Broken Antler Fen Я научилась тебя терять

she does have permission to be here but.. *literally yeets her to the wolves*

The piebald was still relatively new to the land but @Maia (reference) had shown her around the territory and introduced her to a few of the wolves she lived with here. The customs were a little different and the inhabitants too but otherwise, it felt much like the clan her family had live within in the frozen arctic of her homeland save for that there were no two-legs here -- much to her relief. In fact, some of the members of Brecheliant she had spoken to hadn't even an inkling of what a two-leg was. 

The dog thought perhaps to find some niche in which to make herself useful, she didn't want to be seen as some freeloader -- not even a freeloader of their own species. Such was sure to inspire aggression in her direction, plus she would have felt pretty bad if Maia had let her stay only for her to be using up their food stores and the like in the midst of a harsh cold season. 

As such, the morning found her traversing the woodlands, hoping that the cover of clouds would hold off whatever frigid precipitation might make hunting even harder. She followed after the trail of a muskrat, nose low to the ground as she trotted along -- jaws parted so that the scents could reach her sensitive taste buds and allow her to track the prey more efficiently.

Since Wraen considered her position in the leadership more as an honorary one and not that required her to do a lot of work (let the young ones run the game - they had plenty of those here), she spent her time exploring Brecheliant's territory. The wolves had claimed only a small corner of what was a large and vast land and she enjoyed her solitary outings, having all the time in the world just to herself. At times like these she had no difficulties keeping up with the pace of life, mostly because she was the one to tell, what the speed should be. 

And it was probably because of this, why Maia had not got a chance to tell her older sibling about their newest and the most peculiar looking recruit. She spotted him from afar - his piebald coat stood out in the surroundings and he looked positively canine-like, but the older wolf was still a bit wary of approaching and greeting him. Instead she lied down and continued to watch him track and hunt in silence, to gather more information, before she made a move forwards.

Kuo thought she felt eyes on her for a moment, pausing in the midst of her tracking to peer over her pale shoulder alertly -- oceanic gaze searching the woods for sign of anyone as her ears pricked, straining for sound. Figuring she was imagining things, the piebald gave a slight shrug and turned back to the task at hand. She lowered her snout towards the forest floor again, breathing in the muskrat's scent before trotting off in the direction the scent was moving in, momentarily forgetting the odd sensation of being watched as she focused her attention on the hunt once more.

They say that there are three things one can observe for an eternity - water flowing, fire burning and other people working. In her hide-out Wraen felt like a David Attenborough with binoculars, observing the wild and untamed predator stalk after it's prey. It did seem for a moment that her cover might be revealed, but then the piebald canine resumed the previous activity and she could entertain watching him or her for a while longer. When it got too cold to lie on the ground, she got to her feet and padded over to the stanger. "Good afternoon," she greeted, closing the distance between them. "I don't think we have met or at least exchange proper introductions," she told.

Kuo startled slightly, surprised that someone actually had been watching her, and turned to face the silver agouti who approached. She pinned her freckled auds and lowered her feathered tail as much as was possible, though it still wagged with welcome as she smiled at the stranger. She didn't recognize her as one of the wolves Maia had introduced her to, which Wraen was quick to confer. "No, I don't think so either. I'm Aiyy Kuo. Kuo is just fine though," she introduced herself cheerfully.

The fellow-ess turned out to be a cheerful sort and Wraen took an immediate liking to her. With all the relationship drama on Maia's front, Arcturus's having disappeared from the Earth and everyone else busy, she needed someone to be her personal sun again. For a little while. "Kuo, lovely to meet you!" she returned the greeting with a warm smile and friendly wag of her tail. "My name is Wraen, I am one of the Ravens - that's, what we call honoured members here," she gave her name too and explained briefly her standing in the ranks. "You are the most unusual looking wolf I've ever met," she went on, "and I guess that an interesting name like yours has just as exciting story too. Where do you come from?" 

The sled dog felt warmth spread along her cheeks, her smile shy as she answered, "It's nice to meet you too!" She nodded with interest as Wraen explained her rank, glad that her ears and tail were still lowered submissively since the silver turned out to be a leader. She gave a small laugh at Wraen's words, not out of derision but humor. It was hard to believe the Raven thought she was a wolf. "I'm actually a dog. It's kinda like a volf, that is how my mother explained it to me. You guys are just a lot bigger and tougher," the piebald explained, eyeing the wolfess' larger build. "From across the sea -- Yakutia," the she-dog supplied the answer readily, not considering that the fact that she was a domestic canid might be a problem for the other female. 

Bigger? Who, me? Wraen arched an eyebrow and looked curiously around, when the piebald canine implied that wolves were bigger than dogs. Including her. She was small by wolf standards and not that much bigger than Kuo, but it was, of course, great to know that she was considered to be taller than she actually was. "A dog from a far-away land Yakutia," she repeated, tasting each word. "Well, in that case you have come to the right place. Brecheliant - the Enchanted forest here - is home for all kinds of unusual creatures. We have dragons, ghosts and fairies. And it is a great honor to expand this diversity with a dog too," she laughed. "How did you end up here?" she asked.

whoops, sorry, just kinda naturally assumed that most wolves would be about twice Kuo's size!

The canine's azure optics widened with Wraen's words, lips parting slightly in her astonishment. "Vow.." she breathed. "Vhat are dragons, ghosts, and fairies?" she asked with a tilt of her bespeckled head, unfamiliar with the mythological creatures. 

"I vas vith матушка, we vere sunning ourselves and vatching over the village vhen ze two-leg came. He had meat for us even though it vas not time to eat yet but he vould not let Mother have any. He kicked her away vhen she vould not go." The story starts, the piebald's brow rumpling with an echo of consternation at the strange events that had torn her away from Yakutia. 

"Still, he tried to be nice to me. I ate so I vould not make him angry and then began to feel very heavy and sleepy. Vhen I voke again I vas confined in a cage, in a dark room that shifted and swayed. Two-legs brought food and vater and brought us up onto the floor of the vessel that bore us across the sea. That was not so bad but I prefer land under my feet," the she-dog admitted, her blue gaze a little distant as she recalled the endless reaches of the sea, the spray of salt and cries of gulls. It was not something everyone got to see in their lifetime. 

"Vhen again we vere on land it vas in a different place. I had to ride in a cage again and had a different two-leg in charge of me. I vas placed in another room but this one did not sway. It roared and made you feel as if the ground had dropped out from under your feet," Kuo shuddered to think of the plane ride. "I only had to be in there for a short time though before my new two-leg took me home to his own village. It vas very small and there vere no other dogs. Just Kuo. Just the man."

"Most two-legs tend to be irate...quick to temper. And they are fierce vhen angry. The man vas no different. We valked together one day and he yanked on my leash, yelling harsh vords vhen I tried to varn him about the bear I smelled nearby. Vhen the bear attacked him, I fled and did not look back," the girl shrugged as she said it, as if this was no big deal. Good riddance. 

No worries. Wraen's exact size is not mentioned in her profile description. I imagine her being on the smaller size than her bretheren. :)

"Well, that's a completely alien world you are describing," Wraen remarked, when Kuo had finished her story of origins. She had felt very much like a person, who listens to science fiction except in real life. Much of the details in the tale did not make sense to her, nor did they stir particular associations, but it had been interesting nonetheless. She could sympathyze with Kuo losing her mom and that those two-legged creatures did not sound very pleasant at all. 

"I gather then that you have not been out here too long, have you?" she asked. "Tell me more, how does your species... tribe live? Like us in packs or do they prefer to be solitary creatures?"

"Mmm-mmm," the she-dog hummed in agreement. Though she may not have been here long, she had had nothing but a good time so far. It was fun being part of a pack, helping catch prey to fill caches and...well, digging caches. Otherwise, she hadn't been here long enough to do much of anything else and was entirely sure where she would be utilized best by her wild cousins around her. Helping stockpile food seemed like a safe bet for now. "Vell, it is sortof like this, like a pack. There's lots of us running around all the time and we help the two-legs by pulling their sleds, guarding the animals that they eat and feed us. But since we live vith the two-legs it's more like they are the leaders. They have all the power." 

"Oh... yeah... kind of sounds like us in a way..." Wraen remarked, thinking about wolf equivalent of two-legs and finding them amusing at best. "Lots of running around, guarding stuff and paying respects to a bunch of four-legs," she grinned. "And has anyone given you trouble during your stay here?" she asked, though she had full confidence and trust in her comrades. They would not - she hoped - treat a fellow canine badly just because they were different. "'cause if they have - I can do some witching around," she offered.

"Oh no, nothing like that," the piebald was quick to assure as her sky blue eyes widened with intimidation at the idea. It still hadn't quite occurred to her that somebody might be unkind just because of the differences in their taxonomy or appearance. But it was nice to know that the leaders wouldn't tolerate such behavior from their subordinates. "Thank you though, for the offer." A laugh escaped her, trying to imagine Wraen bent over some arrangement of occult items, casting a hex or jinx of some kind. 

We can fade out here, if you want. Thank you for the thread!

"That's good to know," Wraen would not have expected anything less from the assortment of wolves they had here, though... she had some doubts about Penn, but then they could easily been totally unfounded and completely wrong. And if Kuo had suffered through those two-legged aliens, she did not see, why she would have problems with a Blackthorn. "Well, let's go and find something to eat," she suddenly felt hungry and, if there had been one rodent around, then there probably were more, if they looked for them carefully enough. And if Kuo agreed to her suggestion, she would show her the mousing spot she had found the other day in hopes that they would spend some cheerful and busy hours together, sniffing out the feisty critters and having good fun piling them on the dinner plate.

"Sounds good to me," Kuo agreed easily, curled plume of ink and snow wagging eagerly at the thought. She could get to know Wraen a little better, maybe learn some more about her new friends and Brecheliant in general. Plus, the energetic sled-dog loved to hunt though her size and lack of know-how sometimes limited her capabilities. She made for a fairly good trapper though, confident she wouldn't make too big a fool of herself in front of the Raven. She fell into step with the leader whenever she moved to lead the way to her mousing spot, chatting with the she-wolf as they trekked along.