A dainty figure stepped through the base of the mountain, stepping lightly over the moist grass, ocassionally shifting her path to avoing the small puddles that the previous storm had created. She had found a protuberant slope in the mountain that had served as refuge while the storm passed, still her coat wasn't spared by the tiny rain drops that came shooting from the sky.
She trotted faster, nearing the Neverwinter forest, her pale coat glistening with a veil of water droplets she did not care to shake of her fur. Her mind was somewhere else, far from her terrenal body which treaded across the border. Even if her delicate frame and soft eyes gave her a sense of tranquility, inside of her Cara was having an internal conflict.
She was having one of those days on which nothing seemed to go right and the ground beneath you seemed to crumble. And of course the gloomy day and the rain didn't make it better. For some reason she felt impotent. Ever since she had joined the pack she had felt like she had to be always on the lookout, careful of every gesture she made. Trapped in a cage where the respect you deserved was determined by a rank. A name.
Of course Cara disagreed with these tags that defined your status, but she had to adhere to these rules since she couldn't afford going back to her life as a loner. Not now.
With a deep sigh stopped, and threw her head to the sky, her eyes staring blankly into the mix of grey and white clouds that painted the sky. Like her feelings they were having a battle, the white clouds pushing away the ugly grey storm clouds.
Nantale had been exploring her new found “home” – wandering aimlessly between the neutral territories, finding out all about the who and what that inhabited these lands. After all, she’d need the information at one point or another, simply for survival purposes, and, if nothing else, for some fun and pleasure. The ebony warrior was no stranger to moving into new lands – she had been doing it her whole life, traveling around, crashing the parties everywhere she could think of. This place was no different – as several packs sought cover here, she, too, would need to know them. And today, that’s exactly what she did.
Except it appeared as though a thundering storm would cancel her plans. The rain poured down from the heavens above, giving its ever wonderful life bringing juices to mother Earth, insuring that all would continue to grow and blossom as intended. The middle aged she-wolf wasn’t too particularly fond of the rain, but she remained rather ambivalent to its current presence. She walked briskly as the clouds began to roll away, a drizzle still left in its wake, but the darker, more dangerous clouds were safely to the east. In the distance, a soft crack of thunder echoed loudly through the wilds, and her ears flickered in response, but she still refused to acknowledge the storm.
Soon, however, in the distance the ebony wraith noticed a forest. It wasn’t too far away, perhaps a couple hundred meters. Picking up her pace to a slow trot, as her leg limped awkwardly behind her, she decided that seeking shelter within a forest was, at least, an okay plan. But she was halted in her movements as another wolf came into her view – a tawny, cream colored wolf looking upward at the sky, as if staring blankly to the heavens would provide some kind of thought provoking answers. Nantale knew better, for the answers anybody needed were never above. Generally, she thought, they were always answered from below.
Clearing her throat as her gait slowed considerably, she kept a safe, comfortable distance between herself and the stranger. Never one for a missed opportunity of chaos, she intended to make the most of her first encounter with a native of the land.
It started by showing her father's face, his wide smile and loving eyes almost made her choke up, she missed him every single day, but of course she could never admit it. Then his eyes became dull and his smile contorted into a frown, suddenly the image shifted and it was her older sister's, Ophelia, face staring back at her, her lips curled back into a snarl. The yearling scrunched her nose in disgust but the image wouldn't leave her mind.
She then snapped back into the real world, her head throbbing, she cursed under her breath and clenched her jaw, "She's the reason you left" she whispered to herself, "You're better off here..." she murmured with more confidence trying to convince herself of the statement..
Then the sound of footsteps made the yearling's head turn, the fur along her neck bristled. It wasn't out of fear but out of precaution, every time she came across a stranger it ended up with bared teeth and ugly snarls, so she might as well be prepared.
"Hey.." she barked warily, "Who are you?" she sniffed curiously at her direction.
After the rain passed, she stretched out her legs and took a walk. The yellow eyed wolf examined the result of the rain; broken twigs, puddles, lichen and moss growing on the trees. The after-rain-storms smell was crisp in her nose as she crossed into the neutral territory of Neverwinter Forest, as well as two other smells. Two females, one of her pack, and a loner, were nearby. Curious, she approached them. Her packmate was a yearling, small and white, the loner was an older female, as black as she. Not wanted to alarm them, since she was unfamiliar with them both, she tilted her head away and murmured: "Bonjour."
Nantale knew that any interaction with wolves in this land had consequences. After all, as a lone wolf, she knew that pack life was in her future. When, however, she was unsure, but these two ladies before her could very well be in a pack that she wished to join. Knowing nothing of the lands, though, or its inhabitants, the ebony warrior was unsure of how to proceed.
As the wraith stood her distance from the strangers, each one spoke and offered their greetings. They both smelled similar – as if, perhaps, they were pack mates. Inching a few steps forward, Nantale bowed her head, her offering of hello. For the moment, she reserved her speech. Unsure of the two before her, she thought it best to wait for her talkings, only when she knew exactly who and what she was dealing with.
She had not met her before so naturally she was also wary of her, even if she was part of her own pack. Cara was not one to make friends easily anyway. When she greeted them though, the young female gave her a weak smile and retributed her greeting with a dip of her head.
Then she turned back to the foreigner, her eyes studying her whole face and body, as if to size here up in case of a confrontation. Even if she wasn't really in the mood for fighting but it was instinct for her to plan ahead - after the months she had spent wandering on her own she had learned to never trust a stranger.
"So who are you?" she demanded, her head tilting slightly to the side.
Erika met her left eye with her packmate. The young one looked wary towards her; a normal look she got from packmates she was unfamiliar with. After the older she-wolf greeted the yearling and foreigner, the white female nodded. She looked a bit more comfortable now, though she did study the loner uneasily. The yellow eyed wolf gave the lone female the same look, but less threatening than the young one. The black loner nodded to them both, but said nothing. Tilting her head to the side, the white yearling demanded that she give her name.
Something about the tone of her voice and the glare in her eye told Erika that the yearling spent most of her young life as a loner, like she herself did. She sounded very wary and distrustful of the black wolf, even though she was not on pack territory. It was similar to how she spoke to others, but the French-Canadian did not speak so threatening like the yearling did. Perhaps it was her youth, or her life experiences. Or the fact that she didn't have a disfigurement that scared the shit out of most people who saw it.