as they could move on in the next minute, it would do the trick.

Her response to his question made him cant his head. He swallowed his latest mouthful and paused, ignoring the snack for now to give her his full attention. "Other places are way different," Whit informed her, surprised that she didn't know. He was not so adept at understanding things from other points of view yet, and had been given a taste of the world as a wide and sprawling place when he was far younger than most were when they were introduced to the concept. So, it was rather astounding to him that this girl seriously thought the whole world was a dark and gloomy place.

"You're safe outside of there too, even if your fur is black," Whit informed her eagerly, "And you can get used to how bright it is. Your eyes adjust. And my aunt taught me that a lot of other animals don't have as good of eyesight as us, so your coat color doesn't make you stick out any more than mine, and I'm almost as white as my mom." But still, he didn't want her to think that she had to stay in the dark, creepy forest all the time. He barely knew her, but she had fed him, and thus he wanted to help her. Or, what he saw as help anyway. "There are lots of really cool places.  Some are all dark like your forest, and some are really bright like the field," he commented with a gesture over his shoulder, "But some are a mix of both. And there's mountains and oceans and rivers and all kinds of neat things."

Kendra nodded slowly at the male's comment. She could understand if he was alone and hungry he might even start to eat branches. Kendra went to the bush and broke off another branch with the blue berries hanging from it. She placed it by his feet, assuming that he was truly starving. Maybe she had been wrong about him being fat, maybe it was still his overly thick and fluffy winter coat that made him look fat. Anyhow, fat or not at least this male would not have to eat branches, unless he liked branches from now on and she gave him an even bigger treat. Kendra had not thought much about the world outside of Black Feather Woods, in fact she had never really thought about it. The borders were too bright for her eyes and she didn't like the light places, but the young male sounded very convincing.

Kendra didn't mind to live in the creepy forest, seeing that she felt home and very safe here. But having this male talk about all these concepts she had not really heard about before... Like what are oceans? She knew heard something about mountains but was not exactly sure what it was. If only the little naturalist knew she would want to see it all. Kendra probably looked curious as he told her about these things. But she was not ready to leave the forest yet. She was actually hesitant to leave these woods, and her family. "But, I don't want to get lost like your sister. Then my brother will have to come and look for me like you are looking for your sister," she spoke. "I can't leave my family. I don't want to even if there are all these things outside. This is my home. I feel at home in dark places and these woods have a lot of dark places. You don't like the dark?"

Whittier seemed to have captured the girl's curiosity, which heartened him quite a bit. He had always been a rather lazy creature, and he hadn't quite realized it about himself yet, but he did enjoy traveling. There was nothing cozy or comfortable about it so it stuck in his mind as something to avoid. But in his heart, he loved experiencing new things and seeing new sights. Though it would be better if he could do so from a soft patch of grass and maybe the cool things could just stroll past him while he lounged.

Her comment about not wanting to get lost made him frown thoughtfully. "Well, you don't always have to go far," Whit replied, but quieted after a second when he realized she was still talking. He was so bad that... Bazi had always scolded him for it when he was growing up. He just got so excited to say stuff sometimes, he couldn't help himself.

Whit was patient and attentive after his slip and waited until he was certain he wouldn't be accidentally rude again before he spoke. "I don't uh... I don't mind the dark" Whit insisted after a moment of hesitation, recovering from it with a manly shrug. What kind of guy would be afraid of the dark after all? Even if it was.. super creepy. "I just think brighter places are prettier. I mean, cool. You know?" So smooth.

This thread is just too cute.

Kendra had at least learned something valuable today. Something that had sparked her natural curiosity. Maybe she would ask her brother to take her to the mountains or to this ocean. She didn't want to miss out on all those things. Maybe it had other cool plants. The girl was very independent, but the thought of heading out alone did not appeal to her. Maybe it was also the fact that she was not very into hunting, and then she would barely survive with out a pack hunting for her. Maybe asking her big brother to go with her would be a good idea. This male... Whit... made a good point that she did not have to go far. She liked that this wolf at least made her think about new things.

Kendra was not too bothered by the interruption. She was not that feisty as her big sister apparently was. She was often called princess by members, when she did not feel like being called that. They were apparently used to it seeing that Potema had demanded it at the time. She frowned a bit when he said that brighter places were prettier. She could disagree but she had never really been at bright places. "I think dark places are cool. Where are these pretty bright places then?," she asked, clearly thinking about them. "If you found your sister you should show them to me. Then I can look for dark places in the meanwhile, so I can show you to them," she stated. She knew a very cool spot in their territory but she probably couldn't show that to him. She also decided to tell him her name, in case he wanted to come back, then he could ask for her. "I'm Kendra."

*giggles*

She seemed to not notice his lame slip, which made him relax a smidgen. Until the moment she asked him where to find these "pretty" places he'd mentioned, which meant she had definitely noticed his vocabulary. He felt his cheeks warm again, though he did notice she hadn't used it in any sort of mocking tone. Maybe she didn't even realize that guys weren't supposed to call things "pretty". Could he really be that lucky though?

Regardless, the conversation moved forward. Her proposal was intriguing to him and he smiled as he gave an eager nod. "I'm Whittier," he said happily, "I know the perfect place to show you. I just gotta figure out where exactly it is from here... I'm thinking my sister probably headed that way too though, so maybe I'll get to kill two birds, eh?" He's not so good at idioms, but he was oblivious to this as he pulled himself up onto all fours to leave.

Kendra was excited to hear about such a thing and was interested in joining him later. She might needed some permission from her father too, he might get worried, but she also didn't not want to share this amazing place yet. Then she was the one who would know about it.... Hmm... But her father being mad was also not very nice. The girl looked at the male and flickered her tail a bit. She wanted to reply but then the male got on his all fours ready to leave. "Are you leaving?," she asked, not really knowing the etiquettes of how one would say goodbye to a stranger, or if she would see this Whittier again.

"Will you come back to show me the pretty place?," she asked, sounding curious. She would understand if he would prioritize seeking for his sister. But after that would he even want to come back to show her. Kendra really liked to see this place he called pretty, because she found other things pretty. Like their Red Grove with her mother's skeleton in it.

As soon as she asked, Whittier began to realize that there had been no social cues prompting his apparent departure. He too was not well-versed in etiquette (despite his entire family's attempts at learning him some), so her question made him pause awkwardly. He needed to go, that much he knew. How was he going to find the Grove and Allure if he stayed here? And hadn't they just decided he needed to do that? He supposed that didn't necessarily mean that he had to leave right at that moment, but... oh crap she was talking again.

"Yeah, definitely," Whittier told her after a slight wince at her calling it "the pretty place" again. Apparently that wording was going to stick, but he supposed it didn't really matter since she didn't seem to be using it in a mocking tone. He wondered briefly if it was because she was so young that she didn't realize she should be making fun of him for saying it like that. Or maybe she was just nice? Nah, too young. "I don't know how long it'll take me though is the only thing. But I promise I'll come back, you can bet on it," he assured her with a smile and a wag of his tail. Whit had his shortcomings - a buttload of them - but he was at least good on his promises.

Kendra's tail started wagging excitedly when the other promised her to show her the mountains. She was pretty excited, not seeing that she should not really go with trips on strangers. Kendra also didn't know if her father was ever going to approve. Hmm.. The young girl looked over the other. "Take your time. All the time you need. I will be here," she spoke. After all she did not intend on leaving this pack soon, or go further outside of the pack.

"Good luck with finding your sister!," she wished to him and then made her way a bit more closer to the entrance in to their tunnel system underground. "Bye, Whittier," she spoke and then vanished between the bushes into the darkness of the tunnels, instantly feeling more comfortable and at home.

Ah! I loved this thread! You can archive! <3

Thanks for the thread! I hope this dumb pup finds his way back soon :D

She didn't seem to mind that she may have to wait a while for Whit to come back to take her on the promised trip, which was a bit of a relief. Had she shown impatience, it wouldn't have made any real difference; it would take the Frostfur just the same amount of time even if he knew someone was waiting on him. But still, he didn't want to upset her, and the fact that he hadn't was nice.

"Okay, I'll come get you as soon as I can," Whittier said, smiling. She bid him farewell and he returned the sentiment with a low woof and a wag of his tail. He watched as she disappeared into the gloom and wrinkled his nose in displeasure as the idea of living in such a place made its way to his thoughts again. But, to each their own, he figured. She'd come to see eventually how much more there was outside the darkness, and Whittier soon turned and set off to find that perfect piece of land that would change her mind.