Black Morass Better than iced tea

Dawn found the Zale skidding rather precariously down a steep scree slope. He'd actually been trying to follow the trail of a roe buck but it seemed nature had devised a far more interesting plan of action when, in a brief flurry of motion, the ground had been moving beneath him. In all honesty, the details of what had happened became less and less interesting the further down he slid and, by the time he reached the valley floor, he'd forgotten all about the real cause.

He was sitting in the shade of a tall pine, now, with one paw dabbling and making slight splashes in a small puddle of swamp water. It was quite nice here, he decided, idyllic and almost too quiet. Zale was not one to throw away a calm morning, however boredom was surely soon to set in at some point and turn his recline into a nest of restless ants. He was so lost in the serenity of it all that his absent mind payed no attention to his forelimb exiting the water and drawing nearer his muzzle. That was until the taste hit him. Just the thought of vile liquid on a clean tongue made his stomach churn, and so it came to no onlookers' surprise that the real thing was so gut-wrenchingly bad it had him leap up and recoil a good few paces before he sat down and began to perform an odd performance of the tongue in a lame attempt to rid himself of the taste.

Perhaps she shouldn't have left the safe territory of the Teaghlaigh wolves, perhaps she shouldn't have strayed so far from Declan, but honestly, she couldn't help it. Never in her life had she been allowed so much freedom. The males back at her old pack never let the females leave. In fact, they didn't let the females do a lot of things, but here in her new pack, August found herself doing more and more that she wouldn't have been allowed to do back home. Or.... not home, rather prison. That was how other wolves she'd encountered had described it - though the blonde girl had grown up with it and she hadn't known any better. She thought it was normal - boy had she been wrong.

But just because she had joined the pack didn't mean her fears were gone. She was still very submissive to men, especially Declan - who's current nickname for her was Little Mouse. But then, he commanded it of her, which she expected. So why she truly had gone out wandering was beyond her. Maybe to escape the troubles her life held, perhaps for some other reason. She did not know.

Her paws sped across the ground as she sprinted through the Hinterlands, breathing in the earthy scents around her. She loved nature, especially plants, and just being out here put a small (rare) smile on the girl's face. Her race, however, came to an abrupt end when she came across a male beneath a pine tree, clearly not amused by something he had tasted. August's fearful gaze swept from the man to the water nearby, and she stared at it for a moment before looking back to the male and cowering. Her tail instincively tucked between her legs and she retreated to another close by pine tree, as though all comments about not being so scared were being thrown out the window. Of course, he could probably still see her, but that was not what mattered at this point. The maiden's head lowered to her paws until she was shaking on the ground - similar to when she had first encountered Declan, and still how she acted around him now. He commanded respect and she obeyed his orders.

the alphess watched from afar. she had seen the male earlier, and was headed to check him out, but the figure of a cowering female caught her eye-- causing her to hang back. no words were spoken between the two, but jhala was curious.

she'd wanted to talk to him first, since the glade was low on abled bodied wolves and she figured recruitment was the best option at this point. the female had gotten there first, but she did not seem to be on any sort of a recruitment journey-- she looked more lost and afraid. but, regardless, she didn't know these strangers, or their intentions. maybe they knew each other, and this submission was in regards to rank. she'd find out soon enough, she figured, and cupped her ears forward to better listen.