the singing of the earth

Just outside the forest's edges, on the eastern side. Mind if we treat this like a joining thread? :)

He had been born under the dancing lights of the North, his body and soul tempered by the harsh life on the tundra. His coat was thick, and even as the frozen breeze pulled at the long mane at his neck, the male felt no kiss of winter upon his skin. He knew little of this place, and even less of why he had come; but he had not been raised to question the fires that fueled one's heart. In life, one had little choice but to follow what instinct and intuition dictated.

Some time after he had matured from youth to adult, he discovered in his soul that it was time to leave the tundra behind—to discover what Fate meant for him. The singing of the earth beneath his bearlike paws no longer resonated in his blood; he would walk until it did.

For much of the journey south, he had been careful to follow—and also keep his distance from—the packs he encountered along the way. He scavenged from their abandoned kills and caches, doing his best to eat enough to sustain himself without gorging. When the packs no longer tolerated his presence, the white beast moved on. He was large and a trained warrior, but he was wiser than to attempt to challenge a pack on his own.

Survival as a lone wolf meant one had to choose their battles and cut their losses.

In the year that had gone by, no land had sang in harmony with the one that moved rhythmically in his veins. He was patient. He bided his time, moving ever onward.

As the dark outline of a forest rose up before him, that changed. He felt a pull, and suddenly filled with exhilaration, his large paws propelled him forward as if he were zeroing in on prey during a hunt.

This. He knew.

He drew closer, and a scent laced the air. He slowed quickly, until he was placing one paw before the other in almost an idle trance. It would not do to barge in. He stopped, resisting the urge to disappear into the conifers. His heart leapt in his chest, telling him, Go, go! He exhaled, a cloud of breath expelled forth.

He waited.

Absolutely! :D

She was already on the way to intercept him, for his scent had been borne to her on the tattletale breezes that wended their way through her evergreen dominion.

With each passing day, she felt the fire in her heart burn brighter and stronger for this place. She understood now what drove a wolf to be willing to lay down its life to protect its territory. There was not a single thing about this forest that she did not love with a wholeness that filled the deepest recesses of her spirit and made her feel complete. The fresh, sweet scent of pine that suffused the air; the way the trees stood so endlessly tall, like a verdant army of vigilant soldiers keeping watch against the rest of the world; the way the snow rested heavily on the broad boughs and, occasionally, fell unexpectedly in great heaps to the ground below; the way the moonlight filtered through the canopy to fall in scattered, spangled patterns of broken silver on the snowy earth below. The way sound just seemed to disappear in the midst of those trees, how they hushed even the soft crunches of her footfalls. The serene magic of snowfall in the heart of these woods. Oh, how she loved her forest.

Such thoughts played like an endless soundtrack in the back of her mind as she now faced the stranger who encroached on her boundaries. He was a male of respectable size and strength, his coat a wintry alabaster much like her own. She liked what she saw. He reminded her of some of her packmates back at her homeland, and she absently wondered if he had roots in the north, like she did. Business first, though. He had not trespassed, but he was too close for comfort, and the way she carried herself -- with bristled mane, bushy tail held aloft, and soft, deep growl of gentle warning rumbling in her chest -- let him know that this place, this paradise, was hers and she would not hesitate to protect it, if need be.

Should be faster from now on!

He did his best to shrink his hulking form, to honor her status in this place and give her deference. She came upon him like a ghost, swift and as ephemeral as the wind. Though here amongst the waifs of southern lands she might still be considered large, the white beast thought her lithe and dainty. She was beautiful, and it made it easy for the male to bow at her paws.

His flame colored eyes ventured a look at her face, once he was certain that he proved himself no threat to her lands, though they dared not meet the brilliant turquoise. "I am Knaiakhotana Frostmane," he rumbled deeply in greeting, "but many call me Khotan. I have ventured from the North, seeking a land that sings to my blood. I feel it near your forest; I would be honored to serve you both." It was the most he had spoken in months, and his throat felt raw. But he knew that he would continue to speak until it bled, were she to demand it from him.

It's not a problem, dahling~

His swift deference to her status pleased her; she was a wolf who liked to know that those around her knew their place. She was not the type to arrogantly indulge in her position of power and authority, but she gave no quarter to those who forgot it.

He was from the north, though, a fact which not only assured her that he knew what respect and power were all about, but which also piqued her interest. Her eyes brightened ever so slightly at his mention of his origins, and she thought she might ask him about that later on, after the formalities were done…assuming all went well, of course.

"It sings to mine as well," she commented softly, eyes of glacial sea ice drifting momentarily into the trees she so loved. The music lived ever in the fabric of her soul, steady and unceasing as the beating of her heart. "My pack is young though, and I have need of warriors to protect and defend us, healers to keep us well, hunters to keep us fed, and storytellers to keep our lore. Tell me, Frostmane, what strengths you keep that you might bring to our forest?"