Blackfeather Woods welcome to the party--everyone have their kool-aid?

either @Moonshadow or @Nightstar (you can choose which one, Alyssa!) come meet 1/3 of the weirdo incest litter

There were new smells in Blackfeather Woods. One of them was cloaked similarly in the comfortingly familiar scent of decay that her family carried; it must be someone returning from a trip (or, unbeknownst to her, waking up from a year's slumber).

But the others. . .seemed new. Pure as the falling snow. Innocent. Even at her young age, Maegi could sense this, and her black nose wrinkled as she followed the scent through the trees. Who dared intrude upon the sanctity of their forest? She thought of calling for Vaati, for the use of his brute strength and sharp fangs to drive them away.

No, though. They had been here a while, a couple of days, in fact. Surely, if their presence was not wanted, they would have been cast out, if not killed altogether. They were alive, and whole. And a part of the forest, now.

The young Melonii princess sat on her haunches, pouting slightly. New faces and they had not come to see her? She gave a small, infantile howl, waiting to see whether they'd come, or if it would just be some family member to come fuss over her.

Moonshadow heard the young pups howl that was carried through the trees. The black pelted female went to where the sound originated from and let out a bark in greeting. When she arrives she see's the pup for which she heard. "Hello there." She calls out before slowly emerging from the trees which had hid her.

Her cry summons a woman, luckily one of the new scents Maegi had encountered, and she rose to her feet, trying to make the motion as graceful as possible despite her stunted paw. The dark-pelted stranger gave her a kind greeting, and the girl peered back at her, eyes squinted in suspicion.

"Who're you?" Maegi asked, rudely and without preamble. Though her family had done well in teaching her many things, politeness and good manners were not really among those lessons. In time, she would learn, but for now. . .

"Are you supposed to be here?" she continued, her squeaky tone lowering to something more adult, menacing. She hunched her shoulders, white fur bristling, and snarled at the woman, teeth bared. She could not possibly be a packmate of hers. This she-wolf with the kind eyes was too soft, too good, for these woods.

The young she wolf took a step back. "Yes, me and my brother Nightstar were accepted a few days ago." She briefly describes what happened to the pup. She wondered if she had been one of the pups which she encountered days ago, No the two pups were male. Moonshadow sat down as she waited for the pup to respond.

Maegi took in the woman's story, scowling further as she described the altercation with the other, quite savage, woman at the border. Someone had tried to hurt her brothers?! Her lips, which had relaxed for a moment, once again drew into an involuntary snarl, though this time not directed at the dark-furred female.

"What's your name?" she questioned in a very aggressive, interrogative manner. "Who let you stay here?" It must be Vaati. She would accept no other name save that of her elder brother.

Even at a young age, she shared her packmates' proclivity for extreme distrust toward newcomers, wolves that had not been born into the culture of the woods. If Meldresi might not approve, why should we? thought Maegi sagely, looking to the sky for a brief instant.

Sometimes, she thought she felt the Night Mother's gaze fixed directly upon her from above.

The young pup had a lot of inquiries and she iintended to answer them all. "A wolf named Vaati I believe and my name is Moonshadow." The inky female answers the pup as she waits for a response from her.

She offered the name that Maegi had wanted, and the girl gave her a curt nod, her black lips curling into a slightly devious smile as the woman gave her own name as well. Moonshadow. It was dark, mysterious. Suited the woods well.

"Cool," she said sincerely, meaning it. "I'm Maegi. Maegi Melonii." She circles her nose around them, the rose bushes thick and inviting despite prickling with thorns. "My grandmother started this pack. She's buried here somewhere."

Maegi tilted her head, curiosity slowly winning the battle over wariness. "Why do you want to live here? It's dark and dirty, and kinda smelly." The girl liked it that way, but she knew that many wolves might not. Besides, she may or may not have been testing this woman's resolve. Blackfeather didn't need fair weather members, nor yet cowards.

The female thought about the pups question for a while before answering. "Well my brother thought that this pack would suite us or at least him, but I plan on pulling my own wait around here." She may not know the customs of this pack but she was intent to learn.

"Where's your brother?" Maegi asked, twitching one ear. She was displeased that she was only meeting one of the new pair of Blackfeather wolves. But surely, this Nightstar would turn up eventually, right? "I have a brother. Four, actually," she crowed proudly, mismatched eyes glowing.

She stayed quiet for a second, ruminating on the situation at hand. This woman, Moonstone, seemed kind enough. Not as interesting as Cass. . .but then, anything had been interesting to her when she had been just a little runt.

"So what do you do?" Everyone did something. Ram explored. Euron collected things. Vaati was good at bossing everyone around, and Miraak taught her prayers. What good was having Moonstone around if she didn't do anything?

"At the moment I don't do anything but I was going to see if someone would be willing to teach me a trade." She was honwst with the pup. Her and her brother didn't have much when it came to pack skills due tothem being cast uot from their birth pack. "My brother is around here somewhere."

She frowned once more at Moonshadow's response, an answer that did not quite satisfy her question. The dark woman was up and down in Maegi's mind: she seemed okay, and her name was definitely cool, but the fact that she didn't do anything yet was quite bothersome.

"I suppose," Maegi said flatly, glancing around the clearing with no real intent. She was growing a little bored with this conversation. "But y'know this place is great, right? Like, you should be proud to be here."

She pointed her little nose up to the sky, then leveled it back down at Moonshadow, giving her a cutting stare. "The gods love us," Maegi continued, her voice grave. "They gave us this forest. Sithis, Mephala. . .the Night Mother, who's Meldresi, buried here. . ."

She did not anticipate the woman getting lost in her words or tired of the conversation. To shun the gods, and any talk of them, would be a serious offense in Maegi's eyes.

She knew nothing of the Gods but the conversation peeked her curiousity. "Could you tell me about them." Where her and her brother came from they worshiped different gods, but since she was going to live here it would be good to learn about them.

She screwed up her mouth in concentration, not wanting to get this wrong. Perhaps she should call an adult member, to help her with the lore? Miraak would be a great help right about now.

No. This was her destiny, her calling, to educate men and women on her religion. It must start now.

"Well, Sithis and Mephala--we call her the Night Mother--are married. Sithis is, like, death, and the Night Mother is life. . .although, not really," Maegi amended that last bit, thinking for a long moment before continuing. "Sithis is like. . .a storm. And Mephala, well, not like a storm. Like, calm."

She shrugged, feeling slightly apologetic. "I'm still learning, too. Maybe we can learn together?"

The pup had tried her best at explaining and Moonshadow gave her a soft nod. "Perhaps we could." Moonshadow looked at her and she somewhat figured out what she was trying to explain but not quite, she knew that she would learn sooner or later.

She was past the point of boredom with the woman, now that she had gotten her talking about the gods. Talk of religion could always keep Maegi entertained. While other children might snooze through those lessons, Maegi found herself enthralled with those tales, tall as they may be in other's realities.

"Come with me," she said excitedly, beginning to pad away and flicking her little tail, signifying Moonshadow should follow. "I'll show you the Temple."

She wondered briefly if the gods would talk to Moonshadow as they did to her. Surprisingly, she felt a pang of jealousy at the thought. She had always thought herself--and Meldresi's other living relatives--special, and to have them greet an outsider with any kind of warmth would feel like a kick in the teeth.

Still, though. . .Moonshadow had chosen this forest over anything else. Perhaps they were bonded--if not by blood, then in some different way.

 

gonna fade here <3

Alright this is my last post.

Moonshadow followed the pup as she walked on forward, she was intrigued in learning all she could about her new pack and whom they beleived in, she herself didn't have any religion but that hopefully would change as her time in this pack went on. "Alright." She says simply as she continued to walk on.