Dawnlark Plains Don't Accept the Truth

Anyone, friend or foe

A blanket of ice coated the fields. The area hadn't received fresh snow for at least a day, so Sofi's paws crunched rather obviously while she tried to find a good patch for hunting. Eating seemed more difficult than it ever had before. Naivete had told her that upon finding the Teekon Wilds, she would be able to eat easily and never go hungry. Quite the opposite turned out to be true.

The area was thriving with wolves. Where there were wolves, her kind were sparse at best. In fact, Sofi had not even gotten so much as a sniff of another of the same species. This "paradise" was quickly turning out to be no more than a wolf-laden Hell of her own making, for hunger prevented her hunt successes 90% of the time.

So it turned out to be true with voles. The area was littered with them, but their burrows were entirely beneath the snow. Sofi could hear them clearly, but nearly every pounce resulted in no more than a mouthful of ice. During the four hours she remained on the plains, she caught only one; it was not enough to even recoup the hunt's energy, never mind satiate her.

Come the middle of the day, there she was: a lone coyote curled in a tight ball, trying to sleep but unable due to wind and the incessant grumbling of her stomach. To sit in the open was dangerous in an area fraught with large predators, but she was giving up for the day.

Reek departed the Maplewood with the intention of heading southwest to keep an eye on the pack forming in the emberwood and to gauge their numbers before amassing a group to drive them away, but he eventually decided against it and diverted his course. He decided it would be a rash move to head out alone, but his legs still carried him away from his territory. Wanderlust had once again gripped his heart.

Avoiding the Silver Moraine, Reek cut through the Herbalists's Cache and found himself in the throes of the Dawnlark Plains. It was a familiar territoy to the raggedy alpha, who had previously taken residence in the Rise visiable in the distance. However, the tall grass that once characterized the plains was no more; All that had survied after the disastrous fire that drove the wolves of Redtail Rise away was dead from the frost, thus granting an unfamiliar level of visibility to the flatlands.

In the distance, he saw a lump of tawney brown, sleeping in a tightly coiled ball. A small coyote. While most wolves reacted in a hostile manner to those that they deemed to be lesser breeds, Reek was not most wolves. He had taken in two coyote pups and had attempted to raise them as his own (of course, it had been a failure), but Reek could only assume that this coyote must have been Sart, who had wandered off in the beginning of winter— unbeknownst to Reek, to die. His tail wagged behind him in a happy sway and from a distance he called out, "Sart!"

Somehow Sofi had found the in between world of waking and dreaming. Before her thoughts could fully escape consciousness, a barking noise rang out and the coyote sprang to her feet. She was rather terrified to see a gangly wolf standing several metres away.

She replayed what he had shouted in her mind, but it didn't really make sense.
"Whaat?" she called out innocently. As usual, she was fully prepared to bolt into a run if need be. The word had sounded like her own bark, so maybe it was another word for coyote in ...some language. He looked like an odd sort. Who knew from where he had come from and what language he spoke.

His body language seemed friendly, so she bowed her ears and waved the end of her tail a few times, hopeful.

The coyote rose to her feet and Reek made his approach. Her fearful stance gave rise to a confused feeling in his gut. What would have changed to make Sart afraid of the wolf who had raised her? The two shared an affectionate relationship, but as Reek shed the distance between himself and 'yote he wondered if she felt otherwise, like her sister Regipre had.

Once the coyote spoke, however, Reek realized his error. Her voice suggested age unlike her meager size, causing Reek's ears to splay back with disappointment. "Oh, nevermind..." he mumbled. "I thought you were someone else." His body language remained friendly, but the happy bounce to his step was lost in his realization.

Sofi kept her body curled enough to remain small, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible while the wolf moved toward her. His quick realization left her puzzled, and she wore an expression to match. If he had taken her for someone else, that meant he knew someone who looked like her. This little factoid gave her hope; she might not be alone after all.

Now that the wolf was close to her, she could see all of the chunks of hair in disarray. His fur looked as if someone had rubbed glue into it and stuck each section in a place where it shouldn't have been. Its disorderly nature mirrored her own coat, though hers was also missing in several places.

The muscles in his legs and chest, however, revealed a comfortable lifestyle. Sofi doubted he was spending his mornings chasing voles without success. Though lean, the definition in his body and the ease of his step suggested he was well off. Like the male wolf she had met before, this one smelled of musk and testosterone. This made Sofi nearly positive that the female wolves were in heat this time of year. A part of her panged with jealousy; her stomach felt hot.

"Oh..." Sofi was starting to get used to disappointing others. "Um, who?"

Reek's dissapointed expression soon gave way to a slight smile as he finally got a good look at the coyote. She was patchy, and like him, unkempt and thin. While he was a wolf by blood, there where days when Reek felt himself more like one of these, so called, "lesser breeds." He may have towered over her in height, but Reek found rare empathy in some of their shared traits— like kindred spirts, but over barriers imposed by their difference in species.

He had previously felt this way toward Sart, and he loved her like his own offspring... that is, until she wandered off as Reek figured all coyotes eventually do.  "She was a coyote pup I raised for a time.  She was small, like you," he answered, allowing his tail to resume it's happy wave. "Sart was a playful little bugger.  I miss her dearly." Perhaps it was best not to know the true fate that had befallen the pup in the beginning of winter...

"But, how bout you?" He asked before dipping down into a low play bow. "Are you the playful sort?" His week at the Rise with Saena had set his youthful spirt alight once more and Reek was rearing to engage in play with practically anyone.

The story of the wolf and the coyote pup touched her heart. As he explained, she could not help but smile and feel a warmth within her that she hadn't felt since leaving her homeland. Sofi's own pups had been quite the handful.

"Me too," she said. Her words didn't really fit in with what he had said, but she meant that she missed her own children quite terribly. "Uh, I mean my own.." Sofi clarified. The dark cloud that followed her threatened to rain again, but she pushed it away as best she could.

That was easy enough to do as the wolf bent into a bow. It triggered a wild and wonderful joy within her. She pranced at once into a bow. Rather than staying in that bow, her head went side to side, as if she was gauging distance. Sofi twisted and turned in a little dance that those familiar with coyotes would recognize as the coyote "play dance".

Sofi lunged forward and feigned a light nip at the dark wolf, bouncing backward and yipping noisily at him. Her tail was flopping around like a fluffy flag in the wind.

For too long, Reek had forgotten how to cut loose and laugh. He had been fettered by a healer's struggle of fighing the futility of mortality as he watched friends and brethren fall away into the void of death, outside of his control. It aged him in more ways than one; the grey peppering that once marked his muzzle had spread to his underbelly, blanched and faded from stress. His smiles became infrequent. But, as he bowed to play with the coyote, he could almost feel himself reconnecting with the man he used to be— happy and carefree.

His signal to play was quickly reciprocated. The coyote moved in some sort of a skittering-sway, and Reek was immediately reminded of the way Sart would act when she was excited. A broad smile stretched across his face and he waggled his butt, side to side in the air. All the while, an excited laugh passed his lips as he anticipated her to make the first move.  

Meager muscles primed for movement, Reek launched backwards as the coyote lunged in his direction, thus lifting his forepaws into the air and himself on to his back legs. She yipped and yapped, and Reek responded with a playful growl of his own as soon as his front feet met the ground once more. He dropped his body low and let his tail wave high, before leaping forward toward the coyote.  If granted clearance in his aim, Reek would draw both the coyote's small frame and himself into a rolling tumble.

It had been a long time since Sofi had last been able to play. She had almost forgotten how important it was for the soul to be able to let go of the world's troubles. As wolf and coyote danced together, her mind was clear, filled only with a type of joy that one who has loved can feel. Her eyes were alight with a sparkle that most lose to adolescence. She dare not think about the past; it would only poison her.

As the wolf evaded her, he stopped for a moment and kept low to the ground, as if to pounce. Her tail synchronized with his as it waved about. She moved from one forepaw to the other. If she had eaten properly, she would not have already started panting with mild exhaustion.

The wolf leaped at her, and she turned to dart away. The chase lasted all of two feet. The world turned upside down as he pulled her into a roll. She felt her feet go from under her, yipping wildly as all sense of the ground escaped her. When they landed, she kicked at him and growled, fumbling to her feet. Her eyes rolled dizzily as she failed to focus on a point.

Sofi tried her best to pounce on him, pretending he was a lot smaller than he was. Her joints were so weak that she was a full foot short on the jump, and so dizzy that she promptly landed into a mess just beside him.

It hurt a bit, but all she could do was laugh.

Together, they tumbled in a tangle of limbs across the ground, with Reek laughing the entire way. When they finally settled in a heap, Reek found himself on top of the tiny coyote, but was soon forced off of her by her wild flailing. Rolling off of the coyote and onto the ground beside her, he exposed his belly in a playful roll before settling awkwardly on his back, limbs splayed upward and continuously pedaling in place. He hadn't had this much fun in ages... and he hadn't played this hard since he was but a pup.

The coyote reared up to pounce and Reek braced for her landing upon him. But, her jump never made purchase and she landed beside him in a tired heap, unfortunately missing her target by a few feet. A laugh erupted from the coyote, and Reek was quick to mirror her with a wheezing laugh of his own. "You missed," he teased between wheezing fits of laughter before craning his neck toward the coyote and sticking out his tongue.

It took a moment for her to realize the buzz she felt from the touch of the wolf. Though not sensual in nature, Sofi realized how long it had been since she had actually touched another person. It reminded her that there was still so much good in the world, despite all of her misery.

Sofi laughed until her sides hurt. She rolled away from the wolf, kicking him with her back feet. 
"I'm Sofi; I forgot to say," she said. She swallowed hard, breathing quickly and panting from play and laughter.

She flopped down on her side in the snow. Entertained by the sound it made in the quiet field, she chuckled.

Reek's chuckles eventually died away, leaving only a pleased smile in their wake. She kicked against him, as if to continue their play session even though they both lay flat on the ground. Reek shuffled, and his own limbs mirried the coytes as they peddled playfully in her direction. She may have been plum tired, but Reek had only just begun.

Eventually, they settled and she gave him a name. "Sofi," he repeated. "I'm Reek." He wondered, if she were to leave, if he would ever see her again. He hoped so, and a name was a good starting point when it came to being able to find his new playmate.

"I haven't had this much fun in ages," he admitted. If only she had been a wolf, or else, he wouldn't have hesitated to offer her a spot among his ranks.

"Reek," she repeated as he had. Sofi wanted to tell him it was a nice name, but it seemed almost a cruel thing to call a child. She wasn't sure if he'd been named after the English word or if she was missing something.

Bad name or not, she quite liked him. They knew almost nothing about one another, but somehow the intimacy of their play made her feel like she had made a friend. "Me neither," she said. "Most wolves have been, well, less than receptive here," she explained. The coyote wasn't sure what she had expected, as she had only known the wolves from childhood stories to be mysterious killers and majestic hunters. She had hoped that the legends about family values and wolves as guardians of the earth were more accurate; so far it had been the former.

"One guy pretended to want to talk to me. Then after he said he wanted to start his own pack, he turned on me and tried to hurt me." Sofi hadn't learned his name. She frowned, but as she looked at Reek she flopped her tail, so happy to have someone to chat with.

Rolling to his side and toward the coyote in an ungraceful manner, Reek allowed his tongue to loll lazily out the side of his mouth, panting as the effects of play took their toll. His happy expression, however, tapered away with a rare sense of empathy. Brow deeply furrowing with disappointment, Reek frowned. The world could be a cruel place, this Reek knew, and sometimes, he even added to it's cruelty. But this coyote, she had been a reprieve from a crap-sack world and the moment they shared had been genuinely nice.

"Im sorry it's been this way," he said, wishing there was a way he could change the poor 'yote's situation, but life for a coyote among wolves was destined to a difficult one. No matter what, she was doomed to live the life of an outsider looking in on all the things she could have, but never will. It was heartbreaking to even think about.

"Whatever you're looking for here," continued Reek, "I hope you find it. Hold it tightly and never let go Sofi."

Reek was a kind creature. He reminded her of her son. Sofi wondered if her son had been as large as Reek, if he might have been able to pull free from the trap that led to his doom.

To lighten her own mood, she rolled from her side to her back and reached her head up, stretching across the snow to look at Reek while he spoke. What was she looking for here exactly? Part of her knew, but she refused to forget her family. She knew that the reason she had left had been a good one, that she might be dead anyway had she stayed. Yet, being here felt wrong. She did not fit in. There was no one.

Only Reek.

"I wish I could be like you," she said in response. "It would make things much easier." She was still not certain exactly why they were so different. Wolves treated her as the scum of the earth. It was true, she had been scavenging off of their hunting remains, sticking to the shadows as if she had something to hide. Yet, it had all only been in response to their treatment. It was fast becoming a vicious circle.

"Do you have a family?" Sofi wasn't sure what made her want to know. Perhaps she merely wanted confirmation that they were not so different.

Edit: I just realized, Reek and Sofi were born on the same day! Just like him and Saena!

He nodded his head in silent agreement, knowing that if she had been like him, a wolf, life would not only be easier, but it would also be better in quailty. He could have offered her a home, food from his caches, a place among his pack, a family of her own. With a soft spot for the truly down-trodden, Reek still wished to give her these things, but he knew deep down, it would never work. The last time he had brought coyotes into the Maplewood it had been a disaster, and they had only been pups. Reek could hardly imagine what his mate would say about him offering a fully grown coyote asylum, let alone striking up a friendship with one.  

Still, he could have his friend beyond the territory, but his aide would have to end there.

Her question brought yet another smile to Reek's face. "I do," he answered, grinning from ear to ear. "I've got a mate back home, and maybe pups on the way... we still don't know yet, but we're hopeful." Briefly, Reek remembered that Sofi made mention of children of her own. Unknowing of their fate, Reek asked, "What about you Sofi? What's your family like?"

As Reek grinned, so did Sofi. They shared wide smiles, and though silly, they were genuine. Though she felt a tug of jealousy in her heart, she was truly happy for him and his good fortunes. Experience told her it would not last forever.

"That sounds great; amazing really," she said. She remembered when she and Mikhail were trying to get pregnant. The wait was well worth it. The pups brought more joy than she could have ever imagined to their lives. Like all things, the joy had been impermanent and later became the cause of much grief.

He asked about her own family, and for a moment, she felt stiff. She racked her brain with how to respond. It was not fair to him, a new friend, to put more strain than she had already expressed to him. She could not tell the truth. She herself could not accept the truth anyway.

"They're... well," she hesitated. "You know how families can be. We all went our separate ways not long ago, I guess. Um, my kids were teens, you know, trouble-makers, and, um, yeah."
What a blunder.
Separate ways. What a crock.

She smiled to hide her white lies. It wasn't dishonest, it was merely better than the actual story.

"It is," he replied. Reek's happiness was a simple fact, evident in the jovial timbre of his voice. Despite taking a massive hit with the one-two punch that was both Scarlett and Pantaleimon's successive, yet unlinked demise, Reek was rebounding in careful stride. Underneath the sour shell that Reek had begun to shed remained the same wonkaesq prankster of days old; this trickster— the same man he had so desperately tried to reconnect with to no avail.

But, recent days served to mend the bridge between old and new. His family and the prospect of new life had certainly played a role in this reparative process. Sofi had played her part as well. He shot her a smile, unaware of the sad truth lingering in the dark behind her words. He simply took them at face value and he pried no further. "That's good to hear," he said.

Nevertheless, it was unfortunate to hear that Sofi's family was no longer together. Reek thought little of it; the family he had started to build with his first mate burned away at the cinders, snuffed out over frustration and lost love— but he had moved on to bigger and better things. In a way, he was sure Sofi would too.

"Is that why you came here?" he asked. "To start over?"

Start over.

Had that really been it? Had that been the reason for taking a 500 mile journey across forest, mountain, and desert? To press a reset button on her life was not something she had considered. Sofi had come on what she thought was a whim, to survive the epidemic of violence that had spread to her homeland. She realized now that there was nothing left for her back home. Like it or not, she was stuck here in the company of wolves.

"An owl told me about the Teekon," wow did it sound stupid when she said it out loud. "He said it was a peaceful place, free from the 'tyranny of man'." Sofi was not sure if it had been such a good idea to trade humans for wolves, but she seriously doubted the canines were capable of the kinds of brutality she and her family had experienced.

"So I left and came here," Sofi explained, offering a small smile.

Her answer may not have ourtright declaired that she came to the Teekons to start over, but Reek assumed as such. They were all running from something, it seemed. In Reek's case, he had run from his upbringing and his inability to cope with the mortalitiy of those he loved. Reek, having little experiance with the tyranny of man, could only assume the horrors Sofi faced; he himself had been lucky in his travels.

He rolled to his stomach and hung his head low until it made contact with his outstretched forelegs. The poor thing had been lied to... while the Teekons were free from the meddling grip of man, it was far from a peaceful place. She had simply traded one problem for another.

He returned her smile with one of his own, but it was one laced with a twinge of sadness. If she had been a wolf, perhaps she would have found her peace, but sadly this was not the case. "Nowhere's perfect," he offered, but somehow he knew his words would be of little help. "Do you like it here?"

"I don't know yet," said Sofi. She yawned and exposed a wide, toothy mouth complete with a broken upper tooth. A long stretch overwhelmed her as she thought about Reek's question. She seated herself in a more comfortable position, laying down diagonally from Reek. Her shifting made her bones hurt.

"It's more interesting than before," she admitted, though she did sort of miss the flat plains and sparse vegetation. It was infinitely more beautiful in the Teekon, despite its dangers. "It's pretty here, but food is more of a problem." Back home she had lived near farmland and pastures. Her family rarely if ever preyed on livestock. It was the rabbits and prairie dogs they were interested in. The land was littered with the rodents, creating an infinite supply of food. In her area, the snow had never gotten very deep, making the hunting of their burrows all the more easy.

"And I don't know the area yet, so I've almost walked into a couple of wolf territories," she felt a bit silly admitting it, but it was true. "They're easy enough to smell, I just don't know how to get around them that well. I didn't realize until a little while ago that it's not okay to just... you know... walk through."

Wanna close this thread out and have a new one sometimes soon?

With so many competing wolf packs in the Wilds, prey was always difficult to come by— especially now, being stuck in the throes of winter. It was a wonder the coyote had lasted so long on her own. If it weren't for his own pack, Reek would have long passed of stavation brought on by this foul season. Perhaps, if it had been spring, he would have offered to help her hunt or bring a gift from his own cache, but nowadays Reek had to look out for himself first.

"Good luck Sof," he said. While he felt he could do nothing to help but offer kind words, he truly meant what he said. He hoped she could find some sustinance soon, because even though they had just met, Reek couldn't bear to lose another friend to this fatal season. But, if she kept coming close to wolf packs, it may not be starvation that kills her first.

"Be careful," he advised before rising to his feet. "If you smell a concentration of wolves, it'd be best to stay away." If she had been close to the Maplewood when Reek found her, perhaps their story wouldn't have had such a happy ending. It was strange how geographic position could change Reek's attitude, but he wasn't willing to take any chances close to home. "Keep to the neutral territories."

He gave the coyote a final, parting smile. "Lets do this again sometime. I'll howl for you." With that, Reek turned to begin his long walk home to the Maplewood.

Sounds good to me; archiving :)

Sofi nodded at the thought. Luck was exactly what she needed right about now. The likelihood of surviving the winter was quickly diminishing. Her bones were weak. Her heart was tired. Yet it was moments and encounters like these that pushed her to go on. This might have been the last peaceful moment Sofi would have in her life. Winter had a way of extinguishing the frail.

"Thanks for the tip," she said, making a serious note to avoid all wolf-smelling territories. It was not always easy, as sometimes even neutral areas smelled of wolves.

"Okay," she agreed, knowing that she would miss the ability to talk freely with another. This new world was not full of listeners. "Nice meeting you!" Sofi called out politely as they both turned to return to their separate worlds. Once more, her search for food would begin.

She frowned.