Big Salmon Lake No room for the weak or the timid

As it did on occasion, Peregrine's hunting brought him to the shore of Big Salmon Lake. There was a large flock of geese on the banks, though no sign of any four-legged beasts besides himself. The wolf sighed and sank to his haunches nearby, idly counting the geese. There were over forty of them. Presumably they were moving through the area on their migration back up north. He wondered how much further they had to go, his head cocking.

He wasn't interested in hunting geese today, so Peregrine loped to the lake's opposite shore, then approached the water. He dipped his head down and took a long drink, then splashed his forepaws in the water out of sheer boredom more than anything.

Luke had seen the geese too, but not the dark figure who took up position on the opposite bank. He was crouched in the bushes like a cat - his rear end swaying and his shoulders shifting. The blue-nosed wolf was not hungry, but he saw a chance for entertainment and would not miss it. Springing from his cover, Luke launched himself at the geese in a full out charge, barking a few times in excitement. Predictably, the geese started honking and took to the skies, sailing out across the lake in a hurry. Luke pursued them with all the speed he could muster, hesitating not to jump into the water, but they could fly much faster than him and reached the other bank several minutes before him, sailing over the head of the other wolf and into the distance. Luke came ashore with an unceremonious shake, sending cold droplets of water everywhere.

"Woo!" he exclaimed, staring after the fading formation of geese before turning to the other male. "A wild goose chase, ha! Nothing better, don't you agree?"

He jolted when a bark rang out from across the lake, then watched as a pale wolf sprang into the middle of the flock of geese, forcing them to scatter and take to the skies. Peregrine's ears fell back as they flew overhead, silently hoping that none of them would bomb him as they passed. They were soon winging into the distance behind him and his attention returned to the wolf, who climbed out of the water and spoke to him.

"I can think of several things better than chasing those things," he drawled in reply, then squinted. "Is your nose... blue? Are you, like, really cold or something?" he wondered, finding himself padding toward the stranger, driven forward by curiosity.

"Oh yeah?" Luke's ears perked as the dark fellow commented that he could think of several things better than chasing geese. Feeling water collected in his hear prompted him to give his head a little shake, his pause before proceeding to ask what things specficially were better than his wild goose chase was enough time for the other male to ask a familiar question: Is your nose... blue?" To this, Luke chuckled warmly and answered with a chirp. "Yup!" He raised a paw, exposing his blue pad to his curious companion. "These too... Oh!" he stuck out his tongue briefly. "And that. All blue." He paused. "The name's Luke." He extended his paw this time for a wolfish fist bump, the same way he had offered it too Boone who was not sure what to do with it. Luke's tail wagged lightly, a friendly smile on his face.

The stranger seemed unperturbed by the somewhat rude question and began to show off his various blue body parts rather shamelessly. "The fuck..." Peregrine muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing slightly. He'd never seen anything like it before. He couldn't decide if it was alarming... or cool.

He stared at the proffered paw, making no effort to return the bump. He knew what to do, he just wasn't interested in doing it. "Does this mean you have blue balls?" he blurted without really thinking.

Luke returned his paw to the ground, yet another bump not returned and yet another thought not given, nor was a thought to the fact that he received no name in return, as would have been customary. The blue-nosed wolf moved on with a smooth swiftness, his eyes briefly widening before he laughed heartily at the other male's impulsive question. "No no," and said, and because his vocabulary did not feature words like shame and embarassment prominently, he hiked his leg high - so flexible was he - offering a full visual for confirmation of what he said, his brows waggling like see?.

Luke seemed unfazed by Peregrine's question and hiked a leg into the air without batting an eyelash. He was treated to an eyeful of the stranger's junk, which was decidedly... not blue. If he weren't totally into dudes, he might have cringed and told Luke to put that shit away. Instead, he quirked a brow, very briefly sizing up the male's goods before his leg eventually sank back to earth.

"So... what causes it?" he wanted to know. "Do you have bad circulation or something?" he guessed, momentarily unaware of his social faux pas (though he probably wouldn't have been concerned anyway).

Luke briefly considered the fellow's words. Over the years much had been said about his blue nose, his blue pads, his blue tongue, but no one thus far had made a comment about a lack of blood flow, although now that he thought of it it was a very logical assumption. "Bad circulation, huh," he chuffed. "Ain't heard that one before. But nope. Just born with it." Luke sank to his haunches as he said, "I'm as healthy as can be." and concluded with a nod. "So can I get a name now that you know I am not contagious?" he grinned, looking expectantly.

Luke explained that he'd been this way since birth. Maybe it was a birthmark then? Peregrine was still pondering it when the fellow jovially requested his name, albeit not without a playfully sarcastic remark.

"I didn't -- Perry," he said, shaking his head lightly. "I've never seen an animal with a blue nose before. Or tongue or nose or paws, for that matter. Although Mo -- uh, my mom, that is -- told me about a kind of bird called a blue footed booby. Are you of any relation?" he quipped, then finally smiled.

Blue features such as the ones he wore were not at all commonplace, so Luke was not surprised to hear that Perry had never seen them before on any animal, let alone a wolf, except in the case of a certain bird. "No, but what a lark that would be!" Luke chuckled. He was not familiar with this blue-footed booby of which Perry spoke but he liked the idea that somewhere out there was another critter that had blue feet like himself. He should like to meet this bird someday. "I don't think I'd mind being part bird if I could fly," the white wolf mused. "Can you imagine?" he shook his head, briefly lost in wonder.

Birds were a pervasive theme in Peregrine's life and, a time or two, he'd thought about what it would be like to have wings. "It would be cool, except for the whole landing part," he replied. "Perry is actually short for Peregrine. And half the members of my pack are named after birds. You could switch your name to Booby and you'd fit right in." It was mostly a joke, though it was true that the black Alpha often attempted to recruit worthy wolves he met out on the road.

But who was to say Luke was worthy? So far, Peregrine could only say one thing about the guy for sure (aside from the fact that his blue honker was unique): he was damned chipper. Did he have any skills, though? He'd looked a bit ridiculous chasing those geese, so he somehow doubted Luke was an adept Gamekeeper. But maybe he was wrong. Did it matter, though? Did they even have room in their ranks? Peregrine pondered this.

"Where are you from, Luke?" he wondered. That was a good place to start.

Luke was fond of climbing trees when he found one that he could climb; a wolf's physique no matter how agile was not designed for climbing so said tree had to have at least one large low growing branch that he could scrabble up to. So it was that his thoughts of flying like a bird lead him to momentarily daydream about perching in a tree until Perry spoke. Luke gave him full attention with alert ears as he explained his name was short for Peregrine.

"Well then! You practically are half bird." he chuckled. "Luke is short for Lukas, which is terribly uninteresting compared to the bird names of you and your pack. Or should I say flock? Kinda got a nice ring to it, you know. Flock of wolves."

His swarthy companion asked where he was from and Luke replied without hesitation; he was not as guarded as some, heck he was hardly guarded at all. "From up north a ways. What about you? Born here? Wander here?"

"I was born in a pack that was aptly named Flightless Falcons. I came here and led at Blacktail Deer Plateau for the better part of a year, then relocated to Redhawk Caldera, where myself and my mate are the leaders. I guess flocks are my true calling," he joked dryly. "So you're not affiliated with a pack around here then?" he queried, jade eyes sweeping their surroundings briefly before returning to Luke's face. "Does the blue nose -- and other blue stuff -- make it hard to get accepted?" he wondered candidly, black head tilting.

Luke shook his head when Peregrine asked if he was with a pack. "Nope, I have no flock at the moment," he said, his use of the word flock said as evenly as the rest because Luke had decided it was a more entertaining word than pack and so for him the words had now become interchangeable, as though they always had been. Perhaps he was part Booby after all.

"Well it's like anything," Luke began. "Some mind and some don't. But those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind." The blue-nosed wolf grinned. In truth, the greatest conflicts of his life had nothing to do with the blue coloration he sported, and he had no trouble walking away from anyone that had a problem with his nose, or his tongue, or his pads.

Well, that answered that question. "Are you looking for one?" was the natural follow-up. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't think the caldera had any room. For some reason, Peregrine felt disappointed about that. He had begun to think of Luke as a promising candidate. But he wouldn't be actively trying to recruit him today.

"Wow. Deep. I like it," Peregrine said with a brief snort. "Are blue noses and bubbly personalities mutually inclusive?" he wondered jokingly. "Why are you so happy? It's kind of creepy," the swarthy male continued, his tone jesting.

"Yeah I'm looking to settle around here whether that means joining up or starting something new." Luke would decide what he was doing when he decided to do it. Sooner or later something would pop up that caught his fancy and on a whim he would go with it, his reason being that he had nothing to lose by trying. Only one thing was for certain: a permanent loner life was not for him.

"Naw, just for me," Luke chuckled. While white coats and blue points were prominent in his bloodline the personalities were more varied. "Perfect," the white male answered next, his tone taking a serious note. "I was trying to creep you out." He paused, his face also serious to match his voice, but he could not hold the charade for more than a brief moment. "I used to be an angry miserable little shit," he continued in his previous chipper tone. "But I got over it. Life's more fun like this. I know it sounds cheesy but it's as true as my nose is blue."

"Look at you," Peregrine said when Luke finished explaining, "you're profound and a poet." He wondered why the blue nosed male had been a miserable little shit, as he'd put it, but he wasn't curious enough to wander down that path. Peregrine wasn't into the whole trend of sharing your deepest, darkest secrets with everybody you met on the street. "I'm sure that some pack around here will be dying to let you in, with such unique features and a glowing personality to match."

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the caldera. Thinking about his pack reminded him of why he was so far out this way. "I was hunting. I should get back to it. Good luck with everything, Luke," Peregrine said, preparing to leave but pausing to see if Luke had anything else to say. The Alpha ran into wolves when outside his home all the time, though he knew this one had left an impression that would last longer than normal.

Luke straightened up in a smug sort of way, raising a paw to his chest and giving a little side to side head wiggle. "Yeah I'm awesome like that," he replied, grinning foolishly before placing his paw back down. Still a smile remained, and his tail continued a gentle wag even as Peregrine informed him he had work to get back to and bid him a farewell. "Good luck, Perry bird!" Luke exclaimed as he gave the dark fellow a friendly shoulder bump and strolled off with a certain peppiness to his step, humming a tune as he went.