River Woes

fifteen steps The time was upon the wolf once more to fill his stomach with something small yet fulfilling and the male was growing increasingly bored of rabbit. He was sure that if he devoured just one more rabbit he would sprout long furry ears and his tail would shorten to a small tuft and he would be come the worlds firt wolf-rabbit hybrid. Shuddering at the thought of such a mutation he decided on a change of tact. Maybe a fish lunch was the better way to go right now. Turning his nose to the air he inhailed deeply closing his eyes to seperate each smell and sound in his mind. First there was the wolf, that was an easy one. Then the bears and ther large preditors, always good to know where to avoid these. Then there were the smaller mammals, the rabbits, mice, rats and the like. Finally there was the distinct mix of silt, salt, mud and finally what he was looking for, fish. Smiling with his tongue lolling out of his mouth he proceeded in the direction of what he presumed was a stream. Travelling west his stream turned out to be a river. Raising an unsure eyebrow he surveyed the area and the curning of the fast flowing waer made him dizzy just watching. After a time though his eyes slid the edge of the bank when the water was calmer and he could see the river bed and floating just above it, his prize. In an over-eager manner he jumped in head first banging his nose on the river bed and coming away empty and frustrated. Time did not aid the problem as more passed there were more frustrated attempted at catching the slithery little creatures until he was stood at the rivers edge barking away at the water angrily, dripping wet above his shoulders looking a very pathetic excuse for an adult wolf. then a sheer drop.

By now, Turquoise felt almost completely recovered from her illness. She suspected that her new mate-ship with Rivet had given her a healthy boost. Still, she took it easy each day, getting plenty of rest, drinking lots of water and making sure to eat square meals. She didn't want to risk getting sick again, especially not so close to the winter season. An illness during the winter could spell disaster.

Around mid-morning, Turq roused and went for a walk through the woods. She visited the nearby cache, helped herself to some cold rabbit, then continued walking along the towpath deeper into the forest in search of company. For a long time now, she had scarcely seen anyone outside of Rivet. This wasn't a bad thing—especially considering how rarely they argued these days—but Turquoise wanted to get herself back into the thick of things in regards to pack life.

She came across an unfamiliar scent and, figuring it must be someone who had joined during her down time, she tracked it. She came upon a small branch of the river and paused, watching as the stranger launched himself into the water. She cocked her head and watched him expressionlessly, deciding whether she really wanted to make an approach. The Gunner wasn't the biggest fan of males, yet, lately, she didn't much trust females either, after what had happened with Dany.

Eventually, she moved closer, planting her stockinged limbs on the water's edge and peering at the silvery wolf. "You kind of suck at fishing," she observed in a lazy drawl, taking a seat on the bank as she waited for the inevitable reaction.

fifteen steps The once proud wolf was now a very sorry sight, panting to himself, his chest heaving in and out and dripping all over the riverbank not even bothering to dry off. Finally his barking ceased and he once more focused on the river. Then grinning to himself he saw another one of the slippery creatures approach. He lined it up with the tip of his nose and inhaled, deeply but at the same time quietly. Then drawing back his head and shoulder he was ready to strike, that is until he heard a voice from behind him putting him off completely. Sighing to himself in frustration at the disturbance he turned to face the female. "I had noticed." He rolled his eyes and shook his head away from her careful not to splash her as he dried off. Once he was a tad more presentable he addressed her again. "They're just so..." he searched for the right word or phrase, anything to explain why he was so awful at this simple yet frustrating task. A defeated sign escaped him. "Who am I kidding? They're not just so anything, I'm just so pathetic I think." He moved a little closer to her and took a slightly softer tone. "Apologies, I forgot my manners in all the frustration. I'm Smoke and apparently I'm not very good at fishing." His ear perked up and he smiled ion the light females direction. "However if you need a rabbit, I'm your wolf. Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit. I'm fed up of bloody rabbit to be honest, but still." Flashing another grin in her direction he stopped talking and gave the female room to introduce herself if she wished, or leave, he would not be surprised if she did after his ramblings. then a sheer drop.

He seemed a little irritated by her observation at first, which caused a little smirk to curve her lips. Eventually, though, he agreed with her and called himself pathetic. Turquoise lifted her brows and pursed her lips, her expression saying, Well, I won't disagree with you... Her brows lifted even further when he turned to her and started babbling about rabbits.

"Well, fish and rabbits are hardly the only prey available to you," she pointed out to him. "You must be new," she continued, "and you must have been living on your own a while. You're in a pack now. You don't have to settle on small prey. There's all kinds of ungu-what's-its around here." When he didn't immediately supply the word for which she was searching, she added impatiently, "You know, ungulates or whatever? Deer." There, that was easier.

"I don't want any rabbit," she felt the need to say a beat later. "I had my fill of that about five minutes ago." Turq tilted her head in the direction of the cache hidden back in the woods. "I think there was some other stuff in the cache, if you're interested," she told Smoke after a pause. "Better to give up and admit defeat than keep wading in that cold water until you get hypothermic or something. Especially since our Surgeon made like a banana and split a while ago," she finished while flopping casually to the ground.

fifteen steps Smoke saw her look of agreement at his current state and he nodded back at her showing her he understood and was happy for her to come to that conclusion. Not that he could have done anything to stop her thinking this, but still. She made some very valid points about his eating habits and it was only now it wa made clear to him that he realised he had been somewhat stuck in a rut when it came to his lunch. It was indeed time for him to branch out into larger prey, but did this not require a pack hunt? Was he allowed to take out anything he wished in the meantime. Call a guy old fasioned, but he was bought up to believe that the prey belonged to the Alpha and he or she shared it with the pack in return for helping to bring such a large beast down as a team. In his old pack touching food belonging to the alpha could and in most cases did mean death. After advising Smoke she was in no mood for rabbit she told Smoke of a cache not far from here. His eyes lit up at the notion of such rich pickings. He was not sure what hyperthermia was, but he was pretty sure he did not want it, so this was a good idea. Then came the guilt and worry which he expressed to the wolf. "Will anyone mind me taking from your cache, after all I' am new here as of yet I have not contributed and it does not seem right that I take what others have earned before my time." With his worries out he started to process the end of the last response from the light wolf about the pack surgeon. "Your medic left? Why is that?" He enquired in a curious tone that he tried his best to keep free of jugdement. then a sheer drop.

Smoke seemed hesitant about dipping into the caches before actively contributing. Turquoise found this humility annoying and decided to play along. "Oh. Well, in that case..." She paused. "You're not allowed to take from the pack's caches until you've personally contributed at least three stags." Turq paused again, letting him wonder for a moment, before shaking her head. "Come on now. If you don't eat, you'll waste away and you won't be worth a shit. Just take what you need and, if it'll clear your conscience, tell yourself you'll give back double what you took."

Gesturing for him to follow, Turquoise began to move away from the water, back into the trees. As she walked along, she turned toward Smoke and replied, "How should I know?" and left it at that. Turq had liked Jinx, finding her to be a very intriguing creature. She'd only met her once, though, and never seen or heard from her again. Perhaps she was somewhere else in the park now—somehow, this wouldn't surprise her—but Turquoise had been too preoccupied to track anybody's whereabouts.

Arriving at a stockpile, Turquoise removed the debris covering it, yanked out a stiff leg of deer, then tossed it haphazardly to land at Smoke's feet. "There ya' go," she said absently, then swung around to face him again. "Eat up. I'm Turquoise, by the way. Call me Turq," she added offhandedly, not having introduced herself yet. "Epsilon and Gunner. Mate to Rivet." Her lips curled into a cheshire grin as she said this last part for the first time ever out loud.

fifteen steps Walking along side her, Smoke could not help but raised his eyebrows at her statement of contribution to the packs cache. here were a couple of moments there where he had to wonder if she was telling the truth, but as she followed up with her speech about him wasted away he clicked and understood she was joking. Stopping for a moment to process the fact he been fooled, he smiled and moved on. She even answered his question about the medic, well in a round about way. Although he did not show it outwardly he thought how she was going to be hard work. She had not even introduced herself yet. It was akward but he would carry on. The male had a very cute and sometimes annoying complex where he had to be everyone's friend, help, carer. He still had yet to learn in life that not everyone wanted to be his friend, not becasue they did not like him, but purely because they had their reasons he may or may not be able to fathom. After some moments they both reached the cache and he found himself finally greeted with some decent food and an introduction. Maybe he was growing on her after all. "It's a pleasure to meet you Turq and it sounds like you have a good standing here, always nice to hear of two wolves settling down together. My parents were together for the best part of five years." With his introduction complete he took a few bites, licking his lips. "So, Gunner eh? You must forgive me I am not too sure about the co-ranks here, what is it a Gunner does?" He carried on eating laying down by the leg and pulling it closer to. then a sheer drop.

In response to Smoke's anecdote about his parents, Turquoise offered a very forced and fleeting smile, then said, "Rivet's a girl." She sort of leered at him after this comment, as if challenging him to say something untoward about it. She still hadn't come across anyone who had anything bad to say, yet Turq always prepared herself for it anyway. She would defend Rivet's honor (and her own) to the death if necessary.

Her expression cleared a moment later and she offhandedly replied, "It just means that I'm a fighter, not that this pack has picked a lot of fights or anything." She shrugged her tawny shoulders and glanced sideways, blinking absently at the surrounding forest before facing Smoke again. "What sorts of skills have you brought with you?" she wondered. Styx wouldn't let just any random straggler into the pack; Smoke must have something to offer them besides an empty stomach.

fifteen steps As Turq told Smoke of the nature of her realtionship, the embarrased male hide his maw behind the deer carcass, his eyes firmly planted on the meat in front of him. Swallowing hard he peered over and offered his apology. "Oh, I'm sorry about that, I only meant...I mean I'm...I'm...well lets just say I lean both ways when it comes to courting and relationships, so I meant no offence, only that it is nice to see two souls coming together and spending the rest of their days together." Having recovered he breathed a sign of relief. The male may have leaned both ways but for some reason female on female relationship seemed a strnage concept to him. He tried to fathom the idea, but found himself lost in his own thoughts and questions. To him, male on male was natural, sometimes more so than female on male but in his mind female relationships were forced. He knew this was not the case and that he was wrong but it was simply the way he felt. He could not help it, nor did her force it upon anyone, just the silent musing of contemplative lupine. Pausing from filling his stomach he nodded as Turq explained the function of a Gunner in the pack and when questioned himself answered with a smile, puffing his chest out with pride. "Well I'm strong and as you can see quite large. As you know I'm not much of a fisher, but I never was that fast even as a pup, but when it comes to defence or the hunt I can use my weight in many ways, even without resorting to violence, but if violent defence is needed I do not shy away from it." He did not apologise for this, he was not a violent wolf by nature, but when threated, or his kin were threatened he could become and entirely different animal with a bloodlust and a mean revenge streak, but only in yhe name of love and protection, never for personal gain. "I wish to help protect the pack borders one day by becoming the pack Guardian, this is what my father taught me. My training started when I was year old and was never ending, well until my father passed away, that was when I arrived here." There was a hint of sadness in his quivering voice, but only for a moment, he did not wish to buren Turq with his raw past. then a sheer drop.

Smoke grew visibly uncomfortable when Turquoise revealed the same-sex nature of her relationship and her lip began to lift. Then he began apologizing... for what, she wasn't sure. She quirked a brow when he admitted that he liked his own gender as well as the opposite. Still, she didn't understand why he felt the need to apologize and explain this—man, his over-the-top humility was grating on her nerves—though Turq was sort of intrigued to learn this about him.

Turquoise decided against commenting directly, instead pricking her sooty ears as he explained his skills. He was built for a guardianship role and, as it turned out, groomed for one too. Turq nodded approvingly. A wolf pack could use specialists such as puppy-sitters and medics, sure, but the bread and butter of the pack should be its hunters, fighters and guardians.

She sensed the raw sadness when he mentioned his father's death but Turq was not interested in hearing his sob story whatsoever and would not feign it either. Instead, she seemed to mull over everything he'd shared and weigh it in her mind before saying aloud, "You and I should probably get together on occasion and maybe spart or something then. You know, to keep us on top of our game. I'll attack, you counterattack and all that." She wasn't entirely sold on the offer herself—she wasn't necessarily gunning to spend time with the guy—but she knew it would be a good idea.