Otatso Wetlands What a wonderful world

[size=small]I figure this is as good a place to start as an individual wandering into the region with no real plan. As well as net out Fang's current personality and reactions to others. More than happy for anyone to jump in.
Initially he will be on the edge of the otatso wetlands, heading toward duck lake. [/size]

[size=medium]Fang continued his slow movements through the undesirable damp. He had been travelling through, what he could only describe as a swamp, for almost a day. His thoughts long since trailed off, focusing on the unpleasant murk he was wandering through, the consistent feeling of hunger, and general exhaustion. Everywhere he looked it was the same murky, dark swamp. The same thick forest of tree's, If it were not for the occasional patch of direct sky above indicating where the sun travelled across the sky he could have sworn he was walking in circles.

His concentration was shortened, his thoughts mostly focused on the unpleasant feeling of less than desirable water splashed into his coat, his eyes transfixed directly ahead, almost certainly oblivious to anything beyond his immediate path.

It was no surprise when he would finally find himself on the edge of the wetland it was a shock.
As he realised he was no longer trudging through murky water the half-breed stopped, giving a quick glance around, the tree's thinning, and the swamp replaced with more stable ground. An audible sigh of relief escaped as he finally seemed to have the worst of the wetlands behind him. Moving with a slightly renewed purpose he made a bee-line for the largest tree in sight giving himself a quick shake in a poor attempt to rid his coat of the remaining water that had seeped into the lower half of his pelt, in his trek.

Exhausted, hungry, and damp, he decided to curl himself up at the base of his chosen tree, a brief rest before he continued his trek. Had he been a little more cautious he might have decided to check if anything was nearby.[/size]

Trespassers had been few and far between since the birth of Tuwawi's litter. Either it was luck, or the now formidable size of Swiftcurrent Creek was making wanderers think twice about straying near (and by near, the territorial Beta meant anywhere east of the Sunspire range).

Nevertheless, Bazi did not immediately sound the alarm when she scented damp fur. The east was wide open, and the wetlands erected a wall of dank, swampy smell between the grasslands and the black unknown. In all likelihood, this was just a wolf passing through, but she could not let whoever it was trek unaccompanied towards the mountains.

It didn't take long to find him. Vegetation thinned at the swamp's border, but a particularly vast tree caught Bazi's eye. She stepped forward, her footfalls feather-light against the grass, and sniffed the air cautiously. There was a wolf nearby, though his scent was odd somehow.

It didn't take long for Fang to return to a feeling of normality. His senses returning as the he rested. Almost completely unaware of the arrival of another. Almost. He shifted his frame in an attempt to be better suited to leave quickly, should the need arise. For the time he simply remained situated at the bole, eyes closed waiting for whoever or whatever was nearby to approach.

Feigning ignorance he did his best to sniff at the air without moving but was rewarded with the murky smell of his still damp fur, mixed wit the unfamiliar scent of this place.
He was almost certain however that he hadn't wandered into claimed territories yet.

When no wolf emerged, Bazi circled around the tree, giving it a wide berth in case a quick exit would be required. Sure enough, a wolf - or at least wolf-like creature - was nestled among the tree roots. Bazi stared at him across the ten or fifteen meters of buffer she had created. He was quite scrawny, all limbs, with a strange pattern to his coat. The northern girl had never met a half-breed, but she was a small-minded creature, and anything different raised an alarm in her. She came to a halt in front of him, posture on the cautious side of neutral and tail swinging idly above the grass.

"You're about to come up to claimed land," she warned him - it did not matter if he skirted the edge; the Swiftcurrent wardens would be upon him all the same. "If you go north, you'll end up at the coast. It's a clear run from there to .. wherever." The words came out with a not-so-mild hint of distaste. Tiárnan had gone to wherever, only to appear in Silvertip Mountain a few months later. Coward.

Golden eyes watched as the wolf rounded his rest, her words passed over him as he lingered for a moment. Effortlessly he forced himself to stand he was damp, hungry, and mostly exhausted, having no desire to challenge anyone he kept his head down just enough to indicate respect, but not so much to give an air of total submission.
He inspected the female, he hadn't come across a lot of her kind in his time and was mildly fascinated despite the warning.
"Claimed? By you?." Even with his decidedly submissive approach the teasing mockery was evident in his tone.
"Wherever, sounds like a great place. Is it filled with dank swamps as well?" frustrated at having just ventured through this murk, he certainly wasn't about to head straight back into more of it, even if the alternative was trying to brave claimed lands.
Though with an improved mood he might rethink that idea.

"Claimed? By you?"

Bazi's lip curled slightly at his tone, but she kept all other physical signs of disdain to herself - they were technically on neutral ground, and he owed her nothing. Despite that, the strangely patterned wolf kept his head low, and that was enough to pacify the snarky Swiftcurrent bitch for now.

"And eighteen others," she responded, obviously proud of the number. The joke, which Bazi failed to identify as one, earned him a confused frown, but her response might have been interpreted as playing along: "I don't know. I've never been. I suppose it might be swampy. If you don't like swamps, there are plenty of pack territories to cross between here and the other side. You might not make it to wherever alive, and then you won't care." Pleased with her jest (or threat) on behalf of the western packs, Bazi took a tentative step forward, sniffing hard at the air. "What is that smell?" Wet something. It certainly wasn't all wolf.

Eighteen others? That's no small number, having seen no sign of any others he couldn't help but wonder if this bearer of warnings was exaggerating. For what reason he couldn't figure.

You might not make it to wherever alive, then you won't care.
The half-breeds eyes narrowed at the comment, his mood was doing nothing to help his attitude on that comment, not sure if it was a joke, threat or insult. Lifting his head slightly to match gazes for an instant. Trying to figure out what, if any hidden meaning she implied. A quick flick of his tail followed as she continued.

What is that smell?
Instantly a feeling of embarrassment swept over him, his whole body drooping slightly.
"Ah." he began with a slight laugh "That, uhh, that'd be me. These wetlands sort of soak into your coat a bit." totally oblivious to the fact the question was most likely directed at his half breed scent, not his smell of muck and damp.

For a split second, an altercation of some sort seemed likely. Bazi tensed, but the delivery of her final question seemed to seize Fang's attention - and for once, the girl did not allow her temper to run away with her.

"That, uhh, that'd be me. These wetlands sort of soak into your coat a bit."

"Your fur's.. different," she observed unhelpfully, cocking her head to one side. Had he adapted to some far-away place, devoid of swamps and other rubbish that liked to stick to fur? "Different markings, different texture. Why?"

[size=x-small]ooc: that's racist, you can't just ask people why they look weird. :p[/size]

your fur's different. His eyes narrowed at her comment, looking more questioning than hostile.
why? No really, why? Taken aback at her questioning his mouth moved before his mind.
Oh, that, well you see when I was off venturing I came across a magical water-lizard that thought I looked boring." his tone remaining matter-o-fact as he spoke, a simple nod in conclusion was made as a forced grin spread across his maw.

He shook his head slightly before continuing.
"Okay, so it's sort of like. ..you're you, safe to say an all natural wolf. Than there's me, Fang, a not entirely pure wolf. Differenty." Surely this wolf had come across half breeds before, he wasn't that unique was he? His surprise at her question seemed to make him totally oblivious to the repercussions of being rather short and rude.

GOD KAREN. .. I assume you're quoting that and not actually telling me off, haha.

"Oh, that, well you see when I was off venturing I came across a magical water-lizard that thought I looked boring."

Bazi's face remained impassive. She was not so easily cajoled by humour, and was about to make her excuses and leave Fang to his stink when he actually answered her question.

"Not entirely pure wolf?" she repeated incredulously, staring at Fang's coat. The differences were subtle, and the expectation had been that he hailed from some far-away place in the north or south - an island, perhaps. Bazi was still adjusting to the high proportion of non-Arctic wolves in the area, and to hear that some wolves weren't even real wolves made her long for home for the first time in an age.

"What are you, then?" she demanded in the instant before her eyes widened in shock. "... coyote?" Surely not.

Fang simply blinked a couple of times, he was as perplexed at her confusion and shock as she was at his not being a pure wolf.
"Coyote? No, not coyote." a gentle shake of his head in the negative accompanied his words, he couldn't help but feel divulging the truth would confuse this white she-wolf further. What did he have to hide though?
"I was born to a domestic bitch." He spoke slowly, a hint of distaste would echo his words, if she chose to pay enough attention. His eyes dropped once more as he continued speaking.
"I don't remember a whole lot about her, and less about my sire." His tone quiet and plain, more focused on trying not to horrify the female any further than from any regret or concern about his history.

"It's not all bad, the spots look pretty nice when I haven't been slinking through mud." his tone lifting as he looked back at the female again.

Domestic? Was that some kind of disease. Bazi took a cautious step back, eyeing Fang as though he might sprout extra limbs at any moment. The Creek wolf was no stranger to devastating illness, and the idea that she might catch something unsavoury from interacting with this... not-wolf was starting to take shape.

"I don't know what a 'domestic' is," she responded, agitated by her own lack of understanding. Fang spoke of his condition in a calm and measured voice, which gave her hope that he had accepted his fate - and more importantly, that he did not wish it upon anyone else. Bazi took another step back, ears falling flat.

"I need you to give Swiftcurrent Creek a very, very wide berth. We have pups, and I don't want them to catch.. whatever it is you have," she half-pleaded, fastening wide, worried eyes on the half-breed's own.

Fang let his mouth fall open a little, his golden eyes watching the bizarre reactions evolving in front of him. His expression changing from disbelief to mild amusement as her words dawned on him.
pups, that explains a lot. He almost let out a laugh at her words but managed to stifle it into a small snort.
"Domestic isn't something you catch. ..my mother was a dog, a pet." he struggled not to laugh, and humiliate the female on her ignorance.

"puppies though, that explains your reaction. I assure you I'm not contagious in the least." a small chuckle followed his words, amused at the situation more than anything.

Fang seemed just as shocked and confused by Bazi's reaction as she was by his.. everything. To his credit, each and every prejudice she flung at him was handled with patience, like an experienced carer calming an agitated Alzheimer's patient. The woefully uninformed Beta's nostrils flared as she drew breath and let it out again, slowly, calming her fluttering heart.

Domestic dog, she repeated to herself, forgiving Fang his ill-concealed mirth - there were still important questions to ask.

"Alright. I believe you." Sort of, anyway. She would scrub herself in the river afterwards, just to make sure. "What does a dog look like?" Evidently nothing like a coyote, given his reaction to her previous guess. Bazi stayed where she was, but lowered herself into a sit to show that she was willing to hear him out about this 'dog' business.

I believe you. He wasn't entirely convinced she did, but wasn't about to call her out or try and reassure her any further. As she sat, he followed her example and lowered himself to a more comfortable sitting position, his tail giving a couple of light taps against the ground as she asked for an explanation.

"Well, my mother looked sort of like me I guess, I think she was darker.." His words trailed off as he tried to construct his words.
"They're pretty much the same as a wolf, just usually smaller. I mean at least my matron was. Some of them look downright weird. Tiny, like the size of a small rabbit, with weird round heads and bad attitudes." he couldn't help but shake his head with a single bark of a laugh as he recalled a run-in with one such dog when he was still a pup.

His shoulders rolled in a shrug as he spoke again. "Humans keep them tied up in cages, or in their homes for whatever reason."

Humans. The word reached into Bazi's mind and touched a distant memory, but she shook the feeling of déjà vu before it could take root. The rest of Fang's explanation sounded too humorous to be true. Rabbit-sized wolves? Bazi held back a string of giggles, but they pushed their way through as unladylike snorts. Perhaps Fang was just a little bit insane, or so tired from his journey across the swamp that he didn't know what he was saying.

"Sure. Dogs with round heads and humans," Bazi grinned back at him, shaking her head at the absurdity. With a deep, cleansing sigh, she turned back toward Swiftcurrent Creek. "Remember to go around," she told him, paused, then threw in an extra, life-saving detail: "I would actually go around the entire mountain range. There aren't any packs there." With that piece of advice still lingering in the air, Bazi broke eye contact and began to walk in the direction of home.

Pardon the delay - concluding post from me. :D

The white wolfs seemingly bizarre change in attitude, and the humour she derived from his statement left the halfbreed puzzled, it wasn't so strange was it? As she finished giving him the final piece of advice, he couldn't help but wonder how far north to go. He was about to offer his thanks, but she had already began her departure. Not even sure why he was intending to thank the creature he shrugged and made his way south. Actions Speech thoughts