Swiftcurrent Creek Your own Words can hurt you

Star ran by the Creek. Today she was exercising her legs. She was really bored in the past week or so. Nothing had really happened since the meeting and since she never got any news, she had no idea how the coulpe and their pups were doing in their new pack. Not that she had known them anyway. No matter how much you exercise you won't pass for anything taller or bigger than a rabbit. "Shut up, you idiot." She muttered out loud to the voice in her head. She stopped to catch a breath and realized she really had been an idiot for wasting her breath on that statement. She stood and panted, catching her breath.

Bazi hadn't seen much of Star since.. well, ever, really. Only her scent betrayed the fact that she was still around at all, and it cheered the Alpha of the diminishing pack somewhat when she finally spotted the fluffly little creature plodding alongside the Creek. She really was very small.. and had the added disadvantage of being painfully white!

Bazi trotted to greet the pup-sized wolf, announcing herself with a bark and a wag of her tail. "You've been hiding."

She looked up at the sound of a wolf's voice. She recognized her as Bazi, the wolf that had accepted her into the Creek and was the alpha.
"Hiding? Oh, no, I'm just not around much." She stood in akward silence for a moment, and added, "How is being alpha going?" Star hoped she could start some kind of conversation instead of seeming like she wanted to be alone. She really didn't want to be alone, but she made no effort to get to know any wolf.

Not around much? Bazi gave the little creature a quizzical look, and was about to ask where on earth she was if not with her pack when Star distracted her with another question. "How is being alpha going?"

"It's.. really, really hard," Bazi admitted with a burst of laughter. Everything that could possibly wrong had, and she stood at the bottom of a very long upward climb. "Njal and Tuwawi are gone, as are Shadow and Danica.. we need fresh blood. Are you up for some recruiting?" Paarthurnax was on her way out, too, but the pale girl did not share that; it would leave the pack with no qualified healer - apart from Razo, but she hadn't seen hair nor hide of him in weeks.

Star didn't understand why a wolf would lauugh if something was so hard. Bazi mentoined that Danica and Shadow were gone as well, which was news to Star. "Sure." She nodded at the alpha. "Did they settle very far? Do you know where they moved to?" She asked. She sat and her breath had been regained. Star didn't know Njal and Tuwawi but she figured as part of the pack she could ask.

Thankfully, Star did not ask for details, and Bazi smiled gratefully at her for that. "Yes.. well, I don't know how far, but far enough. They went north, towards the mountains. I don't know where Shadow will be going. Over the mountains, I hope, but he'll probably settling somewhere nearby just to piss me off. But, anyway.. " The leader gave her head a little shake, dispelling the anger that threatened to colour their conversation. The fact that Shadow would take Paarthurnax with him was the biggest of his crimes, even though it wasn't something he had explicitly chosen to do - Paar was master of her own destiny. "Are you any good at travelling long distances..? I saw you running just now.. were you practicing?" You're small she wanted to say, but wisely held her tongue.

"Well... I traveled a long distance once." She said, remembering the journey. It was a past that was the least of her few worries. She had left her father in the night. She had traveled for a long long time. And she had come across the Wilds to find one of the packs she had been longing to join. Star hoped Bazi didn't ask about this travel, Star cared little for her past and was looking forward to the future. "Yes. Well, not for traveling. I'm not going anywhere. But maybe..." Maybe I'd be taller. But she didn't finish. A hope like that would be stupid.

The little wolf before her seemed...distressed, somehow. Sad, even. Star wasn't much younger than Bazi, but the forlorn look on the girl's face tugged at the Alpha's heart strings and brought out a maternal side that stood in stark contrast to her teenager-style tantrums and recently very dramatic rank-shuffling antics. "Are you alright? You seem a bit down." She sat, inviting Star to do the same by patting the ground with her paw.

They could discuss recruitment and outrider duties later. With Shadow gone, she needed someone to keep tabs on the goings-on in other packs. Would Kaskara take up the role, perhaps?

She sat as Bazi had suggested with the motion. "Sort of. It doesn't matter." She said. She tried to cheer up her look without making it obvious she was changing it on purpose. But she didn't like her life right now. Nothing much had happened when she lived with her father, but she had expected more from a new life in a pack. She hadn't expected her days to be made of sleeping, exercising, hunting, and swimming. She thought there could of been adventure.

Adventure. Had Bazi been able to hear Star's thoughts, she would have laughed out loud. In the past month, they pack had endured the Sunspire incident, lost an Alpha, suffered the departure of Njal and Tuwawi (and Shadow, and Paarthurnax) in a dramatic incident, and lord knew what else. She would have given the tip of her tail for things to be boring.

Well, no. But almost.

"It does matter," she insisted brusquely. "Maybe not to you, but sooner or later, someone else is going to cotton on to the fact that you aren't happy and start wondering what's wrong with the pack. And we can't have that, so let's fix it - OK?" .. it wasn't the best pep-talk, but it was what Bazi felt: a sad wolf brought the pack average down. "I think you need a job. A mission."

She listened to Bazi while she stared at her perfect snow-white paws. Bazi said that wolves would start thinking something was wrong with the pack. But when Bazi mentioned a mission, Star's ears perked up. The wolves in the stories from her old home were given missions. She was excited. "What kind of mission?" She said.

I've added this as an official mission: http://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=4480

The mention of a 'mission' seemed to raise Star's spirits. Despite having made it up on the spot, Bazi was quick to flesh out the idea. "We're short on healers. Dangerously so. If we were attacked now, well.. let's just say, we don't want to be. I need to know if there are any healers in the area - loners, ideally, so that'll require you to do some scouting around. I don't want to poach anyone from a pack.. Fox, the old Alpha, roosts in Blacktail Deer Plateau now, and I know their healer - Blue Willow - is a generous wolf. She might be able to recommend someone, or at least give us some tips. But they can't know of our shortage! OK? Are you up for this? It will mean a lot of travelling."

oh, thanks for that link.

"Yes. I'd be willing to do that. " She said, her excitement had increased even more. She would get to meet some lone wolves and recruit a new healer. She would get to venture through the Teekon Wilds! She would probably only go a little way and the first wolf or two she would find would be willing. But she imagined herself at the coast, having met lots of wolves and faced many dangers. Perhaps her running exercise would not go to waste.

"Good!" Bazi smiled encouragingly, and leaned forward to give the snowy little creature a nudge to the cheek. They would both come into their own as outriders when winter settled on the Teekon wilds. "Remember - you represent this pack. Be careful of pack borders; call someone from far away, and be prepared to run. OK? Now - let's fine you a cache of food to fill up on before you go.."

You can always post in 'Rough Drafts' and see if any lone wolves want to encounter Star in the wild. :D Shall we wrap this up with your next post?

sure! Thank you.

Star listened and nodded. I represent the Creek. She would have make sure to stay away from other packs and would be going a ways. Unfortunately she didn't know where most packs were, but she'd probably just fall upon their borders. Star was excited to get going, but she knew she needed her energy- from food. She nodded and followed Bazi.