Larksong Grotto Requiem For A Dream

Lilac had been on her own for a very long time now.  She had struggled through snowstorms, sandstorm, twisters and much more in about two and a half years.  Now though she was done with the life of a loner.  She wanted to settle down somewhere and live her life with others.  She hadn’t seen another wolf for around three months now and she hadn’t seen a friendly one since that one dreadful day that she had been swept away from Starlit Hills.  When the earthquake had seemed to split the ground in two and she had been separated, stranded from her pack at the ripe age of six months.  Although somehow as if by a miracle she had survived that, by finding scraps on the ground left over by predators and drank from puddles created by rainwater in those first dreadful weeks.  Then she had taught herself how to hunt, heal, fight, defend and even kill cleanly if necessary.

Now she stood before a pack border unsure of what to do.  Did she howl?  Did she wait?  It had been so long, far to long to remember how to do this correctly, formally.  She had an idea of what to do though, this plan made the most sense anyways, she would howl.  That was what her Mother had told her right?  She smiled at the vague memory of her Mother, she wondered what had happened to her.  Her cousin Spring would probably know though.  Her heart warmed at the thought of her old friend.  The last time she had seen Spring was when they had both been six months old.  Spring had been a bouncy, happy, excitable puppy, but she had been on the more quiet side as a pup.  As Lilac finally finished up with her thoughts, she tilted her head back and let her howl roll into the air, telling of her presence at the border and her interest in joining.

Upon Reek's brief return to the grotto, he found himself having no time to catch his breath. These new-comers, they came in waves it seemed. Reek was not one to believe much in divine intervention, but as the third stranger called for him from the border, Reek could not help but think of the great coincidence that lingered behind three separate wolves requesting an audience with him on the borderline in a single day. It was the strangest thing. In all of Reek's time as a leader, he had never seen this happen.

His prayers to no one had been answered, and for once, Reek began to feel an emotional break from all the turmoil, strife, and struggle that the past month had offered him on a silver platter. Perhaps he could soldier through, pick up the pieces of his broken life, and start new. It was a fleeting, happy thought.

For the third time in a single day, Reek made his way to the border to intercept the source of the howl. He approached the stranger with the typical posture of dominance, but surprisingly, adoring Reek's face was a rare, and thin smile. It was a subtle thing: barely noticeable display, but Reek felt it powerful. With that, Reek lifted a brow and implored the stranger to speak.

As soon as the dominant looking black furred wolf made his way towards her, Lilac found herself intrigued.  Was this an Alpha of the place?  A Beta?  Maybe even a subordinate?  No... this couldn’t be a subordinate, she thought quickly dismissing the subordinate idea almost immediately.  A subordinate wouldn’t be acting so dominate anyways she supposed.  This had to be an Alpha or Beta.  Soon the male stood before her, sliding her a thin smile, and Lilac slipped into a more submissive posture, she vaguely remembered from her Mother’s teachings of how to act around a more dominate wolf.  She did this by not looking the stranger wolf in the eyes, tucked her tail and laid her ears back to her cranium.  Then with that done, she began to speak.

“I’m Lilac, I’m very interested in Joining a Pack at the moment.  I am a skilled healer, fighter, hunter and defender.”  She began, telling the black furred male about everything but the fact that she was also a pretty good self taught assassin.  For some reason she just didn’t feel like that was very appropriate for the moment.  She really hoped that this male found interest in the skills that she had listed.

Like most wolves, Lilac could hunt and fight. These skills were all fine and good -- and necessary for all pack members to possess -- but that particular set tended to be run of the mill between the grotto's pool of applicants. Her self-proclaimed skill in healing however, that caught Reek's curiosity. His ears cupped forward in attention and he nodded his head. Healing required a certain level of skill, dedication, and practice that most wolves did not possess. Being a medic himself, it was a practice Reek could respect. "Good— that's good.

She need not demonstrate her skills here, he felt. Her time to shine would eventually come. Instead Reek focused more on her physicality. It was obvious she had an able-body; good for a hunt. To Reek, it wouldn't be a pragmatic move to turn a hunter away. With the pack numbers dwindling so low for a time, big game was almost out of the picture, but now the tides were beginning to change with the influx of potential joiners. Her place among the wolves of the grotto was thus decided.

But first, Reek wanted to get to know this recruit. "Where you from Lilac?" he asked. "How long have you been traveling?" His expectation was that she had traveled far; most wolves do before settling with a pack. She probably needed her rest -- and she would soon have it.

/tries to shove jhala in every thread without being obnoxious

The girl arrived a little late to greet the visitor, but it was probably a good thing that Reek had arrived first. She padded to his side, her head and tail lower than his. She nudged his shoulder in friendly greeting, and looked to the stranger, her warm gaze studying the other with curiosity. She wondered what Reek had thought of her so far, praying it was nothing but good things. The Grotto was lacking recently, and she knew how badly her alpha wanted some new recruits. Would this be one? 

She said nothing, acting only as reenforcement for the packs strength-- and in case this one tried anything, Reek was-- afterall-- not in the best shape.

Lilac listened to the black furred male speak, but before she could respond she noticed a female come appear and give the male a friendly nudge then eye her curiously.  Was this the male’s mate?  She decided not to ask.  Her mind then began to focus on the male’s question.  It made her think once more.  How long had she been a loner now?  Well... she was three now and she had gotten separated at six months, some how miraculously surviving those first month.  So then there were twelve months and six months was half of that, so then six months subtracted by three years equaled two years and six months.  Huh.  She really had been alone for quite a while.  She answered the black furred male’s question.

“I’ve been a loner for two years and six months.”  She replied solemnly, hoping that her answer had been pretty accurate and that all the calculations lined up.  She was silently actually impressed to have survived on her own as a loner for such a long time.  It made her feel good, special in a way.  Although even though it made her feel proud she would do anything in her power to take her old life back, with all her family and friends.  The past was the past though, there was no going back.  Maybe she could start anew here though if she was allowed, and she had a pretty good feeling that she would be accepted.  Then maybe she could get a new start, a new beginning.

You two can continue if you want! I'm going to pull Reek out (because I have waaay too many threads) and get Lilac all titled up!

Reek's attention was briefly stolen by Jhala, who approached from behind. He turned his head away from the pack's newest prospect to rest his gaze on his most trusted subordinate as she brushed against his side. Returning her friendly greeting, Reek nudged back, but said nothing. His scrutiny soon returned to the recruit, who now appeared to be doing some sort of mental math. So locked in a deep concentration, it took a fair moment before the recruit gave an answer.

He waited patiently until she was ready.

The answer she eventually provided came as quite a surprise. Two and half years? Alone? That would surely have a profound psychological effect on even the most strong and stable minds. No doubt this prospective joiner needed some rest, and Reek would waste no time to get her properly settled amongst them so she could.

"Come," spoke Reek as he motioned toward the territory. "This is Jhala. My most trusted—" and probable beta candidate, however, he did not vocalize his internal commentary. "You two should get to know each other."  He let his suggestion linger before turning away to retreat back into the territory. Turning his head back as he went, Reek called out, "Welcome to the grotto, Lilac," as he walked away into the distance.

Although the man never finished his sentence, he had paused at most trusted. The words warmed every inch of Jhala, and she held back from leaping into her alpha with excitement. Maybe the Grotto was the best decision for her, she felt better and more useful each day-- it felt more like home each day. Her tail wagged behind her, and her head raised slightly as he introduced her, a smile growing on her lips. The warm, amber gaze of the yearling fell onto Reek, studying him with a large amount of respect. The man then left, and she watched him as he went before she turned to Lilac. 

"Hiya," she greeted, her voice deep but smooth like honey. "'m Jhala-- Gamma of the grotto. It's cool to meet ya," she introduced, repeating a decent bit of what Reek had already said. "That was Reek-- he's the alpha. Real cool guy," she added in, tail wagging.

Excitement seemed to pool into Lilac’s heart.  She had a place with others of her kind now.  She felt... well she felt very... special in a way.  She could not wait to get started to prove her worths in the grotto.  To show of her healing skills with herbs, along with her defending, hunting and offensive skills.  Her attention then fell on the female whom had begun to talk and announced that her name was Jhala, and her rank as Gamma.

“Nice to meet you Jhala.”  Jhala.  Boy o’ boy that sure was a fun name to say.  It also sounded pretty cool to say.  “Reek does seem like a pretty good guy.  Your right about that.”  Lilac continued, now able to put a name to the black furred wolf and placing him as Alpha - as Jhala said he was - mentally in her mind.  She already had a good feeling that she would enjoy it here.  It seemed like a nice place so far and so far she had really enjoyed the wolves here.

"Ye," Jhala nods. Lilac was not a particularly fun or interesting name to say or hear, so she doesn't think much of it. Lilac does however seem to fit this girl, so she makes a note of that. "Well, Imma head out-- you can follow if ya want, I'll show you some stuff," she says, her tail beginning to wag. She then turns, hoping the other would follow her. She moved out into the Grotto, ears perked happily.

last from me! welcome (:

Last from me too!  :)

Lilac nodded with a bob of her head, and trotted up to Jhala’s side, ready to go scout out the grotto with the female, her new acquaintance or maybe even friend at the pace of an enthusiastic trot.  Finally she was apart of something and for the first time in a very long time her heart and sole felt once again whole.  She hadn’t felt this way since Starlit Hills, that two and a half years ago.  Now she could have a new beginning here, in the lands of a new and wonderful Pack.