The Sentinels Be your own light, they said, but he needed others to help him illuminate the dark.

Kurai sat in the forest, licking a bone. A beautiful leg-bone of a doe. He licked it till' it shone, and planned on giving it to the alpha. From where he came, the young wolves gave presents to their alphas to thank them for caring for the back. He and Sinuku would bring bones to their alphess romantically, then get chased off by the alpha male. Before his dad became alpha, of course. She always appreciated it though, and would smile at them as they passed. 
 So now, here in his new home, he would bring his alpha and his mate beautifully shiny bones, letting them do as they pleased with them. It was custom, and he wanted to present them with a small piece of his culture. Here, in his new home, where there was no thought of the future because the future was, once again, every breath, blink, heartbeat. Yes, he was the future.

hope you don't mind me entering... (:

Donnelaith had lost members right and left. Behati had died due to her own stupidity, Casmir had ran off on her, Raven had disappeared, Chaol had disappeared- and Pearl.. Where was Pearl? There were more who had come and gone, but they didn't leave an impression- it seemed. Aria felt alone in the pack. Alone and exposed. 

As she made her way throughout the territory- to her own den to rest- she came across the scent of a new wolf. It was a male, and she could only assume that he had been accepted into the pack. Her posture already straight and stiff, she made her way towards it, tail wagging behind her. The girl paused when she saw the dark coat of a male who appeared to be gnawing on a bone. As she grew closer, she found her was not gnawing on it, but was licking it, which was an action she did not understand. Aria's head tilted, but she let out a low woof, head raising. "Hello," she called out, voice proud and posture tall.

whereas aria felt alone, deirdre felt whole and happy within the depths of donnelaith. the young forest nymph was coming into herself, looking less like a cub by the day. her stature was entering its awkward stages now, but even so deirdre blossomed in such a way that there was nothing awkward to her. the youth was terribly lovely, and only seemed to be growing lovelier; she was the princess of any evil step mothers envy, but there was no wickedness in her life, only good. wednesday's impression had proven not everlasting, though she regarded new faces with speculation instead of childish adoration and immediate acceptance. such was the case now, when the young babe moved through the forest to collect rabbit tails and four-leaf clovers and instead happened upon the pale beta and a wolf new to their ranks. she regarded aria with a familiar wave of her tail, knowing now that the woman was no stranger at all but a long-standing member of the forest. still young and not yet privy to the nuances of hierarchy (at her age, she was permitted even to eat alongside her father and mother first at any meal) she did not bend her head, the action not even a thought occurring to her in her head.

the other was more pretty than handsome, and deirdre openly admired them. but she kept to the background, a quiet and interested observer. this was a stranger to her, after all, and while she knew he was now of donnelaith—the forest had whispered it to its youngest witch—deirdre could not help but be wary.

The young male turned around when he heard a voice to be greeted by a pure white female. "Oh, hello there. I'm Kurai. I-uh just joined Donnelaith." His quiet nature led to him stuttering a bit, as he had never been the talkative type. He noticed a slight shadow in the background, and recognized the scent of a young female, but respected the fact she did not want to be noticed. He dipped his head to the female, as he expected her to, of course, be a higher rank than the young man. He gave a smile though. Kurai was a strange mix, quiet at first, but once you got to know him, he was a flirty, funny, and respectful guy with a heart of gold.

not sure if Deirdre just saw aria and waved her tail or if it was actually directed at her- taking the same direction as Kurai, where aria knows she's there but does not see her. hope that's okay. (:

The man spoke. He was shaky and perhaps uncertain, but he spoke regardless. The icy female nodded, for she was well aware of this, but made no comment of her knowledge. "Welcome," she said to him, her head dipping slightly. Her head raised once again to her more dominant posture, although truthfully it was her natural stance- stiff and straight. "My name is Aria- a member of the January family," she introduced, only recently taking pride in the second name she'd been given. She'd known Lasher to do so, and therefore did it herself. 

Aria found the scent of Deirdre, wafting nearby, and the girl's ears perked with hope. She had (unfortunately) been too distracted to deal with the pups as much as she had wanted to, and therefore had not received the trade she longed to master- caretaking. It was not a powerful trade, by any means, but she loved it. She hoped the babe would come out, but seeing that she had not yet, she didn't think that she would. 

deirdre was not noticed by the duo, which was fine by the girl protected by the forest. it knew her as well as she knew donnelaith, and a particularly broad leaf was before her, keeping her hidden and out of sight. though the wind did not wind favor her, as it so often seemed to, she knew she would not be found if she did not wish it. but deirdre willed herself to not be afraid, and to come before the others and to know them better. the nymph emerged from the protective cover donnelaith had blanketed her in, and removed the cloak of invisibility the forest offered to her. one was kurai, and this one she knew was aria, aria january. who was she? deirdre stella mayfair, witch, daughter of donnelaith, of lasher, of blue willow. a seed that had been planted and that bloomed, and that grew larger than the damage dealt upon it.

for all the power she wielded within her, she was unassuming as she approached. she was humble, kind, and quiet, looking at kurai beneath thick lashes and from shy emerald eyes. bonjour, i am deirdre stella mayfair, she introduced, and when she spoke the forest seemed to bend its ear to listen. the birds gazed upon her, and the chipmunks and the squirrels ceased their chatter to catch the thread of her melodic voice that did not quaver when she spoke, despite her trepidation. that could not be masked, but the child had heard the pride aria had spoken with, and felt a certain, inexplicable measure of pride when she thought she ought to follow their lead.

"Second name's are of importance here I'm guessing. If so, I am-was a member of the Doragon family." As soon as he finished, a stunning girl stepped from the background. Only now did he realize what a magnificent looking child she was. When she came of age, there would be no hardship in finding a mate. Her voice was chilling, and he shivered giving an astonished glance at Aria. He bowed his body in respect. "Aisatsu ojosama, I mean- salutations my lady. Pardon if I speak in different tongue, it is what I was raised with. "

so frustrated. i'm not getting notifications for this thread and its making me upset ): work you dang thing

Deirdre showed herself, and Aria was rather shocked. The pale Beta looked to the girl, noting her lack of respectful mannerisms but letting it slide due to her naive age. The girl stared at the babe, ears perking. She spoke elegantly, holding the same posture that she herself had. It was her natural posture, really, but it helped illuminate the fact that she really was prideful in herself and her position. It seemed that the Mayfair child had caught on.

Bonjour, however, was something that Aria could not figure out. It was a salutation, she decided, but where the pale witch had picked that up she had no idea. She glanced to Kurai. "Of no importance, helps me remember though," she told him with a smile. Kurai Doragon... intriguing. Had the young princess not been there she'd have made a verbal note of her interest in it. She looked then to the pup herself. "Hello, Miss Mayfair," she said gently, smiling playfully. The pup was a bit too young probably to understand that the name signified -- at least to Aria -- maturity, but it was amusing at least  to the icy girl.

deirdre watched the newest member, though her gaze shifted toward aria when she spoke. her head tilted at the greeting bestowed on her, having never heard the word 'miss' before. her father had taught her gaelic and french, though there was still so much for her to learn and come to know! miss???? came her accented voice, its dulcet tones filled with a slight brogue. her fathers was soft, and hers softer still, but it was present. and then, the others greeting! her head turned to him, interest brightening her gaze. what tongue is that? that she spoke in different languages was as of yet unknown to her; to speak french, and to think it, was the same to her as it was english. it was the same with the gaelic she learned. her father had mentioned it in passing, but it had not stuck; they simply spoke to one another in it, conversing back and forth, and she and emaleth did the same, too, in private and in quiet for good practice.

Kurai picked up his shiny bone as the two spoke, gently grazing it with his teeth and scraping his tongue against it as they conversed. He was a wolf that would much rather watch and listen to others talk than truly speak himself. He would like to make friends with the girl, as he was young and still loved a companion to play with and speak with.

"Miss," explained Aria gently to the child, "Is simply a name that can go before a girl's name. It is polite and even respectful for others to call woman miss," she told her. The pale princess gave the babe a quick nudge on her shoulder. "It is still English, I believe," she added, her tail waving. The girl then turned to Kurai. "May I ask what the bone is for?" she asked, but it was clear she expected an answer-- regardless if he wanted to tell her or not.

"Well," he started."You see,  @Aria, in my pack, we have many traditions. One of our traditions is that the newest member or youngest wolf must bring the highest ranking female in the pack a bone each moon, and the highest ranking male a silver stone. I never truly felt that it was right to just give them a plain old bone, so I decided to put more work in it, which changed our culture quite a bit. So, we began to customarily clean and sharpen our bones and shine them. I am working a bone for the highest ranking female here, whom I assume is the alpha female. If  Donnelaith has no alpha female, I will go to the beta instead." He smiled at her, unaware of her rank at the moment. "I like to make marks in the bone with my teeth very lightly, so when you rub your pad over it, you can feel each individual scrape." It was, yes, an odd quirk, but it was his quirk.

try to remember post order!

Aria nods slowly. "That would be me, actually. Blue Willow stepped down not too long ago, I am the packs Beta," she tells him, giving a small smile. She'd never heard of anything like this-- except maybe giving presents to parents of newly born litters-- but the gift seemed genuine and kind. 

"Do the marks mean anything?" she asks then, her head tilting to the side as she steps towards him.

so... you are miss aria? she paused, waited a moment, and after a gentle shake of her head she corrected herself: miss... january? and after this query, she was content to simply listen. she was interested in learning of kurai and his history and ways, and though she only knew of donnelaith's culture the cub had a great interest in those of others. deirdre looked at the bone the other had worked with a curious eye, and stepped near it to get a better look. when she understood it was meant for aria, she took some steps away from it. the thing was lovely, but not for her; she was not selfish, and so did not mind this, though she thought of how her mother would love this bone, and share it with she and emaleth as blue willow shared all things. she peered back to kurai when aria asked her question, interested to hear the answer.