Porcupine Ridge birthday in noir

Diane could not be certain, but she thought it might be her birthday. It was the only thing that would explain the sudden and very extreme bout of homesickness she was feeling now. Restlessness plagued her the entire morning and well into the afternoon, and she avoided others so that she might keep reminiscing in her own company. The sun peeked through faded winter clouds, but gave no warmth to her back as she paced dolefully towards nowhere in particular.

Several times, she whined aloud to herself, remembering her first birthday the previous year, and what a marvelous celebration that had been thrown in her and her siblings' honor. Everyone's birthday was an enchanting affair back home—at the very least a feast, if the festivities did not feature dancing in the shallows or howling moonsongs throughout the night—and she missed it, wishing for one last hurrah with her family. With her pack.

Her pack... Her mind came back to the present, back to Porcupine Ridge, and the sad, fresh-faced Theta realized that she had been traveling up into the higher reaches. Glad she had realized her body's intentions before reaching a viewpoint of the sea, Diane turned quietly and began to pad slowly, cheerlessly back down the Ridge's flanks.

Seeing the sea would do more harm than good.

vuk had grown into herself -- she set aside a period each day to practice her speech, hoping one day to match the abilities of taggarik or capriccio. yet, even if she did not, vuk was determined to mend the brokenness of her speech. unfortunately for the little introvert, this also required that she test her new skills upon the others of her pack.

and so vuk, returning with a young weasel, which she decided to place in the cache nearest the den she shared with ilea, came upon a new wolfess, one with a pelt of muted colours which blended quite beautifully into one another. the scent of the alpha male was upon her -- she hid a small smile, inadvertently wondering the same as did capriccio: did taggarik intend to gather a harem here?

but she did not speak this; she dropped the limp animal to the ground and chuffed in a friendly manner, moving up the slope as the other descended.

A chilly zephyr buffeted her coat, and Diane gave herself a warming shake, breathing heavily out her mouth as she began to ruefully reflect on how alone she was. Loneliness had a way of making one less picky about who they shared company with, and there was no desire in Diane to share company with anyone in particular, as evidence of this. Just about anyone would lift her spirits in that moment. And her unspoken prayers were acknowledged by the sudden scent of prey and an approaching female.

Noticing nothing strange with the fact that most of her packmates were female, Diane's tail began to wag, tight and swift against her legs. A small whine eked through smiling teeth, and she ambled towards the higher ranked female with her body low and accepting. This female was pale like Illea, but with gray patches along her petite frame, and scars across her muzzle that appeared wholly out of place beneath gentle eyes like two oases in the ranging clouds of an early storm.


"I'm Diane," she introduced quietly, standing near the she-wolf, anxious to be accepted but respectful of her space.

"vuk," the she-wolf responded with the guttural sound that had become her title, the name to which her visage and actions were tied. somehow she sensed the chaotic emotions raging within this diane, and folded her ears back with a sympathetic whine. her own abilities of speech were woefully unable to bolster the confidences of this newcomer, and so vuk merely nosed the weasel across the ground till it bumped the other's toes. if food did not help, perhaps the show of goodwill would tell the woman she was a creature to be trusted. 

vuk gave a slow blink of her eyes. "dye -- in," she managed, offering an apologetic smile at her inability to speak the name properly. "what ... what wr ... on .. g." it was the most vuk had spoken in months.

Vuk. Her name was harsher than she appeared and the she-wolf's speech was clipped despite the friendly light in her eyes. Diane realized quickly why this was. "Dee.. an," she helped her gently, thick tail beating her his legs quietly as Vuk's weasel rolled limply against her paws. It was an overly generous offer, and for a moment Diane thought that the cloud and peppered wood might know it was her birthday. But that was silly!

She whined, anxious and thankful all at once. In her broken speech, Vuk bade her to reveal what had given her such a melancholy vibe. She looked down, ashamed that she had been unable to bottle her emotions, and her ears creased against her head. "I just miss my family, is all," she squeaked. "It's my birthday, and I was thinking of them..."

Diane swallowed the lump in her throat, bending down distractedly to nose Vuk's catch. Mutedly, she began to gnaw through the quarry's middle, and when it was severed into two halves, she nosed the larger half to get packmate. "Share with me," she directed hopefully, the wee order of a lamb.

her birthday. vuk had been far removed from the world of her own kind, but this she understood. diane's words were greeted with an excited chuff and fling of the tail, only to be followed by a low whine, an empathetic backward tilt of her ears, and, if the other agreed, a gentle brush of vuk's muzzle against diane's shoulder. speech she did not have, but emotions she understood. 

she was given half of the kill, and hesitated only a moment before heeding diane's words, devouring the gamy meat with an obvious relish. licking the blood from her jaws, vuk gave the melancholy packmate an encouraging turquoise glance. what could they do to cheer her?

Diane tensed slightly, preparing for something that didn't come at contact with Vuk. There was no drowning and definitely no crying out. She was painfully aware of how much she yearned to nuzzle the scarred she-wolf back, but her irrational nervousness kept her at bay. A trickle of fear eked along her spine—what if she would always be afraid to be touched and touch in return because of the episode a few days prior?

Negativity clouded her thoughts, but the crunch of bones distracted her, reminding the former beachcomber that she had something to put on her stomach. It was her first time tasting stoat, and her first bite introduced her to the interesting taste of a small predator. The taste was quite foreign to her inexperienced palate, very different from mackerel, but not unpleasant. Her spirits lifted immediately as she scarfed down the rest, licking her chops in a satisfied fashion as she eyed her companion with gleaming eyes.

"Thank you, Vuk.. I feel a lot better now," she praised the pallid she-wolf, tail waving before she hesitated and looked at war with herself briefly. Uncertainly, tenderly, Diane leaned forward and pressed her nose into the base of her throat. She pulled away much quicker than she had come into the motion, and her smile was bashful.

the other tensed, giving vuk pause, but she did not cease her motion until contact had been made. yet, aware of the other's unsurety, she pulled away quickly, tail waving in an affable way. when the other had finished her own prey, she leant forward to return vuk's gesture. heartened by the affection, the dappled girl smiled happily into the sheepishness of diane's own. 

it was enjoyable to touch and to be touched, the girl was discovering. the warmth of the contact spread through her body and she chuffed, moving to sidle alongside diane and take her scent. vuk was content to follow the lead of her new friend, and showed this through the relaxation of her own posture.

Diane was comforted. She closed her eyes briefly, lost in the haze of physical contact, having been deprived for what felt like a millennia. She missed her sister, and having her to curl up next to every night. Recalling this memory alone would have elicited a sorrowful response, but she had Vuk at her side, her dark saddle a blur against petite whiteness as she circled Diane. The golden agouti leaned into her, a sigh leaving her, expelling her inner troubles.

Being touched by Vuk was an entirely different experience than it had been with Farstep. As she thought about it then, besides being surprised, she realized that she had never been touched so heedlessly by another male before. The wolves of the Cove had been segregated slightly by gender, so closely monitored by the upper tiers to prevent unsanctioned mating, that it was simply easier to avoid one another where possible. She suspected that the Beta's gender had influenced her flashback. A flashback to the last wolf that had touched her before Taggarik decorating her with his pack's scent.

Her Uncle Hiram, dragging her by the side of her neck, out of the water. The Cove inhabitants had thought the high trenches were safe from the coming storm (as they always had been for generations)—they had not expected God's Wave, a mythical destroyer, to flood them out even there. And the last thing she remembered of that place was all the water, high in a place it had never before reached, and then watching the dark body of her father's brother diving back into their demolished home for others.

She came back to the present, opening her eyes and peering at her companion shyly. "You remind me of home," she said, not a trace of resentment there. Because Vuk reminded her of all the good things—of all the things before. "Will you sing with me?" she asked, unsure if the peppered she-wolf would understand the invitation. But she was simply too self-conscious to start a howl alone without an accompanying chorus.

vuk wished fervently she knew the myriad thoughts dancing through the other's head, but was sensitive enough to see that diane relaxed at her touch. if permitted, the girl reached to untangle a knotted tress of fur from behind her companion's ear. having been a lone wolf for quite some time, the memories of her natal pack were all but gone from the halls of vuk's memory. she had reverted easily to the social beast her species warranted, but was still cautious in regards to a great many things. 

"will you sing with me?" the other asked, and vuk's heart was filled with joy. the song of wolves was a comforting sound in its very haunting of the ears, the eldritch aria of the wild wood, and she nodded immediately, a wide smile coming to rest upon her maw.

Because she avoided any waters larger than a puddle, and had reduced herself to the barest of a feline's self-preening techniques, there were obviously parts of herself that went less attended to than usual. Vuk's teeth behind her ear was incredibly welcome and satisfying, her tail thumping erratically and her head angling acutely into the gently attentive raking of teeth behind her ear. She shook away the shivers threading keenly along her spine, and she was eager to sing with the she-wolf after that.

At her companion's nonverbal enthusiasm, Diane beamed, tossing her arrowhead skull back and crying to the clouded afternoon in notes mingling between reminiscent sorrow and newfound joy. Vuk joined her then, and Diane's high notes turned fully into happy camaraderie. They howled and bayed, a sliver of sunlight exposing itself from between the clouds, a sun desperate to hark the dueted angels. When Diane finally stopped, she was breathless and her breast heaved proudly.

Without any preamble at all, she turned excitedly and began to lavish Vuk's scarred muzzle in beholden kisses.

Fade here, and new thread soon? :D

they sang, and vuk felt her heart swell with pride and pleasure. and then the notes had ended, and she giggled as diane peppered her with kisses. returning them as best she could, vuk then led her new friend in a romp that headed in  a wild path through the melting drifts.