Blacktail Deer Plateau heffalumps and woozles

Her Outrider mission had ended in failure; Atticus and Ty were still nowhere to be found. The pack's most recent hunt had also been a failure as well, leaving the already rawboned juvenile hungry. And Junior's rash — or whatever it was — was spreading. She could feel the dry, cracked skin on and around her lower lip. It hurt. She entirely avoided reflective surfaces, terrified of seeing her own ugly image.

Presently, Junior lay flopped over a mossy log, sulking and contemplating the drudgery that was her life lately. After a while, she let out a great, gusty sigh and let her chin sink to her crossed forepaws. She began to chew her lip without even being aware of it.

Amber move swiftly through the woods, following a sent of another wolf. She wasn't worried of exactly who it was, because the wolf smelled of her pack. She approached the wolf in a bit of caution, then realizing she wasn't a lone wolf anymore, and doesn't have to be cautious as much as she used to. This she-wolf was a nice shade of black, with a bit of white here and there. What really baffled her was her eyes. One blue and one..... purple? She had seen wolves like this before, but usually the other was brown, or green, or silver. But she's never seen a wolf with a purple eye. Strange, but cool. "Hello. My name is Amber, what's yours?" She wanted to ask this wolf about her mysterious purple eye, but not just yet. First she wanted to get to know her, and she didn't want to offend her in any way.

Thanks for joining! Don't mind Junior here; she's moody!

A wolf abruptly broke from the trees and approached, causing Junior to lift her head and sit up on the log. She regarded the stranger with curiosity that began to sour into resentment almost immediately. She was gorgeous. Junior couldn't help but think that she would pair well with Dante, a thought which irrationally made her want nothing to do with the innocently beautiful she-wolf before her.

"Junior," she responded in a dour tone. Realizing she was being an ass, she tried to quell her jealous thoughts. "You new?" she asked, the pleasantness in her voice sounding more than a little forced.

Obviously, Junior wasn't to fond to see her. But she didn't really care, that much at least. Not all wolves will like you. Maybe later on they'll know each other better. "My name is Amber," she replied, "and yes, I'm new." Once again she thought of her old pack, how cruel they were. She was so lucky, in her opinion, to have another chance. Her fur stood on end as she thought about Runt. If the pack found out about their friendship, they would kick her out for sure. But I'm sure I'll be fine. But would she? If this pack couldn't keep her, she would have no place to go.

Junior couldn't hold back her knee-jerk reaction and said, "I know, you already said that." Her tail flicked and she hopped down from the log to put herself on even footing with Amber. She was only a youth, which meant all adults were above her by default. This didn't mean that Junior bowed to just any stranger. She maintained a neutral stance.

"Who accepted you?" she asked after a moment.

Amber laughed, feeling foolish. "Sorry, I'm used to saying that now." She then bit back her tough, noticing the wolf was in no mood. She shook off, trying to loose her tension. She cleared her throat and replied, "Dante." She again stayed a bit silent, afraid if she was acting to it-girlish. Junior didn't seem so pleased from the get go, and she didn't want to start trouble. And she hoped she hadn't already.

Junior's fur prickled when Amber spoke the name of the young girl's crush. "Oh." She turned away, absently chewing at her lip. It was becoming something of a tic and her rash would never improve until she caught onto it and made a conscientious effort to manage her impulse.

"You don't like him, do you?" She couldn't help herself. Her eyes cut back to Amber's face, which was certainly much more appealing than her own.

Amber was a bit taken aback by the question. Like him? She hadn't really thought about that. But Junior looked a bit worried. "No I don't," she replied, hoping that would sooth her. She hadn't really thought of liking anyone for now. She barely got here anyways. But maybe someday she would find someone to love, just not yet. She wasn't ready.

Good, Junior thought smugly, though she didn't verbalize a response. Instead, she gave Amber a shrewd look for a moment, then glanced away into the trees as if thinking about something. Eventually, her head swung back to face the silver-furred, blue-eyed beauty.

"Do you know how to fight?" It was a non sequitur, for sure, but depending on Amber's response, she would explain.

Amber became a bit suspicious. Does she want to fight me? She nodded her head. "Not the best though, but I can." She stood a bit straighter, feeling threatened. Amber wasn't really fond in getting into fights, but if she really needs too, she will do it in a flash. This conversation was to close to comfort, way to close. Junior defiantly wasn't thrilled to see her.

Junior could see that her question made Amber uneasy, which gave her a sense of satisfaction. "Calm your tits," she drawled after enjoying the tension a moment. "I'm not going to fight you. I'm a Warrior and Outrider and was kind of feeling up for a spar... but we don't have to if you don't want to."

Shifting her weight, the youth asked, "What trades are you aiming for?" Because everyone should be aspiring to acquire one duty or another, at least in her opinion. She wasn't even seven months old and had two apprenticeships!

She calmed down a bit. "I'll have to think about that." She would be up for a friendly spar, just to loosen some tension. Next question she wasn't quite expecting, "Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I'm fine where I am for now." She hadn't really cared about trades, since she was still quite new. But she would keep that in mind.

"Fine where you are?" Junior repeated dumbly, trying to make sense of that. "What do you mean? Do you already have a trade?" She blinked her mismatched eyes, then intuited something and pressed, "Do you even know about trades?" I can school you, she thought sarcastically, though she managed to suppress any rudeness in her tone or expression.

She shifted uncomfortably. Still so much to learn about packs. "Actually, I don't understand what you mean of that. Can you explain?" She hated the way Junior looked at her. Like she was a complete idiot. But it was a bit true. She barley knew about pack life. But it still made fer fiz the way Junior looked. She wanted to just strangle someone about now, but she didn't show any hint of it. At least she hasn't.

Ah, just as she'd suspected! Junior smirked, then wiped the expression off her face. It was fun, knowing something an adult didn't, yet the youth wasn't so petulant that she wouldn't seize on this opportunity to teach her pack mate.

"Let me see if I can remember them all," she said. "There's Warrior, Outrider, Gamekeeper, Healer, Warden, Counselor, Caretaker..." Junior paused, humming. There was at least one or two more. "Oh, and Chronicler. I think that's it." She didn't realize she'd omitted one: Naturalist.

"They're pretty self-explanatory but let me know if you have any questions about any of them," Junior said, feeling a smidgen smug.

Okay, defiantly wanted to do some damage. I guess being in my old pack finally taken its tole She had always had to fight there. That's how she learned how to fight. Living with all of those gruesome wolves. She had to fight everyday, whether she liked it or not. Amber stood taller now and her voice came out bolder, "Actually I can figure it out myself. I'm not all that dumb you know." Anger started to fizzle inside her. Her ears flattened against her head.

Thanks for the thread and sorry Junior's such a butt! ;)

Amber grew defensive, perhaps intuiting Junior's holier-than-thou attitude, as much as the youth liked to think she was good at hiding it. She laughed dryly, then shrugged her bony shoulders noncommittally.

"Suit yourself. I'll leave you to it." With nothing more than a final glance, Junior turned from Amber and trotted away into the trees.

|[size=xx-small] It's ok. X3 Makes it more fun![/size]
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Amber watches her leave, glad to be alone again. Finally. She watched her until she was out of sight, then went on patrolling once more.